Sankranti Special Bhogi Chi Bhaji....

Bhogi is the day preceding Makar Sankranti...Generally it is 13th January. It is celebrated in honor of Lord Indra, "the God of Clouds and Rains". Lord Indra is worshiped for the abundance of harvest, thereby bringing plenty of prosperity to the land. Since it’s a winter season main food for Bhogi is curry of mixed vegetable, bajra roti with sesame seeds on it and rice & moong dal khichadi....yummy one!...So that you can keep yourselves warm in winter,when a traditional Maharashtrian dish of mixed vegetables is prepared.The preparation not only makes for a delicious platter but also helps in counter attacking cold. To help you savour this dish at home, I would like to share this simple recipe with all of you.

Warm up your tummies this winter with this very healthy, hearty and nutritious dish!

Bhogi chi bhaji

Ingredients:
Brinjal small - 4
Peeled & chopped Carrots - 3
Peeled & chopped Potatoes - 3 medium
Harbara / Fresh Green chana - 1/2 cup( if available)
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Val papdi / INDIAN BEANS - 1 cup
Chopped tomato - 1 medium
Bor (Indian Zizyphus) - 4-5 (if available)
Green Pepper-1/2 cup

Roasted groundnut powder - 3 Tea spoon
sesame seeds - 1 tea spoon
Red chilly powder - 1 tea spoon
Goda Masala or Garam Masala - 1 table spoon
Jaggery to taste
Salt to taste
Little lemon juice or tamarind pulp for taste.

For Tempering
Oil - 2 tea spoon
Mustard seeds (Rai)- 1/2 tea spoon
Turmeric powder (Haldi) -1/2 tea spoon
Asafoetida (Hing) - 1 pinch
cumin seeds or Jeera (optional)-1/2 tea spoon
Garlic-1 or 2 pods

For Garnishing:
Fresh grated coconut-1/2 cup
Finely chopped coriander seeds-1/2 cup

Procedure:
1.Heat Oil in a kadhai or pan.
2.Add mustard seeds,Cumin seeds,Finely chopped Garlic, turmeric powder and Asafoetida.
3.Now Add all veggies brinjal, val papdi, carrots, potatoes, harbara,Green pepper and peas, mix it and cover it for few minutes and allow it to cook.
4.Add chopped tomato & saute it.
5.Now add Red chilly powder, Garam masala, salt, jaggery,tamarind or lemon juice and little water
6.cover it and let it cook for five minutes.
7.When all vegetables are cooked properly add bor and mix it.It gives khatta mitha taste to it.So if you are adding tamarind pulp or lemon juice you can certainly skip this step.You can add water if required.
8.Finally Add groundnut powder and sesame seeds mix it and cook for 2 minutes.
9.Bhogi chi bhaji is ready. Garnish it with grated coconut and coriander leaves.
10.Serve Hot with Bajra Bhakri with sesame seeds topped on it.
11.Your mouth watering traditional maharashtrain sankranti special mix veg curry is done!Let me know how was it!

Note:
1.You can add any vegetable you like to sabzi.
2.Traditionally bor and harbara are added to sabzi which gives it different taste but as those were not available to me i havent added it.
3.Also you can add curry leaves in tempering it again enhances taste.

Sending this happily to new event... very first in new year 2013....also my special preparation for new year..first article for new year...wishing you all a very happy and prosperous new year....to "Foodabulous Fest" of Preeti's kitchen life...Very fabulous event preeti...I have been a great fan of your blog and is very happy to follow you on face book....

Nankatai...Diwali special Indian cookies

The day I came to US and saw this fabulous cooking range with oven..nankatai was first thing that striked my mind.I remembered how my mom and MIL both used to make it amazingly good ..me too wanted to try the same at home....finally after one year I did it and it was a great hit....Diwali time is the time when every one wants to enjoy sweets...I made nankatai only for my dear hubby as he loves sweets like anything...

