Bengali Khichuri | Bengali Style Khichdi | Bhog er Khichuri

Bengali style khichdi or khichuri, filling and satisfying – Bhog er Khichuri
10/09/2016 8:06:47 PM vindhyadesai

Today was Durgasthami and I made a big Bengali spread for the occasion. It included, aloo posto, Bengali style tamatar chatni, rosogullas and bhog er khichuri. This khichdi is one of the many versions of khichdis one can find in the Indian cuisine. From Pongal to huggi to plain khichdi to mixed veg khichdi there are so many varieties. Every state has at least one of its own versions. This khichdi has roasted mung dal in it with some vegetables. It has some aromatic spices like laung, elaichi, dalchini. They add nice flavour to the khichdi. This is a special dish from the Bengali cuisine and is specially made during festivals like Durgasthami and Saraswati Puja making it ‘Bhog er Khichuri’. It is made with a special type of rice called GobindoBhog chaawal. Any fragrant rice like jeera or basmati rice can be used or even our good old sona masuri rice can also be used to make this khichuri. I have adapted this recipe from a blog which has some nice recipes from the Bengali cuisine. Try other Bengali recipes. ... “Bengali Khichuri | Bengali Style Khichdi | Bhog er Khichuri”

Aloo Jeera | How to make aloo jeera?

Easy aloo jeera recipe with warming, toasted jeera
10/06/2016 7:38:51 PM vindhyadesai

One of the most common recipes I turn to when I need to prepare something with chapathi/phulkas/rotis is this easy aloo jeera sabzi. Aloo jeera or potatoes in warm toasted jeera/cumin seeds sounds comforting and delicious. This easy aloo jeera recipe can be made for vrata/vrat during Navratri or other vrat related festivals. Use sendha namak when making this for vrata/vrat. This dish gets ready in very less time the only waiting time is for the potatoes to get boiled and cooked which will be faster if you cook them in a cooker. Potatoes can be chopped in any way you like, any shape and any size but make sure they are bite sized. Here jeera is added 2 ways, toasted and pounded jeera and some in the tadka. Other potato dishes to try. ... “Aloo Jeera | How to make aloo jeera?”

Gasa Gase Payasa | Khus Khus Kheer | Poppy Seeds Payasam | How to make gasa gase payasa?

Cooling, easy on the stomach gasa gase payasa
10/04/2016 9:48:35 PM vindhyadesai

Gasa-gase or poppy seeds or khus-khus are pungent oil seeds which give a very unique flavour to dishes. It can be added to breads, to gravies or in our very own Karnataka cuisine it is made into a payasa (liquid sweet). It is not as thick as usual payasa/payasams/kheer. It is liquidy and can be consumed as a beverage. Gasa-gase payasa has unique cooling properties, along with the gasa-gase seeds, it has jaggery (bella/gur), cardamom (elaichi), coconut milk (or grated coconut) and milk. It is a must have dessert during festivals in Karnataka. Along with bisi-bele-bhaat this is a delicacy and is consumed warm/cool as a beverage during or after lunch. This dish has a special mention in wiki under Indian cuisine. This is frequently made by my MIL and I learnt this recipe from her. She generally adds desiccated coconut (kobbri/copra), here I have added coconut milk. Sometimes I add grated and ground coconut. The little raisins pop in the mouth when drinking this unique payasa and it tastes great! This is a light sweet for ongoing Navratri festivities. ... “Gasa Gase Payasa | Khus Khus Kheer | Poppy Seeds Payasam | How to make gasa gase payasa?”

Sabudana Tikki | How to make sabudana tikki? | Navratri Recipes

Soft and crisp sabudane ke tikki with khatta-meetha chutney
10/02/2016 12:57:41 PM vindhyadesai

Sabudana or tapioca pearls are the most common ingredient used during vrata/vrat. It is extracted from cassava root and root vegetables are considered to be healthy to be eaten during fasting festivals. Phaalar or falaari dishes are easy on the stomach and generally simple to make. One would definitely like recipes that are easy to prepare during vrats. Sabudane ki tikki are made from sabudana (obviously), potatoes. To bind everything together I have used arrowroot powder (easily available in grocery shops) which is similar to tapioca flour and is a starch obtained by a root. Arrowroot powder is a permitted ingredient for vrats. You can use lightly roasted besan or even cornstarch or cornflour if you are preparing this on non-vrat days. The main flavouring is from peanuts/groundnuts and other spices. Here I have served with khatta-meetha chutney, serve with falaari chutney on vrat days. ... “Sabudana Tikki | How to make sabudana tikki? | Navratri Recipes”

Coconut Rice | Tengu Anna | How to make coconut bhaat?

Simple, easy, flavourful coconut flavoured rice/bhaat
9/06/2016 9:30:09 PM vindhyadesai

Another simple, easy to prepare coconut rice/bhaat. Most homes have this dish during a festival or to pack for lunch box. This simple dish can sometimes become boring if prepared very often. Add a spin to it, bring in some festivity, add more flavour of coconut by adding cashewnuts, making it with basmati rice and also using coconut oil to make the tadka. Add lots of freshly grated coconut for that unmistakable aroma! Prepare this rice/bhaat and serve with a cool raitha or hasi majjige huLi or saasme (yogurt based cool raitha) and savour the flavours of this humble dish! Other bhaat recipes to try from FOI. ... “Coconut Rice | Tengu Anna | How to make coconut bhaat?”

