Cooking on Ekadashi

 

 Cooking on Ekadashi

1)     SABUDANA KHICHDI

Ingredients:

2 cups sago (sabudana)

1 cup roasted, coarsely pounded peanuts

1 tsp. cumin seeds

6 green chilies

4 tbs. ghee

1/2 lemon finely chopped

fresh coriander for garnishing

1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut

What you do:

Wash sago, drain and set aside for one hour. Heat ghee. Add cumin seeds. Then add

green chilies, letting it fry briefly. Mix in sago, peanuts, salt and sugar to taste. Keep

covered and cook on slow flame for 5-10 minutes. You can add small cubes of boiled

or fried potatoes. Garnish with coconut and coriander leaves. Serve hot.

 

2) Coconut Chutney

Ingredients:

- 2½ cups (approx. 1 whole) Fresh coconut, grated

- 125 gms (2½ cups) green coriander, chopped

- 25 gms (approx. ¼ cup) or to taste Green chillies, chopped

- 1 tsp Ginger, chopped

- 4 tsp rock salt

- 1 tbsp Sugar

- 2 tbsp, or to taste Lemon juice

Grind all the ingredients together, to a fine paste.

Can be stored in a dry jar and refrigerated for a few days.

SWEET POTATOES KHEER

Ingredients:

1 cup grated sweet potatoes

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh coconut scraped

5 cardamoms, ground

4 cups full cream milk

What you do:

Wash, peel and grate sweet potatoes. Cook in milk till it turns soft and the mixture

thickens. Then add sugar, cardamom powder and coconut and cook for a few minutes.

Serve hot or cold. This kheer looks like vermicelli kheer and tastes excellent.

VARAI KHICHDI

Ingredients:

2 cups varai

1 cup roasted, coarsely pounded peanuts

salt and jaggery to taste

4 green chilies

1 tsp. cumin seeds

2 cloves and 2 pieces cinnamon, powdered finely

chopped fresh coriander leaves

1/2 cup fresh coconut

2 tbs. ghee

What you do:

Heat ghee. Add cumin seeds and green chilies. Then add varai and roast for a while.

Put 4 cups of hot water in the varai along with salt and jaggery.

When almost cooked, add ground peanuts and clove-cinnamon powder. Add a little

ghee over it and cover and cook a little more. Garnish with coconut and coriander.

Just before serving, squeeze lemon juice over it.

For variation, add small cubes of fried potatoes to the dish.

Cucumber Pachadi - Raita

Ingredients

Cucumber washed, peeled & finely chopped

Yogurt 2 cups

Cilantro (coriander leaf) washed and finely chopped

Green chillies 1-2 finely chopped

Coconut grated 1 t.spoon

Salt 1/2 t.spoon

Mustard seeds less than 1/4 t.spoon

Hing a small pinch

Cooking Oil 1/2 t.spoon

Method

Wet grind green chilles, salt, coconut,  little yogurt.

Mix the above with cucumber, and the remaining yogurt.

Fry mustard and hing in little oil and add it to above.

Spinach - Saak

Ingredients:

For a serving size of 4-5

2 packets frozen spinach, thawed

1" cube of ginger, finely diced

3 dry red chilli

Asafoetida

Potatoes - about 4 medium-large ones

Dried fenugreek leaves

Fennel seeds

Salt to taste

Method:

Cut the potatoes into small pieces, and then either lightly boil them or microwavethem for about 8 min. Heat oil, preferably in a wok or kadai. To the hot oil, add ginger, hing, and fennel seeds. Add the spinach, and fry on a high flame. After about 5 min of frying, add salt, the dried chillies, and the potatoes. Mix evenly, and add the Dried fenugreek leaves – then fry for a few minutes. At this point, you might add a little water if you so desire. Serve hot.

 

SHUKTO: (bitter subji)

Ingredients:

Cut all the veggies in big chunks

2 potatoes

1 radish

1 raw green banana

1 bitter gourd

1 egg plant (medium)

grind to paste:

4tsp poppy seed

4tsp cumin seed

4tsp mustard seed

1 tsp chestnut flour (or kutu ata)

2 tsp mustard seed

salt

sugar

little oil

Method:

Heat oil, season with mustard seeds, after it starts spluttering, add the veggies,

cook till tender, after its soft add the ground paste, salt, sugar, water. Bring to

boil and this bitter dish is ready.

Korela Bhaja (Fried Bitter Melon)

5-6 bitter melon (karela)

1. Slice the bittermelon (like you would a cucumber) and coat the slices with

turmeric powder and salt. Leave to sit for 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile heat oil for deepfrying in a karai or wok. Deep fry the slices;

some people prefer thicker slices fried til they are just cooked but still green

and soft - while others prefer wafer thin slices fried 'til they are crunchy and

become dark bitter melon chips.

