Parsi style Tittori/ Field beans recipe

Hello Friends,

Hope you all are doing well, eating super well and exercising at least 4 times a week. So this Sunday I stirred up an authentic recipe of Tittori. If those who are wondering what tittori is, it is a wholesome Parsi dish made of sprouted and peeled vaal. We bawas  always  have a funny name for everything, for this its tittori.

Lets start the week with its recipe just the way my grandmother used to cook. My Kharmen Babaiji used to add koru (pumpkin) and small Methi leaves with a dash of khaman besides all the other regular masalas. It felt so good trying out this dish as it turned out just the way I wanted it. Note I didn't  find small methi so used the regular one. You can skip it if you wish. Now gather the ingredients and start cooking.  

Ingredients

250 grams sprouted and peeled field beans
3 tbsp oil
2  chopped onions
3 chopped tomatoes
1 chopped green chilly
Few sprigs of Methi - (optional)
1 small piece of pumpkin
1 tbsp dry coconut powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp dhansak masala
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp garam masala
Chopped coriander leaves
Salt to taste

Method

How to Sprout the field beans? 

Answer- Wash the vaal and soak it in water for at least 12 hours till it gets soft. Then strain all the water and transfer it to a muslin cloth. Allow it to rest for another 12 hours. The field beans will sprout. The skin can be removed easily by again adding water to it.

How to cook Tittori?

1. Finely chop the onions, tomatoes, green chilly, pumpkin, methi and keep ready for the cooking procedure. 

 

2. Heat the oil in deep bottom pan, now add the onions and green chilly. Sauté on a medium flame till pinkish in colour.

3.  Add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté on a medium flame for another 1 minute till the raw aroma goes away. 

 

4. Add tomatoes and cook for another one minute. 

5. Now add the methi, pumpkin and let it all cook together till it gets pulpy. Mash it with the back of a spoon to fasten the process. 

6. Add the dry coconut powder at this stage, saute for two minutes. 

7. Add the garam masala, dhansak masala, cumin powder, turmeric powder and salt.

8. Now add a cup of water to this and let it boil.

9. Slowly add the field beans, cover and cook stirring occasionally. Cook on low flame with lid on.

10. Press with fingers. Field beans cook easily. If it can be pressed with fingers it is cooked.

11. Garnish with Coriander leaves. This is best eaten with fried bombayducks (bombil). I served it with bombil achhar and rotis. 

  My Bapaiji tip

"Cook on slow flame." She would sometimes add all the ingredients together and let it cook on slow. Remember in those days they had a Primas choola. She added a red chilly powder too, all according to taate and never measured any ingredients. But her dishes always were relished and appreciated by the entire family. 

Today I miss my dear grandmother immensely. Hope to share more recipe of my sweet  kharmen Bapaiji

Parsi Sev / Sweet Vermicelli Recipe

Dear Friends,
Wishing all my Parsi friends and everyone celebrating Navroze a very prosperous New Year and a happy Khordad saal . Some dishes are a must on festive occasions. It is auspicious  to Mora - dal chawal and fried fish, salli Margi, and definitely something sweet to end the indulgent  meal.

I am making  Parsi sev for you  today. This dish was prepared by my Paternal Grandmother when she would visit during happy occasions. Infact she would get up before we all did and would start preparing. The aroma of ghee and vanilla essence would fill the household. We enjoyed with relish at the breakfast table.
The recipe has simple easily available ingredients however needs skilled technique while cooking the sev.

Ingredients 

250 gms brown vermicelli crushed into bits
2 to 3 tbsp ghee
I cup  sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/2 tsp Nutmeg powder
1/4 cup  raisins
1/4 cup charoli
2 and 1/2 cup water

Method

1. In a heavy bottom vessel melt 2 tbsp ghee or oil and fry the chopped mixed dry fruits on low flame. 

2. Remove and keep aside on a paper towel to drain and absorb the oil.

3. Now add 1 tbsp ghee to the pan and fry the vermicelli till it gets to a darkish brown colour. Roast on slow flame to not let it burn.

4. In another vessel combine water sugar and essence and bring to a boil to make a chasni.

5. Add Nutmeg powder and cardamon powder to the sev. 

6. Now comes the tricky part.
 You need to slowly add a little bit of water to the sev and cook with a lid on till the water dries up.

7. Repeat the process. Add little chasni again to the sev. Then stir with a light hand and cover with the lid.  This will ensure that the sev gets cooked well without sticking together.

8. Complete the steps 2-4 times more till the sugar water is over. You will see the sev swell and get cooked.

9. Now Garnish with the fried charoli and kishmish and enjoy this much relished dish. 

 Parsi Sev is generally served along  with sweet yogurt ( Mitho Dahi) on most festive occasions. The warm sev and the cool yogurt take it to another level of tasty indulgence. Parsis enjoy their Sagan ni sev with a cup of ginger tea too.

Dahi ke Kebabs/ Kebabs made with hung curd

Hello Friends,
A very Happy 72th Independence day to all my fellow indian brothers and sisters.
I am sure you have eaten 'Dahi ke kebabs' with relish at many restaurants. It is a real delicate treat for the tastebuds. For those who have not, lets try to replicate the same today in my post.

