wild mushrooms | Katarua or Indian truffles | subzi and biryani recipes using Katarua

Last month I was lucky to get hold of some wild mushrooms brought by my brother. He was driving from Lakhimpur and I had requested him to bring some of these foraged wild foods.

I had tasted several varieties of wild mushrooms during our days in Dhanbad, my maid who belonged to Munda tribe had introduced me to many of these wild foods, and the memory of those freshly foraged wild mushrooms sometimes makes me crave for them. Especially during the rainy season as I am reminded of how the local haats (vegetable markets) will have at least 3-4 mushroom sellers during this season.

Sometimes my maid would bring a fistful of Termite mushrooms that she had found on her way to my home in the morning, the fresh aroma of those mushrooms is unforgettable. She would always tell me these can be eaten raw as well but I never tried that, blame it to my urban sense of hygiene.

So when two bundles of wild mushrooms arrived one day wrapped in newspaper, the way the foragers sell these, I opened the bundles instantly to see what were those. One of them was this wild mushroom called as 'Dharti ka phool' and had a pleasant smell to it.

The other one was so stinky I felt a bit hesitant to cook with it. A similar looking wild mushroom called Rugda from Jharkhand was not smelly at all as much as I remember. Or was it my help who used to clean it? But the big question was I had to clean it all by myself this time.

This pebble like wild mushroom is known as Katarua in Lakhimpur and as Phutphut in Dehradun I got to know. Covered in layers of black mud these had to be rinsed repeatedly to clean.


Katarua or Phutphut is identified as Astraeus hygrometricus (source) which grows mostly around Sal trees  and erupts in rainy season every year.

After a good wash the Katarua looks like this. These are Indian truffles, closely related to other truffles of the world and very flavourful.

These have a cartilaginous cover and a pulpy center and need to be halved for cooking into curries. I decided to pressure cook first because the stinky mud had made me sick. Some great foods test your patience truly.

After pressure cooking for about 10 minutes (after one whistle) the Kataura mushrooms were cooled down, chopped into halves and curried. The taste was so good it makes me crave for it now. Very meaty taste, cartilaginous capsule and soft egg yolk like center.

I cooked it with potatoes once as it flavours anything that is cooked with it.

The recipe is not much different for this spicy curry as I followed the bhuna masala method, where the masala is prepared first and then the mushrooms are simmered with the bhuna masala and some water for about 10 minutes. Note that the Katarua has already been pressure cooked. It takes well to prolonged cooking as the cartilage like outer cover is quite hard.

Next time I kept the gravy a little thin as I love the way the soupy curry carries the flavours.This one we polished off with sourdough kulchas.

And then I made biryani with the Katarua wild mushrooms because I thought the rice grains will take to it's flavour really well. The biryani really proved to be worthy of all the effort. Unfortunately I was trying out an organic rice that was sent to me by a farmer and it turned out to be too mushy for biryani but the taste was great. 

To make the Katarua biryani, follow the steps as suggested below.

It is not a true biryani but something that will make you think positively about vegetarian biryanis trust me.

1. Make the curry with bhuna masala like above.
2. Boil basmati rice with plenty of water, few tejpatta leaves and few peppercorns. Cook the rice only till the rice is half done. Drain the water and reserve rice, rinse with chilled water briefly.
3. Now layer the Katarua subzi and half cooked rice in a thick bottomed handi. Pour the gravy over it and some additional water, some mint leaves (optional) and a tbsp of ghee. The water used at this step has to be enough to cook the rice while on 'dum'.
4. Cover the handi and cook on 'dum'. Keep a tick griddle below the handi and let it cook slowly on low heat for 25 minutes. This is how 'dum' cooking results into aromatic biryani.
5. Serve the biryani as soon as the dum cooking is over.

We normally serve raita and salad with biryanis but since it was the rare flavour of Katarua we decided to make a plain kachumber of tomatoes and onions. It was such a delectable meal to remember.

Next time I get hold of these wild mushrooms called as Katarua, I am going to experiment some more and see if it pairs well with the western recipes.

bisibele bhath : the southern khichdi we loved even in the simplest way

Bisibele bhath recipe used to feel very complicated whenever I saw it on other blogs or when friends explained it to me. Roasting a lot of spices separately, powdering them and then cooking a few more things separately to mix them all together to make a khichdi that tastes divine, that was my impression of Bisi bele bhath or BBB as it is called by BBB admirers. Yes Bisibele bhath has admirers, you realise when you talk about it to someone who has grown up eating this. I used to feel really out of place even though I love everything that looks like khichdi, be it our bhuni khichdi, mung ki khichdi or risotto, the firangi khichdi. Even Haleem that we love so much.

