Benarasi Ghugni

'Ghugni' is an authentic desi dish which comes from the land of Benaras (now Varanasi). It is prepared mostly during festivals or as a breakfast item and is served with piping hot pooris or crisp kachoris.

 

This dish is quiet healthy since it is made using black channa. Since I wanted to serve it with pooris, I added some potato, just to give it a texture to go well with the pooris. This addition is optional.

 

 

 

Serves: 4-6 persons.

 

Ingredients:

 

Black channa                                               2 cups

Boiled and mashed potato (optional)        1 medium.

Oil                                                               1/4 cup

Chopped onions                                           2 nos.

Chopped ginger                                       1 inch piece.

Chopped garlic                                         4-5 cloves.

Chopped green chillies                               2-3 nos.

Green cardamoms                                       5-6
Cinnamon                                                 1 inch
Bay leaves                                               2 leaves
Cumin seeds                                            1 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder                                       1/2 tsp 

Red chilli powder                                   1 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder                                   1 1/2 tsp
Salt                                                           to taste

Sugar                                                       a pinch
Water                                                        1 cup
Lemon juice                                            2 tbsps
Chopped coriander leaves                    for garnish
Ghee                                                     for garnish

 

 

Method:

• Wash the black channa and pre-soak it in plain water overnight.

• Cook the channa with enough water in a pressure cooker until almost done (approx 3 whistles).

• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and crackle the green cardamoms, cinammon stick, cumin seeds and bay leaves. Add the chopped onions along with the ginger, garlic and green chillies and fry well.

• Next, add the dry spices- turmeric, red chilli and coriander powder and saute for 2 minutes.

• Add a little water to de-glaze and allow all the base mixture to amalgamate.

• Now, add the cooked channa and mix it well into the masala.

• Add a cup of water along with salt and a pinch of sugar and allow it to cook.

• Add the boiled and mashed potato and mix well.

• Lastly, add lime juice.

• Drizzle the ghee on top before serving and garnish with coriander leaves.

• Serve hot with poori/kachori.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Cookin' & Keep it stylish!!

 

 

 

 



Rice plate (a vegetarian version)

Having posted the "Lunch Platter" which is a non-vegetarian meal, I realised that it can make for a nice vegetarian meal too. Hence, re-posting a part of the recipe for the vegetarians!

This is potato curry with spinach thoran- served with steamed rice.

 

 

 

Serves: 3-4 persons.

Ingredients:

For the potato curry:

Parboiled potatoes                           4 nos.

Minced garlic                                  1 nos.

Minced ginger                          1/2 inch piece

Chopped onions                              2 nos.

Chopped tomatoes                          4 nos.

Whole cumin seeds                        1 tsp

Cumin powder (jeera powder)      1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder                          1/4 tsp

Red chilli powder                           1 tsp

Degi mirch powder                         1 tsp

Coriander powder                         1/2 tsp

Black pepper powder                    1/2 tsp

Salt                                               to taste

Coconut milk                                 1 cup

Oil                                               2-3 tbsps

For the tadka:

Oil                                                 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds                               1/2 tsp

Chopped shallots (tiny onions)     1-2 nos.

Curry leaves                               7-8 leaves

Whole red chilli                             2 nos.

For the spincah toran:

Spinach leaves                          2 bunches

Sliced onions                              1 nos.

Slit green chilli                          1-2 nos.

Grated fresh coconut                 1/2 cup

Salt                                            to taste

Oil                                             1 tbsp

 

To serve:

Cooked white rice/basmati rice

Method:

• For the potato curry- heat oil and fry the ginger-garlic.
• Add onions, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, jeera powder, salt and degi mirch powder and saute for a few minutes.
• Then add tomatoes and saute for 10 minutes till the oil separates on the sides.
• Add chopped potatoes and water to it. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add black pepper powder.
• Finally add coconut milk to the mixture and bring to a simmer.

For the tadka- heat oil in a pan and crackle the mustard seeds. Add the shallots and fry well. Add curry leaves and whole red chilli and saute. Pour it on top of the potato curry.

• For the spinach thoran- heat oil and lightly saute the onions. Add the green chilli and chopped spinach leaves along with a pinch of salt and stir. When the spinach leaves wilt, turn off the heat and add grated coconut and mix well.

Note- Instead of spinach you can also make a beans thoran. Chop the beans finely and follow the above recipe.

 

 

Serve the potato curry and spinach thoran along with hot rice with some pickle and poppadums on the side!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Cookin' & Keep it stylish!!

Lunch Platter!

So.. it was one of those lazy winter afternoons at home, when the heart wants to curl up on the couch with a cuppa hot chocolate, but the tummy craves for some wholesome, soul satisfying, hot food! I was flipping through the television channels, when I bumped into Joey Matthews on NDTV good times. The model turned chef, who looked oh so passionate cooking. Quite co-incidently, Joey was whipping up a meal- more like a keralite lunch platter and my lunch menu for that afternoon was sorted.

 

My platter is a combo of little bit of Joey and little bit of me. It consists of a simple potato curry, a plain spinach thoran, spicy fried fish and hot steaming rice.

 

 

 

 

Serves: 3-4 persons.

 

Ingredients:

 

For the potato curry:

Parboiled potatoes                                     4 nos.

