Aamras Poori

We always come across poori serve with potato masala or savoury gravies. I came across of well puffed poori with sweet dish as sides. This Maharashtrian Amraas poori or poori served with mango puree. At first I was skeptical to give it a try as this combo were a kinda weird for me but,  thought why not just go for it. It's easy to prepare in a jiffy and doesn't compromise in taste. 

The deep fried poori goes really well with smooth mango puree. I love the luscious mango puree which is sweet and juicy.  Dishes with amraas or known as mango puree always make into households or restaurants or even roadside cart during summer where,  mangoes are abundance. This Amraas poori makes a perfect tea time treat and I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did. 

Ingredients

For The Poori 

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rava/semolina
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp butter
Oil for deep frying

For Mango Puree

1 ripe mango

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp milk

Methods

In a large bow, add flour,salt,sugar,semolina and oil. Mix well.

Add little warm water at a time to knead the dough into a dough.

Smear 1 tsp butter on the dough and cover the bowl. Let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes.

Knead the dough for 1 minute and roll the dough into equal sized balls.

Dust a clean working surface and your rolling pin with flour. Roll out the dough into medium thickness.

Over a medium flame, heat oil in a frying pan for deep fying. Gently slides the poori  from the sides of the pan to the hot oil.

Once the poori floats, gently press the ladle on one side for the poori to puff up. Flip the poori to cook on the other sides. Once the poori turns golden, drain the oil and place them on a plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.

Continue the process with remaining dough.

For The Mango Puree 

Peel of the mango skin and cut into slices. 

In a blender add mango pieces, sugar and milk. Blend into smooth puree. 

Transfer to a serving bowl.

Serve hot poori with mango puree.

Notes

The oil shall not be too hot or too cold.

The dough should not be too soft. It shall be slightly stiff.

Do not roll the poori too thin this will prevent from the poori puffing up while frying.

Do not add water while grinding the mango puree as milk added helps to blend it well. 

Coconut Milk Prawn Briyani

Coconut milk prawn briyani is one of my household's favorite for Sunday lunch. It's filling, burst with flavors and absolutely satisfying on eyes and palate. Enhanced with coconut milk and aromatic spices lovely grains are perfect to dish out to family and friends and on special occasions.

The whole house filled with fragrance of ghee, spices and rich coconut gravy. The coconut milk moisten each and every grains making it fluffy and helps to absorb the flavors of the masala. The prawn masala are well seasoned which enhance the taste of our coconut milk prawn briyani. I serve the briyani with prawn gravy and a simple raita. Indeed, it's a fulfilling meal Sunday lunch. It's a different take on usual briyani but,  worth the try. 

To Marinate

1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 kg prawns, cleaned & deveined
1 tbsp garlic paste
1/4 cup fried onion
6 black peppercorns
3 cardamoms
3 cloves
1/2" inch cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 pcs mace
3 pcs green chillies,slitted
1 tbsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tbsp Kashmiri chilly powder
4 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil

For Prawns

1 large tomato, sliced

1/4 cup coconut milk

1 large onion, sliced
4 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
2 tbsp chopped mint leaves
2 1/2 tbsp oil

For Rice

2 cups Basmathi rice, washed and soaked for 30 minutes

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
1/2"inch cinnamon stick
4-5 peppercorns
2 cardamom pods
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Water as required

For Layering

2 tbsp ghee
1/4 cup coriander leaves
1/4 cup mint leaves
Pinch of saffron soaked in tbsp milk

Methods

In a large pot, add all ingredients listed under "For Rice" and cook till the rice are 70% done. Strain the rice and spread on a large tray.

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients listed under marination and refrigerate for 30 minutes

Heat 2 1/2 tbsp oil in a heavy bottom pan. Saute sliced onion till slightly brown

Add sliced tomatoes and bay leaf for 1 minute. Add marinated prawns and coconut milk. Cook on medium heat for 4-6 minutes. Add chopped coriander and mint leaves.  Turn off the heat.

Sprinkle fried onion on cooked prawn masala. Top with par boiled rice.

Drizzle with saffron milk and ghee. Cover with lid.

