Sindhi soul curry.. The famous Sindhi Kadhi..

Hey friends.. How are you doing? I am back after a long break. This time, it’s the Sindhi soul curry…Sindhi  Kadhi.

These days I am craving for a lot of home food, cooked by my mother. But can't help it :-). Thus cooking all my favorite stuff myself in the kitchen. I thought of sharing the recipe of the famous Sindhi Kadhi with you all. We usually serve the Sindhi Kadhi with plain or cumin rice, sweet boondi, papad and salad. Back home, my mummy cooked it on Sundays for us in childhood and when we grew up and visited home too.. It is no less than chicken for us…

Before we start with the recipe, let me tell you what the Kadhi is all about. It’s not something like a Punjabi or Gujarati kadhi which is made up of curd.. However sometimes I feel its analogy with Sambhar could  still be fine.

It is a wholesome curry full of all kinds of vegetables (like Bhindi, Gawar, Tindora, drumsticks, baigan, big chunks of Aloo, Arbi,  Cauliflower and anything you would like to add).  The curry has a tangy taste which comes from tamarind and tomato. It has a earthy taste of cooked gramflour(besan).

The making involves 3 steps

1) Cooking besan along with spices and tomatoes. Pressure cook the same.

2) Pressure cook all the veggies except Okra (Bhindi). (Can even add it without frying along with other veggies .. however it will become soft and will not remain whole(intact) once cooked. I avoided frying this time.)

3) Add fried Okra and tamarind pulp and cook for a while.

Here's how it looks..

Now that we know so much about what we are cooking, let’s see the recipe.

Ingredients: 

For making Sindhi Kadhi: 

(Note: The recipe will suffice for 4 people) 

Ingredients:

Vegetables:

15-20 whole gawar(as spoken in hindi) (Cut the ends)

3-4 brinjals (Tips removed and cut into halves)

2-3 whole potatoes (Cut into big chunks)

15-20 Okra ( Bhindi) (Slit in between and fry a little in oil)

1-2 drum sticks (cut into medium sized pieces)

2-3 cauliflower florets.

10-12 tindora(as called in hindi) 

3-4 Arbi pieces (Patra or Colacaesia roots) (Peeled and cut into big chunks )

Can add other veggies or skip any of above as per they availability in market. 

Other Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp methi(fenugreek) seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

Few curry leaves 

2 tbsp besan (gramflour)

7-8 whole green chillies (remove the top)

grated ginger (1 tsp)

2-3 tomatoes (pureed)

1/2 -1  tsp red chilli powder 

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Salt (as per taste)

1/4-1/2 cup of tamarind pulp(can vary based on taste)

1/4 tsp salt

Procedure:

Let’s start preparing the Kadhi.

Prep work:

Keep all the vegetables  as mentioned in the ingredients ready. 

Okra (Bhindi)

Tindora, Gawar and whole green chillies

Arbi (Patra roots)

Arbi (peeled and cut into chunks)

Brinjals and potatoes cut into big chunks 

Keep the tamarind water ready. Discard the seeds and other stuff.  (I heated few pieces of tamarind in water for a while.. Filtered out tamarind water. Discarded the pulp). 

Tamarind water

Procedure:

In a pressure cooker, heat oil.

Add curry leaves, mustard , cumin seeds and fenugreek  seeds. Let it splutter.

Oil, cumin, mustard and fenugreek seeds

Add  gram flour(besan). Keep the flame on low. 

Adding besan

Continuously stir and let it cook until the rawness in the flour goes away and it turns a little brownish. Cooked besan gives good aroma.

Besan being cooked

Add red chilli powder and  turmeric powder. Stir well. Add  pureed tomatoes. Stir well. Add 1/4 -1/2 cup water to avoid any lumps.  Let it cook for 1-2 minutes on medium flame.

Turmeric, red chilli powder and tomato puree

Add grated ginger , whole green chillies  and salt. Cover the lid and wait for one whistle. Switch off the flame. Let it cook in pressure for few minutes(5-10 minutes). 

Ginger and whole green chillies

Now add all vegetables except Okra (Bhindi). Add about 1 cup water (only necessary to cook the vegetables).  Cover the lid and pressure cook for a whistle. Let it simmer for few minutes under pressure. (Note: if you don't prefer fried Okra, add it in the same step along with all vegetables. This is what I have done this time.. Otherwise, I fry it and add in next step). 

Few veggies 

All veggies along with some water

Once done, add fried Bhindis and tamarind water. Mix everything gently. Cover it, let it cook for 5 minutes. No need to pressure cook. 

Veggies pressure cooked

Adding tamarind water to the kadhi

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Sprinkle coriander leaves

Serve it hot with jeera rice, papad and something sweet like boondi.

