APPLE CAKE

Apart from Indian food cakes are my all time favorite and that too Apple cake...With a cup of hot chocolate or green tea or black tea is a great combination. Baking is my hobby means I just love baking cakes and breads yeh…. cookies also but my husband doesn’t like cookies. Every time when I bake first I give a try and then second time I make some changes and if any mistakes clear them and then I post the recipe here. In the original recipe they didn’t add chopped apple to the batter but they top the cake with apple wedges, that wedges gave a juice and crunchy texture to the cake so when yester day I again bake this cake I added some chopped pieces in the batter too and this time the cake taste more delicious with crunchy apple pieces and nice cinnamon flavor. We just enjoyed the cake hope you all also like the recipe. Now let’s check the Apple cake recipe….

INGREDIENTS:----

Self-rising flour --- 250g

Un-salted butter --- 250g

Caster sugar --- 250g

Eggs ---- 4

Vanilla extract --- 1 tea sp (you can use ½ tea sp vanilla essence also)

Cooking apples --- 2 peeled, cored and cut in to wedges

Cooking apple --- 2 peeled, cored and chopped

Demerara sugar --- 2 tab sp

Cinnamon ground ---- ¼ tea sp

METHOD:----

1. Pre heat the oven at 180 c gas mark 4 for 10 min.
2. Butter a 26cmx16cm tin then line the base with a baking paper
3. Now in a big bowl beat the eggs it they become stiff and leave a side
4. Then in a big mixing bowl beat butter and sugar till it turns fluffy.
5. Now add beaten eggs to the butter and sugar mixture mix well to combine.
6. Then add flour to the wet mixture and beat quickly to make a smooth batter.
7. Add vanilla, chopped apple and mix well to combine.
8. Now pour this batter in to the prepared tin and top with the apple wedges
9. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar and cinnamon.
10. Bake in a pre heated oven for 1 hour or till skewer comes out clean.
11. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for few mins.Then release the tin and cool the cake on a wire rack.
12. Serve warm with a cup of green tea (with out sugar)
13. I used self-rising flour you can use all-purpose flour with 1 teasp baking powder.
14. I used green apples (total 4 apples) you can use any cooking apples you like.
15. For me it took 1 hour to bake it depends on your oven if it is not finished in 1 hour then you can keep it for 5 min. more ... check with a skewer before you remove from the oven..

TOMATO CHUTNEY

Some times we get bored with same old coconut chutney with dosa and idli,at that time this Tomato chutney will be a great choice and it goes very well with any thing like dosa, idli, hot steamed rice or even with chapathi. Same thing happened to me this morning at breakfast time I don’t want to make same chutney for dosa, I am craving for some thing tangy and spicy then I checked my fridge there were some beautiful red tomatoes and here I go with the Tomato chutney

INGREDIENTS:---

Tomato ---- 3 medium (red ripe tomatoes)

Green chilies --- 5-6 or according to your taste

Tamarind --- 1 inch piece

Coriander seeds --- 1 tea sp

Cumin seeds --- 1&1/2 tea sp

Garlic -- 4 cloves

Salt to taste or 1 tea sp

Oil -- 1 tab sp

Coriander leaves --- 1 tab sp chopped

METHOD:---

1. Cut tomatoes in to small pieces and slit green chillies and leave a side

2.Heat a pan and add coriander seeds and cumin seeds fry till they change the color and nice aroma comes out.

3. Remove from the pan and grind in to a fine powder.

4. Now heat oil in the same pan add green chilies and tomatoes and fry till tomatoes become soft. Then add tamarind piece to the cooked tomatoes and leave a side to cool.

