Green gram salad / chaat

Here is another spicy snack for all of us who crave for a spicy snack in the evening and still want to reduce a few inches:)

Other names: Green gram salad / pachai payaru sundal / moong chaat.

Ingredients:

dry green gram - 1 cup
oil - 1 tsp
hing - a pinch
curry leaf - few
mustard - 1 tsp
cucumber - 1
onion - 1
carrot - 1
tomato - 1
lemon - 1/8 of a fruit
coconut slices - few
salt - to taste.

To grind:

coconut - 2 tbsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
green chilly - 3

Method:

Soak the green gram for 5 hours and cook till tender (Add water just to immerse the green gram. Bring 1 whistle in a pressure cooker, reduce flame and cook in low flame for 5 minutes). (or) Sprout the soaked green gram overnight and cook in stove top for 10 minutes, till done.
Drain the water, take out the cooked green gram and add required salt.keep aside.
Grind the items given to a coarse mixture. Mix with the cooked green gram.
Heat oil in a small skillet. Let the mustard crackle, add the curry leaf, asafoetida (hing). Squeeze the lemon and pour the tempering over the green gram. Carefully mix.

Before serving finely chop the onion, cucumber, tomato, grated carrot, coconut and add to the green gram. Top with finely chopped cilantro.

Green gram salad is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Serve as snack.
Makes 6 servings.

Kaara pori (Spicy puffed rice)

Many a days I was wondering if I could get an 'oil-less spicy-snack recipe' till I came across this tasty snack in Tasty traditions .  Thanks to the blogging world and the author, now I can snack on this quick, guilt-free spicy snack along with a cup of coffee every evening:)

Serving this kara pori and a  banana with an evening coffee is very common in Tamilnadu villages.

Ingredients:

Puffed rice (arisi pori) - 4 cup
groundnut - 1 cup
puffed channa dhal (pottu kadalai)- 1/2 cup
thin beaten rice (aval/poha) - 1/2 cup
oil - 1 tbsp
garlic - 2 cloves
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
hing (perungayam) - few shakes
red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
salt - to taste

Method:

Microwave the pori in a big bowl for 1 minute or till it turns crispy (another 30 seconds).
Heat oil in a wok. Fry the groundnut and take out.
In the same wok roast the puffed channa dhal, till it turns crispy.
Add the beaten rice (thin poha) and fry together till both gets crispy (not red).
In a blender crush together the chilly powder or dry red chillies, curry leaf, hing, garlic, salt. Let it be a coarse mixture.
Heat a tsp of oil in the wok and fry the crushes ingredients.
Then switch off flame and add the fried peanut, pottu kadalai, puffed rice, beaten rice, fried groundnut and mix well.
Mix very evenly, so that every piece gets coated with the spices.
Let them cool well (otherwise they will get soggy by their own steam) and store in airtight container.

Serving suggestions:

Serve as snack with coffee or tea in the evening.
It can be used to garnish over Indian salads, curries and raitha.

Tips:

Fresh garlic can be replaced by garlic powder to avoid crushing.
Instead of microwaving the puffed rice, we can dry roast it for 5 minutes in low heat.