Category: side dish for roti

Pav Bhaji

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BM#102: Week 2, Day 2
Theme : Restaurant recipes

Pav bhaji is an easy recipe to make and it’s always a crowd favorite. This and Chole bhature were my son’s regular orders at Indian restaurants when he was younger. He has started sampling more dishes now, but this is still a strong favorite.

I make pav bhaji for weekend dinners every now and then. I usually buy bread from the stores, but the batch you see here is served with homemade bread. My bread baking skills are mediocre at best, so the fact that bread come out nice and soft is a great achievement for me.

The main vegetables in this dish are cauliflower and potatoes, but you can add a lot more veggies too. Sometimes I add a pack of frozen veggies to make it more nutritious. I use readymade Pav bhaji powder for the masala which is readily available in Indian stores. The bhaji is topped with some chopped onions and a squirt of lemon right before eating, this elevates the taste of the dish a lot. The bread is used to scoop up the curry.

Read on for the recipe.

Serves :4-6

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 3/4 cup frozen peas
  • 2 cups cauliflower florets
  • 1 small green capsicum, diced
  • 1 medium red onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
  • 1 medium tomato, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 2 tablespoons readymade pav bhaji masala
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder, optional
  • Salt as needed
  • 1 tablespoon each of Oil and butter
  • Chopped onions and lemon wedges, for serving

Method:

  1. Pressure cook potatoes, peas, cauliflower and carrots with water to partially cover it. Cook for 2 whistles or until the vegetables are done. Set aside.
  2. Heat oil and butter in a pan, add the sliced onions and capsicum and sauté for a few minutes until the onions are pink. Add ginger garlic paste. Add the tomatoes and cook. Once the tomatoes are done and soft, add turmeric powder, pav bhaji masala and salt. Mix well. Add 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of chili powder if you want to increase the spice level more.
  3. Add the cooked vegetables along with 3/4th of the water in which it’s cooked. Reserve the rest of the water. Using a potato masher, mash the vegetables roughly. I like it a little chunky, so I mash it too much. Bring it to a boil and simmer and Cook until the desired consistency is reached. If the curry is dry, add the reserved water. Taste test and adjust the seasonings.
  4. Serve with pav (bread) and chopped onions and lemon wedges.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the recipe from other Blogging Marathoners.

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Chana masala

8 Comments

BM# 101: Week 3, Day 3
Theme : Creamy gravies

Last month, my old neighbors had come over home. With the kids at school, there was enough time to relax and catch up with each other. We had a mini pot luck and had a great lunch. I had made three gravies that day, two of which I am posting for this theme. I hadn’t picked this theme when I was preparing the meal, it was just good luck that I took pictures of the thali. My friends had brought in vegetable biriyani and bisibela bath. It was served along with the Chana masala, Chettinad mushroom curry and a mixed vegetable curry. Do check out the carrot halwa recipe too, it is a simple and easy way to make this great dessert.

Coming to the Chana masala recipe, this is again from Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen. After trying the mushroom curry recipe from the book, I made this first when we had some friends coming over. I didn’t have enough time to soak Chana, so I cooked it for one hour in Instant Pot before making this gravy. If you have time, you can soak the Chana overnight and cook it before making this curry. I already have a recipe for Chana masala in the blog, but this recipe has enough differences to make a separate post.

Read on for the recipe.

Recipe source: Vegan Richa’s Indian kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
  • 6 medium tomatoes, chopped roughly
  • 2″ long piece of ginger
  • 6-8 garlic cloves
  • 2 green chilies
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoon oil or ghee
  • 1 medium onion, chopped finely
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • A good pinch of hing
  • 2 teaspoons Chana masala or Garam masala
  • Salt as needed
  • About 2 cups of water*
  • Coriander leaves and lemon juice for garnishing and serving

*You can use the water Chana was cooked in.

Method:

  1. Drain and Pressure cook the soaked Chana with enough water until it’s done. Let the pressure release naturally. Set aside.
  2. In a blender, combine tomatoes, ginger, garlic, chilies and 1/2 cup cooked (and cooled) chickpeas. Set aside.
  3. Heat oil or ghee in a pan. Add the chopped onions and cook till it turns pink. Add all the masala powders – cumin, turmeric, chili, garam (or Chana) masala, hing and salt. Mix well.
  4. Add the puréed tomato paste. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring in between to prevent tomatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add a little water in case that happens. Reduce the heat and cook for another 10 minutes until the mixture is dry and starts to leave the side of the pan.
  5. Add cooked chickpeas and about 2 to 2.5 cups of water. You can use the water in which Chana was cooked. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, taste testing in between to adjust the seasoning. Take off the heat and serve garnished with coriander leaves, minced onion and lemon juice. This pairs very well with rotis and plain basmati rice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the recipe from other Blogging Marathoners.

