Care for Some Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat?!

Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat

Inside a small restaurant with double glazed window you will find a number of posters of Bollywood stars smiling at you. There are small granite tables with pickle and chutney trays on top and matching red velvet cushioned chairs. Large framed photograph of Guru Nanak is hung just above the cashier’s desk and a small table fan is rotating gently. The aroma of food being cooked inside the kitchen is intoxicating and people are busy savouring plates of Naans, Curries, Chaats, Indian sweets & Kebabs. Come out of the restaurant you will find women in colourful saris and salwar kameez, men wearing colourful turbans and kurtas, pavement food stalls selling Samosas, Chaats and Jalebi, small shops selling mobile phones and bright fabrics in rainbow colours hanging in shop fronts. Add to this the Bhangra music and sweet smell of incense and spices is in the air. Am I in India?

Welcome to Mini India in London a.k.a Southall. For one moment you will forget that you are in West London and feel you are walking on the streets of any Indian market. No one can be blamed for getting confused as you can hardly see any Goora face among all Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshis. Chandini Chowk, Apna Baazar, Garam Chai, Pooja Ghar, Jalebi Junction etc are the few of hundreds of Restaurants, Spice shops, Chat shops in Southall. It is a food Mecca for people like us staying away from home as the food smells and tastes very close to what we find back home. Ranging from south Indian Idli and Dosa served on Banana leaves to North Indian Chaats and Naans served on road side, you will find almost all the colour and flavours of India. So if you are visiting London, don’t miss our own Mini India.

Having eaten (read stuffed or hogged) varieties of Chaats till we could hardly move our sweet seats, surprisingly we were craving for more Chaat after we came back home. So we set to create same magic in our kitchen with something we could make very quickly. And thankfully we had made Chole for dinner two days back and we had enough quantity of 3 delicious chutneys (Spicy Red Chilli Chutney, Green Mint Chutney & Sweet Date-Tamarind Chutney) stocked from our previous weeks Chaat party. So we set to create Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat by making fresh batch of Aloo Tikkis. I made Tikkis with just boiled potatoes and few spices and with in no time hot, sweet and spicy batch of Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat were ready to please our taste buds. If preparing every thing from scratch it might take more time and effort but trust me when I say it’s worth all the hard work. I am giving here detailed recipes for Aloo Tikki, Chole and all the chutneys used to make this delicious Chaat. Make it during leisure and enjoy. And don’t forget to make big batch of aloo tikkies as you can easily freeze them and when ever heart desires. This delicious plate of much loved Indian street food makes its way to Lucy of Nurish Me who is gust hosting My Legume Love Affair-Third Helping started by dear Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook. So without any delay, here we go…

Plate of Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat

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Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat (Potato cutlets served with spiced chickpeas and delicious chutneys and topped with onion and crunchy Sev)

Prep Time: 15-20 mins
Cooking Time: 30-35 mins
Serves: 4-6

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Ingredients:
For Chole:
1 cup White Chickpeas/Kabuli Channa, soaked over night and cooked or 1 can Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp Kasuri Methi
1 tsp Garam Masala
½ tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida (Optional but recommended)
Salt to taste

Ground to Smooth Paste:
For Onion Paste:
1 large Onion, roughly chopped
½ inch Cinnamon stick
2 Green Cardamoms
2 Cloves
½ inch Ginger, peeled
3 cloves of Garlic

For Tomato Paste:
3 large juicy Tomatoes/1 can chopped Tomato
2-3 Green Chillies (Adjust acc to taste)
1-2 tbsp Tomato Paste (Optional)

Bowl of Chole

For Aloo Tikki:
3 large Potatoes
½-¾ cup Bread Crumbs/2-3 Bread Slices
½ tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Roasted Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Jeera/Cumin Powder
¼ tsp Coriander Powder
1 tbsp Corn Flour (Adjust acc to requirement)
Salt to taste
Little Oil, for pan frying

Aloo Tikki with Chutneys

For Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney:
1 lemon sized Tamarind Pulp, soaked in water
6-8 Dates, pitted
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
4-6 tbsp Jaggary (adjust acc to taste)
Salt to taste

For Green Mint Chutney:
1 packed cup Mint Leaves
½ packed cup Coriander Leaves
4-6 Green Chillies (adjust acc to taste)
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Tamarind Paste
Salt to taste

For Spicy Red Chutney:
10 Dry Red Chillies
2-3 Garlic flakes
1 small Tomato (Optional, it helps in grinding the chillies to smooth paste)
½ tsp Tamarind Paste
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
Salt to taste

