Bihari ke chai-samose aur bharva tamatar bonda : memories from our BHU days

This is not going to be a recipe post but a major food related nostalgia. I was in Banaras last month and I went to the few places we used to throng during our college days and later during research days too. Bihari ki chai, samose and alu chop were universal gourmet food for us and we had the digestive fire to eat it all. Now after almost a quarter of a century gone by the chai and samosa is still the same, he has introduced a few more items to his menu and a few more hands on work. We saw alu stuffed kachoris and masala stuffed tomato fritters simply called 'tamatar' at his shop this time.

It did not help that we were with some of our M.Sc. classmates. We had a reunion of class and enjoyed each oter's company, went to our department, met our teachers etc but Bihari ki dukan brought back the hidden child in all of us.

All of us wanted to spend more time at Bihari's shop just watching at the things flying off the shelves, even though the shelves were just a makeshift tin to stock the fresh samosas for a few minutes. Till they landed in leaf donas and were lapped up hungrily by youngsters.

I just couldn't resist taking out my camera and clicking a few pictures of the men at work. Looks like this tea stall has been doing great business continuously and has been feeding students ever since. Their repertoire has enriched but the taste and the freshness is still the same. You just cannot pick a single favourite out of these simple snacks or mini meals the students enjoy every single day. All of us friends remembered how we used to pester each other for these simple treats :-)

An old man was stuffing masala in emptied tomato halves. This tamatar bonda used to be such a favourite on rainy days I remember.

See how spicy and yummy this filling looks. It has loads of green coriander, roasted peanuts and green peas along with potatoes and spices.

This 'tamatar' is a limited edition snack as it is labour intensive and probably getting similar sized tomatoes would be additional effort too. They fry it in 2-3 batches around lunch time and it is available for just about an hour or so. We were lucky to see them being made and then returned at the right time to have a bite too. I find these kind of street foods healthier than any packaged foods and very satiating and filling too. And when these are deep fried at such high temperature there is no issue of hygiene as well.

The frying oil can be a concern if you are eating them everyday and if the shop is frying the snacks in acrid burnt oil. I saw the oil looked transparent and fresh when I took pictures. A good thing to discover.

See this huge pot of 'matar chhole' being tempered with a spice mix. This is served with a round potato stuffed kachori they make.

See the kachoris being shaped.

How do they find such popular combinations and keep selling them for years, to generations and make such classics. Street food needs some more recognition I feel. It evolves along the changing palate of patrons but the core flavours remain the same.

We did not taste any other snacks this time but had 2 rounds of the famous chai. Bihari ki chai as we used to call it.

The chai has a smoky flavour to it, very milky and just rightly sweet for the temperament one gets when visiting such places.

I missed not having those samose. But then we visited another classmate the next day who is a Professor in Agriculture department and he made us eat those samose :-) there are few things that make a way to reach you at the right time.

One samosa found its way to me too :-)

hara chana, green gram or tender green garbanzo beans | a subzi, a salad and a tea time snack with hara hana

4 ways with green garbanzo beans or hara chana

Harey chane or green garbanzo beans are a seasonal pleasure. Tender kernels of green gram, sweetish in taste and a fresh crunch in the texture. How much I dig for season's fresh produce and this one is really a prized catch whenever we get them fresh.

The tender green legumes are available in the winters, in abundance in rural areas and small towns across India, the legumes mostly still attached to the whole plant. Yes, the whole plant is uprooted and sold in markets for a reason. The chana plant gets almost dry and woody when the beans ripe, the rural folk fire up the whole plants in bundles during winter evenings, sitting in their veranda or in the open. A good campfire that results in fire roasted tender green chana which is shelled out of the charred legumes and had with either jaggery or chilly garlic chutney. I see this as a very clever and practical way to spend evenings outdoors in foggy winters of Hindi heartland with a warm nourishing snack being prepared on the spot. It has been ages we did that, it was an occasional thing that we did as kids. Banaras still gets some hara chana horha as the whole plant with green gram is called.

We get these tender harey chane shelled here in Delhi and I buy a bag of it whenever I spot it. I remember how we used to make harey chane ka nimona, ghugni and even desserts (harey chane ka halwa) with it. We are having our fill of harey chane ki subzi with potatoes for spicy winter meals right now. This subzi is also called as ghugni but harey chane ki ghugni will be more dry if made the traditional way.

