Wednesday, March 29, 2006

BRINJAL PHODE....



Today I am going to tell you about a side dish or you can say accomplishment without which the veg thali is incomplete in a goan home.

BRINJAL PHODE

ING:
One big brinjal
Chili powder, haldi powder, dhania jeera powder
I have not written the exact proportion as it is per taste
But for one big brinjal around 500 gms I use ….
2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp haldi powder
2 tsp dhania jeera powder.
Rice flour for dusting.
And salt to taste

METHOD:

Cut brinjal into 1 cm thickness roundels
Rub on chilli powder, haldi powder and dhania jeera powder
Coat the pieces with rice flour
Shallow fry these brinjal slices like you fry fish you can cover it while cooking
Turn when done on one side and cook till completely done on the other.

THESE PHODES CAN BE DONE WITH POTATO, RAW BANANA, SWEET POTATO AND EVEN WITH PUMPKIN.

Monday, March 27, 2006

colourful houses in goa.....



LOOK!!!!! SUCH LOVELY COLOURS FOR THE HOUSES



NOTICE HOW CLEAN THE STREETS ARE


GOVIND MAMAS LAWN



I LOVE TO SEE THE COMBINATION OF GREEN AND BROWN

Thursday, March 23, 2006

goan bhakri.....


BHAKRI..



Goans make bhakri in a very different way than the maharashtrians although it is called as a bhakri.


INGREDIENTS:

Take 2 cups of rice flour in a bowl
Add finely chopped onion to it (one medium)
2 finely chopped green chilies
½ cup freshly grated coconut.
Salt and 1 tsp sugar.

METHOD:

Mix all the ingredients together till they have a consistency of a uttapam batter or bhajia batter.
Pour it on a hot tawa with a spoon or with your hand (first dip your hand in water and then make a round circle on the tawa with your hand) it’s not very thin its quite thick,
Cover it with a lid let it become brown on one side
Flip it over to the other side and let it brown.
Remove smear with a spoon of homemade ghee.
And goans favorite breakfast is ready you can eat it with green chutney or just like that.
BHAKRI IS SIMILAR TO THE SOUTHINDIAN ADAI, OR THE MARATHI THALEPEETH.

IN GOA BHAKRI IS ALMOST ALWAYS MADE WITH RICE FLOUR BUT I MAKE IT WITH ALL TYPES OF FLOURS TO MAKE IT MORE NUTRITIOUS, YOU TOO CAN GIVE IT A TRY. YOU CAN USE NACHINI OR RAGI FLOUR, JOWAR FLOUR, OR BAJRI FLOUR.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

PRAWNS!!!!!!!!



PRAWNS….. Wow….
This is the tastiest of the variety of crustaceans available in the market.
Whenever I bring prawns from the market I usually keep them in 4 packets to be used later for 4 different types of dishes so that I make most of my visit to the market.
I make the following dishes frequently although there are many more which I do occasionally I will be writing about them as and when I make them so let me tell you about the four dishes first…
I make goan prawn curry
I make pulses with prawn masala curry
I make prawn pulao and finally
I make fried prawns, which are the tastiest of all.

Today I am going to give you a recipe of PRAWN PULAO
ING:
Whole garam masala- cardamom, cloves, dalchini and pepper
2 big onions finely chopped
2 tsps ginger- garlic-greenchilli paste
1 tsp each of haldi and dhania jeera powder
2 tsp biryani pulao masala
Chili powder if you require it to be more tikkha… or spicy
2 cups basmati rice
One cup shelled, deveined prawns.
Lemon juice and finely chopped coriander leaves.

METHOD:

Take oil in a heavy bottom pan add the whole garam masala.
Add the finely chopped onions to it and stir till they become soft
Add the ginger-garlic-green chili paste
Let it cook and let the fragrance leave the kitchen and enter all the rooms
Then to this add the haldi, dhania and biryani pulao masala
Let it fry for some time and then add the prawns.
Let the prawns cook. They cook very fast.
Add the washed rice to the above mixture and stir
Add 4 cups of boiling hot water (double the quantity of rice) if the vessel is airtight like a pressure cooker you can add less water.
Add salt, lemon juice and finely chopped coriander leaves and let it cook till all the water evaporates and you get nice and fragrant rice.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

mackeral fish curry...

Fish plays an important part in the diet of goan people along with rice and coconut. Goans eat fish at least 6 days a week and that one remaining day i.e. mostly Monday is left free for religious reasons and many a times to get the satisfaction of detoxifying oneself off meat…by eating pure veg.
But come Tuesday and you will see goans at the fish market even before the first fisherwoman arrives there heavily laden with the freshest fish one can ever find.
The scene at the market is worth a dekho….. with people bargaining the fish sellers arguing, and everyone trying to get their hands on the best of the best , and after the buy you will see their faces aglow with anticipation thinking of the afternoon hot meal of rice ,fried fish , fish curry , dry vegetable and sol kadi( a type of appetizer).
Here I give you a recipe of banga or mackeral fish curry which is called bangda hooman in our goan lanquage.

