Don't dessert me please...

Oops!! What's wrong with me. I think of the sweet course in a meal even when I'm not writing about food. That's the true and serious foodie in me. This plea is actually meant for my readers. Read it again with one less "s" in the dessert. Hey but I know you won't not so soon...

Forgive me. I've been enjoying life full throttle and have been away from this blog a while. But hope you are following me on Swachchanda.

Many things have happened. I just move ahead and carry on my business with a happy heart and want to share that with you.

The Boss brings on a surprise!

I've been wanting a change in my portfolio. Have been asking for something that I love to do both at work and in personal life. Just wanted to extend my passion for social media at work too. But Boss thinks differently. He comes up with a super plan, "I think you should take up all the CXO offices as a single portfolio and be a consultant to them, I need a mature person to handle that portfolio." I don't actually think it to be a super idea at that moment. Dumb me!! Until everyone jumps on me and says "Take it" It is just the thing for you!!! Those echoes of friends and well wishers are still echoing in my ears. Yours truly gives in. Now the the steam engine is ready to whistle....COOOOOK....Chugh...chugh...pheww....

Fashion statement out of place.

On a sunny day I had some personal work and post lunch with a dear one was supposed to be going in to work just to host a team meeting. That too out of turn, I was filling in for a colleague. His new born was unwell. I stepped out of the car and walked straight into the office building, fumbling at my neckline to switch my eye gear from Glares to Specs. When I realized I had left my specs in the car. The car was sent off to drop a dear one to her home and it would return in an hours time. I walked straight into the conference room , the room was almost full. Me wearing my glares with great panache. Most people wondering if I had an eye infection or worse! Except my boss who thought I was making a style statement!! But he still asked if they had power! Pun intended it weren't!! Well I sat there and conducted half the meeting over 2 hrs before I got back my specs AND I survived to write this here!

Drowning in work

Something I love to do. New things challenge me. New people excite me. Will be working for a completely different profile of people and that too from diverse teams in the type of work they do. Will I be able to help them share what they learn at work? I'll come back and tell you about it a year down the line.

I need your positive vibes, send me luck!

What a pose Chimi!

 

Bread Rolls

A mean person said it looks like Chimi's excreta!

But an immediate bite into one and the entire plateful disappeared in a jiffy. That's how much fried snacks are loved. Most times I've seen these bread rolls get made when dinner is of just soup or a sole khichdi. At times these use to be served to the odd guest who dropped by. There are no proportions as what you use to make them are all adorable ingredients and pantry staples. It turns out well anyways.

Do it my way if you want to follow a recipe.

Ingredients

4 boiled potatoes
4 slices of sandwich bread
1/4 cup green peas
1 onion chopped fine
1 teaspoon chat masala
1 green chili chopped fine
1 handful chopped cilantro
salt to taste

In a big bowl put all the ingredients and salt. Mash potatoes and bread to unite them. Knead into a ball. Pinch of  small balls and make oblong shapes. Shape all of them. Makes abot 8 rolls. Deep fry in medium hot oil till crisp and golden. Serve with green chutney or tomato sauce.

This is yet another favorite of the potato lovers.

Kakdichi Koshimbir

In the days of yore when a full meal was a daily affair. The balanced Marathi Taat always had a spoonful of salad, ofcourse I'm talking abut the Koshimbir. This version in made with cucumber which we call Kakdi in Marathi.

As far as I remember to make a delicate Koshimbir one always peeled the skins. We would use the white / light green skinned cucumber for our daily dose of Koshimbir. If we did get the dark green skinned one which we called gavathi or country cucumber, we kept the skin on.

There is a science for preparing the cucumber for use in cooking. Before even peeling we'd wash it cut the two ends and chip of the ends and taste. If it was not bitter then it was meant for consumption. Then we took the cut off ends and rubbed the cucumber ends to get rid of any excess latex. We did not want it forming little lumps in the dish or to find coating our tongue. Our family had a way of finding out if we didn't do this little task. At the first morsel itself, they'd asked "Who cut/ grated the cucumber?"

Most times the assignment of cutting or grating cucumber was given to a kid or a husband who was plonked in front of the TV. Koshimbir got made just before serving the meal so it was a lady's way of telling the husband she had enough with the cooking and now he better help instead of just watching TV. This was especially true in the evenings.

