Vatanyachi Usal - White Peas Curry

Vatanyachi Usal is a traditional marathi dish, that is popular among local mumbai people. Dry white peas is used here for this dish.This is served hot with roti.

Ingredients

1.5 cup - Dry white peas, soaked overnight

1 medium - Onion, chopped

2 medium - Tomatoes, chopped

1 - Bay leaves

2 sprigs - Curry leaves

To fry & grind to a paste

1 medium - Onion, chopped

1'' size - Ginger, chopped

5 big flakes - Garlic, chopped

1/4 shell - Copra Or 1/2 cup - Fresh coconut, grated

1/2 cup - Coriander leaves

2 to 3 tsp - Kashmiri chili powder

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

1 tsp - Garam masala powder

Method

1 ) Soak white peas over night and drain.

2 ) To make gravy - Heat oil in a pan, add onion, ginger and garlic. Fry till the onion turn pinkish. Now add copra / coconut and fry till coconut turns lightly brown in color. Turn off the stove and cool. Transfer to a blender and grind along with coriander leaves, chili powder, garam masala powder to a smooth paste, adding little water as needed.

3 ) Heat cooker with some oil, add bay leaves, curry leaves, onion and fry till lightly brown in color. Now add tomato and fry till tomatoes gets cooked on low heat. Then add ground masala and stir for a few minutes. Then add the white peas, stir and mix well with masala. Add 3 cups of water, salt to taste and stir. Close the cooker and pressure cook for 15 minutes.

Serve hot with roti.

Garam Masala - A Marathi Way Of Making It.

Garam Masala Powder is a blend of various spices, that is dry roasted to release the aroma of the spices and then powdered. This is stored in air tight containers, so that the aroma of the spice mix is not lost. Garam masala powder is used in a dish towards the end of the cooking, when the dish is almost done, so that the aroma of the powder is not lost. Making of garam masala powder differ from region to region and as per one's requirement to a particular dish. Here is a spice blend, given to me by a maharastrian lady, who uses this garam masala powder in her chicken curry, sabzi and other maharastrian dishes that she prepares.

Ingredients

2 tbsp - Coriander seeds

2tbsp - Black pepper corns

2 tbsp - Fennel seeds

1 tbsp - Cloves

1 tsp - Shah jeera

4 big sticks - Cinnamon

2 to 3 - Mace /Javitri

6 - Bay leaves

5 - Big black cardamom

2 - Star anise

1 to 2 tbsp - Khus khus / poppy seeds

Method

1 ) In a heavy kadai / pan, add the all the ingredients listed except khus-khus. On a low heat stir and dry roast the spices. The spices will release it's aroma and will turn lightly brown. Turn the stove off, transfer the spices into a plate to cool. Now add khus khus to hot pan and let it warm up in the heat of the pan. If needed place pan on low heat till khus-khus turn light brown. Take off stove and cool.

2 ) Once cool, transfer to a coffee grinder or a good blender that can powder the ingredients well.

Transfer the powder into a air tight container.

Now an homemade garam masala powder is ready to be used in any dish that calls for this spice blend to flavor and spice up the taste buds, with its aromatic flavors.

Sabudana Vada

Wrapping up the year 2009 blogging with this vada made with sabudana and potato, which is a popular Marathi fasting snack. During fasting there are certain restrictions followed in the food preparations. Like for this vada, addition of onion and coriander leaves will add good flavor and taste. But during fasting these are avoided. Do add onion and coriander leaves to suit your taste. Even without them this vada tastes good.
There was a lot of changes in my life during 2009 and it reflected on my blogging slowing down [ If any one noticed :) ] a bit. Hoping the brand new year 2010 brings in new opportunities , positivity and prosperity. Here i wish all my readers a happy new year in advance. Hope you guys and gals have a good year ahead.

Ingredients

1.5 cup - Sabudana/ sago
3 to 4 medium size - Potato, boiled & chopped to small bits
1/2 cup - Roasted & ground peanut powder
5 to 6 - Green chili, finely chopped
1 tsp - Jeera seeds
1 to 2 sprigs - Curry leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method

1 ) Soak sago overnight in water and drain into a colander in the morning. Keep aside to drain for an hour or 2 . Drain off all the water very well. Soaking time can be for 3 to 4 hours.

