Sesame Toast

Winter Chills have begun to bite in...and that triggers the pots of boiling hot soups in evenings!
A small snack bit served with the hot soup,makes the combo perfect!
They say , sesame is a perfect winter food! Here, we make sesame,or Til Laddoos, Til Polis or parathas, made with jaggery and so on....Til is supposed to generate the much needed heat in the body , and is a sure shot remedy for these cold winters.
The classic Indo-Chinese recipe, revisited .... A less greasy yet crispy toast ,crusted with sesame or Til! Perfect with a bowl of piping hot soup.

Ingredients:

5-6 Bread slices , cut lenghtwise into 2 pieces
2 tbsp butter
2 cups Boiled Mashed Potatoes
2 tbsp Chopped Capsicum
2 tbsp Chopped cabbage
2 tbsp Chopped Spring onions
1 tbsp Chopped coriander
1 tsp Green chilly sauce
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Cornflour
3 tbsp Sesame seeds
2-3 tbsp oil for roasting

Lightly butter the bread slices on both the sides
Mix together,mashed potatoes with capsicum,cabbage,spring onions,corainder,green chilly sauce,salt and cornflour.

Spread some mixture over the bread slice and press to stick.

Sprinkle and press some sesame seeds over the potato mixture and roast on a hot tawa on low flame , till the bread is golden brown and crusty.
Flip and roast the potato and sesame side , drizzing some oil.
Serve with ketchup or Schezwan Sauce.

 

Faarali combo: Sabudana Wada with Sweet Potato Fries

Fasting or Upwaas is not for me..I realised it long back ,before marriage when we fasted every chaturthis..which meant atleast one fasting day per month , and religious festival days extra...
But what actually happened was heavy meals laden with ghee,overload of potatoes and  sweets and a bloated stomach at the end of the day! So the very motive of fasting was lost!

Eventually, we got bored eating the cold  sabudana khichidis for tiffin and fruits which failed to curb appetite for more than an hour. So , eventually sabu dana stuff and other faarali treats were now restricted to occassional snacks, which served as a good refresher!

This Navratri revived me old memories of all the upwaas ka khana...So even though me n my in laws family do not fast on Navratris , but go vegeterian for the festival , I decided to indulge everyone in this delicious Sabu dana Wada with Peanut and Yogurt chutney , and made sweet potato fries along with it ....Sounds like a Desi Mc Donalds meal..isnt it?

Ingredients:

For thr Wada:
1 Cup Sabu Dana or Sago , soaked overnight in water, just sufficient to drown it
1/2 Cup Upwas Bhajani ( its a mixed flour , especially for fasting)
1/4 cup Crushed roasted Peanuts
2-3 Chopped Green Chillies
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin powder
1 tsp Namak Shamak
1 medium Potato Boiled and Mashed
Oil for deep frying

For the Chutney:
1 Cup Yogurt
2 tbsp Crushed and roasted Peanuts
2 Green Chillies
2 tbsp chopped coriander ( exclude if fasting)
1 tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp namak shamak

For the Sweet potato fries:
2 Sweet Potatoes , Peeled and Julliened as fries ( keep immersed in water to avoid darkening in colour. pat dry on kitchen towel before using)
namak shamak for seasoning

Mix together all the ingredients for the Sabudana Wada in a bowl , using little water if needed for binding and keep aside.
Grease a plastic sheet with oil and pinch small balls of the mixture and shape them into round flat wadas.( I made them flat and slightly thinner than the usual wadas , to make them extra crisp from outside and avoid the possibility of remaining raw or soggy from inside)
Fry them in hot oil till golden brown and crisp.

Drain on kitchen towel.

In a mixie or a blender, mix together all the ingredients for the chutney and blend till smooth.
Transfer in a serving bowl . You can temper this chutney with ghee and jeera.( I was in a too much hurry so dropped it)

Deep fry the julliened sweet potatoes in hot oil till crisp and brown.
Season with salt.

Serve the Sabu dana Wadas with the yogurt and peanut chutney with the Sweet potato fries as accompaniments.

