Mirchi Pakora

By CHEF PRANAV JOSHI

From Budget Kitchen

Prep: 30 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes

Method: Easy

Course: Starter

Type: Rajasthani

Key Ingredients:

Famous Rajasthani snack – green chillies stuffed with potato mixture and batter fried

Ingredients

Achari green chillies 8 to 10
Nutrella soya bean oil to deep fry
Fresh mint 1 sprig
Stuffing
Large potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed 2
Carom seeds (ajwain) ½ tsp
Red chilli powder ½ tsp
Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
Ginger paste 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Black peppercorns, crushed ½ tsp
Green chillies 2
Fresh mint 8 to 10 leaves
Batter
Gram flour 2 cups
Rice flour 2 tbsps
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
Soda carbonate ½ tsp
Salt to taste
To serve
Green mint chutney to serve
Sweet tamarind chutney to serve

Methods

Heat sufficient oil in a kadai.
Take potatoes in a mixing bowl, add carom seeds, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, ginger paste, salt and crushed peppercorns.
Finely chop green chillies and add. Finely chop mint leaves and add.
Take gram flour in another mixing bowl, add rice flour, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and soda bicarbonate and mix well. Add sufficient water and whisk to make a smooth and thick batter. Add salt and mix.
Mix the potato mixture well. Slit the green chillies without cutting through. Stuff them with the potato mixture.
Dip each stuffed chilli in the gram flour batter and gently slide into the hot oil. Deep-fry till golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper.
Arrange the chillies on a serving plate, garnish with a mint sprig and serve with bowls of mint chutney and sweet tamarind chutney.

Beya Kya (Split Pea Fritters)

By Chef Shilarna Vaze (Chinu)

By Firangi Tadka

Prep: 8 hours

Cook: 15 minutes

Method: Easy

Course: Starter

Type: Rajasthani

Key Ingredients:

Dried peas and gram flour

A delicious Burmese style starter – dried peas boiled, mixed with gram flour and some aromatics and deep-fried

Serving Suggestion : Serve with tomato ketchup.

Ingredients

Gram flour (besan) 1 cup
Boiled dried peas 1 cup
Onion, finely chopped 1 cup
Fresh red chillies, finely chopped 2
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
Lemon, cut into wedges 1 for garnishing
Oil for deep-frying

Methods

Take the peas in a bowl and mash slightly with a masher. Add onion, red chillies, salt, turmeric powder and mix. Add gram flour and around ½ cup water or just enough to bind, taking care that the batter is too thin.
Heat sufficient oil in a kadai.
Put teaspoonful of this batter into hot oil and deep-fry on low flame. Do not use up all the batter in one go, fry in batches.
When the fritters turn brown, drain them on absorbent paper.
Serve hot.

Fufu

By Chef Shilarna Vaze (Chinu)

By Firangi Tadka

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes

Method: Easy

Course: Starter

Type: Rajasthani

Key Ingredients:

Raw bananas

An African delicacy – it makes an excellent starter to serve with cocktails

Ingredients

Green raw bananas 4
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder ½ tsp
Oil for deep-frying
Garlic cloves, finely chopped 2
Olive oil 1 cup

Methods

Peel bananas and cut in small pieces approximately 2 cms thick. Put into a bowl, sprinkle salt and red chilli powder and mix well.
Heat sufficient oil in a deep pan, add the banana pieces and deep-fry on high heat for 1 minute. Drain on absorbent paper.
Cover with another absorbent paper and press lightly and to flatten them.
Reduce heat, add the pieces to the hot oil again and deep-fry till crisp and brown. Drain on absorbent paper again.
Take garlic cloves in a bowl, add olive oil and mix well.
Arrange the fufus on a serving platter. Drizzle a little of this garlic oil over the fufu before serving.
You can add mixed herbs and red chilli powder to the garlic oil, mix and store as flavoured oil.

