Recipes, Street Food

Bhel

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Bhel

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Serves: 4

Bhel is a street food mostly available all over India. Bhel mix is mixture of puffed rice, crispy chickpea flour noodles and whole wheat flour crackers. It's party favorite food.
Ingredients
  • 6 cups bhel mix
  • 1 large russet potato, boiled and cut into ½ inch dice
  • 1 medium red onion, cut into ¼ inch dice
  • 2 medium Roma tomatoes, cut into ¼ inch dice
  • 1 large carrot, shredded
  • 1 medium beet, shredded (optional)
  • 1 15oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup cilantro chutney
  • ½ cup garlic chutney
  • 1 ½ cups date and tamarind chutney
  • ½ cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 cup thin sev (crispy chickpea flour noodles) (optional)
Directions
  1. To serve, first put one cup bhel mix, top with ¼ cup each potatoes and chickpeas. Next top with 1 tablespoon each of onion, tomato, carrot and beet. Top with 1 tablespoon cilantro chutney, 1 teaspoon garlic chutney and ¼ cup date tamarind chutney. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon thin sev and then cilantro top. Everything should be mixed before eating. You can add more chutney and other ingredients according to your taste. You can also let everyone serve themselves according to their taste. You can increase amount of ingredients depending upon number of guests.
Notes
You can buy all ingredients for bhel in Indian grocery stores.

 

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Recipes, Street Food

Kachori

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Lilva Kachori

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Serves: 6

Kachori (stuffed savory pastry) is found in many regions of India but lilva (fresh pigeon peas) kachori is mainly found in Gujarat.
Ingredients
For filling:
  • 2 cups frozen tuver lilva (fresh pigeon peas), thawed
  • 1 medium russet potato, boiled and mashed
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon asafetida
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 serrano or jalapeno chili, cut into few pieces
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, cut into few pieces
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 2 teaspoons sugar or to taste
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped
  • Juice of ½ a lemon
For dough:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening or softened butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Neutral oil for frying
Directions
  1. Combine flour, shortening or butter and salt into a medium mixing bowl. Gradually add water and knead into hard and smooth dough. Cover with a towel or a plate and set aside.
  2. Combine lilva, chili and ginger in a food processor bowl. Pulse until lilva, chili and ginger are minced.
  3. Heat olive oil in a frying pan or a wok on a medium high heat until shimmering, 2 to 3 minutes. Add mustard seeds and let them sizzle. Lower heat to low and add sesame seeds. Add asafetida, turmeric and let spices cook for 30 seconds. Add minced lilva and stir to combine with spices. Add mashed potato, rest of the ingredients and stir to combine everything. Cover pan or wok and let filling cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Let filling cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
  4. Knead dough for few times and divide into about 20 equal parts and roll into balls.
  5. Roll out a ball into 3 inch diameter circle. Keep rest of balls covered while you make kachori. Place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center. Fold the edges of circle on top of filling and twist folds and remove extra dough. Gently press and pinch dough over filling to completely seal filling. Gently roll kachori with palm of hands to make a ball. Transfer to a plate and cover with a towel while you make rest of kachori.
  6. Heat oil in a frying pan until ready to fry. Fry kachori in batches of 5 to 6 until golden brown. Serve warm with cilantro chutney and date and tamarind chutney. Can be served as an appetizer.

 

 

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Recipes, Street Food

Khaman

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Khaman

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Serves: 4

This Gujarati dish can be found all over Gujarat in shops called khaman house or farsan (savory) mart. It is eaten as a snack or with a meal as a farsan on special occasions.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups besan (chickpea flour)
  • 1 cup yogurt (not Greek)
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon minced jalapeno or serrano chili
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh coconut, for garnish
  • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, for garnish
For tempering (Vaghar):
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon asafetida
  • 1 jalapeno or serrano chili, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon water
Directions
  1. Whisk together besan, yogurt and warm water in a medium mixing bowl until smooth batter. Cover the bowl with a plate and let it ferment for 4 to 5 hours.
  2. Once batter is fermented, add turmeric, salt, chili and ginger to batter and stir to combine.
  3. Grease two metal pie dishes with oil or nonstick cooking spray. Start heating steamer on medium high heat.
  4. Whisk lemon juice, oil and baking soda in a small mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously to emulsify oil and lemon juice and to aerate. Immediately add to fermented batter and whisk vigorously.
  5. Pour batter into pie dishes and steam it for 10 to 12 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from steamer and cut into squares. Keep it in pie dishes.
  6. While khaman are steaming, prepare vaghar. Combine sugar and water in a small mixing bowl until sugar dissolves. Set aside. In a small heavy bottomed sauce pan heat oil on medium high heat until shimmering. Add mustard seeds and let them sizzle. Lower heat to medium. Add asafetida and let it cook for 10 seconds. Add sesame seeds and chili. Let chili cook for 1 minute. Pour sugar water into vaghar. Take off heat.
  7. Pour ½ of vaghar on one pie dish and other ½ on second pie dish. Transfer khaman from pie dish to serving bowl. Stir gently to evenly coat vaghar. Garnish with coconut and cilantro. Serve immediately.
Notes
You can also make this recipe from ready to make packets available in Indian grocery stores.