 

This is our entry for Navratri 2012 contest hosted at

http://enveetukitchen.blogspot.in/2012/10/navrathri-2012-event-and-give-away.html

 

Veg.Pizza Toast

Yet another quick and easy recipe ,for those lazy Sunday evenings, after all the eat outs , you just want to get back to home sweet home and relax. And with the thoughts of monday blues already picking up in mind...you need something to comfort yourself with!
And what more, your kids would love it , and be rest assured, its loaded with veggies , so very healthy and nutritious too!
It is inded my best bet for lazy evenings...after a hectic day...
So , just snuggle up on the couch with a nice classic movie and enjoy these snackets with your family!!

Ingredients:
5 Slices white bread (corners cut out),can use brown bread too.
1-2 tbsp Olive oil/butter 1-2 tsp
1 small sliced Onion
1/2 sliced Capsicum
2-3 sliced Black Olives
2-3 tbsp Pizza Sauce( I used fun foods pizza pasta sauce)
1/2 Cup grated cheese( I used Go Pizza cheese,mixture of cheddar and morzarella)
2 tsp Italian mixed Herbs

Simple ingredients,great dish...I used jalepeno's to spice up mine!

Drizzle olive oil or apply butter over the bread slices and toast them in the oven or tawa till crisp and brown.

Apply pizza sauce over each slice and top with onions.
Put grated cheese over the onions and top the cheese with capsicum and olives.
Sprinkle italian herbs and grill the toasts in oven till the cheese melts and starts bubbling.
Serve hot with ketchup.

Beauties, just out of oven , hot n bubbling!

You can also use additional vegetables like corn,mushrooms,carrots etc , to make it more healthy.And add sausages to make it interesting.
Mushrooms and corn need to be sauteed in oil till cooked and then used for topping.

Perfect with a hot cinnamon cappucino!

 

Diet Batata Wada/Potato Wada

Many of us have a fascination with anything that pairs up with the word "Diet" or "Healthy" or the new entrant "Baked"especially when it comes to food or snacks...
Our leading snack brands have therefore decided to cash on it! with smart marketing tactics(wish they put in atleast half the efforts in researching on the recipes and taste of their snacks and on making them actually healthy as much as they advertise about)..
Be it those baked potato chips or those snacks which say "with cereals ,ragi oats...etc"...everyone is on the run to lure the consumer,who has suddenly become conscious about eating healthy (thanks to the media that worships size  zero goddess)
But I believe any diet or healthy or low calorie can be made only at home, cause then you can be sure of how much oil has been added,what ingredients you are using and how much you are using. As they say "Trust No One other than You" So when you decide to indulge , atleast you know how much !
With the above mantra in mind,here's a classic Mumbaiya snack revisited! The favourite of every Mumbaikar on the run!

Ingredients:

For the Batata/Potato Subji/Filling ( You can use this same recipe for making the deep fried wadas as well):

2 Medium Potatoes boiled ,peeled and diced
2-3 Green Chillies
5-7 Cloves garlic
1 Inch Ginger peeled
1 tsp Turmeric
3/4 tsp Namak Shamak
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds/Jeera
1 tsp Ajwain
2-3 Curry leaves
2 tbsp Chopped Coriander Leaves
1/2 Lemon Juice
1 tsp Oil +for roasting the wadas

For the Batter:

1 Cup Besan/Gram Flour
1 tbsp Cornflour
1 tsp Namak Shamak
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Mix together all the ingredients for the batter and add 1/2 cup water and whisk to make a batter of  little over dropping consistency ( Little thick than that for pakodas)Adjust water or besan ,as required.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan , and add mustard seeds,cumin seeds and ajwain. Once mustard splitters ,add curry leaves and fry.
In a mortar and pessle ,pound together garlic ,chillies and ginger to form a  paste.Alternately grind them coarsely in a mixer ,without using water.
Add the above mixture to the oil and saute till the garlic gets light brown .

Add turmeric powder and mix.
Add chopped boiled potatoes to the pan and mix together and cover and cook for 2 mins on low flame.

Add salt, lemon juice and coriander and mix. Cool the mixture on a plate and make small marble size balls out of them.

Heat the appam vessel/pan and drizzle a drop of oil in each cavity. pour a tbsp of batter in each cavity and dunk the potato balls in the batter.

 Fill the remaining cavity with some more batter.
Cook covered on low flame till the base turns light brown and crisp.

Turn the wadas to cook from the other side as well for 1 - mins on medium flame. Drizzle some oil if needed.

