Ammini kozhukattai ( Rice flour balls )

 Ammini or mini kozhukattai are tiny steamed balls made with rice flour. You can get ready made rice flour  in any super market. It is an easy to make snack and you can improvise the taste with any flavour/seasoning. Here is the basic version of it with simple seasoning.There is also a sweet version of this with jaggery and cardamom powder. Will post the recipe of it soon.

Ingredients:
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• Rice flour   -      1 cup
• Water         -      as required ( 1 to 1.5 cups)
• Salt            -      to taste
• Coconut oil -     1/2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves    - few
• Urad dal          -  1/2 tsp 
• Dried red chilli  - 1
• Idly molgapodi -    according to taste ( for the spicy ones)

Method:

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• Add rice flour with required salt ( 1/2 tsp) in a wide bowl. Add water little by little to make a smooth semi solid paste as shown.Make sure there are no lumps.

• In a kadai , add 1/4 cup water and when it starts boiling, add the above paste and keep stirring till you get a smooth dough.Do not let the dough to be very firm as it thickens little bit after switching off the flame.

Refer to the video below.

• When the dough comes to room temperature, make small balls out of it as shown. Dip your palm in water every time when it sticks.

• Steam for 5 to 10 min. The outer layer will turn shiny once it is done. Check if it is cooked.
• For the spicy version, add idly molagapodi ( say 3 to 5 tsp) to the dough and knead well.
• Make small balls as before and steam for 5 to 10 min.

• Carefully take out the steamed balls with a flat spatula once it is warm. Make sure you do not break it or they do not cling to each other.
• In a kadai, add 1/2 tsp coconut oil and mustard seeds . When it splutters add urad dal and saute till they turn golden brown.
• You can even add a tbsp of shredded coconut while tempering.
• Add curry leaves, red chilli and the steamed balls. Mix well and saute for 2 to 3 sec.
• Repeat the tempering ( optional) for the spicy kozhukattai too.

Serve hot.

Vegetarian Bean Boat (Baguette with baked beans)

  Ingredients:
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1 Baguette (French Bread) - cut horizontally

2 tbsp - butter softened

Baked beans - 1 1/4 cup ( a small tin)

Oil - 3 tsp

Onions - 2 (finely chopped)

Capsicum - 1 (finely chopped)

Salt - to taste

Black pepper - 1/2 tsp

chilli sauce - 1/2 tsp

coriander leaves - 2 Tbspn (finely chopped)

cheese - 3 tbsp(grated) or as per your taste

Method:

1. Gently scoop out some bread from the cut pieces,leaving a border of (approx) 1" all around to from a boat.









(The scooped out bread is not needed in this recipe.You may dry and powder it to make crumbs)






2. Apply little butter to the scooped out surface and its border.
3. Heat oil in a pan.Add onions and fry till transparent.
4. Add capsicums and stir for a minute.

5. Add salt,pepper and chilli sauce.Remove from fire.
6. Add baked beans and mix well.

7. Use this filling to fill the boat like a scoop.
8. Sprinkle grated cheese and some coriander leaves on the top.
9. Grill for 3-4 minutes or microwave at medium power for 2 mins till the cheese melts slightly .

Serve hot.

Brinjal slab

 

Ingredients:

1. Gram Flour(Kadalai mavu) - 3 tbsp
2. Rice Flour - 1 tbsp
3. Red chilli pwd- 2 tsp
4. Hing/Perungayam - 1/4 tsp
5. Dhania pwd - 2 tspn
6. Jeera pwd - 1 tsp
7. Garam masala pwd- 1 tsp(Optional)
8. Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Mix all the powders and keep aside.
2. Slice the brinjals (not very thin).
3. Soak them in salt water for a while.( 5 to 10 min)

4. Take the brinjals and rub both sides of each slice in the powder mixture.

5. Microwave the marinated slices for 2 mins.

5. Shallow fry in a dosa tawa with little oil till it gets roasted.

 Serve medium hot.Kids will love this dish.

Aloo-Sabudhana tikki

Ingredients:

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• Potato , boiled and smashed - 1
• Sabudhana/sago/javarisi - 1 cup ( soaked in water for 3 hours)
• Roasted peanut powder - 1/2 cup
• rice flour - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Ginger-green chilli paste - 2 tsp(add more if you prefer spicy)
• jeera,crushed roughly - 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
• Roasted til/sesame seeds - 1 tbsp

Method:

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• Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and make a dough.Do not add water.
• Reserve little sago .
• Make a flat round shape with the dough and smear it in remaining sago as shown.

• Deep fry in oil and drain excess oil in a tissue paper.

