Tag: indian

Stuffed Eggplants

This is another traditional Maharashtrian recipe. There are a lot of variations, but this is the one my mother always made. It never fails to take me back to the times when I came home from school and found this waiting. It tastes amazing when it’s just cooked, but the flavors are more complex the next day. So make a lot!!

Doesn’t it look delicious?

The eggplants used in this are small Indian eggplants. Grocery stores in US don’t usually carry these. Berkeley bowl in Berkeley, CA was an exception. We buy them from the Indian store when they’re fresh. They need to be used fast since they’ll rot sooner than other veggies ( Accor to my observations). This recipe is also completely vegan!

Servings: 2, Prep time: 20 minutes, Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • Small Indian Eggplants 5-6
  • Yellow onion 1 medium
  • Garlic cloves 3-4
  • Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
  • Chili powder 1 tsp
  • Coriander powder 1.5 tsp
  • Garam masala 1 tsp
  • Jaggery crumbles 2 tbsp
  • Lemon juice 1/2 lemon’s worth
  • Salt to taste
  • Canola oil 3 tbsp

Instructions

  1. Finely chop onion and garlic, add to a bowl and set aside
  2. Remove stems of the eggplant. Slice into the eggplant from the cut side, about 3/4 of the way in. Make 2 cuts, so you have four quadrants. DO NOT cut all the way through!
  3. Add all the spices, lemon juice, salt and jaggery to the onion and garlic. Mix well
  4. Stuff this mixture into the eggplants.
  5. Heat the oil in a deep pan, then add the prepared eggplants and any leftover stuffing.
  6. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom. That’s it!

Tips

  • Make sure the eggplants are fresh. They will take forever to cook if they have been in your fridge for a while and they might taste bitter
  • Make sure you don’t cut the eggplants all the way into four pieces. If you do, it will still taste great, but won’t be stuffed anymore. 😂
  • This needs a little more oil than other recipes, but do not skimp on it! It will not taste as great.

I hope you will love this recipe as much as I do! As always, let me know in the comments if you made this.. 😬💜

Paneer Puffs

Look how pretty!

I used to eat a lot of these when I was younger. They were sold at almost every corner shop in India. These treats have a spicy paneer filling inside a shell of crispy puff pastry. Since it’s so easy to get puff pastry sheets in the US, I make them all the time. 😊

Now, I know paneer is dairy. I’d still like to mention that Pepperidge puff pastry sheets are vegan. So if you replace the paneer with tofu or a spicy veggie filling, or even some fake meat crumbles, these puffs will become vegan!

Crispy and delicious..

Servings: 6, Prep time: 25 minutes, Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • Paneer 8oz
  • Onion 1/2
  • Green chili 2-3
  • Garlic 3-4 cloves
  • Tomato 1 medium
  • Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
  • Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
  • Garam masala 1/2 tsp
  • Kitchen king masala 1 tbsp
  • Pepperidge puff pastry 1 sheet
  • Canola oil 1 tbsp
  • Salt as needed
  • Flour for dusting

Instructions

  1. Finely chop the onion, garlic, green chili and tomatoes.
  2. Dice the paneer into small pieces. Remember these need to be small enough to fit in a pastry
  3. In a pan, heat the oil. Then add onions and cook for 3-4 minutes till translucent
  4. Add the garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes, then add the chili and sauté for 1-2 minutes
  5. Add the tomatoes and cook till the mixture releases oil along the sides.
  6. Add in all the spices and cook for 1-2 minutes.
  7. Mix in the paneer, then set aside to cool
  8. While the filling cools, preheat your oven to 400 F.
  9. Dust a surface with enough flour, then roll out the puff pastry sheet a gently.
  10. Cut the sheet into 6 parts, add the filling on one side and seal the pastries by folding in half and crimping the edges
  11. Refrigerate for 10 mins, then bake for 25-30 minutes or until crisp and golden!

Tips

  • Make sure your puff pastry is thawed before rolling it out. The thawing instructions are always on the package
  • If you like making puff pastry from scratch, you can do that! Make a batch and freeze it.
  • As mentioned before, the filling can be replaced with whatever you want! Just make sure the filling is dry and cool before adding to the pastry
  • These also freeze really well. You can double or triple the recipe and freeze them for a quick snack. Kids will love that!

