Mangalore Goli Baje

Goli Baje is another of traditional Mangalorean speciality equivalent to Kanda baje in Maharashtra and pakode in North India. Hence it is very popular in Udupi region which has many temples. Goli Baje does not contain rice, onion and garlic and yet tastes great.  It can also be considered upwas or fast food. Goli baje like any fried snacks, should be consumed immediately when it is hot or else it becomes soggy and loses its crispiness. I serve it with coconut chutney and the recipe follows after the goli baje recipe.
 

Ingredients  
1 cup maida or all purpose flour
1 tablespoon besan or chick pea flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2-3 green chilies or as per taste
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
1/2 cup curd or yogurt
1 tablespoon sugar or as per taste ( I like them a little sweeter)
1/2 teaspoon jeera or cumin powder

4 tablespoon finely chopped coriander leaves or cilantro
pinch of pepper powder
4-5 curry leaves
salt as per taste
oil for frying

Method 

Sieve the flour, besan, salt and baking soda. Add ginger, chopped green chilies, curry leaves , cumin powder, and sugar to the yogurt and give it a pulse or two in the blender. Take care not to make a smooth paste of all the ingredients mixed in the yogurt. Mix the yogurt paste with the flour. Add water if required to make a thick paste. The consistency should be thinner than roti dough and thicker than the idli batter. Add coriander leaves, pepper powder and adjust salt and sugar. Heat oil in a pan and drop "grape-sized" batter in the hot oil. Fry till golden brown on both sides. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Coconut Chutney
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sliced or grated coconut
1/2 teaspoon tamarind concentrate or small piece of tamarind
1 tablespoon sugar
pea sized piece of ginger
3 green chilies or as desired
salt for taste

Method
Add as little water as possible to the above ingredients to make a smooth paste.

Chutney Sandwich and a Very Happy 2010

My Wish for You in 2010

May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debts.

May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills.

May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!

May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy

May the problems you had, forget your home address!

In simple words ............

May 2010 be the best year of your life!!!

First of all wishing all my fellow bloggers and visitors a very happy, prosperous and safe year 2010. Above is the forward sent to me by my dear aunt Sam Akka and I thought of sharing it with you all. I have been a "happily busy" during the last few days and having a gala time with family and friends. I do have many traditional dishes like pathrado, ambat and koddel in my kitty and hopefully will find a few free moments to post those :)) Mean while I thought of posting my mom's chutney sandwich recipe. It is a recipe she picked up during our stay in Bombay. Bombay is very famous for its fast food and sandwich is one of the popular ones. This is my all time favorite breakfast and has been my favorite tiffin snacks at school and college. My mom makes fresh home made butter every few days and it really enhances the taste of the sandwich. Here is a photo of freshly prepared butter.

Coriander Chutney:

Ingredients

4 peas size ginger root

6-7 lasun or garlic cloves

1/2 cup grated coconut

2 handful coriander leaves (more the better!)

4 pea size piece of tamarind

1 teaspoon jeera

1-2 green chilies or as per taste

1 teaspoon sugar

salt for taste

Method

The above ingredients may be altered to suit one's taste buds ! Grind all the ingredients into a fine & thick paste with very little water.

For the Sandwich:

Take two slices of sandwich bread. Apple butter on one side of the bread slices. Apply chutney on one slice and arrange sliced of tomato, cucumber and potato slices(optional) on the bread.

Place the other slice of bread on the first slice and cut the sandwich into two triangles. Serve immediately to avoid getting soggy.

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji is a very popular street food served especially in the western part of India. I am reposting this post from one of my archives and sending it for the RCI MUMBAI event orgamized by Lakshmi event and Lakshmi. Read more about pav bhaji here.

Ingredients

For Bhaji:
4 medium sized potatoes
1/2 capsicum
1 carrot
1/2 beetroot
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup finely chopped french beans
1 medium onion
3/4 cup tomato paste or 3 tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoon pav bhaji masala (I used Badshah Bombay Pav Bhaji Masala)
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 green chilies
1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
4 pinches asafoetida or heeng
1 teaspoon chili powder or as per taste
1 tablespoon butter
salt as per taste
oil


Garnishing
1 medium onion
2 tablespoon pomegranate seeds (optional)
chopped coriander leaves or cilantro
lemon
1 teaspoon butter

For Pav
pav slices
butter for frying

Method
Boil the potato till soft. Finely chop the vegetables(carrots, beans, beetroot, peas) and boil them with very little water. Chop onion very finely. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Add heeng, garlic paste and ginger. Add onions, chopped capsicum and finely chopped green chilies. Fry till the onions are light brown. Add tomato paste or chopped tomatoes and fry till the tomato is cooked. Add pav bhaji masala, garam masala, turmeric powder and chili powder. Fry for a minute and add all the vegetables. Cook uncovered till the vegetables are well coated with the masala. Peel and mash the boiled potatoes and add to the bhaji. Add water as per desired consistency. Stir and cook well till. Mash the bhaji with a masher. Add salt for taste and mix in butter.

