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Mattar Kachori is delicious, fried puff pastry filled with spicy green peas. This mouth watering snack also can be served as part of any main meal.

Make 12 Kachoris.

Ingredients:

For crust

• 1 cup All Purpose flour (plain flour or maida)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons oil
• Approximately 1/2 cup chilled water

For filling

• 1 cup green peas
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania)
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed powder (sonf)
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon shredded ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to your taste)
• Oil to deep fry

Method

To Make Crust

1. Add the flour, salt and oil in a bowl and mix it well.
2. Add the chilled water slowly, mixing with your fingers as you pour the water.
3. Do not knead the dough. The dough should be very soft but not sticking to fingers.
4. Cover the dough and let it sit for at least fifteen minutes.

To Make Filling

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add green peas, stir-fry until peas are tender.
2. Add ginger, coriander powder, fennel seed powder, chili powder, mango powder and salt, stir fry for another few minutes.
3. While stir frying the peas mash them with spatula.
4. Let the filling cool to room temperature.

To Make the Kachoris

1. Take the dough and lightly knead it.
2. Divide the dough in twelve equal parts.
3. Take one part of the dough and with your fingers flatten the edges and make into about 2-inch circle. Leaving center little thicker then edges around.
4. Mold the dough into a cup and place about 1 teaspoon of filling in the center. Pull the edges of the dough to wrap the filling. Proceed to make all 12 balls.
5. Let the filled balls sit for 3 to 4 minutes before pressing.
6. Set the filled balls on a clean and dry surface with the seam facing up. Using the base of your palm, slowly flatten them into about 3 inches circle.
7. Heat about 1-1/2 inches of oil in a frying pan on medium heat. To check if oil is ready put a little piece of dough in the oil. It should sizzle, and come up very slow.
8. Do not over crowd the kachories in frying pan, fry them on medium heat.
9. After they are puff, slowly turn them over.
10. It will take about 3 minutes to fry from each side. Fry until golden-brown on both sides.
11. If the kachories are fried on high heat, they will get soft and will not be crispy.

Serving suggestions

Kachoris can be served plain, with a variety of chutneys, or with Aloo Dam.

I was very happy with the last contest. Thank you to all who participated. There were quite a few votes and it came very close at the end. I will be keeping the same format this month where I will choose the top five and let you vote for the winner. The rules for September are the following:

• You may create any appetizer using potato as the main ingredient.

Be sure to check out Manjula’s appetizer recipes for inspiration. Good Luck!

• Be Creative!
• Search the web for ideas. There are many resources available.
• Please send me a detailed recipe of the variation to contest@manjulaskitchen.com. Explain how you came up with the ideas for the variation.
• You must also send original picture(s) of the recipe – do not simply grab a photo from the web. Otherwise your recipe will not be considered for entry.
• The deadline is September 22nd.
• The winner will be featured on the homepage with the new recipe and a link to their website (if available).

1st Prize: $50 gift certificate from Amazon.com
2nd Prize: $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com

**Anyone can join this contest**

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a popular north Indian dish. Potatoes and peas with spicy gravy makes a great main dish.

Recipe will serve 3 to 4.

Ingredients

• 3 medium boiled potatoes
• 3/4 cup frozen green peas
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1/8 teaspoon asafetida (hing)
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 minced green chili
• 2 tablespoons coriander (dhania)
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed powder
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon paprika (dagi mirch)
• 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• 1 teaspoon mango powder amchoor
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 medium tomatoes sliced
• About 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (hara dhania)

Method

1. Peal the potatoes cut them in byte size pieces.
2. In a small bowl mix ginger, green chili, coriander, fennel seed, turmeric, and paprika with ¼ cup of water.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil. If the cumin seed cracks right away, the oil is ready.
4. Add the cumin seeds, and asafetida, after cumin seeds crack add the spice mix cook until spices start leaving the oil this should take about one minute.
5. Next add green peas and half a cup of water and let it cook until they are tender.
6. Add potatoes and salt mix it well, while mixing mash few pieces of potatoes that will give thickness to gravy.
7. Add about 2 cups of water after it comes to boil lower the heat to medium and let it cook for about five minutes.
8. Add mango powder, garam masala, chopped cilantro, and slice of tomatoes mix it gently after gravy comes to boil turn off the heat and cover the pot. Tomatoes will cook with the steam.
9. Aloo matter is ready to serve.

Aloo matter can be served with any bread or rice.

Enjoy it!

There were great recipes submitted this month. I would like to thank everyone who participated. I’ve chosen the following as the top five entries. The voting is now over. We had a very close race.

The first place winner is Jyoti Ralhan (Eggplant Roti Wrap) and the 2nd place goes to Vinitha Krishnan (Kathi Roll).

Recipe submitted by Vinitha Krishnan

Me and my husband love to try different kinds of food and I enjoy trying out new recipes. Manjula aunty’s recipes are my favorite. I love the Malai Kofta recipe the most and I recommend all my friends to try her recipes. It comes out really well and tastes amazing. She never uses onion but I add them where ever I feel like as my husband loves onions. One day I registered myself for the free newsletter and got this email to participate in the contest. I explored the rules and noticed that I had to make a cold or hot wrap using roti or tortilla. I thought of this recipe as we have kathi roll in restaurants all the time and it tastes yummy. I tried it using my own style of ingredients and veggies along with Indian chutney. It came out really well and my family enjoyed it very much. I hope everyone else like it too. Its healthy meal for kids and I hope you enjoy it.

For Veggies

Ingredients:

• 4 Boiled Potatoes
• 2 Carrot shredded
• 1/2 cup shredded cabbage
• 1/2 cup Green peas
• 2 Capsicum
• Cilantro for garnishing
• 3 green chillies
• 1 tsp chat masala or depending on your taste
• Salt
• Lime juice 1/2 spoon
• Paneer 2-3 spoons (optional)
• Ginger Paste

Method

1. Heat the pan and put little oil.
2. Add cumin seeds and then add the onions and ginger paste and green chillies to it.
3. And then add paneer to it. (this is optional).
4. Once the onions become translucent add the potatoes, carrots, capsicum, cabbage and green peas, Add salt.
5. Allow the veggies to cook for 5 minutes
6. Once the veggies are cooked add chat masala, lime juice.
7. Mix and simmer the gas for 1 min.
8. Then garnish with cilantro

For chutney

• Cilantro 1 bunch
• 3 green chillies
• 1/4 spoon tamarind juice or paste
• 1 spoon Sugar
• Salt to taste

Method

For the chutney mix all the ingredients and blend it in a mixer.

For the tortilla

You can either make the roll with chapati ( wheat flour) or tortilla (Maida). I made it with maida (ie tortilla).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup maida
• 1/4 spoon baking soda
• Salt to taste
• 1 spoon corn flour
• Water to knead the dough.
• 1 spoon oil.

Method

1. Make a dough with the above ingredients by adding little water and apply the oil on top of the dough. Keep it aside for 1/2 hr.
2. Make the dough and divide them into small balls..
3. Roll them thin with the rolling pin and put them in the hot tava (similar to how we make chapati)
4. Allow it to cool for 30 secs and spread the chutney over it on one side and fill the veggies in the center.
5. Roll them like burrito and again put it in the tava with little ghee for 2-5 secs.
6. Cut the roll into half and serve them hot.

Recipe submitted by Jyoti Ralhan

I am fond of Mediterranean food, so I decided to make my own version of wrap inspired by Mediterranean flavors. I used big sized roti/chapati for the wrap, eggplant pakoras/fritters along with home-made hummus and mint chutney.

For HUMMUS

Ingredients:

• 1 cup garbenzo beans
• 3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed (optional)
• Salt as per taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Method

1. Soak the chickpeas in 4 cups of water over night.
2. In pressure cooker add chickpeas with the 3 cups of water. Close the cooker and put the pressure on.
3. Cook on medium high heat.
4. As pressure cooker starts steaming turn the heat down to medium and cook for about 4 minutes.
5. Close the heat and wait until steam has stopped before opening the pressure cooker.
6. Drain the water and let it cool.
7. Blend all the ingredients except olive oil and make a pourable paste use water as needed.
8. Add olive oil after taking it from the blender.
9. Keep aside.

For Mint Chutney

Ingredients:

• A Bunch of Mint leaves
• garlic 3 flakes
• green chillies 3 – 4
• Lemon as per taste
• sugar 1 1/2 tsp
• water 1-2 tsp (if needed)
• salt as per taste

Method

Put all the ingredients in the mixer and  grind it till chutney turns smooth.

For EGGPLANT PAKORAS/Fritters

Ingredients:

• Besan – 2 cups
• Eggplant – 2 or 3 in number. You can use the big sized eggplant also.
• Ajwain – 1 teaspoon
• chili powder as  per taste
• Salt as per taste
• chat masala – according to taste

Method

1. Slice eggplant into thin circles.
2. In a bowl add besan, ajwain, chat masala, chili powder and salt to taste. Mix well. Add water to make a thick batter.
3. Dip each slice of eggplant in the batter and deep fry until golden brown.

Serving Suggestion for EGGPLANT ROTI WRAP

1. Take a roti and spread hummus and  mint chutney in the center of it.
2. Place 3-4 eggplant pakoras on it.
3. Then add some diced onions and tomatoes to it.
4. Sprinkle salt and black pepper according to your taste.
5. Sprinkle some roasted cumin seeds.
6. Garnish it with few cilantro leaves.
7. Fold both sides of the roti and envelope one side of the roti with food grade/aluminium foil to prevent the filling from sliding out.