Around this time of year---ie diwali... rather or any time of the year, for that matter, everyone is looking for cookie recipes....Here in america no one will refer it as nankatai..they just will know it when u say cookies...so nankatai is nothing but butter cookies or eggless cookies or biscuits

Here is a Nankatai (Indian Tea or Coffee biscuits) recipe that is so simple that you’ll want to whip up a batch right now! With no frills, no fancy ingredients and no eggs, even the kids can take part in this yummy baking experience! It can be made quickly and is simple if all ingredients are handy.

Nankatai

Ingredients:
All purpose flour-2 cups
Chickpea flour/ Besan-1/2 cup
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Powdered sugar-1 cup
ghee-1 cup
2 tbsp cashewnut powder
cardamon powder as per your taste

Procedure:
1.Heat ghee till it melts.
2.Add powdered sugar to it and keep it aside.
3.Now Sieve Maida,Besan,salt,baking powder together in big bowl.
4.To it add cashewnut powder and cardamom powder.
5.Now add melted ghee and sugar which was mixed together.
6.Knead it well in a dough.
7.Allow it to rest for 10 mins
8.Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 350 or 400 degrees
9.Make smooth balls of the dough...flatten it and place it on cookie sheet for baking
10.Place cashews or almonds as per your choice on it and bake it for 20-25 mins.

Your delicious cookies and diwali special snack is ready to gulp!

Enjoy! Happy Deepavali to one and all...

Sending this recipe to following events:

1.Bake Fest #13...event by vardhini..guest hosted by anu.....thanks for the fabulous event

and also to 

Tofu Chilli Cheese Paratha...

We love parathas like anything....I usually try making parathas with each and everything....When we were in India I hardly used to make parathas and would completely stick to boring chapatis and salad for dinner.We discovered our love towards paratha after coming to US.I used to practice palak and methi parathas but here from my friend I learned the concept of stuffed paratha and was extremely delighted...I practice many kinds of stuffed paratha every alternate day.This time I wanted to try something different...Yes!.Jara hatke!
I remembered that Tofu was lying in my refrigerator since long and I wanted to get rid of it soon...hence decided to make stuffed parathas of Tofu with the combination of chilli and cheese...Parathas came out preety good...My husband enjoyed it as paneer stuffed parathas in his luch box and when he returned from office...I told him about parathas he was surprised and replied sahi...meaning he also loved it!Hope you all will try the same...and enjoy it as we did....Here is the recipe for all of you...

Tofu Chilli Cheese Paratha

Ingredients:
a)For Making dough
wheat flour-2 cups
2 tsp of oil
pinch of salt
Warm Water as per your need while making dough.

b)For Filling
Tofu 1/2 cube
1 small sized boiled potato
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp red chilli powder
3-4 tbsp of grated cheese of your choice
salt as per your taste

Procedure:
1.Prepare dough as you normally prepare while making chapatis.Addition of oil makes it soft.
2.Now for filling...Take shredded tofu...remove it from refrigerator and water few mins in advance
3.To this add mashed potato,red chilli powder,cheese,salt and coriander leaves.
4.Mix well everything together and use this stuffing while making parathas.
5.Roll parathas like one we practice making puran poli or modak.
6.Fry these parathas until they become light brown in color on tawa or pan or griddle.
7.Use oil or ghee while roasting it on tawa.
8 Your parathas are ready you can enjoy it with any kind of raita or salad or with simply curd/dahi...It tastes awesome..and is quite filling....Do tell me whether you liked it or not after experimenting with it.

Note:Serve hot!Enjoy this with butter....

Very happy to send this to the following event-Serve it -Griddled...Lovely theme by kirthi and Denny...

Homemade Naan Without Yeast

"Naan" is a name well-known in Indian cooking, and this is one kind of leavened flatbread that is appreciated all around the world, by Indians and non-Indians alike.

Soft and tender, Naan can be made with several different variations,say it be butter naan or garlic naan... but I bet every one loves a bite of simple naan! It pairs well with any kind of curry,mix vegetable and is filling as well as appealing to the eye. Determined to try a homemade Naan recipe without yeast, I set out on an adventure last weekend, and was happy to find one of the recipe on internet which was truly of my type so also easy and simple but quick...which resulted into Naans that turned out nice and fluffy!

