METHI ( FENUGREEK) MATAR PULAO

Methi matar pulao is very simple and easy to follow rice recipe, goes well with dry or gravy dishes. I usually prepare this with Ras wale Gobhi Aloo.
Ingredients required for the recipe and the detailed instructions are as follows

Ingredients:
Basmati rice: 2 cups
Fenugreek (methi)leaves : 1 cup chopped
Green Peas: 1 cup
Cumin seeds: 1 tespoon
Whole garam masala: dalchini one stick, green cardamom-2, cloves-2, bay leaf 2, black cardamom-1, pepper corns: 8-10.
Coriander powder: 2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder: 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder: ¼ teaspoon
Salt : to taste
Garam masala powder: 1 teaspoon
Onion: 1 big
Oil : 1 tablespoon
Water : 2 cups (or little less than 2 cups)
Method: wash and soak basmati rice for ½ an hour, chop and wash methi leaves, chop onions.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add cumin seeds and whole garam masalas, roast for a minute add sliced onion, stiring continuously cook till they are golden brown in color, add methi leaves mix well , cook till methi starts changing the color add peas , salt, red chilli powder coriander powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder, if it is dry sprinkle some water to it, cover the lid a cook for 2-3 minutes , add soaked rice to it, mix gently and cook for another 2-3 minutes, add 2 cups of water to it, cook uncovered on a high flame as water starts boiling and almost dried up simmer the flame, cover the lid and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Check rice is cooked completely and water is dried up. Your methi matar puloa is ready serve this with ras wale gobhi aloo, or fried potatoes .

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Masala Kaju(Maida)

Masala Kaju: as a name suggests they are not fried cashewnuts, but they are cashew shaped made from maida. Basically they are similar to namakparey, spice powder coating to this change the taste .

Ingredients

For Kaju
Maida(all purpose flour): 250 gms
Oil 2 tablespoon for kneading and extra for frying
Salt: ½ teaspoon or less( as it is also added in spice powder)
Ajwain: 1 teaspoon
Water: as required for kneading the dough.
For Spice Powder:
Black salt: ¼ teaspoon
Chat masala: ½ teaspoon
Pepper powder: ½ teaspoon
Dried mint leaves powder: 2 teaspoon
Roasted cumin powder: 1 tablespoon
Method:
Sieve maida, add salt, ajwain & 2 tablespoon of oil, mix well till it becomes crumbs like consistency, if it appears that mixture is very dry you can add some more oil, with the help of water knead stiff dough, cover it with wet muslin cloth, keep aside for 5 minutes.
Grease your palms with oil, knead the dough thoroughly for 2 minutes. Now divide the dough in 4-5 portions of equal size. Take one ball of dough, roll out thick roti as big as you can, with the help of sharp lid of any small container or bowl, cut the half moon shaped pieces of maida, as seen in pic.

Repeat the same process with the remaining dough and spread kaju pieces on thali or tray.

Heat oil in kadhai, check if oil is properly hot or not by frying one piece of kaju in it, as it floats upwards, this mean oil is ready, fry some kaju pieces on high flame as they start changing color to pinkish, set the flame to medium to low and let them fry( this way they are properly cooked from inside, on high flame they quickly change the color but remain uncooked from inside) this will take approx 7-8 minutes. When they are golden in color and crisp, remove them on a plate. As you remove one batch of fried kajus from kadhai, sprinkle spice powder and mix well, as they are hot powder will stick to them properly.
Repeat the same process with the remaining dough.
Let them cool completely and store them in an airtight container. An ideal snack for evening tea.
For a variation you can also add few fried cashewnuts( real one) to this in order to make them rich.

