Ulunthu vadai in paniyaram pan

Here is a ulunthu vadai I made in paniyaram pan (puff pancake pan). (Click to see my paniyaram pan).  It is not a complete diet vadai, but can be made with lesser oil than deep frying. When comparing the taste, I find this one pretty much similar to the ulunthu vadai.

Ingredients: (For 21 small vadai)
Urid dhal - 1 cup (200 gm)
Oil (corn oil / canola) - 6 tbsp
Shallot / red onion (chopped) - 1/2 cup
green chilly - 2 (finely chopped)
cumin - 1/4 tsp
whole black pepper - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
curry leaf - 1 sprig
Ginger - 1 tsp (finely chopped)

Method:
Wash the urid dhal twice thoroughly. Soak the urid dhal in cold water for 2 hours. Grind it to a fine paste with very little water. The final consistency should be like  softened butter.
Add the required salt + 1 tsp black pepper and grind again for a while.
Pour the batter to a mixing bowl. Taste and adjust the salt now.
Mix the finely chopped onion, green chilly, curry leaf , whole pepper, cumin with the batter.
Heat the paniyaram pan with 1.5 tsp oil in every hole. Wait till it reaches the hottest point. Reduce the flame to lowest. Fill each hole with the vadai batter upto 3/4 th height.
Put a tight lid and wait to hear a dripping sound by steam.
Using a skewer, flip the vadai and cook for few seconds.
Take out, drain the oil in paper towels.
(From the second batch we may need very lesser oil in each hole). 
Ulunthu vadai without frying is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve with coconut chutney along with hot coffee or tea in the evening.
Also makes a good side dish with Idly, Venn pongal, sarkarai pongal etc.

Garlic pickle

Garlic pickle is one of my favorites. I learned this recipe from hubby's friend cum our family friend Mari Anna. He and his mom are experts in preparing commercial pickles, podi and snacks. Every time I prepare this, it comes out just like a store bought pickle (or more tastier than any pickle I make:) ) and we like it very much. Last month when I visited our neighborhood Indian grocery store, I saw this big heap of peeled garlic at a very less price (49 cents / lb). To my surprise they were the naattu poondu (Indian country garlic) , which is a small variety with more flavor and spicy too! As getting peeled garlic at this price is really a big luck for us, I grabbed a big scoop out of that and felt extremely happy, as if I have done something great:) Immediately after dinner I prepared this special poondu pickle and ginger garlic paste. Also I made some poondu kulambu the next day and enjoyed the deal of the week:)

Homemade Garlic pickle

Poondu urugai and ginger garlic paste.

Ingredients:
garlic - 200 gms
oil - 1/4 cup
sesame oil - 2 tbsp
salt - 2 tsp (to taste)
tamarind - lime size
jaggery - 2 tbsp
red chilly powder - 2 tbsp
channa dal - 1 tbsp
mustard - 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
hing (asafoetida) - 1/8 tsp
lemon - 1
To powder:
fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
mustard seed - 1 tsp


Method:
Choose the small variety of garlic instead of big pearls for this pickle. (naattu poondu / small garlic pearls are more flavorful and tastes good. So it is highly recommended for this pickle, even though peeling them takes more time). Peel the garlic and keep aside.
Grind coarsely half of the garlic.
Add 1/4 cup water to tamarind + jaggery and microwave or bring to a boil. Let cool. Extract juice , discard the residue and keep aside.
In a pan fry the mustard , fenugreek and grind to a fine powder. Keep aside.
Heat corn oil + sesame oil (or completely sesame oil) in the pan and add mustard seeds, channa dal, hing. After the mustard starts crackling, add the peeled garlic, ground garlic and cook in medium heat for 1 minute. Then add the tamarind+jaggery solution, salt, chilly powder, turmeric powder and cook in low heat till garlic is almost tender (5 minutes after boiling) and oil will start showing up. Then add the powdered masala, lemon juice mix well and switch off.
Let cool completely and store in glass bottles.
Garlic pickle is ready!

Note:
Serve as side dish with curd rice, chapati or with any rice.
Helps in digestion.
I sanitize the glass bottles by keeping them in hot water or by washing in dish washer (heated dry-ON setting). Also we can keep the bottles and lids in hot oven (after switching off), or keep in sunlight  to dry them.
Always keep the pickle in refrigerator (even though it stays good in room temperature for 3 months).

Ginger garlic paste:
Ginger - 50 gms
garlic - 100 gms
vinegar - 1 tbsp
oil - 1 tsp
salt - 1/2 tsp
Peel the ginger, garlic. Rinse every thing. wipe clean and grind everything together. Store in airtight glass bottle in fridge. Handle with dry spoon every time. Use it in Indian curries.
Stays good for a month.