Sindhi Rasoi

The Festive season is gone,but it took some time for the feeling to sink in ! So till then i kept cooking some more sinful food in my Rasoi. Pakora curry being one of them,i enjoy making this ,coz ; it is so easy and handy when miraculously your refrigerator is free from wilting/dying/decaying vegetables.So during such phase i have few options to cook,other than dal and rice.And since this recipe calls for the simple ingredients that are generally available in pantry,this is a quick fix dish for catering unexpected guests !

Pakora Curry

Ingredients for Pakora:

• 11/2  cup gram flour
• 1 small onion(chopped)
• Coriander leaves(chopped)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp annardana( Dry pomegranate seeds)
• 1 tsp Coriander seeds(akkha dhaniya)
• 2-3 Green chillies(finely chopped)
• Salt to taste
• Red chilli powder as per taste
• A pinch of baking soda
• Water

OTHER Ingredients:

• Oil for frying

For curry:

• Mustard seeds 1/2 tspn
• Curry leaves 5-6
• Turmeric powder 1/4 tspn or less
• Coriander powder 2 tspn
• Red chilly powder 1/4 tspn(adjust according to taste)/or chopped green chilly -1
• Salt for curry

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients listed under Pakora section,till a batter of medium consistency is obtained
• Heat the oil in frying pan or kadai,and slide in ,spoonful of the above batter,one by one in hot oil
• Fry the pakora on medium to low heat till almost done
• Then take out the pakoras,break them into two or three pieces(depending about the size of original pakora) and fry them again on medium to high heat till crisp golden brown in color.Let them cool on absorbent paper or tissue towels
• You can make a healthy version from this batter by shallow frying  small pancakes(chilra) on griddle(Tawa).For that just take a spoonful of the same batter and spread it in circular motion,making small discs/pancakes/chilra.Drizzle some oil before tossing them and then cook again on another side, on low flame till brown patches appear on surface of pancake
• For curry ,heat 1tspn of  oil in a pan or kadai and add curry leaves and mustard seeds and allow them to splutter
• Add turmeric powder ,coriander powder,red chilly powder,and saute for  few seconds
• Add about a glass of water,very little salt and bring it to boil
• Let it simmer for few minutes till rawness of Masala is gone.You may need to add some more water.But remember the curry should be watery as pakora  do absorb water
• JUST BEFORE SERVING,Heat the curry,add pakora(only as many as you need to serve) and let them simmer just for few seconds or else they will turn soggy.You can also heat the curry till boiling point,and pour it over pakoras directly in serving bowl
• Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy with Rotis ASAP

Now Time to Pat my back again….

Vibaas of Delectable vegetarian Recipes has passed on  Good Job Award to me

And Vidhas of Appetizing Recipes had honored me with  an Inspiration Award

Since i had already got both of these awards and passed on to fellow bloggers,I will just acknowledge dear vibaas and vidhas ,and Thank them for thinking about me while passing on these wonderful awards.You both are doing a great job and i admire all the efforts you put in ,for sharing your lovely recipes with all of us !

By now,my love for street food is very obvious to all the visitors of my blog,and i can still go on with many more recipes glorifying the variety, taste,aroma,easy accessibility and budget friendly costs of street food( hygiene concerns and stomach upsets could be overlooked) I can rave on and on about the variations available for each snack ,moving from one vendor to another.

Patate wada,or aloo tikki or Batata wada to others…is one such snack that enjoy a very prestigious position amongst all the street food sold here in Mumbai.The most staple food to many ,this Wada makes a heady combination of boiled and spiced up potatoes,coated with chickpea batter and deep fried ,lying snugly between a Pav(soft bun), and coated with dry chilly chutney and tangy tamarind chutney.A bite of this concoction,and you know what heaven means (to a foodie ofcourse)!

