Vegetable Puffs

Puffs is a spicy pastry snack of India. The pastry sheets stuffed with various kinds of masala and named after the stuffing.

In my hometown , veg puffs is one of the most popular snack that can be bought only from bakeries. Though vadai, bajji and many other snacks are sold during the evening time by the street vendors, those bakeries would always be crowded with an affluent group of customers, who used to buy the best snacks for their kids (though the simple homemade vada is good for all, who listens...hi hi).  At that time, ovens were not this much prevalent in India. So buying a few puffs in the evening would be more handy and classy, if some guests had arrived. In my childhood, a bakery called 'Queens' in our neighborhood was very popular for their onion puffs, veg puffs, sweet puffs etc.

This is my younger brother's favorite and at one point of time, while returning from my job,  I used to get down one stop ahead in our NGO colony to buy these puffs to see his smile :)

Recently one day,I  bought a pack of these pastry sheets from Indian grocery stores and made these steaming hot along with ginger tea on a weekend. My hubby dear loves this absolutely very much and tells me to repeat every weekend :)

So try this and see a big smile on your love's faces!

Vegetable puffs - after baking !

Preparing the vegetable stuffing.

This is the puff pastry I bought

For calorie facts...Yes !

Thawing instructions.

Pastry sheets with stuffing

Fold the pastry squares into rectangles or triangles ....teach geometry to kids by this fun way too :)

Press the edges using a fork.

Puffs after baking ....

serve the piping hot veg puffs to your loved ones along with tea !

Ingredients:
Pastry sheets - 4
red onion - 1
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
oil - 2 tsp
fennel (sombu) -  1 tsp
tomato - 1
lemon juice - few drops (if needed only)
carrot , beans, peas - handful
salt - to taste
garam masala powder - 1 tsp
red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
green chilly - 1
minced cilantro, mint leaf - 1 tbsp

Preparation:
Thaw the pastry sheets as per direction.
I thawed them by leaving the pack in kitchen counter after lunch and it stayed there for almost 2 1/2 hours (as it was little cool on that day). But other than that follow the directions in the pack.

Filling:
Heat oil in a wok. Add fennel and let it get red. Then add onion and saute till it get red. Then add the ginger garlic paste and saute. Then goes the finely chopped tomato. Let it wilt.
Put all the chopped vegetables, green chilly. Add the masala powders, salt.
Sprinkle a handful of water and cook covered. Then put the chopped mint and cilantro leaves. After it gets cooked, if necessary add lime juice. switch off. The stuffing is ready !

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 deg F (10 mins).
Line a baking tray with aluminum foil and coat it with tsp of oil.
Keep the pastry sheets flat.
Put 2 tbsp filling (not too much) and fold as per taste.
Then using a fork, press the edges so that they close.
Coat the top with little butter or milk.
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 400 deg F.
Take out when the upper crust seems mild red.
Vegetable puffs is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as tea time snack.

Sapota Milkshake (low fat version)

Chikoo / sapota in Tamil / sapodilla is a  very commonly available and one of the beloved fruits in India. They will be in market since Jan till July. At that time this fruit will be available less expensive. The shopkeepers in my hometown will give the customers more than they pays for, as they would like to sell these quick ripening fruits quickly. In my childhood days, my mom's aunt (Rajathiraviyam aachi , my mom's father's sister and my dad's mom's sister), who lived in our neighborhood used to send us this sapota fruits in big baskets. That grandma's traditional house had two big sapota trees in the front yard. Those trees would bloom and give fruits at the same time, in very large quantity. So we would get a call from her around a weekend , when she had planned to arrange for a person to pick the fruits. That grandma adores girl children very much. She used to be very much attached to me and me to her :)  It was one of my most favorite places, as she would pet and would make my holidays the best.
After holidays, she and her friend (cum maid, another grandma we say) would make a big gift basket filled with eggs and cleaned whole chicken from her poultry farm and these yummy chikoo fruits. Whenever I buy some sapota fruit, I always remember my grandma and those sweet days :)

In US, I buy frozen sapota from Indian grocery stores. Here the fresh sapota is rare.  Even if I get fresh sapotas, they would take many days to ripen because of weather.

Here is a very delicious milkshake (low fat version), I make. This is my hubby dear's one of the most favorite drinks and he religiously reminds me to buy this frozen sapota fruits, on my grocery days.

Ingredients:
Sapota fruit - 2 (medium size)
skimmed milk (or) any milk - 2 cups.
brown sugar - 2 tsp
cardamom powder - a pinch
crushed ice - as per need (2 tbsp heaped)

Method:
Boil the milk and let it cool completely. keep it cooler in fridge.
(In US, we can straightly use the cold milk from the can).
Remove the skin and seeds of sapota fruit.
In a mixie jar, add the fruit, sugar  cardamom powder and grind to a smooth paste.
Add the cold milk and run the mixie few seconds.
Add crushed ice and whisk a little.
Pour in your favorite juice glass and enjoy !

