Wheat Ghaavne - A much easier alternative to Chapatis :)

Wow. Honestly, I never imagined I would be blogging on recipes!! Haha, I don't even dare tell this to anyone who knows me since the only public image I've managed to create of myself is that of a girl (oops, woman!) who is just too busy to be bothered about anything like "great cooking"! But oh, after getting married in June 2010, I did develop some interest in cooking (I still do not cook a full meal everyday and I'd sincerely thank my Mom-in-Law to take care of that).  Through the weekdays, it's a great race against time (and engery!), so I've grown to discover ways to a quick meal after returning home from a full day at work on weekdays.

So, well, I thought, why not share what little I know and find useful in this extremely busy life where you just want to fix a quick (yet nice and filling) meal before retiring to bed!  As for the weekends, I do enjoy spending some time in the kitchen, so as and when I make something worth noting, I'll love to share it here, too!

Wheat Ghaavne [It's a Marathi word, pronounced as ghaav-nay. Singular is Ghaavan (ghaa-won)]

Ingredients
Wheat flour
Semolina (Sooji) - Just about a tablespoon if you are using 2-3 cups of wheat flour
Salt
Sugar
Water
Oil

Preparation Tips
1. When you add water to the wheat flour (enough to prepare a batter similar to that of the South Indian dosa), dissolve any lumps before you begin making the ghaavne.
2. Don't worry if you don't have any semolina to add. Plain wheat flour ghaavne turn out just as well.  It's just that the semolina helps in making the ghaavne crispy.

Let's Cook!
1. Mix together the wheat flour, semolina, salt, a pinch of sugar and water.
2. Mix well while adding enough water to prepare a batter of a consistency similar to the dosa-batter.
3. Heat a non-stick pan and pour a ladle full of the batter. Quickly, but gently spread it into a round pancake with the help of the back of the ladle.
4. Add half a teaspoon of oil along the border of the ghavan, making sure it has flown under the ghaavan that's now slowly becoming firm.
5. Cover the pan with a lid for half a minute.
6. Take the lid off and flip the ghaavan.
7. Once again, add half a teaspoon of oil along the border of the ghaavan. No need to cover it this time.
8. Heat for another minute or so until the underside looks like it's done (a nice reddish brown colour).
9. Take off the pan and make the rest of them the same way!
10. Serve hot with a pickle/tomato ketchup/chutney of your choice, or, with any curry of your choice!

Note: There are multiple types of ghaavne depending on the basic ingredient. It's wheat flour in this recipe, but it could be replaced with just rice flour (without semolina and sugar) or jowar flour+wheat flour+rice flour+semolina to make some nice alternatives. My Mom-in-law even makes sweet ghaavne by using rice flour+jaggery as the basic ingredients.

Mayur Sandwiches

"Mayur Sandwiches," is a name that our family has been using to refer to these sandwiches because Mayur's Mom made them for us one day, and we absolutely loved them. We have been making them for more than 10 years now because they're very quick, very easy, very tasty and very filling! They taste good hot or reheated for lunch the next day. Once you try them, you'll need a quick "Mayur Sandwich" fix every so often too! (Usually 2-3 sandwiches fills anyone up).

Ingredients
- Kaiser rolls (I prefer the ones from the bakery part of the grocery store, the factory packaged ones are a bit sweet for my taste)
- Mayo (low fat tastes just as good)
- Jalapenos
- Mozzarella Cheese (shredded)
- Lettuce
- Onion

Preparation Tips
Preheat the oven to 370 while you are cutting the jalapenos, onion and lettuce.

Let's Cook!

1. Cut the Kaiser rolls in halves lay them face up on a pizza sheet.
2. Spread a thin layer of mayo on all halves.
3. On the bottom half of the halves put a layer of cut lettuce, onion, jalapenos and shredded mozzarella cheese.
4. On the top half of the halves put a little bit of the shredded mozzarella cheese.
5. Put the entire pizza sheet in the oven (which should now be preheated to 370).
6. Take them out when the cheese has melted and the edges of the rolls are a golden brown (it should take about 5-7 minutes).
7. Cover the bottom halves with the top halves, serve and enjoy.

Pumpkin Curry

Pumpkin curry has been one of my favorites since I first tasted it in Sydney at our family friends' house. I used to love eating it with thick, Fiji style roti. Even now just thinking about it brings a smile to my face so I was very excited when I saw pumpkins for sale at Waitrose. I picked up a medium sized one thinking that I'd try making pumpkin both Indian style and in a Thai pumpkin curry. I decided to make the latter first, but as it turns out the taste was less Thai and more anything but. It was still delicious though! Sarju absolutely adored it and wants me to make it for his parents the next time they are around. Hope you try the recipe and enjoy it as much as we did.

Ingredients
Pumpkin (cubed)
Soy Sauce
Coconut Milk (or cream)
Brocolli
Mushrooms
Garlic (minced)
Olive Oil
Mustard Seeds (rai)
Cumin Seeds (jeera)
Tamarind Paste
Vegetable Stock Cube (melted in hot water)
Garam Masala and/or Kitchen King Masala
Chilli Powder or Chilli Flakes


Preparation Tips
A lot of people struggle with the skin of a pumpkin, but it's quite easy to cut if you take it in smaller pieces. Cut the pumpkin in half (through the stalk), and then in half again the other way. Now that you have a quarter, cut out the wedge with the seeds. Now simply cut the pumpkin into thick slices. Once you have the slices, cut the pumpkin into cubes and simply cut the edge. You'll have cubes of pumpkins in no time.

Let's Cook!

1. Chop the pumpkin, broccoli, and mushrooms. 
2. If you are short of time, pre-cook the pumpkin and broccoli in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. It will speed up your cooking process significantly. 
3. Heat up olive oil in a pot. Once hot, add the cumin and mustard seeds. As they start to brown and pop, add garlic and let it brown a bit.
4. Add garam masala, Kitchen King, and chili. Mix well.
5. Add the pumpkin, broccoli, and mushrooms.
6. Add 1 can of coconut cream (if you prefer thick curry) or coconut milk and 1/2 can of water.
7. Add the vegetable stock cube in 1/2 can of hot water and once melted, pour into the pot.
8. Add tamarind paste.
9. Mix everything together and let simmer with the cover on the pot.
10. Enjoy with hot rice.