Bread Bonda

Ingredients:

6 bread slices
2 medium size potato's boiled until tender.
5 green chillies
1/2" ginger
pinch of turmeric
1/2 tsp jeera
salt
chaat masala
few drops lemon juice
few fried broken cashew pc's
few chopped curry leaf's
oil for deep frying

Method:

Boil the potato until tender and mash it coarsely.

Make a coarse paste of the green chillis and ginger and keep aside.

Next heat some oil in a pan add the jeera and ground chilli n ginger paste.

Add the turmeric and curry leafs.

Add the mashed potato,salt,chaat masala,broken cashew pc's and some lemon juice and mix.

Let this mixture cool for sometime and once cool make lemon size balls and keep aside.

Next take all the bread slices cut off the edges.

Take a bowl with 2 cups water.

Take a bread slice slightly dip it in water on both sides,immediately remove and keep it between ur palms n squeeze out the water.

Now take this into ur palm put one ball of the prepared stuffing in the center,and bring all the edges togeather and seal it lightly.(just like we do it for paratha).

Repeat the same procedure for all the bread slices.

Heat the oil for deep frying and once hot,add the bread balls and fry until light or dark brown in color.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Vegetable Puffs

Ingredients:1

1 packet of Frozen puff pastry sheets(left outside at room temperature for an hour)
1 cup mixed veg packets
1 medium size potato
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp coriander pwd
1/2 tsp jeera pwd
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
pinch of turmeric
pinch of chaat masala
salt
chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 beaten egg (for glaze)

Method:

Boil the vegetables and potato pc's togeather until tender and mash them and keep aside.

Preheat the oven to 350F

Heat some oil add the ginger garlic paste n fry for few sec's

Next mix the tumeric,coriander pwd,jeera pwd and red chilli pwd in 3 tbsp water and add it to the oil.

Add the mashed vegetables and salt.

Saute until bit dry add the chaat masala n lemon juice and keep this curry aside.

Now take one puff pastry sheet and cut it into equal squares the size of ur palm.

Now take a puff pastry sheet and wet the edges of the square.

Now take one pastry square put some prepared curry in the centre and fold one end over the other just like we do for handkerchief.

Now with a brush apply the beaten egg on top of the puff(this is optional,but it brings a glossy golden yellow color to the puff).

Now put these puffs onto a baking tray lined with foil and apply some oil onto the foil(so that the puffs dont stick to the foil once they are done)

Bake these for 10-15 min's or until the puffs are in golden yellow color.

Serve it with some tomato ketchup

Note: U can get the Pepperidge Farms Puff pastry sheets in the frozen food section of the any grocery stores.It's mostly available near the frozen desserts section.For those of u who dont know how it lokks like here is a pic

Punukulu

Today i was wondering what to do for lunch today,i didnt want to eat the regular stuff that i usually eat like chapathis or rice.So i opened the fridge and started searching ......n i happend to see this dosa batter which was sitting in my fridge for quite a long time...So then i got the idea of makeing these punukulu from the leftover dosa batter...

The weather was also cold outside so enjoyed my hot punukulu very welll with tomatoe pickle and a glass of nice lassi after it.






Ingredients

2 cups of left over dosa batter(the thick one which we have before makeing the dosa's)
1/2 medium onion chopped
3 green chillies chopped fine
1 inch ginger grated/chopped fine
1 tsp jeera
few sprigs of cilantro chopped
1 tbsp sooji(upma rava)
pinch of bakeing soda/powder


Method:

• Heat some oil for deep frying on medium heat.
• Next take the dosa batter,to this add all the chopped onions,chillies,ginger,cilantro,jeera.
• Now add the salt,sooji and bakeing soda/powder.Then mix the batter with a spoon
• Once the oil is hot,then keep droppping a tablespoon of batter into the oil...but dont crowd the pan.
• Once golden on oneside turn each of it ,Once its fully golden on both sides remove onto a tissue.
• Serve hot with any chutney like coconut/peanut or even pickle of ur choice like tomatoe or mangoe pickle or even tomatoe ketchup

This is a nice snack for a rainy day with a nice cup of hot tea.These punukulu have a crunchy texture because of the sooji we put into the batter.

Ragada Patties

Out of the things that i missed after coming to US was all the lovely street foods like pani puri,chaat,pav bhajji,noodles.......n the list goes on.So I thought the country might be foreign to me but still its where my home is....my very first home after marriage.

I sat down one day n started thinking why not make everything that i miss in india at home in US as well n there i am today will all the pav bhajjis,chaat's,pani puris etc.Today here i am with a dish named Ragada patties.

Its one of the north indian fast food dishes.We get it in Andhra on the street carts but they sell it as chaat,well its a type of chaat.Ragda Patty is one of the renowned food items in Maharashtra. Ragda is a spicy mash of potatoes and various lentils. This spiced potato cake with tangy chickpea curry garnished with chopped onions and cilantro is the essential fast food in Mumbai.

