Indo's Gulab Jamuns for Indian Cooking Challenge

Having tried two of the three chosen recipes for the October edition of Indian Cooking Challenge for deepavali, I was planning to try the third given recipe sometime soon. Least did I expect it would be this soon. Srivalli, obliging to requests from members extended the post date to the 16th of November. That gave me a chance to work on this recipe and post it too.

Indo of Daily musings has given a very beautiful pictorial of her grandma making these jamuns for her. Prepare yourself for a tutorial here. I recommend you read her post, I am not copying it here.

With an overdose of yummy gulabjamuns, I did not want to use the whole recipe given by Indo.

I reduced 1 litre of milk and used one fourth of the rest of the ingredients as well. I had 20 gulab jamuns.

Three recipes, varying in quantity of ingredients, yet all three worked well, though I felt that the maida was a bit more in Indo's recipe. The gulab jamuns swelled in the oil while frying, so they absorbed the syrup well too.

This forced me to look up my mother's note book and I found her's almost similar to Indo's recipe! Later during a telephone conversation she told me that in her recipe the quantity of maida was more and she was advised to reduce it to achieve best results. The Baking soda she had mentioned was way less, may have been the reason to reduce the maida. I presume that might be a point of note.

Ironically all these days I never looked up my S.Meenakshi Ammal book. I fancied checking her recipe too. Alas ! What I found was neatly written in my own hand - an update. I have mentioned how much khova I achieved reducing 2 litres of milk and how much maida I had used, the exact measure of bi-carbonate of soda and more! I have written down how well I had to knead the khova initially, almost as you would knead the flour before adding the maida:(

All this dated way back in 2001! Deepavali -Johor!

Grrrr...gritting! Now I have to try my version soon :)

Banana Orange smoothie

The host of last Saturday's prayer meeting gave us each a coconut, two musumbi oranges and one really large banana. So Sunday morning we had this refreshing mocktail. The fruits were sufficient to fill two large glasses, and having had that sometime mid-morning, we almost gave up lunch :)

You may need:

1 large banana or two medium bananas that might be good for milkshakes

2 oranges, Naval, Valencia or Indian musumbi

3 table spoons honey

1/4 cup light cream

1/4 cup crushed ice

What you have to do:

Blend the fruits in a blender with the honey.When well blended add the ice and run the blender further for 2 minutes. Finally add the cream and whisk until frothy.

Serve right away!

Mooli Parathas

Just like the paneer parathas, the mooli parathas are very delectable. We were at my cousins place one morning for the music lessons. She was making these for her daughter who had been studying late into night and had left instructions not to wake her up until after 9 AM. So my cousin decided to make these parathas that might replace her breakfast and hold until a late lunch. She invited us to have some with some pickle. Both Niki and I loved them.

Few years on we were again invited to my daughter's friend's place in Singapore. Her mother made mooli parathas. She mixed the grated radish to the flour and kneaded witht the flour for the dough unlike making a filling of them. That was good too.

My gardener and house help in Bahrain lived in a farm where they fed goats with carrots and radishes. The boys used to bring me loads of these veggies whenever they could manage. So I made them often. Later they planted radishes in my small garden patch, which grew like wild and I had to distribute to friends. The day my container was being packed the packers pulled out as many as they can to feast on fresh produce :)

Radishes are low in fat and cholestral, high in fibre, riboflavin, vitamins C and B, magnisium, folate etc. They aid weight loss. Eaten raw or cooked in any dish they are beneficial for good health.
Lately, I have started mixing other flours replacing the wheat flour partly. This one here has a mix of bajra flour ( millet flour) with whole wheat flour. The colour may not look great if you add bajra or jowar flour, but the taste is very good.

Ingredients:(8 parathas)

1 &1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup bajra flour

3 fresh and tender radishes grated finely

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

Salt to taste, separate for the flour and for the filling

1 teaspoon oil for the radish

1 tablespoon oil for mixing the dough

ghee as required to spread on the parathas

Method:

Grate the radishes. Keep this on a flat plate which rests over another small cup or plate slightly inclined at an angle. In a few minutes the juice of the radish will ooze out and collect on the bottom-side of the tilt. This may be used while kneading the dough.

Heat oil in a kadai, add the salt and redchilli powder to the grated radish. Toss for some time. Remove from fire and keep aside.

