Kodubale

I remember having this snack in my childhood but I had forgot its name until recently wen I bought this snack from Indian grocery. I wanted to try this at home and found a recipe @ Aayis recipes. The taste was good but not as very good as the store bought one. Also few rings turned dark in the beginning bcos of the heat. So I reduced the heat later and then it came well. I thought adding rava/sooji also makes it turn dark soon. So next time, I'm planning to try it without sooji.

If you have enough time and patience its worth trying this as it took a lot of time for rolling the rings; maybe I was slow...:) . I'm  happy that my kid also helped me in making some rings and he made his own shapes of alphabets.

Ingredients:

1 cups rice flour
1/2 cup maida (all purpose flour)
1/2 cup rava/sooji
1 tea spn moong dal
1 tea spn urad dal
1 tea spn chana dal
3 red chillies
2 tea spns dry coconut (kobbari)
1 tea spn coriander seeds
1 tea spn cumin seeds
Oil
Salt

Procedure:

Dry roast rice flour, maida(all purpose flour), rava/sooji for few minutes and keep it aside.

Heat oil and add moong dal, urad dal, chana dal, red chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, coconut for few minutes. Take care not to burn anything. Grind to a smooth paste using just enough water.

Add the paste to the flour mixture. Add salt, 1 tbsp hot oil and make a dough. Add water if needed

Make small balls of the dough and roll them as thin strings and join them at the ends to make a circle.
Make the rings ready and fry them in oil on medium heat. They get soft if they are not fried well, so make sure to fry them till they are little dark in color.

Store in air tight container.

 

Mini Jangri

Jangri is my favorite sweets back in my childhood. The cripsy outside and juicy inside makes me mouth-watering even now. I found this recipe when I was browsing for some Diwali sweets.

I actually wanted to make the bigger ones but I cudn't get that perfect shape. It started to float on oil before I finished to squeeze them. So I made them as mini ones following Spicy Treats. Believe me the taste was good except for the size. Also they were a little thin I think bcos of the hole size. But it was a great surprise for my family.

Ingredients

Urad dal - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1 tbsp
Orange food color - a generous pinch
salt - a pinch

For sugar syrup
Sugar 1 cup
Water 1 cup
Lemon juice few drops

Proceudre:

Sugar syrup:
1. Add water to a vessel and add sugar to it. Keep stirring till it dissolves and boil for half string consistency. This should take around 8-10 minutes. Once it reaches this consistency add few drops of lemon juice and turn it off.
2. You can add a drop of rose essence or cardamom powder to this syrup for flavor.

Jangri:
1. Soak Urad dal for 4-5 hrs (I soaked overnight) and grind it in mixer to a smooth paste with very little water (make sure not to add too much water as we do for medhu vadas)

2. To this ground paste add a pinch of salt, rice flour and food color and mix well. The batter should be thick and if dropped in water should float. If it gets watery add a little more of rice flour.

3. Take a clean new zip lock bag(use the freezer bags as they r thick) and in the center make a whole using hot nail in such a way the whole get sealed and it will tear while squeezing.

4. Then using spatula keep the urad dal batter to the zip lock and bring all dough together and hold on the top or tie using a rubber band.(like we do for henna cone or pastry bag with icing)

5. Now heat oil in a wide pan on medium low. Squeeze the batter directly in to the hot oil randomly (like we do for murukku) .based on your size of the pan, fry 5-10 mini jangris at a time.

6. Turn them frequently and fry till it turns crisp n well done. Drain it from oil and transfer it to the prepared warm sugar syrup.

7. Repeat the same for all remaining batter. Let the mini jangri rest in the sugar syrup for at least 1 hour for fine taste n texture.


Points to note:

Use little water for grinding urad dal. While grinding, turn off the grinder frequently to avoid the batter becoming hot
If you feel your batter to be little watery then add 2-3 tsp of rice flour mix well n use.
Sugar syrup should be warm not hot syrup.
Oil should not be too hot.It should be medium hot. I turned off the heat while removing a batch of jangri, squeezed the next batch and then turned it on so that the oil was not hot while squeezing the jangris.

Roasted Potatoes (Red & Green)

A variety of roasted potatoes in a different flavor. I usually make the red ones. But last time I tried out the green ones too. It tasted great (my pictures were not appealing though). My husband liked it very much. I used the white potatoes for this as they don't get mashed easily. This would be great with Baby potatoes.

