Masala Puri (Poori) - Bangalore Street Food

Here we are in lockdown and its getting hard to get by each day without going out and interacting personally with loved ones.. Thank God we are still getting supply of essentials.
It is such a heartache to watch the news with casualties spiking up at insane rate.

Masala Puri - Bangalore Delight!

So Food comes to my rescue. Lately am indulging in preparing and dishing out many chatpata meaning tangy, sweet, spicy street food from India. Along with fond memories it brings in the much needed warmth and comfort around the house. And it definitely makes for a hot topic that tops the list during video meets and chats with family and friends.
Many are enjoying baking, cooking a feast for their families and some getting out of their comfort zone and trying out new things. Me am stuck with fast food  and comfort food for now :)

Masala Puri is a street food from south India. Hailed as Bangalore's delight, is loved by millions across the country and is now becoming an international fare. It is a famous south Indian fast food loaded with spicy, tangy, tart and thick sweet flavors all bundled up in one plate.

I say its Indian Nachos :) where a plateful of crushed puris is drenched in desi goodness like hot dried white peas curry followed by onion, tomatoes, green chutney, sweet chutney, sev etc ..innumerable toppings of your choice! Wait there is more, if any curry is left use it as a side dish to enjoy with your rotis.
Actually my kid pours all the deliciousness over his plate of spicy Doritos(No Kidding:)) It tastes great. Try it.

Doritos Masala :)

I have always been a Ragada pattis girl which is a street food from Mumbai. And I am actually surprised that I have not registered it on my blog yet! Point mentally noted. Have been enjoying this Masala Poori treat every now and then during our get togethers and festival meets. Finally thought of putting it up on my blog. Btw you may also check out Pav Bhaji, Vada Pav, Missal Pav too.

I am always looking for a quick, easy recipe that wont compromise on the taste and flavors. So after scanning through few recipes and trying out couple of times, came up with this combo of ingredients which screams less is more and gives out great flavors and swad that is sure to make your soul happy!

Lets get to the recipe:

Please be kind to leave message in the feedback box if you like this recipe:

Ingredients:

Curry:

• 1 cup dried white or green peas (vatana) soaked overnight or 4-6 hours atleast
• 1 med size potato peeled and cut into big 3-4 pieces
• 1 bay leaf

• 3 tbsp oil
• 1 med size onion sliced
• 1 tomato chopped chunkily
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 inch cinnamon stick 
• 3 cloves
• 3-4 pods garlic chopped roughly
• 1 inch ginger piece chopped roughly
• 4 green chillies chopped roughly [adjust as per your spice level]
• handful mint leaves [ 4-5 leaves will do too if you can]
• handful cilantro leaves along with stem will do
• big pinch turmeric pwd
• 1 tsp garam masala pwd
• 1/2 tsp chat masala pwd
• 1 tsp coriander pwd
• 1/2 tsp tamarind pulp [optional -[ if you feel your tomatoes are not sour enough]
• 1/2 tsp jaggery/sugar [optional]
• salt to taste

Toppings:

• finely chopped onion
• finely chopped tomato
• finely chopped cilantro
• date tamarind chutney [store bought]
• sev [store bought]
• Puris [store bought] - can use Doritos spicy Chips as a substitute :) 

Preparation:

• Use Instant pot(IP) to pressure cook the soaked dried peas. Add 3 cups of water with peas, potato, bay leaf. Pressure cook on high manual - 22 min. QPR release after 15 min or let it NPR. If using pressure Cooker, let it blow 3 whistles. Let the cooker cool down and allow pressure to release. Take out the peas and mash gently. Keep aside.
• In the mean time, take a pan, heat oil, add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, add onion and saute for few minutes, once its translucent add ginger, garlic, green chillies, saute further for couple more minutes, add tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes more till tomatoes soften. 
• Transfer this cooled mixture in mixer along with mint and cilantro leaves. Grind to a paste- you get nice green color.
• Now in the same pan, add little oil and on low medium add turmeric, garam masala, chat masala, coriander pwd and quickly stir. Pour the ground paste and mix everything. 
• Now add the cooked dried peas give it a nice stir, add water as required consistency then add salt.
• This curry thickens as we have potato in it. Consistency should be on the med thinner side- pourable consistency over the puris.

