Chickpea flour / Besan flour / Gram flour Archives - My Veg Fare

Chilli Bhajji / Molaga Bhajji / Menasinkaayi Bhajji

Jayasri Ravi — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 01:12:04 +0000

Life has been a wee bit busy when kids came for their holidays in December, they did not want to go back at all, that’s what Home is for you. Its lot of things you get at home, no need to cook, clean, wash etc., they now know what they are missing. Sometimes I feel sad for them but they have become very independent and am proud of them. In between I am trying to build my blog which seems to be taking a lot of my time. Someday soon I will be completely ready with my site.

Today is a spicy treat from my veggie garden. Well, I can’t say if this is everybody’s cup of tea, but if you love spicy food this is definitely a treat. You can also make it spicy or not too spicy if you choose but definitely something you would enjoy with your cup of chai ya coffee. Most of the food I cook brings back memories which are sometimes nostalgic, some are funny & some bring a warm smile on my face like this one.

The smell of the first rain drops on the soil which I call it the earthy smell, I would run out and inhale the smell it imparts, something nostalgic about it, brings out lots of memories. When I was a little kid we used to make paper boats & later on when I had my kids I used to make pater boats for them to play with, we used to run outside in the garden or on to the road, trying to find little streams or where we could see the water flow so we could sail our boats and enjoy every minute of it, If there was a heavy down pour and our boats drowned or soaked we wouldn't mind or disheartened we would make more boats!, I know it is bringing back your memories isn’t it ? Mmmh..

Coleus Aromaticus

When I think of all Bhajjis & Bondas it reminds me of all those days in Bangalore, especially when it is monsoon, Ice creams is another delight I used to enjoy when it rained, what a combo. These days fried snacks are a far away delicacy which I try not to indulge in. I have not been a big fan of fried foods, too much oil & my hunger disappears, I have always been a bit of health conscious not a health freak as I love eating but everything in moderate. I do care about oily food a bit more so deep fried is always a second thought especially when feeding my kids, Now a days my teenage kids very rarely ask me for fried snacks, they like everything bake

Costus Pictus

In Bangalore, I used to live in Gandhi Bazar, there are some famous food joints their. But, all little joints are the best place to eat, have you ever tried? There is a little place at the end on DVG road, under a shop, I don’t know if he is still there, he had a little joint and this man used to make amazing Bondas, Bhajjis, & Masala vadas etc.., I can’t remember what other things he was making but he used to stay just for 2 to 3 hours and it would be so busy.

Those are the days which we used to enjoy so much. Once the rain stopped know tor if it was a cold winter evening, eating these was one of my favourite, the most I ate I think was when I was pregnant with my first child, I craved to eat very spicy chilli Bhajjis. You can see I have made Bhajjis with Doddapatre (Coleus Aromaticus) & Costus Pictus , I don’t know their common names though , making bajjis you have to follow the same method, This same method you can use in making Potato, Chayote, Ridge Gourd etc..,

Chilli Bhajji / Molaga Bhajji / Menasinkaayi Bhajji

Absolutely addictive, spicy and tasty can't stop with one, of course not a healthy treat, as it is deep fried, Vegan, Gluten free.

Course Appetisers, snacks &

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Author Jayasri Ravi

Ingredients

FOR THE BATTER Tempura Batter
1 Cup Gram flour chick pea flour
1/3 Cup Rice flour
2 tbsp Corn flour
2 tsp Chilli powder*
pinch of Asafoetida
2 tbsp hot oil
1 tsp salt*
water as needed
Oil for deep frying as needed
VEGGIES FOR THE BAJJIS
6 to 7 Chilli Bajjis / Banana Peppers
6 to 7 Doddapatre
1 Onion
FILLING
Grate 1 or 2 Carrots
2 medium sized Onions
3 to 4 sprigs of coriander leaves
1/4 tsp of Chilli powder
1 tsp of Chat masala powder
2 to 3 pinches of salt / or as per taste

Instructions

Take all the Ingredients for the batter in a bowl and add water as required, the batter should be in between Dosa (Pancake) & Idli batter consistency, It should not be thin nor thick.
I have said hot oil; when you are preparing the batter, heat oil in a pan, take 2 tbsp of this oil when it is hot add this to the batter, this makes the Bhajjis more crispier.
Dip the chillis one by one coat it well and drop into the hot oil and fry it to golden colour.
The same way wash the leaves wipe clean and dip them in the batter and deep fry.
How to make the filling (stuffing) for thesey chillies:
Slit open once the bhajjis which have come out of the oil, and drain in on a kitchen towel, Mix all the ingredients from the above said list, check the taste increase or decrease spices as per your preference, fill this filling in the slit open Bhajjis and enjoy.

