One Day At A Time

Our everyday meals are predominantly vegetarian. Beans or lentils are our daily source of protein. Today's post is a nutritious mix of healthy greens and everyone's favorite chickpeas. Ingredients: Baby Spinach/Palak leaves - 3 cups Dry Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans/Kabuli Chana - 1 cup Onion - 1 big Tomatoes - 2 medium Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp Green Chili Paste - 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds/Saunf - 1 tsp Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1/2 tsp Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Garam Masala or any other spice mix - 1/4 tsp Salt Oil How to cook Chole in a Spinach Sauce: Soak chickpeas for 6 - 8 hours. After soaking, 1 cup chickpeas will turn to 2 cups. Wash the soaked chickpeas and cook till soft with 2 - 3 cups water. You can use Canned Chickpeas as well.  Finely chop onions. Puree spinach leaves, tomatoes and fennel seeds to a smooth paste. Add little water if required.  Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add cumin seeds. After few seconds, add...

An attempt to make pasta using some Indian spices.  Generally basil, parsley is used in Italian Cuisine.  I used cilantro instead.  If you like more sauce, double the amount of tomatoes, onions, carrot.  If you are looking for an Indian version of pasta, try this tasty spicy pasta recipe.  Ingredients: Penne Pasta - 1 cup Tomatoes - 2 medium Yellow Onion - 1 big Carrot - 1 Garlic - 4 big cloves Chopped Coriander/Cilantro leaves - 1/2 cup Chicken Masala or Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp Chat Masala - 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Olive Oil - 2 tbsp Salt Method: 1. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil.  After it starts boiling, add about 1/2 tsp salt and penne pasta.  Cook (uncovered) for 10 - 15 minutes depending on the softness you like.  Drain the water and keep the pasta aside. 2. Chop onions, tomatoes medium or fine.  Finely chop cilantro and garlic.  Grate the carrot. 3. Heat...

Shallow fried potato cutlets or tikkis mixed with vegetables and made crisp with semolina (rava). Ingredients: Potatoes - 2 big Onion - 1 medium Chopped Carrots - 1/2 cup Chopped Cabbage - 1/2 cup Chopped French/Green Beans - 1/2 cup Green Peas - 1/2 cup Green Chillies (minced or chopped) - about 1 tsp Cilantro/Coriander leaves - few sprigs Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp Lemon/Lime Juice - about 2 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1/2 cup Kala/Sendha Namak/Indian Black Salt Oil Method: 1. Boil the potatoes till soft enough to be mashed.  Finely chop onions, French beans, cabbage, carrots, green chillies and coriander leaves. 2. Heat about 2 tsp oil in a pan.  Add cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste.  Saute for a minute and add onions.  When onions turn soft, add chopped beans, cabbage and carrots.  Saute till all veggies turn soft. 3. Now ad...

Jhunka Bhakar is a very popular Maharashtrian delicacy.  Jhunka/Pitla in Marathi is a besan gravy which is generally served with Rice flat bread/Bhakri .     Ingredients: Capsicum/Green Bell Pepper - 1 big Onion - 1 medium Besan/Gram Flour/Chick Pea Flour - 2 tbsp heaped Cilantro/Coriander leaves - about 1/2 cup  Garlic - 5 big cloves Curry Leaves - a sprig Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/4 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Salt Oil How to cook Marathi Jhunka: Chop onions, capsicum either fine or medium. Finely chop cilantro, lengthwise slit green chilies and crush garlic cloves. Wash Curry leaves and pat them dry.  In a bowl, mix the gram flour, turmeric, little salt with about 1/2 cup water. Mix well to avoid lumps. Consistency is thinner than pakoda/bhajia batter. In a kadhai/wok, add oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and crushed garlic. Sauté for about a minute and add chopped on...

When we talk of Indian flatbreads, the popular Tanduri Naan or Roti comes to our mind. Today's Konkani flatbread recipe is not made of wheat flour, but of cooked rice. This Bhakri recipe is similar to the unleavened flatbread made of Rice flour and/or Jowar flour, quite popular in Maharashtra. Ingredients: Cooked Rice - 1 cup Rice flour - about 2 cups Salt Oil How to cook Rice Bhakri: Grind cooked rice in the mixer adding little water. Add salt, rice flour and knead into a soft dough. Add more rice flour if required. You can also use leftover rice for this Bhakri recipe. Make round balls.  Roll each ball like chapati in between 2 food wrap sheets.  While rolling each bhakri, apply oil to the plastic to avoid sticking. Traditionally, banana leaf is used to roll this bhakri. Instead of rolling pin, you can spread the dough ball with hands. Roast bhakri on a tawa/griddle drizzling little oil.  Serve Bhakri with a chutney or a sp...

