Hello friends,

When it finally starts raining after a scorching hot summer season and drop in temperature gives you goosebumps and chills, all you want (if you are like most Indians) is to have a cup of steaming hot tea and some crispy fried snack. While there are several options here that suit the occasion like Jodhpuri Pyaaz/Onion Kachori, Poha Cutlet or Indori Patties but you definitely want to keep trying different thing every other time. So to add one more option in your list of your “rainy-day” recipes, today I present a very popular, super tasty and crunchy Chai-time snack – “Moong Daal Vada” a.k.a. “Mongode” or “Moong Bhajji”. The recipe is pretty easy but the result is very satisfying. So, next time when you extend your hand out of your balcony to feel the rain-drops on your palm, try this delicious “Moongode” to give the monsoon a warm hot and crispy welcome!!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups- Whole moong daal (khadi moong daal)  Note:- This moong daal is overnight soaked and washed.
• 7 to 8- Garlic Cloves (Lehsun) (optional)
• 1 inch- Ginger (Adrak)
• 1 to 2- Green chilies ( Hari mirch)
• 1½ tablespoons- Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 1½ tablespoons- Rice flour (Chawal ka aata)
• ½ teaspoon- Asafoetida (Hing)
• ¼ cup- Chopped onion (Barik kati hui pyaaz) (optional)
• Salt (as required)
• Oil for frying

Method:

• Take ½ cup whole moong daal in grinder, ginger root, garlic cloves, green chilies, ½ table spoon cumin seeds, salt and 1 or 2 table spoon water (don’t take too much water). Grind it into a fine paste. Take out this paste in a big bowl.
• Now take all the remaining whole moong in the grinder and grind it coarsely (You can take a little amount of water if required).
• Now take out coarsely grinded moong into the same bowl, mix it with the previous paste to make a batter. Now add rice flour, remaining cumin seeds, chopped onion and asafoetida into the batter (At this stage you can add more salt if required). Mix everything well..
• Heat oil in a kadhai/deep pan on high flame, take small portions of the moong daal batter with your fingers and drop vadas into hot oil (you can use spoon as well for dropping batter). Slow down the flame and let them fry on low flame for 2 to 3 minutes (this will help vadas to cook from inside) now put flame on high till the vadas are brown in color.
• Take out these deep fried vadas in a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Repeat the above process with remaining batter to make vadas.
• Serve hot with tea and green chutney/ garlic chutney/ sweet and sour chutney.

Hello friends,

Kadhi is a very common dish in every Indian household. There are different variations of Kadhi that are more popular in certain parts of the country. I posted one such variety “Sindhi Kadhi” in past and received great feedback. Today, I am going to present “Kadhi-Pakoda” which is another variation of Kadhi and is more common in the northern  region and in the eastern region it is popular with the name of “Kadhi-Bari”. Adding pakora in the kadhi multiplies the fun. The core ingredients of making Kadhi are besan and curd/yogurt and the engrossing fact is that there is no besan in this kadhi instead of that I’ve used chana dal for making both kadhi and pakoras which enhances taste. Daal gives pakoras a very soft and melt in mouth texture and I used appe pan for making pakoras without deep-frying which reduces the calories. Let me know how it comes out in the comment section. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup- Soaked Bengal gram lentil (Chana daal)

Note: Soak daal for at-least 2 hours

• 4 to 5- Garlic cloves (Lehsun) (optional)
• 1 to 2- Green chilies (Hari mirch)
• 1 teaspoon- Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 1 ½ teaspoon- Mustard seeds (Rai)
• ½ teaspoon- Fenugreek seeds (Methi dana)
• 1 to 2- Whole red chili dry (Khadi laal mirch sukhi)
• ½ cup- Plain yogurt/curd (Dahi)
• Turmeric powder (Haldi powder)
• Red chili powder (Laal mirch powder)
• Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
• Asafoetida (Hing)
• ¼ cup- length wise sliced onion (Lambi kati hui pyaaz) (optional)
• Salt (as required)
• Oil

Method:

• Take chana daal in grinder, garlic cloves, green chilies, salt and 1 or 2 table spoon water. Grind it into a fine paste.
• Divide the paste into two parts. Take one part of daal paste in a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, 1 teaspoon red chili powder, a pinch of asafoetida and 1 teaspoon salt (or as required). Mix spices with paste, now heat an appe pan and brush it with some oil. Put the paste in appe mold to make pakora. Check after few minutes if the pakoras are cooked from one side then flip them and cook it from the other side. Now take them out in a plate and keep it aside.

