Bara Ghugni / Vada ghugni .... Odisha's much loved street food snack

Growing up, I have never had the chance to eat this beautiful streetfood of Odisha ... the much loved combination of the  Biri bara and Ghughni.  At least not from the streets .... sold on carts with people flocking around it . Passing by, one cannot ignore that aroma of these badas sizzling in the hot oil, the steaming hot ghuguni / ghugni with its typical smell and of course the other aromas of tamarind, lemon and rock salt.

At times it would be made at home but not too often. And anyway it never smelt like the street side ones, so we wouldn't ask for it.

But I did get to taste the real thing whenever we went to my maternal dadu's place in Cuttack. With so many elder cousins , mashis, mamis etc .... every one of them all geared up to nosh through their favourite street foods, it wasn't difficult to mix into the crowd and get a bite of this and a slurp of that, once in a while. 

Now I make such things regularly .... the man has taken to Odia food  like a fish to water. Says that he married into one culture and got another as a bonus 😄

Seeing so many bora ghugni on my feed for the last few days, I decided to indulge in some. And the fact that it has started to rain since morning only made today the perfect day for enjoying this.

I tried to make it like the professionals .... with that hole in the centre ... but gave up after a while and made the plain round ones.

They may look imperfect but tasted yum 😋 

And then, like my Thamma used to say "Pete gele shob somaan " / every food is the same once it is inside the tummy 😄😄

Many started asking for the recipe and when the number of dms became a little too many to type out the whole thing, I decided to make a post here pronto. 
And direct everyone here for the details ..... since it is difficult to write the finer details due to instagram's word limits. 

For the Vadas / Baras / Medu Vadas : 

Soak Urad dal / Biri dali / Biulir dal overnight 
Grind into a paste the next day and keep aside for at least an hour. 

Add salt and beat well with your hands till light and slightly fluffy . 
Add chopped onions, ginger, coconut pieces, green chillies, cumin seeds / jeera and curry leaves to the dal paste. 

Heat enough oil in a deep pan or kadahi. 
Wet hands in a little water, scoop out small balls of the dal paste and let in carefully into the oil. 
Fry them till they are golden brown on all sides. 

Keep on a kitchen towel to drain out excess oil. 

For the Ghugni : 

Soak white matar  overnight. 
Cook it with turmeric powder and salt in a pressure cooker. 

Heat oil in a kadahi ( I use ghee as I am on an oil free diet right now ) . 
Add jeera and broken dry red chillies. 
Add chopped onions and fry a little. 
Now add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and green chilli paste. 
Cook well till masala changes colour and leaves oil on the sides. 
Add the boiled matar and mix well. 
Add enough water and bring to a boil. 
Adjust seasonings and simmer on low heat for at least 15 to 20 minutes. 
Finally, sprinkle roasted jeera powder and remove from heat. 
Let it stand covered for some time before serving. 

You can refer to this post of mine for a simpler, no onion garlic version of the ghugni too. 

To arrange everything : 

Place the vadas on the ghugni in an open bowl. 
Sprinkle roasted jeera powder, roasted chilli powder, chaat masala powder, lemon juice, chopped onions, green chillies, coriander leaves and chopped coconut pieces on them. 

 

 The Boras / Vadas can be eaten just as they are ..... fresh out of the kadahi and crisp and hot with puffed rice or plain with a cup of spicy ginger tea. 

The ghugni too can be enjoyed by itself with Luchi, Muri / Mudhi / puffed rice. 
Or can be paired with parathas too. 

Enjoy whichever way you want to. 

Here are a few other recipes of Ghugni / Ghuguni / Ghoogni from my blog. 


Stay safe all!! 

Samosa / Singara / Spicy, deep fried and sinfully good, savoury pastry

 
Growing up in a huge joint family has taught me, among other things, the ability to accept everyone as they are, without questions. 

We lived together, in Dadu's house. With its orchards, ponds, four main gates and three smaller ones too. And a big open space where stood a magnificent  mango tree that was uprooted by one of the cyclonic storms that was so common during my childhood. 
And a big patch of garden that bore seasonal vegetables, lovingly tended by the gardener.
And, with uncles and aunts and house helps and cousins.
Yes, it was both a picnic as well as mayhem ... our family was.