We mostly have this subzi or ghugni as it is for breakfast, some crackers are had with it sometimes and Arvind wants a crisp flaky paratha with it sometimes. This is something you can even have with rice for a lunch or dinner. Truly versatile as my grandmother used to say..chane ke kayee khaney (many foods with gram), green gram of hara chana is something you wait for the whole year. Small little things to make you happy.

This subzi is more like a quick ghugni that is made with minimal oil and powdered spices. Winter morning are so hassled we want quick and tasty food, something that cooks in a pressure cooker with minimal seasoning and powdered spices from masale ka dabba. Yes, I am reminded of the masala dabba in my mom's kitchen, I don't use any masala dabba now as there just too many spices and powders to keep.

ingredients

hara chana 250 gm

one large potato scrubbed and cubed

everyday curry powder 2 tsp

turmeric powder 1 tsp

chopped coriander greens and stems 2-3 tbsp each

red chilly powder or chopped green chillies to taste

salt to taste

mustard oil 1 tsp or a bit more

sometimes I chuck in a few roughly chopped garlic too

amchoor 1 tsp

procedure

Heat mustard oil in pressure cooker pan and make a paste of all the powdered spices with 2 tbsp water. Tip in the spice paste into the hot oil and stir for a few seconds till the spices get aromatic. 

Add the potato cubes and toss well to coat. Add salt and chopped garlic if using. Add the chopped coriander stems as well, sometimes I add 2-3 tbsp of green chutney to this subzi and get a nice tangy green hued subzi. Add that if you have some chutney in the fridge.

Now add the hara chana, toss to coat well. Add a cup of water and pressure cook till the first whistle blows. Take off the flame, let the pressure get normal, open the lid and add the amchoor powder. 

Mix the subzi well so some of the potatoes get mushed up and make the subzi a mish mash or potatoes and harey chane. Serve hot or at room temperature. This subzi is meant for a rustic meal, a favourite with kachori and poori lovers but we rarely had this with pooris.

Since the subzi tastes so good even at room temperature, Arvind loves it in his lunch box as well. The spicing can be adjusted if you like some aromatic garam masala but we never made this curry with any garam maslaa added. The everyday curry powder works really good for it.

We like a simple salad with harey chane too. A tomato salsa is mixed with rinsed green garbanzo beans and had like a salad or as a tea time snack with added puffed rice to it.

To make the tomato salsa, just chop 2 large tomatoes, microwave them for a minute and mash them with the back of a fork. Add chopped garlic, chopped green chillies to taste, salt and a little mustard oil and mix well. Add a little vinegar if you want to keep the salsa for a day or two in the fridge. Add chopped onions or spring onions and mix with the harey chane or use otherwise. Ass much hara chana for as much tomato salsa you want. Make it to your taste and enjoy.

Another harey chane snack is a quick stir fry in mustard oil and cumin seasoning for us. 

This one is a really nice namkeen type snack with our evening tea. Just heat 1 tsp of mustard oil, chuck in a tsp of whole cumin seeds and may be one broken dry red chilly. Add about 200 gm hara chana and salt to taste, mix well to coat and cover the pan and let it cook for 3-5 minutes on low flame. I do it till the milky ginger tea boils on the other side of the stove. You might need to stir it once or twice in between. Squeeze lime or sprinkle amchoor powder if you wish and have warm with tea.

I know you make some equally yummy snacks with harey chane as well. Share them with me and other readers here. Sharing is a great way to learn more.

I am dreaming of the harey chane ka horha with some hot lasun mirch ki chutney till then. May be I get a chance to taste that smoky goodness this season.

honey chilly sweet potato finger chips : baked finger chips

These could well qualify to be called as Shakarkandi ke gutke, which is a sticky chaat made using tamarind and black salt, some red chilly etc etc. These sweet potato finger chips are a diantier, drier version of them. Shakarkandi or sweet potatoes as we call them in India, are actually a yam. We get the purplish skinned, pale flesh variety here but the Vitamin A content is not compromised much. This is the season for sweet potatoes and I love getting all fresh produce that I see in the markets. After all the fruits and vegetables come packed with nutrients when they are at the peak of their growth or fruiting stage.

