The shadows remain................

To all the families affected by the German Bakery blast in Pune,India on 13th February,2010 ......
We are with you........You are in our hearts and prayers.......

Valentine Day is a day to celebrate love.......Unfortunately, on Valentine eve, Pune witnessed a bomb blast in German Bakery which took away 11 lives, injuring more than 50 people......

Let us hope and pray that there is love and peace in the world and no more innocent lives are lost......

Varan Phal - Repost Event......

I had written a post sometime back on one of my father's favourite dish,Varan Phal for an event but due to some technical snags in the blog, the photos could not be uploaded then..........
The recipe was posted sans photos and continues to be without them......
Then I heard about "the repost event" hosted by Jaya of Desi Soccer Mom, I thought that it was very unusual yet interesting concept. However, my wonderful record of posting after deadlines ensured that I had missed my bus for this event....but then I read that Jaya had very sweetly extended the deadline, and given "grace period for the repost event ", allowing Late Latiffs like me a chance to participate in her interesting event within her stipulated deadlines..........


The original post written by me can be found here.......
There are some lovely recipes of Varan Phal & Dal Dhokali as it is known in Gujarati and also Rajasthani version of the same.......which can be found here and of Gujarati Dal Dhokali which can be found here........ & Rajasthani Dal Dhokali can be found here..........

My father hails from the City of Oranges .......Nagpur.....Nagpur is geographically located in the Vidarbh region of Maharashtra, India and the lovely City of Oranges apart from its people, is also famous for its Varadi dishes(cuisine of Vidharbha region is known as Varadi cuisine) like Chandrapur Vada bhaat, VaranPhal :)) Varadi cuisine is spicy and famous spicy Saoji masala originates from here......

Who can forget the great Pu La Deshpande's legendary "Tumhala kay vayachay: Punekar, Mumbaikar ki Nagpurkar?" The literal translation meaning What will you like to become - Mumbaite, Punite or Nagpurite.........I coined this word I can't think of any other:)) A complete laughter riot specially if you happen to catch the kathakathan version(book reading by Pu La Deshpande)....

Coming back to Varan Phal, varan is marathi word for dal......so literal translation of Varan Phal would be Fruits of Dal :)) It is also known as Dal Dhokli in Gujarat and Rajasthan.......

Here's how Varan Phal looks ...............

& Here's how Varan Phal is cooked :

Ingredients : For the Varan : Toor Dal - one cup Water - 5/6 cups Turmeric powder - pinch Onion - 1 (finely chopped) For the tempering (tadka) : Ghee - 1 tablespoon 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai) 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera) 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida (hing) 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder (dhania) 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder (jeera powder) 1/2 teaspoon goda masala powder 7/8 cloves of of garlic 2 inches of ginger 4-5 green chillis Curry Leaves - 6/7 Jaggery as per taste Tamarind pulp or paste ( 1 teaspoon) Salt as per taste.

For the Phal : Whole Wheat Flour ( kanik /atta) I generally use Sakas Sehore Atta - 2 cups Salt - pinch Oil water

Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Method -

1. Pressure cook one cup toor dal with 5/6 cups of water and pinch of turmeric powder for 4/5 whistles. The more the whistles, the softer the dal is cooked.
2. Grind together, green chillies, ginger, garlic in a fine paste.
3. Heat a heavy bottom vessal (kadhai) and heat ghee in it.
4. When the ghee is hot, add the mustard seeds.When they splutter, add cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves.
5. Add onion and stiry fry in ghee till it changes its color. Then add turmeric powder and stir fry well.
6. Add the grounded paste and mix well. Add the cooked dal and excess water only if necessary.
7. Add dhania powder, jeera powder, goda masala and salt as per taste and mix well.
8. Add Jaggery and tamarind paste and let the dal boil.
9. Make a dough of atta,pinch of salt,oil and water(like the dough for chappatis)
10. Make small balls of kneaded dough and roll one small ball with a rolling pin till it becomes a big round.
11. Make horizontal and vertical cuts to the round of dough like we make shankapalis.
12. Take the small pieces and add in the boiling dal and let it boil till the atta is fully cooked.

Garnish the Varan Phal with fresh coriander leaves and add a dollap of ghee and the Varan Phal is ready to be eaten.

So, if its raining heavily or snowing badly, this is just the right dish for it.......

Like I mentioned in my earlier post, it wins my vote as it is simple and easy to make....... Tastes yummy and is a healthy and nutrious one dish meal.........

Do try it.......

My First Award .........

I just received my first award from dear Nithu of Nithu's Kitchen ...........Thanks so much....
This is my very first award and I am so thrilled by it......... You really made my day........Nithu......Thank you so much once again........


When I started blogging, I never thought that I would enjoy blogging so much and that I will met such amazing & wonderful fellow bloggers who would not only share amazing some traditional, some new and some totally creative recipes but also motivate and encourage me with lovely comments....... Thanks so much to each and every one of you for those kind & lovely words........
They mean a lot to me..........

