Chana Jor Garam

"Chana Jor garam..... Chana Jor garam babu main laya mazedaar Chana Jor garam..." Thats the song from the movie kranti... I know its not such a famous song but I remember it because its about my favourite munchy snack "Chana Jor Garam". If u have not seen the movie Kranti I would reccomend u to see it..not for the snack...:P. It is a good Desh bhakti movie with veteran actors and good acting..:)

Here is the song from Kranti for all to enjoy. The funny thing is I found another old song by Shamshad Begum and Kishore kumar...:) It was somewhat same lyrics as the newer one..:P Here is the old song.

In the newer song u can see Shatrughan Sinha and Hema Malini carrying small box kinda thing around there neck.... well thats how the chana vendors in Nagpur used to get it for selling Chana Jor Garam. He will call out loudly " Chana Jor Garam" in a very distinct tone. Ohh how I used to wait for him.... I don't remember if I ever even waited for "R" that way.... hehehe :P. Hope he is not seeing this..:P. My oly memory of having this was when I was in Nagpur. It seems, this street side snack is famous in Mumbai too but sadly I never went past the Bhelpuri n pani poori all the time I was in Mumbai :(

The street version of the chana Jor is deep fried and is very difficult to make.The chana has to be soaked, then dried, then fried and then later flattened into these mini discs. I went for the healthier and easier option "Haldiram's Chana Jor". It is ready made hence easy and baked hence healthy..:)

If any of u ever tried making this chana Jor at home do let me know how u managed doing it. Maybe seeing you I can give it a try. Anyways Once the Haldiram's packet it opened... this recipe is a child'd play.

Ingredients :

(recipe serves 4 or 2 very hungry people like us :d)

Haldiram's Chana Jor Garam - 1 packet
Onion - 1 small chopped

Tomato - 1 chopped

Juice of lemon - 2 tsp

Salt to taste (I used rock salt)

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Cilantro - 2 tbsp (finely chopped)

Raw Mango - 1/3 cup chopped (optional)

Method :

1) Take the chana chor in a microwave safe plate and MW for 45 seconds. I like the chanas to be a bit warm...:) This process is completely optional and doesnt make any difference to the taste of the chana. In a big mixing bowl combine all the ingredients (except salt n chili powder) and mix with a gently hand.

2) Taste the mixture for seasoning and add the salt and chilli powder accordingly.

3) The Haldiram chana chor has added salt in it... so its advisable to taste it before adding any salt. Serve in a Paper cone as I did....and relive the taste and streets of Mumbai / Nagpur :D

Kala Chana Chaat

Lelo...Lelo....Chana chaat lelo...:) Yummm! I love Chaats. They are tangy, spicy, sweet and so so yumm....and I thank god Radha is one too. I often make this for evening snacks.

The recipe is really simple and easy to make... does need some preparations like soaking the kala Chana over night...:)

Ingredients :

Kala Chana - 1 cup (Soaked overnight and cooked in the pressure cooker for 4 whistles)
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Tomato - 1 large (finely chopped)
Potato - 1 big (boiled and diced)
Salt to taste
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Tamarind chutney - 1/4 cup (optional... but if u have it its better)
Pepper - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Fresh Coriander leaves - few sprigs (finely chopped)
Green chillies - 1 (finely chopped)
Sev - 1/2 cup (for garnishing)

Method :

1) Take the cooked Kala chana in a bowl. 2) Add the chopped Tomatoes, Green chillies, onions and potato in the bowl along with the chana and mix well. Add the salt, red chilli, pepper and mix well again. 3) Mix in the lemon juice , tamarind chutney and fresh coriander leaves. Garnish with some sev and serve.

Your tangy, tasty evening snack is ready. Yum Yum yum !...:) Enjoy this awesome chaat n do remember me when u do ;)

Mumbai Chutney Sandwich and 2 TAGs!

Mumbai has so many variety of street food... and I can say that I am a street food expert.... well not in judging the street food, but in eating them...hehhe! I love all the junk food. Yeah I do try to make them healthy by substituting some healthy ingredients to a very non healthy and buttery recipe. But, to get the authentic street flavour, sometimes u need to give up the health issue and just enjoy!!!

