Coconut Macaroons...

My coconut macaroons fetish is set in all things coconut.. coconut burfi, ada filled with coconut, plantains filled with coconut, flattened rice or aval mixed with coconut, ari undas, coconut based chocolates, upma crunchied up with a dash of coconut....or just fresh coconut (harvest fresh)with a piece of jaggery is soooo good. How can you not like coconut? Especially if you have a tropical gene in you? No offense, but you must be a mutant if you are from the coast and don't like coconut. But seriously, I know a lot of people who prefer chocolate everything to coconut. 


 I used to volunteer to grate coconut for my mom (now my cherava/ grater is gathering dust while I rely on the frozen grated coconut.:)) only to stop after the first few seconds of grating to scoop up the first soft bits of moist shredded coconut and chew on it. Sadly, you can't do that with the frozen coconut.
Along with the hazaar coconut based curries that only a malayalee can dream of, Mom makes yummy coconut burfi, a kind of chewy candy with fresh coconut which I don't even bother trying to make. I just wait to go home and then ask her to make a big batch.
But these macaroons are much easier and fill the need for a coconut candy. The internet abounds in macaroon recipes so why add another of mine? Only for my own reference, as after two months when I decide to make it again, I won't remember how I did it!!


So what is a macaroon?
As per the wiki, the original macaroon was a "small sweet cake consisting largely of ground almonds" similar to Italian or Moroccan amaretti. Most recipes call for egg whites (usually whipped to stiff peaks), with ground or powdered nuts, generally almond or coconut. There was an abundance of macaroon fever going around the blogosphere some time back with macaroons of every color and flavor being made.  Those gorgeous looking ones in pastel colors with fillings are the French macaroons. The Italian ones are the almond macaroons which are a chewy crunchy cookies, pretty easy to make for a non baker like me,( though the first time I made it, I soaked almonds and peeled it one by one instead of blanching it.)
But when I decided to go in for coconut macaroons, it got ugly..It is so confusing to sift through the recipes..should i add whole egg or flour or just egg whites..?some overkill it by adding condensed milk, almonds and egg whites..and then dipping the whole thing in chocolate!

This recipe originated in Nigella Lawson's book but I didn't add the cream of tartar. The cream of tartar helps stabilize the egg whites, but its not super important. I followed the instructions as is, but added a teaspoon of flour to make it hold its shape. The more the almond meal in the recipe, or less the coconut, the better is the shape.

Here is the link for those who want to try it and here is a wonderful site to see the step by step directions. The other recipe I trust is the one from the Joy of Baking site.

It came out really crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside but after a day, it turned soft.. any body knows why? or is it supposed to do that?

Then my sis suggested making the macaroons with condensed milk to be egg free and the next batch of the cookies, I tried out this recipe, but again had to omit something.  So I omitted the semolina and nuts but added the cardamom. This recipe had the really chewy  burfi like taste to it so I tended to like this better. The condensed milk and the cardamom added a depth and maybe Indianised it to an extend. I used store bought sweetened shredded coconut that is so easily available here, but I am sure this can be tried with fresh coconut too. So here is my version of the recipe:

Eggless Coconut Macaroons 
Sweetened condensed milk – 7 ounce or 1/2 can
All purpose flour – 1/4 cup
Sweetened shredded coconut – 2.5 cups( 7 ounce package)
Cardamom powder – 1 teaspoon

Preparation:
Preheat oven 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. 


 In a  large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, flour, coconut and cardamom powder and stir well to combine. If the mix is too hard, add 1 tbsp of milk.  


Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets in slight mounds, 2 inches apart.  You will get about 20- 24 mounds depending on size.


Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Let the macaroons cool on a wire rack as they will turn slightly moist if allowed to cool down on the parchment. Only after it has completely cooled down, store loosely covered at room temperature.
I like mine really crisp outside so I baked it for a minute or two more to get this extra brown look.

Meen Pathiri/ Steamed Fish Pancakes

One of my favorites from Malabar cuisine is meen pathiri i.e. rice pancakes stuffed with fish and steamed..is that an accurate description of such a balances of flavors? or is fish pie a better title? Trying to explain traditional cuisine to those who haven't tasted needs a stretch of imagination in terms of the language and ingredients.
This is another of those traditional Malabar recipes that is getting endangered and should be on a protected list..They were (and maybe still) are so commonplace in our houses but you might be more familiar with it through the travel cookery shows in Kerala where they are deemed exotic and laborious.


Pathiri is a term used loosely in Malabar region of Kerala to mean roti/chappathi/ or flatbread. The prefix of the word" pathiri" decides what kind it is..godumbu pathiri is made of godambu,i.e.wheat, ari pathiri is made of rice flour, erachi pathiri, has erachi /meat stuffed in it, meen pathiri has meen,/fish stuffed in it and so on.
This fish pathiri is made with Kng fish/Aikora or with Mackarel/ Aila or even with Sardines/ Mathi. When pressed for time, I have made this with canned tuna, canned sardines and it tastes passably good.

Potato Samosas..

It's a nice morning, its sunny and warm and I am planning to make a cake, maybe an elaborate meal, maybe go out and get the flowers I bought last week planted , maybe weed a bit......but all end up castles in the air, as finally my little one decides what I should do and should not do and zaps my energy.

My friend calls up and asks me if I am going to buy potatoes.. I hedge and say I don't feel like going out, thinking she is asking me to leave the comfort of my home on such a busy day..but she was just saying..don't buy potatoes, she just bought a sack of giant oversized baking potatoes and was sending some over.

So how big can they be? Well, they turn out to be a pound each, about the size of my palm and fat. What is the first thing that would come to your mind with potatoes?
Puri Bhaji? Aloo subji? Baked potatoes? Mashed potatoes?
Guess where my mind wandered to? Samosas..Giant crisp hot, mouth burning hot samosas!

I don't usually bother making these Potato samosas... the Delhi style.. love those monstrous sized flaky pastry filled with spiced potatoes, not like the petite Malabar meat samosas and not like the cocktail itsy bitsy samosas made in spring roll wrappers. We usually drive down to buy these samosas from a restaurant nearby or just use the freezer ones.

In my days in Delhi, there was a wonderful samosa shop in our shopping area...walking distance, no need for a car!!
Some evenings,(when mom didn't make something yummy) I used to run down to that halwai and order a fresh batch of samosas and garam garam jalebis.
You can't enter the shop..its a dirty mess of cooking..more like a kitchen in action..people hustling about, kneading, pouring, mixing..all labor intensive actions, while the halwai, a jovial fat guy in a dhoti sat near a couple of large cast iron woks, stirring and frying jalebis in one and samosas in the other.
Visions were flashing... waiting for the fresh samosas to be dunked into the oil..they sink deep down into the wat of oil as they are slid in and then surface up for air as they get fried and puff up. ...and the rush to get home before it cools down and then munching them with pudina/Mint chutney and tamarind chutney..and hot dripping jalebis!!

For me, samosas and jalebis always go together...now though they are both in a different country and divorced and living separately. The crust of those samosas were like eating Matri, a flaky crunchy fried circle of maida that's eaten with tea/coffee as a snack.

Anyway, I had to make them and I did have a recipe that I used to use in my torn old book. My crust is not as flaky as the store bought one but then that's due to the water I mix the dough. For flakier crust, use more oil and very little water. It's almost like making pastry dough. And though the size of these samosas turned out to be small( i can only make the Malabar sized ones!!) and the taste is nowhere near the ones from my memories, the exercise in making these samosas was fun.


