Wednesday, August 26, 2015

badiyon ki chutney | बड़ियों की चटनी | a condiment from the older times


Badiyan, Badee, Bori, Kumhdouri or Adouri are the regional names of a dehydrated spiced lentil cakes made using black lentil paste along with some spices, herbs and sometimes grated gourds added to it. The lentil paste is briefly fermented and then made into drop shaped cakes before dehydrating the in strong sun. Once sun dried completely, the badiyan are kept safe for the whole year to come.


These badiyan can be deep fried whole or can be crushed and shallow fried before being added to curries. The pyaz badiyon ki subzi or simply alu badiyon ki subzi is a classic, these badiyan are mean to impart flavour to the vegetables without additional spices added to the curries.

Badiyan were generally made during early summers so the the sun drying is done perfectly for year long storage. In older times when there was scarcity of fresh vegetables during summer months and monsoons, these badiyan were use profusely to bring flavour to the table.

Now a days when all sorts of fresh produce is available all year round, we can't imagine how it might have been in the older times. Notably, these badiyan are made using some seasonal gourds that are not regarded too good for cooking purpose but lend a great texture to the badiyan. These are made using grated Ash gourds in UP and I have seen them being made using a large cucumber variety in Uttarakhand. The famous Amritsari vadi or badi has only spices and no vegetables in it, these are bigger in size and more spicy in nature.


Use of grated Ash gourd (called as petha or safed kumhda, also used to make Agre ka petha) lends a good texture to these badiyan, the way they make it in UP. Apart from the grated gourd, some chopped coriander greens, some cumin, coriander seeds, peppercorns and chillies are added to make the badiyan flavourful.

The real flavour of the deep fried and cooked badiyan is vary different from all these spices put together. The lentil paste fermented and sun dried becomes a very different flavour in it's own, a great way to add Umami to Indian curries I feel.

This badiyon ki chutney is an easy to make condiment that lasts a few days on the table. We generally break the badis into smaller pieces to shallow fry them evenly.


If the badiyan are not too spicy you can fry a couple of red chillies along with them.

Just add a few garlic cloves and salt to taste and blend to make a coarse paste.


Everything is added to taste, you can make this chutney according to your own liking of chilli heat or garlic. Grind it smooth or coarse, add water or lime juice if required and add some dhaniya patta if you like. This chutney wont disappoint you.

The resulting chutney is a dry crumbly paste that can be spread over parathas, mixed with khichdi or whatever you like with it. I remember my dad used to love this chutney and when I made it after ages I kept eating spoonfuls of it and remembering how he used to make it all by himself.


The baby onions in vinegar, sliced ginger and green chillies in brine and this chutney were his favourite condiments on the table. When I asked him a few days ago whether he still makes this chutney, he said he will make it again and that he had forgotten how much he used to love it.

With the availability of so many new products on our super market shelves, we are definitely forgetting the foods we used to relish so much.

Do try making this chutney wit any kind of spiced badiyan you get and let me know if you liked it. Please tell me if it was made in your home too and how long back. Sometimes I am surprised to bump into people who have similar food memories, are you one of them?


Friday, August 21, 2015

dink wadi recipe adapted from dinka-che-laddu | gond ke laddu recipe Maharashtrian way


dink wadi recipe

Dink is the Maharashtrian name for Gond (Hindi) or Gum Arabic. Gond ke laddu made along with nuts, dried fruits and some millet flours or rice flour is very common in Indian homes. Every season used to have a different type of gond ka laddu I remember.

My mother still makes these laddus almost every 2-3 weeks and eats at least one everyday. Her gond ka laddu ingredients keep changing with seasons and now she adds very little sugar and makes a sugar free version for my father too. In my grandmother's time this laddu used to be a minor ceremony in the house.

In summers it used to be a plain gond ka laddu with just some nuts and a mix of flours, in winters some dry ginger (sonth and some turmeric powder would be added and if there is a new mother in the house then gond ka laddu would become a major ceremony.

During pregnancy and just after delivery the new mothers would be fed with a special gond ka laddu with many herbs added to them, the laddu will be called Sothoura as sonth is dry ginger and this sothoura had strong notes of ginger and fenugreek in it. This special sothoura laddu is meant to heal the body of new mother and help in lactation too.

The whole family and friends would long for the special sothoura made for the new mother. These rituals might get lost in coming times as now new mothers have to rely on multivitamins and antibiotics more and more. Earlier no one took any supplements and real food was the source of all nourishment, the way body recognized it best.

