Black Urad Vadai - less commonly made, but delicious Split urad dhal with black skin is ideal for making vadais, infact the dough is easier to handle than white urad dough. Black split urad dhal with skin - 1 cup Red chillies - 3, 4 Pepper & jeera, coarsely podered - 3 tsp Salt, hing Finely chopped curry leaves - 1 tbsp Oil - to deep fry Soak dhal for 30 mts with red chillies & drain. Keep for one hour. Grind first adding red chillies only. The grinding is very similar to ulundu vadai. Add water in tsps & grind fine. Lastly add salt, hing, pepper-jeera powder, curry leaves & run the mixie or grinder for a minute. Pat into small vadais with hole in the center and deep fry. Since the black skin gives “body” to the dough, it is easier to handle this dough.
Black Urad Rasa Vadai - an ideal party dish ! I have given Rasa Vadai with Amavadai & Thayir Vadai with Ulundu Vadai. So I am giving rasa ulundu vadai with black split urad dhal. For vadais: Black split urad dhal with skin - 1 cup Red chillies - 3, 4 Pepper & jeera, coarsely podered - 3 tsp Salt, hing Finely chopped curry leaves - 1 tbsp Oil - to deep fry Soak dhal for 30 mts with red chillies & drain. Keep for one hour. Grind first adding red chillies only. The grinding is very similar to ulundu vadai. Add water I tsps & grind fine. Lastly add salt, hing, pepper-jeera powder, curry leaves & run the mixie or grinder for a minute. Pat into small vadais with hole in the center and deep fry. For Rasam: Mangalore Rasam Soak the fried vads in a bowl of water, more to remove the oil. Gently squeeze them & arrange in a plate. Pour rasam over & garnish with coriander leaves & karuvadam. View attachment 69032
Black Urad Thayir Vadai - topped with onion vadam. Split urad dhal with black skin is ideal for making vadais, infact the dough is easier to handle than white urad dough. Black split urad dhal with skin - 1 cup Red chillies - 3, 4 Pepper & jeera, coarsely podered - 3 tsp Salt, hing Finely chopped curry leaves - 1 tbsp Oil - to deep fry Soak dhal for 30 mts with red chillies & drain. Keep for one hour. Grind first adding red chillies only. The grinding is very similar to ulundu vadai. Add water I tsps & grind fine. Lastly add salt, hing, pepper-jeera powder, curry leaves & run the mixie or grinder for a minute. Pat into small vadais with hole in the center and deep fry. Since the black skin gives “body” to the dough, it is easier to handle this dough. For thayir vadai, soak them in plenty of water. As soon as they are taken out. After an hour, squeeze gently & spread on a plate. Mix curds with red chilli powder, salt & chat masala. Temper with mustard seeds, jeera & hing. Pour on the curds & spread the curds on the vadais. Garnish with crumbled onion vadam for a crispy top.
Cheese Puffs - let us call this, Savoury Doughnuts! Basic Yeast batter for snacks: Maida - 2 cups Milk - 300 ml Fresh yeast - 1 tbsp Salt, sugar To 100ml of luke warm milk, add sugar & yeast. Leave covered till bubbles appear. To sieved maida, add salt & yeast liquid. Add as much more lukewarm milk as required, to knead to an elastic smooth soft dough. Leave to double. Add to the above dough: Onion - 1, minced Green chillies - 2, minced Finely Chopped coriander leaves - 2-3 tbsp Roasted & chopped peanuts - ½ cup Grated cheese - 50 gms To the risen dough, add all the above. Drop spoonfuls in moderately hot oil & fry till golden brown. Garnish with extra grated cheese & chopped coriander leaves . Serve with chutney & tomato sauce. This photo is posted below . Capsaicum – Cheese Puffs: Cut capsicum into neat slices. Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste. Thin down the basic yeast batter with a few spoonfuls of warm water to get a coating consistency. Add 50 gms grated cheese, salt & pepper. Dip capsicum slices in this battr & deepfry. Paneer Pakoris Prepare the basic yeast batter. Thin it down with a few spoonfuls of warm water to get a coating consistency. Add chilli powder, haldi & garam masala powder. Cut paneer into rectangles 3 cm *2 cm. Dip in this batter & deep fry. Banana Fritters; Make the basic yeast batter. Add 2-3 mashed ripe bananas & 2 tbsp powdered sugar. Drop in spoonfuls in hot oil & deep fry.
