Pan-Fried Aloo Vada For Vada Pav (Indian Pan Fried Potato Patties)

Pan-Fried Aloo-Vada with Chutney

Vada-Pav is the fast food of Maharashtra. Piping hot Aloo-vada, soft pav with hot spicy chutney and finely cut onion, cilantro brings water to every body’s mouth. Being fried it is nightmare for weight watchers. Difficult choice has to be made indulge or control. My daughter in-law overcame this problem by making pan-fried vada with hardly any oil in them. God bless her for this. Delicious least oily these vadas can be had with pav/bread for breakfast/brunch or with chutney/sauce for snack.

Preparation Time: 30-40-min.

Cooking Time: 10 minutes/Vada

Servings: 12 Vadas of Medium Size

Ingredients Required For making Pan-Fried Vada For Vada-Pav:

For Filling:

• 750 gm. Potatoes 
• 1 Inch piece Ginger
• 10-12 Cloves of Garlic
• 5-6 Green Chilies
• 5-6 Sprigs of Cilantro
• 1Teaspoon Olive oil/any cooking oil
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
• 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
• 1 Teaspoon Amchur Powder
• 8-10 curry leafs (Kadi patta)
• Salt to taste

For Batter:

• 250 gm. Besan
• 1/2Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Red Chili Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala
• 1 Pinch of eating Soda
• Salt to taste

Ingredients For Batter

• Water

• 2 ml. oil for cooking the vadas

Directions For Making Pan-Fried Aloo Vada For Vada-Pav:

• Boil the potatoes.
• Peel and mash the boiled potatoes.

Boiled and Mashed Potatoes

• Cut garlic, green chilies, and cilantro fine.
• Grate ginger.
• In a wok heat 1 ml oil.
• When the oil is smoking hot add
• Mustard seeds
• Cumin seeds
• When the seeds have crackled and spluttered then add
• Kadi patta
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Green chilies
• Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Seasoning Ready For Potatoes

• Add
• Mashed potatoes

Mashed Potatoes in Seasoning

• Turmeric
• Salt and mix nicely.
• Cook for 4-5 min. with continuous stirring.
• Filling (Masala) of Aloo-vada is ready.

Filling For Vada

• Take the filling in a bowl and allow it to cool without covering the bowl.

For Batter:

• In a bowl take
• Besan
• Salt
• Turmeric
• Garam masala
• Red chili powder
• Salt and pinch of eating soda
• Mix all ingredients nicely and start adding water slowly with continuous beating.
• Add water till thick but pourable batter is formed.

Batter of Besan and Spices

For Pan Fried Vada:

• Heat a thick pan with edges.
• When the pan is hot sprinkle 4-5 drops of oil on it and spread the oil with spatula.
• Reduce the flame.
• Divide the filling masala to 12 parts.
• Make round balls and then flatten them by gently pressing then between your palms.

Flattened Filling Ball

• Dip one flattened ball of filling at one time to the batter and coat it nicely with batter.
• Gently place it on the hot oiled pan.

Filling Coated with Batter and Placed on Hot Oiled Pan

• Repeat and place them at 2-3 cm. distances from each other for easy handling while turning over.
• Let the vada cook for 3-4 min. on low flame.
• The lower surface will become golden brown and the upper surface will change the color to darker yellow.

Different Stages of Vadas

• Turn over the Vada and allow it to cook on low flame till the color of the flipped side also becomes golden brown.
• Keep shifting the vadas so that they touch the edge of pan. This will make sure the vada is cooked from all sides
• Vadas are ready.

Pan-Fried Vada with Chutney

• Repeat till all are cooked.
• Cut the Pav (Unleavened bread) / Burger bun to half.
• Apply coriander-mint chutney on one side and place hot Vada on it.
• Sprinkle some finely cut onions, cilantro and place the other half on it.
• Healthy Vada –pav is ready.Or simply sandwich it between two slices of bread lined with sauce/chutney and enjoy with tea/coffee.

Tips:

• Pan with edges is must to make sure batter from the edges of vada is cooked.
• Do not overcook the potatoes while boiling otherwise the filling will not be firm and vadas will not come out nice.
• Mash the potatoes nicely but do not make paste of them.
• While making batter add water in little proportions to avoid the batter from becoming thin.
• Beating of batter should be done continuous to avoid lump formation.
• Do not leave the filling flattened balls in the batter, just dip and then cover rest of the surface with batter using spoon.
• Do not cook the vadas on high flame otherwise the batter will remain uncooked from inside and brittle and hard from outside.

Alternate Suggestions:

• Finely cut onions can be added to the spluttered seeds and cooked till transparent before adding garlic etc.
• One teaspoon oil can be added to besan mixture before adding water.
• If you wish 2-3 drops of oil can be sprinkled over the vadas while they are being cooked.

Vegetable Pulav (Rice cooked with vegetables)

Vegetable Pulav

Vegetable pulav is a complete food by itself. Rice when cooked with lots of vegetables makes it very attractive and colorful in appearance. It is a real fun in our family when pulav is being made as my husband loves making pulav for the family, and the minutest details right from the amount of vegetable to cutting them to appropriate size and so on, he looks himself where as I have a fields day and get to enjoy the vegetable pulav without doing any work.!!

