MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja- Anda Bhurji/Bhujia

Anda Bhurji/Bhujia (Egg Scramble, Indian Style)

Anda Bhurji/Bhujia is most commonplace Indian recipe that is utmost popular amongst the masses. Bhurji means scramble. In Marathi, it is called Andyachi Bhagar or Andyacha Gabra. It is the easiest to prepare and made in different ways in different households with some minor variations of ingredients. Every household has its unique making style and taste of Anda Bhurji. It is usually made as a fatatfat(quick) or jhatpat dish when one is in a hurry. The main ingredients that go in the making of this yummy recipe are eggs, oil, onions, tomatoes, fresh coriander, chilly and turmeric powders and salt. Some may like green chillies in it.

My mother never added tomatoes, but I do add. I make Anda Bhurji with Kanda Lasun Masala and it gives an awesome flavour to it.

 

Ingredients

Eggs – 6 nos

Oil – 2-3 tablespoons

Onions, medium sized – 2 nos

Tomatoes – 1 large

Fresh coriander – 5-6 sprigs

Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

Kanda Lasun Masala – 1 teaspoon

Salt – As per taste

Green chillies – 1-2, optional

Method

Chop onions, tomatoes and coriander leaves finely and set aside. Heat oil in a kadahi(pan) and add chopped onions. Fry the onions lightly so as to caramelise them to a golden-brown colour. Add tomatoes and stir for abut minutes. Add turmeric powder, kanda lasun masala and salt and give a good stir. Add eggs to this mixture and stir well for about 5-6 minutes till the eggs cook. Finally, add the chopped corianders and serve hot with roti, chapati or bread as per your liking.

Note -Preparation time is about15 minutes and this quantity is enough for 3 persons. I make many variations of Anda Bhurji with different vegetables like cabbage, French beans, green capsicum, either separately or mixed together and add black pepper powder to give a different taste. The vegetarian option of Anda Bhurji is Paneer (Cottage Cheese) Bhurji.

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja- Rice Dhokla

Rice Dhokla

Rice Dhokla is much like the famous idli, except that curd is used here for fermentation. It has a distinct, slightly sour flavour because of the curd. I like this dhokla better than the besan (gram flour) dhokla. This dhokla is available at many outlets in Pune. I tried making it at home after reading it on the internet only recently and it turned out really yummy. You may use whole rice or idli rawa, whichever is readily available for this recipe.

Ingredients

Rice/Idli Rawa – 2 cups

Urad Daal (Split Black Gram without skin) – ¼ cup

Tuvar/Arhar Daal (Split Pigeon Peas) – 1 teaspoon

Chana Daal (Bengal Gram) – 1 teaspoon

Moong Daal (Green Gram split without skin) – 1 taespoon

Fenugreek seeds – ½ teaspoon

Water – As per requirement

Curds – 1 big cup

Salt – As per requirement

Soda Bi Carb – ½ teaspoon

Green Chillies – 2 nos

Ginger – 1inch piece

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Sesame seeds – 2 tablespoons

Mustard seeds – 1½ teaspoons

Asafoetida – A small pinch

Red chilly powder – ¼ teaspoon

Method

Wash and soak rice/idli rawa in water for 3 hours. Wash and soak all the daals together for 3 hours. After 3 hours, drain water from soaked rice and daals. Grind the soaked daals along with ginger and green chillies to a coarse paste, add curds if required and set aside. Grind the soaked rice/ idli rawa also coarsely with curds and add to the daal mixture. Mix well and set aside for fermentation for about 6-7 hours.

For cooking rice dhokla, take a flat-bottomed vessel and grease with oil. Add salt and soda bi carb to the rice dhokla mixture and mix well for about 2-3 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the greased vessel and steam cook for about 12-15 minutes in a pressure cooker without the whistle.

For tempering, heat oil, and add asafoetida and mustard seeds, once the mustard seeds splutter, add sesame seeds and remove from fire. Pour this on the cooked rice dhokla. Sprinkle red chilly powder on top. Rice Dhokla is ready to be served. Serve rice dhokla with chutney of your choice.
I made chutney with fresh cocnut, roasted groundnuts and roasted, puffed chutney daal.

Note- Preparation time is about 10 hours and cooking time is 25-30 minutes. 

