Hearty Broccoli with Creamy Parmesan-Pepper sauce, Bhakri-Pithla, Chana Dalia Chaat, Superbowl platter.

Wish you a great Maha Shivaratri celebration on the Feb 12th & a very happy Valentine's Day on Feb 14th to all of you. Enjoy.

I had a very busy week and weekend last week, did not have enough time to read or watch movies like I usually do in a week. Superbowl was very exciting this year, we had a great time on Sunday, eating, rooting for the underdog team New Orleans Saints who proved themselves very well, loved watching them win and cry tears of joy. They deserve it all. So my dear folks, this week I won't be "talking" too much but I will give you quick recipes of what I cooked and more photos for you to enjoy. Have fun.

Hearty bowl of Broccoli topped with creamy Parmesan and Pepper Sauce:
Here is a simple, heart healthy with low fat cream but tasty Broccoli dish topped with creamy sauce to have on the side with a main side or it's yummy to eat as it is for a light lunch or brunch. Looks like a big box of Chocolate and Champagne is waiting for my Valentine...shhh...!!! :)

To make:

1. Put a 10oz bag of frozen Broccoli flowerettes in a bowl with little salt in the microwave, cover and cook for 4-5mins or you can steam the fresh ones too with few tbsps water and salt until soft, should be still whole but do not overcook. Let all the water drain if any left and cool the Broccoli. Add to a serving bowl.
For sauce:
1. Heat a pan, add 1 tbsp Butter, sprinkle 2 tbsp plain flour, stir for a minute until well mixed and raw smell of flour goes, don't let it brown.
2. Add 1 cup fat free cream or Half and half, 1/2 cup low fat milk or 1 1/2 cup of 2% milk will do too. Let it heat gently, add 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, salt, Pepper, 1/4 tsp grated Nutmeg, simmer until the sauce becomes little thick.
3. Pour this over Broccoli and serve hot.

Hearty Broccoli with Creamy Parmesan-Pepper sauce goes to Priya's "Hearts for St.Valentine's day" event. Thanks Priya.

A Rustic Maharashtrian Bajra/Bajri Bhakri and Pithla combo:

More heart heart healthy and hearty meal, a Indian farmer's favorite meal, specially around Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra and also some other states in India but now they are mine as well. Bajri/Pearl Millet/Sajje flour rotis make a great combo with another Maharashtrian Besan spicy side dish called Pithla (I love Junka with Bhakri too). Bajri has little gluten to bind properly, you can add 1/2 cup Atta/wheat flour if you like to make the rolling easier. Usually, Bhakri dough is mixed with salt and hot water, slapped with open hands on a flat surface to a circle and cooked.

To make Bhakri: (my way)

1. Take 2 cups of Bajri flour, mix some salt and add very hot water to the mix, gently mix with a wooden spoon. Do not add to much water, just enough to bind to a soft dough.
or you can add 1/4 to 1/2 cup whole wheat flour to 1 1/2 cups Bajri flour, mix and make dough as above. I made it without adding Atta, but did use oil spray to make it easy on me.
2. On a thick foil or plastic, I spray some no-stick oil and press the dough until I get a circle and cook on Tava. You can see the uneven edges which is quite okay.
Traditionally speaking, take the soft dough, slap it until you get a circle and cook. If you have added the atta flour, it will be easier to roll like Chapatis with a rolling pin.
3. Cook both sides until golden specks appear, no oil is added at all. Best served hot of the Tava.

Spicy Pithla:
Make sure you use fresh Besan/Gramflour/Chickpea flour to make this and make it spicy since Bhakris are pretty bland. Here is my version. Heat up the besan in the microwave for few seconds if it's little old sitting in the pantry for a while but if Besan is fresh, no need to heat it and fresh Besan tastes the best.

To make Pithla:
1. Take 2 cups of water and add 2-3tbsp fresh Besan flour, 1/2 tsp of salt, whisk it to avoid the lumps until smooth and keep aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil (adding bit of ghee gives it a nice taste), add 1 tsp Mustard seeds, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, 1/4 cup finely onion, 2 finely chopped Garlic, 1/2" finely chopped or grated Ginger, 3-4 finely chopped green chilies, 2tbsp finely chopped Cilantro and saute until they are soft.
3. Add 1/4 tsp Turmeric, mix well. Add Besan and water mixture slowly on a low heat, keep stirring and simmering until it starts to thicken. Adjust the salt.
4. When it's thick with still pourable consistency but not very very thick and lumpy and the raw smell of Besan goes away, take off the heat and serve. You can squeeze some Lemon juice on top to taste as well.
My Bhakri and Pithla combo goes to Pari's delicious sounding "The combo event", can't wait to see the round up Pari, thanks.

