Non-Fried Dahi Wada (Dahi Bhalla)

I bought a new non-stick appam patra (Appam Mold) last week and to say that I have been using it non-stop will be a serious understatement. I have made sweet appam by the dozens for the first time ever and  impressed my family, but the really really impressive bit came when I made wadas for my dahi wada dish in my appam mold. Yesss ! Wadas in made in appam style. Frankly though I cannot take the credit for this idea. It was my Aai who came up with this idea a couple of years back and always told me to do the same to make dahi wadas oil free. Many of you might also be doing it the same way but when I told my friends what I done , it was a completely novel idea to them and they loved it, not to mention they loved the Dahi Wadas too. It was their praise that prompted me to immediately blog about them. 

The entire process of making the wadas is just the same as you would for the fried version. Even the ingredients are absolutely the same. Only while preparing the wadas instead of deep frying the batter, pour spoonfuls into the appam mould. Now because I wanted them to taste just as good as the fried ones I put a few drops of oil on each wada (and I seriously mean a few drops) Cook on moderate heat for 4 to 5 mins on either side and pop them out.

Ingredients for the wadas:

3 cups urid dal (Split black lentils) soaked overnight or for 5 to 6 hrs

1 cup fresh grated coconut,

10-12 chillies,

3 tblspns cumin

2 to 3 tspns sugar

salt to taste.

Ingredients for the yogurt mix:

1 litre and a little more thick whole milk yogurt,

sugar to slightly sweeten the yogurt,

3 tspns of ginger  and chilly paste,

1 tspn cumin and coriander powder each

salt to taste

Ingredients for the tempering:

3 tblspns of oil,

2 tspns mustard

10 to 12 curry leaves finely chopped

1/2 tspn asafoetida (hing)

Method:

Soak the urid dal overnight or at least for 5 to 6 hrs,

•Grind the soaked urid dal finely along with the grated coconut, chillies , cumin, salt and sugar . While grinding the dal add water in small quantities only as much as needed to aid the process of grinding.

•Keep aside for a little while.

•Prepare the yogurt by whipping the yogurt to a smooth consistency.

•Add some milk to the yogurt to give it the consistency of a thick pouring sauce. Mix in the sugar ,salt and ginger, cumin and coriander powders and the ginger-chilly paste.

•Before cooking the wadas keep a large pan of lukewarm water at hand . Add to the water a little yogurt and mix it well . This water is used to soak the cooked wadas .

•Drop tblspnfuls of wada batter into the the mold and cook  on a very moderate heat turning them over once.

•After cooking  the first batch let them cool . After they have cooled pop them into the lukewarm water and let them soak in the water for a while until they become slightly soggy

•Repeat this process with all the wadas, putting them in water only after they have cooled slightly

•Note: if hot wadas are put in cold water they remain hard at the centre, so let them cool slightly first.

•When all the wadas have been put in the water squeeze out the water from each wada by pressing it gently between your palms and place them flat one next to the other in your serving dish.

•Pour over the prepared yogurt evenly over all the wadas

•Prepare the seasoning by adding the mustard seeds to hot oil. When they begin to splutter add the hing and the curry leaves and switch off the gas.

•Spoon this seasoning over the dahi wadas carefully . Sprinkle some chilly powder over the finished dish and garnish with coriander . Let your guest help themselves to the date and tamarind sauce

•Also offer your guests extra cumin and coriander and chilly powder .

This makes a wonderful side dish during a meal or a main snack at tea time and now you can enjoy these in unlimited quantities as they are NOT FRIED . YEHHHHHH!!!!!

Harry Potter and Yummy Rawa Idlis and Dhoklas

One weekend can be so different from another. Last weekend was simply horrible, we had a power failure for 20 hours , yes that's right 20 hours, my maid did not turn up for two consecutive days without any prior notice . Yes I have to admit , that in spite of having done all my washing up and laundry and vacuuming myself for last 6 years , I am now already used to the luxury of having a daily maid come in and do all that for me and although I don't have a major panic attack if she doesn't turn up I do get a bit irritated no doubt. And to top it all the hattrick was completed by no water supply. Aaghhhh !!! But I some how managed to keep my calm and keep things going.

But this weekend has been a delight so far. Saturday started late and that is very late. After a quick trip to my son's school to complete some scholarship formalities we had a leisurely brunch of idlis and dosas washed down with cups of hot filter coffee and aromatic ginger tea at a nearby restaurant. Afternoon was spent helping D with his homework and preparing a bit for his forthcoming unit test (surprisingly it went very well with D co-operating to the T). But the best bit came in the evening which we spent with Harry Potter. Reading this you might think that I am a big Harry Potter fan ,but believe me you couldn't be further from the truth. I am probably the biggest Harry Potter non-fan ever , so much so that I am always teasing hubby and son that I am going to start a Non Harry Potter fan club etc etc. So the funniest thing is I have not watched any of the Harry Potter movies nor have I read any of the books other than 1/2 of  the first one but today I watched the last one Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. That too in 3D in a cinema hall .Can you beat that?  And I quite enjoyed it. My friends laughed at me saying that I am probably the first person who has started enjoying Harry Potter in the reverse order. Come to think of it I am kind of toying with the idea of reading Harry Potter :)) Lets see how long my interest in HP lasts.

Anyway speaking of brunches and idlis reminds me that I too made some idlis last week. These were simple Rawa Idlis which I sometimes serve as Idlis and sometimes as Dhokla. They taste just as awesome either way.

When made as Idlis I just put a couple of vegetables like grated carrots and maybe peas in them and sometimes even cashews and as dhokla I just add loads of fresh coriander and green chillies. They are perfect to take on picnics or as a healthy afterschool snack. Here's how I make them:

Ingredients:

1 cup coarse Rawa (ordinary Semolina, not Idli rawa)

1 cup water

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup grated carrots

1/4 cup par boiled peas (or frozen ones which are already par boiled)

1/4 cup urid Dal  which have been soaked it water for 1/2 an hour (split black lentils)

handful of chopped cashews

2 green chillies very finely chopped

Some chopped coriander

1 tspn Eno Fruit Salt

1 tspn sugar

Salt to taste

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients keeping the soda-bi-carb for the last.