Serve hot with dry coconut garlic chutney ,or regular mint and tamarind chutneys.
You can also pair them with pav and enjoy them guilt free!

Patti Samosa/Irani Samosa/Poha Patti Samosa

Samosa' s have been our favourite evening snack. To some extend , its synonymous to Punjabi food. However , for us , aloo mutter filled samosa, has become the very definition of this snack.

Interestingly , this snack , has its origin in Persian cuisine , where its called Sambosag. Its called with various names ,like sambosa in Afganisthan ,sanbusa in Iran and so on.They were brought to India by the Muslim traders and soldiers,where they were filled with minced meat.( Source:Wikipedia)

But the basic recipe remains the same..a Pastry filled with different fillings and deep fried!

A Patti samosa sometimes called Irani Samosa is a variation of the basic recipe.They are smaller than the regular punjabi samosa's , and made with a dough rolled into a ribbon like roti. I have made them with readymade patti's ,however, you can make a stiff dough with maida and ajwain and ghee and roll out in ribbons.

Irani samosa's are a hyderabadi delicacy , and they are sold in Irani Cafes , as well as on small carts.

They are small cocktail size samosa's and you really need to indulge in 2-5 to satiate your appetite and taste!

Normally raw onions are added to the spiced poha, so that on frying the raw onions leave moisture which is absorbed by the dry poha , thus making it moist. But I have lightly sauteed the onions in little oil before adding to the poha filling. And added roasted scraped dry coconut for added taste.

So go ahead and indulge!

Ingredients:

8-10 Samosa Patti's

1 Cup thick Poha

1 tsp Cumin seeds

2 tsp Red Chilly powder

1 tsp Turmeric powder

2 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Namak Shamak

1 tsp Sugar

1 tbsp scraped dry Coconut

1 Medium chopped Onion

1/2 Lemon Juice

2-4 Curry leaves

1 tbsp Chopped coriander leaves

1 tsp Oil + for deep frying.

1 tbsp Cornflour

Method:

Mix poha,red chilly powder,turmeric powder,corainder powder,salt,sugar ,lemon juice and coriander leaves in a bowl and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and curry leaves.Once they splitter , add chopped onions and saute till they turn translucent. Add scraped dry coconut to it and fry till it turns light brown.

 Immediately add this mix to the poha mixture. Sprinkle some water and mix. The mixture should be moist but not wet.

Fold the patti in a cone and stuff the filling as shown.

Seal the edges with a paste of cornflour and water.

Deep fry in medium hot oil till golden brown.

Serve hot with ketchup.

Mutter ki Kachori

Today we take you to eastern India , Bengal .. the land of Rassogullas and Mishti Doi's....

We couldnt thank them enough for giving us the lovely bengali sweets!!

Bengali food is characterized by the use of mustard oil and five basic spices: zeera, kalaunji, saunf, fenugreek and mustard seeds which are know in bengali cuisine as the Panch Phoran. Bengali sweets such as Rasgulla, Sandesh etc are popular all over the world.

With an emphasis on fish, vegetables and lentils served with rice as a staple diet, Bengali cuisine is known for its subtle (yet sometimes fiery) flavours, and its huge spread of confectioneries and desserts.

Green peas kachori is a Bengali delicacy served specially for morning breakfast or dinner. It can be eaten with aloo dum or even with the khatta meetha tamarind chutney. Bengali mutter kachori is not as spicy as its rajasthani counterpart which has more of garam masala in it.

Ingredients:

For the filling: 

2 cups       Green Peas

1 inch        Ginger

3 to 4         Green Chillies

1 tsp          Jeera

1 tsp          Dhania powder

1 tsp          Saunf (coarsely ground)

1/2 tsp       Namak Shamak

2 tsp          Oil

For the cover:

2 cups      Wheat Atta

1 cup        Maida

2 tsp         Rawa

2 tbs        Oil

1/2 tsp     Namak Shamak

 Oil for frying

Method:

For the filling:

Coarsely grind the peas with the ginger and green chillies.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the jeera. Now add the ground peas, the salt, saunf powder, dhania powder, cover and cook for 5 mins. Cool and keep aside.

For the dough:

In a bowl take the wheat atta, maida, rawa and the salt.

Heat the oil till smoking and add to the attas. Knead the dough using water. Cover and keep aside for 1/2 hr.

