Amrakhand (Mango flavored Shrikhand)

This is a surprisingly easy and delicious Indian sweet dish. Here's how I made this:

1 32oz. box of plain yogurt - I used Taaza brand, regular yogurt available in the local Indian store.

3 cups tinned mango pulp

1/2 tsp cardamon pwd

Nuts like almonds, pistas for garnish

The preparation for this starts a day before actually making & eating it. Empty the yogurt onto to a clean cheesecloth. Tie the ends loosely together, then hang it up to drip in the fridge. Keep a bowl underneath to catch the whey (which can be used later to knead rotis). After about 5 hrs, place the yogurt, which will have thickened quite a bit, along with the cheesecloth its tied in, between several paper towels. Place a heavy weight, such as an iron pan, on top. Leave this in the fridge overnight or for another 5 hrs. The idea is to remove all the whey from the yogurt and get the thickest possible yogurt.

Next morning, combine the thick yogurt with the mango pulp in a food processor. Usually the tinned mango pulp available in the Indian stores is highly sweetened. No additional sugar should be necessary, but you can taste check and decide what suits you. Mix in the cardamon pwd. Garnish with chopped nuts.

Chill and enjoy with hot, hot puris.

This Amrakhand goes to the WYF: Festive Treats events at Simple Indian Food.

Gajar Halwa

I like my Gajar Halwa a little thick, not runny. Here's how I make it.

2 cups shredded carrots

2 tbsp ghee - increase for richer flavor

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 cup ricotta cheese

Cardamon pwd

Almonds for garnish

Fry the ricotta cheese on medium heat in a non-stick skillet until all the liquid evaporates. It then resemble mawa in taste and texture.

Separately, fry the shredded carrots in the ghee on medium heat for about 10 mins. Add the condensed milk, mix well and allow to cook another 5 mins. Stir in the ricotta cheese "mawa" and cardamon pwd. Take off heat. Garnish with chopped almonds before serving.

I like to eat it hot, but it can be served cold too.

This Gajar Halwa goes to WYF: Festive Treat event at Simple Indian Food.

Savory Mushroom Loaves

The original recipe for this is from Nita Mehta's Art of Baking book. But there the loaf is made from scratch, using plain flour and potatoes. While I have made it that way in the past, its a bit time-consuming and tedious for lazy me. So when I saw a similar recipe on Tasty Palettes, I decided to combine the two. So just like Suganya, I have also used Pilsbury biscuit dough here for the covering. That made these loaves a breeze to whip up.

Here's how I made the filling:

2 tsp canola/olive oil
1 packet sliced mushrooms
1 onion - chopped fine
1 tomato - chopped fine
1 tsp dhana - jira pwd
1/2 tsp clove pwd
1/2 tsp red chilli pwd
Salt to taste

Heat the oil. Fry the onions for 5 mins till soft. Add the mushrooms. Fry on medium high till they dry and brown a bit. Add the tomatoes, salt and spices. Cook 2-3 more minutes. Take off heat and cool slightly before stuffing.

Cooked mushroom filling

Separate out the biscuit dough, roll each out to 1/4 inch thickness. Place 2 - 3 heaped tablespoons of the mushroom fillings on half of the biscuits. Cover with another. You can use a little water/milk to make sure the edges of the 2 biscuits stick together well.



Press the edges with a fork to further seal them. If desired, you can decorate the top with a bit of the biscuit dough, pinched off before rolling it flat in the earlier step.

Bake per directions on the biscuit dough package.

These made 4 super heavy loaves for us.

Moong Dal Kofta Curry

I had found this recipe several years back at bawarchi.com. Here's how I make it these days:

For the moong dal koftas:

1/2 cup moong dal - soaked for 2 hrs.
2 cups finely chopped mixed veggies like green beans, carrots, cauliflower, peas (all microwaved with 1-2 tsp water for 3-4 mins., boiled potatoes etc.
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp dhana-jira pwd
1/4 tsp red chilli pwd or to taste
1/2 tsp chaat masala

Soaked moong dal. Grind this coarsely with 1-2 tsp water.

Add the veggies and seasonings to the moong dal batter. Put 1 tbsp of the mixed batter into each oiled mould of an appe patra and cook for 5 mins on each side until golden brown.


This will yield about 16 - 20 koftas.

To make the curry:

2 tsp canola oil

1 onion - chopped

1/2 tsp ginger paste

1/2 tsp garlic paste

3 - 4 tomatoes

2 tsp dhana-jira pwd

1/2 tsp red chilli pwd

2 tsp salt

1/4 cup shredded paneer

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp Kitchen King masala

1/2 tsp kasuri methi

Cilantro to garnish

Heat the oil. Fry the onions on medium heat for 5 mins till soft. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and fry 2 mins. Add the tomatoes. Fry for 5-7 mins till the oil separately. Add the shredded paneer, salt. dhana-jira pwd & red chilli pwd and fry 2 mins. Take off heat and cool slightly. Then grind to a fine paste. Put it back in the kadai and add the garam masala, Kitchen King masala and kasuri methi. Simmer 2-3 mins. Gently drop in the koftas and let it come to a boil. Switch off the heat and serve hot with roti/paratha.

The paneer in the gravy gives it an amazing creaminess.

This Moong Dal Kofta Curry goes to the Side Dish for Chapathi event at Viki's Kitchen.

Bharli Vangi - stuffed baby eggplant subji

This is a family favorite, whenever I make it, I also make double the usual number of rotis as we always end up eating more than our regular quota.