Place the pot on a heavy bottom tawa or dosa pan over a medium-low heat and place a heavy object like a motar. Cook for 12-15 minutes. Turn off flame and leave it for 8-10 minutes. Unlid and serve hot.

Serve with raita of your choice.

Banana Oats Kuzhi Panniyaram

My fruit basket are over flowing with fresh fruits and my bunch of bananas are too much to handle. We were having fruits for all our three meals yet,  I don't see any changes in the basket thus,  I decided to make use the fruits in my cooking. I made this delicious banana oats kuzhi panniyaram.

The jaggery enhance the flavor of the banana batter. Lightly scented with cardamom this dark beauties are indeed delicious and burst with flavour. The powdered oats works as sponge to absorb all the goodness of the panniyaram. Do use ripe bananas for extra kick on taste. Dandelions love the panniyaram as their tea time snack.

Ingredients 

2 tbsp wheat flour

3 medium sized bananas

1 cup instant oats

1 cup milk

6 tbsp jaggery 

1 tbsp rice flour

3 cardamom pods, crushed

Pinch of salt

Methods 

Grind oats into fine powder. 

Mash the bananas and keep aside. 

In a large bowl,  add ground oats, mashed banana,wheat flour, rice flour, crushed cardamom, salt and jaggery. Stir to combine. 

Add the milk and mix well to form a semi thick batter. 

Heat kuzhi panniyaram mould over medium-low flame and pour in a teaspoon of oil in each holes 

Drop the batter into each holes and cook on both sides till turns brown. 

Transfer to a plate and repeat the process with the remaining batter. 

Serve with hot cup of black tea. 

Hibiscus Blue Pea Drink

Blue pea flowers are abundance in my garden.  Instead of making the regular drink, this time I opted to combine with vibrant looking hibiscus. The royal blue of pea flowers and extract of fiery hibiscus made a wonderful flower drink. As we know both hibiscus and blue pea flowers are pack with health benefits. They are excellent source of antioxidants,prevent cancer,boost liver health and assist with weight loss. 

Hibiscus being the National flower are easy to find around. They comes in different colors and varieties. As for this particular drink, please use red hibiscus. They are beautiful, good for health and tastes awesome.

Ingredients

10-12 blue pea flowers

10-12 hibiscus flowers

1/3 cup lemon juice

5-6 tbsp naatu sakarai/jaggery

1/2 cup hot water to dilute sugar

Water as needed 

Methods

Take blue pea flowers and hibiscus in two separate bowls. 

Add hot water to the blue pea flowers and hibiscus. Let it sit for 10 minutes. 

Dilute naatu sakarai with 1/2 cup hot water till dissolved. Strain to remove impurities.

Strain both flowers and add to a jug with naatu sakarai syrup, lemon juice and water as needed. Stir and serve immediately.

Instant Kinnatappam

Traditional Kerala kinnatappam are made with rice flour and fermented batter but, I was craving for kinnatappam and decided to skip the lengthy process. Basically, patience is not my biggest quality 😂. I skipped rice flour for all purpose flour and no grinding involved thus,  no fermentation as well. Trust me, with all the left out process, the end result do came out perfectly fine. This recepi is something I call as instant kinnatappam as it is easy,simple and never compromise on taste. 

Do use organic jaggery so that you won't end up with residues in your batter. For non-organic jaggery, boil the jaggery to make jaggery syrup and strain to discard impurities before adding to the batter. Of you are adding jaggery syrup do adjust the amount of water accordingly to form a semi thick batter. Delicious kinnatappam which is beautiful on the eyes and absolutely satisfying on the palate 

Ingredients 

1 cup all purpose flour 

1/3 cup freshly grated coconut 

1 cup water 

3/4 powdered jaggery 

10-12 cashews

1 tbsp black raisins 

Pinch of cardamom powder 

Pinch of salt

Ghee for greasing 

Methods

Grease a round pan with ghee and keep aside.

In a large bowl,  whisk in all purpose flour, salt,jaggery,coconutda b and cardamom powder.

Add water and stir to form a semi thick batter without lumps. 

Pour the batter into the greased pan and sprinkle with cashews and raisins.

Steam for 35-40 minutes on medium heat.

Remove from steamer and cool completely before slicing. 