Sift both flours together. Add the salt and oil. Mix well and using the radish water and more water, knead to a plaint dough. Rest the dough covered for half an hour.

Divide in 16 portions. Roll out each into a circular disc about 4" diameter. Spoon the filling on the top side of 8 such discs. Spread evenly, leaving out a part of the circumference. Dampen the edges and press the empty rolled discs over the filled ones.Seal well and roll the pin over the prepared chappathis.

Heat the tawa and cook the chappatis until well cooked on both sides. Serve them hot.

Usually, I don't bother making a side dish. My husband makes do with tomato ketchup. But if you desire so, a simple dal-tadka will be an excellent combination.
These parathas make an excellent lunch box/ snack box dish for children.
These parathas are sent to,

Food for seven stages of life - Kids' special co-hosted by Radhika and Sudeshna,

and to

Sharmi's Cooking For Kids event, happening this month @ Lakshmi's Kitchen Chronicles inviting Vegetables and Fruits.

Mysore Bonda

Mysore bonda is famous in the recipe list of the Karnataka special dishes, especially of Mysore. Some call the Goli Baje of Mangalore as Mysore Bonda. But the traditional recipe uses a blend of split black lentils and spices.

You may relate it to the medhu vada of elsewhere in the South but deep fried in the shape of bondas than typical vadas.

The recipe is simple to make and quick too.

Ingredients:( for 12 bondas)

1/4 cup/ 125 ml Urad dhal whole or split

2 teaspoons thuvar dhal

1 teaspoon rice

2 green chillies chopped

1 tablespoon finely sliced coconut pieces

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns, coarsely pounded

Few fresh curry leaves

1/4 teaspoon asafoetida

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method:

Wash and soak the dhals and the rice togther for an hour.

Drain and grind, adding very little water to a smooth but thick batter. The batter has to ground fine but water should be used very sparingly.

Add the salt, chopped chillies, coconut pieces,curry leaves, cumin seeds, asafoetida powder and the pepper. Mix well. Mix in a whisking motion to incorporate air in the batter and make it fluffy. This ensures that the bondas are soft on the inside with pores formed therein.

Heat oil in a heavy pan. Moisten your palm and fingers and roll the batter like balls and deep fry in hot oil.

Turn them in the oil a few times to fry evenly.

Remove with a slotted ladle and place on absorbent tissues.

Serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup.

Urad dhal is rich in protein and fibre, low in fat. These are recommended for diabetics too. Make a good snack for children.

These bondas are off to be featured in Susan, The Well Seasoned Cook's MLLA,

The 17th Helping of MLLA happening @ Sra's When My Soup Came Alive through November,

to EC's WYF Speciality Food Event

and to

Food for seven stages of life - Kids' special (4 years to 14 years of age), co-hosted by Radhika and Sudeshna.

My Happy Day Salad

I love trying combinations for salads. For long I wanted to add beets and radishes, but did not dare to. Radish has this sharp and pungent taste and am sure my husband will happily pass on it. Beets might discolour the whole salad, I had concluded.

On my last visit to the vegetable market, I picked up all these very fresh beets, carrots and radishes. Yesterday I braved myself to make a salad, come what may, if looks fail the salad will be good I told myself.

I had sprouts also. Just by adding a dip made of yoghurt and mints, the salad was a hit. On a whim I spread it as in the picture and was pleased with the results.

What I used:

1 carrot cut in rings and middle portion scooped out

2 white radishes sliced in rings

1/2 of a beet sliced in thin strips

4 tablespoons mixed sprouts

few fresh coriander leaves

What I did with them:

Put each of the vegetables separately in boiling water to which a pinch of salt, thinly sliced ginger strips and turmeric powder is added.

Drain and allow to cool. Boil the sprouts if you want them cooked. ( I have used them raw.)

(The drained water was later added to the process of making dosa batter.)

Fill the salad plate as you like. I filled the carrot cavities with the sprouts, and placed tiny bits of beets on the radish rings.

Serve with a dip of thick hung yoghurt mixed with ground mint leaves and salt.

This salad is off to Lisa's No Croutons Required event showcasing Root Vegetables this month.

