Three Techniques For Cooking Samo Seeds Or Vari

Samo seeds or Foxtail millet or Vari is a largely popular seed consumed as replacement for rice during fasting days. We are past the first Shravani Somvar and Shanivar and so here I am publishing this post while it is still useful thru the month long fasting.

In Marathi the uncooked seeds are called Vari and the dehusked, cooked version is called Bhagar. It is also known by the name Vari cha bhaat.

The seed has a yellowish golden husk which is removed and the white gritty Samo seeds are cooked in water. The cooked samo seeds when fluffed look alike to semolina.

I like to cook my samo seeds with bits of potato but you can cook without them.

What prompted me to write this post is queries from family if samo could be cooked in any other way than the traditional 20 min cooking over a gas stove. Some trick to cut time for someone rushing to office after cooking the regular meal for a family and her fasting meal plus packing it for lunch. You see every minute counts in Mumbai.

So here you go you superwoman who juggles so many responsibilities in a day and yet follows traditions with new outlook.

Method 1:Gas stove top cooking

Heat pan. Add 1 teaspoon ghee. Once molten add 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds and chopped green chili or two. Optionally add diced potato to it. Anything with potato tastes good and its also permitted for fasts. Wash 1 cup of samo seeds. Put the washed seeds into the pan. Coat well with the ghee and cumin seeds. Add the salt and then top up with water. For Gas stove top cooking I use a 1:3 samo seeds to water ratio. Cover and cook till done. The well cooked seed is plump and translucently pale. If the grain is still white it means it is uncooked. Press grain between thumb and first finger to check if cooked thru. This would take about 20 mins to cook well.  See the first picture of Gas stove top cooked Samo seeds.

Method 2:Cooking in the pressure cooker: 

Make the tadka like above. Then add the washed foxtail millet. Top up with 2 times the water and salt. Close the pressure cooker lid and allow just 1 single whistle. Switch off heat. Cool completely. This should take about 10 mins. When I pressure cooked it I added a handful of peanut powder to the rice before fluffing it. This gives a lovely nutty flavor to the rice.

Method 3: Microwave cooking:

In a MW safe dish add ghee, chopped green chilies and cumin in the same proportion as mentioned above. Zap the tadka in the MW for 30 secs. Add the washed samo seeds. Mix well. Add water about 2 times of the Vari and salt. Cook in splurts of 2 mins, stir and put it back. In all cook for 7 mins with covered lid. Again here I added some peanut powder for taste after cooking.

Always fluff up the cooked Bhagar or Vari cha bhaat before serving.

Over the weekend I was in Thal and I have some pics to share and narrate how Nagpanchami is celebrated there. Do come back. I encourage you to share your stories of Shravan too.

Shravani Shanivar

Photo credit: Abhay Inamdar taken at Shani Mandir, Gondavale

Saturdays in the month of Shravan are designated as important days for fasting. Shanivar is the day of Lord Shani. The planet that represents Shani is Saturn. All the mistakes man makes or if somethings go wrong in life one can safely blame it on this God. Hinduism plays on psychology and allows one to unburden and also encourages very positively to let one take control of ones life in these simple steps which are symbolic and these techniques work!

1. Detoxify by fasting
2. Worship The Lord Shani
3. Lead a fresh new life

It is believed that if The Lord Shani casts his Vakra nazar that is if he is cross with you then you suffer in life. So if there are legends and if there are believers there is also a solution provided for cleansing.

So how do you worship The Lord. 

• Visit the Shani temple.
• Offer oil to The Lord Shani : The oil is poured on the idol it is believed to cool him.
• A few whole udid seeds are added to the oil. As black is associated with warding off evil.
• Black clothes are worn on this day for the same reason.

As for fasting pattern as is prescribed for Shravan, solid food is not consumed from Dawn to Dusk. Liquids can be consumed. After dusk a full meal can be had. In most homes a Shravani meal is special and therefore elaborate.

Many people are unable to do the strict dawn to dusk fasting and therefore have Faral or light eats which are foods different from daily consumed ones, like Samo seeds, Sago, Rajgira etc.

Today is the first Shravani Shanivar, are you fasting? If you are looking for ideas for Feasting as you Fast, I have a label Upvas for you.

In the upcoming post I shall present "Three techniques for cooking Samo seeds or Bhagar". Don't miss it.

