83. WATERMELON (TARBOOZ ) RIND HALWA

INGREDIENTS
1. Watermelon (Tarbooz) rind Only white portion
2. Besan (Bengal gram flour) 1tbsp
3. Sooji (Semolina)  1tbsp 
4. Ghee (Clarified Butter) 1 tbsp 
5. Sugar 2 tbsp
6. Dry Fruits (Almond blanched and sliced & Kishmish (Raisins)  1/4 cup
7. Chhoti elaichi (green cardamom) powder 2 pinch

METHOD
1. Dry roast Sooji & Besan together till golden brown and keep aside.
2. Peel off green skin from watermelon rind and grate, chop or mince the white portion.
3. Cook grated/minced rind in a pan/ karhai till it is cooked and almost dries up. 
4. Add ghee and roasted besan & Sooji and mix well. Also add kishmish and almond slivers and keep stirring it ensuring that it does not get burnt.  

5. When it dries up fully add sugar and elaichi powder.

TIPs & TRICKS
1. I have tried to keep sugar and ghee on the lower side as this blog is for healthy heart-diabetic friendly dishes. One may increase the quantity of oil and sugar as per one's taste.
2. Adding a cup of grated khoa towards the end will add to the taste manifold.  

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82. TIPS & TRICKS FOR STORING BASIC INGREDIENTS DURING LOCKDOWN

During the Covid Lock-down, one is likely to be working from home and all members of the family being at home, the demand on the cooking time is high. 

One of the major ingredients of most North Indian cooking, whether veg or non-veg, is Onion, Garlic and tomatoes.

Well, there are various options. One option is to use liberally the ready-made ginger-garlic paste and packed tomato paste but don't they contain too much preservatives and may not be advisable for the good health of the family?

Second option is to chop everything afresh each time one has to cook. Well it takes a lot of time. Doesn't it?

Third option which many people use is to prepare the bhuna masala en masse and store it in the freezer. I do not approve of this as it makes the flavour of all the dishes the same, whether it is daal or chicken.

During Covid lock-down period, we avoid going out frequently and procure veggies in bulk, and if not used within a specific time-frame, onions and garlic start sprouting, tomatoes start rotting and ginger starts drying up. Therefore, one of the methods used by me is to devote some time, peel and blend all the items individually in the chopper or mixer-blender and freeze them individually. 

The advantage of this system is that one can vary the combination of various items as per the requirement of that particular dish, eg,One may not need garlic for making aloo parathas but will need ginger. One may like to put only tomatoes in aloo sabzi and no onion and garlic. 

TOMATOES: Wash tomatoes, remove the stem part, cut into large pieces and liquidise them in a blender. Empty the contents in an ice tray and leave in the freezer over night. 

Tomato Cubes taken out of Ice Cube Tray

On the next day, take the cubes out and put them all in a zip lock bag and store in the freezer.  As the cubes are already frozen, they will not stick to each other and you can take out one or many as per your requirement.

If one has excess of open puree pack/can, which cannot be consumed immediately, same procedure can be used for that also. 

Chillies cut and frozen in a Ziplock bag

GREEN CHILLIES: Wash and dry green chillies and cut them into small pieces. If you have a chopper, you can mince them also. Then freeze them in a Zip lock bag. Once they are cut, they will not stick to each other and can be taken as per one's need.

Onion minced & stored in a thin layer  

ONION, GARLIC & GINGER: All these can also be blended, chopped or minced as per your requirements and availability of gadgets with you and frozen in separate Zip lock bags but in a thin layer.

If these items are kept in a container, it will be impossible to dig out a small quantity out of that without thawing the entire packing, which is not advisable.

Small chunks of onion, garlic & ginger in the pan

But if it is kept as per the suggested method, one can simply break a piece as per one's requirement. Being thin, they thaw also very quickly in the pan itself. 

TIPS & TRICKS:
1. Ask the family members to chip in and extend help at the time of chopping and freezing.
2. The system may not work, if there are long power outages in your area. Consuming thawed and refrozen food is not advisable.

