Rich cardamom chai tea ~ Elaichi Chai

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Wish all my readers a very happy and joyous new year. Hope you all had a good start to the year. Sorry I haven't been very active in this space for the last few months. Every time I make something new that I love, I keep thinking I should blog about it, but finding the time to take pictures can get difficult and I end up putting off the post for a little more time. One of my new year resolutions is to post more often in this space *** keeping my fingers crossed ***

Moving on, in keeping with the tradition of this space, I am kicking things off this year with this rich cardamom chai tea.  This tea has a rich, fragrant, slightly sweet flavor and taste. It makes for a nice finish to an Indian themed lunch when entertaining guests or when you want to indulge a little.

Click here for a printable view of this recipe 

Ingredients and Method to make cardamom flavored Chai tea.

1 and 1/2 cups whole milk (doodh)

1/2 cup water (see notes ) 

2 tsp sugar (shakkar) (see notes) 

2 slightly heaped tsp of good quality loose tea leaves ( chai patta )

5 cardamoms ( Elaichi ) 

Place milk and water in a medium sized pan and place on medium heat. Add sugar and coarsely crushed cardamom seeds and stir a few times. 

When the milk is close to a boil, lower heat and add tea leaves and stir a few times. Allow this mixture to simmer for a scant 20 to 30 seconds and remove from heat. Do not boil the tea for too long as it will leave a bitter taste. Strain and pour in serving mugs.  Serve hot.

This quantity serves approx 2 

Notes 

When using whole milk, add water to dilute the milk slightly, if you are using skim milk like 2 % just use 2 cups of milk in the above recipe.

This tea tastes a little sweet so when adding sugar make sure not to add too much if you do not want to end up with a cloyingly sweet beverage.

 If you are looking for more chai or other hot beverages, here are a few more

Masala chai ~ Spicy chai tea latte

Fennel flavored chai tea ~ Chai with saunf

Lemongrass chai tea

Homemade hot chocolate mix

Read more ...

Sprouted Mung Bhel ~ Moong Bhel Puri ~ Sprouted Mung bean salad

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Bhel puri is a popular fast food / street food in India. Every eatery, from the smallest snack shack to the largest restaurant offer this item on their menu. It is made with puffed rice, some veggies, a combination of sweet and spicy chutneys and some crunchy sev.  The description of this chaat definitely does not do justice to this yummy snack. No wonder than that bhel puri easily ranks among my most favorite chaat items.

Like most food, I find bhel puri too tastes much better when made at home. So from time to time whenever the mood for chaat strikes us, I make the conventional version of bhel puri at home,  but more often I make this sprouted mung beans version that is much more healthier. This is like a cross between aloo chana chaat and the traditional bhel puri, only with mung bean sprouts. This is a great way to enjoy bhel puri without the guilt. Once all the ingredients have been assembled, it can be rustled up real quick, making it perfect for weekends or other times when you are looking for something fun and healthy without wanting to spend too much time in the kitchen :) 

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Ingredients and Method to make moong bhel puri

1 and 1/2 cup sprouted and cooked mung beans (moong/ payaru ) ( see notes) to learn how to make sprouts, check out this post

1 small potato cooked, peeled and cut into small pieces (aloo)

2 Tbsp finely chopped onions (pyaaz)

2 Tbsp finely chopped tomatoes (tamatar)

1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro (coriander leaves/ hara dhania)

This Green chutney to taste

This Dates chutney to taste

Salt to taste (namak)

Sev to taste (crunchy fried chickpea flour fritters) (available in most Indian groceries, see notes for sub)

Assemble all the ingredients. In a large bowl, add sprouted and cooked mung beans, then add onions, tomatoes, potatoes, cilantro, the two types of chutney, salt to taste and mix well. Add sev and mix again. Serve immediately.

This quantity makes enough for 1 to 2. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled as required.

