~ SnacKs & DesserTs ~

[MysteRy]

Onion Pakoda




Ingredients:
Besan (kadalai maavu) – 50 gms
Rice flour – 100 gms
Maida – 10 gms
Groundnuts or cashews – 1 tbsp
Finely chopped onion – 3 small
Curry leaves
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Hing (asofoetida)
Oil to fry

Method:
Fry ground nuts or cashews in oil and keep aside.

Mix all the flours in a bowl.
Add chopped onions, chilli powder, salt, hing, curry leaves to the flour mixture.

 Add 1 tbsp of hot oil to the mixture.
(The hot oil adds crispiness to the pakoda.
 This is a healthier option compared to the alternative of adding 1 tsp baking soda.)

 Add water gradually to make pakoda dough.
 (Dough consistency should be similar to paratha dough).
 Set aside for 5 mins.

Heat the oil in a pan.
Reduce flame to medium after oil becomes hot.

Deep fry small portions of the dough, and fry till pakodas becomes golden brown.
Serve hot with coconut chutney and tea.

[MysteRy]

Vegetable Samosa





Ingredients:
Besan (kadalai maavu) – 50 gms
Maida – 1 cup
Oil – 2 table spoon
Baking soda – a pinch
Salt -to taste
Oil- for frying

For stuffing:
Potato – 3-4(cook and remove the skin)
Green peas – 1/2 cup
Green chilli – 2
Grated ginger – 1/2 tsp
Aamchoor powder(Mango powder) – 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp
Chopped corriander leaves – 1 table spoon
Cashew, dry grapes – each 1 tsp
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Oil – 2 tsp

Method:
1. Take a bowl, add maida, salt and baking powder and make it into a dough by adding water.(chappathi dough consistency)

2. Take a pan, add oil, potato, peas, green chilli, grated ginger and all the masala items required for the stuffing and cook it.

3. Now, make small chappathis with the prepared maida dough and stuff the vegetables and fold it in the shape of samosa(triangle)

4. Deep fry in oil and serve with sauce.

[MysteRy]

Parippu Vada





Ingredients:
Vada Parippu(Tur Dhal ) 1 cup
Dry Red Chilly 2 nos
Oil  2 cup
Green chilly minced  3 nos
Ginger minced  1 piece
Onion small sliced 10 nos
Curry leaves chopped
Salt required
Water  1/4cup

Method:
1. Soak the parippu in cold water for 2-4 hours.
Drain the water.
Grind parippu l to a paste adding water so that the paste is stiff.
 The dry red chillies should be ground together with soaked parippu(dal).

2.Mix sliced onion, minced green chillies, minced ginger, chopped curry leaves and required salt.

3.Heat oil in a kadai(wok).

4Pour a spoon full of batter to oil.
Deep fry it till it become brown colour.
Serve hot.

[MysteRy]

PINEAPPLE KESARI

Ingredients:
Sooji or Rawa (grounded white wheat without husk) – 1 cup
Pineapple chopped finely – 1 cup
Sugar - 2 cups
Ghee – 4 to 6 tablespoons
Cashew nuts – few
Raisins - few
Cardamom powder – 1 teaspoon
Kesari or yellow colour – few drops
Saffron - little

Method:
In a Pan, put two tablespoon ghee and fry the Sooji. Remove it. In the same Pan, put one tablespoon ghee and fry cashew nuts and raisins separately and keep it aside.

Add half cup water to pineapple pieces and cook till soft. (You can microwave it also). Cool it and grind to a fine puree.

In a heavy bottomed vessel pour two cups of water and bring to boil. When it is boiling add the Sooji and stir continuously till the Sooji is thick and cooked soft.
Now add sugar and pineapple puree and stir continuously.
Make sure there is no lump. Add few drops of Kesari or yellow colour and mix well.
Add ghee and stir well.
Kesari will leave the sides of the vessel.
Now add cardamom powder, fried cashew nuts and raisins and mix well and remove from stove.

Tips:
You can also add 2 or 3 drops of pineapple essence at the end to get nice flavour of pineapple. If the pineapple is sweet, then you can reduce the sugar

[MysteRy]

MANGO PAYASAM (PUDDING).

Ingredients:
Fully riped mango – 1 No
Sugar – ½ cup
Milk – 1 cup
Ghee – 1 teaspoon
Cashew nuts - few
Cardamom powder – ½ teaspoon

Method:
Remove the skin from mango and slice it into small pieces. Put it in a grinder and make it to a fine puree.

In a thick bottomed vessel add the ghee and fry the cashew nuts. Remove and keep aside. In the same vessel add the mango puree along with sugar and stir now and then till it thickens. Reduce the heat and add milk and stir well. Keep it on low flame till it blends well. Do not over boil. Add fried cashew nuts and cardamom powder. Mix well and remove.

Cool it and serve chilled.

Note: Milk shake is the easiest recipe we can prepare with mangos. However, when we prepare Payasam, we are cooking the mango pulp and milk. Hence it will stay good for two to three days if we refrigerate it.

Tips:
 We should select fleshy variety mangos. Then only, we will get thick mango paste or puree. If we use juicy type mangos, the puree will not be thick and it will take more time to cook.

Also we have to add pre-boiled and cooled milk to the payasam. If we add hot milk, due to sourness in mango, it will curdle. Quantity of sugar can be increased or decreased depending on the sweetness of the mango.

[MysteRy]

MANGO HALWA

Ingredients:
Fully Ripped Mango - 1 No (big size)
Semolina (Wheat Rawa) - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Cashew nuts - few
Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Method:
Remove the skin from Mango and cut it into medium size pieces. Put it in a mixer and grind to a fine paste. The paste should be one to one and half cups. The above ingredients are for one and half cup mango pulp. If you use more or less pulp, accordingly increase or decrease the quantity of other ingredients.

In a Pan put the Semolina and fry till it is hot to touch. Cool it and grind to a fine powder. Also grind the sugar into a fine powder.

In a thick bottomed vessel, put a tablespoon of ghee and fry the cashew nuts. Remove and keep it separately. In the same vessel add the mango pulp and fry for one to two minutes on low flame. Then add ground semolina and sugar and mix thoroughly. Add ghee little by little and stir continuously till it is thick like Halwa and leaves the sides of the vessel. Add fried cashew nuts and cardamom powder. Mix it well and transfer it to a greased plate and level it.
Cut it into squares or any other desired shape. Or put the Halwa in a greased bowl and serve as it is.