Hello Friends,
Happy Ramnavami to all of you. My 9 day (one time only meal) fast ended today. For me, it was the end of navaratri, a 9-day festival. For many others, who celebrate Rama Navami, it was the celebration of birth of Lord Rama (Son of King Dasharatha and Queen Kaushalya).For more info about it, read Wikipedia.
My Navaratri Ending thali consisted of - "Bhune Chane and Halwa" (a traiditonal Ram Navmi prasad in my family) and Aloo Tamatar Ki Sabzi and Chapati. I am including recipes below.
Bhune Chane - भुने चने (Fried chickpeas)
Ingredients
Kala Chana (Black/Brown Chick Peas) - 1 cup (For people who may not know what I am talking about, above is the picture taken from Wikipedia along with the recipe picture)
Lal Mirch (Red Chilli) Powder - 1 tsp
Haldi (Turmeric Powder) - 1 tsp
Dhaniya (Coriander) Powder - 1 tsp
Amchur (Mango Powder) - 1 tsp
Meetha Neem (Curry Leaves) - 3-4 leaves
Jeera (Cumin Seeds) - 1 tsp
Namak (Salt) - as per taste
Oil - 1 tsp
For Garnishing
Onion - finely chopped
Tomato - finely chopped
Preparation
- Wash and soak kala chana for 8 hours or overnight.
- Pressure cook chana with haldi and namak till they are done.
- Take a non-stick pan, add oil.
- Once oil is hot, add jeera and meetha neem leaves.
- When they are spluttering, add chana along with dry powders
- Mix well and let them fry for 3-4 minutes
Serving
Serve them as snack anytime by garnishing raw chopped onion and tomato. Great snack with evening tea. Adjust spices per your liking. I also like to fry onion along with chana and then just garnish with chopped tomatoes (I didn't add it today as I made it as offering to God). Some people like to substitute amchur with lemon juice. So, adjust things per your liking and make it your very own :)
Bhune Chane goes to Vegetable Marathon - Beans event.
Sooji Ka Halwa - सूजी का हलवा (Semolia Pudding)
Ingredients
Sooji (Semolina) - 1 cup
Cheeni (Sugar) - 3/4 cup (increase the quantity if you like it sweeter, we prefer it mild)
Kaju (Cashew) and Kishmish (Raisin) - 1 tbsp
Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1/2 cup
Ilaichi (Cardamom) Powder - 2 pinches
Water - 2.5 cups
Preparation
- Boil Water in a pot.
- Fry kaju and kishmish in little ghee and keep aside
- Take a wide pan and add half of the ghee, add semolina and fry (don't let it brown a lot)
- Add ilaichi powder towards end of the semolina frying and mix well.
- Add water slowly and mix it well.
- Mix fried kaju and kishmish.
- Add sugar and mix well. At this point the halwa will become a bit runny, but don't worry.
- Add the remaining ghee , mix well.
- Cover and let it simmer on the slowest setting for 2-3 minutes.
Serving
Serve it as a dessert. Make it for prasad. We even eat it at breakfast along with warm pooris.
Aloo Tamatar Ki Sabzi - आलू टमाटर की सब्जी (Potato and Tomato Curry)
Ingredients
Aloo (Potatoes) - 4 medium sized
Onions - 1 cup finely chopped
Tomato - 1 cup finely chopped
Ginger - 1 piece crushed or grated
Garlic - 3-4 cloves crushed
Haldi (Turmeric Powder) - 1 tsp
Lal Mirch (Red Chilli) Powder - 1 tsp
Dhaniya (Coriander) Powder - 1 tsp
Jeera Cumin) Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Salt - per taste
Jeera (Cumin Seeds) - 1 tsp
Rai (Mustard Seeds) - 1 tsp
Hara Dhaniya (Cilantro) - 1/2 cup chopped for garnishing
Oil - 1 tsp
Preparation
- Boil potatoes and cut them in bite size pieces.
- Take oil in pan and heat it
- Add rai, jeera and let them splutter
- Add onion, garlic, ginger and fry till onion becomes translucent
- Add chopped tomatoes and al dry masalas
- Cover and cook till tomatoes are mushy
- Add potatoes, mix, cover and cook for 4-5 min.
- Garnish with cilantro
Serving
Serve it with poori/roti/paratha/naan and even rice.
