Dudhi Methi na Muthiya (Steamed Bottle gourd and Fenugreek Dumplings)

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Dudhi Methi na Muthiya (Steamed Bottle gourd and Fenugreek Dumplings)

One of my most favorite Gujarati meal/snack. I call it Gujarati Manchurian. It is an anytime meal for me. I make it for dinner and eat it steamed. Then save the left over muthia and temper it the next morning for breakfast. This is a great tea time snack too.

It is tasty, healthy, and packs in all the health benefits of whole wheat flour, millet (bajra) flour, fenugreek (methi), and bottle gourd (dudhi/lauki). All these ingredients make this a perfect diet snack/meal. Though muthias are tempered after steaming, you can either use less oil for tempering or simply eat them without tempering. They taste equally good.

I prefer to temper them with less oil. It makes the muthia soft and fluffy inside and crispy on the outside.

This is a family recipe again. As any other Gujarati dish, traditionally this too has sugar in it. But my mother in law make this without sugar and I love this version.

I enjoy it with garlic chutney, oil, onions, and some curd. Couple of points to keep in mind while making muthia:

Lauki has high water content so be careful while adding water. Add water only if you find the dough too dry to bind.

You can use left over rice instead of poha. I add poha as it makes the muthia softer compared to rice.

Dudhi Methi na Muthiya (Steamed Bottle gourd and Fenugreek Dumplings)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup millet(bajra) flour
  • 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
  • ½ cup gram flour (besan)
  •  ½ cup beaten rice (poha)
  • 1 cup fenugreek (methi) leaves chopped
  • 1 cup bottlegourd (lauki/dudhi) grated
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 3 inch piece of ginger
  • 6-7 pods of garlic
  • 3 green chillies
  • ¼ tsp soda
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 3 tsp coriander powder
  • Little water
  • Salt to taste

Tempering

  • 3 dry red chillies
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • 2 tbsp ginger, garlic, and green chilli paste
  • 10-15 curry leaves (kadi patta)
  • 2 tbsp sesame (til) seeds
  • 3 tbsp oil

Recipe

Make a coarse paste of ginger, garlic and green chillies. Take a wide bowl/dish combine rest of the things except water. Add very little water at a time and make a dough soft enough to just bind the ingredients together. Do not knead it a lot.

Apply little oil to your palms. Take some dough in your palm and fold your hand to make a fist. This is how you shape muthias (guess this is how it was named since you close it in a mutthi(fist) to make). Make similar rolls with rest of the dough.

Arrange the rolls on a greased sieve and steam them in a steamer for 25-30 mins on a low flame.

Remove and cool slightly. Cut each roll into 2-3 pieces.

Heat oil in a thick and deep pan (kadhai). Add mustard seeds and let them pop. Add curry leaves and dry red chillies. Add ginger, garlic, and green chilli paste and sauté for a minute. Add sesame seeds and sauté for few seconds. Add muthia pieces and mix well. Sauté for 2-3 mins till they start getting little crisp or brown.

Serve with garlic chutney, curd, and onions.

You can eat the muthia without tempering too.  Just dip them in garlic chutney mixed in some yogurt or oil.

 

Jacket Potatoes

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Jacket Potatoes

Jacket potatoes are my favorite weekend meal. I love to be a couch potato on Friday nights with my favorite comfort foods by my side. Jacket potato is one of them. I was introduced to jacket potatoes in Cardiff. One of my friends used to have it as a quick meal. Just bake the potato, slit it into half and add corn and cheese and bake for some more time and done! Sounds good but not exciting and being a south Indian I wanted to add spice to this. Since then I have added numerous fillings to this dish but the most favorite of my fillings is the sweetcorn and capsicum filling.

Russet potatoes are perfect for this dish. They already have a mushy texture and this time I added grated paneer to the filling and it just added to the texture.

I like to top this dish with cheddar cheese but you can experiment with mozzarella or other similar cheese. I experiment a lot with jacket potatoes. Sometimes I lace the potatoes with chilli sauce before adding the fillings. Sometimes I top the potatoes with sour cream. You can even add different herbs to flavor the potatoes.

