Green Salad. (कांद्याच्या पातीची कोशिंबीर )

Green Salad. (कांद्याच्या पातीची कोशिंबीर )



After a long absence I am back again. 
Today I am making green salad with a twist.

Spring Onion Salad



For this you will need:
1 bunch spring onions with greens intact
1 green chilly
1/4 cup grated fresh coconut
1 tblsp sesame seeds
1 tblsp flax seeds
1 tblsp lemon juice or to taste
salt to taste

Finely cut greens of the spring onions

                                  Grated fresh coconut

                            Sesame seeds

                               Flax seeds

Method :

Wash, dry and finely cut the greens of spring onions. (Keep the onions for some other use) Cut finely the green chilly. Dry roast the sesame seeds and flax seeds separately till crisp and the colour changes slightly. Keep aside to cool.
Now mix the spring onion, chilly, coconut, lemon juice and salt lightly but thoroughly. Just before serving add the roasted cooled seeds and give it a quick mix. Serve this delicious and healthy salad. It will become a favourite in your family as it has become with my family. 
The crunch of the sesame seeds and flax seeds is very makes this salad different so add it just before serving.

Yam Hot, Sweet and Sticky Style

Yam Hot, Sweet and Sticky Style

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 thinking of something with Yam for alphabet Y and I did not want to make the regular yam curry or Yam Bhaaji which we make to eat with chapatis or rice. I happen to see a cookery show which was showing some  street food recipes from Malaysia and Indonesia. There was this pork recipe which had interesting flavours and looked good. It was some sort of sour/sticky/hot and sweet reicpe. I don't like vinegar so I substituted that with tamarind. 

Here is my 7th recipe for International / fusion category. This was to be a baked recipe but somehow I ended with this as an extra in this category and one less in baked category. 

Ingredients:

250 gms Yam cut into pieces as shown

3 - 4  tamarind pieces

1 big onion

2 tblsp chopped garlic

2 tblsp chopped ginger

2 tblsp chopped green chillies

4 tblsp brown sugar or jaggery ( I used jaggery)

salt to taste

4 tblsp oil

Method:

Boil the yam pieces with tamarind and salt till they are cooked but not very soft. 

Drain well and let cool. remove all the tamarind pieces.

Heat oil and add chopped onion, garlic, ginger and chillies, stir till raw smell of garlic goes and it becomes golden brown.

Add the yam pieces and mix gently but well. 

Once all the jaggery is dissolved and the pieces are well coated serve hot garnished with a few pieces of coriander leaves.

Serve this as a snack. 

Note: It is very important to cook Yam with the tamarind. Some times yam gives irritation or itchy feeling to the throat. Tamarind helps in removing this irritation. It also gives the sour taste to the yam and helps in retaining the shape and does not get over cooked. 

Logo by Preeti.

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 :)

Xacuti

Xacuti

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 wanted to Xacuti for a long time. Somehow it was not happening for many reasons. Whenever I said I am making it, I was discouraged by saying you can only make non vegetarian Xacuti. I cook non vegetarian food but don't eat and since it is just my husband and I that I will be cooking for, it becomes difficult to cook non veg and veg the same day. I was searching for some other recipes with X when I happened to chance upon some vegetarian version of it. 

Actually I had got one very nice recipe using drumsticks called Xengo Temperado, from one of my old cook books but unfortunately I did not have drumsticks so I had to make Xacuti. 

I have used the masala that my neighbour had told me about many years back. There are many ingredients and many steps involved in making Xacuti but it is worth the effort. 

Though the spelling is Xacuti it is pronounced as Shaguti or Shagoti. Because I was given the Masala recipe for 1 kilo of chicken I am giving you the same. But I only made the with about 250 gms of vegetable reserving the masala to be used on another day.

Ingredients: 

1 kg vegetables, I used mix of medium size potatoes, small onions and small brinjals. Peel and make two pieces of the potatoes. Peel and keep onions whole. Remove the stalk and cut the brinjals into two pieces vertically. Keep potatoes and brinjals in water till needed.

