मराठीसंस्कृती.भारत

  Marathi Culture and Festivals

Narali bhat / Coconut Rice 

Ingredients:

1 cup Basmati Rice

1 cup Fresh grated Coconut or frozen shredded Coconut

1 cup Sugar

1 cup coconut milk and 1/2 cup water

6 tsp Ghee or unsalted butter

1/2 tsp Saffron soaked in 1 tbsp milk

Cardamom powder to taste

3 to 4 whole Green Cardamoms

5 to 6 Cloves

1 stick of cinnamon

Hand full of Almonds, Cashew nuts, raisins etc.

Method

1. Wash and drain rice for 30 min.
2. Heat 3 tsp ghee; add cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. Add drained rice, sauté for 2 min. Meanwhile boil coconut milk, water, pinch of salt.
3. Add this mixture on rice.
4. Let it boil on medium high. As starts boiling, reduce the heat to low put the lid and let it cook for about 10 min. Cook the rice completely. Take out the rice on the plate and cool it completely.
5. In another pan mix grated coconut, sugar, nuts and cook until the mixture thickens and feels dry. Add rice, saffron, 2tsp ghee and Cardamom powder.
6. Mix it lightly. Try not to break rice grains. Put the tight lid on and let it cook on very low flame for 15 min. Turn off the heat and keep the lid on for another 5 min.
7. Sweet coconut rice is ready to serve. Enjoy.

Teel + Gool Ladoo:

Ingredients:

1 cup sesame seeds (white)
2 tbl spn roasted peanuts, coarsely ground.
1/2 cup jiggery

Method;

Roast sesame seeds until golden brown color obtained.

Heat jaggery with 2 tbl spn water, let it melt and boil.

Take little water in a bowl and add a drop of the jaggery in it. The jaggery should sit like a drop without getting diluted. That shows it has reached the required consistency.
Now add the sesame seeds and peanut powder. Mix well. Take off the heat.

Rub a little ghee on your palms and take a little portion of the mixture in a table spoon, check if it’s not too hot in order to avoid burns, make ladoos. You need to make ladoos before the mixture get cold.

Gool Poli;

Ingredients:

½ cup Jaggery [shredded]

¼ cup Gram flour

¼ cup sesame seeds

2 cups whole wheat flour

Oil for shortening

Method: 

Roast sesame seeds until golden brown color obtained, grind it and make powder.

Roast gram flour in a little oil until golden brown color obtained and keep aside.

Now take a mixing bowl and mix jaggery, gram flour and sesame seed powder and mix well to make soft dough, if needed, add a teaspoon of milk to make soft dough, keep aside.

Now take whole wheat flour in a mixing bowl, add two teaspoon of oil and make the dough for poli. The key is making this dough exactly the same consistency as jaggery filling.

Now take two small portions of flour dough and roll it little bit to make two small puries, now take a small portion of jaggery filling and spread over one puri, now take the other puri and put it on top of the jaggery spread, and press down firmly to seal the sides. Now put some flour on the board and roll it to make a regular size roti/ poli. Roast the gool-poli on a medium- high heated flat skillet/ pan-cake griddle.

Remove from the heat and let it cool before serving.

Pithache Dive: Flour Diyas

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour 1 cup

Oil 2 Tbs

Pinch of salt

Jaggery grated I/2 cup

Warm water

Method: Take whole wheat flour in a mixing bowl and add salt and oil. Mix well. Now take Jaggery in a separate bowl and add warm water just enough to dissolve jaggery. Now add this dissolved jaggery to the flour to make a dough that is a consistency of puri dough [ पुऱ्या च पीठ ]

Now take a small portion of this dough and shape it like a diya or diva

Steam these diyas [ दिवे ] on the steamer for about 15 minutes.

Take one diva and split it with spoon , if the spoon comes out clean that means diyas are done, it the dough sticking to the spoon, that means it needs to be cooked more so steam another 5 minutes.

Serve these diyas [दिवे ] melted ghee [ clarified butter] or warm milk.

Shrikhand Recipe for Gudhi Padwa

Ingredients:

4 cups of thick yogurt [ दही ]

¾ cup of powdered sugar

½ tsp cardamom powder

Few strands of saffron

1 tbs warm milk

Cheese or muslin cloth

Method:

Line a mixing bowl with cheese or muslin cloth, pour yogurt and tie it with the help of a string.

Hang this for about 4-5 hours or overnight.

The Water will drain away and it will become a thick ball. This thick yogurt is called “ chakka”

Take this chakka in a larger mixing bowl and add sugar.

Soak saffron in warm milk

Now blend chakka and sugar with the help of a hand mixer. The key is all the sugar should be dissolved and the mixture should become very smooth and light.

