skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Mirchi ka Salan in Marathi
Time: 30 to 40 minutes
Makes: 3 servings
3 Anaheim chilies, slit on one side
3 tbsp grated coconut
3 tbsp roasted peanuts powder
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
pinch of mustard seeds, pinch of fenugreek seeds, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 spring of curry leaves
4-5 tbsp oil
salt to taste
Method:
1) Dry roast coconut, peanuts powder and sesame seeds together till completely dry and slightly brown. Add some water and blend to fine paste
2) Heat 2 tbsp oil into a medium pan. and chilies and toss. Put the heat on medium. Cover and cook until soft and wrinkled. Flip them in between to make sure they char evenly and don't burn.
3) Once chilies are done, remove them from pan and keep aside. Add 1 tbsp of oil to that same pan. Add ginger-garlic paste and onion. Saute till onion caramelizes and dries well.(To reduce cooking time, use store-bought fried onion). Add little water and blend it to fine puree.
4) Heat 1 tbsp oil to the same pan. Add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric powder and curry leaves. Suate and add onion paste and coconut-peanut-sesame seeds paste. Mix well and add sufficient water to adjust the consistency.
5) Add salt, coriander-cumin powder, tamarind pulp and simmer for 5 minutes. Add chilies and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. check the taste and adjust the seasoning.Mirchi ka salan is usually served with Biryani.
Oats idli in Marathi
22 to 25 medium idlis
Ingredients:
1/2 cup urad dal
1 cup brown rice
1 cup rolled oats
salt to taste
Method:
1) Soak urad dal and brown rice separately in the water for 6 to 7 hours.
2) After 6-7 hours, drain the water and grind them separately by adding as little water as required.
3) Soak rolled oats for 10 minutes in 1/2 to 3/4 cup water. Grind it to fine paste.
4) Take a big steel or glass container. Add ground rice, ground urad dal and ground oats. Add a tsp of salt and mix well.
5) Cover and keep this container to some warm place to ferment. It will take 8 to 10 hours to ferment. (imp tip 1)
6) Once the batter is fermented well, taste a tiny bit of it. Add some salt if required.
7) Grease Idli molds with little oil. Fill them with the batter. Take the Idli cooker, add water (fill upto 2 inches) and heat it over high heat. If you are using normal pressure cooker, remove the weight before using, as we want to steam the idlis.
8) Once water starts boiling, place the Idli stand, cover with lid and steam cook for 12 to 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the cooker stand for 5 minutes. Scoop out by using knife of sharp edged spoon.
Serve idlis hot with Coconut chutney or spicy Sambar.
Tips:
1) In cold weather fermentation takes place very slowly. To pace up fermentation, heat oven on 200 F for 2 to 4 minutes, then turn off the oven. Put the batter covered in the oven. The warmth inside the oven helps the batter to ferment.
2) Make all the idlis and reheat in the microwave. So that all the family members can enjoy them together.
3) I have tried making idli using only oats. But they were very heavy and dint puff up. Hence using rice alongwith oats is important.
Bisibele Bhat in Marathi
Time: 40 minutes
Makes: 3 servings
Ingredients:
3/4 cup rice
1/4 cup toor dal
1 tbsp tamarind
1 and 1/2 cup cut vegetables (Potatoes, green beans, eggplant, carrot, cauliflower)
Spices: 1 inch piece of cinnamon, 2 cardamoms, 2 bay leaves
For tempering: 1 tbsp ghee, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp hing, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp Homemade sambar masala
Salt to taste
Special Tadka : 2 tbsp ghee, 1/4 tsp hing, 2 to 3 tbsp peanuts, 7-8 curry leaves
Method:
Bisibele bhat
1) Wash toor dal and pressure cook upto 4 whistles.(tip 1)
2) Soak tamarind in 1/4 cup hot water. After 10 minutes, squeeze the tamarind and bring out all the juice.
3) Heat a deep pan. Add 1 tbsp ghee. Saute cinnamon, cardamons and bayleaves for 5-7 seconds. Add cumin seeds, hing, turmeric powder, and red chili powder. Add all the vegetables except eggplant. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Now add rice and 3 cups of water. Add tamarind juice and sambar masala. Cover and cook over medium heat.
4) We need semi solid consistency. Hence, add some water and adjust the consistency. When rice is 60 % done, add cooked dal and eggplants.