Note: I’ve used appe pan to make pakoras to make it healthier/ less oily but you can also deep fry them as regular pakoras if you don’t have appe pan.

• Take another part in a big bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of turmeric powder, asafoetida and yogurt/curd. Mix everything with a whisk and add 4 to 5 cups of water. (consistency should be watery as shown in picture)
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil a deep pan. Add whole red chili and splutter fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds and mustard seeds in hot oil. Now add sliced onion sauté it for 2 to 3 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons red chili powder, 4 teaspoons coriander powder and 2 teaspoons salt (or as required) and now mix spices with onions. Slow down the flame and slowly add daal and yogurt mix in the pan and keep stirring to avoid forming lumps.
• Cook kadhi on medium flame for 5 minutes and now cover the pan with lid and let it cook on low flame for at least 20 minutes.
• Now add pakoras which we have made earlier to the kadhi, stir it and cook it covered for few more minutes.
• Heat a tablespoon of heat in a tadka pan, now add whole red chili dry, 1 teaspoon red chili powder and 1 teaspoon coriander powder and turn off the flame. Put this tadka over kadhi.
• Serve hot with rice or chapati.

Hello friends,

Hope you are doing well and waiting to get through the ‘Covid-19’ pandemic. While most of us are locked in our homes due to social distancing guidelines and majority of shops/restaurants are closed, lot of people are trying get rid of boredom in various ways like creating videos, singing, dancing etc. Out of these the most common trend has been to cook something interesting and posting pictures of their dishes on social media. As the lock-down dates are being revised multiple times, it’s quite likely that you may need newer ideas to cook something different to avoid repetition. With the same thing in mind, I am presenting “Broccoli Paratha” an uncommon type of paratha which is both delicious and full of nutrition. While broccoli is full of goodness, paneer is great in taste. The combination of these two, added with the savory mix of spices makes it a complete food and can be enjoyed with just pickle, chutney or raita. The recipe is fairly easy but the outcome is highly satisfying. Try this Broccoli Paratha and your lock-down experience will be a bit less painful. Let me know your experience in the comments section.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup- Shredded or grated broccoli (Barik kati hui broccoli)
• ½ cup- Grated cottage cheese (Kisa hua paneer)
• 1½ cups- Multi grain Flour/ Wheat flour (Whichever preferred or available)
• ½ inch- Grated ginger (kisa hua adrak)
• 2 teaspoons- Red chili powder (Lal mirch powder)
• 2 teaspoons- Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
• 2 teaspoons- Cumin powder (Jeera powder)
• 2 teaspoons- Dry mango powder (Amchoor powder)
• ½ teaspoon- Asafoetida (Hing)
• Salt (as per taste)
• Olive oil/ Refined oil for roasting parathas

Method:

• Take flour, 1½ tablespoons oil and salt as required in a big bowl and mix. Now add water in portions and knead it into a soft dough. Cover the dough and keep it aside.
• For making the filling, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and splutter cumin seeds, add grated ginger, turmeric powder, asafoetida and roast for a while. Now add shredded broccoli, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, dry mango powder and salt as per taste. Mix everything and roast for another 2 to 3 minutes on medium flame. Switch off the flame and add grated paneer, give it a mix and let it cool for some time.
• Make small-medium balls of the dough and take one ball, dust with dry flour, gradually press the rolling pin on all sides of the ball and make 3 to 4 inch circle, now put a spoon
  full of filling in the center of the circle. Seal the edges of the dough, softly press with fingers and roll it in a circle with help of rolling pin. Be very careful to apply
  pressure evenly.
• Heat a pan/ tawa on a medium high flame. Transfer your parantha on a hot pan and flip it when you see bubbles.
• Brush both the sides of parantha with little oil and roast on a medium-high flame until brown spots appear on both the sides.
• Serve hot with raita/chutney/ketchup/curd or pickle (as per your choice).