I always get nostalgic when I eat these. I hope they will bring joy to you as well! As always, let me know in the comments if you tried these. 😬

Green Beans Sabzi

This is a taste of home!

It’s hard to find traditional Maharashtrian dishes in the US. Most restaurants sell typical North Indian food like heavy curries, or South Indian food. I’ve also seen plenty of Gujarati places, but I’ve only found one restaurant for Mahatashtrian food. This came as a shock to me considering almost every family I know has a satellite family in the US. Slowly things which I didn’t like earlier became luxury dishes which required effort on my end to make. Gradually, I started loving most of these dishes. Green beans sabzi is one such dish. 😊

While this dish is made with French beans, the green beans found in supermarkets across the US work just fine. Of course, if you find French beans in an Indian market use those!

Perfect mix of flavors and textures

Servings: 4, Prep time: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • Green beans OR French beans 1 lb
  • Raw coconut (do not use dry coconut) 1/2 cup
  • Garlic cloves 6
  • Jaggery 3 tbsp OR Sugar 2 tbsp
  • Lime juice 1/2 lime
  • Salt as required
  • Canola oil 1 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds 1 tsp
  • Asaphoetida OR Hing a pinch
  • Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
  • Chili powder 1/2 tsp
  • Water 2 tbsp

Instructions

  1. Chop green beans into 1/2 inch pieces
  2. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves
  3. Heat the oil in a pan till smoking
  4. Add the mustard seeds and pop them
  5. Add the rest of the spices. Make sure they do not burn.
  6. Immediately add in the garlic, green beans, water and salt. Cover and cook till beans are tender. Add more water if sabzi is burning and beans are not cooked yet
  7. Add the coconut, jaggery and lime juice. Mix and sauté for 2-3 minutes. That’s it!

Tips

  • It is really easy to burn spices in hot oil. Remove the pan from heat for a few minutes to reduce the oil temperature after popping mustard seeds if needed. This will make sure the oil temperature isn’t too high for the spices
  • Sometimes the sabzi will stick to the bottom and start burning before the beans are cooked. Green beans shouldn’t take more than 10-12 minutes, but they’re temperamental. Add water 2 tbsp at a time till the beans are cooked if this happens
  • Although jaggery and sugar are both sweeteners, jaggery is so much healthier for you. Additionally, it gives an earthier flavor to the dish.
  • If you don’t have lime juice, use about 2 tsp vinegar. It gives almost the same acidity
  • The coconut used here is raw wet coconut. This can be found in the frozen section at any Indian grocery store. Do not use dry coconut here, it will not taste the same.

This is just one of the many traditional Maharashrian dishes I’ve started cooking at home. It gives me a feeling of nostalgia, and also ensures that I learn my own culture and respect it. This has also made me realize just how many things are lost with people. My grandma used to make the best Satori (a stuffed sweet roti), but nobody in my family really knows how to make them anymore. Everyone tries, but it’s just different. I want to learn as much as I can from the people around me so I can remember them every time I make these dishes.

So I hope you try this out, and it inspires you to start making dishes from your family as well! As always, let me know how it goes in the comments. 😬

Cauliflower and Potato Dry Curry (Sabzi)

Every once in a while I crave simple Indian food. There is no rival when it comes to cauliflower sabzi. I bought a small head of cauliflower this time, and it was starting to go bad. So my husband decided to cook it up with some potatoes for an easy lunch. We ate it with some frozen rotis from the Indian store. We always have a couple of these in the freezer for when we don’t feel like making fresh ones. Always buy Haldiram frozen rotis… The rest aren’t as good. 😬

This sabzi is a favorite among caterers, and anyone packing their own lunchbox. It’s super easy to make a. Plus, it freezes really well! It is also completely vegan! To be honest, most Indian curries are vegan, at least the ones we make at home daily. Only the rich curries served in restaurants aren’t vegan.. Anyway, here’s our recipe for potato and cauliflower sabzi!

