Baby Corn Cigars

Baby Corn Cigars are deep fried starters made by blanching them and coating them with a flour and deep fried. They are enjoyed by both kids and elders alike. They taste best with mayo based dips and cheesy dips. 

I enjoy them with tomato ketchup too . 

We Need :

• 10 Baby Corns

• Oil for deep frying

For Coating : 

• 2 Tbsp all purpose flour (Maida ) 

• 2 Tbsp Gram flour ( Besan) 

• 2 Tbsp Semolina

• 2 Tbsp Corn flour

• 1 Tbsp Oregano

• ½ Tsp. Turmeric Powder

• 1 Tbsp Kashmiri Red chilli Powder

• 6 -7 Pods of Garlic

• 2 Green Chillies

• ½ Tsp Black pepper powder

• ⅛ Tsp of Baking soda.

• Juice of half lemon

• 1 Tsp Salt or to taste. 

Here We Go :

1. Take half a litre water in a pan. Add 1 Tsp of salt in it. When the water starts boiling  add baby corn. Keep boiling  for 3 minutes. Switch off the flame and drain them. Keep aside. 

   

2. Grind green chillies and garlic together. 

   

3. In a bowl add gram flour, all purpose flour, cornflour and semolina. Add 100 ml of water and prepare a smooth batter of coating consistency. Add Green chilli and garlic paste. 

   

4. Now add salt, turmeric powder, kashmiri Red Chilli powder, lemon juice, oregano, black pepper powder and Baking soda to the batter. Mix well. 

   

5. Heat oil on medium flame. Coat Baby corn with batter and drop one by one in medium hot oil. Fry till golden brown.

   

6.  Serve hot with any dip or sauce. 

   

TIPS

Don't overboil otherwise they will loose their crispness. 

Batter should be of thick consistency and should not drip while coating 

Bedmi Poori & Rasedaar Aloo ki sabji.

Bedmi poori with aloo ki sabzi is a popular breakfast dish in Uttarpradesh. It is not only famous in agra ,mathura and varanasi but found all over the state as a street food. Ground urad or moong dal is mixed with wheat flour and rawa to form crispy pooris which are then puffed up in hot oil. Aloo ki rasedar sabji is also very basic yet spicy and tasty. The combination of both make an awesome brunch on holidays. Do give it a try. It will tingle your taste buds. 

We Need:

For Bedmi Poori:

• 1½ Cup. Wheat flour

• ½  Cup Rawa ( Sooji) 

• 2 Tbsp Oil

• ½ Cup. Urad Dal

• 1" Ginger

• 2 Green Chillies

• 1 Tsp Red Chilli Powder

• 1 Tsp Dhania Powder

• 1 Tsp Saunf Powder

• 1 Tbsp Kasuri Methi

• Salt 1 Tsp or to taste 

• Oil for frying

For Aloo ki Sabji:

• 6 Boiled Potatoes

• A pinch of Hing

• 1 Tsp Jeera seeds

• 1 Tbsp Dhania powder

• 1 Tsp Kalonji Seeds

• 1 Tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder. 

• 1 Tsp Haldi Powder

• ½ Tsp Red chilli Powder

• 1 Tbsp Kasuri Meethi

• 1 Tsp Amchoor Powder

• 1 Tbsp Gram flour

• ½ Tsp Jaggery. 

• 1 Tbsp Chopped Ginger

• 2 green chillies finely chopped

• 1 Tsp Salt. 

• 2 Tbsp Oil

• Green coriander for Garnishing. 

Here We Go:

1. Soak urad dal overnight or minimum for 3 hours. 

   

2. Drain dal and add it to a Grinder Jar. Also add ginger, green chillies, red chilli powder, Dhania powder, Kasuri methi, saunf and salt to taste. Grind everything coarsely. If you need the necessity of water add 1 to 2 tsp for smooth grinding. 

   

3. Take both suji and wheat flour in a large bowl. Add ground dal and oil/ ghee to it. Knead a stiff dough. Cover it with damp cloth and set aside for half an hour . 

   
   

4. Meanwhile break boiled potatoes into small chunks with your hands. Don't cut the potatoes. Keep aside. 

   

5. Warm 2 Tbsp oil in a pan. Add jeera,hing, Kalonji, saunf, chopped green chilli and chopped ginger. 

   
   

6. Saute a while and add haldi powder, kashmiri lal mirch powder, red chilli powder and dhania powder. Add 1 Tbsp of gram flour / besan. Add a little water and saute these masalas.

   

7.   Add broken boiled potatoes to this and saute for a while. 

   

8. . Add kasuri methi and amchoor. Now add 300 ml of water to make gravy. Add jaggery. Keep the flame on low and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

   

9.  After 10 min when all the masalas are incorporated in the gravy switch off the flame. The rasedar aloo ki sabzi is ready to be served with Bedmi poori. 

