𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝓓𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼

Masala Karle/ Bitter Gourd

Description

There aren’t many people who would like to try this as this is known to be bitter dish. Well, believe me you can try it my way and won’t find any bitterness in this dish. It wouldn’t be only yum but would definitely find a place in your favorite. (P.S.: Bitter gourd has high nutritional value).

Ingredients (serve 2 people):

3 karale/ karela/ bitter gourd
2-3 tbsp oil
4-5 garlic cloves
1 ½ tsp kala masala
1 tsp red chili powder
3 tbsp coarse grind peanuts + 2 tbsp fine peanut powder(peanut should be roasted before grinding)
1 ½ tbsp grated dry coconut
1 tbsp tamarind pulp or water soaked tamarind
1 tsp sesame seeds/ til
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp fennel seeds (sauf/ badishep)
1 ½ tsp jaggery
2 tbsp fresh cilantro
Water
Salt

Prodedure:

Wash all karale and cut into slices, remove the seeds as it has more bitter taste. Transfer to the bowl and sprinkle 1 tsp salt, cover it and keep aside for 30 min. After 30 min it will leave moisture or some water. Squeeze it lightly and drain the water.

For masala: Take a pan over medium heat, add in coconut, sesame seeds and fennel seeds, roast it till it gives aroma (do not over roast). Transfer it to a mixer jar/ blender, add garlic cloves, 2 tbsp peanut powder and cilantro. Blend it well and keep aside.

Take the same pan over medium heat, add oil. Once heated add cumin seeds, let it crackle then add sliced karale and saute for 2-3 min. Then add grinded mixture and 3 tbsp coarse ground peanuts, mix it well. Further add kala masala, red chili powder, turmeric powder and give it a mix.

Next add in jaggery and salt, combine it well. Add water to adjust the consistency (add more if required). Cover it and cook for 7-8 min, then add tamarind pulp and again let it cook for another 10 min on a low heat. Finally serve it with roti or phulka.

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Pav Bhaji

Description

A Maharashtrian fast food dish served with (पाव) bread and garnished with coriander and chopped onions and generous amount of butter. One of the most popular, delicious street food dish from India.

Ingredients (serve 4 people):

1 tsp oil
4-5 tbsp butter (you can use more if you like pav bhaji to be more buttery)
2 large potatoes
1 cup matar soaked (dry green peas) for 5-6 hrs
1 cup diced green bell pepper (capsicum)
1 cup cauliflower
3 green chilies (or take according to your spice level)
½ cup diced beetroot
2 cup diced tomatoes
1 tsp cumin
2 medium size onions chopped
2-3 tsp pav bhaji masala
1 ½ tbsp red chili powder
1 tsp cumin-coriander powder
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)
Salt (as per your taste)
1 tsp amchur powder (optional)
1 tsp sugar (optional)
Pav 8-12 (Dinner Rolls: For recipe please click here)

Procedure:

First boil potatoes, cauliflower, beetroot, matar, 1cup tomatoes, ½ cup capsicum or pressure cook it (3-4 whistles). Once boiled, take out in a bowl and mash veggies with potato masher and keep it aside.

In a deep bottom pan, heat oil and 2 tbsp butter, then add chopped onions and remaining capsicum ( as ½ cup we used for boiling), saute till it turns translucent. Further add remaining 1 cup tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste, ½ tsp salt, saute till tomatoes become soft. Then add red chili powder, green chilies, cumin-coriander powder, amchur powder, pav bhaji masala, mix all ingredients well and saute for 3-4 min.

Then add mashed veggie mixture to the pan, combine it well so that veggies are completely mixed with masala. Then add 1cup water (to adjust the consistency of bhaji), 1 tsp sugar and salt (as per your taste), stir well. Cover it and let it simmer on low heat for 10-15 mins. After 15 min, add a generous amount of chopped coriander, butter and let it simmer for another 5-6 mins.

Finally serve with shallow toasted pav (crisp and golden brown in color), lemon wedge, chopped onions, fresh coriander and butter.

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Eggless Pav (Dinner Roll)

Description:

The bread is known as pav because you get it in a set of four and then you break off each mini loaf as you eat. The Pav means one-fourth in the Marathi language. Pav was brought to India by Portuguese people. Pav is an integral part of some Indian dishes such as pav-bhaji, misal-pav, vada-pav, etc. You can serve it with any curry or bhurji also. These rolls are homemade so they don’t have any additional preservative.

