A fried crunchy savoury snack made using flour, cumin seeds and mild chillie powder. An addictive snack which was always prepared at home during the festival of diwali.
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Ingredients:
All purpose flour or Wheat four – 1 cup
Hot oil – 1 1/2 tbsp
Asafoetida/hing – a pinch (optional)
Ajwain or carom seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds or Jeera – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Red chillie powder – 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda – a pinch ( if using wheat flour only)
Oil for deep frying
Preparation:
In a bowl, mix flour, salt, ajwain, jeera, chillie powder, hing and salt. Mix well and add hot oil to it (pic 1). Add water little by little and make a firm stiff dough. Moisten your hands and knead until the dough is smooth. A soft dough will not make the diamond cuts crisp.
Make small balls of the dough and roll it out into thin discs. Make sure that it is not thick but thinly rolled out (pic 2)
Using a cutter, draw lines on it diagnally to get the shape of a diamond.(pic 3). You may transfer the cut diamond cuts onto a plate.
Heat oil in a pan. When it is hot, lower the flame to medium and drop the diamond cuts into it. Stir them immediately. Do not worry if the diamond cuts sticks to it as it will begin to separate in oil as you stir. Maintain the heat on a medium flame as low heat will make it hard (pic 4).
Fry them in batches and drain them on a kitchen towel. Cool and store them in air tight containers.
A perfect snack for a raining afternoon. This easy-to-make recipe is prepared using simple ingredients available in the pantry. It tastes best when served warm along with green chutney or tomato ketchup. You can serve this mouth-watering recipe as an appetiser for parties, pot luck or a family get-together.
Ingredients:
Large green chilli – 6 or Raw green banana -2
Gram flour – 1 cup
Baking soda – 1 tsp
Water – 1/2 cup or as required
Refined oil as required – for fyring
Hot Oil – 1 1/2 tbsp
Salt as required
Chilli powder – 2 tsp
Asafoetida – 1/2 tsp
Rice flour – 1 1/2 tbsp
Preparation:
Wash the green chillies/raw green banana well. Once washed, cut the chillies from the centre and remove the seeds. Slice the banana/green chillies lenthwise as shown in the picture.
Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in a kadai until it is smoking hot. In a bowl, add the gram flour, red chillie powder, salt, asafoetida, rice flour and mix well. Add the hot oil to it and mix it well. Add the soda to it alongwith water and whisk it well to a slightly thick consistency but not running or pouring consistency. The batter is now ready. The key to crispy bhajjis is the hot oil added to the batter.
Now start heating oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Take the chillies, coat them well with the batter and dip it in the frying pan. Keep frying until they turn golden brown in colour.
A popular street food of Mumbai loved by people of all ages with potato patties and boiled white lentils. This tongue tickling dish is made up of 2 components, shallow fried crispy potato patties perked with desi spices and spicy ragda. A unique combination of spicy, sweet, tangy, crunchy and crispy textures and flavours.
Makes 8 patties
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Ingredients:
For Ragda:
White peas – 1 cup
Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida – a pinch
Curry leaves – 6-7
Green chillie – Ginger paste
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Chillie powder – 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice – 1 1/2 tsp or Amchur powder – 1/4 tsp
Garam masala – 1/4 tsp
Salt – to taste
Water – 2 1/2 cups
Oil – 3 tsp
For Patties/Pattice:
Potatoes – 3 big boiled
Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp chopped
Corn flour – 2tbsp
Lemon juice
Ginger-Green chillie paste
Salt to taste
Oil for shallow frying – 2 tbsp
Other ingredients for assembling the patties:
Sev – 4 tbsp
Chopped onions – 4 tbsp
Chopped tomatoes – 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp
Yogurt – 2 tbsp (optional)
Sweet chutney – 4 tbsp (recipe given below)
Green chutney – 3 tbsp (recipe given below)
Chat masala – 1/2 tsp
Fried Groundnuts/Peanuts – 2 tbsp (optional)
Preparation:
Ragda:
Soak the white peas in water overnight (pic 1). In the morning, drain the water and transfer it to a cooker (pic 2). Add 2 1/2 cups of water, turmeric powder and salt and cook it in the cooker for 20 minutes or 6 whistles (pic 3). Turn off the flame and when the pressure is released from the cooker, open and check if the peas are tender and cooked very well. Keep it aside. (pic 4)
Make a paste of ginger and green chillies (pic 9).
Heat a pan (pic 5). Add oil and when it is hot, add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and the asafoetida(pic 6 and 7). Mash the cooked white peas coarsely with a masher and add it to the pan (pic 8). Add the ginger-green chillie paste (pic 10), garam masala powder (pic 11) and red chillie powder (pic 12) and mix well. Add salt and lime juice or amchur powder and boil it once (pic 13). Once the raw smell disseappears, turn off the flame and keep it aside. The ragda should have a flowing consistency and should not be very thick.
Patties:
In a bowl, mash the boiled potatoes well (pic 14). Add the green chillie-ginger paste, coriander leaves, corn flour, lime juice, salt and mix well (pic 15). Knead it well into a dough mixture (pic 16). Divide them into 8 equal balls and flatten it between the palms of your hands, taking care not to break them. Arrange the patties on a plate (pic 17).
Heat oil in a tava or griddle. When it is hot, place the patties on it and cook them on medium flame for 3 minutes until they are golden (pic 18. Flip to the other side and cook until they are golden (pic 19).
Assembling the patties:
In a plate, pour 2 tbsps of radga on it (pic 21). Place 2 patties on the ragda (pic 22). Pour 2 tbsp again on the patties (pic 23). Sprinkle some chopped onions and fried peanuts on it (pic 24 and 25), followed by chopped tomatoes (pic 26), drizzle of green chutney (pic 27), yogurt (pic 28) and sweet chutney (pic 29). Top it with some sev and coriander leaves (pic 30 and 31) and serve (pic 33).
Green chutney: (pic 20)
Mint leaves – 2 cups
Coriander leaves – 1 cup
Green chillies – 3 chopped
Salt to taste
Lime juice – 1 tbsp
Ginger – 1/2 inch piece
Combine everything in a blender with 1/2 cup of water. Grind it to a smooth paste.
Sweet chutney:
Deseeded dates – 1 cup
Deseeded Tamarind – 1/2 cup tamarind pulp
Roasted cumin seeds powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chillie powder – 1/2 tsp
Black Salt/Rock Salt – 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
In a bowl, mix tamarind and dates with 2 cups of hot water and soak for for 1 hour. Blend them in a mixie alongwith the water, to a smooth paste. Sieve it and keep it aside.
Heat a pan. Transfer the tamarind-dates pulp to it. Add rock salt, red chillie powder, salt, cumin seeds powder and cook for 2 -3 minutes. Boil once stirring in between. Put off the flame and let it cool. You can store this chutney in the fridge in an air tight container for a month.
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