Lauki Muthia Curry / Bottle Gourd Steamed Cake Curry

As I am hosting January's Veggie/ Fruit A Month- Bottle gourd event, I am sharing third bottle gourd recipe of this month..we all are having lots of bottle gourd in one form or the other and no body is complaining..what a relief. I have been making different kinds of dishes with bottle gourd and my DH and daughter are relishing them. In most of the dishes I have disguised bottle gourd and its working..yay.

After making bottle gourd steamed cakes I was left with lots of leftovers so I made a curry with yoghurt gravy, something like gatte ki subzi ( check for that recipe at mharo rajasthan). I made the curry with loads of spring onions and it was super delicious.

Ingredients:

Leftover bottle gourd steamed cake/ lauki muthia- Around 15 pieces

Yoghurt- 1/2 Cup beaten

Spring Onions- 3 

Tomatoes- 2 big (grind and make a paste)

Paste of 2 green chillies and 1 inch ginger piece

Oil- 2 Tbsp

Mustard Seeds- 1/2 tsp

Cumin Seeds- 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida- A pinch

Red Chilli powder- 1/4 tsp

Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp

Coriander Powder- 1 Tsp

Salt- To Taste

Water- 1 1/2 Cup

Procedure:

Heat oil in a wok and add asafoetida, mustard and cumin seeds. Once the seeds splutter add in spring onions, ginger and green chilli paste and sauté. Now add in tomato paste along with turmeric powder, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder and fry till the mixture is cooked nicely. Now add in well beaten curd and keep stirring till the mixture comes to a boil. Add in water and bring mixture to boil. Keep Check seasoning and add in the muthias/ steamed cakes and let it boil again so that all the flavours are soaked in by the steamed cakes. If the curry is too thick then little more water can be added to thin the gravy. Serve the curry hot with any Indian flat bread like naan, rotis or parathas.

Sending this to my own event veggie/ fruit a month- bottlegourd, brainchild of Priya.
Linking to Cooking with leftovers- kitchen chronicles, an event by Kalyani hosted by Veena.
Also linking to Let's cook with leftovers at Simply Food.

Lauki Ka Kofta

I have been a Lacto Vegetarian all my life and now slowly trying transitioning into being Vegan. This is going to be very very difficult for me as I love my masala chai , paneer dishes and all the ghee laden Indian sweets like mysore pak to its core. So to give myself a boost I have joined 21 Days Vegan Kickstart India challenge and hope I can stick to it. 

Most of our Indian gravies and curries are vegan, that is if we don't add ladles and ladles of cream or ghee tadka to make it rich. One such gravy dish which is my favourite is Lauki Ka Kofta. I love those kofta balls floating in delicious gravy. I have made the kofta balls in non stick aebleskiver pan ( appam pan) with very less oil and have not added any cream in the gravy, thus it's completely vegan.

Ingredients:

For the kofta balls-

Bottle Gourd/ Lauki/ Opo Squash- 2 Cups grated

Chick Pea Flour( Besan)- 1/2 Cup

Salt- To taste

Red Chilli Powder- As per taste

Amchoor (Dry Mango Powder)- 1/4tsp

Green Chillies- 2( Optional)

Canola Oil- To shallow fry in aebleskiever pan

For the gravy-

Onion- 1 Large

Ginger- 1 Inch Piece

Garlic- 2 or 3 Cloves

Tomatoes- 3 Medium Sized ( ground)

Whole Dry Red Chillies- 2

Green Chilly- 1(optional)

Salt- To Taste

Red Chilli Powder-1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder- 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder- 1/2 tsp

Canola Oil- 2 Tbsp

Procedure:

