Baked Bhakarwadi

I am always looking for substitutes to frying stuff. As evident from my blog, I bake a lot and I it's really hard to substitute frying with baking when it comes to Indian snacks that can be stored for longer. I tried baking chaklis and they are ok but they are nowhere close to the fried ones. 

The bhakawadi however, turned out amazing!. The combination of the filling and the thin outer layer of dough really held up for a few days and continued to remain crispy too.

Ingredients:
Besan/Chickpea Flour - 1 Cup
All Purpose Flour/Maida - 1 Cup
Salt - To Taste
Baking Soda - 1 big pinch
Red Chili Powder - 1 Tsp
Ajwain/Carom Seeds - 1 Tsp
Oil - 2 Tbsp

Stuffing:
Poppy Seeds - 4 Tbsp
Sesame Seeds - 2 Tbsp
Dry Coconut - 1/4 Cup
Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
Green Chilis - 4
Cilantro - a small bunch
Red Chili Powder - 1 Tbsp
Salt - To Taste
Asafetida -A small pinch
Coriander Cumin Porder - 1 Tbsp

Tamarind Paste.

Mix the ingredients for the dough with some water into a soft dough.
Grind the ingredients from Poppy Seeds to Cilantro and then mix the rest in.
Break the dough into 2 and roll into a thin circle. Brush with tamarind paste and sprinkle half the filling and spread thin. Repeat with the other half.
Roll each circle starting from one end into a tight cylinder. Cut into 1 inch pieces and slightly press each piece to ensure the filling does not fall out.

Pre-heat the over to 375. Place the Bhakarwadi onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the Bhakarwadis turn golden and are baked through.

Remove, cool and store.

Mango Pickle - Aavakaya

This is my first time trying to make a pickle at home! It was a result of my disappointment from several store bought Avakaya pickles and the very mild pickles that were sent over from India. I like my pickles extra hot and I used the Extra Hot Red Chili powder and the pickle turned out really hot. You can use a medium or hot chili powder based on your preference for heat.

This pickle is a bit of work and it tastes best when it's left to marinate for at least a week. That is, if you can control yourself!!!!

It's really difficult to find really raw hard mangoes here and the ones I used were not as hard or sour. However, the pickle tasted great even with those mangoes. The most trouble I had was chopping the mango with the seed. 

Ingredients:

Raw Green Mangoes - 2 Big or 4 small

Red Chili Powder - 2 cups

Salt - 1 cup

Garlic Cloves - 15

Fenugreek Seeds - 3 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 Cup

Gingelly Oil - 2.5 to 3 Cups

Wash and cut the mangoes into bite sides pieces. Make sure to cut the pieces with the seed attached. Dry these mango pieces in the sun till they are completely dry.

Grind the Mustard seeds and 2 Tbsp of the Fenugreek seeds into a fine powder.

Mix the mango pieces, red chili powder, salt, the ground powder, the remaining 1 tbsp of Fenugreek seeds and garlic with 2 cups of gingelly oil.

Cover and keep the pickle aside and mix once a day. The oil will get absorbed into the pickle. 

On the 4th day, add the rest of the oil and mix and continue to mix once a day until day 7.

After the 7th day, the Avakaya is ready to eat.

Enjoy with some hot rice and ghee.