Indo Mexican Chaat / Mexican Chat / Mexican Chaat

A Big Bag of Baked Tortilla chips in the pantry was disturbing me quite a bit. Though we enjoy those chips with our favourite salsas and guacamole during snack time,still the quantity is more..Being an ardent fan of chaat varieties, I really wanted to make an excellent chaat using the tortilla chips. Well, this chaat was a fusion of Mexican and Indian as it contained the ingredients of both the cuisines. I loved the final output and the chaat was so delicious, nutritious and full of flavour. Definitely try this out and enjoy this healthy snack with a side of hot chai.

Ingredients

Baked Tortilla Chips / Baked Corn Chips - 2 Cups
Cooked Black Beans or Cooked Pink Beans - 1/2 cup
Sweet Yellow Corn - 1/2 Cup
Cooked Potato Cubes - 3/4 cup
Tomato Pieces - 1/2 cup
Fresh Jalapeno Peppers - 2 ( cut into tiny bits without seeds )
Red Onion shredded - 1/2 cup
Coriander Leaves - To Garnish
Fresh Lime Juice - 2 tsp
Avocado - 2 Big ( Cut into medium squares )
Salt - To Taste
Black Pepper Powder - To Taste
Chat Masala Powder - 1 tsp
Green Chutney - 2 tsp  ( Homemade chutney made of coriander, mint leaves and green chillies ).

Method

• Keep all the ingredients that are required for making this Mexican Chaat ready.
• Cut the veggies into desired shapes and keep them ready.
• Add all the ingredients except the baked tortilla chips into the chaat plate. Mix all the ingredients uniformly and keep the plate ready.
• Add the baked tortilla chips just before serving and mix gently. 
• Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy this mouth watering chaat with a side of hot tea.

Tips / Variations 

• Add the tortilla chips just before serving so that they don't lose the crispness and get soggy.
• I did not add the tamarind date chutney in this chat variety mainly to avoid the tangy taste of tamarind and to enjoy the real freshness of Avocado and Jalapeno Peppers. But its purely up to your taste buds.
• Use your own imagination to improve the chaat in your own way and enjoy...

Cauliflower Manchurian / Gobi Manchurian / Gobi 65

Ever since i stepped into Bangalore after my college days, I fell in love deeply with this yummy appetizer or snack..Due to my great love towards this manchurian, I tasted this yummy dish in street side, mediocre hotel, good restaurants and in five star hotels. Out of all, my love looks beautiful and tastes terrible in one small fast food joint in Jayanagar, Bangalore. Its my tendency to try out things which I love so much at home since my childhood. Likewise, I tried and made some manchurian in my kitchen too. With trial and error, initial versions were ok...but not satisfactory. After trying out different versions, I arrived at one final recipe which is simpler and tastier. My friends and dear bloggers, try this version in your kitchen and enjoy this mouthwatering appetizer along with some Chinese veg fried rice / noodles and a suitable side dish.

There are two methods to make this Manchurian. You can either fry the Gobi / Cauliflower florets or bake them in the oven. In both the cases, coat every cauliflower florets with the batter and fry or bake them as you like. I made Manchurians using both the methods earlier and they tasted equally good in both the cases. If you are deciding to fry, please follow the method as described below.

I will append the Baking Method version at the end of this post very soon with corresponding pictures.

Ingredients

Gobi / Cauliflower - 1 Big

Oil - To Fry the Manchurian

For the Batter :
All Purpose Flour - 3/4 cup

Corn Flour - 2 tbsp

Salt - Little

Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tsp

Food colour ( Orange or Red Orange) - 1 pinch ( Optional )

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

 

Gobi Manchurian - Final Process

Red Onion shredded - 1/2 cup

Spring Onion - 3

Garlic Pods finely shredded - 5 or 6
Spicy Tomato Ketchup / Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp

Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Black Pepper Powder - 3 tsp

Green Chilli shredded finely - 1 tbsp

 

 Method

 

• Take out the cauliflower florets and wash them thoroughly. Drain the water completely and cook the cauliflower florets in a microwave and keep them ready.
• Meantime, make a batter using the ingredients as mentioned above ( just like bajji batter) and keep the batter ready.
• In a frying pan, add oil and heat the pan. When you see light fumes emerging out of the oil surface, take a cooked cauliflower floret and coat the floret with the manchurian batter on all sides and gently drop the floret into the heated oil.
• Fry them to golden brown and fry all the other florets using the same method and finish the entire process. Keep all the fried cauliflower florets on a flat plate openly.
• In a cooking pan / vessel, add oil first. When its heated, add finely shredded garlic, red onion pieces into the vessel and fry them for a minute.
• Then, add the tomato ketchup, soy sauce, black pepper powder, shredded green chilli, required amount of salt into the cooking vessel / pan and stir them nicely for nearly 3-4 minutes on a medium flame.
• Add all the fried manchurian into the manchurian sauce and fry them gently. Add the spring onion into the vessel and stir them again for a minute and switch off the flame.
• Transfer the Gobi Manchurian into a serving plate and place small toothpicks on the side or on top of the Manchurian pieces individually.

