Poha!

Poha(Aval) is nothing but rice flakes or beaten rice.Poha Chivda is chatpata ,simple and delicious Maharastrian breakfast/brunch dish.I know its too big an explanation for this dish but to the contrary its amazingly simple and could be prepared in a snap of a finger(!!)...

I made this for my sis's evening snack.And she praised me from her heart(something unusual to me!!)..So try this and win your beloved's heart : )

You will need :

1 Cup thick Rice flakes (Aval/Poha)

1 big Onion (I used Purple Onion),finely chopped

2 tbsp of roasted Peanuts

1 tbsp Lemon juice

1 green chilly ,deseeded and finely chopped

2 sprigs of Coriander Leaves,finely chopped

1 tbsp of oil

1/2 tsp of Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp of Mustard seeds

1/4 tsp of turmeric

Salt as per taste

Wash and soak the rice flakes in water..

Heat oil in a Kadai.Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds.Allow it to splutter.

Add the onion,chillies,turmeric powder and salt.Saute until the onions get transculent.

Drain the water and squeeze out excess water from the soaking poha.Its enough to soak it for 5 mins.Add the poha to the onion mixture.And stir well.

Turn off the heat and add lime juice ,chopped coriander and roasted peanuts.Toss well and serve.

We had this with crispy 'wheel' vadams.

Don't you think those purple bits of onion in the yellow poha is adorable???

Sending this to Recipes for rest of us event hosted by Ramki of One Page Cookbooks.

Karthigai Deepam,Rawa Pongal and Coconut Chutney !

Today is the festival of lights-Karthigai Deepa Thirunaal.It is predominantly celebrated in Tamil Nadu for the auspicous star Kirthigai's ascension.Like others,we too lit many little beautiful lamps in the clay diyas,which we lined on our compound walls and decorated the lovely 'Kolams' with diyas.We made a pooja with the lip-smacking 'Pori Urundais'(Puffed Rice Ladoos) .

In some  homes,it is in practice to make 'Kothumai(Wheat) Appam ,Ulundhu(Urad Dal) Vadai and Kadalai Urundai'(Peanut Ladoos).But we usually celebrate Karthigai with just Pori Urundais.The tiny bits of coconut is what I love the most about Pori Urundais.As my grandma is away and my mom is busy, my mom's sister made these urundais for this Karthigai and sent us some.It was the one of the perfect Pori Urundais which I can't stop eating .They were in good shape and I wanted to capture the beauty of these lovely delicacy.I never tried making this,someday I have to !

I felt a pang deep in my heart that,I didn't made anything for this Karthigai.So to overcome the grief ,I declared to my family members that I will make the dinner.

I made 'Rawa Pongal' and 'Coconut Chutney'.Its very simple and comforting.We always use rice to make Pongal.But Rawa Pongal is quicker to prepare and also tastes like restaurant pongal.

Here is the recipe...

You will need :

1 cup Semolina(Rawa)

1/4 cup Green gram dhal (dehusked and splited)

10 Cashew nuts (chopped)

1 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 sprig Curry leaves

1 inch Ginger (grated)

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp ghee

Wash the dal and boil the dal in 1 1/2 cups of water.To make this boiling process quicker you can pressure cook it.

The dal must be well cooked as shown in the picture.Boil 4 cups of water.Add salt and 1 tbsp of ghee to the boiling water.Stir and pour the boiling water over the dal.Add the semolina and stir it constantly.Keep the heat in low.

The semolina will absorb all the moisture.And the pongal will look like this.

Turn off the heat.

For the tempering,heat 2 tbsp of oil and add pepper,cumin seeds ,ginger,curry leaves,cashews and fry until they are roasted well.

Throw this over the pongal and stir well.Add the remaining ghee and serve.

