Kothimbir Wadi (Crisp Coriander Fritters)

Kothimbir Wadi (Crisp Coriander Fritters)

This snack hails from the state of Maharashtra. It is also known as Koshimbir Wadi. The recipe comes to you from Anu (Anita), my daughter from another mother. This spicy, crisp snack is a perfect accompaniment with chai (tea). It keeps for 3-4 days if stored in an air-tight container. My guests go totally gaga over these spicy babies and I know you will too.

There was a time when I refused to eat anything that contained coriander leaves. Both my Grandmas would chop coriander leaves really fine to ensure I did not see it in my food because if I did, I was sure to throw a fit. (Blame it on my mum, she hates the herb :P ) Then came a time when I began cooking. I began experimenting and experiencing flavors. I fell madly in love with this beautiful green herb. I’m a brat! I always have been, i always will be *very angelic smile*, hence, I still throw a fit, but now I do so when Anu forgets to add it, as and when it needs to be added.

And yes, mum hates coriander leaves but she happily tucks into these spicy babies. At times like these i just don't bother trying to understand what goes on in that mind of hers - lest I lose mine. :-))

Ingredients:

2 large bunches coriander leaves, roughly chopped

3 cups (200 mils each) chickpea flour / besan atta

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 large pod garlic, peeled (approx 15 large cloves)

15 green chilies

Salt, to taste

Oil to fry

Method:

1. Grind cumin seeds, garlic and green chilies to a smooth thick paste. Keep aside.
2. Make a thick, but pour-able paste combining chickpea flour, turmeric powder and salt to taste.
3. Add the ground paste, little by little, according to taste and mix well.
4. Add the coriander leaves and again give it a good stir to mix well. Re-check seasoning.
   
   
   
   
5. Heat water in a steamer.
6. Pour half the chickpea mixture in a thali (10 inch diameter). The thickness of the batter poured in the thali should be about 1 to 1½ centimeter.
7. Put the thali in the steamer, in the bowl above the basin of boiling water. Cover and steam for 15 minutes, or till done. A knife inserted should come out clean.
   
   
   
   
8. When done, remove the thali from the steamer, allow it to cool. Over turn the thali, when cool, onto a wax paper.
9. Repeat the steaming process with the other half of the chickpea mixture.
10. Once the wadi cakes are cool, cut them into one inch pieces.
11. Heat oil in a wok/kadai and deep fry the wadi pieces till crisp on the outside. They should be crisp on the outside and semi-soft from inside. (I over-fry them a wee bit because I like them very crisp.)
12. When done, drain on kitchen paper and serve with chutney of your choice. If you are a lazy bum like me, just bring out the Maggi Hot & Sweet Sauce and serve it with that ;-) Oh yes, don’t forget that steaming, fragrant cup of chai.
    
    

Chef Notes: 

1. If you don’t have a steamer, boil water in a large, wide vessel. Put in a stand to hold the thali (stainless steel plate), cover with a lid and use as a steamer. Please ensure that water does not boil and bubble its way into the thali.
2. Please do not cut the big wadi cakes until they are cool as they tend to crumble.
3.  I have advised that you add the ground paste little by little because although this is a spicy snack some of you may feel the need to lessen the spice factor if you aren’t used to spicy food.
4. Once the knife comes out clean from the steamed cake, remove the thali from the steamer and allow it to cool before you overturn it onto a wax paper. Once cool, you may help it along but running a knife gently and carefully along the sides of the thali to ensure the steamed cake turns out onto the wax paper with ease. Please allow the steamed cake to cool completely before cutting it into one inch wadis.
5. I said 'fragrant' cup of chai because we Bawas (Parsees) usually add mint leaves and lemon grass leaves to our tea. In monsoon and winter months a dash of black pepper powder is also added. 
6. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   
   

Bottle Gourd Cutlets (Doodhi na Cutlets)

Bottle Gourd Cutlets (Doodhi na Cutlets)

This is a typical bawa (Parsee) recipe. As I've always mentioned, I'm a hard-core carnivore hence the only time i post a vegetarian recipe is when I’m extremely sure it turns out well. I saw photographs of these cutlets posted by a friend at Facebook. The photographs looked so good; I just had to try the recipe. I wasn't disappointed. These babies turned out soft and amazingly delicious. They were totally melt-in-the-mouth. Sigh!! 

Ingredients:

650-700 grams tender bottle gourd
1 potato, boiled and mashed
2 onions, sliced and fried to golden brown
1 teaspoon green chili/garlic/cumin paste
2 green chilies, chopped
A small bunch coriander, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
Salt, to taste.
3 tablespoons oil
1 slice bread
½ cup rawa / suji / semolina (can be replace with breadcrumbs)
2 eggs, well beaten

Method:

1. Peel and grate the bottle gourd on a medium or fine grater. Squeeze out all extra water from the grated bottle gourd. 
2. Soak the slice of bread in water, squeeze out water and crumble the bread into the grated bottle gourd. 
3. Add the green chili/garlic/cumin paste, turmeric powder, chili powder, salt, chilies, onions, coriander, mashed potato and lemon juice to the bread-bottle gourd mixture. 
4. Mix well using your hands. Shape into cutlets. 
5. Coat each cutlet in semolina. Put the semolina coated cutlets in the fridge for an hour or two. 
6. Heat oil in a non-stick pan. 
7. Bring out the cutlets from the fridge, dip them in beaten eggs, shallow fry on a slow fire, flipping the cutlets on both sides until cooked from with and golden brown. 
8. Remove on a kitchen towel for a minute to drain excess oil, if any. Serve piping hot, with ketchup. 

