On Being A Guest Blogger on Etable.in

There is some great news on my end! A few days ago I was invited by etable.in to be a guest blogger for their blog. So....

Salt and Pepper (With a Lot of Spice!) is now also on etable.in

You can see my contributions here: Etable.in/blogs

Here's how my first post looks on etable.in

And here's me on the site!

Indian Spices: Rai, Raai, Sarson (Mustard Seeds)

One of my most favourite comparisons about a person is "like mustard seeds in hot oil" for someone who is impatient. Ah, mustard! What tales could be told of these little black pearls!

Mustard Seeds: Rai, Raai, Sarson

Mustard seeds are known by various names across different regions in India. Gujaratis call it "raai", Maharashtrians calls it "mohri", North Indians call it "sarson", and in the South it goes by "avalu" in Telugu and "kadugu" in Tamil.  Just as there are different names for the mustard seed, there are different kinds of mustard seeds - black, brown and white/yellow. The most commonly used form of mustard in cooking is the black mustard. 

Black mustard seeds are used in Indian cooking primarily for tempering. In Indian cooking, no dish - be it curry or lentil, vegetarian or meat preparation- is complete without tempering of some form. And that makes mustard seeds an inseparable part of Indian cuisine. Mustard seeds have a characteristic pungent taste that lends a spicy tang to the dish. 

Mustard Seeds: Rai, Raai, Sarson

Other parts of the mustard plant also lend to different dishes and condiments in regional Indian cuisine. One of the most famous dishes of Punjabi cuisine is sarson ka saag and makke ki roti, which is a gravy made of mustard greens and spinach served with maize flour flatbreads. The cooking oil used widely in North Indian and Bengali cuisine is mustard oil which is extracted from mustard seeds. 

Mustard seeds have many health benefits. Poultices of mustard seeds are traditionally used for decongesting blocked nose and chest during colds. Adding a tied bundle of mustard seeds to your hot bath water will relieve aching muscles and joints. The use of mustard seeds also boosts the effect of the Omega-3 content of fish and oils. 

Moong Dal Khichdi (Mag Ni Dal Ni Khichdi) Recipe

I have been down with a cold for the past two weeks and have been gobbling down comfort food. Two of my go-to comfort foods when I am sick are tomato soup and khichdi. This time it had to be only khichdi as my doctor had asked me to stay away from sour foods so that I wouldn't get a cough apart from the cold.

Moong Dal Khichdi (Mag Ni Dal Ni Khichdi)

Moong dal khichdi is a soft, pliant, soupy dish of rice and split green gram. I make mine very lightly spiced by adding whole spices to it when cooking it instead of dried spice powders. This adds a flavourful aroma to the khichdi without being overpowering. 

Moong Dal Khichdi (Mag Ni Dal Ni Khichdi)

Moong dal khichdi is a quick one-dish meal fix for those days when you are in a hurry and want something comforting. It is best served slightly mashed when it is hot with a little bit of ghee. You can eat it with a variety of accompaniments such as salads, yogurt, kadhi, papad, pickles etc. to add different tastes and textures to the meal. 

Moong Dal Khichdi Up Close

Moong Dal Khichdi (Mag Ni Dal Ni Khichdi) Recipe

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rice

1 1/2 cups split green gram (chhilkewaali moong dal)

5 cups water

1 tbsp ghee

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilly powder

4-5 whole black peppercorns

1 star anise

2 inch cinnamon stick

2 dried bay leaves

Salt to taste

Mix together the rice and the split green gram, wash them well and soak them for 30 minutes in 3 cups of water.

In a pressure cooker, put in the soaked rice and green gram mixture and the remaining 2 cups of water.

Add in the salt to taste,  the turmeric powder and the red chilly powder. Mix well.

Now add in the whole spices - peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon stick and dried bay leaves.

Pour the ghee on top of the water.

Pressure cook for 4 whistles on a high flame. Then lower the flame and cook for another 10 minutes.

Remove the whole spices from the prepared khichdi and mash it a little using a potato masher or the serving spoon.

Serve hot with the other accompaniments. 

Indian Spices: Jeera (Cumin)

India's most popular chef - Sanjeev Kapoor calls cumin his favourite spice. This all-rounder spice of the Indian kitchen packs a nutty and peppery aroma that tingles your taste buds and makes your mouth salivate.

Indian Spices: Cumin Seeds

Cumin seeds are most commonly used in Indian kitchens for tempering dals (lentil preparations), rice dishes and vegetables. Tempering is the first step of almost all savoury and main course dishes in Indian cuisine. It is done by heating a little oil and adding whole spices like cumin seeds, mustard seeds, whole dried red chillies, fenugreek seeds or herbs like curry leaves and allowing them to before adding raw, cut vegetables or boiled lentils for dal and dried spices to finish off the dish. 

Cumin powder is also popularly used as a dry spice powder in Indian cuisine. 