Servings: 2, Prep time: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • Potatoes 2 medium
  • Cauliflower 1 medium head
  • Canola oil 2 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds (black) 1 tsp
  • Asaphoetida powder 1/4 tsp
  • Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
  • Chili powder 1/2 tsp
  • Garam masala 2 tsp
  • Coriander powder 1 tsp
  • Salt as per taste
  • Water as needed

Instructions

  1. Cut the cauliflower head into 1/2 inch pieces. Peel and chop the potatoes into 1/4 inch pieces as well
  2. In a pan, heat the oil till smoking. Then add the mustard seeds and let them pop
  3. Add the asaphoetida and watch it bubble for about half a minute
  4. Add the chopped veggies, cover and cook for 2 mins
  5. Add all the spices and salt. Stir well, then add a splash of water. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked.
  6. That’s it! Serve and enjoy..

Tips

  • The asaphoetida I have is from an excellent source and it is very strong. So, I only add a punch if it. The asaphoetida we get in Indian stores in the US isn’t all that great. Add 1/4 tsp if you have the US version.
  • I cut the veggies in different sized pieces so I can cook them all together. If you want the sabzi to look very pretty, cut all veggies in the same size and add the cauliflower to the pan after the potatoes have cooked for about 5 minutes so the cauliflower doesn’t over cook.
  • Eat this with any bread on hand! You can also stuff this inside a sandwich, or mix into rice and dal. I have also made Indian style burritos out of this sabzi.. Basically, you can eat this as you like. It’ll taste good with everything
  • Do not change the proportion of garam masala and other spices. This is a garam masala forward recipe, and that is what you should mostly taste

Once we start eating this sabzi, we know we’ll end up finishing it. I always try making enough for two meals. It never makes it past the first meal. 🤣 This dish is only as good as the quality of your produce, so make sure it’s top notch. I hope you guys give this a try, and as always let me now how it goes in the comments… 😬

Pearl Onion Curry

Pearl onion curry is a delectable dish, originally from the state of Rajasthan in India. It wasn’t something which was made often in my house. I’ve only recently discovered just how easy and delicious this recipe is. One day my mom sent me a picture and I was hooked. I thought of this every time I walked through the onion isle at the grocery store. The pearl onions were calling to me. So one day I got them and then they stayed in my pantry for a good while. Thankfully I got around to cooking them!

This recipe is adapted from bharatzkitchen. He has the whole video on YouTube. However, not all of us have the ingredients he used on hand. So I made a bunch of them optional, but it still tasted amazing! This is especially good to make if you have yogurt lying around which is about to expire.. 😂

Servings: 4, Prep time: 10 minutes, Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • Pearl onions 10-12
  • Chili pepper 1
  • Tomatoes 2 medium
  • Ginger root 1 inch piece
  • Canola oil 2 tbsp
  • Cumin seeds 1 tsp
  • Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp (optional)
  • Fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp (optional)
  • Fennel seeds 1/2 tsp (optional)
  • Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
  • Coriander powder 1 tsp
  • Chili powder 1 tsp
  • Garam masala 1 tsp
  • Kasuri methi 1 tsp (optional)
  • Chickpea flour 1 tbsp
  • Asaphoetida (Hing) a pinch (optional)
  • Yogurt 1/4 cup
  • Water 1/2 cup
  • Salt according to taste

Instructions

  1. Peel the onions and remove the ends. Make sure the onions remain whole. Carefully make cuts into the onions at right angles to each other on the cut side. The cut should only go about 3/4 into the onion’s thickness. The onions should not get quartered! They should remain whole
  2. Blend the tomatoes, ginger and chili pepper into a smooth paste
  3. Heat the canola oil in a pan. Once smoking, add the mustard seeds and wait till they pop.
  4. Remove the pan from heat and let it cool down for 4-5 minutes. Add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds.
  5. Add the chickpea flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.
  6. Add the blended paste to the pan. Cover partially and cook till oil separates, stirring occasionally. This can take up to 20 minutes. To hasten the process, use more oil or cook on high heat stirring continuously.
  7. Add all the spices and salt. Mix and cook for 2-3 minutes.
  8. Reduce the heat to low and add the yogurt while mixing continuously. Add the water and mix
  9. Add the pearl onions, cover and cook for 5-8 minutes or until the onions are cooked
  10. Add the kasuri methi. Serve hot!

