Chana Masala, Luchis with a twist or two, MW Poha Chivda, Korean Hoddeok for dessert!

Happy Ugadi to all of you! :)

Spring is officially here, bright, long Sunny days are back at last for keeps, thank goodness! Makes you smile after enduring quite a long snowy cold Winter, doesn't it? Husband mowed the lawn last week, fertilized it while I went shopping for Spring cloths etc. No more heavy Winter jackets for us, got to have some colorful, light, new stuff to show off some untanned (untanned is good for Indians, btw! :D) skin, eh?

It rained for a while last week, so grass has turned bright green too. Great time of the year just look out and enjoy the beautiful nature!

Here are few dishes for you this week. Before you ask... No, I didn't make all these in one day just to post here (I do cook thali meals in one day if it's for RCI event or for a festival) but cook them over a week for my family and keep them in the draft to post here once a week on Wednesdays!

Chana masala with Luchi:
Here is a wonderful tasty combo of Chana (brown colored Chickpeas) Masala which are full of protein and fiber along with a Indian quick bread called Luchis which are from the states of Bengal and Odissa in India, these are somewhat similar to Native American "Fry bread". Cream colored plain Luchis are usually made without any leavening like you see below in the photo but I did add baking soda, baking powder and spices to the dough this time to get a different texture and color to the Luchis.

Brown Chickpeas/Chana Masala:
Brown Chana are similar to Chickpeas but smaller beans, brown or reddish in color, mostly available in Indian stores. You can replace these Chanas with canned creamy Chickpeas with the same recipe, which gives a different taste than the brown Chanas. This dish tastes better the next day. I cook and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days sometimes, tastes wonderful!

You need:

1 1/2 cup dry brown Chana, 1/4 Tsp turmeric, salt, Paprika for color.
Paste:
2 onion, chopped and sauteed in a tbsp oil, grind it with 3 garlic, 1 1/2" chopped ginger.
Liquid:
1/2 cup Tomato sauce, (canned is fine too) mixed with 1 tsp Besan or Chickpea flour for thickening the sauce.
Spices:
1 tbsp Coriander seeds powder, 1 tsp Cumin powder, 1 tsp Garam masla, 1/2 tsp or more chilli pd,
1/2 tsp Dry Mango pd or Pomegranate seeds powder, (you can replace both of these tangy powders with 1 tbsp Lemon juice, add it at the end of cooking),
1 tsp store bought Chana masala powder if you have it, always optional).

Garnish:

Cilantro, 1 tbsp butter, fresh onion cut into rings, few Tomato slices to serve.

Here is how I made Chana masala:

1. Soak 1 1/2 cups of dry brown Chana in water overnight and drain the water the next day. Add 3 cups of fresh water to it along with 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp Paprika and pressure cook until soft but not fully mashed. Add 1 tsp salt, keep aside. Save about a cup of water out in a separate bowl.
2. In a pan, add a tbsp oil, saute 2 onion chopped until slightly golden. Add this to a blender along with 3 garlic, 1 1/2" fresh chopped ginger until smooth thickish paste with little water but not too much.
3. Heat 2 tbsp oil, add ground onion paste and fry for 2 mins. Add Tomato sauce+Besan, stir fry for 5 mins until thick and leaves the sides of the pan. Now, add all the spice powders, salt and cooked Chana with it's water.

4. Simmer for 10 mins until sauce is thick, adjust the spices and add reserved chana water if needed to thin the sauce. Add 1/2 tbsp of butter, cilantro and mix well.
5. Serve garnished with cilantro, onion rings, tomato pieces and with Luchis or Parathas.

Luchis with baking pd, turmeric and paprika:
Luchis with a twist or two. Usually Luchis are made just with plain flour, salt and a bit of oil added to the dough and deep fried, usually they go flat after a while. I made plain Luchis and also made a few puffy, colorful ones with 1/2 tsp baking pd, pinch of baking soda, turmeric and paprika added to my Luchi dough. They puff up well with some leavening in them and stay puffed for longer time, they are colorful too! Why not have some fun with good old regular Luchis, huh?! Oh no, Bengalis are going to kill me now! :D

To make these:
Makes about 16-18 Luchis enough for 4-6 people, cut the recipe in to half if you don't need that many Luchis. I made few Luchis just with Turmeric and few with Paprika just fir fun, kids loved them!
1. Mix and knead 2 cups of plain flour, pinch of Baking soda, 1/2 tsp Baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp Paprika, 1 tbsp oil and enough warm milk to a firm pliable dough. Dough must not be soft and sticky. Cover and let it rest for 20mins.
2. Divide this dough into equal Golf ball sized portions, about 16 or so. Heat enough oil to deep fry at 375F or until hot.
3. Roll out these balls to 4" circles about 1/8" thickness, slide gently in to the oil and press the top with the ladle. When they puff, flip and cook the other side and drain on paper towel. Enjoy them when they are still hot, eventually they do flatten as they cool down.

Korean coconut-Molasses stuffed Hoddeok:

These are amazingly similar to what we call Kayi Holige (Coconut-Jaggary filled Obbattu) in Karnataka but with a slightly different ingredients and yeast dough. I followed the recipe in "My Korean kitchen" blog with her traditional Korean recipe for sweet pancakes. Instead of adding just brown sugar and nuts, I added sweetened coconut, Walnuts and few tsps of dark Molasses to give a bit to the Hoddeoks. Tasted so good, thanks for posting the recipe, Sue! :)

Here is how I made them:

I followed the recipes as it is for the covering with yeast but you can skip the yeast and add just 1/2 tsp of baking powder to the dough for a quicker version. I mixed 1 cup of sweetened coconut, 2 tbsp Walnuts and 2-3 tsps of dark Molasses and filled the pastry and roasted on the tava with little oil just like you do for Parathas. For detailed and step by step pics, refer to her post.

