Peanut Dahivada Chaat

This yummy chaat comes from the same Gujarati cook show that I mentioned in my yesterday's post. This recipe caught my attention because of the unusual peanut based fritters and our love for chaats. This peanut dahi vada chaat definitely makes an interesting and lip smacking snack on a lazy evening.

Servings: 4
Ingredients to make vadas:
3/4 cup roasted and skinned peanuts
3/4 cup chana dal / split chickpeas
3 tbsp. besan / chickpea flour
3 - 4 green chillies or as per taste
1 inch ginger piece
Salt to taste
2 tbsp. minced cilantro 
1/2 tsp fruit salt
Oil to fry 
Ingredients to assemble the chaat: 
2 cups yogurt (I used homemade, fatfree yogurt.)
Salt & Sugar to taste
Green chutney
Sweet chutney 
Aloo sev
Chaat masala
Red chili powder
Julienned ginger

Preparing Vada Batter:
* Soak peanuts for about an hour and drain. Grind them fine, adding little water if needed.
* Soak chana dal separately for a couple of hours. Grind coarsely along with chillies and ginger.
* Combine the ground peanuts and chana dal mixture, besan, salt, and 1/2 tsp fruit salt in a bowl and mix well. Rest the mixture for about a minute or so.
 
Frying the Vadas:
* While grinding the above, heat oil in a small sized wok for deep frying the vadas / fritters.
* Make small lime sized balls out of the batter and pat them gently to discs. Slide them carefully into the hot oil. Fit as many as the frying pan can hold without overcrowding.  
* Fry them on low flame until golden through out and cooked through, flipping them intermittently. Drain them on paper towels and let them cool for about 1 minute. They don't absorb much oil and are not greasy to touch. 
* Dunk the fried fritters in a bowl of water for about 10 to 15 sec. Remove them and gently squeeze each fritter between palms to remove the excess water.

Assembling the chaat:
Arrange about 4 fried vadas / fritters in a small bowl. Pour about 1/2 cup yogurt yogurt on vadas  and drizzle green and sweet chutneys as much as preferred. Sprinkle chaat masala and red chili powder over the vadas.Garnish with sev and julienned ginger.

 
This goes to blogging marathon #57 under the theme 'Bookmarked Posts' and check here to find out what other marathoners are cooking today.

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C for Colombia ~ Cassava Fries / Yuca Fries / Yuca Frita

 

Event: BM #44
Choice of country: The Republic of Colombia
Capital City: Bogota
Official Language: Spanish

How many of you really know how to correctly spell  "Colombia", the south American country? I may not be a right candidate for a spelling bee competition but trust me when I say that I hardly make mistakes when it comes to spellings of words that are found in a normal conversation in the English language. I always had assumed that there was only one way to spell the word and that was "Columbia". I probably had nurtured this assumption owing to the familiarity with words connecting to "Columbia" in USA and Christopher Columbus himself. We have  a river, a university and a state capital by that name here in US and of course our nation's capital has Columbia in it too. It turns out that "Columbia" is a historical and poetic name used for the United States of America and is also one of the names of it's female personification. Apparently I suck in American history. :) Now as I got that thing off my chest, we can proceed to the country "Colombia" which happens to be my choice for the letter "C".

I am still in south America on the third day of this culinary journey and moving towards the northwest region of that nation. The word "Colombia" comes from explorer Christopher Columbus' last name. The indigenous people who were the original inhabitants of the area, Spanish colonists, African slaves and European & Middle-East immigrants have all contributed towards a diverse cultural heritage and cuisine. According to wiki, the country's varied geography and imposing landscape of the country have resulted in very strong regional identities and the cuisine varies regionally. The Colombian cuisine includes the cooking of Colombia's Caribbean shore line, pacific coast, mountains, jungles and ranch lands. Colombian coffee is renowned for it's high quality. Some  of the common ingredients used in cooking are cereals like rice and maize, tubers such as potato and cassava/yuca, legumes, meats and seafood. The country is home to tropical fruits that are rarely found elsewhere - zapote, nispero, lulo, uchuva, passion fruit, borojo, cruba, mamoncillo, guanabana, guava and others.
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As you can see the main star of today's post is cassava. This starchy, tuberous root also goes by other names such as yuca, manioc, balinghoy, tapioca root and many more and it was first likely domesticated in Brazil ten thousand years ago. The Portuguese traders from Brazil introduced cassava to Africa and it is now one of the important staple foods there along with maize. However care must be taken that cassava is prepared properly before consumption since improper preparation can leave enough residual cyanide to cause serious health hazards in humans.

