Sandesh

Sandesh is one of the most popular, oldest, and traditional desserts in India. It's origin is considered to be from West Bengal and Gujarat where it is very popular even today especially during all the festival and auspicious occasions. Sandesh is traditionally prepared from only three ingredients: homemade cheese, sugar, and cardamom. It is so easy to prepare and you will really love the experience of cooking sandesh and its royal taste in your entire lifetime.

Sandesh recipe
Preparation time – 20 minutes
Yield – 12 one-inch square pieces

Ingredients:
Milk – ½ liter
Lime juice – 2 teaspoons
Sugar – 1 cup, powdered and sifted
Cardamoms – 3, finely powdered
Ghee or butter – to smear the 6-inch rimmed plate

Method: Covert the boiling milk to paneer/channa by adding the lime juice. More detailed explanation about homemade paneer aka Indian cheese is given in this page. Mash the channa till it is as smooth as possible. Add the sugar to it. Put this mixture into a shallow vessel stirring constantly over low heat. The mixture will first turn liquidy and then start thickening. When the mixture becomes a creamy thick paste and leaves the sides of the vessel, stir in the cardamom powder and put into the ghee-smeared plate. When cool, cut into pieces. Enjoy sandesh on this auspicious new year 2006.

Bringing the ingredients together...

Marcela has invited us to participate in a virtually fun holiday gathering and has asked us to share our new year eve's dinner recipes and photos. This event is co-hosted by Marcela's wonderful friends, Melissa, Cannella, and Elvira. We are taking our traditional dessert Sandesh to the party. Hope everyone likes this at the party. Cheers!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Sandesh

Happy New Year 2006!

Dear All,

We wish you a happy, prosperous, and a delightful new year 2006!

If 2005 was one of those years which we began with optimism... and ended with a little despondent feeling after so many misfortune events and happenings in the world... and with a couple of extra little wrinkles and a few extra kilos...

If during the year 2005 you forgot more than one important commitment... like your mother-in-law's birthday... not to mention differences of opinion with the boss... and more than one goal remained out of reach...

If 2005 wasn't as great as it could have been... the 2006 has arrived! So celebrate it the best possible way... with cuddles... and kisses... lots of humor... truckloads of good foods and drinks...

Folks - here's hoping you'll leap into 2006 with prosperity, health, and happiness...

A brand new year 2006 is here… Open your heart and be of good cheer… A year full of promise and good things to come… In your list of resolutions, let good deeds be one… Help one another and give of your love… for that will be pleasing to the God above.

Introducing to you My Dhaba's growing chef kids Adarsh and Aditya Narayanans on this new year... Cheers!

Happy New Year 2006

Nimbu ka achaar aka Lime pickle

It is almost an year now since we made any pickle at home, so we decided today to make our lime pickle when we got home with some freshly produced limes from our nearby grocery. The lime pickle will have a shelf life for more than a year if carefully prepared and stored. Lime pickle not only increases the appetite but aids in digestion.

Bringing the ingredients together...



Lime pickle recipe

Ingredients:
Fresh limes - 12, wipe dry and cut each lime into 8 quarters, collect and retain the juice which drips while cutting
Salt - 1 cup
Dried red chillies - 10, medium size, medium hot
Fenugreek seeds - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a small pea-sized lump
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Vinegar - 2 tablespoon

Method: Roast the red chillies over low heat till they feel hot to touch, allow it to cool, and gring it to powder. Roast the fenugreek seeds over low heat to a light reddish brown color taking care not to over-roast it. Over-roasting fenugreek seeds would give the pickle a bitter taste. Roast the asafoetida lightly. Roast the mustard seeds till they feel hot to touch. Grind the fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, and asafoetida to a fine powder. Mix together all the powders. Clean and dry the pickle jar/bottle well. Crumple a small piece of asafoetida and sprinkle it over a hot fry pan. Turn the pickle jar upside down and collect all the fumes of the asafoetida which will help to sterilize the jar so effectively so that the pickles will not spoil. Sprinkle the bottom of the jar with a thin layer of the masala powder. Scatter a handful of cut limes in a layer over the masala powder. Do this alternatively till all the limes and powder are used up, letting the top most layer be of the masala powder. Sprinkle the preserved lemon juice and vinegar over the top. Cover the jar with a tight-fitting lid and keep aside in a dry place for 3 days without touching it. On the fourth day, stir its contents thoroughly with the handle end of a wooden ladle and again cover with its lid. Stir every alternate day for at least 20 to 30 days. To season the pickle faster, keep the bottle underneath the hot sun once in a while just covered with only a thin muslin cloth. Have patience now... it is getting seasoned. We will show you the final result in 3 weeks' time.

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Nimbu ka achaar aka Lime pickle

Prawns Jalfrezi aka Chilli Prawns

Here is one of our most favorite seafoods - the prawns jalfrezi aka chilli prawns. Per my understanding, 'jhall' is a bengali term which means very hot. Frezi must have been coined by the term 'fry'; a spicy stir-fry. Does anyone know what is the correct origin and derivation of the name 'Jalfrezi'.

Prawns jalfrezi aka chilli prawns recipe

King prawns – ½ kg, shelled and deveined
Green chillies – 6, fresh, medium size, medium hot, sliced length-wise
Ginger – 1/2-inch piece, finely chopped and crushed
Garlic – 3 beads, whole, lightly crushed
Onions – 2, medium size, diced
Curry leaves – a sprig
Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
Chilli powder – 2 teaspoons
Black pepper powder – 1 teaspoon
Tomatoes – 2, medium size, fully ripe, finely chopped
Capsicum – 2, medium size, fresh, diced
Soy sauce – 1 teaspoon
Coconut milk – ½ cup
Lemon juice – 2 teaspoons
Coriander leaves – a small bunch
Salt – 1-1/2 teaspoon or adjusted to taste
Oil – 2 teaspoon

Method: Heat oil in a fry pan and when very hot put in the garlic, curry leaves, onion, and ginger. When onions turns limp, add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, black pepper powder, and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and saute till oil separates from it. Now add the capsicum, soy sauce, prawns, and salt. Stir-fry for 2 minutes on moderate heat. Add the coconut milk, green chillies, and lime juice alongwith half a cup of hot water. Bring slowly to the boil, simmer, and let the prawns cook in this mixture for approx 5 minutes. Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Prawns jalfrezi aka Chilli prawns

Kheema vadai aka croquette

Kheema vadais aka croquettes are small, rounded/cone/cylindrical shaped mass of minced meat (mutton or beef), fish, vegetables, coated with egg and bread crumbs and deep-fried in oil. Those really are something that excites our desire for more and more. Isn't it a tempting appetizer which can be easily made at home?