The other ingredient is the danya cha koot which is stocked in a jar. It is the groundnut powder made after roasting and deskinning. This danya cha koot is use to make the Koshimbir khamang or as a thickner for curries.

So here is one more variety of Koshimbir from the pantry staples.

Ingredients

1 cucumber

1 cup curd 

1 tablespoon groundnut powder

salt to taste

sugar to taste

Wash peel or keep the peel of cucumber as you wish. Grate or chop fine as per your style. Put it in a large bowl.  Mix in curd, groundnut powder, salt and sugar.

Serve as accompaniment with any type of paratha or enjoy a bowlful as it is. To go all traditional make it with all your full meals on weekends and festivals.

Posting this for all the bachelor boys who love koshimbir but never ever tried making it. Make it your self and eat as much as you want. Moms no more say "Koshimbir thodi khavi, tondi lavana aahe te". See the change the humble Marathi salad has evolved from being an item for changing the taste to an item of importance in a meal and can be eaten a lot.

Koki, A Sindhi Roti

When Dad returns home from any kind of travel I make sure he gets a welcome so warm, foodwise  especially. Then for the next 2 days he keeps telling me to go slow on on food. My Dad loves good food, though a light eater he certainly is a gourmet of Indian food. So simple Koki with Koshimbir.

Koki is a roti made interesting with the addition of onions, coriander and green chilies. Having gone to  a Sindhi college for a couple of years in the lanes of Churchgate and also lived is Colaba which have a noticeable Sindhi populations. Then in Chembur Koki was offered to us by Sindhi friends from the Camp. That is the most stretched imagination of finding a connection to make this dish. I think Mumbai's medley populace makes one so rich in heritage of a mixed kind if not that then atleast a remote influence for the better.

Koki with Koshimbir. Is Sindhi meets Marathi combo, as it is a simpleton cousin of our thalipith. Traditionally Koki is eaten with papad however I turned it to a beat the heat lunch on saturday. We had beautiful weather for just one day in Blr and then the last two days were sweltering hot. You cannot enjoy food unless its cool and lite so Koki with Koshimbir was my choice.

Read here about the place of Koki in Sindhi culture in the educative post.

Ingredients

2 cups wheat flour
1 cup fine chopped onions
2 green chilies
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
cumin seeds
2 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon ghee
salt to taste

Knead all the ingredients together into a tight ball with water. Tight because you want crisp rotis and less water as onions will release water when kneading. Rest it for 10 mins.

Roll out chapatis about 1/4 inch thick and shallow fry with ghee. Make them crisp or make them semi crisp. We like it either ways. I served with Kakdi Koshimbir, alot of it.

We loved crumbling the Koki in the generous amounts of Koshimbir for this lite lunch.

Kicking off the Mango season with Sindhura!!

 

At our home the Mango season has started with the Sindhura. The deep red and green skin with  succulent pulpy insides. For a person from Hapoos region red and green means raw but that must not be applied to all the mangoes. Sindhura grows majorly in South India. They hit the market quite early.

This mango is so inviting and fresh that it has in our culture influenced brides to wear the red and green bangles to indicate that they are on the threshold of a new life and kicking with energy.

Soiled and stained clothes though picture perfect are not welcome. We plan to invest in cloth napkins that will be tucked at the neck and washed for reuse as  this is just the beginning of the bright sensational season. Bring on the king of fruits~~

Gifts From Home

Dad is back from Mumbai and and here are the little gifts from home. 

Three types of Store bought poLis (L to R): Tel poLi, Gul poLi and Puran poLi. 

Bakarwadi made by my SIL, Sapna. They were tasty but soft. Next time I want to taste the deep fried ones. Shallow fry does not work well for bakarwadis.

Artificial flowers for me.You don't see the Tobleron here coz its devoured 

and

I got a new set of earware too :), I can't show that here!

Chimi got a high visibility jacket and a lead with a collar from Hrushi. You see her here busy chewing the bone on the lead. She was tryin to pull off the jacket. It will take getting used to. Thank you Mama say's Chimi for being thoughtful!

