Onion Pakoda

            
                                                     Onion Pakoda

      During rainy evenings, munching hot crispy, crunchy onion pakoda, will be a wish for anyone. I could not resist the desire to eat pakoda. The thought of onion pakodas tickled my taste buds, so I decided to make and share the recipe.
      Onion pakoda went well with my evening coffee. Coming to this recipe.

Cuisine; South Indian
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Resting Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
Big onion: 1 no
Green Chilli: 2 nos 
Ginger: 1/2 tea spoon finely chopped
Besan Flour: 1& 1/2 table spoons
Rice Flour: 2 &1/2 table spoons 
Asofotedia: 1/2 tea spoon
Saunf: 1/2 tea spoon (Optional) 
Salt as needed
Hot Oil: 2 tea spoon ( for mixing dough)
Oil for frying
Curry Leaves: A few no
Water as needed

Method:
1. Finely slice the onions and  green chilies.
2. Take a wide bowl, add rice and besan flour mix well, add asofotedia, salt and mix thoroughly.
3. Now add the finely sliced onions, green chillies and ginger, saunf.
4. Add hot oil and knead well, the water in the onions will be enough to make it into dough. If it is dry, sprinkle little water. It should be a tight dough. Leave it for 10 minutes.
5. Heat oil in a kadai over medium flame.
6. When the oil is hot, deep fry the pakodas till golden brown and crispy.
7. Drain the excess oil and take it out, place it on a tissue, to remove oil  if any.
8. Serve and enjoy pakodas.

Burger

                                                         Burger

       I heard about burger long back in 1997, when my cousin's used to say that they relished this dish. It was like Greek and Latin to me. One day my Geetha Pinni ( My Mom's younger Sister) took me to a restaurant in Anna Nagar "Chariot" near the famous 14 shops.
       I joined my cousins who were waiting for me to have their brunch. They ordered burgers and hot dogs, some french fries and milkshakes for all of us. My cousin (Prashanthi's) explained me what a burger is and how it is made etc.
       Never in my dream, I thought I would do one. My son is a fan of burger, he likes it more Indianised with fresh vegetables and a veggie Pattie. Coming to this recipe.

Cuisine: Fusion Food
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes ( Pressure Cook + Frying)

Ingredients:
Burger Buns: 2 nos ( Available in the Supermarkets)
Boiled potatoes: 2 nos
Onions finely chopped: 2 nos
Carrot finely chopped: 1 no
Beans finely chopped: 4 to 5
Cabbage or Lettuce leaves: 2 nos ( I used purple cabbage)
Mayonnaise: 2 tea spoon
Sliced tomatoes: 1no
Sliced Cucumber: 1/2 no ( 4 to 5 slices)
Bread crumbs: 2 tea spoon
Maida Paste: 2 tea spoon

Method:
1. Pressure cook Potatoes, Carrots, Peas, Beans to 6 to 7 whistles to a mashy consistency.
2. Slice Cucumber, Tomatoes and chopp the onions finely and keep it aside.
3. Take the vegetables, which has been pressure cooked and mash it well and make balls of medium    size ( size for Chapati) 
4. Take maida and make a thick paste of dosa batter consistency.
5. Dip the potato balls into the batter and roll it over the bread crumbs, so that bread crumbs is coated all over and flatten it.
6. Place this prepared patties in the refrigeration for 10 minutes. Take it out and shallow fry it in tawa or deep fry it.
7. Now arrange the burger, cut the burger bun into 2 halves. Place the patties, lettuce or cabbage apply mayonnaise and place sliced cucumber, tomatoes over it and close it with the other half of the bun.
8. Now your burger is ready.

Note:
1. Apply mayonnaise over the lettuce or cabbage leaf, otherwise  because of hot pattie it may becomes greezy.

Kaju Katli (Veggie Delights)

         
                                            Kaju Katli (Veggie Delights)

             You may wonder kaju katli, but how veggie delights, yes kaju katli in the shape of vegetables. During my childhood days, my mother used to get this from Buhari Sweets occasionally. It was shaped like tiny carrots, tomatoes and even apples.
             I wanted to try  these kaju veggies for a long time but was hesitant to use food colors. But I convinced myself saying Being First Anniversary of my blog yes!!. It has been a year since I started blogging. To celebrate it I made this kaju veggies.
             Coming to the recipe, you need to be little creative, everyone of us might have played with clay, making odd things. So likewise using this kaju dough make veggies.

