Recipes

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Gaadi Thindis

One evening, a bunch of friends and I set off on a 'gaadi thindi' (street food served in carts/small joints) expedition in Jayanagar.  We craved authentic delicious street food, close to the vicinity we lived in, and decided to try Hari's Super Sandwich first as we had never been there.

Hari's Super Sandwich

Situated in Jayanagar 3rd block, this is a simple hole-in-the wall kind of joint, where you stand and eat. Their 'Sakath Sandwich'  (Sakath is a Kannada slag for superb) menu includes a variety of sandwiches such as chilli cheese toast, dahi toast, cheese gulkan sandwich, jam toast, and chocolate toast to name a few. Their signature dish is the chilli cheese toast and vegetable cheese toast. 


 I loved the fact that the bread is toasted on the typical home-style 'tava' as opposed to fancy grills. Toasted with loads of butter and stuffed with cheesy /  chocolaty delights - it is a sure-shot hunger pang killer.  The sandwiches are cut into small bits and served piping hot off the tava. Delicious & truly Sakath!


Their 'Chindi Chaat' (chindi is a Kannada slang for awesome) section includes most of the local Bangalore style chaats such as dahi  chudwa, congress masala, bread masala and dahi mix. Chaats are spicy, tasty and fresh.


Service is quick even when there is a crowd. Lovely to eat here on a cool evening, under the trees. A slight drizzle makes it even better!

Sandwiches, although filling for me, were not enough for my friends. So we zeroed in on Krishna's idli-dose gaadi which is a few streets away.

Krishna's Idli-Dose Gaadi

In Jayanagar 2nd block, every evening after 6pm, 9th main road  comes alive because of Krishna's gaadi. The road is choc-a-block with  cars and two-wheelers struggling to find parking space, and people thronging in groups on the footpath to sample the delights from Krishna's gaadi.


He serves super soft and fluffy masala  idlis and varieties of doses. Apart from the regular masal dose, he serves beet-root masala. The dose stuffing in this one has a beet-root palya which is pretty tasty. Chutney is spicy and tangy. Car-service is an added advantage.


A must-try for idli-dose lovers.

Street food, apart from being easy on the wallet, offers variety, taste and is normally served in a jiffy. Plus, the entire experience of eating 'street food' is totally satisfying in every sense of the word.


Sunday, November 11, 2012

Sweets for Diwali : Microwave Besan Laddu

I love Besan Laddus and it is also my daughter's favorite sweet. With very little time on hand as mentioned in my previous post decided to make another quick-fix sweet in the microwave.

Ingredients:
1cup besan (chickpea flour)
1/4 cup ghee
3/4 cup sugar
3-4 pods of cardamom


Powder the sugar and cardamom in the mixer to form a fine powder. In the microwave safe dish, mix the ghee and besan thoroughly. Microwave on high for about 7-8 minutes stirringl every other minute. Check this mixture to ensure that there is no raw besan smell and it is well roasted. Allow it to cool completely.  Add the powdered sugar and cardamom, mix well and form small round balls. Decorate as required.

Sweets for Diwali : Microwave Doodh (Milk) Peda

Diwali is just a day away, I am working on Sunday and through Diwali. With very little time on hand and determination to make sweets at home, I decided on a couple of quick fixes as suggested by dear Anasuya aunty.


I saw lots of variations of this quick and easy sweet recipe all over the internet and finally came up with this version. Never enjoyed microwave cooking as much as making instant Doodh Peda this morning. All you need is three ingredients and three minutes of microwave cooking time. Yes, that's right - just three minutes (or a little more in some microwaves) to make this delicious peda.

Ingredients:
1 tin sweetened condensed milk
4 cups milk powder
50gms butter

Melt the butter for 10 seconds in a microwave safe dish. Combine the melted butter, condensed milk and milk powder and mix thoroughly. Microwave on high for three minutes, stirring every one minute. The cooking time actually varies for each microwave. The mixture will get to a crumble consistency - that is when you know it is done. Remove from microwave and allow to cool. Grease palms and form small round pedas. Decorate with dry fruits.