Day Six : Kadhi Khichadi

On Day Six of the Blogging Marathon #7, brainchild of the lovely Srivalli , we have the ultimate comfort food : Kadhi Khichadi.
Personally, this combo meal is one of my absolute favorite dish.
I loved Kadhi Khichadi as a child hence it was one of the first dishes that I learnt to cook.
It is supposed to be my specialty. My family and friends send requests (farmaish) for me to cook this simple yet extremely wholesome and tasty comfort food.
No get together of our family is complete without me cooking this dish.
I know that most people have highly complicated dishes as their specialty. But then I do not claim to be good cook ( I am still learning and have a long way to go) and I believe that it is not easy to make even simple dishes tasty and consistently good :))
In Maharashtrian weddings, kadhi khichadi and sheera puri are served for dinner on the wedding eve(simantpujan)
Though generally khichadi is made with moong dal and rice, I prefer to make it with Tur dal.

Kadhi Khichadi :

Khichadi :
Ingredients :
3/4 cup Tur dal / Arhar Dal ( Split Red Gram)
3/4 cup Rice (whole uncooked)
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic - 8-9 cloves
Onions - 2/3 
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Water - 4 and half cups
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Asafoetida (hing)- pinch

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Sugar - pinch

Salt - as per taste.

Godha masala - 1 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Cumin powder - 1 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

Method : 

Wash tur dal and rice with water together and after rinsing off the water keep aside for half an hour.

Cut onions into small pieces.

Grate ginger finely.

Chop cloves of garlic into small pieces.

In a pressure cooker, heat one tablespoon of oil.

When the oil gets heated, add mustard seeds and let them splutter.

Add cumin seeds and hing. 

Add onions and stir them continously for 5 minutes.

After the onions turn translucent, add turmeric powder.

Add tur dal and rice which was kept aside after washing and stir continuously.

Add godha masala,red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt and sugar and mix well.

Stir for 5 -10 minutes and add water.

Cover it with the lid and whistle and let it pressure cook on medium heat.

After 2 whistles, lower the heat and let it cook for 5 minutes before removing from heat.

Tips :

Do not add turmeric powder before onions as it might get burnt in hot oil and also you will not be able to see the changed color of onions.

Water to be added should be heated separately so that the khichadi cooks faster.

Water to be added may vary as per the brand of rice being used.

My family generally likes khichadi to be of semi liquid consistency. If you prefer khichadi to be of more firm consistency like biryani add less water and use Basmati rice.

Kadhi :

2 cup curd (dahi)

Water

Gram flour (besan) - 2/3 teaspoons

Ginger - 1/2 inch

Garlic - 7-8 cloves

Green chillies - 3/4 

Salt to taste

Sugar - pinch

Coriander leaves(optional)

Curry leaves (optional)

Ghee

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Asafoetida (hing)- pinch

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Fenugreek Seeds (methi dana) - 1/2 teaspoon

Beat the curd adding water in a blender.

Grate the ginger and fine chop half the garlic into small pieces.

Take 2 green chillies and fine chop them.

Grind ginger, garlic, coriander leaves, cumin seeds and green chillies in a mixer to a coarse consistency.

Add this mixture into the curd and mix well.

Add salt and sugar.

In a small cup take some water and add besan in it.

Stir continuously till there are no lumps seen in the water.

Add this in the curd and water mixture and mix well.

In a heavy bottom vessel pour this and keep it on medium heat.

Stir continuously. When this mixture comes to boil, switch off the heat.

Heat ghee in a small pan.

When the ghee gets heated, add cumin seeds and hing.

Add the remaining cloves of garlic and green chillies.

Add fenugreek seeds and turmeric powder.

Pour this tempering (tadaka) over the kadhi and let it boil for 5 minutes.

Tip : Check the sourness of curd and add sugar / gud according. Gujarati kadhi is generally sweet but in Maharashtra sugar is not always added.

Stir the mixture continously when you cook it as otherwise the curd may start cuddling and the curd & water separate. The kadhi should be a mixture of curd and besan.
As stated above, I made khichadi with tur dal and rice instead of moong dal.
Also my ratio of tur dal and rice is exact half and half unlike the usual 3:1 ratio of moong dal and rice.

Kadhi Khichadi is ready.

Take a look at what the rest of the marathon bloggers are upto....

