rawa dhokala

Sooji ( Rawa) Dhokala

                                                                  Rawaor S00ji  Dhokla

      

Dhokla is very popular dish initially from Gujarat .Dhokla is a steamed dish and very popular being fat free preparation.In this blog dhok;a recipe  made of besan has been already  mentioned.
This one is made out of wheat rawa or sooji.Besan which is chana dal flour does not suits many people or when we need some change in taste then this is the best and quick option.

Ingredients required are very simple and easily available in our pantry

Sooji or rawa      one and half cup
Curd                    1/4 cup
Salt as per taste
Eno 1/2 teaspoon

In a bowl take sooji,curd,salt and mix.Add water to make pouring consistency.
Let it soak for 15 minutes.Till then in a steamer add three cups of water and let it heat with high flame.now add eno in the mixture and mix it in the batter.In a greased plate pour the batter and put it in the steamer.Cover it .Let it cook for 10 minutes and then turn off the flame .
after 10 minutes take out the plate and let it cool again for next 10 minutes.
now cut the dhokala in desired shape .






For seasoning  

2 table spoon oil
1 table spoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 green chillies slit and cut
8 curry leaves
after cutting dhokalas prepare tadaka .In a pan add 2 table spoons of oil and heat it .when oil is hot then add mustard seeds,sesame seeds,chilli pieces,curry leaves.When these starts spluttering then
turn off the flame.Soread this tadaka oil evenly on dhokala plate.
Dhokala is ready to serve With any chutteney.

Home made snacks. (Farsan)

                                                                   Home    made snacks
  One can buy variety of snacks readily available from market.But sometimes when we have enough time then we can prepare some at home .These will be fresh and according to our own taste.
Let us try this mixture.

                                     





     
                                                                             

                                                                     Ingredients          

                                                                Ready to serve                                          

50 gms.     Potato.     Sev  (readily available in grocery store)
50 gms.      Makai.    Chivda  (readily available in grocery store)
50.   gms     Ground nuts

Oil.      For.     Frying


 Spices             Salt,red chilli powder,chat masala.     According to taste



In a karahi put oil and heat it .Check by putting a piece of chivada if the oil is hot enough.
If it gets fried immediately that means it is time to fry .
First fry chivada then fry potato sev .
In the end fry ground nuts properly till these starts crackling to make them crunchy.
Now mix all and then sprinkle spices and shuffle gently this mixture.
Your fresh snacks are ready to serve.Can be served with tea.
As the colour of this mixture will be in nice contrast so it is so appealing also.

Marwari dhokala with wheat flour

                                                               


  Marwari dhokala



                                                                                     

     Ingredients




    2cups  Wheat flour
    1/2 cup rice
    1/4 cup chanadal
    1/ 4 cup moong dal without skin
    1/4 cup. Toor dal
Spices

    Red chilli powder
     Salt
     Finely chopped green chillies
     Finely chopped green coriander
     Coriander seeds
      Finely chopped ginger

     garam masala
     4table spoon Ghee.
     Baking soda or papad khar







Soak all dal and rice for one hour in water.Now in a pan boil 2 cups of water and add baking soda or papad khar
In another pan mix wheat flour and soaked dal and rice.Add all spices and ghee.Mix well .Now knead the mixture with the boiled water .Use a wooden spatula for kneading .When it is kneaded well then grease your palm and shape dhokala .At a time take one ball of the kneaded mixture and shape like a flat round and make a whole in the centre.In a steamer boil 3cups of water and put all these dhoklas and steam for at least 30 minutes .Let it cool for another 15 minutes still covered with a lid. Dhoklas are  ready to serve .
Pour a teaspoon of ghee over the dhokla plate before serving.These should be eaten while hot .
Tips:-

Tastes yummy when served with a dollop of desi ghee over it.
But weight watcher please be careful

Khaman Dhokla

Like most all Gujarati snacks (such as Patra and Khandvi), the most important aspect of Dhoklas is their seasoning.  Yes, it is important to know how to make Dhoklas soft and spongy but without the right garnish, dhoklas will just be soft and spongy idlis, not dhoklas.  So before you commit to making a batch of dhoklas, check your refrigerator and pantry and make sure you have the ingredients necessary for garnishing and if not, make sure it will be available by the time the dhoklas come out of the cooker. 

