APPETIZER RECIPES

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Start your meals off with our easy to do appetizer recipes. Appetizer recipes like dips, spreads, salads and finger foods are available right here. It is said that appetizers give a good mood to the party or the meal ahead. So be it a great party or a home dinner you can make use of our appetizer recipes.

We have great appetizing ideas for your dinners. Of course, appetizers need not be dull and boring, they might spoil the entire mood of eating.

ALOO BONDA

Ingredients

2 or 3 medium potatoes (boiled and peeled and loosely mashed)
1/2 tsp. of cumin and mustard seeds each
fresh green chili chopped finely - to taste
1/2 tsp. each ginger & garlic(finely chopped)
3/4th cup Chopped Onions
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
1/2 cup. cilantro leaves (chopped)
Salt to taste
2 tbsp. Lemon juice
1 1/2 cups besan -chickpea flour available in our store
1 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1/4 tsp. baking Soda
Oil for deep frying - use a wok for frying

Method

Heat about two tablespoons of oil.
Add mustard seeds and when the seeds start to crackle, add the cumin seeds, green chili, salt, ginger and garlic.
Fry for a few seconds and add onions and turmeric powder.
When the onions start to turn brown add cilantro and lemon juice and the potatoes.
Mix well and turn off the heat.
Let this mixture cool.
Shape into small balls.
Make a thick batter with Besan/Chickpea flour, salt, red chili powder, baking soda and water.
Heat the oil for 10 to 15 minutes on medium heat.
When the oil is hot, Dip the potato balls into the batter and carefully drop in the oil.
Turn it every four minutes and remove from oil when it turns golden brown.
Serve with tamarind or green chutney.

PAKODA

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups besan (gramflour available in our store)
1/2 tsp. red chili powder (cayenne pepper)
Salt to taste
1 cup potatoes or onions rings (sliced)
4 tbsp.minced cilantro
1/4 cup fresh fenugreek/methi leaves or 2 tbsp. dried (optional)
Oil for deep frying

Method

Mix the onions, cayenne pepper, salt and besan (also cilantro and methi).
Let it rest for about about 10 minutes to allow the vegetables to sweat.
Add some water (only as much as required) to make into a very thick paste.
Heat the oil for about 10 to 15 minutes on medium heat.
Pour a spoonful of the paste in the oil and let fry until golden brown.
Stir in between.
Remove from oil and strain the oil out..
Serve with tamarind chutney and mint chutney

SAMOSA

Ingredients

For the pastry:

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. oil
4 Tbsp. water
For the stuffing:
4-5 medium potatoes, boiled in their jackets and allowed to cool
4 Tbsp. oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 cup (175 g) shelled peas
1 Tbsp. finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 fresh hot green chili, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. very finely chopped fresh green coriander (cilantro)
3 Tbsp. water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground coriander seeds
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tsp. ground roasted cumin seeds
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
oil for deep frying

Method

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the 4 tablespoons on oil and rub it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Slowly add about 4 tablespoons water -- or a tiny bit more -- and gather the dough into a stiff ball.
Empty the ball out on to clean work surface. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until it is smooth. Make a ball. Rub the ball with about 1/4 teaspoon oil and slip it into a plastic bag. Set aside for 30 minutes or longer.
Make the stuffing. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/4 inch dice. Heat 4 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan over a medium flame. When hot, put in the onion. Stir and fry until brown at the edges. Add the peas, ginger, green chili, fresh coriander (cilantro), and 3 tablespoons water. Cover, lower heat and simmer until peas are cooked. Stir every now and then and add a little more water if the frying pan seems to dry out.
Add the diced potatoes, salt, coriander seeds, garam masala, roasted cumin, cayenne, and lemon juice. Stir to mix. Cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring gently as you do so. Check balance of salt and lemon juice. You may want more of both. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.
Knead the pastry dough again and divide it into eight balls. Keep 7 covered while you work with the eight. Roll this ball out into a 7 inch (18 cm) round. Cut it into half with a sharp, pointed knife. Pick up one half and form a cone, making a 1/4 inch wide (5 mm), overlapping seam. Glue this seam together with a little water. Fill the cone with about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the potato mixture. Close the top of the cone by sticking the open edges together with a little water. Again, your seam should be about 1/4 inch (5 mm) wide. Press the top seam down with the prongs of a fork or flute it with your fingers. Make 7 more samosas.
Heat about 1 1/2 to 2 inches (4-5 cm) of oil for deep frying over a medium-low flame. You may use a small, deep, frying pan for this or an Indian wok. When the oil is medium hot, put in as many samosas as the pan will hold in a single layer. Fry slowly, turning the samosas frequently until they are golden brown and crisp. Drain on paper towel and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

ALOO TIKKI

Ingredients

6 boiled and peeled potatoes mashed
fresh green chili chopped finely - to taste
1 tsp. ginger (finely chopped)
1/2 cup. cilantro leaves (chopped)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. corriander powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. mango powder called amchur
Oil for pan frying

Method

Boil the potato. Cool. Peel the skin and mash the potato.
Mix all ingredients except the oil.
Make small hamburger size patties but about 1/2 inch high.
Pan fry in a non-stick pan with oil until both sides are golden brown.
Serve with tamarind or green chutney.