Preparation Time: 20min.

Cooking Time: 30min.

Servings: Four large servings

Ingredients required for making Vegetable Pulav:

• 200gm. Rice
• 50gm. French Beans
• 50gm. Carrot
• 2 Medium size Potatoes. (optional)
• 50 – 75gm. Nutrela (soya nuggets, optional)
• 2 medium size Tomatoes
• 50-75gm. Onions
• 1/2 Tea spoon Turmeric Powder
• 3-4 Cloves.
• 1 black cardamom
• 2 Bay leaves
• 2-3cm. cinnamon stick
• 5gm. Garam Masala(1 tea spoon approx..)
• 50gm. Ginger- Garlic paste (2-3 tea spoon approx..)
• Salt to taste
• 25ml. Ghee / cooking oil
• Water

Directions to prepare Vegetable Pulav:

• Clean and wash rice
• Soak the washed rice in 250ml. water
• Soak Nutrela for 30min. in water

.

Soaked Nutrela

• Wash and dry all vegetables.
• Cut beans, carrots, into 3-4cm. long thin pieces.

Carrot and French beans cut for Pulav

• Cut onions to thin long pieces.

Onions cut length wise for Pulav

• Cut Tomatoes to pieces.

Tomatoes for pulav

• Take 10ml. Ghee/oil in a pressure cooker and heat it on high flame.
• When the ghee/oil is smoking hot reduce the flame.
• Squeeze water from soaked Nutrela and shallow fry them in oil/ghee.

Carrot, French beans and soaked squeezed nutrela

• Remove Nutrela when they become golden brown and keep aside.
• Add remaining 15ml. of ghee/oil and heat.
• Add bay leaves, cloves, black cardamom and cinnamon stick.
• Cloves will start spluttering and wonderful smell of spices will start coming.
• Add Onion and cook on low flame till they become transparent
• Add Ginger-garlic paste and cook for 2 min. with regular stirring.
• Add Potatoes and cook for 2-3 min. with regular stirring..
• Add beans, carrots and cook for 2-3min. with regular stirring.
• Add tomatoes and cook they become soft.
• Add shallow fried Nutrela and mix

.

All vegetables and soaked fried nutrela being cooked

• Drain the soaked rice and keep the water aside.
• Add rice to the cooker and mix with gentle stirring so as the rice, vegetable, spices mixture becomes homogeneous.

Soaked rice added to the vegetable mixture

• Add turmeric powder, salt, garam masala , red chili powder and mix.

Salt, Turmeric powder, Garam masala and Red chili powder added to rice and vegetables

Spices mixed to rice and vegetable mixture

• Add the water kept aside after draining the rice.

Water added to rice, vegetable and spices mixture

• Mix gently.
• Close the lid of cooker and put the flame on high.
• When the pressure is built in the cooker reduce the flame to low and cook for 5 min.
• Switch off the gas and allow the pressure in the cooker to subside.
• Open the cooker and get the first look and wonderful smell of vegetable pulav.

Vegetable Pulav

Take it out on a serving dish and serve with curd/raita, pickle

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/mango-pickle-north-indian-style.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/tangy-mango-pickle-maharashra-style.html

 http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/spicy-mixed-vegetable-pickle-less-oily.html
 / chutney  http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/green-coriander-and-mint-chutney.html, salad and roasted papad.
I love eating this pulav with Ghee and pickle.

Vegetable Pulav with Curd, Coriander chutney, Salad and Papad

Tips:-

• Those who do not take onions, garlic can omit it and instead replace onions, garlic with cumin seeds.
• The rice used in the above recipe is Dulhan basmati rice, the requirement of water may vary little with different variety of rice.
• While washing basmati rice wash them in a sieve with running water.
• Do not rub rice with hands as the flavor goes off with vigorous washing.
• If you like spicy food then you can add red chili powder to you taste.
• Do not release he pressure from cooker after switching off the gas let it subside by itself, the flavor of spices will get seeped in rice nicely.

Suggested Variations:

• Cauliflower, Broccoli,Cottage cheese can be also be put in pulav.
• Fresh Peas added to the pulav gives it a very good flavor and color.
• Badi can be fried and added instead of nutrela.

Fried Badi

• Pulav tastes best with basmati rice, but you can choose rice as per your choice.
• For those who for any reason like less oil, can reduce the amount of ghee/oil as per the requirement.

Upama ( Low calorie dish prepared from Semolina)

Upama

Upama is very low calorie but high on nutrition and easy to digest. I was introduced to it by one of the hostel warden in Jaipur (Rajasthan) and I just loved it and now my family loves the Upama made by me. It is a savory dish mainly made in southern part of India but eaten by most of the Indian with equal zest. So what is stopping you!!! Try it with porridge and fruits as a combination for breakfast and make your family healthy.

Preparation time: 5-10 min.
Cooking time: 15 min.
Servings: Serves generous helping for 4 people.

