Chicken Kheema Pulao –

Ingredients -

Chicken Kheema – 1 Kg.

basmati rice – 2 bowls

Green chilli paste – 1 T-spoon

Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 Tb-spoon

Cloves – 4

Cinnamon sticks – 2

Green cardamoms – 2

Black peppercorn – 4

Black cumin seeds – 1 T-Spoon

Finely chopped onions – 2

Puree of 1 tomato

Fried cashews – ¼ bowl

Red chilli powder – 1 T-spoon or as per your taste

Garam masala powder – 1 Tb-spoon

Ghee –4 Tb-spoon or as per taste

Turmeric powder – ½ T-spoon

Salt to taste

Green coriander leaves

Water – 1 ½ bowl

Oil

 

Procedure –

1.   Soak rice in water for ½ an hour.   

1.   Heat oil in a thick bottom pan. Add black cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorn and green cardamom to the oil. Let is splutter for a minutes. Don't let it burn.

2.  Add chilli, ginger and garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes. Then add finely chopped onions and fry till golden brown.

3.  Add puree of 1 tomato and sauté it till it gets completely cooked and start leaving sides of the pan.

4.  Add red chilli powder, garam masala powder and turmeric powder and roast for a while.

5.  Add chicken kheema into it and sauté for 5 minutes.

6.  Add green coriander leaves and salt to taste and sauté. (Add salt for kheema and rice both)

7.  Add soaked basmati rice and roast for 2 minutes.

8.  Add water and ghee and cover the pan with lid. Cook rice on a low heat for 20-25 minutes.

9.  Check if the rice is cooked and turn off the heat.

10. Garnish with fried cashew nuts and serve hot.    

Dhebra

 

One more tasty Gujrati snack. Specially good to eat during winters.

Ingredients -

Bajra flour( millet flour) – 1 ½ bowl

Wheat flour – 1 ½  bowl

Fenugreek leaves – 2 bowls

green garlic along with leaves – 1 small bunch

Green chili paste – as per taste

Jaggery – 1 T-spoon

Sesame seeds – 1 Tb-spoon

Curd – 1 bowl (more if required)

Turmeric powder – 1/4^th T-spoon

Salt to taste

Oil for dough and for roasting.

(Green garlic is optional. If you don't have green garlic with you, then add 4-5 garlic cloves. )

Procedure –

1. Knead bajra flour , wheat flour and chana flour well adding salt to taste.

2. Roughly chop fenugreek leaves and green garlic.

3. Add fenugreek leaves and green garlic in the dry flours along with green chili paste, jaggery, sesame seeds, turmeric powder and curd and knead well. If needed add little water and form a medium dough.

4. Heat tava or frying pan. Take golf size ball dough in your palm. Roll dhebra in a round shape. Don't try to roll it too thin. 

5. Roast dhebra on a low heat from both sides. Drizzle some more oil while roasting.

Note:

1. You can add green onions also in dhebra.
2. You can make little smaller size dhebra and deep fry them in kadai.

Ragada Patties/pattice –

Ingredients –

For ragada you need -

Dried white peas/white vatana – 1 cup

Chopped coriander – 1/4^th bowl

Tamarind pulp – 1 t-spoon

Jaggery – 1 tb-spoon or to taste

Goda masala/kaala masala – 1 t-spoon

Red chili powder – 2 t-spoons or to state

Turmeric powder – 1/4^th t-spoon

Ginger paste – 1 t-spoon

Garlic paste – 1 t-spoon

Garam masala – ½ t-spoon

Oil – 1 tb-spoon

Mustard seeds – 1/8^th t-spoon

Asafetida – a pinch

Salt to taste

For aloo tikkies/patties –

Boiled potatoes – 4 medium size

Ginger paste – ½ tspoon

Garlic paste – 1 t-spoon

Green chili paste – 1 and ½ t-spoon

Salt to taste

Oil for shallow frying

For serving –

Onion – 2, finely chopped

Chopped coriander – ½ bowl

Lime/lemon juice – 2 tb-spoons

Fine sev – 1/4^th bowl

Tamarind chutney

Pudina/mint chutney

Procedure –

Ragda -

1. Wash vatana and soak in lukewarm water for 6-8 hours.

2. After 8 hours add turmeric powder, asafetida and salt and cook vatana for 15 minutes in a pressure cooker.

3. Heat oil in pan. Add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté for 5 minutes.

4. Add cooked ragada, kaala masala/goda masala, red chili powder, garam masala, tamarind pulp and jaggery. Boil for 5 minutes, add chopped coriander, mix well and turn off the heat. Ragada is ready.

