Vegetable Manchurian - Dry

Ingredients:

Minced Vegetables - (Carrots/Beans/Peas/corn/Cabbage/Cauliflower)

Minced Green chillis - 1 sp

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 sp

Salt

Sugar - a pinch

Soy Sauce - 1 sp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 sp

Lime Juice - 1 sp

Thick Poha/Boiled Rice - 2 tbsp or as required

Corn Flour - 1 or 2 sp or as required

Oil to deep fry

Mince all vegetables finely and steam it with as little water possible. Squeeze them dry.

Add the spices.

Wash the poha and add, this takes out moisture from the vegetables. If u dont have poha, u can use some boiled rice.

Add 1 spoon of corn flour and mix well.

Make small balls of this mixture, if its still moist, add more poha/boiled rice/corn flour.

Deep fry until golden brown.

You can have this as an appetizer with tomato sauce or can use to make Manchurian gravy.

Oats - Granola Bars

My husband is a fan of Granola bars and I make this regularly for his snack. This recipe doesn't call for All purpose flour. You can find the original source here I tried couple of recipes and liked this one better than the others. Since then, I stopped spending bucks on buying this outside. I am following this recipe. Also its good to make at home as I make my own modifications every time to vary the flavors. I did few additions to the original recipe, like adding coconut powder and condensed milk, sometime caramel syrup etc for an extra flavor. Otherwise no big changes.

Try it, Enjoy !

Ingredients:

Oats - 4 Cup

Brown Sugar - 1 Cup

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Melted unsalted Butter - 2/3 Cup

Honey - 1/3 Cup

Nuts - 1 Cup (Or per your choice)

Raisins - 1/4 Cup (Or per your choice)

Optional Ingredients to give extra flavour:

Cinnamon Powder - 1/2 tsp

Condensed Milk (or)Caramel syrup- 1 tbsp

Vanilla - couple of drops

Chocolate Chips - a handful

Dry Coconut Powder - a handful

I used chopped Almonds/Walnuts and sometimes Peanuts too.

You can really play around with your choice of optional add-ons adding them however less or more per your choice.

I have no idea why one day I tried adding caramel syrup into this, but I dont regret it, it gives an excellent taste to this.

Use a big bowl, Mix dry ingredients first, mix well. Then add the rest. Mix until they are well combined.

They might not be of the form to hold a shape, will be a little loose but they will set once they are baked.

Take a 9x13" baking dish,line with parchment paper/foil and stuff in the granola mixture and tighten them using ur palm or more preferably a flat plate or something.

Bake at preheated 350' oven for about 20-30 mins. You can see the sides will start to brown. You might stretch the period if u like ur granolas on the crispier side. We like it a bit chewy, so I take it off at this point.It is really suggested to take a peek at about 20 mins, as oven timings vary.

Cool down for 2 hrs atleast. Cut into squares or rectangles.

P.S: They tend to harden much more when cooled for couple of hours.

Thenkuzhal

My first attempt on Thenkuzhal, I am greatly satisfied with the results. Very crispy and very tasty. I followed chithra auntys recipe from here

Shape wise cannot do more justice as I do not have the Murukku Press, so just made a cone out of plastic wrap and used it.



Ingredients:-

Urad - 1 cup
Processed Rice flour - 6 cups
Butter - 1/2 cup
Salt
Cumin - 1 sp
Sesame - 1 sp

Pressurecook the urad dal wiht 4 cups of water 3 whistles.
Once cooled, add butter & hing to it and set aside for an hour.
Grind to paste, add salt,cumin/sesame,rice flour & deep fry on oil directly using the Thenkuzhal press.

Onion Samosa - Yummiest Snack

Signing in after pretty long time..Kitty and Pinky, Thanks for the awards ..You really made my day :)



Hot Hot samosas..Spicy and hot. Perfect tea time snack.

I followed the onion samosa recipe from here. It turned out excellent. Its a sure hit. It takes little time to make the outer cover, and making the shapes, but I made just a dozen of them so it was pretty fine and tasting absolutely awesome.

The only variation was that, I fried the onions a bit and added spice powders to it, saute for couple of mins and then used them as filling. I also tried the way given in the actual recipe, using raw onions. Both turned out yummy and delicious.

Pori / Marmaralu / Puffed Rice Upma - A quick filling snack

Most of the times I'll have pori stocked at home. So when hunting for a quick snack, this recipe comes quite handy.
This may not be a substitute for tiffin, but it sure is a filling snack.



