Bean and Tartare dip Enchiladas

Bean and Tartare dip Enchiladas is a yummy twist to the regular Mexican dish. Wheat the tortillas are rolled around a bean + Tartare dip filling and topped with a tangy tomato sauce. These Enchiladas are a great dish for a party, or a homely weeknight meal. The Del Monte Tartare dip is a tasty blend of eggless mayo with gherkin bits that also adds crunchiness. It is also a perfect accompaniment to potato wedges or grilled veggies. You can stuff the enchiladas with any other bean or vegetable along with the Tartare dip and dress them up with the…

My Foodcourt turns 10! We are celebrating with the prize winning recipe for Microwave Borscht with Golay!

Yes! My Foodcourt turns 10 today! and a recipe for Microwave Borscht with Golay- to celebrate this decade long journey,the win and good food in general!

Refried Beans and Mushroom Tostada

These Re-fried beans and Mushroom Tostadas are a perfect representation of the vibrant Mexican food -a riot of flavours, textures and colours.

Three Bean Chilli for a fiery Lunchbox Fiesta

Three bean Chilli – fiery Lunchbox fiesta for The Urban Spice Sweet September Giveaway

Desi Health Bites- Multigrain Daliya Hot Pot

I am back with another recipe showcasing my love for multi-grains again for the #Fortunehealthbites – Multigrain Daliya Hot Pot . It’s a Hot Pot alright – but a quick, no meat and no bake kind of Hot Pot- unlike the ‘Lancashire Hot Pot’ which inspired me for the basic idea and presentation for this recipe.

Daliya or the broken grains/Lapsi of wheat is the most commonly used in Indian cuisine for making savoury as well as sweet preparations. Jowar and Bajra groats are traditionally used to make ‘Khichada’, a spicy version of the Khichdi.

With the appearance of organic stores in town/online there is a now a variety of Daliyas easily available. My pantry now hosts an array of these nutritious, relatively quick to cook Daliyas .

I have flavoured this Hot Pot with Allspice, just because I have these flavourful leaves growing abundantly in my kitchen garden. The grilled sweet potato garnish adds some crunch to the Multigrain Hot Potmaking it look like a ‘gourmet’ makeover of the humble Khichdi, while still maintaining its ‘Comfort Food’ status.

I had recently switched over from Sunflower to Ricebran oil as per suggestion from my all knowing elder brother 🙂  and then as if on cue, Fortune Foods sent over their Rice Bran Health oil.

Fortune rice bran health oil has a key micronutrient called “oryzanol”, an antioxidant found only in the bran of rice. It helps reduce bad cholesterol,increase good cholesterol and keeps your heart healthy, making it a healthier choice.

Squalene is an organic compound naturally produced by human skin cells and is a natural moisturizer. Fortune Rice Bran Health Oil contains good amounts of it which prevent the ageing of skin.

Antioxidants improve health by fighting free radicals that harm the immune system. Fortune Rice Bran Health oil has natural antioxidants that help build strong immunity.”

“Also I learned that it is a myth that colourless or transparent oils are healthier than dark oils. FRBH is refined optimally to keep all the essential micronutrients intact. It has a darker appearance primarily due to Oryzanol.

It is a myth that colourless or transparent oils are healthier than dark oils. FRBH is refined optimally to keep all the essential micronutrients intact. It has a darker appearance primarily due to Oryzanol.

It is enriched with a gamut of nutrients and is good for heart, immunity, skin and hormones. It is appropriate for people of all ages”

Here’s the recipe for my recipe for the Multigrain Daliya Hot Pot

Multigrain Daliya Hot Pot

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

1 ¾ Cups mixed Daliya (Broken :wheat,jowar,barley,Buckwheat,corn,rice- any or all of these)

¼ cup green moong dal

¾ cup chopped veggies ( Beans,carrots,peas,beetroot,beetgreens,red pumpkin etc..)