Bisi bele bhath is no less than Haleem mind you. The dark beauty it is, packed with flavours that makes the meal deeply satisfying and worth admiring too. And this was a short cut recipe that my friend Nirupama typed for me in a hurry one night so I could make a decent Bisi bele bhath with the fresh Pigeon pea lentils she had packed for me during my Hyderabad visit 2 weeks ago.

Yes we were in Hyderabad for a week and experienced harvesting, cooking and eating a farm to table meal along with other things one does in a city seeped with history and old world charm. I met a few dear friends, made a few new friends and brought back some really good stuff home. I bought pickles and kalamkari fabric and my friend Nirupama packed some more foodie gits for me, one of the gifts was this bag of fresh pigeon peas that they call Kandulu in Telugu, Thuvaram in Tamil and Arhar phalli or Tuvar phalli in Hindi. I was amazed to see heaps of this lentil being sold on roadsides towards airport along with seasonal fruits, mainly papaya, oranges and pomegranate.

We never get to see this arhar ki phalli in north Indian markets, fresh green peas are very common during this season and hara chana (fresh green garbanzo) also starts coming but just imagine if we get fresh pods of all the lentils we grow. I think I will use one or the other fresh beans everyday in my cooking.

Fresh Pigeon peas are also called Toor lilva and is used extensively in Marathi and Gujrati cuisines. Some day I will cook all of those things for sure. A proper Undhiyo has been on my list for ever although I have cooked lame versions of Undhiyo a few times.

We had enjoyed this fresh Pigeon peas at Aiyor Bai farm by just boiling them in salted water and snacking on them warm. But this was the first time I was eating these lentils fresh and I wanted to experiment more.

Nirupama recommended the Bisi bele bhath, typed a recipe for me and I mustered the courage to make it for the first time. The divine tasting BBB did not disappoint me even though it was a simplified recipe that Nirupama told me so I could manage to make a decent one.

ingredients
(2 meal portions with some yogurt and papad on the side)

white short grain rice (or broken basmati) 1/4 cup
fresh pigeon peas 1 cup
dry grated or desiccated coconut 2 tbsp
whole coriander seeds 1 tbsp
2-3 Bedgi chillies broken
cinnamon stick 1 inch broken
sambhar powder (ready made from a packet) 1 tbsp
cashew nuts 2-3 tbsp
diced onions 1/2 cup
curry patta 2-3 tbsp
mustard seeds 1 tsp
hing 1 pinch
ghee 1 tbsp

chopped vegetables in bite sized pieces 2-3 cups (I used carrots, cauliflowers and brinjal)

tamarind extract to taste ( I boiled 1 tbsp worth of tamarind with a cup of water, mashed when cool, filtered and added the watery extract to BBB)

procedure

Boil the fresh pigeon peas along with a cup of water and salt to taste in pressure cooker. About 5-8 minutes under pressure (after the first whistle blows). Cool down, open the cooker, add the chopped vegetables and simmer till the vegetables are soft. Add some water if required.

Cook the rice with a cup of water till done. The rice will be watery even after cooking but this is intended.

In the meanwhile, dry roast the broken chillies, cinnamon, whole coriander seeds and the coconut together till they all become a little dark and aromatic. Add the desiccated coconut later if using, grated coconut can be roasted along with everything else. Add sambhar powder in the end and switch off the gas so the powder gets roasted in residual heat. Let them all cool down. Then make a coarse powder and keep aside.

In the same pan, pour ghee and tip in mustard and hing. Let them crackle before adding cashew nuts and fry them till pinkish brown. Add the onions and curry patta and fry till translucent.

Mix the powdered mix with the fried mix and stir well.

Add this mixture to the cooked lentils and rice together, add the tamarind extract, adjust seasoning and simmer for 5 minutes till everything comes together.

The resultant dish will be very aromatic by now. Fry or roast some papad and lay the table. You can't wait for long once the Bisi bele bhath is ready.

I had fried alu ka papad which is a Banaras specialty and a vadi made with puffed rice called Aralu sandige that Nirupama had packed for me. Such meals are enjoyed with extended family most.

I always feel we love such flavours best when there are more people around. People you have grown up with, have made memories together and have eyed the the last yummiest morsels of food from the table together.

Bisi bele bhath will be licked clean by the end of the meal no matter how much you serve. Even this short cut recipe thanks to Nirupama is a keeper and I will be cooking this version a lot. But I will be making the elaborate version of Bisi bele bhath very soon.

Feeling encouraged by the first success of my Bisi bele Bhath.

Kathal ki biryani | Jack fruit mock meat biryani

Kathal ki biryani is the ultimate vegetarian biryani that even I like. Normally the vegetarian biryanis are never impressive in any way, apart from being a mixed vegetables, nuts and rice cooked together. I prefer my khichdi over vegetarian Biryani. But Kathal or Jack fruit biryani is different.