5.After tomatoes cool down add this green chilies and tomatoes, tamarind and salt to the coriander and cumin powder grind in to a smooth paste

6. At the end add garlic cloves and chopped coriander leaves, grind for a second to blend well.

7. Remove from the blender jar and serve with dosa, idli or any thing you like.

PALAK PURI (SPINACH PURI)

Hi everyone I am back from my one month vacation. When I came back from my holidays I have only some wheat flour at home and I don’t know what to make for dinner and I didn’t have vegetables also at home yeh I have some cauliflower pickle in the fridge which I made before I am leaving for holidays and suddenly I remember that there is a packet of frozen spinach in my freazer.I thought of making dal or palak paneer then I realize that I don’t have dal and paneer also at home ahhhhhhhhhh.. Getting mad .Then subbenly hubby dear told me that` way didn’t you make palak puri we can have them with that cauliflower pickle’. Hummm not a bad Idea and here is the recipe……

INGREDIENTS FOR PALAK PURI(SPINACH PURI):-----

Whole wheat flour (Atta) --- 2 cups

Spinach ------ 1 small bunch or 1 pack of frozen palak (after you make the paste that should measure 1 cup or 100 Gms)

Garlic --- 5 cloves grated

Oil -- 1 tab sp

Salt to taste (aprox.1/4 tea sp)

Oil for deep frying

According to Spinach paste and Wheat flour measurement that should be in 2:1 that means if you take 2 cups of Wheat flour then Spinach paste should be 1 cup.

BLANCHING THE SPINACH:---

1. Blanching vegetables is a Cooking form that makes the vegetables soft, intensifies the color and heightens the flavor but remains the crunchiness of the vegetable especially leafy greens like spinach.

2. To blanch Spinach fill a large pan with water and bring to a full boil add spinach to the boiling water.

3. Blanch Spinach for 30 seconds or till leaves turn in to bright green color.

4. Now switch off the flame and strain the spinach from water in to another bowl and add ice water with ice cubes this will stop further cooking.

5. Remove Spinach from ice water also and squeeze all of the excess water.

6. Now you can make paste with this blanched spinach and use in your curries like palak paneer and palak puri too

NOW LET US SEE HOW TO MAKE PALAK PURI(SPINACH PURI):---

1. In a big mixing bowl add wheat flour, spinach paste, salt, one tab sp oil, grated garlic and mix with your hand to make a semi- hard dough(if you fell like dough is little bit hard to form like a ball or cracks on the ball then sprinkle little water and knead well).

2. Keep the dough covered for at least 10 min.

3. Then divide the dough in to equal sized balls (this measurement gives you nearly 15 balls)

4. Now dust the surface with little flour and roll the each ball in to 4 inch – diameter discs.

5. In the same time heat oil in a deep frying pan and fry this beautiful green color puries both sides in a medium heat.

6. Remove from oil and drain on to an absorbent paper and serve hot with any pickle and curd or raita or you can try with dal fry also a good combination for this puri

DRY FRUIT HALWA

This dry fruit halwa is from my mom's kitchen.Halwa with lots of nuts,Amma made this delicious halwa for both of us(me and my hubby).She already prepaired her menu for my vecations before I landed here.When I eat a piece of this halwa and told superb amma she gave a beautiful smile to me and i enjoyed that smile.And this halwa is really so mouth-watering with a special ingredient thats my moms love............
Hope now you all understand where i am yaa I am in India for vecation...

INGREDIENTS:------
Maida (all purpose flour) --- 1 cup
sugar ---- 1 cup (or according to your taste you can increase or decrease the sugar)
Yellow food color --- 2 pinches
Cashew nuts --- 20 broken
Almonds --- 20 chopped
Pista -- 20 chopped(fry all nuts in ghee till light brown color)
Netmeg powder --- 1/4 tea sp
Ghee --- 1 cup
Cardamom powder --- 1 tea sp
METHOD:----
Now add little water to sugar and boil it to make a sticky syrup(add a little water to sugar don't add too much water ).

Shift maida in to a big bowl and add water to make a thin batter like rava dosa batter and add food color to this maida batter and leave a side.Now add maida mixture to the sugar syrup keep stirring well. with in 6-8 min it will get thick.