BANGDA HOOMAN: mackeral fish curry

INGREDIENTS

1 cup fresh grated coconut, 3 bedgi chillies which are red and hot , one inch ginger piece, haldi powder ½ tsp, chilli powder if required 1 tsp , a small ball tamrind , salt. A berry called “teffal”
which is added at the end to give flavour to the dish. And off course the fish ie 3 mackerals washed , cleaned and cut into convenient pieces.

METHOD:

Grind together coconut , chilies, turmeric powder, tamarind and ginger.
Put it in a pan and dilute it with water till the required consistency.
Add salt , crushed teffal fruit and cook till mixture boils.
Add the mackeral pieces and cook till the fish is cooked.
Check if too hot you can add more tamarind juice.


I have a picture of the bangda hooman being made on the gas stove you can see it spluttering around the vessel as it was boiling when I clicked the snap the colour should be this red for it to look appetizing. I hav a snap of the teffal too so pls check it out.

Friday, March 17, 2006

veg food...


PURAN POLI



VEG THALI MADE AT HOME


As I have said before food plays a important part in the lives of goans, but as stanch followers of fish they are, so are they followers of religion and they love to follow traditions and beliefs.
There are certain days, which are of religious importance for Hindus, and on such days they do not touch fish some don’t even eat onions and garlic. Ganesh chaturti, mahashivratri, holi ,hartalika etc are a few. But goan vegetarian food too is quite tasty which also has a lot of coconut in it. A simple dhal is made with a paste of coconut and spices.A dry vegetable is garnished with grated coconut.
Yesterday was holi and so I made veg food at home which was simple I made cabbage zunka,flower watana (cauliflower peas ) rassa, amras(mango juice ie pure mango juice with sugar, milk and cardamoms.),chapatti, waran bhatt, and papad.
I also had puran poli which is a traditional maharashtrian sweet chapatti with a filling of chana dal cooked and mashed with jaggery and elaichi.
I am posting a pic of my veg-thali on that day which was followed by waran bhat and puranpoli not in the pic.



Thursday, March 16, 2006

Temples of Goa !

Nageshi Temple
Shantadurga Temple
Mangeshi Temple

The temples are the greatest heritage that goa has they are so simple and yet so lovely!!!!! There is serenity and calm around the temples. In the blazing hot sun if one sits inside the temple it feels like heaven with the cool marble floors the impressive interiors which are simple yet unique you can feel really relaxed sitting inside these temples.


Wednesday, March 15, 2006

let me send you some photos of goa...




here i have some photos of goa which are original and are clicked by me...
i want to show you the simplicity of life ...
here are the photos clicked at the local markets of goa

the first photo shows a masala seller in the panjim main market enjoying his evening cup of tea
the second photo show a banana seller selling delicious bananas from her farm.
third its a long view of the panjim market.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

goanche for you!!!!!!!

Hi, friends,
This is my first post and it gives me an opportunity to tell you about the name of my blog which is ‘GOANCHE’ which means from goa or about goa.
Goa is a beautiful coastal state of India. Where you will see lush green trees , the beaches and beauty of nature all around you. Goa is my native place although I have been born and bought up in mumbai the busiest metro in India the food culture at home still remains gaon and everyday food is totally goan.
Goa is a place where they say people live to eat . There is a lot of importance attached to food and any good occasion is marked by making of various dishes which everyone looks forward to eat and enjoy. With the advent of tourism goan food has become very popular with people outside goa too. We usually have home cooked food everyday, which has a goan influence in it. But staying in mumbai where you can experience varied food habits and cultures from all over India and the world I have been able to learn many new recipes .
In goa food is prepared with lots of love and patience, which brings out the warmth and hospitality within a family.
In today’s fast and competitive days it’s a luxury to sit back and enjoy a leisurely traditional meal, but goans still do enjoy such meals almost everyday they have learnt to keep a balance and enjoy one of the simplest pleasures that one can have ie “ eating hot home cooked food “ which ends with an afternoon nap before resuming work.
Hence my love for food comes from our Hindu goan traditions where each item is made with love (food preparations are quite elaborate) and it is seen that everyone is well fed.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

About Me !

I am a cooking enthusiast from the heart of India, MUMBAI !
I thought of creating my own blog just to share my cooking tips and ideas with likeminded people like you.....

I owe the knowledge and interest in this hobby to all those who helped and guided me all these years.

The intention of this blog is purely for interaction with people around the globe and to understand each others food culture and day to day food habits.

Appreciate if we limit the interactions to cooking only.

Happy Cooking and nice knowing you !
- Mahek