• Add salt in the grated bottle gourd and keep aside for few minutes, then squeeze out the water.
• Mix with it chick pea flour, red chilli powder, dry mango powder and make a dough out of it.
• Make 12 equal balls of the dough. In the appam pan put few drops of oil in each section and then put the kofta balls for shallow frying. 
• Keep the pan covered and once the bottom side turns light brown turn it over and cook covered the other side as well.
• Take out the kofta balls from the pan and keep aside. 
• For the gravy grind onions, ginger, garlic and red chillies together. 
• Heat oil in a deep pan and once hot add in the onion paste and fry till raw smell disappears.
• Add in the tomato paste along with turmeric powder, coriander powder, green chilly, salt and red chilly powder. Fry till the mixture starts leaving oil from the side.
• Add in 2-3 cups of water and bring to boil. Now keep the gravy in simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Add in garam masala and switch off the gas. 

Before serving add the kofta balls in the gravy and heat it for another minute or so. Serve hot with rotis or parathas.

Linking this to Squashlove blog hop 

Badi / Vadi Ki Subzi

Sometimes when I am short of dinner ideas I like to make this badi subzi, this subzi is quick to make and tastes very delicious. Badi is made using daals like moong, urad, chawli. The daal are soaked overnight and ground using heeng, salt and chillies, then small marbled sized amount of batter is dropped and dried in the sun. The dried badis can be stored in an air tight container and used as and when required. To know more about how badis can be made please check here.

I have used store bought chawli badis. I prepare all the different kinds of badi subzis the same way.

Ingredients:

Dried badis- 100 gms
Potato- 1 ( Cut in big chunks)
Onion- 1 Large ( Chopped Finely)
Ginger- 1 Inch Piece( Chopped)
Garlic- 2 Cloves( Minced)
Tomatoes- 2 Big (Ground)
Mustard Seeds- 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds- 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp
Salt, Red Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder, Amchoor- To Taste
Oil- 2 tbsp + more to fry the badis
Coriander Leaves- To garnish

Procedure:

• Heat the oil in a kadhai and fry the badis till they turn brown in colour. Take out and keep separate.
• In a small pressure cooker pour the 2 tbsp of oil and add mustard and cumin. When they start spluttering add in the ginger, garlic and chopped onions.
• Fry till the onions turns translucent. Add in tomato paste along with all the spices and fry till the raw aroma disappears. 
• Add in the potatoes, fried badis and stir. Pour in around 2-3 cups of water and mix everything. Close the lid of the cooker and cook in medium flame till 3-4 whistles come up.
• Switch off the gas and when the pressure of the cooker drops down open the lid and garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve hot with phulkas.

Update: Vadis are also known as mangodis in Rajasthan and is a speciality dish there. Thanks to Sonu for pointing this out. I am sending this to her event Flavours of Rajasthan originally started by Nayna.

Sabz Bagh

Oh...how much I wish each minute had 120 seconds..so that I can claim 48 hrs each day. So many things to do and so less time at disposal. I really salute those super powered ladies who manage both office and their house efficiently...and not to forget ..how they manage more than 1 child. I really wonder if I could ever be that much efficient. I am always short of time no matter how fast I complete my chores.

I have not been able to visit my friends blogs as much as I would love to visit them. So all my dear friends I hope I would be able to catch up with your enthusiastic posts soon.

Sharing today an extremely healthy medley of veggies baked in orange juice. This is a very simple recipe and all the required veggies can be added. Saw this recipe long time back in Sanjeev Kapoor's show, but had not exactly noted the ingredients. So here is my version of Sabz Bagh ( which when translated means garden of veggies)

Ingredients:

Orange Juice- 1 Cup ( Preferably fresh home squeezed)
Par Boiled Mixed Veggies Cut in Big Chunks- 2 to 2 1/2 Cups ( I used a mix of cauliflower, broccoli, beans, baby carrots, green peas and baby corns)
Tomato Ketchup- 2 tbsp
Salt and Red Chilli Powder- For Taste

Procedure:

• Heat a skillet and add orange juice. Once it gets little warm add in the par boiled vegetables.
• Let the veggies cook in the orange juice for some time.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180 Degrees C.
• Add in salt, tomato ketchup and red chilli powder.
• Transfer the veggies along with remaining juice to a baking dish and bake in the pre heated oven for around 40 minutes.

