KHASTA KACHORI WITH BESAN

Crispy round savoury pastry stuffed with chickpeas flour

Khasta Kachori is a popular savoury snack of India. Throughout north India in many states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat and in some other states different version of kachoris are available.

Traditionally the kachoris that were available in Delhi had a filling of split urad dal. But these days I find kachoris in Delhi have different fillings with elaborate names (Raj kachori with exotic spices, Matar kachori with green peas filling and Besan kachori with roasted besan (chickpeas flour and spices).

Kachories are easy to take for picnics and long journeys because it has a long shelf life, which is around 20-30 days. In Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, it is also served as chat, with sweet and sour tamarind chutney and yoghurt.

For many years, I have made this kachori with urad dal filling. A few years ago when we were visiting my sister-in-law in Delhi, she had made delicious kachoris with a filling of roasted besan (chickpeas flour) and spices and it was really yummy. When she told me the recipe I realized that the filling requires far less oil (than the urad dal filling) and was equally delicious. And since then this gram flour filling one is my favourite and has joined my kitchen.

RECIPE

INGREDIENT:-

• 1 kg all purpose flour (maida)
• 325 ml oil (one cup)
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste

For filling

• 250 grams chickpea flour (besan)
• 500ml water
• 50 ml oil
• 1 tsp carom seeds
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 50 grams cashew nuts( sliced)
• Salt and chili powder to taste

METHOD

For Filling:-

• Take oil in a thick bottomed small wok or fry pan.
• Heat the oil on medium flame.
• Put carom and coriander seeds, roast for few seconds.
• Add water, then salt and chilli powder and let it boil.
• When it starts boiling add chickpea flour and roast for 12-15 minutes, till water evaporates and chickpeas flour will change its colour to light brown.
• Leave it to cool, when cold add cashew nuts.

For dough

• Take the flour in a big bowl, add salt (around 1tsp)
• Add oil and rub together well, till oil is merging properly in the flour and it resembles breadcrumbs.
• Add some water and make a hard dough.
• Make small balls from the dough and flatten them with your palm.
• Take one tablespoon of filling, put inside and fold the edges together and join them.
• Flatten it again and roll lightly to give a round shape with the rolling pin, it should not be very thick.
• 8- 10 kachoris can be rolled out before frying them together, They can be fried in batches.
• Heat the oil on a medium flame for frying the kachoris. When the oil is hot, fry them in batches of 8-10 kachoris on medium-low heat till they are golden brown in colour. Leave them to cool on a paper towel.
• Finish making all the kachoris from the dough.

Around 50-60 kachoris can be made depending on the size of the kachori. They can be served hot or cold with any pickle or chutney of taste. Some people eat with potato curry. It is a good evening snack or morning breakfast.

I am sending this recipe as my blog entry for What's with my Cuppa event.
 And for first Blog Anniversary event, and with Hearth and Soul event, and with Weekend Recipe link up, and with Friday free for all, and with My Two Favorite things on Thursday, and with Delectable flavours.

WHOLE BAKED CAULIFLOWER

(GOBHI MUSSALAM)

: Edited: This was one of my recipes which were selected and published in the local Newspaper here on 7th November 2014.

In Indian cuisine, different kinds of curries and dry subzi are made out of cauliflower florets and they are also used in some rice preparations.

The Mughals ruled India for a very long time. The dishes that were prepared in Mughal kitchens for the emperors were called Mughlai cuisine. Many recipes and many names of the dishes from Mughlai cuisine are still common and famous in some northern states of India like Punjab, Delhi and U.P. Mughlai cuisine is famous for rich, creamy and aromatic curries, rice preparations and sweet dishes. Mussalam word is also derived from the Mughlai cuisine, which means whole, in this recipe, the whole cauliflower is cooked and baked.

I remember once I was in a remote area of Kenya, Africa, where there was only a Boarding School with teachers houses and a few shops. At that time, we were going to the nearest city once a month to buy Indian groceries and vegetables. Cauliflower was the one vegetable which we were buying in bulk because of its use in multiple recipes in my kitchen.

Later my husband started growing vegetables in our kitchen garden. We had a big kitchen garden, moreover, the equatorial climate of Kenya is very good for growing fruits and vegetables. It is considered to be the best climate of the world because it is neither cold nor hot. In an equatorial climate, sunlight is in plenty and rainfall is after every second day. He got success in growing almost all the vegetables including cauliflower and we had not only stopped buying them from the city, but we were taking surplus vegetables from our garden back to the city to our friends there.
My mother-in-law was drying cauliflower florets in the sun and using them later in the summer. In her times, vegetables were available in seasons only, and for cauliflower, winter was the season in India. When she was using those florets in summer in her recipes, very different taste and aroma were coming from the dried cauliflower. These days because of modernization and improvement in transport and communication all vegetables are available throughout the year everywhere, or we can use them frozen.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole cauliflower (medium size)
• 300 grams onion (2 big)
• 500 grams tomatoes (3 big)
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 2 green chillies (Optional)
• Few leaves of green coriander/cilantro leave for garnishing
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• Salt and chilli powder to taste
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 2 green cardamom
• 50 grams roasted cashew nuts
• 100 ml fresh cream/whipping ceam
• 3 tbs oil
• 200 grams grated mozzarella cheese