I have ate and tried numerous variations of this tikki.Some recipes call for gingergarlic base ,some asks for mustard currypata,and some recipes involve use of just dry masalas to boiled and mashed potato.But my personal favorite  is one that is made by Shankar Nasta house,a very popular place to have your weekend breakfast.Be it crispy pakwan to be enjoyed with fabulous and perfectly spiced up Dalmoong,or Daltoast.Samosas ot bater papdi,and of course patate ji tikki.

I am not aware of his recipe to make this wonderful tikkis,but my experience of making wonders and blunders in kitchen prompted me to try to recreate it in my Rasoi.I wont say i succeeded completely,but yes it was a good attempt to begin with

The tikkis of shankar nashta house has an unique flavor that is imparted by Mint leaves….yes you heard it right…mint leaves.That brings out a Hatke (different) taste of this Tikki.

One more thing that i would like to bring to notice of readers of this recipe is ..use of baking powder instead of Soda bi carb I am not sure whether this is universal practice or just pertaining to my family ,friends and relatives…..I have seen everyone using soda bi carb or Mithi soda,in batter for making pakoras .I agree that it gives a nice crispiness to the layer after frying but many times it gives a bit bitter taste,atleast with me this was a regular problem.I always cursed my grocery man for passing on stale or outdated Soda ,untill i came across Jaibee’s version (Jai’s version to be precise)to make the batter using baking powder.He was kind enough to explain this,

you can use baking powder which releases the gas only when the dough reaches high temp.baking soda has to be used immediately - else will fall flat. baking soda could also leave the taste bitter unless countered with other things. (while)baking powder has both acid and base so is neutral to taste

Thanks jai for this tip and many more.Jai  FRIED wadas in appam pan using 3.5 tspn of oil,and most of it was left behind after frying wadas….sounds like gimmick…nopes..thats a fact and you can trust these guys for making and sharing healthy recipes with most amazing ,droolworthy pics of their Kitchen creations

Now back to my version of making Oh so flavorful batata wada !

Ingredients:

For potato balls:

• Potatoes 2 medium sized(will make about 5-6 wadas)
• Salt
• Mint leaves 5-10 leaves,depending upon the flavor preferred
• Green chillies 2 or more
• Garam masala powder 1/4 tsp
• Whole coriander seeds few
• Cummin seeds 1/4 tsp
• Amchoor powder(few pinches) or lemon juice(1 tsp) whatever available
• Coriander leaves to garnish

For Batter:

• Chickpea flour or besan 1cup
• salt
• Red chilly powder 1/4 tspn
• Ajwain seeds 1/4 tspn
• Baking powder a pinch
• Water to make the batter few spoons

Oil for frying

Method:

• Boil,peel amd mash potatoes
• Now add all ingredients listed under For potato Balls
• Mix properly and make ping ball sized wadas from them Keep aside ,and head over to make batter to coat these
• For batter,mix besan,salt,chilly powder,ajwain,and baking powder and mix well
• Then keep on adding water spoon by spoon and mixing batter properly so that no lumps are formed
• Add water till batter achieves a thick consistency
• Meanwhile heat the oil in frying pan or kadai
• Now carefully dip each potato ball in besan batter,and coat it fully with batter,with the help of a spoon Gently pick up this coated wada,with the spoon and slide it in frying pan
• Fry it on high flame for 2-3 seconds and then on low flame for few more seconds ,tossing it regularly so as to fry these wadas uniformly
• You can fry it for once or if u care a damn about calories,half fry it first,then take out of kadai,let them cool a bit for a minute ,gently press a bit,and then deep fry again ,to attain that crisp layer of besan
• Serve hot with pav,bread,or roti or Just with chutney or ketchup

