Lauki Kofta | Bottle Gourd in Tomato Gravy | Lauki ke Kofte

If there are days when you have a whole bottle gourd that you need to consume but you know chopping to make a curry (lauki ki sabzi) or adding to dal (lauki chana dal) is not going to finish it up, and when you don't feel like making a snack (lauki muthia) or dessert (lauki ki kheer) - then lauki ke kofte will come to your rescue.

Lauki ke kofte consists of two parts: fried balls made from grated bottle gourd mixed with spices, and a tomato based gravy mixed with spices.  It takes a little effort to make lauki kofta curry, but makes a delicious dish to serve to your guests.

Continue Reading »»»

Vanilla Sandwich Cookies with Chocolate Filling | Eggless Baking

After making these eggless sandwich cookies when I sent the picture to my friend, the first thing she asked was if these were burgers.  When I sent it to my brother, he asked if these were idli.  Oh my.  If only people could taste food from a photo!

Lovely vanilla cookies, with a subtle hint of orange flavor through the zest, the chocolate-y center that you'd want to lick, the crunch in these mildly sweet cookies when eating, and the fun in making them.  Can only be described for now.

You'd want to get to baking them right away.  The ingredients for these Vanilla Sandwich Cookies with Chocolate Filling are fairly easy to find at home if you do bake occasionally.

Continue Reading »»»

Badam ka Halwa | Almond Halwa Recipe

Making Badam ka Halwa (Almond Halwa) is time consuming, yes.  It starts with soaking almonds, peeling each one, then slicing part of them while grinding the rest, and then cooking with milk and stirring them until your hands can’t take no more.

But eyebrows raise in amazement when you serve Almond Halwa.  Because people know the effort it takes to prepare a good almond halwa.  It has the ability to leave people impressed.

Continue Reading »»»

French Bread Recipe | Baguette

I always made baguette, challah, etc using a white bread recipe, the kind of recipes that use oil, butter, milk, etc – you know, because I thought a bread must have all of that.  But this French Bread recipe to make baguette from the book Joy of Cooking had only 4 ingredients: flour, salt, yeast, and water.

Continue Reading »»»

Honey Glazed Almonds, Salted & Spiced Nuts | Snack ideas

It had been a while since I made some things to nosh on. Summer in California means lots of outdoor activities and travels. That means lots of dry snacks to carry for road trips or flights.  So when couple of months back Alok told me we'd be going on a 3-day trip to Portland, I happily made some... masala mathri, namak paare (salted crackers), shakkar paara (sweet crackers), honey glazed almonds, and salted and spiced nuts.

Continue Reading »»»

Cabbage Muthia Recipe

Mutthi in Hindi language means 'fist'.  Muthia comes from that word because to make the log shaped steamed 'dumplings' you tightly press the grated vegetable and spice mixture into your fist.  Muthia can be made with various vegetables, such as bottle gourd (lauki), radish (mooli), cabbage (pattagobhi), and so on.

Continue Reading »»»

Kala Chana Masala Recipe

Kala Chana is known as black chickpeas or bengal gram in English.  It is different from the Kabuli Chana, the pale colored chickpeas (aka Garbanzo Beans) used for making Chhole.  The two are shaped similar but are different in size, color, taste, and texture.  For making Chhole, you need to use Kabuli Chana.  But for making Chana Chaat, for example - you can use either legume.

In this post, I'm sharing a really simple Kala Chana Masala recipe that's on the dry side but can be eaten with phulka, with poori, or can be enjoyed as a snack. These are called Sookhe Kaale Chane.

Continue Reading »»»