Tag Archives: indian

Chickpea Flour and Swiss Chard Savory Crepes with Mint Ginger Raita (Besan ka Cheela or Chilla)

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Chickpea or Garbanzo flour is a staple in Indian households, because its so quick to cook and versatile. Back home in India, when those unexpected visitors dropped in, chickpea flour always came to the rescue. We’d make a batter of the flour and water, dip some potatoes in it and deep fry them for quick, yummy bajjis or fritters for the unannounced guests. Or, we’d make a thinner batter with the chickpea flour, throw in some spices and make golden, crispy crepes. When cooked, chickpea flour (besan) has a beautiful creamy texture and a nutty flavor. Its chock full of protein too.  

I added some shredded, wilted swiss chard to the crepe batter for extra nutrition. You could add any greens you like. The shredded chard in the batter does make it a wee bit difficult to spread around in the pan. But once youve made one crepe, you’ll get the hang of it. Just make sure you spread the batter as thin as you can.

For a simpler method, dont add the chard to the batter; instead, cook the crepes without swiss chard, then place the wilted chard (or any other filling) over cooked crepes, and roll them up.

As far as savory crepes go, this Indian style garbanzo flour crepe is one of my favorites. Its quick, filling, gluten free and vegan friendly (think of these as vegan omelettes!).  And you can customize this dish however you like. Change up the spices or fill the crepes with spiced potatoes, sauteed mushrooms or whatever left over vegetables you have on hand. 

I like to serve these crepes with an easy mint and ginger raita (recipe below). But you can serve it with pretty much any chutney you like. Mint chutney, coriander or cilantro chutney, coconut chutney, date-tamarind chutney will all be great. Or try this with store bought mango chutney.

Chickpea Flour and Swiss Chard Crepes with Mint Ginger Raita (Besan Ka Chilla or Cheela) Recipe

serves about 2

4 large leaves of swiss chard (1 1/2 cups when shredded)
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin or carom (ajwain) seeds

1 cup chickpea flour (also called garbanzo flour or gram flour or besan)
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/8 teaspoon asafoetida
1/8 teaspoon baking powder, optional
1 green or red chilli finely chopped
salt
Oil for cooking crepes

Removed and discard the stems from swiss chard leaves.  Stack the swiss chard leaves and roll them tightly. Chop the roll into fine shreds. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of shredded swiss chard.

Heat oil in a small non-stick pan, add cumin or carom seeds. When they start to sizzle, add shredded swiss card and 1/2 teaspoon water and toss on medium heat till the swiss chard has wilted to half its original volume. This will take about a minute. You should now have about 3/4 cups of wilted chard.

In a mixing bowl, add the wilted swiss chard, and all other remaining ingredients except oil. Whisk till everything is combined. The batter should be slightly thinner than pancake batter and should be easily pourable. If the batter is too thick, add more water.

Heat a non-stick pan. Pour a ladle of batter on the hot pan. Using the ladle or back of a spoon, spread the batter around to form a thin crepe. Drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon oil over the crepe. Cook on medium heat for about 1 minutes or till the bottom side is golden and sides start to crisp. Using a spatula, flip the crepe over and cook the other side till golden. Serve hot.

Ginger Mint Raita
makes 1 cup

1 cup yogurt (I recommend Greek yogurt)
1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons mint leaves loosely packed
Chaat masala to taste or salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor. Blend till smooth. Serve chilled.

Lentil Drop Curry or Moong Wadi/Mangodi Curry

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Whoever invented moong vadis is a genius. These little ‘drops’ or nuggets of dried lentils cooked in a curry, are filling and tasty. Also called Mangodi in parts of India, moong wadis are extremely versatile, you can use them in curries, soups or mashed up in chili. Because the lentils are ground up and dried, they have a great meaty texture when cooked. Moong wadis or mangodis are superb soy-free meat substitutes. 

