Prawns Koliwada

I love prawns. But they seem to have given my little daughter a mild allergic reaction. My brother was allergic to it too. In his case he would simply eat them and take an antihistaminic later.

Saee got the reaction for the first time, and there didn't seem to be any mosquitoes in the room, so logically I thought it must be the prawns. My doctors mind began ticking in the middle of the night thinking what I should do. Calamine on the skin and antihistaminic syrup later, my Saee was sleeping like a baby. She is a baby!

Ingredients

• 200 g prawns shelled and de-veined
• 3 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (gives a lovely color while not being too hot)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• juice of one lemon
• salt to taste
• 4 tbsp plain flour
• oil for deep frying

1. My idea of de-veining the prawns is to run a small sharp knife all along its back right to the tail and then just lift the vein up. Most people in India  just pull out the vein, but there's a chance of breaking some part of the vein within. 
2. Wash the prawns two to three times in fresh water.
3. Add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice and salt. Mix well.
4. Marinate for at least half an hour. If you are going to marinate more, keep the fish in the refrigerator.
5. Heat the oil in a deep wok. Roll each prawn in plain flour and fry for two to three minutes.
6. Eat hot!

Happy Cooking!

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Tawa Bhindi

I had been looking for low fat, low cal recipes online. Honest. I don't know how I stumbled upon this recipe and forgot all about my endeavor. In any case, here is a recipe loaded with calories, that you can make for yourself as a change, or as party food.

Here I have used bhindi and potatoes. But you can use a number of assorted vegetables, and called it tawa sabzi. You can use cauliflower florets, mushrooms, baby potatoes, or carrots. You can arrange them separately on the tawa, and saute them with a little gravy and serve them as your guests want. That is... if you have that big a tawa.

Ingredients

• 250 g bhindi (okra)
• 2 medium potatoes peeled and chopped into large pieces
• 1 cup finely chopped onions
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 2 tomatoes finely chopped
• 7 to 8 curry leaves
• 1/2 cup curd
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp amchur (dry mango) powder
• 1 tsp garam masala (preferably pav bhaji masala)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• one pinch asafoetida
• oil for deep frying
• 3 tsp oil
• salt

1. Wash and chop the bhindi (okra). Cut off the head and tail and chop the okra into one inch large pieces

2. Grind together the onion, garlic and ginger into a fine paste.

3. Make a puree of the tomatoes and keep aside.

4. Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the bhindi and potatoes till they turn golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on kitchen towels. Sprinkle a little salt on the fried vegetables.

5. Remove all but 3 tsp of oil from the wok. Add the cumin seeds and asafoetida to the oil and wait till they change color.

6. Add the curry leaves. Now add the onion, ginger and garlic paste and saute for three minutes or till the oil separates.

7. Now add the tomato paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin and coriander powders, amchur, and garam masala and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

8. Whip the curd so it becomes smooth and free of lumps. Once the oil has begun separating from the tomato gravy, add the curd and 1/2 cup of water. Add salt and bring the gravy to a boil.

9. Add the vegetables to the gravy or keep them separate and combine the veggies and gravy together at the dinner table.



Serve hot with chapatis, or parathas.

Happy Cooking!

Hotchpotch

This dessert is an example of how you can turn a disaster into something good. I wanted to bake a cake for my mom's birthday. Blast the electricity! There was load shedding throughout the day everyday. When I finally made the cake, I had only a small window, and had to rush things up. So I scrambled the few things I had, together for the sponge cake, without measuring the ingredients (a cardinal sin in the rulebook of cake making) and pushed the batter in the oven. Then I crossed my fingers and hoped that if I really want the cake to turn good, everything in the universe will conspire to help me achieve that end. - (borrowed from the alchemist!)

The world didn't. My cake looked horrible. Lumpy and flat. It tasted good though, and it seemed a shame to throw it away altogether. So to salvage the cake (and my dignity) I decided to turn it into a different dessert. And because it is a hotchpotch of all things I found, I am calling it Hotchpotch!