It will be family vacation time soon. Plans set for exploring Mandya! 

Keep watching for the vacation updates on Swachchanda...

Fresh Vegetable Sagu

The first time I had Sagu was when I came to Blr to attend Sapient College way back in 2000. It was everywhere at the local darshinis served with set dosa and at the ABB cafeteria where I was training. What I did not like however were the dried green peas used in the sagu. It has taken me 5 yrs after coming to Blr to try making it at home. So it had to be with fresh peas and veggies.

The difference also is that in the restaurants sagu can get really spicy if not hot. The overload of garam masala is something I don't have tolerance for. My recipe is much milder yet flavorful. I arrived at it after mentally noting recipes from various aunties that I enquired with for their family recipe of a good sagu at wedding sand poojas I attended and the saggu never failed us.

Ingredients

1 cup fresh peas.

1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 cup cauliflower florets
2 teaspoons oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
salt to taste

Masala:
1 tablespoon roasted and split chickpeas, dahale/ phutani
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
2 tablespoons grated coconut
1 green chili
1 handful of cilantro
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 cloves
1 small piece of cinnamon

First grind the masala to a fine paste with just a little water. Keep aside

Now heat a vessel, add oil to it. Splutter mustard seeds add the asafoetida. Now put all the fresh veggies stir fry for 5 mins. Add water and cook till soft. Once the veggies are cooked add the ground masala. Top up with water and bring to a boil. The consistency should be creamy. Don't forget the salt, I almost forget to type it here.

Here is Blr sagu is an evening time accompaniment with dosas and rava idli. I have observed that  in the morning time dosas are eaten with sambar but in the evenings mostly with different types of sagu. The set dosa is always served with sagu irrespective of the time of the day.

Though I have tried it at home now. I confess I still love all my Thindis/ snacks with sambar and coconut chutney.

The Colors of Holi

Maushi Yesavchi distey! The Padar/ pallu is big so I think this aunty is from Vesave, each koliwada has its own style of wrapping the padar. We call it OTi in Koli.

Finger in mouth and am whistling~~~ Awesome! I love my koli women!!!

I miss all these spontaneous performances of the bold Koli women you get to see at Holi in the various Koliwadas in Mumbai. I want to to post it here for all to see how spunky Koli women can be. She can sells fish in the bazar, run her family's fishing business, cook the festive meals and then enjoy herself at the Holi venue. What are filmstars in front of them. I miss this a lot. It brought back memories of my father's cousin, his wife and his son who loved entertaining people. Atmaram Kaka and Kaki RIP and Suresh Dada I miss your fun. I miss all the fun at Colaba koliwada, the holi, the Khandoba chi Palkhi. All of it!!

If ever my Dad reads this he will hide himself. He disowned his people for all this fun!!! Can you believe it. He used to let me go to Colaba for Holi warning me not to be part of the TAMASHA. I was not allowed to dance on the streets with my people but he never objected me going to a pub!!! Its a different thing I never danced there too coz I never picked the skills from where I had to.

I love this. I miss it to the point I feel homesick when I see the celebrations on TV. Then such videos bring back the laughter in life.

Dedicated to all my blogger friends with roots in Mumbai, Bee, Manisha, Nandita, Nupur, Sonia. Saee, is lucky to be in Mumbai.

Summer Is Here

Ideas for light cooking and refreshing food.

 Roasted vegetable and broken wheat salad
(Roasted onion, tomato, broccoli, lettuce in 2 teaspoons olive oil. Pressure cooked broken wheat. Mixed it with the roasted vegetables. Added some grapes for fresh sweet. Balanced the salt.)

Bhel, Black eyed bean vadas and Fruit Salad

All and sundry celebrated Women's day. Today a colleague asked us ladies what was our reaction to the Women's reservation bill. To which all 3 of us felt it was irrelevant in today's age. This should have been passed 10 yrs ago.

This was a conversation between "Hum Tum" on the occasion of Women's day

Tum: "All Women attention seekers." etc. etc. go the complaints

Hum: "Say what you like. I only love you more for all your stupidity."

The Narrator: When you realize the value of a women's love, she would have gone and you would be an old  haggard and  full of regrets.

