Chana Butter Masala Chaat

I remember the Chana masala chaat vendor.. while my stay in Bandra and an evening stroll at Bandstand, I use to enjoy the hot, spicy chana masala chaat he use to make... Special chana masala chaat had butter in it. It had green chana which was boiled and then sautéed in butter with onions, tomatoes and chaat masala... Lime juice and coriander leaves was sprinkled before serving and it was served in disposable eco friendly bowl with a thick paper cutting used as spoon...

Ingredients
1 cup Boiled Chana / Green or Red Grams
1 small Onion finely chopped
1 small Tomato chopped
1 small Boiled Potato chopped
1 or 2 Green Chillies chopped
1 tsp Butter
1/2 tsp roasted Cumin seed powder
Chat Masala to taste
Black Salt to taste
1 tsp Lime juice
1 tsp Chopped Raw mangoes - optional
 Few Coriander leaves chopped
Method
Take a pan, add butter, add onion and chillies. Sauté it for a minute. Add the tomato and potato, sauté it for another 2 minutes. Add the boiled chana. Stir and cook the chana for another minute. Add the roasted cumin powder, chat masala, black salt, lime juice, coriander leaves and raw mangoes, stir for another few seconds... serve it. 

Home Made Healthy Cookies

This healthy cookie is not only delicious in taste, but healthy too. These can be enjoyed not only with a hot cup of tea, but you can munch on at anytime of the day. Hope you will enjoy this recipe. 

                  

       

Ingredients 

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour 

1/2 cup Jaggery Powder 

1/2 cup Clarified Butter / Ghee

1 tsp Chia Seeds

1 tbsp Almond Flakes 

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Nutmeg Powder 

1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder 

1/2tsp Baking Powder 

1/2 tsp Ginger Powder 

1 tbsp Any Vegan or Cow Milk

Method

Sieve the wheat flour, jaggery powder, salt, nutmeg pd, cardamom pd, baking pd and ginger pd together. Add the almond flakes and chia seeds and mix all the ingredients together. Add the ghee and knead the ingredients into crumbs. Take small lime size portions and try to make small balls. Incase it does not bind, add 1/2 tsp of milk and mix the ingredients again. Take a greased baking tray. Take small portion of the crumbs, flatten the ball and press it gently from the center. Preheat the oven at 190 degrees celsius. Place the flatten balls on the baking tray, leaving little gaps between the two cookies. Bake the cookies at 190 degrees celsius for 15 - 20 minutes, depending upon the oven temperature. Once done remove the tray, leave the tray above the hot oven until the tray cools down... don’t worry if you still find the cookies soft at this point... by the time the tray cools down the cookies will be done.

To bake the cookies in the wok, place a cooker stand on the base of the wok. Cover the wok and preheat the wok for 10 minutes on medium flame. Open the lid and place the baking tray, close the lid. Bake the cookies for 25 to 30 minutes on a low medium flame. Once done open the lid, switch off the flame and leave the baking tray in the wok until the wok cools down completely. Remove the cookies from the tray once the cookies cools down completely.

Cool the cookies further for another hour or two. Enjoy the cookies with a hot cup of tea. 

Healthy Whole Wheat Bread Loaf

Basic Healthy Bread can be made with ingredients that are easily available in your kitchen. One key ingredient Whole wheat flour is always there in your kitchen pantry. Yeast can be made at home too if time permits, or else dry yeast is easily available in shops. It’s more healthy when you bake a bread at home. Do try this recipe and enjoy this bread with jam or Chutney.

