how to make bhujia : recipe of karele ki kurkuri bhujia

There are a few simple things that can bring as much joy as some kurkuri bhujia served with dal chawal or khichdi. But you won't understand if you haven't had bhujia ever, you might end up thinking the hand cut potato fries are the best kind of fried veggies.

While I love the nice hand cut potato fry especially if it comes with a generous sprinkling of herbed salt, the potato fry is not my favourite. I vote for bitter gourd fry or crisp karele ki bhujia. You have to try this kerele ki bhujia to know what I mean.

The other day I was at the neighborhood salon to get my pedicure, and the lady next to my chair was talking about how the kids these days don't want to eat vegetables. The pedicurist started grinning when I asked the lady ow much vegetables the adults in her family ate, to which she admitted they eat minimal vegetables but wanted their kids to eat more. The problem starts at the root obviously.

Then I got curious what this 20 something pedicurist eats as he works almost 10 hours a day and all such boys live on their own as they have migrated to big cities for work. I asked him and he said he cooks his food twice a day and that is paratha bhujia in the morning and dal chawal bhujia or dal chawal chokha for dinner when he reaches home. I can't tell you how happy I felt to hear this.

Anyone who cooks everyday and enjoys cooking as a de-stressing activity has my heart.

It reminded me of a few lovely people on Instagram who have been asking for my bhujia recipe they see with my khichdi or dal chawal. Some of them point out that it's always either karele ki bhujia or bhindi ki bhujia with my dal chawal meals.

Yes I love my karele ki bhujia a lot. As much as I love the karele ka chokha.

Karele ki bhujia is the simplest thing to make but you need some patience as it demands slow cooking. The good thing is that it doesn't demand much chopping and there is no peeling involved. The cooking is done by just stirring the bhujia a few times while it is on lowest possible flame of your gas stove.

ingredients 

300 gm bitter gourds (karele)
2 tbsp mustard oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder or a little more
1/2 tsp amchoor powder
salt to taste (1/2 tsp and little more to adjust if needed)


preparation 

Clean the gourds, remove the stalk, cut into 2 inch pieces and halve eac pice longitudinally. Then slice into thin strips of 5 mm thickness.

Heat mustard oil and tip in the karela slices along with salt. Stir to mix and spread the slices evenly in the pan so they crisp up for about 5 minutes on lowest possible flame.

Stir and arrange in an even layer again to make them brownish all over. Once you get the desired colour and crispness you add all the powdered spices, cook for a minute and take off the stove.

Serve hot with dal chawal meals or parathas and bless the bhujia. You would satart loving karela after eating this bhujia trust me.

alu sowa ki bhujia | a warm fragrant stri fry with potatoes and dill leaves

Sowa or Soya is Dill leaves and is also known by the name of Shepu, a fragrant winter herb that is used liberally all over UP. Sowa methi is a popular combination of flavours and works great when making a sookhi subzi with alu, even the sowa methi ka paratha is so good you never get bored of this herb. But the most popular will be this alu sowa ki bhujia and even alu sowa ki subzi with minor variations.

We have been enjoying a lot of sowa this season too and had alu sowa in many variations. It will not be fair if I don't share all those alu sowa recipes here.

Here is the alu sowa ki bhujia to start with. It tastes great with Indian meals in general, great with plain hot parathas, dal chawal meals but you would be surprised to see the response when you serve it like a warm or even cold salad. Potato and dill salad like this can be had on its own and can become a sandwich stiffing.

Alu sowa ki bhujia 

ingredients 
(served 2-4 depending on side dishes)
2 large boiled potatoes cooled to room temperature or refrigerated
1.5 cup chopped dill leaves (1 cup is good too)
1 tbsp mustard oil
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp methi (fenugreek) seeds
chopped green chillies to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
amchoor powder a few pinches (optional)

procedure 

Peel and cube the potatoes in bite sized pieces.

Heat oil in a pan or kadhai. Add the cumin seeds and methi seeds and wait till they turn aromatic and pinkish brown. Add in the green chillies and the cubed potatoes in quick succession. Toss and fry on low heat till the potatoes get some brown spots and get dehydrated a little.

