आमटी/ತೊಗರೆ ಬೇಳೆ ಸಾರು/Amti or Aamati

'Amti' (aa-ma-ti) - is curry made up of pigeon peas which is a legume.This is know as 'Toor Daal' in Marathi.
Amti is must in every Maharashtrian family for daily lunch and dinner.This is mostly eaten with rice but goes well with other breads too.This is an authentic Maharashtrian curry.The thing that makes this curry to be unique in taste is 'Godaa Masala'.Goda Masala is daily and all purpose masala that is used in almost every house of Maharashtra and it is purely home made.It tastes totally different from 'Garam Masala' that we get in market but at times Garam Masala can be used as substitute for Goda Maasala.

Please Note : Godaa Masala and 'Kaanda- Lasun Masala' are two different things.Goda masala never contains Onion and Garlic.

Now,let us learn how to make 'Amti'

                  

  The following measurement of ingredients makes 3 to 4 bowls of Amti

Ingrredients :

1. Pigeon peas(Toor Dal) - 1/2 Cup
2. Goda Masala - 1 Tb Spoon (In case you do not have, you can definitely use Garam masala you get in market)
3. Fenugreek Seeds(Methi Seeds) - 1 Tea Spoon
4. Cummin Seeds and Mustard Seeds  1/2 Teaspoon each
5. Hing(Asafoetida ) and Turmeric Powder - 1/4 Tea spoon each
6. Curry leaves - 4 to 5 (I could not add them as I did not have that time)
7. Dry RedChilli -2 (Optional)
8. Red chilli Powder - 1/2 Tea spoon
9. Jaggery - around a dice of 1 inch
10. Tamarind paste or whole without seeds - 1 Tea Spoon
11. Salt to Taste
12. Fresh grated coconut and Coriander leaves - to garnish (You can also use dry coconut flakes)

Steps :

• Pressure cook the daal such that it is boiled finely and is not raw or half cooked.
• Now in a Pan, heat the oil on medium heat for Tadka.
• To that add Mustard Seeds and Cumins Seeds and Methi Seeds..Once they crackle,lower the heat and add Hing and Turmeric powder,Red Chilli powder,Dry REd Chillies, Curry leaves.
• To this Tadka, slowly add pressure cooked Toor Daal.Add Goda Masala,salt, jaggery and Tamarind.
• Add water depnding upon how much consistency you want.Amti is not supposed to be as thick as dal fry.So add water accordingly and let it boil for some time.At this time add Coconut and Coriander leaves.
• If you think that it is getting too thick, add water accordingly.
• Amti is ready to be served.

TIPS:

• Amti gets thickened after its cooled down.So before serving, you can little water and reheat it.
• Instead of Tamarind, you can use Kokam (Also known as Aamsul) or Tomato for sour taste.
• Make sure that Fenugreek Seeds are not raw as this raw is the great spoiler.But it sould not be over fried either.Take care while preparing Tadka.

TAWA PANEER TIKKA

I know.....I do not have to give any introduction about this particular item.So....let us quickly learn how to make Paneer Tikkas that too without 'Tandoor' or 'Oven'.We will make these tikkas on 'Tawa or Skillet'.

 The following measurement of ingredients serves 4 people.

Ingredients : 

1. Paneer or CottageCheese - 400 grams cut into 1 inch cubes
2. Curd or Yogurt - 2 Cups
3. Garam Masala - 2 Table Spoons
4. Cumin Powder - 1/2 Table Spoon
5. Coriander Powder - 1/2 Table Spoon
6. Fennel Seeds - 1/2 Table Spoon (Crushed
7. Mint paste or powder - 1 Table spoon
8. Salt to taaste
9. Lemon Juice - 2 Table Spoons
10. Oil to shallow fry - 3 Table soons

Steps :

• With the help of cotton cloth,take out water from the curd to some extent.This will keep the marinate thick.
• To the Curd, add all the ingredients except oil and lemon juice and mix it very well.At the end, add 'Lemon Juice' and give a nice mix again.
• Now marinate Paneer cubes with this mixture.Keep in bowl,close it and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
• Now, in shallow pan or Skillet(Tawa) just like you can in picture above,add oil and heat it on medium flame.
• To the oil, add these marinated Paneer cubes.You can either use the wooden sticks  or keep them individually as shown in the photo.
• Do not heat the pan to high at all.Keep on turning the sides of Paneer to get it cooked from all the sides.
• Paneer Tikkas are ready to serve.Serve hot with onions and Lime or Lemon.

