Veggie Enchiladas

Whenever we invite someone who is not used to Indian food for lunch or dinner, it's always more conscious selection on what to cook.

Specially when it's for lunch. None other than we Indians can eat what lunch meant back home. Here everyday/ weekday European lunch consists of salads, soup, sandwich ! But now when we are inviting someone for lunch, somehow this menu doesn't go down for us.

A few weekend back we had friends for lunch and i went through same dilemma, so i ended up preparing some fusion in the end. I prepared veggie enchiladas with kidney beans, some potato crust rice Iranian way, and to add some Indian flavor some aloo tikkis and traditional Gujarati dish Handvo.

I am very fond of this enchiladas and luckily i got enough time for a few clicks (advantage of not going for cooking full Indian meal) so sharing that recipe here.


Let's collect Ingredients :

For Filling:
100 gm Kidney Beans
2 Spring Onions
A pinch of Baking Soda / Sodium-bi-carbonate
1-2 tsp Red Chillies Powder
2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
Salt to taste

For Gravy:
3-4 Tomatoes
2-3 Garlic Flakes
Dry Onions
Salt
Sugar
Oregano
Red Chillies Powder

For Wraps:
Tortillas (I used Corn flour Tortillas )

Let's prepare Filling:

- Soak Kidney beans for about 6 hrs / overnight in hot water with a pinch of sodium-bi-carbonate.

- Drain the water and rinse beans in fresh water.

- Add salt and cook beans till its done.

- Mash them roughly, don't mash completely, just do half-done.

- Add finely chopped spring onions and mix.

- Take a little butter in a pan, melt it on slow flame.

- Add the prepared mixture, red chillies powder and tomato ketchup t it.

- Mix well and let it done on slow flame.

Let's prepare Gravy:

- Take a pan. Put tomatoes, 2-3 garlic flakes, Onions, add a little water and boil it together.

- When cooked blend it in a blender or mixer with some more water. (The consistency should be like a thin soup but not watery).

- Put on stove. Add Salt, Sugar, Oregano, Red Chillies Powder and bring it to boil.

- Keep it boiling on slow flame for about 5-7 mins.

Let's assemble Enchiladas:




Put the filling in the middle of tortillas.

Wrap it from two sides.

Arrange them in a Baking dish.

Pour some of the gravy on each of the wraps.

















Sprinkle a lot of cheese over that.

Bake it in pre-heated oven at 200 C for 30 mins or till the cheese is melted.

While serving the enchiladas, put a little hot gravy again in the serving dish, enjoy your enchiladas!

Khichu

Very famous item from western part of India, that is state of Gujarat.
Initially it used to be household item at the time of yearly mission about making and storing Papdi ( that's different kind of pappadam ). Lately, due to it's popularity and simplicity i saw it making place in road side food and specially stalls at the times of festivals and fairs.


Let's collect the ingredients :

500 gm. Rice flour,
25gm green chillies,
15gm cumin seeds,
15gm bishop-weed seeds (ajamo),
15gm sesame seeds,
1-tbsp soda-bi-carbonate,
Salt to taste.

Let's start cooking:

1. Finely crush green chillies, cumin seeds, bishop-weed seeds in mixer.


2. Take double water as compare to rice flour. Heat the water in thick bottom vassal and add crush material in it. Add soda-bi-carbonate, salt and sesame seeds in it.


3. When water boiling then add flour slowly over the water. Spread flour over the water with spoon and cover it. After approx 30 minutes check if the water is absorbed.



4. Take a wooden spoon and stir continuously in one direction.
5. Mix well. It will appear like dough.


6. Kichu is read to eat. You can eat it sprinkling with oil, red chili powder.


Have fun !

Hot Pot Macroni

I love this dish, specially the way it beans and macroni blends with each other. We used to have this dish in one of our favorite restaurant back home, and like many other dishes I missed this dish so badly!
That made me do some searching, and some adjustments to achieve the taste I was missing, and this is the result. I absolutely love it! A complete dish in itself.


Let's collect the ingredients:

1 cup, cooked Macroni
1 1/2 Onions
1 Capsicum
3 Tomatoes2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
1 small can, Baked Beans (I mixed white beans in tomato and kidney beans)
3 tbsp Tomato ketch-up
5-6 tbsp white cheese sauce,
50 gms, grated cheese
1 tbsp Butter
Salt to taste

Let's start cooking:

Cut the onions and capsicums into rings.

