Timeless traditional dishes…yummy kohadyache bonda.
It has been festive time for last few months in Maharashtra.first after the month of saawan came Ganpati.festivites bring joys, warmth and along with them traditional sweets. Last week my hubby dear remembered one of his favorite childhood dishes –kohadyache bonda.Yes, they are my favorites too. I remember when my mom used to make them, I along with my elder brother used to finish them so fast.
This sweet preparation is specially made on the occasion of POLA festival with pumpkin (kohada).and thus it has a rustic touch and extremely traditional one. Since hubby dear reminded me of it I could not wait to make them. I called up my mom and asked her the recipie over phone and gave it a try. The end product did not my mom’s bonda but yes hubby loved it and it tasted too good to resist. So if you are waiting to try some authentic Indian sweet go for bonda..You will find it some what like doughnuts but without eggs and of course without a hole in it. So here’s the recipe for you.
Ingredients:
1) Pumpkin 250gms.
2) Whole wheat flour(atta)2 cups
3) Sugar 250 gms(you can change the amount according to your taste)
4)green cardamom 2-3 cloves powdered
5) khus- khus 1 tspn
6) A pinch of salt
7) Oil for deep frying
Method:
1) Peel and chop the pumpkin into small cubes.
2) Cook the chopped pumpkin without adding water in a pressure cooker. you can also cook the pumpkin without pressure cooker by adding very little water to it and covering it on low flame.
3) After being cooked quite soft, add sugar to it and keep on low flame. Sugar leaves the water of pumpkin. Keep stirring and cooking until all the water evaporates and tit become sticky paste. there should be no lumps of pumpkin in it.
4) Let the above mixture cool. Add cardamom powder and khus-khus to it.
5) Prepare a sticky dough of whole-wheat flour (atta) by adding water and pinch of salt.
6) Now take a little portion of pumpkin mixture and add little portion of the dough to it. You have to mix both of them get to a smooth consistency by using your hands. Both the mixture and dough should get mix into each other evenly.
7) Mix all the dough and mixture with the above process. A sticky consistency will be achieved. This part is most tricky as they should intermingle to form a sticky paste.
8) Now heat the oil in a wok and drop small balls of the above paste in it. Deep fry them till they turn quite deep golden brown. Deep frying should be done on medium and low flame as they should be cooked from inside very well.
9) Let the bondas cool and serve.
ps: i wanted to add the pictures but some how the images were not uploading,i will post them as soon as it works.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
NAAN-soft & homemade..without tandoor
Making of naan…
Good day to everyone out there…
It’s just another day and the festivities of ganesh utsav continue here in maharashtra.
Although during this period every other household in maharashtra cooks modaks,puran polis,shreekahnd puri etc..
its just me and hubby here. So wanted to make something for lunch and as I was planning for making chhole for the main curry dish the question as to avoid the yummy but full of calories bhaturas.incidently bhaturas are the traditional companion that go along with chhole in India. But I this time thought of making naan with it.
Naan is a kind of bread made in Punjab from flour and cooked in tandoor.but as I am a homebound cook and with the tandoor unavailable in my kitchen I made it in pan. They came out well. I deliberately avoided using convection mode of microwave as I didn’t have much time to experiment with its timings.
Recipe for naan-
Potato Dough Recipe
Potato is used to make the dough for Naan, resulting in a soft Naan
This is not Aloo Naan Recipe where the potato is used for filling. Here the boiled potato is mashed and kneaded to form the dough. The dough produces a soft Naan even without egg.
Ingredients
Dough
1. Potato : 1 Medium size
2. Active Dry Yeast: 1 teaspoon
3. White Table Sugar: 1 teaspoon
4. Warm Water : ½ Cup
5. Dahi (Yogurt): ¼ Cup
6. Melted Ghee: 1 Tablespoon
7. Salt: 1 teaspoon
8. Un-bleached All-purpose flour: 2 Cups (8½ oz by weight)
9. White Whole Wheat Flour: 1½ Cup (7½ oz by weight)
Cooking
Melted butter for : ¼ Cup
Four for dusting and rolling
Method
Dough
1. Boil potato so it is fully cooked. Let it cool to room temperature. Mash it with fork. It should be totally mashed (no chunks). Set it aside
2. Add sugar and yeast to warm water. Let stand 10 minutes. Add yogurt, and ghee. Mix. Add mashed potato. Mix again to smooth.
3. Mix all the ingredients including the mixture made in step (2) i.e. yeast+ water+sugar
Curd+ghee in a bowl. Keep mixing till the dough will start to come lose off the bowl surface.
