Green Bean Kachori

Kachori is simply irresistible deep fried snack where pastry sheets ( made from plain flour dough) is stuffed with filling made of either potato, moong dal or pigeon peas. The one made with pigeon peas is quite popular in Gujarat. It is winter specialty and we eagerly wait for this time of the year when we have first of the season.

However, we do not get fresh peas here. So my mom taught me this green bean version where peas are simply replaced by beans with remaining ingredients exactly the same. In the beginning, I was bit hesitant  but thought it was worth a try. If we like it we can have them whenever we want as we get fresh beans at very reasonable price round the year.

Makes about 16-18 pc
Preparation Time: 1 Hour
Cooking Time: 30 Minute + Cooling Time

Ingredients

1 Lb Beans

1 tsp oil

1 tsp sesame seeds

Pinch of asafetida

1 tbsp green chili paste

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced (Best if Green Garlic is used)

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/4 tsp clove-cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp Coriander leaves

Salt and lemon juice as per taste

For dough,

2 cup plain flour

1 tsp whole wheat flour

1 tsp oil

Salt

Oil for frying

Procedure
1. Finely chop  green beans using chopper

2. Heat oil in skillet, add sesame seeds, asafetida and chopped beans

3. Cook it on low flame uncovered

4. Add chili paste, salt and sugar

5. Stir frequently so it does not stick to the bottom of the skillet

6. When it’s almost cooked, add lemon juice, garam masala and clove-cinnamon powder

7. Turn off the heat, add garlic and coriander leaves

8. Now stuff is ready, let it cool down thoroughly at room temperature

9. Mix flour, oil and salt and knead hard dough like puri

10. Roll two thin puris, fill in the stuffing between them and seal thoroughly

11. Deep fry on low flame until golden brown
12. Serve hot with tamarind and/or green chutney. 

Dahi Vada

I never have liked plain yogurt so when I was a kid, mom would make this dish very often so that way I can consume some quantity of yogurt. And eventually it became one of my favorite dishes. It can be served as an appetizer, as a snack or even as a side dish. The thing I love the most about this dish is that it can be prepared well in advance and refrigerated.

During my initial days in US, I used to by readymade packet of flour. It worked well for quite a while but then I realized that Vadas become too soft and sometimes dry too. Making batter by soaking and grinding dal was not at all difficult, so in due course I started making them from scratch.

Makes 25 vada

Preparation Time: 15 Minute + soaking tme

Cooking Time: 30 Minute

Ingredients

1 cup udad dal

1 tsp green chili paste

1 tsp ginger paste

8-10 whole pepper

Salt

Oil for frying

To serve,

1 cup yogurt

3 tbsp tamarind chutney

1/2 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

Coriander leaves

Salt and sugar per taste

Procedure

1. Soak dal in warm water for 6-8 hour, remove water and grind into smooth paste

2. Add salt, pepper, chili and ginger paste

3. Dip fry them and later soak into water until they become soft

4. Gently press them with palm to remove extra water

To serve,

1. Arrange Vada in a large plate in a single layer

2. Beat yogurt with little water, add salt and sugar

3. Spread yogurt on Vada, pour tamarind chutney

4. Sprinkle chat masala and red chili powder and garnish with coriander leaves

5. Serve cold

P.S. Left over batter can be frozen. If you are not in a mood to again fry Vada, make small pancakes on griddle. Mix with yougurt, tamarind and green chutney, boiled and diced potatoes, black chana, pomegranate seeds (optional), sev and sprinkle chat masala and red chili powder. This Dahi vada chat tastes even better!!

Kathi Roll (Paneer Tikka and Alu)

When we used to live in NJ, we would often take train  to NYC. And such trips were never considered complete without Kathi Rolls. Nowadays, quite many Indian Restaurants offer Kathi Rolls in appetizer but none of them can be compared to what we get in NYC. These rolls are nothing but whole wheat wraps stuffed with marinated and grilled paneer or boiled potatoes. Simple may it sound, but when you try same thing at home, you would never get the exact taste. But recently when I made them it came out so delicious that we no more miss NYC for that matter :) We literally hogged them as soon as they were ready so I do not have pictures.

Ideally, kathi rolls require whole wheat parathas but I used flour tortillas instead. I prepared both versions with paneer and potatoes. Both kinds of rolls require coriander-mint chutney.

