Parathas

Parathas are everybody’s favourite. Let it be kids or oldies. We all love parathas. This Saturday is going to be paratha day. Here is the tried and tested (also tasted) recipe.

Paneer Aloo paratha

For stuffing

3 – 4 medium size potatoes
250 gm paneer
4 medium size chopped onions

1 cup chopped coriander
2 tbs mint chopped
5 – 6 green chllies, choppedi
1 tsp ajwain
1 tsp black salt
Salt as per taste
1 tsp dry mango powder.

For greasing

Oil

For dough

3 cup wheat flour

2 tbsp rice flour

2 tbsp fine semolina
3 tbs oil
Water

Salt to taste

Directions for dough making.

First prepare dough by taking mixing all the flour, 3 teaspoon oil & salt in a small bowl.  Add water in small quantities and knead smooth and soft dough (like chapati dough). Grease its surface with 1/2 teaspoon oil, cover it with clean muslin cloth and set aside for 15-20 minutes to settle at room temperature.

For the stuffing

Peel the boiled potatoes and mash, mix all the ingredients

For the paratha
Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and roll a portion of the dough into a circle.
Place a little stuffing in the centre of the circle.
Bring together all the sides in the centre and seal tightly.
Roll again into a circle with a little flour.
Heat a non-stick tava  and cook the paratha using a ghee until golden brown spots appear on both the sides.
Repeat with the remaining dough and stuffing to make all parathas.
Serve immediately with fresh curd and spicy mint chutney

Important, pls be generous while applying ghee.

Games that people play

People and their insecurities. How I hate such people. Why can’t they just be stable in what they are doing and focus in life? I mean what’s the point of being soo insecure that later you have to justify your actions. Fail to understand this. Anyways, I am sure they will learn the hard way. I think sometimes you need someone to show you the path, the way to stay calm and not react. One really need to encounter such person in life. I had once encountered a lady, who happened to be my immediate reporting manager. Whatever, I have learnt about life, second chance etc etc all thanks to her. I think she was one of the calmest person on this earth I have ever seen. I think I need to go back to her teachings. She was the kind of lady who would not even shout at you if would slap her. She would try and find the reason behind this behavior. Reason reminds me, we say everything happens for a reason, and the irony is that we never know the reason why! Boooo!!!  A lady at my current work place needs some peace of mind. I think I need to learn to ignore that pest. What pain in the a*** man. Uff, just a pretty face with wicked ideas. I find it funny when she sugar coat things and say assuming I am fool and will never be able to see the hidden truth. Idiot. I think sometimes not speaking is considered as not understanding. It’s time to speak up and give back double the shit. But, at the same time my ex-bosses teachings crowd my mind. May be I should give her benefit of doubt and leave things, just focus on what I need to do and ignore the rest. I think, I should do the latter. This will bring me some sanity.

It has never been easy dealing with others insecurities. I am sure even I must be insecure but then I would not want to harm anybody. I take things in my and only when required o when someone tries to suffocate me. This happened to me sometime last week, I know a person who just doesn’t value what others do for him/ her. So I thought of teaching that person a lesson by just ignoring. Trust me it worked. It worked wonders. Ignorance is a bliss, seriously. I know a gentleman at my current work place who acts calm and doesn’t react to anything at all. Wonder how what are these people made of. I think they are aware of their strengths and their insecurities. I am sure at his level, there must be bigger games and politics that his peers would be playing but again, he is at the helm so I doubt if any such bitchy behavior affects him. Anyways, to each to its own. We all are born unique and yes, I have temper, I speak my heart out and I do not give a f** about what the society says. This doesn’t mean I have lost my humanity. I do not believe in Gandhi philosophy, I firmly believe in ‘an eye for an eye’.
I think this needs to end on a funny note as I am in no mood to spoil my evening for some crap shit around me. Here is a super cool video.

Thank you dude for making me laugh hysterically.

Cheesy affair

Cheese balls have been on mind for the longest. I have always seen posts on various food groups but never had the courage to make one. Primary reason, cheese, potatoes and deep frying that pretty we sums up my reluctance to make this amazing dish. Finally, a week ago gave into the temptation. I must admit, I repent not making it for the longest. These cheesy balls are heaven on earth. Seriously one must indulge once in a while. Here is the quickest and the easiest recipe.

Ingredients:

Potatoes – 3 -4 large boiled and mashed

Peas – 1/2 cup

Spring Onion – 1 chopped

Tomato Ketchup – as per taste

Salt to taste

Red chili powder as per taste

Red chili flakes and oregano – as per taste

CornFlour / CornStarch – 2 tblsp

Breadcrumbs – 1 cup

Mozarella Cheese – as needed, cut into small cubes

Oil for Deep Frying + 1 tsp

Method:

Heat oil in a kadai. Add in spring onion and peas and saute for a min.

