Aamrakhand- Maharashtrian Mango dessert

'Aamrakhand' means Amra(mango)+ Shrikhand. Shikhand with mango puree into it is called aamrakand.  In most of the Maharashtrian family this sweet dish is prepared during Mango season. You can have this with Puri, it tastes awesome. Instead of Aamras-Puri or Shrikhand-Puri, we can combine both. We have one function at my Aatya's place so we (Usha Aunty, Shashi aaka, swati & myself) prepared almost 7-8 Kg. Aamrakhand. Oh it was really huge.   Now for coming 'AashadhiEkadashi' you must prepare this sweet.

Ingredients

Hung Curd(Chakka) - 250 Gms.

Powder Sugar - 200 Gms.

Mango puree- 1 cup

Warm milk -4-5 tablespoon

Nutmeg powder - 1/8th teaspoon

Chopped almond and charoli for garnishing (Optional).

Procedure

Most of the cities we don't get hung curd, so the simple way to prepare hung curd is- Take full cream milk's curd in thin cotton cloth. Squeeze it with hand and remove the water. Tie it tightly and hang it over night so all water in curd will drain out.

Now take the hung curd (in Marathi we call it as Chakka) in a big bowl. Add Powdered sugar and mix it neatly. Now add warm milk and beat it for 2 minutes. Then add mango puree mix it very nicely. You can adjust quantity of sugar according to the sweetness of mango. Add nutmeg powder and mix it.  If you want you can add chopped nuts or Charoli. But I usually like it without any nuts. Chill it in fridge and serve it with hot Puris. 

This one goes to Pari's event ‘Only’ Mango, Guest hosted by Anu's Healthy Kitchen.

Capsicum Bharit

When I heard about this recipe in one cookery show, I was tempted to try that immediately. Till now I have heard about eggplant Bharit or pumpkin Bharit…but capsicum was very new to me. It is very simple and healthy one.

 
Ingredients

Capsicum - 1 big

Finely chopped onion - 1

Chopped green chili - 1

Danyacha kut (Peanut Powder) - 1 tablespoon

Curd - 1/4 cup

Salt and sugar as per taste

For tempering (optional)

Oil - 1 teaspoon

Mustartd seeds - 1/8 th teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1/4 th teaspoon

Asafetida - a pinch

Sandgi Mirchi - 1

Procedure
Roast the capsicum directly on flame. It should get cooked from each side. Remove the black skin after it gets cool. Finely chopped or mash the capsicum. Now add all other ingredients and mix wel. Make a tempering with given ingredients. Tempering is optional but tempering with Sandgi Mirchi will give nice taste to your Bharit. Pour tempering on the mixture and mix it wel. Serve it with Roti or just eat like a salad.

Punjabi Kadhi- Indian Cooking Challenge

After almost two months of gap, I am attending Indian Cooking challenge. I enjoy doing these challenges. But this time it was quit easy but tasty. This month Srivalli's challenge for Indian cooking challenge is 'Punjabi Kadhi'. I just loved it. She suggested a recipe of Simran of Bombay Foodie. I followed the same measurement and method. But instead of deep frying pakoras, I used the 'Appe patra' or Paniyaram Pan for it. It require much less oil than deep frying. :-).

Ingredients
For Kadhi

Curd - 1 cup
Besan - 1/4 cup
Water - 3 cups
Garam masala - 1/4 teaspoon
Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt as per taste

For tempering
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds- 1 tsp
Ajwain/ Carom Seeds- 1 tsp
Methi / Fenugreek seeds- 1 tsp
Chopped Green chili - 1
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon


For Pakora
Besan - 1/2 cup
Onions - 1 medium
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Ajwain/ Carom Seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Water
Oil for Deep frying


Procedure

For kadhi
Mix curd, water and Besan. Beat it properly so that no lumps will form. Add garam masala, sugar ,salt and mix well. Heat oil in kadai add cumin seeds, Mustard seeds, Ajwain, chopped green chili, turmeric powder and Methi seeds. Pour the dahi-besan batter on it. Boil for 10-15 minutes on low flame. Keep stirring occasionally. It should be thick than Maharashtrian or Gujrathi kadhi.

For Pakoras
Slice onions lenghtwise. In a bowl, take the besan, onion, add salt, red chili powder, ajwain. Make a batter with water to get a semi thick consistency. Make the batter a little thicker than normal  if you are using appe patra/ Paniyaram pan. Heat appe patra/ Paniyaram pan, add little oil in each round. Heat the oil. Pour a spoonful batter in each round. Fry till it becomes brown and crispy. Drain and keep aside.
While serving Add pakoras in kadhi and mix well. Have it with Hot steamed rice or roti. I love to have it as it is.

