GOBI 65 - A POPULAR CRISPY SNACK !!! STEPWISE DETAILED POST

Chicken 65 is one of the most popular dish in South India.  The vegetarian versions are with Gobi (Cauliflower), Aloo, Mushroom and Paneer are equally popular in almost all restaurants. These are crispy snack made by dipping the main ingredient in the yogurt cornflour batter and adding some spices to make them very very tasty.  This is basically a kind of spicy fritters. Whatever it is Gobi (Cauliflower) 65, Paneer 65, Chicken 65, Aloo 65, Mushroom 65; all 65's are most favorite appetizer from adults to Kids.  This is also one of the requested and wanted recipes from many of my friends.  This is absolutely crispy, tongue tickling appetizer and offcourse appealing to eyes as well.  I think nobody needs much introduction about this anymore.. Without any further delay lets have a Visual treat for this exotic dish.

 

GOBI 65

Ingredients :

Cauliflower - 1 medium
Thick yogurt/curd - 1 cup
Good quality red food color - less then 1/4 tsp
Garam masala - 2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 3 tsp ( Mine is less spicy chilli powder so please add according to your taste)
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Garlic - 7 pods
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Cornflour - Approximately you need 350 gm cornflour for the whole cauliflower, 3 to 4 tbsp approximately for each batch of florets.
Salt - 3 tsp approximately
Curry leaves - for garnishing
Chaat masala - To sprinkle at the end
Oil for deep frying

  

Method :

We really want thick yogurt, if you think the yogurt is loose just tie them in the muslin cloth so the water drips away.
Make a paste out of garlic and ginger. Wash the curry leaves and keep it dry.

Here comes the Step wise detailed instructions...
1.  Cut and clean the cauliflower, drain without any water. Add the curd in the bowl.

2. Add Ginger garlic paste, color and garam masala.

 

3. Followed by chilli powder, Salt and lime juice.

  

4. Whisk the batter, add the florets, mix well.

5. Check for salt, sourness and spice level in this stage.
6. While this ready.  Parallely heat oil in the deep pan.
7. Now add handful of cauliflower in bowl add 3 tbsp of cornflour mix well.. the whole florets has to be nicely coated with flour.

8. Add the florets in the oil ,  just add one by one, you can see the bubbles.   when it starts to disappear at this stage add few curry leaves.

9. Remove from the oil drain them and put it in the kitchen towel.
10. Serve hot sprinkling chaat masala and ketchup.

Note:

1.  When coating the florets with cornflour don't do for whole batch.  Dust them in batches.
2. The cornflour measurement is approximate, add less or more as you need.
3. The sourness , spice level all depends on your taste buds.
4. You can follow this below procedure for mushroom, paneer, Aloo and even with cauliflower . Instead of mixing them with the curd mixture first , make the batter by mixing the curd mixture and cornflour with the pinch of baking soda.  Mix like Bajji batter consistency and dip the mushroom or paneer or Aloo sticks in the batter and Deep fry them in the oil.  I do not prefer this method when making with cauliflower, as Cauliflower in US has so much of water content so I used to dust it with the cornflour to make more crispy.  If you are in India always parboil the cauliflower and aloo dip it in the cornflour ,curd batter and deep fry them.
5. After mixing the cauliflower in the yogurt mixture don't keep them for long time as it leaves water and the whole thing becomes watery.
6.If you want to do this for party, just keep the yogurt mixture ready, mix with florets and flour the next day.
7. The deep fried one will retain its crispiness at least for 1hr, you can also reheat in the preheated oven when needed. 

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GNOCCHI WITH PESTO(SAUTEED WITH ASPARAGUS AND MUSHROOM)

"Gnocchi" is an Italian name for a variety of thick, soft noodles or dumplings. The smaller forms are called gnocchetti. If the gnocchetti are red in color then tomato is added, if they are green spinach is included. Here I have used potato Gnocchetti.

They are widely available as dried, frozen, or fresh in vacuum sealed packages in Supermarkets and Italian specialty stores. Classic accompaniments of gnocchi include Tomato sauce, Pesto. Either ways it tastes wonderful with pesto or marinara sauce. Our choice of gnocchi with pesto and sauteed asparagus, mushroom is here ....And I used Potato Gnocchetti.

Cooking Gnocchi :

Remove from the pack, pour the gnocchi in boiling salted water. Boil for 2 -3 minutes or until gnocchi float to the top, drain and keep aside.

Ingredients for Pesto :

Basil - 1 handful
Almonds - 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp( Roasted and reserve 1 tbsp for garnishing)
Lemon juice - 1/4 tbsp
Pepper - as required
Garlic - 1 pod
Salt - as needed
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese - 1 tbsp
Asparagus - 5 to 8 (trim the edges, wash and chop to 2 inch)
Mushroom - 6 sliced
Gnocchi - 1 pack (1 lb)
Red chilli flakes - 1/4 tsp
Garlic 1 crushed for sauteing with asparagus and mushroom










Method :

1. Coarse run the first 5 ingredients in the blender or food processor.( don't make to paste its should be like coarsely powdered).
2. Saute the asparagus and mushroom in Olive oil, Red chilli flakes and olive oil by adding salt and keep it aside.
3. In the same pan add some olive oil, Cooked gnocchi give nice toss until slightly roasted by adding the pesto mixture.
4. Once it is done add the sauteed asparagus and mushroom. After quick tossing.
5. Transfer to the serving plate by adding the cheese and roasted almonds on the top.





Enjoy the taste of cheesy , crunchy, fresh gnocchi in every bite.............

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