Recipe - Amboli

Ingredients (makes about 8)

1. Rice - 150 gms
2. Udad daal - 50 gms
3. Salt - 1 or 2 tsp

Method

1. It's a 24 hour process. So plan ahead.

2. Wash rice and udad daal and then mix and put in a bowl.
3. Put enough water in it to soak it - water level about 1 cm above the mix.
4. Keep it like this for 12 hours.This will soften the rice and daal.
5. Put it in a grinder and grind it to get a medium thick batter. If it is too thick, put some water in it.
6. Put the salt, mix it well and then keep it overnight to ferment. About 12 hours.
7. Once it has fermented, heat a flat pan or tawa. Use a thick tawa.
8. Take the batter in a small flat based bowl or vati. Pour it at the center of the tawa and then using the base of the vati, start spreading it outwards using a circular motion.

9. Flip it over once the bottom side is cooked.Should take about 1 minute to cook depending on the hotness of the tava.
10. Serve with a chutney (tomato chutney or coconut chutney)

Recipe - Tomato Chutney

This chutney goes well with absolutely anything. It has a pretty strong taste that can be enhanced by putting more chilli if you want :)

Ingredients

1. Tomato - 2
2. Curry leaves - 10
3. Green chillies - 2
4. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
5. Asafoetida (hing) - small pinch
6. Salt - as per taste
7. Oil - 2tsp

Method

1. Chop tomatoes and chillies.
2. Heat oil in a small pan/wok. When hot, put the cumin seeds.
3. When they pop, put the curry leaves
4. After about 10 seconds, put the green chillies. Let it cook on slow flame for about 30 seconds
5. Put hing, and put the tomatoes in. Mix well and put salt. Let it cook till tomatoes are soft.
6. Let it cool down and then grind it in a mixer.

Recipe - Pohe

Ingredients

1. Pohe - (beaten/flattened rice) medium thickness - 100 gms
2. Onion - 1 big
3. Potato - 1 big
4. Green chilli - 2 medium
5. Curry leaves - 10
6. Turmeric - 1 tsp
7. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
8. Green peas/peanuts - handful - optional
9. Salt - as per taste
10. Fresh coriander - for garnish
11. Grated coconut - for garnish

Method
1. Use a sieve to filter and throw out all the smaller bits of pohe

Soaked Pohe

2. Sprinkle water on the pohe and ensure that all of them are wet(don't over do it). Keep away
3. Peel and chop the potato into smaller pieces of thickness of about 2-3 mm. Any thinner than this, and they will get cooked before the onions get cooked
4. Chop the onion and green chilli

5. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok. Put cumin seeds in it followed by green chillies and curry leaves

6. When they are slightly crispy, put in the onions and potatoes together. Mix well and cover. Let them cook on small-medium flame

7. If you want to put green peas or peanuts, this is the time
8. After about 5 min, check if potatoes are cooked. If yes, then put turmeric powder and mix
9. Put the pohe and mix well till all of them are yellow with turmeric
10. Put salt as per taste (around 1 tsp should do it)
11. Cover the wok and cook for 1-2 min
12. Garnish with fresh coriander and grated coconut
13. Serve with a good mango pickle

Tips -

1. Pohe come in three forms usually - thin, medium, thick. For making this dish, the medium or thick version is better as the thin pohe tend to get soggy very quickly while sprinkling water on them
2. Can put some red chilli powder in the dish as well
3. Sprinkle some sugar for garnish if you want. Tastes different

Recipe - Victorian Sponge Cake

This is a basic Victorian cake. I haven't been able to take photos of the intermediate steps coz I had messy hands :). Also, you could convert this cake into a Victorian sandwich, by slicing the cake into two layers and applying strawberry jam between them.

Ingredients

1. Maida (All purpose flour) - 200 gms
2. Sugar - 200 gms
3. Unsalted butter - 200 gms
4. Eggs - 4
5. Baking powder - 1 tsp
6. Baking soda - 1/4th tsp

Method

1. Mix maida, baking powder and baking soda using a thin wired sieve. Pass through the sieve 3-4 times to mix it well
2. Beat butter in a glass bowl till fluffy. It's a lot of effort, but then you do get mechanical egg beaters that make it slightly easy for you.
3. Start adding one egg at a time and continue beating it. The other option is to beat the eggs separately in a blender and mix with the butter and again beat it for sometime.
4. Grind the sugar to a powder in a grinder and add to the egg and butter mix and beat it again. Remember, you have to beat it till it's fluffy. If you overdo it, it will become slightly lumpy.
5. At this point, start pre-heating the oven to 200C
6. Apply butter to thee sides and bottom of the baking pan and dust it with some maida.
7. Now put the maida/baking powder mix in batter and fold it in slowly. DO NOT beat it. Just move a wooden spatula in a clockwise or anti clockwise direction in the bowl to mix it slowly. Do not change direction midway. Fold the mixture in this way slowly so as not to release the air that has already built up inside the batter.
8. Pour the batter in the baking pan upto slightly more than half the height.
9. Keep it in the oven at 200C for 5 min.
10. Change the temperature to 180C and bake it for another 25-30 min.
11. If you pour this batter in the cup cake bowls, the baking time reduces by a few minutes.
12. Once the timer goes off, take out the pan and insert a knife into the cake. If the cake sticks to the knife blade, keep it inside for another few minutes.
13. Once done, take out and put on a reverse wire mesh in order to air it.
14. You can do some icing on it if you want after it has cooled down.

