Moong Ke Mangode

Rain Gods have smiled over Chennai and its raining, raining hard. A li'l rain itself can flood many parts of Chennai, and this is heavy rains I am speaking of. The main road in front of my office was below knee length water and getting out of the place seemed like a herculean task. The Times of India symbolized this beautifully in their next day’s edition:


One thing Chennai's rain always does, even if it rains for a couple of hours, confine you to the place you are at, coz of the flooding that happens. To make the most of it, I normally setup the chairs in the balcony and plant myself with a plate of something fried and a hot cup of tea. It was Mangode made with Green moong we relished this time with some green chutney.

Mangode

Ingredients:
150 gm Whole Green Moong
3 Potatoes
2 Green chillies
2 tsp Red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

Soak the Moong for 4-5 hours and grind to a thick paste along with a green chilli. Add salt, red chili powder and finely chopped green chilli to it. Mix well. Peel and dice the potatoes separately into cubes.


In a wok heat the oil. Add the potatoes to the Moong paste and mix well. When the oil is hot enough for frying, with your hands or with a spoon, drop little by little of this mix into the oil. Fry till brown. Enjoy this with green chutney.


They are a good combination between bread slices with some chutney and salted curd sprinkled on them.



I am sending this to FIC: BROWN event hosted by SunshineMom of Tongue Ticklers



Looking out for something more to relish in monsoons:
Onion Pakodas
Paneer Tikka Sandwich
Bread Upma

Chilli Cheese Toast

GOSH! Don’t remember when was the last time I logged into my blog! Last 10 days have been so hectic. What when you have every possible thing turning up, keeping you extremely busy, except the maid. With the visiting guests...extra work load in office and in the middle of all this the Maid doesn’t turn up for one entire week, without any notice :(

Not as if I kept busy 24 hours a day...In whatever little time I got, I have been reading ‘The Three Mistakes of my Life’ by Chetan Bhagat.

The maid turned up yesterday, so I am much more relaxed now. Oh what if she doesn’t end up again today (Its already 11:30 am and she isn’t in as yet!)

But in those last 10 days I would be looking for quick easy to make snacks after returning from work...that would last me till I could fix the dinner. One of these instantly made snack is Chilli Cheese Sandwich.

This sandwich doesn’t call for any preparation time, is done instantly... and leaves a nice chilly taste. This must be a Chennai specialty. I hadn’t tasted this anywhere before...you can find it almost everywhere here. Makes for a perfect quick snack.

Ingredients:
4 Slices of Sandwich Bread
2 Slices of Cheddar Cheese
2 Green Chillies chopped

The pic is self explanatory. I folded the cheese slice at the edges to prevent it from flowing out when it melts.


Cover this with another slice. Similarly set other sandwich as well.
Heat the griller and place the sandwiches in.


Best enjoyed with some Potato Chips and Tomato ketchup.


Talking of it...My next post is going to be another quick snack.

Do you wanna take a guess at what this is? or what ingredients this calls for?

Its Raining!!!

The moment it starts raining, two things hit my mind the fastest; the sweet aromatic smell of the parched earth after the first few drops, and the urge to eat something spicy and, still better off, fried.

Weather has been quite pleasant in Chennai for the last 4 days. It was raining on the weekend and so I started evaluating my options to munch on, as I should get it ready before it stops raining, being the major criteria :)

Most of the street food in India is spicy and oily, does it taste good? Must be kidding, it is awesome. Some of the common street food in Mumbai would typically consist of Paav Bhaji, Vada Paav, Daabeli, Onion Pakodas, Bhel Puri, Paani Puri, while in South you normally see varieties of Dosas, Idlis and Sambhar Vada being sold on carts. North displays variety of Chaats on its streets like Gol Gappa, Dahi Paapadi Chaat, Dahi Bhalla, Aaloo Tikki; so also, you cannot miss the sight of Samosas, Bread Pakodas, Jalebis, Mix Veg Pakodas in any of the streets in Delhi.

Onion Pakodas came to our rescue.

Onion Pakodas
Ingredients:
1 Onion
½ tsp Chilli Powder
2½ T Gram Flour (Besan)
Salt to Taste
Oil to fry

Cut the Onion into julienne and add salt and chilli powder to it.

Let this stand for 10 mins, so that Onion will give away its extra water and the pakodas will turn out crispier. Add the Besan to form a thick mix. Normally the water left by the Onion would be enough to form the mix, only if required add some water to it

Heat oil in a wok. Take some of the mix in your hands and drop little by little in the oil.

They taste great with Tomato Ketup and a big cup of Hot Tea.

We finished them really fast, I am going to make it with 2 Onions next time. Meanwhile I'm off to pray to the Rain Gods :)