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.

Fried Fancy Cookies | Phool Recipe

Fried Fancy Kokni Style Cookies - Phool/fool

Another recipe contributed by Asma Dhanshe. 😊

Phool or fool literally means 'flower' in kokni langauge and the name is given for the shape of these cookies., this sweet thing is just too cute to eat, isn't it? And it needs patience and practice to get perfect light and melt in mouth type of phools. Using heavy bottomed drying pan is highly recommended for this recipe.

You need this mould to make fools 😜 and you can buy the mould Here with 6 different shapes or you can buy a simple rosette one Here

Here is the step by step pictorial recipe:

So here is the Recipe of Fool or Phool: (Rosette Cookies)

Ingredients:

250 g Maida (white flour or you can use whole wheat flour instead)

125 g Sugar

1 large Egg

A pinch of Salt

1/8th tsp Cardamom Powder

A pinch of Saffron

Water for making batter

Oil for frying

Method:

1. Take a bowl and break egg in it. Add sugar, salt, cardamom powder and saffron and beat well then slowly mix in the flour adding little water to avoid forming lumps. Adjust water to make a batter of pouring consistency. The batter shouldn't be runny as it won't get stick to the mould neither too thick as that will result in dense and chewy cookies.

2. Now heat oil till it medium hot. Dip the mould in oil for about 20 seconds now immediately dip it into the batter. You shouldn't dip it completely in batter otherwise it will stick badly and won't leave proper shapes in oil.

3. Once sufficient batter has collected on the mould head move it to the oil and hold till it leaves the cookies in oil. Repeat with remaining batter and fry till just golden.

4. Remove on absorbent paper and then store them in container. You can sprinkle powdered sugar on fools or you can serve them with malai (fresh cream) and rabdi.

Khajuri Recipe | Mooncake Recipe (Kokni version) | Chaungey Recipe

Difficult Recipe Alert!

Yes! Because making khajure or chaungey is not so easy. It takes a lot of passion to get that perfect shape and texture. If you make a little mistake while mixing the your khajuri will melt in oil instead of your mouth. Imagine the mess now! 😈 haha scared enough? Lol. Don't be! Just go ahead and try this recipe contributed by my dear friend Asma Dhanshe. She has got it just right. A real no fail recipe. 😎

You need khajuri mould to imprint the patterns on top which you can buy here,

Mould set @ INR 1100
Wooden Mould $12.99
3 shapes multipurpose plastic mould $11.99

How to make Khajuri | How to make Chaungey

Ingredients:

600 g Semolina

400 g White Flour

6 Eggs

1/2 kg Powdered Sugar (or as per your taste)

100 g Melted Ghee

1/2 tsp each of

Salt

Cardamom Powder

Saffron

Method:

1. Break eggs in a mixing bowl and add sugar and beat lightly.
2. Now add all dry ingredients one by one and mix well by pouring ghee little by little. The dough will be very and sticky. Cover it and let it rest for at 6 hours (or overnight).

3. Now knead the dough to make it pliable and divide it into golf ball sized portions. Take one ball and gently press it on the mould. You can use rolling pin for rolling the dough.

4. Now heat oil in a frying pan and fry khajuri (or chaungey as we call them in kokni langauge) till golden brown in colour. Remove on absorbent paper and then store in a container. They'll stay fresh for 3 weeks!
PS: don't forget to enjoy some hot khajuri. 😋😋 

Onion Pakora Recipe | Onion Fritters Recipe | Kanda Bhajji Recipe

Hot and crispy Onion Bhajji - one of the Iftar essentials at my place..

Hot, crispy and melt in mouth pakoras with chutney along with a cup of adrak wali chai and a good book (get your favourite books here http://www.amazon.in/Kindle-eBooks/b?ie=UTF8&node=1634753031) is what all I want on a rainy afternoon. I didn't know how to make perfect crispy bhajjiya until I went to stay at a hostel for a few days during Ramadan and I felt the need to learn some basic recipes for Iftar (breaking the fast after sunset). My mom explained the recipe on phone and I tried making the fritters for the first time but they turned a little soggy! :( but I didn't give up after that and kept trying till I learned the the art of making perfect Bhajji! :D and here is my recipe for Pyaz ki Bhajji -

How to make Onion Pakora:

Ingredients:

2 Large Onions
2 Green Chilies
2 Tbsp Chopped Coriander Leaves
1/2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
1/8th Tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 Tsp Red Chili Powder (optional)
3 Tbsp Gram Flour (Besan)
1 Tbsp Water
Salt as per taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Peel, wash and finely slice the onions and take in a mixing bowl.
2. Add chopped green chilies, chopped coriander, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, red chili powder and mix gently.
3. Add gram flour and salt and mix well so that all things get well incorporated buy keep your hand light to avoid getting a water mixture. Adding a tablespoon of water makes your pakoras light and fluffy but you can avoid that if you want really very crispy bhajji.
4. Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Check if the oil is at right temperature for frying the pakoras by dropping a pinch of mixture if it comes to surface immediately then your oil is ready to fry the pakoras.
5. Drop the batter with the help of a spoon making tiny bhajjis. Fry till golden and enjoy the mouth watering kanda bhajji.

