sagpaita recipe | urad dal aur palak ka sagpaita

Sagpaita is simply a dal cooked with winter greens. As I mentioned in the bathue ka sagpaita recipe, dals are rarely cooked without greens in winters. Many times the dals are replaced by the various nimonas and sometimes people even replace the everyday dal with rajma or chhole to be had with plain boiled rice. Those are some of the comfort foods for many of us and rajma chawal, chhole chawal, nimona chawal or sagpaita chawal kind of meals bring back the memories from childhood till date.

Urad dal (black lentils) are consumed a lot during winters for all traditional recipes of khichdi, dals and of course the badas and badis of different types.

Mung and masoor are the easily digestible dals chosen for summer meals while chana dal and urad dal are common winter foods. Other dals also keep featuring in various permutation combinations and there are various names for all the dals we eat. A cook's prowess is often measured by how well he/she cooks a dal and there are many old kahavats (sayings) featuring the humble dal, it can be such a homely dish that can be adapted to just about anything.

We used split urad dal with skin for this recipe of urad dal ka nimona and the common greens used for this are spinach, bathua of chenopodium, or a mix of all seasonal greens, each one imparting a new dimension to this sagpaita. I often add a handful of tender carrot leaves or spring onion greens to add more flavour to the sagpaita.

Feel free to add any greens you like but spinach or bathua taste the best with a little added carrot leaves, spring onion, dill leaves or even a bit of fenugreek leaves.

ingredients 
(3-4 servings)

1/3 cup split urad dal with skin (as shown in the picture above), rinse and let it soak for 15 minutes
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp grated or minced ginger
2 cups of cleaned and chopped spinach leaves (about 300 gm)
3/4 cup of chopped spring onion or dill leaves or fenugreek leaves ( I used spring onion here)

for tempering
1 tbsp ghee or a little more if you wish
pinch of asafoetida
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped ripe tomatoes (preferably desi, I don't use tomatoes many times)
1 tsp everyday curry powder
red chili powder to taste

procedure 

Pressure cook the split urad dal with salt, turmeric powder, ginger and a cup of water. It takes about 10 minutes after the first whistle. Lower the heat after the first whistle to let the dal cook. Let the pressure release on its own.

In the meanwhile prepare for the tadka and you can cook the rice etc to go with the dal.

Open the lid of the pressure cooker and add all the chopped greens, mix well and place the lid back. The greens will get cooked in the remaining heat.

For the tadka, heat the ghee in a pan, add the asafoetida, cumin seeds, garlic and onions in that order, waiting in between to let the aromas infuse in the oil. Brown the onions lightly.

Add the curry powder as soon as the onions brown, mix quickly and dunk the chopped tomatoes in it. Add a little salt and cover to cook the tomatoes thoroughly on low heat. This takes about 4-5 minutes.

Now pour the dal and greens mix to the tadka pan, mix well, add some water to adjust consistency and simmer for a couple of minutes before serving.

This sagpaita tastes really good with plain boiled rice and makes hot comfort food in winters. I always remember eating hot dal chawal in a bowl and I still do that. Now I have huge breakfast mugs that I use for me soup meals o dal chawal meals, sagpaita and chawal meals also come in the same category. You really don't need anything else with this sagpaita and rice meal but the traditional bhujias, roasted papad and raita etc are pleasant additions always.

Sometimes I add lot of tomatoes and some green peas too in the tadka and cook them thoroughly before adding to the sagpaita. Variations always feel good in such everyday recipes and sometimes leftover dals can also be turned into sagpaita with just the tadka and some tomatoes and winter greens added.

It always feels good to cook something our grandparents have been eating and most certainly their grandparents ate the same too. It is in the last 2-3 decades that our food habits have changed so much that many of us have forgotten cooking from scratch, using real ingredients and not sauces, mixes and blends.

My motive is to bring back the food wisdom on the table everyday. We need to realise that simpler foods are the tastiest and stay in our memory for ever. A curry loaded with a hundred spices gets lost in the memory lanes. Try recollecting your food memories and you will know what I mean. 

palak chane ka shorba | spinach and black chickpeas winter stew

I did not realise I have so many winter recipes of beans and greens cooked together in my drafts. I was reminded when someone asked me how do I eat so much spinach and beet greens when I was buying my truckload. I do buy greens by the truckload, well almost.

