Fall colors

Diwali time.... Holige

Diwali and sweets always go hand in hand. I love to celebrate Diwali because of two things; one lighting dia’s all over the house and the other is eating as many sweets as you want. V’s favorite part of Diwali is bursting crackers.

One home made sweet, that mom makes during Diwali is Holige. I always used to watch mom making Holige. I helped her with cutting vegetables or cleaning dishes in kitchen. But never tried the tougher ones. Last year we were in India for Diwali and didn’t miss anything. But this year I tried making Holige all by myself with mom’s instructions. This is very similar to Kadabu that I made during Ganesha festival. Here there is no deep-frying. Instead need to stuff the dal paste in maida dough and make it like parata. Again, it wasn’t easy task. It took time, but I am happy with the end result.

Hope you all will like it.

Ingredients:

1 cup toor dal

2 cup jaggery

1 teaspoon cardamom

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 cup Maida or All purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup water

Oil to spray on pan

-       First mix Maida or all-purpose flour with pinch of salt, 2 teaspoons oil and water. Make dough with more water and keep it aside.

-       Cook toor dal in big kadai with 3 cups of water and turmeric powder. Once dal is getting cooked remove the stock to a container, which can be used to make rasam.

-       Add jaggery and mix well. Jaggery will melt with dal.

-       Add cardamom and stir well.

-       Turn off the heat and once it cools down, grind it in blender and make it fine paste.

-       Don’t add additional water. The paste should be harder so that it will easy to do the filling.

-       Once the paste is ready, keep it aside in a bowl.

-       Make small circular shapes from the dough (similar like puri)

-       Place the jaggery paste in the middle and close it such that you get round shape and press it as big as chapatti.

-       Make sure it is done slowly as the paste shouldn’t come out of the dough.

-       Heat the tava and spray oil and place them. Turn upside down slowly until turned golden brown.

Serve it hot with ghee.

Simple Spinach Dhal

It’s been a long time, I made anything with spinach. I remember in Bangalore whenever my mom used to take spinach from the vendor. I used to avoid going into the kitchen. Guess why!!! Mom would ask my help to clean and chop it. My god I hated that part, as it would be muddy and mixed up with some other greens.

Well one thing I love being here is vegetables are so fresh and especially spinach is very clean and I wash it once, it will be ready to use!! This is one simple and quick dish that I make which goes well with rice or chapatti. I make chapatti almost every alternative day and I have to make a different curry to go with it.

Ingredients:

1 bunch of spinach finely chopped

1/2 cup Dhal (Moong or Toor Dal)

2 green chilies

2 red chilies

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

6 curry leaves

4 clove of garlic

1 teaspoon oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Pinch of turmeric powder

Pinch of asafetida

-       Cook dal along with green chilies and keep it aside.

-       Heat oil in a deep pan, add mustard, cumin and curry leaves. Once they splutter add red chilies, garlic, turmeric and asafetida.

-       Add spinach and mix well.

-       Spinach cooks pretty fast, then add cooked dal and mix well.

-       Add salt and lemon juice at the end.

-       Cook for 2- 3 minutes.

Serve it hot with rice or chapatti.

Sea Scape

Vegetable Pulav

Pulav is one such dish, which always reminds me of my childhood days “Sunday’s brunch”. Getting up late in the morning, watching cartoon… jungle book on TV. Playing with dad and brother for a while. Taking nice head bath for half an hour. And then comes the favorite part of Sunday… mom made yummy hot pulav with raita… My mouth is watering even today.

As kid I loved pulav so much. My mom is expert in making pulav. I know I try to put the same ingredients as she puts. But don’t get the same flavor. I tried and tried making pulav for a while now. Everyone one who tastes it says “yummy”. So I making an effort to share the recipe and hope you all try it and it turns out to be yummy!!!

Ingredients:

1 cup carrot cut in cubes

1 cup thinly sliced beans

1 cup tomato cut in cubes

1 cup potatoes cut in cubes

1 cup thinly sliced cabbage

1 cup thinly sliced onions

1 cup bell pepper cut in cubes (Optional)

1 cup Gobi cut in big pieces

1 cup peas

1 cup coconut

1 cup cilantro

3 cloves

2 cardamoms

1 stick cinnamon

2 bay leaves

6 green chilies

2 teaspoons of thin sliced garlic

2 teaspoons of grated ginger

2 teaspoons salt

1 ladle of vegetable oil

2 cups of raw rice

4 cups of water

-       Heat the oil in a cooker or a deep pan.

-       Add mustard, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves and cinnamon.

