Gatte Ki curry - "padhaaro mahre des re" for a vegetable free vegetarian curry

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity - Simone Weil

"गाडी रोको ड्राइवर, चलो नीचे उतरो वीरेन और इस धरती पे माथा टेकर आशीर्वाद लो" (stop the car driver, get out of the car Viren and get the blessings of this land by touching your forehead to the ground) so says the graceful and gorgeous Waheeda Rehman to a young Anil Kapoor in the film Lamhe. There is no saying no to Daayeeja (nanny) and he gets out of the airconditioned car, quickly puts his forehead to the hot, sweltering ground and runs back into the sanctuary of the cool car. Though there are many indian movies made with a backdrop of Rajasthan, for me Lamhe holds a special place in heart as I learnt about the fascinating land through the movie. And bollywood has this power to paint images in your mind that you don't even know you were capable of. If romancing with a place is possible, I do have a romantic relationship with Rajasthan :-) Until recently, Rajasthan was part of this fertile imagination in my head that included a mystical desert land full of warrior princes, beautiful girls in colorful lehengas wearing bangles all the way up the arms, splendid havelis, picturesque locales, cold romantic nights and food beyond comparison. Having visited part of Rajasthan recently, I can say that most of the imagery still continues to live on though there are no princes riding horses or camels any more, atleast it is not a daily sight in the cities :-). The place lived up to my bollywood fed imagination and didn't let me down in any way. But there is a whole lot more to the place than what Bollywood lets you imagine which can only be found when you visit and become part of that rich culture and the colorful canvass.

Our India visits have always been about visiting family and so we end up spending the time in the same radius of cities that we always do :-). But this trip we decided to build in a week of vacation before landing in the midst of family. When you have a busy work life through out the year and 3 schedules that wax and wane at different times during the year, vacations are hard to come by and precious. So getting away for a week as part of the india trip was a proposal that none of us wanted to say no to :-). Visiting Rajasthan was on bucket list for a long time and though we started with an elaborate visit plan that included Jaipur to Jaiselmer and everything in-between, time was not on our side to do justice to such a trip. We had to skip touching the desert border and make peace with Jaipur and Udaipur. No regrets though, both cities offer a wide range of rich heritage, unparalleled hospitality and an experience of the colorful Rajasthani culture. So we basked in the offerings of the lake city and the pink city. Jaiselmer is back on the bucket list for another time :-)

A striking impression for me as a first time visitor to Udaipur was of the friendliness of the people. Everyone from the hotel employees to the rickshaw driver we hired to the folks in the stores seemed genuinely gentle and friendly which just made our day every day spent there. It wasn't just the tourism industry impact but seemed ingrained in them. DD & I smiled at each other every time someone would direct their question or response only to BH and not to us, there was nothing derogatory about it as they were very respectful towards us but the conversation always happened with the man of the family. They would easily make a conversation and always eager to plan our itinerary with helpful tips that only locals would be aware of and we took all the advise that was offered to us. We found the same hospitality in Jaipur as well though it is a bigger and more commercial place and more used to tourists.

The demonetization by Indian government was still fresh when we visited and most people were cash strapped. We didn't realize how bad it was until the bills in the wallet had gone spent soon after we took them from the bank when we landed in Mumbai. The daily ATM withdrawal was 4K and when you are a tourist and need to pay cash for every transaction, you really feel the pinch and quickly too as the money seemed to vanish the moment it came out of the machine. To add to the woes, most ATMs never had cash and we spent quite a bit of our vacation time on the road stopping at every ATM to try our luck. A sunday holiday in the middle of our week there only added to the cash starved tourist plight :-)

What I appreciate most about the human ingenuity is that we have this uncanny ability and strength to dig ourselves out of any mess, imposed on us by others or by ourselves. Our cab driver, knowing that we had limited cash that might eat into what we owed him at the end of the day, would stop at gas stations and let us pay for the diesel in the morning as we set out for the day. Almost all gas stations take your credit cards. This guaranteed that we would have spending money and were also able to pay him when we were done :-). Plastic cards are not as prevalent in India as here and most of the small vendors, artisans and road side hawkers have no ability to accept one. Our cab driver infact loaned us a few hundred bucks as we wanted to catch the light and sound show in the Jaipur palace since they wouldn't take the cards. He literally saved our day :-). Thankfully, banks opened on Monday and we were able to pay him back before leaving. The network of cab drivers is unbelievably strong and a well oiled machine. They send messages to each other on which ATM had cash so the clients could be driven there first thing in the morning and also had the inside track knowledge that the cash limit was higher if you had a non indian bank card. So everything turned out well in the end and we had a dream vacation to remember for a long time to come.

