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 :)

Black masoor daal

Here's black/kali/chilke waali masoor daal, a variant I cook on weekdays for dinner, along with a sabji and roti.

Ingredients
Half cup chilke waali/kali/black masoor
1 medium sized onion - chopped
1 medium sized tomato -chopepd
1 tspn each - jeera, rai, heeng, haldi
2 green chillis, half inch ginger, 3 cloves of garlic - chopped to small pieces or crushed
1 tsp oil
salt - as per taste
garam masala (optional), chopped fresh green dhania (optional), half a lemon (optional)

Method
1. In a pressure cooker pan, Wash the masoor daal, add 1 cup water. Pressure cook for 30 minutes
r 5 to 6 whistles. This one takes nearly twice the time yellow/toor daal takes to cook.
2. Heat oil in a kadhai.
3. When hot, add jeera, rai, heeng, green chilli, ginger, garlic and let all of this sizzle for
2 minutes.
3. Add onions and let them cook till they turn pink.
3. Add the tomatoes and let them cook, for 5 minutes. Keep stirring, lest they stick to the
bottom of the pan.
4. Once the tomatoes have turned mushy and soft, add the pressure cooked daal, water, salt, garam masala and mix.
5. Let this boil till you get the desired consistency.
6. Sprinkle green dhania and squeeze in the lemon.
Enjoy with hot rotis.

Pav Bhaji

Here is another weekend brunch, simple, quick and a delight. This used to be on the menu every time we had a birthday party at our home, it's easy to make and serve for a big gathering. One thing - this recipe is courtesy Everest Pav Bhaji masala, I follow the instructions exactly as mentioned on its pack, only vary the quantities.

Ingredients -
1 midsized cauliflower
2 potatoes - boiled and mashed
1 green capsicums
half cup shelled fresh green peas
2 onions - chopped to small pieces
3 tomatoes - chopped to small pieces
4 cloves of garlic - chopped or crushed
a bunch of fresh green coriander leaves - washed and chopped
1 tbsp butter/oil
butter - as much as you like :)
salt - as per taste, 3 tspn - Everest pav bhaji masala. 2 tspn - red chilli powder

Method
1. Heat butter/oil in a kadhai.
2. Add the crushed garlic and after a minute, add the chopped onions.
3. While the onions are getting cooked, add chopped and roughly cut cauliflower, capsicum and
green peas with some water in a pressure cooker and boil till 2 whistles.
4. When the onions turn soft and pinkish, add tomatoes, salt, pav bhaji masala and red chilli
powder. Let this mixture cook for 5 to 7 minutes - till tomatoes turn soft and mushy.
5. Add the boiled, mashed potatoes and boiled, mashed other veggies.
6. Add another dollop of butter, simmer for 5 more minutes. Add water if you want to, but we do not want a runny consistency.
7. Taste and add more salt, red chilli powder if you want to.
The bhaji is ready. Heat pav with buttered sides on tawa, serve with hot bhaaji. The bhaaji can
be garnished with chopped onions, coriander leaves and a dash of nimbu.
Note - The bhaaji is a very versatile , you can skip the potatoes if you want to and boil and
add carrots instead.

Chiwda - all time favorite

This is a snack present in my home all days, all seasons. It serves as a filler everytime you think "kuch khana hai". This is the most loved dish by friends and family, and mom does not even remember to how many people she has taught this one!

Ingredients -
Half Kg chooda/poha/ rice flakes (the large sized lighter ones, not the thick ones we use for
poha)
4 or 5 green chilies slit length wise
Meetha neem / kari patta leaves - cleaned, in plenty
Handful moongfali dana/peanuts - raw, not roasted one
Cashews, Raisins - optional, as much as you like
Salt as per taste, a pinch of sugar
half tsp haldi
1 tsp each of jeera,rai
2 tbsp oil

