Happy New Year

Wishing you all happiness today, tomorrow, always......

Diwali Ice-cream

What do you do when you have guests over for holidays. They don't mind eating kulfi or ice cream but just abhor barfis/katlis and Diwali sweets. And your basement freezer is overflowing with Diwali leftovers which you are planning to finish off before the new year rings in! (Am I not sly?);-) You were secretly hoping that since Diwali!

Well - you churn everything together and make a delicious ice-cream. But before I give you the recipe, let me tell you that three people have contributed to this recipe and those three people do not even know each other.


Well, first it's Asha (of Foodies Hope and Aroma!). I consider her as my friend though I have never met her. She visits and leaves some special words, not only on my blog but also on many other blogs as well. A new blogger like me feel really encouraged when she stops by. When I read Asha's gorgeous post about CuisineArt Icecream maker, I wanted to buy it. Well, that's exactly what Santa delivered to me this Christmas!;-)

And then it's my mom who told me last week, that she happened to see "my" Sanjeev Kapoor's Khana Khazaana and he used the leftover sweets from Diwali to make the kulfi. And she promptly added that she couldn't note down the recipe since she was in a hurry. I was quite annoyed when I heard that she didn't write down the recipe. But I liked the idea. And as always Sanjeev Kapoor is a phenomenal inspiration for me, anyways!

So finally, I came up with my own recipe by combining whatever I had. First, I thawed all my Diwali sweets - Kaju Katlis, Dryfruit barfis, Almond barfi, Pistachio rolls. and then I modified the cuisineart basic/simple vanilla ice-cream recipe.

Though the recipe calls for the heavy cream which has a high fat content (for getting the right consistency of ice-cream), to manage the calorie intake, serve the ice-cream in smaller scoops. A portion control is the key!


Here's what I did -

Diwali Ice-cream (12 servings)
Ingredients
Leftover Diwali sweets like barfis/katlis/rolls etc
1 cup Reduced fat milk (Preferably organic, not mandatory)
3 cups Heavy Cream (Preferably organic, not mandatory)

Method
1. Crush all the Diwali sweets by hand.
2. Mix cream, milk and crushed sweets with a fork.
3. Pour in the frozen bowl of Cuisineart ice cream maker.
4. Let it churn for about 30 minutes.
5. A yummy Diwali Ice cream is ready!! Garnish with two Kaju Katlis for an absolutely dramatic effect on your guests!

Note -
1. I kept a few bits and pieces of the sweets but you can even powder them completely using a blender, if you like.

2. Since the sweets are already loaded with plenty of sugar, I didn't add any additional sugar. Give a taste while you are mixing them, and decide if you still want to add some more.

3. You can even add some wet sweets like rasgulla/gulabjamun etc. If you want to add those, squeeze the excess liquid, and chop them before adding.

4. I didn't really measure the amount of crushed barfis since my mission was to get rid of them!;-) But anywhere between 1 to 2 cups should work. Little more or less will not make a difference.

Credits -
1. Asha of Aroma/Foodies hope for her wonderful post about ice-creams & Cuisineart.

2. Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's Khana Khazaana - the episode I never saw but just heard from my mom.

3. Cuisineart basic vanilla ice-cream recipe available here.

4. My mom - Well, can't stop by just saying she gave me that half baked recipe of "My" Sanjeev Kapoor. After all, she is my mom. I pretty much owe everything about me to her!

Update -
Oh no!!! Look what I found!! As I was looking for the link for updating Sanjeev Kapoor's name on my blog, I found this!! His well-written Mixed Mithai Kulfi is available on his website. Well, now we know two ways of using the Diwali leftovers!!:-)

Moog Sprouts Pesarettu

My friend, Priya told me pesarettu can be made from whole moong sprouts as well as green moong daal. She not only shared her recipe but also cooked the pesarettu & served with her signature coconut chutney and upma on side. Since then, this pesarettu graces our dining table at least once a fortnight.

I was very hesitant about posting this Pesarettu thinking it is already featured on the blogs which I hold in high esteem. But then I thought, this is something I make regularly at my home. So I can surely share it with the world too.

Moog Sprouts Pesarettu

Ingredients
1 Cup dry Moog beans, make sprouts which is about 3 1/2 cups sprouts
2 “ Ginger, peeled & chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

2 tbsp. Rice Flour
Salt to taste
½ tsp. Cumin Seeds

Topping
1-2 Green Chilies (Optional)
1 small Onion, chopped (Optional)

Oil for frying

Method
1. Grind moog sprouts along with ginger and cumin seeds, salt, cilantro & rice flour.
2. Heat a dosa pan. Grease with oil. Spread the dosa batter in a circular disc.
3. Sprinkle finely chopped onions and green , if you prefer. Use oil as needed for frying.
4. Serve when the brown spots appear.
5. Serve with chutney of your choice.

Note -
1. Rice flour makes the pesarettu crispy.

Chicken Kolhapuri

Kolhapur is famous for Goddess Mahalaxmi's temple, Kolhapuri chapals, Kolhapuri saaj, Kolhapuri laungi mirchi, Kolhapuri jaggery & last but not least three of the famous Kolhapuri meat delicacies. They are Chicken/Mutton Kolhapuri, Tambda Rassa (Red curry) and Pandhra Rassa (White curry). This cuisine is fiery hot with the famous laungi mirchi (A type of hot chilies).

This is what amazes me the most. Though Indian cuisine is generalized as just tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala and naan, there is really so much variety. Every state of India has a uniquely different cuisine and even within any state, based on the region, the cuisine is unique. Take an example of my home state of Maharashtra. There is Maharashtrian cuisine with is flavored by Goda Masala (that's how we cook most of the Maharashtrian dishes at home), and then there is Kolhpauri cuisine, Varhadi cuisine, Khandeshi cuisine, Marathwada cuisine, Malvani cuisine, Koli style cuisine, Prabhu style cuisine and many many more types. And same is applicable to each and every state. This variety just amazes me and even if I try diligently, it is just impossible for me to master this diversity of Indian cuisine.

My aunt's recipe which I am sharing today, is generally made with the goat meat or mutton. But I use it for chicken and it tastes good.

