Soyabean Patties / Tikkis

Soya is something which I try to incorporate in my diet as much as possible. When I came to know that for August'08 the JFI is Soya , I started thinking about what to make . This was an opportunity to make something new ...after all I had a valid reason this time :-) .

I usually make Soya crispies ...which I would post someday soon ...but when we invited a few friends over for an evening tea ... I decided to make my version of soya tikki which I had read somewhere while searching for a good recipe . I made these healthy tikkis using very little oil though you can also fry these tikkis. Everyone loved these tikkis and needless to say that they disappeared as soon as I could make them . I would definitely make these more often , I am glad that now I have a new recipe to incorporate healthy soya in our diet.

Ingredients :-
Soya beans - 1 cup ( soaked and boiled)
Potatoes - 2 large ones
Onion - 1 large ( finely chopped)
Green chillies - 2-3 ( as per taste)
Coriander leaves - finely chopped ( 2-3 tb sp)
Red chili powder - 1 t sp ( as per taste)
Garam masala - 1 t sp
Amchoor / dry mango powder - 2 t sp
Turmeric powder - 1 t sp
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 2 tb sp

Soak 1 cup of soya beans over night . Add a little turmeric powder and salt and boil these beans with little water ( I pressure cooked them in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles).
Roughly mash the boiled soya beans , add the peeled and mashed potatoes to it . Add the onion, green chillies,coriander and all the spices , mix them well.

Then form patties / tikkis , shallow fry them in a little oil . Fry till they are golden brown in color.
Serve hot with ketchup or any chutney of your choice.


This is my last minute entry for JFI- Soya hosted by Sia of monsoon spice, I hope she accepts it.

Idlis with a Twist

We love South Indian food .......and Idlis are the most favorite of all .....simple to make, non -fatty .... we all have our reasons for loving these delicate beauties .

The only problem I used to have was that the preparation required before you get to the stage of steaming them ...... what if you wanted to have idlis one fine morning ...and you do not have the batter ready with you ......believe me this can be a BIG problem in a north Indian household like mine......then one fine day I saw my mother-in-law making these beauties without any preparation in advance ......and I had to learn this recipe ...I did learn and now I am sharing the recipe with you all ...

The beauty of this recipe is not only the fact that it is INSTANT ...but also that it allows me to add some nutrition to idlis making them more healthy ...now isn't that a great twist !!!

These idlis are made of rava ( sooji, cream of wheat) and I add a healthy dose of veggies ..all this makes them a perfect healthy breakfast or snack for me .

Rava idlis ( 12)

Sooji/Rava/ Cream of wheat - 1 cup

Curd/yoghurt - 1/2 cup

Baking soda - 1/2 t sp.

Salt - as per taste

Water - as required

Idli stand

For the tadka -

Oil- 1 tb sp

Rai / Mustard seeds - 1 t sp

1 small onion - sliced lengthwise

Green chilli- 1

Carrot - 1/2 roughly grated

Capsicum - 1/4 finely sliced

Salt- as per taste

Red chilli powder - 1/2 t sp

Take the sooji/rava , mix the curd and salt to it to make a paste . Add a little water if required to get the required consistency. Drop 1 tbsp of the mixture on each cup of the idli maker ( ensure that you have smeared some oil on the cups beforehand). Steam the idlis for 8-10 minutes.

Take the stand out and let it cool a little before removing the idlis .

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the oil for the tadka , add the mustard seeds . Heat till they add spluttering, add the onion . Saute for a minute then add the chopped green chilli , then add the carrot . Add the salt and red chilli powder . Let the carrot and onion cook for 2-3 minutes then add the capsicum . When the capsicum is semi cooked , add the idlis ......turn them carefully so that they do not break . Let the idlis fry a little so that the color and flavors are imbibed by the idlis. Cook for 3-4 minutes .

Serve these idlis with coconut chutney or tomato sauce ....or just have them by themselves ...they taste yummy every way.

Its movie time folks.......

Yes !! it is movie time ....after a long time I could get the time to sit and actually watch a complete movie uninterrupted ........ All the activity before and after the India trip ....meant that I missed out on all the movies released in the last couple of months .

Usually we are the first show ( well maybe not the first show ) but definitely the first week audience for any movie that we have decided is worth watching . I am not ashamed to say that movies are our favorite to dos for the weekends ...the whole excitement of rushing to get the tickets ..the smell of popcorn and hot samsoas ...the well dressed crowd ....... movie theatre in Singapore is the 2nd place where I get to see so many Indian faces ...and all that somehow makes me feel a little more close to the country ...

