Pani Poori

In Madras, we belong to an area famous for its Gulfi ice,  paani poori manufacturers with the walk ways surrounded by 'chaat item' (a kind of Indian salad mixed with crispies) vendors. You may need a strong willpower to pass these shops without buying one plate of some snack:) Recently we enjoyed this delicacy once again in one of the parties held by hubby's colleague A. After that our trips to Indian grocery stores won't be complete without getting a chaat item.

What is Paani poori?

Paani poori : Small cute fluffy pooris stuffed with lentil, mashed potatoes, salads and filled with hot chutneys as well as sweet tangy tamarind water.

Paani poori is a great fun food when we have some family get-together or friends coming over unexpectedly. It is a very filling snack / starter / a complete meal without much preparation time or skills. There are 'n' number of variations for the stuffing and chutneys. I prepared it by remembering that Madras paani poori stalls' version and their clay-pots filled with those paanis and chutneys.

All we need is just to poke the poori with our thumb, fill the stuffing, pour the chutneys and munch ....munch...munch:) I love the way it is gobbled in one gulp with lots of laughter:) Nothing can beat the different tastes.... spicy to sweet and tangy mixing up in our mouth while our hands uncontrollably stretching for the next poori....unexplainable joy. Isn't it!

Paani poori along with the various stuffings and filling chutneys arranged.

Paani poori stuffed.

Ready to use paani pooris.

Ingredients:

Pani poori - 1 pack
I used the ready to use paani poori available in Indian grocery stores. Preparing the poori needs a lot of patience and skill. The end product should be a very stiff and hole-less pooris. Still I assure you, the home made ones are the best, if we can make them perfectly. You can see the procedure for making them in

Stuffing:

(The following are the popular stuffing, but we can vary them according to availability)
1.Potato - 3
2.Freshly chopped onion - 1 cup
3.channa dhal / whole green gram (cooked)- 2 cup
4.oma podi (Indian mixture snack) - 1/2 cup (optional)
*Cook the potato and remove the skin. Mash it gently along with some salt, cumin powder (1/4 tsp). Place it in a serving bowl.
*chop the onions finely and keep them for serving.
* cook the dhal and keep it in a bowl.

green chutney:

cilantro - 10 stems
mint leaf - 1/2 cup
green chilly - 2
salt - to taste
lemon - 1/8
wash and clean the leaves. Grind them finely together along with green chilly, salt and some water to get a cup of chutney. Squeeze the lemon to get a balanced chutney taste. Keep it in a serving bowl with a spoon.

Tamarind water:

tamarind - a small lemon size
Water - 2 cup
jaggery / sugar - 1 tsp
salt - 1/4 tsp
dry ginger powder - 1/2 tsp
chaat masala - 1/4 tsp
cilantro - a few leaves
dates / raisin - 1/2 cup
Soak the tamarind and extract the juice. Puree the dates / raisin and mix all the above to get a sweetish tangy water. Transfer it to a serving bowl with a spoon.

How to devour it ?

Take a poori. Hold it in your left hand, in the same time make a small opening at the top (by using your thumb), just like we shell the hard boiled eggs.

Put a small scoop of mashed potatoes, cooked dhal, chopped onion one over the other.Sprinkle the oma podi.
Top it with 1/2 a tsp of spicy green chutney. Fill the remaining space with the tamarind sweet chutney.

Immediately gulp it and enjoy:)

Serving suggestions:

The above said quantity is enough to fill almost 40 paani pooris. Increase the tamarind water quantity if necessary. Create your own stuffing to suit your palettes.
This makes a great starter or an early supper.

Hi !

Hello friends,
Hope you are doing great. Due to some unavoidable circumstances I was not blogging or visiting you all for a month. Now I am doing great. Thanks for all your mails, well wishes and comments. Missed a lot of fun in the blogosphere, trying to visit each and every one of your posts now:)

I will resume shortly with your favorite recipes.

Happy blogging!
Love,
Viki.