Fried cassava is commonly found in many Latin countries and is a typical substitute for the French fries. I liked the texture of  these fries more than the potato ones and they remained crispier longer than french fries do. For a healthier version, they can be baked after boiling the cassava instead of frying. 

Ingredients:
Cassava / Yuca
Oil to fry
Salt for seasoning

Method:
* Select yuca that is firm with no soft spots or white spots (aka fungus). The yuca usually comes with a wax coating. Cut off the tapered ends. Using a paring knife, make a vertical cut along the length of the yucca root and try to peel away any skin that comes off easily. If that method is hard, peel away the crusty brown skin and the pink layer underneath using a knife. Cut the peeled yuca into sections and cook until tender. I pressure cooked for one whistle. It would look like boiled potatoes when done.

* Drain and let cool. Pat the yuca pieces dry with a paper towel. Cut them into thick pieces similar to french fries taking care to remove the woody core first.

Make a vertical cut along the length of the yucca root with a sharp paring knife and lift one side. Peel away any skin that comes off easily.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_5653679_peel-yucca-root.html

Make a vertical cut along the length of the yucca root with a sharp paring knife and lift one side. Peel away any skin that comes off easily.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_5653679_peel-yucca-root.html

 

* Fry the cassava pieces in hot oil until they turn crisp and golden brown through out, about 5 minutes. Drain them on paper towels.

  

* Season with salt and serve immediately.

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An InLinkz Link-up

Manapparai Murukku

For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge, we are traveling towards Tamilnadu. To be specific, towards a town called Manapparai in Tiruchi district. The town's name has somewhat become synonymous with their signature snack - The Manapparai Murukku. A man named Mani Iyer who used to run a vegetarian refreshment stall at the railway station had introduced these murukkus to the train passengers during 1920's. His murukku were so famous that passengers were drawn out of their compartments to buy them. Later these were sold in brown paper bags that were easily identified. Nowadays, murukku making has become a cottage industry in that town and they are available everywhere and are even exported to other countries.

Iyer used to mix butter to the rice flour and fry chaklis in coconut oil. The unique feature of these chaklis are that they are fried twice unlike the regular chaklis that are fried only once. I haven't personally seen or tasted these specific murukkus and going by the reference we had, I am sure that Mr.Iyer's recipe is safely locked somewhere in a vault. :))

The recipe we got for trial had a kilogram of rice flour with a dash of urad flour. Any seasoned chakli maker would tell you that the recipe is nothing but a disaster. Going against my instincts, I tried a small portion, following the recipe to the T, hoping to prove myself wrong and the result was hard to bite chaklis. Then I increased the urad dal quantity and got the good variety ones though the chakli dough somewhat is similar to thenkuzhal/thentharlu one. I fried them until they attained a lighter hue though I am not sure whether they should attain a light / dark golden hue.

And coming to the flours. Usually it is a practice to prepare the flours from scratch in India while preparing chaklis. I always use the store bought ones and they work just fine as the freshly prepared flours. Besides they cut down the work.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup urad flour / Black gram flour
1 tbsp butter / hot oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp carom seeds / ajwain (I didn't add any.)
Salt to taste
Oil to fry (I used canola oil.)

Method:
1. Combine everything in a mixing bowl. Add water gradually and make a firm dough.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a wok / wide frying pan. Drop a bit of dough into the hot oil. When it sizzles and comes to surface, then the oil is hot enough for frying. If the dough doesn't rise to surface, heat oil for a couple of minutes more. However there is no need to bring the oil to a smoking point.
3. Fit a single star disc / 5 holed disc to the chakli press, fill the dough into the nozzle and press the dough circle on the back of a ladle. I did it on the backside of a greased, stainless steel plate. Allow the shaped dough circles to rest for about 5 minutes.

4. Drop the dough circles into the hot oil. Fit as many as the frying pan can hold without overcrowding. Fry them in hot oil for about 3 - 4 minutes, flipping in between. (Chaklis are only partially fried at this point.) Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent towels to cool them a bit.
5. Now repeat the steps as above and partially fry another batch of chaklis. Remove them as well and drain on plates covered with absorbent towels.

6. Now drop the partially fried first batch of chaklis (from the step 4) into hot oil again and fry until they turn crisp. I kept them light hued but one can fry until they attain a dark golden hue.
7. Now fry the partially fried second batch chaklis from step 5 until they are completely done.
8. Repeat the steps of double frying the chaklis with the remaining dough.
9. Let cool and store them in an airtight container. 

