Salsa

Ingredients:

Tomatoes : 4 no; Onions : 2 no;

Cucumber : 1 no; Chopped Coriander : 3-4 Tb;

Chopped Green Chilli (Jalapeño, Lavangi or some other fresh, spicy chillies) : 2-3 no;

Salt and Sugar to taste; Juice Of Half A Lemon;

Roasted And Crushed Cumin Seeds : 1/2 Tsp; Crushed Black Peppercorns : 2 no.

Method :

Finely chop the cucumber, onions,tomatoes and mix well. Add to it the chopped coriander, salt, pepper, sugar, lemon juice and cumin. Add the chopped green chillies and mix well.

Serve at room temperature.

Chick Pea Salad

Ingredients :

Chick Peas : 1/2 Cup; onions : 1 Large;

Tomato : 1 Large; Capsicum : 1 Large;

Chopped coriander or Parsley : 2 Tb;

Chopped green Chilli (Jalapeño or any spicy, fresh chilli) : 1-2 no;

For Vinaigrette :

Extra Virgin Olive Oil : 6 Tb; Dijon or Wholegrain Mustard : 1 Tb;

Lemon Juice or White Wine Vinegar : 2 Tb; Salt and Pepper : to taste

Method :

Soak the chick peas and then cook, with salt to taste, till done. Let them cool. Cut the onion, tomato and capsicum into dices of roughly the same size as the cooked chick peas. To the chick peas, add the diced vegetables, and chopped herbs. Mix all the ingredients of the vinaigrette and whisk well or you can put them in a glass bottle with a tight lid, close the lid and shake well. Add the vinaigrette to the salad and mix well. Serve at room temperature.

Mung Bean Chilla (Green Gram Pancakes)

I have always considered breakfast as the most important part of my morning ritual. That, along with a steaming cup of filter coffee and a crisp newspaper, really kick starts my day. So I take my breakfast very seriously. I have always marveled at people who eat the same breakfast, day in and day out, all their life. I can't even begin to imagine what that would be like. So one day I was at my friends house and his mom put a green dosa in front of me. I am always game for a new taste and tried it, and to my surprise liked it. The one she made was with garlic and fenugreek leaves. I am more partial to coriander (cilantro) so made a few changes and now you have the Mung Dal Chilla Amol-style.


Ingredients :

Whole Mung Beans ( Green Gram) : 1 cup;

Fresh Green Chillies : 4-6 no; Fresh Ginger : 1" inch;

Chopped Coriander Leaves : 1 Tb; Asafoetida : a pinch;

Chopped Onion : 1 no; Turmeric Powder : 1/2 tsp;


Salt to taste; Sugar : a pinch; Oil as required

Method:

Wash and soak the mung beans for 4-6 hours. Then add chopped chillies and ginger to it and make a paste in the blender. Add salt, sugar, asafoetida, turmeric powder. Add the chopped onion and chopped coriander to the paste. Add water to get the required consistency.
Pour a large spoonful of batter on a heated, lightly greased nonstick pan or iron griddle. Spread it with the back of a spoon to get a thin pancake. Cook on both sides till lightly brown. Serve hot with coconut chutney.
Serves : 4

Variations :

Dhokla : Add 2 tsp gram flour, 1/2 tsp of fruit salt eg.eno, 1 tsp oil and pour the batter in a greased cake pan and steam for 5 minutes.

P.S. You can also use mung dal ( split green gram ) with skin instead of the whole mung.

For Coconut Chutney :

Grated Fresh Coconut : 1/2 no; Chopped Green Chillies : 4-6 no;

Ginger : 1" scraped and grated; Roasted Cumin Seeds : 1/2 tsp; Salt to taste
Method : Mix all the ingredients together and make a semi-smooth paste.

Vegetable Samosa

Ingredients :

For The Dough :

Refined Flour : 300 gm; Fat to rub : 60 gm / 4 Tb;

Ajwain ( Bishop's Weed) : 1 tsp; Salt to taste

For The Filling :

Potatoes : 750 gm; Green Peas : 250 gm;

Cumin Seeds : 2 tsp; Ginger : 2" / 2 Tb; Onion : 1 large;

Fresh Green Chillies : 5-10 no; Garam Masala Powder : 1/2 tsp;

Chaat Masala : 1/2 tsp; Salt to taste; Chopped Coriander leaves : 1 Tb.

Oil for deep frying

Method :

The Dough : Sieve the flour and salt , add ajwain, make a well in the centre and pour the fat in it. Rub the fat into the flour. When it is well mixed, add water as required to make a semi-hard dough. Cover with a moist cloth and keep aside for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into 6 portions and cover again for 15 more minutes.
The Filling : Boil the potatoes till done and peel and cut into small dices. Boil the fresh peas. Scrape and finely chop ginger. Finely chop the green chillies and the onion.
To the potatoes, add the peas, chopped coriander and chaat masala and garam masala powder. Roast the cumin seeds and roughly crush them and add to the potato mixture.
In a pan, take 1 Tb ghee / oil and add the chopped onion, ginger and chilli. Saute well and add to the potatoes. Add salt to taste. Mix well and divide into 12 portions. Keep aside.

The Stuffing : Place the balls on a lightly floured surface, flatten with a rolling pin and roll into an oval disc(6"-8"). Cut this disc in half to get 12 equal half ovals. Take one, Line the edges using water and seal to make a cone as shown in diagram. Stuff the filling in the cone and seal the top edge of the cone using water. Keep on a floured tray.
Heat oil in a kadhai / wok and deep fry the samosas over medium heat till golden brown.



P.S. If you find it hard to make a well shaped cone, you can also shape the dough like Calzone i.e. in a half-moon shape. Just roll the dough to form a round disc. Stuff the centre with the filling and fold the disc in half, sealing the edges with water. Crimp the edges with a fork to give it a nice design. Then deep fry as above.
For the health conscious : You can also make the dough using wholewheat flour. Make the dough as you would for purees.