Paneer Burger

On our last grocery trip, I saw B pick up two fat buns from our local baker. 
"I want a burger", he said. 

"Great! I have just soaked some soya nuggets ... will make some thick patties." 
He kept quiet. And then I noticed a big pack of paneer too. 

He hates hates soya nuggets while I try to sneak it into his food for the protein boost. 😊

"So how to do plan to add the paneer to the burger? Grate?", I keep on. 
"I haven't decided on it, yet". 

Today, he wanted his burgers for lunch. 

"I want a stir fry with lots of onions and garlic, some tomatoes for moisture and small pieces of paneer. 

And I want  Italian flavours. I will add the olives last. " 

So I made this stir fried Paneer with vegetables for the burger. 

Need : 

Thickly sliced onions 
Sliced capsicums 

Paneer cut into small pieces 
Boiled potato cut into small pieces

Chopped garlic
Mixed Italian herbs - Thyme, Oregano, Basil, Celery etc. 

Olive oil

Red chilli flakes 

Salt

Sugar 

How to : 

Heat a little olive oil and add the garlic and the potatoes. 

Add a little salt and fry on high for a while. 

Now add the paneer and the rest of the ingredients. 
Stir fry on high heat till everything comes together. 

Heat the buns on a flat heavy pan .... I kept the base for a longish while so that it crisped up. 

Cut them in half but not all the way. 
Stuff with the filling and serve immediately. 

We are not eating deep fried right now ... so there was no potatoes chips on the side. 

( Guess it is high time I got that air fryer ..... what say? ) 

And also no soft drinks too. 

But B did make some Pomegranate juice for me. 

Lunch was good. A change from our regular meals was welcome since the weather has started to turn really hot these days. 

Take care all. 

Ps: B forgot to add his favourite olives after all. 😉

Idli Upma

At times I get stuck and just don't know what to write in a post.
As a result, inspite of having photos, I don't get around to making one.

And the fact that I had surrendered myself to a lengthy book did not help matters. 

Oh ... but it did help me a lot.
Having spent enough time with myself and in the far away land and times that my book took me to, I am much saner now than what I was in the past fortnight.

I did throw in a little retail therapy too ... which helps immensely I must say 😊

Even though it was just curtains and linens for the house.

Women need to shop once in a while .... even if I am not a big impulsive shopper ... I do agree to this line.

My mind is back to its clockwork decisions ... especially when it comes to hot and fresh  breakfast recipes . 

And I love nothing more than a South indian breakfast .
Especially the Idli .

And my favourite way of eating idlis is the idli upma .

I love it so much that I make idlis in excess and store them in the fridge so that I can make this at least once a week.

I made this on last Thursday but did not post because I was stuck in a rut.

This beautiful, fluffy , mildly tangy thing never fails to lift up my mood.

I often add vegetables too but this time I did not. 

Maybe I will make another post again. 

Need : 

Leftover Idli
Chopped onions 

Chopped green chillies 

Hing 

Curry leaves 
Mustard seeds 
Turmeric powder
Red chilli powder

Sambar masala powder ( optional ) 
Lemon juice - if your idlis are not sour / tangy 

Salt

Sugar

Ghee / Oil 

How to : 

Cut  half of the idlis into little pieces. 
Crumble the rest half into loose grains. 
Heat ghee or oil. 

Add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. 

Add a pinch of hing and then the curry leaves.
Then add the onions and the green chillies.

Fry on low heat till the onions are translucent. 

Now add the idli and stir well. 
Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and mix well. 

Add the lemon juice and the sambar masala and stir fry till everything comes together. 

Serve hot. 
You may add peanuts or roasted chana dal too. 

Enjoy!

 Hope all of you are doing well.
I will be back with my meal plates later.

Stay well and stay safe ❤️

Bajre ki roti and Baingan bharta .... another rustic meal for winter

After two days of a sudden sandstorm, we are seeing a dip in the temperatures again. Pune is back to it's gloriously cold weather with gorgeous sunny days and chilling nights.
I am indulging in more of North Indian food as this is the time to enjoy hot, rustic food or our completely desi food that gives warmth to the body as well as is healthy  too.

Bajre ki roti or rotla is a family favourite and combined with some gur or jaggery, is the perfect Rajasthani  staple.

I have been growing some garlic for a while now and have got a bountiful of garlic greens right now. So decided to make the hara lahsun ki chutney  made with garlic greens.
I had come across this very interestingly during our trip to Almora. 

