Plantain Vadai/ Plantain Fritters

This place has been dead for a while. Life has been very hectic and busy and it has been a real challenge to find some time to post new recipes. But I love blogging and I'm going to try posting atleast a few recipes every month from now on.

It has been snowning all day today and I was in a mood to have some hot and spicy deep fried snack. I love dal vadais/ fritters and always try experimenting adding new veggies to the vadais. I had couple of plantains in my refrigerator that had to be used up. The key here is to use slightly ripe plantains which give these vadais a nice sweet flavor. These vadais tasted heavenly!

Ingredients -
1/2 cup channa dal
2 plantains/ raw bananas
3-4 dried red chillies
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 green chillies
10-12 curry leaves finely chopped (optional)
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
salt to taste
oil for deep frying

Method -
1. Soak channa dal in water overnight or for 4-5 hrs.
2. Cook the plantains/ raw bananas in a pressure cooker.
3. Drain all the water from the dal and grind the dal along with the dried red chillies and cumin seeds into a coarse paste in the food processor/ blender.
4. Peel the skin off the plantains and mash them making sure there are no lumps.
5. In a bowl, take the dal mixture and add the mashed plantains, onions, green chillies, curry leaves, cilantro, ginger and salt and mix well.
6. Heat oil in a pan or kadhai.
7. Make small flat patties of the mixture and deep fry in the hot oil on both sides till they turn golden brown and crisp.

Doodhi Methi Muthiya/ Bottle Gourd Fenugreek Dumplings

I have been away from the blog world for over a month now. I was in India for a few weeks for my brother's wedding. The wedding went really well and we had a blast. Also enjoyed wearing my beautiful sarees and jewellery for all the wedding ceremonies. The only sad part is I did not get to spend enough time with my bro and my lovely SIL :-(. Well, will do that when I go back to India next year.

Since I got back from India, there has not been much activity in my kitchen. This Doodhi Methi Muthia has been in my archives for a while and so I finally decided to post this today.

Muthiya is a very popular Gujarati dish which can be served as a snack or as a meal by itself. It's named after the way it's made with the "gripping" action of the fist ("muthi" in gujarati). This dish can be served either steamed or fried after steaming. Of course, my preference is the latter version. My mom would make these very often at home. She mostly made doodhi muthiya, but these can be made with methi, cabbage, zucchini or also a combination of veggies of your choice. She typically made these by adding a mixture of handva flour (flour of different lentils) and chickpea flour. However, the other day when I made these doodhi methi muthiya, I added some sooji/ semolina in addition to the handva and besan flour and they really came out very light and yummy. The handva flour is optional and can either be left out or substituted with some whole wheat flour. I served these with some yogurt but they can also be served with some cilantro chutney.

I usually make a big batch of these and store the steamed muthias in an airtight container in the freezer. When ready to serve, just thaw the muthias and flavor it with nice aromatic vaghar/ tadka. They stay fresh in the freezer for up to 2-3 weeks.

Ingredients -
For the muthias -
4 cups grated bottle gourd (doodhi / lauki)
½ cup chopped methi/ fenugreek leaves
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 medium size onion, grated
1 cup handva flour/ wheat flour (You may need to add more)
1/2 cup semolina
1/2 -1  cup gram flour/ besan
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp red chilli powder
2 tbsps cumin -coriander powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsps fennel seeds
3-4  tbsps ginger-green chilli paste
1-2 tbsps finely minced garlic
3- 4 tbsps lime/ lemon juice  
6 tbsps oil
1/2 tsp soda bi-carb
1/2 tsp hing/ asafoetida
2 -3 tbsps sugar
salt to taste

For the Tempering and Garnish -
4-5 tbsps oil
2 cloves
3-4 small pieces cinnamon
3 dried red chillies
7-8 curry leaves
2 tsps mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsps sesame seeds
1/2 tsp hing/ asafoetida
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut

Method -
Muthias -
1. Squeeze all the water out of the grated bottle gourd and keep it aside to knead the dough if required.
2. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the muthia and form a soft dough adding the water squeezed out of the grated bottle gourd if required.
3. Form long cylindrical muthias of the dough. Grease your palms with some oil to avoid the dough from sticking to your palms.
4. Steam the muthias for 15- 20 mins. Insert a toothpick in the center of the muthias to check if they are done. If it comes out clean, the muthias are cooked.
5. Let the muthias cool and then cut them into thick slices.

