Punjab

Kulcha, originating from Punjab is a kind of Flatbread. Amritsari Alu Kulcha is a very favourite dish in the land of Punjab. Traditionally Kulchas are made in Maida (Refined flour), mildly leavened, and kneaded adding curd / milk. Kulchas can be stuffed or plain. A range of stuffing is used including, paneer, potato, onion and mixed vegetables. Amritsar is famous for its kulchas where wide variety of them are available. Maida contains partly proteins and partly starch which makes it glutenous and gives it the elasticity. As a variation, I have made use of Jowar flour and few starchy flours like Tapioca and Arrowroot to make it similar to Refined flour / Maida. You can check my earlier post on Gluten free flour mix. Amritsari Alu Kulcha

Just the word ‘Salad’ brings to everyone’s mind grated carrots and cucumbers dressed with lime, pepper and salt. No, a salad need not be boring. There are multiple ways of making interesting, tasty salads. Lets see what are the ingredients that go to make an interesting salad that is nutritious as well. Salads are wonderful ways of adding health to your life. Firstly, they have natural flavours, crunchy texture and wonderful colours gifted by Nature. Secondly, including a large serving of fresh raw vegetables in our everyday meal can have significant health benefits. Salads are a natural source of fibre. Be it summer or winter, a crisp salad is the basis for an energizing meal. Even while dining out, ordering a fresh salad is the best way to start a dinner. The digestive enzymes that are present in the raw vegetables prevent indigestion that might be caused by the food that was to follow.

Punjabi Chole, a delicious dish hailing from Punjab has now found its place and has become popular in all the cuisines all over India. This dish is special because this is a no onion & no garlic recipe and hence we can very well call it Satwik Chole. Punjabi Chole equally famous in South, East and West India as it is in North. Each family owns it’s own recipe in making this lip-smacking dish. But its almost never made without onion and garlic. Few in my family do not consume onion and garlic and so miss out on this delicious dish. To help them, I have cooked this without these 2 ingredients. In short this  no onion & no garlic recipe Satwik Chole is special and unique. Satwik diet is a very popular food philosophy in India. It places great emphasis on fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains, pulses, vegetables, non-meat proteins, etc. It is believed to keep a balance in our body making us calm, positive and healthy and keeps our mind alert. Foods like meat, onion, garlic are believed to have sedative effect on our mind and body and hence are avoided in Satwik diet. What attracts this dish when it is served in restaurants is its deep brown colour. The secret ingredient in Tea leaves. Some restaurants add tea bags and some add boiled and strained tea decoction. Here I have added 2 teaspoon tea leaves in my tea infuser and kept it with chole while cooking in the pressure cooker. It brought out the best deep brown colour. And the Chole masala is freshly made to get the restaurant style flavour. This Satwik Chole tastes best with Bhatura, plain paratha, jeera rice or even plain rice.   Satwik Chole

This Groundnut Kadhi is a simple and delicious Kadhi without any fancy ingredients. A great soul food. The best Vegan Kadhi Having left dairy products from my daily life, groundnut curd has been my saviour, me being an ardent fan of curd. This is so versatile that you can make kadhi, raita, dahi chawal and at times I just mix a tablespoon of jaggery powder in a cup of this curd and have it as a dessert a la Mishti Doi. The Chaas from this curd is the best Chaas I have ever tasted. Best part is this does not become sour like normal curd. Here is  Groundnut Kadhi recipe using groundnut curd.   Groundnut Kadhi

Welcome to my blog

 

February 10th is celebrated as World Pulses Day. I am an avid fan of whole pulses / lentils. When I took a review of my posts so far, I realised I have as of today posted 22 recipes using whole pulses & legumes. I decided to compile all those recipes and make an eBook that you can download from my site.

 

Healthy Eating ?

Rama Ganapathy