Vada Pav : Indian Veg Burger

Vada Pav originated in the state of Maharashtra, India, but now is a staple food for many across... A simple yet most tasty dish that can be cooked in a few minutes. For many it serves as the breakfast, lunch and dinner along with a hot cup of tea!

It is almost similar to a burger, just that this is made out of simple and easily available pav (buns, small breads) with a Vada (potato based stuffing) in between along with some spicy and tangy green chutney accompanied by some green chili and spicy garlic chutney / powder.

After tasting at a few places, I always wanted to try my hands at it. Finally, my first attempt at making Vada Pav is a reality and a complete success with my dearies :)

Ingredients:

To prepare the Vada / Tikki:

• Potato                    :2 medium boiled and smashed 
• Green Chillies       : 2 crushed
• Garlic                    : 1 tablespoon crushed 
• Ginger                   : 1 tablespoon crushed
• Mustard Seeds      : 1 tspn
• Curry Leaves        :  a few
• Turmeric Powder  : 1/2 tspn
• Coriander Leaves  : 2 tbspn finely chopped 
• Salt                        : To Taste
• Oil                         : 1 tbspn
• Asafoetida             : a pinch

To prepare the Flour / Batter for Vada:

• Gram Flour / Besan : 3/4 cup
• Turmeric Powder     : 1/2 tspn
• Baking Soda             : a pinch
• Salt                           : to taste
• Oil                            : to fry

To prepare the Chutneys:

Green Chutney:

• Coriander leaves : a bunch (as much qty as you need)
• Mint leaves           : a bunch (I take it in almost equal qty)
• Green Chilies       : 4-6 (as spicy as you need it)
• Sour Curd            : 1/2 cup (to make the chutney tangy)
• Mango Powder    : 1 tbspn (optional; if used accordingly quantify the curd)
• Salt                        : To taste 

Red Coconut Garlic Chutney: 

• Coconut                      : 1 cup
• Garlic                          : 6-8 cloves
• Red Chili Powder        : 1 tbspn (as spicy as you like)
• Sesame Seeds (white)  : 1 tspn 
• Lemon Juice                : 1 tbspn

Method:

To make the Vadas:

• In a bowl, mix the mashed potatoes with chilies, ginger and garlic
• In a pan, heat the tbspn of oil and add mustard seeds. As they crackle, add curry leaves, asafoetida, and turmeric powder. Remove from fire immediately and pour it to the mashed potato mix. 
• To this, add the remaining ingredients including salt and mix. Make small round vadas and leave them aside for some time

To fry:

• In a bowl, mix the gram flour, turmeric powder, baking soda, salt and beat it to make a nice batter (consistency similar to making dosas)
• In a kadai (deep frying pan), add oil to fry. 
• Add a spoon of this oil to the batter prepared and mix.
• Dip the vadas in this batter, and add them to the heated oil. Fry them till golden brown and place them aside.

To make the Chutneys:

  Green Chutney: Just grind all ingredients and place it in a bowl.

  Red Chutney: 

  

     The way I prepared: Slightly roast the sesame seeds, and grind all ingredients to a  smooth mix. If you like, add a bit of lemon juice and mix well.

     Typical Method: Roast coconut to a deep brown color. Roast the sesame seeds to light brown color. You can roast the garlic and red chili powder as well. Cool them and grind them to a mix (with very less or no water).

To make the Vada Pav:

• I slit a pav (a bun) into two and slightly roasted them on a tava (this is optional; typically it is had raw)
• Apply the Chutneys you have made (green, red etc), and place a Vada / Tikki in between two loaves and serve it hot with green chilies.

Note: Green Chilies can also be slightly sauteed in oil and some salt and mustard seed powder can be sprinkled on it before serving. 

Serve it hot with the accompanying green chilies and chutneys, with a hot cup of tea or any of your favorite drink!

Vada Curry : Dal Vada Curry

"Vada Curry" to me somehow sounded like a non-vegetarian dish (don't ask me why?!) until I got to see and taste it just a year or two ago. This is made of our very own Masala Dal Vadas cooked in gravy, a pure vegetarian dish. Dosas and Idlis are staple breakfast dishes with varieties to it; equally interesting are the accompaniments such as the chutneys, curry etc. One such is this very famous "Vada Curry (Dal Vada Curry)". 