These jacket potatoes can be enjoyed with tomato sauce or any cream-based dips. I like them with the yogurt and mint dip.

Jacket Potatoes

Ingredients

Makes 8 jacket potatoes

  • 4 large russet potatoes, half boiled with salt
  • ¼ cup sweet corn, boiled
  • ¼ red bell pepper, ¼ green bell pepper, ¼ yellow bell pepper finely chopped
  • 2tbsp grated cottage cheese (paneer)
  • ¼ tsp oregano
  • ¼ tsp chilli flakes
  • ¼ tsp white pepper powder
  • 2 pods garlic
  • 1/4th onion finely chopped
  • 4-5 fresh basil leaves chopped or ¼tsp dried basil
  • 1tbsp olive oil
  • Salt to taste

Recipe

Halve each half boiled potato vertically. Slice off a thin round from bottom, so each piece will stand firm. Scoop the potatoes leaving thin wall on sides. Chop the scooped potato and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic, oregano, and chilli flakes. Add onions and sauté for a minute or till the onions are translucent. Add capsicum and sauté for 1-2 mins. Add corn and saute for one minute. Add paneer, salt, pepper powder, basil leaves, and salt. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the scooped potatoes and mix well till the potatoes are mashed.

Cool the mixture a little. Fill the mixture in the potatoes and top them with grated cheese.

Preheat the oven and bake the potatoes at 200 degrees for 15 minutes or till the cheese on top is slightly browned.

Khatiya Dhokla (Steamed Rice and Lentil Snack)

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Khatiya Dhokla (Steamed Rice and Lentil Snack)

Dhokla is to Gujaratis what pizza is to Italians. It is made in almost all the Gujarati families. Khaman dhokla the fluffy commercial version is more famous around the world but this healthy and nutritious delight has its own fan following.

Most of the families prepare the dhokla flour in advance and use it as required. This flour can be stored up to three months in refrigerator.

The dhokla flour needs to be mixed with sour curd and left over night to ferment. My mother in law uses buttermilk to make the batter. It adds to the softness and tangy taste of the dhokla. Just before steaming the dhokla a tempering (tadka) is added to enhance the flavour and add spice to the dhokla.

There are two ways to enjoy dhoklas. One is to add tempering (the Gujarati way) and eat it with tea and second one is the healthier option to just cut it into piece and eat it with garlic chutney like I do.

Khatiya Dhokla (Steamed Rice and Lentil Snack)

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups dhokla flour
  • 3 cups butter milk
  • 1 ½ tsp salt
  • 2 pinches soda
  • Paste of 2 pods of garlic and 1 green chilli
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • ¼ tsp cumin seeds
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • 2-3 dry red chillies broken into pieces
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder for sprinkling
  • 6-8 curry leaves

For Tempering

  • 2 tbsp oil
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • ½ tsp mustard seeds
  • 2 dry red chillies
  • 7-8 curry leaves
  • 14 tsp turmeric
  • ¼ tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Make a batter with dhokla flour, butter milk, and salt and keep it in a warm place overnight to ferment. The batter is ready when it is fermented and you get a sour smell from it. Add garlic and green chilli paste and soda. Heat oil and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, and dry red chillies. Once the seeds pop, pour this mixture over the dhokla batter and cover it for few seconds. Mix well and check for salt.

Grease a thali (plate with high edges) and pour 1/3 of batter. Sprinkle few pinches of red chilli powder and steam it in a steamer for 8-10 minutes or till the dhoklas are cooked. The clean skewer rule of cake works for dhokla too. If the skewer comes out clean, dhokla is done. Let it cool slightly and cut into diamond shaped pieces.

Repeat the above step to for the remaining batter. You can make three batches from the batter.

Garnish with chopped fresh coriander and serve the dhoklas hot with tea and garlic chutney. This is the healthier version of dhoklas.

Another way to eat this is by tempering the dhoklas.