In the same time heat the ghee, now start adding the ghee to the maida and sugar syrup mixture and keep stirring.

The halwa would absorb all the ghee then again add some more ghee and keep stirring.

By the time you finish the ghee halwa starts to leave the sides of the pan and it will become like a ball around to your laddle. Now add cardamom powder and mix well.

Now add fried dry fruits, netmeg powder mix well.

Now transfer it in to a greased plate and make it flat with a spoon and let it cool and cut in to pieces.
enjoy your sweet.

This will stay for 15 days if you keep it in the fridge 1-2 month s

When ever you want to serve remove from the fridge and keep it in the microwave for 5 sec. and serve.

This process will give a fresh taste and texture to halwa.

SWEET CORN AND VEGETABLE SALAD WITH ITALIAN DRESSING

Like any other words in cooking language SALAD also came from French word 'Salade' of the same meaning,which is originally came from a Latin word 'Salata' means vegetables seasoned with salt,pepper powder ,some herbs and olive oil or any salad oil. Vegetables seasoned with brine was a popular Roman dish (Brine is a saturated water which is comonly used in preserving vegetables,meat.fish and some cheese like Feta cheese.). Salad is often served as an appetizer before a meal but also some times served as a side dish or a main course. Now a days 99%people are health-conscious so they don't like high calories in their every day meal ,due to their low calorie density these salads became a main course in their every day meal.most of the people like salads with lots of green leafy vegetables, vegetables, lentils,meat and seafood also. After the vegetables the main ingredient in this salads is dressing many light edible oils, vinaigrettes , mayonnaise are used in this salad dressing but my personal favorite is olive oil with some italian herbs and lemon juice.And to day I am here with a simple salad with Italian dressing and the recipe is like this.................
INGREDIENTS:----
Sweet corn -- 1 cup
Carrot -- 1 cup chopped
Olives -- 1/4 cup chopped
Red bell pepper -- 1 chopped
Green bell pepper -- 1 chopped
Zucchini -- 1 chopped
FOR DRESSING:---
Extra-virgin olive oil -- 1 tab sp
Freshly ground black pepper -- 1/4 tea sp
Lemon juice --- 1 tab sp (optional)
Salt to taste
Basil -- 4-5 leaves chopped
Dry Italian hearbs -- 1 tea sp
salt to taste
METHOD:---
Mix all dressing ingredients in a small jar or bottle and shake well(or you can take this in to a big mixing bowl and wisk well) and leave a side.
Mix all vegetables in a mixing bowl and pour the dressing on top of the vegetables and now toss well to coat evenly .
Garnish with lots of carrot juliennes
Enjoy your salad with brown bread..
If you like you can add boiled and chopped chicken to this salad.

GINGER - GARLIC PASTE -- BASIC RECIPE FOR INDIAN COOKING

In many Indian recipes one of the main ingredient is Ginger garlic paste . so many of us generaly brought this from store but most of the times we make this at home also.but other then store brouht ginger garlic paste what we make at home will give a better taste and aroma to our curry.A must ingredient in every non-vegetarian recipes.Normaly we make this paste and store it in the fridge for 1 week so that we can use it when ever we need. to day let us see how I make and store ginger garlic paste for long time.


INGREDIENTS:----- Ginger -- 250 g.
Garlic --- 250g.
METHOD:---

1. Wash ginger peel a little skin(if you like with skin then no need to peel but that will give a brownish color to the paste)
2. Peel garlic also and chop both garlic and ginger in to small pieces
3. Now blend ginger and garlic in to a fine paste in a blender.
4. Remove from the blender jar in to airtight container and store it in the fridge.

