RCI Maharashtra - Kothimbir Wadi

Maharashtra is a nature lover's place, provides loads of fun for adventurers with its lush green and unspoiled landscape. A land of bio-diversity, Maharashtra is a home to rare species of animals and birds. Hmmm.. Is there even an introduction necessary for the cuisine, I can just smell it from miles away. For Maharashtrians 'Anna he poornabrahma', no wonder the food is so rich and satisfying. They consider food equal to the creator himself. The first thought that comes to my mind when I think of Maharashtra cuisine is my friend Suchi's very appetizing meal spread. Maybe because she was the first Maratha I knew. That was probably the earliest influence Maharashtrian cuisine had on me.. and it was a very good one. She had cooked every single marathi dish for us and we have enjoyed each and every one of them.


So, this time I wanted to try something that I never ate before.. that way the traditional recipe won't influence me and I can add my own variations. The choice was made with the help of my dear friends Rady, who is a great cook and a proud Maratha and Deepi, well she is an all rounder, cooks, entertains, knits, embroiders.. the list is never ending. "Kothimbir Wadi" sounded very tempting. Uses lot of coriander, thats always a plus since I simply love the aroma of corianders and it is deep fried.. so its a treat. It could also be a nice evening snack for my hungry hubby. So, I started to look at different recipes for kothimbir wadi including the one Rady sent us. So many variations.. confusion mode.. adding my twist mode.. voila have my own recipe mode. It turned out to be such a simple and easy recipe, that everyone enjoyed including my toddler pie Nikki.

To top it all of.. hubby dear helped with decorating the serving plate and taking pics. He proudly calls himself my "Photo director". Now off this goes to RCI Maharashtra event hosted by Nupur of "One Hot Stove". Thanks Nupur, for taking the time.

Dough ready to be steamed in Idli vessel

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 3/4 cup
Besan flour - 1 cup
Yogurt - 1/4 cup
Coriander - 2 whole bunches, chopped finely
Garlic cloves - 7-8, minced
Ginger - 1 tbsp, grated
Cabbage and carrots - 3/4 cup, shredded
Chilli powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
Mustard - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - pinched

Steamed dough ready for deep fry

Method:

1. Mix wheat flour, besan flour, coriander, cabbage & carrots, ginger, chilli powder and salt together. Set aside.
2. Do tadka with mustard seeds and pinched curry leaves. Add it to the dough.
3. Add yogurt to this mixture. Knead to incorporate.
4. Now start adding water sprinkling a little at a time till it forms a nice dough.
5. Make small logs out of the dough and steam them in a Idli cooker without weight or an Idli vessel. Steaming should only take 5 minutes. Oversteaming may cause cracking of the dough.
6. Take them out. Let cool and cut into 1 inch thick slices.
7. Heat oil in a deep kadai. Deep fry the pieces. Serve with yogurt mix or mint chutney.

Note: The pieces can be eaten as such without deep frying. Tava frying can also be done in place of deep frying.

Verkkadalai Sundal (Peanut Sundal)

There is something about steamed hot peanuts. The ones you get at Marina beach in chennai.. hmm I could still smell them. There has never been a day when we came back from the beach without a bundle of those. My grandma used to tell stories about how I would eat anything if paired with peanuts. We still have the picture of me in the frock that mom had made, sitting in my grandma's porch, munching on the peanuts. I guess I still seek comfort in it because of that deep familiarity. Even now, I always dry roast a bottle of peanuts with salt and store them. It serves as an immediate energy boost when I most need it.

Peanuts come handy for vegetarians like me because it is packed with protein and also serves as a good source of fiber.... why not when you don't have to compromise on the taste. This is one very simple recipe that my mom always made on rainy days. Takes just few minutes to make. A bowl of this and a cup of hot tea is sure to take you to neverland. It is also a healthy snack for toddlers.