Add saffron and cardamom powder into it and blend little more.

Keep this shrikhand in the fridge for about 2-3 hours before serving so the saffron and cardamom flavours blend in it.

Puran Poli For Holi :

Ingredients:

Chana Dal: 1 cup

Sugar/ jaggery : ¾ cup

Cardamom powder: ¼ tsp

A dash of nutmeg powder

Whole wheat flour; ½ cup

All purpose flour: ½ cup

Oil: 1 tbs

Pinch of Salt

Water as desired

Method: Soak chana dal in enough water for 3-4 hours , drain it , now add 1 cup of water and cook it in a pressure cooker for about 3-4 whistles.

Now mesh the cooked chana dal nicely, you can also use a blender to do this.

Now transfer this meshed chana dal into a non stick pan, add sugar or jaggery to it and mix well. Now cook this mixer on a low heat, stirring frequently until it starts to leave the sides of the pan.

Add cardamom powder and a dash of nutmeg powder and mix well. Puran is ready for stuffing.

In a mixing bowl, add wheat flour and all purpose flour, add a pinch of salt and knead the dough adding water, the dough should be soft, now cover the dough and leave it for an hour.

Now take one table spoon oil and mix in the dough to make very soft dough.

Now take small portion of the dough, and stuff a small portion of puran into it, and roll it on the board with the help of a little dry flour , now roast this poli on a tava both the sides until light brown , add some ghee on it and serve!

Mahashivratri Recipe : Thandai

Ingredients
1 ltr full fat milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
10 to 12 black peppercorns (kalimirch)
a few saffron (kesar) strands
To be ground into a fine powder
1/4 cup almonds (badam)
2 tbsp poppy seeds (khus-khus)
2 tbsp fennel seeds (saunf)
1/2 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder
20 white peppercorns
Method
Boil the milk and allow it to cool completely. Keep aside.
Add the ground powder and mix well. Refrigerate the mixture for 3 to 4 hours.
Strain the mixture through a sieve, add the sugar, peppercorns and saffron and mix well.
Serve chilled.

Maharashtrian Tel -Vang [ Eggplant]  is not very common dish, very few people make it. Here is the recipe for it enjoy!

Ambe Dal for Anant Chaturdashi

Ingredients:

Split gram (chana dal) 

1 cup

Raw mango grated ¼ cup

Cumin seeds  1/2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Sugar – ½ spoon

Green chillies 1-2

Oil 1 tablespoon

Asafoetida ¼ teaspoon

Mustard seeds  ½ teaspoon

Turmeric powder  1/2 teaspoon

Coconut scraped 2 tablespoons

Fresh coriander leaves chopped 2 tablespoons

Method

Soak the chana dal in four cups of water for at least four hours. Drain thoroughly.

Place cumin seeds, salt, green chillies and sugar in a blender along with drained chana dal  and grind it coarsely. Make sure to not make a fine paste.

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds [Black mustard] When the seeds splutter, add asafoeteda and turmeric powder. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

Transfer the dal mixture into a bowl. Add raw mango and coconut and mix well. Add the tempering to the dal mixture and mix well.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Rishi panchami Bhaji

Ingredients;

½ cup of each following vegetables cut up ½ inch.

Okara / Bhindi

Suran

Pumpkin

Tararoot leaves [ alu leaves]

Baby corn

Snake gourd [ padval]

Turai [ shirali]

1/4th cup green peas

1 green chillie

¼ cup chopped coriander.

2 tsp peanuts

½ cup fresh grated coconut

Salt to taste

1 tbs pure ghee

1/4th tsp cumin

Method:

1 tsp tamarind paste [optional]

Take all these vegetables , coconut peanuts , salt and tamarind paste [ optional] in a stock pot add enough water to cover the vegetables and cook for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked.

Now heat up ghee and add cumin seeds for tempering, and add this to boiled vegetables.

Traditionally we are not supposed to do fodni/ tempering to this vegetable.

Lata Choudhary

Modak for ganesh chaturthi

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh grated coconut

¾ cup powdered or grated jaggery, for a more sweeter taste, you can add upto 1 cup of powdered jaggery

3 to 4 cardamoms, powdered in a mortar-pestle, about ¼ tsp cardamom powder

½ tsp poppy seeds

½ tsp ghee or oil

½ tsp rice flour (optional)

½ cup all purpose flour/ maida

½ cup fine rava/ suji

2 tsp oil

A pinch of salt

Milk to knead the dough

Method:

Stuffing/ saran

1. Heat ghee in a pan. Add poppy seeds, cardamom powder. saute for a minute.

Then add grated fresh coconut and grated jaggery.

