Chicken Shawarma

There might be many authentic Shawarmas in this world, but the tastiest 'ever' for me, would be,  Anat's Shawarmas in Johannesburg! They were juicy, they were spicy, they had deep fried eggplant slices, potatoes chips and yes, they had that taste and crunch! My Jo'burg stay made me an Anat shawarma addict and I still crave for those Shawarmas!!! And therefore this post today.

Of course the eggplants are not deep fried, and the potato chips are missing from my shawarma - I don't want post- dinner guilt! :)

You need:

To make pan grilled chicken:

Boneless (skinless) chicken breasts – 2 Nos. (cut into thins strips)

Lemon juice – 1 Tbsp

Greek yogurt – 1.5 Tbsp (replace with thick yogurt that is not sour)

Garlic – 1 Tbsp (minced)

Salt – 1 tsp

Cardamom powder – ¼ tsp

Paprika -1/4 tsp

Dried parsley – ¼ tsp (replace with fresh)

Cayenne pepper – 1/8 tsp

Cinnamon powder– 1/8 tsp

Olive oil – 2 Tbsp

To assemble Shawarma:

Eggplant – Cut into 1 cm thick slices and pan grilled with very little olive oil, till brown.

Pita bread

Pickled vegetables like cucumber, gherkins, carrots etc. 

Garlic sauce – Mix 1 Tbsp mayonnaise with ½ tsp minced garlic. 

Tomatoes – chopped (optional)

Lettuce - optional

1. Combine chicken, lemon juice, Greek yogurt, garlic, salt, cardamom powder, paprika, dried parsley. Cayenne pepper, cinnamon powder in a large bowl, cover and let marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator. 
2. In a non stick pan, heat  olive oil. Tip in chicken and let cook for 10 minutes until chicken browns, cook for an additional 2 minutes if necessary to brown. 
3. To make sandwich, open the pita bread like a pocket , spread garlic sauce on pita, add chicken, eggplant and pickles (you can add tomatoes and lettuce if desired). 
4. Enjoy with fries or salad on the side!

Baklava

Sweet-Tooth or No Sweet-Tooth, this one is difficult to resist. 

I learnt 3 important lessons while making this sweet meat. Never use butter substitutes to layer phyllo sheets, don't grind all the nuts together. I meant the dry fruit nuts, you silly! And lastly, treat the phyllo sheet like a friend and handle it with confidence- it will listen to you and not break/ fall apart. 

Please read my remarks in the bottom before you  proceed to avoid disasters and heart breaks! :)


You need:

Phyllo dough – 1 pkt (around 10 sheets will be used)

Butter melted - 1 Stick 

Finely chopped nuts of your choice – 1.5 Cups (I used equal qty of pecans, almonds and pistachios)

Sugar - 1/8 cup (2 Tbsp)

Clove powder – 1/8 tsp (optional) 

Nutmeg powder - 1/8 tsp

Cinnamon - 1/8 tsp

Ground Pistachios – To garnish
For the syrup:

Sugar - 2 cups

Water- 1 cup

Lemon juice - 1 tsp 

Rose water - 1 Tbsp

Orange blossom water – 1 Tbsp (skip if you don't have)

Making the syrup:

Place sugar, water and lemon in a pot and let come to a soft boil, simmer for 10 minutes then remove from heat and add rose water and orange blossom water. Now simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely before adding to the sweet. (You can make this syrup once you have put the baklava in the oven for 35-40 min. By the time baklavas come out, syrup would have cooled)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coarsely grind all the types of nuts in a food processor (one type at a time)
3. Now mix nuts, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon powder and sugar in a bowl. 
4. Butter the baking tray on all sides. Place a phyllo sheet. Now apply butter all over this sheet using a pastry brush. 
5. Place the next sheet on top of this sheet. Apply butter all over the second sheet making sure there are no big  air bubbles in between. Repeat this step to form a layer of 10 phyllo sheets.( simply put, butter each later of the phyllo dough and layer 10 sheets to form a base)
6. Sprinkle nuts uniformly.
7. Repeat the layering process with 5-6 layers on top of the dry fruit filling.
8. Carefully cut the pastry into any shape, most common is square or diamond shape. 
9. Place in oven and bake for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Drizzle the baklava while in the pan with the simple syrup and then let cool completely before serving. Top each piece with ground pistachio.

