Yam Vada

A light snack with a cup of tea in rainy season who will not enjoy. Try and enjoy yourself with your family and friends. Making vada using yam is the best recipe I could think of with yam, it is so tasty and whoever tastes this vada will really love a lot. By applying the coconut oil in hands would avoid the itchiness. For kids after school, wanna give some healthy snack. It’s just a filling and obviously a healthy one.

 

Prep time    :30 mins            |Cook time:30 mins                  |Serves:15 vadas
 

Ingredients	Quantity
Yam (cut into cubes)	5 cups
Moong dal	½ cup
Crushed peanuts	3 tbsps
Soaked rice	3-4 tbsps
Green chillies	2 no’s
Grated Ginger	1 tsp.
Onion	1 cup
Fennel/ cumin seeds	1 tbsp
Hing	pinch
Cooking soda	1 tsp
Turmeric powder	½ tsp.
Curry leaves	2 sprigs
Cilantro	Few sprigs
Mint leaves	1/3 cup
Palak leaves	¼ cup
Salt	To taste
Oil	For deep frying

 

Method

1. Peel and Wash Yam. Immerse in boiling water or in the pressure cooker until it becomes tender. Soak moong dal in water for around an hour and strain the moong dal.2. In a pan, fry the peanuts and keep aside. Just crush the peanuts and keep aside. Chop the mint, curry and coriander leaves. Wash the palak leaves and chop it.Keep everything ready in hand. 3. Add the  soaked moong dal along with green chillies, ginger, fennel seeds and salt in the blender and grind it without adding water. (Give 2-3 times pulse mode).In a broad vessel, pour this moong dal mixture and crushed peanuts.Check out the yam in the cooker,take it out and mash it with the ladle. Mix all the other ingredients with chopped onions.4. If is still not thick enough or when you fry and if it is too oily add the breadcrumbs and fry it, that also adds more crispiness to vada.Make small balls and lightly flatten it on the palm of your hand to form around 2 inch thin disc and carefully leave in the hot oil.5. Fry the yam vada till they turn  golden color on both sides.
Remove the deep fried yam vada onto an absorbent towel.Repeat the same with any remaining yam mixture. 6. serve the yam vada with Date chutney, Harichutney and  ketchup. Tastes yummy.Yet with a simple masala chai(tea) will be heavenly.

Notes

Make sure not to add water while grinding the moong dal.Before frying you can coat with sesame seeds if you prefer.

Need to dip fritters/vada’s in this rice flour mix on the both the sides. Mix well and leave it in fridge for about an hour.

 

Linking this to the event "Eat Vegetables Stay Healthy" sponsored by Just Eat.

 

Technorati Tags: Snack varities,Tea time snacks,Kids recipes

Coconut/Thengai Poli

Poli is usually made on special occasions. Coconut poli/ Thengai poli is a traditional South Indian recipe which is almost made at every house in Tamil and during festive seasons. It’s a sweet dish which is loved by everyone for its rich taste. It is wonderful when taken hot or warm with hot milk and it is usually served as puja  prasadam. It’s very delicious! One of the great things they make there is Poli. Poli is a wonderful thing to eat, and it comes in sweet and spicy it was really good. Coconut Poli is favorite here in my house. My MIL usually makes puran Poli at the time of ugadi.She does it really well.

We have large varieties of polis but I have just made a simpler one here.Coconut Poli is a wonderful Indian recipe...!!!This delicacy is made especially during festival times. I learnt this traditional sweet recipe from my Mother-in-law.   It was so tasty and delicious and my kids couldn’t  stop having one after other. This festival favorite sweet poli can be prepared with coconut or dhal. Now I am posting coconut poli but later on I will try posting puran poli too. Have to wait for it and it can be stored for two to three days or  more days if kept in fridge.Here comes the yummy and puffy poli recipe. Hope you enjoy..!

Prep time        :45 mins   |Cook time       :20 mins   |Serves : 4 persons

Cuisine :South Indian (Festive Sweet)

 Ingredients for filling.