Ingredients
For the Dhokla cakes:
1 cup chana dal
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tablespoons grated jaggery
3 green chillies (to grind in with the dal)
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

For Seasoning and garnishing
1tablespoon mustard seeds
15 curry leaves
3 green chillies
Freshly chopped cilantro (to taste)
Soak chana dal in water for 6 hours. Now grind in a paste with yogurt and jaggery and green chillies. Cover and keep the paste in a warm place for 10 hours. Add salt. In a big vessel heat water when water starts boiling then in one table spoon oil add baking soda and turmeric and stir to make a smooth paste and add this paste in the fermented dough. Grease a plate with a high border and pour the dough. Keep the plate in the vessel with boiling water taking care that water does not enter into the plate. Cover the vessel and let it steam for 8 to 10 minutes. Switch off the flame and let it cool for next 10 minutes.  Dhokala stands are also available in the market which are easy to use.

                              

Remove the lid take out the plate.Let it cool for 20 minutes and then cut into required size.

                                        Steamed Dhokala Plate

 Put all the pieces in a big plate.
Seasoning:
In a big spoon add two table spoon of oil and when it is heated add mustard seeds, curry leaves cut longitudinally in halves and the whole green chillies.  When it starts sputtering, pour the seasoning over the dhokla cakes and toss all pieces gently so that every piece gets equally seasoned. Add the freshly chopped cilantro.  Serve dhokalas with dhaniya chutney and Imli chutney.

Tips:-

Never cut hot dhokalas let these cool otherwise desired shape will not be obtained.

Mirchi bada

In Marwari (Jodhpur in particular), we say "If you throw a stone in the air, it will land on a Snack/sweets shop" and the snacks always include Mirchi bada, Kofta , Kachori and Samosa.
Mirchi bada is the quintessential marwari snack. A description of Marwar is incomplete without mirchi badas and bandhani (tye and dye work). Passengers at Jodhpur air port wearing safari suits and carrying beat up brief cases often have bags full of mirchi badas in their carry ons. These are Jodhpur expatriates who will bring a slice of Marwar with them as they return to far flung places like Mumbai and Madras. Mirchi Bada defies economic boundaries, much like the Vada Pav in Mumbai, as the Jodhpur proletariat and the bourgeoise, crowd the same stores seeking mirchi badas as an accompaniment to their evening chai. The key flavors in a mirchi bada are the tartness, or khatai of the mashed potatoes, and the fresh flavors of the mirchi, the pepper. In Jodhpur, the best peppers come from Mathania, an agricultural community on the outskirts of Jodhpur. Almost sweet in flavor and about 5-6 inches long, these peppers dont have the sharpness of the little Indian chillies, and thus lend themselves very happily to this snack.

Recipe

Ingredients

Four medium sized potatoes

Two cups Besan

Two teaspoons salt

Two teaspoons red chilli powder
Two teaspoons cumin seeds

Two pinches of hing

Oil for frying

Long Green chillies 15
Process

Boil and peel potatoes and mash. In a pan on a medium flame, add one tablespoon of oil, heat and put cumin seeds and hing and after sputtering, put mashed potatoes. Turn the stove off. Add one teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of cumin seeds.

Mix all and make 15 balls of the mixture.  Slit the chillies or peppers vertically without removing the top caps (or tails if you will). In a bowl of boiling water, dip the pepper and cover with a lid, then switch the stove off . After two minutes take the peppers out and drain the water. Keep them on a napkin or a cloth to reduce the moisture. Prepare the batter of besan adding salt, chilli powder, cuminseeds, hing and water.Mix well with the help of a whisker so that there are no lumps in the batter. The batter should have the same consistency as a Kofta batter. Fill the potato stuffing inside the slit and around the chillies. Fill all the chillies. Now dip these stuffed chillies in the besan batter and holding them with the cap, gently slide them into the kadahi and deep fry .

