Jilebi / Jalebi

Diwali, the festival of lights (and sweets!), is here. Back home, these days would be filled with light and the sounds of crackers and fireworks. I am missing all that, being in this part of the world. Another main attraction of Diwali is all the different varieties of sweets that are made at home or become available in stores during that time. So this year I wanted to make something too, which is when I landed upon this simple recipe of Jalebi/Jilebi in Vanitha magazine. It was a super simple recipe that I could not help trying and Jalebis have always been (and still is) a weakness of mine!

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Makes around 40 Jilebis (Depending on the size)

For the dough

Urad Dal	- 1 cup
Water	- 1/2 cup
Yellow Food Color	- 4 drops (Optional)
Refined Oil	- as needed to fry

For the syrup

Water	- 1 1/4 cups
Sugar	- 2 cups
Rosewater	- 1 tbsp
Yellow food color	- 2 drops (Optional)
Salt	- less than a pinch

1. Soak the Urad dal for at least 1 hour.
2. Grind the soaked dal into a smooth paste adding half a cup of water.
3. Add 3-4 drops of food color to this dough and mix well.
4. In a pan start boiling the water and sugar together for making the syrup.
5. When the syrup starts to thicken, add the rosewater, salt and 2 drops of food color.
6. When the syrup reaches a thick consistency, turn the stove to low. The syrup should be on the stove on low flame through out the whole cooking process. Syrup should not be of a thread consistency, but rather that of a simple syrup or syrup of Gulab Jamun. If the water starts to become of thread consistency during the cooking process, add more water and adjust.
7. In a shallow frying pan, add oil and heat. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium which is the temperature to be maintained through out the frying process.
8. Fill the dough into a Ziploc bag and make a small cut at one of the corners to squeeze the dough into the oil to make jalebis. Make sure that the hole you make is really small. You could adjust the size of the hole after trying to squeeze out a little bit of batter to the oil. 
9. Start squeezing out the dough into the oil in any pattern you want.
10. Fry the jalebis crisp and transfer immediately to the sugar syrup.
11. Let the jalebi soak in the syrup for 5-8 minutes. 
12. Remove from the syrup and place it on the serving plate.

Note: Start making the jalebi as soon as the dough is made; do not let it sit too long.

As you can see it is a super simple recipe with very little ingredients. Be sure to try it and I am sure you will like it. A Happy Diwali to all my friends!

Old Fashioned Banana Cake

Looks like I am becoming a hard core Ina Garten fan. This is another one of her recipes from the Barefoot Contessa book series "How easy is that?". Now what is the difference between banana cake and banana bread? The only thing I know of is that the banana bread is made in a loaf pan and the other one in a regular cake pan. If one of you has a better answer than that, let me know. This is a super moist 'n soft cake recipe and the taste reminds me of the unniyappams (a traditional fried snack made with rice flour, banana, etc). I have slightly altered the recipe to reduce the amount of sugar.

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Makes a 9" Cake

Very Ripe Bananas	- 3 (mashed)
Granulated Sugar	- 1/2 cup
Light Brown Sugar	- 1/2 cup (lightly packed)
Vegetable Oil	- 1/2 cup
Eggs	- 2
Sour Cream	- 1/2 cup
Pure Vanilla Extract	- 1 tsp
Grated Orange zest	- from a small orange
All Purpose Flour	- 2 cups
Baking Soda	- 1 tsp
Salt	- 1/2 tsp
Coarsely chopped walnuts	- 1/2 cup

1. Using an electric mixer or blender, mix the mashed bananas, granulated sugar and brown sugar on a low speed until combined. The original recipe calls for 3/4 cup granulated sugar. So if you want it to be sweeter, you could add 3/4 cup.
2. Add the oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla essence and orange zest to the banana-sugar mixture and mix at low speed until smooth. If you do not have orange zest, you could avoid them.
3. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt to combine them well.
4. Add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet ingredients in a slow speed and combine well.
5. Stir in the chopped walnuts to the cake batter.
6. Pour the batter into a greased 9" baking pan.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50-55 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. The heating time varies by the oven, so keep checking towards the last 10-15 minutes.
8. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and turn on to a cooling rack and cool completely.