Kreativ blogger award comes up with a set of rules :
1.Thank the person giving the award.
2.Copy the award to your blog.
3.Place a link to their blog.
4.Name 7 things people don't know about you.
5.Nominate 7 bloggers
6.Place a link to those bloggers
7.Leave a comment letting those bloggers know about the award.

Hmmm...... So here goes......... These are a few of my favourite things..........
1) I love reading.........Reading has been my first love since my childhood and I am happy to say that my romance with books keeps getting stronger with every passing day......
I have grown up on a staple diet of Enid Blyton like majority of kids and then I graduated to classics like Jane Austen......Pride & Prejudice is my all time favourite........and P.G.Wodehouse ....I really like his Brit stiff upper lip and dry sense of humour and then we come to ..........The Queen of Mystery herself.... Madam Agatha Christie ........No one and I mean No one can come close to writing mysteries like she does ........where do I start...........Murder on Orient Express, Murder of Roger Ackroyd.....Mousetrap........ABC Murders, Cards on the Table........Although I must confess that I am totally partial to Hercule Poirot....though Miss Marple's mysteries do have the old world charm to them..........Agatha Christie truly is THE WRITER FOR THRILLERS & SUSPENSE MYSTERIES.......I wanted to be a writer after reading these wonderful wonderful writers........ I have read lot of Marathi literature too.......Pu La Deshpande being my favourite author......... His "Vyati ani Vaali" & " Batatyali Chaal" is something that I would recommend greatly.......But if you ask me I think that his kathakathan( his book reading) was definitely more interesting and animated and more fun ........ which should come as no surprise considering that he was multi-talented and considered one of the finest actors during his time........A creative genius........King of Humour of Marathi Literature.........
Fiction....Non-fiction.........Short stories......novels.......cook books......autobiographies....self help books......you name it and I read it :))
2) I simply love cooking(as if that's not obvious)........I love watching cookery shows even the ones on regional channels(and they are pretty good I tell you)........ & also the food shows showcasing different regional and world cuisines............ I love reading cookery books.........And I absolutely love reading the numerous amazing and wonderful food blogs..........I am always on the look out for new recipes....whether its traditional, new, fusion, innovative....... Though I love reading elaborate recipes, given a choice I always end up cooking instant, simple and easy to make recipes as is obvious.........
3) Music is another major passion for me......... I listen to all kinds of music....... classical, semi-classical, film songs, ghazals, everything....... I simply adore Sonu Nigam and Shankar Mahadevan.....Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsale are of course my all time favourite which goes without saying ......I think music soothes and touches the soul.......... I simply love instrumental music......Ustad Amjad Ali Khan's sarod, Ustad Ravi Shankar's Sitar, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia's flute, Ustad Zakir Hussain's tabla......the list is endless
4) I love watching cricket....... I can understand technicalities of the game and can easily converse with experts on the game......... During my board exams, World Cup was going on....needless to say, not only did I end up watching and enjoying the cricket matches but also discussing the match in great details with my friends before and after the board papers, much to the chagrin of our parents.......... some of my closest friends are the ones who i become friends with due to our common crushes on the Oh-not-so common cricketers :))
5) I enjoy travelling............ especially to new places ...... Its great experience to know the culture and cuisine of any new place.......
6) I love learning new languages........ In India there are so many languages in different parts of the country.......Also as they say language changes every 10 miles...........I did learn two foreign languages (German & French) at school and college.......though my fluency in them is a matter of debate.....
7) I LOVE watching TV... I am a big MOVIE BLUFF......I enjoy watching plays at theatre.......Since Marathi theatre is pretty strong where I live.....I regularly watch Marathi plays....Theatre and dramatics was something that I enjoyed since school days and I was also actively involved in Cultural Club during my post graduation (MBA) days..........
So, if there are some of you who managed to stay awake through this "I,Me and Myself" post, these are the lovely and wonderful bloggers to whom I want to pass this award .................
I admire and get inspired by so many wonderful fellow bloggers but since I can pass on only to 7 ..........I would like to nominate the following :-

1) PJ from Ginger & Garlic

2) Nandita from Saffron Trail

3) Shilpa from Aayi's Recipes

4) Pari from Foodelicious

5) Vinaya from Food, Travel, Books and more

6) Priya from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

7) Sheetal Kiran from Eats, eats & eats

Sharing the lovely award with you is indeed a pleasure guys..........

Best Wishes & Happy Blogging........

Served With Love

In continuation with the previous post, today's post is dedicated to the most important people in my life- my mother, my father and my little sis......




I am sending my family's favourite recipes to the lovely Arundhuti of Gourmet Affair, who was kind enough to include my late entries for her First Event - Served with Love




The following are my three entries for the event :-


For my Aai - Dhiradhi (Mixed Flour Pancakes)





For my Baba - Varan Phal

For my little sis, Amu - Rice Pakodas ( Fritters)





Hope you all enjoy the dishes as much as my family does........