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Recipe: Getting Things Rolling Again – Egg Rolls

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As promised in December, the re:store blog is back! Even as I invest most of my creativity into working on my first book, it makes me so happy to keep this blog alive with new recipes. Let’s get things “rolling” again with a simple yet satisfying dish: egg rolls.

Many people think of egg rolls as a breakfast item, but I think they work as a snack, a light dinner and most especially in a lunchbox. Whichever time of day you reach for them, a couple of egg rolls will provide a very healthy, protein-rich meal.

The goodness of eggs is a concept I grew up with. Although our family was vegetarian, our mother was thoughtful about our health needs and ensured that we had eggs in our diets. My brother, who was an athlete, ate them by the half-dozen, as I recounted in the recipe for masala baked beans on toast. As for me, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this at some point on this blog, but I was sickly thin as a child and even as a young adult. This meant that eggs were incorporated into my meals with the intention of fortifying me physically. My mom would pour lots of delicious, fattening ghee into a pan and cook an egg just for me. She would also quite frequently pack eggs in some form into my lunchbox, and I’d enjoy them during break-times in school and in college.

I remain a big believer in eggs as a protein source, as you may have read in previous recipes including my breakfast dishes inspired by shakshouka and huevos rancheros, as well as several others. Equally, I’m an advocate for bringing more vegetables into our daily consumption. These egg rolls beautifully balance vegetables, carbohydrates and protein. Therefore, they are filling, tasty, nourishing and provide an energy boost.

In this recipe, I have used a roti as the base, on which an omelette is cooked directly. You can substitute the roti with bread or a tortilla. I have also utilized leftover chapati to make this dish, and doing so is a great way to use up leftovers while preparing a healthy, easy meal. The fillings will work just the same, although of course you may want to play with them and tweak them to your taste. You could mix the vegetables into the egg, or else sprinkle them on top, salad-style, just before you roll up the roti. You could also use chicken, paneer or tofu and further enhance the nutritiousness of the meal. If you’re sticking to just eggs, you could add some spices and turn it into a masala omelette.

Another thing I really like about these egg rolls is that they travel well for a day. I was reminded of this when I visited my daughter in the USA recently. We had a long train journey of around 6 hours, and it has always been a practice in my family to carry food with us on trips. We are both health-conscious – a lovely trait she shares with many people of her generation, and which more people of my generation could also inculcate – so we decided to pack our own snacks. I prepared a couple of these egg rolls, and we didn’t reach out for any junk food available during the trip at all.

We live in a time when it’s not unusual to hop on a flight even for a day’s work, and this is the kind of dish that allows you to carry the comfort of a homemade meal with you no matter where you go. Just make sure that you cover your egg roll with foil so that it doesn’t give off a strong smell when you’re on a plane or a train. Your co-passengers will appreciate that. And if by any chance someone asks you what you’re snacking on, don’t forget to share this link with them!

Egg Rolls
(Serves: 1-2)

2 eggs
2 spring onions
2 tablespoons tomato (finely chopped)
1 green chili
2 tablespoons coriander leaves
3 tablespoons bell pepper (finely chopped)
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon pepper powder
2 pinches chilli flakes
1 teaspoon green chutney
2 rotis or tortillas
1 dollop of butter or 1 teaspoon olive oil for greasing

Chop all the vegetables finely and add them to a bowl. To this, add the eggs. Add salt and pepper and beat well.

Take one of the rotis and spread the green chutney on only one side. Set aside.

Heat a pan and grease lightly. Pour half of the egg mixture onto it. Allow the egg to cook and place the roti, chutney side down, over the egg. Press it down gently.

Cook for a minute or until the roti sticks to the egg. Now, flip over and roll up.

Repeat the process with the second roti, using the remaining mixture.

Your egg rolls are now ready to be served, either fresh off the pan or a few hours later. These travel-friendly treats are sure to bring a bit of deliciousness to your day!

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Recipe: A Great Coincidence – Guava Chutney

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The delicious guava fruit has made a couple of appearances on my blog before: in the recipe for a popular Gujarati guava curry, as well as in a lovely Parsi guava jelly. Guava is something I have always enjoyed in various forms, and is linked to special childhood memories of climbing neighbourhood trees and plucking the fruit – eating it that fresh, and in such a fun way too. Having grown up in Chennai and having seen the abundant growth of the tree right here in the city, it occurred to me that there had to be regional dishes that feature it too. Upon speaking to Tamilian friends, I learnt about the guava chutney. I had initially been pleasantly surprised even by the concept of a chutney being made from a fruit. Preparing it had been on my mind for some time, and then a beautiful coincidence occurred. I’m so glad to be able to share both the recipe and the story today, in the last few weeks before I wind this blog down for good.