Drain them well and serve with your favourite chutney/ketchup.

Dahi bade

Summer in marwar is very harsh.It becomes difficult to eat even when you are hungry.all one wants is cold water....But if some one offers a plate of dahi bade with ice cold yogurt and some sweet chatani nobody refuses. Here is the recipe for Dahi bade.

                                       



Ingredients
One cup white urad dal   ( cup with a volume of 250ml)
two table spoon yellow mung dal
750gms fresh yogurt
oil for frying
For garnishing
roasted and powdered cummin seeds
red chilli powder
dried and powdered mint leaves
Ingredients for Sweet chutney
25 gms 
25 gms jaggery grated
salt,red chilli powder  1/2 teaspoon each.
a pinch of garam masala(   optional  if you like it spicey ) and a pinch of ginger 

powder.
two table spoon of raisins and pieces of  dates each.
Making chutney
Soak the tamarind in water for 30 minutes.Then squeeze the pulp .Now in a pan add pulp ,jaggery,and salt and chilli powder.Put it on the stove and stir.After  it starts boiling add raisins and dates switch off the burner after two three minutes.Let it cool.
                               
Making batter and frying vada
Soak the both dal in water for three hours .
Now   drain the excess water.
Grind  it to  make batter taking care that it should not be too fine and too coarse.

                                           
The consistency should be thicker than the pakora paste.Add  1/2 spoon of salt to it and stir it with a ladle swiftly to make the dough fluffy.This will trap air in between the batter which in turn help bada to become soft.
In a pan put oil and start frying vadas .For droping the paste in oil I recommend  use of  a  wet tablespoon .This will prevent the batter to stick on the spoon and will help the batter to slide smmothly in the oil

Keep a bowl of water handy to dip the spoon in water after one or two droppings.This will keep the spoon
clean and will make it easy to drop the paste smoothly in oil.

Fry the vadas till these are golden brown.

                                            fried vada

Now soak these vadas in a bowl of warm water for ten minutes.
In a bowl add one cup of water  and mix with 1/4 cup of yogurt.stirr well.Now take out the soaked vadas out of water and press these gently between your palm and put in the bowl of yogurt water.Let these vadas soak in yogurt water for 30 minutes .  You will see badas have soaked all the water .
Remaining yogurt should be stirred and add three teaspoons of sugar .Beat the yogurt and keep it in fridge.
Serving
In a plate put two badas and add sweet yogurt.Now pour two teaspoon of chutney.Then garnish it with chilli powder and cummin powder and mint powder.
Tips
1.Always use fresh yogurt.
2.Serving of this dish is also  important.The plate should look tempting.So use your art in garnishing the dish with three different color of spices viz Red (chilli powder),Brown(roasted cumin powder),green(dried mint leaves powder).
As summer is approaching enjoy your home made dahi bade.

Kofta/ vatata vada

This is a popular snack throughout Northern India.  In marwar it is called Kofta and in Mumbai, its known as vatata vada.  The same preparation with some local variations can be found in the southern part of the country under the name alu bonda.
Ingredients:
Four medium size potatoes
1 cup besan (chick pea/gram flour)
1/4 cup green peas
finely chopped ginger,green chillies,coriander leaves.
2 teaspoon red chilli powder
three teaspoon salt
1 teasp cumin seeds
2pinch of hing
1 tab spoon lemon juice
2 tabsp cashew pieces
2 tabsp raisins
2 tabsp fresh pomegranate seeds
oil for frying
Process:
Boil potatoes peel and mash.Add one teasp salt,one teasp red chilli powder and chopped chillies,ginger,coriander leaves,cashews, raisins, pomegranate seeds, green peas into the mashed potatoes.
In a pan heat 1 1/2 tabsp oil and add 1tsp jeera and a pinch of hing .Now add the potato mixture and switch off the flame.