Take a small portion of the dough and make a vati of it. Fill the mutter mixture and close.

Now roll it into small puris but thicker.

Heat oil and fry the kachoris on low flame till golden brown. Here You need to be patient because if you increase the heat, the kachori will remain uncooked on the inside.

Drain and serve with khatti meethi imli chuney or pudina chutney.

Phulkopir Singara/Bengali Cauliflower Samosa

Nomaashkaar!! Kemon Aachen??...A sweet state from the Eastern India..the Land of Rassogullas and Sondesh and Mishti Doi...West Bengal.
I think of Bengal , I think Sweets!!! And ofcourse Fish!!
But since currently we are on a veg cuisine hunt, here's a delightful snack , quiet unique!!
Phulkopir is cauliflower in Bengali and Singara is samosa..
I strongly insist, you try it at home, especially for toddlers,who wont make out the cauliflower in the samosa and relish it!! Both my husband and son were  kept guessing till the end!

Ingredients:

For the dough:
1 Cup Refined Flour/Maida
2 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Ajwain/Carom seeds
1 tsp Namak Shamak

For the Filling:
1 Cup Grated/Finely Chopped Cauliflower
1 small Potato boiled and chopped
1 Green Chilly finely chopped
1 tbsp Peanuts ,roasted and coarsely crushed
1 tsp Red chilly powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Namak Shamak
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 1/2 tsp Oil+ for frying

Knead a stiff dough with maida ,oil,ajwain and water,and keep it covered with damp cloth.Knead the dough for 5-7 mins for a crispier samosa.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin and mustard seeds. Once they splitter , add green chillies and fry for a min.
Add the grated cauliflower and mix.
Add red chilly powder,cumin corainder powder and turmeric and mix.
Add boiled potato and salt and mix together.
Cook with covered lid for 2 mins.
Saute till dry.
Transfer in a plate and cool.

Pinch a small portion of dough and roll out a small roti and cut in 2 halves.

Make a cone out of one half and fill it with the filling,and seal the open edges by pinching together the dough. Repeat the same for the remaining dough.

Heat sufficient oil in a kadhai, and deep fry the samosas on a low flame till crisp and brown.
Serve hot with tomato Ketchup.

Dal Vada, Parippu Vada

Namaskaaram!!!   Time to go to South India ..Kerala....the land of coconuts and backwaters!!
We bring you a snack thats crispy , quick  and very traditional!!

Dal Vada also popularly know in Kerela as Parippu vada is a spicy and crunchy vada which can be great snack with tea.

Traditionally chana dal is used. Here I have used Chana as well as a little Urad Dal. 

Also down South they are fried in coconut oil and this gives them a really nice flavor. 

Ingredients:

1 cup        Chana Dal

1/4 cup     Urad Dal

3 to 4        Green Chillies

1               Onion

1 inch       Ginger piece

1/2 cup     Coriander leaves

1 tsp         Jeera

8 to 10      Peppercorns

1 1/2 tsp   Dhania seeds

1 tsp         Saunf 

1 tsp         Red chilli powder

1/2 tsp      Haldi powder

1 tsp         Namak Shamak

2 to 3 tsp  Besan (optional)

Oil for frying

For the coconut chutney:

1 cup       Grated Coconut

2              Green Chillies

1/4 tsp     Chana Dal

1/4 tsp     Urad Dal

1/2 inch   Ginger

For the tadka a little urad dal, oil and a red chilli.

Namak Shamak to taste

Method:

Soak the chana dal and the ural dal for atleast 4 hrs.

Roast the saunf, dhania seeds, jeera and the peppers and coarsely grind them.

Finely cut the green chillies, ginger and the onion.

Reserve a handful of whole dals aside and grind the rest coarsely. Pls dont use water. The mixture needs to be dry.

In a bowl, mix the dals with the green chillies, ginger, onion. Add the ground saunf, dhania, jeera, pepper powder, chilli powder, haldi and the salt. Mix and then add the reserved dals. If you feel the mixture is runny or you cant make a vada, just add a little besan for binding.

Fry the vadas on medium heat.

For the chutney, lightly roast the urad and chana dal. Now put all the ingredients in the mixie and grind. Add water as required. For the tadka, heat a tsp of oil and add the urad dal and red chilli, when the dal becomes a little brown remove from heat and give the tadka.