Fry the pav on both sides with butter on a tava. To serve, garnish the bhaji with finely chopped onions and coriander leaves. Serve with a lemon wedge on the side.


Preparation time: 1 hour
Serves: 3-4

Chooda / Chuda / Chiwda

Chooda is one of the popularly made festival food at my home. My mom would start making Diwali goodies a week before the festival. She would make Phenori, chooda, tukudi (shankarpali), chakkuli (chakli), churmundo (rava laddu), sev, fried masala peanuts and khadi (barfi). Every time my mom started to make a new delicacy I and my sister would wait eagerly wait for the first batch to devour. Narakchaturdasi and Lakshmi puja are the most important days for us. We worship water and then take oil bath. The legend behind this is that when Lord Krishna killed the demon Narakasura, he took oil bath after returning home and then worshiped Goddess Lakshmi. To mark this event everyone has bath before sunrise and take oil bath. In India people also burst crackers early in the morning to mark this event. But here in US with all the work deadlines placed right after Diwali (read 19th Oct), I could make Chooda and Khadi for Diwali this year. Here is the recipe for the chooda and it goes to Priya's event Diwali 2009. and Sunday Snacks - Festive snacks of Navratri & Diwali .


Ingredients
3 cups thick pova or beaten rice
1/2 cup groundnuts or peanuts
1 cup putana dal or dalia or split and roasted bengal gram
15-20 broken cashew nuts
15-20 curry leaves
3 tablespoon mustard seeds
1/2 cup coriander seeds
3 tablespoons jeera or cumin seeds
2 tablespoon saunf or fennel seed
1/4 cup red chili powder or as desired (I used byadgi chilli powder)
2 tablespoon turmeric powder
1/4 cup sugar
salt for taste

Method
Roast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds till crisp and grind it into a fine powder. Mix in sugar, salt, turmeric and chili powder as per taste and mix it with the ground spice powder. I just mix it in grinder and give it a pulse or two so that all the powders are integrated well.
Fry the pova, ground nuts and dalia in a fryer. I have a steel fryer in which I put the pova or dalia and dip it in a pan of hot oil. In this way the pova does not spill into the pan and is easy to remove from the oil. Optionally fried dry coconut slices or copra slices can also be added. As soon as one batch of pova, dalia or peanuts is fried, add a teaspoon of masala powder and mix well. The masala powder mixes well when the ingredients are hot. Let the oil cool a little bit and then fry the curry leaves ( the curry leaves will burn if fried on high heat). Add 2-3 tablespoon oil and fry the mustard till it starts to splutter. Mix the mustard and curry leaves well with the chooda. Store in airtight container.

Dahi Alu Papdi Chat

We both were working from home on Thursday during the week. We had some work to attend to in the morning, hence planned to work from home. Work was much faster as there were no distractions --no meetings, no gossiping with colleagues in the pantry..so got the days's work pretty faster than other regular days. My husband A wanted to have chaat in the evening and hence I thought of this simple dahi alu papdi chaat. This dish does not take more than 20 minutes to make if the ingredients are on hand. I had some sweet date chutney and the coriander chutney on hand or you can find the recipe to the Green chutney here and the Date-Tamarind chutney here. All I had to do is make the papdi's and boil the potato. It is a very tasty dish and extremely simple to prepare.

Ingredients
8-10 Papdi ( Look here for the recipe)
2-3 potatoes
1/2 cup curd
4 tablespoon sev
1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon jeera powder
pinch of amchur or dry mango powder
chaat masala powder
4 tablespoon finely chopped onion
2 tablespoon chopped tomato
tamarind chutney
mint chutney
4 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves

Method
Boil the potatoes till soft. Cool them and chop them into cubes. Arrange the papdi in a bowl. Add the chopped potatoes, onion, tomato on top of the papdi. Add beaten curd as per desired. Sprinkle sev, jeera powder, coriander powder, chaat powder, amchu, tamarind chutney and mint chutney and coriander leaves on top. Serve immediately.

