Moonga Aloo Sabji

The awesomeness of Bihari Cusine lies in its simplicity and  its preparation using less spices. Mostly all the dishes are prepared by using black-pepper , mustard, cumin and garlic which have their own medicinal properties. The staple food of Bihar is bhat (rice), chana-dal (pulses), chokha (Boiled / mashed vegetable) , tarkaree (gravy vegetable), papad and pickle - mainly of  red-chilly (lal-mirch) or mango and coriander chutney.

Since there is no availability of Bihari cusine books I thought I should put up some recipes for the Bihari cusine lovers. One must try hands on the Bihari cusine and see the remarkable difference of taste from the routine dishes. Its going to be a gastronimical delight for all the food lovers.

Today am presenting dish with gravy for our daily lunch menu as having the same routined stuff becomes monotonous. Its made from fresh tender drumsticks popularly known as "Sahjan ki Falli" or "Moonga". With the onset of Spring, drumstick flowers start blooming on the trees and by February one sees small tender noodles like drumsticks hanging on the trees , its the time to relish this tender vegetables which can be fully eaten without the plate being messed up. Usually in South Indian homes its used for Sambhar or Rasam. This dish prepared with potatoes gives a delectable taste. Enjoy having it with boiled rice, with or without dal (pulses). For the unique flavour use mustard oil but it would taste equally good using other oils too.

Ingredients -

Tender Drumsticks - 18-20
Raw potatoes - 2 medium sized

Tomatoes - 2 medium sized

Masala -

Garlic - 10-12 pods

Mustard Powder/Sarso - 1 1/2 tspn
Cumin seeds - 2 tspn
Black Pepper-  7-8
Green Chillies - 4-5
Dried Red Chilly - 1

Mustard oil - 2 tblspn

Turmeric Powder - 1 tspn
Salt - to taste
Garam Masala - a pinch


METHOD -

1. Cut Drumsticks into about 2 inch length wise.
2. Peel and cut potatoes in small cubes.
3. Grind Tomatoes in the mixie.
4. Grind all the ingredients given under "masala"
5. Heat mustard oil to a smoking point in a heavy bottomed karahi.
6. Reduce flame and add potatoes and saute(bhuno) till potatoes turn light pink.
7. Add drumstick pieces and saute again till the oil gets well coated. Do not over-do it otherwise the vitamin contents are lost.
8. In goes the masala and give it a good mix till the raw smell of garlic vanishes.
9. Next, goes in the fresh tomato puree, salt and turmeric, give it a good mix.
10. Add to this water about 2 cups and let it simmer till done.
11. Add pinch of garam masala and give it a boil.
12. Transfer into a serving dish and serve hot with boiled rice.

Tricoloured Honeyed Veggies

Stir Fry is to prepare a dish in a jiffy which just needs a bit of saute and less oil and is full of vitamins as the cooking procedure is cut down which retains the essential nutrients. Stir Fry means to retain the texture i.e the crunchiness. The less you cook the veggies, the more nutrients you get from it. Here is a quick Stir Fry dish which has the power-packed Protein in the form of Cottage Cheese (Paneer), Carrot- A rich source of Beta-Carotene and Capsicum - A rich source of Vitamin 'A' Vitamin 'C' and Protein.

Ingredients -

Carrots - 2
Capsicum - 1 Large
Cottage Cheese - 200 gms

Marination -

Honey - 3tblspn
Tomato Ketchup- 2 tblspn
Chilly Sauce - 2 tblspn
Olive Oil - 2 tblspn
Oregano- 1/2 tsp
Chilly Flakes - 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste

For Saute-

Olive oil - 1/2 tspn
Chopped Garlic - 1/2 tsp

Method -

1. Cut Roundels from the Carrots
2. Dice the Capsicum (Large sized)
3. Cube the Cottage Cheese
4. Mix everything given under the heading "marination"
5. Marinate the veggies and Cottage Cheese with the prepared mix.
6. Keep it aside for 30 mins.
7. Heat olive oil in a fry pan
8. Add Chopped Garlic, saute till browned
9. Add the veggies and Cottage Cheese with the marination.
10. Stir fry till well coated and veggies are slightly cooked.
11. Serve Hot.

Strawberry Smoothie

The lip smacking fruit "Strawberry", is a red coloured fruit which has a bright appearance and looks really tempting. The goodness quotient of Strawberry is that it is packed with vitamins especially Vitamin 'C' and is a powerful antioxidant which reduces aging factors. The kids should get a daily dose of Vitamins and the strawberry can be of great help. Children get tempted to buy it but when actually served cannot have more than one or two as it tastes sour. Same was with my kids so I thought to present strawberries in a form which should be really presentable, eye catching and also very good to the taste-buds. So all Moms enjoy presenting this recipe to your kids and let me know your feedback.

Strawberry Smoothie
Strawberries - 1 box,
Milkmaid - 1/2 tin
Readymade Edible Cream - 3 tspns

Method - Chop Strawberries, reserve a few for garnishing and make a puree of the rest in the food processor. Add milkmaid and cream to the puree.

Pour this in seperate glasses and decorate with a piece of shopped strawberr.

Chill in the refrigerator.

And serve.

Note :- The sweetness can be reduced by reducing the quantity of milkmaid.

If you require a thin consistency, add little cold milk to it.

The Train Cake

Today is my first blog ever. I must Thank my friends especially Ratna  to show me the way to blogging.

It was my son's 5th birthday party and he wanted it to celebrate it at home. Firstly I was apprehensive then for the little one I thought I should invest all my imaginations and creativity to bake a cake. Several options were there like the character cakes, Alphabet or Number Shapes cakes. Or should I say a simple round, square or a rectangle cake. Finally a thought came to my mind to use my best imaginations and to make it look really beautiful and presentable I would make the cake in the shape of the train.
I baked 4 large choclate cakes in the shape of rectangle. One cake was made in the jelly bowl, one cake was made in the choclate tin - round shape.I did the icing then I fixed the round shape cake to the jelly shape cake and attached a piece of large cake to it. Used the other part as the base. Fixed it up tightly with the long size toothpicks so that the cake is fastened securely.

Decorated it with Oreo biscuits as wheels as pink icing filled in the nozzle. To show the steam I used white polo and for a colorful effect I used gems. As a glue I used choclate spread. This was the most difficult part then I used the rest of the cake pieces to make the train. I covered the entire cake with the icing and used different flavoured Oreo biscuits to make the wheels. Decorated the entire train with different coloured icing from the piping bag using different nozzles. Used the munchini to make a small boundary in one of the compartment and assembled the entire train on a piece of cardboard which was covered with the silver foil. Used dessicated coconut mixed with green color as grass , rectangle biscuits for the boundary and red heart shape lollipop as signal and used marzipan for the rest of the decorations. Would tell you how to do the icing in my next blog, until then bye hope you enjoyed reading it as I did writing it.