CURD PAKODA

CURD PAKODA: The perfect snack for a rainy evening. The smell and the feel of having hot hot pakodas with tea and heavy rain in the background (I am in kerala currently) is one of a feeling. It can never be duplicated. I am not sure if I am the only person who has the problem of being really hungry most of the time especially when it gets cold. My mom certainly made my evening a beautiful one with her hot hot curd pakodas. It is an easy to make snack.

INGREDIENTS:

Maida -1 cup

Curd – ¼ cup

Chopped Ginger – 1 tablespoon

Green chilli chopped – 3

Red Onion – 1 medium

Salt to taste

Oil to deep fry

METHOD:

Mix all the ingredients to make a batter with thick consistency. Pour water if required. Take a heavy bottomed pan for deep frying. Take enough oil and heat it. Pour the batter into the oil using a tablespoon. Make sure that the pakodas do not stick to each other. Cook on medium heat. This will ensure that it gets cooked well on the inside. Remove the pakodas when golden brown on both sides. You may have it with ketchup or any dip or chutney as you please. Serve hot!

NB: check the sourness of your curd. You can also add thinly chopped carrots and beans to the mixture, to make it more healthy.

MAC & CHEESE WITH VEGETABLES and PEPPER

MAC & CHEESE WITH VEGETABLES and PEPPER: Mac and cheese is one of the most popular pasta foods especially in western countries. They call it as THE COMFORT FOOD. This is a true heaven for the cheese lovers. It is normally not a very healthy option on a daily basis especially for people above the age of 30 because of the high fat content. If you are a big fan of this food you may try out the lean version that is the one with low fat cheese and enriched with vegetables.

I have not used the low fat version cheese, in fact I have used cream cheese (I eat this once in a blue moon....I swear!) You may choose the array of vegetables you love. You may even add cooked shredded chicken.

Macroni is the almost C shaped pasta. You may even try it with other pasta shapes. Pasta is an authentic Italian dish.

INGREDIENTS:

Macroni – 1 to 1 ½ cup

Water

Salt to taste

Carrot – 1

Potato -1

Any other vegetable you like ( broccoli, cauliflower, capsicum, etc)

Cream cheese or cheese spread – 1 heaped tablespoon

Shredded chicken – ¼ cup

Butter – 1 tablespoon

Pepper powder to season

Herbs and leaves of your choice for garnishing

METHOD:

Cook the pasta in hot boiling water along with salt till the pasta becomes tender but firm. Clean and cut the vegetables into small pieces.

Take a heavy bottomed pan and add butter. You may use half butter and replace the other half with any vegetable oil. Add and sauté the vegetables and with shredded chicken. Cook well.

Add cream cheese or cheese spread and mixes well. Add pepper powder and cooked pasta. Ensure that the pasta and veggies gets a generous coating of cheese. You may garnish with coriander leaves or any other herb. Serve hot!

KOZHUKATTA or SWEET RICE DUMPLING

KOZHUKATTA or SWEET RICE DUMPLING: This is one dish which can be eaten as breakfast, snack and even as a desert. I am sure every keralite would have had a number of times. Well, there are variations to kozhukatta. The one that I am presenting here is the sweet one. At my husband’s place they call it thuru vecha kozhukatta (no idea why they call it that way....hopefully some Trivandrum person will be kind enough to explain that).

 I also remember my mother making the non sweet version (even my elder sister in law makes it. She loves it that way). But both the versions are different.

 My grand mom used to make it in the traditional way. She used to soak the rice and cumin and grind them and scraped coconut is also used. But I am not sure of the traditional way of making it. My mom used to make it the easy way. So, I am following her footsteps. J

This sweet rice dumpling can be made of sugar or palm jaggery (chakkara) or jaggery (sharkara). I have used palm jaggery here. I will try to post the non sweet version soon.

