Orange Cranberry Pudding

No matter how I slice it, I really am not a baker. Baking is too precise a science for me. This time of the year however most people think if you cook, you should bake. I cobbled these together for a daycare event. Actually, I love the moist and very flavorful results.

I used a lot of fresh clementine juice and a packaged pancake mix for the batter to keep it really simple. The fresh cranberries and powdered cloves helped, finally drizzled it with mapple syrup. The little ones loved it!

Orange Cranberry Pudding Cakes

Makes 18 servings

Ingredients

4 fresh clementines

1 lemon

6 eggs

1 tsp powdered cloves

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup half and half

3/4 cup fresh organic cranberries

1.5 cups pancake mix

To garnish

1 cup mapple syrup

2 tbsp tripple sec

Additional orange juice if desired

Sliced almonds

Method of Preparation

1. Squeeze the clemetines and the lemon juice. Mix them together and set aside.

2. Grate the zest of the fruit and mix with the juice.

3. Separate the eggs and whip the whites till softly peaked.

4. Beat the yolks separately and then beat with the clementine juice till pale colored and frothy.

5. Mix in the ricotta cheese and cranberries.

6. Gradually add the pancake mix and finally fold in the egg white.

7. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees farenheight.

8. Pour the mixture into buttered ramekins or muffin pans and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

9. Cool slightly and unmould.

10. Mix the maple syrup with the tripple sec and additional orange juice (if using).

11. Pour about 3-4 tbsp of the mixture on the puddings. Garnish with the sliced almonds and serve.

Note: This does not result in a very sweet pudding, but I think it tastes fine with the mapple syrup. If additional sweetness is desired, some powdered sugar can be added in step 8.

Bhaja Moonger Dal - Roasted Moong Dal with Corn and Spinach

In my house, getting the kids to eat healthy is a lesser challenge than being able to find something that works for everyone. Since the focus had always been substance over form, the kids pretty much eat most things, but have a very low spice tollerance. Simple dishes like this dal however are good options for both the little ones and the grown-ups too. Cooked in a jiffy in a pressure cooker, this dal is later tempered with panch phoron and then for us, tempered again with crushed red pepper. Served with plain rice either brown or white, this makes a lovely soothing meal on a busy cold day.

I have added some ground corn to this, the corn can be added whole but I felt that processing this in a food process with tomatoes and cilantro helped it blend better into the very smooth buttery texture of the dal.

Bhaja Moonger Dal - Roasted Moong Dal with Corn and Spinach

Serve 4-6 people

Ingredients

1/2 cup moong dal
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 tomato
1 piece (about 1/2 inch) peeled ginger
3/4 cup frozen or fresh chopped spinach
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ghee
1/2 tsp panch phoron
1 lime
2 -3 tbsp chopped cilantro
Optional tempering
1/2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

Method of Preparation

1. Roast the lentils in the base of a pressure cooker. This is done by placing the lentils on the dry pressure cooker and cooking them until lightly browned and fragrant.

2. In the meantime, place the corn, tomato and ginger in a food processor until almost a paste.

3 Place the corn, in the pot with the lentils, add 2 cups water, spinach, salt and turmeric and cook under pressure for 7 minutes.

4. Cook throughly and mix well.

5. Heat the ghee and add the panch phoron and cook till this crackles and pour over the dal.

6. Mix well, squeeze the lime juice and stir in the cilantro.

7. If using the optional tempering, roast the crushed red pepper in the oil and pour over the dal.

Dals are a perfect way to mix an assortment of vegetables into our diet. This particular entry being sent to Sharmi, for her cooking for kids event.

Saag Chicken on a winter's day

This is what the backyard looked like for most of this weekend. The kids went out and built a snow man, I pretty much lay low for most of the weekend. Last night I made some sinfully indulgent and good saag chicken and jeera (cumin rice). I actually used some pre-roasted chicken, I had roasted two cornish hens earlier this week and one was left over. The cornish hens

were interesting I shall post about them later, so I skinned and chopped up one of them. I cooked the chicken with a mixture of spinach and kale (frozen).



Saag Chicken a la simple

For the sauce

1 tbsp oil
1 tsp grated ginger
1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
A couple of cloves and cardamom and a small stick of cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
2 cups fresh spinach (or 1.5 cups frozen chopped)
1 cup chopped fresh kale or 3/4 cups frozen
1 small can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup broth

For the Chicken

1 tbsp oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 tomato diced
1 tsp salt
1 lbs cooked chicken on the bone (store roasted should work well)
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp garam masala
3 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the ginger, onion and cumin seeds and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Add the cloves, cardamom and cinamon and stir through.
3. Add in the green with the salt and turmeric and mix well till wilted.
4. Add in the tomatoes and broth and cook the mixture till heated through.
5. Cool slightly and blend well in a strong blender.
6. While this is cooling heat the oil and the onion and cook for 5-7 minutes and add in the tomatoes with the chicken and coat with the mixture.
7. Add in the spinach mixture with half the cream and let it simmer for 8 minutes.
8. Mix in the garam masala and the remaining cream and cilantro and cook through.
9. Serve with jeera rice and some good wine.

Green Tea, Little cafe, odds and ends

I have recently started exploring the world of green tea. Until very recently, I used to find this green companion rather insipid. I am otherwise really a tea drinker. I drink coffee at work simply because it happens to be there, need the kick!

What really clinched it for me was actually a Twinings green gunpowder tea.

This really is a lovely light green drink, perfect to sip on a cold day, not too overpowering...

Now, getting back to the kick, this afternoon, I wanted to take a walk to get something a little better that the awful brew that sits around and thickens at work.

