Cook to Enjoy

Sweet potato veg burger

2023-07-30T12:07:00.003-04:00

https://www.eatingbyelaine.com/sweet-potato-veggie-burgers/#tasty-recipes-8314-jump-target

zuchinni fritters

2023-07-30T12:07:00.002-04:00

https://www.justataste.com/5-ingredient-zucchini-fritters-recipe/

Mediterranean chickpea sald

2023-07-29T18:16:00.001-04:00

https://youtu.be/PrJH8QFmtFE

Chicken burger

2023-07-29T18:08:00.001-04:00

https://youtu.be/hUThLWuvbUc

Christmas Cookies

2014-12-25T06:16:00.000-05:00

Christmas is the best time of the year as we can sit and enjoy the cold weather with your family. And its fun to make and bake cookies for Santa. This year my son also joined me and he created his own version of cookies. Its lots of fun and family time.

I got this version of cookie from HowtoCookThat.com. I used orange food color instead of red and skipped the sprinkles part. I used reduced butter and less sugar. While baking I got the idea of candy canes and the kids liked it so much. Here comes the recipe.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 4 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Softened Butter - 1/2 stick
2 eggs
vanilla extract - 1 tbsp.
Food color
Sprinkles - I skipped this

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
2. To this add the eggs and mix very well.
3. Sieve the flour in another big bowl and add the sugar, egg mixture to this. Mix this well and knead it to a nice dough
4. Cut the dough into two halves.

5. Add the food color to one part keeping the other aside. Mix the food color thoroughly and make sure that all the dough is evenly colored

6. Now cut the white dough and red dough into three parts. Now you'll be having 3 parts of white dough and 3 parts red dough.

Spiral cookies:

1. Take one part of the white dough and roll it flat on a parchment paper to 1/2 inch size. Cut the corners to make it as a rectangle.
2. Same way roll the red dough to a rectangle of the same size as the white one.
3. Gently take the flattened red dough and place it on top of white one.

4. Roll both the rectangles together from one end to the other end. Try to roll it tightly so we won't get any holes in the middle.

5. You could see the spirals on the ends. Place this in a butter/parchment paper and freeze for 30 mins

6. Take the dough from the freezer and cut into 1/2 inch size circles. Adjust the shape to make perfect circles. Arrange them in a butter sprayed baking tray refrigerate for few minutes.
7. After 5 minutes bake them in 350F oven for 12 minutes or until the corners turn light brown.
8. Cool them and enjoy.

Flower cookies:

1. Take one part of the white dough and red dough and roll them as logs of same size. Keep this covered in a butter/parchment paper and freeze them for 30 mins
2. After 30 mins, take the white dough and cut the log into half lengthwise. Cut each half into four quarters of equal size, lengthwise. I didn't got this right and so my cookies doesn't actually look like flowers.
3. Do the same way for the red dough. Now you have 8 sticks of white dough and 8 of red dough

4. Now alternate the red and white dough to make a log of mixed colors. You'll be using 4 white and 4 red. Try to align the centers while arranging . If your sticks are cut properly, then they'll touch the center. Gently press the log well to make sure that there are no gaps in between. Roll this in a butter/parchment paper and freeze for 30 mins

5. Do the same way for the other 8 sticks and freeze them

Candy cane cookies:

1. Take one small ball of the white dough and roll it to a thin straw and about half the size of a straw.
2. Make a similar one with the red dough of the same size

3. Keep the red and white together and gently roll them. Then twist them and shape like candy canes
4. Arrange them in a butter sprayed baking tray refrigerate for few minutes.

5. After 5 minutes bake them in 350F oven for 12 minutes or until the corners turn light brown.
6. Cool them and enjoy.

If you have any dough left out, make your own creation like how my family did. Merry Christmas!!!

Valentine's Day cookies

2014-02-14T11:20:00.003-05:00

These simple sugar cookies are sure to steal the heart of your loved ones............

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups

Granulated sugar - 1/2 cup

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Butter - 2 tbsp.

Food color - optional

Method:

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about one hour (or overnight) or until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.) Cut out shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking

Bake them for 12 - 15 minutes. Timings will vary for the oven. So always keep an eye as it will burn out easily. I decorated one batch of my cookies with food coloring. (I simply mixed sugar and food color and kept on top of the cookies). There are so many frostings available on market. You may try some of those to make your cookies more colorful..