The beautiful coincidence I mentioned is this… As with several of the recipes I have shared here over the years, I often enjoy doing a few experiments and a bit of research before I bring a dish to you. I had been mulling a South Indian guava chutney recipe for a while. I had decided some months ago that I would settle on a good guava chutney recipe and share it here, so imagine my sheer delight when I encountered it during some travel last week. Just in time, and just so delicious!

I had been visiting Thanjavur and stayed in a village, where I was thrilled to experience the local cuisine. A lady there who was cooking for us prepared some amazing food, and amongst the spread was guava chutney.

Naturally, I asked her for the recipe and even requested that I watch her prepare it. What you read here today is a recipe for authentic Tamil-style guava chutney from the Thanjavur delta.

Guava has its own distinct flavour, which this chutney brings this out beautifully. In addition to being tasty, it is also nutritious. It is rich in fibre and antioxidants, and is known for an extensive range of benefits – everything from boosting cardiac health to boosting collagen in the skin. It is a good source of vitamin C, which is why it has a tanginess to it. You can avoid lime as an ingredient entirely while making this chutney. A small piece of tamarind enhances it, but this is the only addition of an acidic note.

In the past, I found hybrid guava varieties on the market, imported from Thailand, but I have noted that they are also being cultivated in India now. The hybrid kind is pink on the inside all year round, and you can find them all year round too. They look very attractive but are not necessarily sweet, although I understand why their easy availability makes them appealing. As much as I relish all kinds of fruit and also have out-of-season cravings, I do prefer to lean towards the traditional and organic. I wish to plant more guava trees on our farm, and I’m eager to find native variants, or at least those that have long been grown here.

Guava Chutney
(Yield: Serves 2-4)

125 grams guava
2 green chillies
2 tablespoons grated coconut
2-3 cloves garlic
½ inch piece of ginger
1 inch piece of tamarind (soaked)
Salt to taste
Water as required

Tempering

2 teaspoons oil
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
A pinch of asafoetida

In a blender, add the guava, green chillies, grated coconut, garlic, ginger, tamarind and salt. Add ¼ cup water or as required.  Blend until smooth.

To prepare the tempering, heat the oil and add the seeds. When they splutter, add asafoetida. Pour this tempering over the chutney and serve. You will probably enjoy it most with dosas or rice.

As you can see, the recipe is really very simple. Guava chutney adds a fruity, flavourful note to any basic Indian meal of yours, complementing the staples and bringing a bit more joy to the day. If you enjoy chutneys in general, do check out more of them in the archives too.

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Recipe: More Goodness For Your Lunch Dabba – Methi Na Dhebra

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Even within a larger community, sub-communities often have their own methods of culinary preparation. I was born into a Vaishnav Gujarati family, and married into a Jain Gujarati one. When I came into my marital home, I began learning the nuances between the sub-cuisines from my mother-in-law. She also introduced me to recipes which I had not been familiar with earlier, including one for some cherished sweet-savoury pea-pomegranate kachoris, shared on this blog close to a decade ago. I am glad to share another one today: methi na dhebra, which is a kind of flatbread, and is in this iteration infused with nutritious fenugreek leaves.

My mother-in-law had an interesting way of making dhebras: rather than prepare them as flatbreads, she would hand-make them in a dumpling fashion, which would be cooked in a yogurt-based gravy that had to be eaten fresh off the stove. Her dhebras were made by repurposing leftovers, specifically theplas and rice. This is a skill I have always admired, one that is common across India, and which inspired my “Second Helpings” recipe series. Traditionally, however, the dhebra is a flatbread made of pearl millet, or bajra, which like most flatbreads keeps for a little while and thus travels well too. That is what I am sharing today.

You will notice that it is distinct from thepla: thicker, more coarse and slightly crispy. It is made of easily available and affordable ingredients, and is very filling. It requires just some curd or pickle on the side.

Although my mother-in-law’s unique twist on dhebra was something new to me, I had eaten the traditional version numerous times while growing up. My mother would prepare it as a one-dish dinner, especially when she was having busier days. My siblings and I would pull a long face whenever we saw it, not realizing at the time that it was pure, wholesome goodness. There were no gimmicks of protein, fibre or other important elements being had separately. It was an all-in-one wonder, like some of our simplest Indian dishes can be. I am going back to those old recipes now, and I hope they’ll never go out of style again.

