Ragda Patties

Though I say I dont like to cook that is not exactly true, I only hate cooking the ordinary stuff dal-chawal, chapatti-bhaji, etc. Tonight as I looked into my fridge and saw a mundane pumpkin and some veg kofta balls I had made in bulk and frozen weeks earlier I knew instinctively what I would end up picking for dinner.

The problem was what to make with them, I have been experimenting with malai kofta recipes and have yet to find a decent one, but I would have to make chapattis too, more work than I was in the mood for. Or I could make a re-imagined Veg balls in hot garlic sauce with fried rice. But, we are on a diet and B will NOT eat rice at night.

And then I hit upon the perfect solution, why not fry them up as cutlets and make my favorite chaat - Ragda Patties. As you might have figured by now, our diet plan is highly selective, even before I put the question to B I knew he would be heartily endorsing shallow fried potatoes for dinner.

The recipe I have for this mouth-watering chaat is amazingly simple, made even simpler since I had a lot of the fixings on hand - I always keep a jar of tamarind-date chutney in my pantry and of course I had the koftas. Squashing the koftas didnt make for very pretty cutlets but they were going to be coverd with the ragda anyway. Because I had made them earlier they had peas, cashews etc in them but for the actual recipe I like to keep the potato cutlets very simple, just like you get on the roadside in Mumbai. The whole thing should take about an hour, less if you are more organized than me.

Ragda Patties

Ingredients
For the Patties: (Should make appox 8 large cutlets)
Potatoes - 3/4 large sized, turmeric and salt.

For the ragda:
Dried White Peas - 1 and a half cups (I use teacups of 125 ml), 1/2 tsp. baking soda
Grind to a paste - 3/4 green chillies, 3/4 large cloves of garlic, 1" ginger, 2 tsp coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp shah jeera seeds, 7-8 pepper corns, 2-3 dried red chillies, 3-4 pieces cinnamon, 4 cloves.

For garnish:
Chop finely 1 small onion, mix with finely chopped coriander leaves and keep aside.
Tamarind-Date chutney (plain tamarind will do too)
Coriander, Cumin, Pepper and Red chilli Powders.

Method
For the patties: Boil and grate the potatoes (you could mash them too but I like the consistency of grated better). Mix turmeric and salt to taste, shape into cutlets and shallow fry them. If desired, some boiled peas from the next step can be stuffed into the center of the cutlets.

For the ragda: Soak the peas overnight, then boil them with the baking soda in a pressure cooker (if you dont soak the peas beforehand, you will have to cook them longer) and keep aside. In a kadai, heat some oil, add the ground masala paste and fry for a little time, add the peas, salt and let boil until desired thickness is reached.

Assemble the chaat:
Place the cutlets in a plate, pour the ragda on top, add onion+coriander, the tamarind chutney and sprinkle with all the four powders.

Enjoy :D

10 Mins Gobi

Here is something I came up with, really a lazy man gobi, easy to make , turned out yumm to eat. Hope u enjoy it

Ingredients

1 whole Cauliflower - cut into bite sized pieces
50 gms thick Curd
1 tbs Coriander pwd
1 tbs Cumin pwd
1 tbs whole Cumin
1/2 tps Turmeric
1 tbs Chilli pwd
Salt to taste

Method

Wash the Cauliflower, set it aside. In a large bowl Mix all the dry ingredients and the Curd (except the whole Cumin). Toss in the Cauliflower into the Mixture. Let it rest for 30 mins.

In a saute pan in hot oil add in the 1 tbs of Cumin, then toss in the curd coated cauliflower. Toss on high flame till done evenly all over and golden brown in color. Done!

Bread Poha

Though I love cooking but every now and then I get bucked up when am short of choices for breakfast. And in such times Bread Poha comes as a savior.

It comes with twin benefits, as in it is easy to make and it also polishes off the uff so boring old bread in a whiff.

Here is the recipe for Bread Poha/ Upma

Ingredients
Bread Slices – 6-7 (preferably a day or two old)
1 Teaspoon Oil
Rai (Mustard Seeds) – ½ teaspoon
Curry Leaves (Kadi Patta) – 4-5
Onion – 1 (finely cut)
Potato – 1 (Cut into small pieces)
Tomato – 1 (Cut into small pieces)
Green Chilly – 1-2 (Cut into small pieces)
Salt as per taste
Red Chilly Powder as per taste
Lemon Juice – 1 teaspoon

Take out the bread from refrigerator and let it be for ½ an hour.
Cut off the thick sides of the bread and taking them two at a time rub them against each other making a fine powder of it. (As in pic)

Heat the pan; put the curry leaves & rai after 3-4 seconds put the onions. Once the onions are semi transparent put the potato and cover the pan.

Once the potato is cooked add the tomato & green chilly and let them cook.

After all the veggies are cooked add the refined bread and all the spices. Sprinkle a little water on it and cover it with pan for 5 mins. Open the pan after 5 mins, sprinkle the lemon juice & a little bit of sugar. Cook it for few more min
utes and it is ready to be served.


Peas can be added if available & the dish can be garnished with coriander leaves.

It takes just 15 mins to cook the whole thing and it tastes very good. I have been using brown bread to make it and it only makes it healthier.

Mishti Doi

The extremely popular Bengali mishti doi is a very thick cake-like yogurt sweetened with sugar or gur and allowed to ferment in an earthen pot.

One of my defining principles in the kitchen is to keep things simple, and when a relative passed on this extremely quick and easy treat I added it to my repertoire instantly. Of course, you could go the traditional way and boil the milk, set the curds etc to make it, but this simple recipe cuts out all the fuss and achieves almost identical results. I say almost because I've never tasted it, mine or the original, milk products being something of a no-no for me. But, every Bengali I have ever served it to has instantly fallen in love with it. Dont start counting calories though!!

The following is the recipe for the traditional mishti doi. Be careful not to overbake, it can get dry. If you want a slight change, add some powdered elaichi to it before baking or garnish with pistachios, almonds and saffron strands while serving!

Mishti doi (dahi)
Serves about 4 people

1 tin condensed milk
3-4 heaped tblsp. yogurt (depending on taste)

Mix the above ingredients together in your favorite baking pan. Bake in a 350 deg F oven for 15-20 mins (or until the sides separate from the pan). Serve cold.

Halwa Kaddu

Halwa Kaddu is a variety of pumpkin which is green on the outside and yellow or pale inside. It is supposed to be loaded with nutrients. Excuse me for using too many punjabi words for ingredients, I will try to put in as many hindi/english translations as is possible for me.

250 gms Kaddu
half cup diced onions
qtr spoon methi seeds (methre), fenugreek
half spoon sugar
salt, turmeric, lal mirch acc to taste (1 teaspoon, half, half is my preference respectively)

chop the kaddu into quarter inch peices and wash.

In a pan heat a little oil/ghee/desi ghee and throw in the methi seeds. Let the seeds sputter till rosy and throw in the onion. Fry the onions till clear, dont brown. Toss in the kaddu and mix well, sprinkle in salt,mirch,turmeric,sugar. Cover the pan well and lower the heat to the minimum and let sit for 15 mins or so or till the kaddu get very very tender. Mash it a bit and stir well.

Eat with Rotis