Ingredients

4 cups + 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup Oats

1 tsp + 1 tsp Mix Seeds (Sunflower, Watermelon, Flaxseed, Sesame, Pumpkin Seeds)

1/2 tsp Chia Seeds

1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 cup Lukewarm Water

1 tbsp Dry Active Yeast

2 tsp Honey

1 cup of Water

2 tbsp Oil

1 tbsp Milk + 1/2 tsp Honey 

Method 

Take the honey and mix it with the lukewarm water, mix the yeast little at a time into the lukewarm water. Leave the yeast to rise. Mix all the dry ingredients together, except for 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 tsp of mix seeds. Add the yeast water, mix the ingredients well, add a cup of water, mix and knead the ingredients into a dough. At this point the dough is a bit sticky. Add a tbsp of oil and knead it. Cover the bowl and leave it aside for 2 hours. After 2 hours, open the lid. Add the remaining flour little at a time and knead the dough. Take the dough on to a flat surface. Add oil, knead and roll the dough into a long cylindrical shape. Place the cylindrical dough into the greased bread loaf mould. Cover and let it proof for an hour. Meanwhile preheat the oven at 190 degrees. Brush Milk + Honey on the bread and sprinkle some mix seeds on the bread. Bake the bread at 190’ degrees celsius for approximately 25 - 30 minutes. Every oven temperature differs, so please adjust the time accordingly. Once done, remove the bread. Let the bread cool down for 10 minutes, remove the bread and let it cool on a cooling rack. Slice the bread once completely cool. 

Crispy Fritters made with home grown Spinach and Pumpkin flowers...

When you have vegetables growing in your small balcony, it’s happiness to eat your home grown vegetables. You can feel the freshness and taste of the vegetables. Here is a snack or a side dish recipe made with pumpkin flowers and spinach that had grown in our place. Fritter is crispy and delicious snack that can be made with different vegetables that are dipped in chickpea and rice flour batter. It is then deep fried until crispy and golden brown in colour.

Ingredients
10 to 12 small size Spinach leaves
10 to 12 Pumpkin flowers
6 tbsp Chickpea Flour
3 to 4 tbsp Rice Flour
1 Green Chilli finely chopped
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp Nigella seeds
1/2 tsp Poppy Seeds
Water as required
Oil to fry

Method
Take a bowl, add chickpea flour, rice flour, salt to taste, turmeric powder, nigella seeds, poppy seeds and green chilli. Mix the ingredients well. Add little water at a time and mix the ingredients into a batter. It should be semi - thick dropping consistency. Keep it aside for 5 minutes, meanwhile heat up the oil in a wok. Dip the pumpkin flower or spinach one at a time and fry them on a low medium heat until crispy and golden brown in colour. Remove the fritters on a paper towel and serve it hot.

Instant Vegetable Idli with Oats and Semolina

This is a very quick and healthy breakfast or snacks recipe that can be served for the children in their lunch boxes too. 

Ingredients 

3/4 cup Rice Flour 

1 cup Fine Semolina 

1 cup Oats

Half medium size Carrot Grated 

Half medium size Beet root Grated 

1/2 cup Curd 

Salt to taste 

1 tsp Eno 

1 cup or more Water

Method 

Take a bowl, add rice flour, oats, semolina, salt, grated vegetables and curd. Mix all the ingredients, gradually add water and mix the ingredients until it’s a thick dropping consistency. Keep the batter for 15 minutes, add the eno and mix it gently once more. Pour in the batter in the  greased idli mould. Steam the idlis for 20 minutes until they are cooked. Remove the idli mould from the steamer and wait for 5 minutes till the idlis have cooled a bit. Remove the idlis from the mould and serve the healthy idlis with a chutney of your choice. 

Soya Ball Spaghetti

According to the net source, Spaghetti and meat ball was innovative in the 20th century by the Italian immigrants of New York. It’s an Italian-American dish. 

I have replaced the meat and used Soya Chunks. 

Boiled Spaghetti 

Ingredients 

Half Packet of Spaghetti 

Salt to taste

Method 

Cook the spaghetti in a pot of boiling salt water as per the instructions given on the packet. Drain the spaghetti and keep it aside. 

To make the Soya Balls 

Ingredients 

20 - 25 Soya Chunks boiled and water squeezed out

2 Bread pieces 

2 Garlic Cloves 

Salt to taste 

1 tsp Pepper powder 

1 tsp Dried Parsley

Oil to fry the Soya balls

Method

Add all the above ingredients into a grinder and grinder all the ingredients together into a fine paste. Roll out small lemon size balls.  Keep the soya balls for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.  Fry the soya balls until golden brown in colour. Remove the soya balls and keep the soya balls on a paper towel. 