For Curd/Yogurt Filling:
3 cups Yogurt, beaten till smooth
1 tsp roasted Jeera/Cumin Powder
1 tbsp Sugar
Big Pinch of Black Salt/Kaala Namak or Salt

Other Ingredients:
1 medium Red Onion, chopped
½-1 cup Sev
2-3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped

Plate of Aloo Tikki-Chole Chaat

Method:
For Chole:

Heat oil in a pan and add hing and cumin seeds. When it starts to sizzle, mix in onion paste. Keep stirring at medium heat till the onion paste turns light golden brown and becomes little dry, about 6-8 mins.
Add garam masala, kitchen king masala, kasuri methi and stir for few seconds. Now mix in tomato paste, amchur powder, and salt to taste. Cook the gravy in medium heat, for about 5-7 mins, stirring in between.
Mix in cooked chickpeas and add about a cup of water. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring in between. Add more water if needed and adjust the seasonings.
Garnish with coriander leaves and it is ready to be served.

For Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney:

Grind all ingredients listed to very smooth paste adding very little water at time. This paste should be little thick not runny.

For Green Mint Chutney:

Grind all the ingredients listed to smooth paste adding very little water at time. Adjust the number of green chillies according to taste. I personally like little hot. Make sure that the chutney is not very watery.

For Spicy Red Chutney:

Grind all the ingredients to very smooth paste adding very little water at time. If you find it difficult to grind, add small tomato (tip learnt from my favourite Chaatwalah).

For Curd/Yogurt Filling:

Beat the curd/yogurt till its smooth without any lumps. Now mix in powdered roasted cumin, sugar and salt to taste.

For Aloo Tikki:

Cook potato till tender, peel and mash well. Keep it aside till it is slightly cooled.
If using bread slices, dip the slices in cold water and squeeze to remove the water. Crumble them with hands and add to the mashed potatoes. If using bread crumbs, directly mix with mashed potatoes.
Mix in garam masala, roasted cumin seeds and powder, coriander powder, salt to taste and corn flour and combine well. Adjust the corn flour as per requirement as it helps in holding the shape of tikkies while frying.
Make a small lemon sized balls and press them down. Shape them into round or oval shape (about 1 cm thick round or oval tikkies).
Heat tawa/griddle and place tikkies on it. Add about 1 tsp of oil for each tikkies and fry them on medium to low heat on both the sides till they turn golden brown. Repeat till you have cooked all the tikkies and place them in a paper napkin to remove excess oil. Alternatively you can also bake the tikkies till they turn gold and crisp on both the sides.

How to Assemble and Serve:

Place 2-3 Aloo Tikkies on serving plate. Pour 1-2 ladles full of Chole. On top of it, drizzle spoonfuls of Spicy Red Chutney, Sweet Date-Tamarind Chutney, Green Mint-Coriander Chutney & Spiced Yogurt. Now add spoonfuls of chopped red onion, Sev and chopped coriander leaves and serve immediately.

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Notes:

Store leftover Aloo Tikkies in zip lock bag and freeze it upto a month. When needed place them on hot griddle or oven and cook till it is heated through on both the sides.
You can also freeze the chutneys upto a month.

Other Chatakdar Chaats to tempt you

• Dahi Batata Puri
• Kutchi Dabeli

See another variation of Aloo Tikki

• Peas stuffed Aloo Tikki

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Is That My Green Thumb: Dabeli

Dabeli

Grow Your Own a.k.a. GYO is a twice-a-month blogging event that celebrates the foods we grow ourselves and the dishes we make using our homegrown products is a brainchild of Andrea who blogs at Andrea’s Recipes. This fortnight it is being guest hosted by dynamic Jugalbandi’s Jai and Bee.

Here comes the problem. Well, it’s another food blog event and the rules are quite straightforward. You might ask me what exactly the problem is. For the last couple of weeks every blogger is showing off their gardening talents. Well, after all its summer and everyone seems to be growing something or the other in their vegetable patch resembling football stadium or snooker table and some even managed to grow in their small sized balconies and containers. I went through all these blogger’s posts with dozens of photographs of their summer bounty and admired their skills.