My experimentation in the kitchen was a big success today and the Dahi ke kebabs turned out just the way I had expected. These kebabs are enjoyed best when piping hot because of their  kebab unique texture, which is not crisp, but soft and creamy with the mild crunch of onion in between.

Ingredients

500 gms curd
2 tbsp gram flour (besan)
1 onion (finely chopped)
1 green chilly
1/2 tsp cumin powder (jeera powder)
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
Salt to taste
3-4 tbsp oil for frying

Method

1. Take half kg curd and hang it by tying it in a muslin cloth and letting the whey drip out. Keep it till the texture thickens and it looks like soft paneer. You can do this process one day earlier for preparing it the following day.

2. Roast the gram flour in a heavy bottom pan till it changes colour and gives out an aroma.

3. In a mixing bowl, add the gram flour, chopped onion, coriander leaves, grated ginger, chilly and dry spices. Mix it together lightly.

4. Now add the hung curd and bind with your hand. It will form a sticky dough.

5. Flatten the dough to make circular cutlets but flatten then so they cook easily on both side.

6.  Add oil to a frying pan, on high flame let the kebabs cook on one side.

7. Now flip the kebab and cook on the other side.

8.Garnish it with  Pickled onions, mint leaves and lime wedges.

9.  Serve it hot with ketchup or chutney.

Enjoy garma garam Dahi ke kebab

Note

This may not taste good when cold so enjoy it hot.
Brown the besan well in step 2
Fry in hot oil, and turn quickly because actually dahi doesn't need to be cooked.

Happy Cooking!!

Spicy Corn Curry | Corn on the cob curry

Hello Friends,

We always associate savouring corn on the cob on a rainy day. That wet chilly feeling combined with the comfort of a hot spicy butta is an incomparable feeling. The sights and sounds of the local hawker roasting  corn on the cob is so delightful. One just cannot wait to enjoy corn on the cob smeared with lime and chilly powder.

This season I bought some American Corn cobs home from a local market. Enjoyed it simply by boiling the cobs in the pressure cooker and adding butter with few spices. However still having a few cobs left over I decided to stir up a spicy curry with ingredients available at home.

Ingredients

2 corn on the cob
1 medium onion
2 large tomatoes
 I tbsp cooking oil
2-3 kashmiri chilies
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tsp Kasturi Methi powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp corriander powder
Salt to taste
Coriander for garnish

Method

1. Chop the onion, tomato and keep aside.

2. Now pressure cook the corn on the cob for 7-10 minutes. Set aside for cooling. Later make each cob into four pieces.

3. In a kadhai or heavy bottom pan, heat oil. Add onions, red kashmiri chillies,and ginger garlic paste and sauté till the onions are golden brown.

4. Now add the tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes get soft and pulpy.

5. Add this paste to a mixer grinder and puree to make a paste.

6. Put thishis back to the kadai, add kasturi methi, dry spices and salt to taste.

7. Add the boiled corn and sauté for 5 minutes.

8. Now 2 cups of water and cook uncovered for 5-8 minutes till you have a thick gravy.

9. Garnish with coriander leaves.

10. Serve the dish with hot rotis or steamed rice and sliced onions.

Note

Do not add any garam masala.
You can add sugar if you desire a sweet/sour taste.
If Kashmiri chillies are not available you can add chilly powder.

Perfect non-sticky Sabudana Khichdi

Hello Friends,

Sabudana or tapioca pearls as its called in English is a starch extract from the tapioca root. It is processed  further to make spherical pearl like balls better known as sabudana.

Sabudana has a high cooling effect and can be easily digested. Sabudana khichdi is a very popular breakfast food in India. It is also eaten during fasts with  a dollop of chilled curd.

How does one make a perfect  non sticky sabudana khichdi is always a tricky  question. Isn't it?

So let's get straight into this easy recipe and learn some tricks to make a non sticky sabudana khichdi.

Trick

Do not over soak the sabudana, just half an inch above the level of sabudana. First  wash the pearls under cold tap water. Wash till the water gets clear and all the sticky starch is removed. And before cooking strain well. This should do the trick for a perfect khichdi.

Ingredients

1 cup sago (sabudana)
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
10-12 curry leaves
1 large potatoes
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1 chopped green chillies
Coriander for garnish
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method

1. Wash and soak the sabudana the same way explained in the trick. 

2. Drain and keep aside for about 2 hours. If necessary, sprinkle a little water over the sago to keep it moist.

3. Peel the potato and chop it into tiny cubes. 

4. Roast the peanuts and then grind coarsely in a mixer.

5. Take a kadai or frying pan, add oil to it and let it heat up.

6. Add curry leaves, cumin seeds and chopped green chilly. Cook till potatoes are soft.

7. Now add peanuts and drained sabudana. 

8. Make sure not to mash the sabudana. Cover and cook for 2 minutes till sabudana get cooked. 

9. Add salt and mix well. Cook till the sabudana get translucent.

10. Now garnish with coriander and serve it hot at teatime.