Sunday, February 1
Chiwda: Cornflakes mixture
This is a very simple mixture recipe, which can be made very fast and easily at home. It has minimum of spices , so nothing can go wrong with the recipe. Kids love to eat it, as it simple, less spicy, crunchy and filling. My next door neighbor taught me this, before I moved out, and re-located to a bit distinct place.( Earlier either she used to pack and bring it or come at my place and make it for me :) )This assorted mixture is mixed with crunchy bites like roasted peanuts, cashew-nuts, fried beaten rice and cornflakes. What you want to add in your mixture is individuals choice. Here in India, we have assorted styles of mixtures which can be prepared with numerous flavors to choose from; sweet, spicy or tangy.
Ingredients:
Raw Corn flakes (Talne wala makka) 2 cuos
Sago
Peanuts 3/4 cup
Curry leaves 1/2 cup
Rice flakes , medium (Pooha) 1 1/2 cups
Potato chips, dried (optional)
Coconut dry sliced
Cashew nuts 1/4 cup
Garlic paste
Green chilies
Black pepper powder
Sugar powdered
Salt to taste
Method:
- In a heavy bottom pan , add enough oil to deep fry.
- One by one deep fry all the ingredients ( Better in this order :cornflakes, flattened rice, sago, peanuts, cashew nuts and coconut) and take it out in a tissue paper.
- When hot itself, add salt to taste and black pepper.( Later when it cools and extra oil absorbed by tissue paper, it gets tough for the salt to stick to it.)
- Turn off the fire and fry curry leaves.
- Lastly fry the garlic paste too and add all the fried ingredients to it.
- Add sugar. Mix well
- Let it cool before storing in a air tight container.
- Eat it with a cup of tea, or just like that.
We can add home made sev, murukku too to it
Can add raisins too to this mixture for those having sweet tooth
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Sunday, October 2
Navratri series: Singhara Pakodi's
Ingredients :
Singhara flour(atta) 1 cup
Potato 3 medium, boiled
Green chilly 2 Finely chopped
Cumin powder (Jeera powder) 1/2 tsp(optional)
Sendha namak ( rock salt) to taste
Oil for deep frying
Method:
Boil the potatoes and peel the skin, mash the pottoes well.
In a large bowl mix well mashed potatoes, Sindhara flour, chopped green chillies , roasted jeera and salt (Sendha namak for fasting).
Adding little water, make a thick batter.
Heat oil/ghee in a deep pan for deep frying the pakodas.
When the oil is ready , deep fry the pakodas on medium flame. Fry until they turn golden brown in color.
Remove pakora's in kitchen napkin to remove excess oil.
Serve with plain yogurt or chopped tomatoes mixed with little salt.
Tips:
If not fasting, you can sprinkle a little black salt on top of the pakodas.
Kattu pakora's are also made in exactly same way.
Can check for other fasting recipes, which i poated earlier.
1) Sabodana Khichiri
2) Sabodana vada
3) Dry fruit Kheer
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Sunday, July 27
Bakarvadi
While browsing the blogs, i came across this bakarvadi, and the snap itself looked so tempting to me, that i decided i'll try it for sure sometime. But then as usual,i couldn't find that source again. Anyhow when google is there no fear...haha.
Intially when i saw the list of ingredients and its procedure, i was a little demoralized, but anyhow gave it a try, and then came these so nice looking and delicious vadis. I must say it was not so easy for me to make them , but my hubby liked them so much, that for sure i would cook them again...
Ingredients:
For cover:
3 cups plain flour (maida)
1/2 cup gram flour (besan)
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp. oil
salt to taste
For filling:
1 tbsp. gram flour
1 tbsp. each sesame and khuskhus and coriander seeds
1 tsp each of Fennel seeds, Ajwain,cumin seeds
2 tbsp dry coconut grated
1 tsp. ginger grated
1 tsp. garlic grated
1 very small onion
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. red chilli powder
1/4 tsp. garam masala
salt to taste
1/2 cup fine 'sev'(used in bhel)
oil to deep fry
Method:
For cover:
Mix flours, salt, oil, soda, mix with fingers.
When crumbly add little water, and knead into a stiff dough.
Cover with a moist cloth.
For filling:
Roast sesame and khuskhus seeds lightly.
Crush, add fennel ,ajwain and coriander seeds.
Heat oil add cumin seeds, allow to splutter.
