Watermelon Juice

Ingredients:

Watermelon chunks: 2 cups
Sugar to taste
Ice-cubes (optional)
Rock salt to taste

1. Remove seeds from the watermelon chunks. It was hard and time consuming for me to do so, so I did shred them into little pieces and did blend them for 5 seconds, then passed them through the sieve so the seeds get removed.
2. Add the juice to the blender again, and add the sugar. Blend again for about 15 seconds. 
3. Sprinkle black salt at the bottom of the glasses, and pour in glasses. Add the ice cubes and serve chilled. 

Masala Spice Mix

Masala spice mix is the mix spices which are usually used in Indian recipes which call for masala filling, typically called "bharwan"; which includes "bharwan bhindi", "bharwan karela", "bharwan baingan", "bharwan tinde".. and so on.. So I prepare this spice mix to use for those recipes which call for masala filling. Ideally this masala must be freshly prepared, but can be stored easily just like other spices, if prepared at once. Can be stored in an airtight container or zip-lock bags.

The ingredients which are mixed in this spice mix are:

1. Salt
2. Red chilli powder
3. Turmeric powder
4. Coriander powder
5. Cumin powder
6. Mango powder
7. Garam masala
8. Asafoetida (a pinch)
9. Black pepper powder (a pinch)
10. Kasoori Methi

Add all ingredients according to taste, because everyone's taste buds differ.. so the proportions can't be fixed. Make sure not to use a lot of asafoetida and black pepper powder though. 

Rava Upma

When in a jiffy, Rava Upma comes handy. This very easy to prepare breakfast/snack item is light and wonderful, can be prepared quickly; and relished nonetheless. My idea of a perfect rainy evening is a bowl of hot steaming upma with a hot cup of tea.. The best thing - doesn't take mush of an effort as well..

Sooji (Rava) 1 cup Onion (chopped) 1 number Green chilli (chopped) 1 number Water 2 cups Butter/ghee   (optional) 1 tablespoon Salt to taste Cooking oil 2 tablespoons Mustard seeds 1/2 tablespoon Urad Dal 1/4 tablespoon Dried red chilli 1 number Curry leaves A few


Dry roast the semolina (sooji) on medium flame until it is hot to touch. Remove and keep aside. Heat oil on medium flame and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add urad dal, red chilli and curry leaves. Let fry for about a minute. Add the onions and green chilli. You can also add chopped ginger here. Sauté till onions turn transparent. Add the water, add the salt and the butter/ghee, and let the water boil. When boiling, reduce flame to low and add the semolina slowly, while stirring with one hand. Do not put all together. When all the water is absorbed, mix well and let cook for about  2 minutes. Turn off the heat and serve hot.

Boondi Raita

Chettinad Chicken

Ever since Chettinad Chicken has been served in the lunch on occasion of Indian PM Mr. Modi's oath ceremony, my husband has been asking me to make this, as I have already been experimenting into a lot of varieties of chicken. So here we go..

The Chettinad masala

For Cheetinad Masala Coconut (grated) 4 tablespoons Poppy seeds 1 tablespoon Coriander seeds 1 tablespoon Cumin seeds 1 tablespoon Fennel seeds 1/2 tablespoon Dried red chilli 2 numbers Cloves 2 numbers Cardamom 2 numbers Star Anise 2 numbers Garlic 3 cloves Ginger 1 inch For the curry.. Oil 3 tablespoons Onion (sliced) 1 number Curry leaves A few Tomato (chopped) 1 number Turmeric powder 1/2 tablespoon Red chilli powder 1/2 tablespoon Lemon juice 2 tablespoons


Dry roast all the whole spices: cloves, cinnamon, star anise, dried red chilli, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and poppy seeds with grated coconut on medium flame until it starts becoming brown and releases aroma. Let it cool and grind it to a smooth paste with ginger and garlic. You can use a little water if required. Keep aside. Heat oil and add sliced onions. Fry them until they start becoming brown. and add curry leaves and mix. Add the chettinad masala and mix well. Let cook for 4-5 minutes. Add tomatoes and red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Mix well and cook till tomatoes become soft. Add the chicken pieces and mix well. Add salt and lemon juice. Cook for about a minute and add a cup of water (can adjust accordingly). Cover and let cook for 15 minutes. Remove cover and let cook for another 5 minutes on medium flame. Serve hot with jeera rice/chappati.

