Narali Bhaat

Today is Narali Punima and it is celebrated all over India and each one makes their own special coconut dish. 

Traditionally I make Narali Bhaat which is made with coconut milk and rice. 

The whole meal is similar to the meals made on shravan Fridays, but the sweet dish served is Narali Bhaat.

Recipe :

Ingredients :

Coconut Milk                             2 cups

Basmati Rice (washed)               1 cup

Jaggery        (grated)                 1 ½ cups

Cardamom                                 ½ tsp

Nutmeg Powder                         1 pinch

Raisins                                       ¼ cup

Almonds (peeled and sliced)        ¼ cup

Ghee (clarified butter)               1 tbsp

Procedure :

Add ghee to a heated pan and add rice and sauté it over a low flame for a couple of minutes. Add coconut milk and fully cook the rice in it. Add more coconut milk if needed to fully cook the rice. All different varieties of rice require different amounts of milk to cook.

Once the rice is cooked, take out in a big plate, spread it and let it cool.

In another pot take the grated jaggery and stir it till it becomes a smooth paste. Once it reaches a boil, take  some in a spoon and pour a drop of the paste in a bowl of water. If the drop is hard when removed from the water, the paste (paak) is ready to use. In Marathi that is called a pakka paak.

Lower the flame and add the rice to this paak. Stir for couple of minutes and add almonds, raisins and cardamom powder. You may add other dry fruits like pistachio and cashew.

Stir this all in the rice for couple of minutes and cover it and let it steam.

The rice is ready to eat!!

Enjoy!!

Moong Birdha

It’s been a couple of days since I added another blog, but I would like to add the recipe of Moong/Mung Birdha which we made on Monday, which is one of the dishes made for Shravani Somvar.

Ideally I make vaalacha birdha but I haven’t been able to find good vaal in the Indian Grocery stores in the US.

 Moong is a very nutritious bean.  There are 3 main forms of moong found in stores. One is the whole moong (unpeeled), two, the split moong (unpeeled) and the third is the split (peeled) one.

Each one is cooked in a different way, example, if you make spinach vegetable, add soaked (for an hour) split moong, a one inch stick of cinnamon and cook till the dal is fully cooked.

It is healthy, tastes good and the kids love it with white rice and ghee. 

Usually, the first solid food given to infants consists of moong (split – peeled) and rice. The split moong beans are first washed, dried and then lightly roasted on a pan.

They are then ground in a food processor and stored.

You can use a spoon full a day. Cook it well in some water till it forms a nice paste.

But I digress. Getting back to our birdha, I use whole moong, soak it in water for 4-5 hours.

Drain the water and let them sprout overnight.

Once they sprout, soak them in water for about an hour so that the peels loosen up.

After peeling, they are ready to use. I have a picture of the peeled moong along with the birdha.

Recipe :

Ingredients:

Moong Dal (sprouted and peeled)                   1 cup

Onion (chopped fine)                                    ½ cup

Asafetida                                                     1 pinch

Mustard Seeds                                              ½ tspn

Jeera                                                          ½ tspn

Jeera Powder                                              ¼ tspn

Turmeric  Powder                                        ½ tspn

Chili Powder                                               1 tspn

Coconut Milk                                               ¼ cup

Kokum                                                        4 -5 nos

Sugar to taste

Garlic Paste                                                ½ tspn

Green chili                                                 1 no.

Coriander Leaves

Coriander Powder                                       ½ tspn

Fennel Powder                                            ¼ tspn        

Oil                                                             2 tbspn

Water                                                        2 cups

Procedure:

Add oil to the heated pan. Add Asafetida, Mustard Seeds, Jeera and Turmeric powder. Then, add the moong and onion together and stir lightly. Add the water, Chili powder and salt.

Let the water reach a boil. Add jeera powder, coriander powder, fennel powder and garlic paste.

Let it cook till the moong is soft.

Add Kokum, sugar and coconut milk and let it boil for couple of minutes.

Finally add coriander Leaves and green chili as garnish.

Enjoy!!

Shrimp Fry

Sunday!!  The kids look forward to this day where they get a break from all the sweets and I make a non-vegetarian dish.  Usually it is either fish or shrimp.

We get a variety of shrimp including a dried version called ‘sode’. In Mumbai, we get fresh shrimp from the local City Light market and sode from the coastal region  of Maharashtra ( Konkan). The good thing about buying shrimp at the local market, you can get the fresh shrimp peeled.  

Sea food reminds me of some great times with friends and relatives. Whenever we have guests, they usually ask me to make an appetizer with sode, shrimp, kadya (dried Bombay Duck/ "Bombil" – it’s a fish commonly found in the Indian Ocean) or stuffed pomfret.

Today I added a lot of recipes to my journal. Some of sode, fish and shrimp.