4. Dust a surface with flour for kneading. Transfer the dough to the floured surface. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes till it looks smooth and shiny.
5. Gather up the dough into a ball. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth, and let stand for 1 to 2 hours till it doubles in volume. The dough should not be raised in a hot place, the rapid rise will result in yeasty odor. The dough should not be raised in a cold area as it will take too long to rise.
6. Remove the dough from the bowl place it on floured work surface. Divide it into six portions. Roll each portion to form a ball. Keep the dough balls covered to prevent from drying. Let the covered dough rest for 30 minutes.
Making naans:
Usually the naans are made by patting the balls of dough between hands, but not being a pro I made them by using both my hands and rolling pin.
For cooking the naan
1) I heated nonstick pan on high flame,then put the rolled out naan in the pan.
2) Then I covered the pan for 1to 2 mins on low flame.
3) I flipped the side of naan and repeated the covering of pan.
4) When nicely cooked on both the sides I applied butter to one side and served hot.
Hope you find this varied recipe of naan easy to make at home. Please tell if there is another way of baking them without the use of tandoor…
Catch you guys soon. Happy cooking till then.
Good day to everyone out there…
It’s just another day and the festivities of ganesh utsav continue here in maharashtra.
Although during this period every other household in maharashtra cooks modaks,puran polis,shreekahnd puri etc..
its just me and hubby here. So wanted to make something for lunch and as I was planning for making chhole for the main curry dish the question as to avoid the yummy but full of calories bhaturas.incidently bhaturas are the traditional companion that go along with chhole in India. But I this time thought of making naan with it.
Naan is a kind of bread made in Punjab from flour and cooked in tandoor.but as I am a homebound cook and with the tandoor unavailable in my kitchen I made it in pan. They came out well. I deliberately avoided using convection mode of microwave as I didn’t have much time to experiment with its timings.
Recipe for naan-
Potato Dough Recipe
Potato is used to make the dough for Naan, resulting in a soft Naan
This is not Aloo Naan Recipe where the potato is used for filling. Here the boiled potato is mashed and kneaded to form the dough. The dough produces a soft Naan even without egg.
Ingredients
Dough
1. Potato : 1 Medium size
2. Active Dry Yeast: 1 teaspoon
3. White Table Sugar: 1 teaspoon
4. Warm Water : ½ Cup
5. Dahi (Yogurt): ¼ Cup
6. Melted Ghee: 1 Tablespoon
7. Salt: 1 teaspoon
8. Un-bleached All-purpose flour: 2 Cups (8½ oz by weight)
9. White Whole Wheat Flour: 1½ Cup (7½ oz by weight)
Cooking
Melted butter for : ¼ Cup
Four for dusting and rolling
Method
Dough
1. Boil potato so it is fully cooked. Let it cool to room temperature. Mash it with fork. It should be totally mashed (no chunks). Set it aside
3. Mix all the ingredients including the mixture made in step (2) i.e. yeast+ water+sugar
Curd+ghee in a bowl. Keep mixing till the dough will start to come lose off the bowl surface.
5. Gather up the dough into a ball. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth, and let stand for 1 to 2 hours till it doubles in volume. The dough should not be raised in a hot place, the rapid rise will result in yeasty odor. The dough should not be raised in a cold area as it will take too long to rise.
6. Remove the dough from the bowl place it on floured work surface. Divide it into six portions. Roll each portion to form a ball. Keep the dough balls covered to prevent from drying. Let the covered dough rest for 30 minutes.
Making naans:
Usually the naans are made by patting the balls of dough between hands, but not being a pro I made them by using both my hands and rolling pin.
For cooking the naan
1) I heated nonstick pan on high flame,then put the rolled out naan in the pan.
2) Then I covered the pan for 1to 2 mins on low flame.
3) I flipped the side of naan and repeated the covering of pan.
4) When nicely cooked on both the sides I applied butter to one side and served hot.
Hope you find this varied recipe of naan easy to make at home. Please tell if there is another way of baking them without the use of tandoor…
Monday, September 20, 2010
QUICK SNACK BITES FROM LEFTOVERS
Dal kachori…in a few minutes…
Leftovers…it’s a always question that how to use the leftovers as that they are not wasted and still can be eaten with little variation done to the original product.
In Indian household dal is one of the basic part of meal and somehow it always remains in the stock of leftovers. Yesterday I too had leftover dal from the lunch and somehow I did not want to convert it into same old dal fry. so after scratching the head for few mins I came up with the idea of making kachoris.and yes I didn’t have to take much effort as I was not planning for a delicacy but making it out of whatever resources I had.