Note: Some recipe call for baking soda as an essential ingredient for pakoras but I literally HATE that thing! As the baking soda makes your pakoras really ideally crispy only till they're hot. Once they cooled down a bit you get a soggy mess that's good enough to through away in kitchen bin. So just AVOID baking soda.

Ghavan Recipe | Ayetey Recipe | Rice Flour Crepes Recipe

Rice flour crepes are a unique Kokni staple food

Photo Courtesy: Asma Dhanshe

In kokani local language these crepes are called ‘Ayta/Aytey’. It is a unique Kokni staple food made from rice flour, egg, salt and water this is a very thin crispy pan cake that goes just fine with anything savory or sweet.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour

1 egg

A pinch of salt

2 cups water

Oil for greasing the griddle

Method:

1. Take rice flour in a large bowl.

2. Break the egg in small bowl and beat well then add to the flour.

3. Add water little by little with continuous stirring to avoid formation of lumps. When the mixture becomes thin runny consistency, add the salt and stir well.

4. Now, heat the non stick griddle and grease it with oil with the help of pastry brush. Pour the aytey mixture on hot griddle with a ladle and spread it in circular form by moving the griddle. It must be very thin. Let it cook till upper surface become dry and it gets slightly golden beneath. Then firsthe fold it to make half moon shape again fold that to make the triangle. Flip the triangle carefully and transfer to a plate.

5. Repeat with the remaining mixture till all done.

Serving suggestions:

1. Aytey can be eaten instead of roti with any spicy curry.

2. You can also serve them as a brunch with garlic and red chili chutney.

3. And the yummiest way to serve the aytey is, spread grated jaggery on aytey then pour in a dollop of melted desi ghee mix well and enjoy!

4. They are also served with coconut milk from a freshly broken coconut. Mix either jaggery or sugar with coconut milk add to the aytey mix well and serve.

Rote Recipe

Rote is a teacake made from semolina and eggs. It is a common jar snack in most of the kokni households. You can also make eggless or vegetarian version of this recipe by replacing eggs with butter milk.

How to make Rote:

Ingredients:

500 gms fine semolina
3 large eggs (or 1 cup buttermilk)
100 gms butter (at room temperature)
6 tbsp sugar (or as per taste)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp saffron strands
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
A pinch of salt
Slivered almonds for garnishing

Directions:

1. Break eggs one by one in the bowl of electric mixer then add but and sugar and mix well till the sugar is almost melted.

2. Now add semolina little by little and keep folding in gently with the help of spatula. Add baking powder and salt and mix well at low speed for 2-3 minutes.

3. Finally add cardamom powder and saffron and mix everything well.

4. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile grease a baking tray and pour the mixture in it. It shouldn't be very thick layer as Rote rise while baking. Decorate with slivered almonds and raisins if you want.

6. Place the tray in preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes or till it turns slightly golden on the top.

7. Remove from oven and let it cool for at least 10 minutes then cut into squares. Store in a airtight jar or container.

Date Cookies Recipe | Khajoor Ke Biscuits | How to Make Khajoor Biscuits

All my siblings and cousins love these delicious Khajoor Ke Biscuits. We used to demand dates Biscuits every second week when we were kids and I think it was one of the first dishes I learned to cook. The most difficult step in this recipes was to roll the hot mixture immediately so that it can form a firm texture and then it becomes easy to cut cookies later when is cold. Rest everything is so easy you just need to gather the ingredients and go ahead with the directions. The trick is to used black, soft and delicious dates to get that rich flavour. Here is what all you need to make Khajoor Ke Biscuits

Sugar is an optional ingredient and adding sugar makes cookies quite crunchy and extra sweet so can add sugar if you're making these cookies for some party or gifting. Some people do add a beaten egg but I avoid both the ingredients. And there is no need to add any flavours but still some people add a little cardamom powder or a few strands of saffron. You can use edible silver foil to decorate these biscuits while rolling the mixture. So here goes

Khajoor Ke Biscuit Recipe | Dates Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

500 gms Dates

25 Marie Biscuits

2 Tbsp Butter

1/4th cup Sugar (optional)

Butter paper for making rolls

Method:

1. Wash, deseed and chopped dates finely.

2. Break the Marie Biscuits in small pieces.

3. Heat a non stick pan and add butter then immediately add chopped dates (you can add sugar along with dates, if using) and sauté till it becomes somewhat more sticky now add Marie Biscuits and mix well.

4. Let mixture come together then remove on butter paper on a plane surface and make large rolls. Apply silver foil if you want to decorate your biscuits. Let these roll rest at room temperature for 4-5 hours then cut the discs using a sharp knife. Voila! Your biscuits are ready.

Photo Courtesy: Asma Dhanshe