Pani Puri – This is something that everyone in India, young or old, thoroughly enjoys! While pani puri (or gol gappa for North Indians) is ubiquitous in India sold by street vendors to five-star hotels, the best pani-puri needless to say is found on the street!

It consists of “puris”: made from semolia. The puris are made round like a ball, hollow and deep fried until crisp.

“Pani” literally means water. The puris are filled with some “masala” and then dipped in the “pani” and then consumed! The “pani” consists of mint. cilantro and green chillies.

A couple of weekends ago was Raksha bandhan, which we celebrated at my aunts’ house. Like most Indian festivals, we had a ceremony followed for lots and lots and lots of food! For starters, we had pani-puri and sev-puri (another snack).

The puri’s are usually available at any Indian grocery store.

Preperation time: 30 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients (for the stuffing)

• 2 medium boiled, peeled and mashed potatoes
• 1 cup chana (black chickpea) soaked and boiled (canned chickpeas can also be used)
• Finely chopped cilantro to sprinkle
• 1/2 tea spoon of roasted cumin powder
• 1/2 tea spoon of salt
• 1/2 tea spoon red chilly powder (optional)

Directions:

• Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl and keep it aside.

Ingredients (for the “pani”):

• 1 bunch of mint leaves
• 4-5 green chillies (adjust as per spice tolerance)
• 5-6 sticks of cilantro
• 1 thin slice of ginger
• 1/2 tea spoon black salt
• 1/2 tea spoon roasted cumin powder
• 1lemon juice
• 3 cups of water
• 1/2 tea spoon salt(adjust as required)
• 1 table spoon boondi’s (optional)

Directions

• Add mint leaves, green chillies, cilantro, ginger, lemon juice, salt and few sprinkles of water in a blender and blend it to a smooth paste.
• Put the paste in a large bowl and add the three cups of water, black salt, roasted cumin powder and stir well. Add salt and lemon as per your taste.

Consumption

To eat the pani puri, pour the “pani” in a largish bowl, then make a small opening in the puri and put some stuffing in it. Finally, dip the entire puri in the bowl with the “pani” until the liquid fills the “puri”. Open the mouth wide and consume!

Warning: Once you start, its hard to stop eating!

I usually keep a bag of spinach around in the house since there are so many delicious recipes that call for spinach! And if not that, the spinach leaves are a great addition to my lunch salad.

Moong dal is commonly found in most Indian kitchens. It is high in protein and easy to store (usually lasting for 6-8 months in an airtight container).

Moong dal Palak is a combination of spinach and lentils. The flavor comes from the spinach because the moong dal is added only to give the texture of a gravy/curry. It can be enjoyed with the rice or roti . I prefer to enjoy it with roti’s since Rahul loves to eat roti’s

A bag of spinach was lying around in my fridge, but I never got around to using it. So, I decided to make this simple and extremely satisfying meal.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:

• 1 tea spoon ghee /oil (optional)
• 2 dried red chillies
• 1/2 tea spoon Cumin seeds
• 1/2 tea spoon red chilly powder (adjust as per taste)
• 1/2 tea spoon coriander powder
• 1/2 tea spoon Salt (adjust as per taste)
• 1 bag of baby spinach (14.oz)( I prefer to use a prewashed bag of baby spinach)
• 1/2 cup moon dal
• 1 cup water

Directions:

1. Run your knife roughly over baby spinach and put it in to the pressure cooker.
2. Take the moong dal in a bowl, run it under water 2-3 times, drain the water and add it to the spinach in the pressure cooker, along with 1 cup of water and cook it up to 2 whistles.
3. Take a deep pan and heat the ghee in it. Add the dry red chillies and cumin seeds and let it cook until the cumin seeds are golden brown.
4. Now switch off the flame and quickly add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and coriander powder and the cooked dal mix (from the pressure cooker).
5. Then, switch on the flames and let the mix cook for a couple of minutes.
6. While serving sprinkle some chopped cilantro on the top of the dal, and serve it with roti’s . Enjoy!

Khichadi means a mix/combination of rice and dal as the main ingredients. Some veggies are added as well. It is easy to cook, does not require much effort and/or ingredients either and is perfect when you just want quick Indian comfort food!

Since the weather was nice and warm, I wanted to spend some time at Union Square with Rahul relaxing and chatting with him. We both wanted to eat Indian food, but did not want to eat that greasy restaurant food. So I decided to make some khichadi and bengan aloo sabji (eggplant and potatoes) when we returned home. It took me 30 mins to prepare and lay the table, but the satisfaction you get is worth million dollar. Khichadi can be eaten with sabji, Kadhi or yogurt. This recipe is very simple with few ingredients, yet tasty. Hope you all enjoy it as well!