To make the Sauce 

Ingredients 

2 big size Tomatoes blanched, peel the skin and chopped . 

2 Tomato puréed 

2 medium size Onion chopped 

2 tbsp chopped Garlic Cloves 

Salt to taste 

1 tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Black Pepper powder 

1 tsp Dried Basil 

1 Bay Leaf 

Fried Soya Balls

Boiled Spaghetti 

Grated Parmesan Cheese for garnish 

2 tbsp Olive Oil

Method 

Take a sauce pan, add the oil, let the oil heat up. Add the garlic, onion and bay leaf. Sauté the onion and garlic till translucent. Add the tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, sugar and salt. Stir for few seconds, add 1/2 cup water and cover the pan. Let it simmer for 20 minutes on a low flame. Remove the lid, stir,  add the pepper powder and dried basil. Stir it once more and let it simmer for another 10 minutes on a low flame. Switch off the flame and add the soya balls, stir the sauce once.

To serve the Soya Ball Spaghetti

Take a plate, add the boiled Spaghetti. Pour in the Sauce on the Spaghetti. Sprinkle the Parmesan Cheese and serve hot. 

    

Gandhoraj Lemon Cake

We had one Gandhoraj Lemon growing at our place. So used it to make this rustic simple delicious cake for my sweet little doggie, to celebrate her 6th birthday. It’s a simple recipe without using an oven. Made this cake in a wok / Kadai. 

Ingredients

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour 

1/2 tsp Baking powder

3/4 tsp Soda Bicarbonate 

1/4 tsp Salt

1 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

1/4 cup Butter

1 cup + 1/2 Milk 

Juice of 1 Gondharaj Lebu

1/4 tsp Zest of Gondharaj Lemon

1/2 tsp Vanilla essence

Method 

Take a cup of milk and add butter into it and microwave it for 30 seconds. Remove the milk from the microwave. Add the lime juice and vanilla essence. Stir and mix the liquid. Take a medium size mixer jar. Add the sugar and grind the sugar into a powder. Now gradually add the milk and churn the mixer until all the liquid and sugar have incorporated well. 

Take a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lime zest and mix the ingredients together. Grease the cake tin and keep it aside. Take a wok, add a stand to the base. Cover the wok with a lid and on a low flame let it pre heat. Now pour the churned milk gradually in the flour mix and mix the ingredients together. Add the oil and mix the batter. Now gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup milk and form a thick batter. Pour the batter into the greased pan and tap the cake tin 3 times. Place the baking tin into the wok, cover the lid and bake for 1 hour or until the cake is brown from top. To check insert a toothpick in the center of the cake, the toothpick should come out clean. 

Remove the cake tin from the wok and place it on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the cake tin and cool the cake completely. This cake can be kept for 2 days outside.

Bread Upma

This dish is ideal for breakfast or evening snacks. Upma is a common dish made in South India and Maharashtra. There are many ingredients that can be used to make Upma like Semolina, Vermicelli, Broken Wheat etc. Bread is another ingredient that can also be used to make Upma. If you have leftover bread pieces, you can use them. 

Ingredients 

5 to 6 pieces of Bread cut into small square pieces 

1 small Onion chopped 

1/4 of the Green Capsicum chopped 

1/4 of the Carrot chopped 

1/2 Tomato chopped 

Handful of Green Peas - I didn’t have 

1 Green Chilli chopped 

1 small piece of Ginger grated (optional) - I didn’t use

Few Coriander Leaves chopped 

Few Curry Leaves 

Juice of 1/2 Lime 

Handful of Peanuts or broken Cashews - I didn’t use 

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp Sugar 

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder 

Pinch of Asafoetida 

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tbsp Fresh Coconut grated or Desiccated Coconut 

1 tbsp Oil

Method 

Take oil in a Kadai. Let it heat. Add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chilli and asafoetida. Sauté it for few seconds. If you are adding peanuts or broken cashews, then add it now and sauté it for another few seconds. Add the chopped vegetables and ginger. Continue to sauté the vegetables for a minute. Add the Salt, Sugar, Turmeric powder and Chilli powder. Stir and add 1/4 cup of water. Let it simmer for few seconds. Add the bread pieces and gently stir all the ingredients together. Switch off the flame. Drizzle the lime juice and stir it once. Garnish the dish with coriander leaves and coconut. Serve the dish immediately. 