Minced garlic                                            1 nos.

Minced ginger                                      1/2 inch piece

Chopped onions                                        2 nos.

Chopped tomatoes                                    4 nos.

Whole cumin seeds                                   1 tsp

Cumin powder  (jeera powder)                 1/2 tsp     

Turmeric powder                                      1/4 tsp

Red chilli powder                                     1 tsp

Degi mirch powder                                  1 tsp

Coriander powder                                    1/2 tsp

Black pepper powder                               1/2 tsp

Salt                                                          to taste

Coconut milk                                          1 cup

Oil                                                         2-3 tbsps

For the tadka:

Oil                                                          1 tbsp

Mustard seeds                                        1/2 tsp

Chopped shallots (tiny onions)              1-2 nos.

Curry leaves                                         7-8 leaves

Whole red chilli                                     2 nos.

 

For the spincah toran:

Spinach leaves                                      2 bunches

Sliced onions                                          1 nos.

Slit green chilli                                      1-2 nos.

Grated fresh coconut                              1/2 cup

Salt                                                         to taste

Oil                                                           1 tbsp

 

For the fried fish:

Any small fish or fish of your choice    500 gms

Red chilli powder                                  2 tsps

Turmeric powder                                   1/2 tsp

Coriander powder                                  1 tsp

Lemon juice                                           1 tbsp

Salt                                                         to taste

For the coating:

Rice flour                                               1 cup

Semolina (rava)                                     1/4 cup

 

Oil                                                          to shallow fry

 

To serve:

Cooked white rice/basmati rice

 

 

Method:

• For the potato curry- heat oil and fry the ginger-garlic.
• Add onions, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, jeera powder, salt and degi mirch powder and saute for a few minutes.
• Then add tomatoes and saute for 10 minutes till the oil separates on the sides.
• Add chopped potatoes and water to it. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add black pepper powder.
• Finally add coconut milk to the mixture and bring to a simmer.

For the tadka- heat oil in a pan and crackle the mustard seeds. Add the shallots and fry well. Add curry leaves and whole red chilli and saute. Pour it on top of the potato curry.

• For the spinach thoran- heat oil and lightly saute the onions. Add the green chilli and chopped spinach leaves along with a pinch of salt and stir. When the spinach leaves wilt, turn off the heat and add grated coconut and mix well.

 

Note- Instead of spinach you can also make a beans thoran. Chop the beans finely and follow the above recipe.

• For the fried fish- clean and wash the fish well. Marinate it with all the mentioned ingredients under "For the fried fish" and keep aside for 15 minutes.
• Combine the rice flour and semolina together. Coat the fish in it and shallow fry until crisp.

 

 

• Serve the potato curry with steaming, hot rice along with the spinach thoran and fish fry on the side.

 

 

 

 

Happy Cookin' & Keep it stylish!!

Creamy Phirni with strawberry coulis

 

A "coulis" (pronounced as cooli) is essentially a puree made using any fruit or berry. But, in this recipe I have tweaked it a bit and kept my coulis a bit chunky, just for a bit more flavour and texture.

 

"Phirni" is yet another Indian sweet, traditional and served with a topping of nuts. However, I gave it a twist by serving and Indian sweet with a couli, which is generally served only alongside puddings, cheesecakes, etc.

 

 

 

Serves: 4-5 individual moulds.

 

Ingredients:

 

For the phirni:

Raw basmati rice                    6 tbsps

Milk                                        1/2 litre

Sugar                                      6-7 tbsps

Cardamom powder                a pinch

 

For the strawberry coulis:

Fresh strawberries                 1 cup

Sugar                                     4 tbsps

Salt                                        half a pinch

Water                                    1/4 cup

 

 

Method:

• For the phirni- wash the basmati rice well and soak it in warm water for 30 minutes.

 

• Next, grind this rice along with 1/3 cup water or cold milk to a fine paste. Keep aside.

 

• Bring milk to a boil.

• Now add few tbsps of the boiled milk to the rice paste and mix it well. Add this slurry to the boiling milk, stirring constantly.

Note- Mixing the rice paste with hot milk will temper it and bring the temperature of the cold paste up to the same temperature as the boiling milk. This will eliminate the possibility of the rice mixture getting lumpy once added to the boiling milk.

 

• Next, add the sugar.
 
• Keep stirring on low heat till the sugar dissolves and rice paste cooks.

• One way of testing if the phirni mixture is ready to be transferred to the serving dish is to check if it coats the back of the wooden spoon and when you run your finger across the back of the spoon, the line should stay and the mixture should not be runny.

 

• Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool for 5 mins. Transfer it into a serving dish or individual bowls and refrigerate it for atleast 8 hours or overnight.
• For the couli- chop the strawberries and combine it along with water, sugar and salt in a saucepan.

• Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer it on low heat, stirring occassionally.
• The liquid will thicken and become saucy.
• At this point, you can turn off the heat, cool this mixture and puree it and pass it through a sieve to get a smooth coulis, but I did not puree it because I like mine chunky.
• Pour it into a sauce-boat or small pitcher and refrigerate it, until ready to serve.

 

• Serve this coulis alongside the phirni or spoon some on top of the phirni and serve your guests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Cookin' & Keep it stylish!!