*Use only unsalted butter and please don't use any other spread or vegetable spread. I tried to avoid butter and instead decided to use melted vegetable spread that tastes like butter. I melted the spread in a dish and soon had a film of vegetable oil floating on water. The phyllo sheets got only water between the layers and I ended up with a sticky gooey baklava instead of the flaky layers. I had to redo to perfect it! :(

** Try using an organic phyllo dough. Keep them frozen till you have everything ready for stuffing, melted butter for layering. These sheets thaw in minutes. Keep a moist kitchen towel handy to cover the those sheets which are in the queue.

***Grind each type of nut separately as each takes different time to grind. If you grind them all together, some may become too fine, paste like and leave oil. 

Baba Ghanoush/ Mutabbal

First thing first, Mutabbal and Baba Ganoush (BG) are NOT the same. :) . So why have I mentioned both in my post title? Well, they are often used interchangeably even in well known Middle Eastern restaurants, leaving many like me - confused! :) OK, so both have the same main ingredient -  smoky baked eggplant/ aubergine. That's the only common thing between the two. But what makes them different? Read on..

Mutabal is the one with tahini and garlic and sometimes yogurt (sour cream) to make it creamy. 

BG is the one with pomegranate molasses, tomatoes, parsley and walnuts. (Somehow I always associate BG with baigan bharta, but that's just my personal opinion! :))

This recipe is for Mutabbal, which I prefer over BG because of super garlicky taste. Of course you can go easy on garlic if you don't want to smell of garlic on a romantic date!

You need:

Large Eggplant - 1 no. (baked then peeled)

Lemon Juice - 1.5 Lemon (adjust to taste)

Tahini Paste - 2 heaping tsp

Garlic – 2-3 cloves (minced, reduce if you are not a big garlic fan)

Salt – ½ tsp 

Greek Yogurt - 1 Tbsp or thick plain yogurt (optional, you can always add later to check if you want it or not)

Sour Cream, - 1 Tbsp (optional as I added this to cut down on the  raw garlicky taste, replace with Greek yogurt)

To garnish:

Mint or parsley leaves 

Olive oil

Cayenne pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Puncture the eggplant and roast it on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.
2. Then place the eggplant in a bowl and cover with a cling wrap.  Once it cools down, you can easily peel it and extract just the pulp.
3. Add the minced garlic (to avoid big chunks while eating), lemon juice and tahini paste, blend in a blender or with a mortar.
4. If you feel you want it a little creamier and eggplant-garlic taste is a bit too strong, add Greek yogurt, sour cream and blend well. 

How to serve:

Spread nicely in a plate such that you form a pit in the center that is not too deep. (as shown in the picture). Garnish with parsley or mint and top with olive oil and sprinkle cayenne pepper or paprika. Add olives!

Serve with olives and pita bread.

Hummus (Hummous, Hommus, Houmous)

Hummus or houmous, hommus, hummos, hummous -  no matter how you spell it, it will still be that one helluva delicious, versatile dip with amazing creamy texture. And yeah, its super healthy! Always remember - Olive oil is healthy!! OK, back to making Hummus. It is essentially made of blended chickpeas, sesame tahini, lemon juice, and garlic.

