Crispy Zucchini Sticks

Ingredients:

Zucchini           1 medium cut into sticks

Egg whites        2 large

Bread crumbs   1/3 cup

Oil                    For deep frying

Garlic powder   1/4 tsp

Salt                  to taste

Fresh pepper    to taste

Preparation:

·         In a small bowl, beat egg whites and season with salt and pepper.

·         Mix well the breadcrumbs and garlic powder.

·         Dip zucchini sticks into eggs then into bread crumbs mixture, a few at a time and coat them properly.

·         Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the zucchini sticks till golden brown.

·         Alternatively, you can bake the zucchini sticks in an oven at 180°C for about 20-25 min., drizzling with some oil.

·         Serve hot with any sauce of your choice.

Onion Pakoda

Ingredients:

6 Onions 
1 tsp Chilli powder 
2 Cups besan 
¼ tsp Turemeric powder

½ tsp carom/ajwain seeds 
A pinch baking soda 
Salt to taste 
Oil for frying

Method:

Thinly slice the onions. Add the chilli powder, besan, carom seeds, baking soda, turmeric powder, baking soda and salt to taste. Mix well to make batter adding very little water. (Avoid using excess water. First it is recommended to squeeze the onions in the flour so that its own water is used for making the batter and then add water if needed) Heat oil in a wok. Take a small portion of the mix at a time and drop it in hot oil. Fry till golden brown. Serve hot with chutney or ketchup or as it is.

Pani Poori/ Gol Gappe/ Puchka

This is the most favourite street food in India. The word "Pani" means water and "Poori" is puffed Indian bread. This popular Indian snack is also called  Gol Gappa, Puchka and is usually enjoyed at many of the street vendors in India and also in restaurants.

To make poori:
1 cup Semolina (Rava / Suji)
¼ cup All purpose Flour
4 to 5 Tbsp club soda (Carbonated water)

Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

For the pani:

1 cup  Mint Leaves  

¼ cup Coriander leaves

7 to 8 cups of Cold Water  

5 tbsp Pani poori masala powder 

1 teaspoon Black Salt 

Salt  to taste

3 tbsp Tamarind pulp

1 1/2 teaspoons of Lemon juice

For the stuffing of the pooris:

1/2 cup Boiled peas

2 medium Potatoes 

1 red onion finely chopped (optional)

Pani Poori Water 

Boil peas just tender. Also boil the potatoes and mash them and let them cool.

To make the pooris:

Mix the sooji, flour and salt together and knead into a stiff dough adding soda water little at a time till the semolina almost dissolves.

Cover with a damp cloth and keep aside for atleast 15 minutes. 

Heat oil in a kadai.

Divide the dough into 1/2 inch balls. Roll out into thin tiny Pooris and deep fry in hot oil till they puff up and golden brown.

These pooris can be stored in a dry container for a longer period too.

To make the Pani:

Wash the mint and coriander leaves and grind them with all of the above ingredients in a blender with a little of the clod water. Add the rest of the cold water. Cover and chill in the refrigerator. I suggest to make this a  day ahead.

To serve:

There are different stuffings one can have with this. This is my favourite stuffing without the sweetness of tamarind chutney.

Tap the Poori  at the center lightly to make a hole in it.

Add about 1/2 teaspoon of the potatoes and 1/2 teaspoon of the boiled peas and onions.

Dip the filled Poori into the chilled pani puri water and serve.

Masala Poori

Ingredients for gravy:
2 Cups Boiled Peas

2 Boiled and Mashed Potatoes
2 Onions, Diced
4 Garlic cloves
1" Ginger
1 tbsp Chole Masala powder
1 tsp Garam Masala

1 tbsp saunf (Anis seed) powder
1 tsp Chilly powder

4 – 5 green chillies

¼ cup mint leaves

Salt to taste

2 tsp Oil
For Serving :

Flat and crisp Puri's
1 Tomato, Chopped finely
1 Onion, Chopped finely
2 Carrots grated 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves, Chopped finely
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 Cup Plain Sev

Method:

Soak Peas overnight and cook them till soft. Grind tomatoes, green chillies, mint leaves, garlic and ginger to a paste. Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onions and fry till soft.

Add the ground masala to it and fry until the moisture evaporates.
Now add the peas, chole masala, garam masala, saunf powder, chilly powder, mashed potatoes and salt to taste. Mix well and cook for about 5 min.

Add about 4 cups of water to the gravy and cook for a min or two. The consistancy should be of a milk shake.
Arrange about 6 to 8 crushed puri's in a serving plate.

Pour about a  cup of gravy over it.

Sprinkle onions, tomatoes and grated carrot .

Garnish with coriander leaves, and Sev.

Sprinkle lemon juice and serve.

Onion Vada (Vulli Garelu)

Vada is a traditional savoury snack from south india. Although they are commonly prepared at home, vadas are as well a typical street food in India. There are many ways of preparing vada. Here is one recipe of vada which is an extension to the basic Medhu vada, which is plain without any extra seasoning.

