Thenkuzhal

Ingredients:

This is an awesome recipe from my mother-in-law who is an expert in making this snack.

Rice flour - 5 cups
Urad dal powder (sieved) - 1 cup
Besan flour - 2 cups
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida- 1/2 tsp
Salt as required
Oil to deep fry
*Need thenkuzhal press to make this dish. I have used store-bought flours for this recipe. Comes out crispy and tasty.

How to:

Mix all the ingredients, add little water. Heat oil in a deep frying skillet. Add 2 tbsp of mildly hot oil to the dough and mix well again. Dough should not stick to your hand but it should be loose enough to get pressed.
Check oil heat by putting a pinch of dough in it. If the dough raises up immediately, oil in ready for frying. Then use press to make thenkuzhals. Flip them until they are golden brown on both sides.

Paneer tikka

Ingredients:

Paneer
Color bell peppers - 1 of each color
Bamboo Skewers - few sticks
Onion 1
Cilantro - to garnish

For marinating:

Yogurt - 1 tbsp
Tandoori masala - 1 tsp
orange color - a pinch
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt for taste

How to:

Mix all the ingredients mentioned for marinating. Cut paneer into cubes or triangles, bell peppers into squares and onions (a little wide ) and dip them in yougurt mix. yougurt is just a binding factor. Do not add more yougurt. Refregirate them overnight.

In a baking tray place all the veggies and paneer and broil in the oven for 7 mins ( unlike bake mode, broil does not have temperature control). Take the tray out, reverse the paneer and veggies and broil for another 7 mins. Do not keep paneer for more than 16 mins put together. It will burn. Once they are broiled, arrange them in skewer , add finely chopped cilantro to garnish.

Alternatively dip the skewer in cold water (else skewer will burn), spit paneer and veggies in the skewer and broil. Timing will be the same.

A good way to start your party!

Rainbow Raitha

Well after a long time I am re-entering my blog. I read somewhere that a meal platter should look like rainbow with all colors of food. I am not talking about the artificial colors but the colorful veggies and fruits.

I picked this recipe from www.veggiebelly.com , an awesome blog for vegetarian recipes.

 Unlike usual raitha, this recipe will have less yougurt/curd and loads of veggies. Remember the recipe as 7 Cs viz.
Carrot -1
Corn - 2 tbsp
Cucumber -1/2 small
Capsicum ( all colours green, yellow, red and orange )- 1/2 each
Curd -3 tbsp
Cherry tomatoes-10 cut into halves
Cilantro
Chillies (optional)- 2

How to:

Finely chop all veggies. Refregirate them overnight. Add yogurt and salt before serving.This makes the raitha crunchy and yummy.Trust me you will fall in love with this dish. And have it as frequently as you can as it is loaded with nutrients.

Note:If you add salt early, it leaves the veggies watery.Also veggies get soaked in yogurt if it is added early.

Tomato rice

Ingredients:

Rice-1-1/2 cup

Tomatoes-2

Onion-1

Pudina/Mint leaves-4 sprigs

Green chillies-2

Oil-1 tbspmper must

Mustard-1/2 tsp

Fenugreek-1/4 tsp

Salt,Chilli powder,asafoetida for taste

Tumeric powder-1/4 tsp

Procedure:

1.Cook rice and allow to cool.

2.Temper mustard and fenugreek.Add turmeric powder, finely chopped onions and fry well. Then add tomatoes, mint and green chillies.

2.When it cooks well, add chilli powder, asafoetida and salt.Leave it in stove for 5 mins.Garnish with corianderleaves and switch off stove.

3.Spread rice in a bowl, add a teaspoon of sesame/gingelly oil and then add the cooked tomato paste.

Tomato rice,raitha and papad would be a good combo!

Onion raitha

A simple side dish which can be had with any variety of rice (except plain rice and curd rice) or roti, naan,chapathi.

Ingredients:

Finely chopped onion-1

Coriander leaves

Green chillies-2

Curd-1cup

Salt for taste

Procedure:

Finely chop onion, put them in a bowl and add salt. Leave it aside for an hour and the add curd. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Vadai Curry

Serves -2

A little time consuming dish but definitely worth the time. Must be little spicy and hot.

Ingredients:

For vada:
Channa dal - 1 cup

Red chillies-2

Asafoetida-1/4 tsp

For curry:

Fennel seeds-1/4 tsp

Mustard-1/4 tsp

Potato-1

Onion-1/2

Tomato-1/2

Green peas-1/2 cup

Salt for taste

Chilli powder-1/2 tsp

Garam masala powder-1/2 tsp

Sour curd-1/2 tbsp

Coriander leaves finely chopped

Oil-1 tbsp

Grind into fine paste (1):

Garlic cloves -4

Ginger-1/2" piece

Cloves-2

Bay leaf-1

Paste 2:

Shredded coconut-1/4 cup

Green chillies-2

Procedure:

1. Grind the ingredients for vada and make into a coarse dough. Steam the dough in idli plates and make dal idlis/vadas.Allow it to cool down.Then scramble them into small pieces.

2.In the mean time, grind the ingredients for paste 1 and 2.

3.Heat a tbsp of oil in pan,temper mustard and fennel seeds.Then fry finely chopped onion.Then add paste 1 and allow it to cook until raw smell goes off.Now add tomato & potato and cook well.Add all powders except salt and cook for 2 more mins.

4. Now add scrambled vadas,salt and cook for a couple of mins. Then add paste 2, cook for a min and add sour curd. Cook for 3 mins.

5.By now the oil should have started floating on top. Now garnish with coriander leaves.

Onion Pakoda/Medhu pakoda

A quick and easy evening snack . Must be had with hot coffee on a rainy day !

Ingredients:

Rice flour-1 cup

Besan flour-1 cup

Finely chopped onion-1

Finely chopped green chillies-4

Coriander leaves

Chilli powder-1 tsp

Baking soda-a pinch

Salt for taste

Oil for deep frying

Water-3/4 cup

Procedure:

1. In a mixing bowl mix all the ingredients well and make dough. Add only 3/4 cup of water not more. The dough should be a little looser than roti dough consistency. Add a teaspoon of oil if it is sticky.

2.In a kadai/wok, add enough oil; when it starts bubbling, take key lime sized dough, deep fry till brown. Pakodas are usually uneven shaped; so do not worry if it is not equally sized or shaped.

Can be had with hot sauce or any chutney.