fastindianrecipes.com

Ghugni

Ghugni is a Bengali version of chole or ragda. Here I have used chickpeas but green peas or matar is also used for making ghugni. In Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Assam, ghugni is usually eaten as an evening snack. It is also a popular chaat and street food.

Recipe of ghugni/ ghoogni

1 cup kabuli chana (chickpeas/ garbanzo beans)

1 onion- chopped

1 tomato- chopped

1 bay leaf (tej patta)

1 black cardamom

1 green cardamom

2-3 cloves (laung)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1 1/2 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

1 onion- cut into rings for garnish

1. Soak the kabuli chana overnight. Drain.

2. Pressure cook chana with water for 25-30 minutes.

3. Heat oil in a kadhai/ wok. Add bay leaf, cloves, cumin seeds and cardamoms. Let them splutter.

4. Add onion and sauté till light brown.

5. Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté for 1 minute.

6. Add tomato and rest of the spices and salt. Cook till oil begins to separate.

7. Crush a handful of chana and add along with rest of the boiled chana.

8. Boil on a high heat for 3-4 minutes. Lower heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Cook till you get the desired gravy consistency.

10. Garnish with onion rings and serve ghugni hot with either roti, luchi, poori or rice.

palak pakora

Usually pakora is not considered too healthy since it is deep fried but this one has a health angle to it. If you are craving pakoras then why not have palak pakora. At least you are consuming healthy palak this way and you are not compromising taste since palak pakora are delicious too.

Recipe of palak pakora/ pakoda

3 cups palak (spinach) - washed and chopped

1 cup besan (gram flour/ chickpea flour)

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp amchoor (dried mango powder)

Oil to deep fry

1. Mix besan with salt and all the spices.

2. Take palak in a bowl and add besan mixture. Mix well. Add 1-2 tablespoon water if needed. The mixture should be thick and such that round balls can be made from it.

3. Heat oil in a kadhai/ wok and when the oil is hot, turn the heat to medium.

4. Drop small portions of the palak mixture in the oil. Fry palak pakoda till golden brown from both sides turning as needed.

5. Drain on an absorbent paper and serve hot palak pakora with komato ketchup or chutney.  

methi mathri

Methi mathri or methi mathi’s recipe was somthing I wanted to post for quite some time now. I made them few days back and took the pics but somehow it got delayed. Methi mathri is a perfect tea time snack and kasoori methi gives a wonderful taste to the already delicious mathri.

Recipe of methi mathri/ mathi

2 cups maida (all purpose flour)

2 tbsp oil + for deep frying

1 tsp ajwain (carom seeds)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) - crushed between palms

rolled out methi mathris

1. Take maida, salt, baking soda, ajwain and kasoori methi in a bowl. Add 2 tbsp oil and mix with your hands. Rub the mixture with your fingers so that oil evenly coats maida.

2. Little by little, add warm water so as to knead the all purpose flour into a stiff dough. Let the dough rest for 1/2 an hour.

3. Take walnut (akhrot) sized balls from the dough and roll out on an oiled surface into thin rounds. With the help of a fork, pierce these rounds or mathis here and there so that they don’t puff up upon frying.

4. Heat sufficient oil in a kadhai/ wok or a frying pan. When the oil is hot enough, turn the heat to medium. Wait for 2 minutes, and then start putting these rolled rounds or mathris in oil.

5. Fry them on medium heat turning as needed till they begin to give a cooked look. For the final touch, increase heat so that they become golden brown. Fry the mathri in batches.

6. Drain on an absorbent paper using a slotted spoon (pauni/ chaari). Let them cool down completely before storing them in an airtight container. They stay fresh for long.

Note- Do not fry the mathri in very hot oil because then they will remain soft and not crisp.

baby corn pakoda

Baby corn pakoda or bhutte ka pakoda is something exotic to most people. I once had them at a party as a starter. I asked the hostess about the recipe of baby corn pakoda and she was happy to oblige. Here I am sharing her recipe with you with few changes made.

Recipe of baby corn pakoda

10 baby corns (small,slim and tender bhutta)

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

1/4 cup makki atta (cornmeal/ maize flour)

1/2 tsp green chilli paste

1/4 tsp red chilli powder

Salt to taste

2 tsp lemon juice

Oil to deep fry

baby corns

1. Clean baby corns of peel and fiber etc. Cut them lengthwise into 2 parts.

2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl except baby corns and oil. Add water little by little, mixing with other hand, to get pakora (fritter) batter like consistency. Beat the batter well so that you get fluffy pakodas.