The mixture should have the same consistency as ordinary idli batter.

If you find it too thick just add some more water.

Give it a taste once you have mixed it and adjust the seasoning accordingly. 

It does not need any resting time.

Just leave it aside until you oil the Idli moulds and then you can immediately steam them.

Serve hot with coconut chutney or ketchup. 

On other occasions make the batter with finely chopped green chillies and plenty of fresh coriander and steam the batter as dhoklas like in the pic below

Serve the Dhoklas with the traditional tempering of hot oil , mustard, asafoetida and curry leaves. Put dollops of hot and sweet ketchup on top of each piece to make it pretty and also easy to eat.

Kadhai Paneer and Hot Phulkas (A Killer Combination)

Ooooh it really feels good to blog again. I have been away from the blogging scene for so long that that it feels like it did when I had just started Food-n-More in UK. It was the only thing I could think about . I used to constantly check (like about 50 times a day) to see if there were any new comments and everytime I made something new I wouldn't let hubby or son have a taste of it until I had photographed the dish from all possible angles and was finally satisfied with my amateurish photography attempts. They have always been so sweet and indulgent about it . Hubby has always proudly shown off Food-n-More to all his friends and colleagues and son is so sweet that he has started his own blog in which he posts about the different construction toys he makes. He also calls it by a name similar to my blog . He calls it Struxx-n-More because he wanted something just like Food-n-More. Needless to say that they are both very happy that I am blogging again.

There have been times when I made food especially for blogging and then at other times I have blogged about recipes that are firm favourites in my house with classic ingredients. A very hot favourite of mine is Paneer. Just thinking about it makes me smile. I love to cook with paneer, so much so that if I am having guests over hubby usually asks me  "So what paneer recipe are you thinking of madam?" And he is usually not wrong in guessing that there will be atleast one paneer dish.

I don't exactly remember when I made this Paneer Kadhai because I cook so often with paneer, but I thought it good enough to share with you guys. Chapatis is another thing I love to make. Whenever we had get togethers in the UK where all of us pooled in and prepared the meal ,chapatis were always alloted to me, or rather I always volunteered to make chapatis. Believe me well made soft chapatis can very often be the show stopper.  So this makes the picture above my all time favourite meal. Delicious Paneer and  soft pliant chapatis hmmmmmm !!!!

Recipe for Paneer Kadhai: (taken from Tarla Dalal and tweaked a bit here and there)

500 gms paneer 

2 cups capsicum (or coloured bell peppers which I have used)

2 tsp coriander seeds

5 whole red chillies

3/4 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)

2 green chillies, chopped

2 tsp chopped ginger

4 tomatoes, chopped

2 tbsp chopped coriander

3 tbsp ghee

salt to taste

For the paste

6 cloves garlic (lehsun) mixed with a little water

Method

1.Cut the paneer and capsicum into cubes

2.Pound the coriander seeds and red chillies together.

3.Heat the ghee, add the garlic paste and cook on a slow flame for a few seconds.

4.Add the capsicum and pounded spices and cook on a slow flame for 30 seconds.

5.Add the green chillies and ginger and fry again for a few seconds.

6.Add the tomatoes and cook until the ghee comes on top.

7.Add the kasoori methi and salt and fry again for a few seconds.

8.Finally, add the cubed paneer and cook for a few minutes.

9.Sprinkle coriander on top serve hot and enjoy it yourself too.

Crispy Vegetarian Spring Rolls (A real Treat)

Let me begin this post by wishing all my Indian readers  A VERY HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY. I started the day by explaining to my eight year old (who has lived in UK since he was 2 ) why this day is celebrated in India as Independence Day and how we used to go to school  very early in the morning to hoist our tri-colour. Explaining it to him also made me remember things about our history  that I had not thought about for a long time, and that was good. We fnished our mother-son talk by me reading to him part of the book Great Freedom Fighters of India in the Amar Chitra Katha  Series.We read about Lokmanya Tilak and although he listened to it like any other story I enjoyed answering all his questions . It's a great series by Amar Chitra Katha which makes everything so enjoyable for a young children to read understand, rather than just read about history only from a textbook. I definitely recommend it.


 Secondly I would  like to say a big Thank-You to each and everyone of my reader who has visited by blog regularly inspite of my very irregular and sometimes none at all posting. You readers have been so good , not only visiting my blog but also dedicating posts to me and giving me credit for inspiring you to cook and think about cooking in a different light. Gosh thanks a ton for all that love and appreciation. It has also motivated me to take that effort again to start posting again.


So here's what I have today. It's the summer holidays going on currently in England and as I work in a school I too get to enjoy 6 weeks of summer holidays. I have recently come back from my holiday in Italy and now is the time to catch up with everything pending like deep cleaning the house, cooking something different other that the daily fare, spending time with my son watching DVDs together  and going out for a Pizza with him and of course catching up with friends and a bit of entertaining.


Last week I had a friend over for lunch and  I made these veg spring rolls which we all loved. Vegetarian because at present we are not eating any non-vegetarian food as it is the month of Shrawan which is a auspicious month in the Hindu calender. And although I am not a very staunchly religious person I do like to follow certain practices only because they teach you self control. Particularly in  the west where restaurant menus are  so dominated by chicken , pork and beef . (Although I draw the line at chicken and fish and would never ever dream of eating pork or beef. )  So no non-veg food for a month at least and for 4 months (the entire Chaturmaas  till after Diwali)  if I can manage it. Not so difficult is it? And the one ingredient I love and always rely on to  make my veg dishes perk up is Paneer.:)) Yes gorgeous , delicious, creamy full fat paneer. It never let's me down. That's what I used here too.


So what you need  for 16 to 18 spring rolls is:


Ready made store-bought spring roll wrappers (available in Indian or Chinese grocery stores)  OR  Sheets of Filo Pastry (available in all big food stores)
Note: If you do get the special spring roll wrapper they are already in the correct square shape and size, so that one wrapper makes one roll, but if you are using filo then you will need to cut out the sheets into approx 5" X 5"  squares. Also remember to keep the pastry or wrappers covered with a damp tea towel as they dry out very easily.


