A long blog break..

Oh yes, I have stopped blogging for years now.. Not that I have stopped cooking, but life has become hectic.. I miss the times when I was jobless and had all the time to write and follow blogs.. Nevertheless, I enjoy being busy now.. And oh, did I mention that I eat more raw foods (salads and fruits) than cooked food.. It has to do with my healthy vegetarian diet, which is keeping me away from the kitchen ;)

Eat healthy, stay helathy.. Do drop me a line if you need some tips on healthy foods.. Happy Cooking to all my blog visitors..

Diwali 2007 Faral :)

It seems so nice to be here after so long to blog something.. A Very Happy Diwali to all my blogger friends(though its the last day today). I firstly thank all my friends who left some comments to my previous posts and apologize for not replying! Also for my friends who continue cooking and sharing awesome recipes and whom I cant visit though I sometimes just peek at your blogs and quickly drool our the snaps.. Life is busy with college and assignmnets and exams but not there had to be one post in Diwali, else my diwali would not have been complete! So here's my spread for this Diwali.. Time required: 2days

For non- Maharashtrians, "Faral" is the wide array of snacks that Maharashtrians prpeare for Diwali and have it everyday for breakfast and serve it to friends and visitors during Diwali. Since I started making this stuff only after coming here, I realise why my mom used to start preparation for this a week or two in advance. Recipes not inclded.. Will come in as soon as I get time .. I PROMISE!!! :)

My faral consists of:


1) Chivda: The yellow one in the center

I made one with Mamra/murmura/flaked rice as I did not get Thin Poha(flattened rice) :(


and now move up to


2) Besan Laadu: The yellow balls

This time I made it in microwave just like I did rawa ladus.. Find the non microwave recipe for besan laadu's here


and follow clockwise to


3) Shev: The brownish spirals

I didnt prepare this and chakli last year as I didnt have the chakli press.. But had to make it this time.. Very simple and oh so crispy.. recipe will follow later


4) Tikhat Shankarpale:

Not actually tikhat but salted.. Also called as namkeen i guess.. recipe will follow later


5) Chakli:

My favourite.. Made it using rice flour and not the real maharashtrian way using bhajani (this is a special mix which is used for chaklis).. Find the recipe here...


6) Karanji:

This is the naivedya that we have for the most important day of Diwali... Laxmi Pujan.. Or do I say "Euro Pujan" ;) Recipe follows *soon* as they turned out really well and I just dont wanna miss the recipe thats still on my mind by not posting it :D


7) Gode Shankarpale:

The sweet ones..This was my first trial at this using sugar syrup.. Mom usually makes it using Jaggery.. my recipe will follow later.. And mom's version too will be up sometime


Thats for today.. My Karanji recipe will be posted next.. Hope you guys are having a great Diwali with just lights and no crackers!

Kolar Boda

Had big plans for making something using raw bananas for JFI Banana this month, but didnt get time to find any.. So settled down for a bengali snack- Kolar Boda (meaning Banana Wadas).. My dear Bengali friend S enlightened me with this recipe.. Its my last minute entry for JFI-Banana, hosted by Mandira of Ahaar..

Kolar Boda

Makes:

5-6 small

Preparation Time:

10 mins

What you need:

1 ripe Banana
2 tbsp Plain Flour
1-2 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Fennel Seeds(Saunf)
1 tsp grated Cocunut

Oil for Frying

How to proceed:

1) Mash bananas with hand and add remaining ingredients to it (except oil)
2) Deep fry in hot oil on both sides till golden brown..
3) Enjoy sweet pakodas/wadas as a snack!

I prepared this using the overripe banana that was lying around for 4-5 days... Though black on the outside, it was perfectly in good condition to mash n make bodas!