Papdi

Papdi can be used in various chaats or can be eaten just as a snack. For a healthier version bake it instead of frying it.

Ingredients
3/4 cup maida or all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of pepper powder
oil for frying

Method
Mix the maida, salt, pepper and make a stiff dough by adding little water. For a baked version add 2 tablespoon oil to the dough. Take a two-pea sized piece of dough and roll it thinly into a 2 inch diameter circle. Bake it or deep fry it in oil till crisp.

Baked Handvo / Spicy Lentil Pancake / Indian Vegetable Loaf

The activity-filled long days of the summer season can make one very hungry during the early evenings. Instead of opting for the oily and spicy farsans (which everyone loves to eat !) Handvo can be a tasty snack . It can be also stored for a day or two in the refrigerator. So this has been a summer treat at my home during many good summer days. Also it is a great accomplice with Chai on cold rainy and winter days.

When I think about Handvo, I fondly remember my college friend R's mother who used to prepare this dish very often and give it to my friend in her tiffin. I loved Handvo as much as she relished my mom's dosas and idlis.My Handvo recipe includes a variety of lentils and a variety of seasonal vegetables can be added to this dish. Apart from the lentils I have also tried adding a handful of whole wheat while soaking the lentils and it has turned out very tasty. Because it is baked and not steamed it has a crispy and crunchy texture from outside and a soft flavorful texture on the inside. I am sending this recipe to the event "My Love affair with Legumes-Fifteenth Helping" hosted by Sia and Susan.

Ingredients
For soaking and fermentation:
1/2 cup urad dal or split and husked black gram
1/2 cup toor dal split pigeon pea
3/4 cup chana dal or split Bengal gram
1/2 cup moong dal or split and husked green gram
3 cups rice
1/2 cup ragi or black millet flour (optional)
1 teaspoon methi or fenugreek seeds
1 1/2 cup curd or 1 cup sour butter milk

Spices:
3 green chilies or as per taste
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1/2 teaspoon haldi or turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder or as per taste

Vegetables:
2-3 cups of grated vegetables (mostly bottle gourd is used, but one can be as creative as possible ..I use which ever vegetables are on hand- cabbage, cucumber, carrot, zucchini, pumpkin, peas, spinach and fenugreek leaves. If you are using fenugreek leaves, then omit the fenugreek seeds)
1/4 cup grated or chopped coconut (optional)
1/2 bunch coriander leaves


salt for taste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoon lemon juice

For seasoning:

pinch of asafoetida or heeng
2 tablespoon white til or white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
10-12 curry leaves or kadipatta
3 tablespoon oil

Method
Soak the dals and rice (and wheat if using it) and methi seeds for 6-8 hours. Grind it together into a coarse paste. The batter is much coarser than the regular dosa or idli batter. Add curd or buttermilk and 1 teaspoon salt and mix well. Keep the batter aside to ferment for 6-8 hours or overnight. The batter should be kept in a warmer place to ferment. In winters, I warm the oven to around 100 degrees and keep it overnight in the warm oven.

After fermentation, mix in the vegetables, coconut, chopped coriander leaves, sugar and salt for taste. Mix in all the spices and adjust the chili and salt as per taste. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When they start to splutter add the asafoetida, cumin seeds. Then add the sesame seeds and curry leaves. Add the seasoning to the batter and mix well. Add the lemon juice to the baking soda and stir immediately into the batter.

Grease a baking tray and pour the batter evenly into it. Bake the handvo for 50 min to 1 hour at 350 degrees. I like a crisper version, so I bake the handvo till it is all brown on the bottom. Serve hot with coriander-mint chutney.

Idli Masala Fry

I had this snack at one of lunch parties with my friends. It is a great way of utilizing left over idlis. Children love this dish due to tangy and sweet flavor. It also makes a great tiffin item and is a great way to increase the intake of vegetables. All the vegetables available on hand can be included in this recipe. It is also a great way to make a low fat dish for breakfast or as a main course.