Serving: 

• First lay out roughly crushed puris on a plate. Pour the warm vatana (peas) curry over it. Then add tbsp chopped onions, 1 tbsp tomatoes, 1 tbsp sev, little cilantro, date chutney[sweet], cilantro  chutney and start relishing it! I promise you will wipe out in no time... :)
• Please add any amount and kind of topping of your choice!! You are the King of your own tastebuds :)

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Vada Pav - Street Food from Mumbai- Indian Burger

India's very own street side vegetable burger! You cannot go to Mumbai and NOT have VADA PAV- its a mortal sin if you do that ...lol

VADA PAV

This snack is synonymous with the city of Mumbai, with almost every resident, from factory workers to college students to Bollywood stars, to Visitors are unabashed in declaring their love for it. This street side business has given life to hundreds and thousands of families. A Vada Pav cart owner may be a millionaire for all we know. It is a meal of a poor and snack of the rich. Fills every one's tummy with yumminess!

Vada Pav is a crispy, flavorful sandwich that is consumed in millions across India’s financial capital and largest metropolis every single day. It's made with potato as filling for the vada which is dipped in chickpea flour batter and deep fried. It is then kept in between pav[bread roll] and served with various spicy and tangy dry/wet chutney and fried green chillies. There was a time when I used to ask for extra dry chutney from the vendor. I then brought the leftover chutney home and ate with my roti... its super yummy!

I lived with my aunt in Mumbai for a couple of years when I started work. There used to be a cart by the gate outside the colony which was taken care by a lady who was a widow. She made such excellent Vadas- the taste still lingers on my tongue. To relish hot Vadas which is made in front of you has its own bliss.
Now when I think of it, during shopping breaks I preferred to have Pav Bhaji , Chatpata mumbai special sandwiches or Cheese loaded Sandwiches :) wonder why?

One will find a thela of Vada Pav outside every train station - I am sure thats the hottest spot that is there for a great business! Tired commuters who are always in a hurry to reach somewhere take a quick break indulging in a flavorful Vada Pav which will keep them full till next pang of hunger :)
Mumbai and Vada Pav are inseparable!


Thanks to my aunt who happens to be a great cook and my goto chef :) Its her recipe that I am sharing here.

So without any further delay lets check the recipe:

We will need following: please dont lose interest looking at the ingredients, :) it just has few steps but can be done in fairly good amount of time.

Ingredients:

Dipping Batter

• 1/2 cup besan / chickpea flour
• 1 tbsp rice flour [for crispness]
• big pinch turmeric powder 
• 1 tsp chili pwd
• salt to taste 
• A pinch baking soda 
• water

In a mixing bowl, add all the above ingredients except water.
give it a toss - let everything mix.
Add water slowly taking breaks while you whisk the batter together. Let there be no lumps and get medium consistency batter. I dont like it too thick. Now let the batter rest for 15 plus minutes atleast while you get other things lined up.

For Dry Red Chutney 

• 4-5 cloves garlic fried in oil
• 1 tbsp red chili powder [adjust as you like]
• 1/2 cup peanuts slow roasted
• 1/2 cup boondi [ either store bought or while you make vadas, try to do some boondi with besan batter and use that]
• Salt to taste  

Grind coarsely all the above ingredients and your red dry chutney is ready!! Can be made before and kept. Also this can be used as a condiment and can reside happily in your kitchen pantry for other purposes :)

Red Dry Chutney

Vada Stuffing and Frying

• 3 med size boiled and mashed potatoes 
• 1 tbsp oil 
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 
• pinch asafoetida (hing)
• 10 curry leaves 
• 1 tbsp of green paste [For me this is the USP of any Vada: 1/2 inch ginger, 3-4 garlic, 2-3 green chili , 1 cup cilantro ground to paste]
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1/4 th tsp turmeric powder 
• salt to taste 
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice 
• 1 tbsp chopped Coriander leaves for garnish 
• oil for frying

Preparation:

• Heat oil in a pan on a medium heat. 
• Add mustard seeds, as it splutters- add asafoetida, curry leaves 
• Add onion and saute for 2-3 minutes till translucent. And turmeric pwd, green paste. Stir for a minute.
• Add salt, then boiled potatoes. Mix every everything nicely.
• Add lemon juice, coriander leaves and mix well. Try not to add water, if need be add very little so that potatoes gets nicely mixed with the seasoning. Stuffing is ready. 
• Let it cool a little.
• Take small portion of stuffing and roll it in the shape of ball [makes around 8 balls] - as seen in the pic

