Rak's Kitchen

CABBAGE VADA / VADAI (USING URAD DAL)

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:20:47 PST

Cabbage vada /vadai tastes similar to our medhu vadai. You may never know it has cabbage. Cabbage tastes similar to onion in this vadai. The preparation is also exactly same as the medhu vadai, but only that insteaad of onion, we add cabbage. My family likes it. There are many versions of cabbage vada. This is urad dal version, you can also make this like we make parruppu/masala vadai. Best to serve as snack with coffee/ tea when you host guests, they will be surprised with this unique ingredient…

Ingredients

Urad dal (white,whole)	1/2 cup
Finely chopped cabbage	1 cup
Green chilli	2
Ginger,chopped finely	1 tblsp
Coriander leaves, chopped	2 tblsp
Curry leaves	few
Asafoetida powder	a generous pinch
Salt	As needed

Method

Wash and soak urad dal for 2 – 3 hours. Drain water completely and grind it with 2 tblsp of water in a mixer. Do not grind for long time, just use juice/inch/pulse option and grind slowly, wipe the sides of the jar frequently. Add a tblsp of water each time when you open the lid. Grind to a smooth thick paste. Add all the ingredients to this and mix well in a bowl.
Wet your hands and make a smooth ball, make a hole in the middle using your thumb and drop carefully in hot oil in the kadai.
Cook both sides in medium flame until golden brown. Drain in paper towels.

Serve hot with sambar or any coconut chutney. Yummy with both or as it is…

Notes

Use less water while grinding. You can mix a tsp of rice flour in the batter to make the vada extra crisp!
Add salt only just before you are going to make.

Technorati Tags: cabbage vada south indian,cabbage vada recipe,cabbage vadai recipe,cabbage vadai with urad dal,medhu vada with cabbage

CHOCOLATE MUFFINS RECIPE (EGGLESS)

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:06:45 PST

Chocolate muffins are loved by almost every one of us. I wanted to try my hands on muffins for long time, but could not decide on a recipe. I bookmarked a recipe but it had complicated measurements, so at last minute, I got the recipe from here. And the recipe dint disappoint me. It came out good. It tasted similar to the eggless chocolate cake. With simple ingredients, it does comes out sinfully delicious. It is very easy too, that beginners in baking, like me, can try it out without giving a second thought. The muffins were soft and chocolaty, do try it out yourself to believe me!

Ingredients ( for 8 muffins)

All purpose flour	3/4 cup
Coco powder	2 & 1/2 tblsp
Sugar	1/2 cup
Baking soda( bicarbonate of soda)	1/2 tsp
Salt	1/4 tsp
Oil	1/4 cup
Cold water	1/2 cup
Vanilla essence	1 tsp
Lemon juice / vinegar	1 tsp

Method

Sieve flour, coco and baking soda together tice to ensure even mixing and then mix in the salt and sugar. In another bowl, mix oil, cold water and vanilla. Reserve the lemon juice.Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients well until sugar gets dissolved.
Pre heat oven to 190^o C .. Before you are just going to bake, mix in the lemon juice and stir well. Spoon the batter to the muffin liners in the baking tray. Fill just 3/4th.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Better keep checking after 20 minutes. Mine got baked after 23 minutes itself. Cool down the muffins in a wire rack, after carefully taking out from the baking tray.

Enjoy the chocolaty muffins. Give a day for the flavours to get incorporated well, though it tastes good immediately. So if you want to eat tomorrow, make today and keep!

Notes

I used fine grain sugar, better to use it as it gets dissolved easily.
You can use 1/2 tsp of orange zest to enhance the flavour.
Bake a day before you want to eat.

Technorati Tags: Eggless chocolate muffins recipes,eggless chocolate muffin,muffin recipes,chocolate muffins recipe,eggless chocolate muffin reciperecipe,with step by step pictures,no butter NO EGG MUFFIN,beginner baking recipes,easy baking recipes,eggless baking recipes

VANILLA CARAMEL MILKSHAKE

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:00:01 PST

I am not a coffee/tea person and always order some cold drinks if I go to coffee shops. And I got addicted to this drink when we went to Phuket once. A restaurant inside the resort where we stayed had this in their menu and me and Aj ordered this thrice and shared. It was the best milkshake I have ever had. Tasted like heaven. Then I started making this at home with the sundae syrup, to finish the ice cream tub. I rarely make though to watch my weight.

Vj doesn't like cold milkshakes except Sharjah shake. I have to soon post that too here. Its one of my favourite too. For this milk shake, its very flexible, you can increase or decrease the ice cream quantity,use low fat options and you may also make your own caramel if you want. Refer this post to see how to make caramel syrup. And be creative in choosing the sundae syrup too for different flavours, like strawberry, butterscotch, chocolate… Kids would love it and it will be filling for them if you give after their un finished breakfast.

Ingredients for 1 serving

Milk	1 cup
Caramel syrup	3 –4 tblsp
Vanilla ice cream	2 scoops

Method

Place everything in the blender, and whip until everything blends well. Serve immediately.

Pour into the serving glass and you can top with your favourite toppings like nuts or bit of the caramel syrup or even a scoop of ice cream.

I topped with the coloured sprinkles to make it colourful and I am sure your kid will also love it as its colourful and catchy to eyes.

Notes

Adjust the caramel syrup and ice cream to balance the sweetness of the milkshake and depending on which flavour you want more.

Technorati Tags: Vanilla caramel milkshake,vanilla milkshake recipe,milkshake recipe for kids,milkshake recipes,how to make vanilla milkshake at home,how to make

CORIANDER PULAO/ RICE | EASY LUNCH BOX IDEAS

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:14:33 PST

I now a days love coriander flavour a lot. So do Vj. I make kothamalli thogayal every week and I do buy coriander leaves just for that. And we both never get bored of it. This one is also one of our favourite, it is so flavourful… it will be proven even while you are cooking it! Also you can make it easily in the mornings and perfect choice for the lunch box. Since the recipe has potato and peas in it, its additional thing for kids too, to love it! More over all, it is healthy! What else we need?

This recipe is one more add to Mrs. Mallika Badrinath’s recipes. Simple love it, and I am sure you will also love it!

