Alu Bonda (Alu Pakora)

This is an all time favourite snack, again more seen in the south Indian areas than north, but regardless - it tastes great. It's also a great way to use up any left over potato stir fry, or pani puri stuffing or dry alu korma. The placement and decoration credit goes to Jyotsna who changed my mind from not posting this photo to posting it and decorating it :)

Ingredients:
For batter:
1 cup besan (gram flour)
pinch of salt
pinch of baking soda
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
For filling:
3 medium sized potatoes
1/2 onion chopped finely
1 tsp crushed ginger
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
2 green chillies cut in small pieces

Preparation:
Boil the potatoes until done.
In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil, add the onions, green chillies and ginger.
Stir until onions turn slight golden.
Add the potatoes, cumin and coriander powder and salt to taste.
Stir for 5 minutes on medium heat.
Once done, let the mixture cool down.
On another deep frying pan, add oil and heat. A good test to check the temperature is to drop one small drop of the batter and see if it immediately floats. If the oil is not ready, it will just touch the bottom and not cause the same reaction.
Prepare the batter by mixing all ingredients mentioned above to a thick consistency.
Make small balls out of the potato mixture, dip these balls in the batter and fry.

Serve with coriander chutney or just onions and lime.

Mirapakaya Bajji (Stuffed pepper pakora)

This is a mouth-watering dish mostly prevalent in Andhra Pradesh (Vijayawada, Guntur & neighbouring areas). The very mention of this dish makes me feel nostalgic of my college days - our most loved evening snack! I am sure many of those are reading this post know what I am talking about :)
This past sunday, my husband and I went to a friend's (Raji & Krishna) place to watch the 2 playoff games on TV, and this whole cooking session became a discussion of the different ways to make the filling etc. Will try out the other suggestions and post as variations later..

Ingredients(serves 6):
8 Anaheim peppers
For batter:
1 cup besan
2 tbsp cornflour (for crisp-factor)
1 tbsp cumin+coriander powder
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
a pinch of baking soda

For the filling:
3 tbsp white til(nuvvulu) - powdered.
1 tsp amchur
1 tsp cumin+coriander powder
pinch of salt

Preparation:
Mix the contents of the batter to a thick consistency (kinda like the pancake mix). Don't thin it down too much, else it wont stick to the peppers.
Mix the contents of the filling in a small bowl.
Slit the peppers on one side like a pocket, and spoon in the filling in all the peppers.
Heat peanut oil in a frying pan.
Dip the stuffed peppers in the batter, cover all sides.
Place them one by one in the frying pan.
Don't turn to the other side until the bottom side is completely done.
Pat with paper towels to get off extra oil, once you take them out.

Serving suggestion:
Cut into bite size pieces and sprinkle some chat masala on the pieces.
Cut the red onion into small pieces, and sprinkle 1 whole lemon.
Eat the bajji pieces with a nice helping of onions & lime squeeze.
mmm...delicious!!

Idli

Ingredients (serves 6)
1 cup Urad Dal
2 cups Idli Rawa
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Soak the Urad Dal for 3-4 hours.
Grind dal in a blender to a smooth consistency (make sure the dough is not too think or too thin)
Add the idli rawa to this mix.
Transfer into a container such that the dough only takes up a third of the room inside, you would need the additional room to give space for the fermented dough - you will know what I mean when you try this out, otherwise you may just wake up to a surprise ;)
Leave it overnight or by a window that gets sufficient sunlight during the day.
When you see the dough rise to twice its height inside the container, your dosa dough is ready!
Once fermented, mix the dough properly, add 1 tbsp salt. You may need to add some water depending upon how you blended the dough in the first place.
Once caution is the batter needs to be thick as though you are making a cake.

For cooking idlis, you would need a idli container/maker
Sprinkle a drop of oil or spray some oil onto the cups made to hold the batter.
Pour the dough so it occupies half the space available.
Cook in a pressure cooker or the idli maker.
It typically takes 12-15 minutes for a 16 size idli maker.
When done, allow the vapour to go away and idlis to cool down just slightly before you scoop them out.

