Andhra Pindivanta – Chegodilu – Savory Snack (EKADASI SPECIAL)

 A gem among Andhra traditional snacks is Chegodi. Golden in shade, speckled with spots of white sesame, moong dal and cumin, crunchy with an irresistable addictive taste – that’s chegodi, my all time favorite, especially during travels. If there is a contest for the best traditional Andhra snack, the odds favor ‘Chegodi’.:) Even the most experienced home cooks sometimes have a hard time getting the perfect crisp chegodi. The recipe I am posting today is a tried and tested one and one of the many variations of chegodis Amma prepares. A favorite of our family and a regular evening snack with tea.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour

1 cup water

1 1/2 tbsps yellow moong dal/pesara pappu (soak in water for an hour)(optional)

1/2 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp red chilli pwd

1 tbsp ghee or oil

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

1 Boil water, add salt, ghee and moong dal. Add the rice flour, combine with water by stirring it in and turn off heat immediately. Cover with lid and keep aside.
2 Once cool, add chilli pwd, sesame seeds and cumin seeds and combine with the rice dough. Knead the dough till smooth. Test the dough for salt before preparing chegodis.
3 Apply oil to your fingers and pinch a small lemon size ball of the dough and roll into a thick rope which is approx 3-4 inches in length and form a ring by pressing the ends of the rope firmly. Prepare chegodis in this manner (as shown in the image above) and place lid over them so that they don’t dry.
4 Heat a wide heavy bottomed vessel with enough oil for deep frying and once the oil is hot, place the chegodis one by one into the hot oil, you will find the oil froth up in bubbles. Let the chegodis fry on high flame till they rise to the surface.
5 Once the chegodis rise to the surface, turn heat to medium flame and cook the chegodis till they turn a golden shade. Remember the frying has to be done on medium flame to achieve that golden color and crispness. It does take a while to fry the chegodi, hence patience is required. If you reduce flame to low, the chegodis will absorb a lot of oil so remember to keep flame on medium to high.
6 When they slowly turn to a golden color, turn them over gently to the other side and cook to a golden shade. Use a slotted ladle to remove onto an absorbent paper and cool. Cool completely before storing in an air tight metallic container.

Note:

There are many variations to prepare chegodi. You can replace the chilli pwd with green chilli paste or green chilli-coriander leaves paste. You can add vaamu or ajwain (avoid cumin and moong dal if adding ajwain and use red chilli pwd).

Sesame Honey Chilli Potatoes

Popular Indo-Chinese recipe, Honey Chili Potatoes, owes it flavor to honey and fiery red chilies. I like the deep fried restaurant version but I prefer the healthy home made method where the potatoes are baked before being tossed in a sweet and hot sauce and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. Very flavorful and looks appealing in the serving plate.

Ingredients:

3 potatoes, peeled and cut into fingers like for french fries

2 crushed garlic cloves

1 tsp red chilli pwd

2 tsps tomato sauce

salt to taste

1 1/2 tbsps oil

For sauce:

1 tbsp tomato sauce

1 tsp red chilli sauce

2 tsps vinegar

2 crushed garlic cloves

1 1/2 tbsps honey

1 tsp chopped coriander leaves (optional) or spring onion greens

1/2 tbsp oil

1 Combine potato fingers, oil, red chilli pwd, tomato sauce, crushed garlic and salt and place in a ziplock bag and shake well. Grease a baking tray and spread the potato fingers on the tray and bake at 200 degrees C for 35-40 mts. You need to turn the potato fingers once during the baking process. OR you can deep fry the potato fingers to a golden brown shade. If deep frying add a tbsp of cornflour instead of oil to the potatoes and then deep fry. Remove onto absorbent paper and keep aside.
2 Heat a heavy bottomed vessel, add oil, add the crushed garlic and saute on high flame for few secs. Add the red chilli paste, tomato sauce and vinegar and combine. Add the baked potatoes and toss for a mt on medium-high flame. Add the honey and toss the contents till well combined. Turn off heat. Adjust salt if required.
3 Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and garnish with spring onion greens or coriander leaves and combine. Serve warm as a starter/appetizer.