I stumbled into this little cafe , located right in Hastings on Hudson train station. The place has a lot of character, just the kind of place you would want to take a book or newspaper to and sit and read and sip your tea or coffee. The owner is a charming and hospitable man. Outside of the fairly decent cofee and tea selections (better on the coffee), the restaurant offers a few sandwiches a good variety of muffins, scones and some really good rugelagh..

The little place cheered my spirits enough today to write a little...

Indoor Farmers Market??

Despite my promises to the contrary, I stayed up pretty late tonight. I had this project I have been exhausting myself with, I am finally at I point where I just think, I have so had it, it is about 80% done, I cannot figure out the remaining 20% and it is time someone helped me with it. So it is getting submitted as it.

Now, yesterday I went to check out this indoor farmers market. The idea sounds really strange. Well, it was different, I did pick up some good lamb, chicken, eggs and absolutely out of this world yogurt. The produce was really flimsy... I did get some good mushrooms. So I made this chicken which was amazingly good, nothing like some butter and good simple spices.

Kumbh Murg Karai - Chicken with mushrooms

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2-3 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp powdered cumin-coriander

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 onion coarsely chopped

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1 lb boneless skinned chicken (cut into small pieces)

1 cup musrooms thickly sliced

1 tsp saffron

3-4 tsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and butter and add the cumin and garlic.

2. Cook for a minute stirring frequently, add the spices onions, scallions and chicken and cook on medium high heat for 15 minutes till the chicken in well browned.

3. Add in the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes till the mushrooms are well sauted but not wilted.

4. Mix in the saffron and cilantro. Keep covered for 5 minutes to let the flavors settle together.

5. Serve with orzo or rice.

Deflated Aha moment

Ever took the effort to look up something healthy, felt really thrilled with your self, as in a "aha moment"Well, that kind off was my first thinking when I found this recipe on Ashwini's blog.I was like, look here is a nice healthy dessert for the kids, well I first tried this on Anshul and we both finished one-third of this until it went to the kids, well guess what, they rejected it completely...Ok so much for the "aha moment"..

This is an incredibly satisfying simple and lovely dessert nonetheless. I modified the recipe a little

Raji Halwa -Finger Millet flour Pudding

Serve 12

Ingredients

1 cup finger flour

1.5 cups light coconut milk

1 cup water

3/4 cup powdered jaggery

2 tbsp ghee

1/2 tsp saffron

1 cup blanched almonds

Method of Preparation

1. Mix the ragi with the coconut milk and water.

2. Place in a pan and simmer stirring constantly till the mixture thickens.

3. Add in the jaggery and contine stirring till the mixture reaches a fudgelike consistency.

4. Stir in the ghee and mix throughly.

5. Stir in almonds and spread uniformly on a plate and enjoy!

New York Sunset

All right, so we probably live in strangely interesting times. There is half the world economically falling apart, places where people do not blink before mindlessly killing hundereds of people and yet the Bushes buying a new home can still make headlines.Actually, for some unbeknowst reason, someone at work informed me that he had seen some of the most entertaining clowns in Washington, DC. My husbands asks me, whether this was on Capitol Hill?Ok, so I am tired and my political colors are showing...Tonight I chanced on a cocktail, by sheer accident, this is now named the New York Sunset! Made from the two ingredients I had available, I now also have a new mocktail/smoothie breakfast.

New York Sunset

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 lbs frozen peaches

3/4 cup pommegranate juice

1 tbsp chopped mint leaves

1/2 tsp grated ginger

1/2 cup coconut rum

To garnish

Mint leaves

Pomegranate seeds

Method of Preparation

1. Blend the frozen peaches, pomegranate juice, mint and ginger till very smooth.

2. Add the rum and pour into glasses.

3. Decorate with mint leaves and pomegranate seeds

4. Relax and forget all your troubles.

Pomegranate Yogurt Mousse

This dessert was a refreshing way to end the weekend. It was a nice balance of flavors with a touch of sweetness tempered with just a hint of richness. It was in fact a lot like what my mood had been over this thanksgiving weekend, my general thankfulness over the general peace and quite in my house, the fact that I have happy and healthy children is tempered with the general economic problems surrounding us and of course my sheer shock with all the events in Mumbai, India.

Pomegranate Yogurt Mousse

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 carton organic non-fat vanilla yogurt
5 cups pom wonderful pomegranate juice
3 cloves
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 cup raw cane sugar
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup chilled whipping cream
1 cup pomegranate seeds (about 1.5 pom wonderful pomegranates)

Method of Preparation

1. Place the yogurt in a colander lined with a cheese cloth and place in a bowl and let this drain for 4-5 hours.
2. Heat the pomegranate juice with the cloves and ginger for 1 hour till about 1/3 in volume. Strain the spices and stir in the sugar and gelatin and let this cool.
3. Whip the cream till stiff.
4. Beat the strained yogurt with the reduced juice till smooth and mix in the cream.
5. Prepare six individual bowls or one large bowl, spoon some of the yogurt mixture to fill about half the mixture, layer with pomegranate seeds and cover with the rest of the mixture.
6. Chill for at least six hours, serve decorated with additional pomegranate seeds if desired.

Roasted Eggplant salad

Roasted Eggplant salad, originally uploaded by brinku11.

I am missing the warmth of early fall on this rather damp and clowdy day. I am actually waiting for some friends to stop by for tea, I have made a batch of Dahi Wadas and simply refuse to change out the sweats that I am wearing, instead I have decided to change drink some tea and peruse through some old pictures that I had not blogged about. That is quite a huge list that keeps accumulating for various reasons.
This recipe was made in late summer, when both eggplants and tomatoes were overflowing from the shelves of the farmers market.

