A South Indian Bhat recipe uses an easy homemade spice blend. I am sharing 2 ways of making the rice but I am sure you will come up with more options. Try it!
Matar Ka Nimona ~Indian State Uttar Pradesh
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| Matar Ka Nimona ~Indian State Uttar Pradesh |
Matar Ka Nimona is a delicious and yummy winter special from the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Remember this song” Khaike Pan Banaraswala”
Where is Banaras? Uttae Pradesh is famous for their Banarasi Paan too.
Yes in Uttar Pradesh! So let’s visit Uttar Pradesh today!
Uttar Pradesh, abbr. UP, is a state located in northern India. It was created on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces and was renamed Uttar Pradesh in 1950. Lucknow is the capital and Kanpur is the commercial capital and the
largest city of Uttar Pradesh.
largest city of Uttar Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh was home to powerful empires of ancient and medieval India, including Magadha, Nanda, Mauryan, Sunga, Kushan, Gupta, Gurjara, Rashtrakuta, Pala and Mughal which many say was improved by the Nawabs of Awadh. The two major rivers of the state, the Ganga and Yamuna, join at Allahabad and then flow as the Ganga further east. The state has several historical, natural, and religious tourist destinations, such as the Taj Mahal, Varanasi, Piprahwa, Kaushambi, Kanpur, Ballia, Shravasti, Kushinagar, Lucknow, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Allahabad, Budaun, Meerut and Mathura. It’s also the area of some of the oldest existing cities of Budaun and Varanasi.
With this as the background, what will the food here be like? What are the cuisines here called?
Mughlai cuisine is a style of cooking developed in the Indian subcontinent by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It represents the cooking styles used in North India especially Uttar Pradesh. The cuisine is strongly influenced by the Persian cuisine of Iran, and has in turn strongly similarities to the regional cuisines of Kashmir and the Punjab region. Mughlai cuisine the tastes vary from extremely mild to spicy and is often associated with a distinctive aroma and the taste of ground and whole spices.
Awadhi cuisine is from the city of Lucknow the city of Nawabi Cuisines. The cooking is similar to those of Central Asia,
the Middle East, and Northern India as well. Awadhi cuisine boasts of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Awadh has been greatly influenced by Mughal
cooking techniques and also the cooking from of Persia, Kashmir, Punjab and Hyderabad.
the Middle East, and Northern India as well. Awadhi cuisine boasts of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Awadh has been greatly influenced by Mughal
cooking techniques and also the cooking from of Persia, Kashmir, Punjab and Hyderabad.
The bawarchis and rakabdars of Awadh gave birth to the dum style of cooking or the art of cooking over a slow
fire, which has become synonymous with Lucknow today. Their spread consisted of elaborate dishes like kebabs, kormas, biryani, kaliya, nahari-kulchas, zarda, sheermal, roomali rotis, and warqi parathas. The richness of Awadh
cuisine lies not only in the variety of cuisine but also in the ingredients used like mutton, paneer, and rich spices including cardamom and saffron.
fire, which has become synonymous with Lucknow today. Their spread consisted of elaborate dishes like kebabs, kormas, biryani, kaliya, nahari-kulchas, zarda, sheermal, roomali rotis, and warqi parathas. The richness of Awadh
cuisine lies not only in the variety of cuisine but also in the ingredients used like mutton, paneer, and rich spices including cardamom and saffron.
So what is the typical day-to-day traditional vegetarian meal of Uttar Pradesh, like any other North Indian thali, consists of roti (flatbread), chawal, dal, sabji, raita and papad. Many people still drink the traditional drink chaach with meals. On festive occasions, usually ‘tava’ (flat pan for roti) is considered inauspicious, and instead fried foods are consumed. A typical festive thali consists of Puri, Kachauri, sabji, pulav, papad, raita, salad and desserts (such as sewai or kheer).
Many communities have their own particular style of cuisines, such as the Jains, Kayasths and Muslims. Sweets occupy an important place in the Hindu diet and are eaten at social ceremonies. People make distinctive sweetmeats from milk products, including khurchan, peda, gulabjamun, petha, makkhan malai, and chamcham.
The chaat in Lucknow and Banarasi Paan is known across India for its flavour and ingredients.
Given this background what does one make for UP?
Vaishali to rescue….
Vaishali sent me mungodi with the suggestion that I make Matar ka Nimona. I searched her blog for the recipe but could find it. I find that strange maybe my search key were wrong.
