The first time ever that I had Kuzhi Paniyaram was in this colleague`s home in Chennai. My friend`s mother had made delicious soft, fluffy paniyarams and served it ith spicy tomato chutney. I am guessing that day I lost track of the number I had at her place. Kuzhi basically means a depression” and since this is made in the tava that has little depressions, the name came to be Kuzhi Paniyaram.
Paniyarams cooking in the Paniyaram Maker.
Grand Sweets and Snacks in Adyar also serve hot Kuzhi Paniyarams made right in front of your eyes and served with Tomato Chutney. Since they are so small and so soft, ita makes an ideal snack item for the evening. It can be fixed in a jiffy and is made from Dosa Batter so even a small portion of leftover batter makes around 20-25 paniyarams. This evening my daughter wanted a filling snack and asked for dosa. The batter was already 3 days old and I was not too keen on making dosas for her. Suddenly I realised that I could make this for her and she would instantly love it as its also bite sized. Great with a hot cuppa coffee!!!
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of dosa batter.
1 Medium Onion or 2 small finely chopped.
3 green chillies finely chopped.
1 inch piece of ginger finely chopped.
A few slivers of coconut if needed.
Oil to cook.
Mustard, Curry Leaves and Hing to season.
PREPARATION:
The consistency of the batter should be just like dosa batter or else a tad loose. If it is too thick, you could thin it by adding a few spoons of coconut milk.
In a kadai, add a spoon of oil and when hot pop the mustard, curry leaves, green chillies, ginger, coconut slivers and hing and allow to saute for a minute.
Then add the chopped onions and saute well.
Add this to the dosa batter and mix it well. Add requisite salt and cilantro to garnish.
Keep the Kuzhi Paniyaram Non-Stick Plate on the stove and add one drop of oil in each depression.
Slowly pour the prepared paniyaram batter but take care that it contains itself inside the depression.
When this side is done, turn over the paniyarams to the other side using the help of a spoon or this.
When the other side is also cooked, remove and place on a tissue paper on a plate.
The word sundal to me conjures up two things – One – Navarathriwhere “Sundals” are the main naivedhyams to the Goddess Devi and two – Marina Beach where hawkers sell the awesome Thenga Manga Pattani Sundal literally which translates to Coconut Mango and Green Peas. Although my mom has never ever allowed me to even look in to the hawker`s basket, all of us cousins secretly hoped to taste it some day as the aroma wafting in the air would be simply too much for us.
Navarathri again is an altogetherly different option. Every day of Navarathri, we would be invited by the mamis next door and in the neighbouring apartments for “tamboolam“. So my sister and me would be dressed in our finest pattu pavadais, resplendant in their colours and happily go to their homes. Normally, we would be asked to sing a song on Devi, which we would and then after some time we would be given little baskets with turmeric, kumkum, and hot sundals wrapped in newspaper. As days went by, these newspaper parcels were stylishly replaces with little ziploc covers, but I missed those days of simplicity, where people had time to listen to little girls sing, enquire about each other in all sincerity, explain significances of the navarathri dolls etc.
Last night when I saw the little canister of yellow Peas in my pantry, I decided to soak it up overnight so I could make sundal the next day. Yellow Peas is an excellent source of protein as its a healthy legume. Many days, its an easy snack for the kids when they come home in the evening from school as its both healthy as well as filling.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Yellow Peas.
1/4 cup of dessicated coconut.
3 green chillies.
Salt.
Hing.
Seasoning:
Mustard, Curry Leaves.
PREPARATION:
Soak the yellow peas the previous night for about 6-8 hours. If you plan to make it for an evening snack, it is enough if you soak it that morning.
Drain all the water and pressure cook with a little salt and just enough water that they just reach the top of the vatana peas. Do not add too much that the peas drown in the water. This will render them mushy.
Switch off after 2 whistles and open after pressure is released.
Grind the coconut and green chillies without any water in to a coarse mix. Set aside.
In a kadai, add a spoon of coconut oil and when it is hot, add mustard, curry leaves and a dash of hing.
Immediately add the cooked yellow peas and a little salt and hing as required.
Garnish with the coconut-chilli mix and incorporate it well in to the peas.
Switch off the stove and serve with Sambar and Rice or as an evening snack for the kids – a healthy side/snack ready in minutes.
NOTE:
One variation is to season with only mustard and garnish with finely chopped coconut slivers, and finely chopped mango pieces. The crunchiness from the coconuts and the tang from the mangoes are incomparable.
