Sukdi Recipe | Sweet Poha with Grated Coconut

Photo courtesy: Asma Dhanshe 💗

Another poha (flattened rice) breakfast that's healthy but sweet! Sukdi is famous as a wedding dish that's served on chiksa day which is a day before nikah when sukdi is served as a snack with evening tea along with some savoury snacks like samosa etc. And potato wafers and even jalebi and laddoo. If there's no kokni wedding happening around in the near future and you can't wait to have this amazing poha dish then go ahead and make it for breakfast or just as a snack. You can find the recipe here:

Sukdi Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups thick poha
1 cup freshly grated coconut
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons rose water (or vanilla essence)
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Take pohe in a strainer and run cold water over it. Lightly press to get rid of any excess water.
2. Now take this poha in a mixing bowl and add grated coconut and give a mix.
3. Then add all the ingredients and mix well with a flat spatula. Leave it covered for a few minutes so that all the flavours get incorporated. Serve cold.

Egg Saravle Recipe | Sweet Saravle Recipe

Photo Courtesy : Asma Dhanshe

Sweet saravle - a sinfully yummy, rich and easy to make saravle are served to special guests here in kokan. Also this version of saravle is a popular breakfast and evening snack. Eggs can be dropped over the saravle the way it's done in the pic or you can add boiled eggs but I prefer dropped ones with lots of cardamom powder and saffron on top! 😋

Sweet Saravle Recipe:

500 gms saravle
100 gms pure ghee
1 cup full cream milk
1 cup freshly squeezed coconut milk
1/3 cup sugar (or as per taste)
A pinch of Salt
2"x2 cinnamon sticks
5-6 green cardamom pods
3 eggs (preferably organic)
Slivered almonds and pistachios
1/4 teaspoon saffron
Cardamom powder to sprinkle on eggs

Method:

1. Heat pure ghee in a heavy bottomed pot. Add cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods and roast saravle till just fragrant.
2. Add milk, coconut milk, sugar, salt and saffron and stir with wooden spoon and let it cook covered. Add a little water if needed.
3. Finally add slivered almonds and pistachios and break eggs. Sprinkle cardamom powder and let it cook covered on very low flame till eggs are completely and there's no raw smell. Serve hot!

Chicken Saravle Recipe

Chicken saravle is a must have in Eid brunch at my place along with sheer khurma and saandan (recipes on the way!). This is that one dish I can live my whole life on! Chicken saravle are so sinfully rich in flavours that you just can't resist them. Besides the taste they're also packed with nutrients and will make you feel stuffed in just a few bites. We usually pair chicken saravle with alnipani (the salt free chicken clear soup) for brunch on weekends and that's our most favourite comfort food. Just yummy!! So here is the

Recipe of Chicken Saravle

Ingredients:

1/2 kg saravle
1 whole chicken(preferably organic) cut into pieces
2 medium sized onions
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon Salt (as there's salt in saravle already)
3×2" sticks of cinnamon
12-15 black peppercorns
1-1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons pure ghee
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water

Method:

1. Clean and wash the chicken pieces and keep aside.
2. Peel wash and make paste of the onions using very little water.
3. Heat pure ghee in a heavy bottomed pot. Then add cinnamon sticks and black pepper corns. Sauté onion paste till pink then add ginger-garlic paste and add fennel seeds powder, turmeric powder, salt and sugar mix well and then add chicken pieces and stir fry till chicken turns white. Keep the flame medium to low. Then add coconut milk and water, cover and let it cook till chicken is almost done.
4. Finally add saravle and mix carefully with wooden spatula till everything is well coated with masala. Cover and let it cook on very low flame for 15-20 minutes. The saravle should be soft and done by now. Turn off the flame and serve warm.

Saravle - Kokni Style Pasta (Tiny Rings)

Saravle..

While I was searching Web to check if there's anything written about this famous kokni pasta I came across these words, "a poetry worthy food" wow!! I mean that's so true! Though I dont know the ABCD of poetry but these tiny rings will make you fall in love by just looking at them and then when they melt in your mouth it's like heaven! Hahhaha.. anyway, saravle is no doubt one of the best foods I have ever eaten. I like both sweet and savoury versions equally.
Though you can always buy the prepare saravle that are sold locally and cook the way you want but you can also make your own saravlas at home which needs skills but not too difficult a task though. You just need to make a perfect dough, make thick vermicelli through the vermicelli sieve and then roll them on saravle sticks to make rings and and then let them dry in sunlight. Once hardened (takes just 2-3 hours) you can store them in air tight jars and containers. You can roast them a little before storage or roast them lightly before cooking to get that nice golden colour.

