Creamy Potato Salad with cottage Cheese

I saw two of my former colleagues some time ago. They were both standing by a food truck outside ordering huge portions of sinful-looking delicious food with enormous sides of fries- french fries for one and onion rings for the other.  All the while, were excitedly pointing out to each others mid sections whilst bursting into giggles every second.  They were so immersed with each other that they totally did not see me.  I slid away unnoticed, and made a mental note of which one was having a boy, and who would be holding a tiny, pink bundle soon. 

Seeing them by those food trucks also made me nostalgic. When I was pregnant with Anya, I developed a serious sweet tooth. Not only did I crave sweets, I craved only one sweet- 'boondi ke laddoo'. At that time, there were no real Indian stores around campus that sold sweets. Yes you could buy dal-atta-chawal, but that was pretty much it. Both my mom and MIL tried sending me ladoos from India with friends- but one guy forgot them at home; and the other had to surrender them at the Airport Immigration. All my unfulfilled craving came to me in the form of a 5 pound 1ounce bundle who'd eat nothing, except serious sugar.  My mom said that my baby was so tiny and so fussy because I didn't get those ladoos..

An event and a Chaat

This month, we celebrated my daughter's 7th birthday. As I sat there mulling over what make-ahead starters we could have for the gathering of 40 or so friends, my memory registered seeing a blog competition about legumes the day before . A quick google brought me up to this announcement by Sia of Monsoon Spice who is hosting Susan's event this month. And an idea was born! I decided to make an effortless matar chaat, so popular on the streets of Old Delhi. It is easy, make ahead, and was real successful at my get-together. Unfortunately, there was no time to take pictures of the actual thing - I promise to remedy this soon enough!

Zhatpat Chatpat Matar Chaat

(Dried peas salad)

Dried green peas 100g soaked for about 4h 

Cucumber 2
Onion 1
Tomato 1
Lemon for juice 1
Red/Orange pepper 1
Ginger juice 1 tsp
Apple juice 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Green chillies 2-3/ to taste
Chaat Masala to taste


Now, it is all a matter of tossing everything together!

1. But first of all, drain the soaked peas and cook them al dente. I used a pressure cooker, and cooked for about 10 min. (till two pressure whistles) in 1/2 cup of water. When done, the peas are almost dry. 
2. Chop all the veggies as desired- I had kids at the party so I chopped them up real fine! 
3. Toss the veggies together with apple juice, lemon juice and ginger juice and reserve till the peas have cooled down. 
4. Now mix the veggies and peas together, add the green chillies, salt and chaat masala. Keep aside for 30 min or more, to blend the spices together.

And voila, you have the chaat from streets of Chandni Chowk! Serve it with the spicy pudiny-dhaniya chutney and sweet and sour Imly chutney on the side, for that additional spice. The street vendor back home will serve you this chaat garnished with julienne of sweet radish and ginger, sprinkled with cilantro and sev and an additional wedge of lemon. Try all the frills- you won't be disappointed! Another option is to serve it with toasted pita bread on the side. This here, then, is my entry for September's My Legume affair.