We invited Get Ahead readers to share rainy-day recipes with us -- pakoras, samosas and every other kind of tasty preparation that has you smacking your lips during the monsoons. We've been flooded with responses and as part of an ongoing series, present three recipes that you can make the most of this season.
JG Oberai from Jaipur sent in a recipe for Finger Paneer Pakoras:
Ingredients:
- 250 gms gram flour
- 200 gms paneer (cottage cheese)
- 25 gms garlic
- 2 gms baking soda
- 1/2 tsp red chillie powder
- 1-2 chopped green chillies
- Salt to taste
- Oil for deep frying
Method of preparation:
- Cut the paneer into finger-size pieces and add a little salt.
- Crush the garlic and add a little water to make a paste.
- Mix the garlic paste with the gram flour, salt, soda, red and green chillies.
- Add more water to the mixture to attain medium consistency.
- Dip the paneer pieces in this mixture and deep-fry.
- Once browned, serve with green chutney.
Here's how to cook up Instant Mixed Vegetable Bhajjias by Nalini Jagnat Kudalkar:
Ingredients:
- 1 bowl chopped, mixed vegetables (potato, onion, carrot, cauliflower, ladyfingers)
- One raw chopped banana
- 1 cup wheat flour
- 1 cup besan (chickpea) flour
- 1/2 tbsp chillie powder
- 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 cup curd
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
Method of preparation:
- Mix the wheat and besan flour along with chillie and turmeric powder in curd. Add salt to it and make the batter a little thick and consistent.
- Now mix all the vegetables and banana into the mixture till well-coated.
- Deep-fry the batter-coated vegetables till they turn golden-brown.
- Drain excess oil on butter paper and serve with sweetened curd, mint chutney or tomato sauce.
And finally, we have this Dal Ka Chilla recipe from Richa Agarwal in Gurgaon:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup moong ki dal (peeled)
- 1 small chopped onion
- 2 chopped green chillies
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1 small piece of ginger
- Coriander
- Garam masala
- Salt to taste
- Baking soda
Method of preparation:
- Soak the dal in water for approximately 2 hours.
- Heat oil in a pan, add the garlic and ginger.Then add the onion and green chillies and cook till brown.
- Strain the dal of water and add the garlic, onions etc. Grind and add water so that it attains medium consistency.
- Add salt, garam masala, coriander leaves, chillie powder and a pinch of baking soda and mix well.
- Heat oil in a pan and pour the batter in. Cook till it turns light brown and flip sides.
- Serve with green chutney and/ or tomato sauce.
Do you have any special monsoon recipes that you'd like to share with us and other readers? Simply write in to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: 'Monsoon Recipes') with instructions on how to prepare lip-smacking rainy-day foods and we'll publish your recipes right here on rediff.com. Make sure to include your name, age and hometown and try to come up with the hottest, tastiest snacks you can this rainy season.
We're smacking our lips and waiting, so write in right away!