OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: AGASHIYE IN AHMEDABAD

 OUR DINING EXPERIENCE: AGASHIYE  IN AHMEDABAD 

In my view, The House of MG,  is a "must visit" when you are in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, as a tourist. This is an old mansion which was built in the last century and is now part hotel, part museum, and part restaurant. At the roof top of the House of MG is a restaurant called "Agashiye" which I was told means " Terrace" in Gujarati. We enjoyed a typical Gujarati thali here for lunch during our recent visit to Ahmedabad. As their brochure says, it was an experience of Fine Gujarati Dining on the Terrace! 

The entrance of the restaurant has an interesting collection of pots and pans. The diner can choose from three types of thalis. The more expensive of the three types have unlimited quantities of food. We opted for the limited thali-The Agashiye Classic- which though very tasty was itself way too much for us! 

The meal starts with a welcome drink. On that day it happened to be Pineapple and Jamfal Nu Sharbat. A tasty and refreshing mix of pineapple and guava!  

We loved the main course which was Jodhpuri Bataki ( made with potatoes) , Panchkuti Shaak ( made  with 5 types of vegetables), excellent Phulka Rotlis ( so light and delicious), Lila Kopra wala Rice ( a kind of coconut rice)  and the slightly sweet but super yummy Gujarati Dal.

Supporting the main coarse was a bevy of salads and chutneys: Fangavela Kathol, Kakdi, (Cucumber), Tomato, Seasonal Vegetable Pickle, Sweet Pickle, Coriander and Peanut Chutney and a spicy Garlic Chutney which was out of this world.  

Accompaniments served with the meal were Dahivada Chaat ( which was super), Fresh Buttermilk, and Papad. 

We were wondering what would be served for dessert and were happy to see it was Mohanthal- supposedly the most famous sweet of Ahmedabad. It was truly delicious and we won't forget this taste for a long time. We have had Mohanthal in different places but the one at Agashiye was by far the best we had.

The House of MG, as I mentioned before, is an interesting place to visit. Try to club this visit with a meal at Agashiye to make the experience complete! Highly recommended. 

 

LASANIYA BATATA

LASANIYA BATATA

The best part of being a foodie in India is that you get to cook and eat such a diverse range of cuisines. Having lived in Gujarat for a while, I developed a taste for Gujarati food and hence you will find in my blog recipes for dishes well known in Gujarat such as:-

• Bhindi Sambhariya
• Gujarati Kadhi
• Methi Theplas
• Khaman Dhokla 

The name of the recipe for today indicates what it is all about. It is called Lasaniya Batata and is a hot and spicy side dish made with Baby Potatoes and Garlic. You can, of course, vary the spice level to suit your personal taste.

I have adapted this from Lasaniya Batata  in the Food Viva site.

Ingredients:-

• Baby Potatoes, 250 gms
• Garlic Cloves, 8-10 
• Byadgi Red Chillies, 6
• Ginger, chopped, 1 "
• Medium-sized Tomato, 1
• Coriander Powder, 2 tsp
• Cumin Seeds, 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder, 1/8 tsp 
• Chaat Masala, 1/2 tsp
• Kitchen King Masala, 1/4 tsp
• Medium-sized Onion, 1
• Salt, to taste
• Oil, 1 tbsp + 3 tbsp
• Coriander Leaves, finely chopped, 1 tbsp

Method:-

Wash the baby potatoes thoroughly and pressure cook them in adequate water and a little salt for 2 whistles  or till they are done. Make sure that they don't get overcooked. 

When the cooker has cooled, remove the potatoes and peel when they are cool enough to handle. Keep aside.
Soak the dry chillies in water for about 10 minutes
Finely chop the onion and tomato
In a small mixer jar, grind together the soaked red chillies alone with garlic, ginger, tomato, coriander powder, cumin seeds, turmeric powder and salt, to a smooth paste. Keep aside this tomato-garlic paste
In a thick-bottomed kadhai, heat 1 tbsp and on medium heat add the boiled and peeled potatoes and shallow fry them for about 2 minutes
To this, add the chaat masala and the Kitchen King Masala and fry for 1 more minute
Switch off the gas and transfer the shallow fried potatoes to a bowl
In the same kadhai, heat 3 tbsp of oil and on medium heat add the finely chopped onion and sauté till it is slightly browned
Now add the prepared tomato-garlic paste, and sauté on low flame for about 5 minutes till the oil separates
Add the shallow fried potatoes and mix well till the potatoes are well coated with the masala
Cook on medium/low heat for another 3-5 minutes
Switch off the gas and transfer to serving bowl
Lastly, garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves
Serve hot as a side dish with rotis or rice

SPROUTED MOONG & PALAK DHOKLA

SPROUTED MOONG & PALAK DHOKLA


Dhokla, as you know, is a popular snack or farsan as they call it in Gujarat. Having lived in that state for some time, I developed a taste for Gujarati food. Elsewhere this blog, you will find recipes for Rava Dhokla, Khaman Dhokla, and Bhindi Sambhariya.