Roasted Eggplant Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 medium sized eggplants
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
A few curry leaves
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chat masala
4 tomatoes diced
1/2 cup lowfat yogurt
1/4 cup lowfat mayonaise
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. To prepare the eggplants, roast on an open flame till the skin is completely charred and begins to crack.
2. Set aside to cool, then peel completely and process into a puree in a food processor.
3. Heat the oil and add the garlic, mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.
4. When the mustard crackles throw in the curry leaves, and stir in the eggplant puree with the salt, chili powder and chat masala.
5. Mix in the tomatoes and then turn off the heat and mix in the yogurt and mayonaise and cilantro.
6. Chill for 1 hour and serve with chips or pita bread.

Tomatoey Rice

Tomato rice, originally uploaded by brinku11.

My son Aadi loves tomatoes, he can eat them in any form - raw, in food, as a main dish, I think you get the picture. The was a time in my house, I would keep pureed tomatoes handy to add to his food as an incentive to push him to eat further. One day, he asked me whether it was possible to make a dish that was all tomatoey, so that he would not have to keep pleading for that spoon of tomato. Since he eats a fair amount of rice, I realized that he had come up with a novel solution to his own problem and actually helped me create a very healthy wonderfully festive dish. The colors of this tomato rice enliven any meal therefore it makes a wonderful addition to any holiday or party table. The simple flavors complement most cuisine. The gentle flavors of the leek add both additional color and taste to the dish.

Tomato Rice - Rice with tomatoes and vegetables

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

3 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 onion finely choped
2-3 bay leaves
3-4 cardamoms
2 leeks finely chopped (white and tender green parts)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup toasted cashew nuts
3 tomatoes chopped
1.5 cups basmati rice soaked for 3/4 hour and drained
1 cup green peas
1/2 cup corn
3 tbsp chopped mint
1 tbsp tomato paste
Freshly ground black pepper

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds, when they crackle add in the bay leaves, cardamoms and onions and leeks.
2. Cook on very low heat stirring frequently for 10 mintues till the leeks are soft and begin to turn golden.
3. Add in the chili powder, salt, cashew nuts and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add in the rice and stir throught and mix the remaining ingredients.
5. Add in 2.5 cuts of water, bring to a simmer and cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes.
6. Check in between for the water and add upto a half cup if needed, the rice should be moist but not too moist.
7. Turn off the heat, leave covered for 10 minutes before serving

Sweet and Spicy Chickpea Salad

This basic chickpea recipe is one of my favorite staples for the party and potluck season that we are heading into. It essentially consists of a spicy base, and is cooked in a crock pot, infused with a lot of fresh scallions, tomatoes, black pepper, fresh lemon and pomegranate seeds. This time I did something a little different, I cooked the chickpeas and marinated them in pomegranate juice, to give them a nice rich dark color and them followed my normal procedure. It produced a lovely tangy dish with a nice touch of sweetness.

Sweet and Spicy Chickpea Salad

Serves 8

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chickpeas (till the are still not very soft)

2 cups pom wonderful juice

1 tsp black or sea salt

3-4 tbsp oil

1 tsp whole cumin seeds

1 tsp whole fennel seeds

1 onion finely chopped

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

2-3 green chillies minced

2 tsp salt

2 tsp garam masala powder

1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes

1 cup chopped fresh scallions

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup fresh mint

3 limes

To garnish

A generous amount of freshly ground black pepper

Chopped cilantro

Grated radish

1 cup Pom wonderful pomegranate seeds

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the chickpeas in the juice for 5-6 hours.

2. Heat the oil and add the cumin and fennel seeds and when they sizzle.

3. Add the onion, ginger and chillies and cook for 10 minutes until beginning to turn golden brown.

4. Place the chickpeas with the juice in a large crock pot, add in the onion mixture with the salt and garam masala and simmer for 3 hours till the juice is absorbed and the chickpeas are soft.

5. Mix in the scallion and tomatoes and cook for another 30 minutes.

6. Stir in the cilantro, mint and squeeze the lime juice.

7. Serve warm (not hot) with a lot of black pepper, cilantro, grated radish and pomegranate seeds.

Pinenut Saffron Popsicles - Chilgoza Kesar Kulfi

We had traveled to Antartica in 1999 (what seems like a lifetime ago), on a ship. Outside of the other interesting aspects of the trip, it was nice to be able to spend so much time with other travelers. I did have a camcorder back then, but did not use a digital camera.
There were other on the ship who did and as one person told me, you have got to love digital - no bad pictures. I think of this one because, this particular recipe turned out lovely but was a bear to photograph. Thankfully, with some editing I have a somewhat respectable picture.

Anari Jhinga Birayani

A really pretty siren has caught my husband's eye, he cannot seem to get enough of her. Every weekend he appears with this stunning red fruit, he complements her healthy qualities and drowns in her tangy potent taste.
Being sporting, I welcomed her to my kitchen on election night. I shall share that story later, because I have realized she has a way with my usual weeknight kitchen mate -seafood.
Her beguiling complexion is an enchanting sight, eat me she says and your complexion too will improve.
OK, so this is what I did with her - made her into the queen of rice dishes - a birayani.





Anari Jhinga Birayani - Pomegranate Shrimp Birayani

Serves 4

For the rice

1.5 cups basmati rice
1 cup pom pomegranate juice
3-4 cardamoms
1 large piece cinnamon (broken)
3-4 cloves
1 cup cooked chick peas
1 tsp salt

1 tbsp ghee

1/2 cup pom pomegranate seeds

For the shrimp base

3-4 tbsp oil

2 onions finely chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced ginger

1 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1 cup yogurt

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp fenugreek leaves

1.5 lbs large shrimp

Sealing Base

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/2 shelled almonds

1 cup Pom Pomegranate juice

1 tsp saffron strands

To garnish

1 hard boiled egg

1/2 cup pom pomegranate seeds

Method of Preparation

1. Cook the rice for 7-10 minutes in the pomegranate juice, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.

2. Stir in the chick peas, ghee and salt and set aside.

3. Heat the oil and saute the onions, ginger and garlic for the base for 7 minutes.

4. Add the chili. cumin and coriander powders and cook briefly for a few seconds.

5. Add yogurt and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes till soft. Stir in the garam masala.

6. Cool slightly and blend till smooth and stir in the fenugreek leaves and shrimp.

7. Blend the buttermilk and almonds and stir in the saffron.

8. In a pot, place one layer of the rice mixture, top this with the shrimp mixture and the pomegranate seeds.

9. Top with the remaining rice mixture and pour the sealing base of almonds- buttermilk over this.

10. Cover and cook on low heat for 30 minutes.

11. Let this sit for 5 minutes.

12. Remove the cover and garnish with eggs and pomegranate seeds and serve.

My quick chicken curry.

