Sai Bhaji (Sindhi Cuisine)

Sai bhaji is an excellent dish that comes from the Sindhi Cuisine. I am always looking out for nutritious leafy vegetable recipes and this one tops the list with the greens. It gives you enough flexibility to use a variety of vegetables along with a variety of greens, where basically spinach leads the pack. I have tried just a few recipes from Sindhi cuisine and have loved all of it. Lauki Chana sabji, Aloo methi tuk, Koki roti, Sindhi kadi, Sindhi biryani etc.

Sai means green and bhaji means vegetable. Sai bhaji is basically a mashed mixture of spinach, dill, methi, bengal gram dal, eggplant, yam, tomatoes, potato, onion etc. The blend you get in the end is very tasty and nutritious, a very soul-satisfying comfort dish indeed! The best part is it is a one pot meal. Start with a tempering in a pressure cooker and add all the vegetables. Pressure cook it for few whistles and your dish is ready in no time.

 It is one of those dishes where if your kid takes a liking don't think twice, make it once a week :) Because there is no better way to get those nutrients into his/her system without any fuss. I am glad I got lucky with this one (knocking on wood), though I have to be careful about not getting chunks of eggplant into my kid's plate, that goodness is all for the mommy and daddy :)

Let us take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of spinach
• 2 tbsp fenugreek leaves (or 1 tbsp dry fenugreek leaves)
• 1 tbsp dill leaves
• 2 tomatoes 
• 1 onion sliced
• 2 small eggplant big cubes
• 2-3 okra
• 1/2 plantain cubed
• 1 small potato cubed
• 1/4th cup bengal gram dal (chana dal)
• 1 tsp coriander powder 
• 2-3 green chilies
• 1-2 inch ginger chopped
• 1/4th tsp turmeric pwd
• salt to taste
•  2-3 tsp oil

Preparation:

• Chop leafy vegetables roughly. Soak chana dal in water for 30 minutes and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add ginger, onion, brinjal, potato, okra, plantain, gram dal and cook for just a few minutes till it is slightly tender. 
• Now add all leafy vegetables, tomatoes, powders, chilies and lightly saute everything. 
• Add little water till everything is just soaked. Close the lid and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles. Wait till the cooker cools down and lets out all the pressure. 
• Mash gently the mixture before serving. Adjust the consistency of the dish by adding a little water and serve hot with rice or rotis or pooris or koki.

You may also like Patal Spinach Peanuts curry, Lal Bhaji, KhatKhate, Vali Bhaji (Vietnamese spinach)...

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Notes:* You can add various vegetables in this dish like carrots, cauliflower, yam, arbi, potato etc. If you don't have dill leaves, you can skip and add an extra tomato to make it sour.

Seen in the plate: brown rice, fried tapioca fritters, and tomato poori.

Health Benefits: Spinach has a high content of vitamin K and is useful for protein modification and plays an important role in protecting bones from osteoporosis. Spinach is also high in fiber, which helps break down food and keeps your digestive system moving.One cup of spinach is all you need to get a full day’s requirement of vitamin A. That’s good news for your tired eyes. Very rich in iron content, that’s why vegetarians and anemics are encouraged to eat lots of spinach for healthy blood and proper red blood cell production.If you are prone to asthma attacks or have difficulty breathing, include spinach in your diet. The beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium and magnesium in spinach all have anti-asthmatic properties. Addition of other vegetables will provide more minerals, vitamins, and protein( from chana dal).

Halloween Pizza Mummies (Pastry)

Halloween is one of the fun festivals of the year for kids and adults (well, originally it was not:)). It is a holiday that is described as spooky, haunting, supernatural, eerie, scary, fun, creepy and ghostly. Children simply look forward to it, as they get candies unlimited, get to wear their favorite character costume and get together with their friends to go trick or treating. Few enthusiasts throw costume parties and many of them decorate their yards and homes with haunting decor, smoke, spooky music, lights etc.