Microwaved Poha/Avalakki Chivda:
Who doesn't love to eat handful of these crunchy and spicy Chivda for evening snacks along with a cup of hot coffee? Usually, my mother sautes the regular thick Poha or Avalakki in some oil until they are whitish and puffed instead of deep frying them and then mixes with all the other ingredients as a seasoning. I chose to Microwave the thin Poha because it's easy to make them puffy and added the other ingredients to the mixture. Click on Annapurna's Chivda recipe for details of how to make this Chivda.

Here is how to Microwave the Chivda!

1. Take 1 or 2 cups of papery thin Poha, spread on wide shallow plate. Drizzle few tbsps of oil and mix well to coat all the Poha, sprinkle some sat and turmeric and mix again.
2. Place 1/2 cup each time on a microwavable plate, spread thinly in single layer and Microwave on high/100% for 2 mins at a time. keep checking if they are frying evenly. When done, spread it on paper towel to cool it down. Repeat this with rest of the Poha.
3. When Poha is done, add 1 tbsp oil in smaller bowl, Microwave it for 5 mins until very hot and add mustard, dry red chilles, curry leaves, peanuts, Cashews, yellow roasted chana/Dalia etc and keep Microwaving until they are slightly golden.(Look at the ingredients in her post, seasoning is usually done on the stove top and then mixed with crisp Poha, I am using Microwave this time)
4. Mix Poha and seasoning, adjust chill pd and salt. When cooled, store this crispy Chivda in a air tight box or glass container. That's it for this week, enjoy! :)

Logos of all events, their hosts and links to their posts. My thanks to all the event hosts for taking time, enjoy my entries too! :)

Chana Masala, goes to Laurie of "Meditterranean cooking in Alaska" who is guest hosting "MLLA-9th helping" this event and this even t is started by Susan of "The well seasoned cook".

Luchis, go to Bread Baking Day#18-Quick breads, which is being guest hosted by Mansi of "Fun and Food" and this event started by Zorra.

Korean Hoddeok, goes to PJ of "Seduce your tastebuds" who is guest hosting this month's "A.W.E.D.-Korean cuisine" and this event's creator is DK.

Microwaved Poha Chivda, goes to Priya of "easy N tasty recipes" who is guest hosting "MEC-Savory snacks" and this event's creator is Srivalli.

Poha Chivda, also goes to Ashwini of "Spicy Cuisine", who is guest hosting "MBP-Snacks and Savories", an event started by Coffee. Recipe for Chivda is adapted from Annapurna of "My name says it all" blog post, but made it in the Microwave with thin Poha for easy dry frying with little oil.

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Tried and tasted from other blogs, thanks to all of you:

Vellarikka Kichadi/raita, from Divya Kudua.
Spicy Appe, from Paru.
Vellarikkai Puli Pachadi, from Aparna. (Used Zucchinis, tasted great)
Turkey curry, from Viki. (added Eggs instead of Turkey to the same gravy, could use the leftover Turkey after Thanksgiving this Nov with the same sauce!)

Book I am reading now:

"Rose water and Soda bread" by Marsha Mehran.
Remember this "Pomegranate soup" book by the same author about 2 Iranians sisters who escape from Iran during the time of revolution to Ireland and my post with Iranian recipes which are in that book? This is her second book. Not as interesting as the first book but it's continuation of what happened to the sisters in Ireland, how they cope which is great if you have read the first book. Good "time pass" book to read with some more recipes I might try later!

Movies:
"Elegy":
This movie is based on Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Roth’s novel "The Dying Animal". It's about a relationship between an old accomplished Professor and a young beautiful Cuban student, which starts as purely sexual and ends up taking over both their lives after 8yrs with tragic but supposedly a great love story. Played by Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz, good film to watch if you have time, great acting and "R" rated of course.
Twilight:
Watched only because it's available for $1 at Red Box movies! Otherwise it's not really my kind of movie, what with all the ashen faced Vampires and blood sucking teenage love story!! Even my kids think this movie is weird although the movie and the Twilight books are very popular among most teenagers! ;D
Twilight is not bad for watching once though. I prefer to watch this young love story rather than watching a 65yr old wrinkly nasty Professor sleeping around with his collegues and young students any day like that Elegy movie, no matter what great "love" he has for one of his students!

Rathna of Asvadha sent me these 5 reusable beautiful colorful bags last week as a gift for winning the "MEO-Delish" platter. Thanks Rathna, I love them and Trisha kept one for herself in her car too! :)
Have a great weekend. Enjoy the colorful Spring! :)

A note: We found that some of our fellow blogger's photos have been copied, trimmed, re-posted and even sent them for various events by few bloggers last week. Please don't Google and just take the photos to post it in your blogs without linking, knowingly or unknowingly, whether you are a new blogger or a veteran blogger! If you can find a photo in the web, it comes from somewhere, right? LINK IT!!
We all work hard to take these photos, take time to type in the recipes or articles to post them in our blogs. It's disrespectful and unethical to just copy it and post as your own to say the least. Always ask for permission, specially if you would like to have our photos. Respect if we say "No" to that request. When you want to use our recipes or cook from us, say a word "thanks" and always link to the original author if you post it. Easy, no?
Unless we send our photos to you for your events or for some other reason voluntarily, you must not copy photos to post it anywhere. It hurts and saddens us personally to see our pics somewhere else which you haven't worked hard for but we have literally created these photos in our homes and kitchens!! Please be respectful and let's all enjoy blogging without being mean to each other, shall we? Have fun blogging, make blog friends to enjoy, it's not really that hard!! :)