3. Again you may remove the seeds if you like before eating.

Serve as a starter. Invokes digestion - Very delicious!

Sweet Lassi - yogurt drink

Ingredients:

1 scoop Ice

2 scoops Yoghurt

1 splash Lemon juice

8 handfuls Sugar

3 pinches Salt

1 squirt Rosewater

Mixing instructions:

Mix them all together in a blender. The measurements are not precise because

you oughtta just throw everything in to taste. This is mainly here to help out

those, like myself, who tried making the Sweet Lassi with the other Sweet

Lassi recipe, and found out that it was pretty bad - watery, not sweet, et

cetera. Ice is the key.

Pudina (Mint) Chutney

Ingredients:

2 bunches mint leaves

2 small mangoes

1½ table spoon sugar

5-6 green chillies

½ tea spoon mustard

salt to taste

Method :

Wash mangoes, peel it off and grate it nicely. Wash mint leaves and mix it

with grated mango. Mix all ingredients to it and grind without water. If needed,

add grated dry coconut for taste.

Angoori Petha

A variation of the famous Agra ka Petha that one finds in Vrindavan made of loki

squash.

Cooking Time : 30 mins.

Preparation Time : 30 mins.

Serves/Makes : Makes 40 pieces.

Ingredients

2 kgs white pumpkin (ash gourd)

1/4 teaspoon slaked lime (chuna)

3 cups sugar

a few drops yellow food colour

1 cup desiccated coconut

Method 1.

Peel and deseed the pumpkin. Using a melon scoop, scoop out balls from the

pumpkin. 2.

Prick each pumpkin ball with a fork at close intervals. 3.

Rub the slaked lime on the pumpkin balls and keep aside for 5 minutes. 4.

Wash the pumpkin balls thoroughly. Drain and keep aside. 5.

In a heavy bottomed pan, combine the sugar and yellow food colouring with 2 cups of

water and bring to a boil. 6.

Skim off any impurities floating on the surface, using a slotted spoon. 7.

Add the pumpkin balls and cook on high flame for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from

the fire. Cool completely. 8.

Drain form the sugar syrup and roll the petha balls in desiccated coconut. 9.

Cool completely.

Handy Tip(s) 1.

VARIATION : ANGOORI PETHA PIECES 2.

Cut the pumpkin into 25 mm. (1") squares and then folow the above recipe from step

2. Do not roll in desiccated coconut. 3.

VARIATION : PETHA SLICES 4.

Slice the pumpkin into thin slices (approx. 15 to 20 slices) using a wafer slicer and

then follow the above recipe from step 2. 5.

Do not roll in desiccated coconut.

Recipe Source

Mithai by Tarla Dalal

Coconut Sheera

A dessert made of coconut milk.

Cooking Time : 60 mins.

Preparation Time : 5 mins.

Serves/Makes : Serves 4.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups coconut cream

1 litre full fat milk

1/2 cup sugar

5 cardamom (elaichi) pods, crushed

1/4 cup chopped cashewnuts

Other ingredients

ghee for greasing

Method 1.

Soak the cashewnuts in hot water for about 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside. 2.

Mix together the coconut cream and milk and simmer in a non-stick pan, stirring

continuously. 3.

When it reduces to half, add the sugar and continue simmering on a low flame stirring

continuously till it thickens and leaves the sides of the pan and resembles khoya. 4.

Add the cardamom and cashewnuts and mix well. 5.

Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate. 6.

Serve chilled.

Recipe Source

Mithai by Tarla Dalal

SAGO JALEBI

Ingredients:

Sago (Soaked in Water)-1 cup

Potatoes (Boiled & Mashed)- 1 cup

Maida- 3/4 cup (use kutu atta or waterchestnut flour - Singhare ka atta)

Besan- 1 Tablespoonful (banana flour or arrow root flour)

Ghee- 2 cup

Sugar- 1 cup

Water- 1 cup

Saffron & Saffron colour- little amount.

Almond & Pista (in pieces)- 5-6 pieces of each.

Method:

Mix soaked Sachamoti Sago & boiled meshed potatoes in a mixer well. Add, Maida &

Besan in it. Add some water & prepare liquid mixture. Now, in a shallow frying pan,

put some Ghee & heat it. Put the liquid mixture in pikari (an instrument to make

jalebi) & make jalebi in light heat. After preparing jalebi, put these in Chasni (a hot

mixture of water & sugar). Mix some saffron colour & put some cardamon powder in

the Chasni as per your taste. Serve hot with putting some Pista/ Badam pieces on it.

You can decorate jalebi with silver foils.