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SAAI THOOM JA PHULKA: GREEN GARLIC PARATHA

Green garlic stuffed parathas are slightly bitter or you can say strong in taste, but as far as health benefits are concerned green garlic should be included in diet, as it is available only in winter season, I try to make maximum use of it in different types of recipes like pulao, gravy dishes and in some Chinese dishes and soups. Like my husband if you are not comfortable with the strong taste of garlic you can take ½ portion of garlic and ½ coriander leaves or green onion stems, they moderate the strong taste of garlic. The detailed recipe is as below:

Ingredients:
Wheat flour: 2 cups
Garlic stems: ½ cup
Coriander leaves: ½ cup
Ginger : ½ “ piece, grated
Amchur powder: ½ teaspoon
Black pepper powder : ½ teaspoon
Salt: to taste
Chaat masala : ½ teaspoon
Oil : 2 tablespoon
water: As required for kneading the dough
Method:
Chop garlic and coriander wash them thoroughly, squeeze out excess water. Place grated ginger, garlic and coriander in grinder jar, don’t add water to it, grind it for few seconds, open the lid mix it and again grind it for approx 10 seconds. Mixture should be dry you don’t have to make a puree of it
Remove it from grinder jar to a strainer, with the help of spoon squeeze all water from it and collect it in a bowl.

With this water knead the dough, you can add more water to if required. Make a soft dough.
Take a ball of dough, roll out a small chapati, apply oil to it, sprinkle salt, amchur powder, chaat masala to it, add one 1 to ½ teaspoon of garlic coriander mixture in the center of it, Pull the edges of paratha to wrap the filling. Quickly roll out paratha with light hands.
Cook paratha on hot griddle from both sides by appling some oil to it, till it is completely cooked and golden brown in color. If you wish you can apply butter to it, serve hot with tea or any other accompaniment of your choice.
Tips:
squeeze water from garlic and coriander mixture as much as you can, if the mixture is moist it will be difficult for you to roll out parathas.
Salt quickly causes mixture to wet, hence it is essential to quickly roll out paratha.
Alternately instead of sprinkling salt to paratha you can add salt to the dough while kneading.

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FAREY (KARVA CHAUTH RECIPE)

Farey is traditional north Indian recipe, prepared on occasion of Karva Chauth. This a prepared in various ways with variation in ingredients and method. Usually farey are steamed , but similar to rajasthani gattey they can be boiled also. Detailed procedure and ingredients required for this recipe are:

Chana dal: 1/2cup(soaked for 3 hours)
Urad dal : ½ cup(soaked for 3 hours)
Green chillies: 2 nos.
Ginger: ½ inch piece
Rice flour: 3/4th cup
Salt : to taste
Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon
Redchillipowder: 1 teaspoon
Hing : ½ teaspoon
Curry leaves: 10-12
Amchur powder : ½ teaspoon
Oil : 2 tablespoons

Method:
drain water from soaked dals, and coarsely grind them with green chillies and ginger(I use my chopper for grinding as texture of mixture comes out coarse.) From salt to oil take half quantity of ingredients in making mixture of farey and remaining half quantity will be required for shallow frying. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan, add cumin seeds as they splutter add hing powder redchilli powder curry leaves , amchur powder and salt, add grinded dals to it. Roast on medium heat, stirring continuously till mixture is light brown in color and moisture is reduced.Remove the pan from heat, let it cool completely.
Knead soft dough of rice flour with adding water and salt to it.
take a portion of dal mixture shape it like muthia(refer picture no. 1)

take rice flour in wet palm, flatten it, place dal muthia in it and cover it with rice flour(picture no.2) .
repeat this process with the whole dal mixture and rice flour.

Boil enough water in a saucepan, place steal strainer over the pan, place all the the farey over it cover the strainer with thali or plate. Steam on medium heat for 10-12 minutes.
When they cool slice them,

For shallow frying again heat 1 tablespoon oil , add all the remaining half ingredients, and cooked sliced farey , shallow fry them till golden color from both sides. Serve hot with chutney of your choice.

