Back from Paradise

Hey Friends


Just saying hi!


I'm just back from paradise and a long vacation with family and friends. Hope you all have been well? Thanks for visiting here and leaving comments while I was gone. I will update the Chole Mela post soon.

Meanwhile here is a picture....ummm you got to comeback for the special post to read where I had been or figure out.

I'm on a break from blogging

Blogging is so much work. I need a vacation now ;).

Date N Chocolate Cake

I was trying the chef guideline to get a flat cake top by lifting the cake batter on to the sides. But I didn't do it right so you see the depression in the middle even though the cake had risen well.

This Date N Chocolate Cake is really simple to make and is full of nutritious elements. It is also a very soft cake by eggless standards.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup drinking chocolate

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 cups thick buttermilk

1 cup sugar

1 cup fine chopped dates

1/4 cup walnuts and pista

1/4 cup ghee/ butter

1/4 teaspoon raspberry essence

2 teaspoons baking powder

I made this cake almost six months ago for a party and was in the draft for a long time. First sieve all the dry item together, all purpose flour, drinking chocolate, cocoa powder and baking powder. Dust the date and nuts in the flour and keep aside.

Beat the ghee till fluffy. Add sugar and buttermilk and beat again till light. Now fold in the sieved flour mix along with essence. Once homogenously mixed add the dates and nuts. Pour the batter in a greased and floured tin. Bake at 180 deg Cel for 25 mins or till the knife comes out clean when pricked.

Cool in the tin for 10 mins then turn it on to a rack.

I had served with Fig Sauce.

Doodhi ~~ Halwa

You see here Doodhi Halwa or Bottle gourd pudding with charoli nuts and a tiny piece of preserved pineapple for decoration

Many moons ago in Mumbai landed a Marwadi. Like all Marwadis he too thought it was the ideal place to earn money real quickly. This story is of the times when Doodhi halwa was considered a sweet associated with fairs and one could buy things for 2 paise. The Man saw a fair going on in Bandra during the Mount Mary festival. He thought of selling Doodhi Halwa at the cheapest that any one can buy. Now Doodhi Halwa is not a cheap sweet. It needs Ghee, Khava, Dudhi, fuel and manpower. Nevertheless he put up a huge hoarding announcing Doodhi Halwa @ 2 paise. Most Mumbaikar look for cheap deals and this was not something they were going to miss.

There was a huge que in front of this shop. As you know Mumbaikar love to line up every where be it Siddhi Vinayak for Darshan or Samant's at Dadar to buy Chakka on a Dasara day, so there they were. Many wondered why this shop was unlike the usual mithaiwala's. This one was a tent closed from all sides and ust one person at a time was allowed to enter. Another thing one noted was no one seemed to be coming out from the entrance. People enquired curiously. The Doorkeeper informed that people did not want to let anyone share the wonderful experience so prefered to leave from behind the tent. Some smarty pants went to the exit. They saw all the people coming out laughing. They thought wow one had to have the special Doodhi Halwa.

When each one entered they saw an empty tent with a huge Doodhi (bottle gourd) hung at the center of the tent with a string and a board written in Marathi, Doodhi Halwa for 2 paise. All people had a great laugh, Yes it was Doodhi Halwa @ 2 paise. Oscillate the Bottle gourd of course in Marathi means Doodhi Halwa! The typical Indians that we are we keep quite when we are fooled so they kept mum while the Marwadi collected the money and went home happy. Yet they had a good laugh at themselves for 2 paise.

This has been a favorite joke when we were small and always remembered when we enjoyed Doodhi Halwa.

So if you don't want to be fooled make your own Doodhi Halwa.

Ingredients

2 cup grated bottle gourd
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup khava/ condensed milk solids
2 tablespoons ghee/ unclarified butter
2 teaspoon charoli nuts or any other

I like my halwas rich always. So here is how we do it. Heat ghee and fry the khava till pink. To this add the sugar and stir till molten. Do not let sugar caramelize. At this point take the grated doodhi that would be watery and squeeze out the water as much as you can. Pack it tight in the measuring cup add this grated Doodhi to the khava sugar mix and keep stirring. When the Doodhi Halwa leaves the sides of the vessel and forms a mass in the center its a signal to put off the heat. This might take 20 mins max. Decorate with charoli nuts for the old world charm or any other nut of your choice.

Doodhi halwa can be enjoyed warm with Vanilla icecream or chilled just a bit on its own. My version is quite gooey if you like it that way.

Also try Jugabandi's microwave version and Suma's lighter version.