Shakarkandi is roasted on charcoal traditionally in winters and is tossed up in a quick chhaat with either kala namak and lime juice or with slices of star fruit that comes in this season too. I make several versions of chaats and salads with sweet potatoes and add them to a few curries as well. Yes I learnt adding sweet potatoes ever since I tasted the famous Labra that Bengalis make and the winter special Undhiyu that Gujratis make. I feel I am a sucker for rustic foods from regional cuisines and can't get enough of it.

But this recipe is beautiful to look at, dainty chips that won't let you rest in peace until you have polished off the last crumb. I usually make it for our weekend teas or as a part of an elaborate meal sometimes. But a healthy snack it is when the two of us are alone at home, the snack sometimes gets too much and we skip the next meal. It's a free world you see :-)

I would say the recipe is very simple. Now, a simple recipe is not a new thing on my blogs, you probably come back to my recipes because they are simple and doable, healthy and tasty. Please say yes. I will feel happy.

ingredients
(makes 2-3 large servings, as a filling snack)

one large fat sweet potato with skin, about 200 gm
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fine red chilly powder
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp sesame seeds

procedure

Discard any spotted skin from the sweet potato and brush it clean. Now chop it in batons 1 cm thick. You wont get nice and crisp finger chips if you cut them thicker, but the taste will be great, so don't worry if some of them are a bit thicker.

Toss all the ingredients together and spread them evenly all on a baking sheet. Adjust seasoning before you bake, it's all a matter of personal taste and there should be a good balance of sweet, sour and hot in this recipe.

I use silpat but you can use parchment paper or a nonstick baking pan or a glass or ceramic baking dish. Bake at 200 C for 10 minutes, toss once and bake again for 7-10 minutes or till you see almost dry finger chips, sesame gets crisp so you get the idea. The chips are softer inside.

Great accompaniment to tea or coffee. You can always serve it along with some cream cheese or feta cheese as an aperitif.

Let me know if you try the recipe. We have been having them regularly this winter, taking advantage of season's bounty. Who cares for fried snacks when we can bake them right.

a mixed fruit cake that is the real tutti frutti cake, not with the candied and colored papaya bits...

I remember I used to like the tutti frutti (candied mixed fruits) cakes when I was a child. But then I got to know too soon that the tutti frutti bits were no fruits but just colored and candied papaya bits. And then I never had a tutti frutti cake even in my childhood after the grim discovery. I would pick and discard any colored bits that were put into foods afterwards, I remember some people used to add those candied bits into pulavs and custard trifles back then. There was an ice cream flavor by this name too. How I hated all of that. Tutti frutti in it's real form was never encountered till I made my own, that too by serendipity.

The mosaic pattern that those candied fruit brings was always fascinating. Somehow it stayed in my mind and when I started cooking on my own I found out a way to bring about that effect in my cakes.

I keep making small amounts of jams and apple or pear butter all the time. Mostly when I buy fruits in bulk and some of the leftovers get all wrinkly and sad and no one wants them as fresh fruits. Wrinkled apples and pears make nice sweet butter as their juices have already reduced. Likewise wrinkled plums also make good jam. But I am talking bout making jams, keeping them in small jars and refrigerating them till I find 3-4 or more jars pushed behind all the fresh produce. We don't eat much jam ourselves, some is gifted away and some leftovers are bottled and refrigerated as I make them with minimal sugar and no preservation. Most such jams get dehydrated while they are in the fridge and make a good chunk of fruit leather. See how chunky the apple butter gets and how I chop it and use in my cakes...

This way I have something really useful for the cakes that I bake in a hurry.

Oh I do bake cakes in hurry when someone is visiting or we have to visit someone on short notice. I just chop those jam turned fruit leathers in different flavors and colors and add it to the cake batter. Some fresh fruit is added for bringing a moist texture and the cakes are way better than that artificially colored tutti frutti.

Otherwise the cake is just a basic recipe. This time I used maida and whole wheat both in equal amounts, some fresh tart plums and a mix of these fruit leathers and preserves.

ingredients...

maida (all purpose flour) 1 cup
atta (whole wheat flour) 1 cup
chopped fresh fruit 1 cup (I used tart plums)
chopped mixed fruit leathers or jelly or dehydrated jam total 1 cup or more
eggs 4
olive oil or sunflower oil 1 scant cup
sugar 1 scant cup
buttermilk 1/4 cup or a little more
baking powder 1.5 tsp
baking soda 1/2 tsp
salt 2 pinches
I did not use any fruit or vanilla extract in this fruit as there was enough fruit to make the cake flavorful. Use good quality extracts if doing so.

procedure...

Mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and keep side.

Line a baking dish of 9" diameter with parchment paper. Keep aside.

Mix the oil, eggs and sugar together and whip to mix. Add the chopped fresh fruit and chopped bits of dehydrated fruits/jam and preserve. Mix well.

Add the flour mix to this wet mix and fold the batter nicely with a light hand. Add the buttermilk to make the batter loose, add more if required. The batter is a little thicker than ribbon consistency.

Pour into the baking pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 50-55 minutes on middle rack. Check once after 35 minutes and place on the lower rack if the crust is browning too much.

Check with a skewer if the cake is done in the middle.

Let it cool or cut wedges when the cake is still warm. Take care if it is too hot to handle.

The slices are dotted with the colors of fruit and fruit preserves used. The taste is awesome if you like fruits. All fruit preserves and fresh fruits added impart their own flavors that remain enclosed in those tiny pockets and you get a different fruit in each bite.

The little girl who was in a mood to have a chocolate cake that day, enjoyed the brownie cake better. This cake was enjoyed by everyone else including the teenage sister of the little girl.

I gave away a large portion of this cake but the smaller portion that I kept at home for Arvind thinking he would have it over the week, he finished it having it for breakfast over two consecutive days. Such cake lovers I have around me.

This cake feels light due to oil used int he recipe, butter makes it feel heavy and the fruits don't shine that well when butter is used for fresh fruit cakes. The tart plums in this case provided a nice kick to the sweet fruit preserves used. I used a nice peach preserve that was just slivers of peaches preserved in sugar. A tart plum and black raisins preserve that I had made last summer and an apple butter leather (picture above). All these flavors were there in those small pockets and gave a different taste in each bite.

No wonder I think of cakes when I have some extra fruit at home, when I have some extra fruit preserve or some sun dried fruit too. A jar of sun dried apricots is waiting for it's turn now. All this when I myself don't enjoy cakes much.

But you know well I love playing with ingredients. Simple recipes turn into show stoppers if you just combine the flavors well.

sama ke chawal ka dhokla | vrat wala dhokla | a healthy fasting recipe that can be a regular snack too

Dhokla used to be my go to snack few years ago when I would steam an instant dhokla every other day. It was always for our evening tea or when my brother came who loves dhokla. And then our evening tea changed as we started having early dinners. So the evening tea was just tea and nothing else with it most of the times.

I had bought some 2 kilos of sama ke chawal (Barnyard millet) during navratri a couple of weeks ago and have been using the millet for my breakfast or dinner sometimes. And then I was reminded of the dhokla I used to make of this millet. I couldn't stop myself and steamed a plate of sama ka dhokla, later I realised the husband had forgotten about a white dhokla. But he loved it all over again. Yes, I am telling you grudgingly because I got way too less than I wanted to have for myself :-(

This recipe of sama ka dhokla was suggested casually by a senior of mine during my research days and I used to be my experimental best regarding cooking in those days. So I played with this idea of a recipe and made a significant change. Instead of using whole sama ke chawal as suggested by her, I made it into a batter and the dhokla turned out much better. I like the sama ki idli steamed with whole soaked millet.

ingredients..

for the dhokla..
sama ke chawal (Barnyard millet) 1 cup
sour buttermilk or sour yogurt diluted with equal amount of water 3 cups
salt to taste

for the tempering...
green chilies 3-4 slit length wise
dry red chilies 1-2 broken
rai seeds (small mustard seeds) 1 tsp
hing (asafoetida) a pinch
curry leaves 3-4 springs
peanut oil 2 tsp
sugar 1 tbsp
lime juice 1 tbsp or a little more
water 1.5 cup

procedure...

Soak the millets in the buttermilk and salt overnight, but keep it refrigerated if you are using sour curd in summers, it could get too sour for your liking. But if you like khatta dhokla, you would like it really sour. Go with what you like. Also, this soaked mixture can be refrigerated for up to week if you are a bad planner. It happened with me so I thought I should add it to your convenience.

Make a batter of the soaked millet by blending it in mixie or food processor when you are about to steam the dhokla. Add 1/2 tsp pf soda bi carb to the batter, mix well and pour into a greased plate or steaming vessel. Steam till set and cooked. I used an opal ware plate and microwaved it for 5 minutes covered with a dome lid. Let it cool completely. Then cut in desired shapes.

