Tag Archives: vegetarian khana

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.

Aalu Matar (Potatoes and Peas Curry)

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Aalu Matar (Potatoes and Peas Curry)

Potato is the most versatile of vegetables. It is a staple diet of most of the middle class vegetarians.  You can combine it with any vegetable. This was the most common curry in our lunch box. There was a time when I hated aalu ki sabji. My mom makes at least 8-10 varieties of aalu sabji. Aalu fry, jeera aalu, aalu matar, aalu tamatar, aalu beans, dahi vale aalu and the list goes on. I finally made friends with potato when I went to Cardiff for studies. There were 4-5 variety of potatoes available and I started experimenting with this vegetable.

The food marathon that I went on after my wedding had this aalu matar following me at every house and I again started running from aalu ki sabji. Finally, when I am out of India again Aalu matar has become my friend again.

Aalu Matar (Potatoes and Peas Curry)

Ingredients

  • 2 potatoes peeled and cubed (Russet potatoes are good for this curry)
  • ½ cup fresh/frozen peas
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • ¼ tsp asafoetida
  • 6-8 curry leaves
  • 2 inch piece of ginger grated
  • 2 green chillies finely chopped
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 1 tomato finely chopped
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tbsp coriander powder
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander
  • 1 1/2 cups water

Recipe

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add cumin and mustard seeds. Once the seeds pop add asafoetida, curry leaves, ginger, and green chillies. Sauté for 30-40 seconds. Add chopped onions and cook for 1 min or till the onions are translucent.

Add tomatoes and salt and cook for 1-2 two minutes on a slow flame. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder. Mix well and cook for 1 minute. Tomatoes should reduce to pulp by now and leave oil. Add peas and potatoes. Add 1 1/2 cups water and close the lid and pressure cook for 3 whistles.

Once the pressure is released open the cooker and check the curry for seasoning and adjust salt or spice accordingly. Add chopped coriander and mix.

Serve with hot puri, roti, or jeera rice.

Aam Panna

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Aam Panna

While most people are busy gorging on variety of Mangoes during the summer season, my favorite way of having mango is the Aam panna made with raw mangoes. Raw mango has the quality to cool your body. Summer in Hyderabad can be pretty bad. With temperatures soaring to even 43 degrees, this was a regular drink at home. Every day when we came back from school our mom used to have this drink ready for us.

Since Singapore has a hot and humid weather all the year round, Aam panna can be made and enjoyed anytime of the year. I love this drink so much that I don’t mind travelling all the way to Mustafa center to buy the mangoes. 

You can roast the mangoes if you like but I like it the way my mom makes it. It is quick and easy and saves me time. I like to prepare this drink in quantity so that I can just chill it and enjoy the whole weekend.

Aam Panna

Ingredients

Makes 6 glasses

  • 2 raw mangoes
  • 4 tbsp sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp rock salt (kala namak)
  • 2 tsp cumin (jeera) powder
  • 500 ml water

Recipe

Pressure cook the mangoes with some water (approximately 300ml) for 5-6 whistles. Extract the mango pulp and throw away the outer skin and seeds.

Add sugar, salt, rock salt and blend. Add water and cumin powder. Adjust sugar, salt as per taste. Serve chilled.

You can adjust the sugar and water depending on how sour the mangoes are.

Gulab Jamun

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Gulab Jamun

When I decided to start a food blog and was thinking of recipes to include, this was the first recipe that came to my mind. Gulab jamun; this is perhaps the best of the sweets that my grandmother makes. I have very fond memories of helping my grandmother roll the gulab jamuns. As an 8-9 year old, I used to feel so proud to have contributed to a recipe.

Though I am not a fan of oily and fried food, this is an exception. I do not prefer gulab jamun made in oil. It has to be made in ghee (clarified butter). I think that is what gives it the yummy taste and aroma. Fresher the ingredients, better the taste. There are various versions of this sweet too. You can stuff it with mishri, chironji, or any other dry fruit of your choice. Though I do not try to modify such time tested recipes, this time I tried using chocolate chips as a stuffing and was happy with the result.

