Heritage from Aai

                             Patal Bhaaji पातळ भाजी Cooked tested & tasted by Snehalata Fadnavis Photo credit : Snehalata Fadnavis Cuisine : Savory Cooking time : 35 minutes Serving size : 4 to 5 people Ingredients : 250 gms fresh Palak ( Spinach) leaves Handful of fresh Methi (fenugreek) leaves 1 tsp Gram flour Lemon sized Tamarind Jaggery has to be 1.5 times tamarind 2 tsp Sugar Water Salt For tempering : Oil Green chilies Dry coconut pieces thinly sliced Curry leaves Hing (Asfoetida)  Mohri   (Mustard seeds) 1 tbsp  split chana daal (Bengal gram) Handful of peanuts Procedure : Soak the chana dal in water for 20 minutes. Could be soaked overnight as well. Add some water to pressure cook spinach and fenugreek leaves in a vaati . Take tamarind, peanuts and chana daal in another vaati   to cook in the same ...

                                                                                                                        Panha                                                                          पन्ह Cooked, tested and tasted by RD Photo credit: RD   List of ingredients: 2  Kairis  (raw mangoes with green peel) 1 - 1.5 cups of finely ground sugar (depending on how sweet you want it) 8 - 10  Elaichis’  (cardamom) finely ground powder 10 - 12 strands of saffron Procedure: ...

                           Shevayachi Kheer शेवयाची खीर Cooked tested & tasted by Shivani Diwale Photo credit : Shivani Diwale Course : Sweet Cooking time: 15 minutes Serving size : 4 vati Ingredients : 1/2 litre Milk 1 tsp ghee (clarified butter) 1 vati water 1 vati Shevaya  1 tbsp Sugar 10 Elaichi (cardamom) pods powdered Keshar (saffron) strands Procedure :  In a broad bottom pan crush shevaya to 1.5 inch size.   Roast shevaya in ghee till they turn pink. Keep aside.  In another pan add 1 vati hot water. Bring it to boil.  Add 1 tbsp sugar to it. Bring it to boil.  Add shevaya to it. Cover and cook all the shevaya on a low heat for a couple of minutes.  In the meanwhile bring milk to boil in a separate pan.  Reduce the flame and let it boil for 5 minutes.  Add keshar and cardamom pow...

  Black Chana Usal    काळ्या चण्याची उसळ Cooked, tested & tasted by Sandhya Ekbote Photo credit : Sandhya Ekbote Course: Savory entrée Serving size: Makes two servings each for a family of four Time:  Soak over night.  Pressure cooking can take about an hour. Final cooking can take about 20-30 minutes. List of ingredients:  • 3 vatis black chana soaked over night • 1 small onion (about 1.5 inches in diameter) ground/ grated • Ginger and garlic paste  • Hing (asafetida), haldi (turmeric), red chilly powder, mohri (mustard seeds) • Amchur (dry mango powder) – ½ tsp. • Gul (Jaggery) – enough to balance the kala masala • Kala masala (made with Aai's recipe )   – about 2 tsp. • Jeera powder (cumin powder) – about 1 tsp. • Salt to taste  • Shredded wet coconut – 2 Tbs. • Finely chopped green chilies – 3 to 4 • Dhaniya (coriander) finely chopped and shredded coconut for garnishing Procedure: 1. Pressure co...

      Ravyachi Kheer रव्याची खीर Cooked, tested & tasted by Shivani Diwale Photo credit : Shivani Diwale Course: Sweet Cooking time: 20 minutes Serving size: 4 vatis Ingredients: ½ vati Rava 1 tbsp ghee 1tsp Charoli/ Chirongi 2 vati Milk 1tbsp Sugar ¼ tsp Cardamom powder 1tbsp cashews and handful of other dry fruits  Procedure: Boil milk and let it cool completely. In the meanwhile, heat a heavy bottom pan. Add 1tbsp ghee . Add 1 tbsp cashews and fry them in the ghee for about 1 minute on a low flame. If you want to add almonds and pistachios to the dish, then add the chopped almonds and sliced pistachios at this step. Add rava, saute and stir continuously. Rava will release it's aroma in 3-4 minutes on a low flame. It will change colour slightly. The cashews will also become golden by then. Add rava to the milk gradually and mix it using your hands to avoid lumps. Add sugar and mix. Stir and bring the kheer to a gentle simmer. Take i...

  Rava Naral Barfi रवा नारळ बार्फी Cooked tested & tasted by Sandhya Ekbote Photo credit : Sandhya Ekbote Course : Sweet Cooking time: 45 minutes Serving size: 20 Ingredients : 3 vati rava (fine/ coarse) 1.5 - 2 vati Ghee (clarified butter) 1 vati naral (coconut) shredded 2 vati sugar 1 vati milk 10 cardamom pods' powder ½ jaiphal (nutmeg) powdered Procedure: Heat ghee in a pan and add the rava. Roast it on a medium flame till it turns slightly pinkish brown. Add more ghee if needed. Add the shredded coconut to the rava and stir it till the mixture turns dry. For the sugar syrup, take a heavy bottom pan. Add 2 vati sugar and 1 vati milk. Adjust the quantity of milk till the sugar submerges in it completely, if need be further add ½ vati milk. Bring the syrup to one boil. Add ½ part of the sugar syrup to the rava naral mixture. The remaining ½ of the syrup in the pan has to be boiled to 3 string consistency (goli band paak). This 3 string consistency syru...