3. Heat sufficient oil in a kadhai (wok). Dip each baby corn piece in the batter and drop gently in the oil. Fry pakoda till golden brown and crisp. Drain on an absorbent paper by slotted spoon (pauni/ chhari).

4. Serve baby corn pakoda with tomato sauce or chutney.

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.

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.

Mathri

Yesterday I was craving for some home made savory snack with my evening tea. I remembered mathri which I was pretty good at making even before marriage. My hubby had asked me to make mathri several times but I was worried about the calories as it is a deep fried snack. Yesterday I thought what the heck! Don’t I eat other high calorie stuff bought from the market? So I went ahead.

Recipe of mathri (mathi)

2 cups maida (unbleached all purpose flour)

1 tsp salt or to taste

1 tsp ajwain (carom seeds)

2 tbsp oil

1/4 tsp baking soda

Oil for deep frying

1. In a bowl, mix maida, salt, baking soda and ajwain. Add 2 tablespoon oil and rub mixture between your hands so that oil is evenly mixed in the all purpose flour.

2. Add warm water little by little so as to knead it into stiff dough. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

3. Take walnut (akhrot) sized balls from the dough and roll out into a small rounds. Prick these rounds here and there with a fork so that mathris don’t puff up like poori.

4. Heat oil in a kadhai (wok) or a deep frying pan and when the oil is hot enough, turn the heat to medium. Wait for a minute.  Fry these rounds in the oil turning as needed.

5. When the mathris give a cooked look and rawness disappears, increase heat so that they become reddish brown. For further batches, keep the heat to medium when frying and increase for the final touch. Drain on an absorbent paper by a slotted spoon. Serve when they cool down and store the rest in an airtight contianer. They stay fresh for weeks.

Mathi

Dahi pakora

Dahi pakora is very similar to dahi bhalla. While dahi bhalla is made with urad dal (split black gram), dahi pakora or dahi pakori is made with moong dal. You can also pour sweet tamarind chutney over them if you like. It is quicker to make than bhallas but taste excellent.

Recipe of dahi pakora

1 cup dhuli moong dal (skinless split green gram)

2 cups dahi (curds/ yogurt) – well beaten and chilled

1 tsp chironji (optional)

2-3 green chillies- chopped

A pinch of hing (asafoetida) - dissolved in 1 tsp water

1/2 tsp salt

Black salt to taste

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp red chilli powder (cayenne pepper)

1 tsp roasted cumin seeds (bhuna jeera)

1/2 inch piece ginger- grated

Chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) – for garnishing

Oil to deep fry

1. Soak moong dal for 2-3 hours. Drain and grind along with 1/2 tsp salt, ginger and hing. Add green chillies and chironji to the grinded dal. Beat well.

2. Heat oil in a kadhai (Indian wok). Drop a small portion of the batter, if it sizzles and comes to the surface, your oil is hot enough. Turn the heat to medium.

3. Drop portions of batter by a spoon or your hands in the hot oil. Fry from both sides by turning over till golden brown. Drain the pakodas.

4. Soak these pakoras in water for 15 minutes. Take them out and press gently between your palms to squeeze out excess water.

5. Add black salt and sugar to the curd and mix. Add pakoris to the dahi. Add roasted cumin seeds, red chilli powder. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve chilled.

aloo ki tikki

Aloo ki tikki is one of the most popular chaat and street food of Northern India. It is served drizzled with cilantro chutney, tamarind chutney and beaten yogurt. Aloo tikki is also served as tikki chole chaat when it is with white chickpeas (kabuli chana). Potato patties shallow fried to golden makes for a delicious snack.

Recipe of aloo tikki

6-8 medium aloo (potato) - boiled, peeled

1 green chilli- chopped

Chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)

2 tbsp bread crumbs

Salt to taste

1 inch piece ginger- grated

1/2 tsp amchoor (dried mango powder)

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

Oil to shallow fry

1. Mash the potatoes well or you can grate them. Mix all the ingredients except oil and make smooth potato dough.

2. Make small balls from the aloo dough and flatten them between your palms to make round patties or tikkis.

3. Heat a non- stick flat pan or a tawa (griddle) and drizzle oil on it. Place the tikkis on it and shallow fry till golden brown. Then turn over and cook from other side also. Place as many tikkis on the pan or tava as their surface area allows and you can manage easily. Serve hot with coriander chutney or tamarind chutney.