Sabu Dana Khichadi...Sago stir fried

In India, the month of 'Shravan' is a very auspicious month. People travel to famous places to worship God Shiva  and offer Jal Abhishek on Shiv Lingam specially on Mondays to get his blessings.
From childhood I have been keeping Fast on this day to get a nice husband. It is a well known faith back in India that if girls, women do this fast on Mondays and offer 'Jal' Water to God Shiva, they will get good husband.
I have continued the ritual even after my marriage to thank Shiva for giving me hubby which is perfect for me in all sense. :)

So the recipe for today is one of the famous Maharashtrian dish which is normally consumed by those who had observe a Fast on any religious day.

This recipe- Sabodana Khichadi is very yummy and can go as a breakfast item as well, fast or no fast.

Ingredients:

250 gms Sabodana soaked up in water for about 2-3 hours. Sabodana is called Sago in english and is available in almost all super markets nowadays.
2 potatoes, cut into 1 inch or smaller cubes and boiled till soft
Handful of Shengdana(GroundNut)
2 Green Chilies
Salt to Taste
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin seeds
1 tsp of powdered Cumin
2 tbsp Oil
Handful of chopped coriander leaves

Method

In a pan, heat oil. Add the ground nuts/shengdana. Fry for about a minute. Add the Cumin seeds, Green chillies and boiled potatoes. Stir it.  Let it fry for about 4-5 minutes. Add the soaked sabodana, salt and cumin powder. Give it a good mix. Stir fry it for another 3-4 minutes stirring it regularly as the sabodana tend to stick to the pan. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Mix the coriander leaves and serve hot.
Quick and Easy to make and super yummy to eat.

Happy Cooking!!!

Chickpea salad with baby spinach and hint of mint...summer special

Hello Friends...
It is summer time in Britain....and it is lovely with some showers and clouds...
Summers and Salads...they go together.....
We ( my hubby and I) decided to have salads as dinner for this entire week...Different kinds and varieties...so yes, this inspired me to cook up some ideas and serve him as supper/dinner.
Started with a very simple salad with load of greens and chickpea...sprouted. Turned out very nice with the simple dressing of lime juice and olive oil...'Heaven'....my hubby said while whisking the dressing imitating Jamie Oliver :). There is something with Jamie and olive oil...well we will talk about that some other day....now is the simple veg chickpea salad with baby spinach.

Chickpea Salad with plums and hint of mint

Ingredients:
Chickpea sprouted for a two days or more more than a cup.
Fresh baby spinach a handful
2 big chunky carrots grated
1 cucumber grated
3 red plums chopped
7-8 cherry tomatoes sliced in 4 pieces
1 celery stick sliced
1 inch of fresh ginger grated
Half of a baby cucumber chopped
One big red onion sliced thinly
Handful of mint leaves chopped
Handful of coriander leaves
Handful of Greek basil

For the dressing

2-3tbsp of Olive Oil
Juice of 2 limes
1tbsp of sea salt
Fresh grind pepper

Honey to drizzle
Salt to adjust.


Process

In a big salad bowl, mix all the veggies except the spinach leaves.
Add salt to it and give it a good mix. The dressing should be properly whisked. Adjust the taste and add more lime juice or olive oil if required. Pour it in the salad bowl and give it a good mix and toss...you can do that with clean hands too..:)...

On table

On a plate, make a bed with handful of baby spinach leaves.
On the top, serve the salad anD spread a little. Spoon in the extra juice at the bottom of the bowl over the salad. Drizzle honey on top.

The ginger adds a lot of flavour to the salad and so does the mint. Just wonderful. The sweetness from the plums and the crunchiness of the carrots are amazing.
Many do not like celery in veg salads, you can avoid in that case.


One can add other vegetables too...like radish, baby courgettes, tomatoes, boiled baby potatoes and many others...

So enjoy salads and summers with us...in Haldarskitchen...
Happy Cooking!!!

Plum Tomato Chutney

Plum Tomato Chutney

Tomato chutney is a must to have delicacy during any occasions in a Bengali household in India.  It is extremely popular in Bengal as well as in other places like Andhra though the preparations is little different in different places. In Bengal, it is sweet chutney, can have different variations as per the season but a must when there are guest for lunches or even for Sunday lunch. It is all time favourite item in the Pujo Bhog for Durga Pujo, Lakshmi Pujo or Kali Pujo along with Kichudi.