Homemade kheema vadai aka croquette recipe

Ingredients:
Minced meat – ½ kg (mutton or beef)
Onion – 1, medium size, finely chopped
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Green chillies – 3, medium size, medium hot, deseeded
Cinnamon – 1-inch stick
Cloves – 4
Ginger – ½-inch piece
Cardomom – 1, whole
Puffed bengal-gram dal – 2 tablespoons, powdered (optional)
Cashew nuts – 6, broken into small bits
Garlic – 4 beadsSalt – ½ teaspoon
Black pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
Bread slice – 1, soaked in water for 5 minutes and squeezed it dry
Mint leaves – a small bunch, finely chopped
Coriander leaves – a small bunch, finely chopped
Egg - 2Water – ½ cup
Breadcrumps - ½ cup
Oil for deep-frying

Method: Fry the cloves, cinnamon sticks, and whole cardamoms all together in a teaspoon of very hot oil to a reddish brown color. Remove from heat and grind these to a smooth paste and keep aside. Grind ginger and garlic to a smooth paste separately and keep aside. Wash the minced meat and squeeze out from the water and put in a pan. Add to it the ginger-garlic paste, chopped onions, green chillies, salt, black pepper powder, and turmeric powder with ½ cup of water. Mix well, cover, and cook over moderate heat till all the water has been absorbed and the minced meat is dry. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool. Grind the cooked minced meat to a coarse paste in a blender. Now add to it the coriander and pudina leaves, cashew nuts, puffed bengal-gram powder, cinnamon-cloves-cardomom paste, and bread slice. Break one egg over it. Mix all thoroughly with your hand.

Heat a deep fry pan and pour in the oil for deep frying. When the oil becomes very hot, take a small ball of minced meat, form it into a cocktail-type sausage shape or flatten it slightly between the palms of the hand, dip it into the beaten egg, then into the breadcrumbs all over, and slip gently into the very hot oil. Slip in 4 or 5 croquettes made in the same way and cook over moderate to low heat, so that they cook slowly right through to the center. When fried into a dark to golden brown in color, remove to a dry plate, and allow it to cool.

PS chef notes: Do not cook the croquettes over fierce heat because that may cause getting dark brown color on the surface and yet remain uncooked inside.

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Homemade kheema vadais aka croquettes

Mutton and potato curried sauce

Here is our mutton and potato curried sauce posting once again but with a few variations at this time. We were simply testing our skills to make it a more thicker and delicious gravy than the previous time, and the improvised result is worth posting to you. You may want to see the old version cooked in a slightly different method. It is here. What do you think? Which mutton curry would you opt for?

Mutton and potato curried sauce recipe (Method #2)
Serves – 4
Preparation time – approx 40 minutes

Ingredients:
Mutton - 1/2 kg, washed and cut into medium size pieces
Potatoes - 3 medium size, peeled and cubed
Ghee - 1 teaspoon
Oil – 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon - 1-inch long stick
Cloves – 3
Nutmeg powder – a pinch
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Onions - 2 medium size, sliced in slightly bigger pieces than usual
Green chillies – 4, medium size, slit length-wise
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Garlic - 4 beads
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Garam masala powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1-1/2 teaspoons or adjusted to taste
Tomatoes – 1, big size, fully ripe, sliced into slightly bigger pieces than usual
Coconut milk – 1-1/2 cup
Khus-khus – 1 teaspoon, powdered
Warm water - 4 cups

Method: Grind the ginger and the garlic to a smooth paste and keep aside. Heat a flat-bottomed vessel and pour in the oil/ghee. When smoking hot, add the cloves and cinnamon stick together, nutmeg powder, curry leaves, and immediately follow with half of the sliced onions, green chillies and ginger-garlic paste. When the edges of the onions turn brown here and there, add the tomatoes, and saute till the oil separates from it. Now add the mutton pieces. Stir from bottom once. When the water which shows out of the mutton pieces evaporates, add the red chilli powder, garam masala powder, salt, and turmeric powder. Fry well for 5 minutes. Now add 3 cups of warm water to cover the mutton just completely and also the remaining sliced onions. Cover with a lid and allow to boil over moderate heat for the first 30 minutes and then simmer over low heat till the mutton is tender. Add potato pieces to the tender mutton at this stage. If needed, add 1 cup of warm water with potato. When the potatoes are boiled tender, add the coconut milk and the khus-khus powder. Let the sauce simmer gently till you get the required consistency you like or till the sauce does not smell raw. Enjoy!

This mutton curried sauce is so tasty when eaten with boiled rice, bread, or chappaties. We can use minced meat and cook it exactly the same way. Minced meat takes less time to cook.

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Mutton and potato curried sauce

Vegetable fried rice

Cooking rice is always a blissful experience especially when it turns out light, fluffy, non-sticky, non-gluey. We will make a separate post on how we cook our rice in three different methods. Let us present to you our favorite vegetable fried rice today.

Vegetable fried rice recipe
Serves – 4
Preparation time – 20 minutes

Ingredients:
White rice – 4 cups, cooked
Oil/butter – 2 teaspoons
Garlic – 4 cloves, finely chopped
Ginger – ½ inch piece, finely chopped
Green chillies – 4, two-inch long, medium hot, finely chopped or slit at the stem end
Spring onions – 4 stalks, cut into ½ cm pieces
Cabbage – 1 cup, chopped
Carrot – ½ cup, finely diced
French beans – ½ cup, cut into ¼-inch lengths
Cauliflower – 1 cup, flowerettes (optional)
Knol-knol – ½ cup, cut into slender cubes (optional)
Soy sauce – 2 tablespoons
Tomato sauce – 1 tablespoon
Black pepper powder – 1 teaspoon
Salt – 1 teaspoon
Vegetable stock – 1/3 cup or 2 teaspoons vegetable stock powder

Method: Cook the rice, strain, and keep aside. Keep aside 1 tablespoon spring onions for garnish. Heat oil/butter in a flat-bottomed wide skillet over moderate heat. Add garlic, ginger, green chillies, and onions and stir-fry continously taking care not to brown it. When the onions turn limp, add the spring onions, cabbage, french beans, cauliflower, knol-knol, and carrots and stir-fry everything together for 7-8 minutes or until 3/4th tender. Add the vegetable stock, stir, and cook for 2 more minutes. Add cooked rice, soy sauce, tomato sauce, salt and stir-fry for another 3 minutes and serve on a rice plate. Garnish with the remaining spring onions. Vegetable fried rice is a complete meal by itself - the good combination would be with a soup and/or a simple side dish. Enjoy!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Vegetable fried rice recipe

Khara baath aka upma

Most of the Northern part of India is experiencing one of the most damp and chilly days where the weather changes are affecting everyone out there. Intense cold wave conditions continue in the entire northern part of India for a week now. We at My Dhaba wanted to post about some dish today which those affected friends would really enjoy accompanied by a cup of steaming hot special masala tea or coffee. We have chosen wheat suji and vermicelli khara baath aka upma for our today's post.