You should also be able to bake it in a loaf pan or even make this into muffins.  This is a perfect snack which has the goodness of bananas and the crunchiness of the walnuts. You could also make this cake without the walnuts, if you do not like them.

Chicken Puffs

Let me start off by saying a "Happy New Year" to all my friends out there! Hope you all had a fantastic start.  Before I get on to the recipe, let me tell you about one of the most exciting recognition that I received end of December. My Kinnathappam recipe was selected as one of "The 30 Best Recipes of 2010" at a contest conducted by Chacko’s Kitchen. So not to mention that I have had a fantastic start for 2011!

So I will start off this year's post with an appetizer - Chicken Puffs. Something I have missed a lot after coming to US. Back home, this used to be one of the favorite snack for tea, and we used to have it at least once a week. But we never made this home. I would run to our nearby bakery - Anjali Bakery - one of the popular ones in the Trivandrum area to get the fresh baked hot puffs just out of the oven. They were in huge demand that you have to get them by 2pm or they would be gone. It was a blessing when I discovered the puff pastry sheets in the grocery stores in US. So here is what I do to recreate the taste and memories back home of the fresh hot puffs from Anjali Bakery.

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Makes 12-15 Puffs

Oil	- 2 tbsp
Onion	- 1 small (0.65 lbs)
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 2 tsp
Garam Masala	- 1 tsp
Chicken	- 0.45 lbs (cooked & shredded)
Pepper Powder	- 1/2 tsp (coarsely crushed)
Puff Pastry Sheets	- 2 or 2 1/2 sheets
Egg White	- from 1 egg
Salt	- to taste

1. Add oil in a pan and add and saute onions when the oil is hot.
2. When the onion turns translucent, add the ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
3. Add turmeric powder, chilly powder and garam masala to this and saute for a minute or two.
4. Add the shredded chicken to this and mix until well combined. I used a 12.5oz can of chicken chunks. 
5. Add the coarsely crushed pepper and salt and mix well for 5-10 minutes in a medium flame. 
6. Turn off the stove and let the mixture cool.
7. Thaw the Puff Pastry Sheets as instructed in the packaging.
8. Cut the thawed puff pastry sheets into the required shape. I made 6 puffs from one sheet as you can see from the picture. A packet has 2 sheets.

9. Fill each puff with 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp of the chicken mixture.
10. Line the sides of the pastry with water using your hands and seal the puffs with the filling. The water will help it stick well together.
11. Once all the puffs are done, beat the egg whites and brush the top of all the puffs with a light coat of egg whites. This will give the puffs a glazed look.
12. Arrange the Puffs in a baking tray lined with a parchment paper or greased with butter/oil.
13. Preheat the oven at 400 degree F and bake the puffs for 20 minutes or until they are slightly brown.

This recipe will make 12-15 puffs depending on how much filling you put into each puffs. You could replace the chicken with veggies or beef to make a variation. Serve the puffs with ketchup or on its own with tea. It will definitely be a perfect appetizer for parties!

Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

Muffins are like cupcakes, except that they are a little bigger and it is a widely accepted breakfast item in this part of the world (US). Also cupcakes normally come with frosting and muffins do not. When I think muffins, I think of blueberries, may be because I love blueberry muffins. I feel that muffins are at its best with blueberries; somehow I have a feeling that my 4 year old son believes so too. This recipe is from Ina Garten's book Barefoot Contessa Family Style. Even though it is called Coffee Cake muffins, coffee is not an ingredient; may be they call it so as it is eaten with/or intended to be eaten with coffee at the breakfast table.

