Date and Banana Shake

Ingredients :

• Milk - 2 cups 
• Dates [ khajur ] - 1 / 4 cup [ deseeded ]
• Ripe banana - 1
• Sugar - 1 tsp [ optional ]
• Ice cubes - 6 to 7

Method :

Heat little milk in a vessel and soak the dates in it for 10 to 15 minutes till they soften. Keep aside to cool. Then combine the soaked dates, milk, banana and sugar with ice cubes in a mixer and blend till smooth. Pour into 2 individual glasses and serve immediately.

Make the most use of these alkaline bananas by whipping a shake early in the morning.

Amti [ Maharashtrian Toor Daal ]

Ingredients :

• Toor daal - 1 cup
• Jaggery - 2 tsp
• Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
• Kala masala - 1 1 / 2 tsp

For seasoning :

• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1 / 4 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Grated fresh coconut - 2 tsp
• Curry leaves - little
• Onion -1 big [ finely chopped ]
• Garlic flakes 2 [ finely chopped ]
• Coriander leaves - little [ for garnishing ]

Method :

Wash the daal well. Cook in  plenty of water on medium heat till soft or cook in pressure cooker. Heat the  oil. Add seasoning, chopped onion, garlic and curry leaves, fry till the onion become brown. Then add the cooked daal and stir well. Add salt, jaggery,tamarind paste, grated coconut, and kala masala. Add some more water if required. Bring to boil in low flame. Allow to boil for 10 minutes. Then remove from the gas and garnished with fresh coriander leaves.Serve with roti, tepla.

Note :

Mung or masoor daal can be used instead of toor daal.

Kala Masala [ Maharashtrian Recipe ]

       Kala Masala :

This is a typically maharashtrian masala and is so named because of its dark colour.

Ingredients :

• Coriander seeds - 3 cups
• Dry coconut pieces - 3 / 4 cup
• Seasame seeds - 1 / 4 cup
• Cumin seeds - 2 table spoon
• Asafoetida - 1 / 4 tsp
• Caraway seeds - 3 tsps [ shahjeera ]
• Cloves - 5 to 6
• Cinnamon - 4 to 5 pieces
• Bay leaves - 5
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1 / 2 cup
• Salt - as required
• Oil - to saute above ingredients

Method :

Dry roast seasame seeds,saute the asafoetida and remove. In the same kadai add little oil, saute coconut pieces till lightly change in colour. Then remove.saute the rest of the ingredients separately. First grind seasame, coconut and asafoetida separately and then other ingredients. Mix all the powders and turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt. Store the masala in a jar with an air-tight lid.

[ if this masala is required to be kept for several months, speard a little salt on top of the masala before closing the lid.]

Banana Chips

Ingredients :

• Raw banana - 2
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 4 tsp
• Salt - as required
• Oil -  for frying

Method :

Peel outer skin and cut banana into four lenth wise and then cut into thin slices. Mix salt, turmeric with the pieces and marinate for 1 / 2 an hour. Then heat oil in a frying pan, and deep fry one hand full of banana pieces each time. do not over fry. When it turns golden, remove and drain excess oil. Store it in a air- tight container.

Rawa Laddu

Ingredients :

• Bombay rawa - 2 cups [ heaped ]
• Sugar - 2 cups [ level ]
• Finely cut cashewnuts - 1 tbl.sp.
• Cardamom powder - little
• Fresh ghee - enough to make laddus

Method :

First dry roast rawa in a kadai without discolouring it. Then powder sugar in a mixie, add  rawa in that mixie and powder the rawa along with sugar.
Take it out from the mixie and pour it in a broad vessel. Add fried cashewnuts, cardamom powder and mix well. Then heat ghee in medium flame till it melts. Pour it over the powdered ingredients and mix with a ladle. When the mixture becomes luke warm make laddus [ form balls ] using hands.

Note :

For making larger quantity of laddus, mix roasted rawa and crystal sugar together. Send it to a mill for powdering. Store in a dry container. Take required quantity and mix with melted ghee. Make laddus whenever required.

Peas Gobhi in Gravy

Ingredients :

• Big potatoes - 3
• Cauli flower - 1 medium [ make into flowerettes ]
• Fresh peas - 1 / 2 cup  [ shelled ]
• Jaggery - 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 / 2 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - as required
• Oil - 3 table spoon

For wet grinding :

• Onion - 3 to 4 [ peeled and cut into pieces ]
• Ginger - small piece
• Green chillies - 3
• Tamarind paste - 1 / 2 tsp
• Cardamom - 2 to 3
• Cinnamon - 1 / 2 inch piece
• Cloves - 2 to 3
• Big tomatoes - 2

For seasoning :

• Oil - 3 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 / 2 tsp

Method :

  Peel the potatoes, and cut into 8 pieces. In a frying pan add 2 cup water to the potato pieces and boil till 3 / 4 cooked. When the water is completely absorbed, add 2 table spoon oil, add cauliflower, peas and fry adding just enough salt. [ little ] When the potatoes are well roasted and the vegetables are tender, remove from the gas and keep separately. Grind all the ingredients together for wet grinding to a fine paste, adding tomatoes at the end. Then heat oil in a kadai, add cuminseeds. When it splutters, add ground masala. Add salt, turmeric, chilli powder and jaggery. Add the boiled and fried vegetables and mix well. Boil well, till the gravy gets a binding with the required thickness.
When the gravy gets ready remove from the gas. Serve hot with any pulao rice, puree, paratha or roti.

Baked Vegetables

Ingredients :

• Carrot - 100 gms
• Beans - 100 gms
• Cabbage - 200 gms
• Peas - 50 gms
• Cauliflower - small one
• Onion - 1 medium size
• Capsicum - 1 [ small ]
• Potato - 1
• Grated cheese - 2 tbl. sps.
• Aji-no-moto - 1 / 4 tsp

To make white sauce :

• Butter - 2 tbl. sps.
• Corn flour or maida - 1 tbl. sps.
• Milk - 1 cup
• Black pepper powder - as required
• Salt - to taste

Method :

For white sauce :
Melt butter in a sauce pan on low flame, add cornflour stirring constantly add milk little at that time.Stir constantly to avoid lumps. When sauce become thick remove from the gas, add salt, pepper, little sugar and aji-no-moto. Mix well and keep aside.
Then cut all the vegetables finely and steam in pressure cooker with out adding  water. Cut onions and capsicum in to long pieces. Take a baking dish, put the steamed vegetables in it. Pour the white sauce to cover that, garnish on top with cut onion and capsicum. Sprinkle grated cheese on top and bake in hot oven till the cheese turns into light brown in colour [ approximately ] 20 minutes. Serve hot with tomato sauce and chilli sauce.

This not dish. Serve hot as it is with sauce sprinkled over it. Even children will like it well.