Gujjuben na Dhokla (White Dhokla)

This is essentially a Gujarati dish, unheard of to many. When you say Dhokla, it is automatically assumed we are talking about “Khaman” which is a more popular product of the Dhokla clan and is yellow in color.

The white Dhokla also known as Khatta (sour) Dhokla differs in taste and color form the Khaman, needs a little more prep work and is easier to digest!

Ingredients

Rice – 2 cups

Split black gram lentils (Urad dal) half a cup

Sour yogurt – half a cup    

Warm water – half a cup

Asafetida – 2 pinches

Oil – 2 tsp

Salt, pepper and red chili powder

Soak the rice and urad dal overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours. Grind them to a fine paste. Blend in the sour yogurt and warm water and mix well. Leave it covered for 12 hours or so for fermentation.

Add salt and asafetida after the mixture is nicely fermented and ready for use . In a small pan heat 2 tsp of oil and equal amount of water. Bring it to a boil and add it to the mixture. Stir well and rigorously. Grease appropriate plates with oil for steaming the Dhokla. Pour the mixture in to 4 such plates distributing it equally. Sprinkle red chili powder or pepper as per preference. Steam them for about 12 minutes in a steamer or a big vessel with water in it and covered. Take out the plates carefully and cut out the contents into squares. Dhokla is ready to be served with Oil, Green chutney or Ketchup. A more delicious way of serving the Dhokla is by tempering it with mustard seeds, sesame seeds, curry leaves, cilantro leaves and green chili pieces heated in 2 tsp oil. Forgive me for omitting the mouth-watering garnish as the intention was to implement the recipe with as little oil as possible.

White Dhokla will bowl you over with its Idli like simplicity fair and square! Till then, food and more food…

Tips

*Half a spoon of baking soda can be added right before steaming the mixture to make the

 Dhokla more soft and fluffy

*If you prefer it spicy, a paste of green chilli and ginger can be added to the Dhokla mixture

Food glossary English to Hindi

Stumbled on this website while looking for a certain ingredient. Very informative and enlightening, made me realise I am really poor at Hindi as far as food is concerned ! Some of the words even made me laugh out loud, who would have thought that "sage" is "Kamarkas", Oats is "Vilaiti Jaun"or that "Avocado" is translated as "Makhanphal"!!

Check it out and save it for a good laugh or future reference.

http://www.indiacurry.com/Miscel/glossary.htm

Till then, food and more food....

Baingan Bhartha aka The Angry Eggplant

Not everyone likes eggplant. And yet there are people who will relish Baingan Bhartha and ordinarily never eat anything with eggplant in it. The credit according to me goes to the onions and garlic and the spices which cleverly hide the pitfalls of the eggplant.

Funnily enough a website actually states this recipe under “Angry Eggplant” obviously a resultant translation of “Bhartha” meaning mashed (A north Indian slang used to threaten someone when you are angry with that person) and “Baingan” meaning eggplant.  It is worth a mention here that 'The Anger of Aubergines' a collection of short stories by Bulbul Sharma on Indian cuisines and culinary traditions may have been an inspiration! The book is definitely on my ‘next to read’ list.

Ingredients

Eggplant – two large

Oil – 2 tsp

Diced Red onion – half a cup

Diced green onion – half a cup

Diced tomato – half a cup

Minced garlic – 1 tsp

Dried red chili – 2 large

Cumin – 1 tsp

Red chili powder – half tsp

Turmeric powder – half tsp

Cilantro powder – half tsp

Dry mango powder – quarter of a tsp

Black Peppercorns – 1 tsp

Cinnamon stick – 1 small

Yogurt – half a cup (optional)

Water – half a cup

Combine dried red chili, cumin, turmeric – cilantro- dry mango and red chili powders, peppercorns and cinnamon stick in a grinder. Make a fine powder of these spices to use later.