Crispy Onion Samosa Recipe

 Onion Samosa recipe is one of the most sought after snack recipe by many of my blog readers. I am talking about the addictive, small, crispy onion samosas that are served in the college canteens, railway stations, movie theatres, Irani tea cafes and the like. Seriously, I am no expert in making this classic Indian addictive snack that also goes by the name, Irani samosas. Trying to achieve perfectly crisp onion samosa is not an easy task. Having said that, I will also say that one can make it at home with near perfection. 

Onion samosa is different from the regular Punjabi style recipe in terms of the filling as well as the texture of the outer dough layer. Onion samosa has a super crispy, smooth exterior with a lightly spiced onion filling. The onion filling is mixed with powdered poha aka beaten flat rice flakes which absorbs any moisture that the filling might have. The key to a crisp samosa is in the samosa pastry dough that has to be kneaded to the right consistency, rolled to the perfect thickness which is neither too thick nor too thin and the samosas have to be fried in oil that is not too hot, on a low medium flame to achieve a golden brown, crisp exterior.

preparing of samosas

Ingredients

• Flour - 1 1/2 cups( u can use puff pastry sheets)
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Lemon juice - 1 1/2 tsps
• Oil for deep frying
• Flour paste (mix 1/4 cup maida (flour) in little water to make a paste)
• For filling:
• Onion - 1, very large, sliced
• Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
• Poha - 1/3 cup beaten rice/atukulu), ground to a powder
• Salt to taste
• Coriander leaves - 2 tsps, finely chopped (optional)
• Oil - 2 tsps

Method

1. In a bowl, add flour, salt and lemon juice and mix well. Add warm water, little by little, to make a smooth yet pliable dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave aside for 20 mts.
2. Meanwhile make the filling. Heat a cooking vessel, add oil. Once oil is hot, add sliced onions and saute on low to medium flame for 3-4 mts. Add red chili powder and mix well. Turn off flame.
3. Add the ground beaten rice and coriander leaves and mix well. Remove to a bowl, leave aside while you prepare the samosa pastry.
4. To prepare the samosa pastry, make lemon sized balls of the dough and leave them covered while you roll the balls into thin rotis.
5. Make two rotis that are 3" in diameter. Smear a little oil all over one roti and place the other roti over it. Sprinkle some flour on the work surface and roll it into a thinner and larger roti. Keep aside the prepared roti and cover with a kitchen towel till you prepare rotis in the same manner with rest of the balls.
6. Heat a tawa or skillet on medium flame. Place a roti on the tawa and allow to cook slightly for approx 18-20 seconds on each side. Do not allow to cook completely. Remove from tawa and slowly separate the two rotis.
7. Prepare with rest of the rotis likewise and keep them covered with a kitchen towel.
8. Cut each roti into two halves and keep aside. Add salt to the onion filling just before you begin to stuff the samosa pastry with the filling.
9. Follow the above pictures on how to fold the samosa pastry sheet along with filling and seal them with the flour paste. Prepare samosas with rest of the pastry sheets. Cover the prepared samosa with a kitchen towel and allow to sit for 10 to 15 mts.
10. Heat oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel. Once the oil is medium hot, reduce flame to low-medium, add 4 to 5 samosas into the oil carefully and allow to cook on both sides till they become golden brown. Do not cook on high flame.
11. Remove the fried golden brown samosas onto an absorbent paper.serve with tomato ketchup.

Tips

• You can use raw onions to make filling i.e you need not saute the sliced onions. I like to slightly saute the onions.
• Coriander leaves is optional.

