Vazhakkai bhajji/Plantain fritters

Vazhakkai bajji reminds me of Marina beach in Chennai. Growing up in Chennai, we used to visit the beach and this snack brings back nostalgic memories. It is a great evening snack and can be used as a accompaniment for coffee or tea.

Ingredients:

1 plantain
1/2 cup of besan
1 tbsp of  rice flour
1/2 teaspoon ajwain
1 tsp of  red chilly powder
pinch of asafoetida
1 tbsp of club soda
1 tbsp of heated oil
Salt as required
Oil for frying

Preparation:

1.Peel the outer skin of plantain and make thin slices. Mix besan, rice flour, ajwain, red chilly powder, asafoetida, club soda and salt along with water to dosa batter consistency. 
2.Add the plantain pieces and coat them well with batter.
3.Heat oil in the skillet. Once the oil is hot, add the heated oil to the  batter. Then put the plantain pieces carefully in to the oil.

4. Turn to the other side as they turn golden brown. Fry in medium flame. 

5.Vazhakkai bhajji  is ready.Serve with chuney/ tomato ketchup and of course tea or masala chai .

Thattai

  Home made snacks are a common part of traditional Indian food. Thattai or Ota vadai is one of the snacks that is common in our household. For folks who are not familiar with this, you can relate to chakli (murruku) in terms of texture and firmness, but the flavor is slightly different due to the proportions of the underlying ingredients.

Ingredients:


2 cups of Rice flour
1/4 cup of urad dhal flour
1/4 tsp of asafoetida
1 tsp of red chilly powder(~spice level)
2 tbsp of butter (@ room temperature)
1 1/2 tbsp of Bengal gram
1 1/2 tbsp of urad dhal
1 tbsp of split peanuts
salt as required
oil for deep frying

Preparation:

1.Soak the Bengal gram dhal and urad dhal for 2 hours. Heat the pan and dry roast the rice flour for 4-5 minutes. Saute for a few minutes and transfer to the plate.

2.Dry roast the urad dhal flour for 2-3 minutes. Sift the rice flour and urad dhal well. 

3.Mix all the above ingredients asafoetida, red chilly powder, butter, Bengal gram, urad dhal and peanuts together and add the required amount of water to knead them into the dough. 

4.Make the dough a little soft. Heat oil in the kadai. 

5.Make a small ball out of the dough. Smear oil on the sheet and pat the dough in to a circle. Transfer gently in to the oil.

6.As they turn light golden brown, turn to the other side. Remove thattai from the oil and place it on the plate. Enjoy with evening tea or filter cofee!

Aloo tikki/ Potato patty

   Aloo tikki is a North Indian snack made of boiled potatoes and various spices. The word "tikki" means a small cutlet/ croquette. Found in almost every chaat shop in Delhi and other parts of India.

Serves up to 2 people
Preparation time:30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 medium potatoes

1 small cup of peas

2 chopped green chilies

1 tbsp of minced ginger

1 tbsp of bread crumbs

1 tbsp of besan (chickpea flour)

1 tsp of cumin powder

1 tsp of garam masala

oil for frying

salt as required

Preparation:

1. Boil the potatoes, peel the skin and mash them. Boil the peas and mash them as well.

2. Add besan, breadcrumbs, green chilies, ginger, garam masala, cumin powder and salt. Mix them well.

3. Make small patties and shallow fry the patties in the preheated oil. Cook in medium flame till it turns golden brown on the sides.

4. Aloo tikki is ready. Serve with ketchup/ coriander chutney.