My Cook Book

Nags arranged something different idea of an event called” Show me your cook books”.

I like to cook and love to watch different type of recipe from my childhood. Before 12 years I write one book about recipe which I love. Ever since I was a teenager I was interested in cooking, and I used to see all the cooking shows on TV with deep interest, that time I used to note down all those recipes and then I made a book with that for me to use. I have collected all the favorite recipes of my mom with me in this book and I use it often to make some authentic recipes of Gujarat and others too, especially some sweet dishes....I don’t use other recipes book much ,as I have already all these good recipes with me.

This is my hand writing in Gujarati. I write this before 12-years. This is my all time favorite cook book.

This book is free when we buy Samsung microwave. I use this book when I cook in microwave.

Next coming is "Patara" recipe. My blog friend Laavanya requests me for this recipe before one month. I am not feeling good because this is toooooooooo late for her request but some time I have not all ingredients at home and sometime the last date of event. Some time work load..........So many excuses but in all time my heart always say I post this recipe as early as possible....

Rajgara Seero with salt taste or Farali Seero

This is my contribution for Celebrations for Ganesha Chaturthi – Event. This event announced by Latha Narasimhan….the basic purpose of this event is…. festivals are not really so much for feasting and indulgence but more for socializing and devoting time to celebrate our culture. And how can there not be an online community celebration of the birthday of a God who has such a powerful and universal appeal? Ganesha - the elephant headed god with all his various forms and distinctive iconography will surely be delighted.
This is the first time, I combined sweet with salt andit turned out very nice. If you will try this thenYou will always sayThat sweet and salt taste together feels like heaven.I get this idea from one of my favorite biscuit"Little Hearts".


Ingredients:
1-cup Rajgara flour
1-cup sugar
1\2-cup ghee
One small piece dry coconut
3-cub cheese
1\2-cup mava
Dryfruits (Cashew nuts and rasins)

Rajgara flour is easily available in Indian grocery store.

Method: Step 1: Grate dry coconut, cottage cheese and Mava(in hindi it is Khoya,in english it is calledcondensed milk) Step 2: Heat the 2-cup water in another vessel and keep aside.
Step 3: Heat the ghee in heavy bottomed pan. Add the rajagara flour.

Step 4: Cook over low flame and stir continuously.

Step 5: Cook till flour color turns into golden brown. Approximately 10-15 minutes.

Step 6: In low flame add grated cheese in it and mix well.


Step 6: Turn off the flame and add grated mava in it. While mixing , if ghee appears on top of the flourthen consider that flour is roasted nicely.



Step 7: After that add hot water in low flame.

Step 8: Add the sugar in above mixture.

Step 9: Let it simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Also add clean and washed rasins in it.

Step 10: When all the water is absorbed remove from the heat.

Step 11: Place it in another bowl and add half of the grated coconut in it.

Step 12: Decorate with cashew nuts and another half of the grated coconut.
Serve hot……

Masala Puffed Rice with Sev Or Sev Mamara

This is my contribution for the event "Whats is Your Favorite Snack?". This beautiful event organized by Hima from snackorama.blogspot.com. Another my favorite snack is here and here.

This is my all time favorite snack. Since childhood I love this snack....

Ingredients:
250gm Puffed Rice
3-tbsp oil
1\2-tbsp asafoetida
1\2-tbsp turmeric powder
1-tbsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste

Method:
Step 1: Heat the oil in big frying pan so when we add puffed rice then we are comfortable for stirring.
Step 2: Add asafoetida in oil when oil is hot and trun off the falme after that.

Step 3: After that add turmeric powder so we get nice lemon color.

Step 4: Turn on the flame after adding puffed rice in it.

Step 5: Mix well in low flame so puffed rice is not burn and stirring continuously.

Step 6: Add red chilli powder and salt to taste.

Step 7: Mix well and after that turn off the flame. I kept it on the switched off, but hot stove for sometime to make the puffed rice very crispy.

Step 8: Add gram flour sev in it and mix well. Recipe of gram sev is here.

Next coming is Celebrations for Ganesha Chaturthi - Event......

How to Leave in 24 Hours

On the way to Santa Fe you get a phone call. It's for your husband. You overhear snippets and wait patiently. There is interest in another script. Real interest. Driving talk turns on a dime from the grocery list (where you just added butternut squash in bumpy cursive) to the wisdom vs. craziness of dropping the day's plans and booking a flight to LAX. You sit quietly in the hot car, squinting at the blur of sunbaked sage along the highway while your husband thinks it over (and inside you are jumping, yelling, Why not? Let's go! This is everything you've dreamed of- script meetings, casting conversations- but, really, it's his call). You do your best to embody Zen detachment.

What do you think? he turns and asks. 

You just smile. He knows what you think. You've been bitching about being under-stimulated for weeks, getting all gloomy again. Then suddenly it's a go. You're leaving in twenty-four hours. You start picking through dirty jeans and shirts. Distracted by the early morning slant of sun warming the tumbleweeds, you leave the laundry to grab a camera. Five minutes later you notice the bowl of ripe tomatoes on the blue tiled counter. You can't just leave those. So you wash them gently, slice and toss them into a roasting pan with olive oil, herbs and cloves of garlic. You add a splash of balsamic vinegar. You slide the pan into a low-heat oven.

The house starts to smell like an Italian villa. You fold and iron and fold. You plug in your iPod Shuffle and choose 250 songs (no Sting). You think about Santa Monica and the last time you saw your son, Colin. You add some of his songs to your mix. Then you notice the roses you photographed this week (they have seen better days). You empty the pitcher. You get distracted by the beauty of the dead petals and dried leaves against the white garbage bag. You grab your camera.

