Unbeatable combo during monsoon : onion pakoras and chai

Monsoon in India brings back a lot of memories and joy. Whether it is the enamouring weather or the lovely snacks that you can enjoy in the rains. One such combo that has been an evergreen hit in monsoons is onion pakoras and masala chai. Enjoyed by all it's not tough to make so let's start cooking.

Onion pakoras: This is an all time favourite in rainy seasons. Loved by all, a relatively easy preparation to make but use some specific ingredients and they will come out extra crispy. So let's start cooking.

Ingredients: Onion ( finely sliced) - 2 big; Ginger ( julienne) - 1 inch; Baking powder - 1/2 tsp; Gram flour - 3/4 cup; Rice flour - 1/4 cup; Green chilli ( slit) - 4 medium; Carom seeds - 1tsp; Curry leaves ( finely chopped) - 1 tsp; Coriander leaves ( finely chopped) - 1 tbsp; Salt to taste; Oil for frying and shortening the dough

Steps:

i. In a big bowl add all the ingredients except rice flour and flour

ii. Add salt as required in the bowl; this will make onions to sweat - we will use minimum water for binding pakoras. Let it rest for 10 mins

iii. In a separate bowl add rice flour, gram flour and 2 tbsp of oil; mix well

iv. Mix the onions and flour together and add baking powder;mix well and let it rest for 10 mins

v. The batter should be sticky enough to create loose dumplings of pakoras to fry; add some water if required

vi. Heat a deep bottom pan with oil for frying on medium flame

vii. Oil should be around 140-145 degree Celsius for frying

viii. Fry the pakoras in batches until they are a shade below golden brown( they will continue cooking once taken out and will become golden brown). This should taken 5-6 minutes each batch

ix. Put them on kitchen towels to soak excess oil

Serve with masala chai and enjoy!!

Dum aloo: In my hometown there is a very famous shop( Hari) which serves lip smacking mini-samosas and dum aloo. Their spice mix for dum aloo is so famous that people buy that for preparing at home and the shop has been exporting across globe. I managed to lay hand on a packet so prepared dum aloo. Super easy but taste was heavenly.

Ingredients: Baby potato - 200 gms; Dum aloo masala - 2tbsp; Ginger ( julienne) - 1 inch; Hing ( asfoetida) - 1/4 tsp; Kalonji ( onion seeds) - 1/4tsp; Garlic ( finely chopped) - 1/4 tsp; Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp; Anardana( dried pomegranate seeds) - 1/4 tsp; Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp; Coriander leaves ( finely chopped for garnishing) - 1 tbsp; Salt to taste; Oil for frying - 1tbsp+ 1 tsp

Steps:

i. Boil the potatoes with anardana to get their flavour inside the potatoes

ii. Poke the outer skin of potatoes with a fork so that flavour can go inside the potatoes while boiling them

iii. Peel the potatoes and let them cool while we prepare the spice mix. Once they are cooled fry them in 1tsp of oil to get a golden coating

iv. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wide bottom pan. Once it's hot add hing and kalonji into it

v. Once they start sputtering add garlic and ginger juliennes and fry them well

vi. Add turmeric powder and salt in the mix and saute well

vii. Add the garam masala ,red chilli powder and salt and mix well

viii. Add the baby potatoes and mix well. Let the mixture cook for 2 minutes

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot!!