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. 

 

Light Mutton Stew .... spicy, soupy and protein rich galore

Sunday done right.

 With a mutton curry that is very light with a thin soupy gravy to sip on while the rain dances outside.
Don't go by the plain Jane look of it .... this innocent looking bowlful packs quite a punch.
Fragrant with whole garam masala , spiced with black pepper ,
garlic as well as red chilli powder. 

I love spicy food and this one did clear up my throat later .
It is protein rich  and perfect for immunity boosting.

The recipe is very very easy.

I marinated the mutton  with vinegar and turmeric powder for more than an hour .... I finished cooking the vegetarian meals then .... and then in a heated pressure cooker added ghee ,
whole garam masalas, sliced onions and dry red chilli. 

Fried well till the onions browned well. 

Then added the mutton and fried on high heat for 2 minutes.
Then added ginger garlic paste, a little curd, red chilli powder and fried well till the masalas were well cooked. 

Added hot water and salt and a little sugar.
Rounded off with a sprinkle of my homemade garam masala powder. 

Closed cooker and cooked for 5 whistles on low heat.
And oh .... added potatoes too .

And it is done! Soupy, spicy thin gravy with tender, succulent pieces of mutton that actually melted in the mouth.
Mmmm 😋

 Can you see the mutton actually falling off the bone ?!
It was that soft and tender 😊 

You can pair this with either rice or parathas or rotis. 

Enjoy !! 

Do you like recipes written this way or do you prefer the whole list of ingredients and the detailed process? 
Do let me know in the comments. 

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!! 

Pav Bhaji or Pao bhaji ....... both made at home , from scratch

When I made these beautiful pao breads some time back, B wanted to have Pav  bhaji .
So I made some. .

But with so many chores and other things to deal with, including ‘I don’t feel like doing anything today’ too, I spread out the preparation into a couple of days.
After I made the bread, I had to wait for sometime for the already cooked food in the fridge to get used up.

Meanwhile, I boiled the vegetables ( I used potatoes, cauliflower, green peas, tomatoes, carrots and some frencjh beans .... you can use whatever you have at hand ) and stored them.
I peeled garlic and stored them ( I do that anyway ) .
And then one fine day, brought out everything.

Heated the bread with a smear of butter .... B wanted the inside as is .... soft ... and not fry with butter.
Mashed the vegetables and tempered them with chopped garlic, chopped green chillies, turmeric and red chilli powder and store bought pav bhaji masala 
Added salt and sugar. 
Simmered till the extra moisture dried up and the mash turned thickish. .
.
Served with chopped onions, lemon and coriander leaves sprinkled.
And of course, a big blob of butter. .
Yummm 😋 .
.

Contrary to how rich it looks, homemade pao bhaji is actually very healthy as well as nutritious.
A great way of eating a lot of vegetables together, this bhaji was made with just one teaspoon of cooking oil.
I have eaten pao bhaji outside only once in my life.
One taste and I have never touched it again.
Not when eating out.
For me, the homecooked version is way better, much more tastier. 

Here is a look of the Ladi Pav that I had baked earlier. 

It is super yummyhot,  just out of the oven , with a good smear of butter.

A closer look! 😊
Tempting, eh? 

 

Phulkopi diye Rui macher jhol / Rohu fish curry with cauliflower ....... a healthy winter staple

After a long while, I am back with a post. 
While I am active on instagram as well as facebook, I have been lagging behind when it came to posting here.

For the  simple reason that I have nothing to write at all right now. 
But there are recipes that I make and fall in love with .... and want to make a post here just for my own reference .... if not for anybody else. 

Like this fish curry that I made the other day. I had to make this light Rui maacher jhol, with cauliflower one last time before winter is officially gone. Both, to savour the winter flavours one last time and also because a follower had asked me for the recipe of my version of this jhol, sometime back.

Since I was off fish for a longish while, couldn't post immediately.

But I had not forgotten. So here it is today.