For the filling:
1 cup each of finely chopped or grated of the following veggies
carrots, beans, spring onions, cabbage ,coriander
1 cup of frozen or fresh corn kernels
1 cup of green peas
1 cup finely diced paneer,
1 cup boiled noodles (optional)
1/2 cup finely diced chestnut mushrooms (optional)
1 red chilly finely diced
1 tblspn chinese soy sauce
1 tblspn sweet chilly sauce
1 tblspn chinese five spice
1 tspn hot chilly powder
1 tspn of garlic paste, 1 tspn of ginger paste
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking


Method:
Heat 3 to 4 tblspns of oil in a wide pan or wok
Add the garlic and ginger paste and fry on low heat for few minutes
Add all the other veggies and mushrooms and stir them all frequently
Add the five spice, chilly powder, salt soy suace and sweet chilly and cover and cook until vegetables are cooked but still have a bite in them.
Lastly add the boiled noodles and paneer, give it all a good stir ,
Give it a taste and adjust all the seasoning according to your taste
Let this filling cool completely before you start making the rolls


Making the rolls:


Lay out a wrapper on dry surface with one corner towards you. Place a large tblspnful of filling near the corner .
Now roll that corner over the filling twice. Next fold inwards the the two side corners so your roll will be closed from the sides. Roll up the rest of the wrapper  up to the  corner away from you . Apply a bit of water to this corner so that it sticks firmly to the roll.
Do all the rolls in the same way. make these in advance at least a few hours before you want to fry them, so that they have a chance to seal well.
Fry in hot oil and drain over kitchen papers
Serve with sweet chilly sauce, schezuan sauce or any othet sauce of your choice.
Make loads of these if you are entertaining as it is very likely that they will be the star attraction particularly when your friend know that you made them at home:))

Fun with Fruit

Hi all. We all know the benefits of eating our 5 a day. Now I am  lucky to have  a 7 year  old (sorry 8 year old; he just turned 8 and I keep forgetting it :-)) ) who adores most fruit  but  we all love a bit of variety and I know there are  mums out there who are all the time trying to find different ways to make this 5 a day more interesting for the kids. Well here is one sure shot way to have your kids eat more fruit. Cut out the fruit of your choice into big cubes and let the kids thread the skewers as they like them. Believe me they will be gobbling it all up and asking for more.

A Super Bowl (Veggie Lentil Curry with Jeera Rice)

Hi guys!! I know I know , I have been as bad as ever. Neglecting my blog again for days now. Just got caught up doing other things (like playing Farmville!!) . But now I am back and have something wonderful to share. Wonderful yet very very simple to make , but very nutritious ,mind you. I made this dish just 2 days back. Got the recipe from a diet magazine and the picture in it was so good that I had to make it immediately.
This dish is perfect for those days when you have the middle of the week dinner blues and can't think of what to put on the dinner table that day. Well this ones a winner. It's fast to cook and very little washing up to do later as it can all be eaten from a single bowl.


What you need:
2 medium onions chopped
2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup of uncooked masoor dal (split red lentils)
1 cup of green beans cut into pieces
1 cup of cauliflower florets
1/2 cup of green peas
1 tblspn each of garlic and ginger paste
1 heaped tspn mustard seeds
1 tspn cumin
1 tblspn hot curry powder
1 tspn chilly powder (more if you like)
1/2 tspn turmeric powder
Oil to cook
coriander to garnish


Method:


Heat about 3 to 4 tblspns of oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds first. When they begin to splutter add the cumin and fry for about 30 secs.
Next add the onions and the ginger- garlic pastes and fry well
Add to this the curry powder, chilly powder and turmeric
Now add the lentils and the vegetables, salt and 3 to 4 cups of water.
Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer.
Cover and cook until the veggies are cooked and the lentils are mushy. The beans take the longest to cook , so if they have cooked , rest assured that the rest of the veggies have cooked.
Adjust the seasoning according to your taste and garnish with chopped coriander


Have this curry with a rice of your choice. I made simple jeera rice and  just made a salad to go with it. It makes  a quick and power packed supper with minimum hassle.


Right! Now  after that spicy curry here's something completely different. Recently I was introduced to the GrazeBox. What is a GrazeBox?  Well it  is just what it sounds like . It's a box which contains 2 or 3 types of nibbles which you can graze on throughout the week. It's the best thing to have to control those  4o'clock hunger pangs .It contains delicious things like nuts, raisins, seeds  dried fruit ,fresh fruit and even some exotic spicy nibbles.  This is what a graze box looks like from the outside. 

And this is my box from last week. I ordered  a graze fresh box and got all this delcious stuff in it. Believe me it's supposed to last you for atleat a week but it  was gone in minutes.

So if you are in the UK and interested in ordering one yourself  or would just like to know more about graze then  do visit http://www.graze.com/

If you feel like ordering one then please use the promotional code below. That will give you your first box free.

free box code: LYLD625A

So go Grazing!!

Delicious Kesar Pedhas (Delights of Blogging)

Hi all ! Hmmm ... I must say I was a bit disappointed to see only one comment to my Mango Moods post. I am  sure though that many of you have read it and are also giving  a good thought to what you can make and send in . So do that people and send in as many entries as you like . Let me tell you entries have actually started trickling in. So I can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway let me get back to this post because this too is  a special post. I call it my "Delights of Blogging" kind of post and that's because it is a recipe I have followed from someone else's blog and has turned out delightfully well. All the credit for this recipe  goes to Ramya of Foodie Catalog. Thankyou Ramya for this awesome recipe I have always been on the lookout for a good recipe for Pedhas. I just love Pedhas and always wanted to make some at home especially as the ones we get here in UK come nowhere near the ones I am used to eating in Pune. So when I saw Ramya's recipe and her photos I just had to make some. I barely managed to wait until I could go out and buy some condensed milk.

