Tomato Fritters (टोमॅटोची भजी)

As soon as Monsoons arrive, we start craving for some spicy and crunchy food items to munch on and Fritters also known as Bhaji, Bhajiya, Pakora, etc is the most preferred snack. Different regions from India have unique types of fritters. Tomato Fritters is a popular street food snack from Surat region of Gujarat. These bhajiyas are easy to prepare and incredibly delicious. A juicy red tomato paired with fresh coriander & Mint chutney with a golden brown outer coating is something that no one can ever resist.

Servings: Approx.15 pieces

Approx. Time:  30 minutes

Ingredients:

Basic Ingredients:

3 to 4 medium sized Tomatoes

For Chutney

2 cups chopped fresh Coriander leaves
½ cup fresh Mint leaves
3 tbspns roasted Peanuts (without skin)
5-6 Green Chillies
1 inch Ginger piece
8-10 Garlic cloves (optional)
1 tbspn Lemon juice
½ tspn Black Salt
Salt to taste

Ingredients for Batter

2 cups Gram flour (Besan)
3 tbspns Rice flour
½ tspn Asafetida (Hing)
½ tspn Turmeric Powder (Haldi)
1 tspn Carom Seeds (Ajwain / Owa)
2 tspn Salt
1 tspn red Chilli flakes
½ cup fresh Coriander leaves
¼ tspn Baking Soda
½ tspn Lemon juice
1-2 tbspn hot Oil
Water
 
Vegetable Oil for frying

To serve with
Chickpea Chutney (Besan Chutney)

Method:

Combine all the Green Chutney ingredients i.e. fresh coriander leaves, mint leaves, roasted peanuts, green chillies, ginger, garlic cloves, lemon juice, black salt and regular salt in a mixer jar and grind it into a coarse chutney. Avoid adding water while grinding as the chutney needs to be dry and thick.

Slice the Tomatoes into medium roundels of approx. one centimeter each. Pat the slices dry with paper towels. Take a teaspoon of green chutney and apply it evenly over the tomato slice. Repeat the process for all slices and keep it aside.

To make batter, combine all the batter ingredients i.e. Chickpea flour, rice flour, Asafetida, turmeric powder, carom seeds, salt, red chilli flakes, coriander leaves in a deep mixing bowl. Gradually start adding water to the mixture and whisk it nicely. Prepare a batter of smooth consistency. Just before frying, add eating Soda (or fruit salt) and lemon juice to the mixture and whisk. Adding lemon juice does not make fritters oily.

Heat the Oil in a deep wok or frying pan. Drop a small portion of the batter to check if the oil is hot. If the oil is hot enough, the dough rises after few seconds. Now add one to two tablespoons of hot oil to the Besan batter. Dip each piece of chutney coated tomato in the batter and gently place it in hot oil. The chutney side should be on the top. Deep fry the fritters on a medium flame till it gets a golden brown colour on both the sides. Once done, drain it on a kitchen paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Repeat the process and fry all the fritters.  Serve hot with Besan Chutney.

Notes:

·      In the green Chutney, you may replace roasted peanuts with fried Besan Sev or Bhujia

·   For making the batter, you can also mix small quantity of rice flour and/or semolina and/or Corn flour with the gram flour. But fritters taste great when only Gram flour is used.

·     Jain version can be made by substituting Ginger & Garlic with Asafoetida powder (Hing)

·   You may also add chopped Curry leaves or mint leaves or Kasuri Methi (Dry methi) to change the flavor.

Stepwise Pictures:

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Cauliflower Fritters

When I was travelling to Faridabad, I tasted Gobhi ke Pakore at a very popular food joint ‘Padam Pakorewale’. Though I am not a big fan of Cauliflower, I loved their way of deep-frying the fritters twice which gives an amazing crunch to it. Apart from Gobhi ke Pakore, there were multiple of varieties like Kamal Kakdi (Lotus Stem) ke Pakode,  Paneer Pakore, Chaap ke Pakore and many more. They serve it with a special Guava based green chutney which is a cherry on cake. I tried to replicate the taste and was successful to quite an extent. The best part about these fritters is that the ingredients are easily available in your kitchen throughout the year.

