Rajgira Poori /Amaranth Flour Poori

Amaranth flour is a gluten-free, protein-rich flour widely used as fasting food in North India. It is produced by grinding seeds from the amaranth plant into a fine powder. Although technically not a grain, amaranth yields a buff-colored, grain-like flour. Amaranth flour’s protein gets high marks for quality because of its rich content of the amino acids lysine and methionine. Waterchesnut/ Singada flour can also be used in place of amaranth flour in this recipe or combination of both the flour in the ratio of 1:1 can also be used.

Amaranth Flour  - 1 cup
Potatoes - 3/4 cup boiled and mashed
Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Himalayan Pink Salt/Sendha Namak - to taste (optional or use regular salt)
Ghee /Oil - for frying
Curd - as side

Step I - Dough

1. Slight roast the amaranth flour and let it cool.
2. Add salt and chili powder and mix well.
3. Add the potatoes and make a soft dough.
4. Add few table spoons of hot water if needed.

Step II - Frying Poori

1. Heat oil/ghee in a deep pan to 350 F.
2. Take a small portion of the dough and shape like a ball.
3. Shape the dough ball like a disc pressing between your plams.
4. Roll between two plastic sheets to a circle of thickness < 1/8''. 
5. Take the rolled dough in the palm of your hand and drop in oil carefully.
6. When the poori starts coming up in the oil lightly press with a spoon.
7. When it puffs up turn and cook the other side.
8. When both sides are golden brown take out and drain on paper.
9. Serve hot with curd. 

PS: If u do not want to deep fry cook on skillet like Paratha.

Bagar Dosa II and Coconut Chutney

Bagar (Samo Seeds) is a common fasting food for people of central India.It is also called vrat ke chawal. It can be cooked as just like rice . And can used in any  preparation in place of rice. I did this dosa just like neer dosa. Since summer navrathri is almost here thought of posting this recipe. 

Coconut Chutney


Fresh Coconut - 1 cup , grated
Ginger - 1/4 tsp, chopped
Green Chili - 1 , chopped
Tamarind Paste - 1/4 tsp or lemon juice
Curry Leaves - a few
Water - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste

1. Grind coconut , ginger , chili , tamarind paste , salt and water to a coarse paste.

Bagar Dosa


Bagar - 1 cup , soaked for few hours
Fresh Coconut - 1/4 cup, grated
Water - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Ghee/Oil

1. Grind bagar , water ,salt and coconut to a fine paste.
2. Heat a griddle and pour a ladle of batter and spread like dosa.
3. Pour some ghee around the dosa and on top.
4. When one side is done flip and cook the other side.
5. And serve hot with coconut chutney.

Aloo Tikki Chat

Aloo tikki is very simple and quick to make. This  is one of the favorite chat at my place. This works as north indian fasting food too because you are allowed potato and curd during Upwas.

Step 1 : Aloo laccha (optional)

Potato - 1 cup , grated

Salt

Oil for frying

1. Heat oil and fry the grated potatoes till golden.
2. Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt.

Step 2 : Curd mixture

Curd - 1 cup 

Water -1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 tsp

Salt

1. Mix Curd, Sugar, Salt,water.

Step 3 : Aloo Tikki

Potato /Aloo - 2 cup , boiled and mashed
Green Chilli - 1 tbsp, chopped

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves -3 tbsp
Salt
Oil for shallow frying

1. Mix mashed potato,green chilli,cumin ,coriander leaves and salt.
2. Take 2 tbsp of mixture in hand and form patties. 
3. Heat oil in a frying pan and place patties in the oil .
4. Keep the stove at medium heat and let one side be golden .
5. Turn the patties and add one tbsp oil if needed 
6. Fry this side too till golden brown and remove from pan .

Step 4: How to serve

Cumin Powder -1 tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves -3 tbsp

1. Place a 4- 5  hot patties in a plate and cover it with the curd mixture.
2. Sprikle  3-4 pinches cumin  and a pinch of chilli powder.
3. Then sprinkle a tsp of  corriander leaves .
4. And finally about 2 tbsp of aloo laccha( fried potatoes).
5. And you are ready to serve.

