Ragda Pattice Take Two ( A spicy pea soup over potato cakes?)

Ragda Patis/pattice is a hot pea soup served with a potato pattis/pattice base.   Ragda pattis/pattice can be eaten as a snack or as a complete meal depending on your mood. The ragda is thick soup made from dried peas. The pattis/pattice can be made with several fillings too but I usually tend to make it with just potatoes. My original recipe for ragda pattis/pattice is here.  This time I decided to make my pattis/pattice with a spicy filling for some of my friends who love their food hot and spicy.  The ragda pattice tasted superb and my friends couldn't stop talking about the amazing taste.

Ingredients for the Ragda (Serves 4 ):

2 cups dried peas vatana (often labelled vatana on the packet)

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

2-3 cloves

2-3 dried red chillies

½ tsp of whole coriander seeds.

2 -3 green chillies finely chopped

small piece of ginger grated

2-3 cloves of garlic grated

2 cups of tomatoes

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon of brown sugar or jaggery

small bunch of coriander

5-6 curry leaves (optional)

For the pattice:

4 medium potatoes

1 finely chopped onion

1 cup  fresh peas which should be boiled until soft

2 green chillies

small piece of grated ginger

small bunch of chopped coriander

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

2-3 tbs of Mash Potato powder

½  cup of oil

When serving:

1 Onion chopped finely

2-3 green chillies

small bunch of coriander
Tamarind sauce
coriander and green chillies chutney

Method:

For the Ragda:

1. Soak the dried peas overnight.

2. Wash the peas, add a litre and a half of water and boil the dried peas. Using a pressure cooker makes this easier as the peas need to be overcooked.

3. Using a blender, mash up the peas. The mash may look quite thick but that's fine too as you can add boiling water to the mixture to make it to the consistency you like.

4.   Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan and add the tomatoes to the  mixture.  Add in the salt, turmeric, green chillies, ginger and garlic.   Add the curry leaves, coriander, jaggery and the lemon juice.  Add a cup of water to the mixture if its too thick and allow this mixture to simmer. 

5.  Now for tempering the Ragda: Heat the Oil and add the mustad seeds, coriander seeds, cloves and dried red chillies to it.  Once the mustard seeds stop popping - add the tempering mixture on top of the ragda mixture. 

6.    The ragda should be thick like soup so do add water to the mixture if your ragda looks too thick.

 7.    Whilst the radga is simmering, prepare the pattis/pattice.

For the Pattice:

8.  Peel and dice the potatoes and put them to boil with just enough water. Once boiled, mash them until they are all blended and mashed.

9.  Once cooled, add the salt, pepper and coriander to the potatoes and mix.  Divide the potato mixture into 8-10 balls the size of a golf ball.

10. In a saucepan, heat the oil and stir-fry the onions.  Add the chopped green chillies and boiled peas and salt and pepper to taste. 

11. Once  cooked, blend the mixer using a blender/mixer as much as you can.  Once cooled, divide the mixture into 10 -12 small balls.

12.    Sprinkle some potato mash on a work top and press one potato ball on a work top to shape it into a small round circle.  Put the green peas mixture on top of the pattice.  

13.  Pull the potato mixture over the  green peas until all covered.  

14. Press this again into a small circle.  

15.  Keep the  pattis/pattice on a greased tray and leave it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

16.  Brush or spray the pattis/pattice with oil.

17.  Heat the oven at 170 degrees F.  Transfer the pattis/pattice to a non stick baking  tray  and cook them for 20 minutes.  They will look similar to potato cakes. 

18. To serve, take a hot pattis/pattice and top them with the hot and spicy ragda. Top this with the chopped onions, green chillies and coriander. You can also add tamarind or green chutney to the topping if you like. It all depends on how spicy you like your ragda pattis.

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Corn and wheat flour chapatis (Indian bread)

Chapatis or chappattis are usually made from wheat flour and eaten with most Indian curries.   Different Regions of India have their own unique style of making chapatis.  In Kenya, the locals make them big and quite thick and often fry them but call them roti. I like to make small and thinly rolled out chapatis.  And no Indian meal is complete without either the chapati or paratha of some kind.  I have recently started to mix other flours to my chapati flour and am really enjoying the taste.  This recipe is made up of mixing 2 cups of strong white flour with one cup of corn flour.

Ingredients:

2 cups of Strong White flour - preferrably chapati flour

1 cup corn flour

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

pinch of salt

half cup flour - to use when rolling out the chapatis

2 teaspoons of olive oil (you can use any oil)

butter or ghee to spread on the chapati (optional) 

1 cup of warm water

Method:

1.  Sieve  the two flours.

2.  Add the salt, oregano and oil.

3.  Using warm water, mix the flour well.  Make sure that you pour the water in small amounts so that the dough doesn't get too soft.  Spread some oil in your palms and knead  until the dough feels pliable - almost like "play dough".  Leave the dough on a floured surface for 5 minutes. 

