Ridge Gourd Stir Fry/ Gosale Upkari

Ridge gourd or turai is a very healthy vegetable and is very cooling for the body. We make a very simple sabzi or upkari which is served with dal or sambar.

In this photo: Dal, Rice, Ghosale Upkari and plain Odi

Ingredients 
2-3 medium sized ridge gourds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 green chili 
2 dried red chili or byadgi chili
3 tables grated coconut
1 tablespoon coconut oil or any other oil
salt for taste


Method

Peel the ridge gourd and chop it into 2 cm pieces. Heat oil in the pan and add mustard. When the mustard splutters add the red chili and slit green chili. Fry for a minute. Add the cut bottle gourd and saute it for a minute. Add 1/4 cup water and cook covered till the bottle gourd is soft. Add salt for taste and garnish with grated coconut. Serve hot with dal and rice. 

Gajar Ka Halwa /Gajara Halwo

Carrot halwa is very good way of including carrots in the diet. It is liked by people of all ages and is made by people in all parts of India. Carrot halwa can be made in a jiffy. Carrot halwa can be made with or without milk. The sugar quantity can be increased or decreased as per taste. 


Ingredients 
4 cups carrots grated
1 cup sugar or as desired
2 tablespoon raisins 
2 tablespoon cashew nuts
1 cup whole milk or 1/2 cup cream (optional)
2 tablespoon ghee




Method 
Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a pan and fry cashew nuts till brown. Add the raisins and fry for a minute. Keep aside. Heat rest of the ghee in the same pan and add grated carrots. Fry for 5 minutes. Add milk and cook well till all the milk evaporates. Add sugar and cook again till it becomes thick as per desired consistency. Garnish with fried cashew nuts and raisins. Serve hot or chilled. 

Churmundo / Aate Ka Ladoo

Churmundo is whole wheat flour ladoo make in Konkani homes. It is loved especially by children and is very healthy for growing children. We make this for almost all the festivals. 


Ingredients 
1 cup wheat flour
2 tablespoon thin semolina or rava
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup ghee or clarified butter (Check HERE for recipe)
1 teaspoon cardamom or elaichi powder
2 tablespoon kishmish (optional)
2 tablespoon roasted cashew nuts or kaju (optional)


Method
Roast the semolina along with the wheat flour on very low flame till it is light brown and gives out  a pleasant aroma. It will take 15-10 minutes to roast both the ingredients. Heat the ghee to a liquid form and mix it with the roasted flour. Stir on low heat for a minute or two till the ghee is absorbed well by the flour. Mix the sugar and the cardamom powder well. I just put it in my mixer and give it a pulse or two till both the ingredients blend well together. Mix sugar, roasted flour, kishmish, cashew nuts well with your hands. Take a hand full of the mixture in your hands and press it to make the ladoos. Store in an air tight container. 
The above ingredients make around 10-15 ladoos depending on their size.

Quinoa Khichdi/ Quinoa Stirfry with Peanuts

I make Quinoa Khichidi or Quinoa Upma very often for breakfasts. Come Spring and we feel very hungry whole day. I even wake up hungry and crave for a heavy breakfast. Wish I had a robot who could keep a variety of breakfast items ready for us every morning! Wishes apart, thats why my last post was about breakfast too.

I was introduced to Quinoa a few months back at a salad bar and I became quite inquisitive about this grain which tasted great and felt light on the stomach. I researched more on the internet and came across many recipes. I tried to make salad with a lemon dressing, but it tasted very bland to me. And that is when I decided to try to make Indian style recipes. I tried to make pulao like khichidi, but the quinoa got crushed and mushy when I mixed it with the vegetables and the dal. That is when I decided to make this lighter flavor version which retains the actual flavor of Quinoa while still making it spicy. 

