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Vada pav

Vada pav is a famous Maharashtrian street food. It’s an Indian version of burger. Call it batata vada or bonda, it is finger licking good. Earlier vada pav was a favorite street food of a Mumbaikar, now it is eaten all over India.

Recipe of vada pav

Vada

4 big potatoes- boiled, peeled and mashed

3-4 green chillies- chopped

A pinch of hing (asafoetida)

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Juice of a lemon

Fresh coriander leaves- chopped

Batter

1/2 cup besan (gram flour/ chickpea flour)

1 tbsp rice flour (chawal ka atta)

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp soda bicarbonate

1 tbsp oil

Oil to deep fry

5 pav or any soft, unsweetened bun

Sweet tamarind chutney (Imli chutney)

Mint coriander chutney (dhania pudina chutney)

1. In a bowl, mix potatoes with rest of the ingredients of vada. Mix well using your hands.

2. Make ping pong sized balls from this mixture.

3. In another bowl, mix all the ingredients of batter. Add water little by little, mixing with other hand, to make a thick, smooth, lump free batter.

4. In a kadhai/ wok, heat oil for deep frying. Dip potato balls in the batter so that they are well coated with the batter. Shake off excess batter.

5. Turn the heat to medium. Put these balls in the oil. Do not overcrowd the kadhai. Fry vadas from both sides by turning. Fry vada till golden brown.

6. Drain on an absorbent paper.

7. Warm the pav or bun. Slit the pav such that it is connected at the base and not separated into 2 parts.

8. Spread sweet tamarind chutney on one side and green coriander chutney on the other side of inside portion of pav.

9. Place vada inside the pav and flatten the vada a little. Similarly make other vada pav with rest of the vada and pav. Serve hot.

urad chane ki dal

Urad chane ki dal is also known as maa-chole ki dal in Punjabi. It’s a delicious combination and you can use either skinless, split urad dal or split urad dal with husk. Urad chana dal is also a dhaba special dal and they also serve it with the same Punjabi tadka (tempering).

Recipe of urad chane ki dal

3/4 cup dhuli urad dal (split black gram)

1/2 cup chana dal (split Bengal gram)

2 tomatoes- chopped

1 medium onion- chopped

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

A pinch of hing (asafoetida)

2 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp garam masala

1. Wash and soak urad dal and chana dal for 1 hour. Drain. Place both dal along with enough water, salt and red chilli and turmeric powders in a pressure cooker. Pressure cook till tender.

2. Mash dal with the back of a ladle (karchhi).

3. Heat ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds. When they change color, add hing.

4. Add onion and fry till light brown. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for 1 minute.

5. Add tomatoes and cook till oil begins to separate.

6. Add this tempering or tadka to the boiled dal and mix. Add garam masala and give 1 boil to dal, then let it simmer it on low heat for 5 minutes, covered. Serve hot urad chane ki dal garnished with coriander leaves.

shalgam ka bharta

This recipe of shalgam ka bharta or sabzi was told by a friend of mine who is also a neighbor. She is a good cook and told me many recipes which I will be sharing with you. My husband adores this sabzi and so do I.

Recipe of shalgam ka bharta/ bhurta

3-4 shalgam (turnip)

1 medium onion- chopped

2 tomatoes- chopped

3-4 cloves garlic- chopped

1 inch piece ginger- chopped

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

A pinch of hing (asafoetida)

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp oil

1. Wash and peel shalgam. Chop them into thick cubes.

2. Place shalgam in a pressure cooker along with 1/2 cup of water. Cook to 2 whistles.

3. Strain and discard the liquid. Mash shalgam roughly.

4. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. When they change color, add hing.

5. Add onion and sauté till light brown. Add ginger and garlic. Fry for 1 minute.

6. Add tomatoes and salt and all the spices. Cook till tomatoes become soft and pulpy.

7. Add shalgam and mix well. Cook covered on a low heat for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally. Serve hot shalgam ka bharta with rotis.

shalgam (turnip)

cubed shalgam

sarson ka saag

Sarson ka saag along with makki ki roti makes an ideal Punjabi meal. Sarson and makki ka atta comes in winter so this is the time to relish this delicious fare. Serve with a small piece of gur (jaggery).