If you remember my story about how we visited the Surya temple amidst a hailstorm, then let me tell you how, during our climb through the steep mountain, amidst small local houses, we came across two little children selling pears from their backyard.

I chatted with them and they gave us some garlic flavoured salt along with the pears.
When asked  how to make it, they called out for their mother who explained it to us. 

They called it lahsun noon or hara noon or something like that ... I don't exactly remember.

So, this cold winter afternoon saw on our lunch plate ....
Bajre ki roti  / bajra rotla
Baingan ka bharta 
Hara lahsun ki chutney
Patali gur  / Date palm jaggery ..... my haul this winter

For the bajra roti, I use the boiling method and it is much more easier to roll the rotis. 
I have been eating millets for some time now since I have stopped eating wheat flour. And must say that I have benefitted much from this change. 
Millets are full of nutrition as well as fibre. Not to mention very filling too. 

Here is another look of my favourite desi food for winter. 

Stay safe all! 

 

A vegetarian meal of Methi paratha and Matar ki sabzi

We had gone for a drive to the outskirts of the city and after crossing a very high and undulating ghat, came down to a little village that had just a few houses and lots of vegetable fields.
As far as the eyes could see, there were rows and rows of cauliflowers, cabbage, methi / fenugreek ,  radish and so on.There were also fields of fresh green jowar and ripened golden wheat. We also saw lemon orchards at some places.
And on the narrow road, next to the fields sat people with fresh vegetables plucked right then.

I just couldn't not get such fresh vegetables and bought a lot of methi, tender spinach and lots of green peas.The peas were so sweet that I gave in to temptation and ate a lot of them while shelling.
☺️
Yesterday, I made these Methi paratha and Matar ki sabzi .
The Methi parathas are slightly different from the regular ones that I make. 

To these, I added pounded garlic and green chilli to the chopped methi and kneaded it.
And some ajwain too.
The aroma, while frying them, was so good ... rustic and flavourful.

The curry  is too simple ... pressure cooked green peas, chopped potatoes and tomatoes in a tempering of jeera and hing.
Added some green chilli and coriander leaves. That's all.

I did not add any masalas and the sweetness of the peas and the tartness of the tomatoes shone through ... of course balanced by the green chilli and salt.

On the side was my #oilfree #lemonpickle . 
 I also cut up some of the fresh radish as a salad.

Had a satisfying meal while watching one more movie of the WW 2 genre ... my favourite genre for movies and books.

Another look. 
Wholesome freshly cooked meals nourish not only the body but also the soul, filling us wiht positive and happy vibes. 

So eat homely meals, stay safe and stay happy. 

You can find more Paratha recipes here. 

 

Matar ke Kachori

My sasural city is known for Kachoris. The best kachoris in the whole of Rajasthan are made in Kota. 

They say there is something in the water and the soil of Kota. 

I did not know the meaning of it until much later, when I became involved with food more as a passion and then later as a profession. 

Whenever we visit home, B and I have a favourite jaunt .... we go out very early in the wee hours of the mornings to our favourite kachori centers. 
And gorge on the super hot, freshly fried kachoris .... just out of the hot oil and resting in huge jhuris.  
One day it would be the moong ke kachoris, pyaz kachoris on the next.
And then it will be the matar kachoris winters. 

Super hot, beautifully fragrant with the best hing and spices and very very crisp. 
They serve it with two chutneys splashed all over it ... one made with tamarind and the other with green leaves like coriander and pudina. 

I refuse both. For various reasons. 
I love to bite into the crisp outer case and draw back immediately as a burst of steam releases and hits the nose with the most tempting of aromas ever. 

By then the mouth is already filled with the taste of spices, tartness mixed with salt and chilli. 
And no other chilli than the real Mathaniya chillies that not only have the required zing but also are fragrant too. 

Almost all the spices that I use in my cooking is from Rajasthan ... even Posto. 
And I grind my own garam masalas. 
They make a huge difference to the food I am making ...either for ourselves or for my clients. 

I made these Matar kachoris a few days ago and many people asked for the recipe in dms. 
So I decided to make this post quickly so you can enjoy them before the green peas disappear from markets. 

Need : 

For the casing : 

Maida  / APF - 1 cup
Salt - to taste 
Oil - 1 tbsp 

Water - to knead 

How to : 

Knead the maida with the rest of the ingredients , using just enough water. 
The dough should not be too tough and not too loose also. 
Keep it covered for 30 minutes. 