Ingredients:
Pori / Marmaralu (Puffed rice) - 2 cup
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Turmeric - a pinch
Red chilli powder
Salt
Tomato Ketchup

To temper :
Mustard
Cumin

Keep a bowl of clean water ready.
In little oil, temper mustard and cumin.
Fry the finely chopped onions till brown
Add chopped tomatoes, close and cook till they are done. Adding 1 sp of tomato ketchup at this stage is optional.
Immerse the pori in the bowl of water, squeeze to dry and add to tava.
Add turmeric, red chilli powder, salt
Simmer, Mix well, Switch off.
Serve it with tomato ketchup, it goes excellent with ketchup.

Gobi Manchurian

Reposting with pictures..


Gobi Manchurian - Who doesnt love it. I got this super good recipe from my friend Jahnavi. I do not have soy sauce with me. And I had this feeling, that without soy sauce, Gobi manchurian cannot be Gobi manchurian. But I was so wrong. I dare tried this recipe without soy sauce or chilli sauce or vinegar and such stuff. Believe me, no one ever found any difference. It was gobbled up in minutes.

Ingredients:


For the Gobi fry:
Cauliflower Florets - 1 cup
All purpose flour/Maida - 1 cup
Corn flour - 2 tbsp
Oil - to deep fry
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 sp
Turmeric - 1sp
Red Chilli powder - 1 sp
Salt



For the sauce:
Tomato Ketchup - 2 Tbsp
Onion - 1 small (Finely Chopped)
Garlic - 5-6 pods (Finely Chopped)
Green Chilli - 3 (Finely Chopped)
Ginger - 2 sp (Finely Chopped)
Corriander Leaves - Few (Finely Chopped)
Red Chilli powder - 1 sp
Salt
Corn Flour - 1 sp
Lime juice - 1 sp

Soak the florets for about 10 mins in hot water (With little salt added to it).
Mix all purpose flour, corn flour, ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, salt, turmeric and make a thick paste.
Dry the florets and add into the batter.
Deep fry them and set aside.

Mix 1 sp red chilli powder in little water. This is to avoid adding raw chilli powder to the sauce.
In a hot tava, add little oil, fry onions,garlic,ginger,green chilli well till onion appears nice brown and little crisp.
Add tomato ketchup, redchilli paste, salt.
Add corriander leaves and lime juice.
Let it simmer for few minutes.
If the sauce doesnt appear thick, add a spoon of corn flour mixed in cold water.
Once done, add the deep fried florets and mix well till they all get coated in sauce.
Let it boil on low flame to absorb the sauce. Switch off.

You might also have a look at Baked Gobi-Manchurian

Oats Cutlet - Who doesnt love cutlets?

I was speaking with my cousin this morning and she passed on a recipe for Oats Cutlet, she tried it from here. I was excited and all set to try it today and it was amazing. I made it hot n spicy and it was over within minutes. Yummy it was ! Made very few variations.
Thank You Brindha for the recipe..We had a great snack today :)

Ingredients:-
Oats - 1/2 cup
Roasted gram Powdered - 1/4 cup
Chopped Onions and Boiled vegetables (Potato,carrot,beans etc) - 1/2 cup or more
Salt
Red Chilli powder - 1 sp
Cumin powder - 1 sp
Ginger garlic paste. - 1 sp
Chopped Green chillis - 1 or 2
Cilantro - few
Bread crumbs - To roll the cutlet.
(I did not have bread crumbs , I used a combination of corn flour+oats to roll the cutlet)
Oil - To shallow fry

Powder the roasted gram. (One can substitute gram flour, but it suits more for deep fry and in shallow frying it leaves a raw taste which many reduce the spicyness)
Saute onions slightly add to boiled veggies of your choice. (Potato very much helps the binding), Add all the other ingredients to thick dough. add minimum water if required.
Make patties, Roll in bread crumbs and shallow fry.
Serve hot with Ketchup.

Eggless Delicious 'Melt-in-Mouth' Cookies

A very simple cookie. The use of corn flour makes it absolutely melt-in-your-mouth :)



Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 3/4 cup
Corn Flour - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Salt - A pinch
Butter - 3 Tbsp
Baking powder - 1/4 sp
Skimmed Milk - 2 Tbsp

Sieve all purpose flour,corn flour,salt, baking powder.
Use an electric/hand mixer, mix well sugar and butter.
Combine both and add enough milk for binding.
Pre heat the oven to 350'F
Use a rolling pin, roll the dough into a sheet and use a cookie cutter to cut it to desired shapes. Else roll them as balls and flatten them.
Dust baking tray with some all purpose flour.Place each cookies with 5cm distance to prevent sticking to each other during baking.
Bake it for 12 mins or till slightly brown. A toothpick inserted should come out clean.
Cool it for 15 mins.
(Above measurement gives about 8-10 cookies of size as shown in the picture.)

