Palak Paneer (Cottage Cheese in Spinach Sauce)

Ingredients:

1 - 10 oz box frozen spinach
1 1/4 cup paneer cubes
1/2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
1 medium onion, chopped
1"ginger
2 cloves garlic
2 long green peppers or 2 green chilies
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp haldi (turmeric powder)
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/4 cup half and half
salt to taste
oil

How it's made:

Defrost spinach.
Cook spinach in a sauce pan. Cool and puree with ginger, garlic and chilies.

In a frying pan, heat oil. Add cumin seeds. When they change color, add chopped onions. Cook until translucent. Add spinach puree and salt to taste. Cover and cook for 2-3 mins. Add red chili powder and haldi. Cook for a minute.
Add paneer cubes and garam masala powder. Cover and cook on medium high flame for 3-4 minutes. If the sauce is too thick add 1/4 cup of water ( a little at a time). Adjust seasoning. Add half and half and give one quick boil. Serve hot with puri, roti or rice.

Serves: 3-4

Cantonese Chicken

I googled a little before I could post this recipe as I knew for sure that this wouldn't be the traditional recipe. This was my mothers version which we all enjoyed.

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked boneless chicken cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
6-8 green chilies, finely chopped
2-3 spring onion, green only, chopped
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock or water
1/2-1 tsp cornstarch
salt
pepper

For the marinade:
1/2 tsp ginger, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 green chilies (optional), chopped fine
1/2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)

How it's made:

Marinate the chicken with the above ingredients and refrigerate for an hour or two.

Heat a few tsp of oil in a deep wok or frying pan. Saute chicken on high heat until chicken changes color and is light brown in color. Set aide.

In the same work, heat a tsp of oil. Fry Onions, green chilies and spring onions. Fry until light brown. Add chicken. In the meantime, in a jar with tight fitting lid, combine, soy sauce, chicken stock, cornstarch, pepper and shake well. Add sauce to chicken. Combine well. Adjust seasoning and garnish with spring onions. Serve with Chinese fried rice or plain white rice.

Serves: 2-3

Birthday Cake - Lawn Mower

This was baked a few weeks ago for my husbands birthday. He maintains the lawn like any professional landscaper and I thought this would be a perfect cake for him.

Personally, I think the cake would have been nicer if it was a rectangular one rather than a round! The grass is made with butter cream frosting with a star tip. Wilton carries grass tip which is next on my list to purchase.

Birthday Cake - With Fondant Flowers

A close friend of mine recently had a week long birthday celebration. She lives her life to the fullest and has a fantastic sense of humor.  She loves the art of creativity and creates amazing creation on crochet.

I decided to try fondant flowers for the first time with the fondant tool kit that I had recently purchased. It took awhile but was a lot of fun to work.

The cake was regular butter cake flavored with lemon juice, lemon zest and marbled with green food coloring.

Goli Baje (Mangalore Bonda)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp yogurt
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)
1 tbsp chick pea flour (besan), heaped
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1/4 tsp ginger, grated
salt to taste
oil for deep frying

How it's made:

In a large mixing bowl, whisk yogurt with water until smooth and no lumps. Add baking soda, sugar, green chili, ginger and salt to taste. Mix well. Add maida and besan to make a thick paste. Set aside for an hour.
Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Drop batter by tsp into hot oil and deep fry until light golden brown. Do not over crowd. They puff almost 3 times the size of the batter that was dropped into oil. Drain on paper towel and Serve hot.

Makes about: 20-30 bite size fritters

Chicken Ghee Roast

Ghee Roast is a dish that you can find in almost every restaurant at Mangalore, Udupi, Manipal and surrounding towns. Hotel Anupam [which I heard is now renamed to a name that I can't recall :( ], at Mangalore was our favorite restaurant for Ghee roast. I remember the pipping hot dish wrapped in banana leaf and then re-wrapped in newspaper. Most of the time, the newspaper would have blotches of ghee. I'm sure it was cooked with considerable amount of ghee. But it was heavenly!