For the tempering, heat oil in a pan, tip in the hing and rai seeds and let them crackle. Add the chilies and curry leaves and stir them to let them cook and release their aroma. Pour water and add the sugar, let it come to a soft boil.

Take off the heat, add the lime juice and pour over the steamed dhokla. Let the sweet and sour water soak in, it will all disappear within 5 minutes. The dhokla will swell up so make space for them by removing a few from the plate.

Serve at room temperature.

Soft and spongy, hot, sour and lightly sweet and completely bursting with flavors of the tempering. This makes a very pleasant snack or meal, or part of an elaborate meal. You just can't stop at a couple of these. This millet has a nice nuttiness to it when cooked and that comes out really nice with this dhokla tempering. Those fried and then boiled chilies become so yummy I gobble them all up.

We had it with our evening chai as I mentioned. But the chai was given a royal ignore as the dhokla took center stage  I had to reheat the chai later to finish it. The dhokla is that good.

 Vrat ka khana or fasting food can be fun if you use the ingredients to full potential. I keep cooking these ingredients whenever possible as all alternate grains do taste great and provide a good opportunity to bring variety to my meals every day.

baked bakharwadi | a baked Indian snack that beats a cookie any day..

Bakharwadi is a traditional Maharashtrian snack that is like a sweet, sour and savory fried cookie. That too a pinwheel type. I used to love the fried version long back and would request anyone visiting Mumbai or Pune or even Goa to bring me one. There is a packed Bakharwadi by Chitale Bandhu and then there is one by Haldiram's that is really good. But those are fried and one feels bad when reaching out for such fried packaged snacks. We have been off any packets namkeens for a long time but on a recent travel when the flight got late by an hour, we found ourselves straying into a Haldiram's kiosk and getting a pack of Bakarwadi. The packet was savored slowly between the two of us, but got over before we boarded the flight. It was alarming.

And then Arvind brought home a packet once more, this one was finished in 3-4 days but was enough addictive to rethink and act accordingly.
And act accordingly I did. I baked some.

This was after a long long time. I had experimented a lot on Bakharwadi when I bought my new microwave oven more than a decade ago. The best shape I could get around that time was through microwaving the rolled and cut Bakarwadis briefly and then frying them. This seals the edges and the filling, and allows the Bakharwadis to fry quickly so they absorb less oil. But they didn't turn really crisp. I was not confident enough to bake on combination mode of the microwave oven. Later when I bought the conventional oven for my breads, the same recipe was adjusted a little bit and gave me good results just by baking. So here it is.

ingredients...
(makes about 150 small wadis or pinwheel cookies)

for the pastry dough
whole wheat flour (atta) 1 cup
Chickpea flour (besan) 1 cup
All purpose flour (maida) 3/4 cup
oil 3/4 cup (I used cold pressed sunflower oil)
soda bi carb 2 pinches
salt to taste

for the stuffing
grated fresh coconut 3/4 cup
coconut powder (or dessicated coconut) 1/2 cup
sesame seeds 1/3 cup
poppy seeds 1/4 cup
chickpea flour (besan) 1/2 cup
finely chopped green chilies 1 tbsp
finely chopped or grated ginger 2 tbsp
ginger powder 1 tsp
fennel powder 1 tsp
natural brown sugar 2 tbsp
red chilly powder 1 tsp
salt to taste
freshly made tamarind extract 3/4 cup

procedure..

Mix all the ingredients for the pastry dough and knead a stiff dough adding water slowly as you mix. Rest the dough till you prepare the stuffing.

Soak a lime sized ball of dry tamarind in a cup of water and microwave it to make the tamarind extract. Sieve and save for later use.

Dry roast the sesame seeds in a kadhai or any suitable pan. Low flame will ensure even roasting, add the poppy seeds as soon as the sesame starts crackling. Within a minute, add the grated fresh coconut and roast again for about 3-4 minutes or till it starts getting fragrant. Lastly add the besan and the dry coconut powder and roast for a couple of minutes, just to mix everything together. Cooking the filling completely is not the idea, just to cook the besan briefly, the rest will be cooked during baking.

Add the green chilies, ginger and the other powders, the brown sugar and salt, mix well.

Now sprinkle the tamarind extract over this mixture and mix with the help of a spatula.

