Zunka

Zunka

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. 

Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

"Zunka" is my 8th regional recipe and it comes from Maharashtra. It is the most famous regional recipe from rural areas. It is a quick and easy recipe. As always there are hundreds of ways to make this. Some prefer it very dry and this version is taken on travels specially pilgrimages which go on for many days. Others make it less dry sort of thick gravy like. If it is pourable consistency then it is called "PITHLA" .  Zunka is eaten with "Bhakri"which is roti made from jwari/jowar/sorghum,  bajri/millet, ragi/nachani/red millet or rice flour. 
When I was doing this after the onions were transluscent I poured the besan as mentioned and covered and forgot to take the next photographs. My husband and I were also very hungry and so as soon as the Zunka was ready I served us and we happily ate. It was only as I removed the leftover Zunka in a smaller vessel that I remembered that I had to take photographs. So I have photos half way through and then the end product for you to see. :( Sorry. 

Here is my recipe for alphabet Z - Zunka

Ingredients: 

 1 cup besan/chickpea flour
1 big onion thinly sliced
8 to 10 garlic
1+ 1/2 cup sour buttermilk
small lemon size ball of tamarind
a sprig of curry leaves
salt to taste



For tempring :
4 to 6 tblsp oil for tempering
1/4 tsp rai/mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
1/4 tsp haldi/turmeric powder
a big pinch methi/fenugreek seeds
a big pinch of hing/asefotida powder
1 tsp red chilli powder or to taste

For garnish
finely cut fresh coriander leaves

Method:

Mix besan in one cup sour buttermilk. Make lump free batter. If you don't have sour buttermilk then mix in with 1+ 1/2 cup of tamarind water. For tamarind water, soak tamarind for 15 minutes in  water and then gently squeeze and strain and use. Do not squeeze out the pulp or it will become very sour and the colour too will be brownish and not very appetising to look. Add salt to taste. Add the curry leaves, salt and red chilli powder. Mix well. Keep aside.


In a thick bottom pan or a kadhai heat oil till hot and add mustard seeds, wait till they splutter and then add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds. Add asefotida. 






Add garlic and fry till golden brown. 









Add onions and cover and cook for two minutes or till translucent. 







Now pour the besan mixed with sour buttermilk and stir and cover and cook for 2 minutes on high heat. Remove cover, stir and cover again and cook for 8 to 10 minutes on low heat. Stir in between to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan. Zunka is ready when the raw smell of the besan goes and it all comes together. 


Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with bhakri or roti of your choice and sliced onion and green chillies. 






I have served  regular wheat roti here as we had finished the bhakris. Also the reason for small amount of Zunka. Had thought of cooking again but last few days I was away from home and computer too. Soon I will add a better photograph of Zunka with Bhakri. But for today it is too late :)

Ukdiche Modak

Ukdiche Modak

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. 

Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

I was very tempted to post this on Ganesh Chaturthi with a different name but somehow it did not feel right. Our family Ganapati is the main home where my husband's cousin and his family live. For one and half day's celebration we are there the whole time. Now all the children have flown the coop and it is just us oldies who celebrate, but when everyone was there or was able to come it use to be great. The older generation was there to guide us and 3 generations of guests would be there for the pooja and prasad which is the afternoon meal.
Modak and at least two other sweets is a must. The vegetables too are the same that are used for 'Naivaidya'. 
This is how the Ukdiche Modak are done.
To make the Ukad for the outer covering:
 Rice is the only important ingredient in this.  We use a local variety called 'kasbai'. But any which is sticky is fine. Now a days even Basmati is used.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo rice
Soak the rice in water for 1/2 an hour and then drain and let dry in shade for a day or two. It should be absolutely dry. The grind it at home or get it done in the flour mill. See to it that it is pure rice flour and not mixed with some other grain. Now to make Ukad
1+ 1/4 cup rice flour
1/2 tsp salt
1+1/2 cups water
1 tsp oil
extra oil for kneading
Keep the water to boil in a thick bottom pan or non stick pan. Add salt and 1 tsp oil and bring it to a rolling boil. lower the heat and while stirring the water add the rice flour in a steady trickle and once all rice flour is gone give a good stir and cover and cook for 10 minutes on low flame. remove lid and give it a good stir. If it has all come together it is done. If not sprinkle some water and cover and cook further for 5 to 8 minutes. Remove in a steel plate to knead. as soon as you can handle it start kneading while still hot. Be careful. Do not burn yourself. If you can't handle the warm dough use a small vessel or back of a katori/steel cup to press and knead the dough. Kneading is very very important. It should become pliable and soft and smooth as you knead. Use oiled palms. Once done keep the dough (Ukad) under a wet muslin cloth or a clean kitchen towel. Now break off a lemon size ball of Ukad and flatten it in the palms of your hands to make a flat disc. Make pleats around the disc and fill about 1 tblsp of the coconut filling and close the open pleated edge by bringing together all the pleats and pinching and making a point at the top. remove excess ukad. In this much amount you should get 21 Modaks. 





