Kerala Parippuvada Recipe

Parippuvada is a traditional evening snack in Kerala.  Parippuvada is prepared from Toor Dal/ Chana dal.  This dish is a mouth watering evening snack along with tea and a small banana.  Here is the recipe to make our mouth watering snack at our own kitchen. Let's start!

Ingredients:

Chana dal / Toor dal/
thuvaraparippu                            - 1 cup

Ginger                                         - 1 inch piece (finely chopped)

Shallots/ small onion                  - 10-15 numbers (finely chopped)

Green chillies                             -  2 - 3 numbers (as per spice requirements, finely chopped)

Curry leaves                              -  1 Sprig

Fennel seeds / perumjeerakam - 1/4 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Oil to fry, preferably coconut oil

Preparation:

> Wash and soak chana dal/ toor dal/ thuvaraparippu for 2 - 3 hours.

> Drain the water completely

> Grind / crush the soaked and drained dal ' thuvaraparippu to a coarse paste without adding water.  Don't make a fine paste.

> Add chopped ginger, shallots, curry leaves, fennel seeds, green chillies and salt and mix well

> Wet your hand and roll out small portions of the mixture  and flatten each ball in your palm.

> Heat oil in a pan for deep frying and fry the vada till it becomes golden brown color or if you like extra crispy vada, then fry till it become dark brown color.

> Drain excess oil on a tissue paper, serve hot


Try the recipe at your own kitchen and write your feedback.  Your words are my inspiration... 

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Potato and paneer paratha / Aloo Paneer Paratha (Potato and Paneer stuffed chappathi)

Aloo paratha has always been my favourite, hence i thought to make a variation to the normal aloo paratha by adding paneer to it.  Really turned out well and a mouth watering dish. 

Let's try this recipe today..

Ingredients:

For Dough (To make 5 medium sized parathas)

Wheat flour              - 1 1/2 cups

Oil                           - 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Water as required



For filling

Potato                                      - 2 medium sized (cooked and mashed)

Paneer                                     - 3/4 cup (grated / crumbled)

Big onion                                - 1 medium sized (finely chopped)

Green chillies                          - 2 -4 According to the spice requirement (finely chopped)

Ginger garlic paste                 - 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves                           - few

Turmeric powder                   - 1/4 teaspoon

Dry mango powder               - 1/2 teaspoon

Garam masala                       - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)

Cumin powder                      - 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander leaves                   -  few (chopped)

Oil                                         - 1 - 2 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Preparation:

> Take wheat flour in a mixing bowl, add salt and 1 teaspoon oil and mix well.  Then add little water at a time and make a dough by kneading.  Consistency of dough should be soft like a regular chapathi dough.  Make the dough and keep it aside.

> Wash and put the potatoes in a pressure cooker with water and cook for 4 - 5 whistles keep it aside for cooling down.  After cool down take the potatoes out and peel and smash them, and keep it aside


> How to make filling? Here we go...

> Heat oil in a pan, add onion and stir well

> Add green chillies, curry leaves ginger garlic paste and mix well .  Saute till the green smell of ginger garlic paste goes .

> Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, dry mango powder, garam masala and salt to taste and saute for few seconds

> Add mashed potatoes and stir well, reduce the flame and cook for 2 minutes

> Add crumbled / grated paneer and mix well, again cook the mixture for a minute

> Finally add some coriander leaves and mix well, check the salt and adjust accordingly

> Switch of the flame and let the filling cool down


Making parathas

> Divide the dough and filling into 5 equal parts.  Make the medium sized balls out of them.

> Take one ball of dough and roll it like a poori / puri.  Place the stuffing onto it and start making the pleats and gather them at the centre.  Seal it properly.

> Make the remaining balls also in the same way and keep it aside

> Take one by one balls and roll it properly and cook in a tawa, apply ghee / oil on the sides and roast.

