Arhar Palak ki dal

Hi Readers,

This is my other recipe on Christmas eve. Dal palak is a common recipe in my house hold. I usually make Dal palak by pressure cooking Dal and palak and adding a tampering of Cumin and garlic to it. However, this time, I have made the same following a Nita Mehta recipe of it. It is a nice detailed variations with spices, flavor and aroma to the simple Dal palak recipe.

Nice recipe for occasions, I would not make it every day as it uses lots of ghee.

Ingredients :- 

1 cup Arhar or Toor Dal

3 bunches of Spinach washed and chopped

3 cups water

salt to taste

1 tbsp turmeric power

1/2 tea spoon finely chopped ginger

1/2 tea spoon finely chopped garlic

1 green chili chopped

Tampering :- 

1 medium tomato chopped

1 medium onion chopped

3 tbsp ghee

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1/2 tbsp red chili powder

1/2 tbsp garam masala

1/2 tbsp coriander powder

1/2 tbsp amchur powder

Method:- 

In a pressure cooker add Toor dal, chopped spinach and water. Add turmeric powder, salt, chopped ginger, garlic and green chili. Pressure cook in medium flame till 1 whistle. Now, reduce flame and cook in simmer for another 6 to 7 mins. Keep aside. Take a tampering vessel. Heat it, add ghee.When ghee is sufficiently hot, add cumin seeds, Onion. When onion is fried add tomato, garam masala, coriander powder, amchur powder and red chili powder. When tomato is done, add the tampering mixture to Dal. Serve hot with steamed rice. 

Subz Hyderabadi

Hi Readers,

I am back again with another Indian recipe. This is a mix vegetable curry cooked in curd based gravy and sprinkled with a spice mixture that gives its authentic aroma. I tried this recipe for the first time on Christmas eve. Well, my husband(one who tastes everything that I make and is best critic for me) liked it very much. Winter is best season for this curry as all ingredients are available fresh in this season.

Lets now have a look at the recipe.

Ingredients :- 

Carrots - 2 medium size- chopped roughly

10 -15 french beans - Chopped 

1 medium long brinjal or eggplant  - slit in middle and then cut into 1/2 inch size

1 medium size potato - cubed

1 cup green peas

10 -15 florets of cauliflower

Gravy :- 

3 medium onions finely chopped

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste

1 cup Curd whisked

1 tbsp turmeric powder

1/2 tbsp red chili powder

2 dry red chili 

2 bay leafs

Oil for frying

salt to taste

Powdered Ingredient :- 

2 Cardamom or Chhoti elaichi

3 to 4 clove or Laung

1 inch Cinnamon or Dalchini

1 tbsp Saha Jeera or Big Cumin seeds

Method :- 

Heat Oil in a pan. Fry all the vegetables( potatoes at a time, similarly other vegetables one by one) except peas and keep aside. Boil peas and keep aside. Now in a pan take 1 tbsp oil. Add bay leaf & dry red chili, when it starts to change colour, add Onions and fry till it turns pink. Add ginger and garlic paste and cook for 2 to 3 mins. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and mix it well, sprinkle little water if it sticks to bottom. Make a paste. Add fried vegetables, 1 cup whisked curd and cook over medium low flame. Add water if required. Add salt and cook till all vegetables are done. Sprinkle powdered spices and serve hot with Chapati, nan or steamed rice.

Note :- In above recipe I have added about 50 gm of Paneer cubes. The authentic recipe do not have paneers,however, adding paneer do not make in changes to the aroma and flavor of recipe. 

Stuffed Bitter Gourd or Karela

Hi Readers,

Despite the bitter taste of Bitter Gourd or Karela, it is usually a favorite vegetable for most Indian's. I like the Karela crispy fries made along with potatoes. Though, stuffed Karela is not my favorite, it is one of the favorite dish of my husband. So, yes Karela or bitter gourd finds a  place in my kitchen quiet often.