Method -
1. Take a kadhai/wok and dry roast the poha/rice flakes in it on a sim flame. They will start to turn crunchy and give a typical roasted smell. If you over do it, u will notice it starts to get brown, STOP!!
2. Spread the roasted flakes on a newspaper (in India) or a kitchenpaper (in US :). This is for easy mixing later on.
3. In the same kadha/wok, heat oil. When hot, put in peanuts, cashews, raisins and shallow fry them. After 5 mins, take these out and put on the roasted flakes spread on the paper.
4. In the remaining oil, put haldi, jeera, rai, green chillis , kadi patta, cook till the green chilies look cooked, this should take 5 mins.
5. Now switch off the gas, pour this oil mixture on the spread flakes. Spread salt, sugar too.
6. Now with both your hands, mix all of it softly, lest the flakes break and becomes powdery. It all should get mixed evenly, some of the flakes remaining white, some of it getting too yellow is a bad sign. Another good thing is that excess oil will be absorbed by the paper.
7. Taste and add additional salt if you want.
8. If u think the kadi patta is too much, remove it at this step. It has already lent its flavor.
My mom removes most of it, but crushes a few and lets it remain.
9. The chiwda is ready. However, if you want, go ahead and add some plain, salted (haldirams) bhujiya to this. In typical Marathi homes, they would fry aaloo ka kees (the drie done that is prepared in homes along with aaloo ke chips) and add to this, but it increases the oil content of the whole thing.
10. A quick fix - if u think some of the poha remained white and there is too less oil in the mixture, reheat some oil in the same kadhai, add haldi and pour on the mixture, mix again.
11.Once completely cool, store in an air tight container.

Mooli matar sabji

This is a veggie I saw for the first time at my in-laws place. This is a nice variation to the normal 'cut vegetables' routine - it uses grated mooli, and prolly that is the reason it takes very less time to cook.

Ingredients -
3 moolis - washed, peeled and grated (do not remove the water that oozes out. We want the mooli to cook in its own flavors)
half cup shelled peas
1 green chilli, half inch piece of ginger - chopped coarsly
Salt as per taste, garam masala - optional
1 tspn jeera, 1 tspn ajwain, half tspn turmeric
2 tspn oil
chopped cilantro leaves for garnishing (optional).


Method -
1. Heat oil in a kadhai/frying pan.
2. Once hot, add jeera, ajwain, turmeric.
3. Add the chopped chilli and ginger and let it sizzle for a minute.
4. Add the grated mooli, mix and cook, covered.
5. After nearly 7 to 8 minutes, when you feel the mooli is semi-cooked, add the peas and salt. Cover again till cooked.
6. Add garam masala and mix. Garnish with cilantro, serve with daal and roti.

Muthiya - methi at its best!

This is another winter delight which can be relished on those cold foggy evenings, and when breakfast is methi paratha and lunch is aaloo methi ki sabji! There are lots of variations of muthiya, different veggies can go into it, but this is the only way my mom makes it, and so do I.

Ingredeints -
250 gms methi leaves cleaned and chopped
50 gms coriander leaves cleaned and chopped
2 green chillis - chopped into small pieces
2 cups wheat flour
half cup besan or makke ka aata
1 tspn each of saunf, ajwain
1 tbspn garam masala
salt - as per taste
1 tspn mustard seeds,1 tspn til, 1 tbspn oil, 1 lemon


Method -
1. Mix all ingredients (except oil, mustard seeds, til and lemon) and knead into a soft dough using water. The dough should not be too soft, it should be like the one you knead to roll out methi parathas.
2. Apply some oil in your hands, roll out the dough into cylinders, thickness indicated in the snap.
3. Heat water in a vessel as indicated in the snap, keep a steamer basket on it and carefully place the dough cylinders on the steamer.
5. As the water gets heated up and you can see steam coming up from the holes of the steamer, cover it with a plate, obviously wide enough to cover the steamer basket.
6. We want the cylinders to be cooked in steam and it should take about 20 minutes, after which remove the cover plate, insert a knife into one of the cylinders and if it comes out clean, they are cooked. If not, let them cook for another 10 minutes.
7. Once done, switch off the heat and remove the cylinders from the steamer basket. If you don't do so, the condensed steam persisting in the steamer basket arrangement will leave them all wet and soggy.
8. Once the cylinders a cooled, cut them with a knife into bite sized pieces.
9. Heat oil in a kadhai/frying pan. Once hot, add the til, mustard seeds and let them sizzle for a minute. 10. Add the muthiya pieces and let them cook, uncovered. Keep turning them over, so that they get golden brown from all sides.
11. Once done, squeeze in the lemon, serve hot with hot ginger tea - it's heaven!

Note - I am not aware of any kitchen instrument called a 'steamer basket'. I used my steel colander for it, after my mom suggested I use it instead of a pressure cooker :)

Yellow daal- daily fare

Daal-sabji-roti is our weekday dinner, unless I get late at work and enter the kitchen at or after 9PM. My man's choice of a quick fix - always - daal chawal. Late or early - the daal has to be there - hence I can easily say I cook it every day and can do so blindfolded now.
I call it yellow daal as I use toor daal and moong daal on alternate days, the color still remains yellow :)
Below is the recipe - as simple as it can get, serves two.

