Diwali - All You Need is a Spark!

When tensions are high and there is political unrest...we all need hope. We all need to be positive and have faith that things will get better. It is also the time to come together, not let our differences get the better of us. 

Although, my husband and I have different backgrounds, we still make the time to learn about each other's cultures and celebrate together. Every year, my family celebrates Lunar New Year with his family and they celebrate Diwali with mine. We don't let our backgrounds hold us back and don't let them divide us either.  

Diwali known as the Festival of Lights symbolizes the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. Although the day started out gloomy and wet, by sunset all was well.  

We enjoyed the Diwali lunch with yummy food including dishes, such as Indian fried rice served with cucumber raita, cauliflower and potato curry, egg curry with mushroom and bell peppers, mixed vegetable curry, Singapore mei fun, and of course garlic naan. There was a dish for everyone! 

After lunch, we relaxed and played cards. I taught everyone how to play Egyptian Rat Screw, everyone can play this game. After cards, we indulged in some yummy sweets: jalebi, milk cake, badam halwa, and fresh fruit. 

Of course, it wouldn't be Diwali without fireworks! It was truly the Festival of Lights Sunday night! 

                                                

We all gathered outside the house to light the night with sparklers and fireworks.

I really enjoyed spending time with my family and friends. Everyone joined in the fun; for a moment it felt like we were in India again. 

How did you celebrate Diwali this year? Please share it with us in the comments below. 

Diwali Wishes - From our family to your family

May the brightness of shimmering lanterns always stay in your life and make you bright!

*!*!*Diwali Mubarak*!*!*

Easy Dahi Vada aka Yogurt Doughnuts!

Dahi Vada garnished with Tamarind & Date chutney

Whenever we visit my parents, Michael puts his best foot forward...especially when it comes to eating. Of course, my mom loves that he wants to try everything. I'm not her favorite anymore...Grr! 

On our most recent visit, he asked my mom the following:
 
Michael: Aunty, "Do you have any more yogurt doughnuts?" 

My mom: "Yogurt Doughnuts? Oh, you mean Dahi vada. Yes, I made it knowing you and Jahnavi will be coming over."

Michael's response: "Thanks, aunty. I hope Jahnavi will learn to make this soon so we can enjoy at home too." He looks over to me and says with a smile, "Happy husband, a happy wife!"

Alas, he's right. It's a win, win for both of us. Dahi vada does make him happy and it doesn't have anything bad in it, so I'm happy to make it and enjoy it. 

Below is the "secret" way to make Dahi vada without actually making the wadas. Shhh! Don't tell anyone. 

Ingredients:
- 13 Frozen Medu Vadas (from Amma's Kitchen brand, 24 pack)
-  2.5 lb or 41 oz plain whole milk yogurt 
- 3 small green chilies, finely chopped
- 1" piece of ginger, finely chopped or grated
- ½ cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
- ½ Tbsp salt or per taste

For seasoning:
- 1 tsp urad dal (black gram lentil)
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp whole cumin
- a pinch of Hing
- a pinch of turmeric powder
- a pinch of salt
- 1 Tbsp Vegetable oil or Canola oil


Procedure (for preparing the yogurt or dahi):
1) Transfer the yogurt (or dahi) into a large Pyrex container with a lid. Churn the yogurt with a big spoon or a churner to make it smooth, adding ½ to ¾ cup water (use ½ cup for homemade dahi and 3/4th cup for Desi dahi brand of yogurt).

2) In a small pan, heat oil on medium heat for seasoning and add urad dal and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter, add in whole cumin and then add hing.

Stir for few seconds and then add chopped chilies and ginger and a pinch of salt.

Stir for 30 seconds and add the seasoning into the yogurt. Next, add chopped coriander and mix well and set aside.


Procedure (for preparing of Vadas):

1) Transfer frozen vadas onto a microwavable plate and microwave for 3 minutes to defrost and warm the vadas (depending upon the wattage).

2) Remove the vadas from the microwave, and immediately using a fork pierce into the vadas at three or four locations and put them into the prepared yogurt mixture for soaking.

