Chowli Churry ~ Black Eyed Beans Curry

Chowli Curry is 'R''s favourite curry, he can have this any time of the day. Chowli curry can be prepared in a jiffy and it taste simply delicious as I add varieties of masalas, to make it more chat pata and yummy.

Chowli or Black Eyed Beans are low in fat, high in proteins and rich in fibre. After having this curry, you bound to fill full due to rich fibre contents in chowli. In addition a diet high in fibre can reduce your risk of developing diabetes and help lower blood cholestrol levels, which can reduce the risk of heart diseases.

Ingredients:
1 Cup of Chowli (Black Eyed Beans)
2 Medium Sized Onions
2 Medium Sized Tomatoes
6 - 7 Garlic cloves
1 Small Ginger Piece
4 - 5 Curry Leaves
1 Teaspoon Cumin seeds
1 Teaspoon Coriander powder
1 Teaspoon Cumin powder
1 Teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric powder
Pinch of Hing (Asafoedita)
1 Teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
1 Teaspoon Pav Bhaji Masala
1 Teaspoon Chana Masala Powder
1 Tablespoon Chopped Coriander
Juice of 1/2 Lime
Salt to taste
Oil
Water

Method:
1. Soak chowli ~ Black Eyed Beans for 6-7 hours or overnight. Once soaked, clean them in running water and drain them.

2. Take onions, ginger and garlic cloves in a bowl, and grind it to a smooth paste in a food processor.

3. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add a pinch of hing and cumin seeds. Once the seeds starts spluttering add curry leaves and onion, ginger and garlic paste. Saute till onions turns light golden brown in colour.

4. In the same food processor container, grind the tomatoes in to a smooth paste. Add this tomato paste in the onion mixture and saute it.

5. Add pinch of salt, coriander powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder, hing and a pinch of salt and mix it well and saute the onion and tomato mixture.

6. Take a small bowl, add garam masala powder, pav bhaji masala and chana masala powder. Add two tablespoon of water in these masala and mix well to make a smooth paste. Add this paste in the pressure cooker and mix well with the onion and tomato paste. Allow the mixture to simmer for few minutes on a low flame. Mixing masalas with the water allows the masala to cook well and it gives a real different taste to the curry.

7. Once the masalas are cooked, add drained black eyed beans, water and salt to taste and mix well. Close the lid of the cooker and allow it cook.

8. Cook till 6 - 8 whistles, switch off the gas and allow the cooker to cool down. Once cool open the lid and add chopped coriander and lime juice to the curry. Allow the curry to simmer for 2 minutes.

9. Serve hot with rotis or parathas or even with rice.

This post is my entry for my Dear Friend Viki's Side Dish For Chapati

This post heads to MLLA- 15 hosted by Sia at Monsoon spice and is the Brain child of Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook

Mythreyi Dilip has showered upon me Honest Scrap Award,

Thank you for thinking about me and sharing it with me. One can read 10 Honest Things About Me Here.......

Rupali has obliged me with Yummy Blog Award and Passionate Chef Award, I am really grateful and thankful to her for this token of love.

Read more...

Puri Bhajji ~ Alu Puri

Dear Reader and my fellow blogger friends, I was away from the Blogosphere circuit as I was busy settling things in my new house. But I am back with my favourite breakfast dish Puri Bhajji.

Puri Bhaji is the most popular Breakfast at our place. Puri Bhaji is popularly known as Alu Puri in Northern parts of India. Its being served as heavy brunch at my place over the weekend. Puris are puffed wheat flat breads, they are served with delicious potatoe vegetable popularly known as Bhajji in Maharashtra. I simply love the aroma of curry leaves in this sabji. This simple yet tasty meal is ideal for a lazy weekend brunch.

Ingredients
For Puris
2 Bowls Wheat flour
2 Teaspoon Oil for Kneading
1 Cup of Luke warm water
1 Teaspoon of salt
Oil for Frying

For Alu Bhajji
5-6 Potatoes
2 Medium sized Onions
5-6 Curry Leaves
1 Tablespoon Garlic Paste
1 Tablespoon Ginger Paste
1 Tablespoon finely chopped Green Chillies
2 Teaspoon Mustard seeds
2 Teaspoon Urad Dal
1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
2 Teaspoon Coriander and Cumin seed powder
1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice
1 Cup of Chopped Coriander
Salt as per taste

Method
For Puri
1. Take wheat flour and sprinkle salt and little oil and mix it well.
2. Add water and knead the dough. Keep it aside for few minutes.
3. Roll small round puris.
4. Heat oil and fry the puris.

For Alu Bhajji
1. Pressure cook the potatoes and remove the skin and keep it aside to cool. Mash the potatoes
2. Heat the oil, add a pinch of asafoedita and then add urad dal and mustard seeds. Once the seeds starts spluttering add curry leaves, ginger and garlic paste.
3. Add chopped onions and saute for few minutes till they light golden brown.
4. Add turmeric powder, coriander and cumin powder.
5. Add mash potatoe
s and salt as per taste and mix well.
6. Cook for few minutes and spread lemon juice and garnish it with coriander leaves.
Enjoy yummy hot puris with alu bhajji

Here is my entry fot my Dear Friend EC's WYF - Breakfast Event

Read more...