You Will Need:
Potatoes: 250 gm, or two giant baking potatoes
Onion- 1 medium sized one
Green Chilies-3-4
Ginger Grated-1 tsp
Green Peas- 1 cup cooked
Coriander(whole) -1 tsp, crushed coarsely
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Aamchoor/Dry Mango Powder-1 tsp
Red Chili Powder-1 tsp
Garam Masala powder- a pinch.
Salt
Cilantro leaves- 3 tbsp chopped

Preparation:
Boil the potatoes (as a whole in the pressure cooker or cut up and boiled in lots of water and drained.)Peel the potatoes and smash them into small pieces. There should be some tiny lumps, not big chinks.

Chop the onions finely and fry them in very little oil till they turn transparent and then add the chilies, ginger, boiled peas, crushed coriander, and all other spices. Add the potatoes too and mix well. Taste and add salt as needed. Add more or less of spices. It should be spicy and tangy. Add the cilantro leaves in the end.

Prepare the dough: Mix 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour with 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1/2 tsp salt. Add 3 tbsp heated ghee or oil and mix well into crumbles. Add water little by little( you will need about 1 cup of water) till it forms into a tight but pliable dough. Use more oil and less water if you prefer. Let it rest for at least 20 minutes before rolling out. The crust doesn't puff up like puris, just stays as layers and layers of crispiness. Piercing the rolled dough before filling it helps. If the dough feels too springy, let it rest for a minute in between rolling out.

I make the samosas by rolling out the dough into a big thick circle and then cutting it into 4. See the photorial here. But this is another method I saw online and maybe easier for most people. For me, the quarter method is much faster, though the samosas are smaller..maybe better for our waists.:)

Divide the dough into equal balls. Apply a little dry flour to each ball when rolling into a circle of 4″ diameter. Cut each circle into two and lightly dampen the edges of each semicircle with water. Shape each semicircle onto a cone by pressing the cut edges together. Place a spoonful of the potato-pea filling into the cone and seal the edges well (apply some water on the edges if they do not seal well). Repeat this procedure with the rest of the balls.

Deep fry in medium-hot peanut oil in batches on medium flame till crisp and golden brown. Remove onto a paper towel. Serve with pudina and tamarind chutney.

Pazham Pori or is it Appam? /Smushy Plantain Fritters

If I stay away from the computer for too long then I feel hesitant to come back and blog..it's like entering a party late and hoping you haven't missed out on the happenings.
I had another exam to cover last week and I had a blogging ban by my better half so resisted spending all my online time surfing aimlessly. So I wrote anyway but put all my thoughts into draft, saving it with the intention of blogging everyday! This week, kept wondering which one to start with and hesitated...finally got tired of seeing the same post and decided to change it before people unsubscribe to my feed burner!

The weather is changing for the better and the days are getting longer, meaning I am out of the house longer... taking the kids to their myriad activities and then to the park etc..Dinner seems to come in the way of savoring the sunlight. It's so beautiful all around now... with all the dry dead brushes and bare branches all covered with flowers and leaves.

When there is so much greenery sprouting around, it's hard to sit down and put it into words. The lushness of the new leaves, the soft carpets of the lawns, the feathery leaves on the trees....the light green reminds me of the diminishing paddy fields but only just so.. the green in Kerala is a vivid green, contrasting so deeply with the red laterite soil that it stays in the mind long after the image has faded.

Laterite is quarried and cut into blocks and used as brickstones for house-building. They are used for rough walls between properties and for lining wells and ponds. The laterite is a soft stone with surface texture and it allows the roots of the plants to penetrate it, becoming a planting bed if the surface is not closed with plaster. When the walls are broken down, the blocks are crumbled and worked back into the earth

The rambling vines and undergrowth cover every inch of the laterite walls to create a symphony of varying shades of green and red. The undergrowth is always renewing itself and the color is always lush. Truly an organic and sustainable building material!!!

Here in two more weeks, the lushness will give away to a dull green, as if the leaves were forever there and the greenery will fade into the background. The lawns will slowly reveal what they really are.. just dry wild grass forced into submission by weekly (expensive) mowing and endless watering...the trappings of suburbia.



But let's enjoy the intermittent spring showers and new growth it brings. What's the best way to celebrate this cool weather? Maybe fry up some fritters and a cup of tea...hmm...maybe masala tea. These plantain fritters can be made with regular bananas too. I end up making this whenever I buy plantains and they get too ripe too soon.

You will need:
Fully ripe blackish colored plantains-2
All Purpose Unbleached Flour (Maida)-1 cup
Rice flour (optional)- 1 tbsp
Sugar -1tbsp
Kalonji/Onion Seeds - a pinch
Water - 1/4 cup
Salt -a very small pinch.
Oil - for frying

Preparation Method:

1. Peel and cut the ripe banana into 2 sections. (Wash your hands well if you are using hands.) Then smash the banana with your hands into a mushy mess. It should have some lumps left for texture and should not be a puree. This is fun.... you could even get your kids to do it. They enjoy the messiness of the banana squirting thru the fingers.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together and then add water slowly while stirring to make a smooth paste. It should be lump free and not too watery. If it does become watery, add a little more flour. Add the banana and mix it well.
3. Heat oil in a skillet. You could fry this in a Unniappam chatti/Aebleskiver Pan too.
4. Slowly slide one spoonful/dollop of the banana mix into the oil.You could fry 4 or 5 at a time based on the size of your pan. Deep fry on medium heat till it turns a golden brown. Make sure the oil is hot before adding the batter. (It's hot if you put a drop of the batter and it rises to the top in a second.)If the oil is not hot enough, the fritters will absorb too much oil. Once it heats up, you could reduce it to medium heat. Drain onto paper towels and serve.

Soy Cutlets...

Last week, I opened my pantry and it seemed to have a taken a life of its own, growing and reproducing more than I actually stored in it. For every box that I take out, two more fall out from behind it. However organized the pantry is, after the kids ransack through it and I shove stuff into it, during instant clean ups, it gets messy soon enough.
Every 2-3 months, I have to reorganize and take stock of the endless grocery outings. I am sure all of you have had this experience at least once. So I set out to clean it and guess what I found? Amongst all the spice jars and sauces and powders, there was a packet of Nutrela Soy Chunks that I had bought in the hope and dream of feeding my family healthy food. Once I followed a Sanjeev Kapoor recipe of soaking the soy in milk and making a subji with it, but that turned out to be too sweet. Unfortunately, soy was a failure as a stir fry, as a subji, as a curry and now it lay neglected and unwanted in the corner.

Soy is the poor man's meat..it looks like meat( vegetarians will disagree!!)though it doesn't taste anywhere near meat!!So I minced it and treated it exactly the way I cook with minced meat..sauteed with onions and spices and then mixed with potatoes..viola.. there you have it..soy cutlets...other than the slight taste of soy, the cutlet sensation took over and the chewy granules makes it taste just like meat cutlets.

Vegetarians may wonder why the emphasis on meat cutlets, given that they may like the taste of soy as is, but meat lovers will understand the point. If I made it into a tikki, it just tastes weird and chewy. Getting a meat loving household to try anything remotely soy and healthy is a challenge and when they like it, it is worth blogging. Try it and let me know if it passed in your house or not.

