MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Mulyachi Bhaji( Mooli ki Subji, White Radish Vegetable)

Mulyachi Bhaji(Radish Subji)

Radish is primarily used as salad along with carrot, mostly in northern parts of India. It is also used to make Paranthas, Subjis, Pickles, and Daals and used in combination with meat mostly in Himachali and Kashmiri Cuisines. Mostly people do not enjoy this strong smelling vegetable, and, even I did not enjoy it much during childhood. I like the way it was cooked as a vegetable by my grandmother and mother. It is a simple and quick recipe and tastes good too. For this recipe, you will require tender radish with fresh green leaves.

Ingredients

Radish (white) - One medium sized with fresh green leaves

Onion - One medium sized

Garlic - 10-12 cloves

Green Chilly - 1-2

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Salt – As per taste

Cumin – ¼ teaspoon

Carom seeds – ¼ teaspoon

Method

Wash radish well, remove peel and chop leaves and radish finely. Chop onion and crush garlic and chilly. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin and carom seeds. Add onion and let it caramelise. Add crushed garlic and chilly and, then add chopped radish and leaves. Add salt, stir well, cover with a lid and let it cook for 2-3 minutes on medium flame. Sprinkle little water if required, otherwise it will cook in its own juices.

This subji tastes good with bhakri (sorghum roti/bread), chapatti or as a side dish with daal-rice.

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja- Aloo Methi

Aloo Methi

Methi(fenugreek) is one green leafy vegetable that tastes good combined with almost anything like onion, various pulses, meat, fish and other vegetables like spinach, green peas and potatoes etc. It is fully loaded with nutritional benefits and one must always include it as more as possible in the daily diet. Potato being the most humble of all vegetables goes well with almost all vegetables. The Aloo Methi combo tastes very good and is easy to make too.

Ingredients

Methi(fenugreek) - 1 bunch(approx 200 gms), leaves cleaned and washed.

Potoato - 1 medium (peeled and chopped)

Onion - 1 medium (chopped)

Garlic - 10-12 cloves, crushed

Green Chillies - 2 nos, chopped

Ginger(optional) - 1/2 inch finely chopped

Cumin Powder - ¼ teaspoon

Garam Masala (optional) - ¼ teaspoon

Salt - As per taste

Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method 

Heat oil in a pan, add chopped potatoes and stir fry for about 2-3 minutes. Add chopped onion, crushed garlic and chopped chillies and stir fry for about 2-3 minutes. Add salt and all masala powders and cook for about 4-5 minutes on low flame. Remove from fire and serve with chapatti/roti.

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Crispy Karela(Bitter Gourd)

Crispy Karela (Bitter Gourd)

The crispy karela is a dish of its kind, very tempting and sinful. I had tasted this at a Bengali friend’s place and liked it a lot and was quite surprised to know that it is such a simple recipe and did not involve the procedure of removing bitterness of the bitter gourd. Considering its irresistible taste, it is okay to indulge once in a while in this deep fried delicacy. It is a deep fried recipe, so health conscious people please beware. Actually, it is not as oily as it is made out to be, does not take up much oil while frying and one can drain the excess oil on paper. This recipe is slightly time consuming as frying takes a lot of time.

Bitter Gourd/Karela/Karle is one vegetable that is not liked by many people as it tastes bitter. It is a seasonal vegetable and comes in late summers and stays through the monsoons. It has many nutritional and medicinal benefits and should be consumed when available during the season. It can be prepared in many varied ways as fried chips, dry vegetable and semi dry with masala, masala filled karela or as fresh juice too. Mostly, many places the bitter gourd is rubbed with salt and left for about an hour or half and then washed with water to remove the bitterness. Some people boil it in water for about 10 minutes and strain the water to remove the bitterness. My mother also used to follow similar procedures to remove the bitterness. Over the years, I found that many of my friends used the bitter gourd directly and the prepared dish did not taste bitter at all. So, now, even I make my bitter gourd vegetable directly. Many people remove the central pith too along with seeds, but, I learnt to use that too as per one of my aunt’s recipe. The bitterness of bitter gourd is reduced by adding tamarind/lemon and sugar/jaggery to the vegetable preparation.

