Khatte Meethe Karele (Sweet and Sour Bittergourd)

Good to be back after a long time with a very traditional recipe from my mom's kitchen. Karele or bittergourd is very good for health, but most of us fail to cherish it because of the typical bitter flavour. Here is something my mom used to do to make them tasty for us when we were small kids and since then I have developed liking for karela.

Take:
Karela (bitter gourd): 4 large
salt: 3 t spn
Hari mirch (green chilly): 1 large chopped
Adrak (ginger): 1 tspn grated
Dhania powder (coriander powder): 2 tspn
saunf powder: 1tspn
Haldi powder (turmeric powder): 1 tspn
garam masala (Kitchen king): 1 tspn
oil: 3 tbspn
mustard seeds: 1 tspn

• Take four large karela (Bitter gourd), peel them (keep the peel separately, we will use them ) . Cut each karela in four round pieces and then slit each piece longitudinally to get four pieces. Rub one tea spoon salt on these pieces and one tea spoon salt on the peel. Keep them for 15-20 mins. This helps to reduce the bitterness in karela.
• After this wash the peel and karela pieces to remove salt.
• Take oil, heat it and add mustard seeds till they splutter, add green chillies, ginger and turmeric to oil. Add the karelas and cook them covered for 5-8 mins till they are crunchy.
• Add the peel, and add about 1/2 tspn salt (less salt is needed as we had already kept them in salt for some time).
• Keep the karela and peel on slow flame, tossing in between, till they are soft and cooked well.
• Add coriander powder, saunf powder, red chilly powder and mix well in curry. Saute it for 1-2 minutes. 
• Add 1" x 1" jaggery cube and 1 1/2  tspn tamarind paste and mix well.
• Saute it for 2-3 mins add garam masala, mix well and transfer in a serving dish. garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and serve it in meals along with dal, curry and chapatis.
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Bread Idly

I wish you all a very Happy New Year 2011. As the new year unfolds, may God fulfill all your wishes.

Today I bring to you an exciting snack item based on bread. The idly is crispy at its base and soft on top that gives it a very different feeling in mouth. And a mixture of potato and curd gives it all together a very  different flavour. So enjoy making this quick item, serve it hot in breakfast or evening snack.

You need: 

12 slices of bread (sandwich/ brown/ multi grain bread anything will do depending on your taste). Use a round sharp vessel to cut it in roundals. 

Potato: 4 medium sized (Boiled and meshed)

Onion: 1 medium sized (finely chopped)

green chilly: 1 large finely chopped

pepper: 1/2 tspn

fresh coriander: 2 tbspn finely chopped

salt to taste.

Curd: 3/4 cup: beaten, add salt and 1 tspn red chilly flakes.

Butter: 25 gms.

Oil: to roast bread on tawa/ flat pan.

• Mix meshed potatoes, chopped onion, green chilly, coriander,salt and pepper to make the masala (filling).
• Make six balls from the potato masala.
• Take a bread slice(cut in round shape), flatten one ball of potato masala on one side.
• Heat a flat pan/ tawa, put 1 tb spn oil on it and keep the bread with potato masala side facing pan.
• Take another slice of bread , put butter on one side  and keep it on the bread on pan with butter side facing down.
• Spread a tbsp of curd on top of this idly.Cover it with a deep plate, so that the curd doesn't stick on cover. 
• Cook it in low flame covered for 4-5 minutes. This will make the potato at the bottom crispy and the curd on top seeps in the bread.
• Remove from pan and serve it hot with green chutney and tomato sauce.
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Vegetable Jalfrezz

