HEALTHY FLOURS EASY MAKE APPE

 A SUNDAY SPENT HAVING FAILED TO BAKE WELL!

The above says I lack the knowledge of baking which eventually proves my poor baking skills! Also, a mini toaster oven is not capable of all of the good bakes! It does not make me that sad, baking is not a prime cooking activity among us! But baking is therapeutic, I have experienced it! Yesterday, I failed at my baking venture! Just when I was to get irritated, our son called, what else can make me happier? It was my mistake wanting to bake fully vegan & gluten-free buns! It does not work always using homely flours; pricier gluten-free flour varieties are required I guess! Also, one has to have good knowledge about the do's & don'ts of baking! I am an amateurish baker, look at who I am? I grow "kharkol pata" at home, now regret why I uprooted the "biliti dhonepata" / Saw Tooth Coriander plants! I am loving with more of vigour the rustic Bengali dishes! Is it aging or an in-built trait of  a middle-class Bengali? Anyway, last night I finally baked some buns using baking powder, I wasted two packs of yeast, each weighing may be 85 gm, ran out of stock!

But I wished that we have a homemade bun & chicken curry meal for dinner, it was Christine's off day! I think the mistake I did was to garnish with the cheese slices! Because they browned, I could not bake furthermore the buns to get a burnt top! They tasted good but I prefer yeast breads, fluffier pockets, soft to the core!

THE NEWS OF THE WEEK CAN BE THAT I ATE A FULL SIZED POMFRET, DID NOT PUKE!

That happened yesterday, at the lunch time! The week before I was too disappointed having cooked stale fish & poor quality mutton! This week, I shopped locally making up my mind if I have to have non-veg food, I would buy it fresh! I got home chicken & silver pomfret! Of the various varieties of pomfret fish available here, I can have only the smaller, silvery ones! The rest are too smelly, even the large, silvery ones! It is not always misery working inside!

I liked my meal, may not be as good as a Hilsa, Tyangra, Aar, Pabda, Koi Mach meal! At least, having a fresh catch has some nutritional value! I can sacrifice having  my choice of fresh water fish until my Kolkata visits! But I cannot turn to be a vegetarian on a regular basis, I am a hardcore Bengali who refuses to eat vegetarian meals throughout the year! Non-Vegetarian eaters    must continue to thrive, there are ways for the vegetarians to avoid the smell & discomfort without asking the world to go vegetarian, the expectation itself is absurd!

WHAT IS THIS HEALTHY FLOURS  EASY MAKE APPE?

Ever since, I have learnt about the existence of an appe pan, about the varied kinds of snacks we can prepare in it, I got thrilled! I did not take much of time to buy one & try different combination of ingredients for a batter to make snacks, more or less healthy! I wouldn't claim an appe pan uses few drops of oil as in case of an air fryer! It definitely uses way less of oil than a deep fry demands! I am telling you, I would try breaded fries in an appe pan sooner, say with minced chicken & fish! This morning, I cooked those spicy cornmeal, rice flour & oatmeal appe & they were super crisp until hot! Unfortunately, we could not have them fresh & hot, that is highly recommended! 

I named this vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian spicy snacks, HEALTHY FLOURS EASY MAKE APPE! If you are making it for the kids, skip or lessen the use of spices & green chillies! The use of those enhanced the taste though, if the cooking medium be ghee, the flavour would be awesome! Also you can keep adding vegetables to the batter!

INGREDIENTS :

OATMEAL : 1 COFFEE MUG

CORNMEAL : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

RICE FLOUR : 2-3 TBSP

CORN FLOUR : 2 TBSP

CHOPPED ONION : 1 SMALL TEA CUP SIZE

CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 2 TSP

CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 1 TSP

CUMIN POWDER : 2 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 2 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 1 TSP + 1 TSP FOR EACH OF THE SNACK

PROCEDURE :

Take all of the four variety of flours in a bowl & add some water! Add the salt, use a hand beater to mix and turn it onto a smooth batter! 

Thereafter, add the spice powders, beat again! Add the washed & chopped onion & green chillies, 1 tsp oil, beat again! Keep covered for 10-15 minutes!

Put on the flame a clean appe pan, add 1 tsp to each of the pocket! Let the oil get hot!

Keep the heat between minimal & low all through! Once the oil is hot, use a table spoon or two to fill the pockets! Let one side cook well! It may take 4-5 minutes at low heat! Turn over to cook the other side which may take another few minutes!