And naturally, we always had a lot of relatives around. Every Kakima's paternal side of the family was our family too.
I still remember our excitement when any particular relative was to visit.
That Mama, who was popular with us because  he would actually enact out whatever story he was narrating. 
Or that Dida who did not know any language besides Bengali .... and who we loved to grill with new words, asking her the Bengali equivalent. She naturally came up with wrong words and how we would dissolve into peals of laughter.
Or that Didi, who sang like an angel, and we looked forward to learning a few new songs, whenever she visited, especially Adhunik / modern songs. And a few more gems of Tagore. 
Or that Mashi, who we stayed clear of, because of her quizzes on maths and chemistry. 

I can go on and on. 

The best part of these visits was we got to eat food from outside, .... sometimes .... that was otherwise prohibited for us. 

On any day, during the evening tea, someone would want some ' gorom gorom tele bhaja' / deep fried street food. And as hosts, one of the Kakus would comply. 
Or we would get one of our favourite Didas to ask for them .... and she would happily oblige.
Knowing very well that she would not eat any, at all. 
And we children would get to eat the small sized, crisp singaras, filled with a dry, spicy potato and peas masala that was so hot it burned our mouths when bitten into. 

Those were different from the regular samosas that we get in North India.
But then, the samosa is such a common street food that its filling varies in texture and taste in almost every state of the country. 
Making it create a different memory for every different person growing up eating their local samosa.  

I still remember the samosas we ate during our trip to Ranthambore, Rajasthan. Standing in the middle of the vast highway, in a small shed, stood a man frying hot samosas on a make shift kitchen with the barest of things. We waited till he got them out of the hot oil ..... smoking hot. 
And standing there on the empty highway side, biting into those crisp, spicy, hot little triangles of pure bliss, sipping on cardamom tea and watching the sun go down slowly in the horizon, I felt that was one of the best moments of my life. 

A few days back, once the rains started in earnest here, I was reminiscing about the monsoons back home and how the ponds overflowed and the fishes came up right to our doorsteps,
how we would sit near the bay windows and look out at the big droplets create beautiful patterns on the pond,
how Dadu or Jethu would ask us, one by one , to sing their favourite Rabindra sangeet on the rains, 
how we hurried to shut the wooden windows when sudden gusts of water laden breeze came in .... but would leave just a little gap to be still able to smell the wet air .
And that  was when I remembered this beautiful singara from my hometown. 

I wanted to make it. B was game.
He enjoys these stories and what better than crisp, hot singaras to go with them. 
To his credit and because he is from the kachori and namkeen city of Rajasthan, B is an expert when it comes to actually handling the singara. So I did the cooking and B did the maneuvering part. 
And we made some really good samosas that evening. 

They were so good and the cover was so perfectly crisp that I thought I will document it and  share here. 

So here is my recipe for the perfect Khasta Shingara / Khasta Samosa . 

Need : 

For the dough : 

Maida / Apf - 2 cups 
Cooking oil - ½ cup or more, if needed 
Baking soda - one small pinch
Kalonji / nigella seeds - ½ tsp 
Chilled water - enough to knead with 
Salt - to taste 

For the filling : 

Potatoes - 2, medium, chopped very small 
Green peas - ½ cup
Turmeric powder 
Red chilli powder 
Amchur / dry mango powder 
Chilli flakes 
Black pepper powder
Salt - to taste 
Cooking oil - 1 tsp 

Cooking oil - enough to deep fry 

 How to : 

To make the dough, knead the maida with the rest of the ingredients, except water for some time. 
When the oil has mixed in well, it should form a lump when held in the fist. 
Now add the chilled water, very little at a time, and knead into a tight dough. 
Do not over knead it.

For the masala, heat oil in a kadahi and let in the chopped potatoes and peas. 
Add the rest of the ingredients and cover and cook till done. 
Remove cover and dry it up completely. 
Remove to an open plate and cool. 

For the samosas, 
cut out medium sized balls of the dough. 
Roll each one out . Do not roll it too thin. 
Cut in half. 
Pick one half, make a twist and seal the edges with water. 
Scoop in a spoonful of the stuffing mix and seal the ends. 
Set aside. 

