banarasi kachori aur subzi : ras wale alu, palak paneer, kale chane aur kaddu ki subzi, alu baingan palak ki subzi

Someone asked me about the difference between a poori and kachori and I realised how diverse a kachori can be while answering. How much the kachori has evolved to be a sassy cousin of poori. While poori remained the plain jane, kachori took on to different fashions with different seasons and became matar ki kachori, daal ki kachori, hing kachori, alu ki kachori blah blah blah blah , most of them stuffed kachoris, some of them are softer inside and crisp outside while others are so crisp and dry that they keep well for days.

This banarasi kachori is more of a plain version of a pretentious kachori but packs the same punch when it comes to taste. All spices and the stuffing material is mixed in the dough itself and the kachori are often double fried to ensure a crisp crumbling kind of poori. These are the ones that stay puffed even when cold if you don't crush them. I have shared a recipe of banarasi kachoris here, with ras wale alu and a pumpkin subzi. Sharing a few more subzis again to go with the famous banarasi kachoris.

Banarasi kachori recipe..

The kachori is made with a mix of coarse whole wheat flour and urad daal flour (skinned black bean flour), the dough is made using water that is infused with cumin, hing and ajwain. Just mix a cup of coarsely milled wheat flour with 1/3 cup of urad daal flour or 1/2 cup of soaked urad daal paste, add salt to taste and a tbsp of ghee and rub everything well. Boil 2 cups of water, add a tsp each or cumin and ajwain to it and let it simmer for a minute. Add a pinch of hing, dissolve and let the water cool down. Use this water to knead a firm dough. Use this dough to roll out pooris and fry them all in hot ghee or oil. Hot crisp banarasi kachoris are ready.

Add a bit of red chilly powder or black pepper powder and a little lime juice if you are planning to eat these kachoris without subzi, yes the slightly spiced up kachoris go well with our milky tea.

I served it here with ras wale aloo and a simple palak paneer. This palak paneer used to be more regular when Mithi was younger. It was her favourite subzi, very lightly spiced and creamy in texture.

This version of palak paneer is easier, simpler to cook and less spicy than another version with more rustic spicing. That recipe will be shared some other time.

Palak paneer recipe..

To cook this simple palak paneer, you just have to choose tender spinach leaves with stems or mature spinach leaves only (mature fibrous stems to be discarded) so the resulting spinach puree is creamy and flavourful. Steam about 500 gm spinach either in microwave or in a pan with 2-3 tbsp of water at low flame and take off heat as soon as the leaves get limp and soft. Cool down and puree in the blender, without using any water. Now heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pan, add cumin seeds and wait till they splutter, and then dump the spinach puree in it. Add a pinch of nutmeg powder, 1 tsp black pepper powder and salt to taste and stir and cook the spinach puree till it starts bubbling and puffing. Add 200 gm paneer cubes to the bubbling spinach mix and simmer for about 5 minutes. Adjust consistency by adding a little water. Add 2-3 tbsp fresh cream to finish and serve hot.

The yellow coloured chutney seen in the above thali is the amla chutney I make every season and we love it with almost every meal.

Another very popular subzi with kachoris is the chane aur kaddu ki subzi. It is a simple black chickpeas and pumpkin curry that goes very well with crisp hot kachoris. We use mature orange coloured pumpkin for this subzi and the slightly sweet pumpkin balances well with kale chane lightly spiced up.

Kale chane aur kaddu ki subzi recipe..

Soak 3/4 cup of black chickpeas overnight.

Peel the hard skin of mature pumpkin and cube the flesh in 2 cm dimensions. It should be about 400 gm cubed pumpkin.

Make a coarse paste of ginger, green chilly, whole dry red chilly and some garlic. About 1 tbsp or more ginger, chillies to taste and 2 cloves of garlic to be used.

Heat 1 tbsp of mustard oil in a pressure cooker pan and add a pinch of hing, about 10 grains of fenugreek seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds nd 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, all together in one go. Let them all splutter and get aromatic, taking care not to burn them.

Add the ginger garlic chilly paste and a tsp of turmeric powder to the hot oil and let the mixture get fried. Take about 15 seconds on medium heat.