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Paatal Poha Chiwda (Rice Flakes Mixture Snack)

Paatal Pohyacha Chiwda (Rice Flake Savoury Mixture Snack)

Paatal Pohyacha Chiwda is a light, crispy, tasty snack that can be prepared very easily. You require thin rice flakes/puffed rice for this recipe, but, if these are not readily available, then one can use the normal poha too. With normal poha, the roasting time may increase. This snack uses very little oil; hence it is healthy in that respect.

This dish was never made by my mother. It was made by my aunt, and I liked it so I learnt to make it.

Ingredients

Paatal Poha (Thin rice flakes) – ½ kg

Groundnuts – 200 gms

Dry coconut (Thinly sliced) – 2 tablespoons

Cashews (broken) – 2 tablespoons

Chutney Daal – 2 tablespoons

Sesame seeds – 2 tablespoons

Mustard Seeds – 1 teaspoon

Cumin Seeds – 1 teaspoon

Curry Leaves – 15-20

Green Chillies (finely chopped) – 3-4 nos

Garlic (finely chopped) – 1½ teaspoon

Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

Oil – ½ cup

Salt – To taste

Asafoetida – A generous pinch

Method

Fry the groundnuts and set aside. Dry roast the rice flakes on medium flame till they become crisp and a light cream colour, add few drops of oil in between while dry roasting. Add salt, turmeric powder and fried groundnuts and switch off the heat.

For tempering take another utensil. Heat oil and fry cashews pieces, chutney daal, and sliced dry coconut very lightly and add to the rice flakes mixture. Fry the finely chopped garlic till it turns crisp and brown and add to the rice flakes. Add asafoetida, chopped green chillies, mustard and cumin seeds and allow the chillies to become crisp. Add this tempered oil to the rice flakes mixture along with the sesame seeds and mix well. Lightly roast the rice flakes mixture on low flame for about 8-10 minutes, till it becomes crispy by stirring continuously so that all ingredients mix well and the salt gets distributed evenly also. 

While serving, you may add finely chopped onion and fresh coriander.

Note - Similar savoury snack can be made with cornflakes or wheat flakes or any other puffed grains.

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Dadpe Pohe

Dadpe Pohe (Soaked and Pressed Rice Flakes Snack)

Dadpe Pohe is a delicious, lip smacking recipe of uncooked, soaked and pressed poha with lots of fresh vegetables. Dadpe means pressed, and in this recipe,the poha is soaked and pressed for a while and used uncooked.  It is a nice summery treat, very easy to prepare too. Generally, thin puffed rice flakes are used for this recipe. In case, thin variety is unavailable, one can make use of the normal variety too, only soaking and pressing time would increase in that case.

It is poha (puffed rice) soaked in coconut water/curds or a mix of both, and finely chopped onions, tomatoes, grated fresh coconut, carrot and cucumber, salt, sugar, lime to taste n for tempering oil, curry leaves, green chillies, mustard seeds n asafoetida, for garnish -fried groundnuts, chopped coriander.
This dish was never made at my home, I had it at my college-mate's home and I got this recipe from his mother as I had really liked the taste.

Ingredients

Thin Poha/Rice Flakes – 2 cups

Curds/Yoghurt – 1 to 1½ cups

Onion – 1 large (finely chopped)

Tomato – 1 medium (finely chopped)

Grated Fresh Coconut – 2 tablespoons

Salt – As per taste

Sugar - 1½ - 2 teaspoons

Lemon juice – 2 teaspoons

Fresh coriander – 2 tablespoons (Finely Chopped)

Fried Groundnuts – 2 tablespoons

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Mustard Seeds – 1 teaspoon

Curry Leaves – 14-15

Green Chillies – 2-3 nos

Cumin Seeds (optional) – ½ teaspoon

Carrot – 2 tablespoons (grated)

Cucumber – 2 tablespoons (grated)

Method

Clean the Poha/rice flakes well by straining through a strainer. Add curds, salt, sugar, lemon juice to the poha and keep it pressed for about half hour in a vessel by covering with a plate with weight placed on it. Add finely chopped onion, tomato, grated coconut, fried groundnuts, chopped coriander leaves, optional vegetables like grated carrot and cucumber and mix well.

For tempering, heat oil in a vessel. Add mustard and cumin seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, chopped green chillies, allow the mustard to splutter well and add to the prepared poha mixture. Give a good stir so that the tempering mixes well with the poha mixture. Dadpe Pohe are ready to be served.  