For Frying

• Heat the oil and always fry the Vadas on medium heat. 
• Stir the dipping batter that has been resting well. 
• Dip the potato ball (Vada) in the batter. Coat the batter from all sides hold it on top of the batter bowl till excess batter drops down then slowly slide it in the oil and fry it from all the sides until you see nice fried orange color on it probably couple of minutes on each sides. 
• Using a slotted spoon take out the Vadas and place on paper towel to drain out excess oil

Serving:

Take a Pav, slice it in the center, slather dry red chutney, place your Vada and couple fried chillies with it. 

You may also like Misal Pav, Ragi Rotti, Pav Bhaji

Thank you for visiting my page. 

njoY cookinG! 

Ingredients you may shop for:

Missal Pav/Bread

Street food, it's the best way to experience a local culture by eating the everyday food that the common man eats and relishes. And it's usually always hot and fresh and has taste that hits the spot sending you to the ecstacy land, if you know what I mean :) Another important fact being it usually cost less avoiding making a hole in your wallet😀. Most of us try so hard to recreate that magic by cooking at home and fail miserably... I can imagine you nodding head with me:) We have our days, and it is a journey of trial and error to get the exact taste like that of a street vendor. 

My aunt is an expert (according to me) when it comes to making few chaat/street food dishes. This is her recipe and we love it at home. I did not have mix chiwda(farsan) for topping so just added plain sev on it. 

This particular Missal Pav is a famous Maharashtrian chaat food where it has a 2 part preparation. One is Matki(moth beans) usal (dry sabji) and other is thin spicy red gravy Kat (coconut based). Then you can garnish it with the toppings of your choice. It is accompanied with Pav or Bread. 

Dunk the pav in slurrpy kat with moth beans usal and toppings! You tend to soak the Kat using pav and finish eating very soon so they always provide you with extra kat in a katori on your plate.

It is very very yum dish!

Let us check out the recipe:

Ingredients:

For Matki Usal

2 cups boiled sprouted matki (moth beans)

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/4th tsp asafoetida (hing)

1/2 tsp turmeric (haldi)

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp goda masala ( or garam masala)

salt to taste

For Kat (wet gravy)

<A>

8 peppercorns

6 cloves

1 tsp jeera

1 tsp coriander seeds

4-5 dry red chillies

1/2 tsp turmeric (haldi)

1/4 inch cinnamon stick

1/2 tsp sesame seeds

1/th tsp fennel seeds

1/4th cup grated coconut

2 tsp oil

<B>

4 big garlic pods

1/2 inch ginger

1 onion chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

2 tbsp oil

<C>

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp goda masala ( or garam masala)

salt as per taste

For Toppings:

1 onion finely chopped

1 cup cilantro chopped

1 cup sev (or mix dry farsan)

2 lemon cut in wedges

Preparation:

Mataki Usal:

• In a pan heat some oil, add mustard seeds, after it splutters add all the ingredients under Mataki usal except matki (moth beans) and saute quickly. 
• Now add the cooked* sprouted matki, salt and mix everything together. Cook for about 5 minutes and switch off the gas. 
• Keep aside.

Kat (wet curry):

• In a frying pan, heat oil and ingredients under <A> except coconut. 
• Saute lightly till it starts leaving aroma for about a minute or 2. Add this to a blender. 
• Now in the same pan, roast coconut and add it to the blender as well. Make a paste and keep aside.
• In a cooking utensil, heat oil and add other ingredients under bullet <B> in the order of ginger, garlic, onions saute till brown and add tomatoes. 
• Fry everything till it becomes one mushy mixture. Switch off the gas as oil starts leaving from the sides. 
• Let this mixture cool. Add to the blender and make a paste.
• In the same pan, add some oil, add <B> paste and bring to a quick boil. Add coconut paste <A> and cook for about 10 minutes. 
• Now you can adjust the taste by adding more chilli powder and goda masala under bullet <C>. Adjust salt too. 
• Add 3-4 cups of more water and bring to a boil. 
• Simmer the Kat on low flame till you see oil floating on top! 
• Now this is how you serve, take a soup bowl, add 3-4 tbsp mataki usal, then pour the kat generously over it, add chopped onions, squeeze lemon juice, add chiwda or sev on top and dunk your pav/bread in it and savor all the goodness! 
• You can see in my plate I have kat more as I like it that way :)

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

notes*: How to cook sprouted matki (moth beans)-Soak 1 & 1/2 cups of moth beans in 5 cups of water overnight or for 6 hours. Drain all the water and keep in a warm spot for another 6 hours or so for it to generate sprouts. You can also tie it in a muslin cloth and leave overnight. Boil it in 3-4 cups of water for about 25 minutes or till done.