1. Mix well and cook this coconut-jaggery mixture on a low flame. The jaggery will melt first.

Stir at times and cook this mixture till the moisture from the jaggery begins to dry. Switch off the flame. Don’t overcook as the jaggery then hardens. Keep this coconut-jaggery filling aside the mixture will thicken more after cooling.

1. You can also add a bit of rice flour to this mixture. This is an optional step. The rice flour helps to absorb moisture, if any from the filling.
2. Keep the filling aside to cool.

Cover:

Now take the all purpose flour and rava in a mixing bowl, add two tsp warm oil and a punch of salt. Mix well. Now add a little milk at a time and knead the dough. This dough should be of consistency of puri dough. Cover and set aside for half an hour. Now mix well again.

1. Now take a small portion of the dough and roll it like a puri, hold this puri in your palm and add put amount of filling in the center, now start to close your modak nicely. If it does not close and falls apart, apply a little milk on the edge of the puri.
2. Now fry them in medium –low heat until golden brown color obtained.

दहीत्री  आणि उसाच्या रसाचे लाडू , ई टी वी मेजवानी चे श्री विष्णू मनोहर 

Vatli Dal recipe for Chaitra haldi kunku By: Preeti Deo London

Here is how one could make the kairichi dal or vatli dal following Ruchira

You will need…

1 cup of chana dal soaked for couple of hours and drained

1/4 cup of grated raw mango

oil, mustard, curry leaves, hing for phodni(tempering)

turmeric 1 tsp

couple of green chillies chopped( or as you desire)

couple of red chillies( or as you desire)

shredded fresh coconut(I used dessicated coconut)

salt and sugar as per taste(sugar is to enhance the sour taste of mango)

chopped coriander to garnish

Method:

Grind the soaked and drained chana dal roughly and keep aside.  My mixer grinder is broken hence, I had a tough time grinding the dal in my puran yantra.

In a thick bottom pan, prepare a tempering with oil, mustard, hing and curry leaves. Add in a teaspoon of turmeric. To this add in the roughly ground dal. Stir and cover. Cook this dal for 4-5 mins. Add in the salt and sugar. Stir again. Cover and cook. To this add in the grated mango, shredded coconut and mix.  The dal should be cooked until it’s raw taste is no longer there. Turn the gas off. Transfer the dal to a bowl, garnish with coriander and serve hot or cold.

https://isingcakes.wordpress.com/2015/02/17/royal-grain-puddingrajgiraamaranth-kheer/

Ingredients:

2 lb. fish fillet 2 tsp red chili powder 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 8-10 garlic cloves 3 green chillies 1 inch ginger A few strands of cilantro 1/4 tsp tamarind pulp 1 cup grated coconut (grind to a fine paste or use coconut milk) 3 tbsp oil Salt to taste

Method of preparation:

1) cut and wash the fish 2) Apply red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt 3) Grind together garlic, ginger, chilies, cilantro and tamarind pulp 4) Marinade fish in the ground mixture 5) heat the oil and Add marinated fish and sauté 9) Add ground coconut/milk and let it cook 10) Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro

Ingredient:

Green Chilli - 1 .5  cups Thai or serrano
Lemon - 1 medium size ( 2 tbsp of juice ) 

White vinegar -1 tsp
Oil - 4 tbsp

Coriander Seeds /  Dhane 3  tbsp
Fennel Seeds / Badishep - 1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds / Rai  kuriya - 1 tsp
Fenugreek Seeds /  Methi dana - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida / Hing - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder / Haldi - 1tsp
Salt - 1 tbsp or desired to taste

Method:

Wash green chillies and wipe them dry. Now chop them into small pieces.

Take all the  dry ingredients given in the list in a blender. Make into a coarse powder.

Add the powder into a bowl and squeeze in the lemon juice. mix well.

Now heat the oil till it smokes, add a pinch of hing, Pour the smoking hot oil over the spices and mix well.

Now add in the chopped chilli and toss well with the masala.

Add vinegar.

Take a clean, dry, airtight jar and pour the chillies  into them.

Cover and store them for 2 days before serving.

Peanut-Sesame Ladoo for Makar Sankranti with a twist! I ate them at a Christmas Party recently, wanted to share the recipe: Shobha Daniell 

Ingredients:

• Peanuts - unsalted and dry roasted: 1 Cup
• Oats flour or Quaker quick cook oats lightly roasted: ½ cup
• Coconut flakes (not frozen) lightly roasted: 1/2 Cup
• ​Sesame seeds lightly roasted:  1/2 Cup
• Ghee melted:  2-3 tbsp
• Jaggery grated or powder: about 1/2Cup
• Ginger powder: 1 tbsp
• Almond powder: 2 tbsp
• Cardamom powder: 1 tsp

Method:

Grind peanuts coarsely, be sure to stop frequently to keep it dry and avoid making it into peanut butter consistency.