Pinkish Mix Veg Raita

Presenting you my all time favorite mix Veg Raita. Because of it's refreshing colour, I gave this name to it. My friend sonali prepared this lovely Raita in one of our potluck party.

 
Ingredients

Tomato - 1
Onion - 1
Cucumber -1
Grated Beet - 2 tablespoon
Green chilli - 1
Chopped coriander - 1 teaspoon
Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Thick Curd - 1 cup
Salt to taste


Procedure
Wash tomato and cucumber. Peel the skin of cucumber. Now chop onion, tomato and cucumber finely. Peel the skin of beet and grate it. Pour curd in a big bowl. Beat it little. Add salt, sugar, cumin powder and mix well. Put chopped vegetables, chopped coriander and mix well. Remember to put little beet in raita for nice pink colour, otherwise it will become dark pink. Decorate it with silted green chilli. Keep it in a refrigerator and serve chilled raita with paratha, biryani or pulav.

Palak Kadhi

This is a very simple Kadhi with lots of iron into it. It's very easy to make . Procedure is almost same as Maharashtrian Kadhi or Gujrathi Kadhi. Spinach, that is palak into the Kadhi makes it iron and calcium rich. In some places of Maharashtra it is also called as 'Palakache Alan'

Ingredient

Spinach (palak) - 1 bunch

Curd (Dahi) - 1 cup

Gram flour (Besan) - 2-3 tablespoon

Garlic cloves - 4-5

Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Water - 2 cups



For Tempering

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Asafetida - 1/4 teaspoon

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon



Procedure

Clean and wash spinach neatly. Chop it very finely. Now whisk together curd, gram flour and water. No lumps of gram flour should form. Now add salt and sugar into it and mix well. Take a kadai and make a tempering of given ingredients. Add chopped garlic and saute it till it becomes slightly brown. Add spinach and cook it until done. Then add whisk mixture of curd, red chilli powder. Now allow it to come to a boil. Boil it for 2-3 minute or till the consistency you want. Serve hot with Rice, roti or Bhakri.



This is for Divya's 'Healing Foods Event-Spinach'  event, started by Siri

Boondi Raita

Raita is my favorite either it's mixed veg, cucumber, simi, pineapple or boondi…….. I just love it. Two week's back we had potluck party and everyone prepared different types of stuffed Parathas …. With that dal makhani and boondi raita. It was just awesome. I clicked photograph of boondi raita and posted today:)

Ingredients

Thick Curd - 1 cup

Khari Boondi - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Coriander for garnishing

Procedure

Beat the curd neatly. Add salt, sugar, cumin powder into it. Mix well. Soak boondi in water for only 2 minutes (not more than that). Drain out water. Now keep boondi aside and add and mix well in the curd while serving. Garnish it with chopped coriander.

Kadhi Gole

Kadhi is very famous in all over India and can be made in different ways. I love Kadhi very much. Either the Maharashtrian , Gujrathi or Karnataki. My Aai makes one awesome recipe with this Kadhi that is "Kadhi Gole", It is nothing but Gram flour dumplings in kadhi. It tastes very nice. You can eat it with roti or rice also.




Ingredients

For Kadhi
Curd - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Gram Flour (Besan) - 1 Table spoon
Sugar - 2 Table spoon
Salt as per taste
Curry leaves - 7-8
Oil - 1 table spoon
Mustard Seeds (Rai) - 1/2 tea spoon
Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1/2 tea spoon
Asafetida (Hing) - a pinch
Dry red chili - 1-2
Black gram dal (Urad Dal) - 1 tea spoon
Turmeric Powder (Haldi) - 1/2 tea spoon

For Gole (Gram flour dumplings)

Coarsely grinded dry Chana daal - 1 Bowl
Red Chili Powder - 1 tea spoon
Ajwain - 1/2 tea spoon
Hot oil - 1 teaspoon
Salt as per taste

For Tempering (Tadka)
Oil- 1/2 cup
Chopped Garlic cloves - 10-12
Mustard Seeds (Rai) - 1 tea spoon
Asofotia (Hing) - a pinch


Procedure

For Kadhi
Mix curd, water and gram flour. Beat it properly so that no lumps will form. Add sugar ,salt and mix well. Heat oil in small kadai add cumin seeds, Mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric powder and asafoetida. Lastly add red chili and turn off the flame. Pour the tadka on kadhi and mix well. Boil for few minutes on low flame.

