Masala Vada Recipe | Ambode Recipe | Chana Dal Vada Recipe [Video]

Masala Vada / Ambode / Dal Vada recipe with detailed Video recipe. Masala Vada or Ambode is a popular Indian deep fried fritter / snack made from chana dal or lentils. Masala Vada is a popular tea time snack. Masala Vada is vegan.

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I post a lot less deep-fried recipes than I actually eat. I don't deep fry much, but that doesn't mean I don't binge on french fries or samosas. I just fry less at home myself and rely on restaurants doing it for me. All this because I find it really boring to clean up after frying. To be really honest, I kinda eat them almost every day. There is a "gaadi" or a cart behind my house who makes some really amazing masala vadas along with mirchi bhajjis and other pakodas. I usually pick up at least a couple vadas on my way home. So I rarely get about making them. But these Masala Vadas are worth the effort.

There are days when you want everything homemade, from your bread to your pickles. And in one of those energetic moments, I made these masala vadas. And to tell you the truth, they were so much better and fresher than the ones you get outside.

Masala Vada is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The base of the masala vada is soaked chana dal. The chana dal is coarsely ground to give a nice texture to the vadas. You can also save a little aside while grinding and add the rest in final batter. If you don't have Dill leaves, add in coriander or any other herb, but dill tastes the best. There are so many variations you can do while making them. If you or your family does not like or eat onions, either don't add it or you can replace it with finely chopped cabbage. If you don't want to add ginger, then you can add in hing.

Serve the vadas piping hot with ketchup or chutney and a hot cup of chai!

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Masala Vada Recipe | Ambode Recipe | Chana Dal Vada Recipe

Masala Vada or Ambode is a popular Indian deep fried fritter / snack made from chana dal or lentils. Masala Vada is a popular tea time snack. Masala Vada is vegan.

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:            South Indian
Prep Time:     3 hours
Cook time:     20 minutes
Total time:     3 Hours 20 Minutes
Yield:                12-15 Vadas

Ingredients:

1 cup Chana Dal
1" Ginger, grated
1 Tbsp Black Pepper
0.25 tsp Turmeric Powder
2-3 Green Chillies, finely chopped
1 Onion, finely chopped
0.5 cup Dill leaves, finely chopped
10-12 Curry leaves, roughly chopped
Salt to taste
Water as required
Oil to fry

Method:

1. Wash and soak the chana dal in water for 3-4 hours.
2. Drain the chana dal and add to a grinder/blender along with the ginger, pepper and turmeric powder. Grind until your have a coarse batter that is sticky.
3. Remove to a bowl and add in the chopped onioons, green chillies, dill leaves, curry leaves adn salt. Mix well.
4. Heat oil in a kadhai or deep fryer.
5. While the oil heats up, wet your hands and divide the batter and shape the vadas.
6. Drop in the hot oil and cook on medium heat until the vadas are browned.
7. Serve vadas hot along with ketchup or chutney.

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Moonglet Recipe | Moong Dal Pizza Recipe [Video]

Moonglet recipe with step by step photos and video instructions. Moonglet is a popular North Indian street food. Moonglet is a fluffy pancake made from split mung beans and topped like a pizza with vegetables, seasoning and cheese. Moonglet is gluten free. This recipe can be adapted to suit a vegan diet and a Jain diet.

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You guys, you have got to try this fluffy pancake meets Pizza aka Moonglet. It is light, flavorful and so customizable. It is also gluten-free and can be adapted to suit a plant-based / vegan diet and the Jain diet. So easy too.

I saw this on YouTube and I knew instantly that I had to try it. The idea of a gluten-free pizza made with all natural ingredients was too tempting to resist.

I loved the crispy outside. I love the soft and fluffy inside. And I love the toppings. I've topped the Moonglets with so many different toppings - capsicum, tomato, baby corn, onion, paneer, tofu, etc. It is really your choice. I also found topping the Moonglet with pizza seasoning made it even more yum. You can either go the Italian way like I did and top with oregano, garlic powder, etc. or try a fajita seasoning. It's all in your hands.

Making the batter needs a little bit of patience, this is not an instant recipe. The moong dal or deskinned split mung beans need soaking. If you are short of time, soak for just 2 hours and if you have the time, you can soak it overnight. I just would not exceed 10 hours. Then just grind the moong dal along with ginger and green chilies to make a smooth batter. The dal itself will be moist and you may not require any extra water. Grind it as thick as possible, we can add water later while making the Moonglet. The Moonglet gets its fluffiness from Eno fruit salt, if you don't have Eno, use baking soda and a teaspoon of lime juice to help it get the rise. It may not be as fluffy as with Eno, but it will still be light. I have found adding a little water along with the Eno, helps it fluff up better.