Serve with besan chutney/coconut chutney/peanut chutney.

** The key thing with dosas and idlis is fermentation process without which they just don't taste right. So make sure you plan in advance.

Dosas with Rice Flour

Grinding rice to a smooth consistency is not easy.. those who have done will know what I am talking about. Blending dal is way easier and quicker. So replacing rice with rice flour was suggested by my mother-in-law, I always thank her for this tip as it makes preparing the dough so much easier! This post is just a tad bit simpler process to making dosas.. Enjoy!

Ingrediants (serves 6)
1 cup Urad Dal
2 cups Rice Flour
1 tsp methi(fenugreek) seeds (optional)

Preparation:
Soak the Urad Dal and Methi for 3-4 hours.
Grind them in a blender to an extra smooth consistency (make sure the dough is not too think or too thin)
Add the rice flour to this mix.
Transfer into a container such that the dough only takes up a third of the room inside, you would need the additional room to give space for the fermented dough - you will know what I mean when you try this out, otherwise you may just wake up to a surprise ;)
Leave it overnight or by a window that gets sufficient sunlight during the day.
When you see the dough rise to twice its height inside the container, your dosa dough is ready!

Before pouring the batter onto a dosa pan, mix the dough and add some salt and a 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds.
Heat a circular flat pan until it's heated to medium-high heat.
You may sprinkle a drop of oil or spray some before pouring out the first dosa.
You would need a spatula with a circular mouth that can contain the dough as well as can be used in spreading it evenly in circles to occupy most of the pan's surface area.
Let the dosa brown, cook on both sides.

Serve with besan chutney/coconut chutney/peanut chutney.

** The key thing with dosas and idlis is fermentation process without which they just dont taste right. So make sure you plan in advance if you want to make dosas.

Dosas

You may sometimes find yourself in the middle of a discussion between what's better - dosas from the scratch or pack mix or using rice flour.. At least I have a couple times ;)

I think it's all upon your convenience and mood. I simply LOVE cooking, but there are times when I just say "Thank you Gits"

Here's my mom's recipe I used to follow for the longest time until.. for this you need to read my next post ;)

Ingrediants (serves 6)
1 cup Urad Dal
2 cups Rice
1 tsp methi(fenugreek) seeds (optional)

Preparation:
Soak the above ingrediants for 3-4 hours.
Grind them in a blender to an extra smooth consistency (make sure the dough is not too think or too thin)
Transfer into a container such that the dough only takes up a third of the room inside, you would need the additional room to give space for the fermented dough - you will know what I mean when you try this out, otherwise you may just wake up to a surprise ;)
Leave it overnight or by a window that gets sufficient sunlight during the day.
When you see the dough rise to twice its height inside the container, your dosa dough is ready!

Before pouring the batter onto a dosa pan, mix the dough and add some salt and a 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds.
Heat a circular flat pan until it's heated to medium-high heat.
You may sprinkle a drop of oil or spray some before pouring out the first dosa.
You would need a spatula with a circular mouth that can contain the dough as well as can be used in spreading it evenly in circles to occupy most of the pan's surface area.
Let the dosa brown, cook on both sides.

Serve with besan chutney/coconut chutney/peanut chutney.

** The key thing with dosas and idlis is fermentation process without which they just dont taste right. So make sure you plan in advance if you want to make dosas.

Besan Chutney

Surprisingly not many people know about this recipe or dont make it often in south indian families.. However I grew up on this and LOVE it a lot!

Ingrediants (for 6-8 people):
1 medium onion cut in length
1 chopped tomato
1/2 tbsp minced ginger
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
4 fresh green chillies
3/4 tbsp turmeric powder
1 cup besan (gram flour)
handful of chopped coriander for garnish

Chonk/Popu : 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp dry mustard seeds, 2 tsb urad dal, 4 curry leaves

Preparation:
Heat some oil in a pan.
Add the chonk ingrediants and let splatter
Add the onions, green chillies, ginger, garlic and stir until onions turn golden brown
Add tomatoes, cover with a lid and let cook till its a paste
Add turmeric powder and some red chilli powder if you need some more spice
Add 3 cups of water and set it to boil for approx. 10 minutes on medium-high heat.
Meanwhile, make a fine smooth paste of besan in 1/2 cup of water. Make sure there are no lumps big or small.
Add the besan paste to the boiling contents and stir.
cook for 5 minutes and set aside.