The verdict on the Pedhas?  SUPERB !! Simply Superb!! They taste  so fresh and delicious. I shared some with a couple of friends and they were full of praise. One of them even said that had I not told him that they were homemade he would never have known. So there you are.

Now me being me I had to tweak the recipe a little, for the usual reason of not having one or the other ingredient at home . This time it was the butter. I did not have any, so I used ghee. That's it .

Ingredients:

Milk Powder – 2 cups

Condensed Milk – 1 can (14 OZ)

Ghee – ½ cup

Saffron – few strands

Water – 2 tsps

A pinch of salt

For decoration I used  milk masala , which is nothing but a combo of crushed pistachios, almonds, cardammom and saffron

Method:

1.Take a large wide mouthed microwave safe bowl and heat the ghee just until it melts.

2.Now add both the condensed milk and milk powder and microwave on full power  for 4 –5 mins stirring after every minute.

3.Heat water and add saffron. Mix with the dough and microwave again for another 4 to 5  more mins. The mixture kind of begins to thicken and also rise up . Be very careful when microwaving the hot mixture. Do not forget to stir frequently.

4.Cool the mixture  for a good 10 mins until it  is warm enough for you to handle . It get's the consistency of  chapati dough.

5. Now roll the pedhas. If tyou do this while the dough is still warm the Pedhas will roll into smooth balls. Give the pedhas a slight dent in the centre so that they look like the shop bought ones. Sprinkle with my suggested milk masala or any other dry fruit of your choice.

These Pedhas taste even better the next day. After a day or two store them in the fridge so they keep longer. Just microwave as  many as you want for 5 secs before eating or serving and they will taste fresh again. Next time you have a Pooja at your place amaze your guests with this Prasad.

Kutcchi Dabeli

You all probably know from many of my previous posts that we friends have regular tea get-togethers on Fridays. It gives the kids a chance to have a great time on the last day of the school week and it gives us ladies an excuse to meet and chat and eat tasty snacks. Well this week it was my turn and my choice of snack was this ever -popular Kutcchi Dabeli. For those of you who aren't familiar with Kutcchi Dabeli ,it is a Gujarati snack ,it's name being derived from the place Kutch in Gujarat. But it is a very very popular street food in Maharashtra and is probably just one place below Vada-Pav which tops the best-seller list of street-food.

Very surprisingly though I never ate Kutcchi Dabeli when I was in college. Never even once. I ate it the first time here in England when a friend made it . I just loved it and have ever since wondered why I never ate it earlier. I mean if it tastes so good at home it must be great when eaten on the road-side, right?? Well I definitely will find out the next time I am in Pune ,which unfortunately is not so soon. So till then I will keep making it at home.

Now Kutcchi Dabeli needs a special Masala /Spice Mix which is easily available back home, but not here in UK. The most popular brand is Siddhi Masala , so I had my sister bring me a few packs of that when she last visited. But it can be substituted with cumin-coriander powder and garam masala which is also a blend of the same spices just probably in different proportions.
So now on to the actual process :

Ingredients for approx 12 Dabelis:
12 soft rolls /buns
1 kg potatoes boiled ,peeled and mashed,
1 pack of Dabeli Masala (100 gms) OR
2 tblspns each of coriander and cumin powder, 2 tblspns of garam masala, 1 tblspn of chilly powder,
Salt to taste (you don't need any salt if you are using the dabeli masala . It has everything in it.)
Date and Tamarind Chutney,
Red chilly and garlic chutney (blend red chillies, garlic salt and sugar together in a blender with a little water)

For the garnish:
Seeds of one or two pomegranate,
Sev,
2 finely chopped onion,
Salted/spicy peanuts
Finely chopped coriander

Method:

• Boil and mash the potatoes and keep aside,
• In a pan heat 4 to 5 tbslpns of oil , add to that the mashed potatoes and all of the 100 gms of dabeli masala or the alternative spice powders with the salt. (Remember no salt if using the Dabeli Masala) and mix it all well. Your filling is ready.
• Spread out this filling evenly on to a large plate and garnish generously with all the garnishings as you see in the pic. It looks very pretty.

To serve:

Split a bun in half and spoon both the chutneys in it first, then put about 2 tblspnfuls of potato filling on top .

• Put some more salted nuts and sev if you wish.
• Top again with date and tamarind chutney and close with the top part of the bun.
• Butter the bun on both sides and brown it nicely on a tawa/flat pan.
• Serve hot

Wheat and coconut cream pudding

A couple of days back my good friend Kavita left UK and went back to India for good. Before leaving she gave me a bagful of groceries that she had left over and obviously couldn't finish before she left. This is a normal practice amongst us friends . Whenever one of us is leaving for good we kind of have a grocery distribution programme between us . The person who is leaving accumulates all the store cupboard groceries that she cannot use up and asks us to take what ever we fancy . So everyone kind of gets to explore her groceries which is fun . Although of course it is no fun to have one of your group leave forever. It leaves a kind of empty void that is very difficult to get used to.

So this time along with other things I got something that I had never used before. She had a container full of hand-threshed whole wheat from her family farm back home in India. So it was of the best quality ever. K said her mom-in-law and sisters in law make a kheer out of it although she had never tried it herself it UK. My initial enthusiasm on recieving it faded a bit when I saw the whole grain and wondered how I would cook it. I have cooked bulgar wheat before but this was something else altogether.

So I tentatively cooked it in my pressure cooker with some water. Thankfully it cooked beautifully and the kheer or pudding that I made from it turned out just fabulous. I cooked it in coconut milk and the taste was mind-blowing. So thanks to K for that! Bulgar wheat being widely available and imparting the same taste is my recommendation as a substitute to the wheat I used for this pudding

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Bulgar Wheat,

1 can of coconut cream

1/2 cup fresh grated coconut,

3/4 cup jaggery (or use light brown muscovado sugar)

a generous pinch of saffron,

1/2 a tspn of cardammom powder

1/2 cup approx milk (to thin the kheer if needed)

2 tblspns ghee (clarified butter)

Method:

Cook the Bulgar wheat with the grated coconut and some water in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles.

