If you are in Mumbai, then you cannot miss out on vada-pav that is sold on every street corner. Not to forget, the famous Ashok Vaidya's vada-pav shop in Dadar (Mumbai) or the Goli vada pav online shop of Venkatesh Iyer. Vada-pav has two items –vada and pav. Vada is fried dumpling made of mashed potatoes, spiced with ginger, garlic and green chillis, which is dipped in chickpea batter . Pav is small bread/bread roll. There are many variations to the fried dumpling placed between the pav. Each one is delicious and has a distinct taste in itself. Here, I have made a healthy version of this vada-pav using corn pattice, instead of the fried dumpling.
Ingredients for the corn pattice: Corn cob -1 Boiled potatoes – 4 (200gms) Fried peanuts - 8tsps Green chillies- 3 Bread slices -4 Finely chopped onions-1/2cup Ginger paste -1/2tsp Chopped coriander -2tsps Salt and oil -as required
Method: Place the corn cob over direct flame and cook on all sides.
cooked corn cob
Cool and remove the corn kernels with a knife.
Corn kernels Grind the corn kernels coarsely. Mash the potatoes well. Grind the peanuts, green chillies and the bread coarsely in a blender. Combine everything except the oil. Add salt and divide into equal parts. Roll each part and give an oval shape. Toast it on both sides over a hot griddle using little oil.
Pav-bhaji is a famous street food of Mumbai. It has bhaji, which is a Marathi name for the spicy gravy made of mixed vegetables and pav or Pau or Pao the Portuguese word for bread or bread roll. The latter was introduced to Mumbaikars by the Portuguese during their brief stay in Maharashtra. This dish is supposed to have been the food of textile mill workers in the 1850s. The mill workers then had very short lunch breaks and were forced to return to heavy physical labour after lunch. Considering these two facts, a vendor created bhaji by combining the different curries or the different items on the lunch menu into one. Rice was replaced with pav to make it even lighter. Together, it was called pav-bhaji.
Today, this street food is also served in many restaurants and in many varieties. One among them is Cheese Pav Bhaji, in which the bhaji has garnishing’s of cheese. In paneer Pav Bhaji, the bhaji has paneer (cottage cheese), besides the vegetables. In Jain Pav Bhaji, potatoes are replaced with plantain and it does not have onion or garlic either. Kolhapuri Pav Bhaji is extra spicy as it uses Kolhapur chillies.
Garam masala powder - 1tsp Chilli powder -1tsp Pepper powder -1tsp Asafoetida -1/4tsp Chopped coriander leaves -2tsps Sugar - 2tsps Butter -25gms Salt to taste
Method: Mash the potatoes, cauliflower and peas well. Keep it aside. In a flat frying pan/wok heat some butter and fry the onion. When it changes colour add the garlic and ginger paste. Fry for few seconds. Then add the asafoetida powder. Stir for few seconds. Next, add all the other powders, tomato puree, sugar and salt. Cook for few minutes. Finally, add the mashed vegetables and grated carrot. Add some water and check the consistency. Cook till is blended well. Garnish with coriander leaves and dollops of butter. Serve along with butter toasted pav/bread rolls.
Cauliflower is still available in the vegetable market. Thanks to the extended winter season. This fast cooking vegetable is used in different cuisines and can be cooked in many ways. It is low on calories and rich in vitamin C and other nutrients like in cabbage. Here is a simple gravy using this vegetable.
Ingredients: Cauliflower - 300gm Green peas - 1/2cup Tomatoes -3 Onion -2 Green chilly -1 Garlic - 6 pods Chilli powder -1tsp Turmeric powder -1/2tsp Coriander powder 1/2 tsp Cumin powder -1/2tsp Garam masala -1/4tsp (optional) Sugar - 1tsp Chopped coriander leaves -2tsp Oil and salt - as required
Method: Chop all the vegetables. Cook the cauliflower and green peas in half cup of water. In a frying pan heat little and fry the onion and green chilly. Next, add the garlic and tomatoes. Fry till the tomatoes become mushy. Cool and grind them to a smooth paste. Keep it aside. In another pan heat little oil and add all the powders. Stir for few seconds, and then add the ground paste and sugar. Sauté it well. Next, add the cooked cauliflower and peas. Simmer for few seconds. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with whole wheat flat bread.
This cookie is easy to make and healthy too as it has high fibre oats. I have replaced part of the sugar with brown sugar to enhance the flavour of butter scotch. Besides, brown sugar is also healthy compared to white sugar.