You know, I keep dreaming of this very organized household, where in the evening everything is all set, we are all sitting and eating our evening meal and discussing the environment, my daughters day in school as opposed to...

Me rushing out of the office to make it in time without major chaos, getting there on the periphery of my very, very slow daughter (this kid makes a career out of eating her meals), getting ready to be turned towards the wall, where she finally eats out of sheer boredom and my son ready for action. In the midst of this chaos, between getting food into their mouths I manage to through together out meal. Last night I had some chicken sitting in a soy-chili garlic sauce marinade that I converted into a curry powered by a food processor revitalized by the pressure cooker, the results were pretty impressive for a 30 minute exercise (minus the marinading time)

Tamatar Hariyali Murg - Tomato Capsicum Chicken

Serves 4

For the chicken marinade

1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp chili garlic sauce (such as sriracha)
3 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp fresh ginger
1 lbs boneless chicken, (cut into bite-sized pieces)

For the curry base

3/4 cup canned diced tomatoes
2 green chillies
1 green pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 small piece of peeled ginger
A few fresh mint leaves
3-4 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A few curry leaves
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Blend the ingredients for the marinade and soak the chicken in this marinade for several hours. This can be done way ahead of time.

2. Place the tomato, chillies, pepper, ginger and garlic in a food processor and process into a puree.

3. Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in the base of a pressure cooker and add this puree and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes till the mixture is begining to brown.

4. Add the chicken and the marinade and stir through, in a separate pan heat the oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds. When this pops add the curry leaves and add to the chicken.

5. Cover and cook under pressure for 5 minutes (you essentially wait till the pressure builds up and it begins to release steam).

6. Turn off the heat and let the pressure come down. Remove the cover garnish with cilantro and serve.

Alu-Methi Bhonda

I had not caught up with friends in a while, just has been so hectic the past few months. Also, with everyone's children growing up it is a challenge to find a time that works. Well, yesterday I came up with the idea of doing an open house style event. Now this idea is a keeper, I realized other than stretching out the time commitment a little bit on our schedule it was not too bad - I did not have the stress of serving up food at a fixed time. In general, I think things worked pretty well. Shall blog some of the other recipes later, I was quite please about these simple little potatoe cakes, comforting, crowd pleasings made with good, fresh and flavorful farmers market potatoes.

Alu-Methi Bhondas - Potato-Fenugreek Balls

Makes 20

Ingredients

6-8 large russet potatoes, cooked in their jackets
2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly crushed black pepper
1 small onion diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
1 tsp ground cumin powder
1 tsp mango or amchur powder
1 cup urad or moong dal flour
Oil for frying

Method of preparation

1. Peel the potatoes and mash well with the salt into a fairly smooth consistency.
2. Mix in the onion, garlic, dried fenugreek, cumin, amchur, and the dal flour.
3. Let this sit for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
4. Heat the oil.
5. Shape the potato mixture into walnut-sized balls and fry on medium low heat till golden brown.
6. Great with tea and your favorite chutney.

Potatoes with Swiss Chard

What a crazy week, we have been so glued to the TV watching in delighted disbelief the great american ritual called the presidential election! Shall talk about that more later, want to commence the weekend with a simple comforting recipe that I had cooked a couple of weeks back in class.

I refined this somewhat and made this for our meal with these very crisp and satisfying rawa tomatoe dosa. Nothing like comfort food for our couch potato instincts.

Potatoes with Swiss Chard

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp asafetida
2 cloves minced garlic
4 potatoes peeled and cut into eights
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
2 tomatoes chopped
2 cups swiss chard finely chopped
1 tsp garam masala powder

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the cumin, asafetida and garlic.
2. Saute for about 2-3 minutes and add the potatoes and cook on medium low heat stirring frequently, till the potatoes begin to turn golden brown.
3. Add the turmeric, salt and tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes.
4. Stir in the chard and cover and cook on low for 5 minutes.
5. Remove the cover and stir well, the vegetables should be soft uniformly mixed.
6. Stir in the garam masala.

Rawa-Ragi Tomato Dosas

Makes 15 mid-sized dosas

Ingredients

1/2 cup rawa
1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup ragi flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
8-10 curry leaves
3 tomatoes processed in the food processor
4 tbsp chopped cilantro
2-3 green chillies, finely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion finely chopped
Oil for frying the dosas

Method of preparation

1. Mix the flours, salt, buttermilk, curry leaves, tomatoes, cilantro, green chillies, cumin and onion into a thick batter and set aside for at least 2 hours.
2. Stir well and add additional water to thin the dough into a pouring thin pancake consistency.
3. Heat a tawa or griddle and pour about 1.5 ladlefuls of the batter and spread out, the batter should bubble and spread with some small holes (sort of lacy consistency),
4. Pour a little oil around the dosa and cook on low for about 6-7 minutes.
5. Remove carefully and turn. This should be crisp and brown.
6. Cook lightly on the other side and serve hot.

Lentil and Potato Salad, er chaat!

Once upon a time, I would have never thought of pairing these two unusual creatures and once upon a time I would have missed out a good very satifying gastromical experience!