Ingredients:

3 lbs chicken legs, skinned
15-20 Bydagi chilies, roasted
1/4 cup buttermilk
3 tsp cumin seeds
1 whole pod garlic, peeled
10-12 whole black pepper corns
1/2 tsp turmeric
3 tsp vinegar
salt to taste
2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) or more

How it's made:

Soak, whole chilies in buttermilk for 2-3 hours. (You can remove the seeds to reduce spice level). Grind to a fine paste with cumin seeds, garlic, pepper corns, turmeric, vinegar and salt. Marinate chicken with ground masala and set aside for 5-6 hours or overnight.
In a iron skillet or deep frying wok, heat ghee and fry marinated chicken pieces on high heat for 5 mins until light brown. Then lower heat, cover and cook until chicken is well done. This is a dry dish.

If you have gravy left behind, remove lid once chicken is cooked and crank up the heat until masala is well coated to the chicken. Garnish with curry leaves (optional). Serve hot. This dish makes a great appetizer and pairs well with chilled beer :)

Note: 
*For this dish, I prefer cooking with chicken legs or thighs. Chicken breast can be substituted but tends to be a little dry. 
*The same rub can be used for fish and shrimp.

Chicken 65

Yesterday after I got back from work, kids were anticipating a day off from school as "Hercules" was expected to dump several inches of snow. On the days we have snow storms, all of us at home like to dig into something good to eat. For the first time during a snow storm, I was stuck indoors with non stop calls from work. The boys spent a few hours shoveling and they kept walking in and out of the house. With bitter cold temperature this was a perfect snack for them to refuel their energy.
My Mom's recipe for Chicken 65 called for deep frying the chicken. I am not a fan of deep fried food and try to find an alternative as much as possible. This recipe turns out equally good as deep fried chicken. I prefer using dark meat although boneless chicken breast can be substituted.

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
4-5 green chilies, chopped fine
1 tbsp ginger, chopped fine
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 tbsp yogurt
few drops of red food coloring
oil

For the marinade:
2 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp rice flour
1 tbsp yogurt
salt to taste
4 curry leaves

How it's made:

Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Wash well and pat dry. Marinate with the above marinade ingredients for  6-8 hrs (Due to lack of time, I let it marinate in the refrigerator for an hour only).
In a shallow pan, heat a tbsp of oil, add curry leaves. Saute for a few seconds (cover pan if required as oil might splatter). Add marinated chicken and saute on high heat for 5 minutes. Cover and cook until chicken is well cooked and light brown. Do not add water.
In a separate pan, heat oil. Add green chilies, ginger and garlic. Fry for 3-4 minutes until light brown. Add yogurt along with food coloring. Mix well together. Add cooked chicken and combine with sauce until chicken is well coated with the sauce. Garnish with curry leaves. Serve hot.

Serves: 3-4

Pineapple Sheera

Happy New Year 2014

Ingredients:

1 cup coarse sooji (cream of wheat)
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 stick butter
1 - 20 oz can crushed pineapple
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
4-5 strands of saffron
a handful of raisin

How it's made:

In a wide pan, melt 1 stick butter. Roast sooji for 5-10 mins on medium high heat, making sure it doesn't get burnt. Add sugar and stir until well incorporated.
In a saucepan, boil water. Add water and canned pineapple to sooji/sugar. Stir continuously making sure there are no lumps. Keep cooking for 5-10 mins. Then add 1/2 stick butter. Keep cooking on medium heat until the whole mixture comes together and it starts leaving the sides of the pan. Add cardamom and saffron. Decorate with raisins or almond slices.

Methi Rice

I call this a bachelors recipe. All the ingredients go together in the pressure cooker and its done in no time. With very little chopping,(no onions, no ginger - garlic), this recipe is as simple as veg pulao, maybe even more simpler! This is a  borrowed recipe from a friend who made this for a religious event.
I use Basmati rice for special occasions or during gathering. Casual meals are always with made with sona masoori rice. If using Basmati, for 1 1/2 cup rice add 2 1/2 cup water.
These days there are a variety of pressure cookers - some that just release steam. The pressure cooker that I own that is about 15 years old and still going strong! With the amount of cooking and entertaining that I do, I recently bought one as a stand by. For this recipe ,with the newer pressure cookers, wait until it releases steam, reduce heat and let it cook for 5-8 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup uncooked white rice ( sona masoori)
3 cups water
1 cup assorted vegetables (green beans, green pepper, mushrooms, green peas, broccoli)
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
3 whole cloves
2 green cardamom
1 small stick cinnamom
2 green chilies, slit in half
1 tbsp kasoori methi
salt to taste
oil

How it's made:

Wash and soak rice for 30 mins.
Use any combination of vegetables. Most of the time, I prefer going with all green veggies.
In pressure cooker, heat oil. Add cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon. When it starts changing color, add hing powder, turmeric, green chilies and kasoori methi. Saute for a minute. Add veggies and half tsp salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add drained rice, 3 cups water and salt to taste. Cover with pressure cooker lid and pressure cook upto 3 whistles. Turn heat off.
Wait until all the steam is released and serve hot with boondi raita.

