Poha(Aval) Bread Mini Rotis / Poha Bread Tikki?

Bored of aval upma and looking for quick guilt free evening snack this is just perefect for you! I havent deep fried as in the orginal recipe instead toasted it and made it like rotis/tikkis :)

Ingredients: [Recipe Source : CookingandMe]

• Thin aval / poha - 1 cup
• Bread - 3 slices [I used wheat bread]
• Onion 1 medium sized, chopped finely
• Jeera - 1/2 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp
• Green chillies 1 chopped finely
• Rice flour - 3 tbsp
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil to toast

Method:

1. Soak poha in 1/2 cup water for 10 mins(not more than that if its thin poha) or until soft. Dip bread in little water, squeeze out water and add it to poha.
   


2. Now add the rest of the ingredients to this and mix well to form a thick mixture.Make small balls and flatten them to discs of 1/4 inch thickness.


3. Add oil in a pan just enough to toast and toast them until slightly browned on both the sides. They arent very crispy like the deep fried ones but softer and tastier.

NOTE : You can alternatively deep fry them too as in the orginal recipe.

After flattening them using your hands you can even cut out perfect round shapes using a small lid. But I didnt do it and thats y the irregular circles :) Isnt that a quick and interesting snacky? Do try out and am sure these rotis will not disappoint you.

Kaju Katli (Cashew Burfi) for Diwali!

To me Diwali means sweets :) New dresses and crackers comes next. Though am not fond of crackers, I like watching the colorful lights high in the sky and kids playing with great excitement. I am not sure how mittu is going to react to crackers bursting all around, though last year was her first diwali, she was too small to watch the lights.

When I thought of a sweet that would be special and apt for the occassion the 3 sweets I finalised were Jangiri, Badusha and Kaju Katli. But jangiri was nowhere in my reach with the messy kitchen and things all around . Kaju Katli was quick, I am glad I tried, it is so easy yet rich and tasty.

Ingredients:

• Cashews - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Water - just to the level of sugar immerses (5 tbsp)
• Ghee - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Dry your mixer completely without any moisture and wetness. Now grind the cashew to a fine powder.



2. Grease the back of a flat plate with few drops of ghee and keep it ready. Grease the chapathi roller with remaining ghee.



3. Take half cup sugar in a thick wide bottomed pan(preferably non-stick), and pour 5tbsp of water till it get immersed. Mix well till sugar is dissolved completely. Simmer and then keep checking continuously.



4. The sugar syrup will become sticky, take a drop and check. Next stage is it will get thickened and form bubbles as shown below:

5. This is the stage , now add the cashew powder and mix well. Dont allow any lumps to be formed, break them incase they are formed.



6. Keep in low flame itself and keep stirring for 2-3 minutes. The dough will be non sticky and when u take a small piece, roll and see, it should form a very flexible ball as shown in the above pic, it shouldnt break.



7. Now switch off , allow it to cool for 5mins. Then knead it till a soft dough is formed then transfer this to the greased plate and roll them evenly of 1/4 inch thickness with chappathi roller. Cut them into diamonds and store them in air tight container.

My Notes :

• The sugar syrup and the cashew dough consistency is very important, if it becomes a bit thicker than mentioned, then your katlis would be difficult to roll as they will tend to break.



• You can alternatively use a greased sheet of silver foil which would actually be mess free.



• This recipe for the above given measurement will yield medium sized 10-13 katlis. I am sure kids will love it!

DIWALI- THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS!! [Source : Google]

• The word Diwali means “rows of lighted lamps”. It is called the “Festival of Lights” because people light diyas (small oil lamps) to welcome the goddess Lakshmi into their homes. Hindus believe that the goddess brings wealth with her when she visits. Hindus place the diyas around their home, by doors and windows, on roof tops, and along outer walls. The lights are left burning all night so that Lakshmi may feel welcomed and enter.



• Diwali is celebrated for a period of 5 days. Each days has it’s own significance, rituals and myths. The third day is celebrated as the main Diwali festival, and is known as the “festival of lights”. The five days of Diwali are : Dhanteras , Narak Chaturdashi, Deepawali, Govardhan and Bhaidooj.