Ingredients:

urid dal – 2 cups

onions – 1 large

green chillies – 3 to 4

grated ginger – tbsp

salt to taste.

Oil – for deep frying

Mother’s tip: If you are grinding the dal in a mixer, add about 2 Tbsp of yoghurt to it to have fluffy vadas.

Preparation:

• Wash and soak the urid dal for about 5 to 6 hours.
• Drain the water completely and grind the dal with the yoghurt without adding water to a paste.
• Cut the onions and green chillies into small pieces and add them to the dough.
• Add the ginger and salt and mix them well.
• Now wet your hand and take some batter and make the vadas on your palm. (alternatively, you can make the vadas on a wet cloth or a wet plastic paper) Poke a hole at the centre of the vada so that it will get evenly fried in oil.
• Now gently drop the vada  into the oil and fry on both the sides till golden brown.
• Serve hot as it is or with sambhar or any chutney of your choice.  It tastes great with chicken/mutton gravy too.

Instant Muruku (Chakli/chakri)

Muruku is a tasty South Indian snack. It is known as Chakli in Marathi and Chakri in Gujarati. I think everyone out there loves this tasty, crispy tea time snack.

Rice flour – 2 cups

Besan – ½ cup

Ajwain seeds – 1/2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Butter – 1 inch cube

Chilli powder – 1 tbsp

Oil – for frying

My tip: I added  3 tbsp of yoghurt to the dough. It gives a mild sour taste to the murku and also a slight golden brown colour.

Preparation:

• Mix all the ingredients, except oil adding little water at a time to make a soft dough.
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Take some of this mixture in a Murku press and pipe out the murkus  of desired shape.
• If you want the small circular murkus, like I have here, first pipe out the dough into circular shape on a greased plastic sheet or a cloth and carefully drom them into hot oil
• Fry them till golden brown and place them on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.
• Once cooled, store them in a dry container. It’s a good tea time snack.

Bread Uthappam

This is an instant uthappam recipe and easy to make. It is a perfect snack on a rainy or snowy day. You can make this using the simple ingredients which you have in your kitchen without going to a supermarket to buy a particular one. 

Ingredients for 2 servings:

Bread slices – 5

Yoghurt – 1 cup

Sooji (or) wheat rava – 1 tsp

Maida – 1 tsp

Onion – 1 medium

Diced Capsicum – 1 cup

Green chillis – 4

Coriander leaves- ¼ cup

Grated ginger – 1 Tsp

Salt to taste

Oil – 3 Tsp 

Preparation: 

Remove the brown edges of the bread slices and cut them into small pieces. Cut  the onions, capsicum, green chillies and mix them with  the bread pieces. Now mix the sooji and maida with yoghurt  and add ¼ cup of water (do not ad too much of water as it would make the uthappams too soft). Now mix this paste with the bread crumbs. Add the chopped coriander, grated ginger and mix well. The consistency should be very thick.

Heat a tawa and grease it with oil. Now scoop the mix and put it on the tawa and just pat it evenly. You don’t need to spread it too much. It is convenient to make small uthappams than bigger ones as the uthappams are really soft. I made 3 uthappams at a time on the regular tawa. My tip is to cover the tawa and to steam the uthappams for about 2 min on medium heat and turn carefully to cook on the other side till done. Serve hot with any chutney of your choice.

Khaman Dhokla

Today is Saturday and I wanted to make something special other than the regular rice and roti. So I tried to prepare Khaman Dhokla, a traditional Gujarati dish and it came out very well and tastes yummy too. It is very simple to prepare.

Ingredients:

Rice – 1 cup

Chana dal – ½ cup

Urid dal – ¼ cup

Salt to taste

Yoghurt- 1 cup

Turmeric – 1 pinch

Ginger – ½ inch piece

Green chillies – 4

Baking soda – ½ tea spoon

For seasoning:

Oil – 2 Tsp

Mustard seeds – ½ Tsp

Slit green chillies – 2

Curry leaves

Coriander leaves

Preaparation:

Wash the rice and the dals and soak them overnight. Grind the soaked grains with yoghurt to a smooth paste. Add water if required. The dough should be of pouring consistency. Now add salt and turmeric to this dough, keep it in a warm place and let it ferment for 8 hours. Grind the ginger and green chillies into a coarse paste and add it to the fermented mix. Now to steam the dhoklas, first take a wide pan and place a stand in it and add about 1 cup of water and bring it to boil. Now take a thali like flat dish and grease it with oil. Once the water starts boiling, add the baking soda to the dough and mix very well and pour the mix into the greased thali and place it over the stand and close the lid of the pan and let it steam for 15 min. Alternatively, you can also use a idly cooker or the traditional Dhokla maker.

Once it is cooked, take the dish out and let cool. Now heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, slit green chillies, curry leaves and  fry them till the mustard seeds crackle. Now add the seasoning on the dhokla and spread it evenly so that the entire surface is coated. Now cut the dhoklas into diamond shape or square shape and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. Serve with any chutney of your choice. Today we had it with coconut chutney.