Ingredients
6-7 large size idlis
2 tablespoon tomato paste or 2 tablespoon ketchup
1 medium tomato
1 medium onion
1 capsicum
1/2 cup boiled vegetables (choose from peas/corn/beans)
1 teaspoon chili powder
salt for taste
2 teaspoon oil

Method
Heat oil in a skillet and add chopped onion and chopped capsicum. When the capsicum is cooked add the vegetables, diced tomato and tomato paste or ketchup. Saute till the tomato is well cooked. Add chili powder and salt as per taste. Cube the idlis and add them in the masala. Mix well with the paste. Serve hot.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2-3

Nankhatai / Nankatai / Narayankatar

Nankatai or Narayankatar(in Konkani) is another of the recipes passed on by my grandmom. My grandmom did not have a conventional oven. So she would spread sand(collected from beach and washed thoroughly) evenly in a pressure cooker and keep the narayankatar tray on an elevated vessel inside the oven. The narayankatar would be perfect in shape and taste. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour (makes around 25-30 namkatai)
3/4 cup ghee or clarified butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you want it less sweet)
2 teaspoon cardamom powder

Method
Powder the sugar and mix it well with the ghee. Add cardamom powder and baking powder and mix well. Now stir in flour and knead the flour well into the ghee with your fingers. It is not possible to make a stiff dough like chappati atta, but ensure that the ghee is well assimilated into the flour.

Keep aside for 30 minutes. Now make small circles flattening the dough in your palm. Press it well to shape it into a ball and then a disc.
Bake it in oven at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes. If you want more brown color, bake for 5-10 minutes longer, but keep checking to see that the bottom of the nankatai does not burn. Let it then rest for one hour on the oven rack till it cools down completely, otherwise the nankatai will crumble. Store in air tight container.

Alu Tikki Chole Chaat

Alu tikki chole is a popular street food in Delhi. I remember eating this spicy chat when we last visited in 1991. Samosa chat is another popular dish there. After returning from Tahoe vacation after all the snowboarding and snow shoeing adventures, we were craving for hot spicy chaat. We didn't have much energy to go to Fremont to Dana Bazar..our favorite chat place, so I decided to make this alu tikki chaat.

Ingredients
chole as per recipe here
mint chutney as per recipe here
tamarind date chutney as per recipe here

For garnishing:
1 medium onion finely chopped
5 tablespoon coriander chopped

For tikki:
7 medium sized potatoes
1/2 cup paneer
1 medium onion
2 chopped green chilies
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
oil for frying
salt for taste

Method
Chop the onion finely. Mash the paneer. Mix all the tikki ingredients except oil together. Make small cutlets and shallow fry in oil till brown on all sides.

To serve:
Place 3-4 tikkis on a plate. Put desired amount of chole on top of the tikki. Add the tamarind and mint chutney as per taste. Garnish with onion and coriander leaves. Add a teaspoon on curd or yogurt on top. Serve hot. The tikki chole can be garnished with sev or pomegranate seeds.

Mathri / Salted Crackers

My husband bought haldiram mathri last week from the Indian store. The mathri was very tasty and all the mathri's got over in an hour. Since last week we have been reminiscing about the mathri's, so I thought of making a container full of them to last longer than an hour. I also took some of them when I was having a potluck lunch with my friends. Everyone loved the mathri's.

Ingredients
2 cups flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cup flour----makes around 50 matharis)
1 tablespoon methi or fenugreek powder
1 teaspoon chili powder or as desired
1 1/2 teaspoon ajwain or caraway seeds
2 teaspoon oil
salt for taste
oil for frying

Method
Mix fenugreek powder, the flours, chili powder, salt, chili powder, 2 teaspoon oil and ajwain. Mix in water to make a tight dough like the chappati dough. Break small balls of the dough with your fingers and stretch it to make thin 2-inch diameter discs. Punch some holes with a fork so that the mathri won't puff like a puri while frying. Fry it in hot oil on medium heat till golden brown and crisp. Store in an air tight container. Serve with tea as snacks.

Tamarind Date Chutney / Meethi Chutney

Ingredients
1 cup deseeded dates
1/4 cup deseeded tamarind
1/4 cup gur or jaggery or molasses
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
salt for taste

Method
Boil the dates, tamarind and jaggery in one cup of water for 20 minutes. Grind it with salt and chili powder into a smooth paste.

Mint Chutney

Mint Coriander chutney can be used for all chaats and appetizers like pakodas or bhaji's.

Ingredients
1 cup coriander leaves
1/4 cup mint leaves (fresh or dried)
1/2 teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
2 green chilies
1/2 teaspoon chopped ginger
1/2 teaspoon amchur powder or dry mango powder
salt for taste

Method
Wash the coriander leaves and mint leaves. Grind all the ingredients with 1 cup of water. Serve chilled if serving with chaats or at room temperature id serving with pakodas or bhajis.