Grind sesame seeds in the same manner.

Transfer peanut, sesame and dry coconut flakes to a bowl.  Add ginger, almond & cardamom powders and mix well.

Heat the ghee in a pot, add chopped or powdered jaggery and stir the mixture. When jaggery is dissolved and starts to bubble remove from the heat and pour the batter into peanut mixture. Mix with spoon and let it cool a little bit

Place about 2 Tbsps of warm mixture in your palm. Gently press and roll the mixture between your palms to form a ball; add a little oil to your hands when making the ladoos so they do not stick.

Peanut Ladoos can be made according to your taste: increase or decrease any of the ingredients, add different nuts or dry fruits, or omit the ghee.

Sankashti Chaturthi, or the fourth day waning phase of the lunar month, is a religious occasion when Marathi households make special meals. Here are two ‘super easy’ recipes from Rekhatai’s book - By Aditi Joshi

Note: Please do share the pictures of this recipe after trying--Aditi

Two sides to be eaten during fast. 

Vat Purnima is approaching and Aditi Joshi brings these from Rekhaji;s book.

Schezwan Sauce recipe by : Anita Bapat

In spring, peas, onions, and lemons are available in farmer's markets. These are three recipes from Rekhaji's book: 

Aditi Joshi

 Maharashtrian recipes from Rekha Mahajan's book  : Aditi Joshi USA

Here are Pohe recipes from Rekhaji's book. Pohe is one of the simple Marathi dish. I hope over the Spring break many young adults try this out: Aditi

Batate Pohe

(Puffed rice with potatoes)

This is a common breakfast or snack dish prepared in Marathi households. Puffed rice (Pohe) are available in two varieties - thick and thin. In this recipe, we use thick pohe.

Ingredients:

Potato  - ½ lb.

Onion - ½ lb.

Oil - 2 tb.sp.

Green chilli - 8-10

Turmeric - 1 t.sp.

Asafoetida- 1 t.sp.

Mustard seed - 1 t.sp.

Fresh grated coconut - 2 cups

Cilantro - 1 bunch

Granulated white sugar - 2 t.sp.

Salt - 1 t.sp

Lemon - 1

Prepare:

Wash pohe in a colandar and set aside for water to drain. This step will further puff up the puffed rice. (Commonly referred as ‘soaked pohe’)

Chop onions, green chilli and cilantro fine. Wash potatoes, cut them in quarters and make thin slices of quarters. Place potatoes in a bowl of water.

Cut lemon into slices or dice it to quarters.

Method:

Heat oil in a wok (kadhai). Add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Add asafoetida and green chilli and stir.

Add onion and potatoes. Cover with a steel plate and add some water to the plate. When the water boils, carefully take the plate off. If potatoes are cooked, add turmeric.

Add soaked pohe, sugar, salt and stir well. Let it cook for 2-5 minutes.

Serve while warm. Add cilantro and fresh coconut for garnishing. Add a slice of lemon

Makes 8-10 servings

Aditi’s note: Traditionally, steel plate filled with some water is used. A simple pan lid works fine, though frequent stirring is required.

Sweet Pohe

Ingredients:

Thick pohe - ½ lb

Salt- 1 t.sp

Cardamom powder- 1 t.sp

Nutmeg powder- 1 t.sp.

Jaggery grated- ¼ lb.

Cloves- 4

Clarified butter (Ghee)- 1 cup

Fresh grated coconut- ½ cup (optional)

Method:

Wash and drain pohe. In a bowl, mix jaggery, pohe, cardmom powder, nutmeg powder and salt.

Heat a saucepan and add ghee, cloves to it. Now add pohe and other mixed ingredients. Add fresh coconut and cook covered for 5 minutes.  Stir intermittently.

This dish can be served hot or cold.

Makes about 4-5 servings

If you replace jaggery with sugar, add ¼ cup of milk.

Dadape pohe

This is a favorite mid-afternoon snack in Marathi households. This recipe uses ‘Thin pohe’

Ingredients

Thin pohe - ½ pound

Onions chopped - 2

Green chilli - 2-3

Cilantro - 1 bunch

Lemon - 1

White granulated sugar- 1 t.sp.

Salt - 1.5 t.sp

Oil - 2 t.sp

Mustard seeds - 1t.sp.

Asafoetida- 1 t.sp.

Fresh grated coconut - 1 cup

Method:

In this recipe, pohe does not need wash or soak!

In a bowl, mix pohe, salt, sugar, green chilli, onion, cilantro, fresh coconut and lemon juice.

Heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds and asafoetida to it. Add tempered oil to the bowl of pohe.