Indian Spices: Cumin Powder

Cumin powder is prepared by dry roasting cumin seeds on a low flame till they release a warm, nutty aroma (that spreads through the house and feels heavenly!). These are then dry ground in a grinder till they form a really fine powder. Cumin powder, like cumin seeds can be used to spice both dry vegetable dishes and gravy ones, dals (lentil preparations), rice dishes like pulaos and biryanis and even some forms of parathas (flatbreads). A dash of cumin powder can also be added to salads and cold buttermilk for that extra punch of earthy flavour!

Cumin seeds and cumin powder also form a part of various spice mixes used in Indian cuisine such as panch phoron (Bengali five-spice mix used for tempering), garam masala (Punjabi powdered spice mix), dhana-jeeru (everyday spice powder used in Gujarati kitchens made of corriander and cumin powders), goda masala (spice powder mix used in Maharashtrian kitchens) etc.

Cumin has a lot of health benefits. The most popularly known dadima ka nuskha (grandma's home remedy) is to munch on cumin or jeera goil (candy made from cumin) for aiding digestion. It provides relief from flatulence, nausea, stomach aches etc. Cumin is also had a lot during hot Indian summers for its cooling effects on the body. 

Tuver No Bhaath Recipe (Fresh Pigeon Peas Pulao Recipe)

Today is my grandmother's (moti's) birth anniversary. This post (like every post I write here) is for her, whose passion for cooking I have inherited. She built my foundation in cooking and life- the foundation that has helped me become the cook and person that I am today.

It was a winter evening about six years ago. Tired of eating the same food my mother cooked, I decided to make something new. I opened my refrigerator and found green pigeon peas (fresh tuver) and a bunch of fresh corriander. Since I loved both, I decided to do something with them. I also wanted a hearty rice dish - it being a cool evening - so I thought why not be completely different? I thought I could flavour the rice with a chutney made out of corriander and use green pigeon peas instead of regular peas to make it like a pulao.

I made the dish and served it. My father had a bite of it and said, "I didn't know grandma had taught you how to make this dish... I would have asked you to make it earlier..." I had goosebumps when I heard it, because she hadn't really taught me how to make it. I had just thought about the idea of this dish. I guess my cooking style had become so similar to her style having learnt from her that my thoughts turned out to be like her dish.

Tuver no Bhaath (Fresh Pigeon Peas Pulao)

Tuver no bhaath (green pigeon peas or fresh pigeon peas pulao) is a one-dish meal that is made with the fresh pigeon peas that are in season in winter months. Gujaratis use tuver in a variety of dishes such as tuver ni kachori or undhiyu when it is in season. Tuver no bhaath was a particular favourite and specialty of my grandmother's kitchen. If you can't find pigeon peas, you can always substitute them with peas for a different version of your usual green peas pulao.

Tuver no Bhaath Up Close (Fresh Pigeon Peas Pulao)

Tuver no Bhaath Recipe (Fresh Pigeon Peas Pulao Recipe)

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4


Ingredients:

1/2 cup tightly packed fresh corriander leaves
1 green chilly
1/4 inch piece of ginger
6 cloves of garlic
2 tbsps oil (peanut or olive)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 inch cinnamon stick
2 dried bay leaves
2 pieces of star anise
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 cup fresh toor/ pigeon peas (can be substituted with regular peas)
2 cups soaked rice (preferably basmati)
Water as required for cooking
Salt to taste

Method

Blend together the corriander leaves, the green chilly, the ginger and the garlic to form a chutney-like smooth paste. Keep aside.

In a pressure cooker, heat the oil.

Temper with the cumin seeds, the cinnamon stick, the dried bay leaves and the star anise.

When the cumin starts to crackle, add in the onion and saute till they turn translucent.

Add in the pigeon peas and saute for about 30 seconds.

Remove the water from the soaked rice and add it in. Add in the prepared chutney and mix it well with the rice and pigeon peas.

Add water as needed for the type of rice you're making and salt.

Close the cooker and pressure cook for about 2 whistles on high flame and then on low flame for about 5 minutes after that till done.

Serve hot with Gujarati kadhi or yoghurt, pickles, papad or salad of your choice. There is really no limit to what all goes along with this dish!

Ragda Patties (Indian Street Food/ Chaat) Recipe

Ragda patties is my second most favourite dish of Mumbai street food or chaat after pani puri. It is a very elaborate dish that has many components - soft potato patties, a spicy curry made of dried white peas (ragda), two tangy chutneys- the date-tamarind (khajur-imli) chutney and corriander and mint chutney and garnishing of chopped onions, chopped corriander and sev (very thin fried small noodles of chickpea flour).

The Components of Ragda Patties

Ragda pattice is a very filling and healthy dish. It has all the essential nutrients in one bowl - carbohydrates (and not much fats) from the shallow-fried potato patties, proteins from the dried white peas and various vitamins and minerals from the ingredients of the chutneys like dates and corriander and mint. It can make for a complete meal in itself and is one street food you can't fill guilty about indulging in!

Ragda Patties: The Final Dish

In this recipe, I will share  the recipes of each of the individual components - the potato patties, the ragda (dried white peas curry) and the date and tamarind chutney... I have already done a post on my attention stealing corriander and mint chutney and its recipe can be found here. Apart from this I will also give step-by-step instructions with pictures as to how to serve it in the traditional manner.

