Mathri

Today the weather is so peculiar that it is changing colors for every one  hour. When I was getting ready for my daughter's swimming class it was so hot that I closed all the windows.By that time I was at swimming center it has started raining.When we were returning from swimming class again, the sun has started playing peek-a-boo. After one hour there was a heavy rain with hail stones. My daughter had fun playing with them.Now the weather is lovely with cool breeze which made me to crave for something spicy and crunchy with my after noon tea.As I got bored of pakoda, bajji I want to try something different and finally decided to prepare mathri. It is a rajasthani snack traditionally served with pickle.It is easy to make and will serve as great accompaniment with tea.

Ingredients:
Plain flour-2cups
Semolina-1/2cup
Water-1/2 cup
Salt-1tsp
Red chilly powder-1tsp
Kalonji seeds-1tsp(Optional)
Cumin seeds-1tsp
Oil-2tbsp+for deep frying


Method:

1. Mix flour,semolina  with 2tbsp of oil and form  a crumble.
2. Now add salt,chilly powder,kalonji seeds, cumin seeds to the flour.
3. Add water little by little and make soft dough.
4. Now roll the dough into 1" chapathi and with the help of cookie cutter or biscuit cutter make round mathris.
5.  or you can make the dough into small balls and roll each ball into small disc.
6. Prick each mathri with fork at 4-5 places.
7. Heat oil in frying pan. When the oil is medium hot fry these mathris until they turn pale yellow

Notes:
Forming crumble with flour and oil before adding rest of the ingredients will give very good texture to mathris.
Pricking mathris with fork is very much important because when you fry them they may pop up like puri .To prevent this, prick them with fork at 4-5 places. Mathris which pop up in oil will be soft and chewy.

Karappodi/Idli podi

I love this podi very much. I would like to eat my dosa or idli with this podi rather than with peanut chutney.Again this is amma's recipe and it goes very well even with hot rice and ghee. There are many variations in preparation of this podi and you can substitute garlic with big pinch of hing if you wish.I have used pea nuts and moong dal in its preparation, which gives very good taste to this powder.

Ingredients:
Chana dal-1/2 cup
Urad dal-1/2 cup
Coriander seeds-1/2cup
Red chillies-12-13(Adjust to your taste)
Pea nuts-2tbsp
Moong dal-2tbsp
Tamarind-1small lemon sized ball
Garlic cloves-8
Oil-11/2tbsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan add chana dal,urad dal,peanuts,moong dal.When they start changing color add coriander seeds and red chillies.
2. Fry them till they turn brow and emit nice aroma and switch off the flame
3. Now add garlic and tamarind and cool them completely.
4. Grind them to powder and serve over hot rice or idli and dosa

Thai Green Curry

Being a vegetarian I have very few options while trying different cuisines, but one cuisine which boasts of many vegetarian dishes is "Thai". "Green curry", "Red curry" and "Pad Thai" are very famous Thai dishes.Though "Pad Thai" is my favorite Thai dish,Green curry and  red curry are  equally delicious.Once we had Green curry at a take away,but to my palate it appeared very mild.So I decided to prepare it at home as per our taste and spice levels.In fact this green curry paste makes use of many spices and herbs which we use in our(Indian) cooking such as coriander seeds,cumin,coriander leaves and garlic.Believe me!this is fail proof recipe and you will simply love it.

Recipe source:here
Serves:2
Ingredients:
Carrot chopped length wise into strips-1/2cup
Beans or snow peas chopped-1/2cup
Basil leaves-1/2cup
Sweet potato-1/2cup cubed
Red bell pepper-1small
Good quality coconut milk-1/2 can
Firm tofu-1/2pack made  into bite size pieces
Salt to taste
Oil-2tbsp

For green curry paste:
Coriander seeds-1tsp(Grind them to fine powder)
Cumin seeds-1/2tsp(Grind them to fine powder)
Soy sauce-11/2tbsp
Brown sugar-1/2tsp
Green chillies-2-3(Adjust to your taste)
Onion-1small
Garlic-1clove
Ginger-1/2 inch piece
Fresh coriander leaves-1/2cup(I used stems also)
Kaffir  Lime Leaves-2-3

Method:

1. Par boil sweet potato, carrot,bell pepper and capsicum on stove top for 10 minutes.
2. To make green curry paste,grind all the ingredients listed  in green curry paste.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add green curry paste and fry for nearly 2 minutes..
4. Now add coconut milk and tofu and stir until they are mixed well.
5. Reduce flame to medium and simmer it for nearly 10 minutes with covered lid.
6. Now add all the vegetables and cook for another 10 minutes.
7. Add salt and mix well.(Do taste taste and add salt because soy sauce also contains salt.)
8. Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves and serve over basmati rice or Thai jasmine rice.

Easy easy Doodh Peda/Pala kova

I have a sweet tooth and anything with milk, first to grab.Needless to say Doodh peda is my most favorite sweet but I feel it is hard to prepare.Mom used to make it with gallons of milk continuously stirring for hours together.To be honest I don't have that patience and want something easy and quick to prepare without compromising in taste.This is one of such recipe and taste is very much close to traditionally made palakova

Ingredients:
Sweetened Condensed Milk-1can(Preferably Nestle brand)
Ghee 2tsp
Curd-2tsp(You can substitute with yogurt)
Cardamom powder-1tsp
Pistachios or almonds for garnishing

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients and microwave it on high power for 6-7 minutes(Always use the bowl which is double the size of contents as contents may over flow the vessel.Keep an eye on it and never go away from the microwave.I suggest you to take out bowl for every 1 minute. Be careful, the bowl will be very hot and take the help of oven mitt to handle it.)
2. After 6 minutes,transfer the mixture into a pan and cook it on medium flame(On stove top) for  15-20 minutes by frequently stirring it.
3. Now add the cardamom powder and switch off the flame.
4. Transfer it to a plate greased with ghee and garnish with almonds or pistachios
5. Let it cool and cut into desired shapes.

Butter Muruku

This is one of my favorite snack. For the first time I am trying this at home and the result is very good. Muruku are crunchy and tasty and with same dough I prepared some jantikalu and they too tasted divine.Use of roasted  chana dal powder has given very good smell and taste to these murukus.

Ingredients:
Roasted chana da(Putnala pappu):3/4 cup
Rice flour-3cups
Butter-2tbsp
Sesame seeds-2tbsp
Cumin seeds-1tbsp
Salt to taste
Red chilly powder-2tsp
Oil for frying

Process:

1. Grind roasted chana dal to a fine powder.
2. Mix rice flour and chana dal powder and to this add butter. Mix well till the mixture gives crumble appearence.
3. Now add all the remaining ingredients and water and form a nice dough.(The dough should be softer than roti dough).Cover it with wet cloth to prevent from drying.
4. Using the muruku mould (singe star attachment) fill the muruku press with dough.
5. Take an aluminium foil or plastic sheet, start rotating muruku press for forming medium sized spirals on to aluminium foil.In this way make nearly 8-10 spirals or murukus.
6. Heat oil in a wide bottomed pan and when the oil is hot slide these murukus into oil gently(Be careful not to splash oil.As soon as you slide murukus in hot oil bubbles will froth up and will start to disappear once the muruku turns golden brown.So heat oil properly and always fry on medium heat).
7. Fry them till they reach light golden brown and remove them to an absorbent paper.Repeat the same process with the remaining dough.
8. Cool them completely before storing in an air tight container.