What makes this particular dhebra extra nourishing is that I use fenugreek leaves in it, also known as methi. This crop is seasonal, so when you can’t get fresh leaves, dry leaves work just fine. You can also substitute it altogether with bottle gourd. You may also wish to incorporate garlic, which is eliminated altogether in many Jain households. All in all, you will get a flavourful flatbread that you can enjoy immediately, or pack into a lunchbox for later.

Methi Na Dhebra
(Yield: 6-8 pieces)

1 cup bajra (pearl millet) flour

¼ cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon yoghurt

1 teaspoon ginger-green chili paste

Salt to taste

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon cumin powder

½ teaspoon coriander powder

2 teaspoons oil

3 tablespoons water (or as required)

½ cup methi (fenugreek) leaves

Oil for roasting

In a bowl, add the bajra flour and wheat flour. To this, add the yoghurt, salt, turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, ginger-green chili paste, oil and fenugreek leaves. Add water and make a smooth soft dough. Cover and allow to rest for half hour.

Now, make lime-sized balls. Dust with some wheat flour and roll them out gently. Do not use pressure. As you are rolling, pinch the edges to help make them round. Roll them out to ½ inch thickness.

Heat a griddle and place a rolled-out dhebra onto the hot pan.

Allow to cook both sides. Then, add few drops of oil. Cook until golden and spots appear on both sides. Repeat with the remaining dhebras.

Serve with curd or pickle.

Methi na dhebra is one of many flatbreads that I have shared over the years, and it is yet another recipe for lovers of Gujarati food, which has long been at the heart of this blog. I hope you’ll explore more of both, as well as of so much else from India and everywhere, in the archives.

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Recipe: From The Club To Our Kitchens – Chili Cheese Toast

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Chili cheese toast has been an Indian staple for generations, and many of us – myself, for certain, and my children as well – grew up eating it as a special snack. My association with it began at clubs, which were the only social gathering spaces back then. We as a family would look forward to those outings, and to the snacks available there which were inherited from the British. Even a few weekends ago, I found myself ordering chili cheese toast at a club get-together, as has been a habit for all these decades. The funny thing is that something that had such exotic connotations in childhood is actually an extremely easy dish to whip up, as you’ll see below.

Even though my first association with chili cheese toast was in a club setting, it has since become a faithful familiar at home. I realized when my kids were growing up that it was perfect to make for play dates, when the children need carbs for energy and good-tasting things to add to the fun. Later, it also became a go-to for when I found myself returning home after a long day and in need of some kind of easy-to-prepare, comforting snack.

There are a couple of different methods to putting a chili cheese toast together, depending on whether it is open-faced or a sandwich. Here, I share the method for open-faced toast, in which all that delicious melty cheese inspires the appetite on sight.

Chilli cheese toast really is all about the cheese, most would say. To this day, I still use trusted Amul cheese in mine, even though such a wide variety is available. This is also a nostalgic throwback. The India of my growing years, in the 1970s, experienced a huge dairy movement, known as the White Revolution. This was when milk not only became a major Indian export, but also became very accessible for purchase on the market all over the country, wherein earlier people relied directly on cows and farmers. All store-bought dairy products became popular, and among them cheese. At the time, Amul was the only brand we knew of. I remember when slices were introduced, not just blocks of cheese. They remain reliable. I travel so much and pick up some very flavourful foreign cheeses often, but when it comes to certain basic recipes, the simple ingredients of my childhood remain close to my heart.

Chili Cheese Toast
(Yield: Serves 2)

1½ cups grated cheese (mozzarella or pizza cheese)
3 slices bread
1 green chilli (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon coriander leaves (finely chopped)
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Place 3 slices of bread flat in the oven tray. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the slices. Next, sprinkle the green chilli and coriander leaves.

Bake for 2-5 minutes. You will know when it’s ready when golden spots appear and the cheese melts. Remove from the oven.

To pack more punch, sprinkle with red chilli flakes if so desired. Serve your chili cheese toast hot.

I hope this effortlessly tasty snack brings a bit of joy your way!

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Recipe: From The Sindhi Kitchen – Sai Bhaji

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The cultures around us always have a huge influence on us especially while we are growing up, and this influence often remains through life. Certain recipes and food habits are the most common evidence of this influence, in my opinion. As a Gujarati who was born and brought up in Chennai, Tamil cuisine is obviously one I have immersed myself in, just as much as my native one. Additionally, with a Sindhi member of the family and numerous Sindhi friends, Sindhi cuisine is another one I have an abiding love for. This recipe – a vegetable curry known as sai bhaji – is from the same.

