Samosa

A famous Indian snack, Samosas can be probably be found

anywhere in the world! They're a lovely snack for a cold day
when you're just a little more than nibbly and a little less than
hungry. The recipe should make between 15-18 samosas.
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsps ghee (clarified butter)
Salt to taste
5 large potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed roughly
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp raw mango powder (aamchoor)
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
Vegetable/ canola/sunflower cooking oil for deep frying
Preparation:
Mix the flour with the ghee and salt to taste. Add a little water
at a time to it, to make a firm, smooth dough. Keep aside.
In a pan, heat 2 tbsps of oil and add the cumin seeds to it.
When they stop spluttering, add the coriander, tumeric, red
chilli, raw mango and garam masala powders. Fry for just a few
seconds.
Add the potato to this spice mixture and mix well. Season with
salt.
Simmer and cook for 7-10 minutes. Keep aside.

Divide the dough you made earlier in to golf ball-sized portions.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball out into a circle
roughly 7-8" in diameter (and approximately 1/6" thick).
Cut each circle into 2 with a sharp knife.
Take one semi-circle and lightly wet its straight edge with water.
Fold it into a cone, joining this wet edge and pressing gently to
seal well.
Fill this cone 3/4 full with the potato filling made earlier. You can
put any semi-dry filling you desire into Samosas - minced meat,
spinach, etc.
Lightly wet the open edges of the cone and press together to
seal well. Use all the dough up in a similiar manner.
Deep fry the Samosas till golden. Drain on paper towels.
Serve hot with Tamarind Chutney and Mint-Coriander Chutney.

Chivda
Make this crispy, crunchy snack ahead of time and store in an
air-tight container. It's perfect for times when you have an
attack of the munchies.
Ingredients:
1 cup sago
1/2 cup unsalted peanuts without skins
1/2 cup almonds/cashews
1/4 cups raisins
1 cup potato sticks (available at most supermarkets in the
Snack section)
5 green chillies chopped
1 tsp lemon salt
2 tsps sugar coarsely powdered
Vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil to deep fry
Preparation:
Heat the oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed pan on a medium flame.
Carefully add a little sago to this oil (it can splutter quite
violently so be careful!) and fry till it is all puffed. Remove while
still white. Drain on paper towels. Repeat till all sago is fried.
Fry the peanuts, almonds/cashews till golden. Fry the green
chillies till crsip. Drain all on paper towels.
Mix all the ingredients together well. Allow to cool.
Store in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks.
Chivda goes well with a hot cup of Masala Chai (spiced tea)!

Sabudana Vada - Sago Patties

Sabudana Vada from Maharashtra in western India is a great
snack and goes particularly well with hot Masala Chai (spiced
tea)!
Ingredients:
4 large potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed
1/2 cup sabudana (sago)
Water
1 large onion chopped very fine
2 green chillies chopped very fine
2" piece of ginger grated
1/4 cup peanuts roasted and crushed coarsely
1 tsp raw mango powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste
Vegetable/canola/sunflower cooking oil for shallow frying
Preparation:
Soak the sabudana (sago) in warm water overnight. It will puff
up and become translucent.
Mix the sabudana with all the other ingredients and form a
paste. Add salt to taste.
Make the paste into equal-sized balls and flatten slightly to form
patties.

Heat oil in a wide, flat pan and shallow fry the patties till
golden.
Drain on paper towels and serve with tamarind chutney, mintcoriander chutney and piping-hot Masala Chai.

Chakli (crispy savory spirals)

This crunchy snack is just as good at tea time as it is for a
special occassion. Traditional chaklis are made with a special
chakli making mold.
2 cups rice flour
1 cup moong daal flour
1/2 cup ghee
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp cumin seeds lightly roasted
1 tbsp thymol seeds lightly roasted
2 tbsps sesame seeds lightly roasted
Salt to taste
Vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil for deep frying
Preparation:
Sieve the 2 flours together.
Mix all the other ingredients in the flour.
Melt and cool the ghee. Pour it, a little at a time onto the flour
mixture and knead. For Chakli, you need to make a dough that
is medium soft and smooth so, when all the ghee is used up,
add cool water, a little at a time and keep kneading till you
reach the required consistency. Taste dough and season with
salt. Mix well.
Fill some of the dough in a chakli mold or icing bag (with a large
nozzle).

