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.
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Gatte ki sabji( Sabzi)
Rajasthan, a state in India, has its own specialties when it comes to delicacies. Gatte ki sabji is one of that delicacy prepared using simple ingredients however has amazing taste. Though it is specialty of Rajasthan,its famous all over India. Other parts of India have their own variation of besan curry similar to to gatte ki sabji and I have shared couple of recipes of the same. It seem Rajasthani marriage celebrations are incomplete without this dish. The main ingredient of the recipe is besan (gram flour) which is used to prepare Gatte. The curry is based out of tomato, curd and mix of spices. In this recipe, I have also added fresh fenugreek (methi) leaves which make Gatte’s more delicious. Making dough for Gatte is little tricky and it should be of wheat flour chapati’s consistency. The delicious curry goes very well with Roti, Rice, Naan and Paratha.
Amla (Gooseberry) Candy
Amla (Gooseberry) is a fruit which is rich source of vitamin C. It has many health benefits related to hair, eyes, diabetes and heart related disease. Generally this fruit is available during Winter in India. You can get it from Indian stores fresh or frozen. Obviously fresh ones would taste much better than frozen. There are various recipes which you can make from Amla like pickle, khati meethi chatney, murrabba, jam or candy. This recipe is to prepare khathi meethi Amla candy which you can just eat like that as part of you daily routine. The recipe is prepared by grating the Amla and cooking on a low flame either with sugar or honey with certain spices. Amla candy can to stored in refrigerator for long term use.
Baked Bhakarwadi
Bhakarwadi is a tea time snacks item which is traditionally a spicy Maharashtrian snacks prepared using hot spices and deep fried in oil. In this recipe instead of deep frying, I have baked it in oven however both of them tastes similar. The fillings for the Bhakarwadi can be customized to your taste. Generally it has sweet and sour taste and nice aroma of spices. The outer crust is made either from all purpose flour or a mixture of besan and regular wheat flour. If you don’t like the baked one, you can just deep fry instead of baking. Bhakarwadi can be store in a air-tight container for weeks and goes well with cup of tea.
Chane Ki Kachori
Khasta Chane ki kachori is a mouthwatering snacks item famous in northern part of India. There are variety of Kachories like Moong daal Kachori, Matter ki Kachori, Sattu ki Kachori and so on an it all depends on the stuffing. Chane ki Kachori is made with spicy kala chana fillings in Kachori which is very Khasta & tasty. Kachori’s are nice tea time snacks and are made to the occasions as well. Kachori’s are served with coriander & mint chutney or date & tamarind chutney. One can make Chana kachori chaat by adding sweet yogurt and khatti meethi chutney. To make it easier at last minute, you can prepared the kachori balls in advance and roll and fry when you plan to serve.
Kalakhattha Mango Stuffed Khandvi
Khandvi is a Gujarati snacks which is made with gram flour(besan). I have shared another version of Khandvi earlier and you can find it here. Making khandvi is easy however it’s very important to get the right consistency of batter. Kalakhattha khandvi uses ingredients like Indian blackberry (Jamun), beetroot and some spices and stuffed with khatta meetha raw mango chutney or chundo. Jamun and beetroot gives a nice color and different taste then normal khandvi. The khatta meetha and tikha taste of this recipe gives a nice twist to khandvi. All colors are natural color in the recipe.
Stuffed Karela Fry (Bitter gourd)
Karela’s( bitter gourd) bitter taste might turn people away from it however it can really sweeten your health by virtue of its disease preventing and health promoting phyto chemical compounds. There are a variety of recipes you can make with Karela, like stir fried Karela with onion, or gravy or stuffed karela fry. Stuffed karela goes very well with simple daal and rice as a side dish.
Amla( Gooseberry) Pickle
Amla has a lots of health benefits. Amla is a seasonal fruit similar to mango and others and generally available in winter season. The fresh Amla is easily available in India however couldn’t find the same in US. I used the frozen Amla available in Indian grocery stores for this pickle however if you can get fresh it would be more delicious. This pickle is not as cumbersome as other like mango or chilies. Amla pickle can be stored for 3-4 months in refrigerator.