The inclusion of corn flour gives a real Melty taste. This tip could be used for several other recipes by substituting a little part of all purpose flour with corn flour.
Enjoy Baking !

This recipes goes as my entry to Madhuram's Eggless baking's Lowfat eggless baking event

Oatmeal-Raisins cookies - Yummy, Simple Low-Calorie snack

This takes less than 10 mins effort to prepare.. You can check out Oatmeal nutrition facts here



Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour - ¼ cup
Oats - ¾ cup
Raisins - ¼ cup
Sugar - ¼ cup
Baking powder - ½ tsp
Vanilla essence (opt) - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Low fat / Skimmed/ Whole Milk - 2 Tbsp
Butter - 1 Tbsp (Can reduce this and add more milk)

Sieve and Knead all ingredients together.
Divide into balls and flatten them to desired size.
Grease the baking pan with oil/flour.
Bake at 375 F 15 mins or till done.
Allow to stand for 15 mts.

(Above measurement gives about 8-10 cookies of size as shown in the picture.)

Recipe adapted from here, applied few variations.

This entry goes to Maduram's Eggless cooking's Low Fat Eggless Baking Event

Paniyaram from left over dosa batter

This needs a 'Kuzhi paniyaram' skillet which could be available (in USA) in the name of "Pan Cake Puff Skillet". Check out here.

This may not be compared to the original Paniyaram as the recipe is different for that. But its a great snack/tiffin made from leftover idli/dosa batter (Made with Idly rice, I am not sure if this will come good with batter made with Idly Rava.). This tastes best when batter is sour. Comes out real fluffy and tasty



Ingredients:-
Dosa Batter - 1 cuppChopped Green Chilli - 3 sp
Chopped Ginger - 3 sp
Chopped Onion - 1/2 cup
Cumin - 1 sp
Eno Fruit Salt - 1/2 sp

Grease the skillet with oil and heat.
Combine above ingredients together. Add baking soda/eno fruit salt, mix well.
Immediately Pour the batter in each hole.
Can cook covered / open for about 3-4 mins. (depending on the amount of oil you can use). If you use less amount of oil, close cook for couple of minutes for it to boil well.
Carefully flip the sides for it to cook both sides.
Serve hot with chutney.

Chappathi Ladoo - The Chappathi's new disguise :)

One day I was sadly starring at my left over chappathis with no mood to eat them, that is when I saw Creative Saga's chappathi laddo :) Oh ! Such a releif..Immediately gave the new form to my left over chappathis...



Ingredients:
Chapathi - 5
Jaggery - 1/3 cup
Butter/Ghee - 1 Tbsp
Milk - 1 Tbsp
Chopped nuts

Tear the Chappathis to smaller pieces.
Bake it in 250' for 15 mins or so till the pieces turn slight brown and crisp.
Keep a check else it may burn dark.
Use a blender/mixie, give a run till the pieces are powdered.
Powder the jaggery, mix it with powdered chappathi.
Heat the ghee/butter fry the nuts, and pour it over the powder.
Add milk little by little just enough for them to bind well and make ladoos.
Now enjoy the chappathi in new disguise :)

Boiled Peanuts

However simple it is, I love this a lot. The slight coating of oil with a mild hotness and salty taste. Yummy Yum...
I can take it as a snack and when no side dish is available this goes as one. This is so irresistible for me at times this becomes my whole meal followed by amma's scoldings ;)



Ingredients:-
Peanuts - 1 cup
Salt
Red Chilli - 2
Oil - 1 sp
Mustard - 1sp

Pressure cook the peanuts for 20-25 mins/ till cooked.
In a tava, add 1 sp of oil, temper mustard and red chilli.
Add boiled peanuts and saute for a minute.
Switch off.
Serve hot.

Mysore Bajji

Soft and Fluffy bajji's..



Ingredients:-
All purpose Flour - 1 cup
Rice Flour (Opt) - 1 Tbsp
Sour Curd - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Eno Fruit Salt / Cooking Soda - 1 sp
Cumin - 1 sp
Chopped Green Chillis - 1sp
Chopped Onion - 1 tbsp
Pepper (Opt) - 1 sp
Oil - To deep fry

Sieve all purpose flour and sour curd without any lumps.
Set it aside for 6-8 hrs.
Add and mix well the rest of the ingredients to make the batter.
When oil is medium hot, drop in small balls of batter using big spoon.
Deep fry till golden brown.
Serve hot with chutneys.