Ingredients

Basmati rice	1 cup
Onion	2
Tomato	1
Potato	1
Green peas	1/4 cup
Salt	As needed

To temper

Oil	2 & 1/2 tbsp
Elachi	2
Cloves	2
Cinnamon	1 inch piece

To grind

Coriander leaves	1 bunch(I used 5 plants)
Ginger	1/2 inch piece
Garlic	4 (small variety)
Green chillies	6
Small onion/shallots	8
Grated coconut	1 & 1/2 tblsp
Jeera	1/2 tsp

Method

Soak rice for 1/2 hour. Cut the root part and wash coriander leaves and chop it roughly. Grind it along with the other ingredients in ‘To grind’ table. Heat a small pressure cooker/pressure pan with oil and temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table. Add sliced onion and fry till transparent.
Add chopped tomatoes and fry for 2 minutes until soft and then add cubed potatoes and green peas. Add a little salt and fry again for 2 minutes in medium flame. Add the ground paste. Fry for 4 minutes in medium flame without burning.
Drain the soaked rice and add it and mix well. Add water 1 and 1/2 cups and bring to boil. Pressure cook for 10 minutes in lowest possible flame.

Serve hot with simply onion riata or vegetable raita. You can also pack it for the lunch box. Tastes great even after cooled down!

Notes

Water ratio changes with the rice variety. So use accordingly.
Soaking the rice for more time gives the advantage of cooking it in less water and still a soft and separate grains, so soak as much as possible.

Technorati Tags: coariander pulao recipe,coriander rice,coriander pilaf,kothamalli pulao,kothamalli sadam,easy lunch box recipes,lunch box ideas

PANEER BHURJI | EASY PANEER RECIPES

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:19:23 PST

Paneer bhurji is one of the easiest paneer recipes that can be made with less effort and time. This is the first time I am making this in spite of that its so easy. I had this at my friend Sangeeta’s place when she was here. Now its almost 3-4 years, but this is the first time I am making this at home. I loved it a lot and its simple way to make too! This can be a perfect lunch box idea, you can even wrap the paneer bhurji in roti for your kids. They would love it.

I made this with store bought frozen paneer, you can even try making this with homemade paneer. If you have curdled milk, just try drain the milk and make paneer and try paneer bhurji, you can utilize the curdled milk in this way! You can be creative with this recipe, try adding peas or carrot, it will be nice.

Ingerdients

Paneer cubes	2 cups
Onion	2
Capsicum	1
Red chilli powder/ pepper powder	1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder	1/2 tsp
Dhaniya/ coriander seeds powder	1 tsp
Lemon juice	1 tsp
Milk	2 tblsp
Ginger, finely chopped	1 tblsp
Green chillies	2
Coriander leaves, finely chopped	2 tblsp
Jeera	1 tsp
Oil	1 tblsp

Method

If you are using frozen paneer, either thaw it until room temperature or boil water and keep immersed for 10 minutes. Drain the water completely and crumble it in a mixer(just add in two batches and give it a run)
Heat a pan with oil and splutter jeera, add finely chopped ginger and green chillies, followed by finely chopped onion. Fry till transparent and add the chopped capsicum.
Fry for a minute without changing its crispiness and add coriander leaves, all the powders and give it a quick stir without burning them. Add milk, salt and cook for 2 minutes until the milk evaporates.
Now lastly add crumbled paneer and mix well. Fry for 2 minutes or until dry and add the lemon juice and mix well.

Serve hot with roti or naan or any stuffed parathas too…Wrap it or just have it as a side dish, you can even eat its as such! Tastes awesome and damn easy to make!

Notes

If you want to add frozen peas, cook it in microwave and add it in the end of step 2. For carrots, just add it after onion and fry along.
You can omit lemon juice and add a tomato chopped along with capsicum.
I used tri coloured capsicum.
You can skip ginger too!

Technorati Tags: paneer bhurji recipe,paneer bhurji,easy paneer recipes,paneer recipes,easy lunch box ideas,lunch box ideas for kids

Wishes....

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:41:57 PST

This post is to wish one of my dearest friend who I got through blogging. I truly treasure this friendship. She is one of my well wisher and one of very few with whom I share almost everything I feel...She is such a caring soul and always feel happy after talking almost everyday to her over phone. ;) She is Jeyashri who blogs at Jeyashri's Kitchen. Today I forgot her birthday and missed her to wish :( So sorry Jeyashri... And now wishing you a very Happy birthday and wish you a great year ahead with all your wishes come true. :)

And I will be back in a couple of days - to all those who are waiting for a recipe post here :) Stay tuned!!

PIZZA BUNS/ BITES

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:38:52 PST

Wishing you all friends and readers a very Happy and Prosperous New Year! Life is a bit busy these days, so taking a short break, see you guys with more exciting recipes next year, meanwhile enjoy this recipe I posted as guest post at Sandhya's kitchen...This recipe idea flashed,when I saw a pamphlet I got from 7 eleven introducing Pizza bites. I loved the idea and thought it would be easy to make at home. As I have been making pizza from the scratch for quite a while now and have tried several buns, I was pretty confident in try these and enjoyed making these. This could be an easy party snack idea, kids would be super excited to have it and sure we can also enjoy this. The stuffing is flexible so you can experiment it with your favourite topping,let it be simple like what I have used or add on your favourites like black olives,mushrooms…it’s your choice!

Ingredients (Makes around 8 buns)

For the Dough

All purpose flour	1 & 1/2 cup
Milk	1/2 cup
olive oil	1/8 cup
Salt	1 tsp
Sugar	1 & 1/2 tsp
Active dry yeast	1 tblsp

For the filling

Capsicum,chopped	1
Onion	1
Tomato(optional)	1
Grated mozzarella cheese	1/2 cup
Pizza sauce or any tomato based sauce	2 tsp
Italian herb of ur choice	1 tsp
Red chilli flakes	1 tsp
Salt	2 pinches
oil	2 tsp

Method

Heat milk until lukewarm,dissolve sugar and yeast. Let it rest for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes the mixture would have been raised to frothy, proving that the yeast is active. If not,your yeast is not active and use active yeast.
Meanwhile, take flour in a large bow and make a dent in the middle. Add salt, oil and the yeast mixture in the dent and make a smooth pliable dough. If sticky sprinkle little more flour,if too dry sprinkle some water. The dough should be smooth and pliable.
Let it rest for 1 hour, wrap the bowl with cling wrap. After an hour the dough should have been raised. Punch it down and knead to make it smooth.
Make equal sized balls and arrange in a greased baking tray.Meanwhile prepare the filling. Heat a pan with oil and fry capsicums,tomato and onion for just a minute. Cool down and add sauce, cheese, Italian seasoning, salt and chilli flakes . Mix well.
Flatten the prepared dough balls and keep a small lemon sized ball of the filling.
Pinch the edges towards centre to cover the filling as shown in the picture. Arrange in the baking tray with the sealed side down. Make sure you have sealed properly,otherwise, the cheese will ooze out.
Pre heat the oven to 190^o C and till then brush the buns with milk little and bake it for 18-20 minutes or until the buns start becoming golden brown on the top. Brush generously with butter after done.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup or chilly sauce! Enjoy it with your favourite drink!