Ingredients 
1 cup Quinoa
1/2 cup peanuts
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro or coriander leaves
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds or jeera
1 medium potato (boiled, peeled and chopped into cubes)
2-3 green chilies or as per taste
5-6 curry leaves or karipatta(washed)
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder or as per taste
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon oil

Method 

Roast the peanuts on medium flame. Coarsely powder them. I put them in the mixer and give a pulse or two to get a coarse powder. I usually don't skin the roasted peanuts as I feel the brown skin is healthy, but they can be skinned if desired.

Boil 1/2 cups of water and put quinoa in it. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook covered on low flame till the quinoa soaks up all the water. If you feel the quinoa is still not soft, you may add 1/4 cup more water. 

Once cooked mix in sugar and peanut powder and keep aside. 

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Stir for a second and add curry leaves and finely chopped green chilies. Add the cubed potato and sprinkle red chili powder. Stir the potato well so that is coated with all the spices. Add the quinoa and mix well with the potatoes. Adjust the sugar and salt as per taste. Season the khichidi with lemon juice and coriander leaves. Serve hot. 

Kanda Batata Pova / Poha / Phovu

This is a very popular breakfast dish or snack in Maharashtra. We make pova very often for breakfast as it is healthy and filling. It is an easy to prepare and garnish it with a little sev or chooda, it makes a sleek breakfast. If you don't want to eat onions in the morning, you can skip adding it. 


Ingredients
1 medium potato
1 medium onion
4 tea cups or around 100-150 gm medium beaten rice (mota pova)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf in Hindi)
2 tablespoon peanuts or fresh green peas
2 green chilies or as per taste
3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon sugar
salt for taste
2 tablespoon oil


Method
Wash and soak the peanuts (if using) overnight or for at least 3 hours. Wash the beaten rice or pova well with water and drain the water. Mix salt and sugar with the pova as per taste.  Leave aside for 10-15 min. Chop the onion finely. Peel and chop the potato into desired sized cubes. Chop the green chilies finely. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they pop add the the fennel seeds and turmeric powder. Add chopped green chillies and fry till they are light brown. Add the chopped onion and fry till it is light brown. Add chopped potato and peanuts and mix it well with the seasoning. Add one cup water a pinch of salt and cook covered till the potato is soft. Add the pova or beaten rice and mix well. If the pova feels dry then sprinkle 2 handful of water over it and mix well. Adjust salt as per taste. Cook covered over low flame for 5-8 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and sev and serve hot.


Preparation time: 30 min
Serves: 2

Gardudde Ambat / Bottlegourd in Coconut Sauce

Ambat is a Manglorean curry which consists of the basic Masolu and vegetables. Masolu is a thick paste made with grated coconut, tamarind and dry red chiles.

Ambat may or may not contain lentils. Moong ambat, takka ambat consists of plain masolu or gravy. While others like valli ambat have toor dal or pigeon peas. I find the ones with lentils more healthier as less coconut is used to prepare the gravy. 

During religious festivals ambat is prepared with mustard and curry leaves seasoning. Some of the ones I have earlier posted are Mooga randayi/Ambat, karate ambat and takka ambat. Some ambat curries are seasoned with fried garlic while others are seasoned with fried onion. Valli ambat and papaya ambat are such curry. Another famous ambat is cauliflower and peas ambat which I will post later. 

Ingredients 
1 medium bottle gourd
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup toor dal or pigeon peas
1 teaspoon coconut oil or any other oil
salt for taste

For the gravy or Masolu:
1/2 cup coconut
1 inch piece of tamarind
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
5-6 byadgi chili or red chilies or as desired

Method
Peel the bottle gourd and chop it into one inch pieces. Pressure cook the bottle gourd with toor dal, onions, salt and 2 cups of water. Cook till the toor dal is well done. Stir the toor dal and vegetable with a ladle till the lentil is all mushy.
Fry the red chilies in a pan till they are crisp. Finely grind the red chilies along with grated coconut, tamarind, turmeric adding as little water as possible. Add this paste to the lentils and mix well. Add water as per desired consistency and get it to a boil. Fry the remaining chopped onion in the coconut oil till it is golden brown. Season the curry with the onions. Serve hot with rice.