One Day At A Time!

Shev or Sev is one of the festive foods made during Diwali.  This year I prepared Palak Sev adding Palak puree and it turned out good. Ingredients: Palak/Spinach Leaves - about 2 cups Chickpea Flour/Gram Flour/Besan - about 2 cups Carom Seeds/Ajwain/Owa - 1 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder/Cayenne Pepper - 1 tsp Chat Masala or Aamchur Powder - 1/2 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Sugar - about 1/2 tsp Salt Oil Method: 1. Puree/Blend the washed spinach leaves in a blender/mixer.  Add little water if required.  Crush the carom seeds in a mortar pestle to a fine powder.  2. In a mixing bowl, add spinach puree, carom seeds powder, cayenne pepper, turmeric, chat masala, sugar and salt.  Mix well.  Now add chickpea flour little by little to form a soft dough.  The dough must not be too sticky.  Add about 2 tsp oil and knead well for 2 - 3 minutes.  Cover the dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes. 3. You can add 1/8 tsp baki...

Nevri in Konkani is a coconut stuffed sweet snack.  Also known as Karanji in Marathi. Ingredients: All Purpose Flour/Maida - 1 cup Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1/4 cup Grated Coconut - 1 1/2 cups Sugar - about 1/2 cup Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 4 pods (seeds only) Salt Oil How to make Nevri or Karanji: In a mixing bowl, add all purpose flour, semolina and salt. Mix and make a well in the centre. Add 1 tbsp oil and mix again. Now add water and knead well to form a firm dough. Add little more oil and knead again to slightly soften the dough. Keep the dough covered for an hour or so. Grind the grated coconut using little water so that the coconut turns to a coarse powder, about a minute. Heat about 1 tbsp ghee/clarified butter or oil and add the ground coconut.  Saute for few minutes at low flame. Now add sugar and continue cooking till the coconut stuffing turns to a dry powder. Turn off the heat and add cardamom powder. You can a...

Corn Chivda is made from Corn Poha/Flattened Corn.  Corn Poha is easily available in any Indian grocery store.  Before making Chivda Corn/Makai/Makka Poha is deep fried.  Alternatively, Corn Chivda made from Corn Flakes Cereal is comparatively less oily, with fewer calories and equally crunchy and tasty. Ingredients: Corn Flakes Cereal - 5 cups Raw Peanuts/Groundnuts - 3/4 cup Dalia/Roasted Gram Dal/Roasted Chickpeas - 1/4 cup Cashews - 10 (optional) Dry Coconut Slices - 1 tbsp Curry Leaves - few sprigs Green Chillies - 5 Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Powdered Sugar - 1/2 tsp Oil - 2 tbsp Salt Method: 1. Wash green chillies, curry leaves and pat them dry. 2. Heat about 2 - 3 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the peanuts till they turn slightly brown.  Keep them aside.  Fry cashews, dalia and dry coconut as well. 3. Heat the same pan, in the leftover oil, add mustard se...

Savoury crackers called as Shankarpali/Shankarpalya in Marathi and Konkani.  Also known as Tukdi in Konkani. My Dear Mom's easy recipe for Diwali Faraal or Diwali Khaan.

A crisp savoury deep fried snack made of gram flour/chickpea flour.  Shev/Sev is known as Karo in Konkani.  Also made as festival food during Diwali.  Ingredients: Besan/Gram Flour/Chickpea Flour - 3 cups Ajwain/Owa/Carom seeds - 2 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper/Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp (optional) Salt Oil Method: 1. Coarsely grind Carom seeds. 2. In a mixing bowl add gram flour, ground carom seeds, turmeric, cayenne pepper and salt.  Add about 1/2 cup water and knead all the ingredients to a soft dough.  Add few drops of oil and knead the dough well.  Keep the dough (covered) aside for about an hour. 3. Grease the chakali/shev mould with oil.  Stuff the mould with gram flour dough. 4. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadhai/wok.  Hold the shev mould above the kadhai and press (or turn depending on the mould) and deep fry the shev.  Be careful while turning the...

Bhadang as said in Marathi, is a light, low calorie, less oily snack made from Puffed Rice. Other names for Puffed Rice are Mamra or Kurmure or Churmure . Instead of garlic you can use mustard seeds and asafetida/hing for tempering as well. Ingredients: Puffed Rice/Mamra/Kurmura - 7 cups Peanuts/Groundnuts - 1 cup Garlic - 5 big cloves Curry Leaves - a sprig (optional) Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Powdered Su gar - 1/2 tsp Oil - 3 tbsp How to make Marathi Bhadang: Wash curry leaves and pat them dry. Heat oil in a kadhai/wok. Fry the peanuts till color changes slightly. Save the fried peanuts for later. Add more oil if required. Now, in the same kadhai, add crushed garlic and dry curry leaves. Sauté until garlic turns golden brown.  Turn off the heat and add puffed rice. Then add fried peanuts, red chili powder, turmeric, salt and sugar. Do not add the powders, salt and sugar in hot oil, it will form l...

A light snack made with flattened rice (Poha) , especially made during Diwali.