Vellai Karamani Bonda / Black eyed beans Bonda

Black eyed bean or black eyed pea is one of the legume varieties that i usually make sundal with. Its just soaking it in water for up to 8 hours and then cooking it till it is soft and consuming it. Obviously the next big thing is that i need to put in a lot of effort to make my kids eat it !!! (of course, showing their zero interest during the process....)

During the process of thinking how to make my kids eat these kind of stuffs in such a way they like it, VOILA.....my friend Manju introduced me to this recipe. The recipe for sure, interested me to the core to try it out immediately as an evening snack for my kids.

Due to my recently developed disease of 'learn-the-nutrition-before-cooking-or-eating', i had to make lot of research if this one is a really healthy snack since its ground. But yeah, it is really healthy and good for kidsto do this once in a while.

To learn more about black eyed beans: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-powerful-health-benefits-of-black-eyed-peas.html

Preparation time :3-4 hours
Cooking time : 30 mins
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

Black eyed beans / Vellai karamani payaru - 2 cups
Urad dal - 1 tbsp
Rice flour - 1 tbsp
Green chilly - As per taste
Ginger - a small inch sized
Curry leaves - few
Corriander leaves - few
Salt - as per taste
Oil - for deep frying


Preparation steps:

1. Soak black eyed beans for 3-4 hrs along with urad dal in hot water.
2. After 4 hrs when the beans is nicely soaked, grind it with rice flour, green chillies, ginger piece and salt.
3. Mix this with finely chopped onion,curry leaves and corriander leaves.

Tip: Do not add water while grinding. If required sprinkle very less and grind it to a nice paste

Cooking steps:

1. Heat oil in a kadai and wait till the oil is heat enough to drop the batter.
2. Take small amount of the batter and drop it in the oil very carefully.
3. Wait till the bonda turns golden brown.

4. Serve hot

Enjoy a healthy evening snack :)

Usili Kozhukattai / Ammani Kozhukattai / Steamed rice balls in dal masala

This is one of my very favorite snack item which my mom prepares. I haven't heard or tasted this anywhere else. This is healthy too as there is no need for oil except for seasoning and the entire item is steamed. Though the process is little lengthy, the finished product is too good and different from the usual deep fried snacks varieties.Here goes the recipe:

Items required:

For Rice balls:

Rice flour - 2 cups
Salt
Water

For masala dal:

Channa dal - 1 cup
Red chilly - 4
Hing - a pinch
Salt
Water

For seasoning:

Oil - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - a bunch

Method:

1. Mix rice flour, required salt and water to make it like dosa batter and keep it aside.

2. Soak channa dal in water for an hour. Then grind the soaked channa dal, red chilly, hing, salt with little amount of water. Do not add too much water. The paste should be in such a consistency that we can make balls from it.

3. Add a teaspoon of oil and half a tumbler of water in a kadai and keep it in gas flame. Once the water is heated, add the rice flour batter slowly to the kadai and keep on mixing it slowly in low flame. The batter should become a soft dough.

4. Now make small balls from the rice flour dough and place them in idly steamer.

5. Make balls of the ground dal paste and keep it in the idly steamer as well.

6. After 7 mins remove the balls from the steamer and keep it open to get cool. Put the steamed dal balls in a mixer jar and make it into smooth powder.

7. Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds. Once they start to splutter, add the curry leaves to it. Now add the steamed rice balls to it. Saute them slowly and now add the ground dal to it and mix them nicely so that the dal gets mixed with the rice balls.

8. Remove it from flame and serve hot.

Try this let me know your valuable comments :)

Bajji (Onion/Potato/Paneer)

Bajji is one of the most favourite snack item in Tamilnadu.  With the bajji batter in hand, different varieties of bajji can be made. A cup of tea and a plate of Bajji makes a perfect combo for evening.

Items Required:

For the batter:

Gram flour - 2 cups
Rice flour - 2 tablespoons
Salt
Chilly powder
Hing / perungayam
Oil - for deep frying

For the stuffing:

Onion, Potato, Raw banana or plantain, paneer - skin peeled, cleaned and cut into thin and long pieces.

Method:

Mix all the items given for the batter into a 'not so thick and not so watery' consistency. Keep it aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Once the oil is ready for deep frying, take a piece of onion, dip it in the batter and slowly leave it in the oil. Same way dip the other stuffings in the batter as well to make different types of bajjis.

Once the bajji is cooked, keep them in a tissue paper or news paper for few mins for the extra oil to be absorbed.

When the Bajji is ready, transfer them to a serving plate. Serve hot with Coconut chutney.

Try this mouth watering snack and provide your comments :)

Masala Pori/Masala puffed rice

This is a very quick and easily made snack suitable for evening tea. I had no plans to prepare this and suddenly when we searched for something to eat in the evening, i had an idea to prepare this. 2 minutes, masala pori is ready. Hear goes the recipe.

Pori/puffed rice - 1 Cup
Onion - 1 small no, cut into small pieces
Tomato - 1 small no, cut into small pieces
Salt, Turmeric powder, chilly powder - as per taste

Put everything in a big bowl, and add a pinch of turmeric powder, salt and chilly powder as per taste. Mix everything nicely and serve in bowl.

A 2 minute snack ready to be served.