Put the tomatoes in a bowl and microwave on HIGH for about 3 to 4 minutes. Cool and remove the skins. Grate.

Put the butter in a non-stick pan; add onion rings and sauté for 30 half a minute. Add the capsicum rings and sauté. (You can also microwave them) Take out some rings of Onion and Capsicum for decoration.Add garlic, tomato pulp, chili powder and let it cook well.

Add beans, salt and tomato ketch up and mix well. Layer them on a baking plate.

Mix cooked macroni with cheese sauce. I did that in the same pan as I did other veggies so that it also gets a pinch of taste from using same pan.


Lay this as a layer on top of mixture in baking plate.Cover it with those veggie rings we kept aside for decoration and cheese.

Bake for approx. 30 mins or till the cheese is melted and forms a layer the way you prefer it.
I like it baked till brown spots appear on the melted cheese, giving it a bit firm look.
Your Hot Pot Macroni is ready! Serve hot.

Khandvi

This is one simplest recipe and still one which requires some care and practice for it to come out right. Simple and delicious, it melts in mouth !

Let's collect the ingredients:

3/4 cup Gram flour ( Besan)

3/4 cup Fresh curds

1 tsp Green chili paste

1 tsp Ginger paste

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder (haldi)

A pinch asafetida

Salt to taste

For Garnish:

Grated Coconut

Chopped Coriander

For Tempering:

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Sesame seeds

1/2 tsp asafetida

5-6 Curry leaves

4 dry red chilies

2 tbsp Oil

Let's start rolling Khandvis:

Mix all the ingredients (except those for garnish and tempering) with 1 cup and make a smooth paste.

Heat it on a low flame, stirring constantly so that lumps do not form.

Keep stirring till batter becomes thick. It will take approx 10 mins. Taste the batter to see if the gram flour is cooked.

Grease the flat surface (flat plate or kitchen top) and spread the mixture as thinly as possible with rubber spatula while it is still hot.

Let it cool a bit. (Approx 2-3 mins)

Slit the khandvi lengthwise every 40 mm along the width. Carefully roll out each strip. (Or you can roll up the spread first and then can cut it in pieces)

For tempering, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds, sesame seeds, asafetida, curry leaves and red chilies. Stir for 30 seconds.

Pour over the khandvis and serve garnished with coriander and coconut.

Pineapple Cake with Fruits topping

Nithya mailed me this recipe for Pineapple cake and since then I wanted to try it. This weekend was a perfect occasion as we were going to one of our friend's place for dinner and I thought let me bake and bring this along.

A day prior to that we spent almost whole day discussing options to decorate it with, from only pineapple decorations we concluded to make it more colorful and then decided to make it rich with topping of all kind of fruits :o)

This cake was an instant hit! (Or at least I was told and convinced to believe so!! hehe)



Let's Collect Ingredients:

4 eggs
100 gms flour sieved with 2 small level tsps of baking soda
100 gms ground sugar
1 tsp pineapple essence
1 pineapple can
Sugar cream for icing

Let's Start Baking:

1. Beat the eggs till they become stiff n reach to the 3/4th level of the vessel. The true test is, even if u tilt the vessel the egg stuff should not move. This will take u approx 15-20 mins; it can be done taking breaks in between. (Actually I am very impatient, so I had my doubts to beat this longer, but I am happy I did)

2. Once done add sugar slowly n beat again.

3. Add flour spoon by spoon and fold in one direction. Do not mix a lot just very delicate folds. Add pineapple essence. (I did a mistake of mixing a bit more than required which made it lose a bit of fluffiness; I will remember it next time not to do so)

4. In an aluminum cake pan put butter n dust some flour. Pour this mixture. Bake in preheated oven at approx 180 C for approx 30 mins or till when tasted with the stick, it comes out clean.

5. Remove, cool and get it out on a plate.

6. Cut the cake from centre to make 2 layers. Use a thread to avoid breaking the cake.

7. Put the syrup from the pineapple can on both insides of the cake. Sugar water on the both the insides of the cake, the cake should be wet. Instead of syrup, you can use sugar water.

8. In a different bowl, beat cream and sugar till fluffy n thick, this should take just 5-10 seconds. Beating it more will change the taste of the cream- butter formation.