Babaganoush

By Chef Shilarna Vaze (Chinu)

By Firangi Tadka

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Method: Easy

Course: Starter

Type: Rajasthani

Key Ingredients:

Large brinjal
Olive oil
Tahini

Lebanese version of the popular Indian baingan ka bharta – makes an excellent appetizer

Ingredients

Large brinjal 1
Olive oil ¼ cup + 2 tbsps + to top
Sea salt 1 tsp
Garlic cloves, finely chopped 4
Tahini (sesame seed paste) ¼ cup
Lemon juice 2 tbsps
Fresh parsley, finely chopped 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder 1 tsp

Methods

Preheat oven to 200º C.
Quarter the brinjal. Rub each piece with approximately ½ tbsp olive oil, sea salt and sprinkle half the garlic equally on them, coating them completely.
Place the brinjal slices on a greased baking tray, put the tray in the preheated oven and roast for 15 minutes.
Bring the tray out of the oven, scoop out the roasted part from the peel and put into a mixer jar.
Add remaining garlic, tahini, lemon juice and sea salt and blend. While grinding, pour ¼ cup olive oil gradually and blend till you get a smooth paste.
Transfer into a serving bowl, sprinkle red chilli powder, parsley and pour little olive oil before serving.

Saganaki

By Chef Shilarna Vaze (Chinu)

By Firangi Tadka

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes

Method: Easy

Course: Starter

Type: Rajasthani

Key Ingredients:

Cheese
Cottage cheese (paneer)

Excellent as starters, they go very well with cocktails

Ingredients

Processed cheese, cut into 1 cm thick long slices 100 gms
Cottage cheese (paneer), cut into 1 cm thick long slices 100 gms
Milk 1 tbsp
Egg yolks 1
Refined flour (maida) ½ cup
Olive oil 3 tbsps
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Lemon, sliced 1
Fresh parsley, finely chopped 1 tbsp

Methods

Take milk and egg in a flat-bottomed bowl and beat well.
Spread refined flour on a plate, add salt and mix.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan.
Dip each cheese slice in the egg and milk mixture and then coat it with refined flour mixture and shallow-fry in the hot oil on high heat, turning sides till evenly cooked on all sides. Drain on absorbent paper.
Similarly shallow-fry the cottage cheese slices and drain on absorbent paper.
Arrange both cheese and cottage cheese saganaki on a serving platter and drizzle lemon juice over them.
Garnish with lemon slices and parsley and serve hot.

Tibetan Mutton Mince Momos

By Chef Shilarna Vaze (Chinu)

By Firangi Tadka

Prep: 45 minutes

Cook: 35 minutes

Method: Moderate

Course: Starter

Type: Rajasthani

Key Ingredients:

Mutton mince
Refined flour

Momos are now garnering a lot of appreciated the world over

Ingredients

Mutton mince (keema), cooked with salt in a pressure cooker for 5-6 whistles 500 gms
Oil 2 tsps
Garlic cloves, finely chopped 2
Ginger, finely chopped 1 tbsp
Medium onion, finely chopped 1
Salt to taste
2 ½ tsp
Black pepper to taste
Soy sauce 2 tbsps + 2 tsps
Fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped 2 tbsps
Refined flour (maida) 3 cups + to dust
Fresh red chillies, sliced 2

Methods

To make the stuffing, heat oil in a non-stick pan, add garlic, ginger and onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Add mutton mince and a pinch of salt (as the mince has already been cooked with salt) and mix well. Cook for 5-10 minutes or till the mixture turns brown.
Add chilli powder, black pepper, 2 tsps soy sauce and coriander leaves. Mix well and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer onto a plate to cool.
Mix red chillies in 2 tbsps soy sauce in a small bowl to make the dip.
For the dough, take refined flour in a bowl, add around ¾ cup water, a little at a time, and knead into a dough.
Dust the worktop with some flour, keep the dough on it and knead for 5-10 minutes or till it becomes smooth. Divide into small equal portions and roll out into thin puris.
Place 1 tbsp mutton stuffing in the centre of each puri, rub the edges with water and then fold one end over the other and press to seal. Further pinch the edges to make a design and make them look like karanjis.
Heat sufficient water in an idli steamer. Place the momos on a greased perforated plate, keep it in the steamer, cover the steamer and steam for 10 minutes or till momos become almost transparent.
Transfer onto a serving platter and serve the momos hot with red chilli dip.

Mirchi Pakora

Key Ingredients:

Ingredients

Methods

Beya Kya (Split Pea Fritters)

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Babaganoush

Saganaki

Tibetan Mutton Mince Momos

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Seb aur Shakarkandi Chaat

Spicy Ker Sangri

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Beya Kya (Split Pea Fritters)

Key Ingredients:

Ingredients

Methods

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