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Aam Papad Rolls

Aam Papad is a method of preserving ripe mangoes, there are too many methods of preserving raw mangoes : achar or kali khatai etc. When mangoes are available in abundance in market you can preserve them for further use. In Lucknow we have good quality mangoes at very affordable price. In this recipe I am making aam papad in roll shape, you can make them in different forms and with different fillings( desiccated coconut, gulukand or chaat masala etc.) Ingredients required for this recipe are:
Ripe mangoes: 4 Nos. big size (peeled and pulp extracted)
Sugar: 2 tablespoon
Green cardamom Powder: ½ teaspoon

Method: Take a big thali or tray, grease it properly with oil.
Puree mango pulp in grinder, In a non stick pan, (you can use your regular pan too) take all the ingredients, stirring continuously cook on medium heat till mixture is cooked, its color will change to golden , its consistency will be similar to jam and will reduce half to its original volume. Remove it from the heat, with the help of spatula spread the mixture evenly ,as thin as you can. The tray is to be placed under the heat of sun(dhoop) for a day. I use to make aam papad in early morning so that it will get whole day to set.In the evening check aam papad, it will dry, if there is moisture in it , let it dry for another day. With the help of sharp knife make marks on it and roll them tightly.Aam papad is ready. In an air tight container you can refrigerate it for months.
Take chaat masala in a small bowl, roll aam papad in it from all sides. You will get spicy, chatpata aam papad roll.

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TURAI CHANA DAAL

Turai Chanadaal is  an excellent combination of vegetable and pulse like sai bhaaji. In summer as turai is easily avialable in market I enjoyed this dish once or twice a week.

Ingredients:Turai(Ridge gourd): 400gms
chana daal: 1cup( soaked for atleast 3 hours)
Onion: 2 big size (finely chopped)
Tomatoes: 4 Nos.(puried)
Ginger garlic Paste: 2 teaspoon
Turmuric: 1/2 teaspoon
salt : to taste
Red chillipowder: 1 teaspoon
garam masala powder:1/2 teaspoon
water: 1 tablespoon
Oil: 2 tablespoon
Method: Peal turai and cut it into small pieces.
heat oil in a pressure cooker, add onions and cook till light brown in color, add ginger garlic paste, roast for a minute or two, add tomatopuree, redchillipowder, turmuric powder, salt and roast for 2 minutes, add turai and chanadaal, roast on medium heat for 4 minutes, add one table spoon of water and pressure cook on high flame till one whistle, cook on medium heat for 2-3 whistles, let it cool completely, open the lid, check the consistency, with the help of hand blender mix turai and chana dal, on a low flame cook for another 2-3 minutes with lid covered till oil comes on top, sprinkle garam masala over it, serve hot with steamed rice.

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BHINDI AALOO

Bhindi Aaloo is a simple and easy vegetable, cooked in almost every home, but again each individual cooks it in his/her way. BhindiAloo is easy to prepare and recipe of this season. The ingredients required for the recipe are:Bhindi (ladyfingers or okra): 200gms
Onions: 2 large size
green chillies: 4 Nos.
Salt as per taste:
Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon
Potatoes: 2 large size
Tomatoes: 1 big size
Turmuric powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Corainder powder: 1 tablespoon
garam masala powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Amchur powder : 1/2 teaspoon
Oil: 1 & 1/2  tablespoon for frying.
Method:1.  Peel potatoes and make small pieces.
2.  Wash bhindis and let them air dry, remove head and tales of bhindi and cut them into small pieces, cut green chillies.
3. Chop onions
4. In a wide pan, you can take kadhai also, heat oil add cumin seeds, as they splutter add bhindi and potatoes, cook on medium heat, stirr in between, don't cover the lid.
5. As ladyfingers are little brownish in color and potatoes are cooked add onion and all other masalas(except: garam masala) mix well and cook for another 5-6 minutes.
Finally add chopped tomatoes , at this stage cover the lid, and cook for another 3-4 minutes, at last sprinkle garam masala over it.
Serve hot with Roti and curd.

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SOOJI HALWA

Sooji Halwa, Seera or Kanda Prasad is usually prepared for any pooja , or as a  breakfast dish.

Ingredients required for this recipe are
Sooji or semolina: 1 cup
dry fruits: raisins, almonds, chiraunji (1 tablespoon)
ghee: 3/4 cup
sugar : 1 cup
water: 3 cups
green cardamom: 2Nos(crushed)
Method: Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan or kadhai, add cardamom as aroma arise, add sooji, stirring continiously, roast on medium heat,   till sooji is golden in color
add dry fruits, sugar and water togather, on a high flame stirr till water is soaked up
simmer the flame for 2 minutes.
serve hot garnished with sliced almonds.

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