everyday subzi : baingan sowa-methi ki subzi

Baingan or brinjal is one of the favourite vegetables I can eat in any form. Not only because I love baingan myself but also because baingan responds so well to different treatments given to it. Grill it to make eggplant salads or crustless aubergine pizza, fry it to make beguni or sarson wala baingan fry, mash it to make bharta or raita, puree it to make baba ganoush or just curry it with just anything you like. I love the Japanese style grilled aubergine as well. Alu baingan palak is one traditional subzi on eastern UP that is cooked in winters in almost every home but this baingan subzi with sowa and methi is not that common in eastern UP. It is more of a western UP combination. Those who like it get this subzi made several times during the season and sowa methi combination is used to bring the best from the winter brinjals and green peas. And this is one of the lightest curries one can cook.

I cook this curry quite often for dinner and have it like my soup dinners but some time in last month I cooked this one in day time and clicked a few pictures. And when I posted this urad daal sowa ke pakode, it reminded Nupur about the sowa baingan ki subzi and she enquired about it in the comments. Sowa baingana and sowa-methi baingan is cooked similarly and people keep using different ratios of both these leafy greens in this subzi, sometimes even skipping one of these.

It was a pleasant coincidence that I had already clicked pictures of this recipe and I promptly promised her about it. Although I got quite late in sharing it, but better late than never.So here is the baingan sowa-methi ki subzi for you Nupur.

ingredients..
(2-3 servings)

one large round brinjal (or any fleshy variety) about 300 gm
cleaned washed and chopped methi (fenugreek) greens 200 gm
cleaned washed and chopped sowa bhaji (dill greens) 150-200 gm
finely minced green chillies, ginger and garlic 2 tsp each
chopped tomatoes 100 gm or one large tomato (optional)
green peas 100 gm (optional)
mustard oil 1 tbsp
fenugreek seeds 1/4 tsp
mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
fennel seeds 1/4 tsp
hing (asafoetida) a pinch

preparation...

Heat the oil in a pan or pressure cooker pan. I often use pressure cooker for such mushy subzis (especially for brinjal) because it cooks faster and doesn't dehydrate the subzi too much.

Tip in the hing, fennel, mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds in the oil and wait till the splutter and get aromatic. Add the minced ginger, garlic and green chillies next and cook till sizzling but not browned.

Add the peas, brinjal and the chopped greens. Mix well to coat everything. Add salt and chopped tomatoes if using and top up with 3-4 tbsp of water. Cover with the lid and pressure cook till the whistle blows. Take off from the flame and let the pressure cooker cool down on its own. Mix well and serve hot.

If cooking in a pan, just let the subzi cook on low flame covered, stirring once a while for about 20 minutes. It will be mushy and muddled up after cooking and that is how it is supposed to look.

The duo of methi and sowa taste really good in this curry. Most people add a few potato cubes to it too and some of them even skip adding the brinjal and make it just with potatoes. But the crux of the matter is that this subzi doesn't have any other spices than the tempering essentials. The aroma of this curry is dominant with a mix of methi-sowa, brinjal being the base to absorb all the goodness. Some people like this curry all mushed up in a texture similar to bharta. Make it the way you like it, most likely you must be familiar with this subzi if you have lived in UP somewhere.

We enjoyed this baingan sowa methi with some whole wheat mini kulchas and buttermilk on a weekend afternoon, watching TV and talked of our simple meals of childhood.

When we live away from home and miss the seasonal foods, these are some of the flavours that are missed the most. The freshness of winter produce is best captured in this kind of subzis back home. I have heard my friends saying the baingan and saag of Banaras tastes so different from what we get elsewhere. That is called the taste of home and this subzi represents that for me.

I am sure it brings back memories from home if you have come here just to read about baingan sowa-methi ki subzi. Go shop for some baingan and sowa methi and cook this subzi. Soulful food doesn't cost a bomb.

hari tahiri : green rice pilaf with spinach and green peas

Tahiri or tehri is a vegetable pilaf that can accommodate any amount of vegetables, green peas, paneer and leafy greens to make the rice meals a perfect one pot meal. Tahiri is a popular one pot meal with singletons as it saves a lot of effort in the kitchen. Tahiris made in larger families can be elaborate and can accompany a variety of side dishes as well. Raita, chutney, kachumber salad, pickle and papad with a winter vegetables tahiri can be a festive weekend meal for some. It used to be for us in the past.