2 ) Into a mixing bowl add, sago, potato, jeera, chili, peanut powder, curry leaves and salt to taste. Combine all the ingredients and make small equal size balls. Take one ball at a time, place it in the center of one palm and flattened with the other palm.

3 ) Heat enough oil to deep fry on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, fry the vada till both sides turn golden brown. Drain off the oil and transfer to a plate.

Serve with tea and if needed with your choice of chutney.

Kanda Poha

Delicious, healthy and filling breakfast to start the day with. A maharastrian breakfast dish, where kanda means onion in marathi.

Ingredients

2 to 3 cups - Thick Poha / Beaten rice

1 medium - Potato, cut to small bits

1 big - Onion, chopped

1 to 2 - Green chili, chopped

1/2 of a - Lemon

2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves

Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard Seeds

1 tsp - Urad dal

1 tsp - Channa dal

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

Garnishing

1/4 cup - Coriander leaves

1/4 cup - Freshly grated coconut

Method

1 ) Wash poha in water and drain in a colander. Set aside to drain off the water.

2 ) Heat oil in a kadai / wok, add mustard, urad dal, channa dal and let the mustard pop and the dals brown a bit. When done, add onion, turmeric powder, curry leaves, green chili and fry for a minute or two on medium heat. Now add potato and salt to taste to the pan. Stir and fry well. Close with a lid and cook on low heat. Occassionally stir in between. Cook till potato has cooked and browned a bit.

3 ) Now add the drained poha and mix in well with the ingredients in the kadai. Garnish with coriander leaves, coconut, adjust salt to taste and stir well. Close with a lid and swtich off the gas. After 5 minutes open and sprinkle lemon juice. Stir in well.

Serve for breakfast.

Note - You can add boiled green peas while adding potato. Tomato can be used instead of lemon juice. If you like peanuts, add peanuts along with urad dal and chana dal and fry it.

Chivda

Diwali / Deepavali ( festival of lights) was here and neighbors brought in a sweets and snacks. Chivda was one among other snacks that is made for diwali and shared with friends and neighbors . This is a traditional maharastrian snack, made during festive times. Even otherwise you can make chivda, store it in air tight containers and snack on it, when ever you want to.

Ingredients

6 cups - Thin Poha / Rice flakes
1/2 cup - Roasted unsalted ground nuts
1/2 cups - Roasted dalia / puttukadalai
2 tsp - Mustard seeds
2 tsp - Coriander seeds
2 tsp - Fennel seeds
1 tsp - Jeera / Cumin
6 to 8 - Green chilies, chopped
1/4 cup - Curry leaves
1/2 to 3/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 to 1.5 tbsp - Sugar
About 1/2 cup - Vegetable oil
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) In a big kadai / wok, dry roast rice flakes in batches on medium heat. Rice flakes will start curling up a bit and will get crisp. Take off kadai and transfer into a big plate. If the ground nuts are not roasted then dry roast ground nuts till done and transfer to another plate to cool. Now add puttukadai into the kadai and lightly warm it. Transfer to the same plate ground nut is in.

2 ) Now heat oil in the kadai, add mustard and allow it to pop, then add coriander seeds, fennel, jeera, green chili, curry leaves and let the coriander seed brown lightly. Then add ground nut, puttukadalai, turmeric powder and stir for a second on low heat. Then add salt to taste and mix in well in oil, then add rice flakes and stir in well from all sides and mix all the ingredients well.Turn the stove off, then add sugar and mix in well.

Serve with tea and snack on some chivda.

Note - You can add dried coconut /copra flakes to this mixture, after lightly roasting it. Also sev can be mixed after the chivda is made.

Go easy , when adding salt..too much of salt will spoil the taste.

Marathi - Batata Baingan Bhaji ( Sabzi )

Brinjal and potato is cooked with spices and flavored with coarsely powdered peanut powder, which makes this dish interesting. A dry vegetable preparation, that will go well with roti, jowar bakri and like rotis.

Ingredients

3 to 4 - Green long variety brinjal, cubed
1 big - Potato, cubed
1 medium - Onion, diced
1/8 tsp - Hing / Asafoetida powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/8 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp - Garam masala powder
1 tbsp - Coarsely powdered roasted peanuts
Salt to taste

Garnish

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Soak chopped brinjal and potato cubes, till you have to add them to the pan, to avoid oxidisation.

