Dal Khichdi

by Trisha Vaz
Here’s a quick post and an even quicker recipe. Khichdi is a rice dish cooked in a pressure cooker for about 10 minutes and seasoned in many different ways, depending on which part of the country your eating it in. I’ve eaten a Dal Khichdi which is a rice and lentil dish and a Paalak khichdi, a spinach and rice dish. I’ve not yet tried making the Paalak Khichdi at home. If you have I’d love if you could share the recipe with me so that I can try it out too. The Dal Khichdi, however, I’ve tried multiple times. This khichdi should be served with some aachar or pickle. You could also serve it with a side of salad or yogurt, if you’d like. I’ve tried a few takes on this and the one that I made a couple of days ago, I think, was my best attempt so far.

Dal Khichdi


1 onion, finely chopped
1 green chilly, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 garlic peels, finely chopped
1 tbsp veg. oil
1 tbsp. ghee or clarified butter
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 cup rice
1/4 cup split lentils (I use whatever I have on hand usually moong or masoor dal. This time I used a combination of both)
1-2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves and tender stems, chopped
Salt, to taste

Wash the rice and the lentils together and let them soak for 10-15 minutes. You can start prepping the rest of the ingredients in the meanwhile.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add the cumin seeds and let them sputter, taking care not to burn them.

Add the chilly and the onion and saute till the onions are soft and pinkish brown.

Tip in the turmeric powder and stir till well mixed.

Drain the rice and lentils that have been soaking and add them to the cooker. Stir gently to mix everything.

Add salt to taste and 4 cups of water.

Stir gently. Cover the pressure cooker and add the stopper.

Cook on high flame. After the first whistle, cook on low flame for 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let the pressure drop on its own.

Once the cooker can be opened, add the chopped coriander and stir to mix.

Prepare the tempering. In another small frying pan, place the ghee and the chopped garlic. Let it saute gently on low fire till it turns fragrant. Don’t burn the garlic as you’ll lose all the flavor. Add this ghee and the garlic to the cooked rice and stir to incorporate.

Serve pipping hot.

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Vegetarian

Peas Pulao … yes please!

by Trisha Vaz
I love peas pulao! There, I said it. This mildly flavored rice dish adorned with little green peas is something that I can eat by itself with a fresh garden salad on the side. Having said that, this rice is usually whipped up in Catholic homes all over Mumbai and Goa for a special meal, be it a festive occasion or a birthday or any other gathering. It pairs amazingly well with a variety of meat curries, like pork sorpotel, chicken cafreal and many, many more, and I can tell you it is a real treat. I look forward to sharing my family recipes for these meat curries with you soon.
 
For now, we’ll get back to the peas pulao. The preparation is really simple and the few spices used add a fragrant warmth to the rice rather than a spicy heat. Don’t let the simplicity of this dish undermine its flavors. Try it out and see for yourself.
 
A lot of folks seem to have trouble with the rice ending up very soft and mushy. This happens for a number of reasons like wrong amount of cooking water, too much stirring while the rice is cooking etc. I’ve made this rice hundreds of  times and have never encountered such a problem. So I think if you stick to the measures, you should be good to go.

 



Peas Pulao


2 bay leaves
1-2″ cinnamon sticks
2 pods green cardamom
4-5 cloves
6 black peppercorns
1/2 large or 1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 cup long grained rice
2 cups water
1/4- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
A handful of green peas
Salt, to taste

If you’re using frozen peas, keep them out to thaw for a while.

Wash the rice and leave it to soak in some water for about 15-20 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

Heat the oil mildly in a vessel and add the bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and peppercorns and let them warm up and infuse the oil with their aromas and flavors, taking care not to burn the spices.

Add the chopped onion and saute till the onions and soft and translucent and start taking on a little colour.

Add the turmeric powder and stir well.

Drain the water that the rice was soaking in and tip the rice into the vessel.

Stir gently making sure you don’t break the grains down while stirring.

Once the rice is well coated with the spices in the pan, add the water, salt to taste and the green peas.

Cover and let it cook on a low flame, till all the water has been absorbed.

Fluff up the rice using a fork and not a spoon so that you don’t mash the grains.

Serve hot with your favourite curry.

Please remember that if you’d like to change the quantity of rice used, the rice to water ratio should always be 1:2. That is 1 measure of rice to 2 measures of water to cook it in.

