everyday subzi : alu parval ki rassedar subzi

Alu parval is a summer time subzi that is on our table at least once a week. Alu parval bhujia is a popular recipe on this blog and even the parval ki mithai gets great feedback but strangely the alu parval ki rassedar (with a thin gravy) subzi has not been shared on the blog as yet, even though I make a few versions of it.

A few people pointed out at this lapse a few months ago but it was not parval season back then, though it was available in the markets, we don't eat any vegetables out of season as a rule so this recipe also comes when parval is well in season.

This version is alu parval ki patle rasse wali subzi (आलू परवल की पतले रस्से वाली सब्ज़ी) is suitable for summer dinners, keeping it light and soupy, to be consumed with thin rotis.

Made in pressure cooker, this one is a simple recipe inspired by the subzis made by the poori subzi stalls where the vegetables are not fried before currying keeping it light yet flavourful, frying the vegetables and bhuna masala separately is a normal practice in home cooking.

ingredients 
(2-3 servings)
300 gm small sized parvals (pointed gourd), preferably heirloom variety
2 small potatoes boiled, peeled and crushed by hands (not mashed)
1 tbsp everyday curry powder 
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp ginger paste or minced ginger
1/2 tsp chopped green chilies
1/4 tsp red chili powder (optional)
couple of tejpatta 
1 tbsp mustard oil
salt to taste
1/4 tsp amchoor powder (optional)

procedure 

Scrape the parvals using a paring knife, removing just the waxy layer, not peeling the green skin. Cut into halves length wise if the parvals are small, else crosswise.

Heat mustard oil in the pressure cooker pan, add all the spices, except amchoor, at once and stir to mix and cook. Wait till the spices get aromatic, add the parvals and toss and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the crushed potatoes and salt, toss to coat everything together. Pour 300-400 ml water, depending on how thin you want the curry, cover with lid and pressure cook till the whistle blows.

Switch off the gas and let the pressure release on its own. Open the cooker, adjust seasoning and add amchoor powder if needed.

Serve hot with thin rotis, some tomato chutney and some raita or plain dahi. This alu parval ki rassedar subzi is mildly spicy and very flavourful. We generally don't add coriander leaves but you can add if desired.

These subzis never need a garnish as I feel the herb garnish changes the taste. Some people like a sprinkle of bhuna jeer powder topped over this subzi over each individual serving. Try that and let me know if you like it.

everyday subzi : bottle gourd stew in coconut milk | lauki coconut milk subzi | Lauki Olan

Bottle gourd is the best suited vegetable for summer season and I try to make the most of it. Even if you don't know how this vegetable helps in Indian summers you would realise once you eat it 3-4 times a week during hot summer months.

Lauki or bottle gourd is watery vegetables that fills up the plate, satiates hunger, hydrates the body and keeps the digestive system healthy. The only reason why many people avoid eating this humble vegetable is that they don't like the bland taste and mushy texture. But trust me you can make the most of it's mushy texture and bland taste, just flavour it the way you like the bottle gourd wont disappoint you.

Try this Bengali style Lau shukto if you want to experiment. And this coconut milk lauki will be another in the same category.

This curry is inspired by the Pumpkin Olan I make. Not the authentic Kerala Olan but a tweaked version that I find very delicious. Adapting the Kerala Olan recipe again with lauki, it is made using the Ash gourd (Petha gourd) in Kerala but since we rarely find Ash gourds here it is better to use some lauki.

One can use up any mature lauki that was bought a week ago too for this recipe.

ingredients..
(2 large servings or 4 small servings)

Lauki (bottle gourd) peeled and cubed in bite sized chunks 600 gm
coconut milk 150-200 ml
ghee or coconut milk 1 tsp
pinch of hing (asafoetida)
mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
methi (fenugreek seeds) 10 grains or so
whole dry red chillies 2-3
curry patta 5-6 springs, leaflets separated
salt to taste

procedure ...

Cook the cubed lauki along with salt and 1 cup water till the pieces get soft. You may need very little water if the lauki is tender, this one was a week old lauki so I Used water to cook. This step can be done in pressure cooker to save time but take care not to cook the lauki to complete mush.

Add the coconut milk and simmer for a couple of minutes.

Prepare the tempering by heating the ghee or coconut oil, add the hing, methi, mustard seeds, chillies and curry patta in that order and let them get aromatic. Add all of this at once to the cooked curry and give it a good stir.

Serve as required. We like it with roti or some rice but I can eat these curries on their own so it becomes a one pot meal for me mostly.

You may want to serve some beans or okra stir fry with this curry to round off an Indian meal along with rice and roti etc.

In Kerala this kind of Olan is a part of a huge meal spread called Sadya. Such light curries make sense when there are too many dishes on the table.

chukandar gosht | mutton stew with beet roots and leaves

Chukandar gosht or mutton stewed with beet roots and leaves is one dish that looks really good on the table. Meats stewed slowly with vegetables is a Muslim way of cooking meats as much as I understand and that might be because it might have been the only way to eat vegetables in a primarily meat eating culture. I had never seen such meat stews being cooked in my family with added vegetables although spinach and fenugreek leaves were occasional additions to the meat curries cooked at home, sometimes a potato would be added for someone who doesn't like too much meat. Gobhi keema musallam and keema matar was common but any mushy vegetables were not at all considered for meat. I was a vegetarian back then.