Ingredients:

Peanuts - 1 cup
Red chilles - 2 nos.
Mustard - 1 tsp
Coconut - 2 tbsp.
Curry leaves - 4 nos.
Unripe mango (grated) - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Hing - 1/4th tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

• Steam the peanuts with turmeric powder in pressure cooker for a couple of whistles and drain them well.
• In a kadai, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds.
• Add red chilles, curry leaves and hing.
• Roast for 30 secs on low flame.
• Now add the peanuts and mix them well.
• Saute for a couple of minutes and take them off the fire.
• Now add the grated coconut and mango.
• Mix and serve.

Pat A Cake , Pat A Cake...

Baking from fellow Bloggers - Banana Cake

Baking - I dreaded that very word for a long time. Recently though, after reading all the blogspots and after being around with friends who love baking, I find myself getting the motivation to try it more often. I should also give credit to my 20 month old daughter. She loves cakes and I didn't want her to eat the ones we get outside that are loaded with sugar. So, I had to find alternate ways of giving her that in a more healthy, home made form.

I came across this "Banana Cake" in the "Aayi's Recipes" website. I love the blogger's way of cooking. The only modification I did was to decrease the amount of sugar to 1/2 cup and substitute it with an extra 3/4th of banana. The outcome is a moist, oh so soft cake that you can sink your teeth into. Kiddo and hubby dearest loved it. Its a very easy to make recipe, serves as a quick snack for your toddler.

Simple Puffs

I had some subji leftover from afternoon. It was kind of in a weird quantity, not too much to be used again for a meal and not too little to discard. So I thought of just making them into puffs for a nice evening snack when hubby comes back home. Since that is too spicy for my 18 month old, I also baked a batch of the same puffs using just cheddar cheese, basil and pepper for her. Needless to say, in the end there were two very happy people.

Ingredients:

Cabbage Poriyal - 1 cup
Puff Pastry sheets - 4
Grated Cheddar Cheese (or any variety) - 1 cup
Ground Pepper - 1 tsp
Dried Basil - 1/2 tsp
Butter (to apply on sheets if necessary)

Method:

• Mix the cheese, pepper and basil and set aside.
• Spread out a pastry sheet. Coat it with a little melted butter if directions call for it.
• Spread half of the cabbage poriyal on top of it almost evenly.
• Place one more pastry sheet on top. Spread the other half of the poriyal.
• Hold both the sheets together and roll them.
• Cut into 2 inch wide discs.
• Preheat oven and bake thoroughly as indicated in the puff pastry package.
• Repeat the same process by substituting the cheese mixture.
• Serve with hot sauce / mint chutney.

Madras Pakoras

The pakoras made in Madras (Chennai), TN has a very different taste to them. One can normally find them stacked up in tin boxes at virtually any street corner. We love it so much that we always expect dad to bring this home at the beggining of every month when its salary day. Given the fact that mom didn't allow us to eat much of store bought snacks, it used to be a treat for our palates. This is one truly delicious snack that is cheap, fresh and easy to make. Although this recipe doesn't exactly replicate the one we get at our street corner Tea shop, its almost close. After trying too many variations, I got this one from "Samaithu Par" book by Meenakshi Ammal, first published in the year 1972.

Ingredients

Besan flour - 2 cups
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Onions (slit into thin long pieces) - 1 cup
Green Chillies - 8 -10 nos. finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch bit, finely chopped
Cashews - 1/4th of a cup
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Curry leaves
Coriander
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method


Mix onions, cashews, ginger, green chillies, curry leaves and coriander. Top it with the ghee and mix them using hand.
Mix seperately besan flour, rice flour, baking soda and salt.
Add the flour mix to the onion mix and make it into a dough by adding water little at a time. The dough should fall into seperate small lumpts and should not form into one hig mass.
Head oil in a kadai. Take a handful of dough at a time and pinch them into small bits directly into the oil. Fry them well on both sides.
Take them out when they are brown all around and drain in a paper towel.
Serve with coffee for an evening snack or as an appetizer.