Though I liked everything about Rajasthan, food is on a different pedestal altogether. With its high concentration of people that follow Jainism, the place is a vegetarian foodie's dream come true. More than one person had told me that I would find the food delectable and very different but I still wasn't prepared for the taste until I had my first bite. The variety of ghee laden soft rotis (wheat, bajra, missi) itself is enough to satisfy a foodie but the curries served with it are a different ball game. Rajasthan being the desert, green, fresh vegetables are not easy to come by as in other places and it is no surprise that the enterprising people have found ingredients to make the tastiest of the side dishes without developing an enormous dependency on the vegetables.

Versatile potatoes were found commonly along with okra, however outside of these two vegetables the thali (meal plate) almost entirely made do with dals, lentils, besan to offer a distinctive taste in each of the little servings. Yogurt is the key player not only in the usual kadhi but also in many of the gravy preparations. It was easy to see what was going on in the kitchen since many of the places we went for dinner were outdoors and the kitchen was just in one of the nooks. Dal baati made the center piece in many meals and the one dish that is unique to Rajasthani cuisine is the gatte ki sazi/sabji/curry, a gravy made with gram flour dumplings in a yogurt/tomato sauce. It is tangy, spicy and filling all rolled into a single bowl and makes a great side dish for the fresh, hot off the tawa rotis. The preparation ensures that each ingredient lends its best flavor to the dish. Jain delicacies skip onion and garlic in their preparations and even if you are hard core fan of these two herbs, you will not miss them at all while eating a Jain dish.

I was such a gatte smitten foodie  that I ended up getting it for most of meals during that entire week and the taste was still on the tip of my tongue as I traveled beyond Rajasthan, ate other goodies, wrapped up my India trip, came back home and started eating our regular food :-). This past week was a birthday week at home and we ended up adding gatte ki curry into the celebration menu. BH said it took him back to the Udaipur dinner we had :-) and I take that as a compliment.

There are obviously many ways of making gatte ki curry and I found each bowl I ate in 5 different place across Udaipur and Jaipur had subtle differences, this is just the variations from one professional chef to the other not to speak of the umpteen home made versions. There is a Govind gatte subji in which the gattes are stuffed with paneer and additional spices so the culinary experience goes a notch even higher. When I wanted to make gatte ki curry on my own and in my kitchen, here is what I did. Stood in the middle of the kitchen, put on my thinking cap and tried to remember every taste bud  that had tingled when I ate this curry in Rajasthan, then marched over to the pantry to don the apron on self and got to work with the ingredients to reproduce the same, exact feeling at home. Ok, that was just over dramatization of what happened :-). What I have here is a really lip smacking gatte ki curry with a number of tips to get it right even on your first try. I am thrilled I was able to replicate the taste of Rajasthan in my own kitchen and can revisit any time I feel like.

The list of ingredients and procedure looks longish but don't let that deter you. You will find that the ingredients are mostly common between the gatte and the curry and also the procedure is simple enough once you get the hang of it. No complicated grind, chop etc in this one. Go ahead and give it a try, you will be a fan in no time I guarantee you.
What do you need to make Gatte ki curry?
For the gattas: 
1 cup besan/chickpea flour/gram flour
1.5 Tbsp oil
1.5 Tbsp yogurt
3/4 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp red chili powder
1/4 Tsp asafoetida/hing
1 Tsp crushed coriander seeds
1/4 Tsp crushed ajwain/carom seeds
1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
1/4 Tsp kasoori methi
5 cups water for boiling gattas
2 Tbsp oil for roasting gattas

For the curry: 
2 tomatoes (2 cups when chopped roughly)
3-4 green chilies (adjust to preferred spice tolerance)
1 inch piece ginger
4 cashews soaked for 30 mins (optional and can do without)
1 Tsp cumin
1/4 Tsp asafoetida/hing
1/4 Tsp turmeric powder
1 Tsp red chili powder (adjust to taste) - use a bright colored one for the rich hue
1/2 Tsp coriander powder
1/2 Tsp garam masala powder
1 Tsp besan/chickpea flour/gram flour
2 Tbsp oil
1 cup yogurt
1/2 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)

How do you make Gatte ki curry? 
Making the gattas: 

• Take a wide bowl (so you can move your fingers easily), sieve besan into it to remove any small lumps in the dry flour. 
• Add all the dry ingredients - salt, red chili powder, hing, turmeric powder, crushed coriander, ajwain and kasoori methi. 

• Mix well with your fingers so hing (especially if you are using the wet variety) doesn't stay in one place. 
• Add oil and yogurt into the bowl and mixing with your fingers, bring everything together to form a lump. 

