Vaalachi Usal

A delicious curry giving a festive food as well as comfort food feel.

‘Vaal’ with sprouts always gave me an exotic feeling. As sprouting them and cleaning them, getting them ready for making a curry is a task with number of steps and timelines. But if you get your hands on ready vaal sprout.. ahha!! nothing like it. I think this is definitely the yummiest sprouts to savour with hot steaming rice. Vaalcahi Usal is a regular feature in most Maharashtrian Brahmin weddings. And again it a superb comfort food for a cozy dinner.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Vaal : 250g (I guess)
  • Onion : 1, chopped
  • Curry leaves : 10 to 15
  • Rai : 1 teaspoon
  • Jeera : 1 teaspoon
  • Hing : 1/2 teaspoon
  • Curry Paste (Vatan) : 1 bowl
  • MOMmade Malvani Masala – 1 tablespoon
  • MOMmade Haldi Powder – Half teaspoon
  • MOMmade Chilli Powder – Half teaspoon
  • Kokum – 4 to 5 leaves, soaked in water
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil for cooking

I will include the Curry paste / Vatan recipe too below.

for the Curry Paste / Vatan:

  • Onion : 3 onions, sliced
  • Fresh coconut : Half coconut, cut into pieces (you can scrape or grate as well)
  • Garlic : around 20 cloves
  • Ginger : 2 inch, chopped
  • Khaskhas : 1 tablespoon
  • Coriander leaves (fresh) : 1 bowl
  • Oil

This will make enough curry paste to be stored and used for at least 3 to 4 curries.

Take a pan and fry the onion till they are charred / browned. Remove and fry ginger and garlic and add the poppy seeds towards the end. Remove. Then brown the coconut pieces too.

Cool down all the fried pieces then grind to a smooth paste with coriander leaves and little water. Don’t add a lot of water right at the start. Add little water every time the grinder gets stuck. Ahh.. forgot to click the curry paste photo separately. But have its pic in the ingredients section above with the masalas. This curry paste / vatan can be used for any pulses or even other vegetable curries. I generally have it stored in my refrigerator. You may add a tomato also. Fry it well just like other ingredients. And then grind along. You may also add some whole garam masala as well. But then you will have to remember the same while cooking the main dish to use garam masala sparingly.

Now let’s get to the main dish. Should we?

Take a Broad pan. In the hot oil add rai & jeera. Let them sizzle a bit the add hing and karipatta and fry for a few seconds before adding chopped onion. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Throw in our hero of the dish, ‘Vaal’. Mix gently.

Then add enough water for cooking and the curry needed. Cover and cook for 15 minutes till the vaal are 80% cooked. Keep checking in between, as overcooking will lead to mashed up vaal which we want to avoid. You can cook using a pressure cooker. If doing so, cook for just 1 whistle and then cook open.

Mix all the spice powders – MOMmade Malvani Masala, MOMmade Haldi Powder, MOMmade Chilli Powder and also salt in little water to make a paste. Add this paste to the cooking vaal. This paste will help the spices to blend well in the curry.

Add in the curry paste and kokum leaves with water. Mix it all very well. Let it cook till the vaal are completely cooked and still holding their shape. You will have to keep any eye on the curry for sure. You cannot leave the curry unattended. A few minutes of overcooking will instantly mash up the vaal. So please for this recipe, be with your curry the whole time.

And it is ready. The super comforting yet totally festive ‘Vaalachi Usal’ for all of you. And as I said, just hot steaming rice and your taste buds will just lit up. Well thanks to MOMmade Malvani Masala as well for adding the perfect malvani flavour to the dish. This is Yumminess!!

BE YUMMY. BE HEALTHY.

I am Manasi Khandpekar, the founder of MOMmade along with my mom. She is the backbone while I enjoy being the face. Travelling from graphic design to brand communication to creating a brand of my own was a journey of learnings and excitement. The world of food fascinates me everyday. And thats where I am living every moment right now. Writing is another passion so food plus writing gave birth to this blog.

Patta-Gobi Mutter Aloo

3 isn’t a crowd here but a perfectly harmonious vegetable for lunch.