Corn Vada -mokkajonna garelu

Corn Vada is a kid friendly evening snack that is addictive. Its impossible to go wrong with this Andhra style recipe that has Bengal gram as a binding agent along with fresh coriander, onions, green chilis and ginger. Its versatile and adaptable to variations. You can add greens like spinach and methi (fenugreek leaves). Or add peanuts for the crunch factor. Its advisable to use indian corn that is slightly mature as the tender corn will not work well for preparing the Vadas.

Corn Vada is best eaten warm when its crisp on the outside with a soft and chewy interior. Works well as a starter, finger good or a simple evening snack to go with you chai. If you are looking for some Indian corn recipes that are vegetarian, simple to make and delicious.

Ingredients

Ground paste

Ingredients

• Indian corn kernels - 1 cup+1/4 cup
• Chana dal - 1/2 cup, soak in 1 cup water for an hour(optinal)
• Onion - 1, medium, finely chopped
• Green chillis - 2,
• Ginger - 1/2"
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Coriander leaves - 2 tbsps, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Method

1. Grind the corn kernels (1 cup) and the soaked and drained chana dal, green chilies and ginger to a coarse paste adding about 1-2 tbsps of water.
2. Remove to a bowl. Add 1/4 cup of boiled sweet corn, chopped onions, coriander leaves, cumin seeds and salt and mix well.
3. Form lemon sized balls with the mixture. Flatten it on your palm to make a patti shape. Prepare patties with the rest of the mixture. Keep in fridge for 10 mts.
4. Heat oil for deep frying. Once its hot, reduce flame to medium and slolwy place the patties in the oil and fry them on both sides to a golden brown color.
5. Serve warm with tomato sauce or any chutney of your choice.

Tips

• You can add a tbsp of corn flour to the ground mixture.
• You can add fennel seeds instead of cumin seeds.
• Pudina aka mint leaves also add great flavor to the vada. Add 5-6 leaves.
• Do not use the tender variety of Indian corn. Use the slightly mature corn cobs. Peel the corn kernels and do not boil them.
• While grinding, do not make a smooth paste but it should be slightly coarse.
• If you do not have maize aka Indian corn on hand, use American sweet corn kernels

Vegetable Kati Roll

Many a night, our dinner comprises of either soup, salad, wrap or sandwich. Last night I made Kati rolls with vegetable filling. Works great as a lunch box treat, one that you kid will surely relish. Makes for a complete meal and super easy to bring together.

Vegetable Kati Roll Recipe

Prep & Cooking: 30-40 mts

Makes 6-7 rolls

Cuisine: North Indian

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Ingredients:

For rotis:

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour/atta

1/2 cup maida/all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

water to knead the dough

For filling:

2 cups julienne mixed vegetables, beans, carrot, capsicum, beans and cabbage

1 tsp ginger-green chili paste

pinch of turmeric pwd

1/2 tsp chaat masala pwd

1 tsp Kitchen King Masala (optional)

2 eggs, beaten (optional)

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 onions, finely sliced

few tbsps of green chutney

2-3 tbsps olive oil

salt to taste

1 Add salt to the wheat flour and maida, combine, slowly add water to form a soft yet slightly firm dough. Cover and let it rest till you get the stuffing ready.
2 Blanch the french beans for 3 mts and keep aside. Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a vessel, add the ginger-green chili paste and saute for few secs. Add carrots, cabbage and capsicum and saute for 7-8 mts. Add the blanched beans and saute for another 3 mts. Add turmeric pwd, kitchen king masala and chaat masala pwd and combine. Turn off heat.
3 Add the lemon juice and salt to taste and mix. Keep aside.
4 In a separate bowl, combine the raw sliced onions with 2-3 tbsps of green chutney and keep aside.
5 Beat eggs in a bowl, add salt and pepper and keep aside. (Vegetarians can omit this step)
6 To prepare rotis, pinch a large lemon sized ball of dough, dust the working surface with some atta and roll out the stuffed dough to form 6″-7″ diameter circles.
7 Heat a iron tawa and once its hot, place a parantha and let it cook lightly on both sides. Prepare all the rotis and place them in a casserole to keep soft.
8 At the time of serving, drizzle some oil on a tawa, fry the roti on one side for 4-5 secs and on top pour 2-3 tbsps of the beaten egg and flip over the roti so that the egg gets cooked.
9 Remove from tawa, place the egg coated side of the roti up and sprinkle some lemon juice on the egg coated side.Place 3-4 tbsps of vegetable filling in the middle of the roti and sprinkle the onion-green chutney filling over it and roll the roti tightly to form a roll. To serve, wrap the lower part of the rotis in a butter paper or tissue. Enjoy!

