22 July

I am not a crazy fan of Bhindi but my mom is. I love Bhindi in general, it goes very well with any kind of dal rice or even seddho bhat (Only bengalis would know about this. Basically you just boil all vegetables whole along with rice and then mash it up, and eat it with a dash of desi ghee and salt).

It is quite a versatile vegetable but quite tricky too. Because of its slimy nature, at times we end up having a subzi which is very sticky and looses the look and feel. There are a couple of tried and tested rules to make bhindi which helps in cooking it just perfect. First, wash and pat them dry. Yes you need to take care they are as dry as possible before you start cooking. Also adding a souring agent to the subzi helps in retaining its nice and dry texture.

I would simply stir fry it with salt and turmeric most of the times to have it with my meal. Or just boil it and have it as is. Never really thought about trying out any ornamental recipes with this unassuming vegetable. Until I became a member of a food group on Facebook. Its called Pune Food Freak. And on a daily basis folks keep posting amazing creations from their kitchen. At times it feels that I really need to step up on my game to match up to the powerhouse of talent over there.


So it happens that I was part of this group from many months but only became an active contributor from May, yes you guessed it right, lockdown has made us all great homechefs. I was no exception. It wont be wrong to say that it is primarily a female dominated space, but there are male folks too who post. When I came into this group I knew no one. When during lockdown I started posting I had a lot of apprehension that no one will give hoot to a newcomer like me when there are already so many amazing homechefs here. But slowly I realized that this group is more than just the pictures we post. It percolates to the level of creating much more deeper bonds with similar minded people. People who bond mainly over food, but not limited to it alone. This was like a power house of talent who also shared a common love for food. Over the period of last couple of months, I could manage to know a few people better and we shared a nice camaraderie over the posts. We gossiped, we cheered, we spammed the comments section at late nights, we felt happy for achievements. I never imagined that I will end up getting new friends from this space.

One of those friends is Kavita or Kavu as we fondly call her now (don't kill me for this Kavita). She is a masterchef herself. I mean I feel every home chef who cooks a meal for their family is nothing less than a masterchef. The kind of variety that is being spun, is beyond belief. So Kavu keeps cooking these gorgeous meals and posting at all the unholy hours so that we are tormented by the visuals before we go to bed. Its kind of a sweet torture because I really look forward to her dishes. Now one day she posted these gorgeous green looking Rajasthani Bhindi Recipe and I was like this I have to make.
So after two days of eager waiting (the standard turn around time for her :D) when finally she handed over the recipe, it seemed pretty uncomplicated and best part, all the ingredients were present in my pantry. So yay to that. But as you know, that I love a little experimentation, so decided to keep the core ingredients same, just added a few additional things like - grated fresh coconut (I love coconut), hing (again I love the flavor with besan) and mustard seeds. Apart from that I followed the recipe to the tee. And let me tell you it turned out amazingly good. Since this is a bit on the drier side, so I preferred to have it with daal and rice and it was a match made in heaven. The lovely aroma of the spice mix and the beautifully cooked bhindis really made my day. Thank you so much Kavu, for this recipe. Its going to be on my frequently made recipes from now on.



Preparation Time : 20 minutes
Cooking Time : 15 minutes
Serving : 3-4 person

July - September is the most beautiful time of the year in Maharashtra as it's monsoon season. The emerald greenery all around almost hurts the eye, its so beautiful. This year the monsoon have extended beyond September. So even around the Durga Puja we had rains. Even when we don't have rains the sky is overcast at times with mild breeze. It's on one such day that the idea of visiting the Veer Dam has loosely been discussed. Usually many such plans hatch during the weekday while we ride to the office and by the time its weekend the ideas fade into oblivion. So this time also I didn't take the plan very seriously. On a Friday night we set the alarm early as next day we were going on a ride to Veer Dam.

 So next day we woke up early but got late getting ready. We left home around 8:15 AM.  We got ready to face the morning air and the unknown that lay ahead. From Dhayari to Veer Dam it's 62 KM. From Pune we took the Satara road. About 40 kms from Pune take Pandharpur road on the left for Shirval village. This road goes along the veer dam.

The roads were pretty empty and we breezed through the ghat-like roads, small dark green rocky hills adored both sides of the road. The morning air was very cool and refreshing. Unfortunately I had not taken my helmet and the air was lashing against my face making my eyes teary. I was trying hard to look ahead instead of the strong gusty wind because I didn't want to skip any part of the landscape. 15 minutes into the road we stopped at a roadside restaurant to have breakfast. I had medu vada-chutney which was very crisp and yummy. I always found eating by the highway restaurants or dhabas very intriguing. The panoramic view of the highway, the vehicles zooming past, old movie songs playing in the small TV at the restaurant, the clanging of the utensils as the servers placed the food before the guests - everything makes you feel like you are in a time warp where everything is moving at a fervent pace except you. I enjoy that "you" moment a lot.

We started off after having breakfast. The scenery started to change slowly, green hills gave way to big blue mountains faraway.

