Friday, May 18, 2007

KHATARNAAK CHAAT !!

Hahahahahahahaha!!! What a title! It's just that we made AluTiki and Chana-Chaat and on tasting it M exclaimed "Kya KHATARNAAK banaya hai re apan ne yeh chaat!!"

Thanks to Trupti and her brilliant idea of having an event involving Friends and Family in the kitchen, I snagged the chance of getting M in the kitchen to help out. It's not that he does not want to help, but his work pressure is so high, that when he comes home tired... one look at his tired, haggard face sets me bustling like a mother hen, off to make a hot cuppa.
However, occasionally when he does wander into my domain, he lends a helping hand, which happened today! And I took the opportunity of taking some pictures (since the camera is always at hand in the kitchen !)

We decided that the evening should be dedicated to lolling in the bed, watching movies and not doing anything else... for this plan to succeed we had to prepare ..
One dish .. that's it.. one item which would satisfy the hunger pangs and satisfy the taste buds.. hmmmm, what do I make then? Chaat!! can there be another choice!! I ask You!!
Action plan for the remainder of the day:

Step into the library : GRAB all the available Sherlock Holmes series and also GRAB the Jeeves and Wooster series
Dash to the stores to pick up any items as needed. Dash home...Don the apron and cook!

Item by unanimous choice : Aloo Tikki with Chana (choley)

M's first concern... will this take the entire day? (this is when I saw my chance..) Not if you wanna pitch in... , M is all set...
So while I do the potatoes, he speedily tidies around the house (bless him even for shoving things into corners ! I love him for doing that!!) and joins me in my *tiny* kitchen

We collect all the items we need ( M needs to *see* everything before him, to get creative)
For the Tikkis , I used my old recipe without the sweet chutney filling. On the broad lines, this is how we made it...
Potatoes
Green chillies
Cumin seeds
Ginger- Garlic paste
Cilantro
Salt to taste
Amchur powder/ Lemon juice
Oil
Boil, peel and mash the potatoes.
Grind together the cumin , ginger garlic, chillies
Add the paste to the potatoes
Add salt, amchur / lemon juice and chopped cilantro
Mix all the above and make patties
(if the above mix seems a bit soggy, add a slice of bread in it and knead it into a dough)
Heat a skillet, place the patties on it and drizzle oil on the sides and cook to a lovely, crispy golden brown .. as M demonstrates!!
The real stuff


For the choley
1 Can of Garbanzo Beans or 1/4 kg. Chick peas soaked overnight
2 onions
1 Tomato
2 inch piece Ginger (chopped into thin straws)
1 tsp. Red chilly pwd (+/- to your taste)
3/4 tsp. Garam Masala
1 med.Potato
1-2 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
Cilantro
1 Bayleaf
If using dry chick peas, soak the chick peas in water overnight.Drain water, rinse. In a pan , bring water to a boil, add 1 tsp. tea powder/ leaves and make a decoction. Strain, use this water to cook the chick peas in. This will give the chick peas a dark color. Add salt to the water and chick peas and the potato
If using a can of garbanzo beans, cook potato seperately
Slice the ginger into thin straws
Make Onion Paste
Make Tomato Paste/ puree
In a wok/ saucepan, heat oil, add Bayleaf
Add the ginger straws, onion paste and cook till the onion is a nice brown
Add the Tomato puree, red chilly powder
Add the Garam Masala.
Remove and set aside the water from the cooked chick peas. Add the chick peas and mix well
Add mashed potato
Now pour in the water that was reserved (in which the chick peas were cooked) with a pinch of turmeric and salt
To give the choley a tangy taste, add 1/2 tsp of Tamarind Paste
Chutneys
Green chutney
Grind :
1 bunch cilantro
4-5 Serrano green chillies (+/-)
1 tsp Cumin seeds
approx 1 inch Ginger
4 cloves Garlic
Salt
Juice of 1 Lemon
Sweet chutney
5-6 Dates (seedless)
2 tbsp. tamarind conc.
1 marble size lump of Jaggery
1/8th. tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Red chilly powder
Pressure cook or add water and microwave dates till soft
Crush the dates to a paste
Add the remaining ingredients , mix well, add some water and bring it to a boil. Cool and use
Trupti, don't turst the snap..M is just showing off... multi-tasking and doing it all-by-himself..as he calls it
Step 1: Place Patties in the bowl
Step 2: Pour choley on the patties


Step 3: Green chutney on the choley



Step 4 : Sweet chutney





Step 5: Garnish with chopped cilantro and finely chopped onion



Step 6: make 2 extra bowls of chaat.... sit comfortably, get hubby to start the movie and dig into the chaat while enjoying the mystifying adventures of Sherlock Holmes (or any other .. your choice).

Take a small break, grab the next helping, now switch from adventure to the sublime comedy of Jeeves and Wooster recreated by BBC ! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! What more can one ask? Wonderful movies, AWESOME food and extra helpings of both!! Life does not get better than this!!

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14 comments:

TNL said...

I LOVED, LOVED this post,Manasi....the writeup and the recipes are awesome!
The title is hilarious!
Thank you M, for helping!! Good luck and see you at the roundup!

have a lovely weekend,
trupti

bee said...

very yummy looking. i want some. will ask j to make it this weekend for me.

Sia said...

ha ha ha ha... ROFL.... looks absolutely delicious so not very sure about the title though;)

Sharmi said...

LOL lovely looking chaat! nice one for SF. must be tasting yummy. the combi is mouthwatering.

Lata said...

Looks great. Looks like you changed the look of the blog.

FH said...

LOL @ Katarnaak!
Manasi,your hubby does eat all those right? He looks skinny there!;D
Lucky fella,can eat but not put on wt like us/me! Looks delicious,next time Coffee suggests snacks ,I am making these!Great entry.

Manasi said...

Hi Trupti, thanx a lot!! M is gonna luuuuuuuuv the praise he gets!! Eagerly waiting to see the roundup!!

Hi Bee! Tastes good too, so they tell me!!

hi Supriya! hehehe, I thought of that too, but it is khatarnaak in a YUMMMMM way!!

Hey Sharmi! Thanx a lot!!

Hi Lata! Thanx dear! yep, changed it! though i wish mine was as cool as ur's!

Hi Asha!! Yep he eats... and YES.. he is one of those lucky few (Why not me God? Why not me??) who eat and not gain (he doesn't exercise , yet boasts of being in top form.. ~grrrrr~)!! But another way of looking at it is, we are a perfect 10... he's the 1 and I'm the O !!

TheCooker said...

Jabro post!
chaat & jeeves, combination is also khatarnaak.

Swapna said...

Bole to full to khatarnak..Chaat is totally mouth-watering..My saliva's almost falling on the keyboard..And I am so hungry right now..I am catching a plane to CA and coming straight to u:)

Anonymous said...

:)))))) loved the khatarnaak chat and chatting.

btw your mood meter is berry berry chweet

Coffee said...

KHATARNAAK!!!!! hahahahah what a lovely post!!! And mouth smackingly delicious chaat!!!! I want some now!

Viji said...

A nice entry Manasi. Hope you enjoyed this! Viji

Manasi said...

Hi Cooker !! U a Wodehouse fan too?

Hi Swapna... boley to, kab aa raheli hai? Jaldi Aaja.. full to majja karenge!!

Hi Reena!! thank U !!thank U!!!

Hi Coffee, hehehee!! come on over and join us!!!

Hi Viji!! yummmmmmmmmmmm!! describes it to a nicety!!!

Roopa said...

wow thats slurp............. delicious... Next chat on the list...

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