For the stuffing : 

Green peas - 2 cups 
Green chillies - to taste 

Ginger paste / grated - 1 tsp 

Hing / asafeotida - a pinch and  a little more

Red chilli powder 
Amchur powder 
Dhania seeds - ground coarsely
Black pepper powder
Ajwain 
Salt
Oil to cook 

How to : 

Grind the green peas with the green chillies into a coarse paste. 

Heat oil in an open pan . 

Add hing and grated ginger. 

Add the peas paste and stir well. 

Add all the powder masalas and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally. 

When it starts to dry up, add salt and cook till it is dryish. 

Remove and cool. 

How to make the Matar Kachoris : 

Heat enough oil in a deep kadahi to fry. 

Make small balls out of the kneaded dough. 

Stuff a little of the stuffing and flatten with your hands. 

When oil is medium hot, let in them gently. 

Cook on low heat till they slowly puff up.
Wait for a little while and then gently turn them over and cook till they are brown on both sides. 

Do not hurry to flip or raise heat. 
They need slow cooking to be crisp. 

Enjoy!! 

I served them with a ghugni and gajar ka halwa only because I had them already prepared. 
You may serve with  achars , chutneys or aloo ki sabzi. 

I love to munch on them  as is , with a cup of ginger tea. 

You may want to look up the Bengali favourite Koraishutir Kochuri too, while on the topic of Kochuris. ☺

Sada Aloor Tarkari and Luchi .... a Bengali's favourite breakfast

Winter mornings. 
Hustle and bustle in the dining room.
And in the kitchen at the far end of the verandah. 

House helps all around ... busy with chores. 
Some running to and from the kitchen. 

A full dining table. Everybody talking. 
Kids at their own small one. Freshly washed faces and smelling of sweet cold creams. 

Bundled up in woolens. 

Dadu at the head of the table. 
Nodding to something one of the kakus has just said. 

Jethu and Bapi discussing who will go to the farmlands next. 

Kansar plates being laid on the table by a kakima. 
Jethima  ladling out steaming hot Shada Aloor chorchori onto the plates. 

A help keeps a small bowl of freshly plucked green chillies in the centre of the table. 

And then comes that big jhuri  from the kitchen ... filled with pristine white and super hot Luchis. 
So hot that Jethima  has to blow on her fingers after picking up one and dropping it on a plate everytime. 

Thamma goes around the table pouring fresh notun gur  into small bowls kept beside the plates.

And soon a hush settles in. 

Everybody quietly savours the simple, beautiful food. 

We kids poked holes into the puffed up, hot luchis, letting the steam escape first. 
Then the upper layer would be broken off and stuffed into  mouths, closed eyes savour it melting away. 

While I do make this shada aloor tarkari often, I have never posted it here. 

This time, we are having a very cold winter.
And by a stroke of luck, I got some very good Patali gur as well as jhola gur from a Bengali shop here. 

So decided that this is the perfect time to make a post. 

Need : 

Potatoes, preferably the new ones  - cut into cubes 

Nigella seeds / Kalo jeere 

Green chillies 

Oil / Ghee to cook 

Salt 

How to : 

Heat oil or ghee. 

Add the nigella seeds and green chillies. 

Add the potatoes and add water immediately. 

Add salt, cover and cook till they are fully done. 

Serve hot with luchis. 

Another look. 

Stay safe. Stay warm. 
Enjoy winter with good food. 
Stay happy. 

 

Bok phool bhaja or Agasti flower fritters

Growing up, I was used to the Bok phool tree on the bank of our pond. Just behind one of the red cement chairs on either side of the cemented area from where the steps descended into the waters of our huge, deep, dark pond. 

It flowered well but I had never given it much attention except for when I would sometimes sit on the steps on a quiet late winter afternoon and watch the busy black ants hurrying along its branches. 
There was another one too, but it was at the back of the house, just on the border of the kola bagaan or the banana plantation. 
All that interested me was the bok phul bhaja that we got at times on our lunch plate. 
Hot and crisp on the outside, fresh and sweet tasting inside. 

Cut to many years later when I was married for sometime and was wading through the nuances of cooking, juggling between vegetarian north indian cooking for the man and the bengali dishes for me. 
We did not get too many familiar 'Bengali vegetables' at the time and getting Bok phul was beyond my dreams. And I slowly started to forget all about it. 