Ingredients:
Leftover dal
1 onion finely chopped
Aamchur powder 2tspn
1 or 2Green chilies finely chopped
Salt and red chilly powder according to taste.
Whole-wheat(atta) dough
Oil to shallow fry or deep fry
Method:
1) Take a pan and add the aamchur powder, onion, green chillies, red chili powder and salt to left over dal and keep it on slow flame so that it converts into thick paste. Stir time to time to avoid sticking to the bottom of pan.
2) You can make the thick dough from whole wheat or flour whatever you prefer by mixing water to .as I said that I made it with resources available, I had some dough in refrigerator and I used the same.
3) Divide the dough into small balls preferably into small size than a ping pong ball.
4) Now fill the dal mixture it these ball and press them to make round and flat kachoris.
5) I shallow fried the kachories on anon stick tava till crispy and golden brown on both the sides. The flame of stove should be kept low to bring the crispness. If you are not worried about the calories then deep fry them till golden brown.
6) Serve hot with ketchup or corander chutney.
Thus enjoy the leftover with a little variation.My hubby dear really enjoyed the evening snack after the tiring day at office. He especially liked the filling. So try it and let me know your comments..
Leftovers…it’s a always question that how to use the leftovers as that they are not wasted and still can be eaten with little variation done to the original product.
In Indian household dal is one of the basic part of meal and somehow it always remains in the stock of leftovers. Yesterday I too had leftover dal from the lunch and somehow I did not want to convert it into same old dal fry. so after scratching the head for few mins I came up with the idea of making kachoris.and yes I didn’t have to take much effort as I was not planning for a delicacy but making it out of whatever resources I had.
Ingredients:
Leftover dal
1 onion finely chopped
Aamchur powder 2tspn
1 or 2Green chilies finely chopped
Salt and red chilly powder according to taste.
Whole-wheat(atta) dough
Oil to shallow fry or deep fry
Method:
1) Take a pan and add the aamchur powder, onion, green chillies, red chili powder and salt to left over dal and keep it on slow flame so that it converts into thick paste. Stir time to time to avoid sticking to the bottom of pan.
2) You can make the thick dough from whole wheat or flour whatever you prefer by mixing water to .as I said that I made it with resources available, I had some dough in refrigerator and I used the same.
3) Divide the dough into small balls preferably into small size than a ping pong ball.
4) Now fill the dal mixture it these ball and press them to make round and flat kachoris.
5) I shallow fried the kachories on anon stick tava till crispy and golden brown on both the sides. The flame of stove should be kept low to bring the crispness. If you are not worried about the calories then deep fry them till golden brown.
6) Serve hot with ketchup or corander chutney.
Thus enjoy the leftover with a little variation.My hubby dear really enjoyed the evening snack after the tiring day at office. He especially liked the filling. So try it and let me know your comments..
VEG MANCHURIAN...for a great start to a meal
Hi everyone...thanks for giving response to my facebook page...Its a slow start but I believe that soon I will have more people connected to my blog...Well the rains are not giving it up here in India.The other day it was raining cats and dogs and in such weather you bound feel like satisfying your appetite with something hot and spicy.
Since i decided to make veg fried rice for the dinner, Icould not resist the idea of having veg manchurian for the starter or side dish..coz of its hot and spicy flavors.It was a good choice and really enjoyed the meal.I am sharing the recipe here.Just try it and add the spice to your meal...
Ingredients:
2 cups Grated Cabbage
2 cups Grated Carrots
1 Chopped Spring Onion
2 Chopped Green Chilies
3-4 Crushed Garlic Flakes
2 tbsp Corn Starch or Flour
Oil for deep frying
1 tbsp Soya Sauce
Salt to taste
1 tsp Pepper Powder
1 tsp Sugar
A pinch of ajinomoto
2 tbsp oil
Preparation of vegetarian manchurian :
Mix grated cabbage and carrots and squeeze the water out from them.
Now in a bowl take the squeezed cabbage and carrots and mix 1 tbsp. corn starch and add few chopped chilies and little salt to it.
Make small balls (like koftas) of the mixture .
Heat the oil in a kadhai / wok and deep fry the balls till golden brown, drain and keep aside.
Now in a separate pan heat 2 tbsp oil.
Sauté garlic, green chilies and spring onions.
Add water, salt, pepper powder, ajinomoto, sugar and soya sauce. Bring it to a boil.
Mix 1 tbsp corn four with half of a cup of cold water and stir into it. Gently add the fried balls to the gravy.