Enjoy the Wrap!

Recipe Submitted by Michelle Smith

I was inspired by the ingredient: Bell Pepper and Eggplant. Red Bell Peppers are so delicious and sweet and roasting them brings out even more flavor and sweetness. Adding Sun Dried Tomatoes adds even more intense flavor. I’m trying to get my husband to stop eating meat, so I have to cook things with a lot of flavor and meaty textures. This chutney has very bold and robust flavor, the eggplant and mushrooms provide the meaty consistency, while the crumbled paneer adds protein.

Serves 4.

For the WRAP

Ingredients:

• 2 red bell (capsicum) peppers, roasted, peeled, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 pinch asafetida (hing)
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 green chili, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika (dagi mirch), for color
• 2 tablespoons peanuts
• 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
• 1 walnut sized tamarind pulp (imli) , soaked in 1/4 cup hot water to soften
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar, or to taste
• salt, to taste

Method

Wash and dry bell peppers. Coat lightly with oil. Set oven rack to highest position and broil peppers, turning as needed to blacken skin on all sides. Remove from oven, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to let steam for 15 minutes. Remove blackened skin with fingers (don’t rinse peppers as it rinses away flavor). Set aside.

In sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil (use oil sun dried tomatoes are packed in for more flavor) over medium-high heat. Add mustard seeds and cook until they start to splutter. Add cumin seeds and hing, cook for a few seconds. Add ginger paste, chopped green chili, peanuts, turmeric, paprika, tamarind pulp, and sun dried tomatoes, cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit, then put in food processor with roasted red peppers, and blend until smooth. Add Brown Sugar and Salt to taste. Can be made a couple of days ahead.

For the CHUTNEY

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons Ghee or oil
• 10 baby eggplants, washed and sliced into 1/4” thick coins
• 1/2 pound button or crimini mushrooms, washed and cut into 1/4” thick slices
• 1-3 green chilies, chopped fine
• 1 inch piece ginger, chopped fine/divided
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera), ground
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander seed (dhania), ground
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 2 tablespoons yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 carrot, washed, peeled and shredded (adds crunch)
• 1/2 cup crumbled paneer
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Roasted Red Pepper Chutney
• 4 warm rotis

Method

Melt ghee in large sauté pan, over medium heat. Add sliced eggplant, mushrooms, chopped green chilies, chopped ginger and salt. Cook until eggplant and mushrooms are soft. Add ground cumin, ground coriander, and turmeric, mix well and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and add garam masala and yogurt. Stir to combine.

Assemble wraps:

On each warm roti, spread 2-3 tablespoons of the Roasted Red Pepper Chutney. Add 1/4 of the Eggplant, Mushroom mixture and top with 1/4 of the shredded carrots, a small bit of chopped fresh ginger (optional), chopped cilantro, and crumbled paneer. Roll into a wrap and serve with fresh tomato slices and more chutney if desired. These would also be good served with some raita on the side.

Recipe submitted by Jaysmika Patel

I bought a new small Indoor Electric grill (George Foreman grill) this summer and have tried several grilling recipes – the most hit was the Pineapple grilled with Honey sauce – which was actually my own accidental invention.  So I have used it for the eggplant-tomato-green peppers filling. The dressing is the sauce filtered out from the grill machine spread over the tortilla before putting the filling! The wrap is filled with fresh romaine lettuce and pepper jack cheese! Hope you will like it.

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

For Tortilla wrap:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp crushed whole green moong sprouts

For the grilling sauce and dressing:

• 2 tablespoon honey
• 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh pineapple juice (you can substitute with lemon juice – I consume a lot of fresh pineapple juice almost everyday so I have it handy!!!)
• 2 teaspoon garlic paste
• 2 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1/4 teaspoon red cayenne pepper (you can add adjust for hotness)
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (adjust per taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon ajwain seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley leaves

For the tortilla wrap filling:

• 1/2 inch thick Round Eggplant slices – 3
• 2 medium tomatoes – cubed
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green peppers
• 1/2 cup fresh romaine lettuce
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese (I used Weight watchers Pepper Jack cheese)

Method:

For Tortilla:

1. Turn on the tortilla maker on medium-high setting – Optionally you can also cook these on the tawa/griddle like roti/parathas.
2. Take the flour in a bowl big enough to knead the dough. Add salt and olive oil- mix well. Add sprouted moong and mix well. Add 1 tablespoon water at a time and bind into firm and smooth dough – firm enough to not use extra dry flour while rolling – this will avoid brushing more oil while making the tortilla.
3. Divide the dough into two pieces.
4. Roll the dough into 7 inch diameter circles and place on the tortilla maker – do not close the top. Once you see few areas bubbled up on the roti – after 1-2 minutes. Flip over the tortilla-roti and cook the other side similarly. Then turn back-over and press the top side of the tortilla maker to press it well – just 1-2 seconds. Flip back over and do the same for 1-2 seconds. Take out the tortilla and place covered in paper napkin in a roti casserole bowl to avoid from being dry and firm.