Raw jack fruit is a meat substitute for vegetarians all over India. Kathal (jack fruit) was never a favourite vegetable when I was growing up. Just the kathal ka dopyaza was something I loved, sometimes the spicy versions of kathal ke kofte or a curry masquerading as mutton curry would be liked too. But I never really craved for kathal. So much so that I had cooked kathal only about 4 times in the last 6-7 years although it is available throughout the year. But then I saw a few kathal ki biryani recipes doing the rounds on fb groups and someone actually asked me to post my version of it.

Now truth be told, I had never had any kathal ki biryani in my life. And this girl from Bangalore would keep requesting me to post more kathal recipes as she loved them and wanted to cook. I brought a whole kathal once and turned lazy in the coming week, made kathal ka dopyaza first as that is my first choice, the remaining kathal got wasted. Yes. Sad.

But then as I kept thinking of kathal ki biryani, I picked up a fat slice of kathal on day from the subziwala and cleaned and chopped it almost immediately. Kathal ki biryani was planned for the next day, cooking was to be done early in the morning as I had planned to pack this 'biryani' to Arvind's lunch box as well. I thought it would taste like tahiri if not biryani and he anyway loves tahiri so it wont be a problem. I succeeded in making this kathal ki biryani in about 30 minutes, packed half of it for his lunch and half for myself. It was at my lunch time that I realised it actually was a good 'biryani'. Kathal is quite meaty and works well for biryani if treated well. Finally a biryani for vegetarians.

 I will tell you what do I mean by treating the kathal well. As I repeated the kathal ki biryani lunch box a few times and found out what way kathal tastes best in the biryani.

Just take care to chop the kathal in shreds, separating the seeds (saving it for a curry if the seeds are mature) if the kathal has any. The one I used had very soft seeds so I let them be. Remove the parchment like seed coat from each seed and reserve the fleshy and fibrous parts of the fruit. You would need to smear oil to your hands, the chopping board and the knife when you chop and peel kathal.

Since I cooked this kathal ki biryani in the morning hurry hours, I worked out the shortest possible method for me. I am sure it would work for you too.

ingredients
kathal chopped like above 2 cups packed
basmati rice 1/2 cup
water 1 cup
tejpatta 2 leaves
whole black pepper corns 12
shahi jeera (caraway seeds) 1/2 tsp
cumin seeds 1 tsp
pathhar phool or chhadila (lichen spice)
garam masala (green cardamom, black cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and a little mace powdered together) 1 tsp
black pepper powder 1/2 tsp (optional)
whole red chillies 2
sliced onions 1 cup
ginger julienne 2 tbsp (or half as much, I like this biryani a bit hot)

As I mentioned I worked around a shortest possible method to cook this biryani, the fact that the kathal was chopped and refrigerated in advance helped. To make it quicker, I cooked the rice in microwave till the kathal was prepared in a pan of gas stove. Later both were mixed with light hand and microwaved again with a lid. This helped the rice look really separated and kathal stay meaty and not get mushy.

procedure

Wash the rice, add water to it along with the tejpatta and patthar phool. These two spices bring the biryani flavours really well, making kathal ki biryani taste a bit like mutton biryani, although there is a wee hint only, but pleasing to the senses. Cook the rice in microwave as you would normally cook rice, but take it out as soon as the rice is 3/4th done. Cover and reserve. By the time rice cooks to this stage, you will be half done with the kathal on the pan.

To prepare the kathal for biryani, heat ghee in a pan or kadhai and tip in the sliced onions, separated well so they fry nicely. Let the onions fry till they get golden brown. Take out half the onions and reserve, add whole spices, ginger julienne and chopped kathal to the remaining onions in the pan, one after the other, stirring in between. Add salt and cook covered for about 10 minutes, on low flame.

Add the powdered spices, stir and mix well and cook covered till the kathal is done. Take about another 10 minutes. You might need to sprinkle some water during cooking as kathal may get dry and can get charred.

Mix the cooked kathal and the 3/4th cooked rice. Cover and microwave for 5 minutes or till the rice looks fresh and done.

Serve hot with raita and some salad. I had it with one boiled egg and and fruits and vegetable mix raita. These pictures are of my lunch that I had after 4 hours of cooking the biryani. Reheated kathal ki biryani tastes great too.