4.    Now mix your dough folding it in as you mix. Cover the dough and let it rest for at least half an hour.  If you have time,  leave it in the fridge for as long as you can.  Leaving it in the fridge overnight and then making these chapatis produces the best results.   When you are ready to make the chapatis, take out the dough and warm it in the microwave for 20 seconds.  Knead it well and if the flour still  feels cold, you can warm it again for 10 or 20 seconds.  The dough should become slightly warm,  smooth and pliable.

5.  Divide the flour into 15 small balls as shown below:

6.   Dust each ball using the dry flour and roll out the chapati.  You can use any rolling pin and a work top if you do not have a pastry stand.  Making perfect round chapatis does take a bit of practice. The trick to a perfect chapati is to ensure that it rolled out evenly. Grip the rolling pin gently placing the palms of your hands on the at the edges of the rolling pin.  Dust some dry flour on the worktop let the chapati almost roll itself.  Try and resist pressing too hard in the centre of the chapati.  The same pressure should be on the whole chapati.   Please don't be put off if the shape of the chapati looks like the map of Africa or USA....the proof of the pudding is in the taste!!  Practice makes perfect 

7.  Cook it on medium heat using a griddle or dry frying pan. As soon as you can see little bubbles appear on its surface turn it over onto the o ther side. Press the chappatti gently; with dry kitchen paper. The air in the chapati will start to rise when you press the chapati with the kitchen paper. Keep turning the chapati until it rises or you get little dark spots.  Be careful when it rises as the hot air can scald your hands.

8.  Remove  the chapati and keep it on a plate.  Make sure that the plate is covered with a kitchen paper . The hot chapati causes condensation and the kitchen paper keeps the chapati dry.  If you like you can spread some butter or ghee on the chapati and continue making the rest, stacking them like pancakes. If you decide not to spread butter or ghee on the chapatis, my advice would be to keep the chapatis covered with a clean cloth.  This will keep them soft.  These chapatis taste just as nice as the ones made with just strong wheat flour ones. 

9.  Serve it with rice and any curry.  I made mung dall with my chapatis.

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Almond Barfi - An Indian sweet with powdered milk and almonds

These almond barfis were made by my husband as a surprise for me mother’s day.  He adapted my recipe for chocolate barfis and came up with these delicious almond barfis. They were really delicious and easy to make. If he can make them - anyone can!! (BTW: more recipes to come from him later this week!!)

Here's the recipe as written by him with step by step pictures:

Ingredients for about 20 slices

3 cups of full cream milk powder

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of ground almonds

½ cup almond halves

1 teaspoon cardamom powder

2-3 pinches of saffron

2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)

Method

1.  Add three quarter cup of water to the sugar and slowly bring to boil until the sugar has melted.  This should take under 10 minutes on a high.

2.  Once the sugar and water mixture starts to feel sticky (Don't allow it to become stringy or stiff); add the milk powder to the sugar mixture and stir.  

3.  Mix well and once mixed, lower the heat.  Add the saffron and cardomom powder now and stir it in. ( Soak the saffron in two tablespoons of milk for 5-6 minutes as this gives the barfi the flavour and the colour).

4.  Add the ground almonds and ghee.  Cook this mixture on a medium heat for 5-7 minutes and take it off the heat.  

5. It may feel a bit soft but will settle and become firm once it cools.

6.  Grease a dish with some oil and turn the barfi mixture onto the dish.  Spread the mixture using the back of a spoon and smoothen it. Garnish it with almond halves.

7 .  Allow this mixture to cool until it solidifies.   

8.  Once the barfi has cooled, cut it into squares or diamonds and it’s ready to eat.  Any left over barfis should be kept in an air tight container and should be fine for a week.

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Sprouted Mung beans curry

Mung beans are  full of protein.  They can be cooked in several ways.   For this recipe, I soaked them overnight and then left them covered in a warm place so that they start sprouting.   Making the curry is very similar to cooking the simple mung bean curry.

Ingredients (for 3-4 servings):

2 cups of sprouted mung beans
2 tablespoons oil ( I used sunflower oil)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 small pieces of cinnamon sticks
2 or 3 cloves
1 or 2 small dry red chillies (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilly powder
2 green chillies sliced through the middle ( if you like hot food!)
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
3-4 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tablespoon sugar or jaggery
1 tablespoon lemon juice (can use more if you like sweet and sour taste)
2 cups of crushed tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes can be used but would need to be softened a bit before adding.
a few curry leaves and a small bunch of coriandar

Method

1. To sprout the beans, wash the mung beans and allow them to soak overnight.  The next morning, remove all the water and keep the beans covered in a warm place.  I tend to keep these in a see through jug or bottle covered with a dark plastic bag.  Keep these overnight and they should have started to sprout.  In cold countries, you may have to leave them for half a day more to sprout. Once sprouted, wash the mung beans and use in curries or salad. Any extra beans can be frozen to use next time.

