simplefoodsforcomplicatedpeople

December is the month when juicy lemons are available cheap, so it's mandatory to make pickle. So are green chilies. Chili pickle This recipe is from a book called 'Hamkhas Paaksiddhi' by Jayashree Deshpande which was gifted to me by my Aai when my daughter was born. I often refer to this book. I took 250 gram green chilies, the normal ones, not the very hot ones. Washed, dried them and then chopped into small pieces. Heat a small tadka pan, take 2 tbs of oil, add one tbsp methi seeds, remove, then switch off the flame. Add 2 tbsp asafoetida powder to the oil and stir well. Heat half a cup of water and let it cool. Also heat half a cup of oil and let it cool. Add 1/4 cup mustard dal or split mustard, 1 tbsp turmeric powder and 1/4 cup of lemon juice in the mixer jar and make a paste. Keep adding the cooled water gradually and keep running the mixer. Stop when you get the heady smell of the mustard and the mixture has turned frothy and light. Add this to the lemon pie...

डिसेंबरात लिंबं चांगली येतात बाजारात, पातळ सालीची आणि स्वस्त. त्यामुळे लोणचं करायलाच हवं. मिरच्याही चांगल्या असतात, मग त्याचंही लोणचं करावं. खाराच्या मिरच्या खाराच्या मिरच्या हमखास पाकसिद्धी पुस्तकात आहेत तशा. त्या भन्नाट चविष्ट होतात, अनेक वर्षांचा अनुभव आहे. पाव किलाे मिरच्या चिरून घ्यायच्या. छोट्या कढल्यात एक चमचा तेलावर एक चमचा मेथीदाणे आणि नंतर २ चमचे हिंग पूड भाजून घ्यायची. एक वाटी लिंबाचा रस घ्यायचा. पाव वाटी मोहरीची डाळ, हळद, आणि थोडा लिंबाचा रस असं मिक्सरला एकदा फिरवून घ्यायचं. मग त्यात उकळून गार केलेलं पाणी थोडं थोडं करत घालत फेसून घ्यायचं मिक्सरमध्येच. हलकी झाली की हे मिश्रण मिरच्यांच्या फोडींवर घालायचं. त्यात उरलेला लिंबाचा रस, अर्धी वाटी मीठ, मेथीहिंग, घालून कालवायचं. मग अर्धी वाटी तेल गरम करून गार झाल्यावर ओतायचं. नीट कालवायचं. आठेक दिवस तरी रोज कालवावं लागतं. यात लिंबू, मीठ नंतर वाढवता येतं. इतकंच काय खार जास्त झाला तर मिरच्यांचे तुकडेही वाढवता येतात. मी सहसा छोटी बाटली रोज वापराला बाहेर ठेवते, बाकी फ्रिजात. वापरायला काढताना पुन्हा हवं असल्यास तेल घालता येतं. आमच्याकडे ...

  A simple dish that is filling, tasty and is ready in no time. We call it MuTke मुटके, similar to muthiyo. It literally means shaped using the fist - Mutthi. I have used dudhi/lauki in this. You can use coriander, methi leaves, cabbage, sweet corn, carrot anything. I grated a 5 inch long piece of lauki. Added salt, dhania-jeera powder, a pinch of sugar, amchur, green chilies, 2 tablespoons curd. Mixed it all well. Lauki releases a lot of water so you need to quickly add the flours. I have used 2 tablespoons of besan and some jowar and ragi flours. I guess you can use any flours. Make a soft dough. And make small mutke. You can make balls, or small patties too. Steam them like Dhokla. In a large pan, make a tadka of oil, mustard, asafoetida and sesame seeds. Once the seeds splutter, add the mutke whole, or you can chop in small pieces. I added turmeric to the tadka as i had forgotten to do so to the dough. Stir well. You can deep fry the mutke as well. Or eat without any frying at ...

  Kothimbir Wadi A typical Maharashtrian snack item. I don't know if Kothimbir wadi is made like this anywhere else.  I make this with soaked chana and moong dal, the wadis that you get in shops are made with besan. You can make either way. Soak about 250 grams of chana dal, or take both chana and moong dals overnight or at least for 6 hours. Grind it with ginger, garlic and chilies in the morning. Make a pretty fine paste. Take this paste in a large bowl, add salt, coriander seed powder, jeera powder, amchur, turmeric. Mix well. Then add lots of chopped coriander and mix well. The consistency should be like idli batter. The mixture should look yellow and green, not yellow with some green here and there. You can add a little baking soda, usually I don't. Mix and spread on the greased plates. Steam for 10-12 minutes. Cut and shallow fry, or deep fry. The 3-in-1 stand is very useful for such dishes. It comes with three types of plates. One is this, plain. Second is plates ...

  This was dinner. Moong dal-rice khichdi, chatpat chana aka sundal, and a kind of saar that we call kaLaN / kaDhaN. I had boiled the sprouted chana/chickpeas in pressure cooker with lots of water. Separated the water, added some buttermilk to it. Added crushed garlic, one slit green chili, salt and coriander. Gave a tadka of ghee and jeera. Heated it, didn't boil, so that it won't curdle.  I make this with sprouted moong too. Tasty and healthy.  You can make a salad/raita/koshimbir to go with this too.

Thalipeeth थालिपीठ, typical wholesome Maharashtrian dish, and easy to make. Quite simple. Usually it's made with a particular mixture of grains/sprouts roasted and then grinded coarsely. It's called Bhajani भाजणी. We make it at home sometimes, or buy a readymade packet. Every Maharashtrian household has its own recipe for this.  When I don't have the ready mix, here is what I do. Mix jowar and bajra flours. Add coriander, salt, chili powder, dhania-jeera powder, finely chopped onion. Mix everything and adding water, make a soft dough. You should be able to pat it with hands.  I pat it on a wet handkerchief, then it becomes easy to pick up and put it on the hot tawa.  Cover and let it cook. Turn once the bottom is brown, let the other side cook. Serve with curd, white butter, chutney, anything.  You can add any vegetables in it, like grated cabbage, radish, spring onion, methi, palak, beet, carrot, etc. It's a healthy and fulfilling dish.  You can make it with an...