I was pleasantly surprised when a very dear friend Suranga Date gifted me a box of dink wadi when we met. Dink wadi is a regional form of gond ka laddu or dink laddu made in Maharashtra. The good things were valued all over the country in different forms. This version of Gond ka laddu tasted really nice and I asked the recipe from Suranga and she happily obliged.

Gum arabic properties

Notably, gum acacia or gond has immense health benefits that the older generations were aware of. A study shows how gum acacia helps normalise BMI. Another study shows Gum Arabic is helpful in management of diabetes, IBS and inflammatory disease. Gum Arabic is also an excellent prebiotic supplement. Our older generations definitely knew better by experience, ethnomedicine is no joke.

I am reproducing Suranga recipe as she sent me, in her own words.

(The traditional stuff is actually the Dinkacha Laadoo, or Dink(Gond)  Laddu in Hindi.  Normally made in winters for everyone and for post partum stage mothers at any time.   Like everything else, eating styles have changed , but  nutritional values remain, and so this is a version adapted for those needing a decent energy boost away from maida, butter, white sugar and similar  folks that my late father would call the 3 poisons  :-)  )


ingredients..

200 gms dink
200 gms khareek (dry dates which are light brown, wrinkled and hard;  khareek is the marathi name).
200 gms mixture of any dry fruits that you like ;  I used walnuts and almonds
2 fistfuls of desiccated coconut. (You can use freshly grated, roasted dry variety too.)
2 tspoons cardamom powder

About 600 gms  jaggery ; I used the organic suplphurless variety .

Oil to fry the dink (you can use ghee)

procedure..

1.  heat oil , and on a moderate flame, fry the dink.  It is a very quick process, as the dink will immediately bloom , and you must immediately remove it from oil and deposit it on a paper so the oil can drain.    I  fry small quantities of dink at a time,  so i don't have lots of left over oil .   (Traditional types use ghee)

2. Spread out the dink , let the oil drain, and then  take a nice clean muslin cloth, spread it over the dink, and roll the rolling pin pin all over to crush the stuff . Actually crushing by hands is even better but messy.  The muslin cloth will also pick up some extra oil sticking to the dink.  
3.  Powder the dry dates, walnuts and almonds , separately in the mixer. dry datess will be a bit coarsely ground.  
4.    Mix the crushed dink, the dry fruits and the desiccated coconut.  Add  cardamom powder.  (I've added doodh ka masala  instead , at times,  with excellent results)
5.   On a low flame, in a thick bottomed kadhai, melt the jaggery.    In the meanwhile  grease  two rectangular barfi type pans  (eg 10" x 5" )   and keep ready.
6. When the jaggery kind of starts to bubble , boil, and rise (like milk) , shut off the heat,  add the dink mixture , nicely mix and bring it all together.
7.   This will not be of pouring consistency, but spooning consistency.  Spoon out the stuff onto the greased pans, and use a  plastic sheet and rolling pin to smoothen the surface   
8.    Cut the surface into required size pieces, and let it cool.   Experts and artistic types might enjoy adding a cashew piece  or badaam slivers to the surface .
9.   When completely cool, cut the wadis.
10. Eat.   
P. S.  This is ideal stuff  for a quick breakfast with a glass of milk;  or for children home from school who need to rush out to play .  I also know someone who would eat this in their daily Mumbai train commute to work  . 
The traditional recipe uses khus khus (poppy seed) powder, grated roasted dry coconut, and khareek powder.  This is a shortcut recipe. 

dink wadi recipe


Even this short cut recipe has resulted in a very flavourful delicious barfee that both of us have been enjoying with chilled milk everyday. I am going to make one batch as soon as this box of dink wadi finishes.

Thank you so much Suranga for all the love you bestow. I feel blessed.




Wednesday, August 19, 2015

methi ki launji | methi ki meethi chutney | how to make methi ki launji


Methi (fenugreek : Trigonella foenum graecum) is known as a bitter seed that we add to tempering  in everyday food but no one wants to eat mehti in larger amounts. Ayurveda has confirmed methi seeds as a wonderful home remedy for many conditions including management of diabetes, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and lactation etc.

There is a reason why methi ki launji is served along with bedmi poori.

