Kataachi Amti

"Such awesome climate", "Such a romantic weather", "It's raining", "It's cloudy", "Oh, there are cold winds" , "All i need is kandaa bhaji, bhutta and chai" or "A cup of coffee and a book"!! Yes people! It's Monsoon!!! The season has arrived. A lot of people hate this season for the mud, dirt and traffic jams. Yes, for the restaurants, events and fashionistas, rains surely play a spoilsport. But there are people like us, who love to get wet, get the clothes dirty and hands muddy. There is a different form of energy and newness everywhere in the season. Maybe because rains give a life. A life to a plant to form a tree. A life to a seed to grow into a fruit or a flower. Rains, i feel, connects us back to our roots.

Happy Monsoon!!!

There is a very beautiful article i came across recently which talks about "Dirt not being dirty". I could completely relate to the writer and am of the opinion that throwing ourselves in mother nature only develops our immune system and makes us strong. So, we should come out of the fears of "You will catch cold if you get wet in the rain", "Wash hands or change clothes as soon as you get them dirty" or " Use sanitizer even for popping a chocolate in the mouth". In fact we should be friends with the germs, so they can help us survive in any possible conditions. Read this article here . So all i can say is Let go... get dirty... be free... Just like them :))

Talking about connecting to the roots, there are some things, incidents, or words that bring the memoirs of our roots and instantly connects with us. Food does so too. Even though we are living in the fast food era of pav bhajis and pizza's, there are some dishes that connect us back to our roots. I am not only talking about the ancestral recipes here but regional dishes too. Like a simple daal has so many names and versions of dhal, curry, bele, paripu, varan or amti. The recipe i am posting today connects me to my roots. Its a typical Maharashtrian delicacy served with Puran poli. I have only made Puran poli twice and fortunately they have come out well! It is said that Puran poli is most difficult to make, and the one who is able to make it successfully is called a "Sugran" (a competent housewife). 

Puran poli and kataachi amti is a terrific sweet-spicy-tangy combination. This amti is made from the reserved water after boiling and draining the chana daal when making puran. Usually it is made in the same pan, and a little cooked daal (gram) is added for the taste but by nature, this amti is very thin like a soup consistency.

Ingredients:

Leftover water after pressure cooking 1 cup of chana daal ( bengal gram ) in about 2 and half cups of water for 3-4 whistles.

Cooked bengal gram - 4-5 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Tamarind pulp - 1 n half tbsp

Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Goda masala - 1/2 - 3/4 tsp

Grated jaggery - 2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Coconut - 2-3 tbsp (Tastes great with fresh grated coconut but i didn't have it handy, so used dry coconut (kopra))

Oil - 1 tbsp

Cinnamon stick - 2 small

Cloves - 2-3

Bay leaf - 1

Curry leaves - 5-6

Recipe:

The leftover water after cooking the chana daal would come around 1 and half to 2 cups. Add about 2 cups of water to it and keep aside.

Try making the amti in the same pan in which puran is made. If not, use a fresh pan/kadhai. 

Scrape the puran from the sides and bottom of the pan and mix it with the gram water kept aside.

Note: I had forgotten to keep 4-5 tbsp of chana daal aside for the amti. So i boiled it again in another bowl. But you can keep some aside before making the puran.

Dry roast the coconut and cumin till golden brown and grind it together into a powder.

Heat oil in a kadhai. Add bay leaf, cinnamon and cloves. When it starts leaving aroma, add in curry leaves. Now add about 1 cup of the gram water to it. It will splutter, so make sure the flame is low. Add in the tamarind pulp.

Stir and bring to a boil. Now add salt, chilli powder, goda masala and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the jaggery (can also be replaced with salt), and the remaining gram water.

Let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the coconut-cumin powder and mix well.( If adding fresh coconut, add cumin seeds in the tadka and coconut in the end as garnish )

Tastes best when served either hot or cold with puran poli or steamed rice.

NOTE: If you are not making Puran or Puran Poli and just want to make Kataachi amti, then you can pressure cook or boil some chana daal on stove top for approx. 40 minutes till the daal is tender. Drain and use the water for kataachi amti and use the chana daal to make something else.

Happy Cooking :)

Gulpoli : Maharashtrian delicacy

Makar Sankranti special : Makar Sankranti is a traditional festival celebrated in India which marks the transition of the Sun into the Makar Rashi ( Capricorn sign). For maximum years, it is celebrated on 14th of January... but rarely it also occurs on the 15th of January. It depends on when the sun changes its celestial path. It is also celebrated as the harvest festival.

