Sai Bhaji...a Sindhi favourite

One of the very few Sindhi dishes I have learnt from my mom..but an all time favourite in my house. Nothing better for lunch with raita, papad (off course!)
and bhugar chawal (recipe to follow soon ..) or even plain steamed rice works great..plus all the goodness of spinach packed in !

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 cup chana dal, soaked for 2 hours
1 large bundle spinach, finely chopped
1 cup dill (sepu) , finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger-green chilli paste
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
2 cups water
1 bayleaf
1 teaspoon jeera
1/4 teaspoon heeng
Salt
1/2 teaspoon haldi
2 tablespoons ghee (or oil)

1. Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker. Add the heeng, jeera and bayleaf.
2. Add the garlic, ginger-green chili and fry for half a minute.
3. Add the onions and cook till light brown, on medium flame
4. Add the tomato and cook for 3-4 minutes.
5. Add the spinach,dill, salt, haldi and chana dal. Toss well. Add the water , cover the lid and place cooker on high flame for 2 whistles.
6. Reduce the flame and let it simmer for another 5-6  minutes.
7. Turn off the gas and let the steam release.
8. After opening the cooker, lightly mash the dal with a wooden ladle (or the wooden lassi churner)
9. Serve hot ! You can even add a tadka of ghee and dried chillies..

Mango Rasmalai

Hello people! I am back from a lovely holiday in the Andamans..a place I highly recommend for gorgeous blue waters, fresh air added to a great dose of history ! I also ate the tastiest rasgullas there ,cooked by a Bengali chef no doubt. The taste was almost like a cross between a gulab jamun and a rasgulla and it was wow!
Back home and missing that divine taste, I bought tinned rasgullas.. only to be greatly disappointed..so combining the left over not-so-tasty rasgullas with some alfonso mangoes..a super quick and yummy dessert!

Ingredients (serves 6)

12-14 rasgullas
1 cup rasgulla sugar syrup (they are dunked in a lot of it!)
Half litre  milk
1 largo mango, pureed
1/2 teaspoon rose water
1/2 teaspoon elaichi powder
2-3 saffron threads
Pistas to garnish.

1. Boil the milk. Cool slightly (do not discard the light cream layer that forms). Add the sugar syrup ,rose water, elaichi and the mango puree.
2. If the mango pulp does not dissolve completely, churn the whole mixture in a blender for a few seconds.
3. Lightly flatten each rasgulla and squeeze out extra sugar syrup. Drop the 'squeezed' rasgullas in the milk mixture.
4. Garnish with saffron and pistas and leave to chill for 4-6 hours. Serve chilled !

Chocolate n Bailey's Cheesecake

This was a 5 minute dessert (except for the setting time) ..so easy and so delicious. No-bake and eggless..just use good quality cooking chocolate , and for best results use dark cooking chocolate. I made mine in individual wine glasses..you can make it in a tray. And don't skip the Baileys :)) it added a lovely flavour

Ingredients (serves 8)

175 gm dark chocolate
200 gm cream cheese (or mascarpone)
5 tablespoons powdered sugar
75 ml cream (regular cooking cream like Amul)
25 ml Baileys liqueur
12 Bourbon or any chocolate biscuits
50 gm butter

1. Melt the butter . Powder the biscuits in the mixer and add the to the butter. Mix to get a fine crumble.
2. Line the base of your dish with the biscuit layer (or line each individual glass/bowl) The dish should be roughly the size of a medium baking dish..Leave to set in fridge for half an hour
3. Melt the chocolate for 1 minute in the microwave. Beat in the cream,sugar, Baileys and the cream cheese with an electric beater till creamy (2-3 minutes)
Spread the mixture over the biscuit layer.
4. Garnish with chocolate curls/sprinkles..chill for few hours till set.
Divine!!

Mango Salsa

A fresh twist to the regular sauce. Use slightly sour mangoes for the perfect blend of flavours..which I dint achieve :( as I used Alfonso mango which is too sweet to be used for this recipe. Will turn out better with the other varieties like Dasseri, Totapuri etc..This salsa makes a great dip with chips or just as an accompaniment to sandwiches ,salads, mexican dishes..

Ingredients (makes 1 large cup)

2 medium tomatoes
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped mango
2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon white vinegar


1. Roast the tomatoes till blackened all over on the gas flame. Cool and peel. Chop finely.
2. Mix with all other ingredients and serve chilled

Mango and Coconut Trifle Pudding

Coconut and Mango..two great tropical products that actually work really well together. Thought of adding a coconut twist to a personal favourite..trifle. Trifle pudding is one of the greatest deserts of all time in my opinion, simply because u can add anything to it and it still tastes great..I made mine in individual glasses, you can make this in a big pudding bowl. I used store bought sponge cake, just sprinkle some mango juice/coconut milk/plain milk when making the layers so that the cake stays moist ..yum !


Ingredients (serves 6)

2 mangoes, peeled and chopped finely
Vanilla sponge cake (approx 250 gms)

For the pudding
1/2 litre skimmed milk
4 cups vanilla custard powder ,dissolved in 3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup coconut powder (dessicated coconut)
3/4 cup sugar

1. Heat the milk to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add the dissolved custard powder.
2. Stir with a whisk to and let the mixture simmer on a reduced flame.
3. After the milk thickens, add the sugar and coconut powder ,simmer for 2-3 minutes ,stirring continuously.
4. Turn off the gas and cool.
5. To assemble the pudding, make alternate layers of cake,mango and pudding, finishing with mango on top. You can soak the cake with a little mango juice or even coconut milk to make it more moist.
6. Make as many or as little layers as you prefer...chill for 2-3 hours at least before serving.