Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Marathi Series: Kanda Pohe & Mixed Bhaji Platter

Marathi Series: Kanda Pohe & Mixed Bhaji (Vegetable Fritters)


This is the 2nd post in the Marathi food series. You can see the reason for the Marathi series and the 1st post here.

Bhaji Platter or Fritters
Can you guess all the different vegetables in there? Answer is in the next 2 paras !


Quintessential Comfort Food: Kanda Pohe or Spicy Beaten Rice


Every time I call India these days, everyone is busy gearing up for Diwali...making sweet & savory snacks also known as Pharaal in Marathi, buying new clothes and fireworks, and sprucing up their homes among other things! My grandparents are visiting their sons and daughters in my home town of Pune, and just speaking to them over the phone makes me miss them even more :(

What I needed was down right comfort food to make up for me not celebrating Diwali with them (hopefully next yr tho...)! So off I went and cooked up some Pohe and a bhaji (also known as pakoras in Hindi) platter with onion bhaji, potato bhaji, mirchi bhaji, sweet potato bhaji and squash flower bhaji..yummmm! Now this surely was not a bad way to comfort yourself ;).

I won't post the recipe for the pohe, as there are innumerable recipes for that on the blogosphere. You can see some great versions ranging from the traditional version here to an experimental version here.

Bhaji Platter/Vegetable Fritters
Ingredients
1. 1/2 cup onions thinly sliced
2. 1/2 cup potatoes thinly sliced
3. 1/2 cup sweet potatoes thinly sliced
4. 4-5 green chillies or jalapenos slit open partly. Make sure to keep the ends intact
5. 1/2 cup squash flower
(You can add other vegetables like thinly sliced eggplant if you like)
6. 21/2 cups chickpea flour/besan
7. 3/4 cup water
8. 11/2 tsp corriander/dhania powder
9. 1 tsp cumin/jeera powder
10. 1 tsp red chili powder
11. 1 tsp carom seeds/ajwain (optional)
12. Salt to taste
13. 3 cups oil for frying. I use olive oil
Method
1. Add some salt to the sliced onions and keep aside for 5-10 minutes
2. To this add all the other vegetables and the dry ingredients (minus the oil and water). Mix well and let rest for another 2-3 minutes
3. Heat oil in a deep frying pan/kadhai
4. Take a tsp of the heated oil and add it to the dry mix. Miss well. This step makes the bhajis nice and crispy!
5. Add water as needed to the mix to make a smooth yet slightly thick batter
6. Batch by batch, drop & fry to a golden brown the onions then potatoes, then sweet potatoes, then squash flowers and then the chilies covered in batter.
The chilies should be added in the end, as they tend to pop up sometimes with the seeds spreading into the oil.

Serve with mint chutney or ketchup.
Enjoy :)

20 comments:

FH said...

Slurp!! Both look great. Kanda Poha is a classic , isn't it? Happy Diwali Dhana, enjoy:)

Tee said...

Classic and mouthwatering! :)

Cynthia said...

It sucks being away from family at this time doesn't it :(

bee said...

where are the dishes from ferguson college? :D happy diwali to you.

KayKat said...

Squash flower fritters? That has got to be awesome! :)

Happy Diwali!

Sona - quick picks/pick quicks said...

hi..,,first time her..luv the fritters, by the way, in one of your previous posts..u had a snap of as what u were saying, lovely honey from a local market..gosh!, i found myself staring at it for a long time,it looked more like sip-up's we get in india, in diff falvours...lol

Swaruchy said...

Dhana....Nice ones...YUM :-))
Happy Diwali to u and family dear :-)

Swaroopa said...

surely a comfort food. thanx for sharing.

Nupur said...

I think this kind of brunch/tiffin is my idea of heaven! Everything looks just delicious!

Sagari said...

yummy food and fritters look soo delecious

Finla said...

Who can resisit these bjais.
Love them

Anonymous said...

I am a freelance writer in Mumbai and currently exploring writings on Indian food blogs and different stuff that they write / discuss.

Would appreciate if you could answer the following questions for me.

1. What new flavors, recipes have you tried or noticed in the recent past?
2. What experiments have you tried? Any fusion foods?
3. Which of these have worked and why?
4. What new trends / changes do you see in everyday cooking and why?
5. What new food products would you like to buy to make everyday cooking easier and fun?

You may also mail your response to tasteofindia2008@gmail.com

KellytheCulinarian said...

Looks pretty.

TheCooker said...

Happy New Year, Dhana.

Long time no post.
Hope all is well.

Ashwini said...

Dhana can you email me at food_forthought11@yahoo.com? Cheers and Happy New Year.

Unknown said...

aaaaahhh... i just read onion bhaji from one of the recipe books. that looks lovely. and then i see yours here, there are more versions than i thought! would love to try some.

Vaidehi Bhave said...

Looking yummy..

Like all ur recipes and blog..do check my kande pohe recipe
kande pohe

Anonymous said...

Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Dieta, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://dieta-brasil.blogspot.com. A hug.

Anonymous said...

Looks fantastic!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Dhana,

If you know it, Can you write up the receipe of Teecha (The Green chilli chutney)
Hilary said, Peppers are good for energy! ;-)

PS: Followed from linkedin to here.

Regards
Amit