Ingredients Required For Upama : 

• 150 gm. Suji (Semolina)

Roasted semolina(suji)

• 100 gm . Finely cut mixed vegetables.(carrot, french beans, peas, cauliflower). 

Mixed vegetables

• 1 Medium size finely cut Onion.
• 1'' Ginger piece (grated).
• 1 Medium size finely cut Tomato. 

Finely cut Tomatoes

• 2Tea spoons finely chopped Coriander leaves.
• 4-5 Curry leaves.(sweet neem leaves)
• 2 Tea spoons Urad dal.
• 1 Tea spoon Cumin seeds.
• 1/2 Tea spoon Mustard seeds.
• 2 Green chilies finely cut.
• Salt to taste.
• 10 ml. cooking oil.
• 150 ml. Water.

Direction To Make Upama 

• Take a thick bottom wok and roast suji to light golden color on low flame.
• Keep the roasted suji aside in a bowl.
• Put oil in the wok and let it heat .
• Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, urd dal and cook for 1 min. The mustard seeds, cumin seeds will split and urd dal will become golden in color.
• Add onions and cook till transparent in color.

Onions being cooked to transparent stage
after seasoning with mustard seeds,
cumin seeds, curry leaves and urd dal.

 

• Add green chillies, ginger and cook for 1/2 min.
• Add all vegetables and cook for 2-3 min. 
• Add tomatoes and cook till they become soft.
• Add roasted suji and mix thoroughly so that the vegetables get coated with suji. 

Mixed vegetables, tomatoes, suji being cooked

• Add salt and mix again.
• Add water and mix 

Water added to the mixture of suji and vegetables.

• Cover and cook on low flame for 10 min.

After adding water the wok is covered and kept on low heat

• Add coriander leaves mix nicely.
• Cover and remove from flame 

Tips : -

• Suji can be roasted and stored this makes the morning work easy as well as avoids suji getting spoiled ( infested with pests).
• Never use Pumpkin, Brinjal, Baigan, bottle gourd (Lauki), cabbage, Drum sticks,in upama.

• Upama can be used as evening snack also.Filling yet light.   

Upama ready to be garnished and served

Upama is ready to be served and of course eaten with coconut/ground nut chutney / Coriander mint chutney 

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/green-coriander-and-mint-chutney.html

/ Hariyali chutney

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/hariyali-chutney-raw-mango-chutney.html

Suggested Variations :

• To make it more attractive for children you can add cashew, raisins, cherry in little amount.
• Instead of suji finely broken wheat for upama can also be used.

Pesarattu( Pan cake of green Moong Dal)

Pesarattu with onions

Pesarattu with out onions

Pesarattu was my fathers favorite snack as well as break fast . At the drop of  hat he would demand pesarattu from my mom as if it would appear, if my ma would say Abra Ka Dabra :). But then my mom being a very good wife and house wife would keep the batter ready in the fridge and supply him Pesarattu as and when he wanted.Since it is made of Moong dal therefore is easy to digest and is rich in protein.
In north India this dish is known as moong dal ka chilada and in south India it is called Pesarattu.

Preparation Time: 10min.

Cooking Time: 20min.

Servings: Makes10 Pesarattu of medium size

Materials Required For Pesarattu :

• 200gm, Moong Dal.
• Salt to taste
• 1 Medium size onion
• 1 Medium size Tomato.
• Few leaves of coriander.
• 1 Green chili
• Cooking oil.
• Water to make batter.

      Directions For Making Pesarattu :

Moong Dal Batter

• Wash and soak moong dal in water for at least 3-4hrs.
• Drain the water .
• Grind the soaked dal to fine paste.
• Add water to make pourable batter.
• Add salt to taste.
• Cut onion, tomato, green chili,coriander leaves and mix them together in a bowl.
• Take a tawa (flat iron cooking plate) and heat it on gas.
• When hot grease it with few drops of oil.
• Pour some moong dal batter on it and spread to a round.

Pesarattu being cooked




• Spread the onion,tomato,green chili,coriander mixture on it and cover, and cook for 1min.
• Pour one tea spoon of oil from the edges in tawa and cook on medium flame for 2 min.
• Loosen the edges and flip the pesarattu upside down.
• Cook for another 2-3 min.

Pesarattu being cooked on other side

• Colorful and tasty Pesarattu is ready to be served with coconut/ ground nut chutney.

Pesarattu with onions

Coconut Chutney

Tip(s):

• Using Non stick tawa would reduce oil requirement to make the pesarattu very much less.

• Those who do not take Onions can omit onions.

Pesarattu without onions

• Pesarattu makes light yet very nutritive break fast, or even light snack!!!

Enjoy Pesarattu with Coconut / Coriander mint chutney  Chutney

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/green-coriander-and-mint-chutney.html

or pickles

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/tangy-mango-pickle-maharashra-style.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/mango-pickle-north-indian-style.html

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2012/06/spicy-mixed-vegetable-pickle-less-oily.html

Suggested Variation:

• Since children are very fond of cheese so one or two tea spoon of grated cottage cheese / Mozzarella cheese can be sread over pesarattu along with onions and tomatoes.