This stuffing mixture will come in the consistency of a paste that is not too wet. Add tamarind extract keeping the consistency in mind. Too thin extract will make it wet and less sour than required.

The pastry dough is already waiting, the filling is ready. Now is the time to do some rolling.

Divide the dough in 4 -5 portions and roll out on a board to make a rectangular sheet. Thickness of the pastry will be about 3 mm. Divide the stuffing too into equal portions and spread out one portion over the rolled out pastry sheet. Just slap it over and spread with the help of a knife blade.

Start rolling from the longer side so it makes a longer cylinder when rolled. And then roll the cylinder some more to make it tightly packed. Now slice the Bakharwadi cookies carefully holding the cylinder with the help of your left hand fingers.

The sliced cookies may be half moon shaped due to pressure exerted during slicing, just press them all from sides so they become round. Lay them on a baking sheet or greased baking tray.

Bake in preheated oven, 200 C for 20 minutes and then on 180 C for 25-30 minutes. A golden hue will be a sign of readiness.

Cool them on a wire rack or a perforated basket as I did. The cookies will be a little damp when freshly baked. They taste good but the texture enhances the next day as complete dehydration is achieved by that time.

You can always adjust sweet, sour and hot flavors in the stuffing to suit your palate, the nuttiness of the various ingredients is complex and very very addictive. The sesame, coconut and poppy seeds provide a complex texture too apart from the distinct nuttiness that blends with the sweet-sour-hot-savory taste of bakharwadi.

It is a time consuming process but makes enough quantity to last about a week or even a fortnight for a small family. Depends how how you ration them on the go. They are minimal gluten cookies, protein packed and fiber packed so it's not a problem if you binge on them for a while. Tasteful snacks sometimes fix a deep rooted emotional problem and help you get back to track in life.

What do you think?

Chane ka saag | chickpea greens and a steamed savory snack called patoda or girmachh...

Yes, my grandmother used to call it chane ke saag ka girmachh as it is similar in the cooking technique to the arbi ke patte ka girmachh or patra, long cylindrical dumplings steamed and then cut into slices to shallow fry as a snack. Technically it is more similar to a gujrati muthia or any greens and lentil dumpling that we steam for snacking. I always wonder how versatile and yummy these dumplings are. I have posted another version of steamed dumplings that are tempered with sesame seeds etc for tea time snacking. These can be made with any green leafy vegetables but since I have had these in my childhood, made by my grandmother who was so find of spicy food, I love recreating this in my kitchen whenever there is a chance. The chance comes only when I get Chane ka saag in the market, that is a rare happening here in Delhi vegetables markets. In high end mega malls we don't get to see such desi seasonal greens while Celery and Parsley is abundantly available. I feel sad.

We should all keep writing in the suggestion books of those high end stores to stock Indian greens as well, till they realise there is market for the abundantly growing greens in out rural fields. Anyways, we get these at out local vegetable vendors or the farmers markets around the city. Cleaning this greens is a little time consuming but it's all worth it. Just discard the tough stems and keep the leaves and growing buds. Rinse them in several changes of water, drain and then chop finely. It's difficult to chop these finely as the leaves and twigs are quite small, just make a tight bundle, place on the chopping board and keep slicing away. It's a breeze after this.

ingredients...

chopped chane ka saag (chickpea greens) 250 gm or 3 cups chopped
besan(chickpeas flour) 1 cup
ginger-garlic-green chilly paste to taste (use a little more than you think is enough as besan needs a lot of seasoning)
cumin powder 1 tsp
black pepper powder 1-2 tsp or to taste
turmeric powder 1 tsp
red chilly powder to taste
salt to taste (you can taste the dough after mixing everything)
water about 1/4 cup or as required
mustard oil (or any other) fro greasing the plate and more mustard oil for shallow frying (about 1 tbsp is enough to fry about a dozen sliced discs)

procedure...

Mix everything together and make a dough adding minimal water.

Divide the dough into tennis ball size portions and shape cylindrical dumplings.

Grease a plate (microwave safe) and arrange all the dumplings over it. See this post to get a pictorial elaboration of the process, only the shape of the dumplings is different in this case.

Cover the plate with a dome cover or an inverted bowl (suitably sized) and steam the dumplings till firm. You can use the idli steamer meant of microwave or for stove top for steaming these dumplings. They cook quickly.

These dumplings taste really good while still hot and soft. You can have them as it is, but you need to cool them down before slicing and shallow frying.