Cover  the bowl and let this mixture sit for half an hour.

Makes 4 servings

Next three recipes from Rekha Mahajan's book, Translated by Aditi Joshi USA

4] Pithala

(Gram flour and onion side) - This is perhaps the most popular side prepared in Marathi cuisine. It’s a quick, easy and tasty dish.

Onion - 4 tbsp.

Green chilli chopped - 1

Gram flour - ¼ cup

Turmeric - ¼ tsp.

Salt - 1.5 tsp.

Cilantro chopped - 2 tsp.

Aamsul - 3-4

Oil - 2 tsp.

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp.

Asafoetida - ½ tsp.

Method:

Heat oil in a saucepan. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida, green chilli and onion.

Saute onion and add a cup of water.

Add gram flour to the boiling water and stir continuously to avoid lumps.

Add cilantro, aamsul and let it boil for few minutes.

Serve warm with rice or bread of choice.

5] Taktav

(Tempered buttermilk side or drink)

Buttermilk - 4 cups

Sugar - ½ tsp.

Asafoetida - ¼ tsp.

Mustard seeds - ¼ tsp.

Cumin seeds - ¼ tsp.

Salt - ½ tsp

Clarified butter - 1 tsp.

Cilantro finely chopped - 2 tsp.

Curry leaves - 4-5

Method:

Heat clarified butter in a saucepan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. Add buttermilk, salt and sugar. Heat for 1-2 minutes and add cilantro.

Makes 4-5 servings. This versatile preparation can be served warm as a side. Alternatively (and more commonly), it can be chilled and served as a drink with meals.

6] Takachi Kadhi

(Buttermilk side)

Buttermilk - 4 cups

Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp.

Salt - 1 tsp.

Clarified butter - 1 tsp.

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp.

Asafoetida - ¼ tsp.

Gram flour - 1 tsp.

Curry leaves - 5-6

Cilantro finely chopped - 2 tsp.

Spice mix:

Cumin seeds - ¼ tsp.

Green chili - 1

Ginger - ¼ inch

Mustard seeds - ⅛ tsp.

Method:

In a blender, add ingredients of spice mix and make a paste.

Add spice paste, turmeric powder, sugar, salt and gram flour to buttermilk.

Heat clarified butter in a sauce pan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. Add buttermilk to the saucepan and let the mixture boil.

Add cilantro to garnish.

Gram flour prevents curdling of buttermilk on boiling. Hence, its a crucial ingredient of this recipe. This preparation is usually served warm and as a side with rice. Makes 4-5 servings.  

Maharashtrian Cooking : Recipe book written in Marathi by : Late Mrs. Rekha Mahajan 

Translated By :  Aditi Joshi 

Spices :

1] Marathi style curry powder (Goda Masala)

Ingredients:

Corn oil - 3-4 tb.sp

Coriander seeds  - 4 cups

White sesame seed - ½ cup

Cumin seed - ¼ cup

Caraway seed - 3 tsp.

Cardamom powder - 2 tsp

Cloves - 2 tsp.

Cinnamon - inch long 4 pieces

Asafoetida - 2 t.sp.

Bay leaf - 5-6

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - ½ cup

Salt - ¼ cup

Method:

Heat a nonstick pan and add oil. Add listed ingredients except last three ingredients. Roast for 5-10 minutes.

Grind roasted ingredients using a coffee grinder. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt to the mixture.

Store in a dry air-tight container.

This spice can be used for making dal and variety of rice preparations.

2] Hot curry powder

Ingredients:

Coriander seeds - 2 cups

Cinnamon - ¼ cup

Cloves - ⅛ cup

Black pepper - ¼ cup

Oil - 2 tb.sp

Method:

Heat a nonstick pan and add oil. Add listed ingredients and roast for 5-10 minutes.

Grind roasted ingredients using a coffee grinder.

Store in a dry air-tight container

This curry powder is primarily used for vegetarian entrees.

3] Fresh curry spice

Ingredients:

Oil - 5 tsp.

Red Onion - 2 large

Fresh coconut - 200 gms

Dessicated coconut - 200 gms

Hot curry powder - 5 tsp.

Method:

Heat a nonstick pan and add oil. Add onion and saute till brown. Add coconut and roast until it turns brown.

Grind roasted ingredients using a mixer. Add hot curry powder and grind again.

Store in a dry container.

Place the container in a deep freezer and store upto one month. This spice is used for various entrees with gravy.  

COCONUT CHUTNEY 

Grind fresh coconut, dalia seeds, one clove garlic, green chilli, a few stalks of coriander leaves (no leaves just stalks), tamarind, salt. Season with mustard seeds, red chilli, curry leaves, and hing in coconut oil.