• Serve medium hot with green chutney or sauce
• 
  

Chatpata peanuts

Ingredients:

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• Groundnuts with shell - 1/2 kg
• Onion - 1 big, chopped very finely
• carrot - 1 big ,shredded
• Curry leaves - a sprig
• green chillies - 3 to 4 ,chopped finely
• Oil - 1 tsp
• mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• asafoetida - a pinch
• Lemon juice - extracted from 1/2 lemon(can be more if y0u like tangy taste)
• coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• chat masala - 1/2 tsp

Method:

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• Wash the peanutswell (with cover) and pressure cook with sufficient water and pinch of salt.
• Drain the excess water completely and set aside to cool.
• Remove the shells and keep aside the cooked peanuts.
• Heat oil in a kadai.Add mustard seeds,asafoetida and curry leaves.
• When it splutters ,add green chillies and saute for a sec.
• Add onions and saute till it turns translucent.Add shredded carrot,coriander powder ,little salt and saute till raw smell gos off.
• Add the cooked peanuts.Mix well and switch off the flame.
• Sprinkle chat masala and mix well.
• Pour lime juice as per taste .Mix well and serve with tea.

Sweet Appam-with leftover sugar syrup of Gulab jamun

Ingredients:

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• Left over sugar syrup of gulab jamun
• Rice flour - depends on the amount of sugar syrup
• Wheat flour/Atta - 2 tbsp
• Saunf/Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

Method:

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• In a wide open vessel,add the sugar syrup.
• Add wheat flour little by little and mix into a batter without any lumps.
• Add rice flour and saunf too and mix well.
• The consistency should be like idly batter.
• Heat the kuzhi paniyaram vessel with ghee/oil in each hole.(Add oil such that only 1/4 of the hole is filled)
• When the oil is hot,pour a small laddle of batter into each hole and cook on a low flame.
• The appam gets cooked very fast unlike a normal paniyaram.So do not leave it for long as it may get burnt.
• Turn over the appams and let it get cooked on other side too.
• 
  

Take it out and drain excess oil in a tissue paper.Serve medium hot.

Thayir/Curd Vada

Ingredients:

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• Vadas - Refer to my recipe of Medu Vada.
• curd - Semi-thick - sufficient enough to immerse the vadas.
• Onion - 1 small size
• coriander leaves - little,for garnishing
• Boondhi(spicy one)- a handful for garnishing(optional)

For Tempering:

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• Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Hing - a pinch
• Cashews - 4 to 5 ,broken (optional)

Method:

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• Allow the vadas to cool down completely.May be 6 hours after preparing the vadas,immerse them in water and leave for 10 min.
• Take it out and squeeze out the water completely.
• Mix little salt in curd.(As the vada has salt already in it,add only little salt )
• Then immerse the vadas in curd and set aside for 1 hour.
• Temper with the given ingredients.
• Garnish with chopped onions ,coriander leaves and Boondhi.

Assorted bajji

Bajji is a quick snack that can be made when you face sudden guests at home.Also its a lovely snack during rain time,especially when had hot.It can made with veggies like raw banana,chilli,potato,onion,capsicum,cauliflower.

Ingredients:

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• Rice flour - 1/2 cup
• Besan - 1 cup
• salt - to taste
• baking soda/eno fruit salt - 1/2 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
• ajwain/carom seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Oil - for deep frying

Method:

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• Add all the ingredients in a bowl.Add water little by little and make a fine batter without lumps.
• (Use your hand and mix well).The consistency should be like idly batter.
• 
• Cut the veggies into thin round slices.If you use capsicum,make thin long pieces.
• 
  
  
• Heat oil in a kadai.When its medium hot,dip the veggie slices in batter and add them slowly into the oil (5 to 6 at a time).
• 
  

• On a low flame ,fry them it they turn golden brown in colour.(Turn it over in between,so that both sides get cooked).
• 
  
• Strain excess oil and put on a tissue paper.

Serve hot with coconut chutney or sauce.

Sago/Sabudana wada

I got this recipe from Tee's blog.Made slight variation to it.It was really yummy.

Ingredients:

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• Sabudana/Sago - 200 grams
• Potato - 1 big
• Cilantro/Coriander leaves - 4 to 5 tsp of chopped leaves
• Salt - to taste
• Roasted peanut powder - 3 tbsp(Dry roast the groundnuts,clear off the skin and grind to a fine powder in a mixer)
• Jeera - 1 tsp,crushed between palms
• Lemon juice - just 1 tsp
• Oil - for deep frying
• Green chillies /cayanne pepper - as per taste(3 to 4)

Method:

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• Rinse the sago with water twice and soak them for 5 to 6 hours.Add water just to immerse the sago.After 6 hours,it would have puffed up and will be soft to touch.
• Drain the excess water completely .
• Pressure cook the potato,peel off the skin and mash well.(Do not over cook.Just leave 2 whistles on a high flame)
• Add soaked sago,potato,salt,lemon juice,cilantro,jeera,roasted peanut powder,green chillies/cayanne pepper in a wide opened vessel and mix well.
• (While making round balls out of it,it should not stick to your hand.Add roasted peanut powder ,if needed to get the consistency.But too much of it will make the vada extremely crispy.)

• Make round balls or flat vada or any shape you need.

• Heat oil in a kadai.When its medium hot,drop the balls gently into it and fry on a low flame till it becomes golden brown.

• Put them on a tissue paper to drain excess oil.

Serve medium hot with green chutney.

People in Maharashtra eat this during fasting.If you wish add finely chopped onions.But adding onions requires immediate deep frying once the dough is made.

