Pav Bhaji

         Pav Bhaji, this is one of my favorites, something that I order most often in a chat house, it's a very popular Indian fast food. Pav ( soft buns) with bhaji ( a gravy with a mixture of vegetables) makes up for a nice snack or as in my home, a good dinner. Today I've used regular, store bought pav (buns made with all purpose flour), but when you use whole wheat buns and use butter sparingly, I can say this dish becomes healthy too..

Need To Have
For The Bhaji

• Potatoes - 2 medium
• Capsicum Or Green Bell Pepper - 1 medium chopped
• Tomatoes - 2 
• Cooked Chickpeas (chana) - 1/2 cup
• Onions - 2 medium chopped
• Garlic - 5 cloves chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Pav Bhaji Masala - 3/4 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander - 1/4 cup
• Butter - 1 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Method
          Boil and mash the potatoes and make a puree with the tomatoes.

          Heat some oil, add the cumin seeds, when it starts sizzling, add the onions and chopped garlic, saute for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the capsicum pieces, saute for another 2 minutes.

          Now add the tomato puree, turmeric and chilly powders, saute till dry, for about 3 to 5 minutes, till you get a nice smell. Finally add the mashed potatoes, cooked chana and 1 cup water, boil it for 3 to 4 minutes.

          Then add the pav bhaji masala, boil for 2 minutes and just before turning off the stove add the chopped coriander and the teaspoon of butter. Toast the pav buns with or without butter and serve it warm with the bhaji and some sliced onions and lemon wedges.

Note
Usually they add fresh green peas, but I added chickpeas (garbanzo beans) since I ran out of green peas.
You can also add some chopped ginger, carrots and cauliflower.
I missed out the lemon wedges when I took the pictures.
You can totally avoid the butter and make it vegan.
Can serve the leftover bhaji (gravy) with rotis or plain bread.

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Sweet Potato Patty/Cutlet, For Fasting Days/ Ratalyache Cutlet..Navaratri Special

Hi all!

It is just another week to go for the festive days of Navaratri to begin. Navaratri literally means ‘nine days’; it starts immediately after the full moon of Mahalaya i.e. the 17th October. The idea behind Navratri is the time for cleansing our own evil characteristics like hatred, jealousy, ignorance, anger, greed, violence, etc. inside and outside of us. In the West India, the divine feminine is referred to as Goddess, but in the East, she is referred to as Shakti, or Power and hence celebrated as Durga Puja. She is your own consciousness as well as the Supreme Consciousness.The Nine Nights/Moon Phases of the Goddess is an important time period wherein the energy of 3 primary Shaktis of the Divine Feminine, the Supreme Goddess, is invoked.

In North India, Maharashtra and Gujarat, people observe a seven day fast during Navratri and break their fast on Ashtami (the eighth day of the festival) by worshiping young girls. However, some people observe fast until the Ashtami and break their fast only on Navami (the ninth day).The devotees, who have observed fast, would get up early in the morning, take bath and offer prayers to the deity. People follow a specific diet for Navratri, if they haven't observed a nirahar (waterless) fast. Most people nowadays perform partial fasting. They would abstain from non-vegetarian food, alcohol and those dishes that are made of common salt or any kind of spice. Singhare ka atta (kuttu ka atta) is used to prepare rotis or puris, for the fast. (ref festivals.iloveindia.com)
One may drink beverages like tea, coffee and milk, on Navratri. Dishes made of sago and potato is generally consumed by the people, when they observe fast on Navratri. Sendha namak (rock salt) is used instead of common salt, for cooking on the festival. All fruits and foodstuff made of fruits are eaten during the seven days.

I have posted most of the recipes that are  commonly made during the fasting days like the Batatyache Kees, Sabudana Vada, earlier.To increase the variety of food that can be eaten during fasting, recently I posted a very new kind of thalipeeth/Indian Pancake using watermelon rind. Today I’m posting yet another different recipe for fasting using an ingredient which is normally used for making sweet dishes.

I was skeptical during the preparatory stage but once the mix was ready and tasted, all tensions were thrown outside the window. I knew instantly it is going to be a hit dish.. There was no sweetness from the sweet potatoes, the flavors were perfectly balanced!!

