BEETROOT RAITA

A beetroot raita is quick and simple recipe which is made with curd, beetroot and some Indian spices. It is very healthy accompaniment of curd which you can serve as a side dish. Adding green chillis in beetroot raita makes it more flavorful. Even you can add chopped onion which gives you a nice crunch and also add fresh mint leaves for refreshing taste. This goes well with any pulao or biryani. This is a healthy, nutritious and beautiful coloured raita. I got tempted only because of it’s colour. It was so nice and different from the other raitas that we usually have at home.  It also tastes so good that you can just have it plain. So next time when you prepared any pulao or biryani do try it in your kitchen and share me your suggestions if any.

INGREDIENTS:
100 gms Grated Beetroot [2 nos.]
½ teaspoon roasted Cumin Powder
1-2 Green Chillies, chopped
2-3 teaspoon Mint-Coriander Paste
100-150 gms Curd
Salt as needed
METHOD:
STEP 1 – In a mixing bowl, add grated beetroot, salt, cumin powder, chopped green chillies, mint-coriander paste and 

mix it well.

STEP 2 – Now add curd and give a nice mix.

STEP 3 – Garnish with some chopped coriander and serve.

This raita goes well with most rice based dishes like pulao and biryani.

It also tastes so good that you can just have it plain.

  

DAARSAAN

Darsaan is a popular Chinese Dessert  with flat noddles made from flour, fried and then tossed in honey and sesame seeds and relished with vanilla ice cream or sometimes with fresh fruit puree – try with mango puree during summers. It is crunchy sweet and extremely comforting. Honey noddles with ice-cream ‘Darsaan’ as this dish is popularly known is a creative, fun sweet dish that makes up for the lack of a wide variety in chinese desserts. This is almost everybody’s favourite dessert in any Chinese Restaurant. Try this when you have guests and have very little time, and still want to serve an amazing dessert  to your guests. Serve it immediately, you definitely won’t disappoint them…!!!

INGREDIENTS:

For Noodles:

200 grams Flat Noodles or 5-6 Samosa Patti[see notes]

Oil to deep fry

For the Honey Sauce:

1 tablespoon Sugar

1 tablespoon Honey

For Serving:

Vanilla Ice cream

1 teaspoon Roasted Sesame Seeds

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Cut the samosa patti in to thin stripes.Heat oil in a wide kadai.

STEP 2 – Deep fry the noddles until golden in colour.

STEP 3 – Remove, drain excess oil and transfer them on a plate. In this process, crush the fried noodles slightly. Keep them aside.

STEP 4 – Now in a small sauce pan, add sugar and put it on the gas stove.

STEP 5 – Heat it undisturbed until the sugar melts completely and changes its colour to golden brown.

STEP 6 – When the sugar gets caramelised, add honey in it and mix it well. Switch off the flame.

STEP 7 – Add fried and crushed noodles in it and

 mix it well to coat the noodles with honey mixture.

How to serve:

STEP 1 – Put some honey glazed noodles on a serving plate.

STEP 2 – Then add 1-2 scoops of vanilla ice cream on it.

STEP 3 – Finally sprinkle some sesame seeds on the top and drizzle some honey and serve it immediately.

NOTES: *I don’t have flat noodles, so I used samosa patti for this recipe. Just put them on a flat surface and cut them into fine strips with the knife.
              *Daarsaan is to be served fresh and hot, else the sugar can thicken and form crystals on the noodles.

GULACHI POLI

Gulachi Poli is an extremely ancient and authentic delicacy made specially during Makar Sankranti.  It is a sweet chapatti/ flatbread made using jaggery, sesame seeds and whole wheat flour. It does take a time and effort to prepare but the final product is worth it all. But you can prepare the stuffing in advance and make it easy. This Maharashtrian dish is sweet, soft, delicious and best enjoyed with ghee. You can store them at room temperature and enjoy for about 5-6 days. Here is how to make Gul Poli or Gulachi Poli.

INGREDIENTS:
For Cover:
1 ½ Cup Whole Wheat Flour
½ Cup Maida
½ Cup Besan Flour / Gram Flour
2 tablespoon Oil
½ teaspoon Ghee
For Stuffing:
1 Cup Jaggery [grated]
½ tablespoon Poppy Seeds, roasted
1 tablespoon roasted Sesame Seeds Powder
½ teaspoon cardamom Powder
¼ Cup Roasted Gram
2-3 teaspoon Oil
Other Ingredients:
¼ Cup Rice Flour for dusting
METHOD:
For Cover:
STEP 1 – Mix all three flours in a mixing bowl.

STEP 2 – Add 2 tablespoon hot oil in it as moyan.

STEP 3 – Add ghee and mix it well.

STEP 4 – Add sufficient water and knead it well to make a stiff poori like dough.