You need:

Chick Peas/ Garbanzo Beans – 1 can (14oz or 16 oz) or 1.5 cup soaked overnight

Tahini  -  5 heaping tsp and adjust to taste (Sesame Seed Paste, notes below to see how to make it yourself)

Greek yogurt - 2 Tbsp (I used Fage brand of Greek yogurt, substitute with plain yogurt with any excess water removed )

Sour cream - 1 Tbsp

Lemon juice - 2 Tbsp (adjust to taste) 

Garlic – 2-3 cloves (grated, optional if you don't want the garlic taste)

Salt – ½ tsp

Fresh mint leaves – 3-4 nos.

To garnish:

Pomegranate seeds – ¼ cup

Fresh Parsley - 2 Tbs 

Cayenne Pepper or Paprika – 1 tsp

Olive Oil - 1/4 Cup 

1. Remove all the water from the chickpeas, as you can always add a little water later if its too thick, but you can't do the reverse! If you are using soaked chickpeas, boil them with ¼ tsp of baking soda  until soft and cooked through. Use minimum amount of water and drain it before you add the chickpeas to the blender. 
2. In a blender add chickpeas, Greek yogurt or sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, salt and mint leaves. Blend until smooth to desired thickness.
3. Garnish with pomegranate seeds, parsley, cayenne pepper and olive oil as shown in the picture.

*Lime juice can be adjusted. It does remove the bitterness from the tahini sauce and makes it sweet and creamy

**If you can't get hold of tahini sauce, dry roast sesame seeds and blend with olive oil to make a very very fine paste. Best gadget to use to blend to such a fine paste is to use a spice/ coffee grinder.

Aloo Matar Paneer (Cottage Cheese with Potatoes & Green Peas)

Have you ever wondered, if you were cooking something nice for a vegetarian guest and wanted to play safe, what would be on top of your list – Aloo Gobhi, Aloo Matar, Paneer Matar, Gobhi Matar. And yeah, you could have gravy or a dry masala as a variation. So when there is a 99% chance that a vegetarian would be treated to one of these, it becomes a must for this blog to have the basic recipe which can be altered here and there to make more varieties.

This is my mom's recipe and that basically means, spices will be few and focus would be on retaining the taste of the vegetables and paneer.

Serve this with Paratha (flaky crispy flat Indian bread) and Boondi Raita for a simple yet nice dinner! Yes, it's possible even on a Wednesday night! 

You need:

Paneer/ Cottage cheese – 300 Grams

Boiled Potatoes – 2 medium size

Sweet green peas – ½ Cup

Onion – 1.5 Large (roughly chopped in big chunks)

Ginger – 1 inch (grated)

Garlic – 4-5 cloves (grated)

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Cinnamon stick – 1 no.

Green cardamom – 2

Black cardamom – 1

Bay leaf – 1

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Tomatoes – 1 Large (roughly chopped)

Garam Masala – ½ tsp

Red chili powder – ½ tsp

Oil – 2 Tbsp

Fresh green coriander/ Cilantro – Lots and lots )

1. In a non stick pan fry Paneer cubes in 1 tsp of oil till they become golden brown from almost all sides. Do this on medium high heat so that the paneer remains succulent from inside as it gets a little crisp on the outside. Transfer to another dish.
2. In the same pan heat the remaining oil.
3. Add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon, green cardamom, black cardamom. Fry on low heat for about 30 sec or till it oil gets infused with all the spices.
4. Tip in ginger, garlic and onions. Immediately add some salt. This helps in sweating the onions and this avoids oil from getting soaked in.
5. Once translucent in color, add turmeric, red chili and coriander powder. Fry for 1-2 min.
6. Now add chopped tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes become a little pulpy.
7. Add garam masala and fry for 3-4 min till all the raw taste of masala is gone. Add a couple of tablespoon of water if the masala starts sticking to the bottom.
8. Now add roughly chopped boiled potatoes and green peas. Give it a good mix. Cover and cook till peas are cooked from inside and potatoes have soaked in some flavors from the masala.
9. Now add the paneer and gently mix to evenly coat all the masala.
10. Spread chopped coriander on top and switch off the heat. Let it stay with the lid on for 4-5 min. Loads of coriander is an integral part of this preparation.
11. Mix well before serving.