TIPS:

• I recommend to take out some water from curd.This will stop the marinate dripping from the paneer and you from being disappointed because of mess.
• Keep the marinated Paneer in the bowl.Because when you take it out from fridge after 1 or 2 hours, you will see remaining water is deposited at the end again keeping curd thick.This would not happen if you choose to keep the marinated Paneer in a plate or flat container

BREAD CHEESE BALLS

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I thought of trying this recipe yesterday and it turned out to be very delicious.Making any dish with cheese makes us think twice before.Because it melts,one cannot just think of mess that occurs.So I thought,I will try this.You will not get to see the cheese when it is ready but the taste of cheese is well blended in these balls after they are fried well.Our objective is to get the nice taste and smell of cheese in this recipe....

The balls turn out to be very crispy and nice.Go very well with Tomato sauce,Ketch up or you can try some other dippings.

The following measurement makes around 15 or more balls.

Ingredients :

1. Maida or All purpose Flour - 1 Cup
2. Corn Flour - 3 Table Spoon
3. Bread Crumbs - 1 Cup
4. Grated Cheese - 2 Cups (I had used Mozzarella cheese)
5. Red Chilli Powder - 1 Tea Spoon
6. Salt to taste.
7. Baking Soda - 1 Pinch (to be precise,less than 1/4th teas spoon)
8. Oil to fry the balls

Steps :

• Mix all the ingredients well.At the sme time keep oil to heat up on medium flame.
• To the mixtue, keep adding water as required to make dough out of it.
• Make the balls and deep fry them.You can see that cheese is not at all released and mixed in oil.
• Fry on medium to low flame.I would recommend low flame because it gets nice color and texture very soon on medium flame but the very inner part of the ball remains uncooked and hard.
• Yes, only thing is a little patience is required while frying but.

BREAD CRUMBS - HOME MADE

Some food items taste great when they are garnished or mixed with 'Bread Crumbs'.Now a days they are easily available in market too.But here comes the great easy and quick way to make crumbs at home.
You can use this while making cheese sticks,onion rings, Soups and in many more items.

The following measurements makes around 1 cup of crumbs

Ingredients :

3 Plain Bread slices

Steps :

• Keep the bread slices in a Microwave Proof Plate.Do not stack them, keep separately.

• Reheat for 2 minutes.
• After taking out from the Micro Wave, let it cool down completely.
• Crush with your hands.
• Bread Crumbs are ready to use.

ಗೋಲಿ ಭಜಿ/Mangalore Bhajji/Mysore Bhajji/Goli Baje

Me being from North Karnataka,I always knew this Bondas as ,'Mysore Bhajji'.I still do not know the story behind this name. I prepared this bhajjis for a friend of mine who is from Bengaluru(B'lore), she told me that these are also called 'Goli Bhaje'.Then I stilled researched on internet and got to know another name called 'Mangalore Bhajji'.This recipe is one of the specialties of Karnataka Cuisine.

Well,whatever the name is but,but what I know is these are just delicious and very cute ones.For a change,These bhajjis are little sweet in taste.These are soft and spongy bhajjis unlike all other pakodas or bondas which are always supposed to be crispy and spicy.

I am also going to let you the big mistake I once made while making these bhajjis at the end of this post.If you follow the method and steps exactly,they will definitely turn out to be perfect ones.
These Bhajjis are small in size.After frying,the Bhajji becomes almost double the size of dumpling you put to the oil.

 

The following measurement makes around 15 Bhajjis.

Ingredients : 

1. All purpose flour or Maida - 1 Cup
2. Sooji - 3 Table spoon
3. Yogurt - 2/3rd Cup
4. Baking Soda - 1/4th Tea spoon
5. Cummin seeds - 1  Table spoon
6. Green chilli,chopped - 1
7. Ginger,Chopped - 1 tea spoon
8. Sugar - 3 Table spoons
9. Salt to taste
10. Oil to fry the Bhajjis

Steps : 

• In a bowl,add Maida,Sooji,Yogurt,Baking Soda,Salt and Sugar.
• Mix the ingredients to make a dough.Keep adding water as needed to make a nice dough as you can see in the picture above.The consistency of the mixture should be like a 'Loose dough' or 'Thick batter'.Just like batter of Medu wada.Keep on stirring with hand so that yogurt and Baking soda combine well resulting into nice airing.You can see air popping out of the batter while stirring it well.
• Keep the batter for 10 minutes.
• Till then grind Cumin seeds,Green chilli,Ginger all together and mix it with batter.
• By now Batter is ready to go to oil.Keep Oil heating on medium flame.
• Wet your hands, make small dumplings of batter and drop into oil slowly.Fry them on medium to low heat.They start becoming like a ball within seconds and automatically attain a nice round shape
• Bhajjis are ready to be seerved with Coconut Chutney.

TIPS:

• Do not fry on high heat ever.They might get color but are not cooked well from inside.
• I would recommend to use yogurt with normal temperature.If possible,keep yogurt out of the fridge around 2 hours before you prepare the batter.
• The bhajjis are ready to be fired right away after batter is ready.Do not keep it to ferment for more than 1 hour.
• Sooji is added to make the outer layer bit crispyDo not add sooji more in quantity.It leads the outer layer to be hard rather than crispy.You can also add Rice flour with same quantity instead of Sooji.  
• Now comes the mistake I made:I had to make bhajjis in large amount and hence I prepared batter on the previous evening.In the night I kep it insise the fridge.Next morning again kept out of the fridge to get it to normal temperature.But to my shock,The bhajjis turned out very stiff.They were not hard but were not spongy and fluffy either.So next day I mean today,I again prepared a fresh batter which you can see in the picture.I took to make bhajjis within 10 minutes and to my pleasant surprise,they were really spongy,soft and were well cooked from inside.
• One small tip to know if your batter is perfect is,put a small dumpling into oil which is heated on medium heat.Within few seconds,he dumpling should pop up from the bottom of pan and start floating on oil there by becoming a nice fluffy ball.

PEPPER RASSAM - Quick Version

Rassam is a mouth watering curry.With white plain rise, it really gives heavenly feeling.Rassam has been my all time favorite curry.I have tried to come up with quicker version here.The efforts are very less while making this Rassam.May be ingredients look more in number, but process is very easy and quick.

 

The following measurement serves 2 -3 people sufficiently

Ingredients : 

1. 2 Tomatoes (boiled or pressure cooked)
2. Oil for tadka - 3 Table spoon
3. Things to go in oil - Mustard and Cumin seeds( 1 tea spoon each), hing and turmeric powder (1/2 tea spoon each),Curry leaves (5-6)
4. Garlic - 8 to 10 cloves
5. Green chillies - 3-4
6. Pepper seeds - 10
7. Salt to taste
8. Tamarind paste - 1 table spoon
9. jaggery - a chunk of 1 inch. 

Steps :

• Smash the bolied Tomatoes well.No need to strain out.
• Heat the oil on medium flame and add mustard seeds,Cumin seeds,hing and turmeric. Once they are fried,add the smashed tomatoes and fry well for around 5 to7 minutes.
• To this add around 6 cups of water and let it boil.
• Now, Grind the garlic,green chillies and pepper together.Add this mixture to the rassam along with salt,tamarind and jaggery.
• Close the lid for around 5 minutes.After 5 minutes take out the kid and let it cook for another 15 minutes.
• If needed, add some more water as this rassam is supposed to be watery and not thick curry.

TIPS:

• If you do not want to add green chillies,you can add 1 teas spoon of red chilli powder in oil
• You can adjust the quantity of green chilli, red chilli powder and pepper according to the taste you want.
• You can skip tamarind if you want to.

METHI THEPLA(Indian Flat bread with Fenugreek Leaves)/मेथि थेपला

Needless to say that these Theplas or Dhebras are identity of Gujarat.This is a very authentic dish of Gujarat.These Theplas are very easy,quick and simple to make.There are many variations in the ingredients,especially the flour used while making the Theplas.Here, I am going to explain,how  to make Theplas using Wheat Flour (Gehun ka Atta) and Millet Flour (Bajre ka Atta).