Butter Corn with Italian seasoning

Ingredients:

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• Frozen American corn/Fresh American corn - 500 grams
• Cooking Butter/Salted butter - 2 tbsp
• Salt In case of cooking butter - to taste
• Pepper powder - 1 to 2 tsp
• Lemon juice - 2 tsp
• Italian seasoning - to sprinkle

Method:

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• In case of fresh corn,separate the corn kernels .
• Cook covered in a kadai with little water(just enough to immerse the corn) .
• Do not add excess water and strain it as the taste of corn goes away with water.Add little water and cook till it is sucked by corn.
• If you feel its not cooked,add little more water again.But normally the corn will be cooked in 5-10 min.
• Heat butter in a kadai.Add the cooked corn,salt,pepper and saute well for 5 sec on low flame.
• Switch off.Sprinkle italian seasoning(as per your taste) and add lemon juice.

Serve hot.

Tip: If you have a microwave you can cook the corn in that too.

You can try out various flavors like corn with Pepper and lemon alone,corn with butter and salt,corn with chat masala...

Purple cabbage Sandwich

Ingredients:

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• Sandwich Bread - 1 loaf
• Purple cabbage - 1/4 or 1/2
• Capsicum - 1 (green/red/yellow)
• Salt - to taste
• Pepper - 2 to 3 tsp
• mayonnaise - 2 to 3 tsp
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Tomato ketchup - (optional)
• Butter - for toasting

Method:

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• Chop purple cabbage and capsicum into very fine pieces.
• Add salt,pepper,mayo,lemon juice to the chopped veggies and mix well.
• Apply little butter on the inner side of bread,spread 2 tsp of cabbage filling and add 1/2 tsp of tomato ketchup on top.

• Cover with another slice of bread and toast well with little butter/ghee.
• Cut diagonally and Serve hot.

Moreappam/Kuzhi paniyaram

Moreappam is an excellent snack that is made of sour dosa batter that is 5 to 6 days old.When the dosa batter gets sour after a week ,it can be transformed into an yummy snack with little tadka and sour curd/buttermilk.You need a special vessel and spatula as shown in the pics below.

Ingredients:

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• Old dosa batter -
• Sour curd/buttermilk - 2 to 3 tbsp or 1/4 glass
• Coconut gratings - 1 tbsp
• Ginger,finely chopped - 1/2 tbsp
• Green chillies ,finely chopped - 2 to 3
• Curry leaves - a spring
• Onion,finely chopped - 1 (Optional)
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Oil - for frying and tadka
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Chana dal - 1 to 2 tsp
• asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

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Batter:

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• Add salt,ginger,green chillies,onions,curry leaves to the batter.
• Add little curd/butter milk to the batter.Make sure the consistency remains the same after mixing well with the above ingredients.
• Heat the kuzhi paniyaram vessel on a medium flame.(Apply oil to the holes if its not non-stick).
• Add oil into each hole,such that only 1/4th of the hole is filled with oil.

• When the oil is hot,Pour half a laddle of batter into each hole as shown below.Do not pour excess batter as it may overflow.

• Allow it to get cooked.This may take 5 to 8 min.
• Now using the pointed spatula,turn over the moreappams to the other side and leave for 3 to 5 min.

• Again turn over to other side and leave for 3 min to get roasted.After getting roasted,it will look as shown below.

• Check the video below to see how to turn over and take away the moreappams with the spatula.
• Place them on a tissue paper to absorb excess oil .Do not serve too hot.
• Serve with onion chutney.

kande Poha or kande Pohe

"Kande Pohe" is a very famous Maharashtrian breakfast.Since it can be prepared very quickly,it can also be served as a snack.

This recipe serves three.

Ingredients:

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• Medium/Thick Poha - 300 grams
• Onions - 1 big
• Potato - 1 big
• Peas - 1 handful(Optional)
• green chillies - 3
• Peanuts - 15 (Optional)
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Salt - to taste
• Lemon - 1
• Sugar - 1 teaspoon
• Coriander leaves - 2 tsp,finely chopped
• Coconut,shredded - 2 to 3 tsp
• Oil - 2 tsp
• mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

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• In a strainer,gently wash the poha in flowing water and drain water immediately. set aside for 10 to 15 min.Do not soak the poha in water.
• Add salt,sugar and lemon juice to the poha.Mix well with finger tips.Make sure the poha grains are separate.
• Chop onions and potatoes into small slices.
• Heat oil in a kadai,add asafoetida and mustard seeds.When it splutters,add green chillies,peanuts and onions.Saute till onions become tender.
• Add potatoes ,peas and turmeric powder .Sprinkle little water and cook covered for 5 min.
• When the potatoes become tender and peas get cooked,add the poha and mix well.
• Switch off and garnish with coconut and coriander leaves.

Serve hot with curd.You can also garnish with Sev.

Chocolate sandwich

"Nutella Bread Spread",a delicious hazelnut and cocoa spread can be just duplicated with the homemade chocolate.Please refer to the recipe through the link Homemade Chocolates.

Just keep two chocolates between two bread slices and toast them.The chocolate will melt forming a cocoa spread.

Enjoy the yummy sandwich!!!!