I am not providing you the ingredients for this recipe below, because I am going to provide few different types of stuffing. The common & major ingredient is whole Karela or bitter gourd. For the stuffing, depending upon the number and size of Bitter gourd, please adjust the quantity of ingredients. So, here goes the recipe for you.

Halve whole karelas lengthwise in the middle. Wash and boil in water, adding salt and haldi. Discard the excess water.
When a little cool, scoop out the middle seedy portion from the boiled karela pieces to make space for the stuffing.
Fill the stuffings* into each half of boiled karela. Heat a little oil on a flat non-stick frying pan and fry the stuffed karelas on low fire  - first on karela side and then on stuffing side. Press lightly on each stuffed karela while frying the stuffing side to flatten it as much as possible. Fry till nicely brown. Serve as side dish with rice.

*Variations of Stuffing :
1 : Heat mustard oil – add finely chopped onion. Fry a bit and add mashed boiled potato, salt, red chilli powder. Fry well on sim stirring the mash till it leaves a nice fried aroma and turns brownish.
2 : Heat oil. Add mashed potato, salt, red chilli powder. Fry a little. Add a bit of mustard-garlic-haldi paste and fry well.
3.   Mix together besan, chopped onion, chopped green chilli, salt to taste and a few drops of mustard oil and use this as stuffing.
Variation :  Boil Karelas whole, adding salt and haldi. Take out, cool and make half slit on the body of each boiled karela – in the middle portion on one side. Scoop out the seedy interior and stuff with any of the above three stuffings.
4:Heat oil. Saute onion, green chilli, garlic – all finely chopped. Fry a little. Add crushed badi . Mix well and fry. Use this as stuffing inside the whole karela.
5: Heat mustard oil, add mustard and garlic paste,add hali, salt and red chili powder. Cook till water is removed, take care not to over cook, mustard paste turns bitter if over cooked. Fill in the stuffing and fry the Bitter gourd again over medium flame.
Dust the stuffed whole karelas with a sprinkle of rice flour/cornflour and fry on pan nicely, rolling all over. Or deep fry.
Stuffed Karelas are great accompaniments with plain rice.

Achaari Bhindi

Hi Readers,

Here is another dish made from Bhindi. This is a good one, is easy to make and has a distinct flavor of Achaar. Therefore, it is called Achaari Bhindi. Some people, do add in tamarind or achaar to get this flavor, but here I have added Kalanji, Fennel and Amchur powder that gives a Achaar like taste. It has more tomato content to give that tingling sour taste.

Ingredients:- 
500 gm lady fingers (bhindi)
1 tsp ginger paste, ½ tsp red chilli powder
1 Onion finely chopped
3 to 4 flakes of garlic finely chopped
1/2 inch ginger finely chopped
1 tsp dhania powder
½ tsp amchoor, ½ tsp garam masala
¾ tsp salt, or to taste
2 tomatoes - chopped finely
1 tsp lemon juice
ACHAARI SPICES
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 tsp fennel (saunf)
½ tsp mustard seeds (rai)
½ tsp onion seeds (kalonji), 2 tbsp oil

Method :- 
Wash bhindi and wipe dry. Now cut the bhindi lengthwise from the middle making 2 thin pieces.
Grease the non stick tawa. Place the bhindi pieces on it. Sprinkle 1 tbsp oil and mix well. Fry the bhindi till it is almost done, keeping the color intact. Remove and keep aside.In another pan put 2 tbsp oil,  and all the achaari spices, followed by onion,garlic and ginger cook till raw smell is removed. Add tomatoes and other dry powders and cook till it starts to separate oil. Add the bhindi, to achari spices .Mix well. Cook till bhindi is done, serve hot with roti or chapati.