Add ginger, garlic, fry for few seconds.
Add finely minced onions until and fry untill reddish
Add all other crushed seeds. Stir.
Add coconut, sev, masalas, salt, sugar, flour.
Mix well and then add to the blender.Grind to a smooth powder,keep aside.
To proceed:
Take a chappati size lump, roll into thin chappati, roll it in a rectangle if u can, by rolling the edges thinner and then folding it like a envelope.
Use dry flour to help rolling.
Spread filling thinly all over chappati.
Roll the dough from the long end, keeping the roll as tight as possible.
Seal the long end with a touch of water
Cut into 1" pieces(i did cut to 1/2 inch only) and deepfry in hot oil.
Fry till cover is crisp and golden brown.
Drain, cool very well before storing in airtight containers.
Shelflife: 2 weeks
Tip: If filling tends to spill out while frying, sprinkle very little water on filling and mix to make it hold.
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I'm sending this to SWC: Maharashtrian Cuisine
And also to Sunday Snacks - Hot n Spicy at All Thingz Yummy!!
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Monday, July 14
Mathri and Nimki's
Crispy, flaky and superbly flavoured deep fried 'mathris' or 'mathis', which is a north indian snack, are our favourite evening snacks with tea. Everytime its not possible to cook some snacks in the evening , so these are my life savers at that time. Even we can munch them in between any time of the day. And its smaller version , with a nice diamond shape(namely nimki's or namkin paree), attracts my kids a lot, a nice finger food for them.
This salty 'anytime snack' are eaten best with any pickle and are often served with tea.
Large mathris - known as mathi's - are pinched on their surface with floral and other intricate designs and they are a 'must' for all Rajasthani occasions including marriages, poojas etc.
They are actually unsalted and bigger in size, versions of mathris, photo courtsey, tarla dalal's site.
In about every month or a two, i make them ,and they last only about 4 5 days.. :)
Ingredients:
2 cups All Purpose flour( maida)
1/2 tsp ajwain
4 Tbsp oil
3/4 cup lukewarm water
Oil to fry
salt to taste,about 1 tsp
Method :
Mix flour,ajwain and salt. Add oil and rub the flour between your palms until it takes the form of breadcrumbs,so that the oil coats all the flour nicely(This makes Mathri's crispier)
Add the lukewarm water a little at a time, kneading into a firm dough. Cover and set aside for a atleast 20 minutes.
Make small flat balls of lime size out of the dough . Roll them into 2 inch wide circles. Prick each mathri with a fork or khief in 5 to 6 places on both sides, so the mathris do not puff when frying. Keep them aside for drying on a newspaper or kitchen towels for atleast 1 hour,flipping it once in between.
Using the same dough,take a big ball out of it and roll it into big and thick (about 2 mm) roti's. Cut it into diamond shape with a knief and dry them too along with mathris.
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Fry a few matris at a time. Make sure that the oil is not very hot.It takes about 5 7 minutes to fry about 10 12 matris in one go. Fry the mathris until both sides are a light golden brown.
Cool before storing,can be stored for about a month in airtight containers. 
Tips:
If the mathris are cooked on high heat, they turn dark brown and will become soft. So be patient.
Add more oil while kneading dough ,to make them more crispier.
You can also add fenugreek leaves and peppercorns to it,to make them as of Haldirams.
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Sending this to Sunday snacks: Grab n go at All Thingz Yummy
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Thursday, June 26
Murukku
I did wanted to make this for a long time, as i my childhood days i liked murukku's tooooo much. But now since a long time, didn't had the homecooked one, only haldiram's,or the local brand,which i don't like at all(actually they use rice as the main ingredient, and being north indian i don't like it much). This time when i went to indian, i again got the oppurtunity to eat it once at my sisters place and my temptation to make it increased more n more.So finally got her recipe, and made it...
Its easy and fast to make, n yum to eat...
Ingredients:
Wheat flour 2 cups
Yellow moong dal 1/3 cup
Oil 2 tbsp
Turmeric powdre 1 tsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Sesame seeds 3 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying.
Method:
Take the flour and tie it in a muslin cloth. Steam the same in the pressure cooker .
Soak moong dal and boil it with water till soft and done.
When the pressure of cooker resides, open it , the flour would have been cooked n hardened, break it into pieces, n pass it through seive to get fine powder form again.
Mix all the ingredients and make a bit tough dough out of it.
