A treat!

My hubby celebrated his birthday early this month. In between with Diwali and our vacation I was unable to post it here. I planned a surprise birthday party for him and invited all his friend's home for dinner. Hubby was not aware of my plan and when he was back from office the house was decorated with balloons and ribbons. Friend's helped me out to carry on with the plan perfectly and it was the best birthday party. I baked a blackforest cake from Nita Mehta's book. The icing was melting at rapid speed and I was not sure of it so I rushed to the nearest bakery and got a mocha cake. Hubby had two cakes to be cut.

We had a dinner menu consisting of all my hubby's fav. Green salad, Puri, Chole, Idli, Sambar, Biryani and potato masala. My friend and her mother made Biryani and Potato masala. I need to learn the recipe from aunty. She is a wonderful cook. I was not able to get all the pics. Hence few of them to share with you.

You can find idli recipe here. I used ready made sambar powder to make sambar.

For chhole:

1 cup Chickpeas (soaked overnight and pressure cooked until soft)

2 Onions finely chopped

2 Tomatoes

1 tbsp finely chopped and crushed Ginger & Garlic

1 Bay leaf

1/4 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Chat masala

1/4 tsp Amchoor powder

1-2 tbsp Everest chhole masala powder

1 tbsp or more Red chilli powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

a generous pinch of kasuri methi

1 tbsp Tomato ketchup

1/2 tsp Coriander cumin powder (Optional)

Salt to taste

2 tbsp Oil

Coriander leaves chopped for garnishing

Procedure:

1) Pressure cook the chickpeas until soft. Drain and reserve the liquid. Blanch the tomato in hot water. Peel and puree.

2) Heat oil add Cumin seeds and bay leaf. When they splutter and chopped onion and ginger garlic paste. When Onions turns pinkish add Tomato puree and cook until the raw smell goes off.

3) Add in all the masala powders and stir for a min or two.

4) Add in cooked chana with little water (from boiled chickpeas) and salt. Let it boil. Add a tbsp of tomato ketchup and kasuri methi and give it a quick boil. (I read in some blog that adding tomato ketchup gives it the dhaba taste. From then on I have been using it regularly and everyone has liked the taste of chhole. I am not able to get the blog name. If anyone has an idea please suggest. I would like to give the credit to the blogger) Mash few chickpeas to get a thicker gravy. Taste the gravy and add any seasoning if needed. Let it boil until you get desired consistency.

5) Switch off. garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with Puri accompanied with freshly chopped onion and lemon.

Idli

Idli a favourite among many people, unfortunately was always hated by me. I also believed that I would never make idli's at home. The day we had idli for breakfast I would always look out for some other options for breakfast. Such was my hatred towards these white beauties. After marriage I was in surprise when I found that my in-laws and hubby loved idli. I slowly started eating Idli but was still not fond of it. I would just eat to fill my tummy or my MIL would make something else for me when it was idli for breakfast. It all changed when I came here. I did not even think of buying idli stand but hubby dear who came here before me (I joined him 3 months later) was craving for homemade food and steaming hot idli's. I did not have even pressure cooker or steamer. Finally, when we saw a steamer we bought it. I called up amma to ask her how to make idli's. Then finally on the D day we made idli's in deep steel plates and we got square idli's instead of round ones. But I liked the taste. I never imagined that I would make idli successfully and also like it. It was not that I loved it but I was and still am comfortable with having them for breakfast or dinner occasionally. During my last visit to India, I bought an idli stand. From then on, we regularly made idli's until the winter made its appearance. I had made idli when the winter was first making its appearance and my idli's were rock hard. I had to take care that it would not fall on my leg and hurt me (Ok.. not that hard ;) ). We were disappointed and I vowed that I would not make idli until winter was over. But one fine day both me and hubby felt that we were missing idli. So finally I googled and got a lot of suggestions. One suggestion said to use poha and it actually worked. So here is what I did for soft and fluffy idli's.

Idli rice - 2 cup

Urad Dal - 1 cup

A generous fistful of poha

1 tsp of Jeera (Optional)

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1)Wash and soak urad overnight. In another vessel soak poha and rice overnight.

2)Next morning grind urad to a fine paste with sufficient water until smooth and frothy. Do not add too much water. Add only if required. Keep aside. Grind rice and poha until rice becomes like coarse rava.

3) Mix ground Urad dal and rice. Add salt to taste. Let it ferment for 8-12 hrs. In winter I heat water in microwave for a min and keep the batter inside it. It takes more than 12 hours for me (some times 18-20 hrs).

4) Before making idli's I add Jeera to the batter. Since Urad dal creates gas in tummy, jeera is used to nullify the effect. Grease idli moulds and pour batter till 3/4. I usually fill little water in my cooker and pressure cook without whistle for 8-10 mins.

Cool for a min or two before removing them from mould sand serve with Chutney or piping hot sambar. I use readymade sambar powder from Udupi Diana hotel.