Spinach Chappathi / Spinach Paratha / Palak Paratha / Green Chappathi

Spinach Chappathi / Spinach Paratha / Palak Paratha / Green Chappathi

 

School is getting started and my mind is thinking of various school lunch options, healthy dinners for the kids. Whole bag of spinach was sitting in the refrigerator and I decided to make some different variety out of it. Though Palak Paneer is our all time favourite, spinach paratha won my mind. With a tangy, spicy side dish, its a very good combination for dinner. I made Black eye beans masala in a tangy,spicy tomato gravy which makes the dinner more colourful.

Ingredients

 

For Grinding :

Spinach Leaves - 3 Cups

Green Chili - 1 Medium

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

For the Dough :

Wheat Flour - 4 Cups

Sugar - 1 Pinch

Salt - To Taste

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp

Ajwain Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Thick Curd - 1 tbsp

Grounded Paste - Add fully.

Water - Little as required for making the paratha dough.

Oil - As required.

 

 

 

Method 

• Wash the spinach leaves thoroughly and steam cook them along with green chili and cumin seeds in the kadai / pan with the lid on. No need to add water. When it gets cooked and reduced in size, grind them in a mixer grinder smoothly with no water added. Keep the green paste ready.
• In a big mixing bowl, add all the other ingredients for making the dough and the green paste too and make a smooth paste. Knead the dough well with little oil to make it more softer. Keep it aside for few minutes.
• Heat the frying pan on medium flame. Take a small ball of the paratha dough and spread the ball into a thin round paratta.
• Fry them uniformly on the heated frying pan on both sides. Apply little ghee on its top while serving for kids.
• An excellent healthy paratha for breakfast, colourful lunch for kids and delicious dinner along with a good side dish. Can be eaten at all times and loved by all ages.

 

Tips / Variations

• While kneading the dough, care should be taken while adding water. Green paste and curd should be added first while making the dough and then water should be added slowly till you get a desired consistency.
• I prefer not to add so many powders while making the dough as I wish to retain its original flavour and make it more simpler.

Vazhaipoo Adai / Banana Flower Lentils Crisp / Vaazhaipoo Adai

Vazhaipoo Adai / Banana Flower Lentils Crisp / Vaazhaipoo Adai

  

Banana Flower which is called as "Vaazhaipoo" in Tamil is a purple flower which blossoms at the edge of the banana bunch in its tree. Its widely used in many regional cuisines of India. Due to its dietary fiber and high protein value, including this healthy vegetable in our regular cooking is wiser. Also, its very good for stomach related problems. My mom often made this vegetable during our thanjavur childhood days, she generally made Vaazhaipoo Curry, Vaazhaipoo Paruppu Usili, Vadai, etc., Also I remember her Vaazhaithandu Mor Kootu which is one of my favourites. Though we dont get the Vaazhai Thandu ( Banana Stem ) here, I am lucky to see some fresh Banana Flowers atleast in a nearby China Market. Though I make many versions of food items using this great flowery vegetable, this time I made a protein rich Adai ( Lentils Dosa ) and its so... yummy and healthy. Try this out during tiffin time with a side of fresh curd and a spicy pickle. A very healthy tiffin item for all ages...

Cleaning the Banana flower seems to be a little time consuming job initially. Once you know the technique of it, its a matter of few minutes.

• Rub your hands with little oil while doing this job as your hands might turn sticky and black during this process.
• Open the purple petals one by one and take out the yellow colour florets carefully.
• Remove the two parts from every floret carefully.
• In the picture I added, I showed the two parts that are to be taken out from each floret. One part looks like a plastic ear phone and the other part is a thick long stem with a thick dot on its top.
• Chop the cleaned florets under each petal and immediately put them in a diluted buttermilk in a vessel. This is mainly to prevent colour changing.
• Follow the same process for all the petals till you notice a small cone shaped yellow tender bud. As this tender yellow cone is also highly nutritious, chop them too finely and add it to the vessel. Keep it ready.

Ingredients

Toor Dal / Thuvaram Paruppu / Kandhi pappu  - 1 Cup

Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu / Senaga pappu - 3/4 Cup

Moong Dal / Payatham Paruppu / Pesara Pappu - 1/4 Cup

Rice / Idly Rice / Par Boiled Rice - 1/2 Cup

Dry Red Chillies - 4 or 5

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Salt - As required

Curry Leaves - 1 Stem

Chopped banana flower - 2 to 3 cups.

Oil - For making the Adais / Crisps.

