Oats Chivda

I have to admit, I am one of those people who don't like oatmeal. I have tried it in many different flavors, brown sugar, maple, berry etc etc, but I can't get past the sticky and gooey consistency of oatmeal. Therefore, I started making oatmeal dosas, where I don't have to deal with sticky oatmeal anymore:). Now I have a second favorite recipe for oatmeal....chivda. I can make this in advance, and bring a cup full to work everyday, and have it for breakfast with chai. Salty, crunchy, healthy and satisfying breakfast!!!

Ingredients:
2 Cups Oatmeal
2 Teaspoon Oil
A pinch Asafoetida,
2 Teaspoons Unsalted Peanuts,
4 Green Chilies, Cut into Big Pieces
1 Teaspoon Sesame Seeds,
1/2 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds,
1 Teaspoon Sugar,
1.5 Teaspoon Salt,
1/2 Teaspoon Amchur Powder

Method:
Dry roast the oat meal in a non stick pan on low flame for 7-10 minutes, or until light brown and fragrant. Take off the stove and keep aside. In a pan, heat 1 teaspoon of oil. When hot, add the peanuts. Cook on medium low flame for 3-4 minutes, or until light brown. With a slotted spoon, take out the peanuts and add to the oats.

Now add the remaining oil to the pan and heat again. Once hot, add the asafoetida and mustard seeds. When the seeds start to crackle, add the chilies. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until the chilies look crispy and the color changes to light green. Now add the sesame seeds. Cover the pan with a splatter, so that the sesame seeds don't fly out of the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Don't let the sesame seeds to brown/burn.

Now add the sugar, salt, and amchur powder to the pan. Mix well. Add the oats and peanuts to the pan. Stir again to coat the oats with spice. Cook on medium low flame for about 1 minute. Take off the stove and transfer to a big flat dish to cool. Let it cool completely before storing.

Note/Tip: You can add roasted chana dal (daariya) too. I didn't have it on hand, so I didn't add it. Add them to the oil after taking out the peanuts. Once cooked, take them out of the oil too. You can also add kismis (Golden raisins). Do this at the same time of adding the spices.

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Khasta Kachori, Dahi Kachori or Raj Kachori

This one of my absolute favorite dishes. I grew up in Mumbai, and never thought of making it at home while I was there. Now, after moving to Seattle, I find that, most of the places here don't sell Khasta Kachoris. The ones that do, don't know what Khasta kachori is supposed to taste like. They just make puffed puri with any kind of stuffing they like, and sell it as "Bombay Khasta Kachori". I tried it once, and told my self, NEVER again will buy khasta kachoris from here. It is better to make them at home. It is fried, and it is time consuming to make these, so I don't make it often. Instead, I make it on occasions, just like I made them for Diwali this year.

The following recipe will make about 6-7 big kachoris.
Ingredients:
Dough:
1.5 cups Maida (All purpose flour),
1/2 Cups Water
1. teaspoon Salt,
1 Tablespoon Oil,

Stuffing:
2 Tablespoon Oil,
1/2 Teaspoon Asafoetida
1/4 Cups Yellow Mung Daal, Soaked in Water for 4 hours Minimum,
1 Tablespoon Gram Flour,
1 Teaspoon Chili Ginger Paste,
1 Teaspoon Chili Powder,
1/2 Teaspoon Garam Masala Powder,
1 Teaspoon Amchur Powder,

Serving:
1/2 Cup Cooked Mung Sprouts,
1/2 Cup Potatoes, Boiled and Cut into small pieces (optional)
1/2 Cup Khajur Imly Chutney,
1/2 Cup Green Chutney,
1 Cup Yogurt(dahi), Churned with 1/4 Cups of Water,
Chaat Masala, as needed,
1 Cup Fine Sev,

Method:
Dough:
Mix the maida, oil and salt in a deep pan. Add a little water at a time to make medium stiff dough. Apply 2 drops of oil to your palms. Knead the dough one last time. Cover and keep aside.

