Thavil vadai

Thavil vadai is an unique kind of vadai in Tamilnadu.  Some people call it as thaval vadai or thavala vadai ,aiming to describe the shape of that vadai (thavil - a musical instrument). This is how we explain in our house, if any one know the proper meaning of the title please let me know:) Moreover this vadai should be made with many lentils and rice, which makes the recipe more interesting.

Recipe source: amma.
Also inspired by :  Subbu's kitchen and Kitchen queen. Thank you friends!

Ingredients:

Channa dhal (Bengal gram)- 1/2 cup
black gram (ulunthu / urid dhal) - 1/2 cup
Red gram / thuvaram paruppu / thoor dhal - 1/4 cup
Rice - 1/4 cup
dry red chillies - 3
ginger - 1 inch
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
asafoetida / hing - a pinch
salt - to taste
oil - to deep fry

tempering / tadka:

Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
cilantro - a handful

Method:

wash and clean the dhal and rice, Soak the urad dhal separately and others together for 2 hours or till soft.
Grind the urad dhal to fluffy stage, without  water.If needed add a tbsp of water. Then take  it out. Grind the other dhals and rice without water to a thick and coarse batter along with other ingredients except oil and coconut. Mix with urad dhal batter.
Heat a tsp of oil in a wok and add mustard seeds. As they crackle add the chopped cilantro, curry leaves and pour over the batter. Add the shredded coconut .
Take a lemon size ball of the batter and flatten it slightly. Deep fry it in oil by flipping both sides in medium heat. Don't  fry it in high heat. Give ample time to let it cook completely. As soon as the vadai turns mild red , drain oil and take out.

Thavil vadai is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot with coconut or cilantro(malli) chutney.

Amla Jamun

Amla - Indian gooseberry - Periya nellikkai (Tamil).
Here is a quick and  healthy dessert  using the Indian gooseberry.  This is my mom's recipe and she used to prepare some jam varieties also using amla. I used frozen amla, which we get in Indian grocery stores. Keep them handy to satisfy that sugar cravings:)

Ingredients:

Amla - 15
crushed jaggery - 1 cup
water - 1cup
honey - few tbsp

Method:

Bring one cup water to boil. Add the amla and cook well.
In the same time bring 1/4 cup water to boil in a separate vessel and dissolve the jaggery. Filter and remove the impurities.
Add the jaggery solution to the cooked amla and start heating till it becomes very thick syrup. Put off fire and let it cool.
Then add a few tbsp of honey and preserve in a clean dry container.
This can be kept for 6 months if refrigerated.

Serving:

Amla jamun makes a healthy dessert.
This sweet tastes great the next day only, as it may take a few hours for the bitterness to change.

Tips:

*There is another variety of gooseberry also, which will be smaller in size and tastes very sour. My mom used to make a jam out of it. For that jam, Mom would add sugar instead of jaggery and that 'nellikkai jam' would taste incredibly great.
*We can totally avoid the jaggery and add honey to the cooked amla to get a healthy amla jamun. But I have not tried it yet.