Takatale Ghavan / Dhirade (Instant Spicy Rice Dosa)

A delicious breakfast....... 

ही पाककृती वाचा मराठीतून ....इथे क्लिक करा.

Ingredients:

• Rice flour- 1 cup (not so fine and not like rawa, the flour texture should be like bhajani flour)
• Butter milk- ½ cup (It should be sour)
• Water – ¾  cup (some less –more, adjust the consistency)
• Garlic cloves- 3 to 4
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Green Chili- 2
• Salt to taste
• Oil or ghee- as required

Method:

• Crush coarsely green chili, garlic and cumin. If you don’t want to eat spicy, then don’t crush chili. Cut into small pieces, means you can remove them easily.
• Mix rice flour, butter milk, chili-garlic crush, water and salt in a bowl. Beat well and make the batter lump free.
• Heat a nonstick dosa-pan. Once pan is hot, drizzle or spray  few drops of oil.
• Making method is apart from dosa. Pour the batter circular, side of pan to middle of pan. (Refer the instant dosa/ghavane recipe). Dosa should be thin but not too thin. Pour little oil at all sides of dosa.
• Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Flip to the other side and cook for 1-2 minutes.
• Ghavan is ready. Serve hot with tomato ketchup. Actually no need to any chutney. They are tasty as it is.
• Enjoy your breakfast……

Oats Almond Perk Bar (Oats Almond Chikki)

Ingredients:

Oats flexes- 200 gm

Sugar- 200 gm

Almonds- 20

Vanilla incense- 1 tsp

Method:

Dry roast oats very lightly in a non-stick pan on low heat till light brown. Remove from the pan and set aside in a bowl. Dry roast the almonds and coarsely chop.

Heat large size non-stick pan. Add sugar, stir continuously till the sugar melt. Add vanilla incense. Cook till attains “ one string consistency”(Ek tari pak). Add oats and almonds and mix well. Sauté continuously for 3-4 minutes.

Transfer the mixture onto a aluminum foil and spread it evenly. Shape it square, folding sides of aluminum foil and pressing it by hands. Cut into small square pieces. Decorate with almonds. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Tips:

·   Bar (Chikki) should be shaped when the mixture is still hot, as the mixture solidifying as it cools. Chikki should be crisp and firm and one can store them in an airtight container for fifteen days or longer.

·    One String consistency (Ek tari pak)- When small quantity tested between thumb and forefinger, a long string is formed.

Variation:

·    Add 1 tsp coco powder in sugar syrup with above mixture. Cut it rectangle shape like bar. Melt chocolate & dip them in chocolate. Oats almond chocolate bar is ready.

·    Bar (without chocolate layer) served with ice-cream.

·    Crush chikki coarsely and use as nougat over cakes and ice-creams.

 

 My “ Recipe - Oats Almond Chikki” has been selected as one of the winner for Prestige Smart Chef Contest.

I won Gift Voucher from Prestige.

Warm Red Cabbage And Apple Salad

I have red cabbage. I want to do something different than regular salad.  My husband like continental food. So I always try to find out new recipes for him. This recipe is adopted from Sanjeev Kapoor’s cook book. I have done some changes in original recipe.

Ingredients:

Shredded red cabbage- 1 cup

Butter- 2 tsp

Apple,sliced- ½

Sugar- 1 tsp

Raisins- 1 tbsp

Lemon juice- 1 tbsp

Black pepper, freshly ground-1 tsp

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat butter in a pan. Add red cabbage and salt and mix. Add sliced apples and saute. Add sugar and raisins. Once the apples are soft add emon juice. Add freshly crushed black pepper and mix. Don't overcook. Serve hot and crunchy. 

It is very good going with wine.

Dried Shrimp /Prawns Pulao (Sodyachi Khichadi / Sode Bhat)

Sodychi Khichadi is very popular dish mainly in CKP (kayastha) community. They just die for this. It's very easy and tasty.

