A - Z Indian Street Foods ~ Y for Yam Tikki / Yuca Cutlet

I didn't think much about this letter as I was somehow fixated between choosing a recipe starting with either yellow or yam. And finally it was yuca that gave me the idea of tikkis. Yuca when cooked to a mushy stage tends to become kinda sticky and so, I added a potato as well to the mixture and added a little extra corn starch than usual. The mashed tubers came to about 2.5 cups and gave me around 14 tikkis which were yummy. Serve them with either chutney or use it as a part of a chaat. Mine were served with cilantro chutney and some went into ragda pattice.

Ingredients for tikkis: (Yield about 12 tikkis)
1 medium sized yuca 
1 big sized potato
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. amchur powder
1/2 tsp. cumin powder 
1/2 tsp. coriander powder
Salt to taste
3 - 4 tbsp. corn starch
2 tbsp. minced cilantro
3 tbsp. oil to shallow fry

Method:
1. Peel and cut the yuca into big chunks. Cook in a sauce pan adding enough water on stove top until it is almost mushy. (I used a microwave.) Drain the cooked yuca pieces and let them cool. 
2. Peel and cut the potatoes into big chunks. Cook in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles or on stove top until they are done. If using a microwave, cube the potatoes to quicken the cooking process. Drain the cooked potatoes and let them cool. 
3. Mash the vegetables and add to a mixing bowl. Add the spice powders, salt, corn starch and cilantro in a bowl. Mix well and divide the mixture into 12 portions. Roll each one into a ball and flatten it a bit to form a patty.
4. Heat 2 tbsp. oil on preferably a non stick pan on medium flame. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium and place the tikki in the hot oil. Place as many tikkis as the pan can hold without overcrowding.
5. Cook until the bottom side of the tikki turns golden brown. Flip them using a spatula and cook until the other side turns golden brown too. Transfer them onto a plate covered with paper towel.
6. Repeat the steps with the remaining mixture.
7. Serve them warm with green or sweet chutney.

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A - Z Indian Street Foods ~ O for Onion Pakoda

This April has been weird in terms of weather. Besides showers, it has been bringing on and off snowfalls as well including today's one. It is the 6th one of the month for us though the accumulation on the ground is melting by the next day's sun and we didn't have to shovel in the below freezing weather. Days of the month had been more cloudier and I am not sure whether the ground will thaw enough to bring flowers in May.

Blame it on weather or the street food themed marathon of mine, I have been deep frying more and more this month and making my husband happy. 😋 Probably I finished my year quota of deep frying in one month. 😕 I prepared these crunchy, delicious chickpea flour based onion fritters yesterday and ate all by myself as there was no one home to share them with. They go by the name pakoda, pakora, pakodi depending upon the region you live in India. These fritters are not region specific and enjoyed through out the nation with unequivocal love whether savoring with family on a cold evening with a cup of coffee or tea or hanging out with friends and eating at a street joint. 

They are simple to prepare at home. The pakoda batter must be prepared really thick / tight and fried on low flame. If the batter gets thinner, one would end up with another popular fritter called bhajiya / bajji instead. Mixed vegetables / greens can be mixed as well while preparing batter. If onions are not preferred, they can be replaced with cashews or peanuts as well and these can be stored longer.

Ingredients required:
3/4 cup besan / chickpea flour
2 - 3 tbsp. rice flour
2 onions, thinly sliced lengthwise (about 1 cup)
Chili powder to taste (Chili powder + finely chopped green chilies can be used. I skip chilies when serving kids)
Salt to taste
Few curry leaves, finely minced
2 tbsp. hot oil
Oil for deep frying 

Method:
* Mix all the ingredients except the oil to fry in a bowl. Add a tbsp. or two of water and prepare a firm dough.
* Heat the oil in a kadai or a deep-bottomed pan. When the oil is hot, drop small portions of the batter with your fingers in the hot oil. Turn the heat setting to lowest and fry them until they turn golden brown. Fry as many pakoda as the pan can fit without overcrowding. Remove them with a slotted spoon onto absorbent towels. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.
(Do not fry them until they turn to a dark shade. If the onions turn black, they would turn bitter.)

