Sweet Potato PAV BHAJI - Golden toast bread with spicy topping

A very popular Indian street food and sure to please even the fussiest of eaters with its beautiful blend of spice, vegetables and bread. Pav Bhaji is so quick and easy to prepare and can be enjoyed as a snack or main meal. With a squeeze of fresh lemon, its sure to make mouths water! By replacing the authentic ingredient Potato with Sweet Potato, it's all that much healthier too.

Here it is, my version of SWEET POTATO PAV BHAJI:

Ingredients: Bread rolls of your choice, peas, carrots and sweet potatoes cut into small cubes, fresh tomatoes/tomato paste, chopped onions, chilli, cumin seeds, salt, pav bhaji masala, one tablespoons oil, fresh lemon and butter for topping.

Make: Pressure cook the chopped sweet potato, carrot & peas so they are soft.

In a pan heat oil and add cumin seeds, chilli, onion and lightly fry. Add in the cooked vegetables and cook for 5 minutes, adding tomato paste as needed to make a nice gravy. Also add during this process, add the pav bhaji masala, salt and some butter.

'Bhaji' is ready!

Spread butter generously on bread rolls and roast on a pan until mildly crisp. 
'Pav' is ready! 

Serve as in photo, enjoy hot with a dash of lemon.

Baked Bhakarwadi - Savoury Spiced Pinwheels

When you're on a baking spree and want to try baking all sorts of snacks that are menat to be deep-fried, how can you not try the famous Marathi sweet & savoury Bhakarwadi! I'm so glad I did too. These were so yummy we'll probably never buy packaged ones again! Especially given no deep-frying.

Here it is, my healthier version, Baked Bhakarwadi:

Ingredients for the dough: 1/2 cup besan flour, 1/2 cup plain flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp red chilli powder, 2 tbsp oil, salt to taste, bit of water as needed.

Ingredients for the filling: 1/2 cup descicated coconut, 1/4 cup white sesame seeds, 1/4 tbsp chilli powder, 1/2 tbsp cumin powder, 1/2 tbsp coriander powder, 1/2 tbsp garam masala, 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, bit of lemon juice.

Make: To make the dough, combine all of the flours and spices together with oil and form a firm dough using water as required only.  

To make the filling, first dry roast the sesame seeds and cumim seeds. Add these to all of the other spice powders and coconut into a mixer. Grind it all together to make an aromatic mixture.

Roll out the dough like a roti then smear a bit lemon juice on it so the spice mixture can stick to it. Spread some spice mixture on top to cover the whole roti. Roll into a long shape, then cut into small sections as shown in the photo. Arrange all in a lined baking tray, spray with a bit of oil and bake at 170 deg for about 20 minutes. Cool completely before storing or serving for teatime!

Baked KODBALE - Spicy Savoury Rings

With "lockdown baking" at extreme levels everywhere thought I'd use this time to experiment baking some popular Indian snacks that are traditionally deep fried. 

There are many variations for the traditional "Kodbale" recipe which is super famous in Karnataka so I used some of these along with my little baking knowledge acquired over experiences to give this a shot!

Here it is, my baked version of KODBALE (Spicy Savoury Rings):

Ingredients (for about 14 medium sized rings): 1/2 cup fine semolina, 1/2 cup fine rice flour, 1/4 cup plain flour, 1/4 cup wholewheat flour, 1/4 cup dry shredded coconut, 1 tbsp yogurt, 2 tbsp red chilli powder, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, handful curry leaves chopped finely, 1 tspb salt, 2 tbsp olive oil.

Make: Dry roast the semolina & rice flour for about 5 minutes only until the raw smell has gone. In a mixing bowl add these to all of the other ingredients listed except the yogurt & oil. The oil needs to be heated separately then added to the flours & spices - ensure heating oil as this brings out the flavours. After adding oil, mix with hands to form a crumbly mixture. Then add the yogurt and just a little water enough to make a firm dough. Take small amounts of dough and roll into tube shapes with hands and join ends to make rings. If it cracks, use a little oil to reshape.

Place all rings on a lined baking tray, spray with little oil and bake at 180deg for about 25 minutes, flip sides for another 10 minutes. 
Cool completely before serving with a hot cuppa :) Kodbale can be stored in an airtight container for upto a week.