Serves: 3-4

Boondi Raita

This is my son's recipe. He makes Boondi raita every time I make any kind of flavored rice. I let him take over and post this on his own since he has been always curious to know about what I post on my blog.


Boondi Raita is one of the few things I can cook (apart from frozen food and pasta/spaghetti). This recipe is simple yet delicious as it compliments any type of rice or pulao.

Ingredients:

1 cup yogurt
1/4 cup water or milk
chili powder
roasted cumin powder
salt
sugar
boondi

How It's Made:

Fill a medium size bowl with yogurt and stir well until there are no clumps. Then put water or milk in. How much you put in is up to you. If you like your raita very thin and like liquid, pour more water or milk. If you like your raita thick, do not put a lot of water or milk. Stir again until the water or milk has mixed with the yogurt and there is no accumulation of liquid around the edges of the bowl. Then mix in about 1/2 teaspoons of roasted cumin powder and a 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder. Add a few pinches of salt and a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Mix all the ingredients together. Finally, add boondi to the mixture.

This is just a basic way to make boondi raita. When I make it, I do not measure how much of each ingredient I use, but I make it in a way that feels natural and fits with how I prefer it to be. I like my raita to be sweet at first, but then have an aftertaste that is provided by the chili powder. Experiment when you make boondi raita to find the perfect balance of ingredients for you.

Serves: 2

Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry (Chinese)

Ingredients:

1 medium chicken breast, thinly sliced*
2 cups broccoli florets
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1 tsp hoisin sauce
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tsp sriracha chilli sauce (optional)
1/4 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp corn starch
salt
black pepper powder
oil

How it's made:

In a wok, heat oil ( I use canola). When it's hot, add ginger and garlic. Saute for a few seconds. Add chicken and fry for a 2-3 minutes. Add onions, salt, pepper and fry until chicken is well cooked. Add broccoli florets.
In a jar with tight fitting lid, combine soy sauce, hoisin, chicken stock, sriracha, sesame oil and corn starch. Shake until everything is well combined. Add  this to chicken and broccoli. Stir well together. Adjust seasoning and serve hot with white rice or chinese fried rice.

*Freeze chicken breast for an hour. It helps slicing chicken to thin strips.

Serves: 2-3

Season's Greetings! - 2013

Merry Christmas and Wishing all friends, family and readers a flavorful Holiday Season!

My kitchen has been popping with cake pops this holiday season. These are a little messy to work with (I prefer using lollipop sticks) but they are super cute. And the best thing of all, they are bite size. Calories, hmmmmm!...not to be considered during the holidays!

These are made similar to cake pops (which you can find here) but I use a spoon to coat the cake balls with melted chocolate. Set them aside on parchment paper to dry and then place them on paper cups. 

Cake Pops

Last weekend while we were at friends for Pre-Christmas gathering,  few of my sons friends wanted to surprise him on his birthday. Since my son was busy on his birthday with music rehearsals etc, they decided to stop by and surprise him on 24th. So I decided to make something special for all the kids.

Cake pops were popular early this year and it was on my list for long to try them. I thought there wasn't a better time than to treat this group of witty and energetic group of teenagers. The left over cake that I had trimmed from  trifle cake worked wonderful to create these treats.

To make these cake pops, I don't have the exact measurements. I just eye balled all ingredients together. Cut cake into small pieces and crumble to almost powder. (Hands work best, but you can use a food processor). Pulse for a few seconds in a food processor. Add a few teaspoon of store bought frosting (just enough to hold crumbs together and it forms a soft dough). With the help of tablespoon, scoop and make smooth even size balls. Once they are ready , refrigerate them for 30 minutes.