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Mango Sheera

Mango Sheera

Mango Sheera is a delicacy, it is Suji Halwa with mango. In Maharashtra, mango is eaten in different forms like Aamras, Aamrakhand and so on. In some places in the state, Aamras is eaten in combination with rice, kurdai, puranpoli, sheera (suji halwa) and shevaya (semiyaan) etc. In coastal areas, vegetarian mango cake is made with semolina and mango pulp. I tried out Mango Sheera recently and it turned out really yummy. I used Alphonso mango, one may use any other variety too.

Ingredients

Rawa (Suji/Semolina) – 1½ cups

Ghee – ½ cup

Milk – 2 ½ cups

Sugar – 1 cup +1 tablespoon

Mango Pulp – 1 cup

Cardamom Powder – ¼ teaspoon

Saffron – 10-12 strands

Dryfruits (Cashews, Almonds, Raisins) - Optional

Method

Heat ghee in a hard-bottomed pan and add suji to it. Keep roasting the Suji on medium heat till it turns to a nice golden-brown colour. Warm the milk and add to this mixture, be careful while adding as the suji mixture tends to splutter. Stir well, the suji milk mixture will come together, then add sugar to this mix. Mix well and cover with a lid and allow to cook for about 5 minutes on medium flame. Add mango pulp and cook for 4-5 minutes more. Add cardamom powder and crushed saffron. Garnish with dry fruits. Serve hot.

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Pineapple Sheera

Pineapple Sheera (Suji Halwa with Pineapple)

Pineapple Sheera is a dessert, Suji Halwa with Pineapple, sheera with a difference. I recently tried out this combination and it tastes really delicious. Fresh pineapple lends a lovely flavour to the normal Suji Halwa. It is easy to make too. It is a nutritious dish, especially for growing children.

Ingredients

Rawa (Suji/Semolina) – 1½ cups

Ghee – ½ cup

Milk – 2 ½ cups

Sugar – 1 cup +1 tablespoon

Pineapple (fresh, coarsely crushed in mixer) – ¾ cup

Cardamom Powder – ¼ teaspoon

Dryfruits (Cashews, Almonds, Raisins) - Optional

Method

Take a hard-bottomed pan and heat the ghee and add suji to it. Keep roasting the suji on medium heat till it turns to a nice golden-brown colour. Warm the milk and add to this mixture, be careful while adding as the suji mixture tends to splutter. Stir well, the suji milk mixture will come together, then add sugar to this mix. Mix well and cover with a lid and allow to cook for about 5 minutes. Add the crushed pineapple and cook for 4-5 minutes more. Add cardamom powder. Garnish with dry fruits. Serve hot.

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Kelyacha Sheera

Kelyacha Sheera (Banana Suji Halwa)

Kelyacha Sheera is a typical Maharashtrian recipe, it is Suji Halwa with banana. I have already mentioned in my recipe of Suji Halwa or Sheera as in Marathi, that this dish is considered to be sacred and offered to God as Naivedyam, especially for the SatyaNarayan Puja and further is distributed as Prasaad. My mother used to make really amazing Kelyacha Sheera, by roasting the Suji (Semolina) along with bananas in pure ghee to a lovely golden brown. Even while writing, I am transported to the rich aroma of this lovely dish.
In childhood, this Prasaad of Kelyacha Sheera was a delicacy worth all the wait. It would be served very beautifully in banana leaf. Roasting with immense patience is the key to this wonderful recipe.

Ingredients

Rawa (Suji/Semolina) – 1½ cup

Pure Ghee – ½ cup

Banana (ripe) – 1 large

Milk – 2½ cups

Sugar – 1 cup or a little more

Cardamom Powder – ½ teaspoon

Dry fruits (Cashew, Almonds, Raisins) - Optional

Method

Take a hard-bottomed pan and heat the ghee and add suji to it. Keep roasting the Suji on medium heat till it turns to a light brown colour. Mash the banana and add to the roasted suji and keep stirring and roasting till the mixture turns a deep golden brown. Warm the milk and add to this mixture, be careful while adding as the suji mixture tends to splutter. Stir well, the suji milk mixture will come together, then add sugar to this mix. Mix well and cover with a lid and allow to cook for about 5 minutes. Add cardamom powder. Garnish with dry fruits and serve hot.

Note - Preparation and cooking time is about 30-40 minutes.