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81. METHI BESAN SOOKHI SABZI (FENUGREEK & GRAM FLOUR DRY VEGETABLE)

INGREDIENTS

• Fresh Methi (Fenugreek) leaves cleaned, washed & chopped 250 gms OR frozen fenugreek leaves 2 cups
• Besan (Bengal gram flour) - 1 cup 
• Mustard Oil- 2 tbsp
• Lahsan (Garlic Cloves) chopped- 1tsp
• Sarson (Mustard) Seeds- 1 tsp
• Heeng (Asafoetida) - 1/8 tsp
• Salt- 1/2 tsp (as per taste)
• Haldi- 1/4 tsp
• Red Chilly powder- 1/4 tsp
• Jaggery (or Sugar) 1tbsp

METHOD

• Dry roast besan till it releases a nice aroma. Keep aside.
• In the same pan, heat mustard oil, add garlic cloves and Mustard seeds and fry till they garlic changes colour. 
• Add heeng, haldi, salt & red chilly powder and stir quickly. Add methi leaves and mix well. Cover with a lid and cook on low heat till methi is done.
• Add roasted besan bit by bit and keep stirring till all the besan is mixed in methi. Add up to  1/4 cup of water slowly, ensuring that the mix does not become liquidy. Also add jaggery or sugar. 
• If the mix becomes very soft, cook on high heat and keep stirring  till the water dries up fully and it turns into a dry vegetable. 

TIPs & TRICKS

• If you add less water, it will be too dry and will smell of raw besan and if you add too much, it will become soggy. So strike a balance.
• Goes well with roti or paratha.

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80. BAINGAN (BRINJAL) IN COCONUT GRAVY

INGREDIENTS

1. Baingan Long- 03 

2. Onion large-01

3. Green chillies -2-3 

4. Salt- 1tsp (To taste)

4. Coconut Milk 1 cup

5. Coriander (Dhania) & Jeera (Cumin) seeds 1tsp each, dry roasted and crushed coarse

6. Cooking Oil - 2 tbsp

METHOD

1. Wash and cut Baingans into thick rings. 

2. Blend onion and green chillies into a fine paste.

3. Heat oil in a flat pan and shallow fry baingan rings from both sides on high heat. The pieces should be semi cooked not fully done.

4. In the same pan and in the remaining oil, cook onion -chilly mix with salt till it becomes translucent and a little pink. It should NOT become red. 

5. Add Coconut milk, roasted and crushed dhania powder and brinjal pieces and boil for 2-3 minutes. 

6. Goes well both with roti and plain boiled rice.

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79. BHARWAN BAINGAN (STUFFED BRINJAL)

INGREDIENTS
1. Long Baingans - 3
2. Salt- 1 tsp
3. Haldi (Turmeric Powder) - 1/2 tsp
4. Red Chilly powder- 1/2 tsp (to taste)
5. Dhania Powder - 2 tsp
6. Amchoor (Dry Mango powder)- 1.5 tsp
7. Mustard Oil 2 tbsp

METHOD
1. Wash and cut each long brinjal into 3-4 pieces and give a Y shaped slit to each piece length-wise. The slit should not go very deep. Otherwise, the pieces will split up while cooking.
2. Mix together salt, haldi, mirch, dhania and amchoor powders.
3. Holding each piece of slit baingan with one hand, fill dry 1/2 tsp masala powder in the slit with a spoon. Save app. 1 tsp powder. 
4. Heat Mustard oil in a flat pan and arrange all the baingan pieces in it and cover. Cook on medium heat till that side looks almost burnt. Flip all of them and cook the other side too till done.
5. Sprinkle the remaining powder and mix it. Cook for another 2 minutes.
6. Serve hot. 

TIPS & TRICKS
1. Be in control of heat. If the heat is too high, baingan will burn quickly. If it is too low and covered for long period, the baingans will turn out too soft and will give a boiled look. Finally , the outer should have a firm crispy feel while inside should be soft and mushy.
2. You may also add a few whole medium sized onions and/ or medium sized potatoes cut into halves, to add that extra variation or to increase the quantity.
3. For that extra fried feel, add an extra table-spoon oil in the beginning. But the dieters have to make do with 2tbsp oil only.

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