Remove from refrigerator and let them rest at room temperature. In the meantime, melt chocolate chips on double broiler until smooth. Dip the tip of lollipop sticks into chocolate and stick them into cake ball (just to help the stick glue to the cake pop. Gently roll cake pop in melted chocolate until well coated. Immediately top with sprinkles, crushed nuts, toasted coconut or mini M & M's. Stick them onto Styrofoam to hold them upright until they are dry.

Although they are little too sweet for me, it was a hit with the kids. Since my son is a huge fan of football, I made a few to look like football. These are definitely on my list again for Super Bowl.

Happy Birthday Son! - Trifle Cake

It's hard to believe, how fast kids grow. My little baby, now a teenager, turned a year older yesterday. With each passing year, its unbelievable how fast they change. Until early this year, he waited to get taller and within a span of few months he is taller than me and still growing.
The year 2013 had quite a few memorable moments. He moved to a new school and it was a big transition, he joined a music group at school and they won the state championship.There are many more special times but the craziest and my most favorite of all was touring The Citadel at Montreal.
On the day we were at The Citadel, it was a windy day but we didn't expect heavy rains. We bought rain ponchos just incase and we lucked out. We landed up touring the historical site with our rain ponchos in the middle of a storm. The tour guide must have thought we were out of our minds when it was raining cats and dogs. I don't remember hearing a word what our guide said but I saw my son enjoying every minute of the tour. The tour guide said she had never done a tour in the rain and always had a group of 50 people or more!

On the occasion of his birthday, I didn't share any words of wisdom. At this stage, talking to a teenager can sound like a lecture to them. I came across these words in a book that I read few months ago and shared it with him----
Your heart: follow it; Your dreams: work on them; Your family: Treasure them; Your fears: Embrace them and let them make you stronger; Your friends: Be loyal to them; Your Money (when you start earning): respect it; Your passion: Live it!
I was wanting to bake a special fancy cake for him. But he requested for trifle, his favorite dessert. You can find the recipe for trifle here.
To make this look like a cake, I baked two 9"round cakes. Trim the uneven top off and layer in a spring form pan with pudding, jello and mandarin oranges. Top with pudding and decorate with jello and oranges.

The cake needs to be refrigerated for 4-5 hours. I made this before leaving for work and decorated the cake. Jello started dripping down and as you can see, the cake looks a little sloppy. I would recommend to layer the cake and refrigerate. Decorate the cake just before serving.

Beetroot Salad

Ingredients:

2 medium beetroot, washed, peeled and cooked
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 green chili, cut into 4-5 pieces
a few springs of coriander leaves
salt to taste
1/2 tsp lemon juice

How it's made:

Slice beets. Add all the remaining ingredients and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Serve cold.

Serves: 2

Burrito Bowl

"Chipotle's" Burrito Bowl is a family favorite and I make this quite frequently at home. The recipe process seems to be quite long but if you have all the ingredients ready, the whole dish can be put together in 30 minutes or less. I made this over the weekend and everytime I think about this dish,it reminds me one of the best memories of 2013 (and probably one of the best days of my life).
It was a warm Saturday night and I had this dish ready for dinner. I kept asking my husband who was glued to the television to join at the dinner table and he kept ignoring. All that was left, was to get into an argument with him. While I sat on the couch being annoyed, the door bell rings. He insisted that I answer the door. Being a little frustrated, I peeked through the window. In the dark, I see familiar faces and there stood many of my friends with their family. I open the door thinking "What the heck!" and the cameras start flashing and everyone screaming "Happy Birthday". I don't even remember how I reacted but I couldn't believe my friends and husband pulled a surprise together without me having a clue (which was a big challenge for them)- a party in my own house. Everyone knew that they couldn't get me out of the house for a surprise. Of course, it didn't end there. While I went upstairs for a quick change of clothes, several thoughts kept rushing through my brain.
I have hosted, organized many events at home and I must admit, being clueless was not easy. I hoped my husband catered food from a restaurant (he isn't very knowledgeable about anything to do with kitchen). Walking down the stairs, I hear my friends arranging the kitchen. I walk into the living room and I see my brothers family and my Mom. I think I almost passed out and couldn't take all the excitement and surprises anymore. I was breathless, overwhelmed and of course touched with every ones hard work and effort. All my friends and co-sister cooked several dishes each. It surely was one night to remember with lots of good food, drinks, cake, laughter and most important of all, the company of my close family and friends ( a few dear ones that I missed).
Burrito Bowl went back to the refrigerator and it sat there for a few days until we finished the left overs from the party!

