Kuzhi Paniyaram

Amma recently got me the non-stick flat bottom Kuzhi appam kadai from Chennai and I was so excited that I wanted to use it the very same day. I had some left over dosa batter and added a few ingredients to it and here is the outcome. Yummy kuzhi paniyaram!

Ingredients:
Dosa Batter - 1 cup
Onion- 1 medium sized
Green chillies- 1-2 nos
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Oil- 1 tsp

1. Finely chop the onions and green chillies and add to the dosa batter.
2. Heat some oil in a pan and add mustard seed. Let it splutter and add to the batter.
3. Heat a non-stick appam kadai and grease it with oil.
4. Add the dosa batter and keep the heat at medium and make nice golden brown kuzhi paniyaram.


Bon Appetit!

Molten lava cake YUM YUM!!!

I made this lava cake on Valentines day. My husband and daughter loved it.

This recipe is from the nibbles website.


Serving size 4

Ingredients

* 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
* 4 large eggs
* ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chopped
* 4 tablespoons unbleached all-
purpose flour
* ½ cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* Whipped cream for garnish

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease eight 4-ounce cake molds or ramekins.
2. Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring constantly. Once they are completely melted, set aside and cool.
3. Combine the sugar and eggs and whisk until pale and fluffy. Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until completely blended. Whisk in the flour , Vanilla extract and mix well.
4. Pour the batter into the cake molds and bake for 13 minutes at 350°F.
5. Remove the lava cakes from the oven and cool for 2 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, invert the molds onto individual dessert plates, garnish with whipped cream and ice cream.

Dal Makani

I made this dish with hot Roti on a cold day. YUM YUM.

Ingredients

Half black gram (black urad dal) 1cup
Red kidney beans (rajma) 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder 1/4 tsp
Ginger and Garlic paste 1/2 tsp
Butter 3 tbsp
Oil 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Onion , chopped 1 large
Green chillies, slit 2
Tomatoes, chopped 2 medium
Garam masala powder 1/2 tsp
Heavy cream 1/4 cup

Method

Pressure cook half black urad and rajma in three cups of water with salt and half the red chilli powder for three to four whistles. Open the lid and see if the rajma is totally soft. Heat butter and oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. When they begin to change color, add ginger and garlic paste and onion and saute till golden. Add slit green chillies, tomatoes and saute on high heat. Add the tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes are reduced to a pulp. Add the cooked dal and rajma along with the cooking liquor.See to that its not liquid.You can empty the urad dal and rajma first then the cooking liquor. Add some water if the mixture is too thick. Add garam masala powder and heavy creme.Put salt if needed. Simmer on low heat till the dals are totally soft and well blended. Serve hot with roti or rice.

Enjoy

Masal Vadai

Since the weather doesn't seem to be getting any better- here is another yummy snack for the rainy day!


Contents:
chenna dal - 1 measure
tuvar dal - 2 measure
urad dal - 1/4 measure
whole red chillies - 4 to 5
green chillies - 3 finely chopped
onions - 2 medium size finely chopped
cilantro - 3 tbsp finely chopped
curry leaves - 1 tbsp finely chopped
ginger - 1 tsp finely chopped
salt.
asafoetida - a pinch

Recipe:
Soak the dals for 45 minutes . Wash it and place it in a colander for the excess water to drain. Grind the dals, red chillies, asafoetida and salt coarsely with as less water as possible. To the ground batter, add finely chopped onions, cilantro,green chillies, ginger and mix well. The consistency of the final batter should be thick. Check for salt. Make small vadais in your palm and drop one by one in hot oil in medium heat. When one side is done, turn over for the other side to be done. The vadai must turn into a nice golden brown color.

Enjoy the crispy, crunchy masal vadai! :)

Tips:

• Flatten the vadais well in your palm to get crispy ones.
• If by chance, you have added more water, do not panic. Add little besan flour to set right the consistency.
• While dropping the vadai in oil, be careful that they do not break.
• Fry the vadais in medium heat and keep flipping to get the right color and crispiness.