Nutty Kheer
I named it as Nutty Kheer because it contains all the essential nuts that is used in Indian cooking, almonds, pistachios, cashew nut and chironji. If you have never heard about Chironji before, they are tiny seeds or nuts from a bush called Buchanania lanzan. They are used in Indian cooking for making curries or desserts. They look like lentils but have a flavor of almonds. It is called “Sara Paruppu” in tamil. This easy and flavorful dessert kheer can be made in advance which saves a lot of time when you have a party or a get-together in your house. If you do not have condensed milk, you can double the volume of milk, reduce it to half or 3/4th and add sugar followed by the nuts. I made this for serving my guests during Navratri and it is...
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Peanut Mango Sundal
Sundal is a healthy snack prepared from different kind of lentils or legume which is boiled and seasoned with Indian spices. Peanut Mango Sundal is one of the popular sundal and I made it today as “Navratri neivedhyam”. Adding mango is an option. You can leave it out and follow the rest of the procedure to make plain peanut sundal. But the addition of fresh mango will give a kick to each bite and I just love it. Try this easy recipe for an evening snack or for your kids snack pack (you can reduce the spice in that case). Ingredients: Peanuts (verkadalai ) – 3/4 cup Finely chopped raw mango – 1/2 cup Oil – 2 tsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Urad dal – 1 tsp A pinch of asafoetida A few curry leaves (4 to 5) Dry...
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Chickpea Masala Sundal
Different variety of Sundals are made during Navratri days. Each day there is a different variety of sundals are made for Neivedyam and it’s distributed to the friends and family who are invited to see the Golu. I adapted this recipe from a friend. She made this sundal for her Golu last year. I’ve made this recipe a couple of times and it makes for a great evening snack with some hot tea. If you have Golu in your home and you are out of ideas for how to make different types of sundal, try this recipe. It definitely tastes delicious and it will be a sooper dooper hit. Try this recipe and let me know how it turned out for you. Preparation Time : 30 minutes No oF servings : 4-5 Spice Level : 2 out of 5 Ingredients: Chick pea/Chole :...
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Cheese Corn Potato Balls
Cheese Corn Potato Balls is a perfect starter or appetizer for kids and adults alike. It is very easy to make and tastes so good. I had some left over cheese in my refrigerator and wanted to try a new appetizer for a get together. I came up with this recipe after browsing a lot of recipes. I wanted to add both potato and corn with the cheese but was not sure how it will turn out until I made it. It is a big hit and everyone loved it. I used the left over mozzarella and Italian cheese blend in this recipe. You can substitute them with any of your favorite cheese. About the bread crumbs, it is not necessary that you have to use both Italian and panko. Since I had them in the my pantry I...
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Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a fancy and easy sandwich. This recipe is very easy to follow and the result is just awesome. This is one of my all time favorites. When I used to work in India Grilled Cheese Sandwich with a cup of tea had been a life safer during the night shifts. You can serve this sandwich as an evening snack with cup of tea or for breakfast or even for dinner. Sometimes I have this for lunch too. I know!! Though very delicious and tempting because of the calories in cheese and butter I restrict myself from making this very often. I have used Mozzarella cheese but you can substitute it with any cheese such as Cheddar or Italian blend, Provolone, etc… You can also avoid the green chilies if you don’t like it spicy. The...
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Coconut Burfi
Coconut Burfi or Nariyal Burfi is a simple and yummy treat which can be made in no time. My mom makes it for Diwali (an Indian festival) ans we all love it. I have used freshly grated coconut to make this burfi. But you can substitute it with frozen coconut or dry coconut. The good thing is you can make them ahead for a party or get-together which saves a lot of time. So enjoy this little sweet treat at home and let me know how it turns out. Ingredients: Freshly grated coconut – 2 cups Sugar – 2 cups All purpose flour or maida – 3 tbsp Whole cardamom – 4 Halved cashew nut – 3 tbsp Ghee/clarified butter – 3 tsp Method of Preparation: Add sugar to a pan with a little water and bring it to...
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Roti/Phulka – Indian Flat Bread
Phulka (Fulka) or Roti is an unleavened flat-bread from South Asia and a staple diet in many homes in India. Rotis are made from whole wheat flour dough which is rolled and cooked on a skillet and then over direct heat where it is puffed up. Roti is generally served with dal/pappu and with so many other curries (veg and non-veg). You can also spread some butter or ghee/clarified butter which is optional. When you cook on electric stove, a metal mesh is used since the coil is not suitable. If it is gas stove you can cook the rotis over direct heat. The metal mesh is generally available in the local Indian stores in the U.S. I do not use any oil for making rotis and it stays soft. You can roll up the remaining rotis in an aluminum foil...