The only real threat with this recipe is that the yogurt can curdle. To prevent this, make sure the heat is low when adding yogurt. As long as you remember this, the dish is super easy to make. It also goes well with any Indian bread, or even rice. I’ve also tried this with scallion pancakes and it tasted amazing! The recipe for scallion pancakes is available on this link: https://everything-nothing.home.blog/2021/04/28/scallion-pancakes/ I hope you give this a try and as always let me know how it goes!! 😬

Palak ka Shorba (Spinach soup)

Palak ka shorba is comfort food for me. I remember looking it up in Chef Sanjeev Kapoor‘s cookbook and walking my mom through it. It’s hard to imagine this now, but I’ve lived through a time when everything was not at our fingertips. Sometimes when I make this dish, I’m reminded of those days. It’s so weird that this was no more that two decades ago. The dish is also completely vegan, and super easy to make! 😬

Servings: 2, Prep time: 10 mins, Cook time: 20 mins plus cooling time

Ingredients

  • Spinach or baby spinach 2 bunches (or about 10 oz)
  • Star anise 1 whole
  • Bay leaf 1 large
  • Cinnamon stick 1/2 inch
  • Cloves 3
  • Ginger 1.5 inch piece
  • Garlic 2 cloves
  • Salt 1/2 tsp
  • Ground black pepper 1/2 tsp or 5-6 whole peppercorns
  • Yellow onion 1/2 medium
  • Canola oil 1 tbsp

Instructions

  1. Wash the spinach leaves thoroughly. If using bunch spinach, separate the leaves from the stems. Save the stems for making a stock, we are only going to use the leaves here
  2. Peel the ginger and garlic, then chop roughly. Also roughly chop the onion
  3. Heat the oil in a large pan, then add the chopped veggies. Sauté till translucent.
  4. Add the dry whole spices and cook for 2 minutes
  5. Add the spinach a few handfuls at a time. It will wilt as it cooks, which will make room to add more.
  6. Once all of the spinach has been added, add the salt and pepper
  7. Let the mixture cool down completely, then remove the dry spices. Blend the remaining mixture into a smooth paste.
  8. Add the paste back into the pan and adjust the consistency and seasoning. Heat and serve!
I didn’t know wilting spinach could be so fascinating

Tips

  • I have used baby spinach here. It comes in convenient packets and is already washed. However, it’s better to use bunch spinach since it’s cheaper and generates less waste.
  • Is you do not have dried spices, try looking for powdered spices at any grocery store. Alternatively, stop by your local Indians for all these whole spices and more! I’ve also seen these spices at Hispanic and Asian grocery stores. Whole cloves are also sold by McCormick. You just need to take a look around to see which would be cheaper for you!
  • It’s necessary to remove the whole spices before blending. These do not blend into a smooth paste, and can also make the soup too spicy to drink
  • Although you can adjust the consistency according to your preference, I recommend keeping it a little runny. This will differentiate the texture from Indian gravies with similar ingredients
  • This soup is super light and easy to digest. I don’t recommend having it as a meal unless you plan to sleep fairly soon.

I make this shorba every other week to get our portion of greens. I do try to eat a portion every day, but let’s face it, we all forget. 😅 If I have extra spinach which I need to finish, I make this and freeze it! It’s texture does not change and it tastes the same as it would fresh. So I hope you will give this a try and as always let me know how it goes!

Ras Malai

Ras malai has been one of my favorite desserts since I was little. There is a very old sweet shop very close to my house in India. I used to love going there and eating ras malai in the summer. However, this dish was quite expensive and we couldn’t eat it every other day. This probably added to the it’s charm. After I moved to the US, I couldn’t find this childhood favorite anywhere. When I could get it, it wasn’t as amazing as I remembered. There was no other choice but to make it at home.

The dish is said to have originated in the Indian state of West Bengal. This is a milk based dessert, with hints of cardamom. It’s mildly sweet with pillowy sponges of chena (similar to paneer). It requires very few ingredients and the process is also quite easy. The trick is making sure the chena turns out perfect. There hasn’t been a time when I bombed this dish, not even the first time. That should tell you how easy it is!