Heat 2tbsp oil in a kadhai. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, dry red chillies, and curry leaves. Once the seeds pop add turmeric and red chilli powder. Mix and immediately add dhoklas and mix well. Cook for 3-4 mins sautéing in between to you see the dhoklas getting slightly browned or crispy on the edges. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander and serve hot with tea and garlic chutney.

 

Dhokla Flour

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Dhokla flour can be prepared in quantity and stored in refrigerator for up to three months. Having this flour handy can help you make dhoklas quickly.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups rice
  • 1 cup chana dal
  • ¼ cup urad dal

Recipe

Grind the ingredients together to make a powder. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to three months and use as required.

Pudina Chutney (Mint Chutney)

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Pudina Chutney (Mint Chutney)

Mint chutney is multipurpose and can be used for various dishes. Spread it on sandwich, add to a bowl of curd to make mint dip, add to chaats, add it to curries to add a minty flavor, use it as a marinade, or serve it with appetizers.

Mint chutney has a shelf life of 7-10 days. It can also be freezed and used later. There are many variations for this chutney as well. You can add onions, garlic, or raw mango.

Make sure to use only the leaves of mint and discard the stalks. Adding lime juice to the chutney while grinding will keep it green.

Pudina Chutney (Mint Chutney)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup mint leaves (pudina)
  • 2 cups fresh coriander leaves
  • 3 tbsp lime juice
  • 2 green chillies
  • 3 tbsp groundnuts
  • 2 inch piece of ginger
  • Salt to taste

Recipe

Combine all ingredients and blend to a smooth paste. Store in an airtight container and use as required.

Kairi Ki Launji (Raw Mango Relish)

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Kairi Ki Launji (Raw Mango Relish)

Kairi ki launji is a raw mango relish which I have relished all my childhood. It is a summer special when raw mangoes are in season. Like any other raw mango dish from Rajasthan, this too is made to shield your body from the intense heat in the desert.

You can use slightly sweeter raw mangoes if you want to use less sugar. Or you can replace sugar with jaggery if you want a healthier version.

This sweet and sour side dish adds magic to any meal. It is quick to cook, requires very few ingredients and you can even store it for 2-3 weeks in refrigerator. You just need to warm it up when you want to eat. This is my family recipe of the Rajasthani favourite kairi ki launji.

Kairi Ki Launji (Raw Mango Relish)

Ingredients

  • 1 medium raw mango peeled and cubed
  • 2 tsp oil
  • ¼ tsp cumin seeds
  • Half of ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • ¼ tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
  • ¼ tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
  • ½ tsp red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 ½ tsp sugar
  • ½ cup water
  • Salt to taste

Recipe

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan or kadhai. Add cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Once the seeds pop, add nigella seeds and fennel seeds. Sauté for few seconds.

Add raw mango, red chilli powder, coriander powder, and turmeric powder and saute for 1-2 minutes.

Add water and sugar and cook covered stirring occasionally for 7-8 minutes or till the mangoes are cooked and pulpy. Remove and cool and serve with paratha or roti.

Chole (Chickpeas Curry with Indian Spices)

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Chole (Chickpeas Curry with Indian Spices)

Chole, the quintessential dish from north of India is one of the most popular curries in India. This is a curry made with chick peas and Indian spices. As with any popular curries, this too has many names and variations. Chana masala, pindi chole, or Punjabi chole are just a few to name. Chickpeas are known to be rich in fibre and Iron and are a healthy choice as a part of your daily meal.

I learnt this from my Punjabi friend Kriti who doesn’t cook much but when the she cooks its finger licking good J This is when I stopped using the chole masala that is sold in super markets and started relying on fresh ingredients and I just love this version.

Best part about this curry is that it goes well with anything; rice, paratha, puri, bhatura, kulcha or even with bread. I like it as a filling for my sandwich. Try grilling a whole wheat sandwich with this curry and a slice of cheese, you will surely enjoy this high fibre Punjabi sandwich. Here is a slightly modified version of chole that I learnt from my friend.

