Gajar (Carrot) ka Halwa

This is one of the most popular sweets and also one of the first sweets any Indian would try their hand at, probably second only to Gulab Jamun, in both aspects.
I found these really tempting juicy red carrots in Yelahanka Farmers' market the other day and immediately decided to make halwa for no particular occasion. I could not see any better reason for those red carrots to be born in this world than to be part of my halwa. Although carrot halwa can be made with both red and orange carrots, red carrots are sweeter and give a deeper colour to the halwa, enhancing its taste and visual appeal.
The recipe is a classic one with no improvisation. One basic thumb rule that I apply in making most sweets is "Do not improvise or experiment. It could be disastrous". This is exactly the opposite of the philosophy I follow for my other dishes, where I always give a signature twist to the existing recipe, use my intuition a lot and remix multiple recipes from the net and create one that suits me best. But probably sweet dishes were meant to be made akkakka... akkakka means "copy paste". Or WYGMIWYM ( What your grandmom made is what you make). Of course, I safely make minor variations like adjusting the amount of sugar/ghee depending on my momentary health-consciousness-index, but I havent ventured farther than that.....yet.

Ingredients:

1. Carrots - 1 kg
2. Milk - 1 litre
3. Sugar - 200- 300 grams ( depends on how sweet you like the halwa to be)
4. Ghee - 1 tbsp or even less if you like it less fatty.
5. Cardamom - 3 pods ( powdered)
6. Raisins - 2 tsp
7. Cashews ( broken in half ) - 2 tsp.



pic 1



pic 2



pic 3



pic 4



pic 5



pic 6

 
Procedure:

1. Grate the carrots ( pic 1)
2. In a large (preferably non-stick) pan, add the grated carrots and milk and boil on medium flame. (pic 2)
3. Keep stirring occasionally, making sure the milk does not boil over and the mixture does not stick to the pan.The carrots should get cooked in the milk and the remaining milk should condense/evaporate.  This would take around 45 minutes to an hour. After this stage the mixture would look lighter in colour. (pic 3)
4. Now, when there is no liquid milk remaining in the mixture, add sugar and cardamom powder and stir continuously. As soon as we add sugar and stir, the mixture will become more liquid and also darken in colour. ( pic 4). Keep stirring until the liquid evaporates. (pic 5)
5. In another small pan, heat the ghee and roast the cashews in it till they turn light golden. Add only the cashews to the mixture and in the remaining ghee, mix in the raisins. There is no need to heat/fry the raisins. The raisins will swell up in the hot ghee even without being on flame. Add the raisins and the ghee to the mixture and stir in well till the ghee is absorbed. (pic 6)
6. Switch off the flame.
7. Serve as dessert. It can be served hot or cold. Best served with ice-cream.

Carrot Palya

Ingredients:

1. Carrots - 5-6 grated
2. Green chillies - 2-3 slit length-wise
3. Chana Dal/Urad Dal - 1 tsp.
4. Mustard - 1/2 tsp
5. Oil - 2-3 tsp.
6. Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
7. Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - for garnishing
8. Curry leaves (finely chopped) - 1 sprig
9. Salt - to taste

Procedure:

1. Sprinkle salt on the grated carrots and mix them well in a bowl.
2. In a kadai, heat oil and season with mustard seeds. 
3. When the mustard splutters, add chana/urad dal an fry till it turns light brown.
4. Add curry leaves, green chillies and the grated carrots and saute for a minute or two on low flame.
5. Garnish with grated coconut and coriander leaves.
6. Serve with rasam rice or sambhar rice.

The curry need not be completely cooked. It has to be half-cooked. This is one of the quickest side-dishes that can be made to accompany a South-Indian meal.

