Tasty tiffins , Tastier snacks!

Mint Vadai – the aromatic smell of pudina ! WOW !!

Gram dhal - 1 cup

Tur dhal - ½ cup

Urad dhal - ¼ cup

Red chillies - 3,4

Fresh pudina leaves - 2 handfuls

Roasted ground nuts - 2 tbsp (powder coarse)

Mince together:

Green chillies - 3, 4

Ginger - 1 “

Salt & Oil to deep fry

Soak the dhals with red cillies for 2-3 hrs.

Drain & grind half of it fairy well, adding one half of the leaves.

Now, grind the other half, very coarse – just a few secs to crush the dhals.

Now mix both & add the rest of the pudina leaves, chopped fine, groundnuts, salt & minced green chillies-ginger.

Add to thi mixture 2 tbsp of very hot oil & mix well.

Heat oil, pat the mixture into vadais & deep fry till done.

I am posting the photos of
Pudina vadai
My GD, an aspiring cook who fried the same last evening !

 

Oats Oothappam & Cutlet - Delicious, quick & easy !

The proportion is the same for oothappam & cutlet.

For oothappam, vegetables need not be added (optional) & the dough can be loose as for oothappams. Make small oothappama like carrot oothappam.

Oats - ½ cup

Bread crumbs - ¼ cup

Fried gram powdered - ¼ cup (pottukadalai mavu)

Chopped onions - ¼ cup (optional)

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Chopped coriander leaves - 1 tbsp

Salt

Frozen boiled vegetables - ½ cup

Oil - to make

Mix all ingredients to a cutlet-like dough, adding very little water if necessary.

Shallow fry cutlets on a tava.

I am posting the photo of oats oothappam as well as cutlet.

 

Milk Vadai - A very unusual snack !

Raw rice - 1 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Water - ½ cup

Gram dhal - 3 tsp

Salt, hing

Green chillies - 2,3 minced

Ginger - 1 “ minced

Chopped curry leaves - few

.Chopped coriander leaves - few

Oil - to deep fry

Wash & drain rice thoroughly.

Soak gram dhal in water for an hour & then drain.

Boil milk with water.

When the mixture boils,add rice & stir well.

Allow to boil for a couple of mts, mixing thoroughly.

Remove from the fire, cover with a lid & leave aside for 30 mts to soften.

Grind the rice with salt & hing to a paste.

The paste should of ulundu vadai dough consistency & not loose.

It will not be very fine; add 2-3 tsp of water, if necessary.

Add minced green chillies, ginger & both the leaves.

Add drained gram dhal.

Mix thoroughly.

Heat oil in a kadai & deep fry the vadas made from the dough.

Serve hot with tomato sauce or any chutney.

For a variation, you can use coarsely powdered pepper & jeera instead of green chillies & ginger.

 

Kuzal Puttu - From scratch, but with sprouts & carrots!

Ready mix puttu flour is available; but it is easy to make at home too.
Here I have substituted grated carrots and fresh moong sprouts instead of coconut.
This gives a very nutritious and colourful puttu.
Soak 1 cup of raw rice for an hour & drain.

Spread in a cloth & dry for sometime.

Then grind to a fine flour in the mixie.

Ligtly roast on a dry kadai till fumes rise above. (aavi ponga)

Remove, sieve & cool.

Roasted flour - 1 cup

Fresh sprouts - 1 cup (or less)

Grated carrots - 1 cup ( or less)

Salt

Warm little water with salt.

Add it little by little to the flour very gradually so that the dough reaches this consistency – you should be able to hold it in your hands, but it should not be sticky at all.

Layer this, carrots & sprouts alternately & steam in the puttu kuzal.

Serve wit banana & sugar or kadalai.



Puttu kadalai:
Small brown variety kadalai ( called kothukadalai or kodakadalai in tamil ) is best suited for this.<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">
Small brown kadalai - 1 cup (soak in plenty of water with a pinch of soda overnight)<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

To grind:<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

Onions - 3 big, chopped<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

Soaked dhaniya - 2 tbsp<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

Red chillies - 5,6 (or to taste)<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

Tamarind - marble size<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

Grated coconut - 2 tbsp<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

Wash & pressurise the kadalai directly in a pressure pan for 4-5 whistles till soft.<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

Cool & remove.<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

In the same pan, heat 1 tbsp coconut oil & fry the ground paste till the raw smell goes.<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

Add the cooked kadalai, salt & [COLOR=#009900 !important]correct [COLOR=#009900 !important]amount[/COLOR] of water to get the desired consistency.<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

Cook for one whistle.<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

Cool, open & add chopped coriander leaves.<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">

It is optional to add 2 tbsp cooked kadala with the other grinding ingredients to get a thick gravy.<o style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 0px; OUTLINE-STYLE: none; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">
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Gopa Puri - try this savoury for Deepavali

Outer covering:

Maida - 1 cup

Hot ghee - 1 tbsp

Powdered pepper + jeera - 2 tsp

Salt

Milk, to knead.

