Aloo tikki

My boy has been asking for this simple snack, and I was only too happy to find it in showmethecurry.com
I blindly followed their recipe and it was pretty good.

Here it is

Ingredients:
Potatoes – 2 large, boiled & peeled
Dried Fenugreek Leaves – 1 Tbsp (aka Kasoori Methi)
Roasted Peanuts – 2 Tbsp, roughly crushed (optional)
Onion – 1/4 medium, finely chopped
Green Chilies – to taste, finely chopped
Salt – to taste
Roasted Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp
Chaat Masala – 1 tsp
Dried Mango Powder – 1/4 tsp (aka Amchur)
Cilantro – 2 Tbsp, finely chopped
Bread Crumbs – as needed for coating tikkis
Oil – for pan frying


Method:
1. Using a grater, grate boiled potatoes (big shred). Potatoes can also be mashed using potato masher.
2. Add Onions, Peanuts, Cilantro, Green Chilies and Dried Fenugreek Leaves. Mix gently.
3. Add Salt, Chaat Masala, Roasted Cumin Powder and Dried Mango Powder. Mix well.
4. Apply a little Oil to your hands and take a portion of the potato mixture into your hands. Roll it into a ball and flatten it out gently. Tikki can be rolled small for appetizers or larger for veggie burgers.
5. Roll out all of the tikkis.
6. Pour out some bread crumbs on a flat plate and dip and roll the tikkis to coat completely.
7. Heat a little oil in a non-stick skillet on medium heat and shallow fry the tikkis until they are crispy and brown. Both sides should be browned.
8. Serve hot with mint or coriander chutney and tamarind chutney.

Tapioca Mash (Kappa)

This is a native Kerala dish, which I encountered during my hostel days. It was so simple and tasty, the perfect snack with chai after coming back from college in the evening.

Tapioca(called kappa) is a tuber. I am sure there are ways to find out if the tapioca is fresh and good, but I am not aware. I got about half a foot of the tuber and was so happy, that I decided to cook it right away.

Ingredients
Tapioca 6 inches long, skinned, and chopped to big chunks. It should be white in colour.
Oil, mustard seeds, green chillies, curry leaves, turmeric powder for seasoning.
Salt to taste.

Method

1. Cook the tapioca in a pressure cooker with some water. It takes longer than potatoes to cook. 
2. Once cooked, mash it up well, keep the water aside.
3. Heat oil in a kadai, add the seasoning. Add the cooked tapioca , salt and mix well. Add little water if its too dry. Its ready!

The regular combination is kappa with fish. I have no clue as to how that will be.
Another good option is to have it with chammandi(coconut-onion chutney).  I can tell you that this combo is just yumm....

Remember, kappa in itself is a little bland, so the chutney gives it the tang.

Besan ka dosa

I have a lot of besan at home, thanks to my over enthusiasm over some dishes. Now that the temporary insanity has blown over, I am left scampering with what I am to do with all this besan.

Got inspired by 'Besan ka puda' from Manjula's kitchen. Modified it to what I had in my pantry. So here goes.

Ingredients
Besan 2 cups
Rice powder 1/4 cup
Asafoetida a pinch
Onion chopped fine
Carrots grated
Green chillies chopped
Coriander leaves chopped
Salt to taste

Method
1. Mix all the ingredients well with water to a smooth batter. Take care to remove any lumps. Add water little by little so that you don't end up with too thin batter.
2. Heat a griddle and once hot, take a spoon of the batter and spread on the griddle. Take care to spread quickly, else it will stick to the griddle.
3. Add a few drops of oil/ghee around the edges. Cover and let it cook.
4. Turn the dosa. The cooked side should be brown. Cook the other side so that a few brown spots are formed.
5. Make dosas with the rest of the batter.

Serve hot with mint chutney and/or tomato ketchup.

I can think of more veggies to add in this - grated cabbage, grated tomato and so on.

It made for a quick, filling, healthy and tasty breakfast today.

Try it!