Servings: 4 people

Approx. Time:  Preparation time – 10 mins, Cooking time – 20 mins

Ingredients:

Basic Ingredients:

1 medium sized Cauliflower (approx. 500 gms)

Fresh spices
10-12 Garlic cloves
6-7 Green Chillies
2 inch Ginger piece
Salt to taste
 
Dry spices
½ cup chopped fresh Coriander leaves
½ tspn Black Pepper Powder
½ tspn Cumin Powder (Jeera Powder)
½ tspn Garam Masala (Curry Powder)
 
Ingredients for Batter
2 cups Gram flour (Besan)
1 tspn Carom Seeds (Ajwain / Owa)
½ tspn Turmeric Powder (Haldi)
1-2 tbspn hot Oil
1 tspn Salt
Water
 
Vegetable Oil for frying
 
To serve with
Green Chutney
Tomato Ketchup
Masala Chai (Indian Spiced Tea)
 

Method:

Pre-preparation:

·       Make coarse paste of Ginger, Garlic and green chillies by adding some salt.

·      Wash Cauliflower under running water. Separate the Cauliflower florets from cauliflower and clean it.  Heat 6/7 cups of water in a pan and add salt to it. Once it starts boiling, add the Cauliflower to boiling water and partially cook it for one or two minutes. Remove it immediately and keep it aside.

Method:

Combine the par-boiled Cauliflower florets with Ginger-garlic-chilli paste, Black Pepper powder, Cumin Powder, Garam masala and Salt in a mixing bowl. Mix spices with the cauliflower florets and leave it aside to marinate for 15 minutes.

To make the batter, combine the Besan flour, Carom seeds, Turmeric powder, and Salt in a deep mixing bowl. Gradually start adding water to the mixture and whisk it nicely. Prepare smooth batter of dense consistency.

Heat the Oil in a deep frying pan. Drop a small portion of batter to check if the oil is hot. If the oil is hot enough, the dough rises after few seconds. Once the Oil is heated, add one to two tablespoons of hot oil to the Besan batter. Dip each marinated cauliflower piece in the batter and drop it in hot oil. Deep fry the fritters on medium flame till it is half done and gets a golden colour. Once done, remove it on a kitchen paper towel. Repeat the process and get all the fritters fried.

Before serving, flatten the fritters by pressing it between palms or with the help of back of a ladle or spoon. Now again re-fry it on medium flame till the fritter becomes golden brown in colour and crisp. Remove the double fried fritters on a clean kitchen paper towel so that extra oil gets absorbed.

Sprinkle Chaat Masala evenly over the fritters before serving (optional). Serve hot with Chutney, Tomato ketchup and Masala Chai.

Notes:

1. I have not used Soda Bi-carb as it affects the crispy texture of the fritters.
2. Ensure that the Cauliflower florets are not overcooked in boiling water as it may affect the texture of final dish.
3. For making the batter, you can also mix small quantity of rice flour and/or semolina and/or Corn flour with the gram flour. But fritters taste great with Gram flour only.
4. Jain version can be made by substituting Ginger & Garlic with Asafoetida powder (Hing).
5. You may also add chopped Curry leaves or mint leaves to change the flavor.

Jackfruit Toffee (फणसाच्या गऱ्यांची वडी)

Mangoes are very popular in Maharashtra but not many know about the unique flavors of Jackfruit. Jackfruit always reminds me about the greenery of Konkan region and the delicacies made from it like Jams, Chips, Kheer, Curries, Biryani, Idlis, Sun dried Jackfruit known as SaaTha (साठ ), etc. The dish I have made today is not that commonly made. Since I had some excess quantity of fresh Jackfruit, I decided to make Vadis which have a longer shelf life.

Servings: Around 30 pieces

Approx. Time:  Preparation time – 10 mins, Cooking time – 30 min

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pulp of Jackfruit flesh (गरे)
• 1 cup fresh scrapped Coconut
• 1 cup Sugar
• Ghee for greasing

Method:

Take a heavy bottom non-stick pan and add Jackfruit Pulp, fresh scrapped Coconut and Sugar. Mix it well. Cook it on medium flame by stirring it continuously. After 15-20 minutes the mixture will start coming together to form a ball. The mixture will start caramelizing and will start becoming thick. Turn off the flame when the mixture starts coming together.

Take a plate and grease it with Ghee. Transfer the Jackfruit-Coconut-Sugar mixture onthe plate and roll it evenly with a rolling pin or with the help of a Katori (cup with flat surface). Mark equal squares when the mixture is still hot. Once completely cooled, separate the pieces and store in an air-tight container.

Notes:

There are two types of Jackfruits ‘Kaapa’and ‘Barka’. Preferably, you should take Barka Jackfruit for this recipe since it is a juicy variant as compared to ‘Kaapa’.

Stepwise Pictures: