9. Pav Bhaji [Mixed VEG curry with bread/bun]

Ingredients [for 2-4 servings]

Potatoes, boiled and mashed 1 large

Tomatoes, chopped 2 medium

Onions, chopped 2 medium

Green capsicum, chopped deseeded 1 medium

Cauliflower, grated 1/4 small

Green peas, shelled 1/4 cup

Ginger, chopped 1 inch piece

Garlic, 8-10 cloves

Red Chilly Powder, 2 tablespoons

Oil, 3 tablespoons

Pav-bhaji masala, 1 1/2 tablespoons

[Pav-bhaji masala is a commercial spice powder made up of red chilli, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black pepper, clove, dry mango powder and turmeric powder.]

Salt, to taste

Butter, 3 tablespoons

Bread/Bun, 8 pieces

Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 1/4 cup

Lemon, cut into wedges 1

Recipe 

1. Boil green peas in salted water till soft, drain, mash lightly and set aside.

2. Grind ginger and garlic to a fine paste.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add three-fourth quantity of onions. Sauté till onion is light brown.

4. Add ginger-garlic paste and red chilly powder. Stir-fry for half a minute.

5. Add tomatoes and cook on medium heat for three to four minutes.

6. Add capsicum, mashed peas, cauliflower, potatoes and one and half cups of water.

7. Bring it to a boil and simmer for ten minutes, pressing with back of the spoon a few times, till all the vegetables are completely mashed.

8. Add Pav-bhaji Masala, salt and Cook on medium heat for two minutes, stirring continuously.

9. Add half the butter to this mix and allow it to melt.

10. Garnish with coriander leaves, remaining butter and serve hot with pav accompanied with remaining chopped onion and lemon wedges.

[If possible, heat the bun/bread on a pan by applying some butter to it before serving]

8. Chakulya [Varanphal]

Ingredients
1 cup Wheat flour
½ cup Lentil seed [Daal]
2 Table spoon grated dry Coconut
4-5 thin slices of Ginger
4-5 petals of Garlic
2 tea spoon Red Chilly Powder
½ tea spoon Salt
½ tea spoon Turmeric powder
1 tea spoon Edible Oil
1/2 tea spoon Cumin seeds
½ tea spoon Ghee

Recipe
1. Make dough out of wheat flour and roll this dough in to thin plates. Cut these dough plates with a knife into square pieces.
2. Cook the Daal in pressure cooker for 3 whistles and allow the cooker to cool down.
3. Add salt and turmeric powder to the cooked Daal and beat it well.
4. Start by adding Oil to the pan. Keep the stove flame low if you are a beginner.
5. Add Cumin seed to the heated Oil followed by Ginger, Garlic, Chilly powder and grated dry Coconut.
6. Add the Daal to cooking pan and add 4 cups of water. Allow the mix to boil.
7. Once the Daal mix starts boiling, add the cut pieces of wheat dough one by one.
8. Keep the flame low and allow this mix to cook for 10 minutes.
9. One of my favorites – Chakulya is ready to eat. Add the Ghee before serving hot and the recipe tastes magic!!

7. Tomato-Gaajar Shorba [Tomato and Carrot Soup]

 
Ingredients
2-3 Carrots
2 big sized Tomatoes
4-5 thin slices of Ginger
1 big sized Onion
½ tea spoon Salt
1 tea spoon Edible Oil
1/2 tea spoon Cumin seeds
½ tea spoon Ghee

Recipe
1. Chop the Tomatoes, Carrots and Onion and mix them. Add Ginger petals and half cup water to the mix as well.
2. Cook these vegetables in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles and allow the cooker to cool down.
3. Filter out all the water from cooked vegetables, and pour it in the jar for soup.
4. Grind the vegetables to form a thick, uniform pulp using a mixer and then mix this pulp with the water kept in the jar earlier.
5. Add salt to the mix and beat the mix for a while.
6. Put the oil in a pan and heat it on a low flame stove. Add cumin seeds to this oil and after a while add the vegetable pulp we have prepared.
7. When the mix is hot, pour the ghee to add an additional flavor. Ghee can always be skipped.
8. Pour the hot Tomato-Gaajar Shorba in soup bowls and you are all set to have a nutritious and tasty appetizer!!