Mix all ingredients gently. 








 Make twenty equal balls of this mixture.

In a separate bowl add besan ,salt ,chilli powder,cumin seeds,and hing and pour water to make a batter.This batter should have the pouring consistency like pakora batter.
In deep frying pan heat oil and dip the balls in besan batter and fry in oil. Drain the koftas on paper towels. Serve with chatani or sauce and hot chai.

Kachori

Marwari kachories are very crisp and tasty. The trick for the crispness is it's covering which should have appropriate quantity of moisture and moyan(oil) 
Ingredients for the shells:
2 cups maida
1/2 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Ingredients for stuffing
1/2 cup yellow   moong dal
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon amchur powder
Finely chopped fresh mint leaves or dried mint leaves.
A pinch of hing
Oil for frying
Stuffing for Kachories
Wash and boil the dal for 15 minutes . Switch off the flame and cover for 5 minutes.Drain the boiled dal to remove the excess water

                                         dal boiled and strained

In a thick bottomed pan  or better if it is nonstick  pan put 1 tab sp oil and  when it is hot add a pinch of hing,cumin seeds,fennel seeds.On the  boiled dal put  salt and chilli powder and pour the dal in the pan  .Now mix all the ingredients stirring the mixture.The mixture should be heated so as to remove extra moisture from it and the little moisture needed to make balls out of this mixture.

             Let the mixture cool.Now add mint .Make 15 equal balls of this mixture as shown in picture. These balls are the stuffing.

                                          Balls for stuffing


Making of shell

Take the maida and put 60 ml oil in it (moyan).Rub the oil and maida with your palms thoroughly.Now knead the maida by adding   125 ml water to it to make a dough.The consistency of the dough shuld match that of puries.This dough needs lot of kneading till it becomes elastic.Make 15 equal balls of it.Take a ball of dough in your palm and spread it like a circle   2" diameter on your palm  and put one ball of dal mixture in the centre.Now try to cover the dal ball with maida dough from all sides by pulling the dough which is supposed to be quite elastic.
After covering it press this ball in your palm gently to give it a flat circular shape.This way make all the kachories.
Put oil for frying and when it is hot slowly put kachories and deep fry .After sliding all the kachories in the pan turn the flame slow  till the kachories are golden brown  as in picture .It will take 8 to 10 minutes depending upon the size of the pan and number of kachories you are frying.

                                            Frying Kachori

Taste will be enhanced if these are served with sweet mint chutney and sweet beaten yogurt.
Tips
1  The amount of oil added to maida as shortening should be exact as this will decide the crispness of kachori.
2 Consistency of dough which is adjusted by the amount of water added to maida and the proper kneading for five minutes is necessary to get the good result.

Mathari

मठरी  - मीठा कब तक खाएँगे 

Mathari is a very common snack prepared mostly during Diwali and can be stored in an air tight container for around ten days.  The trick to a good batch of mathari is controlling its moisture content.  Ajwain adds a burst of flavor that is mostly associated with this delicious crispy compliment to Diwali mithai. 
Ingredients:
Two cup maida (all purpose flour) 1/4 cup oil (for moyan) 
1 tea spoon ajwain seeds        
1/2 teaspoon salt
Process:
In a kneading vessel (parat) put maida and salt and ajwain seeds.  Now add oil as moyan.  Rub maida thoroughly between palms of both  hands.  Knead the maida with 70 ml warm water to make a dough.  Knead it thouroughly so as to make the dough smooth.  Make small balls, roughly an inch in diameter and roll it round. Keep making the matharis till all of them are rolled.  Prick the matharis with a fork to make holes in the mathari .  This will prevent the puffing of mathari.  In a pan put oil for frying and start frying the matharis on a low flame till they are golden brown.  When cool store in an air tight container.