Now how many Moonglets you make is all up to the size of your pan. I prefer making several small ones instead of one large one. It makes it much easier to flip them. I suggest using the smallest frying pan you have to make them and dividing the batter accordingly. Grease the pan and add the batter. Top with whatever you choose and use the back of the spatula to press the toppings in.  Once the first side cooks, flip and cook the other side and top with cheese before serving.

This was my easy version of the Moonglet. YouTube is awash with several versions, some even go the cheese burst way where the Moonglet is cut open carefully and cheese is put inside along with the topping and allowed to melt. I would love to try that out someday.

Always, always serve the Moonglet hot. You can serve it with sauce or chutney or even salsa, something to just dip the Moonglet it.


Suggestions to suit other diets:

• To adapt the recipe to a vegan / plant-based diet, use only vegetables or use tofu for the topping. You can either skip the cheese or use vegan cheese.

• To adapt the recipe to a Jain diet, skip the ginger in the batter. You can replace it with asafoetida or hing.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Moonglet Recipe | Moong Dal Pizza Recipe

Moonglet is a popular North Indian street food. Moonglet is a fluffy pancake made from split mung beans and topped like a pizza with vegetables, seasoning and cheese. Moonglet is gluten free. This recipe can be adapted to suit a vegan diet and a Jain diet.

Recipe Type:  Breakfast / Snacks
Cuisine:            North Indian
Prep Time:     5 hours
Cook time:     30 minutes
Total time:     5 Hours 30 Minutes (includes soaking time)
Yield:                3 to 4

Ingredients:

1 cup Moong Dal
2 Green Chillies
1 tsp Ginger, grated
1 tsp Eno fruit salt
1 tsp Pizza seasoning
Sliced vegetables for topping
Sliced paneer for topping
2 tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped
3-4 Tbsp Cheese, grated
3-4 Tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
Water as required

Method:

1. Wash the moong dal and soak it for 5 hours.
2. Drain the moong dal and grind it along with ginger and green chillies and 1 Tbsp of water until smooth. The batter has to be thick, so don't add too much water.
3. Add salt as per taste and the eno to the batter.
4. Add water if required and mix well until the eno is combined and the batter is fluffy.
5. Heat oil in a small non stick pan and add spoonfuls of the batter. Divide the batter depending on the size of your pan. I made 2 moonglets with a 6" frying pan.
6. Keep the pan on low heat and arrange the toppings. I used sliced capsicum, tomato and paneer.
7. Top with chopped coriander leaves and pizza seasoning.
8. Gently press the toppings into the moonglet with the back of a spatula.
9. Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 minutes or until one side is cooked.
10. Gently flip the moonglet and spoon oil on the sides.
11. Remove from heat once the second side is cooked too.
12. Top with grated cheese.
13. Cut into slices and serve.

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vegan Omelet

Vegan Zucchini Spinach Frittata

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Lahsun Shev Recipe | Garlic Sev Recipe [Video]

Garlic Sev or Lahsun Shev is deep fried savory strings made of chickpea flour that has been flavored with garlic. Serve garlic sev as an evening snack during tea time. Garlic Sev is vegan.

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So how have you guys been? I'm making an appearance after a gap of few weeks now.

For the first time, it is not because I was busy with work, but because I was on vacation. Finally!! The last real vacation that did not involve attending weddings or meeting family was when we went to Bali in 2017 and we were both craving some "us" time. This year we kept it local and visited North East India.

Before I went on vacation, I shared the recipe of the BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE ever!!! I hope you tried that out cause that's a keeper. But that cake, was what I wanted to make for Gee and Raj's birthday. They had asked me for totally different things.

Gee, not one with a sweet tooth and someone craving a certain savory for months now, asked me to make her Garlic Sev, the way they sell in Goa. She's been trying her luck to find something similar in Bangalore, but not succeeded. I thought I would attempt to make some for her. Whether it tastes exactly like the one she buys in Goa, it is up to her to tell, but I thought it was really really tasty and it was so simple to make.

Garlic Sev or Lahsun Shev is deep fried savory strings made of chickpea flour that has been flavored with garlic. The dough is very simple, just a few ingredients. The dough doesn't require any real kneading, just enough to combine all the ingredients together. Then you need a sev press or any press really that can shape the sev. Using the press, release the dough straight into the hot oil and deep fry until crisp.

The amount of garlic I used gives the sev a mild garlic flavor. To get a more prominent flavor, add more garlic.

Garlic Sev stores well for 1-2 weeks in an airtight container, but, I assure you it won't last that long for you to test. This thing is so addictive, it will be gone in a jiffy. Serve garlic sev with tea during tea times or just snack day long.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Garlic Sev Recipe | How to make Lahsun Sev

Garlic Sev or Lahsun Shev is deep fried savory strings made of chickpea flour that has been flavored with garlic. Serve garlic sev as an evening snack during tea time. Garlic Sev is vegan.

