Bhindi Sambar

Cooking is an art : As much as i appreciate when my friends call me a good cook, there are times when things go wrong ! Guess this is an everybody's kitchen story that something got burnt, something didn't turn right and some leftovers always occupy the fridge space! As much as a foodie i am, i hate to waste food and always want to find some news ways of utilising the leftovers or do some modifications and get the recipe right! 

One such day was when i was trying to make homemade ghee ( which now, am an expert at :)), and the butter refused to pop up ( from which ghee is made, we call this "LONI" in Marathi language ) from the buttermilk, despite trying all the combinations. So now i was left with tons of sweet buttermilk. Yes, it does taste good in it's natural form, but i decided to make something out of it. And my exploration led me to discover a terrific recipe of Sambar made with ButterMilk. Hubby is not much of a fan of coconut based gravies but i truly cherished it with Steamed Rice.

So Grab on your prettiest apron and wear those funky pajamas, and we are all set to enter the kitchen to make the dish of the day :)

Ingredients :

Buttermilk - 2 cups

Bhindi( Lady's finger ) - 1/4 cup (You can also add brinjals or cucumber instead of bhindi ) Chopped into small pieces

Kala Chana - 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp ( you can also use coconut oil to add extra flavour and aroma, if you are okay with the smell of it )

Red chillies - 3

Green chillies - 2 ( i didn't have these, so my kadhi is looking a little reddish as i added 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder )

Ginger - 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1tsp

Corriander seeds - 2 tsp

Hing ( Asafoetida ) a pinch

Coconut flakes - 2 tsp 

Curry leaves - a few ( Sigh! I didn't have these too...)

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

  

Recipe :

Soak the kala chana in 1/2 cup of water.

Heat a little oil in a pan and fry the bhindi ( they shouldn't be too crisp, fry it just till they start browning).

Add turmeric and salt to the buttermilk. ( In case you don't have buttermilk, use yogurt )

In a grinder, add the soaked chana, ginger, coconut flakes, green chillies, red chillies and corriander seeds and grind it to a smooth mixture. Add a little water if necessary.

Heat oil in a pan, add Asafoetida, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they crackle, add this ground mixture to it and saute for a minute.

Now add the yogurt mixture and let it come to a boil.

Now add the fried bhindis and let it simmer on low flame till it thickens.

You can garnish it with corriander leaves. 

Serve with Steamed rice and Papad !

Happy Cooking :)

 

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 :)

Punjabi Kadhi Pakoras : Kadhi Kadhi???

Kadhi Kadhi ?? : Kadhi in Marathi language means "When"....And this was exactly my state of mind... I wanted to have "Kadhi" since a long time ( It's a thick gravy made out of thinning curd with water, and adding chickpea flour to it ). This is a very popular dish in North India ( it is said that this is a must-have dish in proceedings of a marraige !!!) In Gujrat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, this is a popular dish too but the preparation varies from place to place. In North India, thick gravy is made and pakoras ( fried dumplings ) are added. In Gujrat and Rajasthan, jaggery is added in the preparation and hence the taste is little sweet. Also the consistency is thin compared to the one made in North. It is soup-like consistency and served with rice.

It had been ages i had Kadhi... This is one dish which i didn't know how to make and thought it to be very dificult ( always afraid i wont get the consistency right ). Also not many Restaurants offer this dish, and if they do they don't have the right taste! I enjoyed Kadhi 6 months back when i had gone to the Jaipur city of Rajasthan. That was a nice typical Kadhi served in a thali ( without the pakoras ). Here is what the Thali ( Plate ) looked like at Suraj Restaurant :

But i wanted to have the Kadhi- Gole ( As is known in Maharashtra, gole means GOL- round... so the gole's are round balls dumplings of gram flour ) and as my mom cooked it... I still haven't got a chance to cook or eat it... When i went home in Diwali festival, i had demanded to my mother that i wanted to eat Kadhi- Gole, but she mentioned that Kadhi is not prepared during festival or auspicious occasions. I still don't know the reason for it... Maybe it's superstition that onions and garlic was not eaten during festivals in earlier days. Or maybe Kadhi is known as a dish that is made when no one wants to cook, its that easy!! And during festives, a lot of dishes are supposed to be prepared and eaten....well, if any of you find the real reason behind this, please let me know....

So, recently i saw a post on a Food Forum by a friend Ranii Kaur about Palak Pakoras in Palak Kadhi cooked in typical Punjabi style !!! I had Palak in my fridge anyway and decided to give it a try. I took the pakora recipe from her and made the Kadhi in traditional way as my mother makes it :)) And it turned out super delicious....Served with rice, peanut chutney ( recipe uploaded earlier ) and Kelyachi koshimbir ( Traditional salad recipe of banana ), this tasted heavenly and made our tummy's full :))))

Well, i got to know, that this recipe was taught by her mother, to Ranii. So lets dedicate this article to Ranii's mother... special Thanks to her !!!!

Ingredients :

For Pakoras :

Palak ( Spinach) - 1/2 cup ( Remove the stems, wash and chop finely )

Besan ( Gram flour ) - 3/4 cup

Garlic - 1-2 ( crushed  or grated )

Salt - to taste

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp ( Or you can add green chillies and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Adjust according to taste )

Hing ( Asofoetida ) - a pinch

Onions - 1 ( finely chopped or u can grate too. Adding onions is optional )

Ajwain - 1/2 tsp ( optional but i love to add this to pakoras )

Oil - to fry to pakoras

For Kadhi :

Yogurt ( Dahi ) - 1 cup

Besan ( Gram Flour ) -1/4 cup

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds ( Methi ) - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Spinach - 1 cup ( washed and finely chopped )

Dried red chillies - 2

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger - 1 inch ( Grated )

Onion - 1 small ( chopped ) Optional.

Salt - to taste

Recipe :

Mix all the pakora ingredients together in a bowl ( except the oil ). Heat oil in a kadhai and when the oil is hot enough, add small tea spoonful or round balls of the pakora batter and fry till golden brown. Remove the pakoras on a Kitchen tissue to drain out excess oil. Keep them aside.

Take the yogurt in a bowl and whisk it well... Add besan to it and mix well so that no lumps are formed. Now add about 3 cups of water to this...Always remember the ratio of curd:water is 1:3.

Add turmeric powder and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds. When they splutter, add fenugreek seeds and red chillies ( break them into 2 ). Fry for half a minute and then add ginger. When it starts to turn brown, add the onions and fry for about a minute more. Now add the palak and fry on high flame till all the water oozes out from palak ( just for about 1-2 minutes and keep stirring continuosly otherwise it will burn ).

Now add the yogurt mixture to this, let it come to boil...then put the flame to low and let it simmer for 10-15 mins... keep stirring in between.

Lastly, add the red chilli powder... stir well and then add the fried pakoras to this.

Let it simmer ( uncovered ) for another 5-10 minutes. 

Yummy Kadhi -pakoras in Punjabi style are ready... And addition of palak makes it healthy too :)

Happy Cooking :)