Kadhi Gole

Posted on October 13, 2026 by delhigrl

This is my grandmothers recipe- I have made a few tweaks but it’s essentially the same

Soak 1 cup Chana dal for 4-6 hours. In a food processor – add the Chana dal, 1 inch piece of ginger, 1-2 green chillies and coriander and salt and process till not completely smooth. When you try and make a ball – they should hold their shape.

The traditional recipe cooks these by boiling them in the kadhi but I like steaming these for insurance and also because I always make more gole than we can eat- these freeze beautifully. Steam for 15-20 min

Next make your kadhi as you normally would. I add 4 cups of buttermilk or yogurt and water to my blender with 1 cup of water, 1-2 tbsp of chickpea flour, ginger (1-2 inches), cilantro and green chillies and I blend everything together. Then heat it while whisking till it boils and thickens. Boil on low heat for 10 min. Add steamed gole.

You need 2 tadkas or phodni for this. One for the kadhi- heat 2 tbsp oil or ghee, 1tsp mustard seeds till they pop , add 1rsp cumin seeds, asafetida pinch , some turmeric (1/2 tsp), kadipata leaves (3-4 chopped) and 1 red chillies. Add to kadhi

Your second tadka is the 2 tbsp oil or ghee, 1 tsp mustard seeds till they pop, asafetida, turmeric and red chillies and 8-9 sliced garlic cloves. Cook till they brown and become crispy

To eat- take the gole out of the kadhi- crush them, add garlic and kadhi on top

These are very good!

Yucatán beets

Posted on April 27, 2025 by delhigrl

First roast some cubed beets – 400 for 20 min

While that’s roasting – make the dressing. The recipe calls for juice of 3 sour oranges and 1/4 cup lime juice. I did 2 cut up mandarins , 1 large tbsp of marmalade, about 1/2 cup or lime juice, some vinegar, salt and sugar(I used some jaggery which is called Panela in Mexico)

Marinate one large onion, some cilantro and mint and 1 Serrano (recipe calls for 2 habanero which are beyond us)

Add roasted beets hot and let it cool

Protein poha

Posted on March 30, 2025 by delhigrl

First fry up cubes of paneer with a little salt and turmeric

Rinse your poha (half cup per person) a couple of times and leave it to drain

Fry a potato , add to paneer

Make tadka – oil, mustard seeds till they pop, pinch of asafetida, pinch of turmeric , curry leaves and dried chillies (I had some stuffed ones)

Add onions and salt and this is where my recipe is different – let them catamelize slowly

Add poha and potato and paneer to pan

Add shredded coconut (about quarter cup) and cilantro and steam for 5 min

Crunchy tofu and noodles with peanut butter sauce

Posted on January 22, 2025 by delhigrl

Make crunchy tofu- dry tofu out, add salt , pepper, sesame seeds (or panko) and soy sauce. Bake at 400 for 15-20 min

Make the peanut sauce (from America’s text kitchen)

5 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp chili crisp or more, 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, 1 tbsp ginger, 1 tbsp crushed garlic and some hot water to make creamy paste (less than half cup)

Add to noddles with veggies (I did cabbage, scallions, herbs)

Cabbage pancakes with chutney

Posted on January 22, 2025 by delhigrl

Start with one half cabbage, one half onion, few garlic cloves and 2 eggs

Add 2/3 c of flour of your choice – I used a fish fry mix – cornflour, besan anything will work. Add water as needed , now cook on either side

Serve with chimmichuri (parsley, tarragon, mint, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar) and some Arabic cheese

Simplicity 1108 or trying to make a desi kimono style top

Posted on December 19, 2024 by delhigrl

So this is the inspiration

This was the pattern and I planned to add a drawstring and buttonholes at the waist and make the kimono in velvet and get the trims in India

This is how it started – you have to be careful of the nape in velvet – it has to drape the same way

Sew the back , shoulders and sides with a 5/8 inch hem

Arrange the borders and connect them – 5/8th seams !