Saag Paneer

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BM# 101: Week 3, Day 2
Theme : Creamy gravies

There was a time when paneer was a once in a while treat, we would order it when we go to restaurants or buy for a stores on special occasions. Now, it’s so common that the fridge is always stocked with a block or two of paneer. My go to recipe for preparing this is Paneer butter masala, but palak paneer is a close second. I also add it in Pulaos or mixed vegetable curries. Another way to use it is as a sandwich or dosa filling. And that makes me realize how many more recipes I need to add to the blog!!

Coming to the recipe here, this is Saag paneer, another dish that I make often. Traditionally saag is served plain, not with paneer in it. Saag means greens and can be made with any greens available. If I see fresh mustard leaves at the Indian store, I buy it along with some spinach and methi leaves to make this. I use Instant Pot for making this instead of the stovetop pressure cooker.

Read on for the recipe.

Recipe source : Veg Recipes of India

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups spinach leaves
  • 1 cup methi leaves
  • 1 bunch sarson ka saag
  • 1 big onion, roughly chopped
  • 3 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 2″ piece ginger
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 4 green chilies
  • A pinch of hing
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons corn flour (yellow maize flour)
  • Salt as needed
  • 200 gms paneer, cut into cubes
  • Ghee

Method:

  1. Wash the leaves well to remove any dirt. Roughly chop it. Add the spinach, methi, saag, chopped onion, chopped tomatoes, ginger, garlic, chilies, hing and water to the Instant Pot or a pressure cooker. Cook for about 8 minutes or 8 whistles. Let the pressure naturally release.
  2. Add maize flour/ corn flour to it. Take an immersion blender and purée everything. Else wait for the saag to cool a bit and blend in a mixie and add it back to the instant pot or cooker.
  3. Add salt and Let the saag cook for another 10-15 minutes, the more it cooks, the tastier it gets. Taste test and adjust the seasonings. Add the cubed paneer pieces towards the last five minutes. Take off the heat and serve with a dollop of ghee with rotis or parathas.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the recipe from other Blogging Marathoners.

Dhokli Nu Shaak

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BM# 101: Week 2, Day 3
Theme : Cooking with Chickpea flour

Long post alert!! Scroll down for the recipe.

Growing up in India, birthdays weren’t celebrated the way we do it now. It would be just another ordinary day but with friends and family wishing you a great day. And in my case, the husband and kid would wish if they remember it. It never bothered me that my birthday was forgotten half the time, because it was never celebrated in a great manner ever.

After coming to US, all of this changed. Birthdays are like mini weddings, I mean, there is a constant reminder that it is a very very special day and that you have to celebrate it. Every year now, my husband buys me expensive gifts and I always wonder whether it’s the same person who regularly forgot my birthdays until 5 years back :-)). More important than the gifts is eating out because that means I don’t have to cook :-D.

I turned an year older in March. My birthday was on a Monday, but we had our friends over on Sunday itself. So I was surprised when my husband said that we are going out on Monday for dinner. Against my character, I told him that I can make something simple for dinner. But he insisted on going out. It was only when we reached the destination that I realized that we had come to our friends place for dinner.

My husband and my son were coordinating with them to keep this as a surprise. It was one of the sweetest and yummiest gifts I have ever been given :-)!! She is from Gujarat and she had prepared a thali for us. Rice, roti, Kadhi, Undhiyo, homemade gulab jamun and then this dhokli nu shaak. It was a working day for her and yet she came early to prepare dinner for us. She made this dhokli nu shaak quickly while waiting for her husband to come from work. Ever since then this has been on my list to prepare at home.

So long story short, I ate a great meal with great company for my birthday and it is one of the wonderful memories that will stay with me forever. As I was making this dish today, I remind myself that the best things in life are not the ones bought from a store.

Coming to the recipe here, I would suggest looking at the video before trying to make it. Read on for the recipe.

Recipe source : Trusha’s kitchen

Ingredients:

For the dhokli

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • A good pinch hing
  • 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 2 cups water
  • 3/4 cup chickpea flour/ besan
  • Salt as needed
  • For the curry
    • 1 tablespoon oil
    • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
    • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
    • A good pinch hing
    • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
    • 2 cups thin buttermilk
    • 1 cup water
    • Salt as needed

    Method

    1. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and hing. Once it splutters, add 2 cups water, salt, chopped garlic, turmeric, chili and coriander powders. Let it boil for 5-6 minutes. Sift besan first and Add it to the water. Mix well with a ladle so that there are no lumps. Cover and cook for a few minutes.
    2. Transfer the batter mix into a greased plate and level it with the back of a greased bowl. Set aside to cool. Cut into cubes using a knife once cool.
    3. Heat oil in another clean pan. Add mustard seeds, jeera and hing. Once the seeds splutter, add one cup of water, salt, turmeric, chili and coriander powders. Add two cups of thin buttermilk and let it cook for a few minutes. Add dhokli pieces to it and cook for another few minutes. Take off the heat and serve hot with rotis.

    Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the recipe from other Blogging Marathoners.