Butter scotch chips Ingredients: All purpose flour -1cup Oats -1cup Powdered sugar -1/2cup Powdered brown sugar -1/2cup Butter - 1/4 cup Oil -1/4 cup Baking powder -1/4tsp Baking soda -1/2tsp Butter scotch chips - 4tsps Chocolate chips -2tsps Milk -2tsps Vanilla essence -1/2tsp
Chocolate chips Method: Grind the butter scotch chips coarsely. Mix it along with the baking soda, baking powder, oats and all purpose flour. Keep it aside. Next beat the sugars, milk and butter in a blender. Combine the two mixtures and oil to form soft dough. Add the essence and half the chocolate chips. Divide into equal balls. Flatten each of them a little and place it in an oven proof tray. Decorate each cookie with the balance chocolate chips. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 150c for 10 to 15 minutes.
Spring onions are rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin B2, Vitamin A, Vitamin K and thiamine. They are low in calories and high on dietary fibre. 100gm of spring onion greens provides just 31 calories. Hence, it is included in raw form in salads and vegetable dressings. In cooked form too it tastes great. It is added to the fried dumpling dough (vada dough) to give the flavour of onion. Here, I have tried to make a mildly spiced flat bread using spring onion.
Ingredients: Whole wheat flour - 2cups Chopped spring onion greens -1 cup Green chillies -2 (finely chopped) Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp Salt and oil - As required
Method: Combine everything except oil. Add water little by little and make soft dough. Rest the dough for few seconds. Divide it into equal balls. Roll each one of them into round flat breads. Heat a griddle and cook them on both sides using little oil. Serve hot with curd.
Roasted gram/fried gram is called pottu kadalai in Tamil language and ladoo made out it is called maa ladoo. This ladoo is prepared on auspicious occasions including weddings and Diwali. It is also an offering to god. My mom use to offer this ladoo to lord Hanuman on every Saturday. However, this protein rich sweet is not available in sweet shops.
Ingredients: Roasted Gram -2 cup Sugar -1/4cup Brown sugar -1/4cup Warm clarified butter - 1/4 cup Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Method: Combine everything except the clarified butter and pulverize in a blender to a smooth powder. Then, add the clarified butter and blend it well in the blender. Remove and make equal size balls out of it. Allow it cool and turn firm. Store it in an airtight jar.
Ridge gourd is a dark green vegetable with spongy interior. In India, it is known by different names (turiya, turai, beerakai, dodka, loofah and peerkankai) in different languages. It is also referred to as Chinese okra or sponge gourd. Scientifically, it is known as Luffa acutangula. Ridge gourd is rich in dietary fibre besides vitamin C, iron and zinc. It is generally prescribed for jaundice as it is light on the tummy. This gourd blends well while cooking and hence does not require any thickening agent in its preparation.
Peeled and chopped ridge gourd Method: Peel and cut the ridge gourd into cubes. Chop the onions finely and fry it in little oil. When it changes colour, add the garlic and ginger paste. Stir for few seconds. Then add all the powders, salt and the ridge gourd. Close and cook in half cup of water. When it is half done add the tomatoes and brown sugar. Open and cook till it is blended well. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve along with steamed rice or whole wheat flat bread.
Note: The skin of ridge gourd is edible and has more fibre than the flesh. It can be made into a chutney or dip like chayote.
Street foods joints that line the lanes of Mumbai offer a wide variety of eats. One among them is fusion dosa, where the humble dosa is filled with a noodle preparation. I think this is a result of some street vendor's attempt to tweak the dosa to attract the crowd. Different vendors offer different types of fusion dosa. It all depends on the stuffing that ranges from boiled noodles to fried noodles to stir fried vegetables all laced with schewan sauce.
For the filling: Hakka noodles -1cup Capsicum -1/2 Carrot -1 Onion - 1 Spring onion greens - few Tomato sauce -2tsps Chilly sauce/ Schezwan sauce -2tsps Garlic paste -1/4 tsp Ginger paste -1/4tsp Salt and oil - as required
Method:
Cook the hakka noodles as per the instructions in the pack. Cool and keep it aside. Chop all the vegetables length wise. In a wok or frying pan stir fry the carrot and capsicum in little oil. Remove and keep it aside. In the same pan fry the onions. When it changes colour, add the garlic and ginger paste. Stir for few second. Then add the spring onion greens, the sauces, salt and the cooked noodle. Sauté till everything is blended well. This is the filling.
spread the filling evenly Heat a griddle and pour one ladle of dosa batter over it. Spread it round to make a thin crepe. Drizzle some oil on top and cook. When it starts lifting from the edges spread a spoonful of the filling over it. Roll it firmly. Cut it into pieces and serve.
Note: For the dosa batter refer "onion carrot pancake" recipe in this blog.