Shachi's Shravani Memories

If you like this. Go like Shachi

Shachi, to us was our Head girl's little sis in school. Like her name she was this beautiful girl, just like Goddess Indrani. Infact I remember learning Lord Indra's wife name because of Shachi's. If you ask any Annite they would have expected Shachi to follow in her father's footsteps into IAS, we knew her as the younger daughter of the Municipal Commissioner in the years well after school. Then one day she commented here. 

There was a gap, like it happens with schoolmates who were a batch before and after. Then one day, I was amazed by a sketch on FB. It was vivid and child like innocence reflected in it. The detailing blew me away. A 'tap' later as I landed on the page, I was pleasantly surprised.

I found Shachi the artist! I connected up again with her. I love her work and thought you would love it too. So here she is writing about her not religious yet all the memories of Shravan and the happiness one associates with it. Though archetypal this is what makes Monsoon memories of true blue Mumbaikars. I am glad she is sharing one of her self portraits and memories with us here. Thanks Shachi!

What a good start to our Shravan Maasi Harsh Manasi event!

"I was asked by Anjali, to send her a little note/recipe that showed how I celebrate Shraavan Maasi rituals. I had to pause there for a bit and wonder…were there any rituals? I didn't know! My house was rather non-traditional and we didn't follow too many religious rituals. I tried to think back to the good old Mumbai monsoons. As a student at St. Anne's high school, monsoon rituals involved getting ready for school, making sure I DIDN'T wear my socks, but took them balled up in my bag…because even a mild Bombay rain means getting your socks wet as you walk through the puddles and splashes made by cars on your way to school. The smell of that intensely plastic raincoat…making you feel hot and muggy inside, but not really doing a great job of keeping you all dry. The horrible duck-feet like black rain shoes that I despised, because they never fit my very narrow feet. Getting to the class room and defeating the purpose of carrying dry socks, by wiping your wet feet with them before putting them on! The wet umbrellas everywhere and the damp feel of wet sleeves and hemlines. But when it rained outside while class was on, it felt like some exciting adventure. Like we were marooned on a great ship with waves lashing the rocking boat. It was day-dreaming weather! It just didn't seem right to listen to the properties of Hydrochloric acid and crops grown in Gujarat.

The first rains of monsoon meant gathering up all the like minded pals from the building and going down to get wet wet wet! Then walking in the rain to Nariman Point, to have hot bhutta. Watching those red sparks glow and fly off the coal and waiting to get your turn for the perfect monsoon combination….dark clouds, rain, bhutta and great big waves crashing against those odd tetrapods near NCPA. EIther we could add in a garam cutting chai…or then just head home, giggling and gossiping, wet and happy. Then the rush to get home and dry off. Snuggle under a razai and re-read the gloomy romantic Wuthering Heights while waiting for mom to come out with kanda-bhaji, and chaha with aale (ginger)! I also loved bananas fried in the remaining batter. They were crisp on the outside and warm, sweet and soft on the inside.  

Monsoon in Bombay meant sitting in my balcony watching the soccer players on the football field get so muddy it was hard to tell who was in which team. Watching the huge rainclouds come slowly over the Taj, and move over to the High courts and Rajabai Tower. The gradual drizzle that got so thick, you could hardly see a few feet away from the building. The circle of light that shone from the street light, highlighting only the raindrops as they passed under. The majestic gulmohar trees welcoming the rain.  

Later of course there was the damp walk to Churchgate to get to work. The even muddier walk to Bandra station and the long wait in the line for a rickshaw. The need to sit in the middle of the rickshaw to avoid getting splashed by cars. My lovely cozy (because it was about 10 square feet) office, where we made hot chai from the electric kettle, accompanied by too many milk bikis to be good for us. The tiny ancient radio that played bhoole bisre geet…or Jeeturaj on FM, while we designed fun things for MTV. Walking back home from Churchgate late at night in the rain. Enjoying the solitude and getting a thrill every time, out of walking down a gulmohar shaded lane, past old art-deco buildings with names like Sunshine and Moonlight. Watching cheesy baarish songs on TV ('dekho jara dekho barkha ki lladi'…and 'rain is falling chhama chham chham'! and DDLJ with Kajol cavorting in her little skirt in the rain :D, along with the classics…Raj Kapoor and Nargis under an umbrella, 'Rim jhim gire saawan', with young brooding Amitabh Bacchan. 

I have no memories of religious rituals we enjoyed during the monsoons…but all these were my monsoon rituals, the memory of which still make me nostalgic, as I write from a hot desert far far away, where raindrops almost evaporate before they hit the ground and the rain is never hard enough or long enough to recreate those wonderful memories."