Papdi Chaat

I have to admit that I love love love this chaat of all the chaats shared before, and even those I have had in my life. This is one chaat I used to enjoy much at the street vendors in India. But this has stopped ever since I moved out of India and I have been ever since craving for this chaat (and all my others which I enjoyed eating at roadside stalls).

So I thought of making papdi chaat at home if I can't have it outside. First I thought what else can I do, but quickly realized that it's much better, safer, economical and hygienic as we have no idea what's there in the chaat made at road sides. Even so, I made the papdi at home (and that too from whole wheat flour instead of maida) so everything is from scratch and I know what am I eating. Now I feel it's much easier to have the chaat in the comfort of our own home. All you need to fry enough papdis once and store them in air tight containers. They keep over the shelf for a long time.

Ingredients:

Papdi (I use home-made papdi: Wheat papdi recipe) as required
Potatoes (boiled and peeled)
Onion (chopped finely) You can use the small white onions if the pink are too strong.
Green chili (very finely chopped)
Salt to taste
Red chili powder as required
Cumin powder
Mint powder
Mango powder
Green chutney (Mint coriander chutney recipe)
Tamarind chutney
Coriander leaves to garnish
Sev to top the chaat (Home made namkeen sev) as required
Beaten yogurt as required

1. Begin by laying the papdis on a flat tray or a serving plate. 
2. Add the peeled and finely diced boiled potatoes to the papdis. Also add finely chopped onions and green chillis. 
3. Now sprinkle the dry spices according to flavor: salt, red chili, cumin powder, mint powder and mango powder. 
4. Add the green chutney over all the papdis. Add tamarind chutney also if required (I did not use tamarind chutney). 
5. Now pour the beaten yogurt over all of this. Or you can pour a little yogurt over each papdi and leave more beaten yogurt in a big bowl while serving so everyone can pour yogurt according to their own requirement and taste.   
6. Now garnish with coriander leaves and finally sprinkle the fine (or coarse) sev over the whole chaat and serve directly. Do not make the chaat and serve later as the papdis will become soggy. 
7. If you need to serve later, prepare everything and keep aside, assemble and serve directly. I feel the best way to serve this chaat is by having beaten yogurt, green chutney, tamarind chutney and extra sev in separate bowls along with the chaat served so everyone can adjust all these flavors according to the taste. Enjoy !!

Whole wheat papdi

I must admit I'm in love with chaats. All my life living in Jaipur I've been savouringgol-gappas, papdi chaat and all other roadside chaats. But boom! As I moved out of India, there are no chaats, no roadside vendors.. So now? It's okay, I told myself and searched for the typical papdi in the Indian stores. And wow! I found it !! I felt wonderful so I bought a big pack and started making chaats and enjoying them at home with my husband. But as the excitement began fading and the chaats becoming regular weekly affair, I started to think about how would these papdis have been made.. there's no way I could know.

But as lately I have been experimenting a lot with whole wheat, like Wheat Samosa, Wheat Kachori, Wheat Namak Pare etc., I decided to give the papdis a try with the whole wheat, just experimenting.. And guess what? They came out just AMAZING... Those lovely round little beauties stole my heart and they tasted heavenly. Okay, not so great as those made with all purpose flour (maida) but this little compromise on taste is okay for health benefits of eating whole wheat v/s maida.

And the first thing I did on making these was preparing Papdi Chaat.. !!

Ingredients:

Whole wheat (atta): 2 cups
Salt to taste
Carom seeds: 1 tsp.
Butter/ghee: 2 tsp.
Lukewarm water for kneading the dough
Oil for deep frying

1. Add the ghee/butter and the flour in a bowl. Mix together with your fingers until they have a crumbled consistency.
2. Add the salt and carom seeds. Mix well with your fingers some more. This will impart flakiness to the papdi.
3. Now very slowly add very little water at a time and nix in very well with the flour. You don't have to knead it just we do for regular chappatis. Just mix and make a hard, solid dough. It must NOT be runny. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes.
4. Now divide the dough into four balls. Take one ball and roll it large round with the help of a rolling pin, as you would do chappati. 
5. Now using a cookie cutter, cut small rounds from the dough and keep aside. Roll back the remaining atta and mix with the remaining. Do this with all the atta and make small rounds (or any other shape you like).
6. Pierce all the rounds with a fork so they don't puff up like pooris. 
7. Deep fry all of them on medium-high heat till they get a brown color on both sides. 
   
8. Drain on kitchen paper, let cool and make papdi chaat or just plain have it with tea. This makes a wonderful tea-time snack. Store in an air-tight container.