Notes

Some things to Note:
The coating or the batter consistency is for just 6 to 7 Bhajjis, you can keep increasing the same proportion of ingredients to fry more Bhajjis
Adding Hot oil to the batter makes crispy Bhajjis.
I usually cut an onion in the end to mix with the left over batter which makes crispy pakoras

The post Chilli Bhajji / Molaga Bhajji / Menasinkaayi Bhajji appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Missi Roti (Authentic Punjabi Cuisine) - Indian Flat Bread

Jayasri Ravi — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:46:00 +0000

Hi everybody hope you are doing well, I will not bother you with my moaning again, I know I have not still posted my T and T event :(, hope to do so in the coming week, I have been very busy with lots of things going on at home front, Next week will be last of the school term for the kids, so I might be more free, weather is lousy here raining from past 2 days, Had to clean the garden with weeds growing every where, cleaning up has given me lot of back ache and neck pain. Coming to the post, I have made this roti so many times, my sister had given me this recipe, but had never posted it at all, when I was doing this T and T from Deeba's blog, I stumbled upon this cake recipe which she had made from here, and this she made because of the Secret Recipe Club which she had joined, me curious as always, wrote to them as I fell in love with this Idea of this club, and I was asked to try out from this blog - the Novice House Wife, what a beautiful good looking blog with beautiful recipes, when I searching for the recipes, I felt very homely in her blog, loved the clicks too.., that's when I saw this Missi Roti, as she says its an authentic recipe, and I took it, had this thing in my mind that I need to post it, I decided to do this again and blog about it.

MISSI ROTI (Authentic Punjabi Cuisine)

As Shumaila says in her own words ‘’Missi roti, pronounced “Miss-ee Row-tee” is a staple in Punjabi homes and is basically roti prepared from besan or gram flour/chickpea flour. Served with a dollop of butter and accompanied with any Indian vegetable or lentil dish, missi rotis are an excellent way of sprucing up the proteins in your diet. Missi Roti can be served for breakfast with curd or pickle. Missi Roti is good for diabetics too because of gram flour added to it as an ingredient. Gram flour is said to keep insulin levels in check! Missi roti makes you very thirsty, so be prepared to drink a lot of water after eating it!’’

So that’s it now you know a lot about Missi Roti , she says it is traditionally it is made in tandoor but at home, as we do not have tandoor’s we can make it on the tawa(cast Iron Skillet). She writes about how her mom adores pomegranate seeds and it is the key ingredient for this rotis flavour. Luckily because of my Pomogranate seed event I have started buying them often and I always have them in stock, I did not miss it in using it in Missi Roti, as I have made earlier a couple of times, couple of things I missed out in this roti were Anardana seeds and chat masala, and the Gram flour kind of upset my tummy, when she wrote that you could change it as you want it, I didn’t mind at all. So, I made a few changes, when somebody tells me it is healthy I don’t mind trying it at all. As we all know health nuts like me that it is more nutritious than Naan which is made of plain flour and this one uses Gram flour and Wheat flour, it is high in protein and Iron, what else you need....

Here we go with the recipe then.......

I have changed a little bit as we are 5 people (2 Adults and 3 Teenagers!)

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups Gram flour/ Chickpea flour(Besan), sifted to remove any lumps
1 Cup of Jowar Flour

3 Cup Whole wheat flour

4 tbsp Fresh Coriander leaves ( about 4 to 5 Sprigs) finely chopped

5 Small Green Chillies, finely chopped

2 Medium sized onions

½ tsp Turmeric powder

1 tbsp Coriander seeds

½ tbsp Cumin seeds

½ tbsp Ajwain seeds

1 ½ tsp of Chat masala

2 tbsp of Anardana seeds

2 tbsp of Kasoori Methi dried

1 tbsp Chilli powder

Salt to taste

Water as Required ( I say as required, because of the Gram flour and Wheat flour might be used from different brands and the water might be less or more if I tell you the right amount, I used around 1 ½ cup, as my Gram flour isn’t like the one I get in India).

Ghee and Butter as required

Rice flour for dusting (she uses Wheat flour for dusting)

METHOD:

First of all In a pan Dry roast cumin, Ajjwain, Coriander seeds, until a nice aroma comes out of them, Using a pesle and mortar, coarsely grind the seeds well enough, crush it not very fine, shall I say fine coarse!

Take a Large bowl, add all the Ingredients except flour, butter and water.

Mix all the Ingredients to together, I left it for a few minutes as the Onions give out water, once mixed with salt,

Meanwhile I sieved both the flours together, then added them to it, and mixed them well together,

Make a whole in the middle and gradually add water, bringing in the mixture together just like a chappati dough, do not make it sticky or not too hard, let it pliable and smooth, so that you can roll it with a rolling pin.

Knead it well enough into a smooth dough, cover it with in a container or with a wet cloth to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile heat the Griddle/Tawa/Flat cast Iron skillet/ Hot Iron plate on a medium high heat.

