Khaman Dhokla Chaat (Spicy snack using dhoklas)

I had some left over dhokla so I decided to spice them up similar to bhel/chaat  to make what we can khaman dhokla.   It's really easy and you can use any toppings and garnishing you like.

Ingredients for 2-3 servings:

15-20 small pieces of dhokla
2 bowls of sev noodles (you can also use sev mamra, crisps, chevdo or Bombay mix)
2 tbls of oil
1 tsp. mustard seeds
salt to taste
1-2 tsp of sugar (optional)
1-2 tbls lemon juice
1 finely chopped onion
3-4 finely green chillies
1-2 small finely chopped sweet chili peppers or half a capsicum
2-3 tbls of green coriander chutney (you can use any ready made chili sauce too)
2-3 tbls of tamarind sauce (you can use any ready made chili sauce too)
bunch of chopped coriander

Method:

1. Transfer the dhoklas to a large bowl.

2.  Using your hands crumble them as much as you can.

3.  Heat the oil in a small saucepan and add the mustard seeds.  Once they stop popping, add this on top of the crumbled dhoklas.

4.  Add the sev noodles on top of the mixture and stir well.

5.  Top this with the chopped onions, coriander, peppers, chillies.  Add the lemon juice and salt (if needed).  Taste the mixture and add lemon and sugar if you like a sweet and sour taste.

6.  Serve cold as a crispy sweet and sour snack

If you enjoy reading my blog, please click on Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

My blog is also available on Kindle.

Cannellini Beans Curry (also known as White Kidney Beans)

This recipe has been written especially for my son who phoned me up asking for the recipe for cooking these white beans as well as Kidney beans. It always gives me pleasure to know that he often refers to my blog.

Cannellini beans also known as white kidney beans are full of protein and taste really great.  They are available ready boiled in tins as well as dried beans which need to be soaked in cold water before cooking.  The best way to boil them is in a pressure cooker as it is quicker.  I have always been very fond of  any kind of beans such as the dark kidney beans, butter beans or black eyed beans and love them best cooked as a curry with a slightly sweet and sour taste.


Ingredients (serves 2):

2 cups of boiled cannellini beans.. If using dry Cannellini  beans, you need to soak them overnight before boiling them until soft.
2 cups of crushed tomatoes ( you can used pasata or fresh tomatoes )
2 tbls cooking oil (I used sunflower oil)
1 tsp dry cumin, 2 small pieces of cinammon, 3 small cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilly powder
1 tsp crushed garlic
1  tbls lemon juice
1 tbls jaggery or brown sugar
1 small bunch of coriander and some curry leaves.
2 fresh green chillies

Method:

1. Heat  2 tablespoons cooking oil  and add the cumin seeds, cloves and cinammon and allow the cumin to cook until it looks dark.

2.  Add the garlic, curry leaves and tomatoes to the mixture and stir.

3.  Add all the spices, lemon and jaggery to the tomato mixture.

4. Cook all the ingredients until the tomatoes go soft and homogenous.

5.. Add the boiled cannelloni beans to the mixture and cook for a further 10 minutes on a medium heat. (If for some reason - your gravy looks too runny - you can add one teaspoon of corn flour to the mixture and that should thicken the gravy)

6.  Serve the curry hot with rice and salad.

 
 If you enjoy reading my blog, please click on Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

My blog is also available on Kindle.

Rice bhajias (Rice fritters)

Rice bhajias are my old time favourite comfort food for weekend snack.  It's perfect for using up left over cooked rice. You can serve them as snacks with any dip.  They make a perfect starter too.

Ingredients for 20-25 fritters

2 heaped cups of cooked rice
250 grams of chick pea flour (also known as besan)
1 grated onion
2-3 chopped green chillies
1 chopped red sweet chilly pepper
1 tbls grated ginger
2 tbls whole coriander
2 tsps ajma (carom seeds)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp coarse black pepper
2 pinches of soda bi carbonate
1 pinch of turmeric
350 cc warm water
1 litre oil for deep frying

Method:

1.  Transfer the rice to a large mixing bowl.

2.  Add the chopped onions and red peeper, chilies, ginger and garlic

 3.  Add the spices - salt, pepper, whole coriander,ajma and turmeric.

4.  Add the chickpea flour and mix it using the warm water. Go easy on the water as you may not need to use all of it.   The mixture shouldn't be too runny.

