Kolar Boda

Had big plans for making something using raw bananas for JFI Banana this month, but didnt get time to find any.. So settled down for a bengali snack- Kolar Boda (meaning Banana Wadas).. My dear Bengali friend S enlightened me with this recipe.. Its my last minute entry for JFI-Banana, hosted by Mandira of Ahaar..

Kolar Boda

Makes:

5-6 small

Preparation Time:

10 mins

What you need:

1 ripe Banana
2 tbsp Plain Flour
1-2 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Fennel Seeds(Saunf)
1 tsp grated Cocunut

Oil for Frying

How to proceed:

1) Mash bananas with hand and add remaining ingredients to it (except oil)
2) Deep fry in hot oil on both sides till golden brown..
3) Enjoy sweet pakodas/wadas as a snack!

I prepared this using the overripe banana that was lying around for 4-5 days... Though black on the outside, it was perfectly in good condition to mash n make bodas!

Bhel

Anytime of the day(or night) you ask me whats my favourite snack, by default you'll hear "Any chaat item".. More specifically Bhel :) Then Paani Puri, Ragda Patties, SPDP, Dahi Wada... and the list continues :D I can live my entire life eating chaat.. There was a time I used to eat bhel every alternate evening during college times, that too when I used to stay home and get "maa ke haath ka khana" everyday.. The one thing I miss here is the bhel at "bheleshwar", a famous joint in Pune where I used to have bhel with my colleagues.. Spending hours there having bhel, then paani puri followed by malai kulfis.. How I wish Bheleshwar had a branch here in Belgium!!!!

I can enjoy bhel at any place, anytime... Though my husband doesnt like to eat bhel on roadside thelas (but who cares!!!!!), he doesnt mind homemade bhel.. The easiest snack on a sunday evening, mostly coz it is to be followed by a shortcut dinner ;) Bhel can be best enjoyed when its a bit spicy and has a proper balance of the sweet n sour tamarind chutney and the hot green chutney! My bhel hops over to Hima for the lovely event she started hosting this month-- WYF-Snacks!

Bhel

Serves:

3-4 (Only 1 if its me! ;))

Preparation Time:

5-6 mins

What you need:

2 cups Murmura/Mamra/Puffed Rice
1 cup Farsan/Shev Mix
1/4 cup Tamarind Chatni
1/4 cup Green Chilli Chatni
1/2 tsp Chaat Masala
1 tbsp roasted Peanuts
1 chopped Onion
1 chopped Tomato
2 tbsp chopped Green Mango (Kairi)
Salt to taste

For Garnishing:
Chopped onions, Tomato and Green Mango (Kairi)
1 tbsp Thin Shev
Few roasted peanuts

To make Chatnis:



Chatni 1:
Blend 3-4 chillies, corriander, salt, lemon juice with some water to make the hot green chutney!

Chatni 2:
Mix tamarind pulp, jaggery/sugar, some water to make the sweet sour tamarind chutney!

How to proceed:

1) In a big bowl, mix all the ingredients well
2) Serve in plates topped with chopped onions, tomatoes, green mango, corriander, some roasted peanuts and thin sev.



I prefer adding more of tamarind chutney to have proper ooli (wet) bhel and eat with potato chips which serve as my disposable (read as edible) spoons ;)

Belgian Waffles

Glenna's theme for Weekend Breakfast Blogging (WBB#14)-"Ethnic Dishes with a Twist!" really inspired me to try my hand at making waffles at home! Staying in Belgium for past 10 months, I had to post something local to this place... I have been eating waffles regularly at a joint which boasts of "The Best Waffles in the World".. I always wonder how he can proclaim without having tasted waffles at all other places in the world ;) When it comes to food, Belgians are proud of their waffles, chocolates and frites- the thing we call "frech fries" were actually invented in Belgium.. Other than crossiants, pastries, chocolate bread or toasted bread with jam/cheese etc., a typical(traditional) Belgian breakfast consists of waffles topped with hot chocolate or whipped cream, served with fruits and juices or coffee.. Thanks to my allery towards breakfast, I enjoyed this "belgian breakfast" yesterday for lunch! :D Waffles with strawberry jam, fruits and juices...