Cuisine: Indian Sweet
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
Whole Cashews: 1/2 cup
Sugar: 1/4 cup
Milk Powder: 1/2 cup
Water as needed
Ghee: 2 tea spoon ( For smearing in hands)
Food color: Orange and Green ( 1/2 a pinch each)

Method:
1. Dry roast the cashews and cool it down completely and pulse it in a mixie jar to a coarse powder.
2. In  a pan add sugar and water till it immerses and put it on a medium flame and stir it continuously till it reaches 1 string consistency.
3. Put off the flame and add the powdered cashews and mix it well, add the milk powder and knead it well. It comes to chapati dough consistency.
4. Before it cools completely, divide it into 3 portion, add orange food color to 1 portion and green to another portion and have the remaining as white.
5. Make or shape it into tiny carrots, raddish and cauliflower, smearing little ghee on your palms.
6. Now it is ready to serve.

Note:
1. I stays well for a week under refrigeration.
2. It is optional to add cardamom, if you wish you can do so. I did not use it.

Rava Pongal

                                                       Rava Pongal

       Instead of making pongal with rice, why not try with sooji or rava.  I once saw this recipe very long back on a cookery show. I wanted to try this, but was bit vary of it, as it involves quite a lengthy procedure. But somehow, i made up my mind to try it.
      This rava pongal is a very tasty dish and needs no side-dish. But I made moong dhal gravy.

Cuisine: South Indian
Servings: 4 persons
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
Sooji or Rava: 1 cup
Moong Dhal: 1/2 cup
Salt as needed
Ghee: 2 table spoons
water as needed

For Tempering:
Curry leaves: A few
Jeera: 1/2 tea spoon
Pounded Pepper: 1/2 tea spoon
Ginger pounded: 1/2 inch
Asofotedia: 1/2 tea spoon
Oil: 2 tea spoons
Ghee: 3 tea spoons
Cashews: A few

Method:
1. Place a kadai on the stove over medium flame and dry roast the rava till it becomes lighter in weight. Keep it aside.
2. Take  3 litre pressure cooker and place it on the stove, add 1/2 table spoon ghee, add the washed moong dhal, add 1 cup water and cook for 4 to 5 whistles or  else cook it directly with out cooker, till the dhal attains a mashy consistency.
3. In a kadai add 1 1/2 cups of water and heat it over medium flame, when the water is about to boil, add the rava slowly and stir continuously so that no lumps are framed, add 1/2 table spoon ghee and close it with a lid. Let it cook for 2 minutes.
4. When the rava absorbs all the water, now add the moong dhal and stir well, till the rava and moong dhal blends well.
5. Add salt and remaining ghee and mix well.
6. In a small kadai, add oil, ghee and heat it, now add jeera,pounded pepper, pounded ginger, asofotedia, cashews and curry leaves.
7. Fry till cashews become golden brown, add this tempering to the rava pongal, mix it well.
8. Serve it hot with chutney of your choice or sambar.

Note:
1. If you are conscious of using ghee, you can replace it with oil.
2. But adding ghee gives good aroma and taste.

Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

                                Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

    Eating regular sandwiches was boring, so I tried a sandwich with banana and peanut butter, it turned out to be very tasty. I liked the taste instantly. This recipe is quite easy and can be made in a jiffy. You will need only a very few ingredients.

Ingredients:
Bread: 8 slices
Peanut Butter: 4 tea spoons
Ripe banana: 1 (Finely chopped)
Butter: 1 tea spoon (Optional)

Method:
1. Take a slice of bread, spread the peanut butter and few banana pieces and close it with another slice.
2. Toast this sandwich on a hot tawa, smearing a drop of butter.
3. When it becomes golden brown on both sides, take it out of the tawa.
4. Cut it into triangles and serve hot.

Note:
During hungry hours, this recipe comes handy.

