Masoor Daler Bora / Lentil Fritter

It is said that bigger the crisis , the solutions are more simple. Similarly , when you are hungry, a humble dal( lentil) vadas come to your rescue and add nutrients in your meal. Sometimes, when you either do not feel like elaborate cooking or you have come home from a trip and there aren’t fresh veggies at home, this recipe comes handy. Masoori'r Dal Bora is a sure hit on a rainy day along with evening tea. Masoori'r Dal Bora along with khichuri is another sought after combination.

 All you have to do is to cook rice, dal and fry these vadas in a jiffy. Voila you have a fulfilling lunch. I made this combination yesterday :Bhaja Moog Dal, Bhaat, Fried Red chilly and these piping hot boras. 

Ingredients:
1 cup Red lentil, wash and soak in water for minimum 3 hours
1 Onion, diced
2-3 green chillies, chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped Coriander leaves
Turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Drain out the extra water from soaked lentil and grind till you get a coarse paste in food processor for better texture use Shilnora .The consistency of the batter should be thick. Add the remaining ingredients except oil and mix well.

 Heat oil in a deep frying pan or kadhai. The temperature of oil should be steamy hot. Now before dropping the batter into kadhai lower the heat, otherwise the fritters will remain uncooked from inside. Drop a tbsp of  batter into oil and fry on medium heat.

 Flip the dumplings a few times to get a even brown crust. Remove from oil and place them on paper towel. You can serve these fritter as tea time snacks or along with Dal-Rice as bhaja.

                                                     

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Soya Keema Fritters / Soya Ke Pakore

Deepavali has passed and all of us had a wonderful time in munching on the sweets and snacks. I must have put on at least 3 kg in last  2 weeks. However, in order to maintain the taste and health at the same time and revitalize for all the upcoming festivities like Christmas and New Year, I am including lots of tofu and soya dishes in my daily meal. This soya keema fritter will face no rejection from fussy eaters. 

Ingredients:
2 cups Soya Granules
1 Egg, beaten
1 small Onion, diced
2 tbsp Gram flour
1/2 tsp chopped Ginger
2 Green chillies, finely chopped
Pinch of Garam masala
Handful of Coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method:
Boil the soya granules with enough water with a pinch of salt for 7-8 minutes on low flame.Drain and wash in fresh water. Squeeze out all the extra water from the soya granules and coarsely grind the soya in a food processor. Now in a mixing bowl add soya mixture and rest of the ingredients. Do not add water in it. 

The batter should be of medium consistency, neither too thick nor too thin. Deep fry on medium flame till they are golden brown. Place them on tissue to soak excess oil an serve with Ketchup or Coriander chutney. 

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Easy Peasy Fish Biryani

Yeah I know, why again a dish with Fish as its mainstay ? To be honest, we Bengalis have a knack to seamlessly add fish to any dish to suit our tastebuds. Another reason being my little son ( Children remain little forever in front of parents!) loves biriyani and it is a nice way to camouflage fish into it which he does not like too much. Now a days since we have banned chicken dishes in our house because of Bird Flu in Bangalore, our fish intake has doubled to please our non-veg quota. So fish biriyani has caught up the fancy with foodies like us. Nothing much of an effort though.

Ingredients:
To make fish gravy you need:
4 medium sized Katla/ Rohu fish
2 Onion, ground to paste
2 Tomatoes, ground to paste
2 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Chilly powder
Salt to taste

Method to make fish curry:
Wash and clean the fish pieces. Marinade fish with little turmeric powder and salt for 15 minutes. Heat kadhai on medium flame and pour oil once it is heated. Let it come to smoking point and only then add 2 fishes at a time. Fry till light brown. Repeat with other 2 fish pieces. Place them on paper tissue to soak the oil and set aside.
In the remaining oil add onion paste and a pinch of salt. Fry until light golden brown, add ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, salt and chilly powder and fry till raw smell goes off. Now stir in the tomato paste and fry till it leaves oil. Add fried fish pieces and now comes the patience part where you just have to sprinkle some water and let this fry well by covering with a lid and cook it. Once the oil floats on top and you get (thick gravy)Makha Makha gravy its time to turn off the burner. Garnish this with some slited green chillies. Set aside.

