Pottukadalai / Gram Flour Muruku

Muruku, a very popular south indian snack, is the one that comes in various shapes, flavor, tastes and sizes. One of the most easily customizable snack it is.

Typically in mixtures, we find the famous 'oma podi' variety added. But, I chose to make Gram Flour muruku but as thin as oma podi.

Ingredients

• Gram Flour / Pottukadalai maavu    - 3/4 cup (made out of fresh fried gram dhal /pottukadalai)
• Rice Flour                                         - 1.5 cups (I used ready made rice flour)
• Uradh dhal / muzhu uzhundu **      - 1/2 cup 
• Cumin Seeds                                     - 1 tspn
• Melted ghee / butter                          - 2 tbspn
• Salt                                                    - to taste
• Asafoetida/ Hing                              - a pinch
• Oil                                                     - To fry

Method:

1. In a kadai, dry fry uradh dhal to light brown color. Remove to a plate to cool
2. In the same kadai, dry fry the gram dhal till golden color. Remove to a plate to cool
3. Powder them separately and sieve them.
4. Sieve the rice flour. 
5. Mix all three flours together. To this, add salt and cumin, and the melted butter / ghee/ oil. Mix it well to ensure no lumps. Use water to knead it to a dough like you make for rotis (should be neither very hard nor watery)
6. Cover it with a wet cloth and allow it to rest for 15 mts
7. In a kadai, add oil and allow it to heat up. On a medium flame make the murukus. 

To make the muruku, we use muruku maker or the idiyapam maker. This comes with multiple plates with different types of holes, which will decide the thickness of the muruku when squeezed. Choose the plate based on the thickness you desire. For mixture, we will make them thinner.

 

NOTE: 

• ** I used uradh dal this time but we can make this muruku without uradh dal. 
• I made mixture in two batches. For one of it, I made muruku using besan / kadalai maavu. On the second day, I made this pottukadalai version as this is more healthier. 
• Recipe courtesy are those blogs that I walk into, thanks to Google Search :) Tx to all those bloggers from whom I learn virtually. Ofcourse, I customize it to a great extent but still thanks for sharing your preparations.

South Indian Mixture

Snacks is such an integral part of our life, ain't it? Varieties galore and each place in India comes with its own specialty dish.

This diwali was my maiden attempts at making these snacks. I began with making South Indian Mixture, Muruku, Boondi, and Jilebi.

 

With my test buddies keen to be tested, I began my attempts with Mixture first. As the name indicates, this is a snack which is an apt mix of different individual snack items.

Ingredients:

1. Kaara Boondi - made separately                              -  1-1.5 cups
2. Crushed Omapodi / muruku - made separately        - 1-2 cups (broken)
3. Peanuts                                                                      - 1/4 cup
4. Fried Gram Dhal                                                       - 1/4 cup
5. Rice Flakes / Poha                                                    - 1/4 cup
6. Cashew Nuts                                                             - 10
7. Dried Grapes                                                             - 10
8. Curry Leaves                                                             - handful
9. Red Chilli Powder                                                    - 1 tspn
10. Salt                                                                            - to taste (I added 1/4-1/2 tspn only)
11. Hing                                                                           - 1/4 tspn 
12. Oil                                                                              - To fry
13. Ghee                                                                           - 1 tbspn (for flavor, optional)

Method:

1. Make Kara Boondi and Oma podi / Muruku separately. Recipes for those are shared as separate posts.
2. In a deep pan, add oil to deep-fry ingredients. As it heats up, begin with frying peanuts, fried gram dhal and rice flakes separately. Fry them till they become golden brown (peanuts will crack). Ensure none of it are over-fried / burned
3. Following these three, fry cashwe and dried grapes
4. Finally, add the curry leaves 
5. In a large vessel, add salt, chilli powder, and hing. To this, add all other fried ingredients
6. Close with a lid and mix them by tossing
7. Allow it to cool and store it in an air-tight container

Note

1. Ensure salt is very minimal as each ingredient like muruku and boondi also are salted
2. In addition to the above-mentioned ingredients, you can choose to add any other snacks such as maida/wheat biscuits, kara sev, thattai, fried channa dal etc

Veg Stuffed Paneer / Cottage Cheese

Paneer (Cottage Cheese) is so flexi that you can make variety of dishes using it. Wanted to try my hand in making some stuffed paneer... after a quick look around (thanks to 'n' number of cookery blogs, sites, videos), I zeroed in on making a Vegetable Stuffed Paneer starter dish.