Try it and provide your valuable comments :)

Pizza

Dear friends, its been a really really long time that i even opened by blog. But it has been always in my thought. Though there are not much a crowd following for my blog, i feel guilty when my friends inquire about my blog, whether its up to date or not. :)

So today am breaking the starting barrier. This auspicious day, am starting to update my blog again. Hopefully this continues and i get to learn, explore and enjoy the art of cooking...

During my short vacation to Brisbane, i got the pleasure of trying out Veg Pizza at home since we had a Microwave oven. I didnt prepare the base at home. The outcome was simply awesome and my daughter started asking me to make Pizza once in a week.

Here goes the recipe:

Pizza base - i get only those made of wheat.
Tomato puree or ketchup - Fresh tomato ketchup can be used if making puree is difficult
Mozarilla cheese
Vegetables - Onion, tomato, Capsicum(green, red and yellow colours), baby corn, mushroom
Salt
Chilly - cut into small pieces (optional)

1. Grate the cheese and keep it aside.

2. Cut all the vegetables in the equal size.

3. Take the pizza base and spread the tomato ketchup evenly on it.

4. In a microwave bowl, spread little amount of oil and put the vegetables except tomato, sprinkle little salt and keep it inside the oven for 2 minutes. The idea is to half cook the vegetables and to make it little crispier. If needed keep the veg for 30 more secs.

5. Now in the pizza base with tomato ketchup on it, spread a layer of grated cheese on top of it. Now add a layer of all the vegetables evenly. Now add another layer of cheese above the vegetables. Sprinkle very little salt over it.

6. Keep this in microwave for 2 mins. Since the vegetables are already cooked, we just need the base to become soft and cheese to melt and mix with the vegetables. If it needs little more cooking, keep it for 30 more secs.

7. Take it out and serve it with sauce.

This is my first attempt to make pizza and i was surprised to see, it came out really well. Home made hygienic pizzas that are tasty. :)

Try it and tell your comments.

Beetroot Vadai

I had to try this recipe inorder to give my daughter some snacks made with beetroot to her school. I thought she would prefer vadai with sauce and so i went for this. The vadai came out really well and i am sure children would love it.

Items required:
Channa dal (kadalai paruppu) - 2 cups
Onion - chopped
Green chilly - 4 or 5 based on the taste
Beetroot - 1 small one, peeled and grated
Oil - for deep frying
salt as required.

Method:

Soak channa dhal for a min of 2 hrs. Now grind the soaked channa dhal, green chilly, salt and a pinch of hing to a course paste. Make sure the ground paste is not too smooth. It has to be coursely ground. Now remove it from mixie jar and add the chopped onion and grated beetroot to the paste.

Keep oil in a kadai and make small flat balls from the vadai paste and slowly put it in the oil.

 

Once the vadai turns golden brown, remove it from oil and keep it aside. Serve it with chutney or with sauce

Avalakki Vadai

Hi Friends, i'm back again after a very long time. Hope i would be able to post recipes frequently hereafter :)

I saw this recipe in one of the TV cookery programs and found it so simple and delicious. So i immediatly tried this and it came out very well. This doesnt workout for people who wants to diet as its a deep fried variety and consumes little more oil than the usual vadas.

Items required:

Avalakki - Soft variety

Onion and green chillies - as required and cut into small pieces.
Curry leaves
Oil for deep frying
Salt and chilli powder as required

Method :

Wash the Avalakki in water and drain the water nicely. Add the onions, chilli, curry leaves,salt and chilli powder to the avalakki and smash the avalakki with the other items nicely so that a nice consistency is formed.

Now heat oil in a kadai and make small balls in vadai shape and drop them into the oil slowly. 

Once the vadai is done, remove from oil and keep it aside. Avalakki vadai is ready to be served now.

Thengai Maangai Kadalai sundal

This is a very quick and healthy snack which is tastier too.

Items Required:

1. Groundnut - 1 cup. Boiled and cooked.
2. Raw mango - cut into small pieces, 1 cup
3. Coconut - cut into small pieces, 1/2 cup
4. Carrot - 1 peeled and grated.
5. Onion - 1 cut into small pieces.
Salt
Coriander leaves - cut into fine pieces.

Method:

Add all the items above in a vessal and add required amount of salt. Mix them nicely and serve it.

Bread Bajji

This is one of the snack item that my husband used to tell me to try. Looks like he had tasted it during his college days and wanted to taste it again. Finally one day, i had bread and besan powder at home and i tried it. It turned out to be a very easy and tasty recipe well suited for evenings. Here is the recipe:

Items required:

Bread slices - As required. Remove the browny edges of the bread and keep them aside.
Besan powder - As required.
Salt
a pinch of hing
idly/dosa batter - 1/2 cup
Oil for deep frying

Method:

Take a bowl and add the besan flour, salt  and hing. Mix them slightly with dry hand. Now add the idly batter. Heat oil in a kadai. Once the oil is heated, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil to the besan flour. Mix them nicely and now add required amount of water and make a nice bajji batter.

Now dip the bread slices slightly on both the sides and drop it in the oil carefully. Do not dip the bread too much as it may get dissolved in the besan batter.

Once the bajji turns golden brown, remove it from oil and serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato sauce.

Try it and let me know your comments :)