Urad Daal ki Khasta Kachori (Bedvi) / Deep fried Lentil Shells

Urad Daal Kachori /Spicy Lentil Puffs) -Specialty from the state of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan


Kachoris with Pumpkins and Potatoes is to Uttar Pradesh, what Misal Pav is to Mumbai, Aloo Parathas and Lassi to Punjab and Sambhar and Idli to Chennai. The essential heavy and hearty breakfast!

Kachoris are mainly made with refined flour. A Spicy stuffing of lentils or vegetables are stuffed in the small portion of dough and rolled into medium thick disc and then deep fried in hot oil.Urad daal kachori is very popular in the state of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Urad daal/white lentil is soaked and coarsly ground and then a mix of different spices are added in the filling. This crisp and delicious kachori is best served with special-Mathura ke dubki waley aloo ki subzi and khatti methi kaddu ki subzi

I have also posted -

• Aloo ki khasta kachori
• Moong daal khasta kachori
• Corn kachori
• Moong sprout kachori

Prep time-15 min
cooking time-15 min
Difficulty level-medium
spice level-medium
cuisine-North Indian
type-snack

INGREDIENTS 

For the shells:

• Refined Flour /Maida - 250 gms
• Semolina /Sooji - 2tblsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Cooking oil - 50ml

For the Stuffing:

• White lentil/Urad daal(white) - 1/2 cup
• Fennel seeds /saunf ,Crushed - 2 tblsp
• Chilli Powder/lal mirch - 2 tsp
• Green Chillies /hari mirch- 2
• Ginger grated  /adrak- 1 tsp
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida /hing- 1/2 tsp
• Coriander Powder /dhaniya- 2 tsp
• Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp

PROCEDURE :  

1. Take the refined flour and semolina in a bowl, add salt and refined oil, mix well 
2. Add water to make a soft dough and keep aside.
3. Wash and soak urad daal for 4 hours, then drain and wash well.
4. Coarsely grind the urad daal, fennel, chopped green chillies and ginger in a mixer .
5. Take this mix in a bowl and add red chill powder, coriander powder, asafoetida, 1 t.s oil and mix well (it will look like the picture on the right).
6. Add soda bi carbonate to this mixture just before you start making kachoris .*
7. Take a small walnut sized ball of the dough, flatten it and stuff 1 tsp mixture in it and seal the edges.
8. Roll it a bit to make a  thick kachori (about the size of a small waffle).
9. Heat oil in wok,  Then add the kachoris to the oil, and turn down the flame to medium. Every few seconds, flip the kachoris so that they are cooked form both the sides. Fry till both sides are brown and crispy and the kachori is puffed completely.**

NOTE-

1-*Soda bi carbonate is added to ensure that  all the kachoris puff up well.

2- * *If you put the kachoris in hot oil and if it puffs up before turning the side, chances are that the daal masala will stick only to one side of the kachori,but if you turn it over once in the oil, before it starts puffing, then the masala will be on both the sides.

Namkeen Lemon Daliya

Quick,easy and healthy breakfast made with broken wheat

Daliya/fada is made with unpolished broken wheat ,it is very healthy breakfast option from ancient time.there are so many recipes to make with broken wheat.you can easily substitute it with modern healthy options like oats,quinoa ,burghal etc.It is very cheap and easily available in comparison to oats etc and also very easy to cook and easy to digest so a very good option to include in your daily diet.

You can make sweets, savoury snacks, idli and many many more recipe and varieties with daliya.This Namkeen lemon daliya is a very easy and quick recipe,you just need few spices and a healthy,filling and delicious breakfast is ready to serve,its also very good to carry in lunchboxes and for travelling.
I have also posted many daliya recipes in my blog as this is a regular in my kitchen.so try this easy and healthy lemon Daliya in your kitchen.

Prep time-5 min
Cooking time-10
Difficulty level-easy
Spice level-mild
Cuisine -Indian,Rajasthani
Type-breakfast,main

Lemon Daliya

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup - Broken wheat /daliya/fada
• 1.5 tbsp - Ghee or oil
• 1 tsp - Cumin seed /jeera
• 1.5 tsp - Green chili,chopped
• 8-10 Curry leaves
• To taste - Salt /namak
• 1/2 tsp - Turmeric /haldi
• 1.5 tsp - Lemon juice
• 2 tbsp - Fresh coriander,chopped

Cooking Directions

1. Heat ghee or oil in a pressure cooker.
2. Add cumin seeds,curry leaves and chopped green chilies.
3. Add daliya and stir fry every thing till it become slightly white in colour and start giving a nice aroma.
4. Now add turmeric,salt and 1.5 cup of water and mix
5. Pressure cook on medium heat for 3 whistles or cook till done.
6. Open when cool down completely.
7. Add lemon juice and chopped fresh coriander.
8. Serve hot.