Notes

While sealing the buns, you can use water if you find it difficult to do so.
Adjust the baking time accordingly. Keep an eye on the buns after 15 minutes.
You can sprinkle white sesame seeds or even chilli flakes on the top before baking the buns.

PEAS MASALA | GREEN PEAS RECIPE

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:39:40 PST

I had no idea that peas masala could be so delicious if made at home, until I tried on my own. Before that, I always had tasted in restaurants, as an add on along with other gravies and never liked it that much. This is an easy recipe except the frying part, as it splutters a lot while frying, but I cover and fry the masala and overcome the spills. It goes well with roti or naan , even I eat it with steamed basmati rice or mild pulao 's side dish. I use frozen peas, we can also use fresh green peas and the dried ones for the same recipe.

I think the addition of roasted & powdered jeera and fenugreek/methi seeds adds on a great flavour to this masala. I love it. This recipe is from Mrs. Mallika badrinath’s cook book, but thanks to the SIL who introduced this recipe. I just tweaked the method a bit for my convenience, otherwise no big changes. So here goes the recipe, I am sure you would love it!

Ingredients

Green peas, fresh or frozen or dried*	1 & 1/4 cups
Onion	3
Tomato	5
Ginger garlic paste	1 & 1/2 tsp
Jeera & methi/fenugreek seeds	1/4 tsp each
Red chilli powder	1 & 1/2 tsp – 2 tsp
Dhaniya powder	2 tsp
Garam masala powder	1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves, chopped	2 tblsp
Sugar	A pinch
Salt	as needed

*Soak over night and 1 cup is enough…

To temper

Oil	2 tblsp
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Elachi	1
Cloves	2

Method

Golden roast methi and jeera in few drops of oil in a pan. Powder it using hand mortar and pestle or you can simply crush it using a rolling pin. Chop onion and tomato roughly, fry them with a tsp of oil until the the tomatoes turn mushy. Cool and grind.I dint had GG paste, so I added 3 cloves of garlic and a piece of ginger along this frying.
Heat a small pressure cooker/pressure pan with the oil and temper with the items given under ‘to temper’ table. Add the ground onion tomato and fry covered in medium flame until it reduces in volume. Say 4-6 minutes. Add the masala powders and turmeric. Fry till oil separates.
Add the peas and add enough water (1 & 1/2 to 2 cups) and add salt and sugar. pressure cook for 2 whistles.
Open once pressure is released and add the powdered jeera and methi( I had methi powder already) and just give it a boil, garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with butter or cream topped on the masala, with roti or rice/pulavs, yummy!

Notes

Better cover the masala while it is frying as it splutters a lot.

Technorati Tags: Peas masala,peas masala recipe,green peas masala,green peas recipe,gravies with green peas,Mrs. mallika badrinath recipes

VEG KEEMA PARATHA / SOYA KEEMA PARATHA

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:10:58 PST

After my soya chunks curry, I try to cook few other soya chunks recipes and this is one of the try. This is not soya chunks but its smaller than that, tiny bits called Soya Chura. I bought the MDH soyatein brand, if you want to know. I got this inspiration of making parata when I saw thisin Ananda bhavan menu. They had made it with maida and it was square in shape too. I made it just like any other stuffed parathas. Used atta for making dough.

I just made this with lots of masala powders to overcome the usual soya smell. And since the size of this soya chura is really tiny, I think it blends well with the masalas coz of that. You can even try this soya keema masala as such as accompaniment or simply wrap in roti as well.

Ingredients(makes 4-5 parathas)

Soya ‘chura’	3/4 cup
Onion	1
Tomato	2
Turmeric	1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder	1 tsp
Garam masala powder	1 tsp
Dhaniya powder	2 tsp
Coriander leaves,chopped	4 tblsp
Ginger garlic paste	1 & 1/2 tsp
Salt	As needed

To temper

Oil	1 tblsp
Fennel seeds/ Soambu	1 & 1/2 tsp

For the dough

Atta	1 & 1/4 cup
Oil	1 tblsp
Warm water	as needed
Salt	As needed

Method

Prepare dough and let it rest while we prepare the soya keema. Boil enough water and soak the soya chura for 10 minutes. Drain,wash it and squeeze the water. Repeat the process once again but with salt this time.
Heat a pan with oil and season with fennel, add onion and fry for 2 minutes. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes off. Add chopped tomatoes and salt. Fry till soft.
Add all the powders and fry till the masala turns mushy. Add the squeezed soya churas.
Add 1/4 cup water to blend the masala well with the soya and cook for 8 minutes (or until water evaporates)in low to medium flame to make a dry soya keema.
Roll a thick roti and spoon generous amount of the keema and roll into parathas carefully. Cook both sides until golden brown in medium flame with oil drizzled over.

Serve hot with onion raita, the best combo. Tastes great if eaten as such too, but best with the raita!

Notes

Soaking and squeezing out twice is a very important step to overcome the soya smell. so follow the step.

Technorati Tags: veg keema paratha recipe,veg keema paratha,MDH soyatein recipes,soyatein recipe,soya chura recipe,soya keema paratha recipe,soya keema recipes

GOBI MASALA RESTAURANT STYLE RECIPE

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:24:55 PST

I usually make cauliflower curry for Aj who loves cauliflower a lot, that he would even eat it every day as accompaniment for his lunch. He is that much crazy about cauliflower. Even I like cauliflower, there is a fair reason behind it. My mom never buys cauliflower or cooks cauliflower at home. That’s coz, they hate the small worms inside the cauliflower,which is used to be a common thing those days. So she treats that veggie as ‘Non-veg’. So only very few times I had tasted cauliflower in restaurants, when I am with my friends.

Then after marriage, things changed, thankfully they do buy and cook cauliflower. And when I started cooking, I enjoyed cooking cauliflower in different forms : gobi paratha, aloo gobi, cauliflower kurma, curry, fries, gobi 65 or add it in briyani or kurma. Hope this is enough to prove. But the only thing what I don’t like is the cauliflower we get here is so very different from the ones we get in India. Here it gets cooked so quick and becomes very soft and turns mushy easily. I like it more on firm and crunchy side. Still nothing stops. This gobi masala recipe is one of Aj’s recent favourite cauliflower recipe. Once when we ordered lunch, this one came as an accompaniment and I was wondering, why I have not tried this way so far. And very soon I tried and it came out even better than what we tasted. My kid just loved it and I too loved it. It goes very well with roti or naan, even kara kuzhambu too or mild pulaos too. With all these masalas, it tastes awesome..!won’t it?