Amba Poli

Amba Poli of a different kind

There are forums to fight plagiarism, I scream, you scream and it just ends there. Lately however my sitemeter gives me a good insight into how plagiarism happens. Someone searches on this blog, many times not another blogger. Then the treasure hunter sends the recipe to a blogger requesting to post the recipe with some creativity from the pirate. I say to myself, "Good we are seeing new creations in the blog world" and mind you without a word of acknowledgement. Then my blogger friends will ask for proof to take action. I am sick and tired of the same game. I do not want to waste my precious energy on such things.

This is an appeal to all bloggers incase some one sends you a request to post their own recipe the least a blogger can do is just verify the originality before being party to plagiarism, I like to believe unknowing that is.

You know who you are! Are you running out of ideas?

_______________________________

Anyways sharing here a picture of Amba PoLi, Mango leather a friend sent me. This one is brittle unlike the soft succulent ones that we know of in Mumbai. This is from coastal Karnataka.

Thalipeeth Just Zakas !

We went on a 5 day tour last week covering South /West Karnataka. We enjoyed the typical Southern fare only to return home with a craving for Marathi food. What can be more Marathi than thalipeeth. We returned home in the morning hours so it had to be a filling one as we planned to catch up on sleep post breakfast as we had travelled all night in a bus and we had fatigue.

The good things about Thalipeeth are it is multigrain, high fibre and yummy a perfect power packed breakfast.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of five flours ( rice, wheat, chickpea, finger millet, pearl millet)
2 onions
2-3 green chilies (I used ripe red chilies)
2 handfuls chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon red turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
2 cups water

Mix all the ingredients and make a soft dough. Take a small wok/ kadhai and oil it generously. Preferably use a non-stick wok. Divide the dough into four parts and line it on the walls of the wok by patting the dough ball with the palm of your hand. Make holes in the thalipeeth to avoid puffing. A good thatlipith has to be crisp so it needs to remain flat. See below

Keep the wok on medium heat, cover and roast the thalipeeth till the inside dries out. Check the inside, if its golden it is done. Remove from the wok and serve hot with coconut chutney. Traditionally thalipth is served with a blob of homemade unclarified butter called LOni in Marathi or Benne in Kannada arrey yaar it's Makhan in Hindi.

One tip to remember thalipth can be served only one at a time. Do not make thalipeeth in batches. It looses taste once cooled. To enjoy it thoroughly it has to be eaten hot.

Also the thalipeeth has to be lined up in a cooled vessel else spreading the dough ball is difficult. Else you can use two woks so by the time one is cooled other one is cooking.

I bet you will comment Thalipeeth Just Zakas !

Happy Childrens day to all the kids as well as the adults for I know all adults wish they could be kids again!

All my kiddos, Pranav, Anushka, Anshika, Nirbhay and Sujal.

Have fun. (@)>--

A Marathi saying for this day:

LahaN_PaN Dega Deva Mungi Sakhare_cha Rava.

Which means: God give me the humility of an ant so that I can enjoy the sweetness in life.

Updated:
My friend Vinaya tells us thalipeeth is called sthaalpishtashtakam in Sanskrit. I guess sthaal means place-pishta means carbohydrates-shtakam means pancake. Vinaya is the broken sandhi correct? I haven't studied sanskrit but love to play with the words. If I am wrong thank me for a laugh, I know you will.
vinaya said...

hey! a very good try indeed. (A: Thats my friend ). The break was suchsthaala (thaali)+ pishta (peeth /carbs) + ashtakam ( eight verse poem)It was actually a eight verse poem which described how intricate and interesting the process of making a thalipeeth is.. grains are roasted at different heat levels ( some more, some less) how they are ground on a "jaate", and how a lovely thalipeeth is made, which tastes divine with loni. I guess the poet must have been a foodie himself, and just might have a food blog of his/her own in those days.

Cucumber Salad

Diwali celebrations are over and people are complaining of overeating all the sugar rich and fat laden food. This cucumber salad is a perfect antidote for the Diwali mania. We had this salad with boiled corn on the cob.

Ingredients

2 big cucumbers peeled and sliced

1/2 cup shredded cabbage

1 big handful fresh cilantro leaves

1 green chili

3-4 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon Mayo (I used eggless)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

salt to taste.

In a salad bowl put the sliced cucumbers and cabbage to chill for 20 mins this will lend the crunch. Meanwhile in a mortar and pestle coarse crush the cilantro, green chili and garlic. Remove the cucumber bowl add the coarse crushed herbs, sugar, salt and mayo. Mix well to get an even coating. Serve immediately.