I am also including this recipe of thirst-quenching Meethi Lassi for spring/summer days or actually any time of the year.
Meethi Lassi - मीठी लस्सी (Sweet Yogurt Smoothie)
Ingredients
Dahi (Yogurt) - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 tsps
Water - 1/4 cup
Malai (Heavy Cream) - 1 tbsp (optional)
Salt - a pinch
Preparation
Blend all the ingredients (except malai) together till a nice froth forms.
Serving
Serve it in a big glass (with ice cubes, optional) with malai at the top. This can be served chilled or at room temperature any time of the day. I have enjoyed it at breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and many times in between. This is my regular beverage during navaratri as I only eat once a day. I just do not add salt in it during navaratri. You can increase or decrease quantity of water depending on how runny you would like it to be. Please also feel free to change the quantity of sugar based on your taste.
This goes to Summer Soothers event.
Till my next post, take care, good night !!!
Hello Friends,
Wow what a day !!! It cannot get any better. For a new blogger on the block it is a big achievement. I recived my very first gifts and award from fellow bloggers. I love you guys for appreciating and encouraging. Please keep visiting and spreading the word and I will get encouragement to get more and more recipes there.
This "Sunshine" award is from Kiran. Thank you very much Kiran for extending my very first blog award. I love your recipes and please keep posting many more and also encouraging me :)
I would like to share my Sunshine Award with the following fellow bloggers:
Rupali (The very person who inspired me to start a blog), Shama, Ruchika, Asankhana, Jyothi, Sailaja, Bangalorebaker, Suma, Anjum, Divya, Nupur, Nithubala and SE.
These Award Winners have to do the following :
1) Use the logo within your post .
2) Pass on to atleast 12 other bloggers .
3) Add a link to the nominees in your post.
4) Let the nominees know of their award
5) Share the love and link to the friend, who has passed this award to you.
The following 2 gifts are from Shama. Shama, thank you very much for sharing this with a new fellow blogger. I really appreciate it. Please keep posting super delicious and easy recipes as you always do. You are an inspiration to me.
What a better way to celebrate these than making something sweet. So, I would like to share today a yummy kheer recipe.
Sabudane Ki Kheer - साबूदाने की खीर (Tapioca Pudding)
Ingredients
Sabudana (Tapioca) - 1 cup
Milk - 4 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Ilaichi (Cardamom) - 1 tsp
Kishmish (Raisin) - 1 tbsp
Kaju (Cashews) - 1 tbsp
Preparation
- Wash and soak sabudana for half an hour.
- Boil milk in a pan and add sabudana and mix well
- Simmer and cook till sabudana is cooked well (till translucent)
- Now add sugar, ilaichi and let it dissolve and cook for few more min.
- Take a small pan, add ghee and fry kaju and kishmish individually
- Add fried kaju and kishmish to the ready kheer.
Serving
Serve it as a dessert preferrably hot as it tends to get thick when cold. Feel free to add more milk and heat it up right before serving.
This recipe is going for EVENT : KHEER FESTIVAL AT EASY2COOKRECIPES.
I also tried the Long Beans in Peanut Sauce recipe that Champa posted. Champa, it was super yummy and surely never made before but still appreciated. So, all appreciation goes to you dear. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I greatly recommend everyone trying it.
Sending this to Cooking With Seeds - Sago Seeds event of Niloufer started by Priya.
Till my next post, take care.
Hello Friends,
This is the season of my favorite fruit, MANGO (आम). Of course it is a fruit of versatility, you can eat the fruit in various forms, juice, pulp, the fruit itself. One of the very few fruits which can also be enjoyed in it's raw form to make curries, jam, jelly, pickle and even juice. I know not every cuisine makes a curry of raw mango, also called Kairi, but there are a few. I am sharing one such recipe that is prepared in Rajasthan and eaten in these summer days (I say days as raw mango is only available for few weeks before the ripe fruits start coming in th emarket).
I had bought few raw mangoes for Ugadi and then this is what becomes of my leftover ones.
