Matri / Indian Salt Crackers

A lovely crisp tea time snack.
Matris are basically punjabi in origin but have now permeated every state of India. And because of that there are so many flavors available in the market. While pepper and ajwain (ayamodakam) are the classic flavors, you can choose the flavor your family wants. Example : jeera, red chilly, methi, til. I hear even Garlic matri is in the market. So basically the flavoring is all yours.

This recipe was given to me by Mrs.Shefali Arvind.

Ingredients: (for around 40 matris)
Maida / All purpose flour - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Pepper powder - 1 tbsp
Oil / ghee - 2 heaped tbsp
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Mix together the maida, salt and pepper.
Add the oil / ghee and mix well, so that it resembles bread crumbs.
Now knead a tight dough with just enough water.
Keep covered for half an hour.
Divide dough into 4 portions and roll out each portion thinly.
Use a mould to cut out shapes.
Prick with a fork to prevent it from puffing up.
Deep fry in medium hot oil till golden brown.
Cool and store in air tight containers.

Pictorial:

Moong Dal Halwa

My North Indian friends always rave about their mother's moong dal halwa and during holi they seem to miss it quite a bit.
And when I did have it at a restaurant, I was blown away.
Every recipe I looked at had the moong dal / green gram dal soaking for 3 hours, then grinding it into a fine paste and then cooking in ghee for nearly 30 minutes while stirring constantly.
Too much work.
Then I came across a recipe which just used moong dal powder and the whole process from start to end finished in 30 minutes. The taste was awesome and my guests loved it too.

Ingredients:
Moong Dal - 1 cup
Ghee / Clarified butter - 1/2 cup
Water - 1 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cardamom - 2
Almond slivers - 2 tbsp

Method:
Dry roast the moong dal in heavy bottomed vessel, till the colour slightly changes.
Then cool it and powder. The powder will be slighly coarse.
Now heat this powder with all the ghee in the same heavy bottomed vessel and cook on low flame till the mixture starts turning dark and looks puffy / fluffy.
Now add inthe rest of the ingredients in a go and mix well.
The halwa will start leaving the sides of the vessel.
Transfer to a buttered plate and allow to cool.

Pictorial:

Look at the colour difference of the fried and non fried dal

Moong dal powder and ghee

Stage 1 of frying the dal powder and ghee

The dal looks puffy after more frying

After all the other ingredients have been added and stirred in

Moong dal Halwa is ready

Peas pulav / Lucknowi Moti pilaf / Moti Pulav

Epic TV has a program called 'Lost Recipes' hosted by chef Aditya Bal, where he is on the look out for long lost recipes that were once very popular but are now hard to procure.

I watched one episode set in Lucknow. A paan chewing lady bossed around the chef and her lady help to make a beautiful dish, which the erst-while nawabs enjoyed.
But like Abhimanyu did not hear the second part of getting out of the chakra-vyuh, I did not watch the first part of the recipe where they made the 'white balls / pearls'.
I felt very depressed and no amount of searching on the web revealed that part to me. Then when I looked carefully at the 'promo' of this particular episode, I noticed that the lady was using egg whites to make those beautiful balls. Now, since I had no plans of incorporating that in my home food, I was sort of glad that I missed that part.

And since I had not noted down the recipe while viewing the episode, the following version is what I remember of it.
But I am very happy with the taste and look of it. And my family thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ingredients:
Fresh Green Peas in pod - 1/2 kg
(or)
Green peas - 1 cup
Basmati Rice - 1 1/2 cups
Onion - 3, large
Ginger - 3 inch
Garlic - 8 cloves
Cloves - 8
Bay leaf - 2
Cinnamon stick - 4 inch
Cardamom - 4
Peppercorn - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Ghee - 7 tbsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Saffron - 1 pinch
Orange colour - 1 pinch

Method:
Wash and soak the rice in ample water for 1 hour.
Remove the green peas from the pod to get 1 cup.
Cut the onions into thin long slices.
Grind the ginger and garlic together.
Mix the salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder and coriander powder with a little water to make a thick paste.
Mix the milk, saffron and food color together and keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a thick bottomed vessel with tight lid. Splutter jeera, pepper, 1 inch cinnamon stick, 2 cloves and 2 cardamoms. Fry the drained rice for 2 minutes. Add 3 cups of boiling water and a little salt. Cook covered for exactly 10 minutes and turn off flame. Do not open lid for another 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Heat 2 tbsp ghee and splutter 2 cloves, 2 cardamom, 1 bay leaf and 1 inch cinnamon stick.
Into this add the green peas. Stir for 2-3 minutes and remove from fire.

