Meghana HarikumarBangalore’s winter this time around was quite bad and got us complaining. It has had us eating a lot of greasy food and snuggling up beneath a quilt without guilt. Now that it is January and Winter is ending, it is also putting an end to the season’s best food and beans. Sankranti, Lohri, or Pongal is a festival celebrated to welcome Spring with all the recipes made with the last harvest of the season. We here, have put together a few recipes by the best chefs and restaurants in Bangalore for you to give a great send-off.
Khichdi
Chef Keshav Yadav, Executive Chef, The Pumphouse
Ingredients
- Bajra: 150gm
- Basmati rice: 300gm
- Moong dal: 50gm
- Ghee: 50gm
- Ginger chop: 10 gm
- Garlic chop: 20gm
- Green chilly slice: 10gm
- Chopped onion: 60gm
- Asafetida: 1gm
- Water: 800ml
- Chopped tomato: 40gm
- Carrot cubes: 50gm
- Green peas: 50gm
- Chopped coriander: 20gm
- Turmeric powder: 2gm
- Red chili powder: 5gm
- Cumin powder: 2gm
- Salt to taste
- Makkhan: 100gm
- Coriander powder: 2gm
Method
- Wash 150gm whole Bajra with water a few times. Transfer the Bajra grains to a grinder jar.
- Gently drain the water along with the skin and repeat this process to get rid of the skin.
- Add the cleaned bajra to a pressure cooker with all the other ingredients.
- Now add 800 ml of water and mix everything well, close the lid of the cooker.
- Pressure cook the khichdi for 1 whistle on high heat, now simmer the heat to low and cook.
- Open the lid and mix the khichdi using a wooden whisk.
- Add some more water if it’s too dry and cook for a minute.
- Serve hot with a dollop of butter.
Dahi Chura Tartlet
Chef Sombir Choudhary, Culinary Partner, Raahi Neo Kitchen and Bar
Ingredients
- Yogurt: 1cup
- Poha: ¾ cup
- Jaggery: 3 tbsp
- Fruits & nuts to garnish
For making tart
- All-purpose flour: 1 1/2 cups
- Powdered sugar: 1/3 cup
- Kosher salt: 1/4 teaspoon
- Unsalted butter: 1/2 cup
- Egg yolk: 1 no.
- Heavy cream: 2 teaspoons
- Vanilla extract: 1/2 teaspoon
Method
- Wash poha with water and drain completely.
- Keep it aside for a few minutes or until it is soft.
- Combine the yogurt and jaggery in a mixing bowl and mix everything well.
- Add the soaked poha to the yogurt mixture and mix well.
- Keep the mixture aside in the refrigerator & make the tart.
For making tart
- Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor, stand mixer, or in a medium mixing bowl.
- Pulse/stir/cut in the butter with a pastry blender, until the mixture, resembles a coarse meal.
- Add the egg yolk, cream, and vanilla, and process/mix/stir until the dough gathers itself into a ball and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
- Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, and chill for 1 hour.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/8-inch.
- Press the dough gently into the tart pan(s), trimming away any excess.
- Bake it at 180 degrees Celsius for about 12 mins & let it cool (keep aside)
- After that fill it with a mixture of Dahi Chura & garnish with nuts and any of your favorite fruit.
Avarekalu Usli
Chef Sajesh Peetayil, Otto’s Restobar, Bangalore
Ingredients
- Avarekalu: 500gm
- Onion (chopped): 100gm
- Grated coconut: 100gm
- Green chili: 7-8 nos
- Ginger: 20gm
- Coriander leaves: 80gm
- Coconut oil: 40 ml
- Mustard seeds: 5gm
- Cumin seeds: 5gm
- Dry red chili: 4 numbers
- Curry leaves: 2 sprigs
- Turmeric powder: 5gm
- Hing a big pinch
- Lime: 1 number
- Salt to taste
Method
- Pressure cook the avarekalu until soft
- Process grated coconut, ginger, green chili, and coriander leaves in a food processor to make a paste.
- Heat coconut oil in a small kadai, splutter mustard, and cumin seeds, once done add curry leaf and broken dry red chilies.
- Add in chopped onion, turmeric powder, and hing. Cook until onions are soft.
- Add in boiled Avarekalu and the ground coconut masala, stir and cook until dry.
- Correct the seasoning and turn off the fire, add lime juice and serve hot.
- Can be eaten with rice or chapati.
Dry Fruit Ladoos
Chef Shyam Prasad Pandey, Executive chef, URU Brewpark
Ingredients
- Almonds: 1/2 cup
- Walnuts: 1/2 cup
- Cashews: 2 cup
- raw peanuts: 1 cup
- Raisins: 1 cup
- dried dates: 1 1/2 cup
- poppy seeds as required
- Oats: 1 cup
- Ghee: 1/2 cup
- Coconut: 1 cup
- Pistachios: 1/2 cup
Method
- Dry Roast The Dry Fruits And Nuts Place a pan over medium flame and once it’s hot enough, dry roast walnuts, pistachios, coconut slices, peanuts, raisins, cashews, and dried dates for a few seconds. Remove from the flame now and pour them in a grinder jar. Grind it at a high speed and form a coarse powder out of it.
- Turn on the flame and pour ghee in the same pan over medium flame. Once the ghee is hot enough, pour this powder in it along with oats and poppy seeds. Saute for a few minutes over medium flame till you have lumps formed from this mixture.
- Turn off the flame, now and keep it aside. Let the mixture cool down. After some time, start making medium-sized balls out of this mixture and store them in an airtight container. Your dry fruit laddoos are now ready.
Gud Ki Kheer
Chef Tarun Sibal, Street Storyss, Bangalore
Ingredients
- Rice: 90 grams
- Jaggery: ¾ cup (finely crumbled)
- Full cream milk: 1 liter
- Almonds Slivers: 2 spoons
- Toasted Cashew nuts: 2 spoons
- Raisins: 2 tbsp
Method
- Pour milk into any vessel and place it on flame for simmering.
- Finely chop Almonds and Cashews.
- Clean raisins.
- Thoroughly clean ½ cup rice and wash well. Soak in water for 2 hours and drain excess water.
- When the milk starts boiling, mix rice into it.
- Then add jaggery.
- Stir the kheer with a ladle and after one simmer, reduce the flame. Keep stirring for every 1 to 2 minutes.
- Once the rice is soft and mushy, serve the kheer with almonds, cashews and raisins.
Bye, Bye Winter!
Meghana Harikumar
Editor
