Jangiri

Diwali..... Its a special occasion.. what could be an easy and a traditional sweet, easy to make? Oh ya, Jangiri is a sweet prepared in few steps.. with little accuracy..
Many of us felt like a big task to prepare jangiri.. Knowing the wright way to do it makes it easy and quick..

Ingredients:

Whole White Urad Dhal - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Water - to make sugar syrup
Saffron food color - 2 pinch
Cardamom - 3 nos.
Oil - for deep frying

Procedure:

• Soak Urad dhal for 3 hours. Grind it in a wet grinder or mixer grinder. Grind it fluffy and soft, adding little water when necessary. Take a little batter and put it in a bowl of water. When it floats that's the wright fluffy, airy ground dhal.. 

• Mix a pinch of food color. Add a tbsp of rice flour if you feel you added extra amount of water while grinding. Presented here is only colored urad dhal.

• Meanwhile prepare sugar syrup by adding sugar and some water to cover the sugar in a container. Add a pinch of food color. Let it boil. Wait for string consistency. When it starts to form string, that's when you add lemon juice to avoid forming sugar. Crush cardamom and add it in the syrup.

• Heat oil in a wide heavy flat bottomed pan on a medium heat. Prepare a cone using thick zip lock cover and make a small cut at one  of its corner. I used a piece of thick cloth and made a small hole at its center by twice folding it and cutting a small bit at its corner.

• Fill a scoop of dhal batter in the cone or cloth and get ready to directly squeeze jangiris into hot oil. You can make jangiris any way you could able to do. Note to squeeze each jangiri as soon as possible. While shaping them, make bonds by swirls so that the batter sticks to make a good shape jangiris.

• Flip jangiris when one side is done. When jangiris are cooked in oil, transfer hot jangiris into sugar syrup one after the other. Make sure each of them get dipped in syrup completely.  Note : Hot jangiris straightly goes to the syrup. Don't keep them aside on a paper towel to drain oil.. When dipped hot, the jangiris absorbs sugar syrup and the sweetness gets into them. Otherwise, it is not possible to taste it sweet even when soaked in sugar syrup. I used a wooden spatula to slightly press it to submerge in the syrup for 3 sec. each.

• Keep the sweetened jangiris aside for serving.

Note: Sugar syrup String consistency- When pinched with your indexed finger and thumb finger, it should form a thin sticky string. Otherwise, when a drop of syrup poured in a bowl of water, it should not dissolve, rather when touched it could be easy to make a small ball kind of.

Masal Vadai

Paruppu vadai or masal vadai, is a famous south Indian dhal(pulses) fritters. People have their own way of preparing this masal vadai and based on the ingredients we add the taste widely differs.
Most of my friends like my masal vadai, because of special taste. It comes from special ingredients I use.
I follow my Mom's recipe.

Ingredients:
Channa dhal - 2 cups soaked atleast for 3 hrs.
Onion - 1 cup Chopped finely
Green chillies - 3 tsp chopped finely
Ginger & Garlic - Crushed 2 tsp
Cilantro - chopped finely 1/4 cup
Curry leaves - 1 stem chopped finely
Cinnamon sticks - a small bit (half size of your index finger)
Cloves - 2 nos
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp, in case if you don't want to use green chillies for the kids' sake.
Oil - for Deep frying

Procedure

• Coarse grind channa dhal along with cinnamon stick and cloves. Mix rest of the above said ingredients other than oil.

• Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Make small balls out of the mixture and flat them using your left palm and right hand fingers. 

• Drop the vadai in hot oil and deep fry them. Flip when one side is golden brown.

• Serve hot draining excess oil.
• It is one of the most welcoming snack in south Indian meal menu. 
• Enjoy vadai in different flavours like adding spinach(Keera / Spinach Vadai), or adding cabbage (cabbage vadai) or upto your imagination and taste.

Wheat Pakoda

Pakoda, we all know it can be made with besan flour. For a change, my mom used to make wheat pakoda, crunchy like besan kind. It gives a nice taste too.. These kind of fritters are nice snack for a pleasant evening, with a cup of tea. Wheat pakoda is quick and easy to make, even you can delight an unexpected guest.