9. Mix sugar to the cream, add pineapple pieces and apply on the inside and top of the cake.

10. Decorate with fruits of your choice!

Refrigerate and eat cool. Yummm. :o)

Paneer Tikka Sizzler

As much we both love sizzlers, more than that Paneer Tikkas. What else can be best when there is a combination of both, a real treat, right?

This Sizzler is normally accompanied by Makhni Sauce, which I skipped as I thought to surprise Ashu with dinner when he is back from his MBA classes but he came back early that day, not giving me enough time to prepare it. But even then we loved it!

Let's collect the ingredients for Paneer Tikkas:

1½ cups paneer (Indian cottage cheese), cut into square pieces

½ cup Onions, cut into thick wedges

½ cup Capsicum, cut into pieces

½ cup Pineapple, cut into pieces

½ cup thick curd

½ teaspoon Gram flour (besan)

1 tsp Ginger paste

1 tsp Garlic paste

2 tsp Chili Powder

1 tsp Tandoori masala

½ tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)

½ tsp Garam Masala

2 tsp Oil

Salt to taste

Let's collect ingredients for Yellow Rice:

1 cup long grained rice (I used Basmati)

½ tsp Cumin seeds

1" stick Cinnamon

2 Cloves

1 bay leaf
¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tablespoon Oil

Salt to taste

Let's collect the ingredients for Stuffed Capsicum:

1 potato, boiled and mashed

1 tsp Chili powder

½ tsp Turmeric powder

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp Garam Masala

2 tsp Coriander, chopped

¼ cup corn kernels, boiled

¼ cup Green Peas, boiled

Salt to taste

Let's grill the Paneer Tikkas first:
1. Combine curd, gram flour, ginger-garlic paste, chili powder, fenugreek leaves, garam masala, Tandoori masala, salt and 1 tablespoon of oil and mix well to prepare a marinade.

2. Add the Paneer, onions, Pineapple and capsicum pieces to it coat well and keep aside for 15 minutes.

3. Arrange them on skewer sticks.

4. Place them in already heated oven on 200 C for about 30 mins or till the brown spots starts appearing.

Let's cook yellow rice:

1. Clean, wash and soak the rice for 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside.

2. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add the cumin seeds, cloves and bay leaf and stir.

3. When the seeds crackle, add the rice, turmeric powder and salt and sauté for 2 minutes.

4. Add 2 cups of hot water. Cover and cook over a slow flame for 10 to 15 minutes till the rice is cooked. Keep aside.

Let's stuff the capsicum next:

1. Cut the capsicum into halve horizontally, ( i made a zigzag pattern on the edge) scoop out the seeds to create an empty shell.

2. Parboil the capsicum in salted water, drain and keep aside.

3. Combine all rest of the ingredients well, leaving some corn and peas apart to decorate it with.

4. Fill this mixture in the capsicum halves, top it with corn and peas we kept aside and keep aside till required.

Let's assemble the Paneer Tikka Sizzler :

1. Heat sizzler plate over an open flame till they are red hot and place them on their respective wooden trays.

2. Arrange half the warm yellow rice in the centre of cast iron plate.

3. Place one stuffed capsicum on one side of each sizzler plate and some french fries on other side.

4. Top with 2 skewers of the Paneer Tikkas.

5. Pour the oil-water mixture over the cast iron plates for a sizzling effect.

6. Serve immediately with the makhani sauce or whatever you want to serve with like i did with just plain curd raita !

Veggie Burger with Corn Patty

This is the easiest and fastest thing mind comes up with when back home tired from office and no energy left to think about what to cook!
Yes obviously only if you have burger buns available at home. We didn't have burger buns at home at that moment but we had some regular buns and so we prepared it using the same and it was no less tasty!


Let's collect the Ingredients:
4 Burger Buns
1 tomato, thinly sliced
1 capsicum, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 Jalapeno, thinly sliced (I used the bottled jalapeno available in super market)
4 tbsp, Mayonnaise
5 tbsp, Ketch-up
Salt and pepper to taste

For Burger patty:
1/2 cup Paneer, crumbled (Indian Cottage cheese)
1/2 cup sweet corn (canned), half crushed
1/2 cup red kidney beans (canned), crushed
2 green chilies, finely chopped
2 tbsp, bread crumbs
1 tbsp, corn flour
Salt to taste

Other ingredients:
Oil for deep frying
Bread crumbs for coating

Let's fry Patty first:
1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Divide the mixture in equal portions depending on patties you require and shape them each into a patty.
3. Coat the patty with bread crumbs, checking it doesn’t look lose enough to break while frying.
4. Heat oil and deep fry the patties in hot oil till they are golden brown.
5. Drain on absorbent paper.

