Hariyali Cutlet with ragda a.k.a green cutlet with gravy - A Spring inspired chat :-)

It is a very typical early spring day. The soft pitter patter of the rains outside my bedroom windows, the stillness that comes with the rains as it falls in a steady stream downwards, a stray bird getting mischievously wet as it puts its head out of its hiding, the fat squirrel that comes out of its burrow looking for a nut rushes back home when the water falls on its body in torrents, the trees shaking their body and swaying with the wind as it accompanies the rain. How can anyone not enjoy this musical & magical picture of the nature? This weather invariably makes me ache and long for a summer from the past where everything I see today would be present along with the intoxicating fragrance of the earth. Indian summers are hot and when the monsoon finally arrives the soil is so dry and thirsty, it seems to immediately drink up the water from above in return releasing a heady fragrance as if saying thanks! What was different in the long ago summer I long for was that I was a carefree, grade school girl with no responsibilities of my own. I had parents and older siblings to take care of my every need and much more. Much as I miss those days, I am equally happy where I am and who I am today too. The rains just remind me of everything, the gains and the losses, that has happened in these years.

Spring is the time for everything comes alive and grow anew. Our neighbors have 2 little girls that I get to see mostly when the weather is warm. With the busy schedule of 2 working parents, the routine is mostly pre school care, school and after school care. So by the time they reach home, it is dark outside and the kids are hungry for dinner. Like everyone else, we get inside the nest for the rest of the evening. But spring and summer are a different story. I get to see kids come out with their bicycles or balls to play in the open area infront of the house. The littler of the 2 little girls who had just started walking last year this time is trying out her older sister's bike with training wheels while the older one has graduated to independently cycling away on her merry way. They both have grown a couple of inches taller and the older one is not as shy any more when she greets me as I get off the car in the drive way and sometimes asks "How is your daughter doing? Where is she now"?. She remembers her from the couple of baby sitting times they had together :-). And I just feel awed by this magic of life that enables everything and everyone to grow and grow up.

As the girls tire of their biking, they run back to their drive way where the proud parents are watching, screaming for snacks and treats. No such luxury for me, grown up as I am, I just have to get up and make a treat myself if I want to eat something :-). The weather certainly calls for something spicy, hot and tasty and I am going to get something that is spicy, hot and tasty. I made these haryali cutlets and served it up as a chat with the spicy gravy keeping in tune with the nature's green theme around me. Well, in truth I had made these a couple of weeks back when DD was home but couldn't take any pictures since the kids were all hungry and attacked the plates as soon as it got to the dining table. So I had to make it again for the sake of the blog and I was more than happy to oblige :-)

Cutlets are the favored finger foods present in some form or the other in most major cuisines of the world. You see the kabobs of the middle east, crab cakes of the western world, tikkis of native India and the cutlets of modern India - they all have their seed in the same concept though the ingredients, shape, color, recipe differ based on the chef and the mood of the day.

We tried this haryali or hariyali (literally meaning 'green') cutlet in a restaurant once long time ago and fell in love with it. It was the deep fried version and was very different from the regular aloo tikkis (potato patties) and the vegetable cutlets. I have seen many, many variations of the haryali cutlets or hara bhara kabobs on the web and also in the restaurants since it seems to be a much loved favorite of many people. The hara bhara kabob is pretty similar to what I have today but sometimes may have paneer or Indian cottage cheese stuffed inside the kabob/cutlet dough before it is fried which opens up to a gooey goodness when you cut into it. That is why it is called a hara (~green), bhara (~stuffed) kabob. It is a must try for all hard core paneer fans.

I made the non stuffed version as I wanted to serve it as a chat (takes it many a notches up from the plain cutlet - is my personal opinion :-)). Unlike other cutlets which are loaded with spuds, this one uses the tuber as just a binding agent and in minimal quantity. The resulting cutlet is light, airy and crispy with loads of spinach goodness. Yes, you heard it right, this is a cutlet based almost entirely on the spinach foundation, you will be consuming your daily requirement of iron with 2 of these cutlets (I exaggerated a bit and I am not a qualified nutritionist, so I made up the statement about the iron content :-), but it is all good green stuff). Although the expert chefs on the web were in harmony when they said the haryali kabob tastes best when deep fried, I am glad to have proven them wrong with my delicious 'shallow fried in pan' kabobs. If you want to expend some additional oily calories, go ahead and deep fry but I can assure you that you won't lose any taste with the pan fried method instead will also preserve the green goodness.