Have u ever wondered who created Sandwich? I have many a times..when I am bored to cook or busy doing something...to take a plate and have my lunch. In those situations I opt for this comfort food. Just stuff any leftover in between 2 slices of bread... and Tadda! u have a lovely lunch ready for u.




"A sandwich is a food item made of two or more slices of leavened bread with one or more layers of filling, typically meat or cheese, with the addition of vegetables or salad. The bread can be used as is, or it can be coated with butter, oil, mustard or other condiments to enhance flavor and texture. In North American usage, sandwich may also refer to what is more commonly referred to in the rest of the world as a hamburger."


"Sandwich is actually the last name of the person who invented this dish....The word sandwich that we use today was born in London during the very late hours one night in 1762 when an English nobleman, John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), was too busy gambling to stop for a meal even though he was hungry for some food. The legend goes that he ordered a waiter to bring him roast-beef between two slices of bread. The Earl was able to continue his gambling while eating his snack; and from that incident, we have inherited that quick-food product that we now know as the sandwich. He apparently had the meat put on slices of bread so he wouldn’t get his fingers greasy while he was playing cards."





You can read more about it here and here.

Okay now coming back to the famous chutney sandwich. Hmmm how I loved this sandwich when I was in college. We used to often go to the Mangal Das Market street near Crawford market and enjoy these amazing sandwich from a small roadside stall opposite the mosque.... OH it used to be yumm... and sometimes we used to club it with a cold lemon juice ( Nimbu panni - Rs. 3 per glass..) from the adjacent stall. Whats better than a nice hot grilled sandwich, a glass of nimbu paani and some shopping?... Hehe we used to go to college for this I guess...hehhe:P. Just miss those days so badly... Miss all my lovely friends... most of them now married like me and some due for marriage... hmmm... time runs so fast. Wish I could go back to that stall and enjoy few more sandwiches with my friends..hmm

Anyways, I did have fun having this with my sweet and darling hubby. I re-created the chutney sandwich magic... and it worked out too well. We simply loved it.. Hope u enjoy having this too. To make this....( I have made some healthy substitutions...:D)

You need : makes 3 sandwiches

Brown bread - 6 slices
Tomato - 1 big sliced
Onions - 1 sliced
Cucumber - 1/2 sliced
Potatoes - 2 boiled, cooled and sliced in thick slices
Capsicum / red bell pepper - sliced (optional)
Chaat Masala - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tbsp
butter - 1 tbsp
Tomato ketchup - 3 tbsp
Nylon sev - 3 tbsp (optional)
Coriander leaves for garnish


Ingredients for Green chutney :

Mint leaves - 1 bunch
Coriander leaves / Indian Parsley - 2 bunches
Green chillies - 2
Salt to taste



Method :

First we will start with the green chutney. Clean and wash the coriander and the mint leaves and allow to dry on a towel, so that all the water dries off. Once lightly dried,put it in a blender along with the green chillies and salt and make into a nice smooth paste. Your green chutney is ready. This is essential to make this street style sandwich. You can store this in a bottle and keep in the fridge for 2 weeks. This can also be used as accompaniment for varies chaat items.

Now take 2 slices of bread. Apply light butter on one side and toast them on a tava. You may toast both the sides if u desire. Remove from tava and apply butter on ( insides) both the slices of bread. On one side, apply some green chutney. Be liberal with this chutney.

Now on the slice on which u have applied chutney start assembling the vegetables. Start with cucumber slices, and go in this order....tomatoes, potatoes and onions. Sprinkle and bit of Chaat masala and salt... according to your taste. Now cover it with the other slice and press it slightly with u hands.... just to bind them. Now u can keep it in a Panini maker or a grill for some extra crunchiness... or serve directly as we have already toasted our bread.

I have used a big sandwich bread so I cut it in six pieces so get bite size pieces of the sandwich. It is always advisable to cut the sandwich in bite size pieces.. beacuse, if the piece is too big to eat there are changes that all your stuffing will fall apart and destroy the sandwich.