Chicken Kolhapuri
Ingredients

1 lb chicken

1 red bell pepper

4-5 dry red chilies (Kashmiri or byadgi)

1/4 tsp. Cumin Seeds

7 pepper corns

3 cloves

1" cinnamon

1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds

1 tsp. Black Cumin Seeds (Shah Jeera)

2 tsp. mustard seeds

1/4 cup dry coconut

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp turmeric powder

4-5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

salt to taste

Garnish

1/2 lemon

1 tbsp cilantro/coriander leaves chopped

Method

1. Roast all the spices one after the other. Roast coconut till it is deep brown but not burnt.

2. Grind the roasted spices, coconut and red bell pepper without adding any water to a smooth paste.

3. Marinate chicken with the above paste, salt, turmeric powder.

4. Add chopped garlic to the above marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

5. Heat oil in a pressure cooker/pressure pan or pressure handi. Add marinated chicken. Stir fry for about 5 minutes.

6. Add 1 cup water. and pressure cook for up to 4-5 whistles.

7. Squeeze lemon. Mix well.

8. Garnish with chopped cilantro.


Note -

1. I have significantly reduced the number of chilies (from up to 20 kashmiri chilies or 4-5 kolhapuri laungi mirchis)

2. I have also significantly reduced the amount of oil (The recipe called for a whopping 3/4 cup oil!!!)

3. You can let the curry boil till all the water is completely evaporated to make "Chicken Kolhapuri sukha".

4. The original recipe definitely does not have red bell pepper, but I added to get a rich red color. If you have kashmiri chilies with you, you don't need to add red bell pepper.

Credits -

1. The idea of using red bell pepper for getting the vibrant red color for the Indian curries is by Madhur Jaffrey.

Five Star

My sweet friend, Bindiya (of in love with food) announced "These are a few of my favorite things: Chocolate". That's one of the simplest events ever or so I thought! It was all about just posting a picture of your favorite chocolate. Well, my favorite chocolate in the whole wide world is "Cadbury's Five Star". But guess what? I couldn't find it anywhere here. but Bindiya even sent me the picture of my favorite "Five Star" so I could participate. Now can it get any simpler than that? Bindiya, I promise if and when I find the "Five star" in the Indian stores, I will click the picture immediately and update this post.

No matter how many other chocolates I have tasted, "Five Star" remains my most favorite, probably because I associate it with my childhood memories.

This post goes to Bindiya's "These are a few of my favorite things: Chocolate". Thanks Bindiya!

Credits -

1. Photo courtesy - Bindiya Singh of in love with food.

Sandwich Dhokla

I serve this Dhokla as a finger food or starters for the party many times. I use two types of Dhokla batters and a chutney to make this colorful dhokla. If I do not have the batters ready, I use the ready made instant mixes of yellow dhokla and white dhokla. I smear a simple coriander chutney between the two layers. The only caveat to get a good result is to wait till the first dhokla layer is completely cooled off before smearing the chutney and also, after having the second layer steamed, wait again patiently before cutting the dhokla to get the good squares.

Sandwich Dhokla

Ingredients

1 recipe yellow dhokla batter (Any instant yellow dhokla is OK)

1 recipe white dhokla batter (Any instant white dhokla is OK)

1 recipe green cilantro/coriander chutney

For green chutney

A handful of cilantro/coriander leaves
1-2 green chilies

1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

salt to taste

a pinch of sugar

Method

1. Make the two batters according to the package instructions in two different bowls.

2. Boil water in a pressure cooker. Grease cooker containers.

3. Pour yellow dhokla batter in the container. Steam the way you would steam idlis, without using pressure, for about 15 minutes.

4. Cool completely. Smear green chutney generously. Now pour a layer of white dhokla batter.

5. Steam again just the way you did before, without using pressure.

6. Take out the dhokla. Let it cool completely.

7. Cut into squares and serve.

Note -

1. The order of steaming the layers (yellow first or white?) does not matter.

2. I try to avoid using coconut in the chutney to retain the dark green color of the cilantro.

3. Use deeper cooker containers than flat thalis to steam this dhokla.

Merry Christmas!

To: All those who visit,comment & encourage my amateurish attempt to blog
and also,
To: All those who don't,

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!
& Season's Blessings!

May God Bless you!

RasPriya Truffle

Chocolate RasPriya Truffle

This is my "American Desi" version which is based on the classic Bengali dessert. It goes by a quaint name of "RasPriya". Many moons back, I had this original Raspriya at my friend's house in Mumbai. I tried to re-create it using American Supermarket ingredients.

I love to entertain with the desserts which get ready in seconds and still manage to generate "Wow!" from the guests. This dessert got ready in about 5 minutes and did I mention, no cooking involved?

RasPriya Truffle (About 8 -12 servings depending on the serving cup)

Ingredients

1 pint vanilla ice-cream (light)

1 box coolwhip (light)

1 box ready-made Rasgulla can or Angoori can

A handful of cashew/raisins/grapes mixture

Garnish

1/2 bar of chocolate (grated)

or 1 tbsp doodh masala & Few pistachios

Method

1. In a big bowl, add ice-cream and coolwhip. Whirl an electric hand blender or fork so it is uniformly mixed.

2. If using Angoori which is like small rasgulla, squeeze out the sugar syrup and keep aside. If using big rasgulla, cut them in halves and squeeze the sugar syrup.

3. And now take the tall dessert cups. Layer the icecream-coolwhip mixture. Next layer is of cashews/raisins/grapes. Top it with angoori or rasgullas.

4. Garnish with grated chocolate or doodh masala &pistachios.

5. Refrigerate. Serve chilled.

Note -

1. You can add some more fruits to play with colors like green/red/purple grapes in the middle layer.

2. Use your imagination, and layer any ingredients in the middle layer. or make multiple layers using a tall dessert cup.

3. You may want to thaw the ice-cream in the fridge to simplify the mixing.

4. Due to very cold weather and lack of sunshine, I couldn't photograph the layers well. :-(

Pistachio RasPriya Truffle

Brown Rice

Before Jira rice, it was brown rice, at least at my family get-togethers. After Jira rice arrived, my mom and all aunts discovered that it's even easier and then brown rice got a backseat! Traditionally, a Parsi delicacy, brown rice is served with Dhansaak. But we served it with anything from chicken curry to daal fry at the family get-togethers. Since this rice is not spicy hot but is quite flavorful with delicate balance of a few spices and caramelized onions, it makes a perfect combo with a spicy curry.