Shachi

We all follow our own Shravan maasi rituals like her when young. Of kanda bhajji, alyacha chaha, bhutta and snuggles under the blanket!

Then we are in a phase is life when we start becoming religious and start adoring those other rituals. Looking forward to hear from more of you what Shravan means to you and how it is celebrated in your homes. Do drop your comments here for Shachi.

Shravan Maasi Harsh Manasi!

This is the opening line of a very famous poem in Marathi. Indeed there is so much to feel happy in the month of Shravan. The month that is densely packed with festivals.

Today is Shravan Maas Shubharambha! The beginning of the auspicious month of Shravan. It's the month of observing abstinance, detoxifying, rituals and numerous festivals. Now that I am in Mumbai and I am experiencing the monsoon is in full swing, it's this time of the season that you see the play of sun and the clouds, as they hide and seek. It is the time of the year when everything is washed clean and lush green. You feel a certain purity in the air. I am flooded with memories from the past, of the women at home fasting, my uncle PJ not shaving, of visiting our favorite Shiv Mandirs on Mondays and Shani Mandirs on Saturdays. Of all the festivals Marathi and Gujarati that have been part of me in my growing up years. As a Marathi I celebrate most but I sorely miss Shitla Satam celebrations which were part of my growing up years in Fort. 

Every community has their own ways of celebration and there is always specific food associated with the rituals. I invite you to share how this month of Shravan is observed in your family. Send me your post at Annaparabrahma@gmail.com

I am keeping the rules simple.

1. Share how you observe the month in your family.

2. Share a special recipe that is made in this auspicious month. Include a picture.

3. You can post a parallel entry on your own blog and link to this event page.

All entries are welcome but unique entries will be published on Mondays and Saturdays as these are the specified fasting days for this month.

Celebrate the cheer this Shravan!

Light N Dark Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate mousse is a decadent treat for any time and any reason. This recipe is so easy peasy that there can be nothing quicker and indulgent than it. Some times you just need to have these kind of recipes on hand.

This dessert is simple but decadent. Such contradictory characteristics. We see it all the time in this world. 

There is a story in my Guru, Brahmachaitanya Gondavlekar Maharaj's biography, where a lady is sitting with a child in her lap and crying. A person comments, "Lady why are you crying? You have such a chubby baby". To which Shri Maharaj points out to look carefully. To notice that the child is not chubby but the child's body is swollen! Therefore the mother was crying.

People make judgements about others lives all the time based on incomplete information. Recently one of my friend commented that I have become a Maharani who requires to be trailed around by staff. This because my man Friday accompanies me for all my shopping and the kind gentleman carries all my huge bags. This friend is not someone who has known me for life but still good enough for 3-4 yrs. I did not clarify and kept to myself but just felt like saying it here as this is my ranting space. How easily we judge people and I do not want people to judge others wrongly. The fact is I am not allowed to lift too much weight as advised by the doctor. The markets like APMC where I do bulk grocery shopping is not pushcart friendly nor do they have shopping carts there as this is an old world market and not an a/c mall. Else I would have taken my own trolley even then. If my domestic help does not do stuff like carrying my bags for me I will never be able to indulge in the small pleasures of life like shopping. I don't owe clarification to anyone about my choices in life and that they should understand. Anyways moving on...

Well we had two birthdays back to back in the family, I had just made the Coffee Cake Inside Out and no one was in the mood for another cake. I made this epitome of contradictions simple yet delicious Chocolate mousse and filled up petite partyware and slipped it into my SIL's fridge while she was at work. She was thrilled to bits on seeing it when she returned home. 

When we sat down to enjoy it we found it extremely rich due to cream and obviously needed to be worked off after the indulgence. Next time I will fill  those glasses only halfway whether I make single layered or double layered mousse.

Ingredients

4 cups Amul fresh cream
200 gms Dark Chocolate
100 gms Milk chocolate
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons instant coffee

Chopped pistachios for garnish

Fluff the sugar and cream to stiffness and till all the sugar blends with the cream. Use an electric beater. Keep aside.

Microwave the dark chocolate for 40 secs in one bowl and the milk chocolate in another.

Divide the cream equally in the two chocolate bowls. Divide the coffee equally in the two bowls. Mix well to homogenise. That will give you the dark chocolate layer and the milk chocolate your light layer.

