Sabudana vada | Sabakki vada | Sago Poppers

Hi folks, what's cooking this week?

Now that Navratri is here, what are your plans? Has that gorgeous "Ghagra-Choli" come out of the wardrobe ? Did you go for Garba or Dandiya?

I'm not sure I'll ever wear a Ghagra-Choli, but dancing the Dandiya is definitely on my bucket list and I wish to cross it off soon. 

You know what I enjoy about festivals in India? The colors. I love to see people dressed up in colorful attire. Colorful flowers in markets and adorning houses. Large "Pandals" where community or sarvajanik celebrations happen. The diyas or lanterns that are lit up outside houses. Beautiful Rangolis everywhere. It sets such a festive mood, you want to celebrate. What is it about festivals that excites you?

Festivals always bring good food with them. So does Navratri. A lot of people fast during Navratri where they avoid rice, wheat, meat etc. Sabudana Vada is very popular during such "upavaas" or fasting. I don't fast, I've never done so till date and considering the foodie I am, I doubt I'll ever be able to avoid food for too long. But that does not stop me from eating all the yummy snacks like Sabudana Vada. In fact, I make them very often for breakfast or tea time snacks. They disappear quicker than I can cook them. 

Sabudana Vada is a popular Mahastrian snack made by frying balls of sabudana (sago), mashed potato and crushed peanuts. While traditionally, the vadas are deep fried, I pan fry them or shallow fry them. 

To make the Sabudana Vada, first the sabudana needs to be soaked for around half hour and then drain out the water and leave the sabudana in a box or a covered bowl for 1-2 hours until they fluff up. Then add in the mashed boiled potato, crushed peanuts, curry leaves, chopped green chilli, chopped coriander leaves and salt and mix. Take lemon sized balls of this mixture and flatten them gently and place on a hot greased pan. Spoon in 1 tsp of oil on them and cook until one side browns, then flip and cook until the next side browns. If you are in a hurry, or you don't mind deep fried snacks, then go ahead and deep fry them and enjoy the traditional taste of Sabudana Vada.

Sabudana Vada tastes awesome with chutney or ketchup. I don't bother with either, as no one in my family cares what comes with it, as I said it disappears quicker than it appears. 

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Sabudana Khichdi - Another popular Maharastrian fasting meal made with the exact same ingredients as this vada.
• Sabudana Chana Vada - Sabudana Vada where Potatoes are replaced with Chhole or Chickpeas.
• Millet Cutlets - Shallow fried cutlets made from foxtail millet and mixed vegetables.
• Curried Brown Rice and Zucchini Fritters -  Fritters or Tikkis made with mashed Brown Rice and grated Zucchini. Spiced with Garam Masala and pan fried. 

Sabudana Vada / Sabakki Vada/ Sago Poppers

Sabudana Vadas are shallow fried vadas or poppers made with Sabudana/Sago, Peanuts and mashed potatoes.

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:          Indian/ Maharashtrian
Prep Time:     2 hours
Cook time:     20 minutes
Yield:              Makes 12-15 vadas

Ingredients:

1 cup Sabudana/Sago
2 medium sized Potato
2 finely chopped Green Chilli
8-10 Curry Leaves
0.25 cup Peanuts
2 Tbsp chopped Coriander leaves
A pinch Garam Masala (Optional)
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder (Optional)
4-5 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the sabudana and drain all the water. Let it rest covered for about 2 hours or until the sabudana have softened.
Boil the potato and peel it.
Roast the peanuts and grind into powder in the mixer.
Mash the potato, add the sabudana, curry leaves,coriander and green chilies. Mix well.
Add salt, red chili powder, garam masala, peanut powder and mix well.
Shape into balls and flatten them gently.
Heat a tava or frying pan and grease it.
Place the sabudana vada hot tava and spoon around 1-1.5 tsp of Oil per vada. You may need more or less oil depending on your liking and the tava you have used. I used a non stick tava.
Flip them when they brown on one side.
Remove from heat once both the sides are browned.
This can be served with chutney or ketchup.