हि पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा.  

Serves:4

Ingredients:

• Dried shrimp/prawns (Sode)- ½ cup
• Oil- 4 to 6 tbsp 
• Rice- 2 cups (not need to use Basmati rice, I used Kolam Rice)
• Onion, sliced- 2 cups
• Tomato, chopped- 1 cup
• Potato- 1 large size
• Cinnamon stick- 1 inch piece 
• Bay leaves- 3
• Ginger~garlic paste- 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
• Asafetida (Hing)- ¼ tsp
• Homemade masala or Sunday masala or Malwani masala- 4 to 5 tsp 
• Fresh coconut paste- 2 tbsp (optional)
• Water- 3 ½ cups to 4 cups (depends upon, how is old your rice)
• Salt to taste
• Finely chopped fresh coriander- a handful 
• Boiled eggs- 2 

Method:
Torn dried shrimp into small pieces.
Wash properly & soak in regular temperature of water for 15 minutes & then squeeze them. 

Wash rice, drain all water and keep aside. Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch pieces.
Heat oil in a pressure pan/cooker. Add bay leaves, cinnamon stick & onion.

When onion become light brown, add turmeric powder, hing, homemade masala and sauté for 2 minutes. Add ginger-garlic paste & soaked dried shrimp. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Add tomato, potato and coconut paste. Mix well & saute for 2 minutes. 

Add rice and saute for a minute.

Add water, garam masala and salt. Mix well and close the cooker with lid. Take 3 to 4 whistles. (Instead of using only water, you may use half quantity of water and half quantity of coconut milk for rich taste.)

You can also make this pulav in casserole. But use hot water. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes on simmer or till rice & potato cooks well.
Garnish with chopped coriander & boiled egg.. Serve hot with any salad.
Traditionally it serves with Sol kadhi.

 In India fish & prawns are dried in strong sun, mostly in summer (Feb to May).  There are various types of dried fish available in the market. 

Sun dried prawns are very tasty. They are used in many dishes. 

Subway Style Veggie Sandwich

That day, My daughter forced me to make Subway style sandwiches. But I couldn't get French bread in the market. So I brought these Hot Dogs Buns. Try this…..

Ingredients:

For Filling:

• Julienne Green bell pepper/capsicum - ½ cup
• Julienne Red bell pepper - ½ cup
• Julienne Yellow bell pepper - ½ cup
• Julienne Baby Corns- ½ cup
• Julienne Carrot- ¼ cup
• Sliced Mushrooms- ½ cup
• Julienne Onion- ½ cup
• Minced Garlic- 1 tbsp
• Black pepper- 1 tsp or to taste
• Chili flex- 1 tsp
• Dried oregano- 1 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Olive oil- 2 tbsp

Other Ingredients:

• Hot Dog Buns- 6 or French long bread- 3
• Butter- as required
• Cheese Slices- 6
• Tomato slices- ½ cup
• Red radish slices or onion rings- ½ cup
• Olive slices- 2 tbsp 
• Tomato ketchup- for garnishing
• Tangy chips – for garnishing

Vinaigrette:

• Olive oil- 2 tbsp
• Mustard sauce or paste- 2 tsp
• Vinegar- 2 tsp
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Combine and mix well all ingredients.

Hot Mayo Spread:

• Mayonnaise- 4 tbsp
• Hot chili sauce or Tabasco sauce- 2 tsp

Combine and mix well all ingredients.


Method:

For Filling:
Heat oil in a pan. Add carrot and baby corns, sauté for 2 minutes on medium gas. Add all bell peppers, mushrooms, garlic, onion and salt. Mix well and sauté till onion turns translucent. Add oregano, chili flex and black pepper. Mix well. Remove from gas. Do not overcook. Keep them crunchy.

Cut the breads into two parts. Heat the pan, spread the butter and grill one side of breads. Or apply the butter on bread and grill in oven.