This recipe is linked with –
My Meatless Mondays
Mouthwatering Mondays
Mangia Mondays
A Little Birdie Told Me

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Goan Recipes, Mains, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

A platter of savory crackers

by Trisha Vaz
Today’s treat is something a lot of you will definitely be familiar with. It is my husband’s favorite snack. It is a delicate, buttery treat that can be put together really quick and can be tweaked to suit your tastes. What’s amazing is that these crackers are made out of scraps of shortcrust pastry. Yup, you heard me. Everytime I make some shortcrust pastry for a pie, I double the quantity and use the spare pastry to make these crackers. I usually make them plain, just the way they are, but this time I decided to dress them up a little. I made a bunch of them some plain, some with a sprinkling of chopped rosemary, some with a sprinkling of red chilly powder, some with carom seeds and others with sesame seeds sprinkled on them. The possibilities are endless. You can top these little treats with almost anything. So feel free to experiment. It was fun trying out each of these varieties.

You can check out the recipe I use for shortcrust pastry here. I sure hope you try making these crackers sometime. Let me know what you topped your crackers with. I’d love to hear from you.

Here’s what my platter of crackers looked like –

Savory Crackers


Shortcrust Pastry
Toppings of your choice (I used sesame seeds, carom seeds, red chilly powder and chopped fresh rosemary)


Roll out the shortcrust pastry and cut into diamond shapes or any other shape you fancy.

Sprinkle the herbs or seeds of your choice and lightly press them down into the dough using your hand.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet at bake at 170ºC for about 10 minutes or till lightly browned on the edges, making sure not to let them brown too far.

Cool and store in an airtight container.

This recipe is linked to –
A Little Birdie Told Me
My Meatless Mondays
Bake with Bizzy
Mangia Mondays
Mouthwatering Mondays
Full Plate Thursdays

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Cookies, Recipes, Snacks

Week 9 of 12WOCC: 2nd issue of Double Treats … Coconut Toffee & Milk Cream

by Trisha Vaz
UPDATE: I’ve added a new, better picture for the milk cream and the video recipe for it at the end of the post. The recipe is still the same great recipe. 

As promised in last weeks post, this week as well, I’m sharing 2 lovely treats. One is a little time consuming, the other far quicker. Both of these can be found on the traditional Goan Christmas sweets platter. These are none other than Milk Cream and Coconut Toffee. I simply love them both very much. I remember when I was a kid, my Nana (may she rest in peace), would be solely responsible for whipping up the coconut toffee and to this day I remember, she would tinker about the kitchen for about 15-20 minutes at the most and voila, the coconut toffee was ready. We then simply had to wait for it to cool. I’ve always been a big coconut toffee lover (Bounty being one of my favourite candy bars) but since my Nana passed away, we never made this any more. I wonder why. This year that is about to change.

Now the Milk Cream was a completely different story. You see, neither my Nana or my Mum knew how to make milk cream, but my Aunt used to make some of the best milk cream I’ve ever had to this date. She guarded her recipe with her life. Eventually, I managed to persuade her to share the recipe with me and she obliged. So I came home and decided that I was going to make Milk Cream that Christmas. And make it I did. Little did I know how fickle sugar was. The recipe seemed fairly simple and I figured like the rest of the traditional sweets, it wasn’t done till your arm fell off from all the stirring. How wrong I was. I ended up with nothing close to the perfect Milk Cream that my aunt used to make but with some milk cream crumbs, some really delicious crumbs. I figured that while this couldn’t be shared with friends and visitors, there was no reason why we at home couldn’t enjoy it. So once my crumbs cooled off, I bottled it and we enjoyed this strange version of the Milk Cream for quite a while. When I called my aunt later and told her about it, she told me that my only error was I had overcooked it and thats why the mix had crystallized. She asked me to have a go at it again, but being the teenager I was, once was quite enough. I wasn’t as persistent back in the day. I figured I would just enjoy the generous portion she usually gave us, since she knew it was my favourite.
Years later, with some much needed guidance, I attempted making this again and this time it worked out. I’ve never looked back since. I hope you try this out when time permits you won’t be sorry. It’s a lovely little bite that simply melts in your mouth.
Last week we started with the more time consuming treat first. This week, I’m starting with the quicker one.

Coconut Toffee


1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
A pinch of ground cardamom seeds
A couple of drops of food colour of your choice
Clarified butter for greasing the plate

Place the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan and place on a medium flame. Cook till it reaches 235ºF on a candy thermometer.

Grease a steel / aluminium plate or cookie sheet using ghee / clarified butter.

When the sugar solution reaches the desired temperate, add the coconut, cardamom powder and food colour. Mix well and take it off the fire.

Pour the mix onto the greased pan and flatten out evenly.

Let it cool for a while and then cut into squares.

Enjoy your coconut toffee!!!