Let's assemble the Burger:
1. Slit each burger bun into 2 halves. Toast both sides of each slit bun lightly on a tava (griddle). (you can skip this step if you prefer cold bread)
2. Spread Mayonnaise, tomato slices, onion slices, shredded lettuce, and jalapeno in layers on the burger bun. Sprinkle salt and pepper and top it with patty and ketch up. Sandwich it with other half of the burger bun.

3. Repeat the same for other burgers.
4. Serve with French fries.

Tips:

Drain out all the juices of the canned sweet corn / kidney beans before using it for the recipe.

Tutti-Frutti Cup Cakes

I don't know how, but it always happens that i end up baking when i want to use some ingredients to empty my fridge ! last time it was carrot cake to use carrots and this time it was Tutti-frutti cup cakes to use a box of Tutti-frutti which Ashu picked up at an Indian store some time back and since then is accupying a space in refrigerator !

While i started, i didn't measure anything, it was jus mix and match experiment. Normally i use condensed milk when i am baking egg-less cake, otherwise i use eggs with mix of white and brown sugar. This time i used all... hehehe condensed milk, eggs, white sugar, brown sugar !

it turned out good.

Let's collect Ingredients :

2 cup of all-purpose flour

3/4 cup of white sugar, add more if you like it sweeter

1/2 cup of brown sugar

3/4 Cup melted butter

3 Eggs

3/4 cup sweet condensed milk.

1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1 Cup Tutti-frutti.

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

Let's start baking:

1. Pre-heat oven at 350F.

2. Beat eggs, combine sugars, butter, in a large bowl; stir until all ingredients are well blended.

3. Combine rest of the dry ingredients except sugar, in a medium bowl; set aside.

4. Mix both the mixtures along with tutti fruity and vanilla extract. Blend it well.

5. Grease and flour cup cake moulds. Pour this batter, put a few tutti fruity on the top and bake it for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean.

6. Cool them for 10 minutes on wire racks.

It can be served warm or cold, as you prefer.

Hummus Wraps

I am a big fan of any types of wraps. It's fast, easy and yummy.

I have been dying to try this recipe since i came across it first on Lizzy's blog. She always comes up with yummy recipe posts and each and every post i come across i feel like trying on my own.
You can check her blog HERE.

I finally tried his recipe some time back but busy schedule allowed me to post it only now. But i think it's a good time as it is summer approaching and also i can send it to Preeti's Green Gourmet event and Priya's Avocado event !


Ok so let's get started. :)

Let's collect Ingredients:
3-4 corn tortillas (
2 medium sized ripe avocados
1 cup dates, sliced
10 oz (300g) mixed salad greens
Italian salad dressing
15 oz (425g) canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1½ T. tahini paste
1 T. lemon juice
6 T. olive oil
½ cup roasted red bell pepper
1-2 small cloves garlic
½ tsp cumin powder
dash of cayenne pepper
2-3 pinches crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste

Let's start preparing:

1. Toss the greens in Italian dressing. If you prefer your lettuce very crisp, do this step last.

2. Blend the chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, roasted red bell pepper, garlic and seasonings in a blender for Hummus until smooth and creamy.

3. Mash the avocados with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Microwave the tortillas to soften. Lay them out on a flat surface. First spread the hummus on it and on the top of that, spread the avocado puree.

5. Next spread some sliced dates.

6. Then some salad.

7. Roll up and cut in half on the diagonal. Your wraps ready. Easy, isn't it? Enjoy :)

And i send this post to....

Manchurian Rolls

If you love Manchurian, you are going to love these Manchurian Rolls.
It's a delicious fushion.... creating sandwich using Manchurian filling.
I prepared them from scratch but it also can be a left-over recipe. If you have left-over Manchurians and you don't want to throw them away or eat the same in next meal, you got to try this one !