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Mutton Dum Biryani
Whenever I make it, it always turns out great. It takes such a short time to make it but the results are fabulous. Full credit goes to my friend Kathija who shared this recipe with me. Preparation Time : 90 minutes No of servings : 3-4 Spice Level : 3 out of 5 Ingredients: Mutton or chicken : 1 kg Rice : 4cups (Rice cooker cup) Oil : 250 g (or) 1 cup (Rice cooker cup) Butter : 1/4 piece (or) Ghee : 3 tblsp Onion : 250g (chopped) Tomato : 250g (chopped) Ginger paste : 3tbsp Garlic paste : 2tbsp Curd : 1cup salt : 2tbsp (the reason for this much salt is when u mix the korma with rice it will be even) Red chili powder : 1 1/2tsp Turmeric : a pinch for color Green chilli...
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Happy Vinayagar Chaturthi and Ellu Urundai(Sesame Ladoos)
Happy Vinayagar Chaturthi 2012 !!! Ganesha Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is the Hindu festival of Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival. It is the birthday of Lord Ganesha who is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). The date usually falls between 20 August and 15 September. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi (fourteenth day of the waxing moon period). While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborate in Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Outside India, it is celebrated...
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Ammini Kozhukkattai
Ammini Kozhukkattai is made from the left over kozhukkattai dough. I am not sure why it is called so, may be because they are mini or small…:) Whenever we make Kozhukkattai we end up with some leftover dough which is what is generally used for making Ammini Kozhukkattai and Paal Kozhukkattai. I have also used leftover kara puran (ulundhu puran) in this recipe which adds more taste. You can even add some idli podi to this dish which I learnt from Jeyashri’s Kitchen. This is a healthy dish and can be made quickly. So you can even make it on a regular day as a snack. Perfect for kids and adults. Ingredients: Kozhukkattai dough – 1 cup Oil – 1 tsp Mustard seeds – 3/4 tsp Urad dal – 1 tsp 2 to 3 curry leaves A pinch of asafoetida...
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Kara Kozhukkattai for Ganesh Chaturthi
Kara Kozhukkattai also known as Uppu Kozhukkattai or Ulundhu Kozhukkatai is another version of Indian rice dumpling filled with spicy puran. The filling consists of steamed and spiced urad dal along with coconut. I know!! it does sound a little different but belive me it tastes wonderful. For a long time being a sweet addict I have never touched the spicy version (kara kozhukkattai) inspite of my mom forcing me to eat. But after I started making these, I liked it so much (not as much as the sweet though…!) What a selfish act!!! Sorry mom.. Okay! Coming back to the dish… this is one of those dishes offered to Lord Ganesh on Ganesh Chaturthi or any regular day. The spicy filling is very easy to make. You can refer my Sweet Puran Kozhukkatai for making the dough. I have...
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Fried Modak – Step By Step Instructions
Modak is a sweet dumpling which is made of rice, wheat or all purpose flour. It can be either steamed or fried. Already we have steamed versions of Modak in Spicy Tasty. Here is the recipe for Fried Modak with step by step instructions.. Time of Preparation : 40 minutes No of pieces : 8 Ingredients: Oil – For frying For Cover: All Purpose Flour – 1/2 cup Sooji / Rava – 1/4 cup Water – 1/4 cup Ghee – 2 tsp Salt – slightly less than 1/2 tsp For Stuffing: Coconut (grated) – 1/2 cup Jaggery (grated) – 1/4 cup Cardamom powder – 1 tsp Cashews – 1 tbsp (finely chopped) Raisins – 1 tbsp (chopped) Ghee – 2 tsp Method of Preparation: Mix all purpose flour, sooji and salt with ghee. Add the water slowly and mix...