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Sweet Potato Chaat Recipe | Shakarkand Chaat Recipe [Video]

Sweet Potato Chaat recipe with video instructions. Sweet Potato Chaat is a flavorful street food inspired snack that is made with baked sweet potato, sweet and spicy chutneys, finely chopped vegetables, spices and sev.

In a hurry? Jump to Video or Jump to Recipe

I had an in-between kinda week. Some ups, some down, but definitely busy on all fronts.

Firstly, lots of work at office. I've been spending all my time in meetings and discussions. For once, talking is really tiring me out. I've gone super early to work (by my standards) and left late almost everyday this week. And worst of all, I've been working after I reach home too. Sad state of affairs there. I hope it ends soon.

Raj had potluck on Wednesday and I cooked him a big batch of food to take to work. I took that as an opportunity to click my first ever food video. Video, Guys!!! Exciting stuff there. I'm waiting for some time so I can start editing my humongous video and add some nice captions so I can post my very first video post. If that work out, I bet you'll see more of that in the future.

I think I was all buzzed up with energy this week (or may be it was that large scoop of Cold Stone ice cream), I actually managed to finish off 2 novels this week. I'm glad that I'm back to my reading self that had taken a backseat in the recent past. It may have been something to do with the fact that James Patterson novels were so thrilling, it was impossible to put them down. I'm on his third novel and absolutely loving it as of now. I see myself reading quite a bit this weekend.

Now that the weekend is almost upon us, what are your plans? Doing something interesting or just relaxing?

I would love to tone it down a bit and relax this weekend, but I don't see it happening. My aunt is coming from out of state for just the weekend. I see a lot of running around taking her places in store for us. Gardening takes a back seat, yet again this weekend. 

I'll now stop ranting about busy weeks and busy weekends and get down to business.

This Sweet Potato Chaat is E-X-P-L-O-S-I-V-E ! Yup, it totally is. Every spoonful is a flavor bomb.

Chaat is one word for a variety of Indian street food that is served in tiny little carts all across the country. There are so many different types of chaat available - Pani Puri, Bhel Puri, Sev Puri, Masala Puri etc. This Sweet Potato Chaat is inspired from Aloo Chaat and Dahi Puri. 

This Sweet Potato Chaat has many layers, the first is baked sweet potato. While it can be fried, I chose to bake it just to keep it healthier. You can deep fry it or parboil the sweet potato and then shallow fry them. I had imagined that the sweet potato will turn too sweet for my chaat, but with all the chutneys and sprinklings, it actually tasted very good and added just a slight hint of sweetness to the entire dish.

The Sweet Potato Chaat is incomplete without the chutneys. I used 2 chutneys out here - spicy and fresh Coriander Mint Chutney and the tangy and sweet Tamarind Date Chutney. The 2 chutneys balance each other out in flavor. If you are making these chutney, make a little more and store it in the fridge, they both taste amazing with a variety of finger food or make really awesome marinades and dressings.

Chopped onions, tomatoes and coriander add crunch and freshness to the chaat. I would recommend that you do not skip any of them if you can help it.

I also zinged up the chaat with yogurt, but if you are a vegan, feel free to skip it. 

Chaat is never complete without the chaat powder. Chaat Powder is a mix of spices and you can easily get them in stores. I also add Black Salt in all my chaats, it gives it another layer of flavor. It has a funky smell and can be turning off to some people. You can replace it with Himalayan Pink Salt or regular salt. 

Add a handful of fine Sev and a squeeze of lime and you are done. 

Don't get bogged down by all the instructions, just mix up everything in one bowl and serve it. The ingredients below are just a guiding value, customize the chaat according to your liking. Adjust the quantities as per your taste. If you tried the Sweet Potato Chaat, leave me a comment with your experience.

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Masala Puri - Bangalore street side favorite food made with green peas and a spicy sauce.
• Baked Sweet Potato Chips - Crispy baked sweet potato chips
• Bombay Pav Bhaji - Another popular street food of bread and spicy vegetable mash.
• Tawa Pulao - Mumbai's favorite street food, spicy masala fried rice.
• Baked Potato Skins - Crispy potato skins stuffed with tomato, peppers and cheese.