Belgian Waffles

Preparation Time:

20 mins (if 4 waffles at a time)

Makes:

8 waffles of the size above

What you need:

1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp Butter, melted
1 tsp Oil
1 cup Milk
2 eggs, beaten
Pinch of Salt

* Waffle maker

How to proceed:

1) Combine all the ingredients, mix well and keep aside for 4-5 mins
2) Pre-heat the waffle maker according to instructions.. If you dont have a waffle maker, go over to some friend who has one.. I did the same thing :D
3) Put batter on the hot waffle tray and close it
4) Bake for about 2 mins (Till waffles turn golden brown)
5) Serve hot or store it and heat in microwave before serving!


* Usually served with hot chocolate, whipped cream topped with fruits.

Murukku

Murukku is to the Tamil Cuisine as Chakli is to Maharashtrians.. Well, same item but different names.. Also the procedure being a bit different.. I have to agree that chakli needs lots efforts and murukku is the easier version.. Last Diwali I was able to make all Maharashtrian snacks, except chakli and shev.. The only reason being that I didnt have the chakli press.. Mom finally sent it to me last month and from then my husband is pestering me to make chaklis, his favourite snack! But soon I realised that I cannot prepare Bhajani, the flour used for chakli here as there as no flour mills :D So I had to settle down with murukkus.. These taste equally great and I am satisfied to find an easier option to chaklis.. Now chaklis will only be prepared if I get readymade bhajani flour from India :)

Since Rice flour is the main ingredient in Murukkus, they will go to Sharmi for JFI-Rice. Now that it comes to RICE, before going for the recipe, someone please help me solve my query.. Is it healthy to eat rice regularly?? I have always heard that eating rice makes you fat.. Rice being the staple diet of South Indians, I always wonder how they tend to be so slim when they eat rice twice a day.. Also I read somewhere that eating rice during lunch (before 3 pm) is absolutely fine but should be avoided for dinner.. That ultimately means that rice can be eaten only on weekends since we have shortcut lunches and lavish dinners at my place.. Experts and dieticiens, please educate me :)

Murukku

Preparation time:

40-45 mins

Makes:

12-15 Murukkus

What you need:

2 cups Rice Flour
1/4 cup Besan
1/4 cup Urad Dal Flour
2 tbsp Sesame Seeds
1 tbsp Cumin Seeds
1 tbsp Ajwain Seeds
1-2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
Salt to taste
A pinch of Asafoetida
1/8 tsp Sodium Bicarb
2 tbsp Hot Oil
Oil to Fry
*Chakli Press

How to proceed:

1) Sieve and mix all the flours
2) Add all the remaining ingredients except oil
3) Pour the hot oil over this and mix well with a spoon
4) Now add water and knead to a stiff dough
5) Place oil to heat for frying chaklis
6) According to quantity allowed by the chakli press, divide the dough into parts
7) Roll each part in a cylindrical shape and put it inside the chakli press
8) Squeeze spiral murukkus in a plate or a plastic sheet
9) Slide 2-3 murukkus in hot oil and fry them on medium heat till they turn golden brown.
10) Drain on kitchen towels and cool before you pop them into your mouth :)
11) Can be stored for 15-20 days in an air tight container.. Serves as a great snack wit hot tea!

* Take care not to hastily fry on high heat.. The murukkus will not get cooked from inside and will not be crispy

* I didnt have Urad dal flour.. So I just soaked Urad dal fro 2 hours and then prepared a paste in the mixer and added this to the other flours while making the dough!

Spiced Mamra

During school days, picnics for me used to be more to do with food and then with roaming :D My all time favourite picnic food used to be Puri-Bhaji and Methi Parathas.. Mom used to wake up early in the morning to cook lunch for my picnic.. Other timepass foods or snacks would include varieties of homemade chiwdas prepared well in advance or store brought chips, cakes etc.. When Anupama announced the event for Picnic Food- Fun in the Sun, I could think of the easiest, quickest and tastiest snack- Spiced Mamra. This is obviously a snack to be enjoyed during the journey, as a timepass snack, not as lunch since its not filling.. Since I know there would be many entries for lunch category, I thought of this for the snacks category.. A snack that will be loved by all and will be finished off in minutes.. Thats too with minimul fuss and no fear of spoiling.. I usually make 2-3 batches of this snack every weekend.. Minimal ingredients and a few minutes is all it requires.. Can be prepared just before leaving for the picnic!