Ingredients:
Dry Wheat flour - 1 cup
Onion -  finely chopped 1 cup
Green chillies - chopped finely 2 tsp (to taste)
Ginger - finely chopped 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 stem
Cilantro (Coriander leaves) - chopped finely 1/2 cup
Salt -  to taste
Water - to mix
Oil -  to deep fry

Procedure:

• Mix wheat flour, onion, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, salt and cilantro.
• Add water if required, since onion leaves out much water once we add salt to the mixture. Make it like a sticky pasty kind of mixture.

• Heat oil on medium high heat. Pinch the wheat mixture into the hot oil and deep fry them.

• Since its been done on medium high heat, the pakodas will be crunchy and nicely cooked inside..
• Serve hot draining excess oil.

Mushroom Pakoda

Hmm... Just thinking of a nice snack for this evening. I remember mushrooms in my fridge. Oh ya, a simple pakoda I can make is mushroom pakoda.. I'm sure, people who does not want to taste mushroom can also crunch this pakoda. Its so easy and simple. On a rainy day, what will be so enjoyable other than crunching, munching a nice hot snack.

Ingredients:

Button Mushroom - sliced half cup
Dry Channa dhal flour(Besan) - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp(to taste)
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Water - more or less 1/2 cup (for making a dip)
Oil -  for deep frying

Procedure:

• Clean mushrooms in hot water like we do for cauliflower.
• Dry  them on a paper towel.

• Mix besan, salt,  and chilli powder. Add water little by little to make a dip consistency without lumps.

• Heat oil in a deep frying pan on a medium high heat, which will help cook the mushrooms.
• Dip mushroom slices in besan and deep fry them until golden brown. Flip them when one side is done.

• When done on both sides, take them out and remove excess oil using paper towel.
• Serve hot with your favorite dip like coriander chutney, yogurt, mint chutney, or with some sauce.

Muttai Bonda / Egg Bonda

For those mothers who wants to give an healthy snack for the whole family in short time, here is the egg bonda recipe. We all know egg is protein rich and the yolk has good fat content, here is a crispy way to feed kids an egg a day.

Ingredient:


Boiled egg - according to feed the family 1 per person..
Dry Channa Flour (Besan) - 1/2 cup(just for 3 eggs.)
Salt - 1 tsp(to taste)
Chilli Powder(Red pepper powder) - 1 tsp(to taste)
Water -  to make besan dip
Oil - to deep fry

Procedure:

• Cut each egg into long halves having yolk in each part.
• Mix salt, chilli powder to besan and add some water to make besan dip. The dip should not be thin or too thick.

• Heat oil in a frying pan. Dip each piece of egg and deep fry them. It needs a flip once.
• Drain excess oil and serve with chutney (Here I used store bought coriander chutney).

Pudalangai Koottu / Snake Gourd Coconut Curry

Snake Gourd, is been grown in many homes as ornamental plant because of its long shiny look. Besides this purpose, it has medicinal value too. The nutritive value of snake gourd comprises of protein, fat, carbohydrate and soluble fiber. Its mineral and vitamin content are calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin, thiamin, niacin and carotene.
Snake gourd makes a tasty veggie curry in different ways. In south India, most of the times, it is presented in the form of koottu(Coconut Currry) in the lunch menu. We also tried this curry as a side for wheat chappathi. It makes a good blend. Here in this post I'm giving an easy way to make koottu in a pressure cooker.

Ingredients:

Snake gourd - 2 nos small size chopped into small pieces
Onion - finely chopped 1 cup
Curry leaves -  1stem
Green chillies - chopped small green pepper 6 nos(or to ur taste)
Channa dhal - 1 cup
Coconut - 1/2 cup shredded
Tomato -  diced 1/2 cup
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - to saute
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds -  2 tsp


Procedure:

• Soak Channa dhal first before we start the rest for preparing curry.
  
• Heat oil and sputter mustard seeds.
• Saute Onion, green chilli and curry leaf. Add chopped snake gourd. Sprinkle salt and saute for a minute.

• Grind coconut and cumin seeds. Pour it in the saute.
• Add turmeric powder, channa dhal and check for salt.

• Add required water up to the consistency we want.
• Pressure cook all together leaving 2-3 whistles.
• This way, the veggie is cooked as well as the dhal and we dont want to overcook and smash dhal...
• Your pudalangai koottu is ready.