Green Chutney

Yields 1 cup

Preparation Time: 10 Minute

Cooking Time: NIL

Ingredients

2 cup chopped coriander leaves

1/4 cup mint leaves

2 green chillies

1/2" ginger

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp yogurt

Salt

Procedure

1. Mix all ingredients and make a fine paste with little water

Paneer Tikka Kathi Roll

Makes 4-5 rolls

Preparation Time: 10 Minute + time to make paneer + marination time

Cooking Time: 10 Minute

Ingredients

1 cup paneer cubes

1/2 cup dice green pepper

1/2 cup diced tomato

1/4 cup yogurt

1/2 tsp red chili powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp ginger paste

1/4 tsp garlic paste

1/2 tsp gram flour

1/2 tsp chat masala

1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp kasoori methi

1 tsp oil

Salt

Procedure

1. Beat the yogurt and mix all spices

2. Mix paneer, diced peppers and tomatoes in yogurt mixture

3. Toss them lightly in marinade and keep aside for about 15-20 minute

4. Now heat oil in skillet and add marinated paneer and veggies

5. Cook it uncovered on medium-high flame for 4-5 minute, stirring occasionally

Paneer tikka stuff is ready

Alu Kathi Roll

Makes 6 rolls

Preparation Time: 10 Minute

Cooking Time: 20 Minute

Ingredients

2 cup boiled and diced potatoes

1 cup diced onions

1 tso green chili paste

1/2 tsp ginger paste

1/2 tsp chat masala

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tbsp green chutney (recipe as given above)

1 tsp oil

2 tsp coriander leaves

Salt

Procedure

1. Heat oil in skillet and add diced onions

2. When onions turn translucent, add chili-ginger paste and potatoes, mix well

3. Add remaining spices and chutney and cook it uncovered for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally

4. Turn off the heat and add coriander leaves

Alu stuff is ready

Prepare Kathi Rolls

Ingredients

10" flour tortillas

Butter spread

Green Chutney

Procedure

1. Take a tortilla, apply butter on both sides and cook it slightly on griddle on low flame

2. Spread generous amount of chutney, stuff it, roll it and cook on griddle for 2-3 minute, changing the sides frequently

3. Serve hot

Hara Bhara Kabab

This kind of kabab has become quite common at restaurants and parties as an appetizer. For vegetarian version, use potatoes as base, then add veggies of your choice and mix bread crumbs/corn starch for binding and fry/grill, kabab is ready. I use different veggies ranging from carrot, onion, spinach, corn, pepper and peas and it tastes amazingly different if you just change type and quantity of these veggies. This time I wanted restaurant style ‘Hara Bhara Kabab’ so I used only spinach and peas. I stuffed them with cashew nuts and cheese to give a little ‘Royal’ touch :-)

Makes 16 kababs

Preparation Time: 15 Minute

Cooking Time: 30 Minute

Ingredients

3 medium potatoes (Should yield about 2 cup mashed potatoes)

½ cup peas

2 big handfuls of spinach (1 cup after boiled and chopped)

½ tsp cumin powder

1 tsp lemon juice

¼ tsp garam masala

¼ tsp clove-cinnamon powder

1 tsp green chili paste

3 tbsp corn flour

8-10 cashew nuts (optional)

3 tbsp shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Salt

Oil for frying

Procedure

1. Boil and mash potatoes, keep it aside.

2. Heat water in a large pot, when starts boiling add spinach. Cook it covered for couple of minutes, then drain into colander and place it under cold running water to stop the cooking process. When it cools down, squeeze thoroughly to remove water (I used muslin cloth), chop and add to mashed potato.

3. Chop peas using chili cutter or chopper and add to potatoes.

4. Add all spices, corn flour and mix well.

5. Divide mixture into equal size balls. Now take a ball in your palm, flatten and stuff it with cashew nuts and cheese.

6. Heat oil in skillet and shallow/deep fry these kakabs on both sides until golden brown and crispy. If they fall apart while frying, add some more corn flour.

7. Serve hot with chutney.

Sev Usal

If you are craving for something spicy and not in a mood to spend much time, you might want to make this dish. It’s spicy yet requires very less oil and if chutneys are prepared, this dish can be fixed in a jiff. Usal is originally from Maharashtra, but it's quite popular in over all West India. The fact I love the most about this dish is that it makes a complete meal by itself.

