FAHC

Hey have you heard about the FAHC project, well visit My Dhaba blog for more infomation. Here is a summary

"By participating in My Dhaba's group book project 'You Can Cook for FAHC Campaign', the food lovers and food bloggers are creating new ways to motivate individuals and organizations across the world to expand their mission and join the fight against global poverty. I am pleased to support this effort and urge all food lovers to contribute. May God bless everyone who make a contribtution in this group book project."

Hey folks please participate....thanks...~smile~...

Moong Dal with Dill

Okay, here is another daal recipe, yep moong daal again but with fresh Dill this time. The preparation is similar to Tarkla Daal posted earlier. Dill I think is very much an under rated herb. I guess one reason being that Dill has only in recent years been commonly available certainly here in the UK in anycase. Months upon months would pass before one could buy it. Well there is globalization for you. Another reason could be, well I don’t understand it myself…~smile~… but it seems people have a love-hate relationship with Dill. Either you love it or loath it. Yes it does a have a distinct taste I agree but hey folks give the lovely herb a try okay. Hey look what I learned whilst reading the about the herb on Wiki that ‘the plant having the carminative property of relieving gas’. Is that why I like Dill because I am full of it…~grin~

This dish is very simple to make and tastes divine.

Moong Daal with Dill (for 2 people)

Ingredients

• ½ lb Split Moong daal
• Bunch of fresh Dill (chopped)
• 3 tomatoes (blitz with blender to form a paste – Tinned tomatoes are fine)
• 1 green chilli (split length ways)
• 1 tbsp ginger paste
• ½ tsp hing
• ½ tsp of turmeric
• salt to taste
• water
• oil

Method

• Wash moong daal in water then cook till soft on medium-low heat, add turmeric at the start. Add water as required to ensure lentils don’t get dry.
• Once the daal is cooked add the chopped dill, cook for a further 5 mins.
• In a pan prepare the tempering, heat some oil and add mustard seeds, once the seeds are crackling add the hing, after a few seconds add the cooked moong daal with dill.
• Add salt, tomatoes, green chilli, ginger paste
• Simmer on low heat for 10 mins.

There you have it, Moong Daal with Dill.

Enjoy with hot rice and/or, thick chapattis or parathas

Tip – if you have the time, try cooking the daal in a partly covered pan and not the pressure cooker. Not sure why but it does not taste quite the same if its pressure cooked.

Tarka Dal

You know what, I (and my prettier other half Jyostna) do like to indulge mentally and physically and get engrossed with our daals. No no no, no nothing kinky like bathing in the stuff but simply enjoy the experience of savouring a tasty daal. A good daal makes a meal, makes a moment, raises a smile of contentment. Not easy to explain the fulfilment a good daal can provide. Boy, its not easy to cook a good daal I don't think (especially toor ni daal). Anyway what do I know…~smile~.

Today I am posting my version of tarka daal using split moong lentils. So many ways to make tarka daal, its very versatile. So here goes my version.

Tarka daal (for 3 people)

Ingredients

• ½ lb Split Moong daal
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 3 tomatoes (paste)
• 1 tbsp ginger paste
• 3 red chillies
• 4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
• 2 tbsp of cumin seeds + a pinch
• ½ tsp of turmeric
• Salt to taste
• Water
• Oil

Method

• Wash the moong daal in water then cook on medium heat, add turmeric at the start. Keep adding water as required to ensure lentils don’t get dry.
• Just as the lentils start to get soft, add ginger paste and salt. Cook on low heat till lentils are fully cooked.
• In a small pan, add some oil and pinch of cumin seeds, now add the onions, cook till translucent or brown if you prefer that sweeter caramelised taste.
• Once onions are cooked, add to the cooked moong daal and mix
• Now the tarka, in a small pan, add oil, cumin seeds and red chillies, once the cumin seeds start to brown and the oil has been infused with the red chillies add the tomatoes paste. Cook for a minute and then pour the tarka over the daal and stir the whole mixture.

There you have it, Tarka Daal.

