Recipes: Mung Pakori Chaat, Sabudana Dahi Vadas, Sabudana Parathas

Women across north India, as well as in other parts of the world, may choose many different permutation-combinations of fasts for Karwa Chauth. Some might go without food and water right from dawn to dusk. Others stay on liquids or water and fruit. Many might take a break and have vrat-sanctioned food.

And the sweetest gesture of all would be if your husband prepared some of these dishes for his wife.

With that in mind, Chef Kunal Kapoor offers a few recipes for all you thoughtful hubbies out there to roll up your sleeves and cook up for your biwis, to show you care.

Go ahead and try these three easy-to-make dishes: Mung Dal Pakori Chaat, Vrat Sabudana Dahi Vadas and Sabudana Aloo Parathas.

Chef Kapoor has hosted several food shows like My Yellow Table, Foodie Comes To America and was invited as a guest judge on Season 2 of MasterChef America.

Mung Dal Pakori Chaat

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the pakori:

• 1 cup mung dal, soaked
• 1 tsp chilly powder
• 1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
• ½ tsp haldi or turmeric
• 1 tsp chopped ginger
• 1 tsp chopped green chilly
• Salt to taste, about 1 tsp
• Oil for deep frying

For the sweetened yoghurt:

• 1 cup yoghurt
• 3 tbsp sugar
• Pinch salt
• ¼ tsp black salt 

For the tamarind chutney:

• 1 cup imli or tamarind pulp
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp red chilly powder
• 1 tbsp roasted jeera or cumin powder
• Pinch salt, if required
• 1 tsp black salt
• 1½ cup water

Garnish:

• ¼ cup mint chutney
• ½ cup pomegranate arils or seedpods
• Generous pinch chaat masala
• Few sprigs coriander

Method

For the tamarind chutney:

• In a small saucepan, mix all the ingredients and bring to a boil over low heat.
  Allow it to simmer, till it thickens. Once it reaches coating consistency, take off heat and cool.
  Keep aside.

For the sweetened yoghurt:

• In a medium-sized bowl, mix all the ingredients and keep  aside.

For the pakori:

• In a bowl, mix the soaked mung dal, cumin, ginger, garlic, salt, chilly powder, turmeric to prepare the pakori batter.
  Grind in a mixer/blender to a fine paste, using minimal to no water.
• Heat the oil in a deep-bottomed saucepan or a kadhai till medium hot.
• Scoop out a small marble-sized dollops of batter using a spoon and drop it into the hot oil.
  Fry till golden.
  Drain onto a tissue or paper towel-lined plate.
  Keep aside.

Assembly:

• Divide the pakoris between 4 quarter plates.
  Drizzle the sweetened yoghurt and the tamarind chutney over the pakoris and garnish with green dhaniya, pomegranate, pinches of chaat masala and add 1 tsp mint chutney per plate before serving.

Vrat Sabudana Dahi Vadas

Serves: 6

Ingredients

For the sweetened yoghurt:

• 3 cups yoghurt
• 5 tbsp sugar
• Pinch sendha namak or rock salt

For the green chutney:

• 2 cups green dhaniya or coriander leaves
• 1 cup pudina or mint leaves
• 2 tbsp anardana or dried pomegranate arils or seedpods
• Pinch sendha namak or rock salt
• 2 tbsp roasted jeera or cumin seeds
• ½ tsp black pepper powder
• Few ice cubes
• ½ cup water

For the khatti meethi chutney:

• 3 cups water
• ½ cup anardana powder
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 tbsp pounded roasted jeera or cumin seeds
• Pinch sendha namak or rock salt
• ½ tsp black pepper powder
• ½ cup grated gur or jaggery

For the vadas:

• 2 cups mashed potatoes
• 2 tbsp samak chawal or barnyard millets, soaked, optional
• 1 cup sabudana or tapioca pearls, soaked for 4 hrs
• Handful green dhaniya or coriander or cilantro leaves, chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped green chillies
• 2 tbsp chopped ginger
• ½ tsp black pepper powder
• ½ tsp sendha namak or rock salt
• Oil for deep frying

For serving:

• Handful pomegranate arils/seedpods
• Fresh green dhaniya or corander or cilantro, chopped
• Pinch of jeera or cumin powder.