How to use Moong Wadis

- Always shallow fry or deep fry wadis till golden before using
- Add to tomato based curries along with any vegetable you like (potato is traditional)
- Add fried moong wadis to yogurt based curries like kadhi or mor kulambu
- In the winter months I add extra water to this recipe and turn it into curried lentil drop soup. I serve the soup with a dollop of sour cream or greek yogurt
- Use fried moong wadis in vegetarian and vegan chili recipes instead of immitation soy based ‘meats’

How moong wadis are made: Moong dal and spices are soaked and ground into a paste. Little drops of this lentil dough are then piped onto a baking sheet or other surface and sun-dried for 2-3 days or untill hard. You can store these in an airtight container for several months. See this post for a recipe. I dont bother making moong wadis, I just buy them at the Indian store.

Lentil Drop Curry or Moong Wadi/Moong Vadi/Mangodi Recipe

serves about 6

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups moong wadi from the Indian store

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 red or green chilli chopped, optional
1/8 teaspoon asafoetida
1 small onion, finely chooped
1/2 tablespoon garlic paste
1/2 tablespoon ginger paste
1/4 cup tomato puree or 2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder, optional
Juice of 1/2 a lime or according to taste, optional

Heat 4 tbsp vegetable oil in a medium pot. Add the moong wadis to the oil. Fry on medium heat till the wadis are golden brown. Remove the wadis from the pot using a spoon and set aside. In the same pot, heat 1 tbsp oil.  Add cumin seeds and let them sizzle about 20 seconds or till fragrant. Then add chilli if using and cook another 15 seconds. Add asafoetida.

Immediately add chopped onion and cook till onions are soft, about 2-3 minutes. Then add garlic and ginger pastes. Cook, stirring for another 2 minutes. Pour in the tomato puree, add coriander powder, turmeric and red chilli powder if using. Let the gravy simmer for about 2 minutes. Then add the fried moong wadi along with 5 cups of water.

Bring the curry to a boil. Then lower heat, place a lid on the pot and let it simmer for about 20 minutes or till the moong wadis have plumped up and dont taste raw anymore. Taste the curry and add lime juice according to taste. If the gravy is too thick, add more water.

Serve hot with rice, bread, rotis or tortillas.

Mor Kuzhambu or South Indian Yogurt Coconut Curry

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Mor kuzhambu or moor kulambu, however you spell it, is a satisfying south Indian dish made with yogurt and fresh coconut. Mor is buttermilk in Tamil and kulambu is gravy or curry. I use yogurt to make this dish (instead of buttermilk) because it makes the gravy thicker. Peppercorns are wonderful in this dish. You don’t actually eat them, but they impart great flavor. These peppercorns are from my dear friend and fellow food blogger, Nandini’s plantation in India.

Tips

- Use freshly grated coconut or fresh-frozen coconut. Please, none of the dried or dessicated stuff!
- For a lighter version of this dish, use buttermilk instead of yogurt
- Do not let the curry boil once you’ve added the yogurt. Use low heat and stir constantly to prevent boiling
- Remember to only gently re-heat this dish
- Serve mor kuzhambu with steamed rice or curry leaf rice. See this post for my curry leaf rice recipe

A note on what vegetables to use for Mor Kolambu
You can use any vegetable you like, here are some favorites and suggestions*

- Long squash(sorakkai or lauki). Peel the skin, scoop out the seeds and cut into cubes. (This is what I used in this recipe)
- Winter melon(ash gourd, neer poosanikkai or petha). Peel skin, scoop out seeds and membrane and cut into cubes
- Ripe mango. Peel skin, remove pit and cut into cubes
- Corn on the cob. My favorite. Remove husk and cut the whole corn into 1 inch rounds. Will need more water to cook
- Orka(vendakkai or bhindi). Cut into pieces. Make sure you saute okra in oil till it is no longer slimy

Mor Kuzhambu or South Indian Yogurt Coconut Curry Recipe

serves about 6

Grind to a paste
3/4 cup fresh grated coconut
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 green chillies (use more or less according to taste)
1/2 cup water

For the gravy
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
a pinch of asafoetida
a few curry leaves
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 cups of cubed vegetable (see suggestions in the post above)*
water
salt
a 32 oz tub of plain yogurt
Cilantro for garnishing

Place the ingredients for grinding in a blender and grind into a smooth paste. Set aside.