Grated coconut	2 cups
Powdered jaggery	1 ½  cups
Roasted channa dal	½ cup
Cardamom powder	1 tbsp.
Ghee	1/4 cup (as needed)

Ingredients for dough

Maida	2 cups
Turmeric color	Pinch
Water	Add little by little
Oil	As needed

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients, then add enough water to make it into a loose dough.In a bowl add powdered jaggery, grated coconut,crushed cardamom or cardamom powder and mix again. 2. It will become watery when you mix it.Dont worry, just add some roasted channa dal(pottukadalai). Keep mixing and you will know the results.3.In a plastic cover add a drop of ghee and flatten the dough just a little bit, then but a large ball of the coconut filling on the middle. Flatten out just a little more, and then take the dough from all sides and fold in to make a slightly flattened ball of dough with filling inside of it. Cover it from all sides, pinch the extra dough off and roll into a ball again.4.  Now roll this filled ball into a circle taking care not to make it very thin as the filling might get burnt when cooked.Flatten out the entire thing so that it is around half a centimeter thick and is almost in the shape of a large circle5. Now take the plastic sheet roll from the side and place it on the pan so that the side with the Poli on it is faced down. Remove the plastic sheet so that the Poli is left frying on the pan. Add the ghee at the sides and cook like chapatti. 5. Continuously sprinkle oil over the Poli while it’s frying, and remember to flip after a few minutes! Make some smooth balls out of Maida dough also. Roll each ball like a small circle, place the filling ball in it, cover and roll any desired size poli. Ensure filling doesn't come out.

Notes

Too much of jaggery will spoil the taste of coconut poli.

Powdered jaggery and grated coconut can be mixed just like that or in a pan  jaggery can be melted first and later add coconut. Either way you can try.

Moong Dal Halwa

It is a very traditional halwa that is usually made on festivals or marriages or most commonly Diwali. My another attempt to make Halwa with Moong dal. I also added condensed milk to this halwa to make it richer and tastier. A perfect and pretty Moong Dal Halwa.

 

During festival time, we all made halwa first in own home. This time I made with lentils, for this I choose Moong dal/ skinless split green gram or Yellow split gram. You can preserve this halwa for 3-4 days in winter days in airtight glass with lid. It’s really superb in taste .You can add saffron for color and nuttier with some more flavors.

 

Prep time: 10 hrs | Cook time: 30 minutes 

Cuisine : Indian,Rajasthan Recipes

Ingredients	Quantity
Moong dal(yellow split)	1 cup (Soak in water)
Condensed milk	100 gms
Milk	1 cup
Ghee	2 cups
Cardamom powder	½  tsp.
Saffron	Pinch
Sugar	1 cup
Mixed nuts	Roasted in ghee

 Method

1. Wash and soak the Lentil in water for overnight. Add drained dal in to blender and grind to make smooth paste.  Add very little water while making dal paste. Heat the Non-stick Pan or wok. Fry the nuts till golden brown and then remove the fried nuts to a plate and keep aside.2. In the same pan Add ghee till to hot. Add lentil paste and stir continuously, non-stop with ladle. Keep stirring in medium heat till the raw smell of the dal leaves out. Cook till dal gets nice golden color and ghee starts to leave from the dal.3. This part is very tough to stir continues especially for new ones, It’s takes more strength.  Add more ghee if required and keep stirring on medium flame till to dal aroma’s come.Now when the dal ghee releases, add milk and cardamom powder and stir continually and then sugar on medium flame. 4. Keep the heat low and break lumps if formed while adding the sugar and milk. Add the remaining amount of ghee and keep stirring till the ghee starts oozing out.Reach till you are satisfied with the halwa consistency.5. Now remove from the fire and add raisins and cashews. Alternatively, you can cut in desired shapes. Just easy to serve.

Notes

Cook raisins and cashews with little ghee or you can use without cook too.

