MAMA’S QUICK CHANNA MASALA

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This is the picture collage I posted with the original blog post. Yup, my photography has come a long way and still there is a long way to go!

Yesterday was feast day for V and me. Not that yesterday was any special  day but I just felt like cooking a grand meal. Probably, a reason for the special dinner was that V worked every day of last week. While his parents were here he had taken two days off, for which he had to make up by working Saturday, Sunday too this week. Another reason was that I wanted to try a few dishes that I had been postponing for a while. So, as a result, the dinner table was laden with my quick version of shahi paneer (an Indian cottage cheese dish), mama’s channa masala (a chickpea/garbanzo dish), spinach pooris (Indian fried flat bread) and for dessert shrikhand!

Shrikhand is one of the main desserts in Gujarat (a state in western India) and quite popular in Maharashtra too. Its fairly easy to prepare and delicious to eat. To make it, you need to strain the yogurt in a muslin cloth under pressure, so that all the water drains off. Then, to the strained yogurt, you add green cardamom powder and powdered sugar. In a tablespoon of hot milk, dissolve saffron. Add this to the yogurt. Mix well. Top with finely chopped pistachios and pomegranate, chill for a while and its ready to eat!:)

The shrikhand, spinach pooris and the paneer were something I tried on my own and forgot to note the measurements down. So, I am only posting the recipe for the chhole/chana masala, (but have given the general idea to prepare shrikhand above). The recipe is fairly quick to make and freakingly tasty! Enjoy making and eating it!

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MOM-IN-LAW’s LAYERED CHICKEN BIRYANI

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26th was Karwa Chauth- a Hindu tradition where the wife keeps a day long fast for the well-being, prosperity and longevity of her husband. It was my first ever- and well, it went off not half as bad as I expected. Fortunately, for me, my mom-in-law keeps a very easy fast- she has fruits and water. Traditionally, though, women only eat before sunrise on the day of the fast (called sargi). Then, once dawn breaks, they can’t eat or drink anything till they don’t see the moon. Over the years, people have started drinking water, but don’t eat anything till they don’t offer prayer to the moon. Since, the way you do it the first time, you have to continue the exact same tradition each year, and since, fortunately, I had freedom to be flexible in the fast, thanks to my mom-in-law, I did not eat anything till the evening prayer , after which I had fruits once. And then waited till I saw the moon to break my fast. Even V kept the fast with me, eating only when and what I was eating. Thanks to the 5 ‘o’ clock fruit intake the wait for the moon wasn’t half as bad as I thought it would be.

We had already prepared food for the evening- kadhi and mixed vegetable with paranthas. So, as soon as we saw the moon at 8.35 pm (after countless trips outside to check whether the moon is out), we offered prayers to the moon and went directly for the food. I have never eaten so fast and quickly, and food has never ever tasted this good.

(The M&M and the flowers are V’s karwa chauth gift to me 🙂 )

Now, traditionally, there is no non-vegetarian dish served on such an auspicious day and so, of course, the recipe I have given below was not made on 26th but, since, long back I had promised to post it and have delayed it enough, I thought of finally posting V’s mom’s version of layered biryani. So here it is!

(There is a lot of approximation in measurement. My mom-in-law does it by pure feel and so its not possible to give the exact measurement. I have tried my best to write as exact the quantities as I remember. But feel free to experiment! Go with your gut:)!)

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MOM-IN-LAW’S BAINGAN KA BHARTA

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I am now the proud owner of a masala dabba (picture above)! Just look at the colours-isn’t it a beauty!! Strange, back in India I never knew that having a masala dabba would be such a big deal- in India everyone has one and probably no one gives it a second glance. Here after owning 7-8 different plastic containers for the plethora of spices we use, finally getting a masala dabba is pure joy. All thanks to my mom-in law!

My in-laws are in town visiting. I have been looking forward for this visit as my mom-in-law is a great cook and her visit means my cooking skills are going to notch up. I have already learnt how to cook her famous biryani (recipe will be posted soon), and today, I learnt how she makes baingan bharta. The previous recipe posted also gives a good result, but her style is more quick and, no doubt, really good.

The secret she says is in fire-roasting the eggplant with cloves of garlic inserted in the eggplant by making slits. That ways, the juice from the garlic beautifully infuses in the eggplant. She also adds cubes of tomatoes and sliced ginger right at the end, barely sautéing it. Her reasoning is that, when you add the ginger and the tomatoes right at the end, you are able to get the individual taste of the ginger, tomatoes and the eggplant, making the dish really flavorful.

MOM-IN-LAW’S BAINGAN KA BHARTA

Ingredients

1 eggplant

4-6 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp oil

5 tbsp spring onions, chopped

2-3 green chillies, finely chopped

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 ” piece ginger

2 small or 1 big tomato

Salt to taste

Method

Slit the eggplant and add garlic cloves. Fire roast the eggplant till tender inside and burnt outside. Peel the outer burnt layer and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add spring onions, green chillies, and lightly saute. Add the roasted eggplant and mash thoroughly till color changes. Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and dhania powder. Cut tomatoes into big cubes. Peel the ginger and grate half of it and slice the rest. Once the eggplant is cooked, add the tomatoes and ginger and very lightly saute. Remove from fire. Cover and keep. Serve hot with chapati.