Later when I learned about shalgam gosht, arbi gosht and bhindi gosht etc being cooked regularly at some of my friends places, I figured that would be a better way to eat meats. Then I started adding one odd vegetable to the Indian style meat stews but was not confident with adding a strong tasting vegetable to the meats. Then I started cooking rajma with beetroots some 6-7 years ago and everyone used to love it although I am guilty of not sharing the recipe of that rajma too.

Bringing beetroots to the meat stews was the next step and we loved this new avatar of Indian meat stew with beetroots and leaves. So much so whenever I find beets along with the greens attached, I think of a mutton stew. I sometimes cook this stew with just the leaves and sometimes add cubed beet roots as well. I must admit the version with just the leaves is appreciated more by majority of people I have come across.

This recipe is not quick but is fairly simple to cook. Cook this chukandar gosht when you have more work to do in the kitchen and this stew keeps cooking on the sly. I had learnt this recipe long back reading some Pakistani blog written in a very casual way but it was so good after tweaking the spices to my taste that I kept repeating it and forgot where I picked up.

ingredients 
(2 servings or 3 small)
mutton on bone (from shoulders or raan) 300 gm
beetroots with leaves 2 pieces (about 300 gm total)
tejpatta 3-4
ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp
dry whole red chillies 3-4 or more (keep it slightly hot to balance the sweetness of beetroots)
everyday garam masala 1 tbsp
yogurt 1/4 cup
special garam masala 1 tsp
mustard oil 2 tbsp or less if you can manage
sliced onions 2 (about 150 gm)
salt to taste
finely chopped green chillies and fresh ginger root to garnish

procedure 

Rinse, clean and chop the beet leaves roughly. Peel, rinse and dice the beetroots. Keep aside. (You can choose not to add the beet root chunks if you think they will be too sweet for the stew. You would need to tone down the spices in that case).

Put the mutton, beet leaves and tejpatta in a large stockpot along with a liter of water and cook on low flame for an hour or more, till the meat is cooked perfectly. Add salt after skimming any greyish matter that floats on the surface initially. You can pressure cook this mix in one step if you find it convenient.

Once cooked, fish out all the mutton pieces, remove the tejpatta and liquidise the stock along with the cooked beet leaves. Keep aside.

Heat mustard oil in a pan (preferably cast iron kadhai) and fry the sliced onions till browned well. Drain and make a paste along with the everyday curry powder and yogurt. Keep aside.

In the remaining oil add the broken dry red chillies and let them sizzle for a while to release flavours into the oil. Now tip in the ginger garlic paste and fry till pinkish. Add the onion, yogurt paste and fry in low flame till it gets glazed well or releases oil (if using more oil).

Add the cooked mutton pieces and bhuno till everything gets mixed well and the mutton pieces get a nice browning. Add the special garam masala, the beet root chunks and bhuno for 5-10 minutes. Add the pureed mix, some water if required and simmer till the beet root chunks are cooked well. This step can also be done in pressure cooker, being cautious of overcooking.

Serve hot with chopped green chillies and ginger. It tastes great with khameeri roti or kulcha and some sirke wala pyaz or sliced mooli.

Sometimes I cook mutton with spinach almost the same way, specially when the spinach is large and mature. This kind of masala suits well for added fibrous pureed leaves in the gravy. Basically a bit higher chilly and ginger heat to be toned down by the sweeter beets and yogurt. This curry has a unique taste that can convert beetroot haters. Some might not convert but most of them will for sure.

Please try this chukandar gosht and tell me if you like. Cook it with paneer or kala chana if you want a vegetarian version, you won't be disappointed.

everyday subzi : lobiya wala keema with shrimp paste

Some curries are experimental but become a favourite from the first time they are cooked. This lobiya wala keema is one of those recipes that I cooked on a whim one day and have repeated a few times already. I do cook keema curry with added vegetables quite a lot and many keema recipes on this blog would not disappoint you in this regard but this time I wanted to get some extra flavours and I did a trick.

I added some shrimp paste (home made) to this curry and it took this keema and lobiya curry to another level altogether. I am waiting when to repeat more curries with keema and some or the other vegetables. Of course with added shrimp paste :-)

I make my own shrimp paste and have cooked it earlier with long beans. A freshly made shrimp paste recipe (sambal belacan) is there on the healthfood blog. This time I just made a paste with ginger and garlic and used the whole paste in this curry. I know I will be repeating this way of using dry shrimps for sure.

ingredients
(4 servings with rotis and raita)

chopped lobiya (in 1 cm bits) 250 gm
finely chopped onions 100 gm
mutton keema (mince) 200 gm
fresh tomato paste 100 gm (3/4 cup)
chopped ginger 2 tsp
chopped garlic 2 tsp
turmeric powder 1 tsp
red chilly powder 1 tsp or to taste
everyday curry powder 1 tbsp
special garam masala powder 1/2 tsp
(or a powder of cinnamon, green and black cardamoms and cloves)
dry shrimps 1 tbsp
salt to taste
mustard oil 1-2 tbsp
cumin seeds 1 tsp
tejpatta 2

procedure (takes about 40 minutes total)

Make a paste of garlic, ginger and shrimp and keep aside.

Heat oil in a deep thick base kadhai and tip in the cumin seeds and tejpatta. Add the chopped onions and fry till pinkish brown.

