Crispy Vegetarian Spring Rolls (A real Treat)

Let me begin this post by wishing all my Indian readers  A VERY HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY. I started the day by explaining to my eight year old (who has lived in UK since he was 2 ) why this day is celebrated in India as Independence Day and how we used to go to school  very early in the morning to hoist our tri-colour. Explaining it to him also made me remember things about our history  that I had not thought about for a long time, and that was good. We fnished our mother-son talk by me reading to him part of the book Great Freedom Fighters of India in the Amar Chitra Katha  Series.We read about Lokmanya Tilak and although he listened to it like any other story I enjoyed answering all his questions . It's a great series by Amar Chitra Katha which makes everything so enjoyable for a young children to read understand, rather than just read about history only from a textbook. I definitely recommend it.


 Secondly I would  like to say a big Thank-You to each and everyone of my reader who has visited by blog regularly inspite of my very irregular and sometimes none at all posting. You readers have been so good , not only visiting my blog but also dedicating posts to me and giving me credit for inspiring you to cook and think about cooking in a different light. Gosh thanks a ton for all that love and appreciation. It has also motivated me to take that effort again to start posting again.


So here's what I have today. It's the summer holidays going on currently in England and as I work in a school I too get to enjoy 6 weeks of summer holidays. I have recently come back from my holiday in Italy and now is the time to catch up with everything pending like deep cleaning the house, cooking something different other that the daily fare, spending time with my son watching DVDs together  and going out for a Pizza with him and of course catching up with friends and a bit of entertaining.


Last week I had a friend over for lunch and  I made these veg spring rolls which we all loved. Vegetarian because at present we are not eating any non-vegetarian food as it is the month of Shrawan which is a auspicious month in the Hindu calender. And although I am not a very staunchly religious person I do like to follow certain practices only because they teach you self control. Particularly in  the west where restaurant menus are  so dominated by chicken , pork and beef . (Although I draw the line at chicken and fish and would never ever dream of eating pork or beef. )  So no non-veg food for a month at least and for 4 months (the entire Chaturmaas  till after Diwali)  if I can manage it. Not so difficult is it? And the one ingredient I love and always rely on to  make my veg dishes perk up is Paneer.:)) Yes gorgeous , delicious, creamy full fat paneer. It never let's me down. That's what I used here too.


So what you need  for 16 to 18 spring rolls is:


Ready made store-bought spring roll wrappers (available in Indian or Chinese grocery stores)  OR  Sheets of Filo Pastry (available in all big food stores)
Note: If you do get the special spring roll wrapper they are already in the correct square shape and size, so that one wrapper makes one roll, but if you are using filo then you will need to cut out the sheets into approx 5" X 5"  squares. Also remember to keep the pastry or wrappers covered with a damp tea towel as they dry out very easily.


For the filling:
1 cup each of finely chopped or grated of the following veggies
carrots, beans, spring onions, cabbage ,coriander
1 cup of frozen or fresh corn kernels
1 cup of green peas
1 cup finely diced paneer,
1 cup boiled noodles (optional)
1/2 cup finely diced chestnut mushrooms (optional)
1 red chilly finely diced
1 tblspn chinese soy sauce
1 tblspn sweet chilly sauce
1 tblspn chinese five spice
1 tspn hot chilly powder
1 tspn of garlic paste, 1 tspn of ginger paste
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking


Method:
Heat 3 to 4 tblspns of oil in a wide pan or wok
Add the garlic and ginger paste and fry on low heat for few minutes
Add all the other veggies and mushrooms and stir them all frequently
Add the five spice, chilly powder, salt soy suace and sweet chilly and cover and cook until vegetables are cooked but still have a bite in them.
Lastly add the boiled noodles and paneer, give it all a good stir ,
Give it a taste and adjust all the seasoning according to your taste
Let this filling cool completely before you start making the rolls


Making the rolls:


Lay out a wrapper on dry surface with one corner towards you. Place a large tblspnful of filling near the corner .
Now roll that corner over the filling twice. Next fold inwards the the two side corners so your roll will be closed from the sides. Roll up the rest of the wrapper  up to the  corner away from you . Apply a bit of water to this corner so that it sticks firmly to the roll.
Do all the rolls in the same way. make these in advance at least a few hours before you want to fry them, so that they have a chance to seal well.
Fry in hot oil and drain over kitchen papers
Serve with sweet chilly sauce, schezuan sauce or any othet sauce of your choice.
Make loads of these if you are entertaining as it is very likely that they will be the star attraction particularly when your friend know that you made them at home:))

It is Kobichi Wadi !

Nupur's guess was the first and it hit the nail on the head. It is Kobichi Wadi or Steamed Cabbage and chickpea cakes if I may call it that in english. Many of you did guess that it had something to do with besan or chickpea flour. I really enjoyed the game.

For the recipe its almost the same as that of kothimbir wadi which I have already posted. But I'll share it with you again .

Ingredients:

4 cups chopped fresh coriander,

1 cup besan (chickpea flour)

1/2 cup wholewheat flour ,

1/2 cup semolina,

1.5 tspn chilli powder,

1 tspn salt ,

1/2 tspn turmeric powder,

1 tspn sesame seeds,

1 tspn powdered fennel seeds (saunf) ,

1/2 tspn sugar,

2 tblspn oil

Procedure :

Mix all the above ingredients and form a dough by adding very little water at a time ,

If you find the mixture too sticky just oil your palms well and then handle the dough,

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You can divide the dough into 2 or 3 portions,

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Shape them into elongated logs and place them in an oiled steel vessel . (Imp Tip: Just in case you add too much water and you cannot form elongated logs simply turn out the batter into an oiled steel vessel ,one in which you normally cook dal or rice in the cooker and spread it out evenly),

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Pressure cook this mixture for the same duration as you would for dal and rice,

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Let the cooker cool down a bit and then open it,

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Also let the steamed dough cool,

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After it has cooled completely cut it into slices as thick or thin as you want,

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Heat some oil on a tawa(griddle) and shallow fry these pieces (Wadis).

If you are on a diet eat these wadis without shallow frying them and only steamed. They can be eaten as a snack with tea or as part of an entire meal.

Cool Cabbage and Peanut Salad

Hey guys, summer is now just around the corner for UK and boy is everyone waiting for it. It was a very wet month of May,but the clouds are now making way for a very very hot summer. I hear its going to be one of the hottest summers ever (don't we hear that every year). So the strappy vests and capris and shorts have come out of the closet and you can already see people sun-bathing on the green. The ice cream van has started its rounds , picnics are being planned and barbeques are getting a thorough cleaning. All in all its time to be outdoors.

Now cooking and spending time in front of a hot hob is one thing I do not relish in the summer. So this is the time when good ,fresh and cool salads really come to the rescue. Nothing like a light and lemony salad to keep your mood upbeat. What I have this time is this delicious cabbage salad with a generous sprinkling of peanuts and moong dal.

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What you need:

2 cups grated or finely shredded cabbage,

4 tblspns soaked yellow moong dal,

2 tblspns crushed peanuts,

2 tblspns chopped coriander,

juice of half a lemon,

1 tspn sugar,

salt to taste

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For the dressing or tempering:

1 tblspn oil,

1 tspn cumin seeds,

1 clove garlic crushed,

a pinch asafoetida,

1 green chilly chopped

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Procedure:

Mix the shredded cabbage, moong dal, crushed peanuts, coriander, sugar ,lemon juice, and salt and keep aside.

Next prepare a tempering by heating the oil and adding to it all the ingredients loke cumin,garlic etc.

Let this tempering cool down a bit and then pour it over the salad and mix well.

Your salad is ready to serve.

As a fancy bit you can add half a cup of pomogranate seeds to this salad.

Serve it in a cabbage leaf as I did.

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