A picnic meal !

Last weekend we planned to go to beach. Summer in NJ are very short, but hot. So we thought of making use of it. Hubby dear asked me to bring anyone of his favorite dishes as we like homemade better. So I prepared this : Lemon rice, masala egg, fryums, channa dal chutney.

Lemon rice, paruppu thogayal, masala egg,  vadagam.

As it was a Sunday, we planned to make a stop at St.Martha's church on the way to attend the mass. But while starting he said that it would take only 53 mins to reach the church, so we should start accordingly and he did not want to be there too early. He did his usual phone calls...we had a coffee and then we started around 11 am. While driving only we realized that everyone in the town is on the road to the beach :)
The traffic became too heavy...too slow and the sun was getting hotter. Then after 40 mins we understood that we have to find another church on that road, as the mass would start by 12 noon. I googled and found a beautiful church 'St. Lawrence church' near Perth Amboy in Laurence harbor. We went there , attended the nice mass and came out. It is a very beautiful church and we felt blessed to go there.

Now we started again towards the beach.
My hubby dear asked me , ' you made ice cream at home?'
Me: Yes. It's in our house.
DH: I liked the lemon rice you are bringing.
Me: (I felt so so happy)...yes , it is your favorite, next to tomato rice :)
DH:I like all that combo. But it is so hot outside, the traffic also moving very slow. I am feeling hungry now itself .
Me : what ?
DH: How about we turn around and go to Piscataway and we can have very good lunch comfortably sitting in our dining table with the AC on. Have we not seen enough of summer or Are we new to beaches ma ?
Me: (I couldn't stop laughing loud). (I understood what he is trying to do) .
Me: How about binge watching our 'Smallville' series too :) Is that your plan ?
DH: you got me :)
Then we came home and had this picnic meal at home and watched some TV shows :)

This story may not be adventurous or worth sharing, but I feel like writing it down. Good that we didn't ask S to come with us.....LOL !

Air fried Arbi (Seppan kilangu)

Seppan kilangu / arbi is a delicious root vegetable. It is a popular alternative for potato roast curry of India. 

Usually I prepare the arbi fry by deep frying in oil or by tawa roast method.

After I found that airfryer recipe for arbi, I am making it healthier with less oil in an airfryer.

This is a dish I prepare once or twice a month as a side dish for dal rice or bisibelebath. 

Note:  If you are trying this recipe for a party or for large batch, do this in advance and keep in fridge.  Just make sure to do airfrying  again for a few minutes it before serving.  

Click to see my other versions also:

Deep fried Arbi

Arbi cutlet

Seppan kilangu roast

Pongal puli curry

Seppan kilangu

Peeled arbi

Arrange the slices in airfryer 

After airfrying

Air fried Arbi is ready !

Ingredients:

Arbi (seppan kilangu) - 10 roots (1/2 kg)
rice flour - 1 tsp
besan flour - 1 tbsp
salt - to taste 
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
black pepper powder - 1.5 tbsp
cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil (olive oil) - 2 tsp

Preparation:
First rinse the arbi thoroughly to remove all dirt.
Keep it in a vessel and pour water to cover it fully. Boil it in water for 10 mins. Check if a fork or knife can poke it easily. Switch off. (In this stage it can be cooled and stored in fridge with skin for one or two days for convenience).
For immediate cooking, pour cold water and peel them.
Keep aside.

Method:

Cut the cooked arbi  it into 1/2 inch thick circles.
Mix salt, flours,oil, turmeric, pepper powder with a drop of water. Add it to the pieces and mix well.

Preheat the Air-fryer for 5 mins at 350 F.  
Spread the masala coated arbi slices in a single layer inside the fryer basket.(I keep them tightly packed in single layer).
Air fry for 10 mins. Pull out the basket and shake well. Then keep air frying for another 10 mins. 
Do this until it turns crispy in the outside and soft in the inside for each and every slice.
My air fryer takes less than 20 mins for the entire process. 
Repeat and cook the remaining arbi slices.
Air fried arbi is ready to eat !
Dust some more pepper powder over the fried arbi and shake well and serve hot.

Another method:

Instead of pepper + cumin powder , we can mix red chilly powder and garam masal powder along with flours and deep fry them. Tandoori mix also holds good. 

Serving suggestion:

Serve as side dish with curd rice, vegetable biryani, pulav, bisibelebath or simply as a tea time snack.

Tips:

Normally taro or arbi won't cause any allergies. In Indian recipes, black pepper is added to remove allergens from all root veggies,
The South American arbi contains less mucilage and easy to handle, whereas Indian arbi has a unique nice flavor. 
We can boil the arbi and keep refrigerated without peeling for a day or two. I generally do the boiling part the previous night. It comes handy. 
As this recipe takes long time (than frying in oil), it won't come handy while having guests. So we can prepare it and keep it in fridge and we can re-fry them in air fryer  for a few minutes before serving. By this way we can make a healthy fried side dish for our party.