Take:
French beans: 4-5 (Cut it diagonally into oblique slices)
carrots (Orange): 2 medium sized (Cut it diagonally into oblique slices)
capsicum: 1/2 large, cut 1" square pieces.
Peas: 1/2 cup
Onion: 1 medium sized (cut into four pieces from top and then remove each layer)
mushrooms: 6-7 (cut into four longitudinally)
baby corn: 3-4 (Cut it diagonally into oblique slices)
Onion paste:  Take 1 medium sized onion and grind it with 1 green chilly.
1/2 " shoot of ginger, 3-4 garlic cloves: chop into fine pieces
Pepper: 1 tspn
Subji masala: 1 tbspn (I use MDH kitchen king). Alternately you can use 1 tspn garam masala.
Tomato: 1 medium sized pureed
Tomato sauce: (3-4 tbspn)
salt to taste
cheddar cheese/ cottage cheese and coriander leaves for garnishing.
Oil: 5 tbspn

• Boil 800 ml water with 1 tspn salt and 1 tspn sugar. Remove from burner and add beans, carrots, peas and baby corn to blanch.
• After 3-4 minutes, take off the vegetables from water, leaving the water in vessel.
• Heat the same water for 2-3 minutes and then add mushrooms to blanch for 3-4 minutes. Remove mushrooms from water.
• Heat 2 tbspn oil in a pan, and add chopped ginger and garlic and saute for a minute.
• Add onion and capsicum. Saute on high flame for 3-4 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute again till all water is drained. Add the remaining vegetables and saute it again for 2-3 minutes.
• On another stove heat 3 tb spn oil and roast onion paste till golden brown. 
• Add tomato paste and roast it till for 4-5 minutes stirring continuously.
• Add the sauted vegetables to this masala. 
• Add pepper powder and subji masala and mix it on high flame for 1-2 minutes.
• Add tomato sauce and mix it well.
• To give the burnt tandoori flavour to the curry, slightly displace the kadhai/pan from heat, take a spoonful of vegetable in porous/slited steel laddle and keep it on flame for 30 seconds. Mix this back in kadhai and take another spoonful of jalfrezzi. Do this 3-4 times.
• Mix the jalfrezzi again, transfer it in a serving dish.
• Garnish it with grated cheese, paneer and serve hot.
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Sewai Halwa/ Semolina Pudding

I was craving for sweet sewai the other day specially  made on the occasion of Id and I came across this recipe on internet (ifoodtv). Adapted it to Indian style as the flavour of cardamom should be prominent for me in halwa. I tried it though now sure how it will come out because of egg as an ingredient which I had never tried with semolina. But to my surprise it turned out well..liked by Sanjeev and Toshini both. I am putting it down, I need to try it again without egg, I will share the subsequent adaptations as well.

You need:
Semolina (sewai) : 1 3/4 cups
ghee: 2 tspn
sugar: 1 1/2 cups (grind it)
egg: 1 (well beaten)
coconut milk: 2 cups (I took half of a big raw coconut and grinded it with two cups water and then sieved the milk)
cardomon (Elaichi): 2 pieces
Cloves (Laung): 2 pieces
salt: 1/2 tspn
water: 1 1/2 cup
vegetable oil: 3 tbspn
poppy seeds (khus khus): 2 tspn
Mewa katran (kaju, badaam, kishmish): 3-4 tbspn (optional) [thin long slits of almonds, and cashew nuts; some raisins]

• Coarsely grind cardamom and cloves in a stone crusher.
• Roast semolina in ghee till golden brown in a thick bottomed pan.
• Beat egg in a bowl, add sugar, vegetable oil, coconut milk, salt, water and mix well using a beater. 
• Add this mixture to  semolina and cook on high flame stirring continuously till you see the first signs of bubbles. 
• Reduce the flame and the mixture will also start thickening. Cook on low flame, stirring continously till the mixture thickens and starts leaving the surface.
• Mix the mewa katran and cardamon-clove powder.
• Transfer this in a greased baking dish and layer it with poppy seeds.
• Put this in convection 200 degrees for 10 minutes. This will make the top layer crispy. (incase you do not prefer to have some crispy semolina you can avoid this and can directly grill the semolina).
• Then grill it for 8-10 minutes till golden brown on surface.
• Serve hot.

DOZZA

A traditional uttapam with a cheesy touch to make it look like pizza from the toping and having a base of dosa- is what this recipe is all about. Both of us -me and Sanjeev  just love this, and I have to make this whenever I make dosa.