This perfectly crunchy salad livened by the spice of green chili, cilantro and garlic accompanied with boiled corn on the cob is just what one would enjoy most post all the festivities.

Faral

Tumha Sarvanna Divalichya Hardik Shubechya !!!

Marathi Divali Faral, Karanji stuffed with dry coconut and pedha mix, Tikhat Shev, Rava Ladu, Patal Pohe Chivda, Gor Papdi (my Guju influence).

A Very Happy Divali to All !!!

These Chiroti are coming your way MJ Kaka in celebration of your spirit to fight the odds and for beating them out. We all wish you and Aruna Kaki will be able to continue with your treks to the Himalaya just like the last 18 years once again.

Love to all my family and friends !!!

Dr. Roopa's Bhuni Arabi

Two weekends ago when Uncle Dheer visited us he took us to meet his old friends. In his usual style he told us this family is special, J.Nath paints South Indian life on his farm in Kodaikanal and his daughter and SIL have lived with the tribals for 10 years. Yet inspite of this introduction I reluctantly agreed to go visit the family that's when I realized over the years I am turning more into a recluse.

J. Nath, The painter and his painting

We were greeted at the door by a young girl, Gayathri. I was told she is the grand daughter of J Nath. As we stepped in the painter himself appeared from a room inside greeting Uncle Dheer in Punjabi. This is Dr. Roopa he said pointing to his daughter. Namastes exchanged and we settled down onto the sofas. We went in to a room where Jayaji, his wife was resting. To my surprise she talked to me in Marathi. After the initial awkwardness there was a change in mood. Roopa was cooking for all of us single handedly, so I went to ask if I could help. I saw she was roasting some besan. While the tomatoes bounced in the boiling water. She was making sabut moong dal with tomatoes, cauliflower and boiled Arabi lay on the side. Curious I asked what the powder was, she enlightened me, besan, dhania, jeera powder.

As I meddled in her way, I got to know that she taught at Rishi Valley School where her kids studied. I was quite curious to know what she taught by now knowing that she was a surgeon and her speciality, Community and Public Health. As we talked I found out that She was from Fort Convent, Mumbai a sister school to my school. I soon discovered I was with a highly evolved family. Deva was not at home that day, I missed a chance. Both Roopa and husband Dr. N. Devadasan served the tribals in the jungles of Gudalur for 10 years until couple of years ago when Roopa decided to focus on her children while Deva continued his research on the tribal health. Read all about these change makers here.

It is such a pleasure to listen to Roopa talk about everything around her and that affects the common man. Even J Nath felt proud of his daughter as he was listening to the discussions we were having, oscillating between health, medicine, alternative medicines, her time with the tribals, spiritualism, music, painting etc. Yes were with them for atleast 6 hours. Dad got up from the sofa twice in an attempt to leave, as he does not like to stay on at any place till the host feels discomfort. Each time J Nath would ask him to stay on longer. Post lunch he got the tea made and served us the famed Ginger biscuits from Kodi. While we enjoyed the hot tea, it was fun to hear a brief on the painter's life from him. He is childlike and a great storyteller. I was watching him as he talked animatedly about life before Mumbai happened and and now the reclusive life he leads along with Jayaji in Kodi.

We talked about many things and some of Roopa's words will ring in my ears for a long time.

On alternative medicine:

"I am trained in allopathy, but having lived with the adivasis and watched and heard alternative medical practitioners, in all these years. I see no conflict in medical rules. I have gone out of the framework and have realized, Who am I to come between the healing process and the sufferer? I would like to be known as a healer rather than a doctor."

On life of the adivasis:

"We the city bred consider ourselves to be civilized but we need to learn from the adivasis their evolved knowledge of survival. We only take from nature but I have never seen an adivasi collect a tuber for a meal without planting an eye back into to the soil."

On the tough choices she has made in life:

"I have been able to hold together."

As we take leave, I hear her telling Uncle Dheer about a new school, she and Deva are starting soon.

_________________________________________________

At lunch Roopa treated us to a Punjabi meal of Roti, Cauliflower, Bhuni Arabi and Sabut Moong Dal! Cauliflower stir fried in a bit of butter topped with generous amounts of ground pepper and salt. It was nice and crunchy and tasted yummy. The Sabut Moong dal was flavoured with blanched tomatoes and spiced with a dash of red chili powder and turmeric. Rotis served hot off the tava. My favorite was the Bhuni Arabi. Here is the recipe I mentally registered as I watched Roopa cook and after tasting it I had declared to her that it was going to be a post on my blog. You will agree with me that Dr. Roopa is a fabulous cook but a even more a highly evolved human being just like the rest of her family.

