Mushroom Masala ( अळंबीची भाजी )

I started enjoying mushrooms recently. I have not experimented much with mushrooms yet, this is the only dish I cook. All these years, I never cooked them, for some reason, I thought they were heavy to digest. I remember eating mushroom flavored dish in a restaurant long back and having a tummy upset. Ever since then, I did not have mushrooms, even while ordering a dish at a restaurant, I would specifically ask them not to add mushrooms!
I am trying to cut dairy and oil from my diet, relying solely on plant based food to get all the nourishment. While doing grocery shopping, my husband picked mushrooms few months back, and I thought, "why not give it another try?"

So here I am, enjoying mushroom gravy now :)

I have used water based seasoning for this recipe, you can use oil instead, if you want to.

Ingredients:
6-8 white mushrooms, sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp garam masala,
salt as per taste,
jaggery as per taste (optional)
coriander leaves for garnish

for grinding:
1/4 cup grated coconut,
a handful of cashew nuts, soaked
1/2 tsp jeera,


for seasoning:
2 tbsp water,
1/2 tsp mustard seeds,
a pinch of asafoetida,
1/2 tsp cumin or jeera,
1/2 tsp turmeric,
5-6 curry leaves
3-4 green chillies,
1/2 tsp grated ginger,
10-15 cashew nut pieces,

Serving: 2-3 people

In a heated kadhai (pan) add water for the seasoning. When the water starts bubbling up, add mustard seeds, asafoetida and jeera. Let it simmer for a minute. Add rest of the seasoning ingredients and cover it with lid for another minute. Now add chopped onion and mix well. Let it cook for 2 minutes, covering the pan with lid. Next, add diced tomatoes and stir. Let the tomatoes cook for 5 minutes. Add garam masala and sliced mushrooms. Cook for few more minutes. Next add salt, jaggery as per your taste and let the gravy simmer for some time until mushrooms are almost cooked.
Grind together coconut, cashew nuts and jeera with little bit of water to form a chutney consistency mixture. Add this coconut mixture to the simmering gravy. Adjust water in the gravy to get the required consistency. Simmer for 8-10 minutes. The curry will thicken with coconut and cashew paste mixture.

Enjoy this curry as a side dish or with rice or chapati. It goes well with bread too.

Colocacia Leaves gravy (अळूचं फतफतं / तेरं)

This is a popular Maharashtrian gravy, prepared especially during festivals. In Goa, we call this dish tera (तेरं). A simple, nutritious and tasty gravy dish.

Servings: 4-5 people

Ingredients:
2-3 medium sized colocasia leaves, finely cut, about 2 cups of chopped leaves
1/2 cup radish, finely cut
1/4 cup toor or yellow dal
a handful of peanuts
1 1/2 tsp of garam masala
1 tbsp tamarind pulp
2 tsp besan or chickpea flour
1 tsp red chili powder
1 1/2 tsp jaggery or as per taste
salt as per taste

For seasoning:
1/2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
8-10 curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Soak peanuts in water for an hour. Soak tamarind in water for an hour and extract tamarind pulp out of it. Next, finely chop colocasia leaves and stem and radish. Wash toor (yellow) dal. Add colocasia leaves, radish and soaked peanuts to the washed dal. Add sufficient water and pressure cook for upto 3 whistles. While dal and other ingredients are getting cooked, dilue besan flour with water. Use very little water to make the besan flour paste. Keep it aside.

Once the dal is cooked and cooled down a bit, you can do the seasoning. In a heated kadhai, add oil and keep the stove on low flame. Once the oil is heated, add all the seasoning ingredients one by one. Next add cooked dal and colocasia mixture. Add red chilli powder, garam masala and tamarind pulp. Add salt and jaggery to the simmering gravy. Next add besan paste, stirring the curry while adding the paste. Let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Colocasia leaves gravy is ready to serve. It goes well with rice or jowar, bajra, ragi or rice bhakri (millet flatbread)

Sauted long beans (तेलावर परतवलेली वालीची भाजी)

In my family, all of us like munching raw long beans. I remember doing it since my childhood. Long beans are very easy to cook. Somehow I prefer their raw, tender flavor rather than cooked (boiled) flavor. I made this as a side dish along with palak paneer, which is my daughter's favorite vegetable for her school tiffin. I added walnuts to this dish for an extra crunchiness. You can add cashews too.