For Biryani:
2 cups Basmati rice/ long grained rice {Rinse and wash the rice for 2-3 times, soak for 15-20 minutes then drain and keep aside}
1 tsp Biryani masala
4-5 Peppercorns
2 Cinnamon sticks
2 Black cardamom
3 Cloves
1 small Javitri phool
1 tsp Fennel seeds
1 Bay leaf
2 tbsp Ghee +2 refind oil
1/2 Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Chilly powder

To garnish the biryani we need:
1 cup Onion, sliced
1/4 cup Cashews
Coriander leaves, chopped
2 tsp Kewra water {an aromatic water}

Fried garnishings for Fish Biryani:
Heat a large skillet and put ghee into it and fry cashews till light in color. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet add sliced onion and fry on slow flame. To speed up the caramelizing process add pinch of salt in it and continuing frying. When the color turns golden brown and looks very crisp, remove from skillet and let this cool.

Proceed ahead with Rice preparation: 
Add remaining oil in the skillet and let it heat, add bay leaf followed by fennel seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, cardamoms, javitri phool and cloves. Fry until it leaves out aroma then add drained rice, turmeric and chilly powder. Mix the rice with spices carefully so that grains remain intact and add the biryani masala powder. On medium flame keep frying the rice till color turns light. Add the gravy of fish curry that you cooked leaving aside the fish pieces. This way the rice will soak up all the flavour of fish gravy. Add double amount of water (for 2 cups rice =4 cups water) and add salt. Let the first boil come and then cover and cook for 12-15 minutes until done. Place the fish pieces on top of the rice layer and sprinkle some Kewra water, chopped coriander leaves, caramelized onions and finally the fried cashews. Cover and cook on low flame for another 5 minutes. Serve with raita. 

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Olkopir Dalna (German Turnip Curry)

It will take days for me to get back to household chores as my mind is still in vacation mood after my Andaman trip. The highlight was Sea Walking at North bay. This is the only place in Andaman where you are walking on sea bed without those heavy oxygen cylinders, head is inside a mask with oxygen flowing into it. Then you are allowed to walk near the corals with your whole body walking on the seabed underwater. SeaLink Adventures have introduced this once in a life time experience for 20 minutes. School of Fishes come  near to you and you can actually touch them. It’s a great feeling. More about Andaman trip in later posts.

Well back to today's post, it's Olkopi widely known as Kohlrabi easily available in the market now a days. When I came to Bangalore I was pleasantly surprised to find them here. This dish is very simple and can be relished with plain rice.

Ingredients:
2 Kholrabi /Olkopi
2 Potato, diced
1 Tomato, ground to paste
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
Prepare a paste of the powdered spices :
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1 tspCoriander powder
Cu1/2 tsp Cumin powder
Pinch of Red chilly powder
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Sugar 
1- 2 tsp Ghee

For tempering:
1 tsp Panch phoron
1 Whole red chilli
1 Bay leaf

Method:
Cut the olkopi into small cubes and the size of potatoes should also be the same. Heat oil in a pressure cooker add Panch phoron, bay leaf,  red chilly followed by the vegetable. Add a little salt and turmeric, fry till they become soft. Add the paste of spices and mix well. Fry well till it leaves oil, then add tomato paste, salt and sugar. Now add water (approx 1 cup) and cover the lid. Pressure cook till one whistle. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and ghee. Serve hot with plain rice.

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Kolkata's Street Food Ghugni (Dried Green Peas Curry)

This should have been my Vijaya Dashami /Dusshera  post but due to my time constraint I couldn't post it earlier. During Vijaya Dashami we prepare a number of delicacies mostly a variety of sweets. Along with the sweets comes the much awaited ghugni accessorized  with an array of other namkeen snacks. But ghugni has an eminent position of its own ! 

