Raw Banana (Vazhakkai) Spicy Podimas

Adapted From

South Indian Vegetarian Classic Lunch Recipes by Mallika Badrinath


Ingredients

Raw Banana/Vazhakkai - 1 
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Oil - To fry
Salt - To taste
Garlic - 2 flakes
Green Chillies - 2
Grated Fresh Coconut - 1 tbsp


Procedure

Steam banana with skin in the pressure cooker for about 10 minutes in medium flame.

Peel the outer skin and allow to cool completely.

Once completely cool, grate it.

Meanwhile, pound together garlic, green chillies, and grated fresh coconut coarsely.

In a kadai, heat about 2 tsp of oil and fry chopped onions till crisp.

Add the grated banana and the pound ingredients and fry till the raw smell is lost and the mixture turns golden brown.

Sprinkle salt and mix thoroughly well.

Remove from fire and serve with hot steamed rice.

Notes:

Save the peeled outer skin of the banana to make chutneys and curries.  They are highly rich in anti-cancerous properties.  You can use it to make the Raw Banana Peel Stir Fry.

Chola (Sorghum/Jowar) Kuzhi Paniyaaram

Recipe Source

Doctor Vikatan


Ingredients

Jowar/Sorghum/Vellai Cholam - 200 gm
Urad Dhal (Uzhundhu Paruppu) - 50 gm
Small Onions - 50 gm
Fenugreek (Vendhayam) - 1 tsp
Red Chillies - 4
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Finely Chopped Coconut - 1 tbsp
Curry Leaves - Few
Oil - To fry
Salt - As needed


Method

Wash and soak jowar, urad dal, and fenugreek in just enough water for 5 hours.

Grind them together adding water to a dosa batter consistency.

Add finely chopped small onions, broken red chillies, salt, asafoetida, finely chopped coconut pieces, and finely chopped curry leaves to the batter and mix well.

Heat paniyaram pan on medium flame and drizzle little oil in each cavity.  Pour the batter in each cavity and allow to cook.

Turn over the paniyarams and roast both sides to golden brown drizzling enough oil over.

Serve hot with desired chutney.


Notes

Vellai cholam is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, and other nutrients.  Urad dal and fenugreek are iron and protein rich.  Vitamins and minerals enrich this combination of ingredients.  Good for development of healthy bones.  Skin disease prone persons should avoid the vellai cholam. 

Vetrilai/Betel Leaf Health Drink

Recipe Source

Doctor Vikatan


Ingredients

Betel Leaves - 7
Milk - 2 cups (boiled and cooled)
Sabja Seeds (Sweet Basil seeds) - 1/2 tsp (soak in water)
Rose Syrup - 1 tbsp 
Gulkand (candied rose petals) - 4 tsp 
Almonds, Cashews, Pista - 2 each (chopped)
Dried Fig - 1 (chopped)


Method

Wash the betel leaves well and grind to a fine paste adding just enough water.

Mix this with milk, gulkand, soaked sabja seeds, rose syrup, chopped nuts and figs.

Chill and serve.


Notes

Adjust the quantity of rose syrup according to taste.

Benefits

Betel leaves helps avoid bad breath; moistens the gums.  The sabja seeds have high iron content which helps in resolving anemia.  Mouth ulcers/infections can also be reduced.  Vitamins and minerals are found in abundance in the dry fruits and nuts.  Gulkand is a best body coolant; also improves digestion.

Choco Chip Cookies - Eggless

Adapted from

Raks Kitchen

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour - 1 cup

Dark Chocolate Chips - 1/4 cup

Powdered Sugar - 6 tbsp

Unsalted Butter - 1/4 cup (at room temperature)

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp

Vanilla Essence - 1/2 tsp

Milk - 1 tbsp

Salt - A pinch


Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C for 10 minutes.

Sieve together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium size bowl, beat butter until soft.  Add sugar and beat with a whisk or a electric hand blender until you get a creamy texture.

Add vanilla essence, milk, and choco chips to this and mix until combined.

Add the sifted flour and mix to form a dough.

