Banana Appam/ Vazhaipazha appam/Banana Paniyaram

I saw this recipe in Dinakaran newspaper and wanted to give it a try. I dont like bananas yet wanted to try this as this was made with wheat flour and jaggery and seemed to be a very healthy recipe.

In the original recipe they had deep fried the appam but I wanted to reduce the calories in it so made it in paniyaram pan. The appams were so soft and spongy with a very nice banana flavour. Even the banana hater like me loved it. Tastes best when served hot.

Ingredients:

• Banana - 1
• Jaggery/Vellam - 1/2 cup
• Wheat flour/Godhumai maavu - 1 cup
• Rice flour/Arisi maavu - 1 tbsp
• Cardamom powder - 1 pinch
• Cooking soda - 1/4tsp
• Salt - a pinch
• Milk (optional) - 2tsp
• Oil/Ghee - as needed
• Water - as needed

Method:

1. Heat kadai, dissolve jaggery in 1/4 cup of water till it dissolves. Strain in a vessel to remove impurities.

 

2. Mash the banana well and add it to the strained jaggery syrup and mix well. Add the flours, soda,salt,cardamom powder and mix well.

3. Add the milk if using, and enough water to make a thick batter.

 

4. Heat paniyaram pan, apply ghee/oil on the moulds (I used ghee). Add a tbsp of batter to each of the moulds and cover the pan. Cook for about 2 mins till nicely browned and flip and cook without closing for another 1 or 2 mins till completely cooked. Do this on low medium flame for the inside to get cooked well.

Notes:

• You can also deep fry the appams.
• Ghee sure gives a nice flavour.

Chettinad Fish Fry/ Chettinad Meen Varuval

I came across this recipe in a Chettinad cookbook which my dad presented me. It came out good so sharing it here.The specialty of this dish is that it has a crispy outer layer to it. Gives a nice twist to our usual fish fry.

Ingredients:

• Fish (Vanjaram/Seer fish) - 1/2 kg
• Chilli powder - 2tsp
• Kuzhambu masala thool- 1 and 1/2tsp
• Turmeric powder - 2 pinches
• Salt - as needed
• Lime juice - 1 tsp

To roast and grind:

• Channa dal - 1.5tsp
• Urad dal - 1.5 tsp
• Mustard/Kadugu - 1tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Red chillies - 2
• Pepper - 1tsp

Method:

1. Clean and the fish thoroughly.

2. In a bowl, add the chilli powder, kuzhambu masala thool, turmeric powder,salt , lime juice and make a thick paste. Add water if needed to make the paste.

3. Marinate the cleaned fish with the masala paste. Let it rest for 1 hr minimum.

4. Dry roast the ingredients under 'To roast and grind'. Grind to a coarse powder.

5. Take the marinated fish. Coat the fish with the powder prepared from the previous step.

6. Heat oil in the pan, place the fish and cook on low flame on both sides till nicely browned and well cooked. Cooking in low flame gives a crispy layer to the fish. 

7. Do not keep on turning the fish as it may tear the layer sticking to it.

Easy Chocochip cookies and Whipped Cream Dessert

This is one of the dessert ideas which you can make within ten minutes if you have 3 ingredients in hand. Chocochip cookies, whipped cream and chocolate syrup.

I had baked some chocochip cookies and had 4 or 5 left. I had bluebird whipping powder packet in hand so thought of this idea. The outcome was really great and I got the feeling of eating an icecream with chocolate and nuts. :). This would be a delight for kids as well as for guests. It is very simple yet very tasty.

            

Ingredients:

• Chocochip cookies - 4 or 5 ( more if you have small sized ones. Mine were quite big)
• Chocolate syrup - as needed ( I used hersheys brand)
• Blue bird whipping cream powder - 50g.
• Ice cold water - 1/4 cup for making whipped cream

Method:

1. Crumble the cookies. Beat the whipping cream powder and ice cold water until soft peaks form. It is just a layered dessert so soft peaks will be sufficient.

       2. In a glass, start assembling the dessert. Place some whipped cream, then some cookie crumble and drizzle some chocolate syrup. Repeat till you reach the rim of the glass.
       3. Garnish as per your preference. I just drizzled some choco syrup and placed a cherry for 1 glass and dusted some cocoa powder and choco syrup for the other.
       4. Place in refrigerator for half an hr or till chilled. Serve!.

Notes:

• The above dessert can be modified as per your tastes. For example, if you have leftover chocolate cake you can use them instead of the cookies, you can add chopped fruits as a layer, or even jam. You can even add nuts of your choice.So let your imagination fly :)
• My cream layer was bigger as I do not like too much crunchiness. So if you want your dessert to be more crunchy make the cookie layer big.
• If you plan to use the whipped cream later, refrigerate till use.