Method

• Soak all the dals and rice in one vessel for nearly 2 hours.
• Grind them coarsely in a mixer grinder along with dry red chillies.
• To the mix, add required amount of salt, hing, curry leaves.
• Drain the chopped banana flower florets from the diluted buttermilk vessel and add them to the Adai batter.
• Just grind it for another few seconds with these additional ingredients. Now the Adai batter is ready to make. Make sure that the batter is neither too thick nor too watery.
• Heat the griddle or frying pan  make the surface smooth and ready for making adais.
• Pour one full ladle of the adai batter and spread them uniformly and make a thin circle. Pour oil along the edges and allow them to cook on both sides.
• Flip to the other side and take out the adai from the tawa after both sides are completely cooked and crispy.
• Serve with a cup of fresh curd and a spicy pickle or chutney.

Celery Thogayal / Celery Pachidi / Celery Chutney

Celery Thogayal / Celery Pachidi / Celery Chutney

Celery Chutney/Thogayal/Pachidi was made only due to the unavailability of my regular chutney items like coconut, tomato, groundnuts, onion..at home. .All I had was only few bunches of Celery and Coriander stems which i stored in the refrigerator..And I very badly need to make some good healthy chutney for my Pongal and Dosa for the day..So, I decided to make use of  these Celery Sticks which have very less calories and more dietary fiber and they are highly recommended for weight loss. Though its best to eat raw Celery Sticks, this time I used them in our regular cuisine. The Chutney was really tasty but it would be an excellent side for our Idlies. Try to substitute this chutney during breakfast time with your regular chutney and enjoy this healthy chutney with any South Indian Tiffin items. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Ingredients

Celery Sticks - 1 Full Bunch ( Cut Celery Sticks come up to 3-4 Cups )

Coriander Stems - 1 Cup

Green Chillies - 2

Ginger - 1 Small Square

Red Chilli - 1

Tamarind - 1 small square

Jaggery - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Powder - 2 tsp

Gingelly Oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 4 or 5.

Method

1. Wash the coriander stem, celery sticks and cut them into pieces.
2. Grind them raw with green chillies, red chilli, ginger, tamarind and make a coarse paste.
3. In the frying pan, add oil first. Finish the tempering by adding little Hing,Mustard seeds and Urad dal.
4. Pour the grounded paste and add required amount of salt to the chutney.
5. Fry them in the pan till it becomes little thicker and comes to the chutney consistency.
6. Good to enjoy with hot idlies, dosa, Pongal or even with Hot rice alone.

Tips/Variations

1. As its my first trial on Celery, I don't find any tips or any variations which I could suggest at this time.You can customize in your style and try this out...But Celery is definitely an ideal choice for any cooking.

Mint Chutney / Pudina Chutney

Mint Chutney / Pudina Chutney

I  always love Pudina / Mint due to its unique flavour and refreshing taste and I never fail to keep at least one Pudina / Mint bunch in the refrigerator.  Also, the Mint Leaves have abundant health benefits. For our breakfast, I decided to make this fresh Pudina Chutney yesterday. It was very tasty and tempted us to eat more idlies.

Ingredients

Mint / Pudina Leaves - 1 Big Bunch

Coriander Leaves / Stem - 2 stems

Green Chillies - 3 Big

Ginger - 1 small square

Fresh Coconut Flakes - 1 Cup

Pottu Kadalai / Putnalu Pappu / Roasted Gram - 1 Handful

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 2 or 3

Red Chili - 1

Salt - To Taste

Oil - 2 to 3 tsp

Method

1. Wash the Mint Leaves, Coriander Stem and grind them along with Coriander Stem, Pottu kadalai, Coconut Flakes, green chillies, ginger and salt.
2. Then, do the tempering using Mustard seeds, Hing, Urad Dal and Channa Dal, dry red chilli and curry leaves and pour them over the Chutney.
3. If you want this to be little watery, you can add some water. And you can enjoy this healthy chutney in any consistency you like for any South Indian tiffin varieties like Idly, Dosa, Pongal, etc.,

Veg Semiya Upma

Veg Semiya Upma

Vegetable Semiya Upma is liked by my both kids and they call it as "Noodles Uppuma".  If you add some good , colourful veggies to this upma, it will be delicious and yummy with a nice chutney of your choice.

Ingredients

Vermicelli Semiya - 2 Cups

Olive Oil - 4 tbsp.

Salt - To Taste

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tbsp

Jeera - 1 tbsp

Urad Dal ( Ullutham Paruppu ) - 2 tsp

Channa Dal ( Kadalai Paruppu / Senagalu ) - 2 tsp

Curry leaves - 1 Stem ( if you have )

Red Chilly Dry - 1

Carrot - 1/2 Carrot nicely cut into fine small pieces / cubes.

Potato - 1 small one cut into fine small cubes.

Beans - 5 medium size beans nicely cut into small pieces.

Peas - 1 handful

Onion - 1 medium size nicely cut into small pieces.

Tomato - 1 ripe medium size cut into small cubes.

Green Chillies - 2 Big Ones or 3 Medium Ones ( Depending upon your spicy taste).

Ghee - 1 tsp ( just to add some rich flavour at the end )

Sugar - 1 small pinch.