Phool Makhane ki sabzi

Hi Readers,

This is a common traditional curry prepared with Phool Makhane(puffed lotus seeds). Usually, Makhane is used to prepare Makane ki kheer during fasting. This is a easy to make curry that turns out be tasty and different. I had tried to make this for the first time, when My Dad was here. He got a packet of Makhane, thinking it is similar to pop-corn. That day for dinner I made this curry along with Chapati. It turned out to be a tasty and different dish. My Dad liked it. So, here goes the recipe for your use.

Ingredients :- 

Makhana  1 1/2 cups 

Matar or Green Peas 1 cup

Tomatoes  2 or 3 Chopped 

Onions 2 medium size chopped

Dhania Powder 1/2 tbsp

Ginger-Garlic Paste         1/2 tbsp

Red Chili Powder

Green chilies 3 or 4

Garam Masala 1/2 tea spoon

Cashew Nuts  10 t0 12 pieces

Resins     10 to 12 pieces

Cumin seeds  1 tbsp

Dhania leaves

Vegetable oil

Salt

Method :- 

Put two spoons of vegetable oil in a kadai and heat on medium fire.

When the oil becomes hot, add makhana and saute till the makhanas become a little brittle.

Remove from fire and allow it to cool. Add cumin seeds to remaining oil. When it starts to splutter, add chopped onions and fry till it turns pink. Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for 5 mins till the raw smell is removed. Add chopped tomatoes and cook for another 2 to 3 mins. Add green peas, cover and cook till peas are half cooked. Add coriander powder, red chili powder and little water.

Add makhanas, split cashew nuts, resins, green chilies slit length-wise,  stir and  cook till all the ingredients get properly mixed. 

Add water and cook till done.

Add garam masala powder and remove from fire.

Pour in a serving bowl. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. When finished the curry should be thick.

Gatte ki kadhi

Hi Readers,

I am back again with more recipes from my kitchen. My dad was here, and I just gave all my time to him. I was literally away from all sorts of social sites, just checked and did my office work. Now, that he returned back, .I am back to my normal schedule. Well, in the meanwhile I had been trying new recipes, I have taken pictures but yes sis not get time to blog.

Today, I will start with a Rajasthani dish, Gatte ki Kadhi. Kadhi is made in same way as I had described in Dahi Kadhi Pakora. Kadhi is a thick gravy made by blending gram flour with curd and simmering it gently. Here, I have added Besan Gatte one of the Rajasthani food, that is made of gram flour dough.

Ingredients :- 

Gatte :- 

1 1/2 cup gram flour(besan) 

1 tbsp curd

a pinch of baking soda

3/4 tbsp carom seeds(ajwain)

3/4 tbsp coriander seeds( dhania)

1 tbsp anardana

2 tbsp oil

1 green chilli chopped

1 tbsp green coriander finely chopped

1 tbsp salt to taste

Kadhi :- 

2 cups curd

2 tbsp gram flour(besan)

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp mustard seeds

1/2 tbsp fennel

a pich asafoetida

5 to 6 Curry leaves

1 tbsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp red chili powder

1 tbsp coriander powder

salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

Method :- 

Mix all ingredients for gatte together and knead a hard dough using about 4 to 5 tbsp water. Shape the dough into long cylinders. Boil water in a thick bottpmed vessel. When water starts to boil, add gatte cylinders and boil till they turn yellowish white. Remove and keep them aside. Cut them into 1 inch long pieces. For Kadhi mix the curd and besan. Add turmeric and salt. Simmer this and keep stirring so that curd does not separate water. When this liquid thickens and starts boiling add the Gatte pieces. Now, in a tampering vessel, take 2 tbsp oil and heat it. When its sufficiently hot, add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, fennel and wait till it starts to splutter. Add asafoetida, curry leaves , red chili and remove from heat. Add this tampering mixture to Kadhi and serve with rice or roti.  