Until one day I came upon it all of a sudden at a local vegetables shop. 
I was ecstatic and happily bought half a kilo!! Thing who  knows when I will get them again. 
A call to Ma and I knew how to clean and fry them. 
Immediately made some and enjoyed them for lunch, keeping some for B aside. 
They were a lot and I packed half of them and took them to my new friend who had just moved to the city from Kolkata.

And after that, many more years passed and I never got to see the Bok phul in the markets again. 
And along with the Kumro phul, the Bok phul also stayed in my memories and yearnings. 

Until last week. 
We had gone vegetables shopping and as we came near the shop that keeps 'Bengali vegetables', I saw the round cane basket filled with these beautiful white flowers. 
And shouted "Stop, stop!" to a much flustered B.
And was out of the car even before it had come to a complete stop. 
Very irresponsible ... I know.
But I was beyond myself with happiness. 

I did not wait and immediately fried some for lunch. 
I had got some Lau shaak too and the menu formed right there in my mind. 
You have seen the plate in my last post here. 

I decided to make a post too. Just for posteriority. 

Need : 

Bok phool / Agasti phula / Hadgyacha phool - 1 small bowlful
Besan / Gram flour - 5 tbsp 

Rice flour - 1 tbsp 

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp 

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp 

Kalo jeere / Nigella seeds - ½ tsp 

Baking powder - a pinch 

Water to make a paste 

Salt - to taste 
Oil to deep fry 

How to : 

Clean the flowers by first removing the stamen carefully. 
Very gently place the flowers in salted water for around 15 minutes. 
Rinse them in plain water ..... they are very delicate, so you need to be real gentle here ...  and place them on a cotton kitchen towel. 

Make a slightly thin slurry with the rest of the ingredients, except for the oil. 
It should not be too thick. 

Heat oil. 
Dip the flowers in it to coat them completely and let in gently into the hot oil. 
Fry till golden brown on both sides. 
Remove and drain extra oil on paper napkins. 
Serve hot with a meal or as a snack with tea. 

 I still have some of the flowers left and am going to come up with something different the next time. 
Till then, stay tuned. 

Take care and stay safe. 

Posto diye Lau shaak or Bottle gourd leaves cooked with poppy seeds paste

Among the very few vegetarian food that I would eat when young,  was the shaak or green leafy vegetables . 
We used to have different kinds of shaak everyday on our lunch plate. Among the other compulsory things on the plate like a little Ucche or anything bitter, some Bhaate / boiled and mashed, a piece of lemon, etc. there would be a small pile a leafy vegetable everyday. 
And no, we could not skip it and move on to the rest of the sides like chenchra or chorchori or the main jhols of fish or meat. 
We had to wade through the bitter and the leafy things first. 

The kind of shaak would be varied too. 
One day it would be the Notey and the Kolmi on the other. Sometimes we would get the Gima, a favourite of mine with its slightly bitter taste. 
Then there would be the Shushni shaak, Paat shaak, Palong  and Methi in winters, and lots more. 
Staying away from home in a place where we do not see more than 3 or 4 varieties, I have started to even forget the names. 

The leaves of creepers would be used too. Kumro pata / pumpkin leaves, Lau pata / bottle gourd leaves, Ucche pata / bitter gourd leaves .... and so on. 
The bigger leaves like the former two would be used to paturis / wraps and also for making mixed veg dishes or chorchoris. 
The smaller ones would be used for a stir fry or to make Boras / deep fried dumplings. 

My favourite, however, is the way Ma cooked the Lau pata .... with posto or poppy seeds. And I loved it best when she added some jackfruit seeds too. 
Quick to cook, she would often cook it last, just before we sat down for lunch. 
When she brought the bowl of the steaming hot dish to the table,  I would take a deep breath of that sweet aroma of posto. 
And would take helpings after helpings, ignoring any meat or fish on the table that day. 
I loved to chew on the sweet, soft dnaata slowly, savouring the juicy bits of joints with a happiness that no meat or bone would be able to give. 

I got some Lau pata a few days back and soaked some posto immediately, having this dish in mind. 
And so made it for lunch. 

Need : 

Lau pata / Bottle gourd leaves 

Potatoes - cut into small cubes 

Chopped onion
Grated Ginger
Green chillies, broken 

Bori - I used my home made ones 

Poppy seeds paste 

Paanch phoron / Bengali five spice (a mix of fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, fennel seeds, celery seeds. mustard seeds ) 

Oil  ( I use ghee ) 

How to : 

Soak poppy seeds and make a paste with very little water. 