Ingredients:
A bunch of long beans, washed and cut into long strips
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp sesame seeds,
a handful of walnuts, chopped
1/2 tbsp olive oil or any other cooking oil
1 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar or lemon juice and honey combination
salt as per taste
black pepper powder as per taste

In a heated kadhai, pour olive oil. Add garlic pieces, sesame seeds, black pepper powder, walnut pieces. Sautee for 1 minute till garlic pieces are well fried and turned brown. Next to it, add cut pieces of long beans and sautee on high flame for 1-2 minutes. Season with salt. Add balsamic vinegar and mix well. Sautee for an additional 1 minute. You can also use lemon juice and honey combination instead of balsamic vinegar.

This is a simple and tasty side dish cum salad with rice or chapati.

Dry Garlic Chutney (सुकी लसूण चटणी)

Ingredients:
1 dried coconut, grated
8-10 garlic cloves,
1 tbsp chilli powder,
3-4 kokum fruit or 1/2 tbsp deseeded dry tamarind
salt to taste
a pinch of sugar

Grind garlic cloves, kokum fruit, chilli powder together. Next add grated dried coconut, salt, sugar. Grind to a coarse powder.

This chutney stays good for a month. 

Roasted assorted vegetables (रोस्टेड भाज्या)

I love to roast vegetables. My new favourite way to cook veggies! Super easy, simple, healthy and very tasty dish. You can use any vegetables that you may have at home.

Ingredients:
1 sweet potato
1 medium zucchini
1-2 carrots
5-6 asparagus stalks
1 large potato
1-2 tsp olive oil
4-5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp Italian seasoning
salt as per taste
2 tsp pepper powder
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Servings:
3 people

Wash all the vegetables thoroughly. Cut potato, zucchini, sweet potato into round slices about 1-1 1/2 inches thick. Cut carrots and asparagus stalks into bite sized pieces.

Preheat oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit. In a flat oven dish, line aluminium foil to roast the vegetables. You can also roast them directly on the oven plate. Mix olive oil, garlic cloves, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Now add all the vegetables into the oil mix and coat them well. Leave it aside for marination for 5-10 minutes. Pour all the vegetables in the oven dish.

Place the vegetables in the oven and roast for 30-40 minutes. After every 10-15 minutes, turn the vegetables to uniformly heat them in the oven. Once the vegetables turn slightly brown black, turn the oven off and leave it inside for additional 10 minutes to roast.

This is a great side dish with either rice or chapati.

Apple & dried cranberry chutney (सफरचंद व सुक्या क्रेनबेरीजची चटणी)

I found this recipe on this website. I modified it a bit based on what was available at home. It is very quick and easy to make recipe

Ingredients: 

2 apples (I used Fuji apples)

a fist full of dried cranberries

1 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp sesame seeds

1 1/2 tsp cumin or jeera powder

3 tsp coriander or dhaniya powder

salt as per taste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp oil

Servings: 3-4 people

Peel the apples and cut them into small cubes. In a hot frying pan or kadhai, add oil and roast sesame seeds for a minute. Next add apple cubes and stir well. Cover with a lid. After 5 minutes, add the remaining ingredients other than salt and mix well. Cover with lid and let it cook on medium flame for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, apples will become soft. Mash it lightly using spoon and stir together. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes and chutney is ready to serve. 

This chutney can be served with bread, or used as a sandwich spread.  You can also have it as a side dish with chapati.

Kale greens with besan flour (पीठ पेरून हिरव्या केलची भाजी)

I tried cooking kale greens using Maharashtrian or Marathi ways. I used besan or chickpea flour with kale greens.

Ingredients:

1 bunch Kale greens (about 10-12 leaves),

1 small onion, vertically sliced

3-4 garlic cloves, chopped finely

1/2 tsp chilly powder

1 1/2 tsp olive oil or any cooking oil

salt as per taste

1 1/2 tbsp besan or chickpea flour

Wash kale leaves thoroughly and drain the water. Cut the thick stems from the kale greens and chop the leaves into smaller chunks. 