Gota Potala Bhaja (Stuffed Potala)

Hi Readers,

I am again back with another very well known recipe of Potala. My mom used to make this when some guest would visit us for lunch or dinner. Though this is not very difficult recipe, it has quiet a number of steps, and you need to use two pans, may be that's why my Mom used to prepare only when she wanted to entertain guests. Like other stuffed vegetable recipes, in this also we need to prepare a stuffing. In my In-laws place, they make a stuffing of Besara(mustard based). I will some other time, prepare that stuffing and post it. Today, I am going to describe the one my Mom used to make.

Ingredients:

6 pointed gourds (parval / potal) 

2 spoon refined oil

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder 

1 medium sized boiled potato 

           

For stuffing:

2 teaspoon poppy seed (soaked in water for 15 mins and then make a paste)

1 medium size onion finely sliced 

5 cloves  of garlic chopped

1 teaspoon cumin seeds  

1 dry red chilli 

Method:

First peel all the parvals and wash thoroughly. Then cut one side of the parvals and remove all seeds from inside.  Mash the  boiled potato after removing the skin. Now place a pan/kadai on the gas-stove and after heating put oil and cumin seeds followed by onion. When onion turns pink add chopped garlic,seeds extracted from Potala and posta or poppy seed paste. Add turmeric, salt, red chili powderand mashed  potato. Fry upto 3 minutes. The stuffing is ready. Keep it aside.

Then take 1/2 tea spoon of salt and a pinch of turmeric powder with little water and spread it thoroughly inside the parvals/potala through the opening made by cutting one side of each parval. After that fill these parvals with the stuffings. Then put a  the pan /kadai on the gas-stove, heat oil and then put the parvals and cover the pan. Cook it on medium flame. After 5 minutes just stir gently and cover it again. 10 minutes later switch off the gas. Parvals might take a little longer to cook, so check if it has turned soft and brown in colour,before removing from gas. Stuffed parval is ready. 

Chilli Paneer

 


Hi Readers,
Today, is the day before Karthik Purnima. In Odisha everyone follows a special diet at least during Panchuka that is five days before Karthik Purnima. We eat all satwik food, just like the Jain foods that does not contain Onion and Garlic in it. So, why I am posting this Chilli Paneer recipe here. I had prepared this few days back and just forgot to add this to blog. Now, here is the recipe for you.

Ingredients :- 

•Paneer (cottage cheese) 200 grams

•Cornflour/ corn starch 4 tablespoons

•Oil 2 tablespoon + to deep fry

•Garlic,crushed 3-4 cloves

•Green chillies,sliced 3-4

•Onions,sliced 2 medium

•Green capsicum,seeded and thick strips 1 large

•Vegetable stock 1/2 cup

•Salt to taste

•White pepper powder 1/2 teaspoon

•Soy sauce 2 tablespoons

•Chilli sauce 1 tablespoon

Method :- 

Drain paneer well and cut into diamond shaped medium sized pieces. Heat sufficient oil in a wok, roll the paneer pieces in cornflour and deep fry on medium heat until the edges start to turn brown. Drain on absorbent paper and set aside. Blend remaining cornflour (nearly a tablespoon) in a quarter cup of water and set aside. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a wok, add crushed garlic and stir-fry for a minute. Add sliced green chillies, onions and green capsicum. Sauté for a couple of minutes. Add fried paneer and stir in the vegetable stock. Add salt, white pepper powder, soy sauce, chilli sauce and stir well. Stir in the blended cornflour and cook on high heat, stirring and tossing until the sauce thickens to coat the paneer and the vegetables. Serve immediately. 

Schezwan Fried Rice

Hi Readers,

This is a easy to cook recipe with miracle masala available in stores. I tried Miracle masala and the Schewan fried rice is ready in few minute. Its somewhat similar to my cooking experience with Puliogere masala. Very little to do from our side, the masala does everything and rice is ready in few minutes.

