Thecha (Green chili thecha)

A chutney made with chillies and garlic, usually served with traditional western maharashtrian bread (Bhakri)

Theres basically two kinds of thechas. One thats made with green chillies and another made with red chillies. I looovvee both. They just add the extra zing to a meal. At any given time, you will find this in my fridge!

If you want to make the perfect thecha, its very important to use a mortar and pestle and do some hard work! If you are too lazy, you can use the food processor/ grinder, but let me warn you, its not going to be anywhere close to this one! If you have a stone mortar and pestle, nothing like it. I had access to a marble one, good enough.

You will need:

15-20 green chillies, chopped

7-8 cloves of garlic, chopped

a bunch of cilantro 

-- the proportion is key here!

sea salt (the coarse texture helps in grinding and tastes better, if not available, normal salt will work fine)

half a tbsp of oil

1. Take all the chopped ingredients in the mortar, little at a time, but in proportion

2. start grinding, as you grind the volume will reduce and you can add in more ingredients `

3. After all of the ingredients are in the grinder, grind till you get a homogenous chutney (as shown in the picture)

4. Heat oil in a small pan til warm

5. add the ground thecha, to the warm oil, stir well and let heat for just 1/2 a minute and turn off the heat (you dont want to cook the thecha. This procedure is to just reduce the pungency of the garlic)

The thecha is ready! serve it with bhakri. Bhakri is thick and bland, so its a perfect vehicle for something as spicy and flavorful as this!

Upma

A savory breakfast snack made with semolina

Just like Poha/Pohe Upma, is one of the most common breakfast dishes in India. No two upmas will ever taste the same and restaurant upmas are consistent but are soaked in fat. The point is, it is hard to get hold of the perfect upma! People will add unnecessary ingredients, too much mustard, burnt cumin and white lentils, burnt semolina, unroasted semolina (yuck!) and the worst blunder of all, making too dry or too gooey an upma.. hah! The list is endless as to how many ways the upma can go wrong :P

But now you got 'the' recipe :) One very VERY snobbish person has testified that I make the best upma in the world ;) This will make the perfect, moist, tasty upma!

You will need:

3/4 cup fine-medium rasa (semolina/ sooji)
1 tsp ghee
1 tbsp oil
mustard seeds
1/2 tsp asafetida
2-3 curry leaves
1 red chilli cut into pieces
2 green chillies chopped
1 onion chopped (medium sized square)
1/2 tomato, chopped
2 1/2 cups water
salt
sugar (optional)
lemon juice
cilantro

1. Heat the ghee in a pan, add the semolina and roast (stir continuously), till slightly golden.
2. Turn off heat, transfer on a cold plate and spread into a layer to cool down
3. In the same pan heat oil
4. Simultaneously in another pan, start boiling the water
5. Add mustard seeds followed by asafetida, curry leaves, chillies, white lentils to the hot oil
6. add the onions to the oil mixture and cook covered for 2-3 minutes
7. Remove lid, stir and add the tomatoes, cook for just about a minute.

8. The water should be boiling by now, add the boiling water to the fried onions
9. add salt and sugar (optional) as per taste
10. Once the mixture comes to a rolling boil, slowly add the cooled semolina, while stirring constantly
11. The mixture will start to thicken as the semolina hydrates. Mix thoroughly making sure no lumps form.
12. Lower the flame, cover and let cook for some time.
13. Remove lid and stir, till a soft, moist upma is obtained. If overcooked, it becomes dry and might burn and stick to the pan. If undercooked, it will be sticky and even uncooked.
14. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot

This dish is sometimes served garnished with sev (fried lentil noodles)

Aamti

A tangy sweet and spicy preparation of dal (pigeon peas)


If I were to name one top 'soul food' of mine, it will probably be aamti-bhat (aamti with rice). I remember, when I came back from a month long study tour of Europe after 10th grade, Aji asked me what I wanted to eat and aamti-bhat was my instant reply.

Aji made the best aamti and it is probably the first dish that I managed to make exactly like hers! Which was a big accomplishment, considering the fact that my family can thrive on just aamti for, well forever!

Now theres a 100 different kinds of aamtis. This one is the basic or kandyachi (onion) aamti. YOu can omit the onions and it will be a basic aamti recipe.

You will need:
1 cup cooked dal (in a pressure cooker)
1 tbsp oil
musard seeds
a pinch of asafetida
1/2 tsp turmeric
2-3 curry leaves
1 green chili chopped
chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh grated coconut
1 tsp kala masala (maharashtrian goda masala)
1/2 tsp red chili powder
2 tsps tamarind chutney (if you dont have tamarind chutney, use a little tamarind concentrate and a big chunk of jaggery)
water
salt
cilantro and grated coconut for garnish

1. Heat the oil in a kadhai
2. add mstard seeds, turmeric, asafetida, curry leaves, chillies and onion.
3. add the cilantro and coconut to the hot oil, give it a stir and cook covered till onion is cooked
4. Remove lid and add the masala and fry for a bit

5. Add salt, tamarind chutney and red chili powder to the dal and mix well)
6. Add the dam mixture to the fried onions
7. Add lots of water, to make aamti of desired consistency (some people prefer it really thin and watery, I like it thicker)
8. Bring to a boil and garnish with cilantro and coconut

Best served hot over rice wth ghee :)

Pithla

Is a spicy sauce made with chickpea flour, onions and spices. Typically eaten with bhakri or rice

Theres many ways of making this. However theres two that are most popular and my favorite! One is spicy, has more complex flavors, is thicker and eaten with bhakri also called jhunka. The other kind is milder, has a simpler flavor, is thinner in consistency and usually eaten with rice.