2 ) Heat oil in a kadai / wok, add mustard seeds and pop them. Then add onion, curry leaves and fry till onion is reddish. Then add brinjal and potato pieces, drained from the water. Give a good stir and fry for a minute, then add the powders - hing, red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt to taste, stir well and close with a tight lid and cook on very low heat, till potato and brinjal gets cooked. Sprinkle some water if the vegetables are sticking to the pan.

3 ) Once the vegetables are cooked, add little oil and stir and fry for a minute. Turn off the stove, then sprinkle peanut powder and mix in well.

Serve hot. This will go very well with roti/ bakri

Note - Can add one tomato and cook along with brinjal and potato. Other than green brinjal, small purple one can be used too.

Coconut - Lasun / Garlic Chutney

A combination of coconut and raw garlic, with red chili and tamarind, gives a rustic taste to this condiment, that is very popular Marathi chutney preparation. Whenever i shopped for groceries, i would come across this chutney in packets to be sold. Most of the times i would buy it and have along with dosa. Once i had this chutney served along with batata vada in a function and it had strong garlic taste to it. You will need an after mint after having this chutney, since raw garlic is used to make this chutney.

Ingredients

1/2 shell - Coconut, freshly grated
10 to 12 - Dry whole red chili, (or as to one's taste )
10 to 12 flakes - Garlic
Small marble size - Tamarind
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) In a kadai, dry roast, red chilies on very low heat. Once the chilies are roasted (take care not to burn it ), transfer to a plate. Then add coconut and dry roast on low heat till coconut, starts getting the light brown tint. Take oof stove and transfer to a plate to cool.

2 ) In to a blender/grinder, add garlic, tamarind pulp and make a paste of it. Then add red chili and run the blender to powder it. Then add coconut, salt and run the blender to combine all the ingredients together. Don't have to make the chutney too smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Serve with dosa, roti or with rice.

Malvani Pomfret / Paplet Curry

Recently visiting a mall, happened to see a malvani food counter in the food court. We ordered a malvani thali and had the option to choose any non-veg dish to be included in the thali. We went for fish curry. The fish curry was made out of surmai / Sear fish, with coconut based gravy. It turned out to be very delicious. Coconut is liberally used in malvani food. Kokum is used as a souring agent, which is more like kerala, kudampuli. After having tasted that delicious fish curry and the thali food, i was very keen to learn malvani way of cooking. With the help of my maid, who provided me with this recipe, i prepared this pomfret curry. Since i didn't have kokam, i used kudampuli instead to make this curry.

Ingredients

6 to 8 small or medium - White pomfret, cleaned & cut to pieces

2 big flakes- Garlic, finely chopped

2 tsp - Red chili powder

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

4 to 5 pieces - Kokum Or Kudampuli

Salt to taste

Grind to a smooth paste

1/2 a shell of - Coconut, grated

1/2 '' piece - Ginger

2 big flakes - Garlic

4 to 5 - Green chilies

1 tbsp - Coriander seeds

3 stalks of - Coriander leaves, chopped ( about half a cup )

Method

1 ) Grind and keep ingredients to be ground to a smooth paste with minimal water and set aside. Wash kokum or kudampuli well.

2 ) Heat oil in a big pan, add chopped garlic and fry on medium heat to light brown color. Add the ground coconut paste, red chili powder, turmeric powder and fry for a minute or two. Then add enough water for the gravy, kokum, salt to taste and bring to a boil. Add fish pieces, simmer and cook closed with a lid till the fish is fully cooked.

Serve hot with rice.

Mixed dal & Rice Vada - Maharashtrian Cuisine

I am introduced to Marathi cuisine, courtesty of my maid, who helped me to make this mixed dal vada. I am not sure if there is any other name to this vada. If anyone knows the name of this vada please let me know in the comment section. A nutritious snack that is deep fried. It puffs up a bit like a poori and is soft to bite into. This can be had as a snack with tea or you can have this with any veg curry or chicken curry. Instead of deep frying you can even make this like a roti and cook on a tawa/ griddle.

A combination of dal is used here, which is dry roasted, powdered and mixed with rice flour along with spices to make this vada. I am told you can dry roast the dals and spices, powder it and store it, to be used as and when required.