In another pan heat the ghee and add the cooked wheat and stir for a couple of minutes

To this add the coconut milk/cream from the can and stir it in well,

Next add the jaggery/sugar and the saffron . (you can soak the saffron in warm water or milk for some time but it's not neccessary)

Now simmer the kheer /pudding for a good 20 to 25 minutes on a very low heat, stirring occasionally so it does'nt stick to the bottom of the pan.

If you would like it a bit thinner in consistency add the milk. Remember it becomes thicker and thicker as it cools down, so it a good idea to have it a bit thinner than you would like when it is hot.

Switch off the heat after 25 mins and sprinkle the cardammom powder and stir it in well.

This pudding tastes good warm or chilled. We love it chilled. So I chilled it in the fridge for an hour before serving. To serve decorate with cashews or almonds or any dry -fruit of your choice.

S.P.D.P

Have you heard of the abbreviation S.P.D.P before? Well if you are from Pune or have lived in Pune for a while you are sure to know what I am talking about. It's the most popular dish in the most popular cafe in Pune. The dish is Sev Potato Dahi Puri , a tantalising combo of crisp puris filled with boiled potato, beaten yogurt, sweet and sour tamarind chutney, hot chilly and mint sauce, finely chopped onions and tomatoes all topped with more yogurt and crispy sev. In short it is heavenly.

The cafe is of course Vaishali on Ferguson College Road . For those of you who don't know Pune so well Vaishali is the most popular hangout for people of all ages in Pune. Mostly frequented by college going teenagers, it is also a favourite with ladies who come there in groups maybe for theie kitty parties or just to catch up on the latest with their friends , with people who come there for steaming hot idlis and delicious coffee after a session of tennis or badminton in the morning , and of course with pensioners who come there to relax and enjoy the youthful atmosphere . It is considered a great achievement to get a table in Vaishali as soon as you get there. Normally you need to wait at least 10 to 15 mins unless you are fortunate to know a waiter there who will be kind to procure a table for you at once.

So coming back to S.P.D.P it is a dish I have eaten umpteen times at Vaishali and have of course replicated it at home on many occasions too. I made it a few days back and could barely spare a few puris to take a picture of the dish. In my family we are notorious for devouring all kinds of chaat items in a matter of minutes

Making this in the UK requires a bit of planning as the puris are available only at the Indian grocers (you can make them at home but I find that a bit tedious ) and you must have plenty of coriander ,mint and chillies at hand not to mention tamarind and palm sugar or demerara sugar for the chutney .

So you need:
1box of Pani Puris or flat Puris (whichever you prefer, it is easier with the pani puris as they are puffed and therefore easier to fill )
2 large potatoes boiled and coarsely mashed,
3 to 4 cups of sprouted moong beans (this is optional but I recommend it , soak green moong lentils one day earlier and then wrap them up the next morning in a thin cloth till they sprout )
1 large onion finely chopped,
1 large tomato finely chopped,
Sweet and sour tamarind chutney (recipe given below)
Chilly and mint sauce (recipe below)
2 cups beaten yogurt (add a little sugar and salt to this)
Chilly powder to sprinkle on top
Chaat masala to sprinkle on top (available at Indian stores)
Fine Sev (available at Indian stores)
Fresh coriander for garnishing

Whew!! thats quite a list.

Prepare ahead:
Tamarind Sauce or chutney
Boil a handful of tamarind fruit in water till the tamarind goes all soft and pulpy, let it cool a bit, then check to see that there are no seeds in the pulp, remove seeds if you find any. Strain this boiled tamarind so that you have a smooth pulp left ,
Add double the quantity of palmsugar (jaggery) to the pulp, 1 tspn chilly powder, 1 tspn salt, 1/2 tspn each of cumin and coriander powder and blend it all together in a blender. Give it a taste and adjust seasoning. If you find it too sour add more jaggery and blend again.
Your tamarind sauce is ready

For the mint and chilly sauce:
Blend together a handful of mint leaves, 3 green chillies, and a handful of coriander with 2 to 3 tspns of lemon juice and a tspn og salt. Add a little amount of water while blending but keep it to a minimum as we do not want a very runny sauce.

Now the assembling:
To serve place 6 puris on a plate. Make a hole on the top of each one them to put in the different fillings.
First put in the boiled potato bits, then come the sprouted moong beans, now the onion and tomato, , next add the yogurt and the two sauces, and finally top it all with plenty of sev, another lashing of yogurt and season with chaat masala ,chilly powder and salt. Garnish with corainder and serve.

Don't get discouraged by all the prepping that is involved. The final product is worth every bit of effort it takes

Five Star Dal Fry

See guys I have kept my word and am posting every few days now. In fact I keep rushing to take pics every time I have a dish ready to serve. I just hope I can keep it up.

So this is a dal that I have for you today . I make this quite frequently for dinner as it is a good change from the regular Amti (a maharashtrian dal preparation) that we make practically everyday . I call it 5 star dal fry not because I first ate it at any 5 star restaurant or something but because it is a combination of 5 different dals, which makes it a powerhouse of protein. The special touch comes from cooking it in pure ghee rather than everyday sunflower oil. The ghee even when used in small quantities imparts a delicious taste and aroma to the dal which has everyone helping themselves to seconds and thirds. I very often cook this dal when I am out of fresh veggies . As there are 5 lentils in here it more than provides all the nutrition to make a balanced meal and as it is thick in consistency it is also very filling

Currently as it is the mango season we try to have aamras (fresh mango pulp) for dinner whenever possible. In India we have it each and every day in summer until the Alphonso is in season but here in England we are not so fortunate although this year we have got some of the best Alphonso which we bought in Kingsbury , London. So with aamras on the dinner plate vegetables tend to take a back seat which none of us really mind as it is temporary. So on such occasions this dal really completes the meal beautifully.