For the dressing and grill marinate:

1. Add well the ingredients as listed above in a wide bowl and keep aside.

For the filling:

1. Turn on the grill (or just do the entire process on the tawa/griddle on stove)
2. Roll the eggplant pieces in the prepared dressing and leave it in the bowl until the grill is ready
3. Put the eggplant pieces on the grill and let stand for 30 seconds. Then cover and grill for 2-3 minutes.
4. Meanwhile add the chopped tomatoes and peppers into the remaining dressing/marinate mix and keep it aside
5. Flip over the eggplant pieces and continue grilling for another 2 minutes. Then remove and keep aside
6. Now add the tomato-pepper mixture on the grill and add all the remaining sauce over it.
7. Grill similarly for 2-3 minutes on each side. While flipping over take some of the collected sauce out of the grill and pour it back on the grill.
8. Save the collected-drained sauce while grilling to apply on the tortilla as dressing!

Serving Instructions:

1. Take the tortilla roti and apply the drained dressing sauce all over. Then spread with shredded cheese and lettuce. Chop the eggplant pieces and place over the lettuce with the tomato-pepper mixture.  Wrap the tortilla and “pin-up” using the tooth-pick.
2. Use the remaining tomato-pepper mixture and the drained sauce mixture combined as “salsa on the side”. ENJOY!!!!

Variations to prepare the sauce without the grill:

1. Heat the ingredients of the dressing sauce in microwave or on medium heat on stove in double-sized bowl for 4 minutes – checking not to spill it over and stirring every minute.
2. Grill the eggplant and tomato-pepper on the hot griddle/tawa once rolled in the dressing sauce or on gas grill pan.

Recipe by Meredith Tummeti

I came up with this recipe after I saw the email announcing the contest for august 2010. I have been growing mung bean sprouts so I decided to include those in the recipe. The remaining ingredients were determined by the produce and herbs available in my vegetable garden at the time. The filling is almost like a raita with tons of vegetables in it.

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces of red swiss chard
• 1 cup mung bean sprouts
• 2 carrots, grated
• 4 radishes, grated (the round red ones)
• 3 green onions thinly sliced
• 1 small cucumber, grated
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• 10 mint leaves, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ginger, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 whole wheat tortillas

Dressing:

• 2/3 cup plain yogurt

Method:

Separate the stems from the leaves of the swiss chard. Reserve the leaves. Chop the stems and put them in a bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and yogurt, except the tortillas. Take each tortilla and put one swiss chard leaf in the center. Take 1/4 of salad mixture and place in the center of the swiss chard leaf, forming a line down the center of the tortilla. Fold in the long side of the tortilla, over the filling, then fold in two short ends and then roll everything over tightly onto the remaining end of the tortilla. Repeat with remaining tortillas to make a total of 4 wraps. Slice each wrap in half diagonally through middle. Serve.

These are nice for dinner on those hot summer nights, no cooking involved. We ate this with a raw broccoli salad on the side. The red swiss chard has a nice beetroot taste and it adds a lot of flavor to the wrap, but you could use any color chard, or even spinach leaves or lettuce instead.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Spinach pakoras are delicious as a snack. Spinach pakoras can be served many different ways and they always taste great. One of my favorite ways to serve these pakoras is papdi chaat.

Recipe makes about 30 pieces

Ingredients

For Batter

• ½ cup gram flour (basen)
• 1 tablespoon corn starch (arrow root powder)
• ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon asafetida (hing)
• About 3/4 cup water

Also need

• About 30 fresh spinach leaves
• Oil to fry

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together: besan, corn starch, black pepper, cumin seeds, asafetida, and salt. Corn starch adds to the crispness.
2. Add the water slowly to make a smooth batter (batter should be thin consistency).
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat.
4. The frying pan should have at least 1 ½ inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, put one drop of batter in oil. The batter should come up but not change color right away.
5. Dip the spinach leaf into the batter one at a time, making sure it is covered by the batter completely; wipe it from side of the batter bowl making sure batter is evenly spread over spinach. Then, slowly drop in the slices into the frying pan.
6. Fry the pakoras in small batches. The pakoras will take about 2 to 3 minutes to cook.
7. Turn them occasionally. Fry the pakoras until both sides are golden-brown.
8. The crispy, delicious pakoras are now ready to serve.
9. They can be stored for several days in air tight container.

Tips

If oil is too hot pakoras will not be crispy; if oil is not hot enough, pakoras will be greasy.

Serving Suggestions

1. Spinach pakoras can be served as chips with your choice of dipping sauce.
2. Spinach crisp can also be served as papdi chaat.