Methi ka laddu and panjeeri is commonly made for new mothers in north Indian homes, to help with lactation and to generally have a better immunity during that phase. For everyday cooking methi has limited use but some people love a preparation called methi ki launji.

methi ki launji recipe

Methi ki launji, also called as methi ki meethi chutney is a common accompaniment for Bedmi poori, several types of mung daal kachoris and even mathris, most probably paired to aid digestion of fried food. This methi ki chuntey is served at wedding feasts in Banaras too especially when the feast is pure vegetarian and traditional type. Marwari and Rajasthani families have it on their menu almost always as much as I know.

Many families make this methi ki launji and each family has their own version.

ingredients 
(makes about 20-30 servings, about a 500 ml jarful )

1/2 cup methi (fenugreek) seeds soaked overnight, it becomes about 1.25 cups after soaked fully
1/2 cup chopped dates (I used soft dates)
1/2 cup chopped raisins
2 tbsp fennel seeds (moti saunf)
1 tbsp red chilly powder
1 tsp dry ginger powder
1 tsp coarse coriander powder (or just crushed coriander seeds)
1 tsp roasted cumin (bhuna jeera) powder
2 tsp amchoor powder (you can use a mix of tamarind extract and amchoor)
a pinch of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg powder (optional)
salt 1 tsp or less
Jaggery or sugar to taste ( I used 2 tbsp crushed jaggery)


procedure 

Drain the methi seeds, the water can be refrigerated and added to green tea if you like, this recipe uses methi seeds only.

Some people boil the methi seeds and throw away the boiled water too, but I did not do this, the methi ki launji doesn't taste bitter even if I reserve the cooking liquid.

Mix the soaked methi seeds, fennel seeds, chopped raisins and chopped dates with 2 cups of water and salt and pressure cook till the first whistle blows. Cool and remove the lid.

Now add all the other ingredients and simmer till the chutney becomes thick almost like a jam.

You can keep the chutney thinner but that tastes better when you use more jaggery or sugar as the syrupy chutney carries the other flavours well. I like this chutney less sweet and find the sweetness of the dates and raisins good enough to balance the bitterness of methi.

The addition of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg powders is optional, they make more sense when there is some more sugar or jaggery in the chutney or launji.

The methi seeds will taste bitter the first day when you make the chutney but from next day the bitterness will be gone. Some people can't even tell if there is methi in it, they mistake it for a lentil if they haven't eaten this chutney ever.

This methi ki launji keeps well for a month if refrigerated. You can serve it with any Indian meals or even as a chutney with khakhra or pakodas.


With some pumpkin subzi and crisp paratha or poori it is a combination made in heaven. Here is a pumpkin, brinjal and malabar spinach subzi that I keep repeating in this season because the few odd brinjals from the garden make good addition t o such mixed subzis. Malabar spinach is also from the garden.

I have finished this methi ki chutney on its own sometimes. Have a good spoonful of this chutney with breakfast and dinner everyday to cure any joint pains and aches, but keep the sugar away from this chutney in that case.

Call it mathi ki launji or methi ki chutney, it is a must try for poori type India meals I say.



Friday, August 14, 2015

Lost recipes of India: recipes brought back from the Mughal era by Osama Jalali and his family, hosted at The Oberoi Gurgaon | my report


It is very heartening to see someone diligently digging into historical texts to find about foods and cooking methods of the past. It is very strange that we don't get much mention of food habits, cooking methods and recipes in history. History was always written for economic and political record keeping, food heritage was rarely recorded well. Only some royal khansamas wrote their own personal cookbooks but kept the diaries to themselves mostly.

That is the reason I love talking to Osama Jalali and his mother Nazish Jalali a lot, they keep sharing so much about food from the past and food from the lesser known cuisines. Osama is known for reviving Rampur and Shahjahanabad cuisine, her mother belongs to Rampur and was married into to an Old Delhi family, a family who cooks together and loves feeding others too.

The Oberoi Gurgaon has been doing great work regarding reviving recipes from the different regions of India under their flagship program called Rivayat and Chef Ravitej Nath who heads the team brought Osama Jalali this time to showcase lost recipes of the Mughal era. I am fortunate to have tasted this menu they curated together, it was an experience to cherish.


The extensive menu that we tasted was a learning experience, an education. Each recipe has been taken from the time of one or the other Mughal emperor and Osama and Chef Ravitej's team have tried to stay true to the recipes collected from different authentic sources. Chef Ravitej told us that some of the recipes did not sound complete, the spices felt too less or the spice combinations felt odd but they did not change the recipes as they wanted to showcase the original version.