Pooris are a favourite everywhere. My husband loves pooris and would welcome the idea If I could fnd a way to make it for him everyday!!! Pooris are a part of my childhood, as they are special sunday tiffin preps. Sunday evenings, with piping hot pooris and masal and a cup of coffee….They were also an easy day-ahead preperatory travel foods. Mom would make soft fluffy pooris and wrap them up in a layer of banana leaf and insulate them by wrapping them n newspapers – Just like in the hotels. Pooris are great with channa, masal, pickle and hey even sugar, when I was a little girl! My little one has it with Nutella or Apple Butter….
I am guessing the secret to make soft fluffy pooris is in the making of good dough thats well knead. And there is also this frying technique….Let`s go over it here. I also use a Poori Press that I bought from the Patels in Devon Avenue, Chicago for a mere 8 bucks. The best part of using the Poori Press is that even after frying 40 pooris, ,the oil stays clean and without a speck. Kneading the dough well, would anyway render soft pooris on using the manual belan or rolling pin.
Poori making in the Poori Press.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 spoons of salt
Water as accordingly.
Oil to fry the Pooris.
PREPARATION:
Pour only sufficient water and knead the dough well to make a smooth ball.
The dough should not be sticky and not too dry too.
Cover and keep for at least ten minutes, and roll in to small lime sized balls.
Use the Poori Press and make pooris which are uniform in texture and shape.
Rolled out Pooris ready to be fried.
Pour out the oil in to the kadai, and allow it to heat. The oil should be hot but not smoke.
Gently slip in the poori and allow a second for it to cook. Gently press the poori with the back of the ladle and allow it to fluff.
Now turn over and allow to cook on the other side.
Drain out the excess oil and place the fried pooris in a container lined with kitchen tissue to wear out the excess oil.
Serve Hot with Madras Poori Masal.
This is my entry for JFI-Wheat which is a brainchild of Mahanadi and hosted by RomaSpace.
Roasting the Rice Flour is again an important and integral portion of the process of making Nombu Adai. The rice flour has to be roasted on a medium flame for about 7-8 minutes until it reaches a consistency where you can pick it up and draw a line with it . It would have changed from a fresh white to a dull brown colour.
Roasted Rice FLour.
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup of rice flour.
3/4 X 2 cups of jaggery.
1 1/4 cups of water.
A handful of cooked red beans.
A pinch of elaichi powder.
1/4 cup of sliced coconut.
A drop pf ghee.
PREPARATION:
In a kadai, add the water and the jaggery and allow to boil.
Add a drop of ghee, red beans, sliced coconut, elaichi powder and stir in well.
Lower the flame, and slowly add the roasted rice powder little by little.
Use a whisk and bring the mixture together in to a smooth dough.
Use the same procedure as in the Kara Adai and flatten the balls of dough and place them on greased idli plates.
Steam the vella adai for 8 minutes on high and for another 7 mins on sim without weight.
Offer this neivedhyam HOT with uncooked butter.
HINTS:
If you find that the jaggery has given out far more water than what you have imagined and the vella adai maavu consistency is too watery, simply pour in to the idli plates, steam and enjoy hot vella adai.,
This is a dish that get twice cooked. Once when you mix and cook it in the water over the stove and the secind time when it steams in the cooker.
The MOST important step int he whole process is the roasting of the flour until its almost a dull red.
Karadaiyan Nombu is the tamil ritual where married women pray for the well being of their husbands and little girls pray to get good husbands in future. This ritual is observed at the time the tamil month of Masi ends and the month of Panguni begins. It`s believed that Savithri who was a very devout wife, saved Satyavan her husband, from Lord Yama the God of Death. In order to show her gratitude to the Lord, she quickly made “naivedhyam” out of ingredients easily available then and there and offered it to God, along with uncooked butter.I am guessing “Karadai” refers to Kara – adai which means a savoury pancake. There is also the sweetened preparation called Vella Adai. Another ritual , is to offer the adais, a fruit, butter etc to Lord, pray for one`s husband`s well being and tie the Nombu Charadu which is a yellow thread, around the neck. Following the tradition of Karadaiyan Nombu is believed to attain Dheerga Sowmangalyam ( Long Married Life).