I cooked this biryani in pressure cooker too one day, as usual in the morning hurry hours, thinking it might be good that way too. The taste was the same, the rice grains looked a bit thicker and the kathal pieces were a bit too soft for my taste. I wont make it in pressure cooker ever. The above method worked best every time I cooked it. Four times to be precise :-)

You already know I loved this kathal ki biryani although I have been vehemently opposing any vegetable pulav being called as biryani all this while. The pathhar ke phool (black stone flower) imparts a hint of meaty flavours to this biryani and this pulav/tahiri steps up a rung towards biryani :-)

saathi ke chawal | a sweet and sticky variety of rice and a few recipes

There are so many rice varieties in India that talking about Basmati only is sacrilege. We have short grain fragrant varieties of rice found in the eastern part of India and katarani, jeera batti, kala namak, gobind bhog, badsha bhog etc are the preferred rice varieties with any light seasonal curries and daals that make staple food in this part of the world. We even make our pulaos and tahiris using these fragrant short grain rice. Basmati is used only for the biryanis and some pulaos and that is just for the looks of it. Fragrance of jeera batti and gobind bhog is way superior than basmati.

But today I am talking about the coarse rice varieties. These are not fragrant by any means but they do have a distinct aroma of their own. We have so many of the coarse rice varieties, each one different in it's taste and nutrient profile. The stickier the rice cooks, the more fragrant it is, and the nutrient profile is also better being richer in proteins, fiber and zinc apart from some other minerals and vitamins. I found two varieties of sticky rice from Meghalaya, one is a deep pink when cooked and another is deep purple when cooked and both taste so good I don't have words to explain. More on that later.

A rice variety called saathi has been making me curious for a long time as I had tasted laddus made with this in my childhood and my grandmother and father both used to say how good the taste is when saathi rice is cooked for hot meals. I had always wanted to have saathi ke chawal for a regular daal chawal meal so I can understand what they meant. 

And then I saw saathi rice in a small village shop when we visited our ancestral village 2 months back, and bought a couple of kilos immediately. Papa was so happy once again to see how interested I am in such forgotten grains. Later I wrote an article for Down to Earth magazine later which you can see here. The same article I am posting here without any edits.

   

There are many rice varieties which are on the verge of getting lost forever. Saathi rice is one of those varieties that is coarse, pink streaked rice with a mild sweet taste when cooked. The rice releases so much starch when cooked that the cooked rice looks like a pink lumpy porridge when the rice is new, aged rice cooks to more separate grains though.

I had my first tasting of saathi ke chawal with peeli daal and alu hare pyaz ki bhujia. Here is how it looks when cooked. I loved this simple meal absolutely, I feel blessed when I can eat what my ancestors might have eaten.

Saathi ke chawal was once a staple rice being cooked in many homes in eastern part of India. I am told that rich families could afford the fragrant short grain rice but still there were a few religious rituals around festivals when this saathi rice was used. How well our ancestors knew how to preserve such grains from being lost.

This rice variety gets ready in 60 days (saath din) and hence the name saathi. It is an early variety which can be sown on the onset of monsoons and gets ready till the heavy monsoons last in the plains, giving way to late rabi crops in the last leg of monsoons. Saathi is known to thrive in waterlogged lowlands, so the wastelands of villages where nothing can be grown due to water logging, sathi is the best option. This cultivar of rice is marked by short strong stems, ear (panicle) partially closed in the sheath and the grain husk dark coloured. It is a low yielding variety which is suitable for broadcast method of sowing. This cultivar of rice is mentioned in Ain-e-Akbari as a low class rice. I figure saathi rice brought lesser revenues for the state, being cheaper food for the poor.

Luckily, saathi is associated with some festive rituals and people grow and stock it for the same reason. Another example of how religious rituals help preserve a native variety. A kheer made with cane sugar and saathi, called Rasiya or Rasiayao (that means, cooked is ras or sugarcane juice), is used during chath pooja in Bihar. Saathi laddus are made during wedding rituals in Eastern UP and Bihar as well.

Saathi rice is considered to be easily digestible and nourishing in rural areas. Different preparations are made to make it suitable for different requirements. A dish called Maheri is made with overcooked saathi rice and buttermilk with salt, green chillies, ginger etc, almost like a thin curd rice, considered good for liver disorders and indigestion.

A laddu made along with ginger powder and fried edible gum and nuts is considered good for winter months, especially for joint related ailments.

Cooked saathi rice can be had with daal and subzi as a normal daal-rice meal, to take the benefits of low glycemic index of this coarse rice cultivar. Saathi is definitely rich in minerals, apart from several amino acids but there is no detailed study on its nutrient profile.

Recipe of saathi ke laddu

Ingredients

Saathi rice 250 gm

Almonds (preferably gurbandi variety) 200 gm

Flax seeds 100 gm

Grated fresh coconut 50 gm or to taste

Golden raisins 80 gm or to taste

Raw sugar or grated jaggery 250 gm or to taste

Ghee 200 gm

Method

Rinse the rice well several times, drain and keep in a wide strainer for an hour or till the surface gets dry but the grain becomes a little soaked.

Powder the partially soaked rice in a mixie jar or coffee grinder. This powder is to be used immediately as it cannot be stored at room temperature.

Heat ghee in a wide pan and add the powdered rice and bhuno it on low flame till light brown and aromatic.

