Baby Raw Mango Relish

Raw Baby Mangoes Relish

Few days back I was talking with one of my friends regarding our favourite food during our childhood days. But we ended talking about a lots of dishes. She said as a kid she had a baby mango relish which was cooked by her maternal aunt. The way she described the dish I tempted to prepare that one. She gave some lead to the dish. 

When  I came to Dhanbad to visit my parents, my father insisted me to come along with him to veggies market. That market is full of organic veggies. Suddenly I saw these baby mangoes and told dad about the dish. He said let's purchase and try it in our own way. That dish became a super hit in family. So here is the recipe for all..

Baby Mangoes- 6 to 7

Panch Phoran- 1tbsp

Whole Red Chilli- 2 to 3

Salt to taste

Curry Leaves- 1string

Hing- 1/4tsp

Haldi- 1tsp

Red Chilli Powder- 1tsp

Cumin- 1tbsp

While Chilli- 2

Jaggery- 1small bowl

(Depending on the sourness of the mangoes)

Oil- 1tbsp

Panch phoran is a basic Odia spice mix. It is a combination of 5 spices. These spices are mustard, cumin, fenugreek, fennel and nigella. This spice gives a special flavourful kick to any dish. This is common but inevitable spice for every Odia kitchen.

Peel the baby mangoes and put in a bowl of water. Keep the mangoes whole and don't need to cut in halves.

Heat kadai and add oil to it. Then add panch phoran to it and let it crackle. Then add the whole chilli to it and let it allow to change colour. Then add curry leaves and hing to it and fry again.

Now add baby mangoes to it and add salt, haldi and red chilli powder to it and fry again. Cook the mangoes in low flame covering all the time. Then add 1 bowl of jaggery to it. Allow the mangoes to cook in Jaggery syrup. Slowly mangoes will be cooked and jaggery syrup will be thick. Then switch off the gas.

While the mangoes are being cooked, dry roast the cumin and dry chilli separately. Then let it cool down and mix together and make a coarse  powder.

After switching off the gas add the roasted cumin and chilli powder and mix properly. This can be stored in fridge for a week. This can be served with rice, roti or parathas.

Eggless Whole Wheat Coffee Cake

Eggless Whole Wheat Coffee Cake

Coffee flavour is my all time favourite. I love coffee in every thing. I always wanted to try coffee flavour in cake. For summer vacation I came to Dhanbad. My parents like the cake I bake for them. They told me to bake something. I grab this as a golden chance for my experiment with coffee cake. So I made it. My parents and kids loved it a lot. I used condensed milk in the recipe and didn't use more sugar to it as they didn't like very sweet cake. Here is the recipe of the cake

Whole wheat flour- 1cup

Rava- 1/4cup

Cornflour- 1/4cup

Powdered sugar- 2tbsp

(Though I didn't use sugar)

Baking powder- 11/2tsp

Baking soda- 1/2tsp

Coco powder- 1 1/2tbsp

Coffee powder- 1 1/2tbsp

Vanilla essence- 1/2tsp

Condensed milk- 1/2cup

Milk- 1/2cup

Curd- 1/4cup

Oil- 1/4cup

Grease the cake tin with little oil and dust with little wheat flour and keep aside.

In a mixing bowl add whole wheat flour, corn flour, coco powder,  coffee powder, Baking powder and baking soda. Mix them properly. Shift the ingredients twice. Then add rava to it and mix again properly and keep aside.

Now it's turn for wet ingredients. In a mixing bowl add oil, sugar and condensed milk and mix properly so that sugar will be dissolved. You can skip sugar how I did. Now add curd to it and whisk again. Then add 1/4 cup of milk to it and mix again.

Now add dry ingredients in two batches. Ist add one batch and mix properly. Then add another batch and mix properly again without any lumps.

Pour the batter in the prepared cake tin. Tap the tin on the platform to release the air bubbles.

Preheat the microwave oven on convection mode for 7mins. Then place the cake tin in the microwave oven bake on convection mode for 20mins. After that check the cake and keep again for 6mins. It should be done by that time. Insert a toothpick​ in the cake, if it comes out clean the cake is ready. If not keep for some more minutes. Keep the cake for cooling down. Cooking time for different microwave oven may differ from each other. So be careful while baking and have a watch.

Remove to a wire rack and allow it to cool down completely. You can decorate it with whipped cream or butter cream. But I liked it simple.

Sweet Mango chund

Sweet Mango Chhund Pickle

Sweet mango chhund or grated mango pickle is a classic gujurati dish. It is a cooked sweet mango pickle without any water. This pickle can be stored for a long time. It needs very few ingredients. Mango cooked in sugar syrup with some spices. This pickle is very easy to prepare and hassle free. Being a lazy person I avoid preparing pickles as it take more time in drying in Sun and the other long processes. So this is for us who love pickle but hate the long process

We are waiting for summer only because of mangoes. Due to its flavor and taste it is called as the king of fruits. Mangoes are eaten ripe as well as tender. It is a fruit which is loved by all. Health benefits of mangoes are always over looked because of its taste. Mangoes are rich in nutrients, bio active compounds and fiber. Mangoes are great source of vitamin A, C and E and also rich in minerals like potassium, magnesium, copper, calcium and phosphorus.