Spiced Mamra

Preparation Time:

2-3 mins

What you need:

3-4 cups Mamra/Murmura/Puffed Rice
1 tsp Oil
1/2 tsp Asafoetida
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 tsp Salt

How to proceed:

1) Heat Oil, add asafoetida and turmeric powder
2) Saute for 5-10 seconds and add mamra and mix well till turmeric is evenly coated on mamra
3) After 2 mins, add chilli powder and salt and mix well..
4) Spiced mamara ready, pack and leave!


* Add fried Peanuts if you like...Add in some shev with chopped Onions, Tomatoes, Raw Mangoes and some Lemon Juice to make mouth watering Bhel!

Zhaal Muri

After Zhanzhanit(Marathi word for extra spicy), its Zhaal(Bengali term for extra spicy). Zhaal Muri is a famous bengali chaat, which is as famous in Calcutta as bhel is in Mumbai. Zhaal Muri, meaning spicy mamra(puffed rice/murmura) tastes best when prepared from crisp puffed rice and eaten with extra hot chillies!

I have a Bengali friend here whom I visit quite often. Once I took along murmura chivda for her and she loved it.. Siad that it reminded her of Zhaal Muri, a bengali chaat/snack. She told me how its prepared(plus minus some ingredients) and served.. As a true chaat lover, returning back home, my first task was googling for the recipe.. found it at some places and finally prepared a mix n match combination.. Tasted lovely.. Next time my friend visited me, I said I was preparing sukki bhel(dry) for her. She had the first bite and said "This tastes exactly like Zhaal muri".. Now this was the real compliment and confirmation I was waiting for. :) So this perfect bengali favourite chaat goes for Nupur's "Z of Indian Vegetables"

I just thought what were the other words that come to my mind when i think of Z.. in general, just for timepass.. firstly zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, ofcourse sleep :) secondly Z for Zebra and Zoo, strong basics :) Z for zucchini, a common vegetable here in europe, Z for zunka, a maharashtrian vegetable dish, Z for Zimbabwe, thanks to my love for cricket few years back.. Z for zero, my childhood score for drawwing paper where I painted the sun green and the mango blue. :D Z for zhakkas, my favourite appreciatory word meaning awesome when extremely happy with something... Z for..........Wondering if I have missed some important Z words? :D

Zhaal Muri

Preparation Time:

15-20 mins

Makes:

2-3 servings

What you need:

2-3 cups crisp Puffed Pice(Mamra/Murmura/Muri)
1 Onion, finely chopped
1-2 Potato, boiled and finely diced
1 Tomato, finely chopped
Cucumber chopped (1/4 cup)-Optional
2 tbsp roasted Peanuts
1 tbsp roasted Cashews-Optional
3-4 Green chillies, finely chopped
Jucie of 1/2 Lemon
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Corriander Powder
A pinch of Turmeric
2 tbsp chopped Corriander
1 tbsp fresh grated Cocunut
Salt to taste

How to proceed:

1) Mix all the ingredients.
2) Garnish with corriander and cocunut.
3) Serve freshly prepared before mamra's become too soft

I served it topped with crushed Paprika flavoured Potato chips

* Best way to serve....



* A tsp of Mustard oil is usually added at the end before serving. I didnt have it and so didnt opt for it.. The quantity of lime, salt and red chilli powder should be adjusted as desired!

Dahi Wada

I am an avid fan of chaat items(do i need to say that again???) and miss them here in Belgium. Although I try to prepare some chaat items at home, the taste of the ones served at roadside chaat corners in India is ohh so yummy!!! :) When I settled down here, I decided to try n cook as many chaats n snacks as possible at home so that I do not sacrifice my love for these foods :) If I would have not tried, I would have been extinct by now :D

Dahi Wadas are fried dumplings prepared using Urad Dal(Split Black Gram Dal) and served with loads of dahi (Yoghurt). Dahi wadas are my top favourite in chaat items and I am glad to say that my dahi wadas turn out equally good as the ones served in restaurants! :) Its a easy to prepare (with some preparatins before time) and a quick n appetising Punjabi snack which goes for RCI Punjabi Cuisine!

Dahi Wada

Makes:

8-10 wadas!

