Aloo Parwal | Pointed Gourd Potatoes Stir- Fry

Aloo Parwal | Pointed Gourd Potatoes Stir-Fry
By Sandhya Khattri
April 29, 2013

Aloo Parwal is very famous North Indain Recipe prepared in summer season. It is an easy recipe usually served as a side dish with main course. Ingredients required and detailed instructions for the recipe are as below.
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook time: 10minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
parwal or pointed gourd-200gms
aloo or potatoes-2 big
green chillies-2
oil-1 tablespoon
salt to taste
coriander powder-1 tablespoon
cumin seeds-1 teaspoon
turmuric powder-1/4 teaspoon
subzi masala-1 teaspoon(any brand I use Ashok)
garam masala powder-1/4 teaspoon
amchur powder-1/2 teaspoon

Instructions

• Peel potatoes and chop them in small pieces.
• cut parwal in small pieces(need not to peel).
• chop greeen chillies.
• heat oil in a pan or kadhai, add green chillies and cumin seeds, as they crackle add chopped aloo parwal roast them on high flame till potatoes start turning pinkish in color, stir continously.add salt and turmuric powder mix well, simmer the flame and cover the lid cook for 4-5 minutes or till potatoes are soft and cooked.
• finally add the remaining spices, roast on a high flame stirring continously for only 1 to 1 & 1/2 minute.

serve hot as a side dish.
sending it to jagruti's event:

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Beetroot Dhokla

Beetroot Dhokla
By Sandhya Khattri
April 24, 2013

Beetroot dhokla is an easy and healthy baked snack recipe prepared within minutes with easily available ingredients at home. This is my second recipe of dhokla, the procedure is almost the same as given in the first recipe, a variation is addition of beetroot in it, to give this recipe a healthy twist. Beetroot can be included the 2 ways, either you can grind beetroot to fine paste and add it or finely grate it and add it- I have used the later one.
Ingredients required and the detailed instructions of the recipe are as follows:

Prep Time: 5 minute
Cook time: 8minutes
Serves: 4


Ingredients
semolina or sooji : 1 cup
Beetroot : 1 medium sized finely grated
curd: 1/2 cup
salt :to taste
eno fruit salt: 1/2 sachet or 1/4 teaspoon
water: as required
Ingredients for tempering:
oil: 2 teaspoon
curry leaves: 8-10
red chilli powder: 1/4 teaspoon
grated coconut: 1 teaspoon
Ingredients for Sauce:
Tamarind: lemon size ball( soaked in water).
water : 1/2 cup
green chillies slit: 6-8
roasted cumin powder: 1/2 teaspoon
salt : as per taste
Instructions:

In a microwave safe bowl mix together sooji, grated beetroot, curd salt and water as required lastly add eno fruit salt mix well and placed the greased tray or container in microwave & micro HI for 3 minutes, give the standing time of 5 minutes.
Let it cool and further cut into desired shapes.
For tempering: heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds as they cracle, add curry leaves and red chilli powder pour on the dhokla pieces. garnish it with grated coconut.
For sauce extract the juice of tamarind, pass it trough strainer, add the remaining ingredients micro HI for 3-4 minutes the sauce will be ready.
Serve with evening tea.

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Bhatura

Bhatura
By Sandhya Khattri
April 17, 2013

Bhaturas are usually served with chole, this is a fried bread recipe, made with all purpose flour, semolina and curd. Ingredients required and detailed instructions for the recipe are as follows

Prep Time: 4 Hours
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Maida or refined flour : 250 gms
sooji or semolina: 1 tablespoon
curd -1/2 cup
eno fruit salt: 1/2 sachet or 1/4 teaspoon
salt to taste
oil - 1 teaspoon for rubbing
oil for frying bhatura
water as required for kneading the dough