Apply the Vinaigrette on one side of bread.  

Spread the filling on it.

Arrange tomato slices, radish slices or onion slices and olive slices.

Arrange cheese slices on it.

Apply hot mayo spread on other side of bread. 

Keep on other side, your sandwich is ready to eat.

Variations:

• Use multigrain french bread.
• You can add grilled paneer or tofu or chicken.
• You can add iceberg lettuce or tender spinach leaves.
• You can add pickled cucumber.

Ghavan (Instant Plain Rice Dosa)

This 'Ghavan' is the popular breakfast in our "Kokan". Ghavan is  a soft, netted rice pancake.  They are made by two ways. I am giving here instant method. It is look like Neer dosa but it’s different from  Neer  dosa.

हि पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा.     

Ingredients:

• Rice flour (coarsely grinded)- 1 cup (not too fine and not too coarse like rawa, the flour texture should be like bhajani flour.)
• Water - 1+1/4 cups (may need some less –more, adjust the consistency) 
• Salt- one pinch
• Oil or ghee- as required

Note:Wash thick rice and dry in shadow and then grind. Thus you can make more soft Ghavane. Use fresh flour, otherwise ghavan brakes during preparing.  

Method:

Mix rice flour, water and salt in a bowl. Beat  well and make the batter lump free.

Heat a nonstick dosa-pan. 
Once pan is hot, drizzle or spray  few drops of oil.

Making method is apart from dosa. Pour the batter circular, side of pan to middle of pan. 
Dosa should be thin but not too thin. Pour little oil at all sides of dosa.

Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes or till all sides start leaving edges, turn (flip) it and let it cook for another 1 minute . Do not make it crispy like dosa.

Ghavan is ready. Serve hot with green coconut chutney or potato fry subji.
We eat this 'ghavan' with jaggery and ghee in the breakfast. It rocks......

It serves with mutton curry or chicken curry also. For vegetarians, it serves with Kala vatana rassa or Kala chana rassa. Actually it goes well with ant type of veggies like chapati.

Notes:

• You can add 1 pinch of fenugreek powder in it. It enhances flavour.
• It is plain ghavan, but we can make it spicy ghavan or 'dhirade' also. 

Sweet Dish Version:

• In our “Kokan” region, this ghavan serve with Ghatala/ Gulavanee. Ghatala/ Gulavanee is one of the sweet dish which is made from jaggery and coconut milk. I”ll give this recipe later.
• Even this ghavan stuff with “Chav” means Modaka’s stuffing.  
• For sweet version, You can add 1 tbsp of jaggry in this batter also. 
• When you want to serve this ghavana with sweet dish, you can use milk or coconut milk and ghee instead of water and oil, for better and authentic taste.

Baby Corn And Capsicum Dry Masala

A tasty and spicy side dish for roti.....

हि पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा.  

Ingredients:

• Baby corn, sliced- 1 cup 
• Capsicum, diced- 1 cup 
• Finely chopped onion- 1 cup
• Finely chopped tomato- ½ cup
• Finely chopped or crushed green chilli- 2 tsp
• Ginger~garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder- ½  tsp
• Asafetida (Hing)- ¼  tsp (optional)
• Kadhai masala or Punjabi garam masala- 1 ½ tsp
• Finely chopped fresh coriander- ¼ cup
• Oil- 4 to 6 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Wash, cut and blanch baby corns. Drain and keep aside. Cut capsicum into 1 inch cubs.
• Heat oil in a pan or kdhai. Add chilli and onion, sauté till it turn translucent.  
• Add turmeric powder, hing,   ginger- garlic paste,  tomato and salt. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. 
• Add baby corns and mix  well. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add capsicum and kadhai  or garam masala. 
• Mix well, cover and cook  for 2 minutes. 
• Garnish with coriander. 
• Serve hot with  roti, puri, jeera rice or even bread.