Gulab Jamun can be enjoyed warm and cold both. It particularly goes well with Vanilla Ice-cream. Warm Gulab Jamun with a dollop of Vanilla Ice-cream tastes delicious. What else, it is indeed a quick dessert.

Gulab Jamun

Ingredients

Makes 10 Gulab Jamuns

  • ½ cup dried whole milk (khoya/mawa)
  • 1 tbsp  Indian cottage cheese (paneer)
  • 1 tbsp multipurpose flour (maida)
  • 2 pinches soda
  • 3-4 pinches cardamom powder (ilaichi)
  • Few chocolate chips
  • 8-10 strands of saffron (kesar)
  • 1 ½ cup sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • Pure ghee to fry the gulab jamuns
  • 1-2 tbsp water
  • Chopped almonds for topping

Recipe

Crumble or grate mawa and paneer. Add maida, soda, and cardamom powder. Mash all the ingredients using the heel of your palm and keep mixing till you get an even mixture. If you find the mixture too dry, you can add 1 tablespoon water at a time till you get a soft dough. Divide the dough into 10 portions and roll into balls. You can add the stuffing at this time. Press the ball to make a hole, add the stuffing, seal the ends and roll into a ball again making sure there are no cracks.

Heat sufficient ghee in a thick bottomed deep pan/kadai.  Fry on sim gas till golden brown. Do not over crowd the pan. Once you put the gulab jamuns in hot ghee, do not put spoon in the pan till the balls come up in ghee or they will break.  Fry gently and drain and keep aside.

In another pot, heat sugar and water till the syrup becomes light golden. Add saffron strands. Do not over boil the sugar syrup. It should be boiled enough to be sticky. Switch off the gas as soon as the syrup startsbto boil and let it cool a little. Add the gulab jamuns to the syrup when it is warm. Let the gulab jamuns soak in the syrup for at least 30 minutes before serving. You can garnish them with chopped almonds or pistachios.

Masala Rice

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Masala Rice

I call this a leftover makeover dish. Leftover rice has multiple uses and this is the most popular one at my home. Recooking it with  simple everyday spices and seasonal vegetables or herbs gives rice a completely new look and taste.

Every family has a different version of this rice. My mom adds a twist to this simple dish with the seasonal veggies (anything from green beans, potatoes, peas), I add tomatoes or lime juice, my mom in law adds coriander powder and I have seen my friend add a dollop of curd in the end. You can experiment with lots of flavours and vegetables and add your own twist to this quick but delicious recipe.

At my home, we eat it as breakfast or when we don’t like the lunch/dinner menu. It can be eaten with curd, pickle or simply without any accompaniment. I like it with basic curd raita.

Masala Rice

Ingredients

  • 2 cups leftover rice
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • ½ tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
  • ½ tsp asafoetida
  • 8-10 curry leaves
  • 2 green chillies slit
  • 2 inch piece of ginger grated
  • 2 dry red chillies
  • 2 tbsp or handful of groundnuts
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp coriander(dhaniya) powder
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp lime juice
  • Few springs of coriander finely chopped
  • Salt to taste

Recipe

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and asafoetida. Once the seeds pop, add curry leaves, grated ginger, green chillies and dry red chillies.

Add groundnuts and sauté for a minute. Add onions and sauté till the onions are translucent.

Add rice, turmeric, red chilly powder, coriander powder, garam masala, and salt. Mix thoroughly and cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. (You can add chopped tomatoes at this stage if desired and cook covered for another 3-4 minutes).

Add lime juice and coriander leaves and switch off the gas.

Serve with curd or pickle.