> Aloo paneer paratha is ready to serve

> Serve hot with any chutney, tomato ketchup, or salad

Vermicelli Upma / Semiya upma

Vermicelli upma is an easy to cook dish, but tastes yummy... I think mostly our kids love to eat this dish often. My kids love vermicelli upma very much.. Now we can cook vermicelli upma at our own kitchen and serve hot with love...:-)

Ingredients:

Vermicelli/ semiya          - 2 cups

Vegetable oil                  - 1 tablespoon

Big onion                       -  1 number (small sized, finely chopped)

Mustard seeds                - 1/4 teaspoon

Ginger garlic paste         - 1/2 teaspoon

Tomato                           - 1/2 - 1 (finely chopped)

Green chillies                 - 1 (finely chopped) optional

Curry leaves                  - few

Turmeric powder           - 1/2 tsp

Red chilly powder         - 1/2 tsp

Ghee                               - 1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Water as required

Coriander leaves for seasoning (optional)

Preparation:

> First roast vermicelli, for that heat a pan and pour ghee and put the vermicelli and stir well till it become light golden brown color and switch off the stove and keep it aside

> In a pan, pour oil and splutter mustard and add onion and stir well for 1-2 minutes, then add chopped tomato, curry leaves, chopped green chilllies and salt and stir well

> Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and add 3 cups of water and allow it to boil (check the salt and adjust)

> Add roasted vermicelli into the boiled water and stir well and cook well till water gets absorbed. 

> Remove from flame, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot

How to roast peanuts in the Microwave?

Is this possible to roast raw peanuts in the Microwave? 

Yes

Roasted peanuts are a good provider of essential nutrients in a healthy diet.  Peanuts that are unsalted and roasted provide a mix of protein, fat and carbohydrates.  Peanuts are a good source of minerals such as potassium, zinc etc.,

We can roast raw peanuts (without shell) in a Microwave within 5 minutes.  We love roasted peanuts. But we have found that it is much cheaper to buy raw peanuts and to roast them at home. What do you think? Am I right? 

If you have a microwave oven at home, it will be much more easier and quicker to roast raw peanuts.  It is a very healthy snack for kids too.  

Ingredients:

Raw peanuts               -  1 cup

Salt                             - 1/2 to 1 tsp

Preparation:

> Place raw peanuts in a glass baking dish and keep in the microwave in the normal  mode for 2 minutes

> Then open the microwave and stir well the peanuts using spoon, and again close and microwave for 2 more minutes and switch off the microwave and take the class baking dish out

> Allow it to cool down for 10 minutes

> Peanut roast is ready to eat.

** While roasted peanuts remain a popular healthy snack even today, it can cause one of the most severe allergic reactions.  Be careful about consuming roasted peanuts if you have peanut allergies, as dry roasting creates a chemical transformation of the proteins in the peanuts which can activate the immune system.

Try this method at your kitchen and write your feed back in the comment box, and don't forget to share via, facebook, twitter, google + , pinterest etc.,

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Easy Tomato Rice

Tomato rice is a very easy to prepare and tasty dish. This is a very simple to cook and tastes delicious dish.  My kids love this tomato rice a lot.  Today, we will learn how to prepare this easy lunch box  / dinner idea at our own kitchen.

Ingredients:

Basmati /
Jeerakasala rice                        - 1 cup

Tomato                                    - 3 numbers (chopped)

onion                                       - 2 medium sized (chopped)

Green chillies                         -  2 slit

Ginger - garlic paste               - 1 teaspoon

Red chilly powder                   - 3/4 teaspoon

Turmeric powder                    - a pinch

Coriander powder                   -  1-2 teaspoon

Curry leaves                            - 1 sprig

Asafoetida                               - a pinch

Mustard                                   - 1/4 tsp

oil                                           - 2 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Water as required

Preparation:

> Wash and cook the rice in water with half tablespoon oil and salt and drain out the water and keep it aside

> Take juice of 3 tomatoes and keep it aside

> Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard and curry leaves, chopped onion and green chilli and saute till the onion becomes translucent

> Add ginger - garlic paste and saute till the green smell goes

> The add tomato juice, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, asafoetida and coriander powder and salt and stir well and cook until oil separates

> Add cooked rice and mix well and serve hot

> Garnish with coriander leaves, if you wish

> Serve with raita, pappadam or pakoda


Hope you enjoyed the dish, write your feed back on comment box and don't forget to share the recipe with your family and friends via, facebook, twitter, google +, pinterest etc..

