Spicy Maida Biscuits Recipe

     The memory of these maida biscuits dates back to my school days when my paati used to make these in the evening before I get back from school. Usually she makes both the salt and the sweet version parallely. Whenever I am at home during the process of making these biscuits, my job will be to separate the diamonds from the chappathi kal and place them on a paper for drying. And then to turn the pieces the other side and ensure that they dry evenly. When it is the time to fry them in oil, I become so busy carrying the diamonds from the paper on to a plate in batches and back and forth to the kitchen and the place where the diamonds are laid for drying :P 

     I had felt it so magical to see the making of sweet version of this biscuit, as I will be always eager to see 2 instances of the process. One when the biscuits are just mixed with the warm sugar syrup which makes them look glossy and the other is a few mins after its resting period, when the sugar syrup gets solidified and show up in the biscuits as a white coating here and there :)

     Okay stories apart, now jumping in to the recipe....

Prep Time: 20 mins || Cook Time: 15 mins || Serves: 3 || Category: Fried snack/ Tea-time snack

Ingredients:

1. Maida - 1 cup

2. Omam (Ajwain seeds) -  1 tsp

3. Hing - 2 tsp

4. Pepper powder - 2 tsp

5. Chilli powder - 1 tsp

6. Salt - as required

7. Baking soda - 1 tsp (optional)

8. Oil - for frying

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a wide bowl. Add water slowly and knead into a soft dough.

 2. Divide the dough into desired number of portions and make balls with it. Spread them on a flat surface evenly with a rolling pin. Cut the rolled dough into diamonds or any shape of desired size. Separate the pieces and air dry them over a paper for 10-15 mins.

 3. Heat oil and test for the optimum temperature by dropping a small portion of the dough. If the dough rises immediately and gets fried, the temperature is just right. Drop the cut biscuit pieces in batches and fry them until golden brown. Drain in paper towel and store in air tight containers after cooling.

Suggestions:

• Baking soda is optional. 
• Instead of adding chilli powder and salt in the dough, the fried biscuits can also be tossed with sprinkled chilli powder and salt.
• Cumin seeds can also be added instead of ajwain seeds.
• If desired, a tsp of ghee or oil can be used while kneading the dough.

Had a nostalgic evening with the biscuits and a glass of coffeeeeee....

Hara Bhara Tikki / Spinach Aloo Cutlet

     

     This Hara Bhara Tikki / Cutlet was so promisingly tasty to look, in Venkatesh Bhat's show, that as I was watching the program, I knew for sure I would make it one day !! It was so delicious that I could not stop myself from eating more than 1 tikki :P ( Yes.. I munched on 4 at a stretch !!! ) In any form, in general I like the flavour of coriander leaves a lot. This tikki offers flavours more than that. A blend of spinach, peas, coriander leaves and spices..

Felt like having this tikki as a side dish for jeera pulav for lunch. As usual, I could n't make jeera pulav, as I had to take rest after trying out this new dish :D

Now, lets go to the recipe...........

Prep Time: 20 mins || Cook Time: 10 mins || Yields: 10 cutlets || Category: Starter/Snack

Ingredients:

1. Spinach - 1 bunch

2. Potato - 1 

3. Green peas - 50 gms (handful) 

4. Sugar - 2 tsp

5. Ginger - small piece

6. Green chilly - 1 small

7. Coriander leaves - as desired

8. Salt - as required

9. Asafoetida - 2 tsp

10. Amchur Powder (Dry Mango powder) - 3 tsp

11. Chat masala - 2 tsp

12. Besan flour (Gram flour) - 2 tbsp

13. Oil - 3 tbsp

Method:

1. Boil potato with a pinch of turmeric powder added in water; peel its skin and keep aside. Boil green peas in water for about 10 mins or until it is cooked (I used frozen green peas). In a pan add 200 ml of water and bring it to boil. To this add sugar and then add the cleaned and washed spinach leaves and give a stir. Blanch the spinach in the boiling water for about 2 mins.

 2. After 2-3 mins, spinach would have become cooked & reduced in volume. Switch off the flame and filter the spinach from water. Run through cold water to reduce the heat & retain its colour. To the blanched spinach, add boiled peas, ginger, coriander leaves, green chilly and grind to a smooth paste without adding water.

 3. To the spinach paste, add well mashed potato, chat masala, hing, amchur powder (for mild tanginess), salt and mix well. Slightly wet the hands and make balls of desired size, flatten them and place them on a tawa/pan drizzled with oil.

 4. Flip and cook both the sides until slightly brown, adding oil as required. Yummy green cutlets are ready !!! 

Suggestions:

• Adding sugar helps to retain the green colour of spinach. Adding sugar is optional.
• After running the spinach through cold water, it is better to squeeze them to get rid of water. Else the the ground paste will tend to be a little watery. ( I forgot to squeeze the water from spinach. So I had to keep the paste in fridge for a while to make it a tighter mass).
• The tikkis can also be deep fried, if you are not much conscious about the calories.
• If you do not have amchur powder, it can be skipped.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup or any tangy chutney.

