Chana Jor Garam | Indian Street Snack | Snack Recipes and Ideas

Past 2 months since we had reduced our grocery trips, I had to stock up on extra packets of my preferred foods, dry staples, and snacks that could last well.  Chana Choor, for instance.

After having Bhel Puri a few days back (puffed rice lasts long and I had the murmura packet since a few months already), and after having Pani Puri the day before (again, the boxes of puffed semolina puris last me a month or two), today it is "Chana Jor Garam" for my snack.

Mirchi Vada Recipe | Mirchi Pakora Recipe | Chili Fritters

You can call it Mirchi Vada or Mirchi Bhajji or Mirchi ke Pakore, or Mirchi Bhajiya, or Bharwan Mirchi ka Pakora, or Chili Cutlet, or Chili Fritters, or Stuffed Chili Pakora, or there are probably 20 other names for this.

These are spicy chilies stuffed with a spicy potato mixture, dipped in chickpea flour batter and deep-fried...this snack is for those who can handle the spice on their tongue and the smoke out of their ears.

Beetroot and Peanut Salad Recipe | Easy Simple Salad Recipes

It is rare for me to spend time preparing a salad when I'm already spending time cooking 3-4 other items for a meal.  It is very easy for someone like my mom to serve a salad along with an already elaborate meal.  And looking at how she makes salad-making pretty easy (here is my mom's amazing Strawberry and Mango Salad recipe), here's another salad that she makes, that I like, that is so simple, that I want to share: Beetroot and Peanut Salad

Carom Seed Crackers Recipe | Ajwain Biscuit Recipe | Eggless Baking

What British call as scones and what Americans call those soft, fluffy breads that they can eat with soups and stews as biscuits are different from what people in India, for example, call the crunchy and sweet or salty crackers as biscuits.  The sweet biscuits can't be called cookies (for those who know Indian brands--think Parle G biscuits or Britannia biscuits!).  Crunchy biscuits and other 'namkeen' snacks make a great accompaniment to the Indian Chai.  These flavorful and savory carom seed biscuits (aka ajwain biscuits) do too.

My Meals for a Month | Vegetarian Indian Homemade Food

I was in Amravati (Maharashtra) last year for a month visiting my maternal side of the family.  Going to nanihaal (nani's house) every summer vacation was something we used to look forward to as kids.  And this trip was all the more special because my mom's mom (Nani--my gradmom) became great grandmom to my twins, so the pampering was multifold-for me and for my kids.

My Nani and both my Mamiji (mom's brother's wife) cook such delicious food and so much variety everyday.  In this post I'm sharing my lunches for the one month that I stayed with them (too bad I did not click pictures of my dinners.)

You know there are times when love reflects through food...this is one of them.

Lapsi Chawal Kadhi Recipe | Rajasthani Cuisine

Another popular but still not the worldwide-popular dish in Rajasthani cuisine is Lapsi.  And just like how the Dal Bati Churma goes together, or there's the Dal Chawal Khatta combo -- this one is a Lapsi Chawal Kadhi combination:

Lapsi is sweet, made with broken wheat.
Kadhi is sour and savory, spiced and flavory.
Chawal is plain rice, versatile and nice.

Gift Ideas for Family to Carry from USA

Three years ago I wrote a blog post on gifts from USA for family back home and shared ideas on what to buy from America for family members in your home country.

I traveled to Bangkok and India again few months back and this time, I have some more ideas on what to carry for families.  And this time, I have divided the gift suggestions into categories and some quick notes.

Colorful Mixed Salad

I have eaten a lot of dishes from the Apple headquarter's cafeteria in Cupertino, California.  From their pizzas to pastas, from their healthy juices to mango lassis, from their Indian food to Mexican quesadillas.  But of all their foods, my favorite is their mixed salad.  You can choose the ingredients and dressings to build your salad, and if you choose it well - you can enjoy a crunch-a crisp-a soft-a sweet-a tangy and a lot of flavors and textures in each bite.

I do not try to recreate their salads when I make salads at home now, but the way I make salads has changed.

Quick Vegetable Pulao Recipe

Ever since I started handling my twins on my own, my workload for cooking and cleaning has increased multi-fold.  So I’m trying to prep a little faster, make things a little simpler, and cook a little quicker these days.  While two years back I used to do a lot of things from scratch and use individual whole spices and follow all the detailing, it has changed quite a bit now.  So when I made this quick vegetable pulao one day – instead of adding black peppercorns, cardamom pods, bay leaves, and all those whole spices for pulao – I added some garam masala powder that is made of the similar spices that go in pulao.  Taste was not entirely compromised upon, just prepping and cooking time was.