 

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Recipes, Street Food

Chickpea Flour Rolls and Fries

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Khandavi

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Serves: 6

The chickpea flour is known as besan and the rolls are known as Khandavi. This dish was my mother's specialty. My mother used to make it on special occasions and whenever guests were coming over. She is not able to cook anymore but she has passed on this recipe to many of us. This is not an easy recipe to master. It took several attempts for me to make it right.
Ingredients
  • ½ cup chickpea flour (besan)
  • ½ cup yogurt (not Greek)
  • ¾ cup water
  • 1 teaspoon finely minced green chili (jalapeno or serrano)
  • 1 teaspoon finely minced ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • Pinch of asafetida
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
  • 3 tablespoons freshly grated coconut, see Note.
  • Oil for brushing on baking sheet
For Tempering (Vaghar):
  • 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon asafetida
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
Directions
  1. Prepare two large or three medium sized baking sheets for spreading cooked besan. Invert baking sheets and brush them with oil and set them aside. You can also use silicon mat or spread on a stone kitchen counter.
  2. Whisk together besan, yogurt, water, green chili, ginger, turmeric, asafetida and salt in a medium heavy bottomed sauce pan until smooth.
  3. Start cooking besan on low heat, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Cook besan until it is fully cooked (like polenta), about 7 to 10 minutes. Immediately spread besan on to baking sheets in thin layer (like thickness of tortilla).
  4. Sprinkle two tablespoons each of cilantro and coconut on baking sheets evenly. Make 2 ½ inch cuts evenly on spread batter vertically along the width of baking sheet.
  5. Gently start rolling khandavi as tight as you can, until all spread batter is gone. This batter will make 12 to 14 khandavi. Arrange khandvi vertically on a casserole dish.
  6. Prepare Vaghar: In a small heavy bottomed sauce pan, heat oil on medium heat until simmering. Add mustard seeds and let them sizzle, 30 seconds. Add remaining vaghar ingredients and let it cook 10 seconds. Pour over arranged khandvi. Garnish with remaining cilantro and coconut. Serve within few hours of making at room temperature.
Notes
Fresh grated coconut is easily available in Indian grocery stores in frozen section.

 

 

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Chickpea Flour Fries

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Cook time: 

Total time: 

Serves: 3

Ingredients
  • ½ cup chickpea flour (besan)
  • ½ cup yogurt (not Greek)
  • ¾ cup water
  • 1 teaspoon finely minced green chili (jalapeno or serrano)
  • 1 teaspoon finely minced ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • Pinch of asafetida
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons freshly grated coconut
  • Oil for brushing on baking sheet
  • Neutral oil for frying
For Tempering (Vaghar):
  • 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon asafetida
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
Directions
  1. Whisk together besan, yogurt, water, green chili, ginger, turmeric, asafetida and salt in a medium heavy bottomed sauce pan until smooth. Brush with oil a small 6 x 10 baking sheet.
  2. Start cooking besan on low heat, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Cook besan until it is fully cooked (like polenta), about 7 to 10 minutes. Immediately spread besan on to baking sheet in even layer.
  3. Transfer the baking sheet to freezer for 2 to 3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
  4. Cut the batter into ½ inch thick fries. Heat oil into a frying pan until hot enough to fry. Fry the fries in 3 to 4 batches until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Transfer fries to paper towel lined dish or on a wire rack to drain excess oil. Once oil is drained, transfer fries to serving dish or bowl.
  5. Prepare Vaghar: In a small heavy bottomed sauce pan, heat oil on medium heat until simmering. Add mustard seeds and let them sizzle, 30 seconds. Add remaining vaghar ingredients and let it cook 10 seconds. Pour over the fries. Garnish with cilantro and coconut. Serve warm.