Indian food may considered largely to be rich, heavy, too spicy and so on. Well not the whole truth. On regular days we prefer to eat our normal vegetables with plain fulkas. This dry vegetable preparation is one those dishes. Perfect for lunch and tiffin too. Gobi (Patta-gobi / Cabbage) when married with Mutter (Green Peas) and Aloo (Potato) brings out amazing harmony.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Patta Gobi – almost half of a medium gobi, chopped
  • Mutter – 1 bowl
  • Aloo – 1, diced
  • Tomato – 1, chopped
  • Green Chilles – 2, broken
  • Garlic – 3 to 4 cloves, sliced
  • Karipatta – 10 to 12 leaves
  • Rai – 1 teaspoon
  • MOMmade Haldi Powder – Half teaspoon
  • MOMmade Kitchen King Mazala – 1 tablespoon
  • Salt to Taste
  • Oil

Start by taking around 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Add rai and let it crackle. Add garlic, green chillies and karipatta. Fry for a few seconds and add the chopped tomato.

To the tomatoes add MOMmade Haldi Powder and salt. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Salt helps tenderise the tomatoes instantly.

Add in the veges. All 3 – patta gobi, mutter and aloo cook at a similar time. Mix it all up and sprinkle a tablespoon of MOMmade Kitchen King Mazala. Do not mix. (When any masala including red chilli powder gets in touch with the bottom of the pan it tends to stick during the process of cooking. Hence I avoid mixing masala immediately. I let it all cook for a while and then give it a nice mix)

Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or till the veges are cooked properly. You can add a splash of water if the veges are sticking to the pan. Once they are well done, uncover, give it a nice mix and let it cook for another minute or two.

Well, not sure how, but, I lost the last 2 images of mixing it all up and final dish. But I can assure you this simple non spicy vegetable will be a good lunch idea if teamed up with plain fulkas and a small serving of aam ka achar.

Kitchen King Mazala is a good versatile masala. It can be used everyday in our regular cooking. It is mild, flavourful with good aroma. It also has red chilly added so no need to add extra chilly powder. Well that’s your choice again, depending on how spicy you like. One thing is assured and that is – Yumminess.

BE YUMMY. BE HEALTHY.

I am Manasi Khandpekar, the founder of MOMmade along with my mom. She is the backbone while I enjoy being the face. Travelling from graphic design to brand communication to creating a brand of my own was a journey of learnings and excitement. The world of food fascinates me everyday. And thats where I am living every moment right now. Writing is another passion so food plus writing gave birth to this blog.

Palak Daliya Khichdi

Love the greens. A twist to our humble Khichdi.

I love the greens.. a lot. In every way they are served to me. And one dish that I have seen most people relishing is the ‘Palak Khichdi’. Well this is almost the same but with a twist. Daliya is one item which is always stocked at my home. A super fibrous low calorie item is must in my pantry not for the health reasons, I mean I ain’t really a diet conscious person. But for the simple reason that I love Daliya. Be it breakfast, lunch or dinner or evening hunger, I can relish Daliya.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Daliya : half cup
  • Moong Dal (with Chilka) : half cup
  • Palak : a small bunch of leaves, washed and chopped
  • Green Chillies : 2
  • Curry Leaves : 10 – 15
  • Garlic : 5 -6 cloves
  • Panchphoran Mix – 2 teaspoons
  • MOMmade Haldi Powder – Half teaspoon
  • MOMmade Dhana Powder – 1 teaspoon
  • MOMmade Garam Mazala – 1 teaspoon
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil or Ghee for tadka

Start by washing the daliya & chilke wala moong dal (you can opt for normal moong dal as well). Place it in a small cooker with double the water (2 cups), MOMmade Haldi Powder , MOMmade Dhana Powder, MOMmade Garam Mazala and salt as per your taste. Cook for around 2 or 3 whistles.

Blanch the Palak in little water, cool off and grind to a smooth paste along with the green chillies.

Pour the Palak paste on the ready khichdi. Mix well. And now prepare the tadka. In a small tadka pan, take a tablespoon on ghee (you can take oil is you like), add in the panchphoran (a mix of Jeera, Rai, Saunf, Methi & Kalaunji), curry leaves and pounded garlic. Let it all crackle and sizzle. Then pour the tadka over the khichdi mix and cover well for 5 minutes.