For the Coconut Chutney:

1 cup of coconut pieces

2 tbsp of roasted chana dal(Pottu Kadalai)

1 tsp salt

1 green chilly

2 tbsp of tamarind juice /1 tsp of tamarind paste

For Tempering,

1 tsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp Chana dal & urad dal

1 sprig of Curry leaves

A pinch of Asafotedia

Put all the ingredients in a mixer,add 1/4 cup of water and grind to a smooth paste. 

Heat oil,add all the ingredients of tempering one by one and when the seeds splutter.Pour it over the Coconut Chutney with the oil.Stir and serve.

Rawa Pongal and Coconut Chutney is ready to devour :)

Chilly Bread

When I started to learn cooking during my school days,I often try to create dishes that uses bread.Chilly bread is my first loved-by-all recipe.Every friend of mine loves this dish.Each weekend they ask me to make this for them.Its very easy and could be prepared in less than 15 mins.And I bet ,you can't stop eating this.This is such a crowd pleaser and one can make them in large amount and include it as starter in parties..

I made this innumerous time and it never failed me once.What Im going to show u now is my own style of making Chilly Bread.One can make it with whatever variations they want.

You can call it as 'Bread Uppma'..but since i made it spicer,I named it 'CHILLY BREAD'

You will need:

1 loaf of bread ,sliced

2 Onions ,finely chopped

4 Tomatoes, finely chopped

2 Green chilly ,finely chopped

1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste

2 tablespoon tomato Ketchup

1 teaspoon Chilly powder

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

A pinch of turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Cut the bread slices to 1 inch cubes.Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large frying pan.Add the bread cubes and toss them.They must get light brown in color  and bit crispy.

In the same frying pan,heat 2 tablespoon of oil and add the onions and chilly.Fry for a couple of mins.Add the tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste and fry for another couple of mins.

Add the turmeric,chilly power and garam masala.Add required salt.Give it a nice stir.Cover and cook for 3-4 mins.

Add the Ketchup and mix well.Make sure that its not too saucey.Otherwise the bread may get soggy.Add the fried bread chunks and toss to get it all coated with the tomato-onion masala.

Garnish with coriander  leaves and serve!

This is my entry to Recipes for the rest of us  event hosted by Ramki of One page Cookbooks

Instant Khaman Dhokla

Hearing the word 'Dhokla' itself takes me back to the memories of my childhood in Gujarat.Yes,Dhokla is one of the most popular dishes of Gujarat.Its like 'idli' of TamilNadu,only the ingredients differ.But the method of prepartion is almost same.

The hot,spongy Dhoklas sold in the small street shops of Gujarat tastes the best.These lovely yellow ,soft, spongy blocks with Coriander-Mint chutney compliments to a perfect evening tiffin.Traditionally,Dhokla is made by soaking the lentils for few hours and grinding them to a smooth batter and allowing it to ferment,which is steamed in appropriate moulds.But today,we are going to see how it can be made instantly.

For the Dhokla:

2 cups of Besan (Bengal gram flour)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 green chilly

1 cup Buttermilk/curd

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon oil

1 sachet of Eno's Fruit salt(Available in all Medical stores)

salt to taste

For Tempering:

2 sprigs of Coriander

1 sprig of Curry leaves

1 Green chilly

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1/4 cup grated coconut

1 tablespoon of Sugar dissolved in 1/2 of water

Mix together gram flour,salt,curd/buttermilk ,water,oil and chopped green chilly.Make sure that there are no lumps.

Dissolve the Eno's fruit salt in the lemon juice and pour it in the batter.Gently mix them and pour the batter in a greased mould.

Steam the batter for 10 mins or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.Idli steaming pot can be used to steam the dhoklas.Pierce 10 holes with a fork or toothpick.Pour the sugar solution.

Allow it to cool for 5 mins.Transfer it on a plate and cut them to squares.

Heat a tsp oil and fry the mustard seeds,chilly and curry leaves.Throw them over the Dhoklas.Garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut and serve with coriander-mint chutney.