5) Cook for 10 minutes or till the rice is completely done.
6) Serve the Rice in plates. Heat a tadka pan. Add 2 tbsp ghee, hing, and peanuts. Keep the peanuts moving to cook them evenly. When peanuts become brown, add curry leaves and turn off the heat.
8) Pour this tadka over served rice. This tadka is very important and gives very nice flavor.
Tips:
1) After pressure releases, take the dal out. Do not whisk it. Let it dissolve on its own. Whisked dal changes the texture of bisibele bhat.
Oats dosa in Marathi
20 medium dosas
Time: 2 to 3 minutes/ dosa
Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1 cup urad dal
3 cups rolled oats (quick cooking oats)
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
salt to taste
Oil to roast dosa
Method:
1) Soak Rice and urad dal separately in sufficient water for 5 to 6 hours. Soak fenugreek seeds along-with urad dal.
2) Soak oats just 10 minutes before grinding rice and urad dal. Soak them in 2 cups water.
3) Drain the water from rice. Grind it in a grinder. Add water little at a time to get fine paste.
4) Drain water from urad dal and grind it to fine paste. Add soaked oats to the mixer and grind it along with urad dal.
5) Mix ground rice, urad dal and oats together. Add little water to adjust the consistency. Add salt to taste. Cover and keep it to dark warm place. It should ferment within 8 to 10 hours. (See important tip regarding fermentation)
6) Once batter is fermented, take about 2 cups of batter into a separate bowl. If the batter is thick, add some water. The consistency for dosa batter should be little thin than idli batter. Likewise, take required amount of in a separate bowl and adjust the consistency by adding little water.
7) Heat a nonstick tawa. Spray some oil and carefully wipe it with a paper towel. Flame should be on medium high. Pour a medium ladelful batter at the center. swirl the spoon clockwise, in circular motion. Make a thin crepe. After 30 seconds, drizzle little oil around the edges and over the dosa. When the dosa is well done at one side, flip it to the other side. Press gently with flat spatula. After flipping, there is no need to roast longer.
Serve oats dosa with sambar and coconut chutney.
Tips:
1) Use a bigger container to ferment the batter. There should be atleast 10 inch space above the level of the batter to rise.
2) In cold season, batter does not ferment well or doesn't ferment at all. If you have oven at home, preheat it at 200 F for 3 to 4 minutes. Then switch off the oven. Put the covered container inside and close the door. If you are going to put the container in the oven, use steel or glass container.
3) The batter will stay fresh for 5 days in refrigerator.
Dahi Butti in Marathi
Time: 10 to 15 minutes
Makes 2 to 3 servings
Ingredients:
3/4 cup Rice
3/4 to 1 cup yogurt
1/4 to 1/2 cup cold milk
1 tsp ghee, 3-4 curry leaves, 2 dry red chilies, 1/4 tsp urad dal, 2 pinches cumin seeds, 2 pinches hing, 1/4 tsp grated ginger
Salt to taste
Method:
1) Wash rice. Add 1.5 cups to 2 cups of water and pressure cook upto 2-3 whistles. Do not add salt while cooking. Let the pressure release on its own.
2) Get the rice out and transfer it into a medium bowl. Add milk and mix well. Adding cold milk will help the rice to cool down quickly. Do not add yogurt in hot mixture, it will separate.
3) Add yogurt and salt. Mix.
4) Heat ghee in a tadka pan. Once ghee is hot, add urad dal and wait till color turns pink. Then add cumin seeds, hing, curry leaves and red chilies. Turn off the heat. If chilies are not immersing in ghee then press them with a spoon. Add ginger and stir with a spoon. Pour this tempering into curd rice.
Mix well and serve.
Tips:
1) Leftover rice can be used to make dahi butti. This rice becomes slightly hard. We need soft textured rice for making dahi butti. Steam cook in pressure cooker for 5 minutes and then follow the above recipe.
2) You may add 1/2 tsp sugar to give a hint of sweetness.
3) Amount of yogurt may be vary slightly. Add quarter of a cup at a time
Appe in Marathi
Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 15 appe
Ingredients:
2 cups Idli Batter
1 tsp ginger paste
1.5 tsp green chili paste, coarse
3-4 curry leaves, finely chopped (optional)
2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped (optional)
Salt to taste
2 to 3 tbsp oil for roasting appe
Method:
1) Add ginger paste, cilantro, curry leaves, green chili paste and little salt in batter. Mix well.