Method

1. First, wash the vegetables and cut it into desired shapes. Keep things ready for making the Upma.
2. On the kadai , add Olive oil first. When its heated, add mustard seeds, jeera, asafoetida, urad dal ( Ullutham Paruppu ), channa dal ( kadalai Paruppu/senaga pappu) , red chilly, curry leaves, hing ( asafoetida) one by one.
3. After tempering is done, add the cut onions into the mixture. Slightly fry the onions with a pinch of salt to quicken the process.
4. Then, add the green chillies and tomato pieces into the kadai. Let the mixture cooks on a medium flame till the tomato pieces fully cooked and mashed.
5. Add all the cut vegetables into the kadai. Fry all the ingredients on medium heat till the vegetables get slowly fried, cooked and reduce little bit in its quantity.
6. Don't add any water while frying the vegetables. Cover the lid and let it cook slowly.
7. After 4-5 minutes, add 2 cups of water into the kadai.
8. Add salt to taste and a pinch of sugar into the kadai and close it. Let the vegetables get cooked and when the water boils, add the roasted vermicelli into the boiling water slowly.
9. Keep the heat on low flame while adding the vermicelli / semiya to the boiling water.
10. Mix everything in the kadai thoroughly and close the lid for the semiya to cook.
11. After 3-4 minutes, open the kadai and stir it nicely and check if the vermicelli / semiya is cooked uniformly.
12. Stir it for 2 more minutes and switch off the heat. Let it cools down for couple of minutes and it will be ready to serve.

Tips

Don't add more water while making this upma. It will make the upma very pasty and spoil it.

Allow the tomatoes to get cooked and mashed fully so that the tangyness of the tomatoes spread equally in the upma.

Variations

You can add any other vegetables you like into this upma. ( Only the ones which we use for Veg Biryani).

You can even substitute peas with groundnuts in this upma. ( Depends on availability and your taste ).

Drumstick Leaves Dal Dosa / Murungai Keerai Adai

Drumstick Leaves Dal Dosa / Murungai Keerai Adai

Adai , a lentil based dosa is loaded with lots of protein, iron and dietary fiber and good amino acids. In addition, if drumstick leaves are added to the dal mixture, it contributes more of its good nutrition to the dosa and makes it a complete healthy meal. Its an excellent meal for the kids with a combination of fresh curd. They will love it like that.

Ingredients

Boiled Rice / Idly Rice - 1 Cup

Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu / Senaga Pappu - 1/2 cup

Thoor Dal / Thuvaram Paruppu / Kandhi Pappu - 1/4 cup

Moong Dal / Payatham Paruppu / Pesara Pappu - 1/4 cup

Urad Dal / Ulutham paruppu  / Mina Pappu - 1/4 cup

Ginger - 1 small cube

Jeera - 1 tsp

Dry Red Chillies - 3 or 4 medium size

Asafoetida / Hing - 1 tsp

Salt - 1.5 tbsp ( According to your taste)

Olive Oil - For frying the Dosa

Drumstick Leaves - 1 cup

Method

1. Wash all the dals, rice and soak it in cold water for 2-3 hours. Then, drain the water and grind it coarsely ( not like a paste) along with dry red chillies, ginger piece, jeera seeds, asafoetida. Keep it aside.
2. Meantime, take out the drumstick leaves carefully from its stem, wash the leaves and slightly cut those into pieces.
3. Add the cut drumstick leaves into the dal mixture. Add 1.5 tbsp of salt to the adai mixture.
4. On medium heat, keep the dosa frying pan and put 1 tsp of oil. After its heated uniformly on all sides, spread the adai batter into a big round shaped adai.
5. Put little oil on the edges of the adai. When its cooked and fried to your satisfaction, flip it to the other side.
6. When its cooked and fried on both sides completely, take it out of the pan.
7. Continue the process for the rest of the batter and serve the adais with aviyal, fresh curd, pickle of your choice.

Variations

You can add finely cut onions into the adai mixture if you like the taste of  adai  with onions in it.

You can add more salt or red chilly based on your taste buds.

Tips

Before the frying pan gets heated uniformly, if you spread your adai on the pan, it will totally spoil the crispyness, taste of the adai. Wait till it gets heated and then spread the batter slowly on a very low flame. After you spread the adai, increase the flame to medium.

Also, you should flip it onto the next side only if the first side is done completely. Otherwise, you will end up having a soggy adai.

Wheat Rava Upma / Godhuma Rava Upma - Healthy Treat

Wheat Rava Upma / Godhuma Rava Upma - Healthy Treat

Broken Wheat Upma, a healthy Breakfast / Dinner contains low-fat, low-calorie, high dietary fiber and rich in Iron, Protein and vitamins. I always have a tendency of adding more veggies into any dish I make and this happens in this case too...and I could never make a normal, plain upma with just onion. As much as possible, I try to inject more energy into it. Due to its health benefits, I prefer this upma than the regular sooji/rava upma. Broken wheat upma is best suited for diabetic people and people who are interested in weight loss.

