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!

Sweet Sevai (Rice Noodles flavored with jaggery and coconut)

Sevai - A type of rice noodles,  is a light tiffin/snack item flavored with lemon, coconut or jaggery.  Today I am posting the sweet version using jaggery.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
Instant Rice Noodles - 200 grams
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
Cardamom - 1/4 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Cashews - a handful
Raisins (optional) - 2 tsp

Method:
Immerse rice noodles in boiling hot water for 2 minutes and drain.
In another pan, roast cashews and raisins and set aside. In the same pan, fry coconut till it turns light golden brown.
Mix jaggery with 1/4 cup water and cardamom. Heat the mixture till jaggery dissolves in water and starts to thicken. It will take about 5 minutes. Filter the jaggery water to remove any stones.
Now mix the rice noodles, coconut, jaggery syrup and cashews and toss well.
Serve warm.

My close friend, Sharmi insisted that I should send some snack item for her event. I thought I will send this recipe.

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!

Dry Fruits Bar for "Show me your breakfast" event

I bought a pack of assorted dry fruits and nuts and thought of trying breakfast bars with it. It turned out very tasty.

Today's breakfast is Dry fruits bar, chopped strawberries and a glass of milk!

Ingredients:
Assorted dry fruits(cashews, almonds, walnuts, pistachio, hazel nuts, roasted chick peas, raisins, dry figs, dried apricots, banana chips, dried cranberries and/or any other nuts/dry fruits you like)-1 cup(approximately 1.5 tbs each dry fruit)
Dates(Seedless)-10
Cardamom-1/2 tsp

Method:
Blend all the ingredients together till the mixture becomes slightly wet from the natural oil present in the nuts. Shape them into bars.

Sending this to Show me your Breakfast! - July 10th event.

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!

Savory Onion Crackers(Low Fat)

Did you try Savory onion crackers from Red chillies site? I did and I just loved it. I am always looking for low fat snack recipes to go with tea. This one fits the bill. I made some changes to her recipe. It came out crispy and delicious. Onion gives a wonderful flavor to the crackers.

I replaced white flour with whole wheat flour and also added rice flour for crunchiness.
I eliminated butter and baking soda.

Makes about 18 crackers

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Flour(chapathi flour)-1.5 cups
Rice flour-1/2 cup
Water-1/4 cup
Oil-1/2 cup
Salt-1 tsp
Onion finely chopped-1 medium
Green chillis chopped-1
Hing-1/4 tsp(optional)
Jeera(cumin)-2 tsp
Coriander leaves(cilantro)-a handful chopped finely



Method:
Mix all the above ingredients except oil and start kneading.
Add oil little by little and knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. It should be very soft like a chapathi dough. Make small balls.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Line the baking tray with foil. Place a ball and flatten it out with your palm into thin circles.
Repeat the same with other balls.
Bake until golden brown. My oven takes longer time to bake than it should normally take. I baked it for about 45 minutes. The actual recipe says 25-30 minutes. Keep an eye on the oven and check if it is done after 25 minutes.

These can be stored in an airtight container for a few days.

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.

Chickpea Cutlets(Patties)

I have been seeing these super healthy cutlets in many blogs lately. I tried them and felt they tasted much better than regular cutlets. Here is my version of chickpea cutlets.

Ingredients:
White Chickpea(channa)-1 cup soaked in water for 8 hours
Potato(skin peeled)-1
Bread-2 slices
Coriander leaves chopped-a handful
Salt
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Garam masala powder-3/4 tsp
Kitchen king masala-1 tsp
Chilli powder

Method:
Pressure cook chickpea and potato together until soft and done(about 6-8 whistles in my cooker, but varies from one cooker to another). Set aside and let it cool. Drain the water and add spice powders, coriander leaves and salt.
Dry grind bread slices coarsely and add half of it to chickpea mixture and spread the rest in a plate.
Mash the mixture with your hand well. Form balls, flatten, coat both sides with bread crumbs.
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a flat non stick pan. Place cutlets, drizzle a few drops of oil around the corners and shallow fry on one side for about 3-4 minutes or til golden brown on low flame. Flip them around, drizzle few drops of oil and fry till golden brown for 3 minutes(on low flame).
Serve with ketchup.

This is my entry to the following events:
Sunday Snacks: Grab n Go - March 29th
Lentils Mela - March 15th
Healthy Bite: Feb 28th
My Legume Love Affair: Eighth helping - Feb 28th

Murmura chaat(Puffed rice snack)

This is a healthier version of bhel puri made with puffed rice and veggies.

Ingredients:
Murmura(or puffed rice or pori)-2 cups
Oil-1 tsp
Mustard seeds-1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Red chilli powder-1/4 tsp
Hing- 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves-a few
Salt
Onion chopped -2 tbsp
Carrot(grated)-2 tbsp
Cucumber chopped-1
Bell pepper chopped-2 tbsp
Tomato chopped-2 tbsp
Coriander leaves-to garnish
Lime juice - 1/4 tsp
Sweet chutney(optional)- but tastes good when added

Method:
Heat oil in a wide pan. Add mustard seeds followed by turmeric powder, hing, chilli powder, salt and curry leaves. When mustard seeds crackle, add murmura. Fry on low heat for a couple of minutes so that the spices get nicely mixed with murmura. Set aside.
In the same pan, add 1/2 tsp of oil, fry onions till the raw smell goes off.
Now mix onions and rest of the ingredients with murmura and stir well. Squeeze lime juice in the end or drizzle sweet chutney if you like.