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Makes 18 muffins

Unsalted Butter	- 1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) at room temperature
Sugar	- 1 1/2 cups
Extra Large Eggs	- 3
Pure Vanilla Extract	- 1 1/2 tsp
Sour Cream	- 1 cup
Milk	- 1/4 cup
All Purpose Flour	- 2 1/2 cups
Baking Powder	- 2 tsp
Baking Soda	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- 1/2 tsp
Blueberry	- 2 cups

1. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy for about 5 minutes using an electric mixer.
2. With the mixer at low speed, add one egg at a time to the butter-sugar mixture.
3. Add in vanilla, sour cream and milk to the batter and blend well.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. With the mixer at low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed.
6. Fold in the blueberries using a spatula and mix it slowly and uniformly into the batter.
7. Preheat the oven at 350 degree F.
8. Line the muffin tray with paper liners and scoop the batter into the paper liners in the muffin pan, filling each cup just over the top.
9. Bake for 30 minutes until top of the muffins are lightly browned and a cake tester comes out clean.

A tip from the book to scoop equal quantity of batter for the muffins was to use an ice cream scoop and to grease the top of the muffin pans to make it easier to take the muffins out. Both the tips worked out well for me.

This is a must-try bakery style muffin which would be a sure hit among the kids. My son liked it so much that he was not happy about me taking a few to office for my friends.

Parippu Vada / Lentil Fritters

It is getting colder and colder in this part of the world. These are the times when you feel like having some of those comfort snacks like Parippu Vada (Lentil Fritters), Ulli Vada (Onion Fritters), etc with a cup of steaming hot tea. I still remember those old days when we used to wait for the lady who used to bring parippu vada most every evening to sell at our place. We used to wait for her, so we can have the tea with the vadas. Now that I do not have the luxury of sitting and waiting for the lady who sells Parippu vada, I had to dig into my bookmarked recipe from Mishmash to make the vadas myself.  

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Makes 20-22 vadas

Toor Dal	- 1 cup
Small Onions/Shallots	- 3/4 cup (chopped)
Ginger	- 1/8 cup (thinly chopped)
Green Chilly	- 1/8 cup (thinly chopped)
Curry Leaves	- 2 twigs (chopped)
Salt	- to taste
Oil	- as needed to deep fry

1. Soak the dal for at least an hour.
2. In a grinder, quickly grind the dal into a very coarse paste and transfer to a bowl.
3. Add in the chopped small onions, ginger, green chilly, curry leaves and salt to the dal and mix well.
4. Check to see if you can make a small gooseberry size ball out of the dough and flatten it slightly with your palm. If you think the dough is not sticking together, it could be because the dough is too course. If this is the case, take half of the dough and mix it again in the grinder to a slightly less coarse texture. Mix this with the rest of the dough to create cohesiveness for the dough to stick together.
5. Heat oil in a deep frying pan in medium flame. Test if the oil is hot by dropping a tiny bit of the dough and see if it comes to the top with oil bubbling around.
6. When the oil is hot, start making the balls out of the dough, flattening it with your palms and fry it in the oil.
7. Fry in a medium flame so that the inside is cooked well while the outside is crispy.

Serve your Parippu Vadas with a steaming hot cup of tea or coffee. What could be better than this on a cold and freezing wintry evening. Thanks Shn for sharing the recipe!

Jammers (Grand Central Bakery Jammers)

 Tomorrow being Thiruvonam, the biggest festival of the state of Kerala, let  me start by wishing all my blogger friends a Happy and Prosperous Onam.

As I have always mentioned in my posts, I am a big fan of cook books. These days flipping through baking cookbooks have become one of my favorite pass times, whether I make something out of it or not is a different question. The recipes should look really impressive and kinda easy to make, for me to come to that- "Try-it-out" mode. So this recipe here is something I came across from "The Grand Central Baking Book". This book contains some of the menu items available at the popular Grand Central Bakery; I have never been to the bakery myself, but reading this book is making me want to. So one of these days I am definitely going to  pay them a visit. The Jammers are really easy to make and a perfect addition to the breakfast menu. 

