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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Bombay Sandwich


Ingredients:

  • Sliced bread
  • Butter or margarine (only if grilling)
  • ½ cup Mint-Coriander Chutney
  • ½ cup of Sriracha - or your own spicy garlic chutney
  • 2 large potatoes boiled, peeled and sliced thick
  • 1 cucumber sliced thin
  • 2 tomatoes sliced thin
  • 1 red onion sliced thin in rings
  • 1 tsp Chaat Masala (available in most Indian grocery stores)
  • Any kind of shredded cheese (optional)

  1. spread the mint-coriander chutney on one side of one bread,
  2. layer potatoes, cucumbers, tomato, and onion
  3. between each layer of vegetables sprinkle some chatt masala
  4. sprinkle some cheese if desired on top of the veggies
  5. spread sriracha on a slice of bread and cover the sandwich with the sriracha side down
If grilling, repeat the steps above but also butter the sides that will be toasted.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Baraf (Snow Cones)

This recipe is probably the easiest thing I have ever made. Snow cone is such a refreshing drink to have on a hot summers day. And now you can make it too in a matter of minutes!

Ingredients

Crushed Ice (as much as you wish)
Syrup of choice (I used Kool Aid flavored syrup, you can certainly use assorted juice, soda etc)


Method

All you need is a blender to crush the ice and it will become "snow" in a matter of minutes.

Tip: I suggest fill the blender halfway with crushed ice to get the maximum effect of snow.

Fill a glass or Snow cone Cone cups with the ice and then drizzle with your desired syrup.

Enjoy!


Thursday, October 10, 2013

Pani Puri Chaat


Pani Puri is one of the most loved Indian street foods or “chaat”. The puri (small, round, crispy puffed shells made from semolina) is stuffed with potato mixture, tamarind chutney and a spicy, tangy water, or pani. 
Eat it in one big bite and experience the explosion of flavor. Absolutely one of my favorite chaat. They go fast so be sure to make plenty with this easy pani puri recipe.

serves 5 - 6 people

Ingredients: 

For Pani (Spicy Water): 
2 cup mint leaves (Pudina) 
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
3 to 5 green chilies (adjust to taste) 
3 tablespoons tamarind paste (Imli) 
3 tablespoons lemon juice 

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Bombay Chatt - 21st Meet!





What a gorgeous fall day it was. Vaishali hosted our Bombay Chatt Exchange. As we all know Jalpa welcomed a baby girl about 6 weeks ago so we had a special visitor, Mohini Jhoom, this month. MJ was fasting for Navaratri so she only had milk. Vaishali served us baraf gola (snow cones) with a modern twist. Unlike traditional gola’s these were severed in cup which I am sure most of us preferred. I still have very vivid memories of buying these gola’s off a street vendor and enjoying them as a child. They would have different flavors and although I cannot remember what specific flavors I had enjoyed, I just remember enjoying them. 

We had Jalpa’s Channa Dal next. She served it just the way you find it in India: in paper cones.  You would find channa dal again sold by street vendors. Nishal recounted a really funny story – she remembers traveling by train in India and these merchants selling the dal to train goers. Even if you didn’t want to have any, the sight and smell of the channa dal tempted you every single time and you would end up buying a pack or in this case a cone full of it! 

We moved on to the Bombay Sandwich that I served cold and hot (grilled). There are many variations of the sandwich and it’s a personal preference as to how to serve it. I remember being in India a couple of years ago when we were shopping for my cousins wedding and enjoying these sandwiches. I remember a couple of days we would purposefully not have a formal lunch because we would want to order these sandwiches; you can partially find these on every street corner.  

We also enjoyed the Pani Puri that Nishal made. What surprised me the most was that she made the pani (water with mint and other ingredients) from scratch. It was so good! I think most people would agree with me that no matter how hard you try you can never get the pani puri like the street vendors in India. Again I remember being in India 10 years ago and telling my cousin I will risk getting sick just to have a serving of pani puri. And so I did. And no, I didn’t get sick. 

And finally we ended the afternoon with Kulfi made by Parul. She somehow found a way to make it where it wasn’t too creamy but savory enough to be called a Kulfi. Yum!

 
Hetal will no longer be attending due to scheduling conflicts.