2) Heat Appe pan. Add two drops of oil in each mould. Fill moulds with batter. Cover and cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes.
3) Uncover and brush some oil on the surface. Flip the side, cover and cook for couple of minutes.
Serve hot with coconut chutney.
Eggplants in Spicy Curry in Marathi
Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients:
10 small eggplants (small)
Masala Paste
1 cup Onion, thinly sliced
1 medium tomato, roughly chopped
5 big garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch ginger piece, chopped
5 curry leaves
4 green chilies, chopped
1 tbsp roasted peanuts powder
2 tbsp grated coconut
1/2 tsp roasted poppy seeds, ground (optional)
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
3 tbsp Oil
other ingredients:
2 tsp oil
5-6 fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp hing
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp kashmiri mirch powder
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
Method:
1) Wash eggplants and cut the stems. Cut the eggplants and make 6 to 8 wedges of each one.
2) Masala Paste
i) Heat oil into a pan. Add curry leaves, onion, green chilies, garlic and ginger. Saute until onion becomes translucent.
ii) Add tomatoes, and cook until tomatoes are mushy.
iii) Add peanuts powder, coconut, cumin-coriander powder, poppy seeds, garam masala and salt.
iv) Let the mixture cool down. Then ground to a fine paste. Add little water if needed when grinding.
3) Heat oil in a pan. Add fenugreek seeds and wait till color changes to brown. Now add hing, turmeric, and eggplant slices. Also add little salt. Cover the pan and cook for few minutes or till slices become tender. Then add ground masala, tamarind pulp and red chili powder.
Add some water to get the desired consistency. Boil for few minutes.
Serve hot with white rice or chapati.
Tips:
1) Choose small purple eggplants with glossy skin without any brown rust spots.
2) Kashmiri Red chili powder does not have spiciness, but gives nice red color to the curry. Therefore, its upto you whether you want to add it or not.
3) Little sweetness plays well along-with sourness of tamarind. Hence, if you like sweet and sour combination, add little jaggery or sugar (1/2 or 1 tsp)
Tomato Rasam in Marathi
Time: 40 to 50 minutes
Serves: 3 to 4 persons
Ingredients
3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 cup toor dal
3 cups plain water
For tempering:- 1 tbsp oil, 2-3 pinches mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp hing, 1/8 tsp turmeric powder, 2 dried red chilies (broken), 1/2 tsp urad dal, 15 to 20 methi seeds, 2 cloves of garlic (crushed), 1 spring of curry leaves.
10 to 12 black pepper, crushed
1 green chilies, chopped
1.5 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp tamarind
Salt to taste
Method:
1) Pressure cook toor dal by adding 2 cups water. Once toor dal is cooked, drain and save the water. Squeeze out water from dal too.
2) Add 1/2 cup hot water in tamarind. Let the tamarind soak in for 10 minutes. Then squeeze the tamarind and get the juice.
3) Mix 2 cups plain water and 2 cups dal water into a saucepan. Bring it to a boil. Add chopped tomatoes, green chili and half of tamarind juice. Simmer for atleast 20 minutes or until tomatoes soften and mashed up.
4) Heat oil in a tadka pan. add urad dal, methi seeds. Wait till color turns to light brown. Add garlic, and red chilies. Add mustard seeds, hing, turmeric and curry leaves. Pour this tadka over rasam.
5) Add salt, crushed pepper, coriander powder and cumin powder. Boil for atleast 10 to 15 minutes.
Check the taste and adjust the spices. Add some tamarind juice if sourness is required.
Serve hot with rice or have it as a soup.
Tips:
1) Use nicely ripe red tomatoes.
2) If you don't like chunky rasam, puree 2 tomatoes instead of chopping.
3) Rasam should be spicy. However, to make it subtle, reduce the amount of black pepper.
4) Flavors intensify (in good way), if you serve rasam after couple of hours.
Tomato Rice in Marathi
Serves: 2 persons
Time 10 to 15 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked Rice (basmati)
2 big juicy red tomatoes, finely chopped
3 to 4 big garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tbsp ghee or oil, 2 pinches cumin seeds, 1/8 tsp hing, 2 green chilies, 1 spring of curry leaves
Salt to taste
chopped cilantro for garnishing
Method:
1) Heat ghee into a pan. Add garlic and cook over high heat. Stir continuously. Saute garlic until edges become brown.