Serving suggestion:
Milkshakes are a great way to include more milk.
Serve milkshakes as fresh as possible.

Paruppu keerai / Spinach dal

'Spinach of any variety cooked with Thoor dal and tempered' is the one line recipe for today's post. I would like to share this for my readers who are in the beginning stages of cooking.
Here are some ways to make this recipe more simple.
1. South Indians always cook dal for sambar. So while pressure-cooking the dal for sambar , add a handful of more lentils (thuvaram paruppu) and save that cooked dal for this spinach.
2. Cooked dal can be kept in fridge upto 24 hours.
3. Thoor dal can be replaced with green gram lentil (pasi paruppu)

Paruppu keerai

Ingredients:
Thoor dal (thuvaram paruppu) - 1/4 cup
(or) cooked dal - 1 cup
spinach - 1 bunch
oil / ghee - 1 tsp
mustard seed -  1/2 tsp
urid dal - 1/2 tsp
dry red chilly - 1
curry leaves - few
salt - as per taste.
shallot - 2 
cumin - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Pressure cook the dal with 1 cup water, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and hing a pinch.
(To cook the dal : Soak the dal in warm water for 10 minutes. In a pressure cooker , add these and wait for 1 whistle. After that reduce flame to minimum and cook for 8 minutes).
Clean the spinach and rinse well. Chop finely.
Heat oil / ghee in a wok. Add mustard, urid dal and let the mustard pop. Then add the finely chopped shallot, red chilly pieces, curry leaf and saute for a few seconds. Then add the chopped spinach.
Cook without closing. Add few tsp of water and add salt after the spinach has cooked completely.
Then add the cooked dal,  cumin and bring to a boil.
Switch off.
Spinach dal is ready!


Serving suggestion:
serve as side dish with any rice, chapati or as curry over rice with some ghee.

Menu suggestion:
If you have planned a menu on making paruppu rasam, ketti paruppu and this paruppu keerai along with rice, then  just pressure cook the thuvar dal and use the dal to make ketti paruppu and this spinach. While we can use the excess water in cooked dal to make rasam. By this way we can plan a simple and delicious quick meal. Try preparing potato fry along with this and make your family happier :)

Dryfish fry (Karuvadu varuval)

Karuvadu - dry fish. This is one of my most favorites and I am sure anyone who likes this dry fish is going to love my recipe :)
Dried fish, which is a much less expensive food in Tamilnadu, is a very expensive one in USA. We can get it in any Asian / Chinese grocery stores. That too, dried sardine is the rare commodity here and it is devoured for its unique taste.
I grew up enjoying this dry fish thokku, along with paruppu kulambu (less spicy sambar) and rice. My mom used to make this on weekday dinners, if the veggie side dish she had made got over by lunch itself :) She used to make some egg podimas (scrambled egg) also along with this karuvadu thokku, as this is the favorite of few of us only, and this karuvadu would sound like feast to me !

dry fish thokku

Ingredients:
Dry fish (sardine) - 6 or any dry fish - 150 gms
red onion - 1 big
green chilly -3
curry leaf - 2 sprigs
oil - 2 tbsp
salt - as per need
red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Clean the dry fish by removing any scales or fins. Soak in water and rinse well to remove any sand or impurities. Keep aside.
Chop red onion, curry leaf, chillies finely.
Heat oil in a wok (kadai) and put the dry fish, before the oil gets hot.
Then add the chopped items, as if it covers the dry fish completely. By this way, we can cook the dry fish without letting out the strong smell.
Reduce flame and sprinkle a handful of water.  Cook covered.
After 5 minutes, the fish would have got cooked. Now mix everything in wok, add salt, chilly powder , 2 tbsp water and cook covered for 5- 10 minutes in low flame, till the fish gets cooked completely.
Karuvadu thokku is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as sidedish or like pickle with sambar rice, rasam rice or curd rice.

Ponnanganni keerai poriyal (few spinach varieties of Tamilnadu)

Keerai poriyal (spinach stir fry) is a common side-dish prepared in Indian families. Mostly Indians try to include one greens (spinach) in their lunch.

Ponnanganni (dwarf copper leaf) is a very unique and rare spinach of India. It has a lot of benefits. Click to read more about this yummy keerai.

Any keerai (spinach) can be prepared using this recipe. I prepared many keerai recipes during last year vacation in my mother inlaw's house. Here are some pictures of other keerais and the street vendor's keerai basket :)

Ponnankanni keerai in a bag

Keerai koodai (spinach basket) , which the street vendors carry.