1 small onion finely chopped

1 small Tomato chopped

½ tsp grated ginger

2-3 garlic pods crushed (optional)

1-2 Allspice leaves of Bay leaves

Handful of mint leaves torn into pieces or you can use coriander leaves

5-6 cups of vegetable stock/water (for porridge like consistency)

Salt to taste

For the tempering

3 tsp Fortune Rice bran Health oil

2 tsp cumene seeds

2 tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ sp Asafoetida

3-4 dried red chillies torn into pieces

2-3 tbsp peanuts (optional)

For the Hot Pot Topping

2 large Sweet Potatoes sliced

½ tsp crushed black pepper

1 tsp Rock Salt or to taste

7-8 mint leaves torn into pieces

2 tsp Fortune Rice bran Health oil

Juice of ½ a lime

Method

In a bowl Mix the crushed black pepper,rock salt,lime juice,mint leaves & oil.

Pour over the sliced sweet potatoes and rub all over.Keep aside.

Wash the Multigrain Daliya and the green moong dal with water.

In a pressure pan, heat the oil.

Add the mustard seeds and once they crackle add the cumene seeds.

Add the turmeric powder,asafoetida,dry red chillies and peanuts .Stir for minute.

Now add the Allspice/bayleaf and the chopped onion, crushed garlic and grated ginger. Sauté for a minute.

Add the chopped tomato and cook for a few seconds.

Add the veggies next and mix well.

Now add the multigrain Daliya along with the green moong dal. Mix again.

Add ~ 5-6 cups of Vegetable stock or water (for porridge like consistency).

Add salt.Cover and cook for 1 whistle+10-12 mins on SIM or till the Daliya is cooked.

Meanwhile, grill the Sweet potatoes on a griddle pan on the stove top or in the oven ~ 10 minutes on each side- till they are just cooked.

Take out the Hot Multigrain Daliya in a flat bottom serving bowl.

Garnish with the mint leaves.

Top all over with the grilled sweet potatoes and serve hot immediately.

Pomegranate + green onion Raita and roasted Nagli/Ragi papad make great accompaniments for the Multigrain Daliya Hot Pot.

Notes:

If you have the time, soak the mix Daliya and the green moong dal in water for about half an hour. This can reduce the cooking time.

The veggies can be chopped in advance and refrigerated in airtight containers.

Fresh Basil is also a good option as a garnish for the Hot pot instead of Mint or coriander.

This blogpost is in association with Fortune Foods as a part of their Desi Health Bites activity– The Hunt for the Best Rice Bran Oil Recipes. For more updates and healthy recipes using Fortune Rice Bran Health Oil, follow Fortune Foods on Facebook and on Twitter at @fortunefoods 

Check out more Desi Health Bites by all the awesome Food Bloggers here at Fortune Food

Hadga/Agasti Flower Bhajias

A very Happy New Year to all of you.

I am back after a looooooong silence on MyFoodcourt. As you can guess the resolution for 2015 is to blog as much I can!

I have been thinking of posting recipes for a long time. The ‘comeback recipe’ for the blog has spanned from Christmas cake to Yule log to Pavlova to a humble porridge-but only in my mind!

A trip to the older part of the city a couple of days back lead me to a treasured discovery- the edible Hadga flowers. I had a faint memory of my childhood ,of my Mom using these flowers for cooking. The lady selling these flowers was kind enough to inform me that I need to remove the bitter tasting stamens from the flowers before cooking them.

A chat with Mom about these flowers and she was nostalgic about how these flowers reminded her of her childhood. (Now you know where my love for these offbeat, treasured foods comes from). Mom said she makes a ‘Pith Perun’ bhaji (stir fry with Besan/chana dal flour).Our house help informed me that you can make sinful Bhajias with these flowers. The dipping mercury made the Bhajias more tempting than the stir fry …and so Bhajias were made. The stir fry has to wait its turn, but I had to blog about these treasured flowers rightaway!

FB comments on the photo of the flowers and Google research have enlightened me that they are also known as Agasti,Bokful in other Indian languages and also that they are eaten as a vegetable in Southeast Asian countries.

I have used carbonated water just to make the Bhajias crispier- just plain water will be fine too.We enjoyed the crispy Hadga Bhajias sans accompaniment.

Here’s my recipe for

Hadga Flowers Bhajia

Ingredients

8-10 Hadga flowers (the younger flowers are better for Bhajias, but I had to make do with whatever I had)

½ cup Besan/Chana dal Flour

½ cup Rice flour

½ tsp Asafoetida(hing)

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp Red chilli powder

½ tsp Ajawain/carom seeds (optional)

Carbonated (or plain) water to make a the batter

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

 Method

Heat the oil in a wok.