So here goes:
Ingredients needed:
Fill a cup with equal quantities of :

• Toor Dal,
• Yellow Moong Dal,
• Masoor Dal,
• Whole masoor and
• Chana Dal
• 1large tomato chopped,
• 1 onion chopped,
• 3/4 cloves of garlic minced,
• 2 to 3 dry red chillies,
• 2 tspn coriander powder,
• 3 to 4 tblspns ghee,
• 2 tspns jeera (cumin seeds)
• 1/2 tspn hing (asafoetida)
• 1 tspn turmeric powder,
• 1 tspn chilly powder (optional)
• 8 to 10 fresh curry leaves,
• salt to taste
• Fresh coriander to garnish

Method:

• Wash the dals together and cook with double quantity of water and a pinch of salt and 1 tspn of turmeric powder in pressure cooker as you would for any dal.
• In a pan heat the ghee and temper it with the cumin seeds, hing, and red chillies and curry leaves,
• Next add the chopped onion, and garlic and fry on moderate heat until onion turns light golden in colour.
• To this add the chopped tomato and cook further for a few more minutes,
• Now add the coriander powder, and a little turmeric powder and cook further . Add a little amount of water at this stage.
• Next add the cooked dals and stir well. Add more water to make it as thin as you like and bring it to a boil. When it begins to boil turn down the heat and let the dal simmer for about 20 mins.
• Check the seasoning, you might want to add more salt and also more chilly powder to the dal at this stage.After 20 mins on simmer switch off the heat . Turn out the dal into you serving bowl and garnish with fresh coriander and enjoy with rice , chapatis or parathas.

You can even add a dollop of butter to the dal just before serving . It's sinfully indulgent but tastes simply awesome.

Yummilicious Paratha Frankies

Hi everybody! I am back after my long break again. These long breaks are becoming an annoying habit you might say , but it is one that I definitely intend to break very soon. Anyway, how have you guys been? I have missed you all too. What I have for you today is something I thought of today morning at 5.00 o'clock when I was disturbed out of my sleep and just could not go back to sleep again. And our mind you know has this annoying habit of immediately kicking into action with all kinds of thoughts rushing in which makes it even more difficult to sleep.

So my mind turned to the most nagging of thoughts and that was what to pack in the lunch boxes. Fortunately there was paratha dough already ready in the fridge, but as that was what we had had for dinner there was no way I could repeat the same in the lunch boxes . Well not as an ordinary paratha anyway. But then I remembered the block of paneer in the fridge and the mixed frozen veggies in the freezer and I had my lunch boxes all planned in minutes.

So I made paratha frankies . They are tasty, wholesome ,convenient to carry and a great change from regular chapatis and vegetables or sandwiches. So much so that my husband called up from office to say that he had enjoyed his lunch. Great!!!

So to make the parathas you need:

2 cups wheat flour, 3 cups of finely chopped spinach, 1 cup finely chopped carrots, 2 tspn ginger garlic paste, 2tspn chilly powder, 1 tspn turmeric powder, 1tspn each of cumin and coriander powder, 1 tspn of ground saunf, 1.5 tspn sugar, salt to taste, 2 tblspns oil .

Knead all the above into a medium soft dough and and cook the parathas a little thinner and larger than a roti.

For the filling you will need:

1 onion, 1 and a half tomato, 1 tspn ginger garlic paste, 2 cups mixed vegetables chopped finely (I had the frozen mix which contains peas ,corn,beans and carrots), 200 gms paneer, 2 tblspns tomato ketchup, 2 tspn pav bhaji masala, 2 tspn cumin seeds, 2 tspn chilly powder, 1/2 tspn turmeric powder, salt to taste, and oil for cooking.

Method:

• Heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds.
• After a few seconds add the chopped onion and ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute
• Next add the chopped tomato and let this cook for at least 2 to 3 mins
• Now come the chilly powder, turmeric , and pav bhaji masala along with the vegetables. Let the vegetables cook on a low flame. When they are cooked add the salt and ketchup.
• At the last stage add the paneer which does not need any cooking . Mix it all gently together until the paneer is coated with the spices.
• Give it a taste and adjust seasoning accordingly .

To serve take a paratha and spoon about 2 tblspns of filling on it and roll tightly. To put in a lunch box wrap the roll in foil so that the filling does not fall out while eating.

Enjoy!!!

Amazingly Delicious Paneer Potato Bites

A very warm Hello to all my dear readers. Sorry I have been away for so long. Had a lot of other tasks to do and somehow in all the rush to do 20 things at the same time it is always my blog that takes a back seat. But it is never far from my thoughts. Whenever I cook something different from the ordinary my mind is planning out how I can present this on Food-n-More. In fact in the last fortnight it so happened twice that I did make some tasty snacks and was determined to take pics of the dishes but somehow I left it too late and the food was over and gobbled up (don't ask by whom) before I could get my camera out of it's case. But not this time. This time I did take pics before anyone had a chance to set eyes on what I had made. And what did I make? Yes these very delicious ,crispy and mouthwatering Paneer Potato Bites.
They were practically made in minutes . They are a great starter for any party or get together and my friends loved them. So will you!

Here's what you need:
1 large potato and 1 small one cooked ,peeled and mashed
150 gms paneer grated
2 cubes of cheddar cheese (approx 40 gms),
a handful of fresh mint leaves finely chopped,
some coriander (optional)
cumin and coriander powders 1 heaped tspn each
1 tspn sugar,
1 tspn garam masala,
1 and 1/2 tspn chilly powder
salt to taste
Oil for frying

1. Mix all the above ingredients together (except of course the oil) very well .
2. Make small bite sized balls and keep aside.
3. Heat the oil and fry the balls until golden (hardly takes a few seconds)
4. Serve on cocktail sticks with your favourite dip. I used Thai Sweet Chilly Sauce.

Now wasn't that quick?
N.B : I fried them a little before my guests were due to arrive and left them in the oven at 100 deg C. They were nicely warm and crispy when I served them. These are excellent finger food for kids' parties too.

Fritatta

Fritatta is something I have always been fascinated with but never cooked. For that matter until a few days back I had not even tasted a fritatta. But somehow it just always managed to catch my attention from pictures in food magazines and food blogs and of course food shows on TV. On one of my shopping trips I even bought a oven proof pan particularly with the intention of making a fritatta. I just loved the idea of eating a big fat omellete filled with all kinds of delicious veggies, cheeses and mushrooms.