From past few months,i have been feeling this terrible urge of attaining some super power to uproot all the maddening bad ,prevailing around.I can feel a transition within me from being a happy go lucky girl to a nagging,yelling,irked person ,conferring eternal damnation to at least 20 people per day(in my thoughts of course).Little things start bothering me and i see red at drop of the hat.When i discuss this with my friends and well wishers,everyone suggests the same thing…”you can’t change the world,and there is no sense in fretting and fuming,so just calm yourself and better practice some Meditation.” I agree yoga does helps me considerably to cool down,but is it always possible to remain cool,or rather is it always necessary to be as cool as cucumber?
Still i took the suggestions of my friends and practiced some deep breathing exercise every time i was cornered .
Grocery man,weighing 953 gms of sugar instead of 1000 gms in front of my eyes…i deep breathed and remain silent
Ricksha walla (driver of three wheeler public transport) demanded 7 INR instead of official 5 INR rate…i obliged
Telephone connection went boooooohooooo….i remained silent
Internet connection didn’t got restored despite of hundreds of calls to the pathetic customer care guys,and  to even- more -pathetic local service providers….i kept quiet
Ethernet card was destroyed due to lightning,TV tuner card went kaput..i didn’t moaned
Just because we reside at wrong side of  metro city,we go without current for 8 hours a day,while the metro which is just 25 kms (distance between two railway stations)from our place enjoy uninterrupted power supply….I bear this with silence
Dirty politics in offices,bribe greedy officials in government institutions,and policeman demanding free rides in public transport vehicles,female infanticide,people throwing infants and even embryos in garbage bins(whatever their personal excuses be)while garbage stinking  in fronts of homes,potholes on roads,that are shoddily filled when some MLA is expected,only to go crap within few days,and working class idiotically paying their taxes(coz they are deducted at source)while businessman cleverly escapes from the clutches of Honorable finance minister who can hike the rates of petrol when globally crude oil rates shoots to 110$ /barrel,but forgets to dive back , when  the rates slide down to as low as 70 $/bbl

There is more stupidity on TV,with every absurd news served to us as BREAKING NEWS,Reality Shows with not so real tears and stories,vulgar stuff aired in the name of Modernism,and morons hogging up the limelight ,while serious issues concerning to common man are not  voiced even for the heck of Genuine news.All served to us between ADVERTISEMENTS.If you watch TV for say 30 minutes,you end up seeing advertisements for 18 minutes and actual stuff for 12 minutes or even less..I don’t do anything to change that……So  i keep my cool and stop watching TV instead
BUTttttttttttttt
…..how far can a sensible person stay deaf,dumb and blind to such apathy ??Should we always turn our eyes from all this ILL,and just call ourselves cool ?I agree ranting wont change anything,but is it possible for a pulsating heart to ignore all this and keep silent with few pranayams?Wont we be as good as dead then?

I know even when i wrote all this,nothing is gonna change..not even 0.5% …but should we just seal our lips,and ears,and eyes,and lay dead ?
Well after boiling so much of my blood over these issues,i definitely need some energy to go on.When i was a kid,my Mother used to say that pulses and vegetables gives us energy and  make us strong.So now let me have some SUPER MOLECULES or proteins as they are generally called,and what better source than Kaalachana
I am confused to categorize this simple but power packed dish.I can call it salad since it is a food mixture consisting of boiled and raw stuff,with a tangy dressing,but then i also remember this as one of our favorite chaat sold outside our school gate!
So call it whatever you want..but do include this in your diet .
Ingredients

• Kaala chana(black chickpeas)
• Tomato 1
• Onion 1
• salt and pepper to taste
• Tamarind chutney or lemon juice 1-2 tspn
• Boiled potato
• Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

• Pick the chana,rinse properly many times with water ,and soak them for about 5-6 hours
• Later boil it with salty water till cooked.If unsoaked or not soaked for much time,you might need to boil it for more time,otherwise it is almost done in 2-3 whistles in a pressure cooker.Again that depends upon the quality of chana.So keep experimenting
• When done,lay them in serving bowl or plate,top it up with dash of salt ,pepper powder,chaat masala powder(optional),red chilly powder(optional),2 spn (more or less ….depends upon your taste) tamarind water(just soak a ping ball size of tamarind in half cup of water for 10 minutes,mash it and squeeze it properly.Discard the pulp,and use the tamarind water)
• Add chopped onion,tomato,boiled potato,or veggies of your choice.Garnish it with coriander leaves