Ingredients

1/4 kg Arabi/ Colocasia tubers

2 tablespoon chickpea flour

1 teaspoon corriander powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

1-2 teaspoon dry mango/ amchoor powder

1 tablespoon oil

salt to taste

Boil and peel the arabi, keep aside to cool in a plate. Meanwhile in a wok dry roast the chickpea flour till it gives an aroma. Add corriander, cumin and red chili powders and roast for another 5 mins. Pour the roasted powder over the arabi. Shake the plate so that the arabi rolls in the flour and it gives an even coat. Now heat the oil and roast the spicy flour coated arabi till brown. I actually missed watching the last step as I was outside in the living room talking with her father. I forgot to ask her about it.

My dedication to this lady whom I have begun to admire and hope to stay in touch with is a healthier version of the same recipe.

Boil the arabi with tamarind and peel. Keep aside to cool in a plate. Meanwhile in a wok dry roast the chickpea flour till it gives an aroma. Add corriander, cumin and red chili powders and roast for another 5 mins. Skip the amchur powder as we have already used tamarind. Pour the roasted powder over the arabi. Shake the plate so that the arabi rolls in the flour and it gives an even coat. Now in a preheated oven broil the spicy flour coated arabi till brown.

This arabi preparation is among the best I have tasted. It can be served as a starter not only that it can be made in advance and hence an ideal recipe for a party.

Updated on 27th Dec 07

The taste of Arabi flavored with amchoor is the taste of rustic Punjab but tamarind converts it into a more southern experience. Use little tamarind so that it is not overwhelming.

Wild Greens, HonegoNe Stir Fry

Name the Wild Greens you see here.

They are runners with green globule like flowers. Probably these are babies. My Sopu/ leafy vegetablewala tells me it is called HonegoNe in Kannada. He knows he has met the right person to teach about new veggies. These are supposed to be good for the eyes. What are they called in English or any other Indian language?

He sold that entire lot in the basket for just Rs.7. These take a lot of time to clean and like all leafy vegetables that demand thorough sorting and cleaning can be cooked only on the weekends. This lot was so fresh that it had an instant pick me up effect on me. My Dad tells me we get them in Mumbai too when the adivasis of Thane and nearby areas visit the city. So they are very cheap but a rare treat.

These greens are new for me so they deserved full respect. So well it had to be a simple stir fry with just a dash of oil.

Here is what I did:

Ingredients

1 lot HonegoNe greens chopped fine

2 big Onions sliced thin

2 green chilies chopped

2 teaspoon oil

salt to taste

Heat a wok and on high add oil and fry the onions till translucent. Add the chopped green chilies and the chopped HonegoNe greens. Stir fry till dry. Add the salt at the end just before putting off the heat. This is important as greens before cooking are voluminous and after cooking shrink to give very little bhaaji and salt required is very little.

We enjoyed this HonegoNe sopu/bhaaji with the famous Belgaum bakri (not a goat but what Marathis call Bhakri) made by an enterprising women's group. So when I'm lazy I know what to do. These Jolad rotis are dry and thin like khakara and last almost a month. Just before eating they have to be warmed over a flame like a papad. The HonegoNe sopu is fragrant and can be enjoyed the best in this simple form.

A glass of spicy butter milk to wash down this dry combo is a must and you might be complimented with a burrrp!

Updated:

I learnt a little more on Lakshmi's Taste of Mysore.

Quick Fix Chinese Meal

I used to love the Knorr soups though I don't follow the exact measures on the packet. I make the soups thinner than the cover directs as that's how we like our soups. So when Knorr introduced their Chinese ready mixes I had to keep them handy for those times when I am pressed for time. Yes though both of us like to cook at times we like to take a shortcut as much. We tried the Hakka Noodles sauce mix and the Chinese chili. Following the direction is easy. I had to post this review for my brother who loves Chinese food. We made the Chinese chili using baby corn, onion and capsicum. While for the Hakka noodles I used just onions and capsicum. My touch to this ready to make meal was the use of mustard oil, that gave a spicy sharpness to these dishes. The noodles were my usual Ching's.

It is in no way gourmet food but meant to satisfy a gourmet's craving for good food instantly that is the success of this brand. I am also blessed that my Dad quite a gourmet of Indian food does not complain about International cuisines that I try from time to time or such quick fixes.