Though not incidental , I luv the pic below with mittus hands, Isnt it cute? :)) She enjoyed the kajus as well.

And wishing all my readers a very happy and safe diwali. Enjoy, have fun and most importantly play safe!

Karuveppilai Podi / Curry Leaves Powder

The only way I can have curry leaves is this curry leaves powder. I've rarely seen people eating curry leaves as such when used in gravies/poriyals and am one of the kind. I know its always been cornered....But knowing the goodness of it, I wanted to make this podi so that we can have it as a accompaniment for rice or even idlis and dosas.

Ingredients:

• Fresh Curry leaves - 3cups
• Urud dal - 1/4 cup
• Channa dal - 1/4 cup
• Hing/Perungayam -1/4 tsp
• Red chillies- 3
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Oil - 1tbsp
• Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Wash the curry leaves and allow them to dry in shade.Dry them until there is no moisture.



2. Heat a tsp of oil in a pan, add curry leaves and fry them on medium heat. Keep tossing them around taking care not to burn them. The curry leaves should turn crispy.At this stage transfer to a seperate bowl and keep aside.



3. Now heat the remaining oil, add channa dhal and urad dhal, fry them on medium heat till they are browned. Remove from pan and keep aside.



4. In the same pan add red chillies and fry for 2mins, add cumin seeds and saute for few mins.



5. Switch off and allow them to cool.When all the ingredients are cooled completely, grind it to a coarse powder. Mix in salt, hing and store in airtight container.

Uses of Curry leaves are recognised in all kinds of medical treatments and cooking methods as well. Here are only a few listed down: [Source : Google]

• A liberal consumption of curry leaves is believed to be beneficial in nourishing the roots of the hair thus preventing further hair loss. It is believed that by doing so, premature graying of hair can be stopped.



• The fresh juice of curry leaves are also used as an eye treatment for certain eye disorders, especially in arresting the development of cataract.



• Diabetes due to heredity factors can be cured by eating ten fresh fully grown Curry leaves every morning for three months. It also helps in curing Diabetes due to Obesity due to the weight reducing properties of the leaves.



• When Curry leaves are boiled in coconut oil till they are reduced to a blackened residue, the oil forms an excellent hair tonic to enhance hair growth and helps in retaining the natural pigmentation.



• The curry leaves finds its applications in various fields and areas of diverse effects. The aromatic use for culinary purposes to medical needs and for simple solution of day to day health problems, it caters to a wide area.

I luv it with rice and oil. Occassionally I have it with idlies too :) Try this aromatic and flavourful curry leaves powder.

Coconut Burfi / Thengai Burfi - A Quick Diwali Sweet !!

Coconut Burfi is my hubbys fav and my MIL is an expert in making this, To me she makes the best burfis - perfect in texture and shape too. As diwali is nearing, I wanted to try this simple and tasty sweet with easy to get ingredients too. This is my first try, And I was warned by my mother many times when I tried to click the consistencies that If I miss the consistency the burfi would either be hard as brick or like halwa....but thank god I got it right :)

Ingredients:

• Coconut - 2 cups
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Cashews broken - 1 tbsp
• Ghee - 2 tsp
• Cardomom powder - 1/2 tsp [optional]

Method:

1. First take wide bottomed pan(non-stick is preffered), add coconut and dry roast it till the moisture leaves and its dry enough, it takes just 3-4 mins taking care not to change the color of the coconut. Keep aside.



2. Now add lil ghee, roast the broken cashews and keep aside.Now in the same pan, add sugar and water mix well till sugar dissolves completely.



3. Keep stiring continuosly, cook till a single thick string consistency : If you take a drop between your thumb and index finger you can see a single string forming - thats the right consistency.



4. Add roasted coconut and remaining ghee at this stage and mix well. Simmer the stove and cook till bubbles ooze out as shown in the pic below: Sorry for the poor lighting, it was a night shot.
5. At this stage add cardomom powder, roasted cashews and mix well till it combines well. After 5-8mins after the bubbles ooze out, the mixture would be thick enough and comes off easily from the sides of the pan - Now its right time to turn off.



