South Indian Pumpkin Sambhar

This recipe is specially written for my German friend Frederic Friedel, who loved it when he was in India. Frederic went back to Germany and had his partial knee replacement surgery. I hope this recipe helps him to recover faster.

Fred enjoying the Pumpkin Sambhar in Ghatkopar

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:

• 200 grams yellow or white Pumpkin
• 200 grams Tur Dal
• 50 grams Tamarind
• 5 tbsp MTR Sambhar Masala
• Handful coriander
• 100 grams Drumstick
• 1 big onion
• 1 potato
• 1 carrot (optional)
• 4-5 French beans (optional)
• 1/2 tbsp turmeric
• 1tbsp sugar
• Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Boil the Tur Dal in the pressure cooker.

2. While the tur dal boils, cut Pumpkin into big pieces. Drumstick and potato should be cut into small pieces. Carrot and French beans should be cut into long pieces. Put these vegetables in a vessel with water and let them boil on the gas. These vegetables should be boiled until they retain some hardness. (not to make them very soft).

3. Put the tamarind in another vessel with water. Boil it on the gas. When it cools down, press the tamarind into a pulp.

4. Finely chop the onions and keep it on the side. Take a big pan (or a big vessel) with oil and add curry leaves, long Kashmiri red chilly and saute it. After a minute or so add onions to the oil and saute them until they turn brownish in colour.

5. To the above mixture prepared in step 4, add Dal from step 1, boiled vegetables from step 2 and tamarind pulp from step 3. Add 5 tbsp MTR Sambhar Masala (you can add more masala if you find the taste to be bland), 1/2 tbsp turmeric, 1 tbsp sugar and salt as per taste. Add 400 ml of water. (If you find the sambhar to be very thick then add more water).

6. Let this mixture simmer for 7-10 minutes and then add coriander for garnishing. (You may want to add a few drops of lemon if you want to make it more tangy)

Your South Indian Pumpkin Sambhar is now ready! This is ideally mixed with rice or south Indian dishes like Dosa and Idli.

Lemon Ice Tea

Are you an ice tea lover? Do you face the problem that you have to go either to a Cafe Coffee Day or Starbucks or the nearby shop in order to satiate the thirst for your favourite drink?

Don't worry, this Ice Tea recipe will help you prepare your drink in just five minutes!

Quantity: 200 ml of Ice Tea

Ingredients:

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp tea powder

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

3-4 mint leaves

Ice cubes as required.

Method:

1. Take 200 ml water in a vessel and add tea powder to it.

2. Boil the water + tea powder. Once the mixture heats and comes up to the surface of the vessel shut off the heating.

3. Now add sugar to the mixture in step two and stir for some time.

4. Strain the mixture. 

5. Let it cool for sometime outside till it attains room temperature and then add lemon juice.

6. Refrigerate it for a few hours.

7. Serve it in a juice glass. Add ice cubes as per your requirement and garnish it with mint leaves.

 

Your cool and tasty Ice Tea is ready!

Tip for ice cubes:

Usually adding ice cubes made of just plain water changes the taste of any liquid it is added to, because when the ice cubes melt they turns into water and reduce the taste of the liquid.

Hence, what Jayshree Shah suggests is to make "Ice cubes of ice tea flavour"!

The method for making them is very simple. All you need to do is to take the liquid prepared in step five above and put it into the ice tray. When it solidifies, you have your ice cubes ready. Add them to your Ice tea and your drink will taste better.

Tomato Basil Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients
3 big tomatoes
1 carrot
1 onion
1 potato
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tbsp cornflour
5-7 leaves of basil
1/2 tbsp pepper
Salt to taste

Method
1. Peel Onion and Potato skin and cut them into big pieces. Cut the carrot and tomatoes also into big pieces. Put all the four vegetables into pressure cooker along with water (4-5 cups). Wait for 3-4 whistles.
Alternatively, if you do not have a pressure cooker you can put all the pieces of vegetables in a vessel filled with water and let them boil till they become soft.

2. Bring out the vegetables from the cooker and drain the water in a vessel. Preserve that water.

3. Crush the vegetables in a hand mixer or a normal mixer till they are completely mashed and make a smooth form. Strain them and discard the particles which remain in the strainer.

4. Now mix the strained mashed vegetables from step 3 and the water that you have preserved from step 4. Use your judgement to see if the mixture is not too thick. If it is then add some water to it.

5. Take the mixture that you have prepared in step 4 and heat on the gas. Add salt, pepper, tomato ketchup and corn flour in it. Heat it till the mixture rises up and then shut off the gas.

