Elephant Yam 🍠 Kebab | ಸುವರ್ಣಗಡ್ಡೆ ಕಬಾಬ್ | सुरन के कबाब

 

Ingredients

200 gms Elephant Yam / Suran (cut into cubes) 1 tsp Red Chili Powder 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder 1/2 Cup Corn Flour Oil for deep fry Salt per taste

Method

1. Boil water in a pot. Add yam. Cook until fork tender 2. Drain yam and wash in cold water (this helps to remove oxalyic acids which causes itchyness) and set aside 3. Mix all the dry ingredients - corn flour, red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt 4. Add the dry ingredients to yam and toss well, so that they are evenly coated with the flour mixture 5. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed utensil 6. Drop the coated yam to the oil. Fry until it turns to deep red color and when it stops to bubble 7. Remove from oil and use a paper towel to drain excess oil 8. Serve hot

Ompudi | Khara Sev

Its a mommy's favorite recipe. Crispy noodle strands made with besan (chickpea flour) is a perfect tea time savory snack. In south India they are called ompudi becuase it is flavored with caraway seeds. Most popularly it is called as sev. 

Its the most common garnishing ingredient in Indian chats and they are not complete without topping of sev. 

My mom usually makes this snack in large batches. It takes very less time to prepare and cooks very fast. With proper storage it can last for up-to a month. 

Ingredients

3 cups Besan (chickpea flour)
1/2 tsp Ajwain (caraway seeds)
1 tsp Red chili powder
1/4 tsp Asafoetida (hing)
2 tsp Melted Ghee
Salt
Water
Oil for deep frying

Method

• Blend ajwain into fine powder

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together besan, ajwain, red chili powder, asafoetida, ghee and salt

• Add water in small batches to the besan mixture and mix together to form a sticky dough  (*** Note -  you can use spoon to make dough for less messy)

•  Grease the sev maker. Load the besan dough until it fills up the cylinder. And close the cylinder

• Heat oil until it is moderately hot on medium heat 
• Press the handle of sev maker and gently drop the noodle strands in oil in circular motion. Fry in medium heat until oil bubbles go away (*** Note -  Flip the sev only once. Flipping more than once will break the sev)

•  Use an absorbent paper to drain excess oil
• After sev cools down, store it in a air tight container 

Beetroot Cutlet

An innovative use of beetroot  transformed into crispy cutlet. When you need easy, simple and healthy family meal; you can reach out for this recipe.

Bring all the ingredients together and shape it into patties . Either bake, pan fry or deep fry. Serve it with chilled dipping sauces or simply place it between burger buns!!

Ingredients

1 Large Beetroot, peeled and shredded

1 boiled Potato

1 cup Bread crumbs, divided

1/2 tsp Chili Powder

1/4 tsp Coriander Powder

1/2 tsp Chat Masala

1/2 tsp Cumin powder

Salt

Oil for deep frying (optional)

Method

• Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl except oil. Divide the vegetable mixture into equal portions. Take each portion and shape it into patties
• The coat each patty in breadcrumbs
• Preheat oven to 350F
• Place beetroot patties in a tray. Drizzle oil all over the patties. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the top layer is crusty

                                                             or

• Heat oil in a sauce pan. Gently drop each patty in oil. Cook evenly on both the sides. Use an absorbent paper to drain excess oil
• Serve hot with chilled dips like ketchup or Green Chutney

Khara Papdi

Try this quick recipe  to devour. An easy tea time snack to munchkin. Khara papri are thin crisps deep fried spicy squares paired with tea. It is spicy, light and easy to prepare.

I make papdis to prepare chats like masala puri, dhahi papdi, papdi chat or sometimes serve it plain with tea or coffee. Another innovative use is to add it in salads. Just crush papdis and add it to salads. It is crispy in every bite. I also liked the idea to eat it like chips and salsa or just dip with tangy chutney!!

Ingredients

1 cup Flour

1 tsp Pepper corns

1/2 tsp Ajwain (caraway seeds)

1/2 tsp Salt

Cold water

Oil for deep frying

Method

• Coarsely grind pepper corns and ajwain
• Whisk together flour, pepper powder, ajwain and salt
• Add cold water to knead into stiff dough. Cover it with a damp cloth and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes
• Now divide the dough into equal shaped balls. Roll each ball into thin circles., Prick papdi using fork
• Use cookie cutter to cut into different shapes
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed deep dish
• Gently drop each papdi into oiol. Fry evenly until it turns golden brown
• Use absorbent paper to drain excess oil. Set aside until it cools. Store in an air tight container for future use

Nippattu | Thattai

Nippattu is a spicy and crunchy snack from South Indian cuisine.  This tea time snack is made from rice flour, peanuts, Bengal gram and chilies. 

The secret to this recipe is using thin and dry cotton cloth to flatten the dough. By using cloth; it absorbs excess water, reduces cooking time and the end product turns out to be extremely crispy. 