2) Once garlic cooks nicely, add cumin seeds, hing, green chilies, curry leaves. Fry for 15 to 20 seconds.
3) Add chopped tomatoes and salt. Cover and cook over high heat, stir occasionally. Let tomatoes become completely mushy.
4) Mix in the rice and toss well. Rice should get coated with sauteed tomato. Cover pan and cook for couple of minutes over medium-low heat.
Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
Tips:
1) dried Red chilies can be used instead of green chilies
2) Garlic should get nicely brown (do not burn). Raw flavor of garlic doesn't taste good.
3) Choose good quality, red, fully riped and juicy to get tomato flavor.
4) You may add garam masala in the recipe. However, garam masala overpowers flavor of tomato.
Nachani Dosa
serves: 12 to 15 medium dosa
time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup Nachani Flour (Raagi flour)
1/2 cup Rice Flour
1/2 cup Urad Dal
7-8 Methi seeds
Salt to taste
Oil to drizzle while roasting dosa
Method:
1) Soak Nachani Flour and Rice flour in water for 5 hours. The consistency should be thick. Also soak urad dal and methi seeds together in water for 5 hours.
2) Grind urad dal to fine paste. Add very little water while grinding. Now mix urad dal paste and soaked flours together. Add enough water to get usual dosa consistency. Add salt.
3) Heat a nonstick tawa. Pour a ladleful batter and spread with spoon in swirling motion.
Drizzle a teaspoon oil around the dosa. After one side is done, flip the dosa and roast the second side.
Serve hot with - Coconut chutney, sambar, garlic chutney.
Tips:
1) Consistency of batter should be just like usual dosa batter. Nicely spreadable batter will make thin and light dosas.
2) Its a very good breakfast option. To make dosa for breakfast soak flour and urad dal overnight. Then grind urad dal in the morning and make dosas as per above method.
3) Cook the both sides of dosa. Uncooked Nachani flour doesn’t taste good.
4) To variate the recipe, add chopped cilantro, onion, tomato or green chili to your preference.
Masoor Pulao in Marathi
Time: 40 to 50 minutes
Serves: 3 to 4 persons
Ingredients:
:: To cook Rice ::
1 and 1/2 cup Basmati Rice
3 cups hot water
1 star anise, 2 bay leaves, 2 Cloves
1 tbsp Ghee
1/2 tsp salt
:: To make Masoor Gravy ::
1/2 cup Masoor
1 tbsp ghee
2 cardamoms, 2-3 black pepper
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chili powder (I used 1/2 tsp kashmiri red chilil powder for color and 1/2 tsp normal red chili powder for spiciness)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp golden raisins, few cashews
salt to taste
Method:
1) Soak Masoor overnight or 7 to 8 hours in sufficient water. Pressure cook Masoor up-to 1 whistle without adding water (For details see tip below). Add little salt when pressure cooking.
2) Heat ghee into a pan. Add cardamom and black pepper. Saute for 10 seconds. Add turmeric powder, chili powder, and ginger garlic paste. Saute for 15 seconds. Add onion and saute till it becomes translucent.
3) Now add cooked Masoor and 1/2 cup water. Add little salt (remember- salt added while pressure cooking). Simmer for few minutes. Add garam masala, cumin-coriander powder, raisins, cashews. Check the taste and adjust the spices. Remove from the heat. gravy should be thick in consistency as we are going to add yogurt once it cools down.
4) Let the gravy cool down a bit. Add yogurt and whisk well. Add little salt if needed.
5) Soak basmati rice for 10 minutes into cold water. Then discard the water and keep the rice aside for 20 minutes.
6) Heat a medium saucepan. Add ghee and wait till it melts. Add star anise, bay leaves and cloves. Saute for 10 seconds. Now add rice. Saute continuously until rice becomes completely dry. You will also notice the changes in texture of rice.
7) Once rice is nicely roasted, add hot water and salt. Give a nice stir and let it boil uncovered over high heat. Turn the heat to low, the moment water on the surface disappears. Cover the pan and let the rice cook in steam until grains are almost done.
Let the rice sit for a while, because if we add gravy in hot rice, the grains are likely to brake.
8) Fluff the rice with a fork and mix in the gravy little by little. Mix well but gently.
9) Add some ghee. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes over low heat.