I have learned from a friend who is an expert in Iranian cooking that, this rice is cooked for longer than needed to get a uniform brown crust at the bottom. and that crusty rice is considered a delicacy.

Here's how I make it.

Brown Rice

Ingredients

2 cups basmati rice

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

A small pinch of turmeric powder

1/2 tsp dhana jeera powder/coriander-cumin powder

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp olive oil

salt to taste

Roast together and crush using mortar and pestle -

1 cinnamon

4 cloves

4 cardamoms

Method

1. Wash and soak rice till ready to use.

2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add sugar. Then add sliced onions with bay leaves. Keep stirring on a low flame till onions are brown. This is what will give the characteristic "brown" color to the brown rice. So make sure that it doesn't burn but is uniformly brown.

3. Roast the spices and crush them using mortar and pestle. Make sure they are not powdered.

4. Add crushed spices, turmeric powder, coriander-cumin seed powder and salt to the onions. Stir well.

5. Drain rice and add to the pressure cooker. Add 4 cups warm water.

6. Increase the flame. Adjust salt. Bring to boil. As the water boils, close the lid of the pressure cooker. Put on the pressure. and reduce the flame. After 2 whistles, switch off the gas.

7. When the pressure drops completely, open the lid. Fluff the rice with a fork. Serve with Parsi Daal or Dhansaak.

Note -

1. Make sure that the spices are just crushed slightly and not powdered to get the right flavor.

Khaman Dhokla

There are many types of Dhoklas. The most popular are khatta dhokla which is white and khaman dhokla which is yellow. Then, there is Nylon Khaman Dhokla which is made from besan (chickpea flour). And of course, there are numerous permutations and combinations with Toor daal dhokla, Moog daal dhokla, green peas dhokla, mixed daal dhokla, Wheat dhokla, Sandwich Dhokla, Rawa Dhokla or even lilwa tuvar dhokla.

My mother-in law sends me a yearly supply of "Khatta Dhokla" flour. It's a homemade coarse flour of urad daal and rice. It is fermented using sour buttermilk or yogurt. Because of that sour taste, it is called Khatta Dhokla. Nylon Khaman Dhokla is readily available in most of the Farsan Marts. The readymade, instant dhokla packets that I have tried are Gits, Chitale Bandhu, Tarla Dalal, & Ramdev. My most favorite is Ramdev and close second is Tarla Dalal brand. I am not sure if Ramdev is available at the Indian stores in United States.

When you travel towards Gujarat from Mumbai, you get "Shree ji khaman" in the train. That's the best dhokla I have ever tasted. The following recipe is my attempt to create that taste. Why the soaked chana daal? You are right. It's not mandatory. But it gives a nice bite to the otherwise smooth batter of the Dhokla. If you don't care for it, or have simply forgotten to keep a spoonful away, don't worry about it. Proceed with the rest. You will get the same results.

Note - Most of the Gujarati households refer to this dish as just "khaman" rather than "Khaman Dhokla" as referred elsewhere.

Khaman Dhokla
Ingredients
1 cup rice
1 cup + 1 tbsp chana daal
1 cup urad daal

1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

2 tsp green chili-ginger paste

Tempering
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp buttermilk or water
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
A generous pinch of asafoetida

Garnish
2 tbsp chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
1 tbsp grated coconut (Optional)
2 chilies, slit (Optional)

Method
1. Soak the daals and rice overnight.
2. Grind to a coarse paste except 1 tbsp chana daal.
3. Cover and keep for fermenting, in a warm place for at least 8 hours. Refrigerate the remaining 1 tbsp chana daal.
4. Mix buttermilk, oil and baking soda. Make sure that the buttermilk is at the room temperature. Add this mixture to the batter. Add salt, ginger chili paste and 1 tbsp refrigerated chana daal. Mix well. Add more water if necessary to make idli batter like consistency.
5. Grease thalis (metal plates) or cooker containers. Heat water in the pressure cooker.
6. Equally divide the batter in plates or containers. Steam without pressure for 20 minutes.

7. Open the pressure cooker. Let dhokla cool down a little. Cut into squares.
8. Heat oil in a small saucepan. Add mustard seeds, sesame seeds, asafoetida. As they splutter, switch off the gas, add buttermilk or water and pour on the dhokla evenly. 9. Garnish with coconut, cilantro and green chilies.

Note -
1. Urad daal and rice can be ground together (dry) and kept in an airtight container. So when you want to make dhokla, you can just add plain yogurt or buttermilk for fermenting. But I feel that, the soaked daal dhokla tastes better.
2. When you add water to the batter to adjust the consistency, make sure it is lukewarm.
3. You can sprinkle a dash of freshly crushed black pepper or paprika over the dhokla batter in the thali, before steaming.
4. You can use brown basmati rice instead of white basmati rice. It will give a slight brown shade to the dhokla.
5. This Dhokla has a pale yellow color so I haven't added any turmeric powder. The pale yellow color is given by the chana daal. If you want a bright yellow shade, you can add turmeric powder.

Kohlrabi Athanu

Kohlrabi Athanu

Kohlrabi pickle

Ingredients

1 Kohlrabi, peeled & diced

2-3 tbsp Gujarati sambhaar (more or less per your taste)

1 lemon

Method

1. Mix kohlrabi dices, sambhar.

2. Squeeze the lemon juice. Mix well.

Note -

1. This instant pickle can remain up to 2 days in the fridge.

2. You can make similar instant pickle with carrots, bell peppers, cauliflowers, turnips, radishes, jicama.

Eat your sprouts & Freeze them too!

Though I was raised as a non-vegetarian, we heavily relied on the beans and legumes for our daily protein quota. Because non-vegetarian food was reserved only for Sundays. The sprouts were regulars in my mom's kitchen. My brothers and I had strong aversion to some of the vegetables then, but the sprouts were liked by all.