TOMATO/ONION CHUTNEY 

Cut and fry equal amounts of tomato and onion in a little oil until they are soft. Add cut green chillies and hing. Now grind this with a big bunch of coriander leaves, salt, and tamarind into a smooth paste. Take some coconut oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, curry leaves and hing in it and then add this paste and cook for a few more minutes until the flavors blend.

RAVA WADA 

Take two cups of rava in a bowl. Add the following to it, all chopped finely - onion, ginger, green chillies, curry leaves, coriander leaves, 2 tbsp of khus khus, hing, salt and ghee. Now use just enough curd (do not use water) to make a thick mixture and allow it to ferment for about 15-20 minutes. Then shape them into flat round wadas and deep fry till golden brown. NOTE: Red chili powder may replace green chillies

• 250 grams Beaten Rice
• 1 Coconut (fresh)
• 100 gm Cucumber
• 2 Green Chilies
• 1 tbsp Ghee
• 1 tsp Jeera
• 1/2 inch Ginger
• 50 grams Curd
• 1/2 tsp Sugar
• Salt to taste

• Soak beaten rice for 10 minutes.
• Grate the coconut, roughly chop the cucumber & finely chop the green chilies and ginger.
• Melt ghee in a small pan for the tempering; add the jeera, green chilies and ginger.
• Pour over the beaten rice and add in the remaining ingredients. Mix well.

Pannha Recipe for Chaitra haldi kunku By Lata Choudhary 

Ingredients:

1. Raw big mango – 1
2. sugar - ¾ [ or less and desired to taste]
3. Saffron strands - 1/4 tsp
4. Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Pinch of salt.
6. Pinch of citric acid [ if the mango is not Saur ]

Method: Boil or pressure cook raw mango. Let it cool. Peel out the mango skin and separate the pulp. Add sugar, cardamom and saffron and a pinch of citric acid and a pinch of salt and mix well. Now take desired amount of this concentrated paste and add cold water to make a glass of refreshing panha .

Modak Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup maida[ all purpose flour]
Salt
Oil for deep frying

Stuffing:
3/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup jaggery
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

Method:
Heat 2 tbs of oil and add it to flour, Mix it very well till all the maida/ flour  gets the oil. Add salt and water to make it very stiff dough. Keep aside the dough[cover it with damp paper towel] for around 1/2 an hour.
Heat jaggery and coconut together till jaggery melts and forms a uniform mixture with coconut. Remove from heat and add cardamom powder. Mix well.
Take small balls of the dough; roll it into small puris (if the puri becomes too thick, the modaks get a rubbery texture). Keep a round ball of stuffing on the puri and cover with the dough to give them modak shape.

पोळे -गोळे  खीर : गोविंद देशमुख 

Mangoes and watermelon are classic summer fruits and now is a great time to celebrate Labor Day with a cool, colorful and refreshing salad made with crisp and juicy watermelon - Shobha Daniell

Low Fat Banana Bread: The perfect solution for using bananas that are too ripe to eat. 

We welcome my friend  an accomplished chef Anita Bapat who has graciously agreed to join this website as an expert in adapting Marathi cuisine to local ingredients as well as contribute from her own recipe collection. She has specialized in eight different cuisines. One thing that she has always done, no matter which country she visits, one stop is always at the grocery store. She loves to learn about the different ingredients used in different cuisines. She is sharing with us a list of ingredients translated in different European, Indian languages. She invited me over for dinner and had a winning recipe “Sprouted Mung Bhel”. She shared this recipe with us as below.

Kadha - Home remedy for cold & cough by:

Shobha Daniell 

It comforts your sore throat, clears your sinuses, and decongests your chest. In winter you can drink this as many times as your want in a day, but in summers limit the consumption as all the ingredients are "hot"

For 1.5 cups:

3 cups water
1.5 inch of ginger pound or grated or sliced fine
4 cloves
1 inch Cinnamon
5 green cardamom
7 black pepper corns (coarsely ground)
2 tbsp of Fennel seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tbsp sugar

Boil everything together until water reduces to half the original quantity. Strain & drink while hot/warm. As an option, mix a little milk (2 tbsp for 1 cup kadha) or add tea leaves & milk into it and drink it like spiced chai. Make extra and keep the left over unstrained kada in fridge. Use within a week of making it.

Hi Protein & High Energy ‘Ladoos’  By: Shobha Daniell

 Ingredients:

 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter or any other nut butter

· 1/3 cup honey or maltitol syrup or Splenda for baking.