Chole (Chickpeas Curry with Indian Spices)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chick peas (Garbanzo beans/kabuli channa/chole) soaked overnight and boiled
  • ½ cup coarse paste of boiled chick peas
  • 1 tsp tea leaves (tied into a small muslin cloth to form a pouch/or a tea bag) optional
  • 4 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 5 cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Coarse paste of 2 inch piece of ginger, 2 green chillies, and 3-4 pods of garlic
  • 1 onion  finely chopped
  • 1 tomato finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves (optional)
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander
  • 3 tsp red chilli powder
  • 4 tsp coriander powder (dhania)
  • ½ tsp dry mango (amchur) powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder (cumin seeds roasted and powdered)
  • salt to taste
  • 1 ½ cup water in which chana was boiled

 Recipe

Wash chick peas 3-4 times in running water before cooking. Add salt, tea pouch (if using) and pressure cook the soaked chick peas for 3-4 whistles on a low flame. It should be soft but not mushy.

Do not discard the water in which the chick peas were cooked. Drain the chick peas and keep aside.

Heat oil in a heavy pan. Add cumin seeds, cloves and bay leaves. Add ginger, garlic, and green chilli paste and saute for a min. Add onions and fry for 1-2 mins.  Add tomatoes and little salt and cook for 2-3 minutes or till tomatoes become soft and can easily be mashed with the back of a spoon.

Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, amchur, garam masala, and little salt. Mix well and cook till oil separates.

Add 1 cup water in which chick peas were boiled, chick peas and the crushed chick peas paste. Check for salt and seasoning at this point. Cover and cook for 3-4 mins. If you find the consistency too dry add remaining ½ cup of water. Remove the cover and cook on low flame till the gravy is almost dry. Add chopped mint and coriander leaves. Mix well.

Serve with jeera rice, paratha, bhatura, puri or roti.

Rabdi ka Malpua (Indian Dessert Pancakes)

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Rabdi ka Malpua (Indian Dessert Pancakes)

Rabdi ka malpua is Rajasthan’s answer to pancakes. It is a dessert which is crispy on edges and soft in the center. This melt in your mouth wonder is a fried version of pancake and as with most of the Rajasthani desserts this too is made in ghee. This is a quick dessert that can be made with very few ingredients and most of which are available at home.

Malpuas are a regular feature at all the Rajasthani festivals. The way I like my malpua is soft centered, crispy on edges, and hot of course. You can garnish them with any dry fruit of your choice.

Batter of pouring consistency is the key to a perfect malpua. Keep the batter too thick and it will turn out as thick as bread. Keep it too thin and it will break when you try to turn it.

Every family has a variation to this traditional marwadi mithai. This is my family recipe of the rabdi ka malpua. Happy Eating!

Rabdi ka Malpua (Indian Dessert Pancakes)

Ingredients

Makes around 15-18 malpuas

  • 100 gms flour (maida)
  • 50 gms khova (dried whole milk)
  • 1 pinch soda
  • 5 almonds slivered
  • Approximately 1 cup milk

For sugar syrup

  • 1 ½ cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 5 cardamoms powdered
  • Few strands of saffron

Recipe

Blend together maida and khova in a mixer with half of milk to make a batter of pouring consistency. Consistency of batter is the key for malpuas. Add more milk if required. Keep it aside for one hour.

When you are ready to make the malpua, add soda to the batter and mix well.

For the sugar syrup, combine all the ingredients and bring to boil. The syrup should be sticky but without strings. Keep the syrup aside. The syrup should we used warm. If it has cooled by the time of serving malpuas, you can reheat it a little.

Heat enough ghee in a flat bottom kadhai. Pour a spoonful of batter to form a pan cake. Cook on both sides till the edges are crisp and brown. Remove the malpua and dip it in the sugar syrup immediately. Remove it from the syrup. Garnish it with slivered almonds and serve warm.

 

Thepla

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Thepla

Thepla is a smaller, thinner, and healthier Gujarati cousin of methi ka paratha. It packs in all the goodness of fresh methi (fenugreek) and coriander leaves with whole wheat flour and not maida. Spread some chunda, jam, chutney, roll it and voila you have yummy food on the go.