Avarekalu Bas Saaru

Its the AvareKalu season here and its considered a sin in my family if a single day passes without an AvareKalu dish being cooked.
Although I was not used to eating AvareKalu (Mocha Kottai) before marriage, I have learnt to give AvareKalu its space in my life after seeing how crazy the Kannadigas are about it.
Yesterday it was the turn of AvareKalu Bas Saaru to make its way into our home.
The recipe is quite simple. The end product is in 2 parts:

1. Saaru, a tangy thin soup somewhat like Rasam which is mixed with rice or eaten with Ragi Mudde.
2. Husili, which is a savoury dry side-dish made of the beans, somewhat like Sundal, to be eaten along with the above

Ingredients:

1. Tender AvareKalu (Hyacinth Beans) seeds - 2-3 cups
2. Onions - 3 or 4 medium sized. ( One smoked, others chopped finely)
3. Green chillies - 3 or 4 slit length-wise.
4. Garlic pods - 5-6
5. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
6. Coriander leaves - a handful
7. Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp.
8. Grated coconut - 1 tbsp.
9. Thick tamarind extract - 1/2 cup
10. Sambhar powder - 2 tsp.
11. Salt  - to taste
12. Oil - as needed

Procedure:

1. Cook AvareKalu with water and salt in a pressure cooker till tender. You can do it using separators while cooking rice.
2. Drain the water (stock of AvareKalu) into a vessel ( to be used for Saaru) and keep the AvareKalu aside ( to be used for the Husili)
3. For the masala for Saaru: Grind  together one smoked onion, 5-6 pods of garlic, a sprig of curry leaves, 2-3 strands of coriander leaves and a handful of the boiled AvareKalu.
4. To make the Husili: In a Kadai, heat oil, season with mustard seeds. Add slit green chillies, asafoetida powder, chopped onions, few curry leaves and saute till onions turn translucent. Add the AvareKalu and saute again for 2-3 minutes. Add grated coconut and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.
5.  To make the Saaru: To the stock of AvareKalu, add tamarind extract, sambhar powder and the ground masala. Let it boil. Lower the flame and boil for 5 more minutes. Temper with mustard seeds spluttered in oil.

Note: Since the AvareKalu has salt added to it while being pressure cooked, we need not add salt explicitly to the Husili or Saaru. Add more salt if required after tasting. 

Rava Idli

Ingredients:

1. Rava (Bombay rava/Upma rava) - 2 cups
2. Sour curds - 2 cups ( or as per requirement)
3. Eno fruit salt - 1 tsp
4. Mustard - 1 tsp
5. Asafoetida powder ( Hing) - 1/2 tsp
6. Chana Dal - 1 tsp
7. Grated ginger (optional) - 1/2 tsp
8. Cashewnuts - 10-15 (optional)
9. Curry leaves (chopped) - 1 sprig
10. Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 3-4 sprigs
11. Green chillies ( finely chopped) - 2 or 3
12. Salt - to taste
13. Oil - 2-3 tsp.

Procedure:

1. In a kadai, heat oil and temper with mustard seeds. Add chana dal ( and cashewnuts) and fry on low flame till they turn light brown. Add the curry leaves and asafoetida powder.
2. Add rava to the above and roast it on low flame till you get a light aroma.
3. Remove from flame and transfer to another container. To this add sour curds, grated ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves, salt and stir well to make a batter of consistency thicker than usual idli batter. You may have to vary the quantity of curds added to achieve this consistency.
4. Set aside the batter for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile grease the idli plates and line them a thin tomato slice or coriander leaves or a pinch or grated carrot or a roasted cashewnut. This for garnishing and is optional.
5. Heat water in the cooker.
6. Just before ladling out the batter onto the idli plates, add a tsp of Eno to the batter and stir well. This must be done in the last moment.
7. Ladle out the batter onto the greased idli plates and steam for around 15 minutes like regular idlis.
8. Serve with aloo saagu.