Servings: 4, Prep time: 15 minutes, Cook time: 2 hours plus cooling time

Ingredients

For the chena discs

  • Whole milk (full fat) 1 liter/ 33 fl. oz
  • White vinegar or lemon juice 2 tbsp
  • Corn starch (corn flour) 1/2 tsp

For the sugar syrup

  • Water 3 cups
  • Granulated white sugar 1 cup
  • Cardamom powder 1 tsp

For the rabdi or thickened milk

  • Whole milk (full fat) 1 liter/ 33 fl. oz plus 2 tbsp
  • Saffron strands (kesar) 4-5 (optional)
  • Sugar 1/3 cup
  • Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
  • Chopped nuts (I used almonds) 1/4 cup

Instructions

  1. Heat 1 liter of whole milk till it’s almost boiling, then take it off the heat
  2. Add the lemon juice or vinegar and stir till the milk curdles. You can heat the mixture gently to encourage curdling, but do not let it boil.
  3. Layer a cheesecloth or a thin napkin on a large sieve. Strain the curdled milk through this. This is our chena.
  4. Rinse the chena in cold water till cool enough to handle. Then squeeze out as much water as you can. Tie the chena in the cheesecloth, place it in the sieve and put some weight on it. Let it drain for an hour or so. There should be no dripping water in the chena when we start making discs
  5. Add the saffron strands to 2 tbsp milk in a bowl and set aside to infuse.
  6. In the meantime, prepare the rabdi. Add 1 liter milk and 1/3 cup sugar to a shallow pan. Start cooking on medium heat stirring occasionally.
  7. Once a skin starts to form on the surface, stick the skin to the sides of the pan. Repeat this till the milk has reduced to 1/2 the original quantity.
  8. Add 1/2 tsp cardamom powder, the saffron infused milk and the chopped nuts to the reduced milk. Mix and set aside to cool
  9. Once the chena is dry, start making the sugar syrup. Combine 3 cups of water, 1 cup of sugar and 1 tsp cardamom powder in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it cook uncovered for 10 minutes
  10. In the meantime, remove the chena from the cheesecloth onto a plate. Add the corn starch and knead for 10-15 minutes with the heel of your palm till smooth and soft. Divide into 12 parts and shape into small discs
  11. Add these discs to the sugar syrup, cover and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.The discs should swell to almost twice their size and float to the top.
  12. Switch off the heat and rest covered for another 10 minutes. Do not uncover the pan before the resting time is over.
  13. Remove the discs from the syrup using a slotted spoon and squeeze gently. This will remove the syrup and prep the discs for absorbing the rabdi.
  14. Add the discs to the cooled rabdi and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4-6 hours.
  15. Add three chena discs to a bowl and top with rabdi. Sprinkle some chopped nuts on top if you want and enjoy!

Unfortunately, this dish is not vegan and I haven’t found a recipe which gets even close to the real thing. If you know of a vegan ras malaai recipe, please let me know in the comments.. As always, let me know how it goes! 😊

Upma

Upma is an Indian dish made with fine semolina. It’s commonly eaten in a number of Indian states, but everyone has their own spin on it. The South Indian version has ginger, Maharashtrians add turmeric to it, and Oriya upma has a bunch of veggies. I didn’t like upma when I was younger, except when my grandmother cooked it.

My grandmother’s upma was famous in our entire family. Nobody could come close to how soft, but rich and crisp around the edges her upma was. One day, she told me what her secret. It was so easy, I never could have guessed it on my own. It was just boiling hot water and a generous amount of fat. Since then, my upma has turned out perfect every single time. This particular recipe is our favorite, and it is not authentic to any single cuisine in India. It’s just my own take on the upma I remember from my childhood.

