Dhokla (Steamed Spicy Chickpea cakes)

Dhokla (Steamed Spicy Chickpea cakes): Dhokla or 'Khummun' is a popular snack made from fermented batter of chickpeas. It's originally from the Western Indian state of Gujarat.


Serves: 2 to 4

Ingredients:

- 1 cup Chickpea Flour (Known as Besan; you can buy it at any Indian food store)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- warm water as needed
- 1 tsp Ginger and green chilly paste
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp oil
- salt
- 1 tbsp of oil
- 1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
- 1/2 tbsp of grated coconut
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- pinch of asafoetida
- 1/2 tsp turmeric


Preparation:

- Take the chickpea flour in a mixing bowl. Pour buttermilk and stir till the mixture is smooth.
- Put warm water as needed till the mixture is of pouring consistency(similar to cake batter).
- Keep the mixture overnight for fermentation.

- Next day put baking soda, salt and 1 tsp of oil.

- Put the Ginger chilly paste and mix the batter.
- Grease pan with oil and pour the mixture into it.
- Steam it for 15 min.
- If you are using a pressure cooker, do not put the whistle.
- Once ready, let cool. You can check if it's ready by inserting a toothpick or a knife in the center (It should come out clean).
- Cut them into pieces (the pieces are called 'Dhoklas').
- Take a pan, put 1 tbsp of oil in it and heat it.
- Once the oil is heated put the mustard seeds in it.
- After the mustard seeds finish sputtering put asafoetida and turmeric powder. Switch off the heat.
- Pour this mixture(tadka) over the Dhoklas.
- Garnish with Cilantro and grated coconut.
- Serve with green chutney.


*** Recipe of the Green chutney is available on the blog.

Malai Kofta

Malai Kofta: A rich creamy tomato curry with koftas. Kofta is a middle-eastern term generally used to denote meatballs (or mashed vegetables rolled into balls). Malai Kofta is a dish from the royal 'Moghlai' cuisine of medieval India (cuisine of the Islamic Mughal royalty). The preparation of this dish is quite intricate and time-consuming.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

For Koftas:

- 1 medium sized potato boiled and mashed

- 1 cup of grated paneer (Paneer is an unaged non-melting curd cheese made by curdling heated milk with lemon juice; You can buy it at any ethnic Indian food store)

- 1 green chilly finely chopped

- 1/4 cup cornflour

- 8 to 10 raisins

- Oil for frying

- Salt

For the Gravy:

- 1 medium onion chopped

- 2 tbsp oil

- 2 tsp of ginger- garlic paste

- 1 green chilly chopped

- 1/2 tsp coriander powder

- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

- 1/4 cup tomato puree

- 1/4 tsp red chilli powder (If you like spicy you could add 1/2 or 1 tsp)

- 1/4 cup crushed khoa/khoya (It is a milk food, made from dried whole milk or milk thickened by heating in an open iron pan. You can buy it at any Indian food store).

- 1/4 cup fresh cream

- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder

- cilantro to garnish

- Salt

Preparation:

- For the Koftas mix potatoes, paneer, green chillies, cornflour and salt in a bowl.

- Divide them into equal portions. Make round balls (koftas) of each portion and stuff raisin into each of them.

- Heat oil sufficient for frying the koftas in a kadai/wok

- Deep fry these koftas till they are slightly brown. Remove them on a tissue paper to absorb the extra oil.

- For the gravy, boil the onions in 2 cups of water. Drain the excess water, cool and grind them into a smooth paste.

- Heat oil in kadai/wok. Add the boiled onion paste and cook for about 5 mins.

- Add ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt. Let cook for a minute.

- Add tomato puree, red chilli powder and cook on medium heat for 10 t0 15 mins or till the oil starts to separate from the masala.

- Mix khoa to 2 cups of water and add it to the gravy.

- Bring it to a boil and simmer for 10 mins on low heat, stirring occasionally.

- Now add fresh cream and the garam masala powder. Mix it with the gravy properly. Let cook for about 5 minutes.

- Place warm koftas in a serving dish and pour hot gravy on top, garnish it with cilantro and serve.

- Malai Kofta is now ready to serve.