Let's collect Ingredients:

4 Crusty Bread Rolls ( I used Brown Pistolets )
3 cups cabbage, grated
1¼ cups carrots, grated
½ cup, cauliflower, grated
½ green capsicum, seeded and chopped
½ cup Spring onions, chopped
2 ttsp corn flour / corn starch
5 tbsp refined flour (maida)
4-6cloves garlic, finely chopped (European Garlic cloves are bigger than Indian one, so this number can be reduced to 3-5)
1" Ginger, chopped
3 green chilli, finely chopped (can be adjusted as per taste)
2 tbsp, Dark Soy Sauce
1 tbsp, Sugar
2 tsp, Ajinomoto/MSG (optional)
salt to taste
1 tbsp White Vinegar
Oil for frying

Let's start Cooking:
- Take all the vegetables (leaving half of spring onions) and salt, mix well.
- Add refined flour, cornflour and 1 tbsp soy sauce and mix well.
- Mix thoroughly, Shape into marble sized balls.
- Heat sufficient oil in a wok and deep fry the balls in small batches till golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper.

- Heat two tablespoons oil in a wok or pan. Stir-fry chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies briefly.
- Add the fried balls and stir. Add half a cup of water and dark soy sauce and stir. Balls will break and become messy.
- Add sugar and salt and mix. Mix cornflour with a quarter cup of water and add to the pan and stir.
- Add spring onion with greens and mix well. Add vinegar and mix.
- Slit the rolls without cutting through. Put some of the Manchurian mixture in the slit and press lightly. Serve immediately.

Tip:

You can save a few manchurian fried balls and put it whole along with manchurin mixture in bread while serving.

Sweet Corn Paratha

Both of us love sweet corn and so i keep searching for recipes which involve it as ingredient.
This was an instant hit.
It is a perfect dish, quite fulfilling on its own. You can just eat it with yogurt or pickle.

Let's collect Ingredients :

1 cup, sweet corn kernels

1 cup, whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp, red chilli powder

1/2 tsp, cumin seeds

1 tsp, lemon juice

1/2 tsp, sugar

1 tsp, oil

1/4 cup, chopped coriander

salt to taste

Let's start Cooking:

1. Grind the sweet corns into a paste without using any water.

2. Mix sweet corn paste with all other ingredients and make a soft dough. Add water only if needed.

3. Divide the dough in equal portions and roll out each portion in a circle.

4. Heat Tawa / Griddle and cook each roti on both sides on slow flame until golden brown using a little oil.

5. Serve hot. You can top it with a dollop of butter.

~Lopa

Vegetable Manchurian

One more popular Chinese dish we miss from Indian Chinese restaurants and also one that i never tried my hands at back home. But like many other recipes, this one i started preparing after moving to Europe.
It is really easy to make but while eating those deep fried vegetable balls, it is easy to be bothered by calorie conscious mind but it's worth it to ignore it for a day so do not let mundane things like the weighing scale bother you, Just dig into these deep fried delights and enjoy!

Let's collect the Ingredients:

First the vegetable balls:

3 cups cabbage, grated
1¼ cups carrots, grated
1/2 cup French beans, chopped
½ cup Spring onions, chopped
1 green capsicum, seeded and chopped
2 ttsp corn flour / corn starch
5 tbsp refined flour (maida)
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped (European Garlic cloves are bigger than Indian, so this number can be reduced to 2-3)
1 green chilli, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying

Then the sauce:

2 tbsp Oil
1" Ginger, chopped
4-6 cloves Garlic, chopped ( Same way again in case of bigger Garlic cloves reduce to 3-5)
3 Green chilies, chopped
2 tbsp, Soy Sauce
1 tbsp, Sugar
2 tsp, Ajinomoto/MSG (optional)
salt to taste
21/2 cups, Vegetable stock
2 tbsp, Cornflour/ corn starch
1 tbsp Vinegar

Let's start Cooking:

For the vegetable balls:

- Take all the vegetables and salt, mix well.
- Add refined flour, cornflour and 1 tbsp soy sauce and mix well.
- Mix thoroughly, Shape into marble sized balls.
- Heat sufficient oil in a wok and deep fry the balls in small batches till golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper.

For the sauce :

- Heat two tablespoons oil in a wok or pan. Stir-fry chopped ginger and garlic briefly. Add green - chilies. Stir-fry for a few secs. Add soy sauce, sugar, MSG(optional) and salt to taste.
- Stir in Veg. Stock and bring to a boil.
- Stir in corn flour blended in a cup of water and cook for a couple of minutes or till the sauce starts to thicken, stirring continuously.
- Add vinegar and mix well.

To serve :
- Put the vegetable balls in the sauce and bring to a boil, just before serving.
- Serve hot, garnish with chopped spring onion greens. Enjoy !