You may check out Few useful Tips for Deep-Frying

Baked Gobi - Manchurian

I still had some left over cauliflower after making Gobi Manchurians. So I tried baking the Cauliflower rather than deep frying it again. I cannot say it was as tasty as the Gobi Manchurian original version, but very much tasting good and above all the satisfaction of 'avoiding the deep fry' part is great :P

Rather than deep frying the florets, spread the florets in a baking pan, drizzle some oil, red chilli/pepper and salt. Pre heat and bake it at 400' for 30 - 40 mins or till slightly brown.

One can even coat it with Allpurposeflour/Corn Flour/Chilli Powder/Salt mix made with very little water to bind, before baking..

Make the sauce as given in Gobi Manchurian and add the baked florets to the sauce. Follow same process.

Masala Corn

A quick tasty snack..

Ingredients:
American Sweet Corn Kernels - 1 cup
Red Chilli powder - 1 sp
Salt
Chat Masala (opt)
Butter - 1 sp

Mix butter to the corn. MW the corn adding redchilli powder, chat masala and salt for couple of minutes.

Corn Vada - Sweeter version

Ingredients:
Corn Kernels - 1 cup
Jaggery/Sugar - 1 Tbsp

Grind the corn sugar/jagger adding water as required to make a thick batter.
Make patties and deep fry in hot oil.

Check out Few useful tips for deep-frying

Corn Vada

This is just like corn dosa, but batter must be made thick so as to make vada's

Ingredients:
Corn Kernels - 1 cup
Ginger - 2' piece
Green Chilli - 4
Salt
Onion

Grind the corn with ginger,chilli and salt adding water as required to make a thick batter.
Add finely chopped onions to the batter.
Make patties and deep fry in hot oil.

Check out Few useful tips for Deep-Fryin

Pottukadalai Urundai /Roasted Gramdal Balls

I was rattling around my kitchen not finding any snack item. I quickly remembered this and its ready in a jiff..My mom makes this everytime when she prepares ghee out of butter. So the fresh taste of ghee, makes this awesome. This is ready in less than 10 mins but absolutely no compromise in taste. It tastes superb..



Ingredients:
Pottukadalai / Roasted gram dal - 1 small cup
Sugar - 1 small cup
Ghee - 1 Tbsp
Milk - 1 Tbsp

Grind together Pottukadalai and sugar to fine powder.
(You can leave few coarsely grounded pottukadalai to give a nutty taste,or can add cashews. )
Heat the ghee till its slightly hot and add it to the powder, so that it helps in binding well.
Using your palm and fingers, press slightly, start rolling it to balls.
Press it gently. If you apply pressure at this stage it will fall apart and wont come in shape.
If the ghee is not enough to make the balls, then add milk, very little by little till it can hold to shape.

-- Though bigger urundais looks great, sometimes it chokes u, when u try to gulp them fully, else spills all over when u bite it to pieces.
I prefer making the urundai's little smaller, comfortably enough to get into your mouth. I hate to eat things that doesnt fit my mouth.

Onion Pakoda / Pakora

Ingredients :
Onion / Cauliflower / Cabbage
Pea nuts / Cashew nuts (Optional)
Besan flour -1 cup
Rice flour - 2 spoons
Red chilli powder / Cut Green chillies - 1 spoon
Salt - 1/2 spoon
Water
Oil

-In 1 cup of besan, add 2 spoons of rice flour, salt per taste, chopped green chillies/chilli powder, cashews,peanuts.
Add onions and mix well. Onions will give out water that will be almost enough to make the dough.)
- Add 2 spoons of hot oil, and some hot water (if necessary) just enough to make a dough. Dough should not be too loose nor too thick. Should be flowy.
-Fry them in hot oil till crisp.
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Fry them in little batches. This is the key point to get crispness. If fried in large batches, pakodas tend to lose crispness. Also check for Few useful tips for deep-frying
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Thattai

A festival savory. Good for Tea time :)





Ingredients:
Rice flour - 1 small cup
Urad flour - 1 spoon
Ghee - 2 spoons
Red chilli Powder / Pepper powder
Salt
Oil
Asofotedia / Hing
Gram dal - 1 spoon (Soak in water for one hour and drain)
Thick Poha - 1 spoon

Mix the rice and urad flour. Add salt, red chilli powder/pepper powder, asofotedia and mix well. Add ghee and 1 sp hot oil and mix the flours to breadcrumb consistency.
Add soaked gram dal and poha.
Add water little by little and make it into a thick dough like consistency.
Test the dough for enough add salt/chilli. Add appropriately.
Take a small ball of dough and make patties on a oil greased plastic sheet. Roughly of 2"
Heat oil.
Gently remove the patties from the sheet and slip it in oil and deep fry both sides.