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Mutton Roganjosh

Mutton Roganjosh

Mutton Roganjosh is a tasty Kashmiri recipe with unique taste. It is simple to make and uses minimal ingredients yet has a finger licking flavour. By virtue of belonging to a family that served in defence forces, it came as an added advantage to learn recipes from different states of the country and adapt them to suit the tastes of the family by making little modifications. I remember Mutton Roganjosh used to be cooked by my mother on Sundays and always recall this as a Sunday Special in our house. I had not cooked this recipe for ages and was just contemplating of making it sometime as I was not remembering the exact ingredients except of course mutton, onions, curds, red chillies and potatoes. As I was unable to remember the exact recipe, I referred to the internet and saw Chef Harpal’s recipe.

It uses onions, curds, Kashmiri tikki masala, Kashmiri red chillies and he has given tips to use mustard oil and lots of asafoetida for the authentic taste. The Kashmiri Tikki Masala is used in nearly all Kashmiri recipes nearly and it has a powdered mix of big and small cardamoms, cumin, coriander seeds, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, black pepper, dry ginger, Kashmiri red chillies, asafoetida and fennel seeds. If Kashmiri Tikki Masala is not readily available, one may substitute it with regular garam masala.

My mother added potatoes to this recipe, the reason could have been economical as the family was big and the mutton may not be sufficient for all, hence. My husband too remembered his academy days and recollected this dish being prepared there and he also mentioned potatoes being added to this recipe. Potatoes are optional, they do lend a good taste to the dish though. Try to take the leg piece for this recipe, mostly the forelimb, if this is not available, you may use the hind-leg too.

Ingredients

Mutton/Meat (Lamb/goat) – 1 kg

Oil – ½ - ¾ cup

Onions – 1 kg

Ginger – 2-inch piece

Garlic – 25-30 cloves

Curds – 300 gms

Big cardamom – 4-5

Green cardamom – 2-3

Bay leaves – 2-3

Cloves – 8-10

Cinnamon – 2-3 pieces

Asafoetida (optional) – ¼ teaspoon

Garam Masala/Kashmiri Tikki Masala – 1 teaspoon

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder – 1 teaspoon

Plain red chilly powder – ½ teaspoon

Fennel seed powder – 1 teaspoon

Dry Ginger powder – ½ teaspoon

Salt – To taste

Water – Approximately 1 litre or some more 

Method

Finely chop the onions. Grind ginger and garlic to a fine paste and set aside. Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan. Add bay leaves, big cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves and asafoetida. Allow the spices to splutter and add finely chopped onions, fry the onions to a light golden brown by constantly stirring. Add mutton pieces and ginger garlic paste. Stir well for about 7-8 minutes till mutton/meat pieces are well covered with the fried onions, add salt and a cup of water and braise the meat on a medium flame for about 40 – 45 minutes by covering it. Check in between and add about 3-4 cups of water intermittently to cook the meat.

Mix both the chilly powders in little water and add to the cooked meat. Add garam masala and cook for another 10 minutes. Add well beaten curd to the meat and also the fennel seed and dry ginger powders. Stir well and cook for further 10 -15 minutes. Mutton Rogan josh is ready to be served and it tastes good with roti, chapati as well as rice. 

Note – Preparation and cooking time is about one and half to two hours. This quantity should be enough for 4-5 persons.

MyMusingsSangSpeak - The Story of Lost Pictures/Photographs

The Story of Lost Pictures/Photographs

This topic of lost photographs has been in my mind for a long time now. It resurfaces time and again and was foremost in my mind when my daughter deleted some pictures of our Rajasthan trip mistakenly while transferring them from mobile to laptop. My husband had earlier connected a pen drive to the laptop without scanning and the infected pen drive had let in a virus which would not allow the lost pictures to be retrieved. My daughter lost her sleep for two days and she tried her level best to recover the lost pictures. It actually reminded me of my predicament about 6 years ago when I had lost pictures mistakenly by deleting without giving a second thought. These pictures were of our Andamans trip as well as my nature pictures.

The second recent most instance of losing photographs happened when I kept using my old laptop which had the outdated Windows XP and I kept using it despite warnings from my daughter. Luckily, we could recover some few of the snaps with the help of a computer expert who loaded the new operating system to recover data.

 Photographs document our lives and we all really love and enjoy seeing them over again to relive the memories. This activity transports us to a happy zone to recall all the fun and memorable times we had. Photographs are indeed precious treasures and we take great efforts to preserve them in forms of negatives, prints and albums and in today’s digital age, of course, in digital formats.