A very nice seller (paatti) who brings keerai to my MIL's  house regularly.

I used to give a handful of keerai to the lovebirds in my inlaw's house , immediately after buying a bunch of keerai. Birds love this :)

Estate keerai (Bangalore Keerai) grown in inlaw's house.

While cleaning the keerai....

Ponnanganni keerai and arai keerai.

Keerai poriyal

Estate keerai poriyal

Ingredients:
Any keerai (spinach) - a bunch
red onion / shallot (chopped) - 1 cup
green chilly - 2
oil - 1 tbsp
mustard - 1 tsp
urid dal - 1 tsp
cumin - 1 tsp
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
salt - very little (as per taste).

Method:
Rinse the spinach in water thrice or till the water runs clear. Chop finely. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok. Add mustard and urid dal.  Let the mustard splutter. Then add finely chopped onion, green chillies. Saute till it wilts. Then add the finely chopped spinach.
Saute with a handful of water. Don't cover the vessel while cooking the spinach (I don't know the reason behind this, but people in my town cook most of the spinach except drumstick leaf, like this).
As soon as the spinach gets cooked and all the water is evaporated, add required salt and mix well. Then add the shredded coconut, cumin and switch off.

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish along with sambar or any curry and rice during lunch.

Apple juice

I am sure this is a very easy recipe. But any juice involves some love and care. So I am sharing my views on juicing :)

My passion for making some yummy juices originated from my friend Paaru, almost 6 months back. After tasting the strawberry milkshake made by her on a cool Christmas time, I really wanted to try different juices. Then her cantaloupe juice is my another favorite. I know my hubby dear loves juices, so I wished to show him my new found recipes. Before that I had always felt it like more work to put the fruits in a mixie and filter and then clean the dishes again :)  But if you set your mind to enjoy a fresh homemade juice then you will get the energy to do all these ...ha ha.  My juicing experience got better after bringing my Preethi juicer from India, as there is no need to filter separately.
I am sure, all of my beautiful readers will enjoy my juice recipes too.

Ingredients:
1 big red delicious apple
sugar - 4 tsp
water - 1 cup

Parts of an apple fruit (food for thought) :

Image courtesy : apple

Method:
Cut the apple into four. Remove the seeds and core (pips - seed, endocarp - core).
Chop the apple into small cubes.
Put them into your mixie or juicer.
Grind with sugar and 1/2 cup water.
If using mixie, then filter the juice using 1/4 cup water each time, till we extract all the juices.
If using a juicer (with filter attachment). Then add 1/2 cup water each time and extract juice.
Pour in small juice glasses and enjoy!

Serving suggestions:
Makes 2 cups of fresh apple juice.
Serves 2 people.
Sometimes I won't add any sugar to the juice, but it will be nice to add some sugar for making a delicious one.

Note:
Ok, what shall we do with the fibers that are left over after extracting the apple juice ?
It can be used in baking to get a moist cake.
Also this residue can be used in gardening as organic fertilizer (just like any other kitchen scrap).

Oats millets porridge

Here is one more easy breakfast from my kitchen.

Oats millet porridge (with brown sugar)

Ingredients: oats, barley, Ragi flour, kambu flour.

Ingredients: (for 2 people)
Steel cut oats - 1/4 cup
barley - 2 tbsp
Ragi (finger millet) flour - 2 tbsp
Kambu (bajira / pearl millet) flour - 1 tbsp

Preparation:
*In your free time dry roast the millet flours separately. Let them cool and store in separate containers at room temperature.
This roasting process gives our flours (which we buy in bulk),longevity and flavor.
*Rinse the barley in water. Soak the barley and steel cut oats in hot water for 10 minutes. This makes the cooking process easier. But we can do it without soaking also.
// I do this while making the morning tea and will start cooking them after having the tea :)  //

Method:
Add 3 cups of water in a vessel.  Bring it to boil and soak the rinsed barley and oats for 10 minutes.
Cook in stove top (for 20 minutes) or in pressure cooker for 2 whistles.
Cook till the oats and barley gets cooked to an edible soft stage.
In a separate bowl , pour 1/2 cup cold milk and add the millet flours and mix well using a spoon.
Pour this to the boiling cooked oats.
Stir continuously for 30 seconds (till the porridge becomes thicker).
If needed add some more water or milk.

Now the oats porridge is ready!

Variations:
1. We can add required amount of brown sugar and cardamom powder to have as a sweet porridge.
2. If not, we can let the porridge get cool a little and add some Indian yogurt (curd), minced onion, salt, cumin and have like cool curd rice.

Serving suggestion:
We can make this porridge in  a large quantity for at least 5 days and keep in fridge.
Then we can take the required quantity out of the fridge, bring to a boil and add sweetness or sour curd according to taste, just before serving.
Serve as breakfast.