Take a heavy kadahi or deep pan .... preferably an iron one. 
Fill it with oil. 
Set it on to heat. When the oil turns lukewarm, let in the samosas. 
Never heat the oil too much ... it will cause blisters on the samosa cover and will remain raw too. 
Do not over crowd the kadahi. 

The samosas will slowly float up to the top as they cook. 
Cook them on low heat. 

The perfect khasta samosas are always light in colour and yet perfectly cooked and the cases crisp. 
Dark coloured samosas mean over cooking or ... in the case of shops ... re frying. 

When done, remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel. 

Our samosas turned out to be perfect. 
When I tapped the cover, it was perfectly crisp and tough. 
And when I broke it open, it showed the layers of the casing too! 
Just have a look. 😊

We munched on them, right there in the kitchen, while still frying. 
The rain sang on outside and it was cold and dark. 
But our kitchen was warm.  
And fragrant. 
With memories; and the hot samosas. 

Stay home everyone! 
And stay safe! 


Ps: photos clicked in the dark and low light. 

Chatpata Kala Chana / Spicy Black Chickpeas with Potatoes

"Uncle …. phatjhadi laake do na! "

We had gone to our usual place … a slum where construction workers stay with their families in makeshift homes with plastic roofs. There are about eight to ten families living there, with around twelve to fifteen children among themselves. Or maybe more. 

We often go there to distribute snacks, chocoltes, fruits, clothes or food materials.

And sometimes ice cream too.

This time we went just a day before Diwali to give out gifts and sweets. 

The children know us and know well that if they jostle or create a ruckus, they won't get anything. 

So they quickly line up or sit down on the footpath. Some rattle off their names; some chatter on. 

This time one boy of about seven or eight came up to B and asked for 'phatjhadi'. 

B looked confused and asked 'what?'. 

"Phatjhadi; phatjhadi". Said the boy , trying to be patient. 

Still drew a blank. 

Even I was confused. 

These people are from other states …. so their Hindi is not proper.

And the children are not fluent with the local language too.

After giving out the gifts, we started to return but the kid just would not give up. 

He hung on to B's kurta and kept repeating the word. 

And then suddenly he started gesturing with his hands and said "Flower pot! Flower pot ! Light! Boom! Charkhi gol gol! " …. looking up with his big eyes filled with hope.

And both B and I burst out laughing.

He wanted crackers!

After all it was Diwali! And for little children, it isn't Diwali if there are no crackers to burst. 😀

We told them to wait and set off to buy some crackers. 

We were still laughing at the new word the kid has coined …. "phat from patakha and jhadi from phooljhadi!!! " … we decoded. 😀😀

Both of us decided against any flower pot crackers as they would be too dangerous for the children.

And bought some charkhi and phooljhadi  sparklers instead.

The kids were overjoyed.

B appointed a teen, giving him the responsibility to oversee the whole thing and that the kids play safely. It made the child feel important and almost immediately, he started giving orders and organize everybody. 

I remembered an old bag amongst the things to give away that had some of my old lipsticks ,nail polishes and bangles.  Dug it out and gave it to the young girls. 

The grins on their faces and the spontaneous clapping of hands at being overjoyed with this surprise melted my heart.

And as always, we came away smiling, with a feeling of warmth, that is so rare in the fast flying days of life right now. 

And as always, we asked them what would they want to eat the next time. 

And little girl piped "Poori". 

So I decided to make the sukhi chana or this dryish dish with boiled black chickpeas to go with the pooris. 

And remembered this photo languishing in my folder. 

So decided to make them see the light of the day. 

I make this very regularly …. sometimes without onions too. 

This makes for a good snack for those in between meals hunger pangs. 

Spicy, tangy and eaten hot, this is one dish that you can enjoy on its own or with Puris, Luchis or plain Parathas. 

Need :

Kala Chana / Black chickpeas - soaked overnight and boiled with a little salt

Boiled potatoes - cut into small cubes 

Onion - chopped 

Green chillies - chopped 

Black salt - to taste 

Turmeric powder - a pinch 

Red chilli powder - to taste 

Salt - to taste 

Roasted Jeera powder - to taste 

Chaat masala - to taste (optional) 

Cooking oil 

Lemon juice 

Coriander leaves - chopped 

How to : 

Heat oil. 

Add the chopped onions and fry till translucent. 

Do not brown them. 

Then add the potatoes and the chickpeas and toss them well. 

