Babycorn Wrap

      Since Abi is a picky eater we have difficulty in selecting food items to cook for him. Like most children he likes fried food items but that also selectively. He does not like the taste of baby corn except in pasta. So I thought of camouflaging them into something to make him eat it. As I was looking for some new way of cooking baby corns, I found this recipe by Rajshri food video very interesting. It was an instant hit as elders in the family liked it but Abi did not like the baby corn part of it and enjoyed only the outer covering! Overall, I found it an interesting find and hence I'm posting this to BM#60. 

Ingredients to marinade:

• Baby corns: 6 pieces
• Tomato sauce: 2 teaspoon
• Tabasco Sauce:1 teaspoon
• Chilly sauce: 1/2 teaspoon
• Oil: 1/2 teaspoon
• Oregano: 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method:

 Boil the baby corns for 2  to 3 minutes. Mix all the other ingredients together add the corns into the mixture. Coat them nicely and keep them for half an hour. After half an hour cook them on a slow heat in a frying pan. Let them cool. 

Ingredients for the wrap:

• Potatoes: 3 nos
• Ginger paste: 1 teaspoon
• Green chilli paste: 1 teaspoon
• Corn flour: 2 tablespoons
•  Salt to taste
• Bread crumbs: as needed
• Oil: for frying

1. Boil and mash the potatoes. Add all the ingredients for wrap and mix them nicely.

2. Take a tablespoon of the mixture (depends upon the size of the baby corn) roll into an oblong shape then flatten it. Keep the corn in the centre and cover it with the potato mixture.

3. Roll the wrap in bread crumbs and fry them in hot oil till golden brown.

4. Drain them on a kitchen towel and serve with green chutney or any dip of your choice.

 check out Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#60

Paneer Papad Bites

All types of papad do not go well with rice (south indian food). Here in Rajasthan papad curry is made. While looking for some different recipe to use papad, I chanced upon quite a few recipes. Borrowing the idea from rajshri food, I modified it to our taste. I was a little sceptical about the outcome of it. But it really came out very well and needless to say that everyone liked it including my l'l one.

Ingredients :

• Paneer: 200 gms
• Papad: 3 nos
• Oil: for frying

For marinade:                                                        

• Paneer: 200 gm
• Tomato sauce: 2 tablespoons
• Tabasco sauce: 1 tablespoon
• Red chilli sauce:1 teaspoon
• Corn flour: 2 to 3 tablespoons
• Chat masala: 1 teaspoon
• Salt to taste.                                                                                                                            

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients except the paneer. See that it is not too thin or thick (adjust with corn flour).
• Cut paneer into square or rectangle shapes. Coat the paneer pieces with the marinade and keep it for half an hour.
• Crush the papad into small pieces( not powder). Coat the paneer pieces all over nicely.
• Fry them in hot oil till papad is done turning the pieces around quickly. 
• Drain and serve them hot. No need for any dip or chutney as they are quite spicy.

Vegetable rolls /Surprise roll

This particular roll is a hit in our circle. Abi too likes this one as he likes surprises. A simple and easy to make recipe - the filling is the surprise here. One can change the filling according to the taste and availability of ingredients. Here I have used vegetables. An ideal snack for children and for parties.

Ingredients for the base:

• All purpose flour: 2 cups
• Ajwain: 1 teaspoon
• Salt: to taste
• Oil: 3 tablespoon

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients nicely. Add a little water to make a smooth and tight dough (like the one we make for samosa) and keep aside.

Ingredients for the filling:

• Potatoes: 2nos 
• Peas: 2 tablespoons 
• Carrot: 1 no
• Cabbage: 2 tablespoons                       
• Capsicum: 1 no
• Cheese: 1 tablespoon
• Onion: 1no
• Green chillies: 2 nos(optional)
• Coriander leaves: 2 tablespoons
• Ginger paste: 1 teaspoon
• Salt to taste.
• Oil: 1 tablespoon                                                  

 Method:    

• Finely chop the onion, green chillies and all the vegetables.

• Heat oil in a pan, add ginger paste,onion and chillies. Saute them for a few minutes.