For the fish curry - 

Need : 

Rohu fish - fried in mustard oil 
Cauliflower florets 
Grated ginger 
Dry red chillies 
Potatoes - sliced 
Turmeric powder 
Red chilli powder 
Coriander powder 
Roasted cumin powder 
Tomatoes - chopped 
Coriander leaves - chopped 
Coriander stalks - chopped 
Water
Salt 
Oil to temper 

How to : 

Heat  mustard oil and temper with jeera and dry red chillies.
Add grated ginger and then the sliced potatoes and cauliflower florets.

Add turmeric powder and a little salt and then water.
Cover and bring it to a boil.

Then add coriander powder,  jeera powder, coriander stalks and tomatoes.

When it starts to boil, add the fried fish pieces, adjust salt and cover and cook for some more time.
Round off with a generous sprinkle of chopped coriander leaves.

Done 

I removed some for the vegetarian man before adding the fish. He enjoyed it with parathas for dinner. 

I  also made some Ucche bhaja  / stir fried bitter gourd ,

Notey shaak bhaja / amaranth greens, sojne daata aloo bhaja / drumsticks and potatoes stir fried,

on the side.

The dal was leftover from yesterday's meal.

I will try to post more meals henceforth. 
My followers have requested more quickcooking and easy meals. Hence I have started two hashtags , namely, #mealsunderthirtymins and #cookingunder1hour, and will be making posts on them more than single dishes. 
I will try my best to post here. 
But I will posting regularly on my instagram account. 
So do follow me there as well as on Facebook too. 

Take care all. 
Stay safe and stay home. 
Praying everyone gets the vaccine soon. 

Chicken curry .... light, soupy and flavourful , perfect for winter meals

Ps : This was made sometime during the monsoons and has been sitting in my drafts all the while. 

I have given the story alongwith that led to the making of this curry. 

The very vegetarian, very Rajasthani husband cooked this beautiful chicken curry for me today. .

I woke up with a stiff back, body ache and painful hands. All that strain and working with water yesterday and sleeping with the a/c on last night has shown fruit. And has immobilised me completely. With the knowledge that it will be very difficult to get to my ortho or my physiotherapist, we decided that I take a break today. So while I stayed put with my heating pad and book, B took over the kitchen. .
.
.
I washed and prepped the chicken and asked him what should I marinate it with.
Drew a blank.
“Vinegar or curd?”.
“Vinegar. But very little.”
“Do you want big pieces or small pieces?”
Blank.
“What are you planning to cook ... a gravy? Or dry?”
“Hmm ... gravy. But dryish.”
“What will you be cooking in? Pressure cooker or kadahi?”
“Pressure cooker.”
So I gave him the pieces marinated with a little vinegar. .

After that I had  no idea how he made it.
But the moment the cooker let out the first whistle, I breathed in deep and knew I was in for a treat.
And a treat it indeed was.
I quickly make some mishti bhaat / basanti polau  for myself and happily put it in the background of the photo because that chicken curry / murgir jhol deserves all the limelight. .

It was light, perfect balance of salt and sugar and nothing overwhelming. Soothing, comforting, beautiful jhol.
Soft succulent pieces.
I realised it would go great with both plain rice as well as rotis.
I haven’t asked him the recipe but have asked him to make it again sometime.
It felt so good to have a homecooked chicken curry that I have not cooked myself.
Things like this makes the lockdown life bearable .

The recipe is ridiculously simple. 
I kept asking what else .... but this  is all ,  he says. 😊

Need : 

Chicken pieces 
Sliced onions

Ginger garlic paste 

Curd

Turmeric powder

Red chilli powder
Crushed black cardamom

Crushed black pepper 

Bay leaves

Salt

Sugar

Lemon juice 

Halved potato

Cooking oil  ( I use mustard oil ) 

How to : 

Mix everything together except the oil. 

Cover and keep aside for at least half an hour. 

Dump everything in a pressure cooker and cook for two whistles on low. 

Adjust gravy consistency with water as per your requirement. 

Serve steaming hot. 

I love to top with with some ghee and some more lemon juice and sip on it when the weather turns cold. 

This pairs beautifully with plain rice, rotis, parathas, mishti bhaat or even plain bread. 

That is what I love about it most .... its versatility. 

