Mutton Suka (Goat masala - thick gravy)

[pic soon to come]

There is only one place in my town that sells mutton (Goat meat). Everywhere else you only get lamb. This weekend DH and I made a trip 20 miles from home just to pick some mutton. I felt so silly initially. But after I tried this new recipe, I must say (and DH agrees) it was totally worth it! The shop sells mutton that is so fresh and tender, I did not even pressure cook it, but simply cooked the gravy on medium heat for 45 mins and the meat was perfectly cooked and falling off the bone!

Ingredients –
½ kg. (1 lb) mutton (chopped in small pieces)
12 peppercorns
4 cloves
1 tsp fennel seeds
1” cinnamon stick
1 big onion (chopped)
½ cup coconut milk
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method –

1. Marinate mutton overnight with red chilly powder, turmeric, salt and ginger-garlic paste.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add cloves and cinnamon, then add peppercorns and fennel seeds. Once the fennel seeds turn golden brown (ensure they do not burn), add onion and fry for 2-3 mins. Then keep aside to cool a bit. Then grind everything into a smooth paste.
3. In a pot, take marinated mutton. Add onion paste, coconut milk and some water. Mix and cover with a lid. Let it cook for 10 mins on medium heat.
4. Then add remaining spices and salt. Mix again and cover with the lid. Keep stirring every 10 mins.
5. After cooking for about 40-45 mins, the mutton should be cooked and the liquid should be reduced completely.
6. Serve with roti or rice

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Jhatpat Dosa (Semolina crepes)

Its been quite an exciting month. First Diwali celebration, quickly followed by a nice long vacation to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. I am still recuperating from the intense activity every single day - be it Diwali with hanging lanterns, decorating with lights and diyas, drawing rangoli, or flying cross country to a magical wonderland of Vegas...

Me and my DH have been hogging on the last remains of faraal for the past 2 days...all that is left is chivda. I don't even feel like cooking. And since DH doesn't even step into the kitchen except to refill his bowl of chivda, its upto my imagination how to feed ourselves. Last night was kesar milk and bhel night. Today, I decided to make dosa, only to realize that I was out of GITS packets. So I decided to work up one of my friend's old recipes.



Ingredients:

1-1/2 cup Rice flour

5-6 tsp Rawa (Semolina)

3 Green chillies (finely chopped)

1 tsp Mustard

4-5 Curry leaves

1/2 tsp Asafoetida

1 tsp Oil

salt to taste



Method:

1. Mix rice flour, rawa, water and salt to the consistency of dosa.


2. For preparing a tadka (tempering), heat oil. Once hot, add asafoetida and mustard seeds. As the mustard seeds start popping, add green chillies and curry leaves. Pour the hot tadka over the mixture and mix well. Let it sit aside for 2 hours.


3. Take a pan and spray PAM spray. Incase you don't have PAM, use regular oil. Once the oil is hot, pour 2 scoops of mixture and spread like dosa. Cover with a lid and wait for 2-3 mins. Then turn to cook the other side.


4. Serve hot with coriander chutney

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Its that time of the year!!!

ॐ Happy Diwali! ॐ

A year has passed since we relocated! Unbelievable! Time just flies... and once again, this festival of lights has come to brighten our days (especially nights) with lamps, lanterns and lots of faraal.

This year I am not making lots of faraal (unlike last year). Just chivda and amba barfi (Will post the recipe if it turns out to be a success). Our trip to Vegas and GC is just 5 days away and I haven't even started packing. DH gave me a big surprise this time - planning this trip; its amazing how much work he has put into it. I will post some pics in this space once we are back...

Till then... तुम्हा सवॉना दिवाळीच्या हादि॔क शुभेच्छा (Happy Diwali Everyone!!!)

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Low fat Vegetable Lo Mein

I am back! I know I have been away for quite some time. I can always blame work, but actually I have been really lazy lately. Although I have been cooking quite a bit. So keep a look out on this page as more exciting and delicious recipes will follow very soon...

