Idli Fingers with Garlic chutney

This Chutney is such a delicious combo with Idli that you will simply love the taste . 

(RECIPE CREDIT - SHYAMALA KINI AKKA)

Ingredients

For Idli Fingers

3-4 Leftover idli
2 tsp coconut oil 

Method

• Cut Idli into fingers and keep aside
• Heat oil in a griddle and then fry the idli fingers till crisp and brown on both sides and then serve it with garlic chutney

For Garlic chutney

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp peppercorns

3 cloves of garlic

2 Dry red chilli

1/2 cup grated coconut

1 tsp tamarind 

1 tsp ghee

salt to taste

Method

• Heat ghee in a pan add cumin seeds, peppercorn, garlic, red chilli and fry till garlic turns brown and then grind it along with coconut, tamarind, salt to a fine paste and then serve with idli fingers.

Tomato & Beetroot soup

Would you like a delicious soup that is filling and also healthy? Then I would definitely recommend you to try this out and it would be your favourite soup too and it is all healthy. This is an easy to make soup and good light lunch time meal for anyone who isn't keen on eating lots. This soup is the key to anyone's meal time hunger, I actually came across this recipe when I was on Instagram and I decide to try this and it was a fab in the house. So do try this and comment in your replies in the space below.

Ingredients

RECIPE CREDIT - NEHA DEEPAK SHAH

2  medium sized Onion (sliced)

3-4 cloves of Garlic

1" Ginger (sliced)

1-2 Green chilli (depending on your spice level)

2 medium sized Carrots (cut into roundels)

1 tbsp Coriander stem (retain the leaves for garnishing)

1 small Beetroot (cubed or in quarters)

2-3 yellow Moong dal

3 Tomatoes (sliced)

2 tbsp oil

Salt and Pepper ( depending on your taste)

Butter and chopped Coriander leaves for garnishing

Bread croutons to top your soup (opt)

Method

• Take a pressure cooker add 2 tbsp oil and when it is smoking hot add in the onions, garlic, ginger, green chilli and sauté for a couple of minutes then add carrots, chopped coriander stems, small beetroot, soaked yellow moong dal, tomatoes then add 1+1/2 cups of water and pressure cook for two whistles.
•  Cool and grind it to a fine paste.
• Transfer it into a deep pot then add in the paste, and the required quantity of water and bring it to a boil.
• Season with salt and pepper as per your taste, garnish with coriander leaves.
• Serve piping hot with bread croutons.

Jackfruit Mulik

 These are traditional seasonal delicacy which is a wow ! I had learnt this recipe from my mil thanks to her for sharing such age old classic recipe with me the actual recipe calls for ground rice flour/ Idli Rawa but in this recipe we have added semolina to make it a little healthier , in case you need to follow the traditional way please do go ahead and swap semolina with idli rawa , it is amazing sweet and traditional one and very dear one to my heart as I have grown up seeing my mom preparing it whenever Jackfruits are in season . Do try this and let me know how did you find it to be :)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 Cup Jackfruit pieces (10 - 12) (deseeded)

1/4 cup Jaggery (can add more if needed depending on the sweetness of the Jackfruit)

1/2 cup semolina

1/4 cup coconut use fresh or desiccated

1/2 tsp ground elaichi powder / Green cardamom powder

Oil to deep fry the fritters 

Method 

• Grind Jackfruit pieces with jaggary to a fine paste (My tip is to grate jaggery and then whizz it.
• Take semolina in a bowl and add this jaggary puree little by little and blend it to make a semi thick batter.
• Add Green cardamom powder and mix well and keep aside.
• Now heat oil wet your hands pinch a small portion of the batter and deep fry in oil till golden .
• Serve as a tea time snack and enjoy with masala tea absolutely a bliss !!!

Chakli

 

CLASSIC POPULAR TEA TIME SNACK WHICH NEEDS NO INTRODUTION !

INGREDIENTS

2 CUPS RICE FLOUR 

1/2 CUP  URAD DAL 

1/2 CUP ROASTED CHANA DAL / CHUTNEY DAL/ DARIA DAL

2 TBSP BUTTER

2 TBSP ROASTED WHITE SESAME SEEDS

1 TSP  WHOLE JEERA

SALT TO TASTE

2 + 1/2 CUP OF LUKEWARM WATER

OIL FOR DEEP FRYING CHAKLI 

METHOD

• Roast 1/2 cup urad dal on simmer flame till dal changes colour and gets the nutty light brown colour with lovely aroma then switch off the gas. 
• Grind the roasted urad dal to fine powder and sieve and keep aside.
• Grind daria dal to a fine powder and sieve and keep aside.
• Now in a large mixing bowl add in rice flour, roasted urad dal powder, daria dal powder, mix well , add sesame seeds, whole jeera, salt to taste mix well and keep aside.
• In a pan add 2 + 1/2 cup water and add butter, heat the water till it's lukewarm and the butter melts and then add it to the rice flour chakli mix and knead to a smooth dough 
• Now pinch a small portion of the dough and put it in chakli press and press down and shape like spiral chakli.
• Now heat oil and deep fry till crisp and enjoy as a tea time snack.