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Recipes, Street Food

Patra

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Patra

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Serves: 8 servings

This recipe is made with taro leaves, which are not easily available in Indian grocery stores. If you find it use it otherwise use collard greens or chard.
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch collard greens
  • 2 cups chickpea flour
  • 3 teaspoons salt or to taste
  • 5 teaspoons sugar or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon dhana-jeeru (spice blend of ground coriander and cumin)
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • ⅛ teaspoon clove powder
  • 2 teaspoons green chili, minced
  • 3 teaspoons ginger, minced
  • 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
  • 1 ½ cups water or more
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, for garnish
  • 2 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut, for garnish
For Vaghar:
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds, optional
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
  • ⅛ teaspoon asafetida
Directions
  1. Wash collard greens and drain water as much as possible. Dry each leaf with paper towel. Cut each leaf from each side of stem, discarding the stems. Make three piles of half leaves, big, medium and small. Cover with kitchen towel while you make chickpea flour paste.
  2. Make paste: Combine chickpea flour, dry spices, salt and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Add green chili, ginger, garlic and lemon juice. Gradually add water and make a thick paste.
  3. On a flat surface, spread a big size half leaf and generously spread chickpea paste on the leaf with a hand or a spatula. Add a medium size half leaf on top of paste. Spread chickpea paste on the leaf. Take a small size half leaf, put on top of paste and spread chickpea paste on the leaf. Fold about 1 inch of left and right side of leaves inside (the paste side). Spread chickpea paste on the folds to tightly seal them. Tightly roll the leaves to resemble a small cylinder. Repeat the process until all the half leaves are used. If there are small pieces of leaves, you can spread it out on larger leaves and seal it with paste before rolling out. Try to make a roll with at least two half leaves. You will get 15-18 rolls.
  4. In a steamer pan, arrange the rolls in a single layer. If all the rolls do not fit, let the first layer steam for 5 minutes and then stack remaining rolls. Steam the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes or until rolls are fully cooked. Let it cool down for 30 to 40 minutes. After this the rolls can be frozen. First freeze on a baking sheet, leaving some space in between, then put in a zip lock bag. Before using them thaw them for 1 to 2 hours.
  5. Cut the rolls into ¾ inch wide pieces. Heat oil in a wok or a frying pan. Add fenugreek seeds and let it sizzle. Add mustard seeds and let it sizzle. Add asafetida and sesame seeds. Immediately add the rolls and stir everything. Let Patra heat on low heat until the bottom layer is golden brown, stirring few times. Garnish with cilantro and coconut flakes. Serve warm as an appetizer or a side dish.

 

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Recipes, Street Food

Dal Vada

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Dal Vada

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Serves: 4

Dal vada (Mung Dal Fritters) are street food available all over Gujarat, but in city of Ahmedabad those are the best. Street vendors make batter in advance and fry vada in a cart to order.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup mung dal with skin
  • 1 jalapeno or serrano chili, roughly chopped
  • 2 inch piece of ginger, roughly chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • Water as needed
  • Canola or vegetable oil for frying
Directions
  1. Rinse mung dal in a strainer with water. Soak mung dal in 3 cups of water for 4 to 6 hours or until dal is soft.
  2. Drain most of the water from mung dal, keeping as much skin as you can. Grind mung dal in batches of ½ cup in a blender along with chili, ginger and garlic until it makes a soft batter, leaving some texture. Gradually add tablespoon of water to move contents of blender. Once mung dal is grinded, add turmeric to batter and season with salt.
  3. Heat oil in a frying pan until ready for frying. Using two spoons or a small ice cream scoop drop about one tablespoon of batter in the hot oil. Drop 6 or 7 more vada in hot oil and fry until golden brown and crispy, 5 to 7 minutes. Let excess oil drain on a baking sheet with a wired rack to keep it crispy. Keep frying until batter is gone, about 20 to 25 vada. Serve warm as an appetizer or a snack.
  4. Dal Vada are usually served with thinly sliced red onions season with salt and lemon juice and sautéed green chilies in oil seasoned with salt. To make chilies, take 4 or 5 chilies, if jalapeno then cut in fourths, serrano cut in half, lengthwise, with seeds removed. Sauté chilies in 1 tablespoon of oil for 2 to 3 minutes and season with salt. You can also serve with cilantro chutney and/or ketchup.

