Bendekai Gojju

This gojju is a traditional curry that tastes sweet (jaggery), sour (tamarind) & spicy (masala).


Ingredients:-
1 Kg bendekai, washed, dried & cut into 1.5" pieces
2 tbsp concentrated tamarind juice
2 tbsp jaggery
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp bengal gram/kadle bele
2 tsp black gram/udhina bele
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sesame
1 tsp coriander seeds/dhania
1/2 cup grated coconut
5 dry red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1" Cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds/methi
1/2 tsp asafoetida
Salt to taste

Masala preparation: -
1. Heat the oil in a pan & add mustard seeds.
2. When the seeds begin to splatter, add bengal gram, black gram, coriander seeds, methi seeds, turmeric, asafoetida & red chillies & fry till for a minute or two.
3. Add sesame seeds and fry till the mixture turns brown.
4. Let the mixture cool down.
5. Grind in the mixie with coconut & little water to a fine paste. The paste should have a chutney consistency.



Gojju preparation: -
1. Heat the oil in a pan & add mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to splatter, add bengal gram, black gram & turmeric.
2. The mixture turns brown, add bendekai pieces & fry for 8-10 minutes.
3. Add salt, tamarind juice/extract, jaggery & mix well.
4. Close the pan with a lid.
5. After 5 minutes add the ground paste along with little water.
6. Bring it to boil. On a low flame cook for 10-15 minutes until the gojju thickens.


It can be served with toordal (thove) & rice, chapatis,or dosas.

Shavige upittu

Shavige (Vermicelli) upma is yet another dish from the Karnataka. Back home mum & grand mum prepare fresh shavige & then make it either sweet or spicy. Here I don't have the machine to make fresh shavige, so used the rice noodles we get in the market.

Ingredients: -

1 cup Vermicelli

1 small sized onion, finely chopped

grated carrot

fist full of peas

1 medium sized potato, sliced

1 medium sized capsicum, cut lengthwise

2-3 green chilies

1 tbsp ground nuts

1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Udhina bele
1 tsp Kadle bele

1 tsp Garam masala

2 tsp fresh Lemon juice

Salt

Grated coconut & Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method: -
1. Take vermicelli and break it into small pieces.

2. In a microwaveable vessel, put the vermicelli & just enough water so that it gets covered.

3. Microwave for 5 minutes & stain water. Keep it aside to cooling.

4. Heat oil in a pan.

5. Add mustard seeds & when they pop, add ground nuts, udhina bele, kadle bele & chillies.

6. Add onion & saute for a minute or two.

7. Add grated carrot, fresh peas, potatoes & capsicum.

8. Add salt & garam masala.

9. Keep stirring occasionally until all done.

10. Finally, add the cooked vermicelli into it & mix well. Add lemon juice.

11.Garnish with roasted cashew nuts, grated coconut & coriander leaves.

Bisi bele bath

Bisi bele bath is a rice-based dish unique to the state of Karnataka, India. Bisi-bele-bath translates to hot-lentil-rice item in the Kannada language.It is also known as Bisi bele huliyanna. The traditional preparation of this dish is quite elaborate and involves the use of spicy masala, toor dal & vegetables. Spices like nutmeg & asafoetida, curry leaves & tamarind pulp used in its preparation contribute to the unique flavour & taste of this dish. It is served hot & sometimes eaten along with salad, papad or potato chips. This dish is commonly found in restaurants that serve the Udupi cuisine. The masala to be used for Bisi bele bath is now available off the shelf in grocery stores of India. Ready-to-eat satchets of Bisi bele bath can also be found. The name Bisi bele bath is a Kannada phrase, which literally means "Hot Lentil Rice", as in Kannada, Bisi means hot, bele means Lentils and bath means a dish made up of rice.

It can be made also with puffed rice (poha or avalakki).

Ingredients:-

1 cup Rice

2 cups togari bele (toor dal)

2 cups vegetables (Beans, potato, peas, carrot, double beans)

2 tbsp ground nuts

1 tsp kadle bele (Chana dal)
1 tsp of udhina bele

For Masala: -

1 tbsp kadle bele

1 tbsp udhina bele

3 tbsp dhania

1 tsp menthya (Methi)

3-4 pepper corns

10 red chillies (Guntur menasinakayee)

2 cloves

1" Cinnamon stick

2 tsp tamarind paste

2-3 tbsp of coconut

Cashew nuts for garnishing

Method: -

Masala preparation: -

1. Heat oil in a pan & add all the masala ingredients except coconut & tamarind.

2. Fry till a nice aroma is got.

3. Grind with coconut & tamarind & keep it aside.

Rice preparation: -

1. Add ghee/butter in a pressure cooker & add mustard. When it begins to pop, add Kadle bele, Udhina bele, ground nuts & turmeric.