1. If you want to store this for long time then add 1tea sp salt and 1 tea sp oil while grinding ginger and garlic.
2. And then place 1 tea sp paste in each block of ice cubes try and place it in the deep freezer and leave it for over night to make ginger garlic cubes( that means at least 12- 15 hours)
3. Then take out from the freezer and remove the cubes from try and place them in a container and again leave it in the freezer.
4. When ever you want to use take out from the freezer before you start cooking
5. This will stay fresh for 1 year with its original aroma.
6. You can make Ginger and green chili paste also in the same way and store it in the freezer

Regarding this ginger-garlic paste storage I got 2 questions...
1. when I place the try in the fridge I covered it with foil so that the strong smell of the g&g paste won't spread in the freezer.
2.@ Malar .. yes if you keep it in the fridge some times it changes the color but you do like this the color won,t change.

TOMATO CHARU (SPICY SOUTH INDIAN TOMATO SOUP)

Charu – Rasam – Saru is a very common dish in every day meal in South Indian cuisine. Charu or Rasam means extract or juice in Telugu or any other south Indian language. Traditionally made by tamarind extract and seasoned with spices like black pepper corns, dry coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Charu is a tangy and spicy thin tamarind soup which is a very power full home remedy for digetation, clod and perfect comfort food when you are having flue it keeps you warm. This traditional recipe was adapted in to British cuisine as Mulligatawny soup (pepper water) and it is very popular even today in England. A bowl of lightly mashed rice with a few drops of ghee and mix with hot Charu and vadiyalu (vadam,sundried rice flour wafers, deep fried in oil like fryams)or a potato stir fry, yummmm is there any other comfort food other then this …….. If you ask me no… any way

There are so many versions in this Charu recipe like

Chintapandu charu (tamarind Soup),

Vellulli charu(garlic soup)

Pappu charu or pappu rasam (lentil soup)

Miriyala charu (black pepper soup)

Pineapple rasam (spicy pineapple soup)

Ulava charu (horse gram soup)

Nimmakaya charu (lemon soup)

Tomato charu (thin spicy tomato soup)

Tiyya charu (sweet tamarind soup)

Pachi charu(pachi pulusu, Raw tamarind soup)

Majjiga charu (butter milk soup)

In some versions we use pappu kattu(cook 1 tab sp any lentils with 2-3 cups of water till lentils become soft remove from the heat and strain the water and use this water in the place of normal water for making charu. If you like you can add that cooked lentils also but mash well and mix with Charu).And to day here I am with the recipe TOMATO CHARU………….

INGREDIENTS:----

Tomato --- 1 big

Tamarind -- 1inch pieces 4-5 pieces soak in hot water(if you hold all these tamarind pieces tightly in your hand that should become like table tennis ball size.After you soak and extract water from this tamarind that should be 100 ml thin tamarind extract.

Oil -- 1 tab sp

Garlic -- 3 cloves crushed

Mustard - 1/2 tea sp

Asafoetida --- 1 pinch(hing, inguva)(optional)

curry leaves -- 12 leaves

salt to taste

Water --- 2&1/2 -3 cups

Charu podi (rasam powder) -- 1&1/2 tea sp you can use any brand which is easly available in any Indian store like MTR - Rasam powder or Priya Rasam powder or you can make at home check my recipe here.

Coriander leaves --- 1 tab sp chopped.

Soak tamarind in warm water and extract juice with 120 ml water and you can get 100 ml tamarind juice from that.

Pour this tamarind juice in to a heavy bottom pan and start boiling in a medium flame.

Take 1 big tomato and make puree in a blender. when you measure this tomato puree this should be 1 cup means 120- 130 ml.

Now add this tomato puree(if you want you can strain this tomato puree to remove the tomato skin pieces add 50 ml water (1/2 cup) and strain through a juice strainer) to tamarind juice,add 1 cup water(120 ml) and boil in a medium heat the raw smell of the tamarind and tomato will disappears .

This will take 10 min. to boil.After 10 min. add crushed garlic, salt to taste,curry leaves and 1 more cup water, charu podi(rasam powder), bring to a full boil lower the flame and let it cook for 15 min.

After 15 min add chopped coriander leaves and cook for 2 more min and remove from heat.