Add salt, turmeric powder and toss and stir for a couple of minutes, add the chopped dill leaves and keep tossing and mixing till the dill leaves get wilted completely and coat the potatoes well.

Adjust seasoning.

Sprinkle amchoor powder as per taste if using.

Serve hot right away or serve it cold. It is great any which way.

The other type of alu sowa ki subzi is cooked using raw potatoes and is more of a creamy mash infused with lot of dill leaves. I use all the tender stems of dill in this version too.

Alu sowa ki subzi

ingredients 

2 medium sized potatoes peeled and cubed
1 cup chopped dill leaves
1/2 cup tender dill stems chopped roughly
chopped green chillies to taste
1 tbsp mustard oil
1/4 tsp methi (fenugreek) seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp pepper powder
salt to taste

procedure 

Heat the mustard oil and tip in the methi seeds. Wait till it becomes aromatic. Add the green chillies and cubed potatoes, mix salt and turmeric powder, cover with a filling lid and cook on low flame for 6-7 minutes or till the potatoes are cooked.

Now add the tender stems of dill, mix well, add pepper powder and cover again to cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the dill leaves, toss and mix. Thrash with a wooden spatula a few times to make the potatoes mush up a little. The dill flavour will infuse beautifully in the potatoes. 

Serve hot or cold, as a subzi or a salad or any which way you want.

Served with some grilled piri piri chicken wings we loved it for dinner last week. The leftover was used in alu paratha the next day and that was great too.

Make some alu sowa ki bhujia or alu sowa ki subzi while the season lasts. Dill freezes well in ziplock bags so you can save some of the season's bounty but the new winter potatoes cannot be saved.

Make some alu sowa now, bhujia or subzi you can decide according to your taste.

kachhe kele ki bhujia | green plaintain stir fry with chilli garlic

I cannot resist when I see a fresh looking bunch of kachha kela in the vegetable market and end up buying the whole bunch. The kachhe kele ki bhujia being the most frequent subzi that I make, it is shocking that the recipe has not come on the blog yet. I dug out a picture this time and here it is for you.

This kachhe kele ki bhujia is a dry stir fry that tastes great with plain dal chawal or mung ki khichdi but it becomes a great tea time snack too if you make it with lesser chilli heat. I have even served this bhujia as an appetizer too but I like to chop the raw plantain in wedges in that case. You know it makes a great substitute to potato wedges.

Another plantain stir fry with curry patta is a nice fasting recipe we love as a snack too.

I must add that I prefer cooking the kachha kela or raw plantain along with the skin. Choosing the plantains with spotless skin is better when buying, but one can always scrape off the blackened portions and save the peel that is undamaged. The skin of the plantain (and even bananas) is more nourishing than the flesh inside.

If you don't like the peel in the subzi you can make a delicious plantain peel chutney too. 

Imagine how convenient it becomes to cook it along with the peel. Just chop off the two ends and slice before cooking. Peeling vegetables is not the best thing most cooks like doing. 

The skin on kachhe kele ki bhujia is so good that it flies off the platter when served in a gathering. I make a few variations of this bhujia and kachhe kele methi ki subzi and kachhe kele sem ki subzi are a few of those variations.  You can always make more variations according to taste.

ingredients 
(2-3 servings with dal chawal or khichdi)

4-5 raw plantains (about 400 gm)
4-5 cloves of garlic
2-3 green or dry red chilies 
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp mustard oil
1/4 tsp methi (fenugreek seeds)

procedure

Remove the stalk and the tip of the raw plantain, make a cut lengthwise and then slice. The thickness can vary according to preference. Thinner slices get crisp when cooked on low heat but turn chewy when cold. Keep the slices meaty.

Make a paste of chilies, garlic and turmeric powder and keep aside.

Heat the mustard oil and tip in the methi seeds and wait till they brown a little bit. 

Add the plantain slices, salt and stir fry on low flame. Let it cooked, stirring or tossing every couple of minutes to ensure even browning all around.

It takes about 15 minutes to get cooked this way. Add the chili garlic paste after about 7-8 minutes and keep cooking till the flavours get absorbed and the plantain slices are cooked through.

