Coconut Barfi

Khobryachi barfi, Naralachya vadya- Indian style coconut fudge

One of the many things I patronize is Baby Atya's Khobryachya vadya! They just hit the spot. And she is extremely sweet to make it for me everytime I go visit her. Now this is not her recipe which is maybe way too complicated for my coking skills :/ on top of having a record of never turning out the same way :(

So here I designed a new easy recipe :P Its almost as good as Baby Atya's! very easy, takes only 15 minutes, although looks complicated and elaborate! Make it next time when you have guests over instead of buying expensive and unhealthy sweets..

You will need:

1.5 cup shredded coconut (fresh or frozen-thawed (approx 1/2 packet))- cleaned
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh khawa (mawa) OR 1/2 cup mawa powder+2 tbsp milk
1 heaped teaspoon of ghee
a dash of powdered cardamom
a pinch of saffron (toasted slightly)
chopped pistachios for garnish (you can use almonds or silver foil too!)

Keep an aluminium tray greased with ghee ready (i used a cake tin)

Take a non-stick pan and start cooking the coconut on low flame
stir constantly and cook until the coconut gets a little dry (do not let it turn golden/brown) (10 min)
add sugar and mix well
cook coconut-sugar mixture, until all sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes dry and soft (3 min)
Do not overcook, or sugar will get sticky.
add the wawa and mix well (1 min)
add ghee and mix (1 min)
turn heat off. Add cardamom and saffron.

Transfer mixture into the greased tin
Press flat with hand to desired thickness
add chopped pistachios on top and press with hand
cut squares while still warm and soft
let it set for a couple of hours
remove and separate squares..

Karanji (olya naralachi)

Fried dumplings with a sweet Fresh coconut filling! Made specially for festivals.

This is the best karanji recipe that I know of. It is crisp, golden and perfect on the outside and the filling is soft, juicy and just perfect. Whats more perfect about this recipe is that, its super-easy!! Could it get any better?! 

All thanks to my brilliant mom :) Hats off to her for such a genius recipe.. It has a secret ingredient in the filling, that you will find hard to believe, but just trust me and try this!

You will need:

(makes 15 Karanjis)

Dough:

1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 cup semolina, fine (sooji, rawa)

milk (room temperature)

2 tbsp hot oil

Filling:

1 cup grated coconut (press it to remove all moisture and then measure)

3/4 cup sugar (fine or powdered)

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

saffron

2 tbsp whole wheat flour (atta) ****secret ingredient :)

1.5 tbsp ghee

equipment:

rolling board and pin

pan with oil for frying

ravioli cutter (i did not have one, so i folded the edges decoratively)

To make dough:

First of all, make the dough and keep. The longer it sits, the sooji hydrates better and is easy to work with.

mix all the dough ingredients, and knead a stiff dough (not too stiff but not too hard)

Wrap in saran wrap and keep aside.

To make the filling:

roast the wheat flour with the ghee on a pan till golden (like besan ladoo)

let the roasted mixture cool- should be grainy, golden and smells very aromatic

once cooled, add it to the coconut in a bowl.

add sugar, cardamom and saffron to the bowl 

*note: only the wheat flour is cooked. rest of the ingredients are just mixed cold.

To prepare the karanjis:

roll out a small ball of dough into a flat circle, without dusting the board (use oil, if it sticks)

Place filling in the centre

Apply little water to the edge of half of the circle (as shown)

fold over the circle and press, to secure the filling inside a semi-circular dumpling.

Cut the excess edge with a ravioli cutter (i did not have one, so i pressed and foldede the edge), this makes sure that the karanji does not burst while frying, also makes it look pretty :)

Once you have a few Karanjis ready, you can start frying on low flame, in already heated oil. Fry until golden. Best enjoyed when warm!

Happy Diwali!

Meredith's Banana bread

Who would have thought that a dish made with mashed over-ripe bananas tastes this delicious???!!

I have never in my life eaten bananas! I would not eat it even when I was a baby, tells my mom!! Just thinking about blackened mushy bananas made me sick!! However, my manager Meredith Bishop at ConAgra foods Inc; got me addicted to this delicious bread :P 

Although I am writing it in 'A Perfectionist's cookbook' I have realized, I am not perfect at it :( I think it lacks Meredith's personal touch. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever known. She surprised me with loaves of banana bread every once in a while and it simply made my day. She shared the recipe with me and also gifted me the book she referred to for this recipe! She is the best!

Its been over a month that I stopped working at ConAgra, and I missed it so much, couldn't wait! I am crazy about this bread. Its sweet, its made with bananas, and yet its my favorite ;) This ones for you Meredith :)

This is a slightly healthy twist (also, if you replace the egg with alternatives, its a vegan recipe!)