Pyaaz kachori finds its roots in Jodhpur city of Rajasthan state (India). This is a very popular snack and available in many Rajasthani snack/food joints in India. Steaming hot spicy Pyaaz Kachori, with rounded shape is a burst of flavors. Usually these joints serve these kachoris with khatti-meethi (sweet-sour) chatneys but I am adding a twist and serving them as ”Pyaaz Kachori Chaat”. So go ahead and give your chaat craving taste buds another reason to be delighted. The best thing is that the Ingredients used in the recipe are commonly available in every Indian kitchen and doesn’t need any preparations in advance.

Ingredients:

Ingredients for Dough:

• 1-1/2 Cups- All-purpose flour (Maida)
• 2 tablespoons- Clarified butter (Ghee) or Oil
• 2 teaspoons- Carom seeds (Ajwain)
• 1 teaspoon-Salt or as per taste

Ingredients for Filling and Frying:

• 1 Cup- Chopped onion (kate hue pyaaz)
• 2 tablespoons- Gram flour (Besan)
• 1- Boiled potato small (Ubla hua aalo)
• 2 to 3 – Finely chopped Green chilli (Barik kati hui hari Mirch)
• 2 teaspoons- Ginger paste (Adrak ka paste)
• 1 tablespoon- Fennel seeds (Saunf)
• ½ tablespoon- Coriander seeds (Khada Dhaniya)
• 1 tablespoon- Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 1 teaspoon- Red Chili powder (Lal Mirch powder)
• 1 teaspoon- Turmeric powder (Haldi powder)
• 1 teaspoon- Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
• 2 teaspoons- Dry Mango Powder (Amchoor powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon – Asafoetida (Hing)
• 1 to 2 tea spoons- Sugar (Shakkar)
• ¼ cup- Finely chopped coriander (Barik Kata hua Hara dhaniya)
• Salt as per taste
• Oil for filling and frying.

Ingredients for garnishing:

• 2 tablespoons- yogurt/ Curd (Dahi )
• 2 teaspoons- sugar (Shakkar)
• 1/4 cup- water (Pani)
• Tamarind and date chutney
• Mint-coriander chutney
• Chat Masala
• Nylon sev

Method:

The entire cooking process for Pyaaz Kachori, is divided into following four steps:

1. Dough Preparation:

• Take all-purpose flour, Carom seeds (crushed between palms) and salt (½ teaspoon or as per your taste) in a bowl and mix well.
• Now add ghee in flour and mix with your fingertips until you get crumbling texture.
• Add water in parts and knead a soft dough.
• Let the dough rest while covered for at least 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Filling Preparation:

• Heat a pan and dry roast Cumin seeds, Coriander seeds and fennel seeds . Once roasted, coarsely grind in a grinder and keep the spice mix aside.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Add spice mix, asafoetida, ginger paste, chopped green chilies. Roast everything for a minute.
• Add chopped onion and salt in masala mix. Give it a good mix and cook it for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Now add coriander powder, turmeric powder and red chili powder. Mix everything and cook for another minute.
• Now add gram flour, mash boiled potato and sugar in the filling mixture for 2 more minutes, add dry mango powder and sprinkle chopped Coriander, mix and keep it aside to let it cool down.

3. Stuffing and Frying:

• Smooth the dough and divide it into equally small sized balls.
• Take a ball and flatten with your fingertips or roll it into a shape of “Poori” with the help of rolling pin. Keep the edges thin.
• Now place the small amount (approximately a tablespoon or according to the size of your Poori) of stuffing mixture on the flattened dough. Bring the edges of the dough together and join it (Remove or pinch off the excess dough). Press the stuffed Kachori gently with the help of palms.
• Make all the Kachoris as the process mentioned in the previous step. Keep Kachoris covered to avoid getting cracks from being dried.
• Heat oil in a deep pan/Kadhaai for frying. Keep the heat on low. When the oil is hot enough for frying (to check whether the oil is perfectly hot, first drop a pinch of dough).
• Carefully slide the Kachoris one by one into the frying pan. Once the Kachoris start puffing and the color changes to slightly golden from the one side then gently flip them over.
• Fry the Kachoris until they become golden and crispy from both sides. Turn them often and regulate temperature from low to low-medium as required to get even color and crispy texture.
• Take out Kachoris on kitchen towel/absorbent paper to remove excess oil.
• Fry all Kachoris as per the process explained above.