Health Benefits:

Moth Bean seeds are a good source of proteins and other essential minerals and vitamins.
It can make an excellent protein supplement to Vegetarian diet. Maximum benefits can be reaped when it is soaked and sprouted. The coconut base thin spicy curry has all the masala ingredients that provides adequate minerals and nutrients to our body. If we use the oil sparingly (if you are making this dish often) it will prove to be a more healthier dish.

Pav Bhaji (Street food of Mumbai)

Getting back to blogging after a short break, feels so good to be back in my comfort zone :)
It was Monday, Presidents day a long weekend in USA. Had a busy rest of the weekend having too much fun! Thought of lazying around while cleaning up the house and at sharp 11:08am had a craving to eat pav bhaji after my eyes wandered on the potato bag in the pantry :) Got lucky as I had all the ingredients in the fridge except pav (Indian bread). After begging for 5 minutes to my Pati-dev who thinks weekends are his right to be a couch potato, sent him off to the store to get the pav while I geared myself to make some YUMM-O street food.

This dish is a big hit at my house and relished amongst my friends. I got this recipe from a Juhu beach vendor in Mumbai on Youtube some years back. Can't go wrong, right? I have customized the recipe just a little bit as per my convenience. I was actually surprised to see couple of ingredients that went into it like kasoori methi and hing. Well, it only adds more great flavors to say the least.

Another huge USP of this dish, can add as many variety of vegetables you want and kids will not even know :) because potatoes overpowers the rest of the clan :)- So yes, Moms can go YAY!!

Pav Bhaji was invented as a midnight dish by street food vendors, made with all the leftover vegetables from the day, mashed up together, with loads of added spice, and butter. Bhaji is the Marathi word for a vegetable dish, and pav probably comes from the Portuguese word for bread.

All I can say is try it and see if you like it.

Ingredients:

For the Bhaji:

• 2 big potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed lightly
• 4-5 ripe tomatoes chopped ( if not sour enough, add extra tbsp of tomato paste)
• 1 capsicum chopped
• 10 flowerets of cauliflower (roughly chopped)
• 1 small carrot chopped (optional)
• 1/2 cup peas boiled
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chili pwd (to give more color than spiciness)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/4th tsp turmeric pwd
• 1- 2 tbsp pav bhaji masala (everest or mtr)
• handful chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 tbsp fenugreek leaves
• pinch asafetida 
• 2 tbsp of oil
• food color orange 1 pinch ( if you want that gorgeous color :))

To Fry the Pav:

• Butter
• Cilantro leaves
• Prepared Pav Bhaji

Garnish Ingredients:

• Chopped onion
• Sev
• Lemon pieces
• Dallop of butter on it

6 Pav (store bought for now)
Minimum 2 Pav each person to relish all that goodness of buttery bhaji :)

Preparation:

• In a non stick pan, heat oil, add capsicum, cauliflower, (carrots if using it) and quickly saute it for 2 to 3 minutes. 
• Add ginger garlic paste and let it cook for little bit more till the raw smell goes away. Add asafetida, kasoori methi and cook for a minute.
• Now add chopped tomatoes and saute it for couple of minutes. You can add 1 tbsp butter now and let it cook till you see some oil coming out from the corners. Stir in between.
• Add masalas - turmeric pwd, chilli pwd and pav bhaji masala, salt mix everything together quickly. 
• Add boiled potatoes and with a masher, start mashing everything together. Add water little by little till you get the consistency of thickness/thinness you want. It is always semi thick. Potatoes basically absorb water. 
• Taste it and see if it needs adjustment, if your tomatoes are not sour enough, add lemon juice.
• Add food color if you want.
• Let it cook on sim flame for about 7-8 minutes. Keep stirring in between and add water as you like. Add another tbsp of butter :)
• Garnish it with Cilantro and switch off the gas.

