Anshu's Food Odyssey

Bhakarwadi are crisp and fried pinwheel shaped savory snacks popular across Western India. A perfect blend of flavors, sweet, spicy and tangy, makes them quite addictive. If you have been following my blog, you would know, I am all geared up preparing some delectable Diwali snacks for this year. While last week, I posted the recipe of famous Maharashtrian sweet, CHIROTE , this week I have this beautiful and lipsmackingly delicious, BHAKARWADI on my blog . Very easy recipe, do try it and you would never get those store ones again. Bhakarwadi Recipe | How to Make Bhakarwadi Ingredients FOR DOUGH All purpose flour/maida - 1 cup Gram flour/besan - 2 tbsp Warm oil - 2 tbsp Carom seeds/ajwain - 1 tsp Dried fenugreek/kasoori methi - 1/2 tsp Salt - as per taste Water - 3 to 4 tbsp FOR FILLING Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp Cumin seeds/jeera - 1 tbsp Fennel seeds/saunf - 1 tbsp White sesame seeds/safed til - 1 tbsp Poppy seeds/khus khus - 1/2 tbsp F

Indian food culture is absolutely incomplete without the dry snack mixtures; be it South India or North India, people here need something to munch on either to curb their hunger pangs during the day or as an accompaniment to their evening tea or coffee. I remember during our childhood days, a huge wooden cabinet in the kitchen was used as a storage for a variety of such homemade snacks; methi nimki , namak paarey , besan ke laddoo , homemade jeera biscuits and nan khatai were some of the regular stuff that was stocked out in small portions whenever we felt hungry or when some guests visited our home. This healthy and absolutely lip smacking shahi namkeen mixture was also one of such snacks and was made quite frequently. Comprised of assorted nuts blended with spicy, tangy and sweet flavors, it truly used to be an addictive stuff that we loved to have with our tea in the evenings. Plus, come Diwali, and my Mom would make this mixture in big batches, seal them up in beautifu

Kachori or Savory Pie is one of the most popular Indian breakfasts, especially much common in Northern parts of India. These kachoris are traditionally fried and come in different flavors, often with fillings of aloo-pyaz, moong dal or matar. Apart from these, the dry masala kachoris are also quite popular and are much easier to make as they don't require any pre-preps for cooking the filling; pulse the namkeen or farsaan mixture in a grinder along with some spices and your filling is ready in just no time. I am here today with the recipe of these chatpati kachoris and yes! they are not fried, instead baked to cut down on the guilt factor. I normally prefer having them with spicy and tangy " Dahi Tamatar wale Aloo ki Sabzi" but, you can also enjoy them plain with some chutney or make a tongue-tickling chaat out of them; choice is totally yours. Baked Masala Kachori with Dahi Tamatar wale Aloo ki Sabzi Ingredients  Masala Filling Spicy mixed namkeen - 2 tbsp

Mathri is an Indian style fried cracker that is popular all across North India. While generally an accompaniment to the tea, it also makes for a perfect choice to satiate those little munchy-punchy cravings that we all have several times a day. Though these buttery flaky crackers are widely available in markets in a variety of shapes and flavors, the ones that I like the most are these triangular shaped mathris loaded with beautiful aroma and taste of dried fenugreek leaves. And yes! what makes them even more fascinating for me is that one black pepper corn fixed right in their centers. Ohhh... I just love the sight of it...don't know why 😁 If you too are fascinated about mathris like me and are usually concerned about the hygiene checks taken care off in the store-bought ones, do try your hands making these Tikoni Methi Mathris at home and I assure, you will never get them from the market again. Tikoni Methi Mathri | Methi Nimki | Fenugreek flavored Indian Fried Crackers