4. Garnishing & Serving:

• Take yogurt in a bowl add 1 to 2 tea spoons of sugar and water. Mix it with the help of whisk into a smooth batter like consistency.
• Take a serving plate/bowl, crack the top of the kachori , now top it with yogurt, tamarind-date chutney, mint-coriander chutney and sev. Sprinkle some chat masala over it and serve hot.

Note: You can also enjoy these Kachoris without toppings as a tea-time snack.

Here is a an easy recipe for a home-made source cream dip to serve along with nachos/chips. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup- Sour cream
• ½ tea spoon- Garlic powder ( lehsun powder)
• 1 tea spoon-Oregano/Italian seasoning
• ½ tea spoon- Black pepper powder (Kali mirch powder)
• Chili flakes to sprinkle (optional)
• Salt (as needed)
• ¼ cup- finely chopped onion (barik kati hui pyaaz)
• ¼ cup- finely chopped capsicums/bell peppers (barik kati hui shimla mirch)

Note: I’ve used red, yellow and green bell peppers to give it some colors, you can use whatever is available.

Method:

• Take a bowl and add sour cream, chopped bell peppers/capsicums, chopped onions, garlic powder, oregano, black pepper powder and salt.
• Mix everything uniformly with the help of a spoon.
• Keep it in a refrigerator for at least an hour before serving. Refrigeration will help spices to blend with each other perfectly and it will become more flavorful.
• Sprinkle some chili flakes (optional) and serve cold with Nachos or chips.
• This Sour cream dip can be kept refrigerated in an air tight container for up-to a week or so.

Note: Please don’t keep Sour cream dips at room temperature for more than 2 hours or else it will release water and become watery. If you’re making this dip for a picnic, outdoor get-together or potlucks, you can carry this in an ice cooler and putting ice cubes under serving bowl will help it to stay creamy and stiff for longer time.

Hi Friends,

Hope you enjoyed my last blog post about Quinoa Khichdi in our series of healthy recipes. Today, I am going to share another healthy recipe – “Lehsuni Palak Dalia (Garlicky Spinach Porridge)”. Dalia is traditionally used as light yet nutritious meal or for people who are not feeling well and need easily digestible food. While it is healthy in many ways but the taste of traditional recipes don’t do a great job at making it a very desirable food option for many. Today’s recipe Lehsuni Palak Dalia, overcomes this limitation by combining rich fibers of Dalia with the “greeny-goodness” of spinach (Palak) in this delicious dish. The garlic flavor makes it even more interesting. This is a one-pot meal which is easy to make and requires very common ingredients. I used Instant-Pot for the simplicity but you can make it in a standard pressure cooker as well.

Lastly, whether you like Dalia or not you must give this one a try anyway. If you did not like Dalia before you will start liking it and if you liked the traditional recipe then you will start loving it much more.

Ingredients:

• ½ Cup- Broken wheat/ porridge (Gehun ka Dalia)
• ½ Cup- Petite yellow split lentil (Dhuli Moong dal)
• 2- Half slit green chilies (Lambi kati hui hari mirchi)
• 2 cups- Chopped Spinach (Kati hui Palak)
• 10 to 12- Finely chopped garlic cloves (Barik kati hui lehsun)
• 1-½ tea spoons- Red chili powder ( Lal mirch powder) (Optional)
• 1 to 2 tea spoons- Turmeric powder (Haldi)
• 2 tea spoons- Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
• 1-½ tea spoon- Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• Salt (as per taste)
• 1 tea spoon- Mustard seeds (Raai)
• 1 pinch- Asafoetida (Heeng) (Optional)
• 2 table spoons- Clarified Butter (Ghee)

