Tofu and Vegetables Cutlet

Here is an amazing Indian style tofu and vegetable cutlets recipe. These cutlets are very healthy and delicious. You may use this cutlet as burger patty.

Tofu is a good source of protein and contains all eight essential amino acids. It is also an excellent source of iron and calcium and the minerals manganese, selenium and phosphorous. In addition, tofu is a good source of magnesium, copper, zinc and vitamin B1.

Ingredients:

• Tofu (extra firm)- 100 gm
• Onion, finely chopped- ¼ cup
• Capsicum, finely chopped- ½ cup
• Green peas, boiled- ½ cup
• Carrot, boiled- ½ cup
• Sweet corn kernels, boiled- ½ cup
• Fresh coriander, finely chopped- 2 tbsp
• Potato, boiled- 1 large
• Ginger~garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Fresh bread crumbs - from 2 bread slices
• Chili powder or chili flakes- 1 to 2 tsp
• Garam masala- 1 tsp
• Chat masala- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Oil or butter for shallow frying- as required

Methods:

• Chop or crumble boiled veggies (carrot, peas. corn) in food processor without water. (If you don't have food-processor, you can chop finely or grate.)
• Grind bread slices to make crumbs. (You can use roasted crushed roll oats to make healthier instead of bread crumbs.) 
• Peel the potato and grate it.
• Combine all veggies, potato, bread crumbs, above mentioned all spices and salt in a bowl.
• Wash the whole bar of tofu under cold running water and squeeze out the excess water. Crumble and add to the vegetables.
• Mix well and make a lemon sign ball.  and pat flat & make a patty. Shape it with your palms in the desired shape. Roll on breadcrumbs.
• Heat a tawa or skillet with some oil and shallow fry on med heat till golden brown from both sides. 
• Serve hot with tomato ketchup or chutney.

Pitthal ~ Gram/Chickpea Flour Curry

Pitthal-Bhakri is a combo dish which is very famous in Maharashtra.  Pitthal means gram flour curry and bhakri is a type of bread. This is also a rural food of Maharashtra.

Pitthal is very easy to make.This is the perfect option If you don't have veggies in your fridge. You can make this in haste with very few ingredients.
Various types of pitthal are made in Maharashtra. I will post all recipes one by one.

Ingredients:

• Gram flour (Besan) - ½ cup
• Green chilies - 4
• Onion, finely chopped- 2 tbsp (optional)
• Garlic cloves - 6
• Ginger - ½ inch
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Oil- 3 to 4 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Asafetida (Hing)- ¼ tsp
• Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Fresh coriander, finely chopped- a handful

Method:

• Crush or coarsely grind chilies, garlic, ginger and cumin seeds together. (If you don't want to make too spicy, then don't crush chilies, just use cut chili hence you can remove easily.)
• Heat oil in a kadhai or a pan. Add muster seeds and let them crackle.
• Add chopped onion and saute it till it turns pink.
• Add turmeric powder, hing and crushed chili-garlic-ginger-cumin. Saute for a while.
• Add 1 to 2 cups of water, chopped coriander and salt in the pan. Mix well and bring to boil. (According to your choice of consistency adjust the proportion of water.)
• Meanwhile, add some water in gram flour gradually. Mix well and remove all lumps.
• Reduce the heat to low. Add this besan paste in the pan and mix well. Stir continuously.
• Within 1-2 minutes, it starts to boil. Switch off the gas, pitthal is ready to serve.
• Serve hot with bhakri, thecha/chutney, buttermilk and onion.

Pithla tastes good with hot plane rice also. If you are serving Pitthl with rice then the consistency of pithla should be thin.

Mutton Masala

Great look and great taste.....