Baklava

Baklava is a sweet pastry made using phyllo dough or puff pastry sheets.

Hubby and myself tasted this crunchy dessert for the first time in an Afghan restaurant in Long Island, NY. At that time I couldn't remember the name or believe if I could do it myself in some point of time. But slowly Baklava started getting much closer to us after he joined this new office and I started trying several ways to get his favorite. The only thing I knew was the taste and invented some recipes of my own. First I tried from scratch, i.e., using All purpose flour, that was a good one. (If you can't find the pastry sheets and want a recipe from scratch, just ask for one through the comment and I will be more than happy to publish that too). But the process was enormous and I couldn't prepare many. So searched the web and got some ideas. Faiza Ali has the best using phyllo.  Then I tried using the phyllo dough , which is claimed to be the most authentic way. But the process of separating the phyllo layers was much difficult and I ended up with a scrambled baklava :) .

Again I bought some puff pastry shells and it was super easy as well as perfect for a beginner like me. It was just removing the pastry top, fill the cavity with the sweet nut mix, close, bake and soak it in honey:) That gave me enough confidence to try it again. So if you want a very quick rich dessert, then buy some 'puff pastry shells' instead of 'sheets'.

While googling I got a perfect recipe from Baking bites and many others.Then prepared it using puff pastry sheets and all of our also friends like that.Nowadays if there comes a long weekend hubby never forgets to fill up the freezer with these pastry sheets:)

This recipe comes handy if we wish to prepare two or more desserts for a party , as this can be made in advance and stored. Here goes the recipe for the Baklava using puff pastry sheets.

Ingredients:

Puff pastry sheets - one box (16 oz)
Walnut (finely chopped) - 1 cup
cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
brown sugar - 1/2 + 1/4 cup
honey - 1/4 cup
butter - 1 tsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 deg F.

Bring the puff pastry sheet to room temperature as per direction.


Generally there will be two sheets. Take an aluminum foil and coat it with oil.
Place one sheet. Using a pizza cutter or knife divide it into 9 or more pieces. Similarly do the same for the other sheet also and keep aside.

Arrange them with a spacing of 1.5 inch in between.


Mix the finely chopped walnut with cinnamon powder, butter and 1/2 cup sugar.
Spread this mix over one set of squares.



Cover each square with an piece of pastry sheet and make a diagonal slit to facilitate baking.


Bake this in 375 deg F for 10 minutes and check if it is puffed up. Otherwise increase the timing by 5 minutes. (See instructions in the pack).
In the mean time bring to boil a 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup water. Let it achieve a syrup like consistency. Then add a pinch of cinnamon + vanilla essence to it. Let it cool.


Take the baked baklava out.


Pour the prepared syrup in a pan and place the baklava over it. Drizzle some honey over the baklava and we are all set now.



Serve the Baklava immediately or cool. Baklava is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Makes 9 Baklava.
Serve as dessert.

Green Peas pulao

A very simple and mildly spiced pulao made as an alternative to the usual plain rice.

I make this green peas pulav as a quick dish for hubby's lunch pack. It won't consume much time or demand a great skill during the peak hour.

Ingredients:

Green peas (frozen or fresh) - 3/4 cup
(Don't use dry ones for this recipe)
Basmathi rice / raw rice (pacharise) - 1 cup
ghee - 1 tbsp
ginger - 1 inch
garlic - 2 pearls
green chillies - 2
onion (sliced thinly lengthwise) - 1/2 cup
lemon juice - 2 tbsp
cilantro + mint leaf (chopped) - 1/4 cup
bay leaf - 1
cloves (lavangam) - 2
cinnamon (pattai) - 1 inch
cashews - 10
salt - to taste

Method:

Wash and clean the rice. Soak it for 30 minutes.
Defreeze the peas by putting them in some water.
Grind the chillies, ginger, garlic together to a fine paste.