Then the realization hit me hard!!! All we had grown in a small patch of our backyard is few flowering plants and mind you they were not from seeds we had sown!! We just bought few plants from weekend farmer’s market and just planted them. Now its not that we are lazy (Ok, little bit). The reasons for not growing our own summer vegetable and fruits bounty are many. First and most important of all is the unpredictable weather. Just when we had cleaned our vegetable patch from all those wild weeds (my goodness, they have very strong and had deep roots), slugs and snails (they are so yuck!), it started to rain cats and dogs. After 2-3 weeks of these heavy summer rains the vegetable patch was filled with new bounty of weeds and snails and we didn’t fancy cooking those Dandelions in soups and stews and being a vegetarians eating those snails were unimaginable ;) So again we cleared our veggie patch and again it started to rain!!! We ended up planting few plants of Geranium, roses, lavenders. Second reason, our work schedule. Leaving to work at 7 in the morning and coming back at 7 in the evening doesn’t give much time to spend time in gardening during weekdays. Next reason is the visits to our vegetable patch by unwanted guests. You see some way or the other many cats in our neighborhood feel that it’s their birth right to come and empty their stomachs in our vegetable patch. We have 6 different cats coming and leaving behind their smelly trails. Sometimes we do wonder how roasted and grilled cats taste, just like Manisha. (Ok, I am kidding big time;)

With all these problems, we did manage to grow few herbs in pots. Some mint leaves are growing wildly and we are making good use of it in summer drinks. We have two curry plants donated by our close friends. And we have successfully grown a big pot of coriander leaves. I have been using them in most of the curries as garnishes. And Bee did say coriander used as garnishes can make it to the event. Thank you Bee, my coriander garnish is what I am sending you for GYO. This time its Dabeli garnished with fresh corianders from our garden makes its grand entrance for Jugalbandi’s GYO event.

Dabeli or Katchi Dabeli or Double Roti is a street food mostly originated in Kutchi/Gujarat and very popular street food sold in Mumbai/Bombay. In my engineering days I survived eating these Dabeli for my lunch and sometimes for dinner from our campus Bakery. It is also known as Kutchi Dabeli or Double Roti and uses a special spice blend called Dabeli Masala. When I hosted MBP-Street Food, I had many Dabeli entries and I couldn’t wait to try my favorite street food. When I received Raghavan Iyer’s 660 Curries book for my birthday, I was rejoiced to see detailed recipe for Dabeli with its spice blend.

In Raghavan’s own words,

"Maharashtrian’s are very creative when it comes to combining multiple sources of carbohydrates in the same dish. This curry-in-a-bun is love at first bite-topped with luscious-red, juicy-tart pomegranate seeds. It’s really a cinch to make as a do-ahead dish. Just lay everything out in a bowls assembly-line style, in the same order as they go into the bun, and folks can help themselves by making their own. Those ho-hum taco parties will make a run for the border."

I made Dabeli Masala by strictly following Raghavan’s recipe and then assembled the Dabeli according to our taste. So without any delay, I made these wonderful street food and relived my college days:) Straight this goes to Jugalbandi’s for their GYO.

Kutchi Dabeli

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Dabeli (Spiced Potato & Pomegranate Sandwiches)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Makes: 4-6
Recipe Source: 660 Curries

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Ingredients:
For Dabeli Masala:
1 tsp Whole Clove (about 4-5)
½ tsp Fennel Seeds
½ tsp Black Peppers
½ tsp Coriander Seeds
4 dried Red Chilies (Thai or Cayenne), stems removed (I used Byadagi Chilies)
4 blades of Mace or ¼ tsp Ground Mace (I omitted it as I didn’t have any)
2-3 Whole Star Anie
1-2 Dried Bay Leaves
Seeds from 1-2 Black Cardamom Pods
½ tsp Ground Ginger (You will get them in any Asian stores)
Pinch of Turmeric Powder

For the Filling:
3 large Potatoes (Russet or Yukon Gold), peeled, boiled and mashed
1 small Onion, finely chopped (Optional)
1 tbsp Dabeli Masala
1 tsp Sugar Powder
½ tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

For the Sauces:
Recipe calls for just Sweet & Sour Date-Tamarind Chutney and Green Mint-Coriander Chutny but I also used Spicy Red Chutney.

For Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney:
1 lemon sized Tamarind Pulp, soaked in water
6-8 Dates, pitted
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
4-6 tbsp Jaggary (adjust acc to taste)
Salt to taste

For Green Mint Chutney:
1 packed cup Mint Leaves
½ packed cup Coriander Leaves
4-6 Green Chillies (adjust acc to taste)
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Tamarind Paste
Salt to taste

For Spicy Red Chutney:
10 Dry Red Chillies
2-3 Garlic flakes
1 small Tomato (Optional, it helps in grinding the chilies to smooth paste)
½ tsp Tamarind Paste
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
Salt to taste

For Assembling the Sandwiches:
4-6 Ladi Pav/Burger Buns
Butter for Spreading
Seeds from 1 small Pomegranate
½ cup Spicy Roasted Peanuts (I used plain ones)
1 small Red Onion, finely chopped
½ cup Sev (Gram flour noodles, deep fried. You will find them in any Asian stores)
1-2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped

Spices for Dabeli Masala

Method:

For Dabeli Masala:

The above ingredients make about 2 tbsp of Dabeli Masala. Place all the ingredients in a spice blender or coffee grinder and grind to fine powder. Store it in an air tight container till needed. I will last for 2 months.

For Potato Filling:

Combine mashed potatoes, dabeli masala, salt and sugar and mix well.
Heat oil in a pan and add finely chopped onion if using (adding onion is optional but I remember having it in the dabeli potato filling back in my campus bakery). Sauté it on medium heat till onions turn golden, about 2-3 mins.
Mix in spiced potato and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are warmed and the spices are cooked, 5-6 mins. Keep this potato mixture aside.

For Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney:

Grind all ingredients listed to very smooth paste adding very little water at time. This paste should be little thick not runny.

For Green Mint Chutney:

Grind all the ingredients listed to smooth paste adding very little water at time. Adjust the number of green chilies according to taste. I personally like little hot. Make sure that the chutney is not very watery.

For Spicy Red Chutney:

Grind all the ingredients to very smooth paste adding very little water at time. If you find it difficult to grind, add small tomato (tip learnt from my favorite Chaatwalah).

To Assemble Dabeli:

Heat a griddle or skillet over a medium heat. Cut the ladi-pav or sandwich bun in centre and apply little butter on cut side. Place this bun, buttered side down, on a skillet and cook until they are browned, 1-2 mins. Remove the bunds from griddle and keep aside.
To make the sandwich, first spread a tsp each of date-tamarind sauce, mint-coriander chutney and spicy red chutney. You can adjust these chutneys depending on your taste.
Next, place 1/6th of Spiced Potato. You can make a medium lime sized potato balls and pat it a bit and place it on the bun.
Sprinkle a tbsp of juicy pomegranate seeds, followed by a tbsp of roasted peanuts, ½ tbsp finely chopped red onion and a tbsp of Sev.
Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves on top and then cover it with the other half of bun and serve them.

Dabeli

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Reminder: WBB-Summer Feast

For this edition of WBB, your challenge is to cook anything with summer fruits and vegetables. Yes, the theme is WBB-Summer Feast. Go to your town/city’s Farmer’s Market and pick fresh season’s produce and make your favourite breakfast or brunch and join in the Summer Feast.

Deadline: 31st July, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and mail when sending me your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish you cooked, Perm Link of the entry along with the gorgeous Photo of final dish.

Click Here or on the logo to find out more information on this event.

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Dahi Batata Puri: Yeh Dil Maange More...

Dahi Batata Puri

It's a beautiful evening with chirping birds flying back to their warm nests. Sun is setting behind the mountains. It looks like he is on his way to meet his lover as the sky is blushes with beautiful red. All of sudden the dimly lit street starts buzzing. People start arriving in large numbers, almost like devotees make pilgrimage to their favourite temples. Just like in any temples you can see people standing in a long queue waiting eagerly for their turn. To me it seems like a never ending queue as I wait eagerly, my patience threatening to fly out of the window. My tummy starts grumbling as my eyes are seduced by the sight of people gorging on platefuls of delicious looking items. My nose seems to have lost in aromatic world of spices and herbs. I stand there drooling non-stop which would easily solve any water issues. Yes, the queue is moving fast now… I am behind just two people now… now just one. The guy before me orders for one plate of Bhel Puri and another plate of Masala Puri. Oh the sweet torture. It’s my turn now… What am I going to have? Is it Bhel or Pani Puri? May be I should have Masala Puri today. Wait, Dahi Batata Puri which that fat guy stuffing in his mouth looks so good. The GaaDi-walah looks at me and asks me what I want to have… At last I make up my mind and ask for plate of Dahi Batata Puri. I look at him as he quickly whips up sinfully delicious looking plate of my favourite Chaat with fascination. First he arranges a plateful of puri and then he starts stuffing it with potato filling and then quickly adds colourful chutneys. Then he starts filling each puri with a spoonful of spiced yogurt. Finally he sprinkles few pieces of red onions and sev… “Bhaiyya, put little extra sev for me!”, I almost plead. He smiles and adds extra handful of sev and there it is… All mine… Mine, mine, mine… He extends my plate of Chaat… It’s almost within my reach and I extend my hand…

Tringggggggggg…………. What, where, how??? It’s a dream!!! It’s just a %&*$ dream!!! Not again, why oh God! Why me!!! Why are you punishing me like this?

