Kadhi pakoda (majjiga pulusu with pakodi)/ chickpea flour fritters in buttermilk gravy

Sometime back, I have posted a recipe for majjiga pulusu (buttermilk pulusu). Majjiga pulusu where many vegetables are cooked in buttermilk, is a popular side dish in South India. The North Indian version of the same is Kadhi pakoda. In this dish, instead of vegetables, small pakodas (deep fried chickpea flour fritters) are cooked in buttermilk gravy.

There are different recipes for making kadhi pakoda from different regions of India like Punjabi kadhi, Gujarati kadhi, UP kadhi etc.

You need to have sour buttermilk or yogurt to make this dish. If using yogurt, add some water and whip it so that you get buttermilk. Thickness of the gravy, is according to your taste. If you more flowing gravy, you may add more water while cooking.

Kadhi pakoda served along with hot steamed rice makes such a nostalgic dish. Serve it along with some crunchy papads and it is going to be a hit!

As I am trying to reduce deep fried cooking, I used the gunta pongaralu/paniyaram chetti or Aebleskiver pan to make the pakodas. This version of kadhi pakoda was tasted by many of my guests and found as good as the deep fried version (if not better!)!

Go ahead and try it out!

 

Ingredients:

For pakodas:

•      1 cup besan (chickpea flour)
•      2 Tbsp. rice flour
•      1 or 2 green chilis  (finely chopped)
•      1/2 inch ginger (finely chopped)
•      2 Tbsp. onion (finely  chopped)
•      1/2 Tsp. baking soda
•      Salt to taste
•      4 Tbsp. oil

For kadhi:

•      2 cups or more buttermilk
•      2 Tbsp. besan
•      1 Tsp. chili powder
•      1 Tsp. dhania powder (coriander powder)
•      1/2 Tsp. jeera powder
•      1/2 Tsp. garam masala

For seasoning:

•      1 or 2 red chilis
•      1 Tsp. methi seeds
•      1 Tsp. ajwain
•      1Tsp. mustard seeds
•      Pinch of hing (asafetida)
•      Curry leaves
•      Cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Making pakodas:

1.      Mix besan, rice flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
2.      Add green chili, ginger and onion pieces.
3.      Add a little water and mix thoroughly to make the batter. Not too watery and just enough to drop as pakodas.
4.      Clean and heat the gunta pongaralu/paniyaram chetti or Aebleskiver pan.
5.      Add a drop of oil and brush around.
6.      When the pan is hot, drop a spoon of batter, add a drop of oil and cover.
7.      Cook for a few minutes, when the pakodas are semi cooked, flip them and cook.
8.      Check after a few minutes with a fork and if fully cooked, remove from pan and set them aside.
9.      Repeat till most of the batter is used.

Making kadhi:

1.      Using the same bowl, add buttermilk, and besan, chili powder, dhania powder, jeera powder and garam masala.
2.      Mix thoroughly with a whip taking care that there are no lumps.
3.      Heat a deep pan and add oil for seasoning.
4.      When oil is hot, add red chili, methi seeds, mustard seeds, jeera and ajwain.
5.      When mustard seeds flutter, add hing and curry leaves.
6.      Pour the buttermilk mixture and keep stirring.
7.      Let it boil for a few minutes.
8.      Take hot water in a bowl.
9.      Place the pakodas for a few minutes.
10.      Squeeze the liquid out and place them in the boiling buttermilk mixture.
11.      Add all the pakodas. Let them cook for one or two minutes. If cooked too long, pakodas break. So see that they are not overcooked.
12.      Remove from heat, add salt and mix it well.
13.      Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with cilantro.
14.      It is a popular side dish for rice or kichadi. 

 

 

 

 

 

Dry fruit burfi (sweet using figs, dates and nuts)

Diwali (festival of lights, victory of good over evil) is celebrated all over India. Lots of sweets are prepared and exchanged with friends during this festival. My niece Veni Sankar suggested that there must be some recipes for making sweets in the blog. So, I am trying to give one or two recipes to make sweets which are healthier, less time consuming.

Most of the Indian sweets are made using lots of sugar, khoa (similar to ricotta cheese) or white flour.
Looking for healthier ingredients, which are both nutritious and tasty, I decided to make Dry fruit burfi, where no additional sugar and very little ghee (clarified butter) are used. This sweet is good for growing children and for senior citizens as well!

Anjeer (figs) are a good source of potassium, which helps in blood pressure control and also contain a lot of dietary fibre. Fibrous foods have a lot of effect on weight management and also sugar control. So I wanted to include anjeer (figs) in the recipe. Khajur (dates) are known to be maintain sugar levels, aid digestion,  prevent anaemia, lower risk of heart disease etc. They are a  good source of vitamins, and other nutrients and known as a very good antioxidants.