Ingredients:

• Mutton- 500 gm
• Onion, sliced- 2 med
• Meat masala - 3 tsp or Punjabi garam masala- 2 tsp
• Asafetida (Hing) - ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
• Oil- 5 to 6 tbsp
• Fresh coriander, chopped- for garnishing as required

Marination:

• Curd- ½ cup
• Ginger~garlic paste- 1 tbsp
• Onion paste- from 1 med onion
• Chili powder- 2 to 3 tsp or to taste
• Salt- to taste

Method:

• Cut and wash mutton into med sized chunks.
• Marinate with above mentioned marination for 2-3 hours.
• Heat oil in a wok, add sliced onion and fry till golden brown.
• Add hing and turmeric powder. Saute for a while.
• Add marinated mutton and saute for 5 minutes on high heat.
• Add meat masala or garam masala and mix well.
• Add 1 cup of water and mix well. 
• Cover with s.s.plate. Add some water on plate.
• Cook on low to med heat for 1 hour or till cooked. Stir occasionally. Add water if necessary in between. Use hot water which we kept on the cover plate. (You can use pressure cooker for cook. But you will need about 3 cups water to add in mutton before close the lid.)
• Garnish with coriander and serve hot with roti or jeera rice.

Palak Paratha ~ Spinach Paratha

An easy and quick paratha recipe gives great taste and goodness of spinach. Spinach contains large amounts of fiber along with a lot of essential vitamins and minerals. 

Ingredients:

• Spinach puree- 1 cup
• Curd- 2 tbsp (optional)
• Whole wheat flour- 3 cups
• Green chili paste or crushed- 2 tsp (from 3-4 chilies)
• Coriander powder- 1 tsp
• Cumin powder- 1 tsp
• Carom seeds (ajwain,ova)- ½ tsp
• Sesame seeds- 2 tsp
• Asafetida (hing)- ¼ tsp
• Sugar- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Oil- as required

Method:

• Combine all the ingredients except curd, puree and oil in a big bowl or a plate.
• Add 2 tbsp of very hot oil (mohan) in this
• Add curd, palak puree and mix well. Add water little by little and knead to a soft dough.
• Divide the dough into small portions.
• Roll out each portion into a small circle's or desire shape. (Use plastic sheet/paper to roll. Using plastic paper, you can roll the paratha without using extra flour, hence when you are roasting paratha, it will required less oil this way.) 
• Heat a non-stick tava (griddle) and cook each paratha on both sides, using a little ghee, till brown spots appear on both the sides.
• Serve hot with fresh curds or pickle.

My daughter don't like spinach, but she eats paratha if I made some fantasy with this. So these triangle paratha for her. A tasty way to fill your children up with the essential minerals and keep them happy and healthy.

Palak/Spinach Puree- Wash and blanch spinach leaves. Blend with little water till smooth. You can store this puree in deep freezer for 2 weeks.


Notes: 

• You can add garlic in this paratha.
• You can blend blanched spinach leaves, green chili and garlic (if you are using) together. 

Achari Chicken Roll

A tasty chicken roll with pickele masala taste of goodness.

Ingredients:

• Refined flour/Maida or whole wheat flour rotis- 4
• Boneless chicken breasts- 125 grams
• Maharashtrian style ready-made Mango pickle masala- 3 tsp
• Ginger~garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Onion, chopped- 1 large
• Capsicum, chopped- 1 medium 
• Sherry or white Vinegar- 1 tbsp
• Oil- 2 tbsp

Method:

• Cut chicken into cubes.
• Marinate chicken cubes in pickle masala, ginger-garlic paste, vinegar and salt for minimum an hour.
• Chop capsicum and onion into square chunks.
• Heat oil in a pan and sauté chicken cubes till done.
• In between add capsicum and onion chunks sauté with chicken cubes.
• To make rolls, put little oil on a tawa and lightly heat the rotis. Place some chicken mixture on the roti.
• Roll the roti tightly over the stuffing and serve.

Blast on Crackers

This appetizer requires very little time to assemble and it tastes even better.