Powder the almonds and flax seeds coarsely, dry roast the grated coconut and chop the raisins. 

Mix everything to the roasted rice flour, mix well and make laddus of desired size while the mixture is still a little warm in winters, otherwise the ghee gets harder to bind.

I sometimes keep the laddu mixture loose and have it like a loose granola mix or mixed with hot milk to be had like a porridge. Makes complete sense in modern times.

We need to revive our ancient grains. Isn't it? 

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.

kuttu ki khichdi lauki tamatar ke saath | buckwheat khichdi with bottle gourd and tomatoes...

Kuttu ki khichdi is more like a stew that you can cook in about 20 minutes if all the vegetables are chopped. So technically it may be a buckwheat and bottle gourd stew with some bits of paneer for protein in the meal. A khichdi should have a grain and a lentil or more than one grain and lentils if we talk about authentic khichdi, but buckwheat groats can become almost khichdi like in consistency when cooked with a little extra water. Though it cooks like a pilaf as well.

Anyways, this dish is more like a one pot stew that can make a complete meal. We had it with a fish fry on the side as we are not into Navratri fasting anymore, but a large serving of raita or buttermilk will complete this meal if you are fasting.

You can use any gourd family vegetables to make this stew, sponge gourd and ridge gourd work well and zucchini also can be used for a good texture and mild taste that does not mask the nutty flavors of buckwheat. I used a soft bottle gourd of the round variety and some home grown tomatoes..

Buckwheat groats can be cooked with just the double amount of water volume wise to cook like pilaf and if the cooking liquid is more, the texture of the resultant dish is more risotto or stew like.

ingredients...

(2 meal servings with a side dish or raita)

chopped bottle gourd 5 cups (400 gm)

chopped ripe tomatoes 1.5 cup (150 gm)

finely chopped root ginger 1 tbsp

whole dry red chilly one broken

finely chopped green chilies to taste

curry powder (everyday curry powder) 1 tsp

turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

salt and pepper to taste

ghee 1.5 tbsp

cumin seeds 1 tsp

buckwheat groats 3/4 cup

paneer 100 gm chopped in small cubes

procedure...

Heat ghee in a pressure cooker pan (or a normal stockpot type pan) and tip in the cumin seeds. Let the cumin splutter before you add the red chilly broken and then the chopped ginger. Once cooked and fragrant, add the powdered spices and immediately add the chopped tomatoes and salt to taste. Cook this mixture till the tomatoes cook well and look like a chunky sauce.

Add the chopped bottle gourd (lauki), toss well and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Stirring it all once in a while. Add 2 cups of water and let it come to a boil. 

Add the buckwheat groats, mix well and cover the lid and pressure cook till the first whistle  If cooking in a stock pot, let it simmer covered till the buckwheat gets cooked. Add water if required to adjust consistency.

Add the cubed paneer and let it come a boil once again. Or just mix and cover if you want the khichdi  on the dry side.

Add finely chopped green chilies and coriander leaves if using.

Serve hot with raita or buttermilk on the side. The meal might look drab in color but the flavors are really good. Use the vegetable of your choice if you don't like bottle gourd but this meal becomes a detox type meal with bottle gourd used. Zucchini or pointed gourd (parval) would also be the same but any other vegetables would change the temperament of the meal a little.

Not to worry, all vegetables have their own benefits, so go ahead and cook this with spinach or a mix of bell peppers if you wish. Just take care not to mask buckwheat if you like the nuttiness of buckwheat.

This could be a daily meal during Navratri with changed vegetables and seasoning every day. Do let me know if you try this recipe.

Cheers and wishing you all a wonderful Hindu new year...

bhuni khichri (khichdi) in winters : a Makar Sankranti special khichri ...

Makar sankranti (a winter harvest festival in North India) is called as khichri or khichdi too in Eastern UP, probably because all new crop lentils and rice is cooked into a khichri on this auspicious day. This khichri is served with many small tidbits like a bowl of ghee, fried or roasted papads, a few chutneys both savory and sweet kind, raita or some kind of dahi (yogurt) preparations like dahi vada, a few seasonal pickles etc etc.

The number of dishes would be directly proportional to how much the lady of the house can cook or how much the other members are enthusiastic about the khichri. An array of sweetmeats made of khoya and sesame and other nuts adorn the table as well. Sesame and nuts sweetmeats called tilgud are so synonymous with Sankranti in the north.

Back into my childhood, we were all a bunch of foodies who loved pitching in to cook or prepare something or the other when such feasts were the order of the day. Makar sankranti being a holiday helped a lot. I am always reminded of my Daadi (grandmother) whenever I think about such traditional meals or cook them myself. She would have made a quick green chutney and a kachumber style salad if the same meal was served on the table in her presence. She always liked the meals to be pepped up with chutneys and raw salads even if the cooking has been basic.