Sindhi Masala Bread / Seyal Pav / Seyal Dabal

This is another of my favorite Sindhi recipes. I love Sindhi cuisine for its spicy and flavorful dishes. Sindhi bread is traditionally had for breakfast, but because it is such a heavy dish, we have it for lunch or dinner. M was my friend and also my project partner in college and her mother used to make this for tiffin. We would all love this Sindhi's bread when ever she got it in her tiffin. Sindhi onion roti was another of her mother's specialties. Read more about Sindhi cuisine here.

Ingredients
10 slices of white bread or brown bread or pav
2 cups roughly cubed red onion
3 green chilies or as per taste
2 garlic pods
1 teaspoon ginger
2 handful of coriander leaves
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon amchur
3 tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste

Method
Blend chilies, ginger, garlic, onion and coriander leaves into a fine paste. Heat oil in a skillet and add cumin seeds. Add the ground paste and fry till the raw smell of the onion is no longer present. Coarsely grind the tomatoes in a blender and add it to the masala. You can use 3-4 tablespoons of tomato paste instead of the tomatoes. Cook till it forms a dry chutney consistency and the tomatoes are well done.

Add coriander powder and turmeric powder. Now mix in 5-6 cups of water and stir to get an even consistency. Add salt for taste.

Cut the bread slices in half and put them in the curry. Heat on a low flame and mix till the bread slices have absorbed the curry well. Serve hot with papad and onion rings.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2

Gharge

I always look to make something good out of vegetables and hide them in dosas, idlis, rice dishes. I was delighted to see gharge recipe on Tee's blog. This dish is a very great way of eating pumpkin or squash. It is like pumpkin puri's made in north Indian cities but with an addition of jaggery and semolina. It is also similar to buns made in Mangalore. Click here for Mangalore Buns recipe. The best part is it can be stored for many days after preparing it. Gharge can be eaten as a dessert or as a snack. Visit Tee's blog Bhaatukli and click here for Gharge recipe.

Hurigalu

My parents got Hurigalu from Bangalore when they visited us during the summer. I loved the concept of eating all the protein rich beans in such a great way. It makes a very healthy snack. I was not sure if we could make this at home till I found this recipe yesterday on Lakshmi's blog. It is a mixture of all kind of beans, peanuts and split dalia. I used moong, matki, black eyed beans, kabuli chana, split dalia and peanuts. My husband and I both love munching this snack while working. Click here for the recipe.

Onion Bhaji / Kanda Bhajiya / Pyaz Pakoda

One of the perfect snack to make on a cold winter evening---Kanda Bhajiya with Chai. This is an easiest snack to make and is very popular snack every where in India. Everyone who has visited Pune knows the majestic Sinhagad fort overlooking the city of Pune. Seeing the vendor's selling hot kanda bhaji's, pitle-bhakri, and sweet curd after trekking all the way up the fort is a welcome sight.When ever we went for picnics or went on a travel trip, my mom would make vegetable bhajiya including onion bhajiyas. We would place them between bread slices and devour it with tomato sauce as a dipping. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
1 large red onion
1 1/2 cup besan or chick pea flour
1 tablespoon rice flour
1 green chili chopped
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder or as per taste
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves or cilantro
1/4 teaspoon ajwain or Caraway seeds
salt for taste
oil for frying

Method
Chop the onion into small pieces. Mix well with choped green chili, coriander leaves and salt. Keep aside for 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoon besan at a time and mix well with the onion. Add rice powder. Add 2 tablespoon besan every time and mix it till the onion is well coated with the besan. Mix turmeric powder and chili powder. Now make a thick batter adding very little water. Adjust salt and red chili powder.

Heat oil in a kadai and drop the batter with a spoon into the hot oil till brown. Serve with tomato sauce and hot tea.

Tips:
I mix besan with the onion first and then add water as the onion also gives out some moisture and the besan absorbs it. If I add water and the besan simultaneously, it has many times resulted in a very liquid-ish batter and the bhajiya's don't become crisp.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2-3 people

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

I usually toast the pumpkin seeds and we eat it as a snack. These seeds can also be sprinkled on salads. This is another of my grand mom's recipes. My grand mom would always ask the vegetable vendor to keep pumpkin seeds and she would purchase them when ever we went to shop for vegetables. She would say that these seeds have a lot of nutritions in them and many people are not aware about it. Check here for the nutritional value of pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients
pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon ghee or clarified butter
pepper powder as desired
salt as per taste

Method
Wash the pumpkin seeds well and dry them on kitchen towel. Heat ghee in a pan and add the pumpkin seeds. Roast the seeds on a low flame till they are roasted as desired. Then sprinkle pepper powder and salt. Store the roasted seeds in a airtight container and it remains good for two weeks.