*Adding salt as soon as you add the onions is a good technique to stop the oil from getting soaked in onion and other vegetables. You will end up using much less oil, though the curry will still look nice and rich.

** If you want to make this with cauliflower, pan fry the florets in a non stick pan till they become golden brown from outside. Then cover and cook for 3-4 min, so that they are also cooked well from inside. Add the florets along with the potatoes and green peas.
***Poori (deep fried flat Indian bread) along with this veggie tastes heavenly!!

Banana Malpua with Rabdi (pan grilled)

I can eat Malpua (Indian pancake, deep fried and dunked in sugar syrup) anytime of the day, any number of times a day, and sometimes even wake up in the night to have some. But the guilt of eating deep fried sweet meat, soaked in sugar syrup and then generously drizzled with Rabdi (milk and cream thickened with dry fruits) is way too much to handle. So I decided to just pan fry the malpua this time, using cooking oil spray.

If I can get almost the same taste, with no oil, it potentially means, more Malpuas!! So why not!

And if you are watching your weight, skip the rabdi too. It will take care of your cravings and still not give you the guilt. Trust me, this is no compromise as far as the taste goes. And for those who are lucky enough, not to be worried about oil/gee, go ahead, make Malpua the traditional way- deep fry, dunk in sugar syrup and generously top it with rabdi.

Making Sugar Syrup:

Sugar – 1 Cups

Water – ¾ Cup

Saffron – pinch

Lemon Juice – ½ tsp

Cardamom Powder – 1/8 tsp

1. Mix water, saffron, lime juice and sugar in a heavy bottom pan. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Keep checking in between, and if the syrup becomes a little sticky, it means the syrup is ready. Add cardamom powder in the end, else cardamom loses its flavor. Once the syrup is ready, remove from heat.

For quick Rabdi:

Light cream – 2 cups

Sugar – ¼ cup (adjust as some like it really sweet and some don't)

White bread – 1 slice

Milk – ½ Cup

Corn starch – 1 tsp

Saffron – 4-5 strands

Almonds – 6-7 nos. (skin removed)

Cardamom powder – from 4-5 pods

1. Bring the cream to a boil in a non-stick (preferably) deep pan. Simmer and let it reduce to almost 50%. Keep stirring intermittently and remove any milk reduction sticking at the bottom or sides.
2. Add saffron to the boiling milk, which by now should be reduced to half. Mix well.
3. Add the sugar and mix well.
4. Remove the brown sides of the bread and roughly chop the white portion. Add this to a blender, with corn starch, 6-7 almonds and blends as fine as you can. Add to the mixture.
5. Now you need to continuously stir as the corn starch can stick to the bottom and lump up.
6. Coarsely grind the remaining almonds and add to the mixture.
7. Stir for another 5-6 min or till its almost the consistency of a pan cake batter.
8. Add cardamon powder in the end and mix. Switch off the flame and let it cool

For the Malpua:

Self raising flour – ½ Cup (replace with ½ cup all purpose flour and ¼ tsp baking soda)

Milk – ½ Cup (may need to adjust to get the right consistency)

Very ripe banana – 1 Large (grated)

Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

Sugar – 4 Tbsp

Cornflour – 2 tsp

1. Mix all the ingredients to form a lump free batter. You can always add a little more milk or flour to adjust the consistency (as flours do differ from one brand to another)
2. Heat a non stick pan to a medium high. Without adding any oil, spread the batter in a shape of a pan cake or a very thick dosa. (Deep fry if you want to make it the traditional way)
3. Now spray oil, turn the side and spray oil on the other side as well.
4. Reduce heat to make it a little crispy on both sides.
5. Once it is a little more brown than golden brown, remove from the pan and place on a paper towel.
6. Dunk in sugar syrup for 10-15 seconds and transfer to a clean serving plate.
7. Top it with rabdi and eat, while it is still hot/warm!

