Ragda Patties

Different varieties of chaats are available all over India.Chaat is a savory snack that contain four flavors like sour, sweet, spicy and tangy in one plate, which is loved by all.

In my family these chaats have a special place.In India, when we used to roam around, we used to have unlimited pani puri. I ended up having 20- 25 in one go and my daughter’s was the record. She likes these chaats a lot and will eat how much ever is possible.

Today I made ragda patties, which I tasted once and loved the flavors and texture that got blended well with each other.

In this ragda patties the potato patties are topped with dried green peas gravy along with sweet chutney, green chutney , curd, onions and sev. Here I didn’t use green chutney, as my husband is not a big fan of coriander leaves.

In Kerala, chaats are not so famous. They have their own delicacies. Now a days this chaat business is growing up slowly. As I grew up in Andhra, I love all different varieties of food and so chaat is one of them.

After coming here I have started preparing these different variety of chaats at home and enjoying a flavorful, healthy savory. The process of preparing this ragda patties look time consuming, but if you have all the ingredients handy then it is very simple and easy to make.Just try this out and you will come to know how easy it is to prepare them at home.

Ingredients for the Patties:

1. Boiled Potatoes- 3 nos
2. Corn Flour- 3- 4 tbsp
3. Salt- as required
4. Red Chilli Powder- 1 tbsp
5. Oil- for frying

Method for Potato patties:

1. Mash the boiled potatoes, add the corn flour and salt. Mix well. If the mixture looks loose, add little more corn flour and mix.
2. Make medium sized balls, flatten them into round patties. Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a skillet for shallow frying and fry the above made potato patties till it becomes golden brown in colour and crisp. Remove on a kitchen towel.

Ingredients for Ragda:

1. Dried green Peas- 1 cup
2. Salt- as required
3. Red Chilli Powder- 1 tbsp
4. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
5. Asafoetida- a pinch

Method for Ragda:

1. Soak the dried green peas overnight, drain and cook  this dried peas along with turmeric powder, red chilli powder and required amount of salt in a pressure cooker along with water.
2. After about 10- 15 minutes switch off the cooker and open the lid when the pressure falls.
3. The ragda should not be very thick or too watery. Keep this aside.

Sweet Chaat Chutney/ Tamarind Date Chutney:

1. Tamarind- 2 big lemon size
2. Dates- ¼ Cup
3. Jaggery- ¼ Cup
4. Water- 1 Cup
5. Cumin Powder- ½ tsp
6. Coriander Powder- ½ tsp
7. Salt- a pinch
8. Red Chilli Powder- ½ Cup

Method:

1. Boil tamarind and dates in 1 cup water for about 10 min.
2. Add jaggery, mix and let it thicken a bit.
3. Add all the spice powders and cook for about 2-3 min. Switch off the flame.
4. When it gets cooled grind this mixture to a fine paste and store this tamarind- date chutney in an airtight bowl and store this in refrigerator. Use this when required.

Remaining Ingredients for garnishing Ragda Patties:

1. Onions( finely chopped)- 2 nos
2. Tomatoes( chopped)- 1 no
3. Coriander Leaves( chopped)- ¼ Cup( optional)
4. Curd- 1 Cup (with a little sugar mixed)
5. Sev/ Mixture- 1 Cup
6. Cumin Powder- 1 tbsp
7. Chaat Masala- 1 tbsp
8. Lemon Juice- as required

Method for assembling:

1. In a small bowl place two potato patties. Top it with 2 -3 tbsps of ragdas.

1. Over this add the tamarind- date chutney.

1. Top this with sweet curd then with chopped onions, chopped tomatoes.

1. Sprinkle with cumin powder, chaat masala and a few drops of lemon.
2. Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and end this amazing chaat by sprinkling the sev/ mixture.

Mysore Masala Dosa- a filling tiffin….

When we were in Bangalore, on lazy weekends our breakfast used to be from hotels and mine and my daughter’s preference would be masala dosa and I once had this Mysore masala dosa and that became my favorite.

There is a lot of difference between plain masala dosa and mysore masala dosa. Right from the batter to the filling inside the dosa. I loved the red chilli garlic chutney that is spread on the dosa.

After coming here, it became difficult to get our desired masala dosas, so thought of making this at home and prepared this for a Sunday breakfast. If every ingredients are kept handy, then we can make this within minutes. I prepared the red chili, garlic chutney the day before, boiled the potatoes before hand and on the day of making this dosa, it was easy to prepare.

In this Mysore masala dosa , the dosa will be crisp from outside and soft like sponge texture inside and have a nice golden brown color too. Just try this out and you will love them.

