ThengaPal(Coconut Milk) Thengozhal

We tried this snack after seeing the recipe in a cooking show. Thengozhal, similar to murukku is a savoury snack. To make it you need a thengozhal press. You can get that in India. Normally the dough for thengozhal is prepared by mixing the flour with water. In this recipe we use coconut milk. The addition of coconut milk makes it crispy and also the thengozhal has a rich taste.

Ingredients

- 1 cup Rice flour
- 1 tablespoon Uradh dhal  flour
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1.5 cup Coconut milk (Adjust quantity based on the dough consistency)
- 1/4 tsp Jeera
- Oil for frying


Method

1. Mix flour, butter, salt and jeera. Add coconut milk and make the flour into a stiff chapathi like dough.
2. Heat oil in a deep bottom frying pan. Check if the oil is hot by adding a small piece of dough to the oil. If the dough raises up immediately then the oil is ready for frying.
3. Add the dough in the thengozhal press. Squeeze the press and make into zigsaw circle shapes.
4. Try it over a plastic sheet and once you get the idea directly squeeze the mould in the oil.
5. Deep fry the thengozhal until its done. You can take it when its light brown or wait until it turns golden brown.
6. Drain them over paper towels.

Store it in air tight containers and enjoy the snack with your evening cup of tea or coffee.

Okkarai

Another sweet we prepared for this diwali. This is commonly prepared in many south indian houses during diwali. A simple sweet but a tasty one. Forget your diet and eat this with a dollop of ghee. It is definitely worth it. 

Ingredients

- 1 cup Chana Dhal
- 1 tbsp Rice
- 2 cup Jaggery
- 2 Tbsp ghee
- few cashew
- 1 tbsp oil
- pinch of cardamom

Method

1. Dry roast chana dhal and rice until the lentils turns light brown and you get the aroma.
2. Soak the dhal in water for 1 hour.
3. Grind the dhal in blender into a  coarse paste.
4. Steam the paste in idli plates for 10 minutes (similar to idli).
5. Pour oil in a frying pan and add the steamed dhal.Fry this until the dhal crumbles into small pieces
6. In another pan add jaggery and add water until the jaggery is immersed
7. Boil this until the jaggery melts thoroughly. Filter it to remove any impurities.
8. Boil the liquid again until you get the proper consistency. To check the consistency pour a drop in a plate. Try rolling this drop between your thumb and index finger. If it turns into a ball then the consistency is correct.
10. Add the jaggery mixture to the channa dhal and reduce the flame. Stir it until it is mixed properly and the channa dhal is fluffy and dry. Add the ghee and stir it again.
11. To this, add roasted cashews and cardamom.

Serve this with a dollop of ghee.

3 - Minute Microwave Mysore Pak

Everyone must be busy making Diwali sweets. This time I thought of making something simple. With two kids I didn't want to spend a long time in the kitchen. I saw this recipe in The Hindu paper online. The mysore pak was very tasty and it was ready in 3 minutes. Try it out and you will love the taste.

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup Besan powder
- 1 cup Powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup Ghee: half cup
- 2 tsp Milk

Method

1.Melt ghee in a microwave for one minute on high. Now mix all the ingredients in the melted ghee. Mix well.
2.Microwave the mixture for three minutes. Remove the mixture in between and mix well. You can see bubbles forming on the mixture.
3.This is the right consistency. Now remove and mix nicely and pour over a greased plate.
4.After 10 minutes cut into pieces. Remove after it cools completely.

Note: The mysore pak was a little crisp. We all loved the taste but if you want a softer texture check the mixture after 1.5 minutes. Then keep it for another 30 seconds and check it again. If you see the bubbles then you can pour it in a greased plate.

Eggless Strawberry cake

I am a great fan of DK's space - Chef in You. All her reciepes that I have tried have come out so well. The step by step explanation makes it so easy. When she posted the eggless strawberry cake I tried it out immediately. It was so easy to make and the cake was so moist and fluffy. I did not change the recipe. So please check it out here.