You will need: To make 10-12 cutlets

Nutrela Soy chunks- 1 cup
White Potato-3 medium sized
Onions- 2 medium sized ones
Green chilies- 8
Roasted Coriander Powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric- A pinch
Ginger-garlic paste-1 1/2 tsp
Black pepper- 2 tsp
Biryani Masala/Garam masala- ½ tsp (optional)
Lemon juice- 2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves- 1 cup chopped finely
Canola Oil- ½ cup
Egg –1
Bread crumbs- 1 cup
Preparation:
1. Soak the soy chunks in warm water for half hour and then squeeze out every ounce of water from it. Mince the soy chunks in a mixer/food processor without water.
Chop the onions, garlic and chilies finely and put in a shallow pan, with 1 or 2 tbsp oil. Let it saute for 5 minutes and then add the minced granules, turmeric,and coriander powder. Keep stirring to prevent any particles from sticking to the pan. 2. After 10 minutes, take the mixture off the flame and add the lemon juice, garam masala and pepper.
3. Meanwhile, wash each of the potatoes, wipe them dry and cover with plastic wrap. Place them in the microwave and adjust the setting for the baked potatoes. All the potatoes can be cooked at the same time. Alternatively, the washed potatoes can be pressure cooked with ½ cup water for a single whistle.
4. Peel the potatoes and mash them with your hands/potato masher or the back of a spoon. There should be no lumps.
5. Add the soy mixture to the potato, and add the chopped coriander leaves and salt. Mix and taste and add more salt or lemon juice if needed.
6. Make lemon sized balls of the mixture and shape it into an oval or round shape.
Beat the egg (Use just the egg whites) with a pinch of salt. Keep a plate with bread crumbs also ready.
7. Dip each oval ball into the egg and then into the bread crumbs. Give it a final shaping.
8. Heat little oil (should cover the cutlets only half way) in a pan and shallow fry the cutlets till brown on either side. Serve with ketchup/chutney.

Love Letters../Mutta kuzhalappam /Madukku San...

Oct 10th was the first day of our college life.I wonder if any of my old hostel mates and friends remember that. My hostel days were best enjoyed at the evening tea time... we get back from a hard day (:))!!!)at the college, tired and hungry and rush to the mess. A cup of tea with the snack of the day and we all sat down on the steps trading gossip and news about co-hostelers, classmates, teachers..no one was spared. A lot of laughter and leg pulling punctuated our nonstop talking.

The steps were a important element in the Hostel's layout. The hostel's plan was a large octagon encircling a courtyard. There were only two diagonal points of entry stepping into the courtyard..one at the entrance and one on the other side of the courtyard...critically located just outside the TV room, en route to the mess(cafeteria). To reach any room, you could either cut across through the courtyard or take the long route around inside the walls.

Sitting at the steps opening into the courtyard was the final rung in the hierarchy of the senior -junior relationships. The freshers at the beginning of a year would skitter away from the steps, walking briskly, almost hugging the walls, trying not to meet any one's eyes to escape the senior's questioning, taking the longest possible route to get back to their dorms. But by the end of the year, most of them would be leisurely sharing a laugh with the same seniors and awaiting the next batch of freshers with relish.

The rush to the mess was to get the tea as hot as possible and to test our luck with the snacks. The mess was (is?) ruled by the three top (iron) chefs, "chechis"/ladies who could only be called "prosperous" to be politically correct. Looking at them , you could understand why the hostel inmates always looked hungry..(as the guys used to tease us saying we get only kanchi-payar in our cafeteria).

The snacks ranged from Uzhunnu Vada, which was pretty good to sukiyan, which I never endeared to, to dried up tea cakes wrapped in old parchment. Sometimes the snacks were so horrible that you just wanted to trade them away and sometimes they were the only redeeming feature of the whole day's menu.


Love letters, as the mess cooks called it, was something that had a taste and resembled good food reworked into mass quantities. It was a thin layer of a crepe like soft roll filled with coconut and sugar that oozed out when you bit into it. I tolerated it at first but over the years there, slowly got a fondness for it. We did wonder why they called it "love letters" though. Probably due to its scroll like design.

Mishmash and Ian gave me two other commons names for these crepes, Mutta kuzhalappam and Madukku San which is what you must be familiar with so I have added that to the title now.

This is one versatile pancake or crepe or love letters, whatever you want to call it. Just like crepes but much easier and lighter in preparation, they are a bland backdrop to any filling that can flavor it..sweet or spicy.


You Will Need:For about 8-10 crepes
All Purpose Flour/Maida: 1 1/2 cup
Egg -1
Milk -About 2 to 1 1/2 cups
Salt - a pinch

Preparation:
Lightly beat the egg and then add to the flour with salt and milk. You could replace 1/3 of the milk with water with no taste difference. Whisk everything till its well combined and of a pourable consistency. Heat the griddle/ non stick pan and lightly grease it as you would do for a dosa or pancake. When the pan is medium hot, lower the heat and pour one small ladle of the batter. Quickly spread it in an even circular motion, making sure there is only a thin layer everywhere. As soon as the crepe changes color to a golden brown and the underside comes off in one sweep, its' cooked. It takes less than a minute to get one done. Remove to a plate, and spread filling of your choice and roll.

Ghee-sugar: Spread a thin layer of ghee (clarified butter) on the hot crepe/love letter and sprinkle sugar evenly. Start rolling from one side tightly to get the roll.

Coconut-Sugar: Toast the coconut on medium heat for 2 minutes and then add sugar (to taste) and stir till the sugar melts and the coconut is sweetened. Add cardamom powder for a spice kick.

Coconut-Jaggery: Same method as above but add melted and filtered jaggery syrup to the coconut. Substitute with brown sugar to save time. Add chopped ripe plantains as an option.

Apple pie filling: Apples cut into tiny pieces, cooked with cinnamon and sugar till they turn soft and gooey.

Spicy Filling: any of the fillings used in the erachi samosa/meat samosa or the meen pathiri/fish pie will go well with this.

Chattipathiri...

See this link of Images of Ramadan in the Boston.com for a humbling experience to make you thankful for every single blessing you have received whether it's good health or prosperity or a warm home or just food on the table. It's beautiful to see the variations and commonality of the different people observing the fasts.

I have been busy with exams and a bathroom renovation so haven't got the time recently to blog as many Ramadan food as I would have liked to. The one full bath in the house is now demolished and is a pile of ceramic and dust and its the hope of two shiny new bathrooms that keeps us going.
When I sit on the computer, there is a constant cacophony of construction noises upstairs and I wonder whether the ceiling will fall on us with the guys banging away carelessly. The ceiling even got a couple of small holes and a bolt poking through!! When the emphasis is how to get rid of the dust that seems to be everywhere now, selecting tiles and colors and whose house do we go to for today's shower, cooking tends to take a back seat. Even my dreams have tile patterns on them now.:)

So I am posting a traditional recipe which was made sometime back and which was not posted earlier as I didn't have a cut photo for it.. it got served and finished before I could get the camera.
Chattipathiri, the original crepe cake made at a time when wood burning stoves were more common than ovens and baking powder. It's an unleavened cake made by layers of chapathis or rotis(similar to tortillas) interspersed with eggs, nuts and raisins, all submerged in a egg and milk custard which binds it together when baked. Decadent and definitely not healthy but so yum that you have to have it at the end of a fasting day..and on Eid and on festivals, and at salakarams, and on any special day..It just makes the day special just like having a cake center table makes you ask, "what's the occassion?"
It's similar to the Arab dessert Umm Ali and creamier cousin of bread pudding.
Chattipathiri is the epitome of Malabar cooking and making a good one is an art as well as matter or pride. It should have been on my blog a long time ago but I hesitated as this is definitely not a beginner recipe and needs experience to get it just perfect each time. There are so many things that can go wrong with the preparation and I am no expert to resolve all the issues. So try it and give me the feedback and if there are experts out there, send me pointers that I can add to this recipe.
Chapathis ready for layering...