Add the rest of the ingredients and give a good toss on high heat till everything mixes well and comes together. 

Remove from heat and serve immediately. 

Enjoy with steaming hot masala chai on the side.

You can skip the onions if you are fasting and enjoy on a vrat too.

Dahibara Aloodom - Cuttack's favourite and much loved street food

 Right now, at this moment, the state of Odisha is celebrating the monsoons with a festival that is very unique to it.
It is celebrating Raja, the festival of Mother Earth turning fertile and ready for the sowing season.
Primarily an agricultural state, Odisha has this festival celebrated with much enthusiasm at homes where every unmarried girl and married woman is celebrated during this festival.
It is believed that Mother Earth goes through the ritual of menstruation during this time and hence Raja is celebrated as a festival of fertility. There is a festive air all over and the four days of the Raja festival sees a lot of home cooked delicacies too.

The festival of Rajo ( pronounced as Rawjaw ), starts with one day before the actual festival. That day is called Sajabaja ... or decking up with new clothes, flowers, etc. or preparing for decking up by getting together new clothes and ornaments.
All agricultural work is stopped from the first day of Rajaw or Pahili rajaw till the fourth day.
Women dress up, cook, eat and share numerous delicacies like Podo pitha and other kinds of pitha, rich curries of mutton and chicken, and all kinds of sweets and payesh too.
Swings are a must ... every home and backyard will have a swing set up, either on the branch of a strong tree ... usually the mango or jamun or a neem ... and girls swing on it for fun.
This resembles the Teej festival of Rajasthan, that celebrates monsoon too.

 While my heart yearns for those beautiful days of summer vacation spent at my maternal Dadu's house in Cuttack, I set to create as many Odiya dishes as possible in my kitchen ... in celebration of those days and their memories.
Since my mother and her siblings were a big lot in number, the huge house would fall short when it came to accomodating all of them when they visited with their families.
So many would spill over to Boro Masi's place .
But would get together as soon as the day started and we kids, more than 15 in numbers, would spend the days with numerous adventures and mishaps, that would later stay on in the family as anecdotes to be recalled during get togethers.

I remember choto Mama would set up a swing for us in one of the branches of the huge ... and when I say huge it means HUGE ... Neem trees on the bank of our pond.
The pond had a cemented border and steps on four sides, complete with cement chairs for people to sit on and enjoy the cool breeze in the summer evenings when there would be no electricity power.
It was surrounded with other strong trees like the mango and the jamun too, but this particular neem stood a little behind the steps of the pond .... which gave the elders the assurance that no child will drop into the water, while swinging.

The swing itself was a broad, wooden plank with four holes drilled into it at the corners.
Thick jute ropes would then be knotted into them and tied in the most unique way ... nobody could undo them ... they were so secure.
And the swing would be set up in the highest possible, strongest branch ... which means it was a long swing. When we gained momentum and swing way high up, we would be directly above the waters of the pond. While I have never tried it, my elder cousin brothers have often jumped from that high right into the water, with a huge splash ... that would send us young ones shrieking into the water too ... but from the steps.
Dadu had made sure there was a gradual slope and the it was cemented too, from the banks, so that the littlest of grandchild could step into the waters and enjoy.

 The other beautiful memory that comes back to me from during those vacations is the gorging on street food. By the elder cousins to be precise .... we kids would merely be around but share the excitement, nonetheless.
Street food was a no no, as usual. But the older ones got to bribe the househelps to get us some anyway.
Secret messages would be passed along, avoiding the nosy elders, and we would all get together on the terrace of the third floor of the house .... where most elders avoided going due to the arduous climb ... and get one of the house helps to get us the forbidden street snacks.

One day it would be the singara + aloo chop, the Ghugni on the other. Or the much loved phuchka / gup chup ( as it called in Odiya) on other days.
But it was that one thing that everyone kept their ears perked up for .... that long tone of the man on the cycle, slowly pedaling through the quiet, lonely neighbourhoods on hot summer afternoons, two huge handis of aluminium hanging on both sides of his cycle, calling out "Alooooooo dummm dahi baraaaaa!".
And then two long rings of his cycle bell.