Ingredients:
Crackers - 1 pack (I used Britannia Nutri-choice crackers or you can use Monaco biscuits)
Cheese spread- as required (I used chili cheese spread)

For the Toppings-

• Sweet corn kernels, boiled- 1 cup
• Garlic, minces- 1 tsp
• Capsicum, finely chopped- ½ cup
• Onion, finely chopped- ½ cup
• Chili Flex- 1 tsp or to taste
• Olive oil- 1 tsp
• Salt & pepper- to taste

Method:
Combine all ingredients of toppings in the bowl and mix well.
Arrange the biscuits/crackers on a plate. Spread some cheese spread on crackers. Put some mixture of toppings on them.
Serve with cold drinks or any other juice. 

You can do many variations with this. Use different types of vegetables and fruits, sprouted beans, olives, onion.

Khajur Wadi ~ Date Fudge

Natural sweetness packed in these tasty and healthy fudge.

Ingredients:

• Dates- 500 gm 
• Cashew nuts- ¼ cup 
• Almonds- ¼ cup 
• Wall nuts- ¼ cup 
• Pistachios- 2 tbsp 
• Black raisins- 2 tbsp 
• Poppy Seeds- 1 tbsp 
• Cardamom powder- 1 tsp 
• Dedicated coconut- as required 
• Pure ghee- 1 tbsp 

Method:

• Deseed and chop the dates into small pieces and coarsely grind them using a mixer-grinder or food processor. 
• Chop raisins. Do not roast raisins, use as it is. 
• Dry roast and chop finely all nuts. 
• Dry roast poppy seeds slightly on low flame and allow them to cool. 
• Heat ghee in the same pan add ground dates and saute till it forms a solid mass. 
• Then add roasted poppy seeds, chopped nuts, chopped raisins, cardamom powder. Mix the mixture well and allow to cool slightly. 
• While still warm, knead into the dough and divide it into two-three portions. 
• Spread dedicated coconut on an aluminium foil or a plastic sheet. Put this dough on this give a cylindrical shape. 
• Similarly form cylindrical shapes out of the two other rolls. Roll tightly in the aluminium foil pressing at the ends. Twist the foil at the ends to give a firm shape. Knot the ends with thread if you are using plastic sheet. It's look like toffee. 
• Place these rolls in refrigerator for 4-5 hours to make it firm to cut. 
• After four hours remove the rolls from fridge and remove the aluminium foil. Cut the roll into slices of desired thickness and serve. 

Tips:

• Do not grind nuts, when the texture is powdery it gets mixed with dates and will not give the taste. When the nuts are chopped to pieces and used we get the feel of them while eating. 
• Instead of dates used figs and make figs fudge which also tastes good. 
• My mother-in-law mix khoya in this vadi sometimes to give texture and test of burfi. (Dry roast khoya and add into mixture. Adjust the sweetness with powdered sugar if necessary.) 
• You can make this vadi/fudge in different different shapes with moulds and cookie cutters such as Modak, Heart, Star etc. 

खजुराच्या वड्या

साहित्य:

• खजूर - 500 ग्रॅम
• काजू - ¼ कप
• बदाम - ¼ कप
• अक्रोड - ¼ कप
• पिस्ता - 2 टेस्पून
• काळ्या मनुका - 2 टेस्पून
• खसखस - 1 टीस्पून
• वेलची पूड - 1 टीस्पून
• डेसिकेटेड कोकोनट (रेडीमेड सुक्या खोबऱ्याचा चुंरा) - आवश्यकतेनुंसार
• साजूक तूप - 1 टेबलस्पून

कृती:

• खजुराच्या बिया काढून त्यांचे लहान तुकडे करा आणि मिक्सरवर भरडसर वाटून घ्या. 
• मनुका चिरून घ्या.
• काजू, बदाम व पिस्ता वेगवेगळे भाजून घ्या आणि अगदी बारीक तुकडे करा. 
• खसखस मंद आचेवर अगदी थोडी गरम करा. 
• एका जाड बुडाच्या किंवा नॉन-स्टिक भांड्यात तूप गरम करून खजूर टाकून त्याचा एकजीव गोळा होईपर्यंत परतून घ्यावा. सतत हलवावे नाहीतर खालून करपेल. 
• मग त्यात भाजलेली खसखस व काजू, बदाम, पिस्ता, मनुका, वेलची पावडर घाला. मिश्रण व्यवथित मिक्स करावे आणि थोडे थंड होऊ द्यावे. 
• मिश्रण कोमट असतानाच चांगले मळून घ्यावे आणि त्याचे दोन किंवा तीन भाग करावे. 
• एका अॅल्युमिनियम फॉईल किंवा प्लास्टिक शीट वर डेसिकेटेड कोकोनट पसरावे. 
• खजुराच्या मिश्रणाचा एक भाग घेऊन त्याला दंडगोलाकार (रोल) आकार द्या. त्याप्रमाणे  इतर दोन रोलही तयार करा. 
• तो रोल अॅल्युमिनियम फॉईल ठेवून घट्ट  गुंडाळून घ्या. आणि रोलच्या दोन्ही टोकांना चॉकलेट टॉफी प्रमाणे पीळ द्या. प्लास्टिक शीट वापरत असाल तर रोलच्या दोन्ही टोकांना धागा बांधून घ्या. 
• ४-५ तास फ्रिजमध्ये हे रोल्स ठेवा.
• चार तासानंतर वरील अॅल्युमिनियम फॉईल काढून इच्छित जाडी/रुंदी ठेवून रोलचे काप करा.

टिपा:

• सुका मेवा मिक्सरला बारीक करू नये. भरड हवा. किंवा खलबत्त्यात कुटून घ्या.  
• खजुराऐवजी अंजीर वापरून पण अश्याच वड्या करता येतात.  
• मोदक मोल्ड वापरून याच मिश्रणाचे खजूर मोदक बनवता येतात. तसेच प्लास्टिक शीटवर हे मिश्रण सारख्या जडित लाटून घेवून कुकीज कटरने हव्या त्या आकारात वड्या पाडता येतात.  

Broccoli And Cheese Cutlets

Lip-smacking and cheesy cutlets melt in your mouth.

  Ingredients:

• Broccoli, finely chopped- 250 gm (approx.1 cup)
• Onion, finely chopped-  ½ cup
• Garlic, minced- 1 tbsp
• Green chillies, minced- 3 (optional or you can use chili flakes)
• Cornflour- 2 tbsp 
• Processed cheese, grated- ½ cup or 3 cubes
• Bread crumbs- ½ cup (from 3-4 bread slices) 
• Salt and pepper- to taste
• Dry bread crumbs for rolling- as required
• Oil for shallow frying- as required

Method:

• Boil water, add pinch of soda-bi-carb. Parboil broccoli florets. Drain and squeeze lightly. Allow to cool and chop finely broccoli. 
• Combine broccoli, onion, garlic, chili, cornflour, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.
• Mix well and divide into equal parts.
• Shape and roll into the bread crumbs. 
• Shallow fry on a griddle using a little oil till golden brown on both sides.

Tip:

• Dry breadcrumbs: Toast or grill the bread slices, cut and grind in the mixi. You can use ready-made unsweetened toast.
• Fresh breadcrumbs: Grind bread slices in the mixi.

Recipe idea: www.tarladalal.com

Kalanachi Bhakri

Bhakri is staple food of Maharashtra. Bhakri is known as mainly rural food.

It is made mostly from jowar flour, bajra flour,ragi flour and even rice flour. But this is a different type of bhakri which is a mixture of black gram (Urad) and jowar. This bhakri is originated from 'Khandesh' (Maharashtra). Specially they make this in the Winter. This is best to be consumed in Winter, as it gives heat to your body. This Bhakri is served mainly with baigan bharata (vangyache bharit), chutney (varhadi thecha) or shengadanyacha thecha and spiced buttermilk (mattha).

हि पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा.  

Ingredients:

• Millet (Jowar/Jwari)- 1 kg
• Whole black gram (urad) or whole green gram (mung) - 250 gm
• Fenugreek seeds- 1 tsp
• Sea Salt - to taste or 1 tsp

Mix all ingredients and grind it to fine flour . This flour is called as 'Kalana'.