2.  Add a litre of water to the mug and boil them until they soften and split - I used a pressure cooker and cooked them for 40 minutes on a medium heat.  Some people like their mung beans  runny and can add more water.  I prefer mine to be thick so don't add too much water to them whilst cooking them.  Also, it's always easier to add water to the mug as it is cooking so start off with just a litre of water.

Whilst the mung beans are cooking, prepare the spices etc:

3.   Blend the tomatoes in a bowl.

4.   Add the tomato puri, salt, turmeric, chilly powder, sugar, lemon juice, the green chillies, crushed ginger, crushed garlic and coriander and curry leaves to the tomatoes and mix well.

5.   Once the mung beans have cooked - prepare the seasoning.

6.   Pour the oil in a saucepan and let it get hot.

7.  Add in the cinnamon, cloves, the dry red chillies and mustard seeds to the oil. The mustard seeds and cloves will pop so keep the saucepan covered.

10.  Add the tomato mixture with all the spices to the oil and stir well.  Cook for 3-4 minutes.

10. Now add the cooked mung beans to the tomato mixture and allow it to cook for 10 minutes.  At this stage, you can either cook it further to reduce the water - or add water to the mung - depending on how you like your mung bean gravy.

11.  Sprinkle coriander and serve the mung beans hot with rice or chappatis or porathas.

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Home made bread crumbs

Got any left over bread.  Well you can use it to feed the birds but there has been lots of articles lately about how bad bread is for the birds.  In that case, you can use it make bread pakoras or french bread pizza or spicy toasted sandwiches.  You can also use it to make bread crumbs.  The best bread I like for making bread crumbs is French bread sticks as they tend to dry really well. I usually make plain bread crumbs but you can add herbs such as oregano and rosemary to the bread if you wish.

Ingredients for 2 cups of bread crumbs:

half of a French bread stick

Method:

1. Allow the bread stick to become hard by leaving it in a paper bag.

2.  Cut the bread into small cubes

3.  Heat the oven at 190 degrees and allow the bread to warm in the oven for 10 minutes.

4. Once it's cooled, grind it in a food processor

5.  Using a  strainer, sift the breadcrumbs and grind any left over big pieces of bread.

6. Store the bread crumbs in an air tight bottle or freeze them to use whenever you need them.

I tend to use them to add to pakora batter.  Watch out for my paratha recipe using bread crumbs.

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Paneer and cheddar cheese stuffed parathas

Please take a look at my alu stuffed paratha recipe which I posted a couple of years ago.  I like to make stuffed parathas as an occasional treat and it's nice to try out different fillings.

In this recipe, I have used paneer, cheddar cheese, onion and potato for the stuffing.


Ingredients for 6-8 parathas:

For the filling/stuffing:

1 boiled, medium potato
1 small onion - finely grated
half cup grated paneer (easy to make paneer recipe here)
half cup grated cheddar cheese
2 or 3 green chillies - minced
small bunch of coriander - cut finely
half a teaspoon salt
one teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
pinch of garam masala (optional)

For the paratha dough:

2 cups of strong wheat flour (often called Atta or chappati flour)
pinch of salt
1 clove of garlic - minced
Some sunflower oil

Method:

 First prepare the dough:

1.  Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl.

2.  Add the salt and garlic to the flour

3.  Add two teaspoons of oil to the flour.

4.  Mix well and prepare the dough by adding some warm water to the dough.

5.  Keep blending it using a drop of oil so it doesn't stick to the mixing bowl -until it gets soft and pliable.   Let it rest for half an hour.

Next prepare the stuffing:

6.  Blend the paneer and chillies, salt, lemon juice, sugar and garam masala.

7. Add the boiled potato, grated onions and cheddar cheese and mix:

8.   Make little balls (slightly smaller than golf balls) of your filling and of your dough.

9.  Sprinkle some dry flour and roll out the dough to a small circle.  Add the filling to the circle

10. Fold in the dough circle, joining all the edges:

11.   Sprinkle some flour to the dough circle and turn it over:

12.  Using a thin rolling pin, roll out the paratha:   The size depend on how much dough and filling you used.

13.  Spread a spoonful of oil on the paratha and fry in a non stick pan.

14. Enjoy it with any curry or yoghurt.

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