6. Immediately transfer to a ghee greased plate and flatten them using a spoon to make the top even. Allow it to cool for 30mins, then mark pieces and store in an airtight container.

My Notes :

• While scrapping the coconut take care not to scrap till the brown sides.If you like ur burfi to be very fine then grind the coconut once in mixie, but I prefer the orginal coarse texture so didnt do it. If you want your burfi to be pure snowy white, then roast the coconut just for few mins before the color changes.



• Testing the sugar syrup is not that difficult, First the sugar syrup becomes very sticky only then single string consistency is reached. If you are a first timer like me check it every now and then till the desired consistency is reached.



• After the roasted coconut is added and the desired stage is reached act very fast and transfer to the greased plate, else the burfis would become hard.



• Make sure you cool them completely, before marking pieces else its hard to get perfect squares.

Crispy Masala Vada / Paruppu Vadai - Step by Step Recipe

Masala Vada or Parrupu vadai is my fav so wanted to give a try at home. As I've been used to the shop bought ones, was very skeptical whether I wud succeed in my try. But the recipe proved me wrong, it came out super crispy outside and crunchy inside...making it perfect. Ammas fav too so another reason to give a try :)

Ingredients:

• Channa Dal - 1 cup
• Rice flour or Rava - 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon - a half inch stick [optional]
• Cloves - 2 [optional]
• Fennel Seeds(Sombu) - 2 tsp
• Red Chillies - 3
• Garlic - 6 cloves
• Ginger - a half inch piece
• Coriander Leaves - 2 tbsp finely chopped
• Curry leaves - 1 tsp
• Small Onion - 8 very finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Method: [Updated with stepwise]

Wash and soak channa dal for 2 to 3 hrs. Then drain the water completely and keep aside. Grind together cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, garlic, ginger and red chillies with channa dal. Make sure you grind them coarsely and not to a fine paste. The batter should be very thick.

Then transfer the batter to a bowl. Add onions, mix well then add rice flour, coriander, curry leaves, salt and mix well.

3. The mixed batter is ready. Make equal sized small balls out of the mixture, and pat them on your palm to form a circle to 1/4 inch thickness, and arrange them in a plate ready to deep fry.

Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry them till golden brown, turning over both sides. Drain it on a tissue paper. Serve hot with any chutney of ur choice.

My Notes :

• The method is very easy, the only thing to note down is the consistency and texture of the batter. It should very thick and in coarse form.Sprinkle little water while grinding ONLY if its too dry.



• I usually add small onions as it gives nice taste to the vadas, You can alternatively use big onions too.If you like garlic in your vadai then you need not grind them, just chop them finely and add it with onions to the batter.



• Rice flour is added to give nice crispness to the vadas. If your batter becomes runny also, this rice flour comes to our rescue, so add in more than the above mentioned quantity incase your batter is very runny. Rava/Sooji also gives a good amount of crispiness so use either rice flour or rava.



• This is deep frying so we can make it occassionally may be for festive seasons . Enjoy the crispy masala vadas.

Crispy Masala Vadas ready to be served!

Hope you are all set for the festive mood. I am all set to prepare/try new sweets this time. So stay tuned to check the festive specials for this diwali.

Channa Masala / Chole Masala (without coconut version)

Nothing can beat the combo of channa/chole masala with rotis. I luv it with pooris too :) I have already jotted down black channa gravy with coconut so here is my no coconut version which we make with white channa and its our family favourite too.

Channa Masala Recipe:

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• White Chick peas /Channa - 1 cup
• Onion - 1/2 small chopped finely
• Tomato - 1/2 small chopped finely
• Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Red chilli powder 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder / Channa Masala powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
• Salt - as required
• Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
• Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp

To saute and grind:

• Tomato - 2 big sized
• Onion - 1 big sized
• Cloves - 1/4 inch piece
• Cinnamom - 1
• Fennel(Sombu) - 1 tsp
• Boiled channa - 2 tbsp [No need to saute]

Method:

1. Soak channa overnight and pressure cook until soft,with enough water just allowing channa to immerse. Drain water, transfer to a bowl and keep aside.