Strain as much as possible the oil whilst taking them out of the pan!

Serve & have them hot & fresh with a choice of chutney, sauce, dip!

ILISHER MATHA CHALKUMRO GHONTO

IT'S TIME FOR A FAMILY BENGALI RECIPE TO COME UP!

It is a beautiful sunny morning today, you never know when it would start raining! That's how this island's weather pattern is! I do not like carrying an umbrella with me, force myself to these days! Too much of a sunny weather does not work either for the runners & walkers! At least, I get tired easily on a walk, if the sun shines bright! Time & again, I scolded our mother for pampering me at a time when she had to teach me some lessons of the life firmly! If I had refused to do a house chore, she had to be tough on me, on my brother & make us do it! The brother is at least earning for the family, travels to the office everyday, I did not do anything fruitful till date! Even I have not let the son or the man to do any household chore! But I let go off my only child to a far off land! It was not an easy decision given my nature! But I did knowing the son would learn to be independent, receive the kind of education he had been yearning for! Our mother never wished to let go of us! Even in the present time, she would have been happier if I would have listened to her & only her! But I take lessons from the past & act accordingly! She has to know she need not control everyone else's life around her! I however, went after her passion for cooking & gardening! I am not good at the latter, like her!

Will my ginger plant bear some ginger?

IS IT THAT OUR SON IS A REBEL BECAUSE HIS BOTH PARENTS ARE KIND OF THAT?

But this mumma was an obedient child until her marriage day! The mother got upset when I stopped listening to her gradually thereafter, you cannot deny the influence of your rebel partner in your life! Our father was too obedient when it came to the elderlies, the husband does not behave objectionably either; but he would not bow or ditto listen to anyone in this world! If you bother him much, he would rebel! I do not expect much from the son, just a regular communication! Mumma gets upset when he refuses the minimal amount of phone conversations! This is going on for three years! His father tortured us calling irregular from the ship, now he is repeating his father's behaviour! I cannot even rebuke or laugh at the father when the latter gets upset when the son does not take the calls. The son used to be fond of my brother, I wanted him to take the best from different people, my brother holds tight the mother till date! I had different plans for my brother otherwise! It is 2:05 pm here; around 3:30 pm, I would take a break from the blog writing & go out, have my first meal, walk, come back & finish off with the blogpost! I have a lot of food in the refrigerator; I would have rice-dal-eggplant fry & mango for dinner today! Last night, I had egg biryani again, the amount of rice was double than what I allow myself to have these days!

WHAT IS THIS ILISH MACH ER MATHA DIYE CHALKUMRO GHONTO?

Ilish Mach refers to Hilsa fish, the most loved fish among the Bengalis! We use fish heads in different recipes! My family tends to add fried fish heads or smaller prawns or dried fish in a number of mixed vegetable dishes! Earlier those dishes were my favourite! I still love dishes that have smaller prawns & dried fishes! Bigger fish heads do not remain my favourite anymore! But I can eat deep fried ilish mach or any small sized fish heads in vegetables or in lentils curry! Way smaller fish heads of a 500-1 kg sized Bengal Carp or of any small fresh water fish I simply enjoy till date! Chalkumro is the Bengali word for Ash Gourd / Winter Melon! Ghonto may be a medley! ILISHER MATHA CHALKUMRO GHONTO is a gluten-free, non-vegetarian Bengali dish with deep fried Hilsa fish head & Ash Gourd using minimal spices! I am back from my walk & had these; I bought muffins & chicken stuffed naan bread from the Bread Talk, sat at a food court buying a TehC! 

Whenever I am near this condo, I go back in time; 2010, 2nd October, I and the son stepped in here to start a family of three, that was 13 years post marriage, also made some good friends!

INGREDIENTS :

HILSA HEAD : 1 STANDARD SIZED

ASH GOURD / WINTER MELON : 2 IF TOO YOUNG; ELSE 1/2 OR 1/4 OF A TOO BIG ONE! [I PREFER USING THE SMALL & YOUNG]

BAY LEAF : 1

CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP

RADHUNI / AJMOD : 2-3 PINCH [OPTIONAL]

DRY RED CHILLI : 2 [HALVED]

GREEN CHILLI : 2-3 SLITTED

CHOPPED CORIANDER : A HANDFUL

CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

SUGAR : 1 TSP

OIL : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Get rid of all of the scales from the fish head! Wash well & cut into smaller pieces. This is necessary, if you fry the head & then break it, there is a possibility of the bones to get messy! 