Chawal Paratha

Not much of background of this dish.. but surely an invention lately while dealing with college, exams, assignments and cooking :D Better title for this post could be: cooking more quantity when u get time or husband cooks or cooking on weekends.. This rice paratha is a result of cooking more on a friday to have a lovely relaxed breakfast on Saturday.. My chawal/rice parathas prepared using leftover cooked rice hops over to Nandita for WBB#15-Leftovers

Chawal/Rice Paratha

Makes:

4-5 parathas

Preparation Time:

20-30 mins

What you need:

For the cover:
2 cup Wheat flour (Atta)
1-2 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Oil
Water

For the filling:
1.5-2 cups cooked Rice (Leftover stale rice is perfect)
4-5 Green Chillies
1 inch Ginger
3-4 cloves of Garlic
1 tsp Corriander Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
2-3 strands of Corriander, finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon(optional)
Salt

How to proceed:

For the cover:
1) Mix all ingredients and knead into soft dough
2) Keep aside for 15-20 mins

For the filling:
1) Mash the rice properly to small pieces
2) Put chillies, ginger in blender and blend to a paste, add this to mashed rice
3) Add the remaining ingredients and mix well
4) Divide the filling into 4-5 balls of equal size

Putting it all together:
1)Divide the dough into 4-5 parts. [the size of each part should be nearly same to size of part of each filling]
2) Roll the dough to diameter of approx 4 inches
3) Put the stuffing/filling in the middle and get the ends of dough together and close so that the filling does not come out
4) Roll the parathas using wheat/rice flour
5) Roast on hot girdle on both sides till brown spots appear using oil/ghee/butter
6) Serve hot wit raitas, curd or pickles!

* The sticky rice works perfect for this! Btw, did I say that this is my first post from college PC drafted during lunch break! :D

Black Grape Sorbet

Something quick and yummy.. And so pleasing for the last summer days.. European weather has started showing its true colors and last 3-4 days have been really bad.. The weekend is predicted to be sunny and probably the "last" sunny weekend this year.. Thats possibly why I am taking some extra efforts to post today as I didnt wanna miss to post something that I prepared just for blog events.. Black Grape sorbet, a lovely sweet n sour combi with a oh so inviting color, for Swapna's AFAM-Grapes and Marta's FPM#4-Grapes..

Before I share the recipe, I would like to share some pics of grape yards in Luxembourg and Germany which we visited this year.. We own grape yards back in India and love to visit such places here..

The pic below is from Remerschen, Luxembourg, a lovely city in South Luxembourg from where we could see Germany to the left and France to the right from our hotel balcony.. That was sometime in April when the season of grapes hadnt started and we could just see the bare farms and support system of grape wines.. But we did not miss the cruise across the wone route and even visited a winery for wine testing :D

The snaps below are from Bensheim, Germany which we visited in July.. We were lucky to find grapes in their youth ;) Now is the best time to visit this place.. In the first week f September, the local farmers get together and organise an event dedicated to wine processing and is a treat for wine lovers!

Isnt it lovely to be so close to nature? I prefer to visit such places rather that castles, bridges and towers :D No more blah blah.. Let me get back to the main point!

Black Grape Sorbet

Preparation Time:

1 hour

What you need:

A bunch of Black Grapes
1/3 cup Sugar(approx)
Juice of 1/2 Lemon

How to proceed:

1) Cut the grapes(remove sedds if any) and defreeze for 30-40 mins
2) Add them to blender with sugar and lemon juice and blend well
3) Place again in refridgerator for 15-20 mins
4) Remove, scoop and take snaps/serve immmediately!

Modaks for Lord Ganesha

Happy Gansh Chaturti to all my blogger friends.. May Lord Ganesha always shower His blessings on you! Ganesha is one diety I worship regularly, and specially more during my exams :D And why shouldn't I? He's the lord of intellect and wisdom.. And since its his festival, one of my favourite festival-the Ganesh Utsav now, I had to please him more :) Or do I say I had to please myself with the sweets/naivedya?? ;)

In India, especially in Maharashtra,Ganesh Festival is celebrated with great pomp.. It brings along 10 days of joy, happiness and celebration.. At mom's place we used to have Ganesh idol for 5 days and used to have naivedya of Modak on the 5th day before visarjan(immersion).. Since I cant place a ganesh idol at my place here, I made it a point to make modaks yesterday as naivedya.. I made the modaks using my mom's recipe, a more simple one than the Ukadiche Modak I posted sometime back.. Modaks are usually offered in number of 21 but for small families or lazy/busy people 5 or 11 modaks are acceptable!