After coming to United States, life became more hectic. The reasons (or excuses?) were many like demands of job, challenges of new motherhood, and no domestic help. Soaking the beans and waiting them to sprout up sounded too much of a work. Then I watched one of Sara Moulton's shows (cooking live! or Sara's secrets) on the food network. She explained how frozen vegetables are "fresher" than the usual fresh vegetables available in the market. That was a moment of enlightenment for me. She said that the vegetables are picked when they are at their peek of freshness and then are frozen immediately without adding any preservatives, and thus their freshness is preserved, where as the vegetables available in the supermarket, travel a lot and sometimes are less fresh than the frozen ones! That got me to thinking. What if I freeze the sprouts? I did it and it worked for me.

Then on, I always make 4-5 sprouts simultaneously. Once they are sprouted, I put them in the freezer-friendly ziploc bags and freeze them. So even if I have a busy day, all I have to do is to thaw the sprouts bag previous day in the refrigerator and then use them. Sometimes I forget to thaw in the fridge, but I can just hold the bag under lukewarm water and then I am ready to cook the sprouts.

It saves me time and I get to include the sprouts, which are full of proteins, dietary fibers, and folic acid, more regularly in our diet.

Here is what I do -

How to make & freeze sprouts

You need -

Beans

A big bowl for soaking

colander with small perforations

Saran wrap

Ziploc Freezer bags (or any other brand, but make sure they are freezer bags!)

Permanent Marker

Method

1. Pick the beans for any impurities.

2. Wash them and soak in water till they are completely submerged. Soak them overnight or at least for 8 hours

3. Once the beans look swollen, drain all the water. Transfer them to a colander with small perforations.

4. Keep a small utensil under the colander to catch any water. Cover the colander tightly with saran wrap. Make sure the beans are not touching the wrap. In a few hours, you will see some droplets collected under the wrap. i.e. We are all set. The greenhouse dome is created and the beans will sprout soon.

5. keep the new apparatus in a warm place like microwave or oven.

6. It may take anywhere between 8 - 12 hour to get the sprouts depending on the weather.
7. Once the sprouts are ready, transfer them to individual "freezer friendly" ziploc bags. Write date by permanent marker so you know when you froze them and use them in the "FIFO" manner. (First In First Out)

8. Freeze them in the freezer.

9. Use them whenever you need them by thawing the bag in the refrigerator previous day. or run quickly under warm water.

Note -

1. As you all may very well know, the beans sprout better during summer time than winter. Try to use lukewarm water for soaking in the winter.

2. Use "freezer friendly" ziploc bags that means the bags that are specifically designed to use in the freezer. Regular ziploc bag may tear, gather too much ice, give freezer burns and cause a big mess.

3. While using the ziploc bag, make sure that the air is completely. Do not use plastic bags or plastic container to store the sprouts in the freezer.

4. There are some beans which take too much time to sprout. If you are not getting sprouts and the beans are turning slimy, then you have kept them out too long. I always have hard time sprouting black eyed peas irrespective of the weather. Moog that I got at Indian stores took a long time, but I had a awesome moong sprouts from moong from Whole Foods. It could very well be one wrong batch of moong from Indian stores.

5. I regularly sprout these beans with consistently good results - Masoor, Matki (Math beans), Moong, white peas, green peas, black peas, black chana, lima beans, small chowli, vaal, kulith

6. Try to use the freezer-friendly Ziploc bag which holds just enough sprouts for one use. The bags are available in quart or gallon size. I generally use quart size because I use the entire bag for one cooking, gallon size would be too much for us. Freezing, thawing and re-freezing is not really recommended.

7. These frozen sprouts need to be used for the curries/usals/pullaos etc for which you are going to cook the sprouts. If you are looking for eating them raw, then you probably need to have fresh sprouts.

Moog Sprouts


White Peas Sprouts


Red Chowli Sprouts

Green Chana sprouts

Lima Beans Sprouts

Matki/Moth Sprouts

Masoor Sprouts

Kulith/Horse Gram sprouts

Green Peas Sprouts

Credits
1. Sara Moulton is an executive chef of Gourmet magazine. More information, click here.

Mewa nu Achar

I wanted to make something for the AFAM event: dry fruits hosted by Yum blog. I didn't want to make cake or cookies. No, it's not that I am not making these. But off late, I have been cooking just too much. It's the time, we just give up our resolve of eating healthy. This is the time, we dig in the most. I am embarrassed to admit that I have been deep-frying, baking, and cooking like there is no tomorrow. But the guests are arriving and there will be many kids. I have to make cookies for them and of course for Santa. There is just too much of excitement. Anyway, new year will be here soon, and I guess, I have to deal with the extra pounds that I would gain in just last 2 weeks of the year. But then, I have to keep something for the new year resolutions, correct?

Anyways, back to the dry fruits, so I wanted to make this amazing pickle which is a Parsi delicacy. It was on my "to-do" list for a long time. and there are too many opportunities at the same time. Dry fruit event and guests are coming - how else would I get the scapegoats to taste it?:-) Actually, I was almost tempted to submit my "Soul Kadhi" for the dry fruit event, since Kokum is also a dried fruit. But then I changed my mind thinking, when you say "dry fruit", you think more of dried figs, raisins, and dates rather than my dear kokum. So here it goes!

The recipe is adapted from Dr. Katy Dalal's book "Jamva Chalo ji". If you love Parsi food or if you are interested in cooking Parsi food then Dr. Katy Dalal's this book which comes in two parts, is a good addition to your kitchen library. I have changed the recipe quite a bit to have more dryfruits.Also, Dr. Dalal says that this pickle should be more on sweeter side, but I didn't put as much sugar as she had recommended. and last but not least, it doesn't have oil. (well, all that baking and cooking takes care of it!) :-)

I am planning to give this "Mawa nu achar" with a label "Dry fruit Chutney" to my colleagues. Hopefully they will enjoy it.

Mewa Nu Achar

Dry fruit Pickle

Ingredients

1 tbsp dried mango

1 tbsp dried cherries

1 tbsp dried papaya

1 tbsp dried pineapple

1 tbsp dried prunes

1 tbsp dried dates

1 tbsp dried cranberries

1 tbsp dried blueberries

1 tbsp dried figs

1 tbsp dried raisins

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 carrot, grated

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup + 1 tbsp white vinegar

salt to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp paprika

1 tsp mughlai garam masala

A generous pinch of cardamom powder

A generous pinch of nutmeg powder

3-4 strands of saffron

Method

1. Cut all the dry fruits in a bite sized pieces. Add more or less so that the entire dry fruit collection measures up to 1 heaped cup.