Wash again the fish head pieces well! Also, ask your fish vendor to cut the Hilsa head into half! If you share a cordial relationship, they can cut the head further into smaller pieces! 

Marinate the washed fish head pieces with 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder & a little of salt, keep aside!

Peel the winter melon, cut off the two ends, wash! I use the young, cucumber shaped ones! I usually discard the seeds present & then shred!

Heat the oil in the wok, fry the fish head pieces discarding the marinade! Take them out for latter use!

Temper the remaining oil with the bayleaf, cumin seeds, radhuni[optional], halved dry red chillies! Add the shredded vegetable & fold in well!

Add the remaining turmeric powder & some salt! Fold in well & cover cook at minimal heat for 8-10 minutes! 

Remove the cover, a lot of water would release! Add the washed & slitted green chillies, cumin & coriander powders, fold in well & cover cook at low heat until all of the water dries up!

Remove the cover, add the sugar, washed & chopped green chillies, the fried fish head pieces! Fold in well & cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes! 

Take down & have with piping hot steamed rice!

DRAGON FRUIT CAKE

                

WE WANT RAIN & DO NOT WANT IT AT THE SAME TIME!

Like yesterday night, I was feeling pretty hot & it is raining since the morning! This is how it works here in this island! We are the kinds who cannot keep the AC's going on continuously, not even covering ourselves in blankets! Unlike us, Singapore lives inside AC machines practically! In my case, it might be the thought of a staggering electricity bill that works inside! In the senior's case, he perhaps does not even require a fan, he has no fat in the body & never feels hot, can go without a fan! Whilst staying with us, the son too did not require the AC's to be on all the while, although we did not restrict him in this matter! Now, the city he stays in the United States as a student, it's cold most of the time! If it's not snowfall during the winter, there is chill in the wind rest of the year! The cold wind was pretty difficult for us to sustain in the month of October, he however says he enjoys the weather, even the snowfall! As a mother, my concern is him catching a cold, cough & I end up thinking he might catch pneumonia! At thIS point, it does not remain limited to just "thinking", it becomes too worrisome! What is sad is that the rest at home do not understand my stress, do nothing to keep me stress-free!

OTHERWISE, LIFE IS GOOD FOR US!

I mean not that the couple at this home often would fight! My only fight with him now is his inability to make the son understand how we worry, make him talk to us regular! Last October, before visiting him, we had an agenda that the father would sit with the son and discuss, explain him our expectations with regards to the communication part between us! Neither the father attempted to on arrival, nor the son gave us any chance to discuss! Otherwise, the son is not giving us any trouble; he is studying well; like his parents he is not a party animal! He does go out with friends, that is required! We are just too happy at home without partying every weekend! We watched Kajol & Jisshu's "The Trial" at Disney Hotstar yesterday & half a day was spent on it! If in one semester, he gets a B, the next time he would get mumma an A- or A! Before a big expense like buying a guitar or the ticket for a concert he wishes to attend, he would seek the father's consent! But what he does not understand is that the parents of international students have other areas of concern & that can be too stressful! We are not that rich to travel to the United States every six months & I have no complaints about it! I do not work & we have other responsibilities that we cannot deny! Amidst all these, a long chat with someone in Budapest was relaxing! That was with Sreyashi who got me a job in the DPS of Singapore, I will always remember that! Also, I am happy about her new lease of life, jealous how she travels all around Europe on a regular basis! Living in a big country has it's own benefits! We have a peaceful, settled life in Singapore, I have got a little of bored; we did not apply for  a PR or buy an apartment, what's the point staying at one place for this long?

WHAT IS THIS DRAGON FRUIT CAKE?

I seriously had no plans to bake a cake with dragon fruit! Although it does not have a taste of it's own, I enjoy having it because it's low sugar level is good for a diabetic! It so happened that last Friday, when I went shopping for the fish, meat & vegetables; I could not resist buying jackfruit, litchi besides some mangoes! At home, some dragon fruit pieces were resting! With three of my most favourite fruits alluring me to have them, I was not wanting to have the dragon fruit! Cut fruits should not be kept for long, not even in the refrigerator! An idea played on my mind & I baked a vegan, gluten-free DRAGON FRUIT CAKE! While in the son's city last October; the Airbnb flat might not have had what I expected of but there had brown paper cake tins & both a traditional oven and a microwave oven! I do get that the West eat a lot of baked food, they frequently bake a cake; we do not as much as they do! I would bake a cake once a week, but a good amount of sugar goes in! There was a time, the son used to enjoy my unconventional cakes! I wonder why he does not make good use of the oven he has, or does he? I do not want him to buy each of his meals, neither want him to eat cheese & bread, milk with cornflakes all the time! He can do some simple bakes, eat homemade fresh & hot meals! That is what I expect! Three years back, I thought he would share his experiences with pictures & I would share those in the blog & on my social media accounts! Things did not work out that way! So I find solace in eating; the following was my first meal of today!

