A tale of warm Friday Fries

Daily life is boring. In so many years of togetherness, I have learnt that it’s me who is the undisputed kitchen and grocery minister of the house. A post which I have to accept with abandon, and to keep up I have to earn the 'good votes' on a daily basis. Not easy to keep up - I warn you.To survive the position, I get off from work early and set the kitchen fire, of course I have to make it up by working late into the nights (ah well somedays I blog at this hour with a side of red), so I can’t really be complaining, and to top it – I like cooking, so this mumbo jumbo just comes from a lack of direction and plan.

You know, its fun when I have an inspiration and ingredients, and absolute agony when I have the office laptop on the kitchen counter, where an undone presentation is open, and I have a demanding toddler sitting beside it while I’m wiping off the onion tears!  Even though I cover the basics by asking the ' what do ya for dinner' question routinely ,but  its almost always answered by blank stares like I've asked a life philosophy and on days when I get an answer, it’s the ‘fries/pakoras on the side’ please. So much for inspiration, but that’s how it is.

You now where it’s all going. Don’t you?

When you cook keeping the moods and days of the week in mind, it not only increases the happiness quotient of the house, it benefits the wallet, shaves off the restaurant trans-fat & in general creates a festive mood . Fresh and simple ingredients force your skin to say thank you too. This simple selection of summer fries or the more popularly known term pakoras, is usually a stable for long and elaborate bong  lunches, add a side of salad and dip and you have introduced it to the evening bar gang. Tastes best when the vegetables are picked fresh from the market  and the oil is fresh, pungent and mustardy.  Very sophisticated , yet so rustic.

The Friday Fries/Pakoras (Assorted Vegetables Fried in Chickpea Batter)

Ingredients :
1 cup Chickpea flour (besan/garbanzo bean flour)

1 medium Cauliflower (cut into florets) 3/4 cup water

1 Potato (thickly cut lengthwise)

1 Bell Pepper (de-seeded and cut lengthwise)

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp choice of seasoning (Garlic, Onion, roasted cumin, Parsley, garam masala) or other spices of choice)

Chat masala to taste

Mustard oil to deep fry (or any other vegetable oil of choice)

Method:
In a bowl mix all ingredients (except vegetables and mix well till its turns into a smooth and thick batter).
Dip the vegetable florets in the batter and deep fry.

You can also choose to grill/bake. All you need to do is brush a little oil on batter dipped vegetables and the baking pan.

Bake for 25 minutes at 175 C.

If frying , deep fry till the vegetables are cooked well.

Serve hot  and sprinkle some chat masala before serving.

Paanch Mishali - The Magic Medley of Five Vegetables

This dish was part of the ‘haathe bhaat’ thali which was served to me as a newlywed. To put it simply, it was one of the first few bites I ate at my newly married home in Hyderabad.

So you now know that Paanch Mishali is a nostalgic side dish for me. Recently recreated by my mother in law, and while watching her cook another thought occurred to me – her recipe totally looked to me like a garbage disposal-style recipe, and no need to get me wrong here. What this means is, you can cook it with totally limp spinach, the discarded green pulp of watermelons, the scraped out skins of pumpkin, and totally ignored green heads of radishes and green legs of cauliflower which are ready to step into the bin.

So you see, Paanch Mishali can be as nutritious as you want with as much frugality as you prefer.

Can’t get a better deal than this.

Panch Mishali 

Ingredients

2 Carrots - chopped

1 Tomato -chopped

2 Potatoes- chopped (optional, add it if you clack two or more vegetables here)

1-2 Fresh sweet radish

1-2 Radish Greens -chopped fine

250 gms Spinach Leaves (or a handful) 

1 cup Pumpkin with skin (cut to small pieces)

1 cup Green watermelon pulp (optional)
1 cup Green cauliflower head (chopped fine) 

Oil and spices

1 tsp Paanch phoron 

2 dry Red chilies 

1" Ginger (crushed or chopped fine)

pinch of Turmeric powder

Salt and Sugar to taste

1 tbsp oil (preferably mustard oil)

Garnish 

Fried dal bori (optional)

Method:

Heat oil and temper it with panch phoron,ginger and red chilies. Once slightly browned add the turmeric powder and the chopped tomato, saute for 2-3 minutes.

Next add all the chopped vegetables and let it cook for around minutes on low heat with adding any water and  closed lid. One the vegetables are semi-cooked, ad the ginger and green chilli paste , including the salt and sugar. Cook till its soft to your liking with  no extra water. 

Take it off the heat and garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with Dal and steaming white rice 

What is Paanch Phoron : Paanch Phoron is a typically Bengali dry spice mix is used to season many vegetarian dishes. It is a unique mix of five (paanch) spices and lends a beautiful aroma to a dish.

These Five spices are Cumin seeds,Fennel seeds,Nigella seeds,Fenugreek seeds and Mustard seeds

Difference between the Paanch Mishali and Chorchori : Paanch Mishali literally means a medley of five vegetables. Its nearly like a ‘chorchori’  but not totally there as it lacks in begun (brinjal) and shorshe (mustard paste) topping. The missing ingredients help the Paanch Mishali get a bite and crunch. If you are anything like me who likes that bite then this is totally for you.