At least for me it is a daily challenge to feed my 2.5 year old fussy angel a meal that she would love to eat; at the moment, she seem to have real sweet tooth, just like her father. Furthermore, I have to give her variety in her meals while not compromising the nutritional aspect. On these experimental lines, I have today made a twist to the simple omelette by adding oats, and have delivered it to my daughter’s plate in different shapes. And yes, she finished it quickly and happily 🙂
Now I hope this is an established fact by now (through some of the recipes on my blog) that being from the Indian state of Rajasthan (desert state, in Western India), I am truly gung-ho on traditional Rajasthani / Marwari food 🙂 For the benefit of all, the state of Rajasthan (or major parts of it) used to be called “Marwar”, and hence the name Marwari. Traditional Rajasthani curries are mainly non green vegetables because in olden times, it was extremely hard to get green and leafy vegetables in the desert due to less water and very hot weather.
Having gained a few kilos/pounds over Diwali, I am now determined to get back on the healthy wheel 🙂 Hence this post covers another great nutritional dish using my regular/one of the favourite vegetable – Broccoli.
This post is the last one covering my Diwali sweets/snacks preparation. I am covering 3 snacks in one go – Mathri, Namkeen, and Shakarpare. All these are traditional classic North Indian tea time snacks. These are made with all-purpose flour, carom seeds (for the flavour) and, some oil/clarified butter (to make it crispy/flaky). Note that these snacks are not limited to Diwali only; they are prepared at Holi and perhaps throughout the year.
Continuing my Diwali celebrations, this post covers another sweet/dessert that I prepared this week. However this is more of a regular one in my house than limited only for Diwali (courtesy my husband 🙂 ); not to forget that this is a much loved sweet/snack in parts of North/East India during the festival of Holi.
For all my global friends, Gulab Jamun is a India-wide available/famous dessert. In simple English language, it is an evaporated-milk based dumpling soaked in rose-scented sugar syrup. The actual dumpling is termed as Jamun (in Hindi), and Gulab is the Hindi term for rose – hence the name Gulab Jamun.
Let’s admit – how can you deny a good laddu on this lovely occasion of Diwali 🙂 With strong belief in this premise, I prepared these lovely albeit slightly different (by Indian standards) Courgette/Zucchini Coconut laddus as part of my Diwali celebrations.
Now, this is another form of carbohydrates that we Indians just love to have. One can safely assume that Parantha is prepared/eaten in every Indian household. Aloo Parantha is one such variation to the simple Parantha, and comes with a spiced-up potato filling. For all my friends/readers, Aloo is the Hindi term for Potato. North of India is famous for churning out a lot of such variations of Parantha – Aloo Parantha, Gobhi (Cauliflower) Parantha, Palak (Spinach) Parantha, Paneer (Cottage Cheese) Parantha, Muli (Radish) Parantha, and so on.
For my non-Hindi speaking friends – Baingan is the Hindi word for Aubergine/Eggplant. Today’s post on Baingan Bharta is one of the acclaimed Vegetable Mains dish, made using Aubergine/Eggplant. Baingan Bharta is mostly famous in North Indian states, and is made using roasted and mashed aubergine cooked with onion, tomato, garlic and Indian spices.
For all my global friends – festive season in India is in full swing with Diwali (festival of Lights) falling in the coming week (on the 23rd of Oct). So, like all Indians, I am into the festive mode and am preparing rich, heavy, favourite foods nearly all times of the day! So I am starting the day with a wonderful breakfast of Amritsari Chole and Bhature.
Samosa can safely be termed as an ubiquitous , sort of favourite Indian snack – and I am no different than my fellow Indians 🙂 We Indians can have a samosa any time during the day – morning breakfast, mid-morning/evening snack, or for that matter in lunch/dinner in extreme cases of having no other options.
Yes, this is again a speciality from my desert state of Rajasthan (Western India) 🙂 Mawa Malpua is a high calorie dessert which people mostly enjoy in the festivals like Diwali, and Holi in North/West India. So with this one, I am definitely not wearing my healthy/calorie conscious hat. Malpua comes in many different types as per the different regions of India – Malpua is made up with khoya and served with sweetened thick milk (rabri) in Rajasthan, in Maharastra, Malpua is made with banana or coconut. Malpua is also served to Lord Jagannath during Rathyatra in Orissa (an Eastern state in India).