We grew up eating loads of greens every winter. Ours was a household where greens were considered gold (well, almost) and everyone liked it too. I don't remember shrinking nose for spinach or other greens that were cooked, throughout the year as we get different types of leafy greens in summers as well.  But it was winter time when our dining table was dominated by the colour green.

Heaps of spinach, fenugreek greens (methi), mustard greens , bathua will be brought home, sometimes we would contribute to the collective ritual of cleaning and packing the greens for refrigeration and mounds of saag would adorn the plates for each meal. Sometimes the saag was pureed and a curry like palak paneer, palak ka nimona or palak alu dum will be made, sometimes our rice would turn a deep shade of green. That was harey chawal for us if made plain, or hari tahiri when some green peas, paneer, lotus stem slices or soy nuggets were added to the rice pilaf. Raitas of different hues and kachumber salads (salsa like salads) would be made in large quantities as we all loved or salads too.

Grated radish salad with chopped green chillies, chopped coriander greens and grated ginger with a generous squeeze of lime used to be a staple along with a tomato salsa type salad with mustard oil dressing. I associate this salad with winters as the radish have this taste only in winters. There are more reasons to eat seasonal foods, taste is one of them. We used t call it mooli ka salaad.

This salad is a perfect foil to such tahiris, some spicier biryanis and most parathas that we make only during winters. Some raita or buttermilk rounds up the meal perfectly. I made a roasted beets raita this time with hari tahiri and it was such a soul satisfying meal for a Saturday brunch, sitting outside amongst greens and the sun.

ingredients for the hari tahiri
(2-3 large meal servings)
a generous 1/2 cup rice (roughly 100-120 gm)
green peas 200 gm
cubed paneer 100 gm or more if you like
steamed and pureed spinach (without any water) 600 gm
finely minced fenugreek greens (methi) 1/2 cup packed
finely minced dill leaves 1/2 cup packed (optional, if not using methi)
everyday curry powder 1 tbsp
special garam masala (or freshly powdered mix of cloves, cardamoms and cinnamon) 1/2 tsp
red chilly powder 1 tsp or to taste
turmeric powder 1 tsp
cumin seeds 2 tsp
finely minced ginger 1 tbsp
tejpatta 2-3
ghee 2 tbsp
salt to taste

procedure

Rinse the rice, drain and keep aside.

Heat the ghee in a large wide pan or kadhai (wider pan works better to cook the rice evenly) and tip in the cumin seeds and wait till the crackle. Add the minced ginger, green peas and tejpatta and methi leaves one after the other. Add salt, turmeric powder and the spice powders and cook covered for about 2-3 minutes.

Add the spinach puree and cook uncovered till the puree starts bubbling up like puffs. Add the cubed paneer, water (double the volume of rice being used, ie, one cup) and let it come to bubbles once again.

Add the washed rice, mix everything till you see very little trace of rice in the sea of green.

Cover the pan with a tight lid and let the tahiri cook at low flame for about 15 minutes. Check if the rice is done and then take the pan off the flame. Let it rest for about 5 minutes and then turn the rice using a flat spatula.

Serve immediately with the choice of accompaniments.

You can add shrimps or chicken instead of paneer if you want a non vegetarian version. But I like the plain version better as the freshness of winter spinach and green peas is something I wont like to compromise with fish or chicken flavours.

To make the roasted beets raita, or chukandar ka raita, I just roasted a large beetroot along with 3 fat cloves of garlic. Peeled them both after cooling and then liquidized in a blender. The puree was then mixed with whipped dahi along with salt and pepper. It made such a lovely meal with all the colours and flavours.

Healthy filling meals can be fun, easy and free from unnecessary grease and processed ingredients. Try this hari tahiri this winter and let me know if it becomes your winter favorite meal too.

alu-gobhhi wala matar ka nimona | green peas nimona recipe with potatoes and cauliflowers, an authentic eastern UP curry...