I blurted out a few recipes then and there at the farmer's market, assured the lady that the recipes are there on the blogs. When I checked after coming home I found I have forgot posting them and the palak wala rajma, palak chane ka shorba and even palak ka nimona were still waiting in the drafts. Trying to bring them up one after the other.

All these recipes were shot last year. Anyway, better late than never.

This palak chane ka shorba is a one step pressure cooker recipe that I love cooking during winters. Thankfully it is loved by everyone who happens to taste it. Served with a little ghee on top and some plain boiled rice it makes a comforting warm winter meal. I survive on such soupy winter meals in fact.

Note that this recipe somehow works to treat any mild coughing or sneezing as well, thanks to the garam masala, turmeric and generous use of ginger in it.

The winter shorbas are in fact made keeping in mind the cold and cough season and to bring warmth to the body. I cook it in a large pressure cooker whenever I do and keep serving it for a week or so, every alternate day if not every day.

A shorba can be a stew or a soup, this is a black gram stew with spinach. Sometimes I add Beet greens as well.

ingredients 
(for 5-7 servings)

250 gm kala chana (black gram)
1 kilo cleaned and chopped spinach (1.5 kilo spinach before cleaning)
80-100 gm ginger, half made into a paste and half of it cut in julienne or as you wish
50-60 gm garlic cloves whole
whole dry red chillies to taste (make it hot I say)
1 tsp pepper powder
2 tsp garam masala powder of your choice
1.5 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup of fresh tomato puree (preferably desi tomatoes)
2 tbsp mustard oil or ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 pinch of hing

2-3 tbsp of deep fried browned onions crushed, if you have in your pantry or if you want to spend some time.

procedure 

I have made this shorba in one step pressure cooking, like just dunking everything in the pressure cooker with 2 cups of water and pressure cooking for about 25 minutes after the first whistle and this shorba cooks so well and tastes so delicious no one believes it is such a simple recipe.

But if you want to spend some time you can heat mustard oil, add the hing, cumin seeds and then the turmeric powder and garam masala, the tomato puree and then everything else together. Top with 2 cups of water and cover the lid and let the pressure build till the first whistle.

Lower the heat and let it cook on its own for 25-30 minutes.Take off the heat, let it cool and open the lid. Garnish with some ghee and some coriander greens if you like.

Serve hot, without or without accompaniments I say. Boiled rice tastes great with it but try having very little rice in this shorba.

everyday subzi: palak paneer recipe | 3 ways to make palak paneer

I never thought I should be sharing a palak paneer recipe on my blogs. It was too ordinary everyday recipe that I thought everyone would know. After all you don't need any special skill to make palak paneer, that is what I thought. And then someone asked me whether I have palak paneer recipe on the blog when I suggested it in her meal plan.

I realised such regional recipes have become popular because of their popularity in restaurants and people relate these recipes with heavy and rich curries they eat at those restaurants. The simpler homely deliciousness of palak paneer and such recipes stays limited only in their respective regions. That was enough reason for me to think about posting some of the very ordinary but popular recipes so whoever wants to try the homely version of palak paneer gets a chance to taste the original flavour. Although the original or authentic taste may be an illusion as every family has it's own recipe, my intention is to get the unspoiled taste of spinach and paneer in the curry.

Also, as I learn more about the complex recipes I realise we need to have exact and accurate recipes of the simpler food too as a simpler recipe is more likely to get lost for the lack of seriousness attached to it. If we know the simpler version we can always add on our own twist to it according to seasons and taste. Like I make a palak paneer tahiri sometimes with leftover palak paneer or add some sweet corn kernels to the plain palak paneer to make it more interesting.

Note that palak paneer can be made in a jiffy if the palak (spinach) has been cleaned, rinsed, chopped and steamed already. This is the way I store my spinach mostly. Once the greens are chopped and lightly steamed, it refrigerates well for 3-4 days and freezes well for months. I keep it in a container for 3-4 days.

Alternately, cleaned unwashed spinach also keeps well for a week, if wrapped in brown paper or cloth napkin. Just rinse, chop and use as required.