Now heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds and let them popup(here you can add a pinch add asafoetida if you like) then add this seasoning to Charu immediately cover with a lid and let it rest for at least 10 min before you serve.

Serve hot with rice.
Note: -- if you want to make a fresh rasam powder the

Coriander seeds -- 1/2 tea sp

Cumin seeds -- 1 tea sp

Black pepper corns -- 1 tea sp

Garlic cloves -- 3

few curry leaves (if you are making this instant Rasam powder with garlic and curry leaves then no need to add garlic and curry leaves what i have given in the ingredients list.)

Dry roast all ingredients in a pan and make a coarse powder in a hand pastel or a coffee grinder.This will give a great aroma to charu.

You like hot and spicy soups then strain this Charu through a strainer and enjoy like a soup.

GULAB JAMOON FOR ICC

Gulab jamoons are my all time favorite dessert I can have any time.when I saw Valli has choosen Gulab jamoon for this month s chalenge I was exited to try one more version of jamoons.valli has given three recipes of jamoon s those three recipes are almost same but with very little difference but I have choosen Alka s recipe because I tried almost the same recipe before also. For the first time when I tried that was a big disaster and second time jamoon came out very heard and this time they were just melting in the mouth.Thank you so much for the recipe Alka, and thank you so much for the Indian cooking challenge Valli. and here I am with the Delicious Gulab jamoon recipe from Alka of Sindhi Rasoi
                                                                   

MAKING KHOYA (KHOVA)(MAAWA) (unsweetened condensed milk) :---
Milk --- 1 & 1/2 litre this will give you 250 gms of condensed milk(khoya)
In a heavy bottom pan pour milk and start boilling the milk in a medium flame.
mix in between and let it boil till milk become thick.If you are boiling milk in a stainless steel pan then add 2-3 stainless steel spoons in to the milk to avoid burning.
Make sure the flame should be in medium and keep on boiling After some time the milk should become thick like in the down pic.Keep on mixing other wise in this stage there are chances that milk will burn in the bottom.
With in few min. the thick milk will become like a semi solid like crumbled paneer(crumbled cottage cheese) at this time switch off the heat and let it cool.

Now mash Khoya a little and leave a side. This Khoya (condensed milk) you can use for making Gulab jamoons, peda,milk burfi and many more milk sweets and also for some rich Nawabi and Kashmiri recipes here I used it for making Gulab jamoons for Indian cooking challenge.

INGREDIENTS FOR MAKING JAMOONS:---

Khoya --- 250 gms

All purpose flour -- 1&1/2 tea sp

Corn flour -- 1 tea sp

Cardamom powder --- 1 tea sp

Oil for frying

METHOD FOR MAKING JAMOONS....

Mix all above ingredients in a big mixing bowl and mix well till it turn in to a very soft texture.

Keep mixing till the dough is really very soft.

Now make very small size balls(bit larger then pebbles) as they swell up after frying and soaking in the sugar syrup.

Make sure that the surface of the balls is really smooth with out any cracks.

In case the cracks refuse to go away, slightly wet your palms with water and roll the flour till absolutely smooth.check the below picture.NOW LET US SEE HOW TO MAKE SUGAR SYRUP FOR GULAB JAMOONS..........

Sugar -- 500 gms

Water -- 1&1/2 cups

Cardamom powder -- 1 tea sp

Milk --- 1 spoon

Few threads of saffron

Rose water -- 2-3 drops

METHOD:----

Mix water and sugar and start boiling

Add a spoon of milk to remove impurities (if any impurities in the milk, will form a scum on surface)

Now add cardamom and saffron and boil till you get a sticky syrup.

gulab jamoon syrup is not very dense not to dilute as in rasgulla.

Strain the syrup, add rose water when the syrup is slightly cooled.Do not add rose water while syrup is boiling or it is very hor that gives a bitter taste to the final product.Now start frying the jamoons. Heat oil in a deep frying pan and drop 2-3 jamoons at a time and fry in a very low flame.