This alu-gobhi wala matar ka nimona is such a delight to cook. It always evokes memories of my grandmother who used to cook such curries with so much of love and affection thrown in for good measure. Such spicy curries were her favorites, I remember how she used to insist on grinding a fresh chutney for every meal and slicing neat wedges of tomatoes, onions and carrots or radishes for salads. Food cooked with love has so much warmth to it, we would know if we have seen our mothers and grandmothers enjoying what they did for us kids. There is no substitute of a loving touch in everyday cooking you would agree. All the measurements and accurate methods fail when the love is not poured through the ladle.

And the love was poured through the ladle in the form of ghee sometimes. Fragrant and freshly homemade. Such recipes when cooked in ghee have a very distinct flavor but many people cook it in mustard oil and serve the curry with a spoonful of melted ghee for that lovely aroma. I prefer cooking this alu gobhi wala matar ka nimona in mustard oil because stir frying the vegetables in mustard oil imparts a complex flavor into this curry along with a few robust spices used.

ingredients...
(4-5 servings)
fresh green peas (shelled) 2 cups
baby potatoes (new winter potatoes) boiled, peeled and halved 1.5 cup
cauliflower florets 1.5 cup
ginger-garlic-green chilly paste 2 tbsp
coriander powder 2 tsp
cumin powder 1tsp
black pepper powder 1.5 tsp
turmeric powder 1 tsp
whole cumin seeds 2 tsp
mustard oil 1/3 cup
salt to taste
chopped coriander greens and stems 1/2 cup

procedure...

Make a coarse paste of the green peas, some of them should remain whole so if your food processor makes a paste quickly it's better to keep some whole green peas separately.


Heat oil in a deep pan and tip in the cumin seeds. Tip in the small florets of cauliflowers and boiled potato halves and stir fry them on medium flame so it all gets pinkish brown in 5-6 minutes. Add salt while this step as it helps absorbing the flavors later.

Add the powdered spices and the ginger-garlic-green chilly paste to the cooking mixture. This paste is made freshly, using about 2-3 green chilies, an inch piece of ginger and about 6-7 garlic cloves. The quantities can be adjusted to taste as you might like the nimona more garlicky or more hot.

Mix everything up and keep bhunoing the mixture on medium flame again. It helps the masala paste become toasted well and get aromatic. The earthy toasted aroma of the masala paste will be an indication of it's doneness. In appearance the mixture looks shiny and a little brownish. Total time taken for this step wont be more than 6-7 minutes.

Now is the time to add the coarse paste of green peas. Mix it all well and bhuno again for a couple of minutes so the flavors get melded.

Do not brown the green pea paste, it should just mix well with the masala paste and get a little sticky to the pan.

Now is the time to add water to the cooking mixture. Two cups of water will be good enough, but go by your choice of how runny or thick you want your nimona. Add the chopped coriander greens and stems at this stage, cover and let the curry simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Keep the flame low just after it get a gentle boil. It helps to keep the aromas of spices within the curry mixture. On high flame the top notes evaporate. Take crae the cauliflower florets keep their shape and don't get too mushy.

A firm bite in the cauliflower will be good to have otherwise it just gets lost and affects the final flavor of the nimona as it then interferes with the fresh flavors of green peas and coriander greens.

Serve the nimona hot with plain boiled rice or plain chapatis/rotis. Some people like a dollop of ghee on top of the nimona, but we like it as it is. The plain nimona is essentially cooked in ghee and that has a different flavor altogether. This one with alu-gobi, uses only cumin, coriander and black pepper as spice powders that are robust flavors on spices. Garam masala (cloves, cardamom, cinnamon etc) is not used so the fresh flavors of the green peas, the new potatoes and coriander greens make the curry aromatic in a different way.

We love this meal of nimona-chawal with a thick creamy raita. Any raw vegetables can be used for a raita that goes with this hot comforting bowl of winters.

Someone had commented on another nimona post of mine about this alu-gobhi ka nimona that is cooked in UP homes and that made me crave for this winter treat. It was made almost the next day, took some time to come to the blog and now again it makes me crave again for a warm bowl of this alu-gobhi wala matar ka nimona. In cold weather, such meals are a bliss.