Ingredients

Broken Wheat ( Dalia ) -  2 Cups

Red Onion - 1/2 Big

Carrots - 1 Medium cut into small cubes

Peas - 1 Handful

Potato - 1 Medium cut into small cubes

Beans - 10 to 12 cut into small size

Salt - To Taste

Hing/Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 3 tsp

Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu / Minna Pappu - 2 tsp

Channa Dal / Kadalai Paruppu / Senaga pappu - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 Stem

Green Chillies - 3 medium

Grated Ginger - 1 tbsp or finely cut ginger - 1 tbsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method

• Wash and cut the vegetables as desired. Wash the dalia and drain it thoroughly and keep it ready.
• In the frying pan, add oil first. When it gets heated, add Hing, Mustard Seeds, Urad Dal, Channa Dal, green chillies, curry leaves, Ginger in order.
• Next add the red onion pieces and fry them for 2-3 minutes. Add all the other veggies into the pan and allow them to cook with the lid on for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the broken wheat / dalia now into the pan and mix them well.
• Fry all the contents in the pan for another 2-3 minutes.
• Add required amount of salt and 4 cups of water into the pan and cover it with the lid.
• Let them cook on a low flame till the upma gets cooked completely.
• When its done, serve this with a spicy chutney.

Tips/Variations

• If you don't like a pasty upma, try to add only 2 cups of water for 1 cup of Broken Wheat ( thicker variety ). Some varieties may need only 1.5 cups of water for a cup of Dalia. Check your variety and add water accordingly.
• Instead of peas, you can add groundnuts / peanuts in the upma. I love to have some crunchy groundnuts in the middle..

Vendhaya dosai / Menthilu Dosai / Fenugreek Seeds Dosai

Vendhaya dosai / Menthilu Dosai / Fenugreek Seeds Dosai

Vendhayam / Fenugreek / Menthilu has more medicinal effects and is used for reducing blood sugar level and blood pressure. Its very good for digestion,constipation, asthma ,head colds, etc., Its benefits are innumerable. Buttermilk with some fenugreek powder cools the body, regulates the digestion and is a perfect treat in Summer. Introducing this wonderful medicinal seed in our regular tiffin, especially to dosai is an intelligent invention by our elders. Due to this fenugreek seeds, we get crispy,crunchy dosa in golden colour. During our childhood, we used more of this dosa at home with a fresh coconut chutney and milagaipodi.

Ingredients

Par Boiled Rice or Idly Rice - 3 Cups

Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu / Minna Pappu - 1.25 Cup

Vendhayam / Fenugreek Seeds / menthilu - 3 tbsp

Salt - To taste

Olive Oil - Enough for frying the dosas.

Method

1. Wash the rice and dal thoroughly and soak them in water together in the same vessel. Add the fenugreek seeds also along with that and soak it for 4-5 hours.
2. After that, grind them in a wet grinder nicely by adding water little by little. Due to fenugreek, the batter becomes so fluffy and the quantity may be more. So, carefully grind them and store the batter in a big vessel. Add required amount of salt to the batter.
3. It might take few hours for fermentation. After its done, mix the batter and take out a portion from the big vessel.
4. To that portion, add little water and make the batter ready for making dosas.
5. On a thick dosa pan, add little oil and heat it till the kadai gets heated uniformly.
6. After that, pour a big spoonful of the batter in the center and form a big round by spreading them uniformly.
7. Add drops of oil on the sides of the dosa. Fry them on both sides till the dosa gets into golden colour.
8. Take out the crispy, crunchy golden dosa and serve this hot with a spicy chutney.
9. Continue the process for making the rest of the dosas.
10. Store the remaining batter immediately in the fridge forlater use and also to preserve its freshness.

Tips

Use a cut onion piece for cleaning the dosa pan everytime before pouring the dosa batter. This makes it easier to flip the dosas onto the other sides and dosa does not stick to the pan.

Store the dosa batter immediately into the fridge after taking some portions of the batter. Don't keep the main batter vessel next to the stove while making the dosas. This might add some sourness to the batter.

Wheat Rava Idlies

Though I am a big fan of regular Idlies, I just wanted to try the same Idli concept with wheat rava. Since few weeks, I have been planning to try this out by myself.  I substituted Idly rice ( Idly Rava ) with Wheat rava, the one that we generally use for making Uppuma. Looking at the idlies, its difficult to find out that its made out of wheat rava. As these idlies don't have any rice, I am sure that it should be a good tiffin item for diabetic people and a very healthy breakfast for all ages. With a side of good spicy chutney, these mild yellow colour idlies would definitely be added in your regular breakfast menu or dinner menu.