Check some more Daliya recipes-

• Daliya upma
• Daliya khichdi
• Daliya ki kheer

NOTE-
Cooking time depends on the size and quality of daliya so cook accordingly,

Multi Grain Veggie Pancakes | Elekta Stand Mixer Product Review

Product review for the Elekta Platinum Series Stand Mixer

I got a chance to try out the new Elekta Platinum Series Stand Mixer recently. Elekta Gulf had reached out to me, and were very generous in sending me a piece to try. This is not a sponsored review in any way, so you can be assured of the integrity of this review.

Though I have used quite a few kitchen appliances, I have never really had the chance to use a stand mixer. Mainly because I was not really aware of the value it adds to a kitchen, and partly because I have been cooking in the same kitchen for the past 30 years. Kitchens back then were pretty small :)

Now about the mixer - It is an Elekta Platinum Series Stand Mixer. Elekta is an consumer electronics company based out of Dubai, and have distribution in all of the Middle East, and many other countries. Their "Platinum" series is their premium range of products, with a strong focus on contemporary designing, and using high quality steel even for the exterior.

The device looks very decent (look at the pictures below), and is not very large (occupies less space than a standard Indian "mixie"). It comes with a three litre bowl, three different types of attachments:

1. Whisk
2. Beater
3. Dough Hook

I used the whisk to great effect in making the pancakes in this recipe. Using an appliance for whisking the batter made a perfectly frothy batter - something that may be very hard, if not impossible to achieve with a manual whisk. This attachment will be perfectly useful for whisking pretty much everything - from buttermilk to pakoda batter. Lumps in the batter mix would be pretty impossible.

I didn't get a chance to use the beater - but I do feel that it may come in very handy while making icing for cakes.

The highlight of the device, for me, was the last attachment. The Dough Hook. I was not really expecting great results from a machine - but it kneaded the perfect dough. It's a delight to actually see the hook at work - the way it first mixes the flour with the water, and then keeps jabbing at the mix - replicates the exact way we knead with our hands. This attachment can easily save a good 30-40 minutes a day that are spent in kneading chapati dough for a family.

Overall, I really liked the device - it looks great, is not noisy, and does its job pretty well. Good job Elekta!

Prep time- 10 min
Cooking time- 10 min
Difficulty level-easy
Spice level-mild
Cuisine- international
Type-snack,breakfast

INGREDIENTS-

• 1/4 cup - Maize flour/makki ka atta
• 1/4 cup  - Quick cooking Oats
• 1/4 cup-  Gram flour /besan
• 1/4 cup - Semolina /sooji
• 1/2 cup - Wheat flour/atta
• 1/4 cup - Yogurt /dahi
• 1/2 cup - Grated cabbage
• 1/2 cup - Grated carrot
• 2 tbsp  - Chopped fresh coriander
•  2 tsp  -  Green chilies,minced
• 1 tsp  - Crushed black peeper
• To taste - Salt
• 1/4 tsp - baking powder

PROCEDURE-

1. In the Elekta machine bowl add all the flours,spices ,yogurt and 1.5 cup water.
2. Attach the whisk attachment in the machine
3. Whisk it for 2 minutes.
4. Add grated vegetables and whisk again for 2 minutes.
5. Remove the bowl from the machine and add baking powder and mix.
6. heat a non stick flat pan and grease it with little olive oil.
7. Spread a laddlefull of batter on the pan and spread in a circle.
8. Cook on medium heat and sprinkle few drops of oil over it.
9. When cooked, flip the side and drizzle few drops of oil or butter and cook to nice golden colour from other side.
10. Remove from the pan and serve hot with ketchup.

NOTE-

• You can add 1/4 tsp oregano or cumin powder in the batter.
• Can add any grated vegetable of your choice

This is a honest product review. My reviews were not influenced in any ways by the views of Elekta Gulf. Thank you Elekta Gulf for this wonderful review opportunity.  In accordance with FTC rules, I am disclosing that I received the free products mentioned in the post to provide my opinion and review. This was not a paid endorsement nor have I received any form of compensation to do the review.

Kuzhi Paniyaram / Appe / Punugulu (Crispy dumplings made from leftover Idli batter)

A crisp and delicious shallow fried snack made with leftover idli batter

Kuzhi Paniyaram / Appe / Punganalu is a South Indian snack, originally from Chettinad. It is often made with leftover slightly sour Idli batter. It is usually served as a snack at breakfast (or tiffin - as popularly termed in South India). It is made in both sweet and savory versions, with the savory version being the more popular one.