God shouts back at me, “Because it’s your fault that you had to choose Street Food for food blogging event. Now repent. Why blame me?”…

Oh yes, this is what happens when you host any blog events. You don’t know when you will get hunger attack as the entries fill in your mail box any time of the day. If it’s close to lunch or dinner time, then you are finished!!! Imagine opening your mailbox just when you had to skip your breakfast because you forgot to set your alarm clock on a very important day at work, and find these delicious, mouth watering, drool-worthy entries there. Do I need to say anymore? Since I announced Street Food theme for this month’s MBP, I have been getting lots of nightmares like this every night. There was only one way to get rid of it and that’s what I did this weekend.

This plate of Dahi Batata Puri is a result of my non-stop nightmares I am getting since past few weeks. To be precise, from the day I announced Street Food for MBP. I have been trying very hard to avoid deep fried puries but failed miserably in the end. Well, you can’t call it exactly junk food. It uses vegetables, greens, and importantly good dose of yogurt. So in my opinion, its healthy food all the way and I am sure most of you will agree with me ;) We used store bought puries and there were 30 of them… and all of them are gone now. It was our lunch yesterday and we skipped our dinner at night ;)

I can’t say it is as good as the ones you get on street carts in India but it was tasty nevertheless. Well, beggars can’t be choosers! This recipe is from my Amma who makes excellent Chaats (second next to the Chaatwalah Bhaiyya! I hope she is not reading this post ;). We licked our plates clean and were confused which plate was washed and which were not washed (Ok, bad joke ;). We have got little extra chutney left in refrigerate which we are going to use tonight. Oh yes, we are having Bhelpuri for dinner as the puries are over and cant make another batch of Dahi Batata Puri or Masala Puri. Off this plate of Dahi Batata Puri goes to gorgeous Sig for her JFI-Tamarind (just on time), dear Dee's Herb Mania-Mint and to bubbly Siri for her Frozen Yogurt. Enjoy girls…

Dahi Batata Puri

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Dahi Batata Puri (Chaat, famous street food of India where puffed puries are stuffed with potato, sweet-spicy-mint chutney and fresh yogurt)
Prep Time: 20-30 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Serves: 2-6 (difficult to say)

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Ingredients:
20-30 Puffed deep fried Puris (store bought or home made)
½ - ¾ cups Sev
1 Red Onion, finely chopped

For Potato-Peas Filling:
1 large Potato, cooked, peeled and diced into small pieces
½ cup Green Peas, cooked (or use cooked Kabuli Channa (Garbanzo)/Moong Sprouts)
½ tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste

For Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney:
1 lemon sized Tamarind Pulp, soaked in water
6-8 Dates, pitted
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
4-6 tbsp Jaggary (adjust acc to taste)
Salt to taste

For Green Mint Chutney:
1 packed cup Mint Leaves
½ packed cup Coriander Leaves
4-6 Green Chillies (adjust acc to taste)
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Tamarind Paste
Salt to taste

For Spicy Red Chutney:
10 Dry Red Chillies
2-3 Garlic flakes
1 small Tomato (Optional, it helps in grinding teh chillies to smooth paste)
½ tsp Tamarind Paste
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
Salt to taste

For Curd/Yogurt Filling:
3 cups Yogurt, beaten till smooth
1 tsp roasted Jeera/Cumin Powder
1 tbsp Sugar
Big Pinch of Salt

Ingredients for Dahi Batata Puri: Potato-Peas Filling, Sev, Red Onion, Spicy Red Chutney, Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney, Green Mint Chutney, Spiced Yogurt, Puri

Method:
For Potato Filling:
First prepare the potato filling. Heat a pan and add cumin seeds to it and dry roast for a minute. Then add cooked diced potatoes, green peas, garam masala, turmeric, salt to taste. Sauté on medium flame for a minute or two and keep it aside.

For Sweet Tamarind-Date Chutney:
Grind all ingredients listed to very smooth paste adding very little water at time. This paste should be little thick not runny.

For Green Mint Chutney:
Grind all the ingredients listed to smooth paste adding very little water at time. Adjust the number of green chillies according to taste. I personally like little hot. Make sure that the chutney is not very watery.