Now add the shrimp paste and the chopped lobiya both. Add salt and powdered spices as well and keep stirring to mix well as the mixture cooks and gets aromatic. It takes about 5-7 minutes.

Now add the keema and keep stirring to break the keema and cook till it starts releasing fat.

Add the fresh tomato paste and cook for about 5 minutes more, stirring all the while.

Now add a cup of water and cover the kadhai. Let the curry simmer on low flame for about 25 minutes. Serve hot.

There is no need to garnish this curry with any herbs as the aroma of shrimp paste cooked with the spicy gravy id really something you wouldn't want to mask. But add a few springs of coriander greens if you like. Some chopped green chillies and minced or julienne ginger will be good if you want the curry to be hot, especially if you are having it with khameeri roti.

The flavours are very meaty, very rich umami hints and the lobiya somehow seems to add to the flavours too. I think I would like this keema curry with cauliflower and may be with cabbage as well. I have more dry shrimps as I had ordered loads of ti from Anjali Koli of Annaparabramha. And I intend to use it well.

Let me try and let you know. Or you try and tell me what way you liked it.

everyday subzi: mungodi wali lauki or bottle gourd curry with mung fritters

Mungodi wali lauki is another simple curry that can be cooked for everyday meals. I have been posting a lot of everyday curry recipes lately, and that is because I have been getting loads of requests for simple home style curries that one eats everyday. And to tell you the truth, I have been getting reminded of so many favourites I have tasted in my life so far. Some of them I learnt from my mother, some from my grandmother, some from friends but this one I learnt from my MIL. She used to cook mungodi wali lauki quite often but she would always use dry store bought mungodis for convenience.

Later I tasted a mungodi subzi (without lauki) cooked by a friend and tried adding those freshly made mungodis to the plain lauki subzi and the result made me so happy. I keep going back to this subzi because I eat lauki a lot and I need variation every day. There will be more and more lauki recipes on this blog very soon, now that I have been posting every day curries with a new zest.This mungodi wali lauki is a jain recipe because no onion or garlic is used. You can fry the mung daal fritters in a large batch and keep them frozen to be used again to make a quick mungodi wali lauki or a mungodi wal kadhi too.    

Recipe of mungodi...

Soak a cup of mung daal in enough water for 4 hours. Drain and make a paste along with 1 tsp cumin seeds. Do not add water while making a paste. 

Heat oil for deep frying. Drop small spoonfuls of mung paste into hot oil and fry on medium heat so the mungodis cook thoroughly. Drain on kitchen tissue and keep aside.

Recipe of mungodi wali lauki..

ingredients

lauki peeled and cut into large cubes 300-400 gm
about 2 dozen small mungodis or as many you want
cumin seeds 1 tsp
chopped green chillies 1 tsp
minced ginger 1 tsp
turmeric powder 1 tsp
ghee or mustard oil 1 tsp
salt to taste

procedure

Heat oil or ghee in a pan or pressure cooker. Note that the freshly fired mungodis behave well in an open pan but the frozen ones would need to be pressure cooked or cooked for a bit longer if cooking in a pan.

Tip in cumin seeds and ginger and green chillies and quickly add the turmeric powder and cubed lauki. Toss and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes tossing all the while.

Now add the salt, the mungodis and a cup of water for each dozen of mungodis. They soak up a lot of water and get doubled in size. Cover and pressure cook till the first whistle blows. Let the cooker cool down on it's own and serve hot with or without a garnish of green coriander leaves.

I can polish off this curry as it is. The mungodis make this subzi a filling meal.

Note : These mungodis do not soak up oil while frying but you need to be careful to keep the mung paste thick and make the fritters uniformly smooth all over. Loose paste (batter) or uneven surface of the fritters allow them to soak up oil and make them heavy.

monji haak from Kashmir and mutton monji haak to make it non vegetarian : ganth gobhi ki kashmiri subzi

Monji haak or monji haakh is a simple stew from Kashmir that makes beautiful use of the bulb and greens of knol khol (kohl rabi or ganth gobhi). The simplest of recipes can be the tastiest and this monji haak is one of those examples. I followed Anita's recipe a few years ago once and never cooked knol khol any other way. Even when we had loads of ganth gobhi growing in the garden, I would always cook this monji haak either plain or with boiled or poached eggs or with mutton. We love this simple and flavourful stew any which way. Another version of monji haak cooked with a little rice and a stew with knol khol and lotus stem, called monji nadru are slight variations of this recipe.

Ganth gobhi stands tall in the garden. We had about 40 of them this season.

Ganth gobhi (knol khol) leaves are so fragrant and delicious that it can't be wasted. Sadly, many people throw away the leaves and use the bulb part only. Even my gardener often discards the leaves but he has now understood that I like the leaves more than the bulb. I hardly throw any part of this vegetable if it is freshly plucked. only the hard woody base is peeled off if the knol khol is mature.

The curry is a simple recipe but I must let you know that following a simple recipe to the T is very important. As each ingredient and each little step in the recipe adds something to make it special, you can't afford to miss anything. Once you follow the recipe once and know how it turns out, you can make necessary changes to suit it to your taste.

ingredients for the monji haak
(serves 2-3, large portions)

Ganth gobhi (knol khol) 2-3 with leaves (about 600 gm)
green chillies broken 2-3 or to taste
hing 1 pinch
mustard oil 1 tbsp
salt to taste
water 2 cups

procedure

Peel the hard woody parts of the knol khol if it is mature or use it whole. Slice the bulb in half moons, the stems in one inch pieces and the leaves in large shreds. Keep aside.