When I saw my dish, I thought ……if replace the baby corns with prawns.  What do you think? :)

Spicy Pasta With Chili Garlic Broccoli

A delicious way to eat your broccoli. This is totally my idea of Chili Garlic  Broccoli Pasta. Actually I was going to do broccoli stir-fry. But the green and red colors attracted me. So I decided to enhance the delicacy of colors and taste to make pasta. But you can make only Chili Garlic  Broccoli Stir-fry.

Ingredients:

Farfalle pasta- 125 gm

Broccoli florets- 2 to 3 cups

Minced garlic- 6 cloves

Fresh red chilies- 1 or 2 (These chilies are mid spicy. You can use chilliflexs if they are not available.)

Chopped Onion- 1 cup (cut into 1 inch cubs)

Olive oil-  3 to 4 tbsp

Balsamic vinegar- 1 tsp

Tomato ketchup- 1 tsp (optional)

Black pepper powder -to taste

Dried rosemary or dried mix herbs-1 tsp

Grated Processed cheese- 2 cubes or Parmesan cheese-1/2  cup

Salt to taste

Method:

In bowl combine broccoli florets , balsamic vinegar, pepper & salt. Mix well & marinate broccoli at lest 15 minutes.

Boil water with salt and little oil. Add pasta to hot water and cook for 4-5 minutes till al dente. Drain pasta & wash well with cold water. Keep aside.

 Heat oil in non-stick pan. Add garlic and marinated broccoli. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.  

Add onion and dried rosemary.  Saute over medium heat. When they turn translucent, add pasta & mix well. Sauté for 2 minutes

Spread grated cheese on pasta. Serve hot.

Red Or Purple Cabbage Salad

An appealing and crunchy salad recipe.... red cabbage salad is loaded with disease fighting antioxidants and a great fresh taste. Appealing looks and great flavor, red cabbage salad is easy to prepare and quite healthy.

Ingredients:

Shredded red cabbage- 1 ½ cups

Chopped carrot- ½  cup

Julienne onion- ½  cup

Chopped capsicum- ¼ cup

Chopped tomato- ½ cup

Dressing:

Hot chili sauce- 1 tsp

Balsamic or red wine vinegar- 1 tsp

Honey- 1 tsp

Extra virgin olive oil- 1 tsp

Eggless mayonnaise – 2 tbsp

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients of dressing & beat well.

Mix all vegetables in bowl with dressing.

Shivalya/ Tisarya Lipati (Clams Curry)

Clams are rich in zinc and calcium so very nutritious. Clams are known as Shivalya, Tisarya, Shimpale or Shippi in Marathi. Thapathapit or Lipati means curry with little gravy. 
Clams Curry is my most favorite fish dish. Now I am starting without losing more time. So friends, lets get started !

हि पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा.  

Ingredients:

• Clams with shells (Shivalya)- approx 3 cups 
• Finely chopped onion- 1 cup
• Chopped tomato- ½  cup
• Crushed garlic – 8 cloves
• Home made masala or Sunday masala or Malwani masala – 3 to 4 tsp 
• Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
• Asafetida (Hing)- ¼  tsp
• Dried kokam- 2-3 petals 
• Finely chopped fresh coriander- 2 tbsp
• Oil- 3 to 4 tbsp                 
• Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the clan shells 2-3 times under running water. Scrub these shells while washing. Remove soil & sand if any. 

Cover and boil with less than ¼ cup of water for 5 minutes or till shells open. Do not overcook, they become chewy or rubbery.  

Put the clams from shells. Discard any clams that don’t open.

Don’t waste the water which used for boiling. This is stock & it contains full of taste. Strain this stock with fine strainer. Don’t use without staining because it contains sand.

Heat oil in a pan. Add onion & garlic, sauté till it turns into brown. Add turmeric powder, hing and sauté for a minute. Add masala & tomato. Sauté for 3-4 minutes or till tomato becomes soften. 