2. Add vegetables & enough salt. Fry for few minutes.

3. Add Dal & rice to the vegetables & pressure cook till 3 whistles.

4. Let it cool completely. If the bath has become too dry like Pulav, add little water & cook again with out the lid. Garnish with cashew nuts.

Usually cooking of Dal, rice & vegetables is done separately. As it was only for two of us, I cooked them together.

Aaloo Tikki

The quintessential North Indian street food is Chaat -- a generic name for a tangy and spicy mix, whose ingredients can be quite varied. The tangy flavor is usually imparted by the use of lemon, pomegranate seeds, Black salt, tamarind, and various chutneys. Chaat can be prepared with fruit, with popular ones including guava, banana, apple, etc. It could instead be made using small crisp pancakes made from fried flour, called "paapri", along with yogurt. Potatoes sauteed with black cumin powder constitute another variant.

Aaloo Tikki is a kind of patties made up of mashed potatoes and masala deep fried in oil. They are served typically with a curry called Choley (chick peas). They are popular in winter in North India.

As we were not feeling that well, I din't mess around trying to decorate the tikkies & take a good picture. They tasted really good though :)

Ingredients: -

2 medium sized potatoes

1 medium sized onion, finely chopped

fist full green peas

4 slices bread (remove the brown sides)

1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp chaat masala
1 tsp jeera
1 tbsp lemon juice

Green chillies, according to taste, finely chopped

Coriander leaves, finely chopped

Butter for shallow frying

Salt

Method: -

1. Either microwave the potatoes or pressure cook potatoes & peas together.

2. Mix jeera, garam masala, chaat masala, lemon juice to onion pieces, mashed peas, coriander, chillies, salt & mashed potatoes. This forms a kind of dough.

3. Dip the bread slices in water one after another & mix to the above dough. The bread should not be soaking in water, dip it just to make it soft.

4. Roll the dough into lemon sized balls & given them the shape of cutlets by flattening them.

5. Heat a tbsp of butter on a skillet & put 4 or 5 tikkies at a time.

6. Let them cook on medium flame till the rim of the tikkies turn golden brown on both the sides.

7. Use a kitchen tissue to remove excess oil/fat.

8. Tikkies can be had with curds, tomato sauce/ketchup or tamarind/mint chutney.

German apple pancakes

First time trying something with Maida & eggs. German pancakes (Pfannkuchen) similar to the English pancakes have three main ingredients; flour, eggs & milk. The pancakes when made don't fluff up.

Ingredients: -
125g Maida
3 eggs
250 ml milk
3 apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon powder
Butter

Method: -
1. Remove the skin of the apples & grate them (medium).
2. In a grinder/blender add milk, flour, eggs, salt, Cinnamon & sugar together.
3. Beat until smooth. The consistency of the batter must be like dose hittu.
4. Add the grated apple pieces & mix well. Leave the batter for around 10-15 minutes.
5. Then heat a skillet & melt a small amount of butter on it.
6. Pour enough pancake batter onto the skillet & spread it.
7. Once the rim of the pancake starts to become brown, it's time to flip.
8. With the help of a spatula turn it around. It doesn't take much time on the second side.
9. Continue baking the rest of the batter like this.
10. As topping you can use ready made pancake syrup, which is usually available in the market. 11. After adding the topping, fold pancakes in half with the topping on the inside & lightly sprinkle cinnamon sugar over top.

Menasina saaru / Pepper rasam

Unfortunately both of us are not keeping well; flu & cold. So time to try my mum's age old recipe of Menasina saaru. I don't like it much & whenever someone makes it, I almost feel I'm sick. But had no other choice & had to prepare it. My mum prepares it with togari bele (toor dal) most of the time. So did I.