Childhood memories : My memory of Makar Sankranti is only the " Til-gud" and "Gul-Poli" made by my mother. I love the gul-poli, simply because its crispy, and can be eaten for a week after it's made. Alternatively, you can also make the filling and store it and make it as and when needed. The dough stays in the fridge for almost a week too. I have never tried my hand at Gul-poli, as the process seems too tough and tedious for me. But this time, i carefully observed my mother making it and decided to note down all the small tit-bits she uses to make it just perfect!!! And its not that tough at all, so i am going to make it soon for sure !!! Its such a delight watching Mom cook :) 

Gul-Poli is usually found in all Maharashtrian homes during Sankranti. It is basically a roti ( bread) made of jaggery. Jaggery provides heat to the body, and hence it is eaten during this season of winter. The til-gud ( sesame -jaggery ) ladoos are also eaten during this time to provide heat and energy to the body during winters. I will post a different recipe for the 2 types of Til-gud ladoos that my mom makes. Meanwhile, here is the Gul-Poli recipe :

Ingredients :

( Makes around 20 )

For the filling :

Gul ( Jaggery ) - 1/2 kg

Besan ( Gram flour ) - 2 tbsp

Til powder ( Sesame powder ) - 1/2 cup ( Dry roast white sesame and grind them to a fine powder in the mixer-grinder )

Dry coconut powder - 1 tbsp ( Dry roast the dry-coconut and grind to a powder - turns little brown )

Ghee or Oil - 1 tbsp

For the dough :

Besan ( Gram Flour ) - 1 cup

Wheat Flour ( Atta ) - 4 cup

Maida ( All purpose flour ) - 1 n half cup

Oil - 2 tbsp

Recipe :

Grate the Gul (jaggery). It should be fine, there should be no chunks in it.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, and roast the besan ( Gram flour ) till it turns light brown.

Mix the grated jaggery, sesame powder, dry coconut powder and besan well. It forms like a ball. Keep it aside.

Next, mix the Besan, wheat flour and maida together. Heat the 2 tbsp oil and add it to the mix-flour. This is called Mohan. Now knead it into a soft dough. Add water little by little. Keep the dough aside for 30 minutes.

Roll a small ball from the dough to a small chapati, and add the filling. ( You can divide the dough and filling in equal quantities beforehand. )

Now cover it from all sides and close the ball neatly.

Roll this ball again into a thin chapati ( Flat bread) ...You can dust it with flour if it sticks.

The idea is to roll it carefully , so the filling doesn't come out.

Now heat a pan ( Tava ). Place the poli on the tava. Do not add any oil or ghee on top. Roast till done or till light brown.

Mom's Tips :

1. Always roast the Polis on tava on low flame

2. If the filling comes out of the Poli, then you can add a pinch of Lime ( Chuna which is used in Paan )to the filling.

3. Never stack the Polis on top of each other when hot. Spread them on a newspaper till they get cold and then stack them at room temperature.

Happy Cooking :)

Thalipeeth : Maharashtrian Delicacy

A pancake is not a cake??? : I remember an incident when one of my very good friends, who is not much of an experimental foodie ( prefers to stick to the regular diet and cuisine), came out for lunch with me at a popular food-joint in Mumbai. Not understanding half of the ingredients that were mentioned as toppings and fillings in sandwiches and pizzas listed in the menu card, he asked me to order the simplest pizza for him! Pizza Margherita it was !!! After finishing our meal, i asked for the menu card to order some Crepes, that the place was famous for !!! "What's a Crepe?", he asked me... And i said, "They are thin pancakes"...He said ok, and liked the idea of ordering a Hazelnut Crepe with Honey...

And when the Crepe was on the table, his reaction was a "Click" moment... He was surprised/shocked to see a flat, thin batter based cake....

"This looks like an omlette,i thought it was a cake", was his reaction and i almost died there laughing!!! 

I sooo remember this incident that its glued to my memory and everytime i think of it, i can't stop laughing... 

As for my friend, well, now he surely knows what pancakes are, and even tasted a few (banana, chocolate to start with ) and relished them :))

Thalipeeth is a pancake : So Thalipeeth is a typical Maharashtrian dish, often eaten for breakfast or even for dinner. It is a pancake made from a dough. The dough can be prepared in different ways. Besan ( Gram Flour ), Jowar flour, Urad daal powder, wheat flour, rice flour, poha ( puffed rice ).... any 3 or all combinations can be mixed together and it just tastes great and healthy!!! The combination flour is called Bhajani mix which is readily available in market these days or you can get all the flours and mix it yourself. Thalipeeth is a good substitute to the normal poha, upma and bread butter that we have for breakfast! We normally make this for dinner and just 2 each makes our tummy's full due to it's rich nutrients.