Cristine made the Vermicelli Upma just the way I told; the way the middle class Bengali Homes used to do in those days, it does not use a lot of vegetables!

INGREDIENTS :

FRESH DRAGON FRUIT CUBE : 1 COFFEE MUG

OAT MEAL : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

OATS : 1/2 COFFEE MUG [GIVES A GRAINY TEXTURE]

RICE FLOUR : 1/4 COFFEE MUG

CORN FLOUR : 1 TBSP

BAKING SODA : 1/4 TSP

BAKING POWDER : 1 TSP

SUGAR : 5-6 TBSP [YOU CAN USE MORE] [I USED BROWN SUGAR]

LEMON ZEST : 1 TBSP

OIL : 1/2 SMALL SIZED TEA CUP

PROCEDURE : 

Blend together the dragon fruit pieces, sugar, oil!

In a bowl; mix together the oat meal, rice & corn flours, baking powder & soda! Add the paste to it & mix well! 

Thereafter, I added the oats! Though I added it to thicken the batter, later found that it gave a texture to the cake!

Add the washed lemon jest & mix well! 

Preheat the oven for 10-12 minutes at 180*C!

Grease a cake tin with few drops of oil and add the batter to it! Lightly tap the cake tin on the kitchen counter!

Place the cake tin atop the tray and bake at 180*C for 40 minutes!

Mine is a mini toaster oven! The time taken may vary in your's, be careful!

It was a supremely moist cake!

SUJIR PATISHAPTA

 

HOW WAS THE SUNDAY?

It was as usual, nothing special did happen nor did we eat anything special! I wouldn't call it boring, everyone in the family more or less enjoy staying at home, relax & watch something or read or do any activity within the comfort of our home! For me, cooking is a great stress buster! This morning, I cooked these energy bars & updated one blog post! The entire procedure took me 30-35 minutes! I cannot call something chikki that has been shaped round like a ladoo, right?

These mistakes in the earlier blogposts, I am trying to rectify but amazing enough that I had lot more visits in the blog than what I have now! Yet, I would improve my cooking skill, simplify it further, improve my photography skill! These keep me occupied too, else the stress with regards to the son staying far off is too taxing! He does not understand the concern for him! I have many questions, but no one to answer! I was disappointed with the "aar mach" yesterday! Every Bengali shop here sells frozen fresh water fish, but Rajdhani Store's products sells fast, is slightly better in comparison; they did not have an 1-1 1/2 kg size last Friday! I wanted to have after a year may be & it was a wrong decision to source it from elsewhere & the blunder was to cook it without onion & garlic! The smell was annoying! I also got severe acidity from the fried fish head, Saturday entire night I had to suffer!

The dried fish, the young jute leaves stir fry was fabulous! In this scenario; for me to love the sea fish varieties was a necessity, but it did not happen! I can remain happy with the freshly available smaller fish varieties, but the rest fear bones! Dried fish, fresh Bombay Duck, smaller Prawns, Mourala, Mola, Kakila, these smaller fish varieties can keep me happy but the rest? They may revolt if served alone those! Yesterday evening, we had "muri makha" too!

I wish to blog about what we had for dinner, not sharing the picture hence! We have watched a couple of series & movies in the past two days, forgot all their names! A murder mystery starring Manoj Bajpaye was interesting, his was a team of cops who solved the mystery! 

WHAT'S UP FOR THE DAY?