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     15 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Total time:     45 minutes
Yield:                One small jar

Ingredients:

1 cup Chickpea Flour (Besan)
5 to 6 Garlic cloves
0.25 tsp Asafoetida (Hing) (Use gluten-free hing)
2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Tbsp Oil
Salt to taste (Curd)
Oil for deep frying
Water as required

Method:

1. Blend the garlic, asafoetida, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and 1 Tbsp oil with a little water into a smooth paste. The mentioned amount of garlic gives a very mild flavor, add more garlic for a more prominent garlic flavor.
2. Take the chickpea flour/besan in a large bowl and add the blended garlic masala.
3. Knead until combined. Add more water if required. If it is too sticky, add a little more chickpea flour/besan. Adjust salt or red chilli powder as required.
4. Take a chakli press or a sev press and select the sev plate of the thickness you desire. Grease the plate and the press.
5. Add in a portion of the dough to the press and stuff it in tight.
6. Heat oil for deep frying.
7. Once the oil is hot, press the sev directly into it.
8. Allow the sev to cook for 1-2 minutes on medium heat, then flip it.
9. Cook for 4-7 minutes until crisp and lightly browned.
10. Remove from heat and either place it on an absorbant paper towel or a collander.
11. Once the sev has cooled completely, gently break it into smaller pieces.
12. Store in an airtight container so that sev remains crisp.

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Shankarpole

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Milk Rusk Recipe | Sweet Bread Rusk Recipe [Video]

Milk Rusk is a twice baked sweet bread. Milk Rusk is sweet and tastes best with a hot cup of tea. Rusk is a popular tea-time snack in India.

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How do you like your chai/tea? I like mine slightly strong with little milk and 1 tsp of organic jaggery powder, that brown chocolatey kind, with a rusk to dunk into it.

I LOVE dunking biscuits and rusks in my tea. I sometimes dunk cakes and bread too, but that's a story for another day. I've been dunking rusks for years and loved how the crispy hard rusk just melts once dunked. My snack box usually has a packet of rusk from the local bakery, coz those are the BEST!

So one Saturday, when I was relatively free, I decided to bake some myself. So there are sweet rusks and savory rusks. I am not sure if the savory one is native to only Bangalore and surrounding areas because I had never seen one before. But that's my least favorite one, so totally ignoring the existence of that one. There are 2 types of sweet rusks, the bread rusk and the cake rusk. The cake rusk is like a biscotti, where one bakes a cake first and then slices it and bakes again until it dries up and becomes a crisp sweet cake rusk. That's a recipe I still need to try. This time I tried the second recipe, which is of bread rusk. 

To make the bread rusk, one needs to bake a sweet bread first and then slice it and bake it again until it dries up to give the crispy hard rusk that we all enjoy.

About the Sweet Bread

• Bread rusk takes a considerably longer time to make because it includes the rise time of the bread. However, this is free time as you don't need to monitor it, just leave it in a warm place to rise.

• Sweet bread takes longer than regular bread to rise. The added sugar slows down the process, so you will have to wait longer. It took me around 4 hours to get a good rise out of the bread, it may take longer if you live in a cooler area. 

Once the bread is ready, it doesn't take very long to make the rusks if you have a large oven and a sheet pan. I had to make mine in batches, so it took me some time to bake them all.

But the wait was worth it! The satisfaction of dunking a home baked rusk exceeded the boredom of the waiting period. Happy Rusk Baking to you!!

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Milk Rusk Recipe | Sweet Bread Rusk Recipe

Milk Rusk is a twice baked sweet bread. Milk Rusk is sweet and tastes best with a hot cup of tea. Rusk is a popular tea-time snack in India.

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     6 Hours
Cook time:     1 Hour
Total time:     7 Hours
Yield:                Makes 20-25

Ingredients:

2 cups All purpose flour
0.5 cup Milk Powder
3-4 Tbsp powdered Sugar
0.5 cup lukewarm Water
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Active Dried Yeast
1 tsp Oil
1 tsp Milk
Water as required

Method:

1. Add the 1 tsp of sugar and the active dried yeast into the lukewarm water and mix well. Keep is aside for 5-10 minutes to bloom.
2. Take the flour, milk powder and powdered sugar in a large bowl.
3. Add the yeast and mix well.
4. Knead into a smooth dough using water.
5. Coat the dough with the oil and cover and keep aside to rise until doubled. This may take 2-4 hours.
6. Once the dough has doubled, punch it down and knead it gently for 2-3 minutes.
7. Divide the dough into 2 and shape into rolls. Cover and keep aside to rise again.
8. Preheat the oven to 180 degree C.
9. Once the loaves have doubled, brush the loaves with milk and bake for 30-40 minutes until done.
10. Allow the bread to cool completely, then slice into rusk slices.
11. Preheat the oven to 180 degree C.
12. Place the rusk in a single layer in a baking tray and bake for 20-30 minutes.
13. Flip the rusks after 10 minutes.
14. Cool on a wire rack.
15. Store in an airtight container. Serve with tea or coffee.