So, I cut my sandwich in desirable size pieces and then smeared tomato ketchup of it and garnished with nylon sev and fresh chopped coriander. Yumm yumm...!




Enjoy ur Mumbai Ishtyle Chutney Sandwich and do let me know how it turned out..! I was encouraged and reminded to make this... from the recent theme of MBP - Street food. I this is my own concoction... I cannot send it to this event :(....


Enjoy your sandwich..!





I am Tagged!

Today two of my fellow blogger friends... Sireesha and Hetal have tagged me for a MEME.

Thank you so much for thinking of me...It really makes me feel so nice.:)

As I have already done this tag earlier.... you can find the link here. You can read that and know more about me.It was real fun reading both your MEME...:) Keep rocking girls and always.

Leftover Magic - Moong daal 2 (Moong Dahi wada chaat)

What to do when u have any fried item in excess?. ...One best solution is... combine it with dahi. I always do that, as me and R both love dahi a lot. Anything poured with dahi and we relish it... even plain bread..:P ...So if u check my earlier leftover recipe, I told u how i used left over pesarattu batter to make the wada, right? Now I had this wada which i made. What to do with that now? So I came up with this easy Moong wada chaat. Enjoy it here goes the recipe to make one plate of chaat.



You will need:

Moong dal wadas ( see my prev post for the moong daal wada) - 2 or 3 sliced
Yoghurt - 1/2 cup
Red chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Tamarind chutney - 2 tsp
Mint chutney - 1 tsp (optional)
salt to taste
Roasted Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Chaat masala - 1 tsp
Fresh coriander leaves
Nylon sev - 1 tbsp


Method:

Cut the wadas in slices and dip it in hot salted water and put in the serving cup. Now take the yoghurt in a seperate bowl and beat it well to get a pasty texture.Now pour this youghurt on the wadas. Garnish with the powders, masalas and the chutney. Top it with some nylon sev and fresh coriander leaves. You may also put cut onions on top. Serve and ENJOY!

Serve and enjoy!

College Chaat

College Chaat

I found this recipe somewhere on the net.... I liked this recipe coz it has peanuts as its major ingredient, and it is my hubby's favourite. He loves peanuts.

I don't know y its called college chaat....guess maybe coz its similar to the "chundal" we get in beach and near colleges in chennai....hmmm dunno but for sure this chaat rocks.... do try it and let me know ur comments.

Ingredients:

peanuts roasted and dehusked - 1 big cup (u can even use the roasted and salted peanuts u get in market.)

Tomato - 1 medium

Cucumber chopped in small cubes - 1 cup

Green chillies - 2 finely chopped (optional)

Sev or any farsan - 1cup

green chutney - 2 tbsp

chaat masala - 1 tbsp

lemon juice - 2 tsp

Raw Mango pieces - 1/3 cup (optional)

salt as per taste

Method:

Chop the tomatos in small pieces.Take the peanuts and put them into mixing bowl and add finely chopped tomato, onions,cucumber, lemon juice, green chillies, farsan, raw mango pieces, chaat masala, green chutney and salt in the bowl.Mix the above ingredients for 1/2 min.

Serve chilled along with tea or coffee. Amazing as an afternoon snack.

Dahi Bread chaat

Dahi bread chaat..... this is one of the easiest of all the chaat items I make. I learnt it when i was in fifth standard... yeah that young.... my friends mom used to make this... andi used to love it....It tastes yummy, the pics arent doing justice to the taste of this chaat.( i did a bit over dressing to it...so its over flowing..:P...sorry)..this particular recipe requires no cooking...and can be made in perfect 10 minutes or faster. I will replace this pic when i have better pics of this recipe. Till then enjoy this easy to make, lip smacking recipe.

Do try this chaat and letme know. I am giving ingredients for one plate chaat (serves 1).

For this recipe u need :

Bread slices : 4
Curd : 3 tbsp or more according to ur taste
Red Chilli powder - 1 pinch
Salt to taste
Tamarind chutney - 1tbsp
Green chutney - 2 tsp
Chaat masala - 1/2 tsp
Fresh corinader
Bareek Sev


Method:

In a big bowl, fill it half with water and add some salt to it. Dissolve the salt. Now dip the bread slices in the salt water , keep the slice on ur palm and squeeze the water out...keeping the bread shape intact... (have attached picture..)