Video Recipe

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Sweet Potato Chaat

Sweet Potato Chaat is a flavorful street food inspired snack that is made with baked sweet potato, sweet and spicy chutneys, finely chopped vegetables, spices and sev.

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:            North Indian
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     20 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 large Sweet Potato
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Tomato, finely chopped
0.5 cup whisked Yogurt
3-4 Tbsp Tamarind Date Chutney
3-4 Tbsp Mint Coriander Chutney
2-3 Tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
1 cup fine Sev
2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
2-3 tsp Oil
2-3 tsp Lime Juice (optional)
2-3 tsp Chaat masala 
2-3 tsp Roasted Cumin powder to taste
1-2 tsp Black salt to taste
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degree Celsius.
2. Peel and dice the sweet potato into 1 cm sized cubes.
3. Mix in oil, 2 tsp red chilli powder (optional) and salt with the sweet potato and place it on a baking tray in a single layer.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the sweet potato is cooked.
5. Allow it to cool a little.
6. Depending on how many servings you want, divide the sweet potato.
7. Place the sweet potato on a plate.
8. Add in mint coriander chutney, tamarind date chutney, cumin powder, black salt, red chilli powder and chaat masala as per taste and mix well. Add lime juice if desired.
9. Add in finely chopped onions, tomatoes and coriander leaves.
10. Top with fine sev and serve immediately

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Tamarind Date Chutney

Guys...I have no words to describe this chutney.

It has become my number one favorite chutney! Zoomed right to the top...

So guys, how was your weekend? Good, bad, somewhere in between?

After a not so great week, I had a decent weekend. I had a thought provoking weekend. It  has been all about defying what I thought I liked. Hmmm.

I went Sari shopping with my mother in law and picked up a sari I never imagined myself buying. I bought a Mysore Silk, my first! I went so certain I wouldn't even buy silk. I surprised myself by picking up this mustard yellow and green Mysore Silk. The color combination I love, in a fabric I never though I could love. But it is lovely and I hope I enjoy wearing it. I've already started planning how to accessorize the Sari.

But my weekend got a lot better before I picked up the Sari. The reason? This awesome delicious amazing fabulous Tamarind Date Chutney I made earlier in the day and enjoyed with an even more delicious Sweet Potato Chaat (Recipe coming up soon, watch out!!)

Tamarind Date Chutney is an Indian version of barbeque sauce. It is tangy, it is sweet, it has a subtle taste of spice.

I am a more traditional South Indian coconut chutney kinda girl. At least I was, until I made this one.

I had one spoonful of the Tamarind Date Chutney and my mouth exploded. Seriously. Exploded with flavor. And I could not have enough of it. I kept sneaking in spoonfuls as I walked in and out of the kitchen while the chutney cooled. I'm sure I saw Raj do it too though he totally denies it.

It's not like I've not made Imli ki Chutney or Tamarind Chutney before, it's just that I'd never made it with dates. It was usually with sugar or jaggery and tamarind. While the sugar added to the sweetness it never gave the chutney that kind of depth it got from the dates.

This chutney can be eaten with anything and everything. You can use it as a marinade where ever you would use barbeque sauce. You can eat it with french fries or Samosa. I even topped a cracker with it and relished it off while no one was around.

The above para just states what you can do.... but not what you need to. You NEED to add this chutney to your chaat*. No chaat is complete without a tangy sweet tamarind chutney and once you've made chaat with THIS Tamarind Date Chutney, there is just no turning back.

*Chaat is Indian version of street food 

My message is clear - Eat this with absolutely anything. But eat it for sure. This chutney is what cravings are made of (when not chocolate cravings, of course, nothing beats chocolate in my world). Try it and tell me what you think.

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Coriander Mint Chutney - Another must have for chaat, a tart spicy chutney made with fresh coriander and mint leaves.
• Mint Peanut Chutney - Simple cooked chutney made with mint and peanuts. Almost like a pesto.
• Creamy Pumpkin Sauce - Vegan creamy sauce made from ripe pumpkins.