My simplest palak paneer recipe has been the most popular with any guests and even kids. Even my daughter used to love the simpler version of palak paneer. So the first recipe is the plain palak paneer that gets ready in just about 10 minutes if you have the steamed spinach ready in the fridge.

Note that you can use the stems of spinach too for palak paneer if the leaves are tender, but if the spinach leaves are mature and the stems are hard, it is better to remove the stems as it may make the curry slightly bitter.

Plain palak paneer recipe (no onion garlic)...

ingredients
(2-3 servings)

2 cups steamed spinach
100-150 gm paneer cubed
2 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp cumin powder
salt 1/3 tsp or to taste
1 tsp pepper
1/4 cup whisked fresh yogurt

procedure

Puree the spinach and keep ready.

Heat the ghee lightly and tip in the cumin powder. Pour the spinach puree as soon as the cumin powder starts sizzling. Take care not to burn the cumin powder.

Stir and cook till spinach puree starts bubbling.

Add the other ingredients and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Serve right away.

This recipe is a fasting recipe that we used to eat during navratri a lot. You can have it with plain boiled buckwheat groats or sama ke chawal too.

spicy palak paneer recipe 

This recipe takes about 15 minutes if you have the chopped and steamed spinach ready. This is more close to the restaurant style palak paneer but way more healthier homely version of it.

ingredients (2-3 servings)

2 cups steamed spinach
150 gm or more paneer cubed
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste (or minced)
1/2 cup fresh raw tomato paste (freshly chopped tomatoes liquidised in mixie)
1 tbsp everyday curry powder (or curry powder of your choice)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp chilli powder or to taste
dash of garam masala powder (optional, depends on what curry powder you are using)
2-3 tejpatta
1.5 tbsp mustard oil
salt to taste

procedure 

Grease a griddle ( I use my cast iron dosa tawa mostly) with ghee or oil and grill the paneer cubes both sides till lightly browned. This step is optional but enhances the flavour, you can deep fry the paneer if you are making large quantity. Dip all the fried paneer cubes in a cup of hot water, cover and let it rest till required.

Puree the spinach and keep aside.

Heat mustard oil and tip in the finely chopped onion and fry till golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and salt, fry till oil releases.

Add the powder spices with a tbsp of water and bhuno on medium flame till it looks glazed.

Add the tomato paste and bhuno again till it dries up. Add the spinach puree and let it bubble once.

Add the fried paneer cubes along with the soaking water, simmer for a couple of minutes. Serve hot.

This version of palak paneer lends well to palak paneer wali tahiri. I usually make some extra rice and refrigerate the leftover. This way we can make a quick meal with leftover things. For a cup of cooked rice you can use up 1.5-2 cups of leftover palak paneer, just mix both the rice and palak paneer well and let it cook covered on very low flame for 10 minutes or so. In our case it is usually half the quantity and I cook it till it start looking like this.

I usually make a quick stir fry with this kind of meal too. Here it is a radish stir fry we love a lot. Will share the radish stir fry recipe soon.

Another palak paneer version is my way of making creamed spinach mostly. It is a practical way to eat greens and make it workable for a roti subzi kind of Indian meal too.

Creamed spinach with paneer recipe (creamed palak paneer) ...

ingredients
(2-3 servings)

2 cups of chopped steamed spinach (or raw chopped)
1/4 cup cream (heavy or light as you wish, I use whatever I have or add 2 tbsp of malai)
100-120 gm paneer cubed in small pieces
salt to taste
black pepper powder to taste
pinch of nutmeg powder (optional)
pinch of garlic powder

procedure 

Basically everything can be put in a pan and cooked till the spinach wilts and the cream get a greenish hue if you go by what I do. But wilting the spinach forst with added salt and then adding everything else and cooking it all covered for a few minutes does the trick. That's all.

The 'curry' style creamed spinach and paneer is so convenient for me sometimes it saves me on hectic mornings. We have had it with plain boiled rice, roti, paratha and even with plain boiled pasta. Try it once and you would know what I am talking about.

