samosa chat

Samosa chaat is one of my must to order dish at gokul chaat in hyderabad.I love samosa chaat (ofcourse any chaats) and miss them soo much after coming to US.In my effort to get over the winter blues and beat the cold arctic air I made this chaat yesterday and it was sooo comforting.Here goes the recipe.....

Ingredients:

6 -10 samosas,(fried)

2 cups dried green peas or channa,

2 big tomatoes,

1 medium onion,

1tbs ginger garlic paste,

2tsp chole masala,

5 green chillies,

1tsp cumin powder,

1/4 tsp turmeric,

2tbs oil,

salt to taste,

1/2 tsp red chili powder,

1tsp sugar/jaggery,

coriander to garnish.

tamarind chutney,

green chutney,

plain yogurt,

chat masala

Method:

• Soak peas/channa in water for at least 4-6 hours.
• Boil tomatoes and when cooled puree them.
• Grind the onion and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pressure cooker pan and add green chillies,turmeric and onion paste and fry.
• Add cumin powder and ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell of onions is gone.
• Add pureed tomato and cook for few minutes.
• To this add the soaked peas ,red chili powder and chole masala and mix well.


• Add little water and pressure cook for 1 whistle.
• Once cooled remove the whistle and cook till you get the desired thickness(like chole)
• Add sugar or jaggery and mix well.

Assembly:Take 3 tbs of peas curry in a bowl and add crumbled samosa(fried) to it.Add green chutney,tamarind chutney and plain yogurt to it.Add the finely diced onions and coriander and chat masala .enjoy your chaat.

Black eyed peas vada/fritters

Finally winter started casting it's spell with cool temperatures and giving one more reason to gobble on the hot ,fried foods...:) . These black eyed peas /cow peas fritters satisfy the winter craving and at the same time are nourishing with high protein and iron content.

Ingredients:

2 cups black eyed peas,(soak at least 4 hours)

1 medium onion finely chopped,

4-5 green chillies,

1/2 inch ginger finely chopped,

small bunch of mint chopped,

few leaves of mint chopped,

salt to taste,

oil for frying

Method:

wash the soaked beans and grind them coarsely .Add finely chopped onions,green chillies,ginger,mint,cumin and salt and mix well.

Heat oil for frying .Make small balls or vadas using the grounded paste and drop them gently in oil.

Fry till golden and remove.Serve them hot with sauce or chutney.

Moong dhal vada

Ingredients:
3 cups moong dhal,
1 onion finely chopped,
3-4 green chilies ,
1tsp cumin seeds,
salt to taste and oil for frying

Method:

• Soak moong dhal in water for at least 4 hrs.Grind it into a coarse paste with out adding water(adding water makes it runny).
• Add salt,chopped onion,chili and cumin seeds to this paste and mix well.
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan.
• Take a zip lock and wet it .Take a small ball of moong dhal paste place it on the zip lock on palm and press it making a hole in the center.
• Drop them carefully in the oil and fry them till they are golden on both sides.

Mirchi bajji.....and hooray my 50th post !!!!!!

Ingredients:

10 big green chilis(hot),

1 cup besan/chick pea flour,

4 tsp aijwan/vaamu,

2 tsp putnala pappu/roasted channa dhal,

3-4 tsp tamarind paste,

1 cup besan/chick pea flour,

2 tbs rice flour,

salt to taste,

oil for frying

Method:

• Slit the green chillies lengthwise and remove all the seeds using a spoon.
• Blanch the green chillies by placing them in boiling water for 3 minutes.Remove and cool.
• Take aijwan/vaamu and putnala pappu+1/2 tsp salt and grind into fine powder.
• Take the green chillies and dab little tamarind inside and stuff the aijwan powder inside.Just add a tsp of powder.
• In a wide mouthed vessel add besan,1 tsp aijwan,salt,rice flour and water to make a smooth paste without lumps. consistency should not be too thin .
• Heat oil in an heavy bottomed pan.
• Dip the stuffed chili in the besan /gram flour mixture and drop carefully in the oil.
• Fry till they are golden on both sides.
• serve hot with diced onions and a dash of lemon juice.

saggubiyyam /sago vada

I got this recipe from my cousin.It is very easy to make appetiser.I usually try not to make the fried foods but I think it's ok for an ocassional treat..:)
I'm sending this to the event wyf-side dish hosted by EC

Ingredients:

1 cup sago/saggubiyyam,

1 cup buttermilk /blended yogurt,

1 small onion diced,

3 green chillies diced,

1tsp cumin powder,

1tbs all purpose flour,

1tbs rice flour,

salt to taste,

oil for frying

Method:

• Soak sago in buttermilk overnight.
• Add the flours ,onion,chilis ,cumin and salt and mix well.If consistency is too thin vada take up more oil.
• Heat oil in a pan and when the oil is hot drop little balls of the sago mix and fry till it is golden on all sides.
• Serve hot or else they will be mushy.

chaat ...chaat..chaat !!!!

