Sesame seed:  Also known as til are available in black and white form. They also provide oil by cold processing process. It is used in Hyderabadi cuisine most notably in Baghare Baigan, Muslim cooking of Mumbai. They are also used in sweet making like til laddo, a favorite for Makar Sankranti festival which marks the beginning winter solistice.

Til ki Chutney
This chutney is one of the most famous recipes from the land of mountain, Uttarakhand. It also provides some heat in the coldness of night when it is enjoyed with either rice or local bread.
½ cup black sesame seed
2-3 Green chilies (amount can vary to contain the spice level)
1 big handful Coriander leaves, cleaned and chopped
5 Garlic cloves
2 lime, juiced
Salt to taste
Sugar 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:
Dry Roast Til seeds in a pan on a moderate flame for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the pan and put in a plate to cool down.  In a blender grind together sesame seeds, green chilies, chopped coriander leaves, garlic cloves with little water until smooth. Remove from blender and add lemon juice, salt and sugar.
Serve with either rice or kuttu roti (buckwheat flour flatbread).

Chaar Magaz: It is not a very popular terminology in common parlance but most of the professional Indian cook will vouch for their prominent role for their exotic gravies reserved for special occasions. Char literally translated means four and char magaz consists of pumpkin seed, melon seed, water melon seed and cucumber seed. Some of the mix also uses sunflower seeds known as Charoli. They are used in paste form in many preparations with white gravy and and in desserts and Thandai.

Pine nuts: Also known as chilgoja in Hindi which is almost becoming extinct due to shrinkage in its cultivation area in North Indian mountain region. It is one of the most important ingredients for Italian Pesto sauce and to certain extent for India desserts and curries.

Walnut: while most of the people are not familiar with the culinary usage of walnut because it is eaten in India mostly on its own. Even oil derived from walnut is very popular in India either. They are also a popular snack item on its own where they can be spiced with the mixture of chili powder, cumin powder, curry powder, salt and egg white (for binding) and roasted in a moderately hot oven.

Makhana: It is a roasted and popped kernel of lotus seed and is very popular as a fasting food item and also considered pure enough to be offered to God during the fasting period. It is easily digestible and has positive nutritional aspect and is also a very famous and light pass time snacks. Please find below the most famous recipe of Makhane ki kheer and enjoy

Makhane ki kheer
3 cup tightly packed Makhane
5 cup full fat milk
½ cup Condensed milk (optional)
½ cup Sugar
Cardamom Powder
For garnish
Almonds sliver
Cashews, sliced thinly
Pistachios sliver
Golden raisin

Method:
Roast the makhane in a pan/ oven until dry and crispy but not colored. Remove from pan and allow cooling. Pulse them coarsely in food processor or alternatively chop them roughly.

Bring the milk to boil in a large deep bottom pan and add the coarsely chopped Makhane. Cook on low heat, stirring from time to time to prevent sticking to bottom.
When makhane has mixed completely in and the mixture has turned creamy, almost 60-90minutes.

Now add condensed milk, sugar and stir to dissolve completely.  Add raisin and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and garnish with almond, cashewnut and pistachio.

Tags: indian curry, bhatura, dosa, palak, chana, sambhar, chicken, indian food, desi, roti

Most of us are fortunate to have snacked on nuts like cashews, almonds, pistachios, peanuts either plain or toasted and know the taste and flavor. Their culinary usage does not bring vivid memories except, perhaps for peanut chutney. The diverse range of seeds also intrigues the conventional cooks and challenges their expertise to successfully incorporate them in their day to day cooking. It is not that the challenge is not there for the Chef but what comes to their aid is their continual exposure to variety of them including imported.

One might have come across kormas dishes and the one described as being in white gravy, which traces its root from Mughal kitchen, uses a blend of nuts and seeds paste and impart their own rich character to the finished dishes.

Some of the notable dishes where one may come across their application, even though they are becoming expensive with each passing day & also witness their less favored substitute, are kormas- both vegetarian and meat, chutneys like sesame and peanut, desserts mainly as garnish like slivered almond and pistachio.

Here we list some of the most famous nuts and seeds as follows:
Almond: While most of the original Lucknowi recipes which has been using almonds for centuries, they are being replaced by easily available and less costly cashew nut as India is a major processing centre of imported kernels. They are also used extensively for garnishing a variety of Indian dishes in slivered form.

Cashew nut: Grown extensively in South India (Kerala) and Goa, they hardly find their way into local cuisine. They come into three different varieties like broken, half and full.

Peanut: Grown in most part of India they are used extensively in west coast cuisine and in the most famous peanut chutney from South India. It is also the most famous time pass snacks, as it is called in common parlance, for common people travelling by train or bus.

