One Day At A Time

Eggless cookies with loads of cashews and a butter delight. Ingredients: All Purpose Flour/Maida - 2 cups Unsalted Butter - 1/2 pound  Light Brown Sugar - 1 cup Chopped Cashews - about 1/2 cup Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp Baking Powder - 1/8 tsp Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 4 pods (seeds only) Method: 1. Heat butter just enough to melt it.  Let it cool.  Grind cardamom seeds to a fine powder. Dice cashews into small pieces. 2. In a mixing bowl, add butter and brown sugar.  Mix well with a fork or spoon.  Add cashew pieces, cardamom powder and mix well.  Lastly, add all purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda.  Mix all the ingredients to form a soft dough.  Divide the dough into 20 - 25 round balls.  You can use cinnamon (dalchini) or nutmeg (jaiphal) instead of cardamom. 3. Preheat the oven at 350 deg. F for about 10 minutes.  Line a baking tray/dish with aluminium foil.  Fla...

A green Pudina dip for fried snacks. Also, can be used for chaat like pani puri, sev puri. Ingredients: Cilantro/Coriander leaves (with tender stems) - 2 cups Mint/Pudina leaves - 1 cup Green chilies - 10 Salt How to make Indian Green Mint Chutney: Grind washed cilantro leaves, mint leaves, green chilies with little salt to a fine paste. Add little water for a thick chutney. Serve green chutney with fried pakoras/fritters or samosas. Dilute the chutney with water if you are using it for pani puri. Sieve/strain the diluted chutney if you like it smooth. Store the Teekhi Hari Chutney in freezer safe containers in the freezer. To thaw/defrost, place the container in warm water before use.

I have always loved Maharashtrian food. But my most favorite are sago recipes -  Sabudana Wadas and Sago Khichdi. And especially, when my Mom cooks this Sabudanyachi Khichdi with aromatic cilantro leaves. Here I am cooking my Mom's recipe reminiscing my childhood days in my US kitchen.

Every Mumbaikar might have heard of Ragda Pattice . I am sharing a No Onion Garlic version of this loved Mumbai Street Food. Shallow fried Potato cutlet/tikki/pattice in a hot, sweet, tangy peas gravy. Ingredients: Boiled Potatoes - 3 medium Yellow Peas/Vatana - 1 cup Asafetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder - 1/4 tsp Ajwain/Owa/Carom seeds - 1/4 tsp Cumin/Jeera - 1/4 tsp Chat Masala - 1/4 tsp Cilantro/Coriander leaves - 1 cup Mint/Pudina leaves - 1/2 cup Green chillies - 5 Dates/Khajur - 1/2 cup Jaggery or Brown Sugar - 2 tbsp Tamarind/Imli - 1/4 cup Salt Oil Finely chopped Raw onions Shev or Bhujia or Farsaan Crisp Puris How to cook Indian Ragda Pattice: Soak yellow peas overnight in water. Wash the soaked peas and cook them with about 2 cups water till very soft. Add more water if required. Add 1/4 tsp turmeric, salt, asafetida  and bring to a boil. For green (hot) chutney , grind 2:1 cilantro and mint, green ...

A coconut chutney made with ridge gourd peels.  I have learnt this from my Mom, just as all other Konkani recipes.  Ridge gourd is called as Ghosale in Konkani. Ingredients: Ridge Gourd peels - about 1 cup Grated/Shredded Coconut - 1 cup Green chillies - 8 Tamarind - very small piece Salt Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp Red chillies - 2 Curry leaves/Kadipata - a sprig Asafoetida/Hing - 1/8 tsp Oil Method: 1.  Heat a pan and roast the ridge gourd peels for about a minute, to get rid of moisture if any.  Add few drops of oil and continue roasting till the raw smell goes off (about 3 - 5 minutes at low flame).   The peels will wilt a little.  Let it cool. 2. Slit the green chillies lengthwise and roast them in a pan with few drops of oil.  Roast till colour changes slightly. 3. Grind roasted peels, roasted green chillies, coconut, tamarind and salt to a fine or slightly coarse paste. 4. For tempering/tadka, heat little oil and add...

I am sure everyone likes potatoes.  We do too.  I like to cook potato with a combination of different vegetables, especially fresh greens.  Aloo (Potato) Methi (Fenugreek) is one of our favorites with soft phulka.

A Konkani style fish fry.  Semolina/Rava crusted fish with garlic.  You can try the same recipe for Mackerel, Sardine and Pomfret as well.   Ingredients: Tilapia - 1/2 pound Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1/2 cup Cayenne Pepper/Red chilli powder - 3 tbsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Tamarind Paste - 1 tsp Garlic - 4 big cloves Salt - about 1/2 tsp Oil Method: 1. In a mixing bowl, add cayenne pepper, turmeric, tamarind paste, crushed garlic and salt.  Add about 1 - 2 tbsp water and mix all the ingredients well to form a thick paste. 2. Add the washed tilapia pieces in this paste, coat them well.  Keep it covered (preferably refrigerated) for about an hour or more.  3. Coat the marinated tilapia pieces in semolina.  (You can add salt, cayenne pepper in semolina as well.)  Discard the garlic pieces.  4. Heat a frying pan and add about 1 tbsp oil.  Shallow fry the semolina coated tilapia pieces t...