Fill petite serve ware first with dark layer and top with the light layer. Garnish with chopped pistachios. This recipe serves 8 very generous portions.

Chill is the fridge for atleast 2-3 hrs before serving. 

Serve with long spoons to dig into the deep layers and enjoy the licks!

Coffee Cake Inside Out

It's that time of the year when the plan is to have the entire clan for a dinner but that did not happen. My sisters and their kids could not make it. I was quite happy to have my bro H come down with his wife. So S&S, H&R, Dad n me, that's quite a good number for a celebration than just 2 or 4. So a rich buttery Coffee Cake with Coffee Mascarpone frosting was made.

It's been a hectic fortnight for me as my best friend's Dad is in hospital. We felt helpless many a times. All I could manage was just being with her. For a few days I did cook and pack lunch to take along but it got more difficult to make time.

That's when we found www.foodpanda.in very useful. Thru the week Dad was able to pick a local restaurant and order for food online. Instead of shouting into the phone an order that mostly gets goofed as the restaurants take it over the din in there, he was so happy with the ease of doing it on the net. Foodpanda hosts the entire menu from each restaurant and you can pick and choose your favorite dishes and place the order. What's good is you can either pay online or Cash on delivery. Depending on the proximity of the restaurant the delivery time varies from 30 mins to couple of hours. Through the week one can enjoy different tastes without getting bored.

Yesterday too we ordered the food from our neighbourhood outlet but I did make this cake. It's replete with intense flavor of coffee. Coffee on the inside, the sponge of course and Coffee Mascarpone frosting all the way on the outside too. A Nutella layer in the middle gave it some much desired gooeyness.

Here's the recipe...

Ingredients

For the sponge

200 gms all purpose flour / maida

200 gms Demerara sugar

150 gms Amul butter (if using unsalted butter and a large pinch of salt)

3 teaspoons Instant coffee dissolved in 1/2 cup water

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup chilled milk

For the frosting

100 gms mascarpone

75 gms sugar

2 teaspoons instant coffee

For sprinkles

1-2 teaspoons Instant coffee granules

In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar. In another bowl mix together flour and baking powder. 

Fold in the flour and baking powder mix into the creamed butter and sugar. Add the milk to loosen the batter. The batter should fall in folds.

Grease a tin and dust with flour. Pour the batter in the tin and bake at 180 deg Celsius for 40 mins. I used a 3 inch deep 8 inch oval tin for this cake. 

Cool completely and unmold onto a dish.

Slice the cake thru the middle and slather a generous layer of Nutella. You should have the Nutella layer sandwiched between the two coffee sponge layers.

Now beat together mascarpone, sugar and instant coffee. The bowl should be kept over ice cubes to keep the mascarpone chilled. Once soft peaks are formed scoop up the frosting and slather onto the cake.

Give the final touches to the cake by sprinkling the coffee granules along the edges. 

This cake has a really intense coffee flavor. My family loved it.

Gingersnaps

Hi Friends

It's been a while since I posted. I was busy with my home renovation project, it's still not complete but let me post this recipe for good old world gingersnaps which I just made for my family to have with tea. 

The last 2 days were sunny here and now the rain is back. With weather like that you need to eat right, grab a gingersnap and experience what I am recommending here. 

This recipe is adapted from allrecipes.com. I have used jaggery instead of molasses. I skipped the cinnamon, why is the west so obsessed with it? gingersnaps can do without it. Isn't gimger the star spice here! I used Dalda for the fat. Ok don't scold me but certain things like gingersnaps taste goooood with it. Plus I never buy Dalda but right now that's what I found in my SIL's kitchen.

Well I'll let you mark it not so heart healthy. But you bet you can't say no to a still warm cookie that's oven fresh!

Ingredients

2 cups maida / all purpose flour
1 cup regular granulated sugar
1/4 cup jaggery
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Dalda/ margarine
3 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
2-3 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup castor sugar for coating

In a large mixing bowl cream together the Dalda and 1 cup regular sugar. Add the jaggery, salt, milk and ginger to it and mix well. Finally add the maida and baking powder. Make a dough.

Divide the dough into 24 equal parts. Roll into balls and coat with castor sugar. Press down the balls and shape into a thickness you prefer. I made few really thin and they are the snappiest!

Bake at 200deg Celsius on convection mode. It took me 20 mins to bake 1/4 inch thick cookies, 6 at a  time in a 9 x 13 cookie tray.