For Gole
Place all ingredients for Gole (dumplings) in a bowl and make a stiff dough of this with little water. Now make small balls of the dough. Now pop into the boiling kadhi. Just take care that balls should stay firm once dropped in and not melt into the kadhi. Drop one by one. When balls will come rising up to the top of the kadhi. Means they are cooked now. Slow down the flame and let it cook for another 5 minutes.

Make Tadka of given ingredients. While serving break one ball in dish and sizzle tadka on it. Add some kadhi and mix wel. Serve hot with Chapati or Rice. Next day Kadhi gole tastes better because the gole has soaked up wel in kadhi.

SiMi Raita

Wondering, what is this SiMi raita ????? Nothing special, It's a capsicum raita. We call capsicum as "Simla Mirchi" , so shortcut of it is SiMi Raita. I am a Raita lover. I love to eat every kind of raitas. So one uncommon raita for you….

Ingredients
Green Capsicum - 1
Red Capsicum - 1
Curd - 2 cups (I used set curd)
Cumin Powder - 1/2 teaspoons
Sugar - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Procedure
Cut the both capsicums into small pieces. Heat a pan with little oil and saute capsicums for a minute. Don't over cook it. Now take curd in a bowl and add salt, sugar and cumin powder. Mix well. Now add capsicums and mix it neatly. Keep it in a fridge before serving. You can also add finely chopped onion and tomatoes in this raita.

This is my contribution for Priya's AFAM: Bell Peppers and and Maheswari's blog.

Dahi Jeera Butter

From the name, you must have thought that, what a combination? Curd with cumin seeds and Amul butter. But it's not a Amul butter . It's a bakery product just hard like toast but in round shape. Usually we eat this with tea. Last month my parents brought this butter from very famous bakery of Nashik (my hometown) , "Prakash Bakery" for me. This idea of making dahi vada with this jeera butter was taught by my Grand father, "Bhau Ajoba". This is very easy and quick recipe. You must try this Oil free vadas.




Ingredients

Jeera butter - 8-10
Curd - 250 Grams
Sugar - 4 teaspoons
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Chat Masala - 1/4 teaspoon
Sev for garnishing
Salt to taste



Procedure

Beat the curd with some water. Add sugar, salt, cumin and coriander powder and mix well. This mixture should be very soft. In a bowl take warm water and deep jeera butter into it from one side. When it becomes slightly soft, deep it from other side till it get soften. Now take the jeera butter on your palm and gently press it with both the hands to remove water from it. Repeat it for remaining jeera butters. Put it in a serving plate. Pour curd over the vadas. Also pour the tamarind chutney and sprinkle chat masala and sev to taste. Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve immediately. If you wish you can pour pudina chutney on it. Instant Dahi vada for summer is ready.

Mattha - Spicy Buttermilk

Like Kairi Panha, Mattha- spicy buttermilk is also a regular summer drink in Maharashtra. Previously the traditional menu for Marriages in summer time was Puri, bhaji, Masalebhat, Jalebi and Mattha. After the heavy lunch it is very good for digestion. It is a real refresher.




Ingredients

Curd - 1 cup
Chilled Water - 1,1/2 cups
Roasted Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Ginger - 1 inch
Green chili - 1
Chopped coriander for garnishing
Sugar and salt as per taste

Procedure
Mix curd and water. Beat it and make buttermilk. Grind green chili, ginger and cumin seeds in mixer. Now add the grinded mixture, salt and sugar. Mix well. Garnish it with coriander and serve cold.






This is for Chandrabhaga's "RD FOR SUMMER"

Gujarati Kadhi

I love GUJARATI food. Specially the little sweetness in every recipe. At my hometown Nashik, there is a famous restaurant for Gujarati Thali, "Hotel Panchavati". I freak out on that Thali. Frequently I make Gujarati Kadhi like Panchavati Hotel.



Ingredients

Curd - 1 Cup
Water - 1, 1/2 cup
Gram flour - 1 table spoon
Grated ginger - 1 tea spoon
Sugar - 1 table spoon
Salt to taste

For Tadka
Ghee - 2 tea spoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
Curry leaves - 2-3
Fenugreek seeds - 1/8 tea spoon
Cardamom - 1
Black pepper - 2-3
Cloves -1-2
asafoetida - a pinch
Round red chili (bor mirchi) - 2-3


Procedure

Mix curd, water and gram flour. Beat it properly so that no lumps will form. Add sugar ,salt & ginger and mix well. Heat ghee in small kadai add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, cardamom, black pepper, cloves and asafoetida. Lastly add red chili and turn off the flame. Pour the tadka on kadhi and mix well. Boil for few minutes on low flame. Serve hot with rice, phulkas or mungdal khichadi with papad and Gorkairi pickle.