RAW MANGO DAL

Raw mango dal is a dish of yellow lentils cooked with raw mango pieces. The tanginess of raw mangoes gives a delicious flavor to the lentils. And if you love "Tok-dal" then its going to hit your favorite list. During this time every Bengali family has raw mangoes in their house. You can serve it with any of your favorite rice recipe, goes well with steamed rice. Here is the recipe for the same. 

I have cooked with red lentils, you can use Arhar dal also for this recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Red lentils or Masoor dal - 1/3 cup
2. Green raw mango small size - 1
3. Panchphoron (Indian five spice blend) - 1/2 tsp
4. Red dried chilli - 1
5. Bay leaf - 1 (optional)
6. Mustard oil - 2 tsp
7. Salt to taste
8. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Sugar - 2 tsp (or as per your taste)

Process:

1. Pressure cook the red lentils with water and salt till they are soft.
2. Peel and chop the mangoes in small cubes or slices. Check the tanginess, as every mango has different level of sour taste, so if it is too sour then hold some of it back from the recipe or you can add little more sugar.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add panchphoron, bay leaf and red chilli. Let the aroma come out, and after that add the mango pieces and fry it by adding turmeric powder and sugar.
4. Once they turn golden, add the cooked lentils. Stir by adding some water if required. Taste the sugar, it should balance the sharp tang of the mango but should not make the dal sweet. Also, check the seasoning and add salt if required.
5. Let it simmer for 3-4 minutes, till the mango pieces become soft and tender. Serve hot with steamed rice.

CHOCOLATE CHIA SEED PUDDING

Upon discovering you could use chia seeds to make creamy, dreamy pudding for your breakfast, I am just in love with it, and became my favorite breakfast during this Covid-19 pandemic. Anyone can make this easy breakfast, plus its so healthy. Make this at night for breakfast or a mid-day meal, or prepare it in the morning for a simple desert. You can make chocolate chia pudding in many ways, below are two of them I tried out with.

Ingredients:

1. Chia seeds - 1/2 cup

2. Maple syrup or honey - 3-5 tsp

3. Milk - 1 cup

4. Cocoa powder 1/4 cup

Process 1 :

In a mixing bowl add chia seeds, maple syrup or honey, milk and whisk until a paste forms. Divide the mixture in two bowl. One bowl you can cover and refrigerate overnight. In the other bowl add cocoa powder and whisk properly. Now cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, you can present these two different mixtures by layering in a single glass and decorate with some crashed chocolates or any desired toppings like fruits of your choice or whipped cream.

Process 2 :

In a mixing bowl add cocoa powder and maple syrup or honey and whisk to combine. Then add milk and whisk until a paste forms. Add chia seeds and whisk until smooth. Then over and refrigerate overnight until its achieved a pudding like consistency. Before serving, add your desired toppings,you can use any fruits of your choice, nuts, choco chips, crushed cudbury or freshly whipped cream.

CHOCOLATE CAKE - EGGLESS

This is my all time favorite cake. I love chocolate cake. Tried for the first time to bake an egg-less chocolate cake at home, in kadhai. This recipe has sugar moist crumb yet light texture. Once you try and get to eat such a nice cake at home, this will soon be your favorite too. You can also prepare chocolate layer cake, once your chocolate cake is baked, you can cut the cake into layers, pour more chocolate sauce one after one, and finally cover the whole cake with chocolate cream or chocolate sauce. Mine one is not a layered cake, its a simple and easy chocolate cake.

Ingredients:

1. Supar - 1 cup

2. Maida - 1 and half cup

3. Cocoa powder - 3/4 cup

4. Baking powder - 1 tsp

5. Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

6. Curd - 1 cup (you can also use eggs, if you want to)

7. Milk - 1/2 cup

8. Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup

9. Vanilla extract - 1 tsp (optional)

10. Water - Lukewarm 1 cup

Process:

1. Grease the cake tray, Dust with flour evenly and set aside.

2. Add all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and gently mix until everything is combined well. Add lukewarm water if the batter is very thick.

3. Once the batter is ready, pour this in the cake tray.

4. Heat the heavy bottom kadhai for 10 minutes and then place a steel stand (optional) inside the kadhai and place the cake tray. If you do not have a steel stand, you can directly place the cake tray in the kadhai. If you want to add fry fruits, sprinkle them at the top of the cake and cover with a lid.

5. Let it cook for 15-20 minutes, after 15 minutes you can check by putting a knife inside the cake, if the knife comes out clean, means the cake is done, else you can cook for another 5 minutes and re-check.

Your home made chocolate cake is ready to serve. You can garnish it as you like. Also you can do plating with chocolate sauce and some colorful fruit pieces of your choice and if available at home.

Do share your experience after baking this cake.

Happy Baking.

CARROT CAKE

Most of the carrot cakes are egg less cakes. My recipe of carrot cake contains carrots mixed into the batter of simple sponge cake with eggs. This is my third experiment in baking a cake in Kadhai and this is soft and tasty. I have used eggs and all the other ingredients used in a sponge cake, additional ingredient is just grated carrot. Unlike the other cakes, carrot cake is heavy and not fluffy. I just loved the cake.