Khara baath aka Upma is a well-known breakfast and tea-time preparation in South India. Upma is prepared in myriad number of ways with quite a few attractive variations. You might have noticed the subtle flavor differences each time you have this dish at restaurants. Please note that you may use or omit all or any one of the below-mentioned optional ingredients depending on its availability at your home or as per your taste.

Here are the possible variations we have while cooking khara baath aka upma: (1) making a plain upma with wheat suji by not adding any of the mentioned optional ingredients, (2) adding tomatoes, (3) using vermicelli instead of wheat suji, (4) adding cinnamon and cloves (5) and lastly by using vermicelli and wheat suji together in equal proportions or in any proportion that you like according to your taste.

Today, we have cooked the above-mentioned fifth variation that is khara baath aka upma by using vermicelli, wheat suji, and all other opitonal ingredients together.

Bringing the ingredients together...



Khara baath aka upma recipe
Serves - 4
Preparation time - 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Wheat suji - 1-1/2 cups
Vermicelli - 1 cup (optional)
Salt - 1-1/2 teaspoons
Cashew nuts - 10
Cinnamon - two 1-inch long sticks (optional)
Cloves - 4 (optional)
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Black-gram dal - 1 teaspoon
Dried red chillies - 4, broken into halves
Curry leaves - 1 sprig, fresh
Green chillies - 6, small size, medium hot, finely chopped or slit just half way at the stem end if you prefer to make a bit lesser spicy
Onions - 2, big size, finely chopped
Garlic - 3 beads, finely sliced
Tomatoes - 1, big size, fully ripe, finely chopped (optional)
Oil - 1+1 tablespoons
Ghee - 1+1 tablespoons
Lime juice - 1 tablespoon (optional)

Method: Bring 5 cupsful of water to boil and keep aside covered so that it remains hot. Heat a roomy flat-bottomed vessel and pour in the half portion of oil and ghee mix. When this becomes just slightly hot, fry the cashewnuts to a light brown color, remove it from the ghee, and keep aside. Then fry the vermicelli in the same oil over moderate heat by lifting and tossing taking care not to burn the vermicelli; it burn easily. Remove the fried vermicelli to a plate and mix it with half portion of the salt. Now add the remaining oil and ghee. When the oil and ghee becomes very hot, add in the following order: the cinnamon sticks and cloves together, mustard seeds to splutter, black-gram dal to brown, red chillies, curry leaves, onions, green chillies, and garlic slices all together. Saute well turning over the contents thoroughly till the onions turn limp. Add the tomatoes and saute till the oil separates from it. Now add the wheat suji mixed with the remaining salt and fry it over moderate heat turning over thoroughly till it becomes very hot to touch. Add the fried salted vermicelli, stir thoroughly once and then pour the hot water to barely cover both wheat suji and vermicelli. Cover with a lid, cook first over moderate heat and then allow to simmer over low heat till all the water is absorbed and both wheat suji and vermicelli is cooked. If it still remains of a loose consistency, remove the covering lid and allow the excess water to evaporate quickly over low heat. Sprinkle 2 or 3 teaspoons of hot water around the sides and surface if water is absorbed before the suji and vermicelli is cooked. Mix in the fried cashewnuts just before removing from the heat. You may also sprinkle a few drops of fresh lime juice over each individual serving for a refreshing flavor. Serve it steaming hot with any thick chutneys of your choice. Kids love to have this upma with just a sprinkling of sugar. Enjoy folks, stay warm!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: kaara baath aka upma

A Menu for Hope II Campaign - My Dhaba's Cast-iron Kadai

Welcome to the Menu for Hope II campaign. Hope you still remember the devastating earthquake and its aftereffects of it making thousands of orphaned children, widows, destroyed households, and whatnots. The food bloggers are raising funds for UNICEF to help support vicitms of the earthquake in Northern India and Pakistan putting together a huge list of cool, fun, and personal gifts. Each of those gifts is offered as a virtual raffle prize. All you have to do is donate $5 and you will be eligible for the raffle drawing for a gift of your choice. The funds will be forwarded directly to UNICEF. The fund will be earmarked to support the victims of the Kashmir earthquake.

Recipe to participate (from ChezPim):
1. Find the gift you would like on our menu.
2. Go to A Menu for Hope II donation page and donate $5 or whatever sum you could spare.
3. Tell in the comment section of your donation form which gift(s) you would like have. My Dhaba's offering is our most valuable cast-iron kadai (fry pan) as a personal gift from our side to whomever wins the raffle prize. If you need this prize, please mention My Dhaba/Cast-iron kadai.
4. Each $5 donation will give you one chance at winning the prize of your choice. (Yes, if you donate more than $5, you are allowed to specify more than one prize.)

We have already raised an incredible amount of money - over $11,000. Please read more on Menu for Hope II here, Barbara's post on updates, and here is Pim' wonderful list of the entire menu in pictures for easier viewing. There are only two days left now for participating in this wonderful opportunity and remember this donation you make is for a great cause. Let us make it happen.

LITTLE DROPS OF WATER

Little drops of water,

little grains of sand,

make the mighty ocean

and the beauteous land.

And the little moments,

humble though they may be,

make the mighty ages

of eternity.

Little deeds of kindness,

little words of love,

make our earth an Eden,

like the heaven above.

So our little errors

lead the soul away,

from the paths of virtue

into sin to stray.

Little seeds of mercys

own by youthful hands,

grow to bless the nations

far in heathen lands.

Glory then for ever

be to God on high,

beautiful and loving,

to eternity.

A poem by Julia Carney, 1845.

A Menu for Hope II Campaign: My Dhaba/Cast-iron Kadai

Ginger chicken

Here is yet another slightly spicy and very flavorful chicken dish of My Dhaba - the ginger chicken.
Ginger chicken recipe
Serves – 4
Preparation time – 20 minutes, marination time – 2 hours

Ingredients:
Chicken – ½ kg, preferably breast pieces, skinless, boneless, cut into 1-inch pieces
Ginger – 1-1/2 inch piece, grated and crushed
Garlic – 2 beads, sliced and crushed
Soy sauce – 2 tablespoons
Honey – 2 tablespoons, melted
Salt – 1 teaspoon
Onion – 1, medium size, sliced
Tomatoes – 2, medium size, fully ripe
Capsicum – 1, medium size, sliced length-wise (optional)
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder – 1 teaspoon
Oil – 1 teaspoon
Ghee – 1 teaspoon

Method: Mix well the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, salt, honey, and chicken pieces. Marinate for a minimum of 2 hours, if possible overnight in the refrigerator. Heat a flat-bottomed fry pan and pour in the oil/ghee mix into it. When very hot, add the onions and saute till golden brown here and there. Add the tomatoes and saute till the oil separates from it. Now add the capsicum, red chilli powder, and black pepper powder and saute for a minute. Add the marinated chicken pieces and cook over moderate heat till the chicken pieces are cooked well. Serve hot garnished with lemon wedges, onion rings, and/or whole green/red chillies.

