Nankhatai / Nankatai / Narayankatar

Nankatai or Narayankatar(in Konkani) is another of the recipes passed on by my grandmom. My grandmom did not have a conventional oven. So she would spread sand(collected from beach and washed thoroughly) evenly in a pressure cooker and keep the narayankatar tray on an elevated vessel inside the oven. The narayankatar would be perfect in shape and taste. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour (makes around 25-30 namkatai)
3/4 cup ghee or clarified butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you want it less sweet)
2 teaspoon cardamom powder

Method
Powder the sugar and mix it well with the ghee. Add cardamom powder and baking powder and mix well. Now stir in flour and knead the flour well into the ghee with your fingers. It is not possible to make a stiff dough like chappati atta, but ensure that the ghee is well assimilated into the flour.

Keep aside for 30 minutes. Now make small circles flattening the dough in your palm. Press it well to shape it into a ball and then a disc.
Bake it in oven at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes. If you want more brown color, bake for 5-10 minutes longer, but keep checking to see that the bottom of the nankatai does not burn. Let it then rest for one hour on the oven rack till it cools down completely, otherwise the nankatai will crumble. Store in air tight container.

How to make ghee

Ingredients
1 kg unsalted butter

Method
Put the unsalted butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Kepp on medium or low flame. Stir occasionally while heating. Heat till you get the pure smell of ghee and a brownish crust is formed at the bottom.

Remove from heat immediately. Don't allow the brown crust to become black or else it will leave a burnt flavor in the ghee. Let it cool down thoroughly. Store only the yellow liquid which floats (or solidifies if the weather is very cold) on top in a airtight container. According to Ayurveda the ghee contains fat which is hot in nature and when taken in small quantities everyday, helps to nourish all the tissues in body. 1/4 teaspoon of ghee eaten in the morning every day can help in weight loss as it kindles the agni or heat in the digestive system. The brown crust which is formed at bottom when making the ghee contains helps to gain weight and strength. The crust part can be separated from the yellow oily ghee and can be mixed with the dough of roti or chappatis. Or it can be mixed with a little milk, cream and sugar to make halwa. It is excellent food for toddles and young children who are very active. 

 I usually make ghee from 1 kg butter and keep only a small quantity required for a month's use. Storing in the freezer helps keep the ghee to retain its flavor over the course of time. 

Tips & Caution: My mom always advises to be "inside" the kitchen when you are making ghee. There have been cases where people have wandered to complete other chores and the ghee catches fire due to over heating. If the ghee catches fire, just switch off the gas and cover the vessel with a lid to cut off the air supply for the fire. Never make the mistake to pour water over the burning ghee as it will splutter and cause serious burns. Ghee should be removed from heat once it is done; especially if you are heating it on a coil heater like in many homes in US.

Alu Tikki Chole Chaat

Alu tikki chole is a popular street food in Delhi. I remember eating this spicy chat when we last visited in 1991. Samosa chat is another popular dish there. After returning from Tahoe vacation after all the snowboarding and snow shoeing adventures, we were craving for hot spicy chaat. We didn't have much energy to go to Fremont to Dana Bazar..our favorite chat place, so I decided to make this alu tikki chaat.

Ingredients
chole as per recipe here
mint chutney as per recipe here
tamarind date chutney as per recipe here

For garnishing:
1 medium onion finely chopped
5 tablespoon coriander chopped

For tikki:
7 medium sized potatoes
1/2 cup paneer
1 medium onion
2 chopped green chilies
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
oil for frying
salt for taste

Method
Chop the onion finely. Mash the paneer. Mix all the tikki ingredients except oil together. Make small cutlets and shallow fry in oil till brown on all sides.

To serve:
Place 3-4 tikkis on a plate. Put desired amount of chole on top of the tikki. Add the tamarind and mint chutney as per taste. Garnish with onion and coriander leaves. Add a teaspoon on curd or yogurt on top. Serve hot. The tikki chole can be garnished with sev or pomegranate seeds.

Indian Festival Dates for 2009

Staying in US, it is hard to remember the dates of the festivals celebrated in India. As children or the parents don't get holidays for Indian festivals, it is challenging to keep a track of all the dates. My parents usually inform me whenever any festival is nearing. I found this helpful article posted by Pratibha of "The Indian Food Court" listing the dates of various Indian Festivals for 2009. Click here for a list of Indian holidays for 2009.

Mathri / Salted Crackers

My husband bought haldiram mathri last week from the Indian store. The mathri was very tasty and all the mathri's got over in an hour. Since last week we have been reminiscing about the mathri's, so I thought of making a container full of them to last longer than an hour. I also took some of them when I was having a potluck lunch with my friends. Everyone loved the mathri's.

Ingredients
2 cups flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cup flour----makes around 50 matharis)
1 tablespoon methi or fenugreek powder
1 teaspoon chili powder or as desired
1 1/2 teaspoon ajwain or caraway seeds
2 teaspoon oil
salt for taste
oil for frying

Method
Mix fenugreek powder, the flours, chili powder, salt, chili powder, 2 teaspoon oil and ajwain. Mix in water to make a tight dough like the chappati dough. Break small balls of the dough with your fingers and stretch it to make thin 2-inch diameter discs. Punch some holes with a fork so that the mathri won't puff like a puri while frying. Fry it in hot oil on medium heat till golden brown and crisp. Store in an air tight container. Serve with tea as snacks.

Bread Upma / Bread Upkari

Bread upma is a different and jiffy way to serve bread for breakfast. It also makes a great tiffin recipe.

Ingredients
10 bread slices
1/2 onion
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds or jeera
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
4-5 curry leaves or kadipatta (optional)
4 tablespoon coriander leaves
1 teaspoon urad dal or split black gram
2 green chilies
1/4 cup curd (optional)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste

Method

Cut the bread into 1/2 inch cubes. Heat oil in a skillet. Add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the cumin seeds, turmeric power and urad dal. Fry till the urad dal till pink. Add the kadipatta and slit green chilies. Add chopped onion and fry till the onion is pink. Add the sugar and curd and mix well. Add salt as per taste and mix well till the masala mixes with the bread. Add the bread cubes and cook covered for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle some water to soften the bread. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2-3