Nothing much to do as such! I have quite a variety of food to eat my first meal with, I could skip going out & swim instead! But I want to go out locally for lunch, then walk a bit & come back home to finish off the blog post & dine with mutton, dal, loti! The thought is giving me happy vibes! Folks, I am thinking of making an offering to my God Family on Wednesday with whatever I have in my home! Our grandma's soul would be at peace, that I am considering! The family at Krishnanagar are feeding the guests mainly on the day of "matshomukhi", so that they can treat the people with non-vegetarian food! This should stop, feasts on the occasion of demises! Use the money to feed the poor or just donate it for a cause! The guests should come & witness the rituals; pay homage with flowers; the host family should serve them cold drinks & sweet packets! None in my family agrees with me! We do not know when is our end, we should engage in what keeps us happy! Just now, I made some buttermilk biscuits! At Popeye's, a plate of four costs 6$! Mine are tasting the same but is less flaky! I would share the picture in public! Back from my walk, I took shower, did the prayer for the second time & had some mango!

What was my first meal today, that too I would share later in a public post!

WHAT IS THIS SUJIR PATISHAPTA PITHE?

This is a gross aberration of a recipe I attempted at! Among us, Patishapta refers to a stuffed crepe, usually eaten as a winter dessert! I do it throughout the year! I remember, I did it last February, the Filipino was on leave! I was attempting at a vegan, gluten-free version of patishapta crepes! It went horribly wrong! I remotely remember I had soaked some un-cooked rice, then pasted it & mixed with coconut flour, date palm jaggery! I tried crepes with the batter! I failed to, somewhere in the batter mix, I went wrong! I am not the kind to waste food, specially such a tasty batter! I stir cooked & reduced the batter to a thick consistency filling, that is yum! Whilst it was set to cool, I soaked some semolina in water, made it into a batter for crepes! This is how a vegetarian, vegan Bengali dessert, SUJIR PATISHAPTA was born!

INGREDIENTS : [FOR THE FILLING]

RICE FLOUR : 1 MEDIUM TEA CUP

COCONUT FLOUR : 1 COFFEE MUG

JAGGERY POWDER : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP [I USED DATE PALM JAGGERY]

SUGAR : 1 TBSP

INGREDIENTS : [FOR THE CREPE]

SEMOLINA : 1 COFFEE MUG

SUGAR : 1 TBSP

OIL : 2-3 DROP

WATER : AS REQUIRED FOR A RUNNY BATTER

INGREDIENTS : [FOR THE BENGALI DESSERT]

THE FILLING

THE BATTER FOR THE CREPES

FEW DROPS OF OIL TO GREASE THE PAN

PROCEDURE :

Although I have soaked the raw rice & pasted it; you will use rice flour because my initial purpose was different!

Mix together the rice flour, coconut flour, jaggery powder and mix together well! Add enough water to make a paste out of it!

Heat a wok, add the paste and stir cook until the sides come out clean! Once the mixture is thick, take out! Keep on a plate to cool!

Soak the semolina in water for 1/2 am hour, that is enough time if we are using the semolina available in this island! In my younger days, I have seen pithe-puli in India requires the semolina to soak for longer periods!

Thereafter, add the sugar & oil; mix well! Little by little add more of water to get a runny batter but not let it become a liquid consistency! Keep standing for 10-12 minutes!

Heat a pan on the gas top & grease with some oil; add a big spoonful of batter & spread it round as we do in case of a dosa! Our's need not be thin!

Keep the heat at minimal! Add some filling at one end & gently fold in! This step I am not expert at, I use my hands!

You can have them hot or at normal room temperature! We refrigerate, enjoy it stale! Always take them out from the refrigerator an hour before having!

PAN SEARED CABBAGE SNACK

 

I CONSIDER IT THE END OF AN ERA!