Makes 7-8 Jammers

All-purpose flour (Maida)	- 2 cups
Granulated Sugar	- 1 1/2 tbsp
Baking Powder	- 1 tsp
Baking Soda	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- 3/4 tsp
Unsalted Butter	- 1/2 cup (1 stick)
Buttermilk	- 1/2 cup
Jam/Preserve	- 8 tbsp

1. Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt) using a whisk.

2. Cut in the butter into the flour and use your hands or a mixer at a low speed to blend the butter into the dry ingredients until the flour texture changes to mealy. You should still see dime sized pieces of butter in the flour. You could refrigerate the mixture covered with a plastic wrap at this point, if you want to prepare later.

3. Make a well in the flour mixture and add in the buttermilk. Gently mix the dough until it comes together. Do not knead too much. The end product of this step should still have visible chunks of butter and floury patches. Add additional buttermilk (a tablespoon at a time), if the dough is dry and too crumbly.

4. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough using the heels and sides of your palm, about 1.5 to 2 inches thick. The dough will not look smooth at this point either, and that is what we want.

5. Using a biscuit cutter or a water glass cut into circles about 2  to 2.5 inches diameter. Roll out the leftover scraps and repeat cutting into circles.

 6. Using your thumb make an indentation at the center of the biscuit that goes almost to the bottom of the biscuit that is wider at the bottom. While doing this, support the outer edge of the biscuits with your fingers.

7. Fill in the indentation with a tablespoon of jam and put them 1 1/2 inches apart in a baking tray lined with a baking sheet.

8. Preheat the oven at 350 degree F and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

The jammers taste at their best when eaten warm. It is definitely a perfect breakfast and I would  also eat it as a snack anytime.

Rosebud Madeleines

Madeleine was on my list since long. These are very small sponge cakes with a shell like shape, which is obtained using the special madeleine molds. These are described as French butter cakes cause of their French origin and yummy buttery taste. I was looking around in most local stores in my area since sometime to find the madeleine pan, but without much success. That is when CSN stores contacted me to do a review of some of their products. I was looking at the wide variety of products that they had to offer, ranging from twin beds to cookwares to pick the perfect item for my review and guess what, I found the Madeleine pan on their cookware website. They do have a wide selection of all kinds of specialty cookware. Something definitely worth checking out!

Once I received the Madeleine pan, I started going over the 5 to 6 recipes that I had shortlisted for making madeleines. One of them was the Rosebud Madeleine recipe that was in the book "How to be a domestic Goddess" by Nigella Lawson. That sounded perfect, one of the reasons being the use of rose water which I love the flavor of.

Makes 12 Madeleines

Salted Butter	- 1/4 cup + Additional for greasing
Eggs	- 1 large
Sugar	- 2 tbsp (level)
All purpose flour (Maida)	- 1/3 cup
Rosewater	- 1 tbsp
Confectioner's Sugar	- for dusting (optional)

1. Melt the butter at a low heat and then leave to cool. You could also use unsalted butter (that is what the recipe actually calls for and then add a pinch of salt to the batter).
2. Beat the Egg and Sugar in a bowl for 5 minutes using an electric mixer, until it is as thick a mayonnaise.

3. Sieve in the flour into the egg-sugar mix shaking a sieve that is held above the egg-sugar mix.

4. Fold in the flour smoothly into the egg-sugar mix.
5. Add the melted butter and Rosewater and mix smoothly in.
6. Keep the batter in the refrigerator for an hour and then leave at room temperature for 30 minutes. (This is an optional step; I tried it with and without this step; did not feel much difference).
7. Preheat the oven at 425 degree F.
8. Brush the insides of the madeleine molds generously with butter.
9. Fill the molds with the batter (this would be 2+ teaspoons full for each). Do not worry about filling the indentations completely with the batter. The batter will spread as it heats up.
10. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Keep checking in between. It will be ready as the sides start to brown a bit.
11. Remove the madeleines from the pan and let it cool on a rack.

 12. You could serve by dusting confectioner's sugar. It is awesome even without dusting the sugar.

These are a perfect tea time snack and for munching anytime. It is also an easy recipe with not too many ingredients. If you do not have rosewater, you could use some other essence like vanilla. But I would suggest getting rosewater if you have an option.