• Add a sprinkle of water if the mixture is very dry (depends on the consistency of your yogurt, I didn't add any water). 
• scrape everything sticking to your fingers, smear a drop of oil on your hand and continue to bring the mixture together into a hard dough and knead it for a couple of minutes. Taste test and adjust salt, chili powder as needed. 

• Keep a sauce pan with 5 cups of water on the stove and bring the water to a rolling boil. 
• Break the dough into 4 equal portions, make a ball and roll it into a log about 1/2inch thickness, smooth the ends. Repeat with all 4 portions.

• Now take the logs one by one and gently immerse in the boiling water, give about 30secs between each log going in to the water to avoid water temperature from falling. 
• Boil the logs for 10-12 mins or until a tooth pick comes out clean. After about 5mins, the logs start to rise to the top of the water. 

• Switch off and strain the water out, reserving it for later use. Let the logs cool down completely before cutting them into bite sized pieces. 
• Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a flat, non stick pan, add the cooled gatte pieces and roast on medium heat until they get a coating of nice golden color on all sides. switch off and keep aside until ready to use. (Do not start eating them as they can be quite addictive :-))

Making the curry or sauce: 

• Make a smooth paste of tomatoes, green chilies, ginger and soaked cashews (if using). 
• Heat oil in a kadai/pan, add cumin seeds and let it splutter. 
• Add coriander powder, turmeric powder, hing and red chili powder to the hot oil and roast for a minute so the flavors are enhanced. 

• Add the ground tomato paste and let it cook on medium heat for 8-10 mins or until the paste looks dry and starts to ooze oil from the sides. 

• At this stage, add whisked yogurt slowly into the pan while stirring constantly. Keep the heat on lowest. 
• Increase heat to medium and let it come to a gentle boil. 

• Add a Tsp of besan in a Tbsp of the reserved water and make a slurry. 
• Add the slurry along with remaining reserved water to the curry and let it boil.  
• At this stage, taste test the curry and adjust any spices to suit your palate. Add more water if you want the curry to be a thinner. 
• Add garam masala powder and salt, mix it in and let cook for a minute. 
• Add the prepared gattas into the curry and switch off. 

• Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with rotis or steamed rice. 

Notes: 

• Besan dough is very sticky unlike the wheat flour dough, ensure you do not make a soft dough. When you make a ball of the dough and place it on the plate, it should not spread but hold the same shape as before. 
• Keep yogurt at room temperature before you start adding it to any hot gravies. This helps to get a smooth texture. 
• Whisking yogurt is also important to get a smooth texture. 
• You can add the dry spices in the gravy later but I found that when these are given an opportunity to roast in hot oil, the flavors are enhanced considerably. Garam masala is added at the end for its complex flavor. 
• These taste best with hot rotis but you can serve it with plain rice or a mildly flavored jeera rice. 

• You can add onion and garlic in this curry. I do not personally like onion in yogurt based gravies and avoid it. Garlic is not a regular in my kitchen and hence it is omitted. 
• If you are adding onion, make a paste or grate it and add it before the tomato paste and let it cook for a few minutes to rid of the raw smell. 
• Gattes are traditionally deep fried after they are boiled to make them richer, crispier and obviously more calorie dense. I chose to shallow fry with a couple Tbsp of oil and I didn't miss the lack of extra oil. 
• The thickness of the gattes is a personal preference, I though like to think of the log size as 1.5 pencils stacked together. The cooking time may vary based on the thickness. 
• Keep the water boiling before adding the logs, this prevents them from breaking. 

Pindi Chole - A succulent version of chole that can be eaten in many ways

I feel like the little rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, looking at its watch & running down the path, muttering "I am late, I am late" as I head back to blogging in 2017. When I last looked in December, I was sure I had a lot of time to wish you all a happy new year. I had even plans to celebrate Christmas with you all on the blog, make & post new recipes for the holiday season (Who am I kidding? I knew I wouldn't have much time in December as I was travelling :-)). Anyways, here I am 2 weeks after bidding farewell to 2016 & ushering in 2017. So without any further delay, let me wish you all a wonderful, healthy, joyful 2017. May this be the year you get closer to realizing many of your dreams. I love you all for the unflinching faith you place in my rants and recipes.

If I were someone that made new year resolutions (and stuck to them), I would resolve to be more active on the blog, write more often, be more eloquent and relevant :-), respond to all your queries on time and more than anything else be on time with my festival recipes throughout the year. But you see, I am not really the 'make new year resolutions' kind of person nor am I the one to 'stick with the resolutions' if I ever made them. So, apologies in advance for any misses on my part in 2017 but I honestly promise that I will be here often and every time I post, I will bring you something I have loved making/eating and hope you love it too. In all the excitement of the year end, I missed celebrating my blog baby's birthday :-(. So a belated birthday to Sattvaa as the 5 year old now turns 6 and ready for grade school. Every moment of blogging has brought me nothing but immense joy, boosted my confidence in cooking and writing. I couldn't have achieved any of this without your support. So a heartfelt gratitude.