It is quite disastrous to lose this precious treasure. The loss of photographs can be attributed to many factors like poor upkeep, maintenance, weathering and so on. In today’s digital age, you lose data due to so many reasons and so the photographs and pictures get lost in the process. I lost mine due to a silly mistake like deleting without thinking twice as I have mentioned above. It literally put me into depression. I took quite some time to come out of it. I pacified myself by thinking that people lose near and dear ones, so what are photographs, memories are actually etched in our hearts. Pictures are just extensions of those memories.

The precautions that you can take to preserve your digital images is to always take a backup. If you have not taken a backup, then recovery software might help you to recover your lost pictures. Recovery software is freely available on trial basis and if you wish to extend the services, it comes with a charge. Be careful while transferring. Always give a second thought before deleting data. Backup is a must to preserve digital pictures. I have learnt my lesson after losing my precious pictures. Hope my experience helps you all folks too. Happy clicking and preserving.

MyMusingsSangSpeak - Password Life

PassWord Life

123XYZ#*&()<>

Life has become Password Set

Password for my Account

Password for Everything Online

Sharpens my Memory or…………...

Does that blunt it

Set a PassWord

Hope You Kept a Strong One, Ha ha ha

Forgot Your PassWord?

Make varied Combinations of Numbers and Alphabets

Ahhhh the AlphaNumerics combined with symbols too

To dodge the Hacker Gang

Coding and Decoding
"PassWord Protected" is the New Age Armour of Today's Digital Age

The Mind keeps a note of this Password and that Password

Password for Bank

Password for Email

Password for Social Media

Password for This and Password for That

In the meantime, the Password for Life gets Lost

While paying the Cost

Of leading a life in PassWord Exhaust

By
Sangita

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Prawn Kadhi

Prawn Kadhi

Prawn Kadhi is an ultimate sea food recipe, so full of flavour and taste. I had tasted this at my friend’s place and it was a signature dish of her family. The friendship did not last but the taste and recipe remain with me along with the bittersweet memories. This recipe works well with any sea fish too as with the prawns, especially Surmai and Pomfret. This curry is known as kadhi because of the delicate flavouring of curry leaves and cumin seeds.

Ingredients

Prawns (cleaned and deveined) – ½ kg

Fresh grated coconut – 1½ cup

Dry coconut – ½ cup

Khuskhus (Poppy Seeds) – 2 tablespoons

Coriander sprigs – 5-6

Green Chillies – 2 nos

Garlic – 10-12 cloves

Cumin seeds – 1½ teaspoons

Curry leaves – 3 sprigs

Turmeric – 1 teaspoon

Red Chilly Powder – ½ teaspoon

Tamarind Pulp – 2 tablespoons

Oil – 3- 4 tablespoons

Salt – As per taste

Water – Approximately 1 litre

Method

Extract coconut milk from the fresh grated coconut and set aside for further use. Grind together dry coconut, poppy seeds, fresh coriander, garlic, green chillies, some few curry leaves and 1 teaspoon of cumin to a fine paste, add some water if required. Heat oil in a pan and temper with remaining cumin seeds and curry leaves. Add the ground paste and roast for about 5-6 minutes. Add turmeric and chilly powders along with salt and mix well. Add tamarind pulp and mix well. Add about half litre of water and bring to a boil while stirring. Add prawns and allow to cook for about 7-8 mins. Finally, add the extracted coconut milk and keep stirring continuously so that it does not curdle. Remove from fire and serve hot with rice.

Note – You may use a teaspoon of rice powder with coconut milk so as to not let it curdle after adding to the kadhi. Preparation time is about 1 and half hour and this curry quantity is sufficient for 4 persons.

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Laal Tikhatche Paatal Pithale/Pithala

Laal Tikhatache Paatal Pithale

This is a lip-smacking Maharashtrian recipe, very basic and rustic. It forms a part of the staple diet of an average agrarian Maharashtrian household. My family just loves this dish and it is really a soul satisfying one. As it is easy to prepare and requires minimum ingredients and tastes so delicious, it is famous amongst all Non Maharshtrians too. Laal Tikhatache Paatal Pithale tastes good with almost anything and serves as a perfect accompaniment with Jowar (Sorghum) Roti and rice.