As for me I don't need a women's day. I celebrate womanhood everyday.

Well summer is here and the beauty is in the heat and that of winter it's cold, then we should not ask for it to be the other way round. Enjoy the Sunshine ladies!

Fat free Moog Dal Ladoo

 Freshly made Moog dal ladoos with jaggery making them glossy

There was a time when we were children we gauged the financial status of a person by the way they cooked, it was not about health conscious cooking then. We always complained that my grandma used less oil to fry fish. So my grandpa called it Tal-bhuz (Fry roast). Another grandma used very little ghee in the ladoos. My Mom and Aunts would ask "Dhad tari lagtat". Now when I make ladoos with no fat what so ever it is health consciousness and style.

Well before I go on the recipe here is the original recipe with both ghee and sugar that inspired this fat free one with jaggery.

Ingredients

1/4 kg split green lentils with skin/ salichi moog dal

1/4 jaggery

1 cup milk

In a dry wok roast the dal till it starts emanating a nutty flavor. 

Cool a bit and while still warm powder it in the dry grinder. Make it fine.

Now put the jaggery in the wok and let it melt. Once the jaggery is completly molten and bubling like lava, fold in the powdered dal. Mix well and homogenize. Let it cool enough for you to be able to roll the rolly pollies. You can add nuts at this point. I did not use any nuts this time. Then add the cup of milk. The consistency of the mix has to be like soft dough. Go slow on milk if you think you have the right consistency for the rolling. Shape the ladoos. Spread them out in the plate, each with a little space around to prevent from sticking and should retain a good shape.

Don't worry about the milk it gets absorbed well and the ladoos have a good shelf life of a month. These ladoos are fat free so for best taste eat then within a week. As they age they dry out and turn hard. Enjoy a healthy breakfast with a ladoo a day.

Dad was happy to start his day with Ladoo and Chivda whole of last week. It is the traditional breakfast/ snack in many Maharashtrian homes and continues to be in the rural areas.

Weekends should be of this...

 Tried out Sayantini's Karaishutir Kochuri aar Notun Alur Dom

The dinner was superb! Thanks Sayantani for sharing the recipes. 

Then followed a dessert of home made black forest cake.  

 The green paste there is Gongura pickle I bought at Big Bazaar. Was thrilled to find it. Mixed it with hot steamed rice and made a Mudha /ball ! I was amazed at that itself. How I have changed from hating the rolling of rice into balls and now doing it myself :P
(In the plate you see  Madras Cucumber Sambhar, steamed rice, Dosa, leftover Karaishutir Kochuri and star fruit slices)

 

Snooze in a comfy bed or put up your feet in carefree abandon 

 

That was last weekend.

Zunka or Korda Pithla

Zunka is dry besan and onions mix cooked in oil. Zunka needs no introduction to most Indians, in the least they know that it is a Maharashtrian staple in the rural areas. Yet many confuse the Zunka with Pithla. The ingredients are the same so many call it Korda Pithala.

Mom and aunts made this Zunka atleast once a week. I remember it used to be made in a super sized kadhai and they used about 0.5 kg of besan, 1kg of onions and 250 ml of oil for a family of 18! It used to be quite dry with different types of bhakaris. But then those were the days of a full thali for lunch and dinner. So a dal and rice following it helped a lot. These days since I cook either only roti/ bhakari with bhaaji or Rice with dal and curry for separate meals. It is only on weekends I make full Thali meals. So when it is Zunka - Bhakari Bait (special planned menu) then I always have Matha/ Spicy butter milk to go with it.

One tradition in our family is we never use water or buttermilk or for that matter any other liquid in our Zunka. That is why we don't call it Korda Pithala. In many homes the leftover liquidy pithala  is dried out on a girdle the next day to get Korda pithala. Ours is not like that, we make it special. I think I have never eaten Zunka the way my family makes it anywhere outside our home. That is why infact my family would hate to eat Zunka outside home and not even at the Marathi specialty restaurants having Zunka on their menu, they were scorned at.