My First Doughnut

2014-02-14T05:32:00.000-05:00

It was my wedding anniversary a few days back. When I came across the recipe of Doughnuts, I've saved it for this occasion as we don't make desserts that often. And I did tried the basic sugar glazed doughnuts for the special day and we all liked it. Though it was not as good as the store bought fresh ones, it was close to it. And also I got the satisfaction of making it on my own. Next time I would love to try the different versions.

And I had some excess dough, which I don't want to fry and keep (as doughnuts loose their taste the next day), I made some naans with that, and they were really fabulous - super soft than my regular ones.. So its a two in one dough. Cool isn't it? So here comes the recipe.

Recipe Source: Vahrehvah

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 2 cups
Egg - 1
Milk - 70 ml
Water - 70 ml
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Butter - 1/8 of a stick

For coating:
Powdered sugar and cinnamon powder

Method:

Take a bowl add sugar, dry east, water, milk, salt, egg, mix it till the sugar melts,

Then add all purpose flour, mix it well make in to a dough and kneading for 5 to 7 minutes and add butter again kneading for 3 minutes and rest it for 30 minutes in a warm place, after 30 minutes give knock back and again rest for 30minutes.

Take the dough and with help of rolling pin roll it into ½ inch sheet and cut the doughnuts with doughnut cutter, transfer in to the tray, then rest for 10 to 15 minutes to rise.

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the doughnuts in a slow flame till brown in color, take in a serving plate and sprinkle some casting sugar along with cinnamon on it.

Tips:
More kneading helps in a better soft dough and nice fluffy doughnuts

To cut the doughnuts, first cut the outer circle and remove them. Then cut the inner circle.

For frying, keep the flame very low. Don't overcrowd the doughnuts, as they will rise in the oil. Give some space.

Vegetable Adai Dosai

2014-01-01T16:57:00.003-05:00

I usually make adais once or twice a month, This time when I was browsing I got this little variation from Vahrehvah. We could add cheese as an additional optional ingredient which I did only for my kid. This one has the goodness of veggies to this protein rich dish. This could be served even as a evening food after school.

Ingredients:

Idly rice - 1 cup
Sona masoori rice - 1/4 cup ( I add this to get crispy dosas)
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Chana Dal - 1/4 cup
Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Urad Dal - 1/4 cup
Red chillies - 6
Hing
Curry leaves - a bunch

Finely chopped mix vegetables (onions, carrot, beans, cabbage, spinach)
Chopped ginger and green chillies ( I skipped this for my kid)
Cheese - optional
Salt
Oil

Method:

Wash the rice and dals. Soak the first set of ingredients from Idly rice to Curry leaves in water just enough to immerse the dals. Don't add too much water as we may loose the nutrients of the dals when we grind. Let them soaked for 3 - 6 hours

Grind them to a fine consistency for dosas. (For adais we can grind it to coarse consistency). Add salt to the batter

Heat the dosa tawa and spread the batter like a dosa. Sprinkle the mixed vegetables on top all over the dosa. Sprinkle some cheese. Add oil on the corners and keep it covered.

After the corners starts turning to golden brown, remove it and fold it and serve. For kids, you can even make it into rolls and serve them. Serve hot with your favorite chutney.

Tutti Frutti Cookies

2014-01-01T16:54:00.002-05:00

Christmas time is the perfect time for cookies as kids are waiting for Santa and his gifts. This year we made these eggless tutti frutti cookies for Santa. A simple and perfect recipe got from Sharmispassions.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 cup
Unsalted Butter (room temperature) - 4 tbsp.
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup (or even less)
Tutti Frutti - 1/3 cup (can be substituted with any dried fruit)
Milk - 1 to 2 tbsp.

Method:

In a mixing bowl add powdered sugar and butter. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy - I used my whisk for this. Add maida, tutti frutti and mix well.

Add milk to form a soft sticky dough. Lay a butter paper and roll the dough and form a log(dust flour if needed).

Freeze the logs for 40mins(Put it up in the freezer to make the dough firm). Take the log out, and slice the dough with a sharp knife. Slice into slightly thicker slices. Preheat the oven at 350ºdeg /160 deg C for 10mins.

Place the cookies on the lined butter paper leaving space between each cookie. Bake it at 160 deg C for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown on the corners. It took 13 minutes for me. Check yours accordingly. Bake a little more if you want crispier cookies.

Transfer carefully in a rack and cool it. Store in airtight container.

Happy New Year!!!