Hoping that making palak paneer will not be difficult any more,e if you have palak paneer in restaurants all your life. Try making these versions and tell me which one you liked more. Each one has a different flavour and you would plan these with different kind of meals once you start making them in your own kitchen.

The home made paneer could be of great help if you wish to keep the fat content of paneer in check.

recipe of sepu wadi, a delectable rustic treat from Himachal Pradesh

Sepu wadi is a rustic yet aromatic recipe from Himachal Pradesh, cooked mostly for wedding feasts as it is supposed to have been a recipe from the royal kitchens of Himachal Pradesh. The recipe of Sepu wadi was closely guarded by the royal cooks as I have heard some Himachali folks say but now that this wadi is available in the market even in dry form, it proves how popular it has become with everyone in the region, and with those who get to taste it. Count me in.

I used to cook sepu wadi after I had seen the recipe on one of the TV shows I used to follow long long time ago. And then I lost the recipe and used to crave for the same taste. Then I saw dry sepu wadis at Himachal stalls at trade fair and wondered if those are the same as in the TV show the wadi was made fresh.

I was puzzled about this dual identity of sepu wadi for a long time until I saw it again when it was being cooked at the home stay (Raju's Cottage) at Goshaini. Lata ji, the lady of the house cooks all meals for the guests and is a great cook. I had requested her to cook some of these Himachali dishes and she obliged. That's when I saw her soaking dry sepu wadis to cook them with spinach. The wadis are deep fried and sold in markets for convenience. A genius enterprise of the local cottage industry I must say. I had only seen dehydrated Amritsari wadis or wadis from other regions of India but deep fried sepu wadis are a step ahead regarding convenience of desi foods.

This is what I saw at Raju's cottage.

I loved the wadis cooked in spiced spinach puree and took the recipe too. Thankfully there is loads of spinach growing in the garden and needs to be used a lot.

I prefer freshly made sepu wadi as I find the texture better suited for my taste. Of course I wouldn't trust the quality of oil they use to deep fry the ready to use sepu wadis. So I make my own fresh sepu wadis. Once you have planed your work well and work on it rightly, this recipe wouldn't be so time consuming as it looks.

Recipe of sepu wadi..

ingredients for the wadis...
urad daal (skinned black lentils) 1 cup to be soaked overnight
(this makes a lot of vadis for about 6-8 servings, the leftovers can be frozen for later use)
cumin seeds 2 tsp
peppercorns 2 tsp
ginger grated 1 tbsp
dry red chillies 3-4
mustard oil to deep fry the wadis

ingredients for the spinach gravy (2-4 servings)
spinach cleaned, chopped roughly and steamed 2 cups packed
yogurt 1 cup
mustard oil 2 tsp
cloves 4-5
black cardamoms 2
cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
coriander seeds 1 tsp
asafoetida (hing) a pinch
fennel powder 2 tsp
turmeric powder 1 tsp
chilli powder 1/4 tsp or more to taste
dry ginger powder 1/4 tsp
salt to taste

Procedure..

To make the wadis, you can divide the work into 2-3 days. Soak the lentils overnight and grind with the cumin, peppercorns, ginger and dry chillies without adding any water to it. Blend well so the paste gets fluffy. The paste can be left to ferment for a few hours or you can go ahead and make the wadis right away.

The wadis can be made the next day and even after making them they can be refrigerated and used whenever required.

To make the wadis, boil about 2 liters of water in a deep vessel with a little salt. Make smooth balls the size of ping pong balls from the lentil paste and drop them in the boiling water. Let them all boil for about half an hour. Fish them out and let them cool down.

Once cooled, cut them into bite sized pieces and deep fry in hot mustard oil. These deep fried wadis can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for a few months to be used when required.

To make the spinach gravy, blend the spinach along with yogurt and salt and keep aside.

Mix the powder spices with a little water to make a paste and keep aside.

Heat the mustard oil and tip in the whole spices. Let them splutter and get aromatic before pouring in the powdered spices soaked in water. Mix well and let them fry till a bit fragrant.

Pour the spinach yogurt mix, add sufficient water to make the gravy of desired consistency, keeping in mind that the wadis will soak up a lot of water. You can also add water as the curry cooks.