Now add the soaked and drained kale chane and mix well. Add salt to taste and the cubed pumpkin, about a cup of water and pressure cook the subzi for about 5 minutes after the first whistle. Cool down, mash the subzi a little, add amchoor powder to taste and serve immediately.
Chopped spinach can be added to the same subzi just before pressure cooking it. It makes the subzi more mushy and yummy.

We enjoyed this kachori subzi meal with a bowl of grated mooli salad on the side. The mooli salad is just grated while radish, some grated ginger, some finely chopped green chillies, salt and lime juice to balance. One of the most frequent winter salad with any meal.

Another very popular subzi to go with the kachoris is this alu baingan aur palak ki subzi, a mushy curry cooked with new baby potatoes, black round brinjal and spinach. The subzi is called alu-bhanta-saag in local dialect and is a much revered subzi for pooris during pooja etc. I often cook this curry with the green aubergines that is growing in the garden right now, but the round ones are perfect for this.

You can make the subzi a bit dry or make it a little coated consistency type.

Recipe of the alu baingan palak ki subzi..

Wash and clean 200 gm baby potatoes and quarter them.

Chop a small round brinjal in cubes. It should be about 200 gm.

Clean, wash and chop 300 gm spinach leaves and keep aside.

Mince or coarsely grind a tbsp of ginger, 4 cloves of garlic and 2 dry red chilies.

Heat 1 tbsp mustard oil in a deep iron or cast iron pan (kadhai) and tip in 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and a generous pinch of hing. Add the coarse paste of ginger etc and the potatoes immediately as the spices turn aromatic. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add a tsp of turmeric powder and the cubed brinjal. Toss and mix, let everything get coated well.

Add the chopped spinach, mix well, add 1/2 a cup of water and cook covered for about 20 minutes or so. Lightly mash the subzi after everything is cooked through. Serve immediately. Though the subzi keeps well in the fridge and can be served after reheating too.

Here I cooked the alu bhanta saag using the round purple brinjals and some Amritsari vadi, the perfect taste of this curry. Yes, you can add about a tbsp of crushed Amritsari vadi along with ginger, garlic and red chilies and let it fry till fragrant and proceed to add other ingredients. This addition makes this curry irresistible.

But alu baingan palak can be made without the badiyan or vadi as well. 

A long post finally, I hope you find it useful when planning meals for the family. Such foods from the hinterland become exotic in urban life, but we do make  away to keep enjoying them frequently.

chachi ki kachori subzi aur jalebi | subah-e-banaras aur banarasi nashta

Chachi ki dukan at Lanka was famous for the old lady who was fondly called Chachi (aunty). The shop was all about a small team of Chachi, mostly her family members who would churn out subzi and crisp kachoris on one side and hot crisp, syrup dripping jalebis on the other side of a small cramped shop. More of a hole in the wall actually.

Let me explain where exactly this shop is located. Lanka is the 'mall road' equivalent, situated in front of the BHU (Banaras Hindu University) gate and you would find all sorts of fancy restaurants, roadside stalls of samosa, chai, pao bhaji, burger, pakodas and bookshops or student utility shops all in one place. The end of this road branches into three roads leading to Saamne ghaat, Nagwa and Sankatmoachan temple road. When you walk towards Sankatmochan road you see twin shops of kachori and jalebi right at the start of the road. The one that has more people waiting is Chachi's I conclude. The husband confirms as he has grown up in BHU campus.

Another famous shop for kachoris in the morning is Pehelwan ki lassi shop that sells kachori subzi and jalebi in the morning and lassi and lavanglata throughout the day. This shop is located at the start of the road to Nagwa, to your right when you are coming from the university.

We enjoyed this banarasi nashta when we were in Banaras last time. Just wanted to have a taste of this famous kachori subzi aur jalebi made in front of my eyes. And there I was braving the smoke and burnt smell of refined oil, waiting for my kachoris. It was well worth it I would say. For the experience and for the taste as well, just the taste of burnt refined oil kills it for me. I am sure it was fried in dalda (hydrogenated vegetable oil) a couple of decade ago and in desi ghee before that. But ghee is history now for this shop at least. We have had ghee fired kachoris in other places and it makes a marked difference in taste and aroma.

