Narali Bhat - Sweet coconut rice ( नारळी भात )

Ingredients : 

1 cup ........................ basmati rice
1 cup ....................... grated jagerry
1 cup ....................... thick cococnut milk ( grate the coconut , grind it and extract thick juice)
4/5  ..........................cloves
1 inch .....................cinnamon
15 - 20  .................. raisins
15-20 ..................... raw groundnuts ( soaked in water )
1/4 t sp ................. nutmeg powder
1/4 t sp .................. cardamom powder
 2 - 3 tb sp ............... ghee

Method :

Heat ghee in a pan and add cloves and cinnamon stick .

Now strain the water and add soaked groundnuts .

Stir the groundnuts for 2/3 minutes .

Thoroughly wash and strain the rice and add it to the pan .

Saute the rice for few minutes and add to it the thick milk extracted from coconut along with 1 cup water .

Also add very little salt , cover the pan and let the rice cook .

When the rice is just cooked stir it very carefully taking care not to break the rice grains .

Add to it jaggery and let it melt .

Keep the gas flame medium .

Now add to it nutmeg and cardamom powders and raisins .

Cover the pan with a lid and let the rice cook for five more minutes .

To avoid the rice getting burnt from below you can keep a flat tawa below the pan while cooking .

Ambade Saasav ( Raita )

Ambada is a sour fruit which is called hog plum in english . In olden days most of the saraswat community homes had this tree in their courtyard . This delicious fruit is used in variety of dishes to make pickles , chutneys , sasams and curries .

Since the fruit is sour according to the sourness you can adjust the quantity of jaggery used in this dish .

Ingredients :

6 .....................ambade ( hog plums )
1 big bowl .................. fresh grated coconut
1 n 1/2 tsp .................... mustard seeds
1 n 1/2 tsp .................... red chilly powder
lemon sized .................................jaggery 
salt as per taste 

Method :

Wash ambade fruit and cut upper stalk part , keep the skin as it is . 

Steam ambade for 10 minutes or till soft and cooked . 

In a pan dry roast mustard seeds till the splutter an turn whitish in colour . 

Grind grated coconut , mustard seeds , chilly powder , salt and jaggery . 

When ambade cool down a bit mash them and mix well with ground masala . 

The most delicious dish is ready to be served with daal rice or chapati . 

Khatkhate ( Mix Vegetable )

This vegetable variety is made during the months of Shravan and Bhadrapad i.e the months of July and August . During the monsoons markets are flooded with various types of gourds and roots and tubers . Vegetables like bottle gourd , snake gourd , pumpkin , ridge gourd , ash gourd , sponge gourd excluding bitter gourd as well as yam , sweet potato , arbi , raw banana , raw papaya , and last but not the least corn cobs are used in this preparation .
The only veggies which are not usually added are leafy greens and capsicum , carrot , cabbage .
Actually you can use or even avoid any vegetables as per your choice .



Ingredients - 

100 - 150 gms ................... each of the above mentioned vegetables
2 full  .................................corn cobs ( cut into half inch rings )
1/2 small bowl ...................raw groundnuts
1/2 .....................................coconut ( freshly grated )
1/2 bowl ............................ cooked plain tuvar daal
2 tsp .................................. red chilly pd
1/2 tsp ..............................  turmeric pd
big lemon size .................. jaggery
8 - 10 ................................ teerphal ( konkani spice variety )
3 /4 .................................. kokam pieces
salt as per taste .

Method - 

In a big vessel boil and cook the vegetables .

First add all the hard vegetables like yam , papaya , sweet potato and corn rings etc .

After they are half cooked add the softer gourds .

Also add salt , jaggery ani kokam pieces at this time .

In the mixer grind grated coconut along with chilly and turmeric pd and teerphal .

When vegetables are almost cooked add the ground masala along with cooked daal .

Cook for 5 / 10 more minutes and switch off the gas .

This delicious filling mix veg vareity goes well with rice as well as chapati or just can be relished all by itself .

Pumpkin leaves vegetable ( भोपळ्याच्या पाल्याची भाजी )

English 

In maharashtra during the beginning of monsoons in the months of June July you get tender pumpkin leaves in the market . 

When I was small we had pumpkin creeper in our backyard . It was a pleasure to go in the garden and gather the tender pumpkin leaves and buds . Yes we do make tasty dish with pumpkin buds too . Will post that recipe also sometime soon . 

So today I made this simple yet very healthy and delicious stir fry with pumpkin leaves . 

Ingredients :

1 bunch ........................Tender Pumpkin leaves
200 gms ....................pumpkin
2 ..............................onions (finely chopped)
1 tsp........................mustard seeds
3 ..............................green chillies
1 tbsp........................jaggery
२ to 3 ........................dry kokam pieces (sola in konkani)
1 tsp..........................turmeric powder
1 tbsp......................karwari sambar masala.
2 tbsp.........................oil
salt

Method :

Pick the tender leaves of pumpkin and chop them finely.

Peel the pumpkin and cut it into medium cubes.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.

When they splutter add chillies and onions and saute till transparent.

Now add turmeric powder, chopped leaves, jaggery, kokam and salt.

Cook covered with a lid for 10 minutes.

Add the pumpkin pieces and cook further till they are just cooked.

Add sambar masala.

Serve with rotis or daal rice .

मराठी - 

पावसाळ्याच्या सुरुवातीला जून जुलै च्या महिन्यात महाराष्ट्रात बाजारात भोपळ्याच्या वेलीची पाने दिसू लागतात .
माझ्या लहानपणी आपल्या मागच्या अंगणात भोपळ्याची वेल होती .
रोज सकाळी जावून वेलीवरची कोवळी पाने , भोपळ्याच्या कळ्या खुडताना खूप मजा वाटायची .
भोपळ्याच्या कळ्यांचे देखील अतिशय चविष्ट पदार्थ बनवले जातात .
त्यांच्याविषयी लवकरच लिहीन .
आज मात्र मी बनवायला अतिशय सोपी पण अतिशय चविष्ट आणि पौष्टिक अशा भोपळ्याच्या पाल्याच्या भाजीची कृती देत आहे .

साहित्य  :


१ जुडी - भोपळ्याची कोवळी पाने
२०० ग्राम - लाल भोपळा
२ - कांदे बारीक चिरून
१ टी स्पू - मोहरी
२/३ - हिरव्या मिरच्या
सुपारी एवढा गुळ
२/३ आमसुले
१ टी स्पू - हळद
१ टे स्पू - कारवारी सांबार मसाला
२ टे स्पू - तेल
चवीनुसार मीठ



कृती : 

भोपळ्याची कोवळी पाने स्वच्छ धुवून बारीक चिरावीत .

लाल भोपळ्याची साल काढून त्याच्याही मध्यम फोडी कराव्यात .

कढईत तेल गरम करून मोहिरीची फोडणी करावी .

त्यात हिरव्या मिरच्या उभ्या चिरून आणि कांदा घालून सोनेरी होईतो परतावे .

मग हळद , चिरलेली पाने , गुळ , आमसुले आणि मीठ घालावे .

झाकण ठेवून ५ मिनिट भाजी शिजवावी .

मग त्यात भोपळ्याच्या फोडी घालून परत भाजी नीट शिजवावी .

शेवटी सांबार मसाला घालून नीट ढवळून भाजी शेगडीवरून उतरवावी .

चपात्या किंवा डाळ भाता बरोबर हि भाजी खूप छान लागते .