Stuffing:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a kadai(pan). Drain the mung daal and save the water. Add the daal to the kadai. Add salt and stir well. Add 3 tablespoons of the saved water to the mung daal and cook covered on medium low flame for 10-15 minutes, or until just tender. Keep an eye on the water. Add a little at a time if need. (We don't want the daal to get mushy, but we don't want any water leftover either) Take off the stove, and transfer the daal to a bowl. In the same pan, add another tablespoon of oil. Once hot, add the asafoetida and then immedietly add the gram flour. Stir and cook for 5-10 seconds. Now add the cooked mung daal, chili ginger paste, red chili powder, garam masala and amchur powder. Cook on medium flame for 4-5 minutes. Take off the stove. Spread it on a dish and let it cool completely. Divide the mixture in 6 equal portions.

Assembly:
Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Roll out one section into 5 inch diameter disc. Put one portion of the stuffing (about 1-1.5 tablespoon) in the center of the disc. Gently, lift all sides of the disc and bring them up to the center. Press all sides into each other to seal. Roll lightly to press the sealed area. Cover with a plastic wrap, or wet paper towel and keep aside. Repeat the same process for the rest of the kachoris.

Note: The picture above is just after pressing the sealed edges to the center. I forgot to take a picture of the final rolled kachori.

Heat sufficient oil in a kadai. Once hot, change the temperature to low, and let the temperature rise again. Take off very tiny portion of the dough from one kachori (seal area, keep in the seal intact), and drop in the oil. If the dough rises back up on top immedietly, the oil is ready. Drop 2-3 kachoris in the oil. Keep the heat to low. Deep fry them on both sides for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown, and firm. Take off the stove. Transfer onto an absorbent paper. Repeat the frying process for the rest of the kachoris. Let them cool completely before storing. Make sure that the kachoris have become hard/stiff. If any portion is soft, it is not done. Re-fry until done.

Sprouted Mung: Heat a little oil in a kadai. When hot, add the sprouted mung, salt and turmeric powder. Add a little water. Cover and cook on medium low flame for 10 minutes, or until just tender. Take off the stove.

To Serve:
Break the top portion of the shell of the kachori. Stuff with the mung sprouts, potatoes and chutneys. Sprinkle the chaat masala powder. Pour 1 ladle full of dahi on top of the kachori. Top it off with sev. Sprinkle some more chaat masala and serve.


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Baked Ghughra

My husband loves ghugra, but he tries not to eat too much fried food, so I have been making these baked ghugra for the past 2 years now. We really like them. Since they are not fried, they don't taste the exact same, but they don't taste bad at all. And, since they are not fried, we can indulge a little bit.

Important Note: Since we are baking the ghugras, please follow the recipe as mentioned below. We need cold butter. The dough should be kept in the fridge until needed. Cold butter in the dough will help to make the crust a little "flaky". As the butter melts in the oven, it will create tiny air bubbles in the dough, which is what we want. If cold butter is not used, and if the dough is not cold while making the ghugras, we will get hard and brittle crust.


Ingredients:
Shell:
1-1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour,

2 Tablespoon Cold Unsalted Butter

1/4 Cups Milk + 1 Tablespoon for glazing

Stuffing:
1 Tablespoon Teaspoon Ghee,
3/4 Cups Rawa (Suji/Semolina),
1/4 Cups Milk Powder
1/4 Cups Ground Almond (You can use any nuts or mixture of nuts of your choice),
2 Tablespoon Kismis (Yellow Raisins)
1 Tablespoon Khus Khus (Poppy Seeds),
1/4 Cups Dried Shredded Coconut,
1 Cup Ground Sugar (or Powdered),
1/4 Teaspoon Cardamom Powder,
A generous pinch Saffron,

Method:
Cut the cold butter into small pieces. In a deep bowl, combine the flour and butter well. Add half the milk and knead. As more milk as needed, to make stiff dough. Apply some oil to your hands and knead the dough one last time. Cover with a plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge while we work on the stuffing.