You will need:

A greased bread loaf tin

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup atta (or regular whole wheat flour)

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup mashed bananas (over-ripened **not photogenic :P)

1/4 heaped tsp ginger (finely grated)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

My cousin helped me :)

Bake oven to 350

sift/mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda

In a large bowl, blend together the bananas and oil, followed by egg and sugar. Beat until fluffy.

Mix in the ground ginger and lemon rind

blend in the dry mixture

stir in the walnuts

pour batter in greased bread tin and bake for about 50-55 minutes

serve warm, stays good for a couple of days at room temp. freeze-thaws well!

*Note: You can add 1/4 tsp cinnamon if you like.

             I did not have a loaf tin, so I used a 9" square tin (that way     

             I get more surface area for the crust- I reduced baking time

             to 45 min (adjust baking time according to the shape and 

             size of you tin))

yields one loaf of yummy, golden, moist.......well, just the 'perfect' Banana bread ever!

Masaale Bhaat

(Spicy Maharashtrian rice, a must-have in wedding menus)

It's so difficult to get hold of authentic traditional maharashtrian style masaale Bhaat. I wish I had appreciated it more in the past! Now I crave for it :P

A few years back I had masaale bhaat for the last time in waadi (a pilgrim place in Maharashtra). We were there for my cousin's threading ceremony, and they make it at the temple kitchen! And it was soooooo good, I got up at 6.00 am to watch them make it from scratch for someone else's wedding :P

Of course I had to hear a bit from my mom for disappearing like that! But she melted when I made it for her after we got back to Pune using a packet of masala the sweet lady over there gave me :)

Now that masala of course is the soul of this dish and unfortunately I finished all of the sample she gave me :/ so I made this using regular maharashtrian goda (kala) masala.. And it tastes good.. Not as good as the waadi one, but quite good!
This recipe serves 6 ppl. U can make half too. In the pictures I have made double of the following recipe.

You will need:
2 cups rice-washed, soaked for a bit and drained
Medium size chopped/cubed vegetables:
Cauliflower, potatoes, peas, tondli (tinda), are typical to masaale bhaat. (a total of 1.5- 2 cups of vegetables)
1/2 capsicum cut in squares


Oil
6-8 Curry leaves
Turmeric
extra Asafetida
2-3 dried red chillies
1-2 green chillies- slit
1 heaped tablespoon+ Goda masala
1 tbsp Coriander powder
1tsp Cumin powder
Whole spices: cumin seeds (1 tsp), bay leaf (2), black pepper (6-8)
sea salt or normal salt
1/4 cup minced Jaggery
Chopped cilantro

For garnish:
Fresh grated coconut
Chopped cilantro
Ghee :)
Wash and soak rice for at least 30 min. Then strain dry.

boil 3 cups water in a pan.

in another pan Heat oil (in a heavy bottom metal pan (if you have brass, perfect))

Add cumin and other whole spices
Add a little extra turmeric and asafetida (very important for the typical flavor profile)
Add curry leaves, chillies, chopped cilantro and capsicum

Add the other vegetables and fry or a bit
Add the masala and the powdered spices, followed by sea salt.
Stir in the strained rice. 

After a couple of minutes add the boiling water (with jaggery and salt mixed in for uniform mixing) to the rice and veggies.
Once it starts boiling, add minced jaggery stir and cover with a lid.
Cook on low flame for about half an hour.

Serve hot topped with cilantro, ghee and grated coconut if you like :)

I made this for my lab potluck dinner and got the opportunity of witnessing this! Masaale bhaat being eaten by chopsticks :) Thanks for posing Lin!

Sabudanyachi Khichadi

Tasty breakfast snack made with sago pearls. Eaten during fasts.

Today is my Aji's birth Anniversary. And whats better than sharing the recipe of the most amazing thing she made?! Sabudanyachi khichadi. Theres a 100 different ways people make this dish, but of course I like it only. this. one. way. Cannot (and in my opinion should not) be made in any other way :P 

I have had certain nightmarish experiences with khichadi. So let me make it clear: Curry leaves, hing, turmeric, mustard and the likes are not acceptable in the taste profile. At least not in the authentic maharashtrian style upawasachi khichadi.

She used to make it (on demand) every time we had guests or any fast. And I just longed for such occasions :) She was the best at the whole 'fast-menu' actually, but well khichadi is, was and will always be my favorite. Its utterly unhealthy and super fattening, but I dont care!

