As a child, I hated the ridge gourd vegetable and so my Aai (mom) used to make this chutney from the peels of the ridge gourd and make me eat the vegetable along with the chutney. We tend to throw away the peels of many vegetables when they have the most nutritional value. So every time I make the ridge gourd curry, I preserve the peels and make this chutney. A very simple recipe of chutney, my mom’s recipe…

Ingredients:

Peels from 1/2 kilo ridge gourd (also known as Toree, Turai, Dodka, Shirale, Heeraikai, Peerkangai),

3-4 green chillies; slit vertically,

1 tbsp white sesame (til),

Salt to taste,

Oil for tempering.

Method:

Wash the ridge gourd and then peel them. Pat dry the peels with paper towels. In a pan heat 1 tbsp oil and add all the peels to it. Roast on low-medium flame, stirring occasionally.

When they begin to brown and turn crisp, remove from flame. Grind them to a coarse powder. Add salt to it and mix well.

In a small kadhai or pan, heat oil for tempering. Add white sesame and cover immediately. Else the sesame seeds will splutter all over the place. Uncover after few seconds and add green chillies.

Stir and add the ground peels. Mix well, cover and cook for a minute or two. Serve hot with chapatis or dal-rice.

This is one of those recipes that are prepared in every household in Maharashtra, especially during festivals. I remember eating this on the occasion of Pujas and other festivals. The recipe is simple, can be made in minutes and tastes exceptional with puris. I made it today on the occasion of ‘Durgashtami’. Hope you like it.

Ingredients:

5-6 medium size potatoes; boiled, peeled and chopped,
2 onions; sliced or finely chopped (as per your choice),
1/2 tsp rai (mustard seeds),
1/2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds),
1/4 tsp heeng (asafoetida),
3-4 green chillies (as per taste); each broken into two pieces,
10 cloves of garlic,
2-3″ pieces of ginger,
2-3 sprigs of fresh curry leaves,
Salt to taste,
4 tbsp vegetable oil.

Method:

Grind the ginger and garlic.Heat oil in a kadhai. Add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Then lower the flame and add jeera and ground ginger-garlic. Roast for a minute or until fragrant. Do not burn. Then add curry leaves, green chillies, heeng and onions. Saute onions till soft. You can add salt at this stage since it will help onions to turn soft. Later add turmeric powder, mix well and add mashed potatoes. Stir until the potatoes are nicely coated with the onion mixture and are evenly yellow in color. Then cover and cook for 4-5 minutes. Uncover and stir occasionally. Serve hot with puris or parthas.

Tip:
You can use this same vegetable to stuff into Masala Dosa or make small balls of this vegetable, dip them into gram flour batter  and deep fry them to make batata vadas.

Ingredients:

250gms red pumpkin; peeled and cubed,

1″ piece of ginger; finely chopped,

A pinch of methi (fenugreek) seeds,

A pinch of heeng (asafoetida),

1/4 tsp turmeric powder,

1/2 tsp red chilli powder,

1/2 tsp garam masala,

Salt to taste,

1/2-3/4 tsp sugar,

Oil for tempering,

Water.

Method:
In a pan/kadhai, heat 1-2 tbsp oil on low flame. Add methi seeds, heeng, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt and ginger. Roast for half a minute. Then add chopped pumpkin and roast on low flame for 2-3 minutes. Then add a cup of water, cover and cook until pumpkin becomes tender and soft. Do not over cook else pumpkin will melt. Serve hot with chapatis.

‘Zunka’ is a Maharashtrian recipe made out of gram flour. It has few ingredients and is delicious if made little spicy. It is also called as a poor man or a farmer’s food. Tastes best if served with ‘Bhakri’, onion and ‘Mirchi Thecha’. You can also have it with plain roti or dal-rice. It can be a replacement of vegetable or as a side dish.

There are different methods of making zunka, but this one is with minimum ingredients, yet tastes awesome.

Ingredients: (Serves 2-3)

1 1/2 cups gramflour (or as required),

1 large onion; chopped,

A handful of coriander leaves,

1 green chilli (optional); finely chopped,

Turmeric, red chilli powder and salt to taste,

Little water,

1/2 cup of oil.

Method:

Heat oil in a heavy bottom kadhai. Meanwhile mix together all the other ingredients in a bowl and add little water to get a thick mixture (thicker than the batter of bhajiya). Mix properly and then drop it into the oil. Give it a nice stir and cover and cook over low-medium flame, stirring ocassionally until the mixture is dry. Once dry, uncover and cook mixing ocassionally until it turns golden brown in color. Serve with Bhakri (Bajra-Jowar Roti), raw onion and mirchi thecha (green chilli chutney).

Its ‘Makar Sankranti’ tommorrow. It is an auspicious day when the sun enters into the zodiac Capricon. The day is widely celebrated all over Maharashtra, parts of western, north and some parts in south India.
In Maharashtra, delicacy called ’tilgul’ made out of til – white sesame seeds and gul – jaggery and people share this sweet with each other exchanging these words “Tilgul ghya goad goad bola’ which means have this tilgul and exchange sweet words. Another delicacy that is prepared is ‘gulpoli’ again made out of gul, til and few other ingredients stuffed and rolled like poli/paratha.

Since my childhood days, I remember ‘aayi’ my mother prepared lots of ’tilgul’ and I used to distribute them amongst all my friends, we used to compete as to who gets more tilgul.

Ingredients:
200gms til (white sesame seeds),
100gms gul (the one used in chikki – is stickier than the normal gul),
A handful of peanuts or chana dalia,
Little dry coconut; grated,
1/2 tsp of coarsely ground elaichi (cardamom seeds)
1 tbsp ghee.

Method:
In a non-stick kadhai or pan, add til and roast them on low flam until slightly golden. Remove. In the same kadhai roast coconut and peanuts separately until light brown. Remove and set aside. To the same kadhai add gul and cook stirring until it melts. Then add ghee to it and cook stirring until it begins to turn reddish. To that add til, coconut, nuts and elaichi, mix immediately and thouroughly as the mixture thickens very quickly. When properly mixed, remove from flame. You will have to prepare these laddus while the mixture is hot. Grease your palms and fingers with ghee, scoop out a spoonful of mixture and roll laddus, firmly and quickly. When they cool down, store in an airtight container. Happy Makar Sankranti!