6. Aamras [Mango Delight]

 
Ingredients
2-3 ripe juicy Mangoes
1 cup Milk
1 cup Sugar
½ tea spoon Cardamom Powder [Elaichi]
¼ tea spoon Nutmeg Powder [Jaiphal]

Recipe
1. Squeeze out all the mango pulp in a jar.
2. Beat it a little to make the pulp consistent and uniform.
3. Depending on how the mango pulp tastes, add sugar to make it sweet as per your liking. Luckily for me, our home grown Alphansoes taste just perfect and we seldom need to add any sugar to make Aamras :-)
4. Beat the mango pulp and sugar mixture till all the sugar gets dissolved in the pulp and then add the Cardamom powder and the Nutmeg powder.
5. Remember that Nutmeg powder can work magic and make you feel really sleepy after you have consumed this Mango Delight, so do not try to add this more, just for the sake of that extra flavor.
6. Mix the two powders well in the pulp and you have your delicious Aamras ready to eat!! You may choose to keep it in a freezer for a while before serving.

5. Methi-do-Pyaaja [Methi chi Bhaji]

 
Ingredients
1 Table Spoon Edible Oil
2 Medium sized Onion
5-7 Ginger petals
3-4 green Chilly
Some stems of Methi [Fenugreek leaves]
1 Tea spoon Salt

Recipe
1. Cut Onion in small square slices
2. Cut the green chilly and garlic petals in small pieces.
3. Get the tender leaves and small branches of Methi plants for preparing the recipe. Put aside the lower part of stem and roots of the plants.
4. Start by pouring oil in the cooking pan. Remember to keep the flame low, in case you are a newbie to cooking.
5. When the oil is hot, put the cut garlic in it and keep stirring till the cut garlic pieces become brownish in color.
6. Put in the cut chilly and the onion in it and then keep on stirring till the onion gets fried to become brownish in color.
7. Wash the Methi leaves in water to remove any dust particles etc. Put these washed leaves in pan and add half cup of water.
8. Cover the pan for 3-4 minutes and keep the flame low.
9. This is enough time for the tender Methi leaves to get cooked. Turn off the stove flame.
10. Your Methi-do-Pyaaja is ready to be served as a nutritious fiber recipe!!

4. Rassilaa Aloo Baingan [Eggplant-Potato with Tomato gravy]

Ingredients
2 Table Spoon Edible Oil
2 Medium sized Onion
2 Medium sized Tomatoes
1 Big Potato
2-3 Eggplants [Brinjals]
2 Tea Spoon Red Chilly Powder
5-7 Green Coriander leaves for dressing
2 Tea spoon Lentil Seed [Daal]
1 Tea spoon Salt
½ Tea spoon Turmeric Powder

Recipe
1. Cut Onion in small square slices
2. Cut Tomato in very small pieces or better make a tomato puree by grinding the tomatoes in mixer; cut coriander leaves and keep ready for dressing
3. Cut the Potato and Eggplants in square pieces and keep them soaked in water. This is to avoid them turning color due to starch present in these vegetables.
4. Start by pouring oil in the cooking pan. Remember to keep the flame low, in case you are a newbie to cooking.
5. When the oil is hot, put the cut onion in it and then keep on stirring till the onion gets fried to become brownish in color.
6. Put in the Tomato pieces/puree in the pan now. Stir for a while and put in the turmeric powder, Chilly Powder and Salt.
7. Put the cut Potato, Eggplant and also the Daal in the pan. Add little water in case you see that the ingredients are not getting mixed well.
8. Cover the pan for 2-3 minutes and keep the flame low.
9. Add 2 cups of water to the mix and allow the ingredients to cook for 10-15 minutes on a low flame.
10. Once cooked, your Rassilaa Aloo Baingan is ready. Season it with the cut Coriander leaves and serve hot!!

3. Plain Rice

The other day, I was watching some movie starring Shahid Kapoor, where he asks his neighboring Gujju auntie [who obviously has a beautiful and hot daughter], about how to cook Rice and Daal.
It was then i realized, by publishing the recipe on only Daal first, I may have missed the very basic ingredient of our diet.
Hence, here is a quick and simple recipe for making Plain Rice.
Ingredients
1 cup rice
2 cups of water
1/2 tea-spoon salt
Recipe
No mater you cook rice in a pressure cooker, or a pan or a utensil or a electric rice cooker, always keep the proportion of rice and water as 1 portion of rice as to two portions of water.
For pressure cooker,
1. Put 1 cup rice and 2 cups water in the cooker and add half tea-spoon of salt to this mix.
2. Turn on the stove and allow one whistle of cooker.
3. Allow the cooker to cool down and open it to have yummy Plain Rice ready!!