Note:

Vegetarians can omit the egg part of the recipe. Use a spread like Guacamole, eggless mayonnaise or green chutney and follow the rest of the recipe.

Fruit and Nut Shortbread Cookies

My baking experience is getting exciting and I love the aroma that fills my home during my baking sessions. My current obsession is shortbread and my most favorite to date are fruit and nut shortbread cookies. The most easy cookies to make – just slice and bake. The good thing about this shortbread recipe is its versatility where you can play around with different flavors and add ons like dried fruits, nuts, zest . The addition of dried fruits like raisins, dried cranberries and nuts like pistachio or almonds accentuate the classic shortbread flavour and take it to a whole new level. And do you know the best part of this shortbread recipe? It is egg less and you can freeze the unbaked log of shortbread dough and bake in a jiffy when friends drop by.
The fruit and nut shortbread cookies are light, delicate and buttery with a slight crunch. The shortbread has the right amount of sweetness, subtly spiced with cardamom and a fragrant zing of lemon-y zest. They make for a perfect accompaniment with a cup of tea or coffee or just serve them as a dessert.My kiddo Avika loves them a lot always asks for a cookie so tried on her birthday.

Frozen shortbread cookie dough 

Sliced cookie dough ready to be baked

Fruit and Nut Shortbread Cookies Recipe

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 15 min

Yield: 15

Main Ingredients: flour dried fruits and nuts

Ingredients

• All purpose flour - 1 cup
• Cornflour - 2 tbsps
• Butter - 1/2 cup, room temperature, softened
• Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup (can reduce slightly for a less sweeter taste)
• Salt - pinch
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
• Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp (OR clove powder)
• Lemon zest - 1/4 tsp (optional)
• Dried fruits and nuts - 1/4 cup each of finely chopped raisins, dried cranberries, pistachios, almonds

Method

1. In a bowl, add the softened butter, powdered sugar and salt and beat till light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract, cardamom powder and lemon zest and mix well.
2. Add the flour and cornflour and mix to make a soft dough. Add the finely chopped dried fruits and nuts and mix well.
3. Place a 15" by 15" square plastic wrap on the work surface. Place the soft dough on it and shape it into a log as shown in the image above. Wrap the log with plastic wrap and seal the ends. Again wrap it in aluminum foil and freeze for an hour or until it hardens.
4. At the time of baking, pre heat oven to 160 C and remove the dough from the freezer. Unwrap and slice the dough into 1/4" slices and place them on a parchment paper or aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Place them at least an inch apart as they expand on baking.
5. Place baking sheet in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 13-15 mts or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Tips

• You can add any dried fruits and nuts of your choice.
• The shortbread will be soft on touch after baking and will harden once it is out of the oven and cools down.
• Check from 12 mts onwards as the temperature differs from oven to oven. Sometimes it could take upto 17 to 20 mts to bake.

Mixed Vegetable Pakora

Vegetable Pakora with a cup of masala chai is comforting food on a pleasant evening. A vegan recipe that makes for a great party finger food. The standard Vegetable Pakora recipe calls for the use of mixed vegetables, chick pea flour and carom seeds. But I tend to tweak the recipe and add a few more spices to pep up the flavor.

