Mitavali & Padhavali Temples

Mitvali & Padhavali group of temples are off gwalior on the gwalior-bhind state highway. To get there you need to head off from gwalior on the state highway towards Bhind/Itawa. Then move off the highway at Malanpur Industrial Area.

The Chaunsat Yogini temple at Mitavali

 The Mitavali temple is atop a hill which gives a good view of the area all around. The temple is deserted and seems more or less abandoned. It was a chaunsat yogini temple with 64 (i think) small temples in the circular structure which housed (once upon a time) shiv lings. Apparently this was a place of tantric significance.

Inside the Chaunsat Yogini Temple at Mitavali

Egyptian Vultures spotted atop the Mitwali Temple

Inside the Bateswhar Temple at Padavali

Padavali

 

Padavali

Renovated temple at Padavali

 Around 2-3 Km from Mitvali is Garhi Padavali which used to be a palace with a temple sometime ago. The caretakers here told us that these are from around 800 AD to 1400 AD. The temple inside the palace has some exquisite carvings which has earned the sobriquet of 'Khajuraho of Gwalior'.
Another km from here are the Batesar group of temples which are still being excavated. This is a beautiful picnic spot. The temples are still being excavated and it looks like a great jigsaw puzzle that the people from ASI are setting up.

Renovated Temples

The renovated temples at Padavali

The caretaker at Padavali

We credit the discovery of these temples to our friends Anurag & Ragi.

Pizza sauce 1

Here's the first version of our pizza sauce. It is basically a salsa sauce which we found works wonderfully well on the pizza.
It is a make by feel sauce, and you can put any qty of ingredients as you like.
In a baking tin (depends on how many tomatoes you want to put in), put in some tomatoes, cloves of garlic, small onions, green chillies or peppers (to control the heat, i normally remove the seeds from some and leave the seeds in some). Drizzle some olive oil on top, sprinkle some herbs (once again to taste) like oregano, thyme, rosemary etc.
Put in oven (i prefer grill to convection here) and grill for 10-12 min (depending on how many items you have put in). At the end, the tomatoes should be cooked, and you will know when you can peel off the skin easily. Peel off the skins from the tomatoes and put it all in a blender and blend till its a coarse paste. Add salt to taste and your salsa sauce is ready.

Healthy Pizza base

I have forgotten where we found this recipe, but it is a time tested one. We have made so many pizza's using this recipe.
Ingredients
1 tbsp Sugar / Honey (havent tested it with honey)
1 1/4 cups warm water
1/4 ounce dry yeast
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)
2 cups flour (atta)
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Method
Dissolve sugar in warm water, add yeast. Keep for 15-20 min till the liquid starts frothing.
Combine yeast liquid, 2 cups flour (atta) and 1 cup all purpose flour (maida) (keep the 1/4 cup for use during kneading)
Knead till dough is no longer sticking to your fingers
Allow to rise - 45 min to an hour. The dough should rise to double. What we do is preheat the oven to 40 deg C and then put it off and keep the dough inside. It hasn't failed to rise till now.
Roll into whatever size pizza's you want. If you want it thicker or thinner it is up to you. After rolling, keep aside for a little while for it to rise a bit. then keep it inside the refrigerator.

Dough rolled out with Cheese filled on the sides

Regular pizza rolled out

For making the pizza -
Pre-heat the oven to 230 deg C. (pizzas are best baked at the hottest setting for shortest time)
grease the plate / pie tin and put the rolled out base on it, use a fork to make holes all over (to let the air escape when baking, else it will fluff up like a chappati). Bake (convection) at 230 deg C for 4-5 min. Once you see it firm up on the outside, you can take it out. This is not a necessary step, however we feel that it helps prevent the pizza from getting soggy when you put the sauce on top.

Take it out, allow to cool a little, put the sauce and toppings and bake once again at 230 deg C for 10-12 min (the time varies depending on the thickness of the pizza)

Toppings of garden fresh cherry tomatoes, olives, onions, bell pepper, cheddar and mozzarella cheese

The pizza is ready!!