Kairi Ki Sabzi - कैरी की सब्जी (Raw Mango Curry)
Ingredients
Kairi (Raw Mango) - 2 cups
Gud (Jaggery) - 1 cup
Lal Mirch (Red Chilli) Powder - 1 tsp
Dhaniya (Coriander) Powder - 1 tsp
Haldi (Turmeric) Powder - 1 tsp
Panch Fodan (five seeds - Mustard Seeds, Cumin Seeds, Fenugreek Seeds, Fennel Seeds, Nigella Seeds) - 2 tsp (all mixed together)
Tej Patta (Bay Leaf) - 1
Heeng (Asefotieda) - a pinch
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1 tbsp (I use mustard oil)
Water - 1 cup
Preparation
- Chop kairi in bit size pieces (if you are going to keep it for a long time in open, keep them submerged in water or else they will become dry)
- Take oil in a pan and add paanch fodan and tej patta
- Once it starts spluttering, add kairi pieces and all dry masalas
- Fry for 2-3 min, add water and simmer till the kairi is al dente (about 5-7 minutes)
- Now add jaggery broken or smashed to pieces to the pan, mix well and simmer for about 4-5 min. Add water if needed (make sure it doesn't stick to bottom as after jaggery is added, it may happen, so do check on water and add some, if needed)
Serving
You can serve it with roti/paratha or even rice. Everyone will love this tangy/sweet curry. This will also serve as a great spread on your toast or sandwitch.
Note: You can substitute jaggery with sugar or even brown sugar per your liking. Based on how sour your raw mango is feel free to change the quantity of jaggery. Based on how you like your curry, change the water quantity and make it runny or not. Feel free to not add red chilli if your kids don't like it hot. This is a super delicious spread for kids who like things bit sweet and tangy.
I also made Uppu Pongal taken from the delicious recipe of Sukanya of Hot N' Sweet Bowl along with Coconut Chutney (recipe used by Mahanandi).
Uppu Pongal dish goes to Blog Bites # 1 of One Hot Stove.
Hope you all like all 3 recipes as I loved them.
Till next post, take care,
Priya
So, sometimes you are not meant to do or shall I say eat certain things and then you end up trying new ones. So, that was the case last night. We thought of making "Pyaaz ki Kachauri", but guess what no pyaaz at home, so hubby said, let's try "matar and paneer ki kachauri", but then paneer was bad, so threw that idea out of the door. Finally, decided on making "Aloo and Matar Ki Kachuari". After deciding that, not sure what I was thinking, I started making dough of aata with ghee etc. instead of maida. So, another change. My husband said, let's leave this dough for sometime later, but I was like nope, let's use the same dough and see how they come.
So, there you go a new dish (at least in my household) invented, aloo matar ki kachauri using whole wheat flour. They came out rather well. Of course they didn't have that maida taste, but were yum no matter. And felt good that I was eating whole grains... lol
Aloo Matar Ki Kachauri (आलू मटर की कचौरी)
Ingredients
For Dough
Whole Wheat Flour - 2 cups
Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1/2 cup
Salt - as per taste
Water - To make the dough
For Filling
Matar (Peas) - 1 cup
Aloo (Potatoes) - 1 cup boiled
Hari Mirch (Green Chillies) - 3 small ones
Adrakh (Ginger) - 1 inch piece
Dhaniya (Coriander) Powder - 1 tsp
Jeera (Cumin) Powder - 1 tsp
Lal Mirch (Red Chilli) Powder - 1 tsp
Kalaunji - Kala Jeera (Nigella Seeds) - 1 tsp
Saunf (Fennel Seeds) - 1 tsp
Salt - per taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Preparation
For Dough
- Melt Ghee and mix in atta with salt, mix it well.
- Add water slowly and mix it into a nice firm dough
- Leave it aside for 1/2 - 1 hour
For Filling
- Grind Peas coarsely with ginger and green chillies
- Boil potato and mash them
- Heat oil in a pan, add both the kala jeera and saunf
- Add crushed green peas mix and fry for 5-6 min till raw smell of peas are gone.
- Add mashed potatoes and add all dry masalas and mix well
- Fry for few more min
- Let it cool for a while (cool enough to be able to handle)
For Making Kachauri- Take a small lemon size dough ball and roll it into a thick poori size
- Take about 1 tbsp aloo-matar masala in a ball form and keep it in the middle of the poori
- Now, pull all sides of the poori around it in round form and pinch off the extra dough from the top
- Now, press the middle of the kachauri nicely with a thum (otherwise kahcauri may open up when you put it in hot oil)
- Press it with hand only (don't roll or else the masala will ooze out) and give it a round shape
- Heat oil in another deep pan and add these kachauris one by one and fry them till golden brown. If you take a wider pan and if your oil is hot enough, you can even fry 2-3
- Take them on paper towel and soak the extra oil
Serving
Serve them with a little of ketchup or the way my husband/son likes it with a bowl of yogurt.
