Tamatar Ki Kadhi

Phatte Huye Tamatar ki Kadhi : This was a joke that i had to mention on my blog !!! On being a part of a food forum, i have made some great virtual friends there where we keep posting "what's cookin in our kitchen" ," where we go to dine", "what we eat" etc...On one such post where a lady asked about making punjabi style aloo parathas, my friend Ritika Khullar mentioned the process and said that she fills the stuffing so much, that the parathas actually Phatte ( gets torn - here meaning, pops out of the covering)!!!! I loved that word and a series of conversations followed, with renaming my blog as "Cookin in Phatte huye pajamas"..Hahaha... So, lets dedicate this Phatte Huye Tamatar ki Kadhi to Ritika :)

I usually have this habit of watching the channel "Food Food", one of the most popular food channels in India, during my lunch time. Maybe it increases my apetite or it just makes the food more tasty!!! Whatever the reason, i love watching food while eating...One such weekday, i had Sanjeev Kapoor showing the recipe of Tomato Kadhi. The name sounded interesting, and i decided to make it the same evening. It tasted heavenly with rice !!! So, if you are bored to cook one such day, this kadhi and rice ( with accompaniments of papad and some achaar ) combination would surely be a go-go!!!

Ingredients :

Besan ( Gram flour ) - 4 tsp

Tomatoes - 5 big ( Pureed )

Red chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Dry red chillies - 3-4

Sugar - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Fresh corriander leaves - a few ( chopped )

Pepper - to taste

Recipe :

In a bowl, take besan. Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt ( according to taste ). Mix it well. Now add the Tomato puree. Add about 2 cups of water and mix it well again. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a kadhai and add cumin seeds and mustard seeds.( No Oil added ). When they crackle, add the asafoetida and dry red chillies. Now pour the tomato mixture into this and let it come to a boil. Reduce the flame and let it simmer for about 8-10 minutes ( or till it thickens )

If you feel the tomatoes are sour, add about 1 tsp sugar. Or else you can adjust according to taste. Now garnish with corriander leaves and pepper and serve hot with Steamed rice :)))

Happy Cooking :)

Stuffed Tomatoes

I remember my father in law telling me about my Mother in law making some awesome stuffed tomatoes and stuffed capsicum and that i should learn it from her. So i wanted to try it and took the recipe from her on phone. There are a lot of stuffings that people add, some add Besan made filling, some vegetable filling and some make it with potato filling. I found the potato easiest to try at first.

Its not at all difficult as it sounds! Just keep all the things ready and make it just half n hour before you ready to eat... that way the tomatoes dont turn soggy.

Ingredients

4 medium sized tomatoes

2 boiled potatoes

100g paneer ( you can make it without paneer and add boiled peas or grated carrots too) 

1 tbsp desi ghee  

1tsp finely chopped green chilies/ 1/2 tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp amchur powder (dry mango powder)

½ tsp black pepper powder ( Ahhh, somehow i love to add a dash of pepper powder to anything and everything )

1tsp sendha namak ( rock salt). You can add normal salt too,adjust to taste.

Recipe

Cut off the top of the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds and pulp to get a hollow cavity. Grate the paneer and the boiled potatoes. Add green chillies or red chilli powder, amchur powder, pepper powder and salt. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the mixture. Saute for 3-4 minutes stirring continuously. Cool the mixture and stuff in the tomatoes. Shallow fry in 1tbsp till the tomatoes are cooked but firm.You will need to toss and turn the tomatoes for them to cook from all sides. Even if they get slightly burnt, thats okay. Dont worry, it doesnt harm the taste.Add cashew on top for garnishing. If you like raisins, you can add raisin too.You can even bake or grill this at preheated oven - 200 C but i prefer stove top cooking anyday :)

Happy Cooking :)
This recipe is my entry for the "Let's cook for fathers" :

http://www.simplysensationalfood.com/2014/06/announcing-event-lets-cook-for-fathers.html