Ingredients -
1 cup toor or moong daal
2 cups water
one tomato chopped to small pieces
0.5 tspn haldi
salt according to taste

2 tspns oil or ghee
1 tspn heeng
1 tspn jeera, 1 tspn rai (Yes, I use both of them together!)
1 or 2 chopped green chillies
half inch grated ginger
half piece lemon
a bunch of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
a pinch of sugar

Method-
1. In a pressure cooker, put the daal. Wash twice with cold water.
2. To the washed daal, add water, salt, haldi and the tomato pieces.
3. Close the cooker and let it cook on low flame.
4. After you get two whistles, put off the heat and let the cooker cool (till you are able to open it).
5. In a tadka pan, heat the oil, ghee. Once hot, add the rai and jeera, green chillies, ginger and heeng.
6. Let this mixture sizzle for a minute and then add this hot tadka to the daal in the cooker.
7. Mix with a spoon, squeeze in the lemon, add a pinch of sugar, bring to boil. Taste and adjust salt as per taste.
8. Add the chopped coriander leaves - done!

Matar ka paratha

My first post! Winter time is here and its time to get away from all the frozen 'safal matar' packets in the freezer and delve into fresh peas..available in abundance in all the vegetable markets. We get so overwhelmed by the sight of them, that we get as much as two kgs in one go and I try to introduce a handful of those heavenly green pearls in every sabji I make. The favorite one, where the peas quit to be 'extras' and get the lead role - matar ka paratha! I love them and so does my hubby - and hence this is on my menu every alternate weekend in winters. Here is the recipe, gotten from my mom - with slight modifications.



Ingredients for the stuffing -
Green peas (fresh preferred) - as much as you like
Two to three green chillies, a piece of ginger, a bunch of fresh coriander (quantities depending on the quantity of peas and your taste)
Salt, jeera, ajwain, garam masala(optional)
Oil, heeng
Ingredients for the paratha -
Wheat flour
Water

Method -
1. Add all the above ingredients except the garam masala, oil and heeng in a mixer jar. Blend it to a paste. If difficult, add a few spoons of water.
2. Heat oil in a non stick pan, add heeng and the paste.
3. Cook it on a low flame, open so that the moisture evaporates and the paste tends to become dry. When the stuffing starts to look dry enough and changes color from a bright green to a darker shade, add some garam masala and switch off the heat. Let this cool.
4. Meanwhile, knead a smooth dough adding water to the wheat flour.
5. Fill in the stuffing in the dough ball and roll it into a paratha. (Shown in the video is a method I learnt from a cook, of pulling out the extra dough from the paratha ball, so that the paratha turns out to be stuffing rich and has a crispy, thin cover).
6. Heat a tawa, and prepare the parathas using as much oil as you prefer.
Note - I make the stuffing one night in advance and once made, use it at least twice during the week.

Here I am!

Ok! So here I am, here’s my food blog and here’s the name –“Aaj kya khayenge?” English translation – What will we eat today?.
My debut in cooking started with these three words…spelled by my husband every evening while going home from work.(he picks me up from my office)
Initially, these words instilled every feeling of confusion, anger and sometimes even terror in me – a software engineer who spent all my time in my office and when hungry – looked up to my mom and later to the cook. My cooking experience was limited to being an assistant to my mom, obediently chopping veggies for her- without caring to find out what does she does with them!
Cut to present times – me, my kitchen, my limited culinary skills and my hubby –an expert cook himself with this great passion for food, who believed food can be enjoyed only if cooked with love, and hence despised restaurant eating. After all attempts to cook a decent meal failed – my rotis refused to blow up and my daals continued to be watery – I started to fear these three words more and more..I used to sit through work thinking..and did the first thing that comes to a software person’s mind – googled on ‘how to make soft rotis’ and ‘toor daal recipe’.

This click on ‘Search’ not only gave me all the recipes I needed, but more – lots more! It opened to me a whole world of food blogs – countless recipes, colorful pictures of food, great write-ups – I felt like Nemo’s dad in ‘Finding Nemo’. The more I explored, the more my fears vanished, giving room to a newly found passion – cooking! I started to start my days with checking out my list of favorite food blogs – one leading to another and trying out the recipes in the evenings..Weekends started to get tastier..and of course – rotis started to get fluffier!

So here I am, thanks to all the wonderful ladies out there running great food blogs, to my dear hubby, who has started to ask this question more often now and to my friend Neha, who pushed me start my blog rite now – and get away with my plans to do so after I retire : )

I don’t think I can boast of having in my kitty great, original recipes which I plan to post. But yeah, I plan to run this blog as an ode to anyone I want to thank after I have cooked a nice dish – sometimes my mom, sometimes my mom-in-law and most of the time – someone on the food blog arena!