Sunday, July 10, 2011

Chire Bhaja and A Wiki Project

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There is something very special about simplicity. I find it extremely difficult to express it in words and I might actually spoil its beauty by doing it. So I am going to let the pictures talk and your taste buds imagine. I learnt this recipe from my mum-in-law. I always used to think that one would require lots of oil to make chire bhaja but I was pleasantly surprised when she made this today for evening tea. This is a very popular tea time snacks for people in Bengal and it tastes great.

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I recently came across a wiki project called Mycitycuisine.org – A Traveller's Guide to Local Cuisine  which I think is a great effort and will be really useful for travellers who would like to try out the local cuisine. Please check out the webpage and if possible please contribute. You can add dishes by Countries/States/Course. Once this site gets populated, it will be a common place to find cuisines from any country/region.

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Ingredients:

200gm Chire (flattened rice, the thin ones)

2 tbsp oil

2-3 green chillies (thinly sliced)

1 tbsp finely chopped red onion

Handful of peanuts

Handful of Chanachur (Bombay mix)

Pinch of Salt

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Method:

Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan, then fry the peanuts in it. Remove them once they are golden brown. Now add the chire to the oil, keep the heat to medium-low (as you don’t want your chire to burn) and keep stirring. Add little salt to it, and keep frying it till it becomes crispy and slightly puffed up. It will take about 5 minutes or so. Take it off the heat and add rest of the ingredients i.e. green chillies, onions, fried peanuts and chanachur (which is also known as Bombay mix in the UK). Enjoy with a steaming cup of chai (Tea).

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11 comments:

  1. My maa also makes this and everyone in the house just love it. he clicks are beautiful.

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  2. crispy snak sounds tasty with cup of tea

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  3. Love this crispy snack...Nice presentation...

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  4. Wow this sounds interesting and yummy too

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  5. My mom also make this often for our evening tea time snack..it looks so crunchy and delicious!

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  6. Thats so inviting recipe,luks delicious...

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  7. Its hard to imagine but of all the snacks in the world out there, simple or exotic, this one is always my top favorite. Nice pics!
    US Masala

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  8. Hi Sanchita! Thanks for leaving such a lovely comment on Peppercorns in my Pocket. The blog is still a baby, so it's great to know of people who are enjoying it.
    Your blog brought back so many great memories, and made me all nostalgic about Kolkata. I love Chire Bhaja, so this post was especially good to read!

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  9. wow, love your chire bhaja and I am going to read more about that wiki project, sounds interesting.

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  10. I just discovered your site last weekend . I made these delicious little guys this morning. Your blog is wonderful!

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