Back to blogging with a Desi Delight!

Hey people, I am back!!! (read as in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines") I know many of you checked in to find out if I was doing good. Thank you so much for your concern. I am very much alive and doing good. As my friend had said, I was down with a sweet sickness that bore fruit at the end of 9 months..Oh wait, it was 8 months plus 3 days!!

Yes, we recently welcomed a little cub into our pack! And that was the reason for my 'a year-long hibernation'. Our sonny dear arrived on a chilly November day and from then on, life has a taken a steep turn that is totally perpendicular to what it used to be! Suddenly sleepless nights are no more irritating, watching TV in mute and deciphering the dialogues is fun, and of all, waking up everyday to witness a sweet innocent toothless smile is HEAVEN!!

Well, I can go on and on bragging about my son and my new-found-status as a mom, but that's not what we are all here for, right? OK here's the recipe of the day, HOT and SOUR IDLI... yes our own south Indian breakfast with a twist.

This recipe, I saw a couple of years ago on a cookery show and it turned out to be fabulous. But I had completely forgotten about it. Recently when mom and I was talking about all the different dishes we used to make, this one promptly flashed on my mind and here I am blogging about it.

Hot and Sour Idli
Steamed rice cakes deep fried and topped with tomato based sauce

What we need:
Idli - 4 to 5 preferably left-over cold ones
Capsicum - 2, sliced
Tomato - 2 medium sized, chopped
Onion - 1 medium sized, thinly sliced
Garlic pods - 2 to 3, finely chopped
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp.
Salt - as needed
Oil - to deep fry
Tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp. Optional

How to do:
1. Cube the idlis into bite sized pieces. Deep fry the pieces to golden brown.
2. Blanch and puree the tomatoes.
3. In a kadai, heat oil. Add onion, garlic pods and salt.
4. Fry till the onion turns pink and soft. Now add the sliced capsicums and fry till they get cooked.
5. While the capsicum is still crunchy, add the tomato puree, tomato ketchup, red chilli powder and if needed, a bit of water to bring to the gravy consistency.
6. Bring it a boil and swtich off.
7. When ready to serve, arrange the idli pieces in the serving bowl and pour the gravy over them
Serve immediately.

As I sign off with a hope that I would be able to resume blogging, I also hope that I would be able to catch up with all your posts I missed for so many months! Till then, Happy Cooking and Happy Blogging!!

Sago Murukku ~ ICC March '10

When Srivalli announced this month's Indian Cooking Challenge, I was bit relaxed; not because I know to make Murukku. As a matter of fact, I have never made Murukku at all. I have only seen Amma doing it, but have never even touched the Murukku Achu but once (that was this time, when I brought it from India). Thank God I did it! Thanks Srivalli, from now Sago Murukku will not just be a challenge, but a regular affair at home! Amma usually makes Thenkuzhal or the typical Murukku. So Sago Murukku was new to me, but I was only thrilled with the outcome. It was perfectly crispy and so irresistible that it got finished in 2 days!!

But the flop-side was that the murukku didn't come out as a continuous piece; it got broke into small threads in spite of using the exact measurements given. And I was expecting a chakli-style murukku. Is my murukku ok? Or can somebody point out what could have gone wrong?

Sago Muruku

Rice flour and Sago coils

What we need:
Rice Flour - 2 cups
Besan flour - 1/2 cup
Fried gram flour - 1/2 cup Fried gram is the roasted gram dal which we get in shops. One needs to powder it and use.
Sago - 1/2 cup
Salt - according to taste
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or as per taste
Curd - 1/4th of a cup

Muruku Achu/Murukku Press

How to do:
Making the dough:
1. Dilute the curd with water to make buttermilk. Wash and clean the Sago and soak it in the buttermilk for 3 to 4 hours.
2. Once the Sago is soaked well and is soft, mix in all the flours, salt, chilli powder.
3. Heat 2 to 3 tbsp. of Oil and add it to the mixture. Knead well to bring it to a chapathi dough consistency.

