Kele ke Kofte (Raw banana chops cooked in gravy)

Raw Banana Chops in Gravy/ Kela Kofta Curry

Ingredients

Raw Bananas - 2
Potato - 1(medium sized)
Onion - 3(medium sized)
Tomato - 2(medium sized)
Gram flour - 1tbsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 3tsps
Coriander Powder - 3tsps
Cumin Powder - 1tsp
Pepper Powder - 1tsp
Hot Spice Mix - 1tsp
Bayleaf - 2
Dry Whole Red Chilly - 2
Cumin - 1tsp
Tumeric Powder - 1tsp
Salt to Taste
Oil for Frying (I use mustard oil as I can't do without it in my daily curries)


Method

To Make Koftas
Boil the bananas and potato in the pressure cooker
Peel and mash the bananas and potato together
Add salt, turmeric powder, a pinch of garam masala and 1 tbsp of gram flour
Mix all the above ingredients together and make small balls

To Fry the Koftas
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan
Add the koftas slowly on high flame and lower the flame gradually
Let the koftas become golden brown
Remove from heat



To Make the Curry/Gravy
Chop 1 onion
Make onion paste with the remaining 2 onions
Chop the tomatoes
In the oil, add the cumin, bay leaf and whole red chillies
Add the chopped onion and fry till the onion changes colour to pink
Add the onion paste, ginger garlic paste and fry for some more time
Now add all the spices (coriander, cumin,pepper and turmeric powder)
Now add chopped tomatoes and salt
Fry till the oil separates from the spice mixture
Add a pinch of garam masala (hot spice mix)
Once the tomatoes are well blended with the spice, add water
Let it simmer for sometime
Add the koftas and the curry is ready
Serve hot with rice or roti/paratha
Tastes good with fried ice or vegetable pulao

Note: It is best to add the koftas right before serving else they may tend to break

Gujhia/Perrakiya

The festival of Teej is celebrated in Bihar/Jharkhand by married women. This falls a day before Ganesh Chaturthi, when women fast. The fasting is rigorous as you cannot drink water the whole day and ends the next morning before sunrise, when women pray to Goddess Parvati for the well being of their husbands.
Gujhia is a home made sweet that is a must on this ocassion. I still miss the ones prepared by mom although I have bettered with time and make those too. I am sending this to the event at Purva's blog.

Gujhia/Perrakiya

Ingredients
Maida/Refined Flour - 1/2Kg
Ghee - 100gms
Khoya - 1/2 Kg
Sugar -100gms
Cashews - 50gms (coarsely crushed)
Raisins - 50gms (cut into pieces)
Grated Coconut - 50gms
Green Cardamoms - 8-10(crushed)
Refined oil for frying

Method
In a pan fry the khoya till the color changes to

golden.
Remove from heat and mix sugar, cashews,

grated coconut,raisins and cardomom seeds
Leave the khoya to rest

Mix the flour and ghee together
Knead into a tight dough using little water at a time

Take a little dough and smoothen between the palms
Roll into a thin puri.
Now place this on the mould (see pic) and add a spoonful of Khoya mixture
Close the lids of the mould tightly
Remove from mould and place on a flat dish
Repeat this with the remaining dough

Heat oil in a wok/heavy bottomed pan
Fry the gujhias till till golden (see pic)
Place on paper towel for sometime.
Store in airtight containers

P.S. If the weather is too hot, it is better to consume the gujhias else they may not saty right because of khoya. However, the gujhias can be stored for around a month or so if placed in the refrigerator in airtight containers

Thekua/Khajoor

August 23rd , Sunday was the festival of Teej. On Teej, married women pray to Goddess Parvati for well-being of their husbands. In India, Teej is a traditional festival celebrated in Bihar, Jharkhand, parts of Eastern UP and MP.
Teej (Hindi: तीज) is a fasting festival for Hindu women of some parts of India and Nepal. It takes place in 3rd day of Shukla Paksha in Bhadrapad or Bhado month of hindi calender normly in the month of August or early September. It is celebrated for marital bliss, well-being of spouse and children and purification of own body and soul. The festival is a three-day-long celebration that combines sumptuous feasts as well as rigid fasting. (source: Wikipedia)

Khajoor/Thekua and Perrakiya/Gujhia are homemade sweets prepared essentially on the ocassion of Teej. Here is the recipe for Thekua/Khajoor:
Sending this to the "State Specials" hosted by Shanthi

Thekua/Khajoor

Ingredients
Maida - 1/2Kg
Sugar-2 and a 1/2cup
Ghee- 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Green Cardamom (crushed)- 10-15pcs
Grated Dry coconut - 1/2 cup
Refined oil/Ghee for frying

Method
Boil 1/2 cup water and remove from heat
Add the sugar to the boiled water and mix till sugar melts
Let the mixture cool
Mix the maida and ghee together
Add the grated Coconut and Crushed cardamom and mix well
In the Maida, add the sugar syrup slowly and knead into a tight dough.
Take a small quantity of the dough and make a ball.
Press the dough against the sancha (A wooden frame with design on it to create impression on the dough. This resembles the wood block. Please check the pic)
Alternately if the sancha is not available, the dough can be pressed against a basket to create impressions.
Repeat this with the remaining dough.
Now heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and deep fry the khajoors till golden brown.
Remove from oil and place on a paper towel for some time.