Egg Rice

A kind of egg fried rice, but I prefer to use steamed rice. A good and filling tummy in the afternoon lunch menu. This recipe is from my mother. She makes it really well, which my friends love to eat every time during my school and college days. Now I'm so happy that my kids and hubby love to eat them and get delighted to know that they are going to have egg rice as their lunch.. Simple and easy for lunch pack. A good party platter too.

Ingredients:

Steamed rice - 3 cups
Egg - 3-4 nos.
Onion - 1/2 cup,  Finely chopped
Curry leaves - 1 stem
Gree chillies - 4 nos. (Up to your taste)
Ginger - 3 tsp, Finely chopped
Oil - 4 tsp
Cinnamon sticks - few
Cloves - 3 nos
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Bay leaves - 1 big (Optional)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dhal - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Cilantro - garnishing
Salt -2 tsp( to taste)

Procedure:

• Cool down the steamed rice in a wide mixing pan.

 

• In a saute pan, heat oil, add garam masala (cinnamon, clove, bay leaf, fennel seed) stuffs. Also sputter mustard seeds, urad dhal and cumin seeds.

• Add onion, ginger, green chillies, curry leaves. Saute well.
• Crack eggs and add them in the saute pan. Add some salt.

• Stir egg continuously till it becomes scrambled.
• Add saute to the rice and softly mix them both.
• Garish with cilantro(coriander) leaves.

• Egg rice is ready. A perfect match is with fried potatoes and yogurt (thayir pachadi)

Adai Dosai

"Adai", is a kind of dosa, that can be prepared instantly after grinding. No fermentation needed. A  good healthy breakfast. Most of the people prepare adai dosa with chana dhal and toor dhal as the ingredient along with some spices. My mother uses most of the grams and grains that she could include in it. And I follow the same recipe, which gives crispy and soft adai. The recipe I'm giving here serves 4 persons or more.

Ingredients:

To soak :
Toor dhal - 1 fistful
Channa dhal - 1 fistful
Rice - 1/2 fist
Urad dhal - 1/2 fist
Moong dhal - 1/2 fist
Green gram - 1/4 fist
Chick peas - few (say 10 nos)
Kidney beans / Rajma - few
Dry Peas - few

Cumin seeds - 3 tsp
Black pepper - 1 tsp
Ginger / Garlic - 2 tsp Crushed
Dry red chillies - 8 nosv(up to your taste)
Curry leaves - 1 stem (Optional)
Hinge - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 3 tsp (to taste)
Water - for grinding
Oil - to prepare dosa

Procedure:

• Soak dhals and grains altogether overnight or atleast for 8 hrs. And wash them.

•  Add cumin seeds, black pepper, ginger, garlic, dry red chillies, curry leaves, hinge, salt to the soaked grain and grams and grind coarsely. 
• Add water for little flow consistency.

• Prepare dosa as usual. Adai would be thick and served hot with butter other than sambar, chutney. 

• But you can also prepare thin adais too that would be crispy.

Cauliflower dry Curry / Poo Go'su Poriyal

One of the Cruciferous vegetables, which can be taken on regular basis say, weekly twice or thrice is cauliflower. Note that the cauliflower shouldn't be overcooked. It is a good source of antioxidant. Also it provides detox support, that's one of the reason to include cauliflower in our diet on a regular basis. One of the tastiest way to eat cauliflower is given here.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower - 1 no.

Onion - Finely chopped 1/2 cup

Ginger garlic - Crushed 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 1 stem

Sambar Powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

Salt - to taste

Water - just a little

Oil - 2 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dhal - 1 tsp

Procedure:

• Cut cauliflower in to small florets. Clean cauliflower in hot salted water.

• Heat pan and sputter mustard seeds, urad dhal in oil. Saute onion and curry leaves. 

• Add ginger garlic once onion is half cooked. Saute well.

• Then add cauliflower, saute well sprinkling salt. Cauliflower leaves our some water along with its raw smell, which most of the people wont like while eating.

• Add sambar masala powder and garam masala powder. Add some water to cook.

• It takes hardly 5 minutes to cook the veggie. Water added will all be used for cooking cauliflower.

• Serve with rice or with chappathi.