So far, on this series,
A for Aloo Kabli
B for Bajra Vada
C for Chooda Matar
D for Dahi Batata Puri
E for Elaichi - Kesar Lassi
F for Fulwadi
G for Ghugni Chaat
H for Hare Chane Ki Chaat
I for Indori Garaadu Chaat
J for Jamun Bun
K for Khakra - Chana Bhel 
L for Locho
M for Masala Puri Chaat
N for Nippattu Masala Chaat

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A - Z Indian Street Foods ~ N for Nippat Masala / Nippattu Masala Chaat

Today is turn of 'N' in my alphabetical journey of Indian street food and I leaned towards another Bangalore special for it. It is nippat(u) masala and as the name suggests, nippattu is the star of this chaat dish. It is super crunchy, loaded with flavors. Nippattu aka chekkalu aka thattai is a traditional snack from the southern parts of India. It is basically a deep fried, crispy rice flour discs. For this particular  chaat, mini sized nippattu are needed. In case, if using the regular big sized nippattu, break each one into 3 or 4 pieces and proceed the same way. They should at least about flat poori size to hold the toppings. Feel free to use store bought nippattu as it makes the preparation of this chaat quite simple. Thanks to my husband, I always have a few bags of store bought nippattu at home and I used those here.

This recipe is quite flexible. Consider the quantities of ingredients mentioned below as guidelines and they can be increased or decreased to suit you. Let your palate be the right judge. Unlike the golgappa puris / flat pooris, this nippat base doesn't get soggy quickly. (Unless you leave it aside for an hour or so.) However keep the vegetables prepped so that you can assemble just before serving. (And if anyone is wondering why individual pieces of my nippat masala are not showing in pictures is because I had sprinkled toppings finally over the entire plate.)

Ingredients: (Yield 2 generous servings)
16 small or 4 big nippatu / thattai 
About 1/2 cup green chutney
About 1/2 cup sweet tamarind chutney
1 onion, finely minced
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled & grated
3 tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup fine sev *
1/2 cup congress kadalekayi **

1 cup puffed rice

Red chili powder to taste

Chaat masala to taste

Salt to taste 

* Sev - Crisply deep fried chickpea flour strands
** Any spicy peanuts can be substituted. I used microwaved spicy peanuts.

Method:

* Combine chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro and grated carrot in a mixing bowl and keep aside.

* Arrange small nippat equally on two serving plates. (If using the regular big sized nippattu, break each one into 3 or 4 pieces and proceed the same way.)

* Apply a tsp. of green chutney and a tsp. of sweet chutney on each nippat. (Increase or decrease the quantities of chutneys depending upon how much spice level is preferred.)

* Spoon about a tbsp. or more quantity of vegetable mixture over chutney smeared nippat pieces.

* Sprinkle a pinch of salt, red chili powder and chaat masala uniformly over the nippat. 

* Next top it with generous amount of sev and congress kadalekayi. Finally top it with a big handful of puffed rice. 

* Lift each nippat along with all the toppings and pop it into your mouth to savor the flavors.

So far, on this series,
A for Aloo Kabli
B for Bajra Vada
C for Chooda Matar
D for Dahi Batata Puri
E for Elaichi - Kesar Lassi
F for Fulwadi
G for Ghugni Chaat
H for Hare Chane Ki Chaat
I for Indori Garaadu Chaat
J for Jamun Bun
K for Khakra - Chana Bhel 
L for Locho
M for Masala Puri Chaat

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A - Z Indian Street Foods ~ M for Masala Puri / Masala Puri Chaat

Today's chaat comes from south Indian state of Karnataka, that has gradually become popular in other states as well. Masala puri or masala puri chaat is a yummy street food where the crushed pooris are served with a spicy, hot peas curry and the usual chaat toppings like onions, tomatoes, cilantro, sev, sweet chutney and a sprinkling of chat masala. It is quite a simple recipe though it doesn’t appear so given the long list of ingredients. If you have store bought pooris, meetha chutney and sev, all you need is to cook peas curry. The peas curry also can be prepared in advance and can be reheated before assembling and serving thus making it a convenient chaat to prepare for family / guests without hassle. Most of the recipes over the web prepare the spice masala from the scratch and I realized that those are the ingredients found in pav bhaji masala. This recipe is therefore adapted from here for it’s simplicity. My husband appreciated this chaat the most among the lot I posted in the series so far. It was so good that I don't think I need another recipe for masala puri chaat. 

List of ingredients for peas masala:

Part 1:

1 cup dried peas, soaked overnight or 7- 8 hours

1 potato, peeled and roughly chopped

1/8 tsp. turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Part 2:

1 tbsp. oil

1 small onion, peeled and chopped

1 green chili, slit lengthwise

1 clove garlic, chopped (I didn't use any.)