Then roll them into small balls, Taking one small ball at a time flatten it with a rolling pin then if you think the dough is slightly sticking on to the pin, immediately dip the round ball into the rice flour, or dust the flattened dough with rice flour on both sides and start rolling them again into a nice round chappati.

Put this flattened rolled out dough circle on the hot skillet, cook for about few minutes on both the sides, when you can see, brown spots coming up and the dough turning into golden colour, flip it on both the sides to get it evenly cooked, apply butter/ghee on both the sides, until it is lovely golden brown in colour, that means it is done.

Serve it with butter/Ghee and with any Indian side dish, I made a Tomato Chutney it was fabulous.

Thanks Shumaila and Amanda for this wonderful event and loved it very much by everybody at home.
see you soon with an other recipe, do check what others have been doing.

The post Missi Roti (Authentic Punjabi Cuisine) - Indian Flat Bread appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Leek and Mushrooms Fritters

Jayasri Ravi — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 00:37:00 +0000

Hi, when I saw this event I was wondering what can I post, as I usually do not make anything fried at all these days, I have even stopped making authentic fried goodies like Murukkus, chakkalis etc.., when I was browsing today I found this still in my draft, ha!, this was the right time to post this.., and going through I found few more too..., hoping to post by tomorrow if Radhika allows me to enter her event as I am late for the event :)).
Quick I will come to the recipe..., as I have already posted Mushrooms fritters long time back, I wanted to try with Leeks as leeks has a kind of Onion taste in it, I thought this would go very well...
Yup, It was very tasty and we all had a go at it Mmm.., you try it too and enjoy...

LEEK AND MUSHROOMS FRITTERS

INGREDIENTS:
150 gms Button Mushrooms
1 Medium sized Leek
1 and 1/2 tsp (or required amount of needed) Salt
1 tbsp Red Chilli Powder
A pinch of Soda
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
4 to 5 Green chillies (optional)
1 tsp of crushed Pomegranate seeds
Few sprigs of Coriander leaves
3/4 th cup Gram Flour
Oil for Deep Frying

METHOD:
wash the Mushrooms and remove the stalk, Remove the first two layers and the end of Leek and slice it into two, and wash them well and slice both of them into thin slices then add rest of ingredients into a large bowl mix them well together and start adding water do not make the batter too thin or too thick, Add water to the Ingredients to coat them very well.
Heat oil in a Pan/Kadai/wok, using a tbsp drop spoonful of this batter into the hot oil a few at a time until they are golden yellow in colour, once they are done they usually float to the top, Once they are fried take them out and drain them on a kitchen towel.
These fritters or Bajjias are now ready to devour :))

These lovely Bajjis make their way to Radhika's Deep fried food event...

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Punjabi Kadi Pakoras for Indian Cooking Challenge

Jayasri Ravi — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 10:56:00 +0000

Hi friends, Hope you are all doing well, I have been on and off from blogging, as usual, too many things to do and completely busy with life and health seems to play around too, seeping when ever I am not able to cope up with situations, with all this weather too is changing now and then as it pleases.
I did not make to the challenge up until yesterday 10 days of Navaratri I just didn't want to use onion or Garlic, not that I am too superstitious, I just try not to cook anything with onion or Garlic Or I will see to it I won't eat it, So, I decided to leave it until after the festival.
I have already missed two of ICC challenges, One because of the sun and the next one because I did not have the right utensil, this was the easiest, simplest, delicious recipe. Tell me who would not like it, the whole family was all for it, I have made Kadi many times with veggies, but not with pakoras, It is something like I sometimes I put the dal vadai's in Morekozhambu.
Thanks Simran for this delicious recipe and thanks valli for making us to do this, I would not have made this dish at all if not for the challenge, as Pakoras we would have eaten just like that 🙂 right ?.
Coming back to the recipe..
I made this recipe just noting down the Ingredients and the method.

PUNJABI KADI PAKORAS

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Chickpea flour
2 tbsp Rice flour (not in the recipe)
1/4 cup of Roasted Gram flour (not in the recipe)
2 Onions
1 to 1 and 1/2 tbsp of Red chilli powder
1 tsp of Ajwain seeds/carom seeds (not in the recipe)
salt as required
Oil for Frying

FOR THE KADI
3/4th Cup of Besan flour (chickpea flour)
4 Cups of water (extra water if needed)
3 cups of Yogurt
1 and 1/2 tbsp of Chilli powder
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp of Fenugreek seeds
1/2 tbsp of Cumin seeds
1 tsp of Ajwain seeds
1 Medium sized Onion
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Garam Masala powder
1 tsp Amchur powder
salt as required ( say around 1 and 1/2 tbsp)