Sweet Potato chat / Sakarkand ki chat

Sweet Potato chat is one of my favorite go to recipes in summer when grill is out . When cooked on the grill and the skin gets charred and imparts the potato a unique flavor which the makes the chat mouth watering.This works as a Vrat (fasting) food if you avoid the onion and sev in the recipe.


Sweet Potato -  4  , medium sized
Onion - 1/2 cup , finely minced
Green Chili - 1 tbsp, finely minced
Corinader leaves -  1/2 cup ,finely chopped
Roasted Cumin Pw - 1 tsp
Red Chilli Pw -  1/2 tsp
Curd - 1 to 11/2 cup
Sev - 1/2 cup , (Use crushed chips of your choice instead)
Salt to taste

1. Cook the sweet potato on grill till fork tender .

1. (Or you can cook it in the oven or partially boil and saute the sweet potatoes.)

1. Mix the onion,green chili and coriander leaves.

1. Mix curd and salt and beat well.

1. Peel the cooked potato and chop into cubes .

1. Arrange potato cubes in the  serving bowl.

1. Pour the curd mixture over the potato cubes.

1. Sprinkle the onion mixture over it .

1. Next sprinkle cumin and red chili powder over it.

1. Just before serving garnish it with sev and serve.

Bagar Ki Kichidi

Bagar  is a rice replacement for upwas days in North India . And as summer NAVRATRI has started i thought of posting this recipe. I learned this during my recent trip to India from our Mangla mami. She is a great cook and i just love talking to her about food. Bagar is available here as "Samo Seeds" and is also called"Vrat Ke Chawal".

Bagar - 1/4 cup
Fresh Tomato  - 1 1/2 cup, chopped
Potato - 1/2 cup, 1/4 inch cubes
Green Chilli - 2 , chopped fine
Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup chopped
Water - 1 1/2 cup
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste (I use sendha namak)
Ghee - 2 tsp

1.  Heat  ghee and add jeera and green chilli .
2. When jeera turns golden , add chopped tomato.
3. Cook till the tomato turns mushy then add potato and bagar
4. Add water , cover and cook till bagar is fluffy.
5. Now add more water  to make khichidi soupy.
6. Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve hot.
7. Serve with a  dollop of curd  or lemon wedge.

Aloo Vade for Upwas

In North India for UPWAS(Religious Fast)singada(waterchestnut), rajgira(Amaranth), kottu(buckwheat) flour is used because people don't eat regular rice ,wheat and lentil during fasting days. Another popular upwas ingredients are sabudana and  bagar. For frying up upwas aloo vada/pakoda, flours  like singada , rajgira or kottu can be used. I use a combination of sindaga and rajgira flour for my vade at home. The recipe here is for aloo vade or aloo bonde .

For Filling

Potato  - 2 cups , boiled and mashed

Cumin Seeds /Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Hot green ghilli - 2 tsp , chopped fine

Salt to taste

For Batter

Rajgira Flour - 1/2 cup

Singada Flour - 1/2 cup

Red Chilli Pw - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

1. Mix potato,cumin,chilli,salt and keep aside.

2. Mix rajgira,sindada flour,chilli and salt .

3. Add 1/4 cup water to the flour mix.

4. If needed more water 1 tbsp at a time to make cake or idli like thick batter.

5. Keep aside for 15 minutes.

6. Heat oil in a deep pan to 340 F.

7. Pinch a piece of potato mixture and form a ping pong ball size round.

8. Dip it into the batter and drop it to the hot oil and cook till golden brown.

9. Serve it with fresh beaten curd.

Sabudana. Tikki Chaat/ Tapioca pearls Potato patties served with yogurt

Sabudana Aloo tikki chhat is a popular upwas recipe at my home. When ever i have leftover sabudana khichidi  i perfer to make this sabudana tikki chat as nobody likes reheated sabudana khichidi. Leftover sabudana khichidi or presoaked sabudana  is mixed with boiled potatoes and patties are prepared which is then crisped on griddle to golden brown on both sides and served with curd and spices.Leftover Sabudana vada can also be used for this chaat.

