Khekda Bhaji

Crispy Onion Fritters

When life gives you bad weather, make khekda bhaji!!! Thats what I do. If you want to make the most of having to stay at home because of rain or snow, you better make these and I bet you will thank the weather Gods (and me!)

Now theres this kind of onion bhaji that people make and I absolutely hate. They are bulgy, soft and soggy. If I have to eat fried food, it better be perfect. So heres a perfect recipe for you! I assure you it will be crispy and just perfect.. (PS: Sorry, no time to take better pictures, they just disappeared right from this very bounty-lined plate :/ )

You will need:

2 Thinly sliced red onions (separate the flakes, after cutting)
Oil for frying
chickpea flour
1 heaped Tbsp Rice flour
salt
chilli powder
asafetida (hing)
turmeric
cilantro
a pinch of Baking soda (NOT baking powder)
finely chopped green chillies (optional)

1. cut the onions
2. Start heating the oil in a pan
3. add salt, chilli powder, turmeric, hing, green chillies and cilantro in the onions and mix.
4. In about two minutes the mixture will get a little moist.

5. Add baking soda and rice flour and mix
6. Start adding chickpea flour, 1 spoon at a time and keep mixing.
7. about 4-5 tbsp of chickpea flour should fit in.

8. The final mixture should not be too dry or too wet. (I hope the pictures explain the final required consistency)
9. DO NOT ADD WATER
10. By this time, the oil should be hot. add 2 spoons of this hot oil into the bhaji mixture and mix.
11. You are all set to fry!
12. Drop chunks of the mixture into hot oil and fry on medium heat till dark golden brown

13. Transfer on kitchen towel and sprinkle with chaat masala when hot (optional)
awesomeness!

Tilachi Barfi

 (sesame and peanut fudge)

If you are not the person who likes to bite into til-gul brittles, this one is for you! My aji's innovation :) This is not like any other tilgul you have eaten! It has vanilla for flavoring, but you wont even know it has vanilla, what the vanilla does is takes the tilachi barfi to a different level! such a modern twist on tilgul. I made it for this sankranti. Havent since, gotten time to put together this post. Anyway, its never too late. At least this way you will have it in time before next snkranti :P

This is the kind of recipe I will usually stay away from. It involves sugar-syrup making (which freaks me out). But for this particular preparation, I stood right by my aji's side and observed each step and learnt how to make the perfect consistency sugar syrup for this application!

Ill walk you through the steps with pictures, hope it makes sense to you..

You will need:

1 cup powdered sesame seeds (roasted, then ground)
1 cup powdered peanuts (lightly roasted and ground)
3/4 cup sugar
whole milk
vanilla extract (seriously, trust me! also, if you can get hold of the 'viola' indian brand, it will be better)
1 tsp Ghee

1. take the sugar in a pan
2. pour milk until all the sugar is covered and some more
3. start heating this mixture on low flame, stirring constantly. This is how it will look, as the sugar dissolves and the milk starts to boil

4. To make sure you get the perfect consistency, after every 1-2 minutes, take a tiny dot of the syrup with a spoon onto a glass dish. The picture below shows the results you will get.

5. From left to right in the picture, you can see how the shape of the dot changes. Notice that the one on the far right is homogenous and 3D (if you know what you mean. It does not splutter on the plate, stays like a hemisphere!
6. Thats exactly how much you want to cook the syrup. At this very instant, add the peanut and sesame powders and mix vigorously.
7. The mixture will be liquidy at first, but will start getting dry immediately

8. You dont want to let it become too dry, while its still soft take it off the heat (this happens in a few seconds, be alert)
9. keep mixng while off the heat. When a little warm, add Ghee and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and mix
10. transfer onto a greased sheet, while still warm. Press flat and cut squares.
11. Let cool and remove. Enjoy!