Let the green gravy come to a boil. Add required number of wadis, 4-5 wadis per head should be enough but go by your choice. It will be good to chop the fried wadis further if they are too big or too hard.

Simmer the curry till the wadis soak up the juices and become bigger and spongier. Adjust seasoning and serve hot with plain boiled rice or rotis of your choice.

We loved it with makki ki roti more than rice.

Note how this curry looks almost devoid of any oil in it. Not that it is a low fat recipe but there is not much oil even if the wadis are deep fried. The reason is that the the urad daal wadis don't soak much oil while deep frying and if we use less oil for the gravy, the overall fat percentage will not be too much. Although you can always use more oil for taste and convenience of cooking.

This sepu wadi curry is so flavourful you wont feel like having any other side dish with it. Just a few raw slices of tomatoes and onions will be great, just like the frugal desi meals we love so much.

The flavours of fennel, cloves and black cardamom is so potent in this curry and the tartness of yogurt just balances everything nicely. I like this curry slightly hot with a god chili kick but you can always tone down the heat to your preference.

Apart from the taste and texture of the wadis in this curry, I love the spinach gravy a lot. And since I have loads of spinach in the garden right now, I have been making this same gravy with boiled rajma (kidney beans) as well.

For the same amount of spinach gravy I add a cup of boiled kidney beans and simmer till fragrant. This becomes a filling meal with just a spoon of rice in it. I don't want to dilute the flavours I like it so much.

Cook the spinach curry sometime even if you don't have the patience to boil and deep fry the sepu wadis. You can use chickpeas or mixed lentils for this curry and see how much you like it. This will give you an idea of what flavours sepu wadi packs in.

These are some of the desi flavours that I love and you would be glad to know how healthy these meals are. Out traditional food is mostly gluten free and uses the seasonal produce so efficiently and optimally.

I always feel we don't need to use any produce being transported from faraway places or out of season as we can cook so much variety or flavours with just the few produce we get in every season in every place. I have experimented enough to conclude this.

Sepu wadi will remain a favourite for several reasons. Thanks to Lata ji at Raju's cottage, Goshaini for reviving sepu wadi in my kitchen.

everyday subzi: kumaoni palak as they make it at Te Aroha

I have been loving this kumaoni palak subzi they serve at Te Aroha. I ask for this spinach stir fry almost everyday for one of my meals whenever I visit here. There is something the way onions are added to this dry stir fry and the way whole coriander seeds make a crunch in the mouth. This would be the simplest spinach stir fry with very clean flavours that can be a part of any cuisine if you ask me. I wont mind a cheese sandwich stuffed with this spinach stir fry if I am having a sandwich, though I don't remember when I had my last sandwich.

ingredients
(2 servings)

spinach (chopped roughly, steamed lightly) 2 cups packed
diced onions 3/4 cup
whole coriander seeds 1 tbsp
whole dry red chillies 3-4 or more if you like
mustard oil 1 tbsp
salt to taste

preparation

Heat the oil in a pan and tip in the whole red chillies and coriander seeds and let them crackle.

Add the onions and stir fry for a minute or till the onions get translucent.

Add salt and spinach and stir fry on high heat for about 5 minutes or till the spinach looks dry.

Serve hot with meal of your choice.

I like this spinach stir fry with daal or rajma and ragi roti or multigrain roti but you can pair it just with anything you like.

Kumaoni palak will be repeated very frequently in your kitchen I am sure.

banarasi kachori aur subzi : ras wale alu, palak paneer, kale chane aur kaddu ki subzi, alu baingan palak ki subzi

Someone asked me about the difference between a poori and kachori and I realised how diverse a kachori can be while answering. How much the kachori has evolved to be a sassy cousin of poori. While poori remained the plain jane, kachori took on to different fashions with different seasons and became matar ki kachori, daal ki kachori, hing kachori, alu ki kachori blah blah blah blah , most of them stuffed kachoris, some of them are softer inside and crisp outside while others are so crisp and dry that they keep well for days.

This banarasi kachori is more of a plain version of a pretentious kachori but packs the same punch when it comes to taste. All spices and the stuffing material is mixed in the dough itself and the kachori are often double fried to ensure a crisp crumbling kind of poori. These are the ones that stay puffed even when cold if you don't crush them. I have shared a recipe of banarasi kachoris here, with ras wale alu and a pumpkin subzi. Sharing a few more subzis again to go with the famous banarasi kachoris.