You air out the luggage that has been in storage since May- sliding it into the bright afternoon sun (you'll have to tip it sideways later to scoot a frantic lizard back to his usual vertical perch on the adobe wall). You wonder if the tomatoes are done. It's been two hours. Or more. You peek into the oven and inhale the slow roasted garlicky dense tomato scent.

You try not to panic about what the heck you'll eat for the next week (staying at the one hotel where you could get a last minute reservation in your price range- there's no kitchenette, no microwave). You imagine bags of chips and jarred salsa dinners. You hope Real Food Daily will have choices that are gluten, soy, lemon, nut-blah blah blah- free. But you don't really care. Somehow it will all work out. Or maybe you're just deep in denial, you think to yourself. You breathe.

Then there's the last bit of autumn roasted green chile to think about. And half a bag of small gold potatoes. One big mother of a sweet potato. And one lonely uncooked organic burger. Might as well make a green chile stew before you hit the road.

So you heat some olive oil in a pot, toss in some chopped onion, garlic, and crumbled beef, and sprinkle said ingredients with cumin and chili powder and stir until browned, humming a K T Tunstall tune. You throw in cut up gold and sweet potatoes and the last of the chopped roasted green chile. You stir up some organic beef broth and pour it in. A dash of agave. You let the stew do its stew-y thing while you contemplate which pair of sneakers to wear on the plane- Rocket Dogs or Skechers? Tough call. You'll decide later.

There are toothbrushes and socks to be packed. But first, a glass of white table wine. Then a bowl of green chile stew.

This is the part of the movie when she looks at her husband sitting by the window, back lit by sweet light, and your chest aches in recognition. You see, the thing is, you always knew it. In your heart you just knew. Those movies everyone told you were fantasy? The on-screen or off-screen marriages that crackled with mutual admiration and no bullshit and you pined for that while those closest to you clucked in favor of sticking with your marital misery because - and I quote- No relationship is perfect and every marriage takes work?

Then why, Dear Reader- this time around, after twelve easy years- does it just keep getting easier? And life just gets more interesting? It's all about the risk. And trusting your gut. Whether it's making up a soup or reevaluating your career choice, or facing down familial opposition and sexual inertia because you actually believe in true love- it comes down to this. 

You have this minute. 

This second.

So. 

What are you going to do with it?

Fry Green chilli Achaar / Spicy Achaar of Mustard Seeds

Spicy Achaar……………
Ingredients:
100gm fresh long thick green chillies
1\2-tbsp turmeric powder
25gm crush mustard seeds
2-tbsp mustard oil
Salt to taste

Method:
Step 1: Wash the green chillies and dry towel to absorb all the moisture. Cut these chillies in to long slices.

Step 2: Take one-fourth of the total quantity of the chillies and grind these to a coarse paste.

Step 3: Grind the mustard seeds into the mixer. I use this ready made crush mustard seeds.

Step 4: Heat the oil till smoking and law the flame and add long cut chillies in it.

Step 5: Mix green chilli paste, salt, crush mustard seeds and turmeric powder in it. Mix well so that the chillies get coated with the oil and masalas.

Step 6: Turn off the flame and place in a serving plate.
Step 7: You also use as instant but you add one tbsp lemon juice for more taste.

This is my contribution for the event Think Spice…Think Mustard Seeds…..This beautiful events organized by Sunitas from sunitabhuyan.blogspot.com

Note:
If you like to store this dish for some times then..........
Take clean glass jars and place the achaar in the jar. Close the lid of the jar and shake the bottle gently. Leave in the sun for atleast 2-3 dyas till the chillies are just about tender. Care should be taken to take out the achaar for use only a little at a time.

Beef + Mushroom Stuffed Acorn Squash

A hearty stuffed acorn squash recipe- comfort food for omnivores.

Yours truly has been stewing. Not in the culinary sense, Darling. I've been stewing about Sting, and how disappointed I am with the latest news (and Oy, the photo of him ducking his head, cringing in the back seat?) about him schtupping (okay, maybe he didn't actually schtup- who knows?-maybe he innocently indulged in some lap dances in a post-concert-suffering-from-exhaustion kinda way) at the exclusive brothel-slash-strip club Relax in Hamburg, Germany, while sans wife Trudie and his six children.

Whatever.

Continue reading

Triangle Paratha or Indian Bread

Ingredients:
3 cup whole wheat flour
2-tbsp oil
1 cup warm milk
2 tbsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste


Method:
Step 1: In a deep bowl, mix the flour with cumin seeds, salt and oil.
Step 2: Add milk and required quantity of water for knead the smooth dough. Rub oil over. Keep it covered for at least half hour.

Step 3: Make a small lemon size boll and dust in flour.

Step 4: Roll up this boll up to 3” diameter and sprinkle the flour over the small roti.

Step 5: Fold into triangle shape.

Step 6: Roll out again such that the triangular shape is maintained.

Step 7: Heat the flat pan and place the paratha in low flame.

Step 8: Let it cook for a minute and after that turn another side.

Step 9: When it starts to get small bubbles then add small tbsp oil around the paratha.

Step 10: Turn the flame medium and cook until the brown spots appear on both sides.

Step 11: Keep it in a covered box.

Step 12: Serve hot with tomato with sev curry.

This is my contribution for MBP(Monthly Blog Patrol) event announce by Coffee.
I made this triangular parathas from one of my best Gujarati Blog friend, Pooja.