Mini Samosa

2013-08-05T02:31:00.000-04:00

Samosas are deep fried triangle shaped starters filled with vegetables. There could be no one without knowing this famous appetizer. Mini Samosas are the one in miniature versions. And these will be more crispier than the regular ones. These are mostly filled with onions. And the taste of onions inside these fried samosas - OMG!! - its utterly delicious. I recently saw a cookery show in youtube and got this recipe. Its very simple to make and you will get amazing response. I tried this with store bought samosa sheets. But if you prefer you could make your own sheets too.

Ingredients:

Samosa sheets
Thinly sliced Onions - 1 cup
Thinly sliced Cabbage - 1 cup
grated ginger - 1 tsp
sliced green chilly - 2 ( I replaced this with red chilly powder)
salt

Glue paste
Mix a tsp of all purpose flour in water to a semi running paste.

Method

Mix the sliced onions and cabbage with 1/2 ttsp salt and mix well. Keep this aside for half hour. After half hour the onions will leave water. Now squeeze all those water from the onion mix. You should really squeeze well as it helps to make crispy samosas. If you don't squeeze well, then the samosas will be soggy. So squeeze it really well

After squeezing, add other ingredients and little more salt (remember we added some salt earlier. though we squeezed some will still be there)

Take the samosa sheets. Mine was a square one. so I sliced it lengthwise into 4 rectangles.

Take a spoon of the onion mix and keep it one corner. Then tightly roll it as triangles throughout the length of the sheet. Make sure that you don't have any open corners as the mix might drop out. At the end apply the glue paste and stick it well. In the same way roll all the samosas.

Heat oil in a pan to deep fry these samosas. The oil should not be too hot. I kept it in a low flame. Slowly drop one batch of these mini samosas. And let them cook slowly till they get the nice even golden coloring. Then turn and cook on the other side. This takes around 7 - 10 minutes for each set.

Drain the oil well and place them on tissue papers. These stay crisp even for hours later. Enjoy these crispy snacks on a holiday evening.

Note:
Make sure to squeeze well the onion and cabbage mix
Fry the samosas in really low flame to have the crispy texture.

Red Chutney - perfect for Idly / dosa

2013-08-01T18:14:00.000-04:00

We love Idly / Dosa the traditional South Indian breakfast. We have it regularly on weekends morning breakfast. I used to make red chutney with only onions and tomatoes earlier which is always the least favorite in my family. So this time I tried a little variation to my ingredients and BINGO it was a great hit!!! So here goes the recipe for your hit list..

Ingredients:
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Tamarind - a bit
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Coconut powder - 2 tsp
Salt
Oil - 1 tsp

For Seasoning:
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and add sliced onions and tomatoes and sauté well. After they are half cooked add the tamarind, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and coriander powder. Add little water and cook till it gets almost dried. At the end add coconut powder and stir for a minute. Grind it to a paste after cooling this. Heat oil and add the seasoning ingredients. Pour the seasoning over the chutney and serve with Idli / dosa.

Popcorn chicken

2013-06-04T09:37:00.001-04:00

I made this as a special treat for my kid who is fond of chicken. And this turned out to be a hit as even my hubby liked it. I saved some boneless breast pieces and made this crunchy snack. Next time I will try to bake it and make it a healthier version. Here goes the recipe.

Recipe source: vahrehvah

Ingredients :

Boneless chicken - 250 gms

Eggs - 1

Corn flour - 1/2 cup

All purpose flour - 1/2 cup

Red chilly powder - 1 tsp

Black pepper powder - 1 tsp

Chaat masala - 1 tsp

Salt

Oil- for deep frying

Parmesan cheese - to sprinkle

Method:

Wash chicken and cut into small pieces. Put them in a bowl and season with salt, red chilli powder, black pepper powder, lemon juice and mix well. Marinate in the fridge for few hours.

In a dish, take ½ cup corn flour, ½ all-purpose flour (maida), and combine them together. Add little salt and red chilli powder, mix and keep aside.

Whisk 1 or 2 eggs in a bowl and keep aside.

In another tray, add all-purpose flour and put in the chicken pieces and coat well with the maida flour (this helps in absorbing the excess moisture).

Take the coated chicken pieces and drop them in the egg mixture and coat them well.

Take pieces of chicken and coat them with the spiced flours, remove and shift them into a colander and toss them to remove the excess flour. (you can refrigerate this for 30 mts)

Heat oil in a pan on medium heat and when the oil gets hot, add the chicken pieces and deep fry till they get nice and crispy. The chicken pieces should get slight golden in color. Remove, drain oil.

