Nisha and Nishanth's Culinary Debacles

Ingredients: 1/2 kg boneless meat to be boiled with 3/4 tsp ginger 3/4 tsp garlic 3/4 tsp green chillies grounded 1 small onion minced Boil meat till tender and 1 cup of soup remains Strain and keep meat aside 1 tsp jeera 1/2 tsp pepper powder 2 tblsp tomato sauce 1 tblsp chopped kothmir and a big capsicum chopped 3 tblsp ghee 3 eggs, 1 hard boiled egg 2 snall tomatoes sliced 1 tblsp chilli sauce 100 gms boiled macaroni For white sauce: 1 tblsp flour, 1 tblsp butter, 1 cup milk, 1 cup soup Method: Melt butter, add 1 tsp jeera, brown flour slightly. Add milk gradually and make the thick sauce. Add capscicum . Finally, add soup and stir till thick. To this add the sauces, pepper powder and kothmir. Now mix in the boiled macaroni and meat. Prepare the "dhaba" by pouring 1 tsp ghee at the bottom of a jelly mould. Place cellophane paper over it 1) Pour 1 tblsp ghee over cellophane paper 2) Pout 1 egg beaten over this 3) Pour meat mixture over this 4) Sprinkle hard boiled egg over ...

Ingredients: 1 cup wheat flour 1 cup rava 1/2 cup milk 1 egg 1/2 - 3/4 cup ghee knead into a hard dough, adding little water if necessary charoli, kismis, cashewnuts(25 gms of each) 4 kinds of magaj i.e. (seeds of watermelonn, white melon, pink melon) 50 gms badam and pista(25 gms each) gundar and gum crystals, a handful or more if desired 2 cups of jaggery(about 250 gms) Methods: Knead the dough with just enough water to make a hard dough. Make into muthiyas and fry golden brown. Remove from ghee and pound immediately till its nicely crushed. In the same ghee fry the gundar and keep aside. Strain the ghee. In the same ghee add the chopped jaggery and stir on medium flame. Keep stirring till jaggery starts bubbling and starts floating up like an omlette. Lower the flame at this stage and add the crushed muthiyas, the dried fruits and remove from flame. Stir and mix very well. NB: A 100 gms of mawa may be added if desired after heating slightly.

Ingredients: 400 gms unsweetened mawa (available especially for gulab jamun) 4-6 tbsp flour 1 egg 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water. Boil whilst stirring, and bring to a one thread consistency. Season with the cardamom powder and rose essence. Method: Mix mawa and flour and bind with an egg into a dough which is to be kneaded very lightly. Form into balls and deep fry in ghee on a low fire. Place in syrup which must be slightly warm. Take a wide bowl for the syrup. The longer the gulab jamuns soak the softer they will be. Do not put too many gulab jamuns into the ghee when frying. If they are few in number they are easier to handle. Serve warm.

Ingredients: 1 cup of rawa(semolina) 1 cup of ghee 1 cup of sugar charoli,kismis, almonds as much as you wish 3-4 cups hot water Method: Heat the ghee on a low fire. Stir in the the rawa and keep stirring till the rawa becomes slightly coloured Now carefully add half the hot water. Stir well Then add sugar, the dried fruits. Stir till sugar dissolves. Add more hot water if necessary. Add 1/4 tsp rose essences or kesar(roasted and powdered) for flavour. Cover the pot and keep on "dum" for about ten minutes.

Ingredients: 1 litre milk 5 gms of kesar (saffron) 3 tblsps of vermicelli broken into small pieces 100 gms of dry dates(kharak) soaked in water for a few hours and cut into long slices 2-3 tblsp of pure ghee or butter about 1/2 cup sugar or to taste almonds, pistachios 50 gms each kismis 30 gms, charoli 30 gms Method: Boil the milk on a slow fire till it is reduced to 3/4 litre. Boil the nuts and blanch them.Clean the kismis. Roast the kesar and powder it. Heat ghee or butter on a low fire and fry the vermicelli till golden about 2-3 mins. Then add the chopped kharak and all the nuts and fry gently for a few minutes more. Now add a 1/2 cup of hot water. When the mixture comes to a boil, add the hot milk and cook again till desired consistency is obtained. Remove from fire and add sugar. Stir, add the kesar. Serve hot.

Ingredients: 1/2 kg urad dal 1 litre dahi made from 1 litre of milk 75 gms tamarind 150 gms jaggery 25 gms jeera to be roasted and powdered chilly powder to taste coriander leaves 4 green chillies and 10 cloves lassan to be grinded with the dal 2 tsp baking powder Method: Soak the urad dal for at least two hours. Grind in a liquidiser with garlic and chillies. Add salt and baking powder and mix well. Heat about 1/2 kg oil in a karai and drop wada mixture into the oil in tablespoons. Remove when golden brown. Drop in cold water or thin lassi. Make chutney by adding a glass of water to the imli and jaggery. Cool till thick. Add red chilli powder and jeera powder. Place wadas on a flat plate, after dipping each vadi in a dahi. Pour more dahi on the top. Spread some chutney Sprinkle jeera, chilli, salt and kothmir Best at room temperature. Vadas become hard if they are chilled in the fridge.