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 3-4 medium size. Boil them till cooked. Don't cook too soft.

Red potatoes:
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt

Procedure:

1. Cut the boiled potatoes to cubes.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan (preferably heavy bottomed non-stick) and add half of the cubed potatoes(remaining u can use for the green version)

3. Fry on medium flame and keep stirring so that it gets evenly roasted. Be careful not to break the potatoes.

4. Once the potatoes turn light brownish, add the salt and red chilly powder. Stir well so the powders get coated evenly.

5. Now add another tbsp of oil and keep stirring frequently. If needed reduce the flame.

6. Wait for red brown color and the raw smell of chily powder goes away.

7. Serve them hot as snack or serve with rice. It goes well with sambhar, more kuzhambu and curd rice


Green potatoes:

Coriander leaves - 1 cup
Mint leaves - 2 tbsp
Green chilly - 2/3
Oil - 2 tbsp
salt

Procedure:

1. Grind the coriander leaves, mint leaves and green chilli to a smooth paste

2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and add the ground paste and salt
(preferably heavy bottomed non-stick)

3. After it starts leaving nice aroma add the remaining half of the cubed potatoes

4. Fry on medium flame and keep stirring so that it gets evenly roasted. Be careful not to break the potatoes.

5. Keep stirring frequently. If needed reduce the flame.

6. Wait for the potatoes to get evenly coated and they are roasted crisp.They may turn light brown spots while roasting.

7. Serve them hot as snack or serve with rice. It goes well with sambhar, more kuzhambu and curd rice

Spicy Mashed Potatoes

This is one of my favorite dish. The traditional name for this is Potato Puttu. It
needs simple ingredients and frequent stirring and we can make this delicious dish
in 15-20 minutes. It goes very well with Kara/puli kuzhambu



Ingredients:

Boiled Potatoes -3
Chopped Onions- 1 big
Chopped garlic - 6 pods
Green chilli - 3 ( can be replaced with chilli powder if you have kids at home)
chopped cashews - 10
turmeric powder - pinch
salt
Oil - 2 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Boil the potatoes well. Mash them with salt and turmeric powder and mix well and make as a dough. (it will be sticky)

2. Heat oil in a pan (preferably heavy bottomed non-stick). Fry the cashews. To this add onions, garlic and green chillies. Fry well. (if you are using red chilli powder add after the onions are sauted well and brown)

3. Add the mashed potatoes and keep stirring. Keep on a medium low flame. Spread the mixture evenly across the pan with the spatula.

4. Keep stirring for every 1 or 2 minutes. It will gradually turn brown on the bottom. If you don't stir it will burn. Do this for 15 minutes or until it turns light brown.

5. Potato puttu is ready.

Stuffed Mushrooms

This is a tasty appetizer which is easy to make. The stuffing can be changed with any of your favorite ingredients like peppers(capsicum), cabbage, potatos etc., I got the recipe from my friend and my special thanks to her. you may prepare this few hours ahead and reheat in the oven before serving



What we need:

Whole Mushrooms - 10
chopped onion - 1/2 cup
chopped garlic - 3 pods
red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
pepper
salt
Oil - 1tsp
Shredded cheese (parmesan or mild cheddar) - 1/2 cup

How to make:

Work with mushrooms:

1. Wash the mushrooms a couple of times to remove the mud completely.

2. Remove the stem of the mushrooms which will leave the hollow part inside. Keep the whole hollow part aside

3. Finely chop the stem part of the mushroom


Making the stuffing:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Then add chopped onions and garlic.

2. After its sauted add the chopped mushroom stems. We can add other vegetables also at this time

3. Now add the red chilli powder, a little pepper and salt.

4. cook till its done. we may not need water as mushroom tends to leave out some


Final part:

1. Preheat the oven at 350F

2. Take the whole mushrooms and fill the prepared stuffing inside them

3. Assemble the mushrooms in an oven-safe vessel with the open side facing upwards

4. Now sprinkle the shredded cheese on top and keep inside the oven

5. Cook for 35- 40 mts. Mushrooms will be brown and bubbly. Serve hot.

Tricolor Chapati

I was just bored of regular of making regular chapatis. And luckily came across this different recipe and tried it out. It looks colourful, tastes good and serves healthy too. I used carrots for the orange color, coriander and mint leaves for the green color. You can try other veggies like beetroot, broccoli etc., for different colors.




