An ode to MB Mess - Bread Pakora

Ola People! It has been quite sometime since I walked into here to talk about my adventures in the kitchen! I apologize! I do miss writing out what I tried in my kitchen and of course, later coming back to check and see how I did it the last time =). Before I loose track of how I made this delish comfort food, I'll pen it all down.

Bread Pakora : The first time I enjoyed this snack was at my hostel- Meera Bhawan (shout out for all the MBites!). We were served this snack as a breakfast(!!!) every Tue morn. This dish immediately brings a flood of memories to all MBites. I craved this oily comfort and whipped it out in my kitchen. This snack is finger food and can be enjoyed with spicy ketchup/chutney

Bread Pakora (the version I've had) is a triangular shaped, potato sabji filled deep fried pakora. Here is how you can cook this delight out:

Ingredients for filling:
To make filling
1. Potatoes - 3 medium
2. Onions - 1/2 medium
3. green chillis - per taste - 2 medium well chopped
4. mustard
5. salt
6. red chilli powder - 1 tbsp
7. asafoetida - 1 pinch
8. Corriander - 1 small cup, chopped
(Optional) 9. Peas - 1 cup
(Optional) 10. tomatoes - 1 small, well chopped

Method de Prep:
1. Pressure cook the potatoes. Peel and dice them.
2. In a pan, add a tsp of oil. When the oil is hot, splutter the mustard seeds. Add the pinch of asafoetida. I add asafoetida as it helps in digestion (trust me, you'll need it considering the size of the bread pakora ;)).
3. Add the green chillis and immediately add the onions. Cook till the onions are transparent.
4. If you are adding peas and tomatoes, add them now. I did not as my bread was already sweet and adding peas and tomatoes will just make the bread pakora a sweet and not savory =).
5. Once the peas and tomatoes are cooked, add the potatoes. Add some water so that the sabji is of mushy consistency. We want to use this as a filling and hence wouldn't help if the sabhji is too dry.
6. Add salt and red chilli powder to taste

Now to the bread sleeve for Pakora

Ingredients
1. Soft bread slices - 10 (makes 10 pieces of bread pakora)
2. Besan Powder - 5 tbsp
3. Rice Powder - 1.5 tbsp
4. Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
5. Salt - to taste
6. Asafoetida - one pinch
7. Oil - To deep fry

Method de Prep
1. Head oil in a deep frying pan
2. Cut the crust off the bread slices. Then cut them across to make triangles
3. Mix the besan powder, rice powder, salt, red chilli powder and hing. Add water 1/2 a cup at a time to make a batter, The batter shouldn't be of medium consistency
4. Slightly wet your hand. Take one triangular slice, add a spoon of the cooked sabji, place the other slice on top and seal the edges with just the water in your hand. Voila! you have an uncooked pakora. Dip this uncooked pakora in the batter.
5. Check if the oil is hot enough (you can put in a drop of the batter and it should immediately sizzle, cook and rise). If it is hot enough, add the uncooked pakora.
6. When the pakora is medium brown, remove it from flame.
7. Serve with spicy chutney!

Bon App!


Important Tip: Make the pakora as needed. If you dip the bread in the batter and leave it aside, it will all mush up. So, it should be dip and fry, dip and fry cycle.

Fried Bittergourd

B's mom's recipe and of course, B's favorite much. I figured this would be a good snack as opposed to deep fried potato chips. Given the bitterish taste, one cannot go overboard with munching this as well. Bitter gourd is said to be extremely good for health (once again proving that vegetables that are great for health aren't the greatest in taste =) ).
The stove cooked version typically takes over 20 mins of monitoring and tossing. My MIL developed a simple and a quick microwave version. This is extremely handy and B simply loves the results.