Remove the stamens from the flowers and keep aside.

Mix the flours, spices, Ajwain and salt in a bowl.

Add 2 tsp of the hot oil to this dry mix.

Add the carbonated water to the dry mix to make the batter (not too thick, not too thin) ~  1/4  cup

Coat each Hadga flower with the batter and deep fry on medium heat till crisp and lightly browned.

Serve immediately.

Ambe Dal

The Mango Mania refuses to leave us. First the tangy green raw mangoes and now the luscious ripe ones. I am still hooked on to the raw mangoes and have been using them in every way I can.

Ambe Dal is a traditional Maharashtrian preparation, specially made during these hot summer days when green Mangoes are abundant. It’s super quick and easy to make (with the exception that you need to soak the dal in advance) and requires just a few easily available ingredients.

The tart raw mangoes are grated and added to coarsely ground soaked chana dal (split Bengal gram). This mixture is then flavoured with a spicy tadka (tempering) of Red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida . I personally love the flavor of asafoetida .

This cool,tangy-spicy Ambe Dal is served on a banana leaf along with Aam Panha (recipe here)

Here’s the recipe for Ambe Dal

Ingredients

1 cup Chana dal (split Bengal gram) soaked in water for 5-6 hours

½ raw mango, peeled and grated (depending on the tartness the amount can be adjusted)

½ tsp sugar

Salt to taste

For the tadka (tempering)

3tsp oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumene seeds

5-6 curry leaves

Pinch of asafoetida

1-2 dry Red chillies broken into pieces

Method

Rinse and Drain the soaked Chana dal.

Grind the dal coarsely .

Add the grated mango, salt and sugar .

In a small wok/pan heat the oil.

Add the mustard seeds and once they splutter add the cumene seeds.

Add the curry leaves, asafoetida and the red chillies.

Add this tadka over the Mango Dal mixture and mix nicely .

Cool and serve on a banana leaf along with Aam Panha. I love to ‘cool this dal in the refrigerator for half an hour and then serve.

5 years of Blogging and My Mom’s Puran Poli with Katachi Amti

Puran Poli is a quintessential Maharashtrian delicacy and you may wonder how it has not featured on My foodcourt in the past 5 years. Yes, My Foodcourt turned 5 this August! I have been neck deep in work, kids and the daily grind. August and now September just zoomed past me and I just realized that it’s been fabulous 5 years of blogging; sharing and interacting with my virtual friends! Its late but we are celebrating nevertheless 🙂

Many festivals in Maharashtra like Holi, Gudi Padwa, Gauri-Ganapati Puja,Dassera  feature the Puran Poli as its star attraction, as far as the festival food is concerned. The skills of a good Marathi cook are gauged by the way he/she can make the Puran Poli. My dad is a very good cook and to explain effectively his cooking skills I just say that he can make good Puran Poli’s and Bhakris! I don’t have to say anything else, it’s understood that he is indeed a very good cook 🙂

Regular readers of this blog know that I don’t have a weakness for sweets, in fact far from that and maybe that’s the reason why Puran Poli has not been featured on My Foodcourt.  My mom makes one of the best Puran Polis and even I cannot resist eating her Puran Poli. She uses some fresh coconut and Khoya/Khawa/Mawa in addition to the usual Chana dal for the filling to enhance the richness and flavor. The proportion of jaggery and sugar is just apt for my taste buds.

I got a chance to capture the Puran Poli making process this time when I stayed over at my parents place during the Gauri- Ganapati festival. The consistency of the Puran/stuffing, the dough and the skill of rolling them out determine the resultant nature of the Puran Poli. With a little bit of practice you can make decent Puran Polis. The amount of effort put into making Puran Poli is worth every bit.

My Mom made it for many people (~40 Puran Polis) and hence the proportions appear in kg. You can scale it to your requirement. She made the Puran a day in advance, so she didn’t have too much work the next day. Also the left over Puran can be stored in the freezer in a sealed bag/container and used as and when required.

