Rich and creamy vegetarian lasagna

Lasagna is a dish I make regularly as it's a nice change from curry and rice.  I usually make two small dishes of lasagna - one with vegetables and one with a mixture of Quorn mince and vegetables. My children love lasagna made with Quorn.

Puran Puri - Chappatis made with sweet lentil stuffing

Puran puris are sweet chappatis and usually reserved  for special occassions.  I like making them as they are easy to make but above all very filling.  Whenever, I make puran puris - I think of the first time I was asked to help roll them out by my mother in law and I had to tell her that I didn't know how to!  How embarrasing!  Anyway, she showed me and it wasn't as difficult as I thought.  However, it still brings back those memories of when I had just got engaged. 

Ingredients for making 10-12 puris:

For the Puran(stuffing):

1 cup toor dall (The toor dall is often called tuver dall, pigeon peas, Congo peas or gungo peas.

½  cup sugar (more if you have a sweet tooth)

½  teaspoon of finely ground cardommon

½  a teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds (these give a lovely fragrance to the dish but it's optional) 
1   tablespoon clarified butter (ghee)

For the Chappatti:

2 cups of chappatti flour
2 tablespoons sunflower oil

Half a cup ghee or butter for spreading on the puran puri

Method:

1. Wash the toor dall with warm water.

2. Put 3 cups of water in a saucepan and add the toor dall.  Allow this to cook on a high gas until it starts to boil. Reduce the heat to medium and allow it to cook. You need to allow the toor dall to cook without having to add extra water. The dall needs to be overcooked so that when you stir the dall - it starts to look like mash.

3. Once the dall has cooked, add the sugar, cardommon and nutmeg.

4. The sugar will melt and the dall will start to look runny.

5. Mix well and allow this to cook at a gentle heat, stirring occassionally until the liquid evaporates. Doing it this way, makes the dall splutter a lot so be careful it doesn't splutter on your hands.

6. If you have a microwave -  as soon as you add the sugar, mix and transfer the mixture to a microwave dish and cook with the cover on for 5 minutes, stir and cook for 5 minutes. Repeat this until the mixture looks almost like mash potato. Add the ghee and allow the mixture to cool slightly.

7.   Whilst the puran mixture is cooling, prepare the chappatti flour.

8.    Sieve  the flour and make a dip in the middle.

9.    Add the sunflower oil.

10.  Using warm water, mix the flour well.  Make sure that you pour the water in small amounts so that the dough doesn't get too soft.  Take a small teaspoon of oil in your palms and knead  until the dough feels pliable - almost like "play dough".  Cover the dough and let it rest for half an hour.  

11.  Take small amounts of the sweet puran and make a dozen small golf size balls.

12.   Divide the Chappati dough into a similar number of balls - nearly the same size as the puran balls or very slightly bigger.

13.   Using some flour to dust your work surface, roll out the chappatti flour into a small puri size and place the sweet puran in the middle.
  

 14. Fold  the chappatti edges to seal the puran inside.

15.  Turn the ball upside down and gently press it down by hand.

16.   Gently - using some dusting flour, roll out the puran puri.

17.   Put the frying pan, griddle or tava on the heat.  Transfer the puran puri to cook on the tava.

18.   Allow it to cook on both sides to a golden brown.   It should have some dark spots as shown below.  The chappati should rise as shown below. (Cooking and taking photographs is hard when you are on your own...hence my chapatis got a few more dark patches!!LOL)

19.  Remove and drizzle with ghee or butter before serving with any curry.

For the ultimate wow factor serve them with lots of butter or ghee and sprinkled with almonds

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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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Lasagna with a difference

Lasagna is a dish I make regularly as it's a nice change from curry and rice.  I usually make two small dishes of lasagna - one with vegetables and one with a mixture of Quorn and vegetables.  My children love Quorn but I am never tempted to try it as it looks too much like the real stuff.  I really have no idea how I ended up with this lasagna recipe. 


Ingredients for 6 servings:

Lasagna sheets - 14 -15 sheets
5 cups of frozen vegetables  - My children don't like mushrooms or courgettes -hence the unusual vegetables.
1 cup of cooked black eyed peas.
1 onion
1 can of Italian crushed tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic -peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste
chopped green chillies -optional
3-4 cups of grated cheddar cheese - ( you can use less if you wish)
1/2  bag of frozen wedges (optional)


For the White sauce:

1 oz butter
1 oz plain flour
1 pint milk
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1.   Warm up the olive oil and add the onions to the oil and cook for 2 -3 minutes.

2.   Crush the tomatoes using a potato masher and add them to the onions.

3.   Add the salt. pepper, garlic, green chillies to the sauce.

4.   Add the frozen vegetables to the mixture

5.   Add the blackeyed peas.

6.   Lower the heat and simmer the mixture.

Now prepare the White sauce:

7.    Melt the butter in a saucepan.

8.    Add the flour and cook to form a roux

9.    Add the nutmeg to the roux.

10.  Take the saucepan off the heat and gradually stir in some of the milk.  Whisk it to get a smooth sauce
.
11.  Add in all the milk and return the saucepan to heat until it starts to boil

12.  Add in the salt and pepper and remove from heat.


Now prepare the lasagne sheets.

13.  Boil some water in a large saucepan.

14.  Put in the lasagna sheets a few at a time and allow them to cook for at least 3 minutes.

Now prepare the lasagne:

15.  Add a single layer of  lasagna sheets at the bottom of a greased  lasagne dish

16.  Cover this with a layer of the cooked vegetables

17.  Cover the vegetables with a layer of white sauce

18.  Repeat the layering again ending with the white sauce at the top.

19.  Sprinkle the top layer with grated cheese.

20.   This is where I went a bit crazy. I thought that lasagna would taste nice with some chips or wedges.

21.   Don't ask me why but I decided to layer the top of the lasagna with some frozen potato wedges.

22.  Cook this in the middle of the oven at 190 degrees for 25 -30 minutes. Check that the lasagna has cooked by pricking the middle with a knife.

23. The lasagna looked and tasted delicious when it was cooked.   Adding the potato wedges on the top of the lasagna worked well and blanded well.

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Valor beans, potatoes, peas,methis (fenugreek) with muthias(dumplings) curry

I read a comment today that there is a song for every mood.  Whilst that's true, I also believe that there is a dish for every mood.   I know exactly which dish will cheer up which member of my family -and which dish will upset them!!   This dish used to be my father in law's favourite.

Valor beans have a slightly bitterish taste so they are usually cooked with another vegetable like potatoes, peas or even aubergines. They are also used in a traditional dish called Undhiyu, a Gujarati dish.  Recipe for Undhiyu here

To prepare valor, it's a bit similar to shelling peas. You use the kidney shaped seeds and the outer green shell. The bean is stringy so you need to cut the stork and pull the stringy part down the bean as shown below.  you then just use your hands to split the bean in two and then cut the bean into small manageable pieces.

Ingredients to serve 6 (you can adjust the amounts of vegetables according to what you have in the fridge):

Fresh valor  - a handful.  I used about a dozen beans

3 medium potatoes - washed and diced.

half a cup frozen peas ( Allow extra cooking time if using fresh peas)

half a cup of fresh chopped methi (fenugreek)

10 muthias (you can use more if you like)

Recipe for muthias is here

one cup of canned chopped tomatoes

3-4 cloves garlic which should be really crushed finely

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 teaspoon a mixture of cumin and mustard seeds

salt to taste

chilly powder to taste

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 teaspoons of sugar or jaggery

1 tablespoon lemon juice.

Method: 

1. Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan with a lid. 

2. Add the mustard and cumin seeds to the hot oil and cover until the popping stops.

3. Lower the heat and add the potatoes, peas, valor and methi. 

4. Stir well and add the garlic, salt, chilly powder, turmeric powder and sugar. 

5. Add one cup of water and stir. 

6. Allow to cook for 10 minutes. 

7. Check that the potatoes and valor have softened. If not - allow five more minutes. 

8. Add the muthias to the curry and allow it to cook for five minutes. The muthias will start to absorb all the flavours of the curry.

9. Add the tomatoes and lemon and allow the curry to simmer for a few minutes until it gets to the consistancy you like. I am not keen on too much gravy in my curries.

10. Try and be gentle when stirring your curry so you can see all the vegetables when it is cooked.

11. Serve with rice or khichedi and any of the Indian breads such as chappatis or porathas.

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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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