Here it goes to Click, an event for all good looking things conceptualized by Bee & Jai at Jugalbandi

Extra Terrestrial Specimen

Our friend Gauri Dutt has adopted the bong culture credit to her husband, Shom . Lately her sasural Kolkata has been in news due to the celestial body observed in the area. So when I opened that packet she sent me with her Dad, Uncle Dheer, I exclaimed, "Is this an extra terrestrial specimen. A closer look told me it was a special gift from my fave chikki shop , I had written about earlier, a Maganlal's creation. At Maganlal's they are not just visionary they push themselves to create new delites like these. If you haven' t guessed what it is by now, let me be explicit. It is a chikki, Dud! If you knew that one, tell me what variety is it ? Well it is the black sesame seed chikki. Ain't they innovative! To read all about the benifits of black sesame seeds click here.

When I was on a weight loss program back in 2002. My dietician had prescribed 2 teaspoons of black sesame seed for snacking for my 4 o'clock hunger. She guides Miss India's too so this is a much tried and tested prescription. It helps prevent hairloss during weight reduction, provides fiber and satiates hunger she said. Gosh it reminds me of days when I was the fittest with glowing skin and hair and P showered compliments on me. Can history be repeated?

:)

Update from Gauri: Sesame plants are flowering in the fields and will be ready for harvesting by Dec and then it is time for Sankrant and Tilgul, sesame ladu. This is an example of how the Indian traditions are ruled by the seasons, needs of the body for the season and the spirit of celebrating the harvest. The black ones are with husk and the pale ones are the dehusked ones.

Khari Shankarpali

and a visit to Vidur Aswathpur and Bagepalli

In the last week of June, Our Friends Aswath Narayan and Parimala, invited us to join their clan on a trip to Gadidam Lakshmi Venkateshwara Temple at Bagepalli. They were going there to celebrate Garudotsav. All this was very new for me. We joined the group of around 42 people. The families were all related to each other in someway or other. Only 4 of us were friends of the families. They were very sweet to include us. It was the first time I was travelling with a Kanadiga family to perform a yearly ritual. It was very intriguing for me indeed just to think of it.

We started in the morning, stopping at the several locations to pick up the people joing this trip. The kids all excited and peals of laughter in the air. Greeting and teasing children and adults alike. Every one like true Indians were loaded with food and more food. After an hours journey we reached a dhaba and our bus pulled into the parking lot. The deserted dhaba all of a sudden sprung into activity only to realise all we need were tables and few chairs for the senior members in the group. They provided and watched while all the kanadiga's enjoyed food brought from home. If we had a way we would carry even pots and pans thats the way it is here. We took care not to litter the place and was happy no one not even the kids needed to be told. Infact it was the teenagers in the group who went around with a garbage bag to collect the waste from all 42 people. The breakfast consisted of Chapati and potato sagu, mixtures, mysore pak and kesar burfi. It was not my type of breakfast so I just took a little bit. Then there were couple of rounds of bisi-bisi /hot hot filter coffee that was carefully packed in huge thermoware and served in paper cups.

Our first destination was Ghati Subramanya, after darshan we proceeded to Vidur Aswathpur. The ride in the little ghats was like a rollercoaster . Vidur Aswathpur is a small place of great importance. It is here that Vidur from the Mahabharat did penance in the Dwapar Yug. There is a peepal tree still alive here that is famed to have been planted by Vidur himself.

Only one branch still survives and is supported by a concrete construction as the tree is slowly disintegrating.

This place is extremely serene with huge old trees every where. You can imagine that this must have been chosen well by Vidur to live when he was away from Hastinapur. The river bed nearby once must have gushed with water has now dried, a sign of man encroaching on nature. This place is a pilgrim center in karnataka but not known much in other parts of India.

Another Aswath Katte, This is another peepal tree nearby under which people make these idol offerings with some wish and they come every year to do a pooja here.

We had requested a temple priest to prepare lunch for us. It was served on banana leaves. The spread consisted of sambhar, rasam, rice, peanut chutney, Bisibele bhat, kesari bhat, jelebi, curd rice, and banana. I would have loved to have my lunch under the huge trees outside instead of dinning hall. The trees form a canopy and one literrally enjoys the sensation of being in the lap of nature. My Dad sang a few bhajan here and his voice sounded divine in the peaceful and calm environment. This place is not found by google yet. I feel previledged to have visited this place that has reference in our epic, Mahabharat.

Resting under the tree after lunch in front of a small temple under the canopy of trees.

In the late afternoon we proceeded towards Bagepalli taluk, just across the Karnataka border into Rayalseema in Andhra Pradesh. It is a small town of Gadidam with a big Lakshmi Venkateshwara Temple. The kids jumped out of the bus as we reached there and started their game of cricket while the adults settled down for the day.