• Add the chopped vegetables and salt. Cook them on low heat till they are done. Let them cool.

• Take some dough and roll it like a big chapati. It should be thin.

• Take some filling and place it in one end of the chapati. Roll the chapati till the end and close both the ends.

• Heat oil in a pan and drop the rolls slowly into the medium heat oil.Fry them till they turn golden brown on all sides.

• Drain and cut them into small pieces. Serve hot with green chutney or tomato sauce.

It tastes so good during winters and rainy seasons. You can check out Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#60 for more yummy surprises for your loved ones.

Choorma

Dal batti choorma are the main dishes in kacha khaana of Rajasthani food. I'm learning them from our cook who is an expert in this. Of this trio, choorma is the sweet dish and my favourite. It can be made in the form of laddoo or burfi (the diamond shaped ones) or choorma, the granule form. The granule form of choorma is slightly messy to eat. So I prefer the firm shaped ones. Here I choose the ladoo form as my l'il one likes laddoos.  So many such delectable dishes to learn about on  Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#60

Ingredients:

1. Wheat flour: 1cup

2. Milk: to knead

3. Sugar: 50gms

4. Coconut powder: 15 gms

5. Dry fruits: as much as you like

6. Cardamom: 5nos

7: Ghee: 50 ml

Method:

1. Add the milk to the flour and mix it. Now add a little water and make tight dough (like for pooris) and leave it for 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Take a lemon sized dough flatten it with hand to make a small and thick poori.

3. Heat ghee in a kadai, fry the pooris in slow fire turning once in awhile. Remove them when they turn nice golden brown.Let them cool.

4. Break the fried pooris into small pieces and grind them coarsely.

5. Add powdered sugar, coconut powder,coarsely ground nuts, ghee and cardamom powder and mix them all together nicely.

6.Take a tablespoon full of the mixture at a time and shape them into a laddoos.

Garlic Chutney

This is my second day post for the regional special. As I've mentioned in my baati recipe post, garlic chutney is very famous and a must have side dish on most of the occasions in Rajasthan, especially when kaccha khana is served. If you like garlic taste then this simple and no fuss recipe is for you  with minimal ingredients. Our other Bloggers have put up lovely dishes which can be viewed on Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#60

 Ingredients for grinding:

1. Garlic: 50gms

2. Red chillies: 5 nos or more, if you like it spicy

3. Tamarind: 1 small lemon size
4. Jeera: 1 teaspoon

5: Black salt: to taste
6: Salt: to taste 

For seasoning:

1. Ghee: 2 tablespoons

2. Mustard seeds:
3. Onion paste: 1 small 

4. Curry leaves: (optional)

Method:

Grind all the grinding ingredients together with little water to make a fine paste. Heat ghee in a frying pan add mustard seeds. After the seeds crackle add curry leaves and onion paste. Fry them till onion is golden brown. Now add the ground paste. Cook till ghee separates. Serve hot or cold with baati  or chapathi.

Baati of Rajasthani fame

  As soon as I read the theme for this month BM I decided on regional food without a blink.. When we were in Delhi, we used rush to the Rajasthan pavilion to have authentic Rajasthani dishes like kachori and dal baati. Now that  we are in Rajasthan  I'm learning to cook some typical local flavour.  So I began with the famous  dal baati and garlic chutney. And then comes the BM theme of regional food. What a nice way to begin the new year.

I choose to post the steamed baati as the traditional one is cooked on cow dung cake buried and under the earth. The steamed one is much easier to make at home with modern gadgets. So here is the recipe. For many such regional recipes check out Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#60

Ingredients for the baati dough:

Wheat flour : 2 cup

Coriander : 2 teaspoon(coarsely ground)

Ajwain : 1 teaspoon

Oil : 2 tablespoon

Cooking soda: a pinch

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients mentioned for the dough thoroughly.