Ingredients:

• Cottage Cheese / Paneer : 150-200 gms 
• Cumin Seeds                   : 1/2 tspn
• Ginger Garlic Paste         : 1 tbspn
• Green Chillies                 :1-2 finely chopped (instead you can add more of red chili powder)
• Onion                              : 1 big finely chopped
• Capsicum                        : 1 small finely chopped
• Potato                              : 1 medium boiled and mashed
• Butter / oil                       : 1 tbspn
• Turmeric Powder             : 1 tspn
• Red Chili Powder            : 1/2 - 1 tspn
• Salt                                  :  To taste
• Cashew                            : 4 finely chopped and fried
• Garam / Curry Masala     : 1 tbspn
• Coriander Leaves
• Corn Flour                       : 2 tbspn
• Breadcrumbs                    : to coat
• Oil                                     : to shallow fry

Method:

1. Cut the cottage cheese into thin block of squares (like Cheese Sheet). Sprinkle each sheet with some salt and pepper, and allow it to marinate 
2. In a kadai, add butter / oil. As it heats up, add jeera and allow it to splutter.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till it cooks
4. Add green chili and saute it for a second
5. Add onion and saute till they turn pink (translucent)
6. Add capsicum and saute
7. As they cook, add turmeric powder, chili powder, garam masala and salt 
8. Then add mashed potato and coriander leaves
9. To this mix, add the fried cashew nuts and remove from fire
10. Make a mix of corn flour with water. Have a plate with breadcrumbs to coat
11. Now, take one sheet of paneer and place the vegetable stuff prepared and cover it with another sheet. 
12. Cut this bigger sandwiched cheese sheets into triangles or halves
13. Dip each square / triangle into corn mix followed by breadcrumbs. Repeat this process twice to give a thicker coat
14. Shallow Fry each piece and serve hot with green chutney, or any other preferred sauce

You can use your choice of vegetables for this stuffing including carrot, beans, etc.

Salt and Spicy Sankarapara

Everything in life can become mundane unless we break the monotony and bring in some change. It's upto us what we make of our life, including every facet of our life.

Same is true for cooking... While the ingredients may seem finite (not really though!), it's us who can give the same ingredients a different form and taste. These thoughts have been lingering on and whenever it bangs me real hard, I end up trying something that I haven't till then.

This week end was a mini foodie week end! I cooked different stuff across breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner time.

It began with preparing a tea-time snack, salt and spicy "Sankarapara", which is like a mattri. This goes well with a hot cup of tea / coffee.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour(maida)  : 1/2 cup 
• Semolina (Rava)                 : 1 tbspn
• Rice flour                             : 1/4 cup
• Chili Powder                       : 3/4 tspn
• Salt                                        : To taste
• Sugar                                    : 1/2 - 3/4 tspn 
• Ghee                                     : 2 tbspn (hot)
• Water                                   : To knead
• Oil                                         : To fry

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix maida, rice flour, rava, chili powder, salt, sugar. To this, add hot ghee and mix well.
2. Using needed water, knead the dough (consistency like that for roti / puris)
3. Leave it covered for 30 mts with a moist cloth
4. Roll it into thin discs, like rotis, and cut them into shapes needed (diamond in this case)
5. In a kadai, add oil and heat it. Deep fry the cut pieces till they turn brown (Take care not to deep fry them, like it happened to me for a few pieces)
6. Place it in a tissue to remove excess oil. As they cool down, store them in an air-tight container

Note:

• Use of hot ghee is to give them the crispiness
• You can replace all purpose flour with Wheat flour 
• You can make it a sweet snack by only adding sugar or jaggery

Momos (Dumplings) with Hot Chutney

Momos, alias dumplings, is a native, traditional Nepali dish but that slowly spread across to places such as Tibet, Bhutan etc mainly the North Eastern parts of India. But now, its famous in many places of India and its slowly catching up in South India as well.

It's similar to the Modhaks that we make during Ganesh Chaturti festival. The difference is mainly in the ingredients and stuffing while both can be either steamed or fried.