Ingredients

1/2 cup -Chana dal

1/2 cup - Moong dal

1/2 cup - Urad dal

2.5 to 3 cups - Rice flour

2 tsp - Jeera

2 tsp - Whole coriander seeds

2 tsp - Fennel Seeds

1/2 tsp - Methi / Fenugreek seeds

2 tsp - Pepper corns

1.5 tsp - Red chili powder

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

1/3 cup - Sunflower oil Or vegetable oil

About 3 cups ( or more if needed ) - Lukewarm water

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method

1 ) First you have to dry roast each dal ( chana, moong , urad ) individually on a low flame, till it gives out a good aroma and turns lightly brown in color. Transfer to a plate to cool.

2 ) Secondly individually dry roast, jeera, coriander seeds, fennel, methi and pepper corn. Add to the dal mix to cool. Mix dal and the spices well. Once cool, grind to a smooth powder in batches.

3 ) Collect the powder to a big mixing bowl. Then add chili powder, turmeric powder, salt to taste, stir and mix well. Now measure this powder you obtained, with measuring cup. Then add exact same quantity or a little more of rice flour. I got about 2.5 cup of dal + spice powder and used 3 cups rice flour. You can use exact same amount of rice flour or a little more. Mix all the powders well.

4 ) Now make like a well in the center of the powder. Heat 1/3 cup oil and pour this in the center of the powder. Stir and mix well with a spoon. Now add lukewarm water little at a time, knead to make a dough( like a roti dough). Rest the dough for 1/2 hour, covered with moist cloth.

5 ) Keep a small container with water to help shape the vada. To shape vada, you will need the help of a plastic cover or a banana leaf or a aluminium foil. I used a aluminium foil. Wet you hand then take a small amount of dough and make a ball. Flatten on the foil, dip fingers in water and then gently press and shape the vada. Lift foil and take the shaped dough off the foil.

6 ) Heat enough oil to deep fry in a kadai or wok. When the oil is hot , gently slide in the vada dough to deep fry on both sides to a light brown color. Increase heat before sliding the dough into the oil, then lower the heat to medium and fry. Drain off the oil and transfer to a serving plate.

Serve hot as a snack with tea or serve with chicken curry. Tastes like soft poori had with good chicken curry.

This dough can be used to make roti, which will be more healthier than deep frying.

To make Roti -

Now if you do not want to deep fry then with this same dough you can make roti and cook on a tawa / griddle. You can add finely chopped onion and mix with the dough and roll or flatten the dough to make roti.

Sabudana / Sago Upma

A simple Sabudana and potato combo preparation, which is light on the stomach. These sago pearls are commonly used as a fast time food in northern India.

Ingredients

1 cup - Sago / Sabudana
1 big - Boiled potato, cubed

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp - Urad dal
1/2 tsp - Jeera seeds
2 - Whole dry red chili
1 sprig - Curry leaves
4 to 5 big - Shallots, diced
1/4 tsp - Red chili powder
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Wash and soak sago in enough water to cover sago. Soak sago overnight. Drain water from sago and set aside.

2 ) In a kadai heat oil, add mustard seeds, pop it, add jeera, urad dal, dry red chili and fry in oil. Add curry leaves, shallots and fry shallots to light brown. Add red chili and turmeric powder, for a second, add potato and mix and stir. Add salt to taste.

3 ) Now lower the heat to very low heat, this is very important step to make to get a non- soggy sago. Now when the pan is not very hot, add sago, stir and cook for 2 to 3 minutes covered with a lid. Sago will cook fast. Otherwise place sago in a microwave safe bowl, add the seasoning potato mixture to the sago and mix in well. Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, breaking the cooking time 1 minute each. Cook till sago is translucent.

Serve for breakfast.

Purnima suggests a variation to this recipe and also to get a non soggy sago in the end, which she learned from Shilpa of Aayi's Recipes - "Pravs, we call it sabudana Khichidi (in mumbai lingo) I make this quite often on gas top with a variation, soak time -30 mins, drain in colander, cover colander with tight fitting lid, leave overnight, fluff with a fork or hand, add fistfull of roasted crushed peanuts, salt n sugar to sago stir with hands, then same process - the sago grains don't stick to each other that way". - Thanks to Purnima & Shilpa.

To microwave potato : Wash one potato. Pierce deep into the potato two times, down to the center. Wrap the potato in a moist paper towel. Place in microwave and microwave for 3 minutes.