I fall for basic coking and one dish meals whenever pressed for time or otherwise too. Khichri is an all time favorite and I would have cooked it more frequently if the husband was not so allergic to the sound of the word 'khichri'. He eats it alright when I cook it though, but rejects the idea of khichri every time I ask.

It so happened on the day of Makar sankranti this year too. We were just back from Goa the previous night and he had to join office in the morning. I wanted a home cooked comforting meal for myself and didn't want to cook separate things for both of us. His lunch box was also to be cooked to my despair, early in the morning. Such things feel like a pain when you are just back from a fun holiday. Anyways, I asked him if he would like to have khichri in his lunch box and he said no straight away. I asked what about a pulao with some daal in it, he said yes.

I know you would say I am manipulative. I agree I am.

I soaked the lentils in the night so a quick khichri would be ready for the day of makar sankranti. A comforting home cooked meal after 2 weeks of Goan food and a festival being celebrated in it's warm glory too. Both tasks duly accomplished. Call me manipulative but I cooked the khichri alright. Just like it was done in my mother's home.

Makar sankranti special khichri..

ingredients...
(2-3 servings as a stand alone meal)

black lentils split (urad daal split with skin) 1/2 cup
split chick peas (chana daal without skin) 1/2 cup
basmati rice 1/2 cup
fresh green peas 1 cup
dry red chilies broken to taste
cumin seeds 2 tsp
black cardamoms 2
green cardamoms 2
cloves 10
cinnamon sticks 2
minced ginger (not paste) 2 tbsp
black pepper powder 1 tsp
turmeric powder 1 tsp
ghee 2 tbsp
water 1 cup
salt to taste

procedure...

Soak the lentils well in time, at least 3 hours or overnight. Drain and keep aside.

Wash the rice, drain and keep aside till you do the other preparations.

Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker pan and tip in the dry red chilies and cumin seeds first. Let them crackle and then add the chopped ginger and whole spices and remove the pan from the burner for a while so the whole spices don't get charred.

Add the soaked and drained lentils, green peas and the powdered spices and toss them all so everything gets coated well with spices, and get aromatic in about 2-3 minutes. If cooking a larger quantity you would need to prolong this step till the aroma of spices is evident and the lentils look a little cooked.

Add the drained rice, add a cup of water and salt to taste, fix the lid of the pressure cooker and let the pressure build up. Wait till the first whistle and then lower the flame and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Let the pressure release by itself, open the lid and let the steam out. Fluff up the khichdi with the help of a folk. Serve as required. This khichri tastes good at room temperature too.

I packed this for Arvind's office lunch with a separate box of sliced carrots. He got plain yogurt from his office canteen, while I made a carrots and onion raita for myself that day. The hare lasun ka achar was a good accompaniment to this lovely khichri too.

Some people like adding garlic to the khichri, some love a topping of fried onions on top and some wouldn't touch a khichri without a huge dollop of ghee glistening on a plate of khichri. Some would love it with a typical UP style chokha and some bhujia. Dress it up as you like, this winter special khichri with green peas and two types of lentils together is a delight to have for lunch.

Here is my khichdi platter of 2016, it was made in a hurry again but served with some seasonal winter pickles that we love having as salads. Read more about these seasonal pickles here.

Pickle, raita, chutney and papad ...all can make the khichri interesting in it's own way ...

Awadhi mutton biryani made simple ....

Biryani can be simple but not quick to tell you the truth. The meat needs it's own cooking time and then you have to cook the biryani on dum (in a sealed pot) so the flavors become one. All the spices and meat and the fragrant basmati rice get a new identity in a biryani as they all meld into each other. Yes, you should be able to taste the meat in the rice and the rice aroma should seep into the meat. It sounds difficult but the cooking technique ensures it is done nicely and effectively. This post would introduce you with the cooking procedure required to cook a brilliant biryani. The spices can always be optimised to your own taste.

You can always choose your spice blends if you don't like some strong robust flavors in your biryani or add some fragrant flavors like mint or an overdoes of green cardamom if you wish, but take care to treat the spices and herbs in a way that the aromatics are not destroyed in the cooking process. You want them all to get imbibed into the rice and meat if you are looking for a biryani.

Awadhi biryani starts with making a 'yakhni' of the meat. Yakhni is a stock that includes some spices along with mutton pieces to be boiled with water for about 1.5 hours or more. This slow boiling allows the stock to be rich in flavors. I prefer adding a piece of fat to this simmering stock so the flavors get intensified. Using bony pieces of mutton is advised for making biryani, you would like to add a few bones to the broth/stock/yakhni if you planning to cook a biryani with boneless mutton pieces for convenience in eating.