Tarka Daal

Enjoy with rice and/or, thick chapattis

Batata Vada

Okay, its street food time and today on the menu is Batata Vada, Dilip style. It’s a simple recipe, requires some preparation but hardly anytime to cook. This recipe is very much made to measure, so I will not go too much into quantity. Experiment and add amounts to suite your palate. Also lots of Batata Vada recipes suggest tempering the potato mix but I have not. I only temper when I make Vada Pav using a similar potato mix but hey the choice is yours.

Ingredients

• 3 medium potatoes
• 1 onion (add another if you like your onions)
• Handful of Coriander
• Several chillies to taste
• Lemon juice
• Chilli pwds
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Salt
• Some sugar
• Oil for frying

Batter mix

• Besan/Gram flour
• Pinch of salt.
• Water

Method

• Boil the potatoes and mash
• Chop onions
• Finely chop chillies and coriander
• Add to the mash, the chopped onions, chillies and coriander
• Grind cinnamon and cloves in a spice grinder and add to the mash
• Add sugar and lemon juice
• Mix well and taste, adjust as required
• Make round balls of the mash, around golf ball size.
• Prepare batter using gram flour
• Drop several round balls at a time into the batter and fry in oil till golden brown.

Batata Vada

Great with coriander chutney and garam chai. Or use Pav to have Vada Pavs (you may want to temper the potato mix) ...enjoy

Veg Biryani

Made biryani today, well I say biryani but it’s my own hybrid version. What can one say about biryani, one will find it in royal households or rural/poor household’s. Find it in 5 star restaurants or a street corner food stall. Find it at lavish celebrations or as a humble meal. The influences on the biryani lay outside the Indian subcontinent. Cooking in a sealed earthen pot is well-known in the Middle East and parts of the Gulf.

What is an authentic biryani, well in its simplest sense it’s an earthen pot with cooked (or uncooked) meats/vegetables with rice. Usually the rice and the vegetables/meat are cooked separately. Then layered within the earthen pot, which is then placed in an oven for hours, to ensure all the ingredients mingle and fuse to form what is a distinguished dish. As with most curries, briyanis have developed regionally over time, changing to suite local palates and tastes. The only well known version being the Hyderabadi biryani.

Certainly in the UK, the biryani is very popular in Indian restaurants, just like chicken tikka masala, which incidentally is known as the UK’s national dish. I will hasten to add the eurpoean chicken tikka masala is not an authentic Indian dish but has developed for western palates. Biryani on the other hand has retained it traditional roots.

Okay enough of my verbiage back to my hybrid version, which I usually make several times a month. It’s also great when we have guests or a party, it always goes down well. I will not go with the exact ingredients but focus more on the key steps. Its fairly simple recipe not very sophisticated or elaborate but hey it’s tasty.

Prepare the rice

• Steam about 4 handfuls of rice. Prior to cooking the rice, add a pinch of saffron strands and 4-5 cloves.
• After the rice is cooked remove the cloves.
• Set aside

Prepare/cook the vegetables and caramelised onions

• Chop 2 medium potatoes into bite size chunks, use florets from a medium cauliflower, chop a carrot into small cubes and finally a cup full of peas.
• In a pan, add 6 tbsp of oil, add mustards seeds, 6 cloves and 4 small pieces of cinnamon.
• Once mustard seeds start to splatter, add tsp of hing. After a few seconds add all the vegetables
• Add chilli, jeera and turmeric pwd and salt.
• Cover the cooking pan cook on a low heat.
• Just before the vegetables are cooked add garam masala or you use prepared biryani pwd.
• In a small pan, cook the chopped onion in oil till brown. Add a pinch of salt and chilli pwd as the unions are about complete. I think browning the onions adds a lovely sweetness to the already spicy dish.

