POTATO BONDA

This is an easy deep fried snack done using potato stuffing dipped in bajji bonda mix. Instead of bajji bonda mix, besan flour along with rice flour added with salt and spice  can be used. It tastes delicious with a cup of tea.

INGREDIENTS:

Bajji bonda mix - 1 cup
Potato - 4
Onion - 2
Crushed ginger garlic - 1 tsp
Sambhar powder/ red chilly powder  - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder-  1/4 tsp
Lemon - 1/2 slice
Mustard  - 1/2 tsp
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - little
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves-  handful
Oil - to deep fry
Salt

METHOD:
1. Pressure cook chopped  potatoes in water with required salt and turmeric up to 3 whistles on high flame.
2. Allow the pressure to reduce, drain water and peel the skin and keep aside.
3. In a tawa, heat  little oil, add mustard, cumin, asafoetida and curry leaves.
4. Add finely chopped onions and saute well till turns translucent.
5. Add crushed ginger garlic and stir till raw smell goes off.
6. Add sambhar powder stir a minute on low flame and add potato.
7. Using a masher, mash well till it comes together. Taste for salt and spice and switch off flame.
8. Add chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice and mix well. Let it cool.

9. Prepare balls of desired size.
10. In a bowl, add bajji bonda mix, add required  water and prepare a thick batter such that it gets coated well on the potato balls.
11. Heat oil to deep fry.
12. Dip a ball in the mix batter and drop in oil one by one.
13. Likewise prepare in batches.
14. Tasty and delicious Potato Bonda is ready.

GODHUMAI RAVA ADAI

Adai/ Kara adai is one of the most popular South Indian dish served along with Aviyal and Jaggery. It usually done with rice. Here broken wheat/ godhumai rava is used instead of rice. The other ingredients are the same as we prepare adai using rice .

• Millets Adai
• Aviyal

Adai with Kara chutney, jaggery and butter

INGREDIENTS:
Broken wheat/ Godhumai rava - 1 cup
Toor dhal - 1/4 cup
Bengal gram - 1/8 cup
Red chilly - 1
Green chilly - 1
Pepper corn - 1/4  tsp
Cumin/ Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Ginger - little
Onion - 2
Coriander leaves-  handful
Curry leaves - little
Asafoetida  - 3/4 tsp
Oil
Salt

METHOD:
1. Wash and soak both dhals along with pepper, cumin and red chilly. Soak broken wheat separately in a bowl.
2. After 2 hours, add soaked dhal along with ginger and grind to a little coarse paste.
3. Add soaked broken wheat and required salt and grind for few minutes and transfer to a bowl. The batter should be thick like idli batter.

4. Ferment it for 4 to 5 hours ( optional)
5. Add finely chopped onions and coriander leaves along with asafoetida and mix well.
6. Heat a dosa tawa, add a ladle full of batter and make a thick adai.

7. Sprinkle oil on all sides and cook well on low flame untill it turns golden brown.
8. Flip to the other side and press on all sides using a dosa spatula  so that it gets cooked well. Sprinkle oil.
9. Tasty and healthy Godhumai adai is ready to be served with Chutney/ aviyal and Jaggery.

KARA KUZHAMBU

There are many ways of preparing Kara kuzhumbu. Usually rice flour or coconut paste is used  as thickening agent. Here, ground nut/ peanut paste is used. It tastes awesome and goes well with hot rice sprinkled with gingelly oil. It can be stored in refrigerator and used for 1 0r 2 days.

INGREDIENTS:
Sundakkai vathal - little
Small onion  - 10
Garlic cloves - 10
Sambhar powder - 2 tsp
Tamarind - gooseberry size
Tomato - 1 (small)
Roasted ground nut - 3 to 4 tsp
Jaggery - little
Salt

For Seasoning
Gingelly oil - 5 tsp
Mustard - 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek  - 1/4 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
curry leaves-  a leaflet
Hing / asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

METHOD:
1. In a thick bottomed tawa, heat oil and add the seasoning one by one.
2. Add vathal and let it get roasted well.

3. Add garlic and chopped small onions and saute well for a while.

4. Add finely chopped tomatoes and stir well till it turns juicy and comes together.
5. Extract tamarind juice by adding half a cup of lwarm water and add along with sambhar powder.

6. Add a half a cup of water and required salt and allow to boil for 5 to 6 minutes on high flame.
7. The raw smell goes off and the sambhar starts to thicken.

8. Prepare a paste of ground nut and add to the sambhar along with jaggery and cook for few minutes.
9. Adjust consistency by adding little water since it will thicken fast after adding ground nut paste.
10. Taste for Salt and Spice. Add little gingelly oil.
11. Tasty Kara kuzhumbu is ready.

 Note:

• Manathakkali vathal/ lady's finger vathal can also be used.
• Vegetables like brinjal, lady's finger, yam, drumstick, potato can also be used.