Sending this to one of my favorite event Tried and Tested hosted by Priya and started by Delights of Cooking

Green Rice

This is an easy green rice that I stumbled upon when I was browsing Aayis blog. I think it is pretty ingenious use of spinach in a rice item. I typically cook this rice with just cilantro leaves and some mint. But the addition of Spinach makes this more healthy and also adds little bit more body to the sauce. Made some modifications to suit our taste.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup rice soaked for 30 minutes
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 cup cilantro
- 1 onion
- 1 cup mixed vegetable (I just used frozen peas and carrots)
- 4-5 green chilies
- small piece of ginger pealed
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1 tsp garam masala
- salt to taste

Seasoning:
- few cloves
- 1 star anise
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp oil

Method:
1. Grind spinach, cilantro, ginger, chilies, coconut to a fine paste. Do not add too much water.
2. Now in a huge vessel add oil and all the seasoning ingredients. Once they turn slightly brown add the onions and fry till it becomes soft. Add the ground paste. Fry till you see oil separate from the sides.
3. Add the vegetables and toss them around till the sauce coats all the vegetables. Now add the rice and salt. Give this a good mix.
4. Pour in two cups of water and let it all come to a boil. Reduce the heat and cover it. Cook it until the rice becomes fluffy. This takes around 20 minutes. Check in between to see if it has enough water. If not add some more. Serve it hot with raita or pappad.

An alternate method is to skip coconut and instead add coconut milk. So instead of two cups of water cook it in 1 cup coconut milk and 1 cup water. This makes a richer and creamier rice. Perfect for parties.

Ash Gourd/ White pumpkin kootu.

A few days ago I happened to find white pumpkin in my Asian market. This is a rare occourance in my small town. I got a piece and typically I make a kootu with lots of coconut and channa dhal. I wanted to try something slightly different with this one. I ended up making this gravy and it was a slight variation to my original recipe.

Ingredients:
- 1 small piece white pumpkin cut to bite size pieces
- small piece of tamarind (Soften it in the microwave)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar or jaggary

Fry till they become golden brown
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp jeera seeds
- 3-4 red chilies
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 1 tsp urad dhal
- 1 tsp rice (This thickens the gravy. You can substitute this with rice flour or atta)
- 1/2 cup frozen coconut (Add it after the above whole spices turn slightly brown)

Seasoning:
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- few curry leaves

Method:
1. In a heavy bottom vessel boil your pumpkin in water and salt.
2. Meanwhile grind all the ingredients which you had fried with tamarind to a fine paste. So it is enough if your tamarind is slightly softened.
3. Add this mixture to your boiled pumpkins. Mix in jaggary and cook till the pumpkins become soft and tender to touch.
4. In a seperate pan add oil and the ingredients for seasoning. Once they turn brown add it to the pumpkin.

Serve this with fluffy white rice.

Sending this to Book Marked Recipe hosted by Priya

Corn Soup

We were able to purchase some fresh corn from our store. So I ended up hunting for some fun recipes on the web to make use of the corn. One of the recipes that I really liked was corn soup by Munjulas Kitchen. The part that was great to me was that she did not use any cream in this recipe. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients:
- 3 corn (I used fresh corn)
- 1/2 cabbage shredded
- 2 carrots chopped finely
- 1 small tomato chopped - squeeze out any excess juice
- 1/2 a onion chopped
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 1 tsp black pepper (adjust to taste)
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1 tsp oil
- salt to taste.

Method:
1. Remove the husk and steam the corn till they are soft. Use a knife to remove the kernels. Keep a handful aside. Blend the rest to a smooth paste.
2. In a hot pan add oil and jeera. Once the jeera splutters add onion and cook till it becomes slightly brown. Now add the carrots and cabbage and cook they are soft to touch.
3. Traditionally you will strain the corn and get the juice with none of the pulp. Instead of doing that I just added the blended corn to my carrot and cabbage mixture. This will taste more chunkier then your regular soup.
4. Mix your corn starch with 1/4 cup of water and add it to the soup. Add another 2 -3 cups of water, salt and pepper and bring this mixture to a boil.
5. After the soup has thickened to the consistency you prefer add the chopped tomatoes. Let it boil for a minute or two. Turn off the heat and serve this hot.

It makes a great lunch with just some breads to accompany it. Sending this recipe to Bookmark Tuesday and also to Dish Name that Starts With C hosted by Akila of Learning to cook.