Growing up in Mumbai, we had some lovely neighbors who later became close friends. Today's recipe is shared by one such dear family friend.  This used to be a weekend special in my Mom's kitchen. It is an elaborate process, but every time I cook this, it is worth the effort. You can cook chickpeas or veggies too in this coconut gravy.

Some might dislike  Okra/Lady's Finger/Bhindi  for its sliminess.  But in my family, everyone loves Bhendi. Every time I visit our local Indian store, I definitely pick fresh Okra. We relish Bhindi in a variety of ways - a Konkani style coconut curry  Bhenda Ghash , spicy North Indian  Masala Bhindi , stuffed Okra Bharwa Bhindi or this quick stir fry. If you are an Okra fan too, you must give this simple recipe a try.

Easy and quick pancakes made of Semolina and Cucumber. A Konkani recipe which is like thaalipith and also known as Sajjige Roti in Kannada. Ingredients: Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1 1/4 cups Grated Coconut - about 1 cup Grated Cucumber - about 1/2 cup Cumin/Jeera seeds - 1 tsp Chopped Green Chilies - 4 Water - 1 cup Sugar - 1/2 tsp Salt - about 1/2 tsp Oil How to cook Konkani Rave Bhakri: Mix all the above ingredients except oil in a mixing bowl. Let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes. Soaking semolina for a longer time will make the pancakes too soft and not crisp. Add coconut water if available, enhances its taste. Heat a pan/tawa, add few drops of oil. Spread a handful of the above mixture evenly as thin as possible with hands. While spreading lowering the heat helps.  Flip it after a minute or when the edges dry. Drizzle few drops of oil all over the pancake and roast it till golden brown on both sides. Rave Bhakri is ready to binge. If the pancake ...

In our everyday meals, I make sure we eat a balanced diet with more proteins, veggies and less carbohydrates.  Eating a protein rich diet is the key to losing weight.  Any Beans are a good protein source for vegans and vegetarians.  Also, a rainbow colored diet is healthy.  I use a variety of beans - red kidney beans/rajma, chickpeas/chana, black eyed peas/chawli, green mung beans and many more. Today I made a desi style black beans curry, oven Roasted Cauliflower and steamed rice.  Black Beans is one of the beans easily available here in US.

Dahi Wada has many versions just like Chaat.  In South Indian cuisine, a tempering/tadka of mustard seeds and curry leaves is added for Dahi Wadas.  Either only urad dal is used or both mung and urad are used.  Here is my version of Dahi Wada. Ingredients: Urad Dal/Split Black Gram - 3/4 cup Mung Dal/Split Green Gram - 1/4 cup Curd/Yogurt - 2 cups Green Chillies - 8 Ginger - an inch piece Cumin/Jeera seeds - 1 tsp Cilantro/Coriander leaves Chat Masala Sugar Salt Oil Method: 1. Soak 3:1 urad dal and mung dal in water overnight or for 4 - 5 hours.  Wash the soaked dals well.  Grind green chillies, cumin, ginger, soaked dals to a fine paste.  Use very little water.  Add salt to the paste and mix well. 2. Mix 2 cups yogurt with about 1 cup water.  Add little salt, about 1/2 tsp sugar, finely chopped cilantro leaves and beat/whisk the yogurt well.  If you like thick yogurt, do not add water.  Refrigerate the yogurt for about ...

We all are told greens are good for you. I try to include it in our everyday diet. More than spinach, I like Dill leaves, Fenugreek leaves. If you are looking for greens other than Palak, try this Konkani style Shepuchi Bhaji.  Dill is known as Shepu in Marathi and Sabasgi Soppu in Kannada . Dill has a peculiar aroma. This is the way my Mom makes and I love it with Bhakri. Ingredients: Dill/Shepu/Sabasgi - a bunch Chana Dal/Split Chickpeas - 1/4 cup (optional) Onions - 2 medium Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/4 tsp Green chillies - 6 Garlic - 5 cloves Salt Oil How to cook Shepu or Dill leaves Bhaji: Soak chana dal in water for 20 - 30 minutes. If you soak it longer, it will take lesser time to cook. You can also use Mung Dal instead of Chana Dal. If you are not a fan of lentils, use diced potatoes. Potatoes blend well with any other vegetable. Crush the garlic cloves and medium chop the onions. Pick the dill leaflets and tender stems. Wash them well. Roughly chop ...

