MyMusingsSangSpeak - Pet Puja - Mirchi cha Thecha

Mirchi cha Thecha (Crushed Chilli)

Mirchi cha Thecha is one essential Maharashtrian side dish, widely popular amongst Maharahtrians as well as Non-Maharashtrians. Thecha is a Marathi word meaning crush. The chilli which originated in Mexico, made a permanent home here in India and is an extensively used condiment. The staple agrarian diet in Maharashtra would be the humble combination of Jowar Bhakri, Pithala and Thecha along with onion.

Thecha can be prepared in a variety of ways, the most basic being green chillies fried and just crushed with salt and few garlic pods. Some people may add lime juice to it. Thecha is mostly eaten with uncooked oil. Some like to combine it with curds. Thecha can be made more flavourful with addition of groundnuts, dry coconut etc. My mother loved all kinds of Thecha, but the one with groundnuts and dry coconut was her favourite and, here, I am sharing this recipe.

Ingredients

Green Chillies – 4-5 nos

Oil – 1 teaspoon

Roasted groundnuts – ½ cup

Dry grated coconut – ½

Garlic – 9-10 cloves

Salt – As per taste

Method

Heat oil in a pan and fry the green chillies till they are just about done. Mix all the ingredients and grind coarsely in a mixer. Earlier, this used to be done manually in a pounder. Mirchi cha Thecha is ready for serving.

MyMusingsSangSpeak - Pet Puja - Ambat Chukya Chi Bhaji

Aambat Chukyachi Bhaji

Aambat Chuka is called Khatta Palak in Hindi and Green Sorrel in English. It is a sour leafy vegetable, with thick, juicy leaves and stems and is a good source of Vit C, Beta carotene, calcium, potassium and magnesium. This vegetable can be prepared individually or in combination with other leafy vegetables. Sometimes it is used in non-vegetarian recipes too. I always loved this vegetable for its unique sour taste. I have grown this vegetable in my kitchen garden when I was away from my home town and it grows quite easily and well too all round the year. Method of preparation of this vegetable is quite easy. The consistency of this recipe is semi liquid (Gargatti Bhaji in Marathi). It tastes heavenly with plain rice or Jowar (Sorghum) roti.

Ingredients

Ambat Chuka – 1 big bunch

Groundnuts – ½ cup

Chana Daal (Bengal Gram) – 2 tablespoons

Besan (Gram Flour) – 2 tablespoons

Curds (Optional)  – 1 tbsp

Water – 3-4 cups

Jaggery – 1 n ½ tablespoon

Turmeric Powder – ½ teaspoon

Salt – As per taste

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Ghee – 1 tablespoon

Green Chillies – 2-3 nos

Garlic – 10-12 cloves

Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon

Method

Wash Ambat Chuka leaves and stems and chop about 1 cm in length. Soak groundnuts and daal in water for about an hour. Now take chopped leaves, soaked grounduts, daal in a stainless-steel vessel and add turmeric powder, salt, jaggery and approx. 3 cups of water. Pressure cook all these ingredients for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk well with hand. Add curd and besan and mix well. Cook this mixture on medium heat while stirring continuously for about 5-6 minutes. Now heat oil and ghee in a tempering vessel and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add chopped green chillies and crushed garlic and allow to heat for a minute. Add this tempering to the cooked vegetable. The Ambat Chuka vegetables is ready to be served.

Note – Cooking time is about half hour (plus one hour for soaking).

MyMusingsSangSpeak - Pet Puja - Banana Cake (Vegetarian) in Pressure Cooker

Banana Cake (Vegetarian) in Pressure Cooker

I am sharing a vegetarian banana cake recipe baked in pressure cooker and this is a tasty, soft, moist cake with delicious flavour. I followed this recipe on the net. We require ripe bananas in this recipe and the dash of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla gives this cake that mouth-watering flavour.