Lauer Khosar Bora / Bottle Gourd Peel Fritters

 Bottle Gourd Vegetable peel was left after making Lau Chingri  (Bottle Gourd with Prawns). We normally make Lauer Khosa Bhaja or Lauer Khosa Bata. Since it is raining, I was craving for Lauer Khosar Bora with ghee and garam bhaat (hot steaming rice). This can also be had with garam cha ( hot cup of tea ). 

Ingredients 

1 bowl of Bottle Gourd peels cut into small thin strips. 

2 Green Chillies chopped 

1/2 tsp Nigella seeds

1/2 tsp Poppy seeds

2 tbsp Rice powder 

2 tbsp Gram flour 

Salt to taste 

Oil to fry

Method 

Take the bottle gourd peels in a mixing bowl. Add the green chillies, poppy seeds, nigella seeds, salt, rice flour and gram flour. Mix all the ingredients well. There is no need of adding water.  Keep it aside for 5 minutes, meanwhile heat up the oil. Add little fritters in the oil. Fry until golden brown in colour. Enjoy the hot fritters. 

Singju

Singju is a very healthy popular Manipuri salad and is eaten mostly as snacks. Singju can be made with various types of vegetables, leafy vegetables and herbs. Some of the herbs are locally found only in Manipur.
Cabbage, lotus stem, coriander leaves, spring onion, onion, stink bean, cauliflower, raw papaya, banana flower are some of the vegetables used for making singju.
There is vegetarian version and the other is the non - vegetarian, one where the fermented fish is added.
I learnt this recipe from a lady who belongs to the Kuki tribe in Manipur. There are many ways each one makes singju. This is her version. She used cabbage, onion, coriander leaves and boiled white peas with crushed roasted chillies and salt.
Here I have add lotus stem, roasted perilla seeds (Bhangira / Bhangjeera) power with Pink salt and roasted chickpea powder in addition to the above ingredients.

Ingredients
1 cup of Cabbage cut into thin slices
Few slices of Lotus Stem
1 small Onion sliced
1/2 cup of White Peas boiled
2 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped
1 tbsp Roasted Chickpea powder
2 Roasted Red chillies crushed or as per the spiciness you like
1/2 tsp Roasted Perilla seed powder with Pink Salt
Add salt if required

Method
Take a bowl, add the cabbage, lotus stem, onion, boiled white peas, roasted chickpeas powder, roasted crushed chillies and roasted perilla seeds powder with pink salt. Mix all the ingredients together. Add the coriander leaves and mix the ingredients together. Serve it immediately.

Aloo r Chop in an Appe Pan / Potato Fritters Bengali Style made in an Appe Pan

Aloor Chop is a famous street food of Kolkata. It is found in any Tele Bhaja shop (Shop which sales fried food) in any corner of the street. It is normally had in the evening with garm... garm.. chai ( hot... hot.... tea) and served with Muri (Puffed Rice). Today I have made these aloo r chops in an appe pan using very less oil.

Ingredients 

2 medium size Potatoes boiled and mashed

2 Green chillies chopped

1/4 tsp Ginger paste 

1 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped 

1/2 cup Gram Flour 

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder 

1/4 tsp Carom seeds 

2 pinches of Soda Bicarbonate 

1 tsp Bhaja Masala 

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Mustard Oil

Method
Take the boiled potatoes in a bowl, add ginger, chillies, coriander leaves, Bhaja Masala and salt. Mix the ingredients well. Keep it aside. Take a mixing bowl with gram flour in it, add the salt and turmeric powder, mix the ingredients together, add the soda bicarbonate, mix it. Add the carom seeds, mix it. Now add little water at a time and mix the ingredients together into a thick smooth batter. Take the appe pan, add 1/4 tsp of oil into each cavity. Heat the oil. Now dip a potato ball in the batter and place it into the appe pan cavity. Repeat the process. Cover the appe pan and let it cook for 2 minutes. Open the pan, check the chop, turn the chop and continue to cook until golden brown from both the sides. Serve hot with Muri (Puffed Rice).