Carrot Cabbage Bhajaniche Thalipeeth - Day Six of Blogging Marathon

Day Six of the Blogging Marathon, brainwave of fabulous Srivalli finds us still going strong with the theme of "Incredible India".........
My theme for the day is "Specialty Regional Cuisine"
The cuisine chosen is from the Maharashtra.......
On day four when I made "Kothimbir Wadi"...I received lovely & encouraging comments and feedback from my fellow marathon bloggers......One of my fellow bloggers, Priya of Now Serving asked a very pertinent query regarding the recipe...She wanted to know what was Bhajani....whether I could put any picture of that.....and then I realized that that I had made an assumption that everyone reading my blog would know all the ingredients of the recipes that I post on the blog….which was completely untrue.......
As they say language and food habits changes after every 20 kilometers…. Every region has their own traditional specialties …which is the reason why there is so much of variety in Indian food….We are extremely fortunate that today we are able to not just enjoy but also prepare at our homes the culinary delights of various different regions…….After all, “Variety is Spice of Life”

Today’s recipe is “BhajanicheThalipeeth” (mixed flour pancake) which is a staple Maharastrian dish….which can be eaten either for a hearty breakfast or as single dish meal for lunch or dinner…….Hot Thalipeeth fresh from the pan is generally relished with curds or “Loni” (cream/butter)

Thalipeeth is made with adding coriander leaves and onions in bhajani flour… But as usual, to make it more healthy, I added grated carrot and cabbage to make Carrot Cabbage Thalipeeth……

So, here's my version of Carrot Cabbage Bhajaniche Thalipeeth.......

Carrot Cabbage Bhajaniche Thalipeeth

Ingredients:
Thalipeeth Bhajani - 2 cups
Coriander Leaves – 1 /2 cup
Onion - 1 Carrot (grated) - 1
Cabbage (grated) - 100 gms
Oil
Water
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida (hing) - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - pinch
Coriander powder (dhania) - 2 teaspoon
Cumin powder (jeera powder) - 2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Goda Masala - 1 teaspoon
Salt – as per taste

Method :
Slice and chop onion into small fine pieces.
Wash and chop coriander leaves into small pieces.
Wash and grate carrot and cabbage.
Take bhajani(mixed flour) in a bowl and add all the above ingredients in it.
Add salt,cumin seeds,asafoetida (hing) ,turmeric powder,coriander powder (dhania),cumin powder (jeera powder),red chilli powder and goda masala in it.
Add some oil to this mixture.(The calorie conscience people need not add oil)
Add water and kneed it into a dough. The consistency of the dough should be a bit harder than that of chappati.
Make small balls of dough and flatten the dough using hands on a plastic sheet.
Make small holes in it.
Heat non stick frying pan and place the flatten dough on it.
If not using non stick pans, add oil to the sides and in the holes.
Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook on medium flame.
When there is a crackling sound, it is an indication that the thalipeeth is cooked completely from one side.
Remove the lid and flip sides.
This time it should be left uncovered and let it cook completely from the second side.
Serve hot with curds, loni(cream/butter) or mango pickle......

Bhajani is basically a mixture of various flours which are roasted and grounded together.

Bhajani

Ingredients :
Rice - 1 cup
Gram dal - 1 cup
Bajari - 1 cup
Udit dal - 100 gms
Cumin seeds( jeera) - 50 gms

Method -
Wash rice and let it dry properly for one day
The next day, roast the dried rice on non stick pan.(Do not add oil)
Keep aside.
Similarly roast separately gram dal, bajari, udit dal and cumin seeds.
Mix all the roasted ingredients and grind it to a coarse powder.
Bhajani is ready for use........

Other flour like wheat, jowar or rawa may also be added depending on individual preference.

Photo tutorial of Carrot Cabbage Bhajaniche Thalipeeth:

This Thalipeth is made of mixed flours and you can add vegetables of your choice to it.
When done on non stick frying pan, its completely oil free and low calorie.As nutritious and healthy as you can get and tastes delicious too.....what else does one need.......
So here's a lovely healthy and nutritious dish which can be served for a heavy breakfast or as a single dish meal for lunch or dinner.......

The Carrot Cabbage Bhajaniche Thalipeeth also goes to the lovely and wonderful PJ for her blogevent "Flavors of Maharashtra" which is hosted by her this month for Naina of simply.food for her event......

Take a look at my wonderful fellow marathon bloggers and see what they were upto :
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Meena, Minu, Padma,
Pavani, PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi,
Smitha, Sowmya, Srivalli, Suma, Usha, Veena

Come back tomorrow for the Finale i.e. Day Seven of Blogging Marathon......