Isn’t it too simple to prepare at home?

PS Chef notes: You may adjust the amount of ginger flavor per your taste by adding or lessening up on the ginger especially if you are not a ginger fan.

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Ginger chicken

Fried cabbage

We have chosen cabbage today to feature it here at My Dhaba. Cabbage is an excellent vegetable that we have in our store always. It is best eaten raw for its high mineral, salt, and vitamin contents. It also helps the growing kids to build their muscles, valuable for teeth, gum, hair, rheumatism, and bones. We mainly eat cabbage as raw in salads almost daily. Here is how we make fried cabbage.

Fried cabbage recipe

Ingredients:
Cabbage – 3 cups, finely shredded
Onions – 1, medium size, finely chopped
Mustard seeds – ¼ teaspoon
Black-gram dal – 1 teaspoon
Dried red chillies – 2, small, broken into halves
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Cashewnuts – 8, fried and broken into tiny bits
Coconut – 2 tablespoons, fresh scrapings
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Oil – 1 teaspoon
Ghee – 1 teaspoon

Method: Heat a vessel and pour in the oil/ghee mix. When just hot, fry the cashewnuts to a light brown color, remove, and keep aside. To the same oil/ghee, when it becomes very hot, add in this order: the mustard seeds to splutter, black-gram dal to brown lightly, red chillies, curry leaves, and then the onions. When the onion edges turn brown, add the cabbage and salt. The water clinging to the cabbage when washed is usually enough, but if it is stale, add a good sprinkling of water also. Cover with a lid, boil till tender over moderate heat, and till no water shows out of it. Stir in the fresh coconut scrapings and the fried cashewnuts, and remove immediately from heat.

PS Chef notes: Overcooking cabbage will result in losing many useful minerals and nutrient contents, so short-boiling or steaming is the best cooking practice for cabbage.

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Fried cabbage

Chilly chicken

Here is yet another hot chicken favorite of My Dhaba - the chilly chicken. Chicken being the common meat we have at home, we learned that kids have a special liking towards chicken dishes when compared to goat/lamb/beef meats perhaps due to its succulent tenderness than a tough, chewy mess. :-) Any point of differences?


Chilly chicken recipe

Ingredients:
Chicken – ½ kg, boneless, cut into 1-inch pieces
Onion – 2, medium size, finely sliced
Ginger – ½ inch size, finely chopped and crushed
Garlic – 2 beads, finely chopped and crushed
Tomato – 1, big size, fully ripe, pureed; or alternatively use 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce
Green chillies – 3, medium size, medium hot, finely chopped
Capsicum - 1, sliced length-wise
Red chilly powder – 1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
All purpose flour – 2 tablespoons
Soya sauce – 3 teaspoons
Vinegar – 2 teaspoons
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Oil – 1 tablespoon

Method: Mix well the flour, chilly powder, black pepper powder, soya sauce, vineger, tomato puree, ginger, garlic, and salt. Add the chicken pieces to this marinade and marinate it covered for 2-4 hours in a refrigerator. Heat oil in a fry pan and when the oil is very hot, add the onions and saute till slightly golden. Add the marinated chicken pieces and capsicum and saute on low heat for 30 to 35 minutes or until the chicken is tender taking care not to burn the chicken pieces by stirring continually. Sprinkle a litte hot water only whenever needed while cooking. Serve it hot garnished with onion rings, lemon wedges, tomato slices, and/or fresh green chillies as a main entrée or as appetising snacks. Enjoy!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Chilly chicken

Fenugreek seeds curried sauce

We had began the journey through Indian curries few days ago, and it was curry week, day #7 at My Dhaba today. There were quite a large number of tempting requests for veg and non-veg curries. We now ponder about continuing this theme for one more week. Also, we think our ongoing journey through Indian curries would never stop. There are so many Indian curries yet to be discussed. We will do this once in a while as usual.

We have cooked fenugreek seeds curried sauce just for you today. Here is My Dhaba's recipe for it.

Fenugreek seeds curried sauce
Serves - 4
Preparation time - 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tablespoon
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 1/2 teaspoonBlack pepper powder – ½ teaspoonCummin seeds powder – ½ teaspoonSalt – ¾ teaspoon
Tamarind extract – lime-sized tight ball
Bengal-gram dal – 1 teaspoon
Black-gram dal – 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Button onions – 10, medium size, whole, skin peeled off (alternatively you may use onions – 2, cut into quarters)
Oil – 1 tablespoon
Ghee – 1 tablespoon
Jaggery powder – 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

Method: Fry the fenugreek seeds in a dry hot pan over slow heat to a light reddish brown color. Grind to a very coarse powder. Extract tamarind juice completely with 3 cupfuls of water. To the tamarind juice, add salt, the spice powders, and fenugreek powder. Make the oil and ghee very hot in a vessel. Add the mustard seeds to splutter, black-gram dal and bengal-gram dal together to brown lightly, the curry leaves, and lastly the onions. When the onions turn limp, pour the seasoned tamarind juice over them. Let this boil till it thickens. Now add the jaggery powder. Simmer further till the oil and ghee show on the surface and the sause has a honey-like consistency. Serve hot and enjoy!


Indian curries discussed so far during My Dhaba's curry week ...

Day #1 - Moluvu kolumbu aka black pepper sauce.
Day #2 - Ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce.
Day #3 - Mixed vegetables sambhar.
Day #4 - Aloo gobi curry aka cauliflower and potato curried sauce.
Day #5 - Karela curry aka bitter gourd curried sauce.
Day #6 - Mor kolumbu aka buttermilk curried sauce.

Read more details about My Dhaba's curry week here. Cheers!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: My Dhaba's curry week: Fenugreek seeds curried sauce

Mor kolumbu aka buttermilk curried sauce

On curry week, day #6 today, we would like to bring your kind attention to Nupur's post on "making curries - 101". It was a sheer coincidence that we both were thinking of Indian curries at the beginning of this week. We at My Dhaba had begun the journey through Indian curries this week with a theme named "curry week" and Nupur started off with "curry worry - how to get the perfect curry!". In her own words, the idea of this post is to share various techniques to get an Indian curry with the perfect consistency - not too thin and not too thick. Read more here.