2. Ghevadaa Usal [Black Bean Seeds Fry]

Ingredients
2 Table Spoon Edible Oil
1 Medium sized Onion
1 Big Tomato
2 Tea Spoon Red Chilly Powder
5-7 Green Coriander leaves for dressing
½ Cup Black Bean Seeds [KaaLa Ghevadaa]
½ Tea spoon Salt
½ Tea spoon Turmeric Powder

Recipe
1. Cut Onion in small square slices
2. Cut Tomato in small pieces, cut coriander leaves and keep ready for dressing
3. Boil the Bean Seed with double the water till it becomes soft.
4. Start by pouring oil in the cooking pan. Remember to keep the flame low, in case you are a newbie to cooking.
5. When the oil is hot, put the cut onion in it and then keep on stirring till the onion gets fried to become brownish in color.
6. Put in the Tomato pieces in the pan now. Stir for a while and put in the turmeric powder, Chilly Powder and Salt.
7. Put the cooked Bean seeds [without water] in the pan. Add little water if you feel all ingredients are not getting mixed well.
8. Cover the pan for 2-3 minutes and keep the flame low.
9. Switch off the gas.
10. Your Usal for the Day is ready. Season it with the cut Coriander leaves and serve hot!!

1. Ghar ki Daal [Daal Fry]

Ingredients
5 Curry Leaves
1 Tea Spoon Cummin Seed
2 Table Spoon Edible Oil
1 Table Spoon Ghee
1 Medium sized Onion
3 Green Chillies
1 Big Tomato
5 Petals Garlic
5 thin slices of Ginger
5-7 Green Coriander leaves for dressing
½ Cup Lentil Seed [Daal]
½ Tea spoon Salt
½ Tea spoon Turmeric Powder


Recipe
1. Cut Onion in thin vertical slices
2. Cut chilies in 3 pieces each, cut coriander leaves and keep ready for dressing
3. Personally, I prefer to grind the tomato along with Ginger and Garlic in the mixer, but you can also cut Tomato in small pieces and then grind only Ginger and Garlic in the mixer.
4. Boil the Lentil Seed with double the water till it becomes soft.
5. Start by pouring oil in the cooking pan. Remember to keep the flame low, in case you are a newbie to cooking.
6. When the oil is hot, put the curry leaves and cumin seeds in it. Stir for a moment and then put chilly pieces in the hot oil.
7. Out the chopped Onion now and then keep on stirring till the onion gets fried to become brownish in color.
8. Put in the Tomato + Ginger + Garlic paste in the pan now. Stir for a while and put in the turmeric powder and Salt.
9. Beat the cooked Lentil seed for a while and then pour it in the pan. Add 1 cup of water to the pan and allow the mix to boil.
10. When the mix starts boiling, pour the ghee.
11. Allow the mix to boil for 2-3 minutes and then switch off the gas.
12. Your Daal Fry is ready. Season it with the cut Coriander leaves and serve hot!!

The journey begins ..

Cooking is my hobby and I cook very often. Last year, I volunteered for teaching Indian Recipes to the hearing impaired students of Japan. I taught them to cook Chicken Biryani, Raita and Kheer and the event was a huge success.

What more, it got in to the Japanese National Newspaper ‘Asahi Shinbun’.

So, I already had a background of displaying my culinary skills in front of an audience and teaching them to cook as well.

That was the flashback of this tale!!

Now comes a regular day in my life, where-in I get tired of eating the same vegetables every week. So, once in a while, I take the charge of kitchen and start cooking myself. I try to make some new recipe, which I had tried recently in a restaurant, or try to do a fusion act on Indian food items and create something new or try my hand at some delicious food item, just to check if I can do it as good as my mom and dad cook it. Sometimes, I just make tried-and-tested Indian/Maharashtrian home food.

During one of these days, I was browsing my movie collection to lend a few to a friend and I came across the movie – Julia and Julia!!

Immediately an idea struck!! Let’s try something on similar lines!!

Let's cook and lets blog about all those cooking experiments and adventures. And, Let's have a photo of the ingredients to be used and final cuisine, blog the ingredients and recipe steps for each one of the food items I make and thus make a collection of simple but yummy cuisines.

The journey of this blog begins with the most common cuisines made in a typical Maharashtrian family – Ghar ki Daal – the Daal Fry and the Black Beans Usal.

Enjoy Reading, Love Cooking and Cherish Eating!!