2. Soak them in about 1 cup white vinegar overnight.

3. Heat grated carrots along with 1 tbsp vinegar, sugar and garlic. 4. As the carrots soften, add soaked dryfruits along with the vinegar.

5. Add salt, paprika, turmeric powder, mughlai garam masala, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and saffron.

6. Stir till all the liquid evaporates and a thick gravy is formed.

7. Cool completely. Store in an airtight jar. Refrigerate.

Note -

1. I have significantly reduced the sugar. But you can add more if you like.

2. The original recipe does not have so many dryfruits. I must admit, I got a little carried away! :-)

3. The original recipe calls for sugarcane vinegar. I had no idea what it is or where to get it. I just happily used my usual white distilled vinegar! :-) But then my new blog buddy, Shweta (of fresh flavors) commented that sugarcane vinegar is available in India and is used by her mom in making Punjabi pickles with turnips and carrots. It is red/brown in color and has a flavor different than white vinegar. Thanks, Shweta for all this information. I think, the sugarcane vinegar will taste better than the white distilled vinegar.

4. When soaking dry fruits in vinegar, do not use any metal container. Instead, use a glass or ceramic container. I couldn't find any proof for this, but my grandma always said not to keep any sour fruits like tamarind/kokum in steel containers. They need to be stored in a ceramic one. So following that age-old wisdom, I soaked the dryfruits with vinegar in a glass bowl.

Credits

1. Recipe adapted from "Jamva Chalo ji - Part 1" by Dr. Katy Dalal.

This post is my contribution to AMFM:Dry Fruits hosted by Yum Blog.

Khandvi or Sularichya Vadya

Photo - A platter of Khandvi & Kothimbeer Vadi

Khandvi in Gujarati and Suralichya vadya in Marathi, both indicate the same yellow colored, jelly roll style savory snack. Probably because it's readily available in the Gujarati Farsan Marts of Mumbai, it is considered more Gujarati dish than a Maharashtrian one. But it's same in both the cuisines, just the name is different.

I was scared to try them, thinking they may be difficult to make. But it was a pleasant surprise to know that they are not that complicated. The consistency of the batter such that it coats the spoon evenly and spreading the batter on the steel plates while still hot are the two key factors in getting a yummy Khandvi.

Khandvi /SuraLichya Vadya
Ingredients
1 cup besan /chickpea flour
1 tsp all purpose flour or corn flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup water
1 tsp ginger-chili paste
A pinch of turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Garnish
1 tbsp cilantro/coriander leaves, chopped
1 tbsp freshly grated coconut
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Method
1. Whisk buttermilk and water in a saucepan. Add besan and flour. Whisk to make a smooth batter without any lumps.
2. Add salt, turmeric powder, ginger-chili paste. Stir well.
3. Turn on the gas. Keep stirring. The gas should be on the lowest mark.
4. Let it cook for about 11 minutes. Make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom or burn.
5. Take about 1/4 cup batter and spread thinly on the steel plates (thalis).
6. While spreading the batter, keep the saucepan on the low flame so it's easier to spread.
7. Cut about 2" slits by knife and roll up like jelly rolls.
8. Garnish with coconut and cilantro.
9. Take a microwave safe small bowl. Add oil and heat it for 30 sec. Add mustard seeds and heat it again for about 30 sec to hear the spluttering. Pour the hot oil over the Khandvi.

and here's the recipe for the Kothimbeer Vadi

Note -
1. Do not grease the thalis before spreading the batter.
2. Cut the strips only after the rolled batter has cooled down.

Credits:
1. Microwave tempering idea is based on Ms. Julie Sahani's book Moghul Microwave.

Kokum from Vengurla

Many of you wanted to know what Kokum is (Thanks for your comments and emails!) , so here is a picture of kokum. The first picture is dry Kokum.

The second picture is of kokum, washed and soaked in water. Can you miss that color?

Kajuchi Usal

Cashewnut is my most favorite nut. and if it becomes the star ingredient in a spicy dish, it's even better. Kaju chi Usal is one such yummy treat from Konkan. I think, here you will get to eat Kaju che laadoo (cashhew laddoos), Kajuchi garam masala amti (cashew curry with garam masala) and also this kajuchi usal (cashew stir fry). But just after eating one cashew usal, I think I will have to run for two hours on my treadmill for 6 months! So I better make the rest after a long time!:-)


Here's how I make it.

Kaju chi Usal (Serves 4)
काजू ची उसळ
Ingredients
1 cup dry cashewnuts
Salt to taste

Tempering
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/8 tsp turmeric (Optional)
7-9 curry leaves
1 red chili, halved
1 green chili halved

Garnish
1 tbsp coconut

Method
1. Soak dry cashewnuts in 1 1/2 cup warm water for about 2 hours.
2. Heat oil in a wok/kadai/dekhchi.
3. Add all the ingredients for the tempering.
4. As the mustard seeds start spluttering, add drained cashews and 1 tbsp water.Add salt to taste.
5. Cover with the lid. Let them cook.
6. Once they are cooked but not too mushy, switch off the gas.
7. Garnish with coconut.

Note -

1. Use unsalted, raw cashewnuts for the best results.

This post is my contribution to "Click" event (Theme: Nuts) at Jugalbandi.

Soul Kadhi

When "Fried Fish" is here, can "Soul" Kadhi be far behind?:-) A very authentic cold kadhi, gets its name "sol" from the kokums used in the recipe. These kokums are also called "amsol". Kokum or Amsol is a dried fruit. The fresh fruit is called "Ratamba". This sour fruit gives a very pretty hot pink color. Since sol kadhi also has coconut milk, the resulting concoction is pretty pink. It is my most favorite cold kadhi which is often served with fried fish. and since it touches my soul, I often refer to it as Soul Kadhi.