Ingredients

Chapati flour - 3 cups
carrots -2 (steam and grind to a thick paste)
Coriander and mint leaves - 1 cup (grind with little water to a smooth and thick paste)
salt
oil

Method




1. Add water and salt to 1st cup of flour and make a soft chapati dough. This is the usual brown dough

2. Add grinded carrot paste and salt to 2nd cup of flour and make a soft chapati dough. Add water if needed. You'll get a orange dough

3. Add grinded coriander and mint paste and salt to 3rd cup of flour and make a soft chapati dough. Add water if needed. This serves for the green dough

4. Flatten each dough separately using hand or rolling pin to the size of a roti. Arrange the flattened doughs one on top of other ie., keep brown down on top of it keep orange and then green.

5. Now roll it together cylindrically and cut to the size of a chapati ball using knife. Don't make the ball as this blends the color and you maynot be able to the unique colors

6. Take each piece and roll the colorful chapati and cook over tawa as usual

7. Colorful Chapatis are ready for serving

Mani Kozhukattai

These are smaller versions of regular kozhukattai. And these are then stirred with cooked and crumbled urad dal which gives a different and great taste. I got the recipe from chefinyou but definitely could not beat her picture. The only difficulty in this is to make the small balls as it takes quite time compared to the regular ones.



Ingredients:

Steamed Rice flour/Idiyappam flour - 1 cup
warm water as required
Mustard seeds
Red chili -1
curry leaves
urad dal - 1 tsp
Salt
Oil

Coarse grind
Urad dal - 1/2 cup(soak for1/2 hr)
Red chili - 1
curry leaves
fennel seeds
salt


Procedure:

Coarsely grind the soaked urad dal with chili, curry leaves, fennel seeds and salt and steam them like idly

After cooling down crumble the steamed urad dal. This makes the spicy pooranam

Knead the flour with warm water and salt to a soft dough. Alternatively you can grind rice to a smooth paste and cook it over stove to form a soft dough (pls check the kozhukattai recipe for details)

Apply oil on ur hand and make it to small balls and steam them for 10 minutes

Now heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. After they crack, add urad dal, red chili, curry leaves and saute the spicy pooranam.

To this mix the steamed kozhukattais and serve hot

Tindora (Kovakkai) Fry

These are tasty fries with very little oil. I did this in microwave and it came very well. I bet this will be a great combination with Sambhar and curd rice..Try out wen u get a chance...

Take good amount of tindora as it shrinks to 1/4th the regular size.




Ingredients:
Tindora - 200 gms --cut each into 4 pieces lengthwise
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt
Oil - 1 tsp


Procedure:

1. Keep the sliced tindora/kovakkai in microwave safe bowl/plate and cook it covered for 4 minutes

2. Add salt and chilli powder and mix well. Microwave again on high for 4 minutes stirring once after 2 mins

3. Now the tindora would have cooked well. If not microwave for another few minutes

4. Now heat oil in a pan on stove and the cooked tindora. Keep stirring on medium heat till it gets light browned.

5. Serve as side with rice.

Cucumber cups

A veggie delight made with cucumber, carrots and green peppers(capsicum) loaded with nutrients. The stuffing can be altered with any vegetables as u wish. This is easy to make and will attract kids. Am submitting this recipe for the Food contest in Manjula's Kitchen

Ingredients:

Cucumber - 1
Groundnut powder (coarse) - 2 tbsp
Bread crumbs
Cheese

Stuffing:
Shredded Carrots- 1/2 cup
diced Capsicum- 1/4 cup
chopped Onions - 1/4 cup
Diced tomatoes - 2 tbsp
grated ginger - 1 tbsp
coriander leaves
Oil
salt
pepper

Procedure:

Stuffing:
Heat oil in a pan. Add Ginger and onions and saute well. To this add carrots and capsicum and saute for 2 minutes. Then add tomatoes, coriander leaves, salt and pepper and mix well. Turn off the stove and cool the mix.


Cucumber cups

Peel the skin of the cucumber and cut into 4 or 5 pieces. Each piece will serve as a cup.

Gently remove the inner seeds of the cup leaving the bottom part.