I am talking about the demise of our maternal grandmother last Sunday, the 2nd of July, 2023 at 10:05 pm! It was a good day, the eve of Guru Poornima and her eldest daughter's birthday! She had three daughters & three sons! What an excellent home maker our grandma had been! Everyone visited her but the youngest son, his spouse, her youngest daughter were the caregivers! In her hay days, the then young eldest son shouldered big responsibilities for the family; may be that he cleaned my constipated potty, hence, I cannot ever avoid him, also took me to the Kolkata Airport to meet the Indian Cricket Team on his bike, once took me to meet Ravindra Jain, the musician, in a party! I must say, the eldest daughter when young witnessed and was a part of the struggle of her with six small kids, the grandfather was a State Bank Employee, not an industrialist! My brother who I thought lacks social responsibility as compared to Bidisha & Tamal, even to Jhum, was too responsible at the venue yesterday & these few days! Perhaps our grandmother wanted his shoulders on her last journey besides her sons; perhaps our maternal uncles wanted my brother to be with them with all genuine intents! Bhai made me feel proud yesterday, I told him several times only taking care of his parents is not enough; he has to look beyond his home! Would our son be the same supportive of his dadu, thamma, dimma? Bhai & Mani reported me everything about the happenings there, Bhai was too appreciative of our youngest maternal uncle, Babbu is a champion about shouldering responsibilities, our grandmother called him Babul! I am, our mother is friends with his wife, Boumoni! I am also happy that bhai specifically stayed beside the quiet Boromamu, the eldest of the three sons! It would take a book to I write about my relationship with the maternal grandparent's home; I was born in that home, my entire childhood was spent in that home. Until age 13, whilst in standard-7, I wished to stay in Krishnanagar; thats when one day, the father did hit me on my upper arms with a butter knife when I went berserk and told I do not need them, that I hate Kolkata and want to go back to my birthplace! At standard-8, may be the Almighty wanted me to start loving Kolkata & my real home; I fell for a young boy of my age group! To add more, the father's youngest brother is arriving today from Nagaon, Assam to be beside our mother for her 4th day rituals! How beautiful is that? Also, I was happy to hear that Bhai & Dodo / Manab goes to the office in the same metro rail every day! This is what I wish for, that all of us cousins stay put together and do the right thing, do not be the parent's pet!

IT IS ALSO AN INDEPENDENCE DAY IN THE COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE OF OUR COLLEGE GOING SON!

Okay, I had to go to the Indian market area, I have ordered for a God Altar, they called me to see before the final touch! I went to the Iyengar Bhavan, had their Kanchipuram Idli, super soft! They told next time onwards, I must ask them to make my food spicy! That amount of milk in a sugar-free tea caused me acidity! 

I like home cooked food these days but if I am outside, that I am most of the days, I would prefer outside food!

The most loved combo of the Bengalis; "Luchi-Mutton" does not attract me anymore, I would prefer it with "aloo bhaja, begun bhaja, aloor dum"! Anyway, I planned to share this snacks today, after all it is the Independence Day in the country where our son resides as a college going student! I knew the grandmother would pass away any day & if the two coincides, I can go ahead with this recipe! In the past one year, she was unable to have rice meals! Her youngest daughter-in-law would cook "variety tiffin" for her, stuffs people usually take in  the "lunch boxes" to school, college, office! Well, that may not be sandwiches but she loved "mishti bun ruti" / sweet buns with her tea! Egg free cakes & soft buns she used to enjoy whilst in Kolkata! I wish I can cook & share soft, lightly sweet bun some day and share with you all! Also, today is not the right day to share anything bread! Her elder son-in-law was not fond of breads & buns! Our father was too respectful towards the elders, hence received love from many!

WHAT IS THIS PAN SEARED CABBAGE SNACK?

We had a little of cabbage left in the refrigerator, what to do with it? Trust me, I did not hear the word Okonomiyaki, a kind of Japanese pancake until last Friday! I only knew I have to do something that the west can have, that we can also enjoy on a Friday night! I took out the cornmeal, rice flour, chopped the cabbage, onion & green chillies, some regular use spice powders & here you are! The only thing required to make them taste good & crisp is our patience! I do not know why, but I wished to make this vegetarian PAN SEARED CABBAGE SNACK, vegan & gluten-free too! You can keep adding to it different fresh herbs & dry fruits, I did not!

INGREDIENTS :

SHREDDED CABBAGE : OF 1 SMALL SIZED

CHOPPED ONION : OF 2 MEDIUM SIZED

CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : OF 2-3

RICE FLOUR : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

CORN MEAL : 1/4 COFFEE MUG

CUMIN POWDER : 2 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 2 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP

DRY MANGO POWDER : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

SUGAR : 1 TSP [OPTIONAL]

HALFED CASHEW NUT : TO GARNISH

OIL : 2 TSP FOR EACH ONE

PROCEDURE :

We would take the shredded cabbage & chopped onion & green chillies in a colander & wash well! We would let the water drain and take them in a bowl!

We would add all of the spices, salt, turmeric, rice flour, corn meal to the bowl and mix well!

We would not add water! We would wet our hands and mix the things, repeat it until they bind together well without been soggy!

We would tear off portions & flatten between the palms, even the edges to make cutlet shape!

We would heat a pan on the gas top & grease with oil! We would place one uncooked snack & place a cashew nut in the middl roast both side well & then add the oil, slow cook well altering both sides a couple of time! All of the cooking is to be done at minimal heat!

We would serve & have it fresh & hot with our choice of sauces or dips!