Firstly, to make paniyaram you will need a special paniyaram pan. There are generally 2 types of paniyaram pans available - a traditional iron pan which is quite heavy and takes some time to cook , and a non stick paniyaram pan which is lighter and cooks faster. Both version are easily available in the market. I have the traditional iron one, which I have used for this recipe (pics at the bottom of this post).

Irrespective of the type - a paniyaram pan is a heavy bottom pan with deep holes in it. A little oil is drizzled in these holes and then about 1-2 tbsp (depends on the size of the pan) of prepared batter is added in it. The pan is then placed on medium heat for few minutes to cook the paniyarams. The paniyarams are then turned with a skewer and cooked on the other side too till golden in colour. Paniyarams can be served with coconut chutney,tomato chutney or any dip of your choice.

Prep time - 10 min
Cooking time - 15 min
Difficulty level - Easy
Spice level - mild
Cuisine - Indian,south
Type - Snack / Tiffin

INGREDIENTS-

Kuzhi Paniyaram

INGREDIENTS-

• 2 cup - Idli batter
• 3 tbsp - Fresh coriander, chopped
• 2 tsp - Green chili, chopped
• 1.5 tsp - Ginger, chopped
• 8- 10 -  Curry leaves, chopped
• 2 tbsp - Grated coconut
• 2 tsp -  Cooking oil
• 1 tsp - Mustard seeds / Rai
• 1 tsp - White lentil / Urad daal
• 1/4 tsp - Asafoetida / Hing
• A pinch of  - Fruit salt / Eno

Cooking Directions

1. Heat oil in a small pan.
2. Add mustard seeds and white lentil/urad daal in the oil.
3. When seeds start crackling add green chili, asafoetida, and curry leaves.
4. Now add this tempering in the idli batter (dropping consistency batter)
5. Add chopped coriander and ginger and little salt if needed.
6. Mix well and then add eno just before preparing.
7. Heat paniyaram pan and drizzle few drops of oil in the non stick paniyaram pan.
8. Fill the holes with about a tbsp of prepared batter.
9. Cover with a lid and let it cook on medium heat till it become dry on top and sides become golden.
10. Now drizzle some oil on the top of the paniyaram.
11. Turn the side with a fork or skewer stick and cook till it become golden from the bottom.
12. Remove the cooked paniyarams from the pan .
13. Serve hot with tomato chutney or coconut chutney.

My Tips-

• You can also add some grated carrot ,cabbage,spinach or any vegetables of your choice in the batter.
• Can also add some cashew nuts in the tempering at step-3

 Paniyaram pan-

How To Make laapsi /Sweet Daliya

Healthy and delicious dessert made with broken wheat

Laapsi is a very popular sweet dish from the state of Rajasthan.It is quick ,easy and delicious dish made with broken wheat,ghee and sugar or jaggary,This is also very popular in North Indian states specially in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. It is specially made during wedding or any big or small festive occasions and a winter special recipe.

Though making laapsi is quite easy but often the cooked grains become little chewy if you directly add the sugar in the cooked daliya ,so add sugar in little water and boil till sugar dissolves and then adding it in the daliya makes a perfect laapsi.You can add any nuts of your choice but almonds and raisins taste great ,addition of saffron also gives a wonderful flavour.

Prep time- 5 min
Cooking time-15 min
Difficultylevel -easy
Spice level-sweet
Cuisine-North Indian
Type-dessert
Serve-5

INGREDIENTS-

• Broken wheat/ daliya/fada- 1 cup
• Clarified butter/ghee- 1/2 cup *
• Cloves/lavang- 3
• Green cardamom /elaichi -4
• Cinnamon stick/daalchini -1/3 inch
• Sugar/chini -1 cup
• Saffron /kesar - few strands
• Milk /dudh- 2 tsp
• Water/paani -3.5 cups
• Almonds /badam -12
• Raisins /kishmish- 3 tbsp
• Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp

PROCEDURE-

1. Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan.
2. Add cloves ,cardamom(crush lightly to open it up) and cinnamon 
3. Add daliya and roast on low heat till it become pink and start giving a nice aroma.
4. Now add raisins and chopped almonds and just give a stir.
5. Add 3 cups of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles or cook till done.
6. In a separate pan add sugar and water and cook till sugar melts.(A)
7. Soak saffron in 2 tsp of milk and crush in a mortar and pestle.
8. When cooker cool down completely then open it.
9. Add sugar water(A) and mix it.
10. Now give it a boil and then simmer on low heat,till it almost drys up.
11. Now add cardamom powder and saffron and mix.
12. Serve hot garnished with pista and almond slices.