Add in tomato ketchup, salt and red chili powder & flakes to taste and mix well.

Add in potatoes and mix well. Allow this to cool down. Divide this into equal portions.

Take one ball and stuff it with small piece of cheese in the center and cover from all sides. Do the same to every balls.

Mix cornflour with some water to form a thin liquid. Take breadcrumbs in a plate and set aside.

Now take the cheese stuffed ball and dip them in cornflour liquid and then roll them tightly in breadcrumbs. Do the same to every balls.

Now heat oil for deep frying and fry these balls till golden brown.

Drain in a paper towel and serve with green spicy mint chutney.

Aha, mere muh mein paani aa gaya. Yummy!!

Weekend cooking

We had guests over the weekend. The enthusiastic me decided to make sandwiches and alu wadi (Colocasia leaves) of course, I did not take into account the time that would be spent doing so. Making both the snacks in the evening would be a bit of juggle but, I thought I could manage. So here I get into the kitchen and start preparing for both the items simultaneously. After getting into the preparation mode I realized what a mistake I was doing or rather blunder. It is impossible to do both at the same time. Alu is delicate and requires attention and care to make that savory dish and on the other hand sandwich is an artistic dish that requires vegetables to be thinly sliced & made up… opps to much work. So I set aside alu wadi and focused only on sandwich. Let me tell you alu wadi is far more tastier than sandwich, anytime.  So below is a quick tried and tested recipe.

Ingredients:

10 Alu/Colocasia leaves

You may use 5 for  each set

For coating:

1 cup Chickpea flour (Besan)

2 tbsp. rice flour

1 tsp. ginger-garlic paste

1 cup grated coconut – grind this with less water

1 chopped onion

2 tbsp. tamarind pulp

1 tbsp. grated jiggery … you may decide this as per your taste

1 tsp. cumin powder

1 tsp. garam masala

1 tsp. red chilli powder

1 tsp. turmeric

2 tsp. oil

Salt to taste

Water to requirement

Method:

Wash the colocasia leaves and chop off the stems. The stems produce some juice which may cause throat irritation in some cases. To counter this effect, cut off the steams and coat the leaves with half of tamarind pulp and keep aside for 10 minutes

Till then, prepare the coating. Mix all ingredients given under coating (except water). Mix well, add water bit by bit to make the coating ‘spreadable’

Take a leaf, keep it upside down. Generously apply the coating on to it. Keep another leaf over it covering it half way. Again apply the coating over it

Once both leaves are fully coated, start rolling from one end towards the other. Repeat the process for other two pair of leaves

At this step, you will have 3 rolls. Steam them in a pressure pan (without whistle) for 20 minutes. Remove from the pan and let it cool down

Cut the rolls into equal sized pieces and fry

I usually prefer shallow fry. For this you may take a paan add oil, temper mustard seeds and then place the cut alu vadi. Its ready to eat once crispy brown.

The best part is that you can eat this anytime & it is super healthy.

Just

It’s amazing how people react when they taste their own medicine. They just refuse to see what they do to others and how does the other person feel. But, when the same thing comes down to them, they start suffocating. Well, I am saying this coz a senior of mine from my past organization is currently suffocating. He was in power and would mis-use it. It’s true ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely’. This was true in his case. He would do all sort of flirting, bitching and back-biting & still claim to be the cleanest of the lot. Oh, how I hate these species. Claim to be what you are. Have the balls to speak up & stand for what you think is right. In short have a spine. These people have no category they just start building their clan, keep on adding newer member who would say ‘yes sir’ that’s about it. It’s funny, why enjoy such attention which you don’t deserve. He would suck up to his bosses and then talk big as if ‘ I am the boss’ . Anyways, this is what world is full of. Shit people so never mind.

I am looking forward to the weekend. I looking forward to watch a nice movie, read and snuggle up in my bed the whole day. Fitness, how can I forget this? Swimming and brisk walking. Thanks to youtube I have learnt the basic of how to float. Here is the video which teaches you and show how easy it is.

Follow her to T and you will champ this art of floating. I know, I have used two opposites, champ the art & for beginners. But it is true in case of beginners. You can actually do it. Give it a try.

It wonderful to see how learning never ceases. We are constantly learning. Our thought process evolve and we think we become a better human. I doubt. Better human, is that what I said???? We are horrible, we are just trying to become sober. The only positive side is that we are learning to change. When I was a kid, may be in class 3, I remember lying to my mother and eventually being caught. I had lied for a petty issue… I wanted to sleep and did not want to attend tuition so I just said, my teacher is unwell and has asked me to sleep at home.  This lie got me caught & I got learning that you should not lie but, if you lie, you need to be smart enough to cover all aspects. See, this is what I am talking about. We learn but also we see a way out of it. Human brain is wired in a weird manner. No wonder we have learnt how to escape through lies. Yakub Memon was caught guilty while he was running away with a fake passport but it still took two decades to do justice. I am sure his intelligent brain did the trick and he kept on delaying his punishment. Having said this, justice is done. Finally.