Ingredients: -

1 tsp Udina bele (Black gram)

2 tsp Pepper balls

1 tsp jeera/cumin

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp dhania

2 tsp ghee

2 tbsp jaggary

1 cup milk

1/2 cup desiccated or dry coconut

1 tsp concentrated tamarind paste

Coriander & curry leaves

1 cup togari bele (toor dal)

Salt

Method: -

1. Pressure cook togari bele with little salt & turmeric.

2. Heat the ghee in a pan & add mustard & wait till it pops.

3. Add Udhina bele, jeera, pepper balls, dhania & turmeric.

4. Roast till the bele turns a shade of light brown.

5. As we'd cold we could actually get any aroma. But after clearing the nose, we some how managed to get a very strong aroma of the masala being roasted. The pepper balls began to pop, which indicated, that the mixture was ready to be ground.

6. Add coconut & dry grind. No water to be used.
7. In the pan add the cooked toor dal, tamarind & jaggary. Bring it to boil & check if jaggary has completely dissolved.

8. Add the ground powder, jaggery, salt & curry leaves. Allow it to boil for around 5 minutes.
9. Add milk & let it boil. The moment the Rasam begins to boil, remove from fire.

10. To add ogarne (tadka), in hot ghee let mustard seeds splutter & add it to the Rasam. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Palak Paneer

It was a long time since I made anything with Palak other than the usual sambar. So made fresh Paneer & so Palak Paneer


Ingredients: -
1 cup Palak
250g Paneer
2 medium sized tomatoes / one small tin of tomato paste
1 big onion, finely chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
2 pepper balls
1-2 cloves depending on the taste
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp jeera
1/2 turmeric
2 tsp curds
Cashew nuts, for garnishing. Roasted in little butter
Salt
Oil



Method: -
Pre-preparation of the paneer: -
1. In a heated pan, add 1 tsp of ghee. Saute the paneer cubes till they turn golden brown.
2. Remove it into a cup & pour a cup of hot water on to the fried paneer cubes.
3. Let them remain in hot water for 10-15 minutes, then drain the water & keep aside. This makes the paneer really soft & removes excess ghee sticking to its surface.


Preparation of the Gravy: -
1. In a pan, heat oil & add jeera, cloves, pepper, Cinnamon & turmeric. (medium flame)
2. Add onions & fry until they sweat.
3. Add ginger-garlic paste & saute for a minute.
4. Add palak & fry for 3-5 minutes.
5. Add chili powder, garam masala & salt.
6. Mix well & then add tomatoes along with curds.
7. Cook till the tomatoes melt/get cooked well in the pan.
8. Let the mixture in the pan cool down completely.
9. Grind the mixture to a thick fine paste.
10. Put the mixture back into the pan & cook on medium flame.
11. Add little water.
12. Cook for 5 minutes. Add Paneer cubes & cook for 2 more minutes.
13. Remove from fire & garnish with roasted cashew nuts.

Gobi Paratha

Both of us love anything with Gobi, curry, sabji, starter or parathas. Had left over Gobi, so made parathas.

Ingredients: -

2 cups cauliflower, finely chopped / grated

2-3 green chilies, finely chopped

1" piece of ginger

1 tsp jeera

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 pepper

Salt

Method: -

1. Make the chapati dough. Make sure there is enough moisture in it to keep it soft & smooth for around 20 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a pan & add jeera, green chilies & ginger.

3. Mix well till the raw smell of ginger disappears.

4. Then add the cauliflower, turmeric, garam masala, salt & pepper. Mix well.

5. Cook on low flame, till the cauliflower is tender. Don't add water any point of time. The filling has to be as dry as possible. Cool it completely before using as filling.

6. Take a ball of chapati dough slightly thicker than the usual chapati (large egg size or peach size) & roll it to a circle 4-5 inches in diameter.

7. Place cauliflower mixture on it & seal the edges completely so that the stuffing does not come out.

8. Flatten these balls & roll into a 6 inch circle.

9. Pre-heat the tawa.

10. Place the paratha over it & spread little oil or butter & cook over low heat.

11. Turn it again & spread butter/oil on the other side.

12. Cook both sides till golden brown.

13. Serve hot by cutting into pieces or whole with any dry sabji or curry or with yogurt.

Paneer Jalfrezi

Jalfrezi is a type of Indian curry in which pieces of vegetables are fried in oil and spices to produce a dry, thick sauce. It is cooked with green chillies, with the result that a jalfrezi can range in heat from a medium dish to a very hot one. Other main ingredients include peppers, onion and tomato. The jalfrezi dates from the times of the British Raj. The name comes indirectly from Bengali jhāl, spicy food, and Urdu parhezī, suitable for a diet.

