# Tasty Recipes: January 2009

Friday, January 30

Spiced Kaala Chana (Black Chick Peas)

When we were kids, on the eve of Durga Ashtami, during navratra; we were invited by so many neighbouring aunties, for what is called 'kanya puja'. And in every house we got the almost same menu of puri, halwa and these kale chane. Though the menu was same but in every house the food tasted very differently. Some made these chane a bit sweet , some spicy ,some added coconut to it and so on... (I think this was due to fact, that we stayed in the cosmopolitan city.) .But, as its quite obvious, i liked the bestwhich was made by mom . And now for me, it isin't that only during Navratra, but i cook it all the year round as a side dish. So here goes one more recipe of my mom...

Ingredients:

Black chick peas(kala chane) 1 cup
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
A pinch asafoetida
Curry leaves 5- 6
Green chilies 2 3
Coriander powder 2 tsp
Oil 2 tsp
Salt

Black Chana, Before, and after its soaked and boiled. See it swells to almost double.

Method:

Soak black chane for atleast 4 to 6 hours and then pressure cook them till they are soft.Wash , drain and set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add curry leaves, green chilies and asafoetida. Now add cooked chane, salt, coriander powder and cook for 5-6mins, covered.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Variations for Chane usli:

Can add 2-3 tbl spns fresh/frozen coconut.
Add 1/4 tsp sugar or jaggery to make its sweeter version.

The chickpeas are a bit heavy on tummy if you eat it for dinner. Better have them for breakfast or lunch so that it gets digested by the time you go to sleep.

Just loved this snap... See here you can even see fumes coming out..

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Sending this to JFI: Chickpeas and,

Also sending this to MLLA: Seventh Helping at cooking4allseasons ,started by Susan’s .
along with Spicy Chole
Green peas Usal
Mutter paneer and
Daal makhani

Saturday, January 24

Stuffed chillies ( bharleli mirchi)

I'm not much into cooking stuffed foods,(i feel it a bit lenghty, first cook stuffing and then cook it again stuffed into something else. Isin't it) . But this one is quite a regular, as it goes with anything n everthing and also can be stored upto a week in the fridge. Also here in singapore we get all the veggies (and also the same veggies,quite boring) throughout the year. So its always available too. One more reason, my hubby likes it very much. So many reason's to cook it..wow.. so this one goes just for you my dear....

Ingredients:

12 15 long thick green chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch heeng (asofetida)
1 tsp oil

For stuffing:

1/2 cup gram flour (besan)
2 tsp Amchoor powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
4 tbsp oil(approx.)
Salt to taste

One more, aren't they beautiful....

Method:

Dry roast Gramflour ,till the aroma comes.(Usually this is not done, but somehow i feel if i don't roast it before stuffing,i wouldn't get cooked fully afterwards.And no one likes it have it raw, isin't it.)

Mix all ingredients for stuffing. And yes you need to add so much oil ,so that mixture holds its shape when pressed into a fist. The oil keeps the stuffing moist and crumbly. Anyways we eat 1 or 2 only at a time, so its ok.
Make a slit in each chilli and remove the seeds. If you like them hot ,like i do, better don't remove the seeds.

Stuff the gram flour mixture into the chillies tightly.

Heat the oil in a pan ,add musturd seeds. When they splutter, add hing and finally gently place all the chillies in the pan one by one. Toss it and cover.

Reduce the heat and cook on a low heat for 10- 15 minutes, tossing in between, so that chillies are cooked evenly from all sides. Serve.

These can ke keep refrigerated upto a week in air tight container, and can be served as a side dish with either rice or chapati.

Tip:

Instead of Amchoor ,you can use about 2 tbsp lime juice to it too, so as you can decrease the amout of oil used in stuffing.

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Sending this to ,
JFI: Chickpeas and
Just for you at Sindirasoi.

