Savory Bites Recipes

Ganesh Chaturthi Festival special recipe is Pistachio and Khoya Modak. Very easy and delicious recipe to impress everyone with the amazing Modak's.

A new post again and this time it is for the most famous festival in India, yes! Ganesh Chaturthi is coming soon and all the preparations are in full swing.Here I am sharing recipe of Pistachio Khoya Modak for the festival to try and impress everyone.

We are currently in the religious month of Hindu (Indian) Calendar, called "Shravana" and this is considered the Holy month of all / month of fast,various festivals and numerous celebrations.

After this month ends we celebrate the most awaited festival of the year,that is Ganesh Chaturthi!

Every year people celebrate this festival as per traditions and customs followed by individual family. Everyone has their own family traditions of celebrating this festival, and this is the only festival when the entire family gets together and enjoy a lot.

As we all know,Modak is the best offering to Lord Ganesh,so I tried to share my recipe of Pistachio Modak for the festival.

This recipe is very easy to make and does not need you to have special skills to make the modak. I used Modak moulds to make these and give them amazing beautiful shape.
If not for modak you can mould them in regular peda shape and make peda/ sweet for any other occasion you like. This is an update for my earlier post which I had shared some time back. I had done these Pista Modak/ Peda for Rakshabandhan.

This recipe is totally customizable, you can add any flavor of your choice to make these modak. Try varieties like mango,kesar,elaichi,etc.

Rakshabandhan is another festival which comes in the month of Shravan. This is for celebrating relationship between brother and sister. Sister ties Rakhi, which a colorful thread on the brother's wrist, and brother gives a gift to sister.

"The sister performs a rakhi ceremony, then prays to express her love and her wish for the well being of her brother; in return, the brother ritually pledges to protect and take care of his sister under all circumstances" . This is an excerpt from Wikipedia.

Another interesting recipe, apart from the Pista Khoya Modak / Peda , that you can try for any festival is Instant Jalebi. This so amazing recipe is that you can make in no time and just perfect crispy Jalebi, like store bought one's.And the best part is that these Jalebi do not need overnight fermentation. Give a try to this recipe and you will not try any store bought Jalebi ever!

Ganesh Chaturthi Festive Sweet Pista Modak

Another recipe that is well suited for the fasting season is making some Potato / Batat Chivda(farali) ,which is good for fasting,has lovely combination of green chilis,curry leaves,rasins,cashewnuts,peanuts and potato flakes tossed together to make amazing recipe.
Few more festive recipe's are here which I have already shared on the blog are: Kesar Shrikhand, Khaja, Besan Ladoo, Goan Doodh Peda, Kunda.

Pista Khoya Modak

Ingredients

1 Cup Khoa / Khoya / Mawa, Grated
12 No, Pistachios
4 Tablespoons, Milk
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cardamom,ground
a pinch Green Color (optional)
1 Modak Mould
as per need Ghee / Clarified butter

Instructions

In a ceramic/nonstick pan,add grated khoya.

On low heat keep stirring it.

In a mixer grinder make a coarse paste of pistachios with milk.

Add the paste to this khoya.

Mix well and keep stirring on low flame till the mixture starts releasing ghee and starts to form a dough.

Switch of the gas.

Add the cardamom powder,sugar and green color.

Mix softly with hands for a minute or two till the mixture forms a nice dough.

Apply little ghee to your palms and to the modak moulds from inside.

Stuff sufficient quantity in each half of modak mould.

Close the mould tightly.

Open the mould and take out the modak.

Enjoy these this festive season!

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 5 mins Total time: 15 mins Yield: 8

Tips:

You can make Peda from the same dough instead of Modak.
Try adding flavors like Mango,Almond,Kesar or Elaichi.
You can refrigerate these modaks for a week and consume.

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Enjoy!!

Pista Khoya Modak

Most delicious,finger licking good and restaurant style Chole Bhature/Famous Punjabi Chana Masala Recipe!

Here's another post which is very famous and well known, Indian Lunch/Diner/Tea Time Snack menu dish,it's the most famous Punjabi Chole Bhature/Indian spicy Chickpea curry.

In India and I think almost everywhere, every Indian restaurant/Indian fast food carts sell this dish and have it on their menu. Chole Bhature needs no introduction,nor anyone needs to tell what it is.
Well, but there are multiple ways to make Chole, and yes each way will yield you a different type of Chole than other.

