I came to the US from India a half century ago,  shortly after I finished graduate school, and got married. While growing up in India, I had never really cooked, although my mother had taught me the basics of cooking. As was the custom in India, my mother had a full-time cook and a maid, so she too did not spend time in the kitchen on a daily basis, although she was an excellent cook who had learned from her mother, who was a masterful gourmet cook!

As I set up my home here in Washington, I discovered that I loved cooking, making my own creations, and modifying recipes from the wonderful traditional “Ruchira” cookbook for Marathi Food (Food of the state of Maharashtra, India) that my mother had given me. I enjoyed learning to make American dishes from the Betty Crocker and the McCall’s cookbooks. A few family friends and some extended family members from India visited me here, and when they returned to India, each of them made it a point to give my mother feedback about their experiences visiting me – they were very generous with praise for my cooking, and that I had no help in the kitchen unlike the custom in India. They then wrote and told me that my mother, in her usual serene and philosophical way, said “Well I know that Reva is a very good chemist, so I always knew that one day she would be a very good cook” !

Three years after I left India, my mother came to visit me here. In those days, travel between the US and India was a very expensive and time consuming venture, and it was the first time I had seen her, as I too had not been able to visit her in India. She met my 2 year old daughter, Lina, for the first time, and we had a wonderful time being together, cooking together, discovering and cherishing each other as individuals, as well as “Mother and Daughter”.

Prabha Gokhale, My Mother                                             Lina and I

My mother taught me the subtle nuances in seasonings, in cutting vegetables so they look beautiful and cook without bruising or burning, gently sauteeing rice so each grain is well coated with the roasted spices, so that the finished Pulao dish is perfect, looks elegant, with the grains not clumped together, and showed me many little touches of garnishes that turn a good meal into a beautiful.and delicious one.

“Mother and Daughter” in Pune, India, on my last day with her, 2014

 

Badam Chicken (Chicken Almond Korma) – My Mother’s Recipe

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs boneless chicken breasts or plant-based chicken breasts
• 2 lemons
• ½ cup peeled almonds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds (khus-khus)
• ½ inch fresh ginger
• 6 cloves garlic
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¾ teaspoon coriander seeds
• 2 fresh hot green chillies
• ¼ cup fresh grated coconut or grated pre-packaged dry coconut flakes
• 1 cup plain non-fat dairy yogurt or plant- based yogurt
• ½ teaspoon saffron 1 ½ tablespoon corn oil tablespoon canola oil or olive oil
• ½ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Cut the chicken into 2-3 inch pieces and pat dry.
2. Rub the lemon juice and cloves into chicken pieces
3. Soak the saffron in one teaspoon of boiling water or milk
4. Heat a deep heavy-bottomed pan to medium high heat and roast the cumin seeds and the coriander seeds stirring continuously for 2-3 minutes
5. Grind the roasted seeds with the remaining ingredients except the yogurt
6. Mix the yogurt, salt, saffron with its liquid, and the ground mixture (masala)
7. Coat the chicken pieces well with this yogurt-spice mixture and marinate in refrigerator for about one hour.
8. Heat the oil on medium-high in the deep heavy-bottomed pan and stir fry the chicken mixture well, reduce heat to low-medium, continue stir frying until the chicken pieces look light golden brown.
9. Cover and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked completely.
10. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter, garnish with fresh chopped cilantro leaves

Serve hot with Indian Pulao Rice, Indian Naan, and Cucumber or Broccoli Yogurt Bharit.

Main Dishes: (clockwise from bottom center) Sprouted Masoor Daal, Saffron Murg Makhani, Vegetable Biryani, Garlic Mint Naan, Roasted Eggplant with Peas,  Broccoli Yogurt Bharit, and Palak Paneer

Dessert: Carrot Halva with Almonds & Cardamom, and Red Grapes Frosted with Hazelnut Liquor and Sugar

Recipe for Sprouted Masoor Daal (Lentils) bottom center in the picture:Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

Note: I omit all chillies, peppers, black, red and white pepper as my husband has strong allergies. You may choose to add ½ teaspoon chopped green or red chillies to step 1 of the cooking procedure below.

• 1 lb dry whole green or black lentils
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• ½ inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• ¼ cup shredded coconut flakes
• 2 teaspoons “goda masala” my grandmother’s recipe (or store bought garam masala)
• 1 ½  teaspoons canola or olive oil
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon Indian jaggery (or dark brown sugar)
• 1 teaspoon tamarind paste (or 1 1/2 teaspoon lime juice)
• ¼ teaspoon black mustard seeds
• ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon asafoetida
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• 4-6 curry leaves, washed, dried and cut on the slant into 1/4 inch wide slivers
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro finely chopped

Procedure:

1. To sprout the masoor:
2. Wash the masoor, drain, and in a large bowl add enough water to completely cover the masoor with at least 1/12 inches of water above the level of the masoor. Leave undisturbed for 12 hours.
3. Drain water completely, wash the masoor, then place in a large colander, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and place in the oven or other dark place for 2- 3 days.
4. Gently rinse the sprouted masoor and drain.