2. Add a little warm water at a time and knead the dough  till it is smooth. It should like Poori dough.

3. Keep aside for 15 to 20 minutes.

Ingredients for stuffing:

1. Potatoes : 3 medium size

2. Green peas: 2 tablespoons

3. Green chillies: 2 

4. Onion: 1

5. Ginger (chopped): 1 teaspoon

6. Coriander leaves(chopped): 2 teaspoons

7. Dry mango powder: 1 teaspoon

8. Turmeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon

9. Oil: 1 teaspoon

10. Salt to taste

Method:

1. Boil, peel and crumble the potatoes into small pieces and cook the peas with a little salt in boiling water.

2. Heat a pan, add the ginger and onion. Saute for 2 minutes (no need to brown).

3. Add the potatoes and peas, give them a toss. Now add salt. turmeric and mango powder. Mix them all nicely.

4. Switch off the heat,sprinkle the coriander and mix them. Let it cool.

5. To make the baati, take a lemon size dough, flatten it with hand. Fill in a tablespoon of stuffing in to it. Carefully close it.

6. Boil sufficient water.It should be much above the baati when you drop them inside.When the water is boiling, reduce the heat and drop the baati one by one. Let them cook in the hot water till they comeback to the surface of the water on their own. Remove them from the water.

7. Heat a gas tandoor, place the baatis on the wire and cook them for another 10 minutes or till they turn golden brown.

8. Remove them and serve hot with dal and garlic chutney.

Additional notes:

One can make the baati without stuffing also.

The dal is made the usual way. Urad (white) and channa (bengal gram split) mixed dal goes very well with this baati.

Beginning of the winter bloom..

   
   About a month ago, we had a worrying and tiring time. Abi had not been keeping in good health and after trying a cocktail of home remedies, homeopathy and antibiotics, after almost 2 weeks his health started improving with great difficulty. During this time, we missed our classes, that too two papers of his half yearly exams.

   Since we did not send him to school on the first day of falling sick, every consecutive day he was so anxious about it that he kept asking 'soh kar uthne se Sunday aa jayega'? (if I sleep and get up,will it be Sunday? He knows Sundays are no school days!). When we asked him to brush his teeth, wash, change or eat, he would ask 'iske baad school jana hai kya'? At every step I had to explain to him that he is not well so he will not be going to school. Naanu also told him that he will not be sent to school as he is not well. Only after being completely assured on all fronts would he do as I asked him to! 

   Next morning as soon as he got up he would tell me, 'dekho naani, meri tabiyat theek nahi hai, isliye main school  nahi jaunga' aisa naanu ne bola hai (I'm not well so I'll not go to school, naanu said)! Meanwhile once I went to school leaving Abi behind as his mother was at home. When he saw me getting ready, he asked me where I was going? I told him that I was going to school. Pat came the reply - 'okay, aap toh school jao aur A,B,C,D... seekh kar aana' (ok, you go to school and learn A,B,C,D and come).  

   During this troubled week the only good thing was that we could sit out in the winter sun, enjoy the sunlight and the beautiful flowers blooming in our garden. Once Abi was better enough to step out, we went around clicking photos of them and Abi also learnt some of the flowers names. On the weekend when his dad was here, he taught his father a few names of the flowers too! The cutest thing in the world is to hear this little boy slowly and carefully tell his father - " ye yellow flower chrys-an-the-mum hai"!

Winter Break

  Happy new year! This was supposed to be my first post of this year but got delayed because we went on a holiday during which I could not publish any of my december posts! Anyhow, I'm just back from our winter vacation and I'm feeling happy that all of us (all the family members) got to spend time together. It was a welcome break from our mundane life. We had planned for a three-day outing to Punjab but ended up spending a week there. We made it to Dharamshala as well from there. The weather was also very kind, not being too cold, we could enjoy our stay thoroughly! 

  During this vacation Abi enjoyed the most. He met 'Baabi didi' for the first time and became her earnest fan. Whatever she did or wanted, Abi too did or wanted to do that. There came a time that the poor girl got so frustrated! Then her granny reminded her of how she wanted a younger brother or sister to which she replied - "if this is what younger siblings do then I do not want one"! So one can imagine how much Abi enjoyed himself!