Curry leaves and Peanut chutney Powder

Hello Readers hope you are all doing well on this fine day. I am actually posting here after a long hiatus, and I have come up with another healthy recipe with curry leaves and peanuts; a chutney powder which is a beautiful blend of ingredients which you can enjoy at any time of the day . You can satiate your taste buds by preparing this if your are a peanut lover like me and consumption of curry leaves have such a great benefits and the wonders it does to the human health and is certainly a go-to option for diabetics who can cherish this  as well . Inclusion of curry leaves isn't just to add some more flavour to the recipe, but it also has additional health benefits such as sustainment of hair for example. From a personal point of view, the smell of curry leaves certainly does turn a frown upside down and the compatibility of this with peanut chutney powder is as good as the compatibility of Tweedle-dee and Tweedledum. Thanks to my mum for sharing one more recipe which we are going to treasure :)

Ingredients

• 1 + 1/2 cups of curry leaves 
•  1/2 cup of roasted groundnuts/peanuts 
•  1/2 cup of desiccated coconut 
•  Small piece of Jaggery 
•  2-3 garlic cloves 
•  Salt to taste
• 1 tsp of oil

Method 

• Take a pan and add in 2 teaspoons of oil and add curry leaves. Roast it lightly till crisp. Please note to do this on a simmer flame( a very small flame), so that you don't burn the leaves. 
• Keep it aside on a separate plate once it is lightly roasted and crispy . Roast desiccated coconut a little till a light nutty brown colour and keep it aside. 
• Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend it to a course powder. Try it and enjoy it with anything complementary like idli or dosa. To all readers, please leave in your comments and feel free to give any feedback in the comments section below and happy cooking.

Nan Katai

Hello readers , I am posting here after a long hiatus so thought of posting one of the classic biscuit recipe which I learnt from my mom , this is one of my favourite tea time biscuit recipe which has a lovely hint of elaichi/ Green cardamom and it gives that classic Asian touch , Amazing to taste and so flaky in texture that one bite it teleports me to my childhood days where my mom used to prepare this during Diwali and it always would vanish so quickly that I used to always request her to prepare a big batch of them .  It's easy to prepare and makes it even more special when you share , so do try this recipe and share it with your loved ones . Now coming back to this recipe there are few key steps which you have to follow which nails the texture here .  Please do message me in the comment box below with your feedbacks, questions would love to read them.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Maida /Plain Flour

1/4 cup semolina

1/4 cup Besan/ Chickpea flour

1/2 tsp cooking soda

1/2  cup Ghee (which is at room temperature)

1/2 cup powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla Essence

1/4 tsp Green cardamom powder

Method

• Powder the Sugar with Green cardamom seeds with the help of a mixer grinder and keep aside.
• In a bowl Cream Ghee and powdered sugar together till pale white in colour and well incorporated mix well it takes good 5 minutes to do it . This is a key step please do not skip it.
• In a mixing bowl Sieve Plain Flour (Maida), Besan , cooking soda together and keep aside. mix in the semolina and keep aside.
• Add in the creamed ghee, vanilla essence and mix it well till it comes together to form a dough, and if you are not able to do it don't worry just add another 1 tbsp ghee . Shape them into small round ball and flatten just a little .
• Grease a baking tray with a little ghee add line these cookies and bake in a preheated oven.
• Here the oven temperature is the key for the cracks they form on the cookies which gives a classic look and gives a lovely flaky texture.
• Preheat the oven to 170'c for 5 mins. Bake them for 10-12 mins till done and the bottom of the cookies turn a little golden brown and they form cracks on the top .
• After they have cooled store in an air tight container and Enjoy with a hot cup of tea.

Wheat Flour chocochip cookies

I absolutely love choco chip cookies and was looking for something which is healthy and calls for less sugar too ...these were perfect , gorgeous and made with few ingredients and the texture is so good just like the store bought ones , no compromise on taste and that's a promise.....this was an instant hit in my house, my kids absolutely loved it, thanks to my friend Sujatha S Shenoy's post who inspired me to cook these gorgeous cookies . The original recipe calls for butter , but I have used ghee here ; I have tweaked the recipe which has turned out perfect for me and have even used the same measurements to prepare more than 2 batches and it has come out perfect !...Please do try them and enjoy them sipping down a hot cup of tea  :D

Recipe adapted from Healthy kadai 

Ingredients 

1 cup wheat flour 

1/4 cup semolina  

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1/4 cup sugar 

1/4 cup chocochips 

1/4 cup ghee ( should be at room temperature )

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla essence 

Method 

1. In a deep bowl add in wheat flour, semolina , cocoa powder, sugar, mix well , add in chocochips and mix well. 
2. Now add in vanilla essence , ghee and mix well until it becomes a perfect dough, add maybe 1/2 tsp more ghee if u find it a bit difficult to bind the dough but otherwise it should be fine.
3. Leave the dough aside for 10 mins.
4. Preheat the oven to 170'c for 5 mins.
5.  Line a cookie tray with the parchment paper and pinch a small portion of dough, make a round ball place a chocochip in the centre. 
6.  Bake for ab0ut 15-20 mins until the top gets a bit cracked and it's cooked.
7.  Store in an air tight container. Enjoy !