Chutneys are an integral part of Chaat/Indian Street Food.  If you make chaats more often, just like me, you can prepare these chutneys and store them in the freezer.  It will definitely save some time.  Ingredients: Pitted (Deseeded) Dates/Khajur - 2 cups Tamarind/Imli - 1 cup Jaggery or Brown sugar - 1/2 cup Method: 1. Discard the seeds of both dates and tamarind.  Even if you buy pitted dates and tamarind, do check for the seeds. 2. Soak dates, tamarind and jaggery each in separate vessels in warm water for about 30 minutes.  Soaking will make grinding easy. 3. If you are using jaggery, cut (to small pieces) or grate it before soaking.  When jaggery will dissolve completely, sieve/strain it.  Sometimes jaggery contains little dirt. 4. Slightly mash soaked tamarind with hands. 5. Grind soaked dates, tamarind and jaggery with the water used for soaking.  Blend till you get a smooth paste.  Serve this sweet sour chutney with ...

Instant thin crust pizza made with sliced bread and vegetable toppings. Ingredients: Bread Slices Onion Spring/Green Onions Capsicum/Bell Pepper  Cilantro/Coriander Leaves Jalapenos Peppers /Green chillies  Southwest Chipotle Seasoning/Red chilli flakes Mustard Seeds - about 1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup or Pizza Sauce Pepper Jack Cheese or any other cheese Butter Salt Method: 1. Finely chop onions, capsicum and cilantro.  Cut jalapenos peppers into thin circular slices. 2. Grind the mustard seeds to a coarse powder. 3. Apply little butter on one side for all the bread slices. Apply tomato ketchup on the other side of the slices.  Sprinkle a pinch of ground mustard on the ketchup side. 4. After mustard, add your choice of chopped veggies on all the slices.  Sprinkle a pinch of salt on the veggies for each slice.  Add grated cheese or cheese slices, jalapenos slices, Chipotle seasoning ...

I grew up eating Idlis and Dosas for breakfast. Konkani food, a coastal Cuisine has shades of both South Indian and Maharashtrian food. Pohe called as Phovu in Konkani, Uppit or Upma  are also part of our breakfast. My Mom made sure that we enjoy something different everyday, even in terms of chutney. This coconut chutney with red chilies called as  Kande Tamboli  in Konkani is my favorite with Idlis.   Ingredients: Grated Coconut - 1 cup Dry Red Chillies (Byadagi) - 6 Tamarind/Chinch/Chincham Paste - about 1/4 tsp Finely chopped Red Onions - 2 tbsp Salt How to prepare Coconut Chutney: Grind grated/shredded coconut, red chillies, tamarind, salt to a fine or a slightly coarse paste. I prefer mild Byadagi variety of dry red chillies which are well known in Maharashtra and Karnataka for their color. Add finely chopped onions just before serving. If you don't like raw onions, add 1/4 tsp asafoetida or hing. Both versions taste great with...

Naankhatai are Indian eggless cookies flavoured with cardamom (elaichi) and/or saffron (kesar).  Generally ghee/clarified butter is used for making nankhatai, but I have used butter.  Ingredients: All purpose flour/Maida - 1 cup Dessicated (Dry) Coconut - 1/2 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter - 1/4 pound Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Pistachios/Pista - 5 Method: 1. In a microwave safe big bowl, add butter.  Microwave for about a minute or till butter melts.  Let the butter cool slightly. 2. Crush cardamom seeds to a fine powder in a mortar pestle.  Finely chop pistachios. 3. In another bowl, add all purpose flour, dessicated coconut, baking soda and cardamom powder.  Mix well with a spoon.  Keep these dry ingredients aside. 4. Grind sugar crystals in a dry blender jar to a coarse powder.  Add sugar to the butter and mix well with a spoon till sugar dissolves...

Simple aromatic Rice with carrots, peas and cashew nuts. Ingredients: Basmati Rice - 3/4 cup Green Peas - 1/2 cup Carrots (chopped) - 1/2 cup Cashews - 6 Bay Leaf - 1 Cinnamon/Dalchini - small piece Cloves/Long - 5 Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp Biryani Masala - 1/8 tsp Ghee/Clarified Butter - 1 tbsp Salt How to cook Gajar Matar Rice: Soak rice in water for about 20 minutes. Wash rice well (about 4 times) till you get clear water. Drain the water and keep rice in a colander or strainer for about 15 minutes.  Heat about 1 tbsp clarified butter in a pressure cooker. Add Bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and black peppercorns. After few seconds add peas and diced carrots. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add rice, cashew pieces, biryani masala and fry for 2 more minutes. Add about 1.5 cups water, little salt and mix well. Pressure cook to 1 whistle. Let the pressure in the cooker drop down naturally, (15 - 20 minutes) before opening the lid. Mix ...

Egg Bhurji or Anda Bhurji is an Indian recipe of scrambled eggs with veggies like capsicum/green bell pepper, green peas, tomatoes. An easy and quick fix on a busy day.

One can always experiment with cutlets.  This is the first time I added corn along with some other vegetables and it tasted great. Ingredients: Boiled Potatoes - 2 big Corn kernels - 11/2 cup Green Peas - 1/2 cup French/Green Beans - 10 Chopped Cabbage - 1/2 cup Cumin/Jeera seeds - 1 tsp Garlic - 5 big cloves Chat Masala - 1/4 tsp Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red chilli powder - 2 tbsp Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1 cup Salt Oil Method: 1. Cook corn kernels, chopped beans and green peas with about 1 cup water till soft.  Drain the water and let them strain in a strainer for about 20 minutes. 2. Heat about 1/2 tbsp oil in a kadhai/wok and add cumin, grated garlic.  Saute for few seconds and add chopped cabbage.  Cook till cabbage turns soft or wilts.  Add the cooked vegetables, chat masala, garam masala, cayenne pepper and salt.  Cook till all the ingredients are mixed well and moisture is l...