Healthy Evening Snack - Healthy Chaat Variety - Avacado Corn Chaat

Got some fresh avocados this week and decided to utilise those before they get too mashy. As its an evening time, I made a chaat variety using the fresh avocados. It was very tasty, healthy and got over very quickly.  This chaat variety is also simpler, easier to make using fresh ingredients and a healthy choice with a cup of hot tea. As Avocados are highly nutritious and have numerous health benefits, its wiser to include them in our regular food items as much as possible. As Spring and Summer are going to visit soon, make this yummy chaat in one of your outdoor parties and enjoy...

Ingredients
Fresh Avocados - 3 Big
Sweet corn - 1/2 cup
Red Onion - 1 cup ( finely shredded or cut )
Tomato - 2 Medium ( cut into small cubes )
Roasted Groundnuts / Peanuts  - 1/2 cup
Green Chilli Paste - 1 tsp
Coriander Leaves - To Garnish ( I add generally 2 to 3 tbsp of shredded coriander leaves on top )
Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
Salt - To Taste
Chaat masala powder - 1 tsp
Method

• Cut all the vegetables as desired. In a mixing bowl / vessel, add all the cut vegetables and other ingredients as mentioned above EXCEPT avocado. Mix them uniformly in all directions. Finally, just before serving add the fresh avocado pieces and mix them slightly.
• On a serving plate, put 3 servings of the Avocado chaat in each plate and garnish with coriander leaves  and serve.
• With a side of garam chai / hot tea, a healthy evening snack is going to satisfy your taste buds for sure.

Tips / Variations
If you have some boiled chickpeas / vella kondakadalai, you can add them in place of roasted peanuts/ groundnuts.
If you dont like sweet corns in your chaat, you can omit them too and substitute with tiny pieces of green capsicum / green pepper.

Ragada Patties/ Ragada Pattice/Aloo Tikki Chat

Ragada Patties / Pattice also called as "Aloo Tikki Chaat" in Northern India is one of the famous Street foods in India. Its really difficult to resist a plate of Aloo Tikki Chaat with a cup of Garam Chai on a cold....windy day. More than the aloo patties, the semi gravy Ragada is my favourite. I can even have a bowl of hot spicy watery ragada without a tikki.. The Ragada serves as the main base for many chaats. Also its highly nutritious and adds more value to the Chaat. "Ragada" is a semi gravy made out of white peas / vatana along with tomatoes, onion and other spices and the "Patties" is a round shaped tikki made out of boiled potatoes. The Process of making is also simpler and its an excellent food variety and an after school snack for the kids.

Ingredients

For the Pattice/Patties/Aloo Tikki

Potatoes - 2 big or 3 medium

Multi grain bread corner ones / Brown Bread corner ones - 2

Peas - 1/4 cup

Coriander Leaves - 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Dhana Jeera Powder - 1 /2 tsp

Salt - To Taste ( Less than regular as you would be soaking the tikkis with Ragada )

Oil - Enough to Fry them in a pan.

For the Ragada

Vatana / Dried White Peas - 1 Cup

Tomatoes - 2

Red Onion shredded - 1 cup

Green Chillies shredded - 1 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp

Pav Bhaji Powder - 1 tbsp ( Not used garam masala powder for this recipe...)

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 tbsp

Tamarind Extract / Thick Tamarind Pulp - 1/2 cup

Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp ( To garnish)

Method

Ragada Preparation

1. Pressure cook the vatana/white peas for 4-5 whistles till they get cooked softly but not mashed. Drain the water and keep it aside. Take 2 tbsp of cooked vatana and mash them nicely and keep the paste ready.
2. In a cooking pan, add oil first. Add cumin seeds followed by ginger garlic paste. When the raw smell goes off, add the finely shredded onion and fry them till they turn golden brown. Add the cut tomatoes, green chillies and all powders and fry them till the tomatoes get mashy.
3. Add the tamarind extract, sugar, required amount of salt and the drained cooked vatana/white peas into the cooking pan and mix them well.
4. Add the drained water also into the pan and allow them to boil for 4-5 minutes. Finally add the mashed vatana paste and mix well.
5. Garnish with coriander leaves and keep it ready for serving.

Patties / Aloo Tikki preparation

1. Cook the potatoes in a separate vessel thoroughly. Peel the skin off and keep the mashed potatoes in a big mixing bowl.
2. Add fine cooked peas also into the bowl. Soak the bread loaf in water and squeeze the water completely. Add them into the mixing bowl.
3. To that, add all the powders, salt and mash and mix them without lumps. Make small rounds of tikki using the mashed mix and keep the rounds ready on a plate.
4. In a flat frying pan, add little oil and fry the tikki rounds to golden brown on both sides. Keep them ready for the chaat.

  

Final Ragada Patties Chaat Making

Take a plate which is slightly deeper in the center. Arrange 2 or 3 Patties / Aloo tikki in the middle.Pour 2-3 servings of hot ragada over them. Sprinkle fine cut red onions and squeeze little lemon juice on its top. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve. Likewise, make other chaat plates and enjoy the evening.