N didi would be up in a flash .... tip toe out of the room, and jostle and bully any one of the house helps to wake up and send the sleepy eyed fellow to buy the lip smacking Aloo dum dahi bara.
The man would make a small bowl by folding a fresh, green shaal leaf, quickly throw in some aloo dum and some break a bara / vada from the dahi vada, add some chopped onions and green chillies. a handful of spicy mixture, some more dahi and some spicy powdered masalas. A final dash of red chillies and rock salt and he hands over the leaf.
Sometimes he would add the ghugni to it too ... but not always.

By the time it would reach us, the leaf would be leaking and the precious droplets of the spicy water would be disappearing fast (which is why we sent the boy with small boxes much later ... helped by our Didima/grandmother). We would all jump in and try to get at least a couple of spoons each.
It was heaven.
And stuff that childhood memories are made of. 😃

I made a plate for myself when I had made the Aloo dom.
And sent a thought to dear N didi , who is no longer around to enjoy these sinful things that she so loved.

To make this plate of Dahi bara Aloo dom, you will have to make the Dahi bara first.
Preferably a day before.

Then you make the Aloo domm.

Then you will have to chop up some onions + green chillies + fresh coriander leaves.
Then take a plate, arrange the aloo dom and the vadas from the dahi vada.

Now add a good amount of the sour and lip smacking dahi all over it.

Then add the chopped onions + green chillies + coriander leaves.

Then add a good dose of rock salt + red chilli powder + amchur powder / lemon juice.

Now add a final spoon of the dahi and throw in some spicy mixture.

Perfect for a monsoon day or evening.
Since it is so filling, I usually have it for lunch or dinner .... especially with friends and family.
Yep ... you have to have company to enjoy this .... those close to you, those who will sniffle with you when the spice is a tad too much and those who will laugh with you thinking of long gone days.


Enjoy!!

Aloo Dom .... cooked the typical Odiya way, with loads of flavour and spice and perfect for a snack

Aloo dum, Dum alu, Alur dum .... different names for different kinds.
The only common factor is the aloo / potato. Otherwise, there is absolutely no similarity in any of them. 

I had been craving Odisha's Aloo dom for a long while. These days, it is almost next to impossible to get hold of it .... not even on my visits home.
And no matter how much ever I tried, I just could not get it right .... whenever I have tried to make it by myself.
It always lacked that special flavour; that something that goes 'zing!' inside your head and your heart sings either 'yes!!' or 'home!'.
I have never eaten it at home ... our cook never made it.
I had tasted it only at my Odiya friends' houses or eaten it as a chaat / street food.
So,whenever I thought of it, I would get that twist in my heart ... almost leading me to sadness.
And yes, I had often wallowed in the self induced morbidity that I might die before I got to taste my favourite Odiya Aloo dom, ever again.

 But somebody up there yonder pulled some strings, I believe. And I got to make this authentic way of the Odiya Aloo dom; finally.
This wonderful lady from a group answered my question for the authentic Odiya Aloo dom, mentioning that it has been Aloo tarkari / curry all the while and has no idea when it started to be called the Aloo dom.
I got some baby potatoes the very next day and made this Aloo dom, which is often served as a street food in Odisha ... served with a dash of this and that spice, chopped onions and other condiments. Quickly tossed and plated out in a small bowl made of a leaf of a local tree ... the shaal tree. 
This is eaten with luchis, parathas or puris too, and usually for breakfast or dinner.

I had in mind to pair it with something else too ... post coming up soon.

 I leave you with this today.
Will be quiet for a while now.
Too depressed with the rampant plagiarism all over ... especially idea plagiarism.
Makes me want to stop blogging or sharing recipes or tips altogether.

Updated :

Ok ... here is the recipe ...

Heat mustard oil ... add chopped onions and fry till translucent.

Add bay leaf + jeera and + dhania powder  + turmeric + salt + red chili powder + ginger garlic paste.

Add blanched tomatoes or freshly cut tomatoes ..fry the masala till oil oozes out.

  Add boiled and cut potatoes + water , cover and cook.

Add garam masala and simmer for a couple of minutes.

Enjoy, folks!!!

Chole Tikki Chaat

 This chaat was made long back ... in fact, now that the year has changed, I can say last year.
Most probably during the monsoons.
I remember it was a gloomy week and had rained incessantly for a few days.
Cold and damp air, no sun and no appetite made us turn to something spicy and hot.
We already were drowning ourselves in big cups of ginger tea. But we needed something to munch on too. Something that is not routine.
And definitely not the daily menu of dal,roti and sabzi.