Deep-frying the murukku:
1. Heat oil. Meanwhile, take a small portion of the dough (the size of a medium tomato) and press into the dough.
2. When the oil is hot enough (not smoking), press the murukku directly over the oil.
3. Reduce to medium flame and fry till the murukku is golden brown on all sides.
4. Remove and drain on a kitchen towel.
5. Store it in a air-tight container for longer shelf life.

Important Notes:
Sago should be well soaked to avoid bursting.
You can lightly grease the insides of the murukku press with oil.

Hope you all enjoyed this month's challenge. See you all soon with another interesting post. Till then Happy Cooking and Happy Blogging! :)

Kunuku Paniyaram

Hello buddies,
I am back after a self-imposed mini break!! We had been to Vienna and Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia) for the Easter weekend and it was just a wonderful experience. Vienna is known for its architectural beauty and it took us less than a minute to fall in love with the beautiful city and its lovely atmosphere. More than anything, we found the people a lot friendlier in Vienna than any of the European cities we had been to. Twice we were approached by total strangers offering us help, because we apparently looked like hapless tourists (and oh, we were!!) standing in intersections of every street, reading the map and looking at the numbers!! ;)

And for foodies like us, there is a street called Naschmarkt which is completely dedicated to food, spices, fresh farm produces and hot street food. The minute I entered the street, my nostrils were filled with the aroma of spices, Olives, just-made Falafels.. And we tried our Indian khana at a local restaurant called 'Indian Pavilion' and the food was just awesome! So anyone of you, visiting Vienna next, please do try out this wonderful eatery!

After loads of walking, tons of clicks, and pleasant memories, I am back to the routine.. Yup, Farmville, Blogging, Eating, Sleeping.. What else do you expect???!!! ;)

Coming to our recipe of the day.. You might be confused reading the title, because Kunuku is a different recipe made from Adai batter and Paniyaram, as we all know is made of Dosa batter. By know you should have made the obvious connection. Yes, I just made Kunuku's using the Paniyara Kal.
Image Courtesy: Indiamart
Though I am a great fan of deep-fried foods, I am little freaky/ worried when doing it at home. I would rather prefer eating French fries once in a month from McD or Burger King rather than attempting it at home. So, naturally when the remaining of Adai batter in my fridge screamed "Kunukku" at me, I could not resist the idea of using my Paniyarakal which I flicked recently from my mom during the India trip. ;)

So, here comes the recipe.. This calls for usage for very little oil and the result is just too good!

Kunukku Paniyaram
Mixture of Dals, tempered with spices and shallow fried

What we need:
Par boiled rice - 1 cup
Toor dal - 1/4th of a cup
Chana dal - 3/4th of a cup
Moong dal - a tbsp. Optional
Red Chillies - 4 to 5, adjust according to your spice tolerance level
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Asafoetida - 1 tsp.
Salt - according to taste

Onion - 1, medium sized, finely chopped
Green chillies - 1 or 2, Optional
Oil - to shallow fry

How to do:
1. Wash, clean and soak the rice and dals separately for 3 to 4 hours. Soak Moong dal separately for half an hour.
2. Grind the rice first to a smooth batter. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Now grind the dal to a coarse paste, along the red chillies, asafoetida, salt. Add the Moong dal in the end, whipping for just 5 seconds. Mix the dal, rice together.
4. Heat the Paniyarakal and grease with little oil.
5. Meanwhile, mix the chopped onions and green chillies in the batter. I like to have them raw, but you can also saute them in little oil, before adding to the batter.
6. Spoon in the batter into each of the Kuzhi (or Compartment). Don't fill it to the brim; leave some space to help you turn them later.
7. Leave them on with the lid for 4 to 5 minutes on low-medium. Then, using the spatula gently turn them to the other side. If needed, add some oil to the sides.
8. Again, let this side cook for 4 to 5 minutes.
9. Remove them and serve with coconut chutney.

Notes:
1. Generally, Adai batter is thicker than Dosa batter, it should not be a surprise if Kunuku takes more time than Paniyaram.
2. Adding a handful chopped Mint leaves and Coriander will increase the taste and flavor by many folds.