The only thing you want to keep in mind with this recipe is to have as less moisture content in the mixture as possible. I have given some tips along with the procedure to do this. I have told you how I prepared my spinach which hardly lets out any water. You can also blanch and squeeze the water out (in which case you will be taking out some of the nutrients of the mighty spinach). Potato is just present to provide that binding so the cutlet is not crumbly, do not overdo the spuds (however much you love them) in this recipe. The mint and the ginger add a heavenly flavor to the cutlet. Try this recipe and let me know how you liked it. And you don't really have to wait for the rainy season to enjoy this chat, any time is good too.

What do you need to make Hariyali cutlet chat?
For the cutlets 
Makes about 12 cutlets
250gm of spinach leaves
1/2 cup loosely packed mint leaves
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro
1 inch piece fresh ginger
3-4 green chilies (adjust to taste)
1/2 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
3/4 cup cooked green peas
1 medium sized potato boiled and mashed
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)
2 Tbsp oil to pan fry cutlets

For the gravy
2 cups dry green peas
1 tomato chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 Tsp cumin seeds
3/4 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1/2 Tsp red chili powder
1/2 Tsp amchoor (dry mango powder)
1/2 Tsp garam masala powder
To grind: 
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1 inch piece ginger
2 cloves garlic
2 1-inch piece cinnamon
3-4 cloves
2-3 green chilies

For assembling the chat: 
Tamarind-date chutney
finely chopped onion
finely chopped tomato
finely chopped cilantro
roasted cumin powder
red chili powder
fine sev to garnish

How do you make Hariyali cutlet chat? 
Making Haryali cutlets:

• Wash, clean and pat dry spinach leaves, chop them roughly. 
• Heat a wide pan on medium heat. 
• Turn the heat to high, add the spinach leaves into the pan (no water or oil and definitely no salt at this time), stir and saute for 3-5 minutes until the leaves wilt and shrink. 

• Since we do not add any salt or oil, the water from the leaves is less and almost insignificant. 
• Switch off and transfer the cooked leaves to a bowl. 
• Take the green chilies & ginger in a blender jar and grind to a smooth paste. 
• Add cooked green peas and salt into the jar and pulse a couple of times to make a coarse pulp. 

• Take this mixture into the same bowl with spinach leaves. 
• Add boiled, mashed potatoes, chopped mint & cilantro. Mix well and taste test. Adjust salt as needed. 

• Cover and keep the mixture in the refrigerator for atleast 30 minutes for it to firm up. 
• After 30 minutes, take the mixture out, add the bread crumbs in spoonfuls and mix together. 
• 1/2 cup of crumbs give a nice taste but make sure you don't add a lot more than that - for one, it takes away the rich green color, secondly the cutlet loses the spinach taste.  

• Take golf ball sized dough, shape into a patty. Repeat for all of the dough. 
• Heat a flat gridle or pan, add a Tbsp of oil and spread it evenly. 
• Put the patties on the griddle (as many as the griddle can accomodate at a time) and roast for 2 minutes on each side or until they develop a light brown crust. 

• Take them out to a plate. You can eat them as is at this stage, serve warm with some ketchup on the side. 

• If you want the full experience, keep reading to make the gravy and assemble the chat :-)

Making the gravy (I have a slightly different variation of the gravy here and here, you can use any of these or the one below for this chat): 

• Soak the dry, green peas overnight in plenty of water. 
• Cook the soaked peas with 2 cups of water for just one whistle in a pressure cooker or until fork tender if you are cooking in an open pot. 
• Chop onion and tomato finely. 
• Grind all the ingredients listed under 'To grind' in the gravy section along with 1/2 cup of cooked peas and 1/2 cup of water. 
• Heat a pan with oil, add cumin seeds and let it sizzle. 
• Add chopped onion and let it sweat for a couple of minutes. 
• Add the chopped tomatoes, salt and cook until the mixture is mushy (3-4 minutes)
• Add the ground masala and cook for 2 minutes until the raw smell disappears. 
• Add the remaining cooked peas, mash them slightly with the back of your ladle or a potato masher
• Add 2 cups of water and the dry masala powders (red chili, garam masala & amchoor) and let it come to a boil. 
• Switch off and let it rest until ready to use. 