White poppy seed: Primarily used a thickening agent in the form of a paste in Mughlai and Hyderabadi cuisine. Some of the people also make Halwa (Indian pudding). It comes from the same plant which produces opium but in no way used for their narcotic values as it loses most of its sedative properties when it ripens.

Mustard seeds: Mustard seeds as a paste are almost exclusively used in Bengali cuisine and seeds as a tempering are used in South India cuisine. Mustard and fish are natural companions and western cuisine are replete with recipes of the same but confined to just Sarson Maach and some other vegetable preparation in West Bengal.

Pista: known as pistachio in English, it is a popular snack item with drinks when salted in their own shell. They are also used as a garnish on Indian sweets like kheer (Indian milk pudding) and the most famous of all the pista Kulfi (Milk and pista ice cream) and pista burfi (Indian milk cake).
While the reading on nuts and seeds and their application are always very interesting particularly on the backdrop of their vast culinary usage, rest of the information will be carried on in the second blog of nuts and seeds.

Tags: bhatura, chana, curries, paneer, karahi, kebab, gosht, lentil, balti, roti

Ganesha Chaturthi or Ganesha Utsav (the special day of the elephant-headed god “Ganesha” who is prayed as the first deity) falls on the fourth day of the Hindu month of Bhadrapada (around August-September). It is celebrated all across India and is the biggest festival in Maharashtra. Even though you may encounter heavy traffic congestion, it is worthwhile to pay a visit to any part of Maharashtra especially Mumbai and Pune.

He has the head of an elephant on which is perched a dainty tiara, four podgy hands joined to a sizeable belly with each hand holding its own symbolic object. One hand has a trishul, or a trident, the second, an ankush, or goad made from his very own broken tooth; the third hand elegantly holds a lotus and the fourth a rosary (which is sometimes replaced by modaks – his favourite sweet). Ganesha is famous not only for being a trickster and for his sense of humour, but equally for his wisdom. He is the son of Shiva (Destroyer in the Hindu Holy Trinity of Creator-Preserver-Destroyer) and Parvati (Shiva’s consort).

Ganesha is the foremost god of the Hindu pantheon. This brave guardian of the door to Parvati’s bath is beheld today as the most auspicious God of new beginnings. He is worshipped during every festival and before people undertakes a journey or embarks upon a new venture. You will also see him carefully guarding entrances to temples and homes, peeping out of calendars and happily gracing marriages and other such occasions.

Ganesh Chaturthi 2008: It’s being celebrated on 3rd September amidst traditional zeal and fervor all across India. The other interesting aspect of this festival is the various traditional offerings

Some of the famous dishes prepared at home during the festival are:
Besan ke laddo (round sweet of gram flour),
modak( sweet comprising of small pearls of gram flour),
moong dal halwa (moong lentil pudding),
Kaju ki burfi (cashewnut nut cake),
puliyodarai (tamarind spiced rice),
puran poli (sweetened bread stuffed with jiggery and Bengal gram) etc.

PURAN POLI

Ingredients

• 1 cup refined flour (Maida)
• 1 pinch Turmeric Powder
• few strands saffron
• 1 pinch Salt
• 2 tsp+1 tbsp Ghee
• Water enough to make dough
• 6 tbsp Oil
• For frying Oil / Ghee

Inner Filling

• 1 – 1/2 cup Jaggery (gur)
• 1 – 1/4 cup Bengal Gram Dal (chana dal)
• 1/4 tsp Cardamom Powder

Method :
Blend the ghee with saffron, turmeric and refined flour. Make a soft dough using water and knead lightly. Leave under a wet cloth for 40-50 minutes.  Knead again. Put in the 6 tbsps oil and knead till completely absorbed. Cover and leave aside for 4 hours. Put the lentil in the cooker for one whistle, allow the steam to evaporate on its own before draining the water. Grind the lentil with jaggery and cardamom powder to a fine paste, slowly cook the mixture with the remaining ghee until lightly aromatic and thick paste like.
Make small balls of the filling. Divide the dough into small balls and flatten them so that it can encase the filling.

Place one ball of filling on the dough and cover and seal up the filling.
Carefully roll out the dough into thick bread like pooris making sure the filling does not come out.
Fry on a tawa pouring ghee around it. Cook on both sides and serve hot.

We Wish the readers a very happy and auspicious Ganesh puja and hope it brings lot of happiness in our lives.

- Kuntal and Puneet

Tags: balti, indian curry, murgh, naan, idli, chana, roti, karahi, dhokla, bhatura