Vegetable Samosa

Now a days, it is so easy to prepare Samosas and Spring rolls at home, thanks to the 'Frozen patty sheets' available in the super markets.

My friend, Mrs. Safeena Harris, makes these patty sheets at home from scratch. I prefer buying them.
Update: I found an easier recipe to make these sheets at home. Homemade Warka.

The filling / stuffing recipe given here is just one of the various varieties you can try. I have used vegetables like cabbage and carrot. Almost like my spring roll recipe, but with an Indian twist.

We, at home, have a preference for this filling. It is light unlike the classic potato filling.

I have added Poha / flattened rice / aval,  in the filling as it absorbs a lot of the liquid which oozes from the vegetables while deep frying.

Ingredients:

Frozen Samosa Sheets - 25 

(or) Home made warka sheets - 50

Onion - 1 large , chopped fine

Carrot - 1 large, grated

Cabbage - 1 large cup chopped fine

Ginger grated - 1 tbsp

Green Chilly - 1 , chopped fine

Poha / flattened rice / Aval - 2 cups (more or less)

Salt 

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilly powder - 1 tsp (or more depending on your spice level)

Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Lime juice - 1 tbsp

Mint leaf - 2 tbsp , chopped fine (optional)

Coriander leaf - 2 tbsp , chopped fine

Oil - 2 tbsp + extra for deep frying

Maida / All Purpose Flour - 2 tbsp heaped

(Make a thick paste with the maida / flour with just enough water. It is to seal the samosa sheets.)

Method:

Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry the onion + green chilly on a low flame till transparent.

Now add the carrot, ginger, salt, pepper, chilly powder, garam masala and turmeric powder.

After 1 minute, add the cabbage and fry on medium flame for 1 minute.

Turn off flame and add the lime juice. Mix well.

Allow to cool for 2 minutes.

Now add the poha / flattened rice / aval in batches and mix well.

Stop adding poha once the vegetable mix looks dry. 

Add the chopped mint and coriander leaf.

Taste the masala and add more salt if necessary.

If you want more spiciness in the masala, then fry 1 tbsp onion in a little oil on a low flame. Once it becomes transparent, add required amount of chilly powder. After the raw smell of chilly powder goes, add this to the masala and mix well.

Making the samosa from the patty leaves:

Transfer the samosa patty (without opening the wrapper) from the freezer to the fridge compartment at least 1 day in advance (2 days would be ideal). Otherwise keep it outside at room temperature for 6 -12 hours, until it thaws.

I prefer the former method of thawing in the fridge.

Once you open the plastic wrapper, do not take out all the leaves at one go. Take out one by one and keep  the plastic wrapper covered always, as the sheets dry out easily.

I  have shown how to fold the samosa on a piece of paper. You can also practice the folds on a paper first, before you start working with the patties.

Take one patty sheet and fold one end into a triangle (until "Fold 2"). See that there is no hole while you make the triangular cavity.

Stuff about 1 heaped tablespoon of filling inside this cavity.

Now spread the paste on the long tail.

Continue folding and seal the edge properly.

Prepare the rest of the samosas in the same way.

If you plan to freeze the prepared samosa, line your container with either aluminum foil or cling wrap.

Use this cling wrap / aluminium foil between the various layers of samosa.

Do not forget to thaw the samosas before deep frying.

Deep fry the samosa in medium hot oil and enjoy!

Tomato Chutney 2

There are many variants of Tomato chutney, but the latest one, which I am writing down now, is simple with just 4 main ingredients (and some powders) and tastes excellent.

What I have realized is that the taste changes with each method.

In Tomato thokku, ground raw tomato is cooked in flavored oil. And because it is cooked to remove all moisture, it stays good in the fridge for a week. And combination variations are all yours.You can add ginger, green chilly, garlic according to your family's taste.
In the Masala dosa red chutney, onion is first fried. Then tomato added and cooked. The spices were added in this chutney during the cooking stage and no heating is done after grinding.
And my first tomato chutney could be made with different combinations. With / without mint leaf, with / without garlic. Tomato and onion was fried together, giving the chutney a bit of pungency. And again no cooking was done after grinding.

This chutney is again made with tomato and onion, but with ginger and green chilly.
The big difference is in the chopping. All the ingredients are chopped fine.
And also tomato is cooked before and after the grinding.