METHOD:
I changed the recipe a little bit, I wanted the pakoras more crispier and I didn't want them to soften up too much when soaked in the kadi, so I could munch on it :)) wicked isn't it ?, well I thought kids would love it that way.
I usually do not add water to the pakoras as Onions give out water of their own which is usually sufficient to make lovely crispier pakoras.
The White Onions which I get here in UK really gives too much water.
Chop the onions add salt and leave it for few minutes say around 1/2 an hour.
Meanwhile Mix water and Besan flour together without any lumps and yogurt and mix well and start heating in a low flame. Do not forget to keep stirring occasionally, otherwise you might end up having a burnt bottom, as it starts to thicken.
Meanwhile chop the onion, Heat a Kadai/wok with a 1/2 tbsp of oil add Fenugreek seeds, Mustard seeds, (watch out that the fenugreek seeds change colour to golden brown do not allow it to turn black), Cumin seeds, Turmeric powder when a nice aroma comes out add the chopped onions and a few Curry leaves and saute until they become transparent, then here I changed the recipe a bit I added Chilli powder, Amchur powder, Garam Masala and powdered Ajwain powder and sauteed it a little bit, then added this to the Kadi.
Mixed well and allowed to cook for a few more minutes in a low flame.
Meanwhile take a wok pour oil for frying the pakoras,
Check out the oil by holding your palm on top of the wok (of course not too close) you can notice that their is a warmness that shows that oil is getting heated up give it one more minute and drop the batter to make pakoras another method to see if the oil is ready to be used put a drop of the batter into the oil after 10 to 15 minutes and when it pops up to the surface immediately then it is the right time to fry.
As we had already left the onions to marinate with salt, water would have oozed out now add the salt as required, chilli powder and Ajwain powder mix well then add the Chick pea flour, until it becomes a thick batter, then take a spoonful or use your hands and drop it in small portions (say the size of small lime) and fry them until they are golden brown in colour. Drain them out on a kitchen towel.
Put these pakoras into the Kadi which is on the stove in a low flame increase it to a medium flame and now you would have noticed that the kadi is getting thicker and allow it boil for a few more minutes then put off the stove and allow it to soak well.
I made it quite thick because as Simmi was saying that Punjabi Kadi 's are thicker version and the thinner version are the Gujarati Kadi's.
Well, It was a wonderful dish and we all loved it, I had nothing left in my container that night.

Thanks Srivalli of Spicingyourlife and Simran of Bombay Foodie for this wonderful declicious recipe.

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Mushroom Manchurian

Jayasri Ravi — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 02:02:00 +0000

This is one of my favourite dishes, I love Gobi Manchurian. After coming hereI always make this at home often , When I first saw button mushrooms I just fell in love with them, I thought they were so cute, The first time when I bought it, I was thinking what shall I do with it, So the first time I made mushroom bondas!!, I dipped them in the Besan flour with salt & chilli powder and fried in oil, my children thought it tasted nice but what was it they did not know!!, They thought it might be Aaloo, They always want potato in their everyday food!!, well, I told them later on they were not very happy about as I had cheated them because they thought it was potatoes!!!, Next time I made Manchurian and it came out very well, Of course, not a very healthy recipe as I have fried it in oil!!, But as we all know Mushrooms have lot of Folic acid in them which is especially very good for women I thought I can give my children this way too!!, as they do not fancy mushrooms much. Here is the recipe......

MUSHROOM MANCHURIAN

MIngredients:

350 gms Button Mushrooms
1 big Onion
5 to 6 Garlic pods
1 bunch spring onions
5 to 6 green chillies
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1'' ginger
1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
salt to taste
3 to 4 tbsp oil
5 to 6 sprig of coriander leaves (optional)
4 to 5 tbsp corn flour
2 to 3 tbsp besan flour (chickpea flour) or All purpose flour
Sufficient oil for deep frying

METHOD:

Chop onion, garlic, green chilles & ginger into fine pieces and keep aside.
In a vessel make a paste of corn and Besan flour using little water and a little salt, it must be of a consistency where in you can dip the mushrooms and put it in the oil, it shouldn't be too watery or too thick, make it into a dosa consistency or just they way when you make Aaloo Bondas.
Take sufficient quantity of oil in a wok and deep fry all the Button Mushrooms into golden colour and keep aside on a kitchen paper.
Now take a wok, heat oil add the chopped onions, garlic, green chillies and ginger. Fry them nicely.
Then add all the sauce, vinegar and ketchup and required quantity of salt, but just remember you have already added little salt to the flour when deep frying the mushrooms so balance the salt properly!!
Give them all a good toss add chopped spring onions and coriander leaves (optional), Now add the fried mushrooms and mix well and leave it in the wok for a minute or two frying them so the ingredients in the wok get coated to the mushrooms.
Now it is ready to serve.
Serve it with your favourite Ketchup or sauce.

Note :
If you want you can add chopped peppers, Roast them with the onions, I cook Gobi Manchurian in the same way .

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