Sindhis are a community who are mostly originally from the Sindh region of Pakistan. The majority of Indian Sindhis are believed to have migrated from there during Partition, a highly significant event in subcontinental history. Subsequently, they also moved to many other countries, and are known – in addition to delicious food – for being very enterprising. It is often said that a Sindhi-owned company can be found no matter where you travel in the world, such is the community known for its business acumen.

My exposure to Sindhi food began in childhood, as I mentioned, through a friend who now lives in Mumbai. Whenever I visit her, she asks me what I would like to eat, and I will invariably request sai bhaji. It is a dish that I recall fondly not just from ordinary meals at her house, but even from birthday parties and such. Back then, these parties were always in homes, and featured homemade food. The only special or exotic thing would be a cake, while even the other treats would all be items prepared by the family. In India, proper food is served at every such gathering, as feeding guests well is a valuable tenet of our culture. A sai bhaji – a healthy item! – would certainly not be out of place.

“Sai” means “green” and “bhaji” means vegetables. The dish is spinach-based, and also contains a variety of leftover ingredients. A little leftover brinjal, a little leftover carrot… All these will be pressure cooked along with dal in order to prepare this nourishing dish.

When I said earlier that feeding guests a hearty meal is a part of Indian culture, across all communities, I was thinking specifically of how this is a collective choice in spite of a history of droughts, famines and lack of economic power. Perhaps because of this history, we are very cautious about not wasting food and use leftovers very sensibly. Some years ago, I did a series called “Second Helpings” of traditional recipes that innovate using leftovers. We turn around every little bit that sits in the fridge, and have done so since well before the invention of fridges, in fact!

To me, how we treat food and how we treat knowledge are the real wealth of India. We hold both in such regard, because the fact is that many generations have had to do with less of both or either than they deserved. To us, throwing food into a bin is as much of a sin as stepping on a book or a newspaper. The respect we have for such objects, the respect we have for guests: we know what is precious, whether or not that preciousness is measurable on material terms.

Sai Bhaji
(Yield: Serves 4)

1 medium-sized onion
1 medium-sized tomato
1 tablespoon ginger (grated)
1 teaspoon garlic (grated)
1 green chilli
1 bunch spinach (palak)
3 tablespoons yellow moong dal
1 medium-sized potato
1 medium-sized carrot
Any vegetables of your choice
2 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1½ teaspoons coriander powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
2 tablespoons water

In a pressure cooker, place the dal followed by the vegetables and finally the spinach. Add 2 tablespoons of water and allow to cook or whistle until tender.

Meanwhile, chop the onion and tomato.

Heat a kadai, add the oil. Then, add the onion, garlic and ginger. Finally, add green chilli and sauté everything until golden.

Next, add the chopped tomato. Sauté and add all the spices. Stir well.

Open the pressure cooker and mash all the vegetables until they come together.

Finally, add the vegetables to the onion-tomato mixture and mix well.

Add a dash of water if you prefer it to be less thick.

Your sai bhaji is ready. I enjoy eating it alongside hot rice, with kadhi and curd on the side. I hope you’ll enjoy this lovely recipe from Sindhi cuisine. I am sure you will find, as I do, that it pairs beautifully with other dishes from across the Indian subcontinent.

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Recipe: A Perfect Packed Lunch – Paneer Tikka Roll

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There was a time when I thought that once my children had grown up and had gone away for their higher studies, my job as a preparer and packer of tiffin boxes would come to an end. Clearly not! Now, I still find myself making daily choices regarding healthy lunch options that they can enjoy at the office, and still struggle now and then with figuring out good ones that are tasty, nutritious and can keep well for a few hours. In frequent rotation is this paneer tikka roll, which fulfils all those criteria.

I know that this challenge is one faced by many people around the world – whether they are packing for themselves, or for a loved one who is going to work or to school. My son also requests homemade meals that he can carry on flights, and packing for travel is its own culinary category – wouldn’t you agree? We all want our families to eat well, even when we can’t personally serve them hot food.

I think in my case, my belief that fresh food is always best has sometimes made it all the more difficult for me to accept that anything else quite comes up to the mark. Even after all these decades of practice with tiffin boxes for my children and my spouse, all at different ages and stages of their lives and of mine, it’s a feeling I can’t entirely shake off. I remain practical, however. At night, I ensure my refrigerator is empty of cooked food, but any kind of prep that makes the morning easier is kept ready. The next day will invariably be busy as I rush about preparing something that is both appealing and healthy.

In this case, I marinate the paneer on the previous day and keep other required ingredients handy, so that there will only be minimal cooking and assembling the next day.