Serve hot with Raita
Tips:
1) Roasting rice over high heat for 6 to 8 minutes results in fluffy rice after cooking.
2) If you don’t have enough time for soaking, immerse the masoor in hot water for couple of hours.
3) Pressure cooking without adding water means - Add a cup of water at the bottom of pressure cooker and DO NOT add water in the steel container inside the pressure cooker. In this steel container we are going to put only soaked masoor.
4) To lessen the amount of ghee, use oil for making Gravy and skip adding ghee at the end.
Spinach Rice in Marathi
Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2 persons
Ingredients:
3/4 cup basmati rice
1 cup finely chopped spinach
3/4 cup hot water
1 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 small green chili
Whole spice: 2 bay leaves, 1 cardamom, 2 cloves
Salt to taste
Method:
1) Soak rice in water for 10 minutes. Drain the water after 10 minutes. Leave the rice for 10 minutes.
2) Add 1/2 cup of water to spinach and puree.
3) Heat 1 tbsp butter into a deep nonstick saucepan. Add cumin seeds, whole spices. Saute for 5 seconds. Add ginger garlic and green chili. Add onion and saute till translucent.
4) Add soaked rice. Roast for few minutes over high heat. Stir continuously to avoid burning the rice. You will notice that rice has become completely dry and rice grains are popping when touched directly to the pan's bottom. That means rice is roasted perfectly.
5) Add 3/4 cup hot water, salt and spinach puree. Keep the flame on high. Boil until you don't see water on the surface of rice. Then put the flame on medium low and cover the pan. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until rice is cooked completely.
Fluff with a fork. Serve hot with raita and fryums/ papad.
Tips:
1) To make this rice more healthy and colorful, add vegetables like peas, carrot, french beans, cauliflower etc
2) Roasting rice helps to keep the grains separate after cooking. Also, use hot water and follow step 5 for better results.
3) Kids would love to eat this green rice. Do not add green chili to make it kids friendly.
Lauki Sabzi in Marathi
Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Serves: 2 to 3 persons
Ingredients:
2 cups bottle-gourd cubes (First, peel and deseed the bottle-gourd)
1 tsp + 1 tsp Ghee
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
2 to 3 tbsp roasted peanuts powder
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
Salt to taste
2 dried red chilies
1/2 tsp urad dal
Cilantro, finely chopped
Method:
1) Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan. Add cumin seeds and wait for few seconds. Add bottle-gourd cubes and little salt. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes.
2) Then add milk and let the bottle-gourd cook. Add peanuts powder after bottle-gourd is cooked. Simmer for couple of minutes.
3) Take a small tadka pan. Add 1 tsp ghee and let it melt. Break the chilies into 2 pieces. First, add urad dal and wait till the color turns to pink. Then add broken chilies and stir with spoon. Pour this tempering over bottle-gourd sabzi.
Serve hot with chapati.
Tips:
1) Some people eat bottle gourd for fasting. In that case, skip the tadka of ghee- cumin-urad dal. This sabzi may be eaten as a one bowl meal. Also, it tastes great if accompanied with sabudsana khichdi.
Rava Idli in Marathi
Yield: around 15 to 18 medium Idlis
Time: 35 to 40 minutes (Prep time - 15 mins + steaming time - 20 to 25 mins)
Ingredients:
1 cup Rava /Semolina (Coarse quality)
1 tsp Oil, pinch of mustard seeds, pinch of asafoetida (hing), 1/2 tsp urad dal, 1/2 to 1 tsp chana dal, 4 to 5 curry leaves
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 cup sour plain yogurt, well beaten
1/2 cup water
salt to taste
1 tsp Eno fruit salt (Eno Soda) - original flavor (do not use flavors like cherry, lemon)
Method:
1) Heat oil in the pan. Add mustard seeds and hing. Immediately add chana dal. Let the chana dal turn pink. Then add urad dal and saute for few seconds. Add curry leaves and ginger. Now add Rava and roast for couple of minutes over medium heat.
2) Transfer roasted rava into a deep bowl. In other bowl mix beaten yogurt and water well. when rava becomes warm, add yogurt+water mixture to it and blend well (tip 2). Add salt and mix. Let it stand for 10 minutes. Consistency should be like usual Idli batter, not too thick or thin.
3) Pour about 2 to 2.5 cups of water into the Idli cooker. Put it on the stove over high heat. Light grease the Idli stand (molds) with little oil (tip 3). Add Eno salt to the batter and mix in one direction. Spoon the batter into Idli molds.
