Usha's Recipes

Chekkalu (Rice Crackers) 

Rice flour mixed with ginger and few spices to make dough and deep fried in oil is our all time favorite snack. Curry leaves give a nice flavor to this chekkalu. My mom does this chekkalu in bulk and keeps in an air tight container, which lasts for up to one month. This got few variations; I followed my mom's version.

Ingredients: 

Rice flour - 2 cups

6-7 green chilies

2" ginger piece

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp butter

2-3 strands of curry leaves

1/2 cup chana dal

Salt to taste

Luke warm water

Procedure:

·         Soak chana dal for about 2 hours and drain water.

·         Blend ginger and chilies together to make paste.

·         Roughly tear curry leaves and mix with the flour.

·         Add salt, cumin seeds to the rice flour and mix well.

·         Add butter, dal, and chili-ginger paste and mix well without forming lumps.

·         Add small quantity of Luke-warm water (add little by little) and make dough.

·         Dough should be tight and not like chapatti dough.

·         Grease oil to the hand and make 6-8 small balls out of the dough.

·         Grease oil to a plastic sheet and flatten the balls to thin chekkalu with the fingers.

·         Heat oil in a kadai, and gently place 6-8 chekkalu depends on kadai size and fry them.

·         Turn the chekkalu, and fry the other side until medium-brown color.

·         Remove chekkalu from kadai and drain the excess oil.

·         Repeat the same for the remaining dough.

·         Let them cool for an hour. Then keep them in an air-tight container.

Note:

·         If you place chekkalu in oil, it should soon come up to the surface and float, otherwise the oil should be heated a bit more.

·         If the oil is too hot, it will change the color of chekkalu to dark brown but not cooked inside.

·         These should be fried on medium-high heat.

·         chekkalu should crack at the edges while flattening, if not the dough is too soft, Add a tbsp of rice flour and mix well.

Vegetable Manchurian

Vegetable Manchuria - Dry

Vegetable Manchuria - Wet

Ingredients: 

1 cup grated carrots

1 cup grated cabbage

1 cup grated mixed vegetables of your choice (beans, cauliflower, capsicum, green peas) optional

2 tbsp Corn flour

1/2 cup mashed boiled rice

3 green chilies finely chopped

1 inch ginger finely minced

1 Spring onion finely chopped

¼ tsp pepper powder

½ tsp red chili paste

2 tsp Soy sauce

¼ tsp ajinomoto

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

1 tbsp Oil

1 inch ginger finely chopped

2 garlic flakes finely chopped

1 onion (big) chopped

2 green chilies chopped

2 spring onions

1 cup Vegetable stock

1 tbsp corn flour

½ tsp Chili paste

1 tsp pepper powder

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp Sugar

Salt

Chopped coriander

Procedure:

·         Boil 1/2 cup of water and add all the grated vegetables (carrots, beans, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, capsicum) and let them cook covered for 3-5 minutes, vegetables should be half cooked.

·         Cool the vegetable mixture and squeeze the excess water from vegetables using a cloth and use the squeezed water as vegetable stock for making sauce.

·         Mix squeezed vegetables with salt, ajinomoto, ginger, green chilies, spring onions, pepper, soy sauce, chili paste, boiled rice, corn flour and make dumpling of small size.

·         Heat oil in a frying pan, and fry the dumplings until medium dark brown color and take out onto a kitchen towel.

·         Take another pan heat 1 tbsp of oil add cumin seeds, chopped ginger, garlic, onions, green chilies, pepper and saute for 2 minutes

·         Add spring onions, ajinomoto, salt, chili paste, soy sauce, sugar, 2 tbsp of water and saute for 2 minutes.

For Dry Manchuria

·         Add the dumplings into the sauce and sauté for 2-3 minutes until dumplings are well coated with sauce.

·         Garnish with chopped coriander and greens of spring onions.

·         Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

For Wet Manchuria

·         Add the vegetable stock (squeezed water from vegetables) to the sauce and adjust salt.

·         Mix 1 tbsp corn flour with little water and add this to the sauce. 

·         Add the fried dumplings to the sauce, and bring to boil until the sauce thickens to the required consistency.

·         Garnish with coriander and serve hot with noodles, fried rice or even with rotis/chapathis.

Pani Poori  

Ingredients:   

For poori

½ cup Semolina

1 tbsp All purpose flour

¼ tsp Cooking soda

Salt to taste

Water to make dough

Oil for frying

½ cup tamarind

½ cup coriander leaves chopped

1 cup mint leaves chopped

4-5 green chilies

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tbsp cumin powder

½ tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp grated jaggery

Pinch of black salt

Salt to taste

Water to dilute

For stuffing

2 medium size Potatoes

3 tbsp matar

¼ tbsp red chili powder

Salt to taste

1 onion finely chopped  

For tamarind chutney (optional)

½ cup tamarind

¼ cup jaggery

1 tbsp sugar

¼ tsp red chili powder

½ tbsp cumin powder

Salt to taste

½ cup warm water

Poori preparation:

·         Mix semolina, salt, plain flour cooking soda and add little bit of water and knead well to make soft dough and leave it for 10-15 minutes. (mean time u can prepare pani)

·         Make very small balls and roll them into small circles.

·         Alternatively roll like big chapattis and make small circles using some bottle cap. Here I used priya pickle bottle cap

·         Don’t make too big pooris that we can’t swallow whole.

·         Heat the oil in a thick bottomed pan and then fry the rolled pooris till puffed and golden brown which appears like spheres...

·         Take them out and put them on kitchen paper towel, to get rid of extra oil.

·         Store the pooris in an air tight container, after cooling them.  

Tangy spicy juice or Pani Preparation:

·         Soak the tamarind in a cup of warm water for 15-20 min

·         Strain the tamarind out to get thick tamarind water.

·         Blend mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chilies, cumin seeds with little water to make smooth paste. 

·         Now mix this blended paste, black salt, salt, coriander powder, cumin powder, jaggery and thick tamarind juice and add water slowly until required consistency.  

Stuffing:

·         Boil potato and matar till done, then mash it

·         Mix it with chili powder and salt

Tamarind chutney preparation:

·         Soak the tamarind in warm water for 15-20 min

·         Strain the tamarind out to get thick tamarind juice and add jaggery, sugar, salt, red chili powder, cumin powder.

·         Pour the mixture in to a pan and heat for 5-7 minutes on medium flame to melt the sugar and jaggery

·         Now the pani poori is ready it’s time to enjoy the taste come we will taste it now

Serve this way

Make a small hole in the center of the poori

Fill one tsp stuffing and ½ tsp chopped onions in to the poori and ¼ tsp tamarind chutney (optional, those who like sweet flavor in it)

Now dip poori in the tangy spicy juice or just pour spicy water into the poori.

Gulp it :)

Wow tasty...........

My mouth watering, have to go and gulp.

But bit careful, don’t talk or laugh while eating.........