Kanpur Dal a healthy snack

A very simple but easy snack or churmur which can be given to kids when they want to munch something.

Ingredients:
Moong Dal - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
(Add a lttle peper powder or chilly powder for spiciness but this is optional)

Method:
Wash and soak moong dal for 5 mins. Drain and spread it on a cloth. Dry it in shade.  Transfer it to a dry vessel when all the water is absorbed.

In a hard bottom pan heat oil, fry the dry dal. Add salt and chilly or pepper powder. Add ghee and mix well.

Note:
* Avoid ghee if it is served for adults.
* Add salt while frying so that salt will get mixed up evenly.

Green Peas and Pudina Vadai

 Ingredients:

  

    Green Peas - 1 cup

    Onion - 1 finely chopped

    Pudina leaves - 1 cup

    Ginger - 2 inches

    Green chillies - 3

    Gram flour - 1 tbsp

    Salt - to taste

    Oil - to fry

  Grind the green peas coarsely. Grind pudina leaves, green chillies and ginger. Mix the ground green peas and pudina,ginger, green chillies and chopped onion . Add gram flour just to bind the mixture. Add salt and sprinkle little water in case required and mix well. Take small balls and make it in vada shape and deep fry it in oil.

Parangikkai Sweet Vadai by Sripriya

Ingredients:

Parangikkai / Ashgourd - 1/4 kg

Rawa - 4 tbsp

Wheat Flour - 2 cups

Maida - 1/8 cup

Cardamom - 1/2 tsp

Jaggery - 1 1/2 cups

Method:

Peel the Ashgourd/ Parangikkai. Steam the parangikkai till done in a pressure cooker. After cooling, mash the gourd and mix the jaggery well to it. There should be no lumps of jaggery in it. Add all the flours and also the cardomom powder. Mix well without adding water. (There would be no necessary of adding water to the dough). Add water if needed. The should be like Vadai maavu consistency. You can make small balls and fry it in the oil. Children would like it and  can be served as after school snacks. 

Mixed Vegetable Bonda by Shripriya

Starter recipe posted by Shripriya Ramakrishan for party menu contest entry 1

Make the mixed vegetable curry with potato, carrot, beans, peas, capsicum etc., and make lemon sized balls. Instead of dipping it in the Besan gravy, we are going to wrap it in white bread. Remove the brown part in the bread, sprinkle little bit water on the white part, place the mixed vegetable ball on the bread, then wrap the mixed vegetable ball with the bread...if the bread is hard and you are not able to wrap, then wet your hands and try. It will work out. Then deep fry these rolls. The taste will be awesome. I made this for one of the potluck parties....and the guests were going ga-ga over this. :)

Bird's Nest

Party Menu recipe by Rohini Renganathan

Ingredients

Potatoes (boiled) –Four medium size

Paneer , Khoya or green peas - 50 grams (Any one of these or all three, is is your choice)  

Vermicilli - 100 gms

Maida – 50 grms

Red chilli powder – 2 tsp

Coriander powder – 2tsp

Jeera - 1tsp

Hing – ½ tsp

Salt – as per taste

Besan (gram flour) – 2 tbsp (optional)

Lettuce or Cabbage leaves – Shredded finely – for garnish

Oil for frying

 

Method –

Mash the boiled potatoes. Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, salt to it. In a pan add a tsp of oil. Add Jeera. When it turns its colour add hing and the boiled potato mix. Just toss a bit. It should be in such a texture that you can make ballswith it. If you find it soggy then add besan to adjust the texture. Once thisis done , let this cool.

Mix maida with some water and make a thin paste.

 

Take paneer , khoya,give them shape of very small balls (these would become the eggs). You can use boiled green peas as well to make it green eggs. This is upto your choice.

Spread Vermicilli (unroasted one) in a plate.

 

Now take the potatomix, make a small ball with it. Then place the eggs in its center by making a little hole. Cover the eggs with little bit of potato mix. Remember which side was top (where you covered the eggs)

Dip these balls in maida,(just a coating)  then roll them on vermicelli. The vermicelli should stick on all sides perfectly.

 

Deep fry these balls.(need not keep in oil for long as vermicelli gets roasted soon ). While deep frying you need not toss this. Deep fry it with the egg part on top.

In the serving plate,spread the lettuce or cabbage leaves, place these birds nest. Before servingremember to open the top part so that the egg shows.

 

Serve this hot with any chutney.

Omapodi - an easy to make savoury recipe

Omapodi is very easy to make snack and kids love it very much. Not necessarily this need to be made on a festival day but can be made on any week end or on a rainy day.

Ingredients:
Besan Flour - 4 cups
Processed rice flour - 2 cups
Butter - 100 gms
Salt - 8 tbsp
Asafodeita - 1/2 inch piece
Oil to fry

Method:

Omapodi Achchu

Make a dough out of 1 cup of rice flour and 2 cups of besan flour. Use 1/2 of the other given ingredients and make a soft dough that can be squeezed in oil. If the dough is stiff, it will get struck in the holes as the omapodi achchu holes are very small.

Squeeze out the whole of the dough that is placed in the cylinder in hot oil. Reduce the flame after the omapodi is squeezed in it. Turn it to the other side and when it turns golden brown in colour remove from oil and spread it on a tissue paper to remove the excess oil. Can be served in whole or can be broken into pieces and served in a cup too.