Omapodi / Plain Sev

     Felt like having Bhel Puri after watching one of the episodes of "Samayal Samayal" in Vijay TV. So, I jumped into making Omapodi / Plain Sev for the second time. If made in a lesser quantity just enough to last for a day or two, it can be made within 30 mins. For the first time when I tried making this, I used only half of the quantity mentioned here, as it was on an experimental basis.
     This is snack finds its place in our home, mostly during deepavali when making mixture. On the normal days, mom gets it from Adyar Anandha Bhavan especially for my grandma, who finds this snack easier to eat :D The store bought one looks so much finer than the home-made one. This fineness & mild spice level makes it a kids & grandparents friendly snack :P
     It can be had as a light tea time snack or for garnishing in various Chaat items. As i was tempted to make and have Bhel Puri, I tried with Himalayan efforts to retain some of this omapodi for 2 3 days as I wanted time to make the red, green & imli chutney for Bhel Puri. But my efforts as usual ended in vain, as I could not make the chutneys on time due to my lazinessss. May be next time, all the chutneys first & then the sev !!!

PreparationTime: 15 mins || Cook Time: 25 mins || Yields: 3 jars ||  Category: Snack

Ingredients:
1. Besan Flour (Kadalai Maavu/Gram flour) - 2 cups
2. Rice Flour (Arisi Maavu) - 1/2 cup
3. Ajwain (Omam) - 1 tbsp
4. Butter - 1tbsp
5. Asafoetida /Hing - 2tsp
6. Salt - as required
7. Oil - For deep frying

Method:
1. Take ajwain in a cup & add water to it. Microwave for a min & set aside for it to cool down. Crush it with hand and filter its essence on to both the flours taken in a bowl. Repeat soaking in hot water and filtering if more flavour is needed. Add melted butter, hing, salt and little oil and mix the flours. Add water only little by little as it does not take in much water & prepare a thick dough.

2. Take a murukku press & attach the plate with finer holes, fill up the press with the dough & close it tight. Meanwhile heat oil in a pan & drop in a pinch of the dough to check the hotness of oil. If the dough raises, then the level of hotness is just right. If not heat it for few more minutes and then proceed with the test.

3. When the oil is hot, keeping the flame in medium, operate the presser well above the oil in circular motion. After about a min, flip the omapodi to its other side and cook evenly. When the bubbles and oil sound cease (roughly after a min), take out the omapodi in a perforated laddle and drain the excess oil in a kitchen tissue.

Suggestions: 

• Try to avoid too much overlap of the omapodi strands as the sev might not get space to get properly cooked.
• Keep the dough covered until use, otherwise it becomes hard & you will have a tough time pressing it. If it gets harder, can add 1 spoon of hot oil and knead well before filling in the press.
• Adjust the flame to low or medium in between refilling the press or while cooking the sev as necessary, to ensure the oil does not get heated up too much.
• Hold the press firmly well above the oil & operate the handle as quick as possible to avoid the heat from the oil reaching the hands.
• Can also add chilly powder or garlic if you like the flavour & make garlic sev.
• Adding too much of ajwain can give a bitter taste.
• Crumble the sev into small pieces & store it in an air-tight container.

Carrot Muffins (Eggless)

Hello Everyone….

     "The Delicious Destination" would greet you all periodically with vegetarian recipes, not just confined to Indian cuisine but from cuisines 'across the globe'.
This is my first post in this blog.. Wanted to start off with something from baking - one of the genres which i haven't tried my hands-on… and at the same time preferably a sweet and simple dish… Thus the carrot muffins were born :)

Here we go to the recipe..

Carrot Muffins - Eggless

Prep Time: 15 mins || Cook Time: 25 mins || Yields: 7 ||  Category: Breakfast/Snack  

Ingredients:

1. Wheat flour - 1 & 1/2 cup

2. Curd - 1 & 1/4 cup

3. Baking Powder - 1 tsp

4. Baking Soda (Sodium Bi-carbonate) - 1/2 tsp

5. Grated carrot - 1 cup

6. Sugar - 1 cup

7. Cashews - 10

8. Olive oil (any cooking oil) - 1/4 cup

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix curd and oil to a smooth paste using a whisk or spoon. Add sugar and mix well. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 deg fahrenheit.

2. Add wheat flour, baking powder & baking soda  to the above paste and mix well. Need not add water.

3. Add the grated carrots and cashews and mix well.

4. Line a baking tray with muffin liners and spoon in the prepared muffin batter till three-fourth of every cup. The remaining space would be filled up when the muffins puff up while baking. Place the muffin tray in the pre-heated oven and bake for 25-27 mins or accordingly till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

5. Remove the baking tray from the oven and cool the muffins for 10 -15 mins and store them in an air-tight container.

Yummy eggless carrot muffins are ready :) I had this as a short-eat for the evening.They should keep good un-refrigerated for about 2 days and if refrigerated, for 3-4 days.