Anshu's Food Odyssey

Dahi Bhalla , also known as Dahi Vada is one of the most popular street foods in North India . The tantalizing flavors imparted from dry spices and tangy chutneys, simply makes it an irresistible treat for every avid foodie. While these bhallas are often a chaat stall's glory, they also make for quintessential festive delights in India and are generally prepared in majority of the households during the time of Diwali , Holi , Eid , Rakhsa Bandhan etc. Whenever these festivals are raound the corner, I look forward to making them along with numerous other sweet and savory delicacies such as CHIROTE , BHAKARWADI , RASGULLAS , GULAB JAMUNS and NIMKIS . If you too love this lip-smacking street food delicacy of India and are in quest of a recipe that can yield super soft and spongy bhallas in no time, then I am sure this recipe would come as a breather. This recipe in all - * Is healthy as it is steamed and not fried * Is instant * Does not require any soaking and f...

Have you ever walked down the streets of Old Delhi in peak winters and noticed the thela walas (small mobile stalls) selling the steaming hot chaat of shakarkandi? The cubed sweet potatoes charred on coal and loaded with a perfect blend of tang and spice with all that rustic charred flavors to add on the taste, are a true delight for every chaat lover in India. As winters are approaching and markets are flooded with sweet potatoes, there could be no better time to get few home and indulge in this lap-smacking chaat right in the comfort of home. Not to mention, I added my own twist to this chaat and served it on skewers. Also, charred it over direct flame for that added smokiness and rustic flavors to make it taste similar to the one sold on the Old Delhi streets. If by chance, you too are giving it a try and don't want to go in all the hassle of skewering it up, just go ahead the normal way and serve it in bowls or the traditional donas, and you are sure to have a tongue-t...

Tamatar ki Chaat is a lipsmacking recipe originated in the holy city of Benaras or Varanasi. Loaded with tongue tickling flavours, this chaat is very unique as compared to other chaat recipes across other parts of India. The recipe is divided into two parts: first, a rich tomato curry which has all the goodness of khoya (dried milk solids), cashews and poppy seeds. The second, makes for the base of this chaat - tomato and potato mixture which is a unique blend of spicy and tangy flavors. One thing you would note about this chaat is that it is topped with nimki or the mini namakpaare instead of sev for garnishing. Also, being a holy city you would not find the use of onions and garlic in most of its preparations, and hence, it is not garnished with chopped onions. Just in case you are enticed with the flavours and want to know the recipe, scroll down below. Banarasi Tamatar ki Chaat Ingredients Tomato Curry Tomatoes (small, grated) - 2 Finely chopped gi...

Our summer vacations in childhood days ought to be spent at our Nana Ji's (maternal grandfather) place in Delhi. And often the vacations coincided with the arrival of monsoons, which necessarily meant a trip to the famous Roshan Di Hatti in Karol Bagh to relish the shop's crisp tikkis and gorge on their ever popular and melt-in-mouth kulfis. I still remember how we all cousins would barge into the shop and fill the place with our non-stop chit chats and endless fun & masti while hogging onto their chatpata stuff. Oh, what fun days were those!! ironically, things have changed these days with everyone getting so busy in their jobs and family lives; and those fun gatherings being taken over by just whatsapp group messages and forwards.  Coming back to the Aloo Tikki , well, you all must be thinking what made the ones served by Roshan Di Hatti so special? Number one: a super crisp crust with a subtle seasoning and number two: a super spicy and tongue tickling chana da...

Mirchi Vada is a popular street food from the colorful state of Rajasthan in India. A bit spicy with tongue tickling flavors, it is made by first stuffing the de-seeded green chilies with a delectable potato filling, coating them with a seasoned gram-flour batter and then deep frying to get one of the most yummilicious snacks on earth. Generally served with green and tamarind chutneys on the side, it is quite an addictive stuff and makes for a perfect recipe to go with a cup of hot tea, especially on chilled winter evenings.  Don't get intimidated by the fact that this snack is made with green chilies because the chilies that generally go in making these fritters are actually one of the most mildest of the varieties (called the Bhavnagari Chilies), plus they are de-seeded to get rid of all the heat. A little tip for the ones living out of India and who cannot lay their hands on Bhavnagarai Chilies, they can make these fritters using the jalapeno peppers; just de-seed the pe...

Khaman Dhokla is one of the most popular Gujarati snacks that is made with gram flour (chickpea flour) and which makes for a quite healthy and nutritious option to satiate those sudden hunger pangs. Owing to its steamed cooking style, it is also a guilt-free choice, perfect for the weight watchers and those looking to shed few extra kilos. Needless to say, made using chickpea flour, it is gluten-free and provides for an ideal snacking option for the ones sensitive to gluten. Technically speaking, Khaman and Dhokla are two different snacks; the latter one originally made from a batter of chana dal and rice fermented overnight. As fermentation is a bit time taking process, Khaman comes to the rescue and provides for an instant substitute with no fermentation hassles. Absolutely soft and spongy, plus loaded with a medley of flavors: a bit sweet, bit tangy and bit spicy, it is one of my go-to recipes when it comes to satiating my taste buds asking for some " chatpata sn...

My husband is madly fond of Golgappas / Pani Puri (Indian spiced water balls) and here in Singapore, we do not get them so easily. A few months back we got a phone number of one aunty who makes the puris for golgappas on order, so, we tried getting a batch from her. Though they were crisp, we were still sort of unsatisfied because of a weird smell that emanated out of the golgappas. It was after this event that I thought of making the puris myself; watched a lot of videos on Youtube and tried an endless number of recipes but never got a success. Luckily my mother-in-law was here with us the last month and knowing her excellent culinary capabilities, I was sure she would be able to help me out perfecting the recipe...and lo ! here I was with these amazingly crisp and crunchy puris that my husband enjoyed to his heart's content.    You would notice my puris have cut-out edges, that is because I could not find a round cookie cutter and therefore cut them using a cut-out edged ...