Corn Bhel

Bhel is essentially street food, very popular in Bombay. Its a great fusion of flavours, sweet, tangy, spicy - all in one !
Usually, puffed rice (kurmura, mamra) is used to make bhel.
Here, I have substituted it with corn kernels
Its actually a healthy dish, I would think, camouflaged as a chaat, almost like a salad, except for the addition of the chutneys

There are two chutneys used in making most chaat dishes. I discovered this style of green chutney here in Ahmedabad. Peanuts are used here instead of onions. A little sugar is also added in this green chutney usually, which I skipped out



What you need -

1 1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
2 tomatoes
1 onion
1/2 cup of coriander leaves
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1 potato
2 tsp green chutney (recipe follows)
2 tsp sweet chutney (recipe follows)
1/2 tsp chaat masala
1 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste

What you do with it -

If the corn is really tender, use as is, otherwise, cook in salted water till done
I used the pressure cooker to cook the kernels since it was not very tender
Boil the potato and peel and chop
Finely chop the tomatoes, cucumber, onion and coriander leaves
In a bowl, mix the corn, potatoes, onion, cucumber and the green chutney and sweet chutney
Add tomatoes and salt if required
Mix it well and then garnish with coriander leaves
Sprinkle the chaat masala and lime juice over it
You could also sprinkle some sev over it


The chutneys here are more than what is required for this recipe
These chutneys can be stored and used as accompaniments for other dishes too

Green Chutney

1 cup packed coriander leaves
2 green chillies
small piece of ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp peanuts
salt
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Grind all the ingredients together to make a smooth paste
You can store this in an airtight jar in the refrigerator

Sweet chutney

1 cup deseeded dates
1/2 cup cleaned and deseeded tamarind
2 tbsp grated jaggery
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 cup water
a pinch of salt

Chop the dates and soak in warm water
In a pan, heat the jaggery powder and water and add the dates, tamarind and salt
Heat on a low flame and slowly bring to a boil
Once it starts thickening, add the chilli powder and cumin powder
Keep on heat for 2-3 mins and allow to cool
Strain and store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator

Carrot ginger soup and Tomato bruschetta

The winter has set in early this year and most parts of India which barely got cold during winters, have seen a real dip in the temperatures. Ahmedabad used to get a little cold towards the end of December, but this year its been pretty cold since end November and I've pulled out my entire stock of woolens...

Remember I had told you about this set of hand-written recipes that Miri had gifted me long back...I was going thru it a couple of days back and decided to make a nice healthy soup from it. I don't make soups very often and I really don't know why because I think I really like them ! And I love these new soup bowls that my sister-in-law gifted me, so I'm sure I'll be making soup more often now :)



Teamed the carrot ginger soup with some tomato bruschetta from Kay's fabulous blog 'Kayotic Kitchen'- perfect dinner for this weather, light on the stomach and nice combination of flavours



The sharp taste of ginger with the almost sweetish carrots and the heat from the pepper made this soup really perfect and we loved the bruschetta...Thank you Kay and Miri for these great ideas !

What you need -

3-4 medium sized carrots
10-12 sprigs of coriander leaves
2 medium sized onions
1 big piece of ginger
1 tsp butter
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1 litre water

What you do with it -

Clean the carrots, peel and cut into big chunks
Chop the onions and crush the ginger slightly, but dont let it break. This way you get the flavour, but not the pieces of ginger
Heat butter in a pan and add onions and carrots
Clean the coriander sprigs and tie it up with a thread
Add the bunch of coriander and the ginger piece and a litre of water to the carrots
Pressure cook for 15 mins
Discard the coriander bunch and the ginger
Cool and run thru the blender
Add the remaining water, salt and pepper and allow to simmer
Turn off the heat and add a few drops of lemon juice
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves

Paneer cutlets with a twist

My uncle's retired from the army now and during his days there, I have seen the most well presented food at all the fancy dinners that people hosted.
I think each dinner outdid the other with the variety of food and the absolutely amazing presentation. My aunt is an awesome cook and has hosted many many lovely dinners.