 

Ingredients

Bananas – 2 ripened

Wheat Flour – 1 and ½ cup

Sugar – ½ cup

Oil – ½ cup

Milk – ½ cup

Salt – ½ teaspoon

Baking Powder – 1 teaspoon

Baking Soda – ½ teaspoon

Cinnamon Powder – ½ teaspoon

Nutmeg powder – ¼ teaspoon

Vanilla extract – ½ teaspoon

Method

Sieve together wheat flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and set aside. Blend the bananas and sugar in a mixer. Now take the banana and sugar mixture in a bowl and add oil to it and mix well. Add the sifted wheat flour to this mixture gradually and fold in well. Finally add the milk and mix well. Preheat the pressure cooker and keep a separator in it. Grease the cake pan and pour the cake batter, keep it in the pre heated pressure cooker and cover with the lid (without the whistle) and bake on a medium flame for about 35-40 minutes. Insert a knife in the centre of the cake to check if the cake is done, the knife should come out clean surface, meaning the cake is done well.

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Masala Anda

Masala Anda (Masala Eggs)

Masala Anda is a much-liked family recipe that has been favourite of all in the family for generations. My grandmother prepared it mainly for picnics and long duration journeys. The masala is dry chutney like as in bakar of bakarwadi. This masala is also used for non- veg pickles. It is a typical Maharashtrian preparation with lots of dry coconut, fresh coriander, garlic and Kaala Masala. The dish is easy to make and tastes good.

This dish used to be prepared by my Mom for my brother’s tiffin and it was shared by all his friends in school. Later my cousin was admitted in the same school and my Aunt used to pack it for him too for lunch box. As my brother and cousin both played sports, their friend circle was common too, but, nobody was aware of their relation. When my cousin shared his tiffin with his friends, they immediately asked my cousin, if he was related to my brother as my brother also got the same dish in his tiffin too. So, here comes our famed picnic aka tiffin recipe of Masala Eggs.

Ingredients

Boiled Eggs – 6 nos

Dry coconut (grated) – 1 cup

Fresh coriander – 1 cup full of washed, chopped leaves

Garlic – 15-16 cloves

Kaala Masala (Kanda Lasun Masala) – 1½ teaspoons

Salt – As per taste

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Lemon (Optional)

Method

Boil eggs, deshell and keep aside. Mix together all the rest of the ingredients except oil and grind coarsely. Heat oil in a pan and roast lightly on low flame for 4-5 minutes. Add boiled eggs and turn off the heat. Add lemon juice if you like.

If you want to carry in journey, carry boiled eggs and roasted masala separately. Deshell the eggs as and when required and mix with masala. This dish tastes good with chapati/roti.

Note – You may add sesame and poppy seeds also to this masala to make it more flavoursome. For non- veg pickle, pressure cook boneless cubed meat pieces with little salt and turmeric. Shallow fry the pieces till water dries off completely and then add in this masala.

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Shankarpaali

Shankarpaali

Shankarpaali is an essential Diwali Snack (Diwali Faraal) in Maharshtrian household. There are many different recipes for Shankarpaali or Shakkarpara (Hindi). Some recipes include dusting the  fried snack with powdered sugar and some recipes use sugar syrup to coat it. My recipe is one with added sugar. The recipe I am sharing with you is a sure-shot, easy  one that I follow from Annapurna book by Mangala Barve. It turns out to be so delicious and addictive that it is devoured by the family in no time. Do try out this easy, quick recipe of a delicious, filling snack.
Many people like to eat shankarpaali dipped in tea or milk.