PAPAYA HALWA

PAPAYA HALWA

INGREDIENTS:- (use the same cup for measuring all the ingredients)

Smashed Papaya/Papaya puree  - 2&1/2 cups
Wheat Flour - 1/4 cup
Dry Roasted Broken wheat rava - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1&1/2 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Cashews & Almonds  sliced - as required




METHOD:-

Heat a tsp of ghee in a pan, add cashews and almonds. Fry  it and replace it in a container, in which we will use for halwa. In the same pan, add 2 tsp of ghee and fry the wheat flour, till a nice aroma arises. Restore the same along with cahews.
 

Add the papaya puree in the pan, (I used non-stick utensil), and cover with the lid and cook for 5 minutes in low flame. Water starts to ooze out. Now, add the dry roasted broken wheat rava. Mix well. Cover with lid and cook for 5 minutes in low flame.
  

Then, add the wheatflour along with cashews and mix well, so that no lumps formed. Cover with lid and cook for 5 minutes in low flame. The flour helps to bind.


Now add sugar, and mix well till the sugar dissolves.


Hereafter, the flame should be in high. Stir continuously. Add a tsp of ghee, for every 5 minutes. Total time for cooking in high flame is 20 minutes. So, 4 tsp of ghee will be used. While adding ghee, keep the flame in low/sim, to avoid burnt.

After the stipulated time, (adjust the time accordingly),  the halwa will leave the sides and it will be  dough. Switch off the flame and restore it in a container.


Drop a tsp of ghee over the top, and smear evenly using spoon, to give a texture to the halwa.
Delicious Papaya Halwa is ready...

Note:-
Increase the time from 20 minutes to 30 minutes (no need to add ghee further), to cut the halwa into pieces.

INSTANT PULI SADHAM, using leftover rice

 INSTANT PULI SADHAM

Usually, we prepare Puli saadham, using Pulikachal rice mix. But here i made it simple, by using the leftover rice.

INGREDIENTS:- 
Tamarind as required (depending upon the quantity of rice)
Salt to taste
Turmeric Powder 1/4 tsp (or as required)
Leftover rice

For Seasoning:-
Mustard seeds, Urid dal, Fenugreek seeds ,Curry leaves, Dry Red chillies (broken), Asafoetida, Roasted Groundnuts, Oil for seasoning

METHOD:-
Extract tamarind juice, add salt and turmeric powder. Add this to the leftover rice. Let it sit for 2 hrs.

Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds, allow it to splutter. Then add all the ingredients given under seasoning.

Now add the rice and mix well. Check for salt, if required add (we already added the salt with rice along with tamarind ).

Cover with lid for 5 minutes in sim flame.
Instant Puli Saadham is ready...

Note:-
While mixing the rice with tamarind extract, check for sour (Pulippu) taste.

APPLE CAKE, using wheat flour and without egg, microwave oven.

APPLE CAKE

INGREDIENTS:-
Sugar - 1/4 cup + 2 tsp
Wheat flour - 1/4 cup + 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Milk - 1`/4 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Apple - 1
Fruit salt - 1/2 tsp

METHOD:-
Preheat an aluminium kadai or cooker with a separator, for 5 minutes in high and 15 minutes in sim, by covering with lid/plate.



Peel the apple and cut it into 8 pieces. Grind the 7 pieces to a fine paste. Finely chop the remaining 1 piece of apple and toss it with 1 tsp wheat flour. Set aside. Sieve the wheat flour and set aside.
In a bowl, add sugar, apple paste, milk, salt, Ghee and mix well.



Add the flour to this mixture and mix well, so that no lumps formed. Now add the finely chopped apple to the above batter.
Grease a plate with ghee.

Add fruit salt to the batter and mix gently. Once the fruit salt is added, the batter/mixture is ready for baking.


Pour the mixture on the greased plate. Tap it to release air. Place the plate inside the kadai and above the separator. Cover it with lid/plate.



Bake in High flame for 5 minutes and in sim flame for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, insert a fork/knife/toothpick into the cake, to check whether the cake is baked or not. Adjust the timings accordingly.

Remove the cake plate and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Tilt the cake plate over a plate.

 

Delicious Apple Cake is ready...

Note:-

Use the same cup for measuring all the ingredients.

I used regular sugar, not the powdered sugar.

ALOO-PANEER-PEAS GRAVY, using Pressure Cooker (Restaurant Style)

ALOO PANEER PEAS GRAVY

INGREDIENTS:-

Potato - 100 gms, cut into cubes
Paneer - 100 gms, cut into cubes
Fresh Peas - 100 gms
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Green Chilly - 1
Garlic cloves - 7
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Sambhar powder/All purpose powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 2 tsp
Oil - 3 tsp
Ghee - 3 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Whole Cashews - 7
Kasuri Methi - 1 tsp
Salt to taste