Crunchy Corn Curry

Crunchy Corn Curry is a delicious treat for all corn lovers, (which also includes me ;). We generally use corns in salads or as one of the ingredients in curries or sabjis, but this curry is prepared keeping only corn as the main and the base ingredient. My mother used to prepare this curry for her corn crazy daughter (that’s me). I was lucky that even my MIL is equally corn crazy and we both relish this curry whenever I prepare it for our meals. I call this curry as crunchy corn curry, as the corns are coarsely grind and it is garnished with sev to give more crunchiness to the curry.

Ingredients

500gms American Corn Kernels

4-6 Curry Leaves

2 Tablespoons Garlic paste

1 Tablespoon Coriander and Cumin powder

1 Teaspoon Turmeric powder

1 Teaspoon Mustard seeds

Pinch of Asafoedita

1 Teaspoon Green Chilly paste

1 Cup of Milk

1 Bowl of Sev

1/2 Cup of Chopped Coriander Leaves

Salt to taste

Oil

Method:

1. Grind American corns coarsely without adding water in a food processor. Don’t make it a smooth paste; it should be coarse so that the curry is crunchy.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add asafoetida and mustard seeds. Once seeds start crackling add curry leaves and garlic paste and saute in the oil for few seconds.
3. Now add the coarsely grind corns in the garlic mixture. Add coriander and cumin powder, turmeric powder and green chilly paste and mix it properly.
4. Add milk and salt as per paste and mix it with the corn mixture. Now allow the mixture to cook on a low flame.
5. Once the curry is cooked, remove it from the flames and garnish it with coriander leaves.
6. Just before serving spread sev over the curry and serve it with rotis or parathas.

Read more...

Horse Gram and Moong Dal Vadi Sabji

Horse gram is one of the lesser known beans. Even I was not aware about this pulse which is high in Iron and rich in Protein until I saw this dish on one of the cookery show. It is also known as Gahat, Kulath or Kulthi, in India and is grown here to be used as food and fodder. Horse gram is also good for dissolving kidney stone. Add chillies as per your taste palates.

Ingredients
250gms Kulthi (Horse Gram)
100gms Moong Dal Vadi
1 Chopped Onion
2 Tomatoes
1 Tej Patta (Cinnamon Leaf)
1 Whole Red Chilly
1 Teaspoon Cumin seeds
1 Tablespoon Ginger Garlic paste
1 Teaspoon Green Chilly Paste
1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
1 Teaspoon Coriander Powder
Pinch of Hing (Asafoedita)
1 Teaspoon Garam masala powder
Chopped Coriander to garnish
Salt to taste
Oil
Water

Method:
1. Wash horse gram and soak it overnight or for 6-8 hours. Pressure cook the horse gram for 8 -9 whistles as they require prolonged cooking to obtain product of acceptable nature.

2. Fry the moong dal vadis and keep them aside. Heat oil and add tej patta, hing and cumin seeds. Once the seeds starts spluttering add whole red chilly and ginger garlic paste.
3. Add onions and saute them till they are translucent, then add chopped tomatoes and saute till oil starts leaving the sides of the vessel.
4. In a small bowl, place all the dry masalas ~ Turmeric powder, coriander powder and garam masala and add water to make a thick paste. Add this paste in the onion and tomato mixture and allow masalas to cook properly. Addition of water in masalas avoid burning of masalas while they are being cooked.
5. Add fried moong dal vadis and boiled horse gram with little water and allow them to cook on a low flame for few minutes. 6. Once they are cooked garnish it with chopped coriander and serve it with hot rotis.

Read more...

Mixed Dal Kofta Curry

Mumbai has been described not as an indigenous Indian city, but as a cosmopolitan city. This benefits we Mumbaikar in knowing many languages of India. My stay in Mumbai this time has helped me to watch various regional cookery shows which are quite popular in Indian Telly these days.
In the afternoon I and my mother in law are glued to Television watching different cookery shows featured on various regional channels. One such channel is Zee Marathi and the show is ''Aamhi Saare Khavayye''. Mixed Dal Kofta Curry was featured in this TV series and next day was Holi, so I tried this easy, yet delicious dish which is perfect for such festive occasions. I had made few variations in the original dish to suit the taste palates of my family members.