Cook the vegetable manchurian for 3-4 minutes and serve hot garnished with chopped coriander.
Since i decided to make veg fried rice for the dinner, Icould not resist the idea of having veg manchurian for the starter or side dish..coz of its hot and spicy flavors.It was a good choice and really enjoyed the meal.I am sharing the recipe here.Just try it and add the spice to your meal...
Ingredients:
2 cups Grated Cabbage
2 cups Grated Carrots
1 Chopped Spring Onion
2 Chopped Green Chilies
3-4 Crushed Garlic Flakes
2 tbsp Corn Starch or Flour
Oil for deep frying
1 tbsp Soya Sauce
Salt to taste
1 tsp Pepper Powder
1 tsp Sugar
A pinch of ajinomoto
2 tbsp oil
Preparation of vegetarian manchurian :
Mix grated cabbage and carrots and squeeze the water out from them.
Now in a bowl take the squeezed cabbage and carrots and mix 1 tbsp. corn starch and add few chopped chilies and little salt to it.
Heat the oil in a kadhai / wok and deep fry the balls till golden brown, drain and keep aside.
Now in a separate pan heat 2 tbsp oil.
Sauté garlic, green chilies and spring onions.
Add water, salt, pepper powder, ajinomoto, sugar and soya sauce. Bring it to a boil.
Mix 1 tbsp corn four with half of a cup of cold water and stir into it. Gently add the fried balls to the gravy.
Cook the vegetable manchurian for 3-4 minutes and serve hot garnished with chopped coriander.
Monday, September 13, 2010
making paper dosa...its easy....
Dosa...i guess every indian foodie has an expereince with this dish of south india sometime or the other in his or her life.
its tasty,simple and nutritous,and one thing for sure 7 out of 10 indian housewives,no matter to which part of country do they belong,have tried this recipe at home.the restaurant version of dosa have always grabbed the attention of children and they sometimes do get disappointed when homemade doasas do not turn out to be so crispy.
for your crispy dosa..i am bringing you the recipie of Paper dosai..and going by my own experience they do come out like the ones you get at restaurant...
just try them ,you are going to love them....
Paper Dosai
Ingredients
» 1 Cup (Boiled) Rice(Puzhungal Rice)
» 2 Cups Raw Rice(Pacharisi)
» 3/4 Cup Urad Dal
» A Handful Of Cooked Rice
» 2 Tablespoons Of Aval(Poha)
» 1 Teaspoon Venthayam(Methi Seeds)
» Salt To Taste
Method
Wash all the ingredients except the cooked rice and salt.
Soak them in water for atleast 5 hours.
Add the cooked rice and grind to a smooth paste with the required amount of water.
Add the required salt. Cover and keep aside for at least 10 hours to ferment.
Then mix the batter thoroughly.
Take a laddle full of batter and spread on a MEDIUM HOT tawa to a thin layer quickly.
Rest is the same as you do for any ordinary dosa.
When spreading the batter if by chance you see that some parts of the spread area of
the dosai is thick do not try to respread it to be thin.
This will spoil the crispy nature of the dosai.
Puzhungal Rice:
you can make this rice easily at home.
take the raw rice as it is.pour two cups of water in pressure cooker.
then place the container of measured raw rice in the cooker without washing or adding water to the rice.
close the cooker and place the wistle on it.
bring to steam till the wistle blows for once.
remove from gas and open the cooker.
take out the rice and follow the next procedure of dosai recipe.
its tasty,simple and nutritous,and one thing for sure 7 out of 10 indian housewives,no matter to which part of country do they belong,have tried this recipe at home.the restaurant version of dosa have always grabbed the attention of children and they sometimes do get disappointed when homemade doasas do not turn out to be so crispy.
just try them ,you are going to love them....
Paper Dosai
Ingredients
» 1 Cup (Boiled) Rice(Puzhungal Rice)
» 2 Cups Raw Rice(Pacharisi)
» 3/4 Cup Urad Dal
» A Handful Of Cooked Rice
» 2 Tablespoons Of Aval(Poha)
» 1 Teaspoon Venthayam(Methi Seeds)
» Salt To Taste
Method
Wash all the ingredients except the cooked rice and salt.
Soak them in water for atleast 5 hours.
Add the cooked rice and grind to a smooth paste with the required amount of water.
Add the required salt. Cover and keep aside for at least 10 hours to ferment.
Then mix the batter thoroughly.
Take a laddle full of batter and spread on a MEDIUM HOT tawa to a thin layer quickly.
Rest is the same as you do for any ordinary dosa.