We the Koli family are famed for it. There are other such family specials, like our sheera,  Kanda Bhajji, fried batata pohe etc. Many who ate at our home would demand for these. Oh I forgot the very milky boiled tea. Especially in my village people sweared by the tea from our kitchen. I'm missing my Mum and Devaki Kaki whose cooking I loved, most times. Mothi Aai's Non veg dishes are a far off memory. Aruna Kaki's cooking has changed a lot, its not the same though delicious even now.

I'm missing everyone here Kaka, Kaki, my lil bros, Hrushi, Som, my 4 sisters younger versions ;), Duskya, Kalkay-which means Kalimata in Koli (I still hate her), Paro, Malay (my Mallu, Malmal no more! Now she is Khadbadit). Bhau, Vahini, Surekha Tai, all our maids, dogs, Sultan- Som's pet rooster. Oh and Sushil, can't miss him and his sample family. Eh, Don't ask me what all this means. I love you all :D* If you guys aren't shameless and happen to read this you will come to see me.

Am jogging myself out of this to come back to the Zunka recipe.

Ingredients

4 onions
1/4 cup besan/ chickpea flour
1 teaspoom coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 green chili
3 tablespoons oil or more
salt to taste
1 cup chopped cilantro

Pour the oil, add the onions. Fry till translucent. Then add the cut green chili and the spices, mix. Then add the besan and mix well. Cover with a lid and cook. Mix intermittently. Leave the cover on till it is cooked completely and the raw taste is no more. The besan will look fluffy once it is cooked properly. Add the salt and mix well.

Finally put off the heat and mix in the chopped cilantro.

Serves best with bhakari but chapati also works.

Eureka Forbes is a Fraud Company

Its been 6 months since the water filter was installed. It is a backup facility I had just incase I don't have CMC supply. 

For a while I have been getting a call for free service. I have told them its a new unit and I don't need it. However this time the service manager informed that they needed to have a look at the unit. So I told him to send a technician on the weekend so I can be at home. 

I was wary of letting this young boy in as he did not have an ID. He suggested I call up the verification service and then let him service the unit. I was in doubt so I did and they confirmed that he was their techinician. 

On opening the filter he was shocked that all the while we have had a filter without the basic filter candle and the carbon filter was of a different model. This installation was done in front of my eyes. He told that this was a case of theft by the person who installed! He then offered to install a filter candle for no cost but asked me to pay him 50Rs. for commuting back to the stores and getting me one. He suggested I continue using the carbon filter though it is of a different model. I asked him what was the cost of the two filters. He said 350 for the carbon filter and 305 for the candle. For a paltry sum of Rs. 655 the installation technician had done this theft! For me the real fraud is Eureka Forbes for not having credible people doing the installation and service. They have good products but bad service I have found out on the internet. The very direct selling which is convenient for customer is becoming a trap to cheat people.

I immediately told him to put back the unit. Took the helpline nos. from him and called them to register a complaint. They gave me a complaint redressal no. where such malpractices are reported. They gave me a Customer ID no. for all future references and a complaint no. 

I had to call again to remind them about sending me the missing components and a technician to fix it. They promised a person will reach me by 4pm. Going to wait and see what they do meanwhile planning what steps I need to take against them.

Some good guidance is available here at Consumer Court.

________________________________________________________________________________

Update: 2/28/10, Mon, 4 pm

I am breathing easy now. After repeated calls on Sat and Sun. Two escalation and a threat to go to Consumer Court. They just fixed it! So now you know what to say when a big corp cheats you.

Instant Ragi Dosa/ NachaNi Dhirda

For The Surprise Visitors

I read this post about the Sthapana of Shree Brahmachaithanya Maharaj's Paduka at the residence on Mr. Arun Gangal and it reminded me of his recent visit to Blr and our home. He sang beautiful bhajans composed by himself and gave us a complimentary copy of his CD which was recently released. It amazes me to see such devotion in people.

He came at lunch time with Mr. Gurunath Kulkarni. I was unsuccessful in coaxing them to wait for lunch due to his plan of returning to Mumbai immediately.

I had a challenge, what do I serve to 3 surprise visitors? I had a Ragi flour packet lying around waiting to be transferred to a jar. That gave me an idea for making Ragi dosa with curd to give the tang.