INGREDIENTS:

Rice powder – 1.5 cup

Hot boiling water - 2 cups

Jaggery – around ¼ cup

Scrapped coconut – around ¼ cup

(The following ingredients are optional.)

Cumin seeds or jeerakam– ¼ teaspoon

Cardamom seeds or Elachi or elekka– 2 to 3

Dry ginger or chukku – a pinch

Salt – a pinch

METHOD:

Mix the scraped coconut and Jaggery along with the spices (which are optional). Take the rice powder in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt. Add hot boiling water little by little and mix at the same time. This will ensure you do not have any lumps and the water gets absorbed evenly. Close the bowl with a lid. Leave for few minutes.

Knead the dough with the hand. Be careful as the dough is hot. The dough will have the consistency of a bit loose chapatti or slightly loose pastry mix. It should not be watery.

Once kneaded, make balls out of it. Once you make a ball, immediately flatten it on the palm of your hand (dip your fingers in water before flattening if the mixture is sticky). Add the coconut mixture to the centre and bring back the flattened dough ends to form a ball.

Once all the dumpling balls are made, place it in a steamer and steam for about 5 to 7 minutes and serve. You may serve it hot or cold.

NB: Once you roll the dumpling ball, you may roll it between your palms to ensure they get a proper round shape.

When you flatten the dough, do not make it too thin as the ball may break and leak the sugar or jaggery juice into your steamer.

Avoid putting cumin and dry ginger together; I personally do not like the taste. You may do it, if you like the combination.

Depending on your sweetness level adjust the jaggery or sugar.  

CHICKEN FILLET SANDWICH

CHICKEN FILLET SANDWICH: This is a wholesome sandwich which can be used as tiffin for kids or adults alike. It can even be used as a snack.  This serves 4 people.

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken Fillets – 2 to 3

Bread slices – 8

Red Onion -1

Tomato – 1 small

Coriander leaves - 2 to 3 sprigs

Pepper powder – ¼ to ½ tablespoon

Garam masala powder – 2 to 3 pinches

Oil – 1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Slice the onions and dice the tomatoes. Chop the coriander leaves. Dice the fillets too.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the onions and fillets together and sauté till the fillets are cooked.  Do not brown, just cook.

Add salt, Garam masala powder and pepper powder at this stage. This would help it to cook fast and get the flavour. Some ready to cook fillets would have salt already, so check the levels.

Add tomatoes and coriander leaves and sauté for less than a minute. The filling is ready.

Now, take the bread slices. You may brush it with a bit of mayonnaise or cheese. Otherwise also it is fine, as the filling is not completely dry. Add the filling between the slices and serve. You may even microwave the whole sandwich to get the bread also hot.

AVAL UPMA or BEATEN RICE UPMA

AVAL UPMA / BEATEN RICE UPMA: The best thing about this is it can be used as an evening snack and breakfast. It is very healthy and tasty.  This can be made with white or red beaten rice. I prefer red because it is healthier as it has vitamin B. This is a simple one and you should definitely try it.

INGREDIENTS:

Aval – 1 cup

Red Onion – 1 medium

Mustard seeds – 1 tablespoon

Whole dried red chillies – 2

Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

Ginger – 1” piece

Water to wet the aval

Salt

Oil – 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

Chop the ginger into very small pieces (otherwise you might end up biting into a ginger piece. I don’t really like the idea of it).  Slice the onion.  Wet the aval by sprinkling water to it. Do not pour water, only sprinkle. Do not add too much water or else it will start to dissolve the aval. Heat oil in a pan and crackle the mustard seeds.  Add the whole red chillies and curry leaves. Add ginger and sauté for less than a minute to get rid of the raw smell. Immediately add the onions and sauté. Add salt and mix well.  As soon as they sweat, add the wet aval. Mix well. It is ready to serve. Serve hot, it tastes better.

Note: Always add salt before adding the aval. Otherwise, it will not get uniformly distributed. In case, you need to add salt later, always add salt mixed with water.