The cookies will get a lovely golden color. If you want a shade darker bake for 5 mins more. This is a  picture clicked on the iPad will post better ones later, after my home is fully functional. Until then enjoy the Gingersnaps on a rainy day with a cup of chai as you wonder about the joys of nature and pitter patter.

Colocassia Stems Koshimbir

When I was a kid, I would hate it if anyone made use of things like vegetable peels, stems etc. to create a new dish. To the point that I would avoid it and call the person miserly and turn my nose on it.

There was this aunt of mine who did it often. She used peels stems and everything to create yummy stuff. That's what I think now. Back then she was hated for being disciplinarian and making me eat those scraps of waste!

You will appreciate her ingenuity now. Whenever she made Alu vadi she also made this koshimbir. She would say when leaves are loved  why not the stalks. She taught me as a kid to peel the stalks of colocassia  with skill as she would sit me next to her as she slathered the Alu leaves with the sourish besan paste on the leaves. She would to engage me put a little of that paste on my lil palm and ask, does it taste good? Is the salt right? It made one feel so important. You were the one that could make or break the dish with your verdict! I would nod my head with all air of authority and tell her perfect as I make a circle with my thumb and fore finger. Else would say add more tamarind or spice. You know how lil connoisseur's are ;)

Meanwhile my smart aunt would have got done the peeling of the stalks by me. She would instruct. Hold the stalk, section it halfway thru its thickness and peel of the skin with the sections. The skin is waxy and when removed leaves behind a spongy stalk. The stalk when soaked in the curd is delicious.

Ingredients

1/2 peeled colocassia stalks sectioned into small bits
1 cup curd
1/4 teaspoon mustard
1/8 teaspoon asafoetida
1 teaspoon oil

Heat oil in a small vessel. Splutter mustard and asafoetida in the hot oil. Add the sectioned colocassia stalks in it. Cook till done. The stalks look pale once done. Add curd to it.

Let the flavours steep for 10 mins before you serve. 

Growing Badishep

Believe it or not India is the largest producer of Fennel in the whole world !

As a young kid growing up in Colaba and Fort, my access to fresh fruits off the trees was limited. Like our parents we did not have trees to climb and pluck fruit to sink our teeth into the juicy flesh neither did we walk through roads lined with field were we could barge in and pick up fresh munchies like a frond of fennel. Our hope was the bhaiya who sold little slices of fruit spiced with a dash of chili powder and salt. My introduction to fennel was there at his little round display propped on a wicker stand.

Fennel was loved by one and all lush green and sweet to taste. Fennel in Marathi is badishep. I decided to grow some in my green Balcony. BTW just wanted to mention the balcony is undergoing some major changes and will come back in a new avatar.

Get ready with you pots to plant Badishep along with me. For the seed reach out in your pantry, go no further.

Planting

1. I use a big planter plate, 12 inches to grown Badishep. 
2. Ensure there is a small hole in the bottom of the pot for draining excess water.
3. Fill up to the brim with planting soil upto 5 inches.
4. Sprinkle the seed over the planting media.
5. Sprinkle water to moisten the soil. Do this every day.
6. Cover thinly with dry leaves/ saw dust /  or a wet muslin cloth to protect from birds picking the sprouts.
7. Ensure enough sunlight, but not direct.
8. In about 2 weeks you will get about 10 inch grassy growth. 
9. At this point you can move the plants into deeper pot of about 5-6 litre capacity.
10. Keep the soil moist but not wet and choose a really sunny spot for it. In a month and a half you will see it flowering.
11. The yellow flowers on the radial frond grow into sweet Badishep/ fennel. 
12. Let them mature a bit to get large seeds.

Harvest : 

Pluck the fronds of Badishep to harvest and enjoy the sweetness. The young leaves can be used to make parathas or as a herb in your pasta. The leaves are very mild in flavor.

Uses:

As mouth fresher
As a spice
As a natural appetite suppressant

Vari Vegetable Hotchpotch

I have a very busy life packing a lot of things into it, in an attempt to live it to the fullest.

Especially my music class, it is one thing I never like to miss. So on those days even if We have had to eat a pasta dinner it is ok.

There are times when I want to be ordering those delicious Pizzas and save with the Dominos Coupons my order is never complete without garlic bread and cheese dip.

In recent times I came across this service called FoodPanda, you can order online from a choice of your favourite restaurants and save with FoodPanda Coupons. I do it especially when I have company to share all the yummy food. Else slog like I did! Really!!