Assembling Hariyali Chat: 

• Keep the gravy piping hot and the cutlets warm. 
• Take your serving dish and place a cutlet in the center. 
• Sprinkle some chopped onion, tomato, red chili powder and roasted cumin powder (all of this is according to taste)
• Add the tamarind date chutney on top. 
• Pour about 1/2 cup of the piping hot gravy on top of this. 
• Garnish with more onion, cilantro and sev. 
• Enjoy it when it is hot :-). Go back and reassemble another plate, and keep going until you can eat no more :-)

Notes: 

• Since I used the dry green peas for the gravy, I just scooped out about 3/4 cup of the cooked peas to use in cutlets. If you are planning to serve cutlets without gravy, you can use frozen peas as well. Thaw them to room temperature and pulse them to a coarse mixture in the blender. 
• You can add boiled, mashed sweet potato instead of regular potatoes in this recipe. 
• You can use bread slices in the recipe instead of crumbs/panko. Just remove the edges, tear 2 slices of bread into pieces and incorporate them in the mixture. This soaks up any extra moisture and also gives binding to the cutlet dough. 
• I use the triple washed, ready to use baby spinach. If you are using bulk spinach, pick and discard any thick stems. Use only the leaves in this recipe. 

• You can add other greens such as methi (fenugreek) or kale if you like.
• You can put the spinach leaves in boiling water for couple of minutes to blanch, strain and take out all the water and use only the cooked leaves to the above method. 
• If you are short on time and cannot afford to refrigerate the dough, you may need to add a little more bread crumbs/bread. 
• I have given 3 different variations of the gravy with links, choose whatever appeals to you. I used green peas to keep with the theme of 'haryali'. 

Girmit - a North Karnataka special chat that you will keep eating without a break :-)

"I am so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

- L.M. Montgomery(Anne of Green Gables)

If someone were to wake me up from deep slumber, take me to a library full of good reads, handed me a basket and asked me to pick my 10 favorite books, "Anne of Green Gables" would definitely be in the basket. There is such a 'cheer me up' factor in that story of the spirited, red haired orphan girl that I can go back to reading it any time. On the other hand, picking 10 favorite books - I am not so sure I can ever do that, you see 10 is a very small number especially when it relates to the world of imagination.

With such vivid tapestry of colors and descriptions, just like the Autumn itself, I love both the book and the heroine of the story. I am sure Anne (spelled with an 'e') with her 'never say die' attitude long before Mr. Bond made it famous continues to tug at many a kindred souls across the world.

And yes, I am so glad we are in October. Although it is hard to believe that we are in the last quarter of the year already, as always the crisp, cold weather accompanying the palette of colors never fails to cheer me up. This is nature's one last chance to do the peacock dance before donning on the grey of winter. This is the time where I no longer wear my head phones while walking or bury my head in the little electronic screen held in hand but rather bundle up and look around to breathe in as many colors as I can. Did you mumble if it was possible to breathe in colors? I bet you can, give it a try.

Ah, onto matters of food, right? That is why you possibly came to a food blog and here I am blabbering about the colors on the trees. Well I had to divert your attention before you asked me, "Where were you? MIA for more than 2 weeks??" :-). Well, I think I had mentioned my visit to the dentist some time back on the blog. Things started all well and dandy and though I hated going to the dentist, I convinced myself that it was a necessary evil. The place I go to is very patient friendly and they actually make you feel welcome (well almost :-)). The first couple of visits were all good and I came to believe that the dentist visits were a no brainer and even relaxed. I know I should have stopped when the going was still good.

