Aloo channa chaat

Aloo - potato ; channa - chickpeas / garbanzo beans; Chat / chaat - Indian salad.

This is one guiltless food for those weight watchers. Chaat food items are much appreciated as evening snack or starter foods in India. Aloo channa chat is more popular among Pakistanis. The recipe is so simple ....just mix the main ingredients with the seasoning and serve with freshly chopped vegetables....enjoy!

Aloo channa chaat.

Ingredients: (for 8 servings)
Potato - 2 (big)
dry chickpeas - 1 cup

Seasoning:

red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
cumin powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 1 tbsp
curry masala powder - 1 tsp
sugar - 1 tsp
salt - 1 tbsp (to taste)

Fresh ingredients:

Lime - 1/2
Onion - 2
carrot - 2
cilantro , mint leaf - few stalks
cucumber - 1

Method:

Soak the white channa (chick peas) overnight and cook it to tender (pressure cook or cook in stove top for 2 hours).
(Or) Buy a can of cooked chickpeas, drain water, wash to remove the salt. Keep aside.
Boil the potato and peel.
Potato and channa can be cooked and kept in freezer till we need to make the salad.

Mix the ingredients given for seasoning or just use store bought chaat masala.

Shred the carrot, chop the onion, cucumber and cilantro finely.

Chop the potato. Reheat the potato and chickpeas together together (in microwave or in a wok) before serving. Mix the required seasoning powder to taste.

Aloo channa chat is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot topped with the fresh vegetables and squeeze lime over it.
Makes a healthy snack.

Note:

I suggest cooking the chick peas from scratch if time permits. They can be kept frozen in batches.

Mushroom soup

As my family's soup recipes are mostly non-veg based and somewhat more in south Indian fashion, I never had the confidence to prepare some fancy soup without proper recipe. The funny thing is I can bake without any hesitation but get confused when my hubby asks me for a restaurant style soup:) But my love for hearty warm soups always made me ask for recipes whenever I taste great soups. In course of time I learned a few. Last year I bought some books from the nearby library when they hosted a brown bag clearance sale. This soup book called 'Soups' written by Ms.Robin Howe, is one among them. It has many descriptions on choosing the herbs,stock making, ingredients and tips. I got this mushroom soup recipe from this book and made it in a lean version.

Ingedients: (2 cups)

Mushroom - 10 (fresh or canned)
(6.5 oz can / 200 gm with water)
onion - 1/4 cup
butter - 1 tbsp
salt - to taste
black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
milk - 1 cup

Method:

Heat a thick bottom vessel. Add the butter and onion.
Saute the finely chopped onion in butter.
After it gets soft, slide in the finely chopped mushroom.
Stir for a few seconds.
Then put the AP flour and fry for a minute.
Add 1 cup water and cook covered with salt.
After it reduces to half cup, pour a cup of milk and cook till it gets slightly thick.
Serve with a dash of black pepper powder.

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot with little fresh cream (optional).
If the soup seems thin, microwave a tbsp of Ap flour, mix it with 2 tbsp water and add to the soup. Then reheat again.

Original version:

mushroom - 1 lb
onion - 2
butter - 3 oz
chicken stock - 2 pints
milk - 1 1/4 cup
flour - 2 oz
cream - 1/4 pint
egg yolk - 2
salt, pepper - to taste

Method:

Prepare by the above method, but  puree 70% of mushroom after sauteing. Replace water by chicken stock.
For garnishing, saute remaining chopped mushrooms in butter and add.
Sprinkle a dash of paprika powder before serving.