Tasty tiffins , Tastier snacks!

Aval or poha ( preferably medium or thick ) - 1 cup

Onion - 2 - chop

Green chillies - 3,4 – chop

Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

Chopped coriancer leaves - 1 tbsp

To temper:

Oil - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 2, 3

Urad dhal - 2 tsp

Gram dhal - 2 tsp

Hing - ¼ tsp

Curry leaves - few

Coarsely grind the poha to just break it – this step is optional.

Add salt and enough water and soak for ½ an hour to make it soft.

Approximately the same volume of water is usually correct, but this varies with the poha quality.

Soak the dhals in water for 30 mts and drain completely.

Heat oil in a kadai and temper as given.

When the dhals turn golden, add onions and green chillies.

When the onions turn transparent, add the soaked poha.

Saute for a few mtes & switch off the stove.

Add grated coconut & mix well.

Remove & garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with any chutney.

Big potatoes - 6, boiled, peeled & completely mashed

Button mushrooms - 200 gms

Finely chopped celery - 2 tbsp

Onions, finely chopped - 2 tbsp

Processed Cheddar cheese, grated - ½ cup

Green chillies - 4, 5, finely minced

Salt

Maida - 1 tbsp, made into a loose paste with water for dipping cutlets

Bread crumbs - ½ cup, to dredge the cutlets

Oil - to deep fry

Wash, dry thoroughly & chop the mush rooms.

Heat 2 tsp oil in a kadai & saute the mushrooms till all the water content in them evaporates & they become dry.

The same way, saute onion & celery also.

Knead them all with mashed potatoes, grated cheese, minced green chillies & little salt to a thick dough.

Make balls, dip in maida paste, roll in bread crumbs & deep fry in hot oil.

Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Note:

Onion & celery are optional.

Always make & test fry one cutlet first. If it tends to break, add one more potato, boiled, peeled & mashed.

This is very famous in the chain of shops in Madurai called Murugan Idli Kadai.
For this, exclusivey small onions ( chinna vengayam ) have to be used for the best flavour. They are first peeled & very thinly sliced. A sharp potato slicer does the job best. This way, just a few onions give a good volume of slices which are spread out in the oothappam.
This dish must be eaten hot.
The accompaniments can be milakai podi or any chutney. In Madurai it is served with 6 side dishes - milakai podi & oil, sambar, coconut chutney, pudina or coriander chutney, ginger chutney and tomato chutney.

Dosa batter - 2 cups ( can be venthaya dosai or turdhal oothappam or ordinary dosai batter)

Small onions - 20 – 25

Oil - to make oothappams

The batter can be a little more sour than for dosai, medium thick and not watery.

Add the thinly sliced onions & mix well.

Make oothappams, the usual way, roasting with a little oil on both sides.

Serve hot with any chutney.

Raw rice - 1 cup

Maida - roughly 1 cup ( as given below)

Salt

Wash & soak rice in water for 1 hr.

Drain well & dry in shade.

Powder in a machine or mixi, if the quantity is less.

Sieve fine & lightly roast in a dry kadai till it gives out steam ( aavi ponga).

Remove, cool and measure.

Take the same volume maida.

Tie loosely in a dry cloth & steam for 20 mts.

Cool, open & sieve.

Mix equal volumes of both the sieved flours.

If you want to store it, sundry completely for better preservation.

Now to make idiyappam, take 1 cup flour, salt & 1 tsp oil in a vessel ready.

Boil 2 cups of water.

When the water starts boiling well, remove & add to the flour, mixing well till a soft dough is formed.

Add water gradually & carefully so that just the right amount of water is added.

Press in “ idiappa moulds” into small circles & steam for 5-7 mts.

Idiyappa moulds to fit small pressure cookers are now available.

Idiyappam is served with sodhi or anyother chutney of choice.

Corn kernels (boiled) - 1 cup

Green chillies - 4, chopped fine

Processed cheese - 50 gms, grated

Potatoes - ½ kg, boiled, peeled & mashed

Trimmed bread - 7 slices

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Jeera powder - 1 tsp

Amchur powder - 1 tsp

Maida paste & breadcrumbs

Oil - to deep fry

Dip bread slices in water for 2 secs, squeeze & crumble well.

Knead that with corn kernels, mashed potatoes, grated cheese, minced chillies, salt & other masalas.