Ingredients

Cauliflower	1 medium flower
Onion	2 , finely chopped
Tomato	2 , Finely chopped
Ginger garlic paste	1-2 tsp
Garam masala	1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder	1 tsp
Dhaniya powder	2 tsp
Turmeric	1/8 tsp
Tandoori or biryani masala powder (optional)	1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves, chopped	2 tblsp
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Salt	As needed

To Temper

Oil	2-3 tblsp
Fennel	1 tsp
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Elachi	1
Clove	1

Method

Heat a pan/kadai with oil and temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table. Add curry leaves,chopped onions and fry till transparent. Add Ginger garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes in medium flame. Add the chopped tomatoes, salt and fry till it becomes soft and mushy.
Add all the masala powders and fry in medium flame for 3 minutes or until raw smell goes off.
Add the cleaned cauliflower florets, cut into bite sized pieces and add 1/4 cup water and mix well.
Cook covered in medium flame until cauliflower is done. Add coriander leaves and fry for 3-5 more minutes. Add more oil if needed.

Transfer to the serving bowl. Serve with roti or any other rice, as accompaniment for it.

Notes

Clean cauliflower properly before cooking it by immersing it in hot water with salt for 10 minutes.
Do not over cook as it will turn the cauliflower mushy.
Add more oil while frying at the last if it gets stuck to the kadai.

Technorati Tags: gobi masala recipe,gobi masala dry,cailiflower masala curry,cauliflower masala restaurant style,cauliflower recipes,gobi recipes

CARROT SOUP RECIPE

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:36:07 PST

I am adding a ‘Soup’ category in my blog first time now. Coz, this is my first ‘Soup’ post. Yes, I am not a soup person, no body in home either. The reason is I am very lazy to make soup, but can have it if someone makes for me and will be more than happy to have it. Good for my weight and health too… My mom makes some soups back home, in which carrot soup will be more in frequence. She adds tomato and wont add butter in her soup. But I tried this way from a cookbook.

I love sweet corn soup and tomato soup more than carrot soup, sure will try those and post in recent future. And the best thing I love in soup is the crouton. Also I would love to pair soup with a bread toast. Wish I could make soups more often and develop a love with it, for my health sake at least. If only I have this habit, Aj would consider having soup. I have tough times in making him drink a soup even if he has cold and a hot bowl of soup with pepper will be comforting him.

Ingredients

Carrots	3
butter	1 tblsp
pepper	1 tsp
salt	As needed
Bay leaf	1

Method

Wash carrots and cube them roughly. Heat a pan with butter and add the bay leaf and fry carrots in medium-low flame for 3-4 minutes. Add salt and pepper.Give it a stir.
Add 3/4 cup of water and cook in medium flame until the water reduces(3-4 minutes).
Cool down and blend it into a smooth paste. ( save the bay leaf before grinding)
Add 1 & 1/2 cups of water to it and boil along with the bay leaf until you get the desired consistency.

Adjust the salt and pepper and garnish with bread croutons and serve piping hot!!

Technorati Tags: carrot soup,carrot soup recipe,soup recipes,easy soups,easy soup recipe,easy carrot soup,easy starter recipes

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My guest post at Sandhya's Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:32:48 PST

Hi everyone! Check out my guest post Pizza Buns at Sandhya's Kitchen....

VENDAKKAI PORIYAL, DAL TADKA RECIPE

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:54:03 PST

Vendakkai poriyal/ ladies finger poriyal is the one I love to mix and eat with rice and sesame oil/ghee. It needs some time and patience for cutting and sautéing the ladies finger/okra. But I love it so much to do and as well as eat. When I was new for cooking, it used to mess up with this without knowing the technique. Now I think I can make it easily and wonder how I messed up with this easy recipe.
I used to be a very bad eater until I finished my school. And when it comes to vegetables, my mom sure had a tough time making me eat . I never touch the accompaniment vegetable in my plate. My mom do all the possible things to make me eat, like she always mixes the vegetable accompaniment like poriyals, kootu and all those with a small portion of rice and ghee and before sambar or any gravy with rice, I have to eat that. Now also after I came here and left alone, I rarely eat veggies since no one is there to question me. And now a days I tell myself that I should take care of my health only myself and try do the same what my mom used to do and hope to continue this .

Ingredients

Ladies finger/vendakkai	1/2 kg
Sambar powder	1 tsp
Turmeric	1/8 tsp
Coconut, grated	1/8 cup
Salt	as needed
Sesame oil	2 tblsp

To temper

Oil	1 tsp
Mustard	3/4 tsp
Urad dal	1 tsp
Curry leaves	1 sprig

Method

1. Heat the pan/kadai with oil and temper with the items given under the ‘To temper’ table. Add the finely cut ladies finger(refer notes) and keep frying for 6-8 minutes in medium flame, stirring in between. Add sesame oil generously to reduce the stickiness. At a point the volume will reduce and the colour changes to transparent green.

2. Now add salt, turmeric, sambar powder and mix well. Lastly add the coconut and fry for a minute. Transfer to the serving bowl.

Serve as an accompaniment for rice with sambar or any gravy. I had with brinjal/drumstick kuzhambu. Yum yum!

Notes

Wash the ladies finger and pat dry them well before you cut. No water should be there in the ladies finger. It is better to wash and dry them prior so that no moisture is there. Check for old ones by breaking the tail end of the ladies finger. If it breaks crisp, then you can use it. Otherwise discard. Cut the head and then slice them in to thin circles.
When you start frying, the ladies finger will be sticky for a while, so do not panic,just add sesame oil and fry. Sesame oil is good for health so don’t bother adding it generously.
Once the ladies finger gets cooked by adding frying it with oil the stickiness will be almost reduced and then too after adding sambar powder it will completely go off.
Just make sure you fry the vendakkai properly in oil and cook it until colour changes to a transparent green.

SIMPLE DAL TADKA RECIPE WITH MOONG DAL

This is a simple tadka dal recipe which you can make in jiffy for a comfort meal. Goes well with steamed rice and a North Indian subzi. Me and my kid eat this very often. I love it with basmati rice the best! The garlic adds a great flavour to the dal. Do try you will simply love it! Being a south Indian, our festive meal will always have paruppu, which we cook moong dal or toor dal with turmeric and temper with mustard urad dal, asafoetida, green chillies and curry leaves. It is the simple and best dal which has completely different flavour. But I love that too with rice and ghee. But this one is quite different and flavourful.

