Sheer Khurma

The end of ramadan marks the beginning of new hopes and festivity for muslims. On the day of Eid, they invite friends and family for a special daawat and have great time. I have fond memories of this festival, the best being the dessert (sheer khurma / surkumba) and the Eidi ( a gift given to guest on Eid). I was a bit of skeptical about their fasting, until I discovered that, its not a mere fast, but a path taken by every muslim individual to develop patience, self control, and thus evolve as a better person.

Sheer Khurma is a dessert made specially on the day of Eid. Its quite a heavy dish in terms of calories. Basically its milk, ghee, sugar, semiya( sevaiyan) and loads of nuts which goes into its preparation, but you are free to add on and improvise it in your own way.

Happy Eid everyone.

Sev Batata Puri

Ingredients:

• Puri
• onion, finely chopped
• tomato, finely chopped
• potato, boiled and mashed
• coriander/ cilantro, finely chopped
• tamarind date chutney
• coriander mind chutney( green chutney)
• sev ( crunchy noodles made of chickpea flour)
• chaat masala
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

• Place the puri on the plate.
• Add salt and chaat masala as per taste to mashed potato and mix well.
• Fill the puri half way with above mixture.
• Add chopped onions, tomatoes and coriander over the puri
• Add the green chutney over the top.
• Add tamarind date chutney. 
• Garnish this assembly with sev and gulp.

Sev Batata Puri

It would be stupid of me to ask an Indian or in that matter anybody with Indian roots, if they like chaats?. Thats because they LOVE them instead. Its one of the key players of Indian cuisine. More popular as street food, it drive us so crazy that we are ready to skip meals for it. Every chaat tastes heavenly and is unique in its own way. When I think of them, phrases like Bhaiya thoda teekha banayiye ( make it extra spicy, which would be a 20 on a rating of 10 in the USA), bhaiya ek meetha vala dijiye ( give me the one with sweet syrup), bhaiya kachori phod ke ( imposssible for me to describe :P), ek papdi dena bhaiya ( give me a crisp fried flat wafers) cross my mind. Eating it is literally like getting a palate spa done. No better way to rejoice your numb tongue.

Sev batata puri is a simple chaat with batata (potato) and sev (crunchy noodles made of chickpea flour) being the main filling. Puris can be made at home, but at the same time are easily available in grocery stores and are quite decently priced too. In this chaat the assembly of the ingredients requires an effort of just 10-15 minutes, but the result is much more rewarding. So why wait folks, invite some friends and enjoy this chat with some light hearted conversations.

Upma Pesarattu

Ingredients for Upma: 

• 150 grams of semolina / sooji / bombay rava- 1 small cup
• 2 table spoons of vegetable oil
• 1 tea spoon mustard seeds
• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
• 1 tea spoon urad dal
• 1/2 medium sized onions, chopped
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• 4-5 curry leaves
• finely chopped cilantro/ coriander
• 1 tea spoon lime juice
• 4 cups of water
• salt to taste

Preparation steps ( Upma):

• Slightly roast the semolina and keep aside.
• Add oil in the cooking vessel.
• Add moong dal and roast them until they are golden in color.
• Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and allow them to crackle.
• Add chopped onions, curry leaves and green chillies and saute.
• Add water and allow it to boil.
• Add salt as per your taste.
• Slowly add in the roasted semolina and mix it well.
• Cover up the vessel with a lid and let it be for 5 minutes.
• Add lime juice on top and garnish it with chopped cilantro.

Ingredients for Pesarattu : ( Serves 2)

• 250 grams of moong dal/ green gram, soaked for minimum of 8 hours
• vegetable oil for roasting pesarattu
• 3 green chillies
• small cube of ginger
• salt to taste

Preparation steps ( Pesarattu) :

• Drain the excess water from the soaked moong dal.
• Grind the moong dal along with the green chillies and ginger into a smooth paste.
• Heat the pan, pour in the batter required for one pesarattu and spread it. 
• Add oil and roast it well on both sides. 
• Put in some upma in the middle, roll it over and you are all set to savor the tasty Upma pesarattu.

Upma Pesarattu

Upma Pesarattu is a delicacy of Andhra Pradesh. Pesarattu is more like a dosa, where moong bean/ green gram is used for the preparation of batter instead of rice and urad dal. The most surprising element of this dish is the upma which is the masala unlike the potato masala in the authentic masala dosa. I'am sure for people who haven't seen or tried this dish before it may sound a bit wacky, but believe you me folks, it indeed is a deadly combo. I too was a bit hesitant to taste it in the beginning, but good that I tried, else i would have missed tasting one of the best breakfast dishes of Andhra. Pesarattu is a much healthier breakfast options as its made of moong dal and since it has upma as the masala it is a heavy breakfast item. So folks cook it and relish it.

