Thursday, January 10, 2013

Aval Payasam

I love payasam of any kind.When i was browsing i happened to come across this wonderful simple       delight.Its so simple that i made it in no time.I loved this especially because my little one who is one year old enjoyed this much.







Ingredients:(serves 4)

Aval//poha-1/2 cup
Jaggery -1/4 cup + 2 tblsp(adjust as per your taste)
Milk       - 1 cup
cardamom powder- a pinch
cashews,raisins - as required
Coconut(grated)-1 Tbsp(optional)
Ghee- 2 tsp


Method:
Heat a pan with 2 tsp of ghee and fry the cashews till golden brown and in the same pan,
add the aval and fry till golden brown.
Boil milk and add the fried aval to it and cook in medium flame till  the aval is done.
Add the jaggery,elachi and mix well,add milk if needed and mix well in low flame. Don’t boil
more than a minute otherwise the milk will start curdling.

Yummy aval payasam can be served hot or chilled.Enjoy!!!!

Adai Dosa

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Adai is such a versatile dish that it could be a treat by itself or could be combined with 
sugar or any chutneys.Adai with the crunchy onions and the spices is sure a wonderful 
delight that i love to eat it any time of the day.
Adais could be made instantly(fermentation not required) or it could be kept in the fridge and
used for the next day.I prefer using it the next day.Its a protein rich healthy easy to make food.
What more reasons do i need......here you go.
Sorry folks ,nowadays iam getting lazy taking step by step pictures.I will be in speed soon...

Ingredients:
(Makes 12-15 adais)
To Soak and Grind:
Raw Rice - 1 cup
Idli Rice - 1 cup
Urad Dhal - 1/4 cup
Toor Dhal - 1/4 cup
Channa Dal - 1/4 cup
Moong Dhal - 2 tbsp
Red Chillies - 2
Fennel seeds - 1.5 tsp

Ingredients to add to the batter:
Big Onion - 2 medium sized (finely chopped)
Ginger -1 small bit (chopped)
Green chillie -2 (chopped)
Coconut -2 tbsp grated
Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
Hing - a generous pinch
Coriander leaves- 5 tbsp finely chopped
Salt  - to taste


Oil - 1 tsp


Method:
1.Soak the rice and dhals for atleast 3 hours, Keep aside. Grind it together with red chillies and fennel seeds to a consistancy between  fine and coarse paste. Add salt, turmeric powder, hing mix well and set aside.

2.Add onion, ginger,coconut and coriander leaves and mix well.  Add little water to make it to slightly running consistency (slightly thicker than the dosa batter.)

3.Heat the dosa tawa , take one laddle full and spread the batter as we do for dosa. Drizzle oil and once it is cooked turn to other side and cook till golden brown.

Serve hot with coconut chutney (My husband prefers sugar.It tastes good too)

Cauliflower Manchurian-Dry Version



Ingredients:-
Cauliflower – 1 medium sized cut into medium sized florets
Spring onion chopped- a small bunch (Seperate whites and greens)
Garlic chopped – 5 tbsp
Green chilies chopped – 4-5 tsp (Use according to your spice level)
Soya Sauce – 1 and 1/2 tbsp
Green Chilli Sauce – 2 tbsp
Tomato Ketchup – 3 tbsp
Vinegar – 1 tsp
Coriander leaves – for garnishing
Oil – as needed
Salt – add only if needed
(Add 1 medium sized Onion and 1/2 Capsicum if you wish.i dont add it,if i am preparing it dry)
For the batter :
All purpose flour/Maida – 1/2 cup
Corn flour – 1/4 cup
Rice flour – 2 tbsp
Egg – 1
Ginger-Garlic paste – 2 tsp
Red Chilly powder – 1/2 to 1 tsp
Salt – to taste (consider the saltiness of soya sauce while adding it)
Method :-
Prepare a batter with the given ingredients adding required amount of water.Make the batter a little thick,otherwise it doesn’t coat well on the cauliflower florets.Heat oil in a kadai/ big wok,dip each floret in the batter and gently put it into the oil.Do not overcrowd the wok while frying.Do it in 2 or 3 steps as needed.Fry it until it turns golden brown in color.Drain into a tissue paper and keep them aside.
Heat  2-3 tsp oil in another pan,add chopped spring onion(only the whites),green chillies and garlic.Saute it for few seconds .Then add onions and capsicum.Saute it for few seconds.Then add soya sauce,chilly sauce,vinegar and tomato ketchup.Mix them well,check for the salt and add the fried cauliflower florets.Turn the heat to high and mix them together until all the florets are well coated with the sauce.Add spring onion greens and coriander leaves and toss it well for few minutes.Serve immediately.
Tada.........cauliflower manchurian is ready to be munched on.....

If you want to make it a gravy,add 1 tsp cornflour mixed in 1 cup luke warm water and simmer it for few minutes,before adding spring onion greens.
Will make it a gravy version next time.