Ingredients:

3 cup all purpose flour/ maida
2 ½ tbsp butter (at room temperature)
1 ¼ cup warm milk
8 gm/ 1 sachet yeast
2 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp milk (for milk-wash)
Stand mixer (optional)

Procedure:

Take 1 ¼ cup warm milk in a bowl, add 2 tsp sugar, yeast and keep it aside for 5-7 min to activate the yeast

Once it’s activated, add all purpose flour and knead the dough (for 15-20 min) with hands, then add butter and knead it again till it becomes smooth (if you have a stand mixer, knead the dough for 20 min on speed level 2).

After 20 min, tuck the dough, cover it with cloth/ cling wrap and rest for 1 hour in a warm place. After 1 hour, the dough will be doubled in size. Punch the dough, and knead it slightly to remove the air.

Now cut the dough in small portions, make the balls (40-45 gm each) and place them in a greased tray and spray oil. Cover it, and keep the tray aside for 30-35 min to rise the balls. After 30 min, give milk wash to the dough without damaging the balls.

Preheat the oven at 180°C (350°F) and bake it for 20-25 min or until the pav becomes golden brown in color. After baking them, take out the tray and rub with the butter to get a shiny texture. Cover it with wet cloth and let them cool. Finally enjoy the pav with your like of curry.

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Ras Malai

Description

Rasmalai is a combination of two words “Ras” means juice and “Malai” means cream. The dessert is also described as a rich cheese cake without a crust. The name itself is exotic and shows the richness of this delicious Indian sweet.

Ingredients:

For Rasmalai balls:

1 litre full fat milk (4cup)
4 cups of water
1 cup granulated white sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice/ vinegar (vinegar should be diluted)
1 tsp corn flour
1 cheesecloth/ muslin cloth

For Malai:

3 cups full fat milk
150 ml(1 can) sweetened condensed milk/ white sugar (as per your sweet tolerance)
½ tsp green cardamom powder
1 tbsp crushed almonds
1 tbsp crushed pistachios
Pinch of saffron/ Kesar strands (soaked in 2 tbsp milk) optional

Procedure:

Take the deep heavy bottom pan over medium heat, pour 1 litre milk and bring it to boil while stirring continuously. Once it starts boiling, add 3 tbsp of lemon juice/ vinegar and turn off the flame. Stir until milk curdles completely, add more lemon juice if required.

Now drain in the cheesecloth and rinse chhenna with cold water to remove the acidic flavor of lemon juice/ vinegar. Make a knot of cheesecloth and drain excess water with your hands first then hang it for 30 min to remove the remaining excess water.

For making malai, take 3 cup full fat milk in a heavy bottom pan and let it boil, while keeping stirring.
Add cardamom powder, crushed pistachios, crushed almonds, sugar/ condensed milk and saffron (kesar) strands soaked in milk, combine well. Let this mixture cook on low flame till the milk reduces/ thickens from 3 cup to 2 cup. Once thickened, turn off the flame and keep aside.

Further add chhenna/paneer (Indian cottage cheese) to a plate, add corn flour and knead for 10 minutes till it becomes smooth. Make 10-12 equal balls and flatten them slightly. Keep them aside.

Now pour 4 cups of water in a deep bottom pan, add 1 cup of sugar in it, stir well till sugar dissolves completely and bring it to boil.
Add balls into boiling water, cover it and cook for 15-18 minutes on a moderately high flame. Take out the balls, transfer it to a plate, pour the same sugar syrup on it and cool for 10-15 mins.

Remove Ras malai balls from sugar syrup, press gently with palms to remove excess sugar syrup. Transfer them to a bowl, add all the malai (rabdi) on top of it. Garnish it with nuts. Refrigerate for 6-7 hours/ overnight. After 6-7 hrs serve chilled.

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Scalloped Potatoes

Description:

This dish originated in England and the word scallop is basically a definition for how the potato is sliced. You have to cut potatoes thin and uniformly and layer them in a dish and cover it with different seasoning plus other ingredients. This results in the savory scalloped potato recipe.

Ingredients (Serve 4 people):

3 big potatoes
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup cottage cheese / ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated paneer(Indian cottage cheese)
1 tbsp fresh parsley
2 tbsp fresh cilantro (coriander)
1 medium size onion
1 medium size tomato
½ cup corn
3 cup spinach
3 big garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 tsp paprika (red chili powder)
1 finely chopped green chili
½ tsp black pepper powder
½ tsp garam masala
1 Parchment paper of pan size
3 tsp olive oil
Salt

Prodedure:

Peel off the potatoes and cut into thin slices, wash them and drain all the water, keep it aside.