Just after finishing, I realized that I have made an eligible entry for MLLA 22nd helping!! The most popular monthly series "My Legume Love Affair" was started by Susan and is hosted this month @ Ruchika Cooks.

Since Kunuku was not interested in going alone to the event, I am sending along
Chole Tikki
Pasi Paruppu Sundal to the same event.

See you all soon with anoher interesting post. Till then Happy Cooking and Happy Blogging!

Chegodi Bracelet with Thatai Hearts & My "Compulsive"ness-es

So Me back!!! A month of hectic sessions left me worn out and I had a very satisfying weekend to give a fitting end to the whole thing. Of course, I would be continuing the course after sometime but hey, DO WE NEED A REASON TO SHOP?? TO GET PAMPERED? :)
That's what I did! A nice relaxed pampering session at the hairstylist, then some feel-good shopping* followed by relaxed Sunday and it spilled over to Monday, Tuesday too!

* Feel-good shopping means, shopping/buying and filling up your house with things, you absolutely know, you don't need, but doing it just for the heck of it! It can range anywhere from show pieces to fashion accessories, majority of them being Clothes!

Amma (and now DH) keeps telling me that I can open my own shop with the accessories I have! ;) But still the compulsive shopper in me peeps out every time I enter the mall/shop, takes over my original personality and whenever I come to, I am standing with bags full of items that will possibly lie in the wardrobe forever...

That said, I am a compulsive packer too. Meaning, whenever we go on trips, I always end up packing twice the amount I would need. For 4 days trip, I will have 8 dresses and corresponding accessories. And DH will always wonder why my bag is always heavy. My answer would be, "Because I am a girl!" End of conversation.

Now, what has all these to do with today's recipe? Definitely, this Chegodi Bracelet with Thatai hearts are not a result of my addictive-shopping. But they were born due to the "window shopping" by Sanjana @ KO Rasoi. She wants to give away a lovely Bracelet to one of us in turn for some unique dishes that are results of inspiration from that lovely bracelet. I have been thinking about it ever since she announced the contest, and now I am with this!
Chegodi or the Ring Murukku is not at all new to us. In fact, I was supposed to do it for ICC November Challenge (For my new buddies, ICC was initiated by Srivalli), but had to drop it due to my then-India-trip. But I had it at the back of my mind that I must try it out and found all right reasons to make it now.

Thatai is also one of the famous south Indian snack and our favorite munchie. Like the majority of us, I am no exception when it comes to munching snacks all the time. (Read: Compulsive Muncher)

So here I am, presenting the "Chegodi bracelet with Thatai hearts" for MY LOVE FOR SNACKS and sending them to Sanjana's "Wear your Food" contest!.

Whoops, what a lengthy prelude! By now, you know I am a compulsive talker, a compulsive writer..! Since you are still reading this, I am awarding the title "Compulsive Reader" to you!! :D

Chegodi / Ring Murukku
This recipe is exactly what Srivalli had given us.

What we need:
Rice Flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Split Yellow Moong dal / Pesara pappu / Mung Dal / Pasiparuppu - 1 1/2 - 2 tblsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame Seeds - 1 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Ghee or oil - 1 tblsp
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

How to do:
Making the dough:
1. Soak moong dal in water for half hour to 1 hour.
2. In a deep bottom pan, boil water, then add salt, ghee and moong dal.
3. Bring it to boil, simmer and slowly add the rice flour. Using a rolling pin or the ladle, mix the flour with water by stirring it well.
4. When the flour is mixed and done, turn off the heat immediately. Cover with lid and keep aside for 10 to 15 mins.

5. Once the dough is cool, add chilli powder, sesame seeds, cumin seeds and mix well. Knead till you get a smooth dough. Adjust the salt and spice depending on your preference.