I hope those of you celebrating the harvest festival in January had a wonderful time these past three days with family & friends for Makar Sankranthi/Pongal/Bihu/Lohri. Ours started on Jan 1st in India. Yes, I went on a 3 week trip back home and as always had the time of my life. We celebrated FIL's birthday a few days in advance as we weren't going to be there on the day and started the year off with a warm, nice bonfire in the vacant plot next door. Bonfire is lit on Bhogi (day prior to Sankranthi) to symbolize 'starting afresh/starting anew', to let go of any prejudices as we enter the new year. I think New year's day was a perfect day to do that too. The fire roasted sweet potatoes was the "perfect cherry on the icecream".

It was DD's winter break as well so we turned this into a family trip to India. With the loss & heart ache we went through in late 2016, I was both dying to and extremely fidgety about going back home. In one way, it was probably the most difficult trip I have made since coming here eons ago, it was the first time I went home without either amma or anna to hug me and just take away any aches and bruises I would have had since we last saw each other :-(. BH stood rock solid behind me as I tried to come to terms with a home in India sans parents. Did a few things that was very close to heart and drew strength from the memories, places and events of the past. Not yet reconciled to the fact that my front line defense is gone and I am left raw and open, but I feel confident that they both have given me enough to be strong on my own as well.

We had a great time in India, for the first time we took a holiday in India that was outside of the family town and spent a week in the colorful, historically rich Rajasthan. The foodie in me was so totally singing happy tunes eating meal after meal of the delicious gatte ki sabzi, dal baati & churma, missi roti, bajre ki roti, kadhi, Mirchi bada and on and on and on... . In addition to the dishes I had read and was expecting, I was also treated to local delicacies such as Ker kumti sangri sabzi, gond ki halwa.. Equally mesmerizing was the city tours we took of the idyllic Udaipur and the pink city Jaipur. The very popular Rajasthani bandini prints and block prints are something you would want to see in action, there are industrial areas and stores you can go to and witness block printing being done.

Gatte ki Sabzi from Udaipur

Rajasthan has been on my bucket list for a long time and it was beyond any dreams my feeble mind could conjure up. People are very friendly and honest. The first day, we went around Udaipur in an auto (yep, it is wider and bigger than the autos of Bengaluru & Mysuru, BH tried to explain the difference in the chassis and engine, but I guess I snored through that explanation :-)) and I kept telling the auto driver to stay in the vehicle and look out for our belongings. After a couple of stops, he turned towards me grinning and said, "Didi, aap phikar mat karo, koi nahin le jaata yahan (Sister, don't worry, nobody steals the stuff here)". By that time, I had grown to trust him and also didn't want to disrespect an honest man earning his living because of my prejudices, so didn't say a word. Not sure if we were lucky or such incidences are rare but I wouldn't ever do that in Bengaluru or Chicago because I have lost stuff in both places.

We did spend a perfect albeit short vacation with family in the Mumbai metro as soon as we landed but the traffic on the streets consumed us all. Bad as it is in Bengaluru, traffic in Mumbai is stressful. We sat hours in the car waiting for the traffic to clear. BH's craving for the mumbaiyya bhel puri had to be satisfied in a restaurant rather than his dream location of chowpati beach :-), but the bhel was really delicious. The trip only made me salute the people in Mumbai that brave the traffic every single day and still come out winners in many areas. DD turned out luckier than we were as she went out one morning with a friend and had some yummy Maharastrian delicacies in a snack joint. She was however very considerate to share the pics of the food later with me :-)

Mumbai Bhel

I was inundated with food at Bengaluru but that wasn't the highlight of the visit this time. Early in 2016, I got in touch with my long lost high school friends and ever since checking the group WA messages every day has become an obsession. I was excited with the possibility of being able to meet some of them even before I left from here. We did meet up and though we are no longer the pig tailed, folded up braids girls in green & yellow uniform, it felt like nothing much had changed from the last time we had seen each other. There was so much giggles and happy exchange of news from all corners :-). I guess growing up doesn't have to be growing old after all.. Thanks to and long live WA :-).

The only food callout I want to do from Bengaluru is my visit to Vidyarthi Bhavan. Yes I did go to this iconic dosa place in the south of B and yes it is my first time in life!!