For Patty

2 big potatoe's

2 green chillieschopped

1tsp grated garlic

salt

1 tsp chaat masala

cilantro chopped

1/2 tsp turmeric

salt

2 bread slices crusts cut off

Boil the potatoes until soft.Remove n cool and mash them into a smooth paste. To this add all of the above ingredients except bread slices n mix.Now wet the bread slices with bit of water n squeeze out all the water by pressing the slices inbetween the hands.Add this to the potatoe mixture and combine.U should be able to form round patties with it just like vegetable cutlets,if not then this means ur mixture is wet if so add more bread slices to it.Then shallow fry the patties on a hot tawa with bit of oil on both sides.

Ragada:

2 cups white or green vatna(dried peas) soaked overnight

1 medium onion chopped finely

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp coriander pwd

1 tsp jeera pwd

1 tbsp chillie pwd

1 tsp chaat masala

pinch of sugar

lemon sized tamarind soaked in water

salt

oil

Garnish(curd,store bought or home made mint n coriander chutney and tamarind n date chutney-i prefer the knorr one we get in indian stores,haldirams sev,chopped cilantro,chopped onion's)

Method:

• Pressure cook the soaked vatna upto 2 whistles,be sure that they reatin their shape,once cooled remove palm full of vatna n smash them n keep aside also reserve the water in which the vatna were boiled
• Heat some oil in a pan,add chopped onions and let it fry till golden yellow.
• Next add the turmeric and ginger garlic paste
• Fry for a min then add the coriander pwd,jeera pwd and chilli pwd immediatley add 1/2 cup of water to make sure that spices dont get burnt.
• Then add the boiled vatna along with the reserved water,let it come to a boil .
• Add the tamarind water/pulp,also add the chaat masala n salt at this point,leave it to boil to recquired gravy consistency
• Add some sugar ,taste it n adjust the spice n sour levels in it according to ur taste.

Assembling

Beat the curd to a flowing consistency,but not too loose. Place 2 patties on a plate or a bowl .Pour the Ragada gravy on top of it.Garnish with the curd,mint n coriander chutney,date n tamarind chutney,sev,chopped onion's and cilantro.

Pav Bhaji

Pav bhaji is a fast food dish native to Maharashtrians and is popular in most metropolitan areas in India, particularly in the Maharashtrian city of Mumbai. In Marathi, pav means bread The term may derive from the term "one quarter" as the loaves are divided into four parts before being sold. Bhaji is a term for a curry and vegetable dish. Pav bhaji consists of the bhaji (a potato-based curry) and the pav, garnished with coriander and chopped onions. Pav is high in carbohydrates and fats (if served with butter), while bhaji, the vegetable-based curry portion, is high in carbohydrates.

How can i forget those good old days ...when after the college we used to go this hang out place.,which was named Teenage point(vizag) and have a plate of pav bhajji. Not only that be it a samosa chaat,pani puri or even noodles for that matter,we used to be about 6 friends and all of us used to to dig into one plate because of our pocket money limitations. But we all enjoyed it n liked it that way...we never bothered about our diet.We could happily eat whatever we wanted to...such were the good old days of 80's and 90's..KAHAN GAYE WOH DIN ....

As for me there is no food like unhealthy food ,each n everything has it's own advantages n disadvantages.Same is the case with Pav Bhajji its good if u avoid the butter a bit once in a while.Because its so rich in carbs and the curry has all the mixed vegetables in it.I dont exactly remember from where i got this recipe,but it made a way to my cookbook because every time i make it ,it turn's out to be too good just like the street fare...

Ingredients:

1/2 of the giant big onion's we get in US

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

3 green chillies slit lengthwise

1 capsicum finely chopped like onions

2 small tomatoes finely chopped

1 cup of mixed veggies(carrot,beans,peas,cabbage,cauliflower,potatoes,beetroot-for the red colour look)

3 tsp Everest pav bhajji masala

1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder-adjust acording to ur spice level

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp surgar(optional)

salt as required

3tbsp oil

1/2 lemon juice

cilantro chopped

Method:

• Pressure cook all the mixed veggies with 1 cup of water except onions,capsicum and tomatoes for 3 whistles.
• Once they are cooked till soft,dont throw away the water, mash the veggies in that water with a masher keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan and add onions.Fry till the onions turn golden brown in color.
• Add ginger garlic paste and green chillies and fry for 2-3 min's
• Now add the chopped green bell peppers and fry for 2 min's
• Add the pav bhajji masala,red chilli powder,turmeric, salt.
• Add half cup water immediately to ensure that the spices do not burn.
• Stir to combine now add the chopped tomatoes and mix and cover with a lid for 3 min's.
• When u remove the lid u will notice that the tomatoes turn mushy now mix and fry till oil seperates.
• Add the mashed vegetables and stir to combine.
• Add 1 1/2 cups of water and adjust salt,add pinch of sugar and combine
• Now let it cook uncovered on slow fire for 15-20 mins.In between make sure that u keep mixing it to ensure that it does not stick to the bottom.

In the end garnish with lemon juice ,chopped cilantro and butter(optional) .Serve onto a plate with this curry,chopped onions and toasted buns or dinner rolls.