maharashtrian menu | ashstylegourmet's Blog

It is the awesome weather days here in the UAE, perfect wintry mornings to start the day sipping piping hot masala chai . As I water my balcony plants and enjoy the reflection of the sun rays from the glass pane of a multi-storey building across the street falling on our balcony plants and was admiring this calm moment being in midst of nature, these Colocasia leaves spread out in all directions catches the eye.

This potted plant was brought home from our friend’s garden, they live in a big power-plant township and have a beautiful house with gardening patch on all sides of the house. The front garden has all the fragrant flower plants, the sides have Papaya trees and Colocasia plants, and in the backyard is the vegetable patch where she plants all the seasonal veggies. I get some supply of home-grown vegetables from them whenever anyone of us is visiting each other. The leaves, as seen in the picture, were growing big and so I made use of them to make this famous Maharashtrian recipe. ”Thank you” Naina (if you happen to read this) for giving us the plant and the joy of enjoying the fresh garden leaves Alu Vadis :).

This is also a popular recipe of Gujarat state of India, where it is known by the name Patra/Paatra.

INGREDIENTS:

Alu leaves/Colocasia leaves: 10-15 nu.

chickpeas Flour/Besan: 200 gm

Tamarind : 20 gm

Sesame seeds: 1 Tbsp

Ajwain/Carom Seeds: 1 Tsp

Red Chili Powder: 2 Tsp

Turmeric Powder: 1 Tsp

Garam Masala Powder: 1/2 Tsp

Salt : To Taste

Water: 200 ml (As needed to make a medium thick batter).

Cooking Oil: 200 ml ( for deep-frying)

Note: I have used medium-to-small leaves.

METHOD:

Wash and clean the leaves, and dry using the kitchen towel/tissue. Soak the tamarind in 50 ml water/half katori water. Use this tamarind pulp, but sieve it before use.

Take the besan in a bowl, add all the spices, 1 Tbsp oil, Sesame and Carom seeds, tamarind pulp and mix. Add only as much water as required to make a medium thick batter.

Apply this chickpeas flour batter to the underside of each leaf, then place another leaf on top and apply the batter, and then again place the next leaf on top and continue the layers.

Alu leaves and besan batter — Colocasia leaves and chickpeas flour batter

After a few leaves, fold the tops parts of the leaves and bring to the center, then fold the lower part and form a bundle-shape. Apply another coat of batter on the top of the bundle. Start applying batter to the remaining leaves and form another bundle if any leaves were remaining.

Grease the cooker basket/plate to place in the cooker to steam these Colocasia bundles.

Colocasia leaves coated with chickpeas flour batter

Steam the leaves for 15-20 min in the steamer or pressure cooker (without whistle).

When cool then cut the steamed roll into thin slices, and deep fry until crisp in hot oil. One can also shallow fry them using little oil, if one does not like deep-fried foods.

Serving:

Serve the crispy fried pinwheels with tomato ketchup or mint yogurt dip. It is served as part of a Maharashtrian thali meal too. It is usually cooked on occasion of festival and served as fried item of the special menu.
The steamed pinwheels are also used to add to a spicy gravy or can be cut and made into a dry sabji as my mother used to make, it was one of my favorites. I will have to wait for the next batch of leaves to make the dry sabji post :).

This is also a favorite snack in Gujarat. During my stay in the state, I would see it as a snack item sold in Farsan shops, a fasting selling item that would get sold out within an hour or so in the shop near my residence. In Gujarat they do add a little |sugar to the ingredients list, but I have never used sugar. The tamarind is used to avoid itchy discomfort in the throat that it causes, an irritant in the leaves causes it, to some people after eating. Lemon juice can also be used, but I feel the tamarind pulp gives the batter the perfect taste.

I enjoyed sharing another of my Maharashtrian recipe with you all, looking forward to hear your thoughts.

Have a great weekend, Happy Sunday. For us, in this part of the world, it is the start of another week tomorrow. Enjoy 🙂 .

ashu

Kothimbir wadi is a popular Maharashtrian snack dish. It is served as a part of the Maharashtrian Thali meal too, a favorite in the festive season. We see it being sold in many snack shops in Pune and Mumbai, cities of Maharashtra state in India.