For Spicy Red Chutney:
Grind all the ingredients to very smooth paste adding very little water at time. If you find it difficult to grind, add small tomato (tip learnt from my favourite Chaatwalah).

For Curd/Yogurt Filling:
Beat the curd/yogurt till its smooth without any lumps. Now mix in powdered roasted cumin, sugar and salt to taste.

To Assemble the Dahi Batata Puri:

Arrange 6-9 puris in a plate, making small opening on top of each puri big enough to add the fillings.
First fill each puri with a tsp of Potato-Green Peas filling. Add one or 2 tsp of yogurt filling. Then fill it with ¼-½ tsp of all three chutneys. Drizzle over little more of yogurt filling and then sprinkle chopped red onion and sev on each puri.
Serve this delicious plate of Dahi Batata Puri immediately as if kept for long it will become soggy. Remember to use your finger to eat it not with spoon and enjoy this finger-licking-ly delicious Chaat.

This one is for you...

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Reminder: MBP-Street Food (Last Call...)

MBP-Street Food ends on 30th of June, 2008. Start patrolling the blogs and cook your favourite Street Food that your tummy begs and heart desires and spread link love.

Deadline: 30th June, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and mail when sending me your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish you cooked, Perm Link of the entry, Perm Link of original recipe along with the gorgeous Photo of final dish.

Click Here or on the logo to find out more information on this event.

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Reminder: WBB-Summer Feast

For this edition of WBB, your challenge is to cook anything with summer fruits and vegetables. Yes, the theme is WBB-Summer Feast. Go to your town/city’s Farmer’s Market and pick fresh season’s produce and make your favourite breakfast or brunch and join in the Summer Feast.

Deadline: 31st July, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and mail when sending me your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish you cooked, Perm Link of the entry, Perm Link of original recipe along with the gorgeous Photo of final dish.

Click Here or on the logo to find out more information on this event.

Continue Reading...

Dates Obbattu

Dates Obbattu

Winter is beautiful in India. This is the time when dawn is lightly touched with frost; a soft new light appears from heavenly sky. The thundering monsoon and damp earth give way to ‘Kartika Maasa’, the golden season of October and November. Kartika is a season of silky and golden sunlight and blossoming trees. There is the shivering anticipation among every form of life waiting in anticipation for what mother earth has to offer. It is the season when the mother earth is all dewy and she takes on a delicious newness. The sun turns pleasing honey-gold spreading golden sparkles to whatever he touches. It is the season of festivals, and it is the time to celebrate Deepavali, a festival of lights.

Diwali is a celebration of the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. Diwali comes from the Sanskrit word ‘Deepavali’, meaning "row of lamps". It is a time for feasts, fireworks, remembrance, forgiveness and a renewal of life. Clay lamps of all size and shape are lit along verandas, on rooftops, on windowsills, along driveways, in gardens and courtyards and colourful paper lanterns are strung to the high roof. All pooja utensils, the prayer room is washed and cleaned to their sparkling best. The pooja mantap with all kinds of god and goddess radiates a different glow of energy decorated with colourful array of marigolds, roses and jasmines and the heady aroma of incense sticks and dhupa. Each and every streets and nook ‘n corners are decorated with bright colourful lights and paper lanterns, shops are dressed in shimmering golden streamers, and fairy lights are wound around trees transferring the whole world to festive season.

For three little kids, the Diwali day would start at the very wink of dawn with sandalwood and oil bath called ‘Abhyanga’. Although it was not one of the things they enjoyed, just the thought of the day ahead would make it for getting up that early and oil baths. Their parents would exchange smiles looking at their kids smeared in oil, yawning and rubbing their eyes to get rid of slumber and lightly shivering to the cool breeze of dawn tickling their scantly clad bodies. After hot water bath the kids were dressed in their new and crisp cloths ironed by their father and ready to receive their family and friends. While their mother created beautiful Rangolis, colourful geometric and floral patterns made from coloured rice flour, at the entrance to the house; the kids were given the task of making small S-shaped foot prints with five dots on top arch from door step to pooja room. It is believed that these prints represent the little feet of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, who makes a trip to every home on Diwali night to survey family fortune and decides whether they need any boost. The little kids made it sure that they painted it well so that the goddess didn’t get lost on her way to pooja room.