Method

For the sweetened yoghurt:

• In a bowl, whisk the yoghurt, sugar, salt together and keep aside.

For the green chutney:

• Grind all the ingredients into a paste in a mixer/blender.
  Pour it into a bowl and keep aside.

For the khatti meethi chutney:

• In a small saucepan, boil all the ingredients over low heat for 10 minutes.
  Allow it to thicken a bit, take off heat and strain.
  Take the remnants or debris left in the channi or strainer or grind it with a little bit of the chutney juice.
  Add to the chutney and strain again to keep the chutney smooth.
  Keep aside.

For the vadas:

• Mix the mashed potatoes, samak chawal, soaked sabudana, coriander, green chillies, ginger, black pepper, rock salt well together.
  Divide this potato-sabudana mixture into smaller 1-inch diameter balls.
  Make a depression in the centre using your thumb.
• Heat the oil in a deep-bottomed saucepan or a kadhai and fry the vadas in batches, flipping to evenly cook, till golden brown.
  Drain onto a tissue or kitchen towel-lined plate.
  Keep aside to cool.
• Place all the vadas in a flat bowl.
  Pour the chilled sweetened yoghurt, green chutney, khatti meethi chutney over it and serve.
• If you prefer, garnish with the roasted cumin powder, pomegranate arils or seedpods and chopped fresh coriander.

Sabudana Aloo Parathas

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• ½ cup + 3 tbsp sabudana or tapioca pearls
• 1¼ cup water
• 1 cup mashed potato
• 1 tsp sendha namak or rock salt
• 1½ tsp roasted jeera or cumin seeds
• 1 chopped green chilly
• 3 tbsp roasted peanuts, finely crushed
• Handful of chopped green dhaniya or coriander or cilantro, optional
• 1-2 pieces butter paper or small plastic sheets
• Oil for greasing and frying the parathas
• Yoghurt, for serving 

Method

• Wash ½ cup of the sabudana under in running water.
  In bowl, soak the washed sabudana in the 1¼ cup water and soak for 4 hours.
• Grind the remaining 3 tbsp sabudana into a fine powder and keep aside.
• Strain the soaked sabudana to remove any excess water and mix in a bowl with the mashed potatoes, rock salt, cumin, green chillies, sabudana powder, crushed peanuts, chopped coriander.
  Mix well creating a large ball of firm dough.
  Smear a bit of oil on your hands and divide the dough into 6 smaller balls of dough.
  Place the sheets of butter paper or plastic sheet on a wooden board or chakla or a flat surface and grease the inside surfaces lightly with oil.
  Place 1 dough ball in the centre of one of the sheets and with lightly-oiled fingers press it gently to flatten.
  Press the edges of the paratha while spreading it out, to prevent it from cracking up.
  Keep applying oil on your fingers if the dough is very sticky and spread the dough till it becomes approximately a 6-inch diameter paratha.
  Drizzle a little oil on top of the paratha and pick up the butter paper carefully with the paratha on it and gently place face down onto a hot tawa or griddle.
  Carefully remove the butter paper and let it cook while you drizzle a little oil now on the side facing upwards.
  Once the heat-facing side is thoroughly cooked, flip carefully to cook the other side too.
  Once cooked, take the Sabudana Aloo Paratha off the tawa and serve with yoghurt.
  Repeat the same process with the remaining dough.

Chef Kunal Kapoor is a restauranteur, author and former host and judge of MasterChef India. These recipes are kind courtesy the chef and Saffola Oils.

Images courtesy: Chef Kunal Kapur & Saffola Oils

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