Thattai & Awards

Thattai is my favourite snack. I luv the spicy and crispy flavour of thattai. I can munch on several of these at a time. Store bought ones never tastes good as the homemade ones. This is my first trial. I had few probs, I think i added more water than needed. When I deep fried them, it was kind of chewy in some places. Another problem was the thickness of thattai. If it was too thin, it was too crispy..if it was too thick, it was soft. I had to add more flour to overcome the water.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour
1 cup water
3/4 tsp red chilli pwd
1/4 tsp asafoetida/hing
salt to taste
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tbsps channa dal (soak in water for an hour and drain)

1 tbsp roasted dalia
1 tsp ghee or butter (optional)
roughly torn few curry leaves (optional)
oil for deep frying

Preparation:

Mix all the above ingredients to form a pliable dough. Add water slowly,the mixture should be crumbly. Make small balls of the dough and flatten to form a thin circle of diameter 2 cm . You could use a thick plastic sheet or wax paper to make the thattai. Rub your hands with oil which helps in easier flattening of the balls. Make sure to prick them with the help of a fork which helps it to stop puffing up when frying. Once gthe color changes to golden, remove from heat.

Thattai is ready!!!

Awards Time....

Lavi of Home cooked recipes has passed me 360 DEGREE FOODIE award.. Thank you so much for ur appreciation Lavi....

Shanti Kumar of Shanti's cook book and Sarah Naveen of Vazhayila has passed me an Honest scrap award... Thank you guys .. I appreciate it!!! This award comes with certain rules...

Requirements:-

1.I must thank the person who gave me the award and list their blog and link i

t2.I must list 10 honest things about myself

3.I must put a copy of Honest Scrap logo on my blog

4.I must select at least 7 other worthy blogger and list their links

5.I must notify the blogger of the award and hopefully they will follow the above three requirements also.

10 HONEST THINGS abt me...

1. I love cooking and eating!!!

2. I am a closed book to everyone except my close ones

3. I have a possessive nature towards my loved ones

4. I hate doing household chores.

5. I hate selfish people and people who takes me for granted.

6. I love shopping..

7. I am totally in Love with Kamal haasan ( thats 125% honest answer:))

8. I Luv travel..

9. I will never try anything without knowing the ingredient in it..

10. I love to be alone in solitude...

Its time to pass on to seven other friends..

Chitra of Ratatouille

Sadana & Muskan of A2z vegetarian

Poornima of Tasty treats

Lubna of Kitchen Flavours

Akal of Akal's saapadu

Pooja of My experience with cooking

Pratibha of The chef and Her Kitchen

Kothimbir Vadi/ Coriander cutlets

I have been having some problem with my feed, if u don't see my post in Ur reader list/updates please check my blog and inform me if u have any problems with my blog feed. It will help me fix the problem. Pooja of My cooking experience was very helfpul to check the feeds and get back to me immediately..thank you pooja.. She blogged about the technical issue two days ago which was an eye opener to resolve my issue.. This is gonna be another tester to make sure my blog feeds are visible in google reader.

Coming back to our recipe, Kothimbir wadi's was blogged by Nupur of One hot stove and re blogged by Poornima of Tasty treats for MBP snacks. Kothimbir is nothing but our Coriander!!! I was very much interested in it and tried it . Aw some recipe..My hubby loved it..I already made it twice...

Nupur, ur recipe is Tried, Tasted and Certified:Excellent.

Ingredients:

2 cups packed cilantro leaves, chopped fine

1 cup chickpea flour/besan

1 tbsp. rice flour

1/4 cup mixed flours (ragi or millet flour/ atta or wheat flour/ any other you have on hand)

4 green chillies, minced fine

1 tsp. ginger-garlic paste

1 tsp. sesame seeds

1 tsp. poppy seeds

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. turmeric

pinch of asafoetida

1 tsp. garam masala

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. sugar (I didnt use it)

salt to taste

Oil for frying

Preparation:

I just followed footsteps of Nupur..

1.Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, except for the oil.

2. Add enough water to make a thick batter and stir well to remove all lumps.

3. Grease a flat vessel (I sprayed cooking spray). Pour the batter into the vessel.

4. Steam for about 30 minutes till a skewer inserted in the middle comes clean.

5.Let cool, unmold and cut into slices.

6. Heat 1/4 inch oil in a skillet and fry the slices till crispy and golden.

Notes:

First time when i tried, I didnt make any changes to the recipe. Second time i made few changes to the recipe, which tasted better and made it much more healthier.

Instead of using 2 cups of besan, i used 1 cup besan and 1 cup ragi flour.

Idiyappam

Idiyappam is a famous breakfast in Kerala as well as Tamilnadu..Donno who invented it..To my knowledge puttu and idiayappam are from 'Gods own Country' Kerala. Kerala is a greenish place with trees and sea surrounding them. I have been all parts of Kerala. My favourites are Trivendrum Beach and Allepey Back waters..When I was in Coimbatore, we spend most of the vacation in kerala..I love their puttu, Idiyappam and big rice (donno the name). Idiyappam and coconut milk is lovely combo..u can just keep eating U never know how many idiyappam u had!!!