Vidyarthi Bhavan dose

We were there on a weekday afternoon, though the place was full, we didn't have to stand in line or wait for an hour before we got in. Got the masale dose (masala dosa) the joint has got its name for.. Here is my personal opinion about the dose, I apologize in advance if I am going to make some of you hard core VB fans angry. It is not an attempt to undermine your loyalty at all. I thought the dosa was a letdown for all the hype that is built around the place. It was good no doubt but I have seen/made/had better dosas in my time. They have a unique texture of the dose and serve it with a generous pouring of chutney (not the small cup to dip into that you get in most places) but the dosa itself is very greasy and low on flavor if you ask me. It probably is the experience & history of the place more than the taste or quality. For me, it turned out a little overrated. I wish other places served chutney like VB does though, liberally with no holds barred :-). Please don't let my opinion be a deterrent, visit if you must and decide for yourself.

We also went to a temple town in the heart of Malenadu (Malnadu) and the tranquility and peace I experienced there is not something I can describe. It felt so good to just sit there and not think about anything else. The drive from Bengaluru through the western ghats is a nature lover's dream come true especially this season when everything is rich green. I found a store within the temple premises that was selling some authentic Malenadu spices and condiments and it was like finding a heaven within a heaven :-). I grabbed many bags of spices (especially the ones which I don't have easy access to) along with a few varieties of papads, pickles and the like :-).

The one particular item I fell in love with is the fresh asafoetida, it is so potent and aromatic that I had to wrap it in multiple layers of papers to avoid the smell from reaching its neighbors in the suitcase or worse still from making my clothes smell like asafoetida. This is a spice (can I call asafoetida a spice? Not sure, will find out) I love in my kitchen and am known to liberally use it just like nammamma did. So my sister keeps a big box reserved as soon as I let her know my travel plans, I had already grabbed that and when I found some more fresh ones in the store, couldn't resist buying another package. What I got is the wet one and not the powdery stuff we usually get in stores everywhere. Like I said, it was finding my own piece of spice heaven.. Back home, I am storing them diligently and carefully and hoping to extend their natural shelf life. Any suggestions on storing spices are welcome.

A 3 week trip home is not something I can talk about in one blog post. I will reserve the remaining details to future posts. I am glad I made the trip, it is like a lifeline that needs to be refreshed and hydrated every couple of years before I can become active and lively again :-).

Talking of spices (and I should stop talking now because the post has already gone too long), I am bringing a recipe today that is so flavor rich that you will burst into a happy jig eating it. It is a very simple recipe in terms of the work involved. Pindi chole gets it name from the place of its origination (Rawal Pindi). Pindi chole by definition is loaded with spices and made fragrant, it is not watery and there is no gravy per say in this dish. It is rather a very softly cooked chole with lot of flavorful spices and scooped up with the leavened bread Batura or had as a snack by itself garnished with finely chopped onion, cilantro and a dash of lemon. For my Telugu acclimatized brain, pindi means powder and I like to think of this recipe as made with a lot of powders :-) just to make sense of the name. You can completely ignore me on this one as I was trying some association games and ended up associating a Rawalpindi chole with a chole of powders. Mind games are not always what they are meant to be.

When I wanted to try the pindi chole, I looked for an authentic version all over but authentic versions are very elusive :-), each of us have an authentic version of the dishes we make at home. I saw everything from freshly made pindi masala to 'throw in the powders' and make the pindi chole recipes. I took my lessons from 2 high profile chefs (Vikas khanna & Kunal kapoor), made it my own by adjusting the ingredients and repeating a few times. Key to a good pindi chole is to use fresh spices that are rich in their fragrance and flavor. This recipe will also show you the trick to get the soft, melt-in-the-mouth (without breaking apart) texture for the beans that get flavored every step of the way. I am going to focus on the technique rather than the list of ingredients and leave the measurements somewhat vague so you can adjust them to be perfect for your taste buds. Isn't that the beauty of creative cooking? Check out the tips at the bottom of the post for dishing out an out of the world pindi chole in your own kitchen. I have made chole before and one of my favorite versions is here if you are looking to make the powder at home. And I absolutely put the new asafoetida to good use with this recipe, don't skimp on it as it reduces the side effects of the beans :-)

Anxiety extinguisher: List of ingredients is long but if you do Indian cooking on a regular basis most of these are common staples in your pantry.