See a mungodi wala matar ka nimona here..
another plain matar ka nimona without onion garlic here
and here are some basics of matar ka nimona that I posted in my initial days of this blog.

mungodi waala matar ka nimona | green peas nimona recipe with mung dumplings

A soup like thin gravy made with a paste of fresh green peas, spiced delicately with a few mung dumplings to bite into. It is basically a curried soup made using a coarse paste of green peas. The mung dumplings are made freshly for the nimona but the recipes is not as complicated as it sounds. Just to make 2 different pastes in the grinder and it takes about 30 minutes to cook. Some rice or chapati cooked on the side and a salad or a stir fry can make the meal really special. I made a quick begun bhaja with it, fried slices of brinjal with a melt in the mouth texture. The roti for me was a hearty jowar roti while the husband enjoyed it with plain boiled rice.

I have posted details about Matar ka nimona here and here and this nimona with mung dumplings is another version. A tasty curry with tastier dumplings, soaked with the spiciness from the gravy.

The mung dumplings can be fried in a batch and can be frozen for later use. I make them more easy by frying large sized mungodis (fried mung dumplings), and cutting them in to 3-4 pieces when cooking them in the nimona. This way they are bite sized and soak the juices well.

ingredients and procedure for the mung dumplings....

split mung beans 1 cup soaked for 2 hours
cumin seeds 2 tsp
green chillies 2 or to taste
salt to taste
mustard oil or ghee to deep fry

 Drain the soaked mung and make a paste of all the ingredients together without using any water. A coarse paste with specks of green chillies and cumin seeds is expected, so do not make a smooth buttery paste.

Traditionally , this paste is scooped between the fingers and small amounts are dropped in hot oil to make small fried dumplings of a size exactly similar to soaked garbanzo beans. But that is a time consuming process to make that tiny dumplings . I just scoop out spoonfuls and drop them gently into hot oil , these make irregular shaped dumplings but can be chopped to size when being cooked in the curry. My ways to cut short the cooking time so I can enjoy all these traditional fare more frequently. The fried dumplings look like this.

I used only 5-6 of these dumplings and the rest of them were frozen for later use. Makes a lot of sense for me...

ingredients and procedure for the green peas gravy...
green peas 1.5 cups
chopped ginger 1 tbsp
green chillies 1-2
every day curry powder 1 tbsp
garam masala 1/4 tsp Or to taste
whole cumin seeds 1 tsp
asafoetida a pinch
ghee 2 tbsp
1/2 cup of chopped coriander leaves to finish

Make a paste with the first three ingredients , the paste should be coarse and not very smooth and no water should be added while pulsing it.

Heat the ghee in a pan and tip in the cumin seeds and the asafoetida powder. Wait till the cumin crackles and then add the every day curry powder with a sprinkling of water along with it. Pour in the paste immediately and stir fry, the paste becomes lumpy first and then starts getting crumbly and sticks to the base. Cook on low flame till now.

Add the garam masala powder and mix well, stir and cook for a minute before adding about 4 cups of water. Mix well and let it come to boil.

Tip in the cut pieces of the fried mung dumplings, add salt to taste and simmer for about half an hour on very low heat. Add chopped coriander leaves to finish in the last few minutes of cooking and serve hot when the dumplings turn spongy and curry thickens to your desired level. You might like to add some water if you want it thinner. The mungodis absorb a a lot of water making the curry thicker.



Serve with chapatis or rice as I said. Hot curry like this can be nice warming winter meal any time of the day...I served it with a few slices of Begun bhaja, a bengali specialty that goes with any spicy meal. The eggplant slices turn buttery from inside when fried like this , with just a little crispness which dampens within minutes of frying it. Almost sweet and caremalised while frying and balances the meal well.

Egg plants are sliced and marinated with salt , turmeric powder and red chilly powder for about half an hour and then fried in hot oil or shallow fried on a hot griddle.

A warming hearty meal not too high on fat even when it has some fried components. A Jowar roti balances it well. I love such meals and can have loads of vegetables if served like this .... reminds me that I still have those frozen mungodis and might cook it tomorrow for lunch...

Who wants to join me for this ?

shalgam aloo matar ki subzi ... turnips and peas curry with potatoes..

Shalgam alu matar is one of the simplest curries I make whenever I am pressed for time. It doesn't need much peeling and fine chopping and if there are shelled peas in the fridge this curry can be cooked in a jiffy. I don't add potatoes to this curry always but new poatoes of the season give this curry a nice thickness if you add a few.