And the super yummy Palak Daliya Khichdi is ready to be savoured. I love Kadhi along with this but plain curd would also do or just as it is. It is yummy, nutritious, colourful on plate and and tasteful in mouth. Enjoy the yumminess.

BE YUMMY. BE HEALTHY.

I am Manasi Khandpekar, the founder of MOMmade along with my mom. She is the backbone while I enjoy being the face. Travelling from graphic design to brand communication to creating a brand of my own was a journey of learnings and excitement. The world of food fascinates me everyday. And thats where I am living every moment right now. Writing is another passion so food plus writing gave birth to this blog.

Beetroot & Carrot Soup

A soup for good throat, health and soul too.

Beetroot.. who eats that? Every other health related resource talk about the amazing health benefits of Beetroot. But every other person I have met simply dislikes it, owing to its earthy taste, colour, or may be just for the fact that it is healthy. So just a simple yet breakthrough recipe for you guys. Have this Beetroot & Carrot soup once a while to stock on the great nutrients of beetroot. Your body and soul may just thank you.

INGREDIENTS: (Recipe for 2 people)

  • Beetroot – 1 Big beetroot, sliced
  • Carrot – 1, Chopped in big chunks
  • Tomato – 1, quartered
  • Star Anise – 1
  • Salt to taste
  • Cumin Powder – 1 teaspoon
  • Pepper – 6-7, crushed
  • Butter – optional
  • Sesame Seeds – Roasted, for garnish

Take Beetroot, Carrot, Tomato and Star Anise in a bowl with water. You can steam it or microwave it. I prefer to put it in a pressure cooker and cook for 3 whistles.

Here’s the picture after I removed from the pressure cooker.

Remove the Star Anise and Grind it fine in a mixer grinder. And transfer to a pateli. Place over the gas.

Add salt to taste, cumin powder and butter. Now butter is optional and if you are adding it, be sure to use less salt if it is a salted butter. Butter gives a nice taste for sure.

Finally serve in cups or bowls garnishing with crushed pepper and roasted sesame seeds. Drink it warm and just feel good about yourself. Yumminess need not be compromised while eating healthy.

BE YUMMY. BE HEALTHY.

I am Manasi Khandpekar, the founder of MOMmade along with my mom. She is the backbone while I enjoy being the face. Travelling from graphic design to brand communication to creating a brand of my own was a journey of learnings and excitement. The world of food fascinates me everyday. And thats where I am living every moment right now. Writing is another passion so food plus writing gave birth to this blog.

Vangi Batata Bhaji

A classic combo makes a yummy vegetable treat.

Yes. Vangi or Baingan or Brinjal, the king of Vegetables when combined with Batata or Aaloo or Potato turns out to be a perfect combo vegetable and can be relished with phulka for lunch or dinner. It is a nice dry vegetable dish that can be packed in lunch box too. The final dish turned out to be lip-smacking that I had to post it despite the fact that I missed clicking 2 -3 images in the process. So apologies right at the start for a few images missed.

INGREDIENTS:

In a hot pan, with 1 big spoon of oil, add Rai and let them splutter. Then add the pounded garlic and fry for a few seconds.

Add in the cut Vangi & Batata. Fry nicely for 2-3 minutes and throw in MOMmade Haldi Powder and salt. Mix well frying for another 2 minutes. In a grinder, grind peanut powder, MOMmade Chilli Powder and MOMmade Khandeshi Mazala. (forgot to click this)

Add in the peanut powder mixture and cover without mixing. Let it cook for 5 to 7 minutes till the vangi and batata are properly cooked. Since fried it well earlier, the cooking time reduces. Then lift the lid and give it a nice mix. Turn off the flame.

And the yummy vegetable is ready to be served with hot fulkas or chapati. Carry this fast cooking and tasty vegetable in your tiffin and fill the office lunch with yumminess.

BE YUMMY. BE HEALTHY.

I am Manasi Khandpekar, the founder of MOMmade along with my mom. She is the backbone while I enjoy being the face. Travelling from graphic design to brand communication to creating a brand of my own was a journey of learnings and excitement. The world of food fascinates me everyday. And thats where I am living every moment right now. Writing is another passion so food plus writing gave birth to this blog.