Soak the leaves in salt water and wash well. 
Chop roughly and keep aside. 

Heat oil / ghee in a kadahi. 
Lightly fry the boris and keep aside. 

Heat oil / ghee. 

Add the paanch phoron .

Add the green chillies and the sliced onion. 

Fry and add the potatoes. Stir fry till half done. 

Now add the chopped leaves and cover. 

It will release water. After it has wilted, give a mix and add the boris, a little salt and the poppy seed paste. 

Mix well and cook till water is absorbed and everything is done. 

It will not be completely dry. 

Serve steaming hot. 
Here is a look of my lunch plate. 

Can you guess the fry on the side? 
More on it later. 

Till then, take care and stay safe. 
Do mask up and stay away from crowded places. 

 

Khichuri with a spicy tempering to soothe the throat

Both I and B are on the way to recovery from a longish bout of cold and sniffles. 

While we are resting as much as possible staying warm, I have been cooking very light and nutritious food for ourselves too. 

Though they are not too different from our regular daily food, I did try to keep some things out and included a few things more.
Like I upped our intake of garlic ... it aids digestion and also provides warmth to the body ... a necessity in this cold winter weather. I have also increased B's intake of lentils for that extra protein.
Today, however, I wanted to deviate for a change and wanted to eat no vegetables.

 And I wanted to eat aloo bhaja .

I told myself that it is ok to indulge my tired body with some loving carbs.

So made a khichuri which is slightly different from the usual way I make khichuri  .

Not the typical Bengali  khichuri . 

How to make this beautiful khichdi...

I toasted 1 cup of yellow moong dal till fragrant.
Added  ½ cup of rice to it and washed it well. 

 Put it in a pressure cooker along with enough water, a little salt, grated coconut, turmeric powder, a blob of ghee and some crushed ginger. 

No need to grate it .... I just gave a big thwack with a pestle 😄

Cooked it for two whistles on low.

Heated ghee in a pan and added a little jeera and lots of chopped garlic and some chilli flakes and a pinch of salt.

Poured it over the khichadi . 

Stir fried some potatoes with kalo jeere / nigella seeds and dry chilli, in a smear of ghee. 

We savoured this beautiful meal that soothed our bodies with warmth as it went down.
I could visualise the nutrition spreading through my body and fill it with strength.

B went for a second helping too.
And just before he finished, mentioned "I feel as if someone has just given me a long, warm hug ".

And I knew all will be well.

When I was clicking photos, the sun shifted and lit up my plate with an ethereal light. 

Stay warm . Stay safe.

Eat well. Eat happy.

 

Besan chila ki dahiwali sabzi ..... part of a vegetarian meal plate

I spent most part of the last week relaxing and catching up with my reading, knitting and some bingeing on some light series on Netflix. They are mostly light romances or just simple stories with a backdrop of a small town and the people there. I had loved Virgin River and am right now on Good Witch.
Somewhere in between, I binged on the K drama Heaven's Garden. And was totally smitten by it. I will start on Crash landing on you soon.

The other day I was reading an article about this current craze for kdramas / Korean tv serials .
If you ask me the reason, I will happily give mine.
For starters, they are extremely well made.
The actors are fine, the stories clean and realistic, beautiful locations and above all, you can watch them forever without having a cringe inducing scene jumping right at you or a burst of foul language that will push you to seek for the fast forward ⏩ button.

Honestly I am totally over our desi series.
They are unnecessarily gory, filled with foul language and over the top crime and extremely distasteful scenes of physical intimacy.
I actually check out the ratings first and then decide if they are 'safe' for me to watch 😄

However I am very much a desi when it comes to home cooked food .
This lunch plate has  -  

Besan cheela ki sabzi : 

Make a thin batter with besan /  gram flour, salt, cumin seeds, hing, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and water. 

Make cheela / crepes on a flat pan or tawa like so. 

Cut into thick strips. 

Beat curd with a little besan and water in a bowl. 
Add turmeric powder, salt. 
Heat a little ghee. 
Add cumin seeds and hing. 
 
Add the curd and cook on low heat till it starts to simmer. 

Let in the chila strips and cook till they soak up enough liquid. 

Serve hot. 

Kale chane ki sabzi : 

Soak and boil black chickpeas. 
Cut potatoes into cubes. 
Chop onions and green chillies. 
Heat ghee. 
Add jeera and the onion. 
Stri fry till pink and add the potatoes. 