Sindhi Kadhi

Jeera Rice

I hope you would like this authentic Sindhi recipe. Don't forget to post your comments in the comments section.

Have fun cooking. See you soon with another interesting recipe.

Cheers,

Shweta

Mad over donuts? Try these beautiful home made doughnuts

Hello to all my blog readers… Here I am, welcoming the month of love with beautiful homemade donuts.

It was my dream to make donuts myself and I am so glad I did it. I didn't use any special resources (example donut maker etc.) to achieve it. Just simple kitchen tools. :-) I realized it quite late that donuts are fried and not baked. These donuts are soft, have a cake like flavor, and a distinct flavor of nutmeg. I added some lemon zest to balance out the sweetness…

The recipe uses baking flour to get the rise. I am planning to do achieve the same with yeast. I will share the recipe later. 

My husband liked these homemade donuts. He specifically liked the ones dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with coconut and sugar. 

So friends, try it out. Hopefully you will like your hand made donuts more than the store-bought ones.. 

Here’s the recipe.

(Note: The recipe will yield 12-14 doughnuts) 

Ingredients:

For making doughnuts:

3 cup all purpose flour(Maida in hindi)

1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

3/4  tsp nutmeg powder

1 tsp lemon zest (or zest from one lemon)(optional)

2 eggs

2/3 cup granulated white sugar 

1/2 cup milk(at room temperature)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp melted butter(at room temperature)

Oil for frying the doughnuts (I used vegetable oil. You can use any of your preference. Canola, Sunflower is fine too.)

For chocolate glaze:

1 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels or chopped chocolate

3 tbsp butter

2 tbsp corn syrup(optional)

1/4 cup -1/2 cup whipping cream

Procedure:

Let’s start preparing the doughnut batter.

(Note: I used an electric beater for this process like we do for cake batter. You can do this manually with a spatula )

In a large container, transfer all the following dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt and ground nutmeg powder, ). Whisk everything well.

Lemon Zest

Baking powder 

Salt

Nutmeg

Whisk well

In another large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until it is thick and fluffy.

Beating egg and sugar

Now add vanilla extract and beat it again. 

Adding vanilla extract

We will add flour in three additions, milk and butter in two additions.

First add one part of flour in the egg mixture.

Adding one third portion of flour

Incorporating flour in egg and sugar.

Now add one part of melted butter and milk. Beat everything well again.

Adding half portion of melted butter

Adding half portion of milk

Incorporating everything well

Now add second part of flour. Beat everything well. 

Now add second part of melted butter and milk. Beat everything well again. Add the final third part of flour. Beat everything well. You will see a sticky dough. 

Sticky dough

Plastic wrap it and let it rest for around 30 minutes or until the stickiness in the dough is gone and it is good enough to roll. Place a finger in the dough to see if comes out clean. If so you can start with rolling process.

Dough after 30 minutes of resting

Now the dough is ready. Let’s start rolling it out. 

Place the dough on a floured surface, knead it once if needed. It will become a smooth dough which would be very easy to roll out. Roll it out around 1/2 cm thickness. Make sure it is evenly rolled out.

Dough on a floured surface

Rolling out the smooth dough

Dough rolled out

Cut out around 7 cm diameter outer circles through cookie cutter or doughnut cutter. Cut out smaller circles (or around 3 cm) in the middle of each large circle. I used the lid of a container to cut out the inner circle. (You can also fry these smaller circle doughnuts :-) )

Outer circle of doughnut cut out 

A doughnut cut out. Inner circle cut also shown

Place all the doughnut rings on a floured sheet.

Cut out doughnuts lined up for frying

Now the doughnuts are ready to be fried. Let’s do that.

Bring the oil to medium heat. We will be deep frying the doughnuts so let the oil be enough for frying those. Fry one or two together depending on the pan size. Fry each side until light brown on each side. Once you see one side of doughnut and its middle become light brown, you can turn the side and fry it until light brown. 

Repeat the process for all doughnuts. Place them in paper towels to soak the extra oil.  Let them cool down.

Frying a doughnut

Fried doughnuts

So you have all the doughnuts ready. You can have these plain sprinkled with powdered sugar. Or you can dip them in chocolate glaze with some sprinkles on top.

I did a simple chocolate glaze. Here's the recipe.

Over a sauce pan of boiling water, place a pan with chopped chocolate(or morsels), butter and corn syrup. The chocolate will start melting in a minute. Pour 1/4 cup or more of whipping cream. Keep stirring until everything is well incorporated. It’s done. Remove it from flame. Let it rest for a minute.