For me the winter months are nostalgic with childhood memories when mom used to make these vadis frequently, the season when coriander was in abundance. We nowadays see the coriander being available all year round. With changing times, the season no longer dominates the food cooked in the house, more so with me residing away from my motherland, though I would still prefer the Kothimbir vadi that is made using the coriander when in season than to the coriander that I buy at any given time of the year. I had tasted this particular kind of Kothimbir vadi in thali meals, during puja lunches, but I never made it at home until this week. I have always enjoyed Kothimbir Vadi preparation that my mother made, click here for that recipe.

It is a compulsion with me and I cannot let go of the urge to try out any new dish that I get to taste outside and like, I almost always end up making it in my kitchen. Lately I had been getting opportunity to eat this particular type of vadi on a number of occasions and the constant reminder from self to give it a try in my kitchen was always nagging the mind, finally I tried it this week. I had to invite my friends for lunch this week, planned a Maharashtrian meal menu, and hence this was the perfect starter to add to the thali menu was my thought. I tried making it in small portion on one morning and after perfecting the recipe to my taste made it for my party lunch, and the friends loved it. I was asked for my recipe and with this post I am sharing here my method of the recipe. I matched the ingredients to the taste of the Kothimbir Vadi that I had recently tasted at a Puja lunch, at my friend’s house where the food was from a local restaurant here.

This easy method recipe is my way of making it, may not be similar to traditional recipe, but tastes perfect and yum. I have now uploaded both methods of making Kothimbir wadi, and this one can be called an easy-to-make recipe, as the time required is less and almost always all the ingredients are available in the house. Do give it a try and let me know what you all think about this recipe.

Kothimbir Vadi- Easy Method

INGREDIENTS:

Coriander: 1 Bowl (finely chopped)

Chickpea Flour/Besan: 1 Bowl

Rice Flour: 1/2 Bowl

Semolina: 2 Tbsp (Optional)

GingerGarlic paste: 1 Tbsp

Curd: 2 Tbsp

Sesame seeds: 50 gms

Ajwain/ Carom seeds: 1 Tsp

Baking Soda: 1/2 Tsp

Chili Powder: 1 Tsp

Garam Masala Powder: 1 Tsp

Cooking Oil: 1 Tbsp (for batter)

Sugar: 1 Tsp

Salt: To taste

Cooking oil: 200 ml for frying

METHOD:

Clean, wash, dry and then finely chop the green Coriander. Make a paste of the ginger and garlic, taking equal amount. I add green chili also to it.

Assemble all the ingredients before starting the procedure to make this Vadi. (Pic below is for illustration, not the actual measurements used in this recipe)

In a big bowl or deep plate take the finely chopped coriander. Add the gingergarlic & chili paste, the sesame seeds, ajwain, salt, chili powder, garam masala, sugar, curds, and 1 Tbsp oil. Mix well.

Take 1 bowl chickpea flour, 1/2 bowl rice flour, and 2 Tbsp Semolina in another bowl and add 1/2 tsp baking soda to it and mix all the ingredients well.

Add the mixed flours to the coriander mixture, and mix all the ingredients well. Use little water if required to make a medium consistency wet dough that is easily spreadable with hand on a vessel, or tray or plate, and is not runny or loose.

We need to grease the plate or tray or vessel with oil in which we are going to steam the vadi. Evenly spread the dough in the greased tray or plate or vessel, pressing it well with fingers for spreading evenly, as we want same thickness when we cut the vadi.

Steam this for 15- 20 minutes in a pressure cooker without whistle or a steamer, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool the steamed cooked dough, and then cut into small bite-sized pieces.

We can either shallow fry the vadi or deep fry in hot oil till the outer side is crispy. Deep frying gives it a more crispier look as well as taste.

Serve it with green chutney or chili sauce or tomato sauce. I did not make a green chutney, served here in the picture above is with green chili sauce.

NOTE: The bowl measurement is given for reference for the flour quantity, one can use any bowl-a steel wati or soup bowl. I used a ceramic soup bowl and topped it tightly with finely chopped coriander, it tastes better when lot of coriander is used. Semolina is optional, I prefer the texture it adds to the bite, but can be avoided altogether if not preferred. All the spices, ginger garlic and chili paste add to the taste, and adding a little sugar enhances all the flavors giving it a perfect sweetish ting. It tastes best with a green chutney, a coriander mint one, my preference :).

Wishing you all a great September month, will be posting some yummier recipe posts as it is the Ganpati festivity month. I welcome Ganpati Bappa morya at my humble home on the 5th of this month :), it is five days of festivity with yummy Prasad and Modak offerings.

ashu.