Thank you

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Easy Lemon Rice

As we all know, lemon is a rich source of Vitamin C. Adding lemon into our diet will help keep digestion and tummy troubles like constipation at bay. Lemon rice is a very easy to prepare and tasty dish. This dish is ideal for summer. Lemon rice is a commonly prepared rice variety in South India.  I used to prepare this dish for my school going son, as it is very easy to prepare rice item for lunch and can have with just pickle or with one side dish :-)

Try this recipe at your own kitchen and feel the taste ...

Ingredients: 

Basmati /

Jeerakasala rice                        - 1 cup

Small onion/ shallots               - 5 numbers (finley chopped)

Green chillies                          -  2 numbers (split lengthwise)

Turmeric powder                    - 1/2 teaspoon

Lemon juice                           -  1 lemon

Sesame / gingelly oil             - 1 tablespoon

Mustard                                 - 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Curry leaves                          - 1 sprig

Water as required

Preparation:

> Wash the basmati / jeerakasala rice and cook in a vessel with half tablespoon oil and salt in the water

> Drain out the water and keep the cooked rice aside

> Heat the remaining oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds

> Add chopped small onion, green chillies, curry leaves,  turmeric powder and a pinch of salt. Stir for a few minutes.

> Add the cooked rice and lemon juice into it and mix well and adjust the salt and cook for two more minutes and remove from the gas

> Serve hot with raitha or plain curd or lemon pickle or mango pickle 


Hope you enjoyed easy to prepare and tasty lemon rice ...

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Poori Masala - The Indian coffee house style (easy recipe)

The Indian coffee house is the biggest restaurant chain in Kerala.  In most of the recipes of Indian coffee house, usage of beetroot is making them different from all other restaurant chains.  They are having their own recipes.  I love to eat beetroot from my childhood because of its colour.  Now also I have the same passion.  Whenever I visit the Indian coffee house, love to eat the food because of the same reason :-) 

Here, I wish to introduce the same kind of poori masala, which is very tasty as well as healthy breakfast or evening snack.  I am damn sure that if you try this recipe once at your kitchen, you will prepare the same dish frequently.  My kiddos love to eat this at home. This recipe is very simple and easy to prepare. Beetroot is a good source of iron and folic acid.  So the health benefits of this recipe is also amazing.. 

Let's start our preparation....

Ingredients:

Potato (Medium sized)     - 3 numbers (cut into cubes)

Onion                                - 3/4 - 1  number (chopped)

Tomato                              - 1/2 of a medium sized tomato (chopped)

Beetroot                            -  1/2 of a medium sized (grated)

Small onion / shallots       - 1-2 numbers (chopped)

Green chilly                      - 1 number (as i have kids, they won't eat if its spicy, so add more if you                                                    need)

Garlic                               - 3 gloves (chopped)

Curry leaves                    - 2 sprigs

Pepper powder                 - 1/4 tsp

Garam masala                 - 1/4 tsp

Oil                                  - 1 tablespoon

Mustard                           - 1/2 tsp

Dried red chilly              - 2 numbers

Salt to taste

Water as required

Preparation:

>>  In cooker, add chopped onion, chopped potato, Chopped tomato, one sprig curry leaves, grated beetroot, chopped garlic gloves, and green chilly, salt to taste and water to cover the ingredients and cover the lid and allow it to cook for one whistle in high flame and reduce the flame to low and allow it to cook till 3 - 4 whistle and switch off the stove and keep it aside.