Vegetable Momos with Hot Sauce: My First Attempt

Ingredients:

For Momos Outer Cover

• Flour    : 1 cup (200 gms or so)
• Oil       : 1 tspn
• Salt      : to taste 
• Water  : to knead

For Stuffing -- You can have your own choice of vegetables

• Cabbage             : 1/2 - 1 cup shredded finely
• Carrot                 : 1 shredded finely (I had to skip since I didn't have it handy)
• Spring Onions     : 2 full (Instead I used half regular onion)
• Coriander leaves : a handful (Instead of spring onion leaves)
• Shimla Mirch      : 1/2 piece (if its a big one) shredded finely 
• Potato                : Boiled and mashed (optional, typically not used)
• Garlic                 : 1-2 pods finely chopped
• Ginger                : 1" finely chopped
• Pepper Powder  : 1tspn
• Soya Sauce        : 1 tspn
• Sugar                 : 1/2 tspn (optional)
• Salt                    : To taste
• Oil                     : To fry the vegetables

Method:

To make the momos cover / wrapper:

1. In a bowl, mix flour, salt and knead it with water to make it smooth. Ensure it has the right consistency to roll out. End of it mix the oil and knead it smoothly for another couple of minutes.
2. Cover the dough with a damp cloth (mulin kinds) and leave it to rest for 15-20 mts at least.

To make the Stuffing:

Method 1:

1. In a kadai, add a spoon of oil. As it heats up, add garlic and onion. Stir it in moderate flame for a minute. 
2. To this add all vegetables and sugar (if rqd) and stir again in moderate flame. Then, add salt, soya sauce, pepper, and keep stirring. 
3. Finally, add the chopped coriander leaves (preferred is spring onion leaves). Stir for 2 seconds and remove from fire. Allow it to cool

Method 2:

1. In this method, we don't fry the vegetables. We just mix all ingredients mentioned under "Ingredients for Stuffing" and keep them ready. You can skip Soya Sauce if rqd.

To make the vegetable momos:

Electric Cooker Steamer Vessel

1. Make small balls of the dough like you will for puris. Roll it out to thin sheets. (We can make a big roti size and using any sharp circle shaped lid can cut it into small puris). Ensure the final sheets are thin.
2. Place a spoon of the stuffing at the center of each sheet.
3. Fold them to make the momos. It's similar to making the fleets of a saree. I followed a couple of videos on youtube to make the folds. You can refer to : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh5_DuuxHC0. Alternatively, you can fold it like the modhaks as well.
4. In a steamer or electric cooker or pressure cooker, fill water and allow it to boil.  
5. Apply some oil to the steaming plate or idli plates and place the momos such that they don't stick to each other. If you are using the electric cooker, then place these plates within the steamer vessel like the one shown to the right here.
6. When the water boils, place this steaming plate and steam it for 10-15 mts (for Method 2 stuffing) and 10 mts (for Method 1 stuffing). 
7. The right consistency will be the momos will appear transparent.

To make the momos sauce - Hot Tomato Garlic Chutney

Ingredients:

1. Tomatoes                 : 4 small (diced)
2. Dried Red Chillies    : 5-6 (as hot as you want the sauce to be)
3. Garlic                       : 2 -3 cloves 
4. Ginger                      : 1" (optional)
5. Vinegar / Lime Juice : 1 tbsp
6. Salt                          : To Taste
7. Sugar                       : 1 tspn

Method:

1. Soak the red chillies in water for some time (30 mts at least)
2. In a pan, saute with just a few drops of oil the diced tomatoes, ginger, garlic (optional step)
3. In a mixer, add the red chillies, ginger, garlic, lime juice / vinegar and grind it well. After a couple of rounds, add the tomatoes and grind. Ensure the seeds of the chillies are well ground. [Alternatively, some grate the tomatoes, grind the remaining contents and mix them in the end]

Note: My Learning

• For Momos Stuffing, I used Method 1 but I feel Method 2 will give you more authentic momos because all ingredients will only be steamed. In Method 1, it becomes a mix of fry and steam.
• For the sauce, I followed another method of soaking the chillies in vinegar. But my suggestion is not to do that because then vinegar's stench and taste overrules the rest. My bad :(
• Momos cover / wrapper should be as thin as possible else it won't cook well.

Momos are best served hot:) Relish it! 