Ingredients

Wheat rava -  3 Cups

Urad Dal / Ulatham paruppu / Minna Pappu - 1 Cup

Fresh Coriander Leaves - 1 Handful finely shredded

Salt - To Taste

Fresh Curd - 1 / 2 Cup

For Tempering

Olive Oil - 2 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 dash

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Jeera - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 5 or 6 crushed

Black Pepper Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Method

1. Soak the wheat rava and the urad dal separately for 3-4 hours.
2. Grind the Urad Dal to a fluffy consistency like how you grind for a normal Idly.
3. Now mix the Urad dal batter with the wheat rava in a big container thoroughly.
4. Add required amount of salt to the Idly Batter and keep it for fermentation.
5. After its fermented, do tempering process with the ingredients as mentioned above with little oil and pour them over the batter.
6. Add a handful of finely shredded coriander leaves on top of it.
7. Add 0.5 cup of fresh curd to the Idly batter and mix very well.
8. Now add drops of oil into the Idly Moulds and spread the oil over the Idly plates.  Pour the idly batter over the Idly moulds upto the level equally on all the moulds.
9. Cook all the Idlies in a Idly cooker for about 10-12 minutes.
10. Check whether the Idlies are fully cooked inside. After its cooked, allow the cooker to cool down for few minutes.
11. Then open the Idly plates and carefully take out the Idlies from the Idly moulds one by one.
12. Serve the Idlies with any spicy chutney.

Variations

You can add finely shredded carrot, peas to the Idly batter and serve it to kids.

You can add a cup of sour curd to the Idly batter and can make the Idlies instantly without the process of  fermentation. But from my experience, if you make these Idlies with a slightly fermented batter, the idlies are softer and have enough moist content inside and not too dry.

You can make mini idlies with this batter and give it as an evening snack to kids.

Tips

Allow the Idly batter to ferment atleast for few hours before making the idlies.

Don't grind the batter too watery. Grind the batter to the correct Idly consistency.

Multi Beans Adai / Multi Beans Crispy Dosa

Multi Beans Adai / Multi Beans Crispy Dosa

Beans Adai with a side of a cup of Blueberry Kesari and Aviyal ( Vegetable Stew in coconut gravy ).

Legumes ( Beans ) are generally referred as "poor people's meat" but i prefer to call them as "healthy people's treat".  Legumes supply more amount of  Good Protein to the body and there are many varieties of legumes found in the world which are widely used in many cuisines across the world.

One of the important health benefits of  legumes ( beans ) is its rich source of cholesterol reducing fiber. It reduces the blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal so its a best choice for diabetic people.  It also protects against breast cancer. In addition to the high fiber content, beans also contain lots of antioxidants, folic acid and other vitamins.

Another important issue that stuck in our mind is the  gas problem due to the intake of Legumes / beans. Its natural for any human digestive system to produce gas ( intestinal gas ) during regular digestion. But after consuming beans, we might feel that excessive intestinal gas getting produced. In order to minimize this excessive intestinal gas, its always suggested in many health magazines to break down the fiber in Beans by mashing, grinding..etc., Also by adding good amount of ginger into the recipe, this problem could be minimised and helps in easy digestion.

Multi beans Adai is one of the food items I tried out last week. I followed the same method of making  traditional adai but substituted legumes ( Beans ) instead of lentils ( Dals / Paruppu ).  As I mentioned, ginger is always a good accompaniment for any legume based food item. So it is a good idea to make some spicy Ginger Chutney and serve this as a side for the Adais.

Ingredients

Black Eyed beans ( White Karamani ) - 1/4 cup

Rajma - 1/4 cup

Soy Beans - 1/4 cup

White Channa Dal ( White Kondakadalai ) - 1/4 cup

Red Moth - 1/4 cup

Brown Masoor Dal - 1/4 cup

White Beans ( Lima Beans ) - 1/4 cup

Green Gram ( Pesara pappu ) - 1/4 cup

Idly Rice - 1 Handful

Ginger -  1 inch square or 3 tbsp grated

Hing - 1 Dash

Dry Red chillies - 3 or 4

Salt - To Taste

Oil - Enough to fry the Adais on the kadai / Pan.

Method

• Soak all the Beans and rice in water for 4-5 hours. Then drain the water and grind them coarsely in a wet grinder along with ginger, dry red chillies.
• Add required amount of salt, dash of Hing, crushed curry leaves to the Adai Batter and leave it aside for an hour.
• Then, heat the frying pan and pour the Adai over the pan, spread them uniformly and make a round shaped Adai.
•  Add few drops of oil along the edges of the adai. Fry them till it turns golden brown in colour on both sides.
• Continue the process for the rest of the batter. Serve the crispy hot Beans Adai with a side of spicy Ginger Chutney and a small bowl of fresh curd.