Instructions
In a bowl add curd, maida , salt and sooji, sprinkle eno fruit salt over it evenly, mix well , gradually adding water knead a soft dough. apply one teaspoon of oil over it, cover it let it ferment for 3-4 hours. Knead the dough properly for one minute.
Heat sufficient oil in kadhai, take a ball of dough , on your rolling board apply oil, place dough ball in center, cover it with thin plastic sheet, with the help of rolling pin roll out bhatura as thin as you can.
Remove the plastic sheet, carefully take bhatura and fry it in hot oil, till pinkish in color from both sides.
Serve hot with punjabi chole.
Notes:
For instant bhatura's instead of using eno fruit salt you can knead the dough with liquid soda as availabe in market.
instead of semolina you can use 1to 2 slices of bread also.
While frying with the help of frying spoon pour some hot oil over bhatura for proper frying.

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Punjabi Khatte Chole No Onion No Garlic

Punjabi Khatte Choley No Onion No Garlic
By Sandhya Khattri
April 17, 2013

Punjabi Khatte Chole is very popular north indian recipe served with bhatura or puri, usually prepared with onion, garlic and tomatoes, but in this recipe I have not used onion and garlic , hence it comes under the catagory of Jain or Satvik recipe. For sour flavour I have used tamrind instead of anardana which gives a tangy taste to choley. Ingredients required and detailed instructions for the recipe are as follows.
Prep Time: 8 Hours
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For Potli
Tea- 1& 1/2 teaspoon
Cinamon Stick- 1
Black cardamom-2
Cloves-4
Spices to be ground to powder:
coriander seeds: 1 tablespoon
cumin seeds : 3 teaspoon
pepper corns: 1/2 teaspoon ajwain: 1 pinch
red chillies: 3-4
green cardamom-2
Cloves-4
Other Ingredients
Chole - 200gms
Bengal gram or chaney ki dal: 2 tablespoon
bay leaves 3-4
garam masala powder: 1/2 teaspoon
kasoori methi: dry fenugreek leaves
tamarind: 1 medium size ball ( soaked and puree extracted)
oil: 1 and 1/2 tablespoon

Instructions:

Soak chole and chana dal overnight in plenty of water. wash them, combine all the ingredients of potli in a muslin cloth, tie it properly. Slightly crush the potli, so that the aroma of spices mix well with chole, if not using potli, use tea bags instead but then you have to manually discard the other spices after boiling chole, adding these spices while boiling gives a nice aroma to chole.
Add salt, potli, water and chole in a pressure cooker boil for 3-4 whistles on high flame and then reduce the flame and let them cook for another 5 to 6 minutes, as they are soaked overnight they will be cooked properly. switch off the flame let it cool completely, check them whether they are tender else you have to cook till one more whistle.
Dry roast all the ingredients of masala powder on a low flame, let them cool completely and grind to fine powder.
Now heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan or kadhai , add bay leaves to it, now add spice powder roast for a minute, add chole roast till oil seprates, check salt if required add according to your taste, slightly mash some chole as we have already added chana dal to it, it will help to thicken the gravy, add 1/2 cup of water and bring it to boil, as it starts boiling, simmer the flame, cover the lid and cook for another 5-7 minutes finally add strained tamarind puree to it, boil it for 3-4 minutes,simmer the flame for 2 minutes and cover the lid so that oil seprates from chole.
Add garam masala powder to it. Heat tawa, dry roast kasori methi on it and add it to chole.
Serve hot with bhatura.