In a bowl, add some chaat masala, parmesan cheese (optional), marjoram spice(I skipped this), and mix the ingredients well. Sprinkle some of the masala powder over the chicken, toss and serve

Watermelon milk shake

2013-05-29T23:05:00.000-04:00

I am having busy time these days and so couldn't post any. Just thought of setting me back onto my posts with this simple Watermelon milk shake perfect for a hot summer day!!

Ingredients:

Watermelon flesh - 1 cup (seedless)

Milk - 1 cup

Sugar - 2 tbsp.

Vanilla icecream - a scoop (optional)

Method:

Put watermelon and sugar in a blender and grind it to a smooth paste (relatively...)

Add milk and icecream to this and run the blender again.

Pour in a glass with some cold ice chips on top.

I served it with breakfast along with a bread toast topped with red kidney bean/rajma gravy and some fresh vegetables.

Tofu vegetable Kofta

2013-03-22T08:47:00.001-04:00

Koftas, as we all know are cooked veggie balls fried in oil. These are then dropped in gravy which makes a great accopaniment for rotis. This time I made healthy koftas by adding tofu and these are cooked without deep frying. It turned out well and everyone in my family enjoyed.

Ingredients

Kofta
Medium Tofu (mashed and squeezed) - 1/2 cup
Boiled and mashed potatoes - 1 small one
Boiled and mashed plantain - 1/2
Chopped Carrot, cabbage - 1/2 cup
Salt
Chilli powder
oil

Gravy
Onion - 1
Tomatoes - 1
Ginger & garlic
Chilli powder
salt
oil

Procedure

Kofta:
Boil and mash potatoes and plantain together
Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped vegeables. Saute them till they get cooked. Sprinkle little water if needed. Add required salt and chilli powder. After it get cooked, add the mashed potatoes and pantain and tofu and mix everything together.
Turn off the flame when the mix is dried without water
Make kofta balls out of this and cook them in 'kuzhi paniyaram' pans with little oil.

Gravy
Heat oil in a pan and add garam masala, ginger garlic and onions to it. Saute them well and grind this to a paste
Grind the tomatoes to a paste.
Heat oil in the pan and add the ground onion paste. Then add the tomato paste and saute well. To this add salt and chilli powder and mix till it gets blended well
Add 2 tbsp of tomato ketchup to this and add 1 cup of water. Let it boil until you get a gravy consistency. Add water according the consistency you prefer
Turn of the flame

Arrange the koftas in serving dish. On top of this pour the prepared gravy. Decorate with chopped coriander leaves.

Vegetable Sevai

2013-03-15T22:50:00.001-04:00

Sevai is a traditional south indian rice noodles. This is usually made with steamed rice flour using idiyappam press. But I got some instant rice noodles from a chinese store and it tastes the same as sevai and its easy to prepare too (just have to soak it in warm water for 10 mts). This time I added some vegetables to this and made a nice breakfast. This is great for evening snack too.

Ingredients:

Instant Rice noodles - 2 cups
Finely chopped onions - 1 tbsp
Chopped vegetables (carrot, beans, peas) - 1/4 cup
Red/Green chilli - 1
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Curry and Coriander leaves
Salt

Method

1. Cook and keep the instant noodles ready as per the instructions in the packet. Or you can use homemade sevai

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal, chilli and curry leaves.

3. To this add onions and saute till light pink. To this add chopped vegeables and saute on a low flame till half cooked. Add salt and mix well.

4. To this add the cooked sevai/noodles and mix gently and thoroughly. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve warm.

Pumpkin cake

2013-01-24T12:56:00.000-05:00

Pumpkin desserts are especially popular during the fall and winter months. Of course, pumpkin pie is America's favorite pumpkin dessert, but this lovely orange colored Pumpkin Cake, is sure to please. I made it with home made pumpkin puree. You can always go for store brought cans to make this delightful desert for a sweet surprise.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups (270 grams) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup (240 ml) fresh or canned pure pumpkin (about 1/2 of a 15 ounce can)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups (200 grams) sifted all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes for an electric mixer).
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin batter.

Pour the batter into the greased pans. Bake for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then invert and remove the cakes from their pans

Alternatively you can fill this batter in cupcake pans to make pumpkin cupcakes.

Enjoy the lovely desert with your family and friends.