Here is my first attempt tested and passed with decent colors ;)

Ingredients

For making Vadas

• Channa Dal (Split bengal gram dal): 1/2 cup 
• Big Onion: 1 medium
• Garlic : 6 cloves
• Green Chillies: 2 medium
• Ginger: 1"
• Curry Leaves : a few
• Coriander Leaves : a few
• Salt : To Taste (ensure its limited as the vadas will be cooked in a gravy with salt)

For making the Curry

• Big Onion : 1 medium (diced into small pieces)
• Tomatoes: 2 small or 1 medium Diced (if u want it a bit tangy then add accordingly)
• Turmeric powder: 1/2 tspn
• Red Chilli powder: 1.5 tsp (alternatively, you can add 2 big Green Chillies diced)
• Salt : To taste 
• Oil : 2 tbspn
• Water: 1 - 2 cups

DRY MASALA for the Curry (To be ground)

• Cinnamon : 1 small
• Cloves : 2
• Fennel Seeds (Saunf): 1/2 tspn
• Bay Leaf: 1

Method

1. Soak dal for 2-3 hours. If you want to make it instantly, then soak it with hot water for 1 hour at least
2. In a mixer, first add the chillies, garlic and ginger. Grind it first and then add the dal, and rest of the ingredients mentioned under "For making Vadas". Coarsely grind it with very less or no water (at the max 1-2 tspn)
3. Make vadas either by deep frying or steaming it like idlis
4. Next, in a pan, dry roast the ingredients mentioned under "DRY MASALA" (except for bay leaf). Grind it to make a smooth powder (dry)
5. In a pan, add oil. To this add bay leaf and then the onion. Fry it till golden brown (you can add a pinch of salt to quicken this).
6. Then add tomatoes and mash it. As they start cooking, add the dry roast masala. Allow it to cook for a few seconds and then add turmeric powder, and either the green chillies or the red chilli powder with salt.
7. As it starts cooking, add 1 glass of water. As it starts boiling, add the vadas. Allow it to cook in slow- medium flame. 
8. Mash the vadas to make a thick curry (gravy). Ensure that the vadas cook for at least 7-10 mts to soak in all the masalas.
9. Garnish with curry and coriander leaves and remove from fire

Serve hot with Idlis, Dosas etc.

Momos (Dumplings) with Hot Chutney

Momos, alias dumplings, is a native, traditional Nepali dish but that slowly spread across to places such as Tibet, Bhutan etc mainly the North Eastern parts of India. But now, its famous in many places of India and its slowly catching up in South India as well.

It's similar to the Modhaks that we make during Ganesh Chaturti festival. The difference is mainly in the ingredients and stuffing while both can be either steamed or fried.

Vegetable Momos with Hot Sauce: My First Attempt

Ingredients:

For Momos Outer Cover

• Flour    : 1 cup (200 gms or so)
• Oil       : 1 tspn
• Salt      : to taste 
• Water  : to knead

For Stuffing -- You can have your own choice of vegetables

• Cabbage             : 1/2 - 1 cup shredded finely
• Carrot                 : 1 shredded finely (I had to skip since I didn't have it handy)
• Spring Onions     : 2 full (Instead I used half regular onion)
• Coriander leaves : a handful (Instead of spring onion leaves)
• Shimla Mirch      : 1/2 piece (if its a big one) shredded finely 
• Potato                : Boiled and mashed (optional, typically not used)
• Garlic                 : 1-2 pods finely chopped
• Ginger                : 1" finely chopped
• Pepper Powder  : 1tspn
• Soya Sauce        : 1 tspn
• Sugar                 : 1/2 tspn (optional)
• Salt                    : To taste
• Oil                     : To fry the vegetables

Method:

To make the momos cover / wrapper:

1. In a bowl, mix flour, salt and knead it with water to make it smooth. Ensure it has the right consistency to roll out. End of it mix the oil and knead it smoothly for another couple of minutes.
2. Cover the dough with a damp cloth (mulin kinds) and leave it to rest for 15-20 mts at least.

To make the Stuffing:

Method 1:

1. In a kadai, add a spoon of oil. As it heats up, add garlic and onion. Stir it in moderate flame for a minute. 
2. To this add all vegetables and sugar (if rqd) and stir again in moderate flame. Then, add salt, soya sauce, pepper, and keep stirring. 
3. Finally, add the chopped coriander leaves (preferred is spring onion leaves). Stir for 2 seconds and remove from fire. Allow it to cool

Method 2:

1. In this method, we don't fry the vegetables. We just mix all ingredients mentioned under "Ingredients for Stuffing" and keep them ready. You can skip Soya Sauce if rqd.

To make the vegetable momos:

Electric Cooker Steamer Vessel

1. Make small balls of the dough like you will for puris. Roll it out to thin sheets. (We can make a big roti size and using any sharp circle shaped lid can cut it into small puris). Ensure the final sheets are thin.
2. Place a spoon of the stuffing at the center of each sheet.
3. Fold them to make the momos. It's similar to making the fleets of a saree. I followed a couple of videos on youtube to make the folds. You can refer to : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh5_DuuxHC0. Alternatively, you can fold it like the modhaks as well.
4. In a steamer or electric cooker or pressure cooker, fill water and allow it to boil.  
5. Apply some oil to the steaming plate or idli plates and place the momos such that they don't stick to each other. If you are using the electric cooker, then place these plates within the steamer vessel like the one shown to the right here.
6. When the water boils, place this steaming plate and steam it for 10-15 mts (for Method 2 stuffing) and 10 mts (for Method 1 stuffing). 
7. The right consistency will be the momos will appear transparent.