Biryani shaak prior to layering (cooked vegetables)

Oven cooking

• In an oven proof bowl, add a layer of cooked rice. Press it down slightly. Now a layer of cooked vegetables and the final layer of rice.
• Garnish with the cooked onions, slices of lemon and thin slices of capsicum peppers.
• Cover the bowl and place in the oven on a low heat.
• I would leave it in the oven for about an hour before serving.
• Just before serving add whole raw chillies and chopped coriander on the top

Biryani garnsied with onions

Serve with cucumber raita, pitta breads or naans or chapattis.

Kala Channa Bhatata (Chickpeas & Potatoes)

The good ole chana batata, is there anyone that does not like this dish, I think not. The chana batata that myself and the family like are made using kala channa. These kala channas are quite a bit different to the typical channa dishes often eaten in restaurants, which are made with kabuli chanas, with are associated with baturas. I think kala channas are much more flavoursome and have a certain earthy taste and texture. Please note the chana dal comes from kala channa, which are split and the husk removed. Interestingly, I have also found that kala channas can differ from brand to brand. I usually go for the really dark variety, which are normally very dark brown. Not sure why there is a difference, I assume regional variations.

Okay here is the recipe which I cooked today for dinner with help from Bhavni (as always she did the chapattis) and Jyostna the dishes…~smile~.

The chana batata consists of two major steps, firstly cooking the potatoes and then the channas. Can be done in one step but this method works every time for me.

Cooking the potatoes

Ingredients

• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 tsp Jerra powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt.
• 1/2 tsp Chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp Asafoetida/Hing Powder
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• Some mustard seeds
• 1 Cup hot water
• 2 tbsp Cooking Oil

Method

• Chop potatoes into bite size chunks
• In a pan add oil and mustard seeds after seeds have started to crackle add hing
• After 10 seconds or so, add chopped potatoes with some water to just cover the potatoes
• Add Jerra, Chilli and Turmeric powder and the salt
• Cook the potatoes on a medium heat till done
• Set aside

Cooking the Channas

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 1 tbsp Jerra powder
• 1 x 2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Chilli powder (or 2 if hotter is preferred)
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Channa Masala (or garam masala)
• 1/2 tsp Asafoetida/Hing Powder
• 2 Cups Channa Water (see below)
• Water to pressure cook the channas
• 3 tbsp Cooking Oil
• 300g Chopped tomato paste (use tinned tomatoes)

Method

• Soak the kala channas overnight
• Pressure cook channas with a tsp salt
• Once cooked, drain the chanas BUT retain the water the water chanas were cooked in
• In a pan add oil and mustard seeds after seeds have started to crackle add hing
• After 10 seconds or so add chopped unions and cook on low heat till they are slightly browned. I think caramelised unions add a lovely slightly sweet richness to the dish
• Add paste of chopped tomatoes. Use a tin of chopped tomatoes and blitz with a blender to get the paste
• Add Jerra, Chilli and Turmeric powder and the salt to the paste
• Cook the tomato paste till oil starts to separate
• Add channas and chana water as required to ensure channas are covered. Adding the amount of water is dependent on consistency of gravy required. I like a medium, neither too runny nor too dry
• After about 3 mins add the cooked potatoes, channa masala and sugar
• Simmer on a low heat for 15 mins, stirring all time. Add little chana water if it gets too dry or if the gravy is runny, smash some chanas which will thicken it
• Garnish with fresh coriander, chopped unions and tomatoes

Chana Bhatata

These channa are very versatile and can be eaten with pitta/nan bread, or chapattis and boiled rice or parathas, or any combination that takes your fancy. I have been known to sprinkle chivda and or potatoes crisps on top. A nice hot bowl of chana bhatata on a grey, rainy day is just the tonic.

Bajra (Millet flour) na Thepla

What can one say about bajra, it’s the staple food ingredient for much of rural Gujarat if not all of India. I remember my first trip to Gujarat when I visited some relatives in a small town. We turned up unexpectedly and my hosts made some bagra na rotla with Brinjal shaak. My normal reaction would have been –yuckie--. But nah, the bajra rotlas were really sweet; I never thought these rotlas could taste so good. I think the art of making the bajra na rotlas is dying, which is a real shame. I am gonna do my bit and learn, I encourage all you foodies out there, please give it a go!. For you folks that have mastered the skill, well you are blessed with a great skill.