That evening was a precursor of the next day's celebrations. We gathered in the temple sabha mandap and two under twelve boys sang devotional songs and stotra. Their voices echoed in the temple and its surroundings. Encouraged by the response of the audience recieved by the children a lady immediately grabed the mike and started singing some song in here nasal tone. I prefered to take a walk instead in the huge courtyard, watching the moon move slowly in the pitch dark sky and the monkeys chattering away. It was so intense to see many monkey babies clutching the mothers as they were disturbed by us, so many people descending onto this temple that does not get many visitors.

Dinner was served at 8.30 pm, consisting of rasam and rice but after a tiring day even that was welcome. It was prepared by cooks who had been brought along with us. I then went and sat with the group of villagers singing folk style devotional songs while one of them held the rythm on the Daf. After a long time I was feeling so relaxed. I distributed the chivda and Dharwad peda I had got along to all those who wanted a post dinner snack. After Shata-pavale most of us retired to our shared rooms in the dharmashala. They were clean but spartan and it was time to sleep on the satranji, a cotton mat, ideal for a warm night.

Next Morning the day began with a rush to the bathroom to get ready for the morning Abhishek. I took a picture of this and then I ran out off charged cells. So its sad I do not have pictures of the Garudotsav. After the Abhishek the breakfast was served. Everyone stuffed themselves like they would not get food for the next few years. Hot idlis, kesari bhat, medu vadas because it was going to be late for lunch.

Then started the Garudotsav, I was participating in it for the first time. A chariot was decorated elaborately with fresh flowers. It was a riot of colors, smells ruling my senses. Then one by one the men were invited and the host put a garland around their neck to bless and honor them. The garlanded men took turn to pull the chariot around the temple while the women followed behind the chariot with flowers and chamar. The whole ritual took me into a world I had never experienced before. I felt like I was part of the documentaries aired on National geographic.

After 11 pradakshina, holy circumventing the chariots stopped in front of the temple. Then all went in to the sabha mandap to celebrate the wedding of Lord Venkateshwara. That was then followed by a noisy music performance. This performer is from Mysore, as he sings in his high pitched voice he displays a couple of thousand photographs of various gods and especially Krishna. I for one don't understand Kannada that much and got a headache with the noise yet there were others who enjoyed it. I sat in the hall with everyone till the end of the program that went on for 3 hours, ask me what a torture it was.

It was a relief that lunch was served after that and the food served was a wedding meal, Lord Vekateshwara's wedding meal. I don't even remember how many items were served neither do I remember what I ate.

On the way back people were flooded with dry snacks. I will have wonderful memories of the places we visited and an indelible one of the capacity of people to keep eating else the whole clan was a very well mannered one. Not for nothing they call themselves khana-pina-sona company! Sharing here the recipe of the Khari Shankarpali I had made for the trip.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
4 - 5 green chilies
handful of curry leaves (variation)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup water
Oil to fry

In a big bowl take the flour. Make a well in the flour and add salt, turmeric powder, caraway seeds, sesame seeds. Coarse crush green chilies in mortar and pestle. Add the crushed chilies to the flour in the well. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and pour it over the flour and in the well. With a wooden spoon mix the flour. Do not do it with hand as it may cause a burn. Then add the water and knead a tight dough but smooth dough. Let it rest for atleast an hour. Cover the dough with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out.

Later roll out chapatis thicker than normal, cut into shapes of your choice with a knife or cookie cutters. Separate each cut and fry in hot oil till golden. These taste like spicy biscuits. I also use a handful of curry leaves sometimes and crush them along with the green chilies before adding to the flour.

They are crunchy and an excellent accompaniment with tea or coffee. It aslo surprises people as people associate shankarpale with sweetness. This is a different kind though.

Note:

Shatapavle is the of walking hundred steps after dinner to help digestion, before one retires for the day.

ChavaLichya Shenga

The steel serving dishes a gift for the blog from my SIL. Farmer's Poorna Anna Taat or full meal of Green ChavaLichya Shenga, Anita's Bakar Bhaji, karlyachi chatni, Jowar bhakri and rice.

ChavaLichya Shenga or Yard long beans are only half yard long! Ain't that funny but now I didn't measure them with a scale so don't know the exact length. I love these beans stir fried the Gujarathi way and I won't touch it if it is made any other way. These beans have a mild flavour and if cooked with too many spices looses its identity completely. This bhaaji can be eaten on its own too.

Ingredients

1/4 kg Yard long beans broken into pieces
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
2 green chilies chopped fine
2 teaspoons oil
salt to taste

Heat oil fry green chilies in it. Add the broken beans stir fry for 5 mins. Then add the powders and salt and cook for another 2-3 mins. Remove them from the heat before they shrivell up. Healthy bhi tasty bhi.