Pineapple Gojju | Ananas Gojju | Pineapple Gotsu | How to make pineapple gojju?

Fruity, spicy, festive pineapple gojju
9/03/2016 4:21:01 PM vindhyadesai

In traditional South Indian cuisine it is customary to have a balance of all flavours when eating a meal, especially a big meal on a festival or in big spreads like in weddings. A pickle and a palate cleansing gojju are the most important dishes to get a balance of all the flavours. Gojju is like a curry but thicker and is served in small quantities as a little side dish to eat with hot rice. When we make gojju at home, it is often served as a side dish with chapathi or akki rotis(rice flour rotis). Pineapple gojju has a very festive taste to it with all the different spices, fruity, sweet and sour flavour of pineapple. Gojju/gotsu need not have a lot of oil added to it to make it tasty but it has to be mildly spiced and made into the right consistency. Try making this special pineapple gojju at home, here’s the recipe. Other gojju recipes on FOI. ... “Pineapple Gojju | Ananas Gojju | Pineapple Gotsu | How to make pineapple gojju?”

Shenga chikki | Kadalebeeja chikki | Peanut brittle | Groundnut chikki

Bakery style homemade chikki – to satisfy the sweet tooth
08/25/2016 10:15:47 PM vindhyadesai

A sudden craving for a sweet! How about something sweet which also exercises the teeth! Homemade chikki, ‘brittle’ as it is called in western desserts. Wishing everyone a happy Sri Krishna Janmashtami. I wanted to post all recipes a few days before the festival but because of an unscheduled maintenance on the website I had to move them to post today. Chikki is made with roasted peanuts, pistachios or almonds (badam) or any kind of hard dry nuts. It is made by caramelizing sugar or jaggery and the roasted nuts are quickly stirred in and left to cool and then broken into chikkis or brittles. Childhood favourite for many, one could buy these for a small amount and savour them while returning from school. Try other favourite bakery style items at home. ... “Shenga chikki | Kadalebeeja chikki | Peanut brittle | Groundnut chikki”

Yellu Gojju | Sesame Seed Gojju | Yellu Tuvayil

Rich sesame flavoured gojju to accompany uddina bhaat
8/12/2016 9:47:01 PM vindhyadesai

This sesame seeds gojju is both a gojju and a chutney. It is very tasty because of the various kinds of flavours, bitterness, light oiliness from sesame seeds, sweetness from jaggery and coconut and sourness from tamarind, spiciness from red chillies. The perfect balance for your palate. Try this with uddina bhaat, the combination is a delicacy. ... “Yellu Gojju | Sesame Seed Gojju | Yellu Tuvayil”

Tambittu | Puthani Unde | How to make tambittu for Naga Panchmi

Tambittu/Puthani unde/ladoo for Naga Panchmi
08/04/2016 11:24:32 PM vindhyadesai

Another sweet for the line of festivals coming up. This sweet is also from Karnataka and is made for Nagara Panchmi as offering/naivedya to Nagappa (snake god). It is made from roasted gram dal/fried gram/puthani/huri gadale/kadale pappu/daria/chutney dal, whew! a lot of names for one ingredient. I learnt this recipe from my mother and is mainly made in North Karnataka. In South, another type of tambittu similar to ‘sajjige‘ is made. This is a very easy ladoo/unde to make. You can even cut them into barfis but for Nagara Panchmi they need to be in the shape as shown in my hand below. I am not an expert in making that shape for unde/ladoo like my mother. Add cashews, almonds if you want. ... “Tambittu | Puthani Unde | How to make tambittu for Naga Panchmi”

Hayagreeva | Hayagreeva Maddi | Kadalebele payasa

Festive and authentic hayagreeva maddi
08/04/2016 11:02:37 PM vindhyadesai

Hayagreeva maddi is a payasa/payasam dish from Udupi region. I made this for Bheemana Amavasya but it can be made for many festivals. It is simple to make, the only detail to pay attention to is when you are cooking gram dal/chana dal/kadale bele. Before we begin the recipe, I would like to mention a little *story/legend* associated with the origin of ‘Hayagreeva Maddi’, I read in a book.
Once there was a sculptor who was trying to make an idol of Lord Ganesha, however all his efforts in making the sculpted idol turned into the head of a horse. He finally gave up and sculpted the idol into the shape of a horses’ head and stashed it away. One night, the Lord himself appeared in the scluptors’ dream and blessed him and asked him to donate the horses’ head idol that he had sculpted to Sri Vadirajaru. The same night Sri Vadirajaru also dreamt about the idol. The next day the sculptor brought in the idol and Sri Vadirajaru established the idol in Sonda in Sirsi, Karnataka. Everyday he started worshipping the idol and as offering/naivedya he made Hayagreeva Maddi a payasa made of gram (horses’ favourite food) and jaggery. Make this authentic and traditional dish from Karnataka for an upcoming festival 🙂 ... “Hayagreeva | Hayagreeva Maddi | Kadalebele payasa”