Well since I missed out on the whole lot of pre-diwali and diwali releases ...I decided to catch up by having a show all for myself at ....where else but Home sweet home ......the DVD was set , the lights were dimmed ....the phones switched off ....but wait ..how can we watch a movie without the all important POPCORN.......this time around hubby dear was in his sweet and benevolent mood ....not ignoring the fact that he is the popcorn expert of the home and so he made a whole lot of hot and enticing popcorn for me ...and we happily watched the movie ......but obviously not before I clicked a few photos of the same :-)


Popcorn ( just enough for 2 popcorn loving people )

Dried corn kernels - 1 cup
Butter - 1-2 tb sp.
Salt

Take a heavy bottomed pan ( with a cover) ( I use my irreplaceable pressure cooker) , put it on medium flame . Now add the butter and a little salt ....When the butter starts melting ...add the corn kernels and mix the whole thing nicely.

Keep stirring the mix for a few minutes .....now cover the pan ( ensure that it is partially open ) . Keep the flame medium ...after about 2-3 minutes the corn would start popping . Keep it on the flame till the time the popping continues ....It would take 3-4 minutes . Now switch off the flame and serve the popcorn after tossing it with a little more salt.

Popcorn is ready to be enjoyed....................

Crisp Plantain (raw banana) Fritters

When I saw that bananas have been chosen as the ingredient for JFI last month , as usual my mind started racing , thinking about all the things I knew could be made using bananas .

As I belong to the Northern part of India where Bananas are consumed mainly as a fruit , there were hardly any north Indian dishes I could thing of . But then thanks to my dad's transferable job we have had the opportunity to live in different parts of our amazing country. My mother being a firm believer of the health benefits of having fresh and in season fruits and vegetables , did not hesitate to include the locally available goodies into the menu. She would take the recipes from her friends and then modify them to suit our palettes.


This is one of such recipes . I don't know from where she picked it up ...but it used to be a big hit with us especially on a rainy day . We used to have a number of banana trees in out back yard and I remember my mother picking a fresh plantain and then making these fritters for us.Both me and my brother loved the crisp fritters , with the subtle taste of the plantain enhanced with just salt and chilli.


Nowadays I hardly make any thing which is deep fried , but much to the glee of my husband these blog events give me an incentive to pour oil in my wok and pick up my karchi to fry something....

The recipe goes as follows -


INGREDIENTS -

Plantain/ raw banana - 1

Rice - 1/3 cup ( soaked in water for 2-3 hours)

Turmeric powder - 1/2 t sp

Salt - as per taste

Red chili powder - 1/2 t sp

Salt - as per taste

Oil - for deep frying




METHOD -

Coarsely grind the rice into a paste ( it should be coarse to touch and not a fine paste)

Add the salt, turmeric and red chili powder to this rice paste

Wash the plantain and peel off the peel. Cut diagonally into pieces of medium thickness.

Mix the plantain pieces into the rice paste and cover them with the rice paste well.

Deep fry 4-5 pieces at a time till the plantain is cooked.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup ,coriander chutney , or any other chutney of your choice



These can also be served as a part of lunch or dinner.

Food for little goddesses - Zeere Wala Chana

This dish is made in almost all North Indian households atleast two times in a year at the end of the nine day fasting period called the "Nav Ratra" . Usually this is served to all the young girls who are invited to the house that day . These young girls are believed to be the incarnations of Goddess Durga and are hence treated like that on that day . In my household we make it more than two times simply because we both love this dish .

When I saw Sunita's spice event 'Think Spice Think Cumin' , I thought of a lot of dishes like Zeera rice , Zeera aloo ...but then everyday I saw someone making them , blogging them and sending their entries to Sunita. With each passing day I ran out of options ....and then it struck me that I can make this recipe . But as usual I managed to miss the deadline set by Sunita :-( I seem to be developing an expertise in missing all these deadlines .

Well , though I missed the deadline I still made this dish and here I am sharing it with you all .

Zeere wala Kala Chana / Black chickpeas with Cumin

Black chickpeas/ Kala Chana - 2 cups

Cumin - 1 tsp.

Green chillies - 2-3

Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Dry mango powder - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Asafoetida - a pinch

Oil - 1 tbsp

Soak the black chickpeas overnight and then pressure cook them with 3-4 cups of water. Add a little salt while pressure cooking the chickpeas . Cook till 4-5 whistles.

Once cooked drain the chickpeas and keep them aside .

In a pan heat the oil . Add a pinch of asafoetida to the oil and once you can smell it add the cumin . Then add the chopped green chillies followed by the boiled chickpeas. Stir well so that all the chickpeas are covered with oil . Then add the red chilli powder and coriander powder followed by the salt. Stir well till the chickpea is well fried and all the water has dried . Take the pan off the flame and when a little cool add the dry mango powder and stir well .

Traditionally it is served with pooris and sooji / atta halwa. You can serve it as a side dish with any wet /gravy . It can also be a part of the breakfast or a snack by itself .