UZHUNNU VADA

Ingredients

Urad Dal 2 cups (makes 18 to 20 vadas)
Chopped Onion 1/4 cup
Green chillies 3 or 4
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Black Pepper Corns 1 tbsp
Ginger 1 inch piece
Salt to taste
Baking Soda 1 pinch
Oil to fry

Method

Take urad dal in a vessel and add water to just cover the dal and keep aside to soak.
After about 30 mins. the water level would have gone down. Now add more water to cover the dal again. After 30 more minutes the dal will be well soaked and ready to be ground.
Making the Batter: In a wet grinder, grind the dal in small portions without adding water. If the grinder is unable to grind well, sprinkle some water and grind again till you get a smooth, thick and fluffy paste.
Note: if you intend to make the vadas using a vada maker, then the batter has to be the consistency of idly batter. But if you prefer making the vadas the traditional way - using the palm of your hand - then the batter has to be as thick as possible. In case the batter has become less thick, you can add some urad flour to make the batter thicker.
To this dal batter, add chopped ginger, green chillies, onion, curry leaves, whole black pepper corns, a pinch of baking soda (to make the vadas soft) and salt and mix well. If you like the vadas to have a crispy exterior and soft interior, add 2 tbsp rice flour to the batter - I don't. Let the batter sit for 5 to 10 mins.
Heat oil (better to use fresh oil - not the oil that was previously used to fry other foods) in a kadai or deep skillet. Let the oil get really hot - you know if it is hot enough by placing your palm at a safe distance above the pan you can feel the hot steam from the oil.
Make donut shapes with the batter either using the palm of your hand or using a vada maker as described below.
Making donut shapes using hands: wet the palm of your hand with water and place a ball of the vada mix on it . Press it down slightly with the fingers of your other hand. Now using one finger make a hole in the middle of it. Drop it slowly and carefully into the hot oil. Wet your palm each time you make the donut shape - this prevents the batter from sticking on your hand.
Making donut Shapes using vada maker: Fill the vada maker with batter. Hold it over the hot oil (as shown in the picture shown above). Now with your thumb push down the lever/knob and the hole at the bottom of the vada maker opens to let the batter out. Keep your thumb pressed down for as long as you need - this depends on how big you want your vadas. The longer you hold the lever down, more batter comes out and vada becomes bigger. Hold the lever down for a short time to make smaller vadas.
Fry the vadas till golden brown and lay them out on a tray lined with kitchen tissue to absorb excess oil.

PULLIYODARAI (TAMARIND RICE)

Ingredients

Rice long grained 1 1/2 cup.

For masala
Refined oil 2 tbsp
Coriander seeds 1/2 seeds
Dry red chillies 4
Asafoetida 1/4 tbsp
Black pepper corn 1/4 tbsp
Cumin seeds 3/4 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds 3/4 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/2 tbsp
Bengal gram 1 tbsp.
Black gram (urad dal) 1 tbsp
Curry leaves a few

For tamarind sauce.

Tamarind orange sized,Soaked in 3 cups of hot water
Gingerlly oil 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tbsp.
Salt to taste.
Turmeric(haldi) powder 1/4 tbsp.
Jaggery 2 tbsp.
Tempering for rice.
Gingerlly oil 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tbsp
Peanut roasted 2 tbsp.
Curry leaves a few
Salt to taste.

Method

For masala ,heat the oil in a pan,saute all the ingredients together for a few seconds.Remove and when cool grind to a fine powder.Keep aside.
For tamarind sauce:heat the oil in apan .add thje mustard seeds and saute until they start crackling.
Add the tamarind juice,salt turmeric powder amd jaggery and mix well.
Reduce heat and simmer;stirring continuously till all water evaporates and oil floats on top and sauce forms a sticky consistency.
Mix the powdered masala with tamarind sauce and keep aside to cool.
Cook the rice and spread over to cool.Mix 1 tbsp of oil to rice.
Tempering for rice,heat gingerlly oil in a pan ;saute mustardc seeds till they start crackling.Add the peanuts and fry lightly.
Add the curry leaves and saute for a few minutes.
Remove and mix this tempering with rice.
Add the tamarind sauce to rice and mix well.
Serve with fried pappads(appalam)

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