Frying the Chegodi:
1. Heat a pan with oil, enough to fry 3 -4 at time. Simmer once it gets hot. The temperature should not be smoking hot.
2. Grease your fingers with oil and pinch out a small lemon size ball and roll between your palms to form a thick rope. Bring the two ends to together and press to form a rope. Ensure the ends are firmed pressed as not to give out during frying.
3. Continue with the rest of the dough until you are done with the entire batch. You can either cover it with a plate or a cloth to prevent the dough from getting dried.
4. Check if the oil is in the correct temperature, by dropping a tiny bit into the oil. Then gently slide the rings or the chegodis in batches of 4 -5.
5. The flame has to be on high until the chegodis come up to the surface, then lower the flame to medium and cook till you get a golden colour on the chegodis.
6. When the chegodis are golden all over, using a slotted ladle, remove to a kitchen towel and cool. Store in an air tight container for longer shelf life.

Notes: Remember to turn the heat to medium to high and high to medium for getting the chakodis to golden colour and also to be cooked evenly. Only this way you get crispy chakodis. These should not be cooked on low flame as they will absorb more oil and can turn soggy also at times.

Variation: Instead of Cumin and Sesame seeds, 1 tsp of Ajwain or Omam can be used along with chili powder.

Well, I purposely didn't join the ends for a few of them, just to create a chain effect!
Oops! Where are the hooks?

Thatai
Crispy Spicy Rice wafers

What we need:
Rice flour - 1 cup
Urad dal Flour - 2 tbsp.
Butter - 2 tbsp.
Salt - according to taste
Chana Dal - 2 tbsp.
Curry leaves - a sprig (I didnt add this)
Chilli powder - 1 tsp.
Asafoetida - a pinch
Oil - to deep fry
Aluminum foil/Plastic sheet - to press the thatai's

How to do:
1. Soak the chana dal for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
2. In a bowl, take the rice flour, add the Urad dal flour, salt, chilli powder, asafoetida and mix well.
3. To this add the butter and keep mixing till it is evenly incorporated.
4. Add the soaked chana dal, torn curry leaves. Add water slowly and mix till you get the chapathi dough consistency. Close with the lid and set it aside for 10 minutes.
5. Heat Oil in a pan. It should be hot, but not smoking hot.
6. Meanwhile grease the plastic sheet with oil. Take a small ball of the out of the dough, press it on the sheet and make a flat round. Repeat with the rest of the dough. (I used a cookie cutter to get the heart shapes)
7. Slide 2 or 3 at a time (depending on the size of your kadai) and cook on medium-high till the bottom side turns golden brown.
8. Turn over with a slotted spoon and cook till this side turns brown.
9. Drain on a kitchen towel and store in an air-tight container for longer shelf life.

Heart puffed up with so much love!

Hope you all enjoyed today's post. See you all soon with another interesting recipe. Till then, Happy Cooking and Happy Blogging!

Chole Tikki

Call it a liking, obsession or craving? Or what else? Every time I make this Chole Tikki, as I finish off the last bit from my bowl, I start wishing that I could have made some more! And the following week, I make it again! ;)

I had this long time before when I was in Chennai, really loved it and then had completely lost any idea how it tastes like. About a month or two before, during our sunday-evening-tea-meet with our sweet friends-couple V & V (who stay just a floor above us), they had prepared Chole Tikki for the snack. I fell head-over-heels in love with it! (Is this love at second sight, no.. second-taste??!) Then as the tale goes, "Prince and princess lived happily ever after"... I am making this yummy delight based on the recipe given by V, at every possible chance! (V dear, I hope I did justice to your recipe!)
So here it goes!

Chole Tikki
Garbanzo bean or Chana cooked with spices and served with potato patty, yoghurt and spices
Serves 2

What we need:
For Chole Masala:
Kabuli Chana / Garbanzo beans / Konda Kadalai - 2 cups White variety
Onion, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Tomato, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Green chillies - 2 or 3, minced
Garlic - 1 pod, crushed
Ginger - 1 inch, finely grated
Chana Masala powder - 3 tbsp
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp. Optional
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt - according to taste
Water - as needed
Oil - 2 tbsp.
Cumin (Jeera) - 1 tbsp.

This one is slightly different from the regular Chole I make for rotis. Please click here for the simpler version.