Serve hot with dal chawal meals or khichdi as I mentioned. Some bharta, chokha or raita pairs very well wit such meals. Kachhe kele ki bhujia actually makes a nice roti wrap too along with some raw onion slices.

This recipe of kachhe kele ki bhujia has a pronounced garlicky flavour and the texture is meaty. It actually tastes really good when hot or warm but starts getting a little dry when cold. Having said that, we don't mind it even cold and sometimes Arvind takes this bhujia to his lunch box too.

The bhujia doesn't refrigerate well as it gets drier but once reheated it gets better, though not quite like the freshly made bhujia. To use up the leftover kachhe kele ki bhujia I recommend making kachhe kele ke kabab by mashing up the leftovers along with some chopped onions and may be a mashed potato and some chopped nuts or seeds.

Raw plantain is an easy and versatile vegetable to cook with. Tell me what all you cook with these.

You might want to try this quick scramble of raw plantains for a breakfast some day. If you love kachhe kele ke kofte then you might have bumped into this recipe sometime.

everyday curry : Kathal ki bhujia | jackfruit stir fry with pepper and dry pomegranate powder

After sharing the achari kathal ki subzi with you, I was going through the kathal (Jack fruit) pictures in my albums and found at four more recipes that needed to be shared here. I know I have been very irregular here but I promise everything will be shared sooner or later.

This kathal ki bhujia is so good you would cook it more frequently for two reasons. One, it is fairly easy to cook once the peeling and chopping is done and two, it is a light curry (sookhi subzi) that can be eaten everyday easily. Kathal subzi is known as a spicy heavy curry normally, but we do cook very light curries with kathal too, Kathal ka dopyaza is a fine example of a light kathal curry.

I will tell you chopping kathal is not to tough. Yes it does take some time but most good things come at a price. Most vegetable vendors will peel and chop it for you if you ask them, but do that only if you are planning to cook kathal the same day or the next day. Else, just tell them to give you a thick slice of the jack fruit like the below picture.

Once you have this slice, just grease your hands and peel off the thick skin. Remove the inner pith too.

Now place the moon shaped jack fruit slice on a chopping board and chop into pieces of required size. For this kathal ki bhujia we need really thin slivers.

Separate the seeds and remove all parchment like seed coats. The chopped and cleaned mature kathal looks like this.

If using fresh kathal, and if it is chopped nicely it takes just about 15 minutes to cook on medium heat. You can always add your own choice of seasoning and spices, I like this kathal ki bhujia with a strong kick of black pepper and an earthy tartness of anardana (dried pomegranate seeds).

ingredients...
(2-3 servings)

chopped kathal like above 2 cups
sliced shallots of baby onions 1/4 cup
mustard oil 1.5 tbsp
cumin seeds
whole dry red chillies 2
ginger julienne 1 tbsp
black pepper corns 1 tbs
anardana 2 tbsp
salt to taste

preparation...

Heat a thick base pan and dry roast the peppercorns and anaradana briefly. Cool and make a coarse powder in mortar and pestle.

Heat mustard oil in a kadhai and tip in cumin seeds and red chillies, add the sliced onions once the cumin and chilly get aromatic and cook till they start getting lightly browned.

Add chopped kathal along with the seeds. Add salt to taste and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

Cover and cook for five minutes and mix once again. Cover and cook again for 5 minutes or till done, stirring in between for uniform browning.

Add the pepper anardana powder and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Serve hot.

This Kathal ki bhujia is great with paratha or roti meals. Nice with dal chawal meals too and even in Indian style grilled sandwiches with green chutney.

We like this kathal ki bhujia with our multi grain rotis.

Choose white fleshed tender but large sized kathal if you are planning to make this kathal ki bhujia. Else you may be left with a too dry bhujia or a melting sweetish kind bhujia that doesn't do justice to this recipe.

The kathal feels nice and soft in the bhujia, lightly caramelized with hints of ginger, pepper and pomegranate seeds. You might end up eating it as a salad too.

