Bombay Street Food Special #4 – Sukha Bhel – Light and healthy puffed rice salad

Today I’m going to actually add another post to the Bombay Street Food Special Series I’d started a while ago. I’ll bet you thought I was done with that. But I’m not. I will keep adding to that section, because I love street food. Today’s recipe, falls under the chaat category and there is a more fully loaded version with a number of chutneys and stuff that I so want to try making at home, I’ve just never gotten around to it, but this version is a quick and easy treat that you can munch away on in about 5 minutes. It has lovely fresh flavors and it makes for a quick, healthy snack.

It is ideally served with some papdi, which is a small crispy puri. I didn’t have any handy and haven’t yet tried making them, but soon will. I did the next best thing. I served it with some of my homemade tortilla chips. The street food stalls in Mumbai sell portions of this chaat in paper cones and patrons use the crisp, but sturdy papdi as a spoon.
Sukha Bhel

1 cup puffed rice, murmura
1/2 onion, chopped 
1/2 tomato, chopped
1 green chilly, chopped fine (optional)
1 tsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
A pinch of Salt
A couple of pinches Chaat masala
A squirt of lime juice
1/4 cup sev
1-2 papdi/tortilla chips crushed
1 papdi/tortilla chip whole
Mix the onion, tomato, chilly, salt, lime and chaat masala lightly, in a bowl.
Add the puffed rice, crushed papdi / tortilla chips and sev and toss well. 
Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with a whole papdi / tortilla chip.
This recipe is linked to –
Savory Sunday

Sprouted Moong Salad

I love sprouts. If you do some reading up about moong sprouts, you’ll realize what an amazing superfood this is. It has all sort of medical benefits. Once sprouted the moong bean is an amazing source of Vit C that the seed in itself can’t provide. It’s also a great source of protein. These are just a few benefits that I can remember off hand. I’m quite sure the list goes on.

Here’s something that I’ve had floating around in my head for a while now. Each time I’d pass the sprouts shelf at the supermarket, I’d long to pick it up. For reasons even I’m not aware of, I just never did. So recently when I was buying my grains and pulses at the local store, I decided to pick up some dried whole moong (mung beans) and try sprouting it myself.

It’s such a simple process, I wonder why I have never considered sprouting beans at home, before. Better late than never, I’d say. So back to the salad. The only thing you need to ensure is you prep the moong the previous day. If you’d like to omit the sprouting yourself, there’s no harm in using store-bought sprouts. This is not so much a recipe but a guide. Feel free to adapt to your liking.
How to Sprout Moong at home – 

Soak the dried whole moong in sufficient water. (The water level should be atleast an inch above). Soak for about 8 hours or overnight. 
After soaking, drain off excess water. Gently rinse with fresh water. Cover with a wet muslin cloth and keep till the beans have sprouted (approx. 8 hours).
I usually soak the beans in water before going to bed at night, drain and cover with a damp cloth in the morning and its ready for use by the evening.
Sprouted Moong Salad

A handful of Sprouted Moong
1 small onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1 green chilly, finely chopped (optional)
Fine Sev, for garnishing (optional) (Sev is a snack that can eaten just about anywhere at anytime. These are thin noodles of dough made from chickpea flour and deep-fried until they’re crispy enough to eat. )
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt, to taste
Lime juice, to taste
Mix the sprouts, onion, chilly, tomato and cucumber in a bowl. 
Season to taste with salt and lime juice. 
Sprinkle some fine sev over it. Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves.
** I tuck it in the fridge till I’m ready to serve it.
You can also switch this salad up a bit by adding some plain unflavored natural yogurt, beaten well, to the salad veggies in the bowl in the first step mentioned above. Continue by seasoning and garnishing it.
Again, refrigerate till ready to serve.
This recipe is linked to – 

Mixed Raita

This is a salad like accompaniment that is widely served with Indian food. The dressing is a yogurt based one, which makes this salad ideal for warmer climates and hot summer days. Its really healthy, refreshing and tasty, of course. You will find a number of varieties of raita being served at an Indian restaurant. The base to all of these is  identical, the veggies you find in these salads will vary. Today I’ve made a basic raita with an assortment of salad veggies which you can adjust to your liking.

You can serve this with biryani, jeera rice or any other spicy Indian food. The yogurt helps soothe the palate.

Mixed Raita

1/2 cup curds / natural unflavored yogurt
Salt, to taste
Lime juice, to taste
A pinch of black pepper powder
1 small onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1/4 yellow pepper, chopped
1/4 red pepper chopped

Mix the veggies in a bowl and season with salt, lime juice and pepper to taste.

Beat the yogurt in a bowl. You can add a little sugar if you’d like to. Add the beaten yogurt to the veggies.

Mix well.

Check for seasoning and adjust, if needed.

You can garnish with some chopped coriander leaves.

Refrigerate till ready to serve.

Prawn Cocktail

This is one knock out treat that I usually save for an occasion like a birthday, an anniversary or guests coming over. Just the other day, I felt that we deserved a treat, for no particular reason, but just because I felt like it. I am a little funny that way. When I get fixated on something, I usually end up doing it. Very seldom do I change my mind. Exception to the rule being, if I don’t have the necessary ingredients at home. Then, off course, I have to improvise and work with what I have at hand till I can get to the store and stock up again. Anyway, back to the prawn cocktail. This beauty is a hit every single time. It is ridiculously easy to make and you can make it a little ahead of time. Get ready to wow your guests with this one.

Prawn Cocktail
(Serves 2)

1/2 cup iceberg lettuce, cut into strips
10-12 prawns, cleaned, de-veined and boiled with a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon juice
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp tomato sauce
 A few drops of Tabasco sauce (I used a combination of pepper sauce and smoked jalapeno – both Tabasco products)
A pinch of crushed black pepper

In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, tomato sauce and Tabasco sauce. Add the pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed. If you want it more tart, add some more tomato sauce. If its too tart, add a little more mayonnaise to balance it. Up the spice levels with the Tabasco sauce.

Tip in the prawns and mix till well coated. You should typically have more cocktail dressing than whats needed to simply coat the prawns.

To serve – 
If you’re serving individual portions as a starter, place some of the lettuce at the bottom of a cocktail glass and top it off with the prawn cocktail dressing mix. Garnish with a prawn placed on the rim of the glass.

If you’re serving it more like a salad that people need to help themselves to, place a bed of chopped lettuce on the plate. Pour the prawn cocktail dressing mix over.

This recipe is linked to –
Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try
What’s On the Menu Wednesday
Real Food Wednesday
What’s Cooking Wednesday

Chickpea Salad

Whenever, I boil dried beans of any sort, I make sure I cook a little more than I need. I love eating a few plain, nice and warm, just after they’ve cooked. Sometimes, I keep some aside to add to a salad. It just adds another dimension to the salad. This is exactly what I do when I boil dried chickpeas. If you want to know how its done, check this post. I simply love the colors.



Chickpea Salad


1/2 cup boiled chickpeas
1 onion, chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped (optional)
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp. fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt, to taste
Crushed black peppercorns, to taste
A squirt of lime juice
Balsamic vinegar, to taste

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Check for salt and sourness.

Keep chilled till you’re ready to serve.

This recipe is linked to –
Delectable Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday
A Little Birdie Told Me
Hearth and Soul
Tuesdays at the Table
Tasty Tuesday
Tuesday Night Supper Club
Mangia Mondays

Salads at the Barbecue Party #4 – Cucumber Salad with Dill Yogurt

This is the last of the salads that I had made for the barbecue party. Now this doesn’t mean that there won’t be more salad recipes and posts, because there will. With the summer heat and humidity already upon us, I am going to switch from warm hearty meals to some cool, fresh and soothing salads. Stay tuned.

 
This cucumber salad is very simple to make and the dill leaves add a lovely flavor to the yogurt. I used a little cream to add the creamy factor to this salad, so feel free to either leave it out completely or vary the quantities to your liking. Salads are very forgiving. You don’t have to stick to quantities and at times, even an ingredient list. So, go ahead, put your spin on it, and let me know how it worked out for you.
 