The Puran Poli is usually served with Katachi Amti , made from the leftover stock from cooking the Chana Dal. The stock is spiced up with different masalas to balance the sweetness of the Puran Poli.

Note: This is an indulgent sweet and needs all the oil, ghee, sweetness and richness that is mentioned below. So make this when you are not too conscious of the calories being consumed 🙂

Here’s celebrating 5 years of My Foodcourt with my Mom’s Puran Poli recipe:

My Mom’s Puran Poli recipe

For the Puran (Stuffing)

1 kg Chana Dal

½ tsp Turmeric

¾ kg Jaggery

3/4^th  Katori Sugar (my mom uses a katori/Vati to measure for her measurements)

200 gms Khoya/ Khawa/Mawa ( you can use Pedhas)

½  medium sized freshly grated coconut

Nutmeg powder ½ tsp (optional)

For the covering Dough:

½ kg Wheat Flour

1 tbsp All purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Oil as required

Rice Flour for dusting the Puran Poli

Method:

For the Puran (Stuffing)

Cook Chana Dal with twice amount of water, with turmeric in a pressure cooker till very soft but not mashed. (about 2 whistles and ~15 mins on low flame thereafter.)

Meanwhile roast the Khoya in a pan on low heat till slightly pink/very light brown.

Grind the Coconut in the mixer to a fine paste without adding water.

Drain and remove water from the cooked Dal and reserve the water.

Heat a kadhai and add the dal and on a low flame dry out all the moisture from the Dal.

Add the jaggery, sugar, coconut paste, roasted Khoya to the dal.

Cook and stir till the mixture is completely dry. (take care not to burn the mixture)

Add the nutmeg powder mix well.

Remove the mixture from the heat and pass it through a Puran press/ Food Mill.

Keep aside till you are ready with the covering dough. This filling can be made 1-2 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

For the Covering Dough:

Sift the wheat flour and the all purpose flour and pinch of salt through a fine mesh sieve.

Add oil (2-3 tbsp) and water and knead into a soft elastic dough. (You may need to add more water/ oil to get very soft dough)

Keep the dough covered for about an hour.

After an hour add about 3/4^th Katori  oil, salt and little water to make it more soft.

Take a lemon sized ball of the dough. Flatten it using the finger tips with the help of the Rice flour

Take a bigger ball of the Puran/stuffing mixture.

Place it on the flattened dough,seal and cover it with the dough such that the Puran gets stuffed inside the dough.

Roll out the stuffed dough using the Rice flour for dusting into a round chapatti (as thin as possible), taking care that the Puran/stuffing does not come out and the chapatti does not stick to the surface.

Heat a non-stick tava/griddle.

Once rolled out, use the rolling pin to transfer the Puran poli to the  tava.

Cook on both sides till golden brown.

Remove from the tava.

Serve hot Puran Poli’s with a generous drizzle of hot melted ghee and Katachi Amti (recipe below).

 

Katachi Amti Recipe:

Stock/water left over from cooking the Chana dal for Puran (above) add water if required to make it thinner.

3-4 cloves

4-5 Black pepper corns

1-2 tsp Mustard seeds

1-2 tsp cumene seeds

7-8 curry leaves torn into pieces with hand

1 tsp grated jaggery

1 tsp tamarind pulp

1 tsp Maharshtrian Kala Masala or Garam Masala

~4-5 tbsp chopped fresh Coriander leaves

Salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

Method:

Heat the oil in a deep pan.

Add the mustard seeds.

Once they splutter, add the cloves and peppercorns fry 1-2 second and then add the cumene seeds.

Add the curry leaves and the coriander leaves.

Add the Kat/stock .

Add the jaggery, tamarind pulp, Masala and season with salt. (you can adjust the proportion of jaggery and tamarind to your taste.)

Bring it to a boil and serve hot with Puran Poli.

Stay Tuned for a fabulous Giveaway coming soon on MyFoodcourt!

 

 

 

 

Pepper away the Monsoon blues with this quick and simple Black pepper Rasam/soup

The medicinal uses of Black pepper are well known. It is one of the trusted home remedies for cold and cough. We have been surviving the Monsoon bug by adding this ‘natural antibiotic‘ to our day-to -day meals.