1 inch ginger, grated or chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

Kashmiri or any similar red chili powder that is less spicier

1/8 tsp. turmeric powder

2 tsp. pav bhaji masala powder

1 tsp. or to taste aamchur powder / dry mango powder

1/4 tsp. garam masala powder

1/2 tsp. sweetener 

Salt to taste

Ingredients for each serving of chaat:

About 10 flat puri / papdi

Sweet tamarind chutney as needed

2 tbsp. finely minced red onion

2 tbsp. finely minced tomato 

1 tsp. finely minced coriander leaves / cilantro

1 pinch of red chili powder 

2 pinches of chaat masala

Black salt (optional)

Sev (Deep fried, crispy chickpea flour vermicelli)

Preparing peas masala:

* Drain the soaked peas and rinse once with fresh water. Pressure cook peas, potato, salt and turmeric along with 2 cups of water for 3 whistles.

* Mash the vegetables and keep aside. (I pulsed everything in a food processor a couple of times so that I had a coarsely crushed peas - vegetable mixture.)

* Meanwhile, prepare the masala base for the peas curry. Heat oil in a pan or kadai. Add onions, garlic, ginger and chili and saute until onion turns translucent. Next add tomatoes and cook until mushy.

* Cool the onion and tomato mixture and blend to a smooth paste and pour into the same pan. Also add peas and mashed potato.

* Add the remaining spice powders in Part B and salt. (Remember that salt was added while cooking peas as well.) Add water and mix well. The consistency of the curry should be pourable like shown in the images. If the consistency appears thicker, add some more water and cook. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. Slowly simmer the mixture for 10 - 12 minutes. 

Serving masala puri:

* Place as many puris as you wish to serve in a serving bowl. 

* Crush them roughly and pour 2 - 3 ladles of green pea curry or as much preferred. 

* Drizzle meetha chutney / dates - tamarind chutney over the curry generously or as preferred.

* Top it with minced onion and tomato as much as preferred. 

* Sprinkle a few pinches of chaat masala, red chili powder and also black salt if needed.

* Top it with a generous dose of sev and minced cilantro. Serve immediately. 

* If using puris, they soak up the liquid and turn soggy quick whereas papdis don't get soggy quicker and may add an extra crunch. 

Notes:

1. White dried peas or green ones can be used.

2. In lieu of puris, flat puris / papdi can be used. 

3. A chopped carrot can be added along with potato and peas while pressure cooking. Or grated carrot can be used as topping too if preferred.

4. The quantities of spice powders mentioned can be used as guide lines and adjust the quantities according to your taste preference or level of tolerance for spices.

So far, on this series,
A for Aloo Kabli
B for Bajra Vada
C for Chooda Matar
D for Dahi Batata Puri
E for Elaichi - Kesar Lassi
F for Fulwadi
G for Ghugni Chaat
H for Hare Chane Ki Chaat
I for Indori Garaadu Chaat
J for Jamun Bun
K for Khakra - Chana Bhel 
L for Locho

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A - Z Indian Street Foods ~ L for Locho / Surti Locho

The first time I heard about 'locho' was on a Gujarati TV cook show that I used to watch religiously until a few years ago. I had bookmarked that recipe and had tried it a couple of times. Locho is a steamed dish that is served as a snack in Gujarat and as the title indicates, it originated in Surat city. It is prepared with ground lentil batter that is steamed and served with a drizzling of oil, sev, chutney and green chillies on the side. This dish is quite filling, healthy and guilt free. It makes a great brunch / meal time dish.

Locho batter does not any fermenting. However the dals need soaking and so at least 2 hours advance planning is required. Locho has irregular shape unlike dhokla / khaman and do not come in regular cut pieces. I added water generously while grinding the batter when I made locho for the first time and even 2 hours of steaming would not let the locho to set. I learnt my lesson that day and prefer making a thick batter now. And so, I end up with a firm shaped locho that could be cut into pieces. I paired it with Vaishali's peanut chutney, where peanuts are added to the regular green chutney which makes a flavorful variation.

Ingredients for locho:

1 cup split chickpeas / Bengal gram / chana dal

A handful split & skinned black gram / urad dal

A handful beaten rice flakes / poha

2 spicy green chillies

1-inch piece ginger

Salt to taste

1/8 tsp. turmeric powder

2 – 3 pinches of asafetida

¼ cup ground nut oil

1 Eno sachet

Crushed black pepper as required

Sev* to garnish

* Sev - Deep fried, crisp chickpea flour vermicelli available in any Indian grocery store.

Preparation of locho:

* Wash the dals and poha together for about 3 hours. Drain and grind them along with ginger, chillies and salt into a fine batter with as little water as possible. (I used my food processor to grind and added about a tbsp. or two of water.) Transfer the ground batter to a bowl. Add turmeric, asafoetida and 2 tbsp. of oil to the batter and mix well.

