Papad methi shaak

The first time I heard of papad methi sabzee (sabzee is called shaak in Gujju) was at my in-laws place! I was not very thrilled about even tasting the dish! After a lot of reluctance I did taste it a bit, and dint like the taste at all. Papads are meant to be roasted and fried, and not meant for making sabzees! But, well after a while I really started enjoying the taste. The taste grows on you, especially if you enjoy methi then you definitely cannot resist this dish. And what more this dish needs minimal effort

Effort: 30 mins

Serves: 2 persons

Ingredients:
* 6 papads
* 2 tbsps fenugreek seeds
* 1/2 cup jaggery
* 2 tsps dhania jeera powder
* 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
* pinch of turmeric and salt as per taste
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh methi or you could also use kasuri methi instead
* 2-1/2 cups of water

For tempering:
* Oil
* mustard seeds

- Break the papad into small pieces


- Boil 2 tablespoons of methi (fenugreek) seeds in a cooker - 3 whistles on high flame and 1 whistle on low flame is sufficient. If you plan to boil in microwave, then cook for roughly 15-20 minutes



- Let the boiled seeds cool down. Wash thoroughly with water, so that the bitter taste is reduced
- Heat oil, and add mustard seeds.
- Once the seeds start spluttering, add methi seeds stir for a few seconds, and immediately add 1 cup of water
- Add dhania jeera powder, red chilli powder and turmeric powder along with jaggery and salt
- Add one more cup of water, and let it boil well
- Add fresh methi and papad, stir well. At this point if you find the taste very bitter, then you can add some more jaggery
- Cook till papads become soft
- Serve hot with rotis or rice

Batata Vada

Gujju cuisine would be the best way to start blogging in India, in order to impress the saasu-maa ;-) I have learnt quite a few traditional Gujju dishes from here, which are supposedly very oily but she does manage to use as less oil as possible!

Batata vada is very well known in Maharashtra as well as Gujrat, I would say more so in Maharashtra. But, I am posting this recipe under Gujju cuisine because these batata vadas are made by my MIL in Gujju style - yes they have a sweetish tinge, but they taste amazing!

Ingredients:

For the vada:

* 4-5 potatoes
* 1 medium onion roughly chopped
* 3-4 green chillies finely chopped
* 1 lemon
* 2 spoons chopped coriander
* salt as per taste
* 1 spoon sugar

For tempering:

* 1 spoon oil
* 1/2 spoon mustard seeds
* 1/2 spoon urad daal

For the mix:

* 1 cup besan
* Salt as per taste
* 1 spoon red chilli powder
* 1/2 spoon turmeric powder
* 1.5 cups water
* Oil for frying

Effort: 45 mins
Makes: 10-12 vadas

- Boil the potatoes (take care that they are not over cooked), allow to cool, peel skin and set aside
- While the potatoes are being boiled, mix the paste for outer coating of vadas - sieve the besan, add red chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder. Add water gradually and mix throughly using your hand so that the consistency is even. Set aside.

- For the tempering, heat oil, add mustard seeds and once they start spluttering, add the urad daal. Let it cook for a few seconds
- Add the tempering to the boiled potatoes, add onions, lemon juice, sugar, chopper corainder, green chillies and salt. Mash properly and make small balls and set aside

- Heat oil in a kadai. Dip each vada in the besan mix such the mix is well coated on the vada, and fry. Keep the vadas on a tissue paper to drain out the excess oil.
- Enjoy the hot vadas with the green chutney