MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Sweet Potato Dessert

Sweet Potato Dessert

Sweet potato (ratali/shakkarkandi) is a food of high nutritional value with lots of vitamins and minerals. It is generally consumed on fasting days in India. Earlier, it used to be just steam boiled and eaten with jaggery and milk. Some people roasted it in the mud oven (chulha) and then ate it directly as well. There are many sweet dishes prepared out of sweet potato like sweet potato puri (ratalyachya gharya), sweet slices (ratalyachya chaktya) and so on. The recipe I am sharing is slightly value added, but I prepare it only once in while. My mother used to make it and I am still to master the delicious taste she dished out.

Ingredients

Sweet Potato – 200 gms

Sugar – ½ cup

Milk (full cream) – 2 cups

Ghee – 2 teaspoons

Method

Wash sweet potatoes well and slice finely. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the sweet potato slices till they turn light golden brown. Now add the milk and sugar and cook till the sweet potato is soft and milk is reduced to at least half. Sweet potato dessert is ready to be served. 

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Bhadang

Bhadang

Bhadang is a very famous Maharashtrian snack of high nutritious and low calorific value. Bhadang and Kolhapur are more or less synonymous, you will get the best bhadang in Kolhapur as the main ingredient for Bhadang is Kolhapuri Chirmura (Muri or Murmura in Hindi, Puffed Rice in English). This snack is such that one can go on munching forever. I can vouch that you all are sure to relish it too.

Ingredients

Puffed Rice/Muri/Murmura/ Chirmura – 250 gms

Groundnuts – 100 gms

Chutney Daal – 50 gms

Oil – 2-3 tbsp

Curry leaves – 12 -14 nos

Garlic Cloves – 10 – 12 nos, crushed whole

Ginger – ½ inch, finely chopped

Asafoetida – A pinch

Red Chilly Powder – 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

Cumin seeds - ½ teaspoon

Sugar powder (optional) – 1/4 teaspoon

Method

Heat oil in a pan, fry the groundnuts and remove them from the oil. Temper this hot oil with asafoetida, crushed garlic, chopped ginger (garlic and ginger should become crisp), curry leaves, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Now add the chutney daal and fry for a minute, then add the puffed rice and stir well. Add the fried groundnuts, red chilly powder, salt and stir well and keep stirring for 4-5 minutes on medium flame so that the chilly powder and salt gets mixed well. Remove from fire, let it cool and store in airtight container. Enjoy your tea/drink along with this light yet filling snack.

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Alu Gobhi Mattar ki Rassa Subji

Alu Gobhi Mattar ki Rassa Subji

“Phoolkobi Watane Batatyachi Rassa Bhaji” is a tasty dish prepared for ceremonial Maharashtrian platter. It tastes good with puri as well as rice.

Ingredients

Cauliflower – 250 gms

Potato – 1 large

Green Peas – 100 gms

Onion – 2 medium

Tomato – 1 medium

Grated coconut – 50 gms

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Garlic – 10- 12 clove

Fresh Coriander – 3-4 sprigs

Turmeric Powder – ½ teaspoon

Kanda Lasun Masala – 1 teaspoon

Oil – 4 tablespoon

Salt – As per Taste

Water – Approx 5 cups

Method

Wash and chop cauliflower. Peel potato and chop into cubes. Cut half of the tomato and keep aside to grind with masala paste. Chop the remaining tomato. Make a masala paste of onions, tomato, ginger, garlic, coconut, coriander and set aside. Heat oil in a pan and add potato cubes, fry till light brown, then add cauliflower and stir fry for about 2- 3 minutes. After this add green peas and stir again for 2 minutes. Now add the masala paste and turmeric powder, stir for about 2 minutes. Then, add chopped tomato and kanda lasun masala. Stir well and add water and bring to boil. Cook for about 5 minutes and Alu Gobhi Mattar ki Rassa Subji is ready to be served.

Note-  Serves approximately  4-5 people.

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja -Spring Onion Stir Fry

Spring Onion Stir Fry

Spring Onion stir fry is kandyachya paatichi bhaji in Marathi. Leafy vegetables (Marathi- Palebhaji) hold very important place in Maharashtrian cooking. The Maharashtrian household will have atleast one variety of palebhaji on daily menu. There are a varied number of palebhaji available, methi, palak being the common ones in addition to shepu(dill), rajgira(amaranth), chawlai, tandulja, chuka, chakwat, kardai, ambadi and so on. Leafy vegetables are very easy to make, most of them are just stir fried with crushed garic and green chilly. These leafy vegetables are full of nutrition, loaded with minerals, vitamins, calcium and iron. Sometimes, you can add soaked daals or roasted groundnut powder or grated fresh coconut to enhance the taste.

