Pudachi Wadi / Cilantro Rolls For April ICC

Srivalli chose Maharashtrian Pudachi Wadi or cilantro rolls inspired from this recipe, for this month's Indian Cooking Challenge. A spicy filling of cilantro - coconut mixture encased in a chickpea & wheat flour dough is deep fried. This is a perfect tea time snack, especially for spicy food lovers. I guess I was generous with the usage of spices and chili powder in this recipe and these wadis turned out to be a treat for our spice / heat loving palates. I did not even need green or tamarind chutney to savor them.
I am not at all happy at the way these images have turned out. I was super exhausted on that particular day and had very little time to capture these delicious wadis. And also it was a cloudy day. All factors combined lead to this poor representation of this fabulous wadis. :(

Ingredients for about 10 - 12 vadis:
Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients. The process is not as complicated as it seems.

For outer covering:
3/4 cup chickpea flour / besan
3/4 cup wheat flour / atta
3 Tbsp hot oil
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste

For the stuffing:
2 cups cilantro / coriander leaves
1/4 cup grated dry coconut / copra 
1 Tbsp poppy seeds / khus khus
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp ginger - green chilli paste (I ground 1 big Serrano pepper and one inch piece of ginger adding a few Tbsp of water in my blender.)
3 cloves garlic chopped fine (I did not use it.)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp lime / lemon juice
1/2 tsp sugar

For the paste:
2 tsp oil
1 tsp kala masala / garam masala
2 tsp thick tamarind pulp

For deep frying:
Oil

Preparation:
1. Wash the cilantro leaves. Spread on a dry towel for a few minutes. I put the leaves between two layers of a thick towel so that the water was absorbed by the time I finished other prep work.
If you still feel the leaves are wet then just pat them gently with the towel. Finely mince the cilantro and keep aside.
Adding dry leaves is crucial since you want to avoid the final stuffing mixture turning soggy because of the watery cilantro.
2. Lightly toast the sesame seeds, poppy seeds and the coconut. Let cool and powder them.
3. Mix all the ingredients mentioned under "for the outer covering" and form a firm dough adding water as needed.
4. In a small cup, combine the ingredients mentioned under "for the paste".

5. Now comes the stuffing preparation. Heat a Tbsp of oil in a kadai and add the onions. Saute them until translucent. Add the ginger - chili paste, garlic if using, roasted & ground powders (from step 2), salt, sugar, lime juice, chilli powder and mix well. Fry for a couple of minutes. Then add the cilantro leaves, mix well and cook for a minute or so and turn off the stove.

Method:
* Pinch a small ball of dough and roll it thinly into a circle using some flour for dusting. How big the rolled circle should be depends upon one's preference. It can be anywhere between 3 to 6 inches of diameter. Leaving the edges, smear the center of the rolled dough with the paste. And then spread a few spoons of stuffing mixture.

* Cover from both sides as shown in the pictures. And then fold one end and seal it. (The recipe says to use water to seal but I did not.) Repeat with the other end.
 

* Repeat these steps until you use up all the covering dough and the stuffed mixture.

Actually I made these in different shapes - triangles like samosas and even half moon shaped like these kajjikayalu.

* Heat a few cups of oil in a deep pan or a kadai. When the oil is hot enough to deep fry, slowly drop the stuffed rolls and fry flipping them until wadis turn golden brown on both sides.

People who are participating in the ICC has been exempted from posting for blogging marathon "with the theme" today and so this is going to be my 7th day (or the final) post in the first group of this blogging marathon #5. From tomorrow, the second group's marathon starts and check out my sweet dishes during the run. J

I have enjoyed working with this first group in BM#5 though there had been some blogger mishaps and we have lost some posts in the process. Check what the other marathoners are cooking on this final day.
Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Cool Lassi(e), Harini, Kalyani, Priya Mahadevan along with me
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Priya Suresh, Veena 
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Shylaja, Srivalli  
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Priya Yallapantula  
Under 15 mins Quick Breakfast: Aarthi, Vaishali

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Masale Bhath / Masala Bhath

Indian cuisine is as wide, varied and colorful as the country itself. Every part of India has it's own culinary heritage to boast about. Probably one's lifetime is not enough to even get to know about the regional cuisines of India.
Kudos to Lakshmi for starting such an amazing event, which gives us a glimpse of regional cuisines of India and an opportunity to try our hand at unfamiliar cuisines. This month's RCI is hosted by lovely Nupur of One Hot Stove and the theme is Maharashtrian cuisine.
I know very little about Marathi cuisine, except a few things like the common foods (Maharashtra & neighboring states) prepared at my home, the chat foods we enjoy at the local eateries, Maharashtrian 'Goda masala' & 'Kokum' which I come across when I go to shop at Indian grocers which have an exotic appeal (to me). I had the opportunity to taste Maharashtrian food as a tourist and I know that this is no way to get acquainted with local cuisine in a true sense.

This event has inspired me to try Masala Bhath / Masale Bhath (this is more appealing, sounds more like Kannada), a spicy, Maharashtrian rice dish. It is a simple, delicious rice - vegetable preparation, spiced up with the masala (powdered spices) added to it. It is simple in terms of preparation. If you have prepared your masala powder in advance, then you can come up with this dish in matter of minutes. The vegetables usually that go into the dish are tindora, green peas and eggplants. Some how the tindora - eggplant combo was not appealing to me and hence I skipped eggplants from the dish. If you are not familiar with Marathi cuisine , then believe me, this dish falls under 'Crowd Pleaser' category.

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 Cup, heaped

Washed and quartered, Tindora - 1 cup ( I used 10 oz frozen tindora)

Green Peas - 1/4 cup

Oil - 3 - 4 Tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Asafoetida - a few pinches

Cashew nuts - 1 Tbsp

Few curry leaves

Salt

For Masala powder, you need:

Grated Copra / Dry coconut - 1/4 cup
Sesame Seeds - 1 Tbsp

Cloves - 3 - 4

Red chillies - 5-6

1 inch Cinnamon pieces - 2

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Cardamom - 1

For garnishing:

Chopped cilantro

Preparation of Masala Bhath:

I took the privileges of a cook and went the easier way. I cooked the rice before, instead of cooking at the end along with the veggies..

Cook the rice using two cups of water in a pressure cooker.

On low to moderate heat, dry fry all the masala powder ingredients till they turn light brown in color. Let them cool and grind them into a fine powder. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan/wok. Add mustard seeds to the oil. When they start to pop, add cashews, curry leaves and asafoetida. Saute them for a few seconds and add tindora and green peas. Cover the lid and keep stirring in between. Let the tindora cook till they are done. I fried my tindora till they were crisp.

Now add the masala powder to tindora and saute for a few seconds. Then add cooked rice and salt to the tindora mixture and mix till all the rice and vegetables are coated well with the masala powder.

Garnish with cilantro.

Serving:

I served hot masala bhath with papad and raita. If there are any authentic Maharashtrian side dishes that go with this dish, please let me know.

Masala Bhath - My entry to RCI - Maharashtrian cuisine hosted by Nupur.

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