Recipe of sarson ka saag

1 kg sarson (mustard greens)

250 gm palak (spinach)

2 tbsp makki atta (maize flour/ cornmeal)

4-5 green chillies- washed and caps removed

3 tomatoes- chopped

2 onions- chopped

1 inch piece ginger- chopped

2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Salt to taste

1. Clean and wash sarson and palak. Chop leaves of palak and sarson. Chop soft parts of sarson stems and peel and chop lower parts of stems. Discard the lowest parts of sarson stems.

2. Place sarson and palak alog with 2 cups of water, salt and green chillies in a pressure cooker. Cook to 4 whistles. Grind the saag in a blender to a coarse paste. It should not be too fine.

3. Add makki ka atta and cook uncovered on medium heat for 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally.

4. Heat ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds. When they change color, add onion and sauté till light brown.

5. Add ginger and fry for 1 minute.

6. Add tomatoes and cook till tomatoes turn mushy and ghee begins to separate.

7. Pour this tadka (tempering) over sarson da saag and mix well. Serve hot sarson ka saag with makki ki roti.

Gond Panjiri

Gond ki panjiri is a popular Indian sweet which people eat during winters. It is given to lactating women. Gond panjiri is believed to improve lactation. Gond which is tree sap is available in Indian stores in packets.

Recipe of gond panjiri

2 cups atta (whole wheat flour)

¼ cup gond (tree sap)

1 1/2 cup ghee (clarified butter)

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tbsp magaz seeds (melon seeds)

1/4 tsp saunth (dried ginger powder)

1/2 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder

2 tbsp raisins

2 tbsp almonds- chopped

1/2 cup grated dry coconut

1. Heat ghee in a kadhai/ wok. Fry gond. Grind it in a grinder. Fry one by one, magaz and almonds.  Drain and set aside.

2. Add atta to the ghee and turn the heat to medium. Roast flour till golden brown stirring constantly. Take atta out of the kadhai.

3. Mix all the ingredients together. Your panjiri is ready to be eaten. Store rest in an airtight container.

Masala bhindi in microwave

Who says you can’t cook Indian dishes in a microwave oven. Some dishes like masala bhindi or spicy okra turns out beautifully and real fast in microwave. There are so many Indian dishes which you can cook in micro about which I will be blogging in future.

Recipe of masala bhindi in microwave

1/2 kg bhindi (okra/ lady fingers)

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp amchoor (dried mango powder)

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1. Wash bhindi and pat dry. Remove caps and tails of okra. Cut them vertically.

1. Mix well all the above ingerdients with bhindi.

2. Cook in a microwave safe bowl for 8 minutes on micro Power 70. Enjoy masala bhindi hot with roti or rice.

chashew nuts roasted in microwave

Recipe of toasting/ roasting nuts in microwave

Cashew nuts, almonds, peanuts- as required

Salt to taste

Oil or Ghee (clarified butter) or butter- as required

Chaat masala (optional)

1. Mix nuts of your choice like cashew nuts, almonds or peanuts with oil or butter or ghee.

2. Sprinkle salt and chaat masala over them and mix.

3. On a microwave safe plate, spread these nuts evenly.

4. Cook on a micro High for 1 minute. Then check after every 30 seconds till they turn slightly brown. It usually takes 3-4 minutes to roast them but it also depends on the power of your microwave oven.

5. Take out of the micro and let them cool. When fresh from the micro, they will be soft but turn crisp when cool down.

Almonds roasted in microwave

Masala dosa

Masala dosa or dosai is a popular South Indian breakfast. It’s eaten all over India. Dosa is a low fat, healthy breakfast or snack item. You can also make plain dosa with this recipe that is dosa minus the potato filling. I made masala dosa today and they turned out very crispy and tasy. We enjoyed them with hot sambar.

