Madhurjan Thongba/Manipuri Gramflour Dumplings in Sweet Milk

Manipuri cuisine is quite a unique cuisine in its own way. Its quite interesting to get to know about this cuisine which is bit unknown for me. Though i have a cooked a simple rice kheer from this dish, this cuisine is very interesting to explore.This month's  Shh Cooking Secretly, a monthly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel, took us to Manipur. If you would have went through my previous posts of this cooking event, you might have noticed that we are exploring each regions of India. We, the fellow bloggers shares secretly our ingredients to cook a dish which will be mysterious ingredients for others and the best part is to guess the ingredients. Every month we are having loads of fun to guess other's secret ingredients,dont forget to ping me if you want to join this group.

Malvani Kakdi Vade/Malvani Cucumber Vada

Malvan is a town in Sindhudurg district on west coast of Maharashtra, and this town have its own cuisine which is fondly called as Malvani cuisine. Its a standard cuisine of South Konkan region of Maharashtra and Goa. Malvani cuisine is dominated with non vegetarian dishes however many delicious vegetarian dishes do exists. My today's recipe is a fabulous dangerously addictive fried breads or pooris whatever you want like calling is an interesting dish i grabbed from Suma's Space. And this kakdi vade calls for grated cucumber with usual flours and spices we often use in our daily cooking. These kakdi vade are served along with a non vegetarian curry which have their important part in most of festivals especially in weddings among the Malvani community. Usually the flours used in this vade are prepared by toasting the dals and rice, which is later powdered for making this vade. If you have all the flours in your pantry, trust me you can dish out this vade in less time easily at home.

Mawa Jalebi/Khoya Jalebi

Mawa Jalebi, is one of the delectable Indian sweets which is prepared with homemade mawa aka popular milk solids. Milk solids/khoya/mawa, whatever you name them is one of most interesting ingredient which is quite often used in Indian cuisine especially for making some delightful milk based sweets. Traditionally milk solids are prepared by boiling full fat milk for hours to yield nice quality of mawa. However nowadays short cut version or cheat versions of Mawa do exists. Yes cheat version of mawa calls for full fat milk powder and cream. Both once mixed and cooked until they turns thick makes some quick version of mawa. Coming to my today's post, this is definitely a must try sweet dish from Madhya Pradesh, yes Mawa Jalebi is one of the most known sweets from this region. Traditionally this sweet is prepared during Raksha bandhan, diwlali etc. Mawa Jalebi is definitely a fabulous sweet dish to prepare at home to share with your family and loved ones for special occasions.

Doodhi Molagootal/Bottlegourd Molagootal

A balancing meal calls always for rice, dal and some side dishes, and obviously being a South Indian i cant give up rice for any reason. I usually make different dals or gravies to have with rice especially during weekends as i dont carry my lunch to work. Obviously i plan everything to make some rice based dishes during weekends. And here comes a super easy, protein rich Kerala dal based curry aka molagootal. Actually molagootal resembles quite like Tamilian's kootu, which calls for couple of vegetables and dal. Both when cooked together, dal and vegetables are mashed and served with tempering and spices. Molagootal calls  most of the ingredients almost like kootu, though a coconut based spice paste is added to bring a nice aroma to this Kerala dish. Molagootal is a well known dish in Palakad. Molagootal can also called as mulakushyam in many places. However both dishes are the same and the name varies from place to place.

Rava Halbai/Halubai/Semolina Halbai

Halbai or Halubai is a sweet dish from Karnataka which is literally known as rice halwa or rice cake as this dish is usually prepared with rice, jaggery and coconut with ghee. This sweet is prepared during Nagara panchami festival and its quite a healthy sweet to indulge without any fuss. Halbai is  often made in Udupi, Mangalore and Malnad region of Karnataka for a festival or celebration. Halbai is quite a delicious sweet which ressembles quite like burfi which is dangerously addictive. Though Halbai is traditionally made with rice, even rice flour, ragi and semolina can be used to give an another variation to this ultimate sweet. Since fresh coconut and jaggery is used in this sweet, trust me you cant just stop with a slice of this ultimate sweet. As i told earlier, traditionally this dish is prepared with a grounded rice-coconut paste and jaggery syrup, once cooked until they turns thick, this sweet is poured on a grease plate. Later, slice the halbai and serve. But my today's post is completely prepared with chiroti rava, yes its quite an easy and tasty version of halbai.

Dhuska/Dhooska

Dhuska is a well known deep fried snack from Jharkhand. This fried snacks are eaten all over Jharkhand which calls for rice, channa dal as two main ingredients. Actually, earlier Jharkhand cuisine is quite unknown cuisine for me. Before a year, for an event i cooked a dish from this cuisine and totally enjoyed going through their cuisine. Learned few recipes through google master and have bookmarked few from this cuisine as much i do with other unknown cuisine. And for this month's Shh Cooking Secretly, a monthly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel. We are cooking from Jharkhand, and i have been paired with Priya Mahesh of  Priyas Kitchen . Priya was kind enough to give me my two ingredients which is quite a staple food for a South Indian like me. Yes my two secret ingredients are Rice and channadal. 

