Avalakki Chitranna

"Avalakki Chitranna"  is a quick and an easy breakfast recipe. Its a nutritious meal incorporated with beaten rice (poha/ avalakki), Indian condiments, onions, peanuts and green chilies. This recipe is same as lemon rice, the only difference is steamed rice is replaces with soaked avalakki. 

This is a better option then steamed white rice and a very light breakfast recipe. 
I used medium avalakki for this recipe which takes 10 minutes to soak. 

Ingredients

2 cups Beaten rice (avalakki/ poha)

3 cups Water

Juice of 1 Lime

salt

For seasoning

4 tsp Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Bengal gram

3 tsp Peanuts

4 Green chilies, finely chopped

5 Curry leaves

1 Small Onion, finely chopped

1/4 tsp Turmeric

Few sprigs of Cilantro, finely chopped (optional)

Freshly grated coconut (optional)

Method

• Soak avalakki in water for 10 minutes. Use a colander to wash and squeeze water.  Transfer it to a mixing bowl
• Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, Bengal gram and peanuts. When they turn golden brown; add green chilies, curry leaves and onions. Saute until onions softens
• Add turmeric and transfer the contents to the mixing bowl
• Add lime juice and salt. Mix well
• Add cilantro and coconut to boost flavor. 

Rava Dhokla

An incredible recipe from Gujrat made with a jiffy mix of semolina(rava), yogurt, green chilies, ginger and turmeric. I found this recipe online, but I have made few variations to this recipe by adding ginger and turmeric. Adding ginger to this recipe boosted the flavors and the light yellow color from turmeric make this dhokla very appealing.

Ingredients

For the batter-

1 cup Upma rava (semolina)

1 cup Yogurt, beaten

1/4 cup Water

1/2 tsp Green chili paste

1/2 tsp Ginger paste

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Fruit salt

For seasoning-

3 tsp oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

Few sprigs of Cilantro, finely chopped

Few sprigs of Curry leaves

Method

• Roast rava on a flat pan for 2-3 minutes. Let it cool
• Mix together rava, yogurt, water, green chili paste, ginger paste, turmeric powder, salt and fruit salt. Set aside for 10 minutes until rava absorbs all the moisture from yogurt
• Pour the batter on a greased pan and steam for 12 minutes
• Let it cool for 2 minutes. Dip knife in cold water and cut the dhokla 
• In a pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cilantro and curry leaves. When it starts to sizzle, pour the seasoning on dhokla
• Serve hot

Kovil Sakkarai Pongal

Sakkarai pongal is the original sweet pongal recipe taught to me by my Father-in-law. The pongal is absolutely divine recipe served specially as temple prasadam. This religious recipe just melts in your mouth.  The edible camphor and cardamon boosts flavors and the dry fruits adds crunch in every bite.

Ingredients

1 cup Rice (sonamasoori)

5 cups Water

1 1/4 cup Jaggery, powdered/grated

5 Cardamom, powdered

1/4  Ghee

8-10 Cashewnuts

Handful Raisins

Pinch of edible camphor

Method

• Soak rice in water for 10-15 minutes
• Boil water in a pot. When water begins to boil, add rice. Cook rice until it is completely cooked with mashed rice consistency
• To this add jaggery and cardamom. Stir until it is completely melted about 10 minutes. Set aside 
• In a separate pan, heat ghee. Add cashew nuts and roast until it is light brown. Add raisins and roast until raisins puffs up. Then transfer it to the cooked rice
• Add camphor and mix well
• Serve hot

Egg Puff

Enjoy this mini appetizer made in just 30 minutes. This mini appetizer is  made from puff pastry and hard boiled eggs with onion filling. Yummy!!

Ingredients

4 Hard boiled eggs, halved

8 Pastry shells

1 Egg white

For onion filling:

1 Medium sized onion, diced

2 Garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp Chili powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Coriander powder

1/4 tsp Garam masala

Salt

4 tsp Oil

Method

• For onion filling-
• Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic and onions. Saute on medium heat until it turns light brown. Reduce the heat, then  add chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and garam masala. Add 2 tsp of water to avoid spices getting burnt
• Preheat oven at 400 F
• Place pastry shells on a greased tray. Apply egg white on each pastry shell. Top each pastry shell with a spoon of spiced caramelized onions and hard boiled egg. Place in oven at 375 F for 20 minutes. 
• Serve hot 

Nippattu | Thattai

Nippattu is a spicy and crunchy snack from South Indian cuisine.  This tea time snack is made from rice flour, peanuts, Bengal gram and chilies. 