Paneer Wrap

This Sunday was a little hectic with all shopping and work we had to do. It was raining all Saturday and we stayed at home all day. Hence, our Sunday was spent in doing laundry and trips to Costco and Indian Grocery Store. It was already late at night when we were done with all the work. It was at that time I remembered about the onion naan we had in the freezer and decided to make paneer wraps. The paneer wraps turned out to be very yummy and filling and here is the recipe.

To make Basmati rice:
1/2 cup basmati rice
1 1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 onion
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
Wash the basmati rice and keep it aside. Add the remaining oil in a pan and heat it. Add cumin seeds. Slice the onion and fry it in oil till brown. Boil the water. Add basmati rice to the onion and stir well Add salt and hot water and cook covered till the rice is soft.

Ingredients for the filling
Flattened bread or naans (I used onion naans)
1 cup cubed paneer
1 teaspoon chili powder or as per taste
1 medium onion
2 medium tomatoes
1/2 capsicum
1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder
1/4 teaspoon pav bhaji masala (I use Badshah Bombay Pav Bhaji Masala)
2 tablespoon tomato ketchup
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon amchur or dry mango powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves or cilantro
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste

Method
Puree the tomatoes. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan. Chop the capsicum and put it in the pan. Stir it and cook for 5-8 minutes. Add the tomato puree and cook uncovered for 10-12 minutes till the tomato is soft and the masala does not smell raw anymore. Add tomato ketchup, garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder, amchur, pav bhaji masala, sugar, chili powder and salt for taste. Cook for 2-3 minutes to get the gravy to absorb all the masala flavor. Add the chopped paneer and mix well with the masala. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Method to make wraps
Heat the naan on a tava or in microwave. I simply put the naan in the microwave for 30 seconds. Put 1-2 tablespoons of cooked rice and desired amount of paneer curry and fold it into a wrap. I use a toothpick to keep the wrap in place. Serve sizzling hot.

Preparation time: 35 minutes

Quick Panipuri in 20 minutes !!/ Golgappa

I love Indian street chat food. So I try to make some or the other chat or snacks during the weekends. We had been to one chat place few weeks back and the chat food there was not at all good. So I had this panipuri project in mind to reminisce the chat food I used to have in Pune. Pani means "Water" and puri means crispy fried puffed chips. It is possible to make puris at home, but I usually get it ready made from the Indian store. We would get amazing chat food in the City area and in Aundh. I have also made panipuri's in India and I would be the panipuri wala bhaiya making the puris while my father and sister would compete for eating the puris. This weekend I tried making panipuri and my husband and myself devoured many panipuris.

Ingredients
Ready made Puris from the Indian grocery store
2-3 potatoes
2 cups of sprouted moong or green gram (boiled kabuli chana or chick peas can also be used)
ice cubes
sev (optional)

For Metha Pani
1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate or tamarind water
1 1/2 cup grated or cut gur or jaggery
1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder or as per taste
salt for taste

For Theeka Pani
2 tablespoon Everest jaljeera masala
1/4-1/2 teaspoon kala namak or black salt
4-5 green chilies
1 handful coriander leaves
around 10-15 mint leaves
1 teaspoon amchur
1 tablespoon ginger chopped

Method
Peel and cut the potato into small cubes. Boil the potato and moong in the microwave.

Sweet chutney: Mix all the meetha pani ingredients and add water as per desired consistency. I like it more watery, so I added 2 cups of water. Get the meetha pani to a boil in the microwave (I heated it for 5 minutes). Add ice cubes to the water to cool it down.


Theekha chutney: Grind the green chilies, coriander leaves, ginger and mint leaves with 1 cup of water. Strain it one and keep the water aside. Grind the remaining green residue with another cup of water to extract all the flavor of the herbs. Strain again and mix the strained water with the previously extracted water. Add rest of the theekha chutney ingredients and salt as per desired taste. Add ice cubes if you desire cold pani.

Assemble the puris, pani and potato and moong. Take a puri and break the top lid. Put the desired quantity of moong and potato in the puri. Add desired amount of the theeka and meetha pani. Garnish with sev and eat it immediately.

Preparation time: 20 minutes