Ragda Pattice/ Patties (Chaat from Mumbai)

Ragda Pattice is a very popular Chaat item from Mumbai. This was the first dish I made for Maharashtra, but changed it to Vada Pav and kept this for 'Cooking from Cookbook Challenge' instead. I've never made ragda pattice at home until I saw this recipe being made on a Telugu cooking show and made it twice since then. I remember enjoying this snack on the road side stalls in Hyderabad, one particular one close to my aunt's house was our favorite.

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Maharashtra -- Vada Pav (famous Street food from Mumbai)

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 16
State: Maharashtra
Dish: Vada Pav

We are going to Maharashtra, in the western coast of India. It is the second most populous state and the third largest state by area in India. Maharashtra occupies the western and central part of the country and has a long coastline nearly 720kms along the Arabian sea.
Maharashtra is divided into 5 geographic regions: Konkan is the western coastal region. Kandesh is the northwestern region. Desh is the center of the state. Marathwada is located in the southeastern part of the state. Vidarbha is the easternmost region of the state.
Maharashtra is the most industrialized state and has maintained its leading position in the industrial sector in India. The state is pioneer in small scale industries.
Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) is the capital of the State and is the financial capital of India. I have never visited Mumbai, but from what I've heard and seen in movies, it sounds like it is almost like New York -- crowded and always bustling with activity. India's main stock exchange, capital market and commodity exchange are all located in Mumbai. It is also the home of India movie industry, Bollywood.

Cuisine: Maharashtrian cuisine covers a range from being mild to very spicy dishes.
Staple Food: Wheat, rice, jowar, bajri, lentils, vegetables and fruit.
Specialties: Puran Poli, Ukdiche Modak, Batata wada, Thalipeeth, Misal Pav, Bhadang, Ukad, Amti etc.

Today's Dish: Street food is one of the characteristic of Mumbai. Mumbai is known for its distinctive street foods and people from all economic, religious and ethnic backgrounds enjoy their street food in Mumbai. So I decided to make one of the most popular street food from Mumbai, Vada Pav. Other favorites include Pani puri, Bhel puri, Sandwiches, Ragda pattice, Pav bhaji etc.,

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Delhi -- Aloo Chaat recipe (Baked version)

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 6
State: Delhi
Dish: (Un)fried Aloo Chaat Delhi style

Delhi is the Capital of India and is situated in Northern part of India. It is a Union territory and second largest populous city in the world. I have visited Delhi 3~4 times as a kid, but don't remember what we ate there. One of my aunts used to live in Delhi and we used to have more homemade meals and never really explored the street food in Delhi.

Cuisine: Delhi is a city with a very vast history. It has been continuously inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through, most of the history, it served as the capital of various kingdoms and empires. It was the capital for centuries under Mughal rule and the Mughals influenced the cuisine of Delhi to a large extent. Food culture in Delhi is a mixture of North Indian food, Mughlai cuisines, Punjabi food and mouth watering street food.
Street Food is extremely popular in Delhi and a trend of dinig at local dhabas is popular among the residents. The Gali Paranthe Wali is a street in Chandni Chowk particularly for food eateries since the 1870s. Almost the entire street is occupied by fast food stalls or street vendors.
Specialties: Aloo Chaat, Dahi Vada, Kachori, Chole Bature, Jalebi etc.,

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Raj Kachori ~ Rajasthani Chaat Recipe

For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge, Valli & Vaishali wanted us to make Raj Kachori, a Rajathani chaat item. When Valli announced the challenge, I read the recipe and thought it was really elaborate with quite a few components to be prepared and then completely forgot about it. Then suddenly this past weekend I realized it was almost time to post for ICC and I didn't make the dish. I knew I had no sooji in the pantry and gave up on the challenge. But when I checked again I found a small container of sooji (!!), I'm not even sure where that came from. Anyway that meant I was going to make this delicious chaat for this month's challenge.

It is definitely an elaborate dish and cannot be made in a rush. So make sure that you read the recipe completely and plan to make the components ahead of time or plan to give yourself enough time to complete them.

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Aloo Tikki Wrap (Potato patty wrap)

Blogging Marathon# 33: Week 1/ Day 1
Theme: Combo Dishes - Tikkis/ Burgers
Dish: Aloo Tikki Wrap (Potato patty wrap)

After our month long Mega marathon last month with A-Z Andhra dishes, we are back to our regular 3 days a week Blogging marathon this month. My theme for the for the first week is 'Combo Dishes' involving tikkis and burgers. When I signed up I wasn't sure what I would be cooking for this week. After all the planning, cooking and blogging non-stop for a whole month, this week feels so unplanned and on the spur of the moment. I haven't cooked the dishes for next 2 days, hopefully they will be done on time.

My mom and my sister along with my niece are here with us. I'm enjoying the company and my mom's Andhra dishes. In turn I'm trying new recipes on them -- it's a win-win situation for me, not sure if they think so or not :-)

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Chana Dal Kebabs (Vegetarian Kebabs with Chickpeas)

Blogging Marathon# 30: Week 2/ Day 2
Theme: Get it Rolled
Dish: Chana Dal Kebabs

Day 2 of BM# 30 and today's dish under 'Get it Rolled' theme is Chana dal Kebabs. When you think of kebabs, you think of skewers and meat. Here's some Wiki gyan about Kebabs - 'Kebab is derived from the Arabic word 'kabab' which means to 'fry'. I especially like this story about the origin of kebabs -- Persian soldiers used their swords to cook meat on open fire and hence started the 'kebab' way of cooking meat.

Well since this is a vegetarian food blog, I decided to make some kebabs with beans. This recipe is inspired from one of the Telugu cooking shows. Original recipe used only chickpeas, but I had some cooked mixed beans (from this dal biryani I made earlier) which is used instead. These kebabs were filling and delicious.

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