Onion Pakoda (Onion Bhajji)

Ingredients
Onion - 1 1/2 longer slices
Gram flour (Besan) - 1/2 cup
Green Chillies - 2 or 3
Ginger - small piece
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Coriander
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Baking soda - 1 tbsp
Oil to fry

Procedure
In a mixture/grinder jar, put the green chillies, Ginger, cumin seeds, Coriander and turmeric and grind into a paste. Keep aside.

In a bowl take the onion slices, gram flour, the green chilli paste, salt, turmeric, rice flour, baking soda and mix well by adding small quantity of water. The mixture has to be very hard so make sure that you don't put too much of water while mixing.

Heat the oil in deep frying pan. Using hands for releasing the pakoda's in oil slowly release them into the heated oil by squeezing the paste in your palms. Let the pakoda's come out as they are coming out from your hand while squeezing. Fry to medium flame and remove when fried to mild brown. And your tasty pakoda's are ready to savor.

Author's Note
To serve prepare the red-chilli chutney. Cut a medium sized onion into small pieces and add to it 1/2 tbsp of red chilli powder, 1 tbsp of heated oil and mix well into a paste. Onion pakoda's along with this Red-Chilli chutney is fabulous combination. It's just too good to savor these pakoda's when the rain drops on the roof-top: Garma-garm Kanda Bhajji...

There are two variations to making these pakoda's.
1. More of Onions and less of gram flour will make your pakoda's crispy
2. Less of Onions and more of gram flour will make you soft pakoda's. This soaks more oil while frying.

Similarly, you can prepare Methi-Spring Onion pakoda's (Bhajji's).

Kaju Nut Pakoda

Ingredients
Besan (Gram flour) - 1/4 kg
Kaju (Cashewnuts) - 1/4 kg
Baking soda - 1/2 tbsp
Pure Ghee / Dalda - 1/4 kg
Oil - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp

Procedure
Heat 1 tbsp of oil for a minute. Now in a bowl take the gram flour and add salt, baking soda, red chilli powder and the above heated oil. Mix well all the above ingredients. Now add the Cashewnuts and mix well. Add some water while mixing to make a reasonably thick dough.

NOTE: - While preparing the dough make sure that dough is make hard enough by adding sufficient water to the gram flour while preparing the dough.

Now in a deep frying pan, heat the Pure Ghee / Dalda. Now take some dough in your palms and release them into the pan slowly into small pakoda's. Fry until golden brown on low-medium flame. Make sure that you don't fry them more. Now prepare all your pakoda's like this and your snack is ready.

Author's Note
This is a very good Evening snack and can be preserved for around a month's time. Once prepared, store in an air-tight container and savor whenever you feel like munching upon something.

Chakodi - South Indian Snack

Ingredients
Rice flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Ajwaine (Ova) powder - 3 tbsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

Procedure
Boil water in a bowl and slowly add butter, ajwaine powder and rice flour. Make sure you add the rice flour slowly to avoid formation of balls. Now add salt to taste. Remove from flame and cover with a lid. Set aside for around 3 to 4 hours, to cool.

After around 4 hours, mix the above into a dough. Take a small portion of the dough and roll into a long rod-like form. Cut this into small logs of around 2-3 inches. Move these into expanding spiral to form the wonderful chakodi's. In the same way prepare all your chakodi's with the dough.

In a deep frying pan, heat the oil. Once the oil is hot enough to deep fry, slowly deep fry the above prepared chakodi's.

Author's Note
A very tasty snack easy to prepare and can be preserved. Once prepared, store in wair-tight container and they will last for around 1 month. These are very good tea-time snacks.

Rava Dosa

Ingredients
Suji (Sooji) - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Curd - 1 cup (curd should be little sour)
Maida - 1/4 cup
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Garnishing -
Onions - 1 big finely chopped
Green Chillies - 3 or 4 finely chopped

Procedure
In a bowl take Suji, rice flour, Maida, cumin seeds and salt. Add to this the curd and mix well into a batter. Keep aside this batter for an hour.