Heat the 3 tbsp ghee and add in the rest of the whole spices and fry the onions. Once it gets transparent, add the ginger-garlic paste. Now add the salt-turmeric powder- chilly powder- coriander powder paste and mix well. Heat for 30 seconds and add in the cooked green peas.

Heat a heavy bottomed vessel with a tight lid.
Heat 1 tbsp ghee. Layer with 1/2 the rice, followed by 1/2 the green peas and pour in half of the colored milk. Repeat.
Cover with the lid and keep on low flame for 10 minutes.
Serve with Paneer Makhani.

Bhajji / South Indian vegetable fritters

We south Indians love our evening tea. Snacks like bhajji, Bonda, Uzhundu Vada, Parippu vada, pazham pori or vegetable cutlet are usually served with the evening tea during special occasions and / or on holidays.
All the above are deep fried delicacies!!

Here I am noting down the batter recipe.
Use this batter to make bhajji with your favorite vegetables like potato, onion, Cauliflower, bhajji chilly, raw plantain or bread, cheese, etc.

Ingredients:
Kadala mav / Chick pea flour / besan - 3 tbsp
Rice flour - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp (or more)
Asafoetida powder - 1 tsp
(optional) Dosa batter - 1 tbsp
(optional) Baking soda - 1 pinch

Method:
Mix all the above ingredients with just enough water to make a smooth slightly thick batter.

Dip the vegetable to coat it evenly.

Deep fry till golden brown.

Serve with coconut coriander chutney or tomato sauce or eat plain.

Arbi Colacasia Taro curry

Arbi (in Hindi) or Chembu (in Malayalam) or Taro (in English).

Health benefits of Taro

• Taro or dasheen corms possess more calories than potatoes. 100 grams of root provides 112 calories. Their calorie value chiefly comes from complex carbohydrates, amylose andamylopectin. Nonetheless, the roots are very low in fats and protein than in cereals and pulses. Their protein levels can be comparable to that of other tropical food sources like yam, tapioca, plantain etc.
• The corms, however, are free from gluten protein. They carry high-quality phyto-nutrition profile comprising of dietary fiber, and antioxidants in addition to moderate proportions of minerals, and vitamins.
• Taro is one of the finest sources dietary fibers; 100 g flesh provides 4.1 g or 11% of daily-requirement of dietary fiber. Together with slow digesting complex carbohydrates, moderate amounts of fiber in the food help gradual rise in blood sugar levels.

Source: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/taro.html

So let us make a great curry with it.

Ingredients:

Arbi - 1/2 kg

Onion - 2, medium

Garlic - 2 cloves

Tomato - 2

Green chilli - 2

Ginger - 2 inches

Salt

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilly powder -1 tsp

Asafoetida powder / kayam - 1/2 tsp

Jeera powder -1/2 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Jeera / cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Ayamodakam / ajwain / caraway seeds - 1 tsp

Note:

In this curry we are using jeera, ajwain, jeera powder and asafoetida, as these all help in preventing gas formation in the stomach without affecting the taste of the curry. Chembu is highly "gaseous"!!

Method:

Grind together the onion with the garlic. Keep aside.

Grind the tomato with the green chilly and ginger. Keep aside.

Peel the colacasia and cut into desired shape.

Boil in ample water with little salt and turmeric powder.

Heat the oil and splutter the jeera and ajwain.

Then fry the onion paste on a low flame till golden.

Now add the powders and mix well.

After a minute add the tomato paste and fry till the raw smell.

Then add in the boiled arbi with ample water.

Cook covered on a low flame for 10 minutes.

Serve hot with chappathy or rice.

Aloo Baingan shaak

A dry curry from Gujarat made with Potato and Brinjal / aubergine / egg plant.
This is north Indian dish.
If you want to try a tangy watery South Indian curry made with potato and brinjal, try - Kosu malli.

Ingredients:
Potato - 4, medium, unpeeled cut into thick wedges
Brinjal / egg plant - 3, medium, cut into thick wedges
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mestard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Jeera / cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tbsp (more or less to suit your family's taste)
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida powder / kayam - 1 tsp

Method:
Heat the oil in a thick bottomed vessel with a tight lid.
Splutter the mustard seeds and then add the jeera.
Reduce flame and add the asafoetida powder, chilly powder and coriander powder.
Mix well and after a minute add the potato, salt and turmeric powder.
Reduce flame and cook covered till the potato gets half cooked.
Now add the Brinjal and cook till the vegetables all soften.
Open and fry for 1 minute.
Serve hot garnished with green chilly and coriander leaf.