In general, I have actually been watching more TV than I have in a while. Well, I cannot resist this great American soap opera that we call elections. There is the economic crisis, the first so-called African american candidate, and of course the "hockey mom" who is perfectly comfortable raising her little baby, through some remote control, since she seems to be anywhere but with the baby. Well, down to more earthy issues, here is a lentil and potato salad a la indiene - Alu-Massur Chaat

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 russet potatoes

1 cup cooked brown lentils (sabut masur)

1 medium onion finely chopped

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tbsp chaat masala

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp sugar

1 cup sour cream

2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 lime

Method of Preparation

1. Cook and peel the potatoes, coarsely chop into medium-sized pieces.

2. Mix in all the remaining ingredients except the lime and chill for 2 hours.

3. Squeeze the lime over the salad and eat with any think else that is interesting.

2. Place in a mixing bowl and add the lentils and onions.

Dim Sum, It is!

How often, does one get the opportunity to introduce a young twenty-something to something quite new (in terms of culinary tastes) in the burbs. Ok, I do it in my classes every week! But, people take classes to learn, so it does not count.

Anju, my husbands summer intern wanted to do brunch with us to wrap summer and head back to college. As always, I suggested Dim Sum, we went to Central Seafood, located yes, on Central Park Ave in Hartdale.

It turns out this was Anju's first experience with Dim Sum. Central Seafood is actually a great place to start, we spent about over an hour trying an assortment of small plates -the most noteworthy were, a lovely scallop and greens dumplings, leek chive dumplings, lovely flavorful sticky rice, of course the good basics like siu mai, shrimp dumplings, noodles, I could go on.

Overall, this is a nice spacious restaurant and offers a great assortment of Chinese favorites both the traditional and beyond. Very family friendly as well!

Roasted Corn and Spicy Chicken Stew

The farmers markets are still going strong at least in in Pleasantville.

This summer one of the events that I had gotten interest in was a local contest called, "locally grown." Possibly my greatest delight was actually that through this and other general awareness, I have gotten increasingly aware of how nice and relatively simple it is to work with local produce. In general I get a break from the mundane when I shop for things that clearly look much nicer than most supermarkets.

The past week, I picked up tomatillos, jallepenos, chicken, onions, parsely and cilantro among other things. I made this a mid-week stew in a flash in the pressure cooker.

Welcoming Fall!

Blackberry Chutney, originally uploaded by brinku11.

For several reasons this has been a difficult summer for me. I am looking forward to Fall. I love the season, the beauty, the crisp fall air and everything else. One can see little vestiges of color peeking out of the green.

Yesterday, I picked a decent handful of the fading black berries in my garden. On a whim I cooked them very lightly in a bengali style chutney, just wonderful!. I tried them on lightly poached salmon and I think a star is born.

Blackberry Chutney

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

1 tbsp mustard oil
1/2 tsp panch phoron (bengali 5-spice powder)
2 crushed dried red chillies
1 cup fresh blackberries
4 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 lemon

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the panch phoron and the red chillies.
2. When the spices crackle add the blackberries and stir in well.
3. Add the sugar salt and squeeze in the juice of the lemon.
4. Let the juice flow from the berries and simmer lightly. Cook for 3-4 minutes till the sugar is disolved but the berries are still somewhat whole.

Weekend, New Restaurant, etc

What a crazy week, Deepta started Kindergarten. Was not sure what to do about Mr. Daddy's birthday (yes, this is what the kids have taken to calling him!). Initially, I thought I would try to spend sometime at the beach and try Seaside Johnny's, well when I went for a haircut yesterday Rose told me that we would have thunderstorms, so I thought of plan B. An Indian buffet with some South Indian options works well, we tried Jaipore today.

My standards for Indian food, I hope are a little more discerning than some, I have to confess I was very pleasantly pleased. I have tried the restaurant before and have always liked the ambience, it is reminicent of the old colonial style construction found in Indian cities like Kolkatta.

They had a great variety of appetizers. In partcular, they had done a very good job with the Alu tikkies - Indian potato patties. This had an interestingly crispy outside, which I think I shall have to play around with to get. The phuchka's, little puffed crisps that are usually filled with potatoes and tangy broth and popped into the mouth whole, were a little stale. Otherwise the menu of great, with an interesting variety the food was not spoilt by an inordinate amount of grease and cream that seem to mark so many Indian restaurants. The tandoori chicken was well marinated and flavorful and moist. A surprising entree was pongal that is Indian comfort food at its best.

The desserts were not cloyingly sweet overall a much appreciated dining experience.

Chutney Mary!

Well! Well! Well! Look what I found last week at the farmers market. I pretty much have now settled for the Pleasantville market. I see this interesting Chutney Stand, made by a lady who hails from, you guessed it -India.

I liked all her products, but this fiery mint concoction seemed really good. I picked this up at $7.50 with these lovely eggplants that were priced at $4.50 a quart. I also got a lovely bunch of green onions at and a fresh head of garlic and came home and paired this with some feta cheese and fresh tomatoes from my neighbours garden to make this lovely dish.

Minted Garlic Eggplant

Served 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 onion thinly chopped

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tomato sliced

4 small eggplants, sliced

1 tsp salt (optional)

2 tbsp mint chutney

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds.

2. When this begins to sizzle, add the onion and garlic and saute briefly.

3. Add the tomato and eggplant and chutney and the salt if using and coat well.

4. Cover and cook on very low heat for 15-17 minutes till the eggplant is soft and fairly mushy.

5. Stir in the feta cheese and serve with some crusty bread.

Palak Ghia Paneer Kuchran - Spinach, Zuchini Puree with Garlic and fresh Cheese

Well, with a fridge-full of farmers market veggies, I have to find ways to cook my bounty. This is the first of my experiments. This a great variation on palak paneer, I wanted to get the impact and taste without killing the vegetables. This variation is very gentle on spice and cooks the vegetables very delicately so as to retain the nutrients.

