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Pumpkin Masala

Pumpkin is one of the widely grown vegetables rich in vitamins. You can prepare variety of dishes using pumpkins like pumpkin pie, pumpkin kheer, pumpkin cupcakes, breads and so on. This recipe is mainly based on the preparations in Norther part of India where it is used as a dry side dish and goes very well with channa daal poories, normal poories or rice. This dish is simple to prepare and gets exotic taste from punch phoran spices, jaggrey and amchoor powder. This dish is also prepared during marriage ceremony. This is one of my favorite dry side dish. Enjoy this delicious recipe with your family and friends.    


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.  

Green Chana Poori

Poori is a deep fried Indian bread which is famous all over India. There are many kind of pooris like a palak & beetroot poori, plain poori, bhatura, stuffed chana daal poori and so on. Delicious green chana poori is made using wheat flour, fresh green chana and palak(spinach) puree and deep fried in oil. Pooris are all time favorite of my kids and they love to eat as lunch in school so I make them very often. During the season when Green Chana is available I make pooris using it. You can find green chana in Indian store or use frozen green chana if not fresh one is not available. There are many recipes which can be prepared using fresh green chana like paratha, kabab, spiced daal, curry or so on. In this recipe I have added spinach to give a nice green color. You can skip spinach if you don’t like and make it only with chana. Green chana poori goes very well with any Indian curry, pickle or dry sabji.

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Garlic Naan Without Yeast

Naan is a very famous Indian flat bread across India and now even in other part of the world. My kids are big fan of naan and kulcha. There are many type of naan you can find, like plain naan, butter naan, garlic naan, paneer naan and so on. The garlic naan is made using all purpose flour(maida), yogurt, baking powder, baking soda which is kneaded with warm milk. This recipe is without yeast but also you can make naan using yeast. The garlic naan is topped with chopped garlic, coriander leaves and Kalongi (nigella) seeds. You can also make it using normal wheat flour however the texture and taste would be different.  Traditionally, naan is made in a clay tandoor however generally we won’t have it at home so we can use a stove or oven. This naan is prepared using iron tava and cooked on stove flame/heat. The texture and taste is very close to the clay tandoor. To make soft and fluffy naan leave the dough for overnight after preparing. You may have to try it few time before it starts coming up nice. Enjoy restaurant style naan at home with your favorite curry.

Kale & Spinach Lachha Paratha

Lachha paratha is a layered Indian flat bread. Generally lachha paratha is made with all purpose flour however I have used wheat flour. Adding kale and spinach make its more healthy and tasty. For kids who don’t like leafy vegetables, this is a great idea in order to feed them green vegetables. It can be packed in their lunch boxes and it goes well with sauce and any side dish.

Raw Mango Pickle

Mango pickle is a common supplement for Indian meals. It’s tangy taste adds flavor to food. Recently I visited India and learnt from my Mom how to make this. I am sharing her recipe. There are variety of mangoes available however the best pickle is made out of “Sukul” mango.

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