Kaaradayan Nonbu Adai

 

Kaaradayan nonbu is celebrated  by Brahmin community during the month of March ( Tamil month of Maasi – Panguni ) . During this , nonbu adai is prepared and offered as prasadham to God . The ladies tie the charadu  (yellow thread )  around the neck and pray for the long life of husband.

Two types of adai are made - Sweet and savory one

Sweet Adai

Ingredients

Rice flour – 1 cup

Jaggery powder – 1 cup

Coconut – 1/4 cup ( finely chopped is good ) , but I used grated coconut

Water – 1 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder – a pinch.

Black eyed beans / kaaramani -  2 tbsp

salt – a pinch

Oil – 1 tbsp..

Method

In the pan , dry roast the rice flour until it changes color and keep it aside. Cook the kaaramani until soft ( if you soak the kaaramani before hand , make sure to cook for lesser time , so that it does not turn mushy.

Melt the jaggery in a pan by adding water, filter it to remove impurities. Now add the cooked kaaramani , grated coconut , oil and a pinch of salt to jaggery water and boil it . Then start adding rice flour and continuously stir so that no lumps are formed. Cook well until it leaves the side of the pan. Allow it to cool.

Divide the dough into equal parts, flatten it and put the hole in center and steam the adai’s for about 15 mins.

Serve it with butter.

Salt or Savory Adai

Ingredients

Rice Flour – 1 cup

Black eyed beans / kaaramani - 2 tbsp..

Salt – based on taste

Ginger – few cut into tiny pieces

Green chillies – 2

Asafoetida – a pinch

Curry leaves – few

Coconut - 1/4 cup ( finely chopped is good ) , but I used grated coconut

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

Urad dhal – 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp.

Method

In the pan , dry roast the rice flour until it changes color and keep it aside. Cook the kaaramani until soft ( if you soak the kaaramani before hand , make sure to cook for lesser time , so that it does not turn mushy.

In the kadai , Do the seasoning with Mustard seeds , urad dhal , curry leaves , ginger. Add 1 1/2 cup water and allow it to boil. Add kaaramani , coconut , salt and slowly add rice flour and continuously stir such that no lumps are formed.

Cook well until it leaves the side of the pan. Allow it to cool.

Divide the dough into equal parts, flatten it and put the hole in center and steam the adai’s for about 15 mins.

Serve it with butter.

Chiroti Rava Dosa

 

I prepared Rava dosa using Chiroti rava few weeks back and it tasted very good. Chiroti Rava is very fine form of Sooji rava. My mom got this last time from India.

Ingredients

Servings : 6  or 7 dosas

Chiroti Rava – 1/2 cup ( or you can use regular sooji rava )

Rice Flour – 1/4 cup

Maida – 1/2 cup

Salt – as per taste

Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

Green chillies – 1 or 2 based on how spicy it is

Cilantro – chopped – 1 tbsp

Buttermilk – 1/2 cup ( optional , instead you can use water )

Water – 1 1/2 cup

Asafoetida – a pinch

Oil – for dosas

Preparation

Mix Rava , rice flour , maida in a bowl and add water / buttermilk to form a thin batter.

Add all other ingredients and mix well and leave it aside for 30 minutes.

Heat the Skillet and once it is ready , pour the batter with ladle from corners to center ( Make sure to pour the batter from a 2 to 3 inches height and not like regular dosas )

Sprinkle oil on the corners and cook it for 1 –2 mins or until one side is golden brown. Flip and cook the other side as well.

Crispy Rava dosa is now ready to serve. You can have this with Coriander  / coconut chutney or Sambhar.

Quinoa Adai

Ingredients
Quinoa – 2 cup
Toor Dhal – 3/4 cup
Urad dhal – 1/4 cup
Chana dhal – 1/3 cup
Moong dhal – 2 tbsp.
Red chillies – 5
green chillies – 1
Salt – based on taste
Asafoetida – 2 tsp
Preparation
Soak Quinoa and dhals for atleast 3 hours. Then grind quinoa and dhal together along with red chillies , Green chillies to a thick batter. Add salt and Asafoetida and mix well.
Heat a tawa and pour a ladle of batter and spread it to a circle. Spray the oil in the corners and allow it to cook until the corners turns brown. Flip the adai and cook the other side.
Serve it hot with any spicy chutney of your choice. I prepared coriander chutney.
   

Almond meal pancakes

 

Almond meal is low in carb and has a good fiber content. It is more healthier and can be used to make muffins , breads and pancakes. I was looking for a pancake recipe and got this from lowcarbdiets.com.

The recipe suggested for sweetener and I substituted with brown sugar.

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond meal
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp. oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar

Preparation

Beat the eggs in the bowl. Add Almond meal , water , salt , sugar and oil and blend all together .