  The best part of the whole stay was that Abi learnt so many things, like how to eat on his own, fight, play, adjust with children. At home he is always surrounded by adults. He has been introduced to new games on mobile, toys and gadgets by Baabi didi. Now he wants them all too! It was wonderful watching him follow didi all the time and trying to imitate her. It so amazing to see how children learn new things quickly.

   When we started packing for our return at the end of the three days, Abi simply refused to come back with us! So then we made an impromptu decision to extend our trip! All in all it was a wonderful trip. The credit for this trip goes to my daughter for planning it and our dear hostesses, especially Baabi for making it so enjoyable. 

Vaapas kaise Jaaye??

 It has been more than a week since we stepped out of our gate (not even to school ) as Abi has not been well. One day, he was feeling a bit better and the sun was very kind, so we ventured out. I told Abi that after he has his breakfast we will go out today (which he calls ghoomi-ghoomi). He was quite excited as we live in this small town and we hardly go out. If at all we do then it is to buy something which cannot be delayed. Otherwise we do our shopping only when we go to Jaipur or Delhi as we hardly get anything of our choice here.

We went to a temple which is about 30 km from our place and the road is bad. I was not aware of both these facts and I did not ask my daughter as I had an agenda in going to this temple and I knew she will not like it. Someone told me that praying to this 'mata' will cure any body of cough. I'm not superstitious, but seeing Abi suffer for such a long time, in spite of the medication, I decided to go to the temple.

After about 45 minutes drive from our place we reached there. It was a small temple. Nobody was there (thankfully). It took us 5 minutes to pray  and we were back in the vehicle. Abi asked me,'where are we going?' I said we are going back home. To my surprise, he started crying, saying 'abhi toh ghoomi ghoomi nahi gaye hai hum aur kuch kharida bhi nahi, vapas kaise jayenge?'! 

It totally slipped my mind that for Abi "ghoomne jaana" has become synonymous with buying toys or chocolates! We had a tough time in explaining to him that there are no shops here so how we can buy anything? We went around the village showing him that there are no shops where he can buy something for himself. Very reluctantly he sat in the car pressing his face on the window to keep a look out.. unfortunately he could not find any and he gave. By then he was tired and slept off. Vaapas aise hi aa gaye!

Abi's fascination for 'shaadi'

     Ever since we got the invite for the marriage of our family friend, Abi has been super excited about attending it. We exploited his excitement to our advantage to feed him or make him wear his sweater for the whole week! Of late he has been fascinated by the word 'shaadi'. One day while having his meal I made him wear his serviette around his neck and he said it was just like a 'mala' and Abi is getting married!!! I do not know from  where he learnt that but I too played along saying that we all sing, dance, laugh and eat (never miss an opportunity to use the word eat) during a marriage. He was so charged up about attending this wedding that he went around telling people that he is going for a "shaadi" and that "mein bhi shaadi karunga" (I will get married)!!!!!!!!!

     On the D-day we started our journey in time but it took longer than we expected. The time for the departure of 'barat' was running out as it was scheduled for 6:00 p.m. So we started mentally preparing Abi that we might not be able to join the band baaja (which is the highlight of weddings for him) but we will still manage to sing and dance. Surprisingly he did not let that spoil his spirit. He said that he was fine with singing and dancing and he is going to get married! Through the travel we had to keep explaining to him that small children do not get married. After a lot of persuasion he finally agreed not to get married now - phew!!

     On reaching the venue we came to know that 'barat' is yet to start and we happily joined them. Abi saw everything from the godhi (horse of the bridegroom) to patakas and his favourite band bajaa.  Though he refused to dance as uninhibitedly as he does at home, he stood beside us and kept shaking his legs. After the barat reached the venue, to his delight there were folk musicians with local drums and instruments which continued to play all night! The music, the colourful crackers, the dancing  - it was an overwhelming experience for the little one and he enjoyed himself so much, I couldn't imagine.

    The happy ending for me was that they served pasta as one of the dishes for dinner and when he saw his favourite pasta, he was so happy. He said," dekha, shaadi main pasta bhi milta hai" (see, you get pasta in marriage also!).  Thankfully he did not start asking to get married again! This was his maiden North Indian "band baaja baraat" marriage function and he enjoyed it thoroughly!