Likewise in tamilndu, Idiyappam and Paya (attukal kozhumbu) is a famous breakfast. When u add the spicy paya to the soft idiyappam..it just melts away in ur mouth..wooow what an amazing taste...mouth watering even to think about it...

Ingredients:

Idiyappam

Raw rice or Rice flour 1 cup
1 cup warm water
1 pinch of salt

Coconut milk

1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp cardamom seeds
sugar to taste

Preparation:

Traditional process:

Soak raw rice for 6 hours. Grind it to a thick batter..slightly thicker than idli batter. Heat a non stick pan and transfer the batter to the pan. Keep stirring on a low fame. Once the water is absorbed and the batter becomes thick like a soft dough. Remove from heat and let it cool down.

Fill the idiyappam press with the dough and make desired shape in idli pan. Steam it for 15 mts or until done...

Easy Process:

Mix Rice flour with warm water and salt to make a soft dough.Make sure u use a good quality rice flour. Fill the idiyappam press and make desired shape. steam till done..so easy!!!

Coconut milk:

Grind cardamom seeds to smooth powder.Mix coconut milk, sugar and cardamom powder. Heat it microwave for 3 mts..Ready...

Serve hot with coconut milk!!!

Onion Bajji

Bajji is a famous snack in India. Vazhakkai (plaintain) Bajji is well known street side food whereas onion bajji is usually made in household... as Sunday tea time snack while watching a movie in Doordarshan (DD).Good old days!!!!

When unexpected guest comes to our house during tea time, onion bajji is the life saver!!!. Everyone if us will always have onions and besan in pantry.. U can make bajji in 10 minutes...

Ingredients:

1 big onion

1/2 cup besan (kadalai maavu)

3 tbsp rice flour

1 tbsp redchilli powder

1 tbsp ghee

1/2 tsp garam masala

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

Preparation:

Cut onion in round shape. Carefully place them in chopping board...don't break into layers..

Mix besan, rice flour, ghee, salt, redchilli and garam masala. Add water slowly, and mixing the ingredients simultaneouly. The batter should be like dosa batter consistency. Immerse onion slices in batter one by one and deep fry them in the oil.. Remove from heat and place it in a paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Serve hot with tomato Ketchup!!!

Note: Just replace onion with Plaintain, Vazhakkai Bajii is ready!!

Bitter Gourd (Pavakai ) Fry

Bitter gourd or pavakai (Tamil) fry is my favourite. I will eat bitter gourd when its deep fried. In my school day, i will throw the bitter gourd poriyal from my lunch box and lie to my mom. I hated this veggie because its bitter no other flavour....Yikes.... My mother used to boil the bitter gourd strain its water, add little bit of salt... next is the interesting part. She will just drink the bitter gourd water. She used to say its very good for health, kills any worms in the tummy and so on,.. I have never tried that... Now i started cooking different dishes in bitter gourd..

Ingredients:

4 fresh bitter gourd/ pavakai

3 tbsp rice flour

1 tbsp besan

1 tbsp redchilli powder

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

Preparation::

Cut bitter gourd into small round pieces. Mix all the ingredients except oil. sprinkle water to make thick paste. Add bitter gourd pieces and mix well. Leave for 30 min to 1 hr. heat oil for deep frying. Add bitter gourd pieces one by one. Fry till golden brown. Remove from heat and strain oil with tissue paper. Rice flour makes it crispy and yummy...

Serve it with rice,sambar or any other curry...

Ribbon Pakoda/Ola Pakoda

Ribbon pakoda also known as Ola pakoda (Chennai) or Ottu Pakoda (Coimbatore) is my favourite snack!!!. During my annual holiday, i will go to my periyamma's(mother's sister) house in chennai... In the evening my periyappa will take me to the market. I was fascinated by different shops, toys, sweets ..etc and used to ask him loads of question...There is a Sweet & Savoury shop in the market, where he used to buy Ola pakoda. I think they make the best ola pakoda!!!. I don't remember the name of the shop but the taste is cherished in my memories!!.I miss those golden days...
Coming back...As this is festive season and new year around the corner.. I wanted to make ribbon pakoda at home.. Luckily I had all the ingredients and murruku Press ( u can see images from google).


Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour
1/4 cup Besan i.e chickpea flour
1/4 tsp butter (unsalted preferred)
2 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp asafoetida
1-2 tsp chilli powder (or more)
salt to taste
oil for deep frying



Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients to make dough.. Sprinkle water to make soft dough. I have added ghee to soften the texture of the pakoda.

Heat oil for deep frying.. Put the dough into murruku press and squeeze into hot oil making large circles... Fry till golden brown. The pakoda will float in oil once its fully done. Thats the correct stage to take out from oil. Place in Tissue paper to absorb any excess oil. After it reaches room temperature, store it in a air-tight container.

Note: The size of the pakoda depends upon on the murruku press.

I am Sending this to EFM-SAVORY SERIES hosted by Srilekha of Me and My KITCHEN!!!!