So there are three steps in making a biryani, the first involves making of the yakhni, practically the first in the procedure as it takes the longest time and you can do other prep work while this is being cooked. 

Then comes the cooking of rice with a few aromatic spices and the cooked yakhni. It is actually cooked into the meat stock and only till 3/4th done.

The next step is to flash fry the cooked mutton pieces along with another fresh batch of spices and ginger etc and then layering the cooked meat with 3/4 cooked rice with a sprinkling of saffron and herbs if you wish. This layered arrangement is cooked on dum, that is in a sealed pot on very low heat for about half an hour or more. Depending on the quantity.

I cook biryanis in large amounts most of the times when I have to entertain guests and that is the reason why I have never been able to click decent pictures. This time I cooked it for just the two of us, actually for 2 servings as small quantity of biryani is not worth doing. I clicked pictures as soon as I opened the dum pot, the wafting aromas making me weak in the knee, I actually tasted the biryani right then. Later I proceeded to make the raita and salad to serve with it and forgot again to click pictures of the serving plates. The mint raita and a tomato-onion kachumber salad is missing in these pictures. A well made biryani does that to you.

Nicely separated, well cooked, well soaked rice and succulent pieces of meat, aromas to make you hungrier than ever, you would know when you cook this.

ingredients...
(2-4 servings | 2 hours cooking time)

mutton pieces on bone 500 gm
basmati rice 1 cup

spices for the yakhni...
black cardamom 1
green cardamoms 2
cloves 5-6
tejpatta 5-6
black pepper corns 20

spices for the boiling rice..
cloves 2
green cardamom 2
cinnamon stick one inch long
tejpatta 2

spices and other ingredients for the stir frying of boiled mutton pieces..
cumin seeds 2 tsp
pepper corns 20
black cardamom 1
shahi jeera 1 tsp
cinnamon 2 one inch sticks
dry red chillies 5-6 (broken)
fresh ginger root chopped into thin julienne 3 tbsp
ghee or mutton fat scummed from the broth 2 tbsp
some people add turmeric powder at this stage to get a golden yellow color on the biryani, I skip this, use 1/2 tsp turmeric powder if you wish

spices and other ingredients required during layering of biryani..
nutmeg freshly grated a pinch
saffron strands 2 pinches
mint leaves (optional, I didn't use, a mint raita served with it is a better option I say)
fried onion slices (optional, I didn't use this time)

procedure...

Add the mutton pieces to about half a liter of water and give it a quick boil. Drain the water immediately, fill the pot with 3-4 cups of water again and add the spices mentioned in the list for yakhni. Let the broth simmer for 90 minutes.

Fish out the meat pieces from the yakhni once it is cooked. Strain the yakhni and discard all the whole spices. Add 2 cups of this yakhni to the washed and drained rice with the required spices and cook on low flame till 3/4 done. It takes about 25 minutes if done on absolutely low flame for this quantity.

Meanwhile, heat ghee in a pan which you would use for dum cooking also. I use my heavy cast iron kadhai when the quantity is less, basically any pot that has a heavy base and a tight fitting lid would do.
Add all the ingredients together into the hot ghee and fry till the spices get aromatic. Add the boiled mutton pieces and flash fry just for 3-4 minutes. You might like to add 2-3 pinches of a strong garam masala if you wish at this point. Do not fry the mutton pieces more than 3-4 minutes else they become dehydrated. Wait till the rice is cooked (only 3/4th done stage).

Now layer the meat pieces with the cooked rice in the same pot. For a small quantity you can just fold them all together, do not mix thoroughly. Sprinkle the freshly grated nutmeg, mint and fried onion if using and the saffron too. Place the lid to seal and cook on very low flame for another 30 minutes.

You can use dough to seal your pot if are not sure of sealing it properly. Remove the dum pot from heat after 30 minutes and serve immediately. This biryani can be served after 2-3 hours after reheating in the same pot or into the microwave. The flavors get better after a while but the aromatic experience of opening the sealed pot at the dining table comes when you have it right away.

 A cooling raita and a tomato and onion salsa/kachumber  type salad is what we like with our biryani.

You can have it as part of a lavish spread but a raita and a roughly chopped and mixed, preferably dressed salad is a must in my opinion. I know some people who can have biryani on it's own and even for breakfast.

Very soon I am going to bake a nice biryani in an Earthen pot I bought from Trade fair, seasoning the pot is falling prey to my habit of procrastination. Enjoy this biryani till then.

vegetable biryani with fenugreek leaves

I had to prepare a Sunday lunch without the use of onion and garlic couple of weeks ago. It was a rainy Sunday and somebody was coming for a pakoda party on a very short notice. I made lots of corn pakodas with a hot and tangy chutney accompanied by tea for a late breakfast. It was great as the soft drizzle outside the window made it very very pleasant.