Gol Gappa Aka Pani Puri

Gol Gappa Aka Pani Puri is a simple, lip-smacking snack popular in places such as Delhi, Mumbai, et all... It is one of the most-desired chaat items for many Indians, as once you taste it, for sure, you would love to have at least 4-5 in one go. It is a balanced mix of all tastes including spice, tangy, sweet, and salt. I have relished them in the streets of Delhi... Down in Chennai, this is just gaining prominence so much room for improvement :) Over here, Gangotri is one outlet serves a decent quality of gol gappas.

Finally, made up my mind to try my hand in making this all time snack. One of my partners in such crimes Sangee joined me readily! We managed to bring on a satisfying & happy smile on our lovelies' face :))

Ingredients:

• To make the puris:
• Suji (Rava)         : 1/2 cup
• Flour (Maida)     : 1/2 tbsp
• Soda Water        : 3 tbsp
• Baking Soda       : 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Salt                     : To Taste
• Oil                      : To Fry

• To make the Pani (Green Pani):
• Pudhina (Chopped)   : 1 1/2 cup
• Coriander (Chopped): 1- 2 tbsp
• Imli Water                 : 1/3 cup
• Ginger (Adrak)          : 2"
• Green Chillies            :6-8 (medium * as spicy you need the water to be)
• Coriander powder     : 1 pinch (optional)
• Jeera Powder            : 1 tspn (freshly ground will have a nice flavor)
• Black Salt                 : 1.5 tspn
• Salt                           : To Taste

• For the Filling:
• Potato (Boiled and Smashed) : 4-5 medium
• Boondi                                  : Fried (Get them in market & is optional)
• Sev                                        : Optional
• White Channa / Sprouts (Boiled) and any other of your choice

Method:

• To make puris:
• Mix Suji, flour, salt, baking soda and make it to a smooth dough using the soda water and regular water. (Oil not required to make this dough)
• Cover it by a wet muslin cloth (or any thin white wet cloth) and leave it to rest for 15 mts. The dough will raise a bit due to the soda (very slightly)
• Make small and thin puris. Place these puris first under a damp cloth for 5 mts before frying them. (Thinness of the puris will ensure the crispiness else the flour won't get cooked easily, making the puris soft rather than crispy)
• Ensure the oil is in the right heat before you add the puris to fry. Using a cooking slotted ladle or spoon, press the puris to ensure they puff up both sides. Take them when golden brown (cook it both sides till they puff up to the shape of the gol gappa; if they flatten then u can eat them as puris for other chaat items).
• Remove, drain, allow them to cool. As soon as they cool down, store them in an air-tight container.

• To make pani:
• Grind all ingredients (specified under 'To make pani') except for salt. After ground smoothly, sieve it into a bowl of about 500 gms to 1 lt of water (as you want the quantity & also ensure it doesn't dilute the spice)
• Add salt & mix well. 
• Serve it chilled.

• To make the Filling : Boil the potatoes and smash it well. You can individually add all fillers you decide on while serving

• To make the sweet / tangy chutney: Refer to "Dates & Raisin Chutney". You can take a few spoons of this chutney and dilute it a bit to be used as the gol gappa mix

To Serve / Eat: Take a puri, slightly tap and make a hole in the center, add all fillers, a spoon of pani & a spoon of the chutney and just gulp it... As you develop the taste you may end up having countless numbers as well :))

Kuzhi Paniyaram : A spicy snack

Often when we get bogged down by the regular snacks or on a rainy evening or just for a want of change, we feel the need to try a different snack - if something hot & spicy is what you are looking for and that too in a jiffy, here is one such lip smacking dish : the famous from granny's kitchen, kuzhi paniyaram : the spicy variety

We have a lots to thank our grannys' for their tips & tricks, which are endless. The main ingredient to make the paniyaram is just the left over & a bit sour idli / dosa flour :)

Preparation Time: 15-20 mts

Ingredients:

Idly / Dosa flour : Left over & a bit sour (else you can add a bit of sour curd) -- 2 cups 

Green Chillies:     4-5 chopped (As spicy as you like)

Black Pepper:      4-5 pepper (If you want to have a bit of pepper flavor; you can reduce the chillies if you add more of pepper)

Onion           :      1 Medium chopped finely

Ginger:                 1/2 " fine chopped

Coconut       :       A few pieces (finely cut into small pieces - I haven't added in this picture shown)

Salt              :       To taste (Only a spoon or so more to make for the sourness & added ingredients)

Curry Leaves / Coriander : A few (if rqd)

