Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous new year. Let’s start the year on a sweet note.
Payasam is a traditional South Indian Sweet. No feast or festivity is complete without a payasam, be it a birthday, a wedding day, or any festival. The first thing that is prepared is the payasam. There are different kinds of payasams like Nei Payasam, Semiya Payasam, Ada Pradhaman, Parippu Pradhaman, the list continues. But surely Paal Payasam is the king of them all.
Paal payasam (milk rice pudding)
Ingredients:
Milk - 4 glasses
Sugar - 1 glass
Rice(preferably Chemba Pachari) - A handful
Preparation:
Wash and dry the rice thoroughly.
Put all the contents together in a pressure cooker, close the lid without weight on and put on high flame.
Wait till steam comes, then put on the weight and simmer the flame.
Simmer it for sharp 30 minutes.
You don’t have to worry about the number of whistles.
Switch off the gas after 30 minutes and wait for the pressure to relieve, which might take some time.
Delicious payasam is ready.
Pineapple curry
Ingredients
Serves 2
1. pineapple – ½ cup ( canned is okay)
2. Sour Curd – 2 cups
3. Grated Coconut – 1 cup
4. Green Chilies – 2 or 3
5. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
6. Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
7. Dried Red Chillies - 1
8. Methi seeds - ¼ tsp
9. Coconut Oil – 1 tsp
10. Curry leaves
11. chilli powder
Method
Boil the pineapple with salt, chilli and turmeric powder. Grind coconut with green chillies into a paste. Use a little of the curd for grinding instead of water. Add the ground paste to the cooked pineapple. Mix well. Now whisk the sour curd without any lumps and add to the coconut pineapple mixture. Check for consistency and salt. Simmer until the kootan froths up. Do not boil after adding curd. Remove from heat. Temper with Mustard, Red Chillies and Methi seeds. Garnish with curry leaves.
Yellow curry or lentil curry
Ingredients
1. Split yellow moong dal – 1 cup
2. Channa Dal – ½ cup
3. Cocunut milk – 200 ml
4. Jaggery – 2 cups
5. Cardamom – a few
6. Cashew nuts- 6- 7
7. Raisins – a few
8. Ghee – 1 tbsp
Method
Dry roast yellow moong dal till light brown. Keep aside. Dry roast Channa dal till light brown.
Soak Channa dal in water for about 15 mins. Pressure cook the dals separately for about 3 -4 whistles.
Heat a Kadai; dissolve the jaggery with just the minimum water. Strain the jaggery water to remove impurities. Wash the vessel in which jaggery was melted and pour the strained jaggery water back in the kadai. Let it boil for 3 – 5mins. Now mash the cooked dals slightly and add it to this jaggery syrup. Dilute half of the coconut milk with about 1 – 2 cups water and add to the payasam at this stage. (I used the packed coconut milk.) Allow to boil for 6 – 7 mins. Remove from heat and add the thick coconut milk. Do not boil after adding thick coconut milk. Add cardamom powder. Heat a small pan with ghee. Fry the cashews and raisins and add to the payasam with the ghee.
Note: If you want to use fresh coconut milk, you will require I medium sized coconut. For the thick coconut milk, grate the coconut and grind in the mixer. Now squeeze out the coconut extract with your hands. For thin milk, add some warm water to the grated coconut and run again in the mixer. Squeeze and extract coconut milk. Coconut pieces fried in ghee can also be added.
Banana dessert (nendra khaya payasam)
Nendram Pazham – 3, ripe
Thin Coconut Milk – 2 ½ cups
Thick Coconut Milk – 1 cup
Powdered Jaggery – 2 cups
Coconut – ¼ cup, cut into small pieces
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Method
Cut the nendram pazham into 2 inch pieces with the skin and steam them. Allow to cool.
Remove skin; also remove the black stem like thing from the inside of the banana.
Grind the banana and make it into a smooth pulp, do not add any water while grinding.
Heat a thick bottom Kadai, add the jaggery with ½ cup of water. Dissolve the jaggery completely.
Strain for impurities and pour it back into the Kadai.
Add the nendram pazham pulp and mix well. Stir it well and mash with the back of the spatula if you find any lumps.
Cook on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring continuously, till the banana and jaggery mixture come together as a mass.
Now add the thin coconut milk and cook on medium flame for 8 to 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid burning.
Turn of flame and add the Thick coconut milk. Mix well.