While this paneer tikka roll is a smart way to carry a protein-rich packed lunch, it is reminiscent of homemade meals in the sense that it is in some ways a reconstruction of the standard paneer sabzi and roti that in eaten in many homes across India. This is the kind of meal that I always make extra helpings of, because it is appreciated across generations. The roll solution really is genius, I feel. What makes it even better is that it can be stuffed with extra vegetables, making it distinct from street food or store-bought rolls. I like to add colourful bell peppers, which add a crunchy texture.

I must confess that when I prepare paneer tikka for myself, I eat it more like a salad with lots of veggies than in the traditional way. I avoid the roti – i.e. carbs. At other times, I serve it to my aged father alongside rice instead, as this combination is easier for him to consume. You can use the paneer tikka itself in a number of ways, other than in a roll format. You can also replace the paneer itself with tofu or your preferred protein. On that note, I often prepare paneer at home, and will share the recipe for the same in an upcoming post.

Paneer Tikka Roll
(Yield: Serves 1)

100 grams paneer
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon dhaniya (coriander) powder
A pinch of garam masala
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon garlic paste
¼ teaspoon ginger (grated)
1 tablespoon yoghurt
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon ghee
½ cup bell peppers (sliced)
½ cup onions (sliced)
2 big size rotis (for reference see the post here)
Green chutney (optional)

Marinate the paneer in the yoghurt. To this, add chili powder, dhaniya powder, turmeric, salt, garam masala, garlic paste, grated ginger and oil. Allow this to marinate for at least 30 minutes. You can also do so overnight, as mentioned earlier.

Heat a pan and add a teaspoon of ghee. Add bell peppers and onion. To this, add the paneer and cook until it is soft and golden.  Do this on a high flame. Once soft and slightly golden on both sides, remove the paneer onto a plate and set aside.

To assemble the paneer tikka roll, cook the rotis on both sides. Remove them from the griddle and place them flat. Apply green chutney or other condiments, if you would like to.

Place the paneer mixture in a line at the centre of each roti. Fold both sides of the roti over the same. Wrap in parchment paper.

Cut into half and serve fresh, or place into the lunchbox or tiffin carrier to be enjoyed later in the day.

I know there are many lovers of paneer who read this blog, and I hope you’ll explore more paneer-based dishes in the archives!

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Recipe: A Beautiful Blend – Biryani Masala Powder

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My son who lives abroad often tells me how much he craves home food, or Indian food in general. As I do for all my children, there are certain special dishes that are prepared without fail during their visits, depending on their individual preferences. This son’s favourite is biryani, which means that I make it very often – and very happily, I might add. So much so that I began to roast and store the masala, or the spice powder, myself too. This biryani masala powder is versatile, and can be used with a wide range of biryani styles.

Biryani is a pan-Indian rice dish invented by the kitchens of the Mughal empire. In its original form, it is basically highly flavourful rice cooked with meat. Across the country, versions and variations of this basic concept – with and without meat, and utilizing different rice grains, particularly short and stout ones like samba or long ones like basmati – have pride of place. I continue to encounter biryanis that are new to me, such as a fish biryani that I had at a friend’s place not long ago, which I had never been aware of as a dish prior to that meal.

My son prefers chicken biryani, and given that our household is primarily vegetarian, I can attest to how this masala can be used in more than one biryani rendition – to equal success. I have shared a vegetable biryani recipe in the past, which happens to be my own favourite. You can certainly use the biryani masala recipe below for either or both, as well as with other core ingredients.

I realise that these days biryani, once a royal enjoyment, has become a much more accessible and affordable dish. In fact, it is now a widely available form of street food. All around Chennai, I notice tiny little counters and kiosks, if not full-fledged shops, serving biryani. I must confess that I am wary of these. While the food is tasty, I love heaping vegetables to my biryanis and making them as wholesome as possible. This is true even when I am preparing meat versions for my son. Biryani itself is quite a rich, heavy dish, and balancing out the nutrition content is important to me. This is why I choose to make it at home whenever possible, despite the temptation of store-bought meals.

Similarly, making my own spices is something I really enjoy doing. There is nothing like the aroma that rises when they are freshly ground. Those used in biryani masala are either intrinsic, or have at least become traditional, to this part of the world. There is a sense of doing as generations have done for centuries past: putting together a beautiful medley of flavours to add depth and taste to a dish.