Garden fresh veggie bonanza just before it went into the oven

Garden fresh veggie bonanza is now ready!!

Pizza sauce(s) and filling ideas coming up... keep watching this space.

Methi matar malai

You can also make it with chicken/ mushroom/ corn

Ingredients
3 tbsp- oil
4- green cardamom
4- cloves
2”–dalchini
1-Bay leaf
1 tbsp- ginger paste
1 tbsp- garlic paste
2 onions & 2 green chillies (boil together and make a paste)
½ tbsp- white pepper pwd
3 tbsp- kaju paste
1 -cup milk
2 tbsp- kasuri methi (can be substituted with ½ cup fresh methi + 1 tbsp kasuri methi)
¼ tsp- sugar
1 ½ cups- peas

Add everything in the order written. Add salt to taste.

Same gravy can be used for navrattan korma with veggies , fresh fruits and dry fruits. Malai kofta can be made with khoya and paneer balls (1:2 khoya:panner, or aloo:paneer). Add in the same gravy.

Paneer Shashlik

Can also be made with Mushroom/chicken/prawn/mixed veg

Ingredients
Garlic grated/paste- 2tbsp
Chilli flakes- 1tsp
Mixed herbs -1tsp
Mustard pwd/sauce- ½ tsp
Lemon juice – 1
Tomato sauce- 5tbsp
Worcestershire sauce- 3 tbsp
Olive oil – 2tbsp
Capsico/Tabasco sauce- 1tbsp
Salt – to taste

Method
About 300 gms of paneer will make about 20-25 pieces. Mix all the ingredients together, it will make the sauce. Make shashlik by inserting paneer, then capsicum , then onion in a toothpick. Add sauce over the shashlik pieces and marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight in the refrigerator.
Cook in OTG/grill/microwave for about 8-10 mins at 180 degrees. Can also be pan cooked in non-stick pan, add some oil on top.

Pepper Mushroom Fry

Ingredients
Oil-4tbsp
Green chillies- 3
Onions-2 (both julienned)
Fry these till dark brown
Add ginger-2tbsp
Garlic- 2tbsp (both chopped)

Method
After onion is dark brown, add 400 gms. Mushroom chopped. If using potato/mutton boil and add. Saute for 2 mins. After that, add a spice mix (ground dry) of 4-5 green cardamom whole, whole black pepper-1tbsp, 1tsp saunf, 2tbsp whole coriander seeds. Add into mushrooms. Add ½ tsp sugar and salt to taste. Add juice of half lemon, chopped coriander, chopped mint and serve.

Crispy veg in mushroom sauce

Ingredients-
Carrots-2
Cauliflower-1cup
Beans-10-12
Cabbage-1cup
(All medium chopped)
Cornflour- 1/2 cup
Maida- ½ cup
Rice flour- 2 tbsp
White pepper pwd. – 1tsp
Ajinomoto (optional) – 1tsp
Salt- to taste
Water

Mix all together and consistency should be like pakoda batter. Drop into hot oil like pakodas and fry.

For the sauce-
Oil- 2tbsp
Butter-2tbsp
Green chillies- 2
Garlic-2tbsp
Ginger-2tbsp
Onion-2
Capsicum-2(medium size)
Mushroom- 10-12
Celery-2tbsp
Spring onion- 2tbsp
Coriander-2tbsp
Red chilli paste- 2tbsp
(All finely chopped)

Saute these ingredients all together and add-
White pepper pwd- 1tsp
Sugar-1/2 tsp
Dark Soy Sauce – 2tbsp
Tomato sauce- ¼ cup
White vinegar – 1tbsp
Salt – to taste

Mix pakodas in this sauce just before serving. You can take out mushroom and chilli paste and add water and cornflour and it can be served as Manchurian.