Every year when we were small, I remember madurai amma would dutifully tie her madisar so beautifully and get ready for the vratam. Mami and me and D would help in the kitchen in rolling out the dough, flattening them on little square cut banana leaves and placing them in the idli plates. Mami would then steam them out in the cooker and place them in little casseroles. There would be no need to grease the plates as they adais would be directly placed on the idli plates flattened on to the leaves. All one has to do is pull out the leaf and place the piping hot adais on the casseroles. I would love to see the little adais with the banana leaf pattern on one side. I am guessing there is also a flavour angle here, but I can never be too sure. After making the adais, Madurai amma would have laid out little square kolams for us to place the small banana leaf in front of the altar. We would all sit on follow her cue from there. She would place, a banana, the nombu charadu, the kara adai and the vella adai on the leaf and serve a blob of butter and offer it to God. She would also place a similar leaf for the Goddess herself. After tying the charadu to the picture of the Goddess, she would tie it on her neck and then tie each of our charadu on our necks too. Then we would salute the Goddess and then partake our prasadam.
Today, as I was following Madurai amma`s traditions, teaching them to my little daughter, I am reminded of how much devotion she would put in to every festival, every ritual. Her every proportions for dishes that she had taught me over the years, still hold good. I am very lucky to be her grand daughter and to have lived with her and learnt so many things from her. The preparation for kaara adai is also her proportions which are perfect if followed correctly.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup rice flour.
Red beans – Karamani
2 cups of water.
A handful of cooked red beans (Karamani)
1/3 cup of thinly sliced coconut pieces.
1 Tsp Finely chopped Ginger.
1 spoon of salt.
2 Green chillies chopped in to fine pieces.
Curry Leaves.
Mustard to season.
PREPARATION:
Dry roast the rice flour for about 7-8 minutes till it becomes a very light shade of yellow, and keep aside.
In a kadai, add 2-3 spoons of coconut oil and when hot, add mustard. When the mustard splutters, add chopped coconut, chopped green chillies, curry leaves, cooked red beans and a pinch of hing.
Allow to saute for a few minutes and then immediately add 2 cups of water and the salt.
Allow for this to boil, like you would do for upma.
Now slowly bring the stove to SIM and add the roasted rice flour little by little.
Use a whisk to bring it all together. You will see that it becomes a nice cooked ball of rice upma.
Grease your hands and also a small ziploc cover on one side. Make a ball from the rice upma and flatten it n the ziploc cover till it becomes the size of a cookie. Make a little hole in the centre and place it on a greased idli plate.
Adai flattened on a greased ziploc cover.
Comtinue and finish the dough , place the idli plates in the cooker and steam on high for 8 mins and then simmer and cook without weight for another 7 minutes or so.
Adais ready to get steamed in the idli plates.
Remove from idli plates, and serve HOT with uncooked butter.
The most important part of the Nombu Adai is roasting the rice flour until it turns to a consistency where you can almost etch a”kolam” line with it. Not roasting it properly alters the water absorbed by the Nombu Adai. PLease take care with this.
Rice sticks are as I already mentioned one of the things that I always have handy in my kitchen pantry. Whenever things run late, or there is no time to make an elaborate dinner, my first option would be rice sticks.I have already made Quick Mango Lemon Sevai in my previous posts. I some times use the 777 Dhideer Sevai or the Special Bihon rice sticks from the chinese section from a global market or a chinese store. They all use the same ingredients rice, cornstarch and water. All you need to do it so put a pot of water to boil with some salt and a few drops of coconut oil ( I love the flavour and aroma). Pop a whole bag and cook it only for 2 minutes and set to drain on a collander. Since the rice sticks are extremely thin, make sure not to overcook them. The oil in the water, prevents them from sticking to each other.
Once the rice sticks are done, the seasonings in to flavouring them should be done as soon as possible. I had made lemon sevai and tamarind sevai for dinner yesI:terday. These are the quick recipes for the same.
LEMON SEVAI:
INGREDIENTS:
1 pack of rice sticks.
1 Lemon
3-4 chopped green chillies.
Curry Leaves.
Bengal Gram
Salt to taste
Turmeric.
Hing.
PREPARATION:
In a kadai, add 2 spoons of oil and when hot, add bengal gram, chopped green chillies, hing, curry leaves and turmeric. Make sure that the turmeric does not burn.
Switch off the flame and add the cooked rice sticks/sevai to the kadai. Mix well taking care that the sticks dont break when they are getting stirred. Add adequate salt.
Squeeze the juice from the lemon according to taste.
Serve Hot with mango pickle.
TAMARIND SEVAI:
Traditionally this was the recipe used to make tamarind sevai, but many times, I simply use store bought Pulikachal Mix or home made Puliyodharai.