While frying jamoons stir the oil with a slotted spoon but not to touch gulab jamoons.Means you have to keep on swirling the oil with out tossing or turning Gulab Jamoons.

Fry till light brown in color, remove from oil and drop them in to the sugar syrup.

Let the jamoons soak in the sugar syrup for few hours. They will surely swell up.

These Gulab Jamoons can be stored in the same syrup till consumed
If there are cracks in the balls before frying it will burst open while frying, in that case adding a bit of cornflour will surely help

Enjoy this delicious Gulab Jamoons cold or hot.

LAAL RAJMA NI DAAR

My recipe s for Parsi cuisine continues and in that list here comes a delicious recipe from one of our blogger friend and a great cook and also this month’s host forRCI – Parsi cuisine. Yes Meera of Enjoy Indian Food hats off to her and her blog is just a mirror to Indian food I can say. This Rajma recipe is from meera yesterday I was browsing her blog and got so many wonderful recipes and bookmarked some of them at that time I saw some mouthwatering Parsi recipes in her blog and I tried it for yesterday’s lunch. The recipe came out so very well and we enjoyed it with rumali roti and geera rice (cumin rice). Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe Meera. 

Let's check the recipe....

                                                                          

CHECK OUT FOR THE ORIGINAL RECIPE HERE

INGREDIENTS:---

Rajma(Red Kidney Beans) – 2 ½ cup s (soaked and cooked)

Coconut milk – ¾ cup

Jiggery – 1 tab sp

Salt to taste (3/4 tea sp)

Dhansak masala – 1 tea sp (if you don’t have dhansak masala then take ½ tea sp kitchen king masala and ½ tea sp pav bhaji masala. If you want to make dhansak masala check my recipe here.)

Coriander and cumin powder – ¼ tea sp

Red chilli powder --- ¼ tea sp

FOR TEMPERING:-----

Oil – 2 tab sp

Onion --- 1 medium chopped

Garlic --- 3 cloves minced

Turmeric powder – ¼ tea sp

Red chili – 1 halved

Tomato - 1 medium chopped

Fresh coriander leaves --- 1 tab sp chopped

METHOD:----

Take dry rajma soak them in water for overnight and cook in a pressure cooker and leave a side.

Now heat oil in a pan add halved red chili ,turmeric powder, chopped onion, minced garlic and fry till onion become soft.

Then add chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 min. and add masala powders rajma, salt to taste, jiggery and mix well to coat masala all over the beans.

Now add coconut milk and bring to a gentle boil and remove from the heat

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with plain rice, jeera rice, brown rice or even with roti

We enjoyed it with Rumali roti.

Recipe source from Meera of enjoy IndianFood

PARSI BROWN RICE

Today also one more recipe from Parsi cuisine in my kitchen. parsi brown rice, like all ather Indians parsis also use rice in their mid day meal a lot .Like Parsi pilau, Khichri, Sabji polo,Adas polo, Beghali polo, Kateh and Brown rice and many more. I wanted to try a rice recipe traditionally parsis serve with Dhansak . So first comes the combination for dhansak is Brown rice. A very simple rice recipe and a perfect combination for Dhansak and Kachumbar. Here I go with the recipe.

  INGREDIENTS FOR BROWN RICE:---------

Basmati rice – 2 cups

Sugar – ½ tea sp

Black pepper corns – 5 corns

Cloves – 4 no.

Bay leaf – 1

Cinnamon – 1 inch piece

Water – 4 cups

Butter – 2 tab sp

                                                                     

METHOD:--

Wash and drain water from rice in a sieve and leave a side.