Masala Bread Toast

2013-01-23T13:25:00.001-05:00

Bread is always a super easy fix for breakfast. It also an quick fix for the lunch box. The masala version adds some spice to our Indian taste. Give this a try and you will love it. Egg does makes it filling and remains soft even for lunch box.

Ingredients:

Egg – 4

Bread – 6

Garam masala powder- 1/4 tsp

Ginger garlic paste – 1/4 tsp

Chili powder – 1/2 tsp

Turmeric – a pinch

Garlic – 2 cloves

Onion – 2 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Oil – to toast

Recipe:

Grind Onion and Garlic as paste.

Apart from Bread and Oil, mix all the ingredients with Egg and beat it well.

Heat Oil in a pan, dip the bread slices in egg mix and place it on pan, apply oil on all sides of bread.

Toast the Bread on both sides and remove from heat.

Oven roasted Chana Dal

2013-01-11T16:39:00.003-05:00

Chana dal that is deep fried was a great snack for me when I was little. That too the added spice and garlic flavor really enticed me. I wanted to try that recipe for a ling time but was hesitant to deep fry. Luckily I got this recipe of oven roasting the dal which is a healthy alternative to that. And believe me you still get the crunchy and crispy texture of deep fried ones. As this greatly impressed me, I'm planing to oven roast some soy nuts too for a healthy protein rich snack. Now on to the recipe.

Ingredients:

Chana Dal - 1 cup
Olive oil - 1tbsp
Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Garlic cloves - 2-3

Preparation:

Wash the dal and soak it for at least 4 hours.
Drain the water and transfer the dal to a sauce pan. Fill the pan with water, about ½ – 1” above the dal. Cook it on high for 3 minutes. You will see foam forming on the top. We don’t want to cook the dal for too long. Turn of the heat, drain it and run the dal under cold water to bring it back to room temperature.
Transfer dal to a paper towels or a kitchen towel and pat dry it. Leave it on the towel to dry, for about 5 minutes until the oven is preheated.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line a baking tray or cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
Transfer chana dal to bowl and mix it well with oil, ½ tsp. salt, ½ tsp. chili powder & turmeric. You can also do this directly on the lined baking sheet.
Spread seasoned chana dal on the baking sheet and bake it for 10 minutes in a preheated oven.
Remove from the over, shake the tray properly or with a spoon mix the dal and spread it evenly on the tray. Put it back in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Pull it out and repeat the above step. Bake for another 5 minutes or until chana dal turns brown. The total bake time is 20 minutes. However, I felt I should have pulled it out of the oven a minute earlier. Do keep an eye on the dal after 18 minutes into baking.
Crush together garlic, ¼ tsp. salt & 1 tsp. of chili powder. Sprinkle it on the baked dal and mix it well. Add the garlic immediately after removing the dal from the over.
Once the dal is cooled, store in an air tight container

Parotta

2012-12-28T11:53:00.000-05:00

Mom: What shall I order for you?
Me: (spontaneously..without looking thru menu card) Parotta
Mom: Want to try something else today
Me: No. I am fine with Parotta
Mom: smiling.. ok.

This was a usual converstation between me and my mom wenever we eat out. That much I loved it when I was little. One reason for that is its a food which was not made frequently at home like idly, dosa, poori, rice etc., And another one being the tast and flaky nature of parotta thats so inviting for the taste buds.

I have treid to make it so many times, but I would be missing something. Especially the flaky and still soft nature of the parotta. When I wanted to try this time, I was searching for some different recipes and I got this one from ifood.tv with some nice video, though quite a lengthy one. But its worth checking it if you want to try out. And the results were really good too.

Ingredients
Maida / All purpose flour - 3 cups
Salt - 2 tsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Water - approx 1 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup for kneading
Oil - 1/4 cup for toasting

Method:
Dough making and kneading:

Heap 3 cups of maida on a wide bowl. Make a dent or well inside.

Slowly add the water inside. To this water add salt and sugar and mix it slowly with the flour on the sides. Check out for water and be careful not to add too much water.

After all mixing up add oil and knead well well. This is the most important part and it has to be beaten up so the dough gets mixed/kneaded very well. This has to be done for almost 15-20 minutes to get the nice soft texture. Apply some oil on top and keep it closed aside for 30 mts.

After 30 minutes the dough will have rised a little. Make small balls out of it and apply oil on top of it again and let it rest for 10 minutes keeping it covered with moist kitchen towels. If you could notice, it will rise a little.

