Aval Vadai (Poha Vada)

Tried this from Edible Garden and it turned out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I really liked it. Thanks for the recipe :)

Ingredients:
Aval/Poha/Rice flakes - 1 cup
Gram flour - 1-2 tbsp
Rice flour - 1-2 tbsp
Salt
Onion chopped - 1/2 cup
Green chilli chopped  - 1
Hing - a pinch
Coriander leaves chopped- 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - a few
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Grated Ginger/Garlic - 1 tsp
Oil - To deep fry

Method:
Wash poha and rinse. Set aside for 10 minutes till it turns soft.
Add rest of the ingredients and form a dough. Add little water if necessary (I added less than 1/4 cup of water).
If the mixture becomes soggy, add some more rice flour/gram flour.
Shape them into 1/4 inch thick discs.
Deep fry till golden brown.
Serve hot with ketchup!

Sweet Corn Chaat

Sweet Corn Chaat - A tea time snack much healthier than cookies and junk foods.



Ingredients:
Frozen sweet corn - 1 cup
Salt
Lime juice - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - a pinch
Garam Masala/Chaat Masala - a pinch
Ground pepper - a pinch

Method:
Boil corn in water for 5 minutes.
Drain and mix in other ingredients and enjoy!

Savory Wheat Biscuits

My mom used to make this snack often and I used to love it. You can make these biscuits in huge quantities and store for a few days. I will post the sweet version later. For now, enjoy my savory version.
This is the first time I am giving step by step procedure. Hope it will be useful for you.

Ingredients:
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Green chilli - 1
Mint & Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp
Oil - To deep fry

Method:
To wheat flour, add salt, hing, softened butter, finely minced green chilli, mint and coriander leaves.
Take about 1/2 cup water (approximately) and add it little by little to the flour and knead for 10 minutes. If the dough is tight, add some more water. If it is very loose, add some flour.
Add oil at this stage and make a soft dough.



Slightly dust the surface with some flour. Take a small portion of the dough. Roll it and flatten using a rolling pin into circular shape.



The roti should neither be too thin nor thick.



Heat a griddle and cook the roti for 10 seconds on each side. It should not be cooked fully.
Repeat this procedure for rest of the rotis.



Stack them and cut into squares.



Heat oil in a pan.
When it is hot, fry the cut pieces in small batches to golden brown.



Cool completely and store in air tight containers.
Serve with tea/coffee.

Kunuku - Crispy lentil fritters

Kunuku - Does the name sound funny? I am not a big fan of kunuku. But I like to have it once in a while for a change.We usually make it when we have some left over adai(savory crepes) batter.  Instead of deep frying,  I used a kuzhipaniyaram (appe) pan and shallow fried the batter.

Ingredients:
Left over thick adai batter-Click here for recipe
Oil-To deep fry or shallow fry

Method:
If you are deep frying, heat sufficient oil in a pan. Take some left over adai batter. Shape them into small uneven balls and deep fry till golden brown.
If you are using a kuzhipaniyaram pan, grease it with oil. Heat the pan. Drop some batter in each hole and drizzle oil around the corners. When one side turns golden brown, flip and cook the other side. It takes a while to become brown and crispy. So do not be in a hurry to turn them around.
Serve hot with ketchup!

Dhokla

Picture courtesy: My husband

Mother's day is not yet over. So here's wishing all moms happy mother's day!

I was wondering what my mom's favorite dish was? I could hardly recollect 2-3 dishes. Because mom always made sure she cooked food that my Appa and I liked the most. So today, I thought why not make her favorite dhokla. I came across this recipe in Manjula's kitchen. I like watching her videos. I have even met her once in San Diego. Dhoklas came out very soft and yummy. You should try it. I followed the recipe word by word. I steamed the dhoklas in idli plates.
You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:
Mix these ingredients together and let it rest for 30 minutes:
Sooji/Rava/Semolina-1 cup
Yogurt-1 cup
Water-1/4 cup
Salt
Hing-a pinch
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Green chilli chopped-1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves(Cilantro) chopped-2 tbsp
Coconut grated-1 tbsp
Lemon juice-2 tsp

To season in 1 tbsp oil:
Jeera-1 tsp(optional)
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp

Other ingredients:
Eno fruit salt-1 tsp

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and jeera and allow it to crackle. Pour this to the batter that has been sitting for 30 minutes.
Add eno fruit salt. Mix the batter well.
Steam on high flame using greased idli plates for 12 minutes.

I am not going to buy dhokla mix from stores anymore. I have the perfect recipe now!

Eggless French Toast

I tried eggless french toast recipe from Trupti's blog sometime back and was very impressed with the results. I have made this snack several times in the last few weeks. I would like you to try it as well.

Ingredients:
Bread-4 slices(each cut into 2 pieces)

Mix the following and make a thick batter:
Rava/Sooji/Semolina-1/2 cup
Yogurt-1/2 cup
Onions chopped-a handful
1/2 Tomato chopped finely
Green chilli chopped
Coriander leaves chopped-1 tbsp
Salt
Turmeric powder-a pinch

Method:
Dip each piece of bread in the batter and coat both the sides. As the batter is thick, you might have to use your hand to place some veggie-yogurt mixture on the bread.
Heat a flat non stick pan. Add 1/2 tsp oil. Place the bread slice gently. Add few drops of oil along the edges. Cook on medium flame for about 3 minutes. Flip the bread and toast the other side for few more minutes until golden brown.
Serve with ketchup.

Note:Do not add water to the batter. The batter should be very thick.

Here are a few pictures taken during our Las Vegas trip.

This is the Strip



Hotel Bellagio and fountain show



Bellagio Lobby



Reminder:Rama Navami on April 3rd, 2009.