Avalose Podi

Avalose podi is a very common and popular snack from Kerala. As the name suggests, it is a snack in the powder form. Avalose podi has a long shelf life, hence it can be made in bulk and stored. This is usually eaten with sugar along with or without banana. I also know people who take this with their coffee or tea. Nowadays, it's readily available in shops, but trust me, you will surely love this homemade version more than the store-bought one.

Ingredients:
Raw rice- 1/2 kilogram
Coconut (scraped)- 1 full
Shallots-1-2 minced very fine
Salt a pinch
Cumin seed / Jeera- 1 teaspoon
Black sesame seeds- 1&1/2 teaspoon

Method
Soak rice in water for 4 hours, drain it, dry it and make it into coarse powder.I used my food processor and it was just perfect.  Scrape coconut and keep it aside.
 In a wide mouthed bowl, mix the rice flour, scraped coconut,shallots, 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, and salt.  Rub it nicely with your fingers and mix it nicely.  Keep it aside for 1 hour.  (Take care the rice flour should be dry)After one hour, heat a heavy bottomed pan or kadai.
 Add the rest of the cumin seeds and black sesame seeds and roast it.  Then add the mixture and roast it nicely till the color starts changing  to light brownish color at a low heat.
 As soon as it is done transfer the contents to another bowl.  Otherwise it will get over cooked by  the heat of the pan.
In case you have lumps sift the flour through a sieve (a bigger one) and then grind the bigger pieces that are left.  Fry that well and mix it with the fried avalose podi.
Allow it to cool and then store it in an airtight container.
 Serve it with sugar and bananas.

Onion 'N Carrot Samosa

Last few days had been cloudy and wet.There is some thing with  rainy days, that I don't feel guilty having fried snacks on those days. This easy peasy yet tasty samosa is what I made to please my craving.

Ingredients:

Wonton wrappers

Onion thinly sliced - 3/4 cup

Carrot grated - 1/2 cup

Green chillies finely chopped - 2

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Cilantro - few finely chopped

Poha / aval / flattened rice - 1/2 cup

Salt as needed

Oil for deep frying

Method:

Take sliced onions and carrot mix with salt and set aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze out the water from onion and carrot as much as you can. Mix rest of the ingredients except wonton wrappers and oil. Now take a wonton wrapper and  put the filling in the middle on one side and fold the wrapper in such a way that you get a triangle samosa. Seal the ends with some water. Deep fry samosas in hot oil until golden brown.Serve hot. 

Khaman Dhokla

Till a few years back I believed making Kaman Dhokla was a very difficult task which only a seasoned cook can accomplish. This may be because most of my Gujarati friends depended on their moms or in laws to make these or resorted to instant versions of dhokla, never daring to try it out themselves. A while ago I saw a few recipes online as well as in magazines for making these, but still I didn't try making them as I was still not convinced. Over an year ago Kaveri, one of my blogger friends posted this on her blog and as I have always gotten  good results from trying out  her recipes I thought of giving this a try. I was so happy with the result that I have made this a zillion times since then. This is so easy to put together and tastes better than any other I have tasted.
Recipe Source: Palakkad Chamayal
Ingredients:
Chickpea flour/Besan – 1 Cup
Curd – ½ cup
Water – ¼ cup
Green Chilly – 1 or 2
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Lemon Juice – 1 tsp
Oil – ½ tbsp
Sugar – 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder – a pinch
Eno – 1 packet /1 &1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

For tempering
Oil – 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
Green chilly – 1 Slit
Asafoetida – 1/8th teaspoon
Fresh Coriander/Cilantro Leaves for garnish

Method
In a blender add  turmeric powder, salt, sugar, green chilly, ginger, oil,water,lemon juice and curd and whip to smooth.  Add chickpea flour and blend once more to form a smooth batter.Transfer this to a bowl
Meanwhile heat a steamer with water for steaming. Add the eno fruit salt to the chickpea flour mixture mix gently and pour immediately into a  greased cake pan or plate. Steam for 7 to 8 minutes,
Remove and allow to cool.
Heat a small  pan with oil. Add mustard seeds, once they crackle add asafoetida powder and the slit green chilly.
Pour this over the steamed dhokla, garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
Cut into desired shapes and serve with chutney of your choice