1. Now heat butter in a pan and add cloves, cinnamon,bayleaf, pepper corns let them fry till they release their aroma then add sugar and allow to caramelize(let sugar turn in to dark brown color).
2. Add rice to this and fry foe 2 min.mix in between. In the same time heat 4 cups water
3. Then add this 4 cups hot water to rice mix well and bring to a full boil, reduce the flame and cook till almost water dries up. This will take 15 – 20 min.
4. To check if rice is cooked pick up a few grains of rice and press between your thumb and index finger the rice should feel frim but mash fully. If rice is not mashed or you feel hard then add 4 tab sp s more water on top of the rice cover and cook for few more min.
5. Turn off the heat and let it rest for 5 min. then serve with Dhansak and Kachumbar

DHANSAK - A PARSI DELICACY

Parsi cuisine is a mix of vegetarian Gujarati cuisine and non-vegetarian Iranian cuisine.Parsi dishes are famous for their deliciously blended with the flavor s of Gujarati and Irani cuisine. So that the cuisine is very nearby to our Indian cuisine.Dasicaly Parsis like to have their lunch with rice and lentil s and a curry which is made by vegetables and coconut and Kachubar (a salad made with chopped onions and cucumber. Lentils, potatoes, brinjals (Aubergine), carrot and tomatoes are widely used in vegetarian Parsi cuisine; in that list Dhansak is one of the very popular dishes in Parsi cuisine. Dhansak is mainly made with lentils and lots of vegetables and greens in Parsi dhan means lentils sak means vegetables and greens. traditionally dhansak is made with seven verity of lentils, but here I have only 5 verity of lentils so I used only 5 lentils and coming to the vegetables I used is brinjal, carrot, one small potato and a small cup of chopped spinach (you can use fenugreek leaves also in this recipe with spinach).And dhansak is made with chicken and mutton also and its very popular too. Here I go with the recipe for DHANSAK……….

Lentils I used in Dhansak…………….

Toor dal – Yellow pigeon peas – Kandi pappu ---- ¼ cup

Masoor dal – Red lentils – Masoor pappu ---- ¼ cup

Moong dal – split mung bean – pesara pappu --- ¼ cup

Urad dal – Black gram – minappappu --- ¼ cup

Channa dal – split chick peas – senaga pappu – ¼ cup

Vegetables I used in Dhansak….

Brinjal – 1 small (what we use for bingan bhartha) cut in to 1 inch cubes

Carrot – 1 cut in to 1’’ cubes

Potato – 1 small cut in to1’’ cubes

Spinach – 1 bunch chopped (for this recipe you can use 1 cup chopped)

Onion – 1 big sliced

Tomato -1 cup chopped seeds removed

Other ingredients…………

Freshly grated coconut – 1 tab sp ground in to a smooth paste or you can use ¼ cup of coconut milk also

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tab sp

For dhansak masala powder...

Red chilies – 2

Cinamon – ½ inch piece

Black pepper – 10 no.

Bay leaves – 2

Nutmeg – a small piece (you can take a ¼ piece of medium sized nutmeg)

Cloves – 8

Fenugreek seeds – 1 tea sp

Sesame seeds – 1 teasp

Mace – ¼ inch piece

Cumin seeds – 1 tab sp

Coriander seeds – 1 tab sp

Dry roast all above in gredients in a fry pan one at a time and grind in to a fine powder in a coffee grinder or mixee and store it in an airtight container. This will stay fresh for one week. You can use this powder as Garam masal in any non-vegetarian dish.

Instead of making this powder you can use garam masala in this recipe but freshly ground masala gives a great aroma to the dish.

For garnishing…….

Chopped coriander leaves – ½ cup.

Method ……

Mix all lentils in a bowl wash well and add 1 cup of water and soak for half an hour.

After ½ hour add ½ more cup water and carrot and potato pieces to lentils and cook till they become soft and mash. Mash lentils well.

You can cook lentils in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles

Now in a pan add onion slices, chopped tomato, chopped spinach and brinjal pieces stir for a while and cook till vegetables become soft.

