Vermicelli Upma (शेवयांचा उपमा)

Ingredients:
1 cup vermicelli/shevaya, dry roasted MTR packet
1 medium sized onion, diced fine
3 inches carrot, sliced in long thin strips
2 -3 green chillies, coarsely cut
1/2 cm finely diced ginger
8-10 cashew nuts, halved
1 1/2 cup of boiling water
salt as per taste
1/2 tsp of sugar
coriander leaves for garnish
freshly grated coconut for garnish
lemon juice for garnish

For Seasoning:
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
7-8 fenugreek seeds
8-10 curry leaves

Servings:
3 people

Heat kadhai on gas stove. Add oil to the kadhai and do the regular seasoning with mustard seeds, asafoetida and fenugreek seeds. Next add curry leaves, ginger and chillies. Add cashew nuts and roast them lightly. After the nuts are roasted well, add onion. Roast onion till it turns golden brown. Once the onion turns golden brown, roast carrot strips. To this mixture, add vermicelli and stir for 2-3 minutes. On another gas stove, heat 1 1/2 cup of water to the boiling point. Add boiling water to the kadhai. Add salt and sugar to the kadhai. Stir well and cover it with lid. Let it cook on high flame till the water is reduced and vermicelli is cooked well. Once the water in the kadhai has reduced, let it simmer for a minute. Turn the heat off. Add lemon juice and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut and serve.

Cabbage Salad (कोबी गाजराची कोशिंबीर)

Ingredients:
1 cup shredded cabbage
1/4 cup finely sliced or grated carrot
1 tbsp pomegranate seeds
coriander leaves for garnish
raisins for added flavor

For Seasoning:
2 tsp lemon juice
salt
black pepper powder or chilli flakes
olive oil

Take a bowl and mix all the seasoning ingredients. Add shredded cabbage, grated carrot, pomegranate seeds, raisins and coriander leaves. Toss slightly and serve.

Gram flour curry (Pithale) (पीठले)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup gram flour or besan
1 medium sized onion
3-4 cloves of garlic

2-3 kokam or aamsul pieces
finely cut coriander leaves  for garnish
freshly grated coconut for garnish
1 1/2 cup of boiled water
salt
sugar (optional, as per taste)

For seasoning:
oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
1/4 tsp turmeric
7-8 curry leaves
2-3 cut pieces of green chillies (or as per taste)

Servings:
3 people

Heat oil in kadhai. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, chillies and turmeric to the oil. Next add vertically sliced pieces of onion. Fry till slightly golden brown. In the meantime, add gram flour and just enough water to mix gram flour. Dissolve lumps of flour, if any. It should form a thick batter.
Once the onion is fried, add boiled water to the kadhai. Drop kokam pieces in the boiling water. Season it with salt and sugar. Now slowly pour the gram flour batter into the kadhai, stirring continuously to avoid any lumps. The mixture thickens quickly. Keep stirring till flour batter is mixed well in the curry. Keep the lid on and simmer for a minute. Turn off the heat. Garnish with grated coconut and coriander leaves.

This curry is served with Jowar or Bajra or Raagi Bhakri. It also tastes well with hot steaming rice.

French Beans vegetable (फरसबीची भाजी)

Ingredients:
1/4 kg french beans, cleaned and chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp chilli powder (or as per taste)
salt
jaggery
1 tbsp groundnut powder

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

In a kadhai, heat oil. Add mustard seeds to the oil. Once the mustard seeds start to pop, add a pinch of asafoetida, jeera and turmeric powder. Now add the cut pieces of french beans. Stir well and cover it with lid. After 2 minutes, the beans will soften a bit. Next add garam masala and chilli powder, stir well. Add little water to cook the beans. Cover with lid. After 5 minutes, the beans will be cooked well. Season with salt and jaggery and stir well. Cover again with lid. After 2-3 minutes, add groundnut powder and mix well. Let it simmer for a minute. Turn the heater off. Garnish with freshly grated coconut and/or coriander leaves.