This style of curry is inspired by the subzi sold by the kachori walas of Banaras which is a perfect accompaniment to pooris. The subzi of every kachori wala is different and yet all of them are equally delicious. There is one more similarity when it comes to the subzi of the kachori walas, all those subzis are made super fast with minimal spicing.

Roughly chopped vegetables dunked in a smoky tempering of some hot and aromatic spices and cooked with water till they turn mushy. I have actually watched them cooking. What to do I can't stop myself watching all of this stuff whenever I get a chance.

This version of the curry is adapted for home cooking and hence the pressure cooker is put to use saving time for convenience..

ingredients...

2-3 large turnips cut roughly into cubes
1 medium sized potato cut into cubes (I prefer to keep the skin on)
a cup of fresh green peas (frozen will be good too but anyways turnips and peas are available fresh in the same season)
1 large tomato chopped roughly
1 tbsp of everyday curry powder (or coriander,cumin and pepper powders in 2:1:1 ratio plus a couple of bay leaves )
1 tsp dry ginger powder or 2 tsp of grated fresh ginger root
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp or more red chilly powder
a pinch of asafoetida
2 tsp of mustard oil
salt to taste

The ingredient list looks long but it is very convenient to throw them into the cooker one by one and just cover the lid to cook...

procedure....

Heat oil in the pressure cooker pan and throw in the asafoetida. Just as the hings becomes frothy add the *everyday curry powder*  and turmeric n red chilly powders and put the flame off if you feel the heat could burn the powders. It is actually better to let the oil smoke then take the pan off the heat and then add the powders...

Add the dry or fresh ginger as per your choice. I grate a chunk of dry ginger over the pan and it's super quick, no running to fridge, peeling and grating the ginger and the flavors are better than the store bought dry ginger powder.

Put the pan back to heat. Add all the chopped vegetables and peas, toss them to coat well, add salt and enough water to make a mushy curry. Cover the pressure cooker and cook till the first whistle blows up. Let the pressure escape on it's own, open the lid and stir the curry lightly with a ladle so that cooked turnips and tomatoes get mushed up. You may like a dash of amchoor powder added at this stage, check seasonings and add amchoor if you feel like.

Serve hot with chapatis, crisp parathas or hot pooris for a Sunday breakfast.

The only masala used in the curry is my ever so useful everyday curry powder. This curry powder has been named as a magic curry powder by a friend and has been adopted by many of my real life friends . The spice mix has a nice earthy and citrus y blend of flavors and the bay leaves added to it add an extra touch . Very versatile especially for the north Indian stir fries and curries .

The lovely blogger couple Sarah and Brad of naughty taste buds have adopted this curry powder and have posted about it too with pictures better than mine. They are using it so creatively for their daily food..see here.....

This simple curry which reminds you that yummy meals can be quick and convenient at the same time. I make a similar curry with halved parvals ( pointed guards) and that is a nice and light summer time curry without the peas. That parval curry is a regular for dinner with chapatis, an ideal summer dinner ........

The thought of summer makes me uncomfortable as the winters days are dwindling fast. Posting a series of turnip curries is my achievements in the season as I have been so occupied to come to my blogs.

But still there is some time to enjoy turnips before they vanish under the scorching sun, make this shalgam alu matar ki subzi and see how delicious it is...

shalgam bhein matar ki subzi...turnips with lotus stem with peas ...

A quick sabzi if you have a skill or help for chopping vegetables really fast . As soon as the veggies are chopped this curry is very quick and i love the mixed flavors of green coriander leaves , green peas and turnips together . Potatoes and lotus stem remain neutral against these flavorful and aromatic ingredients and balance the curry with nutrition and off course taste wise too ...
 

Once you are done with this chopping it's a matter of 5 minutes if you have ginger garlic paste and fresh tomato puree . I make these fresh and takes me another 5 minutes ...

ingredients...

2 large turnips
1 large fat lotus stem
1 medium sized potato
1 cup of green peas ( preferably fresh )
2 large red tomatoes ( preferably desi or heirloom )
1 inch piece of ginger
2-3 garlic cloves
2-3 green chillies
1 tbsp of everyday curry powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1-2 tbsp of chopped green coriander leaves
1 tbsp of mustard oil
1 tsp of cumin seeds
salt to taste

procedure...

Make a paste of ginger garlic and green chillies and later in the same mixie jar make a coarse paste of tomatoes . Chop the vegetables as shown in the picture...