After a couple of fillings (this is what probably happens when you don't go to dentists in a decade) and just as I was starting to relax that I was at the end of the road, she found that my wisdom tooth needed a filling too. Going by the fast recovery I had on the 2 fillings thus far, I very bravely signed up for this last one and that is when the trouble started. The pain wouldn't go away for days after the anesthesia wore off and days turned into weeks with shooting pains all over the face. We went to drop DD off at college and the distraction was enough of an excuse for me to postpone my visit to the dentist. I kept glancing longingly at the yummy, crispy favorites that DD brought back from India but unable to eat them, BH kept teasing me as he munched on all of them. Time just marched on without a even a second glance at poor me :-(. Finally, when the pain seemed unbearable even after 6 weeks,  I made time to go back to my dentist. She very sweetly and gently explained that she may have pushed the needle a little too far into my muscle and that there was an infection. Bottom line I had to be on antibiotics for a solid 2 weeks to clear it up.

Finally the silver line at the end of the tunnel became visible and last week I was officially certified clear and good to start using my chewing capabilities as a normal person would do. I am so happy that I have since been constantly chewing and eating my favorite food as though I was a cow :-). And that is why I have this super delicious snack from north Karnataka that not only tantalizes your senses but exercises your mouth too. Girmit is typically eaten during evenings and along with mirchi bajjis (deep dried, gram flour dunked green chilies) on the side and a cup of chai (Indian tea). I skipped the deep fried version of the mirchi and went for a lower calorie alternative I had seen on the internet somewhere and didn't really make tea either. It was so good to be able to finally (after 8 weeks) chew on my food and enjoy the explosion of tastes and textures, ah the simple pleasures of life :-)

If you go to places like Davanagere, you will get this in all the street side shops and temporary shacks too. If you are not familiar with this dish but have eaten the famous 'Bhel puri' from Mumbai (another popular chat from India) then I would say this resembles Bhel in spirit but the taste is entirely different and made with different ingredients. If you are now totally lost since you didn't know what Bhel was, here is a break down of the dish for you - it is made with crisp, puffed rice called puri in Kannada, seasoned with onions, tomatoes and green chilies, flavored with loads of fresh cilantro and crunchy peanuts to round off the experience. You do not want to miss this and if you are not close to Davanagere, don't fret, I am not either. Follow this easy recipe and enjoy at in the comfort of your own home :-).

I love everything about chats, they are my favorite kinds of food. I can eat them any time and every time. Girmit is one of my favorite chats in this genre after ofcourse the Mysore churmuri and ties right with Bhel puri :-).

What do you need to make Girmit? 
Quantities below are good for 2 adults
6-7 cups of puffed rice or puri*
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped tomatoes
small lemon sized tamarind
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
3-4 green chilies (adjust to taste) - chopped into small pieces
1 heaped Tbsp pappula podi
6-8 curry leaves
2-2.5 Tbsp roasted peanuts
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 Tsp mustard
1/2 Tsp cumin
1/8 Tsp asafoetida
1/8 Tsp turmeric powder

To garnish: 
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1 Tbsp chopped tomato
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
2-4 whole green chilies slit vertically - optional but you will miss a great experience without this :-)

How do you make Girmit? 

• Soak tamarind in warm water for about 15 minutes, squeeze out the pit, seeds and extract the juice. Keep it aside until ready to use. 
• Heat oil in a pan, add the chilies from 'garnish'  
• Stir and roast for a minute or so or until the chilies develop blisters on the surface. 

• Take them onto a plate, sprinkle a pinch of salt and keep aside. This is to be eaten along with girmit :-)
• In the same oil, add mustard, cumin. 
• Let the mustard pop, add the chopped green chilies & curry leaves.
• Let this cook for a minute before adding chopped onions. 
• Add salt, turmeric powder and asafoetida and let roast until onion starts to sweat. 

• Add chopped tomatoes and cook for a minute. 
• Add the tamarind juice and let it all cook together for another 3-4 minutes until the raw smell of tamarind is gone. 

• Taste and check, adjust salt, green chilies and tamarind if needed. Remember it needs to be a little stronger in flavors as it gets diluted when you add it to the puri. 
• Add the pappula podi at this stage along with chopped cilantro. Give a good mix and switch off the stove. 

