Shrikand

Shrikand

If there is a dish that intrigued me yet made me very wary of trying was shrikand. It is an incredibly simple dish so it was not the process of making it or the work involved that made me hesitant but the actual combination of flavour. I am not a sweet lassi person so combining sugar with yogurt was not really for me. Yet, I once gathered the willingness and enthusiasm to give this a shot. It was Gokulashtami and that seemed like a good occasion to try this. Being a food blogger now, I do feel I have some sort of self imposed responsibility to try a variety of food and make as many as possible in a practical and sustainable way. The first time I made this, I made just enough for one person really and the recipe for that is below. For each additional serving, add another 500g yogurt and required sugar and more saffron. It is hard to believe how much of a difference in texture and flavour the process of hanging the yogurt can bring in. Ideally, try to use greek yogurt but that said, I made it with low fat yogurt and it still came out yummy. When blending the sugar make sure only to pulse the hung yogurt and sugar as if you just blend it through, you will lose the lovely texture of the hung yogurt. Refrigerate for sometime before serving as that helps infuse he saffron’s flavour. Trust me, it made so much difference when I ate this out of an earthen pot. The pot brings a lovely aroma and also imparts some chillness, oh just heavenly!

500g yogurt

2 tablespoon sugar

A pinch of saffron

1 tablespoon milk

Few chopped nuts

Pour the yogurt into a clean white towel or even thick kitchen towel and place on a sieve with a bowl underneath. You are making hung yogurt in simple terms. Leave it for about 2-3 hours or even overnight in the refrigerator

 Heat the milk and add saffron strands and allow it to sit for ten minutes or so. This is to bring out the saffron’s flavour

Pulse the hung yogurt with sugar and saffron in a blender/food processor

Garnish with nuts and serve chilled!

Malai Methi Gobi

Malai Methi Gobi

Gravies are an important part of my menu especially because my husband does not like the dry subjis with rotis etc. Making delicious and healthy gravies without monotony is a challenge I like to take. I was making naan one evening and thought it needs a rather rich side dish. I chose to make this malai gobi methi. There is something unique and wonderful about methi that imparts richness and aroma to dishes. If you have guests and you want to impress them with a rich gravy, I would recommend one with methi and cream combined with other vegetables. If you do not have cream, add milk and simmer so it thickens and is creamy. There are a number of variations of this recipe, most of them involve far more steps but I like to kep things simple and quicker. Here is the recipe...

1 cup chopped methi (fenugreek leaves)

1 small cauliflower, cut into florets

2 green chillies

1 small piece ginger

4-5 almonds

2 tablespoon cream

1 large onion, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped roughly

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon chilly powder

Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Cooking oil and or butter

Heat some oil in a pan and fry the onions until brown

Cool the onions and grind along with tomato, ginger, green chilly, almonds to a fine paste

In the mean time, heat some butter and oil and add the methi leaves and cook until wilted

Add the cauliflower florets and turmeric powder and sauté for couple of minutes

Add the ground paste and add little water and salt and cook covered for about five minutes

Once the cauliflower is cooked, add the coriander powder, chilly powder and cumin powder and cook for couple of minutes

Add cream and simmer for about ten minutes, make sure there is enough liquid and it does not burn

Serve with rice or naan or roti.

Channa Masala

Channa Masala

Channa masala is a very popular gravy back home. It is great with poori, roti, naan, rice and even with chat items. I think the secret to wonderful channa masala is the actual masala powder used. In India, I used to like Everest brand of masala powder but here I use MDH or Mangal and am quite happy with them. Channa aka chickpea is rich in low fat protein. It is important to soak it in adequate water for atleast eight hours. The soaking process is not only to enable cooking but also to make the protein digestible by human body. Without soaking, some contents of such legumes, also called anti-nutrients, interfere with the absorption of the goodness in these. It is not recommended to add salt while cooking as it is said to make the skin hard. In order to ease digestion and enhance flavour, I cook the channa with cinnamon, ginger and cloves. You could use other whole spices too. If you are running out of time or forgotten to soak, you can always keep a tin of chickpea handy and use it. I normally drain and rinse tinned legumes as they have far too much salt. Here is the recipe...

½ cup channa, soaked for 8-12 hours

1 onion, finely chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon channa masala

½ teaspoon chilly powder

2 pinches kasoori methi

Turmeric powder

1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste (optional)

Salt to taste

Cooking oil

1 cinnamon

2 cloves

Small piece ginger

Pressure cook the channa dal with the cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Make sure it is cooked well

Heat some oil and fry the onions until brown

Add the tomatoes and cook until mushy and oil begins to separate

Add coriander powder, cumin powder, channa masala, chilly powder and kasoori methi. Also add required salt and cook for 3-5 minutes

Add the cooked channa dal and required water and simmer until it thickens. Mash some channa to thicken the gravy

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with any Indian bread or rice