Paneer Parathas

Paneer is rich in protein and calcium. It is 100% vegetarian cheese. Paneer can be cooked with dishes or used as toppings, totally making a dish appetizing. For vegetarians, this is a rich source of the nutrients. You can safely add upto 100 grams of paneer in a daily diet for growing children. The exercise they get from work and play will compensate for the fat.

While we lived in Johor and Niki went to school in Singapore, the car would be down the block at 6:30 every morning and the packed lunch she used to carry would be a hurriedly prepared dish.

So every evening when she got back home she needed some filling snack. She would happily eat a whole bowl of kootu or vegetables with pasta. Whenever we shopped in Mustafa, she used to pick few packets of a famous Indian brand ready-to-eat parattas that came in varieties. She used to toss them in the pan or microwave and have them.

Later, I started preparing them and storing in the deep freezer for easy consumption. This practice helped my husband while we moved to Egypt and I travelled to India often.

I make aloo parathas, paneer parathas and mooli parathas this way and they can be stored in freezer bags for upto a month. They never have stayed that long though.

Paneer parathas are easy to make and you may adjust spices as per requirement.

Ingredients: (For 8 parathas)

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup crumbled paneer

8 teaspoons any chutney

Salt as required for the flour and the paneer

3 teaspoons cooking oil

Method:

Add required salt to the crumbled paneer (I have used the recipe for paneer from A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine).

I made some coriander chutney by grinding fresh coriander leaves, salt, 1 green chilli and 1 tablespoon yoghurt.

Mix the flour with some oil and salt. Adding water knead into a smooth chappathi dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave for an hour.

Divide in 16 portions and roll in smooth balls.

Roll out chappattis of 5" diameter of each portion. On the top half of each spread the chutney evenly.

On top of eight such rolled parathas, spread the crumbled paneer leaving some space along the edges.

Cover this with another empty rolled paratha. Press both into place at the edges sealing well.

Roll the rolling pin gently over the paratha so they seal tight.

Heat a tawa and cook the prepared paratha adding some oil until done.

Repeat for all the rest of the parathas.

Serve hot with yoghurt and pickle.

If you plan to freeze them, cook until half done turning both the sides. Allow to cool. Place sheets of plastic between two parathas and place the bunch in freezer safe bags.

Take the parathas out of the freezer 15 minutes before serving and cook on hot tawa until done.

Consume hot as re-heated parathas get hard when they cool down.

I'm sending these paneer parathas to JFI event, started by Indira of Mahanandi, currently hosted as JFI Paneer @ The Spice Who Loved Me, through November,

and to

Food For 7 Stages of Life co-hosted by Radhika and Sudeshna, featuring food for ages 4 to 14 until December the 5th.

Minty potato salad

There is no limit to the variety you might cook with potatoes. As the vegetable is most preferred by many people, the options of consuming are numerous. Mint is my favourite herb. I can drink cup after cup of the pani puri's mint water! When I spotted the cute looking baby potatoes, I could not stop myself from purchasing them.

Soon after bought fresh mint and made this Chat variety salad with mint and boiled potatoes with carrots and onions.

Both of us, my husband and myself have started enjoying salads on a regular basis. I keep trying different options, this one was very well enjoyed by both of us.

You might require:

15 baby potatoes

1 carrot sliced in rings and strips

1 red onion chopped or finely sliced

Few strings frensh coriander leaves chopped

2 teaspoons cooking oil

Grind the following to a smooth paste:

A fist full of mint leaves

1 tablespoon chopped onions

A pea size ball of tamarind

1/4 teaspoon dry mango powder

1" piece ginger

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Salt to taste.

How to prepare:

Grind the ingredients for the paste adding water sparingly to a smooth paste.

Prick the potatoes with a fork at few places. Boil them just until you might be able to peel them.

The nutrients in the potatoes lie right beneath the peel. So for optimum nourishment, they have to be boiled just as much to remove the peel.

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the paste to it and toss the potatoes gently to coat them with the paste until the essence is absorbed.

If desired and you do not like raw onions, you may toss them in the oil and remove before adding the paste.

The preparations are done.

Proceed to spread your salad as per your liking and serve.

This is just sufficient for two servings. You might increase the ingredients as required and also add many more vegetables as desired.

This salad goes to Meeta's Monthly Mingle collecting dishes fro BRUNCH.