Though I have never made the saravle but I have got these methods to prepare saravle from some experts who sell them locally at very reasonable rates. There are three types, I was told;

1. Wheat flour saravle
2. White flour saravle
3. Semolina saravle

1. For wheat flour saravle just make a stiff dough using what flour, salt and water and leave it covered for 1-2 hours.

2. For maida saravle mix maida (white flour), salt and water. You can add semolina in 1:4 proportion. Leave the dough for at least 3 hours. The dough shouldn't be very soft.

3. For semolina saravle, soak semolina in water for over night then add salt and knead the dough. The water quantity should be half of that of the semolina quantity.

Preparation:
Make the balls out of dough and pass then through vermicelli press and then roll them on saravle sticks. (These wooden sticks are available in the markets of kokan and mumbai) remove the rings carefully from the sticks and spread on a flat thali and keep in sunlight for 2-3 hours. Your saravle is ready!

If the task sounds too hard go for pasta maker and get it done through the machine.

But again buying readymade saravle is the easiest option! 😜

Now go enjoy the Sweet and savoury recipes with these saravle.

Rice and Semolina Steamed Cake (Bhanori Recipe)

I was browsing about kokni muslim cuisine and saw this name on 'bhanori' on Wikipedia along with saandan and baitho ghavno and I got curious that what it must be as the name was new to me. And to my surprise, a few days later, the same recipe was discussed in a WhatsApp group. And that's where I got the authentic recipe and then I decided to give it a try on the same day. Fortunately, I had all the ingredients available so I just prepared the batter, covered it and left it unattended for approximately 8 hours and then preceeded with steaming the cake. I was so happy with the results that I just couldn't wait take photos and shared in the group immediately. 😆

How to make Bhanori:

 Ingredients:

1/2 kg rice flour

1/4 kg semolina

200 g (one small bowl) shredded coconut

1/4 kg sugar (or little more as per your liking)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon yeast

1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

1/4 teaspoon saffron

3 tablespoon blanched and slivered almonds and pistachios

Method:

1. Break and beat eggs in a large bowl then add all the ingredients one by one except yeast and mix well then add yeast and cover the batter and keep it for 8-10 hours or overnight.

2. As batter is ready to cook, grease a pan and pour the batter. Garnish with almonds and pistachios and place the lid and let it cook on very low flame till it's done thoroughly.

3. Cut into pieces and eat. 😋 you can store bhanori in fridge for a week. Just shallow in better or ghee before serving.

Roasted Cashew Nuts - a healthy snacking option

Salt free 100% healthy roasted cashew nuts 😋😋

Roasted nuts with a cup of nicely brewd chai or perfectly done coffee and some good company is all I want on a dull winter evening. I strongly feel that all these salt loaded nuts are NOT so healthy and just an indulgent snack it's even worse when we have them with sugar and cream loaded coffee.

A pic from our last mini get together 💗

But again we koknis being health conscious we prefer going salt free and organic even while snacking. Being blessed with plenty of cashew plantation in the region we easily these raw dried cashew beans with shells

Which are then roasted on an open fire till the outer skin is charred like this

Then the charred skin is removed from the nuts that still have that thin inner skin which you can remove while eating the way you do with chana-Seng. Enjoy you salt free, organic healthy treat! ☺

How to make Chawal ki Roti | Rice Flour Roti Recipe | How to make Bhakri

If you don't know how to make chawal ki roti, you know nothing about kokni style cooking! That's the norm here in the community and every girl when reaches marriageable age is taught to make chawal ki roti though many fail to do it on hands but then the roti press or belan comes to the rescue. The traditional way of making rice flour roti requires a cast iron tawa and a lot of skills and of course patience!! You can't learn to make roti in a day or two, you need to practice for days or even months to get perfect thin and soft rotis that are roasted evenly without any dark burnt spots. I am still learning and every time I show a lot of enthusiasm to make roti on hands but end up having a cracked edged something that can't be placed on hot tawa lol so obviously I go with roti press. :p
Anyway, here I am presenting how they make Rice Flour Roti:

You'll need;

1 cup rice flour

1/2 cup water + for kneading

Wooden spatula

Cast-iron griddle

Parat (a wide steel or aluminium bowl used for mixing the dough)

A metal spatula for flipping rotis

Directions:

1. Take 1/2 cup water in a  pot and and let it boil vigorously then quick pour in the flour and turn of the flame and immediately start mixing with the help of wooden spatula (known as daav). You gotta be really quick here. It should look like this

2. Take the dough in parat and knead it well using a water little by little till it becomes a soft dough.

3. Now take a little dough enough to make a standard size roti and knead again to make it pliable. Take this ball in left hand and pinch it to make a 3-4" wide disc using middle and index fingers and thumb of right hand. Once it is wide think enough to hold between your palms start flattening it the way this lady is doing in the picture

4. Meanwhile heat the tawa till it very hot. Once the roti is thin enough place it on the tawa. You can grease the tawa with just dash of oil to avoid roti from sticking to the tawa. Let the roti cook on one side till the upper surface is all dry then flip with metal spatula and let it cook it nicely done them flip again and let it puff up. Then remove from the tawa. To keep roti soft keep them in bamboo basket covered in soft kitchen napkin. Enjoy with you favourite kokni dishes.

Photo Courtesy: Google

Coconut Stuffed Bhindi Recipe | Stuffed Lady Finger Recipe

Bhindi is one of those lucky vegetables that I don't hate 😜 I remember once when I started cooking one day my said "today you'll make some stuffed bhindi for today's dinner. Choose if you want to make it with tilkoot (I will share later, what it is.) Or chow (grated Coconut)." I was just so confused and scared to make something for the dawat dinner that night but then mom taught me how to make these lip-smacking stuffed bhindi. Everyone liked it and I received so much love and praise from all the aunties. Since then I have made numerous times. It's a superb dish to present as simple meal or it can be that dish that goes on dawat table along with other rich and heavy dishes. It is best served with roti or rice bhakri. Or as a side dish with rice and mutton or chicken korma.

Coconut Stuffed Bhindi Recipe | Stuffed Lady Finger Recipe

Ingredients:

500 gms okra
1 cup freshly grated coconut
1 large onion
3-4 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (optional)
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1/4th teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cooking oil

Method:

1. Wash okra and remove heads and just a little portion from the pointed end and slit them from that end but take that 2 parts shouldn't get separated. Keep them aside.
2. Now slice the onions finely, add crushed galic, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt, sugar and coriander leaves and mix well. As it starts leaving juices add grated coconut. The filling is ready.
3. Take bhindi and fill the above prepared mixture in slits.
4. Take oil in a cooking pan and arrange the stuffed bhindi in a single layer. Cover the pan and cook on very low flame for 30-35 minutes. The bhindi will get cooked through in steam. You don't need to flip the bhindi.

How to make Coconut Rice

Posting this recipe on demand :D people have been asking me what's coconut rice? And was like what! You don't know? But then I realised not everybody follows same cooking style and then thought to post this recipe. Here in kokan rice are prepared in many different ways like coconut rice, baghara rice, plain cooked rice, golden pink rice, khichdi, pulao and biryani. There are also sweets preparations of rice. I will try to post all the recipes. In sha Allah! So here is,

How to make Coconut Rice:

1 cup rice
2 cups coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon or as per taste salt

Cooking Directions:

1. Wash rice well and take into the cooking pot or rice cooker.
2. Add coconut milk and water and salt. Stir and let it cook on high flame, when all the liquid is almost absorbed place the lid and and cook on very slow flame. Check after 5 minutes if therequired is no mixture at and all and rice ate done well then turn of the flame ando serve.

Drumsticks Curry Recipe

Drumsticks curry is a mildly spiced slightly sweet onion based curry. It can be served with plain cooked rice or rice bhakri with some spicy seafood. Drumsticks have many health benefits and widely available in the market. Fresh coconut milk adds to the goodness of this curry.