To make the momos sauce - Hot Tomato Garlic Chutney

Ingredients:

1. Tomatoes                 : 4 small (diced)
2. Dried Red Chillies    : 5-6 (as hot as you want the sauce to be)
3. Garlic                       : 2 -3 cloves 
4. Ginger                      : 1" (optional)
5. Vinegar / Lime Juice : 1 tbsp
6. Salt                          : To Taste
7. Sugar                       : 1 tspn

Method:

1. Soak the red chillies in water for some time (30 mts at least)
2. In a pan, saute with just a few drops of oil the diced tomatoes, ginger, garlic (optional step)
3. In a mixer, add the red chillies, ginger, garlic, lime juice / vinegar and grind it well. After a couple of rounds, add the tomatoes and grind. Ensure the seeds of the chillies are well ground. [Alternatively, some grate the tomatoes, grind the remaining contents and mix them in the end]

Note: My Learning

• For Momos Stuffing, I used Method 1 but I feel Method 2 will give you more authentic momos because all ingredients will only be steamed. In Method 1, it becomes a mix of fry and steam.
• For the sauce, I followed another method of soaking the chillies in vinegar. But my suggestion is not to do that because then vinegar's stench and taste overrules the rest. My bad :(
• Momos cover / wrapper should be as thin as possible else it won't cook well.

Momos are best served hot:) Relish it! 

Crispy Puff alias Pastry

One of the famous, preferred and favorite snacks in many parts of India is the hot pastry alias puff with different stuffing including vegetables or non veg choices. A hot puff along with a hot cup of tea is a bliss especially during rainy and / or winter season :)

Me and Sangee (my partner in all my kitchen attempts) wanted to try and make these crispy puffs in our kitchen using the OTG. It's been on our "To Experiment" list for long which we tested some time ago. The results, I would say, was a hands-down win-win because our darling little princess loved it and so did we.

We zeroed in on 'Vah Chef's' recipe (IPR of his) when we decided to test this out. Believe me, his video is definitely a novice-guide. You just need to follow him step by step to get yummy puffs. So, am not going to repeat the procedure here but share the video of his which we followed with little customization of ours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9sE0cisM58 -- Copy Paste this link to view the video.
[Thanks Chef, it was really easy to follow and puffs were yummy / tummy.]

Be prepared to put in a bit of effort because it requires that to make these puff sheets. Once the sheets are ready, you can go ahead and make the pastry with a stuffing of your choice. We tried Vegetarian stuffing using readily available vegetables such as potatoes etc.

Gol Gappa Aka Pani Puri

Gol Gappa Aka Pani Puri is a simple, lip-smacking snack popular in places such as Delhi, Mumbai, et all... It is one of the most-desired chaat items for many Indians, as once you taste it, for sure, you would love to have at least 4-5 in one go. It is a balanced mix of all tastes including spice, tangy, sweet, and salt. I have relished them in the streets of Delhi... Down in Chennai, this is just gaining prominence so much room for improvement :) Over here, Gangotri is one outlet serves a decent quality of gol gappas.

Finally, made up my mind to try my hand in making this all time snack. One of my partners in such crimes Sangee joined me readily! We managed to bring on a satisfying & happy smile on our lovelies' face :))

Ingredients:

• To make the puris:
• Suji (Rava)         : 1/2 cup
• Flour (Maida)     : 1/2 tbsp
• Soda Water        : 3 tbsp
• Baking Soda       : 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Salt                     : To Taste
• Oil                      : To Fry

• To make the Pani (Green Pani):
• Pudhina (Chopped)   : 1 1/2 cup
• Coriander (Chopped): 1- 2 tbsp
• Imli Water                 : 1/3 cup
• Ginger (Adrak)          : 2"
• Green Chillies            :6-8 (medium * as spicy you need the water to be)
• Coriander powder     : 1 pinch (optional)
• Jeera Powder            : 1 tspn (freshly ground will have a nice flavor)
• Black Salt                 : 1.5 tspn
• Salt                           : To Taste

• For the Filling:
• Potato (Boiled and Smashed) : 4-5 medium
• Boondi                                  : Fried (Get them in market & is optional)
• Sev                                        : Optional
• White Channa / Sprouts (Boiled) and any other of your choice

Method:

• To make puris:
• Mix Suji, flour, salt, baking soda and make it to a smooth dough using the soda water and regular water. (Oil not required to make this dough)
• Cover it by a wet muslin cloth (or any thin white wet cloth) and leave it to rest for 15 mts. The dough will raise a bit due to the soda (very slightly)
• Make small and thin puris. Place these puris first under a damp cloth for 5 mts before frying them. (Thinness of the puris will ensure the crispiness else the flour won't get cooked easily, making the puris soft rather than crispy)
• Ensure the oil is in the right heat before you add the puris to fry. Using a cooking slotted ladle or spoon, press the puris to ensure they puff up both sides. Take them when golden brown (cook it both sides till they puff up to the shape of the gol gappa; if they flatten then u can eat them as puris for other chaat items).
• Remove, drain, allow them to cool. As soon as they cool down, store them in an air-tight container.

