Pani Puri(Gol Gappa) - Pani Recipe

Pani puri also known as Gol Gappa is a very popular Indian street food. Being in States we miss eating street food a lot, only few restaurants offer chats here and usually there aren't fresh enough. I generally make the pani at home and get the puri's from the Indian stores. It's easier that way to make it in few minutes. 

Ingredients

1. 5-6 cups cold water
2. handful of fresh pudina leaves
3. 2 green chilli (Increase it if u want it to be spicy)
4. 1 tbsp amchur pwd
5. 1/2 teaspoon chaat masala powder
6. 1/4 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
7. 1/2 teaspoon black salt (this gives the pani the aroma)
8. few strings of fresh coriander leaves
9. 2 teaspoon thick tamarind pulp
10. 1 teaspoon sugar or Jaggery
11. salt to taste

How I Prepare

1. Grind pudina leaves, coriander and green chilli together into a fine paste. Empty the paste in a bowl and use cold water to rinse  jar/blender.

2. Empty the rinsed water in a big bowl, add remaining water and all other ingredients.

3. Stir  water nicely by adding 2-3 spoon of  grinded paste. Taste it and if required add more until you get pani of your taste.

4. Keep pani in refrigerator for few minutes before serving with puri.

Notes
1. I don't add all the paste at once because I keep pani to medium spice. While serving I serve the paste as side dish so that if anyone wants more spicy they can just add to their bowl and mix it.

2. While mixing all ingredients to Pani, stir it nicely and taste the water couple of times. Adjust the ingredients quantity as per your taste. Some like it more tangy, some sweet, some spicy so just play with the ingredients. 

Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Lately hubby and I have started to incorporate avocado in our daily meals due to its Health benefits. But having guacamole every time is boring . I came across this recipe online and I gave  it a try. Overall the mousse was good but it turned out to be bit bitter due to my instant coffee flavor. Thats the reason I am mentioning instant coffee as optional here. Just play with the ingredients and adjust it according to your taste palette. It's a healthy dessert and you can have it guilt free.

Ingredients
1. 2 ripe avocado small size. If you have medium or large then one should be good.
2. 4 ounce semi sweet baking chocolate  (Be careful and don't use the bitter version)
3. 2 teaspoon olive oil (Original recipe called for coconut oil)
4. 1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
5. pinch of salt
6. Nuts to garnish. I used Almonds and Hazelnuts

How I Prepare
1.  Take a bowl, add oil, coffee powder and whisk it. In the same bowl add chocolate and microwave it for 30 secs. Your chocolate should begin melting if not add 15 secs more.
2. In another bowl add avocados and whisk it into a silky smooth paste. Combine both avocados and melted chocolate and whisk it slowly until everything is incorporated. Sprinkle little salt.
3. Divide mousse in small portions and transfer it small serving glass or bowl .
4. Refrigerate for couple of hours and serve it chilli topping it with nuts.

Beetroot Curry/Beetroot Palya

Ingredients

1. 2 Beets medium sized
2. 1 whole red chilli
3. 3-4 green chilli cut into small piece
4. Few curry leaves
5. 1 teaspoon of urad dal
6. 1/4 spoon Asafoetida (Hing)
7. 2 teaspoon of shredded coconut (I used frozen)
8. 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds (Rai in hindi and sasive in Kannada)
9. Few strings of coriander finely chopped
10. Oil for tadka (2-3 teaspoon)
11. Salt to taste

How I Prepare

1. Remove the beets skin and cut into 1/2 thin inch small pieces.
2. In a saute pan add oil. Once hot add asafoetida, mustard seeds. Allow the mustard seeds to splutter . Then add urad dal, red chilli (cut into half) and curry leaves and saute until the urad dal turns into golden brown color.
3. Add green chillies and beets and saute it for few minutes. Add salt as per taste and close the lid and allow it to cook until beets are tender. Stir it occasionally.
4. Turn the stove off. Garnish the curry with coriander and coconut and mix it once.
5. Serve it hot with roti or rice.

Note
1. Add little water while cooking if required. Beets should get cooked with the moisture of itself. Closing the lid helps to retain the moisture. 