2. Heat a wide bottomed pan with 1/2 tsp of oil, Add the ingredients under 'to grind' except boiled channa and saute until tomatoes are slighty mushy. Then grind it to a thick paste with boiled and keep aside.



3. Now in the same kadai add remaining oil, add ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell leaves. Now add the onion and fry till transparent.



4. Add the chopped tomatoes,onion and salt. Add red chilli, turmeric and garam masala/channa masala powders, mix well. Saute and mix well till the masala powders are nicely coated with tomato and onion.



5. Add the grinded tomato onion paste to the cooking gravy and fry in low flame for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water and cooked channa to the gravy. Simmer and allow it to cook for 5-10 mins.



6. Keep stirring, when the gravy is thick enough or to ur desired consistency, switch off. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves, raw onion and lemon juice. Enjoy it with hot rotis or bhaturas!

You can pair with bread , add raw onions, garnish with coriander leaves and have your bread channa in chat style.

My Notes:

• While grinding onions and tomatoes we can even grind it raw but sauting and grinding it to a paste enhances the flavour.



• Garnish with finely chopped raw onions only while serving to retain the crunchiness.



• Adjust water according to the thickness of the gravy. As channa is also added while grinding the gravy will be creamy and thick.

Homemade Creamy Peanut Butter

The first time I tasted peanut butter was at my friends place and I totally disliked the taste. Then once during one chat session with my cousin sis, she mentioned about the taste and health benefits of peanut butter, so thought I should give a try once again and bought a small pack of peanut butter. It comes in 2 varieties crunchy(bits of peanuts here and there) and creamy(no bits very creamy). To my surprise my lil one luved it, whenever she sees the container even after it got finished she would identify and ask for it. So this urged me to try peanut butter at home. This can be done in a jiffy if roasted peanuts are ready. It was so creamy and tasty sure better than the store bought ones as it was minus added preservatives and loaded flavors.

The texture totally depends on your taste, as I made this specifically for my lil one I made it as a creamy version. The crunchy version tastes too gud too.So no more store bought peanut butter :)

Ingredients:

• Peanuts(unsalted) - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Honey - 2 tsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt - a pinch

Method:

1. Dry roast the peanuts in a tawa till the skin tends to be crispy and nice aroma comes.



2. Cool it and then peel of the skin. I usually take a handful of peanuts, rub it with both the hands and blow off the skin...repeat the process for the 1 cup, this way its easy to peel off the skin.



3. Now add the peanuts, honey, sugar, salt and oil in a mixie/food processor and grind them for few minutes till they turn into a paste like consistency.



4. Transfer to a clean container, use clean spoon everytime. Enjoy as a spread for bread or eat it as such :)

Facts and health benefits about Peanut Butter: [Source : Google]

• One of the health benefits of peanut butter is the amount of fiber found in each serving.



• In addition to being every kid's (and many grownup kid's) favorite sandwich filling, peanuts pack a serious nutritional punch and offer a variety of health benefits.



• Peanut butter contains fairly high quantities of dietary fiber, amounting to about 8%, which again helps in regulating both blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels.



• While the nutritional content of various brands will differ slightly, the bottom line is that there are a number of benefits of peanut butter. In order to get the most benefit, you may want to consider making your own peanut butter at home. This will provide a boost in the nutritional value you derive from the product.



• Many reasons some avoid peanut butter is due to it being high in calories with a fat content of many calories and several grams of fat per two tablespoon serving. You will be happy to know that the majority of the fat in peanut butter is monounsaturated a type of fat that lowers the risk of heart disease.



• One of the benefits of peanut butter that many people are unaware of is the presence of resveratrol; this agent has anti-microbial properties that help the body to effectively deal with bacteria and various types of fungi.

My Notes :

• The consistency and texture totally depends on our taste. You can make it even more thick by reducing oil to 1/2 tbsp.



• Once it is grinded to a paste just use the whip option if u are using mixie and whip it 2-3 times to bring everything together easily.



• Dont add more oil, once u start grinding the peanuts will leave oil too.



• For the crunchy version just grind it such that its a paste with bits of peanuts, ie in a coarse form.

Isnt it easy?! Even ur lil ones will be happy to help u in making this.....It is indeed a childs play so give them a chance!