KADDU KI SABZI (Pumpkin Vegetable)

KADDU KI SABZI

(Pumpkin Vegetable)

you my pumpkin pumpkin, hello honey bunny

After years of cooking, I still regret that I have never been able to produce the flavors my mom puts in her cooking. I know her main ingredient is love. Even if I follow the exact recipe and season ample amount of love, dedication and discipline in my food. At the end of the day, the recipe is not yet perfect.

My mom visits me twice a year, every time I request her to cook Kaddu ki Sabzi and Bharwa Paratha. She makes a perfect blend of sugar and tanginess of tomatoes.

Well, It started this way, that my friends planned a hangout at Drive-in cinemas along with dinner. One of my friend is little fussy about eating vegetables. I chose to prepare this recipe and asked him to trust me and try it. Amazingly he liked it. (considering he is a blunt man and gives only honest opinions. I am not gonna name him here, but il tag this link to his wall J).

Here goes the recipe:

Pumpkin medium riped 250gms (peeled & chopped in one inch cubes)

Tomatoes medium size 2 in number

2 tsf sugar

Quarter spoon fenugreek seeds (methi ke dane for tempering)

Salt, chilli flakes, turmeric powder for seasoning.

2tsf vegetable oil

In a pan, heat the oil on medium heat. Add fenugreek seeds, sauté for a minute. Add chopped tomatoes. Stir occasionally till they get tender. Add sugar. Wait for a minute. Add the seasoning. In the last add pumpkin cubes. Mix well. Cover the pan with lid. No need to add water as pumpkin releases its juices. Wait for ten minutes with occasional stirring. The recipe is ready if the pumpkin is nicely tender and juicy.

Garnish with coriander.

Best goes with paratha, poori, thepla.

My notes:

My mom is the best cook ever.

You can avoid peeling the pumpkin, it adds roughage to recipe.

The correct blend of sugar, tanginess of tomatoes and exact amount of salt is learnt with time. (don’t get disheartened if it doesn’t turn out well in first trial)

Masala Vermicelli

MASALA VERMICELLI

A morning breakfast or an afternoon snack, Masala or vegetable vermicelli is a good option to rely on. A quick ten minutes recipe I usually relish after my work hours. Sometimes my day  goes too hectic and I feel like munching something spicy after work. Being a diet conscious I usually avoid kachori and samosas.

Vermicelli is generally used in kheer or desserts. But I usually make it full of vegetables like a pulao.

Here are the notes of recipe

What we need

Roasted vermicelli  200gms ( if you don’t get roasted one, you can roast it on medium heat in a pan with a tsf of oil). These days whole wheat vermicelli is available. It’s healthier than regular refined flour product.

Ajwain  1/4tsf

Chopped one onion

Ginger garlic paste 1tsf

Finely chopped vegetables: anything you like as capsicum, carrot, peas, beans etc

Chopped green chilli

Turmeric powder 1/4tsf

Cumin powder 1/4tsf

Salt

1 tsf vegetable oil

Lemon juice

Chopped coriander to garnish

In a non stick pan, heat the oil on medium heat, add ajwain. Once it gets golden brown, add onions, garlic ginger paste. Once the onion gets tender. Add all the spices, add vegetables. Sauté for a minute. Add vermicelli. Add 100ml of water. Be careful, don’t add excess water, it will make it soggy. Add lemon juice. Cover the pan for five minutes. Now switch off the gas and let the vermicelli absorb the juices.

Serve hot. Garnish with chopped coriander. To make it more chatpata: chat masala can be added.

Gajar ka halwa

GAZAR KA HALWA

Winters are about to say good bye, in a way that those colourful fresh vegetables won’t be  available in the market soon.  I went to my regular grocery this fine Sunday morning and got tempted by red carrots across the counter. I thought of yummy Gajar ka Halwa. Although it’s a very common Indian dish and my generous colleagues usually offer me a portion of their Halwa, that I dint think of cooking it this winters.

But the charm of my recipe is that it’s a quick 15minutes recipe. Especially for the people like us who don’t have the time to go through proper traditional recipe where the carrot is cooked in milk for hours.

The innovation in my recipe is that I used condensed milk instead of whole milk and mava ( khoya).  I have actually replaced khoya in my kitchen with condensed milk (milkmaid, mithai maid) because the market these days is flooded with adulterated khoya.

Here is the recipe

You need

Carrots  250gms (should be red, enriched with Vitamin E,A)

Milk 10ml (yes just ten ml.)

Condensed milk (50gms)

Cardamom powder a pinch

Shredded almonds, coconut and dry fruits.

Blanch  the carrots in hot water. (YESSS! I blanch them first. It saves the milk quantity, hance calories. And the blanched carrot is easy to shred as well) Grate them.

In a pan take milk. Add carrots, cardamom powder and condensed milk.  Heat till the milk reduces.

Garnish with dry fruits.

Trust me:

The recipe is quick and easy

Calorie count is reduced. Since we are using sweetened condensed milk, no extra sugar is needed.

Adulterated khoya (mava) is avoided.

It tastes almost same, except that u miss the flavour of Desi Ghee. Which can be added. 

Tofu Muttar sabzi

Tofu Muttar 

                                                      Tofu Muttar / muttar paneer sabzi 

I came back home to find that my fridge had peas, tofu, tomatoes. So I came up with an innovation of our regular muttar paneer sabzi. The recipe is same as authentic muttar paneer sabzi, just replaced paneer (cottage cheese) with tofu. Tofu is soya protein condensed in cubes. Its rich in protein, calcium, magnesium and other minerals.

Here is the recipe:

All you need is:

Peas 100gm

Tofu 100gm

Onions 2

Tomatos 5-6

Tomato puree 2tsf

Ginger garlic paste

Green chilli

Chilli powder

Coriander powder

Turmeric powder

Refined oil 4-5tsf(option to desi ghee)

Cream 1tsf

Home made garam masala a pinch

Salt to taste

In a blender, blend garlic ginger, onions, green chilli. Take a wok, heat the oil on medium heat, add the paste. Sauté till the paste starts leaving oil. Add few pepper, cloves. Blend the tomatoes. Add tomato paste and puree in the wok. Add all the masala. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add peas, tofu (diced in cubes). Heat for 20minutes in the covered vessel. The recipe is done once it starts leaving oil in the corners. Garnish with cream. Green coriander leaves.

Savor with roti, phulka, paratha, puri or rice.