INGREDIENTS:
Rice sticks cooked.
A small gooseberry shaped tamarind ball soaked in 3 spoons of water and warmed.
3-4 red chillies.
Curry Leaves.
Hing.
PREPARATION:
In the mixer, grind soaked tamarind, red chillies, salt and hing to a fine paste.
In a kadai, add a spoon of oil and when hot, add mustard, curry leaves and this ground paste.
Saute the paste in the oil until its well cooked. As the tamarind is used raw this helps in cooking the ground paste.
When well done, switch off the stove and add cooked rice sticks and stir well.
Alternatively, if you have store bought pulikachal mix simply mix it in to the cooked sevai and add some seasoning with mustard and curry leaves for added flavour and moisture.
Colourful Stuffed Dosa Rolls served with Tomato Carrot Chutney.
Dosas are always a pleasure to have at anytime. My daughter and husband, would nt mind dosa everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It`s also possible to variate the dosa with so many different sides like Tangy Tomato Gravy, Tomato Carrot Chutney, Coconut Chutney etc..Many times, I would like to supplement dosa along with some thing a little more healthier. Dosa for lunch becomes a problem as it gets very dry and brittle, and is hardly filling. Stuffed Dosas are a great lunch idea, as they are lined with a healthy chutney and layered with a stuffing that is hearty and filling, making them into bite size pieces.It`s filling, healthy, non-messy and non-fussy!!! Try it and you will love it!
INGREDIENTS:
Dosa Batter
Tomato Carrot Chutney.
Potatoes,Carrot,Onions & Peas filling.
PREPARATION:
Make soft dosas on the tava and set them aside in a casserole so they remain warm. It`s essential that the dosas for this preparation are SOFT and not brittle.
Place a dosa on your work surface. Line it with the prepared Tomato Carrot Chutney. This forms as a layer for the filling to stick, and also to keep the dosa moisturised.
Dosa lined with chutney and vegetable filling.
Spoon out enough filling to cover the top of the dosa. Do not spread near the corners of the dosa as this may spill out when you roll them.
Place a second dosa on the filling. If the dosa is warm, it will immediately stick to the filling.
Carefully roll this and slice it diagonally in to little cartwheels.
Serve with a side of Chutney or a little cup of curd.
This a great picnic snack as well as a travel snack!
Stuffed Dosa Rolls.
NOTES:
The filling could be anything that you have. Depending on the kind of filling, you could make the sauce.
If you have leftovers of a dry subzi, from the morning, you could line the dosa with pudina chutney or sweet tamarind chutney and serve with a cup of curd garnished with chat masala and cilantro.
The first time ever that I ever had Sabudana Khichdi, was when my good friend L, made it. I was so completely love with the dish…She makes it so delectable taking time to soak it to a particular consistency, sauteing it in spices, with little pieces of potatoes peeking here and there and flavours it with a flourish with roasted ground powder of red chilli and peanuts. It was unimaginably delicious…The next time around, whenever she would make it, she would reserve a small portion for me, to partake and enjoy. Sabudana Khichdi is a pretty tricky proposition …It matters how you soak the sabudana and one should not soak for too long, or in too much water that all you get is starchy mush, or on the other hand, a little less water and it would roll off like balls of mercury away from your palm.
Here I am posting my tried and tested method of making this amazing khichdi. It`s almost comfort food for me now. On a cold night, we would love to snuggle up to watch a great movie, eating cups of steaming hot khichdi….
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound of Sabudana.
1 cup of raw peanuts.
5-6 red chillis
3 Medium potatoes cut in to big cubes.
2 spoons of jeera.
5 green chillis slit vertically
Curry Leaves
Salt to taste.
A pinch of turmeric.
PREPARATION:
Depending on the time you have to prepare, first toss the sabudana in to a collander and wash it under the tap. Allow it to drain but keep the collander closed so that the moisture is retained. If you feel that the sabudana is getting too dry, go ahead and sprinkle a few drops pf water so it stays moist. Keep it this way for 3 hours at least. Just before cooking add 1 1/2 spoons of salt to the sabudana as it soaks up the salt really well.
Pop the cubed potatoes with a sprinkle of salt, in to a microwave safe glass bowl and cook it with water for 5 mins. Drain all the water after its cooked and let it stay. It will finish cooking in the khichdi.
Take a dry kadai and dry roast the peanuts first and then add the red chillis. Keep the flame on medium low and roast so that this unhurried method, enhances the flavour of the peanuts.