Mussels Gravy

 

Mussels are a rare dish in our home. We seldom cook mussels reason being, the whole trouble of cleaning it. Cleaning mussels thoroughly to get rid of last bit of sands and dirts are not something I enjoy doing. Once in a blue moon I do take the trouble and dish out mussels and this is my latest innovation. Unlike, the regular Chinese or Malay style of cooking this beautiful green shellfish,  I came up with my own Indian way. Well coated with flavourful masala and not too spicy for the palate. Mint leaves somehow, lent the freshness to the dish and I used dessicated coconut instead of fresh coconut due to it's crunchiness. You may use freshly shredded coconut as well no harm 😁.  Once the mussels are cooked it will open up beautifuly and an important step in preparing mussels are to discard any mussels which are still intact after cooking. Those are not safe to consume.

Ingredients 

500g mussels, washed & cleaned

3 tbsp coconut oil 

1 onion,chopped

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 sprigs curry leaves 

1 tsp ginger paste

4 cloves garlic,chopped

1 green chilly,chopped

1/2 tsp turmeric powder 

1/2 tsp cumin powder 

1/2 tsp fenugreek powder 

2 tbsp fish curry powder 

2 tbsp chilly powder 

1 tbsp mint leaves

1 tbsp garam masala 

1 cup water

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup dessicated coconut 

1/2 tsp salt

Methods

In a work, heat coconut oil and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.  Once it started to splutters add curry leaves and chopped onion. 

Add ginger paste, chopped garlic and chilly. Saute for 30 seconds. 

Add turmeric powder,fish curry powder,chilly powder,fenugreek powder, cumin powder,mint leaves and garam masala powder. Saute till the raw flavor leaves. 

Add water and boil for 1 minutes. Add the cleaned mussels and stir till the masala are well coated. 

Add the evaporated milk and sprinkle with dessicated coconut. Stir and season with salt. Stir well and cook for 5-7 minutes or till all the mussels are open up. 

Discard mussels which are still intact. 

Serve with hot rice. 

Tea Kadai Kajada

Tea kadai Kajada or also known as muttakose found in most tea stalls throughout in South India. I had this snack delicious Kajada in small tea stall in from of our hotel in Coimbatore,Tamil Nadu during our vacation and totally love the taste. Even though nothing fancy in appearance the humble looking Kajada are full of satisfaction as a snack. It's crispy in the outside and soft inside goes really well with a cup of steaming hot chai. The cardamom are not overpowered and with very mild sweetness are indeed a satisfying tea time treat.

Unlike other pastries or bread,  you don't have to make slits for the beautiful cracks that's seems on the Kajada. The magic happens while frying. Little cracks will start forming while the dough frying happily. Always fry your Kajada in medium heat oil for even frying.  I serve my Kajada with a piping hot ginger elaichi chai on a rainy Sunday evening.

Ingredients 

1 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners sugar 

1 tsp cardamom powder 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg, whisked 

2 tbsp milk

Ghee for greasing 

Oil for deep frying 

Methods 

In a large bowl,  add all purpose flour,confectioners sugar, salt,cardamom powder and baking powder. Stir to combine.

Add the whisked egg and milk. Knead into a soft sticky dough. 

Heat oil in a frying pan on medium heat and apply some ghee on your palm. Take a small portion of the dough and shape it into ball. 

Gently drop into the oil and fry till brown on all sides. 

Transfer to a tray lined with kitchen towel to drain excess oil. Repeat with the remaining dough and fry the kajada in batches. 

Serve hot or warm with a cup of chai.

Thengai Paal Vadai

 

As my late paternal grandma called it, thengai paal vadai or sweet bonda in coconut milk is a recepi I learnt from her. Yes,  my passion for cooking started from a budding age. I used to spent my school holiday at my late paternal grandparents house and tea time snack is a must in their household. Now I know why I love to serve tea time treat for Dandelions. It's something inherited from your family 😊. I still remember how grandma will start her preparation for her thengai paal vadai as early as 7am. The soaking part only needed 4 hours but,  she'll make a huge batch to distribute to neighbors as well. Those are days of exchanging food with your neighborhood.

