Monday, April 19, 2010

Ragda Petis or Samosa


Ingredients:
2 medium onions,finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped coriander
1 large tomato,finely chopped
3 tbsp beaten curds
1/4 cup fine sev/bhujia
1/2 tsp roasted jeera powder
1/2 tsp sugar
salt to taste

For Patties:
3-4 Big potatoes(Alu)
2-3 Bread slices
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp chopped coriander(optional)
Salt
oil for shallow frying

For Ragda:
1 1/2 Cup yellow dry Peas
2 medium onions,finely chopped
1" Ginger
5-6 cloves of garlic
1 tsp red chilli powder(can be replaced by 3-4 green chillies)
2 tbsp chopped coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 tbsp Amchur powder(can be replaced by 2 tbsp tamarind pulp)
1 tsp Cumin seeds
a pinch of hing
Salt to taste

For Green Chutney:
1 cup Coriander leaves
1/2 cup mint leaves
4-5 green chillies
1" ginger,chopped
1 lemon,squeezed
salt to taste

For Tamarind Chutney:
1/4 cup tamarind pulp
7-8 seedless dates
1/4 cup grated jaggery
1 tsp black salt/kala namak
1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste(add less)
Method:

For making Patties:
  • Boil the potatoes or pressure cook for 2 whistles.Cool them,mash or grate potatoes in a bowl and keep it aside.
  • Cut the brown edges of bread and slowly dip in water for few seconds and squeeze out extra water from it.Add the squeezed out bread chunks to the potato mixed and season with enough salt.
  • Add red chilli powder,garam masala and coriander to it and mix well.
  • Make Patties(either round,heart or oval shaped ones) around half inch thickness and keep them aside or keep in refrigerator for an hour.
  • Take a wide bottom tawa/pan pour oil over it and shallow fry the tikki's until golden brown on both sides over medium heat.(I did it on the hot pan/tawa with minimum oil usage)
For making Ragda:
  • Soak the yellow peas overnight and pressure cook with little salt and turmeric for 1-2 whistles.Do not pressure cook for long otherwise it will become very mushy.
  • Grind Ginger,garlic,green chillies and coriander to a fine paste.(if green chillies are not used,do not add them).
  • Heat oil and fry the finely chopped Onions till brown,now add the ground paste and fry until the oil leaves the sides and now add cooked peas and enough water and boil it until the gravy thickens,slightly mash some peas to get a thick and nice gravy.
  • Add garam masala,roasted cumin powder,amchur powder,turmeric and enough salt to it and mix well.
  • Keep it simmered while the patties are almost ready.
  • Taste the ragda at this stage and adjust the salt,spicyness and sourness according to your taste.
For making Green Chutney:
  • Wash coriander and mint leaves and drain them completely.
  • Grind the leaves with remaining all ingredients(chillies,ginger,lemon juice and salt) to a smooth paste.
  • You can store this in refrigerator in an air-tight bottle up to a week.Make it in a large proportion and you can even pour them in ice cube tray and freeze them to form ice cubes which can be stored for months together.
For making Tamarind Chutney:
  • Boil tamarind pulp with chopped dates and jaggery until it forms a thick syrupy liquid and cool the mixture completely.
  • Grind it into a fine paste and bring it to a boil again and add red chili powder,kala namak/black salt,roasted cumin powder and salt to it and mix well.
  • Cool the mixture and pour them in air-tight bottles in refrigerator for months together.
Assembling them together:
  • Beat curds with sugar until uniform and smooth.
  • Arrange two patties on a serving plate and pour hot ragda over it.
  • Sprinkle with onions and tomatoes over the ragda mixture.
  • Drizzle green chutney,beaten curds all over and generously drizzle tamarind chutney over it.Add the chutney's according to your taste buds.
  • Sprinkle roasted cumin powder and a pinch of salt and generously sprinkle sev over it.
  • Garnish with coriander.
Serve hot immediately.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Papdi Chaat

Coriander Chutney

Ingredients:

  • 1 big bunch of chopped Cilantro (green coriander)
  • 6 leaves of mint
  • 2 green chopped chilies
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 inch Piece of Ginger

  • Method:
  1. Blend all ingredients, except the cilantro, into a paste.
  2. Add the cilantro, a little at a time, and blend. If needed, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water. The water will help in blending.
  3. Blend well and add more salt, green chilies, or lemon juice to taste.

Tamarind Chutney
1) Mix together
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup soft pitted dates or 12 pack of pitted baking dates
  • 14 cup jaggery
  • 14 cup tamarind
  • Salt to taste

2. Pressure cook the mixture.After 2 whistles let it cook. Use a spatula or potato masher to press down on the tamarind and dates and extract as much of the pulp as possible. Stir well to dissolve all the ingredients. Taste and add more of tamarind or jaggery or salt to get the sweet/tangy/salty balance you like best.(TRY TO MAKE IT ON THE SWEET SIDE)

3. Pass the mixture through a large-pored sieve to remove the fibers. Chutney that is too thick may be difficult to strain so dilute it with filtered water if necessary. Refrigerate.

Special Dahi Masala Powder
cumin (jeera) - 2 tbsps, black cardamom (or usual ones) - 2 , pepper - 2 tsp, black salt - 1 tsp.
Dry roast all these together and cool and powder well. This gives a good aroma and taste to dahi chats and dahi bhalla.

For Garnish
1) Boil Potatoes and cut into small pieces
2) Cut tomatoes and onions
3) Boil Chik Peas
4) Whisk yogurt and make it a mixture thick .....add salt for taste
5) Cut coriander in small pieces
6) Garnish with cumin powder,chaat powder,sea salt,coriander and Sev