Kelfulachi Bhaji

Banana Flower Subji – The Maharashtrian delight.

An exotic ingredient, Banana Flower / Kelful has amazing health benefits. It is loaded with phosphorous, calcium, potassium, copper, magnesium and iron which are vital for several bodily functions. You can actually google to find how beneficial it is to consume this exotic vegetable. Well, for us yumminess is equally important and the sight of banana flower make me salivate owing to its amazing taste. You don’t need many ingredients or spices to make this dish tasty. The banana flower itself is so tasty that you should leave out all the spices and just focus on its flavour. Whenever I see kelful in market, I am sure to pick one up. I know its a bit tedious and messy in terms of cleaning and chopping but the efforts are well paid off with the taste.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Kelful / Banana Flower – 1 medium (cleaned and chopped) (will add pics and steps on how to clean at the end)
  • Chana Dal – 1 cup, soaked for 4 – 5 hours
  • Onion – 1 big, chopped
  • Garlic – 7 to 8 cloves – sliced into half
  • Green Chilly – 4, halved
  • Hing – 1/2 teaspoon
  • Rai – 1 teaspoon
  • MOMmade Haldi Powder – Half teaspoon
  • Salt to Taste
  • Oil
  • Grated fresh coconut – for garnish

Of all the tasks in making a Kelful Bhaji, the most tedious one is cleaning it. And many are averse to it hence avoid buying it altogether. But the real lovers of Kelful cannot not buy it when they see the same in the market. Generally it a specific maushi (aunty) who has got it for selling. And I surely cannot stop myself from buying it. I learnt to clean a Kelful long back on a one month vacation to Vengurla (konkan). Keep reading the article to learn to cleaning process as well for all the newbees to Kelful.

Here we have the cleaned and chopped Kelful immersed in water as it turn black immediately. Once it is cleaned and chopped, the rest of the cooking is very simple and easy. Chana dal has been soaking in water for around 4 hours. It just makes the cooking process easier and faster. Chana dal can be replaced by pulses of your choice like chavali, whole chana but honestly I prefer and make it with chana dal only everytime.

To a hot pan, add around 2 tablespoon of oil. Pop in the rai and let it crackle. Then add the garlic and green chillies. You can also crush the garlic but I like it sliced.

Add in the chopped onions and fry for a minute. Then add MOMmade Haldi Powder and salt. Salt helps to cook onions faster and evenly.

Throw in the soaked Chana Dal. Fry for 2 minutes. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes or till the chana dal is almost cooked. You can add a splash of water if the dal is getting burnt or sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the chana dal is cooked to 80%, add in the chopped Kelful. Give it a nice mix. Cover and keep cooking for another 7 to 8 minutes till the bhaji is properly cooked.

And finally garnish with scraped fresh coconut. This completes the dish and flavour too. Believe me, you taste it once and you will want to make it again and again.

Now here comes the most difficult part. A step by step guide to cleaning the Kelful / Banana Flower.

First an foremost apply some vegetable oil to your hand. As cleaning kelful can blacken your fingers and nails. Start by removing the maroon leaf. This maroon leaf needs to be discarded. You will see small florets. You need these. Remove and keep aside. You will have the dissemble the flower one layer by one layer. As you go inside and inside, the maroon leaf will change to a light yellow colour leaf.

Keep removing the leaf and florets till you reach a stage where the florets become really tiny and the leaf is very much attached to the core. See the first image above. Remove of the stem and discard. Keep the core aside.

Then coming to the small florets, you will have to open then one by one and remove a translucent part (as in first image above) and a stalk with black head (as in second image above)

You will have to individually clean all the florets. Once done you will have a core and cleaned florets. Discard the translucent part and stalk with black head removed from each floret. Start chopping the florets finely. The half the core and chop finely. Remember to immediately put the chopped pieces in a bowl cold water. As they turn black immediately on chopping. You may find sticky threads coming our while chopping. No worries. Just drop the whole thing in the bowl of water. And thats how you clean a Kelful. Long process with a number of steps. And also tedious and messy. But kehte hai “Kuch paane ke liye kuch khona bhi padta hai” You may have to loose some time and hold on to your patience while cleaning. But the taste will make all the effort absolutely worthy.