Recipe of dosa/ dosai

Batter

1 1/2 cup parboiled rice (sela chawal)

2/3 cup dhuli urad dal (split, skinless black gram)

1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate

Salt to taste

Oil for making dosa

Potato filling

4 medium potatoes- boiled, peeled and roughly mashed

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Salt to taste

2 onions- chopped

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Few curry leaves

2 tbsp oil

Dosa spread on the tava

1. For batter, soak rice, urad dal together for at least 6 hours or overnight.

2. Drain and reserve the soaking water. Grind rice and dal to a paste using some of the soaking water. Add some more water from it to get medium pouring consistency. Batter should be such that it should coat a spoon thickly when dipped in batter.

3. Add salt and soda bicarb to the batter and mix well.

4. Keep the batter, covered in a warm place for fermentation for 3-4 hours. After fermentation batter will rise a little and smell sour.

5. Now make potato masala for the filling. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadhai/ wok. Add mustard seeds. When they pop, turn the heat to medium.

6. Add curry leaves and fry for 1 minute.

7. Add onion and sauté till transparent. Add salt and turmeric and red chilli powders.

8. Add the potatoes. Mix well and cook stirring for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. Keep aside.

9. To make dosa, beat the batter well. Heat a non-stick tawa (griddle) on medium heat. To season the tawa, for the first dosa, pour little oil on the tawa and wipe with a potato half.

9. Turn the heat to low while spreading the dosa. Pour 2 tablespoons batter in the center of the tawa. Spread the batter gently in an outward circular motion with the back of the tablespoon or ladle (karchhi) just like you would spread a chilla or any pancake. Turn the heat to medium.

10. Wait till dosa gets a little cooked, pour some oil on it. Spread it with a spatula.

11. When brown spots appear from underneath, loosen the dosa from the tawa using a wide, thin spatula.

12. Place some potato masala in the center of the dosa and spread a little. Fold over. Remove from the tawa. Serve hot dosai with sambar.

besan ki barfi

Besan ki barfi or besan burfi is chickpea flour sweet which originated from Punjab. It is a popular dessert which is not only sold on sweet shops but also made in many Indian households. This is my maternal aunt’s (mausi) recipe who makes heavenly besan ki barfi. Enjoy!

Recipe of besan ki barfi

1 cup besan (gram flour/ chickpea flour)

1/2 cup ghee (clarified butter)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder

Chopped nuts like almonds, cashew nuts

1. Sieve besan so that there are no lumps. Heat ghee in a kadhai/ heavy bottomed pan. Add besan and roast on a low heat stirring constantly. Roast till besan turns deep golden brown. Keep breaking any lumps if they get formed. Turn off the heat.

2. Add cardamom powder and nuts to besan and mix.

3. Heat water in a pan and add sugar. Cook till sugar dissolves and syrup (chashni) thickens.

4. Add this syrup to roasted besan and mix well.

5. Pour this mixture on a greased tray. Let it cool down. Allow it to set and harden.

6. Cut squares or diamonds. This is now called besan burfi. 

moong dal halwa

Moong dal ka halwa is a Rajasthani sweet, Marwari in particular. Now it is popular everywhere. You can find moong dal halwa in winter in Indian wedding buffets and many parties. It is quite heavy so a small serving usually suffices. It is very delicious and best enjoyed hot in a cold winter night.

Recipe of moong dal halwa

1 cup dhuli moong dal (split, skinless green gram)

1 cup sugar

1 cup ghee (clarified butter)

1/2 cup water

Chopped and toasted nuts like cashew nuts, raisins and almonds

1. Wash and soak moong dal in hot water for 2 hours. Drain.

2. Grind moong dal to a coarse paste using very little water. Set aside.

3. Heat 1/2 cup water in a pan and add 1 cup sugar to it. Cook till sugar dissolves and you get syrup of 1 thread consistency (ek taar ki chashni). Keep aside.

4. Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan/ kadhai. Add moong dal paste. Fry on a low heat till moong dal turn golden brown and aromatic.

5. Add sugar syrup (chashni) to the moong dal and mix well. Cook on a low heat till they blend well. Turn off the heat.

6. Serve hot moong dal ka halwa garnished with chopped and toasted nuts.