BONJOUR SERIES # 5 - BAKED MINI KOTHMIR VADI

Our Guest Blogger today is Kalyani from " Sizzling Tastebuds ". The very first thing that caught my attention in her blog is the name " Its not madrasi " . One could sense her love for Madrasi's when you read her space..  I am from Chennai so, I cannot help but take sides with Kalyani here..

She is an amazing blogger, I am personally a huge fan of her pictures.. so bold and clear and distinct.

and very well known for her events.. Her events gave me an opportunity to learn couple of recipes.. and the theme she chooses is something to mention here :) wholly herbal and healthy :) Bravo ! Girl !

She is a darling friend of mine whom I knew through this amazing world of blogs. She was very thoughtful and considerate to send her post a week in advance and so I could schedule this during the weekend. How wonderful is she ... :) 

Now with no further delay.. I present you Kalyani - in her own words .

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Kalyani's Guest Post 

Bonjour Series – Guest posting for Jabeen – Baked Mini Kothmir Vadis

I read somewhere that you meet some people for a reason, some for a season, some for a lifetime! I don’t know which slot blogging falls into – but over the last year since I started my food blog – Sizzling Tastebuds- there has been this inexplicable happiness of meeting new bloggers through events, blogging marathons, blog hops or just through event roundups. I met Jabeen who runs ComeletsEat through one such round up, and she was gracious enough to host me on a guest post that runs through her “Bonjour” series. When we got first talking, she asked me to write something about myself, and what got me to cooking – blogging etc.. 

Well, most of it has been documented in the “About Me” page on my blog, but here goes a synopsis: Been from Bangalore all my life, I moved to Mumbai close to a decade ago. A masters in English Literature along with 15 years of professional classical music training more or less sums up my educational background. I love listening to music throughout the day as it helps me de-stress. Having been part of the corporate rat race for the past decade or so, I am on a forced sabbatical to play full time mom to my 6 year daughter now since the past year and half , and I am also teaching a lot of young kids Sanskrit Shlokas (hymns) and classical vocal music 

I am quite enjoying this sabbatical, and although I am a Learning and Development Specialist and consult for few organisations , plans are on to re-start my career. I enjoy reading and watching stuff on medical inventions, neo classicism, visual art & new technology.  Food photography, food styling and newer cuisines have been added to this list now, and I love cooking for people, and loved it ever since I made my first upma in high school for mom and dad when they returned from work. I am blessed with a husband ( a world foodie) who egged me on to start this blog, and my mom who stays with me (they both support and postiviely critiques my journey  into the food blogosphere) . If there was a wish I could hitch my wagon to (actually two wishes) , it would be to start a restaurant serving pure saatvic vegetarian food somewhere in the midst of no-man’s land (read Sahara dessert or Arctic ocean) and establish a full fledged research hospital to the treatment of Diabetes and Critical Cardiac care : the Aquarian streak eggs me on to dream on and on , and one day hopefully I will do both, God willing ! 

Whew ! Guess I could go on and on about myself, but lets get to today’s post. I was spoilt for choice when I had to choose one for Jabeen’s Bonjour series. But today’s post –Mini Kothmir Vadis – is a tribute to the city that has tolerated me for the last decade – Mumbai 

I have tweaked the dish slightly by grilling after pan frying, but the original recipe calls for deep frying (which is not quite preferred at home) . However, the secret to this dish is fresh , fresh coriander, and loads of it. You can serve it as an evening snack or as part of any Indian Thali. This was honestly my first attempt at making this at home and truth be told, I was very proud of recreating the taste and texture, from what I ate at restaurants / snack stalls sprinkled all over Maharashtra. Don’t let the long list of ingredients dissuade you – most of it is available in any pantry. Local cuisine influences addition of a whole lot of garlic to this dish – however, do adjust the seasonings / masala according to your palate. So, let’s get cracking on this one:

Prep time : 20 mins. Cooking and baking time : 20 mins. Makes : About 2 dozen mini Vadis

Ingredients:

• Fresh coriander – cleaned and sorted – 2 cups (tightly packed)
• Besan (roasted gram flour) – 1 cup
• Rice flour – 1 TBSP
• Slightly sour curd – 1 TBSP
• Green chillies – 2 nos
• Minced garlic – 1 tsp
• Minced ginger – 1 tsp
• Mixed flours – ¼ cup (I used Wheat flour + Jawar flour in equal proportion)
• Roasted peanuts – 3 TBSP (deskinned)
• Roasted poppy seeds – ½ tsp
• Masala powders – each ¾ - 1 tsp : Garam Masala, Red chilli powder, Amchur (dry mango) powder
• Turmeric – ½ tsp
• Asafoetida (hing) – a generous pinch
• Sesame seeds – 1 tsp
• Baking soda – ½ tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Lemon juice – optional – ½ tsp
• Oil – to fry and for basting.

Method:

1. In a large bowl, sieve all the flours one by one. Mix and dry roast them for just 10 seconds in a skillet and transfer it back to the bowl.
2. Now add dry masala powders, turmeric, salt, green chillies, ginger, garlic and mix well. Add finely chopped coriander to this and mix thoroughly.
3. Add the deskinned peanuts,poppy seeds, asafoetida, soda and mix well.
4. Dry roast sesame seeds, slightly crush them and add it to the mix.
5. Mix curd and lemon juice, whisk well and add this to the bowl. Add very little water and whisk well. The dough should be of adai dosa (thick batter) consistency.
6. Grease a slightly shallow plate and pour this batter onto this. 
7. Steam on high pressure for 20 ( Mine took approx 18 mins)
8. Cool completely. Cut into min squares or diamond shapes as you wish to. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 170 deg C.
9. Place the cut pieces carefully in a baking tray (sprayed with oil). Bake for 8 – 9 mins till the outer cover of the vadis turn golden brown. 
10. Cool slightly and serve with ketchup / chutney. I served mine with this Jain style homemade Green chutney.