• Let the mixture cool slightly. 
• Take the puffed rice and roasted peanuts in a deep bowl. 

• Add the cooked mixture and with the help of a spatula, mix it all together in a rotating motion (The word 'girmit' comes because of the way the vendors mix this dish in a deep vessel so the puffed rice doesn't fly around and turn the vessel in a circle imitating the childhood game where kids hold hands and go around in circle) until every grain of puffed rice is coated with the mixture. 

• Serve it into a bowl, top it with chopped onions, tomaotoes, cilantro and a side of the oil roasted green chilies :-) 

Notes: 

• Fresher the puri (puffed rice) is, better this snack tastes. So I crisp up the store bought puffed rice in a heavy bottom pan on a very low heat for about 20 minutes. Alternatively, you can spread the measured quantity in a thin layer on cookie sheets and leave them in a preheated to 350 degree for 10 minutes. Switch off the oven before you place the cookie sheets and check once or twice in between to ensure it doesn't burn. 
• If you do not have the pappula podi at home, grind 2 Tbsp of roasted chana or chutney dal into a fine powder along with 1/4 Tsp of cumin.
• Adding the powder not only adds taste but also absorbs moisture preventing the dish from becoming soggy quickly.  

• I used the store bought dry roasted, salted peanuts. You can roast peanuts at home and use them in this recipe too.  
• The green chilies are to be added based on their quality and your tolerance for spices, do not yell at me if the chilies you used are very spicy as some of them are :-)
• Skip the chilies on the side if it is too spicy for you. 
• If you can find the green byadagi chilies (these are long, slender and usually curved and are less spicy than the Thai varieties), use them. They make the dish very tasty.

Bhutte ke khees (spicy corn mush) - Delicious & saatvik corn chat for a lazy Sunday

BH & I are not serious hikers by any standards, but we do like to climb some hills for the exercise it provides but more importantly for the exhilarating feeling we get after hiking for a couple of hours. It always feels good to go out in the open air, breathe some fresh breeze, generally change the routine of the weekdays where we sit at the desk and stare at monitors for more than 10 hours usually. We did some climbing last summer and back to it this year too as weather & time permits. Last weekend I posted a few pictures from our Olympic mountains visit, we went up one of the easier trails in the Hurricane ridge. As you walk up the trail, it is almost as if you are on top of the world because everything else is below you except for the sun and the blue sky. There are friendly wild animals on the path and if you are lucky, you can spot a few, we saw fearless little birds, and a very active mermot (type of squirrel but much larger) who I think was also a diva and was very used to posing for pictures :-)

Since I am not cooking very seriously nowadays (is it a violation of foodie world to say such things for a self proclaimed foodie and a food blogger?), I have more time on weekends to just set out for a hike with BH. Oh, about the non cooking part, don't be alarmed, I am still as passionate as I ever was, it is just that I am still getting used to the suddenly reduced number of consumers in my household and the heat wave from last week left me in no mood to switch on the stove and make the house resemble a furnace. I heartily agreed with BH to sustain on fresh salads and gallons of spiced buttermilk.

Also I am on a mission to clean up my storage. Here is what happens, I am very much into grocery shopping. I love to go for vegetables and pantry shopping more than any other shopping, it is the best form of retail therapy for me. I love to bring loads of veggies, fruits as well as pantry supplies of every conceivable kind every week. If you have a large family, you probably will finish the stored items pretty fast but right now with just the 2 of us at home the supplies are very slow to dwindle. I haven't switched on the oven in a month almost and the cooking is very limited. All this keeps the backup in the refrigerator and the pantry as high as ever.

So here is what I did 2 weeks back, no more grocery shopping until everything in the pantry is gone. There are a dozen varieties of lentils, a number of pulses, different types flours, numerous varieties of rice etc, you get the picture. So BH has been fairly forewarned that he might be served some hitherto unheard of experimental dishes or a repetition of dishes until the ingredient is over. As always, he is game for my crazy ideas and so we are working successfully albeit slowly at our 'clean the pantry' march. I am very proud of some of the dishes (though experimental) and how tasty they turned out. Will start posting them on the blog sometime. Stay tuned.