Tips / Variations

You can add different varieties of legumes of your choice and try it out.

You can add finely grated red onion pieces into the batter and make some yummy Onion Adais too..

A Side of Aviyal is also a good choice for this Beans Adai.

Black Eyed Beans Vada / Vellai Karamani Vengaya Vadai / Alasanda Ullipaya Vadai

Black Eyed Beans Vada / Vellai Karamani Vengaya Vadai / Alasanda Ullipaya Vadai

During this vacation, I felt like making some healthy snack for the kids. Meantime, I did not want to spend more time too. Black Eyed beans vadai suddenly flashed in my mind which I made couple of times before. As black eyed beans is a good source of protein, dietary fiber, its a good choice for making the vadas. Taste of these crispy vadais is unique and to me, it has a mix of both Dal Vada and Medhu Vada. I added a bunch of spinach leaves to add more nutrient value to the snack. Try this out and serve this delicious crispy, tasty vadas to the kids..

Ingredients

Black Eyed Beans /  Alasanda / Vellai Karamani / Lobia-- 2 Cups

Urad Dal / Ulutham Paruppu / Minna Pappu - 1 tbsp

Rice Flour - 1 tbsp

Red Onion shredded - 1 to 2 cups depending on your taste.

Spinach Leaves shredded - 1.5 cups

Salt - To Taste

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Ginger - 1 small square

Green Chillies - 3 or 4

For Extra Punch to Adults

Crushed Garlic - 2 tbsp

Sombu / fennel seeds / Somfu - 1 tbsp

Fine cut green chillies - 5 or 6 big ones

Method

Soak the Black eyed beans and urad dal in warm water for 3 to 4 hours. Drain the water and grind the black eyed beans along with urad dal, ginger, green chillies to a coarse paste. Add rice flour, salt, red onion pieces, shredded spinach leaves , hing to the vadai mixture and mix everything together.  Meantime, heat oil in the frying pan. When you see some slight fumes on top of the oil, start dropping the vadas into the oil carefully. Fry them equally on both sides and drain them out of the oil when they turn into golden brown. Serve hot with hot chutneys.

Variations / Tips

No need to add water at all while grinding. If required, just sprinkle some water on its top and grind.

For adults, add the extra ingredients to the vadai mixture and make them. The vadais would exactly taste like street side hot vadas...

Bajji Platter

Bajjis are the mostly served snacks on Jaanavasam, the day before marriage in South India. On a snowy, wintery day, it will be an ideal choice to have some hot bajjis with a side of hot tea. Though bajjis are fried snacks and made with besan flour and are highly caloric, still they are tasty and mouth watering.....Well, my daughter has been asking me to make her favourite potato bajji since few weeks....and somehow it was not working out...Finally her dream came true..I made her more potato bajjis and few..chilli bajjis for my husband too. Believe me, its really difficult to resist our feelings and we did not care so much about our calorie counts on that day.!!!!

Ingredients

Potato - 3 or 4 Medium

Green Peppers - 3 or 4.

Besan Flour / Kadalai Maavu / Senapindi - 1 cup.

Rice Flour - 3 tbsp.

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Omum Seeds / Ajwain Seeds - 1 tsp

Oil - Enough to fry the Bajjis.

Method

• Wash and peel the skin of potatoes and slice them into thin rounds and put them in a bowl of hot water with some salt.
• Likewise, cut or slice the hot peppers as per your choice and put them into a separate bowl of hot water with little salt. I mainly did these steps to half cook the veggies inside and its easier for the kids to have them.
• In a vessel, add the besan flour, salt, required powders and make a smooth paste enough to coat the veggies with some water. Let the paste be not too watery..
• In a frying kadai, add some oil and heat it. When the oil gets heated up, dip the potato rounds into the bajji batter and drop them carefully into the heated oil one by one. While dropping the bajjis, reduce the flame to a low level and after dropping all the bajjis, increase the flame to a medium.
• When the bajjis turn golden brown on both sides, take them out and drain them on a flat plate with a paper tissue on it to soak the oil coming out of the bajjis...
• Similarly, soak the Hot peppers too into the batter and make Mirchi Bajjis and drain them out on a plate.
• Now the bajji platter is ready to eat with a side of tea.

Tips / Variations

You can make bajjis with any kind of vegetables like Brinjal, Onions, Zucchini, Raw banana, Paneer.

You can increase the quantity of chilli powder as per your spice level.

Methi Paratha / Methi Parata / Methi Chappathi / Methi Chapati

Fenugreek leaves , methi leaves are nature's gift to mankind. Its rich in minerals like Potassium, Calcium and Iron. Fenugreek leaves have good dietary fiber and are abundant in Vitamin C and Vitamin K..They add an excellent flavour to cooking. In our small vegetable patch, we grow methi, green peppers ( capsicum ), lady's finger(okra), tomatoes, basil this year. Out of these, methi leaves grow faster and are abundant in our garden. So, I use methi leaves in most of our regular cooking at home. This time I made methi paratha, one of our favourites at home for dinner. With a side of good creamy raita, it was delicious.  There are "n" number of ersions of methi parathas and its ratio and taste would be different in every household and I am presenting you my version of methi paratha.

Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 4 cups

Fresh Methi leaves shredded or cut - 3 cups

Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp.

Garam Masala Powder - 2 tsp

Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

White sesame seeds - 3 tbsp.

Curd or Plain Yogurt - 1 Full cup

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp

Green chilli paste - 2 tsp

Water - Enough to make the Dough.

Oil - For frying the Methi parathas.

Method

• Wash and cut the methi leaves thoroughly. Cover it with a lid and cook the leaves in the microwave for few minutes to make them softer. Keep it ready.
• On a big basin or bowl, add all the ingredients for making the dough and add water little by little.
• Make a thick dough like poori dough and add little oil in the middle of dough preparation. Knead the dough properly in order to get good methi parathas.
• Keep the dough for few hours. When you are ready to eat, heat the tawa / pan to medium.
• Using a roti maker or using manual methods, make a medium size round parathas and keep them ready.
• When the pan is ready, cook the methi parathas one by one uniformly on both sides with little oil on its side.
• Store them in a round shaped container and enjoy the hot methi parathas with a side of raita , mango chunde or tomato pachidi / pickle of your choice.
• Methi parathas can be stored for even 4-5 days and eat and its an ideal choice for travel too...

Tips

You can make methi pooris with the leftover methi paratha dough and it tastes very good. My kids loved the methi pooris very much.

Try to make the paratha dough atleast 3-4 hours before cooking the parathas.

Healthy Multigrain Bread Puttu



Since few days, I have been thinking of making something different with the big loaf of Multigrain bread remaining in the bread basket. Really bored of the regular Bread Jam, Bread Peanut butter, Bread with Nutella. Though I heard of this bread puttu from one of my friends, I never get a chance either to make it  or taste it before. I followed the regular procedure for making this puttu without a traditional puttu maker. It came out decently and it could be served with some uppuma ( with rava, semiya ) as a combo for breakfast. It will definitely be an ideal and healthy breakfast for kids. Preparation time for this puttu is also very less...So, don't get scared with the second loaf of any bread variety which you buy from the wholesale stores ( like Costco, BJs)...The second loaf can easily be consumed by making this variety too....

Ingredients

Multigrain Bread - 1 full loaf

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Cardamom Powder - 2 tsp

Cashew Nuts - 2 tbsp

Fresh Coconut flakes - 1/2 a cup

Sugar - Between 1/4 to 3/4th of a cup ( depending upon the sweetness of the bread )

Method

• Grind the remaining loaf of the Multigrain bread in a mixer grinder.
• Mix the bread puttu powder with the fresh coconut flakes and steam them together in a vessel for 5 -10 minutes. As I don't have the puttu maker, I steamed them by keeping the puttu vessel inside a big kadai and covered the kadai with the lid. After its steam cooked completely, keep the steamed puttu ready.
• On medium heat, add ghee into the kadai. When its heated, add the cashew nuts and fry them for few minutes till they get golden brown.
• Add the steamed puttu mix to the kadai.
• Add the cardamom powder and sugar to the puttu now.
• Mix them all well for few minutes and switch off the flame.
• Now the healthy puttu is ready with rich taste and good flavour.

Tips

Any variety of excess bread loaf can be converted into puttu form.!!! Though its a healthy option, multigrain puttu variety would be little heavy, so its difficult to eat more quantity whereas the wheat bread puttu is softer and can be eaten easily by kids.

Mango Kesari and Tomato Rava Bath Combo

Mango Kesari and Tomato Rava Bath Combo

To celebrate our wedding anniversary, I made another version of  Chow Chow Bath this morning for breakfast. This time, I made a combo of "Mango Kesari" and "Tomato Rava Bath/Upma".  Using this concept, try creating chow chow bath with different combinations of Kesari and Upma and enjoy...

My Hearty Thanks to all my dear blogger friends for visiting my food blog. Today I am happy to see that the Blog visits crossed 10000. Thank you all once again for your support.

Mango Kesari

I used a fresh Mango for making this yummy kesari. Peel the skin and take out all the mango flesh. Follow the same method of preparing regular kesari and add the mango flesh when rava starts cooking. For good flavour and colour, I added few strands of Saffron to this Kesari. Did not add food colour to this version. All other ingredients and method of preparation remains the same as normal kesari.

Tomato Rava Bhath / Upma

We love to have a tangy, spicy upma any time of the day. In this version, I just added 3 tomatoes along with some red onion, peas, green chillies and ginger. Again, the ingredients and the method remains the same as normal rava upma.