After this heavy breakfast the lunch had to be lighter as well as less time consuming. I had quickly planned for a vegetable biryani and had already chopped the vegetables. When you are not using onions and garlic the chopping becomes easier. Some beans and carrots were chopped finely and potatoes in cubes. I have a jar full of dried fenugreek leaves from the last season and that is super flavorful, you can use kasuri methi but the flavors will be slightly different.

Fresh methi will be better so use a cup of tightly packed fresh methi leaves for each tablespoon of dried leaves. That's it.

The pictures I took when i had actually started eating, it was so delicious that I wanted to share it here. Ihis was the first time I made the fenugreek pulav or birayani kind of rice without onion and garlic and it turned out great.

I make a low calorie high fiber version of this rice which is great too but this one is rich and qualifies to be called a biryani by every means. Yhe rice grains are white and lightly coated with the masala seasoning, fragrant with the whole spices and the dried fenugreek leaves and every piece of the vegetables retain their individual texture and taste ......

Yes I made it using the layering technique, only the layering was done hastily and roughly.

Ingredients...
(to serve 5-6 adults)
basmati rice 2 cups (I used basmati tukda)
finely chopped carrots 1 cup
finely chopped french beans 1 cup
potatoes peeled and cut in 3/4 inch cubes .. 2 cups
thin strips of ginger 2 tbsp
whole dry red chilies 4-5 nos. ( as per taste )
dried fenugreek leaves 2 tbsp
black cardamom 2 pods
green cardamom 3 pods
inch long cinnamon sticks 4 nos.
star anise 1 no. ( i used 4-5 pieces of broken stars )
cumin seeds 1 tsp
shahjeera 1 tsp
black peppercorns 2 tsp
cloves 8 nos.
bay leaves 2-3 nos.
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
aromatic garam masala 1 tsp ( optional )
ghee 1/2 cup
salt to taste 

procedure...
Wash the rice and soak in 4 cups of water. Keep aside.

Prepare for the other ingredients and just as you start cooking the other ingredients, cook the rice either in microwave or on the other burner of your gas stove, add a bay leaf and a stick of cinnamon to the cooking rice. Watch when you are cooking the veggies on the other side and you need the rice cooked al dante'...

Heat ghee in a wide pan (with a tight lid as the pan needs to cook on dum). Add the cumin seeds, ginger and potato cubes first in the hot ghee, stir for a couple of minutes till you get a ginger aroma, now add all the whole spices reserving a stick of cinnamon and one bay leaf. Add 2 pinches of salt for the potatoes and toss and fry till the potatoes become 3/4 cooked.

Frying potatoes this way results in firm yet porous potatoes in a biryani (or a tahiri), this way the potatoes retain their shape and yet absorb all the subtle masala taste. The only way I like potatoes in rice preparations.

Meanwhile, start cooking the rice on the other side of the stove or in microwave as suggested earlier. The rice will cooked along with aromatic cinnamon and bay leaf. Take care to cook it 3/4 done and the rice will not be completely dry and fluffy yet.

To the cooking potatoes add all the chopped veggies (I sometimes add soya nuggets too) and fry adding salt to taste within 3-4 minutes the veggies will be almost cooked and it is time to add the dried methi leaves. Keep  stirring till the aroma of fenugreek fills the kitchen, sprinkle the garam masala and nutmeg powders and mix.

The rice should be cooked to desired level till this point, if rice still needs some time to be cooked you can put the flame off for the veggies, cover the pan and wait till the rice is ready.

Pour half of the rice in to the veggies pan, turn lightly to mix them roughly and pour the remaining rice, fluff up one last time and cover with a tight lid. Cook on very low flame for a good 10 minutes, placing a hot griddle below the biryani pan may be a good idea if it is not thick based.

It can be served immediately after removing from heat, but needs to be fluffed up before serving. It is very very aromatic as soon as you open the lid and the perfect accompaniment is a cool raita.

It was a pineapple, onion and boondi raita seasoned with salt pepper n dried mint powder this time....

This picture is taken with the leftover we enjoyed the next day and it was as good as the freshly made biryani. Potatoes in a tahiri or biryani is the husband's choice and fenugreek is mine. It is great if it is medium hot and the aroma of the spices is preserved by dum cooking.

If using fresh fenugreek leaves you will notice the color of the prepared rice is bright green and it looks more like a tahiri or pulav. The taste will be fresh but the aroma and texture of finished rice will be entirely different from this preparation. I have posted a soya methi tahiri using a paste of dill leaves and fenugreek leaves and that's a completely different recipe, a healthier version though.

Vegetarians have their own pulaos, tahiris and biryanis and since one pot rice meals always make comforting food it doesn't matter whether some biryani enthusiast approves it as a biryani or scorns it as a tahiri. They would know if they taste it.

Go make some no onion garlic vegetable biryani right now.