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Karappoosa

Event: Blogging marathon #40
Theme: Evening snacks

Somehow I could connect and remember more of my maternal grandmother's food than my paternal mother's even though we use to visit them both during our summer trips and in between. Both my grandmothers were excellent cooks but it was probably because of the delicacies my maternal grandmother used to whip up for us during those memorable trips, I guess I remember hers' better. Among the several traditional sweets and savories she used to prepare, this version of spicy boondi is one everyone used to enjoy. 

I wanted to try her laddu and karappooosa in my kitchen and during one of my trips to India, I had made it a point to buy a couple of boondi ladles to my mother's surprise. Later when my mother had inquired whether I got  a chance to try those ladles, I had to ask her the recipe. As a kid, I had never paid attention to what goes in the background of boondi making and so naturally I was at a loss, when I thought of trying this for the first time. My mother who eyeballs measurements for everything she cooks, had hard time explaining me the correct consistency for the boondi batter. All I could get was that it's somewhere near bajji batter consistency. And of course a little google search led to this vahchef's video that proved to be a great help. I have tried boondi making a few times after that and have got satisfactory results.

Karappoosa literally means spicy beads in Telugu, referring to the shape and taste of the boondis. This is a great snack on it's own or to clean your palate after enjoying a sweet. A sweet and karappoosa combo used to be an a accompaniment to evening coffee in my ammamma's kitchen. Generally several variations of kara boondi can be seen all over India and this was her version. It never came to my notice until my mother mentioned that the salt and chili powder are sprinkled over the freshly fried boondi instead of adding them directly to the batter. And I thought it would be not messy if we add them directly to the batter and when I checked it with my mom, she was like "You asked for ammamma's recipe and here it is. If you want to make alterations, it is upto you". And since I was looking for my granny's recipe, I tried it as it is as my mother suggested. Peanuts can replace cashews in this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup besan / chickpea flour
Salt and chili powder to taste
2 tbsp Cashews
A handful of curry leaves 
Oil to fry

Method:
* Wash and wipe the curry leaves dry.
* Sift the besan and transfer it to a mixing bowl. Gradually add water and make a batter of about bajji consistency, without any lumps. Add a tsp of oil and mix well. Do not add water all at once. 
To test the correct consistency of the batter, gently dip the handle of the spoon into the batter and drop it into the hot oil from above. If the drop floats to the surface immediately and is round in shape, the consistency is right. Otherwise add water in increments of a tsp to test, until you reach the correct consistency. If the batter is too watery, besan can be added to fix it.
* Heat oil in a kadai / small wok on medium heat. Add cashews and fry them until light golden brown and remove them with a slotted spoon and keep them aside. Add curry leaves and remove them when they turn crisp.
* Pour a ladleful of batter into the boondi ladle. Hold it directly on the kadai and gently rub with the back of  a ladle. The batter drops into the hot oil as tiny droplets and immediately float to the surface forming rounds.
* When they appear cooked and attain a golden hue, remove them using a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent towels and repeat the process with the remaining batter.
* Transfer the fried boondi, cashews, curry leaves to a bowl and sprinkle salt and chili powder. Toss the bowl to combine. When cool, transfer the contents to an airtight container and store. This stays fresh for weeks.

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Andhra Cuisine ~ Pappu Chekkalu

Event: Blogging marathon #40
Theme: Evening snacks

Savory snacks that can be stored for weeks without any refrigeration is a part of Indian cuisine. Going by the regional variations, one would have plenty of choices to enjoy along with their evening coffee / tea. As in case of many south Indian homes - chaklis, kodbales and chekkalu are some of the snacks we love. And especially chekkalu are the most frequently made snack in my husband's family and a favorite of all. These crispy, addictive discs are prepared using rice flour and are deep fried. These are prepared with minor regional variations through out south India and go by the name of nippattu in Karnataka and thattai in Tamilnadu. I had previously posted another variation of chekkalu that gets frequently made in our home, here. This version uses green chillies while the other one uses the dry chili powder.

Ingredients: (yield about 18 - 20)
2 cups rice flour
2 green chillies
Salt to taste
1/4 cup skinned, split peanuts, 
Oil to fry (I used canola oil.)

Method:

* Grind peanuts and chillies coarsely. 

* Combine the flour, ground chillies-peanuts and salt in a mixing bowl. Add water gradually to make a dough of thick consistency.

* Meanwhile, heat oil in a deep frying pan / kadai.