Shevagyachya Shenganchi Bhaji (Drumstick Curry)-Day Five of Blogging Marathon

Day Five of Blogging Marathon created by the lovely Srivalli finds us having "Shevagyachya Shenganchi Bhaji which means Drumstick Curry..
This is in continuation with Regional Specialty Cuisine and this cuisine belongs to Maharashtra...

This is a typical sabji (curry) prepared in most of Maharastrian families.....
My grandparents had a wonderful garden outside their house and they grew many fruits and vegetables in it .....There were two big shevagyachi zade ( trees bearing drumsticks)....
My father and his two sisters along with their cousins reminiscence numerous childhood tales and anecdotes as to how they all would play hide and seek and climb the trees when they were hiding......They used to have competitions on who would climb the trees fastest or furthest...
Or when they ran and climbed the trees in order to avoid getting punished......
But the most funniest anecdote was shared by my father's cousin sister......She was always getting into trouble with her mother (my father's maasi/aunt).....
Once when she did something wrong and her mother wanted to punish her,she ran all over the house and in the garden with her mother in hot pursuit........Thinking quickly and being agile, she climbed one of the biggest tree in the garden to avoid getting caught and punished ...... But to the amusement of all and to the complete horror of the daughter, her mother (my father's mausi /aunt) promptly followed her without batting an eyelid.......The mother proceeded to climb the same tree, in saree and all, with complete ease and agility and caught hold of her daughter.......
Your guess is as good as mine as to what awaited the daughter after being caught by her mother on the big tree...........
Whenever any of the kids saw any drumsticks hanging on the trees, they would promptly pluck them and take them to my grandmother,who would promptly cook the delicious drumstick either with curry or dry drumstick sabji, which tastes equally good........The drumsticks were the family favorite in any and every form....
The drumsticks would be distributed to family, friends and neighbours as was the practice in those days......
And some of the neighbours would request (farmaish) on eating the drumstick curry prepared by my grandmother, who was a very good cook... so in the customary way of good old days, the bowl filled with delicious drumstick curry would be exchanged on the wall common to both the houses....and after relishing the curry, the neighbours would send the bowl filled with delicacies/goodies from their house back to my father's house ...... The bowl would find its way back to the house through the common wall filled with delicacies for my father's family to savor......And the traditional bowl exchange would continue...... Every time, something different or someone's favorite was cooked by my grandmother, it was promptly dispatched to the said neighbour's house and vice versa.....The kids could go to any neighbouring house and have food... The lady of the house always cooked extra helping, keeping in mind any guest/neighbour who come for lunch or dinner, unannounced or uninvited, but who was always welcomed warmly.... Those were the days when one did not feel shy eating in neighbouring houses, uninvited and it was not customarily to send prior intimation of one's visit beforehand......
It was an unspoken rule that whenever someone gave you some bowl/vessel full of food , it had to be refilled with some food or eatable from your house when you return it back....."Khaali Bartan Nahi Lautate" (Never return an empty bowl)

My grandmother passed away in April last year but her memories are still fresh with all of us......

So today's post is about Shevagyachya Shenganchi Bhaji (Drumstick Curry) and the lovely memories associated with it.........

Shevagyachya Shenganchi Bhaji (Drumstick Curry)

Ingredients :
Drumsticks - 6 to 8
Onions - 2
Tomatoes - 2
Ginger- 1 inch
Garlic - 5/6 cloves
Tamarind - 2/3 soaked in hot water
Jaggery - as per taste
Salt - as per taste
Dry coconut grated - 1 cup
Oil
Water
Coriander Leaves - 1 cup
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida (hing) - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - pinch
Coriander powder (dhania) - 2 teaspoon
Cumin powder (jeera powder) - 2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Goda Masala - 1 teaspoon

Method -
First take tamarind and soak it in hot water for 2/3 hours
Slice the onions vertically.
Grate the dry coconut.
On a pan/tawa, roast the onions and coconut for 5 minutes .
Grate the tomatoes.
Grind the roasted onions, grated coconut,grated tomatoes,coriander leaves, garlic and ginger into a fine paste.
Heat oil in a bottom pan/ kadhai .
When oil is heated, add mustard seeds.
After they splutter, add cumin seeds, asafoetida,turmeric and then add the paste from the mixture.
Add goda masala,red chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder.
Stir the paste and let it cook for 5 minutes in the oil.
Peel the skins of drumstick and cut them into small pieces.
Add the drumsticks to the mixture and cover the pan with lid.
Let the drumsticks cook for 10/15 minutes,depending on the freshness of the drumsticks.
If the drumsticks are not tender enough, they may be steamed for 5 minutes before adding them to the paste.
After they have been properly cooked, add water.
Add tamarind, jaggery and salt.
Cover it with a lid and let it cook for 10/15 more minutes.
Uncover the lid and drumstick curry is ready to be served.
Garnish with some coriander leaves.......

