This is a comfort food which can be prepared in a jiffy. It is great to also just sip it like soup on a cold day. It goes well with rice or pulao. My husband prepares this with vatana bhat. My husband loves ginger and adds it in this Kadhi, but if you don't like it you can skip it.
Ingredients
2 cups curd
2 tablespoon besan (chickpea flour)\
2 green chilies
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger (optional)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
5 pinches asafoetida
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon oil
salt for taste
8-9 curry leaves (optional)
coriander leaves or cilantro for garnishing
Method
Mix curd, ginger and besan so that there are no lumps. Add water as per desired consistency. Heat the mixture till it comes to a boil. In a seasoning pan and oil and mustard seeds. When the seeds splutter, add asafoetida, turmeric powder, chopped chilies and curry leaves. Add this to the kadhi. Add salt as per taste. Serve with khichidi, rice or peas pulao .
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves: 3-4
This is one of my husband's recipe. During his bachelor days, he would make this vatana bhat with kadhi. The other day when I was busy with my studies, he made Kadhi and Vatana bhat for dinner. I was very surprised with the simplicity of this lovely recipe. It is a great comfort food for winters when one cannot eat cold curd. Vatana Bhat can be prepared within minutes and it is a great recipe for lunch tiffins. I am sending it to the “Think Spice: Think Turmeric” event organized by Sudeshna and Sunita.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup basmati rice
1 cup peas
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder or maharashtrian kala masala
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
5 pinches of asafoetida
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoon coriander leaves for garnishing
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste
Method
Wash the basmati rice and leave it for aside for 20 minutes. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and asafoetida. Mix in peas and basmati rice and saute for around 5 minutes. Add chili powder and garam masala. Boil 3 cups of water and add to the rice. Put lemon juice and salt for taste. Adding lemon juice keeps the rice grains from sticking. Cook covered till the rice is done. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with kadhi .
Preparation time:40 minutes
Serves:2-3
This is an excellent recipe for your next barbecue party. Last week we went to BBQ with my husband's friends and I had made tandoori paneer. There were 18 people and I took 5 pounds of marinated paneer. These soft, juicy chunks of paneer along with grilled vegetables make a mouthwatering appetizer for any occasion. Paneer should be marinated for around 2-4 hours and should not be marinated for long like chicken or other meat.
Ingredients
500 gms paneer
1 1/2 cup curd or yogurt
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoon MDH tandoori masala
1 teaspoon chat masala powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoon finely chopped cilantro or coriander leaves
lemon juice for taste
salt for taste
oil for grilling
1 capsicum
2 tomatoes
1 big onion
Skewers for grilling
Method
Cut the paneer and the vegetables into big cubes.
You can use the chili powder and coriander powder available in the market. I roasted 7 Byadgi chillis (these are not spicy, but provide a rich red color) and powdered them in my coffee bean grinder. I use this grinder to grind all my spices and it takes just 2-3 minutes to grind the them into a very fine powder. If the chili powder from 7 byadgi chilies is not enough to provide a spicy flavor, then add the normal chili powder to make it spicy as per your taste.
Mix curd, milk and all the powders, ginger, garlic, coriander leaves and lemon juice to make the marinate. Adjust salt in the marinate so that it will suffice for the bland paneer and vegetables.
In a big bowl, add the panner, vegetables and the marinate. Coat the paneer and vegetables well with the marinate.
Let the paneer marinate for 3-4 hours. The paneer can be grilled on a barbecue grill or in a regular oven. Soak the skewers in warm water for around 20-30 minutes, so that they don't char on the grill. Place the paneer and the vegetables on the skewers and and brush them with cooking oil or cooking spray. Grill the panner till brown on all sides. Enjoy the chat-pata tandoori paneer with mint chutney.
Preparation time: 30-40 minutes excluding the marination time
Serves: 4-5
Rava Upma is a very simple dish to make for breakfast. This is a commonly made for breakfast dish in almost all Konkani households. Half of the recipe can be prepared the previous day and then cooked the next day for breakfast within 5 minutes. When I was young, I was not very fond of mustard seeds flavor, and I distinctly remember hating this dish. But later, when I grew up I guess I got used to the mustard flavor and started liking this dish. Spicy sev or chivda or chuda can be used to garnish this dish.