Ingredients

Besan (Gram Flour) – 2 cups

Onion – 1 large

Garlic – 14-16 cloves

Red Chilly Powder – 1 teaspoon

Oil – 3-4 tablespoons

Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida – 1 pinch

Salt – As per taste

Water – Approximately 1 litre

Chopped coriander leaves (optional) – 2 tablespoons

Method

Heat oil in a Kadahi and add asafoetida and mustard seeds, allow mustard seeds to splutter and then, add chopped onion. Fry for about 4-5 mins till it turns light brown, then add crushed garlic and give a good stir. Add red chilly powder and salt and stir for few moments and add water. Bring the water to boil and add gram flour, little quantity at a time and keep stirring continuously. Once all gram flour is added, stir well and cover and allow to cook for about ten minutes on medium flame. Stir occasionally, once you see oil separating, remove from fire. Add coriander leaves and serve hot topped with ghee accompanied by jowar roti and rice.

Note – Preparation and cooking time is about half hour to 40 minutes. This quantity is sufficient for 4 persons.

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Paatal Pithale/Pithala

Paatal Pithale/Pithala

Pithala is the most famous Maharshtrian recipe, a lip-smacking delight and it comes in many avataars like paatal (liquid/semi liquid) or semi soft or firm consistencies and can be made in varied ways using various vegetables, constant ingredient being besan that is gram flour. Pithala is also known as Jhunka in Marathi. One can use either green chillies or red chilly powder as per one’s preference. It tastes best with jowar roti or rice. Here, I am giving you the recipe of paatal pithala using green chillies. Hope you all enjoy it.

There are many versions of this recipe in other Indian states too. It is a quick to make dish and generally all these ingredients used are readily available in the kitchen. When you are short of vegetables at home, this is a quick fix recipe. The average Maharashtrian farmer's daily diet used to be Pithala Bhakri.

Ingredients

Besan (Gram Flour) – 1 cup

Onion – 1 large

Garlic – 10-12 cloves

Green Chillies – 2-3 nos

Dry coconut grated – 1 tablespoon

Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

Cumin – ½ teaspoon

Mustard Seeds – 1 teaspoon

Oil – 2-3 tablespoons

Water – 750 ml approximately

Salt – As per taste

Chopped coriander leaves (optional) – 2 tablespoons

Method

Chop the onion, coarsely crush together chillies, garlic and dry grated coconut. Heat oil in a karahi and splutter cumin and mustard. Add chopped onion and fry for about 3-4 minutes. Add coarsely ground chiily, garlic and coconut. Add turmeric powder and water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Once the water has boiled, lower the fame and add besan, little by little and keep stirring so that it forms a smooth paste. Stir well and cook by covering with a lid for about 7-8 minutes. Remove from fire and add coriander leaves. Serve hot with a dollop of ghee along with jowar roti and hot steaming rice.

Note – Some people make a solution of besan and water and then add it to the fried mixture to get extra smooth consistency. You can follow that method too.

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Kardaichi Bhaji (Safflower Vegetable)

Kardaichi Bhaji (Safflower Vegetable)

Kardai (Safflower) vegetable is a popular green leafy vegetable consumed in Maharashtra. It is a highly nutritious vegetable containing many minerals and vitamins. Kardai oil is also a healthy option of oil. The vegetable can be prepared in many ways, simply by tempering garlic and green chillies or by adding onion and various daals (pulses). It tastes good as accompaniment with almost anything like wheat or jowar roti.

Ingredients

Kardai (Safflower) – 1 bunch

Onion – 1 medium

Garlic – 10-12 cloves

Green chillies – 2

Chana Daal (Split Chickpeas) – 2 tablespoons

Oil – 2 tablespoons approximately

Salt – As per taste

Water – As per requirement

Method

Soak chana daal in water for about an hour. Clean the vegetable by separating the leaves and you may take the tender stems. Wash well and chop into approximately 1” long pieces. Chop onions and crush garlic and green chillies. Heat oil in a kadahi, add chopped onion and fry for 2-3 minutes, then add crushed ginger and green chillies and fry for further 2 minutes. Add the chopped vegetable, soaked chana daal, salt, water, stir well and cover with a lid and allow to cook for about 10 minutes on low flame. Afterwards, give a good stir, check if the daal has softened and cooked well. Remove from fire and serve.

Note - You may use daal of your choice, it could be moong, masoor or tur (arhar).