badiyan with alu methi

                                                           Badiyan alu methi ki sabzi

Papad and badiyan are the integral part of pantry in every household in Marwar During winter season when fresh crop of moong arrives badiyan are prepared in lots and are stored till next crop. Badiyan are prepared by making the paste of soaked moong dal .with spices and then  either with the help of a jara or with hands are dropped on a sheet in sun .When dried then can be stored.badiyan sabzi can be made with different combinations like badiyan with reddish ,spinach,mogari that is reddish beans,methi or potato.In many regions of northern India badiyan are made but from different dal and spices and of different size .But the theme is same as to store dal.
in a different form and taste.
Today I will make a sabzi of badiyan with potato and methi.

                                                           Badiyan  made of moong dal

Ingredients  required

1/2 cup badiyan
2 potatoes medium sized peeled and diced in 1/2 " cubes
2 tomatoes chopped
1/2 cup fresh methi leaves washed and chopped
4 table spoon oil or ghee 
1 tab spoon of coriander powder
1 tab spoon of red chilli powder
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
salt to taste, a pinch of hing
chopped fresh coriander,ginger,green chillies.

Break badiyan by crushing .Put whole badiyan in a plastic bag and roll a rolling pin or grinding stone over it.In a thick bottom or nonstick pan put ghee and put badiyan start stirring within 2 minutes badiyan will get roasted and there will be a good aroma.Add potatoes along with all spices and stir .add 2 cups of water and cover .Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Check if badiyan and potatoes are tender then add tomatoes and methi leaves.Let it cook for another 5 minutes .Remove from the burner .Add ginger and chilliesGarnish with chopped coriander and serve with roti or rice or paratha.

Tips :-      1    If fresh methi leaves are not available then kasoori methi can be used.Kasoori methi isavailable                                                                              
                      in Indian store.
                2    Indian stores are selling ready made badiyan .
               3   Easily breakable badiyan are better as it is easy to cook also and tastes better.

Yellow Moong Dal

Dal is the essential part of vegetarian Indian meal..All types of lentils when cooked with spices with some gravy in it the dish is termed as dal.we have lots of varieties of lentils whch are cooked in Indian kitchens depending upon the regionIt depends mainly upon the crop of that region.In north part of country urad chana and moong are in anundance.Where as in southern part it is the tuvar dal which is cooked mainly as sambhar or rasam.

In marwar moong and chana is grown in abundance.So in most of the houses moong is cooked daily in various forms Moong dal is of two types one is with green skin on it and the other is without skin which is yellow in colour and is called as mogar.
Moong dal is very simple to cook and easy to digest also.This dal tastes great even without seasoning.

Let us cook yellow moong dal today.

Ingredients required

1 cup yellow moong dal
   salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon haldi or turmeric powder
1 teaspoon  coriander powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
a pinch of hing
1 teaspoon      finely chopped green dhania leaves 
1 teaspoon      finely chopped green chillies and ginger
1 tablespoon    ghee 
mint fresh or dried leaves
In a pressure cooker pour 2 cups of water and add washed moong dal and salt   .Add all the spices and hing and pour 1 tab spoon of ghee.Stir well ..Put it on the ges and cook it till 2 whistles and then switch off the gas.Open the cooker after the pressure is lowered.Now pour 1 more cup of water stir with a big laddle and pour remainig tab spoon of ghee.Put on the flame till it starts boiling again for 2 minutes.Garnish with dhania ginger ,mint and chillies.Dal is ready to serve.Serve with rice ,roti or paratha.

Alu Gobhi ki sabzi

                                                                     

Vegetarian daily meal consisits of dal and sabzi accompanied by rice and roti.The variation in this menu can be done by cooking different sabzi and dal or curry.Sabzi is the cooked  fresh vegetable and the variety depends upon the availability.Thanks to the agricultural research most of the vegetables are available throughout the year  Gone are the days when we used to wait for the seasons to get our favorite sabzi in the mandi or it can be put  this way that seasons were marked by the arrival of new crops .Ofcourse the quality and quantity  defers .So the arrival of fresh seasonal crop of  Gobhi or cauliflower or fulower (term used by all vegetable vendors in Mumbai for cauliflower) marks the starting of autmn that is middle of sept.As the winter approaches  the quality improves and so is the taste and aroma of this vegetable.It can be cooked in many ways eg, sabzi.pulao(recipe for this is in this blog as Dubaki bhat or pulao or tehari),paratha, mix sabzi,pakode and so on.The list is endless.today I will cook it as  simple and quick  recipe. .Let us cook Alu Gobhi ki sabzi for lunch.