Ingredients

Spring onions - 6-7 nos along with leaves

Garlic - 10-12 cloves

Green chillies – 1-2

Oil – 2 teaspoons

Split Masoor Daal(pink lentil) – 2 tablespoons

Salt – As per taste

Method

Wash and soak masoor daal for about 20-30 minutes. Wash spring onions and chop(about 5mm size). Heat oil in a pan, add crushed galic and chopped chilly and stir fry for about a minute. Then add spring onions and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Add soaked daal, salt and stir well and cover with a lid and cook on low flame for about 4-5 minutes. Stir fried spring onion vegetable is ready to be served.

Note – Spring onion stir fry tastes well with sukkat(dried shrimps/small prawns) as well.

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja- Vegetable Cutlet

Vegetable Cutlets

Vegetable cutlets have a very interesting story to tell in my case. Being in the army meant long train journeys for us and the most memorable one is the Jhelum Express one, of nearly one and half days. Many people call this as the “Jaalim Express” as it never ran on time and because of the pathetic food that used to be served on board. My daughter was about 5 years old when we started taking trips in this train. She never liked the food served in this train as usual, but, used to relish the vegetable cutlets served in the Jhelum Express. The vegetable cutlets were served as part of vegetarian breakfast and she demanded cutlets to be served for all 3 times that is breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We frequented this train many times and now the waiters also knew about this child who demands cutlets at all times and the Jhelum Cutlets became a special dish for our family. My biggest food critic, my daughter  would always remark “Mamma, the cutlets you make are not as delicious as the Jhelum wala cutlets”, whenever I made them at home. This made me practise more to perfect the cutlets.

I really don’t know how much change has come over in the food served on board the Jhelum Express in last 16-17 years since we last traveled in this train, but, cutlet making does evoke all these memories.

Ingredients

Potatoes - 4 nos(boiled, peeled, grated)

French Beans – 50 gms, finely chopped

Carrot – 1 medium, peeled and grated

Green Peas – 50 gms (coarsely ground in mixer)

Cabbage – 50 gms, grated

Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 teaspoon

Bread Slices – 2 nos (coarsely ground in mixer)

Turmeric Powder - ½ teaspoon

Red Chilly Powder – ½ teaspoon

Garam Masala Powder – ½ teaspoon

Salt – As per taste

Suji/semolina – Approx 50 gms

Oil – 50-75 ml

Method

Heat a non stick pan and take very little or no oil and sauté the chopped French beans for a minute, then add the coarsely ground green peas and stir for a minute. Sprinkle few drops of water and then add the grated carrot and cabbage and stir fry for a minute. Now add all these sautéed vegetables to the boiled, peeld and grated potatoes along with ginger garlic paste, coarsely ground bread, turmeric, chilly powder and salt and mix well. Make small vegetables cutlets with hand and shape with cutlet cutter if you wish. Then roll in suji and shallow fry in a non stick pan with little oil till they get a golden brown colour on both sides. Dab the cutlets on paper to remove excess oil if any. Cutlets are ready to be served. Accompaniments that go well with these cutlets are tomato sauce, green chutney or tamarind chutney.

Note – You may add some fennel seeds also to the coating of suji. Boiled and grated beetroot can also be added for extra flavour and colour. Cutlets can be coated with bread crumbs as well.

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja- Baingan ka Bharta

Baingan ka Bharta

Baingan/Brinjals/Eggplant/Aubergines come in a large number of varieties all over the world and are loved in so many forms like bharta, baba ganoush, mousakka, ratatouille baingan baghara, masalyachi vangi, vangyache bharit.

I like the Maharshtrian style of bharta(vangyache bharit)  and especially the one made by my mother with spring onions and groundnuts. Here, I am giving you the North India style baingan ka bharta. You require the big, purple coloured brinjals for this recipe.

Ingredients

Brinjals(big, purple variety)- 2 nos

Onions (sliced) – 2 medium

Tomatoes (sliced) – 2 medium

Garlic (crushed) – 10-12 cloves

Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

Red chilly powder – ½ teaspoon

Mustard seeds - ½ teaspoon

Oil – 3 tablespoons

Salt- As per taste

Fresh coriander leaves (finely chopped) – 2 tablespoons

Method

Wash the brinjals, wipe and apply oil, poke at 2-3 places and roast well on gas flame/ fire by turning occasionally. Allow the brinjals to cool and remove the outer black covering, mash and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and add onions once the mustard seeds splutter. Fry the onions for 3-4 minutes till they turn slightly golden, then add garlic and stir for a minute. Then add the roasted brinjals, tomatoes, turmeric powder and salt, stir well, cover with a lid for 2 minutes and cook on low flame. Then add chilly powder and chopped coriander leaves and give a good stir. Remove from flame and Baingan ka Bharta is ready for serving.