Heat a kadhai on the gas stove. Add olive oil once the kadhai is hot. Add garlic cloves and sliced onion and saute them until onion is golden or brown. Next add kale greens and give it a good stir. Cook kale greens in 1 cup of water. Add chilly powder and cover with lid. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Now sprinkle besan or chickpea flour and mix well. With closed lid, let it cook for another 5-6 minutes. 

Kale greens vegetable can be served with Chapati or with rice as a side dish. 

Mango Dal Chutney (कैरीची डाळ)

This chutney is made at the beginning of summer, which coincides with Chaitra, first month of Hindu Calendar. I have fond memories from my childhood of Chaitra Haldi Kumkum at my native place. All the ladies from the village used to come to our place. My aaji and kakis would make this chutney and Panhe (raw mango juice). Along with this chutney, they would serve seasonal fruits from the garden like jackfruit, mangoes, guava, jamuns (jambhala), water apple (jaam).

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chana dal, soaked for 4 hours
3/4 cup grated coconut
1/2 cup raw mango pieces, skin peeled off
1/2 tsp salt or as per taste
1/2 tsp sugar or as per taste
3-4 green chillies
finely cut coriander leaves, for garnish

For seasoning:
2 tsp oil
3/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
8-10 curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 red chillies

Servings:
5-6 people

Drain water out of the soaked chana dal.  Grind together all the ingredients, except coriander leaves which are used for garnish. Grind the mixture coarse. In a small kadhai, do the regular seasoning and pour the seasoning over chutney. 

Mango Raita (आंब्याचे रायते)

This is a traditional Goan dish, prepared with Ghota (sweet-sour local variety of mangoes). These mangoes are called as Raiwal in Maharashtra.

This is a quick and super easy dish.

Ingredients:
4-5 local mangoes or ghota
Jaggery, about 3:4 proportion, may vary based on sourness of the mangoes
1/2 tbsp mustard powder
1 cup freshly grated coconut
2-3 green chillies
salt to taste

Servings:
3-4 people

Extract pulp from the mangoes. Leave the mango seeds aside. In a mixer, add the remaining ingredients and grind well. Mix this paste with mango pulp. Stir well. Now add the mango seeds to this. Your dish is ready to serve.

Adjust the jaggery proportion depending on the taste of mangoes. If the mangoes are very sour, you may need to add more jaggery.

Optionally you can season it with 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds, a pinch of asafoetida, curry leaves and turmeric powder.

Do not boil the mixture. This is consumed fresh and raw.

Stuffed Tomato (भरलेले टोमाटो)

 You can use different fillings for this recipe. I used paneer (cottage cheese) filling. Sweet corn cheese stuffed filling also tastes yummy.

Ingredients:
5 medium sized tomatoes
grated Cheese or cheese slices for garnish

For filling:
200 gm cottage cheese (paneer), cubed
1/4 cup green peas
2-3 spring onion stems, cut
1 medium capsicum
few broccoli or cauliflower florets
5-6 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp freshly grated pepper
2 tsp of oil

Servings:
3 people

Wash the tomatoes and carve out the top portion. Scoop out the seeds and juice inside them. Keep it aside. It will be used while preparing the filling.  In a kadhai, heat oil. Season with garlic cloves, Italian seasoning and freshly grated pepper. Add spring onion stems and saute for a minute Add all chopped vegetables, capsicum, broccoli, and green peas. Stir fry for 5 minutes. Now add the tomato pulp and the pieces cut out from carved tomatoes. Season with salt. Simmer for 10 minutes till the gravy consistency thickens. Add paneer cubes and simmer for another 5-10 minutes. You can use either stir fried paneer cubes or directly use freshly cut paneer cubes. The gravy should not be watery, it should have thick consistency.
Stuff carved tomatoes with the gravy. Seal the top of each tomato with grated cheese or 1/4 of cheese slice. Heat about 2 tsp oil in a flat pan. Season with mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder. Add the remaining gravy. Transfer stuffed tomatoes to the pan, keeping them in vertical position, with base of the tomato touching the heated surface of the pan. Cover with lid and let it cook for 5-10 minutes. Stir occasionally. The tomatoes should be partially cooked on steam.

Optionally you can also grill them in the oven instead of using a pan. 

