Besan ka Cheela | Besan ka Puda - Punjabi Breakfast | Punjabi Snacks

Besan Ka Cheela

Besan ka cheela: Besan ka cheela or gram flour based salty pancakes are sure to satisfy your rumbling appetite and demanding taste buds. A simple pancake recipe with besan combined with onions, tomato and chillies and then spread on a pan with little oil.

Besan ka cheela Ingredients

Besan Ka Puda

• 2 cups besan (bengal gram flour)
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1 tsp chopped green chillies
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander (dhania)
• 1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp chaat masala
• 1 tsp coriander (dhania) powder
• salt to taste
• oil for cooking

Besan ka cheela Making Method

Besan Ka Cheela - Punjabi Breakfast

• Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and gradually add (approx 1 1/2 cup) water to get smooth and dropping consistency batter.
• Heat a non-stick tava on a high flame then turn the flame to medium.
• Add little oil and spread it evenly, pour a spoonfull of batter and rotate the pan clock wise to spread the batter evenly in the pan.
• Cover it with the lid and allow to cook for 4 to 5 minutes on a medium flame or till it turns to brown in colour and crisp.
• Open the lid, drizzle some oil and turn it upside down and cook the other side till it turns to brown in colour and crispy.
• Repeat the same process with the remaining batter.
• Serve hot with green chutney or tomato sauce.

Besan Pakora - Punjabi Snacks | Punjabi Breakfast

Besan Pakora - Punjabi Snacks | Punjabi Breakfast

Besan Pakora - Punjabi Snacks

Pakoras are an all-time favorite snack in India- Specially for Punjabis, perfect for a rainy day or a cocktail party! Pakoras are delicious paired with a cup of hot spicy Indian Chai.

Pakoras are made with different vegetables, which are dipped in a spicy besan (gram flour) batter and deep-fried.

This recipe uses potatoes, cauliflower.

Besan Pakora Ingredients:

• 1 cup besan (gram flour) 
• 3 tablespoons rice flour (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of coarsely ground coriander powder (dhania)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 2 chopped green chilies
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
• 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• 3/4 cup of water (Use water as needed)
• Oil to fry
• 1 small potato, sliced thin
• 8 thin slices of cauliflower
• 1/2 small zucchini, sliced thin

Besan Pakora Method:

Besan Pakora - Punjabi Breakfast

• Mix all the dry ingredients together: besan, rice flour, coriander powder, and salt. Tip: rice flour adds to the crispness.
• Add the water slowly to make a smooth batter (batter should be consistency of pancake batter or dosa batter)
• Next, add the green chilies and cilantro. Mix well.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat.
• The frying pan should have at least 11/2 inch of oil. (To check if the oil is ready, put one drop of batter in oil. The batter should come up but not change color right away).
• Dip the vegetable slices in the batter one at a time and slowly drop in frying pan.
• Fry the pakoras in small batches. The pakoras will take about 4 to 5 minutes to cook.
• Turn them occasionally. Fry the pakoras until both sides are golden-brown.

1. Repeat this process. The crispy, delicious pakoras are ready to serve.

Tips:

If oil is too hot pakoras will not be crispy and or if oil is not hot enough pakoras will be greasy.

Variations:

You can use almost any vegetable when making these pakoras, such as eggplant, onion, cabbage, bell pepper, and different kinds of chilies! Feel free to experiment!

Serving Suggestions:

1. The pakoras are even tastier when dipped in fresh cilantro chutney, tamarind chutney, ranch dressing.
2. Pakoras taste best when served hot.
3. You can make the pakoras in advance and when ready to eat, spread on a cookie sheet and heat in the oven on 300-degree heat. You can also make sandwiches with the left over pakoras.

Chole Tikki Chhat - Aloo Tikki Chaat

Aloo Tikki Chaat

Chole Tikki Chaat - Aloo Tikki Chaat
Chole tikki is one of the most common mouth-watering street foods. It is a kind of Chaat [Spicy and tangy snack] which is flavorful and filling at the same time.
 
Aloo tikki Ingredients: [Approx 8 tikkies]
Potatoes –3 medium [boiled and peeled]
Bread – 2 slice [cut the brown sides and use the white part only]
Green chilies –2 finely chopped
Cilantro – 2 tbsp finely chopped
Roasted Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Black pepper –1/2 tsp
Salt as per taste
Oil for shallow frying

Chole Ingredients:
Kabuli Chana or Chole [Garbanzo beans]dry – 1.5 cup
Tea bags- 2
Dry Ingredients for gravy:
Whole garam masala – 1 tbsp
Red chili powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Garam masala powder – ½ tsp
Chana Masala -1.5 tbsp

Wet Ingredients for gravy:

Onion -3/4 (pureed or finely chopped)
Tomato puree -1 cups
Ginger paste – 1 tbsp
Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Green chili -1 tsp (finely chopped) [Optional]
Olive oil – 2 tbspn
Salt as per taste

How to make Aloo Tikki:

Aloo Tikki

• In a bowl, take boiled and peeled potatoes. Add bread, green chilies, cilantro, cumin powder, black pepper and salt. Mix very well and form a smooth dough if it. 
• Make 8 equal portions of the dough. Take each portion in your palm make a tennis ball sized ball. Now flatten it to make tikki. Tikkies can be round or oval shaped. Smooth out the edges of the tikkies and keep aside. [Apply little oil on your palms to avoid tikkies sticking on your hand].
• Heat griddle or pan, add 1 tbsp oil and fry the tikkies golden brown on both the sides. Keep the heat medium high. Drain them on kitchen towel and keep aside.

How to make Chole:

Punjabi Chole for Aloo Tikki Chaat

• Wash dry Kabuli Chana or Chole a couple of times and soak them overnight in water.
• Add soaked chole, turmeric powder, salt and 4 cups of water and tea bags in the pressure cooker. Pressure cook it for 30 minutes on medium heat.
• For gravy, heat olive oil in a pan. Add whole garam masala. Let it crackle. Then add pureed onions and sauté it, till turns light golden. Add ginger paste, garlic paste and chopped green chilies (optional). Cook for 2 minutes.
• Add tomato puree, red chili powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder in the gravy and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes on medium-low heat.
• Discard the tea bags from the boiled chole. Add the gravy to the boiled chole and add a cup of water and simmer it on low heat for 10 minutes.
• Finally, add chana masala and let it simmer for 2 more minutes.
• Chole is ready to serve.

Garnish  and serving suggestions:
Place 2-3 Aloo tikkies on a serving plate. Pour 1-2 ladles full of Chole. Garnish it with sweet tamarind-date chutney, green chutney and spiced yogurt. Also add chopped red onion, namkeen sev and chopped cilantro.

Yummy Tikki-Chole is ready to eat.