Chocolate morsels, butter and corn syrup. Add whipping cream later

Ready chocolate glaze

Now dip the cooled down doughnuts in the chocolate glaze . Sprinkle your favorite toppings like decorative sugar, grated coconut etc over the chocolate glaze. 

Donuts dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with decorative sugar sprinkles, coconut and sugar. The one in white is powdered sugar.

Enjoy the delicious donuts with a cup of coffee. You will love these. These are soft and have cake like flavor.  I will soon come up with a recipe which uses yeast instead of baking powder for making donuts.

You can even store these in an air tight container and refrigerate them. Just microwave for 20-30 seconds before having them.

Don't forget to add your comments in the comments section. You can follow me on Google+ or subscribe your email id, to get my recipes in email. 

See you soon with another interesting recipe. Till then have fun cooking.

Cheers,

Shweta

The super moist and delicious carrot cupcakes

Hey friends.. How are you doing? I am back with a  new cupcake recipe. Baking just makes me so happy.. When I am baking something in the kitchen, it feels like I am meditating.. The results make me happy. 

This time, it’s nutritious carrot cupcakes with some swirls of whipped cream. The cupcakes have an amazing sweet flavor of  carrots along with a hint of  pineapple. Cinnamon and nutmeg leave their mark. As the cupcakes are made up of oil instead of butter, they are extremely soft and moist and retain the moistness for a long time. Cashew nuts add a mild pinch of crunchiness inside.

I am in the process of taking feedback about my desserts from friends and family. 
This time the response was really good. They found the cupcakes soft and delicious. Everyone including the kids liked it. 

So why wait? Just note down the recipe.

Ingredients: 

For making cupcakes: 

(Note: The recipe will yield 12-13 cupcakes) 

Dry ingredients:

1 and 1/3 cup all purpose flour(Maida in hindi)

2/3 cup granulated white sugar 

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp brown sugar(optional)

1 tsp ground cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

1/4-1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or any nuts you like.. I used cashew nuts.) 

Wet Ingredients:

1 and 1/3 cups of grated carrots

2 eggs

2/3 cup pineapple juice (I used canned pineapples along with the juice and blended it. Strained it. You can use any fruit juice/sauce you like(fresh or canned). Example orange, apple etc.) 

2/3 cup oil (vegetable oil or any oil you like) 

1 tsp vanilla extract

For whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure:

Let’s start preparing the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.  

Line your cupcake baking tray with liners or brush it with butter.

Cupcake liners placed

In a container, transfer all the following ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and chopped nuts ). Whisk everything well.

Baking soda added to flour

Nutmeg powder(optional)

Salt

Ground cinnamon

Cashew nuts

In another large bowl, beat eggs until it is light beaten.

Beaten egg

Now add sugar, oil, vanilla extract and pineapple juice . Beat it lightly until it is incorporated well.

Sugar, oil and vanilla extract added to beaten egg

Strained pineapple juice

Add grated carrots and whisk well.

Grated carrots

Grated carrots added to egg mixture

Now make a well in the flour mixture. Transfer the wet ingredients into flour mixture. Whisk everything well until things are well incorporated. It will be semi thick mixture of pouring consistency. 

Cupcake batter

Transfer the batter equally to the cupcake liners. Let it be 3/4 full. 

Ready to be baked

Bake the cupcakes for 18-22 minutes. A tooth pick inserted in centre of cupcake should come out clean. Let the cupcakes cool down. 

Texture of the cupcake inside

Baked cupcakes

These cupcakes can be had without any frosting too. These are yummy. I made a quick whipped cream frosting. Cream cheese frosting all goes well with carrot cupcakes. I particularly like whipped cream. It’s light and mouth melting.

Let’s start preparing the whipped cream:

Freeze the container and the wire whisk in which you will be beating the cream.(for 25-30 minutes).

Let the whipping cream also be chilled(refrigerated).

Transfer 2 tbsp of whipping cream, sugar and vanilla extract in the chilled container.  With an electric beater,  whisk it until everything is incorporated well. Now add remaining whipping cream and beat until stiff peaks are formed.

Add color if you wish. I kept it plain white.

Fill it in a piping bag and  start decorating your cupcakes. I sprinkled a bit of coffee powder and cocoa powder on top of the frosting. 

Delicious carrot cupcake with whipped cream

And now what. Just enjoy the super soft, moist and delicious carrot cupcakes.. You can refrigerate the cupcakes too. They will stay soft for a long time.

Have fun cooking. Don’t forget to post your comment in the comments section. You can get the recipes on your email too. Subscribe your email id for the same.

See you soon with another interesting recipe.

Cheers,

Shweta