I remember I had wanted to make samosas.
Have been wanting to make some Punjabi samosas and make a post for a longish while.
But B had been asking for chole tikki for a while too.
Since I make chole at least once a week ... B loves them while I do not ... and hence plan it on the days I have chicken or fish for me, I almost always have some chole either soaking or boiled and stored in the fridge.
That way, I just have to rustle it up with the masalas thrown in and simmered for a good amount of time.

Anyway, to cut a long story short ... and to stop myself from digressing ... I decided to make Chole tikki for dinner one evening.
And took photos on the phone.
Do not let them discourage you. The actual thing is far better than what it looks like.

 This is indeed a fabulous snack that can double up as a meal.
But  it does need some prep work. In fact loads of it.
But that only makes it easy for you to serve it.

Start planning , if not a few, at least a couple of days ahead.

I soak the chana / chole first and then my plans revolve around it.
When and how will we be eating our chole is then decided.
If with rice, then for lunch. If with puris or bhaturas, then for dinner.
And if with aloo ke tikki, then as an early evening snack.
Sometimes for brunch too.

To give a clear idea on the plan ... here is how I go about it.

1. Soak the chana in the morning ... that way I can keep checking on the water level till they are well soaked.
2. Boil the chana the same evening.
Never put the soaked chana in the fridge without boiling ... it will never cook well ...i.e. soften well .... after that.
3. Boil the potatoes ... the same evening or earlier ... and store in the fridge.
4. Make the Tamarind chutney ... the same day or evening or earlier.
( Check this recipe if you have some leftover sugar syrup and want to use it. )

On the day you plan to make Chole tikki ... all you need to do is cook the chana and fry the tikkis.
And serve.
Of course, you can cook the chana earlier too. They soak up the flavours better, sitting in the fridge for a day.

How to :

The Chole -

Soak the chole for at least 6 hours.
Cook it in the pressure cooker with salt. I usually wait for at least 6 to 7 whistles, on low heat.
The cooking time will depend upon the quality of the chole you are using.

Heat cooking oil in a heavy bottomed pan or kadahi.
Fry chopped onions + grated ginger + grated garlic or garlic paste  + grated tomatoes.
Add the boiled chole + haldi powder + red chilli powder + chana masala.
Add salt and a pinch of sugar.
Fry well.
Add the water of the boiled chana or plain water, cover and cook for some time.

Lightly mash the chole a little while stirring ... that way they soak up the flavours well.
Cover and let it sit on simmer for some time. Do keep checking for water.


The chutney :
Boil tamarind pulp + jaggery + sonth (ginger powder) + black salt + black pepper powder + red chilli powder + roasted jeera powder , with a little water , till slightly thickish in consistency.

The Aloo tikkis :

Boil potatoes.
Mash with corn flour + salt + a pinch of sugar.
Shape into thick tikkis.
( Get the idea here )

Heat oil on a tawa.
Roll the tikkis on corn flour and fry on low heat till golden brown on both sides, gently pressing them all the while. 

To arrange :


Place some piping hot chole on a plate.
Place two tikkis on it.
Spread a spoonful or two of the tamarind chutney.
Sprinkle some more chola + gravy.
Spread sliced onions, smeared with salt + lemon juice, all over. 
Sprinkle some chopped, fresh coriander leaves and you are good to go.

Serve hot.

Enjoy the burst of flavours in a mouthful ... crisp tikki covering with the soft chole and the sweet, sour and spicy chutney and the crunch of tangy onion slices bringing a riot of flavours together.

Perfect for these cold winter evenings too.
Or what is left of it.

Have fun folks!

Phuchka / Golgappa / Panipuri

 Call it by any name .... everybody loves it.
India's most loved street food ... the panipuri needs no introduction. No matter which part of the country you belong to .... you will have to be somebody reaaaally different not to love this thing.
I believe there isn't one person , Bengali or otherwise, whose childhood memories do not hold a place for the Phuchka.
Known as the Pani puri in the west, Phuchka or Gup chup in the east and Pani ke Batashe in the north, our country has this street food ranking the highest in popularity. 

