Kulcha chana with a twist

Kulcha - chana is a favorite of my husband . For me it was a new concept becuase I had never lived in Punjab till the time I got married. Apparently it is a very popular way of eating Kabuli Chana or Chola there. Now that I know more about it , I am not surprised that it is a popular combination. The ease of preparing this complete meal alongwith the flexibility of making it as spicy or bland as per individual's preference definitely make it popular with me ;-) .

Kulcha - chana is nothing but a spicy and tangy mix of chole or chickpeas with onions, tomatoes, green chillies stuffed in flat bread known as Kulcha.

As I told you all already, my mother-in-law has been living with us for about 3 months now and so I have been treated to delicious Punjabi dishes all this time . One fine day we decided to have Kulcha chana, the chana part was easy to take care of , but where do we get the Kulchas in a foreign land . That is where the "twist" came in ....we decided to replace the Kulcha with plain buns traditionally used for burgers . Since the buns absorb the juices in the chole we added a little more liquid to it than we would have if we had been using the Kulchas. The result was a filling and satisfying meal which left us wanting for more :-)


Ingredients -
Chickpeas/ chole / kabuli chana - 1 cup ( soaked overnight and then boiled in salted water till soft)
Red onion - 1 large (finely chopped)
Tomato - 1 large (finely chopped)
Green chilli - 2-3 as per taste ( finely chopped)
Lime juice - 2 tsp (as per taste)
Tamarind pulp - 2 tsp
Black salt - as per taste
Salt - as per taste
Coriander leaves - a handful , chopped finely
Red chili powder - as per taste
Buns - 4

Cut the buns halfway through horizontally .
Mix all the ingredients together and keep aside . The fill them into the buns with the help of a spoon. Spoon a little liquid ( which gathers at the bottom of the vessel) over the chola mix and then press the buns to close them.


Serve immediately !! :)

P.S. : The chickpeas with the onions, tomatoes, etc make a lovely salad also which can be served chilled also :-) . In fact in my house , we had been having it as a salad all these years only.


This is my entry fro JFI -Chickpea being hosted by Sometime Foodie . JFI was a brainchild of Indira of Mahanandi blog.



This is also my second entry to Srivalli's My Legume Love Affair-7th helping.My Legume Love Affair was started by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

This also goes to SWC- Salads under 15 minutes being hosted by my dear friend LG of Cooking station

Healthy carrot salad

Okie ...let me start off with a confession ......I was supposed to post this one way back as an entry for RCI-Karnataka ....its actually my take on the traditional Kosumbari...my friend and blogging guide Lakshmi di of Taste of Mysore was kind enough to tell me this recipe so that I could also participate in this event hosted by Ashaji .... But even though I had done all the preparatory work , the salad was made , photos taken somehow I never got around to posting it ... and this has continued for more than a month . I guess it was some kind of a phase going on.

Well Lakshmi di is now back from her India trip and I got the gentle nudge from her for missing all the deadlines :-) ......this combined with reduced work load and hubby's absence due to an official trip has got me back to the computer jotting down this post.


I have changed a few things in the original recipe ....for starters I have used sprouted moong dal , mainly because I am a firm believer of the health benefits of sprouts and also because it adds a nice lush green color ....this when combined with the bright carrot red and white of the coconut makes this salad such a visual treat .... and isn't it true that food should appeal to all our senses of vision, smell, touch and taste. Also I added chopped green chillies instead of chili paste
mainly because I was too lazy to make a paste.

I made the salad as follows -


INGREDIENTS -

Whole green moong dal - 1/2 cup ( soaked overnight and then left to sprout in a wet cloth for the whole day - would give more than 1 cup of sprouts )
Carrot - 1 cup ( roughly grated )

Coconut - 1/2 cup ( roughly grated)

Lime - 1

Green chillies - 1-2 ( depending on how hot u want the salad to be ..the original recipe needed green chili paste ..but I was too lazy to make a paste and i just chopped them finely )

Salt - As per taste

Black pepper powder - as per taste

Chopped Coriander leaves - 2 -3 t sp. ( for garnishing)

METHOD -

Wash the sprouts under running water so that there is no smell in them ( that happens if you keep the sprouts in a closed box for sometime , because of the carbon di oxide which the sprouts produce) . Mix all the ingredients in a salad bowl. Add lime juice , salt ,pepper powder and toss the salad well . Set in the refrigerator for 15 minutes , it serves better when it is cold.

Serves : 2 people

Cooling Watermelon,Pineapple & Feta cheese salad

Watermelon is the fruit of summer.....and what do we all look for in the sultry heat ...something cooling !!
Well when I saw that the "Fruit of the month" was my favorite watermeon I was delighted . A little search over the net revealed a number of ways of utilizing this beautiful and gorgeous fruit for making lovely and tasty dishes.

Salads are a favorites in the summers ..so here's a colorful , cooling and gorgeous looking salad using this fruit . The firm texture of the pineapple wonderfully complements the watermelon and the feta cheese brings just the right amount of surprise element into the salad.

Ingredients :-

Watermelon - cubed - 1-2 cups
Pineapple - cubed - 1-2 cups (same quantity as watermelon)
Red onion - finely chopped - 2 tbsp.
Feta cheese - crumbled or diced - 3 tbsp.
Mint- finely chopped - 1-2 tbsp.
Freshly squeezed lemon juice - 2-3 tbsp.
Freshly crushed/ground black pepper - as per taste
Salt - as per taste

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and toss well .Refrigerate for 1/2 - 1 hour before serving. Add salt just before serving and toss well. Adding salt earlier will lead to a soggy and watery salad which we donot want. So go ahead and happy tossing :-)

This is my entry for A Fruit A Month (AFAM) - July I hope it is accepted :-)