Place the bread in your serving plate, one on top of the other. Now beat the curd adding a bit of salt to it. Pour the curd mixture on top of the bread. Now garnish the bread with all the left out ingredients one by one. firstly pour the tamarind chutney and the green chutney. Now sprinkle some salt (if needed).. red chilli powder (skip if serving to kids).....chaat powder, fresh coriander and sev.




Serve as it is. This is a good evening snack and a great party item. Try it out and see it become an instatnt hit.

Bhel Puri

Another chaat speciality. Guess there are very fewpeople who dont know about this chaat and have never tasted it.. The ever famous Bhel puri. Any street u go in mumbai, ur bound to find a chaat thela (cart) serving this delicious bhel puri. Its very easy to make, provided u have all the proper ingredients.

To make this you need:

kurmura (puffed rice) - 2 cups

Tomato - 1

Onion - 1

Green chutney - 2 tsp

Tamarind sweet chutney - 1 tbsp

Chaat powder - 3tsp

Salt to taste

Coriander to garnish

Nylon sev to garnish

Cut lemon wedges

Method:

In a big mixing bowl put in the kurmura and the other ingredients (except the sev and the coriander) and mix well.Mix it well in the bowl. Put this mixture in a serving plate or bowl and garnish with fresh coriander leaves and nylon sev. Also top it with lemon wedges.

Serve it as a evening tiffin.

Indo - Mexican delight

I have always loved indian chaat, the pani puri sev puri and all those other stuff we get in mumbai.... umm.. after coming here.... chaat is wt i miss extensively. This recipe here today is my dedication to the multiple varieties of chaat i have eaten. this recipe kind of resembles to the sev puri (one kind of chaat made with flat pori..)..with some changes made. hope u like it and enjoy it. do give me ur comments.

okie now this is my own brain child.. a recipe of chaat indo mexican style.

The other day when i was cleaning my kitchen - which is a mess now thanx to my newly acquired hobby of cooking and experimenting - i came across this big pack of corn tortilla chips. It was evening and i was happy to see the chips packet thinking that atleast i dont need to make anything for the evening tiffin...... "tortilla and salsa rox".

But, my luck i didnt have any salsa with me...... i remembered that we finished the salsa just last week.So again i starting racking by brain to think what should i make for tiffin now....then it stuck me like a lightning...to make this chat...

Its simple easy and very very tasty..........

To make this u need :

Corn Tortilla chips - 20-25 pieces

Potatoes -3 medium sized (boiled)

Tomatoes - 2 chopped

Onions - 1 big chopped into fine pieces.

Sweet corn - 1 can (optional)

Sweet Tamarind chutney

Mint coriander chutney

yoghurt

Chaat masala

coriander leaves and sev for garnishing

Salt

For the Instant Sweet Tamarind chutney :

I made this chutney the easy way...i mixed up 3 tbsp of date syrup with 2 tbsp of tamarind concentrate. Added around 1tbsp of sugar to this (powdered sugar preferable) mixed this up and heated in microwave for 2 minutes.. i got my instant imli chutney or sweet tamarind chutney. It turned out too good and can be stored in the fridge for a long time.. i kept it till 2 weeks...:)

Tip: if u dont have date syrup u may skip it and add more sugar to the tamarind concentrate.... to give the sweetness.... try it and let me know..

For instant corinader mint chutney.:

this was the easy way too.... i mixed up... 2 tbsp store bought mint paste with 1 whole bunch of coriander and 2 green chillies..the mint chutney was ready and spicy.

Now for the method :

Mash the boiled potatoes add a bit of salt to it and keep it aside. Now in a large plate arrange the Tortilla chips. Now on each chips one by one...place some mashed potatos, chopped tomatoes , sweet corn and the onions. Now drop a tsp of mint coriander chutney on each of the arranged chips. Do the same with the tamarind chutney...

Now of top sprinkle a bit of chaat powder and salt...granish with finely chopped coriander leaves and sev....

Serve as it is..enjoy this mast chaat and let me know ur comments...