Masala Vadai/Spicy Lentil Fritters..

Masala Vadai and Chai-The Ultimate combo!!
Takes me back to the good old days of train travel in India where the chorus of masal vada by the vendors was such a delight to the ears!!
This is another Indian snack which is made with lentils and spices and fried in oil.
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Kadala Paruppu/Channa dhall-1 Cup

Thovaram paruppu/thoor dhall-1 Tbsp

Chopped Onion-3 Tbsp chopped

Chopped Ginger-1 Tbsp

Green chillies-3-4 nos. finely chopped

Fennel seeds/sombu/saunf-1 Tbsp

Carom seeds/omam/ajwain-1 Tsp (optnl)

Grated coconut-1 Tbsp (optnl)

Chopped curry leaves- a few

Chopped Cilantro

Asafoetida/peringayam-a pinch

Salt to taste

Oil- to fry

Procedure:

1.Soak the channa dhall for about 2 hrs and drain the water.

2.Grind 3 tbsp of the soaked dhall into a fine paste and keep it aside the grind the rest of the dhall coarsely by just pulsing it twice or thrice without adding water.

3.Mix the ground dhall and the rest of the ingredients except oil to form a batter.The finely ground dhall paste helps to hold the mixture together making it easy to pat the vadas.

4.Wet your hands and take a small lemon sized ball of the batter and press it flat between your hands to form a round thin pattie.

5.Heat oil in a kadai or a frying pan and once it is hot,drop the patties in small batches and fry it until crisp and brown in colour and drain on a paper towel.

6.Enjoy it hot with chutney,sauce or best- a cup of hot ginger,elachi tea!!

7.Store it in an air tight container to maintain crispiness.

Bread 65/Spiced Indian Sytle Bread Snack..

We all have come across different recipes for
bread upma and other leftover bread dishes.
I now have a slightly altered and a fanciful recipe for a spicy bread 65 using very simple ingredients.
Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

Any white bread-about 10 slices cubed

Onion-1 medium thinly cut into strips

Tomatoes-3 chopped finely or 2 tbsp of any tomato paste

Green chillies-2 slit lenghtwise

Mustard seeds-1 tsp

Cumin/Jeera seeds-1 tbsp

Curry leaves-1 sprig

Cilantro- to garnish

Asafoetida pwdr-a pinch

Red chilly pwdr-1 tsp

Turmeric pwdr-1/2 tsp

Oil-2 tbsp

Salt to taste


Procedure:

1.Cube the bread slices with or without the crust on.

 2.Heat abt 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet and add the cumin seeds,green chillies,curry leaves and turmeric.

3.Add the cut onions next and fry until they turn transparent.

4.Now add the tomatoes or the paste or a combination of both and add the salt and chilly powder.

5.Cook for 5 mins till the mixture becomes thick and then slowly add the cubed bread slices.

6.Toss it slowly till the bread cubes are evenly coated with the tomato onion paste and add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil.

7.Fry till the bread cubes turn red and crisp.

8.Squeeze a few drops of lemon if preferred and garnish with chopped cilantro.

9.Serve hot with ketchup.

10.Yummy snack to enjoy on a monsoon evening..

Note:2 tbsp of thick curd can also be added towards the end for a tangy flavour..