Heat a small frying pan with ghee, fry the coconut pieces in it till brown.
Add these fried coconut pieces to the prepared payasam and serve warm.
Delicious nendram pazham pradhaman is ready to be devoured.
Spinach Curry or
SPINACH DAAL
Ingredients
a bunch of spinach - washed and chopped
1-2 tea spoon grated ginger
1/2 cup yogurt or buttermilk
4-5 tea spoons besan (chana daal flour)
3-4 tea spoon chana dal
3-4 tb spoon peanuts (ground nuts)
4-5 green chillies - chopped.
3-4 aamsul / or 1/2 tea spoon tamarind paste
1 tea spoon sugar
For tadka -
mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, turmeric curry leaves, garlic, green chillies
and oil/ghee
salt to taste Soak chana daal and peanuts in water for an hour so that they cook faster. It’s better to use non-roasted peanuts as they absorb water nicely and taste better when cooked.
Get water boiling, add chopped spinach leaves, peanuts and chana daal and grated ginger and aamsul. Use just enough water to immerse spinach. Let the spinach and daal cook for 5-7 minutes. In another bowl, whisk yogurt and besan and add it to the cooked spinach, let it simmer for another 3-4 minutes. I like to add one/two chillies while the spinach is cooking and rest I use in tadka.
Nest step is to prepare tadka and add it to the cooked spinach. I prefer Ghee to oil for this dish. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and if you like, add a few coriander seeds. Once they start splattering, add hing and turmeric powder and then garlic and green chillies and curry leaves. Add this seasoned ghee/oil to the spinach mixture. Add salt and little bit sugar. The “patal bhaji” is ready.
A little bit of sugar nicely compliments the tangy touch added by aamsul. The garlic tadka makes this simple dish out-of-this world! i
A Quick Note -
To maintain the nutritional value of spinach, it’s important not to overcook the tender leaves. Add spinach after daal and peanuts are cooked, spinach takes hardly 2-3 minutes of cooking time.
Green peas curry (you can use fresh peas or dried peas)
GREEN PEAS CURRY
Ingredients
2 cup peas (shelled)
3/4 cup fresh coconut, grated
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp ginger, grated
8-10 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric (optional)
1/2 tsp hing
2 dry red chillies/ or chilly powder as per taste
salt as per taste
1/2 tbsp coriander powder or 1/4 tsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp oil
1 cup water
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1-2 star anis (optional)Method -
Make a fine paste with coconut, cilantro, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds, ginger and garlic. Add some water if required.
In a cooking pot, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and hing. Add turmeric powder if you like. Add curry leaves and red chillies cut into halves. Fry for another minute. Now add the green paste and let it cook until the paste starts leaving oil. Add salt as per taste. Also add star anis. Now add green peas and some water to maintain the desired consistency for the curry. Let the peas cook for 5-10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and sugar.
Serve with hot bread slices or rotis. Enjoy!
BEET ROOT SALADIngredients
2 cups shredded steamed beet (around 2 medium beets)
1/4 cup ground roasted peanuts
1/4 tsp fennel seeds (optional See Notes below)
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp तिळाची चटणी or 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
1/4 cup finely chopped tomato (optional)
2-3 chopped green chilies
3-4 curry leaves
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp hing
1 tsp oil
salt to taste
Wash and peel beets and cut them into halves. I usually steam beets along with rice in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles. It takes around 10-12 minutes if you are using a steamer.
Once they are cooked properly, transfer them into a pot containing ice water before you start gratin;. so that they cool down quickly.
Add chopped tomato, roasted peanut powder (roughly grounded), sesame seeds, fennel seeds lemon juice and salt and mix well.
Heat oil in a small tadka pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds when oil becomes hot. Add hing powder, chopped green chilies and curry leaves. Transfer this seasoned oil to the bowl containing beets and mix well.
Notes -
You can substitute lemon juice with yogurt if you like, but make sure it brings enough tanginess to the dish.
Beets contain lot of natural sugar, so don’t add sugar until you taste it.
Roughly grounded peanuts add a nice crunch. I also like to use pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds instead of peanuts.