BE YUMMY. BE HEALTHY.

I am Manasi Khandpekar, the founder of MOMmade along with my mom. She is the backbone while I enjoy being the face. Travelling from graphic design to brand communication to creating a brand of my own was a journey of learnings and excitement. The world of food fascinates me everyday. And thats where I am living every moment right now. Writing is another passion so food plus writing gave birth to this blog.

Palak Chilla / Palak Dosa

The instant yummy Spinach dose for breakfast.

Whenever someone says Spinach, the cartoon Popeye comes up in my mind. You remember the cartoon? I should accept Popeye had amazing influence as a child. The amazing power he got eating Spinach easily created a great influence in my kiddo mind. And thus made me devour anything made with Spinach as the ingredient. And obviously my taste buds fell in love with the taste as well. I use Spinach in my regular diet in a number of ways. Today let’s boost our breakfast with some Palak Power with these instant and yummy Palak Chilla or dosa.

INGREDIENTS

  • Palak – Handful leaves
  • Rava / Sooji – Half bowl
  • Besan – 3 tablespoon
  • Dahi – 2 tablespoon (forgot to click with other ingredients)
  • Salt – to taste
  • Garlic – 4 cloves
  • Green Chillies – 2
  • Oil

Grind the palak leaves, garlic and green chillies in a mixer with little water to a paste. To this paste add the sooji, besan, curd and salt. Mix well and add water to create a pouring consistency. Keep aside for 10 to 15 minutes. Curd helps in making the dosa with nice soft and perfect. Some like to use baking soda also but I prefer to keep it out. And frankly the end result without it is also amazing.

After 15 minutes, once again check the consistency. As sooji has a tendency to soak the water. Make it pouring consistency just like a normal dosa batter. Grease a heated dosa tawa with oil, and pour a spoonful of batter. Spread to a medium size. It depends on your choice how big you want the dosa to be. Let it cook nicely.

Flip once when it browns on one side. Press with your spoon and cook on the other side as well. Serve hot with chutney, dahi, tomato ketchup or just like that. As the batter has curd, the dosa stays soft for longer time and can be packed in tiffins as well.

Believe me it turned out so yummy, that my little girl, after eating two dosas already couldn’t stop when I tried to photograph some for the blog. A perfectly healthy, filling and yummy breakfast option. And you don’t need to soak, grind, ferment an so on which is almost a 24 hour process. Instant still healthy and of course yummy. ‘Yumminess Everyday‘.

BE YUMMY. BE HEALTHY.

I am Manasi Khandpekar, the founder of MOMmade along with my mom. She is the backbone while I enjoy being the face. Travelling from graphic design to brand communication to creating a brand of my own was a journey of learnings and excitement. The world of food fascinates me everyday. And thats where I am living every moment right now. Writing is another passion so food plus writing gave birth to this blog.

Palak & Shepu da Saag

A leafy affair you would absolutely love.

Palak (Spinach) is one of the most famous and loved leafy vegetable all around the world. But Shepu (Suva in Hindi & Dill in English) isn’t that famous or loved as well. And it is loaded with various nutrients like calcium, magnesium, iron, and flavonoids along with being very low in calories. With many medicinal benefits as well, Shepu should be included in our diet. And in the winter months, these leafy vegetables are abundantly available and should be consumed abundantly as well.

Try this combination of Palak, Shepu, Besan and imli with other spices and additions and you are bound to see your family with kids relishing it. Just making your life easier to include the critical leafy vegetables in daily food of your family.

INGREDIENTS

  • Palak / Spinach – Handful of leaves, cleaned thoroughly and chopped
  • Shepu / Suva / Dill – Handful of leaves, cleaned thoroughly and chopped
  • Green Moong Dal (with chilka) – Half bowl, washed
  • Peanuts – 20 -25
  • Besan – 2 tablepoon
  • Tomato – 1, roughly chopped
  • Garlic – around 15 cloves
  • Imli – 1 inch piece, soak in water
  • MOMmade Haldi Powder – Half tsp
  • MOMmade Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
  • Rai – 1 tsp
  • Oil
  • Salt
  • Water

In a pressure cooker, add the green chilke waali moong dal with peanuts at the bottom. Add in chopped leafy vegetables, half glass of water. And cook in the cooker for 4 whistles.