Cashew filling...

Egg Filling...

Layering in a baking dish..

You Will Need:
For the chapathis( 6-7 layers):
All purpose flour-2 cup
Salt -a pinch
Water as needed to make dough.

For the filling:
Eggs-6-7
Milk-1 cup
Sugar-3/4 cup
Ghee +Oil-1/4 cup Ghee+1/2 cup oil.
Raisins-2 tablespoon
Cashew-2 tablespoon
Poppy seeds/Khus Khus-1 tablespoon
Cardamom-8 crushed into powder

Preparation:
1.Make the dough for the chapathis by mixing the water and flour and salt. The dough should be soft and pliable. Divide it into lemon sized balls and roll out the chapathis thinly. Heat a griddle/tawa and cook each chapathi on it. Cook each side for a couple of minutes on medium high heat. This is dry cooking and after each side turns opaque, it will start puffing up. At that stage, its cooked and the raw taste will have gone. A lot of people replace these chapathis here with ready made tortillas or chapathis but the final taste will then vary. The tortillas are slightly leavened so has a little too much thickness and the chapathis ready to buy are made of whole wheat so the texture changes. But you could start with those for ease of cooking. It still does taste good. Keep all the chapathis cooked and ready.

2. Egg Filling: Beat 2 of the eggs slightly with the 2 tablespoon sugar till the sugar dissolves and then add 1/4 tsp cardamom powder to it. Heat enough oil/ghee mix to scramble it lightly on medium heat till it form small clumps. Keep stirring while scrambling to avoid it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Keep the mix aside.

3. Cashew filling: Heat 1/2 tsp of ghee/oil mix and roast the cashews, raisins and the khus khus in that order. Keep the heat low to avoid burning the cashews and the tiny khus khus. Just roast till a nice aroma comes through and remove from flame. Keep aside. You could add almonds also to this mix.

4. Now beat the rest of the eggs, milk and sugar and cardamom powder together with a whisk nicely. This is the custard base.

5. Assembling: Take a round baking dish which is the same size as the chapathi. Brush the base and sides of the dish with the ghee/oil mix. Dip a chapathi in the egg-milk custard and place it in the baking dish. Sprinkle some of the scrambled egg filling and the cashew filling all over it. Pour one teaspoon (or maybe 2 tsp) of the ghee/oil mix all over it. Place the next chapathi dipped in the egg-milk custard and repeat the process. When the last chapathi is placed, decorate the egg and cashews over it as this is the top of our cake. The egg and cashew filling should be distributed evenly amongst all the layers. Pour the remaining egg-milk custard over the layers, pressing down on the layers so that it absorbs the mix fully. Keep this aside for 15 minutes in the fridge to allow the chapathis to soak the liquid in completely.
6. Preheat the oven to 300 degree Fahrenheits. When you are ready to bake, pour the remaining ghee/oil mix over the layers and place in the middle rack in the oven.
Ideally this is cooked in a special cast iron or copper/bronze wide rimmed vessel. It is covered and cooked on a wood burning stove, with heat applied to it from the top by placing burning/smoldering coconut shells. That ensures even cooking from the top and bottom and the cake comes out in densely packed layers.
Cooking it in the oven here, the center rises prematurely leading to the custard running to the sides and then the custard cooks in that position, with the center layers devoid of too much of the custard. When it cools down, the center does flop back down and the layers merge, but still this is not perfect section of the cake. So there is this minor problem with the technique here but it doesn't alter the taste.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes, depending on the heat in your oven. Similar to cake, when it is cooked completely, a needle/knife inserted in the center should come out clean. Leave it uncovered and let it cool down completely before cutting. It only stays in the refrigerator and is good for 2-3 days at the most. A few seconds in the microwave just before serving will remove the frostiness of the refrigerator.

Chemeen Ada/ Rice Pancakes with Shrimp stuffing

This is one of my earliest posts but since it is a Ramadan Iftar item, I thought of republishing it. This is also one way of making meen pathiri.i.e. without grinding the rice and using rice powder instead.

Ada, as most south Indians know, is a delicious preparation of sweetened grated coconut encased in a layer of rice paste , wrapped in banana leaves and then steam-cooked. As it cooks, the rice absorbs the earthy aroma of the banana leaves. I love the ada whether it is filled with coconut and sugar, jaggery, or jackfruit.
But the similar preparation I was used to at my household, was pathiris and pies made of rice paste, rice flour, or steamed rice. One such pie (pathiri) is the meen pathiri, rice ground to a paste with coconut and spices, and filled with fish/shrimp masala and steamed in banana leaves. While the meen pathiri is traditionally made as a pie, cut into triangles and served, I found it easier to handle the stuffing when it is shaped as an ada. Quite like a pocket pita sandwich. So it can be made either way.
I first tasted the shrimp version of the pathiri when my aunt made it and found it a nice variation from the fish masala as the shrimp adds a hint of sweetness to counter the spicy filling. So this recipe from my aunt(elama) was a must add to my collection, especially since we get more fresh shrimps here than fresh sea fish. And though I cannot recreate the flavor of banana leaves, I reconciled to making pathiris using parchment paper or aluminum foil. Not quite the same, but the contrasting texture of soft and crunchy, the mild coconut flavored rice shell and the spicy shrimp filling is just as satisfying.So I decided to blog abou the shrimp ada before the meen pathiri.


You will need: this makes about 10 adas
For the filling:
Shrimp- 1lb
Onion- 3 medium sized ones
Tomato-1 medium sized one
Green chilies- 4
Red chili powder-1 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 3 sprigs
Salt to taste
Oil- 4 tbsp
For dry roast:
Coconut grated-1/2 cup
Shallots-4 small ones chopped
Fennel seeds-1/2 tsp
Green chilis-2 chopped
Preparation:
1. Wash and marinate the shrimps in ½ tsp chili powder, ¼ tsp turmeric and ½ tsp salt. Keep for 15 mins.
2. Chop the onions, curry leaves and green chilies finely .Heat 2 tbsp oil and sauté the onions, chilies and leaves in that order. When they look translucent, add the chopped tomato and the spice powders. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or till the tomatoes look pulpy and add salt. Add a bit more oil if needed. Stir and sauté till the whole mixture gives out oil and moves as one mass in the pan. Keep aside. In another pan, add the shrimp and let it cook in its own juice till all the juice dries out. Add the remaining 2 tbsp oil and let it fry for a minute or two.
3. Remove and coarsely chop the shrimps (or use a chopper) and add to the onion mix and stir together on low heat.
4. Meanwhile, in a cast iron skillet or a heavy bottom pan, dry roast the ingredients specified above, all together on very low heat till the coconut gives out its aroma and starts turning brown at the edges. Take it off the flame and pulse in a dry grinder to powder it coarsely. No water is to be added.
5. Add the powdered coconut to the shrimp mixture and stir everything together. Turn off and let it cool down before filling.

