Peanuts Ladoo

Ingredients:

Peanuts - 1 cup
Grated jaggery - 1/4 cup
Cardamom

Method:

Take raw peanuts in a thick bottomed pan. Roast them in medium flame until they become crunchy.

• Once the peanuts are roasted well and crunchy, switch off the stive and let the peanuts cool at room temperature.
• Once it cools, peel off the skin by rubbing the peanuts between palms.

• Grind the peanuts with grated jaggery and cardamom. Grind it in to coarsely(Here I have used 'pulse' option in my mixer-grinder).

• Take the ladoo mixture in a plate. Take small portion and shape it in to ladoos. Now, healthy and tasty peanut ladoo is ready to be served.

You can store these peanut ladoos in an air tight container.

Methi leaves tambuli/Menthe soppu tambuli

Ingredients:

Methi leaves / Menthe soppu - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 1-2
Buttermilk - 3/4 cup
Salt to taste
Mustard Seeds - 1tsp
Oil

Method:

• Put oil in a vessel and heat it. Add methi leaves, green chilli. Fry them for few seconds. Switch off the flame. Let it cool.

• Grind the fried methi leaves, green chilli and grated coconut in to smooth paste by adding buttermilk, salt and little water.
• Take oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves. Add this in to tambuli. 
• Serve this healthy methi leaves/menthe soppu tambuli with rice.

Mooli Thepla

Ingredients:

Radish(grated)- 1 cup
Wheat flour-1.5 cups
Gram flour- 2-3 tbsp
Coriander powder- 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Green chilli(finely chopped)- 1tsp
Ginger(Minced)- 1tsp
Curd- 2-3 tbsp
Salt

Method:

Wash, peel and grate the radish. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, green chilli, ginger and little salt to the grated radish. Mix well and keep it aside for 5 minutes.

In another bowl, take wheat flour and gram flour. Add grated radish, 2-3 tbsp of curd and a little salt and mix well. Knead it in to smooth dough.

While you knead the dough add water little little by as needed. Because the radish will have moisture in it.
Make lemon sized balls. Dust with some flour and flatten it in to thin circle.

Heat the tava. Place the theplas, cook both sides by adding little ghee/oil until it becomes golden brown.
Serve the radish theplas with plain curd/Masala curd or any curry/pickle of your choice.

Beetroot Phulka/Chapati

Ingredients:

Beetroot- 1
Tomato-1
Green chilli-1
Wheat flour 2 cups
Salt

Method:

• Peel the beetroot. Roughly chop the beetroot, tomato, green chilli. Grind them into a smooth paste by adding little water.
• In a bowl take wheat flour, add the ground paste, salt and mix well. Knead it into a chapathi dough, Add water if needed.

• Make lemon sized balls out of it, roll out the chapatis.
• Heat the tava. Place the chapatis on hot tava.

• Let it cook for 15-20 seconds until the bubbles start to form. Then place it on direct flame to make it in to phulkas. Flip the chapatis and cook both sides until it fluff up.

• Serve this Beetroot phulkas/Chapatis with any of the veg curries/gravies of your choice.

Mangalore buns | Banana puri | Sweet banana buns | Mangalore banana buns

Mangalore buns | Banana puri | Sweet banana puri | Mangalore banana buns

Recipes from south India are not only delicious, but also they are healthy. There is something special in each and every distinct category of cuisines from southern states. 

Mangalore buns or mangloor buns is one of the famous recipe of mangalore. You can serve this mangalore buns as tea time snack.

This sweet fried buns are made by using mashed banana and maida. You can also add wheat flour in place of maida. Usually these buns are made by using small sized banana which is called as 'yelakki/elakki'. But you can also use any other variety, if it is not available. Usually,  Mangalore buns is served with coconut chutney. 

Ingredients

Wheat flour/Maida - 1 cup
Banana(small sized/yelakki) -3 to 4 / Robusta - 1 to 2
Sugar - 4-5 tbsp
Salt to taste
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Baking soda -1/2 tsp
Buttermilk/curd - 1/2 cup
Oil for deep frying

Method

Peel and mash the bananas.You can even grind it in to smooth paste using mixer grinder. Add sugar, salt, baking soda, cumin seeds, and little curd/buttermilk. Add wheat flour little by little and knead it into a soft dough. Dough should be sticky and softer than the chapathi dough.

