RCI-Rajasthan : Gatte ki Sabzi…

When i came to know about RCI-Rajasthan, i knew what I wanted to make and post…my all time favourite sabzi… Gatte ka sabzi ..a sabzi made up of besan, tomatoes and onions….

Ingredients:

For the gatte/ :

Besan :1 cup

turmeric powder : 1 tsp

Saunf : 1 tsp

red chilli powder & salt : according to taste

Dhania and jeera powder: 1-2 tsp each

ajwain: 1/2 tsp

For the gravy:

Onions: finely chopped: 1 nos med size

tomatoes : finely chopped: 2nos med size

curd : niclely beated: 1 cup

Jeera: 2 tsp

Dhania powder: 1 tsp

girnger-garlic paste: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1 tsp

Salt & chilli powder: according to taste

Method:

1.Mix all the ingredients for the gatte and make it into a dough using water.

2. Leave the dough closed in a vessel for 15 minutes.

3. Make balls out of the besan mixture and shape them in an elongated fashion as shown in the picture.

4. To cook the gatte there are two methods:

a. steam the elongated shaped gatte like idlis in a pressure cooker for 15 mins or

b. Take some water in a kadai and let it boil, drop these gatte in the boiling water and remove them from the boling water only when they start floating on the surface of the water.

5. For the gravy, heat oil in a kadai, add jeera to it and let it splutter.

6. Add the finely chopped onion and ginger - garlic paste to this and saute till both the ingredients loose their raw smell.

7. Add the tomatoes and cook them for some time.

8. Parallely, make pieces of the gatte ( appprox 1 inch in size) and fry them in oil.

9. Add the fried gatte to the tomato gravy, add curd and 2 cups of water and let the whole thing simmer for about 20 mins

10. Add salt, chilli powder and dhania powder, turmeric powder to the gravy…

11. Granish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with phulkas…

This is my contribution for RCI-Rajasthan hosted by Padmaja

Chila mein til…

Chila…hmmmm….what do i say….should i say dosa of gujarat or just besan ke gol snacks. Well… i prefer to continue with chila besan wale…here goes….

Ingredients:

Besan: 2 cups
Sour curds : water ratio (for making the batter) : 1/4 : 3/4
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
ginger-green chilli paste: according to taste
sesame seeds / til: 2 tbsp
finely chopped coriander leaves: 1 1-3 tsp
salt: according to taste
Finely chopped onions: 1 nos
oil for frying

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside for 15 mins.
2. Add water little by little if the batter is too thick
3. Heat a tawa, pour a ladle of the batter and spread it nicely…
4. Add little oil to the sides of the chila and let it cook on one side.
5. Once one side is cooked, flip and cook the other side.
6. Once cooked nicely on both sides, serve hot with chutney or sauce…

Mango Rice…

Come summer, mangoes are available in all sizes and shapes…& before we start eating the ripe mangoes, we get the raw ones…well this is the time of raw mango pickles …yummm isnt it… this mixed rice variety is a one of my favourites….

Ingredients:

Raw mango: 1 nos (medium size)
Onion: finely chopped: 2 nos (medium size)
Roasted Peanuts: 1/2 cup
Cooked rice: 4 cups or rice required for two people
turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds: 2 tsp
channa dal: 2 tsp
Ginger:1/2 inch: finely chopped
coriander leaves: for garnish
Green chillies: finely chopped: according to taste
salt: according to taste

Method:

1. Wash and grate the mango and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a kadai, add the mustard seeds, channa dal and saute till the mustard seeds splutter and channa dal becomes brown…
3. Add the onions, green chillies and ginger and saute till the onions turn pink in colour.
4. Add the grated mango, turmeric powder and saute till the mango is cooked nicely.
5. Once the mango is cooked, add the roasted peanuts, salt and rice & mix well…
6. Cook on sim flame for another 1 min…
7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot…

Moong sprouts dosa…

This variety of dosa is also called as ‘pisrat’…..an andhra dosa variety, it is very healthy and tasty…

Ingredients:

Moong sprouts: 400 gms
Sambhar onions / small onions:6-7 nos
Garlic clove: 1-2 nos
Green chillies: according to taste
salt:according to taste
oil: for making dosa

Method:

1. Grind all the ingredients into a fine paste ( ensure that the batter is of the right consistency).
2. Heat a dosa tava, pour a ladle of the batter and spread it on the tava.
3. Make a small hole in the middle with the back of the ladle, add oil on the sides and cook on one side.
4. Once one side is cooked, flip it over and let it cook nicely…
5. Serve hot with chutney or raw onions… (my favourite is this dosa with tomato sauce)..i made around 8 dosas…