The following measurements make around 6 Theplas

Ingredients : 

1. Wheat Flour and Millet Flour - 1 Cup each
2. Fenugreek leaves(Methi leaves) , Chopped - 2 Cups (You can also use Frozen Fenugreek leaves available  in the market)
3. Tamarind Paste - 2 Table Spoon
4. Green Chillies,chopped - 2
5. Garlic Chopped - 1 Table Spoon
6. Sesame Seeds - 2 Table spoon
7. Yogurt/Curd - 1/2 Cup
8. Jaggery,Shredded - 2 Table Spoon
9. Salt to Taste
10. Turmeric Powder - 1 Table Spoon
11. Oil - 2 Table spoon to knead the dough and some more oil,take as per your diet tobake the Theplas

Steps :

• Except the oil, Take all the ingredients mentioned above in a mixing bowl.Mix it well.
• Now add water to make a fine dough taking care that it does not become very loose to hold.
• Now add 2 table spoon of oil and knead it again so that dough does not stick to your hands.If you feel that oil is needed, you can add accordingly.
• Make The dough balls of the size you want(usually around 2 inch diameter) and flatten it with Rolling Pin(Belan)
• Put it on the Skillet which is preheated on medium flame.Before putting the thepla, pour some oil on skillet and spread and on that put the Thepla.Now spread oil on the upper side too.
• Bake thepla on medium to High heat.Take care that it is neither remaining half-baked nor over- baked.
• Your Theplas are ready to serve.

TIPS :

• You can use 1/2  table spoon o Kashmiri Chilly powder instead of green chillies.
• I you love tangy taste, then you can increase the quantity if tamarind and jaggery.Similary you can reduce the quantity if you do not like.
• I would recommend to add sesame seeds in dough rather than applying them on Theplas after they are put on skillet.This assure that sesame seeds are mixed well.

Dodkyachi Bhaji/HeereKai Palya/Ridge Gourd

Known as 'Turiya' in Hindi.This has hard, vein like skin of which chutney can also be prepared.Te taste of this vegetable is pretty unique,little sweet. The selection of this vegetable while buying is important.Press the bottom end and it should be pressed easily.If you find the bottom hard, do not buy it.One more thing before making the sabji is, some times this gourd is bitter in taste.So to check if it is good or not, cut the both ends of about one inch and taste it.If you feel both sides taste sweet, then go ahead and prepare the sabji as following :)

 

The below measurements serve around 4 people.

Ingredients :

1. Ridge Gourd - 2 ,cut into about 1 inch size  pieces.
2. Masala paste - 2 Cups
3. Oil - 4 Table spoon
4. Mustard seeds and Cumin seeds - 1 Table spoon each
5. Hing and Turmeric Powder - 1 Tea Spoon each
6. Salt to Taste.

Steps :

• In a pan, heat the oil on medium flame.After oil becomes hot, add Mustard and Cumin Seeds,Hing and Turmeric.
• To this tadka, add the Masala paste.Fry it till you see the masala leaving the oil.
• Masala already had salt in it.So add the salt, only if needed.
• To this add the cut Ridge Gourd, fry all together for another 5-7 minutes.
• Now add around 6 cups of water and let it boil with lid closed for 10-12 minutes.
• Check the ridge gourd.When you see that the Gourd is cooked well, take out the lid and let the sabji boil so that excess water is evaporated.
• When you see that the gravy has attained the consistency you want,put off the flame.
• It is ready to serve with chapati,Roti,Rice etc

TIPS:

• Do not put flame on high as this might over burn the masala.

Dahi Vada/Dahi Bhalla

I do not think there should be anyone who dislikes this dish.This is so delicious and mouth watering dish and one gets really contented after eating this.This chat dish is wholeheartedly lovded by everybody in India :)

 

This Serves 4 People.

