Heritage from Aai

 CHIVDA  चिवडा  Cooked, tested and tasted by:  Sandhya Ekbote  Photo Credit:   Sandhya Ekbote  Course : Savory Cooking time : About 2.5 hours List of Ingredients:  • 1 Kg. fine Pohe (flattened rice)  • 2 vatis Peanuts • 2 vatis Phutanay  • 6 vatis Murmuray • 2 vatis Dry coconut pieces (finely chopped) • ½ vati Sugar • Salt to taste • ½ vati Jeera (Cumin) • ½ vati Ova • ½ vati Khuskhus (Poppy seeds) • 10 Lavangs (cloves) • Hing (asafetida), halad (turmeric), mohri (mustard seeds), red chilly powder • 1 Large onion, cut in long strands, baked or sun dried and then deep fried • 4 large garlic pods - cut in long strands and then deep fried. Then crush them gently into smaller pieces at room temperature. Procedure: 1. Turn the gas on and place a large karahi (a wok) on it.  2. Add little oil and when it heats up add 5 vatis of pohe . Stir gently for five minutes.  3. Remove from karahi when they ar...

PURAN POLI  पुरणपोळी                    Course : Sweet Cooking time : 1 hour Serving size : Makes 5 big/ 6 small  polis Ingredients:  For the Puran • 1 vati chana daal • 1 vati + 1 tbsp sugar • 8-10  Elaichis  (cardamom) finely powdered • Jaiphal (nutmeg) - just enough for flavor For the outer cover (dough) • ¼ vati Maida • ¼ vati atta (wheat flour) • Mohan (Dalda or Crisco) Procedure: 1. Soak chana daal in one vati of water for one hour. 2. Cook it in the pressure cooker in the same water with half vati of more water. 3. Once it is cooked and dry, grind it to a fine paste. Do not add any water.  4. Add sugar and ground puran to a hot pan and mix till it becomes like peda mixture. 5. Add elaichi powder and nutmeg to it. Mix thoroughly. 6. Make dough out of maida and atta. Mix the two homogenously by using a fine sieve. Soak it in water and 2 tbsp of oil for half an hour. Th...

Matar Kachori मटार कचोरी Cooked,tested and tasted :Manjiri Subhedar Photo credit : Manjiri Subhedar                     Course : Savoury Cooking time : 45 min each for stuffing and frying Serving size : 4 to 5 people Photo credit : Sandhya Ekbote Ingredients :            For stuffing 4 vati matar (fresh/frozen peas)  2 medium-sized onions 10 garlic petals  half-inch ginger 4 green chillies( medium hot) ½ vati dry coconut shredded  ½ tbsp Khus Khus (poppy seeds) 1 tsp amchur ( raw mango powder) 4 tsp dhane (coriander powder) 2 tsp jeera (cumin) powder  4 lavang (cloves) ½ inch kalmi / dalchini (cinnamon) powder 2 tbsp cooking oil Salt to taste Chilli powder to ...

Ratalyachya Chaktya   रताळ्याच्या चकत्या   Cooked, tested & tasted by : Sharada Marathe Photo credit: Sharada Marathe Course: Sweet Cooking time: 20 minutes Serving size: 18- 20 slices  Ingredients : 2 medium sized ratala  (sweet potatoes) 4 tsp sugar 2 tsp Ghee (clarified butter)       2  tsp water 4 cardamom pods powdered A few saffron strands               P rocedure :       1. Heat a pan with ghee till it is medium hot. 2.    Peel and slice the ratala into slices that are 3mm thick.  3. Gently place the ratala in the hot pan right away 4. This step avoids discolouration. 5. Shallow fry the ratala in a pan with ghee . 6. Cover and fry for a couple of minutes on a low flame. 7.    Fry till the base of the ratala chaktya start to get golden brown/crisp. Gently flip once or twice till both...

         Peda          पेढा Cooked, tested & tasted by : Sharada Marathe Photo credit : Sharada Marathe Course: Sweet Cooking time: 20 minutes. (3 hours defrost,4 hours resting time ) Serving size: 35 medium sized pedas   Ingredients : 1kg khava / khoya (evaporated milk)  2 50 gm sugar   10 cardamom pods 1 whole nutmeg 10-12 crushed saffron strands. Procedure : Pulse the store bought frozen khava in a mixie or defrost it for about 3 hours.     Place a heavy bottom pan on a low flame. Add the khava and sugar together. Mix both well. Stir continuously to prevent khava from sticking to the pan.    As the sugar melts, water would be released.   The mixture would get liquid consistency. Keep stirring non-stop to prevent the mixture from getting brown and sticking to the pan . Continue stirring till the mixture thickens and le...