Before I go off on to the recipe today, I do want to share some tips if you are interested in hiking. Like I said, I am just a hobby hiker, I do it for my own joy and here are some practical tips if you are setting out on a hike -

• Always carry water even on the shortest & easiest of the trails. 
• Sometimes looking at the very end of the peak when you start out can be daunting, keep your head down as you walk the path and allow yourself to stop and get a glimpse of the end goal for perspective. 
• Always take a step at a time or keep a bend in the path as your next goal and you are bound to feel good as you get closer to the peak.
• Enjoy the journey as much as you can, it is not a race you are in, reaching the top first is not the intent (someone has already done it), so take the journey to be equally sacred to the goal. 
• Keep the cameras inside (leave them in the car or better still don't carry bulky stuff) unless you are on the trail for the purpose of taking pictures. Some views are meant to be stored in the eyes of your mind and no expensive camera can do justice to what you can hold in your eyes and heart. And practically, it is one less thing to worry about as you are walking up.
• Things do get rough if you really want to go high, the paved trails ultimately end in rugged, unpaved path. Stay focused and keep moving ahead. 
• If your knees seem to become jelly and refuse to carry you any further, it is ok to stop, take a deep breath and then get back to walking. 
• Hiking & walking are akin to meditation, whether you do it for 10 mins or an hour, as long as you stay in the moment, you will have the best experience of your life. 

Ok, now that I am done with parting my hiking wisdom, let us move onto the recipe for today, shall we? 

Do you like sweet corn? I do, something about the fresh, juicy corn with those Unicorn soft silk hair makes me all happy and warm. With that said, I avoid bringing the frozen corn just because I love the feel of the fresh ones. I wait for summer to get my hands on them. Though you get dehusked, cleaned and packed corn in the stores, my hand invariably goes to the ones with the outer cover even though it means one additional step to remove them before cooking :-). What can I say, the silky hair feels good on the skin. If you are a sweet corn person like me and looking for recipes and corn stories, I have some here, here & here on the blog. All very yummy, so make them before the season is gone.

I saw this recipe in a cookery show and had wanted to try this for a long time. And there were 3 sweet corns tucked away in the vegetable crisper in the refrigerator and threatening to spoil my 'clean & not waste' theme of the week. The lady who was from Madhya Pradesh (a state in central India) was very enthusiastically introducing her home town recipes and mentioned this to be a very popular street side snack in Indore. I have not been to the place but something in the combination of fresh corn, green chilies and ginger kept telling that this was a sure winner of a recipe and my instincts didn't let me down. The lady's recommendation was to use real butter and cook on slow heat to evaporate milk and absorb the flavors. Both are the life line of Indian street chats, cook with heavy dose of fat and keep cooking till a unison of flavors is achieved. I skipped the lecture on butter but stuck to the slow cooking to get the flavors happy together and the result was a delicious snack for a cloudy, slightly cool & breezy Sunday afternoon - slightly sweet from the corn but with a great flavor of green chilies & ginger, made a little tangy by the lemon juice. I am a corn happy girl.

What do you need to make Bhutte ke khees? 
2 fresh corn cobs (I had a white & a yellow cob)
2-3 green chilies
1X1 inch piece fresh ginger
2 Tbsp oil
1/4 cup milk
1/2 Tsp mustard seeds
1/2 Tsp cumin seeds
1/8 Tsp asafoetida/hing
1/8 Tsp turmeric powder
1/2 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tbsp grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
1 Tsp chopped cilantro
1/2 Tsp lemon/lime juice

How do you make Bhutte ke khees? 

• Remove the outer husk from the corn cob and grate them, collect all the juice/corn milk. 
• Finely chop green chilies, grate ginger and keep ready. 
• Heat a pan with 2 Tbsp oil, add mustard and cumin. 
• Once mustard starts to pop, add asafoetida, chopped chilies and grated ginger. 

• Roast for a minute. 
• Add the grated corn along with any milk collected. 

