Kothimbiriche Lonache (Coriander Herb Pickle)

I was gifted “Ruchira” (Author- Mrs. Kamlabai Ogale). Its book full of traditional Maharashtrian recipes. I love making something from it once in a while. It reminds me of my grandmother stories….I had tried this one and my parents had come over to stay for some days, they loved this pickle so much, that he took it along with him while going back!! :P
Ingredients
1 bunch of Coriander fresh herbs finely chopped
4 to 5 Green Chillies (Chopped in small pieces)
4 to 5 Dry dates (Kharik) chopped in pieces
3” ginger finely chopped
2 tbspn. Jaggery
Lemon Juice (2 medium size lemons)
5 tspn. Fenugreek seeds (methi)
Salt to taste
Oil, Mustard Seeds, Cumin seeds, asafetida (hing) for tempering
Method
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, after seeds sputter, add fenugreek seeds, and fry them till golden brown. Then, add chopped Coriander. Cover it and let it cook for a while on steam, then add chopped ginger, chopped dry dates and jiggery, fry it for a while without covering. Switch off the flame. Keep it to cool, and then add lemon juice and salt. Mix it well.
The pickle is ready! It can stay good without refrigerating for four days and if refrigerated can be relished for months together!

Crispy Eggs

I learnt this recipe from my friend Darshana, she used to bring it in her tiffin and I hogged on it!! I have named it myself for the blog :P
Ingredients
4 egg whites (I have become calorie conscious, thanks to my friend Shuchita :P)
1 onion finely chopped
1 tomato finely chopped
2 to 3 tbspn. Fresh coriander finely chopped
Oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafetida, turmeric powder for tempering
Red chilly Powder (according to your taste)
Salt to taste
Method
Beat the egg whites slightly. Keep aside.
Take oil in a small frying pan; add cumin & mustard seeds, after they sputter, add turmeric, asafoetida and chopped onion. Fry for a few minutes, add chopped tomato, let it cook for a while, now add chopped coriander, mix well, now add salt, chilly powder, mix well again. Now, pour beaten egg whites, and cover the pan for about a minute, it should become really nice golden brown, and crisp. Now switch off the flame and fry the other side without the flame, your pan is hot enough to cook it.
The idea is to cook one side till crisp and the other side soft. It tastes really delicious, try it for sure! Serve it with hot chapatis or with brown bread in a sandwich form!

Here is a Recipe for Maharashtrian food lovers…..I wanted to post it for a long time, never mind……:P
Its called Kandyachi bhaji peeth perun (Onion sabzi with gram flour)
My mother in law also calls it Jhunka for some reason I don’t know…J It tastes really good and can be made very quickly.

Ingredients (Serves 2)
4 to 5 Onions, chopped in long thin slices
3 to 4 tbspn. Gram Flour
1 tbspn. Oil
½ tspn. Asafoetida
¾ tspn. Turmeric
Mustard seeds & Cumin seeds for tempering
Red Chilly powder (according to your taste)
Salt to taste
Fresh chopped coriander for garnishing
Method
Take Oil in a pan, add mustard & cumin seeds, after they sputter, add hing, turmeric, and chopped onion, fry it without covering, let it become nice golden brown, stir fry till then. Now, add salt and chilly powder, mix well. Then, add gram flour, mix it well again, let it cook for a while, now switch off the flame and cover the pan, let the steam further cook the onions , so that the gram flour and the onions blend together.
Garnish with coriander, serve hot with chapattis. (its also a very good sabzi for tiffins)

Kanda Pohe

This is my entry to Neha of http://easyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/, who is hosting an event called SWC Maharshtra.

Thanks for this event Neha!!


This is a typical Mahrashtrian snacks and an all time favorite in every Marathi household! On a Saturday morning I made Kanda Pohe for everyone and here is my post!
Serves 4
Ingredients
250 Gms Pohe (use the thick ones)
3 tbspn. Oil
3 to 4 finely chopped green chillies
1 medium size onion (kanda) finely chopped
5 to 6 curry leaves
1 tspn. Mustard seeds
¼ tspn. Hing
½ tspn. Turmeric powder
1 tspn. Sugar
½ lemon
Salt to taste
Finely chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut for garnishing.

Method
Lay pohe in a vessel with tiny holes in it, pour water on them slowly to thoroughly dampen them. Let the water drain from it. Keep aside. They become soft and tender in about 2 to 3 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan; add mustard seeds, after they sputter, add hing, turmeric powder, curry leaves, green chillies and onion. Stir for a while, after the onions become pink, add damp pohe. Mix properly. Add salt and sugar, mix again. It cooks within a minute. Switch the flame off. Squeeze half a lemon on it. Mix well again. They are ready!
Garnish with fresh coriander and coconut.(I did not have coconut so I used only coriander)
Serve hot!

P.S. You may add potato (batata) to this recipe too and make kanda batata pohe! Add the potato after the onion is pink and cover it with a lid for the potatoes to cook. After they are soft, add pohe and continue with the same method.

Green Rice

I saw it on a Marathi Program, “Aamhi Sare Khavayye” and I tried it, it tasted nice and spicy, here’s the recipe for all!!

Recipe serves 2
2 to 3 handful rice
1 to 1 ½ tbspn. Oil or ghee (whatever you like)
7 to 8 tbspn. Finely chopped coriander
3 to 4 pods garlic finely chopped
1/4” ginger finely chopped
2 to 3 green chilies finely chopped
½ tspn. Fennel seeds
Salt to taste

Method
Wash rice nicely. Add 1 ½ cp of water and ½ tbspn. Ghee to it. Set in the pressure cooker for cooking. After 3 whistles switch off the flame. Be careful the rice should be cooked soft yet not too soggy. Keep aside.
Grind together, coriander, garlic, ginger, chilies, and fennel seeds, salt till a fine paste is ready. Immediately sauté the paste on oil/ghee for a minute, add rice and mix it well. You can increase the amount of coriander to make your rice rich in colour. I fell short of coriander, so I couldn’t get that green colour to my rice, but the taste was awesome!
Serve it with hot daal!
I had bought ready made chicken nuggets so I fried them for some crunchiness in the meal.

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.