   

10. Now Heat the oil for frying the pooris. Divide the poori dough in lemon sized balls. Now roll 3" Disc out of every ball.

    

11.  Roll a little thick disc. To check whether oil is heated or not, drop a little dough in the oil, if it rises on the oil, the oil is hot enough. Now slip a poori in the hot oil. Press it gently till it puffs up. Flip it and fry from the other side till it browns. Fry all the pooris one by one and serve these crispy pooris  with hot aloo ki rasedar sabji. 

    

Tips:

Knead the poori dough tightly. 

Don't use dry flour to roll the pooris, instead use oil to roll them. 

Punjabi Kadhi Pakora

This Punjabi kadhi is the recipe I learnt from my husband's maternal aunt. She was a school teacher in Patiala and whenever she cooked kadhi she had to carry 'dabbas' for all her colleagues. The smoothness of Kadhi and the softness of round pakoras was simply unmatched. She had a little secret of making soft and melting pakoras which I learnt over the years. Today I am going to share that little secret with all of you. Do try it once and I am sure you will love to cook the same way over and over again. 

Kadhi chawal is a favorite Punjabi dish. It is made in every household with or without pakodas. But believe me mouth melting pakadas in creamy kadhi are just heavenly.

This recipe has two parts. First we make pakoras and then we make kadhi separately. After that we mix both and cook for another ten minutes to let Pakoras be soaked in curry and be moist from inside too. So what are we waiting for to let us get started. 

We need:

For  Pakoras:

• 1 Cup Besan ( Gram flour) 

• 1 medium Potato Chopped 

• 1 medium Onion Chopped

• 2 Chillies Chopped

• ½ Tsp Turmeric Powder

• 1 Tsp Red Chilli Powder

• ⅔ Tsp Salt

• 1 Tsp Carom Seeds ( Ajwain) 

• Oil for frying. 

For Kadhi :

• 250 gm Sour Curd. / 1 Litre of Butter Milk ( lassi) either of the two. 

• 3 Tbsp Gram flour ( Besan) 

• 1Tsp Turmeric Powder ( Haldi) 

• 1 Tsp Red Chilli powder

• 1 Tsp Dhania Powder

• 1 Tsp Salt

• 1 Tsp Mustard Seeds

• 1 Tsp Cumin Seeds

• ½ Methi Seeds

• 1 Tbsp Ginger grated

• 2 green chillies chopped

• 1 Tbsp Dried Methi Leaves

• 2 Tbsp Cooking Oil

For Tempering:

• 1 Tbsp Oil

• 1 Tbsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder. 

Here We go:

1. Take Besan in a bowl and add ½ cup of water to it. Start mixing it. Make sure there are no lumps. Beat the batter in circular motion till it is light in colour. It will take 5 min approximately. 

   

2. Mix Haldi powder, salt, red chilli powder and ajwain into it. Add chopped onions, potato and green chilli to it. Mix everything thoroughly. 

   
   

3. Meanwhile heat oil in a kadhai. Here comes the secret to the soft Pakoras. Add 2 Tbsp of hot oil to the Pakora batter. Mix it thoroughly. The batter should be of dropping consistency. 

   

4. Reduce the flame to low and Take a little batter in your finger tips and drop it in oil one by one. Now increase the flame to medium and fry all the Pakoras to a golden brown. Don't brown them. Take them out and keep aside. 

   
   

5. Take a mixer jar and put curd / lassi in it. Add besan and churn it in mixer jar till curd and besan are mixed well and there are no lumps. If using curd then add 1litre of water also. If using lassi add 250 ml of water. Keep aside. 

   

6. Heat oil in a Kadhai. Add jeera, mustard seeds and methi dana to it. When it starts cracking add all the dry Spice powder. Keep the temp at the lowest as to avoid burning the spice powders. 

   
   

7. Immediately at add lassi & besan mixture. Also add grated Ginger and green chilli. Keep stirring for two minutes on medium flame. When it starts boiling turn the flame to low. Let it simmer for 20 minutes. Don't cover the pan otherwise the kadhi will spill over. 

   
   

8. After 20 minutes when the kadhi forms a smooth consistency add Pakoras to it.  Let it simmer for another 5 min on low flame. After 5 min add kasuri methi and remove from flame. 

   

9. Heat desi ghee in a pan. Add Kashmiri chilli powder to it. Put this tempering on kadhi and serve hot with rice, roti and parantha.

   
   
   

Tips :

Add boiling hot oil in Basen to get a soft consistency of pakoras. 

Fry Pakoras on medium heat otherwise they will not get cooked from inside. 