To cook the masoor daal:

1. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan on medium high heat, add the mustard seeds and let them gently pop. Then add in order the cumin seeds, asafoetida, turmeric, coconut, and curry leaves, stirring continuously to gently saute on medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Make sure they do not burn. Add the onion, garlic and ginger in order, stirring and sauteing until they are light golden brown.
2. Add the sprouted masoor to the pan, stirring continuously, allowing the spices and masoor to mix well while sauteing. Add half of the chopped cilantro, the goda masala (or garam masala), cumin and corriander powders, lower the heat to medium.
3. Add the tamarind, salt to taste, jaggery (or brown sugar), 2 cups water, stir well, bring to a boil, lower heat to low, cover and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water 1-2 tablespoons at a time if necessary to prevent sticking at the bottom of the pan.
4. Check the sprouted masoor (lentils) to see if they are cooked by pressing gently with the back of the spoon. The consistency of the masoor should be cooked and firm like baked beans, and not mashed.
5. Sprinkle the rest of the chopped cilantro and stit in additional lime juice to taste as desired.

Serve hot with Indian Bread (roti, phulka, naan), Rice Pulao, Broccoli Yogurt Bharit,

Recipe for Broccoli Yogurt Bharit:top right in the picture Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 4 small broccoli crowns
• 1 ½ cups fat free or low fat plain plant-based yogurt as my husband is vegan (you may use dairy yogurt for non vegan version)
• 1 1/2  teaspoons canola or olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black mustard seeds
• ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/8 teaspoon asafoetida
• 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
• 3-4 curry leaves, washed, dried and cut on the slant into 1/4 inch wide slivers
• a small pinch of sugar

Procedure:

1. Cut the broccoli including the tender stems into 1 inch pieces
2. Add 2 teaspoons of water, cover, and cook in the microwave oven for 9 minutes.
3. Cool for 5 minutes, drain excess water, and coarsely chop in the food processor, pulsing occasionally. Do not grind it to a pulp.
4. Mix the yogurt with salt and pinch of sugar in a large bowl, gently fold in the cooked chopped broccoli
5. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan on medium high heat, add the mustard seeds and let them gently pop. Then add in order the cumin seeds, asafoetida, turmeric and curry leaves, stirring continuously to gently saute on medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Make sure the spices do not burn. Remove pan from the heat.
6. Add the oil and spice mixture to the broccoli yogurt mixture in the large bowl, gently mixing. Add some of the broccoli mixture to the pan to help get all the spices and oil and fold it into the bowl.

This is best served at room temperature, although it may be refrigerated and served cold. Serve with Masoor daal, Naan, Rice or Biryani, Eggplant with Peas.

Recipe for Carrot Halva: Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1 pound baby carrots
• 1 ½ cups almond milk (you may use dairy milk for non vegan version)
• 1 cup finely ground almonds
• ½ cup slivered almonds
• 1 ¼ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons olive oil or canola oil (for non vegan version you may use 2-3 teaspoons of clarified butter)
• Seeds from 4-6 cardamom pods ground using  a mortar and pestle or 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon saffron threads
• 1  -2 teaspoons coarsely ground pistachios
• Pinch of salt

Procedure:

1. Grind or finely shred the carrots
2. Heat 1-2 teaspoons of the milk and soak the saffron in the hot milk
3. Cook the carrots with the remaining milk, ground almonds, and ground cardamom  in the microwave for 8-10 minutes, stopping the microwave and stirring the mixture every 2-3 minutes. Do not let the milk boil.
4. Heat the oil in heavy bottomed pan on medium heat, add the cooked carrots milk mixture, sugar, saffron milk, nutmeg, and pinch of salt, and stir continuously for 3-5 minutes. Turn the mixture over gently several times making sure the sugar touches the bottom of the pan, starts to melt, but does not burn..
5. Reduce heat to low-medium and continue stir frying until the carrot mixture is cooked to a dark orange color and the mixture has the look and consistency of a thick rice pudding.
6. Gently toast the slivered almonds in a pan on medium high heat stirring continuously until they are a very light golden brown color.
7. Mound the Carrot Halva on a platter, garnish with slivered almonds and coarsely ground pistachios and serve cold or warm – both are favorites of my family!