Ingredients

Bitter Gourd - 250 gms

Onions - 3 medium sized

Oil- Approx 150 ml

Salt - As per taste

Red Chilly Powder- ½ teaspoon

Powdered Sugar - 1 teaspoon

Method

Slice onions lengthwise and chop bitter gourd into thin roundels. Heat oil in a kadahi (pan) and fry onion till it turns crispy and golden brown. Drain excess oil on paper. Now fry the bitter gourd roundels till they turn crispy. Drain the excess oil on fry. The frying needs to be done on a high flame and you need to keep turning the onion and bitter gourd pieces occasionally so that they do not burn. Finally, mix all the fried onion and bitter gourd and sprinkle with salt, chilly and powders. Crispy Karela is ready to be relished, tastes good with roti, chapatti and rice or can be eaten just like that

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Kurkuri Bhindi

Kurkuri Bhindi(Crispy Okra)

Kurkuri Bhindi is a Rajasthani recipe. I had tasted it at friend’s places, hotels and in the mess too. I loved the taste of this crispy lady’s finger preparation. I always felt that this is quite a difficult dish to prepare and oily one for that, so, had avoided making it till recently. Last month I tried it out and realized it is so simple and not as oily as I thought it would be. Some of my friends tried it too and were quite happy to relish it.

Ingredients

Bhindi(Lady’s Finger/Okra) – 250 gms

Cumin Powder – ½ teaspoon

Coriander Powder - ½ teaspoon

Turmeric Powder – ¼ teaspoon

Red Chilly Powder – ½ teaspoon

Salt – As per taste

Gram flour (Besan) – 2 tablespoons

Oil – Approx 150 ml

Method

Wash lady’s finger and pat dry with a clean napkin. Slit lengthwise and make 8 pieces of every lady's finger. Sprinkle cumin, coriander, chilly and turmeric powders and leave aside for about 20-25 minutes. Then sprinkle salt and gram flour and toss for 2 minutes for even coverage of all lady finger pieces. Heat oil in a pan till it is hot and fry the masala covered lady finger in batches on medium fire. Keep stirring occasionally and remove from oil once they turn crispy. Spread on paper to remove extra oil and serve hot.

Note – Choose tender lady’s fingers for this particular recipe.

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Beans Carrot Aloo Subji

Beans Carrot Aloo Subji

This is one more mix vegetable recipe, stir fried and most easy to make. The combination of beans, carrot and potato tastes very good. The humble aloo(potato) goes well in combination with almost anything and everything. I use Kanda Lasun(Onion Garlic) Masala for majority of my recipes. Kanda Lasun Masala is an essential ingredient of Maharashtrian cuisine. It is a dry masala with red chilly powder plus spices(garam masala) along with onion and garlic. So also, groundnuts, you will see many vegetables having groundnuts in them in various forms. If Kanda Lasun Masala is not available, use red chilly powder instead. Here, I am using roasted groundnut powder.

Ingredients

French Beans- 250-300 gms

Carrots – 2 nos

Potato – 1 medium

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon

Kanda Lasun Masala/Red Chill Powder – ½ teaspoon

Mustard Seeds – ½ teaspoon

Roasted groundnut powder – 3/4^th – 1 cup

Salt – As per taste

Water – 2-3 tablespoons

Method

Wash all vegetables clean and chop the beans finely. Peel the carrots , remove the central core and chop finely. Peel potato and chop finely. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add potato pieces and stir well for a minute, lower the heat and let the potato cook for about 2 minutes. Keep stirring continuously, then, add beans and carrot, turmeric and salt.

If you feel water is required only then add just a little, otherwise the vegetables will cook even without water. After cooking for about 3-4 minutes, add kanda lasun masala, groundnut powder and stir well. Groundnut powder burns at the base of the pan, so constant stirring is required. Beans carrot aloo subji is ready to be served.

Note

In place of roasted groundnut powder, you may use fresh grated coconut.
Kanda Lasun Masala -  It is like Kolhapuri Kala Masala, a mix of red chilly powder+garam masala+onion+garlic. You get Pravin Company Kanda Lasun Masala(Ambaari Chaap) and many other companies too.