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!! 

Lahsooni Kadhi / Garlic flavoured curd gravy

Kadhi is a yoghurt or curd based preparation that can be enjoyed as is or used as a base for things like vegetables or pakodas to be cooked in. This dish is common in Gujarati, Rajasthani and Punjabi cuisine ... each having a different flavour due to the different seasonings and temperings.
Bengalis too make a kadhi of their own ... that is entirely different from the above three in taste and flavour.

The Lahsooni / Lahsuni Kadhi is a part of the thali ( full plate ) meals ... mostly Gujarati or Rajasthani ... in restaraunts. But ... yes, there is a but ... it is never served along with the other dishes in the plate.
The reason for this is many pure vegetarians do not eat onion and garlic ... hence this avoids any mixup.

The kadhi usually served in a thali is the white coloured and sweetish Gujarati kadhi. To get the Lahsuni kadhi, you will have to ask for it. Ask for 'Peeli ( yellow) kadhi' or 'Lahsuni kadhi' and you will get it.
I came to know about this because I have seen my husband do that. And insist for it to be served very hot ... tastes best that way.

(Updated : The shiny fat is from the curd .... after cooking ... not oil.)

I make this kadhi whenever I have run out of vegetables or dals ... i.e. whenmy pantry is empty. Or ... more importantly ... whenever I do not feel like being in the kitchen at all. And yet have to have some homemade food.

A comfort food at its best, this kadhi takes very little time to cook ... and the best part is you don't have to stand and keep watch ... does not demand any attention at all.

So if you are in the mood to be lazy, or are very tired, or desparately want to catch up with that book .... just set this on the stove and some rice in the MW or the cooker.
And go put your feet up. Your steaming hot dinner will be ready in a few minutes ... without any extra effort.

And the best part is it is healthy ... no masalas, almost no oil. :-)

This kadhi is different from the one I make for Kadhi Pakoda ... will post the recipe for that soon.



Need :

Curd / Yoghurt - 2 cups ( better if it is a couple of days old for the tang )
Besan / Gram flour - 1 tbsp
Garlic / Lahsoon cloves - 5 - 6 ( half crush in a pestle ... just one blow for each )
Hing / Asafoetida - 1 pinch ( you may add a little more if you love the flavour ) Haldi / Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Red chilli powder - to taste
Water - around 4 - 5 cups ( you may want more )
Salt - to taste
Cooking oil - 1 tsp

How to :

Take the curd in a big sized bowl and whisk well till smooth. Add the besan, the masalas and water.

Add just a little salt ... we will add more later after the kadhi is done ( else it will become to osalty once the kadhi has thickened).

Heat oil in a deep wok / kadahi or pan (better if it is non stick). Do not make it too hot.

Add the hing and then the curd mixture. Throw in the garlic and set to boil.

Stir once in a while. Do not be impatient ... keep the heat on low all the while. If you are using a non stick vessel, you are safe ... there's no fear of it sticking to the bottom.

After it has cooked well ( the garlic should be well cooked and soft & the kadhi will be infused with its flavour ) and reached the desired consistency ( if you are having it on the side with rotis you can thicken it more ), adjust salt.

Remove and serve hot.

I love to sip the spicy hot kadhi like a soup. :-)



Goes best with steamed rice.



Go on ... enjoy a bowlful today!! :-)

In the past few months a lot of my blog friends have passed on some awards and tags to me. Since I was on a short break, I find it a little difficult to check out each and everyone for a mention here. But do let thank you all sincerely for having thought of me. Much appreciate it. :-)

Take care all !!