Ingredients For Bhakri:

• Kalana flour- 2 cups
• Cumin-coriander powder- 1 tsp
• Curd- 1 cup

Method:

• Combine Kalana flour, cumin-coriander powder and curd in a big plate or bowl and mix well. Knead nicely to make a soft dough. Use water as need. 
• Make round balls out of this dough. On a flat surface, sprinkle little flour and pat the ball with your palm or roll it like roti. Keep flattening the ball in circular motion to make round shape like roti. Don't make it too thin. 
• Heat a thick griddle (tawa). Lower the flame. Now place Bhakri on griddle in such a way that the lower portion of bhakri should be on griddle. Now spread little of water on upper side of bhakri. When water on bhakri dries, flip over and roast from other side. 
• Now remove from griddle and keep it on the direct flame. It will get puffed. 
• Serve hot with thecha, bharit and mattha.

Tips: 

• We can make "Puri" from this flour. Make dough as above mentioned, divide in small dough. Roll it and deep fry them.
• In this way, you can make any type of bhakri except rice. You need boiling water to make rice bhakri.

Konkani Crab Curry

A ultimate konkani crab curry which satisfy your eyes, nose and tongue at a time.

हि पाककृती मराठीतून वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा.

Ingredients:

• Crabs - 6 
• Onion, finely chopped- 1 medium 
• Asafetida (Hing) - ½ tsp 
• Turmeric powder- ½ tsp 
• Homemade Masala/ Malwani masala/ Sunday Masala- 2 to 3 tsp 
• Oil- 3 to 4 tbsp 
• Salt- to taste 

For green masala paste:-

• Ginger- ½ inch 
• Garlic cloves- 6 
• Fresh coriander- a handful 
• Green chilli- 1 

Grind together with some water into fine paste.

For coconut-onion paste:-

• Onion, sliced-1 medium 
• Dry coconut, grated- ½ cup 
• Pepper corns- 4 
• Cloves- 2 
• Cinnamon stick- 2 inch piece 
• Fennel seeds- 1 tsp 
• Coriander seeds- 2 tsp 

Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan, add all dry spices and chopped onion, saute for 2 minutes. Add grated coconut, saute until brown in color. Let this mixture cool, grind together with some water into fine paste.


Method:

• Clean the crabs and separate the claws and the legs. 
• Marinate crabs with green masala paste, turmeric powder, hing, masala and salt. (Since crabs are naturally salty, so use salt carefully.) 
• Grind the small legs of all crabs to a paste and squeeze the juice from them. Sieve the ground juice through a muslin cloth or fine strainer and keep aside. This juice gives taste to curry hence it is used to make the gravy. (But if you feel this is tricky then you can omit this step.) 
• Heat oil in a thick bottom cauldron/wok and add onion. Saute onion till turns golden brown. 
• Add marinated crabs and coconut paste and fry till the oil separates. 
• Add the crab juice, cover with lid and cook on low flame. Crabs become red. 
• Add some required water to adjust consistency of curry as you like. Use hot water. 
• Boil for 15 minutes or till crabs are fully cooked. 

Chapaticha Chivada (Phodnichi Poli)

Chapaticha Chivada (Phodnichi Poli) is very good way to use leftover chapatis/polis and a great option for breakfast.

Ingredients:

• Leftover chapati- 6
• Onion, chopped- 1 large / 1½ cup
• Peanuts- ¼ cup
• Homemade masala or red chili powder- 1 to 1½ tsp
• Curry leaves- 1 string
• Turmeric powder-  ¼ tsp
• Asafoetida (Hing)- ¼ tsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Sesame seeds- ½ tsp (optional)
• Sugar- 1 tsp
• Oil- 3 to 4 tbsp
• Salt- to taste
• Coriander leaves, finely chopped-  ¼ cup

Method:

• Tear the leftover chapatis into small pieces. You can even grind it in a food processor. I used food processor for this lengthy process. 
  
