Sev puri and Mirchi Bajji for Game Night Party

Once upon a time, I use to watch religiously cricket and Lawn Tennis. After coming to US I don't get to watch them anymore and I am out of touch with them as well. I have no clue who is playing for the indian cricket team anymore. Sometimes I do still watch Tennis here. My husband is a die hard fan of Spurs (as we stay in San Antonio) and watches every Basketball game without fail. So, I too got used to watching them along with them. One good thing with this game is that it will be done in couple of hours. So I usually make some snacks for him that goes well with the beer. Few of them to name are Onion Pakodi, masala vada or mirchi bajji. So here I present my favorite Sev puri and his favorite mirchi bajji for the Game Night Party event being hosted by Mansi Desai of Fun and Food.

Sev Puri:


1 Boiled potato (peeled and chopped)
Small red onion
Small tomato
Few chickpeas (canned)
Chaat masala
Sev
Tamarind chutney
Coriander chutney
Few Pani puris
Chopped cilantro

A closer look at the sev puri

Make a hole to the pani puri and stuff with couple of chickpeas, potato, onion and tomato. Sprinkle some chaat masala as per your taste on each puri. Top them with tamarind and coriander chutneys. If you like you may put some yogurt/dahi too. I did use a little. Top them with sev and chopped coriander leaves/cilantro. Sprinkle some chaat masala again on top of each sev puri and serve them. Easy to make and tastes delicious.

Recipe for Mirchi bajji can be found here. I followed almost the same method except for few changes.

1. I made them with indian large green chillies.

2. I added 1/4 cup of rice flour to the batter recipe.

3. I stuffed some mirchis with potato stuffing. Take a boiled potato, add to that little chaat masala and salt and stuff that into the chillies.

4. I cut couple of mirchi bajjis into three pieces and fried them in the hot oil to make cut mirchi.

Rest of the procedure is same as mentioned in that recipe. Cut open the mirchi bajjis, stuff with some chopped onion, sprinkle chaat masala and squeeze little lime juice. Take a bite and I assure, you will love it. My husband loves them to have as a side dish while having his beer.

Enjoy guys.

Rumali Roti

I always ate these in the marriages that I attended while I was in Hyderabad. It is a kind of indian bread which is very very thin like phulka and pretty wide and big, which is folded like hanky. Hence it is called rumali roti, where rumali means hanky. Popularly served in marriages with delicious curries like mattar paneer or vegetable kurma, tastes excellent. I made these couple of days back and served them with baingan bhartha and chana masala.

Here is the recipe for Rumali Roti:

Four Rumali rotis served with baingan bhartha and chana masala

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour/maida
1 tbsp oil
salt as per taste

Mix all the dry ingredients with just enough water to make a soft pliable dough. Knead bit and apply oil on top of it. Let it rest for a while about 10 to 15 minutes. Divide the dough into small equal balls. Roll each ball into a wide and very very thin roti. Usually it is tossed on hands to spread and make a wide roti but I am not that proficient enough so I used my rolling pin to roll it. Dust away any excess flour from the rolled out roti.

These rotis are usually cooked on a big wide inverted kadai. Since I did not have such a kadai, so what I did is inverted my wide tava, that I usually use to make dosas. Sprinkle some salt water over it and when it is really really hot at that time put a roti on it. You should see small black spots appearing on the roti, immediately pick with your hands turn it onto the other side. You should see the samething happening on the other side too. Immediately roll it like a hanky and cook any uncooked areas. One thing to remember is it will not blow up like a phulka. It should no too. As it is very very thin, even if you don't see black spots all over, it is still cooked. So do not worry about that. Follow the same procedure for all the rotis. Serve it with your favorite curry and enjoy.

Onion Rava Dosa

On this weekend I made this rava dosa. I make this once in a while when I am tired of eating the same regular dosa. This dosa is slightly crispy and tastes excellent when it is hot. I do not like it when it is cold. I find it to be little tough to eat. The best part of this dosa is it can be made instantly. No soaking, grinding and fermenting. Now that is what we need once in a while to treat ourselves.

Recipe for Onion Rava Dosa:


1 cup Bombay rava (Semolina/sooji)
1 cup Rice flour
1/2 cup All purpose flour/Maida
2 Green chillies chopped very finely
few sprigs curry leaves chopped finely
cilantro chopped finely
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
Salt as per taste
1 small Onion chopped finely

Mix the above ingredients with enough water to make it thin batter. It should be pouring consistency (like buttermilk). You may mix it with combination of some sour buttermilk and water also. Dosas mixed with sour buttermilk will obviously tend to be sour. If you like that taste then you may go ahead and do that. I keep changing depending on my mood and the availability of buttermilk.

Heat a non-stick pan/tava and pour the batter from outside to inside in a circular form. Or you may pour a ladle full of batter on the pan and swiftly rotate the pan to form a thin dosa. Do no worry if you see some gaps or slight holes in between. That is how this dosa is supposed to look ;-)

Spray some oil on the dosa and cook on both sides until they turn golden brown in colour. Serve with any chutney of your choice and enjoy.