The route from Dhayari to Veer Dam

As the city limits slowly faded away we were greeted by miles of golden orange carpet of Cosmos lazily placed over the rolling green terrain interspersed with sudden burst of bold fuchsia bougainvillea , shy white creepers and violet unknown flowers. Post monsoon many parts of Maharashtra  witnesses a heavy bloom of Cosmos, especially away from the city limits on the highways or some distant places which are not having much human habitation. I had never the faintest idea that Cosmos blossoms can look so pretty in a bunch. The Pune Satara road looked as beautiful as our drive to Panshet a few weeks before due to the presence of these Cosmos. Mostly orange at times we saw yellow smaller ones as well. The orange and yellow marigolds also gave a tough competition to the Cosmos throughout the entire stretch but then at the end the Cosmos won hands down due to their petite frame and the cascading effect that was created by ripples of wind along the mountains.


We took a left from the main highway at one point to go towards the Veer dam. As we proceeded the landscape became dotted with farm lands and farmers working in the fields. We  saw some small hut type houses which were probably some village. Soon we crossed the Nira river and from then on our left side the backwaters of Veer Dam started accompanying us. We could see the water through the thick foliage and the villages, but the distance from the road was much. As we drove further the condition of the road deteriorated and at one point of time there was no road but pebbles and dirt. Got to know that the government had tried to construct good roads here but due to the local political influence on the villagers dispute happened and they never let the government complete the roads. We even saw unfinished bridges and worn out “men at work” signs all along the road indicating the truth of the fact. As we moved on the distance between the road and the backwaters decreased and slowly we were riding very next to it. The water was very calm and peaceful. The aquamarine waters had dark and light alternate ribbons of color due to the difference in depths at places.

Marine trees were seen in the water. We saw many birds on way – some of them very very beautiful and not the ones which are usually seen in city. Veer dam is known for migratory birds visiting it during the winters. A large number of birds are seen in this region every year and many bird watchers are present to witness them.

Such a beautiful place and yet it seemed unexplored and virgin. Maybe that’s one reason why the water of the dam was so clean. A couple of cars stopped for a quick snap but no one stayed for long. We moved further on till the gates of the dam. Few Eucalyptus trees were there along the bank, the minty pine scent with a touch of honey lingered in the air. A couple of village women sat under them washing clothes. We parked the bike outside the gate and walked inside. The lake looked very serene and deep. Veer is one of the largest dams of Maharastra. The slope of the dam was rocky and had tiny violet blossoms all over. We did not walk ahead but spent some quite time by the entry and took snaps. The sun was getting hotter and we decided to backtrack.

There are a couple of hotels by the side of the Veer dam, one of them Sai International was operational. As we were very thirsty from all the driving in the sun we decided to unwind for some time at the hotel. The property is strategically located overlooking the backwaters. It has a nice lawn with wrought iron tables. It has both lodging and fooding. The bar area is separate. We sat at the family restaurant and ordered some mixed bhajiyas and vanilla milkshake. The restaurant was clean enough though we were the only two people there. The bar had more people. The milkshakes arrived first in tall glasses and was one of the best vanilla milkshake I have ever tasted – creamy , frothy and delicately sweetened not more or less. The bhajiyas also arrived and we were left speechless by the sheer mountain sized quantity of it. Somehow we managed to finish half plate.



Well fed and happy we left the hotel and began our journey back. We stopped for an occasional picture or two. The return ride was more pleasant as by that time the sky had become overcast which brought down the temperature a bit. Also the flowers looked brighter against the green backdrop in the shade. The Pune Satara highway has a very large tunnel. This was the first time I was crossing a tunnel on a bike. The air rush with all the light and shadow play on the walls made me feel like we were in some Harry Potter video game navigating a dungeon on a broomstick :D.


We were home by 2.30 PM. We were tired but happy. After a year almost we did a long ride.

During the ride we discussed a lot about the Maharashtrian cuisine and spicy Kolhapuri chicken was also discussed.  The bold and super spicy dish from Kolhapur is well known for its heat content. If it's not spicy its not authentic Kolhapuri chicken. The next day being a Sunday was our usual day for Chicken. Since so much had been discussed about spicy chicken curry I decided to make something on similar lines. But didnt want it overpowered with spiciness, so it had to be something with the rich flavours of regional chicken but at the same time be low on the heat. I had heard one of my colleagues at office who is from Rajasthan, talk about a particular dish famous in Rajasthan - Laal Maas or Fiery Red Mutton curry. The colour itself is something to talk about - mutton pieces cooked in a rich deep red coloured spicy sauce. What Kolhapuri Chicken is to Maharashtra , Laal Maas is to Rajasthan. I didn't have mutton in the pantry so it had to be tweaked to accommodate chicken in the same recipe.

I looked up on the net and found many recipes of Laal Maas. Among them one of my favorite blogger  Soma of eCurry's Rajasthani red chicken curry looked very delicious. She had a lot of garlic seasoning in her recipe but I tweaked the ingredient list according to my taste - I am not very fond of strong garlic smell in my Indian chicken curry. So I reduced the quantity of garlic and other masalas to keep the curry light on the stomach while keeping the color intact. I was a bit doubtful about the color that Soma had produced in her dish but finally I also managed the same hue. The recipe turned out soooo very good that I got compliment that it was tasting just like "Biyebarir Mangsho" or Mutton prepared during wedding dinners in Bengal.