Wednesday, January 21

Sesame sweet balls (Til ke Ladoo)

Laddoo is the Indian word for any ball-shaped sweet. Laddoo is made with all sorts of ingredients from fruits and vegetables, to grains and legumes! This particular dessert is especially popular during winter months as sesame as thought to have heating properties!
So on the eve of Sankranti, i too thought to try atlest these Sesame Ladoo's, though i'm so poor in making any sweet. But this one is really simple. In Marathi there's saying," Til Gul kha ani god god bola!! ". Eat Til (sesame) and Gul (jaggery) and say sweet things.
So here's how to make Til Ke Laddoo...

Ingredients:

White Sesame seeds 1 cup
Jaggery (gud) 1 cup
Grated and roasted Dry Coconut 1/2 cup
Roasted Peanuts coarse powder 1/2 cup
Cardamom Powder 1 tsp
Ghee/Clarified butter 1 tbsp

Method:

Roast sesame seeds till golden brown,(or till the sounds starts coming)and set aside.
In a heavy bottomed pan, melt the jaggery.
Then add 1 tbsp ghee to it and continue mixing.
When it just starts to boil add roasted sesame, coarse peanuts, roasted dry coconut and cardamom powder and mix well.
Switch off the gas.
Now grease your hands with a little ghee and make small about a inch laddu, while the mixture is hot.
Repeat till all the mixture is used up. The laddoos will soon harden to candy-like texture.
Store for up to 10-15 days in an air-tight container.

Tips:

While making laddus if mixture becomes cold, put it again on high heat so that jaggery will melt and you can again make laddus from that remaining mixture.
You can also add Cashew pieces and other nuts into it.
Also you can add mava to it, to make it even more rich.
The jaggery used is specially called "Chikki cha gul". It is meant for making ladoos and is less brittle when cooked. You can use the regular jaggery if it not available.

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Sending this to Makar sankrati event hosted at Indiankhana by Priti.
And also to Recipes for the rest of us:Desserts to Varsha intiated by ramki at One page cookbooks.
And to Sunday snacks: Grab n go at All Thingz Yummy

Sunday, January 18

It's Anuj's 3rd B'Day

It was my younger one's 3rd B'Day( on 16 th january). So i thought of baking a cake for him by myself. Did made my regular Carrot cake only, but tried my hands at icing for the first time. Didn't knew anything about frosting , just browsed the net and finally did this ok types (read pathetic) cake decoration .
Actually in morning when i wished my kiddo and told that's today its your B'Day and you turned three today, he said "No its b'day only when u cut cake, and ballons and party is there." There was no plan for party, and if i just baked the cake, without writing Happy B'day over it, both of my kiddos won't accept it as a B'day cake, hehe.
They loved the cake a lot and had fun. May God Bless him with all the happiness in life.

Tuesday, January 13

Palak Paneer Kofta Curry

I am indeed a big fan of Paneer. I think most veggies would be..:). So here comes one more dish involving paneer. This recipe i learned just before my marrige, in the one and only cookery class i attented, but never tried it till now. Few days back while browsing through my old recipe collection(the list is so so big for recipes waiting to be tried), i stumbled upon this and remembered the yummy taste (the 1 small spoon aunty gave after the session ended) and that's it . I Bought spinach and made this delicious curry.

Ingredients:

For Koftas:

Crumbled(/grated) fresh paneer 50 gms
Finely chopped spinach 1 bunch
Bread slice 1
1 tbsp finely chopped mixed nuts (cashew n raisins)
1 tbsp cumin powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

For Gravy:

Finely chopped spinach 1 bunch
1 big onion grated
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 pureed tomatoes
1 tbsp Khoya
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp chili powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
½ cup milk
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Method:

For Kofta's:

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan, stir fry the spinach for a few minutes until it gets soft,let it cool.
Mix the bread slice (edges removed) with spinach and make it uniform like dough.

Mix paneer, cumin powder, nuts and add salt to taste(a pinch only). Roll it into small smooth balls.

Now take small portion of the spinach in your palm and stuff the paneer balls in it.
Then make round shape koftas out of it. This one is a bit tricky as spinach mixture is very loose and its a bit tough to handle it.

Finally deep fry these koftas in hot oil till they turn brown. Drain and set aside.