I completely missed that I was out of stock of rice. There was no atta to make rotis and no besan to make chillas. That's when I found the used packet of Vari or foxtail millet. For us Vari is fasting food and the spicing is always kept simple with just cumin seeds and green chilies. On this day I wanted something hearty yet with a touch of  spice moving away from the satvic taste associated with recipes using Vari.

I made this Hotchpotch just a little loose not a khichadi and not a biryani somewhere in between. It was lovely to sit with our little pots cuddling them and eating straight out of them warm and satisfying.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Vari

2 cups shredded cabbage

1/2 cup peas

1/2 cup cooked chickpeas

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1 large onion diced

1 tablespoon Suhana veg biryani masala

1 tablespoon oil

salt to taste

a pinch of sugar

Heat oil. Fry onions. Follow in with the vegetables one by one and stiring to mix. Add the biryani masala. Top up with 3 cups water. Cook until thick and soft but not mushy. Cover and cook. Before removing from heat add salt and sugar and allow the flavours to steep for 5 mins. Put off heat. Serve in individual pots with lids and enjoy steaming hot!

On another note my friend Nimmy, suggested I read Stephen Mitchell's translation of the Bhagawad Gita. I simply love Flipkart's deliveries and when you have these FlipKart Coupons then nothing less than a happy dance. I ordered the book instantly and it was door delivered the next day.

It's a phase I am in when I need this much. I have read several versions before and have aborted reading some due to discomfort with the fonts or sometimes the language. I have done several Parayans of Dynaneshwari but yet find it difficult to understand and even more difficult to accept and implement in my life. One who claims that they understand Gita are surely evolved I must say and if they are able to live the prescribed life eliminating some of the time contextual thoughts in it, are surely of the cadre above the average person. This new translation is beautiful and will appeal to that class who are not comfortable with Sanskrit and vernacular versions. The language used is beautiful the author has painstaking maintained the meter of the original poetry and Nimmy and me agree that the choice of words is perfect! Order your copy and add to your collection a wonderful book that you can read and then pull out anytime for your daily motivational quotes.

Kantol

I have gone back to into the drafts yet again, I have not so great pics for this recipe but must post it so you can bookmark it and keep your eyes open for this veggie for it will be in season soon.

It's almost the end of summer here. The skies are cloudy and grey with taletells of the monsoon. The monsoons breathe new life into everything. The seeds that are dormant sprout and surprise you with an abundance of goodies. Kantol in our parts was never grown by farmers, it is considered to be an exotic vegetable that grew wild in the jungles and was hand picked by the katkari and brought to the village to be sold. It came really cheap and by the basketfulls. Only in the city of Mumbai did we pay thru our nose to buy this vegetable.

I remember my mother not touching the veggie at the Bora bazaar market and telling me that we will get ours from the village when someone visits. We did and so this veggie was much awaited and relished. There were many ways my Mom would make it but those would mostly drown the lovely vegetable in coconut masala. I prefer this simple stir fry. So here it is.

Kantol is a spiny gourd you may be reminded of the bitter gourd but this is a sweet one without a trace of bitterness. When you choose the veggies, pick small tender fruits that are bright and green. The mature fruits with slight yellow from the ripening will have seeds that mar the taste. Tender ones have soft underdeveloped seeds that can be consumed along with the veggie.

Ingredients

1/4 kgs Kantol sliced fine
2 large onions chopped fine
1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
Salt and jaggery to taste
1 tablespoon oil

Heat oil. Fry the onions a bit. Add the finely sliced Kantol. Sprinkle the red chili powder, turmeric and coriander powders. Stir. Cover and cook for 15 mins.

Add salt and jaggery to taste. Stir again and cover and cook till soft.

Enjoy with chapatis.

I had made a masur amti to go with rice on this particular day, so you see it in the left compartment and the right one has the Kantol stir fry.

Pomegranate Poached Pears On Mascarpone

Have you read my post on Homemade Mascarpone raise your hands, I mean comment here if you tried it out. So assuming you did make it in your own kitchen.

This a very old draft that I pulled out to post right away after seeing the picture. It is a simple dessert with a touch of art. I think your guests will love it and you don't need to sweat over it to please them.

Ingredients

1 pear
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup icing sugar

Prepare mascarpone cheese and chill in the fridge overnight. You can used ready made straight from the box if in a hurry.

Now prepare the pears. In a saucepan heat the Pomegranate juice. Shave off the pear skin. Halve the pear and put it in it. Cook till the pear gets a nice pink colored skin. Let it cool.