For the Masala: 

1 cup grated/scrapped coconut

1 big onion peeled and sliced thin

10 to 12 Dried Kashmiri chillies*

1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds

2 tblsp dhane/coriander seeds

1 tblsp khuskhus/poppy seeds

6 to 8 kali miri/black pepper corns

2" piece of dalchini/cinamon

6 lavang/cloves

1 badiyan/star anise

2 tsp badishep/ Fennel seeds

1/2 tsp haldi/turmeric powder

* I have used red chilli powder made of kashmiri chillies as I did not have whole kashmiri chillies.

other ingredients: 

1/2 cup thick coconut milk

2 cups thin coconut milk

1 big onion sliced thin

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

3 to 4 pieces of kokum

4 tblsp oil

salt to taste

Lemon juice to taste

1 tblsp coconut oil (optional)

Method: 

First make the masala. To make if first heat a iron or any thick kadhai/pan and and on medium heat roast the scrapped coconut till golden brown. Remove and keep aside. 

Now add 1 tblsp oil and fry the dry kashmiri chillies for a few seconds or till they are coated with oil. Drain and remove and keep aside.

Now in the same kadhai/pan roast  cumin seeds, coriander seeds, poppy seeds, black pepper corns, cinamon, cloves, star anise,

fennel seeds for a few minutes on low heat. Do not let the spices burn. They should be just fragrant and crisp. Cool
When the spices  cold grind it to a smooth paste along with coconut, Kashmiri chillies  and turmeric powder. Use a little water. The paste has to be smooth. 
Now in a pan heat oil and add kokum and saute for a few seconds and add sliced onions and saute till onions are translucent. 
Add ginger garlic pastes and saute further for a few minutes or till the raw smell goes. 
Add the vegetables and give it a good stir so that all the vegetables will be coated with oil. Cover and cook on high heat for 4 to 5 minutes stirring  once. 
Add the masala and mix well. Add the thin coconut milk and let it come to a simmer and lower the heat and let cook till the vegetables are cooked. The thin coconut milk will have reduced to almost nothing. Now add the thick coconut milk, salt and lemon juice. 



Switch off heat and pour the coconut oil, if using.   









Serve hot with rice 











or chapati/roti. 

This is my 7th regional recipe and it comes from Goa. 

Logo by Preeti.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

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 again is recipe I had seen years ago, in one of those Women's Home (UK),  Good Housekeeping (USA) magazines kept in our club house for the ladies to read. We kids would pour over the pictures and drool without knowing anything about its content. We were least interested in reading recipes or even finding out what they were. Cakes, desserts and such were oohed and aahed about. Non Vegetarian was accepted but personally I never ate. Years went by and I read a recipe for Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie. Looked interesting and easy. So tried my hand and everyone loved it. Over the years I made changes to the filling, tried various combinations. Most were successful. Some just ok. None was too bad or not edible. The topping was always mashed potatoes. Sometimes plain other times with herbs or cheese or even chillies and garlic.
So this here is my version of Shepherd's Pie. Original recipe is from the book Great Vegetarian Dishes by Kurma Dasa. Kurma Dasa belongs to the ISKCON family and does not use onion or garlic. My apologies to him, I have used garlic in my filling and the mashed potatoes too.

Ingredients:


1 cup cooked chickpeas/chole*
1/4 cup mini soya chunks*
1/4 cup grated carrot ( I used this only for the colour)
1/4 cup small pieces of paneer
2 cubes cheese, grated
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp chopped garlic
Juice of 1 lime
salt to taste.

*Soak chole in plenty of water for 6 to 8 hours and then pressure cook with salt in it till cooked but firm.
*Soak mini soya chunks in buttermilk for an hour and then pressure cook till two whistles, after the pressure drops drain and soak in  water and let sit for 10 minutes, drain and squeeze out the water.