Heat mustard oil in a pressure cooker pan (or a deep stockpot or kadhai), tip in the hing and add the slices of the vegetable. Toss and fry till you see few brownish patches on the margins. Add the stems and leaves at once, the green chillies and salt and toss and cook for a few minutes more.

Add the water and pressure cook for 5 minutes after the first whistle blows. Let it cool on it's own, open the lid and serve hot with plain boiled rice or as a side dish to any Indian meal.

You can adjust the consistency by adding more water or by reducing the water as per choice.

If cooking it in a stock pot or kadhai, cook covered till the leaves and slices are all thoroughly coked. It takes about 25-30 minutes or more if the ganth gobhi is mature.

To make mutton monji haak, boil 300 gm of mutton (with bone) in 500 ml water and salt to taste for a couple of hours in a stock pot, adding a little more water of required. Or pressure cook for 30 minutes. Keep aside.

Now follow the steps of cooking the ganth gobhi as above recipe of monji haak and instead of adding water, add the cooked mutton with the stock and cook again till the vegetable is cooked well. Serve as required.

We eat our meats in watery stews like this in summers and love the way it tastes so rich and yet so light on the tummy. I recently tried a lauki ka shorba with mutton after reading good reviews of a recipe from Rampur and that also became our favourite. The recipe will be shared soon.

Monji haak remains a favourite not just for being a simple stew or a patle rasse ki subzi as we call it, it is because I love the taste of ganth gobhi so much. It is a vegetable I look forward to. I still have a few left from our winter vegetables crop and they will also be cooked into this flavourful monji haak.

Did I tell you we both love this mutton monji haak as a stand alone dinner? Yes we do.

food from diverse Indian states, all in one place and recipe of Rajasthani mirchi wala paneer

Sometimes I can't decide which part of India I would like to settle down to. Apart from climatic conditions and greenery, local cuisine the other thing that makes the deal for me. Sometimes I feel like Himachal and sometimes Coorg. Tamilnadu and Kerala lure me to no ends, Rajasthan keep inviting in a musical way. Padharo mhare des :-)

Only if wishes had wings. Ohh I might end up being a nomad visiting all the places for ever and enjoying everything to my contentment. That would be bliss.

What if you get great regional foods from all over India under one roof? That too in a bustling mall where you have gone for shopping. There is one place you might like to make plans just for the food. If you are a regional food junkie. From Laal Maas and Lachha Paratha to Lucknow ki Nihari to Mangalorean Mutton Sukka and Akki Rotti. I loved most of the food from all over the country at Veda Cafe, DLF Promenade, Vasant Kunj sometime ago. The cafe opened it's doors to patrons in mid February and I could see bustling crowd on a weekend night. The manager Mr. Sarat introduced the menu to us and helped us choose from the vast array of cuisines and dishes on the menu. The cafe has a liquor licence and serves alcohol, our adjacent table was occupied by a young couple enjoying their beer bucket with carefully chosen food, they were already regulars it felt like.

I liked a virgin Sangria in two variations, was nice. I liked the Kokum Senorita that I ordered later, there are many more virgin cocktails for everyone. Palak Patta Chaat is a Veda specialty and we had liked it at Veda at CP as well. The same chaat has been recreated here at Veda Cafe too.

I loved the menu which is crafted like a table calender, the opposite page bearing beautiful pictures of vegetables, spices and random street objects. The same kind of ethnic themed picture frames are there all over the walls of the cafe. Beautiful things from far ends of the country have been displayed well.

The soups we ordered were a Pineapple soup and a Chicken Shorba. Pineapple soup was completely mind blowing for me, Arvind liked the Chicken shorba better. Food and flavours are received differently by different people. Here is the proof.

The tikkas were good, the sigdi (small barbecue stove or charcoal grill) Chicken Tikka was nice, the charcoal grill Mutton Burra was a bit over spiced for us. Amritsari Fish n Chips platter was good, more suited for Delhi folks as they like Basa fillets better than any other local fish. I like the way just a thin layer of besan coating was there on the fish, just the way I like Amritsari Macchi. I would have liked some real river fish for this though.

Avoid the Mixed Fruit Seekh Kabab, it didn't work for me.

What I loved and would recommend to be tasted at least once, is the Rajasthani Mirchi Paneer served with a herb laced tandoori paratha. Very interesting flavours with notes of whole coriander, mild green chilly and coarsely pounded garam masala. The Laal Maas was nice too, served with lachha paratha, well made. I was tasting a Mangalorean Mutton Sukka and Akki Rotti for the first time and loved it. Try that for sure if you happen to go there. Pesarettu was well made and the chutneys were good too. I might go there just for having a pesarettu sometime.

We were stuffed trying out all these and skipped desserts. Might try something next time I go there. I kept thinking what all I would like to recreate at home from the Veda Cafe menu. Pineapple soup and Rajasthani mirchi paneer were two such dishes that stood out. Sharing the paneer recipe here.