Totally smoked walls, a rickety old table fan that blows air into the giant coal fired oven and a couple of men working in rhythm with a practiced ease. This guy was found rolling out kachoris fast, as if in tandem with the load of kachoris frying in the huge kadhai.

He quickly pinches off dough balls and arranges them on a wooden board, and then starts rolling kachoris fervently. He keeps dunking all the rolled kachoris into the huge kadhai with hot oil and another guy keeps frying the kachoris and arranging them all on a huge sieve.

And once the kachoris become a little colder, they are dunked again in the hot oil to fry them once again. This is the secret behind super crisp kachoris that break into pieces once punctured.

That doesn't mean I love those kachoris. I actually feel nauseous smelling this burning oil but I had to taste it once on the spot and photograph them making the famous kachoris of Banaras. I love kachoris and I hate refined oil that gets burnt in such kadhais and is never changed. Yes I asked them and they confirmed that they never ever change the oil. :-(

They ladle out heaps of kaddu ki subzi in dried leaf donas (disposable leaf bowls) and then arrange the kachoris on paper plates and hand out to the waiting people. Those white paper bags have jalebis in them, someone got them packed to take home.

And believe me there are always a dozen people waiting for these hot kachoris and kaddu ki subzi. I loved the subzi, the kachoris from such shops was never a favorite, but I can eat a couple of them. Hot and crisp and all that jazz.

Killer looks they certainly have. Did you see the jalebis too?

Spirals of jalebi were also being churned out on the other side of this hole in the wall shop. A thick slurry like fermented batter of maida with a hint of besan added is filled in an earthen pot and the batter is dropped in a constant stream in hot oil. Making circular patterns while it flows out. I love this part of making jalebis and was missing doing it myself. Been long time since I made jalebis.

The spirals are fried both sides till they turn golden. Being turned and picked up with the help of tongs.

And then being dunked into a thick sugar syrup. To be quickly weighed down with the help of that huge sieve, so the jalebis soak up the syrup instantly.

After a couple of minutes in the syrup and the juicy crisp jalebis are sieved out from the syrup, the sieves doubles up as the display shelf.

The jalebis fly off the 'shelf' quickly as people are already waiting to get their hands of garam garam jalebis (hot jalebis). Here it is, one portion of the jalebi for the dessert part of the banarasi nashta. Quite a calorie high, inflammatory fats high breakfast it is.

Interestingly, I had never seen this chachi as I would never pass that road in the wee hours when banarasi nashta was being devoured standing in a meditative trans facing this little shop by Chachi. Chachi is no more but I have heard stories about how people would ask her questions to tease her about bad kachoris or a soggy jalebi and she would shower them with choicest abuses in local dialect. It was more of a good breakfast with entertainment thrown in for good measure, as I have heard people saying.

The entertainment came to us in the form of curiosity some people had in our camera. You see we had a good time enjoying this nashta and then walked towards Sankatmochan temple to work out the damage.

matar ki ghugni lasun wali

Talk about tender peas and any Banarasi will instantly jump to either chuda matar (a peas and pohe recipe, essentially a Banaras specialty) or matar ki ghugni. Tender peas cannot taste better any other way for us. Nimona will be a choice for meals.

Hara lasun is another winter green, available for a short period of time and with this combination it's like hara lasun gets moksh in Banaras. Hara lasun is also called sagga lasun (as spring onions are also called sagga piyaz) and as soon as it is seen here in Delhi I just grab it and my lasun sagga saga begins.

This time I used it for a green mishmash pickled chutney of hara lasun and for this ghugni, a wonderfully flavorful dish, generally a breakfast dish but we can have it any time of the day, with anything as accompaniment or as it is. It is simply delicious any which way you have it.

ingredients...

tender green peas 2.5 cups
potato (naye alu) 1 no. chopped in small bits (here I used about a cup of cubed new potatoes)
garlic greens (shoots) n bulb 2 nos.
coriander greens 10-12 stalks
green chillies 3 nos.
salt n pepper to taste
turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
mustard oil 1 tsp
cumin seeds 1 tsp

procedure...
Ppound the garlic greens, coriander greens and green chilies together in a mortar n pestle or make a coarse paste in mixie..