Now slice the pear thin. It should have pink outer color and untainted insides.

Before serving blend the sugar into the mascarpone cheese to sweeten it and fluff it up a bit. Pipe it out into pretty bowls. Arrange the sliced pear in the form of a rosette on top of the piped mascarpone in each bowl.

Tip: always start making the rosette from inside by first making the rolled bud then arranging the petals around it.

Serve chilled.

Growing Owa

I was on an experimenting spree when I sprinkled some Owa or Carom seeds to grow. I wanted to grow the thick velvety leaves which we use to make bhajji. To my surprise these seeds grew to look like cilantro. I knew then that I was not growing these for any yield of great value. It was just to see what happens and what is the life cycle of this seed that is used as a spice in many Indian dishes.

The plants grew to a height of 4-5 ft and blossomed into beautiful tiny flowers. It gave some seeds to munch on but that's about it. They were very mild in taste.

Recording my experience here:

1. In a tray filled with planting soil sprinkle Owa/ carom seeds and sprinkle water.
2. Leave it to sprout and grow about 3-4 inches.
3. Replant the micro plants
4. Take a container, we used a 5 kg plastic recycled bag one. 
5. Ensure there is a small hole in the bottom of the pot for draining excess water.
6. Fill with planting soil upto 1 inch below the brim.
7. Remove the entire cake of the plants and bury in the prepared pot.
8. Sprinkle water to moisten the soil. Do this every day.
9. Ensure enough sunlight, but not direct. You can keep it under a larger plant for some shade.

 Time to replant: Don't they look just like cilantro

The flowering starts after a month

In 2-3 weeks you will seed the seeds on the fronds

Harvest : 

You don't get too much to harvest but pluck the fronds and much on and enjoy!

For me the harvest was of a bunch of pretty flowers that decorated my table for 3 days.

Cherry Tomato And Cilantro Spaghetti With Cumin Tadka

Cherry Tomato And Cilantro Spaghetti With Cumin Tadka served with clear tomato soup 

and Strawberry and Oreo Cups for dessert. 

While buying Strawberries is a must in Mahabaleshwar, spotting a basket full of cherry tomatoes was the most exciting moment for me. The bunches of them with the wine and leaves on can make any city bred go week in the knees. So I bought 4kgs of them to Mumbai. What followed was cherry tomato salads of every kind and them studding our food of every kind. There were pastas made, pizzas decorated and sometimes a boxful were packed to work for snacking on their own.

One evening when I had to rush for my music class I made this quick dinner which was wonderfully light and satisfying. So let me share here this fluke recipe which got a thumbs up from my family.

Ingredients

Spaghetti bundle enough for 4 about 100 gms

30 or more Cherry tomatoes

3 tablespoon olive oil

1.5 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 cup fine chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon red chili powder

First cook the Spaghetti al dente and keep it aside.

Heat the olive oil and turn to high add the cumin seeds when browned add the whole cherry tomatoes. They will burst on high heat to release wonderful juice and cook well. Now add the red chilli powder. Add the chopped cilantro and let it wilt a bit. Follow in with the cooked pasta and toss well to mix and coat the pasta well with the chunky sauce. These cherry tomatoes were quite sweet and gave a wonderful sauciness to the pasta.

Serve hot along with tomato clear soup and dessert to make it a special meal.

Strawberry and Oreo Cups

While we are still in ice cream season let me share with you this delightful and kiddophilic treat.

I had returned from a short but very refreshing holiday in Mahabaleshwar with an armload of strawberries. We were eating strawberries in every form. This treat was a creation for the family kids who were supposed to visit us. Ok the kids did not turn up but we did become kids once again.

Not much of a recipe but you will love assembling it. Also its technically not an ice cream but cream which is chilled it is!

Ingredients

100 ml fresh cream

1 cup chopped strawberries

2-3 strawberries sliced

1/4 cup Icing sugar to taste 

1 teaspoon lime juice

6 Oreo cookies

In a food processor whip up the fresh cream, lime juice and icing sugar together, adding the icing sugar slowly till all of it is used. Once it is swelled up add the chopped strawberries and whir it once. That's your mousse, the lime juice holds it up well.

In 6 petite cups arrange sliced strawberries against the walls. In the center fill the whipped cream and strawberries mousse.

Top with whole Oreo cookies. You can lay them flat on top or embedded them halfway into to the mousse.

Let the cups set in the fridge atleast 2 hours before serving.