Oil :                      To Fry

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix the flour (sour curd if the flour is not sour), and all other ingredients mentioned above. 
2. Ensure consistency is semi-solid and not very watery
3. Keep the Paniyaram pan (best suited are the non-stick pans available in the market) on a medium fire
4. Add 1/2 a tspn of oil (lesser from second round)
5. As the oil heats up slightly, pour a spoon of flour each (should not be overflowing)
6. Close the pan and allow it to cook for 2-3 mts (max) - till they turn golden brown
7. Using a knife or a bread knife turn it around & allow it to cook till golden brown
8. Remove from fire & serve it hot with some interesting side dish : Chutneys / Sambhar 

    Tip: Alternatively, some do the following:

• In a tava, add 2 spoons of oil and add mustard. As it sputters, add the chillie, ginger, and onions. Cook till the onion turn pinkish and then add the coconut and finally the garnishing leaves.
• Remove from fire and add it to the flour & follow the remaining steps to prepare the paniyaram.

Chutney:

Onion & Tomato:

Onion: 2 medium

Tomatoes: 3-4 medium

Tamarind : A small peas size

Garlic:    4-5 pods
Red Chillie : 4-5 (splicy ones or you can also add red chillie powder)

Salt:     To taste

Fry each of the above in a spoon of oil separately and cool them before grinding the chutney (with salt). You can garnish it with curry leaves & coriander leaves; season it with spluttered mustard.

Coconut:

Coconut: 1 cup (grated or pieces that can be ground)

Fried gram : 1 tbspn (Potu kadalai)

Green Chillies: 3-4 (As spicy as you like)

Ginger:  1/2 "

Salt:     To taste

Grind them fresh (no fry rqd) with salt. Season it with spluttered mustard & udadh dhal and garnish with curry leaves.

Chivda : A quick evening snack

At the onset of kids' vacations or even during daily tea time, we feel the need for some interesting snacks. While the market these days are flooded with varieties of snacks, at times you might feel the need or like to have something home-made. Ofcourse, none so complex to prepare but something that you can put together in a few minutes.

One such irresistible snack is the famous 'Chivda'. It has variations to it and can be made based on your creativity. This is a healthy and interesting snack which might attract the kids as well.

Here am sharing a very simple 'chivda' made out of puffed rice and flattened rice (poha).

 Ingredients:

  

1. Flattened Rice (white / red) : 2 cups
2. Puffed Rice (pori) : 2 cups
3. Peanuts / Ground nuts(raw or fried) : 1/4 - 1/2 cup (remove the skin)
4. Roasted Gram Dhal : 1/4 cup (or lesser as preferred)
5. Green Chillies : 2-4 slit vertically (as per your spice preference)
6. Curry leaves : 6-10 (as per your taste)
7. Dry Fruits: Add desired dry fruits in balance quantity
8. Turmeric powder : 2 pinch
9. Salt : Per Taste
10. Mustard seeds: Optional (just a tspn)
11. Oil : 2 tbspn (doesn't require much oil as per the quantity you are making)
12. Asafoetida: a pinch
13. Dried coconut : Thin slices - 5-10 numbers

Method:

Chivda is just a mix of all the above ingredients fried till crunchy/crispy and mixed together with salt.

1. In a kadai (cooking vessel), add oil. When the oil is little warm, add mustard seeds. 
2. As they crackle, add curry leaves, chillies, turmeric powder. Fry them till they become crispy. 
3. Add the roasted gram dhal and saute it for a few minutes
4. Add the flattened rice and fry them till they become crispy. 
5. Add the puffed rice and saute for a minute
6. Finally, add the fried ground nuts [If raw ground nuts, then fry them first with some salt. If you are using the readily fried/salted peanuts then you can use them as is (ensure they are crunchy). Remove the skin once cooled. Then, add it to the other fried ingredients in the kadai]
7. Fry the coconut pieces and add them to the kadai
8. Add the dry fruits you like (I added only dried grapes)
9. Remove from fire and sprinkle salt. Mix well
10. Remove it to a broader plate or bowl and allow it to cool for sometime
11. Place it in a air-tight container

Note:

1. You can make chivda out of Oats / Sabudhana
2. Use Red Chillies as an alternative for Green chillies
3. Next time, I plan to sprinkle some Chaat masala as well :)
4. Ensure its cooled completely before you store else it might become soggy

Yummy and crunchy tea-time snack is now ready. Try & share your feedback and more suggestions. Happy snacking :)