Masoor dal k gutte

Masoor dal , both split and whole , is most favorite of any dal at home. My kids love masoor ki dal in any form. I remember how maa would skillfully made these guttes from masoor dal. Original gutte ki sabzi is made with chickpea flour but then maa had her own variations which takes little effort making it special. Papa would sneak inside the kitchen and eat up few gutte. Maa , smart always had two portions , one in hiding coz she knew of the thefts before she could finish making the complete dish.

Recipe

 

Ingredients

1 cup soaked split masoor dal

2-3 green chillies

2 large onions coarsely ground

1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger

1 large tomato finely chopped

2 tablespoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon tumeric

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon roasted cummin powder

1 teaspoon zeera

Pinch of hing

1 teaspoon lemon juice

3-4 tablespoon oil

Salt to taste

1-2 cups of water according to desired consistency.

Coriander leaves for garnish

Gutte

Grind the soaked masoor dal along with one green chilly , a teaspoon of salt and pinch of hing. 
In a non-stick pan add 1 tablespoon of oil and cook the ground dal to bring it to dough consistency. 
Roll in cylindrical shape when it’s hot enough to handle.Cut in desired thickness (1.5cm).

Gravy

Heat 2-3 tablespoon oil. Crackle zeera followed by slit green chillies and ginger. Add onion and salt to fasten the frying process. (Remember salt in gutte).In the meanwhile make a paste of listed dried masala using little water ( don’t add garam masala). Once onion is almost brown add the masala paste and fry until little oil starts emerging. Add tomatoes and little water again to mishmash well. Cook until oil separates. Add water and cook until almost the desired consistency has arrived. Add the gutte and cook it fr 3-5.mins. Add garam masala , coriander leave and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

Serve it with any Indian flat bread.

Khasta Kachori

While growing up it use to be quite a regular affair at my maa’s kitchen when she would stock up khasta kachoris along with various other snacks for guests who dropped in especially for shaam ki chai. Days without social media were fun coz friends would simply pop-up at anytime of the day with big smiles and we all happily welcomed them !! I’m sure we all did… except for few gossip queens who were nosy ! Good stock of goodies was my mom’s worry since we would be smuggling out from her goodie mines ! Helping and learning from her use to fun coz she would share her stories behind each dish she made.

Recipe

Ingredients

Dough

500gms of refined flour

3-4 tablespoon oil

1.5 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon powdered sugar (optional)

Stuffing

1 cup soaked urad daal coarsely grounded with 2 green chillies

1-2 teaspoon Hing (dominant taste)

1 teaspoon zeera powder

1 tablespoon fennel powder

1 tablespoon dhaniya powder

1 tablespoon red chilli powder (according to taste)

1 teaspoon tumeric powder

1 teaspoon black salt

1 piece of crushed clove.

1teaspoon garam masala

1 tablespoon chaat masala

Salt to taste

Refined oil to fry the kachoris.

Method

Stuffing

In a kadhai heat 2 tablespoon of oil. Add hing quickly followed by tumeric. Add the urad daal and salt. Keep stirring it since daal has tendency to stick to the vessel. You can always use a non-stick pan/kadhai. Keep stirring it until the daal turns grainy. Add rest of the masalas. Keep stirring and adjust it according to ones taste. I like it spicy. Allow it to cool

Dough

Swift the maida well to remove any impurities. Add salt , sugar and oil and rub it between your palms to make sure that it’s well incorporated. Kneed with little water making a slight tough dough. Cover it allowing it to rest.

Frying
In a bigger kadhai heat oil for frying. Stuff the kachoris sealing nicely avoiding any breakage during frying (refer the pic).You don’t  need a rollin pin simply pat and shape the kachoris. It’s supposed to thick enough to fry slowly turning in to golden colour.

Serve it with various chutneys.

Bharwan Tinde

Ohh gawwdd …. tell me that we all hate tindas. Yes ! While growing up i hardly liked it other than the stuffed version. Papa would buy kilos of it during season since he loved them. We siblings would make faces at the very sight of it. I loved the stuffing coz it has dominant taste of fennel seeds stirring the earthy sweetish taste along with rustic flavors of roasted coriander seeds makes it different again following the satvik preparation. One can definitely add grated onion but for me my maa’s recipe has a special touch. I love to eat it with ghee wale chawal.

Recipe

Ingredients

250-300gms fresh soft tindas

2 tablespoon fennel seeds

2 tablespoon coriander seeds

1-2 whole dry red chillies

1 teaspoon nigella seeds

1 tablespoon cummin seeds

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon tumeric

Half teaspoon red chilli powder (avoid if ur whole chillies are hot)

2 -3 tablespoon mustard oil

Salt to taste

Half cup of water

Dry roast the masalas (minus tumeric powder & chilli powder). Once it cools down make a coarse powder. Add tumeric powder, salt and half teaspoon of oil . Mix well. Clean and prepare the tindas cutting cross for filling. Stuff them nicely . In a kadhai heat the oil to smoking point. Add the stuffed tindas and sprinkle water and cover to cook until done. Sprinkle water in between if required till tindas are done well.

I love to eat it with ghee wale chawal.

Tarri wale aloo

The quintessential  dish in every house hold of UP Walas. Each household is proud of their version of tarri wale aloo. Belonging to a typical UPiet family , this dish was celebrated on regular basis. A very simple recipe yet one can easily go wrong with it while avoiding onion and garlic in daily in our food, it has to be simple and equally tasty. Maa use to  make it almost every week clubing with palak puris or may be aloo parathas !! Tarri wale aloo plays important role during pujas , weddings , munduns and thread ceremonies. Usually served with puris and dal kachoris I simply love it with hot plain rice or fulkas. There’s something really beautiful of this dish which reminds me of trains journeys and stations. Papa would hop out and grab few hot daunas full of dripping hot sabzi with puris and pass it through the window making sure that we have our tummy full. Maa would simply scold us “ Ghar pe tho ye khana nahi aur ab dekho kitna mazza araha hai ! “

Bring in my beautiful memories back to life !!

Recipe

Ingredients

3-4 boiled potatoes

2 pinch of hing

1 teaspoon of zeera

Half teaspoon tumeric

2 table spoon corriander powder

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1-2 slit green chillies

1 teaspoon garam masala powder

2 table spoon oil/ ghee ( I prefer ghee)

2-3 cups of water

Salt to taste

Corriander leaves to garnish

1 table spoon kasoori methi (optional)

Ahead of cooking make a paste using little water from the listed ingredients tumeric+corriander+red chilly

Method

Roughly mash the boiled potatoes keeping chunks . Heat oil in karahi. Add zeera and hing . As it splurters quickly add slit green chillies and with quick succession add the masala paste prepared earlier. Add little water to avoid masala from burning. Stir until oil starts separating. Add the chunky boiled aloo and water. Add salt to taste. Cook on slow flame for 5/7 minutes until you see ghee  floating , masala cooked through and consistency one prefers . It thickens as it cools down . Add garam masala ( I usually avoid ). Add kasuri methi which optional but I love to add . Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

I remember maa serving with a spoon of ghee over it with hot fulkas.