Tempering/ Tadka -
1. Heat some oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds. When they crackle, add the cumin seeds.
2. Add the cloves, cinnamon, dried red chillies, curry leaves and fry for sometime.
3. Then add hing/ asafoetida and sesame seeds
2. Add the sliced muthias and fry for 10- 15 minutes till they are slightly brown in color and crisp.
3. Garnish with coriander and coconut.
4. Serve hot with yogurt or cilantro chutney.

I'm sending this to Nayna's 'Flavors Of Gujarat' event.

Indian Cooking Challenge - Kara Sev

When Srivalli announced 'Kara Sev' for this months ICC Challenge, I had planned to make a few batches of both the sev versions that were provided to us. However, this past month was relatively hectic and so I didn't get a chance to make these ahead of time. I literally got done making this sev few minutes back. The recipe was simple and easy to follow and the results were really amazing! I have made sev in the past several times either by using only rice flour or only besan but never a combination of the two. I think it was the combination of these two flours that made these sev very crispy and delicious! We both loved it very much!

Ingredients -
11/4 cup gram flour/ besan
1/2 cup rice flour
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp black pepper coarsely powdered
2 tsps butter/ Ghee
1 pinch cooking soda
3 tsps crushed garlic
Salt to taste.
Oil to deep fry.

Method -
1. Sieve both Gram flour and Rice flour together in a bowl.
2. Add red chilli powder, black pepper powder, salt, garlic, butter/ ghee and cooking soda.
3. Mix thoroughly with hand. It should look like bread crumbs. Divide the dough into 2 portions.
4. Take one portion of this mixture, sprinkle water, knead like Puri dough.
5. Heat oil in a kadai, use sev maker/ chakli press. Put some dough in the sev maker and press directly into oil.
6. Deep fry in oil , drain excess oil.
7. After cooling this off, store this in an airtight container.

Avocado Peas Chakli

Chakli is one snack I love eating as much as I love making them. This savory snack makes a perfect accompaniment with evening coffee or chai. Last Sunday, I made these Avocado Peas Chaklis as I wanted to use avocados in some Indian dish. I had planned to make either a dosa, paratha or puri with avocados. However, before I could cook any of these dishes, I saw them posted by my other blogger friends. Few days back, I had come across a chakli recipe where boiled potato was used in place of butter/ ghee. So I thought why not add avocados in place of butter? That's how the plan of making these Avocado Peas Chaklis conceived. I added green peas just to give it some color.

These chaklis came out very crispy and crunchy. This is the first time I have made these without adding any ghee/ butter to the dough. The dough was a nice light green color, however, the chaklis turned out slightly golden brown when they were deep fried. So I would say that was the only disappointment. I was expecting the fried chaklis to be light green or creamish in color (like the store bought butter chaklis). Anyways, this was a successful experiment and I'm happy with the result. Will be surely making these very often.

Makes 16-17 chaklis
Ingredients -
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup peas
1 avocado
2-3 green chillies
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp carom seeds/ ajwain
1 tbsp black/ white sesame seeds
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method -

1. Take the wheat flour in a muslin cloth and tie a knot. Steam this flour bundle in the pressure cooker without putting the weight for 10 mins. You can also steam it outside over boiling water for 10mins.

2. In the meantime, scoop out the avocados and grind them along with the peas and green chillies into a very fine green paste. Add few drops of water only if needed.

3. Cool the flour bundle and make sure you break any lumps. Add ajwain, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, salt and mix well.

4. Add the green paste (@ 6 tbsps) and knead together to form a soft dough (like chapati dough). Add more green paste if needed. (I ended up using all of it, but quantity may vary based on the size of the avacados and the amount of water added while grinding).