Cover the dough with cloth and allow it to rest at room temperature for 4-5 hours. After that you have to knead the dough once again. Make lemon sized balls, put it on plastic sheet greesed with little oil. Put some oil to the hand also, so that the dough will not stick to the hand. Using hand, flatten it in to thick round shape. You can also do this process using chapathi roller. But I feel easy using hands.

Take a frying pan. Heat oil on medium-high flame. Fry the buns on medium-high flame until it turns in to golden brown color.

Serve these soft fluffy mangalore buns with coconut chutney or any other chutney or sambar.

Pressure cooker eggless sponge cake

Ingredients:

Maida - 1/2cup
Wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Unsalted butter - 100gms
Baking powder -1
Vanilla essence -1-2tsp
Condensed milk - 400gms
Milk - 1/2cup
Salt - 1/2tsp
Dry fruits of your choice/chocolate chips (I used tutti frutti, chopped dates, raisins)

Method:

• Take a bowl, Add butter and melt it. 
• Add maida, wheat flour, little salt, Baking powder, Vanilla essence and Condensed milk to the melted butter.

• Mix/Whisk the mixture well using a hand blender to make a smooth paste. If the batter is too thick, add little milk. 
• Add dry fruits/nuts of your choice and mix well. Now, the cake batter is ready.

• Take the aluminium tray. Grease it with 1 tsp of Oil. Add the cake batter in baking tray.

• Here we should use the cooker big enough to hold the baking tray(I used 5 litres cooker).
• Keep one plate/divider bowl in cooker and then place the baking tray on top of that plate(need not add any water in cooker. No need of whistle/weight and gasket).
• Before baking the cake, we should pre-heat the cooker(without gasket and weight). Close the lid and heat the cooker on high flame for 2-3 minutes.
• Now we can put the cake tray in the cooker. Make sure that the pan fits comfortably inside the pressure cooker without touching the sides of cooker. 
• Close the lid and cook for 5 minutes in medium flame. Then lower the flame and cook for 30-35 minutes.

• Use toothpick to test whether the cake is ready. Else you need to bake for another 5 minutes.

• Use a knife to separate the cake from tray. Now, take one plate. Keep it on top the baking tray. Invert it to bring out the cake.

 

• 
  
• The soft and spongy eggless cake is ready.

Rumali roti with Aloo matar gravy

Ingredients for Rumali roti

Maida -2cups

Wheat flour -1/2 cup
salt to taste
Oil - 1-2tsp
Warm milk(add as required to knead dough)

Method:

• In a large mixing bowl, take maida. Add pinch of salt and little oil. Add warm milk little by little and start to knead the dough. Cover with moist cloth and rest for atleast 15-20 minutes.
• Make lemon sized balls, roll and flatten it into a thin circle. Roll as thin as possible. 
• Take kadai and heat for 2 minutes. Then reverse the kadai and heat for a minute. Sprinkle some salt water over kadai. 
• Slowly place the rumali roti over hot kadai. You can see bubbles forming over the roti. Flip off the roti and cook both the sides. With the help of towel gently press the roti. Cook the rotis until golden brown spots start appearing. 
• Serve rumali roti with curry of your choice. (Here I served it with Aloo-Matar gravy)

Ingredients for Aloo matar gravy:

Finely chopped onions -1 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Tomato puree - 1 cup
Boiled potatoes - 1-2
Green peas - 1 cup
Salt as needed
Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2tsp
Coriander powder -1tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2tsp
Cashew nuts - 1-2tbsp
Oil -2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves

Method:

• Pressure cook potatoes for 2-3 whistles. Peel the skin and cut it into cubes.
• Cook green peas in a little water until soft and keep it aside. 
• Soak cashews in hot water for 15 minutes. Grind it to a fine paste. 
• Take a kadai, heat 2 tbsp of oil, add cumin seeds. When it sizzles, add onions and saute until it becomes golden brown. 
• Add ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell goes.
• Add tomato puree and all the spice powders. Stir for few minutes on medium flame.
• Once the tomato puree gets cooked well, add the cashew nut paste. Cook for few minutes.
• Add the boiled potato cubes and green peas. Mix well. Add water, adjust the consistency according to your preference. Cook for 5-6 minutes on low flame and switch off the stove. 
• Lastly add 1-2 tbsp of coriander leaves and serve.