This simple salad is going for

Sra’s My Legume Love Affair Which is the brainchild of Susan

Sangeeth’s Eat Healthy-Fight Diabetes contest

Divya of Dilse for Diet Food Event

There is a happening place, a bit far from our home called GOL MAIDAN(circular garden),which is famous for the Thela food (food sold on carts).The tangy panipuris,and batar papdi are the most popular street food there,along with fresh juices,falooda ice creams,pattise samosa,and many more yummies

Just on the opposite corner of Golmaidan’s Main gate is a Kishore pattise waala,a person who started his culinary affair from a small thela ,and now is a proud owner of a huge shop.The pattise(patties) served there are cooked on a huge griddle,with dollops of Amul butter.The pattise literally bath in butter(Waist conscious people, i know your expressions),and when done ,it appears as a nice golden brown,perfectly crisp one.You will always be welcomed with the aroma of these butter cooked pattise,long before you enter the golmaidan area.

These tiny pattise ,are then placed in”DONA”-a  bowl made from dried leaf of banana I guess(not sure),topped with simmering rich gravy chola (ragda),with dash of chutney and sliced onions.Once you grab that parcel,be sure every person passing by,will know what you are carrying(the heady aroma ofcourse),until  you reach a place to unwrap the dona and wipe out the whole stuff ,burping cheerfully after consuming calories enough for a person to survive for few days without food!

Though it is not possible to recreate that sinful magic at your homes(who have a heart to fry the pattise in AMUL butter??),but still i tried making these with a tiny blob of butter.No marks for guessing how much i missed the original taste of Kishore’s Pattise !Nevertheless they turned out better than usual(one without butter)

So here is the recipe,Do try it with or without butter!

Ragda pattise
Recipe of pattise is already given here

Regarding ragda or chola(garbanzos), here is a bit of info that i would like to share,which is word to word Lifted from here

From a nutritional standpoint, chickpeas are an excellent source of protein, proteins that are devoid of purines, and are therefore ideally suited to those who suffer from gout. With respect to other legumes they have a higher fat content, which makes them more caloric; they are therefore not what one wants during a diet. However, they are quite rich in calcium, making them a good choice for combating osteoporosis, are also rich in iron, and are an excellent source of fiber. They’re instead sodium-poor, which makes them a good bet for those on reduced sodium diets.

Ingredients for Ragda(chole)

• Chickpeas or kabuli chana 1/4 kg
• Onion 2
• Tomatoes 2
• Garlic 8-10 cloves
• Ginger
• Green chillies 3(or as per need)
• Garam masala powder 1tspn
• Salt
• Turmeric powder
• Red chilly powder
• Tamarind water -few spoons(depending upon the taste preferred)
• Oil 2 tspn or more

Method

• Wash and soak chickpeas for atleast 7 hrs
• Boil them with salt, till half cooked(Many people prefer to boil chana along with whole garam masala tied in muslin cloth,and some even boil it along with dried tea leaves i.e chaipatti,again tied in a muslin cloth potli.Discard them after boiling)
• In a pressure cooker,pour some oil,and fry onion till brown in colour
• Cool ,and grind fried onions along with ginger ,garlic,chillies and tomatoes
• Now pour this mixture again in pressure cooker ,add some salt(remember there is already some amount of salt in chickpeas),garam masala powder,chana masala(optional) and fry it for 2-3 minutes
• Now add half boiled chana and fry it further for about 5 min
• Add some water,close lid of cooker and wait till 2-3 whistles
• Add some tamarind paste and coriander leaves and simmer for 2 min
• Adjust the consistency of gravy ,it should be not too watery ,nor too dense

For Serving,

In a plate cut open(horizontally) each pattice from the centre,pour few spoons of cholay ,slices of onions and some coriander chutney(optional but highly recommended)and fresh coriander leaves

Serve it immediately,with bread or soft buns,or enjoy it just like that

This plate of simmering ragda pattise is on its way to Sra’s When my soup came alive ,who is hosting  My Legume Love Affair (4th helping),an event kick started by Susan of The well seasoned cook