Rava Dosa Recipe | How to make Rava Dosa at Home

Earlier when we used to go to South Indian restaurants, I never used to order Rava Dosa.  Because I always used to feel why would I order an 8 dollar dosa with holes - I'd rather have Mysore Masala Dosa so it would come with the potato filling and be filling for me as well.  But once I tasted Rava Dosa at a restaurant when our friend chose it for her meal, I was sold.  So crunchy and crispy and delicious, and yes--filling.

But then after that I still never ordered and ate it outside -- because I learned to make awesome Rava Dosa at home.

The day I prepared dinner for my family - for the first time

It had been a month and half since I came to Bangkok and had not cooked anything special for my family except baking cakes a couple of times.  So yesterday I cooked the entire dinner from appetizer to dessert for my family for the first time.  I had major butterflies in my stomach if they'd like my food as much as others always did, but the dinner turned out great.

Moong Dal ki Kurkuri Poori Recipe | Korma ki Poori Recipe | Tea Time Snack Recipes

She deep-fried them one at a time in a small kadhai and told me it's called Korma ki Poori.

"Why is it called Korma ki Puri?" I asked.  "What's the korma in this?"

Aate ka Sattu Recipe | Marwari Badi Teej Festival

Sattu is a sweet that's spread and set in a plate specially for the Marwari Badi Teej festival, but it's a sweet that you can make anytime of the year in the form of laddoo or barfi.  I had mentioned in an earlier post that Sattu for Teej can be made from roasted gram dal (phutani dal aka dalia: phutani dal ka sattu), rice flour (chawal ka aata), chickpea flour (besan), and whole wheat flour (gehun ka aata).  This post shows you real quick how to make a simple whole wheat flour sattu (aate ka saatu).

Three ingredients are all you need!

Greatly Missed, Fondly Remembered

I had a very loving and caring uncle who passed away four years back at the young age of 42.  It was a sudden, unexpected, and shocking death during his flight from India to Thailand, and the airlines had to make an emergency landing midway in another country altogether.  Traveling with him was my younger brother who was only 20 at the time along with my grandfather who was 72 years old.  Imagine their generation gap, imagine the young boy seeing his uncle choke to death, imagine the father seeing his youngest son die in his arms.  And all of this had happened just one week after my wedding.

Rajasthani Sattu | Badi Teej Sattu

I have observed people from my Marwari community here in the US celebrate our Rajasthani festivals like Teej and Gangaur with so much zeal.  Last year for Badi Teej Sinjaara about 90 women had a get-together at an event hall, we had potluck menu that was pre-decided and selected from (I took Pav Bhaji), a henna artist was called to apply henna on hands, some of my friends planned a game for everyone to play together, they performed a group dance, and we all had so much fun in those 4 hours of our Teej Sinjaara event!

Crater Chocolate Cake | Eggless Baking

Molten chocolate cakes or Chocolate lava cakes are very popular.  When you cut into one, the chocolate "lava" magically flows out.  So you basically have a chocolate cake that you can eat with the rich, saucy chocolate "lava" which is like a chocolate pudding, or a chocolate sauce.  This Crater Chocolate Cake is NOT the Chocolate Lava Cake.

Sweet, Sour, and Spicy Mango and Strawberry Salad Recipe

When my mom came to stay with us after my delivery to help us with our babies, she also cooked a full meal for lunch and dinner so we could eat healthy and fresh food every day.  The full meal basically consisted of roti, curry, rice, dal, and salad, and once in a while there were desserts.  She made several kinds of salads and the best part was that there were no fancy salad dressings needed.

One such salad was this simple, delicious, sweet sour and spicy Mango and Strawberry Salad.

On Festival, Fasting, and Food

I think I started fasting for Gangaur and Teej festivals since age 13.  Usually by then a lot of girls my age were told to start fasting to get a "good husband".  While young girls or older women kept their fast by eating once a day or at least having fruits, I used to not even drink water until I saw the moon (for Teej puja).  I think I did that all the way until my undergrad years.

Easy Eggless No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Recipe | Eggless Dessert Recipe Ideas

There are three parts to making an eggless no-bake blueberry cheesecake:

1. Base / Bottom Crust Layer

To make the base crust for cheesecake, you can use graham crackers, digestive biscuits, Nilla wafers, Oreo cookie biscuits, or any such biscuits that can be crushed to a texture that feels like sand.  You can easily make graham crackers at home with this recipe.

Healthy Homemade Mango Roll-ups and Oven-dried Tomatoes

Call it mango leather, mango fruit roll-ups, mango cigar rolls, or oven-dried mango strips - it's the same thing.

Call it sun-dried tomatoes, oven-dried tomatoes, or dehydrated tomatoes - it's the same thing.

What would take 3-4 days under the sun for their water content to evaporate and dry out will take only 3-4 hours in the oven (the trade-off is smaller quantity).  And since making one or the other in an oven required 4 hours of electricity, I just made the mango roll-ups and oven-dried tomatoes simultaneously.