It is a long recipe, but worth every minute of the effort. So as the song goes, "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start".

Ragda Patties Recipe (Indian Street Food/ Chaat)

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the Patties

8-10 medium sized potatoes

2 green chillies

1/2 piece of ginger

3 tbsps cornflour/ potato starch powder

2-3 tbsps peanut or olive oil for shallow frying

Salt to taste

For the Ragda (Dried White Peas Curry)

2 cups dried white peas (soaked 7-8 hours)

6 cups water

2 tbsps peanut or olive oil

2 tsps cumin seeds

1/2 tsp asafoetida

1 medium or 2 small tomatoes finely chopped

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsps red chilly powder

2 tsps garam masala powder

2 tsps corriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

Salt to taste

For the Date-Tamarind  Chutney

1 cup red/brown dates deseeded

1/2 cup water

3 tbsps tamarind pulp

1 tsp red chilly powder (optional)

Salt to taste

For Serving

2 medium onions finely chopped

1/2 cup loosely packed corriander leaves

1 cup sev

Method

The Patties

Potato Patties for Ragda Patties

Grind the green chillies and the ginger into a fine paste without any water.

Boil or pressure cook the potatoes and mash them.

Add the ginger-chilly paste and the salt and mix well with your fingers and hands.

Shape into rounds of around 2 inch diameter, flatten a little between both palms and coat with cornflour  or potato starch powder.

Heat the oil on a pan and shallow fry the patties till they turn golden brown on both sides. 

The Ragda (Dried White Peas Curry)

Ragda: Dried White Peas Curry

Pressure cook the soaked white peas with the water for 4 whistles on high flame and around 10 minutes on a low flame. This will ensure that the peas cook through completely.

In a deep frying pan, heat the oil and temper with the cumin seeds and asafoetida.

Turn the flame down to a medium high before adding in the tomatoes. Fry them for about two minutes. 

Now add the turmeric powder, the red chilly powder, the garam masala powder, the corriander powder and the cumin powder and fry with the tomatoes on a low flame for about 4-5 minutes till they start releasing the oil.

Now add the cooked white peas, the salt and some water (if needed to adjust consistency) and mix well.

Bring to a boil and then lower the flame and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes so that the spices blend well with the white peas and make a thick curry.

Date-Tamarind Chutney

Date-Tamarind Chutney

In a pressure, cook the dates with the water for one whistle.

Blend together the cooked dates (minus the water used for cooking if there is any left over), the tamarind, the salt and the red chilly powder (optional) till they form a smooth thick chutney.

For Serving

To serve, first take a deep dish or bowl and put in two of the potato patties.

Serving Ragda Patties Step 1

Pour about 3-4 serving spoons of ragda (dried white peas curry) on the patties to cover them.

Serving Ragda Patties Step 2

Next add the chutneys - the date-tamarind chutney and the mint-corriander chutney.

Serving Ragda Patties Step 3

Now garnish with the chopped onions, sev and finally the corriander leaves.

Serving Ragda Patties: The Final Dish

Enjoy some Mumbai chaat (street food) in the comfort of your home!

Indian Spices: Methi Dana (Fenugreek Seeds)

The Indian philosophy on food is that a meal should balance six 'rasas' or tastes - sweet, sour, pungent, salty, astringent and bitter. You will find this balance of different tastes in traditional meals across the length and breadth of the country - be it Gujarati food, Punjabi food, Bengali food, Maharashtrian food or South Indian food.

Though to someone new, it may seem that the bitter 'rasa' is the most difficult of all to add to a meal, however it is not so. All cuisines have their own ways in which they introduce it to the meal - a traditional Bengali meal begins with a bitter course with preparations such as 'shukto' (a mixed vegetable preparation) which has bitter gourd in it, whereas Gujaratis have dishes like 'thepla' (a spiced flatbread) that uses the slightly bitter fresh fenugreek leaves in it. Fenugreek seeds  or methi dana are a  a very common way in which the bitter 'rasa' is added to everyday meals.

Methi Dana: Fenugreek Seeds

In our kitchen, methi dana (fenugreek seeds) is a very essential spice, though it is used in small quantities. It is always at hand in our spice box that we use everyday. My mum and I add about 4 or 5 seeds of fenugreek in the tempering for the 'dal' (lentil preparation) we make everyday. It is also added to many spice mixes used in different cuisines everyday such as the 'panch phoron' (a mixture of five spices) in Bengali cuisine or the 'rasam' (spicy tomato and lentil soup) and 'sambhar' (lentil preparation had with idlis, dosas or rice) spice powders of the South. Broken methi dana (or methi na kuriya) are also used as a base for pickle spices.

Fenugreek sseds have a lot of health benefits. They are especially good for women during their periods or when they are pregnant or lactating. Adding fenugreek seeds to the daily diet is also recommended for diabetic patients. They can also be used in poultices (wrapped in a cloth and warmed) to relieve pains and inflammation. Fenugreek seeds are also very good for skin and hair - hair loss can be prevented by boiling fenugreek seed powder with coconut or olive oil, applying it to hair when it cools down and washing after and hour or so.