Dates, figs, nuts, cardamom etc:

Nuts partially cracked, figs and dates processed together:

Poppy seeds, oats and cracked nuts being roasted:

Figs and date mixture added to the dry mixture:

Burfi (after refrigerating) being cut in to slices:

Ingredients:

•      1 cup anjeer (dried figs)
•      1 cup seedless khajur (dates)
•      3/4 cup walnuts
•      3/4 cup almonds
•      1/3 cup cashews
•      1/2 cup pistachios
•      2 tbsp. khus khus (white poppy seeds)
•      2 tbsp. oats
•      2 tbsp. ghee (clarified butter)
•      1 tsp. cardamom powder

Directions:

1.      Remove the stems and bottom portion of figs. Cut them into 4 pieces
2.      Remove any seeds or top portion of dates and cut into 3 or 4 pieces.
3.      Coarse grind walnuts, almonds, cashews and a few pistas in a food processor.
4.      Grind together dates and figs so that they are mixed well. Need not be completely mashed.
5.      Heat a thick bottomed pan, add ghee.
6.      When ghee melts, add oats and poppy seeds and stir well.
7.      When oats and poppy seeds are turning golden brown, add nuts mixture.
8.      Stir well for a few minutes.
9.      Add dates and fig mixture, and go on mixing everything together.
10.      Turn the heat off.  Add cardamom powder.
11.      Knead well using your hands.
12.      If necessary, you may grease your palms with ghee or oil.
13.      Place the mixture in a plate and knead some more.
14.      Make it into 2 or 3 portions, and knead each one and make a roll.
15.      Roll the cylindrical mixture on pista and almond slivers.
16.      Place each roll on aluminum foil and wrap it around and roll it on a board so that the inside stuff is fully packed.
17.      Leave the rolls in refrigerator for 1 or 2 hours.
18.      Open the foil cover, slice the roll according to your choice thickness.
19.      Dry fruit and nuts burfi is ready for eating!

 

Mexican sour gherkins subzi

Mexican sour gherkin are also known as mouse melon or melothria scabra. They are the size of large grapes, look like our kundru (miniature) or doll sized watermelons and taste like cucumber or kundru. This variety is not  genetically-modified hybrid developed in laboratories! It is heirloom that has been grown and eaten in Mexico for centuries. A long-lost heirloom, cucamelon has only recently been rediscovered. Now, they are grown in USA and are available in farmer's markets etc during summer. Mexican sour gherkin is mostly used in salads, pickles along with pearl onions etc.
If you are looking for seeds to plant in your garden, you may have to look for "melothria scabra"

  

Google search provided some information about its availability in India, though I wonder if it is the same vegetable. Kachri or kachari is a wild variety of cucumbers, and grows wildly in Rajasthani desert. It is supposed to be sour to taste and kachri powder is used in tenderizing meats etc.

Last year it was planted in our yard and the fruits were eaten raw from the plant as snack! It almost looks like kundru and also tastes very much like kundru or cucumber. I wanted to make use of this vegetable in making Indian subzi. This year we got quite a few of cucamelons and I got to experiment. You may use the same masala as in the recipe for dondakaya kothinira karam kura also. I am inserting some photos of the climber etc for more information.

Here is one recipe:

Mexican sour gherkin on the climber:





 Ready for cutting:                                                                           Cut only partially:

As compared to kundru you can see the size:

After microwaving and in the pan:

After adding besan and masalas:

 

Ready to be transferred:

Ingredients:

•      2 cups sour gherkin
•      2 to 3 tsp. oil
•      3 tbsp. besan (chickpea flour)
•      1 tsp. chili powder
•      1/4 tsp. jeera powder.
•      Salt to taste
•      1 tsp. jeera seeds (cumin)

Directions:

1.      Place sour gherkin in a microwave safe bowl.
2.      Sprinkle a little water.
3.      Cook covered in a microwave for 1 or 2 minutes.
4.      Melons must be parboiled and not mushy.
5.      Heat oil in a nonstick pan.
6.      Add jeera and stir for a minute.
7.      Add microwaved melons and keep stirring for a few minutes.
8.      Mix besan, salt, chili powder and jeera powder in a plate.
9.      Sprinkle the powder mixture to the melons.
10.      Keep cooking on medium heat and keep stirring.
11.      When besan gets golden brown in color, stop cooking.
12.      Transfer to a bowl and serve.
13.      A good side dish for rice, roti etc.