For potato tikkis
Potato, medium sized - 2
Cumin - 1 tsp.
Salt - to taste
Coriander - 2 tsp Optional

To Garnish:
Chat Masala - 1.5 tbsp for each serving (Everest, MDH brands taste great)
Green chutney - 1 tbsp for each serving Click here for the recipe
Yoghurt / Thick Curd - 2 tbsp for each serving
Onions - finely chopped
Coriander - finely chopped

How to do:
Preparing Chole Masala:
1. Heat oil and crackle the cumin seeds.
2. Add the onions, green chillies, ginger, garlic and salt. Saute till the onions turn soft and then add the tomatoes.
3. Stir in the chana masala powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and mix well.
4. When oil starts to separate, add the cooked Chana / Chole with little water (in which it was cooked) and mix well.
5. Let it boil on medium flame for 10 to 15 minutes;then sprinkle some garam masala, garnish with coriander and remove from the stove top.

Preparing potato tikki:
This tikki is not the usual Aloo Tikki we do. I like to keep this one very simple because Chole already has enough spices. And this way, it saves some time too!

Boil, peel and mash the potatoes. Add some salt, coriander, cumin and mix well. Make into small balls, pat them and shallow fry till they turn golden brown on both sides. Drain on a kitchen towel and set aside.

Serving:
In the serving bowls, arrange the potato tikki's one per bowl. Pour 2 to 3 ladles of Chole masala over them.
Spread (don't mix) Yoghurt over this.
Drop a dollop of Green chutney over this.
Sprinkle the Chat Masala, chopped onion, chopped coriander and serve. Mix well as you relish it!

V's tip: Sprinkle some broken potato chips or broken puri or sev to add some crunchiness!

Sending this to "My Legume Love Affair #22" started by Susan and hosted this month @ Ruchika Cooks


T&T Paruppu Thogaiyal from Anupama's blog:

I love all type of thogaiyals. That's why when my dear friend Anupama posted this simple and delicious Paruppu Thogaiyal, I bookmarked it. Believe me, I have already made it 3 times! It is unbelievably simple, yet uncomprisingly tasty! As she has suggested, it tasted heaven with Garlic rasam (the recipe will come soon!) Thanks Anu dear, I really enjoyed it!

PS: I have been trying many recipes from each of your blogs, and relishing every bit of it. I'll start posting each one of them along with my posts from now on (and of course, link it back to you!) Thanks buddies, for spreading the love for good food! :)

See you all soon! Till then, Happy Cooking, Happy Eating and Happy Blogging!

Rösti - A Switzerland Speciality

As promised in my previous post, Presenting you the Switzerland's very own "Rösti". Generally pronounced as "Rose-tee", the actual pronunciation would be "Roesh-ti" where you have to twist your tongue a bit when you pronounce 'o' and 'e'. Before going to the recipe, a few facts on Rösti (Ok you know I love to talk, even when blogging! ;) )

Potatoes, we all know, is one of the most versatile vegetable (or rather root) that has a special place in every other cuisine over the world. Switzerland is not far behind in honoring this yummy tuber ecstasy (as I call it!). Fresh potatoes are hand-picked by the farmers and used to make the delicious Rösti for the entire family. It is generally compared with "Hashbrown" but I beg to differ because both of them are different and tasty in their own way.

Ideally Rösti is a complete meal by itself; you can have it with a sauce of your choice. I prefer to have it as such for lunch without any accompaniment, it tastes wonderful! It is usually served in a plate or in the pan itself, in which it is cooked.

The recipe for Rösti also varies based on each Kanton. For 26 Kantons in Switzerland, you can find over 30 different recipes! First time I had Rösti in an Albis restaurant, I could not finish the entire portion because it was loaded with cheese and fat and I had to skip eating for next 2 days! ;) The idea of making it at home was nagging me since long, as I can have a control over the amount of butter I use. Now the time has come! And the best part was the first attempt itself turned out so good!

Since this is a speciality from Switzerland Cuisine, Rösti finds its way to EC's WYF: Speciality Food event.