Ingredients :

1. Wheat flour - 1 cup
2. Sugar - 1/2 cup
3. Baking powder - 1 tsp
4. Butter - 1/2 cup
5. Milk (boiled and cold) - 1/2 cup
6. Eggs - 2 
8. Salt - pinch of
9. Grated carrot - 1/2 cup

Process :

1. Grease the cake tray. Dust with flour evenly and set aside.
2. Pour milk and suger in a mixing bowl and stir until sugar dissolves. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Gently mix until the flour is combined well. Start adding eggs one by one and keep mixing. Finally add the grated carrots and mix well (Remember : Do not mix too long after adding carrots)
3. Once the batter is ready, pour this in the cake tray.
4. Heat the heavy bottom kadai for 10 minutes and then place a steel stand (optional) inside the kadai and place the cake tray. If you do not have a steel stand, you can directly place cake tray in the kadhai. Sprinkle dry fruits in the top and cover with a lid.
5. Let it cook for 15 to 20 minutes. After 15 minutes you can check by putting a knife side the cake, if the knife comes out clean, means the cake is done, else you can cook for another 5 minutes. 

Your Carrot cake is ready to serve. You can garnish it with some more grated carrots and chocolate sauce, if you like to have chocolate in everything, like i do. 

Do share your experience while trying this cake.
Happy Baking. 

MALAI MUTTON

The most essential part of a well-balanced diet is food. And If you have ample time to spend in the kitchen, you can do many experiments. Here is my experiment with Mutton this weekend. The best combo to serve with Malai Mutton is paratha or roti, though we had with Egg fried rice. The outcome of this curry recipe is a silky smooth tender dish which is super yummy. 

Ingredients:

1. Mutton - 300 gram

2. Lemon juice - 2 tsp

3. Curd - 1/2 cup

4. Malai / cream - 3 tsp

5. Elaichi (green) powder - 1 tsp

6. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

7. Garam masala - 1 tsp

8. Coriander leaves (fresh) - for garnishing

9. Salt to taste

10. Onion - 2 (paste)

11. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

12. Oil - 2 tsp

Process:

1. Marinate mutton pieces with lemon juice and salt and keep aside for 2 hours. After that add curd, ginger garlic paste, elaichi powder and and again keep aside for 4-5 hours. (If you are planning for lunch menu, you can leave the marination overnight also).

2. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add jeera. When splutters, add the marinated mutton, cover and simmer until tender.

3. Meanwhile in a separate pan, add 1/2 tsp oil, and add onion paste, ginger garlic paste and garam masala, and saute for 5 to 7 minutes, and add this masala paste to the mutton pa. Mix well and let it cook til the mutton is tender.

4. Once done, add fresh cream to the gravy and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

DAHI VADA || DAHI BHALLA

Dahi Vada is the most loved street snack of India, particularly North India. Can be served as a chilled snack or a starter during festival season like Diwali or Navratri. I have seen people eating a lot during Navratri. This quintessential street food from the by lanes of Delhi will get you hooked. I love Dahi vada so much and hence here is my experimental recipe for the same. Try your hands on making these delicious and fluffy vada's drizzled with sweetened curd, tangy tamarind chutneys and chat masala.

Ingredients:

For Dahi Vada:

1. Urad dal - 200 gram (soaked over night or 3-4 hours)

2. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

3. Salt to taste

4. OIl (for frying)

For Dahi Mix:

1. Dahi - 2 cup

2. Chat masala - 1 tsp

3. Sugar -2 tsp (powdered)

4. Salt - a pinch

For chutneys

1. Tamarind chutney (sweet and tangy) - Check the recipe in my blog 

2. Green chutney - (spicy and tangy) - Check the recipe in my blog 

For Garnishing

1. Sev - 1 tsp (Optional)

2. Pomegranate - 1 tsp (Optional) 

Process:

1. For preparing the vada's, put the soaked urad daal with a pinch of salt in the grinder and grind well. Whisk the batter till it becomes light and fluffy. Add cumin seeds and your batter is ready. You can also add finely chopped curry leaves and green chilies, this is totally optional.

2. With wet palms add small portions of batter into hot oil and deep fry till golden brown.

3. Now soak the vada's in lukewarm water as soon as they are fried. Soak for about 10 minutes. The vada's will soak up the water, double in size and become super soft. Take each vada and gently press in between of your palms to remove excess water. Do this for all the vada's that you plan to add to dahi mix right away. 

3. Whisk dahi with some powdered sugar and a pinch of salt and keep it in the fridge to cool.

4. Place the soft vada's in a bowl, pour the dahi over them so that all the vada's are covered. Spread both tamarind and green chutney over them and sprinkle some chat masala. You can garnish the plate with Sev and pomegranate (if available). 

Try this awesome and super tasty Dahi Vada's at home and share your feedback.

