Gajar Ka Halwa - Carrot Halwa

Labels: Festive Food, Halwa, Sweet, Traditional Sweet, Vegetarian

Onion Pakoda or Pakora

Ingredients:
. Besan flour (Gram flour) - 1 cup
. Rice four - ¼ cup
. Coarse Sojji/Rawa/Semolina – 1 tbl.sp (optional)
. Onion – 1 cup (finely sliced)
. Red chilli powder – . 1 tsp or to taste
. Green chillies - 2 (finely chopped or paste) (optional)
. Curry leaves – 4 (finely chopped)
. Coriander leaves – 1 cup (finely chopped)
. Cashew pieces – ¼ cup (optional)
. Ginger paste – 1 tsp
. Asafetida – 1 pinch
. Salt – to taste
. Oil – for deep frying

Method:
1. Without adding any water , in a large bowl mix Gram flour, Rice flour, Sojji, onions, green chillies, red chilli powder, curry leaves, coriander leaves, cashew, chilli powder, ginger paste, Asafetida and salt.
2. Sprinkle very little amount of water to blend all the ingredients together. Keep it aside for 10 to 30 minutes. Due the salt in the mixture, onion will become soft and coriander leaves will leave some water. Less water in the mixture will result in less oil the Pakodas will observe while deep frying. …this in turn will stay crispy for a longer period of time.
3. Before you start frying, check for the consistency of the mixture. The mixture should not be watery nor very dry. The flour should be lightly coated over the onion. If needed add some more water and mix.
4. Heat oil in a deep frying pan. To check the oil for right frying temperature, drop a small amount of the mixture which should bubble and float to the top.
5. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and drop gently in to the oil. Try to keep in a flat and uneven shape. I have noticed if the pakoda pieces are thick, it won’t cook well in the center. Fry them in small batches
6. Fry stirring and flipping the Pakodas until it turn into golden brown in color.
7. Remove from the oil and drain the excess oil on a paper towel.


Serve with chutney or ketchup.


Tip-1: I found out that by using only rice flour makes the pakodas hard after a while, so by adding Sojji rawa the pakodas stayed crisper for longer time.
Tip-2: If you like your pakodas soft, Don’t add sojji rawa and reduce the amount of rice flour.




~In Picture - Vermicelli(left) and Onion Pakodas(right) ~
Variations:
Vermicelli/Semiya Pakodas: Roast Vermicelli till golden brown. Pour hot water and cook till just soft. Drain water well and add to the above mixture. ( I usually prepare Semiya pakoda when I have leftover Semiya upma. Just add a cup of Semiya upma to the above mixture)
Spinach Pakodas: Omit Onion, add a cup of thawed frozen spinach and kasuri methi instead. If you are using fresh spinach leaves, omit ->onion, coriander leaves and Cashew. Mix rest of the ingredients and make a thick batter. Dip spinach leaves in the batter to coat the leaves evenly and fry it in hot oil.
Paneer Pakodas: Reduce onion to ½ cup. Crumble paneer well without any lumps and and it to the mixture. Follow rest of the recipe as above.
Mint or Coriander Pakodas: Omit or reduce the amount of onion. Add more coriander or/and mint leaves.
Hash Brown Pakodas: Use frozen hash brown instead of onion. (I use Safeway's Ore-Ida's Potatoes O'Brien - with Onions and peppers)

Enjoy Pakodas with hot tea or coffee!!

Labels: Appetizers, Bonda/Pakoda, Snack, Vegetarian

Dal Vada | Chattambade | Aambode

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup - Bengal gram dhal (Chana dhal)
• 1/4 cup - Finely chopped onions 
• 7 - Green chillies  ( or as per taste) –finely chopped or paste. If you prefer Chilli powder may be used instead of green chillies. 
• 1 tsp - Crushed ginger (Optional) 
• 2 tblsp - Chopped coriander 
• 1 tsp -  Chopped curry leaves
• Salt - to taste 
• Oil enough for deep frying.

Method: 

1. Soak dhal in water for 2 hours ( Tip: if you are short on time, wash Chana dhal and with little water microwave for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove add some more water and let it soak for half an hour) 
2. Drain water completely and grind to coarse paste. Say pulse the soaked lentils for 5 to 6 times in the blender. As you will notice in the picture some of the lentils are intact. 
3. Add salt and other ingredients and mix it all together. 
4. Make lemon sized balls, flatten slightly and deep fry in hot oil. 8 to 10 vadas may be deep fried at a time or till the oil holds depending on the size of the frying pan. 
5. Serve hot with coconut or chickpeas chetney.

Variations: . Grind red chillies, cumin seeds, hing(asafoetida and few small onions together. Mix with ground dhal paste. Add drumstick leaves and aniseed. Make vade as mentioned previously . Finely chopped mint leaves (puddina) or dill leaves (sabsige soppu) or any other greens may be added. . 1/4 cup of split white peas can be added while soaking for more crisper vade.

Labels: Appetizers, Snack, Vegetarian