After heavy breakfast, mother would start cooking special treats apart from the one’s which she had prepared days before with the help of her mother and cooks to send it to relatives and friends. Different sizes of colourful boxes of dry fruits and nuts, sweets, gifts wrapped in colourful papers would sit in corner table to be given to the guests visiting. It is the day when foe becomes a friend and generations of hatred seems to dissolve in the soft glow of light from diyas. It is the day when tradition is passed from one generation to the next while the lamps illuminate quietly, shimmering over night, encircling the parents and children in its golden glow. As the late night approaches and as the harsh electric lights are switched off, small quiet flames from diyas and candles flicker amid bunches of marigold, hibiscus, roses and jasmines. While whole street sleeps under the dark blanket of glittering stars, the kids dreams of goddess Lakshmi emerging from the soft glow of diyas and stepping into home bringing wealth and well-being with her.

For three days and nights families and friends gather to celebrate the festival of lights. While the kids set off fireworks, elders sit behind, keeping an eye on kids and chat about passing years. The smile on every kid’s face matches that of sparkling diyas. Sparkles, rockets and torches explode in the sky, shedding red-orange, blue-green flames. When the noise of bursting fire crackers drowns conversations, the ladies bring out the feast to be devoured. There is no dining table with silver cutleries and delicate china sets. Families and friends sit together under the sparkling sky and eat from green banana leaves which looked like an artist’s colour palette with different savouries and sweets and with range of curries, rice and roties… The noise of Diwali does not distract from its serenity. This is the festival which brings together families and friends and thus brings happiness and content of being with your loved ones and sharing that joy. Diwali is the time to stop, to sit back, to gaze at the sparkling sky and to allow ourselves to be braced with the love and affection of our loved ones.

I always loved quiet Diwali than noisy firecrackers where I would light the clay lamps with my siblings and parents. I guess I am among the few who liked noiseless Diwali with hundreds of small lamps glittering like stars around me. With the electric lights switched off, these small diyas radiated sense of calmness and serenity which I always feel is the true meaning of Diwali, a festival of lights. Sitting under an open sky, laying my head on my Appa’s lap, we kids enjoyed stories of Lord Rama, devil Narakasura, goddess Lakshmi with keen interest even though we had heard the same stories for zillionth time. With all these fond memories and nostalgia K and I made Kharjura Obbattu (Date stuffed Poli) on Deepavali eve. I have many sweet memories attached with this dish and I couldn’t think of any other thing to cook for this Diwali. Steam cooked sweet dates is ground with dash of jaggery and lightly spiced with cardamom and nutmeg is stuffed between the maida dough and tawa fried with ghee is one dish which sure to win everyone’s heart. Looking at the picturea you can easily guess that its my first attempt at making Obbattu ;) True to my Flow Chart, I am sending this to Vee’s Jhiva Special Edition-The Festive Series, Meeta’s MM-Traditional Feasts and Chandrika’s AFAM-Dates. Ek teer, teen shikar ;)

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Dates Obbattu (Date Stuffed Indian Flat Bread)
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Makes: 5-6

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Ingredients:
For Kanaka/Dough:
1 heaped cup Maida/All Purpose Flour
A big pinch of Salt
2-3 tbsp Oil
Ghee for frying

For Hoorana/Stuffing:
1 cup Dates, deseeded and quartered
1 tbsp Jaggery (adjust acc to taste)
1 tbsp Ghee
¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
A big pinch Nutmeg

Kanaka with Dates Hoorana

Dates Obbattu

Method:
Place plain flour and salt in a vessel and make it into stiff dough of chapatti consistency by adding little water at a time. Keep it aside covered with wet cloth for around half an hour.
After ½ to 1 hour, add oil and knead the dough till all the oil is absorbed and the dough becomes soft and elastic. Keep this dough aside for another half an hour or so.
Mean while, steam cook dates for around 10 mins till they become soft and mushy.
Cool these dates and place them in a blender with jaggery and blend them without adding any water.
Heat ghee in a pan and to this add ground paste and keep stirring on moderate heat for around five minutes. Make sure to stir at medium flame so that the stuffing doesn’t stick to the bottom of pan.
Mix in cardamom and nutmeg powder and switch off the flame. Let the stuffing mixture cool for sometime.
Make golf sized balls of dough and date stuffing by applying little ghee to your hands.
Grease an aluminum foil/banana leaf/thick plastic wrap with little oil and place maida dough ball in center.
Press the dough with your fingers and start spreading it to a circle stating from center, working towards the edge. Make poori sized circle of about 3 inch diameter and place date hoorana/stuffing ball at center. Close the hoorana/stuffing by pulling the dough on all sides.
Slowly press the dough with your fingers to about ½ cm thick and 6 inch diameter. Use little ghee/oil if the dough sticks to your fingers.
Heat griddle/tawa and gently transfer the obbattu to tawa and cook on both sides by applying little ghee till little brown patches appear and they are cooked well.
Serve warm with ghee and enjoy.