Servings: 2, Prep time: 5 minutes, Cooling time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • Fine semolina flour (suji/rava) 1 cup
  • Boiling hot water 1.5 cups
  • Whole green chili 1 medium
  • Ginger .5 inch piece
  • Salt as required
  • Curry leaves (kadhi patta) 6-7 leaves
  • Whole cashews 8 (optional)
  • Yellow moong dal 2 tsp (optional)
  • Clarified butter (Ghee) 4 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds 1 tsp

Instructions

  1. Finely chop the green chili. Peel and grate the ginger root.
  2. Add 1 tsp ghee to a pan and allow to heat on medium heat
  3. Add the cashews and moong dal to the hot ghee and sauté till light golden. Remove to a plate
  4. Add the remaining ghee to the same pan and add mustard seeds once the ghee is hot
  5. Once the seeds have spluttered, add the curry leaves, grated ginger and chili pieces. Sauté for 2-3 minutes
  6. Add the semolina and sauté on low heat till lightly golden and fragrant. Make sure to stir continuously, or the semolina can burn
  7. Add salt and mix properly. It is important to add salt at this point since it is difficult to mix it in after adding water
  8. Slowly add the boiling water to the roasted semolina while stirring vigorously.
  9. Cook till all the water has been absorbed. Cover, switch off the heat and let rest for 4-5 minutes.
  10. Mix in the cashews and moong dal and serve hot!

Tips

  • If you like yogurt, add it right before adding the water. It will give a nice tang to the upma
  • Cashews and moong dal are optional, but provide a good crunch. In the picture added to this post, is did not add any and it tasted just as good!
  • Any kind of fat can be used, preferably one with a high smoking point. I prefer using ghee since it gives a good nutty taste and I always have it on hand
  • I finely chop the chili since we like a bit of spice, but large pieces can be added and removed before eating for a less spicy version
  • This recipe needs to be made with constant attention. The semolina burns really quickly towards the end of roasting if we don’t pay attention. Additionally, constant stirring makes sure the water is easily and uniformly absorbed
  • You can also add any veggies you want to the recipe, like carrots and peas. These should be added right before adding the semolina with a small pinch of salt. Cook them completely before adding the semolina.

This is a nice and easy breakfast recipe to have in your repertoire. It’s also very quick to make. We eat it at least once every two weeks! I hope you give this a try and let me know how it goes! 🙂

Vegan Creamy Kofta

The kofta is a favorite among all ages and cuisines in India. It arrived in India much like kebab did, and quickly became a staple. The flavorings, sauces and base ingredients were changed to suit the sub continent tastebuds. Today, anything which is cooked in ball form is called a kofta. Everyone has their own recipes, but of course there are the more commonly known varieties like Malai Kofta, Nargisi Kofta etc.

In my house, kofta is made out of ingredients nobody likes otherwise. This includes all squashes for sure. This recipe was born out of the need to use up some acorn squash I had, and we didn’t want any soup. Once we ate it though, we realized we were going to keep making it. I switch up the gravy I use with these, but the one included here is hands down the most decadent of the lot and it’s vegan!!

Servings: 6, Prep Time: 20 minutes, Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the Kofta

  • Acorn squash 1 small
  • Yukon gold potato 1 medium
  • Cornflour 1 tbsp
  • Chili powder 1/2 tsp
  • Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
  • Garam masala 1/2 tsp
  • Turmeric 1/4 tsp
  • Salt according to taste
  • Oil for cooking

For the Gravy

  • Onion 1 large
  • Cashews 8-10
  • Ginger 1/2” piece
  • Garlic cloves 5
  • Fennel seeds (saunf) 1 tbsp
  • Cardamom seeds (elaichi ke dane) 1/2 tsp
  • Chili powder 1/2 tsp
  • Coriander powder 1 tsp
  • Garam masala 1 1/2 tsp
  • Oat milk 1/4 cup
  • Canola oil 4 tbsp divided
  • Cumin seeds 1 tsp
  • Water as needed for consistency
  • Salt according to taste