Aloo Paratha

Aloo Paratha is one of my favourites. Today I would like to share this recipe with you.

Ingredients:

For paratha dough:
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Salt
Butter - 1-2tsp
Wheat flour for dusting
Oil for cooking parathas

For stuffing:
Potatoes- 2(boiled and mashed)
Green chillies -1-2 finely chopped
Coriander leaves(finely chopped) - 1tsp
Onion - 1 small finely chopped (optional)
Chilli powder - 1/2tsp
Pinch of turmeric powder
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2tsp
Ajwain seeds - 1/2tsp

Method:

• In a mixing bowl mash boiled potatoes well. Then add rest of the ingredients mentioned in ingredients list for stuffing and mix well.
• In another large mixing bowl, take wheat flour, add salt and butter. Add warm water, knead the dough well and make lemon sized balls out of it.
• Dust a little flour and roll out the dough into a small circle. place the prepared stuffing in the center. Gather all the corners, seal the dough with stuffing inside, and press gently to flatten it. 
• Dust a little flour and roll out the flattened dough(Do not apply too much pressure as the stuffing might come out).
• Heat thava, place the rolled out paratha dough. Add little oil and cook both sides well until it becomes golden brown. Enjoy yummy and delicious aloo paratha with Masala curd(Curd raitha) or any other curries of your choice.

Corn-Peas Pulao

Corn Peas pulao is one of the simple and less time consuming recipe. I tried this recipe few days back and it came out really well.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1 cup 

Oil - 2tbsp

Cloves - 2,3

1 inch Cinnamon stick
Green cardamoms - 2,3
Black pepper - 4,5
Bay leaf - 1
Onion sliced- 1/2cup
Ginger garlic paste - 1-2 tsp
Green chilies - 1-2
Sweet corn - ½ cup
Green peas 1 cup
Garam masala - 1tsp
Coriander leaves
Salt to taste
2 cups Water

Method:

• Wash the rice under running water. Soak them in enough water for 10-15 minutes. Drain the water using strainer. Keep it aside.
• In a pressure cooker, heat oil. Add the whole spices (cloves, cinnamon stick, green cardamom, black pepper, bay leaf). Saute for a minute. 
• Add sliced onion. Cook till it becomes soft.
• Add ginger-garlic paste, green chilies. Mix and cook for a minute.
• Add green peas and corn. Mix well.
• Add salt, garam masala. Mix well and cook for a minute. 
• Add rice and cook for a minute.
• Now add water, cover and pressure cook for 2,3 whistles. Let it cool completely.
• Finally garnish with corinder leaves. Serve Corn-Peas pulao with any raitha or salad.

Palak / Spinach Poori

Ingredients:

Wheat flour – 2 cups
Palak (spinach) – 1 cup
Sooji / rava – 2-3tsp
1-2 Green chillies
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Salt
Sugar – 1 tsp

Method:

• Wash and clean the palak.
• Grind it in to a smooth paste by adding green chilies, fennel seeds and little water.
• Take the wheat flour in a mixing bowl and then add in salt, sugar, palak paste and rava.(Adding sooji/rava is to maintain crispness, adding little sugar gives golden brown color to pooris).
• Mix well all the ingredients and make lemon sized balls. Using the rolling pin, make it small disc.
• Take sufficient oil in a kadai and deep fry the pooris on a medium flame.
  Soft and puffy palak poori is now ready to serve.

Bread Gulab Jamun

Bread Gulab Jamun

For the jamun:

Bread slices 6-7

Milk- 4-5 tbsl

Oil- as needed to deep fry

For the sugar syrup:

Sugar- 1 cup
Water- 1 cup
Saffron strands- a tiny pinch(optional)
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp

Method:

• Take sugar in a pan, add water. Bring to boil and simmer until you have a thick syrup. Add cardomom powder and saffron. When the syrup gets one thread consistency, turn off the flame. Sugar syrup is ready.
• Remove the crust from the bread slices. Transfer to a bowl. Add milk little by little and knead it to soft dough. Shape into small balls.
• Add the jamuns into the warm sugar syrup.
• Let the jamuns soak in the sugar syrup for a few hours until softened. Serve warm or chilled as per your preference