• Mix well and cook on low flame for 6-8 minutes until color changes slightly and you get a heavenly aroma from the kitchen. Make sure to stir a couple of time so it doesn't burn. 

• Add salt, turmeric powder and 1/4 cup milk. Give a good mix. 

• Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes or until milk evaporates and you have a solid but moist mixture in the pan. Stir a couple of times in between.
• The mixture feels light when you turn it over (it is like making a spicy Mysore Pak :-))
• Switch off, add the lemon juice, grated coconut & chopped cilantro and mix. 

• Serve hot. 

Notes: 

• You can grind corn instead of grating but make sure you retain the texture and not grind into a fine paste. 
• Use butter instead of oil if you prefer for a richer taste. 
• Don't skimp on asafoetida, it adds to the flavor and the aroma. 
• Use only fresh corn and not frozen in this recipe for best results. 
• Covering and cooking after milk is added is important since the moisture stays in the pan and locks the flavors in. When you life the lid off to stir the mixture, make sure you drop all the moisture into the pan. 

Masala Puri - a chat you can never have enough of..

The Groundhog peeped out a couple of weeks back, I didn't get a chance to chat with it and ask its opinion about an early spring but I am pretty sure the weather is warming up. I notice warm sun in late mornings & afternoons, glorious Daffodils lighting up the pathway with their bright yellow colors and fragrant Magnolias are showing up their pretty pinks or lovely whites. We moved our hibiscus plants outdoors last week, still holding on to the remaining pots with sensitive plants inside. Time to put the heavy jackets inside and walk up exposed to some direct wind and sun :-)

With inlaws rested a bit, we drove up the mountains yesterday, a little chilly for them still but totally enjoyed the views and the accumulated snow. As always, had packed food for lunch from home, stopped and took pictures everywhere as is the habit and reached back home in the evening. DD is getting ready for school start tomorrow after a week of mid winter break. Didn't seem like she had a lot of time to lazy around as she has been working on one or the other project but she looks much more relaxed than what she did a couple of weeks back.

To celebrate the holiday week, I made masala puri yet again today. If I had posted recipes in the order of my love for them, this would have been at the top of the list but then I don't do that, do I? Infact, some of my favoritest recipes are yet to come just because I always feel that I don't do justice to them either with the pics or with words when I post them :-). This one has reached many palates, tried times over, gathered compliments from all around and when friends have asked for the recipe, I have just shared it offline to their incredulous, "You mean, you don't have it on the blog yet?", I know, it is strange but finally here it is, a much loved dinner menu at home - masala puri from the South of India. First of all this is not poori - the deep fried, leavened bread Indian cuisine has made famous world over. This does have pooris (though much smaller, flatter, crisper and crunchier) but has a lot more on top of the pooris (or papdis as they are referred to).

Yes, we eat this as dinner and don't make anything else when I make this for a weekend dinner, usually Sunday nights. And yes, yes, this is from the South of India. Though, Mumbai & Kolkata are touted as the chat centers of India with their innumerable versions of chats (quick, spicy eats), I haven't seen this version of chat outside of Mysore & Bengaluru regions. The ultra common sev puri, dahi puri etc do not stand a chance next to this masala puri (that is my opinion and I think it is totally justified :-)). If you are stopping to have a chat anywhere in Mysore or Bengaluru in the evenings, give this a try. I promise you it will be totally worth it and a great change from the usual favorites.

When chats had still not come of age in our little, quaint Mysore, there were not so many outlets to enjoy them. With health conscious parents at home, we never had outside food on a regular basis either. There was a Maharaja (yep, most things in Mysore are royalty atleast by name :-)) hotel which had a chat center for public. That is where I first had my masala puri and fell in love with it. I don't ever look around for anything if the guy (or girl) is making masala puri as I enjoy it more than all other possible combinations.

Yep, chats are basically combinations of certain basic ingredients. You will find things like chopped onion, tomatoes, cilantro, boiled, mashed potatoes in almost every chat in addition to the chat chutneys. Then there is something crunchy (like pooris or puffed rice), spicy (like sev). Mix & match them the way it pleases you personally. So, why is the masala puri special? Because, the masala (spicy gravy or ragda) is a perfect blend of tastes and when mixed with other chat essentials and served piping hot is nothing but a purely magical experience.