• To make pani:
• Grind all ingredients (specified under 'To make pani') except for salt. After ground smoothly, sieve it into a bowl of about 500 gms to 1 lt of water (as you want the quantity & also ensure it doesn't dilute the spice)
• Add salt & mix well. 
• Serve it chilled.

• To make the Filling : Boil the potatoes and smash it well. You can individually add all fillers you decide on while serving

• To make the sweet / tangy chutney: Refer to "Dates & Raisin Chutney". You can take a few spoons of this chutney and dilute it a bit to be used as the gol gappa mix

To Serve / Eat: Take a puri, slightly tap and make a hole in the center, add all fillers, a spoon of pani & a spoon of the chutney and just gulp it... As you develop the taste you may end up having countless numbers as well :))

Pav Bhaji : A popular street food

Pav Bhaji is one of the most famous and commonly available street food in India, especially in aamchi Mumbai. It is known for its aromatic, chat-pati (fine blend of spices) taste, and is also an easy to make dish. Definitely a winner across ages right from kids to elderly, and a food at easy reach for a common man.

Its a simple bun had with a tasty vegetable preparation along with onions, lemon, and if you like it a green chillie along with hot tea! Dish can be cooked in 15-20 mts.

Pav Bhaji can easily figure in your choice for breakfast, evening snacks, for a get together, or at times for dinner as well. (For most this is a staple food through the day)

Pav Bhaji Masala: This can be powdered and stored in air-tight container like any other masala powders.

Ingredients:

1. Red Chillies             - 7-8 (as spicy as you need the vegetable preparation)
2. Coriander Seeds      - 4 tspn
3. Cumin Seeds            - 2 tspn
4. Black Pepper           - 1/4 tspn
5. Cinnamon                 - a small piece
6. Clove                       - 2-3
7. Cardamom               - 2 
8. Fennel Seeds            - 1 tspn
9. Turmeric Powder     - a pinch
10. Dry Mango Powder - 1 tspn

Method: Dry roast all ingredients & powder it. 

Bhaji: The vegetable mash that goes along with the Pav.

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes - 4 - Boiled
2. Beans / Carrot / Cauliflower / Green Capsicum / Green Peas - any other vegetable of your choice that will go well with these - Boiled (Quantity of vegies you take will define the quantity of the bhaji. A handful of beans, 1 carrot, a cup of flower, 1 capsicum, and handful of peas would serve 4)
3. Onions - 2 - Nicely chopped
4. Tomatoes - 4 - Nicely chopped
5. Ginger - 1-2 inch piece
6. Garlic - 3-4 pods (or you can use the ginger/garlic paste available readily)
7. Green chillies - 3-4
8. Coriander - to garnish
9. Pav Bhaji Masala - 1-1.5 tspn (the one you prepared)
10. Oil - to cook

Method:

1. Boil all vegetables together with a pinch of salt (including potatoes)
2. Make ginger garlic paste (to have a fresh flavor) or you can use the readily available one
3. In a pan, add oil and 3/4 of the diced onions
4. Fry till they become light brown (to quicken, you can add a pinch of salt)
5. To this, add the ginger garlic paste & green chillies. Fry them for a few seconds
6. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2-3 mts till the oil separates
7. Add other boiled vegetables and stir them by continuously mashing them (this dish is known for its fine mash finish)
8. When the vegetables are well mashed and cooked, add the pav bhaji masala 
9. Add salt to taste
10. Cook on medium heat (if rqd add some water) till the dish is fully done & gets the semi-gravy consistence.
11. Garnish with coriander leaves
12. Serve it hot with the toasted pav

Pav: These are readily available in any bakery as a pack of 4 or 6. Just before you eat, start preparing this because its best served hot / warm.

Ingredients:

1. Pav - 8 (to serve 4 ppl)
2. Butter - 2 tbspn (to fry the pav)
3. Lemon - 1 

Method:

1. Apply butter to the pav & toast them on a tava till they become crispy and browny. If done in large quantities, you can apply butter on the tava and add as many pavs & continue to toss them till all sides are done
2. If the pav are smaller in size you can toast them as is, else preferably we cut the pavs into two & toast them.
3. To serve, on a plate, place the toasted pavs, the bhaji, some onion, lemon slices, and green chillies (if you like it)
4. Best eaten when hot