Add some water to this batter and mix well making sure that the batter is not very watery nor is it very hard. The whole idea is to make the batter just perfect.

Now take a shallow frying pan and heat 1 tbsp of oil spreading it across. Now take the dosa batter (around 1 big spoon) and prepare the round dosa by slowly expanding it from the middle (alternatively you can use a small katori / steel cup). Add a little oil at the edges and fry on both sides till golden brown.

Once the dosa is fried, before serving sprinkly the finely chopped onions and green chillies. Fold the dosa and serve hot with Coconut Chutney or Idli Chutney.

Author's Note
Idea of Rava Dosa is to prepare the batter just perfect and fry on both sides till golden brown.

Moong Vada

Ingredients
Moong Dal - 1 cup
Green Chillies - 7 or 8
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Onions - 1 (big finely chopped)
Ginger - 1 small finely chopped
Curry Leaves
Coriander
Poha - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste

Procedure
Soak poha and moong dal in water for around 2 hours. After 2 hours wash well and remove all the excess water. In a mixture/grinder jar take this poha-moong dal mix and grind into a coarse paste (Paste should not be very smooth). Keep aside.

In the mixture/grinder jar take ginger, onions, green chillies, curry leaves, coriander, salt and jeera. Grind well to a paste (do not add any water while grinding). Now mix this with the moong dal paste. Mix well, but do not add any water.

In a deep frying pan heat some oil (sufficient for deep frying). Make small round shaped vada's by hand with a hole in the middle. And fry these slowly in the oil. Pleae make sure that the flame is on low/medium while frying. This is required for the vada's to be completely fried. Light golden brown color at the outside would confirm that the vada's are ready to savor. And your delicious vadas are ready.

Author's Note
While frying make sure that the flame is kept on low/medium. With high flame vadas might be fried from outside but inside it will still be uncooked. These
vadas goes very well with curd mixed mango pickle.

Cheese Gobi Paratha

Ingredients
Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Cauliflower - 1/2 cup chopped and boiled
Cheese - 1/4 cup
Green Chillies - 4 or 5
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Butter - 1/4 cup

Procedure
Take the wheat flour in a bowl and add 1/4 tbsp of salt to it and prepare the dough. The dough should be hard enough to prepare the chapati's.

In a bowl take the boiled cauliflower and add salt to it. Mix the chopped chillies, Garam Masala and Cheese with this, thoroughly.

Now prepare the chapati by taking a small amount of dough and when a small chapati is made put the above prepared cauliflower mix and close from all sides to stuff it. Roll slowly into a chapati. While rolling into a chapati, please roll evenly so that the stuff goes to all the parts of the chapati.

In a pan put some butter and heat for a minute. And now fry the chapati on slow/medium flame. Fry on both sides and if needed add some butter at the edges
while frying. And your Cheese Gobi Paratha is ready to serve.

Author's Note
This Paratha goes very well with Mango pickle. Also you can have this with curd (Salt or Sweet).

Maharashtrian Poha

Ingredients
Poha (Rice flakes) - 1 cup
Potatoes - 1/4 cup finely chopped (cut in small pieces)
Onions - 1/4 cup
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1 tbsp
Rai (Mustard seeds) - 1 tbsp
Green Chillies - 3 or 4 (cut in small pieces)
Ginger & Garlic paste - 1/4 tbsp
Hing - 1 pinch
Turmeric - 1/4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil

Procedure
In a deep frying pane add 5 tbsp of oil. Heat it for a couple of minutes. Now add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, onions, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, turmeric, salt to taste and potatoes. Fry for some time till potatoes are softer and a little crispier.

Parallely in a bowl take 2 cups of water and soak the rice flakes in it. Soak for a couple of minutes and then squeeze all the water from it. Add this into the above frying pan and mix well. Keep stirring while adding the rice flakes. Heat for around 5 minutes on medium flame. And your delicious Maharashtrian Poha is ready to savor.

Author's Note
Poha goes very well with lemon pickle. You can also add groundnuts and/or green peas.