* You can also add sliced/fine chopped coconut, raisins, chopped pineapple to make malpua of your choice. 

**Some people like their malpua dry and soft, without dunking in sugar syrup.

Malaysian Chicken Curry (Nyonya Style)

This is a typical Nyonya (also called nonya) preparation. Nonya cooking is the result of blending Chinese ingredients and wok cooking techniques with spices used in Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine. The food is tangy, aromatic, spicy and herbal.

Personally for me, its a perfect mix of Indian spices in a curry (like cinnamon, start anise) with Thai herbs (lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves). When you take the first bite, you will realize that all the herbs and spices lend a special taste to the curry as they blend in but at the same time hold on to their unique flavors as they unfold slowly, one after another.

Give it a try, as this Malaysian curry will take you by surprise. Tastes best with jasmine rice made with a little bit of coconut milk. Add Vietnamese Summer Roll with a peanutty dipping sauce as an appetizer and bingo! You have a perfect Asian dinner ready!

You need:

For the Chicken Curry

Paste:

Garlic cloves – 4-5 (peeled and roughly chopped)

Long red chilies - 4-5 (trimmed, deseeded and roughly chopped)

Lemon grass – 3 stalks (trimmed, outer leaves removed and thinly sliced)

Galangal - 5cm piece (or fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped)

Large shallots - 4 (peeled and chopped)

Ground turmeric – 1 tsp

Vegetable oil – 2-3 Tbsp

Curry:

Boneless chicken – 300 grams (thigh pieces cut into bite size cubes)

Vegetable oil – 2 Tbsp

Onions – 2 medium size (thinly sliced)

Salt – ½ tsp

Freshly ground black pepper – ½ tsp

Kaffir lime leaves – 4 nos.

Cinnamon stick – 1 no.

Star anise - 1

Coconut milk/ cream – 200 ml (try using a Thai brand which is thick)

Palm sugar (or soft brown sugar) – 1 tsp

Light soy sauce – 2 Tbsp

Fish sauce – 2 Tbsp

Long green beans - ½ cup trimmed and cut into 5cm lengths

Coriander leaves/Cilantro - Roughly torn

For the Coconut Rice:

Jasmine Rice/ Thai fragrant or other long grain rice – 300 grams

Coconut milk – 200 ml

Water – 200 ml

Fresh ginger, peeled - 5cm piece

Pinch of sea salt

1. First make the curry paste: Put the garlic, chilies, lemon grass, ginger, shallots and turmeric in a food processor and whiz to a paste. With the motor running, trickle in a little groundnut oil and blend well, scraping the sides of the processor several times. (Or you can pound the ingredients together in batches using a pestle and mortar).
2. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a large heavy-based pan or a wok.
4. Tip in the curry paste and stir over a medium heat for a few minutes until fragrant.
5. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes until they are beginning to soften.
6. Add chicken to the pan and stir to coat them in the spice paste.
7. Add the lime leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise, coconut milk, stock, sugar, soy and fish sauces and bring to the boil.
8. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook gently for 12-15 min or until the chicken is tender.
9. Skim off any excess oil on the surface of the curry. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
10. Tip in the beans, put the lid on and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the beans are tender.
11. Scatter the coriander leaves over the curry and serve with the coconut rice.

For the coconut rice:

1. Rinse the grains in cold water to get rid of any excess starch.
2. Drain and tip into a heavy-based pan.
3. Add the coconut milk, ginger, water and salt. Stir well and bring to the boil.
4. Then reduce the heat to a simmer.
5. Cover and gently simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Keep the lid on, remove the pan from heat. Let it stay as is for 5-10 minutes.
7. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve while it is still hot.

Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Very healthy, very quick, very fresh, very tasty ! This is indeed a very good choice for an appetizer!