Showing off my newly acquired possession from cookware.com.

Honey Drop Cookies

Each country has a different name for a Cookie. In India and England they are called biscuits; in Spain they are called Galletas; and so on. According to culinary historians, the first historic record of cookies was their use as test cakes. A small amount of cake batter was baked to test the oven temperature. The name cookie is derived from the Dutch word koekje, meaning "small or little cake". Biscuit comes from the Latin word bis coctum, which means, “twice baked”. That is some history about cookie that I got from the internet.

The recipe that I have here is adapted from the Kairali Cookery Show "Magic Oven" by Lakshmi Nair. It is a quick and easy recipe and very tasty too.

All Purpose flour (Maida)	- 1/2 cup
Baking Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Egg	- 1
Sugar	- 1/3 cups
Salted Butter	- 3 tbsp
Honey	- 2 tsp
Vanilla Essence	- 1/4 tsp

1. Sift the flour and baking powder together. Also add a pinch of salt if you are using unsalted butter.

2. In another bowl, whisk the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy.

3. To the butter, add the egg and beat well.

4. Add in the essence and honey and mix well.

5. Add the sifted flour and mix well.

6. Pre-heat the oven at 300 degrees F.

7. Line a baking pan with parchment paper and grease with butter.

8. Drop by 1/2 tsp of batter to the pan. Make sure you leave enough space between each drop of the batter as it would increase in size.

9. Bake for around 12-15 minutes until the cookie is golden brown.

When you take the cookie out of the oven, it may be slightly soft at the center. But as it cools it would become crispy.

This recipe will yield 30-35 cookies. My son loved it and the entire box of cookies vanished in no time! It is a quick recipe and a keeper.

Moong Dal Kichadi

After Moong Dal Kachori, it is now time for Moog Dal Kichadi! This Kichadi is not the kind that you would have on a traditional Kerala sadya. This is a sweet dish and it is called Kichadi, don't know why it is called so. My mom makes this once in a while, especially during the Ramzan fasting time. It is a quick dessert, but it serves more as an evening snack for me. It is healthy and a good dish for kids.

Moong Dal	- 1 cup
Rice	- 1/4 cup
Water	- 3 1/2 cup
Sugar	- 3/4 cup to 1 cup (depending on your taste)
Salt	- 1/4 tsp (heaped)
Coconut Milk	- 1 cup (thick)
Ghee	- 1 1/2 tsp

1. In a pressure cooker, put Moong Dal, Rice (I used Sona Masoori) and 2 cup of water and cook it for two whistles.
2. Open the cooker after the pressure is completely released.
3. Mash the mixture slightly and add the remaining water, sugar and salt and mix well.
4. Once it starts to boil, add the coconut milk and mix it well again.
5. When this is almost ready to boil, turn off the heat and add the ghee and mix it.

You dish is ready. You can eat it as a dessert or a snack.

Khasta Kachori / Moog Dal Kachori for ICC

Khasta Kachori is the first one of the challenges that I took, as part of being a member of ICC started by Srivalli of Spicing Your Life. The reason for me joining the group was to try out some of the dishes that the group makes, which I would never make otherwise. So this would be a learning for me of all those unknown recipes. After joining, when I saw Kachoris is the challenge for January, I was not so excited. The main reason being I have never had Kachori before and didn't think it would taste good. But now I am really happy that I joined the challenge and took the effort to make kachori and tried this out! If it does taste anything near to what I made, I would say they are a must-try!

This recipe is adapted from Medhaa's Aunty and Tarla Dalal.

Resting Time for the Dough	- around 1/2 to 1 hr
Frying time for the Kachoris	- 20 mins for each batch
Soaking Time for Moog Daal	- around 1 hr
Cooking Time for Filling	- around 15 mins
Yields	- around 15

For the Dough

All purpose flour/Maida	- 2 cups
Oil/Ghee	- 1/4 cup
Salt	- 1/2 tsp
Water	- as needed for kneading

1. Mix the flour and salt and add the oil/ghee; mix till you get a bread crumbs texture.
2. Slowly add water and make a soft dough. Knead well for about 8 minutes.
3. Cover and keep aside to rest for at least half hour.

