Life 'n' Such

If Indians (living anywhere in the world) had to make a list of their favorite comfort food, guess what would be in every list?

Maggi! (yes, you bet, maggi noodles, the 2 minute wonder which was introduced in India decades ago, and it spread like wild fire all across the country in no time)

Nestle rocks, first Nescafe, milk, chocolates, Maggi noodles… go Nestle go! *

Indians, no matter, young or old, love Maggi noodles, (it is like Top ramen noodles, only so much more tastier, and the flavors are crazy, plus they are making the whole grain ones these days – win win!)

I have so much cooked food in our refrigerator, but tonight we both just wanted to eat Maggi noodles.

Hmm, yummy!

Do you agree?

*Please note: I am uncertain of the order in which the products debuted in India.

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Tehsin gave me this recipe earlier, but I had not taken it down. And yes, I do make kadhi, but it is never perfect, so this time I wrote it down. My son loves yogurt. So he likes to eat this kadhi with Moong khichdi.

Ingredients:

1 bowl yogurt,
2-3 tsp chickpea flour (besan),
turmeric,
corriander seeds (dhania) pdr,
cumin (jeera) pdr,
red chilli pdr,
salt,
oil for cooking,
fenugreek (methi) seeds,
cumin (jeera) or mustard (rai) seeds,
optional chopped tomatoes, curry leaves, chopped onion, fresh green hot peppers, fresh cilantro (dhania)

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients up to salt, and keep it ready in a bowl.

In oil, fry methi seeds, till brown, add rai or jeera, then onion chopped (optional), and cook till translucent.

Add curry leaves, and tomatoes(optional), green chilli.

Add yogurt mixture, add water, cook till done. Stir continuously.

Fresh cilantro or coriander for garnish.

Note: Once I did not have chickpea flour, and I used all purpose flour instead, and it worked fine.

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I think doodhi is gourd in English, if not I am sorry, please correct me.

In India, I kept hearing that doodhi is some sort of a super vegetable, for heart, for dieters, for babies, for old people, for everyone. So, these days, I mostly buy it, and make soup with it, but today I wanted to try what my mother makes with it. This is super duper easy, so yummy, and so quick. Oh man! Why didn’t someone tell me this earlier.

So, here you go:

Ingredients:

Potatoes (2 or 3 small, peeled, and chopped in large bite size)
‘Doodhi’ (1 medium sized, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped in same size as potatoes)
fried onions, about 2 tbsp (or you can chop and fry 1 small onion)
1 tomato diced
1 tsp whole cumin seeds (jeera)
3-4 curry leaves (optional, but I am in love with them these days, or the fragrance, hmmm….)
spice mix: salt, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp corriander ‘dhania’ powder, 1/4 tsp cumin ‘jeera’ powder)
3 tbsp oil, (less is fine too)
1 glass water for cooking

Method:

I used a pressure cooker, but any pan is alright, though cooking with pressure cooker is less time in kitchen.

So, start with heating the oil, drop the cumin seeds, then, the curry leaves, add the tomatoes, and a little salt. Cook till the tomatoes are almost tender, add the chopped doodhi, and potatoes, and then sprinkle the spice mix. Saute the mixture, for a bit. Then add the fried onions, and a glass of water. Now pressure cook for about 2 whistles ( I think about 7-10 mins), or till the vegetables are tender.

Thats it, done. Eat with rice, or chapatis, or if on a diet, with some yogurt. Yummy!

Optional: Add lots of chopped fresh cilantro (hara dhania) for color, and some more vitamins.

Note: If using fresh onion, fry them till they are brown before adding the tomatoes.

Update: Also, to make it protein rich, add washed and soaked chana daal along with the cut vegetables. Delish!

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Okay, first I have a confession, I hated sprouts as a kid. Okay another confession, I ate two slices of coconut cream pie yesterday. Oh! why did I do that?

Back to the sprouts, I don’t remember whether its the taste, or how they looked, but I regret that now so much.

But, now since I know, that they are good for me and you, I make a big pan of it once a week. I add it to almost everything.

I added it last night to my bowl of pasta and spaghetti sauce, (it doesn’t have a loud flavor, so it does not change your original dish’s flavor, but you add more punch to your meal)

You can sprinkle some on your salad, or add it to your sandwich. You can add it to your rice and make it a pilaf. So so versatile.

This is the best way I discovered to get sprouts.

Wash the Mung beans a couple times. Then soak them in water for about 8-9 hours (in colder places, soak them in hot water , not boiling). Then drain off the water. And let them sit covered for another 8-9 hours, till you see the little tail-like sprouts.

You can wait, for a few more hours, if your want the sprouts longer. But this is how I like them.

Then I just give it a little boil say 5 minutes, (don’t over boil, or you will lose the crunch). Now they are ready to be used anyway you like it.

P.s. Now I am regretting the coconut pie so much! Bad bad thing to do, especially 2 slices, oh! No retribution though for this act of mine. Just self torture.

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My mother would give me a bowl of roasted unsalted peanuts with jaggery (called ‘gud or gool’ in India) to eat as a snack since the time I could chew nuts.

She would say peanuts are poor man’s almonds.