Cool and place them all in a dabba or container to refrigerate. These keep well for a week and you can slice and shallow fry a small batch for evening tea every day.

To shallow fry, heat a tawa or flat griddle or frying pan with a tbsp of oil and arrange all the sliced discs on it. Let them brown on low flame on one side, then flip and brown it on the other side too. They become crisp on the surface and crumbly inside.

And yes, you don't even need a chutney with these. Spicy and perfectly crisp with a pleasant taste of chane ka saag. Tastes great with methi ka saag (fenugreek greens) as well.

These can also be curried like kofta curry or to make kadhi, but it has been a long time I curried these dumplings. These are so tasty as tea time snack either steamed or shallow fried that we never get enough leftover to make a curry with it.

I always say our traditional recipes are healthy and make use of whole foods. Don't you agree?

Keema waala Samosa : deep fried indulgence...

A plateful of piping hot something is not a particularly inviting idea in this smouldering heat. But just think of someone talking about samosa all over twitter and facebook and the husband has already demanded a keema paratha you would definitely be tempeted to some heat and deep frying.

So a friend was talking about baked samosa that I find awful to be honest because the fat in the shortening of pastry dough would not be any less if you want a crisp pastry on samosa. Why not deep fry it because anyway you have them very occasionally only. And then I decided for a Keema samosa dinner that day. Any such heavy snack becomes a dinner for us always. I had this Khajur Imli ki chutney in the fridge and the Samosa took me about 40 minutes from scratch.

recipe of the keema stuffing....

ingredients...

(for about 20 small samosas)
keema (mutton mince) 250 gm
finely chopped onions 1/2 cup
finely chopped(minced) ginger 1 tbsp
minced garlic 1 tsp
garam masala 1 tsp or to taste*
red chilly powder 1 tsp or to taste
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
salt to taste
ghee 2 tsp
whole cumin 1 tsp

*I used 2 tsp of my everyday curry powder and 1/2 tsp of the special garam masala

procedure...

Heat ghee in a kadai and tip in the cumin seeds.

Wait till the cumin seeds crackle and then throw in the garlic, ginger and then the chopped onion in that order. Fry till pinkish brown, adding salt at this stage would help in hastening the process..

Tip in the powdered spices , mix and then add the mutton mince. Mix and keep stirring. It takes about 15 minutes to get cooked and dry. Cook longer if the keema (mince) is coarse.

Check seasoning, adjust and let it cool.

recipe of the cover pastry...

ingredients...
maida (white flour)200 gm or one cup
ajwain seds 1 tsp
salt to taste
ghee 1.5 tbsp for shortening
ghee for deep frying


procedure...

Mix maida, salt and ajwain seeds.

Rub in the ghee and mix well.

Add water and make a firm dough.


Make 10 portions out of the dough and roll out small discs.

Halve the discs in half moons and make a cone with each semi circle, folding the straight side up.

Then stuff the keema inside , crinkle the edges and seal with pressure. Repeat with all the discs..

My little trick to flash fry the samosa is to microwave a batch of samosas placed on a greased plate first for 2 minutes and then dunk them immediately in hot ghee so they get fried in minimal time and come out as crisp as the street side shops or college canteens.

Did you check out the samose I saw live demo almost daily while in university and tried making them later? 
Those are the real potato stuffing samosa that is a college time favorite of all Indian students I guess.

These keema samosa are more of a specialty of a few places and mostly are made at home because very few people trust the meat at street shops. They are best home made.

The khajoor imli ki chutney was perfect with the spicy heavy stuffing. We had our dinner earlier than normal that day and it was worth having a deep fried indulgence in a hot summer day.

These are small samosa almost the size of Indian limes. The reason I make them small is that I have to fill the pan less for deep frying them. Bigger samosa would need deeper oil/ghee to deep fry. Reusing the ghee is not harmful because of high smoking point and more stable fatty acids but if you are using other cooking oils you must be careful about reusing the oil. Using lesser in the frying pan makes sense.

Smaller samosa are cuter and crisp too.

Do you see that dark and thick khajoor imli ki chutney?

That bowl was licked clean.

We had some samosas as leftovers the next day with tea.

Reheated in MW they were not as crisp as fresh but as tasty. Those who love keema would know how leftovers are guarded with utmost care.

How often do you have such fried goodies as your dinner?