And also due apologies for the poor quality of the photos but due to my computer and camera mishaps, I lost my photographs of this dish and had to make do with my mobile....

Take a look at my wonderful fellow marathon bloggers and see what they were upto :
Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Meena, Minu, Padma,
Pavani, PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi,
Smitha, Sowmya, Srivalli, Suma, Usha, Veena

This wonderful and delicious "Shevagyachya Shenganchi Bhaji (Drumstick Curry)"also finds it way to PJ for her blogevent "Flavors of Maharashtra" which is hosted by her this month for Naina of simply.food for her event......

Come back tomorrow for the Day Six the Blogging Marathon.......

Kothimbir Wadi - Day Four of Blogging Marathon

Day Four of the Blogging Marathon created by the wonderful Srivalli finds us on the home ground.
My theme for the day is "Specialty Regional Cuisine"

And the tag line for the dish - "Incredible India "

The dish I made is "Kothimbir Wadi" or "Coriander / Cilantro cutlets" from Maharastrian cuisine
This is a regional dish made in the state of Maharashtra..... If you happen to be a big kothimbir fan and insist on garnishing anything and everything with it( like my Baba) then you definitely ought to try this lovely crispy and crunchy snack....

As usual, making the dish more nutritive was the main aim so tweaking the authentic recipe a bit by substituting besan with thalipeeth bhajani.... This is my mother's brainwave and I take no credit for it...... Steaming it and topping it with tadka instead of deep frying or shallow frying the wadis....

This is how kothimbir wadis are done by my mother at our house......

Kothimbir Wadi ( Coriander Cutlets / Cilantro Cakes)

Ingredients :
Freshly washed and chopped coriander leaves - 4 cups
Thalipeth Bhajani - 1 cup ( you get this ready made in any Indian grocery store)
Rice Flour - 1/4 cup
Wheat Flour /atta - 1/2 cup
Oil
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida (hing) - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - pinch
Coriander powder (dhania) - 2 teaspoon
Cumin powder (jeera powder) - 2 teaspoon
Garlic Cloves - 8/10 - finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch finely shredded or cut into small pieces
(alternatively use 2 teaspoon of ginger & garlic paste)
Salt - to taste
Sugar - pinch
Green chillies - 4/5 finely chopped
or Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon
or Amchur Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1 teaspoon
Sesame seeds - 3 teaspoon

Method -
Wash and finely chop coriander leaves.
Mix all the flours and add the coriander leaves in it.
Grind together green chillies, ginger, garlic and cumin seeds and add the freshly grounded paste.
Add salt as per taste and pinch of sugar
Add asafoetida ,turmeric powder,coriander powder,cumin powder (jeera powder) and garam masala.
Add lemon juice or amchur powder.
Add water in this mixture to make it batter like consistent and avoid forming any lumps.
Knead it a bit and make a ball.
Steam this in either a steamer or pressure cooker without whistle for 20/25 mins.
Test using a knife whether the mixture is properly cooked.
Steamed wadis also taste very good.
After mixture cools down, cut into diamond shapes or small cubes.
Take a heavy bottom pan and add oil in it.
When the oil gets heated add mustard seeds.
When mustard seeds splutter, add cumin seeds, a pinch of asafoetida and turmeric powder.
Add sesame seeds and add steamed wadis.
Toss the wadis so that all wadis are coated with sesame seeds.
Serve kothimbir wadis........

Do take a look at my fellow marathon bloggers and their incredible recipes :

Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Meena, Minu, Padma,
Pavani, PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi,
Smitha, Sowmya, Srivalli, Suma, Usha, Veena

Also sending this "Kothimbir Wadi" to PJ for her blogevent "Flavors of Maharashtra" which is hosted by her this month for Naina of simply.food for her event......

Come back tomorrow for the Day Five of the Blogging Marathon.......