Since I keep cooking paneer curries a lot, more for an easy dinner or lunch box curry or salad for the husband, I planned making this Rajasthani mirchi paneer for a change. Rajasthani chillies are known to be flavourful but mild. The fat green chillies are used to make mirchi pakodas and are used for green chilly pickles, for bharva mirchi (stuffed green chillies with various stuffings) and for curries as well.

Rajasthan curries are mostly jain recipes, cooked without onion and garlic, the thickening agent is mostly yogurt and spicing is robust, with prominent hints of coriander seeds. I made a light version of this mirchi paneer and the recipe takes just 15 minutes to prepare.

ingredients..
3-4 servings, depending on what side dishes are served with it)

paneer cubed 200 gm
large ripe tomatoes cubed 1 cup
minced ginger root 1 tbsp
dry whole red chillies 6
fresh red chillies (mild variety) sliced 2 tbsp
freshly crushed coriander seeds 1 tbsp
everyday curry powder 2tsp
turmeric powder 1 tsp
yogurt 1/4 cup
fresh cream 1 tbsp (optional)
salt to taste
ghee 2 tsp
chopped green coriander leaves and stems 1/4 cup

procedure

Heat ghee in a pan (kadhai preferably) and tip in the whole dry red chillies, minced ginger and crushed coriander seeds in that order. Let them sizzle for a few seconds before adding the tomatoes. Add salt and fry till the tomatoes turn pulpy.

Add the powdered spices, fry well till the mixture looks glossy. Add the yogurt and fry again till it is incorporated well.

Add the paneer cubes and sliced fresh red chillies, mix the fresh cream as well if using and just fold in everything till the paneer gets coated well. Sprinkle chopped coriander greens and serve hot with roti or naan.

You can use any mild hot chilly available in your part of the world or a good mix of all of them. Adding just the regular hot dry red chillies and a mix of bell peppers would work well too. I love the way chillies lend their aromatic flavours to the curry when they are not too hot. The flavours are received better by the palate in the absence of heat actually. There was a time I used to love really hot curries, now I like milder chilly heat. Though I can tolerate quite hot curries.

This one can be made as hot as you wish. Let me know whenever you try this Rajasthani mirchi paneer curry. It is definitely a nice variation of everyday paneer for vegetarians.

gatte ki subzi, one of my favourite besan preparations

I so love gatte ki subzi and had not shared it as yet. Gatte is a chickpea flour dumpling, cooked in a spicy yogurt based curry, sometimes in a tomato based curry too but the hot and sour flavors with robust spicing is unmistakable.

More common in Rajasthan homes, gatte ki subzi is made in many versions by people outside Rajasthan. I remember we used to make a dry stir fry with a lot of onions and garam masala added, more like a finger food than a curry. I am tempted to make that version soon.

I have been cooking gatte ki subzi with different vegetables a lot as I feel it is a convenient meal for me most of the times but the traditional gatte was made rarely. I would always be tempted to add some vegetable and make it more value for my time :-)

This gatte ki subzi is also made with spinach from my garden so it is special. But this time I actually cooked the gatte ki subzi without any vegetables added for dinner one day and then added spinach to the leftover the next day. Could not resist you know. Here is the plain gatte ki subzi which is seen with a mutton liver curry on the side.

I make a version of gatte ki subzi without onion and garlic in the recipe too, but when someone posted a recipe on a facebook foodies group and then a friend Ushnish Ghosh tried the recipe, I wanted to have it just then. And I cooked it for dinner.

The cooking of the gatta dumplings took about 30 minutes form scratch. The besan was kneaded, rolled out in sausages and then boiled in water like we boil pasta. The cooked rolls were cut in one inch pieces and were curried in a yogurt based gravy.

ingredients and method for the gatte 

2 cups of besan
1/2 cup of yogurt
chilly powder to taste
1 tsp fennel powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 tbsp mustard oil
salt to taste

Knead everything together and make a stiff dough. Roll out sausages with greased palms.

Boil them all in a pot full of water. The sausages would float up once cooked.

Drain the water and cut the gatte in one inch pieces or as you like. This recipe will be a lot of gatte so you can enjoy some of them as it is or with a green chutney.

ingredients and method for the gravy

3/4 cup chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp of everyday curry powder
red chillies to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 tsp ginger powder or 2 tsp fresh ginger paste
a pinch of hing
3/4 cup yogurt
salt to taste
mustard oil 2 tbsp

Make a paste of everything put together, along with the yogurt.
Heat oil in a pan and tip in this paste.
Bhuno till the oil separates and the masala blend becomes aromatic.
Add the chopped gatte to the cooked masala, add about 2 cups of water and simmer till the oil separates again.
Add chopped spinach if required at the last moment, cover and let it rest till the spinach wilts. Serve hot with roti or rice or as it is. I like the spinach version as a one pot meal.

Green coriander leaves tastes really nice with the plain gatte ki subzi.

I keep making the gatte with bottle gourds, sponge gourds and even with some green peas thrown in. This is such a convenient one pot meal sometimes when I want spicy warm food.

The gatte ki subzi is a part of an elaborate thali normally, served along with many greens, curries and many types of rotis and khichdi etc. For the lesser mortals, gatte ki subzi makes a meal.

amaranth flour dosa and beans and potato stew | fasting or feasting, vrat ka khana...