You can optionally add potato to this vegetable. Add cut potato to the kadhai after the seasoning, and before adding french beans.

Red Radish salad (लाल मुळ्याची कोशिंबीर)

Ingredients:
2 small red radish
1 medium sized cucumber
1 medium sized tomato
Lettuce leaves

For dressing:
salt
freshly ground pepper
lemon
olive oil

Make thin circular slices of radish, cucumber and tomato. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients for dressing. To this, add slices of radish, cucumber, tomato and lettuce leaves. Mix lightly and serve.

Jowar flour dhirde (ज्वारीच्या पीठाचे धिरडे)

My daughter is fussy about eating vegetables. I make dhirde with grated or finely chopped vegetables to ensure she eats her vegetables.  She enjoys Dhirde with ghee and sugar or with a cheese slice.

Ingredients:
1 cup Jowar flour (jwari)
1/2 cup gram flour (besan)
1/4 cup Raagi or nachni flour (optional)
1 tbsp of semolina
1/2 cup finely cut coriander leaves
1/2 cup curd
1 1/2 cup water
salt to taste
1 tsp chilli powder

Servings:
Makes about 5, sufficient for 2 people

Mix all the ingredients and mix well to break any lumps of flour. The batter has to be that of thick dosa consistency. Heat pan and apply little oil over the pan. Take a ladle full of batter and spread uniformly at the centre of the pan. Cover with lid. Turn the heat on medium. After about 1 minute or once the bottom side is brown and netted, flip to fry the other side. Cover again with lid. Once both sides are fried properly, take dhirde off the heat.

Serve with any chutney of your choice. Dhirde are super easy to make and are usually made as breakfast recipe.

Note:
Any vegetable of your choice or a combination of vegetables like beetroot and carrot can be added to the batter.

Stuffed Eggplant (भरली वांगी)

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetable. My mother makes really good stuffed eggplant. I learnt this recipe from her.

Ingredients:
250 gm small eggplants
 1 tsp of mustard for seasoning
asafoetida for seasoning
curry leaves for seasoning
turmeric for seasoning
freshly grated coconut for garnish
freshly cut coriander leaves for garnish

Masala for stuffing:
1/4 cup of roasted peanut powder
1/2 cup of freshly grated coconut
2-3 red chillies
2 tbsp of coriander seeds (dhane)
1 tbsp of jeera
1 tbsp of tamarind, cleaned and soaked in water
1/4 cup of freshly cut coriander leaves
jaggery as per taste
salt as per taste

Serving:
3-4 persons

Wash the eggplants thoroughly. Discard the stem of the eggplant. Make 2 vertical slits to each eggplant, about 3/4th deep, making about 4 wedges. Don't cut it all the way through. Soak the eggplants in water so that they don't turn brown. Heat oil in a flat pan and dry roast jeera, coriander seeds, red chillies and coconut, one by one. After it cools down, grind in the mixer together with other ingredients mentioned under masala for stuffing. Add water to make a fine paste; the paste should have thick chutney like consistency. Now stuff this paste in the slit eggplants and keep aside.

In the same flat pan, add oil and do a regular mustard seasoning with asafoetida, curry leaves and turmeric. Once the mustard seeds start to pop, add the stuffed eggplants to the pan coating each eggplant with seasoning oil. Make sure that the eggplants are added to the pan in vertical position with open slit facing up. Coat all the eggplants well with oil/seasoning, cover the lid and let it steam for a minute. Next add the remaining stuffing masala to the pan and mix well. Add adequate amount of water and adjust salt as required. Cover with lid and let it simmer for few minutes. Turn the heat off after the eggplants are cooked well and have turned soft. Garnish with freshly grated coconut and cut coriander leaves.

Stuffed Eggplant goes very well with any type of Bhakri, chapati.