CARROT SALADIngredients
2 fresh medium carrots, grated
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 tb spoon peanut(groundnut) powder
1 tb spoon sugar
1 tb spoon fresh lemon juice
2 medium green chiliis, finely chopped
salt to taste
4 springs of cilantro, finely chopped
This is the simplest recipe so far. Grate carrots , chop tomatoes and ground roasted(optional) peanuts. Mix everything together with salt, sugar, green chilies ( can be substituted with red chili powder) and lemon juice. Toss everything together and garnish with finely chopped cilantro leaves. I sometimes add roughly chopped cashew nuts along with peanuts.
SABOODANA KICHDI (my friend in Mumbai makes the best!Sheela Patil )
Ingredients :
Sabudana, soaked overnight 1 cup
Groundnut (peanut), coarsely crushed 1/2 cup
cumin seeds 2 tea-spoons
Green chillies, finely chopped 4-5
Sugar 1-2 tea-spoon
Potato, diced 1 small
Ghee 2-3 tablespoons
Salt to taste
Cilantro, finely chopped 5-6 springs
Lime juice to taste
Grated coconut 3 tablespoons (optional)
Soak the sabudana at least for 6 hours in minimum amount of water, just enough to soak all the grains.
In a wide bowl, separate the sabudana gently and mix it with peanut powder, salt and sugar. Stir it well so that all the grains get coated. Microwave the small potato cubes for 2-3 minutes.
Add ghee in a large pan and a few cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start to crackle, add the remaining cumin seeds and finely chopped chillies. Add potato cubes and fry them for 1 minute. Add the sabudana mix and stir it together. It takes 10-15 minutes for sabudana to cook nicely. Keep stirring occasionally. If needed add few drops of water and/or ghee. When done, add some cilantro and lime juice and mix again. Add coconut and cilantro while serving.
MUSHROOM AND PEAS CURRY
Button mushrooms, sliced 16-18
Green Peas 1 cup
Tomatoes, chopped 2 medium
Onion, chopped 1 medium
Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp
Cream 1/4 cup
Dhana-jeera powder 2 Tb spoon
Garam masala – 1/4 tsp (optional)
Chilli powder to taste
Black Pepper powder 1/2 tsp or to taste
Saunf powder – 1 TB spoon
Salt to taste
Few cashew nuts chopped (optional)
raisins 10-12 (optional)
oil 1 TB spoon
Make sure you wash mushrooms before slicing and add a pinch of salt and turmeric to the water while washing. Slice all mushrooms vertically. Fennel powder is the secret ingredient of this recipe. Slightly roast fennel seeds before grinding them to make powder. Roasting them lightly really bring out the aroma and the flavor. We use half of this powder to flavor the oil before you add roughly chopped onion to the oil in a pan. Saute the onion till it caramelizes and then add chopped tomatoes and ginger garlic paste. If you have fresh ginger and garlic, even better. Cook the mixture till oil starts separating. Let it cool for few minutes before grinding it to make a fine puree. You might need to add some water to bring to proper consistency.
Transfer the puree to the same pan and add all the spices, including the remaining saunf powder. Add sliced mushrooms and green peas and let them cook by keeping the lid on. Mushrooms and peas don’t take long to cook so keep an eye on it. Now turn off the heat and add fresh cream and mix it well. The creamy mushroom mutter is ready to serve! Garnish it with some chopped coriander leaves.
You can use yogurt instead of cream but make sure it’s not sour. You can also use milk instead of cream but milk but I wouldn’t recommend it.
USAL (
Usal/Oosal (ऊसळ) is Maharastrian dish made of beans such as Matki, Moong or Waal[ etc. Generally the beans are soaked in water and allowed to sprout. The sprouted beans are stir fried along with onions, spices and curry leaves in oil. Little water is put to cook the sprouts. It usually has a thick gravy. The use of spices vary according to the sprouts used and according to taste.)
Ingredients -
1 cup sprouted moong
1 cup sprouted kale chane
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3-4 curry leaves
1/2 tsp Kanda-Lasun(Onion-Garlic) masala
1 tsp Goda Masala
1 tsp red chili powder
3-4 tb spoon shredded coconut
1/2 tsp jaggery / sugar
1 tb spoon oil for phodani/tadka
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Hing powder
salt to taste
Whole Garam Masala (optional)
2-3 peppercorns
1 clove
1-2 cardamom
a small cinnamon stick.. Mix all sprouted grains in equal amount of water in a pressure cooker, add whole Garam masala and a small piece of raw onion with 1 tsp of salt and cook for 3-4 whistles. Mixing whole Garam masala and onion while cooking really induces nice flavours.
