" Tapioca Pancake [ Sabudana Thalipeeth ] "

" Tapioca Pancake [ Sabudana Thalipeeth ] "

" Tapioca Pancake [ Sabudana Thalipeeth ] "

By Chef Prashant Adsule.

A very very popular Maharastrian dish which is pancake like and made from Tapioca [Sabudana]. This is a perfect recipe for religious Fasting days or Navratri etc. Sabudana is also known as Sago or Tapioca Pearls. It is usually consumed on fasting days. I do make many different dishes like Sabudana Vada, Sabudana khichadi. Sabudana kheer, sabudana tikkis etc.

Ingredients:-

Tapioca [Sabudana] – ½ cup
Potato – ⅔ cups, tightly packed, boiled and mashed
Roasted Peanuts – ¼ cups roughly crushed
Green chilies – 2, chopped finely
Coriander leaves – 2 tablespoons, finely chopped
Cumin seeds – 1 ½ teaspoon
Lemon juice – 1 ½ teaspoon
Sugar – ½ teaspoon
Rock salt [Sendha namak] – to taste
Peanut Oil – to pan fry for Pancake [thalipeeth]

Method:-

1. Wash tapioca under running cold water till water runs clear. Soak the tapioca in enough water for 2-3 hours or overnight according to your tapioca type. Always use shallow bowl to soak tapioca. Never use deep bowl. Add enough water up to just 1 ½ inches above the tapioca.
2. After it get soaked, tapioca will swells up almost all the water and they will becomes almost triple in size. If you have added more water while soaking, tapioca will become sticky.
3. Drain any excess water from it using strainer. Let it drain at least 10-15 minutes. This is very important step to avoid stickiness of tapioca.
4.Let’s check tapioca is soaked properly or not. When you press one soaked pearl between your finger and thumb, it should mash very easily without any effort.
5. Mix all the ingredients ( Potato,Coriander,Chili,Peanuts,Cumin,Lemon juice, Sugar & Rock salt except oil) in a bowl with tapioca.
6. Mix them well and make the dough like ball. If it is too soft then you can add any fasting flour (rajgira flour or Shingara flour).
7. Divide it into 4 equal parts. And make a smooth ball using your palms. Take a piece of aluminum foil or plastic, grease it with oil and put that ball on top of it. while heat the frying pan on medium heat for pancake.
8. While pan is heating, make 4 inch diameter pancake by pressing the ball with your hand. Keep sealing the edges as you press if it breaks.
9. Once frying pan is hot, drizzle some peanut oil in the pan. Carefully take pancake in your hand with the help of foil and put it in the frying pan.
10. Let it cook light golden brown on bottom side, drizzle some more oil on top of the pancake and then flip it. Also cook on other side till it becomes light golden brown. Garnish with coriander leaves & serve hot with Sweet Curd or Chutney.

" Spicy Gram Flour Rollups " [ Khandvi ]

" Spicy Gram Flour Rollups " [ Khandvi ]
By Chef Prashant Adsule.

It's a mouth watering traditional Gujarati snack prepared with gram flour and butter milk and seasoned with sautéed sesame seeds and few other spices. It’s not only easy to make but healthy as well because it just involves steaming gram flour and butter milk and does not require any other complex cooking techniques. The simple yet aromatic seasoning of sauteed cumin, mustard, curry leaves, coriander and coconut makes it simply irresistible.

Ingredients:-

Gram Flour (Besan) - 1 cup
Yogurt - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Turmeric Powder - 1/8 tsp
Asafoetida - pinch
Ginger paste - blueberry size
Green Chilly paste - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Grated Coconut - 1 tblsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame Seeds - 1 tsp
Dry Red Chilly - 1
Oil - 2 tblsp
Curry Leaves - 1 spring
Salt - to taste
Cilantro - for garnishing (finely chopped)

Method:-

1. Mix together the gram flour, ginger paste, green chilly paste, turmeric powder, asafoetida and required salt.
2. Add the yogurt and water gradually while stirring continuously to make a smooth paste.
3. Transfer this to a pan and cook the mixture for about 10 minutes stirring continuously.
Note : - There will be lot of splattering during the cooking process.
- You can also cook the mixture in the microwave for 5 minutes stirring after every minute.
4. After the besan mixture is completely cooked and it becomes like a smooth paste, switch off the flame.
5. Using a spatula take some of the mixture and spread it onto a smooth ungreased surface immediately. (It can be the back of a stainless steel plate, baking tray, cookie sheet or just an aluminium foil.)
7. Let it cool for about 5 minutes.
8. In the meantime heat a pan and make a seasoning of mustard seeds,sesame seeds, curry leaves and dry red chilly.
9. Sprinkle half of the seasoning over the mixture.
10. Cut into thin strips and roll up each strip into firm roll.
11. Arrange the rolls in a serving dish, garnish with the remaining seasoning, finely chopped cilantro and grated coconut.