Kathal Ke Kabab

Kathal or Raw Jackfruit is known as vegetarian meat because of its texture and look. It has lots of health benefits. This dish what I made today can be served as starter or appetiser or can be eaten as snacks. This can be served with onions and green chutney. It’s a simple recipe with very less ghee or oil. 

Ingredients

250 grams Raw Jackfruit (Kathal)  cut into medium size cubes and boiled

1/4 cup Chana Dal boiled without any excess water

1 small Onion finely chopped

1 - 2 Green Chillies as per required cut into pieces 

2 small pieces Ginger 

3 Garlic Cloves 

1 tbsp Coriander Leaves chopped

1 tbsp Mint Leaves  chopped

1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder

1/2 tsp Chilli Powder

Salt to taste

1 tsp Cumin powder

1 tsp Fennel powder

1 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Lime juice 

Ghee or Oil for shallow frying

         

Method 

Take a food processor or a grinder. Add the boiled jack fruit, boiled chana dal,lime juice, green chillies, ginger, garlic, garam masala powder, fennel powder, chilli powder, salt, cumin powder and coriander powder.  Grind it into a coarse paste. Transfer the paste into a bowl. Add the onion, coriander leaves and mint leaves. Mix it well. Take a lime size portions of the paste and flatten it. Take a pan, add ghee or oil. Let it heat on a medium heat. Add the kababs into the ghee or oil. Shallow fry it on both the side until golden brown in colour. Serve the kababs with onion and green chutney. 

P.S. Don’t over cook the jackfruit and the chana dal. 

It’s better to use a food processor than a grinder as it takes a bit longer to grind in a grinder. Don’t add any water while grinding. 

I prefer ghee to fry the kababs as it enhances the flavour of the kababs. 

Almond and Whole Wheat Orange Cookies

These orange flavoured cookies are home made and healthy too. Make them for your friends and family in a day advance and enjoy them with a hot cup of tea. You can add orange colour to the cookies but I don’t prefer adding any artificial colour. As you bite into the cookie and chew it, suddenly you get a strong flavour of the orange and that is due to the orange peel that has been added in the cookie dough while kneading. Please note that the white side of the orange peel should be scraped and removed before chopping or else it may give the cookies a bitter taste. 

Ingredients 

2 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup Almond Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder 

1/4 cup Orange Juice

1/2 tsp Orange Essence 

1 tsp Orange Peel chopped 

1 cup Butter 

1 cup Powder Sugar 

Method 

Take a mixing bowl. Sieve the whole wheat flour, almond flour and baking powder together. Take butter and sugar together in another bowl. Beat it well, till fluffy. Add the essence and orange juice. Beat it once more. Add the flour and mix it well. Now knead the ingredients all together to form a dough. Add the orange peel and knead it once more. Take half of the dough and roll the dough into 1/4 inch thick sheet. Cut the desire shapes with the help of a cookie cutter and place the cookies on a baking tray at little distance. With a help of a fork press the top of the cookies to get some impression. Bake it at 170 to 180 degree celsius for 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove it from the oven and let it cool in the same baking tray. After it cools down, remove it from the baking tray and further coo it down. Keep it in a air tight container and enjoy the cookies. 

Savoury Mini Cake Loaf

This is a healthy vegetarian dish which can be served as snacks.

Here I have used Amaranth Flour and Semolina for the base along with vegetables. I have used chickpea leaves as it's available in the market in this season but we can use spinach leaves instead of chickpea leaves. 

Amaranth Flour contains high source of Protein, Calcium and Fiber. It is ideal for gluten intolerent. It has high levels of the amino acid lysine which help your body to properly absorb calcium from the digestive tract. Here I have used Amaranth flour from Original Indian Table which I had received it as a prize in  a contest. 