Add turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt. 
Cover and cook till just done. 

Add the boiled chickpeas, red chilli powder and the green chillies. 

Cover and cook till everything comes together. 

Sprinkle a little garam masala powder and serve hot. 

My oil free Hing ka achar : 

Mooli ki bhuji 

Cut radish / Mooli into strips. 
Heat oil .... I use 1 tsp of ghee. 
Add jeera / cumin seeds and hing. 
Add in the radish strips and turmeric powder + salt. 

Stir and cover. Cook till done. 

Another look of the full plate. 

 You can see the post here too.  

And here too. 

Enjoy!! 

Soupy noodles with vegetables and Chilli oil

The last few days have been very cloudy.
Not the huge, 'raring to go' kind of cumulus; but the quiet , grey ones. Slowly spreading across the sky, overcasting the city with quiet deliberation. The air has turned colder ... well it was cool all these days, but now it is positively colder.
The ghee in the kitchen has solidified.
And we have taken out the light Jaipuri covers to snuggle under.
So that is a sign.

I decided to make noodles  for lunch a few days back but B wanted something hot and soupy to sip on.
So I made this noodles soup that my youngest maasi used to make and I have grown up eating.

How to : 

Boil the noodles till they are half done.
Drain them and keep aside. 

Stir fry chopped garlic, ginger, carrots, green chilli and add some water.
You may use vegetable or chicken stock too. 

Bring to a boil.

Add salt and a little vinegar.
I added lots of crushed black pepper too .... you can add according to your liking. 

Add in the boiled noodles and a little of the water the noodles were boiled in. 

Serve topped with chilli garlic oil. 

For the Garlic chilli oil, I fried lots of chopped garlic in hot oil. 
Added chilli flakes at the end and removed from heat. 
Done! 

It makes for a great topping on any plain dish. 

 You can add pieces of chicken too , while stir frying the vegetables. 
Or drop in beaten eggs when it is boiling and make it an egg drop soup. 

Whatever way, it makes for a great hot meal. 
Perfect for any cold weather ..... damp oor otherwise. 

Enjoy!! 

Dal Baati Churma Thali or Rajasthani Thali ...... a full meal of delectable vegetarian food

I have been getting a lot of requests to post full meal plans on the blog. 
While I do post my daily meals regularly on Instagram as well as on my FaceBook page, I have not been regular in posting here because of the lack of time. 
To post here, I will need to be armed with complete details of the food. 
How, when, why, and then the full recipe. 
Which makes it easier for me to ignore. 

But the guilt overwhelms. 

I started off with the blog first, after all. 
So no matter how difficult it might be, I will try to post my full meal plates henceforth. 

Starting off with the much loved, glamorous Dal, Baati Churma thali that I cooked for B on his birthday last month. 
I make dal baati meals regularly at home ..... it is a huge relief getting a break from rolling out and cooking rotis. 
I just make the dough and set them in the oven to cook. 
Saves loads of time. 

On my plate here is - 

Gatte ki shukhi sabzi 

Cook the Gatte by following the recipe here. 

Cut them up into medium pieces. 
Temper ghee with jeera, hing and add the gatta pieces. 
Toss with turmeric powder, red chilli powder, amchur powder and salt, till all the spices coat the gattas well and everything comes together. 

Chatpata Kaddu / Spicy Pumpkin sabzi : 

This is a family favourite.
Fresh sweet pumpkin pieces cooked with dry spices to make it spicy and tangy.
You will find the recipe here. 

Aloo bhindi ki sabzi : 

Temper oil ( I use ghee ) with jeera + hing + ajwain and add sliced potatoes. 

Stir fry on high, add turmeric powder and red chilli powder and salt. 

Add cut okra pieces and cover and  cook till everything is done. 

Add some dhania powder, mix well. 

Gulab Jamun : 

You will find the recipe here. 

Jeera Rice : 

Heat ghee in a heavy kadahi. 
Add a big dose of jeera ... more than you would add to a sabzi .... and black cardamom. 
Add sliced onions and fry them on low heat till almost brown. 
Add washed and soaked rice, salt and fry for around 5 minutes. 
Add water, cover and cook till the rice is just done. 

Churma : 

You will find the recipe here. 

Makke ka Dhokla :  

You will find the recipe here.  

Another look. 

 How to serve Dal baat : 

Pour the dal into a serving bowl. 
Break a couple of baatis on it. 
Top with a dollop of ghee. 

Enjoy!!