Cover it and keep it aside until stuffing is ready.

For Stuffing:
STEP 1 – Add roasted gram in a mixer pot and make a fine powder with it.

STEP 2 - In a bowl, add grated jaggery and 1 tablespoon poppy seeds with cardamom powder and mix it well.
STEP 3 – Now add roasted gram powder, sesame seeds powder to jaggery mixture and mix well to form a stiff dough.

Knead it more and make it soft. For this you can add 1 teaspoon oil to it.

STEP 4 – Divide the dough in to equal portions and keep aside.
Let's Make Poli:
STEP 1 – Knead a dough once again and divide it in to equal size balls.

STEP 2 – Now take 2 parts of dough and 1 part of jaggery mixture.

 Make one dough ball flat using your fingers as shown in the picture below.

STEP 3 – Place jaggery mixture on one part of dough and

 cover it with the another.

STEP 4 – Now seal the edges with your fingers. But you have to keep some spaces in between as shown below. Don’t seal completely.[see notes]

Make all the balls ready with stuffing, cover them and keep them aside.

STEP 5 – Heat a griddle on medium flame.

STEP 6 – Dust the rolling board with some rice flour. Take one portion and start rolling the ball with rolling pin carefully into a disc of 4-5".

Make it as thin as possible, but the filling should not come out of the dough.

STEP 7 – Transfer the chapatti on heated griddle

and roast well from both the sides until golden brown. [see notes]

STEP 8 – When done, transfer it to a plate or serve it hot.

Your tasty Makar-Sankranti delicacy from Maharshtra is ready to serve.

Serve it warm or at room temperature and enjoy.
NOTES: *Jaggery should be grated finely so that while rolling chapatti it should not come out.
              * Don’t seal the edges completely. Keep some open spaces in between so that while rolling the filling should spread evenly till the sides.
              *If you don’t have roasted gram, you can use ½ cup gram flour [besan]. Roast it with 2 tablespoon oil and then add to jaggery and mix well.

              * You can apply little ghee while roasting the poli.
              * Do not stack polis when they are hot / warm. I prefer laying down on a tissue paper or kitchen towel.
              * Polis can be stored at room temprature for up to one week.

DADPE POHE

Dadpe Pohe is a very simple, quick and yet very satisfying comfort food. It is different version of the famous Maharashtrian breakfast recipe ‘ Kande Pohe’. You can serve it as a snack at evening tea-time and also can be served quickly when you have unexpected guests as well. The most unique part of this recipe is that there is no cooking involved for poha/ flattened rice. All you need to do is, make a tempering and pour it in an uncooked poha. Mix everything together and cover it give a pressure which is called ‘dadapane’ in Marathi. This dish is very delicious and addictive. Once you eat it, you will ask for it again and again. Do give it a try someday and let me know how you liked it.  

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups Poha / Flattten Rice

1 Big Onion, chopped

1 tablespoon Chopped Coriander

1 Cup Grated Fresh Coconut

½ inch Ginger, finely chopped [optional]

Salt as needed

About 1 Cup Water for soaking Poha

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 Lemon Juice

For Tadka / Tempering:

3-4 teaspoon Oil

½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds

2-3 Green Chillies

Few Curry Leaves

2-3 tablespoon Peanuts

¼ teaspoon Asafoetida

 For Garnishing:

1 tablespoon Grated Coconut

1 teaspoon chopped Coriander

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Sieve the poha with strainer and remove any dirt or powdered poha is there.

STEP 2 – Sprinkle some water to make it little moist and keep it aside for 5-10 minutes. [see notes]

STEP 3 – In a mixing bowl, add chopped onion and sprinkle salt over it and keep it aside for 5 minutes. It helps to make the onion moist.

STEP 4 – Then add sugar, chopped coriander, grated coconut in it and mix it well.

STEP 5 – Now add moist poha in onion-coconut mixture, drizzle lemon juice over it and mix nicely and keep it covered for some time.

STEP 6 – In a tempering pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds in it and let them crackle.

STEP 7 – Then add peanuts and fry them well till crispy.

STEP 8 – Add asafoetida, chopped chilli and curry leaves in it and cook for few seconds.

STEP 9 – Pour this tadka over the top layer of the and mix it nicely. Cover it and leave the weight for at least 10-15 minutes till the poha softens. This helps to mingle all the flavours nicely with the poha.

STEP 10 – Garnish it with some chopped coriander and grated coconut and serve.

Serve it as a breakfast or with a hot cup of tea as a evening snack. The dish is very delicious and addictive. Once you eat it, you will ask for it again and again. 

 NOTES: *You can use coconut water instead of regular water to moist the poha.

               *To make it more tasty you can add metkut or pickle masala.

               *If you like, you can add chopped tomato and cucumber but it is totally optional.