Kashta Kachori

Ingredients

All-purpose flour: 2 cups

Salt: To taste

Oil: For frying

For stuffing

Split green gram dal (Moong dal): 1 cup

Ghee: 2-3 tsp

Ginger paste: 1 tsp

Green chili paste: ½ tsp

Asafoetida: A pinch

Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp

Coriander powder: 1 tsp

Cumin powder: ¼ tsp

Red chili powder: 1 tsp

Fennel seeds powder: ½ tsp

Lemon juice: 1 tsp

Salt: To taste

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Method

Soak split green gram dal for 3-4 hours.

Sift flour and salt in a bowl. Add 2 tsp of ghee and mix well. Knead into soft dough using sufficient water. Cover with a moist cloth and set aside.

Coarsely grind soaked green dal. Heat ghee in a pan and add ground dal, ginger, green chilli, asafoetida, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder and fennel powder. Cook till all the moisture dries. Add salt and lemon juice, mix well and remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Divide the dal mixture into 20 equal portions. Divide the flour dough also into 20 equal sized balls. 

Roll them into small puris and place a portion of stuffing in the centre and bring the edges together to form a ball. Lightly press them with your palms to make thick puris.

Heat oil in pan. Deep fry kachoris on a low flame till golden brown.

Serve with tamarind chutney or tomato ketchup.

Stuffed Chili Bajji

Ingredients
Baji Chilis: 10
Gram flour (besan): 1 cup
Rice flour: ¼ cup
Carom seeds (Ajwain): 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Salt: To taste
Oil: For deep frying

For stuffing
Peanut: 2-3 tsp
Sesame seeds: 2-3 tsp
Dry coconut powder: 2-3 tsp
Tamarind juice: 1 tsp
Coriander seeds: 1 tsp
Salt: To taste

Stuffed Chili Bajji

Method
Dry roast peanut, sesame, coconut, coriander and grind it to smooth powder adding tamarind paste. Do not add any extra water.

Wash and pat dry the chilies. Make a vertical slit with a sharp knife in the middle of the chili. Remove the thick vein with seeds if you do not want bajjis to be too spicy. Stuff the peanut paste in the chilies and keep aside.

Meanwhile, mix gram flour, rice flour, cumin, ajwain and salt and prepare medium thick batter.

Heat oil in a pan on medium high flame. Dip the bajjis in the flour batter and deep fry till golden colour. Serve hot with onion and tomato slices.

Grilled Apple

Ingredients

Apple: 1-2 (peeled and sliced into ½ inch thick round)
Oil: 1-2 tsp
Sugar: 1-2 tsp
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese: 2-3 tsp (cut in thin strips)
Chopped peacons: 2-3 tsp
Honey: 2-3 tsp

Method
Preheat grill on medium heat.

Toss apple slices with oil and sugar in a large bowl. Grill the apple slices till tender and lightly golden, turning once. It takes about five minutes in total.

Transfer the grilled apple slices to a serving plate and sprinkle cheese, nuts and drizzle honey.

Note: Instead of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, you can use Cheddar cheese also.

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
Potatoes: 4-5 (washed, peeled and quartered)
Minced garlic: 2-3 cloves

Grated Parmesan cheese: ¼ cup

Butter: ¼ cup

Cream: ¼ cup

Pepper: To taste

Salt: To taste

Method

Cook potatoes in salted water till tender. Drain water and add garlic, cheese, butter, cream, salt and pepper. Mash the potatoes till smooth. Sprinkle coriander or Italian seasoning if you wish, before serving.

Crispy Chicken Strips

Ingredients
Boneless chicken breasts: 6 (sliced in strips)
Spicy mustard: ½ cup
Breadcrumbs: 2-3 cups
All-purpose flour: ½ cup
Italian Seasoning: 1 tsp
Garlic powder: 1 tsp
Water: 2 tsp
Salt: To taste
Pepper: 1 tsp
Oil: For frying

Method
Heat oil in a pan. Mix flour, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the spicy mustard and water. In another bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Roll all the chicken strips one by one, in the flour mixture first, and then in the mustard mixture and then in breadcrumbs, and deep fry in oil till golden brown.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Tambittu or Rice Flour Laddu

We prepare Tambittu for Shivaratri and my friend Sridhar’s mom prepares the best Tambittus I have ever tasted. I have tried it umpteen number of times following her steps, but I have never been able to match that taste. Maybe the love with which she prepares is missing in my Tambittu ;)

Tambittu

Ingredients
Rice: 1 cup
Roasted gram dal: 1 cup
Peanut: ½ cup
Poppy seeds: 2-3 tsp
White sesame seeds: 2-3 tsp
Grated dry coconut: 1 cup
Jaggery: 2 cups
Cashew nut: 2-3 tsp
Raisins: 2-3 tsp
Cardamom powder: 1 tsp
Ghee: 2-3 tsp

Jaggery syrup

Grinded mixture

Method  
Dry roast rice till golden colour and allow it to cool. Dry roast peanuts and remove the skin. Dry roast white sesame seeds and poppy seeds separately and keep aside. Grind rice with roasted gram dal to a fine powder and keep aside. Coarsely grind dry coconut powder and add it to the rice powder. Roast cashew nut and raisins in ghee till golden brown and add to the rice powder. Add peanuts, cardamom powder, poppy seeds, white sesame seeds and mix well. Add the jaggery syrup slowly and see if you are able to make balls from the dough. The dough should not be too tight or too loose. Make laddus when the dough is still warm. Laddus taste better when cooled.

Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients

Boneless chopped chicken: ½ kg

Pepper powder: 1 tsp

Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tsp

Chopped onion: 1 cup

All-purpose flour: ½ cup

Bread crumbs: 1 cup

Egg: 1

Oil: For frying

Salt: To taste

Method
Add ginger-garlic paste, pepper powder, onion and salt to chicken pieces and mix well. Grind this mixture in chopper to mince it. Keep in refrigerator for an hour so that it sets well.

Make small balls from the mixture and press them with your palms to give them nugget shape.

Beat the egg and keep it aside. Coat the nuggets in all-purpose flour and dip them in beaten egg and coat them again in bread crumbs.

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry nuggets till golden brown. Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Masoor Dal Pakora

Ingredients

Masoor Dal: 1 cup

Chopped onion: 1 cup

Chopped coriander: ½ cup

Chopped green chilies: 2-3 tsp

Ginger paste: 1 tsp

Salt: To taste
Oil: For deep frying

Masoor dal pakora

Soaked masoor dal

Coarsely grinded masoor dal

Mixture ready for frying

Method

Soak masoor dal for 3-4 hours, drain and grind it with green chilies without adding water. Add chopped onion, chopped coriander, ginger paste and salt to the paste and mix well. Heat oil in a pan and make small balls from the mixture and deep fry the pakoras till golden brown. Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Falafel

Ingredients
Dried chickpeas: 1 cup
Dried fava beans: ½ cup
Chopped onion: 1 cup
Chopped parsley: 3-4 tsp
Chopped coriander: 3-4 tsp
Garlic cloves: 5-6
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Red chili powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: ½ tsp
All-purpose flour: 2 tsp
Salt: To taste
Oil: For frying

Falafel stuffed in pita bread

Soaked chickpeas

Soaked fava beans

Mixture

Falafel

Method
Soak chickpeas and fava beans overnight. Drain chickpeas and fava beans and grind it with garlic, onion, coriander, parsley, cumin, coriander powder, salt and chili powder, without adding water.  Transfer the thick mixture to a bowl and add all-purpose flour. Mix everything well and make small balls from the mixture and slightly flatten them between your palms. Deep fry them in oil till golden brown and serve falafels hot.

I serve falafels sometimes as an appetizer with hummus and tahini and often I stuff it in pita bread along with lettuce, tomatoes, tahini, salt and pepper. Yesterday evening, I used them instead of patties and served them in burger and my hubby loved it :)

You can follow tahini recipe here: http://arjunpurikitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/hummus-and-tahini.html

Stir Fried Vegetables

Ingredients
Cubed cabbage: 1 cup

Cubed carrot: 1 cup

Baby corn: 1 cup

Mushroom: 1 cup

Broad beans: 1 cup

Cauliflower florets: 1 cup

Cubed capsicum: 1 cup

Oil: 2-3 tsp

Soya sauce: 2-3 tsp

Ginger, garlic and chilli paste: 2-3 tsp

Roasted sesame seeds: 3-4 tsp

Pepper powder: 1 tsp

Salt: To taste

Method

Fry the vegetables on high heat for 5 minutes. Add soy sauce and chilli paste. Add the roasted sesame seeds, pepper powder and salt and sauté well till all the vegetables are coated well. Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Cauliflower 65

Trust me when I came across the word Chicken 65 for the first time, I was thinking how a single person can eat so many pieces! But later realised it's just the name and god knows why they gave that name to that dish. So thinking about that yesterday I had prepared Cauliflower 65 and here goes the recipe.

Ingredients

Cauliflower florets: 2 cups
Maida: ¼ cup

Besan: 2 tsp

Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tsp

Ajinomoto: A pinch

Salt: To taste

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

For Seasoning
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Chopped onion: 1

Green chillies: 3

Curry leaves: 2 springs

Chopped coriander: 2-3 tsp

Method

Boil the cauliflower florets in salt water for 5-6 minutes. Drain and keep aside. 

Prepare batter by mixing besan, maida, salt, ginger-garlic paste, chili powder and ajinomoto by adding sufficient amount of water. Let the batter be neither thick nor thin. Dip each florets in the batter and deep fry till golden brown.

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, chopped green chillies, onion and sauté for a minute. Add the fried cauliflower pieces to the seasoning mixture and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with tomato ketchup.