Masala Vada with chickpeas

This masala vada one of indian fritters is very famous in India. This is one of the street food of India. some times we prepare this crispy masala vadas in our home and here goes the recipe...

masala vada

Ingredients for masala vada:

Split chickpeas (Chana dal) 1 ½ cup.

Green Chilies - finely cut4-6

Curry Leaves ½ cup.

Onion - finely chopped ½ cup

Ginger-garlic pastes ½ tsp.

Coriander leaves chopped ½ cup

Red Chili powder ½ tsp.

Turmeric powder ½ tsp.

Salt to taste

baking soda 1/2 tsp. 
rice flour 2 tsp.

Oil for deep fry

Preparation of Masala Vada:

• Wash and soak chana daal in enough water for about 4-5 hours.
• Drain the water completely and keep 2 tbsp. chana dal aside.
• Grind together red chilies, curry leaves, chana dal. 
• Make a thick coarse paste. Do not add any water. don't make smooth paste.
• Transfer to a bowl chana dal (2 tbsps. which we have kept aside earlier), chopped onion, finely cut green chilies, all other ingredients. Do not add any water.
• Mix well with your right hand. the batter should be like the above image....

• Heat oil in deep wide pan/kadai.
• Mix paste thoroughly and check for taste. Add more salt-chilies if necessary.
• Make lemon size balls with this chana mixture and on wet palm pat them into small patties keeping the center thick and tapering towards the end with approximately 2 inch diameter.
• Once the oil is heated nicely drop these chana patties into it and deep fry them. Fry first one side then the other till golden brown.
• Add about 4-5 depending on the size of the pan at the same time.
• Remove from oil, when done and place on tissue paper to remove excess oil.
• Serve these hot vada with any type of chutney or sauce or ketch up.

Onion fritters

Onion fritters are one of my favorite snacks. Indian name for onion fritters is “piyaz ke pakode” piyaz means onion and pakode means fritters. These are very good in taste and very crispy. The more you use curry leaves, green chilies, coriander and onion the better taste you get for these yummy-crispy pagodas’.  In India many type of fritters are made using various vegetables, meat and chicken which I’ll post later. Remember use less water app.1or2 spoons.

Ingredients for onion fritters:

Onions - Chopped lengthwise 4
Chickpea flour/besan 1 cup
Curry Leaves  1bunch
Green Chilies 4-5
Red Chili Powder 1tsp.
Salt to Taste
baking Soda 1pinch

Fresh ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp.

Turmeric powder ½ tsp.

Chopped coriander ½ cup.
Oil for deep frying.

Preparation of onion fritters:

• Take a big bowl add onions and add all the other ingredients mix it well with your right hand.
• Add chickpea flour/besan to it. If required add very little water.
• In the meanwhile take a kadai/pan and pour oil in it. Let the oil become heat.
  Once the oil turns hot,
• Then start pouring about 1 spoon full of mixture prepared earlier into the hot oil.
• Once you pour the mixture to the hot oil turn the flame slow.
• Fry this mixture till little brown.
• This gives crispy as well as good taste to it.
• Then remove it from the oil and put it on a paper towel.
• Arrange it in a plate or tray and serve hot.

Murukku-savoury

A savoury snack made of rice and spices, Murukku can be stored over large periods of time. This is a very common savoury in India it is made in every kitchen. Homemade Murukku are very good than the readymade packets. These are very crispy and tastes good. Murukku has different names all over india but tastes similar, it is made in lots of varieties.

Ingredients for murukku:

Butter 1 tsp.

Chili powder ½ tsp.

Oil for deep frying

Rice flour 4 cups.

Salt ½ tsp.

Sesame seeds 1 tsp.

Urad dal (white gram) 1 cup

Water as required.