Check out other chaats that i have posted in the past

Chole Tikki Chaat

Papdi Chaat

For Tikki/Pattie:

Leftover Sabudana(Tapoica Pearl)Khichidi - 1 cup
( or Nylon Sabudana - 1/2 cup soaked)

Potato - 1 1/2 cup.boiled and mashed

Hot Green Chili - 2 tsp ,chopped fine

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt to taste


For Serving : 

Curd - 2 cup

Sugar - 2 tsp
Water - 1/2 cup

Roasted Cumin Powder -1 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander Leaves for garnish

Salt to taste

For Pattie/Tikki Preparation

1. Mix sabudana khichidi, potato,green chilli ,cumin.

2. Mix well to form a dough.
3.Take 2 tbsp of mixture in hand and form patties.

3. Shallow fry the patties on both sides to golden brown.

How to Serve:

1. Mix curd, sugar, salt, water.

2. Place few hot patties in a plate.

3. Add some curd mixture over it.

4. Sprinkle with cumin and red chili pw.
5. Sprinkle with coriander leaves.
6. Now you are ready to serve :).

Sabudana Vada / Tapioca Pearl fritters

For shivarathri fast i prepared sabudana /tapioca pear vada . Its one of the favorite fast recipe at my home .Whenever i visit Pune the first thing on my todo list to to eat  vada pav and sabudana vada . And i love the peanut chutney they serve with it there. At home  i usually  serve it with plain beaten curd. During my intial days of cooking to i used to be scared of making this vada as at times my vada used to break in the oil and its messy :(. But after many trial and error i now know the proportion of the ingredients for good vada.So here is my recipe :).

Rehydrated Sabudana/ Tapioca Pearls - 2 cups

(Soak pearls overnight in just enough water to cover it)

Roasted Peanut Powder - 1 cup

Potato - 2 cup , boiled and mashed

Hot Green Chili - 3 tsp , chopped fine

Coriander Leaves - 1 cup , chopped fine.

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Salt to taste
Oil to fry

1. Mix tapioca pearls , peanut pw, mashed potato , chili,coriander leaves ,cumin  and salt.

2. Heat oil to 340 F in a deep pan.

3. Take a golf ball size of tapioca pearl mixture in hand and make a ball.

4. Flatten the ball to a flat disc by pressing between your two palms.

5. Make a few discs and drop a few into  the oil.

6. Fry till both sides are golden.

7. Serve hot with Curd or any chutney.

Sabudana Khichidi / Tapioca Pearl Khichidi

Sabudana is the most popular upwas food in North India and sabudana khichidi is most popular preparation and so are the many ways of preparing it. This is one of the recipe that i thought was a little different and is from the mother of a friend of mine.

Sabudana - 1 cup

Potato - 1/2 cup grated

Hot Green Chilli - 2 finely chopped

Groundnut - 1/4 cup

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup chopped fine

Oil - 2 tbsp

1. Wash sabudana and drain out water and keep aside for 2-3 hrs or overnight in the fridge.

2. Grate potato and mix it with soaked sabudana.

3. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and fry till golden.

4. Add chilli and groundnuts and fry till nuts are done .

5. Set the heat to low and add sabudana potato mix to the pan.

6. Add salt to taste and cover and cook till potato is done.

7. Sprinkle with coriander leaves

8. Serve with a lemon wedge or a dollop of curd.

Singara & Rajgira ThaliPeeth/Waterchesnut & Amaranth Flour Pancake

Singada ,Rajgira,Bagar ,Sabudana ,Kootu are some of the food items eaten during fast days in North India . Sabudana is my all time favourite but you need variation as you cannot eat the same stuff all the time specially if you are fasting during navrathri days. I myself don't like rajgira or singada flour taste on its on so i mix both of them togetther to make a tasty thalipeeth.But it can be made with only one type of flour too.