We enjoyed Anita's Bakar Bhaji. This was a new learning for me. Anita, Dad gave you full marks! We loved the balanced taste of sweet, sour, spicy. It tasted superb with bhakri and good with rice too, Kalvun (mixed with hand).

Karlyachi chatni is sunflower seeds chatni. It is made by pounding the seeds with red chilies in a mortar. Now you have to tell me if I am right or wrong about this?

Dadpe Pohe

Dasara is over and soon it will be Divali. One breakfast that is a must on the Abhyanga Snan day is Dadpe Pohe. My Mom used to make this really nice. We loved it more at this time of the year as even before Divali itself we would have eaten too many sweets so this savory breakfast was a good change.

Mom also made sure we drank enough of water extract of Wawding, now even Google does not have information on this tiny fruit of ayurvedic importance. It looks like white pepper and tastes like wood bark. We kids hated it. I don't know from where Mom learnt this. She told us after too many sweets Wawding helps to take care of the tummy infected with worms. Now Mom is not around and I don't have worms in my tummy so Wawding no more finds a place in my kitchen. But I can tell it worked well for after the dose the following morning Mom had to handle a little girl running helter skelter with stringy white live things trying to find their way out.

I have heard of a no cook Dadpe Pohe recipe but this one is from memories of my Mom's style.

Ingredients


1 cup thin rice flakes/ patal pohe
1 onion
1/8 cup peanuts
1/8 cup roasted and split gram/ dahale
1/8 cup grated fresh coconut
handful of chopped fresh cilantro
2 red chilies
1 teaspoon oil
1/8 teaspoon mustard
a big pinch of turmeric
and chili powder
1/4 cup water

salt to taste
Lime wedges to be served on the side.

Heat oil and splutter mustard in a wok. Roast the peanuts till golden. Toast the split gram in Marathi its called dahale. Add in the red chillies by breaking into big pieces, chopped onions stir fry for a min then add the rice flakes. Stir and mix in the turmeric and red chili powder. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of water. Cover for 5 mins. Just to let the flavors seep in. Remove the lid and put off the heat.

Serve in a plate garnished with grated fresh coconut and cilantro with a plump wedge of lime atop. My cuz would meditate on the plate while he squeezed the lime mixed the pohe well with his fingers to get even flavor for a good 5 mins then washed his hand and ate one spoon at a time without speaking to anyone. But for me whenever the other type of pohe the Kande pohe is mentioned at home, I go, "Uh....no ...lets make something else. Uth sooth pohe kon khanaar!" (Who will eating that pohe!). To which Mom would say yeah give her bread instead with a smirk.

Then there is Karnataka version of Avalakki bhat that taste quite different from the Maharashtrian cousin due to the udid dal in the seasonings and the light touch of turmeric unlike the yellowish green marathi pohe. I love to eat Avalakki bhat with butter milk that is kannad influence I must say but only sometimes.

Here is proof of maharashtrain pohe craze

• IFR
• A Cook at Heart
• Food For Thought
• Matar Batate Pohe
• Sudamache Pohe
• Jugalbandi's twist
• Never heard of suggestion
• A Pohe series at GV Barve's
  
  

Note:
Bee has asked a good question, Why are patal pohe used for Dadpe pohe?

Traditionally Dadpe pohe does not call for soaked pohe or cooking, at the most a little tadka so patal pohe is used as it is easy to soften them by just sprinkling some water or with the juices released by the onions and lime.

Also you will see that the pohe in the plate are not really thin like Marathi patal pohe. Here in Blr. the thick pohe are just like rice and the patal pohe are medium thick. We have to order for marathi patal pohe as it is not readily available. So I use whatever variety available.

MarathMoLi Chocolate Akhrod Manuka Brownie

This recipe is specially for the self proclaimed chocolate snobs and our blogger buddies, Bee and Jai. It is to thank them for some fabulous reads they provide. I love their whacky sense of humour though I lack it many times. They won't share their pictures on the blog, I couldn't locate those chimps. Remember those, how Bee and Jai fooled us. They do let you into their lives though. You feel you know them and yet you don't. But like all blogger buddies we are bound by the passion for food, cooking and blogging. Bee is amchya Mumbaichi Mulgi and Jai a Mumbaicha Mulga Jawai so here's to you in jugalbandi style.