Stuffed Mushroom Fritters

Mushrooms are good source of potassium & trace elements. So if you don't know much about mushrooms go for commercially available mushrooms. In India mushrooms are used widely for cooking mushroom curry, mushroom paneer, fried mushroom, mushroom paratha & lots more. Few years before mushroom vegetables were not much popular in all parts of India but now it is famous all over India.Here we are gonna see  the recipe related to the fritters.

Prep time  :20 mins        |Cook time:10 mins        |Serves:3

For the batter

Ingredients	Quantity
Gram flour	1 cup
corn flour	2 tbsp
rice flour	2 tbsp
baking powder	1/2 tsp
ginger garlic paste	1 tsp
Chilli powder	1 tsp
Kasoori methi	1 tsp
salt	to taste
Oil	For frying

 For stuffing

Mushrooms	200 gms
Pumpkin grated	100 gms
Coriander chopped	½ cup
Green chilli chopped	2 nos
Paneer grated	¼ cup
Oil	2 tbsp
Dry mango powder	1 tsp
Garam masala	1 tsp
Salt	to taste

Method

1. Remove mushroom stems carefully and with the tip of a peeler clean the cavity properly.In a bowl add grated pumpkin, coriander,chilli,grated paneer,dry mango powder,garam masala and salt.Sauté. 2. Keep the prepared items separetely.Mash mushroom stems and add to the stuffing mixture.3. Beat the gram flour batter with the other ingredients.Once the batter is ready add handful of pudina leaves to it  and keep stirring so that all the items mixed properly.4. Mix well and stuff mushroom caps with the stuffing.5. Heat oil properly and reduce heat to medium.Dip the stuffed mushrooms one by one in the batter and fry 3 to 4 mushrooms at a time till crisp on all sides.Drain on kitchen paper. In this way fry all the stuffed mushrooms.Serve with your favorite chutney or sauce.

Notes

Instead of paneer, grated cheese can also be added.

 

Linking this to the event "Eat Vegetables Stay Healthy" sponsored by Just Eat.

 

Pineapple Payasam

Pineapples are normally consumed as fresh fruit, as cooked, as juice and even as preserved. Pineapples are rich source of Manganese and vitamin C. Pineapple also acts as an anti-inflammatory. Being a sweet lover these are my all-time favorites’ have not yet tried the pineapple payasam which is almost so easy to cook and easy to digest also.One day I came across pineapples in the supermarket at that moment pineapple payasam came to my mind, I immediately grabbed them and dumbed into my basket. Today we are going to see the preparation of yet another tasty and variety payasam’.

Prep time   :20 mins|Cook time     :30 mins |Serves  :4

Ingredients	Quantity
Pineapple ripe	4 cups
Sugar	1 cup
Thin Coconut milk	3 cups
Thick coconut milk	1 ½ cups
Ghee	2 tbsp.
Raisins	¼ cup
Cashewnuts	handful
Jeera powder	1 tsp.
Dried ginger	1 tsp.
Cardamom	4 no’s
Sago	½ cup

Method

1. Heat 1 tsp. of ghee in a pan. Fry raisins and cashew nut, remove from the pan and keep aside.In a vessel keep 2 cups of water for boiling, add in sabudana/sago to this and keep aside so that the balls starts rising up2. In another pan pour some water and put the chopped pineapples in it and let it cook. When the water has drained add sugar to it and stir for a few minutes until the sugar has melted and gives a good sugar coating for the pineapples. Grind pineapple into pulp. 3. Heat a heavy bottomed pan, add 1 cup of water and let it boil. Add pineapple puree into it and stir well and let it boil. Add cooked sabudana into the boiling mixture.4. Add the remaining ghee into it and mix well. Stir continuously and allow cooking. When the pineapple mix gets thick, add thin coconut milk. Stir well and let it boil.5. When it begins to boil, add thick coconut milk, mix well and boil for a minute. Turn off the stove and add cardamom powder and ginger powder. Add fried cashewnut and raisin, mix well.

Notes

Pressure cooker pineapple pieces in ¼ cup of water can also be done for quick method.It tastes better when it's been refrigerated and served.

If the pineapples are being added to hot milk, it may curdle. Adding condensed milk is not that necessary, but some people prefer.