Enjoy!! 

Ps : I have been getting too many spam comments and at my wits end. 

If you are here, can you please help me out and tell me if you are able to see the captcha ??
Please share your commenting experience so that I can make the necessary changes. 

Thank you. 

 

Masala Pav and Misal ..... quick cooking meals during the tough days of lockdown

The one thing that this lockdown has taught us, among others, is the value of time. 
As well as 'me time'. 
Which is possible only when we ration our time in the kitchen, while putting a proper balanced meal on our plates .... a huge necessity these days for good health and immunity. 

Life has been overwhelming of sorts these days. Even if we did not have much of house helps all our married lives, except for when I am down ill, it is with time .... and age .... that I am realising the need for one in our lives now. 

All the following of precautions, loads of laundry every time we go out .... which we have kept to the barest of minimum , not getting to buy the produce and things we are used to and having to make do with whatever is available online or at the nearest shop .... the list is endless, has been eating into my time, leaving me with little left to do what I love to. 
Or even to just plain rest.

All through the summer and the monsoons, I had to rack my brains to be able to put a full meal on the table using a limited number of vegetables. We had no options other than the bottle gourd, the okra, eggplants once in a while and potatoes. 

Monsoons, we avoid all leafy vegetables, and so were again confined to the above few and then some more. 

So I turned to legumes. 
Soaked, un soaked, sprouted, ground into a batter, fried dumplings, dosas / pancakes ..... numerous ways to use them. And way more healthy too. 
Sprouted Moong beans are a favourite of mine.
I use  them in salads, in stir fries, in khichadis, .... in almost everything. 

And since we both love Maharashtrian food, the Misal is also a regular at home. 
Usually B makes the misal .... see my insta stories. 
But this time I made it .... albeit using the same masala that he had used ( I had frozen the extra ). 

And paired it with some gorgeous Masala Pav .... the recipe I got from a friend.  The masala is so good ... I have already made it thrice ... and tastes great when paired with bread. Especially a day old bread, crisped up in the oven. 

Since I made a lot of changes to the original recipe ..... purely based on the availabilty of things in my pantry, I am writing down the recipe here. 

Also, although I have been baking a lot of bread and Pao during this lockdown ( again on my insta feed ), I have never got around to posting any here on the blog .... something I am going to correct soon, .... I have used store bought pavs this time. 

The Masala : 

Need : 

Tomatoes  - 3 medium sized 

Onions - 1 medium sized 

Garlic - 10 to 15 cloves 

Green chillies - 5 to 6 

Toasted Peanuts - half a cup 

Ginger - 1" 

Curry leaves 

Red chilli powder 

Turmeric powder

Jeera powder 

Salt - to taste 

Sugar - to taste 
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp 

How to : 

Make a coarse paste of everything except the powders and oil. 

Heat oil. 

Add the paste and cook till all moisture dries up. 

Store in an airtight bottle in the fridge. 

To assemble .... 

Heat butter in a flat pan. 

Slather the pavs with the masala and fry them on the pan till crisp on both sides. 

These are great as is with tea or with some bhaji on the side. 

The Misal : 

Need : 

Mung bean sprouts - 1 cup 

Chopped potatoes - half cup 

Chopped onions - 2 tbsp 

Ginger garlic paste - I used one cube of my homemade ones 

Turmeric powder

Red chilli powder

Cumin / Jeera seeds - 1 pinch 

Salt - to taste 

Cooking oil - 1 tbsp 

How to : 

Heat oil. 

Add the jeera. 
Once it starts to splutter, add the  onions. 

Fry well and then add the ginger garlic paste. 

Add the powder masalas and the chopped potatoes and moong sprouts. 

Mix well and add enough water for a gravy. 

Cover and cook till done. 

Serve hot. 

Ideally it should be served with a topping of chopped onions, green chillies , any farsan or mixture, chopped coriander leaves and a good squeeze of lime juice. 


Like this one that B had made. 😊

He declared that his was better than mine. 
Well .... if one can judge by the looks, what do you think??  😉

Enjoy!! 

Stay home. Stay safe.