JHATPAT CHATPAT- FOR QUICK, EASY AND TASTY RECIPES

Serves about 3 people

1/2 tsp jeera or cumin seeds

2 green chillies

1/2 tsp Chana dal(optional)

1 large or 2 medium sized onions

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 large/2 medium sized potatoes

1 small cup of fresh/frozen green peas

1/2 tsp sambar powder

2tsp oil

Salt to taste

Warm the oil in a kadai/hollow pan and add mustard seeds+ jeera seeds. Wait for the mustard seeds to sputter. Then, drop in finely chopped green chillies and chana dal. After about a minute, add the onions which are chopped lengthwise and fry till they are light brown. Chop the potatoes into thin squares in the meanwhile (so that their cooking time is reduced) and toss them into the pan along with the peas. You could add half a tsp of sambar powder also to it and cook till done. In the end, mash a little bit of the cooked potatoes in order to thicken the gravy. Sprinkle salt as per your requirement. Garnish with coriander leaves if required.

Note: A friend of mine adds one tomato to the same. This gives it a unique taste. You could try that too sometime for a change.

Upkari in konkani means dry sabzi of any vegetables and it is a very popular dish among the konkanis. It goes well with rice and dal as a side dish or it also tastes good with rotis. Its normally made of any available vegetables. But whenever we wanted to have something nice other than the usual vegetables upkari, my mother used to make the same dish with egg. Thus we named it egg upkari. I think it’s the easiest dish that can be made with eggs. And delicious too.

Serves about 2 people
Time taken :20 minutes

Ingredients required:
2 medium sized onions chopped finely
5 –6 green chillies slit
3 eggs (white large ones)
1 handfull of chopped coriander leaves
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
salt to taste
3 Tsp oil

Method of preparation:
Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds. Once it starts to splutter, add the slit green chillies and the chopped onions and fry till the onions turn slightly brownish. Now add the turmeric powder and the salt and fry for a minute. Break the eggs into a small bowl and beat them slightly. Now add this beaten eggs into the kadai and lower the flame to low. Keep on stirring to avoid the sticking of the eggs to the bottom of the kadai. Add more oil (about 1 Tsp) if you feel that the eggs are still sticking to the bottom. Don’t stop stirring till the eggs are fully done and are not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Now add the chopped coriander leaves and fry for about a minute. The egg upkari is ready.

This is another coconut based curry which has a south Indian touch. It requires a blender or mixer for the paste. So keep that in mind before you try it out, but I assure you that this dish is a pleasure to your taste buds.

Serves about 2 – 3 people
Time taken: 30 to 35 minutes

Ingredients required:
1 big cup of cut vegetables (beans, carrots, peas, cauliflower, potato etc)

(The vegetables must be cut into medium size)
1 handful of toor dal
1 medium sized onion chopped
1 medium sized tomato chopped
4 Tsp of grated coconut
2 pods of garlic
5 green chillies
1 handful of chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
3 Tsps of oil
Salt to taste
For seasoning:
1 tsp mustard seeds
Few curry leaves
3 tsps oil

Method of preparation:
Wash the vegetables and the toor dal and pressure cook it together on medium flame for 2 whistles or till the dal is cooked. Make a fine paste of coconut, garlic, green chillies, jeera, turmeric powder and the coriander leaves with as less water as possible in a blender. Heat oil in a kadai, and fry the chopped onion till it turns soft. Add tomatoes to this and fry till the tomatoes are mashed properly. Now add the green coconut paste to it and fry till the raw smell of the coconut and the garlic is gone. That takes about 5 minutes. To this add the cooked vegetable and toor dal along with water in which it was cooked. Bring it to a boil . Reduce the heat to low and add salt. Simmer for about 2 minutes. In a separate kadai, heat the oil for seasoning. Add the mustard seeds. When they start to splutter,add the curry leaves . Now add this seasoning to the curry and mix. The mixed vegetable curry is ready.
Note : It tastes very well with roti as well as with rice also. If you are having it with rice, then make the consistency of the curry a little thinner by adding more water.

When I wanted a very easy and less time consuming dish for my son’s birthday party, my friend suggested that I try this recipe. She told me that normally Vegetable kolhapuri is a very spicy maharashtrian dish . But with a little variation to the original recipe, she had come out with this wonderful version. It is actually quite easy to make and it turned out to be a very big hit at my son’s party.Try it out for yourself.

Serves about 2 -3 people

Time taken – 25 to 30 minutes

Ingredients used:
1 medium sized onion chopped
1 big cup of cut vegetables like carrots, mushrooms, peas, cauliflower, beans, potato
(You can use the frozen mixed vegetable packet also)
2 small tomatoes chopped
½ tsp jeera
1 tsp dhaniya (coriander) powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp garam masala

1 tsp ginger and garlic paste
1 big cup of coconut milk (thick)
(You can use the canned one available in the Indian grocery store, doesn’t make a difference in taste)
Handful of chopped coriander leaves
Salt to taste
2 Tsp of oil

Method of preparation:

Heat oil in a kadai. Add jeera and let it crackle. Now add the chopped onions and the ginger garlic paste and fry till the onion is translucent in color. Then add the chopped tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes are cooked and mashed properly. Make a paste of chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric powder and dhaniya powder with 3 Tsp of water. Now add this paste to the kadai and fry for 2 minutes. To this add the cut vegetables and the coconut milk. Once the coconut milk starts boiling, add salt and the chopped coriander leaves. Now close the kadai with a lid and let it boil at a low flame till the vegetables are cooked. If you feel the consistency of the gravy is too thick , then add water .
Serve hot with roti or rice.