Fruit bits Pistachio biscotti

Biscotti are easy to make and they are super delicious and ofcourse our beloved coffee shop charges us ridiculous amounts for this (If you know who I am talking about!!!)

My brother is a daily customer to his coffee shop and he loves them. He is visiting me and I am making these for him. And my family loves them and I do too. They are super delicious. Make them and impress your own family

Fruit bits Pistachio biscotti

Pistachio Biscotti

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups all purpose flour
2. ¼ cup olive oil
3. ½ cup sugar
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5. 2 large eggs
6. ¼ teaspoon salt
7. 1 teaspoon baking powder
8. ¼ cup fruit bits (these are available in Indian stores) or use cranberries
9. 1-1.5 cups pistachios

Preheat oven to 350 degress

In a bowl mix the liquid ingredients and add the eggs to it and mix well. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the flour with salt and baking powder and mix. Add the fruit bits and pistachio and mix it.

On a baking sheet add the dough and make a log. The width of the log is your biscotti’s length. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Take it out of the oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Cut the log into biscotti’s ¾ inches thick and lay them side ways. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 275 degrees. Let it cool and enjoy

Chaat with Beans

So...I wanted to eat chaat with the Kachori I made. But I had no garbanzo beans, so I had to improvise. And improvise I did with pink beans, and boy oh boy the chaat was great.

I think I like the beans chaat more than the regular chick peas chaat

Aloo Chaat with Beans (Potatoes and Beans cooked in spices)

Chaat with beans

Kachori Chaat

Ingredients: 

1. 1 can pink beans rinsed and drained
2. 1/2 cup onions finely chopped + some extra for garnish
3. 1 medium large potato boiled, peeled and chopped into 1 cm cubes
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of chilli powder, salt, turmeric, cumin, coriander powder, grated ginger (optional)
5. 1 heaped teaspoon chaat masala
6. 1 tablespoon oil

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin till they start to splutter. Add the onions and fry till they become translucent. Ad the ginger if using and the potatoes and fry for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients + 1/4 cup water, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add a little bit more water if it gets too dry. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy as is or over Kachori and sweet yogurt

Khasta Kachori

Long ago when I was a new bride with limited cooking experience, Manjula's Kitchen saved many of my evenings where I was missing the street food from back home. She taught me many recipes and the proper way of making them.

The Kachori I made today, I never thought they will puff up like they did the first time I made them. I was soooo happy. And even yesterday they puffed up so nicely and delicious. My kids liked them too, so....I will be maaing kachoris more often

Khasta Kachori (Deep fried puffs with spicy lentil stuffing)

Khasta Kachori

Kachori with moong filling

Ingredients for dough:

1. 11/2 cup all purpose flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, carom seeds
3. 2 tablespoons oil
4. chilled water as needed

Ingredients for Filling:

1. 1/2 cup yellow moong dal
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilli flakes, fennel seeds
3. 1 teaspoon each of grated ginger or ginger powder, coriander seeds
4. 2 teaspoons oil
5. Warm water 2 tablespoons

Mix the all purpose flour with all the ingredients except water. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix till the dough comes together. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes.

Grind the fennel seeds and coriander seeds just a tad, until they break a little. Take them out and set aside. Grind the monng dal to almost powder. Heat oil in a pan and fry the moon dal powder, coriander and fennel seeds and ginger till the dal becomes golden brown and you start getting nice aroma. Mix all the other ingredients and set it aside to cool.

After it cooled, add 2 tablespoons warm water and mix.

Knead the dough for 1 minute and divide it into 12 parts. With your palm and fingers make it into 3 inch disks with the middle being  a little more thicker than the edges. Add a teaspoon of filling and close the edges into a dumpling and set aside for a few minutes.

Heat the oil for deep frying. With you path flatten the filled balls into 3 inch disks again making sure there are no holes. Add a tiny piece of dough and it should come to the surface slowly. Add a few kachoris and fry for 5-6 minutes until they become golden brown. Drain, let cool for a bit and serve as is with sweet yogurt, tamarind and date chutney and mint chutney

Sweet Yougurt toping

Mix about 1/2 cup plain yogurt with 11/2 tablespoons of sugar and beat well. Serve on top of sev puri or Kachori

Mysoor Bajji

When I was little there used to be a vendor who used to make these little fried flour balls and served them curry leaf powder and I loved them. It costed us 5 cents in those days in India. Mmmm nostalgia.

Anyway, here is the recipe for those yummy fried flour balls. But the difference here is, I have this dish 

This dish helps me make these yummy balls shallow fried, instead of deep frying them.

Mysoor Bajji (Savory deep fried fermented flour balls)

Mysoor Bajji

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup all-purpose flour 
2. 1/4 cup rice flour
3. 1/2  teaspoon each of salt, baking soda, cumin 
4. 1/2 cup plain yogurt 
5. 3/4 cups of water
6. 1 teaspoon each of  finely chopped ginger, fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice, finely chopped green chilis, dessicated coconut
7. 1 tablespoons  finely chopped cilantro
8. Oil for either deep frying or to apply to the above pan (if you have it)

Mix  together, all-purpose flour, rice flour, salt, baking soda,  cumin and coconut. Add yogurt and mix it well add the water to make thick batter. Add remaining ingredients and set aside for about 15-20 minutes. 
Heat the oil in a pan,  Add 1 tablespoon of batter into the oil. Fry the bajjis until golden-brown all around. This should take about 3-4 minutes.
Mysore bonda should be crispy from outside and should be soft inside.
Serve them with coconut Chutney. or with Curry leaf powder

Cheese Corn balls

I was surfing on the web and I found this random post about corn cheese balls and they looked so super delicious that I had to try them. And I had that page open on my phone for the longest of times and finally I got a chance to make it. but ofcourse I had to change the whole recipe and make it my own.

And here is the recipe for corn cheese balls

Corn Cheese Balls (Fried fritters made for corn and cheese)

Corn Cheese balls

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 can creamed corn
2. 1/2 cup Mexican cheese blend
3. 1/2 cup all purpose flour
4. 1 tablespoon corn starch
5. 1/2 teaspoon each salt, fresh ground black pepper.
6. 1 cup bread crumbs or upma ravva
7. Oil for deep frying

Mix all the ingredients except the bread crumbs/upma ravva. Make into gold ball sized balls. Heat the oil in a pan. Roll the balls in bread crumbs or upma ravva and fry till golden brown. Drain and serve with ketchup. 

Don't serve them immediately. Let them cool a bit and serve else the cheese is very hot and the kids will burn themselves