Here's how I make it:

Masala for stuffing inside the baby eggplants -

2 tsp canola oil

1 cup finely chopped onions

2 heaped tbsp of dry shredded unsweetened coconut

1 heaped tbsp of peanut pwd (dana koot)

1 heaped tsp dhana - jira pwd.

2 heaped tsp Maharashtrian Goda Masala

1/2 tsp red chilli pwd or to taste

2 tsp crushed jaggery

1 tsp tamarind paste

2 tsp Salt or to taste

Heat the oil, add the onions and saute 5 mins. Add the coconut and peanut pwds. Saute 2-3 minutes on medium. Add the dhana-jira pwd, goda masala, red chilli pwd. Mix well. Add 1/2 cup of water and the jaggery and tamarind. Stir occasionally till jaggery melts. Add the salt, mix and take off heat. Cool slightly. This masala mix will absorb water the longer it sits. You can add a few more tsps of water later if it thickens.

For the bhaji/subji:

2 tsp oil (usually this bhaji uses more oil, but I limit it to 2 tsp)

12 - 15 baby eggplants

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

1 medium potato - diced (optional)

Cut off the stems at the top of the eggplants. Cut an X shape on the bottom of each eggplant. It should be a fairly deep cut since it will hold the masala mix. But it should not completely cut the eggplant into 4 pieces. Stuff about 1/2 - 1 tsp of the masala mix in each eggplant. There should be some masala mix remaining after stuffing all the eggplants.

Heat the oil in a wok/kadai. Fry the ginger and garlic pastes for 1 min. Add the potatoes & fry 2-3 mins. Gently place the masala-stuffed eggplant all around the kadai. Add all remaining masala and 1 cup water. Cover and cook on medium low for about 20 mins till the potatoes and eggplants cook well. Like with the masala mix, this bhaji will go on thickening the longer it sits. In that case you can add another 1/4 to 1/2 cup water and reheat before serving.

Enjoy with polis/rotis.

This Bharli Vangi goes to Viki's Kitchen for her Side Dish for Chapathi event.

Bread - Paneer Pakoda

I'm back after a long break with a simple snack item: Bread - Paneer Pakoda. Its a good item for a rainy day or when you have unexpected company.

Here's how I made it:

4 slices bread - I used whole wheat bread and kept the crust on. Any variety will do and you can cut off the crust if you prefer.

Some green cilantro chutney - I used store bought this time

Ketchup

Paneer - I used store bought and cut it into thin slices

Chaat masala

Slather the green chutney on 2 slices and the ketchup on the other 2 slices of bread. Lay the paneer slice on a chutney-slathered bread, sprinkle with some chaat masala, cover with a ketchup-slathered slice to form a sandwich.



For the batter -

1 cup gram flour (besan)

1/4 cup rice flour

1 tsp salt or to taste

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

Generous pinch of asafotida

Handful of chopped cilantro

Red chilli pwd to taste

Mix all of the above. Add 1.5 - 2 cups water, a little at a time, and stir well to get a smooth batter. Dip the bread - paneer sandwich in the batter and deep fry in moderately hot oil till golden brown on both sides, about 2-3 mins.


My daughter loves these pakodas and so do her little friends.

These bread - paneer pakodas are off to Priya's Sunday Snack event.

Veggie Enchilada

I got this recipe from American Masala by Suvir Saran. I make many types of Quesadillas for quick dinners and have started preferring these over the restaurant ones. After trying this enchilada, I am even more in love with home-made Mexican food. Though it is more time-consuming than my humble quesadilla creations, its definitely worth the time & effort. All members of my family loved it.

Here's how I made it:

For the roasted pepper dip -

2 tbsp oil

1 small red onion - chopped

4 colored bell peppers - I used 1 each of green, red, orange and yellow - cored, seeded & chopped
2 medium tomatoes - chopped

4 cloves of garlic - peeled

1 serrano - increase for more heat

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper pwd

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup Mexican cheese blend

Toss all the ingredients, except milk & cheese, together. Spread on a greased glass baking dish. Roast in a pre-heated 450F oven for 1 hr, stirring every 15 mins.

Cool slightly, then blend.

Transfer to a saucepan. Simmer on medium heat. Add the milk & cheese. Stir till cheese melts. Take off heat.

The original recipe calls for cream, but I used 2% milk for a lighter option.

This dip tastes delicious with tortilla chips as well.

For the enchilada stuffing, the author uses a stir-fried carrot salad recipe from his book. Here's how I made it:

1 bag shredded carrots
1/2 a head of cabbage - shredded
1 can balck beans - drained & rinsed
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
1 tsp sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 tsp lemon juice
Cilantro for garnish

Heat the oil in a wide skillet. Add the cumin seeds. After 2 mins add the carrots and cabbage. Stir & cook on medium heat for about 5 mins. till al dente (or a little longer if u prefer it more cooked). Add the salt, pepper, sugar, lemon juice, cumin pwd, coriander pwd & cilantro. Mix well & take off heat.

The original recipe does not include the beans. I just added them as I love black beans in Mexican dishes.

To assemble the enchiladas:

Preheat oven to 450F.

Evenly spread 1/2 cup of the Roasted Red Pepper Dip on the bottom of a 11 X 9 inch baking dish along with 1 tsp oil.

Heat 4 tortillas on a skillet on medium high heat for about 20 secs. each side until a bit toasty. Fill each with 3 heaped tbsp of the carrot-cabbage-beans stuffing down the middle. Roll them up & place seam side down in the baking dish. Top with 1 cup of the dip and an even layer of cheese. Bake for about 20 mins till cheese is melted and golden brown. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

These veggie enchiladas are off to the Monthly Mingle: Mexican Fiesta event at allthingsyummy.