Plantain Chips

Another chips recipe for Navratri !! This time is it with green bananas. Very useful when entertaining guests/friends over those nine days of fasting.

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

• 1  green banana
• 2 pinch turmeric
• red chilli powder
• salt as per taste
• oil for deep frying (rice bran/sunflower/olive)

Preparation - Peel the banana and dip them in ice cold water to which salt and turmeric have been added. (this prevents discoloration)

Cooking - Heat oil in wok. Directly slice the bananas into the hot oil, a few at a time. Fry on both sides till crisp.

Remove from wok and place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil Sprinkle the salt and pepper on the hot chips and toss to coat them. Serve immediately or store in an air-tight container once cooled.

Sweet Potato Chips

Another easy Navratri recipe with sweet potatoes (Shakarkandi) !! Comes handy when entertaining guests/friends over those nine days of fasting.

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 Sweet potato 
• freshly crushed pepper or pepper powder
• rock salt as per taste
• oil for deep frying (rice bran/sunflower/olive)

Preparation - Peel the sweet potato and make thin slices (thinner the better). 

Cooking - Heat oil in wok. Add the sweet potato slices a few at a time. Fry on both sides till crisp.

Remove from wok and place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil Sprinkle the rock salt and pepper on the hot chips and toss to coat them. Serve immediately or store in an air-tight container once cooled.

Note - One can also use table salt instead of rock salt.

Kacche kele ki subzi (Navratri special)

This is one of my the favorite Navratri recipes. Got it from Tarla Dalal's cookbook and have loved it ever since. Frugal and tasty without much effort. And green banana being one of its kind is a low calorie source of carbohydrates and is rich in dietary fiber. They make one feel full as well as help the body burn fats.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 10-15 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 green bananas
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1-2 green chili
• a sprig curry leaves
• 2 pinch asafoetida
• 4 tbsp curd
• 2 pinch turmeric
• 1 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp ghee
• salt to taste

Preparation - Peel and cube the bananas. Put them into salted cold water immediately.

Beat the curd with a little water to break any lumps.

Cooking - Boil water in a saucepan and add a little salt and turmeric to it. Add the banana pieces and cook till done but not mushy. Strain the water and keep aside.

Heat the oil and ghee in a wok. Add the broken green chili and cumin seeds followed by the asafoetida and curry leaves.

Add the banana pieces and fry for 2 mins.

Add the beaten curd along with salt and mix everything. Cook till the curd dries and forms a layer around the banana pieces. Remove from flame.

Serve with white rice or rotis.

Book Review: The Lives Of Others (By Neel Mukherjee)

This post has been moved to my other blog. Read HERE.

Pulihora/Tamarind Rice (Navratri Special)

Pulihora is one of the offerings (Neivaidyams) made to the goddess in South Indian during Navratri. A simple recipe without any fussy ingredients, it is quick to make and quite tasty. While one does get some packaged Pulihora mixes in the supermarkets, it can be easily made at home without one.

Read for the easy recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins.

Ingredients - 

1/3 cup raw rice

4-5 cashews

a fistful of peanuts

2-3 tbsp gram/chana dal

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

2 red chilis

a sprig of curry leaves

1 tbsp tamarind paste (adjust as per taste)

1 tsp jaggery (powdered)

salt to taste

3 tsp oil

Cooking - Cook the rice in a pressure cooker or an open pan till it is soft. Keep aside.

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the mustard seeds followed by the chana dal and peanuts. Allow to brown a little. At last, add the cashews and curry leaves. Fry for 15 seconds.

Add the tamarind paste with a little water, jaggery and salt. Cook for 3-4 mins.

Add the rice and mix thouroughly.

Serve hot.

Watch out this space for more Navratri recipes (both from North & South India) ......

Shakarkandi Chaat (Navratri Special)

Shakarkandi Chaat is a famous Delhi street food that it very common during the winters. While I have never seen it in any of the cities that I have lived in, I came to know about it from a neighbor of mine. We happened to be discussing pregnancy cravings and she mentioned that she had lost all her appetite during those nine months. "Lucky you", all the ladies chipped in. A very natural reaction (and laced with some envy too) for all those who had experienced such cravings and were still in the process of losing all those pounds gained as a result of gorging on sweets and other high calorie stuff. Coming back to my neighbour, as she continued to share her stories about how people around her would try and get her to eat, one particular recipe caught my attention. The description of a yummy sweet potato and fruit chaat prepared by her grandmother-in-law almost reduced my mouth into a pool of saliva. This was something I had to try at least once.

I made a small change in her recipe by omitting the fruit. And it turned out to be just yummylicious. Read on for this simple 'phalahari' chaat which is very apt for the Navratri -

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

2 cups boiled/baked, peeled & cubed sweet potato
1/4 tsp roasted cumin powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp lemon juice
rock salt as desired

Preparation - Take all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Toss well.

Serve immediately.


Note - One can also add sliced bananas, pomegranate, nylon sev, amchur/chaat masala, coriander leaves, green chilis, etc to spice it up further.

Capsicum- Mushroom Korma

An easy vegetarian korma !! Or a toned down version of the luxurious gravy dish that most people remember savoring at a restaurant !! My modified version is one that can be had on a everyday basis and it goes equally good with both rice and rotis.

It is somewhat similar to ( and inspired by ) the mushroom-capsicum curry that we make with mustard sauce in Odisha. Do check the recipe (HERE)

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 20-25 mins

Ingredients -

• 200 gm button mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped capsicum
• 1 medium sized boiled potato (boiled, peeled & cubed)
• 1 medium sized tomato 
• 1 small onion
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 4-5 garlic flakes
• 1-2 dry red chilli
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1-2 green cardamom
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 8-9 cashews
• 3 tsp oil
• 1/3 tsp turmeric
• salt to taste
• coriander for garnishing

Preparation - Clean the mushrooms and cut each one into 4 pieces along the length.

Chop the tomato into small pieces.

Grind the onion, ginger, garlic, red chili, 2/3 tsp cumin seeds, cardamom and cinnamon into a smooth paste using as little water as possible. Keep aside.

Similarly, soak the cashews for half an hour in warm water before grinding them into a smooth paste.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok. Add the cumin seeds and allow them to splutter.

Add the onion and spices paste to the wok. Fry lightly till the raw smell just goes off. Add the tomato and cover for 1 minute to allow the tomatoes to soften.

Add the mushrooms, capsicum and potato to the wok. Stir fry on high heat for 3-4 mins till you can see the mushrooms starting to shrink.

Add 1 cup hot water to the wok along with salt and turmeric. Bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and allow to simmer on low flame.

Once the mushrooms are cooked, add the cashew paste and mix well. Allow the curry to simmer for 3-4 mins. Finally garnish with corinader leaves before removing from the flame.

Serve hot or warm.