Make one inch box pleats on either side of midline so the neck band fits, alternatively you can do gathers- just so the notches line up. Then add a staystitch just under the hemline

Now sew that trim on matching the notches and the seams and the curves – I used basting stitches for this one

Sew the other band on this way and notch all the curves

Have a done a great job on the seams ? No! It’s fine- it’s a drapey top

Turn the edge over and sew down over a basting stitch

Then realize that you’ve messed up the nap and have to redo a whole band so cut new pieces and start the unsewing process

Attempt 2- pin the band and just planning on a top stitch

Fold the other side in and make sure band lies flat

Ok so far laying much better than other technique – may have to redo other band too

Now pin it in and sew

Ok this worked beautifully – annoyingly I have to redo the other side now

Done with the other side ! This is how I’ll be doing my front bands from now on

Hem the arms to 5/8 inch

Now for the drawstring – first use safety pins to make sure the placement is correct

Ok that turned out cute- more to follow when I get the trim

Paneer Manchurian

Posted on June 14, 2024 by delhigrl

Indochinese is nostalgic to immigrants and I’ve tried for years to make a good paneer Manchurian. I think I finally have a recipe that’s worth writing down. The trick is replacing the ketchup with maggi hot and sweet tomato chilli sauce. Bonus – it’s ready in less than 20 min.

It’s inspired by this Ranveer Brar recipe. The ingredients are all approximate except for the sauce – measure that one out.

First soak your paneer in warm water for 15-20 min. It makes a big difference. Then fry it in about half an inch of oil till it’s brown on all sides. Remove paneer.

Next prep your stir fry ingredients- about a cup of onion, less than half a cup of scallions, about a tbsp each ginger and garlic and interestingly about half a cup of cilantro stalks . A chilli or two would work as well

The sauce is 1/3 cup of soy sauce and 1/3 cup of maggi hot and sweet tomato chili sauce (from your friendly Indian store), 1/3 cup water, a large tsp of sugar , a tsp or so of vinegar and lots of black pepper

Start stir frying – in the paneer oil, add onions and then scallions and cilantro stems and ginger and garlic. There should be a lot of different textures in this dish. Then add the paneer back and the sauce and cook for 2 min or so. Add a tsp or more of cornstarch slurry and the dish is done!

It’s spicy , sweet and very delicious.

Potato sagu

Posted on June 13, 2024 by delhigrl

I’ve been on a long quest for the perfect potato sagu- the kind served with rava idli and ghee in Bangalore restaurants. I think I’ve found it- the trick is thickening the potato curry with ground roasted chana dal. This is a satisfying curry – good with rice, roti or store bought Malaysian flaky parantha (lovely as a treat- but sadly too unhealthy for daily eats)

Step 1: wash and dry roast 1/4 cup of chana dal till pale brown- grind fine in a coffee grinder. Make a paste with about half cup of water

Step 2: tempering – standard South Indian – in 1 -2 tbsp of oil, add 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds and heat till they sputter, add 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds, a pinch of asafetida, 1/2 tsp of turmeric and 1-2 dried red chilies and 2-3 kadipatta leaves.

Step 3: add chopped potatoes and water and salt and boil for 10-15 minutes till cooked though

Step4: add chana dal paste, cook for 5-10 minutes. Garnish with roasted cashews and cilantro and squeeze about one lemon to taste in the curry off the heat.

Persian Lentil rice with dates

Posted on June 13, 2024 by delhigrl

This is such a good recipe. It’s reminiscent of the Indian khichdi but better !

I modified it from this NYT one. This recipe is for 3-4 people

In a rice cooker , add 1 cup basmati, 1/2 cup small green lentils. Wash and rinse twice and add 3 cups of water, a small cinnamon stick and a pinch of saffron and salt and pepper . Let the rice cooker do its thing

In a pan, heat some oil and fry up one large onion with some salt and pepper till it’s dark brown and a little crispy. This will take about 15 minutes. Make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove onion and in the same oil, fry up 6-7 chopped dates in the oil with some salt and I added Aleppo pepper (about a teaspoon). Next chop up a handful of herbs (mint, cilantro, parsley). Mix all that up

Now layer the rice with the onion-date-herb mixture. Drizzle with ghee (browned butter). Enjoy with salted yogurt on the side. This dish would be great covered with foil and heated just before serving.

Fish fried Tofu

Posted on May 26, 2024 by delhigrl

Press out water from firm tofu using pressure or microwave it for a minute and squeeze.

In a ziploc- add sliced tofu (I sliced into fingers), pickle juice and yellow mustard with some pepper and soy sauce. Marinate for an hour or so. Drain the tofu.

In another ziploc, add about half a cup or so of fish fry (cornmeal with seasoning – I used the zatarain brand). Add the tofu and shake it around.

Fry at 350 for 3 minutes till golden brown.

We ate these in Vietnamese spring rolls with pickled veggies, jalapeños, cucumber, rice noodles, herbs and a gochugang- peanut butter sauce. So good!

Delhi Girl Meets Food

Vegetarian recipes in an Indian kitchen in Nebraska