Banarasi kachori recipe..

The kachori is made with a mix of coarse whole wheat flour and urad daal flour (skinned black bean flour), the dough is made using water that is infused with cumin, hing and ajwain. Just mix a cup of coarsely milled wheat flour with 1/3 cup of urad daal flour or 1/2 cup of soaked urad daal paste, add salt to taste and a tbsp of ghee and rub everything well. Boil 2 cups of water, add a tsp each or cumin and ajwain to it and let it simmer for a minute. Add a pinch of hing, dissolve and let the water cool down. Use this water to knead a firm dough. Use this dough to roll out pooris and fry them all in hot ghee or oil. Hot crisp banarasi kachoris are ready.

Add a bit of red chilly powder or black pepper powder and a little lime juice if you are planning to eat these kachoris without subzi, yes the slightly spiced up kachoris go well with our milky tea.

I served it here with ras wale aloo and a simple palak paneer. This palak paneer used to be more regular when Mithi was younger. It was her favourite subzi, very lightly spiced and creamy in texture.

This version of palak paneer is easier, simpler to cook and less spicy than another version with more rustic spicing. That recipe will be shared some other time.

Palak paneer recipe..

To cook this simple palak paneer, you just have to choose tender spinach leaves with stems or mature spinach leaves only (mature fibrous stems to be discarded) so the resulting spinach puree is creamy and flavourful. Steam about 500 gm spinach either in microwave or in a pan with 2-3 tbsp of water at low flame and take off heat as soon as the leaves get limp and soft. Cool down and puree in the blender, without using any water. Now heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pan, add cumin seeds and wait till they splutter, and then dump the spinach puree in it. Add a pinch of nutmeg powder, 1 tsp black pepper powder and salt to taste and stir and cook the spinach puree till it starts bubbling and puffing. Add 200 gm paneer cubes to the bubbling spinach mix and simmer for about 5 minutes. Adjust consistency by adding a little water. Add 2-3 tbsp fresh cream to finish and serve hot.

The yellow coloured chutney seen in the above thali is the amla chutney I make every season and we love it with almost every meal.

Another very popular subzi with kachoris is the chane aur kaddu ki subzi. It is a simple black chickpeas and pumpkin curry that goes very well with crisp hot kachoris. We use mature orange coloured pumpkin for this subzi and the slightly sweet pumpkin balances well with kale chane lightly spiced up.

Kale chane aur kaddu ki subzi recipe..

Soak 3/4 cup of black chickpeas overnight.

Peel the hard skin of mature pumpkin and cube the flesh in 2 cm dimensions. It should be about 400 gm cubed pumpkin.

Make a coarse paste of ginger, green chilly, whole dry red chilly and some garlic. About 1 tbsp or more ginger, chillies to taste and 2 cloves of garlic to be used.

Heat 1 tbsp of mustard oil in a pressure cooker pan and add a pinch of hing, about 10 grains of fenugreek seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds nd 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, all together in one go. Let them all splutter and get aromatic, taking care not to burn them.

Add the ginger garlic chilly paste and a tsp of turmeric powder to the hot oil and let the mixture get fried. Take about 15 seconds on medium heat.

Now add the soaked and drained kale chane and mix well. Add salt to taste and the cubed pumpkin, about a cup of water and pressure cook the subzi for about 5 minutes after the first whistle. Cool down, mash the subzi a little, add amchoor powder to taste and serve immediately.
Chopped spinach can be added to the same subzi just before pressure cooking it. It makes the subzi more mushy and yummy.

We enjoyed this kachori subzi meal with a bowl of grated mooli salad on the side. The mooli salad is just grated while radish, some grated ginger, some finely chopped green chillies, salt and lime juice to balance. One of the most frequent winter salad with any meal.

Another very popular subzi to go with the kachoris is this alu baingan aur palak ki subzi, a mushy curry cooked with new baby potatoes, black round brinjal and spinach. The subzi is called alu-bhanta-saag in local dialect and is a much revered subzi for pooris during pooja etc. I often cook this curry with the green aubergines that is growing in the garden right now, but the round ones are perfect for this.