How to fry the Pav just before serving:

• Cut the Pav in the centre and semi open it.
• On a frying pan, add butter, as it sizzles add bhaji, cilantro and place the pav face down and cook for few sec. Drizzle some butter or oil on top and serve hot.

How to Serve Pav Bhaji:
Serve good amount of bhaji in a compartmented plate, chopped onion, cilantro and lemon slices on one end, you can add onions, sev and butter on top of the hot bhaji, and masala fresh pav on the other side.

Trust me, eating is much easier than writing how to serve Pav Bhaji :):) (joke)

If you are street food junkie, you may also like
Missal Pav,  Baked Potatoes Wedges,  Mumbai's special Masala Sandwich

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Health Benefits:

Due to the increased interest in foods that are low-carb or low-glycemic index, the potato has unjustly earned a bad reputation. Potatoes consumed in simple roasted, grilled, boiled, steamed manner with little or no oil/butter is very healthy and nutritious for health.
It is loaded with calcium, phosphorus, zinc, magnesium, iron that helps in having strong bones.
It has vitamin B6 which supports heart health.
Choline is a very important and versatile nutrient in potatoes that helps with sleep, muscle movement, learning and memory.

Karela(Bitter Melon) Chat

Karela or bitter gourd, the name itself has bitter in it and this is one vegetable that will be either loved or hated :) by the crowd. Thankfully, I fall in the 'Love' category. Its health benefits and unique taste makes it up for everything. I can eat it fried, in curry, pickle or in stuffed version, it absolutely tastes gorgeous. Only way I can't consume it, is in its juice form :) Hope people switch to eating karela who don't. Here is a simple and quick recipe of this side dish.

Karela Chat

Ingredients:

• 4 medium size karela
• 2 tbsp oil (or less)
• 1/2 lime juice
• 1 tsp chat masala *
• 1 medium size red onion chopped
• cilantro for garnish
• 1 tbsp grated coconut(optional) for garnish
• salt to taste 

Preparation:

• Cut the karela into thin roundels and wash, rinse, pat dry and apply some salt, keep aside for few minutes.
• Heat oil in a wide bottom non-stick pan, add karela roundels and let it cook on med heat with no cover. Keep turning sides in between, let them cook till they look crispy and cooked.
• Transfer it in a bowl, add lime, chat masala, cilantro, coconut, onions. Mix well and its ready to eat. 

      * chat masala =  jeera powder, black pepper powder, salt,  little black salt,  amchur powder.

Njoy!!

Nutrition Facts: One of the best diet vegetables for diabetes. The insulin-like peptides, alkaloids, and charantin combine to lower blood and urine sugar levels without increasing blood insulin levels. It has blood purifying properties and is beneficial for people suffering from piles. Helps with the metabolism, strengthens the immune system, cures many skin related issues like eczema, helps women in their menstrual disorders, fights chronic fatigue etc. Too many benefits, you just cannot ignore this gift :)

Mumbai's Special Masala Sandwich

If you ever visit Mumbai, the heart of India and go out on the streets under the hot sun (or otherwise) you cannot miss this street food that you will need after an exhausting shopping spree :) It literally makes you walk to the stall/store and order for one sandwich :) I say an apt healthy snack in between your tiring, exhausting shopping sprees 😜

Now you can make it at home within minutes with all the staple food that you have in your pantry ready.
So here goes the recipe: (to make 1 masala sandwich)

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bread (big size preferably)
• 2 tsp room temperature butter (salty or unsalted)
• 1 tbsp shredded cheese (optional)
• 1 single sheet(slice) of any cheese
• 6 slices of cucumber
• 2-3 slices of big tomato
• few sliced red onion rings
• few julienned bell pepper(capsicum) slice
• 1-2 tsp mint/cilantro chutney
• 1tsp chat masala
• salt and pepper as per taste
  
  
  

Preparation:

• Keep 2 slices of bread beside each other.
• Apply butter on both sides of the bread slice.
• Start layering one side of the bread with cheese slice, cucumbers, tomato, onion ring, bell pepper.
• Sprinkle chat and add the shredded cheese
• Apply mint/cilantro chutney generously on the other slice of the bread and cover it over the layered slice of bread.
• You are almost there, now grill this sandwich on a griddle(on med flame) or panini press, for few minutes till the cheese starts to melt. 
• Serve with tomato ketchup and some fun drink.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!