Roma's Space

Pav Bhaji

This Maharashtrian delight needs some more time and effort to make as compared to other breakfasts but once its done its worth the effort you put into it. To make it nutritious you can replace potatoes with other vegetables like cabbage and beans. You can also skip the extra dollops of butter that are added to toss the fat out of the dish. This kind of a bhaji when eaten with a brown bread pav can completely change this dish into a very healthy option for calorie conscious people.

Right now I am presenting to you the original style in which it is made :

Ingredients :

• 1 Potato
• 4 Tomatoes
• 2 Onions
• 1 Capsicum
• 1/2 cup Peas
• a few florets of Cauliflower
• 2 teaspoons Ginger garlic paste
• 3 tablespoons Pav Bhaji masala
• 1 lemon
• Pav bread

Procedure :

1. Boil Cauliflower, peas and potato. Mash once done and set aside.
2. Heat a kadai. Take some oil and fry the onions. Once they discolor add ginger garlic paste and Pav bhaji masala. After a few minutes add finely cut tomatoes, capsicum, salt, 2 large dollops of butter and fry till the oil leaves the sides of the pan.
3. Now add the mashed vegetable and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Once done, squeeze the juice of a fresh lime into it.
4. Garnish the bhaji with coriander leaves. Heat the pavs on a pan with some butter.
5. Serve Pav Bhaji with finely chopped onions and small pieces of fresh lime.

Please NOTE:

1. If you like a thick gravy in the bhaji you can add some cornflour paste to the bhaji eventually and cook for a few minutes. For this, you need to dissolve 2 tablespoons of cornflour in 1/2 cup cold water and stir to obtain a paste.
2. I personally don’t like food color, although most people do add reds and oranges to their Bhaji.

Presenting two unique and delicious coconut burfi recipes. The first one is made with a sugar base and the second with a creamy thickened milk base. My personal favorite is the chilled coconut malai burfi, as it just melts in the mouth.

Coconut Burfi :

Ingredients :

• 2 tablespoons Ghee
• Badam, Kaju, Kismis (few pieces each)
• 1 cup freshly dessicated coconut
• less than 1/4 cup sugar (upto your taste to add more…)

Procedure :

1. Heat Ghee and fry the dry fruits like Badam, Kismis and kaju. Keep aside. In the same kadai fry freshly dessicated coconut till it loses its color (15 – 20 mins approx) .
2. Heat sugar in a pan. Add a small quantity of water and mix it till it dissolves.
3. Add sugar syrup to the coconut mixture. Mix well till the mixture thickens.
4. pour into greased tray and cut when cool.

Coconut malai Burfi (with milk) :

The picture above is of coconut malai burfi. It needs very simple ingredients and brings out the rich taste in coconut.

Ingredients :

• Full cream milk 1/2 litre
• 1 medium size Coconut
• Badam, Kaju, Kismis, elaichi (few pieces each)
• Few teaspoons of sugar

Procedure :

1. Soak kaju and badam for an hour. Grind them with fresh coconut.
2. Boil 1/2 lt full cream milk. let it simmer till it thickens.
3. Add the ground mixture and continue to cook. Add sugar, elaichi and thicken.
4. Once done, pour out onto a greased plate. Cool and solidify in the freezer for a few hours.
5. Cut into desired shape and serve chilled. You can decorate it with fried kismis for that extra yummy look.

Please NOTE :

1. You can use Nandini orange packet which is a good ‘full cream milk’ option.
2. Please be careful while adding sugar to this dessert as coconut is an ingredient which is already quite sweet.

Til Rava Burfi

This is what I call ‘Sankranthi Delight’. Fast to cook and great to eat any time of the day. What better way to celebrate the beginning of the harvest season?

Ingredients :

• 5 tablespoons of til
• 5 tablespoons of chiroti (fine) rava
• 5 tablespoons of jaggery
• 1 tablespoon of desi ghee
• elaichi seeds

Procedure :

1) Heat a thick bottom pan or a kadai. Add til seeds and fine rava. Mix in elaichi seeds and stir on low flame till both til and rava turn light brown (take care not to burn).

2) Add jaggery and mix well. Add 5 tablespoons of water, one tablespoon of desi ghee and continue to stir till mixture comes together.

3)Pour mixture out on a greased tray. Cut Til Rava Burfi into desired shape and serve once cool.

Please NOTE :

1) Preferably use jaggery of the brand ‘Dharani‘, available in all ISKCON temples. This tastes pure and you will not have to take the trouble of straining the jaggery to get rid of the suspended impurities.

2) Rava is used because til alone becomes too oily to eat. Also, rava gives the burfi a good thickness and consistency.

With all the information I had been penning down on paper so far it became inevitable for me to come up with a Blog. My husband had been asking me to do this like forever but I never really began to understand its importance, until lately.  I would call up friends asking for recipes, I would have some friends call back for home remedies. Suddenly, I felt like a blog was the perfect online repository to hold information and views so it could be easily shared with others. Today is the beginning, lets see where this goes….