To make the coconut filling:
1 big fresh coconut, grated or scraped
Jaggery equal amount of coconut by volume
1 tsp nutmeg powder
1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Mix everything together and keep aside for 10 minutes. In a heavy bottom pan or a non stick pan heat the coconut mixture stirring all the time till jaggery is dissolved and there are no traces of any liquid. Do not over cook or it will become hard. It takes about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool and use to fill the Modaks.
Once you have enough modaks done heat water in the lower half of the a double boiler or modak patra and keep the modaks in single layer in the lined upper basket of the double boiler. Line it with banana leaves. 


Close the vessel and steam Modaks for 15 to 20 minutes or till translucent. 















Let cool and remove to be served with home made ghee.

This is the way the Naivaidya is offered. Each thing has a sequence on how and where to put on the thali.

Traditionally Banana leaf is used But we put it vertical with the narrow part away from you. Salt is never offered with this. It is served after one starts the meal. 

                       

 Decorated Ganapati with offerings in the front. This is a permanent place. The peacocks are done in glazed tiles and are more than 75 years old. The wooden frame is hand carved. 

 The true Naivaidya of Modaks in the special silver vessel for this purpose. 

This is my 6th recipe in regional category

I tried loading a video I had shot while making these modaks but could not upload. Will try again and hope this time it will upload. 

Misal Paav

Misal Paav

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. 

Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

We had been to Kolahpur which is famous for this humble yet filling dish. We had been to the famous "Fadtare Misal" at about 9 am. There was a queue of about 12 to 15 people before us. We were 4 but had to sit separately when our turn came. It is that crowded. If you wait for more seats to empty it might be past there serving time. It is a simple place with limited seating but the Misal they churn out is simply wonderful. 

This is a recipe very similar to what we had in Kolhapur. Now this Misal will vary from place to place and from family to family. There is no right or wrong recipe. 

Of course there is a difference between Misal from Kolahpur and Misal from Pune and Dahi Misal from Mumbai. The masalas are different and so is the proportion of the lentils and pulses But basically the recipe is the same everywhere.

Ingredients:

2 cups Mixed Sprouts (Matki/moth/moog/moong/red and green gram/white and green peas) Soaked overnight and sprouted for a whole day or you could get ready made sprouts available in the market. Matki/moth proportion has to be 2:1 That is 2 parts matki/moth and 1 part  rest of the sprouts.

For  tempering:

 2 tblsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds/rai
1/2 tsp cumin / jeera
a few fenugreek /methi seeds
1/4 tsp asefotida/hing
1/4 tsp turmeric/haldi powder

10 - 12  curry leaves        

1 tsp red chilly powder or to taste

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp goda/black masala, optional (This is available in the market)  

For serving:

2 big oinions finely chopped

2 big tomatoes chopped

100 gms mixture/farsan of your choice

100 gms bhavnagri sev

100 gms fine sev

lots of fresh coriander leaves finely chopped to add to the misal and to sprinkle over the misal while serving

few limes cut into quaters     

For the fresh masala:

 1/2 cup  grated fresh coconut

2 tblsp sesame seeds/till

1 big onion chopped

7-8 black pepper corns

3-4 cloves

2-3 green cardamom

1" piece of ginger

7-8 garlic cloves 

Grind all this together to a fine paste using little water if needed.

   For the potato Bhaaji :

2 large potatoes

1 tsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds/rai

1/4 tsp cumin / jeera

a few fenugreek /methi seeds

1/4 tsp asefotida/hing

1/4 tsp turmeric/haldi powder

10 - 12  curry leaves

 salt to taste

 juice of 1/2 a lime

Pressure cook  the potatoes. Cool. Peel and chop into small pieces. Heat oil and add mustard, cumin, fenugreek, asefotida, turmeric, curry leaves and stir well. Add salt and juice of lime and give a good stir. Keep aside to cool.  

Pressure cook the sprouts in plenty of water. Be careful it should be just cooked. Not under cooked nor over cooked.

In a deep pan or a wok/kadhai heat oil  and add mustard, cumin and fenugreek and let the mustard crackle. Now add asefotida, turmeric and curry leaves.  Add the fresh masala paste fry till the it changes colour and the raw smell has gone.  Add the cooked  sprouts with the water. Let it come to a boil and then add chilly powder, garam masala and goda masala if using. Add salt to taste.