What you need:

1 Cup Urad Dal
2 tsp Cumin Powder
Pinch of Sodium Bicarb
Salt to taste
Oil to fry
1 kg Plain Yogurt
4-5 tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Roasted Cumin Seeds
Red Chili Powder
Sweet Tamarind Sauce*

How to proceed:

1) Wash and soak Urad Dal overnight.
2) Grind into smooth batter and add cumin powder, sodium bicarb and salt to taste, set aside for 10 mins
3) Beat the yoghurt and divide it in two portions. Leave one portion as is(normal yogurt) and add sugar to other portion to make sweet yoghurt
4) Heat oil in a pan, take handful of batter and slide into hot oil
5) Deep fry the vada on medium heat till crispy and golden brown
6) Drain excess oil and soak the vada in water for 10 mins
7) Press each vada to drain off excess water and soak in normal yoghurt for 10 mins
8) Put the soaked vadas in serving dish and cover with 2-3 tbsp of sweet yogurt
9) Garnish with roasted cumin seeds, red chilli powder, cumin powder, salt and tamarind sauce (optionally Corriander)

*Add tamarind pulp to water and mix sugar/jaggery to make sweet tamarind sauce

Potato Wafers

Summer time in India is time for ladies to prepare their year long stock of pickles and walawan.. Walawan is the category of things made which need to be sun dried. I remember mom making potato wafers, different papads and kurdais during summer time.. Our job as kids used to be to sit on the terrace to keep a watch on the birds that try feasting on these delicacies when they are left for drying :D Little did mom realise that we used to be the real birds feasting on them :) Especially the kurdais made from wheat flour coz they tasted awesome when half dry.. Mom used to have different prepataion for fasting food and for normal days as wells! Fasting preparations usually consisted of potato wafers, potato kees, sabudana papad and subudana babata kurdai/chakli.. Wafers used to be my favourite and I decided to try some last week as I had a bag of potatoes lying around. So here's one of my favourite fasting food- Potato Wafers- for "W of Indian Vegetables." I am glad I made these last week as I really enjoyed eating these yesterday during my Thursday fast :) Thats the advantage of fasting.. lots of yummy foods :D

Making Potato wafers is a bit lengthy process.. But once well prepared and dried, these can be stored for about year! So its just worth the efforts taken. Instead of deep frying in oil (the traditional way), these can be sprayed and baked in microwave as well! Take care while drying them.. If they are stored without proper drying, they can be spoilt by fungus.. So better check that the weather is gonna be sunny for the next 5-6 days before taking up this task ;)

Potato Wafers

Preparation time:

4-5 days

Makes:

Short snack for 1

What you need:

3 medium sized Potatoes (preferably flat and long)
Salt
Oil to fry
Red chilli powder
Hardware- Mandoline

How to proceed:

1) Peel potatoes and make chips using the wavy side of mandoline, or the plain one if you like it plain.. My opinion-the wavy ones look n feel good :D
2) Boil these in water with 1-2 tsp Oil for 4-5 mins
3) Now drain off water and hold the chips under cold water
4) Place the chips separately on a plastic sheet and dry in sunn for 4-5 days, flipping sides twice a day
5) When they are totally dry, store in an air tight container
6) Deep fry in oil, drain excess oil on kitchen towels and sprinkle with red chilli powder and salt or eat plain

Dhokla Sandwitch

Coffee's MBP gives me a chance to write about recipes tried from fellow bloggers. The theme for this month's MBP is "Going Lite".. I was an absolute fan of Richa's Nylon Khaman Dhokla Sandwitch when I first saw it at the round-up of Nupur's "N of Indian Vegetables!" So when coffee announced the theme "Going Lite" for this month's MBP, this was the best dish to fit into the theme.. Light on calories n light in weight as well ;) :D But surely high on nutrition!

I used Richa's recipe from here. The only change was that I used 1/2 tsp sodium bicarb and 1/2 tsp Salt instead of Eno fruit salt. And obviously left aside the cocunut part for garnishing as I am not a great fan of cocunut. And yes, I didnt have a Dhokla Steamer like the one Richa has.. Alternatively, I used my Idli Steamer.. So, I have Dhokla Idli Sandwitch now :D

My Verdict : Easy and quick recipe to please guests that show up on short notice.. It took me less than 30 mins to prepare one batch of these.. The spicy green chutney on one side and the sweet n sour lime sugar mix on the other side makes the dhoklas ever more tasty and appealing.. A keeper recipe!