Now take the medium size cookie baking pan, place parchment paper on it and spread parmesan cheese on the paper. Then arrange the potato slices as shown in the picture. Then spread the parmesan cheese layer on top of potato slices, sprinkle salt. Now bake it in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for 30 mins.

Take the pan over medium heat, pour 1 tsp oil, once heated up add spinach and chopped garlic, saute until spinach is cooked. Now take it out in a bowl and add in cottage/ ricotta cheese, mix it well and keep aside.

In the same pan, pour 2 tsp oil, add chopped onions and saute till it turns out golden brown. Then add grated paneer and corn, saute for a while then add tomatoes, paprika, black pepper powder, chopped green chili, garam masala, parsley, cilantro and salt. Mix it well and cook it for 2-3 mins.

After 30 mins of baking take out the pan from the oven, spread a layer of spinach-cheese mixture on it. Then spread the paneer mixture on top of spinach-cheese mixture, lastly spread mozzarella cheese. And roll the potato sheet. Now again bake it at 180°C (350°F) for 15 mins. After 15 min take out the pan and serve it.

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Mango Lychee Mastani

Description

Mastani is thick cold drink originating from Pune (Maharashtra, India). It is very popular among Maharashtrian people. The ripe flesh of mango is soft and juicy and crisp juicy flesh of lychee fruit is sweeter and pinkish/ glossy in color, blending them together gives an amazing taste. I tried it and it came out beating expectations. It is easy to make yet delicious.

Ingredients (Serve 2 glass):

1 ½ cup ripe mango pulp (kesar or alphonso)
¼ cup lychee pulp
1 cup lychee juice
½ cup heavy cream
Sugar (optional, I did not use)
Coarse chopped dry fruits (almonds, pistachios, cashews)
Mango ice cream

Procedure:

Blend mango pulp, lychee pulp, lychee juice, heavy cream and sugar( if you have taken) together till it becomes smooth.

Place coarse dry fruits at the bottom of the glass then pour the blended mixture and add ice cream scoop on the top. Garnish it with some more dry fruits.

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Afghani Fateer Paneer Pyazi

Description

Afghani Fateer is Afghani bread which is delicious in taste. I came across Afghani Fateer Pyazi which I experimented successfully using paneer stuffing. You can replace paneer with any other protein of your choice which can be grated.

Ingredients (serve 4 breads):

1 ½ cups all purpose flour/ maida
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Yeast
Water as required
2-3 tbsp melted Butter
2 tbsp milk
1 ½ cup grated paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
1 inch ginger finely chopped
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp cumin-coriander powder
1 medium size onion
½ tsp garam masala
½ tsp red chili powder
½ tsp amchur powder (dry mango powder)

Procedure:

In a bowl add flour, yeast, salt and water. Mix it well and knead the dough for 5 minutes. Grease with oil and wrap it with a cling/ plastic wrap and leave it for 20 minutes.

In a bowl, add in grated paneer, thin sliced onion, finely chopped ginger, chopped cilantro, cumin-coriander powder, garam masala, red chili powder, amchur powder and salt. Combine all ingredients together and keep aside.

Now divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Take one part and roll it out as thin as you can. Apply melted butter and spread evenly a thin layer of the paneer-onions mixture over the dough.

Roll it out as shown in the picture. Similarly roll out all other dough balls, cover it with a cotton napkin and rest for 10 minutes.

Now press it with light hands and give it a circular shape as shown in picture then prick all over it with a fork. Place each paratha (flatbread) in a baking tray. Apply milk wash. And bake it until it turns out golden brown (15-20 min)

Serve hot with raita or Indian pickle.

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Methi Malai Matar

Description:

This is creamy, rich, and delicious fenugreek and green peas curry. This is a whitish colored gravy using cashews, fresh cream. Fenugreek leaves are known to be slightly bitter in taste and that blends well with green peas and fresh cream. It goes perfect with naan/ roti and rice.

