Apple Carving

Yesterday I came across an amazing fruit carving video. I was so excited about the art that I just couldnt stop myself from trying out some of it myself. I pulled out an apple from the refrigerator and started off with whatever knife I had in the house.



Check out the original video above for the wonderfull fruit carving. With some practice and the right tools, may be some day you and me will get the hang of it too.

Cabbage Potato Curry

Cabbage used to be another regular vegetable in our meals. "Its good for eyes" my mother used to say and I never liked it as a child. Now that I am controlling the kitchen, I remember all those mothers tips and try to cook a good variety of vegetables with various nutrient values.

Here goes the cabbage recipe that I made last week.


Ingredients :

Chopped cabbage
3-4 chopped green chillies
1 sliced/ chopped potato
Green peas
oil
mustard seeds
turmeric powder
salt
sugar
curry leaves
cilantro


1> Heat some oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds to the hot oil.
2> After mustard seeds have popped, add curry leaves, chopped green chillies and turmeric powder. Add green Peas (Green peas should be cooked sperately in hot water till soft before adding here.)
3> Add chopped/ sliced potatoes and chopped cabbage and mix well
4> Add salt and sugar and steam the vegetable well till the cabbage and potatoes are soft.
5> Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with hot chapati's.

Pithale

I had tried making pithala earlier and it was really a mess. I din't try making it for a long time after that. However , I came across a blog where this recipe was posted and felt like trying it again and this time it did turn out great.

So this entry is specially for noting the mistakes that I made in my earlier attempt.


More or less followed the recipe from the
chakali blogspot
Pithale-Bhakri is a basic but very popular meal. ZuNka is another famous version of pithla. Pithla can be served with Rice and I even have it with chapatti as the picture shows, but if you want to enjoy the real fun of pithla then it should be served with bhakari (an Indian bread) and Onion Thecha (Spicy chutney made by mixing chopped onions, salt and chilli powder).

I have followed the recipe from above blog with few variations to adjust it to my taste.

Ingredients :
1/2 cup chickpeas Flour
1 medium Onion
3-4 Garlic Flakes (Optional)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, pinch of Asafoetida powder, 1 tsp Turmeric Powder, 3-4 curry leaves
2-3 dried red chilies (Indian)
4 tbsp curd (plain yoghurt)
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt to taste
Chopped cilantro for garnishing

Steps to make -
1> Mix the chickpeas flour (also called besan)in water to make a smooth batter without any clumps. Add some yoghurt and mix it well. Keep this mixture aside.
2> Heat some oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies, stir for few seconds
3> Add chopped onion, chopped garlic, turmeric power and cook the onions for a while
4> Add 2-3 cups of water to this mixture and let it boil.
5> When the water just starts boiling take the pan away from heat and add the besan mixture to it. Stir well so that no clumps are formed. Also add salt,sugar,red chilli powder while stirring or just before adding the besan mixture.
6> Put the pan back on heat and let it cook till the raw smell of besan goes away. Stir continously so that it is cooked evenly. Add water/curd if required based on the taste and consistency that you want.
7> Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.


Important Tips :
The besan should be cooked properly to get the good taste.
THe besan should not form any clumps so that it is cooked evenly.

ChavaLi UsaL -(Black Eyed Beans Curry)

One of my favourite options for regular meals is chavLichi usal i.e. Black Eyed beans curry. This curry can be served with both Rice and Chapatti's. My mother makes it specially for me when I visit her.

Like most of my recipe's this recipe is also a mixture of the recipe followed by my mother and the recipe followed by my mother-in-law.



Ingredients

Black Eyed Beans
Chopped Onion
Chopped Tomato
Chopped Coriander
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 tbsp Goda Masala.


1> Soak the black eyed beans overnight or for at least 4 hours.
2> Pressure cook the black eyed beans
3> Heat some oil in a pan.Add mustard seeds and let them splutter
4> Add turmeric powder, chopped onions. Fry the Onions for few minutes
5> Add Chopped tomatoes and continue cooking till tomatoes start leaving the skin.
6> Mash the cooked beans a bit and add them to above pan.
7> Add the remaining spices and boil the curry for 5 minutes.
8> Garnish with fresh shredded cilantro/coriander

Gawar Sabji (Cluster beans)

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Gawar subji is a regular item in Maharasthrian meals. It is one of the items contributing to a complete homely meal. I found some fresh gawar in the nearby Indian store last week and couldn,t just resist to buy it.

Making a gawar subji includes one very important step - sorting out the gawar. As long as I was in India I had only seen my mother or my mother-in-law do this part. But it,s only yesterday that I realised how tiring it can be. However, keeping up the enthuisiasm, I spent around an hour plus few mins and sorted out the gawar.

Rest process of cooking it, now seems simple. Check it out as below :

Ingredients:

300 gms of sorted Cluster beans (Gawar)
Chopped Onion
Chopped tomatoes
Roasted and crushed Peanuts. Simply "ShengadaNyacha koot" as we say in marathi
Salt
Sugar
Red Chilli powder
Mustard Seeds
Goda Masala (widely used in maharashtrain cooking) I have been lucky to have some
home made Goda masala from my aunt. A packet would also be available at any indian
grocery store.
Cilantro, Fresh Shredded Coconut

1>Heat Some Oil in a pan (kadhai)
2>Add mustard seeds to the hot oil
3>Add tumrmeric powder after spluttering of mustered seeds.
4>Add chopped onions. Fry for a while till onions become translucent.
5>Add chopped tomatoes. Let them cook till they start leaving the skin.
6> Add chopped cluster beans.
7> After 2-3 mins add salt,sugar,red chilli powder and goDa masala, roasted powdered peanuts.
8> Sprinkle some water if needed and cook closed for till the cluster beans are soft.
9> Garnish with fresh shredded coconut and chopped cilantro and serve with fresh hot chpatti's


Note : Sugar and be replaced by jaggerry for a healthier dish.

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Veggie Masala Rice - Biriyani Style!

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I made some biriyani style masala rice last night. I followed my own verion of the recipe, which is not exactly the veggie biriyani, but somewhat like it..hence the name veggie masala rice.



Ingredients

Vegetables - Onions,Tomatoes and at least 2 of the vegetables from - potatoes,cauliflower,green peas,carrots,capsicum. I leave the selection of vegetables flexible to adjust as per availability and as per your liking.
Spices - Turmeric powder,Salt,Red Chilli powder,Cumin seeds,Cumin powder,Coriander powder,garam masala,giner garlic paste.
Rice - 2 cups.

Steps ->
1. Cook rice in an electric cooker with salt and water as you would cook the usual steamed rice.
2. Heat Oil in a pan. Add some cumin seeds. Add chopped onions after the cumin seeds turn white. Let the onion fry for a while. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add the remaining vegetables chopped finely (except for tomatos) and let them cook for a while. Whn vegetables have started becoming soft, add choped tomatoes and all the remaining spices. Let this vegetable cook well in the closed vessel.
3. Take a big vessel and apply some oil to its base and sides. Spread a thin layer of above veggie mix at the base. Then put a thin layer of rice. Another layer of veggie and so on. I had total 3 layers each of veggie and rice. Steam this mixture without stirring on low heat for 5 mins.
4. While serving put the serviing spoon vertically into the vessel to make sure you serve a good balance of rice and veggie.
5. Garnish with chopped coriander and some green chutney as you like. Curd would also be nice to have with this rice.

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