Amaranth is a pseudo grain and is allowed during fasting days of navratri. The grains can be used whole to make porridge with milk or coconut milk, the popped amaranth can be used to make parfait, can be used as breakfast cereal and laddu can be made if you follow this method. The amaranth flour is quite versatile and you can make rotis, cheela or dosa using it. Incidentally, it is the most protein rich grain you can find, so start using it for your everyday meals as well.

Amaranth or Rajgira is also called as Ramdana in UP. Ramdane ke laddu is a popular fasting food in Banaras although it is not seen easily these days. I feel most of the amaranth is being marketed through high end grocery stores and health food stores now. Hoping that this will be a positive sign for the farmers and they would start cultivating more amaranth and less of wheat may be.

Although I am not fasting but the easy availability of all fasting flours during this times is a boon. I stock the fasting grains, seeds and flours for the next six months during each navratri (there are 2 navratri seasons each year), the flours go into the refrigerator during summer times, but winters allow them to be stored at room temperature.

I have been using amaranth flour a lot to make cakes, brownies and cookies as well, but those are the things I do occasionally. Our daily meals are simple and frugal most of the times. Here is one frugal meal that can be a good navratri fasting meal as well.

Amaranth flour dosa and green beans and potato stewed with coconut milk. It is actually a multigrain kind of dosa as I used sama rice, buckwheat as well as amaranth flour.

ingredients for the dosa:

amaranth flour 1/2 cup
sama (barnyard millet) flour 1/4 cup
buckwheat flour 1/4 cup
sour yogurt or cultured buttermilk 1 cup or a bit more
salt and pepper to taste
soda bi carb 1/4 tsp (if making the dosa instantly)
ghee as required to make dosas (thin crepes) on a suitable flat griddle

procedure for the dosa:

Mix everything together and let it stand for at least 3-4 hours before making the dosas. If you are making them instantly, add the soda bi carb and proceed to make dosas.

On the dosa griddle (I use my roti tawa mostly, use a nonstick pan if making dosa for the first time), smear a little ghee and heat it. Sprinkle water to cool down the griddle a bit and ladle about 1/4 cup of dosa batter to it and spread it in circular strokes making a thin crepe. Drizzle a little ghee and let the crepe brown on one side, flip to the other side and cook for a few seconds. Serve hot with the stew.

Repeat the process to make more dosas. You can make them thinner or thick as you like or as convenient.

Green beans and potato stewed in coconut milk

ingredients for the stew

green beans (French beans) 250 gm
one large potato about 150 gm
finely chopped ginger 1 tsp
broken dry red chillies as per taste
curry patta 12 springs
fenugreek seeds 1/4 tsp
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
thick coconut milk 300 ml
sesame oil 1 tbsp
salt and white pepper powder to taste

procedure:

Using new potatoes will be good for this recipe. wash and clean the potato nicely, retain the skin and chop it into small cubes. String the beans and chop them all in 1 cm pieces, holding them all together over chopping board.

Heat the oil in a pan and tip in the fenugreek seeds and broken red chillies, followed by the curry patta and cubed potatoes. Add salt, pepper and turmeric powder and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the chopped beans and toss to mix everything well. Add the ginger and 1/2 cup of water, cover the pan and cook on low heat till cooked.

Add the coconut milk and simmer for a couple of minutes. Serve hot with dosa, appams and plain boiled rice as desired.

murgh safaid qorma : a white stew with chicken and almond paste..

Safaid qorma or safed korma or chicken or murgh safeda as it is called in Banaras, this delicately flavored chicken stew is easy to make and creates a stir every time I cook it. Actually all the white curries we make are very curiosity inducing among the guests and extended family. While many light colored curries are popular in UP, all of them using some or the other kind of nut paste as a base, a pure white curry is something people keep coming back to. Second and third helpings are normal as the stew is not spicy as well. Very delicate flavors or spices used and a rich broth of chicken make this stew quite interesting. Although I would suggest to serve this stew along with some more spicy side dishes, at least a spicy raita or green chutney and raw onion slices if you are cooking it as a routine homely meal, we prefer this stew with just warm fluffy home baked naans.

ingredients...
for 8-10 servings

To simmer together..
8 -10 chicken thighs on bone cut into 3 pieces each
1.5 L water
ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp
4-5 black cardamoms crushed lightly
8 green cardamoms
20 cloves
2 large sticks of cinnamon (dalchini)
2 tsp lightly crushed pepper corns
salt to taste

200 gm almonds, soaked for 3 hours
a cup of full fat milk or a bit more
2 pinches of nutmeg powder
1 tsp of cinnamon powder

Yes, there is no additional oil used in this stew. All the fat me from the chicken, the nuts and the full fat milk used.

procedure...

Put everything under the simmer together list in a deep wide pan or stock pot and simmer for about 1.5 hours. There will be a lot of scum during this, you can remove it if attending the simmering pot or let collect on the top. Keeping the pot half covered makes sense or just place a loosely fitting lid over it.

Mean while, peel all the almonds and make a nice smooth paste adding the milk if required. Add the nutmeg and cinnamon powders to this paste and blend once more to incorporate. Keep this paste aside.

Remove all the chicken pieces from the simmering broth and put them all into a kadhai, removing any scum if it get stuck to the pieces. Now strain the stock over the chicken pieces and discard all the scum and whole spices that collects into the strainer. This is a trick to get a clear smooth and pure white gravy for this stew.