In a deep pot, heat oil, and add mustard seeds and peppercorns. When the mustard starts to pop and splutter, add the asafoetida, curry leaves, turmeric, and cubed vegetable (see note in the post above for what vegetables to use). Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Then pour about 1 cup water, cover and simmer till the vegetable is cooked; about 7 minutes.

Add the ground coconut mixture, and cook on medium-high for about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Beat the yogurt with a spoon or whisk and add it to the coconut-vegetable mixture. Stir gently and constantly on low heat for about 2 minutes. Do not let the gravy boil once you’ve added the yogurt. Add more water if the kuzhambu is too thick. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with white rice or curry leaf rice.

Sev Puri (Chaat) – Memories of an Indian Summer. My Guest Post for The Kitchn

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This is my recent guest article on The Kitchn..

Chaat always brings back memories of carefree childhood weekends spent at my parents’ beach house in India. I’d walk over to the beach in the afternoon when the tide is low enough to pick sea shells. I’d return home with my pail full and stomach empty. A gorgeous bowl of chaat would be waiting for me  – crunchy, sweet, tangy, spicy, filling all at the same time. I’d sit on the verandah eating chaat, listening to the waves crashing near by and watching the kites sail over me.

Chaat on weekends still transports me back to those balmy evenings in India. Sev puri is my favorite kind of chaat (‘chaat’ is a general name for this Indian street food; there are several variations). Sev puri are little puffed, fried rounds of dough (puri) stuffed with  crispy noodles (sev), potatoes, onion, yogurt, tamarind chutney and mint chutney. The whole thing is then finished with a sprinkling of amazingly zestful chaat masala – a blend of salt, red chilli, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, anise, pepper, cumin, cardamom, clove, mace, carom and dried mango.

Above: Armando, the man who works at the local Indian store. He is El Salvadorian and his kowledge of Indian ingredients is encyclopedic. He watches all the bollywood movies and gets offended if they dont offer spanish subititles! Gotta love DC/VA!

You will need to make a trip to the Indian store for this recipe. You could attempt to make all the ingredients at home, but that would be time consuming. Why bother when you can buy the same thing at a store!

This is a basic recipe for sev puri; I encourage you to  be creative with it..you are limited only by your imagination. When pomegranates are in season, I like to sprinkle some on top for a colorful, refreshing sweetness. A little chunk of pineapple tucked into the sev puri is divine (toss the pineapple chunks in chaat masala for a delightful sweet-savory flavor).  To make these sev puris vegan, simply leave out the yogurt and use hummus, tahini or cashew butter instead. If you don’t have pani puris, try making this with tortilla chips instead; Scoops! will be perfect for this.

Finally, there is only one way to eat a sev puri – put the whole thing in your mouth! Don’t try to bite into it, just pop the whole thing in your mouth!

Sev Puri (Chaat) Recipe
Serves about 6

1 medium potato, boiled, peeled and diced
½ cup canned chickpeas, drained
3-4 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
40 pani puris* (fried rounds of dough)
½ cup yogurt
½ cup sev* (crispy noodles)
¼ cup date-tamarind chutney*
¼ cup mint chutney*
1 tablespoon Chaat Masala*
1/4 tablespoon red chilli powder or cayenne or paprika
A few sprigs of cilantro

*easily available at any Indian store

Mix together the boiled diced potato, chickpeas, red onion, ¼ teaspoon chaat masala and salt. Set aside. Gently poke a hole on one side of a pani puri. Make it large enough so you can stuff it with the potato mixture. Place some potato mixture inside the pani puri cavity. Top with about ½ tablespoon of yogurt. Sprinkle some sev on top of the yogurt. Then add date-tamarind and mint chutneys. Finish by sprinkling a little chaat masala and chili powder over the top.  Repeat with all pani puris. Serve immediately.