* Heat a steamer or dhokla maker with water.

* Grease the dhokla plates or the container used to steam the locho. When ready to steam, add Eno to the batter and stir well. Fill the greased dhokla plates / container with batter. (If using plates, fill upto ¾ th.) Sprinkle crushed black pepper uniformly. (Some sprinkle red chilli powder too.)

* Place the dhokla plates / container in the steamer. Steam them on low flame until a knife inserted at the center comes out clean. It may take about 20 minutes. Turn off the stove and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

 

Ingredients for peanut chutney:

¼ cup toasted and skinned peanuts

1 cup firmly packed cilantro leaves

1 or 2 spicy green chillies

Salt to taste

Lemon juice to taste

Preparation of chutney:

Add everything in the list above to a mixer / food processor. Add as much water as needed to facilitate grinding and grind finely. Refer to the chutney in the pictures above to determine how much quantity of water should be added for chutney making. 

How to serve locho:

* Remove the steamed locho container from the steamer. Drizzle with some oil over the top.

* Next, one can try either running a sharp spoon / knife around the edges, unmould the locho and cut into shapes.

Or with a spatula remove about 3-inch sized pieces. (The shape doesn't matter actually in case of locho and so no pressure in getting it right.)

* Arrange some locho pieces on a serving plate. Top with sev generously.

Serve with peanut chutney and green chillies on the side.

So far, on this series,
A for Aloo Kabli
B for Bajra Vada
C for Chooda Matar
D for Dahi Batata Puri
E for Elaichi - Kesar Lassi
F for Fulwadi
G for Ghugni Chaat
H for Hare Chane Ki Chaat
I for Indori Garaadu Chaat
J for Jamun Bun
K for Khakra - Chana Bhel 

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A - Z Indian Street Foods ~ K for Khakra & Chana Bhel

I had thought of posting another Andhra street food for ‘K’ but the recipe was so time consuming that when the time came for action, I neither had the energy nor the inclination to try it. Instead I went for Kalyani’s khakra bhel that was cook free and fuss free. The recipe has been in my bookmarks folder since she posted and I was itching to try it for quite some time now. Bhel must be one of the simple street food fare that can be created at home. With additions, deletions and substitutions of ingredients, one can come up with variations. Khakras, the spicy, toasted flat breads from Western India come in as substitute for flat pooris in this bhel and add a nice crunch along with sev. Khakras come in a lot of flavors and I used the coriander-chilly variety in this bhel. Chickpeas are a nice addition to this bhel besides adding protein factor. I tried her dry / sookha version and enjoyed this yummy bhel. 

Ingredients:

2 khakhras (spicy flattened toasted breads) (I used the coriander-chilly variety.)

1 cup puffed rice / murmura

Boiled and salted chickpeas as needed (black or white variety)

1 green chilli, finely chopped

½ minced Onion (optional)

½ chopped tomato (optional)

Grated or finely chopped raw mango

Green chutney to taste

Dates-Tamarind chutney to taste

Salt to taste

Chaat Masala to taste

Ingredients for topping:

Sev

Finely chopped coriander leaves
Minced onion & tomato if using

Method:

* Crush the khakra into small pieces. Add all the other ingredients except the toppings to a mixing bowl. Mix well and toss once. 

* Taste and adjust the ingredients’ quantities if needed. Top with sev, minced cilantro minced onion and tomato.

* Serve immediately as the puffed rice gets soggy if allowed to sit.

So far, on this series,
A for Aloo Kabli
B for Bajra Vada
C for Chooda Matar
D for Dahi Batata Puri
E for Elaichi - Kesar Lassi
F for Fulwadi
G for Ghugni Chaat
H for Hare Chane Ki Chaat
I for Indori Garaadu Chaat
J for Jamun Bun

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A - Z Indian Street Soods ~ J for Jamun Bun

My husband's hometown is Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh and naturally he has fond memories attached to the place. Y.V. Street happens to be the central point of that town both literally and figuratively. It is the primary business center and the focal point for all the hustle bustle of the town. My husband's ancestral home used to be smack right in the middle of this area and a few steps outside in the evening would land him in the tempting zone of street foods. I guess as a kid, it was definitely enchanting to him considering that the man hasn't changed much at all in his love for street fare. 

This jamun bun seems to be one of his favorite during those times and he wanted me to recreate that magic once more. He remembered what went in though he forgot the name of these delicious sweet buns. He wasn't even sure that any one sold these buns anymore in the town. I had never heard about it before and so, was no help in figuring out the name of this bun. A few calls to his siblings and even a friend in Kadapa resulted in knowing that these buns are still sold in the town. That particular friend had in fact ate that bun the previous day he was called but said that he doesn't recall the name either. 