Try this kathal ki bhujia and let me know.

kundru ki lehsuni bhujia : ivy gourd cooked with chilly garlic

Kundru is also called as tendli, tindora or Ivy gourd. A vegetable you don't need to peel and that helps a lot when you eat loads of vegetables every single day. I love okra and green beans more for the same reasons. These vegetables can be cooked just after rinsing them well, I wont mind the stalk attached to my okra or even the green beans. Kundru or tendli has nothing to be discarded, such a good design by nature. just slice them in rounds or in wedges and stir fry whatever way you like it.

Great source of soluble fiber and vitamins(A and C) and minerals. Good anti-oxidant food. The tiny Ivy gourds have potential to  stabilize mast cells (related to allergies), good antihistamine and anti anaphylactic. It means it is a good choice for people prone to allergies as it modulates the immune system. These are considered to be good for glucose regulation for diabetic patients too. Read here and here.

For diabetics and for everyone who is prone to allergies, kundru can be a good vegetable to be consumed 3-4 times a week. Here is an easy stir fry that cooked in about 10 minutes and takes about 5 minutes of preparation time. Kundru ki lehsuni bhujia ..

ingredients...
(2 servings)
kundru or ivy gourd 300 gm
garlic cloves 4-5 fat ones or about 10 small Indian ones
dry red chilies 2
green chilies 2
salt to taste
turmeric powder 1 tsp
mustard oil 2 tbsp
fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp or less if you find them too bitter

preparation...

Rinse well, pat dry and slice all the kundru in thin rounds. You can keep them thick or just cut them all in irregular pieces. This bhujia can take it any which way. You can discard the pointed ends of the kundru but it's not mandatory.

Heat oil in a kadhai and add the methi (fenugreek seeds). Wait till the become darker and aromatic, and then add all the sliced kundru. Stir well to coat with hot oil and add salt also. Keep stirring on medium flame till it starts looking glazed and brownish. Turmeric will be added as soon as the kundru starts getting limp.

In the meanwhile make a paste of garlic and two types o chilies. This can be done in the chutney jar of your mixie or in a mortar and pestle. Add the paste as soon as the kundru slices are turning brown.

Keep stirring and cooking for 5-7 minutes more or till the garlicky aroma feels good.

Serve hot or at room temperature with daal chawal or with roti or parathas. It makes a nice lunch box subzi too. The slightly sour taste of the kundru complements the garlic very well. Chilly heat can be adjusted to taste but I like it fairly hot when having it with khichdi or daal chawal. Milder when I have it in huge amounts when I have my subzi based meals. I eat only subzi many times for a meal.

There are a few more versions of kundru I cook, but all my versions are dry stir fries. Do you cook them in gravies too? Share your recipe if you do.

Ajwaini Arbi ki bhujia...Colocassia stir fry..

I can't believe I haven't posted a proper recipe with Arbi (Colocassia roots). Just one wee recipe of green coriander paste Arbi way back. I don't have much bonding with this boring looking vegetable as it has no green shades. The Arbi leaves are loved at home very much and the Patra or Girmach made with the leaves is a perennial favorite.

My problem with this vegetable in the root form is just that it is not green in any way. Although Lotus stem is same in that regard but I love that more than anything. I like Arbi too but only in dry stir fry kind of bhujia. One is this Ajwaini bhujia which is made using raw Arbi. Another is a fried garlic infused bhujia that is made using boiled Arbi. The Garlic one will be posted later sometime whenever I am tempted to buy some Arbi again. This one with lots of Ajwain seeds is nice with a daal chaawal meal. Some usual raita and salad on the side is good enough.

ingredients...

Arbi (Colocassia) tubers 250 gm
Ajwain seeds 1-2 tsp depending on how much you like this spice
finely chopped Garlic 1 tsp
red chilly powder 1 tsp or to taste
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Amchoor powder 1-2 tsp
Lime juice if required
salt to taste
Mustard oil 1-2 tbsp depending on what kind of pan you are using

procedure...

Scrape the skin off the Arbis and wash them. Scrub them clean. You might like to wear kitchen gloves if you have sensitive skin like mine.

Slice them thinly in batons. Try to make as thin sticks as possible as it helps in absorbing the flavors better when it is fried this way.