Modak

Makes:

~11 modaks

Preparation Time:

25-30 mins (+3hrs for dough to be set aside)

What you need:

2/3 cup Plain Flour (Maida)
A pinch of Salt
Water

1/2 cup grated dry Cocunut
1 tbsp Poppy Seeds(KhusKhus)
1 tbsp Fine Semolina (Baarik Rawa)
1.5 tbsp Ghee
3-4 tbsp powdered Sugar
Chopped Nuts(kishmish, charoli, cashews, almonds)

Ghee/Oil to fry

How to proceed:

1) Add salt and water to plain flour and make a pliable dough. Set dough aside for 2-3 hrs
2) Slightly roast cocunut, poppy seeds and semolina separately
3) Coarsely grind the cocunut with hands on in a mixie.
4) Mix the remaining ingredients(except oil) to make the filling.
5) Divide dough into 11 equal sized balls
6) Roll each ball in circular shape to size of puri.. Place it on the palm and add 1-2 tsp of filling to it.. Then get the sides of the puri together at the center, bind them together to cover the filling.
7) Prepare the remaining modaks in similar fashion.
8) Once all modaks are done, heat ghee/oil and fry these modaks on medium heat till they turn golden brown.
9) Dont forget to offer as naivedya (prasad/offering) before popping them in your mouth :)


Just stumbled upon an event for festival foods for Ganesh Chaturti.. So my modak's go to Latha for Ganesha Chaturti Foods

Bhel

Anytime of the day(or night) you ask me whats my favourite snack, by default you'll hear "Any chaat item".. More specifically Bhel :) Then Paani Puri, Ragda Patties, SPDP, Dahi Wada... and the list continues :D I can live my entire life eating chaat.. There was a time I used to eat bhel every alternate evening during college times, that too when I used to stay home and get "maa ke haath ka khana" everyday.. The one thing I miss here is the bhel at "bheleshwar", a famous joint in Pune where I used to have bhel with my colleagues.. Spending hours there having bhel, then paani puri followed by malai kulfis.. How I wish Bheleshwar had a branch here in Belgium!!!!

I can enjoy bhel at any place, anytime... Though my husband doesnt like to eat bhel on roadside thelas (but who cares!!!!!), he doesnt mind homemade bhel.. The easiest snack on a sunday evening, mostly coz it is to be followed by a shortcut dinner ;) Bhel can be best enjoyed when its a bit spicy and has a proper balance of the sweet n sour tamarind chutney and the hot green chutney! My bhel hops over to Hima for the lovely event she started hosting this month-- WYF-Snacks!

Bhel

Serves:

3-4 (Only 1 if its me! ;))

Preparation Time:

5-6 mins

What you need:

2 cups Murmura/Mamra/Puffed Rice
1 cup Farsan/Shev Mix
1/4 cup Tamarind Chatni
1/4 cup Green Chilli Chatni
1/2 tsp Chaat Masala
1 tbsp roasted Peanuts
1 chopped Onion
1 chopped Tomato
2 tbsp chopped Green Mango (Kairi)
Salt to taste

For Garnishing:
Chopped onions, Tomato and Green Mango (Kairi)
1 tbsp Thin Shev
Few roasted peanuts

To make Chatnis:



Chatni 1:
Blend 3-4 chillies, corriander, salt, lemon juice with some water to make the hot green chutney!

Chatni 2:
Mix tamarind pulp, jaggery/sugar, some water to make the sweet sour tamarind chutney!

How to proceed:

1) In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients well
2) Serve in plates topped with chopped onions, tomatoes, green mango, corriander, some roasted peanuts and thin sev.



I prefer adding more of tamarind chutney to have proper ooli (wet) bhel and eat with potato chips which serve as my disposable (read as edible) spoons ;)