There is, for me, also a sense of following in my mother’s footsteps. She told me about how Gujaratis customarily had some kind of basement or pantry for the safe storing of dry provisions, including spices, so that these could be utilized through the year. We didn’t have a basement per se, but she retained this sensibility. Grains and spices were always stored, with the latter prepared during the summer months when roasting them under the blazing sun would be most efficient. Our blender was always busy during that season. It is a practice I have made my own, and despite the conveniences of today, I hope to share the beauty of this practice with as many people as possible too.

Biryani Masala Powder
(Yield: Approximately 1 cup)

2 2-inch cinnamon sticks
10-12 cloves
10-12 green cardamom
3 black cardamom
3 star anise
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
8 bay leaves
15 Kashmiri red chilies
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
¼ cup coriander seeds
½ nutmeg
2 mace

Dry roast the cloves, pepper, green cardamom and black cardamom on a slow flame. Once they release an aroma, remove onto a plate.

Next, dry roast the coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, nutmeg and mace. Once they release an aroma, remove onto a plate.

Finally, roast the bay leaves, cinnamon, red chillis, and star anise. Keep stirring on a low flame.

Allow all the ingredients to cool, then transfer to a blender. Powder and store in airtight jar at room temperature.

I like to always fill just a small jar, so that whatever spice or spice mix powder is contained within is consumed while the aromas are still quite fresh. I would recommend using up each batch within a month.

I hope this biryani masala powder becomes a part of many feasts in your life. You may also wish to explore other spice powders and blends I have shared earlier, including sambar podi, garam masala, curry leaf podi  and coconut podi.

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Recipe: A Gorgeous Spice Blend – Garam Masala

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Garam masala is one of India’s quintessential spice blends, a staple of the Punjabi kitchen and popular in the north of the subcontinent. Traditional Gujarati and Tamil cuisines don’t use it, which means it is not a masala that features regularly in my own cooking. That said, I do enjoy the flavour profile immensely in certain dishes. Until recently, I would purchase readymade garam masala, but an increasing number of spice adulteration scares in India when it comes to commercial brands have convinced me that it is safer to prepare it at home myself. I found the process easy and the outcome fulfilling, and in some ways, this means that garam masala features a little more often in the recipes I choose too.

There is a vast amount of nuance when it comes to Indian spicing techniques and spice blends. There are differences between whole forms and powdered versions, and seasonality and availability also have an impact on what became considered traditional. Certain combinations are region-specific. Additionally, while many assume that red chillies are the base spice, this is historically inaccurate. The chilli family came to the subcontinent with the Portuguese. The core spice in this part of the world prior to this was pepper.

Garam masala has had only a scattering of appearances on this blog, used sparingly for dishes like roast potatoes and radish paratha. I have also used it in place of chana masala when making chole, rather than buying readymade chana masala. It traditionally features in black dal, moong dal and even certain meat preparations. I find that the flavour is very potent, so it is best to use a very small quantity, especially when the blend is homemade, as it will be purer. Adjust the quantity as required, based on your preferences and on what the dish calls for.

Nowadays, I roast the spices, but I clearly remember when my mother used to dry them in the sun in the summer heat. We were fond of chana and black dal and rarely went to restaurants, so garam masala was definitely a presence in her kitchen cabinet too. As I have said many times over many posts, my cooking skills came from her. She was as fond of exploring different cuisines and increasing her own repertoire as I am.

You may recall from prior posts that the more elaborate method of sun-drying is also something I do now and then or for specific spices, but this is of course climate-dependent. I presume that exposure to the elements may add more to the flavour, but overall I certainly lean towards homemade rather than storebought and that fact alone elevates any powder I prepare – roasted or sun-dried. I always make my powders in bulk, not only so that they may be used for a longer period, but also so that I can give them to my kids, who will utilise the same in their own kitchens. This gorgeous garam masala is now in all the places they live, and perhaps will be welcome in your home too.

Garam Masala
(Yield: Approximately 1 cup)

½ teaspoon nutmeg
2 strands mace
4 cloves
¼ cup coriander seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
½ tablespoon black pepper corn
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
¼ teaspoon ajwain (carom) seeds
1 teaspoon methi (fenugreek) seeds
4-5 whole cardamom
6 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise

Begin by roasting all the big ingredients on a low flame. These would be cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg and mace. Add the smaller grains second: cardamom, methi, fennel, cumin, ajwain, coriander, pepper, cloves.

Once the ingredients release their fragrance, turn off the stove and remove the pan from the flame.

Allow to cool and blend in a spice grinder.

Store in an airtight glass jar. Use in curries of your choice for a well-rounded and deep flavour.

Over the years, I have shared numerous spice powder recipes, from to curry leaf podi to coconut podi and more. More will soon follow, so do stay connected!