On the hollow top, stuff the prepared vegetable mix. On the top, layer groundnut powder, bread crumbs and cheese



Bake the cucumber cups in 400F oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts

Remove from oven and serve hot

Masal dosai

Masal Dosai is a traditional dosa variety served in any south indian restaurant. And its easy to make at home too. The potato masala made for this makes a perfect combo for Pooris also.

Ingredients:

Dosa batter
Oil

Potato masala:
Potato - 1 -cooked and peeled
Big Onions - 1 finely chopped
Grated ginger - 1 tbsp
Green chilli- 1 cut finely
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tbsp
Orid dal - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
asafotedia - a pinch
salt
Oil



Procedure:

Potato masala:
1. Roughly mash the boiled potatoes and keep it ready

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. As it splutters, add the chana dal and orid dal.

3. When they turn light brown, add ginger, green chili, turmeric powder and asafotedia

4. Then add onions and fry well till it becomes soft

5. to this add the coarsely mashed potatoes, salt and chili powder and add 2 tbsp of water and mix well. Let it cook well and become dry.

6. Add coriander leaves and mix well


Masal Dosai
1. Heat the Dosa tawa, and pour dosa batter and spread it thin. Add oil on the sides and cover it with a lid

2. Check if it had started to brown. Then slighlty remove the corners with a spatula and keep the potato masala in the middle. Roll the dosa as u wish and serve hot with coconut chutney

Double ka Meetha

This is a dessert recipe made with bread as base. Its simple to make and a sure treat for parties.



Ingredients
White Bread- 8 slices
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 2 cups
Milk - 2 cups
broken Cashews - 2 tbsp
Pistachios - 2 tbsp
Raisins - 2 tbsp
Oil - for deep frying

Procedure

1. Slice the bread and keep it out overnight to remove the excess moisture. Else you can even keep in it oven over 300F for 15 mts

2. Heat the milk in a pan. When it comes to a boil simmer it. This has to boiled on low flame until it reduces to 1/2 cup. Keep stirring it every now and then so that milk doesn't settle on the corners. After it reduces to 1/2 cup turn off the flame

3. When the milk is boiling, make the sugar syrup parallel. Heat 2 cups of water in a bowl and add sugar to it. Boil this for 10 minutes and keep it ready

4. Deep fry the sliced bread pieces in hot oil/ghee until dark brown on both sides. Be careful not to burn itas bread tends to cook fast. Fry the nuts and raisins in the same oil and keep it aside

5. Soak the fried bread pieces in the sugar syrup and remove it quickly once it absorbs the syrup and keep it on a serving dish. Do the same for all the bread pieces and arrange them in a serving dish preferably a large tray

6. Over these bread slices pour the simmered milk and on top arrange the fried nuts and raisins.

7. Double ka Meetha is ready to serve. This can be served hot or cold.

Note:
Since bread is deep fried it takes too much oil. If u r very health consious, just toast the bread pieces in oven on 400F for 15-20 mts. This may not be evenly browned. After this follow steps 5 to 7 and its equally good.

Naan with Gobi Manchurian

Naan

I wanted to try home-made Naans for a long time but got missed somehow (except for my first failure long back). I saw a Naan recipe without yeast in rakskitchen and wanted to try. Believe me it was really good. My husband didn't believed its homemade and it was soft and fluffy. Check out here for the actual recipe and I replaced cooking soda with Eno fruit salt.



Gobi Manchurian

Ingredients
Cauliflower florets- 2 cups
Chopped Onion - 1 cup
cut Capsicum - 1 cup
Green chili - 1
Tomato sauce/ketchup - 2 tbsp
Soy sauce - 2 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Salt
Oil

Gobi masala
Corn flour - 1 tbsp
Plain flour - 1 tbsp
Rice flour - 1/2 tsp (optional for crispiness)
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
soy sauce - 1/2 tsp
salt

Procedure:

Marinate the cauliflower florets with the ingredients mentioned under Gobi masala. sprinkle little water and mix them well and keep aside for 20 mts

After 20 mts deep fry the marinated gobi florets and keep aside (too tempting and may get over before gravy gets ready..make sure to make a little more)

Pour oil in a wide pan and saute onions till they become soft.

Add ginger garlic paster and green chill. Fry while till the raw smell goes away.

Mix the capsicum and fry for a while.

Its now time to add the sauce. Add enough tomato and soya sauce according to taste. If you want gravy add 1/2 cup water.

