Lobiya Usal (Black Eyed Beans curry)

Have been experimenting with 'Lobiya'/'Chawli' or Black eyed beans in recent times. This Maharashtrian Usal recipe was one of them which proved to be a big hit with the family. Had it with some bread (did not have pav in stock).

Read on for the recipe:

Preparation Time - 40 mins

Ingredients-

1 cup black eyed beans
1 medium + 1 small sized onion
3-4 garlic cloves
1/2 inch ginger
2 tbsp freshly grated coconut
1 tbsp desiccated coconut (optional)
1/3 tsp fennel seeds
1/3 tsp coriander seeds
1 medium sized tomato
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder (Use more if you like, it is a spicy curry)
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 Kashmiri red chilli
3 tsp oil
salt to taste


Preparation - Wash and soak the black eyed beans overnight.

Cut the medium sized onion into thin long pieces. Roughly chop the small one.

Cooking - Transfer the beans to a pressure cooker with 1 1/2 cups water with salt and turmeric. Cook for 2 whistles on high and then on a medium flame for 5-6 mins.

Allow steam to escape before opening lid. Check if the beans are soft and can be easily crushed between the thumb and forefinger. If not, cook for another whistle.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok. Add the broken red chilli followed by the roughly chopped onion, ginger and garlic. Fry on medium flame for 3 minutes. Add coriander and fennel seeds. Fry for 1-2 minutes. Then add the coconut and fry till it turns brown. Remove and keep aside to cool. Grind into a smooth paste.

Heat the remaining oil in a wok. Add the onion pieces and fry till light  brown. Add the masala paste and fry for 3-4 mins.

Add the chopped tomato along with the masala powders and salt. Cook till the tomato is mushy.

Add the boiled beans along with 1 1/2 cup water. Cook with lid covered for 7-8 mins. If it is still watery, cook uncovered on high flame for 2 minutes to get desired consistency.

Serve hot with a dash of lime and some coriander leaves. (I served it with toasted bread.)

Note - I used only about 1 tsp of fresh coconut but since it is a Maharashtrian dish the coconut is an integral part of it. It adds another dimension ( somewhat like sweetness but not exactly ) to this recipe. With more coconut and more onions in the masala paste, the gravy also tends to be richer.

Roasted Rice Kheer (Bhaja Chaula Khiri)

Whether be it the 'Khai anjula' during the marriage ceremony, the griha pravesh of the new bride or the first time she lights the hearth, rice is considered to be an indispensable part of the Hindu marriage rituals. That is because it symbolizes prosperity and the new bride as the 'Lakshmi' or Goddess of prosperity is supposed to bring in loads of good fortune and money to her husband's family. Little wonder that the rice kheer occupies a very important position in most religious ceremonies. As a new bride, I too prepared the rice kheer with much trepidation ( and quite a bit of help ) as a part of the first meal at my in-laws home. And since then, I have quite mastered the technique of getting it just right.

So, on my last trip to Odisha, I had prepared Kheer on popular demand and it turned out to be a hit ( no surprises here ). But when one of the guests who sampled it asked me whether I had roasted the rice before making the dish, I was stumped. So I called up my Mom and asked if she knew the recipe for 'Bhaja Chaula kheeri'. Turned out that she was aware of it even though she never made it that way. Not much different from my usual method, this just required roasting the rice for a few minutes before adding it to the milk. But it gives a different taste and the rice grains remain a bit more chewy/firm in this version. (Check out the other version : Here)

Have used khoya and condensed milk to reduce cooking time. But you can actually use reduced milk or best cook the rice grains with milk till it reduces to about 1/4 th of the original volume for that authentic flavour.

Read on for the recipe:

Preparation Time - 45-50 mins

Ingredients -

• 1/2 liter milk
• 1/3 cup soaked rice ( Jeera rice or Gobindobhog rice )
• 3/4 cup khoya
• 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 3 tbsp sugar ( I prefer medium sweet, but you can add a little more )
• 1/3 cup cashews
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1-2 green cardamoms
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp ghee

OR 

• 2 liter full cream milk
• 1/3 cup soaked rice ( Basmati rice )
• 1/2 cup sugar ( medium sweetness )
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds ( peeled ones )
• 1-2 green cardamoms
• 1 tsp ghee

Cooking - Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker. Add a little crushed cardamoms and the soaked rice. Stir fry for 5-6 minutes.

Add 2 tsp sugar and stir at intervals. Allow it to just start caramelizing (check pic below) so that we get a lovely buff colored kheer.

Add 1/3 cup water, 1 cup milk and the cashews to the cooker. Close lid and cook for 3-4 whistles. Remove from flame.

Open the lid as soon as the steam escapes. Use a heavy spoon to whisk the contents and try to break down the rice grains( Else use a good quality hand blender for this step). We need to do this when the mixture is very hot so be careful not to splash any liquid onto ones hands. [1]

Add the remaining milk to the pressure cooker along with 1/4 cup water. Close lid and cook for another 2-3 whistles. Remove from flame.

Allow steam to escape. Open the lid and put it back on the flame.

Add the crumbled khoya ( i used store bought one), condensed milk, raisins and cardamom. Stir continuously till the khoya dissolves and mixture reaches desired thickness. (Took 7-8 mins for me)

Switch off the flame.

[1] ***  When using full cream milk, the cooking time will be very high (nearly 1 1/2 hours) on a low flame. But the taste is rather different and much more creamy.

Once you have broken down the grains with a heavy spoon/hand blender, you need to add the remaining milk and almonds. Cook on low flame while giving a stir occasionally. After reaching a certain thickness, one needs to stir it continuously so that it does not catch at the bottom.

Finally add the cardamom powder and remove from the flame.

Serve warm or chilled. (both taste great)

Note - This stays good for up to a week when kept refrigerated  .

Andhra Style Mango Dal (Mamidikaya Pappu)

Another recipe which has been lying in the draft for very long time. This tangy and easy to do mango dal is an Andhra recipe that I got from a teammate a few years back. Perfect comfort food with hot white rice and some fries/papad. Read on -

Preparation Time - 20 mins

Ingredients -

1 cup toor dal
1 small green mango (peeled and chopped)
1 small onion ( cut into medium sized pieces)
2-3 cloves garlic (crushed lightly)
1/2 inch ginger (cut into juliennes)
1-2 green chilli
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste

For tempering -

1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 red chillis
1 sprig curry leaves
2 pinch asafoetida
1 1/2 tsp oil
coriander leaves for garnishing (optional).

Cooking - Wash and transfer the dal into a pressure cooker. Add about 2 1/4 cups water along with the remaining ingredients (except those for tempering).

Close lid and cook for 2-3 whistles. Allow steam to escape before opening lid. Mash lightly with a heavy spoon.

Heat the oil in a wok/tadka pan. Add the mustard seeds and red chillis. When it starts spluttering, add the asafoetida and curry leaves. Once the leaves wilt /turn brown, pour the mixture over the contents of the pressure cooker. Stir in.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Note - Excuse the badly clicked pics. Will provide a replacement at the earliest.

Banana and walnut muffins

Made these easy muffins last week with a couple of over-ripe bananas. Came out very soft,dense and moist. Read on for the recipe-

Preparation Time - 35 mins

Ingredients -

• All purpose flour ( 3/4 cup)
• Butter ( 1/2 cup )
• Demerara sugar ( 1/2 cup, powdered )
• Ripe bananas ( 2 nos, small ones )
• Egg ( 1 no)
• Chopped raisins ( 10-14 nos)
• Chopped walnuts ( 5-6 nos )
• Baking powder ( 1/2 level tsp )
• Vanilla essence ( 3-4 drops)

Preparation - Break the egg into a bowl. Beat for 2-3 minutes. Add the demerara sugar and vanilla essence. Beat till light and fluffy.

Sift in the flour and baking powder little by little. Gently fold in (do it in one direction only).

Peel and take the bananas in a separate mixing bowl. Mash them very well.

Add the butter to the mixing bowl containing banana. Mix well.