Serves 4-6

Preparation Time: 15 Minute + soaking time

Cooking Time: 20 Minute

Ingredients

To make usal,

3 cup dry peas (Fresh ones taste better, use 4.5 cup)

1 tsp oil

A bay leaf

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

8-10 curry leaves

½ cup chopped tomatoes

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chili powder

½ tsp dhaniya powder

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp ginger paste

1 tsp green chili paste

½ tsp pav bhaji masala

1 tbsp jaggery

2-3 dried whole mango piece/ 2 tsp aamchur

To serve usal,

1 cup potato, boiled and diced

½ cup diced tomatoes

1 cup finely chopped onions

Tamarind Chutney per taste

Garlic Chutney per taste

Green Chutney per taste

2 cup Sev

Procedure

1. Soak peas in warm water for 6-8 hours and pressure cook with salt. Make sure not to overcook them

2. Add jaggery and dried mango piece and bring it to boil on low flame

3. In a separate skillet, heat oil. Add bay leaf, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and chopped tomatoes

4. Stir for a while, add chili-ginger paste and remaining spices, mix well

5. Once this mixture starts leaving oil on edges, add it to boiling peas

6. Add more salt and water if required and turn off the heat once all spices are nicely absorbed (About 5-10 minutes). Usal tends to get thick once you turn off the heat, hence add extra water while boiling

How to Serve

1. Pour hot usal in a bowl. Add all three chutneys, potato and tomato, mix well

2. Add chopped onions and sev, consume immediately before sev becomes soggy

Vada - Pav

I became Vada-Pav fan in my college days. College cafeteria served a delicious Vada-pav just for five bucks. They also had a royal version of it called Cheese Vada – Pav. Then a friend of mine introduced me to a few famous Vada-Pav joints in Ahemdabad. Later when I started working in Mumbai, it became a part of everyday food. Office cafeteria would serve it almost every Friday. I did not feel like having it in breakfast. But I did not have much of a choice and hence I would have only Vada. But they used to be so spicy that you cannot avoid bread!! Though Mumbai is an origin for Vada-Pav, I always love them better prepared in Gujarati way. In Maharashtra, they serve with plain pav and dry coconut garlic chutney. Hence it becomes very dry and I literally need juice/water to swallow it. While in Gujarat, they toast the pav with butter and serve with green chutney and garlic chutney.

So far I had always thought to use same vada as in Gujarati Alu vada. But it tasted very different than how vada-pav should be. Then I searched for an online recipe and here is my version and adapted to my taste.

Makes 20 Vada-Pavs

Preparation Time: 30 Minute

Cooking Time: 20 Minute

Ingredients

2 medium-large potatoes

20 pc pav **

1 tsp oil

½ tsp mustard seeds

8-10 curry leaves

½ tsp turmeric powder

Pinch of asafetida

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

¼ tsp garam masala

¼ tsp clove-cinnamon powder

½ tsp red chili powder

½ tsp green chili paste

¼ tsp ginger paste

Salt

For batter,

¼ cup besan

¼ tsp ajwain

Salt

Oil for frying

Butter/oil to toast the pav/bun

** Here we do not get fresh pav easily. So I use dinner rolls or hamburger buns. Even simple bread slice works just fine.

Procedure

1. Boil and mash potato, keep it aside

2. Heat oil in skillet. Add mustard seeds, asafetida, curry leaves, chili paste and turmeric powder. Stir it for a minute and pour this mixture to mashed potato

3. Add remaining spices to potatoes and mix well

4. Divide this mixture into small balls and keep them aside

5. Now in a separate bowl, mix besan, salt and ajwain. Add water and make a thick batter without any lumps

6. Heat oil in a frying pan. Dip each ball in besan batter and deep fry them on low-medium flame until light brown

How to serve,

1. Heat butter on griddle, when melted add garlic chutney (Add grated coconut to this chutey).

2. Toast bun in this mixture

3. Apply green chutney, put vada and cover the bun

Veggie Stuffed Vada

My mom shared this recipe a few days ago. She told me if I was tired of having Idli in a traditional way; try an alternative use of Idli flour to make this Vada. Due to soda bi-carb in store bought idli flour, it swells and looks like stuffed vada. These crispy vadas are somewhere between Alu-Vada and Cutlets. Ideally it should have a ball like shape and deep fried. Instead, I made flat patties and shallow fried them. They are quite filling and easy to prepare.

