Bhutta or Grilled corn is one of the street food that I would actually eat from the cart vendor. I am very conscious of cleanliness. Growing up in Bangalore there were numerous food vendors standing at strategic locations to attract customers. There were quite a few standing right next to all my schools. I wouldn't buy anything that was raw (cut fruits/ vegetables), had water (like pani puri) and would use their hand to mix my food.!!! Bhutta on the other hand, (ignoring the fact that lime was cut by the vendor) I would love to buy. If you would imagine, cold Bangalore evenings, with the corn sputtering on red hot charcoal, getting perfectly grilled, all customers after picking their corn, waiting patiently around and staring at their beautiful pick. Hehehe.. I am almost transported there now.
My mom would steam the corn at home in a pressure cooker. That was another experience altogether. It tastes more juicier. You can add some chili powder and salt to the water before you steam and out comes the juicy goodness. When I was in LA few years ago, my old friend Julie, who was my land lady to at that time, came to me asking if I would like to eat Elotes. I wasn't sure what she was asking. She said she was buying from the street vendor! It was Mexican street corn. We went out and saw this guy with steamed corn and he was generously applying salted butter, Cheese, Chili powder to it. I wasn't sure how the butter would be on corn & asked to hold cheese, but I have to say it was extremely delicious.
It's a season for corn here in US now. And I lug them from every visit to a store or a farm. Kiddos love it. Here is the simplest of all Grilled Corn on the Cob for you!
Prep Time: 5 min | Cooking Time : 2 min each
Ingredients:
Corn on the cob - 4
Salt - 1 tsp.
Pepper/ Chili powder - 1 tsp.
Chaat Masala powder/ Cumin Powder - 1 tsp.
Lime - 1
Method of Preparation:
~ Remove the husks of Corn, keep the stem which would help you to hold the corn while grilling.
~ You can either use outside grill or your regular gas stove fire. Holding on to the stem or using tongs turn the corn slowly on the fire, so all the corn gets grilled.
~ Mix Chili powder, Chaat Masala powder and salt. Cut lime into halves. Dip one half into the chili mixture and generously scrub lime over the corn, squeezing little juice of lime as you go.
~ Yummy Bhutta is ready to be devoured!
My favorite way of making beetroot is chutney which I have previously blogged about. Another way is this, a simple low calorie bhaaji. Beetroot is one of the vegetable that stays in the refrigerator for pretty long duration. So I put them on my grocery list the minute I run out of it. I add them to my vegetable breakfast juices, which gives it a rich bright color. Juices are for another day! Today I present you this humble root in it's simple form of bhaaji.
Prep Time : 5 min | Cooking Time: 15 min | Serves : 2
Ingredients:
Beetroot - 2 medium size
Oil - 1 tsp.
Mustard - 1/2 tsp.
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Urad Daal - 1 tsp.
Curry Leaves - Leaves from one spring
Red Chili - 1 split
Salt to taste
Method of Preparation:
~ Wash and peel the skin off of beetroots. Remove the hard top and bottom parts. Chop them.
~ Steam until they are little tender or pressure cook for 5 minutes. (Don't put any water in the container with beetroots)
~ In a wide pan, heat oil and add mustard.
~ Once the mustard starts spluttering, add urad daal, hing, red chili and lastly curry leaves.
~ Add the cooked beetroots, salt and mix them all thoroughly. Switch off the heat and serve it hot.
Hope all of you had wonderful Ganesh Chaturthi celebration! I know many of them keep Ganesha for 5 or more days too. So it's an ongoing celebration with different kind of food and prasad offered God every day. I miss India during these days when everywhere there is rush to buy things, flower vendors lining sidewalks, sweet smell of camphor around the temple, ummmm... and of course last but not least mom making sweets and savories. We used to go around the neighborhood to check the decoration and Ganesha idols. It was fun to exchange later about how many we saw and how beautiful they were.
When my sister moved to Pune after marriage, I visited her three times during Ganpati. It's was another completely different experience being there. The grandeur of this festival need to be seen and felt to believe it. The over the top decorations, markets bustling with people and everyone visiting one Ganpati Mantap to another. DagaduSheth Ganpati is one of the places that's highly crowded, but people love to go there and see how they have decorated the Lord. Ahhh Good old memories.
These Peda's that I made for prasad were a breeze to make. I use condensed milk so the base is thick to begin with, which reduces the cooking time. This is a variation from the Doodh Peda recipe using fresh Khoya. Try this easy recipe to please everyone and let them thinking that you spent hours to come up with this delicacy. :)
Prep Time: 5 min | Cooking Time: 15 min | Makes : About 2 dozen
Ingredients:
Ghee - 2 tsp.
Condensed Milk - 1 Can
Mava/ Milk Powder - 1 Cup
Almond Powder/ MTR Badam Powder mix - 2 tbsp.
Kesar/ Saffron strands - 6 to 7
Cardamon - seeds from 5 to 6 pods crushed fine
Slivers of Almond for decoration
Method of Preparation:
~ In a heavy bottomed pan, add ghee and heat the condensed milk.
~ Once it's starts to bubble, add rest of the ingredients, except slivers of almond.
~ Keep mixing on a medium heat, until the mixture starts to leave the sides. This takes about 6 to 7 minutes.
~ Switch off and wait for 10 minutes for it to cool down.
~ Pinch out small balls from the mix and shape them round. Press gently in the middle with your thumb and place a sliver of almond in it.
Notes:
- Switch off the gas once the mixture starts leaving the sides. If you heat it for too long, it becomes hard and chewy.
- If the mix becomes too hard and cannot be shaped, slowly add few drops of hot milk and keep mixing with hand until you can make small balls.
- This can be stored in air tight container on the shelf for 2 days and in the refrigerator for a week or so.