Put it into to murukku maker and make shapes of murukku , out of it.
Deep fry in oil till golden brown.
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Thursday, May 29
Khakhara, gujrati snack
Long back, when some of my relatives came from india, they brought the khakharas (readymade ones) along with them. That was the first time i had them, and liked them so much, that i was drooling to have them more...., And nowadays, whenever i see my one of favorite serial, Baa Bahoo n Baby, hearing them say khakhara, thepla, dhokla and all, my temptation to eat grew very much. So finally i searched the net, and found out these. The recipe sounded simple(but i think, its actually no so simple), so finally made them.
The taste was not as good as the readymade ones, but it sure is a yummy and healthy snack, as i read in the various sites , its a good food for diebatic people. Khakharas are very wholesome, nourishing and great item for breakfast. The sugar content is very low and active carbohydrates are easy on stomach.
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
3 tbsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
½ tsp caraway seeds (ajwain/ omam)
1 tsp black sesame seeds
1 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp cumin powder
salt to taste
Method:
Mix all the ingredients and enough water into a softish but elastic dough similar to dough for making chapathi.Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes. Pinch off a ball of dough the size of a small lemon/ lime and roll out into as thin a circle as possible(wafer thin is good). Dust lightly, if necessary, with whole wheat flour while rolling out the dough to prevent it from sticking.
Heat a cast iron griddle. Put the rolled out dough on it and cook, over low to medium heat on both sides till faint brown spots start appearing.Now take a thick kitchen towel, fold it and roll it up into a size fills your palm. Holding the rolled up towel press down on the cooked dough circle, a little at a time till every part of the circle has been pressed down. This ensures that it cooks and crisps out evenly. Now turn the khakhra over and repeat with the other side. The khakhra would now have a light brown colouring on both sides and would have become crisp.(this step requires time and patience) If you would like, the khakhra can be brushed with butter or ghee at this point. Cool on a cookie rack. Finish the rest of the dough in this manner.When cool, store in an airtight container.
Khakharas are best enjoyed with Khakhara powder. We had it with chat masala powder. Just sprinkle chat masala over the khakhara, and eat it.Can also have it plain, with tea, or served with a variety of dips or salsas, sweet and sour chutneys or even curries.
I'm sending this to SWC:Gujrati cuisine , hosted by notyet100 of Asan Khana. And i request all my readers(specially gujju), if they have a better recipe, do tell me too, as they were not as nice as readymade ones....:)
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Sunday, March 16
Karanjia, Gujia
Ingredients:
For cover :
1 cup plain flour (maida)
1 tbsp. ghee
water to knead
For filling:
1/2 cup coconut flakes fine
1/2 cup khoya
1 tbsp. poppy seeds (khuskhus)
1 tsp. cardamon powder
1 tbsp. crushed almond
1/4 cup sugar ground
10 to 15 raisins
Method:
For cover:
Mix flour and ghee well.
Add enough water to make dough. ( make it hard like for mathris)
Keep aside.
For filling :
Roast khoya to a light pink by stirring continuously over low heat.
Cool and break in fine crumbs with fingers.
Roast coconut flakes lightly. Cool.
Mix all other ingredients.
Check for sweetness.
Make small (4 ") rounds, not too thin not too thick .
Place 1 tsp. filling in one half of round .
Fold over the other half, sealing in the mixture.
Seal edges by twisting or pressing together .
Make all in t he same way.
Dry on clean cloth for 30 minutes.
Deep fry in hot ghee on low till light brown on both sides.
Drain and cool completely before storing.
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Besan Ladoo (gramflour dumplings)
Ingredients:
3 cups gram flour
1/2 cup semolina (rava)
1/2 cup milk
2 cups sugar, powdered
1 cup ghee
1 tsp. cardamom powder
2 drops kewra or rose essence (optional)
Method:
Put ghee to warm in a heavy pan.
Add flour, rava, stirfry on lowflame, stirring continuously with a spatula.
This step takes time, so do not roast on high flame, end result will not be good.
When flour is golden brown and aroma exudes, take off fire.(as it gets cooked , it gets softer)wait a while,
Add milk,(stirring continously, else lumps may be formed ),if needed run in a mixie for a few seconds till well mixed.
Cool, add sugar, cardamom, essence , mix well.
Shape into laddoos of desired shape.
Cool completely, before storing in airtight container.
Time: 15-30 mins |
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