You can make the subzi a bit dry or make it a little coated consistency type.

Recipe of the alu baingan palak ki subzi..

Wash and clean 200 gm baby potatoes and quarter them.

Chop a small round brinjal in cubes. It should be about 200 gm.

Clean, wash and chop 300 gm spinach leaves and keep aside.

Mince or coarsely grind a tbsp of ginger, 4 cloves of garlic and 2 dry red chilies.

Heat 1 tbsp mustard oil in a deep iron or cast iron pan (kadhai) and tip in 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and a generous pinch of hing. Add the coarse paste of ginger etc and the potatoes immediately as the spices turn aromatic. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add a tsp of turmeric powder and the cubed brinjal. Toss and mix, let everything get coated well.

Add the chopped spinach, mix well, add 1/2 a cup of water and cook covered for about 20 minutes or so. Lightly mash the subzi after everything is cooked through. Serve immediately. Though the subzi keeps well in the fridge and can be served after reheating too.

Here I cooked the alu bhanta saag using the round purple brinjals and some Amritsari vadi, the perfect taste of this curry. Yes, you can add about a tbsp of crushed Amritsari vadi along with ginger, garlic and red chilies and let it fry till fragrant and proceed to add other ingredients. This addition makes this curry irresistible.

But alu baingan palak can be made without the badiyan or vadi as well. 

A long post finally, I hope you find it useful when planning meals for the family. Such foods from the hinterland become exotic in urban life, but we do make  away to keep enjoying them frequently.

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.

mung ki sookhi daal made two ways...

Mung ki sookhi daal is something that has a texture of hummus, smooth creamy on the palate and yet separate grains of this wonderful lentil make this daal really unique from regular daal recipes.

Yes, this is one of the few simple recipes of daal that taste so different from the regular fare. Daal is such a versatile dish in Indian cuisine and gets so many treatments depending on what state it belongs to. This sookhi mung ki daal is more of a north India thing, made in UP, Punjab, probably Bihar as well. I have seen a variation of sookhi mung ki daal in Bengali families too, they make a mung daal sheddho (boiled mash) which is a nice mash of boiled mung daal, more like a hummus with mustard oil or ghee and some chopped green chilly, chopped onion and sometimes a hint of dhaniya patta.

Our daals definitely get different flavors form different states, even different families of the same state or city.

So this sookhi mung ki daal is a little difficult to achieve and many people just don't cook it because it ends up being a solid gooyi mess or the cooked lentils feel too dry.

I cook this sookhi mung ki daal two ways depending on how dry I like it and if I am adding coriander greens or fresh baby spinach to it. If you want to mix some hopped greens in the daal it needs to have a little liquid so the chopped coriander greens are incorporated well into it.

ingredients :
(2-3 large servings)

split mung daal 1 cup
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
salt to taste
water 2 cups + 1/2 cup
ghee 2 tbsp
red chilly flakes 1/2 tsp or more to taste
asafoetida a pinch
cumin seeds 2 tsp
chopped garlic 1 tsp
coriander greens chopped 1/2 cup Or baby spinach, no need to chop those tender leaves

procedure :

Pressure cook the mung daal with the said amount of water, salt and turmeric powder. Cook only till the whistle blows and then take the cooker off the heat. Let it cool on it's own.

Heat ghee in a small pan and add the asafoetida, chopped garlic and cumin seeds, wait till everything gets browned a bit. Add the chilly flakes and pour it all into the cooked daal along with 1/2 cup water. Add half of the coriander greens (or spinach if using) and give it a good mix. Simmer for 3-5 minutes till everything is incorporated and daal is a thick consistency.

Garnish with more coriander greens and serve hot. We love it with ragi or whole wheat rotis , pita crisps and even with rice. Being an absilute daal lover I can have it as a meal.

The leftovers are diluted with water, and some rolled out ragi dough (cut into strips) is added to make it into a nice daal dhokli meal.

My comfort food, I plan daal leftovers for this.

