Sunday, May 4, 2008

Maharashtrian Meal!!!


Yesterday morning both of us felt like eating proper meal, we were really bored of pizzas, pastas, or any other substitute for a wholesome meal. So I made a proper Maharashtrian style lunch comprising of Chapatis/ fulkas (poli), sabzi (bhaji), daal (aamti), rice (bhaat), chutney. For desert we galloped black current ice-cream stacked in the freezer!!


For the Chutney
3 medium size green chilies
3 tbspn. Of raw mango finely chopped
3 tbspn. Of groundnut powder
2 to 3 curry leaves
1 ½ tbspn. Of jaggery
Salt to taste
1 tbspn. Oil
½ teaspoon of mustard seeds
A pinch of hing

Method
Grind the chillies, raw mango, groundnut powder, curry leaves and jaggery together in a mixer till a fine paste is formed. Add salt. Mix well. Keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and hing. Switch off the flame after the mustard seeds sputter. Pour the hot oil on the paste made earlier. Your sweet n spicy chutney is ready!

For the Sabzi (I made French beans)
500 Gms of beans finely chopped
1 ½ tbspn. Gram seeds
1 ½ tbspn. Oil
1 tspn. Red chilly powder
1 tspn. Cumin & coriander seeds powder
½ tspn. Turmeric powder
A pinch of hing
1 tspn. Mustard seeds
1 tspn. Sugar
Salt to taste
Grated coconut for garnishing

Method
Soak the gram seeds in water for 20 to 25 minutes.
Heal oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, hing & turmeric powder. After the seeds sputter, add the chopped beans. Mix well. Sprinkle a little water. Cover it. Let it cook for 2 minutes. Uncover it, add soaked gram seeds, chilly powder, cumin & coriander powder, salt & sugar. Mix well. Cover it. Stir fry in gaps while cooking it for further 3 to 4 minutes. Garnish it with grated coconut. Serve it with Chapatis.



For the Daal (Aamti)
5to 6 tpsn. Toor daal
1 ½ tbspn. Oil
½ tspn. Turmeric powder
1 tbspn. Jaggery
1 tspn. Chilly powder
5 to 6 pods of garlic crushed
½ tspn mustard seeds
½ tbspn. Tamarind
A pinch of hing
Salt to taste
Method
Cook the Toor daal fully, till it can be smashed with hand in a pressure cooker. Add salt to taste and ½ a tspn. of jaggery. Mix well Keep aside.
Soak the tamarind in water, remove the extract. Keep aside
Heat oil in a pan. Add crushed garlic. Sauté till dark brown. Add mustard seeds, hing & turmeric powder. Immediately add the cooked toor daal. Don’t add the all of it. Keep aside a ¼ part of the whole quantity. Mix well. Add chilly, tamarind extract water, salt and jaggery. Let it boil for further 1 minute. Your daal is ready.
If you don’t like the flavour of the garlic, you may avoid it. It tastes lovely even without it.
While serving, pour some of the plain daal kept aside earlier on the rice, pour the aromatic homemade ghee on it along with some fresh lemon juice and salt. That’s the way maharashtrians eat it! After the plain daal is mixed well in rice, pop some in your mouth, I bet you will love it. Only after tasting it, add the main daal on it and savour the food. It needs to be really hot when you eat it!
For salad I just chopped tomatoes, sprinkled some bleck pepper & salt.





My First meme

My First Meme

1. Last Movie you saw in a theatre?
I saw “U Me & Hum”, it was again a copy of a Hollywood flick!!! And I kept thinking to myself, ‘If Shahrukh played the character of Ajay…it would have been a much better movie!!!” Hahaha…..

2. What book are you reading?
Well I am not reading any book currently….but I just finished reading ‘A thousand splendid suns’, by Khalid Housseni. It was an interesting book.

3. Favourite Board Game?
I love to play Carom!!! And cards too…though it isn’t a board game!

4. Favourite Magazine?
Well I don’t follow any Magazine to be frank, but I love to go through Woman’s Era, Femina and Inside Outside

5. Favourite Smell?
I would rather call it aroma or fragrance….hehe…..well I too love Petrol aroma o much that I feel like drinking it up!! And I like the smell of food….yummy food!!

6. Favourite Sounds?
I love the sound of Sonu Nigam’s voice!! And also Ghulam Ali Khan’s voice!
I love the sound of my husband’s voice.

7. Worst feeling in the world?
When my loved ones fall sick! That’s the worst feeling for me!

8. What is the first thing I think about when I wake up?
I think what sabzi to prepare in the Tiffin…hehe…

9. Favourite Fast Food Place?
In Chennai it’s ‘The Noodle House’

10. Future Child’s Name?
Well, I don’t want to disclose it so soon, because there is a lot of time before that happens! Hehehe…

11. Finish this sentence, “If I had a lot of money I would?”
I would decide it only when I get the money!

12. Do you drive fast?
Well I drive fast but safe too.

13. Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
No. Earlier when till I was around 12 years old, I had a stuffed rabbit to give me company in bed. Hehehe…Not anymore!

14. Storms cool or crazy?
If the storm doesn’t cause danger, then I feel it’s totally cool!

15. What was your first car?
Pre marriage my father bought a Maruti 800, Post marriage we are still to buy one!

16. Favourite Drink?
Pinacolada

17. Finish the statement, “If I had the time I would”?
I would do just what I am doing right now, because I do have time for many things even today, it’s just that I don’t decide to do things really strongly!

18. Do you eat the stems of Broccoli?
Yes, I do!

19. If you would dye your colour what colour would it be?
It would be reddish brown!! But I am not so brave to try it…hehehe…

20. Name all the different towns / cities you have lived in.
Not many, Thane & Chennai

21. Favourite sports to watch?
I don’t enjoy watching sports, but I like to give company to my husband to watch cricket and football, when he watches.

22. One nice thing about the person who sent this to you?
Hmmm….Laxmi is a very genuine person, very true at heart and caring.

23. Whats under your bed?
Nothing actually!

24. Would you like to be yourself again?
Yes very much, with a few corrected mistakes…hehehe…

25. Morning person or night owl?
I am night owl, I hate getting up early in the morning!!!

26. Favourite place to relax?
Home sweet home!

27. Over Easy or Sunny side up?
Both to be true, it depends.

27. Favourite Pie?
Apple Pie

28. Favourite Ice Cream Flavour?
I love strawberry and tender coconut!!! Wow!!!

29. Of all the people you have tagged, who is most likely to respond first?
I have no clue……really! Let’s wait n watch….hehehe…

I am tagging…..



Nishant Agarwal of http://specialpages.blogspot.com/
Aneeket of http://aneeket.blogspot.com/
Manpreet of http://meet-mann.blogspot.com/
Nihit of http://lvmk.blogspot.com/