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.