Bisi Bele Bhath

Bisi Bele Bhath is an authentic dish in Bangalore. Bisi means hot, Bele means dal and Bhath is generally refers to any mixed rice. Each household in Karnataka has their own unique recipe for  B³. It's so famous that most fast food restaurants in Bangalore serves this. My mom who is basically from Udaipur was completely new to South Indian cooking but over a period of time she mastered most of the south indian dishes and this was a special dish in our home made during the winter/rainy nights. My mom makes the bisi bele bhath powder from scratch but I generally use MTR bisi bele bhath powder and it comes out equally good.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup of rice

2. 3/4 cup of toor dal (yellow pigeon peas)
3. 2 cup of vegetables (Peas, Carrot, Beans optionally you can also add cauliflower, potatoes, bell peppers)
4. 1 large onion, 1/2 for grinding and cut other half into slices.
5. 1 tomato cut into small pieces.

6.  2 cloves of garlic

7.  1/2 inch ginger

8.  2 teaspoon MTR BBB powder

9. 1/2 teaspoon sambar powder

10. 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder

11. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
12. 1 clove

13. small piece of cinnamon stick

14. 1 whole cardamon  

15. 2 bay leaves

16. 1 teaspoon Tamarind pulp 

17. Salt to taste
18. Oil for tadka (4 teaspoon)
19. 1/4 tsp Asafoetida (Hing)
20. 2-3 whole red chilli 
20. 8-9 cups of water (Based on consistency you like)
21. Ghee for garnish
22. Coriander for garnish


How I Prepare
1. Pressure cook rice and dal by adding turmeric powder, little bit of salt and 4-5 cups of water.  Take 2-3 whistles more then usual as the rice should be mushy.

2. Pressure cook vegetables too separately as usual. No need to overcook them. Optionally you can cook vegetables directly by boiling them with water in a pan.

3. Grind onion, garlic and ginger into a smooth paste.

4. In a big pan add oil. Once hot add  hing, clove, cardamon, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, whole red chilli and saute for 1-2 minutes then add grinded paste followed by sliced onion and saute it nicely until the onions are translucent.

5. Add chopped tomatoes cook it for 2-3 minutes. 

6. Add all the powders followed  by tamarind pulp and salt. Add little water if needed and cook it until the oil separates out of the masala. 

7. Add cooked rice/dal and vegetables to the above and mix everything well, Add more water if required and adjust to a consistency of a khichadi. Allow it to cook for few minutes.

8.  Garnish it with coriander and Serve it hot with a dollop of ghee and some chips/papad or  kara boondi

Note
1. Some people whom I know cook rice, dal and vegetables directly in masala instead of pressure cooking it. I tried both the ways and I like the way my mom does it. 

Broccoli Corn soup

Ingredients

1. 1 cup Broccoli florets.
2. 1/2 cup sweet corn
3. 1 teaspoon butter at room temperature
4. 1/2 teaspoon pepper (Adjust it accordingly as per your taste)
5. 2-3 cup of water
5. Salt to taste

How I Prepare


1. Take a cook pan, add water, broccoli and corn and let it boil until the veggies are cooked, nice and tender.

2. Once cooked allow it to cool and then using the blender grind it to a smooth puree.
3. Transfer puree back to the pan, add butter, salt and pepper and boil it for 2-3 minutes.
4. Soup is ready to eat. Serve it hot with some crackers.

Notes
1. I make the above soup for my 16 month old toddler and he enjoys it. I strain the soup using a strainer to remove corn skin.

Guacamole with Mint leaves

Ingredients
1. 1 ripe Avocado
2. 1/2 lemon
3. 1/2 teaspoon pepper
4. 1/4 cup red bell pepper finely chopped
5. Few strings of Coriander leaves finely chopped
6. 10-12 fresh mint leaves finely chopped
7. Salt to taste

How I Prepare
1. Cut the Avocado into half, remove the seed and scoop the fruit out.
2. Place it in a bowl, immediately squeeze the lemon juice and then mash with a fork until it forms a smooth paste.
3. Add remaining ingredients and mix it well. It's ready to eat. Serve it with some Nachos. We even tried with roasted papad and it taste Yummy :)


Notes
1. Lemon juice is must as this will avoid avocado from becoming brown.

Tips
1.Add back seed to guacamole to delay oxidization (browness)
2. If you want to store the mix in refrigerator then seal it air tight. This will be good for 1-2 days.