They turned out darn good and made me happy that they are actually a lovely low-cal option. Yet Mr. Gangal had been fed to the brim by our doting Gurunath uncle and he hardly could oblige us. I served them with Chutney pudi and ghee as the Madras Cucumber Sambhar you see in the picture was not yet ready.

This is a good one and I recommend it.

Ingredients

1 cup Ragi flour
1/2 cup sour curd
1.5 cups water or more
salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Make it the consistency of regular dosa batter or pourable, spreadable batter.

Heat a non stick pan. Pour a ladleful on the heated pan and spread into a round. Roast till the sides are crisp and separated from the pan. The underside golden brown. Roast it only on one side to keep it crisp. If you turn over it will become soft. In the picture you see the soft ones but my personal favorite are the crispies.

Serve with a chutney you like. A green chutney would taste and look great. I am getting ideas a Thecha would taste better! What say all ya South Indian influenced Maharashtrians? What you eat reflects what you are :D. To be fair you have the option of calling these crepes Nachani Dhirda. OK.

Dahyatla Sabudana

I know this is late, yet there are so many Upvas that are going to come up. There is a chance for you to make this then. Simple, needs a little resting but results are delicious. When you taste this you will wonder how the curd rice and curd sabudana can taste so different. After all it is curd! you'd say. Now don't jump to conclusions just give it a try. Eh, but this one needs a bit of planning and cannot be had like you have curd rice with generous amount of sugar. There is a procedure you got to follow. Well well get going with the recipe, I tell myself. 

  Ingredients 

 1/2 cup sabudana/ tapioca pearls 

3/4 cup sugar (or to taste) 

3 cups curd 

2-3 cardamom pods 

First in a wok dry roast the tapioca pearls. This should be done on a low flame till they get a tinge of pink. Put off heat and while still warm go to the next step. Then make butter milk with one cup curd enough to cover the roasted tapioca. Let is soak for atleast 4 hrs. Test the tapioca pearls. They should look plum and feel soft and should be mashable between the fingers, only then they are ready to eat. Crush the cardamoms to coarse powder and stir into the creamy curd soaked sabudana. Now if you need a slurpy treat have it immediately after mixing the saved 2 cups of curd. If you need a creamy cake add the remaining 2 cups of curd and let it soak for another couple of hours. I love both consistencies. That is traditional type. If you are the type who likes to add some more glamor to any dish then sprinkle chopped nuts or mix in cubed fruits. The blogging thing makes me add a slice of strawberry in my vaTi of Dahyatla sabudana just for some color, you know how white looks dull in pictures. 

Updated: 8 Sep2020 : I had frozen mango pulp in these flower moulds, I used them to decorate and raise the bar in this simple Dahyatla sabudana,

For a savory version. Skip the sugar and make the seasoning like Curd Rice Bangalore Style Then you will ask with that much fanfare you see here Dahyatla sabudana and round Sabudana Vada too! Did we fast? NO!!!!! We just had it for dinner on Shivaratri :) Fasting for Maharashtrians is all about tasty food, deep fried goodies and satisfying the sweet tooth. Not for nothing we have a saying "Adhi potoba mag Vithoba". It means first worship the Stomach Lord then the God Vithoba residing in Pandharpur!

original pic

My Pao & Bhaaji

Once upon a Sunday, we ate this meal

Yes that is right My Pao Bhaaji because these Paos are homebaked!

These Paos are of half ata half maida, a successful experiment. Follow exactly The Mumbai Special Pao recipe but use 2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 cups All purpose flour. Also when you keep the yeast for frothing make a slurry of atta. This will aerate the dough better.

With Delhi carrots on the stands Gajar halwa was the best way to go. So desert was a creamy Lite Gajar Halwa!

I love these carrots and am making everything possible with them. They are in pulaos, matar gajar sabzi, saar etc.

Have I shared a Gajar Raita here? Not yet. Ok then I will soon. It's my Dad's creation, am thinking he might have eaten it somewhere, my guess is at Sunita Aatya's place. He generally hates acknowledging sources when the idea is too good ;) !

Nazia's Masala Baingan

recreating from memory.

The smiling face with specs, on the right is Nazia.