Spinach, Zuchini Puree with Garlic and fresh Cheese

Serve 6

Ingredients

2-3 tbsp oil

1 tbsp fresh garlic, minced

1 onion cut into a fine dice

3 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin-coriander powder

1/2 cup fresh cream

2 heads fresh spinach

1 tsp ghee

1 tsp cumin seeds

3 zuchini grated with the skin on

1 cup grated paneer

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp red chili powder

Method of preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the garlic and onion and cook for 5 minutes stiring well.

2. Add the tomato puree, salt, and cumin-coriander powder and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

3. Cool and puree with the cream and spinach in a blender.

4. Heat the ghee and sizzle the cumin seeds and add the grated zuchini.

5. Saute for 5 minutes and add the spinach mixture with the paneer and mix well and cook for 3-5 minutes.

6. Stir in the remaining spices and let this sit for 1 hr.

7. Reheat and serve with rice or rotis.

Summer Loving!

"Summer Loving had me a blast,

Summer Loving happened so fast!"

Well, probably not quite what you are thinking, the past two year with the the kids still in tow and not really into anything, the little one at least I had skipped the active farmers market scene, this year not really.

Well, I was certainly in for a treat, I tried two markets this weekend and I think I am hooked certainly to the Pleasantville Farmers Market,

I was so thrilled, I think I truly got a little carried away, I picked up fresh garlic, garlic scrapes, corn and jalapeno chicken sausage, bok choy, beets, carrots, spinach, fresh peas, and zuchini.

Well, in case that was not enough I wandered onto the muscoot farms farmers market, now this might have been a little later in the day, but I did not find as much to excite as the former market, nonetheless I definitely picked up some lovely green onions and mushrooms. Look forward to my upcomming posts where there shall certainly be creative ideas on getting your 5 a day and more.

Nutrella Cutlets

I have tried over the years to work with meatless sources of protein. I just feel, once in a while it is good to have options. The latest in my quest is Nutrella or soy nuggets.

I also recently picked up a package of these soy grains that look a lot like cous-cous in the local store. I made these cutlets using a combination of these grains and let me tell you these were good! I used them as veggie burgers and they went down very well with the home crowd.

Nutrella Cutlets - TVP cutlets

Makes about 12 medium sized cutlets

Ingredients

For the cutlets

1 large sweet potato (cooked and peeled)

1 regular potato (cooked and peeled)

1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 cup prepared TVP ( this is soaked in hot water and then the excess water is squeezed out

1 cup frozen peas

2 green chillies, finely minced

2 tbsp cilantro, finely minced

2 tsp chat masala

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garam masala

For the batter and breading

1 egg

3-4 tbsp all purpose flour

water as needed

1 tsp salt

1 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs (whole wheat panko works well)

Oil for frying.

Method of preparation

1. Mash all the ingredients for the cutlet together into a firm mixture, since a fair amount of frozen vegetables are used, if needed add a little chick pea flour for tightness

2. Shape into hamburger sized patties.

3. Beat the egg with flour, water and salt to form a thick batter.

4. Dip the cutlets into the batter and coat well with the breadcrumbs.

5. Place in the fride for 1 hour.

6. Heat the oil and fry well on both sides.

7. Serve with ketchup or as veggie burgers in buns.

Dal Makhani and Dahi Methi Bhindi

I had blogged earlier about the bhindi recipe, but nothing like simple good creamy dal Makhani. I recently made this to teach Aeisha how to make this.

She is an interesting person who has made her way to my culinary studio. She is a second generation American-Pakistani who ideally would love someone to teach her Pakistani cooking but will settle for Indian, as long as the spices are not too different. As I tell her, the spices are almost the same but their use is sometime not the same across the different parts of the sub-continent or even the country we call India. Anyhow, good food is a universal thing.

Dal Makhani - Creamy Urad Dal and Red Kidney Beans

Serves 6

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole urad dal (mapte beans)
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp finely grated ginger
2 tomatoes finely chopped
1 can red kidney beans
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp red chili powder
1/3 cup cream
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation
1. Pressure cook the dal with 2 cups water and salt for 15 minutes.
2. Heat the oil and add the cumin followed by the onion and ginger after a few seconds.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add the dal and drained kidney beans, chili powder and simmer for 30 minutes.
5 . Stir in the remaining ingredients and serve with rice or roti.

Why Yellow?

I was out of town for about a week, this past week, just before leaving I read about this cause - Clicking Yellow for Bri in a blog I enjoy reading a lot.

The original Click Event being hosted at Jugalbandi, that hosts a monthly food photography event. Maybe, this was on my mind since all through Tampa Bay, Fl. Possibly, it was the general upset, I have to tell you it seems almost every other person that I know, ends up falling prey to this disease.

The corn and pepper came later, the other yellow was just on my mind.

Dearest Bri,

please keep the spirits up. People like me hope and pray that tomorrow will be better.

Ever felt that there was a connection and you could not tell why? This outbreak had troubled me just because....As I was about to submit this, I read further and realized that Bri was the daughter-in-law of Cynthia and Bill,

they had attended my son's rice ceremony by chance (She was with someone we knew and wanted to see this event) and Cynthia had taken some of the best pictures on my son at this event.

Here is the recipe that was created from the Corn and Pepper

Roasted Corn and Pepper Chowder

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 ears of corn on the cob

2 yellow bell peppers

2 tbsp butter

2 shallots finely chopped

2 pods of garlic

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 16-oz container of chicken broth or 4 cups homemade broth

1 tbsp black pepper

Additional salt if needed

1 lemon

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method of preparation

1. Roast the corn and bell peppers on the open flame. The corn needs to start turning black at spots and the bell peppers are charred completed outside.