Sorry no pictures this time, but considering how much I crave for it right now, they will be up soon ;)

Pre-preparation:Soak sabudana (sago pearls)- take a cup of sabudana wash it 3-4 times with cold water, drain not to well and keep it overnight. The next day it should be dryish on the outside but every pearl should be soft and hydrated when crushed. 

Dry roast deskinned peanuts and crush them to a grainy powder in the grinder

Boil, peel and dice potatoes

Other ingredients needed:
Ghee and/or oil
Cumin seeds whole
Chopped (or crushed) green chillies
Chopped fresh cilantro
Lime juice
Salt to taste
Sugar (a lot- a little more than you would expect a savory dish to have) or you can completely omit this. My grandmom made it sweet!

Procedure:

Add salt and sugar in the sabudana and keep aside.

Heat oil and ghee mixture in a non-stick pan. 
Crackle cumin seeds and add green chillies and diced potatoes. 
When potatoes become golden add the peanut powder and stir. (It will cook and give off a nice aroma and become a moist oily pasty mixture. )

At this point add the sabudana. Stir and taste. Add more salt and sugar if needed ( I usually have to). The khichadi has to taste hot and sweet. And enough salty :)Cover for a few minutes, open and drizzle ghee on top and turn the heat off and cover again. Uncover after a couple of minutes and season with finely chipped cilantro leaves and lime juice. The end result should be moist but not a rubbery chunk. If its too dry sprinkle water and steam for an extra couple of minutes. 

Shrewsbury biscuits (cookies)

Yes! The buttery, crisp yellow cookies.. And this recipe yields perfect results. If you hail from Pune, you know what exactly I am talking about. 

The recipe is egg-less and soooo easy, great to do with kids.

I did these this weekend with my cousin! And look how much she enjoyed it :) we made one huge batch after another until we had almost 200ish small cookies!! She took them to her school! (The recipe below yields 50-60 small cookies or 25-30 large (actual shrewsbury size) cookies)

If you don't have Custard powder replace that by corn flour and vanilla extract.. The result won't be the same but not bad. Will still turn out like tasty shortbread cookies.

Perfect Christmas gift, this time well in advance :)

100g Amul butter (or 1 stick salted yellow butter)

1/2 cup sugar

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp vanilla flavored custard powder

Milk

1/4 tsp soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven at 300 F.

Mix flour, soda, baking powder and custard powder.

Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy.

Mix the dry mixture little at a time 

Knead into a dough.

Add milk as needed (I added a couple of tablespoons)

Roll manageable portions onto a clean surface and cut cookies

Bake on a greased sheet for 12-15 minutes at 300F. 

methichi (peeth perleli) bhaji

Fenugreek and chickpea flour dish eaten as a side with chapati

My favorite! I can eat this everyday if I had to!! One of the few sabjis I don't mind although on the sweeter side :P

As I write this, I realize, I have to organize my blog now! modak followed by pav bhaji, mawa cake and methichi bhaji in that order, just does not fit under the title of a perfectionist's cookbook! :P

So give a little time, and Ill (learn how to) sort that out :)

for the recipe:

You will need:
One bunch methi (fenugreek leaves), cleaned and sorted. Wash and strain and chop1 small onion chopped2 small green chillies slit length-wise3 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed (I use a stone pestle)5-6 tablespoons Chickpea flour (besan)  SugarSaltA pinch of red chilli powder2 tablespoons+ OilMustard seedsTurmericAsafetida

Heat oil in a Pan. Add and crackle the mustard seeds followed by turmeric and asafetida and crushed garlic and green chillies. Add onions and cover for a few minutes until onions are just cooked.Add methi leaves (at this point the oil would seem too much, but it gets dry and nice after addition of the chickpea flour so don't worry). Cook for a bit (methi does not take time to cook at all. 

Add sugar and salt, mix and start adding the chickpea flour a tablespoon at a time and stirring in between till you get a homogenous, dryish-moist, not sticky chunk of sabji. Add a pinch of red chilli powder if you are not happy with the color (I did :P)

Serve hot with chapati or fulka roti.

*Note* if eating with Bhakri, omit the sugar and make it spicier, may add kanda-Lasun masala for extra rustic flavor.

Mawa Cake

Mawa cake! A traditional, flavorful, dense yet soft and moist cake, popular in local bakeries in India, especially Irani tea shops bakeries. I never ate that while in India (Its one of the things you hate in India and suddenly start craving once you 'know' you cant get out of your house walk to the closest bakery and enjoy, after coming to the US). Also, I am a big fan of tea parties. And I have this whole Indian tea party menu that I keep planning (one of the many parties I plan in my head) -Masala chai, Filter coffee, veg puffs, green chutney sandwiches, naankatai, mawa cake! aha! So I thought its worth to share something that's so integral to my-party-planning-fantasy!