Thalipeeth is best served with "Loni" ( White butter, that too homemade ), but if you don't have that, you can serve it with butter on top or even Ghee!! Curd tastes best with Thalipeeth too, some even have it with Tomato Ketchup :)

So here's a quick -to-make recipe of traditional Maharashtrian dish : ( My mom makes her own Bhajani, getting all the grains grinded together from a local flour mill... so i have used that Bhajani mix to make this . It has wheat, jowar and chana daal ). The additions can be done according to personal likings, such as onions, cumin seeds and/or cumin powder, sesame seeds, fennel seeds, corriander powder, green chillies or red chilli powder, black salt or normal salt, pepper, chaat masala, ajwain, ginger-garlic or paste, turmeric powder, garam masala, corriander leaves or even mint leaves or basil....You can make it as you like !!!!

Ingredients :

Bhajani mix : 2 cups

Ajwain : 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp

Green chillies - 2 ( chopped finely )

Corriander powder - 1 tsp

Black salt - to taste

Onion - 2 small ( You can chop finely, but i grated it- Gives a nice and different taste...)

And yes,....

Pepper - Our Favourite!!!! ( Add according to taste )

I normally add 1 tsp sesame seeds and 1/2 tsp saunf ( fennel seeds ), but this one i made in a hurry to pack tiffin for hubby...so forgot to add them both...

Recipe :

Mix together all the ingredients and knead to form a dough. The grated onions will leave water, so dont add water at first as adding too much water will make the dough sticky... First knead all the ingredients and add water slowly ( spoon by spoon ), just enough to knead it all together. It might not form a tough firm dough...

Take around 1/2 tsp of oil now on your palm and knead the dough again applying the oil all over...

Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

Now take a thin plastic sheet or aluminium foil and place a small ball from the dough on it.

Start to flatten it with hand ( if it sticks to your hand, wet your hand with water and flatten again, it wont stick ).

Make it in a round flat bread ( not too thick, not too thin ).

Make 4 small circles in the flattened bread with your finger.

Heat a tava and grease it with oil... 

Gently hold one end of the foil, and take the thalipeeth in your hand by turning it over and remove the foil and place it on the tawa.( You can even place the Thalipeeth , gently place the edges on the tava and then separate the foil.)

Put little oil in each of the circle made and around. 

Cover the Thalipeeth and keep on low flame.

After about 2-3 minutes , remove the lid... If it has started browning from the sides, means it is cooked. Or else put the lid back again and cook on low flame for another minute.

Now, turn it so it gets cooked on the other side too. This time, don't cover it...

Keep turning it over till both sides are brown and cooked.

Serve hot with Ghee, Curd or White Butter :)

If You are Fasting, you can even make these with Sabudana ( Tapioca Pearls )... I will post that recipe sometime later.

Happy Cooking :)

Dudhaatla Dudhi : Bottle Gourd cooked in milk !!!

Yes, my reaction was the same when i heard about Bottle Gourd cooked in milk !!! My father had talked very highly of this recipe made by my mom. But i didn't pay much attention to it, niether bothered to take the recipe from my mother...until a day, when i had bottle gourd in my fridge and didn't know what to cook !!! I decided to try this recipe with half of the bottle gourd, just in case me or my hubby don't like it. But Voila !!! It turned out super yummy and its so easy to cook too!

I just found out that Dudhi or Bottle gourd or Ghiya as it is commonly known as, is also called Calabash. The rounder varieties are called Calabash Gourds. This was grown not primarily for food, but was used as a water container. Interesting, isn't it??

Ingredients :

Milk - 1/2 cup ( you can even add cream and little milk if u like a creamy texture )

Bottle Gourd/ Dudhi - 1/2 of medium size ( comes around 1 cup when chopped )

Cloves - 2 to 3

Pepper corns ( Kaali miri ) - 5 to 6

Daalchini - 1 small piece

Bay leaf - 1

Dry red chillies - 3 to 4 ( Adjust according to taste )

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Corriander leaves - to garnish

Recipe :

Wash and peel the Dudhi. Chop them into small or medium cubes. ( smaller ones are easier to eat )

Heat ghee in a pan. Add the pepper, cloves, daalchini and bay leaf and fry for a minute on low flame.

Then add the Dudhi, red chillies and saltand fry for another minute.

Cover it with a lid.

When the Dudhi is half cooked, add the milk or cream. 

Keep the low flame and let it take its own time to cook. This way it takes all the flavours of the raw spices added. Keep stirring in between when the milk starts boiling. Add more milk if u want thinner consistency.

Remove from the flame after Dudhi is cooked and let is cool. To garnish, add chopped corriander leaves before serving.

Happy cooking :))