Bhujiya Paratha (Spicy Flatbread)

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Bhujiya Paratha (Spicy Flatbread)

We get lot of sweet and savories from my maternal grandmother’s place. Sometimes it is so much that we are left with lot of them even after distributing it to relatives, neighbors, and everyone else around. This is when my mom uses them and creates new dishes and we relish them without knowing that it is made from the same sweet or savory we have been running away from.

Be it the laddu ki roti (will post it some other time for sure) or the bhujiya parathas she does an awesome job with leftover foods. These parathas are extremely simple and quick to make and taste yummy.

She makes these parathas with the teekha gathiya or sev that comes with boondi. Since I don’t have that sev here, I tried it with the spicy bikaneri bhujiya sev (the Haldiram one) and it turned out just good.  You can serve the parathas with fresh plain yoghurt and pickle.

Ingredients

Makes 6 Parathas

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup bhujiya sev
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 3 green chillies
  • 6-8 sprigs of fresh coriander
  • Salt to taste
  • Water to knead the dough

Recipe

Add wheat flour, salt and water and knead a slightly stiff dough and keep it aside for 10-15 minutes. Don’t make the dough too soft or else you won’t be able to roll the parathas.

Blend Bhujiya, onion, green chillies, coriander and little salt to a coarse paste. Be careful about the salt as the bhujiya already has salt in it. Divide this filling into six portions.

Divide the dough into six equal parts. Roll them into balls and dust each ball with dry flour and roll into small disks. Stuff with one portion of the bhujiya mixture and seal the edges to make a ball again. Flatten lightly and roll out into paratha dusting with dry flour frequently.

Heat the griddle and place the paratha. Flip it after around 20 seconds when you see light brown spots appearing on the inner side of paratha. Brush with some oil and flip again. Brush with oil on other side and cook the paratha on both sides by pressing the paratha.

Serve hot parathas with yoghurt and pickle.

Sev Tamatar (Gujarati Tomato Curry)

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Sev Tamatar (Gujarati Tomato Curry)

Here comes another Gujarati favorite curry. It is a perfect quick cook recipe. Like most of the Gujarati recipes, this one too is a combination of sweet, sour, and spicy.

The ideal tomatoes for this curry would be the sour tomatoes (they are called nati tomatoes in Bangalore and desi tamatar in north). I have used the roundest available tomatoes in Singapore and the curry still turned out well.

The crisp sev is a perfect complement to the succulent tomatoes. I prefer the spicy bhujiya sev available in the market. You can also use the non-spicy sev if you don’t like your food very spicy.

This crunchy curry can be enjoyed best with soft rotlis (chapati in Gujarati) and roasted Bhavnagri chillies* and a glass of chilled chaas (buttermilk) to wash the spice down. I do not prefer this as sweet as it is originally made. You can always adjust the sweet and spices as per taste.

*For roasted Bhavnagri chillies (you can use any other non-spicy chilli if you don’t get Bhavnagri chilli), just slit the chilli and line it with a pinch of salt and roast it on flame till you see black spots on the chilli.

Sev Tamatar (Gujarati Tomato Curry)

Ingredients

  • 2 tomatoes chopped
  • ½ cup sev
  • 3 tbsp groundnut oil
  • ¼ tsp mustard seeds
  • ¼ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
  • 2 green chillies slit
  • 10-12 curry leaves
  • 2 inch ginger piece grated
  • ½  tsp asafoetida (heeng)
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp chilli powder
  • 4 tbsp coriander powder
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 2 tsp lime juice
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 tbsp fresh coriander chopped
  • Salt to taste

Recipe

Heat oil in a thick bottomed deep pan (kadhai). Add mustard seeds and jeera and let them pop. Add curry leaves, green chillies, and ginger and sauté.

Add asafoetida, turmeric, chilli powder, and coriander powder and sauté and immediately add chopped tomatoes and cover for 10-15 seconds.

Uncover and add salt, sugar, lime juice, garam masala and water and mix well.

Let it cook for 3-5 mins till you see oil on top. Just before serving add chopped coriander and sev. Mix well and serve with hot rotlis.