Most of the vegetables can be replaced with the ones of your choice, so that leaves you and your imagination to go wild. While pre cooked shrimps/ prawns make this appetizer super nice, this time around I replaced them with eggs to keep it light. You can omit egg too if you wish to eat something pure vegetarian.

You need:

For the rolls:

Rice paper (usually found in round shapes)

Thinly sliced lettuce

Bean sprouts

Rice vermicelli/ cellophane (soaked in hot water for 10-15 min and drained)

Shrimps/ Prawns - precooked and tails removed (omit if making vegetarian)

Carrot julienne

Green onions (1 inch length, only green part)

Thinly sliced basil

Chopped mint

Boiled eggs - Sliced (omit if making vegetarian)

Ginger juliennes

Cucumber – seeds removed and cut into fine juliennes

For the Peanut dipping sauce:

Roasted peanuts – 1/3 cup

Coconut milk - 4 Tbsp

Thai red curry paste - 2 tsp

Salt - Adjust to taste

Palm sugar/ Jaggery - 1 tsp (substitute with brown sugar or plain sugar)

White/ Cider vinegar – (Don not use red wine or balsamic vinegar))

Water - to adjust consistency

How to make the rolls:

1. In a medium bowl, cover the vermicelli with cool water and let soak until pliable, about 20 minutes. Drain and keep aside once done.
2. Keep all the ingredients handy as you will have to work fast once you start rolling the rolls.
3. Dip each rice paper in a bowl of warm water to wet it. Set the rice paper on a work surface to soften; the paper will become opaque and pliable.
4. Place any one vegetable on the rice paper along the lower third of rice paper, leaving 1 inch gap from all three sides(bottom, left and right). Layer all the vegetables, eggs, and noodles on top of the first layer.
5. Pull the rice paper up and over the filling and roll up tightly, folding in the sides as you go. Same way as you roll your burrito or spring roll.
6. Place the roll on a large platter, seam side down, and repeat with the remaining ingredients.
7. When you place them on a platter, make sure they don't touch each other else they will stick.

How to make the peanut dipping sauce:

1. Blend the roasted peanut to a very fine paste using water.
2. In a heavy bottom pan, add the peanut paste and all other ingredients. Bring this to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
3. Now let the mixture simmer for 3-4 min over low heat. Keep stirring to not let the mixture stick to the bottom.
4. Remove from heat and transfer to a clean glass container. The refrigeration will thicken the sauce a little. Whenever you want to use, just add a little water and reheat. You can also freeze it in an ice tray and once frozen,transfer to a freezer safe container or zip lock bags to use later.

Poha (Avalakki/ Beaten Rice Snack)

A very popular Indian snack or breakfast!

You need:

Poha/ Avalakki/ Beaten rice – 1 Cup (Thick variety)

Onion - 1 medium size (fine chopped)

Green chilies - 2 nos. (slit)

Curry Leaves- 7-8 nos.

Ginger - 1/2 inch (finely chopped)

Vegetables - Carrots, Sweet green peas, Potatoes (chopped into small pieces)

Lime Juice – half a lime or as per taste

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Hing/ Asafoetida - 1/8 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Sugar – ½ tsp (optional)

Salt – As per taste

Peanuts – ¼ cup or adjust as per your liking (roasted)

Butter – 1 tsp (optional, though it does add to the sweetness of the poha)

Coriander leaves/ cilantro – handful (chopped)

1. Wash poha in water and decant all the water. Keep it aside.
2. Steam cook all the vegetables in a microwave till they are almost done. Usually takes about 2 min each.
3. Heat oil, add mustard and cumin seeds. Once they start spluttering, add hing, green chilies. 
4. Once green chilies change color a little bit, add curry leaves and ginger. Fry for around 30 sec.
5. Add onions, salt, turmeric and fry till onions are just about to become translucent.
6. At this stage add all the vegetables. Fry for 1-2 min.
7. Now add poha, lime juice, sugar and give it a gentle stir since poha breaks or gets mashed up very easily when moist. Cover and cook till poha is completely soft from inside too.
8. Add peanuts and coriander leaves. Mix well by gently folding in.
9. Switch the heat off and serve hot.