What do you need to make pindi chole? 
2 cups dry garbanzo beans
1/8 Tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp kasoori methi/dry fenugreek leaves
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
For the Potli (packet) masala: 
1.5 Tsp tea leaves or coarse powder (see notes for alternative)
1 inch cinnamon
4 cloves
3-5 maratha moggu/kapok buds - skip if you don't have
1 black cardamom
2 green cardamom
a small bay leaf
1/4 Tsp javitri/mace

For the spice mix: 
1 heaped Tbsp dry pomogranate seeds/anardaana
3/4 Tbsp chole masala
1/2 Tsp garam masala
1/2 Tsp red chili powder
1 Tsp kitchen king (this is a general purpose powder I usually keep, if you don't have it supplement it with a combination of chole masala and garam masala)
1/2 Tsp dhania powder
1 Tsp amchoor powder
1/2 Tsp kala namak/black salt
1/4 Tsp turmeric

Seasoning: 
1/2 cup oil (you can use ghee here if you are ok with the amount of ghee)
3-4 green chilies
2 inches fresh ginger
1/2 Tsp good quality asafoetida/hing

How do you make pindi chole? 
Preparation steps: 

• Wash, pick any dirt and soak dry garbanzo overnight. 
• Next morning, drain the water out and take the beans to a pressure cooker. 
• Add water (about 4 cups) to about 1 inch from the top of the beans.  
• Take a small, clean muslin cloth or a thin handkerchief (you won't be able to use it after this :-)) and add the whole spices listed above into the cloth. 
• Tie a knot to ensure the spices don't spill out while the beans are cooking and drop the potli into the pressure cooker. 

• Add the baking soda and salt into it, close the cooker and cook the beans until soft. I usually start on medium high, let the first whistle come, simmer the stove down and cook for 20 mins before switching off. This works just perfectly. 
• Wash, remove stems from the green chilies and slit them vertically. If they are longer than an inch, chop them in half as well. 
• Wash, peel ginger and chop into small bits.

• Make a coarse powder of the pomogranate seeds. 

Assembling pindi chole: 

• Let the cooker cool down on its own, remove the potli and discard. The color from the tea would have stained the beans a dark brown. 
• Strain the cooked beans and take them into a deep & wide vessel (this is the vessel you would also cook it further, so use one that is stove top friendly). Reserve the water for later. 
• In a bowl, add all the dry spice powders listed under spice mix and give them a mix to make it homogeneous. 
• Now spread the spice mix on top of the strained beans in a uniform layer.
• Add kasoori methi on top of this in a single layer. 

• Heat a seasoning pan, add oil and let it warm up. 
• Add the asafoetida, chopped chilies and ginger and let it all sizzle. 

• Pour the hot seasoning on top of the beans making sure you don't leave any powders dry in the vessel.
• Immediately cover the vessel and rest for 10-15 minutes. 

• Add the reserved water, return the vessel to the stove and let the contents come to a gently boil on medium-low heat. keep the vessel covered and stir a couple times to avoid it getting burnt. 

• Switch off and add chopped cilantro. 

How do you eat pindi chole? 
Option 1: Obviously with golden bature. Make some deep fried, leavened bature, break them into pieces, use the piece to scoop up as much chole as you would like, put the heavenly combination in your mouth, chew slowly and enjoy the explosion of flavors and taste in your mouth. Repeat process until the stomach is full and brain flags error messages as it can't take any more of this ecstasy :-). Or you could skip all the drama and just eat chole with bature and have fun too :-))

Option 2: For the diet conscious in you, forget the oil fried bature, use phulkas or regular rotis or your favorite bread to scoop up the chole. This chole rocks and no matter who is accompanying, it is still satiating and delicious.

Option 3 (my favorite): No bread, serve chole into a bowl, top it with finely chopped onion, a spoonful of cilantro, some lemon juice. You can add a sprinkle of the chat chutneys (tamarind-date and the cilantro-green chili chutneys, garnish with fine sev. Enjoy as a chat. Yummyyyy!!

Tips & notes: 

• Do yourself a favor and start with dehydrated/dry garbanzo beans. You cannot expect the already cooked, canned beans to absorb all the flavor you want them to. I know, it is a little bit more work and needs you to plan ahead but you will be happy you did that. 
• Use fresh spices - cinnamon, cloves, cardamom all tend to lose flavor with age, this is one recipe where I cannot emphasize the need to have fresh spices and spice powders. 
• If you have a teabag, you can use it instead of the tea leaves. Avoid fine dust directly in the potli as it gets into the beans in the vessel. 
• If you would like, saute finely chopped onion and tomatoes in oil along with other seasoning ingredients and add it in. I wanted to keep it out since onion tends to overwhelm the other ingredients. Same for garlic if you are garlic fan. 
• Don't start with a very dry gravy, it tends to become solid as it cools so when you boil it with the spices, add enough water to get some juice in it. The end product is not runny but succulent. 

