Sunday, November 27, 2011

Potato Bonda



Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! How many of you hit the stores to get those best deals?

Well, I never did! We were traveling over the thanks giving break and came home couple of days ago.Sorry, If i had missed your posts.

Bonda is a traditional south Indian snack served in the evenings with hot coffee or tea. Usually made with urad dal batter or potatao covered with besan, rice flour batter and deep fried. These dumplings are so comforting and super tasty.
I saw a low calorie one here and I had to make them. I had all the ingredients in hand and made them for evening snack. Oh, my god, they were so good and they were low calorie, with out all the deep frying.
Non stick appam / paniyaram pan is the best thing I've ever bought!
Thanks Chef in You for sharing such a wonderful recipe. I modified the batter a just a little and added a squirt of lemon juice to the potato mixture.

Here it goes

Get Ready:

  • 2 medium potatoes,peeled cooked and mashed
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 3-4 green chilli chopped
  • 1/3 cups frozen peas
  • lots of cilantro ( i don't measure this)
  • salt to taste
  • lemon juice to taste
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tsp urad dal


For the batter:

  • 1/4 cup besan/ chick pea flour
  • 1/3 cup rice flour
  • a pinch of baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1/4 cup water, plus a little extra.
  • little salt to taste.
  • 2-3 tsp oil

Go

  • In a pan, add 2 tsp oil.
  • add the mustard seeds, urad dal and do the tadka.
  • add the onions and fry till soft.
  • Add the green chillies nad suate for few seconds.
  • add the peas, salt and cover and cook for 2-3 mins.
  • Add the mashed potato, adjust salt to taste and cook them all for 1-2 mins.
  • Add the cilantro, squirt some lemon juice to taste and turn the heat off.
  • after it cools, make small balls and set them aside.
  • Prepare the batter by adding the besan, rice flour, salt, chilli powder, pinch of soda by adding 1/4 cup of water. it should be thick to coat the potato balls. 9 almost like pan cake batter/ dosa batter). if too thick add little water to the desired consistency.
  • Heat the appa karal. add 1 tsp oil in each hole/well
  • Dip the potato balls i n the batter, to coat it completely. keep heat on medium.
  • Add it in the wells, flip them to other side with a chopstick or fork once they are cooked on oneside.
  • Cook till golden and crispy on the other side .

Serve hot with chutney, ketchup or just like that.

I had them with freshly brewed south indian coffee and it was amazing....!

Try this and let me know, i am sure you will like it!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Cranberry Orange Bread



Quick breads were discovered  here in America. This includes anything that uses a leavening agent other than yeast. They get their name coz you don't wait for the yeast to help raise the bread. They were  popular during the period of great depression.

You may wonder why i mention this now? please don't read between the lines!

Here is a perfect quick bread for the holiday season. I wanted to make cranberry and orange muffins and had bookmarked a few. Most of the recipes used fresh cranberries. I was a little reluctant to use fresh ones due to their tartness. I was pretty sure my kids would not eat them. I used craisins which are dried sweetened cranberries. I used 1/4 cup OJ from the orange I zested and 1/4 cup store brought OJ. The reason being, i spilled the fresh OJ! The zest and the fresh OJ gives it a nice fragrance and the whole house smelled fabulous while baking!
Feel free to replace fresh cranberries


Get ready

  • 1 &1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 cup Orange Juice
  • Zest from 1 orange
  • 1 stick Unsalted Butter, at room temperature ( if from fridge, nuke it for 30 secs)
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup dried Cranberries
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 2 large Eggs
Go
  • Pre heat oven to 350 C
  • add 2 tbsp of flour to the cranberries, walnuts and mix well. this helps them from not sinking at the bottom of the bread.
  • Mix salt, baking powder, flour and keep aside.
  • Cream the butter and sugar well.
  • Add the eggs and cream them well. I used only a whisk!
  • Add the OJ, zest, flour, cranberries, walnuts and fold in well till everything is well incorporated.
  • make sure you don't beat them too much as it make your bread very tough.
  • Pour it in a loaf pan, (i used foil one) and bake for about 50 mins or till a tooth pick comes clean.

The same batter can be used to make muffins too. I baked 4 of them and it takes about 15 mins to bake them.

Enjoy it any time and share it with your friends.
I am taking this to work tomorrow for everyone to relish!

Also check out my Cranberry Salsa , which is to die for!

I am sending this bread for Breakfast Club and this event


Sunday, November 13, 2011

Pottukadali Thenkuzhal / Dalia dal Munchies


Thenkuzhal is usually amde with rice flour and urad dal flour. I found this recipe at Priya's website and had book marked it. I used a different mould and made them as thenkuzhal.
They were so crunchy at the same time melt in your mouth and was unbelievably good. I replaced butter with vegetable spread/ margarine and the results were pretty good too!

Get Ready:

  • 1 cup rice flour
  • 1/2 cup pottukadalai flour
  • 1 tbsp vegetable spread ( used kroger brand  I cannot believe it's butter)
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/4 tsp asafetida
  • salt to taste
  • 1 cup + 3 tbsp water
  • Oil to deep fry
Go:
  • Sift both the flours so lumps are there.
  • Add salt, cumin seeds, asafetida, salt to taste to the flour.
  • Add water little by little and for ma dough till it leaves the sides. Do not add all the water at once.
  • Heat oil in a pan to deep fry.
  • Once hot, fill the dough in the murukku press and make shapes of little discs.
  • Deep fry till all the bubbles settle and nice golden color. The right consistency is when you hear a little rustling noise from the deep fired items.

Beware, once you start eating them, you cannot stop with 1 or 2! Enjoy at tea time!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Bell Pepper Besan Subzi



 Bell pepper curry is very much liked by the adults in my household. Kids somehow don't seem to care for it a lot! It really bugs me when I have to prepare 2 different things, one for kids & us!
When I was a kid. if we don't like something, mom said " Just eat what is served on the plate, you don't have to go for seconds"! Me and my brother we followed the rules and till date, and grew to like vegetables that we hated!

But that rule is not working for me with my kids. Either I am not strong in disciplining them, or.....see, I don't even have a second reason!
 Hoping one day my munchkins will eat bell pepper raw!!!
I tasted this besan bell pepper curry at my Gujarathi friends place and fell in love with this version! I have tweaked it to my taste and her it is!

Cooking the besan on a low/ medium heat over 20 -25 mins will give a nice crispy base for the bell peppers. The besan coats and sticks to the peppers and tastes great.  Try this and let me know if your family likes it or not!


Get Ready:
  • 1 cup chopped bell peppers ( used yellow and green)
  • 2/3 cup Besan / chick pea flour
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/4 tsp asafetida
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 red chilli ( optional)
  • 1/2 tsp white sesame seeds ( optional)
Go
  • In a pan add the besan red chilli powder and dry roast on a low flame just for 1 minute. The besan will be fragrant and then you stop. ( learned this technique from Here .Trasnfer to a bowl and set aside.
  • Clean the same pan, add 2 tbsp oil.
  • When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds, red chilli and do the tadka.
  • Add the bell peppers, turmeric powder, salt and cook on medium heat. cook for about 2-3 mins till the peppers are half done.
  • Add asafetida, little salt, and 1/3 cups water to the besan, chilli powder mixture and make into a thick paste.
  • Add this paste to the bell pepper and stir frequently so the besan coats the peppers.
  • Let in cook on medium flame till the besan gets crispy, stirring not too frequently.
  • Turn the heat off and serve hot with rice/ phulkas!