In today’s Vegetable Pakora recipe, I used carrots, beans, cabbage and potatoes but you can also add raw plantain, eggplant, cauliflower and pumpkin. Make sure to use fresh firm vegetables. Chickpea flour and carom seeds are essential ingredients that make the pakoras visually appealing and appetizing. But do add an extra ingredient, dry fenugreek leaves aka kasoori methi to your pakora batter which will elevate the flavor of the pakoras by leaps and bounds. It adds depth of flavor and keeps you coming back for more.

Mixed Vegetable Pakora Recipe

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 15 min

Yield: 5

Main Ingredients:

Ingredients

• Carrots: 1 (large, peel and cut into thick julienne)
• French Beans: 8 (string and cut into 1 1/2" pieces)
• Potato: 1 (large, peel and cut into thick julienne)
• Cabbage: 1/4 head (cut into thick julienne)
• Chickpea flour: 1 1/2 cups (sengapindi/besan)
• Red chili powder: 3/4 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste: 1/4 tsp
• Carom seeds: 3/4 tsp (ajwain/vaamu)
• Hot oil: 2 tsps
• Salt: to taste
• Water: as required (approx 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup water)
• Oil: for deep frying

Method

1. In a bowl, add the chickpea flour with salt, chili powder, ginger garlic paste, carom seeds and hot oil. Add the thick julienne mixed vegetables to this mixture and mix.
2. Add little water and mix well that it coats the vegetables. Do not add too much water.
3. Heat enough oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel. It should be piping hot. Do the sizzle test. (Drop a little chick pea batter into the hot oil, if it sizzles and comes to the surface of the vessel, then the oil is ready for deep frying).
4. Carefully drop the chickpea flour coated julienne vegetables into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the vessel.
5. Reduce heat to medium and deep fry till they turn golden brown.
6. Use a ladle to turn them so that they cook all over.
7. Once they turn golden brown, remove on to absorbent paper. Serve as evening snack over a hot cup of masala chai.

Tips

• Adjust the quantity of chickpea flour according to the vegetables.
• Add few tbsps water at a time while making the batter. It should be like a paste that coats the vegetables and not like a runny mixture.
• You can add a pinch of roasted cumin powder.
• Use curry leaves if you do not have kasoori methi. If you do not have both curry leaves and kasoori methi, omit them and follow rest of the recipe

Cabbage Pakodi

Cabbage Pakodi

Have you relished cabbage in the form a crispy pakoda? If you haven’t and are fond of cabbage then you should try today’s recipe. To many, cabbage may not be the prettiest or tastiest of vegetables but it more than makes up in flavor in the garb of a besan coated, golden crisp pakodi. Cabbage needs to be sliced into thin strips along with onions before combining in chick pea flour, rice flour, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves and green chillis and deep fried to a golden brown color. Serve warm with a hot cup of tea on a rainy day and you have a snack to provide comfort to your body and soul. 

Mixing Process

Cabbage Pakodi Recipe

Prep & Cooking Time: 30 mts

Cuisine: Andhra

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Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups besan/gram dal flour/chick pea flour

1/2 cup rice flour

2-3 green chillis, finely chopped

1/4 tsp red chilli pwd

1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 large onion, sliced

2 cups finely sliced cabbage

1 tbsp hot oil

few sprigs curry leaves

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

1 Combine both the flours with salt, ginger garlic paste, red chilli pwd, green chillis, curry leaves, sliced onions and cabbage. Add oil and mix well with fingers.
2 Add few tablespoons of water and mix well that it forms a slightly hard batter. Don’t add too much water. The batter should just coat the cabbage strips and onion slices.
3 Heat enough oil in a deep frying vessel. Once the oil turns hot, reduce flame to medium. Use your fingers to drop the batter in the oil to form small fritters. Deep fry till they turn golden brown. Use a ladle to keep turning the fritters so that it cooks on all sides.
4 Once they turn golden brown, remove them on to absorbent paper. Store in air tight containers and serve as evening snacks over a hot cup of masala chai (spiced tea).