Kebbabs

So last time, my mom asked me to make kebbas of leftover rice and now, it’s the dal. Reasons why I do not waste food, coz I think I amongst the very few privileged ones who get to eat meals 4 times a day. It’s my duty to not waste even a morsel. So on this note, I keep going to my mom time & again for some recipes.

Ingredients

1 bowl cooked dal. I had toor & moong mix
Onion: one medium size
Chopped Green chillies: as per your taste
Boiled Potatoes: 2 small size
Peas: 1/2 cup boiled
Garlic: 3 or 4 cloves minced
Ginger about an inch grated
Suji: 2 tbsps

Rice flour: 2 tbps

Besan: 2 tbps
Breadcrumbs: of 2 bread slices
Salt as per taste
Masalas: red chilli powder, turmeric powder

Lemon juice
Coriander leaves: handful chopped

Method:
Ensure to dry the dal i.e let it cook till the water starts evaporating and you can see dal forming lumps

When it cools, add onions, mashed potatoes and peas, all the masalas, salt, suji, besan, rice flour, coriander leaves, lemon juice, ginger & garlic and give a good mix so that everything comes together
Give desired shape, coat it with breadcrumbs

Cook on a nonstick skillet with a little oil, on both sides till crisp

You may now enjoy this with ketchup. It goes well with tangy tomato sauce.

Misal Pav

Misal Pav, Kolhapuri Style

Who doesn’t like spicy food? I mean steaming hot red curry with some farsan, diced onions, coriander & tomatoes. Yeah, I am talking of hot and fiery spicy food. Ohh, with the thought itself I am drooling. Had made this long ago while I was at mom’s place. It was all done under her observation.

So my mom has this quality that she understands what goes into the making while eating. In short what is misal a plateful of sprouted lentils in gravy topped with chopped onions, tomatoes and crisp farsan along with pav buns and a small katori of fiery red curry. Kolhapuri Misal is a wholesome, delicious, humble food and is a must for every Marathi and spicy food lovers. Without much delay let me give you step by step instruction on how to make this fiery hot bowl of Kolhapuri Misal.

Method

Day 1: Wash and then soak 1 cup of Matki/Moth beans in 2 cups of water in the morning. Let it soak for at least 8-10 hours. Then drain water from the beans and place them in a colander lined with damp muslin cloth. Cover the beans and place the colander in a dark place overnight. It usually takes 1 night for the beans to sprout well. So if I am planning to cook anything with sprouted beans I make sure that I prepare for it two days well in advance.

Day 2: This is the day you prepare misal. Preparing misal is very simple and straightforward since we have already prepared the Kolhapuri chutney on previous day. Over all it took me around 1 hour to cook and serve spicy Kolhapuri Misal

Kolhapuri Masala

Ingredients:

½ cup Red Chilli Powder

¼ cup Coriander Seeds

1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds

2 tbsp Dry Coconut. Shredded (unsweetened variety)

1 tsp Sesame Seeds

1 tsp Black Peppercorns

¼ inch Cinnamon Stick

2-3 Cloves

¼ tsp Fennel Seeds

½ medium Onion, thinly sliced

2-3 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced

¼ cup Coriander Leaves, patted dry and finely chopped

½ tbsp Oil

Method:

Dry roast coriander seeds, jeera, sesame seeds, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick, cloves and fennel seeds in a skillet till they are fragrant and roasted fine, about 1-2 mins. Set it aside to cool.

Heat oil in a same pan and roast finely sliced onion, garlic and coriander leaves till they are nicely browned and crisp. Set them aside to cool completely.

Now grind all these ingredients to fine powder. Add red chilli powder to the ground spice powder and mix them well.

Kolhapuri Misal

Ingredients:

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

½ tsp Hing/Asafoetida

4-5 tsp Red Chilli Powder

Salt to taste

5-6 tbsp Oil

For curry Paste:

1 small Onion, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, finely chopped

2 tbsp Oil

Curry

Method:

For curry Paste:

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and ground masala powder or Kolhapuri masala and sauté for couple of seconds till the raw smell disappears from spice base. Make sure that you don’t burn it.

Next add finely chopped onion and tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Mix in grated coconut and cook till the mixture starts to leave oil, about 3 minutes.

Cool the mixture completely and grind to smooth paste adding little water at time.

Next, heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in a pan and add turmeric powder, chilli powder and hing. Immediately add the curry paste and about ¾-1 cup of water and mix well. Turn off the heat and keep it aside.