Bhapouri, Baphouri or steamed dumplings... desi lentil dumplings ...

There are a few old recipes which have been favorites since childhood. I think this one was made quite frequently as it was my mom's favorite as well. She used to make a large batch of it and then some would be eaten warm as steamed dumplings , some would be refrigerated to be fried for the time snacks and some would be curried just like any other kofta curry.

My mom liked it in all three forms and we also liked it just because this thing was praised so much. I think this is a very important tool when we want our kids to like the healthy versions of snacks or home made food. They start liking what we praise and what we eat with delight. Happy moments are associated with good food, tasty food. So if we all enjoy an ice cream and expect a kid would not eat it, behaving like a good girl/boy, we are being unfair.

What do you think?

Coming to this healthy snack or meal recipe, this is a quick cooking one to. Although it looks like extensive work, with a steaming device and a grinding gadget used, the cooking time is not much.

Thirty minutes is not much of a time when 5-6 portions can be prepared if you start from scratch. For the two of us, it results in snacking 3 times or 2 day's worth of snacks and a curry. Good enough.

I used to make it quite often sometime back, almost always using an idli steamer, the dumplings would be in the shape of idlis and would be deep fried sometimes for guests. Always a nice tea time snack.

Sometimes it would be a breakfast too. The shallow fried whole idlies, with slightly crisp spots here and there, will be submerged in a thin green chutney (coriander, mint and green chillies with lime) and that would make a hot-spicy-tangy start to the day.

This time I decided to make it the way my mom used to steam them. Just for the blog as I wanted an authentic looking Bhapouri here :-)

So Bhaap is steam in Hindi and the dumpling is called Bhapouri or Baphouri in regional accents.

The preparation is quite simple and you can steam them even if you don't own a steamer. I always steam all my Momos and Fara (goojha) and dumplings this way and have not felt a need to buy a fancy steamer to clutter my kitchen. Which it already is.

The idli steamer I have and have reduced using it already. Simpler utensils work better most of the times.

ingredients...

To make a paste...
dhuli masoor daal (skinned red lentils) 1 cup (soaked for minimum 2 hours or overnight for convenience)
cumin seeds 2 tsp
ginger roughly chopped an inch piece
garlic cloves 5-6
dry whole red chillies 2-3 or to taste
turmeric powder 1 tsp

To mix in the paste...
diced onions 3-4 to 1 cup
chopped coriander greens 2-3 tbsp (optional)

procedure...

It's really quick if you have soaked the lentils beforehand. Keeping the paste ready is also one step ahead to a quick snack.

So make the paste with all the ingredients listed. A coarse paste is intended.

Mix the chopped onions and greens if using, to the paste.

And while you are doing the blending and mixing, put a pan with water to boil. Place a perforated plate over the rim of the pan and place a muslin cloth to line he perforated plate. I use a square cotton handkerchief.

If using a proper steamer, you know what to do.

The paste of lentils has to be dropped like Vadis (or Badi) , small round dumplings using a spoon or your fingers, into the lined perforated plate.

Then cover the plate with a lid and let it steam for about 10 minutes on medium flame.

Note that I have used a regular Indian Kadhai and have placed a deep perforated plate (steel chhanni) which fits the rim of the kadhai. We all have a few pans of different sizes and lids of different sizes and such an arrangement can be done every time if you plan to steam something. I find it more practical than a steamer.

The dumplings get cooked and the color changes a bit. Becomes a dull yellowish brown. Flip one of the dumplings using a spoon or a knife, it should not be sticking to the cloth or the surface of steamer. Flipping easily, it indicates it is cooked.

These can be had immediately with or without a green chutney. If you are planning to have it with masala tea, which takes about 10 minutes to boil and get ready with milk, you can steam these dumplings on the side if you have the lentil paste ready. Or just quickly stir fry or deep fry the dumplings if you the leftovers in the fridge.

The dumplings keep well in the fridge and can be reheated, fried or curried later. You can always use other lentils for making these dumplings , which would result in different taste and texture. These red lentil,ones are traditionally made for their light texture, probably due to quick cooking property and because they are really tasty too. I have tried making them with other lentils but always found them inferior to these ones. So if you are thinking of Chana daal (split chickpeas) or even split yellow peas, why not making another version called Beasn Katli which involves a slightly different cooking technique and the taste and texture is really great.

Different ingredients need to be treated differently I feel. To make the best of them :-)