These strawberry cups look like tulips and tasted creamy and nice, I was told! 

Tell me what you think about them but only after you make them yourself, you are off to make them already? Ah I knew!

Jardaloo Ice Cream

A lasting fragrance, smooth and chunky at the same time. The Kernels enhance every mouthful further with their nuttiness.

It's an ice cream that you will want to make immediately and it is so easy!

Make it now:

400 gms of condensed milk (Amul Mithai Mate)

+

200 ml of Low Fat Fresh Cream (Amul Fresh Cream)

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Whip together both in the food processor until frothy. Freeze in an airtight box for 2 hrs. 

Whip second time. Freeze again for 2hrs in an airtight box.

+

1 cup of Jardaloo pulp

 Once the icecream is set. Mix in the pulp. Give the ice cream a marble effect. Do not mix completely. You will see the pretty chunky fruit bits as the fruit is hand pulped. The ice cream gets a beautiful peach color. Freeze overnight or atleast for 4 more hours. 

Serve the delicious ice cream in scoops.

+

Jardaloo Kernels for studs

 To further intensify the experience of this beautiful treat stud the ice cream with the Jardaloo kernels, toasted is better.

Enjoy this summer!

Jardaloo Ice Tea

Well so if you read the previous post and you are back then you are curious about what I did with the water in which the Jardaloo soaked?

In a jar I poured the Jardaloo juice enriched water and topped up with more water to a total of 500ml. I adjusted the sweetness by adding sugar to my taste. Then about 1/2 teaspoon of tea powder and let it steep all night in the fridge.

The next day I had a wonderful Jardaloo iced tea ready for a afternoon sipper. Just strain it before serving. Serves 2 small tumblers or one huge glass. 

Make sure the Ice tea is consumed the next day else the Jardaloo pulp in the tea starts spoiling. While serving you can add slices of lime but don't add lime juice, it does not go well with the steeped Jardaloo juice and tea.

Enjoy!

On a sultry day I chose to sit near the balcony and the natural breeze was much welcome to relieve the heat that the whirring of the fan did not help. The Jardaloo iced tea was perfect!

Jardaloo Jadoo!

This picture of Nubra Valley is taken by my nephew. The Jardaloo in this post were grown here.

Last year in July, M Vahini and family had gone to Leh-Ladakh and they came back with a big packet of Jardaloo for me. They were very dry and impossible to snack on the the flesh without fracturing your teeth. Not very happy, I stashed away the packet in the fridge. Its been months in there, every time I looked at it I felt sad that they were getting fridge burnt!

To my rescue came ET, she had made an ice cream with apricots. If you remember this post was also inspired by her. I love her desert ideas. So I decided to make some ice cream too. Yes at first that's all I wanted to make, then on second thought I was inspired to make a curry with Jardaloo as the star ingredient so you saw the Jardaloo Chhole post.

It all began with soaking some 40 plus Jardaloo in hot water. Yes I know that's luxury but I wanted to get rid of them so saved a few but literally emptied the pack for soaking. I poured about 600 ml hot boiling water over those 40 and let them soak in the bath for almost 8-9 hours.

Sneaking on a few to taste as they soaked and used about 7 of them in the Chhole. By lunch time they were still not soaked till the seeds. Yet after the entire day under water a slight squeeze and the seeds just popped out clean. 

The water in which I soaked the Jardaloo looked brownish and thick with the juices. Of the 600 ml water what remained in the bowl was about a little more than 200 ml. It resembled my favorite summer cooler. Ah! but I am not telling everything in this post come back again to see what I made. 

With clean washed hands I mashed the flesh. I don't like using the blender as it destroys the natural fiber in the fruit and it does affect the taste. You must be wondering what I did with the pulp? Of course I made ice cream! Promise I'll show you pictures. The color is beautiful and right now in a tub and chilling in the freezer.

The seeds that you popped out are not to be discarded. Crack them up with a pestle carefully and you will be rewarded with kernels that taste like almonds. I checked out a few for bitterness. They tasted good with no trace of bitterness. The rest are saved to sprinkle on the ice cream servings. 

Now you must be thinking I ate the shells too. No no, I did not eat them but you know me. I don't waste anything and I upcycle a lot, so the shells went into the Brahmakamal pot which was showing receding planting soil. Remember next time shells of any nut can be mixed with planting media to give it some aeration and texture.

Now do you agree Jardaloo has Jadoo in it's name itself! It's magic!

See the complete magic of Jardaloo now!