Now a slight twist not bajra na rotlas but I love spicy bajra na theplas, made out of bajra flour with some wheat flour added. I prefer these theplas to be bit more on the spicy side, so experiment with garlic-ginger-chilli paste to match your taste.

Bajra na Thepla (6 theplas)

Ingredients

• 2 Cups bajra (millet) flour
• 1 cup chapatti flour
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsb ginger
• 2 green chillies
• 2 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp turmeric
• Water
• Pinch of hing
• Oil

Method

• Make paste of garlic, chillies, ginger
• Mix flour and paste plus all the other ingredients
• Make dough with warm water, consistency should slightly harder then chapatti dough Divide the dough into 6 pieces.
• Rolled out the dough (slightly thicker then chapattis) dusting with flour so as not to get sticky.
• Cook on tawa with oil, as per making normal theplas.

Optional – Add fresh methi leaves

Bajra na theplas

Eat the theplas with hot chai or cold yogurt or pickles or chutney or all of your stomach can handle it.

Farsi Puri

Well, its Sunday, we normally have light food, snacks, pizzas and such like. However, today Jyostna and Bhavni were going out and eating out too. So just myself to feed, Ah well, had sometime on my hands so decided to make some Farsi Puris, not eaten them in a long time. Had some from the local indian sweetmart but not as tasty as the home made stuff. For those that are new to gujarari farsi puris, they are savoury snack. They tend to come out when unexpected guests turn up along with the chivda. So now you know, turn up at Dilip’s household and you know what you get with the chai.

Okay here is the recipe - from Priti (sister-in-law)

Farsi Puris (around 60 puris)

Ingredients

• 1 lb plain flour
• 125 g butter
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp crushed pepper corns (leave coarse not powder)
• 2 tbsp whole jeera (cumin)
• Warm water to make dough.
• Oil for frying

Method

• Mix all the above ingredients (dry ingredients first)
• Add enough water to get dough to a medium consistency, a bit harder then normal puri dough
• Rest dough for 30 mins.
• Roll out the puris, fraction thicker then normal puris
• Make small slits (around 0.5 cm) with the tip of the knife on top of the rolled puris
• Would suggest rolling a batch of puris before frying
• Place each rolled puri in hot oil and fry till golden brown on both sides.
• Drain on kitchen paper.
• Store in air tight container

Enjoy with chevda, hot chai (with or without guests).

Farsi Puri

Oh yes I ended up eating a bowl of hot farari bhatata shaak with a dollop of yogurt, watching thunderbirds on my new plasma, ohh heaven.

Methi with gram flour

Made another comfort food dish today, again another gujarati affair. Greengrocer has some fresh methi so had to buy it. Bought 2 bunches and now the debate. Typically we have it with gram flour batter or with small cubed potatoes with tiny gram flour beads. I will come back to what we decided later.

Fresh Methi

But just wanted to mention that methi and spinach has always played a major part in our household. The major influence being my parents. During our early year in the UK, it was difficult to find fresh indian vegetables, so my father decided to grow them in garden. Boy during the summer months, myself and Jyostna and the rest of the family were always picking and chopping stuff. Not only did we cook the fresh vegetables on the day but my mother used to freeze the stuff in time for the winter months. Coriander, methi and spinach are easy to grow in the garden, so they were always plentiful. These days we buy from the greengrocer, no need to grow and the vegetables tend to be really fresh now days, thanks to a global market, I guess

Okay back to the methi nu shaak. Today we decided to have methi with gram flour batter. Bhavni prefers it that way, especially after long day at work and to come home to some comfort food. If I may add this methi nu shaak and turai with dill which I posted earlier are both acquired tastes. I know people that love this stuff and also people that hate it. Such is the tapestry of life!!.

Methi nu loot shaak. (Methi with gram flour) (for 3 people)

Cooking process consists of two main stages, firstly to cook the methi and secondly to make the gram floor batter which then added to the cooking methi. Maker sure the batter is prepared prior to cooking the methi.