Serve the veggies with hot rotis or parathas.

Linking this to Priya and Aipi's Bookmarked Recipes- Every Tuesday Event.

Veggie/ Fruit A Month- Orange Event of Priya and hosted by Savitha

Chole Bhature

Chole bhature is among one of the most popular street foods in India. This combination of spicy chick peas with fried bread known as bhatura is a must feature in most of the Indian restaurants every where. Chole bhature also remains as one of the deeply relished food in college campuses. Bhatura as big as the size of the plate served with a bowl full of spicy chole accompanied with cut onions and tangy mango pickle is sure to brighten up some faces during hungry hours in the college canteen.

Usually chole is made with lots of spices including whole spices but my mother makes this in a very simple way creating a magical platter which we used to polish off in no time. I remember my mom making fluffy bhatura one by one and my brother eating so many of them and becoming a target of my constant nagging, and did I enjoy nagging him...yes yes...I can be a mean sister at times, and that too being an elder one I am supposed to have some privileges..isn't it?

Recipe Source: Mom

Ingredients:

For the Bhaturas:

All Purpose Flour (Maida)- 2 1/2 Cup

Semolina- 2 tbsp

Yoghurt- 3 tbsp

Oil- 2 tbsp

Instant Dry yeast- 1/4 tsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Sugar- 1 1/2 tsp

Luke warm water- To knead the dough

Oil- For deep frying

Little maida for dusting

Procedure:

Take APF, semolina, salt, sugar and yeast in a wide bowl. Add in oil and yoghurt and mix thoroughly. Make a soft dough using luke warm water and set aside covering the dough with a damp cloth for 4 to 6 hours.

After the dough has risen punch it back and take lemon sized balls out of the dough and roll it using maida according to the desired size. Deep fry in hot oil till they puff up. Drain on an absorbent paper.

Ingredients:

For Chole-

Chick Peas- 1 1/2 Cups( Soaked overnight)

Onions- 2 Large

Ginger- 1 Inch piece

Garlic- 3 Cloves

Tomatoes- 3 Large

Mustard- 1/2 tsp

Cumin- 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tsp

Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder- 1 tsp or more according to the spiciness required

Salt- To Taste

Chole Masala- 2 tsp( I used catch brand)

Oil- 4 tbsp

Procedure:

• In a pressure cooker add the soaked and washed chickpeas along with enough water and little salt and pressure cooks for 5-6 whistle or till the chickpeas gets cooked but not mashed.
• After the cooker has cooled drain the chick peas and take out around 1/2 cup of the cooked chick peas and grind it in the mixie and keep it aside along with remaining chick peas. I grind some chick peas to make the gravy thicker but this it optional.
• Grind onions, ginger and garlic together and keep aside.
• Grind the tomatoes and keep that aside too.
• In a kadhai heat oil and mustard and cumin seeds. Once they start spluttering add in onion paste and cook till the paste turns brown in colour.
• Add in the tomato paste along with turmeric, red chilli powder, salt and chole masala and cook by stirring in between till the oil starts separating and there is no longer raw smell of the masalas.
• Add in the cooked chick peas and the ground chickpeas along with some water and cook in medium heat along with stirring in between till everything is combined nicely.
• Keep boiling the chole for another 5-6 minutes and switch off the gas. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve this chole along with fluffy bhatura combined with some onions and khatti meethi dates and tamarind chutney.