Let it come to a good boil and then cover and simmer on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes. 







This is how it will look when done. even though we have used little oil it floats on top along with the chilly powder and garam masala. 




This is called Usal. Now we make Misal.

To serve:

In a deep dish or a wide bowl put about 1 cup/ladle of the Usal and the gravy. Put some potaoes, chopped onions, The mixture/farsan, bhavnagri sev, fine sev, chopped tomatoes and finely chopped fresh coriander leaves. Serve with sliced bread of your choice or with pav and a couple of pieces of lime.

You can drizzel a little tamarind + Jagery Chutney over it if you like.

Misal pav is served. 

This is my 5th recipe in Regional category
logo by Preeti.

http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.in/

Khandvi

Khandvi

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. 

Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

This is a very easy and quick recipe to make and almost an instant sweet to make for the unexpected guests. 
This is not to be confused with the Gujarati Recipe of the same name, which is a savoury one. This is done in some communities of Maharashtra, particularly in the Kokan belt.

This is actually cooked in sugarcane juice. But now with hygiene of these sugarcane stalls in question and availability of good quality sugarcane juice  has become rare so it is made by dissolving jagery in water and using it to sweeten it instead of sugarcane juice. 
If you have access to good quality sugarcane juice please do try making with it. The taste is much better with it.You will need double the amount of juice and will have to boil it to reduce it. So 10 cups of juice boiled and reduced to make 5 cups and then used, will give a wonderful taste to these Kandvi.

Ingredients:

 1 cup Rice rawa or regular big grain rawa/sooji/semolina
1 tblsp ghee
1 +1/4 cup jaggery* 
1 tblsp grated ginger
1 cup grated fresh coconut
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg/jaiphal (optional)
4 to 5 cups water
1/2 cup chopped mixed nuts (optional)
*These are not very sweet but if you prefer it you can add more jagery.

Keep water to boil in a steel pan/ vessel and add jagerry salt and grated ginger to the water. Once the water boils lower the heat and let it simmer till the rawa is done. The water should simmer at least 5 to 7 minutes after jaggery melts.
Heat a heavy bottom pan/kadhai on medium heat on the other stove and add ghee and let it melt. Add rawa and roast till light golden brown in colour. Now add the grated fresh coconut and roast for about 5 minutes or till you get the roasted coconut smell.
Now add the hot water to the hot rawa and stir quickly so no lumps form. Be very careful when you add the water. Mixture will start to thicken almost immediately. Cover and cook for 10 minutes on low heat. Stir once.

 Pour in a greased tray and shake the tray to level and smoothen it. Leave it to cool. You can  sprinkle chopped nuts as soon as it is poured in the tray to make it richer. I didn't use as I prefer plain.

 Cut into squares or diamond when cool.

 Serve with fresh grated coconut and a spoonful of ghee. 
This can be served at room temperature or cold.




This is my 4th regional recipe.








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Grated Potato Pancake

Grated Potato Pancake

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. 

Regional Food, 

Baked Dishes, 

International Flavors / Fusion flavors, 

Street Food / Condiments / Misc / Recipe less Posts on Food

In one very old issue of Women and Home (British edition) I had read about European food and those days  I was only interested in cakes and desserts. But there was this picture of Swiss Rosti, a golden crisp looking pancake made of potatoes that got me thinking, how  it was similar to our very own potato pancake. Of course the spices and binding was totally different but the picture and recipe stayed with me for many many years.

With the internet and world getting smaller each day I was able to Google and search for the recipe and compare it. Here I am giving you my take on 'Swiss Rosti' which is "Maharashtrian Batatyache Thalipeeth"

This goes under International / fusion recipe. Most of the European countries too have a version of this recipe.
This can also be eaten for fast,  but then instead of rice flour isabudana/sago or shingada/water chestnut flour is used. 

Ingredients:

2 big potatoes grated
1 cup grated fresh coconut
1/4 cup roasted ground/peanut powder (coarse)
1 tblsp chopped green chillies or to taste
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
1/4 tsp cumin/jeera
1/4 cup rice flour
salt to taste
Oil/ghee for shallow frying          




Grated Potato in water




                                                      

Method : 

  Peel and grate the potatoes in water and keep aside for 15 minutes. Drain and wash grated potatoes well using a colander till the ware runs clear. Most of the starch will be washed away. 

Now add all the ingredients and mix well with a light hand. 

 Lightly brush a tawa/griddle with little oil or ghee and spread about 1/2 cup of mixture to make a thin pancake. make a hole in the center.  Drizzle oil/ghee around it and a little in the hole. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or till golden brown on the underside.

  

Flip over and cook uncovered for further 5 minutes or till both the sides are golden brown.

 Remove on a plate and  serve hot.