And then there is a whole other event of carving pumpkins! Every one gets very creative and carve some real great art on it.

Wolverine with the carved pumpkin :)

Every festival comes with its own set of food preparations and flavors, without which the celebration is incomplete :) People get really innovative making all sorts of spooky dishes during halloween. Internet buzzes with scary, gross, fun, bloody recipes heheh. This one here is a simple, quick and fun recipe for the kids made from frozen puff pastry, I named it as "Halloween Pizza Mummies Pastry". I wanted to stuff it with some fruits but my kid wanted a pizza stuffing in it, so that is what I had to make. You can stuff it with anything you like, say fruits, paneer burji stuffing, egg stuffing or keema stuffing just about anything.

If you are interested in knowing what halloween story is all about, read this:
Halloween falls on October 31st each year in North America and other parts of the world. The story goes like this, this holiday was originally called All Hallows' Eve, and it marked the beginning of a three-day feast to honor dead Christian saints, also known as hallows. The celts and the pagan cultures thought that, during late autumn and early winter, spirits were more likely to cross back into the human world to seek revenge on those people who had wronged them. Food offerings were made to appease angry spirits. People began dressing up in costumes to imitate ghosts, sprites and evil spirits. They hoped to blend in with or conceal themselves from restless and vengeful ghosts.

Devil and the Transformer with a scenic backdrop of fall colors !

Trick or treating symbolizes the act of appeasing angry ghosts with food in order to avoid their mischievous pranks. Jack o' lanterns were created to ward off ghosts. Although Christians have tried to redirect the focus of the holiday from ancient pagan rituals to honoring the saints, some have still kept some of the traditions, such as placing candles on the graves of the dead.

But as years past by, Halloween is not usually considered a religious holiday anymore. It is primarily a fun day for children. Children dress up in costumes like people did a thousand years ago. But instead of worrying about evil spirits, they go from house to house. They knock on doors and say "trick or treat."

(taken from history.com)

Let us take a look at the Halloween Pizza Mummies recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 packet frozen pastry puff (I made of 1 sheet and got 6 mummies:))
• 1 egg
• 1 small red onion sliced
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce (or marinara sauce)
• 1 chicken sausage cooked and sliced
• 2-3 mini peppers sliced
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or any cheese)
• few store bought eye candies ( or use olives)

Preparation:

• Thaw the frozen puff pastry for 45 minutes on the kitchen counter (or follow the instructions on the package).
• On a wax paper, open the sheet and sprinkle some all purpose flour on it, roll it out smoothly using rolling pin, just couple of inches on all the sides.
• Follow the pictures above to make cuts, first big squares. Then mark a rectangle cut in the centre and horizontal small cuts on each side.
• In the centre rectangle, place pizza sauce, top it with your fav toppings, I have used onions, mini peppers, chicken sausage, cheese. Then braid it by taking a strip from each side and overlapping it tightly and neatly.
• Beat an egg in a bowl, give the mummies an egg wash by using a brush.
• Place it on a baking sheet and bake it on 400F(200C) for 15 minutes. Take it out and place the candy eyes on it to make it look goofy :) My kid was thrilled and it was my pleasure to see him gobble it all :)
• Enjoy it with fries and your favorite drink :)

You may also like Pastry Flag Pizza, Dosa Flag, Pastry fruit Cups.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Idea adapted from www.homeandplate.com

Throwing in one more halloween pic here while I am at it :):)

always fun to wear costumes!