4) Once water starts boiling, put the Idli stand inside the cooker (important tip 4). Close cooker with the lid. Steam the idlis for 12 to 15 minutes. After 12-15 minutes, turn off the heat and wait for 7-8 minutes before opening the cooker.
Remove idlis with sharp edged spoon (Do not use knife, it will break the idlis)
Tips:
1) Some variations can be done in the above recipe. Vegetables like carrot, peas, cabbage can be added to the idli batter. Just put small quantity of grated carrot and 2-3 peas into idli molds and then spoon the batter over it. Another idea is you may add the vegetables to idli batter.Though, it changes the color of Idlis.
2) If you have roasted the rava a little longer, it will soak more water. So, you may need to add little more water to adjust the consistency.
3) If you have small Idli stand (8 to 12 medium molds), Do not add Eno soda into whole batter. Divide it into 2 equal portions. Add 1/2 tsp of soda into one portion. Make idlis as per above instructions. Now add remaining 1/2 tsp soda into second prortion of batter and make idlis with the same directions.
4) If using normal pressure cooker, remove the weight (Pressure whistle) and then before steaming idlis.
Microwave Upma in marathi
Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 2 to 3
Ingredients:
3/4 cup Sooji (Rava, Semolina)
1 to 2 tbsp Ghee
For Tempering - 1 tbsp Ghee, pinch of mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp Urad Dal, pinch of Hing, 3 green chilies, 4-5 curry leaves, 1/4 tsp Ginger grated
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup Green Peas (Optional)
1/2 cup Tomato, finely chopped (Optional)
Salt and sugar to taste
1 tbsp Ghee (Optional)
Cilantro, Lemon, fresh coconut for garnishing
Microwave safe glass bowl with glass lid
Method:
1) Roasting Semolina (Roast it in a microwave safe plate)
3/4 cup Rava :- 1.30 min + 1.30 min + 1 min + 1 min = Total 5 minutes
2) Tempering (Use a big glass bowl which has lid)
Heat the ghee:- 1.30 min
Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal :- 1.30 to 2 mins - Stir once in between
Add asafoetida, green chilies, curry leaves, ginger - High Power :- 30 to 40 seconds
3) Cooking Onion, Tomato
Add finely chopped onion :- 1.30 min + 1.30 min + 1 min + 1 more min if needed = Total 4 to 5 mins - Stir once or twice in between
Add Tomato, green peas :- 1.30 min + 1.30 min - stir once in between
Add 1 and 1/4 cup water, salt and sugar to taste - Mix :- 1 min
4) Upma
Add roasted semolina, mix - Cover the container :- 2 mins + 2 min - Stir once in between and also add some ghee.
Keep the upma covered for 3 to 4 minutes before serving.
Tips:
1) Every microwave's power differs a little bit. So the time given in the above recipe may vary by a minute.
2) Ghee can be substitute with oil. However, ghee makes the upma more delicious.
3) Add cashews according to the availability and choice.
4) Upma will be ready to eat within 20-22 minutes if the time utilized properly. Chop onion, tomato, chilies while microwaving sooji.
5) In first 3 steps keep the glass bowl uncovered. In 4th step cover the bowl with lid
Vermicelli (Sevai) upma in Marathi
Serves: 2 persons
Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cup Vermicelli (I used Bombino Sevai)
1 cup Water, hot water.
1 tbsp Ghee
For tempering: Pinch of Mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp Cumin seeds, pinch of asafoetida,
2 to 3 green chilies, chopped
3 to 4 curry leaves
1/4 cup carrot, small cubes
1/4 cup Green peas, frozen
2 tbsp Fried peanuts/ roasted peanuts
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Sugar
Cilantro for garnishing
Method:
1) Heat ghee in a pan. Roast vermicelli over medium heat until golden in color.
2) Remove the roasted vermicelli from the pan. Prepare the tadka by using the leftover ghee after roasting vermicelli. Add mustard seeds and let them crackle. Then add cumin seeds, asafoetida, green chilies and curry leaves.
3) Add carrot cubes and green peas. Cover the pan and cook them for few minutes over medium heat.
4) Add fried peanuts and roasted vermicelli. Saute for a minute. Keep the flame over medium low heat.
5) Add half of the hot water. Mix, add salt and sugar to taste. Cover the pan, let the vermicelli cook and absorbs the water. Add more water and cook the vermicelli nicely.
Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.
Chapati in marathi
Yield: 5 to 6 medium rotis
Time: 10 to 15 minutes
Ingredients:
Dough made of 1 cup Chapati atta (Divided into 5 to 6 equal portions)
Little oil or ghee
1/2 cup dry chapati atta
Method:
1) Heat tawa over medium high flame.
2) Take 1 dough portion. Make it smooth and round. Make it little flat by pressing between the palms. Dust it with dry flour and roll into evenly thin round Chapati.
3) Place the rolled Chapati on heated tawa. Flip to another side immediately after 5 to 6 seconds. Roast this side till brown spots appear. Press gently with clean cotton cloth to roast the chapati evenly.
4) Flip to the other side and roast this side nicely.
Remove from the tawa. Apply very little oil or ghee. Serve hot or put in the insulated chapati container.
Tips:
1) If you are staying in cold region and you want to carry chapatis in your office for lunch. Then better use oil instead of ghee to smear on chapati. Due to the cold ghee thickens on chapati and it won't taste good.
2) Roll chapati and roast one at a time. If you roll all the chapatis and then roast them one by one, it will make the chapatis very hard. If you practice you will learn to roll and roast the chapati simultaneously.
3) If you want to keep the chapatis ready for any function or get-together and to keep them soft as they are cooked, place them in a towel-lined chapati and fold over the sides of the towel.
4) You may vary the thickness of the chapati to your preference. The only thing is, it should be rolled evenly. So that, it will get cooked properly.
5) Tawa should heated over medium high heat. Very hot tawa will burn the chapatis. Also, do not cook chapatis over low heat as chapatis will remain undercooked.
6) Use tawa without vertical outer edge. However, you can use shallow pan. Tawa should be large enough to fit the whole chapati in.
Gulab Jamun In Marathi
Approx 15 to 18 medium Gulabjamun
Time: approx 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients:
250 gram Khoya (Use special Gulabjamun Khoya)
Sugar Syrup::::
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
1 and 1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Other ingredients::::
Oil of Ghee to deep fry Gulabjamun
1 tbsp Maida (All purpose flour)
Milk as needed (You will need very little, may be few tsps)
Pinch of Baking Soda
Method:
1) Grate the khoya. Sprinkle all purpose flour and baking soda over grated khoya. Mix. Drizzle little milk and knead to medium consistency dough. Use very little ghee if needed. Cover the dough with a damp clean cloth.
2) Make one thread consistency sugar syrup. To make it, mix sugar and water in a deep medium pan. Boil and make one thread consistency syrup. While sugar syrup is getting ready, divide the dough into equal small balls (1 and 1/2 cm to 2 cm). Give them a smooth round shape. There should not be any cracks on the surface.
3) Heat the oil over high heat and them turn the heat to medium low. Oil temperature is a very important while frying the gulabjamun balls. To check the temperature, drop one ball in the heated oil. If it floats immediately on the oil surface and start browning, the oil is hot. So wait for couple of minutes to get the right oil temperature.
If the dough ball sits at the bottom of kadai for few seconds and rises slowly, this is the right temperature. Then, you can drop multiple jamun balls into the oil. Turn and roll them with slotted spoon to get same color at all sides. Fry them into batches. Cook them until they become reddish brown in color. Remove the first batch of fried jamun out of the oil and let them rest for couple of minutes. Then put them into hot sugar syrup. Repeat the same process for other jamun balls. One thing to remember that sugar syrup should not be boiling hot or warm. It should be in the middle.
Let the jamun soak into the sugar syrup for atleast 5 to 6 hours. For better results, soak them overnight.
Tips:
1) Some people like a nice aroma of rose to the Jamun. For that, add 1 or 2 drops of rose essence in the sugar syrup.
2) You can give little twist to the traditional recipe. While make balls out of dough, place a small piece of dry fruit (cashew, pistachio), small piece of rock sugar or a seed of cardamom in the center of the ball. Then fry them normally.
3) You can replace all purpose flour with Araroot powder or corn flour.
4) Oil temperature is very important while frying the Gulabjamun. If the oil is too hot, jamun will get reddish color immediately. however inside, they will remain uncooked. Therefore adjust the oil temperature first.
5) Sugar syrup should be one thread consistency. Thick sugar syrup is hard to absorb into the gulabjamun.