A famous street food of Bengal: Ghugni is a familiar sight at every nook and corner of the city. And if you happen to visit mini Kolkata : C.R.Park in Delhi one can never miss the regular sight of ghugni selling like hot cakes. Giving a stiff competition to phuckas !

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Dried Green Peas (hari matar)
2 Onion, ground to paste
12 cup tomato puree
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tsp Coriander  powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Chilly powder
1 small Cinnamon stick
Salt to taste
Oil (white oil)
For garnishing 2 tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped) + chopped onion + lemon + finely cut green chillies and 1 tsp roasted Jeera powder

Method:
Soak the green peas overnight or if you have forgotten you can soak the peas in hot water next morning for minimum 3 hours. Pressure cook it with little salt and 1 cup water till 1 whistle (they should be done but not mushy). Heat oil in a pan add cinnamon stick, onion and a pinch of salt. Fry till the color turns light brown. Add ginger-garlic paste, fry for one minute and add the dry spices. Followed by tomato puree, fry till oil separates. Add boiled green matar to this mixture and mix well with the spices. Now add water to get the desired consistency, adjust the salt and close the lid. Lower the flame to minimum and let it simmer for 2-5 minutes. Ensure the peas are not overcooked. Garnish this hot ghugni with coriander leaves, chopped onions, lemon juice, green chillies and finally with roasted jeera powder. This can be served as a main dish or can be combined with luchi.

Serving Suggestions: You may add tamarind juice at the end and sprinkle some chaat masala to obtain a tangy taste.

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Lentil Stuffed Samosa | Deepawali Savories

Friends, I am back from my Annual Vacation from Andaman ( a much needed one too). Would share more about it in the next post. However, straight from the holidays I have landed in the full swing preparations fro the Festival of Lights ( Deepavali or Diwali). 

It involves installing small leds, decorating the house with diyas( oiled lamps), preparing delicious sweets and snacks and lighting up firecrackers. I am of the belief that along with sweets snacks too play a vital role in lifting the festive mood. So, once the festival starts on 13th, would jump into action.

Ingredients:
For the stuffing:
1/2 cup Moong Dal, soaked for 3 hrs
1 tsp Hing (Asafetida)
2 Green chillies
1 tsp Coriander seeds
1/2 tspRed chilly powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1/2 tsp Amchoor powder (dry mango powder)
1/2 tsp Chat masala
Oil needed for frying the dal mixture
Salt to taste

The Crust:
1 cup All purpose flour
A big pinch of salt
2 tbsp Refind oil
Water to knead
Little water to pasted the edges of samosa

Method:
To knead the dough you need to take a big mixing bowl and add the above crust ingredients to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for atleast 10 minutes for better results. Then wrap the dough with a muslin cloth for 20 minutes.

To make the filling:
Cook the dal with little water. Now heat little oil in a skillet and add hing, coriander seeds, green chillies. Add the dal mixture, remaining powders and mix everything well. Keep stirring to avoid the bottom get stick to the skillet. Need to stir till the dal gets dry and the water evaporates. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool completely.

Divide the dough into equal portions and form each dough into a ball. On a clean platform dust with little flour and with the help of rolling pin roll the ball to make a small disk (approx 3 inch in diameter). Now cut the circle in half with a sharp knife. 

Dip your index finger in a bowl of water and apply on the edges of half disk (this works as a gum to seal the edges of samosa) and fold it to make a cone. Fill the cone with little lentil stuffing and carefully seal the edges. Now follow the same with the remaining cones and place the ready to fry samosas in a dry surface which is dusted with flour.

Heat enough oil in a kadhai and deep fry the samosas on medium heat. Since these are very small in size so you can fry 3-4 samosas in a batch. Fry till they are golden brown.
Place them on kitchen towel to soak the excess oil. Serve with dipping sauce / dry garlic chutney.

read more.. "Lentil Stuffed Samosa | Deepawali Savories "