Fresh Fruit Crudite

(Click on the pic for a close up :) )

(My Aunt holding the Crudite )

Spring brings with it a bounty of beautiful fresh fruit and I like to enjoy it just as nature gifted it to us, pure and fresh! Making Fresh Fruit Crudite is the best way to enjoy fruits, I think. The French love their crudites and I took it a step further to make this beautiful Fresh Fruit Crudite. It makes a wonderful center piece and everyone is tempted to taste a few chunks of fruit, cannot think of a better way to get your dose of daily 5!!
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What is a Crudite?
Crudite is an arrangement of raw vegetables, usually served with some dip on the side.
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How does one make a crudite?
Select a wide pot/ceramic bowl. Line the bowl with a stiff sponge.
Keep a few chopsticks ready for use.
Melt your favorite chocolate in a pan.
Slice the oranges along the diameter.
Chop pineapple into rings.
Chop apples into slices.
String the grapes onto the chopsticks.
Dip strawberry into the chocolate & string it onto the chopsticks.
String all the fruits onto chopsticks.
Pierce the fruit laden chopsticks into the sponge, use your artistic side of the brain to come up with a nice arrangement for all the fruits you have!
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How does one eat the crudite :)
Just plonk a chunk of Fresh Fruit from the Crudite into your mouth, with or without whipped cream ;-)
Can be served for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner!
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I would like to send this over to Meeta for Monthly Mingle / Spring is in the air.

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This would make an excellent breakfast for Padmaja's WBB#11/Fresh Fruit.

Dahi Bhalle aka Dahi Wada

I've convinced myself that Dahi Bhalle can be classified under the "fried, but no oil" category( I think I just invented a new category here;-) ) Well I do fry it, but the soaking of the wada in water after the deep frying gets rid of most of the oil, me thinks! I make a huge batch of these wadas and then freeze them. They freeze very well. When in a mood for chaat, I make either Dahi Bhalle or Papdi chaat.
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Dahi Bhalle is wadas dunked in loads of chilled and seasoned curds and then topped with tamarind chutney and spices. Papdi chaat, a popular snack in the northern parts of India is a tangy and spicy mix of crushed papdis (fried dough) and dahi bhalle, again served with loads of curds and chutneys. The roadside bhaiya(vendors) have their own signature blend of spices, which, if not impossible is pretty hard to duplicate. I add freshly roasted jeera(cumin) powder, red chili powder and salt. I've seen my friends add chat masala and black pepper powder as well, you can choose the mix that best suites your taste.
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I learnt how to make Dahi bhalle/Dahi wada from my mom, she makes the best dahi bhalle ever ;-)
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1 cup urad dal soaked for 2 hours
(you can soak a handful of yellow moong dal along with the urad dal)
1" ginger piece
1 green chili
pinch of soda (optional)
Curds
salt, fresh roasted & powdered jeera powder, red chili powder, sugar
chopped coriander leaves
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Grind the soaked urad dal, ginger and green chili very well. It is best to do it in small batches to avoid over heating of the grinder motor. Add very little water while grinding, the batter should be light and airy. It is very important NOT to make the batter watery, else the wadas will not be fluffy. The ginger and chili gives just a subtle hint of the spices, the intent is NOT to overpower the wadas with any strong flavor. Add salt to the batter. Can add a pinch of soda just before frying to lighten the batter. Spoon the batter into the hot oil and deep fry on medium heat till done and cooked through.

Once all the batter is used up and wadas are ready, I separate them into batches. I keep one batch for cooling down so that it can be ready for freezing. Dunk the other batch into hot water and squeeze them soft. (If the wadas turn out hard, it can still be salvaged. Bring salted water to a boil and add the wadas. Let them soak in the water for a few minutes and then squeeze, they are ready to be used)
Arrange the wadas on a platter. Whisk chilled curds with some salt, sugar and water to thin it down a little. Do not make it too watery though. Pour this over the wadas. Garnish with lots of tamarind chutney, jeera powder, red chili powder and chopped coriander leaves. Enjoy chilled dahi bhalle!
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I have tasted different variation of this. Some like their curds to be sweet, others like it salty. The Gujarati version has a sweet and spicy flavor and uses liberal amounts of curds.
The Punjabi version is salty and the wadas are just submerged in the curds but not floating in it. The dahi wada that I've tasted in Udipi cafes has tempered sweet curds.

How about one more look......

Misal

Nutritious Junk food?

Isn't that an oxymoron?

Nope! This one sure has a good blend of proteins, carbs, calcium and it still fits the junk food category. Not convinced? Try it for yourself!!

Misal basically translates to mixture, this dish is very forgiving and you can add or subtract the ingredients as per your liking. Can't go wrong with that!!

1cup mixed whole dals (moong, chole, rajma, double beans, matki etc) soaked overnite

can even use sprouts

1 onion chopped

Tadka - 2tbsp oil, 1/2 tsp jeera, hing, curry leaves

Garnish

Green chutney :Blend coriander leaves, green chilli, ginger, salt & lemon juice

Garlic chutney : Blend garlic, red chilli pwd, lemon juice, salt with some water

Tamarind chutney: Boil dates, jaggery & tamarind pulp. Add salt, chilli pwd, jeera pwd & blend.

Chopped onion

Chopped coriander leaves

Whisked yogurt with sugar & salt

Sev or gathia

Heat oil, add jeera, hing & curry leaves. Add onion & saute till translucent. Add pressure cooked dal mix and cook a few minutes. Add salt, turmeric, garam masala and water, bring to boil & simmer a few minutes.

Serve in a plate, top with the three chutneys, whisked yogurt, chopped onions, corriander leaves and finally with gathia or any fried mixture. See picture to get an idea!

Do give it a try, I've not given exact measurements for chutneys etc 'coz that can be done as per taste! It can also be served with pav to get misal-pav.

Hare Chane Ki Chaat

Hare Chane ki Chaat

I've such fond memories of eating this hara chana (aka harbara), sitting on the jhula (swing), shelling it with my sis, fresh as could be. Now I've to make do with what ever is available, translation - frozen chana! Aren't all the lovely memories created around food? I make this to recreate those moments.

I've to share a very special story with you all. I used to have excellent chana chaat from a vendor at Matunga. People came from far away places to indulge in this chaat. It used to be a very funny sight, he used to add his special masala pwd to the chaat in a quick motion of 13 pinches, imagine that! Now if you wanted extra spicy, it would be 20 quick pinches and so on. We used to have such a blast watching him count & add those pinches of masala and then we used to joke -did you get all 13pinches or was it less? He had created a name for himself due to this style of his, good marketing, wat say?

Here's how you can do it.
1/2 cup hara chana, steamed
2 tbsp chopped onion
2 tbsp chopped tomato
Chaat masala, red chille pwd, black salt, salt & pepper as per taste
lemon juice

Mix all and enjoy this powerhouse of nutrition, that's all!!

I cannot stress enough that they taste awesome when fresh, frozen is always second choice.

This is my entry for Nupur's A-Z of vegetables.