Tamarind Date Chutney

Tamarind Date Chutney is an Indian version of barbeque sauce. It is tangy, it is sweet, it has a subtle taste of spice.

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:            North Indian
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     20 minutes
Yield:                3/4 cup

Ingredients:

0.25 cup Tamarind
1.5 cup warm Water
6-8 pitted Dates
1-2 tsp Jaggery powder or Brown Sugar
0.5 tsp Cumin Powder
0.25 tsp Red Chilli Powder

Method:

Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup warm water and keep aside for 30 minutes.
Squeeze the tamarind pulp and extract all tamarind juice.
Chop the dates finely.
Combine the tamarind and dates in a pan and cook on medium flame until it starts bubbling.
Add the cumin powder and red chilli powder and mix.
Cover and simmer on low flame for 8-10 minutes.
Allow it to cool and then blend into a smooth chutney.
Add jaggery powder or brown sugar if the chutney is not sweet enough.
Add water if the consistency is very thick.
Serve chilled.

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Eggless Banana Bread Recipe | How to make Banana Bread Without Eggs

Banana Bread recipe without eggs. This banana bread is a dense cake made from ripe bananas and without eggs. It is perfect as a breakfast or a tea time cake.

In a hurry? Jump to Video or Jump to Recipe

This time, my weekend has begun, unlike last week when I had to work a Saturday to make up for an unexpected holiday. I wish every night could be a Friday night when I get to lie down on the sofa and watch TV all night. I rarely cook elaborate meals on Friday night. Bare minimum to stop me from being hungry. So it is usually some kind of pressure cooker rice dish like Mint Pulao or Vangi Bhaat. I don’t like doing dishes either on Friday nights.

This week though, I have an added treat to my Friday night. We bought these large bananas on Sunday that were starting to go all black on the outside and ripe on the inside. I felt my whole house had begun smelling bananas. Usually, overripe banana means making Mangalore Banana Buns for me. But this time, I tried a new way of using them up in this zero effort Banana Bread. It takes like 10 minutes to whip up the batter and then just put it in the oven and allow it to cook while you continue with your other work.

This Banana Bread is dense and moist as any good banana bread is meant to be. It is perfect to eat at tea time as isn’t too sweet. I pretty much ate it for tea, snacks and dessert. So there isn’t a time when it isn’t the right time to eat this Banana Bread.

The Banana Bread has a slight hint of vanilla. I used condensed milk to add liquidity and sugar, and hence did not use sugar in the bread. If you want to skip the condensed milk, just use more of regular milk and sugar. You can also add maple syrup instead.

If you have never baked a cake in your life, then I’d suggest starting out with this Banana Bread, it is a no fail and zero effort recipe.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Eggless Banana Bread Recipe | How to make Banana Bred Without Eggs

Moist Eggless Banana Bread made using ripe bananas, condensed milk and all purpose flour. 

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:            International
Prep Time:     20 minutes
Cook time:     40 minutes
Yield:                1 loaf

Ingredients:

3 ripe Banana
1.5 cups All Purpose Flour (Maida)
100gms sweetened Condensed Milk
1/3 cup Butter (melted and cooled)
1/2 cup powdered Sugar
1/4 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon Powder (Optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.
2. Brush the bottom and sides of a loaf tin with butter and dust with flour. I used a 9"x 3"x 2.5" loaf tin.
3. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and keep aside.
4. Mash the bananas.
5. Add the condensed milk, melted butter or oil, milk and vanilla extract to the mashed bananas and mix until combined.
6. With a wooden spoon or a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients gently into the wet ingredients until you get a thick batter. Do not over mix, else the bread will become hard.
7. Taste the batter and if you feel it needs more sweetness, add in powdered sugar as desired.
8. Scrape the batter into the greased loaf tin.
9. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
10. Remove the bread from the pan after 5-8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
11. Allow it to cool and then slice it.
12. Serve at room temperature or warm.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Honey Cake

Vegan Date Walnut Cake

Banana Buns / Mangalore Buns

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Super Tasty Millet Cutlets

TGIF!! Right? Weekend officially begins for most of us.