 Ingredients : 

1. Medu vadas - 8 in number.
2. Curd/Yogurt - 500 grams
3. Ginger paste/crushed - 1 table spoon
4. Cumin seeds  - 1 Table spoon
5. Salt to Taste 
6. Sugar  - 1 Cup
7. Coriander leaves
8. Cumin powder - 1 table spoon
9. Coriander powder - 1 table spoon
10. For garninshing - Chat masala,Red Chilly powder,Sev or Bhujia,

Steps:

• First let us see how to make butter milk in which these vadas are to be soaked.In container take around 200 grams of Yogurt.Whip it and add water according to the consistency you want for butter milk.To that add salt, Sugar such that you feel more sweet rather than salty,Ginger Paste,Cumin Podwer,Coriander powder,Cumin seed and Coriander leaves.Mix it well.
• To that add the vadas to soak and keep in refrigerator for around 3 hours.
• In remaing 300 grams of Yogurt,add salt, a cup of sugar and whip it.Add water such that yogurt get texture of a thick batter.It should be neither very thick nor very watery.Keep adding water until you get required consistancy.This yogurt should be sweet in taste.Keep in refrigerate.
• While serving, In a bowl, keep soaked vadas.On that pour the creamy yogurt.Garnish with Sev,Tamarind Chutney,Chat masala and Red chilly powder as shown in picture.

 TIPS :

• If you are not in favor of sweet, you can reduce quantity of sugar in yogurt.

MEDU VADA/ UDDIN VADA

A crispy Indian doughnut.A south Indian dish loved by all over India.Very easy and quick to make.

 

With following quantity of Ingredients,6-8 Vadas are prepared depending up on size. 

Ingredients :

1. Udad Daal (Split Black Gram)/Udidachi dal(Marathi)/Uddin Bele(Kannada) - 1 Cup
2. Green chillies - 1
3. Dry Coconut flakes - 1/2 cup
4. Crushed Pepper - 1/2 tea spoon
5. Ginger paste or crushed - 1/2 tea spoon
6. Salt to taste
7. Cut Onions  1/2 Cup (Adding Onions is optional)
8. Cumin Seeds - 1 Tea spoon 
9. Baking Soda - 1/4 tea spoon
10. Oil to fry - 250 Mls.

Steps : 

• Soak the Dal in water for around 4 hours.
• Drain the water and transfer dal to Grinder.Do not add water as Dal already has water in it.Grind it well
• Your batter should be thick.To that add Cut Green chillies,Dry coconut flakes,Crushed peppers,Ginger,Salt,Onions,Cumin seeds,Baking Soda and mix well.
• Heat the oil in a pan on medium flame.Take dough ball on your palms of around 2 inch diameter.Shake your palm so that ball is little flattened,,make a hole at the center and let it slip into the oil slowly to fry.
• Fry on medium flame.Your Vada are ready having nice golden browm color.

TIPS : 

• Do not add water while grinding.Your batter should be as thick as possible or else, vadas do not hold good shape neither in hands nor in vada maker.
• Do not hold dough on your finger as marks of fingers remain on dough even after fried and this spoils texture of the vadas.While transferring to oil, make sure dough remains for as less time as possible on your fingers to avoid the marks of fingers.

दह्या चा बनवलेला चक्का - HOME MADE CHAKKA/STRAINED YOGURT

Chakka is nothing but yogurt or curd but completely strained.This is used to make an authentic Maharashtrian sweet dish called 'Shrikhand' and 'Aamrakhand'.This has got a process by which water from the yogurt is completely taken out and what we get is thick yogurt which has similar texture like cheese.Chakkaa is not Cheese.It is yogurt without any amount of water in it.Let us learn the process to make this Chakaa :)

In the picture you can see is chakkaa of about one 1 kg.I took 2.25 Kg of Yogurt and kept to strain and got around 750 Kg of Chakkaa.This amount serves around 4 to 6 people,when shrikhand or Amrakhand is made out of it.Make sure that you keep yogurt to strain on the previous night to get the Chakkaa on the next day morning.It has to be strained for minimum 12 hours.More than 24 hours gives better results.

Ingredients : Curd or Yogurt

Steps :

• Take a clean cotton cloth of around 1 meter square.(You can use new or unused khaadi or cottoon towel for this)
• On a large plate,spread this cloth and pour the yogurt.
• Now tie this towel such that yougurt is covered tightly and hang this yogurt as per your convinience with a plate or bowl under to collect the dripping water from yogurt.
• Keep it hanging 24 hours to get the perfect Chakka.If not possible, 12 hours ateast.But keeping for a day gives better results.

Tips :

You can keep this chakkaa refrigerated and use as and when required.