Recipe - Corn Chatpata

Ingredients

1. Corn - 150 gms
2. Onions - 1 medium
3. Garlic - 5-7 cloves
4. Red chilli powder/Chopped Green chillies - To taste
5. Salt - To taste
6. Salted butter - 3 tsp

Method

1. Chop onions and garlic finely. If using green chillies, chop them as well.

2. Heat 2 tsp of butter in a pan and put the chopped garlic (and chillies) in it. After about 10 seconds, put the onions in.

3. When the onions are golden brown, put the corn in. Mix well
4. Put red chillies powder (if not using green chillies) and salt to taste.
5. Cook for a few minutes and put 1 tsp of butter on it. Mix well.
6. Serve :)

Recipe - Garlic Roasted Chicken

Ingredients

1. Whole chicken (with skin) - 1 kg
2. Garlic cloves - 20
3. Garlic paste - 4 tsp
4. Ginger paste - 2 tsp
5. Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
6. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Potato - 3 medium
8. Tomato - 1 medium
9. Onions - 3 medium
10. Salt - as [er taste
11. Red wine - 3 tablespoon (at least)
12. Vinegar - 2 tsp
13. Lemon juice - 2 tsp
14. Lemon - 1 whole
15. Olive oil 

Method

1. Wash the chicken with clean water and pat dry
2. Slowly separate the skin of the chicken from the body (without removing it). Make as much space as possible between the body and the skin
3. Apply the garlic paste and ginger paste to the chicken skin and also on the body beneath the skin. Apply on the insides of the chicken as well
4. Sprinkle the red chilli powder and cumin powder on the chicken and spread it around using your fingers
5. Sprinkle a little salt on it and also a little olive oil
6. Prick a lemon with a small knife and place it inside the chicken cavity
7. Pre-heat the oven to 240 C.
8. Roughly cut all the vegetables into around 1/2 inch pieces and spread them around the baking tray
9. Sprinkle olive oil and lemon juice on the veggies and place the chicken on top of the veggies
10. Put in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 200C for 1 hour (1kg->1hour)
11. Once done, take out the chicken and let it rest for at least 15 min before serving

For the gravy

1. After taking the chicken out of the oven, put the baking tray with the baked veggies on a burner with medium to high heat
2. Put some water in it along with vinegar, and red wine
3. Mix a little salt and mix it and let it cook for some more time till the veggies are soft
4. Mash the veggies using a potato masher and let it all cook for some more time
5. You can eat the gravy as it is now or pass it through a sieve to make make it more consistent - the taste is amazing either ways
6. Serve the roast with the gravy

Tip

1. Keep tasting the gravy to adjust the amount of salt, vinegar and red wine
2. The type of red wine used makes a difference to the taste. I prefer a very smooth merlot + shiraz

Recipe - Maharashtrian Chivda

Ok, so today I am gonna write the recipe of something that I have always loved eating, but have never attempted to make. Made it for the first time today and it turned out to be quite decent.

Ingredients: Serves many

1. Pohe (rice flakes) - 500 gms
2. Peanut oil - 5 Tab sp
3. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
4. Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
5. Green chillies - 4 big chopped
6. Curry leaves - 20-25
7. Peanuts - half a fistful
8. Split Futane (no idea what it's called in English - xyz nuts) - fistful or more
9. Khas khas (poppy seeds) - 4 tsp
10. Hing (asafoetida) - 1 tsp
11. Coconut dry - 15 pieces thin 0.5 inch long
12. Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
13. Salt - 3-4 tsp (as per taste)
14. Sugar - 2 tsp

Method:

0. Ingredients are shown -

1. Take out all the small bits and powder from the rice flakes using a sieve.

2. Keep in sun light for a few hours to make them a little crispy if possible. 

3. Heat a wok and roast the rice flakes a little to make them crispier. Set aside

4. Heat about 4-5 tablespoons of oil in the wok. Put the mustard & coriander seeds in till they pop. Put chopped green chillies and curry leaves. When they start becoming crispy, put the peanuts and the futane in. Let them cook for about 20-25 seconds on low flame. Put in the poppy seeds and hing. Mix properly and put the turmeric powder. Put the salt in and mix well again.

5. Put this mixture into the roasted rice flakes in a separate pan and mix well. Sprinkle sugar over this and mix. let it cool down before storing it.

6. It stays ok for weeks and is good to eat sprinkled with freshly chopped onions.
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It's come out alright. definitely good for a first try. will modify it as i make it more often.