Well not so much for me this week. I'm working tomorrow. Not a happy feeling, I have to admit. Saturday is my favorite day of the week. I like that happy feeling that there is another day of holiday left. By Sunday, I'm usually sad that the weekend is "almost" over. Now all my plans for Saturday are out of the window and pushed to next Saturday. I wanted to go get some fresh mud to plant the variety of seeds I got free at an Organic Terrace Gardening workshop conducted a few weeks ago. 

I am looking forward to some fresh vegetables in the near future, but those plans have to wait until I get an entire weekend to dedicate to my balcony garden. 

More about that later.

So what else happened this week for you guys? 

I baked my first Vegan chocolate cake for Gee and Raj's birthday on Wednesday.  I have baked vegetarian cakes, but never vegan. It was super delicious, but so wrong in texture. I hope to keep trying to perfect it and hopefully will have it soon on the blog. 

So, none of that on top had anything to do with either my recipe for today or my new found obsession with millet. I'm beginning to use millet extensively these days, remember this post on Healthy Millet Salad? Since then I've tried out a few more recipes with Millet, but these Millet Cutlets have to be my favorite. I secretly love the fact that they are healthy too. Well not so much of a secret anymore, is it?

Usually vegetarian cutlets use potato as the base as it binds well. But this recipe, just like my Curried Brown Rice and Zucchini Fritters recipe, uses the starchy grain as the binding agent. And the good thing is, just like potato and rice, millet in itself is bland, so it absorbs all the flavor of the spices.

I used simple vegetables I had at home - frozen peas, beans and carrot. Feel free to use other vegetables like Zucchini or Beets. Next time I'm definitely adding Beets. Beets will give it lovely color and that earthy sweetness which I absolutely love in cutlets.

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Vegetable Cutlets - Mix vegetable cutlets with coriander and mint chutney
• Healthy Millet Salad - Protein packed salad made from millet, kidney beans and fresh vegetables and herbs.
• Curried Brown Rice and Zucchini Fritters recipe - My most popular recipe of fritters or cutlets made with brown rice, zucchini and spices.

Super Tasty Millet Cutlet

Shallow fried cutlets made from foxtail millet and mixed vegetables.

Recipe Type:  Appetizer
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:                Makes 13-15

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Foxtail Millet or Navane
4-5 Green Beans
3 Tbsp Green Peas
1 small Carrot
1-2 tsp Green Chilli-Ginger paste
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Tbsp Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
1-2 tsp Lime Juice
1/2 tsp Jaggery or Sugar
Oil to fry
Water
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash and soak the millet in water for 30 minutes
Finely chop the green beans and the carrot.
Boil the green beans, carrot and green peas until done.
Drain the millet, and pressure cook it in 1 cup of water until the millets are cooked. Cook it for 1 whistle or for 3-4 minutes after the pressure builds up. If not using a pressure cooker, cook it the same way you would cook rice regularly until the millet is well done.
Allow it to cool until you can work with it.
In a large bowl, combine the cooked millet, cooked vegetables and mash slightly.
Add the coriander leaves, green chilli-ginger paste, lime juice, garam masala, turmeric powder, jaggery or sugar, salt and mix well.
Shape into cutlets and keep aside.
Heat 3-4 Tbsp of Oil in a frying pan and place the cutlets on it. Once the first side is golden brown, flip and cook until the other side is browned.
Serve hot with ketchup or mint chutney.

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Grilled Eggplant and Coriander Hummus Rolls

My latest addition to Finger Food that is finger licking good - Grilled Eggplant and Coriander Hummus Rolls. Silky smooth garlicky coriander hummus rolled in thinly sliced grilled eggplant. This recipe is super quick to make and has all makings of a healthy snack.

Who is a Hummus fan?? Obviously, Me, well so is Raj, there's Gee too... Well, the whole family is nuts about Hummus. The usual combination for hummus is Pita, but when you are bored to knead dough and roll out those light little pockets of Pita, I recommend trying this simple gluten free option to enjoy that amazing hummus.

