Gobhi Manchurian February 26, 2008

Ingredients

2 Cups of cauliflower florets
1 cup spring onions
4 green chillies slit vertically
1 cup onion sliced
Salt to taste
1 tbs red chilli powder
Hot chilli sauce
Soya sauce
Green chilli sauce

Ingredients for the batter

1 cup maida or all purpose flour
3 tbs corn flour
1 tbs red chili powder
salt to taste
A pinch of turmeric
A pinch of Baking soda
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
A pinch of red food color
Method

• Boil the cauliflower florets in water with little salt. Drain them and keep it aside.
• Mix the ingredients for the batter in a bowl and keep it aside for 10 min.
• Take a deep pan and add 1 cup of vegetable oil. Dip each floret in the batter and deep fry till golden brown. Put these fried florets on a tissue paper so that excess oil is absorbed.
• Take another pan and fry spring onions and green chillies. Add the sauces and fry for a while. Add the florets and mix well so that the sauce is evenly coated. Add salt and red chilli powder.
• Sprinkle coriandar leaves and spring onions on top and serve hot!

Mirchi Bajji February 26, 2008

Recipe for spicy mirchi bajji…this is one of the eternal snack! This is a common method of making these bajjis. This coconut stuffed bajjis are quite famous in Hyderabad. There is another version of stuffing where you just add vamu and jeera paste. Its very hot and spicy stuffing so I always prefer this mild version.

Ingredients for stuffing

3 tbs coconut powder
1 tbs dhaniya powder
1 tbs sesame seeds or nuvvulu

Roast all of them and grind them adding little salt. Add two tbs of tamarind extract and mix well.

Ingredients for batter

1 cup besan
salt to taste
1 tsp Red chilli powder
A pinch of turmeric
1 tsp vamu
A pinch of baking soda

Sieve the besan into a bowl.Now prepare the batter by adding water and mix it well so that it is without any lumps. Keep it aside for 10 min. Clean each green chilli and make a slit and remove all the seeds with a back of a spoon (believe me..its easy this way). To avoid that burning sensation, you can apply some oil on your hands and then remove the seeds. This way, there will be no burning sensation (old granma thing ). After removing the seeds, add the stuffing in the slit and keep it aside.

Now take another pan and add oil for deep frying. Take each stuffed chilli and dip in the batter so that its evenly coated with the batter and dip it in the hot oil. Fry till golden brown.  Serve hot!

Serving tips – Stuff chopped onions in the slit and sprinkle lemon juice on it and gobble it up!!

Ragada Pattis February 21, 2008

Ragda pattis covered with fresh beaten curd..smeared wtih tamarind chutney and loaded with yummy chick peas!! Perfect Combo!

Ingredients

1 cup chick peas
half cup chopped onion
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Tamarind paste – 1 cup
Curd
Roasted cumin powder
Boiled and mashed potato – 2 cups
Corn flour – 3 tbs
Crushed pepper
Red chilli powder
Garam masala 1/4th tsp
salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Soak chick peas for 2 hrs and boil them.
• Soak tamarind in water or microwave it for 30 sec and squeeze the juice out of it and keep it aside.
• Beat the curd and add salt, cumin powder and mix well. Keep it in fridge.
• Now take the mashed potato and add salt, red chilli powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder and mix well. Add corn flour and make patties and rosat them with little oil on a pan. Transfer them on an absorbant paper.
• Take a big pan, and add tamarind paste and 1/2 cup water. Add salt, red chilli powder, pepper,cumin powder and mix well. Add boiled chick peas and boil it for 10 minutes.

For serving, take two patties on a plate, top it with hot tamarind/chick peas and cold beaten curd. Sprinkle chopped onions and coriandar leaves and Enjoy!!!!!

Bonda November 29, 2007

Ingredients

1 cup All purpose flour
2 Green chilies (finely chopped)
1 small onion ( finely chopped)
1 big spoon full of rice flour
Sour curd ( to make the batter)
Salt to taste
A pinch of baking soda
Chopped coriander leaves (optional)

Method

Mix all the above ingredients using the curd to a bajji dough consistency. Keep this aside for 3 hrs.
Heat some oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot enough, drop the batter in oil and deep fry them till golden brown.
Serve hot with green chutney or ketchup.
Make sure the curd is sour enough. These bondas are very crispy and tasty too.

