Ingredients:

• Spinach (170-200 grams)
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste
• 1 large tomato (made into a puree)
• 2 green chillies (optional)
• Garam masala (a pinch)
• 1/2 tablespoon turmeric powder (haldi)
• 2 cloves
• 2 small pieces of cinnamon
• 1/4th tablespoon black pepper powder
• 250 grams paneer (either deep fried or stir-fried and cut into cubes)
• 1-2 table spoons oil (or ghee or butter, but ghee is best)

Steps to prepare:

1. Wash and clean the spinach.
2. Add some salt and boil it until it is wilted.
3. Cool the spinach and then put it in a blender and make a soft paste
4. Heat the ghee (or oil/butter).
5. Add the cloves, cinnamon and black pepper.
6. Add the ginger, garlic and chillies paste. Saute till light brown.
7. Add the chopped onions and continue to saute until the whole mixture turns light brown.
8. Add the tomato puree and continue to saute for 1/2 a minute
9. Add the cubes of paneer. Sautee for another minute
10. Add the spinach puree and mix well
11. Add a 1/4th cup of skim milk (or whole milk).
12. Add a little bit of water and boil for 2-3 minutes  (or longer if you want a thicker texture).

Note: You can soak the fried paneer in warm water for 10 minutes to make softer cubes.

Hi all!

I’m back! I have not been able to post for a while since I was taking some courses which required me to take exams twice a week.

Right after the exams, we had to plan our vacation to the middle east and that meant a lot of reading, figuring out logistics and, of course, shopping.

We just got back from a trip to Jordan and Israel. You can get the scoop of our trip on Rahuls blog.

I’ll post more recipe’s this year. For now, I leave you with the simplest recipe I picked up while in the middle east: Shaai (tea).

It’s simple, refreshing and addictive!

• Get a packet of Lipton Yellow Label tea (tea bags)
• Seep it in hot water
• Add some mint/sage/thyme (any one, do not mix)
• Let the tea and mint seep in the water for a while – depending on how strong you like the tea
• Add sugar as per taste

Voila! You got Shaai. This kind of tea is available all over the middle east, from the simplest roadside stalls to the expensive 5 stars! Its made the same everywhere (only the price varies). Enjoy!

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!

Upma is made from Suji/Rava. This snack and lunch is prepared differently in various parts of India. In North India it is made spicy with a hint of lemon, whereas in the western part (Gujrat) it is prepared with sugar, salt and a hint of lemon. Not only does the taste differs, but also the style of cooking differs: Some add water to cook, while others add milk or yogurt.

Last week, we had some family come over to our place and I made Upma for brunch. This recipe is the traditional way of making Upma in Gujarat (my home state), however, the ingredients can vary based on your taste.

Preparation time:30 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cup Suji/ Rava
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 3-4 curry leaves
• 1 green chilly
• ½ tea spoon mustard seeds
• 1 table spoon Urad daal
• 1/4 cup frozen peas
• 1 table spoon oil/ghee (ghee is optional)
• 2-3 table spoon sugar (as per taste)
• 2-3 tea spoon salt (as per taste)
• 2-3 table spoons lemon juice (as per taste)
• 4 1/3 cup water
• Cilantro (finely chopped) to garnish
• 4-5 roasted cashew nuts to garnish

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and let them splutter.
2. Lower the flame to low-medium and add the curry leaves and Urad daal. Saute until the Urad daal turns light brown in color.
3. Turn the flame to medium and add the green chillies and onions and saute it till onions turn translucent.
4. Add the Rava/suji and saute it on a low-medium flame untill it turns light brown (approx 5-10 minutes)
5. Now increase the flames to high and then add water and keep stiring constantly for approximately 1-2 minutes. The Suji will become thick in consistency after adding water.
6. Add lemon juice, salt, peas and sugar to this mixture and close with a lid and let it all cook on medium-low flame for 5 minutes.
7. When the mixture comes to a desired consistency, garnish it with cilantro and cashew nuts.
8. Enjoy!

Holi is a festival signifying the start of spring in India. It is celebrated on the day after the full moon day of Phalgun month (which falls roughly between march and april). It is a festival of colors, bringing joy, happiness and imbues the spirit of friendship in people of all faiths. Holi symbolizes different shades of life and inspires all to rejoice in the glory of nature in its varied colors. According to Hindu mythology this festival is a celebration of good over evil. A very famous tale of Hiranyakashup, the father, Hollika and Prahallad is considered to be the legend for this celebration.

In India, people come together in their respective neighborhoods to light a fire and perform rituals. The next day, they play with colors and water with each other.

Along with the fun there is a lot of food made – sweet and savory dishes! In the spirit of this festival of colors, I’m going to post a few of my favorite recipes of the food that we make during this time of the year to welcome the new season!

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.