As I made these with whole wheat flour, I am also sending this in for Show Me Your Whole Grains event.
I am also sending this for JIHVA - Breakfasts which was originally started by Indira (Mahanandi)
OK, till the next post, enjoy these. Take care,
Priya
I was thinking of what to make for Kid's delight ~ Wholesome Snacks and could not think of anything better than the favorite snack of my 5 year old. It is called Nimki निमकी in our place and many people I know call it Namakpara नमकपार or something similar.
Nimki - निमकी (Cookies made out of whole wheat or all purpose flour)
Ingredients
Aata (Whole Wheat Flour) or Maida (All Purpose Flour) - 1 cup (I used aata for this one as I prefer this as it is a whole grain)
Butter/Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1/4 cup melted
Kala Jeera (Nigella Seeds) - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Water - to make the dough
Oil - To deep fry
Preparation
- Add salt in aata and mix well.
- Add ghee and mix well in the salt.
- Add water slowly (as needed) and mix it into a firm dough.
- Leave it covered for about 1/2 - 1 hour.
- Roll it into a regular chapati size
- cut them in small diamond shapes using a pizza cutter or if you have a nimki cutter.
- Fry them till golden brown in hot oil
Serving
My son loves to eat them anytime of the day I allow him...lol
As I made these with whole wheat flour, I am also sending this in for Show Me Your Whole Grains event.
Till next post, take care,
Priya
Today is 4th Day of Navaratri. As you all know I am fasting for navaratri by eating just one meal a day and the rest of the day with fruits/dairy. So, today, I made the following for dinner.
As you all know Ghiya घीया (Lauki लौकी - Bottle Gourd) is a very common vegetable in Rajasthan and so are the lentils. So, this combines both of those and is a yummy curry. It gives you both vegetable and protien in the same dish. So, just add some yummy parathas to it and voila, you have a healthy dinner.
Ghiya and Chana Dal Ki Sabzi - घीया और चना दाल की सब्जी (Bottle Gourd and Gram Dal Curry)
Ingredients
Ghiya (Bottle Gourd) - 1 cup cut in small pieces
Chana Dal (Gram Dal) - 1/2 cup (wash and soak for 2-3 hours)
Onion - 1 cup finely chopped
Tomato - 1 cup finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch (grated or pasted)
Garlic - 3-4 cloves (crushed or grated)
Haldi (Turmeric Powder) - 1 tsp
Lal Mirch (Red Chilli Powder) - 1 tsp (Please feel free to substitute this with 2-3 green chillies, based on your preference)
Dhaniya (Coriander) Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Namak (Salt) - As per taste
Jeera (Cumin Seeds) - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Hara Dhaniya (Cilantro) - 1/2 cup finely chopped for garnishing
Preparation
- Take oil in a pressure cooker (I make it directly in the cooker).
- Add jeera and let it splutter.
- Add Ginger garlic paste and let it fry for 1/2 min.
- Add onion and fry for a min.
- Add Tomato and fry for another min.
- Add haldi, namak, lal mirch, dhaniya powder in 1 cup water and mix well.
- Add the above masala mix in the cooker and let it boil till oil starts separating.
- Add soaked chana dal, add enough water to cover the dal, mix well, cover the lid (don't close the cooker, just cover it) and boil for 10 min.
- Add ghiya pieces, mix well, close the lid of the cooker (add weight on top of it) and let it cook for 10-15 min.
- Once the cooker has cooled down a bit, open the lid, add garam masala and hara dhaniya and keep the lid back for few min before serving.
Serving
Serve it hot with warm roti or paratha.
This recipe of ghiya and Chana Dal ki Sabzi is also going for Vegetable Marathon - Beans event.
This recipe of ghiya and Chana Dal ki Sabzi is also going for EFM Theme - Parathas and Gravies / Curries Series event
I am also re-posting the following recipes for EFM Theme - Parathas and Gravies / Curries Series.
Gatte Ki Sabzi
Kathal Aloo Ki Sabzi
Till my next post, enjoy these and take care.
~ Priya