Wash and wipe the eggplants clean. Poke them evenly with a fork. Rub them with oil all over. Cook them on the stove changing sides till the eggplants are cooked inside out. An indication would be the smell of roasting and the skin starting to peel off on its own. Alternatively, broil them in the oven for about an hour or so flipping sides half way through. Let the eggplant cool once done. Peel off the skin and dice them into small pieces.

In a deep pan, heat oil and sauté red onion for two minutes. Add green onions and garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add tomato and the spice powder. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add the diced eggplant, salt and water. Mash everything together roughly. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. The water will be fully absorbed by then, if not cook on high flame uncovered while constantly stirring for another 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and add the yogurt (optional). Give the yogurt at least half an hour to blend in before serving. 

Sorry, no pictures of this one. In what can be termed as a rare occurrence I was tempted to eat first and take pictures thereafter. Bad idea! Till then, food and more food…

Tips

*Peel the skin off the eggplant, dice it and cook it in pressure cooker if the options of a broiler

 or cooking on stove top are not available..

*You can use any Garam Masala in place of the fresh spice mixture.

*More yogurts can be used in place of tomatoes.

Cauliflower Au Gratin

You can smell calories on this one well before you eat it. Didn’t stop me from eating it nevertheless!

Ingredients

Cauliflower cut into small florets – 2 cups

Water – 4 cups

Milk – 2 cups

Butter – 2 tsp

All purpose flour – 2 tsp

Bread crumbs – half a cup

Chopped parsley – 2 tsp

Red chili flakes – half a tsp

Grated cheddar cheese – half a cup

Grated Swiss and mozzarella cheese – half a cup

Salt and pepper

In a deep cooking vessel boil water, add salt and pepper. Cook the cauliflower florets in the water for 7-8 minutes till they are done. Drain and keep aside. In a saucepan heat butter and add flour. Stir briskly for a minute or so till the flour changes color. Whisk in milk slowly. Add the spices and cheddar cheese and turn the heat off. Stir continuously making sure the cheese melts and a thick sauce is formed. Grease a baking casserole and cover it with half the sauce. Layer the cauliflower florets and the remaining sauce again on the florets. Top it with bread crumbs and grated Swiss and mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400 F for about 15- 20 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

This recipe is a lighter derivation (if there can be one with cheese in it) of a very comforting, rich classic. Double the cheese and butter to enjoy it in its true avatar. Till then, food and more food….

Tips

*All purpose flour can be substituted with wheat flour.

*Any kind of cheese can be used in place of Swiss and mozzarella.

*Broccoli can be combined with cauliflower in this dish

Purple and Green Salad with Pear and Gorgonzola dressing

Ever heard of planning your dinner over a salad dressing? This is precisely what has happened today. A trip to the local grocery store got me wandering in an aisle (as is usually the case) examining bottles and packages I had no need for. Never a salad- eater, I was literally lost in the sea of salad dressings, all the time thinking no wonder people love salads, with a million yummy dressings to choose from, who wouldn’t.

After a lot of internal deliberation as to whether the 4 dollars to be spent on what looked like a bottle of mushy oil with bits of cheese floating was warranted or not, my curiosity got the better of me. Soon enough I returned home with a bottle of “Pear and Gorgonzola” dressing.  Here goes the small list of some colorful veggies I put together, a bright absorbent for this very exotic salad dressing.  

Ingredients

Penne Pasta – half a cup

Water – 4 cups

Purple cabbage roughly chopped – 1 cup

Lettuce roughly chopped – 1 cup

Tomatoes chopped in big pieces – 2 large

Carrots cut in thick strips – 1 medium

Pear and Gorgonzola dressing – half a cup

Dry Parmesan cheese – for garnish (optional)

Olive oil – 1 tsp

Salt and pepper

Boil water and add salt, pepper and olive oil. Add in pasta and cook till tender. Drain and transfer to a salad bowl. Add the dressing while the pasta is warm, mix well and cover the bowl. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Add the cabbage, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, some salt and pepper and mix again. This time around put it away in the fridge for half an hour. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top before serving.  I decided to skip the garnish as I had oodles of cheese waiting for me in the cauliflower au gratin tucked in the oven.

