Carrot sabzi

Carrots are rich in Beta carotene which protects vision specially night vision.  The antioxidants present in carrots help protect against cardiovascular diseases and cancer.  Carrots are harvested in winter and hit the markets around November in India. This is a very lightly cooked dish that is almost like a salad.  Grated carrots are juicier and tastier than larger chopped chunks and the lemon juice and light seasoning really brings out their flavor in this dish.
Ingredients:-
4 fresh carrots
2 green chillies finely chopped
finely chopped coriander leaves
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon
Grate the carrots. Put salt and turmeric,chillies on grated carrots.In a pan pour the oil and put on the burner.when the oil is hot put mustard seeds and then the grated carrots.Stir gently.Switch off the flame after 4 minutes.  Pour lemon juice and garnish with coriander.  Serve this sabzi with rotis or parathas.

Homemade Chocolate (Fudge)

Chocolate is a universal indulgence and I love chocolate as much as I love traditional Indian mithai. The same goes for my daughters and son. When they were quite young, I had experimented with the recipe to make it a part of my Diwali mithai repertoire. The "chocolate burfi" as it was known then, was really quite popular with them and their friends who came over to wish us happy diwali.  Recently on a visit to my son's house, I made a batch on his request. Although not as smooth in texture as the store bought bars, this fudge has a lot more flavour and an unmistakable Indian taste.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup All purpose flour - in India, we can use maida
3/4 cup Cocoa powder (you can also replace the powder with bars of your favorite brand)
3 cup sugar
1 can condensed milk or evaporated milk 
3/4 cup butter
1/4 cup roasted and broken nuts (almonds, cashews)
(If evaporated milk or condensed milk is not available then take 1.5 litre of milk and let it boil and evaporate till the volume is 400 ml). In the U.S. one can buy the condensed milk cans from the grocery store.
In a vessel pour evaporated milk+cocoa powder+all purpose flour+sugar. Mix it well with a hand blender to remove lumps. Now in a non stick pan pour this mixture. Keep it on a medium to high flame and start stirring to avoid lumps. After the mixture starts to boil, add butter and continue to stir for 20 minutes then the mixture will turn into a mass.

Stir well to remove all lumps

When it seems like a homogenous mass that's ready for rolling, then take the pan off the flame.

 Ready to roll

 Spread it on a wooden board or a chakala used to roll rotis.
Roll it with the help of a rolling pin and garnish with nuts. When it is cool then with the help of a pizza cutter cut into desired shape and size.
TIPS
If condensed milk is used then reduce the amount of sugar to 2 cup only as the condensed milk being sweet.
Exact timing for switching off the flame is very important, if its too early the chocolate will be too soggy to roll or cut and if it's too late, the ball might become too dry and crumb like.

You can tune the recipe by experimenting with different types of cocoa sources.  The one I used here is the Hershey's cocoa powder.
But there are other chocolate powders out there and you can make it as gourmet or as simple as you like.  I would really like to try the Ghiradelli's cocoa as their chocolate is quite popular in the bay area and I loved the chocolate when I visited their factory in San Francisco.
My daughter claims that Scharffen Berger cocoa is superior and they deserve a mention here.  So here is a small spectrum for you that you can pick from. But if you are in India, you could just buy the Cadbury's Cocoa powder.