Preparation time:20 minutes

Serves:4 people

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice

• 1/2 cup toor dal

• 2-3 table spoons ghee

• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds

• pinch of asofotedia (optional)

• 1/4 tea spoon turmeric powder

• 1/2 tea spoon red chilly powder (adjust as per taste)

• 2-3 cloves

• 2/3 cup frozen veggies (carrots and peas)

• 1 3/4 th cup water

• 1 tea spoon salt (adjust as per taste)

Directions:

1. Take the rice and dal in a bowl and rinse it with water 2-3 times.
2. In a pressure cooker , heat the ghee and then add cloves, cumin seeds and asafotedia, and sautee until it all turns golden-brown.
3. Now add turmeric powder, red chili powder, frozen veggies and stir for for a minute.
4. Add salt, water, rice and dal mix and stir well.
5. Close the pressure cooker lid and switch off the gas flames and let the rice and dal saok for 10 minutes.
6. Turn on the flames and cook up to 1 whistle and then switch off the flames again.
7. Once the pressure cooker cools down, ENJOY!

Note:

1. Kichadi can be eaten with pickles (Indian style achaar), chaas (buttermilk) or Yogurt.
2. While serving add a spoonful of ghee for more ehananced taste, if you like it.

When I was young my grandmother use to make kadhi for us when we caught a cold, and would serve it to us with the meal. The magic of the kadhi never failed to work and we use to be up and running in no time! However, it is also one of those things, you crave when you just want the comfort of a simple home-cooked meal.

Last weekend we had family and friends at our place for dinner. The weather was cold, so I added items to the menu that give the instant comfort one seeks on such cold days!

Kadhi, has the flavors which feel soothing on a cold day and tastes’ great with Saffron rice (which was also a part of the menu).

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• ½ cup yogurt
• 2 table spoon gram flour (besan)
• 2 cups of water
• 1 table spoon ghee (can substitute with oil)
• ¼th teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 2 cloves
• ¼th inch cinnamon stick
• A pinch of asafoetida (hing optional)
• ¼th teaspoon coriander powder
• ¼th teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 2-3 curry leaves
• ½ teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 Green chilly finely chopped (as per spice tolerance)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
• 1½ tablespoon sugar or jaggery (optional)
• Salt (as per taste)

Preparation:

1. Mix the yogurt, gram flour (besan) and water together and whisk it nicely and set it aside.
2. Heat the pan and add ghee, cloves, cinammon and fenugreek seeds and let the seeds turn brown.
3. Add cumin seeds and let it pop.
4. Now add asafoetida (hing) and then pour the mixture from step 1 .
5. Stir constantly until there is a boil. Else the yogurt will curdle.
6. When there is a boil stop stirring and lower the flames and let it cook for 5-6 mins.
7. Meanwhile, add salt, ginger, curry leaves, chillies and sugar/jaggery(optional)
8. While serving garnish it with cilantro.
9. Enjoy with Saffron Rice!

I was born and brought up in Gujarat, where daal and rice is a must along with at least one meal a day. Gujarati Daal has a balance of sweet and sour flavors, is easy to digest, nutritious and tastes delicious! I thought I’d share this with you to enjoy as well.

This recipe requires a lot of ingredients (to bring about many flavors), but is quite simple to make. I’m changing the format of the recipe a little bit to make it simpler to follow the steps. Instead of the standard: Ingredients list, then preparation methods, I’m making this recipe a two step process, with the ingredients and preparation for each step.

Ingredients and Directions

Step 1

Ingredients:

• 1 cup toor daal (yellow lentil daal)
• 2 ½ cups water
• 10-12 raw peanuts
• ½ teaspoon grated ginger
• ¼ cup chopped tomatoes (or lemon as per taste)
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

Directions:

• Soak the daal for half an hour in water.
• Add the rest of the above ingredients and pressure cook until soft (it takes about 2-3 whistles in the pressure cooker).

Step 2

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sugar or jaggery (optional)
• 1 small green chilly, cut into small pieces (spicy as per preference)
• 1 tablespoon cilantro
• 1/2 tea spoon of mustard seeds
• 1 table spoon oil
• A pinch of asafoetida (hing powder optional)
• ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi daana)
• 2 cloves
• ½ inch cinnamon stick
• 2-3 curry leaves
• 1/2 tea spoon red chilly powder (if using paparika you can add 1 tea spoon)
• ½ teaspoon coriander powder (dhana powder)
• Salt, as per taste

Directions:

1. Add 2 more cups of water and let it boil on low heat.
2. As it boils, add curry leaves, sugar (or jaggrey but its optional), salt, coriander powder, the cinnamon stick and green chillies.
3. In a separate small pot or pan, heat the oil.
4. Add the cloves and fenugreek seeds.
5. Once the seeds start to become slightly brownish in color, add the mustard seeds.
6. When mustard seeds start popping switch of the flame and add asoafoetida, and red chilly powder and then pour the whole mixture into the boiling daal (ensure that chilli powder do not turn black and be careful that the oil does not splatter).
7. Let the daal cook for 20-25 mins to get a nice consistency.
8. Sprinkle some cilantro on top, and serve with hot cooked rice.

Note: For those who do not like sweet flavor should not add jaggery/sugar.