Rösti
Makes 1 portion

What we need:
Potatoes - 3, medium sized
Butter - 3 tbsp.
Salt - according to taste
Pepper powder - according to taste

How to do:
1. Boil the potatoes in their skin. Cool them and peel the skin.
It would be better if you can boil them the previous night and let them cool. Potatoes must be firm and cooked and should not get mashed.
2. Use the bigger side of your grater and grate the potatoes into thin strips.
When using the grater, use only forward motion to grate the potatoes. i.e, Go from up to down, start again from the upper part without retracing. This way the strips don't break.
3. Season them with salt and pepper and give a gentle mix with a fork or slotted spoon taking care not to break them.
4. Melt the butter in the pan. Once the butter gets melted, swirl the pan so that it gets coated with butter all over including the rim.
5. Transfer the grated potatoes to the pan and let them sit for 3 to 4 minutes.
6. Now, pat them all together to make a pan cake shape and increase the heat to medium-high.
7. After about 4 to 5 minutes, (this is when the lower part starts to turn golden brown) cover the pan with a plate.
8. Hold the plate and reverse the pan. Transer the entire stuff to the plate. Now you will see that the bottom part is nice golden brown.

Don't worry if the shape disintegrates a bit now; it is usual. After putting it back to the pan, you can pat them again to bring back to shape. Grated potatoes are usually sticky and will happily sit together when patted!
9. Now slide the potatoes gently back to the pan and let this side cook for another 5 to 6 minutes on medium-high.
10. If you desire you can do the flipping again using the plate. Or else slide the Rösti to the plate and get ready to serve!!
Variations:
1. You can use raw potatoes (by just peeling and not boiling them). They have a completely different taste.
2. You can also use butter with herbs (what we call here Krauterbutter), add onions, apples and fresh herbs like parsley, basil, thyme.
3. Those who eat non-veg, can add diced bacon to the mixture.
4. If you would like to incorporate cheese, transfer the cooked Rösti to the baking dish, top with grated cheese and bake it for 4 to 5 minutes before serving.
5. For Berner style Rösti, add a tbsp of milk, in Step 9 and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Readymade Rösti from the Supermarkets come really handy in many times; I use it to make any recipe that calls for mashed potatoes like Bonda's, tikkis etc.

Wanna try some?

Have a wonderful weekend. See you all soon with another interesting post! Till then, happy cooking and happy Blogging! :)

Pasi Paruppu Sundal & Rava Ladoo

"Thenga Maanga Pattani Sundal.....!" Chennai-tes could not have obviously missed this sound! Little boys and men carrying tins of Murukku and bowls of green peas sundal are just a common sight in Marina or Elliott's beach in Chennai. And I bet, none of us could have missed the yummy sundal topped with tangy scrapped mango, forgetting about the hygiene and indulging for a moment!! :)

Festive season or not, sundal is a favorite snack for most of us. Next to the beach sundal, home-made pasi paruppu sundal is my favorite. That complemented with a yummy, melt-in-mouth Rava Ladoo, bajjis and a steaming cup of Nescafe, perched by the window sill on the raining day!!! Mmm.. I'm lovin' it! (read aloud as in McD ad!)

Rava Ladoo is not anything new; it is a breeze to most of us. So I am not going to re-invent the wheel, just sharing with you all my version!

Pasi Paruppu Sundal / Moong dal Sundal
Split Yellow Moong dal snack
Serves 2

What we need:
Yellow Moong dal / Pasi Paruppu - 1 cup
Green Chilli - 1, minced
Fresh scrapped Coconut - 4 tbsp.
Mustard - 1 tsp.
Cumin (Jeera) - 1 tsp.
Asafoetida -a pinch
Oil - 1 tbsp.
Salt - 1 tbsp. or according to taste
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Water - as needed
A dash of lemon juice

How to do:
1. Wash and clean the dal. In a vessel, take the dal and fill with water just enough to cover it. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and cook until it starts to absorb the water. Take care that the dal should not be too mushy.
2. Heat oil and sputter mustard and jeera. When they are done, add the green chilli and curry leaves.
3. Add the cooked dal, salt and mix carefully not to mash the dal.
4. Garnish with coconut and remove from the flame.

Sprinkle a dash of lemon juice and enjoy it!