2. Set the corn aside to cool, and place the bell pepper on ice to rub the blackened skin off.

3. Heat the butter and add the shallots and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes.

4. Add the sweet potatoes and chicken broth with salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Chop the roasted pepper and mix in.

6. Cool and puree in a food processor.

7. Remove the roasted corn from the cob.

8. Bring the puree back to simmer add in the corn, squeeze the juice of the lemon and stirr in the cilantro and serve hot.

Am so thrilled!

I was so thrilled by a comment on my blog left weeks back by Sangeeth. It just had been a few crazy weeks, summer is wonderful, but sometimes just has a life of its own, leaving very little time for this little space called my blog. Still, it is a little space where some of the creations of my favorite passion cooking are displayed. I cannot help feeling happy when someone aknowledges this effort.

It is difficult to narrow this to three blogs, especially since there are so many lovely blogs around. Some of my other favorite blogs have recieved this award already so, these are the three that come to my head today which I think may not have yet been awarded this,

Cooking for All Seasons

Jugalbandi

What's for Lunch Honey

Thank you again!

Thin Noodles - Desi Style

Nothing like ending a usual busy, crazy week with Indian style noodles. In a nutshell, Indian style noodles are pretty simple, toss noodles with your favorite combination of vegetables and eggs and some meat if so desired. Through in any variety of spices, chinese and Indian and there you have it a wonderfully simple and flavorful one dish meal. So ok, you wonder why on earth waste good space on a blog writing about it. Well, you see a lot of these tossed together ingredients have interesting nuances, tonight the combination incoporated a hint of lime and cumin, just amazing how lovely the flavors were.

Garlic-Lime Noodles with Cumin

Serves 4

Ingredients

1.5 cups thin fresh chinese noodles

3 tbsp oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions

1 tsp hot sesame oil

2 pods garlic, grated

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 green chilli, finely minced

3 carrots grated

1/2 bell pepper thinly sliced

2-3 slices ham, julliened

2 tsp soy sauce

1 large lime

2 tbsp cilantro, minced

Method of Preparation

1. Bring the water to a boil and cook the noodles for 4 minutes and drain.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil and scramble the eggs and set aside.

3. Heat the oil and add the sesame oil and cumin seeds.

4. Add the garlic and saute lightly, mix in the scallions.

5. Add the chili and carrots and bell pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.

6. Add the ham with the noodles.

7. Add in the soy sauce and stir in the eggs.

8. Squeeze the lime and add the cilantro and mix well.

9. Enjoy!

Sabudana Dosa with Sambhar

It is probably an extremely rare, make that practically never day, when I think of trying to do any prepping prior to leaving for work. Well, my dear Aadi, has just been asked to get of the bottle all of 2-months back. My life has not been the same since then, I spend about 30 minutes every morning wrestling with him to drink from these silly colorful cups that I have bought him. Well, since I am pretty much stuck in the kitchen, a couple of day back, I was fussing around. I had some extra tapioca and my friend Vasu informed me this could be used for dosa.
I did not exactly remember a recipe, but this is broadly what I did.

For the dosas

I soaked

1/2 cup tapioca
1/2 cup chire (rice flakes)
1/2 cup rice flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup yogurt
1 cup water

I mixed the above ingredients and left for work, I came back and found a pretty thick concoccotion. I ground this with some more water in the blender.

Then I mixed in some chopped onion, sweet potatoes, cilantro and the half granny smith apple that I had in the fridge with half the batter. I heated the tawa, added oil and spread the batter, it took a good 12 minutes and then I turned and cooked briefly, the result was a nice and really crisp dosa. The kids loved this.

Once, they were done I made some sambhar using frozen sambhar vegetables. This was a pre-mixed pack that I bought from our Indian store, I have to confess I was pleasantly surprised by the quality.

In the remainder of the batter, I added some finely chopped chillies for us. A nice fun meal!

Dressing up the Taro

There are some bloggers who present with such beauty and specificity that you want jump right out of the blog and into their kitchens. One such blog is the saffron trail, where recently Nandita featured Arbi ke Tikkey, a lovely way to dress up the humble Taro.

I followed her recipe pretty closely, with tiny tweaks, could not leave out my beloved chat masala now, could I?

Arbi Ke Tikkey - Spicy Taro Cakes

Makes 8

Ingredients

8 medium sized taro

2 limes

1 tsp cumin-coriander powder

1/2 tsp crushed carom seeds

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp chat masala

1 tsp black salt

1 tsp salt

Oil for frying

To garnish

Onion rings

Cilantro

Additional Chat masala

Freshly ground black pepper

Method of Preparation

1. Cook the taro for 10 minutes, till parcooked. Cool and remove the skin.

2. Squeeze the juice of 1.5 limes on the taro, and add the remaining spices to the taro. Let this sit for 1 hour stirring occasionally.

3. In a shallow skillet, add the taro in a single layer and cook on medium-low heat for about 6 minutes on each side. This should allow a thick golden crust to form on each side.

4. Remove from the oil and let this cool slightly.

5. Squeeze with the remaining lime, add the chat masala and pepper.

6. Garnish with onions and cilantro and serve with a chutney if desired.

This dish would make a great side dish for any other fish or chicken dish.

Robustly spicy pasta

Cannot quite understand why I am feeling so tired today, by the standard of weeks, life was not too crazy, also went to sleep early yesterday so frankly my dear, I have no clue why I feeling out of sorts. Thought blogging about this nice and colorful dish I concocted might actually chase away the tiredness, but no such luck, I left this post halfway and went to sleep. Decided to continue posting the next day.

Anyhow, the core to this dish was some really good sausage that I had gotten from Apple Farm which is actually a really good deli and fresh cheese section, pretty decent fish and acceptable vegetables. Anyhow, back to the sausage...