Funke/Waffole

This is one dish near to my heart coz its from my ajool (granny's place). "Funke" as it is called in Khandesh (Northern Maharashtra), it is also known as "Waffole" after the process of cooking- steaming (this process is called "Waafavane" in Marathi, waaf being the marathi word for "vapour"). I can be undoubtedly called 100% healthy dish coz this recipe does not call for even a drop of oil. Toor daal, rich in proteins, onions and corriander and spicy chillies is all it needs for making waffole. Nutritious and tasty waffole can be served as a side dish or as breakfast or snack item with a hot cup of tea! :) As a side dish, this goes for "RCI Maharashtrian Cuisine", "W of Indian Vegetables" and as a healthy breakfast for "WBB #12-Spice it up"!

To enjoy something crispy, cut each waffole into 2-3 pieces and shallow fry in a skillet with one tablespoon of oil and some mustard and cumin seeds. If you are health/ calorie conscious people, below recipe is for you! Enjoy madi! :D

Funke

What you need:

1 cup Toor Daal
2 Onions, finely chopped
1/3 cup Corrainder, finely chopped
1 inch Ginger, minced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
3-4 Green Chillies, minced
4-5 tsp Sesame Seeds
1 -2 tsp Lemon Juice
Salt

How to proceed:

1) Soak Toor Daal for 1-2 hrs
2) Drain all water and coarsely grind it
3) Mix all the remaining ingredients except Sesame seeds and knead together
4) Make small dumplings of desired shape and dip in sesame seeds
5) Put these dumplings in a steamer/cooker and steam it for 15-20 mins
6) Serve hot oil-free healthy waffole as a snack or a side item during lunch!

* The long funke on the left are the steamed funke and on the small funke on right are the shallow fried ones. I served them with tomato ketchup.

Vada Pav

Some foods are close to the heart not due to the taste, but due to the memories associated with them. For me, Vada Pav falls in the category of food that always takes me back to college days. This post is dedicated to my dear college friends: Shill, Saii, Megh, Poo and Ridd! All 6 of us enjoyed our 4 years of Engineering together in a girls college.. Its exactly 3 years down the line that we left college.. Kisiko yaad bhi hai ki 21st-22nd June ko hamare project evaluation tha?? One thing we all loved was the Vada Pav at the college canteen. It was one of the best vada pav I have tasted.. Priced at just 4 rupees then, it used to be our regular favourite snack after 2-3 hours of lectures and boring practicles. Though we had decided that after college when we start earning, we would drop in college sometime to have vada pav together, the day never came.. Everyone got busy in their lives and some shifted to other city. Though 4 of us worked in the same company, we didn’t get a chance to go back to college together, now that we had found new joints near office. But sometime later we came to know that the caterer in the college canteen had changed and the new caterer was not so good.. so now we are just left with the memories of the vada pav and all the 4 years we spent together in that canteen eating mostly vada pav :) To cherish those memories, I made vada pav today and decided to post it.. So here’s our favourite snack gals.. toot pado ;) Also its Ridd’s bday today and Poo’s bday 4 days down the line.. Wish u a very happy birthday sweeties.. hope you have gr8 time with ur dearest….. Btw, Ridd those chillies are specially for you.. remember you used to be the only one who used to eat all those 7-8 hot chillies that we got with these 5-6 vada pavs :P And since Megh is in India, I know you will plan to meet up.. And I am the only one who’ll be left out :(( Do miss me :(

For fellow bloggers.. here’s some background about vada pav/wada pav.. It can also be called Indian Burger. :) It is a famous snack in Maharashtra, where vada made from potato (batata wada) is placed in a special type of bread called “pav” and is served with some chutney and chilli. The batata vadas are prepared using mashed potatoes, onions and some fresh spicy ginger, garlic and chillies. They are then coated with besan/chickpea flour and fried.. Pav can be replaced with any other bread (except sweet one) or vada can be eaten alone, provided its hot n fresh!

In Pune and Mumbai, vada pav is mostly sold on roadside thelas/joints. The most famous chain in Pune for vada pav is “Joshi Wadewale!” My personal opinion, the vada pav at the thelas taste equally good.. There’s one such thela in Kothrud area, opposite Jagruti sweets.. Its popularity is proved by the crowd there which seems to be competing to get their share! :D 2-3 vada pav’s can substitute a full meal for me :) So here’s vada pav which goes for (obvi) “RCI Maharashtrian Cuisine”, “V of Indian Vegetables” and “WBB #12- Spice it up!”