(I had published it on another of my blogs, but decided to move it here, sine I have decided to stick to this one blog for now :P ) 

Mawa Cake:

Note:  additionally include 1/4 cup of whole milk (not shown in the picture)

In case you want to use spices mix 1/2 tsp each of nutmeg and cardamom. Or you could use a flavor (essence - rose, almond, ice-cream or good ol' vanilla).
You could use equal amount of mawa/ khoa powder with a spoon or two extra milk instead of the fresh khoa.

Procedure:

1. Spray a baking tin (i used 8' square foil tin) with cooking spray and dust with flour.
2. Preheat oven to 180 C
3. Mix/sieve the flour and the baking powder thoroughly
4. take a large bowl and beat sugar and butter together
5. add the eggs and the flavor/spices and beat more
6. add the khoa/mawa (grated) and beat on low speed
7. fold in the flour and beat on medium speed, until well-mixed, add milk as needed
8. Pop in the oven for 30 min!

here are a few pictures taken at different steps!

this should yield a soft, dense, flaky yummy cake! You can even make cupcakes (they taste just like indian mawa cake cup cakes) just reduce the baking time to 15-20 minutes.


Hope you have a great time baking this one!
Love!

Pav Bhaji (Street/Restaurant-style)

A very popular Indian street food (vegetable curry (bhaaji),eaten with pav (bread) )

You know what one of my Biggest pet peeves is? Pav bhaji made with carrots and cauliflower (not to mention I was unfortunate to have been forced to eat a version with eggplants). This one here is if you want the real tasty mumbai-street-style pav bhaji. Spicy, buttery, flavorful and just yummy. If your aim is to make any spicy curry and eat it with bread then go ahead and add mushrooms as well if you wish!
You need:
For bhaji:
Everest pav bhaji masala
Everest pav bhaji masala
For final touch (optional, tastes good without this as well):
For garnish:
Heat butter and oil mixture in a large non-stuck pan. Add ginger garlic paste to it and stir followed by the capsicum. After a couple of minutes add the tomatoes and salt. Cover the pan and let cook on low flame for about 15-20 minutes (I once took a bath while it cooked!). At the end it should have left oil and look completely cooked and almost uniform in color. At this point remove lid and stir in more salt, chilli powder, masalas and cook until gives of a nice aroma. Add more Ginger garlic paste at this point if you think it needs some more.
For the finishing touch which is optional:
For the finishing touch which is optional:
Take butter in a fry pan and add ginger garlic paste, spices, chilli powder, Hing and kasuri methi add a little of the prepared bhaji at a time and add water if necessary for desired consistency.
Garnish with chopped onions, cilantro and butter. Serve a lime wedge on the side.

So here's to all the real pav-bhaji lovers.*NOTE: As you may wonder, it's not a typo but there's no cooked onion in the bhaji. Only in the garnish. And yes there's more peas than potatoes, you heard me right. Please just trust me and try it ;)


A cup of dry green peas (vatana)- soaked overnight and pressure cooked until soft. OR 2 cups frozen green peas thawed and cooked and mashed

3 tablespoons Ginger garlic paste (peeled garlic and deskinned ginger pieces ground together 1:1 by weight, I plan to write a basic cooking requirements post soon)

1 large potato- boiled, peeled and mashed

4-5 tomatoes finely chopped

1 small capsicum finely chopped

+ any ONE of these: 

a. red garam masala+kanda lasoon masala

b. Maratha style chutney/red masala/red chilli powder

c. or just kanda-lasun masala and a little more pav bhaji masala

d. Or else substitute everest pav bhaji masala altogether with a little more Mother's recipe pav bhaji masala

Red chilli powder

Salt

Salted butter and/or oil (the more butter you add, of course the better it tastes!! Have you seen them add half a brick of butter for 1 or 2 servings at the restaurants??! Gosh Ill never get there, but with less fat, its good enough :) )

Butter

Garam masala- a pinch

Pav bhaji masala- a pinch

Red chilli powder- a pinch

Hing (asafetida)- a dab

Kasuri methi- few leaves, crushed

A cube of butter

Finely chopped red onions

Lime wedges

Chopped fresh cilantro

Add in the mashed peas, add water as needed (this tends to get very dry) and add the mashed potatoes. Add salt and chilli powder. Cook until everything is nice and homogenous. (pictures from start to finish). Mash if necessary. Bhaji is ready!! this can be stored and served wih the finishing touch when reheating or just like that.

