Pav Bhaji

One thing that I loved the most during our stay in Pune was the food ! We used to eat out every friday night and sometimes on saturdays too ! Gone are those beautiful days when we used to fly in bike enjoying the night life:( There is one more thing that I loved most,street food ! pani puri ,bel puri,pav baji etc Mhmm it was soo delicious.
We lived in a flat which was full so lively and energetic. During diwali,holi etc the celebrations was so colourful with lots of fun,games,dancing,food etc we even had a stall for all street foods during festival time,I just had to go down for my favourite chaats !!

Ingredients
Potato - 1 large
Cauliflower florets - 3/4 cup
Carrot - 1
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Beans - 5-6 nos
Tomato - 2 small
Onion -1 medium
Green pepper - 1/2
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbs
Redchilly powder - 1/2tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt
Pav baji masala - 3 tsp
Coriander leaves

Pav buns/burger buns
Butter



Preparation
Boil the potato and mash it.
In saucepan pour some oil and add chopped onions,saute till its soft,add ginger garlic paste fry for 1 minute, add tomoatoes,spice powders and cook for 1-2 minutes, finally add all the vegetables,pour some water and cook.When the vegetables are nearly done add mashed poatatoes and chopped pepper and cook .Mash the vegetables and turn off the stove.Garnsih with coriander leaves.
In a pan add some butter and fry the pav/burger buns till its toasted.
Serve the pav buns with pav baji masala !!

Note - I didnt fry the buns with butter, to be healthy I just toasted the buns in toaster :)

Chicken Liver Varattiyathu/ Chicken liver stir fry

Ingredients

Chicken liver - 400gm 

Onion -2 small 

Ginger -garlic paste - 1tsp 

Whole Garam masala -(cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, star anise, bayleaf) 

 Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp 

Pepper powder - 1 tbs 

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp 

Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp 

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Salt 

Curry leaves 

Freshly crushed pepper - as per your taste

Coconut oil

 Preparation 

In a saucepan add coconut oil and sputter fennel seeds, add whole garam masala and saute for 1 minute. Add chopped  onions and saute till it's brown.

Add ginger garlic paste and saute until raw smell goes.

A curry leaves and all the masala powders and saute till raw smell goes for a minute or so.

Finally add the chicken liver and cook covered until it's done. Takes about 20 minutes. 

Remove the lid and add some some freshly crushed pepper and cook for a bit more on high heat until liver is well coated in the masala.

Cauliflower masala

Last week I was telling all about the awesome weather here,but things have changed,its grey,chilly and miserable now,but atleast the christmas decorations and gifts all around the shops is bringing some postive energy .This time my lil one also knows more about christmas and father christmas,he has already asked for his favourite train for christmas !!
This recipe is from my friend who lives next door,she prepared this for a get together and we all loved it, I also used to make cauliflower masala but my cauliflower always gets bit overcooked,but the one she prepared was crucnhy and perfect,so this time I didnt over do cauliflower and we all loved it.

Ingredients
Cauliflower - 1 small
Carrot - 1
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Onion - 1
Tomato -1
Green chillies -2
Redchilly powder - 1/2 tbs
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbs
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Preparation
In a saucepan add some oil,sputter cumin seeds,add chopped onions and saute till soft. Add ginger garlic paste fry for 1 minute and then throw in chopped tomatoes and all masala powders , green chillies and saute till raw smell of masalas goes. Finally add cauliflower and carrot and when they are half done add green peas and cook .

Sunny Weekend In London !

The clock in U.K has changed to GMT and I am not liking it at all, I dont mind if the sun rise is a bit late but when it gets dark by 4- 4.30 its so aweful, but anyway I m glad that I will get more time for blogging :)
We had a surprise VIP this weekend,my brother in law (my younger sister's hubby) !! He came here on an official trip and was with us over this weekend and we had a great weekend with him taking him in and around London .We were lucky enough with the weather too ,it was so sunny and slighlty warm too.Cant believe its nearly November and the temperature is still in 2 digits !

Here are the few pictures we clicked..

Kerala Spinach /Cheera Thoran

Hope u all had a good Diwali..Mine was good too ,had a small party on Diwali day with my friends and is going to have one more with family soon..I love parties,who doesnt right?? I love to eat what others cook ,even once in a week when I am bored of my dishes I ask my H to cook and he does it happily..

Are u all set for Halloween too ?? I havent made up my mind whether to carve a pumkin yet, I guess its a little early for my lil one to appreciate it,infact I m scared that he might even cry if I manage to carve a scary one !!

Kerala spinach/cheera (red and green) is my favourite leafy vegetable , I can eat 2 meals of rice in a go with this.My love for this cheera is even popular among my inlaws ,and I remember one time soon after marriage when were invited for lunch at his uncles place I was so surprised to see that even the aunty knew about this and she prepared this especially for me..

Here goes my favourite cheera thoran recipe for u all.

