"Dry batter" oven baked potato wedges

I've got a glut of recipes to post, but I've just been unable to make myself do anything to put them on my blog. Especially the ones that need more elaborate instructions than I feel like dealing with at the moment. Obviously I'm a dedicated foodie but my blogging muscle sometimes wilts a bit and doesnt want to hold itself up.

So here's a simple recipe, just to ease myself back into the food blogging world. Didnt help that Pete and I made a quick 6-day trip to Seattle last week... it only served to increase my laziness in the blogging department because I felt so utterly enervated. It wasnt a bad week but boy, the travelling to and fro really sapped my energy!

Anyway, I didnt feel like cooking either, yesterday, and Pete only wanted eggs and chips.



So I made the chips from scratch, based vaguely on Aunt Bessie's lightly battered oven chips (which we get here and which are tastier than regular oven chips - and less healthy, goes without saying). Mine is a much simpler version. Also, I didnt make a wet batter for the potatoes, just shook them up with some seasoned gram flour and baked them till golden and done. Pete dipped his wedges into sunny-side up eggs and I had mine with a yogurt dip - that is, I mixed idli podi with yogurt and used that as a dip. It was yummy!

Recipe for: "Dry batter" oven baked potato wedges



5-6 medium red-skin potatoes, washed and cut into wedges
2 generous tbsp gram/chickpea flour
1 tsp red chilli or cayenne powder (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp jeera/cumin powder
1/2 tsp freshly milled black pepper powder
Salt to taste
2 tsp oil

Method:

1. Mix the chickpea flour and the various seasonings (bar the salt) together.

2. Put the wedges in a large ziploc bag (or a large dry bowl), pour in the 2 tsp oil, close the bag and shake the potatoes well. Then add the seasoned chickpea flour and shake it all aain until the potatoes are coated as evenly as possible.



3. Spray a shallow baking sheet with Pam or line with silicone paper. Spread the seasoned wedges in a single layer and bake at 200C for 15 minutes.

4. After 15 minutes, pull the sheet out, sprinkle the wedges with salt, stir the wedges about and put back into the oven until golden brown and done.



5. Serve hot, with dips if preferred.

Vellai appam

If you have any leftover dosa batter, vellai appam are a fun food to make and even more fun to eat. Only works, of course, if you have the vellai appam chatti. I am the proud possessor of such a chatti, thanks to my mother.

Usually these appliances are of cast-iron, seasoned lovingly over a long time with regular use. Unfortunately I dont have the patience or the time, so this non-stick, modern version of the chatti was the perfect gift for me. The bottom is solid cast iron, but the top surface is non-stick. And because it's non-stick, you only need to add a drop or two of oil to the little depressions to turn out perfect pillowy soft appams. The traditional way is to literally deep fry the appams in their little depressions which are filled with a lot of oil... very yummy but not so good for the tummy.

The only drawback is that there's no quick way of making this for more than one person at a time - only 7 little depressions, alas. And even for that one person (me) it's a dreary job waiting for the little guys to get golden and crispy outside and soft and fluffy inside...

Dreary job, did I say? More like a never-ending wait! You have to wait for the batter to start turning opaque around the edges as it cooks, wait for the opacity to spread towards the centre and only THEN turn it over for the other side to cook... and that means another wait. It's just a few minutes, really, but it feels like eternity. And yeah, the wait is worth it.

Appams are best had with tomato thokku or coconut chutney, I guess. But I have them hot off the pan, without any accompaniments, even if it means a somewhat burnt tongue. Vellai appam... yum.

Another variation on vellai appam is to make it using wheat flour. Just as tasty, in a slightly different way!

Recipe for: Vellai appam



Ingredients:

1 cup dosa batter
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp oil (+ more to baste)
2 green chillies, sliced very thin
1 pinch of asafoetida
a few fresh curry leaves, torn into small pieces

Method:

1. Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan. Splutter the mustard seeds in the oil (cover the pan), then add the green chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida and fry for about 30 seconds.

2. Pour the tempering over the dosa batter and mix thoroughly.



3. Heat the appam chatti on a medium-high flame and dribble a couple of drops of oil in each depression.



4. Now drop the dosa batter by the teaspoon into each depression, filling it 3/4 of the way to the top.



5. Let the appams cook over medium heat, until the batter starts solidifying around the edges, turning opaque.



6. When only the middle part of the appams is still liquidy, carefully turn over each appam with a thin skewer (or use a spoon if you can).

7. Let the appams cook for another minute or so, till they are cooked and golden-crisp on the top and bottom.



8. Serve hot, with a side dish of coconut chutney if desired.

These appams are tasty even when cold but they will lose their fluffy fresh cooked aspect.