Moving onto the milk cream. It is a time consuming recipe and you will be tempted to turn up the gas. Please don’t. You get a lighter coloured end result if it is cooked on a slow flame. Do not leave it unattended.

Milk Cream

1 litre milk
400g sugar 
100g cashew nuts, ground to a powder
 
Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed vessel and continue cooking till is reduces to half the quantity on a very slow flame, stirring occasionally and ensuring that the milk that’s on the sides of the vessel is stirred into the rest of the milk and not allowed to brown there. 
 
Add sugar and keep on stirring. 
 
When thickened, add the cashew nut powder. Keep stirring over a very slow flame till it starts leaving the vessel. 
 
Test to see if done. (Use water test). 


Pour the mixture onto a steel plate and stir to cool a little.
 
Knead it into a dough while still warm. Mould into desired shapes.
 
NOTE: If the dough turns out too sticky add a little icing sugar and knead.




Watch the video recipe here – 


 
 
 

Don’t forget to stop by next week for the 3rd issue of Double Treats.

I can’t wait to see what the others have brought to the table this week. Go ahead and check it out –

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Christmas Recipes, Dessert, Recipes

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

by Trisha Vaz
EDITED: The recipe is the same great recipe. I’ve just taken better pictures and add a video version of the recipe too.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Its nice to take a moment to be thankful for everything in our lives. I hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends!

Today, I’m going to share with you my Apple Pie recipe. It is a very basic one but it’s a real favorite. Just in case you are still scrambling getting things together for your Thanksgiving dinner, I’d suggest trying this out. It comes together really fast and served with some good vanilla ice cream, its a real winner.

Apple Pie
Makes 1 x 8″ pie 

For the shortcurst pastry – 
250g all purpose flour
125g cold butter cubed 
A pinch of salt
A little cold water (about 60ml)
Add a pinch of salt to the flour and mix well.
Rub the cold butter cubes into the flour till it resembles wet sand or coarse bread crumbs.
Adding very little cold water, bring the dough together. Do NOT work the dough too much. If you do you’ll be stuck with a dense pastry, not a light, flaky, buttery one. 
Lightly bring the dough together and press into a disc. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about half an hour, during which you can prepare the filling.
For the filling – 
5 large apples (I prefer using apples that are crisp and a little tart or you can also use a combination of apples)
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 teacup water
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
A little milk for glazing (you can also use an egg wash if you’d like)
Add the lemon juice to the water and keep aside.
Peel, quarter, core and slice the apples and add it to the lemon juice and water solution.
Add the sugar and cinnamon powder and mix well.
Cook till you’re left with a nice stew. It should be nice and pulpy but not a mash. Be gentle while stirring. Cook till all the water evaporates. 
To make the pie – 
Divide the dough into two parts. 
Roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Place in the in pie dish and trim the edges. Pierce the base randomly with a fork, to ensure that it doesn’t puff up.
Bake at 220ºC for 6 minutes.
Remove from the oven and fill it up with the prepared filling.
Roll out the other part of the dough and place on top of the filling to cover the pie. 
Seal the edges by crimping it with a fork. 
Using a sharp knife make a few slits on the top to let the steam escape. 
Brush with a little milk or beaten egg.
Bake it at 220ºC for 12-15 minutes. 
Cool the pie, cut into wedges and serve with some vanilla ice cream.
Watch me make my Apple Pie here –

This recipe is linked to – 

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Recipes

Bombay Street Food Special #6 – Aloo Cheese Frankies – Mumbai Style

by Trisha Vaz
As promised yesterday, today I’m going to share with you a meatless version of the delicious frankie – The Aloo Cheese Frankie. Potatoes and cheese – to me that’s a match made in heaven.

Check out the post on the Chicken Frankie for the naan roti recipe and instructions on how to assemble the frankie.

Aloo Cheese Frankies


For the Aloo Cheese filling – 


2 potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed
Salt, to taste
1/8 tsp chilly powder
A pinch of cumin powder
A pinch of turmeric powder
A pinch of amchur powder (dried mango powder)

Mix all the ingredients well. Check for seasoning and adjust if needed.

Here are the details on the recipe for the roti and the frankie assembly.

UPDATE: One thing I’ll probably try out the next time I make this, is I’ll make a long sausage of the mashed potato filling and lightly fry it off on a pan and then use it in the roll. I would love to see how that works out.