Back home, nobody made phuchkas like Panchu does.
This guy would stand outside our junior college from morning till late afternoon .... almost always surrounded by a bunch of giggling and jostling girls .... each one shouting out her preference through mouthfuls .... all demanding at the same time to make it a little more spicy / mild / more water etc. etc.
And my visits home were never complete till I have had Panchu's phuchkas at least a couple of times ... accompanied by a bemused B.

For that matter I have a hobby .... I always try out phuchkas at any new place I visit. :-)

After coming to live in this city I have almost given up eating phuchkas  from the vendors.
For the simple reason that I do not like the taste here.
And I hate mint.
So the pudina flavoured water is a big no no.
I miss that tangy freshness of tamarind , spiked with a good dose of black salt and chilli powder and other spices, in the water.
Here, the water is too plain. And the bland, half heartedly mashed potatoes with just a pinch of salt is a far cry from the beautifully smooth mash of potatoes and green chillies and other spices.
One piece in the mouth and it is enough to turn you off from Phuchkas for a long time.

So I settled on making them at home. Most times, I would buy a packet of the puris and make the potato filling and the water myself.But not this time.

I had been wanting to make the puris at home for sometime ... but somehow never got around to do it.
Finally did try my hand at them last weekend .... and found it surprisingly easy and not at all time taking.
I prefer to mashing the potatoes to cutting them .... this version soaks up the flavours better.

Chopped fresh coriander leaves give a beautiful flavour too .... but since I am raw leafy vegetables intolerant ... you won't find any in my recipe.
Do add them to get that perfect taste of phuchkas.

Need :

For the puris :

 Fine sooji/rawa - 1 cup
Maida / APF - 5 tbsp
Rice flour - 5 tbsp
Cooking oil - 4 tbsp
Water - just enough to make a tough dough

* If you use more maida your puris will fall flat.

For the filling :

Boiled potatoes - 2, medium
Boiled white peas - 1 cup
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Roasted jeera/cumin powder - 1 tbsp
Rock salt - to taste
Amchur powder - 1 tsp
Black pepper powder - 1 tsp
Green chillies , chopped or paste - 1 tsp
Fresh coriander leaves - chopped 

For the water :

Tamarind water - (soaked the tamarind in water and strain it )
Rock salt - to taste
Red chilli powder
Black pepper powder
Roasted jeera/cumin powder
Fresh coriander leaves - chopped (optional) 

How to :

The puris :

Knead everything  into a tough dough.
Take a medium sized ball from the dough and roll out a roti as thin as possible.
With a very small round cookie cutter cut out small puris.


Heat oil and deep fry the puris till golden brown on both sides.


The filling :

Mash the potatoes with everything else. 


The water :

Add enough water to the strained tamarind pulp.
Add the rest of the ingredients.

How to arrange : 

Do I need explain this too? ;-) 

Ok ... take a puri and carefully make a small hole in the centre.

Stuff in some filling.


Dip into the water and immediately put it into your mouth.

Enjoy the burst of spicy and sour water with the crispiness of the puri and the softness of the filling .... all in one mouthful. :-) 

Crispy Chole / Crispy Fried Chickpeas

This version of Chole is spicy and tangy... and slightly dryish too.
It is fast to make, especially if you have the Chole boiled and stored beforehand.
I used a masala tea bag while cooking the Chole .... no .. I do not use any cooking soda / baking powder while boiling them .... and miraculously that distinct smell of boiled chole disappeared.
I served it with Aloo tikkis ... which I can make real fast these days ... thanks to my aloo mix.

Need : Kabuli chana/ chickpeas ( cooked in a pressure cooker with a little salt & drained of all water ),
lots of chopped onions,
chopped ginger,
chopped garlic,
chopped green chillies,
dhania powder,
amchur powder,
red chilli powder,
chana masala powder,
a little oil,
a little rice flour powder,
salt and sugar to taste.

How to : Heat a little oil in an open heavy bottomed pan. ( Do not use a kadhai ... the chole need to dry up fast).

Add the chopped onions, garlic, ginger and green chillies. Fry well.

Add the boiled chole and stir well. Add salt and sugar.

Add all the powder masalas and keep frying till dry.

Just before removing from flame add a little rice flour .... the flame should be high ... and keep stirring.