She'll start to grind using her old mortal with a little help from me (I'm 9-10 years old that time)  and could hardly lift the mortal. I'll be eagerly waiting to taste the soft, fluffy, coconut milk oozing vadai. The batter  whipping process after adding the baking soda is important to yield a fluffy vadai and it helps to absorb the coconut milk well.  Unlike other Indian sweets, thengai paal vadai are mildly sweet and the aroma of cardamom powder are irresistible with the creamy and rich coconut milk. Food does bring back memories. People might leave but,  their memory and love stays forever 😍

Ingredients 

1/2 cup ulunthu/urad dhal

1/8 cup raw rice

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 cups freshly squeezed coconut milk

1/4 cup sugar/vellam

1/2 tsp cardamom powder 

1 tbsp chopped pistachio 

Oil for deep frying 

Methods 

Wash and soak rice and urad shall for 4 hours. 

Add urad shall, raw rice and salt into a grinder or food processor. Grind into a smooth paste without adding water. If needed just add 2 tsp water. 

Transfer the batter into a bowl and add baking soda. Whip the batter well to add air which will result in fluffy soft vadai.

Heat oil in a medium flame and using your hand,  gently drop the batter into oil. Fry in batches till golden.

Remove from pan and transfer to a plate lined with clean kitchen towel to drain excess oil.

In a saucepan over a low heat,  warm the coconut milk. Do not boil the milk just warn it for 1-2 minutes. 

Remove from heat and add sugar and cardamom powder. 

Stir till sugar completely dissolved.

In a large bowl add the fried vadai and pour in the warm coconut milk. Stir gently and let it soak for 15 minutes. 

Serve  with sprinkling of crushed pistachio.

Apple Nachos

 

Due to the pandemic, Dandelions schools are closed for months and started with virtual online classes. By end of the classes both the girls will be worn out and looking for snacks. As a mother, I don't want them do munch on junk foods which is not to be found in my household instead, I prepared a simple and refreshing munchies. Apple nachos as it's sounds has the elements of nachos with the crispiness of the apples, drizzling of sweet caramel sauce and sprinkling of nuts and chocolate chips. Assorted flavors on each bite and amazing texture of crunch and velvety sauce. 

Choosing a crisp apples for nachos are very important for the texture.  I prefer Granny Smith and Fuji red apples. You may use store bought caramel sauce or in my case,  I used my homemade caramel. Choose your favorite nuts or assorted nuts to build the flavor. The girls polished off the whole plate and I'm a satisfied mom 😁.

Ingredients 

2 Granny Smith apples

2 Fuji red apples

1/4 cup caramel sauce

1 tsp salt

Handful roasted and chopped walnuts/almonds/hazelnuts

Handful semi sweet chocolate chips

Methods

Filled water in a large bowl and stir in the salt. Keep aside.

Washed, cored,sliced the apples and add into the prepared salt water. 

Arrange the apple slices on a large plate. Drizzle with caramel sauce and sprinkle with chopped nuts and chocolate chips.

Serve immediately.

Vanilla Chocolate Loaf

We are experiencing monsoon season here, the usual climate as any other year end. Baking bread on cold weather is quite challenging in the term of activating the yeast. To yield a soft and spongy bread, yeast need to be activated to perfection and it's warm place for the process. One of simple trick I learnt overtime on baking on cold climate is,  by placing the covered dough in a warm oven. When I say warm,  it shall be warm to body temperature level not hot. Too hot or too cold environment will easy kill the yeast resulting, in a dense and hard loaves. 

For a change, I made two basic flavored bread. Vanilla for my elder Dandelion who are not into chocolate and the dark beauty is my youngest favorite flavor in the whole world. You got to satisfy two different audience here with one single loaf 😂. As for the bread,  it's soft, spongy and and goes very well with a generous slab of butter or marmalade. 

Ingredients

4 cups bread flour
2 tbsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water

1 cup lukewarm milk
1/3 cup + 1 tsp granulated white sugar
1/3 cup butter,melted

1/4 cup butter,softened

1 egg,slightly beaten

4 tbsp cocoa powder 

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp vanilla extract 

3 tbsp chocolate chip

1 egg, beaten for egg wash

Methods 

Using a stand mixer, fitted with dough hook add lukewarm water,yeast and 1 tsp sugar to the bowl. Stir and let the yeast to bloom for 5-10 mins.