Ingredients

Moong dal/ paasi paruppu	1/2 cup
Tomato	1
Red chilli	1
Turmeric	1/8 tsp
Salt	As needed

To temper

Ghee	2 tsp
Jeera/cumin seeds	1 tsp
Red chilli	2
Garlic	4 pods, crushed
Coriander leaves, finely chopped	1-2 tblsp

Method

1. Pressure cook moong dal with chopped tomato, turmeric and one red chilli for 3 whistles. Once done, mix salt to it and temper with the items given under to temper table in order. Make sure you fry the garlic until golden brown for a nice flavour.

Serve with hot steaming rice with any vegetable sabzi!

Technorati Tags: Ladies finger poriyal,ladies finger stir fry with coconut,venadakkai poriyal,no onion no garlic,okra recipe,recpes,Indian curry recipes,dal tadka recipe,simple tadka dal recipe,dal tadka with moong dal,dal tadka with garlic.

INSTANT RAGI DOSA WITH RED CHILLI CHUTNEY

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:10:44 PST

My paati being diabetic, my mom always prepares special diabetic diet recipes for her dinner. Other than roti, she makes tiffin items with ragi. She makes sweet adai, savoury adai, idiyappam, puttu, kanji(porridge) both sweet and salted and these dosas. Those days, I was not so fond of those tiffin items. My mom will remind me that I used to drink sweet kanji when I was a baby and used to be chubby then.During my teens I was so so lean and weak and she used to struggle a lot to make me eat nutritious food and I used to escape in all ways!

But after I started cooking, I buy ragi flour and make at least dosa with it once in a while. But now, my kid wont even touch it, my hubby also is a big enemy to healthy food items like ragi, oats! So I make this only for myself. Its easy to make in morning times also we will feel full tummy to kick start the day. I simply eat with buttermilk and idli podi. I have given the best combo chutney how ever, goes well with this dosa. The ingredients given makes 5-6 dosas.

Ingredients

Ragi flour/Finger millet flour	1/2 cup
Wheat flour	1/4 cup
Onion	1
Green chilli	1
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Cumin/jeera	1tsp
Salt	as needed
Butter milk(optional) or water	As needed

Method

1. Take ragi,wheat flour, chopped onions,green chilli, torn curry leaves, cumin,salt in a bowl and add enough butter milk or water to make thin batter.

2. Heat dosa pan, drizzle with oil and pour as we do for rava dosa,drizzle some more oil and cook both sides in medium flame.

Serve hot with your favourite chutney! Tangy,hot or simply coconut chutney or milagai podi!

RED CHILLI CHUTNEY RECIPE FOR RAGI DOSA

This chutney is very nice combo for ragi dosa. Easy to make too! My mom makes this with even idli / dosa. The chutney requires simplest ingredients in your pantry and the key is to balance all the three – chilli-salt-tamarind. Its perfect for the bland ragi dosa.

Ingredients

Red chillies	5-6
Tamarind	1 tblsp tightly packed
Salt	as needed
Onion,chopped	2 tblsp

To temper

Oil	2 tsp
Mustard	3/4 tsp
Urad dal	1 tsp
Curry leaves	few

Method

1. Grind red chillies, tamarind and salt with 1/4 cup water until very smooth. transfer to a bowl.

2. Temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table and add onion and fry till golden brown and mix it to the chutney we ground.

That’s it! Mix well and enjoy as an accompaniment with any dosa or idly…

Notes

For Ragi dosa, adding water or buttermilk is your choice. I usually mix with water as I don’t like to mix with butter milk. But my mom always uses butter milk, atleast a little.
If you have left over sour idly/dosa batter, you can add a laddle full of that to this batter.
You can replace wheat flour with rice flour too. But wheat flour is recommended if you make for diabetic.
For the chilly chutney, its very important to balance the hotness,tanginess and salt to get the perfect taste. If its too hot, add more tamarind or salt to tally the heat.

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BEETROOT PORIYAL | BEETROOT RECIPES

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:51:06 PST

I am making this beetroot poriyal only second time in my life. That’s because Vj hates beets. I had no thoughts about it,but its been ages since I had this veggie. I really got bored of my cooking with the few veggies in routine,which will be Aj’s favourite mostly. The veggies I like both dad and son wont like. So I will be mostly lazy to cook for my taste, and also I eat anything and everything. So no problem . And so I picked beets to bring a change in my cooking and made both of them eat this veggie the other day. I hope once in a while it IS OK for them.

Ingredients

Beetroot	2
Onion	1
Coconut grated	1/4 cup
Sambar powder	1 & 1/2 tsp
Salt	As needed
Sugar	A pinch

To temper

Oil	2 tsp
Mustard	3/4 tsp
Urad dal	1 tsp
Curry leaves	A sprig

Method

1. Peel the skin of beets,wash it and cut into tiny cubes. Chop onion finely. Heat kadai with oil and temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table. Add the cut beet root,sugar and fry for 2 minutes in medium flame.

2. Add 1/4 cup water,salt and cook covered for 4-6 minutes or until done. Add the sambar powder and give a quick stir and then lastly the grated coconut. Stir for a minute and transfer to the serving bowl.

Serve as an accompaniment for rice or you can also mix with rice and sesame oil/ghee and enjoy this poriyal!

Notes

Adding sambar powder lastly helps to retain the colour of the beets.
You can skip sambar powder and temper with 2 red chillies while tempering.

Technorati Tags: Beetroot poriyal recipe,beetroot poriyal,beetroot stir fry with coconut,beetroot recipes

GOBI 65 RECIPE | CAULIFLOWER RECIPES

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:42:00 PST

Gobi 65 is Aj’s most favourite in this whole universe.Yeah,that’s how he says. I usually make crispy cauliflowers with simply sambar powder and corn flour.It’s best accompaniment as varuval for our south Indian meals. But if he wants as a snack for eating alone, then I have to make this way. I have adapted the recipe from Pavi’s space, but tweaked a bit according to my convenience and taste. I must thank her for sharing the recipe, both Aj & Vj loves this way. For Aj, I cook cauliflower at least twice a week as curry,korma or in biryani. May be because of that I got bored of this veggie and I wont even touch this veggie.

Ingredients

Cauliflower	1 medium
Corn flour	4 tblsp,heaped
Thick curd	2 tblsp
Cooking soda	a very small pinch
Salt	As needed
Red chilli powder	1 – 2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste	1/2 tsp
Curry leaves	A sprig

Method

1. Separate the cauliflower into small florets, boil water with salt and keep the florets inside this water covered until it is parboiled. Drain water completely.

2. Mix curd,corn flour,cooking soda,salt,red chilli powder and ginger garlic paste. Heat kadai with oil enough to deep fry.

