Split Pea Fritters

(Matar Ki Daal Ke Pakode)

Ingredients:

2 cups Split Peas (Matar Ki Daal) 

2 cloves of Garlic crushed and chopped

Salt to Taste

Freshly crushed Peppercorns

2 tsp Curry Powder

1 tsp Saffron Powder

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 cup Plain Flour (Maida)

Water as required

Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Soak the Split Peas over night and then ground them to a fine paste. Do not add water while grinding unless absolutely necessary. Keep the water minimal.
2. Now except for the water and the oil, mix all the other ingredients to the above paste of split peas and make a thick batter of dripping consistency.
3. Heat the Oil in a deep pan for frying and add 1 tsp from this hot oil to the above mixture and mix well. 
4. With the help of a spoon, drop small quantities of the potion into the oil and deep fry them until crisp and golden brown.
5. Sprinkle some chaat masala over them and serve with yogurt. 
   

Tips:

• To check whether the oil is hot enough, put a small dice of bread into the oil and wait for 40 seconds. If it turns brown within 40 seconds then the oil is good to go!
• Do not make the batter too runny. We want the fritters to crisp up and not be all soggy.
• When you take out the first fritter, break it into two and check the center. If it seems too dry then add a few tsp of water to the batter. Similarly, if the batter is too wet add some more flour but then also check for the seasonings.
• If you don't want to add baking powder, you can also replace it with 1/2 a tsp of fruit salt.

Tip no. 1:

Does your garlic do a whole samba dance when you try to crush it in a mortar and pestle??

And jump out of it revolting??

Not to worry!
We know exactly how to tame this shrew...

Peel the garlic cloves and put them in the mortar and then add a pinch of salt..

Yes you heard it right! A pinch of salt will do wonders for you and i bet you that not a single clove of garlic would dare to pop outta your mortar!

Try it!

Masala Oats... Yum Yumm!!

Ingredients:

1 cup Oats

1 large Onion finely chopped (80 gms.)

1 small Tomato finely chopped (50 gms.)

2 tbsp Olive Oil / Cooking Oil

50 gms Peas

2 1/4 cups Water

Salt to Taste

1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder

1/2 tsp Cumin Coriander Powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 1/2 tsp Badshah Curry Powder

3 tsp Lemon Juice

1/4 cup Coriander freshly chopped

Method:

1. Heat a non stick pan and then add the oats. Toast them lightly over slow heat until you get a light fragrance of the oats. Be careful as to not change the color of the oats or they will give you a burnt flavor. Just 5-7 minutes over low heat and constant stirring should do the trick.
2. Now take them off the heat and keep them in a separate plate.
3. Re heat the same pan and add the oil to it. Now add the peas add stir for about 5 minutes until the peas are tender. 
4. Then add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Do not brown them. Just let them turn translucent and then add the tomatoes. Saute for another two minutes.
5. Add the previously toasted oats and mix all the ingredients gently.
6. Add water and all the rest of the ingredients except for the coriander and cook for about 7 minutes or until the water has evaporated.
7. Garnish with coriander and serve hot.

Tip:

• Always use a non stick pan while cooking oats or else there would be a lot of cleaning afterwards!
• Use "Bashah's" curry powder as its taste is almost similar to that of Maggi and that is what will make this dish an absolute hit.
• You can sprinkle raw diced onions and lemon juice on top of your dish along with the coriander if you like.

Delicious Cabbage Soup!

A cabbage is something that is frowned upon in India as a vegetable as there are very less variations of cooking it... at least very few people know them! And thus i have come up with this delicious soup using vegetables like carrots and cabbage to create a healthy yet a tasty soup (a combination which is difficult to achieve easily :)) for a Sunday morning or for serving it as a starter when u are entertaining or as simply a soul food for when u are too tired to prepare an elaborate meal.... Trust me. 2 bowls of this soup and you won't be asking for more (though you would be longing for more... i hope :))

Ingredients:

(Do Not get scared by the long list... it's very easy!)

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Butter

1 large Onion roughly diced

1 kg Cabbage roughly diced

6 cups Water (approx. 1.5 ltrs.)

2 stems of Celery roughly diced (approx. 185 gms.)

2 Orange Carrots roughly diced (approx. 185 gms)

4 large cloves of Garlic finely diced

1 grated Potato (250 gms.)

5-6 Tomatoes finely chopped (500 gms.)

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

1 cup boiled Kidney Beans (250 gms.)

4 tbsp Coriander finely chopped

2 tbsp Dill leaves finely chopped (Sava/Suva)

1/2 tsp Paprika/Red Chili Powder

2 tbsp Vinegar or as per taste

1 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper

Toasted Bread Croutons for serving

Method:

1. Take a heavy bottomed pan with a lid and heat the oil and butter and let the foam of the butter subside. See to it that the butter does not get brown. Then add the chopped Onions and Cabbage to it and let them brown nicely.
2. This will take about 15 to 20 minutes. Let it cook over low to moderately high heat and stir it occasionally. Keep scraping the browns on the walls and the bottom of the pan. That is what will give the soup it's color.
3. Now add the Carrots, Celery, Potatoes, Garlic and the Tomatoes along with Salt and stir for about two minutes. 
4. Then add the water and bring it to a boil.
5. After it has boiled for about 5 minutes, reduce the heat to the minimum and add the boiled beans.
6. Now let it simmer with the lid on for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for another 20 minutes or until the carrots are soft and the broth has reduced to half.
7. Now add the Coriander, Dill,  Paprika, freshly ground Black Peppercorns, Vinegar and Soy Sauce. Taste it for Salt and Vinegar and if you feel like some more... Do the honors.
8. Now toast the bread slices in a toaster or in an oven and apply some butter over them before cutting them into croutons.
9. Place some croutons in the soup bowl and then pour the soup over it and serve hot.

Tip:

• You can make this recipe in a pressure cooker if you are in a hurry but then use only a liter of water and see to it that you don't over cook the vegetables so as to make them mushy!
• You can add broccoli or aubergines along with the current ingredients but i would suggest, do that only when you are making the soup in large proportions or else it would feel a lot more crowded and the taste of cabbage would be subsided by aubergines.

Red Garlic Rice 

Ingredients:

7-8 large cloves of garlic finely chopped

1/2 cup Basmati rice

1 1/4 cups of water

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp red chili powder

salt to taste

coriander to garnish

Method:

1. Wash the rice in running water and soak it for about 10 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a thick bottomed pan and add the butter to it. Then when the butter has spluttered and the foam has subsided add the cumin seeds and  allow them to splutter. Once that is done, add the chili powder and garlic.
3. Once the garlic has turned light golden, quickly add all the remaining ingredients because we don't want the garlic to turn any more brown and give a burnt taste. Neither do we want a raw taste of garlic... Trust me, its even worst! So just let it turn slightly golden over a slow heat before adding in all the ingredients.
4. Cover it with a lid that has a vent to let the steam escape and place it over the largest burner over moderate heat and cook covered until the rice is done.

Tip:

• First add the garlic and then the chili powder or else, the powder will turn black by the time the garlic is golden and would not give us the red color that we want!
• You can also add a pinch of asafoetida along with the chili powder... it will work wonders!