Broccoli is a very healthy vegetable and one that is full of nutrition. But broccoli is still trying to find its place in Indian kitchen due to its different taste and a slightly pungent smell. Most of us (Indians) seem to be oblivious to the place of Broccoli in our modern diet. Broccoli is rich in many essential vitamins and minerals, and is also very low in calories. It is a great source of vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6), Iron, Magnesium, Potassium, Zinc in addition to fiber, folate, and lutein.
This Rajasthani special is indeed the best of Rajasthan’s cuisine and a real gem from India. Even though we refer it as one dish (of 3 words), it actually is a triple whammy of spicy Daal, crispy Baati and the rich/sweet Churma.
Now this is what I term as the top of the lot Halwa – Moong daal halwa. This is again one of my favourite and an extremely relishing delicacy from North/West India. This rich dessert is generally present in most Indian celebrations like weddings, and Diwali/Holi. Since it is very warm, rich and on a heavier side, people tend to prepare/relish this rich dessert especially in winter. I however do not mind to have it at any time 🙂
Curry leaves (kadi patta in Hindi) are normally used as a spice in Indian cuisine, mainly to give a distinct flavour to the dishes. I have mainly used curry leaves in upma, daal and select vegetable curries. But today I have went ahead and have prepared a curry leaves chutney; yes, you have read it right – a chutney. This chutney is very different and superb in taste.
My darling daughter loves black-eye beans very much; so much that she even eats them without any garnishing – simply boiled. She probably got this from her father (my husband) for whom black eye beans are a must to maintain his fitness regime. So this curry is a regular feature in my household – I usually make it once every week/10 days, if not more.
The Indian festive season is on full swing, having just wrapped up Navratri and Diwali being just around the corner. Now this definitely calls for some sweet/dessert recipes as no celebration in India is complete without sweets 🙂
Moving away from milk based sweets (actually my husband’s fixation), this post is on another popular Indian (Western India) sweet dish made from roasted chickpea flour (gram flour/besan) and clarified butter (ghee) – Mohanthal. It is just like a fudge with an authentic touch of cardamom and chopped dry fruits. It is also known as Chickpea Flour Fudge. It looks like Besan Barfi but the making process and the taste are totally different.
Lentils are generically termed as Daal in India (in Hindi language). My Papa and my hubby are absolute daal lovers. Most of the times they only require just daal and chapati as their staple diet – they don’t even need any vegetable curry. And for this reason, I am always experimenting with different daals to satisfy their palate.
For the benefit of everyone, Halwa (kind of equivalent to a Pudding) is a dessert which is very common in almost all Indian households. There are many different types of puddings in India, and each such pudding has its own unique taste.
Most Indian women will make this pudding without any measurements, just from their instincts or as I say “andaz se” (meaning calculated guess). Before marriage I had never made this simple pudding but I used to make one of the most difficult puddings (Moong Daal ka Halwa), because I simply loved that.
I love black chickpeas (kala chana) and so black chickpea with rice is one of my favourite combo. I usually make black chickpea (gravy one) and, plain rice separately; and enjoy them by mixing them together. However today for the first time I made it this Pulav and it was too good. It is quick, easy and a tasty recipe.
Paneer curry without onion and garlic – does it sound a bit weird? May be because we don’t normally get the best paneer curry without onion and garlic, isn’t it? But this is not the case with this one 🙂
Most people use cucumber in salads and/or in raita (dip). I was also part of this group till marriage. I was introduced to this curry for the 1st time at my husband’s place. I have to admit it – it was a lovely surprise to see cucumber in curry form; and it was indeed tasty and, a quick one to turnaround when in hurry.
For the benefit of everyone, Pepper is also popular as Bell pepper or Capsicum. This Post is based one of my Mumma’s hit dish – she used to cook green peppers with chickpea flour so perfect that whenever she was cooking them, our neighbours would call in to demand some for themselves; they used to state that the aroma was simply irresistible.
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