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Recipe: An Aam-azing Condiment – Aam Ki Launji

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Mango is, as cliché as it sounds, truly the king of fruits – in India at least, if not the world.

It’s amazing how many recipes each person, not just each community or state, but each individual, can come up with using mango. Whether raw, ripe, or dried, this core ingredient can be used in countless ways. I recently mentioned aam ki launji, a Marwari condiment that is neither a pickle nor a chutney but is almost both, and I am happy to share a recipe for this today.

I’ve mentioned in the past how we have a tradition of exchanging mangoes during the season. Between friends, they travel lovingly – from my farm to yours, or my backyard to yours. During these trades, I have been inspired by learning about varieties of the fruit that were unknown to me. For instance, a friend of ours has around 20 mango trees in his garden in Kerala. When we visited him recently, he brought out some fruits called “mallika”. He grows them organically, without the use of any chemical sprays.

The mallika is such a lovely mango. It is so flavourful, and simply beautiful to look at. Its peel is a deep orange colour, and its shape is long and striking. It’s such a big mango — one that demands to be shared.

He gave me one to take home – a raw fruit that ripened slowly, which I was able to enjoy alongside the memories of the trip itself. I really treasured eating that mango, and now that season draws to a close, I am certain that it was one of this year’s mango highlights for me. I hope you too have had a particular mango, or many mangoes, that you especially cherished this year.

Returning now to aam ki launji after that dreamy interlude with organic Kerala mallikas, this dish is dear to me because it was taught to me by a beloved aunt of mine. Her name was Pushpa Agarwal, and she also happened to be a neighbour a long time ago when my children were little. In many ways, she played the role of a mother-in-law to me, guiding me and supporting me. Every time that I had any issues with my kids, she would come running to help me, or I would go running to her. She taught me a lot about child care, but she also taught me certain recipes. For instance, she made the best pani puri ever – it even beat streetside chaat stalls!

Aam ki launji, of course, was one of my inheritances from her. Since our palate at home is largely Gujarati and Tamil, this Marwari dish makes an appearance only because of Pushpa Aunty. You will see from the method below that the spices are different from the kinds of recipes that typically appear on this blog, as it’s from a cuisine range that I haven’t worked with here before. That said, some form of this dish is made pan-India. I’ve come across similar condiments in Kerala and Tamil Nadu too, though it goes by other names of course. At its core, it’s a blend of mango and jaggery, but the spices used vary from place to place.

My husband loves foods that are both sweet and tangy, so this aam ki launji is naturally one of his favourites. This means we usually have a batch in the fridge. It keeps well for about two weeks, although it gets finished off much sooner at my house. It goes really well with theplas and other flatbreads.

As I said, I am sharing this at the close of the mango season, when sweet, ripe mangoes can be replaced with something like a pickle, a daily condiment – one that is made with raw mango. Something I notice is that my body also craves foods in a seasonal way. My hankering for mangoes is dissipating as the weather changes. The need to have a nice, fresh, juicy mango to rival the heat is gone. I have noticed this happen in other years too, and I believe that our bodies adapt and that it’s not just a case of repetitively consuming to the point of boredom. Personally, I don’t even attempt freezing mangoes for the winter because I know I won’t want them then.

So, at the tail end of May, a last taste: aam ki launji.

Aam Ki Launji
(Yield: 2 cups)

500 grams raw mango
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon nigella seeds
¼ teaspoon methi seeds (fenugreek)
¼ teaspoon asafoetida
150 grams jaggery
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 heaped teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
½ cup water

Wash, peel and cut the mangoes. Set aside.

Heat a kadai and add the oil. Now add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, nigella seeds and methi. Once the seeds splutter, add the asafoetida.

Now, add the mangoes and sprinkle some water. Cover and allow to cook until mangoes are slightly tender. Open the lid and add salt and turmeric. Mix and then add the jaggery. Add water and chilli powder.

Stir and cover with lid until the water thickens. Your aam ki launji is now ready.

Enjoy it with flatbreads, rice or in any way you’d like to. As I said, it’s a special kind of condiment: not quite a pickle, not quite a chutney, not quite a gravy. It tastes just great, and accompanies many main courses beautifully. I do hope you’ll use your last chance to make the most of mangoes this season by preparing some aam ki launji to bring joy for a couple of weeks of the monsoon!