Heat oil in a kadai and tip in cumin seeds into it, wait till they splutter and then tip in the chopped potatoes and salt, cook covered for 2 minutes and then add the green peas, turmeric powder, pepper and the green paste. Mix well, add 2 tbsp of water and cook covered till it gets dry. The peas will be cooked quickly as they are tender. Mature peas may take some more time but please don't use mature peas for this matar ki ghugni.

Crush most of the the potatoes after cooking so that the green mixture with mushed up potatoes clings to the green peas beautifully, making it more flavourful and even the texture gets comforting.

The ratio of peas to potato can be changed depending on what you want that particular day, here I have added more potatoes than usual as the husband loves naye alu and wanted to have more of those.

Serve hot as you wish, as a side dish, as a stand alone breakfast or a standalone anytime meal, a stuffing in grilled sandwich.

Just don't make any changes if you make this matar ki ghugni for the first time and you will see that it has become a favorite in your family too.

This time it was a weekend brunch in the garden for us. Masala chai and this garlicky alu matar ki ghugni, weekends mean the simplest of foods in my home, flavors not to be compromised.

And it's not difficult when you choose the season's best ingredients.

atte ka meetha cheela | desi whole wheat crepe recipe

Atte ka cheela is a healthy traditional whole wheat pancake or crepe that is laced with the mild flavour of fennel seeds. Some people like it a little thicker like pancakes (unleavened) and some like it thin like a crepe. The thin cheelas are known as chithda (चिथड़ा ) in some areas, meaning a rag, because once folded it looks like a rag.

I sometimes serve the atte ka cheela rolled up with mango chhunda. The meetha cheela is served as a breakfast or a quick snack, can be rolled up nicely with some relish or chutney and can be a good lunch box meal to be carried to work. Kids would sure love it in their lunch boxes. 

The recipe is simple and needs no specific instructions.

Just take about a cup of whole wheat flour in a large bowl, for 4 cheelas mix sugar to taste ( I use 2 tbps for this quantity) and a tbsp of whole fennel seeds.

Now pour enough milk in it to make a pouring consistency batter. Just that and now you are ready to make cheelas or pancakes.

You need 2 tsp of ghee per cheela and chhunda or mango chutney or even jam or marmalade of choice as much you like.

Heat a flat griddle or tawa and grease it with a tsp of ghee, pour a ladle full of the batter on the griddle and spread it like dosa or a thin pancake, let it cook for a while.

Pour a tsp of ghee on top and now flip it to be cooked on the other side too.

When cooked it has to be soft and not very crisp. Take the cooked cheela off from the griddle, keep on a plate and spread the mango chhunda evenly on it (mango chhunda is made with grated raw mangoes and sugar and is something like candied slivers of mango).

Now roll this up and serve hot or warm with lassi or hot or chilled milk.

And tell me if you liked it for the simplicity and the taste which is so out of this world with fennel in the pancake combining very well with the sweet and sour chhunda inside the crepe like cheelas.

Make your whole wheat cheela plain or roll it up with your favourite relish, this is the easiest breakfast or snack one can make with minimal fuss.

kele ka malpua | banana malpua with home made fresh cream

Banana malpua is a rich and heavy malpua that is made using mashed bananas in a whole wheat batter normally. The batter is made using full cream milk and the malpuas are fried in ghee. But the same thing can easily be adapted for a healthy malpua when shallow fried, the texture changes a bit but it is saved from a lot of ghee. I generally make a quick pancake style malpua sometimes on a weekend brunch as the husband loved his desserts for meals. With a generous lashing of malai he is happy with his plate and wont go near any other food the whole day. Yes if you eat a few of them for breakfast, it keeps you full the whole day.

It is made of whole wheat flour so it's healthy but it is a high calorie food so moderation is the keyword many would like to associate it with. I can't eat much sugary stuff so its okay for me. For the husband it;s a different story...

ingredients

whole wheat flour 1 cup
ripe or overripe bananas 2 nos.
sugar 2-3 tbsp ( optional)
milk 1/2 cup or as needed
fresh cream to serve as much you like
slivered almonds as much you like
honey to top ..as much you like
ghee to fry


procedure

mash the bananas and mix with flour and sugar to make a paste first and then add milk ...little at a time to make a batter similar to cake.

heat ghee( about 1/4 cup) in a flat bottom frying pan ( i use my jalebi kadhai) , pour a ladle ful of batter in the pan to fry....many malpuas can be fried at a time in a flat bottom pan so amke 4-5 at a time.........flip over when bubbles appear on top and fry the other side too...

when nicely browned, take out...drain and serve hot topped with fresh cream , honey and almond slivers..........

see who is licking fingers....:D:D...............simple , easy and yummy........you happy ..................family happy...

some more street food | chooda matar of Banaras...