Vada Pav

What you need:

4-5 Potatoes, boiled
1 Onion, finely chopped
5-6 Green Chillies
3 cloves Garlic
1 inch Ginger
5-6 Curry leaves
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
A pinch of Asafoetida
1 tsp Turmeric

11/2 cups Besan/Chickpea Flour
2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
½ tsp Sodium Bicarb

Water
Salt
Oil for Frying

How to proceed:

1) Mash boiled potatoes, grind garlic, ginger and green chillies to a paste
2) Heat 2 tbsp Oil in a pan, add curry leaves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafetida.
3) When mustard seeds start spluttering, add the paste and sauté for 30 sec
4) Now add onion and fry till it turns brown
5) Add turmeric and mashed potatoes and mix well. Add salt as desired
6) Cook covered for 5-7 mins and leave aside to cool
7) When mixture cools, make small balls and flatten them a bit
8) Make batter by adding water to besan; add red chilli powder, turmeric, soda and salt to it.
9) Heat oil in a pan. Dip the balls in batter and slide in hot oil
10) Deep fry on both sides. Fry on medium gas to cook it evenly.
11) Serve hot with some chutney and green chillies

* I served this dish with dry shengdana chutney and fried salted chillies. I also applied some sweet tamarind chutney to one pav.. its the way I like it :)

Kanda Bhaji/Khekda Bhaji

Now now.. non veggies.. I am sorry to disappoint you.. this is not a dish with crabs.. don’t expect that from a vegetarian cook :) These are bhajis made from onions, Kanda bhaji, for RCI Maharashtrian cuisine.

Kanda bhaji needs no occasion.. lunch, midday snacks, dinner, weddings, or rainy days.. You just cant forget this :) These are cruchy dumplings prepared using besan and onion. More about the name.. There’s a historic fort in Pune, Maharashtra called Sinhagad fort.. It is a major tourist attraction and is famous mostly for the Khekda bhaji, Pithla Bhakri and Taak served there. Once I got a chance to ask this lady why its called so… She explained me that when they make these bhajis the onions take whatever shape they want which mostly resemble like a khekda (crab) as the thin onion slices come out from sides seem to be the crab’s foot and claws. The other reason that she told me was that these are as cruchy as fried crabs :D But this did not stop me from eating Khekda bhaji.. Something like “Listen to everything, but ignore the unwanted information”:D Sorry seafood lovers.. but I really cant stand these creatures.. and secondly I feel why be so selfish and kill these poor creatures.. just my views.. no offense meant!

Kanda bhaji is mostly enjoyed on a rainy day at a roadside thela with a cutting chai and some friends to chat with. In Pune, there was one such thela on JM road, opposite to the Z-bridge, which used to be a favorite joint on a rainy day.. Hot bhajis just made the day so refreshing and enjoyable.. Yesterday it was raining heavily here and so we had to stay home full day.. Its usually very depressing to stay home on a weekend and just stare at the rain[u guessed it right.. no one allows me to go out and get wet in the rains!] But a plate of hot kanda bhaji with a cup of tea just got the mood back to normal... Before I bug u more wit my love for it, here’s a plate of Kanda bhaji for you guys.. enjoy! :)

Kanda Bhaji

What you need:

1 cup Besan
2 small Onions, thinly sliced
2-3 tsp Red Chilli Powder
½ tsp Turmeric
2 tsp Ova (Ajwain seeds)
¼ tsp Baking Soda
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Water

How to proceed:

1) Mix all the ingredients except oil and sliced Onions
2) Add enough water to make consistency of idli batter
3) Heat oil in a kadhai/pan
4) Add sliced onion to this batter in batches (don’t add all at once else onions will leave some water and the batter will become free flowing!)
5) Make bhajis such that onion slices are coated with the batter and there seem equal amount of batter and onion
6) Deep fry in oil and drain excess oil using paper tissues
7) Serve hot with tomato sauce or with a hot cuppa on a rainy day!! :)

Other than the usual spices- red chilli powder and turmeric, the uncommon spice used is Ajwain seeds. More than in cooking, I know Ajwain seeds for its medicinal values-as a home remedy for stomach ache, indigestion and throat problems. Well all goody goody about this spice just bcoz this recipe also goes for WBB#12 Spice it up! Btw, just add more red chilli powder to really “Spice it up!” ;)