The rice paste:
Rice flour- 1cup
Water- 1cup
Salt- ½ tsp
Fennel seed powder- ½ tsp
Coconut milk - ¼ cup (or use ¼ cup coconut ground with little water)
The rice shell can be made by soaking parboiled rice and grinding it with coconut and fennel seeds to a wet paste, as RP of My Worshop has described, or you can use rice flour mixed with water to make a pliable paste as Healthy n Spicy has described.
Two reasons for using the longer method of cooking the rice flour. a) so that it remains super soft the next day also. b) To make it easier to roll it out thinly.
6. Heat the water with salt till it boils and then add the rice flour. Do not stir. Turn off the flame and keep it covered for 5 minutes. Open it and stir in with the handle of a spoon and cover it again for 5 more minutes. Spread the flour mix onto a mixing plate and let it cool down. Add the coconut milk/ground and fennel powder and then knead it into dough. It will be a little sticky to begin with but as the dough comes together, it gets easier. The final consistency is a little wet as compared to a bread or a chappathi dough.
7. Cut parchment paper into suitable size squares. Place a lemon size ball on the paper and flatten it with the heel of the hand (like doing karate chops) to avoid sticking to the hand. If that is difficult, place another parchment paper over it and roll it with a rolling pin to a palm sized disc. Remove the top paper carefully. Place 2 tbsp of the filling on one half of the dough and gently fold over the other side (with paper) to align exactly at the edges and seal the edges, pressing down on the paper.
Check out Priya's kitchen for a wonderful description of the ada with emphasis on steaming and parchment paper.
For steaming, use a steamer or rice cooker or any large vessel half filled with water. Place a colander or a steamer basket over the water when the water boils and reduce heat to medium. Place the adas in the basket, cover it and cook for 7-10 minutes. Let it cool down before serving.

Unnakaaye-Stuffed Plantain Pods.....

Unnakaaye is a Ramadan specialty made on the fasting days as one of the quick bites to break the fast with. The ladies sat around in the evening assembling it to distract the mind from the last leg of the fasting hours. Well... it's really a quick one to get gobbled up and so is needed in large quantities for a joint family. But now just like any other palaharams/ delicacies, it has become commonplace and is available year round at restaurants and even bakeries.



Unnakaaye with coconut filling......

So what is it? Unnakaaye, despite its exotic name, is just mashed plantains stuffed with a egg filling or a coconut filling, shaped into pods and then deep fried.
The name "unnakaaye" comes from its appearance.. that of a unna meaning "cotton" and kaaye meaning "buds or pods" i.e. the fruit of a cotton tree.

Has anyone seen the pods hanging from a Cotton Tree.? They are tapered at the edges and bulging in the middle and have a smooth skin while green. As they slowly dry up, the outer smooth skin withers to a dry brown and finally splits open, dispersing the cotton inside with a million seeds. You must have caught some stray ones flying and played with them if you had a tree in your neighborhood, making a wish as they fly away. My aunt's house had a cotton tree. And she used to harvest the pods early and dry it and remove the cotton inside. That is used to make stuffing.....for pillows,cushions, beds etc.

Unnakaaye has to be made with plantains which are not fully ripe. For a long time, I couldn't figure out how ripe it should be while buying, so I would buy them when they were hard and yellow, forget about making these pods and then after 3-4 days, when they ripen fully, end up making fritters out of them! Now I think I got it right.. they should be a little soft when pressed, a good bright yellow outside with slight brown dots and then they are good for this recipe.

You Will Need:
Plantains-1
Oil for frying.
Filling Ingredients Specified Below.
Preparation:
Steam the bananas using a steamer for 5-10 minutes. It is cooked when the peel separates slightly at the edges.Don't boil it in water. Sometimes for a small quantity, I use the microwave to cook it as per the microwave's instructions. Just wash it, cut it two pieces (with the peel) and then lay it on a plate and microwave it for 2-3 minutes.
After it cools down for 3 minutes, peel it and cut it along the center. Carefully cut out the central spine and seeds. Using a potato masher or the base of a glass, mash it into a smooth dough without adding any water. It should be free of lumps and evenly cooked. Keep covered till the filling is ready.
After the filling has cooled, oil your hands and divide the dough into equal sized balls. Some make it big, some make it bite sized.. so whatever size you are comfortable with. I could make 4 pods with one plantain's dough. So the filling and dough quantities are approximate. Take care not to over fill the plantain or it will collapse while frying.

Knead one of the portions and flatten it on your cupped palm as a small round. Put about 1-2 tsp of filling( depends on your size of dough)in the middle and close the edges to cover it. Take care not to have any holes or tears. Only if the dough is smooth, will you be able to cover it completely. Roll the pods with your hands applying slight pressure, till it becomes smooth and pod shaped.
Heat oil and deep fry it till it turns a nice golden brown. Drain onto paper towels and serve hot. You could shallow fry it in enough oil to cover it halfway, but it needs more care and patience as it has to be turned to ensure even browning.

Unnakaaye with egg filling...
Egg Filling:(for 4 pods) Beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon milk and 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar till the sugar is melted in. Heat ghee in a pan, scramble the eggs quickly and then add 1 teaspoon of finely chopped cashews/almonds, raisins and a good pinch of cardamom powder. Mix and keep aside. The cardamom masks the eggi-ness of the eggs so its important to add the spice.

Coconut Filling: (for 4 pods) Heat a cast-iron pan and add 1/2 cup of grated fresh coconut and 1-2 tablespoon of sugar. Stir well on medium heat till the sugar melts and sweetens the coconut. Add the nuts, raisins(optional) and cardamom powder and remove from the heat. You may have leftover filling if your pods are too small.

Chicken Malai Tikka

Some more soups were left to blog but I have no photos for them so decided to post them later. Meanwhile my family craved something spicy and meaty and so here it is...Chicken malai tikka.I am sure my readers in the metros in India have their favorite tikka/kebab corner, which they frequent regularly and hence wonder why we bother making this at home.

If I could access Nizamuddin, Karims, Delhi Durbar or Bade Miyan here, I would choose to just sit back and eat. But the food in the Desi restaurants here look reasonably desi, smell good but the food is a watered down version of the real thing. All color and no flavor. So when we meet up, my friends and I take turns making the grilled tikkas as appetizers and each of us have a wonderfully unique recipe.

And on a week night, this is good for dinner....A green salad, some tortillas or pita and a tzatziki sauce or yogurt sauce, all wrapped up makes for a sumptuous meal.



This is one of the typical marinade for chicken kebabs or tikkas or whatever you want to call them. The names have been used interchangeably by everyone for small bites of chicken marinated in a yogurt based spice mix and grilled.The literal meaning of tikka is "pieces of chicken" and the word Kebab or Kabob is generally used for minced meat or cubes of meat on a skewer, usually marinated before cooking. The malai in the name comes from the addition of yogurt, sour cream or cream(malai) in the marinade and even butter to baste it. It adds a creaminess to the chicken's texture and makes it soft. Traditionally made in the clay oven, tandoor, the tikka is cooked surrounded by the high heat for a short time. It imbibes the smoky flavor and cooks fast, leaving it crusty outside and juicy inside.