· 1 cup raw steel cut oats (can be lightly toasted and then chopped in a blender for smaller size)

· 1/2 cup small size coconut flakes

· 1/4 cup sesame seeds

· 1/2 cup ground flaxseed (lightly roast and grind at home if possible)

· 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

· tsp vanilla

· 1 scoop of veg. protein powder (e.g. Jarrows brand)

· 1 tsp of wheat germ (optional)

Method:

Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated, chill in the fridge for 30 mins. and then roll into balls. These ‘ladoos’ can be stored in an airtight container in fridge for a week. You can modify recipe to suit your taste/allergies/special diets; add raisins, any chopped dried fruit and silvered almonds as in besan ladoos.

You can modify any of the ingredients or steps to suit your taste.

Method

Sauce: Cut cauliflower into large florets and place in steamer basket. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until soft, drain. While Cauliflower is cooking, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in saute pan over medium heat, add onions or shallots and cook until soft and light brown.

Place cooked cauliflower in blender/food processor along with beans, milk, shallots and spices. Blend until creamy. Taste for flavor adding salt, pepper and any other spice you might like. Also if sauce is too thick add a splash or so more milk as needed, blend again.

Veggies: In same saute pan as you cooked the shallots, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms, kale, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute kale for 5 min. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese. Turn off heat when done. You can add your own veggie combo: broccoli, green beans, chopped Brussels sprouts, etc 

Serve: To cooked pasta add as much sauce as you like. Add the veggie mix and gently stir. Turn heat to low and cook until warmed through adding a splash or so of milk if needed to keep from drying out. You can serve this over cooked quinoa

 Ingredients:

Fresh fenugreek leaves- 1 bunch (~200 gms) Buttermilk - 1 cup Garlic paste - 2 teaspoons Ginger paste - 2 teaspoons Green chilies - 3-4 Cumin powder - 1 teaspoon Salt - 3 teaspoons Whole wheat flour - 1.5 cups Chickpea flour - 0.5 cups Oil - 2 tablespoon 

Method: 

1) In a mixing bowl add cleaned fenugreek leaves, buttermilk, garlic, ginger, green chilies, cumin powder and salt. 

 2) Using a hand blender, make a coarse paste. 

 3) Add flours, oil and make dough. Avoid adding water; add a tablespoon of buttermilk if necessary. Set aside the dough for half an hour. 

4) Roll out "thepla" approximately of 6-8 inch diameter.

5) Bake it in open pan (tava) for 2-3 minutes. 

6) Serve with mango pickle or a side of choice. Note: Makes approximately 15 pieces. Buttermilk counters bitterness of fenugreek leaves. Do not replace buttermilk with water. 

Pesto

4 oz fresh basil (I prefer Trader Joe’s)

10-12 cloves peeled garlic (about 1/4th cup)

1/4th cup fresh parmesan cheese shredded

1/4th cup pine nuts (or other nuts as tolerated)

1/4th cup fresh lemon juice

1/4th cup good quality olive oil

Salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Blend the above ingredients to as coarse or as fine as you’d like. Use pesto in cooked pasta, on top of cooked meat, as sandwich spread or top sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese slices. Pesto freezes well.

Quinoa

1 cup cooked and cooled white quinoa

1 can corn drained and rinsed

1 can beans drained and rinsed (black, garbanzo or any other you prefer)

½ cup finely chopped onion

½ cup finely chopped red or yellow pepper

1 tablespoon finely grated garlic (4-5 cloves)

¼ cup of good quality olive oil

2 tablespoon fresh combination of herbs (rosemary, thyme and oregano)

Or

1 tablespoon dry “Italian” herbs

Salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

In a large bowl, mix oil, salt, pepper, garlic and herbs. Let them marinate for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes till all the flavors come together. Stays well for up to 1 week.

Maharashtrian Cooking : Recipe book written in Marathi by : Late Mrs. Rekha Mahajan 

Translated By :  Aditi Joshi 

Learning to cook Marathi food need not be intimidating. Let’s begin with common Marathi dishes. In Marathi cuisine, warm lentil sides are termed as ‘Aamti’. To prepare ‘aamti’ cooked lentils are usually tempered with oil and spices. These spices vary region to region (and even household to household). Here are three common ‘aamti’ recipes.

Goad Aamti

Sweet Yellow Lentil Side

Ingredients:

Yellow lentil (Toor daal) - 1 cup

Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp.

Salt - 1 tsp.

Green chilies- 1 finely diced

Jaggery- 1 tsp.

Tamarind pulp- 1 tsp.

Marathi curry powder (Goda Masala)- 1 tsp.

Cumin seeds- ½ tsp.

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp.

Asafoetida- ½ tsp.

Oil - 2 tsp.

Curry leaves - 4-5 leaves

Cilantro finely chopped- 1 tb.sp   

Water - 2 cups (or more as per taste).