As much as I like Hummus, I love Coriander or Cilantro just as much, or may be a little more. A sprinkle of coriander here, a tablespoon of coriander there. I literally, use it in everything I make. That vibrant fresh sprinkling of green, just brightens up any curry. It does the same to this Hummus. This Coriander Hummus is just one level above the regular Hummus in terms of flavor and color. I mean who does not find this lovely green appealing?

I can eat this Coriander Hummus with anything - crackers, chips, regular bread, chapati, roti, naan. I think I'm only yet to try it with rice. But on days that you are too bored to knead the dough and make your own light Pita pockets or you just fancy going gluten free, try this awesome combination of eggplant and hummus and tell me if you hear complains.

Ever since I bought my AWESOME new grill pan, I've been grilling EVERYTHING. Paneer, Eggplant, Peppers... this is just a small list. Grilling is so much fun, I love that nice char marks that I get from my new pan. Check out this super delicious Grilled Paneer Sandwich I made using the same pan.

However, I think I should warn you, these rolls are addictive and may never be enough for your family. They are also quite filling.

If you don't want to make your own hummus, you can just use your favorite store bought hummus. Roasted Pepper Hummus will also go great with the Eggplant.

If you like this, you may also like:

• Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich - Sandwich inspired by the Panera Bread sandwich of the same name.
• Olive Hummus - Hummus made using olives. No Tahini required.
• Eggplant Pizza - Grilled eggplant topped with tomato sauce and cheese

Grilled Eggplant and Coriander Hummus Rolls

These Eggplant Rolls are made by grilling finely sliced eggplant and spreading coriander hummus on them before rolling them into bite sized rolls.

Recipe Type:  Appetizer
Cuisine:            Middle Eastern
Prep Time:     15 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:                Makes 13-15

Ingredients:

For Coriander Hummus:

1 cup cooked Chickpeas
1/2 cup Coriander leaves
2-3 Garlic cloves
2 Tbsp Water
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt to taste

For Grilled Eggplant:

1 large Eggplant or Bharta Baingan
Water
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
3-4 tsp of Oil

Method:

To make Coriander Hummus:

Chop the coriander leaves and garlic.
Blend together the chickpeas, coriander leaves, garlic and salt with water and Olive oil until it is a smooth creamy paste.
Add more Olive oil if required.

To make Grilled Eggplant:

Take a large bowl of water and add 1/2 tsp of salt to
Slice the eggplant into fine slices lengthwise and put them in the salted water. Leave them soaked for 10-15 minutes.
Pat the eggplant fry using a tea towel or kitchen napkins and rub them with oil, salt and pepper.
Heat a grill pan or a griddle. Once it is hot place the eggplant slices on it in a single layer without overlapping them.
Spoon oil on the eggplant if required. Grill for 2-3 minutes on each side until the eggplant is cooked.

To make the Rolls:

Spread the coriander hummus on the grilled eggplant slices and roll them to make Grilled Eggplant and Coriander Hummus rolls.

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Mixed Dal Handvo Recipe | Lauki Handva Recipe | How to make Gujarati Handvo

Mixed Dal Handvo or Lauki Handva is a popular gluten free Gujarati breakfast or snack, made from mixed lentils, rice and bottle gourd. Handvo is made with a rice-dal fermented batter and grated bottle gourd (lauki / ghiya). Handvo is steamed / pan fried in a frying pan or a kadhai. Handvo is suitable for a Jain diet.

In a hurry? Jump to Video or Jump to Recipe

I had been waiting for this long weekend for ages and it has gone in a poof.. Somehow, all my long weekends seem busier than my regular 2 day weekends. Any of you out there with me on this one?

So, what did you do this Ganesh Chaturthi? I hope you all had a wonderful Chaturthi.

I spent my days cleaning the house before the festival and then just cooking, cooking and more cooking. Whew! Does life get busy around festivals!

I made these super delicious Steamed Modaks. I love them sooo much more than the fried ones. I think I ate more than all others combined. 

To add to this Raj has a potluck in office and he wanted to take these Almond Chocolate Brownies. Thanks to my small oven, we had to keep baking it batches and it kept us in the house watching the oven for a long time.