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked Cilantro Lemon rice (recipe below)
1 cup cooked Chipotle chicken (recipe below)
1/2 cup Salsa (recipe below)
1 cup canned Black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup canned corn, drained
1/2 cup grated Mexican blend cheese
Sour Cream
lettuce, chopped

How it's made:

In a wide bowl, place 1/2 cup cilantro lemon rice, followed with 1/4 cup chicken, 1/4 cup black beans, 1/4 cup corn, few tbsp of salsa, lettuce, cheese and a dollop of sour cream. If you like Guacamole, you can top with a tablespoon of Guacamole. You can find the recipe below. I didn't have avocados at home, hence skipped Guacamole.

Cilantro Lemon Rice:

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice
2 cups water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup cilantro (coriander leaves), chopped
salt to taste

How it's made:

Wash rice. In a sauce pan with a tight fitting lid, add rice, water, lemon juice, cilantro and salt to taste. Bring to boil and simmer to low heat. Cover with tight fitting lid and cook for 15-18 minutes. Once the rice is cooked, fluff with fork and set aside.

Chipotle Chicken:

Ingredients:

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
salt to taste
oil

How it's made:

Cut into into 1"cubes. Marinate chicken with chipotle chili powder, cumin and salt. Set aside for an hour. In a pan, heat oil and saute the chicken until well done. Set aside until ready to use.

Salsa:

Ingredients:

1 medium red onion
1 medium tomato
1 jalapeno, whole
1/4 cup cilantro (coriander leaves)
salt to taste
pepper powder

How it's made:

Roughly chop all the above ingredients. Place in food processor and pulse it a few times. Remove and set aside until ready to use. You can de-seed jalapeno to reduce the spice level.

Guacamole:

Ingredients:

1 avocado
2 tsp chopped red onion
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp lemon juice

How it's made:

Scoop the flesh out of avocado and mash it with a fork. Add onion, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Mix well and set aside.

Serves: 3-4

Jelly Roll

Jelly Roll brings back a lot of old memories.
During my school days, on my way home from school, I used to pass by this family owned bakery. They had one of the most amazing desserts and bakery products. Every time I passed by, the air was always filled with the wonderful smell of cookies and cakes. My Mom would occasionally let us buy a slice of warm jelly roll that was sliced and stored between wax paper. I remember how fascinated I was with jelly rolled up between the cake. I would unroll it to one long strip and relish every bite.

Ingredients:

5 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup strawberry jam
sugar for dusting

How it's made:

Grease an 18 by 13 inch pan. (I used cookie sheet). Grease the bottom of pan and line the sheet with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper and set aside.
Combine flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk together and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, vanilla and sugar with an electric beater. Beat until mixture is thick and fluffy (approx. 5 minutes). Mix in dry ingredients with a rubber spatula. Spread batter evenly onto greased cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes.
Remove cake from oven, run knife through the side of pan. Flip the cake on a large sheet of parchment paper which has been lightly dusted with sugar. (Be very gentle when flipping the cake onto parchment  or else you will have sugar all over on the counter and maybe on the floor too!) Peel off parchment paper from the cake (that was used for baking) and immediately roll the cake starting from the shorter side to form a log. Wait for 20 minutes until the cake cool down.
Warm jam in microwave for a few seconds. Unroll cake. Spread jelly and roll up the cake again leaving behind the parchment paper.

Wait for an hour or more. Slice and serve.

Fish Curry (without coconut)

Although Konkani style coconut based fish curries have a very distinctive flavor, this version of fish curry is very simple to cook as well as delicious and healthy. My husband who didn't grow up eating seafood every day like I did, prefers fish curries that do not smell fishy :) I realized that he enjoys onion based curries more than coconut. He thinks that the spices used in the curry, removes most of the fishy smell! 