Whole Grain Pasta with Tomato and Spinach

Ingredients

1. 1.2 cups whole grain pasta
2. 2-3 cloves  of garlic minced
3. 3-4 ripe medium sized tomatoes finely chopped
4. 1/2 onion chopped finely
5. 1/2 cup of fresh baby spinach roughly chopped
6. 1/2 teaspoon pepper
7. 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder.
8. 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
9. 3-4 fresh basil leaves roughly chopped
10. Cheese for garnish
11. 3 teaspoon Olive oil  (Vegetable oil also can be used)
12. Salt to taste

How I Prepare

1. Take a big cook pot, add enough water and boil the water. Once the water starts boiling add some salt and add the pasta to it.  Most of the pasta boxes have the cook time it takes, follow it. I generally let it cook for 8-10 minutes and then I pick one and check it. Drain the pasta once cooked.

2. In a pan, add oil and heat it up,  add garlic and saute for 1/2 minute. Then add onions and cook it until it's translucent.

3. Add tomatoes and saute for 2-3 minutes until they are soft. Add water, pepper, chilli powder and salt as per taste. Cover the pan and let it cook for 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes are nicely smashed and the sauce is thick.

4. Add italian seasoning, spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes. Baby spinach cooks super fast. Check the taste and adjust the seasonings accordingly.

5. Add the drained pasta  and mix it well.  Then cover the pan and let it cook for 1-2 minutes.

6. Serve hot by garnishing with basil leaves and grated cheese.

Notes
1. I use whole grain pasta as a healthier option. You can use the same recipe for any pasta type u like.
2. Add 1/2 mixed bell pepper (red, green, yellow) this will add some crunch to the dish.
3. I add cheese as garnish since I am not a cheese person, but my husband is. So he gets the dish with cheese :)
4. The above dish can be fed to toddler too. Just cook pasta for 2-3 minutes more so its super soft and easy for toddlers to chew.
5. Once the pasta is cooked drain it immediately, don't leave it in water. It gets over cooked.

Tips
1. If tomato sauce is too runny, thicken it by adding some corn flour and boil it for few minutes
2. To make this recipe quicker you can use the ready made sauce available in market with different flavour. Step 3 can be omitted if u do it.

Veggie Frankie's

I and my hubby love to eat something quick and spicy for dinner on those lazy winter days and I find this recipe just doing that. It's super quick even though the recipe calls for multiple steps. If you have most of the stuff handy (like chutney, tortilla, left over dry curry) then its even more quicker.  This recipe is very close to the bombay frankie.

Ingredients

1. 1 packet of whole wheat tortillas (My sister makes thin roti's of maida (all purpose) flour) Or use any other flavoured tortillas.
2. One Onion
3. Mixed peppers (yellow, green, red, orange) or use which ever handy.
4. 3 potatoes boiled
5. 1/2 teaspoon black salt
6. 1/2 cumin seeds
7. 1/2 garam masala
8. 1/2 amchur powder
9. 2-3 green chilli minced
10. Salt to taste
11. 3-4 teaspoon Oil
12. Cheese ( I prefer mixed mozzarella and jack cheese). Any cheese will do
13. Coriander for garnish
14.  Chaat masala

15. 4-5 tbsp of green chutney

How I Prepare

1. Cut onions into thin slices. In a pan add little oil. After the oil is hot enough, add onions and caramelize them until golden brown. Keep stirring so that onions don't get burnt. 

2. Mash boiled  potatoes in a bowl, add black salt, amchur powder, regular salt as per taste, 1/4 tsp garam masala and mix it nicely.

3. Divide the above mix into small size portion and roll it in a hot dog shape. In a pan add little oil and roast the potato mix on both sides until golden brown. See the picture below.

4. Cut green pepper into long slices. In a pan add little oil, once oil is hot add cumin seeds, saute for 1-2 minutes. Add green chilli, sliced pepper, salt  and left  out garam masala. Saute for 3-4 minutes on medium-high flame. We want the pepper to be crunchy.

5. Now we start the frankie assembling.  Heat the tawa on a stove top. Warm the tortilla lightly on both sides. Take the tortilla out place it on a plate and spread green chutney on it. Place caramelized onions, potato and some sauteed green pepper. Sprinkle on top as much cheese you like. Also sprinkle some chaat masala and roll the tortilla and place it on tawa.  Apply some oil on top and let it cook for 1-2 minutes.