Staying true to a recipe that doesn't seem perfect in today's scenario, is the best thing this team did and what a spectacular result it was.

None of the food tasted odd I would like to add, some were new flavours to discover, some were new techniques of cooking rediscovered and some of the recipes totally blew our mind by the surprise value they brought on the table. I am sharing the pictures here with short notes about what I felt about the food.

The first thing that floored me was the Paan infused water that was being served, Mufarra of course is a soothing drink for summers.


The starters came when we were actually hungry. I had skipped breakfast as I know these menus are very very exhaustive. This arbi ka patoda was perfectly rolled, I felt it had more besan than required, I like the eastern UP version of arbi ka patoda better.


This Yakhni kabab was a revelation, something that looked like shami kabab but was very delicate flavoured, the meat and chana daal a bit courser in texture. I loved everything about it. The fiber of the meat is not disturbed much as the boiled meat is ground on silbatta in this case, and that lends this yakhni kabab a character of its own.


Luleh kabab was a very delicate mince meat kabab paired with cucumber julienne and pomegranate. This kabab is wrapped in a paratha but we found the paratha a little heavy for the delicate kabab. I removed the paratha and ate the kabab but since the team has stayed true to the recipe we could see how this luleh kabab was a favourite of Humayun's Persian wife.


The Pateeli kabab was not my favourite, the delicate nuts and dry fruits are good in a kabab but all wrapped in chicken breast made the kabab a bit dry. Again this might have been some one's favourite we got to taste.


Osama mentioned how the cooking vessels in the Oberoi kitchen are very suitable for this old fashioned cooking and the taambe ki pateeli was just perfect for this and other dishes too.

I think in older times free range chicken would have tasted much more flavourful for this pateeli kabab. I appreciate not changing the recipes to suit today's tastes, it was an academic exercise as much as a culinary pleasure.

Another vegetarian kabab was Kabab e burghul, broken wheat and lentil kabab paired with mint chutney. This was made so well I finished the kabab. I was taking small bites from everything knowing there is a lot more food to be tasted.


Main course arrived in the form of various dishes of different shapes and hues. The table weighed down with so much food.

Parinde mein parinda looks spectacular and you know at once how much work has gone into it. It is a rendition of the bigger roast that was originally made with whole camel stuffed with smaller animals, one inside the other till the smallest cavity fills with a boiled egg. This was made with duck, chicken, quail and a boiled egg, all three birds had different marination and different cooking time of course.


It was done perfectly. Each bird had retained it's individuality and yet they all came together.

Murgh zameendoz was cooked whole, wrapped in a moist 'dum' of roomali rotis and then put inside an earthen pot covered with more fresh mud.


When served it looked like this.


And tasted just divine. Chicken cooked in it's own juices, the roomali roti sealing the flavours inside. Nutty and herb infused.

Amba kaliya was a winner all the way. It tasted sweet and sour and delicately meaty. This is one recipe I am going to try very soon, before the raw mangoes disappear this season. I am smitten by this recipe.


Kancha kabab is made with very smooth minced meat, a solid ball of ghee is stuffed inside each kofta that results into a hollow cavity inside each kofta the size of marbles (kancha). It must have been the clever handiwork of some innovative cook in the royal kitchens.

Jalalis have perfected their koftas so much I would be scared to replicate this one, but I want to try. I still remember the Saag kofta we had at Oberoi Delhi and been wanting to make that one too.


This piston ka keema (minced mutton cooked with Afghani pistachios and aromatic spices), belongs to Bahadur Shah Zafar's time, who was imprisoned at Red fort. The combined flavours of the nuts and minced meat together was really special with a little hint of sourness in it.


The Ishtoo is something I am familiar with. This stew is made with either chicken or mutton and the spices and method differs from region to region. This one was the we we make in UP, the recipe comes from the Jalali's kitchen.


The broken red chillies and loads of onion is the essential visual you see in this ishtoo but their is more depth flavours a few whole spices have been used during cooking. Loved this one too.

The Tandoor ki roti was very different from what is served in restaurants or even dhabas. It was made of whole wheat and had a little harder crust with a nutty taste, the crumb was firm yet soft and spongy to soak the salans and ishtoos well.


Arbi ka salan was so good and retained it's individuality in the sea of meats and game. Creamy yogurt based gravy with hint of kasoori methi and light sweetness of fried onions, the arbi (Colocasia tubers) melting in the mouth, this salan is to die for.


You just need some good roti with it.