Notes:
If you like crunchy raw sprouts you can add them raw to this bhel too. I do that sometimes, but most times I like to cook the sprouts with very little water until it is slightly soft yet firm, then I cool it thoroughly and use in this recipe.

If you want to cut the calories from the sev, you can use baked potato sticks, or baked fries that are now available instead, just crush the fries/ sticks a little and sprinkle over the beans and you are set :)

If you are looking for other chaat/ snacks, here are few more,

Aloo Chana Chaat

Sev Puri

Masala Chana ~ Baked Crunchy chickpeas

Read more ...

Paal payasam ~ Chawal ka kheer ~ Indian milk pudding

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Happy New Year to all my readers, hope you all had a wonderful start to the year with friends and family. My apologies for not wishing you all earlier.  The last few weeks have been so strange and busy that I haven't even been able to find a little time to peek into this space, let alone complete this post. I travelled to India in early December to spend a few weeks with my family.  It was to be a routine trip, or at least as routine as an international trip can get these days with all the weather disruptions, flight delays etc.

While there we learnt that my mother in law needed surgery and I extended my trip to help out with the surgery and the post surgery part of things. My mother in law is recovering now and is doing much better, and I hope to return back home soon and resume my routine and posts.  In the meanwhile I had this post for paal payasam in my drafts and since it's a sweet and such a delicious one at that, thought it might be a good idea to post this now, to start of the year on a sweet note. Paal payasam is the South Indian version of chawal ka kheer/ Indian milk pudding. Earlier I had posted a slow cooker version of this payasam/ kheer, this stove top version is  the way my mother in law makes this kheer. It turns out consistently delicious and it's easy to make for a get together or a potluck party.

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make paal payasam
8 cups whole milk ( doodh/ paal)
3/4 cup sugar ( or to taste, see notes) (shakkar / sakkarai)
1/4 cup basmati rice ( chawal/ arisi)
2 tsp clarified butter ( ghee/ nei)
1/4 tsp cardamom seed powder  (approx 4 to 5 green cardamoms) (elaichi/ elakkai)

Lightly roast basmati rice in 2 tsp of ghee until it turns creamy brown. Remove, place in mixer and give it a turn / pulse until the grains break into halves.

Place milk in a heavy bottomed pan and place on medium heat. Add roasted and broken rice grains and simmer, stirring frequently until the milk is reduced to half and the rice is cooked and soft. When you step away from the milk even for a couple of mins the milk has a tendency to boil over. R's grandmother shared this tip that I always use to make this payasam and things like therattipaal. When the milk is simmering add a small, clean stainless steel cup/ katori/ kinnam into the milk. This prevents milk from spilling over.  Even when I do this though, I never stay away from the payasam/kheer for longer than a couple of minutes, so do keep your eye on the kheer and stir frequently.

Add sugar to the milk and simmer for some more time, until the sugar dissolves. Add cardamom seed powder/ elaichi and simmer for just a few more minutes.

Remove from heat and serve warm, at room temperature or chilled. 

Serves approx 5 to 6. 

Notes :

This recipe can be halved if necessary. 

With this quantity of sugar the payasam is mildly sweet, if you like your payasam/ kheer to have a more pronounced sweetness, increase the quantity of sugar as per taste.

If you are looking for Payasam/ Kheer recipes, here are a few more

Oats Poha Kheer ~ Oats Aval payasam ~ Beaten rice flakes pudding

Gajar kaju kheer ~ Carrot cashew payasam

Badam Kheer ~ Payasam ~ Indian almond pudding

Read more ...