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Vegetarian

Bombay Street Food Special #5 – Chicken Frankies – Mumbai Style

by Trisha Vaz
Chicken frankies are yet another version of a chicken wrap, but yeah, Mumbai style. I don’t know what it is about wraps, but a lot of cuisines seem to have a version of their own. The Americans have the ever so versatile Wrap, the Mexicans have the burrito, the Asians have the spring roll, the Italians the calzone. In India we call wraps Frankies. It is another version of street food. Its not uncommon to see stalls around the city selling these wraps piping hot. Today, I’m going to show you how to make one from scratch in the comfort of your own home.

The street stalls have many varieties on offer. The Chicken, Mutton, Veg., Aloo, Egg are just a few. Then you also have the option of adding cheese to these wraps. And we know cheese makes everything better. I made a couple of these this time around – the chicken one for the meat lovers and the potato or Aloo version for those of you who don’t eat meat. We love them both. Today I will focus on the Chicken Frankie and stay tuned for the meatless version tomorrow.
Chicken Frankie

For the naan roti –
Makes 8 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp oil
2-3 eggs, whisked well
Mix the ingredients except the beaten egg in a bowl and using water, bind to a soft, pliable dough.
Divide into portions and roll out into a disk about 6″ in diameter. Make sure you don’t roll it out too thin. At the same time, it shouldn’t be too thick either.
Place it on a hot griddle or pan. Apply a few drops of oil on the top and spread it lightly using the back of a spoon. 
Turn it over. Spread a couple of spoons of the whisked egg on this side. (Some vendors use 1 beaten egg for every roll, you may use as much or as little egg as you like. I find about 2 spoons or whisked egg works fairly well.)
Once the egg has slightly set, turn over and cook on this side as well.
Once both the sides have cooked well, take off the pan and keep aside.
Note: I usually cook off all the rotis and keep aside. You don’t want to overcook it, since it needs to be warmed up again, just before you assemble. If you’re just making a couple of these, you can assemble them straight on at this stage.
For the filling – 
250g boneless chicken, cut into small pieces
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1″ ginger, finely chopped or grated
1 – 1 1/2 tsp amchur powder (dried mango powder)
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped
4-5 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Heat oil in a pan. Add the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute or so.
Add the chopped onion and fry off till the onion turns golden brown.
Add the chilly, garam masala, coriander and cumin powders and stir well.
Add the tomatoes and stir fry till the spices and tomatoes cook. The oil will start to separate around the edges of the vessel. The tomatoes should lose some of its moisture by now.
Add the chicken pieces and fry off, stirring well. You may add a tiny bit of water to cook it further. You need a moist filling, not a runny one. (I had some leftover chicken that was marinaded and gently cooked. To make you own, check out this post. Since the chicken was already cooked, I simply shredded the chicken and cooked it till it warmed through and absorbed all the flavors. You can add a tiny bit of stock or water if it seems too dry.)
Once the chicken has cooked, add the amchur powder, fresh chopped coriander and mint leaves and salt. Mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed.
Keep aside.
Onion salad mix – 
1 onion, finely chopped
A pinch of salt
1/4 tsp. chilly powder
A few drops lemon juice
Some fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Mix all the ingredients.
I usually keep the coriander leaves aside and use it as a garnish.
To assemble the frankies – 
Chaat masala
Cheese, grated

If you’ve made your rotis in advance. Place them on a pan and gently warm them up. 
Spoon some of the filling onto the roti. 
Sprinkle some of the onion salad on it. 
Sprinkle lightly with some chaat masala if desired.
Sprinkle some grated cheese, if you’re making a cheese version.
Top with some fresh chopped coriander leaves.
Wrap it up nice and tight and serve hot.
Here’s what they look like all done – 
Left – Aloo Cheese frankie
Right – Chicken Cheese frankie
Check back tomorrow for the Aloo Cheese version.
This recipe is linked to – 
A Little Birdie Told Me
Hearth and Soul

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Chicken, Mains, Recipes

Gobhi Parathas

by Trisha Vaz
Parathas are one of my favorite breakfast items. Do you remember the Aloo Parathas and the Methi Parathas? If you haven’t seen those, you really should. Here’s another variation to the stuffed paratha that you can try. The method is the same as the one used for the Aloo Paratha except here we’re going to make a gobhi (cauliflower) filling.

Do you have a favorite paratha? Leave me a comment and let me know what it is. I’d love to try it out!

Gobhi Parathas


For the dough recipe and on how to make the parathas, click here.

For the Filling- 
1 head of cauliflower, washed and grated (Do not use the greens)
1″ ginger, grated
1 green chilly, finely chopped
Salt, to taste

Mix well and use a spoonful of this mix to stuff the parathas.

For details on how to make the parathas, go here.