Continue this step with all the vadas and ensure they are completely immersed in the yogurt mixture. Soak the vadas in the yogurt mixture overnight or at least 4+ hours.

Procedure (for serving the Vadas):

Serve 1 to 2 vadas with some yogurt mixture into a bowl and garnish them with Tamarind & Date chutney, coriander chutney, some sev and enjoy!!

Product Review

We bought this Amma's Kitchen Medu vada packet twice and thought the vadas in the packet were good for the most part. We ate them on their own and also enjoyed them in the dahi vada recipe. They were very tasty and would recommend buying it. One thing to note:  Sometimes, you may find a couple of them that fall apart or not in good shape. This may occur if the packets at the store weren't stored properly. If you do not mind that they are perfectly round, then you can still enjoy them. Just make sure that if you are not using all 24 pieces in one recipe, that you store the packet properly in the freezer so the vadas do not go stale or fall apart. We purchased this medu vada packet at our local Indian grocer, Delight Bazaar (Parsippany, NJ) 

Quick N Easy Bhel Puri

Aloo Tikki chaat, aloo papdi chaat, pani puri, bhel puri, and samosa chaat are popular Indian snacks. You can buy all of these cheap eats from the street vendors in all over India. One of my favorites is Bhel Puri. 

There are also many restaurants and cafes in the New Jersey/ New York City area where I can go to enjoy this snack, such as Hot Breads (Parsippany, NJ), Moghul Express (Edison, NJ), Sukhadia's (Edison, NJ), and most north Indian restaurants have it on the menu as well. 

However, I'm not in India right now and I don't feel like driving to go get this snack. What I can do?? No worries. 

Mom to the rescue! She always knows what to do when I'm craving snacks. 

She told me about Bombay Kitchen's Bhel mix. This mix is made up of puffed rice, sev, and spices. This mix is also gluten-free because sev is made from chickpea flour and puffed rice is made from, well, RICE. DUH!!

Making Bhel puri is quite easy once you have the two ingredients I mentioned above. The snack is typically made with puffed rice, sev, tomatoes, onions, fresh coriander, and sprinkled with tamarind sauce.

I was excited to see that my mom has multiple bags of this bhel mix. Now I can make and enjoy this snack to my heart's content.

Below are the ingredients I used:

 

- 1/3 cup of Bhel Mix by Bombay Kitchen (which is a mix of puffed rice, sev, and spices) 

- 1/2 to 1 ripe but firm plum tomato, finely chopped

- 1/4 cup of finely chopped red onion

- a few sprigs of fresh coriander, finely chopped (optional)

- 1 to 2 tsp of tamarind and date chutney

- 1 tsp Coriander Chutney (optional)

Mix together all of the above ingredients in a bowl and enjoy! That's it. That's the recipe. Now, go make it. It's nice and easy. You can adjust the ingredient amounts above as per your taste. 😀

Word of caution: do not wait too long after you mix all the wet and dry ingredients together because it will get soggy. That's no fun. 😥

I would definitely recommend all to buy this bhel mix. It tastes good on its own or you can use it to make your favorite snacks. It's great for parties. And it is reasonably priced. 

Bombay Kitchen Bhel Mix is available at most Indian grocery stores. It is also available for purchase online, at www.patelbrothersusa.com

My Fruity Piece of Heaven

I finally found someone who loves fruits as much as I do...of course, I'm talking about my husband!

He proudly boasts that he can eat 4 or 5 oranges in one sitting without concern. Geez! Besides, oranges he also loves pomelo and longan (also known as dragon eye).

I don't know if I can eat that many oranges in one sitting, however, jackfruit is another story.  I LOVE jackfruit. Ever since I found out that our local Jmart (Asian grocery store) stocks this fruit during the summertime, I make it a point to go every week to get some.

It was hard to come by when I was in Jersey but now that I'm within walking distance to this store, I go often. I ate my share and then some this summer, which by the way isn't over yet...

Every time I eat this fruit, I'm in heaven. And when I run out, I'm sad. :(

💡 Did you know that jackfruit is a fruit that is composed of hundreds to thousands of individual flowers, and the fleshy petals of the unripe fruit which are eaten? I didn't know that. Thanks, Wikipedia! 