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Recipes

Recipe: A Perfect Medley – Masala Poori With Aloo

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Aloo poori used to be a regular dish served in daily meals throughout India. That’s how I remember it. Increasingly, I notice that it has become more of an item enjoyed at celebrations. This is probably because people have become more health conscious, or at least that is what I believe based on what I observe. Poori is a kind of fried flatbread, usually puffed up and on the oily side. “Aloo” means “potato” in Hindi, indicating the curry it is eaten with. Together, they are delicious, and I understand both why people used to want to eat aloo poori frequently earlier, and why it plays a role in feasts today. Here, I share a masala aloo poori recipe.

As I said, aloo poori is really a pan-Indian dish. I am particularly familiar with two versions: Gujarati style and Tamil style. In Gujarati, the dish is known as “batata poori” (“batata” means “potato”), while here in Chennai I have encountered it in many restaurants under the name “poori potato”. There may be a Tamil name for it, of course. I have also enjoyed some more versions around the country. Every time I’ve been to Kolkata, I’ve ordered what they call “luchi aloo”, which happens to be a dish I really love. Marwaris often eat pooris with aam ki loonji, a mango condiment that’s neither a chutney nor a pickle, yet somehow both at once. It’s another interesting combination, and I’ll be sharing that recipe soon.

Regular poori, rather than spiced poori, is eaten everywhere, but I want to share a typically Gujarati version, which is masala poori. Traditionally, the poori and potato combination is eaten alongside a third party: a kheer. A kheer is a kind of milky dessert you may have encountered on this blog before. The savouriness of the masala poori contrasts well with the sweetness of the kheer. Potatoes always make people happy, of course. All together, masala poori with batata and kheer are just unbeatable.

I have shared many flatbreads from the Gujarat region earlier, most notably in this post [hyperlink] featuring a number of variants. They are usually made petite and two-bite sized. Pooris are also made small, but unlike some other flatbreads, like theplas [hyperlink], they are not travel-friendly. They are meant to be eaten fresh.

In fact, they aren’t even flatbreads, technically, since the whole proof of a well-made poori is that it fluffs up in the oil, rises and turns into a hollow ball. A flat poori is one that hasn’t been prepared well. A puffy poori is achieved when the dough has been made to the right consistency, neither tight nor soft. It needs to be pliable and well-massaged.

I learned the nuances of making a good poori from my mother. She showed me how they should puff up perfectly and always be served hot. Here, I’ve chosen to keep the potatoes very simple, since the pooris themselves are spiced and the kheer brings in its own rich range of flavours to complete the meal.

I also associate potatoes with my brother, and have many childhood memories of him preparing batata nu shaak or batata poori for us.

He genuinely enjoyed being in the kitchen. Although he was very macho, and was an athlete too – a rowing champion, in fact – he showed us early on that there’s no shame in a man cooking or doing household work. He loved to make the potatoes while our mother handled the pooris, and my sister and I would sit happily at the table, waiting to be served.

When I think about this now, it occurs to me how cooking together – even watching loved ones cooking, everyone being in the kitchen together – was a kind of bonding activity for us. We often talk about the importance of eating meals together as a family – but why not extend that to preparing them together, too? Such little things are the stuff of quality time in the moment, and such precious memories down the line…

Masala Poori With Aloo
(Serves: 3-4)

Masala Poori

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 heaped tablespoon chickpea flour
1⁄3 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon dhaniya (coriander) powder
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon kasoori methi (fenugreek leaves) powder
1 pinch asafoetida
1 tablespoon curd
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon ginger-green chili paste
1⁄3 cup water

Take the flours in a bowl. To these, add all the spices, along with the curd and the oil. Mix well using your fingertips and slowly add water as required to make a medium-soft dough.

Massage the dough well so it becomes smooth. You can use the help of a little oil on your palms to achieve a good dough.

Cover and set aside.

Heat the oil for frying. Make small rounds and start by rolling each one out.

Once the oil is hot enough, drop a rolled-out dough piece into the hot oil gently. Soon, it will fluff. Flip it over so it is cooked well on both sides. Repeat for all the dough circles.

Your masala pooris are now ready to be served hot.

Potato

350 grams potato
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin or coriander powder
½ teaspoon ginger paste
½ teaspoon green chilli paste

Wash, peel and cut the potatoes into small pieces.

Heat a kadai and add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. After they begin to splutter, add the potatoes. Stir and add salt and turmeric. Mix again, then cover with a lid. Allow to cook on a low flame, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are tender and cooked.

Now add the remaining spices and mix well. Cover and allow to cook once again for a few minutes until all the flavours come together well.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with pooris.

Don’t forget that you may want to enhance your meal even more with some kheer. I have shared several kheer recipes on this blog. Feel free to prepare one of your choice and serve it along with this masala poori with aloo!

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