But the festivities are done, the sweets have taken a toll on my weight for sure. It's now time to get back to something nutritious and healthy. These Protein Packed Mixed Dal Handvo or Handva as it is sometimes called, was just the thing I had in mind for Tuesday breakfast. 

To tell you the truth, I wasn't convinced about Handvo when I watched it on TV. I wondered if it could taste so good as the show presenter was saying. Then, I tried it at home, following this recipe from Tarla Dalal and I must say, those guys on TV weren't lying, it is absolutely delicious. And healthy too... Now I can have my cake and eat it too!!

What is Handvo or Handva?

Handvo is a pan-fried or steamed savory cake made with a fermented batter of rice and mixed lentils. Rice and a variety of lentils or dals are soaked for 6-8 hours and then blended to form a thick coarse batter. To this batter, yogurt or curd is added to help it ferment better.

You can tell that the batter is fermented by looking at it, it should be light and fluffy and should have risen. If the temperatures in your region are high, this may take as less as 5-6 hours and if they are cold, it may take 10 hours or longer. 

Lauki or Bottle gourd or Ghiya is lightly fried in a tempering of mustard, curry leaves, asafoetida (hing) and turmeric powder before adding to the batter. If you cannot find bottle gourd, you can replace it with Zucchini or skip it too.

This batter is then steamed on a greased pan until cooked.

The side facing the pan first is crispy and the inside is soft. 

You may add a tempering before serving, it is highly recommended.

Handvo tastes best with pudina chutney, but you can also serve it with ketchup or just plain.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

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Mixed Dal Handvo Recipe | Lauki Handva Recipe | How to make Gujarati Handvo

Mixed Dal Handvo or Lauki Handva is a popular gluten free Gujarati breakfast or snack, made from mixed lentils, rice and bottle gourd. Handvo is made with a rice-dal fermented batter and grated bottle gourd (lauki / ghiya). Handvo is steamed in a frying pan or a kadhai.

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:            Gujarati
Prep Time:     16 hours
Cook time:     30 minutes
Total time:     6 minutes
Yield:                Serves 4 to 5

Author:                Anupama

Ingredients:

1 cup Rice
0.5 cup Moong Dal
0.5 cup Toor Dal
2 Tbsp Urad Dal
2 Tbsp Chana Dal
0.5 cup thick Curd ( yogurt / dahi)
0.25 tsp Baking Soda (meetha soda)
2 cup Bottlegourd (Lauki / ghiya), grated, loosely packed
2 Tbsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 Tbsp Curry leaves, chopped
0.25 tsp Asafoetida (Hing), gluten free
0.5 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Sesame seeds (til)
Oil to grease the pan
Salt to taste
Oil to grease the pan

For the tempering:

1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Sesame seeds (til)
1 sprig Curry leaves

Method:

1. Mix the rice, moong dal, toor dal, chana dal and urad dal in a large bowl. Wash 2 to 3 times and soak in water for 6 hours.
2. After 6 hours, drain the water and blend to a thick coarse batter without adding any water. The dals would have soaked up water and that is sufficient to blend. If you still are struggling to blend, add very little and blend.
3. Remove the batter to a large bowl and add in the curd and baking soda. Mix well and cover and keep aside to ferment overnight or for 6-8 hours.
4. Next morning, heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
5. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the chopped curry leaves, hing, turmeric powder and grated bottle gourd. Mix well and cook on low heat for 5 minutes or until the bottlegourd softens a little.
6. Add this to the batter and add salt. Mix well.
7. In a shallow kadhai or in a frying pan add 1-2 Tbsp oil and spoon in the batter. Sprinkle sesame seeds. You will have to cook the handvo in batches. The size of your frying pan or kadhai will determine how many batches. I made 2 handvos in a 24 cm frying pan.
8. Cover and cook on low heat until the top is almost cooked. It should look somewhat set. This may take 8-10 minutes.
9. Carefully flip the handvo and cook on high heat until the second side is cooked and has brown spots.
10. Cool the handvo a little before slicing. Handvo will appear to be sticky when hot, it will set better as it cools.
11. Just before serving, make a tempering by heating oil and adding mustard seeds, curry leaves and sesame seeds and pour on the handvo.
12. Serve warm with pudina chutney.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Matar Dhokla

Kothimbir Vadi

Sabudana Vada

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Healthy Millet Salad

This Healthy Millet Salad is made from Foxtail Millet, kidney beans, sprouts and mix vegetables. It is very healthy, very tasty and very filling. 