Heat the oil in the pressure cooker pan and throw in the cumin seeds . Wait as the cumin seeds pop and get aromatic , add the ginger garlic paste , turmeric powder and curry powder in quick succession . Add salt and keep tossing the pan to fry the spice mix till it gets aromatic ....




Add the potatoes , lotus stem and turnips to the frying mix and toss again to coat the pieces .. keep tossing the vegetables for a couple of minutes for a quick searing .




Add the green peas and enough water to cover the veggies ...
Close the lid and let it pressure cook just till the first whistle blows .
Let the pressure escape and add the chopped coriander leaves immediately after opening the lid , cover the lid again for a couple of minutes and serve hot with chapatis or plain parathas...


This is a curry with thin soupy gravy and the flavors come from the green coriander , peas , tomatoes and fresh turnips........ the winter goodness of all the fresh veggies.

Very healthy and delicious . All those who do not appreciate turnips fort their smell ( i am not one of them ) will be delighted with this curry as the turnips almost taste like potatoes in this one .... very unlike the gogji nadir where the turnips take a center stage of flavors....

Another curry with turnips and potatoes is lined up cooked with a different procedure ... a quicker version than this 1 minute wonder .... minus the chopping time if you are slow :)

Check out the next milder and mushy curry which prompts even the turnip haters to have second helpings...

khoya matar makhana or khoya matar paneer paneer : Banaras special curry

Khoya matar makhana is a special curry and we were introduced to this exotic sounding curry when we shifted to Banaras after my dad's transfer from Chandigarh. Somehow my mother never made this khoya matar makhana but she would often make a version of matar paneer that was close to the original khoya matar. In fact many Banaras families make their matar paneer with khoya in it because it gives them the pleasure of both.

Khoya matar makhana is a wonderfully rich and yet subtle flavoured curry. Very creamy in a different way and sweetish spicy, so much different from the usual Punjabi curries we had grown accustomed to. I am not very sure if this curry belongs to Banaras but that was the place we had it for the first time and till date I have never tasted it anywhere else.

That Banaras loves it's khoya and milk products so much I am pretty sure in my heart that khoya matar makhana evolved in Banaras, taking makhana from the neighboring state Bihar.

Yes the reason why I believe this curry belongs to Banaras is that the people of this city are obsessed with khoya, there is a whole market dedicated to khoya named khoya gali near chowk area, and that's not all, there is one kachori gali too and you know how famous is banarasi kachori ....

Like many other banaras special curries, khoya matar does not use any onion garlic and can be a fasting curry too during navratras. I will post a navratra version of this curry sometime.....

Coming back to the recipe, this curry is a creamy rich looking special kinda curry but surprisingly it is not high on fat like those those shahi sounding creamy buttery curries.

Yes, milk powder has very low fat content if you use skimmed milk powder and this khoya is made from that. Also as I have used paneer for this recipe that too has fat in it but overall this curry is lower on fat than the other creamy buttery paneer curries. Nevertheless, this curry is medium rich when fat level is considered although I find it topping the scale of deliciousness.

ingredients....

khoya 1 teacup loosely packed ( I used home made khoya )
green peas (I used frozen this time) 1 cup ( 2.5 cups when not using paneer )
paneer chopped into small cubes 1 cup ( optional as the original recipe is khoya matar makhana)
Use a cup and half of shallow fried makhana if not using paneer
raw tomato puree 1 cup freshly made with raw tomatoes (this is not part of the original recipe, do not use if making khoya matar makhana)
bay leaf 1 no.
salt to taste
ghee 1 tbsp
milk 1 cup (optional, I used water instead )
  
to be made into a paste...
ginger 1 inch piece
green cardamoms 2 nos.
black cardamom 1 no.
cinnamon 1 inch piece
cloves 4 nos.
cumin seeds 1 tsp
black pepper corns 1 tsp
red chilly powder 1-2 tsp

preparation....

Make a paste of the ingredients listed for paste with little water..

Pour ghee in a kadai and add the fresh tomato puree if using, bay leaf, the masala paste and salt to taste.

Now heat the mixture over medium flame and stir to bhuno it a bit....ghee will be separated within a couple of minutes.

Now add the khoya in it. In the meantime I microwaved the peas for 2 minutes, they can be boiled on gas stove too.