Little did I know that I was getting a high protein snack with iron. (Peanuts has protein, and jaggery, I think, has iron).

So, if you or your little ones, are craving a snack at an odd hour of the day, then this is a very good option.

To health and happiness!

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Do you know what Caravan Serai means. Well it means Roadside Inn for travelers. You could still see a lot of these in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Israel, etc. But mostly ruins, which I am sure are still a lovely sight.

We went to a restaurant last night, craving good ol’ fashioned non veg food. We decided on Caravan Serai, an Afghani styled joint. This is located on Link Road, Andheri w, in Mumbai, near the Infinity Mall.

My thoughts:
Taste: Alright, I could eat similar food almost every other place,
Cost: A bit pricey (per person about Rs. 750, i.e. in USD hmm about say $15-$18),
Ambiance: Good ambiance, nicely decorated cream walls, with unique things hanging on walls and ceiling, pretty cool, good mood lighting, inside and outside dining option, low seating, which was unique, I don’t know if taller people would like that.

We ordered a few things, but the best thing we liked was the masala papad. It was perfect!

Recipe for Masala Papad:

A udid dal papad fried in oil.
The topping: It was just plain finely chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro (corriander leaves) with a little salt, and red chilli powder.

That my friend, was the recipe, so easy huh? So get up make it, and eat it right away, so you know what I am drooling about. Its a good snack, appetizer, and oh I almost forgot, we ordered a tall glass of sweet lassi, which was so good with this Masala papad. Yumm!

They served the lassi beautifully. It was a tall glass, with few ice cubes, and the lassi was nice thick consistency, not completely smooth and whisked, but there were a few pieces of yogurt (dahi) in it, which a nice idea I liked. And the best part is the small stream of a rose syrup they had down the side of the glass, gave a light flavor and looked brilliant!

It was just divine!

So, quick take, if you have money to splurge, sure go ahead, enjoy at the Caravan Serai and definitely order the Masala papad.

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Today we are making doodhi ka halwa. I am learning how to make it from my MIL.

Ingredients:

2 large doodhis,
3-4 cups of sugar,
about 1 or 2 cups milk,
3-4 tbsp fresh cream (malai),
2 tbsp ghee
for garnishing: cashews cut in halves (sliced lengthwise)

Method:

I peeled, grated the doodhi (2 big ones), core removed because of the seeds.

Now put it in a large pot (non-stick preferably) and put about 3 cups sugar for 2 large doodhis. Put lots of malai, ghee, and milk.

I think the milk will curdle to form little balls.

Cook on high heat for sometime stirring constantly. Towards the end, when all the liquid has evaporated, it will start looking shiny, and the ghee will separate out. That’s when its done.

Stir in the cashews. Yummy! One of my favorites!

This can be relished hot or cool.

No Comments | In: Dessert, Food, Indian, Kashmiri, Other, Recipes | | #

We made chicken biryani last night using Bombay Biryani Masala of Shan. It is my favorite for making biryani.

I pretty much follow the recipe on the pack. And while making layers at the end of rice and the chicken masala, I add a couple more layers of yogurt mixed with some cinnamon powder and garam masala and another layer on top of that of fried onions.

What this does is that, you get moist clumps of fried onions in your every bite. Delicious!

2 Comments | In: Food, Indian, Kashmiri | | #

Last night we had a bunch of bananas which had over ripe. Now we didnt have the heart to trash them, so I just remembered my friend Shilpa’s mothers recipe for banana chaat. I did not have all ingredients, but even then it turned out superb. And best part, no guilt about wasting.

Ingredients:

Bananas (use 1 1/2 per person),
salt as per taste,
sugar as per taste,
black pepper powder as per taste,
lemon juice (freshly squeezed, again as per your preference – generally you will need 1/2 lemon for 1 banana)
black salt (kala namak) and cumin powder (jeera powder) / or chaat masala

Method:

Chop bananas. Sprinkle the other ingredients. Toss. Serve!

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Vaishali is my cousins wife. She is super talented. What can I say, everyone I know are super talented people (my peeps )

So, when we visited her last time in Pune, she made a big spread for lunch. Fish curry (next recipe), crab curry, fried prawns, some vegetables, and this raita. Everything was so good. Yumm-O rating!

So finally, I called her yesterday and took these recipes from her. This raita is made with lots of yogurt, so I cannot call the yogurt a dressing, but technically it is I guess. God Knows! Well, who cares!

Here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

Yogurt, 2 cups, (dahi)
salt, sugar for taste
oil for the ‘tadka’
mustard seeds (raai), curry leaves (kadi patta), asafoetida (hing), green hot peppers (hari mirchi) for the tadka
boiled and chopped in small size (like corn and peas) potatoes (optional carrots, etc)
boiled sweet american corn, green peas
grated beet root

First get the vegetables ready and cooled.

For the tadka, heat the oil, add the mustard seeds, when they splatter, add the green peppers and curry leaves, and finally the asafoetida. Turn off the heat, let the tadka cool a bit. Then add it to the whisked yogurt.

Add the vegetables to the yogurt, and finally add salt and sugar as needed.

Eat it as a evening snack or part of your meal. What did I say, Yumm-O!

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