The basic ingredients for both are same, however the technique is a bit different.

Type 1: Jhunka

you will need:

oil 1 tablespoon (might need more, if you don't add enough oil, the chickpea flour can taste nasty)
mustard seeds
pinch of asafetida
1 small onion chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 green chillies chopped
3-4 curry leaves
1 teaspoon red masala/ kanda lasoon masala/ chili powder
2 cups water
3 tablespoons chickpea flour (besan)
chopped cilantro

1. heat oil in a kadhai
2. add mustard seeds, asafetida, turmeric, green chillies, curry leaves and crushed garlic
3. add the onion and cook covered till the onion is coked
4. add the red masala and fry for a bit
5.* Mix the chickpea flour into the water until homogenous
6. Pour this mixture into the pan, stir constantly
7. It will start to thicken immidiately.
8. add more water to adjust consistency
9. Cook until 'uncooked' flavor from the flour goes away
10. top with fresh cilantro and serve hot!


Type 2: Pithla

You will need:

oil 1 tablespoon (might need more, if you don't add enough oil, the chickpea flour can taste nasty)
mustard seeds
pinch of asafetida
1 small onion chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 green chillies chopped
3-4 curry leaves
2 cups water
2 heaped tablespoons chickpea flour (besan)
chopped cilantro


1. heat oil in a kadhai
2. add mustard seeds, asafetida, turmeric, green chillies and curry leaves.
3. add the onion and cook covered till the onion is half cooked.
4. Add the water into the pan and bring top a boil (the onion will get completely cooked while the water boils)
5. add the chickpea flour one small spoon at a time and stir constantly as you add
6. Break lumps as you stir with the spatula
7. This kind of pithla is a little gritty, but break the lumps as much as possible, because bigger lumps might remain uncooked inside
8. Brink the pithla to a boil and turn off the heat
9. garnish with cilantro and serve hot :)

Bhakri

Western-Indian flat bread (usually made with Jowar (sorghum), Bajra (Pearl millet), Rice, Ragi or a mixture of any of these)

I always try to eat healthy. In my effort to eat wholesome foods, and cutting down on rice, I ended up eating everything whole wheat. The result was exactly opposite of what I expected! I felt bloated, my digestion was more upset than ever before and I could not figure out what was wrong, when I was actually eating 'healthier' almost exclusively home-cooked food! Then I read this article in NY times and I thought wait a second! I may have gluten sensitivity! The next few days went in endless reading and browsing and discussions with people.. and of course I stopped eating gluten and it actually did make a difference and I felt surprisingly lighter :P I got myself tested and I am not gluten sensitive (phew) however, I continue avoiding it, considering the positive effects going gluten-free has had!

Obviously going gluten-free meant not eating my beloved poli (chapati/roti) so I had to find an alternative, and bhakri was the most obvious one! My grandparents ate bhakri everyday all their life, its actually the maharashtrian staple bread. Chapati is more north-indian. My Aji would say that in their times, people would make chapatis only for special occasions. (Maybe genetically I am not efficient in breaking down gluten on a daily basis, because my ancestors weren't used to it!)

So coming back to bhakri! I have been making this and eating it almost everyday for the last couple of months! and here are the few benefits:

1. Once you master the skill, its easier to make than chapati
2. Its more filling
3. Its healthier (variety of grains, no oil)
4. You can make different kinds using a combination of grains
5. And of course its gluten free :)

now the recipe!

You will need:

4 tablespoons jowar flour (you could also try 2 tbsp jowar +2 tbsp ragi flour in summer and 2 tbsp jowar +2 tbsp bajra flour in winter)
1 tablespoon rice flour
3/4 cup boiling water
salt
rice flour for dusting
a glass bowl for mixing
a flat pan/griddle
a bowl of cold water

1. Mix the flours and salt in a glass bowl
2. Bring the water to a rolling boil (very important, if not hot enough, bhakri will crack)

3. Add the boiling water to the flour mixture and mix with a spoon
4. mix well, once a little warm, knead a little with hand
5. divide into four portions and make round balls
6. Heat pan/ skillet
7. dust the rolling board/ any surface heavily with rice flour
8. Place one ball of dough and gently start patting it to make it flat
9. Move the flattened bhakri in a clock-wise motion as you pat it

10. Start from the ends and work towards the centre
11. The ends might look cracked, this is ok!
12. Once the bhakri is uniformly as thin as you can make it (you will be able to make thinner bhakris with practice :P), lift it gently and place it in both ur plams
13. Flip it and place it gently on the hot pan (now the side dusted with the rice flour is facing up)
14. Immediately coat the side facing up with cold water. This will also seal all the cracks. Make sure the entire surface is covered including the edges.
15. When this layer of water starts steaming, flip the bhakri with the help of a spatula
16. Keep checking the bhakri, brown spots will appear on the wet side which is now touching the hot surface.

17. Once this side looks cooked and has golden-brown spots, remove the bhakri and flip it and place it on direct flame (the dry side is on the flame)
18. Move the bhakri over the flame with tongs/spatula till it puffs up completely
19. Remove and serve hot

The perfect bhakri should open up completely and form a pocket and should be so thin that both the layers look translucent, just like the one in the picture :)