Osaman - Lachko

We were treated to a lovely Gujarati lunch yesterday and I got to see my dear friend , Shefali Arvind Shah prepare my favorite dish "Osaman" from scratch.

She made both Osaman and lachko.
All the photos have been taken in her kitchen.

The former is made with the water of the dal and lachko is made with the thick dal.

Both are served with the rice. But Osaman is served with chapathy.

Ingredients:

Tur dal - 1 small cup

Water - 3 cups

Salt

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp

Jeera powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Jaggery - 2 tbsp
Cloves - 3
Cinnamon stick - 1
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Methi seeds / uluva - 1 tsp
Asafoetida powder / kayam - 1 tsp
Red chilli - 1, broken
Green chilli -1, broken
Curry leaf - 1 sprig
Coconut - 1 tbsp
Kokum / kudumpuli - 3 or 4 small soaked in water for 1/2 hour
Coriander leaf - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp

Pressure cook the tur dal in plenty of water till it gets cooked / mashed.
We need only the water to make 'osaman'.

Splutter in ghee
first - cloves and cinnamon
second - mustard, jeera and methi
third - asafoetida (not in photograph)
fourth - red chilli, green chilly and curry leaf.

Then add the tur dal water. As you can see in the photo below, the thick dal has been moved aside and only the top layer of cooked water is used.
She then mashes whatever dal might have fallen into it.

Next add in the various powders ( turmeric, coriander-jeera powder and chilli powder), jaggery, kokum, ginger , coconut, salt and coriander leaf.

Boil this dal water and simmer for 10 minutes. Osaman is ready.

Lachko :

Boil the thick dal mixed with salt, turmeric powder (1tsp), Asafoetida powder / kayam (1/2 tsp) ,Ghee (1 tsp) and 1 green chilli.

Gajar ka halwa / Carrot sweet

There is something about this seasonal sweet......

When I think back to my childhood , my North Indian friends talked so much about this sweet after their Christmas vacation in Delhi / North India. In those days, these carrots were not available in south India. Gajar Ka halwa - what was that? And my friends swore that 'carrot halwa' was NOT tasting as yum as it's north Indian cousin.I waited long to taste this sweet.

But now there has been an over-kill. All restaurants and wedding receptions have it at their buffet counter!!

So why make it at home?

I really don't know! Probably because when I went to the market, I saw two North Indian ladies, bent over the 'Dilli gajar' and nit picking juicy ones while talking excitedly. 

So I too chose 1/2 a kilo of this carrot variant much against my husband's wishes!!

Must say that this sweet takes a long time to stew and cook , but the end result is worth the 1 hour effort!

(I would strongly recommend you make this sweet while doing some other cooking on the side, as it is really boring to stand and stir ever so often.)

I have used the same quantity of milk as the amount of grated carrot (1:1), but my neighbor Mrs.Lakshmi Agarrwal was saying that she adds double the quantity of milk. So you can choose whatever quantity you want 1:1 or 1:2 or 1:1and 1/2....The more milk you add, the more time it will take to cook.

Ingredients:

Delhi Carrot - 1/2 kg 

Milk - same quantity as grated carrot

Sugar - 1 cup

(optional) Khoya (unsweetened reduced milk) - 3/4 cup

Ghee - 3 and 1/2 tbsp

Garnish:

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Almonds - 12

(soaked, peeled and chopped into slivers)

Method:

Wash, peel and grate the carrots.

(Psst: I used my chopper! Sacrilege!! But my triceps thanked me!)

I got 3 and 1/2 cups of finely minced carrot.
Take a heavy bottomed vessel and tip in the milk ( I used 3 1/2 cups, same amount as grated carrots) and carrot.

Start cooking. Stir occasionally. Scrape the sides of the vessel each time you stir.

When the milk has reduced to barely coat the carrot, add in the sugar and khoya (if using).

Suddenly you will notice that the quantity has increased. Cook this down again.

Then add the ghee.

Mix well and cook till there is no liquid oozes out of the carrot halwa.

Garnish with cardamom powder and almonds.

Once cooled, transfer to a closed container and refridgerate.

Serve warm. (Microwave portions before serving.)

Lemonade

Everyone knows to make lemon juice.

Lemon juice with sugar and soda, lemon juice with salt and soda, lemon juice with ginger extract / nannari syrup and water, lemon juice with crushed mint... Even lemon juice with green chillies!! We have heard it all and probably drank it all.

There is nothing special in my juice. Just the ordinary - sugar and salt and water.

Upside: Get nearly 1 liter of lemonade from 1 lime.

Downside: Consume immediately

But how do you get nearly 1 liter juice from 1 lemon? It is all in the process!!

Ingredients:

Lime - 1 large

Salt - 1 tsp

Sugar - 5 tbsp

Chilled water - 750 ml

Garnish : mint leaves and ice

Method:

Cut the lime into 4 segments and remove all the seeds/pips. Very important to remove ALL the seeds.

Take your largest mixer bowl and throw in the deseeded lime with the skin on.

Top with salt and sugar.

Blitz these dry, without any water.

Add 1 cup water and run the mixer in intervals. The lime must be properly crushed.

At last add in the rest of the water and run the mixer for 1/2 a minute.

Taste and adjust. Add more water.

Take your glass and layer with ice and mint leaves.

Pour in the lemonade without sieving.

Consume immediately.