* Take small lemon sized dough and place it on a thick, greased plastic sheet (such as a ziploc bag) or a wax paper. Flatten the ball with your fingers and press it to a thin disc of about 3 inches in diameter. Take the plastic sheet with the disc on and reverse it on to your right hand. Gently peel away the sheet from the disc so that the disc is in your hand.
* Gently drop the flattened dough disc into the hot oil. Without overcrowding the pan, fit as many discs as you can to fry. Deep fry on low flame till it turns light golden in color both sides. Remove them with a slotted spoon onto absorbent towels.
Repeat the procedure until all the dough is finished. Also remember to grease the plastic sheet every time with 1- 2 drops of oil, before making a disc.
* Cool and store the fried nippattu in an airtight container. They stay fresh for weeks and are good accompaniment for coffee / tea.

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Malvani Kakdi Vade

I follow regularly a Gujarati cook show that comes on an Indian television channel and most of the time, the show features traditional and creative recipes by renowned chefs. The show has caught my fancy with it's interesting recipes. This kakdi / cucumber vade were a part of that show and they looked so appetizing that I had to try them. These were a hit, particularly with my husband and they reminded us something similar to what we had in temples in India. This takes the first place among the savories I cooked for this marathon, according to my husband.

The chef mentioned that these are a part of festivities among the Malvani community, including weddings. Malvani cuisine belongs to the Konkan region of Maharashtra, Goa and some parts of Karnataka. Konkan region is basically a part of the western coastline of India. These vades are usually served with a non-veg curry but I think the chef had prepared a yogurt based side dish to go with it. They don't need any side dish if you ask me. Traditionally the rice, chana dal and urad dal are toasted and powdered in specific proportions. I had all the flours ready and so I just combined them in the proportions mentioned. And did I mention how good they were?

Ingredients: (Yield 8)
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour / besan
1/4 cup urad dal flour
Salt to taste
A pinch of asafoetida
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp green chili paste
2 tbsp. minced cilantro
1/2 cup grated cucumber
1 tbsp. hot oil
Oil to fry (I used canola oil.)

Method:
* Mix everything in bowl (except the oil to fry) to make a stiff dough. There is no need to add water since the moisture from the cucumber would be enough.
* Divide the dough into 8 portions, roll them and keep them aside. Grease a plastic sheet and pat one dough ball into a slightly thick disc. 
* Meanwhile, heat oil in a kadai / deep frying pan. The oil is ready if a small piece of dough is dropped into the oil, it sizzles and comes to the surface.
* Gently peel the disc from the plastic sheet and slide it into the hot oil. Fit as many discs as the pan can hold. 
* Fry on low flame, flipping in between until they turn golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent towels. Fry the remaining discs
* Serve them warm.

Check here to know what other marathoners are cooking.

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A ~ Aloo Bonda

Event: Blogging Marathon #32

Theme: Street Food

I had taken a blogging break during summer owing to my two month long India vacation. After really a long time, I got to spend quality time with my parents and our extended families. As expected it was a fun filled and rejuvenating holiday albeit a hectic one. And so naturally blogging took a backseat and to those who were wondering why I went kaput, now you know. :)

To compensate for my absence, I am back with a long marathon hosted by Srivalli this time that runs for 26 days. And so you can expect at least 26 posts this month here. As usual the marathon is based on given 4 set of themes and to make it more tougher, it is going to be a A-Z marathon. That means the marathon is  alphabetical based one, each day dedicated to an English alphabet starting with the letter A.

For today's post I chose to go with the popular Indain street snack aloo bonda. After thinking a lot about 'A' recipes ranging from almond bread to arborio rice, I finally settled down with this just because my husband loves any potato filled fritters and he was after me for months regarding the same. Besides there was an occasion recently that called for celebration. And so aloo bondas it is. For the uninitiated, aloo bondas are spicy potato filling encased in chickpea flour coating that is fried until golden brown to result in a yummy tea time snack.

The following ingredients yield a dozen bondas. Usually we don't add onions to the filling. If you prefer adding, add them before potatoes and saute them until translucent.

Ingredients for potato filling:

For tadka - 2 tsp oil, 1 tsp chana dal, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1/8 tsp turmeric powder, few curry leaves

2 cups peeled, cooked and roughly mashed potatoes

2 - 3 green chillies finely chopped (adjust the quantity as needed)

Salt to taste

1 - 2 Tbsp roughly minced cilantro

Preparing potato filling:

* Heat oil and add chana dal and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, add green chillies, curry leaves and turmeric powder. 

* Saute for few seconds and then add prepared potatoes, salt and cilantro. Mix them well and cook for about a minute and turn off the stove.

* Let the mixture cool and divide it into 12 portions. Shape them into balls and keep them aside.