Now add the fried cauliflower and mix well.

Garnish with spring onions and coriander leaves and serve hot


Tip:

If you are preaparing ahead, warm up the gravy and add cauliflower just before serving as it tends to become soggy.

Sugar Cookies

Simple sugar cookies to win the hearts of kids..even elders too...



Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour/maida

1/2 tsp baking pwd

1 pinch cardamom powder

1 egg

1/2 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt


Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper/foil.

Sift salt, flour and baking pwd and keep aside. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, approx 3 mts. Add cardamom powder and egg and combine well. Add the flour mixture, mix until well combined. Refrigerate dough covered with a plastic wrap for an hour until firm enough to roll.

Remove half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 “. Keep turning the dough as you roll. Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the baking tray.

Place the baking tray with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10-15 mts to chill. This prevents the cookies from spreading and losing shape while baking.

Make any of the decorations below or simply sprinkle sugar over them. Bake for about 10 mts till the edges are slightly toasted or till done.

Cool on a wire rack. The cookies will harden. Repeat with remaining dough.

Cool completely. Store in airtight containe


Decoration:

Chocolate:

Place some chocolates in a bowl and keep it over boiling water to melt them. Dip edge of spoon or fork into the melted chocolate and decorate over the cookies just before putting into the oven to bake.




Jam:

Make a ball out of the cookie dough and slightly press them to form a circle shape. Slightly make a dent in the center of the cookies; fill with jam and put into the oven to bake

Apple sauce chutney (Microwave)

This is an instant chutney which you can prepare with few readily available stuffs. I had some apple sauce which I wanted to finish before its expiry. So I browsed some recipes and made some alterations and cameout with this easy instant chutney. This has a sweet and very mild spice taste and the crunchiness of the onions adds the extra flavor for this. I tried with dosa and it tasted awesome. This can be used as the sweet chutney for chats too.

This can be made on stovetop also.



Wat u need:

Apple sauce - 2 tbsp
grated ginger - little
grated orange peel- little
finely chopped onion - 2 tbsp
water - 1/2 cup
chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
oil - 1/2 tsp
salt


How to do:

Mix onions and oil in a microwave safe bowl and cook on high for 1 min

Add all the other ingredients except water, mix well and cook covered for 1 min

Now add water and cook covered(or else it may boil over) for 3 mins stirring inbetween every min. Check for the desired consistency. If its too watery cook for some more time.

Garnish with coriander leaves, mix well and serve.

Rajma Chawal/Kidney Beans Rice

As the name says this takes "Red Kidney Beans" as the main ingredient. But unlike other rice/pulav varieties, this is served in a different way. A side dish of kidney beans is prepared with spices and then enjoyed with rice. The kidney beans gravy prepared also makes a perfect combination for Rotis and it tastes even more great the next day, if you have leftovers.

Ingredients

Rajma (Red kidney beans) - 1 cup (soak overnight)
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon stick - 1
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Jaggery - little
Oil- 2 tsp

To grind
Tomatoes -1
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic - 4 pods


Proceudre:

Rajma

Keep the Rajma in Pressure cooker with 1 cup water and little salt. Cook for 1 whistle on high and reduce the flame and cook for 5 more whistles. It should be cooked soft.

Gravy

Heat oil in a pan and add the cloves and cinnamon

Add onions and fry till transparent.Then add grinded tomato puree and saute.

Add the chilly and coriander powder and mix well. To thia add the cooked Rajma with all water and check salt.

Let it cook for 4-5 mts till the gravy thickens. Add the jaggery and cook for 1 min and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with plain white rice or Jeera rice.

NanKhatai

This is a famous eggless Indian cookie made of all-purpose flour and sooji (rava). This is the perfect pair for teatime. Its excellent taste will never let you to stop with just one and will just melt away.

The given measurement makes 30 cookies.



Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour (maida)
1/4 cup semolina/sooji
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cardamom pwd
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup ghee or melted butter or oil
2 tbsps yogurt/curd

How to:

Sieve maida, baking soda and cardamom pwd.

Blend the sugar, ghee and yogurt till smooth. Its important you really combine well. Add the sieved ingredients and semolina to the sugar-ghee mixture. The dough should be kneaded well for at least 7-8 mts. If the dough is not stiff enough to roll out into balls, add a few tbsps of cold milk and chill for a few minutes.