Makes 16-18 vadas

Preparation Time: 20 Minute

Cooking Time: 30 Minute

Ingredients

2 cup potato, boiled and mashed (About 3 medium pc)

1 cup idli flour

½ cup green beans, finely chopped

½ cup carrot, finely chopped

½ cup peas, coarsely crushed

1 tsp oil

½ tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp aamchur

¼ tsp garam masala

¼ tsp clove-cinnamon powder

½ tsp green chili paste

¼ tsp ginger paste

Salt

Oil for frying

Procedure

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add cumin seeds, sesame seeds, beans, peas and carrots

2. Stir it on low flame until it becomes dry

3. Turn off the heat and let mixture cool down

4. Now mix these veggies with mashed potatoes and add remaining ingredients

5. Mix well and form small flat patties

6. In a separate bowl, mix idli flour with water so it forms thick, consistent batter without any lumps

7. Heat oil in skillet. Deep each pattie in batter and shallow fry on both side until brown and crispy

8. Serve hot with green chutney and tomato ketchup

Pani for Pani Puri

‘Pani’ is main ingredient for Pani-Puri. To make this dish tasty and delicious, ‘Pani’ has to be perfect. As I love pani puri like anything, I have also learnt to make good Pani. I could always make this great, but then I had to go for few trial and errors making the process both tedious and time consuming. This time, I started with proper measurements and to my surprise, it came out almost perfect (Pinch of salt was required) in the very first attempt. I always prefer making it in advance and then refrigerate for few hours before serving the same.

Yields about 4 cups (Good for 2-3)

Preparation Time: 15 Minute + soaking time + refrigeration time

Cooking Time: Nil

Ingredients

½ cup tightly packed mint leaves

1 tsp chopped coriander leaves

2 pc green chilies

1 and ¼ tsp salt

2 tsp lemon juice

3 tsp readymade pani puri masala (Everest or Badshah)

½ tsp black salt

Pinch of sugar (This is my secret ingredient)

Procedure

1. Wash and soak mint leaves, coriander leaves and green chilies for 4-6 hours (Soaking brings freshness as well as perfect green color)

2. Grind this soaked mixture to a fine paste and then add about water to bring desired consistency (About 3-4 cup)

3. Add remaining spices and chill it for at least couple of hours before serving

બટાકાવડા

I guess this must be the most commonly made ફરસાણ among Gujaratis. It is quite easy to make, ingredients are almost handy, does not require any pre-preparation and most of all, it tastes delicious. I had to make an appetizer for our New Year Eve get-together. I was out of town for few days and was due home same day afternoon. I just had couple of hours to make something quickly and what could be better option? We were the only Gujaratis in the group and hence these aloo-vadas turned out to be a big variety hit. I have been making them consistently good, but this time I tried to make with measurement, hence wanted to note down the recipe.

Yields 60-65 Vada

Preparation Time: 45 Minute

Cooking Time: 45 Minute

Ingredients

For Vada,

6 pc medium-large potatoes (about 2 Lb)

1 tsp lemon juice

¼ tsp aamchur

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp garam masala

½ tsp clove-cinnamon powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 tbsp freshly chopped coriander leaves

2 tbsp freshly chopped mint leaves

1 tbsp chili paste

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp oil

Salt per taste

For Batter,

1.5 cup besan

1 tsp ajwain

Pinch of Soda

Salt per taste

Oil for frying

Procedure

1. Pressure cook/boil potatoes. Once cool down, mash them thoroughly

2. Heat oil in skillet, add cumin seeds, sesame seeds and fennel seeds, pour this mixture to mashed potatoes

3. Add remaining spices and mix well

4. In a separate bowl, mix besan with 1 cup water, add salt and ajwain. Stir well to make sure there are no lumps. When ready to fry, add soda

5. Divide potato mixture into small balls, dip each of them in besan batter and deep fry until golden brown

6. Serve hot with tamarind and/or green chutney

Cheese Patties

I am back after a temporary ‘Zombie’ state. Days were quite hectic and I did not get a chance to cook and/or post something new. I had to finish ricotta cheese and I had already used them in couple of Italian dishes. I was craving for something spicy and thought to mix cheese with potato and flour and then deep fry them. These patties turned out very delicious and filling. Now I have one more option for appetizers.