Chaat is one of the street foods which I relish apart from the mirchi bajji and jilebi.It is so much fun and yummy when you buy rather than make at home.But my view changed after coming overseas ...can be due to lack of a good chat store that offers the chat comparable to what we get back home.After realising how easy it is to make I got much more addicted to it.Bhel puri and pani puri are 2 chaats which I make often at home.I got this recipe from my North Indian friend who makes absolutely mouth watering chaat.I am posting this for cfk-rice event hosted by Trupti and brainchild of Sharmi .

This is going to the event sunday snaks-chats hosted by pallavi

Bhel puri:

Ingredients:-

3 bowls bhel puri mix (you can buy ready made mix from Indian store),

1 medium potato boiled and mashed,

1/2 cup chick peas boiled and mashed,

1 small onion finely diced,

1 medium tomato finely diced,

1 cup fine sev(you can get this from Indian store),

1/2 cup finely diced cilantro,

salt to taste,

chaat masala,

tamarind chutney(recipe below),

green chutney(recipe below)

Method:

1. Take the Bhel mix in a bowl and add mashed potato and mashed chick peas.
2. Add the finely diced onions,tomatoes, 3 tsps green chutney, 5 tsps tamarind chutney ,salt(bhel mix also contain salt so be cautious) and mix well.
3. Put the mixture in the bowls and put lots of tamarind chutney and top with fine sev.
4. Garnish with coriander and chat masala and enjoy quickly or else it becomes mushy.

Tamarind chutney:

1 cup tamarind juice (soak tamarind in water and extract juice),

1/4 cup grated jaggery/sugar,

1/2 tsp red chili powder,

1/2 tsp cumin powder,

1/2 tsp salt (kala namak/black salt is best),

method:In a pan put tamarind juice and sugar/jaggery and bring to boil and simmer till it thickens a little (soup consistency ..kind of ) and cool .Then add the other ingredients and mix well.You can store in a air tight container in fridge for 4 days. Alternatively you can buy this in an Indian store near you...

Green chutney:

1 cup chopped mint,

1 cup chopped coriander,

2-3 green chilies,

2-3 tsp lemon juice,

salt to taste

Grind all the ingredients to a smooth paste adding little water if required.

Sev puri:

Pani puri puris ,

1 medium potato boiled and mashed,

1/2 cup chick peas boiled and mashed,

1 small onion finely diced

1 medium tomato finely diced,

1 cup fine sev(you can get this from Indian store),

1/2 cup finely diced cilantro,

green chutney,

tamarind chutney,

chaat masala

method:

make a little assembly line of all the ingredients.Make small hole in puris and add potato,chick peas,onion,tomato,green chutney,yogurt,tamarind chutney,sev,chaat masala and coriander in order and enjoy them.

Bread pakora

Don't know what to do with the bread lying on your fridge and waiting to make it's journey to garbage???Wait you can make better use of it by making this simple snack. Bread pakora is one of the easiest snacks you can make in a snap.

Ingredients:

4 slices of any bread,

1/2 cup besan/gram flour,

1/2 cup rice flour,

1tsp red chili powder,

1tsp aijwan/vaamu,

salt to taste,

oil for frying

Method:

• Cut each bread slice into 4 pieces.
• In a bowl mix flours,salt,chili powder,aijwan and add some water and mix well without lumps.
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan.
• Dip each bread piece in the batter (make sure batter is coated on all sides) and drop gently in oil.
• Fry for a while and turn to another side and fry till golden.
• Serve hot with sauce.

Aawada / Dahi wada / perugu garelu ...south indian style

Aavadalu / perugu gaarelu are fried urad dhal balls soaked in spicy yogurt mixture. It's a famous south Indian especially Andhra delicacy.

Ingredients:

1 cup urad dhal(minapappu),(soaked at least for 6 hours)

4 cups yogurt,

2 tsp urad dal,

2 tsp channa dhal,
2tsp mustard seeds,

1tsp cumin seeds,
curry leaf,
2 red chillies,

2 green chillies,
1tsp turmeric,

1tbs oil,

salt to taste.

recipe:

1. Blend yogurt well with hand blender.


2. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and do the seasoning adding the urad dhal,mustard seeds,cumin seeds,green chili ,red chili and curry leaves.


3. Pour this seasoning into blended yogurt ,add salt and mix well.


4. wash urad dhal and grind it using little water.It should be like a thick paste.


5. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan .


6. Take a polythene paper(like Ziploc) wet a little and place a small ball of urad dhal on it.


7. Flatten it using your fingers and make a hole in center.


8. Transfer it to your hand from paper and drop carefully into oil.


9. Fry it till it becomes golden brown.


10. Transfer fried wada into a bowl of water and quickly transfer it into yougurt mixture.
11. Soak them for 2 hours and enjoy.

gaarelu/ / wada

Ingredients:

2 cups urad dhal(soaked overnight),

1/2 onion diced,

2 green chillies diced,

salt to taste,

oil to fry.

recipe:

• wash urad dhal and grind it using little water.It should be like a thick paste.


• Add diced onions and chillies and mix well.


• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan .


• Take a polythene paper(like Ziploc) wet a little and place a small ball of urad dhal on it.


• Flatten it using your fingers and make a hole in center.


• Transfer it to your hand from paper and drop carefully into oil.


• Fry it till it becomes golden brown.


• Serve hot with chutney of your choice