Payasam is a traditional South Indian Sweet. No feast or festivity is complete without a payasam, be it a birthday, a wedding day, or any festival. The first thing that is prepared is the payasam. There are different kinds of payasams like Nei Payasam, Semiya Payasam, Ada Pradhaman, Parippu Pradhaman, the list continues. But surely Paal Payasam is the king of them all.
Paal payasam (milk rice pudding)
Ingredients:
Milk - 4 glasses
Sugar - 1 glass
Rice(preferably Chemba Pachari) - A handful
Preparation:
Wash and dry the rice thoroughly.
Put all the contents together in a pressure cooker, close the lid without weight on and put on high flame.
Wait till steam comes, then put on the weight and simmer the flame.
Simmer it for sharp 30 minutes.
You don’t have to worry about the number of whistles.
Switch off the gas after 30 minutes and wait for the pressure to relieve, which might take some time.
Delicious payasam is ready.
Pineapple curry
Ingredients
Serves 2
1. pineapple – ½ cup ( canned is okay)
2. Sour Curd – 2 cups
3. Grated Coconut – 1 cup
4. Green Chilies – 2 or 3
5. Turmeric Powder – a pinch
6. Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
7. Dried Red Chillies - 1
8. Methi seeds - ¼ tsp
9. Coconut Oil – 1 tsp
10. Curry leaves
11. chilli powder
Method
Boil the pineapple with salt, chilli and turmeric powder. Grind coconut with green chillies into a paste. Use a little of the curd for grinding instead of water. Add the ground paste to the cooked pineapple. Mix well. Now whisk the sour curd without any lumps and add to the coconut pineapple mixture. Check for consistency and salt. Simmer until the kootan froths up. Do not boil after adding curd. Remove from heat. Temper with Mustard, Red Chillies and Methi seeds. Garnish with curry leaves.
Yellow curry or lentil curry
Ingredients
1. Split yellow moong dal – 1 cup
2. Channa Dal – ½ cup
3. Cocunut milk – 200 ml
4. Jaggery – 2 cups
5. Cardamom – a few
6. Cashew nuts- 6- 7
7. Raisins – a few
8. Ghee – 1 tbsp
Method
Dry roast yellow moong dal till light brown. Keep aside. Dry roast Channa dal till light brown.
Soak Channa dal in water for about 15 mins. Pressure cook the dals separately for about 3 -4 whistles.
Heat a Kadai; dissolve the jaggery with just the minimum water. Strain the jaggery water to remove impurities. Wash the vessel in which jaggery was melted and pour the strained jaggery water back in the kadai. Let it boil for 3 – 5mins. Now mash the cooked dals slightly and add it to this jaggery syrup. Dilute half of the coconut milk with about 1 – 2 cups water and add to the payasam at this stage. (I used the packed coconut milk.) Allow to boil for 6 – 7 mins. Remove from heat and add the thick coconut milk. Do not boil after adding thick coconut milk. Add cardamom powder. Heat a small pan with ghee. Fry the cashews and raisins and add to the payasam with the ghee.
Note: If you want to use fresh coconut milk, you will require I medium sized coconut. For the thick coconut milk, grate the coconut and grind in the mixer. Now squeeze out the coconut extract with your hands. For thin milk, add some warm water to the grated coconut and run again in the mixer. Squeeze and extract coconut milk. Coconut pieces fried in ghee can also be added.
Banana dessert (nendra khaya payasam)
Nendram Pazham – 3, ripe
Thin Coconut Milk – 2 ½ cups
Thick Coconut Milk – 1 cup
Powdered Jaggery – 2 cups
Coconut – ¼ cup, cut into small pieces
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Method
Cut the nendram pazham into 2 inch pieces with the skin and steam them. Allow to cool.
Remove skin; also remove the black stem like thing from the inside of the banana.
Grind the banana and make it into a smooth pulp, do not add any water while grinding.
Heat a thick bottom Kadai, add the jaggery with ½ cup of water. Dissolve the jaggery completely.
Strain for impurities and pour it back into the Kadai.
Add the nendram pazham pulp and mix well. Stir it well and mash with the back of the spatula if you find any lumps.
Cook on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring continuously, till the banana and jaggery mixture come together as a mass.
Now add the thin coconut milk and cook on medium flame for 8 to 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid burning.
Turn of flame and add the Thick coconut milk. Mix well.