Makes about 18-20 small patties

Preparation Time: 20 Minute

Cooking Time: 30 Minute

Ingredients

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 medium potato, boiled and mashed

4 tbsp gram flour **

2 tbsp corn flour **

1 tbsp chili-ginger paste

1 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp aamchur

1 tsp oil

Salt

Oil for frying

** Adjust quantity to make crispy patties

Procedure

1. In a bowl mix ricotta cheese and mashed potato

2. Dry roast besan until it turns light golden brown

3. Add besan and corn flour to cheese mixture

4. Heat in skillet, add cumin, sesame and fennel seeds and pour them over cheese mixture

5. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix well

6. Divide mixture into small balls and pat them gently to give patty like shape

7. Deep fry patties on low flame until golden brown

8. Serve hot with tamarind and green chutney

લીલવા કચોરી/ Tuver Kachori

Even middle of the night if I am asked to name my favorite dishes, it will top the list. Not only I, but also my parents and brother love it like anything. We grow તુવેર in our backyard almost every year and hence ultimate dish is very savory and delicious. When I was a kid, my mom would pick fresh green તુવેર, peel them and make all possible dishes. Though here I have to work with frozen ones and taste is not as good as the fresh ones, I still make કચોરી quite often. Probably, it strongly defines my attachment to home or this is how I try to keep memories afresh!

Makes 20-22 pc

Preparation Time: 1 hour + cooling time

Cooking time: 30 Minute

Ingredients

1 pack of frozen pigeon peas (10 oz)

2 tsp oil

1 tsp sesame seeds

Pinch of asafetida

1 tbsp green chili paste

¼ tsp garam masala

¼ tsp clove-cinnamon powder

2 tbsp chopped green garlic

2 tbsp chopped coriander

Salt, sugar and lemon juice as per taste

For dough,

2 cup plain flour

1 tsp whole wheat flour

1 tsp oil

Salt

Oil for frying

Procedure

1. Thaw pigeon peas at room temperature and chop them using hand chopper

2. Heat oil in skillet, add sesame seeds, asafetida and chopped peas

3. Cook it on low flame covered with dip dish filled with water

4. Add chili paste, salt and sugar

5. Stir frequently so it does not stick to the bottom of the skillet

6. When it’s almost cooked, add lemon juice, garam masala and clove-cinnamon powder

7. Turn off the heat, add garlic and coriander leaves

8. Now stuff is ready, let it cool down thoroughly at room temperature

9. Mix flour, oil and salt and knead hard dough like puri

10. Divide the dough into balls, roll them into thin puris and fill with stuff

11. Deep fry on low flame until golden brown

Serve hot with tamarind chutney. I added chili-ginger paste and coriander leaves in chutney.

Dahi Puri

Though I am into healthy food (Most of the times :)) I can never say no to any kind of Chat – be it Pani Puri, Bhel,Sev Puri or Dahi Puri. I had some leftover sprouts and puris and it couldn’t be better having Dahi Puri for Sunday evening snacks. It was completely homemade this time, including Puris, Curd and of course, Chutney. I added boiled chickpeas for little twist and it came out indeed yummy.

Makes 25 Dahi Puris

Preparation Time – 15 minute (Provided Sprouts and Chutney are ready)

Cooking Time: Nil

Ingredients

For Stuffing

¼ cup મગ and મઠ(Soak, sprout and pressure cook them)

1/8 cup chickpeas (Soak and pressure cook them)

1/ 4 cup potatoes (Boil and finely chopped)

Salt, Lemon Juice and Cumin Powder per taste

¼ cup Tamarind Chutney

¼ Cup Curd

½ Cup Sev

25 Puris

For Garnishing

Chat Masala

Red Chili Powder

Coriander Leaves

Procedure

1. Mix sprouts, chickpeas, potatoes along with spices to make stuffing

2. Beat Curd, add pinch of sugar and Salt

3. Prick Puris, put ½ tsp stuffing

4. Add Chutney and Curd, each ¼ tsp

5. Sprinkle Sev

6. Garnish with coriander leaves, red chili powder and chat masala

7. Serve immediately

Puri for Pani Puri

If I am asked about my favorite dish, my answer would be ‘pani puri’ without hesitation. In India, we would get readymade puri and job becomes much easier. But after coming to US, I never was happy with store bought ones.

So I started making them at home. It was little tedious and time consuming job as I used to roll individual puris (As opposed to rolling big and cutting). But hard work was nothing compared to satisfaction. Once I became pro (meaning almost all puris will puff up), I invested in tortilla maker. Now my job has become faster and more efficient. 

Makes about 150 puris

Preparation Time: 10 minute

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 lb fine soji

Salt

Oil for frying

Procedure

1. Mix soji and salt and knead soft dough using warm water

2. Dough should be on softer side since it tends to get harder because of soji

3. Divide dough in equal portions, roll them into small puris

4. Before rolling puri, make sure to knead dough as much as you can. Keep it covered using wet cloth all the time

5. Fry puris on medium flame until they are light brown and crispy

6. Store in tight container, they remain fresh for 3-4 months