KACHORI

My earliest memory of Kachori dates back to my childhood. A great aunt, an expert cook, was visiting us one summer. One such lazy afternoon she decided to treat us to some kachoris. I had never even heard of kachoris before and imagined she was preparing something truly exotic.

I still faintly remember the scene; my great aunt seated on the kitchen floor, expertly filling the stuffing into the crust and then flattening them into neat little kachoris, all while maintaining a steady stream of tales from here and there. Although the kachori left such a strong memory, I don't remember having it again......

One of the reasons I enjoy cooking is for the sense of accomplishment that it provides. I go about with a smug smile on my face, after trying out a dish that is not regularly made or after attempting a recipe that requires skill. (of course if they turn out well) Praise from grandma is an added motivation.

Thus I embarked on a kachori making adventure this afternoon. My recipe, as always, was a mash-up of multiple recipes with my own little variations. I like this site because the recipes are accompanied by a video, always helpful when you are not sure about "what should be the consistency of the batter" or "how dry should the filling be", etc. Needless to say I peeped in here before I got down to making my kachoris.

My kachoris turned out tasty but slightly chewy...wonder why!...was it because the crust should have been thinner? or was it because the temperature of the oil while frying was not right? Any guesses?

I served my kachoris with some homemade tangy tamarind-date chutney.

IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT DAAL MAKHANI

Certain dishes leave an indelible impression on you, so much so that you crave for the same experience, everytime you eat the dish. Some set on a pursuit to find a restaurant that can guarantee them that experience, while some, (like me) undertake the challenge of appeasing their taste buds by replicating the flavors on my own - in my very own kitchen.

I fell in love with 'Dal Makhani' (DM) ever since I had it at a restaurant last year. Now, DM has become comfort food for me. This week I finally got down to trying it on my own. I read many DM recipes on the Internet. I didn't follow any particular recipe to the dot, but picked up ideas from all over. Here is my version, which turned out to my liking, except that it was a tad too hot for me.

Pre-Prep:

• Soak whole urad dal and rajma (red kidney beans) overnight. I measured the urad dal and then threw in some rajma.
• Pressure cook the dals. I added salt while pressure cooking. I also dropped in a couple of bay leaves, a black cardamom, a cinnamon stick and a few cloves while pressure cooking, so that their flavors would be nicely absorbed by the dals.

For the puree:

• Grind tomatoes-ginger-garlic-green chillies to a fine paste.

Procedure:

• Heat oil for tadka. Add heeng, mustard seeds, jeera seeds when the oil is hot.
• Saute finely chopped onions when the seeds start crackling.
• Once the onions are done, add the puree and saute it till its cooked.
• Add pepper powder, anardana powder, some turmeric powder and red chilli poowder (optional)
• Add the dal and mash it slightly. Mix well.
• Add water, salt (if necessary) and allow the mixture to simmer.
• Add some milk and simmer for a bit.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and a dollop of butter. I also used some chopped spring onions for the garnishing.

Tip:

• Remove the whole masalas from the dal once it is cooked, else, their flavor can be over powering.
• Be careful with the spice. I used 4 ingredients (green chillies, pepper powder, red chilli powder and cloves) and a bit too much of the pepper powder.

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES

I had been craving for some tangy green tomato chutney for quite some time, but I never saw any green tomatoes at the local grocery stores. I had some nice, green tomato salsa at S's place and then I couldn't take it anymore. L suggested I look for Tomatillos in the stores. Last week I found the green tomatoes at the Indian grocery store. I asked the clerk there if they stocked any green tomatoes. He gladly took me to a box full of green tomatoes that he had stowed away fearing nobody would want them!!

Armed with the perfect, sour green tomatoes I turned them into this spicy-sweet n sour chutney.

The secret of life? The secret's in the sauce.

I am an absolute bum when it comes to writing down recipes. G, you asked for it ;)

RECIPE

• Roast some sesame and cumin seeds.
• Roast some garlic cloves and green chillies with just a little bit of oil.
• Roast coarsely chopped chunks of green tomatoes till they soften. Optionally you can saute them in oil. In order to save my non-stick pan I added just a little bit of oil. You can also add onions if you wish.
• Grind the ingredients together after adding salt and sugar as per taste.
• For the tadka - Heat a little bit oil (may be like a tablespoon). Add asofoetida, mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to crackle, add methi seeds, curry leaves and dried chillies.
• Pour this over the ground mixture.
  
• Garnish with cilantro.

HOLI

Holi is an important Indian festival celebrated enthusiastically almost all over the country. To most Indians, the word Holi conjures images of people spraying color and water on each other, but my Holi is always sans colors. Until a few years ago my family used to light the traditional Holi bonfire in our front yard. Neighbours would gather and we would enjoy the warmth of the fire along with multiple rounds of sweet, wet coconut as 'prasad'. Often we would toss potatoes and onions in the fire and later savor these roasted veggies. In our effort to be as green as possible, we no longer have the bonfire in our yard. Instead we go to the community bonfire in our society.

This year's Holi was away from home. I did miss the bonfire and the festive spirit, but I tried to ring in some cheer by making the traditional Holi fare - puranpoli. Here are some images of our Holi meal.