 

5.  Heat the oil and drop a small piece of mixture in the oil.  If it rises up -the oil is ready for frying the bhajias.  Add a couple of pinches of soda bicarbonate to the mixture with a tablespoon of the hot oil from the fryer.  Mix this and using a tablespoon, gently drop small bhajias in the oil.  As soon as they rise up, turn them and cook until golden brown. 

5.  Serve them hot with any dip or chutney.

6.  When entertaining, you can make a variety of bhajias - spring onion bhajias; onion bhajias; lentil bhajia; bread bhajias; maru bhajia

If you enjoy reading my blog, please click on Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

My blog is also available on Kindle.

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.

If you enjoy reading my blog, please click on Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

My blog is also available on Kindle.

Beans and Mash Bake (or Pizza with a Difference?)

I was going to have mashed potatoes with beans and  with various toppings for my meal but changed it to this dish to make it a bit more interesting and made this dish which I have named Beans and Mash Bake but it could be called Pizza with a difference too!! The dish tasted nice with all the flavours blending in.  It looked like a pizza but had a potato base.  This would be perfect to serve to anyone with an allergy to yeast, bread or wheat.  Not sure about it being Gluten free as It's not my area of expertise.  The ingredients for this dish are what everyone would have in their cupboard.

Ingredients to make 3 -4 servings (you can change the ingredients to your choice)

4-5 large boiled potatoes
1 tbsp butter
200 grams baked beans (half a can of baked beans)
250 gms a mixture of grated cheddar and mozzarella cheese (or 2-3 cups of grated cheese)
2-3 red and yellow peppers - sliced thinly
2-3 green chillies - chopped
2-3 small white onions - sliced thinly
7-8 small tomatoes - sliced thinly
200 gram of sweet corn (Half a can of sweet corn)
1 red onion and red pepper - grated together
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp oregano

Method:

1.  Cook and mash the potatoes by adding some butter, salt, pepper and oregano to them and layer them on a  greased flan dish

 2.  Prepare all the vegetables as you prefer.  I sliced most of the vegetables for garnishing but also grated a red carrot and red pepper to stir fry. 

3.  Grate the red onion and red pepper and stir fry them in a tbsp of olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste.

4.  Spread the baked beans on top of the mashed potato.

5.  Spread the stir-fried pepper and onion on top of the beans

6. Add the sweet corn on top of this layer. You can add any more vegetables (or pineapples etc.) if you like.

7.  Spread this layer with grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese (You can use any cheese you like)

8.  Finally garnish the dish with sliced peppers, tomatoes, onions and green chillies. Sprinkle salt and peppers and oregano on top.

9.  Bake this in a medium oven (170 degrees) for 20 minutes. (Fan ovens may take less time)

10.  Let it cool slightly for 5-6 minutes before serving.  It's easier to slice this when it's cooled down slightly. 

If you enjoy reading my blog, please click on Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

My blog is also available on Kindle.

Ondhwo, or Handvo for Sunday brunch

I love Sunday mornings as it's one of those quiet and peaceful days.  Most of the family members tend to enjoy a lie in and It gives me a chance to cook them something nice for brunch.  This morning we are having hot Ondhwo. (Some people call it Handvo or Ondhwa).  This dish is a regular one in our household as it's often been a life saver when we are decorating or gardening.  It's a meal in itself as it if full of a selection of lentils and grains as well as fresh vegetables.  I would say that it's like eating a savoury cake.  It needs a bit of preparation as you need to soak the Ondhwa flours in yogurt overnight.  Lots of people skip this step and make it instantly (by adding Eno fruit salt  as a raising agent I think) but this it tastes better when prepared my way.  The fermentation in yogurt helps it the ondhwa rise and also gives it the lovely yogurty taste.  We usually serve it hot with a selection of chutneys and dips.   The left over Handvo will go in my lunch box.

This Handvo  was served with green chutney, tamarind sauce and coconut chutney.  Links to the recipes are in this article.

If you enjoy reading my blog, please click on Follow or become a fan of my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

My blog is also available on Kindle.