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Aval Pidi Kozhukattai – Flattened Steamed Rice Dumplings
Vinayagar Chaturthi festival is coming this Sep 19. So everybody is probably be making lots of snacks and sweets already this week. Kozhukattai is one of the special and favorite dish for Lord Ganesh so it’s one of the must-make items on that auspicious day. I have lots of poha/aval sitting in my pantry which I bought for Krishna Jayanthi. (See Poha Vada recipe) So I thought why not make some Aval Pidi Kozhukattai and give it a trial run before Vinayagar Chaturthi. So I made this aval pidi kozhukattai just like Pidi Kozhukattai except I am substituting flattened rice instead of beatened rice. It tatses really good. Whenever I make pidi kozhukattai always it remind me of Pondicherry restaurant “Adayar anadha bhavan”. I used to go there and never missed eating it at that place. Preparation Time :...
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Medhu Vadai
Medhu Vadai or Vada is a traditional South Indian food. They are crispy outside, soft and airy inside. Generally served with sambar and chutney as a side or dunked in a yogurt sauce or sambar or rasam and served as dahi vada (curd vada), sambar vada and rasam vada respectively . Vada is generally served with Ven Pongal and idli which completes a typical South Indian breakfast. The main ingredient of this dish is whole urad dal, black gram without skin which is very nutritious. Vadas are preferably eaten freshly fried. It is one of the common food you can find in street carts as well as in restaurants. It makes me nostalgic when I think about those days when we used to buy vada and bajji from street vendors. I still continue to enjoy it whenever I visit India. Nothing can beat that taste....
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Karasev
HAPPY DIWALI to all… Karasev is simply and tasty savory. This is slightly different from other diwali snacks because we use the pepper for spice in Karasev. Definitely everyone will love this crispy savory :). Time of Preparation : 30 minutes Spice level : 3 Ingredients: Besan flour / Chickpea flour – 1 cup Rice flour – 1 cup Black pepper (freshly ground) – 1 tsp Salt – to taste Butter – 1 tbsp Hot oil – 1/4 cup Oil – for frying Method of Preparation: Mix all the ingredients to a stiff dough. Heat oil in a pan and coat the murukku presser with oil. Fill the murukku presser (with 3 holes which we use for thenkuzhal murukku) with the dough and press directly into the oil. Fry till they become golden brown. Let it cool and store...
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Badam Puri / Almond Puri
I wanted to make some sweet which we don’t make often. Suddenly I got an idea of making this Badam puri. My sister-in-law makes this delicious sweet for special occasions. Everyone in our family like this a lot. This is my first time of making Badam Puris and they came out really well. Thanks to Anusha anni for this awesome recipe :). I have explained the step by step procedure of this sweet. Time of Preparation : 1 1/2 hrs (excluding the dough preparation time) No of Pieces : 30 Ingredients: For Puri: Maida / All purpose flour – 2 cups Almonds – 30 Rice flour – 3 tbsp Ghee – 6 tbsp Orange food color – a pinch Saffron strands – a few For Sugar Syrup: Sugar – 2 cups Water – 1 1/2 cups Method of Preparation:...
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Aval Payasam (Beaten Rice Pudding) and Happy Pongal 2011
Wish you all a Happy Pongal!!!!!! It is traditional to make pudding (Payasam) for special occasions like Pongal festival. So I made this aval payasam and it came out really good. If you try it, I hope you enjoy it too. Aval/Poha is nothing but beaten rice. It looks like dry rice flakes. Preparation Time : 30 minutes No of Servings : 4-5 Ingredients: Aval: 2 cups Ghee: 2 tbsp Condensed milk: 1/4 cup Milk: 3 cups Sugar: 1/4 cup (adjust according to your taste) Cardamom Powder: 1/2 tsp Pista (pistachio nuts), cashews, almonds and dry grapes : 1/2 cup Method of Preparation : Heat a tbsp of ghee and fry the poha/aval for couple of mins or till it become light golden brown and keep it aside. Heat a tbsp of ghee and fry all the nuts and...
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Puran Kozhukattai (Rice Dumplings)
Sweet Puran Kozhukkatai or Sweet Rice Dumpling is a popular delicacy in India which is commonly prepared during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi (Lord Ganesh’s Birthday). It is believed that this is one of Lord Ganesh’s favorite food. Hence it comes on the list of offerings that we make during this festival. Puran means filling which can be anything such as sweetened coconut, channa dal puran, spicy puran, etc. Here I am sharing the recipe for sweetened coconut puran. Kozhukkattai (modakam or modak) is more like Japanese Mochi which is made of glutinous rice. But here we use raw rice for making the outer spongy shell. I have detailed two methods for making the outer shell. You can go with whichever is easy for you. For me the rice flour/idiappam flour method is easier. But my mom always goes with...
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