In a pan, heat a tablespoon of oil. Add rai and lets them crackle. Throw in the cloves of garlic. I like using the whole garlic cloves in this gravy. If you dont like you can crush it in mortar pestle and use. Once the galic turn slightly brown, add tomatoes. Fry for a minute, then add Salt & MOMmade Haldi Powder. Cover and cook for a minute or two till the tomatoes get a nit tender. Then add a teaspoon of MOMmade Chilli Powder.

In the pressure cooker, once it cools down, add the besan to the cooked leafy vegetables & dal. Whisk well to form a smooth consistency and avoid any lumps.

Mix well. Cover and cook for 6 to 7 minutes. Check if the rawness of besan had eliminated. If the rawness is still there continue cooking for some more time. You can check this by the smell or even taste.

Crush the imli in the soaked water. Strain the imli water. Remove all the seeds and imli pieces. Add the strained water to our dish towards the end of the cook. Mix, cover and continue cooking for maximum 2 minutes. Serve with fulka or even tastes good with steamed rice.

Spinach definitely had amazing benefits itself. When mixed with Dill, the nutrient levels double up. So this winter, along with sarso da saag, do give this palak shepu saag a try and let me know how you like it. Leafy vegetable are ofcourse healthy but don’t miss out on making it yummy. ‘Yumminess Everyday‘.

BE YUMMY. BE HEALTHY.

I am Manasi Khandpekar, the founder of MOMmade along with my mom. She is the backbone while I enjoy being the face. Travelling from graphic design to brand communication to creating a brand of my own was a journey of learnings and excitement. The world of food fascinates me everyday. And thats where I am living every moment right now. Writing is another passion so food plus writing gave birth to this blog.

Kadhai Mushroom

A perfect and easy recipe to treat your guests.

Loaded with protein, fibre, Mushrooms also contain B vitamins, a powerful antioxidant called selenium, which helps to support the immune system and are also a source of Vitamin D. Mushrooms are mostly bought for some special occasions. So the recipe should also be special. Here’s a tangy, flavourful and easy recipe for relishing mushrooms in yummy way.

INGREDIENTS

  • Mushrooms – 350g, sliced
  • Onion – 1, sliced
  • Tomato – 2, chopped
  • Garlic – 7 to 8 cloves
  • Ginger – 2 inch piece
  • Capsicum – 1, diced
  • Onion – 1, diced (forgot to click)
  • Panchphoran – 1 tablespoon
  • MOMmade Haldi Powder – Half tsp
  • MOMmade Chilli Powder – Half tsp
  • MOMmade Dhana Powder – 1 tsp
  • MOMmade Chicken Mazala – 1 tbsp (Don’t worry. The dish is veg. I will explain later)
  • Dahi – 2 tablespoons
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil

Believe me this instant base gravy can be used in many preparations. Grind the onion, tomatoes, garlic and ginger to a paste. I didn’t need water to grind it.

Mix well in all the powdered spices in dahi. This helps in not letting the spice powders burn and also blend well. Ok about using MOMmade Chicken Mazala in a vegetarian dish. Well the masala itself is absolutely vegetarian, primarily used in Chicken Dishes. I have many vegetarian friends who take MOMmade Chicken Mazala to be used in many vege preparations and gave me amazing reviews. I was curious to try. Hence gave it a try with a potato curry last time. And then with this dish here. And believe me the taste turned out fantastic. Optionally you can use MOMmade Garam Mazala.

In a pan add oil and fry mushrooms, capsicum and diced onions separately. This step is optional. You can add later in the curry without frying as well. This frying just further enhances the flavour of the dish.

In the same pan, with 1 tablespoon oil, add the Panchpohoran Mix. (Panchphoran mix is a mixture of Jeera, Rai, Saunf, Methi and Kalonji). Frying for 30 seconds till the seeds pop, add the onion tomato mixture. Fry nicely on high flame for 2 minutes. And then pour in the dahi mixed with the powdered spices and Salt.