Chef Notes:

1. This recipe belongs to my friend Zarina Cama Clowsley. 
2. Please do not use a large-hole grater to grate the bottle gourd. A medium or fine grater works better as the cutlets them cook quicker from within. The cutlets will take longer to cook from within if you don’t grate the bottle gourd with a medium or fine grater. 
3. Those who don’t eat eggs may remove the semolina coated cutlets from the fridge and directly shallow fry them on a very slow flame in a non-stick pan. I’m a carnivore hence went the ‘Bawa’ way and used an egg wash to fry the cutlets. 
4. The cutlets are very delicate, so please be gentle when you fry them. 
5. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   
   

Bhonu for a hungry Bawi… Majja ni life :-)

Bhonu for a hungry Bawi... Majja ni life :-)

For those of you who aren't familiar with the word 'Bhonu', in Parsee lingo it means food or meal. We Bawas (Parsees) love our Sunday lunch. Leaving aside the lagan nu bhonu (food served at weddings), it’s probably the most important meal for us. Beer peevano, Dhanshak-kabab khavanu, legho perine mast ghotai javanu. (Translation: Drink beer – eat Dhanshak-kababs, wear a pajama and then tuck into bed for an afternoon siesta) That’s a typical Sunday afternoon for most Bawas. :-)

Let me make it clear to the readers before I begin this review, the person I’m reviewing today is family. Having said that, let me also add, I take my food reviews very seriously. If food is not up to the mark I will not hesitate to write about it. Reviewing food with dishonesty would be sacrilege!

I received a call from Chef Zubin Rupa yesterday telling me he was planning to send me lunch for Sunday afternoon. At first I refused but I agreed to review his ‘set lunch’ menu when he promised he would accept the bouquets and brickbats with open mindedness. He said that because he knows, as a food blogger and as a person who reviews restaurants, I understand that chefs can encounter a bad day. However, he also knows, I do mention (politely) their ‘bad day’ in my review/s when they (and resultantly, I) encounter such a day.

Chef Zubin’s ‘set lunch’ menu comprised of 2 very decent sized pieces of Chicken Farcha, Mutton Dhanshak, Kababs (3 pieces), Brown (Dhanshak) Rice, Kachumber (Salad), Lagan nu Custard and a glass of Baked Yogurt. I was told the Baked Yogurt was sent as a complimentary addition to all families who ordered the meal on Sunday.

The farchas were done to perfection! As an avid home cook / food reviewer / recipe blogger, I cannot bear to eat overcooked-stringy chicken. What I loved about the farcha/s was that the chicken was not pre-boiled and then fried. That would have been ‘Murdered Chicken Farcha’. In my world, unforgivable! These babies were marinated and fried, directly. Because the farchas were fried directly, it made a world of difference in taste and texture. The marination was spot-on and the farchas were juicy and succulent!

The Mutton Dhanshak, Brown (Dhanshak) Rice and Mutton Mince kababs were very well made. I’m a Bawi, I know a good Dhanshak when I have it and this was very good. It had a decent quantity of mutton pieces and the dal was delicious. Though, I would have preferred a sprinkling of freshly chopped coriander leaves on it. I did mention this to Chef Zubin. He told me he had incorporated the coriander in the dal (yes - he had – I concur) but hadn’t sprinkled chopped coriander leaves on the dal as the leaves would turn dark and ugly by the time the meal was delivered. His explanation made sense.

The kababs were an absolute delight! The only point I can find fault in is that three of those delicious babies just weren’t enough for greedy ol’ me. Just kiddin’! The meal was for one person and for one person three kababs were perfect in quantity.

The Lagan nu Custard, too, was very good in taste and texture. What I did miss though was that it wasn’t browned on top. If I had to mark the custard I’d give it a 9/10 for the simple reason that the top layer should have been a beautiful brown. What separates good food from great food is the small stuff wherein a chef attains perfection.

The kachumber (salad) was crisp as it was packed in an aluminum container instead of being dumped in a plastic food-grade bag. I liked the fact that it was decently packed and wasn't soggy. 

The (complimentary) Baked Yogurt, served in a cute cutting-chai glass, was a delicious, smooth, creamy blend of sweet with a hint of tang. I absolutely loved the sprinkling of roasted almonds slivers on the Baked Yogurt. I could have gobbled half a dozen of those glasses. Ok-ok, I admit, for certain things, I can be (very) greedy. ;-)

All in all, Chef Zubin Rupa, it was a great Sunday Bhonu (meal). I’m told the meal was priced @375 per meal, per person. At that rate and with the quantity sent, this meal was well worth it! Each dish was perfectly presented in their respective containers. Absolutely nothing shabby about the way it was delivered. My heartfelt advise, be very consistent with the quality and the quantity and you are sure to go places. Keep up the good work, Zubin!

Contact details for Chef Zubin Rupa (Pune-Maharashtra):
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/ChefZubin?fref=ts
Cell nos: 08898563798 or 09892817997.