Ingredients:

Dosa Batter:

1. Rice- 3 Cups
2. Urad Dal- ¾ Cups
3. Fenugreek Seeds- 1 tbsp
4. Cooked Rice- ¼ Cup
5. Salt- as required

Red Garlic Chutney:

1. Dried Red chillies- 5 nos
2. Roasted Chana Dal- 1 tbsp
3. Garlic- 7-8 cloves
4. Water- to soak the red chillies
5. Salt- as required

Potato Filling:

1. Boiled Potatoes- 4 nos
2. Chana Dal- 2 tbsp
3. Grated Ginger- 1 tbsp
4. Green Chillies (chopped)- 2 nos
5. Onions (sliced)- 1 no
6. Curry leaves- few
7. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
8. Lemon juice- 1 tbsp
9. Salt- as required

Method:

For making dosa batter:

1. Soak the rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds for about 4-5 hours and grind to a fine, smooth, batter consistency by adding enough water along with cooked rice.
2. Transfer the dosa batter in a large bowl and add salt.Cover this and let this ferment overnight.

For preparing Red garlic chutney:

1. Soak the dried red chillies in warm water for 30 minutes.
2. Along with garlic, add the soaked red chillies, roasted chana dal and grind to a fine paste by adding little water. Adjust salt and keep this aside.

For the Potato Filling:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds. Add the onions,curry leaves, chana dal, Green chillies, ginger and mix well.
2. Add turmeric powder and adjust the salt.
3. Atlast add the boiled and mashed potatoes and lemon juice.
4. Switch off the flame and keep this aside.

Preparing the Mysore Masala Dosa:

1. Heat a griddle and pour one medium sized spoonful of batter. In circular motions, spread the dosa batter from the center to the edges.
2. Sprinkle some oil and cover the dosa so till the base becomes light brown in colour.
3. Spread 1 or 2 tsps of the red chilli, garlic chutney on the dosa. Over this place 2 tbsp of potato filling and spread lightly.
4. Fold into half and serve along with coconut chutney and sambar.

Falafel with Tahini sauce

While I am writing this post, my kiddo is all over me. He crawls here and there, takes out everything, making me busy behind him. Nowadays it take approximately 2- 3 days for me to write a blog post. So please excuse me for the delay.

From sooo long, I was thinking of making this falafel, but due to something or the other I couldn’t try this out. This Ramadan, for iftar snacks I finally got the opportunity to try this out and it tasted amazing.

Falafel is a deep fried middle eastern fried balls or patties. This is a wonderful and amazing evening snack which will be loved by all. These falafels are usually round fried balls but I made them as patties for my little one who loves cutlets a lot.

There are so many places where we get falafels in Bangalore, I tried one of these and loved it. Falafels when eaten along with tahini sauce will be mind blowing. Tahini sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for about 3 months in an airtight container.

Ingredients:

1. Chick peas- 250 gms
2. Onions- 2 nos
3. Green Chillies- 3 nos
4. Coriander leaves- 3- 4 tbsps
5. Garlic- 7-8 cloves
6. Red Chilli Powder- ½ tsp
7. Coriander Powder- 1 tsp
8. Salt- as required
9. Cumin Powder- ½ tsp
10. All Purpose Flour- 1 tbsp
11. Lemon Juice- 1 tbsp
12. Oil- for deep frying

Method:

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight and next day boil these till soft. When cooled, drain and keep this aside.
2. In a blend throw in the onions, green chillies, garlic cloves, coriander leaves, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt and the drained chickpeas. Blend well, till everything gets mixed.
3. Transfer this in a bowl and add the flour, lemon juice. Mix well with hand and make small balls or patties.
4. Heat oil for deep frying and drop these patties in this and fry till both the sides turn golden brown in colour. Drain on kitchen towel.
5. Serve falafel hot along with tahini sauce.

Tahini Sauce:

Ingredients:.

1. Sesame Seeds- 100 gms
2. Olive Oil- 2 tbsp
3. Salt- as required

Method:

1. Dry roast the sesame seeds till they splutter.
2. When it cools down grind this along with olive oil, and salt. Grind for 2 min. Check for consistency. this should be thick. Add more oil till it reaches the desired consistency and serve.

Roasted Eggplant Chutney/ Chutta Vazhuthananga Chammanthi

You might have noticed that in my blog till now I have posted only one eggplant dish as my husband is a big choosy eater of vegetables and this eggplant is a big No No for him. But as I made this chutney, without knowing he tasted it and liked it a lot. Only later he came to know about the eggplant in it :-)

I love this vegetable a lot. In any form I love to eat this. In this recipe, the eggplants are roasted over direct flame till it turns dark and the skin can be peeled off. This dish gives a unique smoky flavor. This chutney tastes superb not just with rice, but along with idly/dosa as well.

Just try this out…

Ingredients:

1. Eggplants- 2 nos
2. Red Chillies- 4-5 nos
3. Shallots- 6-7 nos
4. Salt- as per taste
5. Tamarind- a small piece
6. Coconut oil- 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Roast the eggplants on direct flame and turn the eggplants using tongs so that the skin is charred and blistered uniformly.
2. When the eggplants are cooled, peel the skin and chop into small pieces.
3. Grind all the ingredients (except coconut Oil) along with the chopped eggplant till it turns into paste.
4. Transfer this to a serving bowl and at last add the coconut oil. Serve this along hot steaming rice.