THALIPEETH - spiced crisp Indian pancakes.

After the numerous fasting days since Navratri , come the five days of Diwali , which are all about feasting. Starting with Vasubaras , the day we worship the Cows . Next is Dhanteras . A special breakfast on Dhanteras is Thalipeeth. Spiced crisp Pancakes made with a pre spiced flour made from mixed pulses and cereals. It is usually store bought . The fragrant crisp thalipeeth is usually served with homemade white butter anda dry garlic chuteny. Alternately you can serve it with a dip made by mixixng a 1/4 cup of yoghurt and 1/4 tsp red chilli powder ( per portion serving)

2 cups Bhajani Peeth , 2 tblsp oil, 1 large onion finely chopped, 2 green chillies finely chopped , 1 tsp each haldi, red chilli powder, garam masala, dhania powder , crushed jaggery , chopped garlic , salt , 2 tblsp green corriander leaves chopped.Water to bind into a soft wet dough.

Bind the dough till its sticky and soft, Divide into portions the size of a tennis ball .

 Take a wet thin cotton napkin. Using your hands flatten the dough into a round chapatti , but thicker than a chapati. Poke 3-4 holes into it .

 Remove from the cloth and put onto a hot tawa or frying pan .

Put a few drops of oil into the holes and around the thalipeeth.

Cook covered on both sides for 5-7 minutes , on low flame.Then brown the 2 sides on a high flame. Serve with fresh butter and lasoon chutney. If making for guests , cook on low flame and keep aside. Then you can just apply a little oil and make the thalipeeth crisp just before serving.

Badam Phirni

Every once in a while , the sweet cravings kick in . Sometimes you have the privilege of time and leisure to indulge in it. Or sometimes a quick stroll down 2 blocks brings you to a street with 3 Mithai Stores ( Yayyyyyy) . But sometimes a lovely sweet treat is just at hand. You have soaked some rice for dinner and are in the kitchen for another 15 minutes. All you need is to sneak out a bit of the soaked rice and get to work. This simple yet delectable sweet is so easy to make.

B for Badam Phirni.
1 litre milk
1/4 cup raw rice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
12 pieces almonds , blanched and coarsely crushed.
1 pinch of kesar

Wash and soak the rice for an hour. Then drain and
allow to dry slightly. Using 1/2 cup water grind the
rice to a coarse paste. In a heavy bottomed pan ,
Bring the milk to a boil. Add the wet rice paste to the milk ,
lower heat and cook for about 15 minutes , stirring frequently
so that the rice doesnt form lumps ans stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add sugar and cardamom powder . Cook till the rice is soft and mushy.
Add the crushed almonds , and take off the heat.

Crush or soak the kesar in 2 spoons of hot milk. Add to the phirni.
Serve hot or cold .

P.S: I have been rescued once at a dinner party , where till 6.30 I had not figured out what I was going to serve for pudding. A nick into the soaking rice , came up with a cupful , ground and into some boiling milk. Voila. There was a dessert , just around the corner!

Falahari Poori

Fasting food is often restricted. The number of cereals allowed is not only limited but the taste is bland too. These days to get the younsters to confirm to traditional food is getting more and more difficult. However certain traditional food served with a proper accompaniment always hits bullseye. This nutty tasting poori is one such side. The crisp yet soft pooris go well with potato gravies, chutney , kadhi and even with raitas.

Ingredients:
2 cups Rajgira / kuttu ka atta ( Amaranth/ Buckwheat flour)
1 boiled potato
2 tsp Ghee
salt to taste ( if cooking on a fasting day , use rock salt)
water for kneading dough
oil for frying


Mix together the flour, salt and ghee. Grate in the boiled potato. Mix the flour well , add a little water at a time and form a stiff dough. Keep aside for half an hour.

When ready to serve, heat the oil. On a plastic sheet or foil. Place a drop of oil and place a dough ball on it. rub a little oil on your fingers and start patting the dough into a circle using your fingers. The poori needs to be as thin as a biscuit. Carefully lift up the poori and lower into hot oil. Hold down the poori with a slotted spoon till the poori fluffs up. Check the bottom for a even brown colour, then turn. Fry to a golden brown colour and drain.

Serve hot with Potato curry or a yoghurt raita or with a chutney of your choice. 

Roti Laddoo

What starts off a stale roti, end up as a nutritious delicious laddoo , which fly off the plate before you set them down. Its as easy to make as it is tasty to eat.

Here i have 4 small stale rotis. Stale rotis are dry and easily crumble. Just tear the rotis into small chunks and run it through a chopper or food processor. Just a couple of turns. What you get is crumbs like these.