Atukulu fry – A perfect snack for afternoon cuppa of tea October 30, 2007

 

Ingredients

2 cups poha or atukulu or beaten flakes
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup putnalu pappu or roasted gram dal
curry leaves
Red chilli powder
A pinch turmeric powder
Red chillies
Salt to taste

Method

Take a pan and add 1/2 tsp of oil. Add half tsp of mustard seeds and let them crackle. Add curry leaves, peanuts, roasted gram dal and Red chillies and fry them for a while. Add salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. In the end, add atukulu and mix well. After 5 minutes, turned off the stove and let it cool. Transfer or store it in a container. Its a perfect snack for lazzzzy afternoons. Best part is that it never ends!!! Enjoy

Bread Pakoda October 26, 2007

Its one of those delicious snacks that you will find in almost every delhi college canteens Its a must have item in canteens..students actually survive on good old bread pakodas. There are quite number of variations – paneer stuffed bread pakoda, potato stuffed bread pakoda! both are so tasty that one might end up eating many.

I made simple bread pakora with no stuffing. It tasted real good! Here is the recipe.

 

Ingredients

8 Bread Slices cut diagonly half
1 cup gram flour
1/2 tsp Fennel seeds or jeera
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
a pinch turmeric powder

Method

Cut Bread slices into desired shapes (like triangle, rectangle etc.)

Apply the coriandar and mint chutney on both sides of the bread.

In a bowl add gram flour salt, chili powder, garam masala, jeera and mix it.

Now by pouring little water at a time make a smooth batter (neither too thick nor too lose)

Heat oil in a kadhai.

Dip bread piece in the batter and fry till crisp on medium flame.

Serve bread pakora hot with tomato sauce.

Mushroom stir fry with pearl onions October 11, 2007

Mushroom dishes are quite easy to make and they taste really good. Its my husband’s favourite dish (mine too..) and he is quite an expert in making yummy stir fry dishes. He makes mouthwatering portbello mushrooms sandwich which are definetly out of this world mmmm..well..here is the quick recipe of Mushroom stir fry with pearl onions. Its a tasty starter or snack..it goes quite well with fruit juice!! Pearl onions are available in any grocery store..i have used white ones in this recipe.

This is going to be my entry for JFI- February Onions

Mushroom Stir fry with pearl onions

Ingredients

1 pack of mushrooms

half cup pearl onions

Sweet red and yellow bell peppers (1/2 cup each)

Green chillies(split long)

Chilli powder

salt to taste

seasoned salt

Coriandar leaves (1 cup)

Balasmic vinegar (1 tbs)

Method

Cut the mushrooms and wipe them clean with a wet cloth or paper towel.  Add two tablespoon oil in a pan. Heat it and fry the onions and Pepper. Keep stirring them so that they are properly fried. Add Salt and Chilli powder.Add the Pearl onions and fry for 5 mins then add Mushrooms and fry for few more minutes. Now add half table spoon of Balsamic vinegar, one tbs of Hot and chilli Sauce(tomato ketchup). On medium heat fry for 10more minutes. Add a little seasoned salt and garnish with coriandar leaves……………..YUMMYYYYY its ready to eat!!!!!!

Onion Fritters or Onion pakoda October 11, 2007

Well..its beautiful weather outside..its raining! I feel..something is definetly different about the way it rains in India..i dont know why. May be because of the sweet smell of wet earth or the way everybody patiently waits for rains! In some places..people celebrate when it rains..specially the first rain of the monsoon season. Best thing about delhi weather (coz i lived in new delhi) is i think its predictable. nov to feb its sure shot cold winter..feb to april its spring..april till july its hot hot summer..july to september its raining season or you can say autumn..october is festival season hahaha you know whats going to happen in each month. Here in US..it rains in every season..haha its funny how i am comparing..may be I still have not got used to this climate. Now i will stop talking about weather..lets talk about our onion pakoras…indians love eating endless plates of pakoras..rain plus pakoras plus hot tea..thats it. its a perfect combination! One can easily make all these in a jiffy. So here is the recipe..

Onion Fritters or Onion pakoras

1 cup gram flour or besan

2 tbsp corn flour

2 sliced onions

4 to 5 slit green chillies

A bunch of curry leaves

1 tsp jeera or fennel

1 tsp red chilli powder

a pinch of turmeric

salt to taste

oil

Method

Sieve gram flour and corn flour and mix it with all the ingredients. Add little water and keep mixing it so that there are no lumps. It should have smooth consistency. The more chillies you add..the more spicy it will be..so adjust accordingly. After you have mixed it..keep it covered for 10 minutes. Take a deep pan and add oil to it and heat it on medium. With the help of a spoon, take a spoonful of the batter and deep fry it in the oil. When the pieces are properly friend or become brown in color, take them out and put them on some absorbent paper. Serve hot with dhaniya pudina chutney or hot chilli sauce!