METHOD:-

1. In a mixer jar add cahews, and powder it. Now add little water and make a fine paste. Remove and restore it in a bowl. Heat 1 tsp of oil in dosa tawa or non-stick tawa, add the paneer cubes, roast it. Flip the panner cubes carefully, so that all sides gets slightly roasted.
2. In a medium sized mixer jar add  add roughly chopped onions, tomato, green chilly, ginger and garlic, grind it to make a coarse paste. Sprinkle water for grinding.
3. Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker, add cumin seeds. Allow it to splutter. Now add the Onion-tomato grinded past,  add little water to wash the jar and pour it in.Now saute for while till there is no moisture contents. Add cubed Potatoes and mix well
4. Add sambhar powder, 1 tsp garam masala, asafoetida and required salt. Mix it well and saute till the raw smell goes.  Add 1 cup of water,  cover it with lid, cook it in low flame, for 10 minutes.
5. Uncover the lid, add fresh peas, check for salt and spice. Add the remaining 1tsp garam masala. Cook for 3 whitles high and 5 minutes in sim mode. Allow the pressure to release.
6.  Finally, add the roasted paneer cubes, cashew paste and kasuri methi, gently mix, so that the paneer cubes doesn't break. Cover with lid and cook for 5 minutes in sim.
7.  Aromatic Restaurant style Aloo Paneer Peas Gravy is ready....
8. Tastes well with Chola Poori, Poori, Chappati, Naan etc.

MOONG DHAL HALWA | INSTANT HALWA

Moong dhal halwa is a special and classic delicacy of Rajasthan. This dessert is creamy with exotic aroma and done using split moong dhal (yellow dhal), nuts and lots of ghee. The authentic way of cooking is  time consuming and takes lots of mixing and stirring. But here, I have done using roasted and powdered moong dhal and can be done quickly with the same taste.

• Badam Halwa
• Carrot Halwa
• Kasi Halwa 
• Beet root Halwa
• Asoka Halwa 

INGREDIENTS:

Moong dhal - 1 cup

Sugar - 1 and 1/4 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Water - 1 and 1/2 cup

Cardamom - 1 tsp

Kesar/ Saffron - a little

Ghee - 1/4 cup

Cashew

Badam

Pistachios (optional)

METHOD:

1. Wash moong dhal well and pat dry for few minutes.

2. Add little ghee and dried moong dhal and saute on low flame until nice aroma comes out.

3. The colour of the moong dhal should change into orange red. Allow to cool and grind to a little coarse powder  and keep aside.

4. In a thick tawa, add little ghee and roast the nuts and almonds and keep aside.

5. In the same tawa, add powdered moong dhal and little ghee and stir on low flame for few minutes. See that the moong dhal is well coated with ghee.

6. Heat the given quantity of milk and water in a pan and add to the moong dhal little by little, since it will splutter.

7. Keep on stirring while adding the hot milk and water.

8. The moong dhal will be well cooked and froth a bit and will absorb the water and milk in few minutes.
 9. Add sugar and kesar, remaining ghee and mix well and cook on low flame.

10. At first, it will turn watery and later the sugar will be absorbed.

11. Add Cardamom powder, mix well and cover with a lid and cook on low flame for few minutes.

12. The Halwa will start to leave the sides of the pan. Add roasted nuts and almonds and mix well.

13. Tasty and delicious MOONG DHAL HALWA is ready.

Note:

• See that the moong dhal is not very coarse. It will not be cooked well while adding water and milk.
• If adding only ghee is not preferred, oil can be replaced.
• Milk can be avoided and water can be used instead.

VAZHAIPOO VADAI

Vazhaipoo vadai is one of the healthy recipes of South India.It is very crispy. Many recipes like kootu, usili, sambar etc. can be done using Vazhaipoo/ Banana flower. Children often resist eating vazhapoo, which is very good for stomach health. It is quite time consuming process to clean the florets. But keeping in mind the health benefits, it can be included in kitchen once in a week. Tender and reddish flower tastes awesome with less bitterness. When soaked in buttermilk the bitterness reduces and poriyal or kootu can be prepared. But for preparing Vadai, it need not be soaked in buttermilk.

INGREDIENTS:

Bengal gram/ Kadalai paruppu - 1/2 cup

Chopped Vazhaipoo - 1 cup

Red/ Green chilly - 3

Fennel/ Sombu - 1/2 tsp

Gram flour - 1 tsp (optional)

Coriander leaves - a handful

Curry leaves - little

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Oil - for deep frying

Salt

METHOD: 

1. Wash and  soak Bengal gram for 2 hours.

2. Drain the water completely.

3. In a mixer, add bengal gram, chilly, fennel and grind to a coarse paste without adding water.

4. Remove the mixture in a wide bowl.

5. Chop vazhaipoo finely and add to the mixture.

6. Add required salt,gram flour, asafoetida, curry leaves, chopped coriander leaves and mix well using hand so that all ingredients are blended properly.

7. Make vadas of desired shape and arrange on a plate.

8. Heat oil, drop a little batter, if it raises immediately to the top the oil is ready for frying.

9. Drop vadas one by one and deep fry until golden brown.

10. Tasty and crispy VAZHAIPOO VADAI is ready.  

 

Note:

• Adding gram flour gives crispness to the vada.