Magge Sasam (Temple style)

This is a typical traditional konkani style curry which is prepared in most of the households , I am sure every family might have that special magical touch in their recipe which was passed on by their elders , here's the way it's been prepared in my house and which in turn I learnt from my mom . As shravan month marks so many auspicious days , I thought this post is apt for the festive month , do try this simple satvikk recipe which I am sure you would find it lovely when served with rice . Do leave in your feedback on my space below would love to read your comments !

Ingredients

1 cup Magge / Mangalore cucumber (peel off the skin and chop into small chunks)

3 green chillies

2 red chillies (Kashmiri Red chillies)

1 small piece jaggery 

1 cup coconut

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 tsp mustard seeds ( 1 tsp for grinding with masala + 1 tsp for tadka)

1 sprig of curry leaves 

salt to taste

Method

• In a deep pan add 1 and 1/2 cup water 1 tbsp jaggery , cucumber chunks then boil till cooked and keep aside.
• Grind green chilli, red chilli, coconut, mustard seeds, salt to a fine paste.
• Add paste to the the boiled Cucumber chunks and bring it to a boil .
• Now let's prepare the tadka /tempering for heating 1 tsp coconut oil add 1 tsp mustard seeds when it pops or starts to crackle add in curry leaves and drop this tadka in the curry and let it cook for good 10 to 15 mins.
• Serve and relish with Rice .

Kultha Phanna Doddak

I have already posted about Horsegram idli in my last post and today I am posting one more delicacy using the same batter you can make very crispy and yummy dosa. Just pair it with spicy coconut chutney or even dollop of butter it's fab ...Here is the quick recipe of how to make it , I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we did :)

Ingredients

1/2 cup split white urad dal (black gram dal)

1/4  heaped cup Horse gram /kulithu

1 cup Raw Rice ( Sona Masoori / Basmathi Rice)

salt to taste

For tempering 

1 tbsp coconut oil 

 Large pinch of mustard seeds

Method 

• Soak urad dal , horse gram , Rice separately in 3 different vessels for around 7-8 hrs
• Grind Soaked rice to a smooth batter draining all water to a semi thick paste and keep aside.
• Drain all the water from urad dal , transfer this in a mixer grinder and grind to a smooth fluffy paste, remove it in a mixing bowl.
• Now grind the horse gram adding little water to a smooth paste and mix in well along with a urad dal batter, Then add in Rice and salt and mix well to make the consistency of free flowing fully batter.
• Now Allow this to ferment well overnight .
• Now take a small non stick pan add 1/4 tsp oil drop in just a few mustard seeds when it splutters add in one ladle full of the batter (Do Not Spread ) cover and cook on a v low heat then flip you will notice tadka being beautifully stuck to the dosa  and it becomes very crispy and cook on the other side. It is important to cover and cook on low heat to get a very crispy texture here.
• Serve with chutney of your choice or Enjoy with a dollop of butter !

Horsegram Idli (kultha Idli)

I absolutely love Idli and sambar and  it's one of the most popular southern Indian breakfast which I am sure is classic favourite Indian breakfast item in most of our household and there are many versions of idli my mom used to prepare and today I am sharing one of them that is horse gram idli which was my childhood favourite and my mom used to serve this with spicy coconut chutney which I used to relish ..Yum . 
     It's such a healthy recipe and not to forget all health benefits of horsegram like a good immune booster, perfect for weight loss , good source of Iron and when you mix ground horsegram to idli batter it becomes very soft , so here is one healthy , perfect recipe of Kulitha idli

Ingredients

1/2 cup split white urad dal (black gram dal)

1/4  heaped cup Horse gram /kulithu

1 cup Raw Rice ( Sona Masoori / Basmathi Rice)

salt to taste

Method 

• Soak urad dal , horse gram , Rice separately in 3 different vessels for around 7-8 hrs
• Grind Soaked rice to a smooth batter draining all water to a semi thick paste and keep aside.
• Drain all the water from urad dal , transfer this in a mixer grinder and grind to a smooth fluffy paste, remove it in a mixing bowl.
• Now grind the horse gram adding little water to a smooth paste and mix in well along with a urad dal batter, Then add in Rice and salt and mix well to make the consistency of free flowing fully batter.
• Now Allow this to ferment well overnight .
• Next morning prepare the idli steamer ready grease idli mould with little ghee/ coconut oil and steam for about 15 -20 mins until done .Here I have steamed in a round idli tatte / or mould and you can make out from picture how spongy it's turned out to be . 
• Serve with chutney pudi / molgapodi or spicy coconut chutney of your choice :)