*note** I will come back with the Pav recipe after I have perfected it. Mine turned out alright (much better than the kinda pav you get here). But want it to taste like the indian bakery pav! Will share once I am there! For now u can toast or lightly warm pav or any kinda bread (ciabatta tastes really well with the bhaji) with butter and spices if you like :)

Modak (Ukadiche)

Steamed rice dumplings filled with sweet coconut filling (made specially for Ganesh festivals)

I did not make modak the first year I came to USA and it almost made me cry.. The next year I HAD to make some. But damn I didn't think about this before I made modak each year but I didn't  know how to make the filling and the dough, just knew how to shape the dumplings! How dumb.. So I got the recipe from my mom and this is the second year in a row I am making it from scratch :) and I am proud because I think it tastes just like my aji's (grandmom). I still feel like I am in the 'grand' kitchen of my old house, making modak with my mom while aji would sit on a highchair and supervise us and appreciate our artwork :)

I wanted to publish this post before Ganesh chaturthi, as I finished making mine the night before, however we had a power cut and an accident.. And well just too many things went wrong :/ so anyway for those of you who plan on making modaks this weekend or anytime you crave them, enjoy!
I assure you you can't go wrong with this recipe :)

This recipe makes around 30-35 medium-sized modaks

You can easily scale up or down.

You will need:

For filling:
1 packet frozen grated coconut (I used daily delight brand)- completely thawed at room temp (no Microwave)- squeeze the coconut by hand and get rid of the milky water in it- this packet yields about 4 cups coconut
1 cup minced Jaggery
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ghee
1 teaspoon powdered cardamom seeds
1/2 teaspoon saffron strands- crushed

For the rice dough:
5 cups water
5 cups fine rice flour
2 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon salt

For Preparation:
a cup each of water and oil (for dipping fingers in, for smoother workability with the dough)
Pieces of damp muslin cloth or bounty.
Some kind of a steamer (i used an idli steamer)


Procedure:

Make the filling first- this has to be at room temperature completely before you fill it in the modak
Take the coconut, Jaggery, sugar and ghee in a large non-stick pan and start cooking on low heat stirring CONSTANTLY. Break pieces of Jaggery with the spatula while stirring. The filling transforms as you continue cooking as shown in the pictures. The sugar and Jaggery will dissolve and mix with the coconut and become a nice homogenous mixture. I cooked it on the lowest heat on my stove for about 16 minutes. Take it off the heat and stir in the saffron and cardamom powder when a little cooled off.
Cool this filling thoroughly at room temperature.  (the pictures at zero time, 5, 10 and 15 minutes)

To make the dough:
This has to be made just a little before the actual modak-making cannot be made in advance.
Bring the water to a rolling boil, add oil and salt. Add the rice flour stirring constantly, **turn off the heat immediately * it will get very thick and dry, some of the rice flour will not hydrate, and remain chalky and powdery this is ok (sorry I forgot to take a picture at this point) **DO NOT COOK THIS MIXTURE, turn the what off immediately after adding the rice flour**. Make cuts in the rice mixture wih the spatula and cover it with a plate.
In about 2-5 minutes, take the rice mixture in manageable portions in a
Big dish and knead it into a smooth soft dough (soft play dough like consistency) Dip hand in oil and add cold water little at a time as needed. Knead until you get a smooth, homogenous dough.
Cover it with a wet cloth.

This dough is partially cooked, which is ok as it will get completely cooked when the modaks are steamed.

Modak preparation:
Keep a bowl of water and another of oil handy. Take a medium sized ball of rice dough and make a smooth oval ball. Poke the tall end of the oval ball with thumb and start making a cup shape out of the ball (as if working with clay!). When ou have a uniformly thin large cup
Shape fill a tablespoon or so of the filling mixture into the bowl. Start pinching the edges of the bowl into creases or folds that stick out. Don't go upto where the filling comes in contact with the cup. Throughout the shaping process dip fingers in oil and water to prevent the cup from cracking due to dryness. Once the entire circumference is folded, gather up all the folds with your palm in the centre on the top of the cup and press them together to make a peak. Cover the prepared modaks with a wet cloth until you have enough to fit one batch of your steamer.

Line the steamer with Muslim cloth or banana leaves, or just brush a little oil. Bring water to a boil in the lower compartment of the steamer. Dip each modak in water and place it over the lined top of the steamer. Place the top in the steamer that has boiling water and close the lid and steam for just about 5-10 minutes.

Yummmmm modaks are ready. Serve hot with ghee and/or coconut milk.