AVAL MIXTURE | POHA MIXTURE | EASY SNACK | POHA CHIVDA

Aval/ Poha mixture is an easy snack than can be done in minutes if all the ingredients are kept ready. It is suitable for beginners, since all the ingredients are deep fried one by one and mixed with spice and salt. The ingredients may vary according to individual preference. Use less quantity of oil for deep frying, since the oil cannot be reused. While deep frying, add aval and remove immediately from oil otherwise it might drink oil.

It is done using thick aval, ground nut, cashew nut, almonds, raisins/kismis, etc. along with turmeric powder and red chilly powder. Dry coconut bits can also be added to this mixture.

Video recipe of Aval Mixture

INGREDIENTS:

Thick Aval/Poha - 1 cup

Cashew nut - 15

Ground nut - 1/4 cup

Badam - 10

Kismis/ Raisins - 1/4 cup

Curry leaves - little

Roasted Split gram - 1/4 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Oil - to deep fry

METHOD:

• Heat oil in a tawa, add cashews and roast till golden brown.
• Transfer to a plate with a tissue on it, so that extra oil will be absorbed.
• Roast ground nut, badam, kismis and curry leaves one by one and transfer to the plate.
• Add aval little by little in batches and roast for few seconds and remove from oil.
• Transfer all to a bowl, add roasted split gram.
• Add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, salt and mix thoroughly when warm.
• Healthy and Crispy Aval Mixture is ready.

Step wise recipe with pictures:

1. Heat oil in a tawa, add cashews and roast till golden brown.

2. Transfer to a plate with a tissue on it, so that extra oil will be absorbed.

3. Roast ground nut, badam, kismis and curry leaves one by one and transfer to the plate.

4. Add aval little by little in batches and roast for few seconds and remove from oil.

5. Transfer all to a bowl, add roasted split gram.

6. Add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, salt and mix thoroughly when warm.

7. Healthy and Crispy Aval Mixture is ready.

KAJU PISTA KATLI

This recipe is similar to Kaju Katli. We take equal portion of Kaju/Cashew and Unsalted Pistachios for this recipe. The green colour we get is natural and its flavour is unique. We can even make this katli more healthy by adding almonds too. See also for Cashew Badam Burfi and Badam Katli

INGREDIENTS:

Cashew nut - 1/2 cup

Pistachios -  - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Ghee - 2 tsp

METHOD:

1. In a tawa, add cashews and pistachios and stir for few minutes till it becomes little warm. Allow to cool completely. No need to over roast it.

2. In a mixer, add the nuts and grind to a fine powder, add cardamom powder and keep aside. 

3. In a tawa, add sugar and 1/2 a cup of water and allow to boil.

4. Grease a burfi plate with little ghee.

5. Check for one string consistency, it might take 5 to 6 minutes approximately.

6. Lower the flame at once, add the powdered nuts and mix thoroughly.

7. At first it will turn watery and then starts to leave the sides of the pan. Switch off the flame.

8. Add ghee, give a mix and transfer the contents to the greased plate.

9. When the mixture is warm, cut into pieces of desired shape.

10. Tasty and tempting KAJU PISTA KATLI is ready.

Note:

• Do not over cook after it leaves the sides of the pan, it might harden faster and we will not be able to cut into pieces.

BABY CORN MANCHURIAN DRY

This is a popular Indo Chinese dish which goes well with Fried rice varieties and also with any other rice varieties. It can be done both in dry & gravy form. The basic steps are similar as we do for Baby Corn 65 with some more addition to the preparation.

INGREDIENTS:
Baby corn - 12 to 15
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Chat masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Maida/All purpose flour - 2 tsp
Rice flour/Corn flour - 2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Salt 
Oil - to deep fry

FOR MANCHURIAN
Cumin - 1 tsp
Chopped onion - 1/2 cup
Chopped Capsicum - 1/2 cup
Tomato sauce - 3 tsp
Soya sauce - 1 tsp
Crushed Ginger garlic - 2 tsp
Spring onion chopped- 1 cup  
Coriander leaves - a handful (optional)
Oil - 2 tsp
Rice/Corn flour - 1 tsp



METHOD:
1. In a bowl add chopped baby corns, red chilly powder, garam masala,pepper powder, chat masala, cumin powder, needed salt, lemon juice and mix well.
2. Add maida and rice flour and mix well. Sprinkle some water, so that the baby corn gets coated well.

3. Heat oil in a pan, add the baby corns little by little in batches and deep fry until it turns crispy and golden brown.
4. Baby corn 65/Baby corn fry is ready.
5. Heat oil in a tawa, add cumin, add chopped onions and saute for a while.
6. Add chopped capsicum, crushed ginger garlic and stir well. Do not over cook the capsicum, let it be somewhat crunchy.