Shrikhand (Strained yogurt pudding)

Shrikhand: This is a very popular dessert dish from the Western Indian state of Maharashtra. It's primary ingredient is strained yogurt. It is usually made during festivals/weddings and is often the "signature" dish for wedding menus in Maharashtra.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

- 500gms of plain Yogurt
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 tbsp of cold milk (optional)
- 3 pinches of cardamom powder
- 2,3 strands of saffron

- pinch of nutmeg powder


Preparation:

- Put the Yogurt in a Muslin cloth(or any fine cloth from which the water of the Yogurt will be drained). Tie this cloth tightly with a string and hang it high over a sink overnight so that all the water in the yogurt will drain out.
- Next morning you will have the strained yogurt ("chakka" in marathi language) with consistency like soft cheese. Remove this yogurt in a bowl.
- Take another bowl and add in it a little bit of the yogurt and 1 tbsp of sugar.
- Thoroughly mix with a hand mixer till the mixture become smooth and creamy.
- Add some more of the yogurt and sugar to the mixture and mix thoroughly. Repeat this process with the remaining yogurt and sugar till the entire mixture is smooth and creamy.
- If the mixture is too thick add 2 tbsp of milk and mix properly. If the consistency of the yogurt is smooth enough you need not add the milk.
- Once the mixture is ready add the cardamom powder and the nutmeg powder.
- In a cup take 1 tsp of milk and crush the saffron strands into it. Mix well and pour over the yogurt mixture. Whip thoroughly till the mixture acquires the nice yellow color of saffron.
- Shrikhand is now ready. You can serve it at room temperature or you could keep it in the refrigerator for an hour or so before serving.

Paneer Tikka

Paneer Tikka: This is a famous appetizer from North India. Paneer and vegetables are marinated in tandoori masala and then grilled in the oven. Paneer is an unaged, acid -set and non-melting curd cheese common in South Asian cuisine. You can buy it from any ethnic Indian store.

Ingredients:

- 15 to 20 small cut cubes of Paneer

- 1 small green capsicum cut in to small square pieces

- 1/2 red onion cut into small square pieces

- 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste

- 1 tbsp of tandoori masala ( If you do not have tandoori masala you can use the masala given at the end of the ingredients' list)

- 2 tbsp of oil

- 1 tsp of lemon juice

Instead of tandoori masala you can use:

- 1 tsp chilli powder

- 1 tsp cumin powder

- salt

** Pieces of Paneer and the vegetables should be such that they can be put on to skewers or toothpicks.

Preparation:

- In a bowl take tandoori masala , ginger garlic paste, lemon juice and 1 tbsp of oil. Mix everything together.

- Take this mixture and rub it thoroughly on each piece of paneer, capsicum and onion.

- Keep the marinated pieces overnight or atleast for 6 hrs.

- Take a toothpick and put in a piece of paneer in the center and a piece of onion and capsicum on both the sides of the paneer (as shown in the picture). Do the same with the rest of the pieces.

- Once all the toothpicks are done, put them on a greased baking tray.

- Sprinkle the remaining 1 tbsp of oil on all the skewers.

- Put the tray in the oven on 375 degrees for 10-15 min till the paneer is golden brown and the vegetables are cooked.

- Serve them hot.

*** Do not over cook the paneer otherwise the texture becomes rubbery and the tikka turns out to be rather difficult to eat.

Tamarind Rice

Tamarind rice: This is a very popular South Indian dish ('Pulihora' in Andhra Pradesh). Sourness from the tamarind, spiciness from red chillies and the crunch from the white lentils gives a uniquely blended flavor to this rice preparation.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

- 1 bowl of boiled basmati rice

- 1 tbsp of oil

- 3 to 4 dry red chillies

- 1 1/2 tsp of urad dal (matpe beans with the black skin removed, also known as white lentils)

- 1 tbsp of peanuts

- 1 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste

- 1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

- salt

Preparation:

- Take 1/2 tsp of tamarind paste in a bowl and mix it with water. Stir it until it is smooth and the tamarind paste blends with water.

- Heat oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot put in the urad dal, dry red chillies and peanuts.

- Fry the dal till it is golden brown. Now put in the tamarind water.

- Let the tamarind mixture boil.

- When the water reduces to about 1/4 th it's original quantity (i.e. a very small amount remains), put in the rice.

- Put salt and mix with the rice .

- Keep the rice on medium heat for 5 min.

- Garnish with cilantro and serve.

*** If you have peanut allergies you can omit peanuts without sacrificing the essential flavor of this dish.