Dates Obbattu with Ghee

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Tips:
If you find it difficult to spread the dough with your hands then place another greased sheet on top of the dough and roll it gently using rolling pin.
The left over obbattu can be freezed once it is completely cooled down for about 3 weeks in freezer. Place a parchment paper in between each obbattu and place them in zip lock bag and freeze. When required, thaw and heat it using a griddle/pan and serve.
You can replace jaggery with honey or sugar based on your preferance and maida with wheat if you are health conscious.

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Dates Obbattu

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Note:
Another Sweet recipe on Monsoon Spice using Date is Kharjura/Date Payasa.
Here is Richa's recipe for Poli where she adds pistachio powder to dates stuffing.

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Kharjura(Date) Payasa

Its spring time in India and the magic touch of spring makes everything look so beautiful. I can imagine mango trees dressed up like brides with garland of flowers and fruits swinging to the tunes of cool breeze. Farms and fields all set for harvesting. Kids ready to wind up their final exams and eagerly waiting for summer holidays to spend at granny’s place. Young lovers walking on the red and crimson carpets of newly fallen delicate gulmohar flowers. The air is filled with joy, enthusiasm and gaiety. Ah!!! Heaven on earth…

Kharjura(Date) Payasa

This is the time when we celebrate the beginning of new era. According to Hindu calendar, Ugadi is the beginning of new lunar calendar. Vedas say that the creator of the World, Lord Brahma started creation on this day of Ugadi. It is very auspicious for Hindus all around the world as we celebrate the new year. Ugadi comes close on the heels of Holi, the festival of colours. While the bright colours of Holi starts to fade away, the freshness of spring lingers on all around. The trees with bright red flowers that blossom during Holi are in full bloom signifying the spring in full blossom.

In Karnataka Ugadi is celebrated by offering Bevu-Bella, which is Neem buds/leaves for bitterness and Jaggery for sweetness. They symbolize the fact that life is a mixture of pleasure and pain and they both should be in equilibrium for happy life. For more information on ugadi click here.

I made Kharjura(Dates) Payasa for Neivedya(offering to God). It is a simple yet very delicious dish which is my hubby’s all time favorite payasa. I am posting this recipe for my best friend Archu who is in Dubai and very soon gonna make me Chikki/Aunty (I want a sweet, lovely niece like you, ok? :) This is for you sweetie with all our good wishes and love. Cant wait to hold little Archie in my arms:)

Kharjura(Date) Payasa

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Kharjura(Date) Payasa
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins
Serves: 2-4

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Ingredients:
1 cup Dates, deseeded
1 cup Coconut Milk, freshly sqeezed
1 cup Water
½ - ¾ cup Jaggery (Adjust acc to taste)
¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
Few Cashew Nuts, fried to golden in Ghee

Kharjura(Date) Payasa

Method:

Chop dates into small bite size pieces and cook them in ½ glass of water till they become soft. It usually takes 8-10 minutes in medium flame.
Drain the remaining water and keep it aside.
Cool these cooked dates before grinding them to rough, coarse paste without adding any water.
Take ½ cup of water in heavy bottomed pan and add this date mixture to it.
To this add thin coconut milk, jaggery and keep stirring in medium heat.
When it starts boiling add cardamom powder and cashew nuts and cook further for 2-3 minutes.
Serve it hot or chilled and enjoy.

Kharjura(Date) Payasa

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Did You Know?
Date, name for a palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and for its edible fruit.
Probably native to Arabia and North Africa, it has from earliest times been a principal food in many desert and tropical regions.
For some 4,000 years it has been grown near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It is cultivated in many other warm regions, including parts of the SW United States and Mexico.
The trees sometimes reach a height of 100 ft (30.5 m) and yield fruit for generations.
taminate (male) and pistillate (female) flowers are borne on separate trees, and pollination of those grown commercially is usually done by hand.
In the Old World, a sugar and a fermented drink are made from the sap of the date palm and other species of Phoenix, and the seeds are sometimes roasted and used as a coffee substitute or pressed for oil, leaving a residue useful for stock feed.
The wood of the trunk is often used in construction and the leaves are used for weaving mats and baskets.
Dates are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, order Arecales, family Palmae. (Source:www.factmonster.com)

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