Serving suggestion for over-cooked dal
Side note:- Sometimes I over-cook the dal because I like the mashed texture.In case you over-cook the dal, just crease a small cup with a drop of oil, stuff it with the sundal and invert it on the serving plate. Sprinkle some coriander leaves and it is good to go the dining room!! For kiddies, you can also make it into small balls and serve.
Sending this to "My Legume Love Affair #22" started by Susan and hosted this month @ Ruchika Cooks


Rava Ladoo

What we need:
Rava / Sooji - 1 cup
Powdered Sugar - 3/4th cup Increase the quantity of sugar according to your taste
Ghee - 100 g
Cardamom Powder - 1 tbsp.
Cashews - 10 to 15 pieces

How to do:
1. Heat a tsp. of ghee. Add the cashews and fry till they start turning brown. Set aside a few pieces of cashew as whole and break the rest of them into tiny pieces.
2. Heat another tsp. of ghee and add the rava. Roast until a nice aroma starts emitting.
3. If you prefer a smooth ladoo, let the rava cool and powder it fine.
4. In a bowl, add rava, powdered sugar, cardamom powder, broken cashew pieces and mix well.
5. Slowly add the ghee spoon by spoon and mix well. After adding about 3/4th of the ghee, try to gather the mixture and make a ball.
Mom's tip: Amma used to say that the correct consistency is, when you gather the mixture into ball and drop it, it should fall back as 3 or 4 pieces and not as a powder.
6. Now that the mix is in the right consistency, make the balls into desired size. Take a full cashew and slowly press into the ball, without breaking it.

Since Ghee is the one of the main ingredient, sending this Rava Ladoo to Sanghi's FIL: Ghee Sweets.

Happy cooking and happy Blogging!!

Paneer Puff Flowers

How many times have we started to do something, ending up with something else? How many of us start doing something simple, ending up with something exotic? Well, I am also just one of you who is now nodding in agreement. What started out as a simple paneer puff, resulted in Paneer Puff Flowers!! :) Yay, I am all set to send this to 2 upcoming events!!

To cut the long story short, there was a portion of pastry sheet in my fridge calling for attention. I decided to make some paneer puffs to go with evening tea, that way I can also use up the small amount of paneer remaining. I didn't seal the flap of the puff properly which resulted in the puff opening up like a flower ;) But I was still skeptical if it was luck or it happened naturally. So I made another batch just to confirm that this way puff sure opens up!!

Paneer Puff Flowers

What we need:
Puff pastry sheet - a small packet or about 100 g
Paneer - 100 g
Onion, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Green chillies - 1 or 2, minced
Garlic - 2 pods, minced
Ginger - 1" inch, grated
Kasoori methi - 2 or 3 tbsp., crushed Optional
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp.
Cumin (Jeera) powder - 1 tbsp.
Cumin - 1 tbsp.
Oil - as needed
Salt - as needed

How to do:
For the filling:
1. Grate the paneer.
2. Heat oil in a pan add cumin seeds. When they start to sputter, add onion, green chilli, garlic and ginger. Fry till the onion turn soft.
3. Now add grated paneer, chilli powder, salt. Mix well and add crushed Kasoori methi.
4. Remove from flame and let it cool.

For the pockets:

1. Cut out the pastry sheet as much as required. Dust a little bit of flour and roll out the sheet to a large square.
2. Cut out into medium sized squares as in step 2.
3. Take a spoonful of cooled paneer mixture and heap it in the center of the square.
4. Bring together the opposite ends (diagonal ends) and seal lightly with the tip of finger. Do not press too hard.
5. Do the same with the other ends. Before sealing the fourth end, it will look as in step 4. (How stupid of me to forget to click them with all sides sealed!) Make as many pockets as desired.

Baking:
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees for 5 minutes. Arrange the pockets on a baking sheet and drizzle a little bit oil over the pockets, if required.
2. Keep the sealed side on the top and bake the pockets in the oven in 200 to 250 degrees for 5 minutes.
3. Now turn them to the other side and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes or till the side starts to turn brown.
4. Now that the back side is evenly browned, flip the pockets back to the top and again bake it for 5 to 7 minutes. By now, the sealed edges will open up and look like petals.
5. Carefully set them on a serving plate and serve with tomato or chilli sauce.