For the Filling

Split Moong Dal (yellow)	- 1/2 cup
Cumin Seeds	- 1 tsp
Asafoetida	- a pinch
Curry Leaves	- 2 tsp chopped fine
Green Chilli - Ginger paste	- 1 tsp
Sauf / Fennel seeds powder	- 1 tsp
Garam Masala	- 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder	- 1/2 tsp
Mango powder/Amchur	- 1 tsp
Oil	- 1 tsp
Salt	- to taste

1. Wash and Soak dal in water for atleast 1 hour. You can go up to 4 hours, not more.
2. Drain the water well.
3. Grind the dal to a coarsely. (Will resemble Idli Rawa)
4. Heat oil in a pan.
5. Add the hing and cumin seeds.
6. Once the seeds splutter add the curry leaves.
7. Add the dal.
8. Lower the heat and keep stirring for 5 minutes till the dal stops sticking to the pan.
9. Cook for another 10 minutes on low till the dal turns slightly brown.
10. Add all the masalas.
11. Cook for few minutes till the aroma of the spices hit you.
12. Add Salt.
13. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool.

Special Tips / Notes for the filling:

• The fillings have to be really dry if not when rolling they will ooze out when rolling.
• For idea on pressing the filled kachori, check out Manjula's method. If you try to press out using a rolling pin, the filling may come out and make holes in the kachori.
• Fry the kachori's on medium low to get a crisp outer layer, that is the key. For people using electric stove, the numbers can be going from 6 to 4.

Oma Podi or Kara Seva

This time the recipe comes from my hubby dear! No, he does not cook very much. There is a handful that he makes and comes out excellent. This is one of the new additions to his list. I would call it a combination of Oma Podi and Kara Seva, coz it looks like Oma podi - but does not have Omam/Ajwain and hence the ingredients match more that of Kara Seva. Anyways it came out great that a tin of this snack vanished in a single day!

Rice Flour	- 1/2 cup
Besan (Gram Flour)	- 1 cup
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 1 tbsp
Asafoetida	- 2 pinch
Chilly Powder	- 1/2 tbsp
Salt	- to taste
Water	- 3/4 cup
Oil	- as needed for deep frying

1. Mix all ingredients together except Oil to make a smooth/soft dough.
2. When adding water make sure it is thick and soft enough to be pressed using an Idiyappam maker (Noodle maker).

3. Heat enough Oil in a pan to deep fry the snack.
4. Fill dough into the Idiyappam maker and press the sev into the hot oil.
5. Make sure to place the sev in oil with enough gap, so that they don't stick together.
6. When almost done, turn them over to fry both sides equally.
7. Take the sev off the oil and put them into a tissue paper to drain off any excess oil.

Once cooled, you could store them in containers (if you can resist the temptation). It is an excellent tea time snack!

Mutta Surka

Mutta Surka is a tea time snack. I do not have any clue about the origin of this snack, whether it is a Kerala dish or a Tamil Nadu one. It is something that my mom and mil makes. It could be made as a sweet or spicy snack. I love the spicy one more and the version I have here is my mom's and it is the spicy one.

Rice Flour      - 1 cup (Roasted)
Coconut         - 1/2 cup (Grated)
Ginger            - 1 tbsp heaped (Crushed coarsely)
Green Chilly    - 3 (Crushed coarsely)
Small Onions   - 6 to 7 (Crushed coarsely)
Egg                 - 1
Curry Leaves   - 1 twig
Salt                 - to taste
Water             - 1 cup
Oil                  - as needed to fry 

1. Take rice flour in a bowl.
2. Add Coconut, Crushed Ginger, Green Chilly, Small Onions, chopped Curry Leaves, Egg, Salt and water to the rice flour and make a thick batter.
3. Heat Oil in a Unniappam Chatti (Karol Scoops).