Balushahi

Balushahi

Ingredients

Maida/Refined flour -1/2Kg

Ghee - 100gms

Sugar -250gms

Water - 1/2 cup

Oil for Frying

Method

Prepare Sugar Syrup:
Mix sugar and 1/4 cup of water together in a bowl
Heat on low flame till the sugar starts to melt
stir and cook till teh syrup starts thickening
The sugar syrup should acquire a two thread consistency
Remove from flame and let it rest

Make the Balushshis

Mix the flour and ghee together

Knead adding very little water at a time

Knead into a tight dough

Make balls from the dough, the size you would do for a puri

Press genty in the centre (see pic below)

Repeat the same with the remaining dough

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan
Fry the balushahis till golden in colour (check pic below)

Dip the balushahis in the sugar syrup and remove
The balushahi is now ready
Serve hot or cold as a side snack item

I made the balushahis (the right one on the pic at the top) first and since I like shakarparres a lot, I used the balushahis to taste the same and so I just thickened the sugar syrup a bit and added the balushahis in it and let it cool there.

Namakpaare/Nimki

I made this using whole wheat flour. It is a traditional snack item by my mom. As a kid this was one of the most common and readily available item on the shelf. A delicious crispy, crunchy munch. An all time favourite of mine which I made over the weekend so to pass the taste of aata nimki to my little one.

Ingredients
Whole wheat flour/ Aata- 3 cups
Refined Oil- 1 cup
Salt - 3tsp
Ajwain/carom seeds- 1tsp
Kalonji/Nigella seeds- 1 tsp
Water for kneading - 1/2cup
Oil for Frying

Method
Mix the flour and oil together.
Add salt, nigella and carom seeds
Add water and knead to a tight dough
Make balls of the dough and roll into a thick circle
Cut this into thin strips 1"x4" in size

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan
Add the cut strips and fry till golden in color
Store in airtight container

In our homes this is a common snack item to serve with morning/evening tea.

P.S. I need help from someone who can guide me on how to post pictures of my recipes in the blog. :-(

If this were true.....

The kid promised to never ever leave me and go anywhere, while talking to me last evening. This took my heart away Iwas left wondering if I had made the same promises to my mom when I was a child. And then I thought, if life were so simple...so to never have to leave your parents and be with them all your life but what with all the aspirations and ambitions.

Spring Rolls

Made spring rolls last evening and here is the recipe...will upload the pics too. I didn't forget to take pictures this time..


Ingredients:
For the filling
You would need 1/2 cup of each of these chopped finely.
Cabbage
Carrot
Capsicum
Beans
Onion
Mushrooms
Ginger Garlic paste- 1/2 tsps
Pepper - 1/2 tsps
Red chilly flakes-1/2tsps
Ajinomoto-1/2 tsps
Soy Sauce(optional) - 1/2tsps
Vinegar(optional)-1/2tsps
Salt as per taste

For the dough
Maida/Refined flour - 1 cup
Oil- 2tsps
A pinch of salt
Knead together all of the above into a tight dough.

Method
Boil water and add the chopped vegetables to it along with salt.
Remove from heat immediately after adding the vegetables
Drain excess water using a strainer
In a pan heat 3tsps oil and add the ginger garlic paste to it
Add vegetables and saute for sometime
Add salt,chilly powder, pepper powder and ajinomoto
Add the vinegar and salt to the vegetables
Mix together and let it cook for sometime
This should take approximately 10 mins to cook

To make the rolls
Take small portions of the dough
Flatten to make thin round puris
Place one/two spoonful of the vegetable filling in the centre of the puri
Roll the puri lenghthwise and fold at the ends/ (see pic below)

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan/kadahi
Keep theflame on high while heating the oil then bring to medium
Deep Fry the rolls on medium/low heat
Remove the rolls from oil and place on paper towel
Serve hot with sauce of your choice.

Note: The best is to keep the flame high initially, moving it to medium after you add the rolls and then altering between medium and low so that the rolls turn crispy.