Recipe for sweet chutney- You can grind some dates and tamarind(a small piece) with water to a sauce like consistency or heat 3 tbsp of jaggery mixed with very little water for 2 minutes and drizzle on top of bhel in the end.

You can also add finely chopped mango pieces for added taste.

This goes to Healthy Bite: Feb 28th event.

I would like to thank Foodbuzz for sending me a box of Quaker's True delights granola bars for tasting. They were awesome! The flavors are - Dark Chocolate Raspberry Almond, Honey Roasted Cashew Mixed Berry, Toasted Coconut Banana Macadamia Nut. Catchy names isn't it? I liked Toasted coconut bar the most. These are slightly salty and silly sweet at the same time. When this product hits the market, grab a box and try!

Chivda-Crispy Poha flavored with spices

Chivda is a Maharashtrian snack made of poha(aval) and spices. I added a few more ingredients to my liking. You can increase or decrease the quantity of each ingredient to suit your taste.

Ingredients:
Poha(thick or thin)-1 cup
Instant Oats(optional)-1/2 cup
Corn flakes-1 cup
Dried coconut flakes-1 tbsp
Oil-1 tbsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Chilli powder-as per taste
Salt
Sugar- a pinch
Curry leaves- a few sprigs
Dry roasted slivered almonds(optional)-1 tbsp
Dry roasted peanuts-1 tbsp
Hing- a pinch

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Add curry leaves, turmeric powder, chilli powder, hing. Immediately add poha. Roast on low flame for 5 minutes or until crisp. When it turns crispy(it will still be white in color during this stage), add corn flakes, oats, coconut flakes, salt, sugar, almonds and peanuts. Stir for 1 more minute and turn off the heat. Transfer the mixture to a container. Allow it to cool completely. Then store it in an air-tight container.

Note:Oats get roasted very quickly. So add it after roasting poha well.
Roasted oats give a nice aroma. So I like adding it to the mixture.

Poha(Aval) soaked in milk-in black & white?

Are you hungry and looking for a quick fix snack? Try this recipe. I have been eating this quite often ever since I saw the recipe in creative saga's blog! It hardly takes 5 minutes to prepare.
So here is the recipe..

Ingredients:
Poha-1 cup(thin variety)
Warm Milk-1/2 to 3/4 cup depending on the consistency
Almonds-5
Walnuts or Cashews-4
Sugar-2 tsp(or according to taste)
Cardamom-a pinch
Saffron(optional)-a few strands

Method:
Wash poha in water and drain. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Powder the nuts.
When poha becomes soft, add warm milk, sugar, cardamom, saffron and ground nuts. Mix well and serve.

Easy and healthy isn't it?

Baked Methi Muthiya(Savory Fenugreek Crackers)

Finally I got to bake something(after moving to this apartment) in the oven which does not have any feature except the knob to set the temperature :) It doesn't have these features-timer, light, preheating facility, display screen, clock, sound indicator, touch keypad and so on. It basically has nothing. I really wonder if it is an oven or some storage space. But I dared to bake something today. My husband is out of town and he has taken the car. It's raining cats and dogs! What else can you expect me to do at home? So I went ahead and baked Methi Muthiyas. I took the recipe from Ashwini's blog and modified it a little bit.

Ingredients:
Besan Flour(gram flour)-1/2 cup
Wheat flour-1/2 cup
Salt
Pepper
Red Chilli powder-1/4 tsp
Hing(Asafoetida)-a pinch(optional)
Kasuri Methi(dried Fenugreek leaves)-1/2 tsp
Oil-2 tbsp

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix all the ingredients except oil with little water to form a dough. Add oil to the dough and knead well. Divide the dough into small balls and place them on a greased baking pan. Flatten them into thin disks(less than 1/4 inch). Bake for 10 minutes. Take the pan out and turn over the muthiyas. Bake until crisp and golden brown(10 minutes approximately).

Low fat Dhahi Vada

Can you say no to low fat dhahi vadas? I cannot. When I first saw this recipe on Red chilli's blog (click here for the recipe), I thought it was a great idea to make dhahi vadas using kuzhi paniyaram pan. I bookmarked it immediately. Today I saw this recipe on Laavanya's blog (click here for the recipe). I couldn't stop myself from trying it out. This method hardly consumes any oil. But there is no compromise on taste. Vadas come out as soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside as deep fried ones. Many thanks to Red chills -the creator of low fat urud dal vadas :) and Laavanya for reminding me of the same. I combined both their recipes.