The secret to this recipe is using thin and dry cotton cloth to flatten the dough. By using cloth; it absorbs excess water, reduces cooking time and the end product turns out to be extremely crispy. 

Ingredients

3 cups Rice flour

3/4 cup Peanuts
1/2 cup Dalia (roasted channa)

Handful of Green chilies

1 cups Bengal gram, soak in water for 3hours

1/4 tsp Asafoetida (hing)

1/2 cup Hot oil

Salt

Oil for frying

Method

• Roast rice flour in a pan for 5 minutes sauteing frequently without burning flour. Set aside

• Roast peanuts until brown. After it cools, remove the skin by rubbing peanuts between your palm. Then make a coarse powder of peanuts

• Make smooth paste of green chili by adding very little water

• Drain excess water from Bengal gram 

• Make smooth powder of Roasted channa (dalia)

                                                      

• Mix together roasted rice flour, powdered peanuts, green chili paste, soaked Bengal gram and season it with salt. Add hot oil and mix again

• Make a smooth and stiff dough by adding water. Divide the dough into 1 inch balls. Take a ball of dough and flatten it on a dry cloth. You can apply on your fingers to flatten the dough for non sticking purpose

• Heat oil for deep frying. When oil is ready for frying, gently drop the flattened dough  in oil. Fry evenly on both the sides until it stops bubbling

                          

• Use an absorbent paper to drain excess oil
• After it cools, store in an air tight container which can last to 2-3 weeks

Onion-Tomato Upma

Upma is a hot South Indian breakfast and tiffin food. Cracked wheat is seasoned with Indian condiments, onions and tomatoes. Its a simple recipe made effortlessly.

I like keep upma recipe very simple. My brother who likes upma often complained that he fails to achieve perfection with right consistency either its too soggy or it is too dry. The secret of upma lies in its moistness and cracked wheat separated from one another. With right proportion of water and few drops lemon juice this consistency can be achieved.

Ingredients

3 cups Cracked wheat

2 Onions, diced

1 Ripened Tomato, diced

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp Bengal gram

8-10 Curry leaves

1 tsp Grated ginger

5-6 Green Chilies, cut lengthwise

5 cups of water

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Salt

6 tsp Oil

Method

• Roast cracked wheat on a preheated pan over medium heat. When cracked wheat starts to turn light brown, turn off the heat and set aside

• Heat oil in a large pot. To this add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, Bengal gram and curry leaves. 

• When it starts to sizzle, add green chilies, onions and ginger. Saute until onions turn transparent

• Then add tomatoes and saute for a minute (do not over cook tomatoes)

• Add water, lemon juice and season it with salt. When it starts to simmer, lower the flame and slowly add cracked wheat stirring in one direction without forming lumps. Cover the pot and cook in low heat for 3-4 minutes 

• Garnish with cilantro and serve hot

Breaded Chicken Manchurian

A delicious Indo-Chinese recipe made from Chinese ingredients. This recipe is a great appetizer to start off. The only difference from this recipe to the traditional machurian recipe is the breaded chicken. 

 I had couple of breaded chicken left out and wanted to infuse Chinese sauces. So I settled with  manchurian  influenced from eastern and western ingredients making it an excellent finger food. 

Ingredients

2 Breaded Chicken fillets

1 Onion, thinly sliced

1 Green bell pepper, thinly sliced

2 cloves of Garlic, minced

2 green Chilies, finely chopped

1 tsp Dark Soy sauce

2 tsp Red Chili sauce

4 tsp Ketchup

5 tsp Water

Pinch of Aginomoto

Salt

Oil

Method

• Bake breaded chicken in oven for 15- 20 minutes at 250 F. After it cools, chop them into cubes

• Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic, green chilies, onions and bell pepper. Stir fry for 2 minutes

• Then add cooked breaded chicken

• In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, chili sauce, ketchup and water. Pour the sauce over chicken

• Add aginomoto and salt. Mix together on high heat for 2 minutes
• Serve hot