Samosa

Now that my true love for chaat items is truly justified, I have the feeling that I am free to go ahead and eat more chaat items :D Waise bhi I doubt that anything in this world can stop me from eating chaat! :) So this time its the lovely Samosa. Samosa is a North Indian snack but famous all over India. Since samosas are easily available at any sweet marts or chaat joints in India, these are hardly prepared at home. Wish wish wish they were so easily available here! :( Two euros for just one cold samosa.. isn’t it better to try at home and eat as many fresh hot samosas as you wish till your stomach is full?? :) I never ever thought that 1 day I would prepare samosas at home!! I had samosas at an Indian friend’s place here, found them very easy to prepare at home and decided to try it the other day for hubby dear. Needless to say, 10 tempting hot samosas disappeared in less than 10 mins!!

Samosa is my entry for Nupur's "S of Indian Vegetables".. I know its too early for the event, but my next post will soon justify why I am in such a hurry :) Till then, enjoy these yummy hot samosas! :)

Samosa

What you need:

For the covering
2 cups Maida
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds (optional)
1 tsp Ghee
Few drops of lemon (this help to make the covering crispy)
Salt to taste

For the filling
3 Potatoes boiled and peeled
1/2 cup Peas boiled/frozen
1 tsp Ginger Paste
2-3 Chillies finely chopped
2 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
Chopped Coriander
Juice of half a lemon
Salt to taste

How to proceed:

For the covering
1) Mix all the ingredients and prepare soft dough.
2) Leave aside for an hr or two.

For the filling
1) Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds.
2) Add ginger paste, finely chopped chillies, garam masala, coriander powder and cumin powder
3) Add potato and boiled peas and mix well
4) Add salt as required
5) Squeeze juice of half a lemon , mix well and keep aside to cool

Putting it all together
1) Roll a chapatti (of size of rolling pin) using oil to roll, cut it into half, such that you have two semi circles.
2) Take one semi circle and make a cone from it. Seal the edges with water.
3) Fill in the potato filling and seal the edges with water.
4) Deep fry in hot oil and drain excess oil.
5) Serve hot with tamarind chutney or Pudina chutney

Ragda Pattice

With respect to my eating habits, I am a kid!! Its true.. I love junk food... I can stay on chaat items for my whole life.. chaat for breafast, chaat for lunch, chat for teatime and chat for dinner.. Wish wish wish I had such a lifestyle!! :) Anyways, fortunately/unfortunately, I dont find any restos/thelas/chaat joints here.. Back in my hometown Pune, there used to be many chaat joints.. the most famous was Bheleshwar near SNDT college backgate... was the local hangout with colleagues and friends! Then the famous Ganesh bhel in Kothrud area and Kalyan bhel in Bibwewadi.. Also Deepak sweets in Aundh.. And how can I forget the chaat basket at Manmeet on FC road... How I miss all the chaat items that I used to eat!!! :( Thankfully, I have started to try prepaing some of these at home.. These are hygenic (i seriously dont care which water they use for preparation at the roadside thelas!) and I even get a chance to prove their nutrition value :D Many of you guys will agree with me that chaat items are not junk food... Murmura, aalo, tamatar, pyaaj, a bit of fried shev, groundnuts... we include these items regularly in our meals! To conclude, chaats are not junk food and I should try more of these dishes at home :) So here comes Ragda Pattice!

Ragda Pattice or Ragda Patties--(whatever u call it.. I mean, however u spell it) is my entry for Nupur's "R of Indian Vegetables". Ragda pattice consists of the thick gravy prepared from white peas(I used chickpeas instead) called ragda(probably due to the process of mashing some peas to thicken the gravy) and shallow fried Potato dumplings called pattice(probably because they are patted during shallow frying).. LOL.. what a logic!!! Well well.. the try wasnt bad at all.. Here goes the recipe!