Ingredients: -

1 cup Paneer, preferably diced

1 big Onion, diced

1 big tomato, cut into pieces or use tomato puree

1 big Capsicum, diced

2 tbsp Oil

1 tsp Jeera
1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste

1/2 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
3/4 tsp dhania powder
1 tsp Lemon juice

Salt

Method: -

1. Heat oil in a pan & add Jeera, Ginger-garlic paste & onion

2. When the onion edges begin to turn golden brown, add capsicum & salt.
3. Cook for sometime & then add red chili powder, turmeric & dhania powder.
4. Add tomato pieces after 5 minutes. Tomato puree can also be added.

5. When the gravy thickens a little, add the paneer pieces.
6. Cook till the masala binds with the paneer.
7. Add 1 tsp lime juice before removing from flame.

8. Garnish with fried Almond or kasoori methi or coriander.

Bread Upittu/Upma

When lota bread left at home, then is the time to make upittu or tikki. I made it for breakfast today. East to make unlike the traditional upittu.

Ingredients: -

5-6 slices of medium sized normal bread

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 potato, cut into small pieces

1-2 green chilies or according to taste

1/2 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp Sambar powder or garam masala

Coriander to garnish

Salt

Oil

Method: -

1. In a pan heat 3 tsp of oil & add mustard seeds.

2. When the seeds begin to crack, add onions.

3. Saute till the onions begin to sweat.

4. Add potatoes & mix well.

5. Add turmeric, Sambar powder & salt.

6. Mix well, so that each potato piece has the masala sticking to it. Peas & carrots can also be added.

7. Close the pan with a lid & let the vegetables cook for 3-4 minutes.

8. In the meanwhile, cut & remove the brown crust from each slice.

9. Make 3 vertical cuts & 3 horizontal cuts on each slice so as to get 9 pieces from each.

10. If the bread is little hard, sprinkle water & keep them aside.

11. Check the vegetables, by breaking a pieces of potato in the pan.

12. The add the break pieces & mix well so that the masala sticks to each pieces.

13. Garnish with coriander & preferably serve hot.

Shahi Paneer

Time to try something new with Paneer. We were out for deepavali celebration with friends. So had time to experiment only on Saturday nite after we came back home. Shahi paneer is one of my favorite paneer delicacies which I order often when I'm in an Indian restaurant. After having read many blogs & recipes in the books I've, I prepared it by following the method below.

Ingredients: -

250 gm Paneer, cut into cubes

2 tbsp butter

1 big onion, finely chopped

1" piece ginger, finely chopped

2 green chillies or according to taste, finely chopped

2 medium sized tomatoes, finely chopped

2 tsp tomato puree for extra richness

2 tsp cardamom powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/4 cup beaten curd

1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp garam masala

Almonds, blanched, sliced & fried

Coriander

Salt

Method: -

1. Heat little butter in a pan.

2. Add the paneer cubes & fry very carefully by turning the cubes once in every 20 seconds. If needed add extra butter to prevent the cubes from becoming hard.

3. When the edges of the cubes start turning golden yellow, remove the cubes from the pan & transfer them to a cup containing little warm water. This is done to retain the softness of the paneer.
4. After 5 minutes drain the water.

5. In the same pan heat the remaining butter.

6. Add onion, ginger, green chili, turmeric & cardamom.

7. Saute till the onion starts to sweat.

8. Add chili powder & garam masala.

9. Add tomatoes & cook for 7-8 minutes, by covering the pan with a lid.

10. Then add curds & cook for another 5 minutes.

11. Add 1/2 cup water & remove from fire.

12. Let the mixture cool down completely.

13. Grind it to get a smooth gravy.

14. Transfer the gravy into the pan & bring it to boil to get the desired thickness.

15. Add milk & fried paneer cubes. Mix well.

16. Garnish with chopped coriander & almonds.

Home made Paneer

It was really an experience making Paneer at home. I'd made it once long time back & hadn't turned out that great. So had given up the idea of trying again. After searching to find a paneer equivalent in German & Turkish shops, thought of trying it again. The cheese which I used for paneer butter masala was not that good. I would be making something for deepavali with Paneer for the festival on Saturday or probably next week.

As I was researching online to find a good method to start with, I was getting disappointed as I din't have the right type of cheese cloth at home to prepare paneer. I asked our neighbor, who is a grandma as to how was the cheese prepared in olden days. She got me a cloth that some how resembled bandage cloth. She then told me it's called "babywindeln" in German.