To these crumbs add 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of soft ghee. You can add jaggery instead of powdered sugar. Just grate the jaggery and rub it into the roti crumbs before adding the ghee. Add a pinch of cardamom powder and a few sliced nuts. lift a fistful and pressing hard shape into small lemon sized balls.

Leftover arent left any more. Magic !!

Khotte

There was no dearth of exotic foods in our kitchen. Having a large internationally integrated family meant there was always something new and unusual from someones kitchen that found its way to our dining table. Dads closest friends were konkanis. Khotte or idlis steamed in triangular moulds made from jack fruit leaves and twigs were not only exotic but delicious. Just looking at those huge steamed leafy moulds made my dad go weak in the knees. Accompanied by a spicy runny corriander and coconut chutney it was a meal fit for a king. On special occasions it was served with a spicy coconut based fish curry. A treat for the eyes, a feast for the palate and nirvana for the soul.

The khotte are basically made with regular idli batter. Once can use the normal store bought batter as well to make the khotte. For the procedure to make the jack fruit moulds, here is a fantastic site where it has been explained with pictures.

http://www.aayisrecipes.com/2006/10/25/idlis-in-jackfruit-leaveshittukhottekhotte-kadubu/

Tavsali

Saraswats love using fruits like vegetables and vegetables like fruit , hence this traditional dish.Tavsali or Dhondas is basically a steamed cucumber cake. In the west people relish cakes / muffins made with vegetables like carrots and zucchini. Here is our very own traditional counterpart. The cucumbers used are the large variety , the seeds to be carefully avoided.

2 cups grated cucumber/kheera/kakdi,1 and 1/2 cups grated jaggery or sugar,1 and 1/4 cup rava/sooji/semolina,1 cup dessicated or finely  grated coconut,2 green cardamoms ground,2 tbsp chopped cashews,

pinch of salt.

Roast rava (dry or in 1 tsp butter/ghee) and cool.Mix all the rest of the ingredients and beat well , pour the batter in a 8 x 8inch baking pan.Preheat oven to 350 F / and bake the cake in the oven for 30 minutes till cooked .Cool and cut into squares.Can be served hot or at room temperature.

Manngane

Saraswat cooking is light except for the liberal use of coconuts.Most Saraswats are found in the coastal belt of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.Due to the abundance of coconuts , they have based their cuisine on coconuts. Coconut grated, dessicated , ground or the milk extracted from grated coconut.The richness it adds to gravies and the delicate flavour, is unmatched. Most of their sweets are coconut based. The delicate steamed Patolio, Modaks,Steamed Rice Semiyan in coconut milk, Sweet Potato Kheer and Manngane or Madgane.This is a rare sweet , but nutritious light and very different. The next time you want a dessert that is talked about try this.

1 cup Chana dal/ Bengal gram/ split chick peas ,1 cup grated jaggery,1/4 cup fresh coconut sliced and chopped into small pieces, 1 1/2 cups grated coconu,1 pinch cardamom powder,2 tbsps cashewnut pieces, 1 tbsp raisins, a pinch of salt

 Soak the chana dal in 2 cups of water for an hour, drain .Heat a tbsp of ghee,fry the channa dal, coconut pieces and raisins. Keep the cashews and  raisins aside, add 1/4 cup water to the fried chana dal and cover and cook the dal till soft but whole.Soak the grated coconut in 1 cup warm water.Grind it and squeeze the milk of the coconut.To the cooked dal and coconut pieces , add the jaggery and fried cashews. Keep on medium heat for 2-3 mins or so. Add the coconut milk and then the salt ,cardamom powder and raisins.Serve hot or cold.

Sweet Potato Kheer

The Sweet Potato is the amongst the most ignored root vegetables. While the Potato is a universal favourite and the colacassia bulbs ( Arvi) have its own fans in the North and South, the Yam( Suran), Purple Yam (Kand, Jimikand) and Tapioca make its presence felt in certain parts of South India. Sweet Potato also known as Shakarkandi , Ratalu, Ratale,  is an extremely nutritious tuber. Rich in complex carbohydrates, beta carotene , Vitamin C and manganese it is great source of dietary fibre. A regular intake of Sweet potato is today recomended to increase immunity in the body. 

In Maharashtra, the sweet potato or Ratale is used during fasting days. It is cooked in vegetables, kheer, halwa , puris and even fritters. Here is the recipe for a basic yet nutritious kheer.It is a Phalahaari / Farali dish.

