Dahi Vada

Has to be my fave summer snack ever!

Ingredients:
Urad dal/split black gram - 100g
Adrak/Ginger - about 1/2 inch
Saunf/Fennel seeds or aniseed - 1 tsp
Dahi/Curd) - 300 gm
Imli/Tamarind syrup(sweetened with molasses or sugar)
Jeera/Cumin, roasted then powdered
Dhania-patta/Coriander leaves(optional)
Hari mirch/Green chillies (optional)
Lal mirch/Red chilli powder(optional)
Salt
Water

Process:

For the vadas(dumplings):

• Take about 100g split black gram seeds(urad dal) and soak overnight in about 250 mL water. It should swell up to over twice the original volume.
  
• Drain off excess water, then grind with a little ginger and fennel/aniseed. Some people add a green chilli, deseeded.
  
• Take the batter and shape it into flattish dumplings onto a damp muslin cloth.
• Heat salad oil for deep frying, and one by one dump the dumplings into the hot oil. Preferably, do not hold the dumplings in hand, but just overturn the cloth over the frying pan.
• Fry the dumplings till golden brown, and immediately soak in warm salt water. You can soak these for upto 24 hours, if you refrigerate once they cool down.

For the tamarind syrup:

• Take some ripe tamarind - 100g should do.
• Squish with water to extract a thick, dark juice.
• Squeeze the seeds and peels to get the maximum out of them, then separate the dry pulp from the juice.
  
• Sweeten to taste, preferably with molasses. Sugar will do too.
  

To serve, lift the dumplings out of the salt water and squeeze out the excess. Pour curd over them, then a generous amount of tamarind chutney, and sprinkle cumin powder on top.
Red chilli powder, chopped coriander leaves and green chillies are optional toppings.

I know this pic(courtesy www.manjulaskitchen.com) looks a bit like vanilla icecream with chocolate sauce. Trust me, it tastes different, but equally good! I really liked Manjula's recipes for Dahi Vada, and if you look up the comments on the post, they explore a number of variations on the recipe.

Cross-posted to my blog.

Oats and Veggie soup

Ingredients

Dry rolled oats: 1.5 cups
Vegetables: 1 cup (finely chopped carrot, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, beans, peas)
Onion: 2 tbsp
Bay leaf: 1
Cinnamon stick: 1 inch
Salt and pepper to taste

Method for preparation:

1. Powder dry oats in a blender and keep aside.
2. Sauté onions in butter in a saucepan.
3. Add vegetables and cook until tender with bay leaf and cinnamon stick.
4. Remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick once the vegetables are cooked.
5. Cook oats to a dosa batter consistency.
6. Add the cooked vegetables into the oats.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Drop a sprig of mint in the middle and a dash of cream while serving.

Healthy and yummy oats and veggie soup is ready.

Pasta in Green Sauce !

Few months back I read this recipe on one of the food blogs and wanted to try it then and there. But then it slipped away from my mind. Yesterday when I was looking to make something different forAryan and I saw spinach in fridge , this clicked to me again. But as usual I could not remember which blog was that and so I had to scratch my tiny brain to remember the best I could.
So I do not know the best way to make this pasta , but it tasted good in whatver way it was made :-)

Ingredients :

Macroni : 1.5 cups
Baby Spinach leaves : 1 cup (I used handful)
Frozen/Boiled Green Peas : 1/2 cup
Onion : 1
Garlic cloves :2-3 grinded ( I used 1/2 tsp garlic paste)
Grated Cheese : 1 cube
Olive Oil / Cooking Oil : 1 tsp
Black pepper : 1 pinch ( I use red chilli powder since hubby is allergic to black pepper)
Salt to taste

Steps :
1. Wash and grind the spinach into a paste
2. Boil and drain macroni.
3. In a pan , add the oil and saute the onion till translucent.
4. Add peas and saute further for sometime.
5. Add the spinach paste and garlic paste and bring to boil.
6. Mix with macroni and cheese.

Trust me it was yummy and three of us gobbled it within minutes.Here is a quick pic :

Apple Raisin Cake

Ingredients

1. 1 cup Flour
2. 1/2 cup Sugar (powdered)
   
3. 2 tsp Baking Powder
4. 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
5. a Pinch of Salt
6. 1/2 cup Milk
7. 1/2 cup Apple, peeled, cored and chopped finely
8. 1/4 cup Oil
9. 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
10. 1/4 cup Raisins
11. 1 Egg, beaten

Steps

1. Sift all the dry ingredients for the cake together and leave aside.
2. Pour in all the liquid ingredients and run the processor for 2 minutes.
   
3. Blend in the apple and raisins.
4. Fold the flour in this mixture.
   
5. Prepare an 8 inch round/square cake tin by spreading some oil/butter.
   
6. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 30 minutes at 180 C.

Personal Notes

1. Brown sugar instead of regular sugar would have given a better look and texture both.
2. I poured few drops of honey on the cake slices and it tasted even more yummier.