5. Take a small portion of the dough and form a cylindrical shaped log and drop it in the chakli/ murukku press.

6. Heat oil in a deep frying pan/ kadhai.

7. Using your hands, press the chakli mold to form concentric circles on a plate. Also check out other convenient way of forming chaklis here.

8. Gently lift the chaklis and deep fry in hot oil on medium flame. Fry few chaklis at a time making sure you do not overcrowd the kadhai. Fry both sides till they turn golden and take them out on a clean paper towel or old newspaper to drain the excess oil.

9. Allow them to cool and store them in an airtight container.

Note –

* Make the chaklis immediately after making the dough to avoid the chaklis from absorbing too much oil.

* If making a big batch, work on small amounts of dough at a time.

I'm sending these Avocado Peas Chaklis to Priya Mitharwal's 'Vegetable/Fruit A Month' event with Avocado being the chosen fruit for the month of May 2010.

Kurmura Chiwda - Spiced Puffed Rice

Kurmura also known as murmura or mumra is a type of puffed grain made from rice. This spicy garlic flavored Kurmura Chiwda makes a very light and tasty evening snack. My mom made this very often at home and I have many fond memories of enjoying this snack with her. It was a weekend ritual to sit at our apartment window munching on this savory mixture along with a cup of hot coffee and chatting away for hours together. The garlic, dried red chillies and curry leaves give a very nice flavor to the kurmura. What I love the most about this snack is it hardly takes any time to make it and is loved by adults and children alike. This chiwda also makes a very delicious Sukhi Bhel (Dry Bhel). All you need to do is add some finely chopped onions, tomatoes and lime juice to the chiwda and sprinkle some fine sev and chopped cilantro on it.

Ingredients -
5 cups kurmura
3 garlic cloves (crushed in the mortar pestle/ roughly chopped)
2 dried red chillies
5-6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida/ hing
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsps oil
salt to taste

Method -
1. Heat oil in a kadhai and add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add cumin seeds.
2. The add the crushed garlic and fry until golden brown. Add asafoetida/ hing, turmeric powder, dried red chillies and curry leaves.
3. Now add the kurmura/ puffed rice and mix well.
4. Add salt, sugar, red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and roast the kurmura for 7-10 mins by ocassionally stirring to prevent the kurmuras from sticking to the bottom of the kadhai.

This goes to Niloufer's Twenty -20 Cooking Event.

Healthy Laddoos for Mother's Day

Growing up I learnt several traditional dishes from my mom and also inherited the love and passion for cooking from her. She recently shared this laddoo recipe with me. Unlike the regular besan laddoos, these laddoos are made of wheat flour, semolina, nachni/ ragi flour and oats in addition to the besan flour which makes them healthy and nutritious. Since this is my mom's recipe, 'Mother's Day' was a perfect occasion to try these out. The laddoos turned out to be very delicious!

Makes @ 30 laddoos
Ingredients -
2 cups chickpea flour/ besan
1 cup semolina/ sooji/ rava
1 cup nachni/ ragi flour
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
2 cups melted clarified butter/ ghee
1/4 cup warm milk
3 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tbsps chopped nuts (optional)
2 tsps cardamom powder
3 tbsps slivered almonds and pistachios for garnish

Method -
1. Roast the chickpea flour, wheat flour, ragi/ nachni flour and semolina separately on low flame by stirring them continuously. Also roast the oats for few minutes
2. Add melted ghee in a kadhai, add all the flours and mix well.
3. Cook this mixture until the color changes and then add oats and cook for sometime.
4. Turn off the stove and add the warm milk in it and stir it continuously till the mixture becomes dry.
5. Once the mixture turns warm, add the sugar, chopped roasted nuts and cardamom powder and mix well.
6. Now form ladoos and garnish with slivered nuts by dipping one side of the ladoo in melted ghee and then into the nuts.

Note - Lightly roast all the nuts on low flame in a pan. It is easier to chop and sliver the nuts while they are still warm. While forming the laddoos, if the mixture is dry, add some melted ghee and warm milk as needed and then form the laddoos.