Though this chutney can be cooked with different ingredients such as Apples, Dates, Aam shotto (Sweet Mango sheets), sultanas, etc etc and served as an accompaniment with rice, Nan, chapattis, fried rice or Pulao. Here is my recipe of Tomatoes cooked with plum….very easy and a quick one.

Ingredients:

2 Big juicy Tomatoes- chopped

4 Juicy Plums- seeded and chopped

2 green chillies chopped finely, if you have a kid at home than you can take the seeds out or just could put a slit length wise

4 tbsp of grated fresh root ginger

½ tsp lemon zest

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Bay leaves

A pinch of salt (black salt tastes even better)

6-7 tbsp of soft brown sugar / half cup of jaggery,  depending on how sweet you want it to be. I used half cup of jaggery plus 2 tbsp of soft brown sugar. It gives a caramelised taste to it. If you do not have both of them in your pantry, don’t worry. You can use normal white sugar by all means.

1 tsp of plain vinegar (optional)

A pinch of freshly grounded black pepper

2 tsp vegetable oil.

A pinch of mustard seeds (optional). Well, it is a must at my mum’s and in laws place but I haven’t used any.

Direction:

Heat the oil in a deep bottom sauce pan.  

Add the bay leaves and grated ginger and green chillies to it and stir. Also the mustard seeds if you want them.

 After few seconds, add the chopped tomatoes and plums and give it a good mix and cover with a lid.

Take out the lid after around 4-5 minutes and stir well. By this time the tomatoes and plums will start melting and a lot of liquid will be released.

Keep on stirring on low flame.  It will help in melting the tomatoes quickly.

Sprinkle the salt and the lemon zest now, mix it. You can see the sauce sort of thing by now. This is the chutney forming.

Pour in the lemon juice and vinegar. You can add the sugar/jaggery now. Give it a good mix. Cover the lid for another 2-3 minutes.

Take out the lid, grind the black pepper on it and stir.  Switch the heat off now.

Check and adjust the seasoning. The tanginess from the lemon and vinegar and the sweet from the jaggery and sugar give a nice flavour to the chutney. And the salt really brings out the flavour.

You can store this chutney for 2-3 days in a jar.

Now the variations:

With Sweet Mango slices- It will give mango tanginess plus an amazing colour to it.

With Dates: Richer and heavy

With sultanas:  Loved by children and elders a lot.

With Apples: it is more in mass and sweet too

More towards British version

You can add strawberries, raspberries, cranberries and cherries too….not tried yet but they are surely in my list. Let me know if you try one.

Happy Cooking!!!

Winter Vegetable Soup

Soups are my favourite... I do a lot of experimenting in soup and every time it turns out be success... this winter Veg soup is based on a tomato soup where in I have reduced the content of the tomato soup powder to half as I wanted it to be little thin and light. A lot of variations can be done here, shredded chicken can be added, a lot more fresh vegetable can be added, base flavour can be changed to leek and celery or sweet corn etc.

Ingredients:

Tomato soup powder- 1/2 sachet

Garlic- 2. cut in chunk sizes

Carrot- 1, peeled and sliced

Button/Chestnut Mushroom- few, washed and chopped in bit size

Onions- 2 tbsp, chopped finely

Cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Salt n Pepper- as per taste

Butter- 2 tbsp

Cumin Powder- 1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves- for garnishing

Water - 2 cups

Serves 2

Recipe:

Put butter in a deep bottom pan and sauté the garlic. Put in the cumin seeds, add the onions and fry them till pink, add the other vegetables and fry them for few minutes. Put cumin powder and some salt, pepper, mix well and pour in the water and bring to boil. Cover the pan. This will help in quick cooking the carrots. Add the soup powder and keep stirring continuously. Let it simmer for some time. Check for the consistency of the soup and adjust the seasoning. Avoid the lumps by stirring it. Garnish with the coriander leaves and serve piping hot.

Its yummy.

Happy Cooking!!!

Veg Noodles Soup

Winters here...and so is the time for having warm soup after a long day. This recipe is for all those who do not have to the luxury to spend long time in the kitchen. I am using here the soup sachet which are available in the super market but with a twist to enhance the flavour as well make it more nutritious for the family. A lot of vegetables can be used here...but for my recipe I am using carrot, spring onions, green peas, sweet corn and a surprise element which is there in your pantry....vermicelli...yes the noodles part is the vermicelli.