Aloo Capsicum(/Bhindi/Beans)

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes - 2 big
2. Capsicum - 2 big
3. Oil - 2-3 tsp.
4. Jeera - 1 tsp.
5. Chilli powder - 1 tsp.
6. Dhania powder - 1 tsp.
7. Pav Bhaji masala ( optional) - 1/2 tsp.
8. Salt - to taste

Procedure:

1. Chop the potatoes and capsicum into half inch pieces.
2. Heat oil in a kadai and temper with jeera.
3. Add the chopped potato and saute for 2-3 minutes. 
4. When the potatoes are half-cooked, add capsicum and saute for 2-3 minutes more.
5. Add chilli powder, dhania powder, pav bhaji masala and salt and mix well.
6. Sprinkle a little water if required and cook with lid on. 
7. Stir it occasionally so that it doesn't get burnt.
8. Remove from flame when it is cooked to the desired level. Some like it when the potatoes are almost mashed and act as a binding agent, whereas some prefer it when the pieces are separate and cooked just right so that they can be bitten into.

Use the same procedure for Aloo Bhindi/ Aloo Beans. You might want to cut the beans/bhindi into 1 inch long fingers and the aloo also in a similar shape. While sauteing, add the beans/bhindi first and then the aloo.

Methi Matar Malai

This was supposedly my most favorite dish when I went to restaurants. That was the time when North-Indian food was "exotic" food, to be indulged in on most special occasions. Times and tastes have changed now, but somehow the memories of MMM came back to me a few days back and I decided to try it out at home. Then began the search for the recipe that most suited my signature. After a lot of tailoring, this one emerged.
The first time I made it, I was scared it might turn out a bit sweetish and I added loads of pepper to ward off my fears. What a disaster that was! It was perfect, except that the only flavor that stood out was pepper. :-P After the lesson learnt, here's the recipe without the pepper:

Ingredients:

1. Methi leaves - cleaned and chopped - 1 cup
2. Fresh green peas - 1 cup
3. Cashewnuts - 10-12
4. Poppy seeds (optional) - 2 tsp.
5. Green chillies - 3 or 4 ( depending on the desired spice level)
6. Ginger - 1 inch piece
7. Garlic - 4-5 pods
8. Cloves - 2 or 3
9. Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
10. Cardamom - 1 or 2
11. Fresh cream - 1 tbsp.
12. Milk - 1 tbsp.
13. Jeera - 1/2 tsp.
14. Salt - as desired
15. Sugar (optional) - a pinch
16. Oil - 2-3 tsp.

Procedure:

1. Grind together cashewnuts, poppy seeds, green chillies, ginger, garlic.
2. Powder cardamon, cloves and cinnamon.
3. In a kadai, heat oil and temper with jeera.
4. Add the green peas and saute till they are tender.
5. Add the methi leaves and saute for a minute. the leaves will shrink and give out a flavor
6. Add  the ground paste and milk . Add the powdered closes, cardamon and cinnamon.
7. Add salt and sugar and cook for around 5 minutes in the gravy. If it is too thick, add a little more milk.
8. Add fresh cream and switch off the flame.
9. Serve with rotis.

Grilled Potatoes

This is some experiment which turned out fine. Planning to improvise on top of this next time. I'm just penning it down so that I don't forget it the basic recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes - 2-3 medium sized, peeled and cut into 1/2 cm thick slices.
2. Clilli powder - 1 tsp
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Green chillies - 2
5. Dhania powder - 1 tsp.
6. Jeera powder - 1 tsp.
7. Garlic - 5-6 pods
8. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
9. Salt - 1 tsp.
10. Oil - 1 - 2 tsp. (optional)

Procedure:

1. Grind together chilli powder, turmeric powder, green chillies, dhania powder, jeera powder, garlic, ginger and salt with very little water to make a slightly runny paste.
2. Spread the marinade liberally over the potato slices on both sides and microwave cook them for 3-4 minutes. The potatoes would be more than half-cooked by now. Also, the marinade would have dried and coated the potatoes very well.
3. Glaze the slices with very little oil (optional) and grill them in the oven for around 5 minutes.
4. Serve with a cheese dip.