Sala Meen Fry/Sardines fry

I usually love fish especially small fish like sala meen and nethili fish. These tiny fish called sala meen are very good for our skin and hair growth. Also they are good source of omega 3 fatty acids and calcium and folate.

I saw this recipe in a Zee tamil channel program called Anjaraipetti. In the show they used nethili meen. I use the recipe for both sala meen and nethili meen and both come out very tasty. In the original recipe they cooked according to Kerala style using coconut oil, but I use normal refined oil as I dont use coconut oil much for cooking. So, if you want a typical Kerala flavour you can use coconut oil. This recipe is very flavourful as such with a wonderful curry leaves aroma.

Ingredients:

•  Sala meen/Sardines - around 25 to 30
• Garlic - 7 to 8 pearls
• Ginger - 1 small piece
• Peppercorns - 3/4 tsp
• Fennel seeds - 1/2tsp
• Chilli powder - 2 and 1/2 tsp (I used homemade)
• Turmeric powder - 2 pinches
• Salt - as needed
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Lime juice - from half a lemon
• Oil - 1/2 tsp
• Oil - to shallow fry
• Curry leaves - a bunch

Method:

1. Grind together garlic,ginger,peppercorns,fennel seeds, chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder,salt, lime juice,1/2tsp oil along with little water if needed to a thick paste. Dont grind it too watery.

2. Clean the fish well and marinate it with the ground masala and set aside for 30 mins. 

3. Once the marination is done, heat a pan with oil for shallow frying. Spread the curry leaves such that it forms a horizontal bed and place the fish over the curry leaves as shown below.

4. There evolves a lovely curry leaves aroma from the pan. Place the flame in medium low and once the bottom turns a brown color gently flip to the other side using a spoon. It may take 2 to 21/2 mins. Cook on the other side too. Repeat the process for all fish. You can have the crispy curry leaves as such and it tastes so good. I love to eat them as such. So dont miss it if you are a curry leaves lover.

Veg Macaroni / Pasta Recipe

I came across this recipe in Aval Vikatan and tried it. It came out awesome so wanted to share here. I had a packet of macaroni lying idle for 1 month and this was the perfect recipe for it. This recipe would be sufficient for 3 people. And its healthy as well as we add vegetables and spinach.

Ingredients:

1. Pasta/Macroni - 1 packet (200gms)
2. Pasta sauce - 3/4 cup
3. Garlic - 4 cloves, finely chopped
4. Carrot - 1 big finely chopped
5. Cucumber - 1 big finely chopped
6. Palak - 1 cup (I used ponnangani keerai as I didnt have palak in hand)
7. Olive oil - 1&1/2 tbsp
8. Salt - as needed
9. Cheese, grated- just for garnish

Method:

1. Cook the macaroni as given in the pack. Reserve some of the cooked water. Once cooked wash it with cold water and toss it with a tsp of oil so that it does not stick to each other.
2. Heat oil in kadai, add the garlic and saute. Once browned, add the vegetables and spinach. Saute for some time and close the kadai with  little water till the vegetables get cooked.
3. Add the cooked pasta and mix  well so that it is combined with the vegetables.
4. Now add the pasta sauce and mix well. Add required salt and mix.
5. Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve hot!.


Notes:

• The original recipe called for two cups of pasta sauce. But since my husband doesnt like too much of sauce in his dish I reduced. And it was just right. If you reduce further it would become dry.
• I made homemade pasta sauce following this recipe and its very simple to make too.
• You can also add capsicum if you want. 
• I didnt have palak so I used ponnangani keerai. I didnt find much alteration in taste.
• I finely chooped the veggies so that it will be cooked soon. If you want you can chop them big.
• I added salt in pasta sauce already so I reduced accordingly.

Mint Lime Ginger Cooler

I saw this recipe in a supplement of Aval Vikatan and it came out so good. I replaced the sugar in the recipe with honey still the result was awesome. Its very simple and is good for digestion and urinary tract infections.

Ingredients: (Serves 2 people)

1. Pudhina/Mint leaves - 1 fistful
2. Ginger - 1 inch piece
3. Salt - 2 pinches
4. Honey/Sugar - as needed (I used 4 spoons of honey)
5. Lime juice - 1 tsp
6. Chilled water - 400 ml

Method:

• Take mint leaves, ginger and salt in a small mixie. Add little chilled water and grind to a paste.
• Filter it by adding little chilled water. Collect the juice in a bowl.
• Add the remaining water, lime juice, honey/sugar and mix well. Serve!.