Naans are traditionally cooked in a Tandoor or earthern oven but can also be made in your oven at home. The dough for Naans needs to be made in advance so factor that into the preparation time.nevertheless, My experiment was absolutely successful, and my hubby was happy ..we enjoyed along with methi matar malai!...Everytime we used to enjoy naan at restaurants,I would dream of making it at home....last weekend with the successful preparation of naans at home my dream came true....here I would like to post my recipe for you all which is simple and makes use of tawa instead of oven...so any one can do it easily....

HOMEMADE NAAN WITHOUT YEAST

Ingredients:
All purpose flour-2 cups
Fresh thick curd-1/2 cup
Warm milk-1/2 cup
sugar-1/2 tsp
salt-1 tsp
Baking powder-3/4 tsp
Baking soda-3/4 tsp
melted ghee-4 tsp

Procedure:
1.Mix together all purpose flour,sugar,salt,baking powder and baking soda thoroughly.
2.Add thick curd to it.
3.Now add ghee to it.
4.While checking for consistency add warm milk to it.
5.Make soft dough of it.
6.Allow it to rest for at least 1/2 an hour and then start making naans of it.

Note:You can bake them in oven also...but I baked them on tawa itself....
You can enjoy this with any masala sabzi...

Sending this to Love Lock Series-Breads...an event by Vidhya and guest hosted by Divya...Fabulous event....

Baked Vegetable Samosas...

I love samosas. Crunchy, crispy filled with vegetable deliciousness. So when it came to the menu of foods for my son's birthday party when we were discussing last week, they were at the top of my list.... What I always think about samosas before gulping it are they tend to be too much oily...so this time I deceided I will make something different for b'day party...and finally settled on making baked vegetable samosas...

There are a lot of recipes out there for baking samosas. Turns out a lot of people enjoy them, but would prefer not getting all the extra oil in their diet. A quick perusal of the internet led me to many variations of baking. Various temperatures.  I factored in all the different ways of going about it and then decided on a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes. It worked.This is really a healthy recipe!

These Baked Vegetable Samosas makes use of ready-made malaysian parothas that we get in any indian store instead of puff pastry sheets.. so they are so quick to make and the fragrance of the filling makes it difficult to wait until you stuff the parothas before digging in!

I have not included cut out chili in it so as to make them toddler friendly. I have also had great success with freezing these. Just freeze uncooked samosas in a single layer on a baking sheet, then transfer to a large freezer bag. There's no need to defrost before baking, just add approximately 2 minutes to the baking time.
and you can easily pack it in tiffin for your toddler so also you can easily carry it in park..serves as great appetizer for party and get-togethers.Hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

BAKED VEGETABLE SAMOSAS

Ingredients:

1.Boiled and mashed 2 medium sized potatoes.

2.2 Malaysian parothas.

3.2 tsp oil

4.1 medium sized onion chopped.

5.1 tsp ginger-garlic paste.

6.1/2 green pepper finely chopped

7.1 tsp coriander powder.

8.1 tsp red chilli powder.

9.few leaves of spinach 

10.salt as per your taste.

11.chat masala as per your taste.

12.1 tsp lemon juice.

131 tsp.homemade garam masala or everest garam masala.

Method:

1.Boil potatoes.Thaw malaysian parathas.Place them on baking sheet by removing them from plastic otherwise paratha sticks to plastic.

2.Heat oil.Add chopped onions.Fry till golden brown.

3.Now add ginger-garlic paste.

4.Add green pepper.

5.Now start adding spices like coriander powder,red chilli powder.

6.Add finely chopped spinach and boiled potato.

7.Add salt,chat masala and garam masala.

8.Add lemon juice.

9.Now divide paratha in 2 at center with knife.

10.Stuff filing in it and make in shape of samosa by folding it from corners.Use water to seal edges.

11.Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

And its done! Enjoy the Yummy samosas!

Sending this to Vardhini's  bake fest #9 event hosted by Pradnya

and also to the event Let's Party - Go Bake It..

"Subway" Style Veggie Sandwich.....

Subway sandwich... is something my husband and I are really addicted to..as can find subway in every nook and corner of US. Indeed it is just at 2 minutes walk from home....