Twice Cooked Tomato Chutney

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This takes a little longer to make than your average chutney, but well worth the effort. Double cooking  the chutney (once before pureeing, and once after) makes the onion, garlic and tomatoes extra flavorful. I like to add sambar powder to my tomato chutney. Sambar powder is a roasted, powdered blend of spices from south India containing red chilies, coriander seeds, turmeric, lentils and fenugreek. You could leave out the sambar powder if you wish or use only turmeric and chili powder instead.

The recipe below is my ‘special’ version. For a simpler, ’everyday’ version of this tomato chutney, I simply saute the onions, garlic and tomatoes, blend in a blender, temper some black mustard and cumin, add the pureed chutney and cook again. No matter which version I am making, I always twice cook the chutney.

This chutney will freeze well, so if you have a bumper crop of tomatoes this summer, and dont know what to do with them, this is a great option for you. I put the chutney into ice cube trays and place in the freezer. Once they are frozen, I remove the cubes from the tray, put them in a zip lock bag and return to the freezer. This way, you can defrost even tiny quantities of chutney.

Serving tomato chutney with idlis or dosas is traditional. Here, I serve the chutney with pita bread.

Twice Cooked Tomato Chutney with Cumin and Fennel: Recipe

makes about 2 cups

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon each cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black mustard seeds, urad dal (black gram)
1/8 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 dried red chili, optional
1/2 cup curry leaves loosely packed
1 large onion (about 2 cups when diced)
8 pods garlic, peeled
6-8 (about 1 lb) ripe tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon sambar powder

for tempering:
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon each cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black mustard seeds, urad dal
a few curry leaves

Heat oil in a large wok. Add cumin, fennel, black mustard and urad dal. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add fenugreek seeds, red chili if using, and curry leaves. Cook for about 30 seconds. Then add chopped onion and garlic. Cook on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and cook on medium for about 15 minutes or till the tomatoes are completely soft.

Cool the chutney a little and then puree in a blender, along with sambar powder and 1/2 cup water till smooth. (Make sure to vent the blender lid slightly when blending hot stuff).

Wipe the wok, and heat oil for tempering. Add all tempering ingredients. When the mustard seeds splutter, reduce heat and carefully pour the blended chutney into the wok. Be very careful, the chutney may bubble and splatter. Add salt. Cover the wok and cook the chutney on medium-low for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with idli, dosa or pita bread.

Indian Apple Pickle

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indian-apple-pickle1

This is my grandmothers recipe. The granny smith apples in this pickle make a tart, sweet, spicy condiment that is perfect with rotis and breads. Make sure you use the roasted fenugreek powder, it makes a big difference! Also make sure you use tart cooking apples (I love granny smiths!); the mealy sweet apples wont work.

indian-apple-pickle2

Indian Apple Pickle
makes about 1 1/2 cups

2 large granny smith apples or other tart, cooking apples
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/8 tsp fenugreek powder (lightly roast fenugreek seeds in a dry pan over low heat and then grind to a powder)
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1-2 green chillies
3/4 tsp urad dal
a few curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
salt
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Core the apples and dice them into tiny cubes. Toss with lemon juice and set aside. Heat the oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add fenugreek powder, asafoetida, green chilies, urad dal and curry leaves. Stir on medium high heat for about 1 minute. Then add diced apples. Cook, stirring occassionally till the apples are slightly soft, about 10 minutes. Add turmeric, chili powder, and salt to the apples and cook another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust for salt and lemon juice. Once cool, store the pickle in an air-tight container in the fridge. Pickle will last about a week.

