Crispy Arvi

Things required:
Boiled peeled Arvi: 500 grams
green chilly : 1 (chopped)
rai (mustard): 1/2 tspn
turmeric powder: 1/4 tspn

coriander powder: 3 tspn
saunf powder: 1tspn
mango powder (amchoor): 1 tspn
black salt: 1/2 tspn
black pepper: 1/4 tspn
oil: to fry
garam masala: 1/2 tspn
sugar: 2 tspn
green coriander chopped to garnish
salt to taste

Preparation
Flatten each arvi with hands and fry all arvis till crispy. Heat 2 tspn oil, add rai till it splutters, add green chilly, turmeric, coriander powder, sounf powder, amchoor, 2 tb spn green coriander in same order. Add black salt, black pepper and arvi. Mix well till masala coats each arvi well and cook covered on slow flame for 2-3 minutes. Add garam masala and sugar. Remove from fire, garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot.

Malwi Kadhi

Things required:
Pakodas:
Besan: 1 cup,
curd: 1 tbspn
ajwain: 1/2 tspn
Haldi (turmeric): 1/4 tspn
salt to taste

Kadhi:

Thick curd: 500 ml

Besan (gram flour): 3 heaped tspn
methi dana (fenugreek seeds): 14-15
rai (mustard): 1 tspn
coriander powder: 2 tspn
haldi: 1 tspn
garam masala: 1/2 tspn
salt as per taste
green chilly: 2 chopped
curry leaves: 8-10
sugar: 2 tspn
heeng: 1 pinch
Cooking Oil: 3 tbspn

Preparation:
Mix all ingredients of pakodas and add enough water to make a thick paste. Heat oil, add 1 tbspn hot oil to this batter and  make round pakodas.

Beat curd, mix besan in it so that no lumps are formed. Add 750 ml to 1 ltr water depending on the thickness of kadhi you prefer.

Heat oil, add rai till it splutters, add methi dana, green chilly, curry leaves in same order. Add haldi and coriander powder. Add the curd and besan mix with continous stirring on high flame. Keep stirrring continuously till one boil else the curd will split. Add salt and let the kadhi boil for 15 minutes on medium flame, stirring in between. Add sugar and mix it. Add garam masala, pakodas and remove from fire. Serve hot with rice.

Additional tempering ( tadka) can be done to add more taste and flavour.

Tadka (Tempering):

Things required- 1 tbspn oil , 1/2 tspn rai, 4-5 curry leaves, fresh green coriander and 1 tspn red chilly powder.

Heat oil in a small tadka pan, add rai curry leaves. Remove from fire add some green coriander and then red chilly powder. Adding some green coriander reduces the temperature of oil so that red chilly doesn't burn. Pour this tadka on top of kadhi and serve.

Baigan Bharta (Roasted Eggplant recipe)

Things Required:

One Big Baigan (Eggplant): about 500 gms.
Onion: One cup (chopped)
Tomato: one cup
green chilly: two (finely chopped)
Ginger: 1" piece (grated or crushed)
Garlic: 6-7 flakes (chopped finely)

Green coriander: for garnishing

Amchoor (dry mango powder): 1 tspn
coriander powder: 3 t spn
haldi (turmeric): 1/2 tspn
red chilly powder: 1/2 tspn
Rai (mustard): 1 tspn
garam masala: 1/2 tspn
oil: 3 tbspn

Preparation:

Roast baigan on gas flame, and peel off the shell. Remove the cover and mesh it.

Heat oil, add rai till it splutters, add green chilly, garlic and ginger and saute it for half a minute. Add onion, cook till brown. Add tomato, cook well (sauting it) till starts leaving oil. Add coriander powder, haldi, amchoor and cook till masala is roasted. Add red chilly powder mix well. Add meshed roasted baigan and mix well. Cook covered for 8-10 minutes. Cook open sauting well for 5-6 minutes. Add garam masala and remove from fire. Serve with coriander garnishing.

Pittha

Things required:
Filling: .
Chana dal : 1 1/2 cups (soak in water for 4-6 hours)
Garlic: 4-6 cloves
green chilly: 1
ginger: 1" piece
salt to taste
Cover:
Wheat flour: 2 cups
Warm cooking oil: 1 tbspn
salt to taste
Tempering :
Cooking oil: 3-4 tbspn
Rai (mustard): 1 tspn
green chilly (chopped): 1
haldi (turmeric): 1/2 tspn
Curry leaves: 8-10
Til seeds: 1 tspn
Poppy seeds: 1 tspn
dry grated coconut: 2 tbspn
coriander: 4 tb spn
garam masala: 1/2 tspn

Preparation:
Grind all the ingredients  of filling adding 1/2 cup water to make it a smooth paste. Add oil and salt to wheat flour and knead with water to make a dough of rolling consistency. Make four balls. Roll each ball into a 6" diameter circle. Place 1/4 th of the filling on one side and fold it to make a semi circle gujiya and press the edges tightly to seal the filling in gujiya. Make similar gujiyas of other balls.
Add all the four gujiyas to boiling water in a big pan so that all of them immerse properly. Cook on medium flame till the gujiyas come up on the water surface. Remove and keep them on a cloth to cool. Slice gujiyas to make eye shaped pitthas of 1 cm thickness.
Tempering: Heat oil, add rai till it splutters, add green chilly, curry leaves, til seeds, poppy seeds, haldi, 2 tb spn coriander, coconut in same order. Add Pitthas, mix them gently so that the masala covers them evenly. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring and mixing. Remove from fire, add garam masala and sugar. Transfer in serving dish and garnish with remaining coriander. Serve hot with peanut coriander chutney.

