Palak Besan ki subzi

Ingredients

2 cups freshly chopped palak (spinach leaves)
3-4 tbsp Gram flour (Besan)
1 onion finely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic paste or 1 clove of garlic
2-4 dry red chillies
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
a dash of asafoetida
salt to taste
2-3 tbsp oil

Preparation

In a pan, dry roast the gram flour for few minutes till aroma raises and set aside.
In another pan, add oil, mustard seeds, cumin, asafoetida, dry chillies, garlic paste and onions to fry well till it cooks. To this add spinach leaves, turmeric and salt and cook for 3-5 minutes till spinach gets soft. To this add the gram flour and mix well. Let it cook for another 3-6 minutes till the flavors blend together. Serve hot with rotis.

A beautiful temple in the outskirts of Hyderabad


While performing a pooja at our home, almost all the coconuts were like this.


One beautiful morning outside my house in Ooty..

Stir fried-crispy mushroom

I wanted to make a crispy , crunchy mushroom at snack time, without deep frying it. The experiment turned out yum!

Ingredients

1 cup button mushrooms cut into two halves
2-3 tbsp gram flour
2 tbsp corn flour
1 capsicum
1 onion
1tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp chilli powder
salt to taste
3-4 tbsp oil
fresh chopped mint and coriander to garnish

Preparation

In a pan add 2 tbsp oil, to this add the mushrooms, corn flour and gram flour. Stir fry on high flame for few minutes till it becomes golden and crispy. Add salt and chilli powder, toss well and set aside. In another pan add 2 tbsp oil. To this add ginger-garlic paste, onions, capsicum, very little salt and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Add this mixture to the crispy mushrooms and toss. Garnish with coriander and mint and serve hot. If you want it more spicy, you can add green chillies also. I wanted my kids to enjoy it so I made it less spicy, no colours, no deep fry and it is a perfect snack:)
Sending this to Kids Delight by Pari


Thses are some of my travel clicks while in northern India:)

Soya chunks and cauliflower pakodi kadhi

This is a Rajastani thali meal which we enjoyed at a resort in Hyderabad. It was served hot along with background Rajastani folk music!!



Ingredients
1/2 cup Soya chunks

For Pakodis

1 cup cauliflower
1 cup cup gram flour
salt to taste
1/2 tsp chilli powder
oil for frying

For Kadhi
1 1/2 cup yogurt
2 tbsp gram flour
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste

For tempering and garnish
2 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Cumin seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
7-8 curry leaves
2 dry red chillies
1 tbsp fresh chopped coriander for garnish

Preparation

In a bowl prepare batter for making pakodis by adding gramflour, salt, chilli powder and water. Dip cauliflower in the batter and make pakodis. Set aside.
Soak soya chunks in water till it becomes soft. Drain the water and keep aside.
To prepare Kadhi, in a bowl mix yogurt, 2 cups of water, ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and gramflour. Mix well and set aside.
In a pan add 2 tbsp oil and temper with the given ingredients. Add the yogurt mixture and stir. Cook till the kadhi thickens, stirring continously.
Add the cauliflower pakodis and soya chunks and bring the kadhi to boil.
Garnish with fresh coriander and serve hot.