I have been an ardent fan of Chole Bhature for years that I can remember.
I have tried Chole and sometimes just Bhature in so many restaurants/eat-out joints/take away Carts/food trucks, I have encountered.
Something that used to amaze me so much about this dish is that how come the same dish work out so nicely with slight alterations in spices and turn out so different.
I have tried various ways to try Chole with regular white Garbanzo/Green Garbanzo/Black Garbanzo beans. Only version of this recipe that was loved and relished was the one's with regular Chickpea's.

I have seen many people add Amchur powder/Dry Mango Powder to their recipe, also many people add a Tea Bag in the cooking when they cook the Chickpea's so that the dish gets a nice dark color.It's personal choice,how you want to enhance the taste of this dish as per personal preference. I tried adding Tea Bag but somehow the taste of final didn't suit well for me. So I tried another version of the recipe with some modifications to the recipe and it worked so well that it was polished off by my family.

So, here I am sharing my recipe of Chole and Bhature too. Usually in restaurants when you order bhature they serve a HUGE poori which is quiet thick and heavy! Yes, just one BIG puri is enough to fill one persons tummy and you wont ask for second unless and until you have been hungry for years!
I had been to this restaurant and ordered Bhatura as a take-away and that one BIIIIG bhatura was more than enough for me. I could not finish it and left almost 1/4th of it.
Usually, Puri is thin and crispy and easily eaten but the Bhatura varies from Individual preparations and some make them huge,some make of medium size and some make them so thick that it's quiet heavy too!
I made the Bhature that went so well with my Chole that they were crispy,medium sized and perfect! I did not add any Baking Soda in making Bhatura as usually many people add it to give puffiness to the Bhatura.

In my house,Puri is a very favorite dish that veryone loves to it. Specially when I make them for breakfast with variety of curries to go with it. I have shared already a recipe of Puffed Puri's.
Here is a recipe of Masala Aloo that goes well with Puri or Bhatura too.

Print Recipe

Punjabi Chole Bhature

by Prasanna Hede August-7-2017

Delicious Punjabi Chole Bhature Recipe - Restaurant Style Chole with puffed Bhature.

Ingredients

For Chole:
1 Cup Kabuli Chana / Garbanzo Beans/ Chick Peas
2 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
3 No Bay Leaves
1" Ginger,grated
4 No Garlic,cloves
5 No Green Cardamom
2 No,Onion,finely Chopped
2 No,Tomato,finely chopped
1 Teaspoon Sugar
as per need Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
1 & 1/2 Teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
1 Teaspoon Chole Masala
Powdered Spices(1 Teaspoon Fennel Seeds,1/2 Teaspoon Cumin,1" Cinnamon,5 Cloves,2 Blades Mace)
1/2 Teaspoon Coriander Powder
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Teaspoon Lime Juice
For Garnish:
1 No Onion,sliced
2 Sprigs Cilantro,Chopped
For Bhature:
1 & 1/2 Cup Maida
1/4 Cup Sooji Coarse
1/4 Cup Yogurt
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoon Oil
Additional:
for Deep fry Oil

Instructions

First,to make chole,soak the chickpea overnight in sufficient water.
In a pressure cooker, add oil .
When its hot,add bay leaves,1" grated Ginger,cloves,cardamom.
Add chopped onion and tomato,sugar and salt.
Fry till it gets mushy.
Add the spices here:turmeric,kashmiri chili powder,chole masala.powdered spices,coriander powder.
Mix this well and add water.
Pressure cook on medium heat for 25 minutes.
Once pressure released,add lime juice.
Serve with cilantro chopped and onion sliced.
To make Bhatura:
In a mixing bowl,add maida,salt,sugar,yogurt,sooji and oil.
Add little water if needed and knead to a soft dough.
Cover it with a damp cloth for 1 hour.
Heat oil in a deep frying pan.
Pinch dough balls and roll them applying little oil to the rolling board.
Deep fry on medium heat till done.
Drain on kitchen tissue paper.
Serve hot!

Details

Prep time: 1 hour Cook time: 35 mins Total time: 1 hour 35 mins Yield: 3 Servings

Tip:

For bhature to puff nicely,press them gently at the center while frying.
To get the vibrant Red Color for the gravy use the Kashmiri Red Chili Powder.

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Enjoy!
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Punjabi Chole Bhature

A new post again after a while and it's my new HOT favorite...Pakora Kadhi! The delicious and lovely Punjabi Pakora kadhi is my new addiction in vegetarian food and I have tried to make it even more interesting by adding Spinach/Palak Pakora to the kadhi.