My Dhaba's curry of the day is mor kolumbu or kuzhambu aka buttermilk curried sauce. The other Indian vernacular names for butter milk are chaas (Hindi/Gujarati), doi (Bengali), moru (Malayalam), majjiga/e (Telugu/Kannada), mor or more (Tamil). Correct us if we are wrong somewhere on this please.

This is one of the most simplest curry dishes that we cook at My Dhaba; so easy to prepare but the result is so unique. You would really love it.

Moru curry aka buttermilk curried sauce recipe
Serves - 4
Preparation time - 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Buttermilk – 3 cups, fresh; made out of 1-1/2 cups thick curd/yogurt
Rice – 1 teaspoon
Tuwar dal – 1 teaspoon
Green chillies – 2, medium size, medium hot
Ginger – 1/4-inch piece
Coconut – a quarter piece, fresh scrapings
Onion – 1, medium size, chopped
Curry leaves – 1+1 sprigs
Ash gourd – 1 cup, peeled and cubed (you may also use bottle gourd, gherkins, or cucumber)
Salt – 3/4 teaspoon or adjusted to taste
Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon
Cummin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
Dried red chilli – 2, broken into halves
Fenugreek powder – ¼ teaspoon
Oil – 1 teaspoon
Ghee – 1 teaspoon

Method: Soak the rice and tuwar dal in a cupful of water for 30 minutes. Keep aside one tablespoon of chopped onions and a sprig of curry leaves. Grind the soaked rice, tuwar dal, green chilles, ginger, coconut, remaining onions and a sprig of curry leaves all together to a smooth paste and keep it aside. Churn the buttermilk till smooth; add salt and keep it aside. Heat a vessel and pour in the oil+ghee mix. When it becomes very hot, add the mustard seeds to splutter, cummin seeds, half-broken red chillies to turn crisp, fenugreek powder, remaining curry leaves, and remaining onions. Stir for a while or till the onions turn limp. Pour the ground paste, turmeic powder, and white pumpkin along with a cupful of water onto this mixture, stir well, cover it, and cook for 5 minutes. Allow it to cool. Now add the seasoned curd, stir well, and let it bubble up to boil just once and remove immediately from heat. Serve hot or cool; in either ways it tastes delicious. Enjoy!

Indian curries discussed so far during My Dhaba's curry week ...

Day #1 - Moluvu kolumbu aka black pepper sauce.
Day #2 - Ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce.
Day #3 - Mixed vegetables sambhar.
Day #4 - Aloo gobi curry aka cauliflower and potato curried sauce.
Day #5 - Karela curry aka bitter gourd curried sauce

Read more details about My Dhaba's curry week here. We look forward to your participation. There are quite a large number of tempting requests for veg and non-veg curries. We now ponder about continuing this theme for one more week. What do you think? As always, your feedbacks are our inspiration. Cheers!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: My Dhaba's curry week: Mor kolumbu or kuzhambu aka buttermilk curried sauce

Karela curry aka bitter gourd curried sauce

It was curry week, day #5 at My Dhaba. Lera of Myriad tastes was so kind in sending us her spicy fish curry to be included in our today's curry post. Here is Lera's spicy fish curry recipe and picture details. Thank you Lera for this post. Excellent blend of spices! We could feel its taste just by looking at its picture.

At My Dhaba, we have cooked karela curry aka bitter gourd curried sauce today.

We were remembering our childhood days today. The trio master home chefs at home, my grandma, mother, and sister used to put in their best culinary skills whenever they used to cook karela dishes at home to make it more tastier and delicious. It is now a delight to think, talk, write, and share the knowledge we had gained from those brilliant home chefs specialized in traditional Indian home cooking. They never used to refer to any cookbooks and had followed the best traditional wisdom handed over by generations and possible trial-and-error methods while cooking. Everything that you read here at My Dhaba is the traditional knowledge of those kitchen queens chronicled and manuscripted by my sister (late) Prabhavathy and me. Hope you are enjoying these journeys through traditional Indian home cooking.

Here is the recipe for My Dhaba's favorite karela curry.


Karela curry aka bitter gourd curried sauce
Serves - 4
Preparation time - 45 minutes

Ingredients:
Bitter gourd - 3 cups, fresh, deseeded, cut into thin rounds
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Tamarind - a lemon-sized lump
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
Cummin seeds powder – ½ teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds powder – ½ teaspoon
Coconut - half of a fresh coconut, scrapings
Onion - 2, medium size, chopped
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 1 sprig, fresh
Salt - 1/2+1/2 teaspoon
Jaggery - 2 tablespoon, powdered

Method: Smear the turmeric powder and salt all over the karela rounds, keep aside for half an hour, and wash well in water. Add 3 cupfuls of water to a lemon-sized lump of tamarind and extract the juice. Bring this tamarind juice to the boil and add the washed bitter gourd rounds to it. Let it boil for 15 minutes, strain, and keep both karela rounds and boiled water separately. Grind the coconut and onions to a smooth paste. Heat a flat-bottomed vessel and pour in the oil. When smoking hot, add the mustard seeds to splutter, the remaining chopped onions, and curry leaves. When the onions turn limp, add the boiled karela and saute well for a minute. Pour in the coconut+onion paste and all other spice powders. Saute well for a minute. Now add the boiled tamarind water and salt. Adjust the thickness of the sauce by adding more water (1-2 cups) and boil for 10 minutes. Add the jaggery powder and simmer further till the sauce reaches a semi-thick honey-like consistency and the oil shines on the surface. Enjoy with plain boiled rice.

Indian curries discussed so far during My Dhaba's curry week ...
Day #1 - Moluvu kolumbu aka black pepper sauce.
Day #2 - Ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce.
Day #3 - Mixed vegetables sambhar.
Day #4 - Aloo gobi curry aka cauliflower and potato curried sauce

Read more details about My Dhaba's curry week here. We look forward to your participation. As always, your feedbacks are our inspiration. Cheers!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Karela curry aka bitter gourd curried sauce

Aloo gobi curry aka cauliflower and potato curried sauce

We had began the journey through Indian curries few days ago, and it was curry week, day #4 at My Dhaba today. We have cooked aloo gobi curry aka cauliflower and potato curried sauce just for you today. Here is My Dhaba's recipe for it.

Bringing the ingredients together...