Add banana-butter mixture to the flour batter. Fold in gently, moving in a unidirectional manner. Stir in the nuts and raisins, keeping aside a few to sprinkle on top.

Grease a non-stick muffin tray. Pour into the molds till 2/3 full. Sprinkle chopped raisins on top.

Cooking - Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Put the tray inside and turn down heat to 160 degrees after 5 minutes. Bake for another 10-15 mins ( since these muffins contain fruit, they take longer to bake and are a little more dense in texture ).

Insert a toothpick at the center of muffin and check if it comes out clean. Else bake for another 2-3 mins.

Remove from oven and keep on a cooling rack. Overturn the tray to remove the muffins while still warm (easy to come out).

Serve immediately or store in a airtight container for 1-2 days when completely cool.

As they tend to spoil early, hence better to have them on the same day or the next day at the most.
.

Note - Roll the raisins/nuts in a little all-purpose flour before sprinkling on top. This prevents them from sinking into the muffins

Happy New Year to all my Odiya/Bengali/Assamese/Tamil/Punjabi friends!!

Panna Sankranti or Mahavisubha Sankranti marks the first day of the Odiya calendar year. And hence it is celebrated with much festivity is all parts of the state. People make a sweet drink called 'Panna' and offer it to the Tulsi plant. It is then distributed among family and friends. Special pujas are conducted in the temples and the new 'panji' comes into use. It is calculated as the first day of the Solar year.

This day is also celebrated by as 'Poila Baisakh' in Bengal, 'Bohag Bihu' in Assam, 'Cheiraoba' in Manipur, 'Baisakhi' in Punjab and Haryana and 'Puthandu' in Tamil Nadu.

The 'Panna' which is a special drink made with fruit, sugar/jaggery, yogurt/milk, chenna and water, is the highlight of this festival in Odisha. Its' consistency is comparable to that of a smoothie.Two types of Panna are made on this day- the 'Bela Panna' and the 'Chattua Panna', the former being vastly more popular.

Check the recipes here : Bela Panna (Here) and Chattua Panna (Here).

Have a happy and prosperous year ahead!!

Chicken Sandwich

I made this easy sandwich with some leftover grilled chicken last week. Quite effortless and filling at the same time. One can quickly slather some chicken with barbecue sauce/tandoori masala/mustard paste and pop it in to the oven/microwave for a couple of minutes. Add some crisp veggies to it and you have a great snack/meal some leftovers. Read on for an easy sandwich recipe:

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 slices of sandwich bread
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• few pieces of shredded grilled chicken/tandoori chicken/boiled chicken
• a few pieces of sliced red peppers
• a few pieces of sliced yellow peppers
• some thinly sliced onion
• a lettuce leaf
• 1 tsp tomato ketchup
• pepper for seasoning
• salt to taste

Preparation - Put the bread slices on a clean working surface.

Layer on mayonnaise on one side.

Add chicken pieces, peppers and onions . Sprinkle salt ad pepper. Drizzle on ketchup.

Finally add the lettuce.

Close the sandwich.

Cooking - Heat a grill pan, sandwich maker or even a non-stick tawa/frying pan. Toast the sandwich on both sides for a few minutes till light brown.

Cut into two/four pieces with a sharp edge knife. (I keep planning to buy one of those but somehow it never happens. And hence my sandwiches have rough edges all the time.)

Note - For eggy-tarians, one can add some scrambled egg/omlette instead of the chicken. Tastes equally good. ( Mix in some cheese with the eggs )

Adraki Chaas (Ginger Buttermilk)

Another easy to make buttermilk recipe. I think m getting hooked to these!!!!!!! Read on:

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

• 1/2 glass yogurt
• 1 1/2 glass water
• 1/2 tsp grated ginger
• 1/4 tsp black salt (kala namak)
• salt to taste

Preparation - Take all the ingredients in a blender. Buzz for a minute.

(Add some ice cubes to the blender jar. This will not only chill the drink but all the fat will also float to the top and can be easily removed.)

Pour into glasses and serve.