Add clams & mix well & sauté for a while. Add salt and the stock. Don’t use extra water. Add kokam & some chopped coriander. Cover & cook for 5 minutes on simmer. 

Garnish with coriander. Serve hot with rice or bhakri/roti.

Note: You can add 1 tbsp roasted coconut paste for give the thickness to curry.

I won chef's challenge of Lufthansa India for this recipe "Tisarya Masala (Clams Curry)".

The 'Chef Pick of the Week' winner for the week ending 2 April 2013 is me ! 

Metkut (Maharastrian Magic Powder)

Metkut is a authentic Maharashtrian recipe. This is a fine powder made from rice, dal and other spices. It has a smooth texture and mild spicy taste. The best part is all the ingredients would be easily available in your kitchen.

हि पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा.   

It tastes very nice with ghee and soft rice (khimat or gurgurya bhat). It's very healthy and easy to digest. We can just eat this at any time of the day. We generally eat this whenever we feel sick and upset stomach. This is tasty & healthy option to baby food.  It is very easy to make. See how….

Ingredients:

• Spilt bengal gram (chana dal) - 1 cup
• Spilt black gram (udad dal)- ¼  cup
• Rice- ½  cup
• Wheat - 1 tsp
• Red chili powder - 2 tsp
• Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Asafetida (Hing) - 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Cinnamons stick- about 1 inch
• Black pepper corns- 2
• Cloves- 4
• Nutmeg- ½ portion

Method:

• Roast all grains and spilt/dals one by one till it slightly gets brown on low flame. 
• Make small pieces of cinnamon stick. Roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, cinnamon, black pepper, cloves one by one till gives nice aroma on low flame. 
• Do not roast red chili powder, turmeric Powder, hing and nutmeg.
• Let it cool. Grate the nutmeg. Mix all the given ingredients and make a fine powder of it. It gives a nice aroma. Sieve and store it in an airtight container. You can use this for 2-3 months for better result.

Serving Suggestions:

• Add metkut, ghee to some hot rice. Mix well & eat this rice hot. You can add lemon juice or yogurt in this rice.
• Add some metkut, salt, finely chopped coriander & onion to yogurt. Eat like a raita. you can add mustered & hing tempering (phodani/tadaka) on this raita.
• Toast of bread slice, apply some butter, metkut & salt. Eat when toast is hot.
• Make "metkut pohe" with this.

Methi Paratha (Methi/Fenugreek Thepala)

Healthy and yummy all in one neat little package! It's perfect tiffin menu also. Methi (fenugreek) has numerous health benefits.

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour- 2 cups
• Chopped fenugreek (methi) leaves- 1 cup (1 small bunch)
• Gram flour/ chickpea flour (beasan)- 2 tbsp
• Red chilli powder or green chilli crush- 2 tsp or your personal like
• Minced garlic- 2 tbsp
• Sesame seeds- 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
• Asafetida (hing)- ¼ tsp
• Hot oil (mohan)- 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil - as required
• Water- approx. ½ cup

Method:

Combine fenugreek (methi) leaves, gram flour, red chili powder, garlic, sesame seeds, turmeric, hing & salt in a bowl or thali. Mix well & let it marinate for 15-20 minutes.

Add wheat flour and hot oil(mohan). Knead into a soft and smooth dough using water only if required. Keep aside for 5 to 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into small portions. 

Roll out each portion into a small circle's. Use plastic sheet/paper to roll. Using plastic paper, you can roll the paratha without using extra flour.  When you are roasting paratha, it will required less oil this way. 

Heat a tava (griddle) and roast each paratha (circle) using a little oil, till it turns golden brown in colour on both the sides.

Serve hot with tomato chutney or tomato ketchup or curd or any Indian pickle.

Methi thepala and chunda is very popular combination in Gujarat.

I love this recipe as it does not call for any stuffing like the traditional paratha's. It is just chop and mix in bowl.