Spreading and coiling:

Take the balls one by one and roll it as much as you can with a rolling pin, the funny part is, you can watch as you stretch, it rolls back, so apply oil say about a tsp for each parotta and stretch it to paper thin size. It might tear in some areas… thats ok. Stretch using your hands or use the rolling pin, oil makes the work easier.

Hold any one corner of the rolled dough and lift it up. Slowly spiral the dough and make it a ball again. Note that this may need more oil. Repeat this for all the balls and make them spiral coils and keep them covered under a moist cloth again.

Rolling and toasting:

Take the spirals one by one and start stetching with a rolling pin slightly without applying too much pressure.
Roll them on one side only and don't flip them to roll on the other side. This makes the layers to merge and we won't get the flaky layered texture of parottas. Note parottas will not be too thin like chapatis. So roll them like the size of a pancake.

Heat a griddle/ tawa and keep it on medium flame. Take the rolled parottas one by one and let them cook slightly on both sides. After seeing some spots add about 1 tsp oil/ghee and toast.

You will see it becoming fluffy, flip one more time and then put it back on the counter. Using both hands, try to beat it once, just like clapping, to seperate the layers. Serve hot with your favorite side dish.

Lemon sevai

2012-11-26T08:41:00.001-05:00

I always had been making sevai with idiyappam mix. My friends have told about the instant rice noodles but somehow I missed to try it for a long time. Finally I got these instant rice noodles from a chinese super market and made lemon sevai. To my surprise it tasted same soft as the regular idiyappam sevai and even more separate. Since rice noodles cook very quick, this can be made very fast. This can be eaten as breakfast or even as a snack or tiffin, no waiting around time to cook! I used to even make this for my hubby lunch box, since it is quick to cook in the morning.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice noodles
1 tbsp peanuts
1/2 tsp chana dal
1/4 tsp urad dal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds1 Green chilli
1/2 tsp grated ginger
Few curry leaves
1 tbsp oilsalt to taste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 cup lemon juice (to taste)

Method:
Cook the rice noodles according to package OR Boil water in a pot, Add salt. Add the noodles and cover for only 3-4 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
Add oil in a pan and heat it up.
Add the peanuts and saute for about 30 seconds.
Add the chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds and jeera.
Add the curry leaves, green chili and ginger. Add the turmeric powder.
Add the drained rice noodles and saute along with some salt. (remember you added some salt before)
Add the lemon juice, little by little, so that it doesn't become too sour.At this point taste to see if you have to add more salt or lemon juice.
Serve hot with chutney or pickle.
Enjoy!!!

Badusha

2012-11-12T16:30:00.002-05:00

Its Diwali and the perfect time for sweets. This time I had Badusha in my sweet list and I got so inspired by looking at the pictures at Raks Kitchen. Also last year my friend made this and my husband liked it so much and so I wanted to give it a try this time. Its quite easy but have to take care of certain steps. I cudn't make it as exactly in raks kitchen but had tried out my best. I think I should have added little more water to knead and because of less water some of my badushas changed shape while frying. And also it absorbed too much of sugar. But the inside tasted good and flaky and the sugar was okay for my family as we love sugars. I tried to make the doughnut shape instead of curving the corners. But I would like to do that one sometime soon.

Ingredients:

Maida/All purpose flour - 1 & 1/2 cups
Butter+oil - 1/4 cup+1/8 cup
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Curd - 1& 1/2 tsp
Cooking soda/sodium bi carbonate - 2 pinches
Water - 1/4 cup (approx.)
Oil - for deep frying

For Syrup:
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water- just to immerse the sugar
Elachi powder - 2 pinches
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp

Procedure:

Melt butter and add oil,sugar,curd and baking soda to it and use a whisk to mix well,to make it almost frothy.Add the flour to it.

Mix well to make it crumbly. Add water to make it dough,please be careful when adding,the 1/4 cup is what I used,it was just right,still you adjust accordingly. Make it to a smooth dough without any lumps

Keep on kneading for sometime to get a smooth dough..may be 10 mins,I made 11 small lemon sized balls out of it. You can adjust the size accordingly.

Now take a ball and pinch the edges and fold it inwards to make rims decoratively as shown in the picture. Repeat to finish everything and keep covered.