My Notes-

1. Use thick grain/coarse daliya to make laapsi ,don't use the fine variety otherwise it may become mushy.
2. The amount of water and pressure cooking time also depends on the quality of wheat used so adjust accordingly.
3. Traditionally a good amount of ghee is used in making laapsi but you can easily reduce the quantity of ghee if you want 
4. You can also use jaggary /gur instead of sugar.
5. It will become dry after some times,so its fine to have some moisture after finishing it.

Vegetable Daliya Khichdi

Healthy lentil,vegetable and broken wheat porridge

To make healthy and filling breakfast daily is really a task, though their are many easy recipes like bread toast, Bread poha , Grilled potato sandwich and many other easy and quick recipes The very popular Maharastrian dish-Aloo poha is also a very easy recipe to make and is my personal favorite . But if we want to make something healthy and filling then we have to do little extra effort. The new era's health food -Oats ,broken wheat, bulgur are quite filling and healthy and we can make a variety of dishes with these ingredients.

Daliya /broken wheat is made with unrefined wheat so its full of fiber ,vitamins, Iron, phosphorous and minerals.In past few years oats have became very popular world wide and now in India it also become a favorite and popular breakfast but they are quite expensive and not very easily accessible in small towns and centers.

Broken wheat/daliya is equally healthy and nutritious like oats though not as quick to make as oats.You can make many sweet and savoury dishes with daliya,sweet milk porridge - Daliya ki kheer, or can make- Daliya and vegetable upma which take few minutes to make.

Today I am sharing a delicious, healthy and filling vegetable, daal and daliya ki khichdi which can be served for breakfast, main meal and can also be given to small kids and patients as it is not only very healthy but also very easy to digest.You dont need any accompaniment to serve with this, its a complete one pot meal but if you want to make it more interesting then curd,papad and salad are preferred to serve along with this vegetable daliya khichdi

Prep time- 10 min
Cooking time - 15 min
Difficulty level - easy
Spice level - mild
Cuisine - North Indian
Type -breakfast, main
Serve - 4

INGREDIENTS-

• Yellow lentil/moong daal - 3/4 cups
• Broken wheat /daliya - 3/4 cup
• French beans/faras beans,chopped - 1/2 cup
• Carrot/gajar, chopped - 1/2 cup
• Peas/matar, shelled - 1/2 cup
• Tomato,chopped  - 1 medium (125 gm)
• Green chili /hari mirch, chopped - 1tbsp
• Ginger/adrak, chopped - 2 tsp
• Lemon juice /nimbu ka ras - 2 tbsp
• Fresh coriander,chopped - 3 tbsp
• Turmeric/haldi - 3/4 tsp
• Chili powder/lal mirch - 1.5 tsp
• Salt/namak - to taste
• Cooking oil - 2 tbsp

Tempering/waghar/tadka-

• Ghee - 2 tbsp
• Cumin/jeera - 1.5 tsp
• Asafoetida/hing - 1/2 tsp

PROCEDURE-

1. Wash moong daal with water and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in the pressure cooker and add daliya ,1/2 tsp cumin and green chilis and saute till the daliya change its colour and become slightly whitish (for about 2 minutes)
3. Add washed daal, tomato, carrot, peas and french beans and stir.
4. Add salt,turmeric,chili powder and 3 cups of water and mix.
5. Pressure cook on medium heat for 3 whistles.
6. Open the cooker when cool down completely.
7. Add 2 cups of warm water and chopped ginger in the cooker and mix well.
8. Let it come to a boil on medium heat and then simmer for 3-4 minutes.
9. Heat ghee in a small pan and add cumin and asfoetida.
10. When cumin become red then add it in the khichdi and switch off the flame.
11. Add lemon juice and fresh coriander and mix.
12. Serve hot with a tsp of ghee on top.

Serving suggestions-taste best with plain yogurt, raita, salad and roasted popadam

My Notes-

1. I have used yellow moong daal but you can also make this with green moong daal, masoor daal or tuvar daal but avoid using urad daal or chana daal if you are making this for kids or patients as these two daals are quite heavy and not so easy to digest.
2. Can add any vegetable of your choice like chopped potato,cauliflower,corn ,squash, bottle gourd,spinach etc.
3. I have used 1/2 cup of each vegetable but you can increase the amount of vegetable if you wish.
4. If you want to make it little watery then add 3 cups or 3.5 cups of water at step-7