When spreading the batter if by chance you see that some parts of the spread area of
the dosai is thick do not try to respread it to be thin.
This will spoil the crispy nature of the dosai.
Puzhungal Rice:
you can make this rice easily at home.
take the raw rice as it is.pour two cups of water in pressure cooker.
then place the container of measured raw rice in the cooker without washing or adding water to the rice.
close the cooker and place the wistle on it.
bring to steam till the wistle blows for once.
remove from gas and open the cooker.
take out the rice and follow the next procedure of dosai recipe.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
hot egg biryani....
hi...its raining awsome here at nagpur..and weather has become beautiful,like chilling...
in such weather it feels great to have something delicious and hot to gorge on...so i have come up with one of my simple and easy recipe of egg biryani.its easy to cook and tastes awesome.just try it and i am sure you will love it.
EGG BIRYANI :
Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Eggs - 4 nos
Onions medium size- 2 no. cut length wise
Tomatoes big - 1 no. cut lengthwise
Ginger garlic Paste - 1 tbspn
Green Cardamom - 2-4 nos
Bay leaf - 2 nos
Yogurt - ¼ cup
Chili powder - according to taste
Dhania powder- 1 tbspn
Tandoori Masala powder- 2 tbspn
Method:
1) Boil four eggs
Keep aside some of the onions without marinating them.
3) Cook rice separately and cool
6) Pour in the marinated mixture and mix with chili and dhania
8) Add saffron, rice and and mix gently.
10) Cover it tightly and let it sit for few minutes before serving.
in such weather it feels great to have something delicious and hot to gorge on...so i have come up with one of my simple and easy recipe of egg biryani.its easy to cook and tastes awesome.just try it and i am sure you will love it.
EGG BIRYANI :
INGREDIENTS:
Eggs - 4 nos
Onions medium size- 2 no. cut length wise
Tomatoes big - 1 no. cut lengthwise
Ginger garlic Paste - 1 tbspn
Green Cardamom - 2-4 nos
Whole Black pepper- 1 tspn
Bay leaf - 2 nos
Pudina - ½ small bunch
Coriander - ½ small bunchYogurt - ¼ cup
Salt and
Dhania powder- 1 tbspn
Tandoori Masala powder- 2 tbspn
Lemon juice - 1 tbspn
Oil - 2 tbspn
Saffron - optional Method:
1) Boil four eggs
2) Marinate the onions with ginger garlic paste and
yogurt with tandoori masala for at least 45 mins.Keep aside some of the onions without marinating them.
3) Cook rice separately and cool
4) Heat a fry pan with oil, add the unmarinated onions and fry till
they turn golden brown.
5) Add tomatoes , salt, and fry till it leaves all juices. Add mint and coriander leaves and cook nicelythey turn golden brown.
6) Pour in the marinated mixture and mix with chili and dhania
powder.
7) Mix in lemon juice & fry till moisture is absorbed.8) Add saffron, rice and and mix gently.
9) Peel and cut the eggs into halves. set the egg halves
in between rice layer by layer.10) Cover it tightly and let it sit for few minutes before serving.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
narkoler naru...nariyal ladoos
Narkoler Naru (Coconut Laddu/ Nariyal ke laddu)
...these laddoos are my favorites since childhood.A bengali recipe and very easy to cook.
Nariyal ka Laddu
Ingredients:
1. Coconut Powder – 2 cups
2. Mawa (Khowa) – 1 /2cup
3. Sugar – 10tsp
4. Cardamom Powder – 3pinches
5. Milk – 1 /4th cup
Method:
1. Mix the sugar with coconut powder.
2. Heat a kadhai. Put the coconut with sugar mixture and stir continuously on low flame.
3. Add khowa and stir.
4. Soon khowa, sugar and coconut powder will slightly melt.
5. Add milk and stir gently and add cardamom powder.
6. Stir continuously till excess milk evaporates and it turns sticky.While hot, make ladoos in the palm of your hand
Nariyal ka Laddu
Ingredients:
1. Coconut Powder – 2 cups
2. Mawa (Khowa) – 1 /2cup
3. Sugar – 10tsp
4. Cardamom Powder – 3pinches
5. Milk – 1 /4th cup
Method:
1. Mix the sugar with coconut powder.
2. Heat a kadhai. Put the coconut with sugar mixture and stir continuously on low flame.
3. Add khowa and stir.
4. Soon khowa, sugar and coconut powder will slightly melt.
5. Add milk and stir gently and add cardamom powder.
6. Stir continuously till excess milk evaporates and it turns sticky.While hot, make ladoos in the palm of your hand
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)