For those of you who want to make this dressing at home, it is really simple to put together like most dressings. And I definitely intend to, the next time around. All you will need is a can of pear halves, salt, pepper, 1 tsp of olive oil, 1 tsp vinegar, 2 tsp lemon juice and some crumbled gorgonzola cheese. Drain the pear and puree them with all the other ingredients in the food processor except for the cheese. Add the cheese once the dressing is smooth. Refrigerate to store for a couple of days. Till then, food and more food....

Meatless Red Chili

Last year, the community I stayed in hosted a big chili cookout. Till then, the only green and red chilies I knew where the ones from the grocery store. A click on Google revealed that the chili they were talking about was supposed to be a spicy stew. Now that seemed very convenient because a stew can be a combination of any vegetables and any meat, perfect for hiding one’s cooking blunders!

What ultimately made me take part in the competition was not my love for cooking but the prize of 300 dollars off in next month’s rent. As I ventured into the unknown territory of cooking a chili (that too a meatless version) it was like entering a fascinating world of colors and aroma. For one it takes ages to cook, the slower the better and so the flavors and the smell just float around you for hours while it cooks until you can’t wait to eat it. However the highlight of a chili is the use of so many complex ingredients to create this one simple dish. You keep adding and adding and adding ingredients only to create a solitary dish where all of them blend in beautifully together.

Ingredients

Red onion diced – 1 large

Minced garlic – 4 cloves

Red bell pepper diced – 1 medium

Orange bell pepper diced – 1 medium

Crumbled tofu – half a cup

Diced tomato – 1 can (28 oz)

Tomato ketchup – 1 tsp

Dark red kidney beans – half a can (14 oz)

Light red kidney beans – 1 can

Vegetable broth – 1 can

Corn kernels – 1 can

Cooking oil – 2 tsp

Red chili powder – 1 tsp

Red chili flakes – half tsp

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Water – 4 cups

Salt and pepper

Thinly sliced green bell pepper – for garnish as needed

Grated carrot – for garnish as needed

Grated cheese – for garnish as needed

Heat oil in a deep cooking vessel and sauté onions till cooked. Add  garlic, red and orange bell peppers, tofu, corn and cook for 5 minutes while stirring. Crush the dark red kidney beans into a thick chunky paste and add to the vegetables already being cooked. Add the remaining kidney beans, diced tomato, spices, salt, pepper, water and vegetable broth. Now let it cook on low heat for 2 hours. Alternatively, transfer the whole thing into a slow cooker and let it simmer away for 6 – 8 hours. At the end of the cooking time the dish should have a stew like thick consistency. Add tomato ketchup and mix as you turn the heat off.  Garnish with green bell pepper, carrot and cheese before serving. Till then, food and more food..

Chat on Toast

On any ordinary evening, dinner can be a solemn affair or a dynamo, depending on what is on the table. This particular evening I was looking to satisfy my sweet and sour taste buds without taking much effort. Checked the fridge and found some chutneys lying idle on the shelf. Label on the bread said expires tomorrow. And this way everything fell in place for “Chat on Toast”

Ingredients

Wheat bread -  4 slices

Butter – as desired

Boiled and mashed potatoes – 2 medium

Ginger garlic paste – half tsp

Green, sweet and garlic chutneys – as tolerated

Garam masala – half tsp

Oil – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds – half tsp

Cilantro finely chopped – half a cup

Onion chopped finely – half a cup          

Tomato chopped finely – half a cup

Sev – half a cup

Salt

Heat oil and mustard seeds in a small pan. Add ginger garlic paste and cilantro as the seeds start to crackle. Stir and add garam masala. Turn the heat off and mix the contents of the pan with the boiled and mashed potatoes. Add salt and mix further. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Toast the bread in butter until brown and crispy. Spread the potato mixture evenly on the bread. Add the chutneys, onion and tomato. Garnish with sev and it is ready to devour. Till then, food and more food…

Some serving suggestions

*Drizzling rain

*Hot cup of tea