Divide the dough into even sized balls and flatten them on a baking tray lined with butter paper or parchment paper.  Leave enough space between the cookies as they tend to expand on baking.

Place the cookie tray in the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for 15-18 minutes.  They should be baked to golden brown.  Keep a watch after 12 minutes as baking time varies from oven to oven.

Leave them for 2-3 minutes inside the oven itself after switching off.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.  The cookies will be soft when hot and be crisp when cool.  Store in airtight container.

Notes:

I divided the dough into 20-22 gm balls and flattened them with my fingertips as cookies.  I could get around 20-24 cookies from this measurement of ingredients.  These cookies have turned to be an all-time favorite in our family and our neighbors too.

Please don't go just by the looks of it.  They were indeed really crisp, crunchy, and yummy and the pic doesn't do much justice.  I think I need to develop my photographic skills.

Chocolate Sauce/Spread

Ingredients:

Cooking Chocolate (Milk) - 150 gm

Cocoa Powder - 1/2 tbsp

Brown Sugar - 15 gm

Icing Sugar - 1 tbsp

Butter - 50 gm

Oil - 40 gm

Water - 60 mL

Salt - a pinch


Method:

Grate or finely chop the milk chocolate.  I used the pure chocolate (couverture) and not the compound.

Whisk together all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

Double boil them (i.e. place your chocolate bowl over a vessel of hot water) and stir well until the chocolate melts and forms a smooth paste.  Do not overheat.

Take off the heat and mix well.

Pour when warm into airtight containers and store.

When warm, it is like a thick sauce and solidifies to a spread when cooled.  If you want it saucy, mildly heat while using.  Else, this serves a very good spread for bread, pancakes, rotis, dosas etc. etc.  This is a chocolate lover's delight and easy to make too.

Replace dark chocolate for milk chocolate if you like the bitterness of it.  Alternatively, equal quantities of dark chocolate and milk chocolate can also be used.  Adjust according to your taste and preference.

Stays good in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Fruit and Nut Cake

Recipe Source:

Tupperware Booklet


Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 5 tsp
Powdered sugar - 4 tsp
Cooking oil - 4 tsp
Milk - 4 tsp
Raisins - 1 tsp
Milk Powder - 2 tsp
Vanilla Essence - 1/2 tsp
Cooking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Tutti Frutti - 2 tsp
Salt -  a pinch
Kiwi - 1
Orange - 1
Grapes - 12 to 15
Strawberries - 12 to 15
Raspberries - 12 to 15


Method:

Mix together all-purpose flour, sugar, raisins, cooking soda and salt.

Add oil, vanilla essence and milk to it and whisk well until it becomes a smooth batter. Finally add tutti frutti and mix again.

Bake the cake batter for 8 to 10 minutes.  Check it out after 10 minutes, and if the cake still looks wet, go ahead with another 2 to 3 minutes.

The cake would initially look puffed up but would drop down once cooled.

Heat honey with brown sugar for 2 minutes and add cut fruits (kiwi, orange, grapes, strawberries and raspberries) and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes.

Serve tuttifrutti cake with sugar coated fruits topping.

Orange and Ginger Cake

Recipe Credits:

Tupperware Brochure


Ingredients:

Eggs - 4
Sugar - 1-1/2  cups
Refined flour - 2 cups
Salt - a pinch
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Oranges - 2
Butter (melted) - 1 cup


Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and flour a loaf pan.

Separate the egg whites

In a bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks with half of the sugar.

In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and the other half of the sugar until thick and pale in color.

Grate the zest of one orange.

Squeeze out the juice.

Slice the remaining orange into round slices for topping and keep aside.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, zest and baking powder together.

Fold the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture (it will have a sandy texture). Then, pour in the melted and cooled butter and the orange juice stirring gently until the butter is just incorporated into the mix.  Finally, carefully fold in the egg whites.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, top with orange slices and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the point of a knife comes out clean when inserted in the center.

Nutritive value:

Cholesterol - 96.5 kcal
Protein - 10.9 gm
Fat - 26 gm