Heat a small frying pan with ghee, fry the coconut pieces in it till brown.
Add these fried coconut pieces to the prepared payasam and serve warm.
Delicious nendram pazham pradhaman is ready to be devoured.
Spinach Curry or
SPINACH DAAL
Ingredients
a bunch of spinach - washed and chopped
1-2 tea spoon grated ginger
1/2 cup yogurt or buttermilk
4-5 tea spoons besan (chana daal flour)
3-4 tea spoon chana dal
3-4 tb spoon peanuts (ground nuts)
4-5 green chillies - chopped.
3-4 aamsul / or 1/2 tea spoon tamarind paste
1 tea spoon sugar
For tadka -
mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing, turmeric curry leaves, garlic, green chillies
and oil/ghee
salt to taste Soak chana daal and peanuts in water for an hour so that they cook faster. It’s better to use non-roasted peanuts as they absorb water nicely and taste better when cooked.
Get water boiling, add chopped spinach leaves, peanuts and chana daal and grated ginger and aamsul. Use just enough water to immerse spinach. Let the spinach and daal cook for 5-7 minutes. In another bowl, whisk yogurt and besan and add it to the cooked spinach, let it simmer for another 3-4 minutes. I like to add one/two chillies while the spinach is cooking and rest I use in tadka.
Nest step is to prepare tadka and add it to the cooked spinach. I prefer Ghee to oil for this dish. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and if you like, add a few coriander seeds. Once they start splattering, add hing and turmeric powder and then garlic and green chillies and curry leaves. Add this seasoned ghee/oil to the spinach mixture. Add salt and little bit sugar. The “patal bhaji” is ready.
A little bit of sugar nicely compliments the tangy touch added by aamsul. The garlic tadka makes this simple dish out-of-this world! i
A Quick Note -
To maintain the nutritional value of spinach, it’s important not to overcook the tender leaves. Add spinach after daal and peanuts are cooked, spinach takes hardly 2-3 minutes of cooking time.
Green peas curry (you can use fresh peas or dried peas)
GREEN PEAS CURRY
Ingredients
2 cup peas (shelled)
3/4 cup fresh coconut, grated
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp ginger, grated
8-10 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric (optional)
1/2 tsp hing
2 dry red chillies/ or chilly powder as per taste
salt as per taste
1/2 tbsp coriander powder or 1/4 tsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp oil
1 cup water
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1-2 star anis (optional)Method -
Make a fine paste with coconut, cilantro, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds, ginger and garlic. Add some water if required.
In a cooking pot, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and hing. Add turmeric powder if you like. Add curry leaves and red chillies cut into halves. Fry for another minute. Now add the green paste and let it cook until the paste starts leaving oil. Add salt as per taste. Also add star anis. Now add green peas and some water to maintain the desired consistency for the curry. Let the peas cook for 5-10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and sugar.
Serve with hot bread slices or rotis. Enjoy!
BEET ROOT SALADIngredients
2 cups shredded steamed beet (around 2 medium beets)
1/4 cup ground roasted peanuts
1/4 tsp fennel seeds (optional See Notes below)
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp तिळाची चटणी or 1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
1/4 cup finely chopped tomato (optional)
2-3 chopped green chilies
3-4 curry leaves
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp hing
1 tsp oil
salt to taste
Wash and peel beets and cut them into halves. I usually steam beets along with rice in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles. It takes around 10-12 minutes if you are using a steamer.
Once they are cooked properly, transfer them into a pot containing ice water before you start gratin;. so that they cool down quickly.
Add chopped tomato, roasted peanut powder (roughly grounded), sesame seeds, fennel seeds lemon juice and salt and mix well.
Heat oil in a small tadka pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds when oil becomes hot. Add hing powder, chopped green chilies and curry leaves. Transfer this seasoned oil to the bowl containing beets and mix well.
Notes -
You can substitute lemon juice with yogurt if you like, but make sure it brings enough tanginess to the dish.
Beets contain lot of natural sugar, so don’t add sugar until you taste it.
Roughly grounded peanuts add a nice crunch. I also like to use pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds instead of peanuts.