Well last week I was at the surgery (that's what a doctor's dispensary is called in UK) to see my GP . ( Reason for which was I had a nasty fall 2 weeks back and have been making quite a few trips to the doctor's for treatment on my leg which I hurt very badly.) So while I was sitting in the waiting area for my name to appear on the electronic display I was browsing through a magazine and once again my attention was drawn to a very yummy pic of fritatta. I memorised the ingredients and the method of cooking and decided there and then that I would make a fritatta before the end of the week and I did.

What's the verdict? Well all three of us loved it. Infact each of us could have done with one more helping but there wasn't any left. It was delicious , very filling and very easy and quick to make. Despite having bought a pan specially for that purpose I ended up using a oven proof Pyrex glass dish because as it turns out the pan is not big enough to cook a fritatta for three people. So what do i do with that pan now? Ohh I am sure I will find some use for it.

The ingredients for a Fritatta for 4 people are:

6 eggs

6/7 chestnut mushrooms (or any other)

1/2 a bellpepper (any colour of your choice)

approx 7 tblpns of grated cheddar

1 cup of finely chopped spinach,

8 to 10 leaves of fresh basil (chop these just before adding to the eggs)

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 200 deg C

In a bowl break the eggs and add all the other ingredients to it. From the cheese add only half of it and keep the rest for spreading on top. Season well with salt and pepper

Grease a oven proof glass dish and pour the mixture into it. Place in hot oven. It takes about 20 minutes to cook . After 20 minutes (or when the fritatta has begun to set) open the oven door, partially slide out the dish and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Return the dish to the oven and cook further until the cheese melts and turns slightly golden.

Let it cool slightly before cutting it into triangular wedges. This dish can be eaten at breakfast, lunch or supper. It can even be carried on a picnic.

Try it ! You will love it!

White peas with Sweet Potatoes (Some simple cooking after a very sweet Christmas)

Hi and a very bright and beautiful New Year to all my avid readers. May all your troubles this year be as short-lived as your New Year's resolutions:>)

So! ! I am back again from one of my long breaks . I know I have been taking so many long breaks between posts that I think you all are probably tired of hearing my reasons. But please hear me out one more time. The break in blogging started because of the Christmas holidays. 2 weeks of sheer relaxation. I like Christmas holidays particularly as it is a holiday without having the stress to celebrate the festival as we don't celebrate Christmas . Well we do it a little bit just for my son who still believes in Santa and reindeer and all the Christmassy bits that are so important and delightful to a child . So we have some fairy lights in the house and of course he has a Christmas stocking and his Christmas present of course.

But basically what the holidays mean is husband and son at home . (i.e son for 2 weeks of course and husband only for the long Christmas weekend and on New Years.) , no getting up early to pack lunches and no nagging them both to get out of the house on time for school and office late brunches and generally a sense of taking everything easy . I was practically getting up at half past eight everyday. Felt guilty sometimes but I easily pushed the guilt away. That was not difficult at all.

Before the Christmas weekend we made sure that the fridge and store cupboard were well stocked , made a trip to the library for some good books and magazines and DVDs to loan and we were set. What more does one need? Right? Christmas Day and the next two days were spent playing Monopoly with our son. It was great . The three of us really enjoyed our time together. I also did quite a lot of cooking (you have to cook a lot when all of you are at home). But that meant I could not find the time to blog. All the time was spent by the three of us together, eating , playing games, going out, visiting friends and of course visiting the sales on Boxing Day.

But now it's back to routine. I am alone at home again doing my thing while hubby and son have gone to their respective places of duty. The festivities are over and everything is back to normal which includes the cooking. No more puddings and cakes and mince pies in my kitchen. We have had our fill. Since a couple of days I have started googling the name of whatever vegetable I have in my fridge and checking what the net has to offer . It's the best way to come up with different combos and different ways to cook that same old veggie.

This time I had soaked a cup or two of dried white peas ( that's not chana ) and wanted to cook them with another veggie. Normally I use dried white peas only to make Ragda Patties . But yesterday I cooked them with sweet potato and the result was delicious to say the least. All three of us loved it with chapatis. It was simply cooked with no fuss and minimum spices. The dish looked beautiful too because of the sweet potatoes which are a beautiful coral colour.

Here are the ingredients :

• 1.5 cups of dried white peas to be soaked overnight (they increase in quantity to a little more than 2 cups after absorbing the water)
• 1 medium sized sweet potato cubed (keep them immersed in water until you need them so they do not discolour)
• 1 small onion chopped,
• 3 cloves of garlic finely crushed,
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 3 tblspns oil,
• 2 tspns mustard seeds,
• 1/2 tspn hing (asafoetida),
• 1 tspn whole cumin (jeera),
• 1 tspn each of coriander and cumin powder,
• 1/2 tspn turmeric powder,
• 1 tspn sugar,
• some fresh chopped coriander,
• salt to taste.

Method:

• Cook the peas in a pressure cooker with some salt and the turmeric powder.
• In a pan heat the oil and temper it with the mustard seeds, hing and cumin,
• Next add the chopped onion and garlic and fry for a few minutes on moderate heat,
• Now add the tomatoes and cook further,
• Add to this all the spice powders (coriander,cumin, chilly and some more turmeric). Cook these on low heat for a further 2 minutes.
• Now add the 2 star ingredients : Cooked white peas and the sweet potato cubes, add 2 cups of water
• As the peas are already cooked and sweet potato cooks very fast you will need to cook these further for a very little time just until the sweet potatoes are done and the spices are nicely mixed and absorbed in the whole curry. Add more waterwhile cooking if you find it getting too thick . Stir in most of the chopped coriander into the dish and use the remaining to garnish just before serving.

Eat with hot rotis or jeera rice. It makes a very simple but hearty and healthy meal.