Sweet Potato can be boiled and peeled just like the potato. Pressure cook 2 sweet potatoes. Peel and finely chop to yeild about 2 cups of small pieces.Grate 1/2 a fresh coconut. Soak the grated coconut in 1 1/2  cup hot water , for about 10 mins. Grind the coconut using half of the water it had been soaked in.Strain and keep aside this thick coconut milk. Grind the coconut again using the balance water.This is the thin milk. Add 1/4 cup of grated jaggery ( Gud, molasses) to the thin milk and heat till the jaggery dissolves. Add 2 crushed cardamoms and the chopped sweet potato.Add in the thick coconut milk and take off the stove. Serve warm or chilled .

Rice Kheer

Rice Kheer is the first solid food fed to a child in India.Around 6 months of age is when a child would start eating solids.There would be a rite-of-passage , Annaprashan or Ushtavan. The rice kheer was the first solid a baby was intriduced to and usually remains a favourite right into adulthood even though their palates have been corrupted by all kinds of junk foods . The home made rice kheer is a surefire way to lift up anyones spirit.

Its easy to make and can be made with cooked rice or from scratch. I prefer to let you in on the shortcut and the shorter cut.

Short: 1 cup cooked rice, 1 litre milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 cardamoms crushed, raisins, chopped nuts.Boil the milk , add sugar. As the sugar dissolves, add the cardamoms, raisins and rice. Cook on a slow flame till the milk reduces to half. Keep scraping off the creamy deposits on the edges of the pan and put it back into the milk.Garnish with nuts and serve hot or cold.

Shorter: 1 cup cooked rice, 1 litre milk, 1/4 cup sugar,1 cup sweetened evaporated / condensed milk, 2 cardamoms crushed, raisins, chopped nuts.Boil the milk , add sugar. As the sugar dissolves, add the cardamoms, raisins and rice. Cook on a slow flame for 5 minutes. Add the evaporated milk bring to a boil. Cook further for 5 mins .Keep scraping off the creamy deposits on the edges of the pan and put it back into the milk.Garnish with nuts and serve hot or cold.

Sheera & Sanjori

The simple but delectable Sheera is known by many names .Sheera , in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Sooji Halwa in the North, Sanja in Goa, North Kanara, Rawa Kesari in the South.It is widely used as prasad ( a offering to gods during any religious ritual, later distributed amongst all present).While for prasad, there is a specific recipe and is mostly cooked by the priest himself, as a snack it is less rich and uses ghee and sugar sparingly.

Here goes the recipe for a sweet snack.
1 cup sooji/ semolina/rawa
2 tbsp ghee 
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk ( optional)
1/2 cup hot water ( if milk is not used , use 1 cup water)
1 cardamon crushed
a few strands of saffron ( optional)
raisins
coarsely powdered or sliced cashews, almonds, pistachios

Pick and sift the sooji. Heat ghee, add sooji. On a slow flame roast till slightly pink, taking care to not let the sooji brown ( though in north india a brown sooji is preferred, in the west people appreciate an off white colour). add cardamoms and raisins. While the sooji is roasting heat the water and milk , mixed together. Carefully , slowly pour the mix ( or only water as preferred) into the sooji.Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes or till the water has almost evaporated. Add sugar and saffron ,stir, cover and cook till the sooji is dry and separated. If it still looks lumpy , cook uncovered till the liquid dries out completely.

Add crushed/ sliced nuts and serve.It is traditionally filled into a small bowl, pressed in and turned out into a plate , to resemble a mound.many families serve it with a spicy pickle, though it is best eaten on its own.

Sanjori: The answer to north indian stuffed parathas is the delicate sanjori. made with a stuffing of Sheera ( without the raisins and nuts). For Sanjori , make Sheera as above, except use 1 cup sugar instead of 3/4 cup. For the outer layer : 3/4 cup maida, 1/4 cup wholewheat flour, 4 tbsp oil ,a pinch of salt, water for kneading the dough. Sift together the two flours and add in salt, oil and mix well till the oil is well disributed into the flour. Add a little water at a time and knead it into a soft pliable dough.Cover and keep aside for 30 mins.

Break the dough into 8 even sized balles. take 8 balls of the sheera , a size slightly smaller than the dough. Roll out the dough just a bit to be able to cover the sheera ball. spread a few drops of oil on the dough circle.Place the sheera ball in the centre of the dough. cover the sheera  smoothly and seal the dough like a small pouch. Sprinkle flour on a flat cool surface and roll out applying a little pressure. First roll in one direction , turn the dough 90 degrees and roll again, that way you end up rolling all sides. Make sure to maintain the same thickness all around. Heat a girdle , lower the flame and turn out the rolled out dough onto it.Roast till light brown spots appear, turn and roast the other side.

Serve hot with a little ghee smeared on top. I tried to get a bit creative with the roti and hence the fluted edges :)