3. Dip and deep fry the cauliflower florets untill golden brown and crisp in hot oil in medium flame. Add the curry leaves a sprig per batch. Drain in paper towel and enjoy hot!

Serve with lemon wedges and chaat masala sprinkled over. Enjoy hot!

Notes

Parboiling is optional but it ensures the outer layer coats well,otherwise while deep frying the cauliflower and outer layer may separate.
I don’t add ginger garlic paste some times, still we love it.
Do not add cooking soda more.

Happy to send in my entries to Priya of Easy 'N' Tasty recipes event - CWS event, this month with Mung beans.

SPROUTED WHOLE GREEN GRAM FRIED RICE

WHOLE GREEN GRAM DAL FRY

WHOLE GREEN MOONG DOSA

PAASI PAYARU SWEET SUNDAL

Technorati Tags: gobi 65,gobi 65 recipe,gobi 65 dry,gobi 65 Indian recipe,cauliflower Indian recipes

CARAMEL BREAD PUDDING (EGGLESS) | PUDDING RECIPES

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 21:09:01 PST

I remember I ate pudding for the first time in a wedding feast,when I was studying in my lower primary. Of course it was an Indianized version and mostly puddings will be pineapple puddings those days. One of my uncles used to make fun by adding pudding to each and every thing we eat. But truly speaking I had no idea about puddings. Now though blogging world, I am now very happy to try a pudding recipe on my own and that too with my favourite caramel flavour!
I love caramel flavour for no reasons from my childhood. The Nutrine caramello was my favourite toffee then, among all the toffees from nutrine my dad used to buy for us. Other than that,till date I love 5 star like anything. It tastes out-of-the-world for me, may be the chewy texture is what I like along with its flavour. And coming to this pudding recipe, I bookmarked this from Tasty Treats few months back. At last I made this and loved it a lot. Simple ingredients and exotic pudding recipe .

Ingredients

Bread slices	8
Milk	1 & 1/2 cups
Sugar	2/3 cup (11 tblsp approx)
Sugar for caramel	2 tblsp
Vanilla essence	1 tsp
Nuts(optional)	for garnishing

Method

1. Tear the bread into pieces and add milk to it. Mash it well with potato masher. Mix vanilla and sugar and keep aside.

2. keep ready the vessel(flat 6 inch bowl or any other similar) and heat a pan with sugar and 2 tsp water. Tilt the pan frequently for even heating and take care not to burn the sugar. At one stage the sugar starts turning deep golden yellow.

3. Pour the caramel in the vessel and tilt to coat the bottom and a bit in the sides as well. Let it set for two minutes and pour the bread mixture to it.

4. Steam cook it by covering the vessel with aluminium foil with holes pricked for the steam to escape. Steam for 20-25 minutes.

5. After that,cool down and keep it in refrigerator for 2 hours minimum and then invert it to a plate. You can cut it to desired shape before serving.

You can enjoy it cold as such or you can drizzle some caramel /butterscotch syrup as I did. I used Hershey’s store bought syrup . You can also serve it with Vanilla ice cream along with it.

Notes

Be sure you dont over heat the sugar syrup after it turns golden in colour, otherwise it may taste bitter. Also take care not to burn it in the sides of the pan,tilt it frequently to avoid this.
You can top with nuts if you like.
Don’t add more milk or sugar than mentioned. The pudding by itself is gooey and sticky, so adding more of any one of the above may not set properly.
Give at least a day for setting, before serving/eating to enjoy the fullest flavour!
I used my pressure cooker for steaming,without the pressure regulator(valve/weight)

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TRIANGLE PARATHA & VEGETABLE RAITA | LUNCH BOX IDEAS

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:52:33 PST

I got this recipe through mail from my friend Sangeeta along with the aloo bhindi recipe, she wanted me to post a wide North-Indian spread, so she sent all the recipes for the spread, but I am so lazy to make all together and post, so posting one by one. This is sure a nice lunch box idea for kids and for us too. Kids will be delighted to have it for lunch box to have triangle, square parathas instead of our regular parathas. This is simpler than stuffed parathas to make in morning hours.

Ingredients

Wheat flour/ Atta	1 cup
Red chilli powder	1 & 1/2 tsp
Oil	1 tblsp
Ghee	2 tsp
Salt	As needed
Ajwain(optional)	1 tsp

Method

1. Mix everything in a bowl except ghee well and add water to make a smooth pliable dough. Keep aside for 1/2 hour and again knead and make 6-7 equal balls.

2. Roll out first into a thin circle as we roll for usual roti and then apply ghee and fold into half,then again apply ghee and fold into quarter.

3. Then roll it carefully to a triangle shaped paratha to desired thickness.Cook on both sides until brown spots starts to appear in medium flame. After finishing making all the parathas, give a gentle tap to define the layers.

Serve simply with boondi raita or vegetable raita and pickle.

Vegetable Raita

This one goes well with the above paratha or any sort of paratha. Simple yet healthy.

Ingredients

Cucumber	1
Tomato	1
Capsicum	1/2
Carrot	1/2
Salt and pepper	As needed
Coriander leaves,chopped	1 tblsp
Curd	1/2 cup
Milk or sour cream	3 tblsp

Method

Finely cut cucumber,tomato(deseeded),capsicum and carrot. Mix curd,milk/sour cream,salt/pepper well smoothly. Mix in all the other ingredients.

This goes well with all parathas and even pulav/biryani.

Notes

Adding sour cream or milk gives a richness and the sourness will be lesser.
You can add the vegetables like cabbage,boiled potato or any of you favourite vegetables.

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EGGLESS FRENCH TOAST | EASY BREAD RECIPES

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:58:15 PST

When I buy bread, I mostly make vegetable sandwich or just give bread butter jam for Aj. He rarely asks for toasts. Then it will be plain toast with butter or cheese toast for him. When diwali was over, I had some leftover gulab jamun syrup. I first dipped this murruku and ate. It was awesome undoubtedly….yeah,really. But there was so much syrup to finish it that way. Then I just dipped my bread and made sweet toast and it tasted just awesome! I thought why not try the French toast. I always had an eye on Sharmi’s French toast, so I got an idea about the recipe from her’s and made it. It is very apt for the hurry burry mornings and your kid will love it surely. Or make it for yourself on a lazy weekend morning.

Ingredients

Bread slices	4-6
Custard powder(vanilla)	2 tblsp
Sugar	2 tblsp,heaped
Milk	1/2 cup
Butter/ghee	As needed

*If you don't have custard powder, replace with corn starch and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

Boil milk and mix it well with custard powder and sugar in a wide bowl.
Heat a non stick pan and grease with ghee/butter. Dip the bread slice very quickly both sides and toast it both sides in low flame until it gets cooked and golden in colour.