Singada Flour - 1/2 cup

Ragjira Flour - 1/2 cup

Carrot - 1/4 cup grated

Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Green Chilli Paste - 2 tsp or to taste

Water/Curd - 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Oil

1. Mix the both the flour,chilli,cumin and salt well .
2. Mix grated carrot to the mixture and make a thick very batter with curd or water.
3. Heat a non-stick tava or pan .
4. Drop 1/2 tsp oil and spread it well.
5. Drop a blob of batter on the tava and spread it into a round shape with hands.
6. Make a hole in the center on the round and fill it with oil.
7. Let it cook and check by lifting with a flat spatula for brown spots on underside.
8. Spread a little oil on top and turn.
9. Cook on the other side till done.
10. Serve it with curd or aloo sabzi.

Bagar Dosa I Samo Seed Crepe

I saw this recipe at a blog the other day and thought what a wonderful idea .This is the first time i made this recipe and liked it with jeera aloo.I modified the the recipe to my family's taste but the original can be found as Gavane at Soogran.

Bagar/Samo - 1 cup

Roasted Peanut - 1/2 cup

Green Chilli - 2

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Curd - 1/2 cup

Upwas Salt to taste

Ghee 

1. Soak the bagar and peanut over night.

2. Grind everything together make a very loose batter.

3. Heat a griddle/tava and add few drops of oil .

4. Drop a ladle full bater and move the griddle in circular motion to spread the dosa .

5. When you see one side is done flip the dosa and cook the other side for 1-2 min.

6. Serve with aloo sabzi or any chutney of your choice.

Bagar Soup / Samo Seed Soup

Bagar or Samo seed is something that very commonly eaten in North India during UPWAS. Some places it is also known as Vrat Ke Chawal. I can understand that why it is called so i think because of its broken rice like texture. Its a seed of a grass that grown along with rice in the fields but is not considered as a grain so can be eaten during upwas.

If you are someone who eats tomato during fast then its a satisfying preparation at the end of a long day of fast.

Bagar - 1/4 cup

Fresh Tomato Puree - 1 1/2 cup

(Chop and blend tomato without water in an blender or chop tomato finely)

Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup chopped

Water - 1 1/2 cup

Upwas Salt to taste

Ghee - 1/2 tsp

For Tempering

Oil - 2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Green Chilli chopped - 1 tbsp

1. Heat 1/2 tsp oil and green chilli.

2. Cook for 2 min and add tomato puree.

3. Cover and cook for 3-4 min and add washed bagar.

4. Add water and cover and cook for 10 min on medium flame.

5. When cooked properly you will see the bagar fluffy and slightly split open.

6. Check for consistency and add more water if needed an boil for a min.

7. Sprinkle coriander leaves and remove from flame.

8.Heat remaining 2 tsp oil and add cumin seeds and let it turn golden.

9. Add to the soup ad cover immediately for a minute .

8. Mix well and serve hot with a dollop of curd on top.

This recipe is little soupy , for upma like consistency use water accordingly

I am sending this to Soup N Juice Event at Mom's Recipes

Upwaas Recipes - Aloo Ki Tikki

ALOO KI TIKKI
Serves 2 people


Boiled mashed Potato /Aloo - 1 cup
(Yukon Gold/Red)
Chopped Green Chilli - 1 tbsp
Roasted Cumin Powder -1 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves -3 tbsp
Grated Raw Potato - 1/4 cup(Optional)
Curd - 1 cup
Water -1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt
Oil for shallow frying


Method for Pattie/Tikki Preparation


1. Mix mashed potato,green chilli,coriander leaves and salt to taste.
2. Take 2 tbsp of mixture in hand and form patties. 
3. Heat oil in a frying pan and place patties in the oil .
4. Keep the stove at medium heat and let one side be golden .
5. Turn the patties and add one tbsp oil if needed and fry till golden brown.


How to Serve


1. Fry the gratted potatoes in oil and drain on a paper towel.
2. Mix curd, sugar, salt and water.
3. Place the 4 hot patties in a plate and cover it with the curd mixture.
4. Sprikle 1/2 tsp of cumin pw, 1/4 chilli pw, corriander leaves , fried potatoes on the top of the curd and serve.