Patties/pattice –

Mash boiled potatoes. Mix in ginger, garlic, green chili paste, salt and lime/lemon juice. Form patties and shallow fry on hot tava from both the sides.

Serving -

Place 2 patties in a plate. Pour hot ragada on it. Spread finely chopped onion, chopped coriander, sev, tamarind chutney and little mint chutney.

Note :

1. At the time of serving patties and ragada should be hot.

2. If you don’t like mint flavor, you can use coriander chutney instead.

3. If kaala masala/goda masala is not ready, replace it with garam masala and make a powder of seasame seeds and dry grated coconut and add into ragada. This will also taste good.

Dal Dhokali –

In Gujarati homes ‘Dal Dhokali’ is a very popular snack or a one dish meal. I am Maharashtrian and married in a Gujrati family. In Maharashtra we have similar form of Dal Dhokali, which is called ‘Varan Phala’. Little different in taste but very similar to this recipe. I will post Marathi version of Dal Dhokali sometime soon.

Ingredients –

Split pigeon pea (toor dal/arhar dal) – 3/4^th cup

Whole wheat flour (atta) – 3/4^th cup

Bengal gram flour (besan) – 2 tb-spoons

Garlic – 3-4 cloves, crushed

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder – 1/2 t-spoon for dal + 1/4^th t-spoon for dough

Red chili powder – 1 t-spoon for dal + 1 t-spoon dough

Asafetida – 1/4^th t-spoon

Oil – 1 tb-spoon for tadaka + 1 tb-spoon for dough

Mustard seeds – 1/8^th t-spoon

Khada masala – 1 bay leaf, 3 cloves, 1” cinnamon

Cumin seeds powder – ½ t-spoon

Coriander seeds powder – 1 t-spoon

Jaggery to taste

Kokam petals – 3-4

Serving –

Chopped coriander leaves

Ghee for serving

Finely chopped onion

Procedure –

1. Soak toor dal in two cups of water for half an hour. Mix wheat flour, gram flour, red chili powder, turmeric powder, crushed garlic, oil and water to knead into a hard dough.

2. Boil dal in 1 ½ cup of water with turmeric powder in a pressure cooker.

3. Roll out thick rotis of the dough and cut into diamonds. Set aside.

4. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, asafetida and khada masala, sauté for a minute. Add cooked toor dal, red chili powder, coriander-cumin seeds powder, jaggery, salt and kokam petals. Add water and start boiling dal.

5. When jaggery has dissolved, add dough diamonds and allow to cook on medium flame. Stir occasionally so that dough diamonds do not stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook till dough diamonds are fully cooked.

6. Garnish dal dhokli with coriander leaves, ghee and if you like, chopped onion and serve hot.

Note:

Dal should be little watery because dough and toor dal tends to absorb more and more water. Add salt accordingly.

millet flour pancakes (ज्वारीचे थालीपीठ)

Ingredients:
Jowar Flour (millet flour) – 2 cups

Wheat Flour – 1/4^th cup

Gram Flour/besan – 1 tb-spoon

Garlic – 3-4 cloves, grated

Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped

Handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped

Cumin seeds powder – ½ t-spoon

Coriander seeds powder -1 t-spoon

Red Chilli Powder – 1 tb-spoon

Turmeric Powder – 1/4^th t-spoon

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

For serving –

Dollop of homemade unsalted white butter(Loni) or salted butter or curd.

Procedure –

1. Mix all the ingredients except oil and knead it into stiff dough using water. The dough should be more smooth than chapatti dough. Keep this dough aside for 10-15 minutes covered with plate. Again knead the dough and make tennis ball sized balls.
2. Take a clean plastic sheet and grease its one side with some oil.
Flatten one ball in the palm of your hand and place it in the center of the sheet. Pat the ball with palm and the fingers. If the dough is too sticky, dip fingers in water to make the patting easier. Keep flattening in circular motion to make a round flat disc but make sure that the thalipeeth has even thickness. Make five holes with your finger, one in the center and four around which will help to cook the thalipeeth evenly.

3. Heat the tava, add little oil in the center and gently remove thalipeeth from plastic sheet and place it on tava. Apply little oil in the five holes and cover the tava with lid. Let the thalipeeth cook for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Open the lid let the thalipeeth release the steam and afterwards cook the other side until it turns crisp.

4. Serve thalipeeth hot with homemade butter, curd or pickle.

Variations -

You can add methi (fenugreek leaves) or spinach leaves or any vegetable along with onions or without onions. It will increase the nutrition value and taste. If you want more crispy and crunchy thalipeeth with authentic flavor add more oil and roast thalipeeth on a iron griddle/tava. Let me tell you, Thalipeeth on iron tava tastes awesome, non-stick pan can never beat that taste.