Rub ghee into maida to get a bread crumb texture.

Now, add salt, pepper-jera powder & bind with enough milk to get a thick dough.

Make 16 balls.

Inner filling;

Besan - 1/3 cup

Hot oil - 2 tsp

Haldi, salt

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Water to bind.

Oil - to deep fry

Make this dough also, like the previous one & divide into 16 balls.

Roll the maida ball, keep besan ball inside & cover.

Roll to 3” diameter & prick all over with a fork.

Heat oil in a kadai & fry the puris, 3-4 at a time.

Lower the flame after dropping the puris in hot oil.

Wait till bubbles stop completely & remove.

Cool & store airtight.

 

Moong Dhal Chakli - simply melts in the mouth !

No butter or fat is added.

Rice flour - 1 cup

Yellow moong dhal - ¼ cup

Jeera - 1 tsp

Salt

Oil - to deep fry

Boil dhal till soft; drain & mash well.

Ad rice flour, jeera, salt & water to make a chappathi like dough.

Pass through the chakli mould to form small coils, drop into hot oil & fry to golden colour till done.

Be careful, the cooking is faster than regular chakli.

 

Atta – Maida Thenkuzal - unbelievably crisp & “melt in the mouth” !

Atta - 1 cup

Maida - 1 cup

Jeera - 1-2 tsp

Salt (be careful !)

Oil - to deep fry

Mix atta & maida, take in a colth, tie loosely.

Steam for 15 mts.

I usually do it in the prssure cooker, without keeping the weight.

Switch off & cool thoroughly.

Run in the mixie to break it up completely.

Sieve fine.

Add jeera, salt & water to make a dough.

Heat oil, put the dough in small quantities in thenkuzal press, drop into spirals in hot oil & deep fry.

This gets cooked very fast.

No addition of butter is necessary when making the dough.

 

Besan-Maida Chakli - Great taste, Greater Crunchiness !

This is a snack where fat is not added to ingredients, but used only for frying.

Maida - 3 cups

Besan (gram flour) - 1 cup

Seasame seeds - 3-4 tsp

Salt

Oil - to deep fy

Mix besan & maida, take in a colth, tie loosely.

Steam for 15 mts.

I usually do it in the prssure cooker, without keeping the weight.

Switch off & cool thoroughly.

Run in the mixie to break it up completely.

Sieve fine.

Add jeera, salt & water to make a dough.

Heat oil, put the dough in small quantities in chakli press, drop into spirals in hot oil & deep fry.

This gets cooked very fast.

No addition of butter is necessary when making the dough.

 

Namak Para - crisp, maida savouries !

Maida - 1 ¼ level cup

Ghee - 1 ½ tbsp

Kalonji (onion seeds) - 2 tsp

Salt ( be careful!)

Oil - to deepfry

With your palms, mix salt & ghee in abig plate.

Rub the ghee-salt mixture into maida till it resembles bread crumbs.

Add salt, kalonji & kanead with just enough water to make a thick dough.

Roll to ½ cm thick.

Cut with a sharp knife into diamond shapes.

Heat the oil & drop a few pieces.

Lower the flame & fry on a low fire till bubbles subside completely.

Cool & store the namak paras airtight.

 

Novel Thattai - Unparalleled crunchiness !

Maida is steamed to lose its glutonous effect & used.
No butter or fat is added.

Maida - 4 cups

Fried gram (pottu kadalai) - 1/3 cup

Roasted groundnuts (skin removed) - 1/3 cup

Red chilli powder - 2 tsp

Salt

Hing - 1 tsp

Oil - to deep fry

Loosely tie the maida in a cloth & steam for minimum 15 mts.

Cool, break completely by passing through a mixi for a few secs & sieve fine.

Powder fried gram & roasted peanuts, to rava like texture, not fine.

Do this if you have a mincer.

Or put in a plastic cover & roll over it with a rolling pin to crush completely.

If you are using mixi, make sure you do not make a very fine powder.

Add this to the flour, with red chilli powder, salt & hing.

Take small portions & make a dough adding water.

Take small lemon size balls & pat into discs in an oiled plastic sheeet.

Heat oil & deepfry in batches of 5, 6 till bubbles subside completely.

Cool thoroughly & store airtight.