Choley

Chickpeas in onion and tomato gravy.

Ingredients

• Chickpeas – 1 big can (28 oz can)
  
• Onions – 1 medium sized (finely chopped)
  
• Tomato Paste – 2 tbsp
  
• Green Chillies – 2 small (slit)
  
• Oil – 6 tbsp
  
• Punjabi Choley Masala – 2 1/2 tbsp
  
• Red Chilli powder – 1tsp
  
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
  
• Garlic powder – 1/2 tbsp
  
• Cilantro – finely chopped for garnish
  
• Salt – to taste

Process

1. Heat the oil in a Kadhai.
   
2. Once the oil heats up add green chillies and onions. Saute till golden brown.
   
   
   
3. Dissolve the tomato paste in 1 cup of water and add it to the onions.
   
   
   
   
4. Add choley masala, turmeric, red chilli powder and salt to this mixture.
   
   
   
5. Let it cook for 3 mins in medium heat.
   
6. Now add the can of chickpeas and add 2 cups of water to it.
   
7. Stir it well and cover it and cook on medium heat for 8 mins.
   
8. Remove the lid and cook it without covering for 2 mins on medium heat.
   
9. Garnish with Cilantro and onion and a lemon wedge.

My take on it

Choley is predominantly a North Indian dish. Since my husband spent some time in North India he loves it. It took me a long time to get the spices right. But now, I know it like the back of my hand.
I like to garnish my choley with some thinly sliced ginger. But many people don't like to bite into ginger so it depends on personal taste.
You can also put like 1/2 a tsp of garam masala if you want it to be a little spicy, but I personally like it to be subtle.
It’s a very simple dish to make if you have last minute guests.
It can also be served with Roti, Puri, Bhatura or simple plain Rice & Dal.



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Mint Rasam

Pudhina Rasam

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Ingredients

• Mint leaves – 1/2 Cup(finely chopped)
• Tomato – 1 medium sized
• Green chillies – 1
• Ginger – 1 tsp(finely chopped)
• Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida (Hing) – 1/4 tsp
• Rasam powder – 2 tsps
• Curry leaves – 10
• Tamarind paste – 1/4 tsp
• Sugar – 1/4 tsp
• Red chillies – 1
• Ghee – 1tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1/4tsp
• Cumin seeds – 1/4 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds – 1tsp
• Fresh Cilantro – 2tbsp(finely chopped)
• Salt – To taste

Process

1. Pressure cook & mash the toor dal with 2cups water and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder.
2. Grind the tomato, mint leaves, ginger & green chilly without adding water.
3. Add the above mixture to 2 cups of water & bring it to a boil.
4. Add turmeric powder, asafoetida,  curry leaves, rasam powder, salt & tamarind paste to the boiling mixture.
5. Cover the mixture lightly and let it boil on medium heat for 7 minutes. Covering it helps retain the flavour.
6. Add the cooked toor dal to this mixture and add 2&1/2 cups of water.
7. Cover it again and let it foam at the brim. Its very important that this mixture should not boil.
8. As soon as you see foam remove it from heat.

Garnish
In a sauce pan heat some ghee and add the red chilly, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds & a pinch of asafoetida.

My take on it

• Its very important to add the fenugreek seeds in the end to avoid the sour taste.  Adding asafoetida during garnish is strictly optional. I do it because I love the flavour. You can also sprinkle some finely chopped mint leaves in the end. 
• Rasam is a South Indian soup and also a popular comfort food in southern India. Any time I was down with a cold or fever my mom would make this at home and I used to find it extremely comforting. I just love rasam and it’s a personal favourite. The garnish is extremely important as it enhances the rasam’s flavour. you can also sprinkle some black pepper powder just before the garnish. Stay tuned for many varieties of rasam.
• Incidentally, rasam is the basis of mulligatawny soup, which is an Anglo-Indian version of the same.

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Pav Bhaji

Coming Soon…

Dosai Milagapodi

Dry Chatni Powder

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Ingredients

• Urad Dal – 1cup
• Red pepper – 1 cup
• White Til (Sesame) – 1Tsp.(optional)
• Chana Dal – ½ cup (optional)
• Sugar – ½ Tsp.
• Salt to taste

Process

1. Roast Urad Dal in a pan till red and keep it aside.
2. Put ½ tsp. oil and roast the red pepper and keep it aside.
3. Roast white sesame with the lid on.
4. Dry grind the Urad Dal .
5. Add red chillies to the Urad Dal and continue grinding.
6. Add white sesame in the end and finish the grind.
7. Add sugar and salt to the powder and mix it well.

My take on it

• A slight variation would be to roast the Chana Dal and Urad Dal together. This can also be ground coarsely or finely depending on each individual. This can be used as a dry chutney  with Dosa and Idli. This powder is mixed with oil (Sesame oil) to give the traditional taste.

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Pav

Indian Bread/Dinner Rolls

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Ingredients

• All purpose flour – 3-1/2 Cups
• Water (Lukewarm) – 1-3/4 Cups
• Oil – 3-1/2 Tsp
• Salt – 1 Tsp
• Sugar – 1/2 Tsp
• Yeast – 1-1/8 Tsp

Process

1. Add yeast & sugar to lukewarm water & let it sit for 5 mins.Add salt & oil to the all purpose flour.
2. Start kneading the flour while slowly adding the yeast sugar solution.
3. Knead the dough well until smooth and elastic.
4. Place the dough in a large greased bowl. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
   
   
   
5. Lightly punch the risen dough and knead it again lightly.
   
   
    
6. Roll the dough into small balls and place them on a cookie sheet in a baking tray slightly touching each other & let it rise for an hour. Cover it with a loose plastic sheet.
   
   
    
7. Pre heat the oven to 400F. While the oven is heating up, take a paper towel dip it in some milk and spread it evenly over the rolls (this gives a nice shine & glaze to the buns).
8. Bake the dough for 20-25 mins.

My take on it

• The dough should not be sticky at all if the dough is sticky add more flour till the desired consistency is achieved.
• After 20 mins, try to touch the buns carefully and check if they are soft.
• Pav is used with Pav Bhaji, Vada pav & Dabeli.
• It can also be used to make Rusk.
• You can also eat the Pav (or Rusk) with your tea.
• I used Quick Rise Yeast.
• This recipe should approximately make 14 Pavs.

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