Friday 15 October 2010

Punjabi Kadhi Pakodi

This month’s Indian Cooking Challenge had us making a Punjabi Kadhi with the Pakodis (fritters). My association with Punjabi food has been a long one, as I have mentioned numerous times on this blog. Kadhi Pakodi is very special for me since it reminds me of my days in Delhi, which is where I was exposed to it for the first time as part of one of my classmate’s lunch box. Ever since it has stayed with me and whenever I crave for something homely at the same time delicious, I make Kadhi-Pakodi.

From the time I started cooking, I have made a lot of trials and errors to arrive at what I felt was the perfect recipe for Kadhi-Pakodi and have been making it regularly. As is true with any classic recipe, many people have their own version and I found that the recipe given for the challenge was slightly different from how I make it. Nevertheless I followed the recipe, originally by Simran of Bombay Foodie, since I wanted to try out a different option.

 

Punjabi Kadhi-Pakodi

Picture 0119

Ingredients

For the Pakodi

  • 1 cup Besan (Chickpea flour)
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
  • Salt
  • Oil for deep frying

For the Kadhi

  • 1 Cup set yogurt (Dahi)
  • 1/3 cup Besan (Chickpea flour)
  • 1 tblsp oil
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp Ajwain (Carom seeds)
  • 1/2 tsp Methi (Fenugreek)
  • 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
  • 1 Medium sized onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
  • Salt

Method:

To make the Pakodis, Mix together all the ingredients except for the oil. Using a little water , mix them all into a thick paste. Heat the oil and then drop spoonfuls of the mixture and fry them till brown and crisp. Drain on to a kitchen towel and keep aside.

To make the kadhi, mix together the yogurt and besan. Add approx 3-4 cups of water and whisk well. the final consistency should be a little thinner than the thick punjabi lassi but not too thin at the same time.

Add the oil in a deep pan and add the nustard, cumin, fenugreek and carom seeds. As they start spluttering, add the onion and fry for some time.  Then pour the Besan-Yogurt mixture and also add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt and mix well.

Bring this to boil and then simmer for about 20-30  minutes till the Besan is cooked and the Kadhi thickens. Now add the Pakodis and bring to boil again. Add the Garam Masala and Amchoor, mix well, heat through and then swicth off the heat.

Serve hot, ideally with rice but Rotis will do nicely.

Picture 0213

My Notes: The Kadhi was absolutely delicious, a bit different from what I make but a good change nevertheless. The only problem for me was that I found the quantity of Besan in the Kadhi to be a little too much. I might try reducing it next time.

To make a variation on the above or in other words to make my version of the Kadhi, make the following changes.

  • Use 3-4 tblsp of Besan instead of 1/3 cup for the Kadhi
  • Replace the cumin seeds with Fennel seeds
  • Add 1-2 dry red chillies to the hot oil when making Kadhi and skip the red chilli powder

PS: I know it might seem as if I am not on talking terms with any one here, what with the  ‘to the point’ posts and that too only for the regular events, but I will be back to post regularly very soon, I promise!

Thursday 7 October 2010

Molten Lava Cake

I cant believe how difficult it is to resume writing once you have had a long break from blogging, never mind that it was unintentional. There are no specific reasons for the lack of posts. Of course I had been cooking everyday during this time and some of the things I made definitely deserve to be mentioned here but somehow I didn't get around to it. As usual I will blame it on the hectic schedule. The daughter has started her nursery and is away for 3 hours everyday now, but I still dont seem to have the time to do what I want. Thank god for some events which jolt me back into realising that I need to take care of this blog in addition to numerous other things!

The Sweet Punch this time was really sweet and something I have wanted to bake for a long time. I seem to be saying this for every other challenge but thats how it is. My ‘to-cook’ list is so long that any challenge that I attempt will already be on that list anyway!

Anyway, we made Molten Lava cake (recipe from Show me the curry) this time and while mine did not really have any ‘lava’ in it, it was delicious all the same.

 

Molten Lava Cake

Picture 068

 

Ingredients

  • 113 gm Baking Chocolate (I used Milk chocolate)
  • 113 gm Butter + extra for greasing
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup plain flour

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 180 deg C. Grease 4-5 ramekins and keep them ready.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Once melted add the butter and mix till it melts into the chocolate. Resist the temptation to finish this bowl off! Keep aside.

In a bowl whisk together the eggs and the sugar till the mixture turns light and fluffy. I used an electric hand mixer for about 5-6 minutes to achieve this.

Add the chocolate mix to the egg mix and combine. Add the flour and mix well.

Pour the batter into the ramekins till they 3/4 filled. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes.

Ideally serve warm with cream or vanilla ice cream but they taste great on their own too.

My Notes: I had to increase the baking time since mine were completely uncooked at 10-12 minutes. So I baked them for an additional 10 minutes but by then I had lost the gooey middle and the end result was soft cakes almost like chocolate fudge. I wasn't complaining though as we liked them very much just like that.