SABUDANA VADA

Sabudana vada is a popular crisp fried snack made with tapioca pearls (sago). It's a popular Maharashtrian snack that is eaten not only as a tea time snack but also as a fasting.  It is served with sweet yogurt. I keep on seeing people in my office used to have this as "a whole day meal" when they are fasting, and was always wondering "Fast me log khana kyun khate hai". Being a bong, I have always observed this in my family, we do not eat anything while fasting. Different people follow different cultures.

But these Sabudana vada are not too shabby, nothing too fancy and super easy to make, all you need to do is soak the sabudana overnight in water. Here is my recipe after my first experiment with these yummy vada's.  

Ingredients:

1. Sabudana (Tapioca pearls or sagu)- 1/2 cup (soaked over night)

2. Potato - 2 (boiled & mashed)

3. Salt to taste

4. Peanuts 1/4 cup (you can also skip this if not available)

5. Green chilli - 1 (finely chopped)

6. Fresh coriander leaves - 1 tsp (finely chopped)

7. Lemon juice - 1 tsp (optional)

8. Flour - 1 tsp (optional)

9. Cumin or Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp

Process:

1. To start with, if you are using peanuts, roast them until golden and aromatic in a frying pan and let them cool completely. Then grind to a coarse powder. Keep aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together soaked sabudana, boiled and mashed potatoes, peanuts, green chillies, salt, cumin or fennel seeds (whichever you are using) and coriander leaves. Add lemon juice (optional) and mix them well.

2. Make small balls and then slightly flatten to make the vada. Do not make them too thin as they may break.

3. Heat oil in a pan and start frying them on medium flame, once they are golden and crisp, remove the flame.

4. Serve hot with sweet curd or any chutney of your choice.

GREEN CHUTNEY

Green chutney - fresh, sweet and spicy and goes so well with pakodas, kebabs, samosas, cutlets, fritters or even as a spread on sandwiches. This is one of the healthiest chutney which is used as a side with Indian cuisine. Its a very staple chutney you might have seen in restaurants or you might have tried at home. There are so may variations to this chutney. Here is the simple and easy version of my recipe. 

Ingredients:

1. Coriander leaves / Dhania - 2 cup (chopped)

2. Mint leaves / Pudina - 1 cup (chopped)

3. Green chilli - adjust as per your taste

4. Ginger - 1 inch 

5. Lemon Juice - 1 tsp 

6. Salt to taste

7. Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Process:

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender jar. 

2. Make a thick paste by adding 1 tsp water and blending until smooth. 

3. Adjust salt, lemon juice and chilli to suit your taste.

4. Store in a clean dry airtight glass jar.

Note : you can keep this green chutney in refrigerator and use for about a week.

TAMARIND CHUTNEY

I have very fond memories of smuggling tamarind with rock salt and eating them alone in my childhood days. Remembering those days of childhood, today I have tried to cook tamarind chutney which we can have with any snacks or dahi vada or any pakodas. If tangy is your thing, you can use this with any snacks of your choice. These quarantine days really helped us to cook a lot of things, which we actually used to buy from outside due to lack of time in our hand to cook them at home. Here is the simple recipe you can follow to this sweet and tangy chutney at home.

Ingredients:

1. Tamarind - 1/2 cup
2. Jaggery - 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
3. Salt
4. Jeera powder - 1/4 tsp
5. Rock salt - 1/4 tsp
6. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Process:

1. Deseed tamarind and boil it in a cup of water over low flame for 10 minutes. If you do not want to boil, you can just soak them in a cup of hot water for 30 minutes..
2. Let it cool at room temperature, when it cools, mash tamarind in water and strain through a metal colander and discard fibers. Press mashed tamarind with spoon while straining to get more pulp out.
3. Transfer tamarind pulp to pan and add jaggery in it. Bring it to boil and cook on medium flame until jaggery dissolves completely.
4. Add red chilli powder, cumin powder, black salt and salt. Mix well and taster for sweetness and add more jaggery if you want to make sweeter chutney. Turn off the flame and let it cool at room temperature.
5. Transfer prepared chutney to airtight container and store in refrigerator for up to one month for anytime use.

MANGO JAM

A delicious homemade mango jam, perfect for the mango season. The temperatures are soaring and there are mangoes to make your life beautiful. Be it raw mangoes or sweet ripe mangoes, the dishes one can make are innumerable. So here is a simple and easy recipe of mango jam. You can simply store it in the refrigerator. Either way, mango jam is the perfect way to preserve mangoes.

Ingredients :

1. Ripe mango - 1 big (grated 1 cup)
2. sugar - 1 cup
3. Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Salt - a small pinch

Process:

1. Wash and peel the raw mangoes, grate them using the fine grater option.
2. In a pan, take the grated mango, add sugar and a pinch of salt and bring it to heat on low flame. 
3. After 3-4 minutes the sugar starts caramelizing, see the change in color. Add cardamom powder. Keep stirring and scraping the sides also.
4. When the sugar has been completely absorbed and there is still moisture the jam is done. See the consistency and the thick syrup.
5. Let it cool, store in a glass jar and use as required.

Try out this amazing and simple jam and trust me everyone will love this.