In the mean time, heat ghee in a wok. Fry the cashews to golden color and keep aside.
In the same wok add the bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon and fry for a few seconds.
Immediately add the sliced onion . Saute it till the onion wilts.
Now put the masala paste and fry till oil separates. Put the green peas and saute a little. Add salt to taste.

Add the soaked rice (remove the excess water by a colander) and fry for a minute. Pour water just enough to immerse the rice. Add the lemon juice (lemon and ghee keeps rice grains separate). Cover and cook in very low flame till done.(We can cook the rice separately and add at the end also). Remove from heat while the rice is almost cooked (but stiff) and serve hot.

Garnish with fried cashews and minced cilantro + mint leaf.

Green peas pulav is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serves 2 people.
Pair this flavorful peas pulav with any spicy curry like Gobi manchurian or simply a mint chutney + raitha and enjoy!

Plain Vanilla cake

Nearly a month ago I wanted to make a plain vanilla cake. Though very long back I tried some method (before the blogging era) , I was not pleased with the outcome.So after a lot of googling and blog hopping, I got a solid idea and some confidence to make it from scratch. There were many recipes and I chose to try Cham's infallible Plain vanilla cake recipe and the result was amazing.

Thank you Cham!

The below recipe is from Cham of Spice club. I have halved the quantity to make one 8x8 inch cake. Click to see the original version.

Plain vanilla cake baked and allowed to cool before slicing.

Plain vanilla cake sliced and arranged.


Ingredients:  (To make one 8x8 square cake)
All purpose flour (maida) -  1 cup
sugar- 3/4 cup
egg - 3 (medium size eggs)
butter (unsalted) - 1 stick (8 tbsp / 113 gms)
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Method:

Bring the eggs and butter to room temperature , by keeping them outside the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Grease the baking pan with 1/4 tsp butter.

Mix the dry ingredients like maida, baking soda, baking powder by sieving twice.
(This makes the cake spongy).

Add the egg, butter, sugar, vanilla essence , salt to a blender / mixie and beat till it turns fluffy.

Add the dry ingredients and beat well. we can mix the dry ingredients by using a fork / spatula also.

Pour the cake batter in to the greased pan and shake / tap it to release the air.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
(Test the quality of baking by inserting a skewer and see if it comes out clear).

Plain vanilla cake is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve as dessert or tea time snack. Icing is optional.

Calorie calculation: (from main ingredients)
AP flour 1 cup = 400 kcal.
Sugar 3/4 cup = (1 tbsp = 45) = 45 x 12 = 540 Kcal
butter 1 stick = 100 x 8 tbsp = 800 Kcal
egg 3 = 70 x 3 = 210 Kcal

Total calories (approx) in this plain vanilla cake = 1950 kcal

(data courtesy : Livestrong.com)

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Small 6 inch cake recipe

For a 6 x2 inch round cake: 

unsalted butter 5 tbsp, softened

sugar 1/2 cup

large egg 

vanilla extract 1 tbsp

all-purpose flour 3/4 cup +2tbsp

corn starch 2 tbsp

salt 1/8 tsp

baking powder 3/4 tsp

curd (plain yogurt) or milk - 4 tbsp

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

Sift together flour, corn starch, salt, baking powder. Keep aside.

In a mixing bowl put butter, sugar - beat for 2 min using an electric beater.

Add milk, egg, vanilla, beat together for 2 mins.

Add the flour. Beat for 1 minute.

Prepare a baking pan by applying butter a coating and coat with 1 tsp four.

Bake for 30-35 mins. 

Vengaya sambar

Vengayam (Naattu vengayam, ulli, chinna vengayam) - shallot / baby onion; Saambar - A dhal based curry served over plain rice.

Sambars are generally named after the vegetables added and by the variation in masala. e.g., Arachi vitta sambar, murungakkai sambar etc.
The most famous and easy to prepare is the onion sambar.

Though I make many varieties of sambar, this one is my family's  most favorite. Almost all my Fridays will begin with this flavorful sambar along with the potato curry . Moreover I always remember to save some sambar for the night to serve along with crispy paper roast dosas and we never get bored of that menu:)

I am narrating my mom's recipe, which I am following for years.

vengaya sambar served in a bowl.