So I googled and landed on Banaras ka Khana, Another old friend who cooks amazing.
So I googled and landed on Banaras ka Khana, Another old friend who cooks amazing.
For me, Nimona is a new word and my family was in for a surprise. The smell of the soup was amazing but I did not realise that the mungodi has salt in it. So we had a very salty gravy/soup.
In the evening I tried to adjust the salt but once bitten….. No one was willing to try it out again.
In the evening I tried to adjust the salt but once bitten….. No one was willing to try it out again.
So I made it again. This time I was very careful and added very little salt. Needless to say, we loved it.
Nimona is curried soup thin gravy, spiced, delicately and made with a paste of fresh green peas and a few mung dumplings to bite into. The green peas are coarsely ground. Generally, the mung dumplings are made freshly for the nimona.
Tastes best with some rice or chapatti and a salad and we are fully satisfied.
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| Matar Ka Nimona ~Indian State Uttar Pradesh |
Sounds special; does it not? .
Matar Ka Nimona
Indian State: Uttar Pradesh
Recipe Source: Banaras ka Khana
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cup green peas
- ½ inch piece of ginger
- 2 green chillies
- 1 tablespoon Sambhar masala
- 2 tblspn water
- ½ teaspoon kanda lasun masala (optional)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon asafoetida
- 2 tblspn ghee
- ½ cup coriander leaves, chopped
- 15-20 mung vadi, deep fried
Method:
- Put the peas, ginger and green chillies in the chutney bowl of the mixer and pulse in a coarse paste. Do not add water.
- Add water to the sambhar masala and make a slurry.
- Heat the ghee in a pan and tip in the cumin seeds and the asafoetida powder. Wait till the cumin crackles.
- Lower the flame add the sambhar masala slurry. Pour in the peas paste immediately and stir fry.
- The peas paste becomes lumpy first and then starts getting crumbly and sticks to the base. Please remember to do this on low flame.
- Add the kanda lasun masala powder and mix well.
- Stir and cook for a minute before adding about 4 cups of water. Mix well and let it come to boil.
- Tip in the cut pieces of the fried mung vadi/dumplings, add salt to taste and simmer for about half an hour on very low heat.
- Serve hot when the vadi/dumplings becomes spongy and curry thickens to your liking. Serve sprinkled with coriander leaves.
- Serve with chapattis or rice.
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| Matar Ka Nimona ~Indian State Uttar Pradesh |
Notes:
- You might like to add some water if you want it thinner. The mungodis absorb a lot of water making the curry thicker.
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The Pumpkin Farm says
i saw this on Rajani's blog and was curious and now the first pic has pushed me to make this soon…this looks so tempting
Priya Suresh says
Am planning to makes some mangodis this summer,let me see. Matar ka nimona is just irresistible, cant resist.
vaishali sabnani says
Archana i am sorry you could not find the nimona recipe..I had made it for the Awadhi thali..anyway the nimona looks good and great that you guys enjoyed it..it surely is a delicious dish and proved too!..you made it twice dear:))
Varadas Kitchen says
That bowl looks delicious. This is new to me but the recipe sounds very interesting.
Nivedhanams Sowmya says
healthy and comforting soup!
Srivalli says
I love this gravy and have made it..so nice that you guys enjoyed it much!
Harini-Jaya R says
Wow! Glad you have the support of Vaishali! That definitely sounds good.
Pavani N says
Nimona is such a yummy dish. Your clicks are great.
Jayanthi Padmanabhan says
looks super yummy. I want to try it but I am stumped about the wadi.. can i make it at home?
Sapana Behl says
Nimona looks so rich and tempting….I am craving for it now…
Nalini's Kitchen says
This is one such awesome curry had it in one my friends place and wanted to try it but due to unavailability of wadis, dropped it..Yours look so tempting and delicious..
Usha says
The gravy / soup looks flavorful. I considered nimona for this state and changed my mind. After so many variations of nimona recipes, I will make it very soon.
Journeymart says
Nimona is such a tasty dish. picture is so nice.
Manjula Bharath says
wow matar ka nimona looks irristible dear , you have made it very yummy by adding mung vadi 🙂 looks fabulous !!
Chef Mireille says
with the wadi – this must have been so good with varying textures
Mireille says
another recipe for me to utilize my wadi – good one!