Grind the roasted peanuts and red chillis together to a near fine powder in a mixer and store it in a container sealed with cling film. This forms the sole “masala” for the khichdi. Make this powder ahead, so it can be used whenever you want to make this khichdi.
In a kadai, add a spoon of ghee and a spoon of oil and when it begins to smoke, toss the jeera, slit green chillis and the curry leaves.
Spluttering Jeera and Chillis...
In a few minutes, toss in the cooked potatoes which already has the salt in it and a pinch of turmeric. Saute it for a couple of minutes before adding the sabudana.
At this stage its important that the gas stays at medium low. The sabudana needs to cook in a uniform flame, in steam. So try to use a vessel thats not too high. Keep stirring every 4 minutes or so and keep covered.
Take care that the sabudana doesnt form clumps. Use a wodden spatula and keep seperating and stirring them every once in a while. At any point if you feel that the khichdi looks dry sprinkle a few drops of water.
It should take approximately 20 minutes to slow cook in steam. Now add 4-5 spoons of the peanut-chilli powder. If you feel that its too dry, add a spoon of ghee as this enhances the overall flavour.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and a spoon of coconut. Squeeze fresh lemon juice as garnish.
Keep closed until its time to serve. Best eaten HOT!!!
NOTES:
Sabudana is something that is not at all standardised in its performance, in my opinion. Every brand reacts ever so differently.
My opinion would be to try this whole thing in a quantity of say 1/2 cup. The spices are also completely left to the individual`s opinion. Try it once and then you can benchmark the spice and salt levels that work for you.
As always I am looking for newer and more innovative methods to present the same food to my daughter to spruce it up to make it look a lot more colourful and lively. There are certain food items where she also helps me making it, so there is that additional excitement, that her labour has gone into it too. I also believe that the physical presentation and appeal are quite important in itself . So I try to make the maximum use of colors to play with one another, keeping in mind not to alter the original intended taste and yet to see If I could use many items.
Yesterday we had this surprise bday party for my friend A, with the Valentine theme, and we had to decide what to chip in for starters. I offered to make these Colourful Heart Sandwiches as they are easy, fast, colourful and of course go with the theme. I had picked these lovely heart shaped cutter from Dierbergs yesterday …so I wanted to put them to use. The method is pretty much the same, only I dressed it up with half a cheddar cheese topping for the kids and pepper jacks for the adults…Here`s how..
INGREDIENTS:
2 Medium sized Potatoes.
1 Juicy Carrot.
1/4 cup of Peas.
1/2 spoon Dhania Powder.
A pinch of garam masala powder.
1 tsp salt.
Somph or Fennel Seeds to season.
Chopped Corriander.
1 loaf of White Bread / Sandwich Bread sliced.
Slices of Cheddar Cheese and Pepper Jack Cheese sliced in to triangles.
Ketchup.
PREPARATION:
It`s ok to make this filling a day ahead, If you are planning a small party or your kid`s sfriends come over for a snack, or even for a picnic.
Cook with minimal water, potatoes and carrots in the cooker with a little bit of salt. Chop the veggies roughly so they cook easily.
Take them out when cool, and roughly mash them.
In a kadai, add a spoon of oil and when smoking, add somph/fennel , chopped onions (optional) mashed veggies, peas, dhania powder, garam masala, turmeric, and salt.
Stir it all in and after 5 mins switch off the stove.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and keep your filling ready.
When it`s time to serve the sandwiches, use the cutter and cut out cute hearts from the bread slices. Save the corners as this can make you delicious bread crumbs for cutlets etc.
Lightly toast the bread hearts on a tava and arrange them on a serving platter.
Heart Shaped Cutter.
Squeeze a little ketchup on the top side of the bread hearts and spread them lightly so that the filling sticks on them.
Use a spoon and scoop a small serving of the filling on the bread hearts and spread them.
Top them with a triangular slice of Cheddar cheese.
Continue and complete all the slices with this arrangement.
Pop the entire plate in the microwave for 30 seconds. This slightly melts the cheese triangles and makes a little pocket for the filling, so it stays in to the cheese pocket.
Decorate with a squeeze of ketchup over the cheese so you get a pretty colour and flavour!!!
Watch your kids enjoy the colorful sandwiches.
HINT:
This is easily a quick fix snack for a potluck or as a starter. Use any filling that is left over in your pantry.
Also a snack that can be easily whipped up for unexpected guests.
Anubhavati -Tastes from my kitchen 