Pinch dough and shape into small balls and slightly flatten. Remember we don't want flat biscuits. This will be slightly bulged than typical cookies.

Garnish with nuts by slightly pressing into the dough. Place on a greased tray with enough space between each ball as they spread out. Pre heat oven for 15 mts, bake at 350F for about 20-22 mts. Once baked, the cookie will feel soft on touch. Remove from oven and cool and the cookies will harden.

Cool on a wire rack and store in airtight container.

Palak Chicken

As the name says this has Chicken and spinach. I just gave it a try though I was wavery about the outcome because of adding spinach. But as you may know it came well and thats the reason I'm posting it here. The spinach gives an added flavor to chicken. I made it little dry, but this can be served as a gravy by taking off a little earlier.



Ingredients:

Chicken - 250 gms
Palak/spinach - 2 cups chopped
Onion - 1 chopped
small Tomato - 1 chopped
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 1 tsp
Clove - 2
Cinnamon sticks - 1
Oil - 2tsp
salt


Method:

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add the whole garam masala

To this add ginger garlic paste, onions and tomatoes one by one after sauting each for a while

Now add chopped spinach, chilly powder and coriander powder and let it cook for 2 mins

Add Chicken to this and saute well. Add salt and some water and keep covered on medium heat. Let this cook for 10-15 mins. Keep stirring it every 2 mins to avoid burning

After chicken is cooked and turns tender turn the flame to high and fry well to remove any excess water (you may even have it with gravy than dry)

Serve hot with rice/roti when done

Vazhaipoo/Banana flower Vadai

Vazhaipoo is one of the most nutrious vegetable which comes from the Banana family. Although this has so much good stuffs in it, the taste doesn't make it a favorite for many. I think this dish serves for those who avoids this wonderful food just for taste.

This is one of the most common dish made with Vazhaipoo. Also we can make kootu and poriyal with added coconut for a healthy dish with a better taste. The tough part in this is the cleaning of the flower, where the semen has to be removed. This has to be done ahead of time and soaked in salted thin buttermilk for a couple of hours to remove the bitterness.

This is a forerunner for all vegetable vadais. As we can add any other vegetable like cabbage, cauliflower, tofu etc to make vegetable vadais.



Ingredients

Vazhaipoo florets-2 cups, chopped
Onions - 1 chopped
Curry & coriander leaves
salt
Oil - to deep fry

To coarsely grind
Chana Dal - 1 cup (soaked for min 2 hrs)
Red chilly - 2
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic - 3 pods
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

Procedure:

1. Coarsely grind the ingredients as mentioned with no water

2. To this mix with chipped florets, onions, curry leaves, cilantro and salt. The batter should be thick to make balls of it

3. Heat oil in a pan to deep fry

4. Make small balls of the batter, flatten them and drop them in oil

5. Fry on medium flame till golden brown on both sides

6. Remove from oil and place on tissue to absorb excess oil

7. serve hot

Namak paare

Namak paare is a crunchy snack great for teatime. This is also a healthy one as it has wheat flour. The wheat flour can also be replaced with Besan flour too.
This is great snack for the evening and can be served as appetizers for parties.

I would like to submit this for the January Contest 2011 in Manjula's Kitchen

Ingredients:

1/2 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons Sooji fine (rava)
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds or ajwain
2 tablespoon oil
About 1/3 cup water as needed
Oil to fry


Procedure:

Mix flour, sooji, salt, carom seeds, and oil, and mix it with fingertips to get consistency of breadcrumb.

Add water as needed to make firm but smooth dough. Cover with damp cloth and set aside at least for ten minutes.

Knead the dough for another minute and divide in two equal parts.

Take each part of the dough and make a flat ball shape. Roll them into 9-inch circles and thickness of salted crackers.

Prick them with a fork all over the rolled dough, so they do not puff when frying.

Cut each of the rolled dough into desired shapes.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat.

The frying pan should have at least 1 ½ inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, put a small piece of dough in the oil. The dough should make the oil sizzle and come up slowly.

Make sure to place just enough namak paras so you can turn them over easily when frying. Fry the namak paras until both sides are light golden-brown.

After namak paras come to room temperature they should become crisp. store them in air-tight containers. This will stay good for a couple of weeks.

Recipe source:www.manjulaskitchen.com