Portland in Oregon

                               पर्वतों के बीच में बसा पोर्टलैंड  

यों तो देखा जाये तो सारा अमेरिका देश ही बहुत सुंदर    हे| बहुत  अधिक  क्षेत्रफल होने के कारण भोगोलिक विभिन्नताए बहुत  हे | रेगिस्तान से लेकर बर्फीले पर्वत सब इस देश मेंहे  मिल जायेंगे|
   लेकिन कुछ स्थानों पर तो लगता हे की कुदरत अत्यधिक मेहरबान हुई हे|.इनमे हे देश का पश्चिमी तट जो प्रशांत महासागर के किनारे किनारे चलता है  पूरा कैलिफोर्निया प्रान्त इसके किनारे बसा हुआ हे उसके उत्तर में ओरेगोन  प्रान्त हे जिसका मुख्य  शहर है  पोर्टलैंड|. यह शहर एक तरफ से प्रशांत महासागर से घिरा हुआ है  और  दूसरी और पर्वतों से|शहर के बीच में से गुजरती है  नदी विला मेट|  सर्दी  के मौसम  में यह शहर स्कीइंग एवं स्केटिंग  में रूचि रखने वालों के लिए उपर्युक्त है .और गर्मी में दर्शनीय स्थानों की सूची  में इसका स्थान प्रथम है |
एक तरफ समुद्री तट और दूसरी तरफ पर्वत श्रंखला कास्केड पर्वत श्रेणी| सर्दी में यह पर्वत पूरी तरह से
बर्फ से ढक जाते है .लेकिन बसंत ऋतू आते ही यह बर्फ पिघलने लग जाती है  और वृक्ष फूल और पत्तियों से खिल उठते हे| इस शहर के पास से गुजरती है  कोलुम्बिया नदी जो कि रौक्की पर्वत  श्रेणी से आरंभ होती है  और  दो हजार  मील का सफ़र तय करती हे|
                                        

                                                                    columbia river gorge
 .इस दोरान यह नदी कनाडा एवं washington  राज्य से गुजरती हुई
ओरेगोन में प्रवेश करती है  फिर   प्रशांत महासागर में गिरती है |पोर्टलैंड के आस पास में  बहुत ही सुन्दर झरने है  जिनकी ऊँचाई ६०० फीट तक की है  .इसी में एक हे multnom झरना
यह दो झरनों से बना हुआ हे
यह झरना ऊंचाई से एक चट्टा न पर गिरता है और  फिर उस  चट्टान से पानी फिर नीचे गिरता हे

                                                                  multnomah  fall with it's bridge
किंवदंती हे कि यह झरना किसी राजकुमारी के स्नान के लिए बनवाया गया था जिन दो चट्टानों के बीच से यह झरना गिरताहे उनके ऊपर एक पुल बना दिया गया हे जहाँ से इसका नजारा देख सकते है 

                                                                                mt Hood   
 
यहाँ से पूर्व में  साठ मील क़ी दूरी पर ही बर्फ से ढकाहुआ mount हुड पहाड़ हे जो क़ी गर्मी में भी बर्फ से ढका हुआ रहता हे यह पहाड़ समुद्र ताल से 7000 फीट क़ी ऊंचाई पर हे
पोर्टलैंड के पश्चिम में mount st helens  हे जो क़ी  राष्ट्रीय  वोल्कानिक मोनुमेंट हे १८ मई १९८० को सुबह यह ज्वालामुखी सक्रिय हुआ  एवं उसका लावा बहुत नुकसान दायक   था इसमे ५७ लोगों की जान गयी थी

                                                                   Mt St Helens   

पुरी दुनिया के विभिन्न इलेक्ट्रोनिक उपकरणों में काम आने वाली सिलिकॉन चिप बनाने वाली कंपनी Intel भी इसी शहर में स्थित हे   यहाँ पर स्थित .तिलामुक डेरी के उत्पाद जैसे कि चीज ,मक्खन ,आइस्क्रेंम ,पूरे देश में लोकप्रिय हे

                                                                   लवेंडर फार्म

                 लवेंडर  एवं गुलाब   के पौधों के लिए यहाँ की जलवायु उपयुक्त हे बसंत एवं गर्मी में lavender के पौधे गर्मी में फूलों से लादे हुए सड़क किनारे भी मिल जायेंगे  इस शहर को सिटी ऑफ़ रोसेस भी कहा जाता हे
इसके अलावा detroit डेम जो की कुछ ही दूरी पर हे हरी भरी पहाड़ियों से गिरा हुआ बहुत ही रमणीक जगह  पर
हे .

                                                                           fall colors
फाल के   रंगों के लिए भी यहाँ की जलवायु उपर्युक्त हे|अक्टूबर  आते ही पेड़ों की पत्तियां रंग बिरंगी हो जाती हे |यह एक तरहका रासायनिक परिवतन पेड़ों में आता हे |
इस शहर की सुन्दरता का वर्णन जितना करे उतना ही कम  हे|








                

Kheer sewaiyan ki

Here's another quick and easy Mithai recipe.