Chana Dalia Chaat to munch:
Well...I am controlling myself from deep frying this Winter...God only knows how hard it is for me people! :D...so adding tangy Amchoor, white or red pepper pd, and Chaat masala to some puffy and crispy dal is the only salvation for me to munch on cold evenings, my dreaded time of 3-4pm. Amchoor/Amchur is dried and powdered green Mangoes available in the stores. It is tangy to taste, good for replacing any dry Tamarind powder or Citric acid in snacks. Here goes my Dalia Chaat (tangy spicy crispy dal snack), Indian streetcart "Chana Jor Garam" style.

To make:

1. Take 1 cup of whole Chana dalia/Chutney dal/ Putani/ Hurigadale, (not split kind), add 1 tbsp oil to coat, put them on a plate and heat it in the Microwave for 2-3 mins or until they are crispy. 2. Put the dalia in a wide mouthed bowl, add 1/4 tsp Turmeric, enough salt and coarse red chilli pd or white pepper pd, 1 tsp cumin seeds powder, 1/2 tsp Coriander seeds powder, 1/2 tsp or more Amchoor pd, 1/2 tsp Garlic powder, 1/2 tsp Chaat masala, pinch of Garam masala, mix well.
3. add more or reduce spices as you need to your taste and let it cool. Store in air tight jar to munch on later. You can reheat in the MW if you find it little soft to make it crispy again.

Chana Dalia Chaat goes to Sunita and Bhagyashri's "Think Spice...Think-Amchoor" event, thanks to both of you.

WHO DAT?! Saints, of course!! YAY!! Can you tell how happy I am to see New Orleans Saints win the Superbowl 44?!

As usual for every year's Superbowl, we lit up fireplace and baked store bought Taquitos, Tornados, (Baked Mexican snacks with meat and cheese wrapped in crisp flour Tortillas), Buffalo Chicken Wings, made some hot dipping sauce for them (2 tbsp Mayonnaise, 2 tbsp Ranch dressing and 1 tsp SriRacha hot sauce and pinch of salt), Chili cheese-Salsa-Cilantro-Jalapeno topped Doritos, sweet Corn and my special Avocado, sweet peppers and Corn Guacamole to scoop with Tortilla chips, served with soft drinks and cold Beers! It was a great game to watch too by the way! :D

Avocado, sweet peppers and Corn Guacamole:
Scoop 2 Avocados, place the pulp in a bowl. Mash with a fork until you get soft chunks, not too pasty. Add 1 tbsp or more lemon juice, salt, finely chopped 2-3 Jalapenos, 2 Garlic, grated, 1/2 onion, 4 tbsp Cilantro, 3-4 tbsp red and yellow sweet Peppers, 1 small can drained corn, 1/8tsp Mexican Cumin powder and mix everything well. Adjust the spices to yout taste and serve with Tortilla chips. You can sprinkle some hot sauce to mix too. If you are not serving the Guacamole immediately, don't add salt to this before but add salt just before serving.
My Avacado, sweet Peppers and Corn Guacamole goes to Siri's "Healing Foods-Avacado" event and also to PJ's "no Cook" event as well, thanks Siri and PJ.

Mysore veg and Flower market: (Click all the pics to enlarge them)
Sandeepa of "Bong mom's cookbook" shared her beautiful childhood memories of going to the local market with her dad in this post with photos and asked us to share our's too.
When I was in India last year, I went to see the Mysore vegetable market as it holds many memories of childhood strolls there with my parents and that little bakery where I used to savory snacks and that little bookstore I used to run to buy story books. It all came back to me when I was there , took these pics and here they are in collage. Flower Garlands, Mysore Mallige Hoovu (Jasmine), colorful glass Bangles, Fruit market, vegetable market, colorful Rangoli powders, Kunkuma(Sindhoor) powder, Coconut water (Elaneeru), Sugarcane juice (Kabbinahalu) and beautiful half-ripe Guavas, Star fruits etc. This relatively clean and great smelling veg and Fruit market in Mysore still as beautiful as ever as I remember visiting it after a gap of 18yrs!

Movie I watched:
After watching Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" and Jackie Chan's hilarious "Drunken Master" recently, I got interested in Martial Art movies. One of the unique and wonderful movies I watched last week was from Thailand, Tony Jaa's "Ong Bak, Ong Bak 2". I LOVED both of them, set in gorgeous Thailand, a very different Martial Art style called Muay Thai than we usually see in Chinese movies. Beautiful movies, watch them if you get the chance. Here are few samples of the latest movie, Ong Bak 2.

"Amelia" is another biographical movie directed by Mira Nair, about the story of the first woman Aviation pioneer in US and author Amelia Earhart, whose plane mysteriously disappeared while on her flight over Pacific Ocean in 1937, later declared legally dead in 1939. Amelia is played by Hilary Swank (love her, great actress) and Richard Gere. Great movie to watch, she even stops at Dum Dum airport, Calcutta once flying on the way to Bankok and seen sipping a Chai from a earthen lota/cup in this movie! :)

That's it for this week, have a wonderful celebrations.