Sukha Besan (Dry curry of chick pea flour)

It is one of the quickest side dish one can make that goes well with Chapathi or bread..Lakshmi (my maid servant) taught me the recipe that I will share with you today.. it could be done without onions as well (another Pune recipe)

Sukha Besan
2 onions finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
2-3 green chillies (depends on how hot you want)
salt to taste
Cilantro (Coriander) leaves (bunch)
cumin seeds -  1 tsp
Besan (Chick pea flour) - 2 cups
6 tbsp refined oil

Grind the garlic, chillies, cilantro, cumin and salt together in a blender.
Saute the onion until golden brown in oil, add the ground chilli/garlic to the onion and let it cook for 5 min. Add 2 cups of water and let the whole mix come to a boil.

Once it comes to boil, add the besan (chick pea flour) into the pan and keep mixing vigorously so there are no clumps formed. The more oil you add to the recipe, the drier and less sticky the dish will be. Put a lid on and let it cook in low heat for 5 min, with intermittent stirring.

Ready to serve with hot Chapathi (Indian flat bread)..

Chapathis are flat bread made with whole wheat and are easy to make. You knead the wheat into dough with water, little oil and salt, set aside for few hours. Take a small ball of dough (1/2 of tennis ball), flatten the dough into thin bread and cook it like pancakes with butter/oil on sides. You can see the below link for demo on who to make it step by step.

http://indianfood.about.com/od/breadrecipes/ig/How-to-Make-Chapatis/

Egg and Eggless options

I tried experimenting with a egg and an eggless snack option this time. These could be used as appetizers or snacks for everyone.. and are quick to make.

1. Eggs with Zucchini - Page 721 (The little big vegetarian book)

You could always substitute zucchini with any of our Indian vegetables like snake gourd, bottle gourd. I anyway had zucchini in local market so used it. The recipe book I am following is by Italian authors, and they seem to not know anything better than zucchini in most of their dishes.. but I plan to improvise with local vegetable variety..  

350 g Zucchini
1 clove garlic
4 tbsp torn basil ( I used dry basil flakes - 2 tsp)
6 tbsp extra virgin oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 hard boiled eggs shelled
1 bunch fresh salad greens (did not have that)
6 tbsp diced mixed bell peppers (for decoration - did not have that either)

Chopped the Zucchini into thin wheels, saute with garlic until pale gold with oil, season with salt and pepper. Remove yolks from the eggs and blend the zucchini garlic saute with yolks in a blender into a smooth paste. Fill the egg whites with this paste. Sprinkle with diced bell peppers and place them on plate with greens.

The dish turned out good and is good protein addition to a meal.. was slightly low in heat for Indian palate, so plan to add some green chilli next time:)



1. Egg-free Vegetable Frittata - Page 424 (The little big vegetarian book)

This is an excellent vegetarian substitute for an omelet and yet looks like one. Of-course the recipe asks us to add zucchini:) diced, tomatoes and carrots grated. I did not have any, so I added cucumber diced. Also added some red chilli powder to spice it up other than black pepper and salt that the recipe dictates.


200 g chick pea flour (besan flour)
7 tbsp water (you can always add enough to make it a smooth flowable batter)
2 zucchini grated (I added 2 cucumber finely chopped)
1 carrot finely grated (did not add)
2 tomatoes coarsely chopped (did not add)
salt to taste
red chilli powder to taste (to give it the Indian bite)


Mix the flour with water and add the cucumber and other vegetables, salt, pepper and chilli powder. Use a non stick pan and make a thick cake. Slightly oil on sides and turn it around. Cut it into triangular wedges and serve with ketchup. 


The dish turned out to be a quick breakfast option as my husband used it like an omelet and ate it in-between two bread slices.  Kids will love it with tomato sauce. It is not fried in oil like many of our Indian fritters made of chick pea flour, hence much more healthy.


Enjoy:)