In another mixing bowl, mix in melted butter,egg,vanilla extract and milk. Add the mixture to the yeast. Add flour,salt and remaining 1/3 cup of sugar. Turn on the machine and beat for 15 minutes. 

Divide the dough into two and add the cocoa powder to one portion of the dough. Knead till the cocoa powder thoroughly mix with the dough. You will end up with one plain and another chocolate dough. 

Place the both dough separately in large greased bowls and cover with clean kitchen towels. Let the doughs to rest in a warm place for 90 mins.

Punch down the vanilla dough and lightly dust a clean working surface with flour. Place the dough on working surface and divide them equally into 6 equal sized balls.

Repeat the same with chocolate dough. Using a rolling pin, roll the ball into a oval. Brush the surface with butter and make few slits leaving the edges intact. Using your hand gently, roll the dough into cylinder. 

Place it on a 9"inch round cake tin lined with parchment paper. Take a ball of chocolate dough, roll into oval,brush with butter, make few slits leaving the edges intact and using your hand gently, roll into cylinders. Place the chocolate dough next to the vanilla dough. Repeat the process with the remaining vanilla and chocolate dough. 

Cover the dough with  it clean kitchen towel and let it rest for another 30 mins in a warm place. 

Brush the vanilla dough with egg wash. Sprinkle the chocolate dough with chocolate chips. 

Preheat oven at 350'F or 180'C and bake in the middle tray of the oven for 30-35 mins till golden. Remove from oven and cool on cooling pan for 15 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on the rack. 

Tapioca Masala Dosa

I have shared masala thosai or dosa recepi in my blog few times with different stuffing or masala. This time too,  I'm sharing a unique stuffing unlike our regular potato stuffed masala dosa. The secret lies in the very special powder which is known as super food. As we all are aware pomegranate is one of the best fruit nature has gifted us. For centuries this jewel fruit has been used for health and beauty. Known as a fruit ideal for women, this ruby red gem like fruit packed with essential nutrients and antioxidants. It helps to keep the uterus in pink of health and a favorite fruit for skincare products. It give a natural glow to the skin, reduce cancer risk and etc.

I regularly include pomegranate in our diet in the form of fresh fruit, juice or even in cooking as masala. I powdered the dried seeds and add them to my stir fry recipe or curries as an health booster. In this masala dosa recipient,  I added them into the making of the masala and topped with a generous sprinkle of fresh pomegranate and chopped chillies for extra kick.  Lightly pungent,sharp in flavour and crunchy in texture goes really well with the fermented soft and spongy dosa.

Ingredient

1 cup par boiled rice
1/4 cup urad dhal
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
Salt taste

For The Masala

1 cup boiled tapioca, lightly mashed
1 sprig coriander leaves,chopped
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 onions,chopped
1 green chilly,chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 sprig curry leaves

3/4 tsp pomegranate powder 
1 tomato,chopped
1/3 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Oil

For The Toppings

3 tbsp fresh pomegranate seeds

1 green chilly,chopped

Methods

For The Dosa Batter

Soak all the ingredients except salt for atleast 4 hours or overnight.

Grind the soaked ingredients with little water. The batter should not be too thin or too thick.

Pour he batter into a large pot or vessel and add salt. Mix well. Let  the batter ferment for 7-8 hours

For The Masala

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutters Add chopped onions and curry leaves. Saute till thee onions turns translucent

Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for 30 seconds. Add the chopped tomato and saute till soft.

Add the mashed tapioca,pomegranate powder and turmeric powder. Mix well.

Add coriander leaves and season with salt. Stir to combine.

Transfer to a bowl.

Prepare Dosa

Heat dosa tawa and drizzle with little oil. Take a ladleful of dosa batter and spread into a circle.

Sprinkle little oil along the edges of the dosa.

Smear the tapioca masala and cook til the dosa turns golden and crispy.

In a bowl, combine pomegranate seeds and chopped chilly. Keep aside 

Fold and top with prepared pomegranate seeds. 

 Serve hot with chutney