Potato Sandwich ( With Honey-Mustard-Mayo sauce)

An easy sandwich thrown together in a jiffy when I am not in the mood to cook. That is how I would describe this. Some boiled potato sitting in the fridge was the starting point. Seasoning it with salt and pepper and layering with some onion and tomato slices, I realized that it was missing that oomph thing. Raided the fridge once again and came up with a bottle of mayo, mustard sauce and a Tabasco sauce. Did not want any tomato ketchup as I was anyways using fresh tomatoes. Decided to go ahead with a mayonnaise-mustard sauce combo but decided to sweeten things a bit as it tasted a bit too tart. Added a spoonful of honey which beautifully balanced the flavours of the sauce. Giving in to my cravings, add some cheese to the sandwich and I had the ultimate comfort food at hand.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 10 mins ( as I had the boiled potatoes at hand )

Ingredients -

• 3 slices of sandwich bread
• 1/2 grated boiled potato
• a few slices of onion
• a few slices of tomato
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tsp mustard sauce
• 1 tsp honey
• 3 tbsp grated cheese
• freshly ground pepper
• salt to taste

Preparation - Lightly toast the bread slices.

Mix the mayo, mustard sauce and honey in a bowl.

Season the grated potato with some salt and pepper.

Take one bread slice. Cover it with the mayo-mustard-honey sauce and then layer the potato over it. Cover it with another slice. Place the onion and tomato slices over it. Sprinkle grated cheese, salt and pepper. Close with the last slice. Gently press and cut diagonally with a sharp knife.

Serve immediately ( or cover tightly with a foil wrap and put in the kids lunch box ).

Milkmaid Coconut Laddoo

After the Ganapati festivities were over, I realized that I had quite a bit of leftover coconut in the fridge. But I was feeling a little bored of eating dosa/idli chutney every other day. And not being too fond of desiccated coconut, preserving it for later use was hardly an option. Then I remembered my 'bua' or father's sister making these Milkmaid laddoos during my childhood days. Those were the days of DD and there were hardly any cookery shows on the telly. She used to patiently note down the recipes from magazines or any other books if she found them interesting. And boy.....she had an amazing repertoire of recipes. I wondered what she would have done if she had the power of the internet at her disposal.

Coming back to the recipe, these laddoos are as simple as it can get. Made with just two ingredients, they are just plain addictive. Read on for the easy recipe -

Preparation Time - 15-20 mins

Ingredients -

• 3 cups grated coconut
• 1 cup milkmaid (or any other condensed milk) (approx)
• 1/2 cup grated coconut for rolling the laddoos (optional)

Cooking -  Heat a wok. Add the grated coconut and milkmaid. Keep stirring continuously till the mass begins to leave the sides of the wok. Remove and keep aside till it is bearable to touch.

Take small portions and shape into balls. Sprinkle the grated coconut on a plate or a working surface. Roll the balls lightly over the coconut. Keep in the fridge for half an hour to set.

Serve cold or at room temperature.


Note - These stay fresh up to one week when refrigerated.

Matar Paneer (Without onion and garlic)

Sometimes fine recipes are born purely out of need. This Ganesh Chaturthi my husband wanted something different from the puri-buta dali combo that is the staple dinner on festival days. With it being a no onion - no garlic day, I was hard pressed for choice. Then I zeroed in on this 'Matar-Paneer' recipe that I had jotted down in my notebook. It is a simple one with a combination of sweet, sour and spicy flavours without being too rich.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 20 mins

Ingredients -

• 200 gm Paneer cubes 
• 1 1/2 cup green peas (fresh or frozen)
• 1 big tomato 
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 Kashmiri chili
• 5-6 almonds
• 7-8 cashews
• 10-12 raisins
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 2-3 cloves
• 1 green cardamom (powdered)
• 1 1/2 tbsp Kasuri methi
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
• a pinch garam masala
• 1 1/2 tsp honey
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp butter

Preparation - Chop the tomato and transfer into a cooker. Add the raisins, cashews, almonds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, whole red chili and cumin seeds along with a little salt. Add 1/2 cup water. Cook for 2-3 whistles on medium flame.

Keep aside for steam to escape. Once the steam escapes, peel the almonds. Drain the water ( but do not throw it ) and transfer all the contents of the pressure cooker to a blender. Buzz till you get a smooth paste.

If using frozen peas, thaw them.

Add the panner cubes to a bowl of hot water.

Cooking - Heat the butter in a wok. Add the ground tomato-masala paste along with coriander powder, chili powder and garam masala. Rub the Kasuri methi between your palms to warm it a bit before adding to the wok.

Cook for 5-6 mins before adding the paneer cubes and green peas. Add about 1 cup hot water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 mins.

Add the honey and remove from flame.

Serve hot with puris/phulkas.

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to All!!!

Vakratunda mahakaya surya koti samaprabha
nirvighnam kurume deva sarva karyeshu sarvada

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!!! May Lord Ganesh save us from all evils and be our guiding light forever !

Today's special is the Chuda Ghasa- Dalma combo, a popular breakfast option in Odisha. Its popularity can be gauged by the fact that it has even got still more localized versions like Chuda Kadamba-Dalma (Chandanpur) and Chuda Ghasa-Buta Dalma (Puri).

Check the given links for the recipes -

Chuda Ghasa
Dalma 

Puran-Poli ( Ganesh Chaturthi special )

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi !!!