Kashmiri Saag Haddar Yakhni /Kashmiri Style Mushroom in Spinach -Yogurt Sauce

Kashmiri cuisine is still quite a unknown cuisine for me. Actually i rarely cooked from this cuisine, however blogsphere pulled me to explore this cuisine. I have already two - three dishes from this cuisine. However for this month's Shh Cooking Secretly, a monthly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel we are cooking from Kashmiri Cuisine. Every month we are exploring different regional cuisine of India. After Himachali cuisine, this month's event goes for Kashmiri cuisine. You might know about the concept of this event, actually every month the members of this Facebook group get paired with an another member. Both discuss together secretly to get their two secret ingredients and cook with. Obviously we cook with those two ingredients and share our picture in the group, so that the other members pariticpate to guess the ingredients. Its quite an interesting play and this concept works awesome. We love to find out the ingredients though sometimes its quite a hard task.

Sidu/Siddu/Himachali Steamed Bread

Sidu or Siddu is a Himachal Pradesh steamed yeast bread which is quite famous in this region. Sidu dough is a yeast based dough which is prepared especially with wheat flour. And this steamed bread have a stuffing in it. Though the stuffing can be anything, however the most known stuffing is prominently prepared either with walnuts or paneer along with a combination of vegetables. This steamed yeasted bread is definitely a must to try. Normally served with ghee, dal or with coriander chutney, this steamed bread is quite famous during winter. Warm Siddu is definitely a fabulous dish to taste while the weather is bit chilled outside. Traditionally Siddu is shaped as half moon, however they can also rolled as round buns. Siddu is a typical dish of Himachali cuisine which is definitely a delicious bread. I tried Siddu at home for this month's  a monthly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel.

Alsi Ki Pinni/Flax Seeds & Edible Gum Sweet Balls

Though am running a month of blogging marathon, i couldnt stop myself to dish out some super duper healthy Alsi ki Pinni for this month's Shhhh cooking secretly event. This month's Shhh Cooking Secretly, a monthly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel is taking you all to Haryanvi Cuisine. You might have noticed that since few months, we are cooking from different Regional cuisines of India. After dishing out some delightful dishes from Gujarati cuisine, this month's event is all about Haryana. Alsi ki pinni is a very popular sweet in Haryana which is prepared with Alsi aka flax seeds, whole wheat flour, ghee, edible gum/gond, jaggery and cardamom powder.Pinni are prepared during winter as they gives lot of warm and energy to the body. Alsi aka lin seeds are extremely healthy and quite beneficial for cold and cough, as they gives strength. Lin seeds contains many nutritional properties, which control the cholesterol level of your body.

Methi Na Gota/Gujarati Methi Pakoda/Methi Pakora

Somehow i felt like blogging is taking a back seat, professional life is quite hectic now. With just three months to end an Academic year, so many things are happening in my profession. Nothing to do with, late month i couldnt able to participate in an event which is quite close to my heart. Yes am talking about the Shhh Cooking Secretly, a monthly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel. Last month's theme was Goan cuisine which is one among my favourite. Obviously i was looking for the annoucement of this month's theme and joined immediately as we are landing to Gujarat. Gujarati cuisine is definitely an another Indian cuisine which is quite popular around the world. Their dhoklas and khandvis have their own place in most of the North Indian Thalis. Their way of cooking foods are seriously very simple with gluten friendly ingredients as much as vegan as well. Gujarati cuisine is one of the oldest cuisine with unique cooking style, different pickles, farsans and chutneys with are highly nutritional.

Fara/Chattisgarhi Rice Flour Dumplings

Fara/Phara is a steamed rice flour dumplings which is a favourite breakfast food of peoples of Chattisgarh. This region is known for their rice production on large scale, hence rice is eaten widely in the state. Called either as Muthia or Fara, this dish is a beautiful steamed dish to relish with a spicy chutney.Rice flour once kneaded with hot water and shaped as oblong shaped dumplings which is cooked with tempering makes this fantastic healthy breakfast dumplings. As much as like South Indians mani kozhukattais, this faraa is definitely a must to try if you love mani kozhukattais.

Bihari Sattu Ka Paratha/Sattu Rotti

Sattu ka Paratha or Sattu Paratha is one of the most popular Indian breads in Bihar region of India. This Sattu paratha is a staple food of Biharis. Sattu is Roasted channa dal flour, and its one the execellent protein source for vegetarians of Bihar. Obviously this sattu is used in many authentic Bihari recipes. The most known dish cooked with sattu is this stuffed paratha. Not to forget that this roasted channa dal flour is full of fibre with many nutritious values in it. Its a super healthy alternative for many in Bihar as its available very much cheap there. South Indians makes excellent chutneys with roasted grams but in Bihar, they makes healthy sattu paratha with the same roasted grams aka pottukadalai (in tamil). We (South Indians) are seriously unaware of this parathas until i get a chance to prepare this nutritious flatbreads at home.