Vermicelli Pulao

This recipe contains fibre from vegetables and carbs from vermicelli. I cook it in Coconut oil with curry leaves added to it. Both the ingredients have health benefits. It is easy to prepare so makes breakfast quickly.  A good option for students and working people who have less time in the morning. You can roast thr vermicelli in advance and keep it in an airtight container. It will be good for 2 to 3 months. 

The vegetables you can chop in a chopper. It reduces the chopping time. So next time do try this Savoury Vermicelli for your breakfast. 

We need:

• 1 Cup Vermicelli

• 1 small Capsicum 

• 2 medium sized tomatoes chopped

• 6 to 8 Beans chopped

• 1 small Carrot chopped

• 1 Tsp Mustard Seeds

• 2 to 3 Red whole Chillies

• 9 to 10 Curry Patta

• Salt to taste

• 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil ( oil of your choice) 

Here We go: 

1. Dry roast the vermicelli in a non stick pan till it is slightly pink. Keep aside

2. In the same pan heat coconut oil. When heated add Mustard seeds, curry leaves and broken red whole chillies. 

   

3. When they are roasted add all the vegetables and saute till transparent. Add salt. 

   

4. After adding salt the vegetables will release water, when the water has almost dried up then add roasted vermicelli. Saute for two min. 

   

5. Now add water to the pan. It should be twice the amount of Vermicelli ie. 2 cups. Stir the whole dish so that everything mixes well. Cover it with the lid and put the flame on low. 

   
   

5. Let it  for ten minutes. Open the lid and it is ready to be served. 

   

Preparation Time 20 min

Serves : 3

Tips. 

Don't stir after covering the lid. Let it simmer. After 10 minutes it will be ready. 

Arbi Butter Masala

Sounds a bit weird but when you will make this dish you are going to love this. The people who don't relish this vegetable will start asking you for more. If you don't disclose the content no one will guess it. Soft arbi wrapped in creamy gravy will delight the palate. This vegetable is known by many names. Taro root in English, ghuiyan some parts of India and chamadumpa in telugu . But like Shakespeare said What is in a name?  fits this dish. It tastes just awesome. So do give it a try, you will love the results. 

We Need

• 500 gm Arbi / Taro root 

• 10 Cloves of Garlic

• 2 " Piece Ginger 

• 1 Big onion

• 2 Medium Tomatoes

• 6 Cashews

• 1 Tsp Melon Seeds

• 2 Green cardamom

• 2 cloves

• 1" Piece Dalchini

• ½ Tsp Turmeric Powder

• ¼ Tsp Black Pepper Powder

• ½ Tsp Red Chilli Powder

• 1 Tsp Kasmiri Chilli powder

• 2 Tsp Butter

• 3 Tbsp Cooking Oil. 

• 2 Tsp Kasoori Methi

• Salt to taste

Here we Go

1. Wash Arbi thoroughly. Take a pressure cooker and add Whole Arbi ( without peeling). Add 300 ml of water. Pressure cook till one whistle. Let it cool. Peel the boiled Arbi just like you peel potatoes. Flatten it between your palms a bit. Avoid breaking it. Keep it whole.

   

2. Coarsely chop Onion ,and Tomatoes. Add garlic pods and ginger. 

   

3. Heat a pan and put 2 Tbsp of oil in it. When the oil is heated add boiled Arvi to it. Roast it from both the sides. Remove from the pan and Keep aside. 

   

4. To the leftover oil in the pan Add 1 Tsp of oil . When heated add green cardamom, cloves and Cinnamon. When whole spices start sputtering add onions. Saute till translucent . Add ginger and garlic also. Saute for 2 minutes. Add Tomatoes. Also add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, black pepper powder,  cashew and melon seeds.

   

5.  When tomatoes turn mushy add 1 cup water. Cover the pan with a lid and let it simmer on low flame till cashew appears cooked i.e. approximately for 10 min. Let it cool. 

   
   

6. When cooled shift the masala to a grinder and grind to a fine paste. Heat the same pan and put butter in it. When butter starts melting add Kashmiri Mirch powder and kasoori Methi. Saute till Methi is fragrant. 

   

7. Add ground paste to the pan along with pan fried Arbi. Saute for a minute. Adjust the consistency with water and cover the pan with a lid. 

   

8. Keep the flame on low and let it simmer for ten min. In between do keep on checking it. All the flavours will be incorporated in the gravy after 10 min. Switch off the flame and serve hot with naan Or chapati. 

   
   
   

Preparation Time : 45 min. 

Serves : 3

💡Tips

When buying Arbi pick equal sized Arbi. 

Avoid over boiling Arbi. It should firm after boiling and not mushy.