Ingredients

Cheera/Kerala spinach - 1 bundle
Onion - 1
Green chillies - 1-2
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Grated coconut - 3-4 tbs
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
Salt

Preparation
Wash and chop the spinach.
In a saucepan add oil,sputter mustard and add green chillies and chopped onions ,saute onions until soft. Add spinach ,turmeric ,salt and cook it covered.When it is almost cooked add grated cononut and curry leaves and cook for 1-2minutes.

Edichakka Thoran/Tender Jackfruit Thoran

Back home we have few jackfruit trees in our backyard so we get to eat a lot every summer  and  I never really missed eating this  until I moved to U.K. We eat all forms of this fruit, like the tender stage called Edi chakka, then the raw jackfruit and ripen one, even the seeds of the jackfruit !! We even cook some dumplings in jackfruit leaves which gives a unique flavour .

Once  in a month  I go to a Srilankan shop here where I get all Indian veggies,when I see all those fresh green veggies I go wild and end up buying a lottt, but after coming back I have a tough job, chopping and freezing it, but it makes my job easier for the rest of the week.Coming to my topic,on our last week's visit to that shop I was soo thrilled to see tender jackfruit/Edi chakka ,without even thinking I picked up one,had no idea how to cook it as I never bothered to watch my mom cooking it. Gave a ring to mum and she gave me instructions how to clean and cook it and so hereit  is  :)

Ingredients
Edi chakka - 1
Shallots -5-7
Garlic- 1 or 2pods
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds -1/2 tsp
Redchilly powder - 3/4 tbs
Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp
Salt
For tempering
Mustard seeds -1/2 tsp
Whole redchilly-1
Curry leaves- few
Oil

Preparation
Clean edichakka and peel the thick green outer skin till you find the white porous flesh.Chop it into big slices and pressure cook it with redchilly powder,turmeric and salt for 1-2 whistles.Once it is cooked gently mash it ,leaving the centre portion ( pillar kind of thing which holds it ). Make a coarse paste of grated coconut, garlic, shallots and cumin seeds.In another saucepan sputter mustard seeds, whole redchilly, curryleaves and add edichakka and coarse coconut paste cook it for 1-2 minute.

Potato Bonda/Aloo bonda in 2 styles

Bonda brings back a lot of childhood memories to me..When my father finally managed to get a transfer to our home town (kannur) we all were so happy that we can finally live in our own house and be with our cousins and relatives.Since our house was in a country side there were no good schools there so we had to go all the way to town for school.Going in fully packed school van was a nightmare for me and my 2 sisters.After struggling for few weeks we decided to go in local bus but again that was just the same,since our place was bit far there were not so many buses running in our route so morning and evening bus was fully packed with school kids,so finally my father decided to drop us and pick us everyday.But since its a long way back home after picking us from school he took us to his office,we waited outside in the car in protected carkpark .From 4- 6 pm we stayed in the car doing home works and chatting about our day at school.Apart from 3 of us our cousin brother who was in college also used to join us.Like all other kids after school we used to be soo hungry and so our cousin brother used to go to a small coffee shop and get us some hot snacks like Bonda,Ela ada,Uzhunu vada etc everyday.. Years passed by but still the taste of those delicious snacks are still in the tip of my tongue.

Since I like both kerala and North Indian style bondas I am sharing the recipe of both here...

Ingredients( for Kerala style )
Potatoes -2(medium size)
Onion - 1/2 (finely chopped)
Greenchillies -1-2
Cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds -1/4 tsp
Ginger chopped -1tsp
Curryleaves - few
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt
Gram flour -3/4 cup
Redchiily powder - pinch
Salt
oil for deep frying

Preparation
Boil potatoes , peel the skin and mash it.
In a saucepan add some oil sputter mustard seeds and cumin. Add chopped onions,ginger,greenchillies and curryleaves.When onion becomes soft add turmeric , salt and finally add potatoes and mix well.Make balls from the mixture. Meanwhile make a batter of gram flour with water adding little salt and redchilly powder.Batter should not be to thick or too loose.In a kadai pour some oil and keep it on a medium flame,when the oil is ready dip balls in the batter and fry till golden brown.

Ingredients North Indian Style

Potatoes -2(medium size)
Onion - 1/2 (finely chopped)
Greenchillies -1-2
Cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp
Ginger chopped -1tsp
Coriander leaves - few
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder -1tbs
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Gram flour - 1 cup
redchilly powder- pinch
Salt
Ajwain -pinch
Oil for deep frying

Preparation
Boil potatoes , peel the skin and mash it.
In a saucepan add some oil sputter cumin. Add chopped onions,ginger,greenchillies .When onion becomes soft add turmeric , salt and finally add potatoes and coriander leaves and mix well.Make balls from the mixture. Meanwhile make a batter of gram flour with water adding little salt ,redchilly powder and ajwain .Batter should not be to thick or too loose.In a kadai pour some oil and keep it on a medium flame,when the oil is ready dip balls in the batter and fry till golden brown