Ingredients:

To pressure cook:

Toor dhal/red gram lentil - 1/2 cup (100 gms)
water- 2 cups
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
asafoetida - 1 pinch
sesame oil- 1 drop
Wash and clean the lentil. Pressure cook the dhal with the above said ingredients for a whistle. Then reduce flame and cook for 10 minutes. Let it cool. Open the lid and add some fresh cumin seeds .Mash well using a spatula. Keep aside.
(we can cook the dhal in stove top also. But we may need to soak it first for 30 minutes or more and cook for 30 minutes).

Other ingredients:

Shallot (sambar vengayam) - 15
(choose small variety. Remove the skin, wash and clean. Don't chop).
Tomato - 1
Tamarind - amla (gooseberry /  nellikkai) size ball
cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
cooking oil / ghee - 2 tbsp
(Try to use ghee, as it renders more taste to the sambar).
curry leaves- 1 sprig
cilantro/ coriander leaves (chopped)- 1 tbsp
mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
fenugreek -1/2 tsp
jaggery- 1 tsp (optional)
salt - to taste
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
Sambar powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Soak the tamarind in 2 cups of hot water and extract the juice by squeezing.
Add the red chilly powder, coriander powder, salt and bring it to a boil. Let it boil till the raw smell vanishes.

In the same time heat oil or ghee in a separate wok. Add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and let the mustard splutter. Before they get black, immediately add the shallots, curry leaf and saute well. Continue frying till the shallot starts getting a golden color (not red). Then add the finely chopped tomato and saute till oil separates.

Pour this hot mixture over the boiling tamarind paste. Add the mashed dhal, sambar powder and bring it to a boil. As it starts boiling, put the crushed jaggery, chopped cilantro and switch off.

Vengaya sambar is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot over plain cooked rice.
The best side dish would be a spicy potato curry and appalam (pappad).
Reserve some sambar for dinner and serve along with paper roast dosas.

Thengai saatham

Thengai - coconut ; saatham - rice.
Kalantha saatham (variety rice or rice mixed with some spices/ masala) is an indispensable one in any South Indian home. The best part in kalantha saatham is that they would be prepared to accompany any long journey and they should withstand the time. For example in olden days they packed the tamarind rice or lemon rice in such a hygienic way that they last for at least 3 days.

But this coconut rice should be consumed within 12 hours because of the addition of coconut. Anyways this rice is loved by all for its nice flavor and taste.

Thengai saatham served with masala egg and bottle-gourd dhal curry.

Ingredients:

Rice (pacharisi / Basmathi) - 1 cup
Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
moong dhal (split green gram lentil / paasi paruppu) - 2 tsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
cilantro - a handful (chopped)
dry red chilly - 2
oil - 1 tsp

cooking the rice:

(I prefer stove top method for pulao and 'variety rices'. we can microwave also. But the pressure cooker method makes the rice mushy. Rice cooker can also be used to prepare the rice).

Wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes or lesser.
Bring to boil some 3 cups of water along with 1/2 tsp salt.
Add the soaked , drained rice and reduce heat. Cook covered till almost done.
Switch off and pour it over a colander and remove the water completely.
Keep the rice open to maintain it as separate grains. Let it cool for sometime.

Method:

Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok and add mustard seeds. As they start to crackle, slide in the moong dhal, red chillies (cut into small pieces), curry leaf, shredded coconut , chopped cilantro, in the same order and fry till the coconut starts smelling great. Switch off immediately before they get red (maintain the white color of coconut).
Add some salt to taste (little only). Switch off heat.

Gently mix the rice with the prepared coconut mixture without breaking the rice grains.

Coconut rice is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Good for a quick packed lunch.
It can also be served as starter rice before serving the sambar over plain rice in an elaborate lunch.
Serve with paruppu thogaiyal (fried dhal chutbney), potato chips etc.