This mini mandaline from India made slivering almonds and pistachios a super easy task.

My cutiepie gifted me a plant that she potted with the help of her teacher at the Daycare with her tiny hands. Also helped daddy make a delicious 'scrambled egg and toast' breakfast for mommy :-)

I am sending these to Jyoti's 'Mother's Day' event and Shabitha's 'Celebrating Mom' event

Broccoli Dal Vadai

Dal vadai is a popular south Indian snack which is usually made from chana dal. I have been making these regularly since both D and I love them a lot. In the past, I have made these vadais by adding different veggies like onions, grated carrots and spinach. Since I had few broccoli heads in the refrigerator, I thought of adding these to the vadai for a new spin on the traditional recipe. I love these innovative ideas of sneaking in more veggies into our diet. Although, I was a bit apprehensive of the outcome of these broccoli vadais, they tasted really good.

I recently read about 'My Legume Love Affair (MLLA)' event and thought of participating in this interesting event. This is my entry for the MLLA - Edition 21 hosted by Mirch Masala for the month of March 2010



Ingredients -
1 cup chana dal
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
2 cups finely chopped broccoli
2-3 one inch pieces of cinnamon
2-3 dried red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
4 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
2 green chillies finely chopped
1 inch piece ginger finely chopped
2-3 tbsp rice flour
salt to taste

Method -
1. Soak chana dal in water for about 5-6 hours.
2. Grind the chana dal along with cinnamon, dried red chillies and cumin seeds into a coarse mixture.
3. Take this mixture in a bowl and add finely chopped onions, broccoli, green chillies, ginger, cilantro, fennel seeds and salt and mix well.
4. Heat oil in a pan.
5. Just before deep frying the vadais, add some rice flour to the mixture.
6. Make round flattened balls of the mixture and deep fry in hot oil till they turn crisp and golden brown.
7. Serve the vadais with coconut chutney or with ketchup.

Diwali Snacks - Chakli / Murukulu

Chakli, also known as Murukku or Murukkulu in Southern India is a very popular savory snack item traditionally made during DIWALI . Every part of India has its own version of this delicious fried snack. There is absolutely no other snack that I enjoy more with a steaming cup of coffee than this one. I have made chaklis for every Diwali since I got married. My SIL's MIL is a great cook and I really admire and adore this lady. At 75, she is still active and I’m amazed to see her enthusiasm in the kitchen. I tasted her chaklis for the first time after I got married and have made chaklis using her recipe ever since. This is a simple recipe that uses only rice and all purpose flour and is less complicated than the more traditional Maharashtrian Bhajani Chakli.

In the future, I do plan to make Bhajani Chaklis from scratch and also few other south Indian chakli varieties that I have book marked over the years. So stay tuned ….





Ingredients -
4 cups rice flour
1 cup maida
3/4 cup ghee/ unsalted butter
2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp dhana jeera powder
1/2 tsp turmeric porwder
1/4 tsp hing
2 tbsp white sesame seeds
salt to taste
oil for deep frying

Method -
1. Mix 4 cups of rice flour and 1 cup of maida together.
2. Use room temperature ghee/ butter without melting it. Apply ghee/ butter evenly to the mixed flour.
3. Add red chilli powder, dhana jeera powder, turmeric powder, hing, white sesame seeds and salt to it.
4. Make a soft dough by gradually adding cold water like regular chapati dough.
5. Take a small portion of the dough and form a cylindrical shaped log and drop it in the chakli/ murukku mold.
6. Heat oil in a deep frying pan/ kadhai.
7. Using your hands, press the chakli mold to form concentric circles either on the back of a slotted spoon (called "zhaara" in marathi) as shown in the picture. You can also lay old newspaper flat on the kitchen counter and form several chaklis on it. (I love the zaara method as it is much easier to drop the chaklis in hot oil without losing its shape).
8. Deep fry the chaklis in hot oil on medium flame. Fry both sides till they turn golden and take them out on paper towel or old newspaper to drain the excess oil.
9. Allow them to cool and store them in an airtight container.