Ingredients:
Onion - 1 small, chopped fine
Green Chilly - 1 or 2, chopped fine
Ginger - 1 inch, chopped fine
Tomato - 4 medium, chopped fine
Oil - 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Red chilly - 1, broken
Curry leaf - 1 sprig
Salt
Chilly powder - 1 tsp or more

(1 tomato extra in photograph)

Heat 1 tbsp oil and fry the onion, green chilly and ginger on a low to medium flame till it becomes transparent.
Then add in the chopped tomato. Mix well on high flame. Turn off flame and keep covered till vessel cools.

Grind the cooled onion - tomato and keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil and splutter onion, red chilly and curry leaf.
Now add the tomato paste and add salt, red chilly powder.
Mix well and once boiling, cook on low flame for 5 minutes.
Usually this chutney stays for 2 days outside. Refridgerate if you make a bigger batch and heat as and when necessary.

Karuvepila podi / Curry Leaf Powder

Yesterday, I visited my uncle and aunt, Mr.& Mrs. N.S.Ananthakrishnan.
While I was getting ready to leave, I remembered that they have a Curry leaf tree in their backyard.
Since curry leaf is supposed to be pesticide loaded, I try to not buy it from the shop.
When I asked them for some curry leaf, they nearly gave me the whole tree!!!
Now I had to do something with all the curry leaf!!

Two preparations came to my mind: Karuvepilai podi and Karuvepila kozhambu.
Though I have made the latter, I have never made the former.

And I got the recipe for Karuvepila podi from my aunt's mom. Her recipe was simple with just pepper, jeera and green gram dal. When I called my mother-in-law and another aunt for their recipes, they both advised me to not use Green gram dal. They wanted me to use urad dal and channa dal. Both of them also had included asafoetida and red chilly in their recipe.

Below is the photo of the recipe given by my aunt's mom.

Karuvepila podi is a lovely fragnant spicy powder, which is usually had with hot rice and a dollop of ghee.

Before you decide to make this recipe, a word of caution. Please make this powder only when you have time. It CANNOT / MUST NOT be made in a hurry. You will know why, when you read the procedure.

Ingredients:
Fresh Curry leaf - 4 cups to yield 3 cups of dried curry leaf
Urad dal -1/4 cup
Channa dal / kadala parippu - 1/4 cup
Red chilly - 6
Pepper corn - 1 tbsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Salt
Asafoetida slab - 1 cm radius ball (or) 1 heaped tbsp powder

Remove the leaf from the stalk.
Wash the curry leaf well and dry it by laying it on a cloth and placing it under the fan.

Heat a heavy vessel / kadai till it becomes very hot.
Turn off flame and put in all the curry leaf into the hot kadai.
Mix well and keep turning the curry leaf as you do not want it to burn. We need to try and retain the green color as much as possible.
Once the vessel cools down, remove all the curry leaf from it and repeat.
Heat the vessel, turn off the flame, and add the curry leaf.
Repeat this process until your curry leaf dries out and can be easily powdered by hand.

Heat another kadai and dry fry separately the dals, pepper, jeera and red chillies.
Then heat 1 tsp oil and fry the asafoetida slab till it becomes golden.

Once everything cools to room temperature, first grind the asafoetida with very less salt.
If using Asafoetida powder, omit this step.

Then add the fried dals, red chilly, pepper and jeera.
If you are using asafoetida powder, add the salt and powder now.

Once ground, add the dried curry leaf.

Taste the powder and add more salt, if necessary.
Transfer to an air tight container and store.
Serve with hot rice and ghee.

Stuffed Capsicum

Capsicum stuffed with flavored potatoes and roasted wholly.

Recipe Courtesy : Mrs. Rajam Ganapathy

Ingredients:

Capsicum - 2 , medium

Oil - 3 tbsp
Potato stuffing - 1 big cup - Find recipe below

Note: Add more salt and chilly powder in the potato masala recipe than you would usually do.

Ingredients for the stuffing:

If you have left over potato masala (poori ka bhaji or bonda masala), then just fry some extra onions with some salt and chilly powder. If you have not added Tomato to the masala, add it and fry till it softens. Add the potato curry to it. Heat till the curry becomes dry.