When the vegetables become soft switch off the heat and mash the vegetables little bit (traditionally they mash vegetables in to a fine past but I didn’t mash them in to a paste. I just mash them with a spoon a little bit)

Now heat a other pan add cooked lentils then add ginger garlic paste(traditionally parsis don’t use oil in Dhansak but if want you can use 1 tab sp of oil here and season with 1 tea sp cumin seeds and then add lentil mixture) stir well and let it cook for 5 min. in a low flame. Stir in between.

After 5 min. add cooked vegetables and spinach, coconut paste or coconut milk stir well and cook for 5 more min .Now you can see the mixture reduced and become like a paste.

Now add dhansak masala mix well to blend and salt to taste, 1cup water and cook in a very low flame for ½ hour. Here if you want to add chicken or meat cook it and add with its stock mix well and let it cook for ½ hour mix in between. If the mixture is very thick then add ½ cup more water mix well bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve Dhansak with BROWN RICE and KACHUBAR.

THIS DHANSAK IS ON THE WAY TO RCI-PARSI AT MEERA S ENJOY INDIAN FOOD EVENT BY LAKSHMI

BEERAKAYA - SENAGA PAPPU KURA (RIDGED GOURD AND SPLIT CHICK PEAS CURRY)

Ridged gourd –Beer kaya in telugu ,Turai or tori in Hindi and Luffa in Arabic(recently I came to know this name in Arabic) is a fruit but commonly use as a vegetable in Asia and Africa.

Ridged gourd is with green hard skin out side and soft sponge texture in side with mild sweet taste or some times little bitter taste. Normaly we don’t use they are in bitter taste but its juice is used as a effective natural remedy for jaundice.Beerakaya Senagapappu kura - ridged goured curry with split chick peas.

This one is my favorite combination with Charu(rasam) and steamed plain Rice and also a very good combination with roti, even with bread. If you have this curry and bread in hand you can make very delicious grilled sandwiches. butter the bread slices and apply this curry on one slice and cover with the other slice and toast till nice golden color on a hot grill or a pan or on a toaster and enjoy with hot tea or coffee . Now coming to the recipe.
INGREDIENTS:-----

Ridged gourd -- 2 no cut in to small pieces

Channa dal - split chick peas - Senagapappu -- 1 cup

Onion --- 1 medium chopped

Salt to taste

Red chilli powder -- 1/2 tea sp

Turmeric powder -- 1/4 tea sp

For seasoning :---

Oil -- 1 and 1/2 tab sp

Mustard seeds --- 1/2 teasp

For masala (spice mixture):---

Coconut -- 2 tab sp s Grated

Cumin seeds -- 1 tea sp

Garlic cloves -- 6 cloves

Crush all above masala ingredients in a coffee grinder or mixer grinder in to a coarse paste if required add a tab sp water.

Now last but very important ingredient is 3/4 tea sp Garam masala or you can use chat masala or pani puri masala also.

METHOD:-----

Wash and soak split chick pea(channa dal) for 1/2 hour with 1 cup of water . then add ridged gourd pieces and cook till dal become soft and vegetables are tender. This will take 20- 25 min. on a low flame.

To check if you press dal in between your finger dal should split easily.

Now add salt to taste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, ground masala mix well and let it cook for 5 more min. in a low flame.

Heat oil in a fry pan add mustard seeds and let them popup then add chopped onion and fry till onion turn in to light brown.

Then add cooked dal and ridged gourd which we are cooking with masala to onion, mix well and let it cook for 5 min.

After 5 min. add the finel ingredient 3/4 tea sp of Garam masala, cover with a lid and switch off the flame and leave it .

Mix just before you serve,so that garam masala aroma will remain for long time.

Instead of ridged gourd you can make this curry with Bottle gourd, Egg plant,Spinach

Very easy way to make this curry -- cook dal, vegetables with ground masala,salt to taste,red chili powder,turmeric powder in a pressure cooker till 3 whistles. Remove from heat and let cool and then open the lid.

Heat oil in a small pan fry mustard seeds and add to cooked dal mix well and add garam masala close with lid and switch off the flame and leave a side for few min. and serve.