6. Cut it into 2 piece before serving. Serve it hot with green chutney and tomato ketchup. Yum Yum !!

Note
This recipe is great option for kids lunch box, you can change the ingredients as per your kids taste.

Rasmalai

Ingredients

1. 1 can of  Rasgullas  (I use Haldiram's)
2. 1/2 cup condensed milk
3. 2 cups of milk
4. 1/4 tsp Cardamom powder or 1 cardamom smashed
5. Few saffron strands soaked in little water for 5 minutes
6. 1/4 cup of Mixed nuts to garnish  (I use pistachios and Almond slices)

How I Prepare

1. Take one rasgulla at a time and place it in between your palms and gently squeeze it until all the syrup is drained out. Make sure not to break the rasgulla.  Repeat for all rasgullas and keep it aside.

2. In a cook pot mix milk & condensed milk and bring it boil. Once boiled simmer the flame and let it boil for few more minutes. Keep stirring in between.

3. Add cardamom powder, saffron water and few saffron strands to milk. Preserve few strands for garnish. 

4. Add 1/2 portion of  nuts to the milk and let it boil for 1-2 minutes.

5. Switch off the stove and drop all the rasgullas to the milk and stir it gently so that everything gets soaked well in milk. Once cool refrigerate it for few hours

6. While serving, garnish with nuts and saffron strands. 


Note:  I found this recipe online :) while searching for some quick desserts . It is super quick and super delicious recipe.

Baby Lentil(Masoor Matki) Soup

Ingredients

1. Whole Baby lentils (Masoor Matki) - 1 cup
2. 1/2 onion cut into small pieces
3. 1/2 cup carrot cut into small pieces
4. 1 small tomato cut into small pieces
5. 2 cloves garlic, minced
6. 1 bay leaf
7. 1/2 teaspoon roasted cumin seeds powder
8. 1/4 teaspoon pepper powder
9. 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
9. 4 cups of water (Or can also use vegetable broth)
11. 2 teaspoon oil (I use olive oil)
10. Coriander for garnish
11. Salt to taste

How I Prepare

1. Wash the baby lentil with cold water.
2. In a cook pot add oil and heat it up. Once the oil is hot enough add bay leaf, followed by minced garlic. Saute it for 1 minute or until garlic raw smell is gone.
3. Add onion and saute until its transparent.
4. Add tomato and carrot. Saute it for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add cumin, chilli powder,  pepper powder, lentil and saute it for few minutes. Add water and salt.
6. Once the soup starts boiling, lower the flame and let it cook for 25-30 minutes covered. Stir it once in 10 minutes and try to mash the lentil.
7. Cook until the lentils are soft and gravy is of soup consistency.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it hot.

Tip
While stirring the soup make sure to mash few lentil with a spatula. This will make the soup liquid thick and consistency of the soup will be good.

Bangalore Masala Puri

Ingredients

1. 1 cup dry yellow peas, soaked for 4-5 hours or overnight.
2. Small medium size onions finely chopped
3. Small ripe tomato chopped in small pieces
4. 1/2 teaspoon roasted cumin seed powder
5. 1/2 teaspoon black salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon amchur powder
6. 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
7. 2 cloves
8. 2 bay leaves
9. Salt to taste
10. 3-4 green chilli paste (add more for spice)
11. Tamarind chutney (I used home made)
12. Green chutney (I used home made)
13. Corainder leaves for garnish
14. Chat masala
15. Lastly have some pani puri's or flat sev puri (ready or homemade)

How I Prepare

1. Pressure cook soaked peas with cloves, bay leaves, little salt with 2 cups of water.  Let it cook for 3-4 whistles. If  peas are not well cooked , cook it for couple of more  whistles or until they are mushy.
2. To the pressure cooked  peas, add cumin powder, black salt, green chilli paste, black pepper powder, amchur powder and boil for 2-3 minutes. Add more water if required. By now the peas should be in semi solid state (few peas smashed and some whole)
3. Taste the above gravy and adjust salt and spice accordingly.
4. Take a bowl, crush few puris. I usally take 3-4 per bowl.
5. Add 2-3 spoons of cooked peas mixture. 
6. Top it with onions, tomatoes, coriander, green chutney, tamarind chutney and sprinkle some chat masala and its ready to eat :)

Tip
1. If cooked peas is watery, mix one teaspoon of roasted dalia powder with little water and add it to the gravy and boil  for 2-3 minutes. Gravy will become thick.