Ingredients :- 

Red Capsicum/Bell Pepper - 1 no

Green Capsicum/Bell Pepper - 1 no

Yellow Capsicum/Bell Pepper - 1 no

bell peppers are cut into long strips

French beans - 1/2 cup chopped

Carrot - 1 medium size - chopped

Miracle Masala - 2 tbsp

Rice - 1 and 1/2 cup

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method :- 

Heat a pan, add oil. When its hot add the chopped vegetables and stir fry for 2 mintutes. Add steamed rice, miracle masala and mix well. The dish is prepared. Serve hot.

Potala Korma

Hi Readers,

Presenting another tasty dish made from Potala or Pointed Gourds. The interesting part is when I visit near by Vegetable vendor, he says," Madam we have Potala, Green papaya and large brinjals for Odia customers and we import it from Odisha." Today, when Odisha is sort of vegetables due to cyclone Phailin and flood, Koraput district has still been sending its vegetables to Andhra Pradesh.  Its amazing, but thanks to the growing population of Odia's in Hyderabad, we get our favorite veggi's readily available.

Now, coming to the recipe, this is another preparation from Potala, that is usually made during festivals and large ceremonies. Fried Potala is cooked in milk and cashew based gravy. It has a nice aroma and flavor. Let's now look at the recipe.

Ingredients :- 

Potala/Parval - 6 nos washed and peeled

2 tbsp mustard oil

2 tbsp ginger garlic and cumin paste

1/2 tbsp coriander powder

1/2 tbsp cumin powder

1/4 tbsp turmeric powder

1/4 tbsp red chili powder

salt to taste

3 to 4 tbsp milk

1 bay leaf

whole garam masala - 1 stick cinnamon, 3 t 4 black pepper, 2 to 3 cloves, 1 to 2 cardamom

1/2 tbsp garam masala

1 tbsp char magaj or pumpkin seeds

1 tbsp cashewnuts

Soak char magaj and cashewnuts for 2 hours and make a smooth paste.

Method :- 

Slit Potala till the mid from both sides. This will form four parts joined together at mid. Add salt and turmeric to it. Then deep fry or shallow fry till Potala turns brown. Remove and keep aside.

Heat mustard oil in a pan, when hot add the bay leaf and whole garam masala. Add ginger garlic paste. Cook in medium flame till oil separates. Add the cashew and magaj paste, milk, turmeric powder, salt, red chili powder to form a gravy. Add the fried Potala,cover and cook for another 5 to 10 mins in low flame. Add garam masala and serve hot.

Urad dal Adai

Hi Readers,

This is a very simple recipe to prepare. It consumes less time and is healthier as it is protein rich.

In South India, similar to Dosa another recipe is made called Adai, it is usually a combination of Pulses
 mixed with very little rice flour to make the batter. Onions, ginger, curry leaves are generally added
to the batter. I have prepared a similar dish, though I can't say this is the actual adai recipe.

I have made this with only Urad dal combined with Onion, ginger and green chilli for breakfast.

You can name it Urad dal Pan cake or Urad dal Adai.

Lets now have a look at the recipe.

Ingredients :- 

1 cup Urad dal soaked overnight.

1 onion chopped

2 green chilli chopped

1 tbsp ginger chopped

1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

1 tbsp cumin and red chilli roasted powder

salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

It makes about 4 Urad dal Adai.

Method :-
Grind the soaked urad dal to fine paste. Keep it to ferment for 1 to 2 hrs. Add onion, green chilli, ginger, coriander leaves and salt. Add cumin and red chilli powder.Add water if required and adjust salt to make the batter of sameconsistency as Dosa. Heat a Tawa or griddle. Grease little oil. Pour batter and spread as in Dosa. When bubbles appear on one side, turn to other side. When both sides are cooked , remove and serve hot with chutney.

Manda Pitha

Hi Readers,

As posted earlier, this diwali I had made Manda Pitha... You most be thinking why Manda Pitha on Diwali right? Manda Pitha is my favorite Pitha among all the Pitha's made in Odisha. My Mom used to make Manda on my birthday always. This time, I had time and since, I like this the most, i had prepared it on Diwali.

