Chole Bhature

Chole -Bhature is one of the popular dish from Punjab. It is also a popular chat food in Mumbai. This combination goes along with each other very well.

Ingredients

For Bhature:
3 cups All purpose flour
1/2 cup Wheat flour
1/2 cup sooji/ rawa
1/2 cup yogurt
salt to taste
water to knead dough
Oil to fry

For Chole Masala:
3 cups Kabuli channa (chickpeas, Garbanzo beans)
2 medium sized onions, sliced
3 medium sized tomates, diced
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2-3 green chillies, slit
2 tsp chole masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
chilli powder, if required
1 tbsp cooking oil
salt to taste
cilantro for garnish

Method

For Bhature:

• Mix all the ingredients & form into a soft elastic dough with some water. Let it rest for atleast 3-4 hours.
• Make small balls of the dough. Roll out like a poori. Fry them until golden brown. Serve with chole masala.

For Chole Masala:

• Soak the channa overnight. Pressure cook until they are nicely cooked.
• In a pan, heat oil, add the chillies, then onions. Saute until golden. Add the ginger garlic paste & saute for another 2-3 mins
• Add diced tomatoes, mix well. Add the chole masala & turmeric powder & salt. Saute until the tomatoes are completely mushy.
• Take half of the above mixture & grind into fine paste. Add the cooked channa & ground paste to the sauteed ingredients & let it simmer for few minutes. Adjust seasoning if required.
• Garnish with cilantro.
  

Puran Poli

Puran Poli is a popular sweet snack item. This is one snack me & hubby love to carry with us whenever we are going on a long ride :-)

Ingredients

For the puran/ stuffing
1 cup channa dal
1 cup jaggery
1 tsp cardamom powder

For the dough cover
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
pinch of salt
water to knead dough

Method

For the puran

• Soak the channa dal for about 1-2 hours. Pressure cook the dal until nicely cooked. Drain the water.
• Mash the dal fine. Add grated jaggery. Cook on low heat until the mixture is well combined & all the moisture evaporates. Add cardamom powder & switch off flame. Let it cool.
• Once cool, make into small lime sized balls. Set aside

For the Dough cover

• Mix the flours & salt and knead into a soft dough. Make lime sized balls of this dough as well.

For the polis

• Take one dough ball, flatten it with palms, stuff the puran ball & seal the edges of the dough ball.
• Roll it slowly into thin rounds. Cook on hot tawa on both the sides. Apply a little oil/ ghee.
  Serve hot/cold. Enjoy!!
  

Bisibellah Bath

This is a speciality dish from Karnataka. Bisibellah Bath simply means "Hot Lentil rice". Somehow for this dish, I prefer to cook the traditional time consuming way(roughly 1.5 to 2 hrs). But, you can always cut short some steps to cook it in the faster way.

Ingredients

1 cup tuavar dal
1 cup rice
3 cups chopped vegetables (carrot, cauliflower, pepper, peas)

3 tsp bisibellah bath masala
salt to taste
2 tbsp ghee
2-3 red chillies
handful of raisins & cashews
cilantro to garnish

Method

• Take Tuavar dal in a pot. Add about 3-4 cups of water. Cook it until the dal is soft & cooked.
• Add the rice & when it is 3/4th cooked, add the vegetables. Cook until the vegetables are done. Add salt as per taste. Add water if needed.
• For the shortcut method: Cook the dal & rice in pressure cooker. Cook vegetables separately. Then mix both of them.
• Mix the bisibellah masala with some water. Add to the cooked rice mixture. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
• Heat ghee in a small pan, add the red chillies & nuts. Roast for a while & top it to the rice mixture. Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with papads.

Dal Makhani (Kali Dal)

Dal makhani (Kali Dal) is a famous dish from Punjab. This dish is made from a combination of whole black grams & kidney beans. The dals are cooked for hours until they get a creamy texture.

Here is a slightly simplified version of the recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups whole black gram (black urad dal)
1/4 cup kidney beans (rajma beans)

1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
small piece ginger, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped (optional)
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp sour cream
1/4 cup cream
2 tbsp butter
salt to taste

Whole garam masala (cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves)

Method

• Soak the dals overnight. Next day, pressure cook the dals for 4-5 whistles until the dals are cooked.
• In a pan heat butter. Add the whole garam masala, then the chillies & ginger. Saute & add onions. Once onions are slightly golden add the tomatoes & the masalas. Cook until the tomatoes are mushy.
• Add the cooked dals, sour cream & salt and simmer on low flame for 10-15 minutes.
• Top it off with cream. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve hot with rotis/ naans.

Egg Noodles

This is a simple Noodle dish with eggs. Here is the recipe

Ingredients

1 packet Egg Noodles

2 eggs

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp peanut oil

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 tbsp soya sauce

black pepper powder to taste

crushed chilli flakes to taste

salt to taste

Method

• Cook the noodles as per instructions on the packet.
• Heat oil in a wok/kadai . Add garlic, then green onions. Saute it for a minute. Add the eggs & stir until they are well cooked. Toss all other ingredients (soya sauce, chilli flakes, black pepper, salt).
• Add the noodles & toss until evenly mixed. Serve hot.

Avacado soup

Avacado is the one fruit which has a high amount of fat (roughly 25-35 grams) & averaging about 300 calories per fruit. Nutrition Facts show that a typical avocado might have 30 grams of fat but 20 of those are grams of fat that promote health. Monounsaturated fats and oleic acid are good for you.

Avocados are a great source of Vitamin K. They also offer things like folate, copper and potassium, fiber, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin C.

It has a mild flavor & blends easily with any salads and dips. Here is the recipe of a healthy avacado soup which is quite filling too....

Ingredients

1 medium size avacado, ripe

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup corn (or more if you are a corn- lover :-))

1 clove garlic. minced

1 green chilli, minced

1 medium size tomato, chopped

1 cup vegeatable stock

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp cooking oil

salt & pepper to taste

few drops lemon juice

Method

• Cut the avacado into half, remove the pit, scrape the flesh with s spoon. Add few drops of lemon juice & set aside.
• In a saucepan, heat oil, add the garlic. Add the green onions & corn. Saute it for a while. Add the tomatoes & saute it until slightly mushy.
• Transfer half of the sauteed ingredients & avacados into a blender and grind to a smooth paste with the vegetable stock.
• Transfer the pureed mixture to the saucepan, add the remaining vegetable stock & milk. Season with salt & pepper. Add more milk if the soup is too thick.
• Let the mixture come to a boil. Then turn off heat.
• Serve the soup hot garnished with some green onions.

Namak Para (Salty crackers)

A very simple & easy to make tea-time snack item.

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour

3 tbsp butter, melted

3 tbsp curd

3 tsp ajwain seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

salt to taste

water to knead dough

oil to fry

Method

• Mix butter, curd, salt, ajwain & cumin seeds with the all purpose flour. Add little by little water & knead into a medium stiff dough.
• Let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
• Make small lemon sized balls. Roll them out to the thickness of quarters. Cut into 1/2" strips lengthwise & then into 2" length across.
• Heat oil to medium heat. Add the strips & fry on medium flame until golden in color.
• Store in air-tight containers.
• Enjoy during tea-time :-)