Rice Chakli (Chakali)

Chakali's or Chakli are a perfect spiral shaped (like preztel-ish shape) deep-fried savory snack with a spiked surface. Most of the Indians enjoy eating Chakli with their tea or coffee as a snack in the late afternoon. Or when you go visiting your friends or family, this snack is usually present by default on the coffee table :) along with the other snacks. It is a crunchy snack that makes a loud noise as you munch on it, giving a good exercise to your mouth (he he) as you get into the rhythm of munching and creating sound that goes karram kurram :) -( yeah I know it's the same sound for papad too :))

There are 10 different types of Chakali preparation with various permutation and combination of flours and spices. I make the most simple one with rice flour and chickpea flour (besan) which is how my mom makes. Comes out fine. Soon will try few other kind with Ragi (my fav. grain), Moong dal etc and will experiment with baking instead of frying :)

A special gadget is used to make these spirals. Not sure how you can make this if you don't have one :) This is a must do snack in many households during the festival of Diwali. Every Diwali I think to myself, I must make this snack more often and that somehow never happens :( Either the days are passing by too fast or I am getting lazy to do it before the next Diwali comes by :)

Never mind, let's see on the brighter side, I get into the mood of making it atleast every Diwali :) I like my Chaklis very spicy, that's how my mom makes it and everyone in my house loves it that way.
It is also known as murukku in the south of India or chakri in northern northern India. Whatever the name, it is loved by most of us.

Let us take a look at the Chakli recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup chickpea flour (besan) 
• 2 tbsp split black gram flour (urad dal/kali dal)
• 1 1/2 tsp chilly powder, (more if you like spicy)
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) 
• 1/2 tsp carrom seeds (ajwain) 
• 2 tsp sesame seeds (til)
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhania pwd)
• 2 tsp hot oil
• salt as per taste 
• 1 tsp hot ghee (you can use all 3 tsp ghee too)
• 3/4th cup approx. water (to knead the dough)
• oil to fry

Preparation:

• Mix all the above ingredients except water and mix everything with your fingers. Be careful with the hot oil. 
• Then slowly add water little by little and make a chapati/roti like dough. Keep aside for 20-30 min, covered.
  

• Take some portion of the chakli dough, knead it some more and place it in the chakli press, start making spirals on a newspaper sheet or wax paper.

• Heat oil in a kadai, once the oil is hot bring the flame to med.  Slowly slide the chaklis in the kadai using piece of wax paper or slide it on plain spatula and transfer slowly in the hot oil and fry nicely till it is brown on all sides. 

• Take it out and place on the paper towel to absorb the extra oil. Nice crispy spicy chaklis are ready.

• Let it cool down completely before you store it in an airtight container.

njoY!! happY fryinG!! :)

You may also like Microwave Doodh Pedha, Badushai, Mandige, Besan ladoo....

Notes:* Always fry chakli on low-medium flame. If you see that the spirals are breaking while making chakli, try to work with little dough at a time, knead it well,  add couple drops of water, knead well and place it in the chakli press. It works for me that way. If your dough is too soft, add little all purpose flour and knead well before you start making the spirals. If still it isn't working just directly add the spirals in the oil (carefully) and fry. Spirals or no spirals, snack is yummy anyways! :)

Mande (Mandige / Chowde)- Sweet Dish

Mande or Mando is a very simple and an authentic Konkani sweet dish usually prepared during the festival of Diwali, Chaturthi and Weddings! It is a deep-fried flat poori (bigger in size) which is folded like a handkerchief and a generous dose of confectionary sugar mixed with sesame seed is sprinkled on the top. It is a melt in the mouth treat! It is sweet, rich and crunchy! Has a pure look to it as it is white in color and looks so divine!

I call it my handkerchief dessert :) because of the way it is folded and stored. Various regions in Karnataka and Maharashtra know this sweet by various name like Mande, Mandige, Chowde etc.

Try it this Diwali and enjoy it with your family!