Method:

Add turmeric, salt, asafoetida to daal, Add 1.5 cups of water and pressure cook daal.

Blend cooked daal well with a ladle and add marathi curry powder, jaggery, tamarind, chillies, curry leaves, cilantro and half cup of water.

Boil this cooked daal mixture on medium flame.

In a separate small pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds, cumin and asafoetida. Temper daal with this oil.  

Daal can be cooked using slow cooker instead of pressure cooker.

Makes 4-5 servings. Serve warm with steamed white rice.

2] Daal Methi

(Yellow lentil and fenugreek side)

Ingredients:

Yellow lentil - 1 cup

Fenugreek seeds - ¼ tsp.

Turmeric powder - ½  tsp.

Salt - 1 tsp.

Jaggery- 1 tsp.

Tamarind pulp- 1 tsp.

Onion finely chopped - 1 tb.sp.

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp.

Asafoetida- ¼  tsp.

Red Chili powder - ½ tsp.

Oil - 2 tsp.

Water - 2 cups (or more as per taste).

Spice Mix:

Onion finely chopped - 1 tb.sp.

Fenugreek seeds- ¼ tsp.

Black pepper - 2-3

Grated Fresh coconut - 1 tb.sp.

Method:

Add daal, turmeric, salt and asafoetida and pressure cook.

Blend spice mix in a blender.

Add fenugreek seeds, onion, chilly powder, jaggery and tamarind pulp to cooked daal and boil. Now add spice mix and boil for another 5-7 minutes.

Heat oil in a separate small pan and add mustard seeds, asafoetida, fenugreek seeds. Temper daal with the oil.

Makes 4 servings. Serve warm with steamed rice.

3] Kadadhanya Aamti

   (Moong bean side)

Moong - 2 cups

Onion chopped - 2 tb.sp

Sugar - 1tsp.

Turmeric - 1tsp.

Red chili powder - 1.5 tsp.

Tamarind paste - ¼ tsp.

Oil - 1 tsp.

Mustard seeds - 1tsp.

Asafoetida - ½ tsp.

Spice Mix:

Fresh coconut grated - ½ cup

Onion - 2 tbsp.

Black pepper whole - 4-5

Cloves - 2

Cinnamon - 1 inch

Method:

Roast spice mix in a pan and then blend it in a blender.

Mix onion, turmeric, red chilli powder, sugar, water (approx 2 cups) and moong beans. Pressure cook for 8-10 minutes.

Take half of the cooked moong beans and blend it in a blender. Mix blended moong with the rest of pressure cooked moong. Add spice mix, tamarind and a cup of water to moong and boil.

Heat oil in small pan, add mustard seeds and asafoetida. Add oil to moong and boil for few minutes.  

Makes 4-5 servings. Instead of moong beans, other beans such as red beans, black eyed peas can be used for the same recipe. Serve warm with rice or bread of choice.

Besan Ladoo बेसन लाडू 

Ingredients: 

Two cups besan or ladoo besan

one and half cup powdered sugar

 3/4 cup + one tablespoon ghee

 1/4 cup hot milk

 Optional : cardamom, almonds and mixed nuts [ crushed ] 

Method:    In a medium size fry pan, mix ghee and besan and roast until brown colour obtained, remove from heat and add milk and stir. Wait until this mixture cools down, and then add sugar and mix this until it becomes smooth textured. Add cardamom and mixed nuts which is optional . Now you can make ladoos whatever size you desire.

रव्याचा शिरा , गोंदाचे अनारसे , भोपळ्याचे घार्गे आणि पनीर पाळे

Mahashivratri Recipe : Royal grain pudding(Rajgira/Amaranth kheer)  By Preeti Deo London

Ingredients:

Yogurt 1 cup Gram flour [besan] 1 cup ginger 1 inch black mustard seeds [ rai] 2 tsp Green chilli 2 Baking soda a pinch Oil 2 tablespoons salt to taste hing a pinch coriander powder 1/2 tsp cumin powder 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Method;

Blend yogurt + 3 tbsp gram flour & mustard seeds +ginger & chilli in a blender,add some water to make a fine paste set aside.

Now take rest of the gram flour in a mixing bowl, add salt to taste, pinch of hing, turmeric, coriander and cumin powder, add baking soda, one tbs oil and mix well, now add water very little at a time to make a soft dough for dumplings

Heat up a saucepan and add one tbs oil, now add the paste stirring frequently add more water and salt to taste and desired consistency. Let it boil but stir it constantly.

reduce the heat and now drop dumplings into boiling kadhi, stir it gently , the dumplings will come to the surface when they are fully cooked. Cover and turn off the heat.

Your spicy kadhi is ready. 

Tip: You can adjust the spicy part of this kadhi by less or more mustard seeds.