I tweaked the recipe of a regular kadhi slightly and it was so yummy that it works perfectly with roti and rice too.
Spiked the yogurt curry with tadka of spices and it was so amazing that yogurt gravy did not taste sour at all.

A lot of my friends served Punjabi kadhi for the parties/Potlucks and I used to love hogging it. This time I thought of giving it a try and absolutely loved it.
The gravy has yogurt which is very good digestion and apart from the various health benfits that yogurt has to give, the kadhi also has spinach kofta/pakora in it,which is not deep fried but rather cooked with just few drops of oil.
That looks a very promising option than deep fried version.

If you are a Popeye Fan or not,still we all love including greens in our diet. So Spinach pakora or Palak pakora is the main ingredient of this kadhi.
I chose Palak than regular pakora as then it would be simple onion pakora and Palak will give additional health benefits.
I have shared lot of Palak recipes before. Check out my Spinach Chicken Momo,Palak/Spinach Chicken Curry,Palak Paneer Roll, Hariyali Chicken.
Well that's still small list to share. I will be sharing more Palak recipes in future too.

I wish I had tried this kadhi a lot sooner, as this is very close to my favorite Goa recipe of "Takachi Kadi" ,that is "Flavored Buttermilk Kadhi". Although the spices and ingredients differ slightly but somehow when I was eating the kadhi I remembered the Buttermilk kadhi that my mom makes and it's just perfect!
I used to feel initially that vegetarian food has such limited options but I was totally wrong! Vegetarian recipes are vast and has no boundaries.
This Punjabi Kadhi Pakora is so easy to make and can be customized as per ingredients available at home. I have used Palak here as I wanted to include Spinach in the food.But its not compulsory to go with Palak pakora with this recipe.
If you have onion,capsicum,cauliflower or cabbage then try and make those pakoras and add to this kadhi. It will be equally fantastic.

Print Recipe

Palak Pakora Kadhi

by Prasanna Hede

Delicious Palak pakora with spiced yogurt curry.

Ingredients

For the Pakora:
1&1/4th Cup Spinach,chopped
1/4th Cup Onion,chopped
Salt,as per need
1/4th Teaspoon Sugar
Baking Soda,a pinch
3/4th Cup Gram (Besan) Flour
1/4th Teaspoon Turmeric Powder/Ground
1/4th Teaspoon Red Chili Powder
For the Kadhi:
1 Cup Yogurt,at room temperature
3 Tablespoon Gram (Besan) Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder/Ground
1/2 Cup Milk
1 &1/3rd Cup Water
1 Tablespoon Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Organic Fenugreek Seeds
3 No Garlic,cloves,Grated
Salt,as per need
1/2 Teaspoon Coriander Powder
1 Teaspoon Sugar
For Tadka:
1 Tablespoon Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1/2 Teaspoon Hing/Asafoetida
10 No Curry Leaves
1/2 Teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chili Powder

Instructions

Firstly,make the pakora.
In a mixing bowl,add the palak,onion and remaining ingredients mentioned under "For Pakora".
Add very little water and make smooth batter.
Make sure the batter is not watery nor lumpy.
Heat Appe/ Aebleskiver Pan and spray some oil on it or smear with a brush.
With a spoon,drop a spoonful of batter in each cavity.
Close and let it cook till the pakora are done.
Let the pakora sit aside.
Make the kadhi.
In a mixing bowl,add the yogurt and besan.
Whisk well till nicely combined without any lumps.
To that add turmeric,milk,water and mix further.
In a pan,add oil and add the fenugreek,garlic,onion and fry further.
Add the yogurt gravy,pakora,adjust the salt.
Add sugar,coriander powder.
Let this cook on lowest flame.
In a tadka pan,add oil and when its hot,add the mustard ,cumin,hing,curry leaves,red chili powder.
Mix well and pour over the kadhi.
Mix well and serve hot with rice or roti.
Enjoy!

Details

Prep time: 25 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 40 mins Yield: 3 Servings

Here are few tips to make the curry perfect:

Always use the yogurt at room temperature. Mostly what might happen when you use chilled yogurt straight from the refrigerator is that,it might curdle when you cook it in kadhi.
Mix the yogurt and besan well till smooth.
Always cook the kadhi on lowest flame or heat. This will not allow the kadhi to curdle and let it cook perfectly.
If the kadhi starts to thicken then adjust the consistency of kadhi with water or milk as per your personal choice.
You can add any vegetable pakora to the kadhi.
Play with the taste by doing some alterations that might suit you.