This recipe is linked to –
My Meatless Mondays

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Bread, Breakfast, Recipes

Week 4 of 12WOCC – Chocolate Toffee Cracker Bars

by Trisha Vaz

This week I bring to you a treat like none I’ve ever tasted before. I’ve heard of love at first sight, but for me this was love at first bite, literally. The only thing I remember thinking as I savored every bite of this was “OH MY GOODNESS!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! And you know what, it wasn’t me. I wasn’t going crazy. My husband also thought this was one of the best treats we’d eaten ever. That is the highest honor and treat can every get in my home. And mind you, these little devious treats are addictive. For the fist time in a very long time, I found myself thinking of these bars every now and then and it took massive restraint to keep from wolfing these down.

I can’t really decide whether this is a cracker or a candy, but what I know is that this recipe is going to be treasured. I was really excited while making these bars because I got to use my new toy – the candy thermometer. Yes, I arrived at the decision that I had gone without one for too long. There were just so many wonderful delights out in blog land that called for a candy thermometer and I was done passing them by. So stay tuned and see what else I use this little magic wand of the sugar world for.
The Chocolate Toffee Cracker Bars are really quick and easy to put together. The most difficult part of this recipe was waiting for it to cool. By now you know, if there’s one thing I always struggle with, its the waiting 😉
Chocolate Toffee Cracker Bars
Adapted from: Baking with Lisa
Makes 35 bars
1 1/4 cups butter
35 Saltine crackers
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 can condensed milk (14 oz.)
350g semisweet chocolate chips (I used a bar, chopped into small pieces)
1 cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
Line a 10″x15″ Jelly Roll pan with aluminium foil, shiny side up.
Melt 1/4 cup butter and brush the foil thoroughly with this melted butter. I didn’t need all of it though.
Line the pan with the crackers.
Combine the remaining butter and the sugar in a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Boil the mixture till it registers 248ºF on the candy thermometer. 
Remove from the heat immediately and carefully whisk in condensed milk. Once the condensed milk has been incorporated well, pour it over the crackers, making sure they are all covered. 
Bake for 10 minutes. The top should be all brown and bubbly.
Scatter the chocolate all over the top and pop it bake into the oven for 5 minutes. 
Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon spread the melted chocolate to make sure it covers the surface completely.
Sprinkle the coarsely chopped nuts all over and gently press down into the chocolate to make sure they stick.
Cool down and then refrigerate till the chocolate sets.
Invert the pan on a clean surface, peel back the foil and cut into bars. Keep refrigerated.
Cutting options – 
1) Cut along the cracker edges for generous cracker sized bars.
2) Cut into quarters for little bites
3) Cut in half for fingers

This recipe is also linked to –
Friday Potluck
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets For A Saturday

Here’s what the others have brought to the table this week – 

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Cakes, Cookies & Desserts, Cookies, Dessert, Recipes

Aloo Tikkis – Potato Patties

by Trisha Vaz
The last couple of weeks have just passed me by. There are so many goodies that I’ve whipped up during this time, but I just haven’t gotten around to posting any of them yet. To top that I had the craziest weekend. We had the family over for lunch on Saturday, it was so much fun having them over, that’s 11 people and 3 dogs in all. Once they left, I had to focus on a real quick clean up since I had to complete an order of a kilo of handmade liqueur chocolates and a couple of dozen thank you bars for a Monday pickup. By the time Monday  arrived, I was ready to sleep it off. Of course, that was not possible. Even though things were so hectic, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Since I had very little time to put meals together in the last few days, I whipped up some of the quick but good stuff. One such treat is the Aloo tikki, or a potato cutlet. Its comes together fairly quick and is really tasty. I served it as a side but I think it would be really tasty in a vegetarian burger as well. This tikki is fairly versatile and you can add a few finely chopped veggies to it if you’d like. You need to add some bread crumbs to make these a little sturdier than they would ordinarily be. It also adds a lovely crunch to the tikkis.  This would be a great way to serve the kiddies their veggies, in a burger. I think they’d enjoy it. Try it out and let me know how it goes.
Aloo tikkis before frying
Aloo Tikkis

2 potatoes, washed, boiled and mashed
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 green chilly, finely chopped (optional)
Some fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
A pinch of chat masala (optional)
1/2 tsp red chilly powder or to taste
A couple of pinches of cumin powder
1-2 tbsp bread crumbs
Oil, for frying
Mix all the ingredients except the oil well. 
Check for seasoning and adjust if needed.
Shape into small cutlets.
Shallow fry in a pan.
Serve hot.

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Recipes, Sides, Starters / Appetizers, Vegan