Sending this for JFI-Onion being hosted by Radhika of Radhi's Kitchen.

Blueberry Pancakes

I tasted my first pancake in IHOP. For the first time I felt it was too sweet and wondered how can anyone have such a sweet breakfast early in the morning. Being Indian, I am so used to savory breakfasts like dosa, upma, uttappam etc., Then once, I happened to taste Waffles and gradually I started getting addicted to pancakes and waffles with nice maple syrup. Now once in a while I must have them otherwise I start dreaming about them. Funny and silly, but true. This is my version of pancakes to make it slightly healthy atleast makes me guilt free in having couple of them with pure maple syrup.

Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup Self rising flour
3/4 cup Whole Wheat flour (I used durum whole wheat flour a packet with white colour)
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Honey (You may add little more if you want more sweet or substitute with brown sugar)
1 1/2 cup Soy milk ( I used light vanilla soy milk)
1 tbsp Oil (I used canola oil)
1 tbsp Flaxmeal (I actually ground flaxseed and used a tbsp of that)
3/4 cup Blueberries (I used frozen, you may add fresh too)
1 tbsp chopped Walnuts

1. Take flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

2. Take ground flaxseed powder into a bowl and add 1/4 cup of soy milk and beat until it is completely dissolved and there are no lumps. Then add the remaining milk, oil and honey and beat them to blend them all together.

3. Introduce wet to dry ingredients and mix just enough to bring them all together. Leave for 5 minutes.

4. Now add the blueberries and walnuts and mix to just blend them together. Do no over mix as the pancakes can turn out tough.

5. Heat a griddle and spray with non-stick cooking oil and pour the batter about 1/3 cup at a time. Let it cook on each side until it turns golden brown.

Enjoy with some pure maple syrup.

Let me explain why I say it is healthy, with the little knowledge that I learned

Whole wheat flour is complex carbs.
Blueberries have lot of antioxidants, same with honey.
Walnuts and flaxseeds are good source of Omega -3 oils.
Soy milk is ofcourse a good source of protein.
So all in all, isn't it a healthy way to have them all together in one shot?

Sending this for WBB being hosted by Rajitha of Hunger Pangs.

Alu Paratha

Alu Paratha, a very filling bread from India. Paratha is basically a chapathi stuffed with some filling. In this case Potatoes are used as stuffing. A pretty favorite for carboholics. A slight change I made to the dough is adding soy flour. For weight watching person like me it makes kinda happy to have it with out any guilt. So lets look into the recipe:

Alu Paratha:


For dough:

1 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour
1/4 cup Soy flour (if you can handle the smell and taste of soy flour then you may substitute some more whole wheat flour with soy flour)
Salt as per taste
2 tsp Olive oil (EVOO)
Warm water to knead the dough

For Stuffing:

2 medium Potatoes
1 tbsp Onion paste(I took 1/2 of small onion and grated finely)
1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste
1 tsp Coriander Cumin powder
1/2 tsp Chaat Masala
1 tbsp Finely Chopped Cilantro
Salt as per taste
a pinch of Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp Red chilli powder
1 tsp Olive oil (EVOO)
Non-stick Cooking spray to cook parathas

Take the flours and salt into a bowl. And add a tsp of oil to it and enough warm water to knead the dough. Top with another tsp of oil and knead the dough thoroughly to make a smooth dough. The more you knead the smooth parathas you will be able to make. So make sure you will knead the dough for atleast 5 minutes. Cover and set it aside.

Prick all over the potatoes with fork and set into microwave for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove, peel and grate finely with a grater. In a small pan add the tsp of oil and add the ginger garlic paste, onion paste. Cook for a minute and then add the coriander cumin powder and chaat masala. Mix together and add the grated potatoes. Now add some salt, turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Add chopped cilantro and mix everything thoroughly to make a smooth paste. The smooth the stuffing is the better the you can roll the parathas with out any tears. Make 5 equal balls of the stuffing.

Take the same size of dough ball and pinch the ends to make the ends thin and the middle of the ball a bit thick. Now place a stuffing ball in the middle, pull all the ends to the center, pinch the dough together and remove any excess dough. Now slowly flat the ball with you fingers by adding little by little flour. Then roll with a rolling pin into a 5 to 6 inch chapathi. This will be slightly thicker than the normal chapathis.

Heat a tava enough and place the paratha on it. Cook on one side until you see some brown spots. Turn it over and spray some non-stick cooking spray. Turn it again and spray cooking spray on that side too. Cook until you see nice golden brown spots on the paratha and it is cooked.

Alu Parathas with Fresh curds and Maagayi pickle

Enjoy them with some nice thick curds and a pickle. I did not have any north indian pickle so I served with andhra maagayi pickle. They tasted perfect. Enjoy.