Ingredients:
Bittergourd - 5 medium size
Salt - to taste
Chilli powder - to taste
Turmeric - optional
Oil - 1 tsp

Method de preparation:
1. Finely chop the bitter gourd. I usually do not unseed them.
2. Add oil, salt, chilli powder and turmeric to the chopped bitter gourd
3. Microwave the mix for 10 mins. check regularly every 3 mins

Done! It is ready to enjoy!
Bon App!

cheedai

Ingredients
1. Rice Flour - 1 cup
2. Urad flour - 1 tsp
3. White sesame - 1 tsp
4. Jeera - 1 tsp
5. Butter
6. Salt to taste
7. Asafoetida - 1 tsp, mix it in water and use this water to make the dough

Method
1. Lightly warm the rice flour
2. Add the urad flour to the warm rice flour
3. Along with sesame seeds, jeera, butter and salt and mix it into a dough. The dough must be soft and malleable
4. Make small balls (about the size of small bubblegum).
5. Heat oil in a pan. You must see the fumes rise before you start adding the balls of cheedai
6. Serve as a snack!
Bon app!

Sankarpaali

A tasty snack that can be made sweet or salty!
Ingredients
1. Maida - 1 cup
2. Salt to taste
3. Milk - half cup (optional)
4. Ghee/Butter/Oil - 2 tbsp
5. Oil to fry

Method de preparation
1. Mix maida, salt, milk(optional), ghee into a dough
2. Make small rounds like for chappati/roti
3. Using pizza cutter, cut them into small rhombus shaped pieces
4. Heat oil in a tava.
5. Deep fry and serve!

If you want to make them sweet, use sugar instead of salt. Additionally make some sugar syrup (boil water and sugar till it is brownish color) and mix shakar paali with the sugar syrup. This is supposed to be a dry snack.

Bon App

Saboodana Cutlet

Ingredients:
1. Saboodana - 1 cup (2 handfuls)
2. Potato - 1 large
3. Bread (optional)
4. Corriander leaves
5. Ginger - grated into small pieces
6. Green Chillis - 2 to 3 nos
7. Salt to taste
8. Oil to fry

Method de Preparation:
1. Soak the saboodana in water for 10 mins. The saboodana must be completely immersed in water
2. Boil the potato, peel it and mash it.
3. Squeeze the water out of the saboodana and add it to the mashed potato.
4. (optional) you can also soak the bread slice in water, take it out immediately and mash it with this mix. (remove the crust of the bread before soaking in water)
5. Add the ginger, finely chopped green chillis, finely chopped corriander leaves and salt to this mix
6. Make the mix into small round shapes like a cutlet
7. Deep fry this in hot oil
Serve with mint chutney, sauce or just eat as is!
You can be creative and add other veggies too, like boiled carrot, boiled beans, peas, onion etc

Bon App!

Thenkuzal

Ingredients:
Arisi Maavu (Rice Flour) : Ulutham maavu(Black Gram Flour) = 3:1
Jeera
Perungayam (asafeotida)
Salt to taste
Butter (vennai/naey)
Acchu (to make the template in maavu and them deep fry it in oil)
Oil (to deep fry)

Method de preparation:
1. Mix the two flours (arisi maavu and ulutham maavu) in the specified ratio
2. Add Jeera, asafoetida powder, salt and butter and mix it all into a thigh dough consistency
3. Make small balls and drop into the acchu. Make templates using the acchu on paper towels
4. Heat oil till you can see light fumes rising
5. Deep fry the templates and enjoy.

I will take pictures of these and post them the next time I make these Thenkuzal.
Bon App!

Spicy Peanuts

Ingredients
1. Peanuts or any nuts that pleases you - 100 gms
2. Chilli Powder - 2 tbsp
3. Curry Powder - 1 tbsp
4. Salt to taste

Method de preparation:
1. Shell the peanuts and microwave them for 10 mins
2. Rub them between your palms to remove the skin
3. Mix the chilli powder, curry powder, salt with some water. The consistency needs to be as light as for crepes(lighter than pancakes)
4. Mix the peanuts in them.
5. Microwave this mix. The amount of water added should evaporate on microwaving the mix.
6. Eat!as is or splutter some mustard seeds, curry leaves and add them or add them to Bhel (which is what my MIL does).