Another interesting part is Manda Pitha is very similar to Modak prepared in Maharastra. Modak is a most on Ganesh Chaturthi as Ganapati Bappa loves it. Why not..? Its so yummy... In Odisha we do not have a custom of worshiping Lakshmi Ganesha on Diwali, instead we worship Maa Kali, the ferocious form of Shakti. Similar to durga puja, pandals have Maa Kali idols and she is worshiped. We burst crackers and enjoy sweet dishes, but this is not the biggest festival and we do not get new clothes also... Diverse culture of our great country India... But, mark the similarity, we make same dish that has two different name in two different part of country Manda Pitha and Modak. The form that manda is given is similar to Karanji or Ghujia, Generally, we make different shape and size of it. Some in round shape, some elongated just like Ghujia.. Modak is also round, but the joining portion is generally elongated to make it look like coconut.

In my family, whenever Manda Pitha was made it used to have several stuffing, the normal ones being coconut and jaggery with cardamom flavour, Urad dal savory flavour and spicy potato flavour. My Granny used to make a stuffing with flax seed and jaggery, I loved it because it used to look like melting chocolate that just flows once you bite it. I also like the flax seed aroma and unique flavour.

Enough of talking is not it. I am going to describe a variety of stuffing that I prepared this Diwali.

Ingredients :- 

Outer cover :- 

1 cup rice flour 

1 cup water

pinch of salt

1 tbsp oil to grease

Flax seed filling :- 

1 cup flax seed

3 tbsp jaggery

1/2 cup water

Method :-  

To make the outer cover. Heat water by adding salt. Add rice flour bath by batch when water starts to boil and mix well not to form any lump. When the batter is formed, remove and let it cool a bit, so that you an form the outer cover by hand. When it is still warm, grease hand and knead the batter a little to make a dough. Divide into small portions, using your hand form round circles.

Roast flax seeds till the aroma comes, remove from flame and grind it to fine powder. 

Heat water, add jaggery and form a syrup. Add powdered flax seed and form the stuffing. 

Now this stuffing added onto the outer cover and is sealed. Put the formed pitha's in a idly steamer and steam it till its cooked. 

Ingredients for Spicy Potato Filling :- 

2 Potato chopped into thin pieces

1/2 tbsp turmeric

1/2 tbsp red chili powder

salt as per taste

1/2 tbsp cumin powder

Ingredients for Urad dal filling :- 

1 cup urad dal soaked 4 to 5 hours grind and form batter and keep it as such for 3 to 4 hours

1 chopped onion

1 tbsp ginger chopped

2 green chilli chopped

1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

salt to taste

Note :- While filling this batter as a filling leave a little gap and do not seal from all sides as Urad dal will expand on cooking and will break the pitha's if it has no gap.

Last Picture.

Palak Paneer

Hi Readers,

This is a traditional north Indian cottage cheese gravy. The main ingredients as per the name are cottage cheese and spinach. Cottage cheese is cooked in a spinach based gravy. Since, Spinach and cottage cheese both are very nutritious, this dish is one of the healthiest gravy. It uses much less spices unlike other Indian gravies. In most of the north Indian states spinach is not cooked with Onion, but garlic is a most. However, in Odisha we do cook spinach and other green leafy vegetables with Onion. In this recipe also I have used Onion. Yes, this is optional and you can skip adding it.

Lets now have a look at the recipe.

Ingredients :- 

Spinach 2 large bunches

Paneer (cottage cheese) 200 grams

Green chillies 2-3

Garlic 8-10 cloves chopped

Onion 1 medium chopped (optional)

Oil 3 tablespoons

Cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Fresh cream 4 tablespoons

Method:-

Remove stems, wash spinach thoroughly in running water. Blanch in boiling water for two minutes. Refresh in chilled water.Squeeze out excess water. Remove stems, wash and roughly chop green chillies. Grind spinach into a fine paste along with green chillies. Dice paneer into one inch cubes.  Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. When they begin to change colour, add chopped onion and garlic and saute for half a minute. Add the spinach puree and stir. Check seasoning & add salt. Add water if required. When the gravy comes to a boil, add the paneer and mix well.  Finally add fresh cream. Serve hot.