Everything about army life fascinated me, the lovely cantonment areas in every corner of India, the lifestyle, the parties, the very polite and classy army wives in their beautiful sarees, the chivalrous men in their smart uniforms and gleaming polished shoes, of course, topped the list !!
I think I was in school when this serial called Fauji (ShahRukh Khan's first acting stint I think) was on tv and I simply adored people in the army even more after seeing that !!

We spent most of our vacations travelling to the places they were posted to, and thats how I've managed to see most of India and have some of the best memories of my childhood from all these holidays...

I could go on about this, but I better stop here..This recipe is from my aunt. She made it when I was in Delhi last week, and I loved it...



The paneer in Delhi of course is unquestionably good and in these cutlets, they were so super soft...it almost melted in your mouth...
The idea of using peas as the coating, I thought, was really novel and added so much to the taste and colour...



What you need -

3/4th measure fresh / frozen green peas
1/4 measure chana dal
1/2" piece ginger
3 cloves of garlic
2 green chillies
8-10 curry leaves
2 onions chopped fine
1/2 cup coriander leaves
200 gm paneer (the freshest you can lay your hands on)
salt to taste

What you do with it -

Thaw the peas if using the frozen ones
Soak chana dal in water for about 2 hours
Peel the ginger and garlic
Grind together the peas, chana dal, ginger, green chillies, garlic and curry leaves into a coarse paste, without adding water
Add the chopped onions, salt and chopped coriander leaves to this paste
Cut the paneer lengthwise into bite sized pieces
Coat it with the peas-chana dal paste
Shallow fry on a low flame till it turns brown

Serve with mint / coriander chutney

Kadi for the soul - Solkadi / Kokum Kadi

Just thinking of Goa puts me in a better mood...great place, amazing food and fantastic memories..

This is where I took the big decision of saying yes to S :)
I dont have to tell you about the place - the weather the people and the beaches make it India's top holiday destination
And of course, the food - its really really amazing - you get all sorts of cuisine here, but I totally pig out on the local Goan cuisine..

Sol / Kokum is a berry like fruit, and the rind of this is dried and preserved. This is popular in Goa and the Konkan area. With its tangy taste, its used as an alternative to tamarind in these regions.
This is what the kokum rinds look like



Kokum infused water is also used to treat allergic rashes - i remember when we were younger, my brother used to break out into a rash because of the 'pitha' and ma would rub his hands with kokum water and the rashes would disappear in no time

My favourite form of kokum is SolKadi - coconut milk with kokum
and
Saar or 'phooti kadi' which is just kokum water with seasoning.
Solkadi with ice is great as a drink in the hot summers and the saar is great with rice

I made a combination of this - i love it as kadi, but didnt want to make another curry for the rice, so made the coconut milk version with the seasoning used for the saar, tasted fantastic as a drink and with rice !



Hey, this is a nice pink too, so Priya, you have one more entry from me for FIC- Pink. FIC or Food in colours is the brilliant idea of Harini, more famous as Sunshinemom


What you need

10-12 kokum rinds
1/4 coconut grated
4 cloves of garlic
4 pepper corns
1/2 tsp salt
5 cups water (approx)
1 tsp mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves
1 tbsp grated jaggery

What you do with it

Wash the kokum rinds in water and soak in water
You can keep this for 5-6 hours or overnight
(If you dont have the time, boil the water and then add the kokum rinds
Allow it to stand for a 4-5 mins and then remove the rinds
The water should have a dark pink tinge
If its black, it may mean that the kokum rinds are really old)
Remove the rinds from the water and dissolve salt and jaggery in the water
Grind the coconut, garlic cloves and pepper corns with about 1/2 cup water
Strain thru a fine sieve or a muslin cloth
Add this to the kokum water
To make my husband get the 'rasam feel', i seasoned it with mustard seeds and curry leaves

You could skip the seasoning and just garnish with coriander leaves and a slit green chilli. Put in 4-5 ice cubes per glass and have it as a refreshing drink