This is my entry for …..
Mansi’s : WBB#20 Balanced Breakfast

and Sri’s : Dosa Mela

Vegetable Pad Thai…

I love this particular dish…usually i have used ready to make pad thai packets where we just need to mix the ingredients and vola it is ready…but this time i decided to make it from scratch…and it turned out quite nice…

Ingredients:

Flat rice noodles: 300 gms
Brown sugar: 2 tsp
white sugar: 2 tsp
Soy sauce: 3-4 tsp
Chilli flakes: according to taste
Tamarind concentrate: 2 tsp
Green onions: 5-6 nos
Onions: 2 nos med size
Bean sprouts: 1 cup
Tofu: 200 gms
Peanuts: 100 gms
salt: according to taste
coriander leaves; chopped finely for garnish
oil for frying
Method:

1. In a bowl mix sugar, tamarind extract, soy sauce and chilli flakes and set aside.
2. Take a vessel and boil water in it (such that noodles immerses completely in it). Once the water boils, add the noodles and cook till they are al dente… Once the noodles are cooked, remove them in a strainer and wash them in cold water and set aside…
3. Take a non stick kadai or wok and heat oil in it…once the oil is heated, add chopped onions to it.
4. In the wok now add the tofu pieces and fry it till it is fried & well done…( at this one could also add 1 egg and scrable it nicely)
5. Once done…Add the noodles and mix nicely.
6. To this add the sugar/ soy mixture, salt and mix well…cook till the liquid is absorbed well…
7. Switch of the gas and add green onions and bean sprouts and mix well.
8. Garnish with roasted peanuts & coriander leaves and serve hot…

Weekend snack with a twist…

Last saturday around 6.00 PM D (my sis) and M (my hubby) anf me (of course) got hungry and had a craving to eat a snack..something out of the usual and crunchy… so i went to the kitchen and got out whatever was there in my fridge and as my luck would have it on a weekend…not much..but i did have a little dosai maave (Dosa batter)..and by little i had only a couple of table spoons worth..so what to do..well we did manage to have a snack and this is how i made it….hope people like it…

Ingredients:

Dosai batter: 3 tablespoons
Onions: Chopped finely : 1 med nos
Ginger: chopped finely: 1 inch
green chillies: chopped finely: according to taste
Curd: 1 tbsp
salt: according to taste
Sooji / rava: a cup
Chopped corriander leaves: 2 tspTwist: 1 tsp of lemon juice
Oil for frying
Twist: 1 tsp lemon juice…
Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and let it stay for 10-15 minutes..
2. If the batter is too thick, some more curd could be added to get the correct consistency.
3. Heat oil in a kadai, meke take small portions of the batter (either by hand or tsp) and deep fry it.
4. Once the vadai is fried till golden brown remove them on a tissue paper….
5. Serve the tangy rava vadai with hot with chilli/ tomato sauce…

Dum Aloo…

One saturday D decided to give me and M a surprise and cooked us a delicious lunch… yumm it was..and it was potato - lecious

Ingredients:

Baby potatoes : 10 nos
Ginger-garlic paste: 1.5 tsp
Paste of two onions: med size
Tomatoes: 5- 6 nos
Cashewnuts: 1 handful soaked in water overnight
Khuskhus: 2-3 tsp: soaked along with cashewnuts
cream: 200 ml
jeera: 1.5 tsp
Whole spices: 2 elaichis, 3 cloves, 1/2 inch cinamon stick, 2 bayleaves: coarsely ground
Masala powders: 2 tsp (jeera and dhania)
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder: according to taste
salt: according to taste
Chopped corriander: 1 handful
oil for frying and sauteing

Method:

1. Par boil the potatoes , prick them a couple of time with fork anddeep fry them till they are golden brown in colour.
2. Once the potatoes are fried, take them out on a tissue paper and remove excess oil…
3. Heat oil in a pan and add jeera and the whole ground spices. Lightly saute them a min on low flame…
4. To this add the ginger-garlic and onion paste and saute it till the paste is light brown in colour.
5. Puree the tomatoes and add them with the onion paste.
6. Let the tomatoes fry nicely till it leaves oil in the corners of the pan.
7. Add the masala powders, salt and saute.
8. Grind the cashew and khus khus into a fine paste and add it to the tomato mixture.
9. Add a little water to maintain the consistency and cook till the raw smell of the cashewnut paste is lost.
10. Add the 1 cup water and get it to a gravy consistency.
11. Add the fried potatoes to this and cook it on ” DUM” for 1/2 hour…

” DUM Cooking” :
1. Make dough with wheat flour ( enough to make 2-3 balls)
2. Heat a dosa / chappati tava and place the pan with the sabzi on top of it.
3. Roll the dough into tubes and seal the space between lid and pan. Cook on low flame…
12. The Dum aloo is said to be ready when the dough gets cooked completely (this takes approx 30-45 min)
13. Open the lid and add the cream and mix well.
14. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with hot rotis / chappatis…

This is my entry to Sia’s “Ode to Potatoes”

and DK’s ” Potatoes Feast”

Undhiyu….