Heat mustard oil in a pan and tip in the sliced Arbi as the oil gets hot. Fry for a couple of minutes and add the Ajwain seeds and salt. keep stir frying or tossing on medium low flame till the slices are lightly browned and lightly shriveled. This can take about 10-15 minutes.

Add the dry spice powders and toss well. Cook for a couple of minutes and take off the flame.

You might like a squirt of lime juice over this bhujia as the itchiness caused by Arbi is nullified by lime juice. The generous quantity of Amchoor powder also helps but you can have more souring agents than one for this. I used my homemade amchoor powder only.

Let the bhujia rest for at least an hour before serving. This is not the usual aloo bhujia which you eat crisp and fresh. This one can scratch your throat like anything if you don't allow the sour acids neutralise  the Oxalic acid crystals in the Arbi tubers.

Consumed the next day, it is the best. Tastes almost like pickled.

I am not painting a scary picture for you but trying to explain how you can enjoy the Arbi without getting hurt :-)

This is a tasty bhujia for UPites. All the daal chaawal lovers I know.

everyday subzi | guar or cluster beans: two stir fries and a wonderful sesame curry paste

I never knew that the slightly bitter tasting gummy textured Guar can be a favorite of so many people.

love these beans called cluster beans in English but never thought of posting a recipe because not many people like this vegetable. That concept of mine was proved wrong when I posted Guar dhokli ki subzi, as I received many requests for posting more recipes of these beans. Here I am with two simple stir fries I love, cooked with guar phali or cluster beans..

 guar ki lasuni bhujia... 

This is the simplest of all stir fries especially if I use the green chilly and garlic paste stored in my freezer . I make this lasooni bhujia with many vegetables like raw plantains, parval (pointed guard), tendli or kundru (ivy guard), bhindi (okra), arbi (colocasia) or yams, jack-fruit or even potatoes. The green chilies and garlic paste comes handy for so many things, it is always there in my freezer and I just scoop out required quantity and a yummy bhujia for our daal chawal is ready.

For Guar you need to string the beans. Good quality guar is plump and soft and strings easily. Then it is held in a bunch, rolled together and chopped in small bits ......

For the lasooni bhujia you need 
(for 4-5 servings as a side dish)

250 gm of guar chopped
1 tbsp of mustard oil
1 tbsp of green chllies and garlic paste
1 tsp fenugreek seeds for tempering (I like it, can be replaced with cumin seeds or nigella seeds as per choice)
turmeric powder 1 tsp
salt to taste

To proceed ... heat mustard oil in a kadai or pan, throw in the tempering spice of your choice , wait till it splutters and them throw in the chopped guar. Stir fry adding salt and turmeric till the guar becomes shiny and a bit soft (not mushy). Add the green chilly garlic paste and a tbsp of water if the mixture is getting too dry. Cover and cook for a couple of minutes, stir to mix and cook uncovered till nice aroma of garlic wafts through.

Adding a little water with the paste and then covering the pan to cook is crucial in this simple recipe as the flavors of garlic and chillies are absorbed well by the vegetable and you do not get sneezing bout due to frying/burning chillies. This is particularly crucial if you are frying raw plantains or potatoes or any kind of yams this way ...


guar in sesame spice mix...

This spice mix has been a hit in my house since I developed it after making a healthier version of baghara baingan and then made a cabbage stir fry with it. It has been tried by many of my blogger and non blogger friends and has become a favorite in no time. I have myself used this spice mix to make many vegetables yummy  for family and guests and every time it has been a topic of conversation....

The sesame spice mix requires ....
sesame seeds 5gm
dry grated coconut 2 tbsp(25-3gm)
dry red chillies 8-10 nos. (to taste)
peanuts 50 gm 

Dry roast everything separately and then grind together when cooled. Some people have tried it without roasting and stir frying the vegetables after adding it for a few more minutes, but I strongly recommend dry roasting the seeds before making the powder (the powder will be a crumbly pasty one due to the oil content of the ingredients) ....it adds a whole lot of flavor believe me..... the paste/powder keeps well at room temperature for a fortnight and for six months in the fridge.

requirements for the guar with sesame curry paste ...