Method:

• Take instant pot and turn on sauté button, wait till it turns hot (heat pressure cooker) and add ghee. Now splutter mustard seeds and cumin seeds in hot ghee.
• Add chopped garlic and green chilies, sauté for a while. Now add turmeric powder, afafoetida, coriander powder and red chili powder (Optional).
• Now add chopped spinach and mix it well.
• Now add washed moong daal and salt (as per taste), mix all the ingredients for a while. Add 2-½ or 3 cups (according to the consistency of porridge you like) of water and give it a mix.
• Turn off sauté button, close the lid and turn the venting knob to sealing position. Turn on rice mode on low i.e. 8 mins. (Close the lid of the pressure cooker and give 3-4 whistles). Wait till the pressure releases.
• Serve hot with ghee on top along with papad (cracker), achaar (pickle), dahi (plain yogurt/ curd) or raita.

Hello Friends,

Welcome again!!

As a foodie, I believe eating a good meal is important for one’s overall well being and that’s why I keep exploring and sharing interesting recipes.  However, a great meal needs a great dessert to have a satisfying finishing. Therefore, I also keep trying different desserts from time-to-time such as Mango flavored Shrikhand (Amrakhand) and Paan Laddoo (Betel Leaf Laddoo) to name a few. Today’s recipe “Mango Mousse” is another such novelty. This is quick and easy to make dessert will delight your taste buds with its ultra-soft texture along with its heavenly mango flavor after you are done with your main course. Its mild sweetness will avoid you getting bored after first scoop and keep you indulged until the last due to its quickly melting in mouth deliciousness. this recipe is eggless and gelatin free, which All my friends and family loved it and I am sure you will like it too. Let me know your feedback in the comments.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup- Mango purée (store bought)
• 1 big tub (16Oz)- whipped cream/ Cool whip ( store bought)
• 2 table spoon- Mango purée for garnishing (optional)
• 1 table spoon- Pistachios to garnish (optional)

Note:- You can make mango purée and whipped cream at home as well. That I’ll will explain you in the last section of the recipe.

Preparation:

• Take a big mixing bowl and keep in deep freezer for at-least 20 minutes.

Method:

• Take an another big bowl and add ice to it, now put the cold mixing bowl over the ice.
• Take whipped cream in the bowl and add 1/4 cup of mango purée , fold purée with whipped cream softly with the help of spatula . One folded properly, add another 1/4 cup of purée and fold it again. Repeat the process for another 1/2 cup of mango purée in two parts.
• Scoop into serving glasses, garnish with mango purée and sprinkle some chopped pistachios.
• Cover the glasses with plastic cling (plastic wrap) and keep them in freezer for 2 to 3 hours. Later store in refrigerator. Serve cold.

Note:-

You can make mango purée and whipped cream at home as well. Methods mentioned below:

Mango purée- Peel a mango cut it into the small pieces, add mango pieces with 1 table spoon of water and some sugar according to the sweetness of mango in a grinder, make a fine paste. Strain it with the help of strainer to avoid lumps. Hot a pan and cook the paste for 4-5 minutes to reduce excess water. Keep it aside to cool down. You can store in the airtight container and keep it refrigerated. ( cooking the mango paste will help to keep it for longer)

Whipped cream- Take 1 cup of heavy whipping cream in the chilled bowl (follow the above mentioned process) and 2-3 powdered/ confectionery sugar. Whisk it with the help of hand mixer till it forms soft peeks. Keep it refrigerated.

Indian cuisine is famous for it’s delicious curries with exotic spices. Specially, Paneer entrées are the very popular among most people. There are so many different varieties of paneer dishes and each one has its own unique taste. Though Paneer is supposedly a north-Indian speciality however its fan base is almost global. I have posted couple of paneer recipes in past like Ghee Roast Tangy Paneer and Lehsuni Palak-Paneer and received great feedback. Today’s recipe “Matar Paneer” is another fantastic option for paneer lovers. The special gravy of this recipe will give this dish look and taste exactly like restaurants while still retaining goodness and purity of homemade food. So go ahead and try your hands on this paneer-rich recipe. As always, let me know your feedback in the comments.

