A Peek into my Life

For rakshabandhan last week, I decided to do a special maharashtrian thali for lunch. Rakshabandhan also coincides with Narali Poornima in Marathi culture. On that day, narali bhaat (coconut rice) is traditionally made. I also planned masale bhaat, puri bhaaji, and the famous khamang kakdi. My mother in law brought over sevai kheer which went really well with the puri bhaaji. I also bought some taak (buttermilk) to go with the masale bhaat. We really love Govardhan brand taak. Even their masala taak is not spicy but spiced in a very balanced manner. Here is the taat (thali) in its full glory. :) maharashtrian thali Sakhar bhaat There are many variations of this rice. My mother used to make sakhar bhaat (translates to sugar rice) with coconut added to it. It is one of the more complex recipes for this rice but is also undoubtedly more delicious. Sakhar bhaat Adapted from Sakharbhat Recipe By Tanuja Serves 12 Ingredients: 2 cups basmati rice 1.5 cups sug...

I am not really a religious person. So Shivratri was another reason to try out new recipes; fasting recipes specifically. Shivratri is one of the major fasting days in Hinduism that is followed by a large number of people. My thought process was that it is healthy and tasty to take a break from everyday grains like rice and wheat for a day. Instead of doing it on Monday as per the calendar, we did it on Sunday so that the husband would not miss out on the food. Here's what I made for the day: For breakfast, it was sabudana khichadi. It was certainly not a new recipe. It is our usual Sunday breakfast because the daughter loves it. The trick to perfect sabudana khichadi lies in the soaking technique of sabudana. I learnt this trick from my mom. After washing the sabudana a couple of times, soak it in enough water to cover it by an inch. Leave it for about 20 minutes. The sabudana would have soaked up some of the water by now. Drain the excess water leaving just a couple of table...

The 10-day Ganesh festival has come to an end. The kids had a 6-day mini-vacation for this social festival in Mumbai. People come together to celebrate and worship Ganesha. Our building also had a Ganapati kept for 5 days and people came together for Aarti and activities. It is most exciting for the kids. My daughter didn't miss a single evening aarti or any of the activities organized for the kids. Ganapati in the building The daughter was quite excited about the kids activities and I was surprised to see she wanted to practice for them. :) I hadn't seen that much enthusiasm for school work. These festivals are a way to make childhood memories by breaking the routine and bringing on excitement. There was lemon and spoon race, musical chairs and a drawing competition. She was sad she didn't win anything but kids being kids, she quickly recovered from it. She also wanted to go for visarjan but we had other appointments that day. So, she sportingly agreed to wait till ...

During my daughter's summer vacation, we go to my parent's place in Gujarat for about a month. We come back relaxed and ready to take on the next school year. We also come back with a couple of more kilos on us; given all the delicious mangoes of Gujarat and even more delicious food cooked by mom. This year she made the most delicious alu wadi (if you are in Maharashtra) (or patra, if you are from Gujarat) I had till date. Since we are talking names in different languages, the English name of the leaf is colocasia leaf. Anyway, I tried the recipe as soon as we were back and settled at home after the month-long vacation. I had to record this delicious recipe for reference. This alu wadi is not deep fried but is crisped up on a cast iron skillet with a little oil. To achieve a good browning, the cast iron pan needs to be preheated on high flame first. Once it is hot, keep the flame low throughout the cooking. A small amount of oil along with low and long heat ensures a crisp ...

Gudi Padva was on Monday. Last year I did not get around to making Shrikhand so this year I was determined to make it. Although this year I did not make puris. After an unusual busy weekend of socialising and food, our tummies were in no position to eat anything fried. So, I stuck to rotis. Shrikhand is one of my favorite dessert and I was very glad that my homemade version tasted just like the real thing (Amul Shrikhand is the gold standard, atleast for me, being from the land of Amul). I had not realized before I tried my hand at it that Shrikhand would be so easy to make. It also has to do with the fact that I made a small quantity. Larger quantities will take a bit more effort. I used my favorite and most traditional flavoring for the Shrikhand : kesar (saffron) and elaichi (cardamom) Kesar Elaichi Shrikhand Serves 4 Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup plain yogurt 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp coarsely powdered pistachios and almonds a pinch crushed saffron threads 3 cardamo...

Last Sunday was Holi. It is the festival to welcome spring. It also has a religious significance in the story of Prahlad and Holika. While many people love it for the play with colors, for me, it has to obviously link to food. The food synonymus with Holi is Puran Poli. I did not do the poli part, and just went with Puran. The puran poli making process is a little difficult and time consuming. And it is so delicious that it is easy to overdo it. I just made a little bit of puran to offer as prasad. The puran made for eating on its own is a little different than the puran used to stuff the polis. The chana dal is kept whole instead of pureeing it and it needs much less sweetner than the puran for polis. And the biggest advantage, it is quick and hardly requires effort. I am all for the foods that deliver great taste while being easy to make. If you are like me and want a taste of puran poli without all the effort and time, this puran, which is more like a halwa, is just the thing. ...

This week, we celebrated Makar Sankranti festival in our own small way. That meant making Til Gul as prasad and sharing it with each other. The daughter is just about old enough to understand about traditions and I am trying to expose her to whatever little tradition we follow. After all, these special days and special foods from childhood traditions are what warms the heart later in life. When I was a child, Makar Sankranti was called Uttarayan (because we lived in Gujarat). All around us, there was this party atmosphere with everyone up on their terrace at the break of dawn : playing music, flying kites, cheering for the kite that cut the sharp thread of the other kite. There wasn't much cooking done that day because no one wanted to leave the party on the terrace and spend a lot of time in the kitchen. In our house, it was different. We had the elaborate meal starring gul poli (jaggery stuffed roti) with the supporting cast of vegetable, kadhi or dal and rice, maybe a koshimb...

The gawar bean is definitely not a celebrated vegetable. It is a humble bean with a humble name. Gawar also means a simpleton in Hindi. Its funny to think someone came across a vegetable and decided to call it a simpleton. Although the English name - cluster bean makes sense. As per this wikipedia image, the beans grow in clusters. The people who think they do not like this vegetable do not know the secret ingredients that make this vegetable taste like a million bucks. Jaggery and goda masala play really well with the slight bitter undertones of this vegetable and some nuttiness in the form of sesame seeds or peanuts also adds a delicious flavor to the sabzi. This needs a little prep time, like all delicious vegetables (looking at you, methi!!). They need to be stringed and cut. But if you got your hands on tender and fresh beans, you will not have to struggle with tough strings and save on some prep time. This is a distinctively Maharashtra style of sabzi with the very...