Corn Pakodas

Puranpoli and Katachi aamti

Potato bhaji

UNDER LOVE'S WRAP

Spinach-grilled vegetables wrap and beetroot-tapioca cutlets

CILANTRO ROLLS

I love cilantro rolls (pudachi wadi to me). The preparation is time consuming but this time I mustered the courage to make them.

Cilantro was cleaned and left to dry before chopping it finely. Green chilly-ginger-garlic paste was sauteed, after which I added some finely chopped onions. Once the onions were done, I added the cilantro. At the same time I also introduced salt and amchur powder. After sauteing the cilantro for a bit, I turned off the heat and added previously roasted sesame, poppy seeds and dry coconut to the mixutre.

The dough for the rolls is a combination of wheat flour and besan. A small portion of the dough is taken, rolled into a smallish round. One side of this rolled dough is coated with a mixture of garam masala in oil. Cilantro mixture is placed in the center on the same side. Edges are folded and sealed to form a roll.

The rolls are fried; guess what is the next step - chomp, chomp, chomp :)

SUGAR BUTTER FLOUR

Cakes are synonymous with birthdays, aren't they? and the more the merrier... ;)

Chocolate never loses favor

My creation - Banana bread

FASTING OR FEASTING

Last thursday was Mahashivratra and I decided to fast just so I could rid myself of the guilt for eating the special foods that are associated with fasts in Maharashta. Below are some pictures of the food that I made for the day. Going by the pictures, mine looks more of feasting than fasting... ;)

How do you fast?

Sabudana Khichadi

Grated sweet potato stir fry aka 'Ratalyacha kees'

Peanut-Jaggery laddoos

Sweet potato chips

SALAD BOWL

I love salads.....I enjoy the process of creation even more than eating them because it gives me satisfaction of having created something cheery, colorful and healthy. I like my salads to be colorful and a mixture of different flavors and textures like this cabbage-carrot-tomatoes salad or imagine a corn-bell pepper salad or a cabbage-black grapes salad...a cucumber-tomato-carrot salad......

Will try to post more salad pictures as I make them..

RADISH LEAVES - TAPIOCA SABZI

Radishes (aka Daikon aka Muli) don't find favor with many among us. I am not too fond of it either, but I like it in a salad that goes by the name 'mulyacha chatka'. I force myself to eat things that I don't like just so I don't miss out on the nutrients they provide.
I bought some white radishes a couple of days ago and made salad out of them. I was wondering how to cook the leaves. I don't like the way they are cooked traditionally - with besan flour, so I decided to experiment. I wanted to couple them with something that would add bulk but also minimize the strong flavor of the radish leaves hence I chose tapioca. Another option could have been potatoes or yams.
Here is how my muli leaves-tapioca sabzi (vegetable) looked. I garnished it with a little bit of sev to make a pretty picture.

GRENADE

The little grenade explodes as soon as I shut my mouth. My teeth dig into its crispy outer cover, out flow the cold juices and my mouth is full. The juices tickle my taste buds; a mixture of sweet, sour, tangy and hot! I try to swallow the juices, careful, so they don’t end up in my wind-pipe and all I can do is shut my eyes and nod in approval of these wonderfully blended flavors. The juices disappear quickly into my stomach and I then discover that there is more to it; soft mashed potatoes, warm chick peas, crunchy sev and the crispy remnants of the grenade.

If you are an Indian foodie, I am sure that you’ve figured out by now what grenade I am talking about. Sounds explosively appetizing right? Okay no more suspense for those unfortunate souls who haven’t experienced the little grenade yet. I am talking about “Paani Puri” (PP) aka “Golgappa”, one of India’s favorite snacks. Be it the chowpati of Mumbai or the cool locales of Manali; the crowded khau gallis of any Indian city or the food courts in the slick malls; PP seems to be there ALL.

Best enjoyed at your local “Sawaliya PP” stall, eating the PP does require some skill (ignore the garbage around you, any passing canines hoping to catch a bite from the leftovers, the not so clean appearing PP server). The PP server gently cracks the puri (a small, fried ball of flour) from one side, mechanically fills it with some stuffing (ingredients mentioned above) followed by a quick dip in the paani (the flavor is customized as per your desire – sweet, spicy, best of both) before handing it to you (about 5-6 at a time) in a plate. Now comes the time that will test your skills. The idea is to eat the puris one by one, quickly enough so they don’t become soggy and puri minus paani, yet careful enough so the juices and other stuffing end up in your mouth and not on your shirt.

This is what the renowned Marathi author Ganghadar Gadgil has to say about the after effects of eating the zesty PP. (An excerpt from his memoir about Mumbai)

"In that state of beatitude the Maharashtrians stop being surly, the Marwaris look at the millions of stars without being reminded of their own millions, the Sindhis admire the horizon without any intention of selling it, the Gujaratis speculate on the moon instead of the scrips they should have sold, the North Indians dream of things other than Hindi as the official language of the United Nations, and even the Parsi ladies stop nagging their husbands."

Like the repetitive and irritating commercials urging you to buy some book/CD-DVD/ - “Go get your PP NOW!”

LINKS –

• Another one on PP


• Gangadhar Gadgil on PP


• Make your own PP