Ingredients:

• 250 gm- Diced cottage cheese (chote kate huye paneer)
• 1 cup- Green peas (Matar)
• 2 to 3- Green chilis split in two halves (Hari mirchi beech se do hisse mai kati huyi)
• 6 to 8- Finely chopped garlic cloves (barik kati hui Lehsun)
• 1 inch- Finely chopped ginger (barik kati hui Adrak)
• 1 cup- Finely chopped onion (Barik Kati hui Pyaz)
• ⅔ cup- Tomato purée (Tamatar ka paste)
• 1 to 2 – Dry red chilli whole (Sukhi Lal Mirch Khadi)
• 1 – Bay leaf (Tez patta)
• 2 tea spoons- Kashmiri red chilli powder (Kashmir laal mirch powder)
• 2 to 3 tea spoons- Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
• 3 to 4 tea spoons- Kitchen king masala
• 1 tea spoon- Garam masala
• 1 tea spoon- Turmeric powder (Haldi Powder)
• 2 tea spoons- Kasoori Methi
• 1½  table spoons- Cashew nuts (Kaju)
•  ¼ cup- Milk
• 1 table spoon- Heavy Cream (Malai)
• 4-5 table spoons- Mustard Oil (Sarson ka tel) or any oil of your choice
• Salt as per taste
• Finely chopped coriander for garnishing

Method:

• • Let’s start with our especial paste which will make this curry exactly like restaurant. Put cashews, 3 to 4 pieces of paneer, milk and 2 table spoons water in a grinder and make a fine paste. Keep this paste for later use.
  • Heat a pan and add oil till it’s hot enough for sauté. Add bay leaves, red whole chili and splutter cumin seeds, now add turmeric powder, green chilies, chopped garlic and chopped ginger. Sauté for a while.
  • Add chopped onion and cook till it’s golden brown. Now add coriander powder, kashmiri red chili powder, garam masala, kitchen king masala, salt and mix together. Cook these spices with onion for few minutes till oil separates.
  • Add tomato paste, mix well and again cook for few minutes again till oil releases and its rawness gone, (at this stage you can add 1 or 2 tea spoon of sugar if you like little little sweetness in the curry). Now add our special paste and ¼ cup water and stir. Cover the pan and cook covered for 10-15 mins on low flame till oil separates or comes on the top of the gravy. Stir in between to avoid sticking on bottom.

• 

  • Now add green peas, mix and cook covered for another 3-4 minutes (Note- I have used  frozen green peas if you are using the fresh peas than boil for few minutes and strain water and rinse with fresh water before use). Add kasoori methi (crush with the help of palms before adding). Now add cottage cheese cubes and mix. Cook for a minute.

• 

  • Take out in a serving bowl, garnish with heavy cream and coriander. Serve hot with Poori, Naan, Paratha (any bread) or rice.

Hello Foodies,

Welcome to year 2020!! Hope you had a great-start of the new year and set some meaningful goals for the year. One of the common new year resolution is to focus on improving health and start working-out. While exercising is essential for maintaining good health, it is equally important to eat healthy food to complement your efforts in the gym. To satisfy your hunger after a tiring workout, you need some delicious yet healthy dish to reward yourself. I keep trying to find more such healthy options to give my family a healthier diet. Some of the healthy recipes that I posted before on my blog are Avocado Paratha and Methi Dana Sabji. You must check these out if you haven’t already done so.

Today’s recipe “Quinoa Khichdi” is another addition to our list of healthy recipes. Quinoa is rich in fiber and protein and can be a great replacement for the grains with high-calories such as white rice. Making it in the form of Khichdi will make it taste better along with adding the goodness of veggies and lentils. People who do like Khichdi but trying to reduce carbs should definitely try this yummy variation. Let us know how you find it in the comments. Thanks.