Meanwhile add sugar to a pan and just add water to immerse it and boil till one string consistency ,i.e; if you pour in little water,it should not dissolve and it should lay a fine thread. Add saffron,elachi if desired and squeeze the lemon juice lastly. Heat oil just enough,check it by adding a pinch of batter,if it rises immediately,then its just right. Dont let the oil fume at any point.

Add some five badushas,we prepared ,carefully in to the oil. Remove from fire and let it get cooked in the pre heated oil. Approximately it wud take 5 mins.

At one stage the badushas float, then again keep the kadai on fire and cook in medium-low flame,adjust heat at the end to make it golden brown,for me it took around 5-8 mins.

Drain in a paper towel and immediately add to the hot sugar syrup,to cover the badusha ,I did this in batches 2-3 at a time. Leave for a minute and then drain the badushas to a greased surface

After it cools down,the sugar syrup should have turned non sticky,transfer to an clean container.

Have a colorful Diwali!!!

Points to note:

Knead the dough to a dough consistency. This helps in avoiding it becoming too porous as it excess absorbs oil and sugar syrup.

Sugar syrup should be of one string consistency

Drain the badushas on paper towel before dropping in the sugar syrup. This avoids the sugar syrup getting too oily.

Am sending this recipe for the Navartri - Diwali event happening at Simply food and Festive food at Cuisine Delights.

Spicy Maida Biscuits

2012-11-12T16:00:00.001-05:00

This is a simple savory biscuits made of All purpose flour. Its simple to make and can be made for any occasions. Though its called as biscuits, its not baked but instead deep fried in oil. Traditionally this is made as sweets and sometimes chilli powder is added to prepare the spiced versions. This time I made the spiced version and every time I make this it disappears while I fry them. Its so melting on the mouth and very tempting too. I saw some versions of these biscuits with the addition of ginger garlic paste, but I've never tried it and will do it next time.

Ingredients:

Maida / All purpose flour - 2 cups
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Salt - as required
melted butter / hot oil - 2 tbsp
water - as needed
Oil - to deep fry

Procedure:

Mix the dry ingredients one bye one and add melted butter/oil to it. Slowly add water and knead it well as a soft chapati dough.

Now make small balls of this dough and roll them as thin as possible.

Now using knife / pizza cutter to cut them to desired shapes. Usually its made as diamond or square shapes. Now keep the cut pieces separately so that they don't get sticked together.

After you have finished cutting them all you can deep fry them. (u can deep fry parallely too if you get a helping hand to roll and cut the biscuits).

Fry them in medium hot oil until it turns nice golden brown color. Drain the oil well and cool it.

Store them in airtight containers and serve it during tea-time.

Variations:

Add sugar instead of salt and chilli powder to get the sweet version

Ginger garlic paste, coriander leaves or mint leaves can be added to get different flavors of the spiced version

Wheat flour/rava (Sooji) can also added in same proportion as maida to get a different taste.

Am sending this recipe for the Navartri - Diwali event happening at Simply food and Festive food at Cuisine Delights.

Coriander Rice

2012-10-26T04:54:00.002-04:00

Any greens are good for health. When it comes to coriander I get delighted cos of its exotic fragrance. Whether its chutney, rasam, dosa or the rice, coriander leaves makes it extra special. It really makes this rice an awesome dish. The addition of chana dal and urad dal for this rice gives a nice flavor for it. You can try this wenever you have it a little extra coriander on your refridgerator.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 2 cups
Green peas - 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Chana dal / kadala paruppu - 1 tsp
Urad dal / uzhunnu parippu - 1/2 tsp
Hing / Asafoetida - a generouns pinch
Curry leaves - a few
Roasted cashewnuts - a handful
Chopped coriander leaves - 1/4 cup

To grind
Fresh coriander leaves - 1 cup
Chopped onions - 1, medium
Green chillies - 2 adjust to spice level

Procedure

1. Soak the basmati rice in some water for 20 mins and cook in sufficient water until the rice is cooked well, yet firm. I usually use Rice :water ratio as 1:1 1/2

2. Grind the ingredients for the coriander paste with little water.

3. Heat oil for tempering and roast the chana dal and urad dal until golden brown. Add the curry leaves and hing and mix well.

4. Now add the ground coriander paste and blend well adding enough salt. Throw in the green peas and let it simmer for 2-3 mins.