Instructions

  1. Add 2 tbsp oil to a pan and set it on medium heat.
  2. Roughly chop onion, ginger and garlic. Then add to the hot oil and sauté till translucent
  3. Add the fennel seeds, cardamoms seeds and cashews. Cook for 2-3 minutes
  4. Add all the spices to the pan and sauté until fragrant, maybe 2-3 minutes. Set aside to cool completely
  5. In the meantime, roughly peel and chop the squash. Then funky mince it using a food processor
  6. Prick the potato all over with a fork or toothpick. Microwave in 5 minute intervals till a knife slides in easily
  7. Peel the potato once cook enough to handle and mash in a bowl
  8. Add the minced squash, cornflour, salt and the spices to the potato and mix well
  9. Make golf ball sized patties (kofta) out of the mix and flatten slightly
  10. Add a thin layer of oil to a pan in medium heat, then cook and sear the kofta till crispy on the outside
  11. Once the gravy mixture is cool enough, blend with a little water
  12. Add the remaining 2 tbsp oil to a the pan in which you cooked the gravy mix, then add cumin seeds when hot
  13. Add the blended gravy mixture to the pan and sauté for 4-5 minutes
  14. Add the oat milk and mix well. Then add salt and water as needed.
  15. Let the gravy come to simmer and then it’s ready to be served. Place a kofta or two in a bowl, too with gravy and enjoy!

Tips

  • This recipe with work with any squash, but excess water will need to be removed. You can also skip the squash entirely and use carrots, or just potatoes!
  • I like to on fry the koftas and that’s why they’re flat. You can definitely deep fry them as well. Add another teaspoon of cornflour if they start to collapse in the fryer
  • These also taste amazing in the gravy I made in my post on paneer gravy: https://everything-nothing.home.blog/2019/10/03/paneer-curry-and-butter-naan/
  • The gravy in this recipe is also super versatile and I can eat it by the spoon. Just add tofu or paneer if you aren’t vegan and it’s ready to go! This will also taste good with any other koftas you might make.. 😬

Anyone who loves Indian food knows how delicious koftas are, and this recipe is doubly amazing because it’s vegan! I hope you give this a try soon and let me know how it goes!

Air Fryer Sabudana Vada

Sabudana vada is a fried delicacy made out of sago (sabudana) and potatoes, with herbs and spices. It originated in the western state of Maharashtra in India, but it has become a favorite everywhere. It’s also very easy to make. It can be served with chutneys, sauces or eaten on its own! For me, sabudana vada means nostalgia. I get bad cravings for these sometimes, but I also try to avoid fried food if I can. So, I tried using the air fryer this time.

Servings: 2 Prep Time: 12 hours soaking, plus 10 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • Dry Sago or sabudana 1/2 cup
  • Boiled Potato 1/2 cup
  • Chopped Coriander 1/4 cup
  • Dry roasted peanuts 1/4 cup
  • Salt 1/2 tsp
  • Chopped green chili 2 tsp (optional)
  • Lime juice 1/2 lime’s worth
  • Canola oil as needed

Instructions

  1. Soak the sago overnight or at least 12 hours in enough water to reach about 1/4” above the sago. The sago with absorb the water and almost double in size
  2. Coarsely grind the roasted peanuts in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle
  3. Drain excess water from the sago, then mix it with the rest of the ingredients except the oil
  4. Shape the mixture into 12 equal sized balls and flatten them into discs using your palms. You can use a little oil on your hands to prevent sticking if needed
  5. In the meantime, preheat the air fryer to 350 F for about 5 minutes
  6. Brush both sides of the sago discs with a little oil and place in the air fryer basket in a single layer. Make sure the discs to not touch each other to ensure proper air circulation.
  7. Cook at 350 F for 7-8 minutes, then flip the discs and apply another coat of oil on both sides
  8. Cook for another 7-8 minutes after flipping.
  9. Serve with spicy chutney it sauce and enjoy!

Tips

  • Please don’t skip the coat of oil since that’ll make the badaa moist and crisp them up
  • If you don’t have an air fryer, heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the vadas till golden brown. I haven’t tried baking these, and I expect they’ll dry out too much in the oven
  • For these kind of recipes, I cook potatoes in the microwave since it’s quicker
  • People can also make these while fasting for religious purposes. Replace the salt with sendha namak (rock salt) and eliminate ingredients which are not allowed to eat.

We have a 3.5 Liter air fryer and I can make 12 vadas in two rounds. You’ll need to do more or less rounds depending on the size of your air fryer. So, I hope you give these a try soon and as always let me know how it goes!