Preparation Time :30mins

Cooking Time: 3-4mins per batch

Makes:14-15

Serves:3-4

Ingredients

5medium sized sweet potatoes
2-3green chilies (check on the spice level, mine were spicy)
3tbsp chopped coriander
1/2cup soaked mini sago/mini sabudana
1tsp grated ginger
1tsp cumin seeds
sendha namak to taste(salt for fasting days)
1to1-1/2tsp lemon juice
3-4tbsp roasted and ground peanuts
sago flour/ sabudana peeth, for dusting
oil/ghee for pan roasting

Method

Boil the sweet potatoes in water. Once cooked peel off the skin and grate.

To the sweet potatoes add all the remaining ingredients and mix properly.

Make small balls and then pat them to make patty.

Coat the patty on all sides with sago flour.

Pan roast the patty on medium flame using a little ghee or vegetable oil on both the side till nicely golden in color. I used ghee for roasting.

Serve with green chutney.

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Black Beans & Basil Rice

          Now that basil is available here in Chennai (at Nilgiris) I get some whenever I go there. The first time I used it in the tofu curry, the second time I got it, I used it to make this rice. Basil along with black beans makes an excellent combination, I added some beans and potatoes, making it one healthy one pot meal..

Need To Have

• Basmati Rice - 1 cup
• Black Beans - 1 cup
• Onion - 1 medium chopped
• Fresh Green Beans - 3/4 cup chopped
• Potato - 1 medium chopped
• Tomatoes - 2 chopped
• Dried Oregano - 1/2 teaspoon
• Red Chilly Powder - 3/4 teaspoon
• Fresh Basil - 1 handful chopped

Method
         Soak the basmati rice for half an hour, then cook it with a teaspoon of oil and a little salt. Soak the black beans overnight and pressure cook it till done.

          Heat some oil, add the chopped onion, saute it till it turns pink, then add the chopped potato, saute it till it turns golden. Then add the chopped beans, mix.

         Add the chilly powder, tomatoes, mix, cover and cook till the beans is cooked. Now, add the black beans, rice, oregano and the basil, mix well and serve it.

Note
The rice should be cooked al dente.
You can use canned black beans and leftover rice.
When you cover and cook, don't make the tomatoes mushy.

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Le Phare

L'office du Tourisme nous communique  :
Le Phare du Cap Ferret a fermé temporairement ses portes au public pour laisser place à d’importants travaux d’aménagement.
Le programme de rénovation du Phare démarrera donc début octobre pour une durée de 6 mois. Il comprend des travaux lourds sur le bâti et son environnement immédiat et le renouvellement complet de la scénographie.
Des travaux importants
Conçu par le cabinet BIP (Bureau d’Intervention sur le Paysage), le projet architectural prévoit un aménagement complet de la zone d’accès au Phare qui débouchera sur un parvis surmonté d'une ombrière métallique. De nouveaux agencements vont permettre d’augmenter la surface de plus de 120 m2. En outre la refonte et l’agrandissement de l’espace d’accueil actuel vont apporter un meilleur confort aux visiteurs. L’utilisation de la salle des gardes à l'étage, permettra une meilleure circulation du public et l’ouverture d’une boutique est prévue.
Une nouvelle exposition sur le thème de la cartographie marine
L’objectif était de prendre en compte l’identité même du Phare en sa qualité d’amer, de repère sur terre comme sur mer à l’entrée du Bassin d’Arcachon. Le thème de la cartographie marine, de son évolution et de sa mise en perspective avec la navigation s’est donc naturellement imposé. Un écho intéressant à l’identité maritime du bassin d’Arcachon où la vie s’est toujours organisée par rapport à l’eau, aux déplacements sur l’eau (pêcheurs, ostréiculteurs, plaisanciers, transporteurs de passagers.).
Une approche moderne et interactive
La scénographie s’appuie sur des supports de lecture et de connaissance classique : cartes anciennes en papier, instruments de mesure et de navigation (compas de bateau, graphomètre, sextant) mais aussi sur des supports digitaux de dernière génération : film en 3D, développement sur table tactile Microsoft Surface et bornes tactiles, application de Réalité Augmentée.
Une communication plus interactive
Un espace sera également dédié au partage d’expérience des visiteurs. Des tablettes en WIFI seront mises à disposition du public afin qu’il puisse poster des photos, des vidéos ou des commentaires sur la visite sur les réseaux sociaux.
En attendant la réouverture, suivez l’évolution des travaux et des aménagements du Phare du
Cap Ferret sur notre page FaceBook : Phare du Cap Ferret.
A propos du Phare du Cap Ferret
Reconstruit en 1947 (le premier phare de 1840 ayant été dynamité en 1944), haut de 53m et de 258
marches, le Phare du Cap Ferret est situé à l’extrémité sud de la Presqu’île. En 2009 le Phare a fait
l’objet d’une inscription au titre des monuments historiques. Entre 2001 et 2011 la fréquentation est
passée de 37 000 personnes à presque 70 000 personnes.