The Khata Meetha Masala Baigan was much talked about long after the Baby shower. The ladies crowned her the best cook in the team and warned me that I had competition. I agree completely with them She definitely got the ladies licking their fingers and me seeking the recipe. Nazia moved on and I was not able to get the recipe she promised for the blog. So this post is about recreating from memory.

Ingredients

8 to 10 small purple brinjals
4-5 onions sliced
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 green chili
4-5 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger piece
1 teaspoon cumin
1 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons thick tamarind extract
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
salt to taste
1 + 2 tablespoons oil

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a fry pan. Fry the onions till translucent. Chop the ginger roughly and add it. Add the cloves of garlic. Fry a bit. Now add the spices, cumin, coriander powder, chili and turmeric powder and the green chili. Now let the masala cool then remove to a grinder. Make a rough paste with salt added. Now mix in the chopped cilantro, save some for garnish. Keep aside.

Prepare the baby brinjals by washing and cutting crosses deep down the bulbs all the way to 3/4ths. Leave about a 1/4 so they don't fall apart on cooking. Keep the calyx on. It makes it easy for picking up as well as make the brinjals suculent.

Stuff the brinjals/ baingans with the ground paste. and keep lined in a thali.

In the same frying pan in which you fried the onions add 2 tablespoons of oil. Splutter mustard seeds. Now layout the stuffed brinjals neatly in the frying pan, keep on medium flame. Cook covered until one side of the brinjal shows dark spots. Then turn over to the uncooked side. While doing this make sure you are keeping the brinjals and masala intact and not spilling it out. If it does no worries but try to do it with a little care. Cook with cover till done. Now check if the underneath shows browning. Poke a spoon at the stems near the calyx if done well it will cave in. Now at this point when you are sure the brinjals are done sprinkle the tamarind extract over the cooked brinjals. The khata of tamarind is balanced by the meetha of loads of onions in the recipe so no need to add any sweetener to balance the taste. Sprinkle a little water if required and turn up the heat for 5 mins so the tamarind spreads the sourness evenly. Avoid stirring but you can jiggle them around a bit. This is a little tricky though not necessary just helps in mixing the flavors well. Sprinkle some saved cilantro as garnish. I have made this with a lot less oil but most people love these stuffed brinjals swimming in oil like a pickle.

Serve hot with roti or dal and rice as accompaniment. I remember Nazia mentioned that it is traditionally served with Mutton biryani too.

Methi Paneer Boti Pulao

Winter is so synonymous with Methi. We love to try different things with it. This time is was a rice. On weekends atleast once I like to make a flavored rice, it has a certain festiveness to it. Psst...it is quick to make it too when I have lazed around and suddenly realize it is meal time and food has to be put on the table. I love that pressure cooking allows me to fry the papads and put together a raita to go with it.

This Methi Paneer Boti Pulao just happend on one such lazy day.

Ingredients

1 cup Basmati rice
1 cup methi leaves chopped and packed
a handful of cashew nuts
8 long strips of Paneer
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 green chili
1 big onion sliced
1 tablespoon oil
salt to taste
2 tablespoons Curd

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Fry the cashew nuts and save.

Fry the Paneer till golden in the remaining oil. These are your Paneer Botis or strips. Keep moving the spoon to avoid sticking of the paneer to the bottom.

Now add the sliced onion and fry till golden. Add the chopped Methi leaves and green chili. Stir once. Add the garam masala and washed rice. Top up with a 1 glass of water. Add salt, close the cooker with the lid. Allow 1 whistle. Put off the heat and allow to cool.

Open the cooker and stir in the 2 tablespoons of curd and the fried cashews. Do it with a light hand to avoid breaking the Paneer botis.

Serve hot with raita and papad.

South Thindies

and a weekend all about Chimi.

Address: South Cross Road, Near Krishna Rao Park, Basavanagudi, Bangalore.

Whenever we took Chimi to the Vet we passed the South Thindies. A very busy place especially we noticed that at 7 am in the morning they had roaring business going. My Dad wondered that it must be really something to go there for breakfast and be in a crowd. I always run away from crowds so breakfast at South Thindies never happened.