>> After 5 minutes open the pressure cooker and mash the content with a laddle / a potato masher, (if you don't want too much spice, just take out the green chilly before mashing) 

>> In a pan, heat oil and splutter mustard, add chopped small onion / shallots, dried red chilly, curry leaves and then add the mashed content and add pepper powder and garam masala and stir well, and adjust the salt and consistency and switch off the flame. 

>> Poori masala is ready to serve.

This masala recipe can be used for masala dosa filling also. 





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Banana / Ethakka / Vazhakka Thoran

Raw banana thoran is a healthy and tasty side dish for rice. The raw or green banana is a good source of fibre, vitamins and minerals. So banana or ethakka or vazhakka thoran is a yummy and healthy side dish.  We can have the raw banana boiled or fried.  Thoran is a nutritious side dish.  I am introducing my own style of raw banana thoran, which you will also love to prepare again and again..
Let's start!!

Ingredients:
1.  Raw banana/
     Vazhakka/ Nenthranka/
     Ethakka green                                        - 3-4 numbers

2. Big onion                                               - 1 numbers (finely chopped)

3. Green chilly                                           - 1-2 (as per your spice requirement)

4.  Coconut                                                -  3/4 - 1 cup (grated)

5. curry leaves                                           -2 sprigs

6. Turmeric powder                                   - 1/4 tsp

7. Salt to taste

8. water as required

9.  Cumin seeds                                       - 1/4 tsp

10. Garlic                                                 - 1 glove



Preparation:

> Peel the banana by removing the outer skin.  No need to peel them deeply, and chop them into small cubes / pieces and keep that in water to avoid colour change.

> Grind coconut, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, garlic glove and a pinch of salt as a coarse paste by pulsing once or twice in a blender jar without adding water and keep it aside.

> Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onion, green chilly, and curry leaves and stir well and cook till the oinion become translucent. 

> Then strain the water from the banana and add that into the pan and stir well and add salt and stir again and add some water to cook the nenthranka / ethakka / vazhakka and stir well once again and cover with a lid and cook till the banana become soft or cooked, not mushy 

> Once the banana is cooked, add the coconut paste and mix well and cook for a minute till the raw garlic smell leaves.

>Switch off the flame and serve with rice as a side dish.

Try this recipe at your kitchen and let me know your feed back. Your words are my inspiration..

Beef Cutlet / Meat Cutlet

Beef cutlet / meat cutlet is a crunchy snack or finger food.  I am introducing Kerala style beef / meat cutlet recipe, which is very easy to prepare and tasty too. I am sure kids love to eat this crunchy cutlet as evening snacks.. 

Ingredients:

Beef                                         - 1/2 kg

Ginger garlic paste                  - 1 tsp

Potato (medium sized)            - 2 - 3 numbers

Green chillies                          - 2-3 (or according to the spice requirement adjust the number) finely                                                       chopped

Curry leaves                            - 1 sprig (finely chopped)

Onion (medium sized)            - 1 1/2 numbers (finely chopped)

Ginger                                     - 1 inch piece (finely chopped)

Garam masala powder            - 1 tbsp

Pepper powder                        - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil to fry

Egg                                        - 1 beaten

Bread crumbs  as needed

Water as required 

Preparation:

> Cook the cleansed beef with ginger garlic paste, 1/2 tbsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp pepper powder, salt  and water in a pressure cooker.

> Once it is cooled, mince the meat using a food processor / mixer grinder

> Cook the potatoes in a pressure cooker and peel the skin, once its cooled down 

> Mash the cooled potatoes and keep it aside

> In a pan, heat the oil and saute onion till it becomes soft.

> Add chopped ginger, chopped curry leaves, and chopped green chillies and saute well

> Add minced meat and mashed potatoes and mix well

> Add 1/2 tsp garam masala and 1/2 tsp pepper and mix well

> Allow the mixture to cool down

> Once it is cooled, make small balls and make a desired shape

> Dip each cutlet in the beaten egg and roll with bread crumbs.