6. Add basil leaves to your soup and there you have it! Freshly prepared Tomato Basil Soup!

Dal Pakwan

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:
250 gm Chana dal.
2 finely chopped onions
2 chopped tomatoes
4-5 cloves of crushed Garlic
1 piece crushed ginger.
1 tbsp dhana jeera
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1tbsp cumin seed (jeera)
2-3 slit from center green chillies.
2-3 tbsp dry aamchur powder
1/2 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp of coriander
2 tbsp of oil
6-7 leaves of kadi pata.

Method for dal:
1.Soak chana dal in water at least 6 hrs before you start making dal pakwan.
2.After the dal is soaked you can cook it in any of the below two ways.
a) Put it in cooker with water and remove it after two whistles.
b) Take it in a vessel with water and remove it when it starts to boil. But make sure the dal is cooked at the same time it is not crushed. (It should be wholesome)
3. Take 2 tbsp oil in a vessel and put it on gas. Now put cumin seeds (jeera) in it . After it starts to crackle add kadi patta to it.
4.Put in it crushed garlic, crushed ginger, chopped tomatoes & onion and saute it.
5. Once the onion starts to turn brown and tomatoes start to cook then add the dal prepared in step 2 in it.
6. Now add salt, red chilly powder, dhana jeera, garam masala and coriander. Now let everything heat.
It shiuld be heated to such an extent that it is neither too liquidy nor too solid.
7. Your dal is now ready.

Imli Chutney

Ingredients
400 gm Dates (Khajoor)
50 gm Tamarind (imli)
100 gm Jaggery (gud)
2 tbsp Red Chilly Powder.

Method:
Put the dates(after removing the seeds), tamarind(remove the seeds) and Jaggery in a vessel and mix them with water.
Then put them in pressure cooker.
Blow 3-4 whistles.
Remove the mixture.
Add water if you want to make it thin.
After it cools down, add salt and chilly powder and churn it in a mixer.
Your Mithi Chutney is ready.
Refrigerate it.

Dabeli

Serves  4 People. 
Ingredients:
1/2 kg potato, around 6 medium size potato.
Kachi dabeli masala (from any store near you)
Handful of Masala Singh (Groundnut)
2 medium size onion finely chopped.
handful of Coriander
handful of pomogrenate seeds
10-15 grapes (green or black)
Imli Chutney (you can find the recipe here: http://www.jayshreefood.blogspot.in/2013/05/imli-chutney.html)

Method:
Take 5 tbsp of kachi dabeli masala (if you want more spicy you can take more tbsp) and add enough water so that the masala becomes a paste. If possible 1 hour before you start making other preparations for Dabeli.
Boil potato in pressure cooker. After it gets boiled, remove it from the cooker and peel its skin off.
Then mash the potatoes.
In a Kadhai (vessel) add 1 tbsp oil and heat it on gas. Add the mashed potatoes to it.
Then add the dabeli masala paste to it.
Add the finely chopped onions to it.
Now add the masala Groundnuts.
Let the mixture heat on the gas for 5 minutes.
After that let it cool. And then add Pomogrenate, grapes and coriander.
The Dabeli Mixture is now ready.
Take the Dabeli bread, Slice it from the middle and apply Ghee to it and Roast it on the gas for a minute or two.
Then apply Imli chutney and then put the Dabeli mixture as prepared above in such a way that it fills the bread.
Then roast it for 15-20 secs on both sides on the gas!
Your Dabeli is Ready!!

Gaajar ( Carrot) ka Halwa!

Ingredients:

• 500 gms carrot (preferably red)
• 200 gms sugar
• 2 cups of milk
• 4-5 cut almonds (badam)
• 4-5 cut cashewnuts (kaju)
• 10 raisins (draaksh)
• 2 crushed cardamom (elaichi)
• pinch of kesar

Method:

1. Peel the carrots. Grate them.

2. Put the grated carrot in a frying pan on the gas and add sugar to it.

3.While the sugar is turning into liquid and mixing with the carrots, on another gas heat the milk.

4.The sugar will start to burn and after some time will mix with the carrots and become invisible. Then add the heated milk to the mixture of carrot and sugar.

5.Let the gas burn and keep stirring. Add almonds, cashewnuts, raisins cardamom and kesar to the mixture.

6.Keep the gas on till all the milk is absorbed by the carrots. Once all the milk disappears switch off the gas.

Congratulations your Gaajar ka Halwa is Ready!!