Plain Medhu Vadai / Urad Dal Vadai

Plain Medhu Vadai / Urad Dal Vadai

Medhu Vadai, the soft spongy and crispy rounds are always special and great to enjoy them during tiffin time, great prasadam during festival time and perfect on any occasions. I made this medhu vadai on several occasions but everytime failed to take pictures as they would disappear quickly from the serving plate. That's the main reason for the delay in posting this recipe. There are so many varieties of Vadai we could make using the same batter. I would append those varieties whenever I make in future.. These vadas can be an excellent breakfast treat with a side of cocnut chutney and sambar too....

Ingredients

Urad Dal / Minna Pappu / Ulutham Paruppu - 2 Cups

Rice Flour - 1 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Curry Leaves - 7 or 8 crushed

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Method

Soak the Urad Dal in warm water for 1-2 hours. Grind them in a wet grinder by sprinkling very little water while grinding. Do not pour more water while grinding. Try to get a fluffy batter and keep it aside. If you are using a mixie, then try to use the whipper for grinding which gives a very fluffy batter.(In my experience). To that batter, add all the other ingredients and make a small round shape with a hole in the middle ( like a mini donut ). Drop them carefully into the heated oil in the pan. Fry them on both sides till golden colour and keep doing the same for the rest of the batter. Now the golden crispy vadais are ready for Neivedhyam.

Chow Chow Bath / Kesari Kichidi Combo

Chow Chow Bath / Kesari Kichidi Combo

"Chow Chow Bath"  was first introduced to me in Bangalore. I never heard of this combo before. Initially I said no to that combo as I was unsure about its taste and ingredients. After I knew that its a combo of Rava / pineapple kesari and Rava Upma / Sooji Upma, I was quite happy and it became one of my favourites.  Whenever I go to any Darshinis, I mostly order this combo as its so yummy with a mixed taste of both sweet and salt. Kesari, a delicious mouth watering sweet always remind me of the Marriage Tiffin time and takes me to that occasion all the time. Though we all make Upma regularly, once a while we can make this combo to make the Breakfast time more special. Kids will definitely love this combo as its colourful and yummy. This recipe is dedicated to my dear daughter who loves this combo very much.

Rava Kesari :

Ingredients

Rava / Sooji - 1 Cup

Sugar - 1 Cup ( Adjust according to your taste ) 

Water - 2.5 cups to 3 cups

Ghee - 3 tbsp

Cashewnuts - 12 - 15 cashews

Cardamoms - 3 or 4

Kesar Food Colour - 1 pinch ( For colouring )

Method

• In a heavy bottomed frying pan, heat little ghee and roast the cashews till golden brown and keep it aside.
• In the same pan, add the rava/sooji and dry roast them with little ghee on a low flame. Stir constantly till it turns golden brown.
• When you get a nice aroma, add water and a pinch of kesar food colour to the roasted rava and after its cooked to desired level, add sugar to the rava and allow them to cook for few minutes.
• When it slowly comes to a pudding consistency, add the crushed cardamom powder, roasted cashews and remaining ghee and stir them thoroughly for another 3 minutes.
• Transfer them to the serving bowl and enjoy.

Sooji Upma / Rava Upma / Rava Bath / Rava Kichidi 

This is the simpler version of rava upma which i always include while making this combo. Though we make different versions of Rava kichidi for breakfast, this goes well with a spicy chutney on its side.  I will post different versions in the following posts. 

Ingredients

Rava / Sooji - 1 Cup

Oil - 2 tbsp

Hing/Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Mustard Seeds - 2 tsp

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Urad Dal / Minna Pappu / Ulutham Paruppu - 2 tsp

Channa Dal / Senaga Pappu / Kadalai Paruppu - 2 tsp

Green chillies - 3 ( slice it or cut into small pieces )

Crushed Ginger - 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 stem

Peas - 1 handful

Red Onion - 1/2 cut into small pieces.

Method

• In a heavy bottomed frying pan ( preferably Non-stick), dry roast the sooji/rava till it turns golden brown. Stir constantly so that it does not turn black. Transfer them to a plate and keep it ready.
• In the same pan, add oil first. When it gets heated, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, Hing, urad dal, channa dal. When its roasted, add the cut/sliced green chillies, ginger, curry leaves and red onion. Fry them for about 3 - 4 minutes. Add the frozen peas to the contents and fry them for another minute.
• Add 3 cups of water and required amount of salt to the pan. Cover the pan and allow them to boil for 3-4 minutes. While its boiling, reduce the flame and slowly add the rava/sooji into the water. Stir continuously while adding in order to avoid lumps in the upma. After adding the rava/sooji, mix all the contents uniformly and cover the lid till the sooji/rava gets cooked. Remove the lid and add a tsp of ghee into the upma and serve this with a side of spicy chutney.