Ingredients

1 cup Amaranth Flour

1 cup Fine Semolina

1 small Onion chopped

1 medium size Carrot chopped 

1 medium size Capsicum chopped 

1/2 cup Chickpea Leaves or Spinach chopped 

2 Fresh Green / Red Chillies chopped

1 tsp Garlic chopped

1/2 tsp Ginger chopped

2 1/2 tbsp Walnut chopped

Salt to taste

1 tsp Sugar 

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Soda Bicarbonate

1/4 cup Melted Ghee

500 ml Butter Milk

Method

Mix together amaranth flour, semolina, salt, turmeric powder, sugar and baking powder. Mix it. Add the ghee. Now add the butter milk little at a time into the flour and whisk it. Whisk it properly so that no lumps remain and it forms into a thick batter. Add all the vegetables. Mix the batter well. Add the soda bicarbonate and mix it again. Here I have taken 3 mini loaf tin and greased it with ghee. Pour the batter into the pan until 3/4 of the pan is filled. Sprinkle the chopped walnut on top.

Bake it in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. After 45 minutes, insert a tooth pick and check. If it comes out clean then it’s done. Remove it from the oven and let it cool a bit. Remove it from the tin, cool it further before slicing. Enjoy it with a cup of tea. 

Phulkopir Singara

Singara in Bengal is different from Samosa which is made in other parts of India because of the stuffing and the spice powder that is used. Phulkopir singara is best to make during winters as cauliflower is easily available in the market.  

To make the singara crispy, the  moyen / amount of ghee or oil has to be proper and mixed well with the flour.  Instead of cashews you can also fried peanuts and add it to the stuffing. 

While frying the singara the temperature of the oil has to be low to get uniform golden colour and crispness. Serve the singara with tetuler / tamarind chutney. 

For the Stuffing 

Ingredients

1 large size Potato cut into medium size cubes 

1 cup Cauliflower cut into small  florets 

1/2 cup Green Peas 

2 Green Chillies chopped 

1 tsp Ginger minced 

1 tbsp Raisins 

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds 

2 Bay Leaves 

1 tbsp broken Cashew nuts

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder 

1 tsp Sugar 

Salt to taste

2 1/2 tsp Bhaja masala (Dry roast 1 tsp Cumin, 1 1/2 tsp Coriander seeds and 1 Dry red chilli. Cool it and grind it into fine powder)

1tbsp Ghee

Method 

Take 2 cups of water in a pot. Add potatoe, cauliflower, peas and salt. Boil it till the vegetables are cooked. Drain the vegetables and keep it aside. Heat Ghee in a pan. Add cumin seeds and bay leaves. Let the Cumin seed crackle. Add the cashews, stir an sauté till the cashews are brown in colour. Add the green chillies and ginger. Stir for a minute. Add the vegetables, raisins, salt, sugar and turmeric
powder. Stir and cook for a minute. Add the bhaja masala. Stir and mash some of the vegetables. Switch of the flame and transfer it into a bowl. 

For the Dough and Singara

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour 

Salt to taste 

1/4 tsp Soda bicarbonate

1 1/2 tbsp Ghee

Stuffing 

Oil to fry 

Method 

Add salt and soda bicarbonate into the flour. Mix it. Add 1 tbsp ghee. Mix the flour well using your finger tips. Add little water at a time and knead the flour into a hard dough. Add 1/2 tsp ghee and knead it well. Keep the dough in a bowl, cover and let it rest for 15 minutes. Take a lime size ball. Roll the dough into a ball. Flatten the ball on the rolling board. Apply little ghee on the dough and roll the dough into a round disc. Cut the disc into halves. Take one part of the cut disc. Fold the straight edges to make a cone. Fill 3/4th of the cone with the stuffing. Seal the opposite ends of the opening by pressing with your finger. Repeat the same process till you make all the singara. Take oil in a wok. Heat the oil on a low heat. Add the singara and fry on a low heat till it is uniformly golden brown from all sides. Remove it on a paper towel. Serve it hot with tetuler / tamarind chutney.