                                                                    Ingredients

Ingredients required
Gobhi florets                                       1 cup
Potato peeled and diced                     1 cup
Diced tomato                                      1/2 cup
Salt                                                     1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder                                1 teaspoon
turmeric powder                                  1 teaspoon
coriander powder                                11/2 teaspoon
hing
oil                                                        3 tablespoon
chopped coriander                               2 tabspoon
ginger chopped                                      1 tabspoon
green chillies chopped                           1 tabspoon

In a thick bottomed or preferably non stick pan pour oil and let it heat .after 2 minutes add hing and cauliflower florets and potatoes.Stir and add salt.Lower the flame and cover.After 8 minutes remove the lid and  you can see that gobhi and alu have become tender.Now add turmeric,red chillies and coriander powder and stir .Now add tomatoes and stir gently.Now add 4 tabspoon of  water.Cover and cook for 5 minutes more .Then add ginger and green chillies and stir.Garnish with green coriander and serve with roti or paratha.

besan Laddu

                                                               Delicious Besan Laddus

Laddu is the most common name given to sweets which are spherical in shapesLaddus are of many varieties and the nomenclature is associated with the ingredients other than sugar and ghee.Like besan laddu ,sonth laddu ,atta laddu and bundi laddu and the list goes on and on.
Let us see the recipe for besan laddu.It is very simple.
Ingredients required
3 cup                 Besan
1 3/4 cup         sugar(powdered)
1 cup                 ghee
2 teaspoon         cardamomm powder
1/4 cups             nuts roasted and chopped (almonds,cashews,walnuts)



4 tablespoon       milk
   few strands of saffron

                                                                   Roasting is done 
In a thick bottomed or a nonstick pan add ghee and besan and start roasting on a medium flame.
Keep on stirring continuously.this process of roasting is very very tricky initially .Meanwhile soak saffron in milk
The amount of ghee added appears to be less initially and one finds it difficult to handle and always feels that why not add few spoons more of it.But never do that mistake .More ghee will make it difficult to give shape to laddus   .Because after ten minutes of roasting the mixture loosens its consistency and becomes easy to handle.When the mixture turns to golden brown it will give a good aroma.Now remove the pan from the flame sprinkle the saffron soaked milk over it and stir.This will give the besan a granular texture.Now add the nuts and sugar  and cardamom powder. .Mix well and weight for 15 minutes to let it cool.Now handling in between your palms give shape to laddus of your desired size.

Masoor Dal khichadi

                                                               

Khichadi is always considered a simple food and is recomended for sick or for kids.This is often used as an introductory dish for kids towards solid food.This dish is very simple in taste .Lentils and rice mixed and cooked with salt till it becomes soft enough to chew.

Khichadi is eaten throughout India in different ways and on different occasions.People of kutch eat khichadi kadi and rotala (bajara roti) as their daily dinner.Tha next meal after heavy lunch or dinner is always khichadi in northern part of India.
Generally it is prepared with moong dal and rice.In Bengal it is made during puja .
As it is very bland in taste it requires lot of other assortment to eat it like yogurt or pickle and papad..
There is a saying

"Khichadi ke chaar yaar
dahi, papad, ghee, achaar

                                                                     Masoor Dal



Today I will make khichadi with masoor dal and rice + tomatoes Believe me this can be eaten without any other accomplishments..Everybody in my home loves it .masoor dal is a orange color dal and it it takes very littlle time to cook.If dal and rice are soaked in water for 20 minutesprior to cooking then one whistle of pressure cooker is sufficient to cook it.

                                                         Ingredients for khichadi


Ingredients required:-

Rice 1/2 cup
Masoor dal  1 cup
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon  red chilli powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cummin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
A pinch of hing
2 table spoon oil or ghee
A piece of fresh ginger  Chopped)
1 green chilli (finely chopped)
2 table spoon fresh coriander finely chopped


Wash dal and rice separately and let these soak in water for 20 minutes.wash and chop tomatoes Now  add Turmeric,chilli and salt,chopped ginget over tomatoes.
In a pressure cooker pour oil and let it heat for 2 to 3 minutes.Now add hing,cummin seeds and mustard seeds.When mustard seeds start spluttering then add tomatoes and stir.Now add rice and dal.Stir well.Add 4 cups of water and stir.Cover the lid and put the weight on it .Switch of the burner after one whistle.open cooker after 15  minutes.Stir and garnish with  chopped  coriander .

Khichadi is ready to serve.Better serve it either with a spoonfull of ghee or with a dollop butter. Weight watcher can eat it as it is without ghee or butter.

Tips :-


         1     Fresh vegetables like green peas ,cauliflower or potatoes can added  to it while cooking.