                                                        

                                                         Here is the recipe for all.

Raw mangoes- 2 medium

Sugar- 1 1/2bowl

Salt- 1tsp

Red Chilli- 1tbsp

(You can increase if you like teekha)

Zeera- 2tbsp

Soak raw mangoes in water to clean it properly. Then pat dry the mangoes with the help of a kitchen towel. It should be properly dried so that life of the pickle will be more.

Then peel the mangoes and grate with the help of a grater. It should be very thin. After that you will get one bowl of grated mangoes. Take 1 ½ cup of sugar. (use same bowl to measure sugar and grated mangoes).

In a deep kadai add grated mangoes and sugar together. Keep it on the gas on a low flame and start cooking. First sugar will melt and it will be watery. At this moment add salt, haldi powder and red chilli powder to it. Soon pickle start to thicken. Stir continuously to stop caramelizing sugar.

Check the consistency of the pickle in every 5 mins. (to check the consistency, stir the spatula in pickle. Bring that out and let it cool down a bit, then run your index finger on that. Then rub the thumb on that finger and lift a bit. You will see thread like in between.) The sugar syrup in the pickle should be 1 thread consistency. It is very important factor of the dish. This consistency shouldn’t be less than 1 thread; in that case it will lose its self life. If its consistency become more than 1 thread, then pickle will be hard.

Switch off the gas when the sugar syrup will reach 1 thread consistency.

In a kadai add zeera(cumin) to it and dry roast it and  keep aside to cool down. When cool down make a smooth powder.

When the pickle cool down a bit add roasted zeera powder to it and mix properly. Let it cool down completely. Then store it in a dry and air tight container. Keep safely for further use.

It can be served with rice, poori or parathas

Chhatua pàna( sweet sattu drink)

Chhauta Pana

  

On April 14 of every year pana Sankranti or Maha Visuba Sankranti falls. It is also odia new year. It is first day of the traditional solar month of Mesha. People used to visit Shiva, Shakti or hanuman temple on this day. This day also considered as the birthday of Lord Hanuman. A traditional pana is served on this day, a tradition that partly is the source of the festival's name.

From childhood I saw my mom preparing special pana ( drink) adding variety of things. The main ingredient of the drink is sattu ( in Odia we call it chhatua) powdered dry roasted chana dal and wheat. Dad used to offer this as Prasad to Lord and a special little pot, which have a hole under it, is installed near Tulasi plant. During Puja every day mom fill the little pot and from the hole water will fall on the plant. But with passing time I couldn't observe all these rituals but I prepare special drink as my mom to offer Bhagwan. Here is the recipe..

Preparing of sattu....

Channa Dal- 1/2 cup

Wheat- 1/2 cup

Dry roast chana dal and wheat separately. Then mix it together and make a powder.you will get almost 1cup of sattu. For pana you need 3tbsp of sattu but rest can be stored for future use. 

For Sattu Pana

Chatua (Sattu)- 3tbsp

Milk- 1glass

Curd- 6tbsp

Chhena- 4tbsp

Banana- 2

Scraped Coconut- 3tbsp+ 3tbsp

Apple- 1/4

Grapes- 10 to 15

Chopped Raw Mango- 3tbsp

Bundi Ladoo for garnishing( optional)

Sugar to Taste.

In a big mixing bowl add every thing except boondi laddo ( though I didn't use laddo as it was not at home). Mash it with hands. 

If you feel drink is bit thick the add some more chilled milk to it to make it thin. Pour it in two glasses and garnish it with scarped coconut, chopped apple, grapes and boondi ladoo.

Serve chilled

Watermelon Lemon Cooler

Watermelon Lemon Cooler

Summer and watermelon just complements eachother. Watermelon is one of the many fruits which we get in summer. It is a trailing vine originally from Southern Africa. It is a large annual plant with coarse hairy leaves and white to yellow flowers. Watermelons are tropical plants.

Watermelon contains 92% of water and 7.5% of crab. It contains no protein and fat. It contains a high amount of vitamins, mineral and anti oxidents and low amount of calories. Watermelon decreases risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and also grows healthy complexion and hair. It is a good source of vitamin C, potassium, copper, vitamin B5 and vitamin A.

I love watermelon. In summer I made this summer cooler. But this time I made it more healthier as I used honey instead of sugar. So dieting people can drink it without any guilt. Mint, black salt and lemon bring out the best taste from the drink. Most refreshing and cooling  drink for this summer. Here is the recipe for all.