Crispy Egg Pakora

Hi Readers,

This is a easy to make recipe for snacks, it is very similar to Omlet and uses corn flour to make it crispy.

Ingredients :-

2 eggs

1 onion chopped

1 green chili chopped

3 tbsp corn flour

1/2 tbsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

1/4 tbsp red chili powder

1/2 tbsp chat masala

Oil for frying

Method :- 

Break egg in bowl, mix in all other ingredients and whisk it . Take sufficient oil for frying in a pan and heat it. When Oil is hot, add small portions of this mixture and fry like Pakoras. Remove and put in a tissue paper to absorb excess oil. Serve immediately with chutney or tomato sauce.

Turai Punjabi masala (Ridge gourd Punjabi curry)

Hi Readers,

This is a recipe inspired by Punjabi style cooking. Punjabi cusine uses lots of Ghee, here I have not used any ghee and have replaced that with refine sunflower oil. Though it might sound like a heavy curry with lots of time required to cook, it does not take that amount of time. You can also use pressure cooker to cook and reduce the time required in cooking.

So, here is the recipe for your use.

Ingredients :- 

 2 Ridge gourds(Turai or Janhi) peeled and chopped into thick slices.

1 potato cut into cubes

2 tomatoes chopped 

1 medium size onion chopped

1 tbsp garlic

1 tbsp ginger

1 green chili chopped

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tbsp cumin seeds

1/2 tbsp mustard seeds

1/4 tbsp turmeric powder

1/2 tbsp coriander powder

1/2 tbsp amchur powder

1/2 tbsp garam masala

salt to taste

1/2 tbsp red chili powder

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 tbsp oil

Method :-

 Heat Tawa and add oil, when oil is hot, add cumin and mustard seeds. Once the seeds starts to splutter, add green chili, ginger paste, garlic paste and onion. Fry till onion turns pink. Add tomatoes, and all powdered masala. Fry till tomato is cooked. Add potatoes and little water, cover and cook till potato is half done. Add the Turai or ridge gourd, cover and cook for another 2 mins. Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves. 

Note:- You can use pressure cooker to cook this, all you have to do is, add potatoes and turai mix well, add water if required and cook in medium flame till 1 whistle. 

I have removed the outer peel of Turai or Janhi completely, you might like to keep the peel intact. I have cut it into thick roundels, you can otherwise cut it into thick pieces cut into half of round. 

Ghujia or Karanji

Hi Readers,

Wish you a very happy diwali. This time on eve of Diwali, I have made a well known dish that is generally made on Diwali. Ghujia or Karanji. Lets now have a look at the recipe.

Ingredients :-  

Covering :- 

1 cup maida

1 tbsp ghee

2 tbsp milk

Oil for frying

Filling :- 

1 cup coconut

1/2 tbsp powdered cardamom powder

1 tbsp cinnamon powder

1/4 tbsp black pepper crushed

3 tbsp milk

1/2 cup sugar

Method :-

 Mix ghee in batter, add milk and water if required and form a dough keep aside for 5 mins.

For filling :- Heat a pan, add the shredded coconut and cook till it is slightly roasted , add cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, black pepper, sugar and milk. Mix well and cook till it becomes dry. Remove and keep aside to cool a bit.

Divide the dough into small portions. Using a rolling stick, roll the dough . Put the filling in between and seal the edges. 

Heat a Pan, add enough oil for frying. when oil is sufficiently hot, add ghujia's and deep fry. If oil is too hot, adjust the heat. It should be medium hot to cook the ghujia's properly. You ca serve them immediately or keep in air tight container and can store for 3 to 4 days.