Try this as it tastes different from pizza or uttapam.

Dosa batter (Makes 10-12 dozzas) (To prepare dosa batter, soak 2 1/2 cups of boiled rice, 1/2 cup raw rice and 1 cup urad dal for 7-8 hours. Grind rice and dal separately, Mix after grinding , add salt and enough water to get the pouring consistency. Keep it in warm place overnight, or for 8-10 hours for the batter to ferment).


For dozza topping: (5-6 dozza)
Potato boiled: 3-4  medium sized (Meshed, add salt, 1/2 tspn black pepper powder)
capcisum (chopped): 1 large
onion (Chopped): 2 medium
Tomato sauce: 1/2 cup diluted with 2-3 tspn water
butter: 50 gms
cheddar cheese (Grated): 40 grams
Oil: 3-4 tb spn

• Heat a flat pan/ non stick tawa.
• Reduce the flame, put one cup batter and spread it evenly into a thick dosa.
• Top it with two tbspn potato masala, two tbspns capsicum, two tbspn onions.
• Put some butter at 2-3 places, tomato sauce in circles or drops, and top it with grated cheese.
• Circle the dosa with oil, so that it is cooked on edges and can be removed easily later.
• Cover the dozza and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes. The dozza will be cooked and cheese melts like pizza.
• Remove the cover, increase the flame for a minute. This makes the bottom of dozza crispy.
• Nudge at the edges and remove carefully, tranfer to a serving dish and serve hot.

Methi ke paranthe

Methi paratha is a favourite in winters...made it yesterday...missed to take a picture, but thought of posting the recipe...

Take:
Wheat floor: 4 cups
Gram floor: 3/4 cups
3 cups of chopped methi bhaji (fenugreek leaves)
Oil: 3 tbspn
Green chilly: 1
Ginger: 1/2 inch shoot
Coriander powder: 1 tspn
Garam masala: 1/2 tspn
Rai (mustard seeds): 1/2 tspn
Salt

• Crush ginger and green chilly in stone crusher to make a paste, or finely chop them.
• Heat oil, add rai to splutter.
• Add  ginger chilly paste, coriander powder and then washed fenugreek leaves.
• Add salt and cook for 5-6 minutes till cooked. Add garam masala and remove it from fire.
• Mix both wheat and gram floor, add cooked fenugreek  leaves. Knead it with warm water and make 10 balls from the dough.
• Roll a ball into a 4 inch dia roti, layer it with a coat of oil and then make it into a ball folding the edges in the center.
• Roll this ball into a 8 inch paratha after coating it with wheat floor (palethan).
• Put it on a hot tawa (flat pan) on high flame, roast both the sides on high flame.
• Reduce the flame and layer both the sides with oil . Make it crisp by cooking it on low flame.
• Serve hot with curd chutney. 
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  Make rest of the parathas similarly.

Creamy Pasta

After a good break at Andaman and Nicobar islands and defending my PhD thesis proposal, I was back in kitchen today...made creamy pasta, tangy pasta, salad and garlic bread in dinner ....Here is the creamy pasta recipe.

Onion : 1 (medium sized)
ginger: 1/2 tspn
butter: 2tbspn
maida (white floor): 2 tspn
oil: 1 tbspn
farfalle pasta: 1 1/2 cup
black pepper powder: 1 tspn
oregano: 1 tspn
sugar: 1/2 tspn
salt:  to taste

• Boil pasta in water with salt and a little oil. Strain and wash with cold water.
• Make paste of onion with ginger.
• Heat oil, and saute onion paste till it is golden brown.
• Heat butter in a thick bottomed pan, add maida and roast till golden brown.
• Add a little warm milk and mix it well with floor, see that no lumps are formed.
• Add remaining milk, sugar, salt, black pepper, cooked onion paste and mix well.
• Add pasta in this mixture and mix well. 
• Transfer in serving dish and serve hot with garlic bread.