My paternal grandmother used to make it the old-fashion way. Using a stone grinder to meticulously extract thick and thin coconut milk of the fresh coconut and then mixing with a vibrant pink water of soaked kokums. My mom too extracted the coconut milk but used Sumeet. I use store brought ready made coconut milk. I prefer to use the "light" coconut milk to save on some calories and fat contents. I have heard that now, even in India, you get ready made coconut milk in cartons by Dabur. and also, you get ready made kokum pulp so you don't even have to soak the kokums. This ready made kokum pulp is called "Aagol". and it's not sweetened like kokum sharbat. In my local Indian stores, I used to get very dry, black kokums. They never used to give me the desired pink/magenta shade. So I used to cherish my kokums which mom used to send from Mumbai (Actually my friend's mom used to give it to my mom since she knew I just love their kokums from their gaanv-village.). But recently I noticed that even Indian stores carries these pretty pink, softer kokums.

Since I just use ready made coconut milk, my Soulkadhi gets ready in about 2 minutes. Here's what I do.

Soul Kadhi

Ingredients

1 can light coconut milk can, shake well before opening the can

2-3 cloves of garlic

4-5 kokum petals

salt to taste

1 green chilli, chopped finely

2 tbsp cilantro/coriander leaves, chopped finely

Method

1. Soak kokum petals in 4 tbsp warm water for at least 2 hours. You should get vibrant magenta color at this point. Strain the kokum water.

2. blend coconut milk with kokum water, garlic, salt till you see a very pretty pink concoction.

3. Pour it in a serving bowl.

4. Garnish with chili and cilantro.

5. Refrigerate. Serve chilled or at room temperature with white rice and fried fish.

Note-

1. Vegetarians may like to serve this kadhi with rice and kachrya.

2. The amount of kokum petals really depend on the freshness of the kokums you have. If they are fresh, just 3-4 kokums will give enough sourness and color, else you may need some more kokums.

3. If you prefer your kadhi more sour, then you can add strained kokums back to the kadhi. Remember that as they get soaked, they make kadhi more and more sour.

Mahesh Lunch Home's Fish Fry

Few years back, Times of India (the city supplement, Bombay times to be precise!) ran the series "Your Speciality". The readers used to request their favorite restaurant recipe and the owner/chef of that restaurant would oblige with their signature recipe. I had clipped all those recipes. I was still studying then, and I couldn't try any of those recipes. Today, while going through that collection, I decided to try these recipes that now make me nostalgic of my city - Mumbai.

Mahesh Lunch home, located at Colaba is considered Seafood lover's paradise. It is supposed to be the first Manglorean restaurant in Mumbai. Since all the information is given here, I've decided to talk about the fish fry recipe instead.

A reader had requested the recipe for "bombay duck fry" (It's a fish, ok?, not really a duck!;-) Bombil in Marathi). Chef Angara of Mahesh Lunch home has shared the recipe. Since we don't get bombay ducks here & I don't care for them much anyways, I have replaced them with pomfrets. I have changed the recipe a little bit to suit the pomfrets that I am using. The original recipe is given at the end.

Interesting Read -
Mahesh Lunch Home by BusyBee

Mahesh Lunch Home's Fish Fry

Ingredients

4 Pomfret slices

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp tamarind pulp

salt to taste

2 tsp maida
2 tsp rawa

Oil for frying

Method

1. Marinate the fish slices with salt, paprika, tamarind pulp

2. Dredge in the maida,rawa mixture

3. Shallow fry.

Note -

1. Our family recipe for fish fry always include turmeric powder and asafoetida for marinating the fish. We never use maida but only rawa or rice powder for dredging. But I have recently discovered here, that if you dredge the fish in the maize flour, it tastes very crispy and delicious. We also do not use tamarind for fried fish at home. But I always like to try new recipes. and since it is "Mahesh Lunch Home's" recipe, I had to try it their way, to the best of my ability.

2. I have also tasted green masala paste (of green chilies, ginger, garlic) applied to fish slices along with chili powder, turmeric, salt. You may like it if you like your food extra spicy!

Read what NYTimes had to say about Mahesh Lunch Home, here.

Mahesh Lunch Home is located at -

8-B Cawasji Patel Street, Mumbai - 400 001Tel : (91-22) 2287 0938 / 2202 3965

Corn on Cob Curry

This is an ideal curry for summer when the corns are abundant in the supermarket. When I went to the Whole Foods last weekend, I found these yummy corns that I had to buy. Well, in this icy cold weather, I thought at least let me cook the typical summer food to feel warm. If you don't get the fresh corn, frozen can be used.


I love to slurp the corn in this very simple curry that my aunt makes. I called her today to get the recipe so I don't miss any ingredient. The rice flour is the secret ingredient that works as a binder for the curry.


The curry really tastes delicious after the corn is soaked in the masala. So make it in the morning and serve it in the night. It's yum!


Corn Green Curry (Serves 4)
मक्याची आमटी
Ingredients
1 packet corn on cob, frozen or fresh with 6-8 small cobs
salt to taste


Grind to paste
4 tbsp fresh coconut
3 green chilies
1" ginger
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp tamarind pulp
2 tbsp rice flour


Tempering
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 small onion, finely chopped


Method
1. Pressure cook corn on cobs for about 3-4 whistles. If corn on cobs are big, cut them.
2. Grind all the ingredients for the paste except rice flour. Once the paste is fine, add rice flour in the last stage of grinding and swirl quickly in the blender.
3. Heat oil. Add mustard seeds, turmeric powder and onion.
4. Once the onion becomes soft, add green masala paste and fry for 2 minutes.
5. Add cooked corn on the cobs and 1 cup water.
6. Add salt to taste. Bring to boil.
7. Simmer for 11 minutes adding more water if necessary.


Note
1. Due to the rice flour, the curry becomes thicker as time goes on. So just before serving, you may need to add some more water for the desired consistency. If you do add water, do not forget to boil it again.
2. It's easier to cut the corn on cobs after they are pressure cooked.

The above picture is my contribution to Click: Au Naturel at Jugalbandi.

Novel Food : The Hindi Bindi Club & Mango Lassi

Some time back, when I was browsing through our local library, I saw an interesting book on the display - "The Hindi Bindi Club : A novel with recipes" by Monica Pradhan. I picked up the book without opening, thinking it's Monica Bhide. I had read Vee's article about her here.