Kolhapuri Misal

Ingredients:

1 cup Dry Matki/Moth Beans, soaked overnight and sprouted

1 large Potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes

1 large Onion, finely chopped

½ cup raw/roasted Peanuts

½ tsp Turmeric Powder

Salt to taste

For Tadka:

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds

Few Curry Leaves

¼ tsp Hing

1-2 tbsp Oil

Method:

First prepare Kolhapuri Masala/. Heat oil in a pan and add finely chopped onion. Sauté the onion till it turn golden brown. Then add Kolhapuri masala and sauté till it starts leaving oil. Cool this mixture and then grind to smooth paste adding little water at time. Keep it aside until needed.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When it starts to pop and splutter, add cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves. Sauté till cumin turns golden and then add chopped onions to it.

When onions turn translucent, add peanuts, sprouts, potato, turmeric powder, ground Kolhapuri masala paste and salt. Keep stirring for couple of minutes till the masala is evenly spread.

Now add 5-6 cups of water and cook in medium flame. When curry starts to boil, simmer the heat and cook till the sprouts turn tender and potatoes are cooked thoroughly.

Adjust the seasonings before serving this delicious Misal.

Devour your misal now 🙂

Take an individual bowl/plate and add 2 ladles full of Usal. Pour curry depending on how spicy you like, yogurt, finely chopped onion, tomato and coriander leaves on top of Usal. Then add little bit of farsan/spicy mixture/crushed potato chips and serve this along lime/lemon wedges and pav

Adoption

It is strange how we bump into people and then get talking & then be friends forever. No, I am not an introvert but I take time to understand people and then open up to them. So one fine day I see a cat wither four kittens. The love for the cats & kittens starts over-flowing… I become possessive about them as if I am the mother. Lol. Yes, I am possessive that way. I do not like people encroaching into my space or touching & looking after something or someone that is mine. What is mine, is mine & nobody has the right to even see or play. However, the foolish me forgot that I stay in my office premises & the cats & kitten have a shelter at the reception & not at my place. So at the reception anyone & everyone can play, feed them. In this process I happened to learn to leave control over things. Yes, I am still learning. It’s a never ending process.

Here while the kittens are playing & growing, I bump into Subhashini. She is the proud owner of https://www.facebook.com/2ndHomeForPets?fref=ts . She introduced me to wet cat food. Trust me my cat loved it & so did the kittens. In the process, she stated getting food for the kittens and the cat. After a couple of days, she mentioned that these lil munchkins need to be up fr adoption. While my logic said – this is the best thing, my tiny heart said – no, I can’t let them go. Had read this long ago, Gautam Buddha said, ‘If you like a flower you will pluck it, if you love a flower you will water the plant’. This is what really touched me. You cannot harm whom you love, you always look for their well-being their comfort and so on. Eventually, had to make my logic & heart marry and said goodbye to the munchkins and their mom. I am relieved only because I know they are in safe hands. They are with 2^nd home for pets. I am sure Subbu is taking good care of them. (Here are a few pictures from her home) the cat & the kittens seem so happy. They have now got a house, good food &, a better life. God really bless such kind people.

In this entire adoption process I remember getting hassled and worried about, who will adopt them, what if they sell them, what if they are back on streets. But, Subbu & her husband put everything to rest. I met her husband who would not even stamp on a honey bee, so I can totally imagine him taking care of these cuties. I think this is it, such people are rare. Wow, I wish I could be at least one percent of what such selfless humans are off.  These kittens have taught me a lesson that I will remember for my lifetime, nothing is yours, and you have no control on anything, not even on yourself. True, we all are helpless – let it be poor or rich…no one has the control. It’s only nature & the Almighty.

Dhokla

Tried my hands at Khaman dhokla. Here’s my mom’s recipe.
1 and 1/2 (dal vati) besan
1/2 spoon rava
Salt as per taste
Haldi – ½ teaspoon
2 tablespoon dahi
1 Eno packet (blue)

Preparation:
Take besan, rava, salt, haldi and dahi in 1 big bowl mix, add water if required. Batter should be thick
Then keep pressure cooker on gas add some water immerse the stand and let the container heat for some time ( the container should be greased with oil)
Now add Eno to batter that is prepared mix well for 2 to 3 min. Pour the batter in heated container.
Now close the cooker remove the whistle and let it bake for 10 to 15 min.
After that heat some oil in container, pop some mustard seeds, coriander leaves. Now off the gas allow some time to cool. Cut dhokla into pieces.
Put 1 and 1/2 cup water and small spoon sugar now again heat the mixture and pour on dhokla allow some time for dhokla to absorb water.
Your yummy soft dhokhla is ready to eat.