This is the last of the 'Ganesh Chaturthi special' series. Puran-poli is perhaps the most popular neivaidyan (offering) on Ganesh Chaturthi alongside the 'Modak' which is primarily consumed in Maharashtra. But one can also find the Puran poli in some parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh too. The Kannada name is Holige or Obbattu . I was a little scared to attempt it at first but the valuable inputs that I got from my South Indian neighbors helped me get it right at one go.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 1 hour plus

Ingredients -

For the puran (filling) -

• 1 cup chana dal
• 1 cup powdered jaggery
• 2 green cardamoms (powdered)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
• 1 tbsp ghee

For the poli -

• 3 cups all purpose flour or wheat flour
• 1 tbsp ghee
• salt to taste
• water for kneading

Others -

• Extra flour for dusting
• Ghee for frying the puran poli

Preparation - Wash and soak the chana dal for 3-4 hours. Transfer to a pressure cooker along with 1 1/2 cups water and cook for 7-8 whistles.

Keep aside to allow steam to escape. Strain the dal and allow it to stand in the strainer for 1 hour or till all the water drains off.

Take the flour in a mixing bowl. Add salt and ghee. Mix in. Then add sufficient water to make a smooth yet firm dough. Rub a little ghee over the dough and cover it. Keep aside for 1 hour.

Cooking - Heat ghee in a pan. Add the cardamom powder and nutmeg powder.

Add the cooked chana dal after 10 seconds. One can add the powdered jaggery at the same time or at a later stage.Mix everything together and cook for 6-7 minutes or till you find that the mixture is turning powdery. Remove from flame and keep aside to cool down.

Transfer the cooled mixture to a mixie jar and buzz for a few seconds. It will become like a smooth dough.
Remove from the mixer jar and keep aside. Divide it into lemon sized balls.

Similarly, divide the dough into balls which are 25-30 percent larger than the chana dal balls. Lightly roll out each ball into a small circle. Place the puran ball at the center and close it by bringing the ends of the dough together.

    

Dust more flour on the working surface and roll out the puran-poli ball  into a thin circle.

Heat a tawa and sprinkle a little ghee. Place the puran-poli on it . Cook on one side till small brown spots begin to appear. Flip it over and cook it on the other side as well.

Once done on both sides, rub a little ghee over it. Remove from the tawa and keep aside.

Repeat the same process for the remaining dough and puran.

Serve hot/warm with milk (or even some ghee).

Note - Excuse me for the badly taken pics. Will change them as soon as possible.

Gajar Alu Suva Bhaji

A simple stir fry with carrots, potatoes and suva greens, this one is loaded with nutrients and quite easy to prepare too!! The sweetness of the carrots and potatoes go beautifully with the sweet smelling herb. I have used the herb to flavour this stir-fry rather than as a core ingredient.

This recipe goes well with rotis and parathas. It is a good option for a 'lunch box/dabba' wala subzi as it is dry and can be made in a jiffy. Leave out the potato if you find it too starchy or if suffering from high blood sugar.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 small carrots
• 1 medium potato
• 3-4 tbsp suva/dill leaves
• 1 small onion
• 1-2 dry red chilis
• 2 pinch cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp red chili powder
• 2 pinch coriander powder
• a pinch of cumn powder
• a pinch of turmeric
• 2 tsp oil
• salt to taste

Preparation - Wash and cook the potato and carrots for 1-2 whistles. Remove and keep aside till steam escapes. Remove their outer skin/peel. Cut into cubes.

Chop the onion into small pieces.

Cooking - Heat oil in a wok . Add  broken red chili and cumin seeds. Allow the seeds to splutter.

Add chopped onion and fry till translucent. Add all the powdered masalas along with the suva leaves and fry for 1-2 mins.

Add the boiled carrot and potato. Toss everything together. Remove from the flame.

Serve hot/warm with rotis/paratha.

Mooli ka Parantha ( Radish Paratha )

This North Indian specialty hardly needs an introduction. Flavorsome mooli paranthas accompanied with an achar are mostly consumed in the winter months.

While most folks usually cook the grated mooli with a whole lot of masalas before using it as a filling, I prefer to incorporate it directly into the dough. It is healthier and definitely lower in calories. Adding a little yogurt in this case also helps to mellow down the pungency of the radish (but do remember to squeeze out all the water before you add yogurt else the dough will turn soggy). Read on for the easy recipe -

Preparation Time - 20 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup grated mooli (radish)
• a fistful od finely shredded radish leaves (optional)
• 1 tbsp hung curd
• 1/3 tsp chili powder (or finely chopped green chilis)
• a pinch of turmeric
• a pinch of roasted cumin powder
• a pinch of garam masala
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• salt to taste
• ghee/oil for cooking the paranthas

Preparation - Add salt to the grated radish and keep aside for 30 mins. Then squeeze out all the water from the radish.

Take in a mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients except for the ghee. Mix everything into a dough. If it happens to be too sticky/wet , dust some more flour.

Divide the dough into 4-5 portions and shape each into a thick disc.

Dust a working surface with flour and roll out the disc into a thick circle.

Cooking - Heat a pan/tawa. Put the rolled out circle on it.

Wait for 20-30 seconds before flipping it over. Drizzle ghee from the sides and press down lightly with a spatula. Flip it over once again and add some more ghee on the sides.

Cook on both sides on a medium flame till small brown spots appear. Remove from pan/tawa and keep aside.

Repeat for the remaining discs.

Serve hot with pickle.