Temple puliyodharai / Kovil puliyodharai

Temple puliyodharai / Kovil puliyodharai

Ingredients:

• Cooked rice - 1 cup.

For the pulikaichal:

• Gingelly Oil (Nallenai) - 3 tbsp
• Peanuts - a fistful (Skin removed)
• Mustard Seeds - ½ tsp
• Channa Dal - 1 tbsp
• Urad Dal - 1 tsp
• Dried Red chillies - 2
• Curry Leaves - few
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Hing (Perungayam) - a generous pinch
• Tamarind - lemon sized ball
• Salt - to taste

For the powder:

• Oil - 1 tsp
• Channa Dal - 2 tbsp
• Urad dal - 1 tbsp
• Coriander Seeds - ½ tbsp
• Dried Red Chillies - 2
• Fenugreek Seeds(Venthyam) - ½ tsp
• cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Pepper corn - 1 tsp
• Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp

Method:

• Heat oil and roast the ingredients 'for the powder' as above until golden brown.Allow it to cool and grind it to a fine powder. Keep aside.Then add 1/2 cup water to tamarind, let it soak for 15 mins.Now squeeze out thick tamarind pulp and keep aside.

• Heat gingelly oil in a kadai on medium low heat and add the peanuts. Roast until slightly browned. Now add mustard seeds,channa dal, urad dal,curry leaves, red chillies, turmeric powder and hing. Toast until they are browned evenly.

• Check and add salt.Now add the tamarind extract and allow it to boil for 10-15mins and switch off the flame.

• Take the cooked rice spread it in a wide bowl, drizzle a tsp of oil on top, add the pulikaichal mix well without mushing up the rice.Add salt if required. Now add the roasted powder and give a quick stir. Keep covered and allow it to rest atleast for 30mins before you serve.

• Serve with any chips
  

Pottukadalai Murukku

Pottukadalai Murukku

Ingredients needed:

•    Rice flour - 2 cups
•    Whole skinned Urad dal flour -1/2 cup
•    Roasted gram dal/pottukadalai flour - 3/4 cup
•    Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp
•    Hing/asafoetida - a pinch
•    Melted butter - 1 tbsp
•    Hot oil - 1 tbsp
•    Salt to taste
•    Oil for deep frying 
•    Murukku maker 

Preparation

• In a pan/kadai, dry roast whole urad dal until it turns very light brown. Remove from the pan and switch off the flame.

• Dry roast the roasted gram dal slightly.

• After it cools, powder both separately to a fine powder and sieve it.

• Sieve rice flour too.

Method:

• In a bowl, mix together rice flour, urad dal flour and roasted gram dal flour and add cumin seeds, melted ghee, hot oil and mix well.

• In a bowl, mix together salt, hing and 1/2 cup of water.Do not add too much water as the murukku will keep breaking when squeezed through the murukku maker. 

• I used the 3 holes disc in the murukku maker for making this murukku.

• Now take a portion of the dough and put it inside the murukku maker. Press it and check it. If you find it hard to press, you can  add 2 or 3 drops of water and mix the dough well again.

• Grease 2 or 3 ladles or small plate with oil for placing the squeezed out murukku. Place the dough inside the murukku maker and press the dough through the 3 hole disc on the ladle or small plate, in a circle to form murukku. 

Making murukkus

• Heat oil in a kadai ,When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium and slide the murukku from the ladle into the hot oil gently. You can fry 3 or 4 murukkus depending on the quantity of oil and the size of your kadai.

• After dropping the murukku into the hot oil, let it cook for a few seconds, then flip it over to the other side.

• Fry the murukku until golden brown color then drain the oil and transfer into plate.. 

• Repeat the process for the rest of the dough.

Curry Leaves Thokku / Karuveppilai Thokku

Curry Leaves Thokku / Karuveppilai Thokku

Ingredients:

To Grind into coarse paste:

• Curry leaves - 75 grams
• Ginger - 1 inch
• Tamarind - small gooseberry size
• Mustard seeds -  1/2 tsp

To make Powder:

• Gram dal - 1 tbsp
• Urad dal - 1 tbsp
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Jerra seeds - 1 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
• Hing - 1/2 tsp
• Red chillies - 8
• Coriander seeds - 2 tsp

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan, add curry leaves,tamarind and ginger and saute it for 3 to 4 mins. Allow it to cool and grind the curry leaves, tamarind, ginger in to a coarse paste.

• Fry the items to be powdered in a teaspoon of oil separately, cool it and powder it.

• Again heat oil in a pan, and when it is hot, add mustard seeds. When it pops up add curry leaves paste and salt.

• Fry the paste for five minutes on low flame. Then add the ground powder and fry again for a few minutes. The oil will float on top

• Switch off the stove and let it cool. Store the prepared curry leaves thokku in a jar.
• Serve, this with hot rice. 

• 
  

Omapodi recipe

Omapodi

              One of the best snack that goes well with all chat items and perfect tea time snack for your kids.I usually prepare this often and also for Diwali and krishna jayanthi along with some other snacks.

Ingredients needed:

   Bengal gram flour/Besan/kadala mavu - 1 cup

   Ghee/Clarified butter -1 tsp

   Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

   Hing - a generous pinch

   Omam water - 2 tbsp

   Salt to taste

   Oil for deep frying

Method:

• Take besan in a bowl, add all the above ingredients, a tsp of ghee, salt needed and make a soft dough by adding water little by little.

• Make a small cylinder with the dough and put it inside the muruku maker. Heat oil, when the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium, then press the muruku maker in a circular motion over the hot oil.

• Fry both the sides(don't fry until color brown in color - ref below pic), Once it is done, the bubbling noise stops. Omapodi is done. Remove it with a slotted ladle and strain it in a colander.

• Repeat the same process for the rest of the dough.

• After it to cool and store it in an airtight container. 

Methi Khakhra recipe

Methi Khakhra

                      Khakhra | khakra is a crispy flat bread , originally a Gujarathi savoury snack.It was so easy to make at home and quite healthy as it is made with Wheat flour. It is bit time consuming but very much worth the effort and good diet. Try out this super healthy and easy tea time snack - Methi Khakra. Even if you are travelling you can make this and take as this will stay good for a week.

Ingredients needed:

• Whole wheat flour - 1/2 Cup
• Fresh Methi leaves or kasturi methi- 2 Tbsp
• Red Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
• Ajwain | omam - a pinch
• Turmeric powder  - 1/4 tsp
• Cumin seeds|Jeera - a pinch
• Oil or ghee - 1 tbsp
• Salt - as needed

Method:

• Add all ingredients in a wide bowl and add little water to make it into a stiff yet pliable dough. 
• Keep it covered in a wet cloth for 30 minutes.

• Make the dough into equal sized balls.
• Dust with flour and roll the ball into a very thin roti. The rolling should be very very thin as a paper.Dust with flour when needed. 

• Heat the tawa and place the roti on the tawa and apply ghee on it. 
• Switch to the low flame, When bubbles start coming up, using a potato masher or a clean cloth press the roti nicely, without allowing the air bubbles to pop up.
• Do this on both sides. ensure that the flame is low. So that you get crispy khakras.

• Cool them completely and store them in air tight containers. This will stay crisp for many days. Mine got over in a week.
• Serve with any pickle applied on top. wow awesome combination. i loved it.