Garnish with shopped coriander leaves.

Time saver tips:
Substitute ginger and garlic with readymade ginger garlic paste bought from a store.

Serving suggestion:
Tastes best with hot idlies or dosas.

Peanut Garlic Chutney

This is an alteration of the Peanut Chutney for all the garlic lovers!

Ingediants:
1 cup raw peanuts
2-3 twigs of dry tamarind (seeded or unseeded)
3 fresh green chillies (you can add 2-3 more depending upon your spice tolerance)
3 peeled garlic cloves
Chonk (popu): 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp dry mustard seeds, 2 tsb urad dal, 5-6 curry leaves, pinch of hing (asafoetida), 1 dry red chilli broken into pieces (optional)


Pre-preparation:
Soak the tamarind for 15 minutes.

Preparation:
Roast the peanuts on medium heat to just when they start releasing a nice roasted smell, and turn slight yellowish brown. Do not let them burn to a complete brown or they lose flavour.
Cool the peanuts to a room temperature.
Extract the pulp from the tamarind by gently kneading it with your hands.
In a blender, grind peanuts, tamarind, green chillies to a fine paste
In a frying pan, heat oil and add the contents for chonk and let them splatter.
Transfer the peanut paste to a serving dish, mix the chonk and cover with a lid to retain the chonk floavor.

Garnish
Decorate with a dry red chilli on the top and 2 curry leaves each side of the dry red chilli.

Time saver tips:
Replace raw peanuts with "dry roasted unsalted peanuts" that you get from most stores.
Replace the tamarind with readymade tamarind paste.

Peanut Chutney (Pallilu Pachhadi)

Ingedients:
1 cup raw peanuts
2-3 twigs of dry tamarind (seeded or unseeded)
3 fresh green chillies (you can add 2-3 more depending upon your spice tolerance)
Chonk (popu): 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp dry mustard seeds, 2 tsb urad dal, 5-6 curry leaves, pinch of hing (asafoetida), 1 dry red chilli broken into pieces (optional)

Pre-preparation:
Soak the tamarind for 15 minutes.

Preparation:
Roast the peanuts on medium heat to just when they start releasing a nice roasted smell, and turn slight yellowish brown. Do not let them burn to a complete brown or they lose flavour.
Cool the peanuts to a room temperature.
Extract the pulp from the tamarind by gently kneading it with your hands.
In a blender, grind peanuts, tamarind, green chillies to a fine paste
In a frying pan, heat oil and add the contents for chonk and let them splatter.
Transfer the peanut paste to a serving dish, mix the chonk and cover with a lid to retain the chonk flavour.

Garnish
Decorate with a dry red chilli on the top and 2 curry leaves each side of the dry red chilli.

Time saver tips:
Replace raw peanuts with "dry roasted unsalted peanuts" that you get from most stores.
Replace the fresh tamarind with readymade tamarind paste.

Fresh Coconut Chutney (Kobbari Pachhadi)

Ingrediants (serves 6):

Fresh grated Coconut (1 whole)
2 pinches of crushed fresh ginger root
ping of hing (aesofatida)
2 stems of curry leaves
3 dried red chillies (spice watchers: 1 red pepper instead)
3 fresh green chillies (spice watchers: 1 green chilli)
Chonk/Popu : 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp dry mustard seeds, 2 tsb urad dal
1/4 cups of fresh squeezed tamarind paste OR 2 tsp of tamarind concentrate
1/4 cup yoghurt

Process:
In a blender, grind the coconut, green chillies, tamarind, yoghurt, ginger to a fine paste
Pour into a serving dish
In a small saucepan, add 1 tsp of oil, add the Chonk ingrediants, hing, curry leaves, red chillies
Mix this into the blended coconut and serve with dosas or idlis!

Caution: Refrigerate after use, coconut goes stale very easily if left outside.