RAKSHA BANDHAN....

RAKHIS ON MY BROTHERS WRIST
THALI READY FOR TYING RAKHI

DEAR BROTHER'S FAVORITE MEAL
This is a long pending post , 9th August was RAKSHA BANDHAN it’s a special day for brothers and sisters . On this day sisters tie rakhi on their brothers wrist to cement their bond of love, and brothers in turn vow to protect and cherish their sisters for the rest of their life.

My brother was going to be working on the 9th and could not spend the whole day with me so I invited him for dinner on the 8th so that he could stay over before going for work on the 9th .
For dinner I made his favorite dishes , my brother loves all things spicy and rich , he loves good food , so I made prawns pulao the recipe for which you will find here., then I fried promfret which is his favorite fish and I made chicken cafreal. I did not make my own gravy for chicken cafreal but made it with a ready made packet which my uncle purchased for me from Goa. It’s delicious and takes no effort . You just have to mix the ready gravy with chicken and let the chicken cook in the gravy till done . This gravy is basically made with lots and lots of coriander leaves, little mint, ginger, garlic and garam masala.If I ever make it without the help of the ready packet I will definitely share it with you.

You all may be wondering and what about dessert? Yes!! I did have dessert but nothing homemade , as by brother prefers a generous helping of ice-cream to any other sweet. He had ice-cream with lots and lots of sauces. I poured chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce and blackcurrant sauce on his ice-cream scoops and garnished it with nuts cashew,pista,almond.
We had some nice time together ,chatting away into the night, he spent the evening with my son, playing computer games . My son loves his MAMA and no one but mama is allowed to play with him for hours.
I received cash as my gift and I have promised my brother that I will buy some kitchen items with that money which will be bright and colorful and which I can use for taking pictures for my blog.
On the morning of 9th I tied rakhi and made POHA for him , he says no one makes poha as good as tayee and that’s a compliment on raksha bandhan day right??. With these words he made my day.
You must be wondering why two rakhis, the other one is for my sister who is in the US and she has instructed me to tie her rakhi on her behalf .but I don’t get her gift !!!!! .

The red thread that you see on my brothers wrist are given by a priest, from a temple in goa which he wears everyday.

POTATO IN A SIMPLE GRAVY.....

POTATO IN A SIMPLE GRAVY.

250 gms potatoes sliced
2 medium onions sliced
2 tomatoes sliced
4 cloves of garlic
pinch of sugar
½ tsp red chili powder or as per taste
½ tsp haldi powder
½ tsp garam masala powder.
Finely chopped coriander.

METHOD:

take oil in a hot pan
add the sliced onions and garlic together.
after the onions turn soft add the tomatoes
let the tomatoes cook and leave oil
then add the rest of the ingredients
let the potatoes cook till soft
if you want more gravy you can mash some of the potatoes in the gravy
add finely chopped coriander leaves.
heat hot with chapattis or bread.

POTATO MAGIC.....

Of all the vegetables I love potatoes the most, as I feel that it’s the most versatile vegetable .It’s a “ FRIEND IN NEED”.
Its one vegetable that I am sure everyone will agree one cannot live without .what do you say to that? you can make almost anything with a potato, it may it be breakfast, lunch, dinner or even evening snacks.


Before I give you my potato recipes let me give you certain facts about a humble potato.

It’s a good source of vitamin C and B6 and potassium and other minerals
an inexpensive ,filling and nutritious starchy food
the skin is a good source of fiber.
there are many varieties of potatoes but sweet potato and yams are not one of them.
potatoes are nutritious and low in calories.
when eaten with their skin they are high in complex carbohydrates and fiber.
many people think that potatoes are fattening but this is true only when they are fried or served with butter and rich sauces.
when preparing potatoes , it is best not to remove the skin because the fiber is in the skin and many of the nutrients are bear the surface, instead scrub them under water with a vegetable brush. If you do peel them try to remove as thin a layer as possible.
baking , steaming or micro waving preserves the maximum amount of nutrients.

Information sourced from the book FOODS HARM FOODS HEAL

DRY POTATO BHAJI (BATATYACHE BHAJI)

250 gms potatoes
for tempering:
oil.
½ tsp Mustard seeds
½ tsp Cumin seeds
½ tsp hing or asafetida
Green chilies
Few curry leaves
Finely chopped coriander leaves.
A pinch of sugar
½ tsp lemon juice.

METHOD:

chop the potatoes into small cubes
take a pan , add oil
add mustard seeds and cumin seeds let them crackle
add hing ,green chilies and curry leaves
put in the potatoes
add salt a pinch of sugar and salt to taste
don’t add water as it spoils the taste of the vegetable
you can cover the pan and keep a little water on the lid so that the potatoes don’t stick to the pan and burn.
after they are cooked add finely chopped coriander leaves.
serve hot with puris.

This is the simplest potato vegetable that one can do and if made in a pressure pan it takes only about 10 mins after the time taken for chopping.

PATOLYO....

PATOLYO is a coconut based sweet prepared in the month of august ,September and especially for ganesh chaturthi.
In Goa in almost all houses, On the first day of ganesh chaturthi you will find ladies of the house sitting together and making piles of patolyo to be relished during meals.
The leaves used for making patolyo are turmeric leaves which are available only during these months .

PATOLYO READY TO BE EATEN
INGREDIENTS

turmeric leaves (10 leaves)
2 cups grated coconut
1 cup grated jaggery
1 tsp finely ground cardamom powder
1 tbsp ghee
some cashew nut pieces.
1 cup rice flour to make a thick paste.


METHOD

1.for the coconut jaggery stuffing- take ghee in a pan add the grated coconut,jaggery ,and cardamom powder and stir for sometime till they are evenly mixed.
2. add the cashew nut pieces to it.
3. the stuffing is ready.
4. make a thick paste of rice flour with water and a pinch of salt.
5. apply the above paste to the turmeric leaves till it coats the whole leaf
6. put a spoonful of the coconut – jaggery mixture on the rice flour paste and fold the
leaf
7.steam this in a steamer for about 15 mins
remove and peel the leaf off before eating.
you can serve this with a tsp of fresh ghee.

PATOLYO READY TO BE STEAMED

i hope you will try to make the patolyo and let me know , i think you can use a banana leaf instead of a turmeric leaf , but the flavour will differ.