Whenever Iam bored of eating and cooking same chapatis so also sometimes wanted to get a quick eat, we just grab this subway sandwich from nearby shop. It is very cheap,very filing and also very tasty.Moreover I like one thing about it is apart from being nutritious you can customize it as you desire.

Last weekend I decided to recreate its similar version at home...my husband was very delighted to see it..It was indeed Time to put on the cooking hat and make my family favourite... In Memory of subway shop besides our home"Hurstbourne Pky"...here we go with the recipe

SUBWAY STYLE VEGGIE SANDWICH

Ingredients:
1 big subway style bread
few chopped pieces of cucumber
few pieces of onion
few tomato cuts
chopped capsicum
Jalapeno and Olives are optional
lettuce
chipotle hot and spicy sauce
tomato ketchup
few cheese slices
1 veg patty

a)Procedure to make veg patty:
Ingredients:
1 boiled and mashed potato
1/2 cup cooked peas
1/2 cup cooked corn
1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
salt as per taste
1/2 tsp of turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp oil
2 slices of bread
1 tbsp of cornflour or all purpose flour

Mix all ingredients together.You can omit bread.Cornflour is used as it helps in binding.If you are adding bread initially soak or dip it in water.Remove water from it nicely and now add this soft bread to your mixture.Once dough is ready Give it desired elongated shape and shallow fry it by adding oil on it.

Now your veg patty is ready!

b)Assembling of sandwich
1.cut entire strip of bread in middle such that it is not separated exactly but remains attached at corner
2.place veg patty on it.
3.Now place triangular cut cheese slices on it.
4.Now you can place any desired veggies on it.
5.place few pieces of cucumber,onion,tomato,spinach,lettuce etc
6.Pour chipotle sauce and ketchup on it
7.Fold it by placing upper layer
8.Your subway style sandwich is ready at home!

Happily sending this to event-Healthy diet- sandwiches guest hosted by kalyani and lovely event by priya...

Matar Paneer......

A funny thing happened with me the other day. We had been to an Indian restaurant and while browsing through the menu I realized I had made all the dishes at home. Palak paneer, Alu palak, Punjabi chole, Paneer jalfrezi....the list went on and on and for the first time in my life I felt like my mom. Mom would say it's useless to waste so many rupees on a simple dish in a restaurant when we can make it at home and it's much healthy too. Back then we used to get irritated when mom said this. We use to say "Zala hicha suru (she's started again)".

As a teenager, I was obsessed with eating out. Most of the times eating out would be Punjabi food. However, we used to end up ordering the same dishes again and again. Thinking back I realize that most of the veggies would be stale and there would be a heavy ghee layer floating in it.Now thinking little bit about calories I decided I will make matar paneer at home and finally I made one of my favorite Punjabi sabzi....Matar Paneer or Green peas with cottage cheese....

I know very well that majority of you all must have tried this one at home and would have been succesful in making it delicious but do try again this one with little bit of twist and adapted from sanjeev kapoor's khana khazana....Here is the one for you!

MATAR PANEER

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 medium sized onions finely chopped
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
4 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt as per your taste
2 cup of water
1 cup frozen peas
15-20 cubes of paneer
1 tbsp of coriander paste
1 tbsp of lime juice
1 tsp garam masala or kitchen king masala
2-3 tbsp of fresh cream

Procedure:

1.Heat oil in a pan.Add cumin seeds to it.Fry till it gives out aroma and splutter.
2.Now add onions fry till golden brown.
3.Add ginger garlic paste.cook until its raw flavour is gone.
4.Add tomatoes.red chilly powder and coriander powder.
5.Now add turmeric,salt and cook for 2-3 mins.
6.Add water as per necessity and green peas also.
7.Finally add paneer cubes.
8.Mix everything carefully.
9.Now add coriander paste,lime juice and fresh cream.
10.lastly on top add garam masala and see how very nice it smells!

Hmm yummy...enjoy it with roti,paratha or naan.....so also do inform me after trying it...you will surely enjoy this mouth watering recipe....

sending this recipe to the following events:

a) Spotlight:curries/gravies..fabulous event by Chandrani and Indrani

b) Dish Name Starts with M event by akila....