I did know, however, that it is not easy to cut open a jackfruit (like the one pictured above). You have to be prepared to spend at least a few hours to cut it open and take out all the "fleshy petals". The above will feed a lot of people. 

If you are planning to enjoy on your own and do not want to buy the whole fruit, you can buy thick slices of it at the store. That's what I do. 

Quick Tip 1: If you are not going to buy the whole fruit, make sure you pick slices where the "fleshy" petals are deep yellow and are mature. You know the petals are mature when they are thick. This means the fruit is ripe for the picking. The thicker the petals, the sweeter they will be and also the seeds will be tastier when boiled. 

Quick Tip 2: Make sure that there aren't any parts on the slices that are going bad. You don't want that. Carefully inspect the fruit slices before buying.

Below is a picture of one of the slices I bought as well as all the utensils needed to cut this sucker open. 

You will need:
- vegetable oil
- knife
- napkins or paper towels
- a bowl (to collect the seeds)
- bowl(s) to collect the petals
- newspaper or place mat

Procedure:
I rubbed oil on my hands and also on the knife which I will be using to cut open the jackfruit slice. I usually start cutting on one corner and move to the center so I can split it into pieces. Then I carefully remove the "fleshy" petals and seeds.

After you remove the fleshy petals and seeds, discard the green spike peel. The knife you use may get sticky time to time so re-apply oil as necessary.

This accumulation is from two thick slices of jackfruit!

Quick Tip 3: Don't throw away the seeds. I remove the thin yellowish layer off the seeds and wash them thoroughly. Then I let them dry completely and then I boil them for about 5 to10 minutes (depending on quantity). 

They taste just like boiled chestnuts. I love that you can eat the fruit and the seeds. Less wastage! My husband likes them too.


💡 Did you know that you can also cook with unripened jackfruit? You can find recipes for jackfruit curry or jackfruit biryani. I haven't tried it or made it as of yet...but you never know!

💡 Interesting Fact: Ripened "fleshy petals" have dietary fiber. Don't eat too many in one sitting unless you want to have diarrhea. I learned that the hard way! Now, I eat a few pieces at a time.

Have you tried jackfruit before? Do you like or dislike it? Please share your comments below. 

What do Elephant Yam, Potato and Taro have in common?

They can all be fried, seasoned and enjoyed just like fries! We celebrated National French Fries Day yesterday with our own version of fries. 

Hello Everyone. When I say, Elephant yam, what comes to mind? A yam that's really big, right? It is really big and is sometimes called Elephant foot yam because it looks like an elephant's foot. It is a tropical tuber crop grown primarily in Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and tropical Pacific Islands. 

However, I know this yam as suran  or kandagadda and it is widely consumed in Southern India. In Kerala, they steam this tuber and serve it with various chutneys. In Andhra, we cook this tuber in couple of ways. One way is to make pulusu (stew) with it. The other is to fry it. 

I love fries! However, we eat our "fries" in a different way. The fries we make with potatoes, sweet potatoes, or taro (arvi) are eaten with rice. We call this type of fries, vepudu in Telugu. 

You can find this tuber in most Indian grocery stores but we normally buy it frozen because it is much easier to cook with this way. It has been peeled, chopped and sold in packets. 

Check out the recipe for Suran fries below: 

Ingredients

- 1 (12 oz, Swad brand) packet of frozen Suran 

- 1/4 tsp garlic powder

- 1/4 tsp red chili powder

- 3/4 tsp Salt (or per taste)

- oil for frying

Procedure

Transfer the frozen suran pieces from the packet into a microwaveable container. Sprinkle some salt and water on it. Mix well. Next, microwave it for 5 to 6 minutes under closed lid. Take it out of the microwave and discard any water that's in the container. Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.  

In a flat skillet, heat a 1/4 cup of oil on low-medium flame. Add the suran and stir fry until suran is fried to golden brown color. Remove the fried suran with a slotted spoon and transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle garlic powder, red chili powder and a pinch of salt over the suran. Mix well and serve hot. 

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Have you tried Elephant yam before? How do you cook it? Please share your cooking stories with us.