For Gravy:

Puree the spinach in the mixer.
Heat oil in a wok, add ginger garlic paste and fry for some time.
Add grated onions and saute till it leaves oil.
Add all the dry powders ,palak puree and saute for some more time.
Then add pureed tomatoes, khoya, salt. Slowly add milk, stirring continously and cook till done.
Add water as required to make a thick gravy.

Serving:

First place kofta's in the dish and then add the gravy over it.
Garnish with whipped cream .
Serve hot.

Tips:

Add kofta's to gravy just before serving,as they may break.
If the palak dough gets very wet (as it happened with me),you may add 1 tbsp gramflour(besan) to it, so as it becomes manageble.

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Sending this to CFK: MILK products, as its paneer with khoya n cream. And its healthy, my kids love it too..
Along with Vermicilli kheer

Friday, January 2

Street Food : Pani Puri

Firstly, wishing all my readers and blogger friends a very Happy New Year 2009. Mostly everyone starts anything new with some sweet only. But for me ,its something spicy (as i don't have a sweet tooth). And my first post for this year is the one that i like the most, our Favourite Indian Chat Pani Poori.
Pani Puri or Puchka or Gol Guppa, is the best street food .This in one of the most popular chaat in India. The taste of Pani and the varoius fillings vary from region to region. Like in Gujrat ,you will get a little sweet, whearas in Kolkata we have them really spicy (tears should come out.. hehe).
Everybody has his/her own recipe for pani puri. But one that i will never forget is the pani puri cart near Madhavan park, Jayanagar, Bangalore.Once we had it there and we were so addicted to it , atleast twice we went to jayanagar, just to have them and come back.I really really miss it so much.
Making them at home really brings back all the memories..(I'm thinking and drooling...)
So here goes the recipe. One more thing,i couldn't take the snap nicely ,as my hubby was standing just behind me,and as soon as i clicked these 2.....they were gone.

Ingredients:

About 40 50 puris’s(store bought or home made)

For the Pani:

3 cups water
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup coriander leaves
4 5 green chilli
1 inch ginger(optional)
½ tsp of chilli powder
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
1 tsp black salt
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 tsp chaat masala powder
Salt to taste

For the filling:

a)1 cup boiled and mashed potatoes
1 tsp chilli powder
Salt to taste
b)Boondi
c)Moong bean sprouts( Salted)
d)Yogurt
e)Copped onions...
And the list is endless, entirely depends upon yor taste buds.

For Date and Tamarind Chutney:

8 10 deseeded dates
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
1/4 cup jaggery
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste

Method:

For Pani:

Grind together Mint leaves, Coriander Leaves, and Green chillies (also you can add about a inch ginger)in a grinder or hand grinder finely.
Mix all the ingredients for making pani along with this green mix, and cool it in refrigerator or add some ice to it.
Check for the taste and adjust the flavours as necessary.

For Chutney:
Grind all the ingredients, along with little water, to make a thick chutney.

For Filling:
Mix salt n red chilli in potatoes and set aside rest ingredients in separate bowls.

Serving the Puchka’s/Pani Puri’s:

Tap the Puri at the center(on the thin fragile side) lightly to make a small hole in it.
Stuff the puri with about 1 tbsp of the various desired fillings .
Now add 1 big drop of the Tamarind Chutney.(those who like only spicy and not sweet,like me, can avoid adding it)
And finally dip filled puri into the chilled pani and there it goes... the crispy-spicy-sweet puri crushing into your mouth. YUMMY...

Tips:
1) If you find your Puri's a bit soft, don't worry, just microwave them for half a minute, oil will sizzle and they will be hot. Let them cool and they are ready,crispy again.
2) Stir the pani well before dipping the puri's, else as you can see from the snaps too, the spices tend to settle at the bottom.

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Sending this to FIC: YELLOW hosted by sunshinemom at Toungeticklers.
And also to Just for u at Sindi Rasoi.
And also to Sunday Snacks - Hot n Spicy at All Thingz Yummy!!
And to Sunday snacks: Chaat