Pan fried banana or plantain fritters can be served as a side dish with meals or enjoyed as a tasty tea time snack. Ingredients: Raw Banana/Plantain - 1 big Red Chilli Powder/Cayenne Pepper/Paprika - 1 tbsp Chat Masala or Aamchur - 1 tsp Salt Oil Method: 1. Boil about 4 cups water in a vessel.  Dice the raw banana in 2 or 3 pieces and make cuts on the skin with a knife.  Add diced banana to the boiling water and cook for 2 - 3 minutes or till half cooked.  After cooling the banana skin will come off easily. 2. Dice the banana into slightly thick slices.  Sprinkle little salt, chat masala and cayenne pepper over the slices, mix and keep it aside for about 30 minutes. 3. Heat 1 - 2 tbsp oil in a pan.  Spread the slices on the pan and fry till both sides are roasted well.  You can coat these marinated banana slices in semolina or rava or sooji to make it more crisp. 4. Serve Crispy tasty Banana Fritters with ...

AluWadi or Patra or Patrado is a roll made of Arum/Colocasia/Taro root leaves .  Since Arum leaves are not available here, I had experimented making rolls with mustard leaves, lettuce leaves and collard greens.  I found Collard Greens taste the best. Aluchi Wadi in Marathi, Patra in Gujarati and Patrado in Konkani.

Most of us like to have crunchy munchy snacks while sipping our evening tea.  What could be faster than fried chips?  Within 15 minutes raw banana chips are ready. Ingredients: Raw Banana - 1 Black Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red Chilli Powder - 1/8 tsp Salt - about 1/4 tsp Peanut Oil Method: Peel the raw banana skin and cut it into thin round slices.  I used a potato slicer.  In a mixing bowl, add the raw banana slices, salt, black pepper powder, cayenne pepper and mix/toss well.  Add turmeric as well if you like. Heat oil in a kadhai/wok and deep fry these slices in hot oil.  Remove the slices when colour changes and the buzz sound while frying stops.  Binge on crisp Banana Chips anytime you like.

Some homemade Indian sweets are absolutely delectable... like this Sheera .  Bollywood Moms have made it famous as Sooji ka Halwa . In Southern India, sheera is known as Rava   Kesari . It is made for Prasad as well.  At our place,   Sheera is my Dad's signature dish with a lot of ghee.   My Dad makes Sheera adding fruits like pineapples, bananas and sometimes mango. For now, lets eat Ananas Sheera . Ingredients: Canned Pineapple Chunks - 227 gm (about 1 cup) Rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1 cup Ghee/Clarified Butter - 5 tbsp Sugar - about 1/4 cup Water - 3 cups Cashews/Kaju or any other dry fruits - 1/4 cup Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Saffron/Kesar - few strands How to cook Pineapple Sheera: Crush cardamom seeds and saffron in a mortar pestle to a fine powder. Finely chop the pineapple chunks. Roughly chop cashews. Add 1 tbsp ghee in a pan and fry cashews until slightly brown. Keep it aside. In the same pan, add the remaining 4 tbsp ghee. Add...

Green Cabbage/Pata Gobi stuffed Parothas with a fenugreek flavour.  Ingredients: Wheat Flour - 3 cups   Green Cabbage - about 250 gms Kasuri Methi/Dry Fenugreek Leaves - 1 tbsp Cumin/Jeera - 1/2 tsp Chat Masala/Aamchur - 1/4 tsp Garam Masala or any spice mix - 1/4 tsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp  Butter or Oil Salt Method: 1. In a mixing bowl, add the wheat flour, little salt and knead into a soft dough using water.  Use 1 tbsp oil to make it softer.  Cover and keep aside for about 30 minutes. 2. Finely chop cabbage leaves. Avoid adding stems, rolling becomes inconvenient.   3. Cabbage Stuffing: Heat about 1 tsp oil in a kadhai/wok and add cumin seeds. After few seconds, add chopped cabbage. Stir fry till cabbage turns soft.  Add salt, chat masala, garam masala, crushed kasuri methi and saute till moisture is lost completely.  Stuffing must be dry.  Let it cool completely.   4....