Today's recipe for dhokla makes use of two healthy ingredients: sprouted moong and spinach. The addition of spinach gives it a distinctive colour. It is best served with green coriander chutney. I have adapted this recipe from Sprouts Dhokla from the legendary Tarlaji Dalal.

Ingredients:-

• Sprouted Moong (Sprouted Green Gram), 1 cup
• Spinach ( Palak), roughly chopped, 1/2 cup
• Green Chillies, roughly chopped, 3
• Besan ( Bengal Gram Flour)  2 tbsp
• Salt, to taste
• Eno Fruit Salt, 1 tsp
• Oil, for greasing the thali 

For Tempering :-

• Oil, 1 tbsp
• Sesame Seeds, (Til), 1 tsp
• Asafoetida Powder (Hing), 1/4 tsp
• Curry Leaves (Kari Patta), 6-8
• Green Chillies, slit, 2

Preparation :

Since Sprouted Moong is an integral ingredient in this dish, here's how you would sprout the moong in advance. Soak the moong overnight for 8-10 hours. Drain the water fully the next day, wash and tie the moong beans in a wet muslin cloth and keep it to sprout. You will find them fully sprouted as in the picture below after a day or so.

                                                          Sprouted Moong 

Method: 

Grease a thali and keep it ready to make the dhokla
In a mixer jar, grind together the sprouted moong, chopped spinach and roughly chopped green chillies, using very little water, to a smooth paste.

Transfer the ground paste to a bowl and add salt, and besan along with 1/4 cup of water.
Mix well to ensure that there are no lumps and that the batter is of pouring consistency but not too dilute.

On the batter add 1 tsp of Eno Fruit Salt and 2 tsp of water and mix gently when bubbles begin to form
Next, pour the batter into the thali which you have greased and spread the batter evenly
Add water to the steamer and keep it ready for steaming on a low flame
Keep the thali in a steamer and steam it for about for 10-12 minutes or till the dhoklas are cooked

To make the tempering:
Heat oil in a tadka pan and on medium flame add the sesame seeds. When they sizzle add the  asafoetida, curry leaves and slit green chillies. Saute for a few seconds

Lastly, pour this tempering over the dhokla and spread it evenly
Allow the dhokla to cool slightly and cut it into equal diamond shaped pieces

Serve immediately with green chutney

RINGNA VATANA

RINGNA VATANA

Today's dish is a popular one in Gujarati. The name for this dish comes from the two main ingredients namely Brinjals/Eggplants ("Ringan" in Gujarati) and Green Peas ("Vatana" in Gujarati).

You would have seen, if you are a follower of this blog, that we make Gujarati dishes at home once in a while. That is because as soon as I got married, we lived for a few years in that State in the West of India. You will find, for example elsewhere in this blog recipes for Bhindi Sambhariya,  Khaman Dhokla, and Gujarati Kadhi.

This recipe has been adapted from Ringna Vatana by Tarlaji Dalal. It is described as a being a healthy, low calorie dish. We should choose balloon brinjals for this dish as they are seedless. We can use either fresh or frozen green peas.

We enjoyed this with hot rotis.

Ingredients:-

• Balloon Brinjals, cut into bite-sized cubes, 4 cups
• Frozen Green Peas, 1 and 1/2 cups
• Cumin Seeds, 1/2 tsp
• Oil, 2 tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Lemon Juice, 1 tsp
• Coriander Leaves, a sprig- for the garnish

For the Marinade Powder: 

• Coriander -Cumin Seeds Powder, 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder, 1/2 tsp
• Chilli Powder, 1/2 tsp
• Salt, to taste

For The Onion Coriander Paste ; 

• Onion, roughly chopped, 1/2 cup
• Coriander Leaves, chopped, 1/4 cup
• Green Chillies, roughly chopped, 2
• Ginger, chopped, 1/2 tsp
• Cardamom, 2
• Garlic, 4 cloves

Method:-

Wash the brinjals and remove the stalk. Cut the brinjals into bite-sized cubes.
In a deep bowl, mix together the brinjal cubes along with the coriander -cumin seeds powder, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Keep aside for 10 minutes for marination.
In a mixer jar grind together all the ingredients mentioned under "For The Onion Coriander Paste" to a smooth paste, with 1 tbsp of water. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a non-stick kadhai and on moderate heat add the cumin seeds

When the cumin seeds sizzle, add the onion-coriander paste and saute on medium flame for a couple of minutes till the raw smell goes 

Now add the marinated brinjal cubes, green peas, and salt. Mix well
(Remember you have already added salt for the marinade powder)
Add 1/2 cup of water and mix well
Cover and cook on medium flame for 8-10 minutes stirring from time to time

Finally stir in the lemon juice
Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves
Serve hot with rotis