Mamidikaya Pulihora/Raw mango rice

I made this on Bhogi. I love all kinds of pulihora that are made in andhra. My mom makes this during summer time with fresh raw mangoes whenever there is some cooked rice left over. I make this with freshly cooked rice as it tastes delicious when hot. I think my daughter went on me, she loves both pulihoras and pulavs.

Here is the recipe for Mamidikaya Pulihora:


1 big raw mango (peeled and grated)
4 cups sona masoori rice cooked
3 to 4 tbsp oil
8-10 green chillies slit length wise(adjust as per your taste level)
3-4 dry red chillies chopped into big chunks(adjust as per your taste level)
2 tbsp peanuts
2 tsp chana dal (Bengal gram dal)
2 tsp urad dal (Black gram dal)
2 tsp mustard seeds
good sprinkle of asafoetida (hing)
1 sprig curry leaves
salt as per taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1. Heat oil in a wide pan and add green chillies, dry red chillies, peanuts, chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds and asafoetida.

2. Once they start golden brown in color add curry leaves and grated mango. Mix it for a minute and turn off the heat.

3. Sprinkle the turmeric powder and a little salt on mango mixture and mix thoroughly. Now add the rice and add some more salt as per taste and mix the whole thing until everything comes together.

Easy to make and delicious to eat... Enjoy.

Sending this to Meeta of Whats For Lunch Honey? for Monthly Mingle 17. This is my comfort food any time easy to make and pretty filling.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Chutney

I never cooked with Red Bell pepper earlier. I usually cook with green bell pepper cause those are the ones that we usually find in India. So I grew up eating them. As I was not sure about the taste of red and orange bell peppers never bothered to buy them. On my trip to San Fransisco, I happened to eat a panini with roasted bell pepper and eggplant with smoked mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. I can't say in words how good that was. After coming back, I decided to make something out of red bell pepper and then I tried this chutney. Amazingly this is so good.

Here is the recipe for Roasted Red bell pepper chutney:



1 medium red bell pepper
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut
1 small lime size tamarind ball soaked in some hot water.
2 tsp chana dal (senagapappu)
2 tsp urad dal (minappappu)
1 tsp mustard seeds (aavalu)
1 tsp fenugreek seeds (menthulu)
3-4 dry red chillies (endumirapakayalu)
3 green chillies (pachimirapakayalu)
a pinch of asafoetida (hing/inguva)
1 tsp oil
salt as per taste
a pinch turmeric powder

1. Wash and pat dry the red bell pepper. Rub on it with some oil and set it into the broiler to roast it on all sides.

2. Heat oil in a pan and chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chillies, green chillies and asafoetida. When dals turn golden brown and mustard seeds splutter, turn off stove and take them into a blender. Blend to make them smooth paste with tamarind, salt, turmeric and coconut.

3. Remove red bell pepper out of the broiler and let it cool enough so that you can easily peel the skin off. Add the peeled red bell pepper to the blender and blend until everything comes together and forms a smooth chutney.

You can serve this with hot rice/dosai/idlis. Enjoy.

Ragda Patties

I have been cooking all through this break time but never took interest in posting them. Rather I must say I din't make any special recipes that are worth sharing. Last sunday I made ragda patties which happens to be favorite of both me and my husband. Living in San antonio I miss all these tasty street foods. So I learned to make them at home myself to satisfy the cravings.

Here is the recipe for Ragda Patties:

Ragda:


1 1/2 cups white peas (soaked in water for couple of hours and pressure cooked upto 2 to 3 whistles with a pinch of baking soda)
1 small onion finely chopped
1 small tomato finely chopped
2 green chillies finely chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp Mixed spices(a pinch of clove, cinnamon and cardamom powders)
1/2 tsp Chaat masala powder
1 tsp coriander cumin powder
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 small lime size tamarind ball soaked in hot water
1 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
1 tbsp oil
salt as per taste

Heat the oil in a pan and add green chillies and onion to that. When onion turns translucent add the turmeric, coriander-cumin powder and ginger-garlic paste. Saute for couple of minutes and add tomato. Let the tomato cook and then add the cooked peas, salt, red chilli powder, chaat masala and mixed spices. Extract tamarind pulp and add to the gravy. Let it cook until everything comes together. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with patties.

Patties:


3 medium potatoes
a pinch turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp coriander cumin powder
bread crumbs to coat the patties

Boil the potatoes until they become tender but not mushy. Take them into a bowl, add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander cumin powder. Mix them all together, make into patties of required size. Coat them in plain bread crumbs and shallow fry them on both sides in a non-stick pan with a tsp of oil for each side.

Serving:


Take two patties into a plate, pour the ragda over them. Top them with some beaten curds, tamarind and cilantro chutney as per your taste level. Garnish with couple of crushed pani puri, sev and fresh finely chopped onion and cilantro. We enjoyed it much... hope you will also enjoy them equally.