Ingredients:

• ½ Cup- Quinoa
• ½ Cup- Petite yellow lentil split (Dhuli Moong dal)
• 2- chopped Green chili (Kati hui hari Mirchi)
• 1 – Diced medium sized Potato (Chaukor Kata hua Aloo)
• 1 Cup- Chopped medium sized Onion (Barik kati hui Pyaaz)
• 1 Cup- Chopped vegetables- Beans, Potato, Corn kernels and Peas (Mix vegetables of your choice)
• 1-½ tea spoons- Red Chili powder (Lal Mirch powder)
• 1 tea spoon- Turmeric powder (Haldi)
• 2 tea spoons- Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
• 1-½ tea spoon- Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• Salt (as per taste)
• 1 pinch- Asafoetida (Hing) (Optional)
• 2 table spoons- Clarified Butter (Ghee)

Method:

• Soak Quinoa for 15-20 mins, rinse with running water for 2-3 times before use.
• Take instant pot and turn on sauté button, wait till it turns hot (heat pressure cooker) and add ghee. Now Splutter cumin seeds in hot ghee and add turmeric powder.
• Add onions and green chilies, sauté for a minute. Now add chopped vegetables and mix. Add salt, red chili powder and coriander powder, mix everything.
• Now add soaked and washed quinoa and washed moong dal, mix all the ingredients for a while. Add 2-½ or3 cups (according to the consistency of khichdi you like) of water and give it a mix.
• Turn off sauté button, close the lid and turn the venting knob to sealing position. Turn on rice mode on medium i.e. 12 mins. (Close the lid of the pressure cooker and give 3-4 whistles). Wait till the pressure release.
• Serve hot with ghee on top, and along with Papad (cracker), Achaar (pickle) and Dahi (plain yogurt/ curd)

“Indori Patties” is a super delicious and a unique street food from Indore (M.P.) which is known for its richness in food and snack varieties. This dish is so rare that if you are not from Indore or haven’t visited it ever then there is good chance that you haven’t even heard of this dish. Don’t confuse this patties with the usual veg-puffs which are available in most places and called patties because “Indori Patties” is completely different in the way it looks, is made and tastes. If you want to surprise your family and friends with an uncommon but awesome dish, “Indore Patties” could be your to-go recipe. I am sure you would like to add this in your cookbook. Good luck and happy cooking!!

Ingredients:

• 2 – Medium sized boiled Potatoes (Ubale huye Aloo)
• 1 table spoon – Corn flour (Makke ka atta) / all-purpose flour (Maida)
• 1 – Slice of bread
• 3 table spoons – Grated dry coconut/ desiccated coconut powder (Khopre ka Boora)
• 1 table spoon – Roasted peanut powder (Bhuni huyi Moongfali ka powder)
• 1 tea spoon – Ginger and green chilli paste (Adrak aur hari Mirch ka paste)
• 2 tea spoons- Lemon juice (Nimboo ka ras)
• ½ tea spoons- Red chilli powder (Lal Mirch powder)
• 1 table spoon- Chopped Raisins (Barik kati hui kishmish)
• 1 table spoon- Chopped Cashew nuts (Barik kate hue Kaju)
• Salt (as per taste)
• Oil for frying

Method:

The entire cooking process, is divided into following three steps:

1. Patties Dough:

• Take boiled potatoes, remove the skin and mash/grate finely.
• Add corn flour, crumbled bread slice and salt (as per taste) into mashed potatoes and knead into a smooth dough.

Note: You can use 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs instead of slice of bread if your boiled potatoes are too sticky.

2. Patties Filling:

• Take dry coconut powder in a bowl and add lemon juice, ginger green chilli paste, peanut powder, red chilli powder, cashew nuts, raisins and salt into it and mix all ingredients well.

3. Stuffing and Frying Patties:

• Now take small ball of potato dough, flatten it softly with your fingertips.
• Place coconut mixture in it and enclose all sides and make round ball out of it.
• Repeat this process with remaining mixture.
• Heat oil in a frying pan/kadhaai. Deep fry these balls in batches on low-medium heat until they become golden brown evenly.
• Take out these balls on an absorbent paper/kitchen towel to remove excess oil and serve hot with date-tamarind chutney and green chutney.