Kaju Barfi

Here's kaju barfi, which I made for holi and it was a hit, like all the other times I have made it. It is totally hassle free, needs no ghee and takes less than half an hour to make it.

Ingredients:
1 cup of cashews
3/4 cup (or slightly less if you prefer) of sugar
1/4 cup of water

Method:
1. Finely grind the cashews to a powder. Don't overdo it, as the cashews may leave their oil and you may end up getting a paste instead of powder. Even if you do, it does not affect the taste :)
2. Mix the sugar and water in a kadhai. Heat till small bubbles begin to appear on the surface.
3. Stir gently and let it come to a rolling boil. No need to check for string consistency etc of the syrup.
4. Pour in the cashew powder and stir well to avoid lumps. Keep stirring for a few minutes and you should notice the mixture getting a little thicker.
5. Put a little drop on a chilled plate and test to see if it hardens slightly. You should be able to roll it into a loose ball.
6. If it does, switch off the heat and move the pan away from the hot surface.
7. Let it cool slightly and dump out the contents onto a board or a clean countertop.
8. Knead well with your hands (much like you would knead bread dough) to make it smooth and glossy.
9. Roll out with a rolling pin into 1/4 inch thick sheet and cut into any shape you want. I made these small bite sized rectagles and people around me refrain from eating sweets.
10. Let cool/dry and pack in tins between sheets of waxed paper. Store at room temperature for a week or in the fridge for longer.

This recipe comes directly from 'Saffrun Hut', which I bumped into while food surfing and kept drooling over the wonderful pic there for a long time (prolly months) before I myself made it. Thanks so much saffron, for such a wonderful recipe and such a wonderful blog!Here is the original one - http://saffronhut.blogspot.com/2006/10/simple-sweet-kaju-kathli-cashew.html

Kadhi

Now this is the kadhi I had known and savored all along, unless I landed up here in delhi and tasted the punjabi kadhi, something totally different. My kadhi version is the marathi one, with no haldi, lots of curd/buttermilk and very less besan..a contrast to the punjabi kadhi version. By now, I have started to relish both - I make the marathi one at home and enjoy the punjabi one at restaurants - lucky me!

Ingredients -
250 ml of buttermilk. If you dont have butermilk, you can add water to curd and mix it well to get a smooth, watery consistency.
2 tbsp of besan
2 green chillis slit lengthwise
half inch piece of ginger chopped to small pieces
handful of cleaned, fresh curry leaves/kadi patta/ meetha neem
1 tsp jeera
2 pinches of heeng
2 tsp ghee/oil
salt as per taste, a pinch of sugar

Method-
1. Add the besan slowly to the buttermilk. Keep stirring, lest it forms lumps. Keep this aside.
2. Heat ghee/oil in a pan/wok/kadhai.
3. When hot, add jeera and let it sizzle for a few seconds. Add heeng.
4. Add the green chillis, curry leaves, ginger and let them wilt for a minute.
5. Add the buttermilk + besan mixture and stir.
6. Add salt, sugar. Let this come to a rolling boil.
7. Sprinkle chopped dhania.
The simple, basic kadhi is ready to be served with rice or rotis. This is the way it is prepared in maharashtian households daily. However, occasionally, 'bhaji' is added to it - unlike the pakoda in punjabi kadhi, this one does not have any vegtables in it, but just simple salted besan bahjia. Here's the recipe -
2 tbsp besan
1 tsp ajwain
salt to taste
1 tspn oil
Mix all the above with some water, to make a thick batter. Heat oil in a kadhai and deep fry small dumplings of this batter. Add these to the kadhi.

Note - these bhaji can absorb all your kadhi :). So, always add them to the kadhi just half an hour before serving.

Aaloo Gobhi

This is my hubby's creation. Nothing great, it's the regular sabji fare, but whenever I attempt to make it, following exactly what he does, I end up getting a nearly overcooked, nearly soggy aaloo gobhi, nowhere near to his bright, perfectly cooked sabji. Here you go -

Ingredients -
1 midsized gobhi - cleaned, washed, cut into florets
2 aaloo- washed and cut into bite size pieces
a handful of fresh green peas (optional)
2 green chillis, an inch piece of ginger - chopped finely
3 tsp jeera (he puts so much of it, I can call this one -jeera-aaloo-gobhi)
1 tsp heeng powder, 1 tsp haldi
1 tsp garam masala, salt as per taste
chopped green dhania (optional)

1 tbsp sarso oil

Method -
1. Heat oil in a kadhai. For sarso oil, it is essential to have it heated properly, else the end product will have a strange smell.
2. Add jeera, heeng, haldi and let it sizzle for a minute.
3. Add chopped chillis and ginger, let it sizzle for another 2 mins.
4. Add the aaloo, gobhi and matar, sprinkle salt, mix and cover.
5. Let this cook covered for 7-8 minutes, open and check if cooked. It normally cooks in 7 to 8 minutes, you can cover and cook for 3 more minutes, but there is a risk of overcooking the gobhi.

6. Add the garam masala, mix.
7. Serve with chopped green dhania sprinkled.
Loads of jeera gives this sabji a great flavor - don't hesitate to put in the quantity mentioned :)