Shahi Paneer - saying thanks to all the beautiful blessings in life with a royal dish

As I pass the empty room, I stop to look in and assess the damage of 4 days. To my surprise, there are no soiled clothes on the floor, bed is pretty much made and no used cups, plates on the bed side table either. My phone charger that didn't belong to me for the last 4 days has been put back in its rightful place in the study. It reminds me of the countless mom-daughter fights we have had, me telling her to be responsible, keep the room clean and her telling me to either not sweat (when she was in good mood) or telling me to stay off her room (if she was tired). I no longer have to do that nor engage in unnecessary battles with her. Sometimes the very changes you wished for end up being the things you wish had stayed just the way they were for longer :-(. She hugs me before heading out and says, "I will be fine amma!" as if she read my mind. The little girl that was here just a little while ago seems grown up, she no longer gives me a reason to tell her to pick up after her, or be the constant reminder nagging her to do things. I count this to be one of the greatest blessings in my life though I sure wish the baby phase continued on forever..or for a long time atleast :-)

Thanksgiving is behind us already which means there are only a few days left for the rest of the year to come to an end. Feels like I started 2016 only recently :-). The joy of going to the airport to pick her up is already replaced by the melancholy of the house when we return home after dropping her off. She will get busy with school, finals and friends and we will get busy with work and other activities and we both start counting the days until the next break when she would be home. Until then, I reminisce the time we had together this past weekend. The 4 days of holiday was good and all three enjoyed the much awaited time with each other and also get some good rest. Flora heartily joined us for the eats and the snoozes though if you ask me she doesn't need the snooze any more than she already has :-). And food, oh yes there has been plenty in the last days, I cooked more than I had in the past month or so and in the name of feeding the famished college student, the parents also enjoyed some yummy and great food :-), no complaints from anyone.

Thanksgiving is definitely a tradition for us, both interms of the food and what we do (or don't do :-)) during the 4 days. I don't have to plan, don't need to invent anything for the lunch as our menu is set. We do a brunch that lasts us for the entire day and as usual, we had our masala dose, roasted sweet potatoes and cranberry chutney. I made the cranberry chutney in a very typical Andhra pachadi way this time and it tasted delicious and very flavorful. I have a couple variations of the chutney on the blog but if you are interested in this particular version, let me know and I will be happy to post that as well. The masale dose with the potato stuffing and the various chutneys on the side and inside along with roasted sweet potatoes made us feel stuffed for the entire day without needing anything for the most part.

I had got a pie pumpkin with plans of making something with it but just didn't get there. The pumpkin still sits in the corner beckoning me to make something, so look for some new pumpkin recipe on the blog soon if I continue the cooking enthusiasm and feel adventurous than usual (or I might end up falling back on the tried and tested favorites that are already on the blog :-) and won't post anything new). So the morning after Thanksgiving, I wanted to keep it simple, easy and tasty and ended up making this shahi paneer with some of DD's favorite peas pulav. The richness of the shahi paneer complemented perfectly with the simple and toned down peas pulav I had made. We enjoyed it hot and fresh for lunch, warm and well marinated for dinner :-). Yep cook once and eat twice is the mantra especially when there is so many tiny, little, medium and big sized containers already in the refrigerator full of left overs.

Ever since DD grew up to be a college girl, it seems like the parents live for the days between the holiday breaks :-(. I usually ask DD what she wants to eat whenever she is heading home for holidays. She has a bunch of favorite amma made food and is game anyday if I make from that list, but I feel like I make the same dishes every time if I don't plan ahead. Having eaten the dorm food for weeks at length, she is happy to eat anything I make when she is home (a huge change from before she went away to school and used to nitpick every meal :-(). Paneer is one thing she has some access to at school as every time they head out to enjoy some Indian food outside the campus, paneer dishes are always ordered as they are everyone's favorites and also pretty decently made in the places they go to. She loves paneer in most forms and I wanted to make something with it this time since the last two breaks she was home, it never made it to the menu.

Paneer is probably one of the universally loved ingredients especially for people from the Indian sub continent. This humble ingredient finds its way to numerous north Indian dishes and always seems to take them a notch higher than if they were to be devoid of paneer. Personally I am not fond of paneer or any kind of other cheese (! I know, I have had a hard time explaining this to many people in the past), I spoon the gravy liberally when we order a paneer dish while eating at a restaurant leaving the paneer pieces to BH and DD who are happy to gorge on amma's share too. So we don't waste food and it works out for everyone. This is what I do at home as well when I make a paneer dish. If you are looking for some of the favorite recipes with paneer, my versions of the dishes are right here on the blog at palak paneer, paneer butter masala, paneer tikka masala and mutter paneer. A new addition to the paneer family on the blog couln't be anything less than royalty, could it? so here is shahi paneer today. I used help from store bought paneer this time since the days around Thanksgiving were hectic and I didn't have thee time to make it at home.