 

 
Cucumber Salad With Dill Yogurt
 
2 fresh cucumbers, peeled and sliced
1/2 tub natural, unflavored yogurt (we get tubs of 400g)
1/4 cup fresh cream
1-2 tbsp. Mayonnaise (optional)
Salt, to taste
A few dill leaves


Beat the yogurt, mayonnaise and cream together and add salt to taste.


Tip in the sliced cucumbers and the dill leaves.


Mix and serve.




This recipe is linked to – 
Not Baaad
Meatless Monday
Mouthwatering Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Meatless Mondays
Made by you Monday

Salads at the Barbecue Party #3 – Cole Slaw

This is a simple side dish that you can throw together in a very short time if you have a food processor. If not, it takes a few minutes more, but I think its well worth the effort. I hand chop the veggies, and its really not that bad. I love a good slaw. You can serve it as a salad, stick it between 2 slices of bread for a simple sandwich or use it as an add on in a burger.

This is not so much a recipe as a few ingredients thrown together, so feel free to adjust the quantities to suit your liking, or whatever you have available in the fridge. 🙂 
Since I was making this for the barbecue party, I jazzed it up by adding some pine nuts. Feel free to leave it out or switch it for pumkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts etc.
Cole Slaw

Cabbage, finely sliced
Carrot, julienned 
Lemon juice, to taste
Salt, to taste
Crushed pepper, to taste
Pine nuts (optional)
Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl. 
Check  for seasoning and adjust if needed. 
Thats how simple it is. Enjoy!!!

This post is linked to –
Rook No.17
Hearth and Soul
Made by you Mondays
Tuesdays at the Table
Tuesday Night Supper Club
Tuesdays Tasty Tidbits

Salads at the Barbecue Party #2 – Simple Tuna Salad

Here’s another easy peasy salad that can be thrown together in minutes. You don’t even need to make a dressing. But I must say this is delicious tossed in some mayonnaise. Since I was looking for fresh sides to go with all the meat at the barbecue party, I skipped the mayonnaise. Its also healthier without the mayo and equally tasty. But don’t take my word for it. Try it out yourself and let me know what twist you put on it. What I love about these kind of salads is their versatility. Sometimes, I also add olives, lettuce, cucumber, pickles and some bell peppers to the salad. Really, you can add whatever you’d like in your salad and leave out whatever you don’t fancy. 



Simple Tuna Salad


1 small can of tuna flakes
3 large onions, chopped
2-3 tomatoes, chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
Sour lime juice, to taste

Toss all the ingredients in a bowl.

Check for salt and sourness and adjust accordingly. It’s always better to start with a small amount of salt and lime juice. You can always add more after tasting, but if it’s too salty or too sour,  there’s not much you can do, except add more veggies and fish to the bowl.

Also, most canned tuna is also salted. So taste the salad before you add any salt to it.

Have fun!

This recipe is linked to –
Hearth and Soul
Made By You Monday
Tuesdays at the Table
Tuesday’s Tasty Tidbits
Tuesday Night Supper Club
Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays

Salads at the Barbecue Party #1 – Easy Corn Salsa

I know, I know, it’s been over a fortnight since the barbecue party and I still haven’t posted a lot of the recipes. I’m sorry about that. It’s just been really busy around here and that coupled with a little weekend getaway and a couple of projects I’m working on (more on that later), left me wondering where the days went. Before I get absorbed in the days chores, I’ve decided to start putting up the other recipes one at a time. I also want to mention that these recipes make quite a bit, so please adjust the quantities to suit your requirements.

Easy Corn Salsa

1 cup corn kernels, boiled
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1-2 green chillies, finely chopped (optional)
Salt, to taste
Sour lime juice, to taste
Crushed black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. Chopped fresh coriander leaves
To boil, the corn kernels, I put it in a pan with a little water and a pinch of salt. Don’t add too much water. Once it comes to a boil, I simmer it for a minute or 2 on a low flame. I like it to have a little bit of crunch. But you can boil it to suit your liking.
In a bowl, tip in all the vegetables.
Add the salt, lime juice and pepper to taste.
Add the chopped coriander leaves.
Toss again. Cover and refrigerate till you’re ready to serve.