This recipe needs some planning and has prep work to bring everything together. I have tried to deconstruct the process to make it easier for anyone preparing it for the first time. Read the recipe completely once before you embark on the journey, make sure you have the ingredients.

What do you need to make Masala puri? 
25-30 small chat puris (make at home or buy from the store)
1.5 cups dried green peas
For the masala/spicy gravy: 
1 cup onion roughly chopped
1 cup tomato roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 big bay leaf
1 inch piece ginger - peeled
2-3 green chilies (adjust to taste)
1.5 inch piece of cinnamon
3-4 cloves
5-7 black pepper corns
1.5 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp garam masala powder
1/2 Tsp amchoor (dry mango powder)
1/2 Tsp red chili powder
1 Tbsp oil

For serving masala puri: 
puris as needed
finely chopped onion
finely chopped tomatoes
1 potato - boiled, peeled and mashed into small chunks
finely chopped cilantro
tamarind-date chutney
Thin sev(fried gram flour noodles) - for garnish, you get this in Indian grocery stores
red chili powder
roasted cumin powder

How do you make Masala puri? 
Making of masala/spicy gravy

• Soak dried green peas in hot water for about 3 hours or in cold water over night. 

• Rinse and wash the soaked peas, and put them in a pressure cooker along with the bay leaf, 3 cups water and 1/2 Tsp salt
• Cook (with weight on) for 1 or 2 whistles (peas should be cooked soft but hold their shape firmly)
• Let the cooker cool down completely. 
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan, add cinnamon, cloves, clack pepper and saute for a minute until you get the cinnamon smell. 
• Add crushed garlic cloves, slit green chilies and ginger and saute for 30 seconds. 
• Add onions and continue to fry until onions turn translucent. 
• Add tomato chunks and let them all cook for 3-4 minutes until slightly mushy. 

• Switch off and let cool. 
• Open the pressure cooker, with a slotted spoon, take out about a cup of cooked peas and keep aside. 
• Take the cooked onion mixture and the rest of the cooked peas and grind them to a smooth paste in a blender. (Make sure everything is cool before grinding)
• Heat a big pan or use the pressure cooker like I do, pour the ground paste, add 2 cups of water and salt. Let it come to a good rolling boil on medium heat so the onion & tomato smell disappears. 

• Add the dry powders (red chili, garam masala & amchoor), taste and adjust spices as needed. 
• Remember the gravy thickens as it cools down. If you are not using it immediately, make the consistency watery. 
• When you serve masala puri, the gravy has to be piping hot. 

Assembling masala puri (this is a totally personalized way of assembly, adjust any of the ingredients to suit your taste)

• Take a wide plate, crush 5-6 puris so they become bite sized pieces, spread them to make a bed of puris.

• Add a spoonful of cooked peas you reserved earlier. 
• Add chopped onions 
• Add chopped tomatoes
• Add potatoes

• Sprinkle red chili powder
• Sprinkle roasted cumin powder
• Pour a couple of ladles of the hot gravy on top

• Add spoonful of tamarind-date chutney
• Top it with thin sev and chopped cilantro and extra onions if you like
• Take a spoon, start from the side of the plate and dig in :-)

Notes: 

• Never use frozen peas in this recipe
• Dried yellow peas can be an alternative to green peas but I prefer the green ones for their taste. 
• The gravy needs to be hot (both temperature and spice level) for this dish. When you eat this on the streets, you typically cry (with joy and happiness) :-)
• If you forgot to soak the peas overnight, you can use the short cut and soak them for a couple of hours in hot water. 

• Do not overcook peas else they become completely mushy. 
• Play around with the gravy - I experiment with green chilies, black peppers, cinnamon and cloves depending on the mood of the day. 
• Skip garlic if you don't like it, I started using it recently since both DD & BH love the flavor. The advantage with this recipe is that not a single flavor stands out, they all mix in the melting pot of the gravy and lose their individuality to create a wonderful mixture.