Watermelon​ Cubes- 300gms

Black Salt- 1/2tsp

Honey- 5 to 6 tbsp

(Depending upon the sweetness of melon)

Lemon- 1

Mint leaves- 1handful

Ice Cubes- 1/2cup

Take watermelon cubes and try to remove seeds. Clean the mint leaves to remove dirt.

In a blender jar add melon cubes, salt, ice cubes and mint leaves and blend it together. Strain the liquid in a strainer.

Now add honey and lemon juice to it. Taste the drink and balance the taste. 

Serve cold.

Mango Mastani

Mango mastani

Mastani is a thick milkshake which contains lots of dry fruits. It is originated at pune city. It is a very popular drink of pune and easily available every where in Pune. Most probably this drink got its name from queen Mastani Bai of Baji Rao Pashwa. There are lots of flavors of this mastani drink, they are dry fruits mastani, chocolate mastani, keshar mastani etc. The best mastani is sold at sujata mastani in pune.

Some years back I went to pune t visit my brother. There I had mango mastani. Mango and mango milkshake is my favorite but this mastani became most favorite drink of my family. During summer this became a special part of our evening snacks time. Most of the time after having this drink, we wouldn’t have anything else. It is a very filling drink. Let’s go to the ingredients and method of the preparation of the drink.

Mango- 3 medium

Sugar- 3 to 4 tbsp

(depend upon the sweetness of the mangoes)

Vanilla ice cream – 3 scoops

Chilled milk- 400ml

Ice cubes- 6 tp 7

For garnishing

Almond- 6 to 7

Sliced cashew- 6 to 7

Raisin- 9

Tutti frutti- 3tbsp

Vanilla ice cream- 6tbsp

Cherry- 3

Soak the mangoes in water to remove the dirt. Then peel the mangoes and cut them into small cubes. After that one will get 1 ½ cup of mango cubes from the above mangoes. Keep 3tbsp of mango cubes separately. Slice the cashew nuts. Soak and peel the almonds and slice them and keep aside.

In a blender jar add mango cubes, sugar, milk,, ice-cream and ice cubes and blend. It should be mixed properly. Mango mastani is ready.

For serving- take three glass and place chopped mango cubes (which was kept separatle before). Then add a scoop of vanilla ice cream in each glass. Then pour the drinl to the glass up to ¾. Then gain place another scoop of ice cream on the top of the drink. Then add sliced almond, cashew nuts, raisin, tutti frutti and cherry.

Serve and drink immediately.

Poha Cutlets

Poha Cutlets

In my previous blog I have started a series of evening snacks for kids during this summer vacation. in this process I have posted Matar Paneer Bread Roll. Again I am posting another snack item with ingredients easily available at home. The name of the recipe is Poha Cutlet.

Poha is nothing but flattened rice or beaten rice. It is a staple breakfast item in many household. Different vegetables are added in different parts of the country. We Odia speaking people take poha (which we call “Chuda”) with curd and sugar. It is something very filling and healthy breakfast option for all. But my modern day’s kids don’t like chuda dahi (poha with curd). So make them eat poha I prepare this snack item.

Poha is a very healthy food. Eating poha on regular basis can prevent iron deficiency or anemia. It is a great source of carbohydrates. It can be a replacement of unhealthy snacks like chips. These days people are cutting down gluten riched grains like wheat and barley though they are not allergic to it. For them poha is a good alternative as it has very low amount of gluten. Poha is a good food for diabetic people as it realizes sugar slowly to the blood stream. It also keeps stomach full for a longer period.

Poha- 2cups

Chhena (paneer)- ½ cup

Green pea- ½ cup

Potatoes- 2 medium

Salt to taste

Haldi- a pinch

Red chilli [powder- 1/4tsp

Onion- 1 medium

Coriander Leaves-1/2 a handful

Green Chilli- 1

Chaat Masala Powder- 1tsp

Garam  Masala Powder- 1tsp

Bread Crumbs- 2tbsp

Oil for frying

Take half cup of green peas in a bowl and add water, 1/2tsp of salt and 1/2tsp of haldi  to it and keep the bowl on fire and let it cook. When cooked, strain and make it dry. When cool down, mash it with hand and keep aside.

Boil the potatoes up to soft and let it cool down. Then peel and mash the potatoes and keep aside.

Wash and clean poha properly. Then soak it for 15mins.

In the mean time clean and chop onion, green chili and coriander leaves and keep aside. Scramble the paneer and keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai.

After 15mins squeeze out water from poha and Make it as dry as possible. In a mixing bowl add squeezes out poha, mashed potatoes, scrambled paneer, cooked and mashed green peas, chopped onion, green chilli, coriander leaves and other dry spices and bread crumbs. Mix properly and shape them like cutlets. Keep it for 15mins in fridge.

Slowly slide the cutlets in hot oil and fry up to golden brown and remove to the kitchen towel. If you want a healthier version then it can be shallow fry on a tawa or frying pan.

Serve hot with the chutney or sauce of your choice. I served it with a easy yoghurt dipping,.