Now add the almond paste and the milk, adjust seasoning by adding salt if required and simmer for 5-8 minutes more. Serve hot or warm with your choice of accompaniments.

We have served this stew with biryanis, with naans and with an elaborate meal many times and the chicken safaida was appreciated well by the guests every single time I cooked it. The stew is very lightly spiced but you can adjust the spiciness to your taste.

I make it a point to adjust the heat into this stew according the preference of people having it. Adding some white pepper powder, some yellow chilly powder and simmering a few slit green chilies in the first step helps getting some heat into this stew. But we like it the way I cooked this time.

Do let me know if you try this chicken safaida. I have posted a mutton safaida or gosht safaida as well and that is a frequently repeated recipe at my place too. Another whitish curry called chicken rezala is also a white chicken stew, another chicken stew mughlai style is whitish but way different from this one, and a chicken in a creamy white gravy. All these are favorites, but get made according to what we are planning on the side. Try all of these and see which one you like.

You can always cook these curries with vegetarian options too, paneer and lightly fried cauliflowers will be wonderful in this curry I feel.

rasse wali paneer bhurji | a curried paneer scramble that can be your dinner soup...

Paneer bhurji is a scramble cooked quickly using paneer and some onion, tomatoes and herbs. I have done Amritsari paneer bhurji from a cookbook and keep scrambling paneer all the time for convenience.

Basically a quick fix meal or a side dish or even a sandwich filling. Every home has it's own recipe of paneer bhurji with additives like bell peppers, spinach, green peas  or sometimes kasoori methi or fresh methi greens thrown in. I myself depend on such combinations many times when I have to stir up a simple and quick lunch box for the husband.

The dry version can be made using regular store bought paneer or homemade fresh paneer that just gets ready while you are chopping and stir frying your onion and tomatoes etc. It is the gravy version of paneer bhurji that requires a little different approach. The paneer in this case, is not sieved like home made paneer, but just collected from the whey and directly put into the cooking bhurji. The result is a perfectly creamy half curdled paneer into a rich and flavorful curry.

Read on, this is a pictorial step by step recipe so you would know how to go about it exactly the way I did...

ingredients...

full cream milk 1 Liter (to make paneer)
yogurt 1 heaped tbsp to curdle the milk

diced red onions 1 cup
sliced ripe tomatoes (preferably desi tomatoes) 2.5 cup
finely chopped garlic 1 tbsp
finely chopped ginger 1 tbsp
finely chopped green chilies to taste
kashmiri red chilly powder 1 tsp or to taste
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
coriander powder 1 tsp
black pepper powder 1/2 tsp
ghee 1.5 tbsp

procedure...

Heat the milk till it reaches just about to the boiling point, add the yogurt and stir. Take the pan off the flame and let it stand. The milk curdles partially and keep curdling till you prep up the other ingredients.

Now heat the ghee in a deep pan (kadhai) and tip in the chopped ginger, garlic, green chilies and red onions ...

Stir fry these till the onions get translucent, add the powder spices and salt to taste and mix well for about a minute. Then add the sliced tomatoes ..

Cook till the mixture looks like this...

Now sieve the curdled paneer and add to the cooking mixture, without waiting for the whey to drip, this way some of the whey is also added to the curry ..

The curry turns a little watery, mix well and simmer till it reaches the consistency you like...

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander greens...

Serve hot with chapati and some salad...We had this mooli ka acchar with this meal...

This rasse wali bhurji makes a truly soulful food, it can be served with plain parathas or like a hearty soup if you wish. I would love some garlic bread with this bhurji as well.

It makes a good curry for a large crowd too, in that case you would like to use freshly made regular paneer, crumbled nicely and added to the curry along with some fresh milk to make it soft while it cooks further.

Add some green peas if you have them fresh and nice. No frozen peas please.
You could add some kasoori methi as well if you love it that way.
It is the melt in the mouth type paneer that makes this recipe special  seasoning and other flavors can be adjusted to suit your taste.

Hyderabad special meal at The Park and a recipe of Safaid Korma and Akhrot ke kulchey...

Hyderabad food brings a smile on my face as I love spicy food in general. Biryani and Haleem comes to my mind immediately and then there is a complete blank. Ah yes, Double ka meetha and Khubani ka meetha I love to indulge into occasionally. We decided to go for a Hyderabadi dinner one evening last week and were expecting a spicy affair. I was surprised to know there is so much more to Hyderabad cuisine when Chef Tarun Verma introduced the menu at Aish at the Fire restaurant in The Park.

Our meal started with amuse bouche, a masala papad followed by a dahi ka golgappa served rather dramatically in a miniature tagine. Loved this along with the appalams.

Among the starters I liked Magaz ka pakoda /lamb brain fritters (575), pattey ki machhi, a steamed fish similar to Patrani machhi (825) and a shikampuri kabab, lamb kabab with a hung curd center (695) though I could not find any yogurt filling.. Pathar ka gosht (695)was nicely smoky and soft. I liked it as it was different from grilled kababs and still smoky.

Among the vegetarian starters you might like to taste the khajoor paneer ke dhol (425), a rolled up slice of paneer with a stuffing of dates and spices, I found it a bit too sweet. Some more spice and herbs would have balanced the flavors well as it was nicely soft and well rolled. Other vegetarian starters were not at all good.