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless tilapia fillet (about 4 fillets)
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 cloves
1/2"cinnamon
1 large onion
2 medium tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic
1"ginger
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
curry leaves for garnishing
oil


How it's made:
Cut fish into pieces. Rub salt and turmeric powder and set aside.
Roughly chop onion, tomatoes, ginger and garlic.
In a frying skillet ( I use iron skillet), heat 2-3 tsp oil. Add cloves and cinnamon. Fry for a few seconds and add onions. Fry until they are light brown. Add ginger and garlic. Fry for a minute. Add tomatoes and 1/2 tsp salt. Salt helps to break down the tomatoes faster. Cook until the mixture is soft and mushy. Add chili powder, coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Fry for a minute or two. Cool and blend this mixture with 1/4-1/2 cup water in a food processor/ blender until smooth.
Transfer ground paste to iron skillet. Add 1/2 cup water to food processor/blender and rinse. Add this water to the ground paste. Mix well and bring to boil. Add fish pieces. Cover and boil until fish is cooked. ( about 5-6 mins). Give it a quick stir and serve with plain white rice.

Serves: 4-6

Duddhya/Dudhi Upkari (Pumpkin Stir Fry)

When it comes to food, my husband and I used to have our own choices. After we got married, I realized there were just a handful of dishes that we both enjoyed. Then came kids food preference which made things more complicated. So, I came up with  plan to make my work easy.
When my son was little, I had each day of the week dedicated to a family member, so that we all had turns trying what each of us liked. This version of Pumpkin Upkari was Thursday special, as it was my husbands favorite. He likes it a little sweet since he grew up with a teaspoon of sugar/ jaggery in almost every Upkari. My Mother made this dish with slight variation with the seasoning, (without sugar/jaggery) which I will post in  few weeks.

Ingredients:

1 lb pumpkin, skin removed (optional) and cut into 1"cubes
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 dried red chillies, cut into pieces
salt to taste
marble size jaggery or 2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp grated coconut
oil

How it's made:

In a "kadai" or deep frying pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add red chillies. Fry for 30 seconds. Add pumpkin pieces and salt to taste. Cover with lid and cook on low flame until vegetable is tender. (Add a teaspoon of water to help cook the vegetable). Add jaggery and grated coconut. Coconut helps in absorbing excess liquid if any. Serve hot with rice, dalitoy and chana gashi.

Serves: 3

Satyanarayan Pooja - 2013

Satyanarayana Pooja is a ritual performed by the Hindu community. Most people perform it during special occasions like wedding, thread ceremonies, house warming etc but it can be performed anytime during the year.

We have been doing it once every year for over a decade now. The priest starts with Lord Ganesha Pooja followed by Navagraha Pooja consisting of Surya, Chandra, Shukra, Shani, Rahu, Ketu, Budha, Guru, and Angaaraka. Navagraha dhanya (9 kinds of grains) are used -- Rice, Toor dal, Wheat, Chana dal (Bengal gram), Urad dal (Black gram), Val, Til (Black sesame seeds), Green Moong Dal (Green gram) and Kulithu (Horsegram).

The priest then starts the Sri Satyanarayana pooja. "Panchamrit" is made with sugar, ghee (clarified butter), milk, yogurt and honey. He narrates the Satyanarayan Katha (story), which we always request in English so that all kids understand the reason behind the pooja.

"Sapaath", which is the prasad,  is traditionally home made early in the morning after shower, before eating or drinking and first offered to the Lord during the Satyanarayan Pooja. Sapaath is made with butter, cream of wheat, sugar, milk and banana's.

The pooja is concluded with Arti. Panchamrit and Sapaath is distributed to all the attendees.

We had about 175 close friends and family members throughout the whole day for pooja and prasad. Although, most of the cooking is traditionally done on the day of the pooja, I cooked most of the food on the previous day with the exception of White rice, Dalitoy, Doodpak,and Sapaath. By the Grace of God, the weather turned out to be great and the day went very smoothly. With the list of invitees increasing every year, we try to invite in groups at different times through out the day. I was hoping to take pictures of the food on the day of the pooja to post on my blog but the day got extremely busy. This year, I had very little left over which was just enough to plate the next afternoon. More details on menu and cooking for a crowd can be found here.

Clockwise: Tendle Batate Upkari, Pickle, Khaman Dhokla, Val-Val, Jalebi, Chana Gashi, Matar Paneer, White Rice with Dalitoy, Lemon Rice (Center). 
Not pictured: Tomato Rasam, Roti, Papad, Phanna Tak and Doodpak.