Pure Veg Cooking by Anu

Cabbage Chutney

Ingredients

1. Cabbage -2 cups (chopped)
2. Chana dal / Kadalebele - 1/3 cup
3. Guntur Red chillies - 3
4. Byadgi Red chillies - 4
5. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
6. Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
7. Curry leaves - 2 -3 sprigs
8. Desiccated coconut powder - 1/3 cup
9. Jaggery powder - 1 tbsp
10. Tamarind extract - 2 tsp
11. Olive oil - 2 tbsp
12. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
13. Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
14. Salt

Procedure :

* In a sauce pan add the chopped cabbage and 1/2 a cup of water and let it cook completely(until it is soft).
* You can also pressure cook it for 2 whistles.
* In the meanwhile, take a sauté pan and add Chana dal, chillies, curry leaves, methi and cumin seeds and keep roasting on low-medium flame until the dal turns golden brown in color.
* In a mixie jar add the roasted ingredients and cooked cabbage along with coconut powder, jaggery powder, tamarind extract, Asafoetida, salt and some water.
* Grind everything into a smooth paste.
* For tempering, heat some olive oil and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add it to the prepared chutney and enjoy it with hot rice, dosa idly, anything!

Music by : audionautix.com

Benne Murukku / Butter Murukku

Ingredients:

1. Roasted split gram/ Kadale pappu - 1 cup
2. Rice flour - 1 cups
3. Salt
4. Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
5. Red chilli powder - 3 tsp or more (depending on how spicy you like)
6. Softened Butter - 2.5 tbsp
7. Canola oil for deep frying

Procedure

* Grind the roasted gram into a fine powder.
* In a bowl, sift the ground gram powder and rice flour. Whatever is left in the sieve, grind once again and add it to the mixture.
* To the flour, add salt, red chili powder and asafoetida and mix well.
* Now add the softened butter and mix well with the flour, making sure the butter is completely part of the mixture without any separate lumps.
* At this point, you can taste a pinch of the mixture and add more salt or chili powder, if needed.
* Add water to a portion of the mixture and form a soft pliable dough.
* Take star jali and oil the inner side of the cylinder and get the chakli press ready.
* Fill the chakli press with the dough. Heat the oil for deep frying.
* Press the dough gently over hot oil and deep fry on low-medium heat.
* As soon as the bubbles reduce, take them out and put in a bowl lined with paper to soak excess oil.
* Let it rest for 10 minutes and then enjoy them as an evening snack with a hot cup of coffee.

Notes / Tips:

* The chili powder I have is very mild. I have added more than what I have shown in the video, to get the level of spiciness my family likes. You can add your desired amount of chilli powder.
* DO NOT add melted butter. The butter should be softened and not melted.
* For this ratio of flour to butter, my grandma advised me to use “lemon sized” amount butter. The size of lemon in the US is more like the size of an Indian Orange :D . After a couple attempts, I have figured that 2.5 tbsp works perfectly for this amount of flour.
* Too much butter make the murukku crumbly and absorbs lot of oil. Less butter with make the murukku hard and not crispy. The right amount of butter is the key to this recipe.
* The murukku tastes a lot better the next day as the flavors settle.
* Thats it, make it! :)

Masala Puri

If you are missing going out and having Masala puri, try this recipe. You will not be disappointed.

Ingredients

For the gravy :

1. Dried green peas - 1.5 cups
2. Onion - 1
3. Tomato - 1
4. Cinnamon stick - 2 inches
5. Star Anise - 1/2
6. Cloves - 2
7. Fennel seeds - 2 tsp
8. Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
9. Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tsp
10. Green chillies - 4
11. Coriander leaves - 1 cup / a medium bunch
12. Salt
13. Vegetable oil / Olive oil - 3 tbsp

For the chaat and garnish

1. Flat pooris / Papdi
2. Finely Chopped onion
3. Finely chopped tomato
4. Grated carrot
5. Coriander leaves
6. Fried mixture / sev

Procedure :

* Wash and soak the dried green peas in water, overnight.
* Drain all the water and add 3 cups of water to it.
* Cook in the pressure cooker for 5 whistles. If using an Instant pot, Cook on manual mode for 5 minutes and NPR
* Take 1 cup of cooked peas and keep it aside.
* In a big pot, heat the oil and add fennel seeds. Then add the cinnamon, cloves and star anise.
* Add chopped onions and sauté. Then add the ginger garlic paste and sauté until the raw smell is gone.
* Add Coriander seeds, green chillies and tomato.
* Sprinkle some salt and add water so it cooks faster.
* Now add the remaining cooked peas and coriander leaves.
* Grind the whole thing into a smooth paste.
* Assemble the chaat as shown in the video.
* Enjoy the hot Masala Puri, at the comfort of your home.

After a lot of attempts, I found this method the easiest and tasting closest to the Bangalore style masal puri.

Tips
1. Don’t substitute the dry green peas with any other peas. It just won’t taste the same.
2. Use flat pani puri (the unpuffed poori). If you are in the US, and can’t find these easily, you can substitute them with Stacy’s baked pita chips(thin) They go pretty well with this.
3. For garnish, use mixture instead of sev. Adds much more flavor and the peanuts here and there are added bonus ;)
That’s it… do make it!

Music By Mahesh Raghvan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewtjjkVqfy4