Punjabi Mango Pickle - Indian Cooking Challenge, June 2011

Srivalli chose authentic mango pickle recipe from Punjab for Indian Cooking Challenge for June. Simran shared her mother's recipe with us. This typical mango pickle is most popular in Punjab, where raw mangoes are soaked in oil with fennel seeds, nigella seeds, mustard and other spices.



Two types of measurements were provided, one for 5 kgs of mangoes and the other one for 1/2 kg of mangoes. Here is the recipe with 500 gms of mangoes.



I followed the recipe as per measurement, only I added whole red chiilies to enhance the flavour and also coz I like my pickle spicy.



Ingredients:

• Mangoes: 500 gms
• Mustard Oil: 50 ml

Spices:

• Salt: 70 gms
• Fenugreek seeds: 10 gms
• Nigella seeds: 5 gms
• Fennel Seeds: 10 gms
• Black pepper corns, whole: 5 gms
• Turmeric powder: 10 gms
• Red chilli, whole: 6-8
• Sugar: 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Wash the mangoes, wipe dry and cut them in slightly large cubes. Spread them on a flat surface and dry in the sun for 2 - 3 hours.
2. Select a ceramic jar / glass jar to store the pickle. Clean the jar and wipe dry. In a large pot mix oil with all the spices.
3. Add the mangoes, toss well to coat them with the oil and mixed spices.
4. You can add more oil if the mangoes are not coated well (Keep the level of oil slightly above the mango pieces as the oil preserves the mangoes).
5. Transfer the coated mangoes to the pickle jar. Leave the jar in sunlight for one day.
6. For the first fortnight, shake the lidded jar to toss the mangoes and blend the flavours. The pickle will be ready by the end of 15 days. The pickle stays well over a year, if handled properly. 1 tsp of Sodium Benzoate can also be added as a preservative.

Note: All the spices are to be added as whole. Kalonji and Fenugreek seeds are critical to the pickle to have that typical flavour.

Vatteppam / Vattayappam - Indian Cooking Challenge, March 2011

Srivalli chose Vattepam / Vattayappam as the Indian Cooking Challenge recipe for Mar 2011. Vattepam / Vattayappam is a delicious and traditional recipe from Kerala.

It is basically a steamed rice cake, made from raw rice flour, grated coconut, cooked rice, sweetened and garnished with nuts and raisins. It is a popular delicacy served for breakfast / tea time snack during Christmas time in Kerala. The recipe is adapted from Shn of Mishmash.

Ingredients: To Grind:

• Raw rice: 1 cup
• Coconut, freshly grated: � cup
• Cooked rice: 2 tbsp
• Water: � cup water to grind and make batter

To proof yeast:

• Active dry yeast: � tsp
• Water: 1/3 cup
• Sugar: 2 tsp

To make Rice Porridge / Thari Kurukku:

• Coarse ground paste: 1�-2 tbsp
• Water: 1/3-1/2 cup

To sweeten and flavor Vatteppam:

• Sugar: � cup or more (to taste)
• Green Cardamom, crushed / powdered: 10-12
• Cashew nuts: 8-10
• Raisins: 8-10
• Ghee: 1� tbsp

Method:

1. Soak raw rice for 6-8 hours, drain and grind rice in a blender, adding very little water to a coarse texture; remove 2 tbsp of the coarse mixture for making Rice Porridge / Thari Kurukku and keep aside.
2. Add freshly grated coconut to the remaining ground rice and grind thoroughly to a fine past. Add cooked rice & little water and blend again to make a batter (Batter should be thick as idli batter).
3. Proof yeast by dissolving yeast and sugar in luke warm water. Set aside for 15-20 minutes in a warm place till it foams.
4. Prepare Rice porridge / Thari Kurukku by heating a pan and add the requisite coarse ground rice, kept aside earlier and water. Bring it to a boil and keep stirring in low-medium flame until it is fully cooked and reaches the consistency of porridge. Turn off the heat and keep the porridge aside, till it cools completely.
5. Heat ghee, lightly roast cashews until golden brown and raisins till plump and keep aside.
   Once the rice porridge is cooled completely, add 4 tbsp of the porridge it to the ground rice & coconut batter and blend it thoroughly. Add yeast mixture and blend once more to a smooth batter.
6. Pour the prepared batter to a large steel / glass bowl (The bowl should be big enough to hold double the quantity of batter as during the fermentation process, the batter rises well). Let it ferment in a warm place overnight (6-8 hours). When batter is doubled and fermented, add sugar let it ferment for another 2 hours.
7. Just before steaming Vatteppam, add powdered / crushed green cardamom to the batter. For steaming, grease a round bowl / cake tin with oil. Pour the batter and fill till half of the bowl / cake tin. Place a flat plate with holes in the pressure cooker, place the batter filled bowl and close the cooker with lid. Steam the Vatteppam without the weight/whistle for 20-30 mins in medium heat. Open the pressure cooker, after about 10 -15 mins of steaming, drop the roasted raisins and cashew nuts on the batter and close the lid once again.
8. After 20-30 mins, check by inserting a tooth pick. If the tooth pick comes out clean or with very less crumbs, Vatteppam is done, or else steam for another 10-15 mins / till done and cooked well.
9. Remove the pan / cake tin from the pressure cooker, allow the dish to cool completely.
10. Run a knife by the edges of the pan to separate the steamed cake / Vatteppam/Vattayappam. Slowly lift the cake into a serving plate and service with tea / coffee.

Suruttai Poli - Indian Cooking Challenge, Feb 2011

Suruttai poli, a traditional sweet preparation of South India, was chosen by Srivalli as the recipe for Indian Cooking Challenge for the month of February, 2011. This recipe is suggested by Nithya of 4th sense cooking, who stated her mother�s traditional, tried & tested recipe.

I had never heard about this dish so it was a real challenge to attempt. When I searched the net for pictures, I came across Pavithra's recipe on how the final dish will look.

Suruttai means rolled up and poli, generally refers to the sweet poli. It somehow resembled patisapta (a traditional sweet / savoury preparation in Bengali), stuffed with fillings of khoya & kheer / grated coconut, mixed with jaggery and rolled tightly.

Here the outer covering should be thin, like a papad. It came out nicely and everyone enjoyed this delicious sweet treat. The only addition I made, I added some raisins in the filling mixture�.

Ingredients:

For filling:

• Roasted gram: 1 cup
• Sugar: 1 cup
• Cashews, chopped: 3-4 tbsp
• Raisins: 3-4 tbsp
• Cardamom powder: 1 tsp
• Coconut, grated: 2 tbsp
• Ghee: 1 tsp

For dough:

• All purpose flour: 1 cup
• Salt, a pinch
• Water, to knead dough
• Oil, for frying polis

For garnishing:

• Sugar, powdered: � cup
• Cashews, chopped: 5-6
• Raisins: 10-12

Preparations:

Method for filling:

1. Dry roast the gram and powder the roasted gram and sugar together in a mixer.
2. Heat ghee and roast the chopped cashew, add grated coconut and saut� them till golden brown. mix well.
3. Add the powdered gram & sugar mixture, mix thoroughly by stirring continuously and switch off flame. Pour the mixture in a bowl and keep aside.

Method to prepare dough for Polis:

1. Sift flour and salt in a bowl, add a little water and knead to prepare a soft dough (like chaapati consistency). Ccover and set it aside for 10-15 mins.
2. Powder sugar, sprinkle on a plate and keep aside.
3. Make small balls from the dough, flour the rolling surface and roll the dough into very thin circles. (like papad consistency) (You can prick the rolled dough with fork on the surface to prevent them from puffing while frying). After rolling, keep aside for 10 mins.
4. Heat oil in a kadhai. Gently release the rolled dough in the oil. Turn and lightly fry on both sides and ensure that it do not change colour (It should be flexible and should not turn brown or crispy).
5. Drain oil and place the fried poli on the plate, coated with the powdered sugar. Carefully and immediately add 2-3 spoon fulls of filling on one side and roll tightly to form suruttai poli.
6. Keep aside face down in a flat surface. (The polis should be soft when hot but once they cool down they will become crispy).
7. Repeat with all the dough balls and prepare a whole batch of suruttai poli.

For serving, arrange the polis on a serving plate. Sprinkle some powdered sugar, garnish with cashews and raisins and serve.

Mojito and an Award

A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink, containing spirits, mixers (soda / fruit juice), sugar, water and bitters, enhanced with ice, honey, milk, cream and various herbs.

Wanted to post a cocktail recipe since I started blogging, 2 years ago...Here�s celebrating 2 years of blogging and an award from Chandrani of Cuisine Delights. Sharing the award with all my fellow bloggers.