And now is the absolutely dry version of sookhi mung ki daal. For this one I pressure cook the daal twice and the cooked lentil looks separate but you can't mix it further as it would result in a hummus like paste. Not that it would taste bad, but it wont be suitable for our dal roti meals. You are supposed to 'spoon' the daal using a piece of roti and enjoy this bite with utter bliss.

ingredients :

split mung daal 1 cup
water 2 cups
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
salt to taste
asafoetida solution (1 tbsp water+ a pinch of asafoetida)
tejpatta 2
ghee 2 tbsp and some more to serve
cumin seeds 2 tsp
red chilly powder 1 tsp or to taste

preparation :

Pressure cook the mung daal with salt, turmeric powder, tejpatta, asafoetida solution and the said amount of water. Cook only till the first whistle blows and take off heat, let it cool on it's own.

Heat ghee in a small pan, add the cumin seeds and let them brown and get aromatic, taking care not to burn them. Take the pan off heat, add the chilly powder and let the chilly disperse in the ghee as it cooks. Pour this tadka as soon as the pressure cooker cools down. Mix well and cover the lid again and pressure cook again till the first whistle. You might need to add 1/4 cup of water before the second round of pressure cooking, if you don't see enough liquid to cook it again.

Serve hot with a drizzle of ghee. This is very aromatic mung ki daal and the ghee makes it even better.

Have it with roti and some subzi and raita/salad on the side. And do let me know if you liked it.

aloo palak : potatoes and spinach stir fry subzi...the way the potatoes turn black...

This is not a recipe I grew up eating. Although Alu-palak was a regular, my mom used to cook it differently. She would put aubergines (baingan) to this many times, or would puree the spinach to make a gravy curry with paneer, potatoes and sometimes green peas as well. Other times she would chop the potatoes in thin fingers and make a quick alu-palak in an aluminium kadhai or brass kadhai. The potatoes in that case would remain lighter coloured and would retain their own entity. We all loved that one too but when the husband once told me about the alu palak his mom used to cook, being black in color and how he loved that version, I tried to recreate that. It was a simple thing, just slow cooking in an Iron pan. I just asked him a few things about how the potatoes were cut and if there was any fenugreek or cumin in it. This time his memory was accurate and he told me it was just the alu and palak.

I figured the rest as I know my MIL does the simplest of recipes and there is no garlic onion used most of the times. It is the procedure and the cut of the potatoes that made this recipe taste different form my home. After a few trials I came to this 3 ingredients (well, 5 if you include salt and oil too) recipe that was recognised as the original, and thanks to my love for spinach, I loved this version the most. Almost.
ingredients...
2 large potatoes nicely scrubbed to clean all the dirt (about 200 gm)
cleaned and washed spinach leaves with soft stems 400 gm
green chilies 2 or to taste
salt to taste
mustard oil 2 tbsp

this recipe uses an Iron pan so make sure you have it, otherwise it just wont taste the same.

procedure...

Cube the potatoes in thick pieces. You can cut them into thick wedges too. Just take care they are thick enough for prolonged cooking. Thinner slices would get mashed.

Chop the spinach into strips (chiffonade). No need to cut them very finely.

Heat the oil in the Iron kadhai and quickly mince the green chilies while the oil gets heated. You can also just slit the chilies if you wish. Add them to the hot oil and then quickly add the potatoes as well.

Add salt and mix well, keep stirring for about 2-3 minutes. Salt should be a little less than you would normally add because spinach is slightly salty sometimes and slow cooking in an Iron pan makes it taste alkaline sometimes.

Add the spinach just after 2-3 minutes of the potatoes being seared. Mix well and cover to cook. On very low flame. Keep stirring after every 5 minutes or so, it leaves a lot of water first and then starts absorbing it. Needs to be cooked for about 30-40 minutes, stirring once in a while, till all the water gets absorbed.

The potatoes will turn green first and then a very dark green, almost black colour. Bhuno the subzi till it starts sticking to the pan a little, take care not to break the potatoes.

Serve hot or cold. You would always see this subzi disappearing quickly from the table. The picture here is from the leftovers I had some time ago when I cooked it for dinner. It makes a nice lunch box subzi as well.

You would love it if you are a spinach lover. The potatoes absorb the taste of the spinach and get really changed. For spinach haters I am not very sure.