Assamese Sweet Vegetable Pulao

You may wonder to read the name of my today's post, yes Sweet Vegetable Pulao, this dish is from Assam cuisine. Actually, even i was surprised when i crossed this dish at Sunita's space, and this dish is really very easy to give a try. Though sugar is used in this one pot meal, they dont dominate much and we enjoyed thoroughly this incredible pulao with paneer masala. Every month,we are cooking from Regional cuisines of India for Shhh Cooking Secretly, a monthly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel. After Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, this month we are landing to Assam. Assam is a state of Northeast India, which is situated to south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahamaputra and Barak river valleys. Assam is known very much for its tea and for their silk. Coming to their cuisine, an Assamese meal consists of rice, dal, fish curry along with meat curry or with a curry prepared with herbs and vegetables.

Thukpa/Vegetarian Noodle Soup

Arunachal Pradesh is in Northeastern part of India and its known for its tribal community. Obviously their food consists mainly of non vegetarian foods. However my today's post is a vegetable soup which is called Thukpa, actually Thukpa is a Tibetan noodle soup which have its origins in eastern part of Tibet . But this dish is quite popular in Nepal, Bhutan and in states like Sikkim, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. Usually prepared with meats, you can still prepare this quite filling soup as vegetarian version just by skipping the meat part. Loaded with various vegetables and noodles, one can finish their lunch or dinner happily with a bowl of thukpa. And this post goes to this month's Shhh Cooking Secretly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel.

Janthikalu/Murukkulu/Chakli

Janthikalu/Murukkulu is nothing but crispy spirals which are quite known in South India. This snack food is well known for their crispiness as well as for their different varieties. Though Janthikalu/Murukkulu/ Murukku or Chakli,these crispy fried beauties have their own place for Festivals of lights aka Diwali, janthikalu can be prepared for an evening snacks, if you are lover of deep fried crispies. This festival is around the corner and Indians all around the world make some delicious sweets and savouries to share with friends and relatives especially on this day. Janthikalu is Andhra style murukku which calls for rice flour, gram flour, ajwain seeds, sesame seeds, ghee and obviously chilly powder. Yes the speciality of Andhra savouries is the addition of chilly powder as they love spiciness in their foods.

Corn,Vermicelli Aloo Bonda/Corn,Vermicelli Potato Bonda

Aloo Bonda/Batata Vada aka Potato bonda is a simple and tasty evening snack to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee. Usually prepared with a simple onion mashed potato filling, these bondas tastes super delicious when served along with coconut chutney,but my today's post is definitely a innovative dish. Yes mine is quite a different from the usual potato bonda. I have prepared this fried beauties with cooked vermicelli and sweet corn kernels along with mashed potatoes. Adding corn kernels to this simple potato filling brings some crunchiness to this bonda.Actually am posting this crispy Aloo Bonda for this month's Shhh Cooking Secretly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel.

Summer Salad in a Jar/Mixed Vegetables & Mozzarella Salad

Do you know you carry very well your salad in a jar, with a simple earlier plan, you can prepare your salad jar everyday easily to carry in your bag to enjoy for a lunch or else for a picnic. My today's post is a summer friendly salad which i simply prepared quickly with couple of vegetables, mozzarella cheese and golden raisins. Easy to prepare, this salad will definitely please you as most of the vegetables i used in this salad are completely healthy and raw. No oil is needed and no dressing is needed. Spiced up with salt and pepper powder, this salad is very quick to prepare.Actually am posting this salad for this month's Shhh Cooking Secretly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel.

Mixed Berries Lemonade

f not berry season here in Paris, though frozen mixed berries comes to rescue if i plan something to dish out with mixed berries. Mixed berries works awesome either in bakes though i usually prepare them as mixed berries jam quite often. However if you get a chance to whisk out something different from the usual way of dishing out something with mixed berries and lemon, how can i resist to blend together to prepare this ultimate summer drink. This mixed berries lemonade is definitely a summer treat, a fabulous thirsty quencher, you can prepare this lemonade with simple efforts.

Baked Broccoli & Semolina Tater Tots

Tater tots are deep fried, grated potatoes served for starter or as a side. Usually prepared with potatoes, you can dish out this fantastic, dangerously addictive small bites with different vegetables. These tater tots are known very much for their cylindrical shape and crispy exterior. However tater tots can be baked as well if you want to make these deep fried beauties as a guilt free snacks. My today's recipe goes for Broccoli and semolina, yes you heard it rite, my own version of tater tots have semolina in it. I was supposed to cook and blog with two different ingredients which a fellow blogger suggested me to post under Fusion theme for this month's Shhh Cooking Secretly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel.

Mixed Berries & Mascarpone Parfait

Parfait is a rich cold dessert made usually with whipped cream, eggs and loads of fruits, however nowadays parfaits are made in so many fantastic versions. This chilled sweet treat is definitely a crowd pleaser and you can whisk many delicious parfaits with simple and easily available ingredients. My today's post is a super easy parfait which i prepared simply by whisking mascarpone cheese, sugar and milk which i topped with a simple mixed berries couli. This dessert is a must try if you are planning something easy to serve after a meal. The mild sourness of the berries when mixed and relished with smooth mascarpone cheese will definitely please everyone's tastebuds. Within few minutes, you can prepare this ultimate dessert.