Make the pancakes in a non stick pan using little oil. Enjoy with maple syrup and a dollop of butter

Note : If you are on low carb diet , instead of maple syrup , you can substitute with Agave syrup

Akki Roti ( Rice Roti )

Akki Roti is one of the unique breakfast dish in the state of Karnataka , India. Akki means Rice in Kannada. My Mom used to make this for evening tiffin usually. I never made this after marriage and felt like eating the other day and ended up making for dinner.
Below is the recipe details
Ingredients
Rice flour – 2 cups
Carrot – Shredded ( 1/2 cup )
Onions – 2  ( chopped )
Green chillies – 2 ( depends on the how spice you want ) – nicely chopped
Cumin seeds – 2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Coriander leaves – 1/2 bunch ( chopped )
Water – to knead the dough
Oil – to grease
Method
Take the rice flour in a bowl . Add the  chopped onions , green chillies, cumin seeds , salt , corainder leaves, carrots into the bowl.
Now add the water slowly to the bowl and mix well until everything comes together to a soft dough ( it should be like the chapathi dough consistency )
Leave it aside for 15 – 20 mins
Take a plastic sheet and grease it with oil , Pinch a lemon size dough and pat  and spread in the sheet like a circle using your hands  ( it should be not too thick or very thin )

Heat the pan and place the sheet upside down and remove the sheet carefully so that roti falls into the pan.
Add little oil and toast the roti on both sides.
Serve it hot with any chutney of your choice.

Paneer Tikka Masala

I made this for the Thanks giving pot luck we had with our friends this year. I was not sure what to take for the potluck and then decided to make something with paneer.
This is the first time I made paneer tikka masala and it came out well.
I read many recipes for the same and finally adapted the recipe from cookingandme blog

Below is the recipe details
Ingredients for making Tikka

1. Paneer -  14 oz. ( I used the store bought paneer ) – cubed
2. Bell pepper – cubed ( a few ) – I used different colored ones.
3. Onions – cubed
4. Chilli powder – 1 tsp
5. Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
6. Corainder powder – 1 tsp
7. Garam Masala – 1 tsp
8. Yoghurt -  3 tbsp
9. Salt – to taste
10. Kasoori methi – 1/2 tsp.
11. Ginger garlic paste – 1/2 tsp
12. Oil – 1 – 2 tsp

Method
Mix all the ingredients ( 1- 11 above ) and marinate it for atleast 30 mins.
Heat a tawa or wide pan, Add the 1 – 2 tsp oil . Add the marinated paneer , bell peppers and Onions.
Cook it until the paneer and vegetables is toasted well and keep it aside.
Note : Make sure to keep the flame on medium – high heat . You can add the paneer and vegetables separately also . I don’t have the skewers , so I directly charred both together in the pan.

Ingredients for Masala

1. Onion – 1 ( big ) – minced
2. Tomatoes – 3 ( medium ) – pureed
3. Coriander powder – 1 tsp
4. Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
5. Chilli powder – 1 tsp
6. Ginger Garlic paste -  1 tsp
7. Kasoori methi – 1 tbsp
8. Cream – 1/4 cup ( I used half n half milk )
9. Salt – to taste
10. Coriander leaves
11. Oil – 1 – 2 tbsp.
12. Garam masala – 1/2  tsp

Method
Heat oil in the pan , Add the cumin seeds and allow it to splutter. Add the minced onions and saute until it turns brown. Then add the Ginger – garlic paste and saute for few mins
Now add the Tomato puree ,  spice powders ( corainder , garam masala , turmeric , chill powder ) and salt and allow it to boil for 20 seconds ( add  1/2 cup water if reqd )
Once the raw smell goes and the mixture gets thickened , Add the cream , Paneer tikkas , kasoori methi and corainder leaves and gently stir the masala.
Switch off the flame and serve it with hot rotis or jeera rice.

Puli Upma

Ingredients
Rice Flour – 2 cups
Tamarind extract – 1 3/4 cups
Asafoetida – a pinch
Turmeric – a pinch
Salt – As per taste
Red chilli – 2
Mor milagai – small – 4  ( optional , if it is not there , use 2 more red chilli )
Oil –  1/4 cup
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Chana dhal – 1tsp
Urad dhal – 1tsp
Curry leaves – few

Method
1) Soak Tamarind in water and extract the juice.
2) In a mixing bowl , Add rice flour , turmeric , salt and Asafoetida
3) Add Tamarind extract to the mix and mix it well without lumps. ( the batter should be slightly watery than the chapathi dough.
4) In the pan , Add oil and fry the Mor milagai first until it becomes black or dark brown and keep it aside.
5) In the same pan , temper Mustard seeds , urad dhal , chana dhal and red chillies,
6) Add curry leaves and Mor Milagai. Now add the Rice mixture
7) Cook it in the low – medium flame and keep breaking the lumps using the ladle. Cook until the Upma becomes soft.
Note : I used the store bought rice flour.
If the rice flour is not good , the upma might become sticky. Also You need to more oil to make this upma.