 

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Recipes, Street Food

Dhokla

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Dhokla

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Serves: 4

Steamed Savory Cakes with Rice and Dal (split pigeon peas)
Ingredients
For Dkokla Batter:
  • 1 cup uncooked rice and ⅓ cup split pigeon peas (toovar dal) or 1 ½ cups Dhokla flour or 1 package of instant Dhokla mix
  • ⅓ cup yogurt or ½ cup buttermilk
  • Water as needed
For Dhokla:
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt or to test
  • 1 teaspoon sugar or to test
  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 jalapeno or serrano chili, finely minced
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, finely minced
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
For Vaghar or Turka:
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • Pinch of asafetida
  • Pinch of chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, for garnish
Directions
  1. Combine rice and dal in a mixing bowl. Wash rice and dal few times until water is clear. Let rice and dal soak fully covered in water (about 3 cups) for 6 to 8 hours or until rice and dal is soft.
  2. Drain water from rice and dal mixture. Grind rice and dal in a blender in batches of ½ cup to ¾ cup. Add yogurt (or buttermilk) and water as needed to move the contents of blender to make a thick batter. With flour, make a thick batter with water and yogurt or buttermilk. Cover tightly and let it ferment overnight or up to 24 hours in cold weather. For instant mix, prepare batter according to package directions. Omit all ingredients for batter except ginger and green chili.
  3. To make Dhokla, lightly grease 2 metal pie dishes (or disposable pie dishes) with cooking spray or oil.
  4. Add chilies, ginger, turmeric, salt and sugar in the batter. Dissolve baking soda in one tablespoon oil and add to batter and mix everything well. Pour the batter into pie dishes until ⅔ full and put it into a steamer two at a time or one by one and cook it for 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean. Remove dish(es) from a steamer and let it stand for 10 minutes. Cut it into 2 inch squares.
  5. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan on a medium high heat until shimmering. Add mustard seeds let it sizzle. Lower the heat to medium and add asafetida, chili powder and sesame seeds. Add steamed squares and stir the contents until Dhokla are covered with spices. Keep it on low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, covered with lid. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with garlic or cilantro chutney. Can be served as an appetizer.

 

 

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Tri-Color Dhokla

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Cook time: 

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Serves: 4

The colors of this recipe reflects the colors of Indian flag which works for making this as a celebration dish for India's republic day which is January 26.
Ingredients
  • Double the amount of fermented Dhokla batter
  • 2 tablespoons of cilantro chutney
  • 2 tablespoons of red pepper chutney
  • 1 teaspoon minced jalapeno or serrano chili
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger
  • 2 ½ teaspoons salt or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
For Vaghar or Tarka:
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • Pinch of asafetida powder
  • Pinch of chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, for garnish
Directions
  1. To make Dhokla, lightly grease 2 metal pie dishes (or disposable pie dishes) with cooking spray or oil.
  2. Add salt and sugar in the batter. Dissolve baking soda in one tablespoon oil and add to batter and mix everything well. Divide batter into approximately three equal parts in separate mixing bowls. Add cilantro chutney to one part, red pepper chutney to another, and green chili and ginger to last one.
  3. Pour green chutney batter into pie dishes in equal amount and put it into a steamer two at a time or one by one and steam it for 5 minutes.
  4. Uncover steamer, pour white batter over green batter into pie dishes in equal amount and steam pie dishes two at a time or one by one for another 5 minutes.
  5. Uncover steamer, pour red batter over white batter into pie dishes in equal amount and steam pie dishes two at a time or one by one for another 5 minutes. Check doneness by inserting toothpick or knife. If it comes out clean then batter is cooked, otherwise steam for another 3 to 4 minutes.
  6. Remove dish(es) from a steamer and let it stand for 10 minutes. Cut it into 2 inch squares.
  7. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan on a medium high heat until shimmering. Add mustard seeds let it sizzle. Lower the heat to medium and add asafetida, chili powder and sesame seeds. Add steamed squares and stir the contents until Dhokla are covered with spices. Keep it on low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, covered with lid. Garnish with cilantro. Can be served as an appetizer.

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