Angoori kofte were also vegetarian, these were relished by Aurangzeb who was a vegetarian. I liked them as these were well made, but nothing too special for my taste, there were many very very good things on this menu and I am not too fond of koftas..


But then there was some more to taste and be charmed. This Mutanjan pulao is a layered rice dish with chicken pieces, aromas of laung-elaichi, hint of orange and loads of nuts and dried fruits like dates, raisins and figs.


It was quite sweet but well balanced flavours, very well cooked rice grains that had absorbed all the flavours well. I have never had such a delicious sweet pulao. This was a revelation for me as it was very different from Zarda.

Another stunning rice preparation was Motia pulao from the time of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. The pearls in the pulao are made with egg whites, poaching them them with a technique that might have been very dexterous in those times.


To make these pearl the egg whites are filled in cleaned chicken intestines and then tied up at small intervals to make it look like a string of pearls, then the whole thing is poached in hot water when the egg whites solidify. How ingenious.

After all this, we tasted the classics by Jalali family. The Nalli nihari and haleem both were as good as we had tasted at Surya and again at Oberoi Delhi.



Chef Ravitej informed us that the Nalli nihari and Haleem was included in the tasting menu because they thought the lost recipes menu might feel too bland to some and these few dishes would compensate the flavours for those. But honestly speaking, none of the yakhni kababs, Kancha kofta, Murgh zameendoz or the pulaos felt bland to us.

Everything was so flavourful, much more aromatic and delicate play of ingredients that modern day Mughlai (a result of many years of adaptation and hybridization) feels like a different cuisine altogether.

Among desserts this Falooda came with ice cream, fruit syrups and subza and vermicelli. I didn't have the heart and any stomach to taste this.


This one looked like Mung ka halwa and I was the least interested. See what happened later when I tasted it.


There was gulatthi and kheer, there were old fashioned kulfis of mango, custard apple and pistachios. Everything well made, but desserts rarely fail if made well and if 'real' ingredients are used.


The big surprise came when the halwa was served. I was not able to recognize what it was and no one on the table actually could guess.

It was Gosht ka halwa made so well it felt like Mung ka halwa (lacking mung flavour) but once we were told we could smell a hint of the meat in it.


Kudos to Osama Jalali to recreate this classic from the past. He told it was made until his grandparents generation in his family too.


Osama told he referred to many people and many books to find out the recipes. He told he has been discussing and referring to Professor Zameer Hasan Dehlvi, Ikhtedar Hasan (HOD, Islamic studies, Jamia university), Professor Pushpesh Pant, Salma Hussain etc. Abul Fazal's Ain e Akbari has been a good resource too.

Salma Hussain has done extensive work on Islamic cuisine of both Awadh (Lucknow) and Delhi (Shajahanabad), her books are testimony to her hard work, it is important to know the royal Mughal food was very different from the Mughlai food we know today, which is eaten through  out the country in it's various avatars.

In the last we were served Irani Chai. This tea was brewed in water and then mixed with much reduced milk.


The milk so rich that it keeps circulating in your mouth even if you gulp down. I couldn't finish this cup and I feel very bad about it. There is only so much one can eat and drink. It is very difficul to to justice for such an extensive meal.

Look at the menu which features most of the dishes but not all.


As I said, it was more of a learning experience rather than a culinary delight. There is a reason I regard the Rivayat by Oberoi highly.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

sooran ka chokha : a boiled mash of Elephant foot Yam with mustard oil and garlic


sooran ka chokha

Sooran or Zamikand is the name of Elephant foot Yam. It is also called as Oal in Bihar and Bengal.

The problem with sooran is that it looks so ugly people rarely buy it, it also has a reputation of itching your throat if you are cooking the native variety. The native variety has a few small bulbous growth on the surface and the flesh looks a bit more pinkish brown.

Here is a sooran seller in a village market we visited, he has both the varieties. The one that itches more is tastier too and the one that is free of itch is considered useless by some.

sooran, zamikand or Elephant foot yam

The itching sensation is due to the high oxalic acid content in the underground corms but the oxalic acid can be denatured during cooking by using lot of souring agents and marinating the cooked or raw sooran in some sour juices.

sooran ka chokha

The variety I use is the one that doesn't itch. But it is advisable to use some lime juice to the recipe if you want to be cautious. Cooking sooran is not too complicated, the skin can be peeled off easily, then you can chop it in cubes and proceed to make any curry or kabab you wish.

sooran, zamikand or Elephant foot yam

ingredients ...

peeled, rinsed and cubed sooran (yam) 250 gm
chopped onion 1/4 cup
minced green chillies 1 tsp or to taste
minced garlic 1 tsp or to taste
salt to taste
mustard oil (cold pressed) 2 tsp or more. Adding more mustard oil makes this chokha taste almost like English mustard paste.

preparation...

