SWC - UTTAR PRADESH ROUND UP

It seems almost like yesterday when I posted the announcement for SWC- UP...... infact this is my very next post after the announcement . The last one month has been a whirlwind of activity .... with house hunting consuming all the weekends and packing taking up whatever time was left . Finally we shifted our home to a new one last weekend. Now the herculean task of making a home out of this new house remains to be done . We loved the old house and the convenience it offered...but we are hopeful that this new house would mean new beginnings and happenings for us.

Finding and making "my home" in this new "house" will take some time . Whereas everything had a fixed place in the previous house ..nothing has any fixed place in this house ....and everytime I open a carton I start wondering where to keep all the knick knacks that I have collected over the years ..finally after a lot of hard work the kitchen which is the "engine of the house" is settled and so is the "heart" the living room ..but as they say lots to do before I sleep :-) .

I have had a childhood in which I have moved from one place to another every few years and so shifting is not something new . However what was new was the resposibility of arranging, managing and settling everything . My mom used to ensure we get home cooked dinner on the same day we moved in ...during childhood shifting was more about discovering the new neighbourhood , exploring things ..not about arranging cartons, packing them, deciding what to take and what to leave behind :-( ...Oh I do miss the good old days !

Enough about my shifting ....let us come back to SWC- UP the event started by my good friend Lakshmi di of tasteofmysore. The response of my fellow Singaporean bloggers was amazing .... I tried to answer to all their mails ..however I apologize to those whom I couldnot reply to ... as you can imagine I was a little hard pressed for time ...

Uttar Pradesh is known for its chaats and pakoris ..and this experience is incomplete without the mouthwatering kachoris . Many of my fellow bloggers made kachoris in the past month and they all sent the tempting entries with the photographs to torture me ;-) . Looking at the number of entries I got for kachoris ..they win hands down for being the most popular dish . Have a look at some of these stumptous beauties.

Neha of easyntastyrecipes made delish khasta daal kachoris

Khasta Kachoris made by Lakshmi of cookingstation or LG as popularly known in the blogosphere made me drool .

Vani of Illatharasi also made kachoris which would make you want to grab a few too and forget all about calories for sometime ;-)

Sheetal of sweety-mykitchen also did her bit to torture me with her khasta kachoris

Once you have had your fill of these kachoris ..you might need to help your system settle down a little with this appetizing aam panna which is my contribtion to the event.

Now that we are done with the chaats and the appetiser we can move on to the main course .... I am extremely proud to say that we have a huge spread here ...... right from simple home-made dishes to stumptous one's which are part of a special meal we have all of these here ..

Priyanka of asankhana contributed all of the below mentioned dishes ... I can imagine the party she has been having all this month ;-) I bet the hubby would have been a very happy and satisfied soul ;-).

Adraki murgh

Bharvan baingan

Khurchan

Kofta

Aloo gobhi

Banarasi Bharwan aloo

Mathura aloo

Tehari

Egg parantha

Mango maharajah

Gharwali Kheer

Jalebi

Preeti of IndianKhanna sent the following delicious entries . Once you see them I am sure you would also want to be invited over to her place ;-)

Aloo Gobhi ki subji

Dal peta

Shahi Bhindi

Stuffed bittergourd or Kalonji

Gobhi parantha

Sheetal of sweety-mykitchen sent in the following entries

Soya matar

Lucknowi kofta

Dum aloo

Yellow rice

Mathura ke khaste aloo

Kesari misthaan

Anupriya of myspace-mycreativity sent in delicious palak paneer.

Prajusha of icookipost sent in carrot halwa a must have winter dessert.

Rashmi the delhibelle sent in this wonderful Awadhi biryani ....this one can be enjoyed by the vegetarian friends also as it is made of jack fruit.

Shifa of Voizout sent in peas pulav .

Rupali a non-blogger fellow SWC member sent in the recipe for shahi paneer

Ingredients-

- 250gms Paneer

-1 onion finely chopped

-2tsp ginger garlic paste

-3/4 tsp turmeric powder

-1 tsp red chili powder

-1 tsp coriander powder

-1 tsp garam masala

-2 bay leaves

-2 cloves and 2 cardamom

-3-4 tsp cream

-1/4 cup dry fruits

-1/2 cup milk

-1 cup tomato puree

-6-8 tsp cooking oil

-salt to taste.

How to Prepare Shahi Paneer

-Cut paneer into small pieces.

-Pour oil in frying pan.

-Fry paneer pieces on medium flame until light brown,now take out on tissue paper.

-Fry bay leaves,cloves and whole cardamom in remaining oil

-Add chopped onion in oil and fry until it become transparent.

-Add ginger garlic paste and fry until it become golden brown.

-Add tomato pure and cook it for 7-8 minutes.

- Add red chili powder,turmeric powder,coriander powder,garam masala and salt,saute the mixture for 2 min.

-Add milk and dry fruits to the gravy and let it boil,cook it on medium flame untill the gravy turns thick.

-Now add paneer cubes and cook for about 5 min.-Shahi paneer is ready to eat,Garnish with coriander,dry fruits and cream

She also sent in the recipe for methi paranthas -

Ingredients For Methi Paratha

-2 Cups whole wheat flour

-1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

-1/2 tsp red chili powder

-1 tsp Ajwain

-1 tsp cumin seeds

-1 tsp coriander powder

-salt to taste

-1 cup finely chopped fenugreek leaves

-2 tsp Ghee or oil

-Mix the wheat flour and all above ingredients.

-Make a soft dough using warm or normal water,knead the dough well.

-Leave it for about 15 to 20 minutes.

-Divide dough into equal parts and make small balls.-Roll out small round parathas from each ball.

-Now apply oil on it and fold it from middle.[u will get half round shape]

-Again apply oil and fold it from middle now u will get triangular shape.

-Make it round with hands.

-Roll out proper parathas[must be slightly thicker compare to chappaties]

-Heat the griddle and cook the parathas from both sides.

-Apply ghee or butter on both sides.

-Hot methi parathas are ready to serve.Taste yummy with curd raita.

We have one entry from a friend in Michigan, USA ...Nidhi of charchechaukeke has sent in this lovely entry of choode matar ki tehari

A sepcial note of thanks to Vani of Illatharasi for making the logo for SWC . Really good work Vani !!

I would like to thank all of you for participating with so much enthusiasm. This is probably the SWC with maximum number of entries till date. I enjoyed hosting this event and interacting with you all immensely ,.As much as I wanted to I couldnot reply to all your mails I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me for that.

I would also like to thank Lakshmi of cookingstation for giving me the opportunity to host this event. I hope I have not let you down and have met your expectations.

I have tried to mention all the entries that I got ..but just in case I have missed out any please let me know and I will include that entry also .

Next round of SWC is being hosted by Neha of easyntastyrecipes , the theme is MAHARASTRA. You will find all the details on her blog. Happy cooking !! :-)