Ingredients: -

2 lt 3.8% milk (more fat content in the milk, the better Paneer can be made)

3-4 tbsp fresh lime juice

Cheese cloth

Something heavy to keep on the cheese cloth with paneer.

Method: -

1. In a heavy bottom pan, pour milk & bring it to boil.

2. The milk has to be constantly stirred in order to prevent cream formation & to ensure the bottom of the pan is not getting burnt.

3. When the milk begins to boil, add fresh lime juice.
4. The milk solidifies & one can see it getting separated from water. This doesn't happen immediately though.

5. Strain the cheese-water mixture through the cheese cloth as shown below.

6. Squeeze as much water as possible by hanging the cheese cloth & placing a vessel below it to collect water.

7. Then tie a knot & place the cheese cloth bundle in a box without closing it.

8. Place something heavy like a pile of books or a brick on the box in a way that the weight is directly on the cheese cloth. This will press down the cheese.
9. Let this be for 2-3 hours.

10. Then remove the cheese from the cloth & cut it into small cubes or desired shape.

11. Store it in the refrigerator. Hopefully it should stay for a week at least.

Paneer Butter Masala

Paneer butter masala, a Punjabi cuisine is one of my favorite dishes which I order when I'm in India in a restaurant. Here we usually don't get to see it on the menu so have to explicitly ask & order it. I tried it out for the first time with lot of apprehensions. Never knew onion & tomato paste would be so good to the taste buds. The dish gets its richness also from the cashew nut paste that is mixed in the curry.

Ingredients: -

250g Paneer

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp fresh cream

1 tsp curd

1 big onion

2 big tomatoes or a small tin of tomato puree

100g cashew nuts or a fist full

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp dhania

1/2 tsp methi & mustard powder (optional. I used it as I'd it at home)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp Kasoori methi

1 tsp garam masala

Coriander

Salt

Method: -

Preparation of the cashew nut paste: -

1. Soak the cashew nuts in Luke warm water for about 10-15 minutes.

2. With very little water or no water dry grind the cashew nuts into a smooth paste.

Pre-preparation of the paneer: -

1. In a heated pan, add 1 tsp of ghee. Saute the paneer cubes till they turn golden brown.

2. Remove it into a cup & pour a cup of hot water on to the fried paneer cubes.

3. Let them remain in hot water for 10-15 minutes, then drain the water & keep aside. This makes the paneer really soft & removes excess ghee sticking to its surface.

Preparation of the onion-tomato paste: -

1. Heat a pan & add 2 tsp of butter.

2. Add the finely chopped onion & saute for a minute.

3. Add turmeric powder & mix well so that all the onion pieces turn yellow.

4. Add tomatoes & mix well. Close the pan with a lid & let the tomatoes cook for 2 minutes.

5. Remove from fire & let the mixture cool.

6. Grind the mixture into a fine paste.

Preparation of the curry: -

1. Heat the pan & add 2 tsp of butter.

2. Add ginger garlic paste & fry till the raw smell of the garlic vanishes.

3. Add the nut paste & fry for a minute or so.

4. Now add the onion-tomato paste & saute well.

5. Add salt, chili powder, dhania powder, methi-mustard powder & garam masala.

6. Add fried paneer cubes & cook on a low flame for 4-5 minutes.

7. Add a little water & let it cook for another 10 minutes or till the desired curry consistency is got.

8. Remove from fire, add fresh cream & curds.

9. Garnish with Kasoori methi & coriander leaves.

10. Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Gojjavalakki

This dish is usually prepared during Shivaraathri & Krishnajanmaashtami.

Ingredients: -
1 cup Hard Avalakki/Poha
2 tbsp Tamarind paste
1.5 tbsp Jaggery

1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp Kadle bele/Bengal gram dal
1/2 tsp Udhina bele/Urad dal

1/4 tsp methi powder
1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp ground nut
1 tsp Sambar powder/puliogare mix
Coriander

Oil

Method: -

1. Grind the hard poha coarsly.

2. Wash the poha & leave it with little water in a stainer.

3. In a pan heat oil & prepare the ogarne with Sasve (mustard), Kadle bele, Udhina bele, turmeric & ground nuts.

4. Add tamarind paste, jaggery & poha at the end. Mix well.

5. Add methi powder.

6. Put little water & close the pan.

7. After 5 minutes/after the poha has become soft, remove from fine. Garnish with coriander & serve hot.

I'm sending this post to Suganya's Vegan Ventures.