Sabudana/ Sago Vadas ( Fried dumplings)- veg snack

With the arrival of monsoons, you start racking your brains for some crunchy, mouth-watering, lip- smacking recipes! What better than things like chilas/ poodey, pakodey/ fritters, and the ever favourite of mine- Sabudana Vada!
So let's go and try churning some out! Its easy and fast!

Sabudana/ Sago Vadas:
Serves: 4
Type: Vegetarian Cooking
Actual cooking time: approx. 20 minutes
Pre Cooking time: 2 hours

Ingredients:
Sabudana/ Sago( preferably medium grain size)- 1.5 cups
Coarsely ground roasted peanuts- 1 cup ( you can have a variant of soaked instead of roasted)
 Boiled potatoes- 4 small ( mashed thoroughly)
 Fresh green coriander leaves- 2 tablespoons, finely chopped
Lemon juice- 1.5 tablespoons
Green chillies- 2 finely chopped
Cumin seeds- 1/2 teaspoon, roasted
Salt- as per taste
Oil- sufficient for frying
     
Method:
Wash and soak the sabudana in clean, warm water, for two hours. After two hours, strain off the excess water, pour some cold water on it and strain it once more.
  Now, add the lemon juice, mashed potatoes, green chillies, roasted cumin seeds,  peanuts, salt and coriander leaves.Mix all these ingredients thoroughly, preferably with a fork.
Make small balls and lightly flatten them between  the palms of your hands. Heat the oil and deep fry these vadas, till golden brown.  Drain off excess oil on paper napkin/ absorbent paper. Serve hot with chutney of your choice.

• Tips: Tastes best with green chilli sauce or dhaniya- pudina chutney.
• Lightly smear some oil on your palms, so the mixture does not stick to your hands.
• Use healthy oil like rice- bran, virgin olive or canola oil
• After frying, always throw away the oil and never reuse fried oil- which becomes unhealthy for the heart.

Sabudana (Tapioca/Sago) Khichdi recipe- a popular Indian breakfast dish!

Pre-Preparation Time: Soak overnight    
 Preparation Time: 25 minutes     Serves: 4

A very versatile ingredient- Sabudana or Sago, is considered to be a delicate, easy to digest and easily prepared food item in India. As is often seen, in a vast country like India, there are of course, regional variations in its preparation/ recipes. I am mentioning here a variant which has been my eternal favourite. This is a mix of the Gujarati style and the Maharashtrian style.

Ingredients:
Sabudana/Sago/ Tapioca- 400 grams ( Soak it overnight or for 6-7 hours in water)
Boiled potatoes- 2 (peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch each)
Roasted peanuts- 150 grams (coarsely crushed)Alternatively you can soak the peanuts overnight.
Salt- 1 teaspoon/ as per taste
Cooking oil- 2 tablespoons- to be sprinkled in a non-stick cookware
Cumin seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves- 4 (chopped)
Mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Ginger- 1 teaspoon (grated)
Asafoetida / Hing- 1 pinch
Green chillies- 3 ( sliced longitudinally)
Lemon juice- 1 teaspoon (or as per taste)
Coconut (optional)- grated 2 tablespoon
Sugar- 1 teaspoon
Green Coriander- chopped 1 table spoon

Method:
After soaking the Sabudana/Sago in water overnight , rinse and drain out the water, with the help of a colander. Add salt, sugar and crushed peanuts to the Sago and cover and  keep aside for about 8-10 minutes ( mainly for the sago and peanuts to absorb the salt and sugar).
Heat the cooking oil, in a non-stick cookware and then add mustard seeds to it. As they start spluttering add the cumin seeds too. Now add the curry leaves, green chillies and grated ginger and allow this to cook on a low flame, till the ginger turns light brown.Sprinkle Asafoetida powder too. To this add the potato cubes and Sago/ Sabudana and lightly stir until the potato cubes and Sago are evenly coated with the masalas/ spices. Sprinkle some water on this and cover completely with a lid, reduce the flame to minimum/ simmer and cook this way for about 5 minutes or until the Sabudana pearls look translucent. Remember to stir in-between, otherwise the Sago has a tendency to stick to the base of the vessel.
Once cooked garnish with grated coconut and chopped coriander. Serve piping hot and if you like curds/ yoghurt, then have it with a bowlful of curd!

Happy feasting!

NI version Aloo Posto.......Potato-poppy seeds curry

Any Bengali worth her/his salt will vouch for aloo-posto as being THE dish. Well, here I present my version of the same (hence the NI.....North Indian!!)
Come to think of it, Poppy-Potato or Potato-Poppy sounds like such a cute name for a dish! However, the richness lies not only in the name, but also in the superb taste.....
Here we go:

 Aloo Posto aka Potato- poppy seeds curry

Ingredients:
Potatoes- 4 large ( cubed)
Poppy seeds- 7 tablespoons roasted poppy seeds

Cooking oil (preferably mustard) - 1 tablespoon
Green chillies- 2

Chopped green coriander- 1 tablespoon

Cumin seeds- ½ teaspoon

Panch Phoran- 2 teaspoon*

Salt- to taste

Water- 125 ml

*(Panch Phoran:

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds/methi seeds
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds/kalonji

Mix this evenly in a dry vessel, and use 2 teaspoon of it for this recipe. The rest can be stored in an airtight container.)

Method:

Soak the roasted poppy seeds, in a cup of warm water for about 45-60 minutes. Thereafter, sieve the water out and make a paste of the soaked seeds, in a blender or mixer.

As mentioned earlier, cube the potatoes into half-inch cubes.

Slit the green chillies in the middle and keep aside.

Heat the oil, in a wok or heavy - based kadhai. Now, add the cumin seeds and panch-phoran seeds; when they start spluttering, add the slit green chillies and fry all this for about a minute on medium flame.

Add the cubed potatoes to this and toss-fry for 2-3 minutes. After this, add the poppy seed paste and 125 ml water to the potatoes etc. Mix well, sprinkle the salt, and allow it to cook. When it starts simmering, reduce the flame to low and cover completely with a lid. Stir occasionally, and cook till potatoes become tender. In-between, if necessary, sprinkle some water on the potatoes, so that the poppy and potatoes do not get burnt or stick to the wok.

As soon as you notice, that the potatoes have become tender, switch off the flame/ heat and garnish with chopped green coriander.

Serve hot with steamed rice!!