I recently went back home for four days to spend time with my parents.  It was a relaxing weekend of time just spent at home.  One of the best parts of going home is getting the chance to eat your mom's handmade food, and this trip was no different in that regard.  We had some of my favorites--aloo paratha, dosa with chutney and sambhar, and a Rajasthani/North Indian dish called daal baati.  Daal baati consists of baked whole wheat rolls topped with spiced lentil soup.  It is a simple dish--but on a cold and rainy spring day, it is a welcome warm comfort.

I vividly remember being a young girl, getting together with some of our family friends, and enjoying daal baati for dinner.  To be honest, when I was really young, I didn't care for daal, so my Mom would just give me the baati with ghee (clarified butter) and sugar.  Which is still delicious and I may or may not have had a few of those when I just went home ...

Anyways, daal baati is a real comfort food, and it was perfect to eat in the comfort of my parents' home.  It was also really wonderful to spend time cooking with Mom and learning from her in person.  As we get older, we realize how those opportunities come less and less.  I encourage everyone to spend at least a little time learning how to cook one recipe from your own mom next time you go home!

Note:  the first ingredients photo is for the daal.  The second is for the baati.

My husband V and I have been quite busy as of late:  we are busy at work, we are planning a few vacations for the summer, and we are looking for a new place to live as our apartment lease is up soon.  In the midst of our daily hustle and bustle, it can be difficult to prepare home-cooked meals.  Whenever I feel that my days are overwhelmingly busy, I turn to my favorite kitchen appliance:  the slow-cooker.

My mom provided me with a recipe for making raajma, a curry made with red kidney beans, which is made on a stove and takes roughly 30 minutes to make.  Not that 30 minutes is a lot of time, but the idea of dumping the ingredients into the slow-cooker and not having to worry about it was much more appealing.  I often use my slow-cooker to make chili, and it turns out amazing because the ingredients have time to blend together and thicken.

Raajma has always been one of my favorite dishes.  It is so comforting, whether you are eating it with bread, rice, quinoa, or by itself.  I have found that many cultures have some variation of "beans and rice" as a comfort food.

Lately, I have been traveling over the weekends--often leaving on a Thursday and not returning until Sunday evening.  Traveling this often makes it tricky to cook dinner at home because I am low on both time and groceries.  Whenever I am in a time crunch, I turn to my favorite kitchen appliance:  the slow cooker.  This week's recipe is great because the slow cooker does most of the work for you, allowing you to unpack your suitcase and throw in a load of laundry while it is cooking!  

I already mentioned that the ability to multi-task while food is cooking in a slow cooker is a huge benefit.  Another thing that is great about slow cooking chicken:  it turns out very tender!  

You may be wondering why there is beer in this recipe!  A bit of "science" about cooking--you need to use an ingredient which will tenderize the meat.  Many ingredients act as tenderizers--including beer!  Other tenderizers include citrus juices (like lemon juice), vinegar, yogurt, and coconut milk.  In the same way that red wine is used in cooking, the alcohol of the beer will be cooked away once it is exposed to heat.

My husband and I have been married for three-and-a-half years.  As he and his family are Gujarati, I have learned about and eaten many new Gujarati foods over the past few years.  My husband is a big fan of various types of chaat, a loose term for a snack generally prepared with some type of fried dough, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and various sauces.  In India, you will often find chaat being sold in markets and train stations.  Because my husband enjoys chaat, we often eat it when we visit my in-laws.  One of my favorite dishes that my mother-in-law makes is sev usar--a type of Gujarati chaat.  If you are a fan of ragada patties (another chaat dish), then you will like sev usar too!

I think the first time I had sev usar was during one of my very first trips to my in-laws' home, before my husband and I were even married.  It quickly became one of my favorites because (1) I love soup and anything resembling a soup, (2) I love healthy and light dishes.  Sev usar is an awesome dish to make when you are in the mood for chaat, but you want to be healthy!

Sev usar is essentially a thick soup made of dried green peas (vatana peas), and is topped with tamarind (imli) chutney, onions, tomatoes, and sev (small crunchy noodles made of chickpea flour).  

When I think of classic Maharastrian food, I immediately think of fodni che varan (also known as tadka daal).  Varan is essentially a lentil soup made of "toor daal," or yellow split pigeon peas.

Varan is very healthy and filling.  Traditionally, varan was made in a pressure cooker.  I don't own a pressure cooker, and as a working woman the slow cooker suits my lifestyle much better.

Fodni (known as chaunk, tadka, and vaghar in different languages) is a mixture of spices cooked in "ghee," or clarified butter.  This method of cooking the spices in the ghee releases the essential oils from the spices and enhances their flavor.  You do not have to add fodni to your varan if you do not want to, but it adds a lot of flavor!