Vada Pav

For those who may have no idea how to make this lip-smacking snack, there are a few simple things to prepare, before you assemble the vada pav:

1. Batter to deep fry vadas
2. Making the vada mix and frying them
3. Tamarind chutney
4. Coriander + Mint chutney
5. Making the spicy red peanut powder
6. Frying green chilies

1. Making the batter to fry vada:

Besan/ Gram Flour – Approx. 1 Cup

Baking Soda – Pinch


Red Chili Powder – optional

Salt - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Mix besan, baking soda, salt, red chili powder and turmeric powder in a mixing bowl. Add enough water to make a thick, smooth and lump-free batter (almost like a pancake batter)

2. Making the Vada filling and frying:

Potatoes – 4 Medium (boiled, peeled and mashed
)

Smooth paste of 3 garlic cloves and 2 green chilies

Garlic – 1 clove (grated)

Asafoetida – 1/8 tsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Salt – to taste


Lime Juice – ½ tsp

Fresh coriander leaves/ Cilantro – Approx. 2 Tbsp.

Vegetable oil for deep frying

1. In a pan take ½ Tbsp of oil. Add hing, garlic+ chili paste, turmeric. Fry for 30 sec.
2. Add mashed boiled potatoes and mix well. Fry for a min and transfer to a bowl.
3. Add chopped cilantro, ½ tsp of salt, lime juice and 1 grated garlic. Mix well
4. Form small balls (almost the size of a big lemon) and keep aside.

5. Heat enough oil to fry the vadas.
6. When oil is hot, drop potato balls into the batter, completely coat them, shake off excess batter and place them in hot oil, one by one. Do not overload the pan.

7. Fry on all sides until light brown.
8. Remove onto a paper towel to soak any excess oil.

3. Frying chilies: Make a slit on the chilies. Deep fry them till they change their color slightly. (make sure the chilies are slit else they will burst)

4. Making Coriander + Mint chutney:

Chopped cilantro/ coriander leaves – 6 Tbsp

Mint leaves – 6-7 nos.

Green chilies – 2 nos.

Roasted Cumin Powder – 1 tsp

Lime/Lemon Juice – 1.5 tsp
Salt - to taste

Blend all the ingredients for green chutney to a very fine paste. Add salt to taste.

5. Making Tamarind chutney:

Tamarind concentrate/ Pulp– 4 tbsp

Jaggery – 1.5 Tbsp (grated)

Rock Salt – ½ tsp (replace with common salt if not available)

Red Chili Powder – ½ tsp or to taste

Cumin Seeds powder – ½ tsp

Black pepper powder – ¼ tsp

Saunf/ Fennel seed powder – ¼ tsp

Mix all the ingredients and add enough water to make a slightly thick chutney. You can adjust the ingredients as per your taste.

6. Making spicy red peanut powder:

Roasted Peanut – 2 Tbsp

Coconut powder – 1 Tbsp

Sesame seeds- 1 Tbsp

Whole dried red chilis – 1-2 (adjust to taste)

Salt – ¼ tsp

Roast all the ingredients, except salt. Grind with salt to get a nice, spicy, slightly coarse powder. 

7. To assemble the Vada Pav:

Lightly warm Pav/ Dinner rolls.

Spread tamarind chutney on one side

Sprinkle the spicy red peanut mix as well.

Spread mint + coriander chutney on the other side of the bun

Lightly flatten one vada and place on the bun.

Serve with fried green chilies.

* Sometimes I make a healthier version too – Instead of deep frying, pan fry the vadas in a non stick pan using. Either use 1 tsp of oil or use cooking oil spray! Do the same to fry chilies too. Eat without guilt! :)  
**Can't insist enough - use a whisk to make lump-free batter. This will make your job easy!