Methidana curry (Fenugreek seeds: sweet and sour curry)

Methi (fenugreek) is very good for health in all forms. This recipe is from my mom's kitchen. She would make it during "Paryushan parva"- the ten day fasting festival for Jains, when we don't eat green vegetables. There are other things that she would make during paryushan- kharak-kishmish ki launji, mogar ki subzi, ker saangri, which I will try to bring up here. 


You need:
Methi dana (fenugreek seeds): half cup soak for 5-6 hours.
Oil/ghee: 3 tbspn
Asofoetida (Hing): 1 pinch
Coriander powder (dhania powder): 2 tspn
Turmeric powder (haldi powder): 1/2 tspn
Red chilly powder: 1 tspn
Tamarind paste: 1 tspn
Jaggery (gur): 1" cube (you can use less if you want it less sweet)
garam masala: 1/4 tspn.
chopped coriander leaves for garnishing
salt to taste

Heat ghee, add a pinch of asofoetida, coriander powder and turmeric powder.Add boiled fenugreek seeds. Add salt red chilly powder and mix well. Add tamarind paste and jaggery. Mix well, cook covered for five minutes. Add a pinch of garam masala and remove from fire. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Chane di daal ke pakode

This is my Holi recipe.. I invariably make it on every holi…for it is a good serving to the Holi visitors....

• Soak 2 cups of chana dal in water overnight or  for 4-5 hours.
• Grind it with a pinch of heeng.
• Add finely chopped onion (1 cup), sabot dhania (2 tspn), grated ginger (1” shoot), chopped green chillies (two), Coriander powder (2 tspn), garam masala (1 tspn), chopped green coriander (1/4 cup). Add salt to taste, soda (1 tsp) and mix well. 
• Deep fry pakodas of 1” size on high flame. 

But today I tried it differently- mixed spinach to make vada (cutlet) and it worked well. Heres what I did:

• Took 1 1/4  cup chana dal (soaked it overnight).
• Kept aside two tb spoon soaked dal and grinded rest of the dal with a pinch of heeng (asofoetifa). (avoid adding any additional water)
• To this paste I added the coarse dal that I had kept aside, 1 cup chopped spinach, 1 onion chopped longitudinally, 4-5 chopped garlic flakes, 1 tspn garam masala, 2 tbspn chopped coriander, 2 tspn coriander powder,  2 tspn coriander seeds.
• I added two tspn besan (gram flour) to make the paste tough so that vadas can be made.
• Made vadas (cutlets) and deep fry them.
• Serve it with green chutney, curd chutney and tomato sauce.

Chat ke chhole

Chaat needs no introduction in India; its hot, sweet and spicy(chatpata) recipe from North of India. Chaat includes many items and this is one among them, can be used with alu tikki (potato cutlets), mathri or hotdog.

To make chhole you need:
1 cup: Kabuli chane (white chickpeas)
Imli/ tamarind paste: 2-3 tb spn
Jaggery (gur): 1" ball
Cumin seeds (zeera): 1 tspn
Dry coriander powder (dhania powder): 2 tspn
red chilly (lal mirch) powder: 1 tspn
Roasted cumin seed powder (bhuna zeera powder): 1 tspn
Black salt (kala namak): 2 tspn
black pepper powder (kali mirch powder): 1 tspn
Chhole masala: 2 tb spn
salt to taste
oil: 2 tbspn
Green coriander (hara dhania) chooped: 1/2 cup for garnishing

Preparation:
Soak chane overnight or  for 6-8 hrs. Cookwith 4-5 cups of water in pressure cooker for 4 whistles on high heat and  10 minutes on low heat. The chane should be cooked but not meshed. Take out half a cup and mesh them.
Heat oil, add zeera to crackle. Add dhania powder and saute for some time, add the boiled chane with water. Make a well in the centre using a steel mug, water will collect in the centre. Add Imli paste, gur, bhuna zeera powder, kala namak, kali mirch powder, salt, red chilly powder, chhole masala. Add the meshed chole also. Mix well. Let the chane cook on low flame for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. (If required add more water to get the desired consistency).
Serve it with alu tikki, or Alu tikki hotdog (picture).

Moong Dal cheela

I am putting up a healthy recipe for morning breakfast shared by my friend Rachna. I tried it sometime back and it turned out fantastic. Missed taking a picture. It is similar to pesserettu made in Andhra Pradesh.
You need: 
Chilka Moong daal (2 cups)
Garlic ( 5-6 cloves)
Onion (medium size - half)
Ginger (a small chunk)
green chillies (3-4)
besan- half a cup
salt,red pepper
Soak Moong dal overnight or for 4-5 hours.

Method:

• Blend Moong dal, onion (chopped) ,garlic,chillies,ginger in a blender
• When ready to make, take this mixture and add besan to it,
• Add salt, red pepper according to taste (since green chillies are already added)
• Spread on the skillet/tavaa like a dosa and turn sides when cooked.
• Enjoy with green corainder chutney or pickle.

You can garnish each cheela with grated paneer (cottage cheese) or a mixture of grated orange carrot, ginger, salt and garam masala.  I used paneer and it really worked out, and my friend once served us with the carrot topping which was something different and very tasty.

Singhade ke pakode

I observed heavy traffic on my blog today, especially on the "upwaas ki recipes". So I thought of sharing one more vrat ki recipe that I made today- Singade ke pakode. Thanks for visiting my blog, I would greatly appreciate if you share your experiences.

You need:
Boiled and meshed potatoes: 3 medium sized
Green chillies: 2 (chopped)
Green Coriander (chopped): 2-3 tb spn
ginger (grated): 1 tb spn (optional as some people dont take ginger in fast)
singhade ka aata: 5-6 heaped tea spn
coriander powder: 2 tspn
garam masala: 1 tspn
red chilly powder: 1 tspn
salt: 1 1/2 t spn or to taste

• Mix all the ingredients, add approximately half cup water and mix it well. Infact beat it with  hand/ladle to make a uniform mixture.
• Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan and then fry small pakodas around 3/4" in size on high flame.
• Serve hot with green chutney.

Singade ke aate ka halwa

Its Mahashivratri today! So I bring you another vrat ki recipe, singhade ke aate ka halwa. Toshini just loves this.

You need: 
Singhade ka aata: 1 cup
Ghee: 1 cup
sugar 1 cup
cardamom: 2 deseeded and crushed
2 cups warm water
dry grated coconut for garnishing

• Heat ghee in thick bottomed pan/kadhai
• Add singhade ka aata and roast it on slow flame stirring continously, till it turns dark brown. (depending on how much brown you prefer)
• Add warm water slowly, stirring continuously so that no lumps are formed.
• Immediately add sugar and stir continuously to mix everything well.
• Add cardamom seeds powder and mix well.
• Transfer in a flat dish/thali and spread the halwa evenly. You can use greased flat laddle or your palm to smoothen the surface.
• Garnish it with grated coconut.
• Let it cool for 10 mins. Cut square/rhomboidal slices and serve.
• You can reheat in microwave at the time of serving.