Few mains were liked too. I found akhrot ke kulchey (145) really good. Walnuts are my favorite nuts and this naan was just too good for my palate. A thin white gravy of safaid korma (725) was quite a surprising element. Very delicate flavors and not at all spicy, contrary to what I think of hyderabad food, this korma was really nice though the gravy could have been thicker. I loved the akhrot ke kulchey with safed korma. Tried these at home, recipe in the end of this post..

Haleem (745)was good, a nice pasty Haleem that is made with large pieces of meat and cooked for hours so the fibers break. Nice flavors the way I like in Haleem. Apart from that Palakura pappu (425) was a nice yellow daal with few bits of greens but nothing great. Vegetarian dishes were an absolute disappointment.

Desserts were out rightly disappointing. Badam ka halwa (425) was very mediocre.  Chocolate double ka meetha (425) was a disaster as a real thick slice of bread with chocolate was not even soaked in syrup properly. Khubani ka meetha was a joke as dried apricots topped with whipped cream do not make khubani ka meetha. I was not expecting this from a five star hotel. The presentation was good though.

I would suggest you to go if you like Safaid korma and akhrot ka naan, haleem and some non vegetarian starters but avoid any desserts from the hyderabadi menu. The gulkand rasmalai (425) they served was a lot better and refreshing with slivers of dehydrated paan and gulkand.

The good thing is that I am bringing the recipe of Safaid korma by Chef Tarun Verma. Here it is for you to try and let me know if you like it...

ingredients...
mutton curry cut 1 kilo
cinnamon stick 5 gm
almonds boiled, peeled and blended 200 gm
ginger garlic paste 40 gm
full cream milk 2 liter
cinnamon powder 5 gm
green cardamom powder 5 gm
salt to taste
ghee 50 gm

I quartered the recipe as it was being cooked for just the two of us..

procedure..

Wash mutton pieces and put to boil with ginger garlic paste and cinnamon sticks. Keep skimming the surface or change the boiling water twice. This helps in keeping the color of the gravy white and flavor really delicate.

Simmer the mutton pieces till done. Took an hour for me.

Reduce the milk to half and add the mutton pieces with the stock to it.

Add the cardamom and cinnamon powders. Boil till you get the right consistency of the gravy.

Finish with cinnamon powder and ghee and serve hot with any kulcha or naan you fancy.

I made whole wheat Akhrot ke kulchey with this. Knead whole flour wheat flour with a pinch of soda bi carb, pinch of salt (for every half cup of flour) and a tbsp of chopped Walnuts and knead using warm milk. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then roll out and bake Kulche on a griddle or in an oven.

See how to bake Delhi street style kulche here..

For these kulchey I just rolled up small balls of this dough to make oblong breads and slapped it on to a hot griddle. Let it cook one side and then grilled the kulcha on open flame on the other side. It becomes perfectly soft inside and a bit crisp and firm on the surface. With the nutty crunch of Walnuts, these Kulchey are yummy with just anything you wish.

Who would have thought I would share a delicately flavored (and not hot and spicy) recipe from Hyderabad? Having said that, I am not sure if this recipe is authentic as a few such curries are cooked in Banaras as well. So have good food no matter where it belongs to.

Cheers..

Malwani fish curry...

If you have been reading my blogs for some time you would know how much I like coconut. Both for desserts and for curries. Most north Indian curries and UP style curries never use coconut and the gravies are darn brown to, light brown to creamy white or red in color, owing to various degrees of bhunoeing the masala, caremalising the onions and quantity of tomatoes. And then I see those curries of many of our southern states where you just stew the vegetables or meats with a coconut based spice paste. Believe me, I did not grow up eating them but those coconut based curries ahve become my comfort food since I started cooking them at home. This Malwani fish curry is one of those stewed curries where you don't have to bhuno the masala and deglaze it till it releases oil. And there are no exotic ingredients involved.

But yes, since I had some Tirphal that Rekha had gifted me some time ago when she brought it from Goa. This peppery spics has a nice depth to it's flavor and adds a unique touch to this Malwani fish curry. My recipe is based on this description of Goan fish curry where there is no use of Tirphal.

Ingredients...

4 large steaks of any seafish or alarge Pomfret cut in convenient sized pieces (about 500-600 gm)

to make a paste..
half a fresh coconut chopped into bits or scraped
an inch piece of garlic chopped roughly
5 cloves of garlic
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
4-5 Tirphal peppers
10 black pepper corns
4-5 fenugreek seeds
3-4 whole kashmiri red chilies
salt to taste

one large green chilly ( Jalapeno or any sweeter variety)
curry patta and coriander greens for garnish

1/2 cup of finely chopped onion and 1 tbsp of coconut oil to saute the onions if required
1/2 cup coconut milk is you want a richer flavor 

procedure...

Make a paste of the above ingredients just like the picture collage and pout the paste in a pan. Add the chopped green chilly to this paste and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. If you want the gravy thick and smooth you can sautee the above mentioned chopped onions and then add this past and simmer. Some coconut milk can also be added to enrich the flavors.

Add the fish steaks in the simmering mixture and coat them all well. Simmer again for 8-10 minutes with cover , add the curry patta and coriander greens and take the curry off the stove.

Do not add the fish steaks before cooking the coconut and spice mix as this can cause splitting of the gravy. Though it does not alter the taste but he curry might look a bit curdled.

Serve hot with plain boiled rice.