Foodie Workz

Diwali is a time for joy and celebration and it is never complete without sweets and snacks.  Snacks being a favorite in my household, I usually end up preparing more snacks than sweets.  Kai Murukku is a very popular South Indian snack and is also well enjoyed by all of us at home.   Not many people prepare this at home as making them as it is a time consuming effort which requires patience and practice. 2 cups Rice Flour 2 tsp Urad Flour 2 to 2.5 tbsp butter brought to room temperature 1 to 1.25 tsp salt 2 tsp cumin seeds 2 tsp sesame seeds two pinches of hing powder Begin my making the urad dal flour. Roast some split urad dal on medium heat till it becomes light reddish brown in color.  Cool this down and ground to a fine powder.  Seive out the coarse parts.  Any extra can always be used the next time or added in kootu.  If using store bought flour,  roast the flour till it slight changes color.  Combine both the flou...

With Diwali around the corner,  preparations must be going on for making some sweets and savories.   My first attempt is the Besan Ladoo.   This is a traditional and a very popular dish in Indian households during Diwali time.  Besan burfi or Mysore Pakku as it is known in the South is what I have tried in the past.  As I wanted to go easy on the ghee I decided to try out the ladoo for the first time.  Not only for that but I have also oflate become hooked on these type of ladoos which I never even used to taste in my childhood days. I followed a couple of recipes one being Manjulas Kitchen and the other being Tarla Dalal.   I like the former as you get to visually see the making process.  I also refer Vahrehwah.com for sweets and desserts.  I started off following Manjula's recipe without the rawa.  As my flour started cooking, mine was no way near the consistency of hers so switched to Tarla Dalals and just used my d...

 Chutneys complement well with our Indian breakfast dishes.   Eventhough the coconut chutneys have their own flavor and is commonly liked by everybody, I like to prepare chutneys using vegetables.  I had these bell peppers lying in my fridge for more than a week that I decided to use it up for making this chutney.  The results was some reallly nice spicy chutney.  The tomatoes and the red peppers gave a nice stunning color to the chutney.  Enjoyed this chutney with the Masoor dal idlis. 1/2 cup chopped onions 1 medium to big tomato 1 bell pepper(I combined red and green peppers) 3-4 red chillies 2 tsp urad dal 3 tsp chana dal pinch of hing powder few coriander leaves salt to taste 1/4 tsp of tamarind paste Begin by roasting the chana dal and urad dal in some hot oil,  add the red chillies and the hing powder.  Immediately add the onion and saute it for a minute.  Add the peppers and saute it for a minute or two.  Add th...

This is one of the traditional recipes of the Tamil households.  Usually it is prepared in little large quantities that will last for a week.  I really love having this during cold wintery days to get the heat from the pepper.  This time I prepared this based on the recipe given by my aunt. 12-15 medium size sprigs of curry leaves big lemon sized tamarind ball 2 tsp black pepper 4 long red chillies 2 tsp urad dal tiny ginger piece Take two spoons of oil and roast the urad dal and the red chillies without burning them.  Lower the heat and add the black pepper, curry leaves and the tamarind pieces and saute it lightly.   Add the ginger as well.   Take all this and grind everything to a smooth paste with salt and 1/2 tsp of brown sugar.  Use about 4 cups of water. Take a pan with 3-4 tbsp of oil, season mustard and add the paste.  Let all this cook nicely till the kuzhambu reduces in quantity by one cup by which time you will also get...

This is a very nutritious and refreshing salad which will surely be enjoyed by kids....mine love it so much that they are ready to eat this given anytime of the day.  I usually have this salad ready for them as an after school snack.  It has all the goodness of the proteins and vitamins and keeps them satisfied for some time:)   2 handfuls spinach(salad spinach which come in packages) 3 medium size potatoes boiled, peeled and cut into big cubes 2 small tomatoes 3 inch cucumber piece 1/4 of a small onion 1/2 cup of boiled channa handful of toasted peanuts(optional) Dressing: 3 tbsp olive oil salt, lemon juice and pepper to taste Chop  the spinach coarsely and cut the tomatoes in half and each half into eighths.  Peel and cube the cucumber as well.  Cut the onions into 1 inch length slices.  Combine all these along with the chana and toasted peanuts. Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk them together.  Add ...

This is one good way to use up the yellow squash which works as a good side. 2 cups chopped yellow squash 2 tsp chana dal 1/2 tsp urad dal 1/4 tsp cumin seeds(optional) 1/4 tsp mustard seed(optional) 1 to 2 red chili long variety salt to taste tamarind small piece Saute the squash on medium flame stirring all the time with salt until it becomes soft.  Roast the chana dal, urad dal, red chili and splutter the mustard and cumin seeds all separately with a spoon of oil.  Grind these first to a coarse powder with salt.  Add the vegetable and the tamarind and grind it to a paste.  Check for salt and tamarind, add more if needed and pulse it again.  This can be had with idlis and dosa or used as a dip.  If used as a dip you can omit the seasoning.  You can add some chopped coriander leaves while grinding dalong with the vegetable.

As I was left with some beets after making the pulao, I wanted to try something different.  The result was these lovely Beet root polis. Filling  1 medium size beet root peeled and processed 1/4 cup of slivered almond powdered or almond meal 1/4 cup of brown sugar(can add little more if needed) 1 cup of milk(used low fat) 1/4 tsp elaichi powder ghee Outer covering 1/2 cup wheat flour 1/4 cup all purpose flour pinch of salt 1 table spoon oil for kneading Combine all these ingredients to form a soft pliable dough and set it aside for an hour. In the meanwhile, chop the beet root into rough pieces and process in a food processor.  Transfer this to a vessel along with the ground almonds and a cup of milk and pressure cook for 10 minutes.  Once you are ready to open, take this to a pan and cook on the stove top till all the mixture is absorbed completely and add some brown sugar and about a couple of spoons of ghee.   Turn off the st...