My mother-in-law already makes her bhelpuri very healthy by adding kala chana (black chickpeas) and sprouted mung beans. As my husband and I are still detoxing from the holidays, I took it a step further by removing the potatoes and papdi (fried pieces of dough), and adding fresh tomatoes. I also used unsalted rice cakes instead of loose puffed rice for two reasons: (1) they are easily available at my local grocery store, (2) I don't have a huge bag of loose puffed rice sitting in my cupboard afterward, and (3) they look so cute! Can you imagine serving a whole tray of these to guests?!
One of my husband's favorite Indian snacks is bhelpuri: a type of chaat, or savory snack, consisting of some combination of puffed rice, thin fried chickpea flour noodles, potatoes, onions, and chutneys. Bhelpuri is thought to have originated in either the Indian states of Gujarat or Maharastra--which makes it a big winner in this Gujarati-Maharastrian household! When I think of bhelpuri, I imagine it being served out of a newspaper cone from a food stall in India. I've known about my husband's love of bhelpuri since before we were even dating; when we went to the local garba during Navratri, he would eagerly look forward to eating bhel after many, many rounds of raas. I quickly learned that bhelpuri is one of my husband's favorite foods to eat in my mother-in-law's kitchen. I knew I had to learn how to make this at home!
My mother-in-law already makes her bhelpuri very healthy by adding kala chana (black chickpeas) and sprouted mung beans. As my husband and I are still detoxing from the holidays, I took it a step further by removing the potatoes and papdi (fried pieces of dough), and adding fresh tomatoes. I also used unsalted rice cakes instead of loose puffed rice for two reasons: (1) they are easily available at my local grocery store, (2) I don't have a huge bag of loose puffed rice sitting in my cupboard afterward, and (3) they look so cute! Can you imagine serving a whole tray of these to guests?!
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This is a quick tutorial on how to rehydrate and cook beans and legumes in a slow cooker. Indian food often calls for beans and lentils as ingredients. With most types of lentils, you can only find them dry and you have no choice but to rehydrate and cook them. With beans, you can find them canned; but I have learned the hard way that canned beans do not hold a candle to dried beans. More importantly, using dried beans is both healthier and less expensive! Win-win situation if you ask me! You can always pressure cook beans. But if you don't have a pressure cooker and/or just want to let the beans and legumes cook without paying much attention to them, the slow cooker is the way to go. I will note that slow cooking your beans and legumes requires a bit of advanced planning, but I normally make twice the amount I will need and freeze half. That way you don't have to plan in advance every single time!
For this post I used dried chickpeas, but the same process applies to all beans and legumes. **One thing I want to note is that if you are using kidney beans, make sure to put them in a pot of hot water and bring the water to a boil for two minutes before putting the kidney beans into your slow cooker. There is a toxin in kidney beans, and boiling the beans gets rid of it!** Pickled onions are one of my favorite "condiments" to accompany Indian food. They are crispy, tangy, and slightly sweet, and pair well with almost any Indian dish. Actually, they also taste amazing with non-Indian foods: I often eat them with Mexican food, barbecued meat, or even stir-fry. One of my Mom's best friend's is an excellent cook, and the first time I tried quick pickled red onions was at a dinner party at her home. I was reminded of how much I loved them when she brought them to my Mom's birthday dinner party last spring, and having them again inspired me to try my hand at making them. They are very easy to make: you only need 4 ingredients and 1 hour of time.
Happy new year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. Hubby and I spent time at home with family and attending a wedding where we saw many friends we had not seen in some time. I am sure you can imagine, as is customary when getting together with loved ones, that we indulged in more sweets and rich foods than usual. With the fresh start that comes with a new year we are in detox-mode in our household! That means lots of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and lean protein. One of my favorite detoxing meals is this tandoori chicken salad! This recipe for tandoori chicken is one of the very first Indian recipes I ever learned, and it actually comes from one of Hubby's closest friend's mother. We would often make this recipe during the summer and cook the chicken on a grill during poolside barbecues in our former home of Atlanta. Even though it is January and I have no access to a grill right now, the chicken cooks very well in an oven--it is so moist and flavorful!
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July 2015
AuthorExploring Indian cuisine and trying to learn the recipes of my family. I hope to help and inspire others along the way. |