In the summer I grill it on the backyard gas grill but all through winter, its done in the broil setting in my cooking range. (It does run up my gas bill though!!)

Since my version uses just a whole chicken cut up into small pieces, some with bone in it, I call it tikka. Kind of a smaller version of tandoori chicken. You could make it with boneless cubes too for ease of eating but the flavor is entirely different.. So its your choice, really. The boneless version is good for making chicken tikka masala, a very popular creamy chicken curry.

I have tried many recipes for the malai tikka, some with cream and some with sour cream or yogurt but this combination is what I end up using week after week. The others are really good too and when you do have sour cream or leftover cream at home, its great to use them but who wants to inject fat unnecessarily? So I stick to yogurt which is thickened and that gives it a rich flavor without too much fat. To make thick yogurt, hang the required amount of yogurt in a clean tea towel and place in a large strainer over a bowl. Leave it for as long as you need. After about a hour or more, the whey would have drained out leaving behind thick yogurt. You could also buy Greek yogurt instead and use that.

You will need:
A whole chicken cut up into small pieces. Use a 2 to 3 pound size one.
For the Marinade
Thick Yogurt-1 cup
Juice of 1 whole lemon
Ginger paste-2 teaspoon
Garlic paste- 2 teaspoon
Red Chili Powder- 1 and half teaspoon(Use less if you want it less spicy)
Paprika-3/4 teaspoon
Turmeric-3/4 teaspoon
Coriander Powder-1/2 teaspoon
Cumin Powder- 1 teaspoon
Garam Masala- 2 teaspoon
Cilantro - 1/2 cup finely minced.
Salt to taste
Olive Oil( traditionally butter is used, so u can use either.)-3 Tablespoons

Preparation:
Blend all the marinade ingredients in a blender . Marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours or over night in the refrigerator. Skewer the chicken on either wooden or metal skewers. I usually make it without skewering out of laziness and it tastes just as good. To keep bamboo or wooden skewers from burning, soak for several hours in water before using.

Outdoor: Clean the grill grating and oil with a cloth. Preheat to the maximum heat and grill for 15 minutes, trying not to keep turning them over all the time. Just turn once midway and baste with oil.

Indoor: Preheat the broiler or set the oven to the highest setting say 500 F. Place a grill grating on top of an aluminum foil lined tray. Brush with oil and spread the chicken on the grate. Grill for 7-10 minutes on one side and then turn them over.Total maybe 15 to 20 minutes. Baste with butter or oil in between if it looks too dry. The timings may vary based on your oven's heating and type so use your judgment. If the quantity of chicken is less, it will take less time. When they are done, the pieces would not stick to the grate and only a clear juice will run out.

Garnish with onions, cilantro and lemon wedges..enjoy! Serve hot with Mint Chutney.

Related Links:Mandira's Chicken Malai Kabab

Spicy Fish Cutlet

One of my earliest food memory is of a 5-6 yr old(me) sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting for my mom to finish frying cutlets anxiously. I ate and sometimes fought with my brother for the first one. The first greedy bite almost always lead to a game of hot potato.. too hot to swallow and too good to spit it out. When I finally managed to taste it, I was making A-one signs with my hand to show appreciation. (A-one Sign: Hold your thumb ad forefinger together to form an "o" and raise the other three fingers up.)
Since then, cutlets are a comfort food, fried and spicy, but I need it really straight off the frying pan. Now my son and better half have taken over the baton of loving cutlets, whether its meat or vegetable or fish. And now I like making them than eating them, though I love them if someone else has made them and I am at the receiving end.

The fish cutlets are an oxymoron..fish is good for you, fried is bad for you..:)..but they are so easy to make here, as all the ingredients are straight from the pantry..canned tuna, potatoes, eggs, bread crumbs.. so they get made on a regular basis. My mom doesnt't use the canned tuna for the cutlets as there is a plethora of large fish around her in Calicut. The luxury! This recipe originated with my ma-in-law and now I have adopted it as my own. It is also a good dinner item..Slap it between two slices of bread with some dressing, salad leaves and you have a fish sandwich.
You will need: (Makes 14-16 cutlets)
Light Tuna Cans(in water or oil)- 2
White Potato-2 (Approx. 3 /4 lb)
Onions- 2 medium sized ones
Green chilies- 8 (use less or more as per taste)
Garlic- 2 cloves
Black pepper- 2 tsp
Biryani Masala/Garam masala- ½ tsp (optional)
Lemon juice- 2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Coriander/Cilantro leaves- 1 cup washed, dried and chopped finely
Canola Oil- 2-3 tbsp
Egg or 1 Egg white–1
Bread crumbs- 1 cup

Preparation:
1. Chop the onions, garlic and chilies finely into tiny dices. Open the can lid completely and press into the can and drain all the liquid away. If you are using the tuna packed in oil, drain the oil seperately and use half of that for frying the onions. Else use the canola oil.

If you are using fresh fish, use a larger fish such as Salmon, King Fish or Swordfish as they hold up well. Marinate them with a bit of salt and pepper, and place them in a pan with 1 tbsp of oil, covering the pan to steam cook them. Remove the skin and bones, flake the flesh and keep it ready.

2. Heat the oil in a shallow non-stick pan and add all the onions, green chilies and garlic. After a couple of minutes, add the tuna too. Keep stirring and slightly fry the ingredients till the tuna's can smell goes away and the onions reduce in size. Add the garam masala and salt. This should take about 6-8 minutes. Take care not to let the mix stick to the pan and not to add too much oil in the beginning itself. You can always add a bit more if it starts sticking.
3. After 15mins, take the mixture off the flame and add the lemon juice, and pepper. Adjust the seasoning.
4. Meanwhile, wash each of the potatoes, wipe them dry and cover with plastic wrap. Place them in the microwave and adjust the setting for the baked potatoes. All the potatoes can be cooked at the same time. Alternatively, the washed potatoes can be pressure cooked with ½ cup water for a single whistle.
5. Peel the potatoes and mash them with your hands/potato masher or the back of a spoon. There should be no lumps. Add the fish mixture to the potato, and add the chopped coriander leaves and salt. Mix and taste and add more salt or lemon juice if needed.
6. Make lemon sized balls of the mixture and shape it into an oval or round shape.
Beat the egg (You can use just egg whites too) with a pinch of salt. Keep a plate with bread crumbs also ready.
7. Dip each oval ball into the egg and then into the bread crumbs. Give it a final shaping. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the cutlets till brown on either side.

This is a slightly time consuming snack and works best in large batches, so I make them and freeze them for the days when we get home from work famished and raid the freezer for anything resembling food or for impromptu guests.

Freezing Tip: After shaping them with the bread crumbs, place them wide apart on a plate or tray and freeze them for at least 12 hrs. They will turn rock solid and will not stick to each other anymore. Then, you can seperate them from the plate and collect all of them in a ziplock freezer safe bag and store in the freezer for upto 2 months. When you need to use them, remove as many as you need, thaw them outside for an hour or microwave them for 20-30 seconds(more or less as per microwave)and then fry as usual.

JFI-Bruschetta With Tomatoes.