4. Drop a spoonful of batter into each of the scoops. Fry until slightly golden brown.

Enjoy Mutta Surka with your evening tea! The quantity mentioned here would make around 20 mutta surkas. You could make the sweet version by adding sugar instead of ginger and green chilly.

Unnakka - A Variation

Unnakka (Unnakai / Unnakaya) is a specialty of the Malabar region. The name of the dish comes from its shape. My mom used to make this yummy snack especially during the fasting season (Ramzan) as one of the items for breaking the fast. It is one of my favorites. Let me tell you that this is not the real traditional version of unnakka, but a quick and easy version with some variations of mine.

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Makes around 25-30 pieces (depending on the shape)

Plantains	- 2 big (Ripe, not too much ripe though)
Sugar	- 3-4 tbsp (to taste)
Egg	- 4
Salt	- a pinch
Oil	- 2 tbsp + Additional for frying
Raisins	- 3/4 cup
Cashew Nuts	- 1/2 cup (broken into small pieces)
Ghee	- 1 tbsp
Coconut	- 1/2 cup (grated)
Bread	- 3 loaves

1. Pressure cook the plantain for a single whistle. You could also cook it in a little water or steam it.
2. Take a pan and heat 2 tbsp oil. To this add the beaten eggs (with a pinch of salt) - around 3 1/2 eggs. Keep 1/2 egg for frying later.
3. Scramble the egg and transfer to another bowl.
4. Add the ghee to the pan and fry the Cashews and Raisins till plump. Transfer it together with the scrambled eggs and turn off the stove.
5. Now mash the plantain well and add coconut, scrambled eggs, raisins and cashews to it.
6. Mix everything well and add sugar as needed, depending on the sweetness of the plantain.
7. Take a small ball of this mixture and roll it into the shape of unnakka or any shape you want. Continue this process for the complete mixture.
8. Put the bread in a mixer and make it into crumbs. You could also use store bought bread crumbs instead.
9. Take each unnakka and dip into the kept aside beaten egg.
10. Roll this in the bread crumbs.
11. Heat enough oil in a frying pan to fry the unnakka.
12. When the oil is hot, fry each of the unnakka that is rolled in bread crumbs till golden brown.

I don't think the ones I made shows the proper shape of unnakka nor have I followed the traditional style; but still they taste yummy. It is a great evening snack.

Mutta Appam

First let me Wish a Very Happy Twenty Ten to all my friends out there!

Mutta Appam is a quick and easy snack/breakfast. This is something I learnt from my MIL. She has a lot of such easy and quick fix dishes, most of which I have just eaten without wondering how it is made, when I used to live with R's family back in India. Now I have started calling her up for these easy dishes. So you could expect more of these kinds coming up soon... I guess these may have an origin from South Tamil Nadu, as she is from there...

For making Mutta Appam, you would need the following:

Rice Flour      -  1 cup (flour used for Idiyappam - Roasted flour)
Egg                -  2
Coconut         -  3/4 cup (Grated)
Sugar             -  2 - 3 tbsp
Salt                -  1/4 tsp
Water            -  1 1/4 cup
Small Onions  -  2
Oil                 -  1 tbsp

1. Take the rice flour in a mixing bowl and add the Eggs to it and mix well.
2. Add Coconut, Sugar, Salt and Water to the rice flour and make a batter as thick as the Dosa / Pancake batter.
3. Chop the small onions into small pieces.
4. Heat a tawa / frying pan (at least an inch deep).
5. Pour 1/2 tbsp oil into the pan and add half the onions to this when the oil is hot enough.
6. Let the Onions slightly brown.
7. Pour half of the batter to this and ensure that the heat is at medium.
8. When the top of the mixture is almost set, turn it over (this would take 8-10 minutes).
9. Give the other side 5-6 minutes and take it out.
10. Repeat the same steps for the next one.
11. Sprinkle some sugar on top, if needed. 

You could divide the batter into 3 portions and make 3 appams, if you want a slightly thinner version.