Photo Courtesy: Asma Dhanshe

Drumsticks curry recipe:

Ingredients:
3-4 drumsticks
2 medium sized onions
1-1/2 teaspoon fennel seed powder
A pinch of turmeric
Salt as per taste
1 teaspoon pure ghee
1 tablespoon rice flour
1/2 cup water
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 cup thin coconut milk

Method:
1. Clean and cut drumsticks into long pieces. Boil these for 3-5 minutes or till the drumsticks are tender but take care that they don't break or open.
2. Peel, wash and grind the onion to a fine paste using water.
3. Heat a heavy bottomed pot and add onion paste after it has become almost dry add ghee and sauté well. 4. Meanwhile add fennel powder, turmeric powder and salt then add boiled drumsticks and let them cook covered for some time.
4. Lastly add coconut milk and bring to boil. Sprinkle some fresh coriander and serve.

Fried Fish Recipe

Here in kokan we have many recipes for frying fish like green masala fish fry, rava fried fish, besan fried, black pepper fish fry etc. But I'm sharing the one authentic recipe that's universal and famous in almost every kokni household. Fish fried this way goes just perfect with any daal or Kadhi along with rice and makes a perfect combo with fried coconut chutney, sabzi and chawal ki roti or you can just roll it in plain roti with salad and gobble gobble while on the go.
You can fry any kind of fish with this method. The measurements in this recipe are approximate you can increase or lower the spices as per your preference.

Yeah yeah! I know it's making you drool, ain't it? 😋😉
Photo Courtesy: Saima Miqdad

Ingredients:

1/2 kg fish

5-6 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoon red chili powder

1/4th teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (or as per taste)

1 tablespoon chopped coriander

Juice from half a lemon

1 tablespoon cooking oil

Method:

1. Clean and wash the fish and pat dry to remove excess water.
2. Take metal bow and crush garlic cloves then add all the masala powder, salt and lemon juice and mix well. Apply this mixture to fish and let it marinate for 5-10 minutes. (You can fry it right away though)
3. Heat a non stick pan. Pour oil and turn off the flame and arrange fish in the pan. Turn on the flame and cook on medium low flame for 5 minutes then again turn off the heat and let it cool down a bit. After the sizzling sound has stopped and oil is settled turn the fish and cook the same way on other side. Serve with lemon slices.

Kadhi Pakoda Recipe | Kadi Pakora Recipe

Kadhi Pakora with coconut rice and Fried Fish or prawns masala is an amazing lunch combo. It's a hit all over kokan. Kadhi is a simple gravy made from curd and chickpea flour and then made thin with coconut milk followed by curry leaves and mustard
seeds tempering which gives amazing tempting aroma to the dish. Kadhi is usually served with coconut rice but you can have it with plain rice as well. The pakoras served with Kadhi are called "goad bhajji" as they are mild in taste and made fluffy and somewhat soft than the usual pakoras so that they can absorb kadhi.

Kadhi, Pakora and Fried Fish served with Coconut Rice.

Ingredients:

For Kadhi:

1 cup thick curd
2 tablespoons chickpea flour (besan)
1 green chili
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2-3 garlic cloves
A pinch of turmeric powder
Salt as per taste
1cup thick coconut milk
1 cup thin coconut milk
1 cup water

For tempering:

8-10 curry leaves
1 dried red chili
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon cooking oil

For Pakoras:

2 large onions
1/3 cup chickpea flour (besan)
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
1/4th teaspoon red chili powder
Salt as per taste
A pinch of baking soda (absolutely optional, I avoid this thing)
Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Make paste of green chili, cumin seeds and garlic using just a little water.
2.Take a cooking pot add curd and masala paste, salt and turmeric powder. Slowly mix in the besan taking care no lumps are formed then add water to make it thin and then cook with continous stirring till it form thick custard like texture. After it cools down a bit add coconut milk. First ad thick milk and stir well then adjust consistency as per your liking with thin milk. Bring the kadhi to boil and then remove from stove.
3. Heat oil in tadka pan and add all the ingredients for tempering. Heat them till a bit smoky and a nice aroma arises and then give tadka to prepared kadhi and cover it immediately. TaDa! Your kadhi is ready!

Now proceed with pakoras.

4. Peel, wash and finely slice the onions and take into a mixing bowl. Add all the ingredients for pakoras and mix well. Add a little water to make mixture light.
5. Now heat oil in deep frying pan and deep fry the pakoras till nice golden in colour.
6. While serving, dip a few pakoras in kadhi and serve the rest dry. Serve kadhi Pakora with coconut rice and fried or masala fish or prawns masala.