Ingredients:

2 cups washed and chopped methi (fenugreek) leaves
3-4teaspoons oil/ghee
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 green chili (I like hot and spicy curry so I took 3 if you like mild curry take less)
1 medium onion chopped
6-7 cashews
1 teaspoon poppy seeds (khas khas)
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup green peas
1/2 cup fresh cream/ heavy cream
1/2 inch ginger
6-7 garlic pods (if pods are big, use accordingly)
2 green cardamom
salt to taste
Pinch of garam masala

Procedure:

Take 2 cup methi leaves, wash it thoroughly, chop it and keep aside.

Heat 1-2 teaspoon oil in a pan over medium heat. Once hot add cumin seeds, let it crackle. Then add green chili, ginger, garlic, and cardamom. Saute for a while (1-2 mins). Now add in chopped onion, cashews, and poppy seeds, then saute for 5-6 min (or till the onions become translucent), then turn off the heat and let it cool down.

Transfer all mixture into a mixer jar and grind to a smooth paste.

Take the same pan over medium heat, pour remaining oil/ ghee, when oil gets hot add in grinded paste. Saute for 4-5 min till the raw smell is gone.

Then add milk and water while continuing stirring. Bring it to a boil. The small bubble appears.

At this stage, add in chopped methi leaves, boiled green peas, and salt and mix it well. Cook for a few mins (2-3min).

Then add the fresh cream and stir again.

Now cover the pan and let it simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add a pinch of garam masala to it and turn off the heat.
If you want you can garnish it with chopped cilantro. Serve Methi Malai Matar with naan/ roti and rice.

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Bharali Vangi

Description:

This is traditional Maharastrian dish made with spices, specially “Kala Masala”. It taste deliciously Spicy.

Ingredients (serving 4 people):

8 eggplants/brinjals
2 tbsp oil
¾ cup coarse peanut powder (peanuts should be roasted before grinding)
¼ cup shredded dry coconut (roast it just to remove its rawness, do not roast to brown)
1-inch ginger
8-10 garlic pods (if pods are bigger take relatively less count)
2 tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp of asafoetida (hing)
1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
2 tsp cumin-coriander powder
1 tbsp red chili powder (or as per your spice level)
1 ½ tbsp Kala masala (black masala, in Maharashtra we often use this masala) If you don’t have Kala masala you can use garam masala
1 tbsp fresh coriander
1 ½ tsp salt (or as per your taste)

Procedure:

Wash eggplants thoroughly, take 1 eggplant to slit it into four but do not cut it all the way through. In a similar way cut all eggplants (you can see in the picture), freshly cut eggplant put in saltwater to prevent from getting black from inside.

Take a mixer pot, add in ginger-garlic, coconut, sesame seeds, cumin-coriander powder, red chili powder, Kala masala, fresh coriander, and salt. Grind it well.

Take peanut powder in a bowl, add the grinded mixture to it and combine it well together.

Fill this stuffing into slitted eggplants, if masala remains use it later to thicken the curry.

Take a deep bottom pan over medium heat, pour oil, add 1 tsp cumin seeds, stuffed eggplants and saute it for 2-3 min. Cover the pan and let it cook for 8-10 min over medium-low heat.

Further, add remaining masala,hing and saute well for 2-3 min. Now add 1 ½ cup hot water and mix it well(adjust water quantity as you want). Cover it again and let it cook for another 10-15 min over medium-low heat (or till eggplants get cooked).

Turn off the flame and serve it with roti or bhakri (Indian millet bread).

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Moong Dal Sprouts Idli

Description:

Idlis are very popular across India as they are easy to make and super delicious. Moong lentil is rich in protein and healthy for people of any age group.

Ingredients (Serving 4 people):

1 cup moong sprouts (whole green gram lentils sprouted)
1 ¼ cup coarse semolina/ suji
1 cup yogurt
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp asafoetida (hing)
⅛ tsp black pepper powder
2 tbsp cilantro
Salt as per taste
2-3 tbsp oil

Procedure :

Take a mixer jar, add sprouts, cilantro, powdered black pepper together and grind it to a smooth paste.
Take semolina in a large bowl, add grinded mixture and yogurt. Mix it well. Then add hing, salt (as per taste) and mix them gently. Cover it and keep aside for 12-15 min.
Pour the idli batter into greased idli molds. Take the steamer over medium high heat and pour 2 glasses of water in it, heat till water starts boiling then put the molds into the steamer, cover it and cook for 8-10 min.
After 10 min remove the molds from the steamer and take out idlis gently. Serve it with coconut-peanut chutney/ chutney of your choice or sambhar

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