Since this is a high-cal food, I felt it should be balanced with a healthy company. So I garnished with carrots, lightly steamed green peas, and baby corn.

Sending this entry to:
1. Nithya and Pavithra's "Garnish the Dish"

2. Though I don't have one yet to vouch it :) , I am sure kids will love this dish. Hence to Srivalli's Kid's Delight

Happy cooking!!

Paneer-liciously Yours!!!

I know, by now the title should have suggested my love for Paneer...! So is the case with my dear hubby. As I has said in my previous post, I have started trying out different varieties with this yummy dairy product and the results are always edible!

But Paneer Bhurji was one recipe that didn't come up to my expectation. Because when I grate and add paneer, I feel that oil starts coming out of the dish, and in the end, I end up having more oil in my plate that what I had actually added. Maybe it is my mistake in the way of doing it.

So I have started chopping Paneer into fine small pieces (yes, of course a lot of work, but really worth the effort!). Now I see that it is no more oily as it used to be. And yes, the texture of the dish is too good, as the pleasure of biting into chunky paneer pieces is definitely INCREDIBLE!

Quick Paneer Bites
Indian cottage cheese snack
Serves 2
What we need:
Paneer - 150 g, chopped into small fine pieces
Onion, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Tomato, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Green chillies - 1 or 2, minced
Ginger - 1", grated
Garlic - 2 to 3 pods, minced
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp.
Cumin (Jeera) powder - 1 tbsp.
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Cumin (Jeera) seeds - 1 tbsp.
Kasoori Methi (Dried Fenugreek) - 2 tbsp.
Salt - as needed
Oil - 1 tbsp.
Chopped Coriander - for garnishing

How to do:
1. Heat oil in a pan, and add the cumin seeds. When they start to sizzle, add onion and salt.
2. Fry till the onions turn soft. Add green chillies, ginger, garlic. (You can also use a tbsp. of ginger-garlic paste).
3. Once they are done, add the tomato and dry powders (chilli, turmeric, jeera powders). Stir and mix well till the tomatoes are soft.
4. Now half of the kasoori methi (crush gently before adding) and the paneer. Mix well, and coat the paneer pieces with the masala.
5. Reduce the flame and let this sit for 3 to 4 minutes.
6. When the paneer starts turning brown, add the remaining kasoori methi and remove fro flame.

Garnish with fresh chopped coriander and serve as a snack. It also goes well with rotis and naan as a dry side dish.

Masal Vadai

For V, piping hot vadais and coconut chutney are inevitable favorite and he never bothers to count how many he had.

Till our marriage, I had limited my business with vadai just till the dining room. But after learning the secret to please my hubby dear, I learned to make this lip smacking snack. Now it is just a matter of hours notice, and they are ready for the evening bite with tea!

We can make many variations using the same batter like
1. Mix Pudina to make pudina vadai
2. Mix chopped banyan flowers (Vazhai poo) to make Vazhai Poo vadai
3. Use Chopped Cabbage instead of Onion to make Vadai for Neivedyam

Masala Vadai
Spicy Lentil cakes
Makes 5 to 6 vadais

What we need:
Kadalai Paruppu (Chana Dal) - 1 cup
Onion, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Coriander - 5 tbsp., finely chopped
Red Chillies - 2 or 3
Salt - as needed
Asafetida - a pinch
Oil - for deep frying
Water - as needed

How to do:
1. Wash and soak the dal for about 1 hour.
2. Drain and grind with red chillies, salt, asafetida and very little or no water.
3. In a bowl, mix this batter with chopped onions and chopped coriander. Check for salt and adjust accordingly.
4. In a deep pan, heat oil. To check the heat, drop a small bit of batter in the oil. It should come up immediately.
5. Take some batter and using a banyan leaf/ butter paper /hand, flatten out to make the shape of vadai. Use some oil to avoid batter getting sticky.
6. Drop into the oil, and fry on both sides till golden brown.

Serve with coconut chutney or tomato sauce.