Ragda Pattice

What you need:

For Pattice
3-4 medium sized Potatoes
2 Slices of Bread
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

For Ragda
1 can (250 gm) Boiled Chickpeas
1 small Onion finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger Gralic Paste
2 tbsp Red Chilli Powder
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Jeera Powder
Salt to taste
1 cup Water
2 tbsp Oil

For Garnish
1 Onion finely chopped
2-3 tbsp Sweet Tamarind Chutney
2-3 tsp Corriander chopped
1 tsp Red chilli powder
1 tsp Chaat Masala
Thin Sev
Yoghurt (Optional)

How to proceed:

For Ragda
1) Take oil in a skillet. Fry onion till translucent
2) Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a min or two
3) Add all the spice powders and mix well
4) Mash half chickpeas and add them to spices.
5) Add remaining half can of boiled chickpeas
6) Add water and salt and let cook for 5 mins
7) Add more water if ragda is too thick, mash more peas if too thin

For Pattice
1) Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker (4 whistles)
2) Mash potatoes well.
3) Soak bread slices in water, extract all water and add to mashed potatoes
4) Add salt and red chilli powder and knead well
5) Form 8-10 small round balls; place each ball on palm and flatten it to make pattice
6) Shallow fry/roast each pattice on a hot tava/skillet using a tsp of Oil


Putting it all together
1) Place 2-3 patties in a plate
2) Cover the patties with hot ragda
3) Garnish with onion, corriander, a pinch of chilli powder, chaat masala, tamarind chutney and sev.

Ulli Garelu

Another recipe from Andhra which everyone adores! Wondering whats “Ulli Garelu”?? Even I would have surely not ordered this dish from the menu card in a Udupi restaurant. But if I knew what it is, there surely would have been no second thoughts! Its our own “Medu Wada” straight from Andhra and hence my entry for RCI Andhra!

Ulli Garelu aka Medu Wada is a festive food from Andhra, prepared from Black gram dal (urad dal) spiced with onion and ginger. Ulli means “Onion” and Garelu means “Wada”. These garelus are typically served with sambar and coconut chutney. But lazy Arts loves to enjoy its true flavour!! ;)

Ulli Garelu/Medu Wada

What you need:

1 cup Urad Dal (black gram dal)
1 big Onion finely chopped
2 tsp Cumin seeds
3-4 Green Chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped Ginger
A pinch of Baking Soda
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

How to proceed:

1) Wash and soak Urad dal for 5-6 hrs
2) Remove all the excess water and convert the ural dal into a smooth thick paste using a grinder [if the batter is not thick, the wadas do not get a perfect shape]
3) Add cumin seeds, chopped onion, chillies, ginger and salt
4) Heat oil in a deep vessel.
5) Wet hands, take a spoonful of batter on the palm, form a circular shape and flatten the wada. Make a hole at the center of the wada using index finger. [This will ensure that the wada is fried evenly]
6) Slowly drop wadas in hot oil, deep fry on both sides till golden brown.
7) Serve hot with sambar or coconut chutney and enjoy! Rocks wit hot tea as well!!

Quick Popcorn

Today, 16th May, is LIVESTRONG Day 2007. Barbara of "winos and foodies" came up with a blog event "A taste of yellow" as a part of LIVESTRONG Day to support cancer survivors and raise awareness about cancer. Since I was too late to participate in it, I am posting a "yellow" snack to extend my support for the nobel cause.

And now, Nupur's "A-Z of Indian Vegetables" has another bouncer letter this week. The only word, starting with Q, that quickly comes to my mind is "Quick" (Thanks to Nupur for bridging the loophole, its in my mind frm past 2 weeks) :D So here goes Quick Popcorn for "Q of Indian Vegetables"..

Popcorn probably is the first word that comes to mind while watching movies(esp during the intermission). Well not just in the movie hall, even at home! Whenever there's a movie playing on the TV, my hubby demands popcorn n some soft drinks. :) Initailly we used to purchase popcorns in the store, but later realised that its easy to prepare it at home even without a popcorn maker. From then on, I have to prepare a huge stock of popcorn every weeekend... Though we find flavoured popcorn these days, I prefer the simple old-fashioned salted one! Its a handy snack at tea time as well! So this weekend rush n buy a CD of the lastest movie, try making popcorn at home, grab some soft drinks and enjoy the feel of watching the movie at the movie hall! :)

Popcorn

What you need:

1 Cup Popcorn Maize
2 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Turmeric
2 tsp Salt

Preferably a steel vessel with thin bottom and a glass lid

How to proceed:

1) Put oil in the cooking vessel
2) When hot, add turmeric and salt and mix well in oil
3) Now add Popcorn Maize and mix well so as to coat each maize grain with turmeric-salt
4) Cover and cook for 5 mins
5) The popcorns start popping. Shake the vessel at intervals to settle down the uncooked/unpopped maize
6) Enjoy the quick snack!!:)