Rava-coconut dosa

The recipe of a very easy snack that my mom shared with me today ...
Ingredients:
Rava (sooji) - 1 cup
Coconut grated - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 1 or 2
Ginger - 1/4 inch piece
Turmeric - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Ghee - 2tsp
Mustard seeds, curry leaves - for seasoning
Water - as needed

How to:
- Soak rava in adequate water for 10 minutes
- Grind coconut, chilles, ginger and rava to a smooth paste
- Add water to get the dosa batter consistency. Add salt.
- Prepare seasoning with mustard and curry leaves in ghee
- Pour the seasoning in the rava mixture
- Mix well and prepare dosa.
- Serve hot with coconut-mango chutney

Grilled Vegetables

A crunchy and healthy snack that I tried today ...

Ingredients :

Any vegetables diced - I used carrots, cucumber, zucchini, mushrooms, thawed frozen green peas, cauliflower, cabbage, green tomato, onion, capsicum
Salt, Pepper - to taste
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Vinegar - 2 tbsp
Mixed herbs for seasoning - to taste

How to :

- Mix the seasoning, oil and vinegar well and toss the vegetables in it. Add salt and pepper and mix well.
- Keep aside for a few minutes
- Spread the vegetables in a tray and grill in microwave for 2 minutes

Punukulu

Here is a very quick snack that I tasted at ISB canteen ...
Ingredients:
Dosa/Idly batter - 1 cup
Onion - 1/2 (chop finely)
Green chillies - 1-2 (chop finely)
Salt - to taste

Oil for frying
How to:
1. Mix all ingredients together except oil
2. Heat oil in appakkara (the vessel used for making kuzhi paniyaram/ unniyappam)
3. Pour the batter in the appakkara and turn the punukulus when golden on the lower side
4. Take out when the other side is also doen and drain oil on a tissue paper
5. Serve hot with coconut chutney

Palak-Methi soup

I tried this soup today and it came out really well.
You need :
Spinach - 1 bunch
Methi leaves - 1/2 bunch
Tur dal - 1/2 cup
turmeric - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Butter - 1 tbsp

How to:
- Cook dal well with salt and turmeric.
- Add chopped spinach and methi leaves and cook covered for 8-10 minutes
- Add water to adjust consistency and boil. Mix well and add butter
- Serve immediately

Dal Palak with Raw Mango

One more mango recipe for the season...
You need :
Toor dal - 1/2 cup
Spinach - 1/2 bunch
Tomato - 1 small
Raw mango - 1 small
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Turmeric - a pinch
Red chillies - 1 or 2
Mustard - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
How to:
- Roast the dal for a minute and pressure cook with turmeric powder till done
- Mash the dal and add chopped spinach leaves and tomato and cook well
- Make a paste of coconut, mango and red chillies
- Add the coconut paste and salt to the spinach-dal mix and boil for a few minutes
- Prepare seasoning with oil and mustard and pour it to the dal
- Add the ghee and keep the dish closed
- Serve hot with rice

Raw mango raita

Another mango recipe from Kerala.
You need :
Raw mango - 1 (peel it if the cover is bitter)
Ginger - 1" piece
Curd - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
How to:
- Chop the mango and ginger finely
- Beat the curd with a spoon for about 30 seconds
- Mix all the ingredients
- Serve chilled

Raw Mango Salad

Here is a traditional kerala recipe for very simple and yummy salad made of raw mango.

You need :
Raw mangoes - 1 big (should be very sour - the 'moovandan' variety available in kerala would be the best for this salad)
Red chillies - 2
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

How to:
- Chop the raw mango very finely (Remove the peel if it is bitter, else leave it on.)
- Crush the chillies
- Mix well the mango, chillies, salt and coconut oil and serve immediately

Frozen Green Peas thoran

A very quick and nutritious palya recipe shared by my cousin.
Ingredients:
Frozen peas - 1 cup
Coconut (grated) - 2 tbsp
Green chilles - 1 or 2 chopped
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Water - 1/2 cup
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves - for seasoning
How to:
- Thaw peas and keep aside
- Heat oil and prepare seasoning
- Add green chillies, peas, turmeric powder, salt and water and cook covered for 10 minutes or till the peas is tender and all water is evaporated.
- Add coconut and stir well.

Carrot-Tomato Chutney

My father shared this recipe with me yesterday. It tasted yummy with kallu-dosa.
Ingredients :
Carrot - 4 big ones
Tomato - 2 small ones
Red chilly - 1
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard,urad dal, curry leaves - for seasoning
How to :
- Heat 1 tsp oil and add the red chilly and fry for a minute
- Cut carrot into bid pieces and stir-fry in the oil for about 5 minutes or till it looks tender.
- Add tomato pieces and saute for 2 minutes
- Cover and cook for 30 seconds
- Remove and grind coarsely in mixie
- Heat the rest of the oil and prepare seasoning.
- Add the carrot-tomato paste and fry in simmer for a minute.
- Serve with dosa or idly

Sweet Banana fry - Sweet from Kerala

This is a traditional sweet from Kerala. It should be served hot.
Ingredients :
Ripe Banana (Nendran banana) - 3
Maida - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Salt - a pinch
Water - as required
Oil - for frying

How to :
- Mix maida, sugar and salt and add enough water to the mixture to form a thick batter.
- Peel ripe bananas and slit them lengthwise once. Cut each into half.
- Dip the banana pieces in batter and deep fry in oil
- Serve hot

Potato stew - Jain style

I prepared this version of Kerala style Vegetable stew for a friend who does not eat onions and garlic. It came out almost as good as the real one with lots of onions.