Bread Pakoda or Bajji

                                                     Bread Pakoda or Bajji

      In north India it is called as pakoda, whereas in south, we call it as Bajji. One Sunday evening, I and my son were carving to eat something crunchy, spicy and hot.
      When I searched the fridge there was no suitable vegetable for frying bajji's, suddenly, I saw bread, why not fry bajji's using bread. But my son will point blankly refuse it, citing it as "Bajji". So , I made pudina coriander chutney, made sandwich and dipped the sandwich in bajji batter and deep fried it.
      When done, I cut it into triangles, it looked beautiful with layers in it. Bajji batter layer, bread, colorful green chutney. It was crunchy with a twist of green chutney.

Cuisine: Indian                                                                             Ratio
Servings: 4 to 5 persons                                                         Besan: Rice
Cooking Time: 25 minutes                                                              2: 1
Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
Bread: 10 slices
Besan flour: 2 table spoons
Rice flour: 1 table spoon
Finely powdered jeera: 1/2 tea spoon
Chili powder: 1/2 tea spoon
Cooking Soda: 1/4 tea spoon (Optional)
Food Color Orange: A pinch (Optional)
Salt as needed
Water as needed
Oil for frying

For Green Chutney:
Mint or Pudina: A handful or 1/2 cup
Coriander leaves: A handful or 1/2 cup
Onion: 1/2 no
Green chili: 1 no
Salt as needed
Chat Masala: 1/2 tea spoon (Optional)

Method:
1. Take the bread slices, if you want to cut the edges, cut it or otherwise you can use as whole.
2. Cut the bread slice into 2 triangles and keep it aside.
3. Take a wide bowl, add besan and rice flour, add in salt, jeera powder, chili powder, food color, cooking soda and mix well.
4. Add water and make into dosa batter consistency neither too thick nor thin. Keep it aside.
5. In a mixie jar,add the washed pudina and coriander leaves, half onion, salt, green chili and grind it to a fine paste and add chat masala to it.
6. Take a bread slice, smear the chutney over it evenly and place another bread slice over it and dip it the bajji batter and fry it in hot oil over medium flame.
7. Drain oil and take it out, when all the bubbles settles down.
8. Cut it into half and serve hot.

Note:
1. Adding rice flour gives bajji, a crispy touch.
2. Adding cooking soda and food color is optional.

Jigarthanda

                                                       Jigarthanda

          Recently we visited Madurai for the first time, a good place and one must visit. We went to the world famous Meenakshi Amman temple in the evening.
          During our stay in Madurai, I wanted to taste Madurai's famous dessert Jigarthnada.  My son was very hesitant to taste. He made a big fuss and refused it. On the first day of our stay, after dinner, we tasted jigarthanda in a shop near to the hotel we stayed. It was nice.
          But after browsing in the net, we came to know about "Vilakuthoon Haneefa's Jigarthanda". We went and tasted the jigarthanda, this time my son wanted to have a mini portion, he liked it instantly. Even in Chennai, he wants to taste " Murugan Idli Shop Jigarthanda". Now he has become a big fan of "Jigarthanda".
          He wanted me to try the recipe at home. After browsing and seeing in the menu of Haneefa's, I came to a conclusion how jigarthanda is made and tried at home, which becomes instant hit with both my son and husband.

Ingredients:
Badam Pisin or Agar agar: 10 gms
Flavored Milk (Butter scotch): 500 ml
Nannari Syrup: 5 ml (Optional)
Ice Cream (Butter Scotch or Vanilla): 3 scoops
Thickened Milk Cream (Rabri or Basundi): 100 ml
Sugar as needed
Water as needed

Method:
1. Soak badam pisin in water for 5 to 6 hrs, until it becomes transparent jelly like crystals.
2. Boil milk, cool it down completely, add 1/2 cup sugar and Butter Scotch essence and place in the refrigerator to chill, it should be very chill, nearing to freeze.
3. You can buy Nannari syrup available in the market and use it.
4. Boil 1/2 litre milk and reduce it to 1/4 of its volume adding sugar and bringing it to consistency of Rabri or Basundi.
5. When everything is ready, assemble jigarthanda.
6. Take a tall glass, add 2 table spoons of badam pisin to it, then add nannari syrup, add in the flavored milk, add rabri and a scoop of ice cream. Now the tasty jigarthanda is ready.

Note:
1. The flavored milk should be very chill, otherwise the jigarthanda won't taste good.