Pl collect the award from my blog and let's start the party with Mojito......

Mojito (pronounced: Mohito) is a traditional Cuban highball, traditionally made up of 5 ingredients, namely white rum, sugar (traditionally sugar cane juice), lime juice, sparkling water and mint.

When preparing a Mojito, lime juice is added to sugar (or syrup) and mint leaves. The mixture is then gently mashed with a muddler in the bottom of a glass to release their flavor. Then rum is added and the mixture is stirred to dissolve the sugar. Finally, the drink is topped with ice cubes & sparkling water and served in a Collins glass. Mint leaves and lime wedges are used to garnish the glass.

Ingredients: (1 Serve)

• White Rum (Bacardi): 1.25 oz / 35 ml
• Lime: 1 / Fresh lime juice: 0.5 oz / 15 ml
• Mint Sprig: 1 / Mint leaves: 12
• Sugar: 1 tbsp
• Soda water: 2 oz / 55 ml
• Ice, crushed

Procedure:

1. Cut the limes into quarters and pick the mint leaves off of the stems.
2. Place mint leaves in the bottom of a tall glass and add sugar & about three lime wedges. Muddle sugar, mint leaves and the lime wedges.
3. Fill the glass with white rum and crushed ice (the glass should appear about 3/4th full). Shake / stir the mixture until fully blended.
4. Transfer the shaken cocktail to another glass (As the muddled lime and mint often stick to the bottom of the glass). Fill the remainder of glass with soda water.
5. Garnish with a lime wedge & mint sprig and serve with a straw.

Khandvi, Indian Cooking Challenge, Dec 2010

Gujarati cuisine mainly consists of vegetarian recipe and have unique culinary traditions of India. Gujarati cuisine is also distinctive in its wide variety of Farsans or side dishes served with the main meal. Some Farsan are eaten as snacks / light meals.

Gujarati food mainly comprise of 4 major regions, North Gujarat, Kathiawad, Kachchh and South Gujarat. North Gujarat is popular for its traditional Gujarati thali consisting of rice, dal, curry, vegetables, sprouted beans, farsan, pickles, chutney and raita. Some of the popular farsans, popular for their tastes are Pathara, Khaman Dhokla and Khandvi.

Khandvi is a delicious savoury made with gram flour (beasn) and curd, tempered with sesame seeds and mustard seeds and served with fresh grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves.

Srivalli chose Khandvi as the recipe for the Indian Cooking Challenge for the month of December. Preparing Khandvi is an art by itself and requires lot of practice to perfect the dish. I have never prepared Khandvi before and had to try 2-3 times, before I got a perfect rolled Khandvi.

Srivalli provided two recipes for khandvi, I followed Lataji�s recipe, only difference is that, I used only mustard seeds for tempering�

Ingredients:

• Gram flour / Besan: 1/3 cup (heaped)
• Sour Curd / Yogurt: 1/3 cup
• Water: 1 cup
• Ginger & Green Chilli paste: 2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida: 1/4 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Cooking Oil: 3 tbsp

For tempering:

• Cooking Oil: 2 tsps
• Mustard seed: 1 tsp

For Garnishing:

• Grated Coconut: 2 tbsp
• Fresh Coriander Leaves, chopped: 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Grease a flat plate and keep it ready before proceeding to cook Khandvi.
2. Beat curd and keep aside. In a bowl, add gram flour, salt, ginger-chilli paste, beaten curd, turmeric powder, asafoetisa and water and mix well to form a smooth batter (Ensure that the batter is thin and free of lumps).
3. Heat oil in a thick bottomed kadhai and add batter. Stir the batter continuously till well cooked. (You will know that the batter is ready, when the batter take a light brown tinge & glaze from the oil and do not stick to the walls of the kadhai).
4. The batter should still be in a semi liquid state, tipping more towards solid state (Over cooking will result in a solidified mass which will not spread evenly).
5. Transfer the cooked batter onto the greased plate and spread uniformly into a thin sheet over the flat surface with a ladle. (Do this quickly or else the batter will thicken as it cools and become difficult to spread.)
6. Using a knife, make strip marks on the sheet. Carefully roll each strip into spirals and place the khandvi rolls on a serving platter.
7. Heat the rest of the oil in another kadhai, add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Pour the tempering over the rolled khandvis.
8. Garnish the Khandvis with grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves and serve.