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Dal Dhokli

Dal Dhokli is a delicious traditional Gujarati comfort food, made with many variations and known by different names in other states of India. In North India it is called Dal Pitthi. The Dhokli is made with wheat dough, then rolled into thin circles and cut into square or diamond shapes. The Dhokli is then mixed into the sweet-sour Gujarati dal and tadka with ghee and spices; and left to simmer until it gets cook properly. This recipe utilizes Jowar flour along with wheat flour to make it healthier. This one bowl meal can be prepared over the weekend, which gives a big change to our daily meal. You can use your leftover dal, and convert it into a healthy Dal Dhokli!

Dal Palak

Dal is a very important dish in the Indian cuisine, and every household had different variations of dals. Sometime we enjoy plain dal and sometimes tadka dal with some veggies in our every day meals.Today i would like to share a very simple, easy, and very healthy recipe, Dal Palak. Palak/spinach has a lot of health benefits and has a beautiful color. Many dishes can be prepared using palak like curries, parathas, koftas, cutlets, pakoras, kababs and so on. Some times we can use palak puree to give a natural green color to our recipes. This recipe utilizes two types of dal: toor dal and moong dal. You are free to add one or both of them. The boiled dal is cooked along with spinach, garlic and other spices, which gives it an aromatic smell, and taste. Dal palak is best served with plain rice or roti.

Methi Papdi

Papdi is a crunchy salty Indian cracker which goes well as a tea time snack. It is also used to prepare mouthwatering papdi chaat. It is served to guests during festivals like Diwali or Holi and once prepared can be stored for 2 weeks in air tight containers. The main ingredients for this recipe are all purpose flour, wheat flour, and methi (fenugreek).You can either deep fry the papdi or bake it, I have tried both and both come out very crispy. You can either use roasted methi or fresh fine chopped one. Enjoy this snack with your family and friends. 


Kala Chana Fry (Ghugni)

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and keeps you energetic the whole day. Kala Chana Fry aka Ghugni/ghughuni is a very popular breakfast item in Bihar. Its a very simple recipe prepared by stir frying boiled kala chana with onion and light spices.This dish is tasteful as well as healthy. It also goes very well with tea or coffee. Try this recipe, I am sure you will love it and add it to your breakfast routine.

Shahi Aloo Mutter

Potatoes are kings in veggies, with which we make several delicious dishes such as snacks, curries, bread or appetizers. Potatoes are also an all time favorite for kids. This dish is prepared with baby potatoes (but you can use big potatoes as well) without the use of onion and garlic. Adding cashew nuts into this curry gives a rich and thick texture and shahi taste to the dish. You can also add thick curd instead of cashew nuts. This dish can be made during the navratri festival, and is a great dish if you don’t want to add paneer. Shahi aloo mutter is best served with rice, roti, poori, naan or parathas. 

Bottle Gourd( Lauki) Curd Rice

Bottle gourd (Lauki) is a vegetable which has lot’s of health benefit and everyone should add this as part of their regular diet. It can be used to prepare many recipes like savory, drink, raita, curries and sweets. Bottle gourd curd rice recipe is a variation of the South Indian dish curd rice. Curd rice is made with over cooked rice or left over rice, curd ( yogurt) and tempered with curry leaves, chilies, cashew nuts, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and garnish with coriander leaves and pomegranate seeds. It seem meal is incomplete without curd rice for many people. Curd rice is also distributed in temples as prasad. This recipe is prepared using brown rice instead of normal rice, bottle gourd, curd ( yogurt) and tempered with spices. This is very good for digestion and easy to make. Try this recipe with the twist of bottle gourd and enjoy.

Vegetable Tehari

Tehari is a colorful and delicious rice dish very similar to veg pulao. This dish is very popular in Northern part of India specially in Uttar Pradesh. This is a very easy recipe and can be prepared when you are in rush. The rice is mixed with chopped vegetables and cooked together with aromatic spices. You can add any vegetables of your choice but generally cauliflower, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, peas and carrots provide an amazing taste. It is served with raita, or curd and papad. Enjoy this either during rush hours or during the weekends for a light lunch/dinner.

Sweet & Sour Mango Chutney

Mango is a versatile fruit, as many delicious recipes can be prepared with raw mango as well as ripe mango; such as mango pickle, drinks, mango roll up, sweet or spice chutney, shrikhand, ice cream, lassi, mango kulfi and so on. Sweet & sour mango chutney is one of my childhood favorite, and my mom used to make this dish during mango season in the summer. She would make it in large quantities and store it in a jar. We loved eating it in our lunch boxes with parathas. This mango chutney also known galka or khattmithi in Northern part of India, but every state has its own variation of making this sweet & sour chutney with different ingredients and has many different names. This recipe made with raw mangoes, jaggery and some spices in Eastern UP & Bihar style.