Pindi chole ~ Pindi chana ~ Vegan Chickpeas Curry

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Pindi chole is a type of curry made with chana/ chickpeas with a light coating of spices/ gravy. It tends to be a tad bit drier than the conventional chole or chana masala. While I was reading up about this chole I came across various sources that mentioned that this chole originated in Rawalpindi. I also came across a few that stated that this kind of chole originates from villages in northern India known as pind, hence the name.  I am not sure about the origin of this chole , but I am sure about about one thing this is one amazingly tasty chole variety and I am always happy to have this on my menu :)

Just as for so many other recipes, this chole too has a lot of versions, some with onions, some without, some with tomatoes and some without,  so on and so forth. I have tried a few versions myself, but this version is the one I like the most and make most frequently.  Cooking the chickpeas with spices and tea infuses it with a light flavor and aroma from the spices and a lovely hue from the tea leaves. Try this delicious chole with some rotis/ kulchas / phulkas or even some puris/ bhatura if you are not counting calories and enjoy :)

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Ingredients and Method to make Pindi choley ( Adapted from this recipe)

1 and 1/2 cups chickpeas/ kabuli chana

1 onion cut fine ( pyaaz)

1 cup tomato purée ( I needed 2 med tomatoes for this ) ( tamatar )

2 Thai or Indian variety green chilies cut fine ( or to taste ) ( hari mirch)

1 and 1/2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp  ginger garlic paste ( adrak / lehsun)
1/2 tsp chili powder (or to taste) (lal mirch)

2 tsp chana masala ( or to taste)

Salt to taste

For the spice bag

1 and 1/2 tsp loose black tea ( chai patti)

1 and 1/2 stick of cinnamon ( dalchini)

2 black cardamom ( badi elaichi)

A thin muslin cloth/ cheese cloth to make the spice bag

Soak chickpeas/ chana overnight in sufficient water. Make a spice bag/ potli with cinnamon, black cardamom and loose tea.  That is, place the spices in a thin muslin cloth, or 2 layers of cheese  cloth and make into a small bag by bringing opposite sides of the cloth and making a knot in the center. Keep this aside.

Drain chickpeas, fill with  fresh water, add 1 tsp salt and spice bag, close with a lid, place in a pressure cooker and cook until soft. It usually takes me about 4 to 5 whistles in the pressure cooker.  Allow pressure to subside before opening the cooker. Discard the spice bag and keep the cooked chickpeas aside.

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add onions and green chilies and sauté until onions turn translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and stir a few times.

Add tomato purée, chana masala powder and stir until the mixture thickens a little. Add cooked chickpeas along with any water it was cooked in, adjust salt to taste and simmer until gravy thickens just enough to coat the chickpeas.

I forgot to take a pic of the chole just as it got done, will try and update it when I make it again :) 

Remove from heat and serve hot with phulkas / puris / bhaturas / Indian bread

If you are looking for recipes with chickpeas/ chana here are a few more

Chana Masala ~ Vegan Chickpeas curry

Chana Palak ~ Spinach and Chickpeas Curry

Chana Poha ~ Beaten rice flakes with chickpeas

Aloo Chana Chaat ~ Potato and Chickpeas Snack

Read more ...

Carrot kosambari ~ Carrot and mung bean salad

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Festival season with all it's sweets and snacks always leaves me craving something light, healthy and nutritious. Something that is healthy to the core and is completely unlike all the rich calorie laden food that is inevitably an integral part of any festival season. Something like...... this kosambari. Kosambari is a salad that originates from South Indian cuisine. It is made with either cucumbers, cabbage or carrots. Kosambari usually combines one kind of vegetable with some soaked split mung beans/ moong dhal, making it a good combination of nutrition and protein. 

This is one of my favorite salads and I could easily have a big bowl of this salad anytime :) With a hint of heat from the chilies, natural sweetness of the carrots and coconut, hint of tartness from the lemon juice, every bite of this salad is just bursting with flavor. If you are craving something light and healthy, this might be just the salad for you too :)

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Ingredients and method to make carrot kosumbari

1/3 cup split mung bean lentil ( mung dhal / paytham parappu)

4 med large carrots grated 

3 Tbsp freshly grated coconut ( or frozen thawed to room temperature ) (nariyal/ thengai)

3 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro ( coriander leaves/ hara dhania / kothamalli )

Salt to taste

1/2 Tbsp lemon juice ( or to taste ) ( nimbu ka ras/ elimbicham pazham)

Seasoning

2 tsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds ( rai/ kadagu)

2 Thai or Indian variety green chilies cut finely ( hari mirch/ pachai molagai)

Pinch of asafoetida powder ( hing / perungayam) (optional)

Rinse mung thoroughly and drain. Soak mung in sufficient water for at least 1 hour or a little longer.