-       Once they splutter, add onion and sauté until they turn brown.

-       Add tomatoes, carrot, beans, potatoes, gobi, cabbage, bell pepper, peas and sauté them well.

-       While the vegetables are cooking, make a fine paste of coconut, cilantro, chilies, garlic, ginger and salt in a blender.

-       Add the paste into the cooked vegetables and mix well.

-       After 2-3 minutes add washed rice into the cooker and add the water and close the lid.

-       After one whistle, turn of the cooker.

-       Once the pressure cools down, open the lid and mix the rice well with vegetable.

-       If required can add ghee for taste.

Serve it hot with Cucumber Raita 

Spicy Eggplant-Yennegayi

Like I have told before, eggplants are my favorite and I like to cook them very often. This dish is basically called Yennegayi in North Karnataka and eggplant is cooked in oil with all the spices.

We have to use round eggplants and slit them in the middle into four pieces. But you shouldn’t cut them completely. The paste that we grind need not be fine paste. Two important things to make this dish tasty are oil and chilies. Since the eggplants are cooked in oil and spicy paste filling, it will be tender and spicy. I love this dish with rice and yogurt. 

This dish can be made in various styles. My mom uses fried gram dhal instead of peanuts and some of you might cut the eggplants long and cook in water with less oil to make it like gravy. Another method would be, you can deep-fry the eggplants and then do the filling.

Well my version is more like Andhra style, as I learnt this dish from a friend of mine who is from Hyderabad, India.

Ingredients:

8-10 round small Eggplants

5-6 green/ red chilies

2 teaspoons of chopped garlic

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 onion

1 cup of peanuts

4 cloves

1/2" cinnamon stick

1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds

1/2 teaspoon mustard

2 cups of grated dry coconut

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/4 teaspoon of tamarind paste

1 teaspoon crushed jaggery

2 teaspoon Dhania powder

1/2 teaspoon chilly powder

10 curry leaves

1 cup of cilantro

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup vegetable oil

-Roast peanuts and keep it aside.

-Roast clove, cinnamon, chilies, poppy seeds, garlic, 1/2 onion, salt and coconut with 1/2 teaspoon oil.

-Grind all the roasted ingredients along with tamarind, jaggery, dhania powder, chilli powder and turmeric powder in a blender and make it paste by adding little water.

-Take the eggplants, which are cut into slits and fill the paste into it.

-Heat a pan with a cup of oil, add mustard and curry leaves. Once they splutter add onions and fry them until golden brown.

-Place the eggplant filled with paste into the pan one by one.

-Keep turning the eggplant to cook on either side and until turns brown.

-Add the remaining paste and little water depending on the consistency of the gravy and close the lid. (Water can be avoided if you want it to be cooked only in oil)

-Cook it with low flame until the oil gets separated from eggplant.

-Garnish with cilantro.

Serve it hot with roti’s, chapathi or rice.

Toor dal Kadabu

Ganesha Festival is very popular festival in India. We worship Lord Ganesha and offer him variety of food. I tried to make Ganesha’s favorite kadabu. Well in the name of GOD we get to eat all the dishes I make on this day. I always watched mom making this kadabu and I used to love this sweet and used to wait for this festival. It is made only during this festival.

This time I am missing home and mom so much. I couldn’t resist myself in trying making this kadabu for the first time. I took good amount of effort, time and patience to do this sweet. Trust me it was all worth, kadabu came out just like my mom used to make. Although her love and touch was missing… :(. She taught me how to make this over the phone and I followed it step by step.

I am very eager to share the recipe with you all and hoping you find this interesting and try it in your kitchen!!

Ingredients:

1 cup toor dal

2 cups of jaggery

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon cardamom

Oil to deep fry

1 cup Maida or All purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup water

-       First mix maida or all-purpose flour with pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon oil and water. Make soft dough like chapatti dough and keep it aside.

-       Cook toor dal in big kadai with 3 cups of water and turmeric powder. Once dal is getting cooked remove the stock to a container, which can be used to make rasam/soup

-       Add jaggery and mix well. Jaggery will melt with dal.

-       Add cardamom and stir well.

-       Turn off the heat and once it cools down, grind it in blender and make it fine paste.

-       Don’t add additional water. The paste should be harder so that it will easy to do the filling.

-       Once the paste is ready, keep it aside in a bowl.

-       Make small circular shapes from the dough (similar like puri)

-       Place the jaggery paste in the middle and close it either side by pressing the sides.

-       Make 5 at a time and keep it aside.

-       Heat the oil in deep frying pan and deep-fry one by one.

Serve it hot with ghee.