Chooda matar or chiwda matar is basically a Banaras version of pohe. A winter treat with fresh green peas and the new crop of paddy made into flattened rice that is called Chiwda or chooda in the region is concocted into a spicy warm breakfast that I believe is the best cereal breakfast ever. Warm, savory and refreshing flavors of winters. Chooda matar is very much a homely dish, taken up well by some street food joints (chaat bhandars)in the city as well. I remember Kashi chaat bhandar for it's chooda matar that is literally soaked in ghee, but very warming flavors of garam masala coming through. I liked this combination of sweet green peas, hot garam masala and aromatic ghee in this dish.

Though I was not a street food lover as a youngster, somehow in my research days got hooked to the various snacks available in the famous joints there, the Kashi chat bhandar at godolia, the Monga's, the Ayyar's cafe, and not to forget the chatwala at sankat mochan mor, or the kulfi faluda and lassi of the Bansfatak area where I used to go with madam, Dr Maya Goyle (my research guide)...............so many things to be nostalgic about..........

This garam masala, milk and ghee laden chooda matar is miles away from the aalu poha or kanda poha of Maharashtra, it is available in the winters in all the chaat bhandars of the city and is loaded with desi ghee. I make it lighter at home and according to my taste buds, as a favorite winter breakfast on weekends or an evening tea accompaniment on weekdays, but we have to skip dinner after that. It is a full meal when you have a large portion. Just like a tehri or pulav.

Good quality pohe or chiwra is essential for making chooda matar, Basmati or Govidbhog chiwra makes the best. I remember when we were in Dhanbad, the fragrant Govindbhog chiwra was available there, a short grained rice made flatten rice in the season, that was the ultimate for chiwda matar. Here in Delhi I make it with Basmati chiwda and it turns out good.

                                              chiwra matar

ingredients

thick variety of chiwra/pohe/flattened rice flakes 1.5 cup
peas 2 cup
cumin seds/sabut jeera 2 tsp
ginger 2 inch piece, finely chopped
green chillies 4 finely chopped
green coriander 1 cup, finely chopped, stems and leaves separated
lemon juice 3 tbsp/lime juice 1 tbsp or to taste
sugar 1-2 tsp depending on how fresh are the peas
black pepper powder 1 tsp
garam masala powder 1.5 tsp[without coriander powder]
salt to taste
milk 1/2 cup
cream 1/2 cup[optional]
ghee 2 tbsp

preparation

Rinse the chiwra through a strainer, drain well and soak in milk and cream for 10 minutes [less if it is finer].

Heat ghee in a pan and add cumin/jeera into it, add in the ginger and green chilies when the jeera crackles,after a few seconds add in the powder masalas. Stir and immediately add in the peas with sugar and salt, stir, add the coriander stems and add 1/2 cup of water and cook covered on medium heat until the peas are done. Open the pan, there should be still some water left, add in the soaked chiwda and mix well, fluffing it up.

I sometimes add the finely chopped stems of coriander leaves at this stage n after mixing cook it covered on low flame for 3-4 minutes. This collage shows all the steps in the making of chooda matar.

Add the coriander leaves and lime juice..mix well and serve garnished with fried dry fruits, which I seldom do. You would see loads of raisins and fried cashews in the chaat bhandar versions, at home we like the green peas shining more in our chooda matar.

It is loaded with a strong aroma of green coriander and garam masala, There is heat owing to a lot of ginger, black pepper powder and green chilies too, balanced by lime juice if you use. I avoid lime juice mostly as I like the stems of coriander greens to impart their earthy citrusy flavor more.

Truly a winter food. Have it with a hot mug of masala chai and your day is bliss.

Just dig in...