Bhuno is the process of dry roasting such a mixture especially a masala paste, so bhuno again till the khoya masala mix bubbles a bit...

Add a cup of water or milk ( adding milk will result in a whiter curry but a bit more rich ) or water , the cooked peas and cubes paneer ...

and let it boil covered till the ghee floats on top...the whole cooking process takes less than 10 minutes...

Serve hot with naan or chapati. The curry is creamy in a different way and the granular texture of khoya makes a surprising gravy. A little sweet and a little spicy and it tastes very good with any plain roti, naan, rumali roti or kulcha.....

Enjoy this quick yet rich curry and think of the ghats of Banaras. Khoya matar makhana or khoya matar paneer both will become your favourite ways to indulge in Indian khana.

mocha matar ....forget about keema matar

Kele ka phool or the banana heart is the bright pink colored tip of the banana inflorescence, this delectable vegetable ( flower ) is cooked into many countries , not only in different parts of India ....that too in many many ways and one thing is sure that all of those recipes must be wonderful.......the reason is , after cleaning those tiny flowers with clinical precision and chopping them like you are handling your own fingers , you will surely do something special with them.... they taste really great when treated nicely.

Some people par boil the flowers and discard the water as the flowers are slightly alkaline , i never do that for alkaline food is good for us ..... many useful minerals are also lost during parboiling and straining the flowers...they are so rich in potassium and iron n B-complex Vitamins ( all water soluble )....

To make them less alkaline to the palate , tomatoes or curds or both can be added for curries ( like this one) , addition of a few drops of lemon juice would be good too....One more trick to make them less alkaline to the palate is cooking them with legumes ...with green mung or with green peas it tastes great , other legumes can also be tried as the possibilities are endless...adding grated coconut also helps in neutralizing the taste...

I had cleaned the florets and kept them for making a kabab with it , the plan got changed and i made a
shallow fried pakoda using the inner heart , while the outer flowers were used for this mocha matar ....made almost like keema matar and is a good vegetarian alternative....here is a picture of chopped up flowers of banana...

Cleaning and chopping the tiny florets is a bit time consuming but it is well worth the hard work....there are many write ups on how to clean these florets on the net so i did not bother to take the pictures and come straight to the recipe.....kele ke phool aur matar ki subzi.....

 ingredients...

cleaned and chopped banana florets 1.5 cups
green peas 1 cup
chopped red onions 1/2 cup
ginger 1 inch piece, 5-6 garlic cloves n 5 green chillies made into a paste
chopped tomatoes 1 cup
coriander greens with stem chopped and kept separately , a cup of both
mint leaves chopped 1 tbsp
turmeric powder 1 tsp
everyday curry masala 2 tsp
special garam masala 1 tsp
salt to taste
mustard oil 2 tbsp
cumin whole 1 tsp
cloves 2
procedure...

Dissolve turmeric powder and both the masala powders in 1/4 cup of water n keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai and throw in the cumin and cloves ...wait till they splutter...i love adding a whole dry red chilly too at this point but did not use this time as Arvind had instructed me to cook less hot this time..

Add the chopped onions and let them get lightly browned , add the masala paste and fry till it sticks to the base of kadai , scrape and fry till aromatic...

Add the green peas and sallt , sprinkle some water , mix well and cook covered for 5 minutes..or till the peas are 3/4 done...

Open the lid and add the banana florets along with the coriander stems in the kadai.....

Mix well and stir fry without covering for a couple of minutes ....till the banana flowers look wilted and soft...

Add the chopped tomatoes , mint leaves and the coriander leaves , mix well and cover to cook till everything is well blended , tomato puree can be used if fresh tomatoes are not available or you don't want those red specks into the curry , taste the curry by dipping your fingertip into it at this point....if it still feels alkaline to the palate , add 1/4 cup of thick curds and cook to blend well........

This is a very rich looking curry and you can add ghee on top before serving .......we like it as it is .....the pictures of the cooked curry are not very good as it was steaming hot when i clicked it..........

The curry becomes better the next day , all the spices and the mint n heavy dose of coriander greens make it a curry bursting with flavors.....it becomes very rich in fiber owing to the coriander stems ...the mocha is high on fiber itself too.....all the goodness with great taste...