Peanut Coriander chutney

Things required
Green fresh coriander: 1 cup chopped
Ginger: 1/2" (peeled )
Green chilly: 1
garlic: 4-6 cloves
Peanuts: 1 tbspn
Laung sev: 1 tbspn (its a namkeen, Haldiram make is available in market)
black salt 1/4 tspn.
salt to taste
lemon juice: 2 tspn

Preparation: Add all the ingredients (except lemon juice) and grind in a mixer to make chutney and add lemon juice.

Yummy Sandwiches

Things Required: Makes 7-8 sandwiches
Bread: 16 slices
Filling:
Boiled mashed Potatoes: 3 medium sized
Boiled chopped vegetables [bottlegourd (lauki), carrot, french beans, peas]: 2 cups
Capsicum (chopped): 1 small sized
Milk: 300ml
Maida : 2 tbspn
Butter: 40 gms
Grated cheese : 40 gms
black pepper: 1/2 tspn
salt to taste
sugar: 2 tspn

Preparation
Roast maida in butter till it is light brown and stops smelling raw. Add milk continously stirring to avoid forming lumps and cook till it becomes a smooth sauce. Add sugar, pepper and capsicum and cook for 2 mins. Add potatoes, vegetables and grated cheese, mix and cook for 2 mins.
Use this filling to make sandwiches preferably in electric grilled sandwich maker using butter on the outer bread covers. Serve hot with tomato sauce and green chutney.

Crispy Rawa Cheela

Things required:(makes 6-8 cheelas)

Rawa: 2 cups

Besan (gram flour): 1/2 cup

Carrot (grated): 1/2 cup

Cabbage (grated): 1/2 cup

Capsicum (grated): 1/2 cup

ginger (grated): 1tspn

green chilly (finely chopped): 2 pcs

curd: 1 cup

salt to taste

cooking oil : to make cheelas

Preparation:

Beat curd , mix it with rawa. Add all other ingredients. Add water to make a smooth batter to make cheelas (not very thin). Keep it for 30 minutes.

Heat tawa and make cheelas like dosas. Serve it with green chutney and tomato sauce.

(Tips: To make them crispy, initially heat tawa very hot, put some oil all over, sprinkle water over it and then lay cheela on high flame. When the cheela leaves surface or it is brown on one side, turn it upside and let it cook on slow flame for 1-2 minutes. Turn it again and keep it on high flame, till it is crispy. Fold it and serve this cheela hot. On high flame lay another cheela, and follow same procedure.)

Bread Vada

Things required:

Sandwich bread (large sized) : 18 pieces

Curd: 500 gms

roasted cumin seeds powder: 1 tspn for curd, 1 tspn for garnishing

red chilly powder: 1 tspn for garnishing (optional)

sugar: 1heaped tspn

black salt: 1/2 tspn

salt: to taste

Stuffing

Cucumber: 4 large (grated)

cashew nuts: 20 pieces broken

raisins: 20-30 pieces

pepper powder: 1/2 tspn

salt to taste

Preparation:

Beat curd well, add salt, sugar, black salt and  roasted cumin seed powder.

Stuffing: Extract juice from grated cucumber to make it dry, add cashew nut pieces, raisins, salt, pepper.

Take bread slices, cut it in round shape using a sharp edged bowl. Place 2 tbspn of cucumber stuffing on one bread. Keep other bread piece on top of it, close the edges by pressing. Make all vadas. Lay these vadas in a round serving dish. While serving pour curd over it. Garnish it with alternate lines of cumin seed powder and red chilly powder. Serve with imli chutney.

Indorei Pohe

Things required:
Pohe: 4 cups [Pohe are available in three thickness- paper poha (very thin), medium thick poha and thick poha (as good as rice). Take the poha with medium thickness].
onion: 1 cup chopped
green peas: 2 tb spn (can use frozen peas)
potato: 1 medium finely chopped (optional)
green chilly: 2 chopped
curry leaves: 6-8
green coriander to garnish
lemon: 1
mustard (rai): 1/2 tspn
groundnut: 1 tb spn (optional)
saboot dhania (coriander seeds): 10-15 seeds coarsely crushed
saunf: 1 tspn
haldi: 1/2 tspn
sugar: 1 1/2 tspn
Oil: 2 tbspn
salt : to taste
garam masala: 1 tspn
Preparation:
Wash and soak poha in water for 2 minutes. Drain water and keep it in strainer for 5-10 minutes. (the time for soaking depends on the quality of poha, if it is very soft you may just wash it with water and keep in in strainer, sprinkling water in between)
Take peas in half a cup of water, add a pinch of salt and sugar and microwave covered for 2 minutes. Else, the peas can be cooked in boiling water with sugar and salt.
Heat Oil , add rai till it splutters, green chilly, curry leaves, saunf and coriander seeds in same order. Add groundnuts, cook for 1/2 minute, add haldi, onion, potatoes, and little salt just enough for onion & potatoes. Cook covered for 3-4 minutes, stirring in between ,till potatoes are cooked. Add peas saute for a minute. Add salt and sugar in poha. Add poha to kadhai. Mix poha with oil, onion and potaoes well. Cook covered for 4-5 minutes, stirring in between. Add 1 tbspn chopped coriander, mix well and cook covered for 2-3 minutes. Remove from fire, tranfer in serving dish, garnish with chopped coriander. Serve with lemon, laung sev (namkeen), and poha masala/ jeeravan.
(The taste of poha is preserved more if after mixing it in oil , it is cooked in microwave for 2-3 minutes. Mix garam masala, coriander with poha before microwaving it. )

keeping fresh coconut for a 4-5 days in refrigerator

Remove coconut from shell. Keep cocnut pieces in airtight plastic box (I prefer tupperware) filled with water in the chiller section. Coconut stays fresh without smelling for 4-5 days.

low oil absorb

If you want your fried items to absorb less oil, add a tspn salt in hot oil.