        Preparation of murukku:

• Wash and clean the rice well. Leave it to dry.
• Once it has dried completely, powder it nicely or you can use rice flour.
• Fry the white gram and powder it.
• Keep it aside.
• Mix together the powdered rice, powdered gram, white sesame seeds, cumin seeds, butter and salt. Do not add water.
• Take a little of this mixture and add water to it to get a dough like consistency.
• Now make boll and stuff this dough bolls into the murkul frame.

 this is the murukku frame these are in 2 models i prefer first from the left will be easy to use it has app. 5 blades you can prepare murukku in 5 patterns. 

• Heat oil in a kadhai or a pan.
• To test if the oil is hot enough, drop a pinch of dough into it. If it sinks, the oil isn`t hot enough.

• If the dough springs to the top with bubbles all around it, then the oil is ready.
• Now slowly press the murukku frame so that the dough drops into the hot oil and fry till golden brown Keep flipping the sides till the murukku is done.
• Store in an air tight container.

Meat fritters\ kofta Curry

This my brother's favorite dish. In this dish koftas (meat fritters) are prepared and a curry is made like a gravy and then served.Take the curry in a serving bowl and put some bolls on top. Then pour 2tsp of curry again on the bolls and serve it. This one is my favorite dish.This curry is mainly served with Nan bread (Nan ki roti), rice, chapatti, normal bread.

Ingredients for mutton fritters:

Mutton boneless ½ kg.
Chopped green chilies 5-6

Chana dal boiled 1 cup
salt to taste

Red chili powder 1 tsp.                                             
ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp.

Turmeric powder ½ tsp.

Garam masala same as other dishes.

Mint leaves 1full cup.

Coriander 1 full cup.

Oil frying deep frying

Preparation of mutton fritters:

• Add all the above ingredients and 
• blend in a blender to make a thick paste.
• Put a drop of oil on your palm, 
• take a little of the mutton paste and make it into a boll.
• Make bolls from all of the mutton paste in the same way.
• steam these balls using water.
• Now heat oil in a pan
• Deep fry all the bolls (5 at a time).
• Keep these aside for a while.
• These balls are called as kofta’s in India
• After frying serve some kofta's with the the curry and 
• some without the curry.   

Ingredients for the curry:
onions 1 cup

Coconut dried chopped ½ cup

Poppy seeds (khaskhas) 4 tsp.

Red chili powder 2 tsp.

Turmeric powder ¼ tsp.

Salt to taste

Ginger-garlic paste ½ tsp.

Mint leafs chopped ½ cup

Coriander ½ cup

Green chilies 4

Oil ½ cup

Water for gravy

Garam masala powder same as other dishes.

Fresh lemon juice 2 tsp.

Preparation of curry:

• Fry coconut and poppy seeds separately in a pan without oil, make a fine paste by adding water.
• In the same pan fry onions using few drops of oil and make a paste.
• Now heat rest of the oil and fry 2 tsp. of sliced onion till golden color.
• Add ginger-garlic paste fry for a few sec.
• Add both the pastes .
• Fry these for 1 min.
• Add red chili powder, salt, turmeric powder, mint leaves and water.
• Cook for 5 min. on slow flame.
• When the gravy is cooked and is thickened add garam masala powder, coriander and green chilies.
• Just before you turn off the flame add lemon juice.

Potato balls/fritters

 In India this is called as Aloo bonda.

Ingredients for potato balls:

Potatoes 2 nos. Besan (gram flour) 2 cups. Green chilies 2 nos. Turmeric powder ½ tsp. Red chili powder  ½ tsp. Salt to taste Oil for deep frying Fresh coriander

Preparation of potato balls:

	Boil the potatoes and mash it properly.
	Add red chili powder, chopped green chilies to mashed potatoes.
	Make balls of this mixture and keep aside.
	Add water to besan and make a batter of medium consistency.
	Now add turmeric powder and salt to batter.
	Dip each ball in the batter and fry it till it turns golden brown. Take the fried balls into a plate and garnish with coriander and chat masala. Serve hot with tomato ketchup.