(for 4-5 servings as side dish)

Guar chopped 250 gm
potatoes chopped in small bits 1 no.
tomatoes chopped in small cubes 1 no.
cumin seeds 1 tsp
ginger chopped fine 1 tbsp
sesame curry paste 2 tbsp (or as much you like it)
mustard oil 1 tbsp
salt to taste

preparation...

Heat oil in a kadai and throw in the cumin seeds and wait till they splutter. Add the chopped ginger first and then the chopped guar and potatoes at once with salt and stir to mix well Cover and cook till 3/4 done , add chopped tomatoes and mix well. Keep stirring and cooking till the tomatoes get mushy. Add the sesame curry paste and a tbsp (or more if you wish to have some gravy, use more sesame paste in that case) of water, mix well to coat the vegetables and it's ready. Take off heat and serve hot ......... A toasted sesame aroma will fill your kitchen and you suddenly feel hungry ....... believe me.

You may feel like adding a bit of tamarind extract or lemon juice, but here I like it with just the slight sourness of tomatoes. Adjust seasonings to your taste that's it.

A garnish or toasted sesame seeds looks good but it does not enhance the taste.

The taste is in the sesame paste. Try it once and you will be hooked to it. I will post other vegetables cooked with the variations of this paste very soon. A bit of tempering or a bit of garnish, different cuts and different cooking techniques, all of these make difference in your finished curry or bhujia.....

cheers ....

parwal ki bhujia or aaloo parwal ki lehsuni bhujia..

This is a very simple stir fry vegetable which is called bhujia in UP. Parwal or parval is pointed gourd, also known as patal or potol. This small gourd looks like a miniature snake guard and is considered cooling and detoxifying according to  Ayurveda.

This sukhi sabzi can be a side dish with daal chawal lunch or it can be a main accompaniment to roti or paratha. I remember carrying this bhujia to school in my lunch box, with tikona parathas of course.

This is one of the few recipes I make in exactly the same way as my mom used to make it. I usually keep experimenting and improving my recipes on the ground of health and nutrition, but this bhujia is the best representation of healthy, tasty and easy everyday Indian food and keeps repeating in my kitchen every summer.

Parval comes only during summers, I have tried growing parval many times but haven't been successful yet.

ingredients
(2 large servings)

250 gm parvals
100 gms potatoes with skin
5-6 fat cloves of garlic or a few more if you like
dry red chillies or green chillies to taste
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1.5 tbsp mustard oil
1/4 tsp methi and cumin seeds each

procedure

Just scrape the parvals using a paring knife, cut the parwals lengthwise in four pieces or six and some potatoes too in thin wedges.

Heat mustard oil in a pan, throw in a tsp of methi and jeera seeds each and when they crackle put the parwals first.

Stir fry till they are pinkish and then add the potato wedges and fry till they are pinkish too. Add salt to taste and turmeric powder is added along with a generous amount of garlic and green chilly paste. This paste is the main taste maker in this bhujia and it is always made in mustard oil.

After adding all these, stir fry and slow cook  till the aroma of cooked garlic is predominant and the bhujia is ready.

I make this bhujia in minimum oil. Just about 1.5 to 2 tbsp for 250 gm parwal and 100 gm potatoes, unpeeled new potatoes taste best.

It is easier to make it in more oil as it fries well but when using less oil you just have to be patient with the frying. A heavy bottomed pan and low heat works best for low oil version. Taste is the same for both the versions.

I prefer serving this bhujia with daal chawal for our lunch. It makes a healthy lunch with daal and boiled rice, plain curds and papad goes well with it but I like just this bhujia with my daal chawal for the rich garlic pleasure, nothing else is required between my dal chawal and bhujia.

I like the crunchy methi seeds in this bhujia too, if you don't like the slight bitter crunch of methi seeds, you can omit that and use only cumin seeds for tempering.

I am telling you one of my hack for this recipe too. Sometimes I use a past of garlic powder, chilli powder and turmeric powder mixed together with a little water to make this recipe too and it has never disappointed me. Slow cooking is the key in this recipe, keep the gas on low flame, keep stirring every couple of minutes and this bhujia will cook perfectly.

Do let me know of you try this recipe. It gives me immense pleasure to introduce the recipes from my homeland and the pleasure multiplied when you all find the recipes useful...