A K onkani vegetable Idli recipe which is a good change from the regular rice idli. My Mother-in-law's recipe again.  I make it mildly sweet. For Cucumber Idli I used sugar, but for this I tried jaggery and it tasted better. Whenever pumpkin is not available, I use Butternut Squash and squash idlis taste great too. Ingredients: Grated Pumpkin/Kadoo - 4 cups Grated Coconut - 3/4 cup Idli Rava (Cream of Raw Rice) - 1 cup Jaggery or Brown sugar - about 3/4 cup Salt - 1/2 tsp Coconut Oil or Ghee/Clarified Butter How to cook Konkani Dudde Idli: Peel the pumpkin skin and grate it. In a mixing bowl, add grated pumpkin, grated coconut (fresh or frozen), idli rava, jaggery, salt. Mix all the ingredients well. Add more or less sugar to suit your taste. Grease the idli plates with little coconut oil or clarified butter or any other oil. Add the above mixture in the idli mold/mould and steam it for about 12 - 15 minutes. Remove the cooker lid and...

Dahi Puri or Dahi Batata Puri is another chaat item we all like. Spicy, tangy chutneys with yogurt and crisp puris tastes yumm! Ingredients: Maida/All purpose flour - 5 cups Rava/Suji/Semolina - 3/4 cup Oil Boiled Potatoes - 3 medium Yellow Peas/Vatana - 2 cups Turmeric/Haldi - 1/2 tsp Asafetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Cilantro/Coriander leaves - 2 bunches Mint/Pudina leaves - a bunch Green chilies - 10 Pitted Dates/Khajur - 15 Jaggery or Brown sugar - 2 tsp Tamarind pulp - 2 tsp Curd/Yogurt - 2 cups Chat Masala Salt How to make Indian Dahi Papdi Chaat: Homemade Puris: In a mixing bowl, add all purpose flour, semolina and salt. Knead well into a firm dough using water. Use little oil to make it little soft. If time permits, keep it (covered) aside for 2 hours. Make balls of this dough and roll each one very thin. Use a cookie cutter to cut out small puris. For flat puris, prick them with a fork so that they dont puff up. Deep fry these in hot oil.  Boil...

Sasam is the Konkani name for Mustard seeds .  Dodak is thick, unfermented  dosa made of urad dal and semolina.  Authentically, Sasama Dhodak is made in a bowl shaped pan/Kadhai.  I tried it using a regular nonstick pan. You can change the amount of Semolina and Urad dal as per your choice.  Too much Semolina will make the dosa hard.  You can also ferment the ground urad dal like a regular dosa, but do not add semolina and other ingredients for fermentation. Ingredients: Urad dal/Split Black Gram - 1 cup Rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1 1/2 cup Ginger - 1/2 inch piece Green Chillies - 8 Coconut Slices - about 1/2 cup Cumin/Jeera seeds - 1 tsp Mustard Seeds Salt Oil Method: 1. Soak urad dal in water for 30 - 45 min.  2. Wash urad dal well.  Grind urad dal and green chillies into a fine paste. 3. Add semolina, salt, finely chopped ginger, cumin seeds and coconut slices to the batter. 4. Add water to soak the semolina...

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Chips or Wafers which are guilt free, less oily and crisp.  Potatoes too can be baked in the same way.  Try different seasonings like garam masala, dry Italian seasoning. Ingredients: Sweet Potato/Ratale - 1 medium Red Chilli Powder/Cayenne Pepper - about 1/4 tsp Black pepper powder - about 1/4 tsp Oil preferably Olive Oil - 1 tbsp Chat Masala - 1/4 tsp Salt Method: 1. Peel the sweet potato skin and cut it into thin round slices. 2. In a mixing bowl, add olive oil, Cayenne pepper, black pepper powder, chat masala and salt.  Mix well and add sweet potato slices. Coat all the slices well. spices.  3. Spread out the slices in a baking tray lined with aluminium foil.  Preheat the oven at 400 deg. F and bake these slices for about 6 - 7 minutes.  Flip them and bake them for another 5 minutes or till chips turn crisp.

Kalakand is a popular Indian sweet made of paneer/cottage cheese and condensed/evaporated milk.