Grate carrots and add to a large bowl. Drain soaked mung thoroughly and add to grated carrots. Add salt to taste, coconut and cilantro/ coriander leaves and mix well. 

Heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds to it. When the seeds begin to splutter, add green chilies and asafoetida if using and stir a few times. Pour entire seasoning on the salad. Add lemon juice to salad and mix again. 

Serve immediately. 

Serves approx 3 

 If you are looking for Carrot / Gajar Recipes, here are a few more

Carrot Roti ~ Wheat flat bread with carrots and spices

Cabbage Carrot Poriyal ~ Simply Seasoned Curry

Carrot Raisin Oat bran muffins ~ Egg free and Butter free

Read more ...

Ribbon Pakoda ~ Ribbon Murukku ~ Rice and chickpea flour fritters

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Can you believe Diwali is less than a week away ? Time really flies, it seems like just yesterday that 2014 began and we were wishing everyone for the new year. And just like that, in a blink of an eye it seems, it is already mid October, the year is almost coming to an end and the festival season is upon us.  I've had some requests from my readers for Diwali recipes, and I will do my best to provide a few recipes for sweets and savories before Diwali. I recently posted  this coconut burfi  which is a great sweet to make for Diwali,   so I decided to post one savory snack before another sweet :)

Ribbon pakoda / murrukku  or ribbon bakshanam is a savory snack made with rice flour and chickpea flour. Some versions of it also used split black gram lentil flour / udad flour or puffed chickpea lentil four/ dalia/ pottu kadalai maavu. I had already posted one version earlier, which is the way my mother in law makes her ribbon pakoda.  This version of ribbon pakoda is the way it is made in my mothers side of the family. This is a quick and easy snack to make and is definitely a crowd pleaser. I've made this a few times when my friends come over and all of them like it a lot :-)

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make ribbon bakshanam

1 1/2 cups rice flour (chawal ka atta/ arisi maavu)

1 cup chick pea flour ( besan/ kadalai maavu)

1 tsp chili powder ( or to taste ) ( lal mirch/ thani molaga podi)

Salt to taste

2 Tbsp butter melted (makhan/ vennai)

A press and a disc in the desired shape to press out the dough.

Oil to deep fry the bakshanam/ fritters 

In a large bowl, mix together both the flours. Add salt to taste and chili powder and mix again. 

Add melted butter to the flour mix and mix  well. 

Add water as needed, a little at a time to make a soft pliable dough. If the dough is too soft, it will absorb more oil, if it is too stiff it will be difficult to shape, so add water slowly and knead till you get soft pliable dough.Divide the dough into 3 to 4 oval balls as will fit in the press.

Heat oil on medium heat. You know when the oil is ready if a small bit of dough dropped into the oil rises to the top immediately. If it sits at the bottom, the oil needs to be heated some more. 

When the oil is hot, place one oval dough ball in the press, close and squeeze out some dough directly into the oil in a circular motion. 

If you are not comfortable in directly pressing dough into the oil, you can press a little out on a kitchen tissue and slowly and gently slide it into the oil. 

Flip over once or twice and fry until the bakshanam turns evenly golden brown, remove from heat and place on a kitchen tissue. 

When cool, store in an air tight container and enjoy with tea/ coffee. This snack can be stored for one to two weeks easily if it lasts that long :)

If you are looking for bakshanam/ chakli/ savory Diwali snacks, here are a few more

Thattai ~ Flattened Rice flour snacks

Thenkozhal ~ Rice and Lentil flour fritters

Chakli ~ Rice and Mung bean Lentil Fritters

Read more ...