Linking this delicious platter to Priya and Aipi's Bookmarked Recipes- Every Tuesday Event

MLLA# 35 hosted by Smitha of Kannada Cuisine brainchild event of Susan

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop co hosted by Kankana

Update: Sending this to Srivalli's Breakfast Mela

Hyderabadi Baghare Baingan

Hyderabadi baghare baingan is unique in its taste made with freshly roasted spices, peanuts, coconut which are stuffed in the baby eggplants. Baghar means tempering or tadka and baingan is eggplant, hence the name loosely means 'Tempered Eggplants'.The dish was made to be served in royal court of Nizams of Hyderabad and now when there is no longer royalty in our country this dish is served in parties, gatherings and special occasions.

The dish is normally served with biryani but it tastes equally good with roti and paratha. Usually this dish is prepared by deep frying slit brinjals in hot oil but my husband was really not in a mood to eat anything so oily so I made it this way.

Ingredients:

For the stuffing and gravy:

Onion- 1 Big (Sliced thin)

Garlic- 2 Cloves (Chopped finely)

Ginger- 1 inch piece

Peanuts- 2 or 3 tbsp

White Sesame Seeds- 2 tbsp

Dessicated Coconut - 2 tbsp

Cumin- 1 tsp

Khus Khus( Poppy Seeds)- 2 tsp

Fenugreek Seeds- 1/2 tsp

Coriander Seeds- 1 tsp

To grind along with the stuffing mix:

Tamarind Paste- 2 tbsp

Red Chilli- 2

Turmeric- 1/2 tsp

Salt- According to taste

For Tempering:

Mustard Seeds- 1 tsp

Curry Leaves- 10- 12 leaves

Dry Red Chillies- 2

Purple Baby Brinjals- 10 or 12

Oil- 3 tbsp

Procedure:

• Start by dry roasting onions, ginger and garlic for few minutes till they start releasing little moisture.
• Follow by adding other ingredients of the stuffing mix and dry roast everything together for 7-10 mins till aroma of the roasted spices begin to arise.

The roasted mix will look like this.

• Grind this mixture along with tamarind paste, red chillies, turmeric and salt.

The resultant paste looks like this.

• Wash and dry the eggplants and make a '+'incision from the base to the top of each eggplant making sure that the stem remains intact.
• Stuff the ground paste in each eggplant. Keep remaining paste to be added as a gravy.
• Heat oil in a kadhai/wok and add mustard seed, red chillies and curry leaves and when they start spluttering place each eggplant in the wok and cook for sometime then add the remaining gravy paste and salt and about 2 cups of water and cook covered for some time in medium flame.
• Keep stirring in between as the gravy thickens and start to settle at the bottom.
• Cook till the eggplants are fully cooked through and all the flavours blend well.

Serve hot.

Paneer and Peas in tomato gravy

This remains one of my favourite dishes. This is my maa's recipe and I still demand her to make this whenever I visit her place. Very easy to make and tasty to eat.

Ingredients required:

Paneer (Cottage Cheese) - 200 gms (crumbled)
Peas - 1/2 cup ( I used frozen)
Puree of 2-3 tomatoes
Cashewnuts - around 10
Poppy seeds (Khus khus)- 1 tblsp
Mustard, Cumin seeds - 1 tsp each
Oil
Coriander leaves - to garnish

Spices :
Salt and Chilli powder to taste
Turmeric- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder, Shahi paneer masala or garam masala - 1 tsp


Procedure:

• Soak cashewnuts and khus khus in around 1/2 cup of water for 3-4 hrs. Then grind a fine paste and keep aside.
• Boil the peas till tender.
• In oil add the mustard and cumin seeds, once they splutter add the boiled peas and stir fry for about 2-3 mins.
• Then add the tomato puree and the spices and cook till the mixture starts leaving oil and the spices release flavour. If the mixture is very dry add little water.
• Then add the crumbled panner and cashewnut-khus khus paste, mix everthing nicely.
• At this stage fresh cream can be added to increase the richness of the dish. I did not add the cream as I dont want to add extra flabs to my ever increasing waistline.
• Switch off the gas and add coriander leaves.

Enjoy this with hot rotis or parathas , and it even tastes great with rice.