Sabudana(Sago) Thalipeeth & Vada

Thalipeeth & Coconut Chutney

I haven't posted so many of Maharastrian dishes in my blog but I guess there is lots to come here after. A week ago, my friend Sangita Lalit showed me how to make Thalipeeth-a Maharastrian delicacy . Sangita is basically from Pune and has got so much interest in cooking just like me. I will share with you some more of her amazing recipes soon.

Sago is such a versatile ingredient and it can be used to make many delicious dishes.

You can make lots Sago kichidi for breakfast, add some boiled potatoes to the leftover kichidi and make Thalipeeth for lunch. If there is some leftover mixture for Thalipeeth, fry them in oil and treat yourself for Sago vada and a hot cup of tea for a nice evening.

Sago/Sabudana are made of tapioca starch,so they are easily digestible and is good for you.As far as I know, South Indians do not use them in anything expect for making Payasam(Kheer). Well, I found Sago tasted better in the form of Thalipeeth/Vada.

Ingredients:

1 Cups of Sabudana

1 Cup of boiled potato

1/2 Cup of Ground Peanuts

1/4 Cup chopped Coriander

1 Green Chilly ,Finely chopped

1/2 tsp of cumin seed powder

1/4 tsp of chilly powder

2 tsp of lemon juice

1 tsp of sugar

Salt to taste

Oil

Procedure:

The crucial step is to soak the sago to make it perfectly soft. Wash the sago 2 to 3 times and then add enough water to soak them. Let is sit for 3 hours. Mix the sago once in a while to ensure even soaking of the sago pearls.

If there is any water left , strain and then use.

Mash the boiled potatoes. And mix in the soaked sago, peanut powder, coriander leaves,lemon juice, cumin & chilly powder, salt and sugar.

In a wet cloth, take a portion of the mixture and flatten it into 1 inch thick circle. Put a hole in the center.

Heat a pan and drizzle some oil, carefully place the Thalipeeth along with cloth on the hot pan and gently peel off the cloth from the Thalipeeth without breaking it.

Let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Flip it gently to the other side and drizzle some more oil.

Once the brown spots appear on either side. It can be removed from the pan and is ready to serve.

Pointers from Sangita:

One can vary the proportion of Sago to Potatoes depending on the personal preference. When the potatoes are added more than the sago it tastes much better, but the Thalipeeth will be very fragile and soft.

They taste best with Cucumber raita/ Coconut Chutney.

I made some Vadas out of the leftover Thalipeeth mixture the next day. I shaped them in the form of patties and deep fried them in oil.Believe me ,these Vadas are to die for!!

Hummus

Happy New year all!

There isn't much going on in my blog ever since I left India. This new life here wasn't helping me much to indulge in trying out new recipes and rejoicing them. I hope I'am kind of accustomed now and believe I would be able to post often. I don't want to make it as a new year resolution and not sticking to it! So lets see how much improvement I can bring about to this blog in the coming days.

Recently ,I bought a Dslr camera 'Canon rebel t2i' and I'am totally loving it.I had a chance to visit New York and Florida for my Christmas vacation and had super fun with the camera there. 

I was surprised to receive a gift from my friends Preeti and Mohan. It's one of the most appreciated gifts I have ever received. Its a Vegetarian cookbook by Carla Bardi which has an interesting collection of recipes.

To start of with, I tried out the hummus dip featured in the cookbook.

I know this dip isn't much of a work, but I haven't tried making it in home all these days. So here I come with Hummus..

Ingredients:

1 16 oz can of Chickpeas(garbanzo beans)

1 tablespoon Tahini sauce

1/2 lemon ,squeezed

1 clove of Garlic

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp water

Salt

Paprika

Cumin powder

Dried mint leaves

Procedure:

• Wash the chickpeas twice to get rid of the sodium in it.
• Put them in a blender along with tahini sauce, lemon juice, garlic and salt
• Blend the mixture smooth by adding water.
• When the blender is running, tip in 2 tbsp of olive oil.
• Once the mixture is smooth transfer in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.
• Sprinkle paprika, cumin powder and dried mint leaves.

P.S You can also use dried chickpeas by soaking overnight and pressure cooking them the next morning. This would give a better quality hummus when compared to the easy method I have used.

I had the hummus with Pita bread and also tried with Indian Khakra( a crispy flatbread )