Ingredients
Sugar (Powdered) - 1 cup+1 teaspoon
Pure Ghee - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Salt- A pinch
Cardamoms - 4- 5 nos (Powdered)
Nutmeg Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Refined Flour (Maida) - Approx 1/2 kg
Oil- Approx 300 - 350 ml

Method
Heat milk and dissolve powdered sugar in it, add ghee and warm it slightly. Remove from fire and allow to cool up to luke warm temperature. Add powdered cardamom and nutmeg along with a pinch of salt. Add flour and knead the dough to medium soft. Cover and leave aside for about half hour. Heat about 200- 250 ml oil in a Kadahi. Make about 8 balls of the dough. Roll out one ball with rolling pin into a slightly thick chapatti. Cut out squares of 1 cm or the size you prefer. Fry in the oil on medium heat, keep turning occasionally. Remove from fire once they turn golden brown colour and spread on tissue paper for oil to drain out. Add oil later as you fry the later rounds of shankarpaali, as the oil will get used up for frying. 

Note - You may use oil in place of ghee, if you wish to cut down on calories. I have not tried out yet. Some people use normal wheat flour or sooji (semolina) instead of refined flour. I have never tried out.

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Eggless Carrot Cake (Pressure Cooker)

Eggless Carrot Cake

I made this easy eggless carrot cake by following recipe on the net. I tried eggless cake for the first time and it did turn out very good. Generally, I bake most of my cakes in the pressure cooker. I have made a few changes in the original recipe. Here comes my recipe for eggless carrot cooker cake.

Ingredients

Refined Oil – ½ cup

Sugar (powdered) – ¾ cup

Milk- ½ cup

Carrot (grated) – 1 cup

Refined Flour (Maida) – 1½ cup

Baking Powder – 1 teaspoon

Baking Soda – ½ teaspoon

Cinnamon Powder – 1 teaspoon

Nutmeg Powder – ¼ teaspoon

Salt - ¼ teaspoon

Vanilla Essence - ½ teaspoon

Method

Mix all the dry ingredients- flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and salt well and set aside. Keep the pressure cooker on low flame for pre-heating. Grease a cake tin and spray well lightly with flour. Mix sugar and oil well. Add the dry ingredients mixture in the sugar oil mixture and beat well. Add grated carrot, vanilla essence and milk and mix well. Transfer to the prepared cake tin. Place it in the pre-heated pressure cooker with a separator, place the lid (you may use the rubber gasket or do without it too). Bake for about 35 minutes on low flame. Do the knife taste by inserting a clean knife in the centre of the cake, if it comes out clean, means cake is done. If the mixture sticks to the knife allow 5 more minutes for baking.

Note – If you want to bake in electric oven, pre-heat the oven for 10 minutes at 180 degrees C. Bake the cake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C

MyMusingsSangSpeak-Pet Puja - Veg Stir Fry

Veg Stir Fry

Veg Stir Fry is an easy to make, simple and quick recipe, full of nutrition and tasty too. You can use combination of various vegetables like cauliflower, mushroom, carrot, beans, baby corn, sweet corn, bell peppers, capsicum and onions etc. This is a lightly flavoured dish in which you can savour the unique taste of each vegetable.

Ingredients

Cauliflower – 50 gms

Onion – 1 large

French Beans – 50 gms

Carrot – 50 gms

Red Bell Pepper – 50 gms

Yellow Bell Pepper – 50gms

Green Capsicum – 50 gms

Mushroom – 50 gms

Baby Corn/Sweet Corn – 50 gms

Oil – 2 tablespoons

Salt – As per tatse

Subji Masala – ½ teaspoon

Method

Wash all vegetables and cut into lengthwise slices. Heat oil in a pan, add onions and sauté for a minute or two, till onion turns transluscent. Add beans, carrots and cauliflower and stir fry for further 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms and baby corn and salt and stir fry for 2 more minutes. Add salt and cover for about 2-3 minutes and cook on low flame. Remove cover and add capsicum and bell peppers and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add subji masala and cook for more 2-3 minutes. Serve hot as accompaniment with roti/chapatti or rice-daal.

Note – You may use all the vegetables mentioned in the ingredients or it could be a combination of all those available. You can add tomato too if you wish to give a slightly tangy flavour. The Masala or spice powder can also be added as per your choice.