Shape into cutlets, dip in maida paste, roll in breadcrumbs & deep fry in hot oil to golden brown.

Serve with tomato ketchup, surrounded by chips.
corn cutlet.JPG

corn croquettes.jpg

Palak leaves can be washed , very finely chopped & used as a topping.

As a variation, I dropped the leaves in boiling water for 1 mte, drained & ground it to a paste with green chillies.

You can use any method.

Maida - 1 cup

Milk - enough to mix into a batter of dropping consistency

Salt

Pepper - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2, 3 ( for the first variation add finely chopped & for the second variation, grind with palak)

Grated cheese - 3-4 tbsp

Melted ghee - 3 tsp

Oil or ghee - to fry

Mix all ingredients except cheese & rest for 30 mts.

Spread 2 tbsps of batter on to a non-stick frying pan in a small circle about 3” diameter.

Add ½ tsp ghee or oil around.

Sprinkle cheese on top.

Cover & cook.

Need not be turned over.

Serve with any spicy chutney or ketchup.

Medium thick poha or aval - 1 cup

Tamarind paste - 1 tsp

Salt, haldi

Hing - ½ tsp

To temper:

Oil - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Urad dhal - 2 tsp

Gram dhal - 2 tsp

Red chillies - 4,5

Green chillies - 2,3

Curry leaves - few

To garnish:

Roasted & coarsely crushed peanuts - 2 tbsp

Grind poha in the mixi to rava texture – this is just to give a homogeneous texture to
the dish.

Soak in 1 cup of water to which, tamarind paste, salt, haldi & hing are added.

Check after 15 mts – if necessary add few more sprinklings of water.

The soaked poha should be soft, but not sticky.

Heat oil in a kadai & add all the tempering ingrdients.

When they are done, add the soaked poha & mix thoroughly.

Simmer for just 3-4 mts & remove.

Serve hot, garnished with crushed peanuts.

Some prefer to use rasam powder in this when soaking with tamarind - this is one's choice.

Rice - 3 cups

Moong dhal - 1 cup

Gram dhal - ½ cup

White til seeds - 1 tbsp

Salt, hing

Butter - as given

Oil - to deep fry

Roast both dhals one by one lightly, mix with rice & powder in the flour mill.

Sieve & use the fine flour.

Please refer to
http://www.indusladies.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2378&postcount=19

Pressing directly into oil or pressing into a plastic sheet & transferring to hot oil is one’s convenience.

Follow the instructions given in the above URL.

Cool & store airtight.

Button mushrooms - 400 gms, chopped

Onion - 1, chopped

Butter - 1 tbsp

Curds - ¾ cup ( or less, by preference)

Bread slices - 8

Chopped pudina - 2 tbsp

Grated cheese - 4 tbsp

Salt, pepper

Heat butter in a kadai.

Add onion, fry & add mushrooms.

Mix well & add salt.

Mushroom gives out water, saute till water evaporates.

Add pepper & cook on a low fire till cooked & dry.

Cool, mix dahi & pudina leaves.

Toast the bread slices, spread the mix on them & top with grated cheese.

Grill for a few mts.

Serve hot.

Instead of moong dhal, I added kollu sprouts & tried pongal. Instead of the traditional spices for pongal, I added red chillies, mustard dhal, urad & gram dhals & garnished with roasted peanuts & grated coconut. The taste was excellent.

Thin variety rice ( preferably jeeraka samba ) - 1 cup

Kollu sprouts - ( up to ) ½ cup

Salt, hing

To temper:

Oil+ghee mixture - 3 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 3,4

Urad dhal - 2 tsp

Gram dhal - 2 tsp

Curry leaves - few

To garnish:

Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

Roasted peanuts - 2 tbsp

Lightly roast the rice on a dry kadai for 2, 3 mts & cool.

Soak for 15 mts.

Drain, add sprouts, salt & hing.

In a pressure cooker take 2 cups of water & add the above.

When the mixture starts boiling, close the cooker& keep the weight.

Simmer the flame & cook for 10 mts.

Cool & open.

In a kadai, heat the oil-ghee mixture & temper as given.

When the dhals are roasted, add the pongal & mix thoroughly.

Remove from flame & garnish as given.

Serve with any gotsu or puli kuzambu.