Even the Khichdi that we made on Saturday, can be made with adding sode and a homemade ground garam masala. It tastes awesome!

Today, I would like to share the Shrimp fry recipe with you.

I always use fresh ground garlic, the bottled one does not give the same taste. The same is true for tamarind paste, always use fresh. Soak the tamarind in water and extract the paste from it. The store bought paste has more color and gives a slight bitter taste.
Sea food tastes best with fresh ingredients.

Shrimp Fry :

Ingredients:

Shrimp( Peeled and deveined)    2 pounds

Oil                                            2 tbsn                                                          

Turmeric Powder                       1 tspn

Chilli Powder                             2 tspn

Salt to taste

Garlic Paste( fresh)                   1 tbspn

Fresh garlic cloves                     

(with inner most peel intact)      5 small ones

Tamarind Paste (fresh)              ½ cup

Coriander powder                      ½ tspn

Garam Masala                           1 tspn

Water                                       ¼ cup

Procedure:

Marinate the shrimp for an hour with turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander  powder, salt, tamarind paste and garlic paste.

Heat the oil in a pan. Crush the garlic cloves and add them to the pan.

Once the garlic is slightly brown, add the shrimp.

Stir the shrimp till it starts to leave a little water.

Add the water and cook the shrimp.

Once the water has evaporated add the garam masala.

Stir the shrimp for a couple of minutes.

Add chopped coriander leaves to garnish.

Enjoy!!

Khichdi

 Friday was a beautiful day here in Naperville; we took the kids to the pool and spent a long time at the pool with some friends. I was wondering if we would get time to make the Saandanya, but it went really fast and they came out really good and tasty.

I did update the blog with a picture of the Saandanya.

I really liked the rice rava (Cream of Rice) we bought here at an Indian Grocery store. The coconut milk was from an Asian store and that too was very nice and thick.

It made me realize that with all these ingredients available in the stores, prepping and cooking takes less time and the food still tastes just as good.

Traditionally, I extract the coconut milk myself which usually takes a couple of hours.

I first grate the fresh coconut, grind it in a food processor and then extract the milk.

Today is Shravani Shanivar(Saturday).

Some people fast on Shravani Shanivar.

The meal to "break the fast" consists of a rice dish cooked along with a lentil (toor dal) which together is called Khichdi. The vegetable is "Maath" (a leafy vegetable) and the sweet on the left side is a bit of jaggery.

Coconut milk or tup (clarified butter) is poured on the Khichdi.

I would like to share the recipe of Khichdi :

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice           1  cup

Toor Dal (unoily)     ½ cup

Onion chopped       ¼ cup

Pearl Onions           5 (peeled and whole)

Asafoetida              ¼ tspn

Turmeric Powder     ¼ tspn

Water                    2 ½ cups

Salt to taste

Procedure:

In a pot add the water, dal, asafetida and turmeric powder.

Let it cook till the dal is half cooked.

Add the Rice, chopped onion, pearl onions and salt to the dal and cook it till the rice is cooked.

Cover and keep for about 10minutes.

Serve with Coconut milk or tup along with the khichdi.

It is simple to make and just as tasty!!

Enjoy!!

Saandanya

Yesterday, Naagpanchmi was a busy, but fun day. The most amusing part was seeing my grandchildren anxiously waiting for the “shenga” to be done. It feels good to carry on the traditions and to see them enjoy the shengas just as much.

Today, on August 5th, there are 2 occasions.

One, being a Friday it has its own special importance and the other being Shila Saptami.

Every Friday, Goddess Jivati is worshiped, and a special sweet called Aarti is made which is given to all the children in the house.

The foods made for Jivati are Maath (a leafy vegetable), Vaalacha Birdha, Aarti (made with wheat flour and Jaggery), varan(lentil) on rice and mango pickle.

You cannot taste any of the sweets while making them, but have to wait till it is all done and it is first offered to God.

I feel that children develop a lot of patience in this process. It is very hard not to snack or taste anything when it is being prepared and while the aroma of the sweets spreads through the entire house!!

Some people fast for both the occasions.

The foods made for Shila Saptami are Taro Leave roll (alu vadi), Maath (a leafy vegetable), Vaalacha Birdha, saandanya, varan on rice, yogurt on rice and mango pickle.

The famous “Saandanya” is a sweet made from Rice Rava (Cream of Rice), Coconut milk and Sugar.

Traditionally, even the Rice Rava (Cream of Rice) was made at home. The rice was washed and dried. Once it was dried, it was ground in a stone grinder or later in a food processor.

I would like to share this recipe with you today:

Saandanya

Ingredients :

Rice Rava (Cream of Wheat)         1 cup

Coconut Milk                     1 cup

Cardamom Powder             1 pinch

Sugar                               ½ cup

Saffron (optional)               1 pinch

Procedure:

Take 2 tspn of Rava and add about 2 tspn of water and cook it to make a fine paste and keep it aside.