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Fruit Biscuit

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Masala Puri Chaat Recipe | Bangalore Street Style Masala Puri Recipe [Video]

Masala Puri is a popular street food in Bangalore that is made by topping crushed crispy puris with boiled peas, spicy coconut masala gravy, finely chopped vegetables and Sev. Vegan and delicious!

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What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Street Food?

To me, it used to be Pani Puri, but since I moved to Bangalore, it has always been Masala Puri. The cozy spicy warmth of Masala Puri is perfect for these rainy evenings.

I was introduced to this by Raj. In fact, this doubled up as his dinner most days. He had a regular street vendor who made the best Masala Puri I've ever eaten. Unfortunately, the guy relocated and we never found out where. Since then I've been on the quest to find the perfect recipe to make it at home. And I arrived at this recipe. I first posted it 6 years ago, in July 2013, but the recipe was different back then. I have hence, updated the recipe and this is as close as I have gotten to the street version.

What is Masala Puri? 

Masala Puri is a “chaat” or street food that originated in Karnataka. Masala Puri is spicy, warm, vegan snack that is a mix of various textures. It is made of crispy puris, green peas, a spicy gravy, sev and fresh vegetables.

The base of the Masala Puri is the crispy puris, the ones used to make Pani Puri. These puris are crushed to make a base, so you can use all the puris that did not fluff up or ones that have holes in them. If you don’t have access to puris, you can use any savory crispy base, like chips, papdi, crackers or even papads. Preferably, something plain and not flavoured. 

The crushed puris are topped with boiled green peas. Dried green peas are used and never fresh peas. The taste of the two varies significantly, hence use the dried ones only. The dried peas are rehydrated overnight and then cooked with a little salt until completely cooked. 

This is then topped with the masala gravy. This gravy is what flavours the masala puri. The gravy is made by blending roasted whole spices with coconut and a little of the cooked green peas. The blended paste is then salted and simmered to develop flavour. I have made different versions of the gravy, sometimes I add in the cinnamon and the cloves, and sometimes I leave it out. Which is why I have marked them optional in the recipe below. Masala Puri is always served warm to hot, so heat up the gravy before serving. 

This is then topped with a mix of finely chopped vegetables like onions, tomatoes, carrots and coriander leaves and Sev. Sev is a deep fried gram flour noodles. The end result is a warm spicy bowl of comfort.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo @oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are up to.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Masala Puri Recipe | Bangalore Street Food Style Masala Puri Recipe

Masala Puri is a popular street food in Bangalore that is made by topping crushed crispy puris with boiled peas, spicy coconut masala gravy, finely chopped vegetables and sev. Vegan and delicious. 

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     8 Hours (includes soaking time)
Cook time:     45 minutes
Total time:     8 Hours 50 Minutes
Yield:                Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 cup dried Green Peas
0.75 cup grated Coconut
1 tsp Coriander Seeds
0.5 tsp Cumin
4-5 Black Peppercorns
2 Marathi moggu
1 Mace (Japatre/ Javitri)
Pinch of Nutmeg (jayikayi)(Grated)
0.5" Cinnamon piece (Optional)
2 Cloves (Optional)
2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
Salt to taste
Water as required
1 small Onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp Coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 Tomato, finely chopped
1 Carrot, grated
Sev to serve
20-25 Puri to serve

Method:

1. Soak the dried green peas for 8 hours. After 8 hours, boil the green peas in salted water until completely cooked.
2. To make the masala, dry roast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mace, nutmeg, peppercorns, marathi moggu, cinnamon (if using) and cloves (if using) for 2 minutes on low heat. 
3. Grind together the roasted spices, grated coconut, 0.5 cups of cooked peas and 1 tsp red chilli powder with a little water until smooth.
4. Pour the blended masala into a kadhai and add 1 cup of water and allow to come to a boil. Add salt to taste and more red chilli powder (if required). Simmer on low heat for 8-10 minutes.
5. To assemble the masala puri, take 6-7 puris in a plate and crush them. Top with the cooked peas, masala gravy, grated carrots, chopped onion, chopped tomatoes, chopped coriander and sev.
6. Serve immediately.

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