Potato Fry

 Ingredients: ( serves 2)

• 2 medium sized potatoes, diced
• 1 table spoon vegetable oil
• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
• pinch of red chili powder
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

• Heat vegetable oil in a pan.
• Add cumin seeds and fry.
• Add diced potatoes and fry them by turning them upside down occasionally.
• Use a tooth pick to check if they are soft enough and cooked right
• Add chili powder and salt and toss them.
• You can have it as a snack or with rice and rasam as a side dish.

Potato Fry

At the lunch area of St' Joseph's convent, Gulbarga ( this must probably be a decade ago.) me and two of my friends, Ritu and Meeni used to meet for lunch. I still remember how crazily I used to wait for Ritu to open her lunch box. Each time wanting her box to have this simple aaloo sabzi ( potato fry). Till date I have never had such perfectly cooked aaloo. Her mom undoubtedly was an expert in cooking this dish. I must have had it umpteen times then, but every time it would taste better than the last time. This dish makes me nostalgic for my school days and is one of my favorite dishes.

Chana dal vada / Kadale bele vada

Ingredients : (Serves 2)

• vegetable oil for frying
• 200-250 grams of chana dal, soaked for 2-3 hours and drained
• 2 finely chopped chillies
• 1/4th onion finely chopped
• finely chopped coriander/ cilantro
• pinch of asafoetida
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

• Heat oil in frying pan.
• Coarsely grind the soaked chana dal.
• Add chopped chillies, coriander and onions to ground chana dal. 
• Add asafoetida.
• Add salt as per your taste and mix the ingredients well.
• Make small patties out of the mixture and fry them golden brown.
• This indian evening snack tastes best with some mint chutney and a cup of chai.

Rajdhani

Rajdhani
18525 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA 90701 · (562) 402-9102


Real treat for vegetarians. The food is at your table served by the people working at the restaurant. I liked the concept of serving for the fact that food wastage is comparatively less. Food served was fresh and tasty. The butter milk (chaanch) was yummy and a real savior in the hot californian weather.

The city of Artesia, also know as little India, is a must visit to experience real India in the United States of America.It seriously is amazing to see innumerable indian restaurants, grocery stores, threading shops, gold jewelry shops, sari shops, sweet shops and every other thing which one would find on Indian streets.


Thaali (puri, roti, papad, onion tomato kachumbar, dhokla, methi pakoda, aalu gobi,rajma, brinjal curry, kadi, rasam)
            

Srikhand (Dessert)

Lemon Rice / chithranna

Ingredients: ( Serves 2 )

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• well cooked rice
• 1/2 medium sized onion, sliced
• 2 chopped green chillies
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• finely chopped coriander (cilantro)
• 4-5 curry leaves
• half lemon
• 8-9 peanuts
• 1 tea spoon urad dal (white lentil)
• 1 tea spoon mustard seeds
• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
• pinch of asafoetida
• 1/2 tablespoon turmeric
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

1. Heat oil in a wide pan.
2. Add urad dal and fry them until they are golden brown.
3. Fry peanuts.
4. Add cumin seeds and mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.
5. Add curry leaves.
6. Add chopped chillies and garlic and fry till they turn golden brown.
7. Add chopped onions and saute.
8. Squeeze in fresh lemon juice.
9. Add salt according to your taste.
10. Add turmeric and asafoetida.
11. Add cooked rice and mix well.
12. Garnish it with chopped cilantro and serve it hot.

Did You Know this?.

Opening Blog

If I go by proper definition, then, food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. But is that all? If you ask me, I would say absolutely not !. Food is such a divine thing for me, its a powerful magnet which attracts people of varied culture.

No restaurant can beat Ghar ka Khana (home food) and no gourmet guru can challenge Mother's cooking. Its not mere spices and the masalas that makes the dish, but the love, care and affection with which one cooks makes it more special. That is why home food is so tasty even with minimal ingredients. I have grown up watching my paternal and maternal grandmothers cook for the family. They every time amazed me with their simplistic and efficient cooking methods. Every dish that was served had its own unique story.

From being just a food enthusiast I have come to respect food a lot more now. To keep that spirit of cooking alive, I have started this blog. Going forward I will try to combine two of my passions, Food and Photography to bring out the creative best in me. Hope I do justice to each and every dish of mine.