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Winner of ‘Only’ Cooking With Soya’s Giveaway Cookbook

 

Hello everyone!!

Firstly, let me thank Preeti of Preeti’s Kitchen Life for hosting last month’s event and the wonderful roundup she has put up. It was indeed nice interacting with you dear and I really appreciate that you put up the round up promptly after the completion of the event.

 

Coming to the giveaway cookbook sponsored by www.tarladalal.com. As you are aware that the winner is picked randomly from the Indian entries who are also followers of my blog. I’ve picked up the winner from the entries linked here as it is numbered and makes my job easy..

 

The random number picked is 17 which is of Gauri from Runner Girl in the Kitchen. Congrats dear, you win the cookbook Low Cholesterol Recipes from www.tarladalal.com.

Please mail me your address in India with a landmark, pin code and your cell/ landline number within two days to, cookingoodfood@gmail.com.

In case Gauri fails to contact me within two days, I’ll pick a new winner..

Do participate in this month’s ‘Only’- Healthy Lunch Box Ideas, hosted here through this month.

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Strawberry Jelly Milkshake

          How many times in a day or in a week we get excited about something, and then what are all the things for which we get excited, well, this differs from person to person. But as a food blogger there is one more thing we get excited about, when the dish we make comes out super good and it's a double bonus when it's just two ingredients that go into it and it's super easy too. Well this strawberry jelly milkshake is one such, it tastes very different from the regular strawberry milkshake but very tasty..

Need To Have 

• Chilled Milk - 1 + 1/4 cup
• Smuckers Simply Fruit - Strawberry - 6 teaspoons

Method

          A word about Smuckers Simply Fruit, it is just spreadable fruit sweetened with juice concentrate from other fruits, so no sugar added. Now take the milk and the fruit preserve in a blender, blend it well and serve it and that's it.

Note
There might a little fruit at the bottom that's not blended, if you have very fuzzy kids, strain and give.
For those in India, if you are not able to find Smuckers Simply Fruit, try it with the local brand, it should also taste good.

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Chana (Chickpeas) & Mint Pilaf

          What's the difference between a pilaf and a briyani, as far as I know, the pilaf or pulao is mildly spicy compared to the briyani but both are equally flavorful and I like both of them. They appear in the weekly menu atleast once and so many varieties can be done by changing the vegetables or the spices. This chana or chickpeas pilaf is again a very flavorful one, gets it from the loads of mint added to it, rich in protein from the chickpeas added and forms a complete meal with some vegetable raitha..

Need To Have

• Basmati Rice - 1 cup
• Chickpeas (chana) - 1 cup
• Roughly Chopped Mint - 2 cups
• Onion - 1 large chopped
• Cinnamon - 1" piece
• Cloves - 2
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon

Spice Powder

• Dried Red Chillies - 3
• Coriander Seeds - 1 tablespoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Method 
          Make a powder with all the ingredients given under spice powder. The chickpeas should be soaked overnight or in hot water for at least 5 hours and pressure cooked with some salt. Wash and soak the basmati rice for 1/2 an hour.

          Heat some oil, add the cinnamon, cloves and cumin seeds, once the cumin seeds start sizzling add the chopped onions, saute for 2 or 3 minutes, then add 1 cup of the chopped mint leaves, mix it.

          Then add the spice powder, mix for a minute, add the drained rice and mix again.

          Now add about 2 and 1/2 cups of water and salt, cover, once it starts boiling, reduce the flame and cook till almost all the water has gone ( but still a little wet) and the rice is cooked but firm. Now mix in the cooked chickpeas and the remaining 1 cup chopped mint, lightly mix without breaking the rice. Switch off the stove, cover the vessel and leave it for undisturbed for at least 1/2 an hour. Serve it with raitha of your choice or just plain curds, I served it with the vendikkai thayir pachadi.

Note
You can use canned chickpeas if you are in a hurry.
Can add some toasted cashews at the end.

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