Lightly Roast the rest of the Rava in a pan till it warms up. Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the paste made earlier, mix it evenly, cover the pan and leave it aside for 15-20 mins.

Then add Coconut milk, sugar and cardamom powder, mix it well and let it soak for an hour.

Take a flat plate with a rim and grease it with some tup ( clarified butter) , pour the mixture in it and steam it.

Once it is cooked, make cuts to form diamond shaped Saandanya. Let it cool.

Remove the diamond-shaped Saandanya.

A few colored ones are made by adding saffron along with the coconut milk.

Enjoy!!

Ukdichya Shenga

Marathi Festive Recipes

For several years now my daughters have asked me to gather all my recipes and make a journal for them. I kept putting it off thinking that they know most of them, especially the ones they love. They keep reminding me that they want all of them, not just their favorites. So, here I am jotting them down in a journal and taking it a step further..., yes, I decided to enter the internet age to blog the good times we had while making these exquisite foods and savoring  them as soon as they were ready! What better beginning than the auspicious month of Shravan!

Shravan Mahina (Month)

Shravan is one of the most auspicious months of  the Hindu calendar. (The Hindu calendar is lunar based). It usually falls in the month of August, during which, a number of poojas ( worship to God) are performed and various sweets are made as per the occasion.

Each day of the weeks holds its own importance.

Beginning with Monday, a different type of Birdha (a curry made from sprouted and peeled lentils) is made for each Monday.

The different Birdhas are made from various lentils or beans, either Kadve Val, moong dal, blackeyed beans , Urad or Vadi cha Saambhar.

(Ingredients and proportions are different for each Birdha depending on the lentil or bean).

Some people fast on “Shravani Somvaar”.

Eating fresh and dried fruits (but no melons or papaya) and a few underground roots (potatoes, tapioca and sweet potatoes) is permitted.

It is traditional to “break” the fast before sunset.

 Certain rules are observed for this meal.

It has to be served in a plate with all food items placed in a certain order only.

Salad ( koshimbir ) and mango pickle, papad/papdya ( on top center).

Bhaaji ( non- bitter vegetable) on the right side.

Birdha near the vegetable.

Some sweet (shira – made with cream of wheat) on the left side of the salad.
At the bottom center position is a molded rice mound with “varan” and “tup”.

After the meal a pan vida ( masala paan).

Summer Products made for Shravan during the months of May and June.

Mango products – pickle, raitae, moramba,

Papdya – Sago

Papad – urad

Every Tuesday a Gauri pooja (manglagauri) is performed.

Today is Naagpanchmi. On this day an offering is made to the “naag” (the king of snakes, the cobra). 

Snake charmers are seen on streets and some people will offer milk to the naag.

In most homes, a picture of a “naag” (image1)  is drawn on a Chaurang ( a small decorated wooden platform) and then milk, Bael leaves, Rough Chaff Tree leaves and “durva” (specific type of grass shoots) and grains are offered to the naag.

The food offering is as follows :

Vaalacha Birdha, aalu chya paanachi bhaaji (taro leaves cooked with vaal), ukdichya shenga filled with coconut chav, varan(lentils) and bhaat.

The meal is arranged in the same order on a plate as previously described for “Shravani Somvaar”, but here the bhaaji is Taro vegetable, the birdha has to be vaalacha and sweet is ukdichya shenga.

One of the recipes I would like to share with you is the ‘ukdichya shenga’:

“Ukdichya shenga” are steamed, half moon shaped rice dumplings with a sweet coconut filling.

Recipe :

Filling:

Ingredients :

Grated fresh coconut – 1 cup

Jaggery – ½ cup
Cardamom Powder – ¼ tsp

Salt – 1 pinch ( optional)

Ghee – ½ tsp

For the rice dumpling:

Rice Flour – 1 cup

Boiling water – 3/4 cup

Oil – 1 tbsp (to knead the dough)

Procedure:

First make the filling for the shengaa.  In a small pot heat the ghee and jaggery just enough to melt it. Add coconut, cardamom powder and salt to that.
Stir continuously till it reaches a boiling point. Turn the heat off, as you do not want to harden the mixture.

For the dumpling, boil water and add rice flour to that.

Give a quick stir and shut off the heat. Cover and keep it for 10 minutes.
Remove the mixture from the pot and knead it with a little water and oil to form the dough.
Take a small portion of it (one inch ball) and mould it into a round flat shape (approx. 2 ½ inch dia.).
Put the filling in the center and close it to make a half moon shape.

Use water as glue and press down the edges.
Steam these shengaa for about 10 mins.
They are ready to eat!!

Hope you enjoy this one sweet which is one of our favorites!!

This image represented a naag :