This is what I did. I didn't have pictures though. :-(

Ingredients

• Sponge cake
• Mango ice-cream
• Strawberry sauce
• Kellogg's honey loops (or any other breakfast cereal)

1. Cut the cake into cubes.
2. Place the cubes in a tall glass.
3. Pour strawberry sauce over the cake.
4. Scoop the ice cream into the glass on top of the cake. 
5. Pour another drizzle of strawberry sauce on the mango ice cream.
6. If the glass is REALLY tall, repeat the steps from 1 to 5.
7. Finally add the honey loops or any other crispy cereal and serve!

Happy Cooking!

Bharli Vangi - Stuffed aubergines

Suddenly I have developed some confidence in my cooking abilities. It was a tremendous ego boost when my mom told me that my bakarwadis taste professional. To top it off hubbs said that I have turned a better cook than my mom and his mom. That IS an overstatement, but it feels nice that you are appreciated by the ones you love. :-)

The recipe I am posting today is an amalgamation of two styles of cooking. One is my mother's style and one is my mother-in-law's style. I have developed a slightly different way of cooking this recipe, and hubbs loves it. It is up to others to test the recipe and give me feedback about what they think.

Ingredients

• 250 g aubergines
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 3 tbsp oil
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch ginger chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• 2 tsp tamarind paste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder (or as per taste)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp jaggery
• salt to season

Wash and make vertical cross slits in the aubergines at the base. Place them in water for an hour or two. This opens up the aubergines and it becomes easier to stuff them.

Heat a wok, and pour 1 tbsp oil in it. Add 2/3 of the onions and saute till they turn brown. Add the garam masala, garlic, ginger and saute for two more minutes.

Add the fresh grated coconut, and saute for 2 minutes.

Turn off the heat and allow the sauteed ingredients to cool.

Place them in a blender, with turmeric, red chilli powder, tamarind paste, peanuts, sesame seeds, and salt and blend them to a paste.

Stuff this mixture into the aubergines, like this.


Heat the remaining oil in a wok, and toss in the remaining chopped onions.

Once the onions change their color somewhat add the stuffed aubergines and the remaining mixture. Mix well.

Cover with a plate, and pour water on top of the plate. Lower the heat to a medium and cook till the aubergines become soft. Add the water on top of the plate to the curry, and cook till it boils.

Add the jaggery and boil the curry for five more minutes.

Serve hot with chapatis or bhakris.

Agreed. The picture sucks. The light sucks.  Couldn't keep my hand still :-(

 Happy Cooking!

Diwali Faral - Fried Poha Chivda

There are many who like the dry roasted chivda variety. And then there are some like my dear hubby who like the fried poha variety. And he likes it so much that he invented an altogether different way of eating chivda so he can have chivda in every meal. Chapati chivda!

:-D

Ingredients

• 500 g beaten rice flakes (Jada poha)
• Dry coconut (sukka khobra)
• 1 cup peanuts
• 3 green chillies
• 8 to 10 curry leaves
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4th tsp citric acid crystals
• A whole lot of oil

1. Soak the dry coconut in water for an hour. It becomes soft. You can now use your peeler to make very thin slices of the coconut. Then spread them out under a fan on kitchen towels to dry them again.
2. Soak the groundnuts in a water with a little salt. Once soaked, remove them on kitchen towels and dry them again under fan for an hour or two.
3. Heat the oil and fry the poha. It spreads around in the oil if you add it directly. By the time you remove the poha it becomes brown. The best way is to use a frying vessel or a spoon, into which you add a handful of poha and dip it into the oil and remove it in five seconds. Drain on kitchen towels spread out on a newspaper. Fry all the poha in this manner.
4. Remove all extra oil to keep only 1/2 cup oil in the wok. Add the curry leaves to the oil and fry them till they turn crisp. Remove them and spread them on the poha.
5. Chop the chillies and fry them till the edges turn a little brown. Add to the poha.
6. Fry the coconut slices till they turn slightly brown. Add to the poha.
7. Fry the peanuts till they look evenly browned. Add to the poha.
8. Turn off the heat under the oil and add the asafoetida and turmeric.
9. Pour this on top of the poha.
10. Add the salt according to taste.
11. Grind together the sugar and citric acid and add to the poha.
12. Do not mix vigorously. Instead just add the whole mixture to a plastic bag and shuffle it a few times. 
13. Keep it in the plastic bag and keep the plastic bag in an airtight container to store it.

Happy Cooking!