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Katachi Aamti

Katachi Aamti

Katachi Aamti is complementary for the Puranpoli menu. Kat is the daal broth that is separated after cooking the chana(Bengal gram) daal for puranpoli. This broth is used for making katachi aamti. I like katachi aamti and rice more than the puranpoli. Many of my friends like to eat puranpoli and katachi aamti together.

Ingredients

Bengal Gram split (Chana Daal)- 1 cup

Water - 4- 5 cups

Turmeric - ½ teaspoon

Oil- 3 tablespoons

Salt- As per taste

Onions – 2 medium

Dry Coconut (grated) - 2 tablespoons

Ginger - ½ inch piece

Garlic - 10-12 cloves

Fresh coriander – 4-5 sprigs

Kolhapuri Kala Masala/ Kanda Lasun Masala- 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida – a pinch

Mustard Seeds- ½ teaspoon

Curry Leaves- 10-12 nos

Kokam- 2-3 nos

Method

Wash the daal well and pressure cook it along with water, a pinch of salt, turmeric and very little oil. Now strain the daal through and separate the clear liquid and daal. The clear liquid is the kat which is used for making katachi aamti. Add a teaspoon of the cooked daal to this liquid and keep it aside.

For the masala, make a paste of the onions, coconut, ginger, garlic, coriander in mixer and sauté it well in oil till oil separates and set aside.

Take little oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafetida to it. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the kolhapuri kaala masala and the above prepared masala paste. Stir for a minute and add the kat i.e. the daal broth. Add kokam and bring to a boil, lower the flame and allow to boil for about 4- minutes. Remove from fire and katachi aamti is ready to be served.

Notes/Tips/Variations

Some people like to add a little jaggery to balance the taste. You may also add a little of the sweet puran to the aamti.

You may roast the onion and piece of dry coconut directly on the gas flame and then use it in the masala paste. This gives a nice flavour to the aamti. You need to be careful while roasting dry coconut on open flame as coconut tends to catch fire because of its oil content.

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja- PuranPoli

PuranPoli

PuranPoli is a Maharashtrian delicacy which is prepared for many festive occasions, mainly Holi. It is also a must have for marriage puja ceremonies and so on. Puranpoli is prepared differently in every household, it can be made of either jaggery or sugar. Towards the Kolhapur belt, telavarchi poli is popular. Here, jaggery is used and as the puranpoli is less sweet, gulavani(jaggery syrup) is used as accompaniment. To make Puranpoli, you require the PuranYantra to churn the puran. In case, you do not have one, make use of the chutney jar of the mixer/grinder or you may use a stainless steel strainer. In earlier times, the ladies used to grind the puran using the stone grinders or pastels.

I make Puranpoli using sugar and I follow the recipe of Mangala Barve of “Annapurna” fame.

Many people enjoy “Katachi Aamti” more than the Puranpoli(Kat is the by product yielded while making Puran). I will be posting recipe of both Puranpoli as well as Katachi Aamti, enjoy.

Puranpoli Ingredients:

For Puran-

Bengal Gram (split)/Chana Daal- 1 cup

Sugar – 2 cups

Water- Approx 5 cups

Salt- A small pinch

Turmeric- A small pinch

Oil- 2 teaspoons

Cardamom Powder- ½ teaspoon

Nutmeg powder- ¼ teaspoon

Saffron (optional) - ¼ teaspoon

For Puranpoli Cover-

Wheat flour- 1 and half cup

Refined flour – 2 tablespoons

Salt- A small pinch

Water- to knead the dough

Oil – 3 tablespoons

Method

Wash the chana daal and add water, salt, turmeric, oil and pressure cook for about 15 minutes. Remove pressure, strain the cooked daal and collect the clear water (this is the kat for katachi aamti). Mash the daal well and add sugar to it and cook in a thick bottomed vessel. This mixture tends to erupt and bubble, so be careful while stirring, you need to stir this constantly. Once the mixture starts leaving the sides of the utensil, it is done. Now you need to churn the puran while hot through the Puran Yantra and finally after readying the puran, add the flavouring ingredients – cardamom, nutmeg and saffron. Set aside the puran. If you do not have Puran Yantra, you can sieve the puran through a stainless steel mesh sieve(about 1-1.5mm wide) while it is warm. Other option  churn puran in the chutney jar of the mixer/grinder once it cools down.

For the dough, mix the wheat flour, refined flour, salt and water to smooth dough and knead well by adding the oil in small quantities at a time. Let the dough aside for minimum half hour and now for making puranpoli, take a small portion and make it into a katori shape, place little quantity of puran into it and close the cover nicely and roll into a chapatti/poli/roti. Heat the tawa and cook the puranpoli lightly on both sides and then add little oil and turn on both sides till done. Puranpoli is ready to be served and is accompanied with ghee and milk.

Note- This seems a difficult recipe to be made, but, one can surely perfect it with practise.