Cluster bean (guvar) curry and hot chapatis

Saturday is usually a very busy day for me when I catch up with my cleaning, washing and shopping.

Today's dinner was a quick and simple dish of cluster bean curry (also called guvar nu shak) with chapatis  accompanied by pickle, kachumber and lassi.  For afters we had gulab Jamuns which I had made yesterday.  Now, I hope to enjoy a hot cup of coffee and catch up with friends and family.

All the recipes are in my blog and I have left links to the dishes if you wish to make them.

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Semolina Halwa (or seero) made Desi Style

Semolina halwa cooked desi style is a traditional Gujarati sweet often called " Seero". It's one of those easy to make sweets that Gujarati’s are always finding excuses to make. Most people make it with sugar and milk and is often used as Prashad (offering) for Satyanarayan katha (religious ceremony).   I have made it the traditional way - using jaggery (Gor) and water. Again this recipe is one handed down from my father who was a diabetic. His excuse for being allowed to eat this sweet was that it did not contain sugar!! He was cheeky enough to tell us that diabetics could use jaggery instead of sugar!! Bless him - he enjoyed it and never suffered any ill effects.

This sweet is nice to have on its own when you have lost your appetite or when you are recovering from a cough or cold. It's also good for women who have just had babies. Gujarati's believe that this sweet helps one to recover from mild illnesses.

Ingredients (serves 6-8):

2 cups of coarse semolina
1 and half cups of jaggery (Gor)
1.5 litres of boiling water
1 cup of butter - melted and strained (Ghee)
few almonds, pistacios, half a nutmeg, a pinch of semolina, teaspoon of ground cardomon

Method:

1. Add the jaggery to water and allow it to melt whilst boiling the water.

2. Add half to three quarter cup ghee to the semolina and cook on a mild heat until the semolina starts to get golden brown. If the semolina feels dry - add a bit more ghee.

3. Carefully pour the hot jaggery water to the cooked semolina. The semolina will start to bubble and cook so be careful that you don't get splattered. Add the ground nutmeg, cardommon and saffron to the mixture.

4. Keep stirring until the mixture becomes fairly solid and doesn't stick to the saucepan. If you like ghee, you can add the remaining ghee to the semolina but it's not necessary. The older generation still like to add more ghee to their sweet and it's fine if they do not have health problems.

5. Transfer the halwa or seero to a serving dish. Slice the almonds and pistachios and sprinkle them on the halwa.

6. Serve it hot as a sweet on it's own or with ice cream or thick double cream.

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Carrot Halwa (Gajar Halwa)

Since it was Father's Day, I decided to make carrot Halwa - a dish I have never made before. The recipe was fun to make and I felt good that it turned out great.

Ingredients for 2 servings:

140 grams of freshly grated carrots
1/2 cup milk
1/2 full cream
70 grams sugar ( Try using 60 grams and only add extra if you think the halwa needs to be sweeter.)
4 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter
6 or 7 almonds sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cardommon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Method:

1.   Pour 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter in a saucepan and stirfry the carrot pulp.

2.   Cook for 6-7 minutes.  The carrots should get soft and slightly darker.

3.   Add the milk and cream and cook this on low heat for an hour stirring occassionally.  You van use milk on its own but adding the cream just makes the halwa creamier.   I rotated my cooking on electric mark 1 and then on 2 until the milk got absorbed. Patience is the name of the game.

4.  Now add the sugar and keep stirring the mixture.

5.  Add the ground cardommon, nutmeg and half the sliced almonds.

6.  Add the remaining melted butter and keep stirring until all the liquid have been absorbed and the halwa starts to leave the saucepan sides.

7.  Remove to a serving dish. 

8.  I posted a picture below with no garnishing so you can see how lovely the halwa looks.

9.     Garnish it with the remaining sliced almonds.

10.   Serve warm on its own or with cream or Icecream.

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Mohanthal - a Traditional Gujarati Sweet

Mohanthal is a traditional Gujarati sweet. It's tastes a bit like fudge and one of the most popular and traditional dishes served at Gujarati weddings.

Ingredients:

500 grams gram flour.

300 grams ghee
half a cup milk.
250 grams unsweetened mava or khoya (if shop bought then grate it )
350 grams sugar.
2 tablespoons, coarsely grounded cardamom seeds.
half tea spoon essence of saffron.
25 grams each of finely sliced almonds and pistachio nuts.

Method:

1. Add 50 grams of ghee to flour and mix nicely with a fork.
2. Add in the milk, mix thoroughly using a fork.

3.    Sieve this mixture through a large holed sieve. The largers grains which are sieved through help to give the mohanthal a lovely grainy texture.

4. Heat the remaining ghee and stir in the flour. Keep stirring and cooking the mixture until the flour looks golden brown.  Please take your time with cooking the mixture - rushing it will burn the flour and give the mohanthal a dark colour and bitter taste.

5. Add khoya, cardammons and nuts and cook till the mixture turns smooth and khoya turns a nice brown colour. (Once you get this colour, wait for the sugar syrup to reach its consistancy).

6. Mix 2 cups water in the sugar and heat this mixture gently until it forms a syrup. The syrup should be of one-thread consistency . To check this – take a drop of the syrup and rub it between your thumb and first finger. When you separate the thumb and finger, the syrup should be thick enough to form a thin string.

7. Add syrup to the cooked flour and mava and keep on stirring till the mixture turns thick.  Add a couple of drops of saffron essence. Keep stirring for a couple of minutes.   (In Gujarat - they tend to use more ghee and when the mohanthal cools down, you can see a layer of ghee.  My recipe uses less ghee and it doesn't make any difference to the taste)

8. Pour the mixture in a greased dish similar to a flan dish (thali) and level the surface using a flat spoon. Sprinkle more sliced nuts to decorate the mohanthal.

9. Let this cool down.   This could take several hours so cover the thali and leave it  in a cool place. Then cut the mohanthal into small  rectangle or diamond shapes and store in air-tight container.

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What can you do with leftover Spaghetti?

Want not - waste not is my motto.   I hate any food being wasted as I know that there are so many people in the world who are starving.   So whenever, I end up making extra spaghetti  - I know it won't get wasted.  This recipe was created by my father in law .  He used the leftover spaghetti  to make a sweet  - something similar to "Gujarati sev".  His recipe turned out great and we now call it "bapuji's sev recipe" and we never have to waste any spaghetti.  Here's my recipe for making "bapuji's sev recipe"  from left over spaghetti.   Lately, we have started using the angel hair spaghetti which is really easy to cook and very tasty.  This recipe works great with it.

Ingredients:

One bowl left over angel hair or similar spaghetti (roughly 3 cups)
1 tablespoon ghee (or add some butter)
2 -3 tablespoon jaggery ( you can use more if you have a sweet tooth)
a pinch or two of cardommon powder
half cup water]
sliced almonds and pistachios to decorate the dish.

Method:

1.   Add the ghee to the  jaggery  and warm the two until the jaggery starts to melt.
2.   Add the water to this mixture and wait for it to boil.

3.   Add the spaghetti and cook until all the water evaporates. This procedure should be done on medium heat so that the spaghetti absorbs the sweet flavours.  Keep stirring it every so often.

4.   Add the cardommon and mix well.

5.   Transfer to the serving dish and decorate with sliced almonds and pistachios.
6.   This dish tastes best if served hot with some vanilla icecream.

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"This recipe is being reposted for the Scrumptious Delights From Leftovers Event being hosted by PJ from Seduce your Taste Buds."

www.givemesomespice.com