When the April JFI was announced by RP of My Workshop as tomatoes, my first reaction was a tangy sweet and spicy chutney but that I had blogged about last summer.I sat and day dreamed of my garden with big boy tomatoes, plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes...and then looked outside at the swinging door to my forlorn and cold garden.
As I watched each of my fellow bloggers comes up interesting combinations with tomato, my mind was still stuck..Maybe a tomato tart that shows up in all the magazines in the peak of summer, or maybe rasam or maybe pasta sauce....But the days flew by and I was too lazy to cook up any of that. This despite using tomato almost every day! So today while I made my mid-noon snack of Bruschetta with a tomato salad and pondered, it struck me. What better way to highlight a tomato? All the freshness and the sourness of a tomato tempered with garlic and olive oil and allowed to soak into crusty bread!
For those who are unfamiliar with the term, Bruschetta is grilled slices of bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. The toppings can be spicy red pepper, fresh tomato, vegetables and/or cheese. Bruschetta is usually served as a snack or appetizer.
So without much ado, here is a simple recipe for the tomato topping for the tru tomato lover.
You will need:
2 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 tbsp finely minced garlic
2 tbsp cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 small loaf of bread(baguettes), cut in 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 cloves garlic, cut in half
salt to taste.

Preparation:
In a bowl, mix all ingredients except bread and garlic cloves. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside, unrefrigerated for at least 15-20 minutes. Heat oven to 350°F. Toast bread on a baking sheet till slightly crisp. Rub cut side of garlic on each slice; top with tomato mixture. Serve as appetisers or have as a snack.

Flavored Cream Cheese

What's not to like about Cream Cheese on toasted bagels or bread?
My workplace has a tradition of one of us bringing in bagels and cream cheese for breakfast for everyone. We get it from a nearby bakery where the bread and bagels are made fresh on its premises daily. As you walk in, the aroma of freshly baked bread wafts all around you tantalisingly luring you to buy some even if you just went in for a cup of coffee.
They have a display counter (similar to ice cream tubs under a glass case)with endless varieties of cream cheese to choose from. Some very interesting flavors such as strawberry, scallion, maple pecan, olive and some very peculiar (unless you are inclined towards that)such as smoked salmon, anchovies. So each time, we linger over the choices finally settling for one trusted and one adventurous flavor.
After trying out some of those on a regular basis, it just didn't feel right to settle for plain cream cheese at home and that's how the blending started at home.
So here are four different flavors that I like but this is just the tip of the iceberg. So if you have your favorite recipe for a flavored cheese that you have blended, write in and I will add that here.
Preparation: All of them start the same way. Leave a tub of cream cheese outside the refrigerator for about 10-15 minutes to help mixing in. All the ingredients have to be chopped into even and extremely tiny pieces so that the cheese coats it evenly. These blended cheeses will stay fresh for a 3-4 days(except the ones with onions) but I prefer it fresh so I don't keep it for so long. How much you make is based on how much gets used up at a sitting. The proportions are just indicative and feel free to change as per taste.

1. Spicy Jalapeno-Olive:
For the days when you need to kickstart your day..
Cream Cheese: 3 tbsp
Pickled Jalapeno Slices( or fresh green chilies)-3-4
Green Olives-3-4
Finely chop the olives and chilies and use a fork to mix it with the cheese. Add a couple of drops of lemon juice if it looks too thick. The pickled chilies have their liquid so you may not need any more.

2. Walnut-Raisin:
Hmm.. my favorite when I have a sweet tooth..
Cream Cheese-3 tbsp
Walnuts- 1 1/2 tbsp
Raisins/Cranberries/Dried Cherries- 1 1/2 tbsp
Maple Syrup/Honey- 1 tsp
Chop everything finely and blend. The Honey helps in making it a spreadable mix.
This stays well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

3. Vegetable Spread:
A healthy serving of veggies in the morning..
Cream Cheese-3 tbsp
Carrots finely diced-1 tsp
Cucumbers- 2 tsp finely chopped without the seeds.
Chopped Onions- 1 tsp or substitute with scallions(spring onions)
Chopped Cilantro/Parsley- 1/2 tsp
Green Chilies(optional)- 1
Lemon Juice- 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste.
Mix everything together. Take care to scoop out the seeds of the cucumber before dicing as it adds too much water.

4. Sundried Tomatoes:
This is for a true Italian food lover. The flavor of the sundried tomatoes is very strong in this so try it if you like that pungency.
Cream Cheese-3 tbsp
SunDried Tomatoes- 2 tbsp
Dried Basil- 1tsp
Red Chili Flakes(optional)- A pinch
Salt
Blend the sundried tomatoes to a paste in a chopper. Add the rest of the ingredients and adjust taste. Use vinegar if it is too bland to add moisture and sourness.

5.Herbed Cheese:
Sorry, no photos on this one.
Cream Cheese-3 tbsp
Chopped Cilantro or Fresh Parsley- 2 tbsp
Chopped Mint-1/4 tsp
Lemon Juice- 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper-1/4 tsp
Salt to taste.
Blend the ingredients by hand and adjust taste.

Related Links: Some time back, Akshayapatra had blogged about flavored butters here.

And while you are all thinking of summer vacations and planning trips to India, I just wanted to bring to your attention a wonderful resort, Over the Hill, in Kerala designed and managed by my friend and her husband. It is located in Poovar, 30 kms from Trivandrum airport in Southern Kerala. Do check it out.

16 Bean Adai!

I go through a lot of blogs and try out the recipes whenever I am bored with the routine food. Some of these recipes are familiar but not cooked, some are total strangers and these I never know if I got it exactly right. The only clue I have are the other photos and I keep checking to see if the end product looks similar. Most of the time, cooking from other blogs is a leisurely activity compared to the intensity involved in cooking one of the home recipes correctly, chronicling it and photographing it. So I hardly have any photos of other's recipes that I have tried.

Indonsungod's and Saffron Hut's adai is an exception as it had a high curiosity factor for me, being already fond of regular adai. It was a weekend morning and the sun was pouring through my windows when I made these for a late breakfast. So after the family ate, I ran to get some photos.

My mother's recipe calls for 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of assorted skinned lentils such as Massor, Chana, Tuvar,Moong and Urad. So I tried it first with the variety of skinned and unskinned lentils as in Indosungod and it came out delicious without losing any bit of its crunchy texture.

Then emboldened, I made it with 16 beans as did Saffron Hut. So does 16 beans make it a protein powerhouse? Yep! The 16 beans which she ingeniously used in the adai is originally a soup mix but anybody can make these adai with any assortment of beans or lentils. The color of the adai was greenish due to the presence of the beans with skins. The texture and taste is similar but a little rougher. The only issue was how to get rid of the natural bloating due to the beans. I did some of the tricks explained by Nandita here and would further welcome any suggestions that you all have to combat the indigestion.
Do refer to the saffron hut and indosungod's sites for their version of the recipe.

You will need:
16 bean soup mix or any assortment of lentils-1 cup
Urad dal-1/2 cup
White Rice-1 1/2 cup
Green chili-6-8 chopped
Ginger-1 inch
Curry leaves
Shallots-4-5 chopped finely
Cilantro-4 tbsp
Hing or Asafoetida-1/2 tsp
salt to taste

Preparation:
1. Soak the beans, rice and urad dal separately for 6 hrs or overnight.
2. Drain, wash the beans twice and grind them with the ginger, cilantro and green chilies to a semi fine paste with enough water..not too coarse. Add water as needed.
3. When it is ready, add salt, asafoetida , shallots and chopped curry leaves and mix. If you want to reduce the spice, the green chilies can chopped and added instead of grinding it.
4. Pour it and cook it as you would dosa or uttappam. Take care to cook both sides and add drops of oil as needed. Serve this with a spicy tomato chutney or coconut chutney .