Shahi is royalty, kingly :-). This dish is made rich with cashews and cream (I cheated a little as usual since we don't need to be that 'shahi' anyways :-)). The texture of the gravy is smooth and silky, the ingredients are ground into a very fine paste before they are combined. This is an easy way out to putting together a resturant grade shahi paneer without toiling infront of a hot stove trying to saute raw onion and tomato paste for a long time until they are well roasted. If you are looking for a short cut without any compromise on the taste, this recipe is for you. I found it originally on a you tube channel by chef Vikas Khanna. Cooking them with spices until soft not only gives you a head start on cook time (you don't have to saute onion & tomato paste until fat oozes out from the side) but also ensures that the aroma from the spices are captured in the gravy and held secure there. Adding honey is the chef's touch, I would have added a spoon of sugar to cut the sourness of tomatoes but honey made perfect sense as it added the sweetness and also aided the silky smoothness of the gravy. This is a perfect accompaniment for a bland rice (such as jeera rice or plain steamed rice) and for roti/naan.

Paneer Trivia: 
Cottage cheese is an easy and understandable term when you are trying to explain paneer to a person whom you are trying to introduce to Indian cuisine. Though cottage cheese and paneer and used interchangeably, they are not the same. The process of paneer making ensures that all the whey is removed by keeping the curdled milk under weight for a couple of hours where as cottage cheese is hung up and retains some whey in it. Also usage of paneer is mostly in cooked dishes while cottage cheese is consumed in its raw form. Paneer is extremely easy to make at home and best consumed within a couple of days of preparation. So how do you explain paneer to a novice (that understands cheese ofcourse?) - it is curdled milk and similar to fresh farmer's cheese :-)

Cheese for vegetarians: 
I was reading a book recently and it had a description of how cheese was made in the pioneer days. I never had paid a lot of attention to the note that said 'no animal rennet' on the paneer packet before but now understand that cheese was made with animal rennet in the olden days and the practice continues today. There are plant based rennet available and if you are a vegan or a vegetarian who would like to avoid animal rennet, you just have to make the choice. A rennet is essentially an enzyme that curdles milk and helps separate into solid curds and liquid whey. Plant based sources of the enzyme include fig leaves, melon, safflower and ofcourse by the fermentation of the fungus.

What do you need to make Shahi Paneer? 
Recipe source: Chef Vikas Khanna
6 Oz paneer (roughly a cup & half of cubed paneer)
5 medium tomatoes (4 cups chopped)
3 medium onion (3 cups chopped)
1 inch piece cinnamon
2-4 cloves (adds to the heat)
1 black cardamom
2 green cardamom
2 byadagi/Kashmiri red chilies (this gives the authentic orange-red color)
10-12 cashews
1 inch piece ginger
2 cloves garlic (skip if you don't like garlic)
1 Tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 Tsp honey
1/2 Tsp red chili powder (use a mild, bright colored variety like Kashmiri)
1 Tsp kasoori methi
1/4 Tsp garam masala powder

How do you make Shahi paneer?

• Take a big cooking pot, add chopped tomatoes, onion, cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, red chilies and cashews into it along with 1 cup of water and 1/2 tsp salt. 
• Let it cook down covered on medium heat for about 20 mins until tomatoes are mushy and onions are soft. 

• Switch off and let it cool. 
• In the meantime, wash, peel ginger and crush it into a fine paste along with garlic.
• Cut paneer into pieces of desired shape and size and keep aside until ready to use. 

• Remove the black cardamom (I feel the taste is very pronounced when ground into paste) and take the remaining contents of the pot to a blender and grind into a very smooth paste.
• Heat a kadai on medium heat, return the ground paste to it along with the ginger-garlic paste and let it start to get a few bubbles on top. 
• Reduce the heat to low and add milk while stirring the gravy continuously. 
• Let it cook for another 4-5 mins or until it starts to boil again. 
• Add the red chili powder, garam masala powder, crushed kasoori methi and salt and mix well. 

• Adjust the consistency if you desire with additional milk and taste test to adjust any dry powders to your liking. Let the gravy come to a gentle boil. 
• Add the paneer pieces and mix lightly, let it cook for a minute or so before adding the honey and switching it off. 

• Cover and let it rest for atleast 15mins before serving it. 

Notes: 

• Make sure you get the paneer out of the freezer a few hours before you need to use it in the recipe especially if it is store bought. The block needs to be soft enough to cut into pieces or you will end up fighting with it and breaking it into crumbs. 
• Bring milk to room temperature or warm it for a few seconds before adding to the gravy. The tomatoes in the gravy can curdle if you add refrigerated milk directly to the hot gravy. 
• This is a thick, creamy gravy, do not add a lot of water (one cup used while boiling the tomatoes and the milk provide sufficient quantity of liquid). 
• The flavor of cardamom is very pronounced when you first start the gravy (also the reason but mellows down after the addition of spice powders, milk etc.