But this is Monica Pradhan. An American daughter of an immigrant mother, herself, she has written this novel about 6 women. 3 pairs of mothers and daughters. Meenal & Kiran Deshpande, Saroj& Preity Chawla and Uma &Rani Basu-McGuiness. The three mothers are the immigrants from India. The author points out that since they migrated probably a quarter of a century back when there were not as many immigrants from a particular region, so instead of forming the regional club in pardes - foreign land, the three mothers become the closest friends, sharing their joys and sorrows, celebrating old traditions while welcoming the new changes. They are there for each other through thick and thin from their nubile bride days to now the twilight zone. Their daughters are aware of their heritage. but sometimes they get caught in the cultural dilemma. They call their mothers' group a "Hindi Bindi Club". The daughters make their own choices, sometimes without caring what their families or moms may think. The daughters have grown up together but they are not exactly close friends like their moms are or like their moms expect them to be. They have their fair shares of jealousy and cold vibes!

It's a fun novel to read especially since it comes with the recipes. The mothers' traditional recipes like Shukto, Sarson da saag, Samosa, chai, green beans bhaaji and their daughters' fusion cooking like chocolate truffle sandesh, Shrimp coconut curry & dessert porridge (kheer!).

As per the back cover of the book -

"For decades they have remained close, sharing treasured recipes, honored customs, and the challenges of women shaped by ancient ways yet living modern lives. They are the Hindi-Bindi Club, a nickname given by their American daughters to the mothers who left India to start anew—daughters now grown and facing struggles of their own.For Kiran, Preity, and Rani, adulthood bears the indelible stamp of their upbringing, from the ways they tweak their mothers’ cooking to suit their Western lifestyles to the ways they reject their mothers’ most fervent beliefs. Now, bearing the disappointments and successes of their chosen paths, these daughters are drawn inexorably home.Kiran, divorced, will seek a new beginning—this time requesting the aid of an ancient tradition she once dismissed. Preity will confront an old heartbreak—and a hidden shame. And Rani will face her demons as an artist and a wife. All will question whether they have the courage of the Hindi-Bindi Club, to hold on to their dreams—or to create new ones.An elegant tapestry of East and West, peppered with food and ceremony, wisdom and sensuality, this luminous novel breathes new life into timeless themes."

My favorite part of the book? Well, many times while reading many novels I have come across tiny italics where expressions in foreign languages are written. Sometimes French, sometimes German or Italian. ("Au Revoir" and such!) This is for the first time, I saw Marathi sentences written in tiny italics. and that too which are still used by my mom. like "Mazzi ga sonu ti!" (My sweetheart!) or "pillu" (My baby!) or some sentences seem to be like Gudiya - my daughter speaking like "Hot Hot" after tasting the curry and mom asking "Tikhat ki garam?" (Hot as in spicy or hot as in hot?) or "tu maazi mummy aayye!" ("You are my mom!").

I couldn't help thinking, which one of them will be me after 30 years and which one of the daughters, Gudiya will turn into? well, such a silly thought, I told myself and brushed it aside!!

:-)

I enjoyed reading this book.For more about the author -

http://www.hindi-bindi.com/

And now to the recipes. There is a recipe by Meenal Deshpande for mango Lassi. I have adapted the recipe to suit our taste.

Mango Lassi (Serves 2)

Ingredients

1 cup Alphonso Mango pulp (or more if you like)

1 cup plain non fat yogurt

A pinch of salt

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp sugar (Optional)

A pinch of saffron threads

1/4 tsp Mango essence (Optional)

Garnish

Mint leaves

Method

1. Whirl mango, yogurt, cardamom powder, saffron, salt, mango essence & water in a blender till smooth. Give it a taste and adjust sugar if you prefer.

2. Pour into tall glasses. Garnish with mint.

Credits

1. Recipe for Mango Lassi adapted from "The Hindi Bindi club" by Ms. Monica Pradhan.

This is my contribution to "Novel Food : Winter 2007 Edition".

Beet Chee Koshimbeer

Maharashtrian Koshimbeer or salad can be divided in two general categories. One is with lemon dressing and the other with yogurt dressing. Since I have already blogged about carrot salad with lemon dressing (Gajarachi Koshimbeer), I thought of blogging about yogurt based koshimbeer.

This recipe is quite forgiving. I mean, try any salad vegetable instead of beet and it will still come out well. You can even combine all possible salad vegetables and make a wonderful hodgepodge too. If you like you can add the tempered oil though it's not a must. A spoonful of crushed, roasted peanuts definitely adds a nutty flavor but that too is not mandatory. I chose beet because I wanted that shocking pink color on my blog! :-)

Beet chee Koshimbeer (Serves 2 - 4)

बीट ची कोशिम्बीर

Ingredients

1 big beetroot, boiled, peeled, cubed

1 green chili, slit

1 tbsp roasted, unsalted peanuts, crushed

1/2 tbsp chopped cilantro/coriander leaves

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

salt to taste

sugar to taste (Optional)

Tempering (Optional)

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients.

2. Heat oil in a small saucepan. Add cumin seeds. Add to the koshimbeer if desired.

Note

1. Many Maharashtrian as well as Gujarati dishes have a pinch of sugar to bring out the flavor and balance all the taste buds. But many people do not like adding sugar. So it's really up to you.

Ghau ni Bhakri

If you think bhakri is a roti that is made without oil or ghee, then here is a surprise. Gujarati Bhakri is quite sumptuous as it contains loads of oil and ghee. It is sinfully rich. Oil/ghee makes this bhkari flaky like a biscuit. This bhakri is harder than usual soft fulka. A special wooden tool (Roti puffer?) shown in the picture above, is used to press the bhkari so it doesn't puff up.

Here's is my mom-in-law's recipe -

Ghau ni Bhakri

Ingredients

1 cup Wheat Flour

1/4 cup Ghee/Clarified Butter

Salt to taste

Oil for shallow frying

Method

1. Knead dough mixing salt, oil, wheat flour and ghee.

2. The dough should be little hard.

3. Roll into a disc little bigger than a puri.

4. Roast on a hot griddle on a very low flame. Spread some ghee on top. Use wooden tool or even a spatula to press the bhakri so it doesn't puff up. Due to ample ghee/oil, it will become flaky.