Sausage with peppers and vegetables

Serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 lb fennel sausage

3-5 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp crushed black pepper

1 onion cut into thick slices

1 green pepper cut into slices

1 red pepper cut into slices

1 can tomatoes (I use a fire-roasted organic can)

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup thickly chopped mushrooms

1/2 tsp fresh rosemary

2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Cut the sausage into small pieces.

2. Heat the oil and add the fennel seeds, chili powder, onions and peppers and saute for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the sausage and cook stiring occasionally for 10 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar and bring to a simmer and cook on low for 15 minutes.

5. Add the mushroom and herbs and cook for 5 more minutes.

6. Serve over anywhole wheat pasta of your choice.

Bell Peppers - Shimla Baigan Bhartha

Shimla Capsicum Bhartha, originally uploaded by brinku11.

You know, I've got to tell you, I think we Indians should patent the word capsicum, I have so gotten used to saying, "bell pepper" but a part of me longs for that somewhat small slightly spicer and really flavorful capsicum.

But, on the other hand, I love colorful red and yellow peppers which you do not find so readily in India. A red bell pepper is amazingly flavorful, especially roasted. Of course, nothing like a smoked eggplant! Mix them together, you get a scintilating mix of taste and flavor.

Try this luscious bhartha, which is very simple, just takes a little time to roast the vegetables.

Shimla Baigan Bhartha

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 medium eggplants
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion finely chopped
2 tsp very finely shredded ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced green chillies
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin-coriander powder
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup frozen green peas (thawed)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 tbsp chat masala

Method of Preparation

1. On an open flame, gas or grill roast the eggplants and peppers till the skin turns black. For the eggplant the outer skin should char and begin to crack.
2. Place the peppers in ziplock bags to cool for 10 minutes, the moisture helps with peeling the skin off. The eggplant can be placed on a plate.
3. Remove the dark skin of the eggplant and the peppers,
4. Coarsely chop the peppers.
5. Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds, followed by the onion, ginger and garlic.
6. Saute this till the onions begin turning golden, add in the eggplant and peppers and mix well, mashing the mixture while stirring.
7. Add in the chillies, salt, cumin-coriander powder, tomato paste and continue mixing on medium heat. Cook in this manner for about 5 minutes.
8. Add in the peas, cilantro and chat masala.
9. Serve hot

Sending this entry to Pooja, at My Creative ideas, for Jhiva and Vow - Bell peppers.

Mother Day generally speaking

Well, we decided that to beat the crowds we would actually go out for dinner on Saturday evening rather than Sunday. Ok, so we actually did both. Everything in general seemed to be planned pretty well.

Zuppa's in Yonker's is one of my favorite restaurants, I find the food innovative but really flavorful. In general a little pricey, but have always loved the restaurant and the warm earth tones and rustic set-up. The menu is not huge but has probably a very innovative selection of items that they aptly label as progressive Italian.

Now, Zuppa's on mother's unfortunately is a slightly different story. Interestingly, enough last year when I was raving about Zuppa to a colleague, he appeared unimpressed stating he took his wife over for mother's day, he was less than impressed with the experience, mentioning how noisy and chaotic the place of was, so I thought - Hello! Mom's Day is like only the busiest restaurant day of the year!

Well! Well! Well!, this year Anshul did something smart we had a pretty early reservation, which with kids is always a bright idea. The meal started in its usual relaxed manner, we ordered some very interesting Pizza for the little ones, after I managed to explain to the waiter that they did indeed have zinfandale on the menu, only it was red not white, I felt this would be the usual special experience. Not really, the pasta order that I had was too al dente, they mixed up the calamari order that appeared to me too salty, in any case when you get the fried calamari after the main course it can be, shall we say a little weird.

The dessert saved the day. Well, will I be back someday maybe, but not on some major designated holiday.

Khichuri - A different blend!

Please tell me that there were others who had no idea until late last week that there was a rice crisis brewing! Look, I am kind of priding myself on the fact that I have been pretty good with reducing the refrined, beautiful, unblemished rice in my diet and have switched to other variations of carbs, hence the ignorance!

Well, anyhow, a couple of weekends back, I go to my local indian store, which has become just so much better than anything I could dream of a couple of months back, and find this somewhat small unassuming pack of pretty pink rice call Rose Matta, liked the looks brought it home, I figures how wrong could you go with 2 lbs. of rice. Looked up this discovery some more and here is what I found,

Jugalbandi gave me an insight into a lot of interesting rices including my new discovery, of course Mahanandi, and finally yet another blog that convinced me, Go Rosematta!

So, not quite sure what to do, I decided to do an bengali-style khichuri. A khichuri is a lentil-rice combination, no matter how you slice it, what makes a khichuri a bengali one, in my opinion is the spicing!

So, this is what I did!

Gota Moong Kichuri - Whole mung kichuri with RoseMatta Rice

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 tbsp oil

1 onion thinly sliced

1 tsp cumin-coriander powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

1 tsp red chili powder

3/4 cup green moong dal ( with the skin on)

1/2 cup rose mata rice

1 large potato, cut into 8ths

1 tomato, quartered

1 cup cauliflower, florettes

1 tbsp ghee

2-3 bay leaves

2-3 whole green chillies

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add the onions with the cumin-coriander and turmeric and saute for 5 minutes.

2. Add in the salt, chili powder, rice and dal and mix in for 2 minutes.

3. Add in the potato, cauliflower, tomato and stir well.

4. Add 1.5 cups water and cook under pressure for 15 minutes.

5. Cool for 1o minutes and check and adjust for seasonings.

6. Heat the ghee and lightly cook the bay leaves and chillies.

7. Serve hot and enjoy a much healthier and new cheaper khichuri!