Alu Methi Bhaji (मेथी बटाट्याची भाजी)

Ingredients:
1 cup of methi or fenugreek leaves, finely cut
1 large boiled potato, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp chilli powder
salt as per taste
a small piece of jaggery as per taste (optional)

For seasoning:
1 tsp of oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Servings:
3 people

Heat oil in a kadhai and add mustard seeds. Once the seeds start to pop, add asafoetida, cumin seeds, and turmeric powder. Add chopped onion and stir fry till golden brown. Now add methi leaves and mix well. In about 1-2 minutes, the methi leaves will reduce in volume. Now add boiled potato wedges and mix well. Add garam masala, chilli powder, salt, jaggery and little water to the kadhai. Cover with lid and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. Alu methi is ready for serving.

Stuffed Bittergourd (भरलेलं कारलं)

Stuffed bittergourd is one of my favourite preparation of this vegetable. I found this recipe here and decided to try it out. I normally use coconut and groundnut based stuffing. I will make a separate entry for that recipe next time I make it.

Ingredients:
1/4 kg karela or bittergourd (5-6 small ones)

For stuffing:
1 medium sized onion
1/2 cup dry coconut
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 tamarind pieces, soaked in water
jaggery as per taste
1/2 tsp chilli powder
salt as per taste

For seasoning:
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
1/2 tsp turmeric

Servings:
3 people

 Wash the bittergourds thoroughly and give a vertical slit along the vertical line. Do not cut into two pieces. Remove the seeds inside the gourd. Sprinkle salt over the slit bittergourds, mixing them well and leave them aside for 1/2 hour.

In a kadhai, dry roast dry coconut, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds separately. Once it is cooled down, grind it together with all other ingredients listed for stuffing. Make a thick paste for the stuffing.

Stuff karelas with the stuffing and tie a thread around to keep it together. Heat oil in the pan and add mustard seeds and asafoetida and haldi. Next add the stuffed karelas and stir them to coat with oil. Add the remaining paste to the pan. Add sufficient water and cover it with lid. After about 5-7 minutes, turn the karelas over. Again cover with lid and let it cook for another 7-8 minutes.

I carved the inside of an onion and stuffed it with leftover stuffing paste and added it to the pan while cooking karelas.

Suran Bhaji (सुरणाची भाजी)

Ingredients:
1/4 kg Suran or Yam
1/4 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp of cumin seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 red chillies
1/4 tsp garam masala
salt as per taste
little bit of jaggery as per taste (optional)
grated coconut for garnish

Serving: 2 people

Peel the skin off the yam and make wedges. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When the seeds start to pop, add asafoetida, cumin seeds and red chillies. Fry chillies for a minute and then add suran wedges. Stir fry and add about 1/2 cup of water to let it cook. Cover with lid and simmer for 10 minutes. Add garam masala, salt and jaggery. Stir and cover with lid. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes until the wedges are cooked well. Garnish with freshly grated coconut.

Potato and eggplant slices (बटाटा आणि वांग्याचे काप)

This recipe is our sunday special lazy recipe. Slices, along with rice, dal and/or solkadi makes for a quick lunch. Whenever I crave for oily snacks, I make these slices. I prefer shallow fry snacks than deep fried ones.

Ingredients:
2 potatoes
3 small eggplants
2 tbsp semolina
3/4 cup jowar flour or rice flour
2 tsp chili powder
oil for shallow frying
salt as per taste

Servings:
3 people

Wash and dry potato and eggplants. Make round and thin slices of potato and eggplant. Sprinkle 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp chilli powder on these slices. Mix well and leave them for 10-15 minutes to marinate. After marination, it will release water, drain it. Now in a plate, add together semolina, jowar or rice flour, remaining chili powder and salt. Mix it well. 

Heat pan on gas stove. Dip each slice into the dry mixture, coating both sides well. Make a batch of slices and dry roast them on the pan. Coat the pan well with oil to cook the slices well. Cover the pan with a lid for 1-2 minutes. Then turn the slices over to cook the other side well. Coat them with little bit of oil. Sprinkle very little water and cover with lid. Slices will get cooked in 2 minutes. Keep the gas stove on simmer to avoid burning the slices. The slices should be cooked well and soft. Do not overcook them as they will turn hard.