Pipe out spirals - 3" diameter - onto a baking sheet.

Heat the oil in a pan on a medium flame.
Deep fry the chaklis till golden. Drain on paper towels, cool and
store in an air-tight container.

Chaat - Tikki Ki Chaat - Ragda Pattice

This has to be the most popular North-Indian snack! Vendors
literally crowd the streets selling all kinds of delicious variations
of chaat in this part of the country. Chaat parties are also
popular and a great alternative to a sit-down dinner. Tikki Ki
Chaat is another North Indian name for this dish. In western
India, the same dish is called Ragda Pattice.
Ingredients:
6 large potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp raw mango powder
1/2 cup finely chopped coriander
2 onions finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 can of chickpeas roughly mashed
6 cloves
3 pods cardamom
8 peppercorns
1 cup Tamarind Chutney
1 cup Mint-coriander Chutney

Coriander chopped fine to garnish

Chaat masala to garnish
Vegetable/canola/sunflower cooking oil to shallow fry
Preparation:
Mix the mashed potatoes, red chilly, coriander, cumin and raw
mango powders, chopped coriander, 1 chopped onion and salt
to taste. Make into a smooth paste. Form into equal-sized
patties.
Heat oil on a griddle and shallow fry these patties till crisp and
golden. Drain on paper towels.
Add 1 cup of water to the roughly mashed chickpeas. Add the
cloves, cardamom and peppercorns and salt to taste. Bring to a
boil, stirring often. Turn off the heat. Remove the whole spices
and discard.
To serve the Tikki Ki Chaat, put 2 hot patties in a plate and
spoon some chickpea mixture over them. Add the Tamarind and
Mint-coriander Chutneys according to taste. Sprinkle chopped
onion and corainder to garnish. Sprinkle chaat masala over the
whole dish.
A tasty variation to this recipe: add some yogurt (whisk to make
smooth) over the chickpea mix and then add the remaining
ingredients.

Papdi Chaat
Crunchy, tangy, hot and sweet flavors combine to make Papdi
Chaat delicious to eat as a snack or a great alternative to a
meal.
Ingredients:
250 gms all-purpose flour
4 tbsps ghee
1 tsp onion seeds
Salt to taste
Vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil to deep fry
5 large potatoes, boiled, peeled and chopped into tiny pieces
1 cup chickpeas, boiled and mashed coarsely (sprinkle with salt
to taste)
2 red (Spanish) onions chopped very fine
2 large tomatoes chopped very fine
2 cups fine sev (gram flour vermicilli)
2 tsps red chilli powder
3 tsps powdered black rock salt
2 tbsps cumin seeds, gently roasted and powdered

Fresh finely chopped coriander leaves for garnish

2 cups fresh yoghurt whisked till smooth and chilled
1 cup Tamarind Chutney (see recipe below)
1 cup Mint-Corainder Chutney (see recipe below)
Equipment:
2" circular cookie cutter
Preparation:
Mix the flour, ghee, onion seeds and salt to taste and mix well.
Add just a little water at a time and knead to get a firm, smooth
dough. Cver with a damp cloth and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, divide it into equal-sized balls. Roll
between your palms till smooth.
Lightly flour a clean rolling surface and press one ball flat. Roll
out into a circle (1/4" thick) using a rolling pin. Now use the
circular cookie cutter to cut smaller circles out on the large
circle. Remove extra dough from sides of smaller circles. Keep
on a lightly floured tray or plate for later frying (they will
become the Papdis). Repeat till all the dough is used up.
Heat oil for deep frying, in a deep pan on a medium flame.
When hot, add the Papdis a few at a time and fry till crisp and
pale golden.
Drain and keep on paper towels. Repeat till all Papdis are made.
They can be stored for a few weeks if kept in an airtight
container.
To serve, first set up all ingredients - Papdis, toppings and
chutneys - within easy reach. dip 5-6 Papdis (per person) in
yoghurt and remove. Arrange on a plate.
Put a little potato, chickpeas, onion and tomato on each Papdi.
When all are done in this way, drizzle a teaspoonful each of
Tamarind and Mint-Corainder Chutney on each Papdi.

Sprinkle a handful of sev all over the Papdis in the plate. Now
sprinkle red chilli powder, cumin powder and black rock salt and
garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve as soon as
possible or the Papdis will get soggy.