Cauliflower and potato curried sauce recipe

Ingredients:
Cauliflower – 1, medium size, break into flowerettes
Potatoes – 3, large size, scrapped off the skins and cut into cubes
Onions – 2, large size, finely chopped
Garlic – 3 beads, finely sliced
Tomato – 1, large size, firm, fully ripe, sliced
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoonCoriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
Cummin seeds powder – ½ teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds powder – ½ teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt – 1-1/2 teaspoons
Coconut – one quarter piece, ground to a smooth paste with khus-khus
Khus-khus – 1 teaspoon
Cloves – 2
Cinnamon – 2 one-inch long sticks
Oil or ghee – 2 tablespoons
Coriander leaves – a bunch, finely chopped
Tamarind extract – 1 tablespoon

Method: Heat a flat-bottomed vessel and pour in the oil into it. Keep aside 1 tablespoon of onions. When the oil becomes smoking hot, add the remaining onions and garlic in it and saute till the onion edges turn brown here and there. Now add the cauliflower and potatoes, stir once thoroughly, cover with a lid, and cook over moderate heat for 3 minutes. Add all the spice powders and salt at this time and saute for a minute. Add 2-3 cupfuls of water to just cover the vegetables, close with a lid, and cook over moderate heat till the vegetables are cooked and tender. Now add the tamarind extract and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the coconut and khus-khus paste diluted in a cupful of water. Adjust the thickness of the sauce accordingly while adding water at this time. Simmer and cook for 2 mintues or until the raw smell of the coconut goes away. Add the tomatoes, simmer for another 10 minutes, and remove from heat. Stir in the coriander leaves. Heat a small frying pan oand pour in one tablespoon oil. When the oil becomes very hot, put in the cloves, cinnamon, and then the remaining onions. When the onions turn brown here and there pour a spoonful of sauce over it and return to the sauce immediately. Stir once thoroughly and cover with a lid. Serve hot with rice or chappaties. Enjoy!

PS Chef note: You may make this curried sauce with the potatoes and any other available vegetables viz., cabbage, peas, brinjals, knol-knol, radish, etc., instead of cauliflower.

Indian curries discussed so far...

Day #1 - Moluvu kolumbu aka black pepper sauce.
Day #2 - Ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce.
Day #3 - Mixed vegetables sambhar.

Read more details about My Dhaba's curry week here. We look forward to your participation. Cheers!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: My Dhaba's curry week: Cauliflower and potato curried sauce

My Dhaba's curry week: Day #4

It is curry week day #4 at My Dhaba today. As with any journey we are more likely to enjoy ourselves if we know where we want to go and how we are going. We have already received so many recipe requests and few exotic recipe details via mails and through our feedback messages. We are cooking cauliflower and potato curried sauce today.

Read more about My Dhaba's curry week here.

Indian curries discussed during this week...
Day #1 - Moluvu kolumbu aka black pepper sauce.
Day #2 - Ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce.
Day #3 - Mixed vegetables sambhar.

My Dhaba's curry week

Mixed vegetables sambhar

It was curry week day #3 at My Dhaba today and we prepared this delicious mixed vegetables sambhar today. We had begun the journey through Indian curries the day before yesterday and hope you would agree with us that no list of curries would be complete without sambhar as a curry in it. So here is My Dhaba's special mixed vegetables sambhar made just for you during this curry week.

Mixed vegetables sambhar recipe

Ingredients:
Tuwar dal – 1 cup
Vegetables – 3 cups, peeled and cut lengthwise (atleast 2 kinds of vegetables, preferred combinations – french beans and brinjals, drumsticks and knol-knol, ladies finger and radish, or a mixture of any of these); vegetables used in this sambhar – drumsticks, brinjal, ladiesfinger, and carrot.
Salt – 1-1/2 teaspoons
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
Cummin seeds powder – ½ teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds powder – ½ teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
Asafoetida = ¼ teaspoon
Onions – 2, medium size, finely chopped
Garlic – 3 beads, finely sliced
Tomato – 1, small, finely chopped
Tamarind extract – 2 tablespoons
Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Oil – 1+1 teaspoons
Ghee – 1 teaspoon

Method: Boil 6 cupfuls of water in a flat-bottomed vessel; put the dal, turmeric powder, and 1 teaspoon of oil into it. Cover the vessel with a lid and cook over moderate heat till the dal turns soft. You may also pressure-cook it by boiling the cooker to full pressure and then subsimmer it for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, pour the top thin water into another vessel and mash the residual thick dal to a creamy smooth consistency with a dal churner or you may mash it in a blender. Pour back the dal water into the mashed dal. Add all the vegetables, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder, cummin seeds powder, fenugreek powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida, onions, and garlic. Adjust the water by adding a little more water if needed. Cook the vegetables covered with a lid over moderate heat till the vegetables are tender. Once the vegetables are tender, add the tamarind extract and cook for 5 minutes. Now add the tomatoes and let the sauce simmer over moderate heat till the raw smell of the tamarind disappears and the sauce reaches the desired thickness. Remove from heat and keep aside. Heat a frying pan and pour in the remaining oil and ghee into it. When very hot, add the mustard seeds to splutter and the curry leaves. Pour a big spoonful of sauce over the fried curry leaves and return it again to the sauce immediately. Stir thoroughly once and cover with a lid. Serve this nutritious sambhar on plain boiled rice, idlis, or dosais, etc. Enjoy!

Indian curries discussed so far...
Day #1 - Moluvu kolumbu aka black pepper sauce.
Day #2 - Ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce.
Day #3 - Mixed vegetables sambhar.

Read more details about My Dhaba's curry week here. We look forward to your participation. Cheers!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: My Dhaba's curry week: Mixed vegetables sambhar

Ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce

It was curry week day #2 at My Dhaba, and it is time now for posting about ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce. This was requested by an anonymous guest that happened to be one of our most favorite brinjal dishes. Here is the recipe for ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce.

Bringing the ingredients together...

Ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce recipe

Ingredients:
Brinjals - 2 cupfuls, tender, cut into quarters lengthwise slitting it just half way to keep them stuck together at the stem end
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Garam masala powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Tamarind extract – 2 tablespoons
Coconut – a quarter, freshly scraped and ground smoothly with khus-khus
Khus-khus – 2 teaspoons
Tomatoes – 2, big size, fully ripe, cut into thick slices
Onions – 2, medium size, finely sliced
Garlic – 3 beads, finely sliced
Salt – 1 teaspoon or adjusted to taste
Oil – 4 tablespoons (gingelly oil preferred, you may use any other cooking oil)
Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon
Black-gram dal – ½ teaspoon
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Hot water – 2+1 cups

Method: Heat a flat-bottomed vessel and pour in the oil. When the oil becomes very hot, add the mustard seeds to splutter, the black-gram dal to brown lightly, then curry leaves, and lastly onions and garlic flakes together. When the onions are sauteed to limp, add the sliced tomatoes. Saute the tomatoes till the oil separates from them and put in the washed wet brinjals. Turn over the brinjals well in the oil for a minute; cover with a lid and cook till they half-boil in the oil over moderate heat. Add the red chilli powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder, turmeric powder, and salt and saute for a minute. Cover the brinjals to just their level with hot water and cook over moderate heat. When the brinjals are boiled tender, add the tamarind extract and cook for 5 minutes. When this started boiling, add the coconut paste diluted with a cup of water and simmer further over moderate-to-low heat till the sauce becomes the required semi-thick consistency. Adjust the thickness of the sauce by adding or lessening the water at the last stages accordingly. Enjoy ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu aka Brinjal oil sauce, a hot-looking red sauce, with pappadums, potato subji, or any chutneys of your choice.