Instant Dosas - - Can you spare 2 hrs, please? Grind in the flour machine together, to a fine powder & store: Wheat - 2 level cups Raw rice - 2 heaped cups Methi seeds - 3 tsp Urad dhal 1/3 cup (not more) Mix with water mixed with little buttermilk for 2-3 hrs, add salt & make dosas.
Lapsi-Oats Upma - with just 1 tsp oil ! This can be made with onions and vegetables as well – but tastes best plain ! Lapsi - ½ cup Oats - ½ cup Water - 2 cups Salt To temper: Oil - 1 tsp Red chillies - 2, 3 Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Urad dhal & gram dhal - 1 tsp, each Hing - ½ tsp Curry leaves – few In a pressure pan, heat oil & temper as given. Finally add lapsi & oats & fry on a low fire for 5 mts. In an adjacent stove, boil water with salt. When lapsi-oats are roasted, remove from flame &add boiling water & salt. Put back on low fire. Cover the cooker & keep the weight. Do not wait for whistle, but cook on a low flame for 10 mts. Cool, open & serve hot.
Kara Mor Vadai - no more fuss to make vadais! Rice flour - 1 cup Sour curds - 1 cup Water - ½ cup Salt Gingelly oil - 1 tsp Chilli powder - 1 tsp Curry leaves - few, chopped Oil - to deep fry Combine curds & water & churn well. Add salt, oil, chilli powder, curry leaves & bring to a boil. Stir in the flour, mixing thoroughly till it becomes a paste. Remove fom fire, cover with a lid & leave aside for 30 mts. When sufficiently cool, add 1 tbsp hot oil,knead into a dough & prepare vadais. Heat oil in a kadai & deep fry.
Cashew Rolls - a deliciously rich snack of my younger days ! Cashews - 1cup ( soak for 1 hr & grind fine) Maida - ½ cup Ghee - 2 tsp Grind together fine: Green chillies minced - 1 tbsp Chopped coriander leaves - 1 tbsp Salt Oil - to deep fry Rub together maida, ghee, salt & green chilli-coriander paste. Then add cashew paste & roll lengthwise, cylindrically. Deep fry on a low fire in oil till done.
Moong – Carrot Dosai - Serve with Sweet & sour Coriander chutney. Moong dhal - 1 cup Green chillies - 4, 5 Ginger - 1" (more by choice) Hing - ½ tsp Salt Finely grated carrot - 1 cup Jeera - 1 tsp Oil - to make dosai Wash well & soak yellow moong dhal for 1 hour. Drain, add green chillies, ginger, salt & hing. Add to a slightly coarse paste. Add jeera & grated carrots. Make dosas, the usual way. Serve with Sweet & sour Coriander chutney. For that grind to a paste: Chopped coriander leaves - 1 cup Green chillies - 2, 3 Dates - 3,4 Tamarind paste - 1 tsp Salt.
Besan Paratha - deliciously different! Wheat flour - 2 cups Besan - 1 cup Chilli powder - 1 tsp Ghee - 2 tbsp Ajwain - 1 tsp Anardhana (pomegranate seeds) crushed - 2 tsp (or add amchur powder) Minced green chillies - 1-2 tsp Salt Oil - to make parathas To both flours, add all masalas & ghee. Knead to fine breadcrumb consistency. Add warm water to make a dough. This dough is sticky more because besan is added. So, a dough kneader or food processor is best for making dough. Rest for half an hour. Make 18-20 balls. Roll each to a thick round, smear with little oil and make a cut halfway from one end to the centre. Roll, starting from the slit to form a cone. Press the cone, dip into flour and roll into a thin paratha. Cook as usual on a tava using oil. Serve with any sabji.