Other 16 Bean Recipes:
Linda's 16 bean soup
Asha's 16 bean masala

White Bean Hummus w/Pita

A twist on the hummus..but a very simple and very fingerlicking recipe. Toast some pita bread and it is an excellent way to get bean protein into your kids. I ran out of chickpeas and made this one but now I am hooked on the clean taste which according to my better half is closer in taste to the Arab Hummus. Use as a spread or dip or serve with toasted pita bread.

You will need:
1 can of white canellini beans(which look like white kidney beans)
3/4 cup Sesame Seeds
3-4 tbsp Olive Oil
1-2 tbsp Lemon Juice
Salt to taste
Preparation:
Rinse the beans thoroughly and drain. Grind the sesame seeds with the lemon juice till it is a fine paste. Add a little water if the grinder blades get stuck. Now add the beans and blend till smooth. Drizzle olive oil from the top while the blender is running to aerate the hummus. Turn off and check the taste. Add salt and more lemon juice if needed. If it feels too thick, blend with a bit more olive oil. I like the olive oil but if you are worried about the fat content, substitute more lemon juice or water.
Garnish with more olive oil, parsley, chopped olives etc.

Heart Shaped Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day!



Roses and Hearts all wrapped up in a love boat..
These are my mom's donut cookies reinvented as heart shaped cookies. She made them shaped as donuts cut with two circular metal lids. One was an old 777 sambhar powder's tin lid, and the other the cap of a vanilla essence bottle. I loved doing the cutting, figuring out how many I can get from each batch and now I see the same thrill on my son's face when he does the cookie cutting with cookie cutters.
He also sprinkled the sugar on the cookies after frying them.

We grew up on these and always thought donuts looked and tasted as these cookies. So imagine my surprise when I first saw a Dunkin Donut. It looked like my donuts on steroids! And it was so cakey in texture!
So now while I love the cholesterol laden donuts from Krispy Kreme(and some from Dunking Donuts), I had to try and recreate the old donut-cookies for nostalgia's sake.

So here is the recipe, straight from my mom. Be warned, it is not too sweet and it is fried.:)This is also my entry to Trupti's Little Chefs In The Kitchen Event.

You will need: To make about 24 cookies
All Purpose Flour ( Pilsbury or Gold Medal)-8 tbsp
Yogurt-1 tbsp
Melted Butter or Ghee-1tbsp
Powdered Sugar- 4 tbsp
Baking Powder-1 tsp
Vanilla-1tsp
Egg-1/2 beaten egg
Oil for frying
Cinnamon sugar- Mix ½ tsp cinnamon powder with 2-3 tsp powdered sugar and keep aside.

Preparation Method:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Pour the melted butter, yogurt and vanilla into the mix and blend evenly by hand. Now slowly add the mixed egg, a little at a time, just enough to form a soft dough. Do not pour the egg all together. I judged it to be half an egg but depending on the size of the egg, you may need more or less. So add a drop as you knead along to moisten the dough till it reaches the correct consistency. The dough should feel dry and not sticky.
2. Keep for 10 minutes and then take a small ball and roll it out with the rolling pin. Sprinkle some flour as you roll if it sticks to the rolling pin. The thickness should be around 3-4 mm. Use a cookie cutter and cut out the shapes.
3. Heat enough oil in a pan or kadai, for deep frying and when it is hot enough, lower the heat to medium high and slide in the cookies, 5-6 at a time depending on the size of your pan. Fry them as you would fry puris. Turn them almost immediately after sliding them in and let it fry on each side for a minute or so till they turn golden in color. The heat should not be too low or too high.
4. Drain onto paper towels and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on them while they are hot.
These stay fresh for about 4-5 days.

Something To Snack On..

We have been having a great (!@#$) week with first our cooking range getting replaced(it had conked off)and now with the heating system playing havoc on us. Just in time to get the brunt of the cold as the Northeast has finally entered into deep winter. So while the temperature outside is 15-25 F, when I came home from work yesterday, the temperature inside was 47 F. The furnace was getting repaired today but not till noon. So we dressed in more layers, turned up the room heater but it was still so cold, I turned on the oven!

It's only at such times that I realise how much of our creature comforts are taken for granted. I remember growing up in the Delhi winters with no central heat, with all of us huddled around the heater or under the blanket, constantly munching and guzzling something hot. I tried explaining such a scenario to my son and he didn't get it. He was asking why we didn't get the heat repaired.:)Kids!

So I kept warm by frying snacks on my new range. Something I don't normally do but maybe the circumstances made me yearn for comfort food..the snack mixture that my mom always had on hand. She would make huge batches of it for us. We used to sit down with a good book and a bowl of mixture in the afternoons after coming from school. Very easy to make and very unhealthy. And of course you can't stop eating it.
It is a mix of fried sev or noodles, peanuts, curry leaves, poha and ribbon pakoda. Keeps well for a week or more. And definitely better than whatever you buy from the Indian store as it is freshly made.
I know there are healthier version of this made with cornflakes and raisins etc but today, I am going all out.
Update:Now the heating system is back on so we are warm again(Thank God!) and I do have a new cooking range so all I need to do is find a good movie to enjoy this snack mix with.

You will need:
3 cups Gram Flour(Besan or Kadala Podi)
1 cup Rice Flour
1-2 tsp Red Chili Powder
A pinch of Turmeric
Asafoetida(Kayam/Hing)
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
Peanuts- a handful
Beaten Rice(Aval/Poha)
Curry leaves- 4-5 sprigs
Oil- Enough for deep frying.
Special Equipment:Idiappam press.

1. Make a dough of the rice flour, gram flour, chili powder, turmeric, a pinch of asafoetida and salt. The dough should be wet (Idiappam consistency)and plaible enough to go through the noodle press but not too wet. Add water slowly as needed. Uses about 1 1/2 cup water.
2. Heat oil in a deep frying pan or wok(kadai)and when it is hot enough, test by dropping one tiny piece of dough. It should come to the surface promptly. Set the dough in the press with the noodles mould. Reduce heat and press the noodles directly into the oil, doing about three rounds. Turn the heat back up and let it fry for about 30 seconds on each side. It gets cooked real fast on high heat, so stand close. Drain onto paper towels or newspapers. Repeat for about 5-6 times. Sprinkle a bit of chili powder and salt (if needed).
3. Change the press design to the ribbon and press soem ribbons into the pan now. Ribbons take some more time and they need to be cooked on low heat for about 2 minutes on each side. Repeat as needed.
4. Now fry a handful of peanuts till golden brown and drian. Fry the curry leaves similarly and drain. Fry the poha or aval too. I used the red aval as that was what I had at hand. The white ones are crispier. That cooks instantly so you just need to put it in a deep strainer and hold it under the oil and when it puffs up,immediatley remove it.
5. You can fry bhoondis or droplets too. It is a little tricky as you have to slightly thin the dough with water to make it pourable consistency. Hold a large slotted spoon over the oil and pour a spoon of batter over it. Shake the slotted spoon slightly to allow the drops to fall seperately. As it puffs up, remove and drain.
6. Now mix everythiing in a large bowl, slightly crushing the big pieces and add a dash of asafoetida and salt or chilipowder if needed.
Store in an air tight container.