Serve hot immediately with butter brushed over. You can also serve with honey or jam.

Notes

You can serve with nutmeg or cinnamon powder sprinkle along with sugar powder.
Do not let the bread get soaked in custard mix for more time. Not more than a second or two.
Cook in low flame slowly while toasting as that only give you a crisp and golden crusty toast.

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PEAS PARATHA RECIPE

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:36:34 PST

Stuffed parathas are easy to make, but only if you know the knack of rolling. If you learn that, then you can make it easy for lunch box for kids and even easy for dinner meals. They are healthy,not to mention. I weekly make Aloo paratha for Aj’s(my kiddo) lunch box. The other parathas except cabbage paratha make rare appearance in my kitchen. I am trying peas paratha for first time and found it damn easy and tasty too. Aj too loved it and I have packed it for his lunch box today. He likes all the eating stuffs that’s green in colour. He thinks green means healthy and never says no.

Ingredients

Frozen peas	1 & 1/2 cups
Green chilli	3
Ginger	2 inch pieces
Garam masala powder	3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder	1/8 tsp
Ajwain/jeera	1 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves	2 tblsp
Lemon juice(optional)	1 tsp
Salt	as needed

For dough

Wheat flour	1 & 1/4 cup
Oil	2 tblsp
Salt & water	as needed

Method

First make the dough and let it rest for 1/2 hour,mix flour with salt and oil and add warm water to make a soft and smooth dough.
Pressure cook peas with a pinch of sugar mixed,don’t add water. Cool down.
Grind green chilli and ginger first roughly and then add the green peas and grind coarsely.
Mix salt,garam masala,turmeric,ajwain,coriander leaves and lemon(if desired) with the peas and make equal sized balls out of both dough and peas stuffing.
Roll thick circle and keep the stuffing inside and cover the stuffing and make a ball. Roll it out with generous dusting with flour and make out thick parathas.
Cook on both sides until golden spots appear,with oil/ghee drizzled over.

Serve with the comforting curd and pickle or any vegetable or boondi raita as side dish .

Notes

Always make sure the stuffing and dough to be of same consistency. Otherwise there will be difficulty in rolling out.
Making dough with oil and warm water will ensure soft paratha.
Making dough and stuffing both in equal size balls gives good balance of them and tastes great.

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PEANUT RICE | EASY LUNCH BOX IDEAS

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:00:34 PST

I always love all mixed rice varieties. I don’t even need any side dish,just a papad or vadavam is enough for me and I eat unlimited . For the same reason I rarely make,since vj also doesn’t prefer any mixed rice variety. When it comes to food, me and Vj are just contrast. I though rarely give him once in a while for his lunch. And I beg to adjust for a day . But today I just made for myself and made it spicy as I wanted to eat something spicy to melt down my blocked nose. I have few recipes from Mrs.Mallika Badrinath’s Cook books. This is another add for the collection.

Ingredients

Rice	1 cup
Roasted peanuts	1/2 cup
Turmeric	1/8 tsp
Ghee/ sesame oil	1 – 2 tblsp
Salt	As needed
Sesame seeds	3/4 tsp
Red chilles	3
Grated coconut/ koppara	1/4 cup

To Temper

Oil	1/2 tblsp
Mustard	1 tsp
Urad dal	1 tsp
Channa dal	1 tsp
Curry leaves	1 sprig

Method

Pressure cook rice and cool down to make the cooked grains separate by adding required salt and ghee/sesame oil. De skin the peanuts. Roast the sesame seeds,chilli and lastly add the coconut and fry until golden.
Powder the chilli first roughly and then add other roasted items and peanuts. Grind into a coarse powder.
Temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table and add turmeric to it.Add it to the rice and mix well.

Serve with papad or any vadams, or if you like with any kootu or spicy curry.

Notes

I always soak rice for long hours to cook it with very less water and that gives u separate grains as well as soft to eat.
You can even add more sesame if you like to have that flavour dominating.
The ingredient ratio is different from the original recipe to adjust my taste.

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BHEL PURI/ POORI WITH PAPDI RECIPE

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:06:39 PST

I had bhel puri in Kailash Parbhat once and totally loved it. Since we went for lunch buffet, the chaat items were unlimited. And we all enjoyed the delicious chaat very well. Since I made Sev for Diwali, and I had some puffed rice that I bought for Saraswathi pooja, I thought of making bhel puri/Poori at home. I thought first I will make the chutneys first today and tomorrow the chaat, but then could not control my craving for chaat and I was super bored today.
      I made chutneys first, then made papdi. If we have these things ready, then all we have to do is some shaking business for mixing all the ingredients to make bhel puri. So if you want the chutney recipe, you can click on the ingredients list that will take you to the respective recipes. I reffered Sailus food for this and also Jeyashri to get an idea about the ingredients. The ingredients can be added according to your taste bud. So feel free to experiment with the ingredients.
     Firstly lets see the papdi recipe. This can be used in all varieties of chaat recipes…

Ingredients

Maida/ All purpose flour	1 cup
Oil/ghee	1 tblsp
Ajwain/Kalonji seeds	1 tsp
Salt	As needed
Water	As needed
Oil	For deep frying

Method

Mix flour, oil/ghee, ajwain and salt well and then add water to make a stiff dough. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes.
Again knead well to form a smooth dough and roll into big thin circles. Cut into small circles using any lid or a round cookie cutter.
Prick with fork to avoid puffing and deep fry in hot oil both sides in medium flame until golden in colour.
Drain in paper towel and store in airtight container after cooling down.

Bhel Puri Recipe

Ingredients

Puffed rice/Pori	2 cups
Sev	1/2 cup
Green chutney	2 tsp
Sweet chutney	1 tblsp
Onion	1 , chopped finely
Tomato	1 ,chopped finely
Coriander Leaves	2 tblsp, chopped finely
Lemon juice	2 tsp
Chilli powder	1/4 tsp
Chaat masala	1 tsp
Peanuts (otional)	1 –2 tblsp
Pomegranate	2 tblsp
Papdi	6-8 , broken roughly
Boiled potato	1, chopped into chunks

Method

Take a bowl,large enough to mix all these ingredients and keep them ready before you start. Firstly add the chutneys,lemon juice,chaat masala and chilli powder.
Mix it and add onion,tomato,potato,coriander leaves, pomegranate with the salad fork. Then add the puffed rice and toss well.
Lastly add the sev and papdi and mix well.