5. Switch off fire and mix in the rice while the paste is still hot.

6. Garnish with roasted cashewnuts and chopped coriander leaves.

7. Serve hot with your favorite sidedish/raita.

Puran Poli

2012-10-12T13:34:00.001-04:00

I am always a fan of stuffed parathas. And I do have a sweet tooth too. So how about a sweet stuffed paratha. And thats nothing else then Poli also popularly known as Puran poli. This is a mouthwatering desert and its quite easy to prepare too. I got this recipe from Vahrehvah and its quite simple. All you have make sure is having a soft dough and the result comes amazing. Enjoy your next festival/occasion with this delicious polis.

Ingredients

Stuffing
Chanadal cooked - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Outer layer

Maida - 1 1/2 cups
Sooji - 1 tsp
Rice flour - 1 tsp
salt - pinch
oil/melted butter - 1 tbsp

Procedure:

Pressure cook/boil the chana dal. Drain all the water and let it get dry. After some time grind it to a powder consistency.

Heat the powdered chana dal and add jaggery to it. The jaggery will melt and get mixed well with the dal. Cook till it thickens to make balls out of it. Add cardamom powder and mix well. Make small balls of it and keep it aside.

Now mix all of the ingredients mentioned for outer layer and mix well. Add some water and knead to a very soft dough (It should be really soft)

Make balls of the dough and the size should little than the stuffing balls.

Take a plastic sheet and grease with oil. Slightly press the dough and keep the stuffing inside. cover it with the dough by pulling along the corners. Gently press it with your hand evenly around and flatten it as you can.

Heat a tawa and cook these polis with little ghee until u see brown spots on both sides.

Enjoy the delicious polis with your family.

Am linking this post to Taste of Tropics - Authentic Indian Platter happening at EzCookbook.

Home-made Vatrals/ Vathals (fryums)

2012-10-05T16:52:00.002-04:00

Vatahals/Vatrals come as instant saviors when we are running a little low on side dish for rice. They make the meal tasty and satisfying too. Whenever we talk of vathals I remember those days (usually sundays) when we go along with my mom and grandma to the open terrace above our house and make them early morning before the sun starts to show his strong rays. Actually sun light is the most important thing needed for drying this and as it is available sufficient back home in Chennai, making this had never been a question there. Thats is the reason why its usually made during the months of march - april, when the sun is bright and less wind. And its usually made in huge batches which will be stocked for the entire year.

When I thought of doing this in my place where we don't have a place like open terrace, I decided to keep it near my living room window where I will get some sunlight during the day time (I made it well ahead in summer, but sorry for posting it in fall). I was lucky for the first day, but the second day didn't had much sunlight to dry up the other side. So I heated my convection oven on "warm setting" to dry it out completely. It took 3 days for my vathals to get dried completely. Thankfully it came out well and my family loves this so much. And I got the satisfaction of making some home-made vathals.

I tried both rice and javvarisi vathals. Here goes the recipe

Javvarasi/ Sabudana vathal

Ingredients:

Javvarisi/sabudana- 1 cup (soak overnight)
Green chilli - 2
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp
Water - 1 cup
Salt

Procedure:

Grind the soaked javvarisi with green chillies and hing for 2 secs.

Heat water in a pan and add the ground paste to this. Mix salt.

Boil it till it gets cooked and the water is well absorbed to a semi solid state. Let it cool for half an hour.

Take a clean plastic sheet. Use a spoon to take 1 tsp of the spread it on the sheet. Try to make it flat and thin circles.

Let this dry under sun the whole day. After the top part is dry turn the vathals to dry the other side of the vathal.

Make sure you dry it well, absolutely dry without any moisture, so it will have long shelf life and it will be frying well too.

Rice/arisi vathal

Ingredients:

Cooked rice - 1 cup
Green chilli - 2
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp
chopped Onion - 1
Salt

Procedure:

Grind the cooked rice with green chillies and hing slightly. Or else you can even mash the rice if its well cooked.

To this mix salt and finely chopped onions. This will be very sticky.

Take a clean plastic sheet. Apply little oil on your hands. Take small balls of the rice mix and keep it on the plastic sheet. The balls need not have to be perfect shape.

Let this dry under sun the whole day. After the top part is dry turn the vathals to dry the other side of the vathal. As the sun was not very hot the day I made it, I had to heat the oven in "warm setting" for an hour and dried it there.

Make sure you dry it well, absolutely dry without any moisture, so it will have long shelf life and it will be frying well too.

Store them in airtight containers. Fry in hot oil and serve. It goes very well with sambar and curd rice.

Store them in airtight containers. Fry in hot oil and serve. It goes very well with sambar and kara kuzhambu.