Mix everything together. 

Put it in a greased baking dish/tray.

For the topping:

3 big potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed when hot
2 tblsp butter (amul or similar)
1 tblsp chopped herbs of your choice or just crushed black pepper 
1 tsp garlic paste or crushed garlic
1 tblsp cream
1/4 cup milk
salt to taste
Mash the potatoes when they are hot. add cream and the butter and beat well. Slowly add milk and beat to mix and become fluffy. Add salt, garlic and pepper and mix well. Spread evenly over the filling. 




Bake in hot oven for 30 minutes or till the top is crisp and golden brown in colour. 

Remove and cool slightly. 

                                                           

                                                                                                             

 Serve Hot or Warm. You can serve some whipped sour cream with this. I did not have it so I skipped it.

This is my 4th recipe in baked category.

Logo By Preeti

BM # 32 hosted by Srivalli of  http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.in/

Quiche

Quiche

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 one recipe i wanted to make for a long time but somehow I did not even attempt it. When I joined A to Z FBM I knew what I would be doing for Q. This recipe for quiche was inspired from the book 'Great Vegetarian Dishes' by Kurma Dasa. I had watched this programme on Star TV somewhere in 1990 when there was only one English TV channel. There was a cooking show everyday at one particular time and I would watch it regularly. This chef Kurma Dasa is Australian but is from the ISKCON family and cooks great vegetarian food. He does not use onions and garlic too. I was hooked to his shows. At the end of the show they would show an address from where you could get his books. The address was Australian and the main office was in Varanasi (Benaras). I sent a letter asking for the price and how I could order it. To my utter surprise and delight, I got the book by paid parcel. I did not have to pay a single rupee for it. I have done many recipes from it and it is like the book for international vegetarian recipes. 

Half the things necessary to make such recipes are not available to me in my town so I adept and use what is available or then make do without if it is possible. 

For this Quiche you will need the following or rather I used the following ingredients and this is how I made it. It came out very well and was delicious warm or cold.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

1/2 cup refined vegetable oil

1 1/2 cup wheat atta/wholemeal flour

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp roasted cumin/jeera powder

salt to taste

water as needed

Mix all the ingredients for the pastry  except water and rub well to make it look like bread crumbs. Add a little cold water, about 2 tblsp and make a firm pastry. 



 Press evenly into one 9 inch flan dish or pan with loose bottom. 












 Bake in hot oven till light brown. 

 Let cool completely.






For the filling you will need:

  
 1 big onion chopped fine

1 big green capsicum chopped fine
1/2 cup sweet corn kernels
1 tsp chopped green chillies
1 tblsp chopped garlic





Some dry herbs like thyme, basil, oregano, rosemary (choose 2 or 3 that you prefer)

salt to taste

 


1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tblsp tomato ketchup
2 tblsp corn flour
                                                                                                                                                       

1 cup grated cheese. I grated 6 cubes of cheese

For topping:  
1 big tomato cut in thin round slices

How to proceed:
Beat the cream cheese till it is soft and fluffy. Add sour cream and beat well. Add tomato ketchup, herbs and all the other filling ingredients. Mix well but lightly . It will look like this



  

Now spread the filling in the baked pastry shell and smoothen it. Arrange  tomato slices over it.

Bake in hot oven till the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden like this. for about 20 to 30 minutes

 

 



Remove from the tin and serve.  

 



You can serve it hot or cold. 

Some notes:
I used hung curds instead of cream cheese as it is not available in my town. I put just set curd/yougurt/dahi in a big strainer lined with a clean handkerchief and kept it in fridge to drain overnight. You can use hung curds but it should not be sour.

For sour cream I used regular cream with a little hung curd mixed in it. 

Many thanks to Kurma Dasa for his original recipe in Great Vegetarian Dishes. 

This is my 4th international/fusion recipe

logo by Preeti.

Food Bloggin Marathon # 32 organised by:

http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.in/