Ingredients
1 kg spinach
10 gms rawa 20 gm canola oil1
10 gm salt
50 gm roasted chana powder
2 gm yellow chilli powder
3 gm green cardamom powder
20 gm pomegranate seeds (fresh)
50 gm hung curd
5 gm mint leaves
2 green chillies, chopped
5 gm coriander leaves
Pineapple chutney as accompaniment
Method Clean and chop the spinach leaves on a chopping board. Boil the water in a deep vessel to blanch the spinach, keep it on an ice bath to retain its green colour, squeeze the spinach and then make a paste.
Take a clean sanitised lagan, pour oil, let it heat up, put semolina to slightly roast, add the spinach paste to cook on slow fire until the excess moisture is gone. Cool the mixture and keep aside. Add the chana flour, yellow chilli powder, chopped green chilli and cardamom powder and salt. Mix it well. For stuffing, in a clean bowl put the hung curd, chopped green chilli, fresh pomegranate seeds, chopped coriander and mint leaves. Divide the spinach mixture into small portion balls (30 gms each), put stuffing in the centre of the spinach mixture and close the sides. Flatten it with the help of the palms and shape it into patties. Shallow fry the patties in oil. Serve hot with pineapple chutney.
Green Pea Karanji
For casing:
300 gm flour
1/4 tsp ajwain
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
Water for kneading
For filling:
200 gms green peas
30 gms cashew nut, broken
10 gms raisins
1 tsp ginger green chilli paste 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
A pinch of sugar
Salt to taste
10 gms green coriander, chopped,
Juice of 1 lemon
50 ml oil for frying
For casing
Sift flour, make a well in the centre, add ajwain seeds, salt and warm oil. Mix well. Add water gradually and knead into stiff dough. Cover with clean cloth and rest for 20 minutes. Make small lemon sized balls, roll onto a flat surface into 6 inch discs. Cover and keep aside.
For filling
Heat 50 ml oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and hing. Add ginger and green chilli paste and cook till the raw aroma goes off. Add green peas, all the powdered masala, sugar and salt and cook well. Add the dried fruits and mix. Add coriander, lemon juice and garam masala powder. Check and adjust seasoning if required.
Assembly
On each disc, place a walnut-sized amount of stuffing on one half. Moisten it with water all around the edges. Fold over the other half to get a crescent (half-moon) shape. Cut the excess with a rolling cutter. Repeat with all discs till the filling gets used up. Cover and store in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Heat oil in a kadhai. Fry the karanji in batches of 3-4 on a medium-slow flame, increasing it gradually till karanji acquires a light golden-brown colour. Drain on kitchen paper. Serve with mint chutney.