Ingredients
2 cups coarse thick rava or sooji or semolina
4 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon urad dal
2 green chilis or 2 red chilies
5 pinches asafoetida
1 spring curry leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoon grated coconut
1 tablespoon oil
3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves or cilantro
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger (optional)
salt for taste
Method
Fry semolina till light brown in color. Keep aside.
Add oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add asafoetida and urad dal and fry till urad dal is light brown. Add chopped green chilies or broken red chilies, ginger and curry leaves. Fry for half a minute and add the semolina. Stir and mix well. You can follow the recipe till here and make it the previous day. Adding water and cooking can be done the next day morning. Boil water and add to the semolina. Mix well so that there are no lumps. Add sugar and salt for taste. Garnish with coconut, coriander leaves and sev or chivda.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3-4
This is my sister, Neeti's recipe. She learnt it from one of her school friend whose mom would give this alu gobi sabzi for tiffin. My sister is a great fan of North Indian cuisine apart from our regular Konkani cuisine. We used would enjoy the chat-pat alu gobi. Here is her recipe.
Ingredients
1 medium cauliflower
2 medium potatoes
1 teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
5 pinchful of asafoetida
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon amchur (dry mango) powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
2 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro or coriander leaves
1/2 teaspoon anardana
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
3/4 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt for taste
Method
Cut cauliflower and potato into big chunks. Ensure that the chunks are of the same size to ensure that the vegetables cook evenly. If some chunks are small than others, the smaller ones will cook early and get mushy by the time the larger pieces cook. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and asafoetida. Fry for a minute and add the vegetables. Cook covered on medium flame, stiring, so that all the vegetables are cooked. Cook till the cauliflower and potato are 3/4 cooked.
In 1/4 cup water, add chili powder, turmeric powder, anardana, coriander powder, sugar, salt, garam masala and coriander leaves.
Add this to the vegetables and stir well till the cauliflower and potato is well covered in the masala. Cook covered till the potato and cauliflower are well cooked. Sprinkle amchur powder on top. Serve hot with roti or rice.
Prepration time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2-3
I had this dish at Shiva's last month, when we went to dine out on my husband Atul's birthday. I liked it a lot and as I had capsicum at home, I thought I would try to make Bharvan Shimla Mirchi. It turned out to be very tasty and here is the recipe.
Ingredients
3-4 green capsicums
2-3 medium sized potatoes
75 gm paneer
1 red onion
3 small tomatoes diced
3/4 cup milk
2 green chilies
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon amchur powder (dried mango powder)
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
10-15 raisins (optional)
5-8 cashew nuts (optional)
1 handful of cilantro or coriander leaves
1/2 teaspoon chopped ginger
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon kasuri methi (dried Fenugreek leaves)
5 pinches asafoetida
1 teaspoon sugar
turmeric powder
oil for frying
salt for taste
Method
Wash the capsicum and make one slit on each with a sharp knife. Remove the seeds and top from the slit.
Boil and remove the skin of the potatoes. Mix and mash potatoes, paneer, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon amchur, 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder, 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder, raisins, salt and 2 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro. Now stuff this mixture into the capsicum. Put 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and fry the capsicum till well cooked on all sides.
Roast covered, on a low flame, turning it frequently so that it is slightly brown and soft on all sides. Don't burn the capsicum. Gently pick up the capsicum from the pan and keep aside on a plate. Instead of roasting in a pan you can bake it in a oven for 30-45 minutes at 400 degrees or till well cooked on all sides.
Add 1 tablespoon oil in another pan and add cumin seeds and asafoetida. Add chopped onion, ginger, garlic, chopped green chili and fry till onion is golden brown. Add tomatoes and cook covered for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 1/4 spoon turmeric powder, chili powder as per taste, 1/4 teaspoon coriander powder, 1/2 spoon sugar, kasuri methi, milk and cashew nut. Grind into a smooth paste. Fry this paste in the same pan for 10 minutes without adding additional oil. Add salt for taste. Add the shimla mirchi into this paste and coat it well with the paste. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and 1/4 teaspoon garam masala. Serve hot with chappati or pulao.
Preparation time: 75 minutes
Serves: 2
