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.