I am still here !!!

Hello Everyone,

I am sure you all must be thinking where have i disappeared all of sudden. Life's been like a roll a coster ride from the time i came back. Work and travelling keeps me busy all week long, I am sure working women will understand how hectic life becomes especially when you are in office for 10 to 12 hours. There are so many ideas in my head which are waiting to become reality but because of time constraint cooking has taken a back seat but I am sure to come back with some sizzling and mouth watering delicacies!

 I also am having quite a few family functions/marriages coming up in december. One of my friend rightly mentioned that India has 4 seasons - Summer, Winter, Rainy and Marriage :) I cant agree more, truly this is  a season of celebration and martial bliss. So until I am back I have decided to share some pictures which were taken when I was in switzerland. I am not a master in photography, infact I am still learning and someday I hope to tempt you all which some good, mouth watering pictures :-)

Hope you enjoyed the click, until next time, take care !!

Many of you have passed loads of awards to me, I am so thankful to all my friends and readers who have inspired me and generously shared their happiness with me. I will acknowledge them in a seperate post :-)

Guvar Dhokli Nu Shaak - A Gujarati Delicacy (Cluster Beans Curry)

Dear All,

A dear friend of mine sent me a message "We all are part of a puzzle of someone else's life. You many never know where you fit in, but someone else's life may never be complete without you !!" How true is this? When we look back in past, we meet many people and as we meet them their lives get connected to ours. Sometimes we find them as our friends, colleagues, bosses etc I truly believe that we learn something from our each interaction. We learn and feel every emotion happiness, anger, trust, courage, patience. All this is very important for us to become a better human being and truly enriches our lives. I am not sure if I am part of a puzzle of someone else's life but I sure know that I will try to fit in :-)

Todays dish is long pending, it was initially requested by Sangeeta and I had promised her I will post the recipe very soon. Due to unavailability of cluster beans in swiss i couldnt post the recipe earlier. Guvar Dhokli Nu Shaak as said in gujarati is one of my favorite curries to an extent where i can eat this all alone without rotis and believe me its very tasty and fulfilling. I am sure every gujarati must have tasted this atleast once in their life. Its very regular in my house and is enjoyed by all. I would urge everyone to try out this dish once and experience the difference :-)

Recipe Source: My Mom

Ingredients:

250 gms Cluster Beans chopped (Guvar)

a generoud pinch of asafoetida (Hing)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

Salt to taste

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp oil

For Dhoklis:

1 cup chickpea flour (Besan)

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

a pinch of baking soda

2 - 3 tbsp oil

Procedure:-

• To make dhoklis, mix everything together and make a smooth dough. Avoid adding water to the dough and use more oil if required.
• Make small round balls and flatten them with your hands. Remove 4 to 5 dhoklis and keep them aside.
• In a pan heat about a tsp of oil, add in asafoetida, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let them splutter.
• Now add in the cluster beans, washed and chopped. Add rest of the masalas and 1/2 cup of water.
• Cover and cook for 7 to 8  mins.
• Once 90% done, slowly add in all the dhoklis one by one. Cover and cook for another 5 mins.
• Smash the dhoklis which we had kept aside and stir in the curry, add in water if required. This helps to make the curry thick in consistency.
• Make sure you donot frequently stir the curry as it may break the dhoklis.
• Serve immediately with hot rotis.

Weekend if very near so here's wishing you all a very happy and relaxing weekend. See you all next week.

This dish is off to Flavors Of Gujarat event by Nayna

Corn Capsicum Masala with Gulab Jamuns for ICC

Dear All,

Hows everyone doing? I hope the sun is shining bright in your side of the world :-)  This post is little late but better late than never right? For this months Indian Cooking Challenge Srivalli chose Gulab Jamuns, one of the most favorite indian sweet of all time. This was also the first time I prepared gulab jamuns using khoya and they turned out to be simply melt in mouth type! Making khoya at home is little time consuming but if you use ready made khoya than making gulab jamuns at home is so very easy and quite simple too.

Recipe for Gulab Jamuns:
1 cup khoya (250 gms)
1/2 cup maida (all purpose flour)
1 pinch of baking soda
Oil/Ghee for frying

Recipe for Sugar Syrup:
1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 cups of water
few saffron strands
4 Cardamon pods
2 tsp of rose water

Procedure for Gulab Jaums:

• For jamuns, mix khoya, maida and baking soda together. Knead together and make small balls.
• For sugar syrup, heat together all the ingredients and let is simmer for 10 mins until one thread consistency is reached.
• Deep fry the jamuns on low heat so that they are cooked evenly.
• Remove and drain excess oil on paper towels.
• Add the jamuns in sugar syrup and let them soak in syrup for 3 to 4 hours. You can also keep them over night.
• Serve warm and to top it up add a dollop of vanilla ice cream :-)

Winter has already started here, its the time of the year for shawls and pullovers, good old morning walks have returned. Its the time of the year when you feel lazy and getting up early in the morning sounds like climbing a mountain. Its also the time when we crave for something warm and welcoming especially during the nights. On one such chilly evening I prepared Corn Capsicum Masala a perfect combo with rotis and pickle.

Ingredients for Corn Capsicum Masala:
1 cup sweet corn (200 gms)
2 medium green capsicum, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, quatered
2 medium onions, quatered
2 green chillies
1 tsp ginger paste
1 - 2 tsp fresh cream (malai can also be used)
1 - 2 tsp oil
2 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 - 2 tsp sugar
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
Salt to taste


Procedure:

• Grind together tomatoes, onions, green chillies and ginger paste with very little water into a smooth paste.
• Heat oil in a pan, add in bay leaves, cinnamon stick and tomato-onion paste. Fry for 3 to 4 mins until raw smell of onion disappears.
• Now add in the masalas, capsicum and sweet corn. Add little water if required.
• Cover and cook for 10 to 15 mins until well cooked. Make sure you have enough water so that the curry doesnt get burnt.
• Just before serving add in fresh cream and give a quick turn.
• Serve warm with hot rotis or phulkas.