5. Flip over and add some more ghee. Keep pressing till brown spots appear on both the sides.

6. Serve with vegetable curry of your choice.

Note -

1. For soft bhakri, stack all the roasted bhakris one on top of the other. For harder - which is preferred at my home - spread them on a big plate.In a few minutes they will become harder.

2. Just for the original recipe sake, let me mention this. Dalda(shortening) or hydrogenated oil is preferred making this bhakri because this makes Bhakri flakier.

Karwari Prawns Curry

My paternal aunt is from Karwar. and she makes this absolutely delicious prawns curry. This is her recipe.

Karwari Prawns Curry (Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

1 lb prawns

salt to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

4-5 pieces of drumsticks/shevgyachya shenga/saragawa (optional)

1/2 small onion, chopped finely

Grind to paste

1/2 small onion

1 tsp tamarind pulp(or more based on your preference)

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 cup coconut

1/2 tsp raw rice

1 tsp roasted coriander seeds

5 - 7 byadgi chilies, roasted in coconut oil

4-5 peppercorns

Method

1. Apply salt and turmeric powder to prawns and refrigerate till ready to use.

2. Grind remaining onion, tamarind,coriander seeds, rice, chilies, turmeric powder, peppercorns and coconut.

3. Heat coconut oil. Fry chopped onion. Add drumsticks and prawns.

4. When drumsticks are cooked, add ground masala paste

5. Add water to make the gravy of desired consistency.

6. Simmer for 7-9 minutes.

7. Serve with rice.

Note

1. Traditionally, this masala is ground on the stone grinder "Ragda" where stone is considered to add a unique flavor to the gravy.

2. For an authentic taste, a small piece of dried turmeric root is used in the masala paste. It is roasted before adding to the grinder. Do not use fresh turmeric root from the vegetable section.

Moghlai Garam Masala

When Sunita (of Sunita's world) announced her monthly spice event "Cinnamon", I was stumped! Cinnamon is a very important ingredient in my pantry and it gets replenished immediately. But still making a dish from Cinnamon as a star ingredient seems to be a challenge to me.

I do not to combine cinnamon with any desserts. I think that honor goes to Cardamom only. So cinnamon rolls, cinnamon buns, cinnamon muffins are out of question. I am still thinking of cinnamony something. but while browsing through some of the cookbooks, I came across my Sumeet recipe booklet - It had a wonderful recipe for Moghlai Garam Masala. Though Cinnamon was not the only ingredient there, it was one of just three ingredients. So I thought of giving it a shot. Since the recipe from Sumeet booklet seemed the simplest, I decided to go with it. and thus got my first homemade and fragrant Moghlai Garam Masala. Suddenly, my cherished store brought masalas are looking very insipid.

Is it Moghlai or Mughlai? Which one is correct? Thanks for your help in advance! Till I find the correct answer, bear with my Moghlai.


Here's the fragrant recipe -

Moghlai Garam Masala
Ingredients
2 parts Cloves
3 parts Cinnamon
3 parts Peppercorn

Method
1. Roast all three spices lightly one after other.

2. Grind to a fine powder.

3. Store in a dry, airtight container.

Credits

Sumeet Recipe Booklet.

I would like to send this post to Sunita's Monthly Spice event:Cinnamon.

Moog Daal Khichadi

My mom's moog daal khichadi is just like her, simple but heartwarming! I blogged about Quinoa Khichadi sometime back, which was based on Mom's recipe. But still this simple moog daal khichadi definitely deserves its own place on my blog.

Mom used to make this Khichadi quite often. It was nutritious, and easy to make especially after a hectic day at work. but to be honest, I used to grimace when mom used to make this. "Why not saboodana khichadi, mom?" I used to argue. I didn't know then the goodness of daal and just the right protein/carb balance provided by this simple khichadi.

Now whenever mom comes here, I often request her to make this Khichadi. She just uses a big pressure cooker container for making this khichadi. She always soaks daal and rice for a few hours and about 1/2 hour before the meal, she puts the pressure cooker on the gas. As soon as everyone sits on the dining table to eat, mom opens the cooker and we enjoy the steaming hot khichadi. Mom serves it along with ghee(toop/clarified butter) or tempered oil or just plain yogurt. Other accompaniments like pickles, chutneys, papads also emerge from the pantry and fridge.

It's extremely cold here, and so today I prepared this heartwarming Khichadi. Easy to make, just perfect for a lazy day.

Mom's Moog Daal Khichadi

Ingredients

1 cup rice

1 cup moog daal

A pinch of asafoetida

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp goda masala

Salt to taste

3 1/2 - 4 cups water

Method

1. Check daal and rice for any impurities. Wash. Keep in a big container of the pressure cooker.

2. Add water and all the ingredients mentioned above.

3. Let the mixture soak till you are ready to eat. Soaking time can vary anywhere from 2-3 hours to 10 minutes. It's a hassle-free Khichadi. No stringent rules here.

4. Pressure cook for about 4-5 whistles.

5. Let the pressure drop of its own.

6. Open the steaming Khichadi. Serve hot.

7. Achar/Papads/Raita would be ideal accompaniments.

Serve with -

1. Ghee

2. Plain yogurt

3. Tempered oil - Heat 1 tbsp oil in a small tempering pan. Add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds. As the seeds splutter, bring the tempered oil to the table. As everyone takes their share of Khichadi on the plate, drizzle few drops of tempered oil on the Khichadi. It should make that trademark sizzling sound.

Note-

1. You can make variations of this Khichadi by adding chilakewali moog daal(green moog daal with peels) or sprouted moog beans.

2. The tempered oil can also be made in the microwave. Heat oil in a microwave safe pyrex ramekin for 30 seconds. Add mustard seeds. Heat for another 30 seconds or till the mustard seeds start spluttering. The microwave times vary so you need to check which time suits best for your microwave.

3. The proportion of rice/daal can be changed from 1:1 to 1:2 if you prefer mushier/softer version Khichadi (like a porridge) with more daal. or 2:1 if you prefer dry khichadi like pullao.

4. You can substitute Dhanajeera powder (coriander/cumin seed powder), or some khada masala (whole spices) if you don't have goda masala.

Credits

The microwave tempering idea is based on Julie Sahni's "Moghul Microwave". For more information, read here.

I would like to send this post to Easy Craft's (of Simple Indian Food) food during pregnancy event.