Friday Vegetable Curry

I am sure all of you are wondering why you haven't heard of a curry by this name before. That's because I just made up this name last Friday. I call it the Friday Vegetable Curry because it's the perfect thing to make on Friday when my fridge is practically empty as Saturday is the weekly shopping day. Last Friday I had one carrot , 2 tomatoes and a small bunch of coriander in the fridge and 3 potatoes and 1 lonely onion in the potato-onion basket. A few frozen veggies like sweet corn, green beans and peas came to the rescue and I made this very easy, but lip-smacking (if I may praise my own food) veg curry.

All I needed was :

3 potatoes cut into small cubes

2 carrots roughly chopped,

1/2 cup each of frozen peas, sweetcorn and french beans,

2 tomatoes coarsely pureed + one tspn of readymade concentrated tomato puree,

1 large onion,

4 cloves garlic crushed,

2 tspn cumin-coriander powder,

1 tspn powdered kasoori methi,

1 tspn chilly powder,

1/2 cup milk (yes!!!! Milk)

3 tblspns oil

salt to taste and coriander for garnishing

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a kadhai or suitable pan and fry the garlic and onions on medium heat till lightly golden in colour,

2. Next add the tomatoes and tomato puree and fry for a couple of minutes,

3. Now add the spices ,and chilly powder and mix well. At this point add a little water to the mixture so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

4.When the tomatoes have thoroughly cooked add all the vegetables and a little more water, add the salt and now let the vegetables cook on a very low heat. Do not cover the pan if you want to retain the lovely colours of the vegetables in the finished dish. Also by cooking on low heat the veggies cook well but also have a nice bite to them. They don't get all mushy.

5. Now stir in the kasoori methi.

6. At the final stage add the milk. Milk gives the whole dish a creamy taste like a korma and makes a very simple home-cooked dish taste like something you would eat in a restaurant . (Feel free to replace milk with single cream if you wish) After adding the milk let the vegetables simmer for a couple of minutes and then switch off the gas.

This curry goes very well with parathas, rotis , rice or even couscous.

Tomorrow is Friday , so go ahead and raid your fridge.

Mix Vegetable Pickle (A must-make in winter)

I call this a must-make (a word I just conjured up) because it used to be a winter must-make in my Aai's (mom's) kitchen all through my school and teen years. She still makes it ,though probably in smaller quantities as my sister and I are not there anymore to hog it with every meal.This is a winter specialty as the vegetables are always so much fresher and appealing then ,than in the hot summers in India.

So I am continuing the tradition even in England where funnily enough it is cold for almost three quarters of the year if not more. The cold weather somewhat demands that I make this hot and spicy pickle .

It's terribly easy to make and can be made even as a last minute addition to spice up a meal. Infact it's so easy that I had second (and even third) thoughts about posting it as a recipe on my blog, but something so delicious has to be shared. Right? So here goes:

You need:

2 carrots finely diced,

1 cup small cauliflower florets,

juice of one lemon,

6 green chillies cut into small pieces,

1/2 cup green peas

approx 1 tblspn readymade pickle masala (easily available in Indian grocery shops)

1/2 tspn salt

What do you do with these?

Very simple. Just mix all the ingredients and leave for about 30 mins until the pickle releases its juices

Give it a taste and adjust the pickle masala ,lemon juice and salt according to your taste. Make it spicy.

Well that's it. It's ready to eat. It tastes better the next day so it's a good idea to make it one day in advance although it tastes beautiful even when made at the last moment as I said earlier

.

Serve at as an accompaniment with your meal,like any other pickle

Note: Needs to be stored in the fridge and finished in 3 to 4 days which is not at all difficult.

Palak Paneer from UK

I call this dish Palak Paneer from UK because I saw this recipe on a show on UKTV Food. I am always intrigued when English chefs cook Indian food on TV. All the ingredients seems so much more exotic when they talk about it. Everyday items from an Indian Kitchen like curry leaves, cumin powder, garam masala, fresh coriander and ginger-garlic paste which are used by me without giving them a second thought appear so much more glamorous on TV.

Terms like beautiful and gorgeous are used very frequently to describe very commonly used spices,but I must say they do make you see stuff in your own kitchen from a different perspective. And I like that. sometimes while cooking something mundane I pretend I am on a TV show and say things like "Now lets put some of this gorgeous yellow turmeric powder in our curry" or "I am going to chop some of this beautiful fresh green coriander and garnish my lovely crunchy salad" It really makes me laugh while cooking and takes away some of the boredom out of everyday cooking .

I am sure by now all of you are thinking "This Anupama has really lost it this time" But you know what even as a kid of 12 or 13 I used to browse through Tarla Dalal's recipe books while eating something very ordinary at home like rice and dal or something similar and pretend that I was eating the dish that was reading about.

Before I saw this recipe on TV I always made Palak Paneer in a slightly different way. I never used tomato in it and I admit I always felt that my dish always lacked something that I could not really put my finger on. But I loved it this time.

So these are the things I used:

2 bunches of baby spinach leaves finely chopped , 1.5 onions finely chopped, 1 large tomato finely chopped, 4 cloves garlic crushed, 1/2 inch piece of ginger, 1.5 tspn coriander powder, 1.5 tspn cumin powder, 1/2tspn garam masala, 1 green chilly chopped, 1/2 cup milk, 2 cups paneer cubed, salt to taste, 3 tblspns oil

And this is what I did:

1. Heat the oil and saute the ginger , garlic and chilly for few seconds,

2. Add the chopped onions and fry these for a minute,

3. Next add the chopped tomato and the spice powders and cook until the raw smell of tomato disappears. Add small quantities of water so the masala does not stick to the bottom of the pan,

4. Now add the spinach, lower the heat to medium and slow cook the spinach until completely cooked,

5. Next add the milk. You can use cream here but milk also gives a great creamy flavour without all the unnecessary calories,

6.Cook further for 2 to 3 minutes until the whole dish gets a creamy texture, now add salt, and check the seasoning

7. At the final stage add the cubed paneer (I did not fry the paneer, but while I was cooking the spinach I immersed the entire block of paneer in warm water. This really softens the paneer beautifully) and cook on a low heat for just one min and switch of the gas.

Palak paneer never tasted so good to me . So do give it a try.