Ingredients for the outer shell:
1 cup Besan / chickpea flour
2 Tbsp rice flour (optional)
1/8 tsp baking soda (optional)
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1.5 tsp chili powder (adjust the quantity as needed.)
Salt to taste
And oil to fry bondas

Preparing the outer shell:
Combine besan, rice flour, turmeric powder, baking soda, salt, chili powder in a mixing bowl. Gradually add water and make a batter with a consistency slightly thicker than of the bajji batter. (Add about 1/2 cup water. If required add a tablespoon or two more. The batter shouldn't be runny. If you like to have a thicker coat for your bondas, 1/2 cup water should suffice. I like my bondas with a thinner case and so added 1/2 cup + 2-3 Tbsp water.)

Preparing bondas:
* Heat oil in a frying pan or a kadai.
* Dip a potato ball into the batter and turn around until it is coated well with the batter.

* When the oil is hot enough to fry, slide the potato ball dipped in batter, into the pan carefully. Fry on medium flame, turning around the ball occasionally until it turns golden brown throughout. 
* Repeat the steps with the other potato balls and at a time, fry as many as the frying pan can hold.





Serve warm with chutney / ketchup.

 
Logo courtesy - Preeti 

Check the blogging marathon page for the other marathoners doing BM #32.

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Baked Nippattu

Source:Red Chillies

A spicy snack along with a cup of evening coffee / tea sounds wonderful, especially during monsoon season / winters. This baked nippattu is one such crunchy, really yummy snack that I have tried several times before. I must mention that this recipe has not disappointed me even once and thanks to Supriya, I could try these. I somehow hadn't tasted these before in Bangalore and that's what piqued my interest initially when I saw the recipe. However the recipe or the taste has nothing to do with the other spicy snack from Karnataka, nippattu. It is more like madduru vade, another delicacy from the state. Try once and I assure you that it will be a part of your treasured recipes.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour / maida (makes more than 2 dozens)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp white sesame seeds
1 onion finely chopped
2 -3 green chillies, finely chopped
A handful of cilantro finely chopped
3 tbsp oil
3 - 4 tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup warm water (or adjust accordingly.) 

Method:
* Add flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, sesame seeds, onion, chillies and cilantro to a mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients well. Next mix in the oil and butter to the ingredients.
* Add the warm water next gradually and make thick dough. Knead well for a couple of minutes, cover and let it rest for a couple of minutes.
* Preheat the oven to 325 deg F.
* Pinch a small ball of dough . Place it between two thick greased plastic sheets and pat it as thinly as possible. Now remove the top cover, and cut into small rounds using a circle shaped cookie dough or a round lid or a cup. Poke holes with a fork so that they do not puff up while baking. Repeat this process with the remaining dough.
* Place the cut rounds on greased cookie sheets and bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until they brown.(I flipped them once during baking.)

Check what other marathoners are cooking during this month long marathon.

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Theepi Gavvalu

 

Happy Ugadi to all those who are celebrating it. I thought of posting a traditional sweet dish from Andhra on the occasion. And so here are theepi gavvalu, which literally means sweet shells. Obviously they are called so because of their shape and are prepared for festivals. In a nutshell, theepi gavvalu are a yummy, crunchy snack with a delicious sugar coating.

The particular shape is attained using a special gadget known as gavvala peeta or gavvala chekka. It is a wooden board with ridges that comes in different sizes. In the absence of it, one can use the backside of a long fork or a grater or even a new comb.

Ingredients: (yield 2 cups gavvalu)
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp ghee
A pinch of salt
Oil to fry
1/2 cup sugar ( I added 2 Tbsp extra sugar but 1/2 cup works. )

Method:

1. Combine flour, salt, and ghee in a mixing bowl. Add water to it little by little and form a firm dough. Let it rest for about 30 minutes or so.

2. Pinch out a small marble sized portion from the dough and roll between your palms into a ball. Place the ball on the ridges of the gavvala peeta and press the dough ball with your thumb. Slide it along the ridges (towards the right side for a right handed person) without removing your thumb from the dough. The ball would curve into a shell, half moon shaped one. Keep it aside. Repeat the steps with the remaining dough and shape into shells. Keep them covered. It is midnight for me now. I will try to upload a small clip tomorrow if possible, to show how a shell is made out of dough.
3. Heat about 2 cups of oil in a kadai / small wok. When the oil is hot enough to fry, gently drop the dough shells into it. Keep flipping and fry them in batches on low flame, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

4. After one batch of shells are fried, heat sugar adding 2 - 3 Tbsp water in another pan. Cook the mixture until one string consistency is reached. Turn off the stove. 

5. Add the fried shells to it and with a spoon turn them around so that they are coated well with syrup. Allow them to come to room temperature. Once they are dry, they will have a nice coating of sugar.

Check what other marathoners are cooking during this month long marathon.  
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