Bhojan Bites

Ingredients Besan (Gram flour) - 1/2 cup Sooji (Semolina) - 1/2 cup  Ghee - 1/2 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup Water - 1 cup Almonds, sliced - 1-2 tbsp Method Roast besan and sooji in ghee. Roast till mixture releases nutty aroma. Lower the heat of the stove and add sugar followed by water. Stir well to break the lumps of sooji and besan mix.  Increase the heat of stove and cook still the mix starts coming together.  You may want to add more ghee for rich flavor. Garnish with choice of your nuts and enjoy.

Ingredients Left over rice - 1 cup Besan (Gram flour)- 2-3 tbsp  Yogurt, thick - 1/4 cup Salt - to taste  Ajwain (Carom seeds) - 1/2 tsp Turmeric - 1/2 tsp Onions, diced -  1/2 cup Green chillies - to taste Sweet peppers, diced - 1/2 cup Water as needed to prepare the batter Cilantro chopped  Sugar - optional - I always add 1 tsp or more to balance sourness of yogurt Method Mix everything. Mash rice while mixing with hand  Make sure the consistency is not watery.  Cook it on low flame like pancake till both sides are crispy. It has nice tangy flavor because of yogurt.

Ingredients: Pakoda: Chana daal - 1 cup Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Heeng - few dashes Corriander powder - 1tsp Garam masala - 1 tsp Turmeric pwd - 1/2 tsp Onions, chopped - 1/4-1/2 cup Gravy: Yogurt - 1 cup Besan - 4 tbsp Water - depends on desired consistence Tadka Curry leaves, dry red chilies, fenugreek seeds, heeng, corriander powder, garam masala, sugar (optional) Method: Pakoda: Soak chana daal for 3+ h. Grind with minimum water and add zeera, heeng, haldi, coriander powder, salt, garam masala powder and chopped onion (optional). Deep fry. Use it for kadhi or eat with chutney. Yogurt Gravy: Mix besan and yogurt in a bowl and keep it aside. Heat oil in pan and add tadka spices mentioned above. Pour the yogurt gravy and boil. Add more or less water to get desired consistency. After one boil, add the pakodas and simmer for 10-15 minutes so that they get infused with gravy. Pour more water if the gravy gets concentrated. Once the kadhi cooked, add a dollop of...

Ingredient: Whole wheat flour - 1 cup Semolina - 3/4 cup Gram flour (besan) - 1/2 cup Rice flour - 1/4 cup Nuts of choice (cashew, raisins, makhana) Cashews Cardamon Resins Ghee -  5tbsp and more Method: Roast nuts, raisins and makhana in ghee an keep it aside Mix all the flours and roast in ghee till it gives out nice aroma. Add roasted nuts and mix well. Turn off the heat and once it cools down, start making balls.  Add more ghee to bind the laddos. Cool and pack in air tight container. 

Ingredients: Besan (gram flour) Cut up vegetables of choice (onion, potato, broccoli etc..) Green chilies - optional Corriander powder, amchur powder,salt to taste Vegetable oil - 1-2 tbsp Water Method: Mix besan (gram flour), cut vegetables, spices, oil and very little water. Line the baking dish with parchment paper and bake 400 - 420 F for 15 minutes or more. Keep turning sides from time to time. Serve hot with green chutney or ketchup  Note: The pakoras are little dry as compares to fried version. However, it tastes good with chutney and is healthy :)

This is a very unique gatte ki sabzi, unique because it does not have yogurt gravy ! My mother makes it in onion gravy and its tastes delicious.  My onion gravy doesn't comes out as good as hers, so added small amount of tomatoes and voilà, it tastes amazing. Ingredients For Gattas: Gram flour (Besan) - 1- 1.25 cups Yogurt - 3 tbsp Oil - 2 tbsp Turmeric - 1/4 tsp Chillie powder - to taste Salt - to taste Asafoetida- pinch For Curry Red onion - 1, big Tomato - 1 medium Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp Garam masala - 1.5 tsp Corriander powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1 tsp Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Asafoetida - 1-2 dashes Method : Prepare Gatte's  : Mix all the ingredients under Gatte's and make dough by adding water little by little. The dough doesn't come all together at once. Keep oiling your hands and work on the dough and eventually it will form smooth dough Pinch lemon sized balls from the dough and roll it between your palms to make it cylindrical, lik...

My mother makes these the best...and am surprised my attempt was as good as hers! Ingredients Gram flour (Besan) - 1.5 cup Semolina flour (Sooji/Rawa) - 2-3 Tbsp Ghee (Clarified butter) - 0.5 cups Sugar (Powder) - 3/4 cups Almonds, Pistachio - handful Cardamom (grounded) - 1/4 tsp   Method Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Add besan,sooji and cook continuously on low-medium heat until the mixture turns golden-brown and releases a nutty aroma Remove the pan from heat and let it cool.  Add almonds, pistachios and sugar Make ladoos (balls) by gathering the mixture in your palms and pressing it to form round balls Store in air tight container    Check out Atta ka Ladoo   

Lauki [Opo Squash] is also known as doodhi in North India. This is a very typical side dish from Uttar Pradesh prepared on festive occasions. My mother makes a special onion gravy with little [preferably none] tomatoes....the curry has unique taste and I love this uniqueness... try it out yourself ! Ingredients: Lauki [Opo squash] - 1 medium Onion - 2 medium [finely chopped] Tomato - 1/2 medium [finely chopped] Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp Gram flour [Besan] -  1/2 - 3/4 cup Grated ginger - optional Dry Spices Turmeric - 1 tsp Garam Masala - 1.5tsp Coriander powder - 1tsp Chilli powder - optional Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp Salt For seasoning Bay leaf - 1 Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Cooking oil Method: Gravy Grate lauki, sprinkle some salt and keep it aside Heat oil [2 tbsp], add cumin seeds and when they start to crackle add 1 bay leaf and immediately add the chopped onions. Saute onions till golden brown in color (You can add some salt to hasten the process ). Add ginge...

Jalebi is a very popular sweet of North India. It is mostly eaten as breakfast with curd/dahi/Yogurt . It is made by deep frying the batter in a form of pretzel and then soaked in sugar syrup. It somewhat resembles Muffle cake. It is also the national sweet of India, probably because it is served in defense and government offices on the occasions of Independence day and Republic day! Jalebi was originated in Arabia, where it is called Zalabia and brought to India by Mughal Emperors. It is called Jeri in Nepal. I stumbled on Manjulas Kitchen while searching for the recipe. I decided to follow her recipe as it did not require yogurt/curd and has just 1 hr fermentation period. I made minor changes to the recipe to suit my taste and appearance. My jalebies came out perfect.....just the way I wanted.....This is a full proof recipe, give it a try, you will not be disappointed Ingredients: For Batter: All purpose flour [maida] - 1/2 cup Gram flour [besan] - 1tsp Dry active yea...