Cover and cook for 4 minutes Let the water evaporate and oil be seen on top. Covering is also important as the curry bubbles a lot and can splutter around.

Finally add in the fried mushrooms, capsicum and onions. Cover and cook for another 4 minutes to let everything blend together. Serve with roti, fulka.

Mushrooms, capsicum and onions is a perfect combination. And with the base gravy of onion tomato and spices with dahi is absolutely a cracker making the dish perfectly tangy and tasty. Do give it a try and let me know. Also the surprise element MOMmade Chicken Mazala really boosted the flavours. And I got a nice big ‘Waa’ while eating from my hubby. What more do you ask for? You can find ways to reduce the amount of oil by not frying the veges and mushrooms and also use only a teaspoon of oil while making the curry. But it is winter time and to make a satisfying tasty dish, I don’t like to compromise there. For all the diet conscious people I will share with you non-oil vegetable as well very soon. For a Sunday Dinner, I say keep it yummy. ‘Yumminess Everyday‘.

BE YUMMY. BE HEALTHY.

I am Manasi Khandpekar, the founder of MOMmade along with my mom. She is the backbone while I enjoy being the face. Travelling from graphic design to brand communication to creating a brand of my own was a journey of learnings and excitement. The world of food fascinates me everyday. And thats where I am living every moment right now. Writing is another passion so food plus writing gave birth to this blog.

Chana Upkari

A Yummy & Healthy Vegetarian Sunday Breakfast.

My first ever friend was a sweet Tamilian girl staying next door. And it is from that time my love saga with South Indian Food started and continues till date. The general prasad in any of our Maharashtrian festival are definitely sweet. A savoury prasad was a shocker but an absolute delight. So she had the navratri golu at her place. And the prasad for all nine days used to be some pulses stir fried with chilly, mustard and fresh coconut. Ultimate tasty. We used to get a bowlful of prasad. I came across this term Upkari very later in life. I happened to associate Upkari name with pulses made dry in this style. But ‘Upkari’ is much broader term and actually means Stir fry in Konkani. Lets get started and make this extremely yummy and absolutely healthy Dish. I love eating it in my breakfast, lunch or just like that.

INGREDIENTS

  • Sprouted Black Chana – Cooked in pressure cooker for 4 to 5 whistles
  • Onion – 1, finely chopped
  • Green chillies – 2, slit
  • Garlic – 4 to 5 cloves, crushed
  • Karipatta – 5 to 6
  • Coriander leaves – Handful, finely chopped
  • Fresh Coconut – Half Bowl, grated
  • Rai – 1 teaspoon
  • MOMmade Haldi Powder – Half tsp
  • Salt – to taste
  • Oil

To a pan, add 1 tablespoon oil. Once the oil is hot add rai and let then splutter. Then add karipatta, garlic and chillies. Fry for 30 seconds and sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves. I like to add some coriander leaves at this time as they become a bit crispy in the oil and also give a nice flavour to the oil.

Add in the finely chopped Onion and fry for a minute and half. Add Salt and
MOMmade Haldi Powder. Mix and add in the cooked black chana. Mix well.

Cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Once done add in the rest of coriander leaves and grated fresh coconut. Stir and mix well and turn off the gas stove. Serve hot in a bowl to be eaten with a spoon. You can also serve with hot fulka, dosa, or dal rice. It is an anytime dish.

Sprouted Kala Chana is very high in Protein, fibre, Calcium and Iron, which make it a must have. Substitute the black chana with any pulses of your choice. Moong, Matki, Chavali, Chole and so on can be prepared and enjoyed in exactly similar ways. All the pulses a filled with amazing nutritional benefits. So it’s healthy, no doubt. Just don’t forget to make it yummy as well. ‘Yumminess Everyday‘.

BE YUMMY. BE HEALTHY.

I am Manasi Khandpekar, the founder of MOMmade along with my mom. She is the backbone while I enjoy being the face. Travelling from graphic design to brand communication to creating a brand of my own was a journey of learnings and excitement. The world of food fascinates me everyday. And thats where I am living every moment right now. Writing is another passion so food plus writing gave birth to this blog.

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