Mitha Thepla - Ismaili style

2 cups whole wheat flour (chapatti flour)
½ cup gur / gor / jaggery
1/2 cup milk
2 table spoon oil
1 tspn fennel seeds
½ ground Cardamom
½ tspn ground Nutmeg
Vegetable oil for frying
1/2 table spoon sliced almonds
1 table spoon poppy seeds

Flour Paste
1 tablespoon flour
enough water to make a thick paste (3/4 of tablespoon)


1. Mix the flour, fennel seeds, cardamom and nutmeg.
2. Rub in the oil, so that the mixture looks like fine bread crumbs
3. Melt the gur in the microwave (2 minutes or so) and mix with the milk
5. Add it to the flour and make a soft dough
6. Roll into ¾ inch and cut into circles using a biscuit cutter.
7. Sprinke the poppy seeds, and stick the almond slice in the centre using the flour paste
7. Fry

Reshmi Bhajia / Spicy chickpea flour pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup chickflour
1 tablespoon chopped spring onion
1 tablespoon chopped methi /fenugrek leaves
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
2 cloves garlic; minced
1 inch ginger; grated
1 green chilli; chopped fine or minced with the garlic
1/4 tspn ajma or 1 tspn chopped thyme
salt to taste
1 cup warm water
oil spray

makes 10 (31/2 inch diameter); enough for 2 people. If you want to make 2 plates for khana triple the recipe.




1. Mix the onions, coriander, fenugrek garlic, ginger chilli and flour.
2. Add salt and ajma, mix
3. Add water slowly to get a runny mixture, leave for 1/2 hour.
4. Heat a frying pan, spray with oil and put a small ladle of batter
5. Turn over when bubbles appear on the surface. Cook for a minute or so and place on kitchen paper to drain, repeat until all the batter is used up.

Serve with coconut chutney. I served with carrot pickle.

Lapsi / Nutty Cracked Wheat Dessert / Pudding

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup cracked wheat
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 cup milk
2 cups water
1/2 cup gur / jaggery / brown sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 tablespoon raisons
1/2 teaspoon cardomom; roughly ground
1/4 teaspoon jaifer / nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon saffron

1 tablespoon grated coconut ; dessicated is fine



1. Heat the butter in a saucepan, add the cracked wheat and the fennel seeds. Fry until golden brown with a nutty aroma.
2. Add the milk and the water, bring to boil, simmer for 5 minutes
3. Add the gur / jaggery / sugar, cook for further 5 minutes
4. Add the cardomom, almonds, raisons, nutmeg, saffron and coconut, cook for a further 5 minutes.
Serve hot. It is lovely with vanilla icecream

Coconut Chutney-2

Ingredients
1 cup fresh coriander
2 cloves of garlic
10 green chillies
2 limes; juiced
1/2 cup grated coconut (desiccated will do)
salt to taste

Method
Place everything in a blender, until smooth.

In Kampala Chachi used to make chutneys using a flat stone and a roller. A bit like this; only ours was black and very smooth. Chachi was the expert in make chutneys with this.



Image from http://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu

Crispy Potato Bhajias

Ingredients
3 spring onions; chopped fine
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tablespoon methi / Fenugreek leaves
1 cups chickpea flour
1/2 tea spoon ajma / bishop weed seeds
(1 tspn chopped thyme is a good substitute)
2-3 cloves of garlic; crushed
1 inch ginger; grated
2 green chillis; chopped fine
salt to taste
1/2 cup water;
1/2 tea spoon Sodium Bicarbonate
2 potatoes; sliced thinly into rounds
Oil for frying

Method
1. Placed the chopped spring onions, coriander leaves and methi / fenugreek in a bowl.
2. Add the flour, ajma, garlic, ginger, chillies and salt. Mix well.
3. Add the water and mix to form a thick paste, aside for half an hour
4 . The flour paste should be smooth not too thick / or too runny; if neccessary add 1 to 2 tablespoon of water/ or flour.
5. Heat the oil in a karai / wok / frying pan
5. Add 1 table spoon of hot oil to the batter and mix, add the sodium bicarbornate and mix.
6. Add the potatoes and mix
7. Using your fingers or small tongs and a spoon add the single slice of potato coated with flour paste into the hot oil, until the pan is full.
8. Fry for 2/3 minutes until cooked. Flip over when brown. Place on kitchen paper to drain repeat until all the batter is finished.
9. Serve with coconut chutney.

Mung ji kadhi / Mung Bean Yogurt Soup

Ingredients
1 cup mung beans; soaked for at least 2 hours
1 cup yogurt
3 cups water
2 tablespoons chickpea flour
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 tspn mustard seeds
1 tspn cumin seeds
6/7 curry leaves (limra /limda pan)
1 onion; finely chopped
2/3 green chillies; lengthways into two
1 large tomato; blanched and finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic; minced
2 inch ginger; grated

1/2 tspn tumeric
1/2 lemon ; juiced
coriander for garnish

1. Boil the mung beans in 1 cup water for 25 minutes or cooked, and set aside.
2. Place the yogurt, 2 cups water and the chickpea flour in a bowl and whisk until smooth and set aside
3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the mustards seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves.
4. As soon as they start spluttering, add the onions, fry until transparent.
6. Add the green chillies, fry for a couple of minutes, and add the tomatoes, ginger and garlic, stir and fry until the mixture looks fairly homogenous. Add the tumeric powder, mix.
7. Add the mung beans, bring to boil.
8. Add the yogurt mixture and lemon juice, bring to boil, simmers for about 15 minutes, and serve in a deep bowl garnished with coriander.

I love this kadhi by itself, with crusty bread or rice. I also served it with chore ja bhajia / blackeye beans falafel.

Anyone for pickles?

Sun dried carrots, Chachi made full use of the sunshine last week. She made gur gajar jo athano

Hot and Sweet Carrot Pickle
This is a 2 litre jar! So anyone for pickles?