METHOD

• Chop the leaves and stem of the cauliflower and wash.
• Put it in the microwave for 4-5 minutes, it will become slightly tender but still crunchy. Leave it aside.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan, add cumin seeds and roast for 2 minutes.
• Add chopped onion and garlic and saute till brown.
• Add chopped tomatoes and saute for 6-8 minutes till tomatoes are soft, add cumin powder, coriander powder, salt, chilli powder, and cardamom.
• Remove the pan from the gas and add garam masala and cashew nuts, leave it to cool.
• When cold, make a paste in the blender of this mixture, take it out of the blender and add cream in it.
• In a round baking dish, keep the whole cauliflower in the middle of the tray, and pour the thick paste on top and on sides. Decorate with green coriander.
• Heat the oven to 200 degrees C, keep the cauliflower in the oven for 10-15 minutes till the colour of the mixture is darker.
• Sprinkle the grated cheese on top of the cauliflower and leave it in the oven for 2-3 more minutes so that cheese can melt.
• Cut and make slices of the cauliflower, serve hot with roti, nan or dinner bun.
• This can be served to 5-6 people.

I am sending this recipe as a link to the event.
And also for Bake of the week event and also for Tasty Tuesday event and for Meatless Monday event, and with Tasty Tuesday honest mom, and with Fantastic Friday,and with Foodie Friday and with Friday Free for all, and with Happy healthy and green blog hop, and with Fiesta Friday, with yum yum link party, and with My two fav things on Thursday, and with Way wow link party and Cook blog share 

party and Real Food Friday

         

THREE BEAN SALAD

THREE BEAN SALAD

(Suitable for Vegans)

In 2009 in Botswana, I made three bean salad for the first time when I was throwing a welcome party for my friend who was coming back from India. This friend is now my relative because her daughter is married to my son. Everybody enjoyed this dish in the party. Now it is often made in my kitchen because it tastes great and it is full of nutrition. It is considered very good because of its high protein content, and therefore great addition in a vegetarian diet. The other good thing about this recipe is that it is really low in fat though it is a little bit time consuming to make.

For vegetarians, lentils and beans are the main sources of protein. That is why I make sure that every day in one meal I make one dish of these beans or lentils. Around16 types of beans or lentils are cooked in my kitchen, I try to variate not only the lentils but also how they are cooked. Some are cooked dry, some are with added vegetables and some other preparations of mix and match are made with these lentils. A variety of sweet and savoury dishes and snacks are also made.

After making this several times, I added one more bean (chickpeas) to this recipe to increase its nutritional content and taste; now I call it four bean salad. Another thing I do when I make this salad is, I soak extra of all the beans, and use the extra left over and the water that was used to soak this to make a four bean curry which I will talk about in another blog entry.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 100 grams red kidney beans
• 100 grams black-eyed beans
• 100 grams White soya beans or broad beans
• 200 grams onion (One big)
• 200 grams tomatoes (One big)
• 4-5 green chilies (Optional)
• 1 lemon (to squeeze)
• green coriander/cilantro leaves for garnishing
• 4 Tablespoon olive oil.
• Salt and black pepper (To taste)

METHOD

• Rinse, wash and soak red kidney beans, and soybeans, separately in different bowls for 7-8 hour or overnight. Too much water is not required at the time of soaking and boiling because the beans will be dry in the salad.
• Rinse the blackeyed beans 3-4 times in water. Pressure cook them together with the soaked soya beans, with one teaspoon salt and cook for about 5 minutes after the whistle. We can boil them together because they all have the same white (cream) colour.
• Drain the water and leave it to cool; don't throw the water, it can be used later in other curries etc because it is full of nutrients.
• Now boil the red kidney beans with some salt for 5 minutes in the pressure cooker after the whistle, leave it to cool. Once cold drain the water, mix all the beans.
• Finely chop the onions, tomatoes, and green chilies, and add them to the beans. Add the olive oil, black pepper and squeeze juice from one lemon, transfer in a serving bowl, and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve at room temperature as a side dish or accompaniment. It goes great with garlic bread, toasted bread or with any soup. This can be served to 4-6 people.

 : Edited:  I am sending this recipe as my blog entry for the Tuesday Blog Hop event.

  I am also sending as my blog entry for Credit Crunch Munch event. In this recipe, I have cooked all the beans in the pressure cooker, and with Fiesta Friday, co-host Sonal and Petra, and with Funtastic Friday. and with Way wow party and Sunday Food and Fitness Party.

                                                                                                                           I am also sending this recipe for Recipe of the week event, and for Meat less monday.

And for Delicious Dish Tuesday event, and for My legume affair for February, and with Tasty Tuesday , and with Full plate Thursday party, and with Real Food Friday, and with Cook blog share