Stuffing the capsicum:

Remove the stem without breaking the capsicum and try and remove all the seeds.

Mix these seeds with the prepared potato masala.
Now stuff the capsicum carefully with the prepared potato masala. Try to not break the capsicum.

If you are not open to it, cut it into half and stuff the masala inside.

Heat the oil in a thick bottomed vessel with a tight lid.
Place the stuffed capsicum carefully on the oil and add any extra masala around it.
(You will see that I have placed a cut capsicum with stuffing in the photograph. This cut stuffed capsicum has to be handled carefully or all the stuffing will fall out.)
Now add 1/2 cup of water and cover vessel with the lid. Reduce flame and cook for 10 minutes till the capsicum becomes soft.

The water would have steamed the capsicum and the left over oil is enough to roast the capsicum.
Open lid and roast the capsicum for 5 minutes on a high flame till brown spots appear.

Serve hot with rice and sambar / rasam.

Coconut Coriander Chutney

Tangy chutney with a mild hint of Coriander.

Recipe Courtesy : Mrs. Shefali Arvind

Ingredients:
Coconut - 1 cup
Green chilly - 3 (or more according to your spice level)
Salt
Fresh Coriander - less leaf and more stem - 4 tbsp chopped
Lime juice - 1 tbsp (or more according to your taste)

Grind the coconut, green chilli , salt and coriander into a smooth paste.
Add lime juice in the end and give a whirl.
Transfer into a bowl , taste and adjust seasoning.
Enjoy.

I usually do not splutter 1 tsp mustard, 1/2 tsp urad dal, 1 broken red chilly and 1 sprig curry leaf in 1 tbsp oil and add to this chutney. But you can do it if you so wish.

Find recipes of different coconut chutney's here.

Bonda

No Tamil-Brahmin marriage is complete without an evening snack of "Bonda" on the previous day of marriage. My uncle, Mr.N.S.Ananthakrishnan says that the cook for the marriage, can be gauged by the quality of the bonda served.

This recipe is completely dedicated to him, my Bonda-loving uncle!!

Bonda is a deep fried snack made with balls of flavored potato covered in a thin coating of flavored flour batter.

Serves - 12

Ingredients:
Potato - 8 medium, boiled and peeled
Onion - 1 and 1/2 large, chopped
Green chilli - 3, chopped
Coriander leaf - 4 tbsp
Curry leaf - 2 sprigs
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp (optional)
Channa dal - 1 tsp (optional)
Ground nut - 1 tbsp (optional)
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp (or more depending on your spice level)

Batter:
Kadala mav / Besan / Channa dal powder - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1 heaped tbsp
Dosa batter (optional) - 1 tbsp
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1 tsp

Oil for deep frying

Method:
Boil / pressure cook the potatoes until soft and buttery.
Peel and break them up. It is not necessary to 'mash' it until smooth. Let some pieces be chunky.
Chop the onion , green chilli and curry leaf.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a big vessel and splutter the mustard seeds.
If you are using the urad dal , channa dal or ground nuts, add them now and fry until golden brown.
Then add the onion, green chilli and curry leaf.

Once the onion gets soft add the salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander leaf.

Mix well and after a minute tip in the potatoes. Turn off flame. Do NOT add any water.
There is a possibilty of the masala sticking to some parts. MIX WELL. Taste and add more salt, if necessary.
If you feel the masala is not spicy enough, add more chilli powder in the batter.

Make a batter with the besan, rice flour, salt, turmeric powder, Dosa batter (if using), chilli powder and asafoetida powder.

Repeat: If you feel the potato masala is not spicy enough, add more chilli powder in the batter.

The batter must neither be too thick, nor too thin. 

At first make a thick batter and then add water by the spoonful to thin it sufficiently.

Make balls of the spiced potato, dip it into the batter and deep fry until golden brown.

Serve with Coconut Coriander chutney and hot masala tea. Enjoy!

Foot note:

If your child is not really fussy and can be fooled (:P) then you can make 'cutlet' with the same potato masala.

Instead of dunking the potato masala into the besan batter, just make a thin paste of 1 tbsp corn flour and 1 tbsp maida (APF). Make "cutlets with the masala, and coat them with the corn flour batter. Then roll them in bread crumbs.

Deep fry and enjoy your South -Indian cutlets!!