Ingredients:
To soak in water for 2 hrs and grind into a smooth paste adding little water(about 3tbsp)
Urud Dal-1 cup
Yellow mung dal-1/2 cup
Red chilli(optional)-1
Cashews-10

Other ingredients:
Green chilli-1 chopped finely
Ginger chopped-1/2 tsp
Salt
Hing-a pinch
Curry leaves-a few
Coriander leaves-a handful chopped
Pepper powder-1/4 tsp

For yogurt sauce:
Yogurt-2 cups
Salt
Red chilli powder- a pinch to sprinkle on top
Garam masala powder- a pinch to sprinkle on top
Coriander leaves-to garnish

Method:
Grind the soaked dals with little water to a smooth paste.
Add rest of the ingredients. Heat kuzhipaniyaram pan and put 2-3 drops of oil in each hole. Using a laddle, pour the batter on each hole. Drizzle 1 drop of oil on top of the vadas. Cover with a lid and let it cook on low flame for 2-3 minutes. Flip over and cook for 2 minutes or until they are done.

Mix all the ingredients listed under "ingredients for yogurt sauce". Tamper mustard seeds in oil and add it to yogurt sauce. Poke tiny holes on the vadas using a pin(this step is optional). Drop them in the yogurt sauce 1 hour before serving.


Note: You can grind coconut and green chilli together and add it to yogurt sauce for enhanced taste.
As Laavanya did, you can dunk the vadas in hot water, gently squeeze extra water and then put them in yogurt sauce.
Or you can even enjoy just plain vadas with coconut chutney.

Ragi Kozhakattai(Fingermillet Steamed Balls)

Ragi puttu recipe from Divya's blog seemed very easy. So I tried it today. I didn't make any changes to her recipe except that I dry roasted Rice flour for 2 minutes and added Ragi and roasted for another minute.Then I shaped them into small oval balls. It tasted more like kozhakattai to me. For original recipe, click here.

100g of Ragi has about 7 grams of protein and 3.6 grams of fiber.
I will jot down the recipe here.

Ingredients:
Ragi flour-1 cup
Rice Flour-1/4 cup
Brown Sugar-1/4 cup
Coconut-1/4 cup
Cardamom powder- a pinch

Method:
Dry roast Rice flour for 2 minutes. Then add Ragi flour and roast for another minute. Turn off the heat. Add rest of the ingredients. Sprinkle water(about 1/4 cup) little by little to wet the mixture. It should look crumbly and you should be able to roll into balls. Be very careful when adding water. Steam the balls in idli plate for 8 minutes.

This goes to the following events.

Sangeeth's Eat healthy-during pregnancy
Ramki's Recipes for the rest of us

Kuzhi Paniyaram

You need a kuzhipaniyaram pan. Any brand is ok. If you don't have this, add it to your "to buy list" when you go to India next time. Picture of the pan has been taken from here.


Ingredients:
Dosa batter-2 cups
Chopped onions-1/4 cup
Coriander leaves-handful
Jeera-1/2 tsp
Salt- a pinch
Hing-a pinch
Ginger chopped-1/2 tsp
Green chilli chopped-1/2 tsp
Curry leaves-a few

Method:
Heat kuzhi paniyaram pan. Put 2-3 drops of oil in each hole. fill each hole with the batter and drizzle a drop of oil on top. After 2-3 minutes, flip to cook the other side. Once both the sides turn golden brown, switch off and serve with ketchup or chutney.

My mom sometimes makes deep fried version of this. She adds little rice flour(to thicken the dosa batter) and other ingredients mentioned above to the dosa batter and deep fries. They are too delicious.

Bread cutlet

Bread cutlet can be made in a jiffy. It consumes less oil and yet tastes great. Another good news is-no potatoes added in this recipe, YAY!

Makes 5 Cutlets

Ingredients:
Bread slices-3-4
Coriander leaves-2 tsp chopped
Green chilli chopped-1(small)
Ginger chopped-1/2 tsp
Salt
Garam masala powder-1/4 tsp
Kitchen king masala-1/4 tsp(optional)
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Chilli powder-a pinch

To fry in 1 tsp oil:
Finely chopped onion-1/2 cup
Grated carrot-1/2 cup
Grated Zucchini(optional)-1/2 cup

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Fry the veggies for 5 minutes(sprinkle salt while frying) till they become tender.
Dip bread pieces in water and take them out immediately. Squeeze out excess water and mix the bread with the veggies and other spice powders to form a dough. Shape them into small cutlets and shallow fry in 2-3 tsp of oil till golden brown on both sides.

Aloo tikki

Here is the recipe you all have been waiting for :) This one goes to Sunshinemom's FIC brown event.

Ingredients:
Potatoes small-6
Frozen Peas-a handful
Frozen corn-a handful
Salt
Rec chilli powder-as per your taste
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Jeera-1 tsp
Kitchen king masala-1 tsp
Garam masala powder-1/2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves-1 tbsp
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Ginger chopped-1 tsp
1/2 Green chilli chopped(optional)
Spring Onions(optional)-1 tsp chopped
Oil-1-2 tbsp

Method:
Pressure cook potatoes and mash them.
Add rest of the ingredients and mix well. Make small balls and flatten them.
Heat oil a wide pan, place the patties and fry on both sides till golden brown.
Enjoy with ketchup.