Remember - This juice turns a little sour because of the lemon rind if it is not consumed immediately.

Sweet and Sour Tomato

Kylie Kwong - the celebrity chef from Australia was doing a show about  "My China".
This recipe is from that show.
She served it with Omelette and my kids love this recipe. My husband approved it yesterday, so here goes!

I have deviated a bit form Kylie's recipe. I found replacements for many of her ingredients as specifics are not readily available here in my town.
I did not use peanut oil (do not like smell), cooking wine (did not have, so used ordinary wine), light soy sauce ( used ordinary soy sauce) and used ordinary vinegar instead of brown vinegar.

The only special ingredient you need is 'baby tomatoes'. I did try this recipe with ordinary tomato, but the 'look' was not great.

And another thing - your kitchen will become a mess with all the spluttering. The wine will catch fire too. Keep a lid handy to close the vessel and thus douse the flame. Be prepared for some serious cleaning.

Ingredients:

Baby tomatoes - 10
Ginger - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 1 tbsp
Wine - 2 tbsp
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Pepper - 1 tsp
Salt ( not necessary , but do add if you want to)
Oil - 1 tbsp

Heat oil in a vessel with long handle and lid.
When it starts to smoke and add the ginger and garlic.
When it turns golden , add the tomato and cook till skin starts to peel.
Now add the wine and be prepared for it to catch fire. Keep the lid handy.
Keep moving the ingredients in the vessel.
After 1 minute add the sugar. It will caramelize.
Add the vinegar, soy sauce and pepper.
In a minute the whole curry will become thickish.
Taste and add salt only if necessary.
Turn off flame and serve topped on toasted bread or omelette.

Mushroom and broccoli in soy sauce

A fairly easy chinese curry with 2 exotic ingredients - mushroom and broccoli
.
Mushroom (button) - 150 gms

Dry shiitake Mushroom - 4 numbers , soaked in hot water and sliced thin (optional)

Broccoli - 1 small , broken into small flowerets

Ginger - 1 tbsp chopped

Garlic - 1 tbsp chopped

Green chilli - 1 tbsp chopped

Corn flour - 1 tbsp mixed with 1/2 cup water

Water - 1 1/2 cups

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil / sunflower oil - 2 tbsp

Mix the following together:

Soy sauce - 1 tbsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

Tomato sauce - 1 tbsp

Heat the oil and add the ginger, garlic and green chilli.

Next add the button mushroom and sauté stirring continuously on medium flame till it wilts.

Add the shiitake mushrooms, if using and mix well.

Add the salt, pepper and the mixed sauces.

Add 1 cup water and stir well.

When it starts to boil add the broccoli and reduce flame for 1 minute.

(If necessary, add more water.)

Add the corn flour slurry and turn off flame while stirring continuously. Curry will thicken.

Serve hot with fried rice or noodles.

Muthira ada / horse gram dosa

A very healthy Dosa made with various pulses. My mom always says that growing children need to eat pulses like Muthira. Muthira or horse gram is supposed to strenghten the bone and help in growth.

5 types of pulses are used and all are measured in equal quantity.

I used 1/4 cup of each and got 12 - 14 dosas. Feel free to increase or decrease the quantity as per your household requirements.

White rice / idly rice / pachari

Brown rice / puzhukkal ari

Urad dal with skin

Muthira / horse gram

Tur Dal

Soak all the above together for 3-4 hours.

Grind into a fine batter.

Add salt and asafoetida powder (1/2 tsp). Mix well.

Keep for fermenting overnight or for 6 hrs.

Make dosa as you usually do and use til oil for greasing. 

and enjoy with butter or any chutney.

Milk peda

I dedicate this post to my cousin Ravi Anand whose love for 'doodh-beda' is legendary. During school summer vacation every trip from my home town Trichur to my uncle Ananthakrishnan's place in Cochin used to have a halt at Milma depot, Edapally for this tasty sweet.

In the olden days, milk used to be cooked for hours to make this sweet.

But this recipe is made in the microwave using 3 ingredients. And in 3 minutes, it is ready. 

How easy is that??

When you have unexpected guests coming home in 'about 15-20 minutes' and there is no sweet to serve them, this recipe is there for your rescue.

My aunt had told my mom this recipe, which was forgotten till today, when I had some Gujarathi guests coming in 'about 15-20 minutes'! 😃

Ingredients:

Butter

Sweetened condensed milk ( Nestle milkmaid or Amul mithai mate)

Milk powder

Few strands of saffron

Garnish:

Slivers of pistachio and almonds and crushed cardamom seeds

Ratio

1 butter :1 condensed milk : 4 milk powder

Meaning :

If you use 1 cup butter, use 1 cup Sweetened Condensed milk and 4 cups milk powder.

I used:

Butter - 1/2 cup

Sweetened Condensed milk - 1/2 cup

Milk powder - 2 cups

Recipe:

Melt the butter in the microwave.

Mix in the sweetened condensed milk, milk powder and saffron. 

Put this mixture in the microwave and heat in high power for 1 minute.

Mix the hot mixture again and microwave again for 1 minute.

Repeat the mixing and heating for 1 more minute.

Take it out of the microwave oven and transfer to a large plate.

When it cools to a temperature you can handle, knead well.

Microwave the pistachio, almond and cardamom seed powder for 30 seconds.

Into a mould first add the nuts and top it with the peda mixture. Press and unmould.

Your doodh peda is ready for serving.