A popular Gujarati main course consisting of a vegetable (undhiyu)…served with sev and jalebis… This is usually made only during the winters because a particular ingredient” Ratallu (purple yam)” is available only during this time of the year…

It is made in different ways..here is the way that i usually make it…

Ingredients:

Ratallu /purple yam: 150 gms
Potatoes: 1 nos
Purple brinjal: 3-4 nos (med size)
Tomatoes: 1 nos
Raw banana: 1 nos (if the size is ver small then 2 can be used)
Carrot: 1 nos
Elephant yam: 100 gms
Sweet potato: 100 gms
Papdi: 200-300 gms (if this is not avail one could also use fresh tuver)
Salt: according to taste
oil: for sauteing: 2 tbsp

For fresh Masala / marinate:

Corriander leaves: a huge bunch
Raw ground nuts: 1 cup
Green chillies: according to taste
Garlic cloves: 2 nos
Grated coconut: 1-1.5 cups

Method:

1. All the vegetables should be cut into chunks as shown in the picture. The bananas can be cut with with the skin on…
2. Remove seeds from 3/4 of the papdi and let the rest be as it is…
3. Mix all the veggies from 1 and 2 and set aside in a big vessel.
4. Grind together the ingredients for the masala / marinate…
5. Mix the ground masala and the vegetables nicely so that the freshly ground masala coats each vegetable. Set aside for atleast 1/2 hour… (Excl the tomatoes)
6. Take a big kadai. heat vegetable oil in it…
7. Add the marinated vegetables, salt and cook till all the vegetables are cooked and the raw smell of the ground mixture goes away…
8. Add the cut tomatoes on top of this cooked veggies and close the veggies with a lid and let it simmer on low flame for 2-3 mins…
9. Serve hot with thin sev and corriander leaves as a garnish..
10. Serve with hot jalebis and rice / hot rotis…

This is my entry for Mythillis: RCI-Gujarat Cuisine

Bharva Bhindi…

As a part of my new year plan of making new recipes… here is Bharva Bhindi or stuffed bhindi / okra

Ingredients::

Besan/ gram flour: 1 cups
Bhindi: 500 gms
Saunf: crushed: 1 tbsp
Dhania / Jeera powder : 1-1.5 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Chilli powder:according to taste
oil for frying
salt according to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a kadai. Add saunf , besan, little water and masala powders and saute till the raw smell of the besan goes away. Add a little salt and saute for some more time…
2. Once the raw smell from the mixture goes away, remove and keep aside.
3. Slit the bhindis vertically and stuff the besan mixture into the bhindis.
4. Take a shallow kadai and heat oil (2-3 tbsp) in it…
5. Once the oil is heated, place the stuffed bhindis one by one and cook on low heat.
6. Add salt and cook till the bhindis are completely cooked and a little crisp…
7. Remove from the flame and serve hot with rotis…

Corn Mushroom n Cheese Omlete

Hi everybody, apost here after a looooong time….. This is something which D made as lunch for us last week..so here goes….

Ingredients:For one omlete
Eggs: 2 nos
Milk: 1/2 cup
Button Mushroom: 4 - 5 nos
Sweet Corn: 1/4 cup
Chopped onion: 1/2 nos (medium size)
Chopped tomato: 1/2 nos
Cheese: 2 cubes
Butter: 2 tsp
Pepper, Salt , Sugar & Oregano: According to taste

Method:
1. Take the eggs and whisk them nicely in a bowl till it becomes frothy.
2. Add the milk to this along with salt and sugar.
3. Heat 1 tsp butter in a non sticky pan, add the egg mixture to it and spread it nicely so that it coats the pan uniformly.
4. On top of this add tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and corn.
5. Sprinkle the grated cheese & 1tsp butter on top of this and put powdered pepper and oregano and close the pan with a lid for 10 mins ( till the cheese spreads nicely on top of the omlete and the corners start becoming brown).
6. Serve hot with toasted bread…