We had begun the journey through Indian curries yesterday with moluvu kolumbu aka black pepper sauce. Read more details about My Dhaba's curry week here. We look forward to your participation. Cheers!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: : My Dhaba's curry week: Ennai kathrikaa kaara kozhambu kolumbu aka brinjal oil sauce

My Dhaba's Curry Week: Day #2

We had begun the journey through Indian curries yesterday with moluvu kolumbu aka black pepper sauce. As with any journey we are more likely to enjoy ourselves if we know where we want to go and how we are going. We have already received so many recipe requests and few exotic recipe details via mails and through our feedback messages.

How could you participate in this fun?
1. As you know there are 22 major languages recognized as official languages by the constitution of India, it would be really exciting and helpful if all of you, the Indian food lovers, kindly share the names of these dishes in your language or languages known to you, especially in Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, and Sindhi.
2. Send us your curry recipe request or any of your favorite curry recipes that you may have. We will then choose the dish from those, cook it at My Dhaba, and post our recipe and details to you on a daily basis during this curry week.
3. If you are an Indian food blogger and are blogging about any Indian curry recipes during this week, kindly message us the link. We will show it off by displaying your recipe link along with our daily curry posts.

Today, on our curry week day #2, we are cooking brinjal oil sauce aka ennai kathrikaa kaara kuzhambu or is it kolumbu, whatever be the correct spelling. (Anonymous - that was your request.) We will post the recipe details and pictures after the lunch here. We are also cooking chilli chicken today. Isn't it really tempting? Cheers!

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: My Dhaba's Curry Week

Stuffed omelette

Eggs are our most favorite breakfast dish. We have already written few posts on eggs and recipes. You may want to read those here - drumstick leaves fried with eggs, egg flip (energy drink), egg omelette, poached eggs, scrampled eggs with tomatoes, spicy egg masala, and spicy egg toast. Use the freshest eggs available whenever possible; they taste better.

Here is our yet another breakfast dish - stuffed omelette. We used minced meat at this time. You may use any vegetables available with you handy as filling in stead of minced meat viz., potatoes, carrots, radish, beetroots, greens, french beans, etc., just to name a few.

Bringing the ingredients together...


Stuffed omelette recipe
Serves – 4
Preparation time - 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Eggs – 4
Minced meat – 1 cup, cooked with a pinch of turmeric powder, ¼ teaspon black pepper powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Black pepper powder – 1 teaspoon
Onions – 2, medium size, finely chopped
Green chilli – 2, medium size, finely chopped (optional)
Oil+ghee – 1+1 teaspoons

Method: Beat the eggs well and add the salt and pepper. Saute the onions in one teaspoon oil/ghee mix till limp and add it to the beaten eggs. Heat a fry pan over moderate heat and grease it lightly. When hot, pour in half portion of the egg batter and spread to a thin round like a dosai or pancake. Sprinkle and spread half portion of the minced meat all over the round and cook over low heat till the eggs set. With a sharp-edged spoon, turn over the egg to a semicircle. Seal the edges with a little egg batter. Pour some ghee around the edges and cook until golden brown here and there on both sides. Cut it with a sharp knife into rectangular pieces and serve hot. It goes well with a cup of masala tea. Enjoy!
Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Stuffed Omelette

My Dhaba's milestone achievement

We would like to thank all My Dhaba's guests for being with us so far without whom we would not be able to reach a milestone achievement today.

Congratulations My Dhaba team :-), i.e., I, my wife, Adarsh, and Aditya. Site meter now says the total number of visitors since October 23, 2005, has crossed 10,000 mark - isn't it a milestone achievement.

It took us precisely 54 days to reach this mark. The next milestone achievement for us would be by reaching 100,000 mark. Let us see how many days it would take :-)

Your kind support, continued cooperation, and valuable feedbacks are always appreciated. You are really our inspiration.

Cheers!

My Dhaba team

My Dhaba's milestone achievement

Moluvu kolumbu aka Black pepper sauce

We assume that it is going to be a curry week at My Dhaba. We have already received few recipe requests on curries. Let us begin the curry journey with moluvu kolumbu aka the black pepper sauce.

Black pepper is commonly used in Indian cooking, and it is an established fact that it is a cure for a host of diseases. It is a cure for cough due to congestion of phlegm, dandruff, chronic diarrhea, blisters on the body, gastric catarrh, rheumatism, nausea, anorexia, piles, venerial diseases, etc. These peppers, which are like tiny berries, are black because they are dried with the skin on.

Now on the second major ingredient of this dish, the coriander seeds - there are many dishes that are made from all parts of India that goes with either the fresh leaves or the seeds of coriander (dhaniya). The digestive action of the seed is particularly effective with carbohydrates. Coriander leaf is useful in distaste for food, dyspepsia, and billiousness. It helps to improve semen.

Finally, moluvu kolumbu is best suitable for those days when we have a vague rheumatic aching in the limbs. Here is the recipe for moluvu kolumbu. Enjoy!

Moluvu kolumbu recipe
Serves - 4
Preparation time - 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Black peppercorns – 1 tablespoon
Coriander seeds or powder – 2 tablespoons
Red chilli – 2, medium size, medium hot ones (or use 1 teaspoon powder)
Tumeric powder – ½ teaspoon
Coconut – a quarter, 2-3 inch piece, fresh
Tamarind extract – 3 tablespoons
Salt – 1 teaspoon or adjusted to taste (1-1/2 teaspoons is just fine)
Onions – 2, large, finely sliced
Tomato – 1, big, fully ripe, finely chopped
Garlic – 4 beads, finely sliced and slightly crushed
Curry leaves – a sprig
Jaggery – 2-3 tablespoons, powdered
Oil + ghee – 2+2 teaspoons

Method: Grind the blackpeppercorns, coconut, coriander seeds, and red chillies to a smooth paste. Dilute this paste with 2 cupfuls of water, add turmeric powder, tamarind extract, and salt, and mix well. Heat a flat-bottomed vessel and pour in the oil and ghee mix. When very hot, add the onions, garlic, and curry leaves. Saute until the onions are limp and add tomotoes. Saute till the oil separates from the tomatoes. Add the black pepper batter into it. Boil over moderate heat till the raw smell goes away. It takes approx 12-15 minutes. Add the jaggery powder and subsimmer over low heat till oil and ghee shows up on the surface or until the sauce is thickish to a honey-like consistency. Serve it hot with plain boiled rice with a teaspoon of pure ghee added to each individual serving. Suitable accompaniments along with moluvu kolumbu are hard boiled eggs, pappadams, or any other vegetable subjis.