Ingredients: 7 eggs 1/2 kg mince mea 3 slices bread 2 tblsp ginger paste 1 tblsp garlic paste 1 tblsp green chilli paste 6 tblsp oil pinch of garam masala kothmir and fudina(coriander and mint leaves) Method: Beat each egg separately and season with salt and pepper. Add little milk Make a thin omellete of one egg with 1 tbsp butter and oil Make six omelletes Marinate mince with garlic, ginger, chilli paste and salt for 3 to 4 hours Then add one raw egg. Soak bread slices in water. Squeeze them out and add in the meat Add chopped kothmir nad fudina. Divide into 6 portions On each omelette spread one portion of mean nad roll. Cover the roll with foil paper. Bake the roll for 1/2 hour in the pre-heated oven at 210 degree C. Cut the roll into slices and serve with ketchup.

Ingredients: 1/2 kg whole wheat , wash and soak overnight 1 1/2 kg mutton, boil with 2 tsp each of ground ginger and garlic and 1 tsp of grounded green chilli. Overcook the meat slightly. 1/4 cup rice 1/4 cup chana dal 1/2 cup yellow mung dal 1/2 cup masur dal salt to taste Method: Boil all the dals and rice till soft. Liquidize to a soft consistency. Add salt,1/4 kg of onions, sliced fine and fried in oil till golden brown. This is "birista". Keep aside. To the soaked wheat, add 6 green chillies, 2 tbsp oil and salt and cook in a pressure cooker for 45 mins. After pressure point is reached, let the pressure drop by itself. Open the cooker and pass the wheat through a mouli or liquidise slightly. Now mix the dal mixture and keep aside. Temper the boiled meat with 12 cloves of grounded garlic, 1 tsp of grounded ginger, 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder and 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder in 50 gms of ghee. Mix in the wheat mixture. Pound away at the meat. Take another 50 gms of pure ghe...

1/2 kg crushed wheat(thuro or dalia) 1 small chicken boiled in ginger, garlic and salt 200 ml milk whole pod of garlic, crushed 1 heaped tsp jeera 1/2 cup pure ghee garam masala powder mint leaves, lime wedges, birista Method: Soak the wheat for a few hours, then pressure cook in water to cover, with 4-6 green chillies, 1 tblsp oil and salt to taste. Cook for 30 mins after pressure point is reached. Cool naturally Shred the boiled chicken. Throw away the bones. Add the chicken stock to the wheat mixture and let it simmer. Pound the wheat with a heavy spoon. Heat the ghee, temper the garlic and add to the harissa. Now mix in the chicken. Stir well. Finally, add the hot milk to obtain a thick dropping consistency. Serve in a deep bowl. Sprinkle garam masala powder, fudina and birista. Pour sizzling hot ghee over it.

Another traditional Dawoodi Bohora recipe. 2 1/2 kgs raw mangoes 2 kgs sugar 2 tsp chilli powder 1 tsp sanchar(black salt) powder salt to taste Method: Peel and wash the mangoes and grate them finely. Add the masala powders, sugar and salt. Fill the mixture in a wide bowl, cover with a cloth and place in the sunlight for 8 days. Stir everyday before placing in the sun. Store in pickes bottles.

Another traditional Dawoodi Bohora/Gujarati recipe Ingredients: 200 gms chana (chick peas) 4 medium sized potatoes walnut sized tamarind 3 green chillies 3/4 tablespoon gram flour. Pinch of methi(fenugreek) 1 heaped tsp heera "Birista" Fudina Red chilli powder for garnish Method: Wash and soak chana overnight. In the morning add a pinch of baking powder, 1 tsp oil, salt and haldi and presuure cook for 15 minutes. Cool. In about 3 tbsp oil do a "vaghaar" of methi, jeera, and green chillies. Now add the gram flour and roast slightly. Then add the chana, water and stir well. Add the tamarind water and potatoes boiled previously and diced. Let simmer for a while, till gravy reaches the desired consistency. Serve topped with birista and fudina leaves, red chilli powder and sprigs of lemon

This is one of those traditional Dawoodi Bohora recipes passed from generation to generation... I got it from one of those rare to come across books "Bohra Food A Gourmet's Delight" by Shirin Vahanvala Ingredients: 2 cups wheat flour 1/4 cup semolina 300 gms ghee 25 gms gundur(gum arabic) 4 kinds of "magaj",badam, pista to taste 50 gms mava(if using ghee omit mava) 250 gms jaggery Method: In 200 gms ghee fry gundar until white and fluffy. Remove and set aside. In same ghee fry rava slightly then add flour and fry on low fire till the aroma comes and the ghee separates. Just before this happens. add dry fruits and mawa. Now remove the mixture from the fire and set aside. In same pot add the remaining ghee. Heat slightly and add jaggery, when the mixture bubbles, pour the atta mixture and stir well. When the spoon feels heavy, remove from fire, pour in a thali and press well. Make pieces when warm. Store when cool. 4 kinds of 'magaj' mean...