Remove and serve hot. Do not cover or keep for a long time ... else the crispiness won't last.

Chutney from leftover chashni

Am in the midst of cleaning the house .... a ritual I follow every year inspite of my house being extremely clean. My helping hand rolls her eyes every time I mention the word cleaning ... saying " Tai la sagala swaccha pahije !" ..... "Sister wants everything to be always clean". :-)

Bengalis clean their houses before Durga Puja ... and hubby's side do their cleaning before Diwali.
I do the job before Durga Puja .... serves both ways for me ..... and am more relaxed and get more time for making Diwali delicacies. :-)

But I have been dying to share this recipe with my blogging friends.
It makes good use of left over sugar syrup that we are often left with after all the gulab jamuns / rasgullas have been devoured.

I came across the word 'chashni' when I had spoken to my then would be sis-in-law on the phone for the first time . She described my voice to her brother (hubby) as 'chashni jaisi '. :-)

Learnt this from Sanjeev Kapoor's show on the tv. And it is just soooooooo good. Easy to make, tastes heavenly and lasts for as long as you want it to .... that is if you don't polish it off in a couple of days. ;-)

I guess this is called Saunth or Sonth that is usually served with chaats in Northe India.

I made rasgullas sometime ago ... so naturally made this after a while.

Need :

Left over sugar syrup / chashni
Equal amounts of jeera / cumin seeds and whole Black Pepper
A few whole dry red chillies
A little Hing / Asafoetida
Tamarind pulp ... soak tamarind in water for half an hour and strain out the pulp
A little salt.

How to :

Dry roast the jeera, pepper, chillies and hing in a heavy bottomed pan.

Grind them coarsely in a mortar and pestle.

Bring the chashni / sugar syrup to a boil ( if it is rasgulla chashni you will need to boil it for a while to thicken it slightly as syrup for rasgullas is thinner in consistency).

Add the tamarind pulp ,the ground masala and a little salt and boil for some more time.

Cool.
If you want to you can strain it. Otherwise it is good as is.

Goes great with kachoris, samosas, parathas ...... whatever.

Ragdaa Patties & another award

Aloo tikki with ghugni is what I call these. Hubby calls it aloo tikki chaat. In Maharashtra it is called ragdaa patties ( i have no idea what ragdaa is ... nor what is the correct spelling for this). All I know is this tastes heavenly.

I usually boil aloo/matar/chana etc in bulk and store them in the fridge. They come very handy when there are unexpected guests or anytime when you want something chatpata ... not to mention when you don't want to go through the rigmarole of making a complete lunch/dinner.

Anyway ... I had some of these boiled aloo and matar. So made this as a snack for a rainy evening. I made the ghugni spicy this time to complement the slightly bland aloo tikkis. Great combi. And follows my motto ... simple cooking. :-)

Need :
For the tikkis : Boiled potatoes, grated ginger,chopped green chillies, fresh coriander leaves, salt to taste, around 2 tbsp oil to fry the tikkis.

For the ghugni : Dry white matar (soaked and boiled), haldi powder, red chilli powder,amchur powder, a pinch of roasted jeera powder, a little water, salt to taste.

How to : Mash the potatoes with ginger, chillies, coriander leaves and salt. Shape into round sized tikkis. Heat the oil in a a tawa or a shallow pan and put in the tikkis. Fry till they turn brown on both sides.

In another kadhai or pan put in the matar with a little water ... yes ... no jeera or tempering ... so no oil .... :-) . Add the haldi powder, chilli powder, jeera powder and the amchur powder. Adjust salt and bring to a boil. Simmer for a while to adjust gravy thickness.
Pour the ghugni in a dish and arrange the tikkis on it. Sprinkle chopped onions and coriander leaves on it.
Hetal has passed on the "Yummy blog award" to my blog. Thanks Hetal.

"Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos".

Unfortunately I do not like sweets at all ... in any form .... leave alone desserts. So I cannot immediately mention any such desserts that I have found 'yummy-licious'. I'll try to come up with a few very soon ... hopefully.
Am supposed to pass this on to four other bloggers whose blogs I find yummy ... will update this post as soon as I scan through and select 4 .... which is not only going to be difficult ... but also unfair.
Anyways ... till then enjoy the ragdaa patties.