Ingredients:
For Koftas
4 Tablespoons of Urad Dal (Split Black Gram)
1/4 Cup of Toor Dal / Arhar Dal / Tuvar Dal (Split Yellow Pigeon Peas)
1/4 Cup of Chana Dal (Split Bengal Gram)
1/4 Cup of Moong Dal
1/2 Cup of Chopped Coriander Leaves
2 Tablespoons of Chopped Mint Leaves
2 Teaspoon of Saunf (Ani seeds)
1 Tablespoon of Garam Masala powder
Salt to taste
Oil

For Gravy
2 Large Onions
1 Large Tomato
1 Tablespoon of Ginger Garlic Paste
1 Teaspoon of Green chilly paste
1/2 Cup of Dal Kofta Batter (see above ingredients for Kofta)
4 -5 Curry Leaves
1 Teaspoon of Cumin seeds
1 Teaspoon of Mustard seeds
1 Badiyan (Star Aniseed)
1 Teaspoon Turmeric powder
2 Teaspoon Coriander and Cumin seed powder
1 Teaspoon Red Chilly powder
1 Tablespoon of Garam masala powder
1/2 Cup of Cream
Water
Salt to taste
Oil

Method:

1. Soak all the dals overnight, or for 6 - 8 Hours. When they are soft, coarsely grind them in the food processor.
2. Add Chopped Coriander Leaves, Chopped Mint Leaves, salt, saunf and garam masala powder in the dal batter.
3. Heat oil for frying the dal koftas, add warm oil in the dal batter and make small balls from the dal batter. If the batter is not thick, try using deep round spatula or big spoon to drop the balls in the oil for frying. Keep 1/2 cup of the kofta batter aside to add in the gravy.
4. Deep fry all the koftas and place them on the tissue paper. After few minutes, place all the koftas in cold water.

5. For gravy grind onions and tomatoes in a smooth paste. Heat oil, add badiyan, cumin seeds and mustard seeds.
6. When seeds starts spluttering add curry leaves and onion paste. Saute for few minutes. Add tomato paste, turmeric powder, coriander and cumin seeds powder, red chilly powder and saute till oil leaves the side of the vessel.
7. Add dal kofta batter which was kept aside and saute for few minutes. Since its a dal mixture the gravy will become thick, so add 1/2 cup of water and garam masala and mix it in the gravy. 8. Add dal koftas in the gravy and cook for few minutes. Once the curry is cooked add cream and chopped coriander leaves in the end.

This is my entry for Holi Hai! Event

Read more...

Surati Undhiyun

Being Gujarati and top of it Surati lets 'Shree Ganesh' our journey of sharing recipes with mouth watering and tasty ''Surati Undhiyun'' which as name suggest is from Surat in Gujarat, India. Being born and brought up in Amchi Mumbai, I can say people just relish this dish. I remember whenever Undhiyun was prepared in our house we had to prepare it for our neighbours as well. In the world of packed and frozen food, ready-made Undiyun is available in various grocery shops. However I recommend you attempt this Herculean task at home. Undhiyun is mixture of loads of fresh green vegetables and fresh green herbs. As per my granny, in the past, Undhiyun was cooked in a Matka (earthern pots) burying it upside down in the ground and fired from above. ''Undhu'' Means upside down in Gujarati Language and hence the name of the dish is ''Undhiyun''. This dish has liberal dash of oil. Undhiyun is generally prepared during winters as availability of Surati Papdi, fresh green garlic and Kand (Purple Yam) is only during this season. Undhiyun is the dish which tastes best next day. The other day I got frozen Surti Papdi from Quality shop in Southall where I usually go to shop Indian Groceries. So I was able to make Undhiyun in the sultry summer for a change.

Serves: 4
Ingredients:
250 gms. Surati Papdi
100 gms. Kand (Purple Yam)
200 gms. Potatoes
100 gms. Small Brinjals
50 gms. Sweet Potatoes (Optional - as I dont like the taste of Sweet Potatoes ;)
1 large bowl of steamed Methi Muthiya
1/2 teaspoon of Asafoedita
3 tablespoon of Oil
2 cups of water
1/2 Lemon
Salt to taste

Masala:
1 large cup of chopped green coriander leaves
1 Cup of chopped fresh green garlic (if green garlic is not available one can use garlic buds)
1/2 cup of grounded roasted peanuts
1/2 cup of grated fresh coconut
2 teaspoons of green chilli paste
2 teaspoons of Coriander powder
1 teaspoon of Carom seeds (Ajwain)
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash all the vegetables, string surti papdi making two batches in one batch remove the beans from the papdi and other batch slit the papdi in two parts. Peel the potatoes, kand and sweet potatoes. Slit the brinjals without separating the segments. Cut potatoes, kand and sweet potatoes in big pieces. Cut raw bananas in two parts without peeling them and slit bananas from between without separating the segments.

2. Take all the ingredients of the masala and mix them properly. Fill the slits of brinjals and raw bananas with the masala. Take remaining masala and add it to surti papdi, potatoes, kand and sweet potatoes and mix the vegetables properly.

3. Take large deep kadhai, add oil, asafoedita and carom seeds. Take few masala coated surti papd and add it in the kadhai, then add few masala coated potatoes, then make a layer of few masala coated kand and then add few sweet potaoes. This way make layers of remaining surti papdi, potatoes, kand and sweet potatoes. Add water and salt to taste and let the vegetables cook in slow flame. When the vegetables are almost cooked add raw masala filled bananas and methi muthiyas and let it cook for 2 - 3 minutes.

4. Once the Undhiyun is ready squeeze lemon and mix it.

5. Garnish Undhiyun with chopped coriander leaves and grated fresh Coconut.

One can serve Undhiyun with Puris.

Note: Avoid using lilva papdi and wallod which fall under the family of papdis. Strictly use surti papdi to enjoy the dish.

Read more...