Serve immediately. After some time the puffed rice becomes soft, I love that way too :)

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TRIBUTE TO JAYASREE–AVAL KOZHUKATTAI

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:14:32 PST

Some times we could not believe certain facts suddenly. Especially, if it is a sad news. I was in the same state when I came to know one of our blogger friend, Jayasree who blogged at Experiments in Kailas kitchen passed away from this world. She was one of few bloggers I know right from the days I started blogging. She never failed to write comment on each post of mine, I too even if I miss few posts, I go back to the archive and make sure I write comment to her posts. I have not interacted with her personally but I had a great respect towards her. I always admire her traditional recipes she had posted in her blog. For few days I was feeling so bad and she is still in my memories and will be for ever. And I took this opportunity to post one of her lovely post,when Lataji and few other fellow bloggers came up with the idea of posting tribute posts for her.

I tried her Aval kozhukattai she had blogged here. This is a very healthy steamed snack/tiffin or even a breakfast or dinner. Very flavourful and easy to make and tastes awesome! Do try this out for your family and you will agree with me.

Ingredients

Aval/Poha/Beaten rice	2 cups
Water	2 cups
Salt	1 tsp
Grated coconut	2 tblsp

To temper

Oil	2 tsp
Mustard	3/4 tsp
Urad dal	1 tsp
Channa dal	1 tblsp
Green Chilli	1
Curry leaves	1 sprig

Method

Use thick variety of aval for best result. Powder the aval coarsely in a mixer. Use juice/inch option to carefully do this evenly.
Heat a pan with oil and temper with the items given under “to temper” table.Add water, salt and bring to boil.
Add the powdered aval and mix well. cook till all water gets absorbed and the mixture resembles upma. Will take 2 minutes approximately.
Switch off the stove and add grated coconut and mix well and cool down.
Grease an idly plate and make kozhukattais out of the aval mixture and steam it for 5 minutes.

Serve hot with any chutney or sambar. It tastes as such very nice as a snack. So you can enjoy it as tiffin with tea/coffee too.

MICROWAVE CORN FLOUR HALWA| EASY DIWALI SWEET RECIPES

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:34:23 PST

This is a easy to make microwave corn flour halwa, you can make within 20 minutes. If you have un-expected guests and you want to make some sweet, you can make it so soon without sweat. This is my MIL’s trade mark sweet. She learnt it through a TV show, I think Mrs.Mallika Badrinath recipe. She makes and serves this proudly as it is made out of Microwave. And every body without fail will ask for the recipe and totally get impressed too.It uses very less ghee unlike other halwa recipe. I could not click that well to show the delicious halwa. But the recipe and the taste is the main right.. so I think you all can adjust with it…
And Before going to the recipe, I want to say a very important thing…

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS DIWALI !!

INGREDIENTS

Corn flour	1/2 cup
Sugar	1 & 1/2 cups
Water	2 cups
Ealchi powder	A pinch
Cashews	5 nos.
Ghee	2 –3 tsp
Food colour	1/2 pinch

Method

Mix corn flour,sugar,water and food colour in a large microwavable bowl, without any lumps.
Microwave in high for 6 minutes. After 4 minutes in between, mix once. Again microwave for 6 minutes, stirring in between after every 2 minutes of interval.
Fry cashews in ghee till golden brown and mix well. Grease a plate with ghee and pour in the plate and let it cool down for 1/2 hour or so. Cut into pieces and enjoy!

It has a texture just like jelly, but sure sweeter than that. Do try and you will agree that this is the easiest halwa you have ever made!

Celebrate a safe Diwali and see you all after the festival!

Notes

Stirring in between as mentioned is very important to ensure even cooking.
Do not reduce the sugar amount,as it will change the glossy look too and end up in porridge ;)
The whole process is made in microwave high power.
According to oven the cooking time varies plus or minus 2-3 minutes.
Consume within one or two days. Refrigeration changes the texture so it is not recommended.
There is a easy way to remember the recipe. 1 part corn flour,3 parts sugar,4 parts water. i.e; which ever cup u use, use the same cup and follow the ratio. Simple.

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MAGIZHAMPOO THENKUZHAL | DIWALI SNACK RECIPES

noreply@blogger.com (Raks) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:59:25 PST

Magizhampoo thenkuzhal – with coconut milk. Magizhampoo is a flower which is so small in size but smells heavenly and strongly too. They sort the flower in a thread with needle and wear in the plaits as we do jasmine. This magizhampoo thenkuzhal murukku resembles the look of sorted flowers. And I assume that’s why they call this so. We make this murukku a bit different… We make it as a mildly sweet murukku with coconut milk. So it is very very flavourful and very distinct in taste. I love it very much.
For sweetening we use sugar candies,Kalkandu ,my mom says if we use sugar for sweetening the murukku browns easily and sugar candies lessen this. I always love mild sweet snacks,like the diamond cuts snack. This is also one of those snacks I love. Also I love making this murukku because of its shape. I love making those cure swirls .

Ingredients

Idiyappam flour/Rice flour	2 cups
Roasted moong dal flour	1/4 – 1/2 cup
Coconut milk	1/4 cup
Sugar candy/kalkandu powder	2-3 tblsp
Sesame seeds	2 tsp
Ghee	2 tblsp
Salt	Use 1 tsp if flour has no salt
Oil	for deep frying

Method

We have some preparations before making the murukku. Roast moong dal/paasi paruppu till golden,cool down,powder it and sieve it. Grind 3/4 cup coconut with little warm water and extract coconut milk from it. Powder the sugar candy.
Warm the coconut milk and dissolve the powdered sugar candy in it. Use this warm milk while making dough. Take rice flour, moong dal flour,sesame seeds,ghee in a bowl and mix well. Add coconut milk and enough water gradually to make a smooth stif dough. THere should not be any cracks too.
Take the star holed plate in the murukku press and fill it with the prepared dough. Heat oil in kadai , apparently draw murukku in circles in greased ladles. Drop carefully in oil and fry in medium flame.
Fry both sides till golden colour or the bubbles ceases. Drain from oil to paper towels.

Store in airtight containers. Stays good for a 10 days. Enjoy flavourful magizhampoo murukkus!

Notes

Just 1/4 cup coconut milk is enough,use plain water for the rest. More milk makes cooking time long and harder murukku too.
Using more sweet makes the murukku brown in colour also becomes harder.
Always deep fry in medium heat.
I had already the powdered moong dal, so I have not shown those steps..hehe.
If your murukku breaks while making, try sprinkling more water and knead and try again. Use finest rice flour to avoid this.
You can also replace moong dal powder with urad dal powder.

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