Now, I am quite certain that Chinese food is universal favorite. Alter it to suit your tastes, but I haven’t come across one person yet who does not like Chinese food. Very recently I was watching an episode of “Cook Yourself Thin” and realized that the Spicy Chicken or Garlic Shrimp that I so dearly love costs me atleast a 1000 calories each month! Now, though my fascination for Healthy Bites has calmed down a tad bit, this was totally unacceptable. But in order to convince DH to let go off his favorite Chicken Lo Mein, I had to do more than talk. I had to cook.

A quick trip to a nearby grocery store solved my problem. I just picked up some low sodium Soy sauce and Oyster sauce and my problem was solved. Within 20 mins, I fixed a nice dish of Vegetable Lo Mein which DH not only loved but thought to be better than Chinese take out. Now …now… my beloved husband can be a little generous while appreciating my cooking skills. But why don’t you try this dish out and find out for yourself if you like it?

Ingredients –

1. ½ box Whole wheat spaghetti
2. 1 carrot (chopped into thin strands). You can buy chopped carrots from the store as well
3. 1 cup Cabbage (chopped)
4. 2 scallions (chopped) If you do not have scallions, use medium sized ½ onion (vertically sliced)
5. 5-6 mushrooms (vertically sliced)
6. 3 tsp Olive oil
7. 1 tsp Cooking oil
   

Spices and Sauces –

1. 2 tbsp Soy sauce (I used low sodium variety)
2. 1 tsp Oyster sauce (Optional)
3. 2 tsp Ginger-garlic paste
4. 1 tsp Black Pepper
5. 1 tsp (or suitable to your taste) Crushed Red Pepper
6. 1 tsp sesame seeds
7. Salt to taste

Method –

1. Boil water in a pot and add 1 tsp cooking oil. Put whole wheat pasta and let it cook for a while. Once the noodles are soft, strain them and wash in cold water to stop the cooking process. Keep aside
2. In a wok, heat olive oil and add sesame seeds. Once the seeds start spluttering, add all the vegetables and ginger-garlic paste. Mix well. Add some water and cover with a lid to cook the veggies for about 5 mins.
3. In a small bowl, mix Soy sauce and oyster sauce. Once the vegetables are soft, add the sauce mixture, red and black peppers, salt and noodles and mix well till the noodles and vegetables are well blended and covered in the sauce.
4. Add very little water and cover with a lid. Reduce the heat to minimum and let the Lo Mein cook in the sauces for another 2-3 mins.
5. Serve Hot

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Moong daal vada (Lentil fritters)

Summer is just round the corner. The time has come to shed the jackets and flaunt the shorts, time for flip flops, tank tops and sun glasses! Ever since we moved to our new home about 6-7 months ago, it has been our earnest desire to sit in our patio and enjoy a nice cup of tea. Now weather hasn't permitted us this luxury so far. But this Saturday morning when the temperatures are pleasant 67 degrees, DH and I decided to realize this wish. So out we sat enjoying the weather and it was marvelous! Seriously people, if you don't have a patio and are considering moving, make sure your new home has one. It is just amazing!

For today's lunch, I decided to make a light snack of Thalipeeth and moong daal vadas. Now I know there is no real connection between the 2, but well, I just felt like eating both! So here goes my recipe for moong daal vada.

Ingredients -
1 cup moong daal (soaked overnight)
3 tsp Udad daal (optional) - Soaked with Moong daal
1 big or 2 small cloves of garlic (grated)
1 inch ginger (grated)
4-5 curry leaves
1/2 medium sized onion
2 green chillies (finely chopped)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp mustard seeds
Oil
salt to taste

Method -

1. Coarsely grate the soaked daals in the grinder. Add the grated ginger and garlic and onion.
2. In a small pan, heat oil. Once hot, add mustard seeds, turmeric, curry leaves and chillies. Once the mustard seeds start popping, pour the oil with the spices in the daal mixture. Mix well. Add salt to taste.
3. Ensure that this batter looks like hummus, but is coarse and not runny in consistency.
   
4. In a flat bottom pan, heat oil (I used PAM cooking spray). Make small balls out of the daal batter. Flatten it and place in the pan for frying. (If the balls are round, the mixture inside does not get cooked. You might have to deep fry to cook those)
5. Turn to cook the other side. Take them off the pan once the vadas are cooked and golden brown.

Ready to serve!!! Enjoy!!!

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