We are having this hot spicy Pepper Rasam/ soup almost every day to soothe our itchy throats; a soothing balm to ‘shoo’ away the Monsoon blues.

This is of course my Mother-in-law’s recipe and uses very few day-to-day ingredients; Black pepper-cumene seeds –some dried coconut and curry leaves. You can make a ready spice mix and store in an airtight container. Whenever you want to make the rasam just boil some lentils add the ready spice mix and viola! your ‘magic potion’ is ready in minutes

Here’s the recipe for Pepper Rasam/Soup

Things required:

¼ cup Toovar Dal (pigeon pea lentils)

8-10 Black pepprcorns

~2 tsp Cumene seeds

~ 1 tbsp dried coconut grated

4-5 curry leaves

Pinch of turmeric and few drops of oil to cook the Lentils

Salt to taste

1 tsp homemade ghee

Method:

Pressure cook the dal with ~ 2 ½ cups  of water, a pinch of turmeric and 3-4 drops of oil.

In a pan dry roast black peppercorns, cumene seeds, dried coconut and curry leaves one by one.

Cool and coarsely grind the spices in a mortar and pestle.

Heat ghee in a deep pan.

Add the spice mix.

Add the cooked dal along with the water. Adjust the consistency of water to your liking.

Season with salt and boil for few minutes.

Serve piping hot.

Notes:

You can adjust the spices to your taste, it is a very forgiving recipe.

You can skip the ghee if you don’t want it, just mix the spices and the dal and boil together.

If you plan to serve this as a clear soup, let the soup stand for a few minutes and then just pour out the liquid. You can use the leftover dal to make some dal parathas or sambar

You can zest up the soup with a dash of lime juice

Comfort food-Poha(beaten rice) spiced with Methkut

I was feeling a bit under the weather for the past few days. The wet rainy days did not help to lift up my spirits. Elaborate cooking took a back seat and it was time for some quick easy meals.

Poha (beaten rice) is a must-have ingredient for all Maharashtrian pantries. It is a regular item on the ‘essential items’ in the monthly grocery list. Poha is a handy ingredient when you have unexpected guest, you are pressed for time, need a quick meal or when you want some comfort food!

The modest Poha is dressed up here with a few spices and a classic Methkut powder to make one of the most delightful comfort foods for me.

The recipe is quite forgiving and does not need any pre-planning. Day-to-day ingredients are used and it can be made at the last minute.

The key ingredient used to flavor this Spicy Poha is a Methkut. Methkut is a classic powder made from a few dals and spices and is used in most Maharashtrian households to flavour soft cooked rice; again a comfort food and one with lot of childhood memories.

I used readymade Methkut powder but you can find recipes here and here.

This spiced Poha makes a great tea time snack along with a cup of spiced Chai or a glass of freshly brewed filter coffee.

Here’s the recipe:

2 cups Thin poha (beaten rice)

2-3 tbsp Methkut powder

3-4 tsp coconut water /buttermilk/milk or just plain water

Pinch of sugar

Salt to taste

For the tadka (tempering):

A handful of peanuts

A handful of roasted Chana dal (Dalia)

4-5 dry Red chillies cut  into pieces

4-5 curry leaves torn into pieces

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumene seeds

½ tsp turmeric powder

~2-3 tbsp oil 

For the garnish:

Lime Juice

Fresh coriander leaves 

Method:

Sprinkle coconut water/buttermilk/milk or just plain water on the poha and mix to make it a little moist.

Add the methkut, salt and sugar and mix nicely to coat the poha. (Adjust the amount of Methkut to your taste).Keep it aside.

Heat oil in a small pan.

Add the mustard seeds and once they splutter add the cumene seeds followed by the peanuts.

Fry the peanuts well and then add the roasted chana dal.

Add in the turmeric powder, Red chilles and curry leaves.

Add this tadka\tempering to the poha and mix nicely.

Keep covered for a ~ 5 minutes for all the flavours to mingle.

Garnish with lime juice and coriander leaves.

Variation: If you cannot find Methkut you can use the Chutney podi which is normally served with dosa.

Or I have blogged about another version of spicy Poha (Dadpe Pohe) earlier on My Foodcourt here.

 Also see Poha spiced with Tamarind