Ingredients:

Vermicelli- Just a handful, don't break them

Carrot- 1, washed, peeled and chopped

Garlic- 2 Cloves, chopped medium

Ginger- 1tsp grated

Frozen Green peas- 2 tbsp

Frozen Sweet corn- 2 tbsp

Spring Onions- chopped

Green beans- few, chopped

salt and pepper- as per taste

Butter- 2 tbsp

Dried Oregano- a pinch or two

Soup powder- any choice

Water- 2 cups

Recipe:

Put the butter in a deep bottom sauce pan, sauté the garlic and ginger in it and add all the vegetables, starting with the beans as it will take a little longer time to cook and lastly the spring onions. Cover and let the vegetables cook for 2-5 minutes. Add a little salt and freshly grinded black pepper to it. Pour in the water, cover and let it boil for few minutes on high heat. This will cook the vegetables and will make them soft, add the vermicelli while its start to boil and mix well. Once the bubbles start, add the soup powder and let it simmer for some time. Check and adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle and mix the dried oregano and serve hot.

If very hungry, serve this with bread and enjoy...

Happy Cooking!!!

Methi Paratha...Fenugreek flavoured flat breads

Methi Paratha....Our lunch time special...Very easy to make...preparation can be done may be the evening before and fresh parathas can be prepared and packed for lunch.During my stay in Pune...I came across this Dish which is actually fenugreek flavoured flat breads and a very common dish in Maharashtra's cuisine. This can be served with any curry, pickle, any sort of Dal(lentils) or even with ketch up. Though originally it is served with a dry spicy chutney of roasted peanuts with garlic and hot paprika.
Ingredients:
Fresh Fenugreek leaves- 2 bunch or optional dried fenugreek leaves
5 garlic cloves- grated
Ginger- 2 tsp grated
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Cumin powder- 1 tsp
Salt- as per taste or 1tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Wheat flour- 3 cupsClarified butter
Water for dough
Recipe:
Wash the fenugreek leaves 3-4 times and put on a boil for not more than 3 minutes. Strain the water.Take the flour, put a little clarified butter on it. Add everything else including the fenugreek leaves and knead a dough, a soft one.
On your platform, sprinkle some flour and roll out a small ball from the dough in a round shape about 20p thick. This can be done with the help of a roller pin.On a hot flat pan (tawa), on medium heat, put the flat bread. after few seconds, flip it to the other side. When little pockets are visible, spread a little clarified butter on both the sides and fry it well.All the flat breads can be fried in the same way.

To keep the flat breads warm and soft, keep them inside a muslin cloth, in a close container.
P.S- If using dried fenugreeks leaves, just add them to the flour and mix well. The rest process is same.Serve them with your choice of chutney or pickle.
Happy Cooking!!!

Aniseed Brussels sprouts Pasta

Again a Pasta dish....but a veg one...very quick and filling....no extra
effort....this one has got fennel seeds in it which gives a very subtle
taste to it...well aniseed/fennel, onions and olive oil is a great
combination....you can try out different recipes with this
combination. so here it goes....

Ingredients:

Pasta- Any shape
Onion- 2 big, sliced thinly
brussel- 7-8 cleaned and cut into halves
aniseed/fennel seeds-1 tsp
cherry tomatoes- a few, washed and into halves
sugar- 1/2 tsp
salt- as per requirement
cheddar cheese- grated
basil- dried, 1/2 tsp
olive oil- 2 big tbsp and some extra to drizzle


Recipe:

Boil the pasta as per the instruction on the packet till al dente.

Once done, take out the pasta and do not throw the water.
On a pan, put the olive oil and aniseed/fennel seeds and dried basil
leaves. Add the onions and fry till light pink....do not over fry them.
Add the brussels and fry for 2 minutes on a low heat. We need to
be careful about not to over fry the vegatables. Add the sugar and
salt on it the pasta and mix well....
Add the cherry tomatoes towards the end and mix very
gently.....sprinkle the cheese and mix well on the pan.
Just before moving it out, drizzle some olive oil on the pasta and
gently give a good mix....and its ready....

Ready in minutes and a very light, yummy and filling too...
specially the last add up of extra Extra virgin olive oil makes it too
yummy....

Tips: If you feel the dish a bit dry, just use the water from the boiled pasta to moist it. Do take care of the salt while cooking as the water already have salt in it.

Happy Cooking!!!