Green Mango Pickle

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green mango pickle

Green (raw) Mango Pickle

Somebody pry me away from this pickle! It’s becoming a dangerous addiction! All I’ve been eating is curd rice and mango pickle! Its that yummy. But then, what’s not to like about my grandmother’s recipes? Like all her recipes, this one is full of tasty, south Indian goodness. The secret ingredient in this pickle is roasted, ground fenugreek. I always have some on hand to add a rich, nutty, slightly bitter punch to recipes. Unlike pickled cucumber which is sweet and vinegary, this Indian pickle is spicy, salty and pickled in oil. It packs a lot of flavor, so a little goes a long way!

Make sure you buy raw (not ripe), green, rock hard mangoes for this recipe. The pickle will keep up to 3 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge. It tastes the best after the second day, when all the flavors have soaked into the mango pieces.

Green (raw) Mango Pickle

Green Mango Pickle
makes about 2 cups

1 large firm, green mango
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
2 pinches asafoetida
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chili/cayenne powder. Use paprika for less heat.
¼ tsp fenugreek powder, see below for method
¾ tbsp salt

Green (raw) Mango Pickle


How to make fenugreek powder: toast fenugreek seeds in a skillet on a low flame. Once they are fragrant, about 2 minutes, turn off heat and let the fenugreek cool. Then grind in a food processor to a fine powder. Store in an air tight container.

Using a sharp knife, cut the mango and discard the core. Chop the mango into very tiny pieces. Or you could zip it through a food chopper.

Place the chopped mango in a bowl. Place the turmeric, chili powder and fenugreek powder in a little mound on top of the chopped mango.

Green (raw) Mango Pickle

Heat the oil in a small skillet and add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add the asafoetida and turn off the heat. Pour the hot oil with the mustard seeds and asafoetida over the mound of turmeric, chili powder and fenugreek. Add the salt. Stir till everything is well combined.

When the pickle is cool, put it in an airtight container and refrigerate.

This pickle is great as a condiment with Indian food. I also enjoy it with pita bread and hummus or stirred into pasta or couscous.

Green (raw) Mango Pickle

Collards Greens Dal

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I usually make dal (also called dhal or daal) with spinach. But there was a bunch of collard greens hanging out in my fridge, so I used those instead. Unlike fresh spinach, collards have a better texture when cooked with the lentils. Sambar or Rasam powder adds a lot of flavor to this dish. For those not familiar with Sambar and Rasam powders – they are staples in every south Indian kitchen and made by dry roasting and grinding coriander seeds, red chillies, bengal gram dal, fenugreek and other spices.

Red Lentils (Masoor Dal) – 1/3 cup
Bengal Gram Dal (Channa Dal) – 1/3 cup
Green Gram Dal (Moong Dal) – 1/3 cup
Collard greens – 1 bunch
Tomatoes diced – 1/2 cup. I like Del Monte canned tomatoes with zesty jalapeno
Onion – 1 small
Garlic – 4 cloves
Ginger – 1/2 inch piece, optional
Sambar or Rasam powder – 3 tbsp
Asafoetida – 1 tsp
Turmeric – 1 tsp
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Oil – 1 tsp

Finely chop the onion and garlic. Peel the ginger, dont chop it so that you can pull it out at the end of cooking.

Heat a large pot with the oil. Add all the lentils and fry on low heat till the lentils are very slightly brown. To the lentils, add 5 cups of water, salt and turmeric increase heat and bring to a boil. Stir constantly to prevent the lentils from foaming over.

Once the water is boiling, reduce heat to medium low. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and sambar or rasam powder. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

While lentils are cooking, wash the collard greens. Remove the tough talk and veins. Stack up the leaves, roll them tightly and chop into strips.

After 20 minutes, check to see if lentils are done. I dont like them too mushy so I dont let them go more than 20 minutes.

Add the chopped collards into the lentils and cook another 5 minutes until the collards are just wilted. Turn off heat. Pull out the ginger piece. Taste and adjust for salt. Depending on how tart the dal is, add lemon juice accordingly. Sometimes the tomatoes alone will do the trick and you wont need the lemon, so taste first!

You could mix in some chopped cilantro at this point. I prefer not to because they take the attention away from the collard greens.

Serve with rice or rotis.

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