Kheer is the integral part of Indian festive thali.The main ingredients of kheer is milk.And the taste can be varied by changing the combination. It can be of rice .makhana ,sabudana ,and sewaiyan..Let us make sewaiyan kheer.
Ingredients:

 whole milk 1 litre
sewaiyan   or vermicelli  1/2 cup
1 table spoon ghee
Sugar  1/2 cup
saffron  a pinch
10 almonds
10 pistachios
6 pods of cardamom
Soak the saffron in a cup with 2 teaspoon of water
micowave the almonds and pistachio for 20 minutes and then break  or cut into pieces .Remove the cardamom seeds from the pods and ground in fine powder.

In a non stick pan pour ghee and put it on the flame. Add sewaiyan and start stirring till the sewaiyan turns golden brown. It will take less than 5 minutes. Remove from the flame.

Pour the milk in big thick bottomed pan and put it on the flame. When milk starts boiling then pour roasted sewaiyan in the boiling milk. Stir occasionally taking care that it does not stick to the bottom.Let it boil for next 10 minutes so the kheer gets a thick consistency. Now remove from the flame add soaked saffron,cardamom powder.Stir and then garnish with almonds and pistachios.
Kheer can be served hot or cold depending on the time of the day and personal preferences.  Either way, you can not serve a more festive mithai!

Poha

Poha is par-boiled and flattened rice that can be revived by just soaking in water. It is typically eaten in the coastal regions both in the west and the east. In Maharashtra, it is a snack time delight, the most popular city version being Kande Pohe, or Onion Poha. However, the non-Onion poha tastes very delicious and the key flavours here are the cumin, curry leaves and peanuts in the poha and the garnish of fresh cilantro and lime juice.  The best part about poha is just how quick and easy it is to make, and how universally loved the dish is.

Poha

Ingredients required                     
For 4 people
2 cup thick poha
4 medium size potaoes

6 table spoon peanuts
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
2 tomatoes finely chopped
2 teaspoon mustard seeds

20 curry leaves

finely chopped green coriander leaves 2 table spoon
finely chopped green chillies 1 teaspoon
1 lemon
5 table spoon oil
Wash the poha in a colander under running water.Keep aside. Keep sprinkling water three to four times in between. Microwave potatoes for 6 minutes. 

Remove the skin and cut in 1/2 inches cubes.

In the poha colander put the potato cubes and salt and turmeric powder.

In a non stick or thick bottomed pan pour oil and put on burner. When oil is hot 



enough to then put jeera ,mustard seeds and peanuts. Stir till the peanuts are fried and then mix in the soaked poha and potato and tomatoes .Gently fold the poha until the spices and ingredients get mixed. Now squeeze in the juice of one lemon. Add curry leaves, green chilli and coriander leaves. Turn upside down 

with a spatula once. Poha is ready to serve.

Tips


    1. Roasted peanuts are available then  frying of peanuts is not required.So after jeera(cummin seeds) ,and mustard seeds add poha and potatoes and then mix peanuts .

    2 Onion lovers can put finely chopped onion after adding   Cummin seeds and mustard seeds sauté for  2 or 3 minutes and then add poha.

Shimla Mirchi Besan Wali (Capsicum with besan)

                                                 

Mirchi/Peppers are an important part of Indian cooking imparting both heat and flavour to the dishes. One can rank peppers in heat and flavour and often the ones that are low in heat(acidity) are very high in flavour. Indian Shimla mirchi or capsicum is one such pepper.

Shimla mirch can be cooked in a number of different ways.  The most popular Shimla mirch dish is with potatoes (I will post the recipe later) but a very Marwari way of making Shimla mirch is to cook it with Besan.  Here is the recipe. 
Ingredients :

                                                        Ingredients

2 medium sized Shimala mirchi
4 table spoon besan (chick pea flour)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon amchur powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 tabespoon oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
a pinch of hing powder 
Cut shimala mirchi in 1/2 inch pieces and remove the seeds.
In a nonstick pan pour the oil and put on burner or stove.
When oil is hot enough then put  hing and mustard seeds and when mustard starts crackling add mirchi pieces and stir.After a minute add besan and remaining spices.Now stir and keep the heat at lowest.After 10 minutes capsicum pieces will become tender.Switch off the flame .  This dish is ready to serve with roti or paratha.
Tips :-
The amount of oil required is proportional to the quantity of besan used.Calorie watcher can reduce the amount of besan .