Here is the Mande recipe or Chowde recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour (Maida)
• 2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp cardamom crushed
• 2 tsp pistachios crushed
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds roasted
• 1 tbsp dry grated coconut roasted (optional)
• pinch salt
• water to knead the dough
• oil to deep fry

Preparation:

• Make a dough by taking maida, add warm ghee, salt and mix everything by rubbing with your hands. Add water 1 tbsp at a time and knead a hard dough. Keep aside for 15 minutes covered.
• Make a mixture of confectionary sugar, cardamom, pistachios and coconut. 
• By taking a small portion of dough, make balls and roll out a disc of 5-6 inch diameter using a rolling pin. It should be thin and not thick disc. 
• Heat oil in a frying pan, work on a med-high flame, else the mande will soak oil while frying. Fry it just like you would fry a papad. The color should remain white. Small bubbles appear on the surface indicating they are cooked. If kept for a longer time, they become stiff and cannot be folded.
• Take it out on a paper towel and immediately sprinkle sugar mixture on the mande, by making use of spoon fold it once and sprinkle more sugar on it. Now make one another last fold and sprinkle sugar mixture again. Leave it to cool down. You can store it in an airtight container for good 1 week. 

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Notes:* While frying the Mande poori see to it that it doesn't fluff like poori, in order to get a flat poori try making marks on the rolled disc with a fork and then slide in the oil. Fry on med-high flame. Do not fry too much that you get brown color.

Kaju Katli (Cashew Burfi)

Kaju Katli or Cashew Burfi is the king of all the sweets (according to me and not wiki :P) It is rich, decadent, not too sweet, leaves a great after taste and is elegant to look at plus you cannot stop it at one, it is an addictive sweet! Hands down the most gorgeous looking diamond cut burfi :) Yes, in my house we call it Diamond Burfi ( thanks to my son :)).

Kaju means Cashew and Katli means a slice. It is also known as Kaju Katari or Kaju Burfi. It is one of the most expensive sweets available in the market and extensively gifted to friends and family on the occasion of festivals or family events.

Until recently I got these beauties from India, meaning whenever anyone came visiting us from there, my mother in law saw to it that she tucked a Kaju Katli box with them to give it to me (all this for her grandson). My kid loves it so much, he can finish the whole box in one sitting.  If I go to an Indian grocery store, it is mandatory for me to pick up this kaju katli box or jalebis. I am not sure why I don't make these often at home :) and why I wait to make it only on some special occasions or festivals.

Well wait, I know why :) don't laugh at the reason, it's that edible silver foil (vark) that is coated on the Kaju Katli which makes it extra special when you bring it from the store. Till now, I did not find it in the market and without the vark, burfi looks plain and bland. ( It's like an actress without makeup :)) This year I ordered it from amazon and was thrilled to make use of vark! So yup, you guessed it right! From now on, it will be home made Kaju Katli only :)

You will be surprised to know that this burfi gets done in no time, really! Simple and fantastic tasting dessert at your fingertips!

Let us take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashews 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 5 drops of kewra water (or pinch of cardamom powder)
• 1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Preparation: 

• In a blender ground cashews into a powder. (Sieve it if you want fine looking burfi)
• In a non-stick pan add water and sugar, bring it to a boil while stirring sugar. Cook just until sugar melts and you see bubbles forming in the syrup. Takes just about a minute. 

• Keep the gas flame on medium now, add cashew powder and start stirring the mixture. Keep doing it until the mixture leaves the non-stick pan. Will take about 4-5 minutes. (you can test it by taking a very small portion of mixture and forming a ball with your fingers, be careful as it will be hot)

• Add kewra water or cardamom powder, mix once.
• Keep a plate ready that is greased with ghee. Pour the mixture on the plate. Spread it lightly so that it cools down.
• As soon as you can handle the mixture, slather the ghee in your palms and softly knead the Katli mixture. 

• Take butter paper (wax paper) or piece of plastic and place the dough. Now cover it with another square piece of butter paper. 
• Use a rolling pin to make a squarish shaped sheet. You can keep the thickness of the Kaju Katli as per your liking. Usually, it is 1 to 1 1/2 inches. 

• With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the sheet in diamond shapes. 
• Take edible silver leaf (vark) and place it on the burfi. This is very very delicate, take it fully along with the paper and place it on the burfi. 

• Let it cool down completely. Store it in air tight container.