7. Add all the sauces and mix well. 
8. Add chopped spring onions, mix for a minute and add the fried baby corns.
9. Add chopped coriander leaves, cook on low flame for a minute.
10. Tasty Baby Corn Manchurian dry is ready.

For Manchurian gravy
1. Add a tsp of rice/corn flour and mix with little water. 
2. After adding the fried baby corns add the flour water and cook for a while.
3. Add chopped coriander leaves and mix well.
4. Baby Corn Manchurian gravy is ready. 
5. It can be served with Naan, Chappathi, Parathas and rice varieties.

BABY CORN 65

This is a famous Indo Chinese recipe, considered one of the best starters. It tastes unique. It is similar to Gobi 65 and Paneer 65. Using this Baby corn 65/Baby corn fry we can also prepare Baby Corn Manchurian 

INGREDIENTS:
Baby corn - 12 to 15
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Chat masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Maida/All purpose flour - 2 tsp
Rice flour/Corn flour - 2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Salt 
Oil - to deep fry
Chopped onions - for garnishing

METHOD:
1. In a bowl add chopped baby corns, red chilly powder, garam masala,pepper powder, chat masala, cumin powder, needed salt, lemon juice and mix well.
2. Add maida and rice flour and mix well. Sprinkle some water, so that the baby corn gets coated well.

3. Heat oil in a pan, add the baby corns little by little in batches and deep fry until it turns crispy and golden brown.
4. Remove from oil and garnish with chopped onions. 
5. Tasty and crispy Baby corn 65 is ready.

 

 

COCONUT POLI / THENGAI POLI

This is one of all time favourite dish of my family. Usually stuffing is prepared for poli using chenna dhal and jaggery. It might be time consuming to cook dhal first and grind along with jaggery to make the stuffing/puran. In this recipe, stuffing is very easy and simple to prepare. Just grate the coconut in a mixer/grater and cook for few minutes along with jaggery. 

• Paruppu Poli

• Khoya Poli / Palkova poli

INGREDIENTS:

 Maida/All purpose flour - 1 cup

Whole wheat flour - 1/4 cup

Coconut grated - 1 cup

Jaggery - 3/4 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Ghee - 1 tsp

Salt

Oil

METHOD: 

1. In a bowl, add maida and wheat flour along with little salt and make a soft sticky dough by adding water. Smear 2 to 3 tsp of oil and knead the dough and keep aside.

2. In a tawa, add grated coconut and jaggery and cook on low flame till the water content of the jaggery goes off and gets blended. Add cardamom powder and ghee, mix well.

3. After it cools down, make into lemon sized balls. Stuffing/ Puran is ready.

 

4. Grease a banana leaf/butter paper/plastic sheet with little oil.

5. Take lemon sized dough, spread the dough a little with fingers. Grease fingers with little oil before spreading the dough.

6. Place the stuffing/puran on the dough and close on all sides. Roll it gently so that the ball is even.

7. Using a rolling pin, gently roll into polis. Else, smear some oil on palm and spread the stuffed dough gently.

8. Heat a tawa, transfer the poli, cook well on both sides till brown spots appear. Sprinkle little oil.

9. Tasty COCONUT PURAN POLI is ready to be served with ghee as topping.

Note:

• Broken Coconut can be refrigerated in freezer compartment, so that grating it will be easy. Just the white part alone gets separated.  The brown part doesn't stick to the coconut pieces.

 

CARROT KHEER/ CARROT PAYASAM

This is a Colourful and simple  dessert, very easy to prepare. A healthy kheer, done using carrot, badam and cashew, which everyone will like, especially Children. This can be served warm or chilled.

INGREDIENTS:

Carrot - 2 

Cashewnuts  - 10

Badam - 6

Saffron/Kesar - a pinch

Sugar - 5 to 6 tsp

Milk - 1 1/2 cup

Cardamom - a pinch

Ghee - 2 tsp

METHOD:

1. Peel and grate carrot using a grater or grind coarsely in a mixer. Soak the badam for an hour before starting to prepare the recipe.

2. Heat ghee, add half of the cashews broken into pieces and fry till golden brown and keep aside.

3. In the same pan, add carrot and stir well until raw smell goes off.

4. Add milk, saffron/kesar and bring to boil in medium flame and allow the carrot to get half cooked in the milk.

5. Meanwhile, peel badam, add to a mixer along with remaining cashews and make a paste adding little water and add to the carrot, milk mixture.

6. After some time, the kheer will thicken and the carrot will be fully cooked.

7. Add sugar and cardamom and mix well. Taste for sugar and add more if needed.

8. After the sugar gets dissolved, add roasted cashews and switch off the flame.

9. Tasty and delicious Carrot Kheer is ready to be served.

See for Carrot Halwa in this blog

Note:

• Add sugar according to the need as some carrots might be very sweet.
• If the kheer becomes very sweet, add boiled and cooled milk so that the taste of sugar can be balanced.