• Heat oil in pan/kadhai. Add peanuts and saute till they turn slightly brown in color. Remove them from pan and keep aside.
• Add muster seeds and let them crackle.
• Add cumin seeds, hing, curry leaves and onion.
• Saute till onion turns pink.
• Add chapati mixture, salt, sugar and mix well. If required sprinkle some water.
• Cook covered for 1-2 mins.
• Add fried peanuts, coriander and mix well. Turn of the gas.
• Serve hot. Sprinkle a few drops of  lemon juice over chivada if you like.

Ambadiche Suk (Dried Small White Pawns Curry)

Ingredients:

• Suki ambadi/Suki karandi/Dried small white prawns - ½ cup 
• Onion, finely chopped- 1 cup or 1 large
• Tomato, finely chopped- ½ cup (optional)
• Garlic, bruised or crushed- 8 cloves
• Homemade masala or Malwani masala or Sunday masala- 2 to 3 tsp 
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Asafetida (Hing)- ¼ tsp 
• Kokam petals- 2 to 3 
• Fresh coriander, finely chopped- 2 tbsp
• Oil- 3 tbsp 
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Wash properly and soak suki ambadi in regular temperature of water for 15 minutes. Then squeeze them and keep aside. 
  
• Heat oil in a pan or small pressure pan. Add garlic, onion and sauté till it turns pink. 
• Add hing, turmeric powder and sauté for few seconds. Add masala powder and tomato. Sauté for a minute.
• Add soaked & squeezed suka jawala. Sauté for a minute.
• Add salt & kokam and mix well.
• Add little water and mix well. Cover with lid.
•  Cook for 10 minutes on low-med heat. Stir in between.
• Garnish with coriander. Serve hot with rice or ragi roti/ bhakari. 

Tips:

• Here I used Suki Ambadi but we can make this type of curry with any type of dried prawns or with fresh prawns also.
• We can use Raw mango/kairi or Dried raw mango/aamboshi instead of Kokam. 
• You can make some curry using some extra water. Thus you can eat with rice.

Orange Marmalade

Fresh citrus taste, the bittersweet bite of rind of homemade orange marmalade.
So easy to make!

Ingredients:

• Oranges – 3 
• Water – 1½ cups 
• Sugar – 1½ cups 

Method:

• Wash the oranges well.
• Peel the oranges, discard the pith (inner white part including white threads etc). Wash your hands. (Read in the notes.) 
  
• Separate the wedges. Remove the inner cover and seeds.
• Now only retains the fleshy part/pulp. This pulp collect in a bowl. 
  
• Shred the rind. Wash the rinds and pat dry. Wash your hands also.(Use the rind of a single orange only/¼ cup or less than/approx 2 tbsp. Some recipes use more, but it makes the marmalade too bitter.) 
  
• In a thick-bottomed pan, add the pulp+juice of oranges, the rind shreds, along with 1½ cups of water. 
• Bring to a rolling boil, stirring regularly. Set to simmer.
• After 30 minutes of cooking on low heat, stir in a cup of sugar till it dissolves. Continue to simmer till the marmalade has thickened. This will take another 20 mins or so.
• You need not watch over the pan too carefully while it cooks. 
• Stir continuously at this stage. Cook till mixture reached to gel point.
• The marmalade is ready, you will get a solid un-spreadable jam.
• Let it cool. Pour into clean and dry ceramic or glass jar.  Refrigerate.
• Enjoy homemade orange marmalade over hot toast or cake. 

How to check Gel Point: 

Take glass full of water. When mixture gets thicken, pour a drop of hot marmalade in the glass. If this drop dissolved in the water, then you should cook sometime more this mixture.

If this drop settled down in the glass without dissolving in the water, the marmalade should show signs of gelling.... means jam is ready.

Notes:

• Oranges should be sour and fresh.
• I mentioned in method "Wash hands". The white part/ pith of orange is too bitter. When we touch this, the bitter juice spread on our hands, it makes the marmalade too bitter.
• Make sure that your jar or bottle is thoroughly clean and dry. This will help the marmalade stay good longer.