Tips:

- If you want to serve it dry without sauce, reduce the stock to one cup and add corn flour in the sauce to one and a half tbsp only.
- Add some water or vegetable stock to thin down the sauce if it is too thick.

~Lopa

Adai

I succeed in convincing Nithya to be a co-author on this blog and share her recipes, and so now i don't need to post them for her but now she is here as my partner in cooking and posting. Ok so signing off. Thanks Nithya and a warm welcome to you on Cook with me... oops now it's not me but us ofcourse !

----***----

Ok the Shundal comments have been very strong to bring me back here on Lopa's blog..My mom is here to be with me for sometime and as she prepares a variety of delicacies for me decided why not share it with you guys..This dish is very special to me as there are fond memories attached. My mom used to make hot hot adais n my bro n me used to eat from one plate competing who finishes first and that blob of amul butter melting on it.. yummm

So whats on menu.. Well its ADAI... I am very sure most of you might not have heard this dish.. It is prepared in a similar fashion as dosa but with different set of ingredients. The procedure will be soak, grind and use.

So lets get started...

Let's collect the Ingredients :

1 cup boiled rice

1/2 cup toor dal (yellow pigeon peas)

1/2 cup chana dal (Split chickpeas)

2-3 tbsps urad dal (black gram)

Dry red chillies 10

few curry leaves

Finely chopped onion

Salt to taste

Asafoetida

Let's start Cooking:

Well making this is not a tough task. Soak the dals for about 2-3 hours. Strain the water and grind with the red chillies. You need to grind such that the dals are ground properly however it should not be of dosa consistency. Not so fine. It should be a thick batter. You can use this as is or if possible keep it out for a few hours around 2-3 to ferment. This will make the adai taste much better. Add curry leaves, asafoetida and mix well.

Heat a flat thick bottomed tawa. Smear some oil and once hot pur 2 tbsps of the batter and spread as you would do for dosa. It needs to be a layer of around 1 cm thick not thin as dosa though. Make a small hole in the centre which would ensure even cooking. Pour oil around and in the centre. You can put chopped onions on top and press it a little while the adai is being cooked. You will have to use adequate oil. Put the flame on high for 2-3 mins then simmer for another 5 mins. Turn and cook on the other side.

Serve it with a blob of butter on it and some jaggery. There are other add ons like drumstick leaves etc. You can try grated carrot and coconut too. One of such adai itself is a heavy breakfast. Try it out and let me know.

If in case you are going to use the whole of the batter in one time itself then you can add the onions in the batter itself than addidng on top while the adai is cooking.

So guys till I come back with another dish this is Nithya saying-

Happy Cooking

~Nithya

Shundal

Snatching the platform from lopa for a few lines this is Nithya back after a long time. After the semiya upma I thought it is now time for a very simple recipe.

Being born n brought up in the land of gujjus Ahmedabad there was an important habit inculcated- eating legumes on a regular basis. Soak-boil and some simple recipe for your daily balanced food. In gujju we call it kathol. In South the same is called Shundal. But in south it is made on occasions alone. Navratri- The festival of nine nights includes shundal preparation everyday-variety.

I made some today thanks to a colleague/friend of mine Bharrathi for her inputs- no occasion though so thought of jumping in to this blog and sharing it with you all.

You can use this recipe for any kind of legumes- the chickpeas black or white will do full justice to the taste.

Lets get in all the ingredients-

1 cup of black chana soaked for around 3-4 hours

1/2 coconut and 3-4 green chillies

2 tbsp oil

pinch of asafoetida

few curry leaves
Salt to taste

The procedure is very simple
Strain and boil the black chickpeas with some salt. Strain and keep it ready once done.


Grind the coconut and green chillies together. You can add little water but make sure it is 70 to 80 pc dry and not a liquid paste

Heat oil in a wide pan, add the mustard seeds and allow them to splutter.

Add asafoetida and curry leaves and then the coconut and green chillies mixture.. Fry for about few minutes


Now add the black chana.Mix well. Keep it closed for 3-5 mins stirring occassionally.

And now its ready to eat.


This proves to be a very simple easy to prepare breakfast/snack. The legumes and the coconut make sure you get your dose of nutrients. There is another variety where you can add red chillies, some onion and tomatoes instead of the coconut. The coconut actually reduces the shelf life :) So if you living in a very warm climate make sure your shundal gets some place in your fridge.
Till my next entry in Lopa's cooking den.. Happy Cooking...
Thanks Lopa :)