Board a train to Gujarat and you are more likely to see four out of five people eating thepla with dry aalu curry, onion, chunda and tea. Since the shelf life of theplas is 3-4 days, it’s the preferred travel food of Gujaratis and they will be more than happy to share them. Theplas are a regular breakfast item at my in laws’ place and I always eat them to my heart’s content.

While tea lovers swear by the thepla and tea combination, it goes well with aalu sabji, garlic chutney, green chilly chutney, chunda, or plain yoghurt. I like them with yoghurt and the garlic chutney. You can find the recipe of Garlic chutney here.

Thepla

Ingredients

Makes 25 theplas

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 4 tbsp besan
  • ½ bunch of methi leaves cleaned and chopped
  • 8-10 stalks of coriander cleaned and chopped
  • 3 green chillies
  • 4-5 pods of garlic
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 1 tbsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tbsp coriander powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • Groundnut oil or any other cooking oil to cook the theplas
  • Water to knead the dough

Recipe

Grind chillies and garlic to a coarse paste. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, methi, chopped coriander, besan, chilli garlic paste, turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, oil and salt.

Add water and make a soft dough. Divide the dough into 25 portions; roll into balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the balls into thin rotis (appx 6 to 7 inch).

Heat the griddle (tava) and place the thepla on it. Cook for about 30 seconds and flip. Brush with some groundnut oil and flip. Brush the other side with some oil and flip again. Cook thepla on both sides by pressing and flipping the thepla (like parathas).

Don’t flip the theplas very frequently or they’ll get hard/crispy.

Mirchi ka Salan (Green Chillies Curry)

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Mirchi ka Salan (Green Chillies Curry)

Hyderabadi food is synonymous with Biryani and the perfect match for any Hyderabadi biryani is the mirchi ka salan (Salan means curry in urdu).  This is not a very spicy curry as the name suggests. It is a mix of spicy, sour, and nutty flavors.

Picking up the right chillies is the first important part. Make sure to pick the non-spicy or the less spicy chillis for this curry. You can choose the chillies that you get for mirchi bhajjis or the Bhavnagri chillies.

Second part ofcourse is the gravy. Make sure you roast the ground nuts, sesame and coconut powder on a low to medium flame.

You can serve this curry with biryani, pulav, or even hot parathas. My mother makes this dish without onion garlic hence you will see these ingredients in the optional list.

Mirchi ka Salan (Green Chillies Curry)

Ingredients

  • 4 Long green chillies
  • ¼ cup cooking oil
  • ¼ cup tamarind pulp
  • 2 inches ginger piece grated
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • 3 tsp coriander powder
  • 2 tsp chilli powder
  • 3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
  • ¾ cup water
  • ¼ tsp cumin seeds
  • ¼ tsp mustard seed
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • Salt to taste

For Salan Paste

  • ¼ cup roasted peanuts
  • 2 tbsp roasted coconut powder
  • 2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds

Optional ingredients to the salan paste list

  • 1 onion cut into thin slices and deep fried
  • 1 tbsp garlic paste
  • 2 tsp roasted khus khus soaked in water for 30 minutes

Recipe

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan. Deep fry green chillies. Keep the chillies aside and save the oil in which the chillies were fried.

Finely grind together all the ingredients for salan paste.

Reheat 2 tbsp oil that was used for frying chillies. Add cumin and mustard seeds and let them pop. Add ginger and sauté for few seconds.

Add the salan paste and saute it for few minutes till the fat separates. Ensure that the paste does not stick to the pan. Pour around 2tbsp of water at regular intervals.

Now add the tamarind pulp, water, salt, turmeric, chilli powder, dhaniya powder, and garam masala. Stir for 3-5 minutes until the gravy is of sauce consistency.

Add the fried chillies to the hot gravy. Let the gravy come to a boil. Remove and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with biryani, pulav, or paratha.

 

*Check the Tips and Links section for a Hindi to English translation of the ingredients.