Carrot Milkshake

Carrot Milkshake is one of my favorite comfort foods. It is low calorie drink and makes a great late morning/afternoon drink when my hunger pangs are at their peak :) The cardamom imparts a wonderful flavor to this drink and it gives the milkshake a distinctive flavor of Gajar Halwa; of course without the guilt of consuming many hundreds of calories. I usually use reduced fat or fat free milk for this milkshake, but whole milk can also be used. This milkshake is a great treat for children who are fussy about drinking milk. I am sending this to roundup organized by Suma and Siri.

Ingredients
1 carrot
1 cup milk (cold or warm as desired)
3-4 cardamom pods
2 almonds soaked in water for 5-6 hours (optional)
1 tablespoon cream (optional/ if you want a richer taste)
1/2 teaspoon honey or 1 teaspoon sugar or as per taste

Method
Trim the ends of the carrot and peel it. Chop it roughly into 4-5 pieces and boil it in very little water till the carrot is soft. I sometimes cook it in the microwave for around 3-4 minutes in 3-4 tablespoon water. Peel the cardamom pods to separate the seeds. Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend well. Serve immediately.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Serves: 1

Paneer Wrap

This Sunday was a little hectic with all shopping and work we had to do. It was raining all Saturday and we stayed at home all day. Hence, our Sunday was spent in doing laundry and trips to Costco and Indian Grocery Store. It was already late at night when we were done with all the work. It was at that time I remembered about the onion naan we had in the freezer and decided to make paneer wraps. The paneer wraps turned out to be very yummy and filling and here is the recipe.

To make Basmati rice:
1/2 cup basmati rice
1 1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 onion
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
Wash the basmati rice and keep it aside. Add the remaining oil in a pan and heat it. Add cumin seeds. Slice the onion and fry it in oil till brown. Boil the water. Add basmati rice to the onion and stir well Add salt and hot water and cook covered till the rice is soft.

Ingredients for the filling
Flattened bread or naans (I used onion naans)
1 cup cubed paneer
1 teaspoon chili powder or as per taste
1 medium onion
2 medium tomatoes
1/2 capsicum
1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder
1/4 teaspoon pav bhaji masala (I use Badshah Bombay Pav Bhaji Masala)
2 tablespoon tomato ketchup
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon amchur or dry mango powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves or cilantro
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste

Method
Puree the tomatoes. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan. Chop the capsicum and put it in the pan. Stir it and cook for 5-8 minutes. Add the tomato puree and cook uncovered for 10-12 minutes till the tomato is soft and the masala does not smell raw anymore. Add tomato ketchup, garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder, amchur, pav bhaji masala, sugar, chili powder and salt for taste. Cook for 2-3 minutes to get the gravy to absorb all the masala flavor. Add the chopped paneer and mix well with the masala. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Method to make wraps
Heat the naan on a tava or in microwave. I simply put the naan in the microwave for 30 seconds. Put 1-2 tablespoons of cooked rice and desired amount of paneer curry and fold it into a wrap. I use a toothpick to keep the wrap in place. Serve sizzling hot.

Preparation time: 35 minutes

Konkani Crab Curry / Kurle Randayi

Crab curry is one of my favorite curry. We lived in Bhopal for 8 years and we would get any crab here as there was no sea nearby. So whenever we visited Bombay, Goa, Bhatkal or Bangalore during holidays, our relatives would usually make fish, prawn or crab recipes knowing that fresh seafood was not available in Bhopal. It would be a real treat to have cheerful meal and chat with all the relatives whom we would be meeting after long time.

I got crab from Whole foods last week and prepared Crab curry. They cleaned the crab for me and cut it into small pieces. I usually don't buy whole crab as it is a messy procedure to clean it. The crab smell lingers in my kitchen and on my fingers and my husband hates the fishy smell. The crab curry should be prepared at least 3-4 hours before serving as the crab needs time to absorb all the flavors. I also serve it with boiled rice or "Ukdo Tandla Sheeet" in Konkani. Here is the crab curry recipe.

Ingredients
1 crab cleaned and cut
2 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
2 medium red onions
1 1/2 cups coconut
3/4 teaspoon tamarind paste
1-2 green chilies
3-4 red byadgi chili
coconut oil or any other oil

Method

If the crab legs are big and hard then they can be beaten with a pestle or better following the ancient way like me- with a clean stone which I keep handy for crushing garlic, ginger or other spices. Roast the red chilies in 1/4 teaspoon oil for 5-10 mintes on low flame. Grind coconut, red chili and tamarind into a very fine paste. Keep the masala aside. Finely chop 1 1/2 onion and green chili. Crush the ginger, onion and green chili with your fingers or with the back of a spoon or cup. Add the coconut masala and the crab pieces. Cook covered on a low to medium flame to get the curry to a boil. Finely chop the remaining half onion and fry it in coconut oil on a low flame till it is pinkish-brown. Garnish the curry with the fried onion and serve it with hot rice.