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Moluvu Kolumbu aka Black pepper sauce

My Dhaba's unforgettable guest of the day

We at My Dhaba consider all our returning visitors as the most distinguished guests of the day without whom we would not be able to learn so many new things in a such a short period of time harnessing the power of internet's interconnectivity. Yes, blogging has really made our last two months :-)

We do encounter few unforgettable guests once in a while. This is just for your info that we do try to keep an external link to all of our guests from our index page with a sole purpose of staying in touch with them.

Presenting to you one of My Dhaba's most unforgettable guests of the day.

This guest just flew in from nowhere to My Dhaba's kitchen today via one of the open windows and perched near the microwave oven. We became friends in just few minutes and it got settled down on my index finger. It is still hanging around and playing with kids who are really excited today. It seems there are no plans of going back, hopping around all over the home enjoying every bit of its stay, and just sipped a little milk so far.

Does anyone know its name? We are still searching. Any ornithologists out there? Here are some pictures of My Dhaba's most unforgettable guest of the day :-)




My Dhaba's unforgettable guest of the day

Matar masala aka green peas masala

Matar masala aka green peas masala recipe
Serves - 4
Preparation time - 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Green peas - 2 cups
Onions - 2, medium size, finely chopped
Cummin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, finely chopped and slightly crushed
Green chillies - 2, medium size, medium hot, finely chopped
Tomatoes - 2, medium size, fully ripe ones, finely chopped
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon or adjusted to taste
Oil+ghee - 1+1 teaspoons

Method: Heat a fry pan and pour in the oil/ghee mix. Add the cummin seeds to splutter and onions. Saute till the onions turn light brown here and there. Add ginger and green chillies and saute for a minute. Add tomatoes and saute till the oil separates from it. Add a cupful of water and boil. Add the green peas, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, and garam masala powder and stir it once well. Cook it covered on low heat stirring occasionally until green peas are cooked. Serve it hot with poori or rotis.

Traditional Indian Home Cooking Recipe: Matar masala aka green peas masala

Happy 67th Birthday Mom!

To my mother Thankam Narayanan, happy birthday to you Thankamma (she knows, we lovingly call her that way) and may God give you more years to enjoy with us! We seem to feel that there's no other place like home. You are a role model to your grand children Adarsh and Aditya. They talk about you very often. We love you. We really miss you mom.

Thinking of you across the miles...

Here are two poems chosen by us just for you mom:

Mother - I Appreciate

I appreciate the many prayers
you've whispered during
the worst moments in my life,
and the many hopes for my success
in all that I dreamed of.

I appreciate the kind wishes
that would make me so happy and fulfilled,
and the gentle words of encouragement
that were meant to strengthen my quests.

I appreciate the moments of sorrow
you experienced during my failures,
and the little gestures of kindness
that always made me feel better.

I appreciate your acceptance,
your ability to understand,
and the sincere friendship
that always gave me such security.

I appreciate the wisdom
of all the lessons you taught,
and the meaning behind the words
"unconditional love."

I appreciate all you've done -
every word and gesture.
I know you've been the best there is -
a mother beyond all compare.

For all you've done...
thank you, Mom.
For all that you are...
I love you.

- Author unknown -

A Mother's Love Is a Haven in the Storms of Life

A MOTHER'S LOVE is like an island
In life's ocean vast and wide,
A peaceful, quiet shelter
From the restless, rising tide ...

A MOTHER'S LOVE is like a fortress
And we seek protection there
When the waves of tribulation
Seem to drown us in despair ...

A MOTHER'S LOVE'S a sanctuary
Where our souls can find sweet rest
From the struggle and the tension
Of life's fast and futile quest ...

A MOTHER'S LOVE is like a tower
Rising far above the crowd,
And her smile is like the sunshine
Breaking through a threatening cloud ...

A MOTHER'S LOVE is like a beacon
Burning bright with faith and prayer,
And through the changing scenes of life
We can find a haven there ...

For a MOTHER'S LOVE is fashioned
After God's enduring love,
It is endless and unfailing
Like the love of Him above ...

For God knew in His great wisdom
That He couldn't be everywhere
So He put His little children
In a loving MOTHER'S CARE.

- Author: Helen Steiner Rice -

Happy Birthday Thankamma

A virtual treat to my mom

My Dhaba is celebrating my mother's 67th birthday today in this way. Come and join us for a delicious virtual treat with a plate of Halwa Omania and Kahwa (the world famous Omani black coffee) :-) Cheers!




Now to give you the authentic traditional Omani recipes, we have spent so many hours discussing and gathering information from our Omani friends, internet sources, etc. Surprisingly everyone gives us a different recipe for the same dish.

Here is what we thought would be the most authentic recipe for making halwa Omania. Who wants to be its first taste-tester? We are getting some more inputs from our dear and near ones and may make minor changes here and there. So, if you are interested in this recipe, please bookmark this page for updates. We will also post the recipe for Kahwa separately.

Halwa Omania Recipe

Ingredients:
Water – 1 L
White sugar – 1 cup
Brown sugar – ½ cup
Wheat starch – 1 cup
Ghee – ½ cup
Rose water – ½ teaspoon
Saffron – a pinch
Cardomom powder – ½ teaspoon
Almonds – 1 tablespoon, broken into quarters
Cashewnuts – 1 tablespoon, broken into quarters
Nutmeg powder – 1 teaspoon

Method: Boil the water in a vessel and add the brown sugar. Stir well until the brown sugar is completely dissolved. Add the sugar and stir well again until it is completely dissolved. Put on low heat, add the wheat starch, and stir the mixture continually for about 2 hours (lots of hard work involved). Add the ghee when the mixture is semi-thick, sprinkle a little water sparingly, and keep stirring it continously now until the mixture holds together. Add the saffron, rose water, almonds, cashewnuts, and nutmeg. Keep on stirring until the mixture is thick. Remove from heat and pour into 2-inch deep containers. Garnish with some nuts and allow it cool. Serve it to your guests with a cup of coffee or Kahwa (Omani black coffee). Enjoy!

Traditional Omani Home Cooking Recipe: Halwa Omania