India has many street foods which are popular across the nation. Dabele, vada pav and pav bhajji are some of the most popular and are primarily from Maharashtra. Vada pav is prepared with batata vada (deep fried spicy potato balls/patty) with Pav and three types of chutney. Vada pav is incomplete without garlic chutney and people demand it when they buy Vada pav. This chutney is a dry and spicy, prepared with dry roasted coconut, garlic, chili and spices. Traditionally this chutney is prepared using garlic clove with skin however if you don’t like it, you can peel it. This simple chutney can be stored for 2 to 3 weeks in an airtight container when refrigerated.
Category Archives: Spices & Sauce
Sweet & Sour Mango Chutney
Mango is a versatile fruit, as many delicious recipes can be prepared with raw mango as well as ripe mango; such as mango pickle, drinks, mango roll up, sweet or spice chutney, shrikhand, ice cream, lassi, mango kulfi and so on. Sweet & sour mango chutney is one of my childhood favorite, and my mom used to make this dish during mango season in the summer. She would make it in large quantities and store it in a jar. We loved eating it in our lunch boxes with parathas. This mango chutney also known galka or khattmithi in Northern part of India, but every state has its own variation of making this sweet & sour chutney with different ingredients and has many different names. This recipe made with raw mangoes, jaggery and some spices in Eastern UP & Bihar style.
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Hummus is a Mediterranean appetizer dip. This dip a small variation to the original hummus dip as I have used roasted red pepper in this recipe to give a little twist in the taste. Also, I have substituted tahini sauce with roasted sesame seeds in this recipe. I have shared a similar recipe earlier named Avocado hummus in which Avocado was a special ingredient. The dip goes very well with pita chips, crackers, falafel and fresh veggies like celery, carrots, zucchini, cucumber. You could also use it as spread in a sandwich. This dip is really easy to prepare and goes well in parties.
Goda Masala Powder
Masala (spices) in any Indian food is one of the most important ingredient giving an unique taste to each recipe. You could find varieties of readymade masalas in any Indian grocery store however if you want to get a real fresh taste in your dish you shall prepare it home from basic ingredients. Goda Masala is one of the famous spice mix from Maharastra state. This masala is used in many Marathi recipes like masala bhaat, vegetarian, non vegeterian curry and other recipes. This fresh and aromatic masala gives a unique taste to any recipe. In fact while I was making this at home, the whole house was filled with awesome sweet-scented smell. Dagad phool is one specific ingredient which gives a very distinctive flavor to the masala. There are many versions of Goda masala recipe and people of different region make slight changes in ingredient list based on their preference/taste. Making Goda masala is really very easy as the only thing one need to ensure is that the ingredients are roasted well and don’t get burnt. Although Goda means sweet but the masala is not sweet at all. I learnt this recipe from one of my friend Shilpa’s Mom who belong to Maharashtra and really glad to share it on my blog.
Stuffed Red Chili Pickle
Red Chili … as the name sounds it’s hot. In northern part of India, red chili is available during the winter season and mostly used to make the pickle (achar in hindi). I had been searching for this kind of chili here and finally found in Walmart store. Although this is not exactly the same type which is generally used however pretty close. I have seen my grand mother and mother making this pickle during my childhood. I am really glad to share this traditional recipe from my Mom. This pickle is made from mixture of various spices and mustard oil. Mustard oil give a authentic taste to the Pickles. There are certain important steps in making this pickle, one is that red chili needs to be dried up in sun light for at least 3-4 hrs. so that the moisture contents goes away and once again after preparing the pickle it needs to be left in sunlight for at least a week in a glass container. This pickle could be little spicy however goes very well with Paratha or side of any meal especially rice and yellow daal or khichadi. Hope you would enjoy this pickle as part of your meal. 
Avocado Dip
Avocado is a healthy stone fruit which has creamy texture. Avocado dip is super easy and tasty recipe. We need semi riped avocado for this recipe. The lemon juice and coriander leaves gives a refreshing taste to the dip and adding sour cream gives richness to the dip. If you don’t want to use sour cream, you can use same quantity of yogurt. The dip goes very well for sandwich spread as well as dip for pita chips as an appetizer. This dip is great for summer outside gatherings.
Pineapple Jam
Fruit Jam is very common breakfast item and readily available in grocery stores. This recipe is to prepares Jam from fresh pineapple at home. Fresh Jam always tastes better than stored ones and you can add your flavors to this based on your taste. This recipe is from my sister Priyanka who makes it so well and tasty. This Jam is little different that regular jam as it is slightly spiced with pepper powder, chili flakes, cinnamon powder and garam masala powder. You can either use cut store bought pineapple or cut fresh pineapple. The Jam can be stored in glass jar for about 2 months in refrigerator.
Asparagus Hummus
Hummus is a food dip which is used with crispy tortilla or pita chips or veggies as an appetizer. There are many kind of Hummus recipe. This recipe is made using boiled chickpeas and asparagus, dry roasted sesame seeds, garlic blended along with Olive oil. Basically, Hummus made with Tahini sauce but you can use roasted sesame seeds for this recipe for the same taste. Asparagus has lot’s of health benefits. This dip is very healthy quick and easy to make. Asparagus hummus flavored with garlic and sesame seeds gives a nice garlicky flavor to hummus.You can skip garlic if you don’t like it.