You go to the supermarket and are immediately drawn to the shelf that holds these exotic ingredients that you've only heard of but never eaten. It looks nice in it's classy looking packaging. You start remembering that recipe you saw on TV or that food photo that featured in the Magazine, wondering which of them should you cook. You glance at the price, and that wonderful dream of cooking with something exotic just evaporates. Smile replaced by shock. Deja vu, anyone?

I replay this scene everytime I go to stores like FoodHall or Godrej Nature's Basket. And sometimes I do it knowing that it will be an anti-climax. By now I know I will never buy Quinoa because of it's insane cost. Quinoa is being touted as THE superfood. High in protein, not high in calories, it's kind of  a win-win for those who can access it easily.

Quinoa is not Indian. Although, recently, some farmers are toying with the idea of growing Quinoa, it is still not popular enough to replace any of our ancient grains and seeds.

I use Millet instead. India has been the home of millet for centuries. Millets are just as rich as Quinoa. It is rich in fibre and magnesium. It has a low glycemic index and is a rich source of protein. And it is very light on your pocket. In short, millet is affordable super food that are easily available anywhere.

There are various types of Millet:

• Pearl Millet or Bajra
• Foxtail Millet or Navane
• Finger Millet or Ragi
• Sorghum Millet or Jowar

There are so many more, but these are the famous ones.

Let's  get back to this super tasty and healthy Foxtail Millet Salad. I've had it two days in a row and I just cannot have enough of it !!! 

This is a super simple salad. The dressing is made with just Olive oil, lime juice, honey, salt and pepper. Everything you already have at home, so there is no excuse to skip making it. Use any oil you like if you have run out of Olive Oil.

Now, usually, I say that there are things that are optional in a recipe. But in this one, the beans are definitely not optional. They are one the major building blocks of this salad. I really don't believe this salad will taste as good if you skip them. Also really needed are the fresh ingredients - tomatoes, cucumbers and mint. Everything else in the salad can either be skipped or replaced. You can substitute the coriander with parsley. Skip the sprouts if you don't have any. I personally like the light sweetness of the carrots in the salad and would recommend keeping it in there.

This salad was pretty filling due to all the protein in it and the slowly digesting millet. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Kabuli Chana Chaat or Chickpea Salad - Street side style salad made with chickpeas, tomatoes, onions and spices. Hot and Tangy - explosive on your taste buds.
• Radish Salad - Fresh salad made from finely chopped radish or daikon (mooli) and it's leaves.

Healthy Millet Salad

Healthy salad made with mixed vegetables, beans, sprouts and Foxtail Millet. 

Recipe Type:  Salad
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Foxtail Millet or  Navane
1 cup cooked Red Kidney Beans or Rajma
1/4 cup Sprouts
2 ripe Tomatoes
1 small Cucumber
1/2 Carrot
1/2 Capsicum
Handful Coriander leaves
Handful Mint leaves
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Honey
2-3 tsp Lime Juice
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Water

Method:

Wash and soak the millet for 30 minutes.
Drain the millet and pressure cook it with 1/2 cup water until done. In a pressure cooker it takes around 1 whistle or 4-5 minutes after the pressure builds up.
If not using a pressure cooker, cook it the same way you would cook rice.
Allow the millet to cool to room temperature.
Finely chop the tomatoes, cucumber, carrot and capsicum and add to the millet.
Add the red kidney beans and the sprouts to the millet.
Roughly chop the coriander and mint leaves and add to the millet.
In a small bowl, mix olive oil, honey, lime juice, salt and pepper until completely blended.
Pour the dressing over the millet and vegetable mixture and mix well.
Serve at room temperature or chilled.

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