Notes:* You can also add saffron strands in the mixture or yellow food color to get yellow kaju katli. That looks very nice too.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Health Benefits: 

Unsaturated fats and omega fats not only reduce bad cholesterol but also lower triglycerides helping your heart to stay healthy. Our body needs nutrients from all food groups including fats. Cashew nuts naturally have a negligible amount of sodium in them, unless you eat salted cashew. They contain a fair amount of potassium that contributes in regulating blood pressure. Cashews are rich in protein. Cashews contain anacardic acids that are found to effectively kill organisms that cause tooth decay and abscesses. Of course, this dish contains sugar, but you can eat it one piece after your meals and have fun with it. Try giving it to kids which will boost their energy levels.

Badushai (Balushai) - Indian donuts

This sweet dish is rich in taste, soft in the core, crumbly at the edges, and has a melt in the mouth texture! Balushai or Badushai is nothing but a glazed donut from the east :) It has a little different texture, but gives the same feeling like a donut when you take a bite! It is not very difficult to make and traditionally this is made during festivals especially during Deepawali.

Most of us have a mind block when it comes to cooking authentic traditional dishes. I was in the same boat too. But once I started making it, it was a piece of cake. Many traditional dishes have simple recipes, it's all about timing and the technique. Once you master that, you can make anything :)

This is my Aunt's recipe, she is a great cook! I lean on her every now and then. She is on my auto dial hehe, my phone can hold maybe just 20 numbers. But my aunt's brain holds a number of recipes on her 'brain auto dial' :) Ask her anything and she will tell you with approx measurements. Her database is amazing! My mom is a master in nonveg dishes :) and I just can't get to her level...:)

I have made badushai for like about 4 to 5 times now and this recipe has not disappointed me! Comes out nice! My memory of Badushai is having it during our holidays when we went visiting my other aunt's house. My uncle used to bring it from a store and we enjoyed it so much as kids. Since I don't have a sweet tooth I didn't care so much for these sweets then :) But now when my son, hubby and everyone around me, enjoy these authentic dishes, and I take great pleasure in making it!

Try making Badushai or Balushai this Diwali or any other occasion for that matter! Let's live a little :)

Let us take a look at the Balushai recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups All purpose flour (Maida)
• 1 cup ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• few nuts crushed for garnish
• oil for cooking

For the syrup

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
•  Few cardamom seeds

Preparation:

• Take a tall utensil, warm ghee in it. Add yogurt in it and carefully and mix everything stirring quickly. The mixture will come rising up (that is why consider cooking in a tall vessel) but keep stirring.
• Further add baking soda, salt, and all-purpose flour in part of 3. Mix everything properly. It forms a dough. Switch off the gas and keep the dough aside to rest for 15 minutes. 
• In the meantime, make sugar syrup in another vessel. Add sugar, water and bring to a boil.
• Then simmer for few minutes till you get 1 thread consistency. ( basically take a drop of syrup on your index finger and then using both, your index finger and thumb pull apart the drop of syrup, when you do that you should see 1 thread(line) between your fingers)
• Add cardamom seeds to your sugar syrup.
• Now take the badushai dough and knead a little bit more. Make small balls (do not make smooth balls, it should look crumbly because that's where sugar syrup will get soaked in easily) flatten it a little bit and make a small dip in the center of the ball. 
• Deep fry it on med flame. Let it cook on all the sides. Take it out using slotted spoon and transfer it to the sugar syrup. Swirl it in syrup for few seconds and take it out. Your Badushai's are ready to be enjoyed!! Sprinkle few crushed nuts and serve!!

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

I usually add health benefits at the end of my blog post! but when it comes to sweets and desserts, there are no much benefits except it gives a great sense of pleasure to your mind and soul :) The mantra one needs to keep in mind is 'portion control'.
I would like to take this opportunity and add a pic of my aunt here, who contributes a lot by giving me her recipes! Thank you and Love you Reshma Kaki...