I ask Thou forgiveness for the blasphemy of menial chocolate substitutes for India don't keep parallels of all those wonderful ingredients you used and Moi not ready to pay from my nose. But I can swear they tasteth goooood. This is my second attempt to create a pirated copy of thy recipe of Chocolate-Almond Brownies in a row.

Ingredients

MarathMoLi Yaadi

• 25gms Cadbury's Cocoa pood
• 1 cup dahi
• 1 cup maida
• 1 cup Hershey's chocolate agal
• 1/4 Akhrod
• 3/4 cup saakhar
• 6 tablespoon tup
• mooth bhar manuka
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla sugandha
• 1/2 teaspoon bru tatpar kawphi
• 1/2 teaspoon baking pood
• 1/2 teaspoon meeth
• mooth bhar pista kachrya
  

List for the Angrez

25gms Cadbury's Cocoa powder
1 cup curds
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup Hershey's chocolate syrup
1/4 walnuts
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoon unclarified butter
handful raisins
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon bru instant coffee
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

handful pistachio slivers

Grind walnuts and sugar together to a powder. Mix all ingredients together except pistachio slivers. The batter should fold like cake batter. Prepare the baking tray by lining with foil hung over the edges and lightly brush it with oil. Pour in the batter and spread evenly by tapping the tray a bit. Sprinkle the pistachio slivers on the batter. Bake for 25 mins at 180 deg celcius. Remove while it looks still moist. Mine got a little dry. Also next time I would inlcude 2 more tablespoons of butter or 1 tablespoon of oil to keep them more moist.

Best way to enjoy these superb brownies is by dunking in cold milk.

I also recommend their:

Sometime ago I had made Falafels from their blog with kala chana/ black gram. Black gram is healthier than white chickpeas. They were very tasty.

In the picture you see falafels with ketchup on it, surrounded with orange wedges and a glass of spicy buttermilk.

Sundried Tomatoes N Cheese Bread

It was a weekend and as usual baking time for me. I started baking at 10 pm while I was watching TV. The proofing cycle takes really long and I was awake till midnight waiting for the doubling and to punch down. After greasing the tin finally pushed it into the preheated oven. The dough had risen well and knew that my bread will turn out good. Then just past 15 mins the power disappeared. I was worried my bread would collapse. Prayers to the power gods went unanswered for almost an hour. I must have peered at my rosy bread sitting sadly many times quite sleepily through the glass door of the oven.

After an hour the power came on. The baking resumed. I baked this one a little longer than normal about 45 mins just to avoid uncooked dough from being left inside as this was one single loaf of bread.

It was baked to perfection at 2.00 am and the baker was hungry. It might be an unearthly hour to eat but think of it so many people wake up to eat in the middle of the night. Plus I hadn't even gone to bed. I began tasting the warm freshly baked bread and ate up all that much before I cloud even stop to take a picture. Then I switched of the lights and went off to bed my tummy now comforted till late morning next day.

I woke up as the cell rang. Hi! said the voice at the other end. It was the doctor and our blogger buddy on the other end. I narrated to her the previous night's story. She too advised eating that much bread at an odd hour was bad. I agreed with her sheepishly. Do you recollect buddy?

My Dad wondered aloud if the oven eats up half the loaf after baking. I stuffed his face with a warmed up piece of this wonderful one before he could utter another word untill we were done away with much of the bread. We skipped lunch that day. So presenting to you~~~

To make this bread follow the Classic White bread till the first rise. Use the same measures of ingredients. Before you start working on the dough take 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes chop them up into bits and soak in water.

After the first rise is the shaping of the dough. From here there is twist in the story. Drain the rehydrated tomatoes on a mesh and pat dry lightly. Cube cheddar cheese to small bits till you get about 1/4 cup. Now roll out the dough about 8X12 inches. Sprinkle the rehydrate tomatoes and cheese on it and then roll up into a bundle. Now pat the roll into a greased tray of approx size 8X4. I used an oval one for this shape. Now score the dough to give it the look of a turtle shell. In each cell but a piece of cheese. Like you see here. Leave the dough covered with damp cloth for second rise. After an hour in warm weather OR whenever you see it doubled, this happens in colder weather. Finally you will see miss pinky ready to be baked. Miss pinky gets its color from the robust flavoured and intense colored sun dried tomatoes.

Preheat oven for 10 mins at 190 deg centigrade. Thrust in the tin and let it bake peacefully for 45 mins. Just 5 mins before the oven buzzer goes off brush the top of the loaf with whole milk or butter. Once the baking time is completed remove the loaf from the tin onto the grill and let it cool.

Serve it with a dip of your choice or lather it with cream cheese. This bread tastes best when warm as the cheese is soft and heart warming.