In a bowl combine all the ingredients for the stuffing except the ghee and saffron. Crush the saffron between your finger and thumb, and add to the rest of the mixture. Heat the ghee in a pan. When heated, add the stuffing ingredients. Roast on low flame stirring frequently for 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture is aromatic and turns pink/golden brown.

Take out the dough. Divide it into 20 equal portions. Roll each portion into 3 to 4 inch diameter disc.Take 2 tablespoon of the stuffing mixture and place it in the center of the disc. Carefully fold one side of the disc onto the other and pinch the middle portion shut. Work on your way to each side to gently pinch and seal the sides, leaving a little opening on one of the sides. Now add more stuffing mixture if needed from this opening. Make sure that the stuffing doesn't touch the sides of the disc otherwise you won't get a good seal. Now seal the opened end too.

Now comes a little difficult part. To make "pleats", pinch and gently pull the corner of the seal from a side between your thumb and finger. Do not pull very hard, we just want about 1/2 centimeter of the portion pulled out. Now fold it onto itself and press the edge of the folded portion with the tip of your thumb/nail to create an indentation. Now pull the immediate adjacent portion of the dough and fold to create an indentation. Follow the same procedure and work your way to the other corner. Make sure that the whole edge is sealed. If there is any opening, the sugar will ooze out during baking, which will create a mess.

If you don't know how make the pleats, or if you don't succeed at it:), then you can use a fork and gently press it throughout the sealed edged area to make sure that all sides are sealed completely and to get nice pattern around the sealed edge.  Follow the same procedure for to make the rest of the ghughras. Transfer into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper of silicone mat. Cover the ghughras with a plastic wrap again, and transfer to the fridge for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 355 degrees.

Take out the baking sheet from the fridge. Grease the top surface of each ghugra with milk. Bake it for 15 minutes or until the underside turns golden brown. Take out of the oven. Turn over each piece. Glaze the top side with milk. Put it back into the oven and cook for another 15 minutes or until the other side starts turning golden brown. Turn off the oven and leave the ghugras in the oven for 4-5 minutes. Take them out. Let them cool completely before storing them. The outer cover should have become hard by now.Store them in airtight containers.

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Mung Beans Salad (chat)

I like salads made from different pulses. Most of the time, I make salad from kabuli chana, but I do like mung salad, and mixed pulse salad too. I have already posted a recipe for Kabuli chana salad (chaat). I will post a recipe for mixed pulse salad the next time I make it.

Salads made from pulses are full of protein. They require little to no time (except the soaking time), and are low fat, and nutritious.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Uncooked Mung Beans,
5 Cups Water
1 Tablespoon Oil,
Salt to Taste,
1/4 Teaspoon Asafoetida,
1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder,
1 Teaspoon Chili Ginger Paste,
1/4 Cup Onion, Chopped,
1/2 Cup Tomatoes, Chopped,
1/4 Cup Bell Pepper, Chopped (you can try different colors)
1 Tablespoon Cilantro, Chopped,
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice,
1/2 Teaspoon Chat Masala

Method:
Wash mung beans and soak in 5 cups water for 6 hours minimum.

Save about 1 cup of water, and drain the rest.

Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add the asafoetida, and drained mung beans. Add salt, chili ginger paste, turmeric powder and about 1/2 cups of water. Cover and cook on medium heat until done, about 20-25 minutes. Keep adding 1/4 cups water if it gets dry and hasn't cooked already. When done, there should be no water left and you should be able to mash the beans by pinching between your fingers, but they shouldn't be mushy.

Take off the heat. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add the onion, tomatoes, cilantro, lemon juice, and chat masala and mix well. Serve warm.

Note: 
1. Adjust the quantity of lemon juice, salt and chat masala per your taste preference.
2. You can add your choice of veggies. Cooked corn would taste great, and would add color to the dish. Sweet peppers would taste great too. You can also add pomegranate.
3. This salad can also be made with sprouted mung beans. To get the sprouts, drain the beans and transfer to a bowl. Cover and keep in dark place for two days. Follow the same steps as above for making the salad.

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