CARROT SALADIngredients
2 fresh medium carrots, grated
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 tb spoon peanut(groundnut) powder
1 tb spoon sugar
1 tb spoon fresh lemon juice
2 medium green chiliis, finely chopped
salt to taste
4 springs of cilantro, finely chopped
This is the simplest recipe so far. Grate carrots , chop tomatoes and ground roasted(optional) peanuts. Mix everything together with salt, sugar, green chilies ( can be substituted with red chili powder) and lemon juice. Toss everything together and garnish with finely chopped cilantro leaves. I sometimes add roughly chopped cashew nuts along with peanuts.
SABOODANA KICHDI (my friend in Mumbai makes the best!Sheela Patil )
Ingredients :
Sabudana, soaked overnight 1 cup
Groundnut (peanut), coarsely crushed 1/2 cup
cumin seeds 2 tea-spoons
Green chillies, finely chopped 4-5
Sugar 1-2 tea-spoon
Potato, diced 1 small
Ghee 2-3 tablespoons
Salt to taste
Cilantro, finely chopped 5-6 springs
Lime juice to taste
Grated coconut 3 tablespoons (optional)
Soak the sabudana at least for 6 hours in minimum amount of water, just enough to soak all the grains.
In a wide bowl, separate the sabudana gently and mix it with peanut powder, salt and sugar. Stir it well so that all the grains get coated. Microwave the small potato cubes for 2-3 minutes.
Add ghee in a large pan and a few cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start to crackle, add the remaining cumin seeds and finely chopped chillies. Add potato cubes and fry them for 1 minute. Add the sabudana mix and stir it together. It takes 10-15 minutes for sabudana to cook nicely. Keep stirring occasionally. If needed add few drops of water and/or ghee. When done, add some cilantro and lime juice and mix again. Add coconut and cilantro while serving.
MUSHROOM AND PEAS CURRY
Button mushrooms, sliced 16-18
Green Peas 1 cup
Tomatoes, chopped 2 medium
Onion, chopped 1 medium
Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp
Cream 1/4 cup
Dhana-jeera powder 2 Tb spoon
Garam masala – 1/4 tsp (optional)
Chilli powder to taste
Black Pepper powder 1/2 tsp or to taste
Saunf powder – 1 TB spoon
Salt to taste
Few cashew nuts chopped (optional)
raisins 10-12 (optional)
oil 1 TB spoon
Make sure you wash mushrooms before slicing and add a pinch of salt and turmeric to the water while washing. Slice all mushrooms vertically. Fennel powder is the secret ingredient of this recipe. Slightly roast fennel seeds before grinding them to make powder. Roasting them lightly really bring out the aroma and the flavor. We use half of this powder to flavor the oil before you add roughly chopped onion to the oil in a pan. Saute the onion till it caramelizes and then add chopped tomatoes and ginger garlic paste. If you have fresh ginger and garlic, even better. Cook the mixture till oil starts separating. Let it cool for few minutes before grinding it to make a fine puree. You might need to add some water to bring to proper consistency.
Transfer the puree to the same pan and add all the spices, including the remaining saunf powder. Add sliced mushrooms and green peas and let them cook by keeping the lid on. Mushrooms and peas don’t take long to cook so keep an eye on it. Now turn off the heat and add fresh cream and mix it well. The creamy mushroom mutter is ready to serve! Garnish it with some chopped coriander leaves.
You can use yogurt instead of cream but make sure it’s not sour. You can also use milk instead of cream but milk but I wouldn’t recommend it.
USAL (
Usal/Oosal (ऊसळ) is Maharastrian dish made of beans such as Matki, Moong or Waal[ etc. Generally the beans are soaked in water and allowed to sprout. The sprouted beans are stir fried along with onions, spices and curry leaves in oil. Little water is put to cook the sprouts. It usually has a thick gravy. The use of spices vary according to the sprouts used and according to taste.)
Ingredients -
1 cup sprouted moong
1 cup sprouted kale chane
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3-4 curry leaves
1/2 tsp Kanda-Lasun(Onion-Garlic) masala
1 tsp Goda Masala
1 tsp red chili powder
3-4 tb spoon shredded coconut
1/2 tsp jaggery / sugar
1 tb spoon oil for phodani/tadka
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Hing powder
salt to taste
Whole Garam Masala (optional)
2-3 peppercorns
1 clove
1-2 cardamom
a small cinnamon stick.. Mix all sprouted grains in equal amount of water in a pressure cooker, add whole Garam masala and a small piece of raw onion with 1 tsp of salt and cook for 3-4 whistles. Mixing whole Garam masala and onion while cooking really induces nice flavours.
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