VAZHAKKAI PODIMAS

This is done by cooking  raw banana/vazhakkai in hot water or steaming it without cutting into pieces. With the help of pressure cooker, it can be prepared easily. It tastes awesome with rice and sambar and Mor kuzhumbu/Butter milk kuzhumbu.

INGREDIENTS:

Vazhakkai/ Raw banana - 2

Onion - 1

Garlic - 4

Green chilly - 2

Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt

For Seasoning

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp

Bengal gram - 1/2 tsp 

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Curry leaves - a little

Coriander leaves - a little

METHOD:

1. In a pressure cooker, add vazhakkai cut into two with enough water and cook for 2 whistles on high flame.

2. After the pressure reduces, drain the water and peel of the skin after it cools down.

3. Using a grater, grate finely or can mash with hands.

4. In a tawa, add oil and add the seasoning one by one.

5. Add finely chopped onions, green chillies and garlic and cook well until nice aroma comes out. 

 

6. Add the grated vazhakkai, pepper powder along with required salt and mix well and cook for few minutes.

7. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

8. Tasty Vazhakkai Podimas is ready.

See for Mor Kuzhumbu in this blog

Note:

• Pepper powder is optional. I have added since vazhakkai may cause gas related problems.
• Adding a pinch of Turmeric while pressure cooking vazhakkai is optional.

AVAL PAYASAM / POHA PAYASAM

Aval/ Poha/ Rice flakes payasam is a very healthy dessert which anybody  can easily prepare. It is mainly done during Gokulashtami as it is the favourite dish of Lord Krishna. It is done using milk and jaggery.

INGREDIENTS:
Aval/ Poha - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/2 litre
Cardamom - a pinch
Salt  - a pinch
Ghee - 2 tsp
Cashews - 10

METHOD:
1. In a pan add aval and dry roast it for a while and wash thoroughly as it might contain sand particles.
2. Drain the water completely and keep aside.
3. In a thick bottomed tawa/pan, add little ghee and roast the cashews and add the washed poha and stir gently for a while.

4. Simultaneously boil milk in a separate pan and add to the aval and cook for a few minutes till the aval becomes soft.
5. Prepare jaggery syrup, strain the impurities and allow it to boil for a while and cool completely.
6. Add to the aval, along with a pinch of salt, cardamom powder and mix well.
7. Tasty Aval/Poha payasam is ready.

Note:

• White aval/poha can be used instead of red aval.
• See that the jaggery syrup cools down completely to avoid curdling of milk.

For Youtube Video Click here....Aval Payasam

SHAHI PANEER

"Shahi" means royal. As its name suggests, this is a Mughlai royal dish made with cashews, almonds, spices, yogurt and saffron along with Paneer. It is a semi sweetened gravy, using less spices, aromatic & creamy. Here, I have prepared a white gravy, just to differentiate from other Paneer dishes. 

INGREDIENTS:
Paneer cubes - 1 cup
Tomato - 1/2
Kasuri methi - 1/2 tsp
Yogurt/Curd - 1/2 cup 
Coriander leaves - little (optional)
Ghee - 2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp 
Sugar - 1 tsp

To grind
Onion -2
Ginger - 1 inch stick
Garlic pods - 3 
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1
Fennel/Sombu - 1/2 tsp
Poppy seeds/Kasakasa - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Cashew - 5
Badam - 5 
Green chilly - 2
Saffron - 5 strands

METHOD:

1. Soak all the ingredients given to paste for few minutes, after partly dry roasting cloves, cinnamon, fennel, poppy seeds & coriander seeds. Grind to fine paste along with ginger, garlic, a green chilly, cashew, badam and saffron and keep aside.

2. In a pan, boil water, add chopped onions and close the lid. After it cools, grind to paste. Do no throw away the water, it can be used while preparing gravy. 

3. In a thick bottomed tawa, heat ghee and oil, add the onion paste and cook well until raw smell goes off.
4. Add finely chopped tomato, a slit green chilly, a pinch of salt and stir well.
5. Add the paste and cook on medium flame till oil leaves the sides.
6. Add chopped Paneer cubes, onion stock (water used for blanching onion), mix well and lower the flame and close the lid. Allow to cook for 5 minutes.

7. When the gravy is fully cooked, add whipped yogurt, sugar and kasuri methi, stir well and switch off the flame. Add coriander leaves if preferred.
8. Tasty and Semi sweetened Shahi Paneer is ready to be served with Naan, Chappathi, Roti, Rice, Pulav etc.

Note: 

• Instead of green chillies, red chilly powder can be used.
• If tangy taste of tomato is preferred, yogurt can be avoided and a whole tomato can be used.
• Tomato puree can be used along with onion paste, here chopped tomato is used to avoid colouration due to tomato, resulting a white gravy.