Travel: My Cuisine

I am passionate about cooking and would enter the kitchen, for cooking ofcourse, whenever I get the chance. I cook good, that's the feedback I get from those who had tasted my dishes. Well, the sad part is that my wife complains that the kitchen resembles a war front, only you find the food debris and masala powders strewn around instead of the bodies. The stove and the cooking vessels resemble mangled tanks and hazy war front. These are the complaints my wife has with my cooking, or rather, a man's cooking:

a) The masala boxes are not kept at their regular places after use
b) Looking for an item in the fridge for eternity with the door open
c) Misplacing vegetables and/or spilling liquids in the fridge racks
d) Splashing all around the kitchen while washing hand or cooking items in the sink
e) Making the stove filthy by dropping food particles, oil, masalas and food itself
f) Dirtying the hand towel in no time and not hesitating to use even the dupatta
g) No standard procedure to cook a dish; using ingredients whatever is at hand's reach
h) Presenting the dishes (so called) as if inaugurating a cultural show

So guys, why should I cook when there are these many issues? It's because I just love cooking and there are a couple of other mouths (my daughters) that would lap up everything that I cook! I thought, why not share my favourite recipes with my friends and its quite obvious that you too would experience my experience. I like the Rajastani cuisines, may be because they are so simple and the reason for what they are cooked.

I'll be sharing the Rajasthani food recipes and the ones that I cook regularly...

Rajasthani food is influenced by climate and inadequacy of water. However, despite limitations, Rajasthani food is delicious and best suited to the prevailing conditions - the food does not require to be heated and stays fresh for long. I like Rajasthani cuisine for its simplicity and taste. Most of the dishes use pure ghee, curd/buttermilk/butter to susbstitute water, and mango powder to substitute tomatoes. Tamarind is used to counter the heat effect. I like the following dishes of Rajasthan:
a. Gatte Ki Sabzi (Boiled gram flour in gravy)
b. Papad Sabzi (Papad in gravy)
c. Kakdi Sabzi (Cucumber)
d. Dhal Dhokli (Aata chunks in dhal gravy)
e. Dhal Bati - Combination of dal (lentils), bati (baked wheat ball) and ghee
Gatte ki sabzi
Ingredients:
• 400 gms Besan (Bengal Gram flour)
• 2 tsp Dhania (Coriander) powder
• 4 tbsp Ghee
• 300 gms Curd strained
• 1 tsp Red mirchi (chilli) powder
• 1 Pinch haldi (Turmeric) powder
• 1 tsp Jeera (Cumin) seeds
• 4 tsp Oil
• Salt to taste

How to make Gatte Ki Sabzi:
• Add mirchi powder, salt, dhania powder and ghee to besan.
• Mix it well.
• Prepare stiff dough, the consistency as you maintain for chapathis (Indian bread)
• Make thin strips of the dough.
• Boil them in water sufficient water till they are cooked.
• Now cut the strips into one inch pieces.
• Add mirchi powder, salt, dhania powder and haldi powder to the strained curd, and mix it well. The curd can be strained in a muslin cloth.
• Now add cooked besan pieces to this mixture.
• Heat the oil. Add jeera seeds and when it splutters, add the curd mixture.
• Cook till it comes to boil.
• Reduce heat and cook it over medium flame for 5 minutes.
• Gatte ki Sabzi is ready. It tastes good with dry chapathis and pulav

Rest of the food recipes in my next post...