Heritage from Aai

Khajur Vadis Cooked, tasted and tested by: RD Photo Credit: RD Course: Sweet Time for preparation: About 1.5 hours Ingredients: ● 2 vatis tightly packed pitted dates ( khajur ) ● 2 vatis  shelled and cut  Akrod (Walnut) pieces  ● 3 vatis whole milk ● 2 vatis powdered sugar ● 10 elaichis (cardamom) powdered ● ¼ tsp  jaiphal (nutmeg) powder Above: Store bought khajur Above: Walnuts broken into chunky pieces by hand Procedure: 1. In a heavy bottom pan, boil milk. 2. After it boils, add chopped khajur to it. Above: Khajur chopped into chunky pieces with a knife Above: Khajur being cooked in milk 3. Stir it often so that the milk does not stick to the base of the pan.   4.      Once the milk is fully absorbed by the khajur and they become soft, add most of the sugar. Keep aside a tbsp of sugar for later use. 4. Stir again. The sugar will melt and make the khajur moist again. Stir often till all the moisture is reduced and the mix...

Dhokla ढोकळा Cooked, tested & tasted by: Sandhya Ekbote Photo credit: Sandhya Ekbote Ingredients : 3 vati coarse besan (gram flour) 1 vati curd  3/4 tsp  Eno (any fruit salt) 3 tbsp finely cut coriander 3 tbsp grated coconut 3 tbsp oil Pinch asafetida Salt to taste 2 vati lukewarm water Mirchi pani 4 Green chillies, diced in big pieces Sprinkle Sugar 2 tbsp oil 1 tsp Mustard seeds Pinch of hing Salt to taste Procedure : Batter prep: Add lukewarm water to make buttermilk from the curd Add besan to the buttermilk . Stir with a whisk to create a smooth, thick batter without any lumps  and let it ferment overnight. Add 3 tbsp oil, salt and hing to this fermented besan batter. Whisk it with whisk. The batter should be thick yet flow easily off of the whisk. Next add Eno. Eno makes it soft and fluffy. Stir the Eno with the batter briskly and quickly. The End should be mixed evenly with the batter.  The Eno will make the batter frothy, so you need to work quickly t...

Naral Barfi नारळ बर्फी Naral Barfi                           Naral barfi with gajar Cooked, tested & tasted by: Sandhya Ekbote Photo credit: Sandhya Ekbote Course: Sweet Cooking time:25 minutes Serving size:16 medium sized barfi Ingredients : 1 vati tightly packed chav (grated medium sized coconut) 1 vati full fat milk  1 vati sugar 5-6 elaichi (cardamom) pods Procedure : Boil milk in a heavy bottom pan. Put chav in boiling milk. Cook and continuously stir. Once chav absorbs all the milk, add sugar. Stir and continue to  cook. The mixture will reduce and start to gather itself together to form a dough like lump. This is the time to take the pan off the flame and add elaichi powder. (A typical whistling sound of cooking stops as the mixture gets cooked) Grease a plate with ghee.  Spread the mixture evenly on the plate to a height of an inch. Once the naral barfi has cooled completely ,sli...

Chakali Bhajani & Chakali (The traditional way) चकली भाजणी आणि चकली Cooked, tested & tasted by : Sharada Marathe Photo credit: Sharada Marathe Course: Savoury Ingredients :   4 vati preferably short grain rice 2 Chana dal (Split yellow peas) 1 vati yellow moong dal (split dehusked lentil) 1 vati urad dal (split dehusked black lentil) 250 gm medium/ thick poha (rice flakes) 1tbsp peppercorns Procedure : Wash rice and spread it to dry on a cloth overnight. The rice should not be dried for too long. Then dry roast it in the morning itself. Roast it till the rice grain  splits into two in a bite. It takes a couple of minutes. The grain not to be roasted to a point of change in colour. Wash the chana dal . Pour boiling water over it. The very next instant dry roast it. It should take about 15 minutes for it to split into two in a bite. Slightly moisten the moong dal and roast it. Slightly moisten the urad dal and roast. Let all the roasted dals cool down. Mix them Ad...

Chakli Bhazani & Chaklis Cooked, tested and tasted by: Sandhya Ekbote Photo Credit: Sandhya Ekbote List of ingredients for the bhazani:  • 2 vatis Rice flour  • 1 vati barik (fine) besan  • ½ vati Moong dal peeth (without chilka )  • ¼ vati ground pohe  Procedure: 1. Without oil fry each of the above ingredients on slow fire, individually, for 5 minutes each. 2. Let them cool to room temperature. 3. Mix them all thoroughly by sifting through a sieve. List of ingredients for the chakali:   • 3 vatis bhazani   • 3 vatis hot water   • 2 Tsp. Dalda   • 1 Tsp. Jeera powder  • 1 Tsp. Dhaniya powder • 1 Tsp. Ajwain or Til • ½ Tsp. salt • 2 tsp. Red chili powder Procedure: 4. Boil water on the gas. After it comes to a boil switch off the gas. 5. Add all the above ingredients to it (i.e. Dalda and masalas ). 6. Lastly add bhazani .  7. Let it all rest for 40-45 minutes. 8. The...