Ingredients

3 cups Rice flour

3/4 cup Peanuts
1/2 cup Dalia (roasted channa)

Handful of Green chilies

1 cups Bengal gram, soak in water for 3hours

1/4 tsp Asafoetida (hing)

1/2 cup Hot oil

Salt

Oil for frying

Method

• Roast rice flour in a pan for 5 minutes sauteing frequently without burning flour. Set aside

• Roast peanuts until brown. After it cools, remove the skin by rubbing peanuts between your palm. Then make a coarse powder of peanuts

• Make smooth paste of green chili by adding very little water

• Drain excess water from Bengal gram 

• Make smooth powder of Roasted channa (dalia)

                                                      

• Mix together roasted rice flour, powdered peanuts, green chili paste, soaked Bengal gram and season it with salt. Add hot oil and mix again

• Make a smooth and stiff dough by adding water. Divide the dough into 1 inch balls. Take a ball of dough and flatten it on a dry cloth. You can apply on your fingers to flatten the dough for non sticking purpose

• Heat oil for deep frying. When oil is ready for frying, gently drop the flattened dough  in oil. Fry evenly on both the sides until it stops bubbling

                          

• Use an absorbent paper to drain excess oil
• After it cools, store in an air tight container which can last to 2-3 weeks

Aloo - Channa Chat

A low calorie and oil-free snack made effortlessly. Pre-cooked boiled potatoes and dry black chick pea are tossed in a spicy tangy sauce. I prefer to make the sauce fresh because all the flavors are imparted in this chutney. The savory sauce is made up of tamarind pulp, sugar, red chili powder, chat masala, coriander powder and cumin powder. 

This recipe can be either served as a salad or as a evening snack. It tastes best when served cold.  

Ingredients

1 Potato

1 cup Dry Black Chickpea

1 Lemon

Few sprigs of Cilantro

For the sauce

1/4 cup Freshly squeezed tamarind pulp

1/2 tsp Raw sugar (or any sweetener)

1/4 tsp Coriander powder

1/4 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp Red chili powder

1/4 tsp Chat masala

Salt

Method

• Cook potato in a pot of boiling water until fork tender. Peel of the skin and cut into small cubes
• Soak dry black chickpea in water for 3-5 hours. Then wash chickpea in running cold water. Cook in a pressure cooker for 10 -15 minutes with 3 cups of water. Drain excess water. (you can retain this water which can be used as a base to prepare soups and curries)
• In a pan, mix all the ingredients  and bring it to boil
• In a bowl, mix potatoes, boiled chickpeas and sauce. Season it with salt, then add lemon juice and garnish with coriander
• Serve wither warm or chilled

Additional notes~

Further in this recipe, you can embellish with chopped red onions and pomogranate

Cut Mirchi | Mirapakaya bajji

Cut Mirchi is a popular snack in Andhra. It is made with slit green peppers dipped in a spicy chickpea batter and deep fried twice in hot oil.

Ingredients

5 Green peppers, slit length wise and seeds removed

1 cup of Chickpea flour

1/4 tsp Asafoetida (hing)

1/2 tsp Red chili powder

1/2 cup water

Salt

Oil for deep frying

For garnishing-

1 Red onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup of Cilantro, finely chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Chat masala

Method

• In a large mixing bowl, mix chickpea flour, asafoetida, red chili powder, water and salt
• Heat oil for deep frying
• Dip green peppers in chickpea batter and gently leave it in oil
• Fry until it turns golden brown. Use a absorbent paper to drain excess oil
• Now cut the fried green pepper fritters into 1 inch pieces
• Put the cut pieces of green pepper fritters back in hot oil. Fry until it turns brown and crispy. Use absorbent paper to drain excess oil
• Garnish with red onions, cilantro, lemon and chat masala

Heerekai Bhajji

Heerekai Bhajji is a traditional deep-fried savory snack from Mysoorean cuisine. Its is made with heerekai (Chinese okra or ridge gourd) dipped in a mildly spicy chick pea batter. 

Often when I pay a visit to my aunts place, I demand to make heerekai bhajji which is treat for all my family members. My aunt taught me how to make this deep-fried snack which is extremely crisp on outside; soft, juicy and tender on inside. 

Ingredients

1 Heerekai ( Chinese okra or Ridge gourd), circular and thinly sliced

1 cup gram flour (chick pea flour)

1/2 tsp Cyan e pepper

3/4 cup water

1/4 Asafoetida

Salt

Oil for deep frying

Method

• In a large mixing bowl; mix gram flour, cayane pepper, asafoetida, water and salt.  Mix well without lumps 

• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed dish for deep frying

• Dip heerekai in chick pea batter and gently leave it in hot oil

• Fry evenly in medium heat until it turns brown and crisp
• Use an absorbent paper to drain excess oil

• Serve hot with green chutney or coconut chutney

Uppu Seedai

Uppu Seedai (crispy rice balls)is a festive savory snack made exclusively for Gokulashtami. It is made with rice flour, urad dal flour along with special condiments. Seedai (crispy rice balls) comes both in sweet and savory versions. This recipe is the  savory version.

I made this snack for the first time for specially for Krishna Janmashtami. I learnt this recipe from fellow bloggers and that's how I got introduced to this recipe. It is a deep-fried snack and highly addictive. It looks like rice stones and texture wise- it is very crunchy. In this recipe, I have added cumin seeds and red chili powder. Traditionally, these two ingredients are not added. 

Ingredients

1 cup Rice flour

1 1/2 tsp Urad Dal flour

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1/2 tsp Red chili powder

1/2 tsp Sesame seeds

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp Ghee or butter (at room temperature)

water

Oil  for deep frying

Method

• Mix rice flour, urad dal flour, asafoetida, red chili powder, sesame seeds, cumin seeds, ghee and salt

• Add about 3/4 cup - 1 cup of  water to knead the dough. It should be soft and pliable

• Now roll the dough into small balls. Approximately 1 cm or 2 cm.
                             
• Spread the rolled balls on a absorbent paper for 5 to 10 minutes and leave it for air dry
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel for deep frying. Drop handful of  balls to the oil and fry in medium flame until it turns brown color

• Use absorbent paper to drain excess oil

• After it has completely cooled store it in a air tight container