These buns have gulab jamun stuffed inside. Gulab jamun is a famous Indian dessert where spongy milk-solid balls are fried and dunked in rose flavored sugar syrup. I have never seen anyone in southern India using the rose flavor for the syrup though and so we simply call it as jamun. That's why at last we figured out that these must be obviously called jamun buns. A jamun is placed on one of the half a bun, topped with chopped nuts and sprinkled with cardamom to flavor and then syrup is poured over on the other half. I have a sweet tooth and naturally these buns tempted me as soon as I heard the description and I chose these 'Jamun Buns' for my alphabet 'J' in the 'Indian Street Foods' Series. I used the store bought instant pack of jamun mix to prepare my jamuns. These buns were a real treat and I could understand why my husband would remember these buns after all this time.

Ingredients for each serving:
1 bun
1 jamun
1 tbsp. of chopped nuts (I used pistachios and almonds.)
2 pinches of ground cardamom
2 tbsp. or more sugar syrup (used to prepare jamun)

Method:
* Open the two halves of a bun. (I used the Ham burger buns.)


* Place a coarsely mashed jamun on one half of the bun.

* Top it with chopped nuts and sprinkle the ground cardamom.


* Pour the syrup uniformly (as much as you prefer) on the other half of the bun. 

* Place this syrup soaked half on the other half.

* It can be eaten immediately but I found that allowing it to sit for five minutes makes the bun soak the syrup better and it tastes better. 

So far, on this series,
A for Aloo Kabli
B for Bajra Vada
C for Chooda Matar
D for Dahi Batata Puri
E for Elaichi - Kesar Lassi
F for Fulwadi
G for Ghugni Chaat
H for Hare Chane Ki Chaat
I for Indori Garaadu Chaat

 
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A - Z Indian Street Foods ~ I for Indori Garadu Chaat

One of my sisters-in law lived most of her life in Madhya Pradesh, starting from her college days to until she passed away recently. She lived mostly in Indore and her family still lives there. I had the opportunity to taste the Indore street food in person and so, I had decided early on that I would cook something from there, which is popular for it’s street food scenario. I came across this Indori Garadu chaat while exploring the local street food virtually.

Garadu is a yam that is local to the region and this chaat is prepared by crisply frying the cooked and cubed garadu and seasoning with a special spice mix called jiralu masala and lemon juice. Among the lot of yams available to me locally, I felt that yuca root would be a perfect substitute for the garadu and decided to try with it. Yuca is a yam that grows in the hot, arid areas of Americas and Caribbean. One yuca gave me about 2 cups of cubes. The final dish was so yummy that I had requests to make it again.

Recipe source: Sanjeev Kapoor

Ingredients:

About 2 cups cubed garadu (I substituted yuca.)

Oil to fry

1 tbsp. or more jiralu masala

Salt to taste

Lemon Juice

Minced cilantro to garnish

Ingredients for jiralu masala:

2 tsp. roasted cumin powder

1&½ tsp. dry ginger powder

½ tsp. chili powder

¼ tsp. turmeric powder

2 pinches of asafetida powder

½ tsp. black salt

½ tsp. rock salt

Method: 

* Combine everything mentioned under the ingredients' list for jiralu masala in a bowl and keep aside.

* Peel the yam and cut into thick discs / chunks. (It was hard to dice yuca before cooking.)

* Place them in a microwave safe bowl and add enough water to cover them. Cook in the microwave until just they are done. (Yuca took me about 3 minutes to cook in the microwave.) 

If using stove, place the yam pieces in a sauce pan with enough water and cook until just done. Don't overcook them.

* Pour the cooked yam into a colander and drain. Let it cool and then cut into bite sized cubes.

* Heat oil in a pan or kadai. Deep fry the cubes until they are lightly colored. 

At this point, there are two options.

1. Remove the lightly fried cubes and drain on absorbent towels. Fry them again on medium flame until crisp on medium flame.

2. If serving immediately, continue frying on medium flame until crisp.

* Arrange the fried cubes over a serving plate. Sprinkle jiralu masala and salt to taste over the cubes. Squeeze lemon juice as much as needed. Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve immediately. 

So far, on this series,
A for Aloo Kabli
B for Bajra Vada
C for Chooda Matar
D for Dahi Batata Puri
E for Elaichi - Kesar Lassi
F for Fulwadi
G for Ghugni Chaat
H for Hare Chane Ki Chaat

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