Pumpkin Leaf Curry / Dudde Panna Kadi or Tamboli

This is another of Konkani traditional recipe made with tender pumpkin leaves. I get very fresh squash leaves at my farmer's market. We usually make tamboli or green curry out of pumpkin leaves , so I thought why not try it with the squash leaves. This was another of my grand mom's favorite recipes. While serving tamboli with rice, usually curd or unsweetened yogurt is served as a side dish to add a tangy taste.

Ingredients
2 cups pumpkin leaves
4-5 pepper corns
1 teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
salt for taste
2 green chilies
small piece of tamarind
1/2 cup coconut
1 teaspoon ghee

Method
Wash and chop the pumpkin leaves. Add some ghee in a pan and fry jeera and pepper corns. Add and cook the leaves for 4-5 minutes till they wilt. Remove from heat and grind it into a smooth paste with rest of the ingredients. Traditionally, the tamboli is not heated after grinding and is served with rice and curd as a side dish. But, here in winter it is very cold, so I heat the tamboli on the gas or in the microwave and serve it with rice and omit curd.


Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2

Vegetable Pot Pie

After seeing pot pie being mentioned in many Tv serials, I would always wonder about what pot pie exactly is. The Ingalls family in the Hallmark channel serial, Little House On the Prairie would eat pot pie for diner. Then, the other day I watched Ina Garten make pot pie on one of her shows on the the Food channel. She made chicken pot pie. As my husband does not eat chicken, I usually make only vegetarian dishes at home. So I tried to make vegetable pot pie with a variety of vegetables and it turned out to be very tasty. It has been raining here today and the pot pie made a perfect dinner on a cold rainy day. I guess this is a very healthy and sizzling winter dish and I have decided to make this very often. I also carved my own Jack o lantern for Halloween and thought of displaying it with the pot pie. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour or maida
4 cups of chopped vegetables(choose from or mix and match from pumpkin, corn kernels, peas, potato, sweet potato, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, beans, mushrooms, zucchini)
1 green pepper
1 medium onion
pepper for taste
2 tablespoon heavy cream (optional)
3 tablespoon oil
salt for taste
1 cup milk

For the pastry:

2 cups whole wheat flour or roti atta
ice cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg

Method
To make the pastry, mix the wheat flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Then put the flour mixture into a food processor and add the butter. Give a pulse or two, so that the butter blends with the flour. Add cold water and blend it in the food processor till it forms a soft dough. Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for around 30 minutes. This will prevent the flour from getting sticky while rolling it.

For the stuffing:
Chop the onion. Fry onion in 1 teaspoon oil till transparent. Chop the green pepper and fry it with the onion till soft. Add all the vegetables and cook covered till soft. In another pan, add the rest of the oil and flour. Fry the flour till it is light brown in color. Let it cool down. After it cools down, add milk to the flour and mix it well so that there are no lumps. Add salt and pepper Cool down the vegetables and mix it with the white flour sauce. Check for salt and pepper and season it accordingly as per taste.

Assembly
Beat the egg in a small container.
Fill the bowls or the baking tray with the vegetable filling. Sprinkle some flour on the rolling board and roll the flour into the shape of the bowl or the baking tray. Brush the top outer edges of the bowl or the baking tray with the egg wash so that the flour sticks easily to the edges. Now gently put the flour cover on top of the bowl or the baking tray and seal the edges. Make a slit on top of the flour covering to let out the steam while baking.
Brush the remaining egg wash on the flour covering. Sprinkle pepper over the flour covering if you want a very spicy pot pie. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the pot pie for 40 minutes or till the top is browned. Serve hot.


Variation:

-You can add garam masala to the vegetables.
-Coriander leaves or cilantro can be added to the vegetables.
-If you want it tangy, you can add tomato ketchup to the cooked vegetables.
- Cooked soy chunks can also be added with the vegetables.
- Shredded and cooked chicken can be added along with the vegetables.

Bottlegourd or Dudhi Halwa/Gardudde Halvo

 

This is a Konkani specialty and is very popular dessert at my home. This recipe goes to the event Iftar Moments Hijri 1431 hosted by Umm and Joys from Fasting to Feasting  by Lubna..

 Ingredients
3 cups grated bottle gourd
2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
3 teaspoon raisins
2 tablespoon heavy cream
2 tablespoon chopped cashew nuts
3 tablespoon ghee or clarified butter

Method

Soak the raisins for 20-30 minutes in warm water. If the grated gourd is left around for a long time, it oxidizes and turns brown. So use it immediately after it is grated. Put the grated gourd and sugar in a pan and cook it covered on low heat. Stir it occasionally and avoid browning of the gourd. Cook the gourd till it turns transparent. Adjust the sugar and add more sugar as per your taste. Fry the cashew nuts till brown. Frying the cashew nuts brings out the flavor of the nuts. Add the cardamom and heavy cream to the halwa. Stir well. Garnish the halwa witht he nuts and the raisin. Serve it hot or chilled.