Ingredients:
Potato, peeled and cut into big pieces - 2 cups
Green chillies, slited - 2
Ginger, peeled and chopped - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 stalk
Coconut milk powder - 1 small packet
Salt - to taste
Coconut oil - 2 tsps

How to:
- Pressure cook potato pieces in 2 cups water, green chillies, ginger and salt.
- When it is done, mash lightly with a spoon
- Mix coconut milk powder in warm water and mix well
- Add the coconut milk to the potato and mix well.
- Simmer the mix on stove and keep stirring till it starts boiling.
- Remove from stove and add the coconut oil. Mix well and serve with Appam, Idiappam or Chapathi.

Soya chunks cutlet

I tried this over the weekend and my family loved it. It goes very well with tomato ketchup.

Ingredients:
Soya nuggets - 1 cup
Potato - boiled and peeled, 1 large
Thawed frozen green peas - 1/2 cup
Grated carrot - 1/4 cup
Chopped Onions - 1/4 cup
Chopped green chillies - 2 tsp
Amchoor powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Chilli powser - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Bread slices - 2

How to make:
- Soak the soya chunks in very hot water for avout 15 minutes. (Keep it covered).
- Drain the water completely and mince in a mixer
- Mash the potato and add to the soya.
- Add all vegetables, salt and masalas
- Dip the bread slices in water and remove quickly. Press the pieces to remove excess water
- Add the bread to the soya and mix everything thoroughly.
- Form cutlets and deep fry in oil
- Serve hot.

Dosa pizza

Kids like this yummy snack :)

Ingredients:
Dosa batter - 1 cup for two small pizzas
Pizza sauce - 2 tablespoon
Capsicum - 1/2 (cut into thin wedges)
Black olives - 4 or 5 (cut into thin rings)
Tomatos - prefereably cherry tomatos, cut into small discs
Cooked Corn kernels - as required
Pizza cheese - as required
Oregano - as required

How to make:
- Keep the dosa tawa on very low heat and when it is slightly warm spread about 2 tablespoons of batter with medium thickness (similar to Oothappam).
- After a few seconds, spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce on the dosa when the batter is still not cooked.
- Spread the vegetable pieces and grated cheese on top of the dosa and close the dosa with a lid.
- Keep the stove on very low heat
- Remove the dosa pizza after 5-7 minutes when the pizza cheese has melted.
- Spread oregano on top of the pizza and serve hot

Note: If you don't like the raw taste of capsicum ,you may saute it beforehand.

Aval Moru Kuzhu (Snack from Tamilnadu)

We got the recipe of this yummy snack from Jayashree, another colleague of ours.
Ingredients:
Thick Avalakki - 1 cup
Green chillies - to taste
Thick curd - 1 to 2 cups
Asofotedia, salt - according to taste
Grated coconut - 1 to 2 cups
Coconut oil - 1 table spoon
Mustard - 1 t spoon
How to:
Wash the avalakki thoroughly else the stuff will taste raw.
Soak the avalakki in water for 5 min
Grind all the above things till it becomes like idli batter… Let the batter be thick.
Take coconut oil in a kadai. Spread it around the kadai… add mustard seeds. Once they pop, add the ground mixture and add a few spoon of coconut/gingelly oil on the mixture… Stir the mixture till the mixture stops sticking to the kadai. Pour this mixture on a plate which has oil smeared on it… cut the thing into pieces… Leave it to set for 10 minutes.. And u r done…

Note: the thicker the ground paste is, the earlier the thing cooks. Also pls don’t add thin curd/butter milk. The word "moru" can be misleading :-))

Malabar burfi (Sweet from Karnataka)

A very easy sweet that can be prepared with out any cooking !! We got the recipe from a collegue whose mom-in-law made this for Diwali.
Ingredients:
1 cup ground kaDale poppu (powdered puffed chana dal)
1 cup ground sugar
1 cup ghee
1 cup milk powder

How to:
Mix the above ingredients well and leave it on a plate to set and cut into pieces.

Ottada (Sweet from Kerala)

For batter :
Maida - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 tbsp

For filling :
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Grated Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - a pinch

Banana leaves - 2 or 3
How to :
- Add enough water to maida and form a thick paste. Add sugar to the paste and mix well.
- Mix the coconut, jaggery and cardamom together and keep aside.
- Cut banana leaf into pieces of A4 size paper and warm then on the gas stove for about 2-3 seconds (This is to remove the stiffness of the leaf).
- Spread thinly one tablespoon of batter on one piece of banana leaf and spread about a tbsp of filling on it.
- Fold the leaf into two and put it on a hot tawa for a minute. Turn the leaf when the first side start burning.
- Remove the ada from the leaf after it cools.