Boil or pressure cook the yam with 1/2 cup of water and salt. Cool down.

Mash along with the rest of the ingredients, drizzle with mustard oil and serve warm, cold or whatever way you like.

Lime juice can be added at the time of serving.

sooran ka chokha

After boiling the yam cubes, all the ingredients can be blended together in a blender jar. That way it makes a nice dip which is quite delicious and creamy on it's own.

This sooran ka chokha is a popular mashed vegetable recipe with the elders of eastern UP and Bihar. I say elders because I have rarely seen youngsters enjoying it the way elders do. Such a pity.

I suggest you stuff it in grilled sandwich along with mustard sauce sometime and see how even the kids love it. The same recipe is known as Kaathalu pitika in Assam.

In fact all types of chokha that we make in UP are known as pitika in Assam. There are some similarities in the cuisine despite geographical separation, local ingredients are used as per convenience.

Monday, August 3, 2015

everyday curry : Kathal ki bhujia | jackfruit stir fry with pepper and dry pomegranate powder


kathal ki bhujia

After sharing the achari kathal ki subzi with you, I was going through the kathal (Jack fruit) pictures in my albums and found at four more recipes that needed to be shared here. I know I have been very irregular here but I promise everything will be shared sooner or later.

This kathal ki bhujia is so good you would cook it more frequently for two reasons. One, it is fairly easy to cook once the peeling and chopping is done and two, it is a light curry (sookhi subzi) that can be eaten everyday easily. Kathal subzi is known as a spicy heavy curry normally, but we do cook very light curries with kathal too, Kathal ka dopyaza is a fine example of a light kathal curry.

I will tell you chopping kathal is not to tough. Yes it does take some time but most good things come at a price. Most vegetable vendors will peel and chop it for you if you ask them, but do that only if you are planning to cook kathal the same day or the next day. Else, just tell them to give you a thick slice of the jack fruit like the below picture.

how to chop jack fruit

Once you have this slice, just grease your hands and peel off the thick skin. Remove the inner pith too.

how to chop jack fruit

Now place the moon shaped jack fruit slice on a chopping board and chop into pieces of required size. For this kathal ki bhujia we need really thin slivers.

Separate the seeds and remove all parchment like seed coats. The chopped and cleaned mature kathal looks like this.

how to chop jack fruit

If using fresh kathal, and if it is chopped nicely it takes just about 15 minutes to cook on medium heat. You can always add your own choice of seasoning and spices, I like this kathal ki bhujia with a strong kick of black pepper and an earthy tartness of anardana (dried pomegranate seeds).

ingredients...
(2-3 servings)

chopped kathal like above 2 cups
sliced shallots of baby onions 1/4 cup
mustard oil 1.5 tbsp
cumin seeds
whole dry red chillies 2
ginger julienne 1 tbsp
black pepper corns 1 tbs
anardana 2 tbsp
salt to taste

preparation...

Heat a thick base pan and dry roast the peppercorns and anaradana briefly. Cool and make a coarse powder in mortar and pestle.

Heat mustard oil in a kadhai and tip in cumin seeds and red chillies, add the sliced onions once the cumin and chilly get aromatic and cook till they start getting lightly browned.

Add chopped kathal along with the seeds. Add salt to taste and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

Cover and cook for five minutes and mix once again. Cover and cook again for 5 minutes or till done, stirring in between for uniform browning.

Add the pepper anardana powder and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Serve hot.

Kathal ki bhujia

This Kathal ki bhujia is great with paratha or roti meals. Nice with dal chawal meals too and even in Indian style grilled sandwiches with green chutney.

We like this kathal ki bhujia with our multi grain rotis.

Choose white fleshed tender but large sized kathal if you are planning to make this kathal ki bhujia. Else you may be left with a too dry bhujia or a melting sweetish kind bhujia that doesn't do justice to this recipe.

The kathal feels nice and soft in the bhujia, lightly caramelized with hints of ginger, pepper and pomegranate seeds. You might end up eating it as a salad too.

Try this kathal ki bhujia and let me know.