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Rava Kesari

Rava Kesari
By Sandhya Khattri
Rava kesari is a saffron flavoured semolina halwa, an Indian sweet recipe espacially prepared on ocassion of Baisakhi festival
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Rava or semolina: 1 cup
saffron : 8-10 threads
orange food color: Pinch
Green Cardamom-4 crushed
sugar-3/4 cup
Water-3 cups
Almonds- 8-10 sliced and 5 for garnishing
Instructions:Mix sugar, water, saffron and food color in a bowl.
Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan or kadhai, add cardamom as aroma arise, add rawa, stirring continiously, roast on medium heat, till rava golden in color
Add sliced almonds, sugar and water mixture to it, on a high flame stirr till water is soaked up
simmer the flame for 2 minutes. Rava Kesari is ready to serve.
Grease a bowl with ghee, fill it with rawa kesari and demould it on a serving plate.Garnish it with almonds.
serve hot .
My entry to Akila's Event

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Besan Ka Halwa

Besan Ka Hawla

By Sandhya Khattri

April 10, 2013

Besan Ka Halwa is a delicious sweet made with gramflour, wheatflour, ghee, sugar and almonds. In sindhi families it is usually prepared in breakfast but you can have it any time. Ingredients  required for the recipe and detailed instructions are shown below.

Prep Time: 1 minute             Cook time: 15 minutes                   Serves: 4

Ingredients

Besan or gram flour-1cup
desi ghee-3/4 cup
wheat flour-2 tablespoons
Green Cardamom-4 crushed
sugar-3/4 cup
Water-3 cups
Almonds- 8-10 sliced for garnishing

Instructions:

• Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed kadhai or pan
• Add green cardamoms fry them till floats on top.
• Add wheat and besan mixture to it mix well
• On a medium to low heat stirring continously roast besan and wheat flour till golden brown in color, this will take approx 10-12 minutes, if you are habitual of making besan ladoos then the complete process will be easy for you, being a sindhi I am habitual of properly roasting beasan as we frequently make sindhi karhi at home.
• When mixture is golden brown in color add sugar to it mix well, slowly add 3 cups of water, stirr continously else lumps will be formed.
• On a high flame stirr continously till water is soaked up .
• simmer the heat cover the lid and cook for another 3-4 minutes till oil seprates from it, alternatively you can place your pan on hot tawa on low flame, it prevents it from direct heat and burning.
• Garnish halwa with  sliced almonds serve hot.

Notes:
Proper roasting of besan is necessary for good taste of halwa, don't try to
make it in hurry.
Adding wheat flour changes a taste of halwa from normal besan sweets like
ladoos and burfis
After adding water it becomes difficult to stir but you have to continously stir
the mixture else lumps will be formed.

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Palak Pakora | Spinach Fritters

Palak Pakora|spinach Fritters

Sandhya Khattri
April 5 2013
Palak Pakora is an easy snack recipe, I
usually serve this with evening tea, it is tasty and healthy as well, doesn't
requires extra preparations, hence prepared very quickly. Ingredients required
and detailed instructions are as below

Pictorial Instructions for preparing Palak Pakora:

RecipeType: Snacks

Author:Sandhya Khattri
Serves:4
PreparationTime: 5 Minutes.
cooking Time: 10 Minutes
Total Time: 15Minutes.
Ingredients:
Palak or Spinach : 1 cup cleaned, finely chopped and washed
Besan -1/2 cup
Ajwain- ¼ teaspoon
Salt- to taste
Refined oil- 1tablespoon
Oil extra- for frying
Garlic- 4-5 pods crushed
Green Chillies-2Nos. finely chopped
Rice flour-1tablespoon if unavailable substitute it with 1 teaspoon cornflour
Method :
Take chopped palak in a bowl, add crushed garlic, salt, ajwain, green chillies, rice
flour and besan in a bowl, mix all the ingredients properly, gradually start adding water to the mixture, as washed palak has a lot of moisture in it, the consistency of batter should be thick, mix continuously for one to 2 minutes as batter turns to fluffy and soft.
Heat oil in a kadhai or pan to smoking point, reduce the flame, take one tablespoon of oil from it
and add this oil to the batter, mix well.
With the help of spoon drop small sized pakoras in oil, fry them on medium heat from both sides till golden brown and crisp.
Remove them from pan and place them on tissue paper.
Serve hot with the sauce or chutney of your choice.
This recipe is my entry to Sumees' culinary bites event

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