Yesterday was different, we were on our way to the Vet again as Chimi had to see Dr. Yatiraj, she is completing 11-12 months. It was time for deworming. My driver came on time and shook me out my weekend siesta so we went without tea. As we drove by the shiny facade of South Thindies looked welcoming in the evening sun. There was a crowd as usual but we decided to check it out anyways. It was good we stopped over. They dispose the customers quickly at the billing counter I noticed.

This is a self service restaurant with high counter tables to rest your plate on. When it is about food I like the restaurants that have service and love the ones with unhurried service. This is because in Bangalore we have the luxury of such restaurants. Having lived in Mumbai most part of the life this is what I hate, having to stand and gulp food and rush out. I noticed they have take aways. Next time it will be that.

As I went to the counter I notice a board with the day's special. We were not in the mood for heavy Thindis (snacks) so turned towards the kitchen, saw masala vade and bondas looking fresh and not so oily. I bought the coupons for Masala vade for me and Kesari bhat for Dad and 2 filter coffees. They serve half glasses here, a trade mark, yet enough for a evening wash down after the snacks. For the driver we bought Mangalore bun.

In a jiffy we picked our plates and the Mangalore bun was promptly warmed and packed with chutney. As they were packing I took permission for taking shots and they happily allowed, they have a spanking clean kitchen, open for all to see.

What I loved about the place is its cleanliness, the bright lights (he he, in such places I like them) and quick disposal of customers.

The Masala vade were crunchy on the outside and crumbly inside and accompanying chutney was good. The Kesari Bhaat oozed ghee but I like the Kesari bhaat I make with milk added so this did not stand up to my taste even though it was good by restaurant standards. My Dad liked it. The driver liked the Mangalore bun with chutney too. The Coffee was frothy and not too bitter, just the right taste for a Non South Indian in Bangalore, Bangaloreans like their filter coffee realy bitter.

So that was Saturday evening for you. Today we, that's me and Chimi spent the day at Sulekha's. It was Chimi's date with the handsome Oscar. Both the Mamas were excited initially but it turned the other way round. We had to keep them in two different rooms to make sure there was peace in the house towards the end of the day! Meanwhile Jayashree called and I was discussing it with her. She assured me that they need to get to know each other more. It did not matter that My Chimi is a Mongrel and Oscar is a Golden Spaniel.

Sharing here the joy of watching them together even though we wanted to see filmy love :) and nothing really happened. May be another date.

Crackling Spinach

Crackling Spinach is a spunky name for a dish I thought the first time I spotted it on the menu of Mainland China. Then when I ordered it I was impressed that the spunk did not end just at the name. It was a spectacular taste for a simple preparation of spinach if you consider deep frying as a simple technique in culinary science and how only a few ingredients can make a recipe so exciting.

When I was narrating to Sulekha about it, she gasped, "Deep fried!" Come on give me a break. We all love deep fried stuff once in a while. Good friend Sulekha will forgive me for making it the second time round however this time for Dad that too within a week!

I know am tempting you too much. So get ready to make it with me.

You will need...

Ingredients

spinach leaves
(1 bowl fried spinach)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Oil to fry

First wash and drain spinach on a mesh.

Pat dry the leaves. Tear them up into small bits. In a mesh/ strainer fry them in hot oil. It should turn the leaves crisp. Test the degree of crispness by removing some on a paper and try to crumble, if you are able to then that's right, if not they fry a little more. This will save from the trouble of collecting the fried spinach and also will fry it evenly. Drain it on a mesh. Then transfer it onto an absorbent paper or kitchen napkin to remove as much as oil as possible.

Now in a non stick pan toast the sesame seeds till aromatic. Add the fried spinach to it and toss. Now add the sugar and salt and toss again to homogenize the taste.

I would recommend the use of powdered sugar. Next time I will use it. It is easier to sprinkle it and mix it. Also powder sugar will mask the oily spinach.

At Mainland China they serve it in a fried pastry basket but I served it in small Chinese bowls. Also I did not crumble the fried spinach leaves, that's what they do at the restaurant. Yes presentation is key to success but I guess I still need more perfection in draining all the oil first. The tip of using powder sugar is also what will help me in the future. Will update here when I do it but I am not making it so soon.

Give it a try. I think you will adore this one.

It is easy to make and will be definite a hit at any party. This is a one helluva starter.