> Deep fry in oil.  Cutlet is ready to serve.

> Serve it hot with tomato sauce and salad


Yummy beef cutlet is ready .... Try this recipe at your kitchen and write your feed back... Your words are my inspiration... 

How to make Garam masala powder at home?

Here is the easiest and simplest garam masala powder making tips at your own kitchen. In the market, we can get many types of masala powder like chicken masala, vegetable masala, mutton masala, meat masala, garam masala etc,. The ingredients for almost all the masala are more or less the same.  But the taste differs as per the use of spices in different quantity.  Among all these masala powder recipes, garam masala is the common one, which can use either in vegetarian dish or in non vegetarian dish.  So we can call this garam masala as a commonly used spices powder.   Freshly ground garam masala powder has a wonderful aroma and should be used in moderation.  The following are the ingredients required to prepare garam masala at home:

1. Cloves / grambu                       - 10 numbers

2. Cardamom / elakka                  - 4 numbers

3. Cinnamon stick/ karuvapatta   -2 pieces of 1" length each 

4. Star anise / thakkolam            - 1

5. Fennel seed / perumjeerakam- 1 tbsp

You can lightly dry roast all these ingredients and make it cool down and powder it.  Home made garam masala is ready to use.  If you wish to keep the garam masala powder for later use, increase the quantity of the ingredients according to the above proportion. Store the powder in an air tight container and try to use it within 2 months to get the full flavour. 

If we buy garam masala powder from shops, it may contain the following ingredients too:

1. Turmeric powder

2. Poppy seeds

3. Caraway seeds

4. Fenugreek

5. Cumin seeds

6. Ginger

7. Nutmeg

8. Aniseed

9. Black pepper seeds

10. Couscous etc., 

Cherupayar parippu curry / splitted green gram curry (kerala style)

Cherupayar parippu / pasiparuppu / splitted green gram is a very nutritious and healthy lentil. A curry with this lentil is very delicious side dish in Kerala.  This is a traditional Kerala side dish.  This curry can be used as side dish  for rice or chappathi.

Ingredients:

Splitted green gram /
Cherupayar parippu                 - 3/4 cup

Grated coconut                        - 1/2 of one coconut

Green chilli                             - 2 -3 numbers (as per spice requirements)

Cumin seeds(Jeerakam)         - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder                   - 1/4 tsp

Garlic gloves                          - 2 numbers

Shallots / small onion             - 5-6 numbers

Dried red chillies                   - 2 numbers

Mustard seeds                       - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves                         - 2 springs

Oil                                        - 2 tbsp (prefer coconut oil)

Ghee                                    - 1 tbsp

Salt and water                      - as per requirement

Preparation: 

1. Heat a pan, and add the splitted green gram / cherupayar parippu and stir well for 2- 3 minutes (dont burn), and switch off the flame and keep the heated splitted green gram to cool down.

2. In a mixer grinder, grind coconut, one spring curry leaves, chopped green chilli, turmeric powder, chopped garlic gloves, cumin (jeerakam), salt and make a paste, add a little bit water and make a gravy paste and keep it aside.

3. After cool down the splitted green gram, wash it thoroughly and put it into a pressure cooker and add water to cook the same well (dont pour too much water) and allow it to cook for high flame till the first whistle and reduce the flame and cook for two more whistles or till it cook and switch off the flame.

4.  Heat a pan, pour coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds and add chopped shallots, curry leaves, and dried red chillies and fry it until done.

5. Add the ground paste into the pan and stir well till the bubbles starts come, or till the green smell goes, then add the cooked green gram and adjust the salt and consistency, and if the consistency is correct, add a tablespoon ghee and mix well and switch off the flame.

6. Serve hot with rice, chappathi, puttu etc.. with extra ghee for more taste :-)

I know you will love the simple splitted green gram gravy recipe.  Try this recipe now itself at your kitchen and write your feed back in the comment ... Thank you for your support..