Ingredients

• 2 x bunchs of methi
• Some mustard seeds
• Tsp Asafoetida/Hing Powder
• Tsp Turmeric
• Tsp chilli powder (or 2 tsp if preferred hotter)
• Salt to taste
• 1 Cup Hot water
• 4 tbsp Oil

Gram Flour Batter

• 4 tbsp Gram (chickpea) Flour
• Tsp Turmeric
• Tsp Chilli powder
• Tsp Salt
• Water

Method Making the batter

Add the Gram flour batter ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add little water at a time to get a runny consistency, similar to say single cream. Carry on whisking to ensue no lumps are left.

Making the shaak

• Remove the mehti leaves, chop, wash and drain.
• Have hot water ready
• In a cooking pan add oil and mustard seeds, after seeds start to crackle add hing. Let the hing cook for a few seconds
• Add the chopped methi
• Add turmeric, chilli powder and salt
• Add some hot water to just cover the methi
• Cook on medium heat.
• Add the batter mix little at a time to ensure no lumps. Keep adding the batter to get to double cream consistency.
• Cook on low heat for about 15 mins.

Methi nu Loot Shaak

If left longer the shaak will get lumpy and drier. So best to make the shaak as soon as you are ready to eat. The shaak can be eaten with chapattis and boiled rice. I sometimes like it with naan bread and no rice. Enjoy.

Is there another variation to this shaak. I am wondering if this is a new shaak to most people, please let me know.

Turai (Ridgegourd) with Dill

Jyostna is not feeling too well (cold symptoms) …~sigh~…and it’s cold and windy in London. With the autumn closing in, it’s gloomy all round. So what does one do, well make some comfort food of course. Jyostna loves Turai/Ridgegourd and fresh Dill shaak/curry with plain khichdi (I personally like it with plain rice). This being such a typical example of a gujarati comfort food dish, as is plain khichdi with kadhi and bhatata shaak.

Anyway, I dashed to the local indian greengrocer to get the fresh turai and dill this morning and luckily the shop had the really fresh stuff.

Fresh Turai and Dill

The plain khichdi goes well with the turai and dill shaak. Hey, it’s not really surprising that khichdi is often mentioned as the comfort food for many indians. Its incredible how many khichdi recipes there are, not only regional variations but from family to family. Plus variations in terms of consistency, some like it soft, or sticky or flaky....etc. I remember it when I was young, boy I hated plain khichdi, and I show it as the food for the elderly and/or the ill.

I do like spicy khichdi which has masala, some potatoes and onions, which is tempered with typical spices/herbs. As apposed to plain khichdi which is simply rice and split moong dal (unhusked), boiled till cooked. With some salt and turmeric added at the start of cooking process.

split moong dal and rice

So let me describe the how/process of making turai and dill shaak with plain khichdi. Please note, I will go through the process with some indication of measurements. (I don’t tend to measure all the ingredients accurately)

Turai and dill shaak (for 2 people)

Ingredients

• 2 turai
• A bunch of dill
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Some mustard seeds
• Tsp Asafoetida/Hing Powder
• Tsp Turmeric
• Tsp chilli powder
• Salt to taste
• Hot water
• Oil

Method

• Peel turai, so as to remove the ridges and areas of skin which appear tough. Chop into small cubes, wash and drain.
• Take the whole bunch of dill and chop off the tough stalks at the end. Cut the rest of the bunch into small pieces. Wash and drain.
• Cut garlic cloves into small pieces but not into a paste.
• In a pan add oil and mustard seeds, after seeds start to crackle add hing. Let the hing cook for a few seconds
• Add chopped turai, dill and garlic.
• Add turmeric, chilli powder and salt
• Add some hot water if shaak appears too dry. Remember turai will release its own water during the cooking process.
• Cook on medium/low heat till the turai is soft. Will normally take around 15 mins.

Enjoy with chapattis and onion & cucumber relish on the side.