Cashew Date Balls/Bars

If you are a fan of Larabars, this is a copy-cat of those famous and delicious health bars. This is a very easy one to make and as it uses all natural ingredients is a guilt free snack. What I like best about this is that it is so filling that you won't feel like reaching out to any of the other snacks.
When I had the Larabar the first time, it reminded me so much about the Andi unda (cashew balls) that I love so much. This is a traditional Kerala snack made with cashew, roasted rice, jaggery and coconuts. But when I tasted the Larabars I realized that I could have almost the same taste with lesser number of ingredients and a lot less effort.
If you want to have the exact taste of the Larabars, just avoid adding cardamom and don't dry roast the nuts. I made these changes to make this taste as close to the Andi unda as I can.

Ingredients:
8 oz seedless/pitted whole dates
1/2 cup whole raw unsalted cashews (dry roasted)
3 cardamom powdered (optional)
Method:
Measure out the dates and cashews and set aside. In the food processor, pulse the cashews until it turns to bite size pieces  Empty cashews into a big bowl.Pulse dates until there are no chunks left. Mix dates  with the cashews  along with  cardamom until all the nuts have been incorporated. The ball should be stiff. Now take a hand full and roll into smooth balls or you can  flatten to about 11/2 inch thickness with a rolling pin and cut it into little bars.

Kettle Corn

Aishwarya's favorite movie time snack is popcorns, more so if they are kettle corns. She has inherited my sweet teeth and prefers the caramalized version best.

This is comparable to the ones that you get in the fair grounds. It very easy to and almost as easy to make as the pre semi made ones you can make in a microwave.

Ingredients:
Unpopped popcorn kernels-1/2 cup
Sugar-1 /4 cup
Sunflower oil-5 tbs
Salt-1/8th teaspoon
Method:
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil  start to sizzle a bit test the temperature by adding  3 kernels. When they pop its ready to stir in the sugar and popcorn. Cover, and shake the pot constantly to keep the sugar from burning. Once the popping has slowed to once every 2 to 3 seconds, remove the pot from the heat and continue to shake for a few minutes until the popping has stopped. Pour into a large bowl, and  sprinkle with salt and allow to cool, after giving it a nice stir .

Kozhukatta

Kozhukkatta is a traditional south Indian snack, which is basically a steamed rice dumpling. There are different versions of Kozhukkatta, depending on the type of the filling. The filling can be either sweet or savory.  For this particular version, I have used coconut and jaggery mix as the filling.
The Christian population of Kerala traditionally makes this for Easter. I found some references that say that this is to commemorate the stoning of Jesus Christ on his way to the cross - and that these represent the stones. But being the peace loving person that I am,  I prefer to believe that this is a local version of the Easter eggs. Hence I shaped them like Easter eggs and not like rocks.

Ingredients
Rice flour - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Jaggery - 150 gm
Crushed Cardamom - 2
Water - 1 &1/4  to 1 &1/2cup
Salt to taste
Method
Heat a pan and melt the jaggery with 1/4 cup of water and strain the jaggery with a strainer.
Reheat the jaggery. Add grated coconut and keep stirring until it turns to thick consistency. Add crushed cardamom and remove from fire.Keep this aside
Boil 1 1/2 cup of water with salt. Pour the boiled water to the rice flour little by little and mix it with a spoon. Keep it aside till it is warm enough to handle
Knead the dough and make it into a soft ball. Make medium size balls out of the dough. Take one ball at a time and place it in your greased  palm and  flatten it gently to a circle, and keep about  1 tbs filling and bring all  together and seal it by pressing ends.Now roll it back it into a ball or an egg as I did.
Repeat this with the rest of the dough and filling.
Steam the balls or kozhukatta for 10 minutes on a medium flame. Keep it covered for 2 more minutes.

Mulaku Baji/Mirchi Baji

When I was pregnant with Aishwarya I didn't have any cravings as such. But one day almost into my 8th month while out shopping  I saw a street vendor selling Mulaku/Mirchi baji outside the mall. So I asked my hubby dear if I could have it. My friends, can you guess what Jai did. No he didn't get me that. Instead  he gave me a big lecture on how unhygienically  it is being prepared and what it would do to me and the baby. To this day I hold this against him and poor fellow he is still looking for a way to compensate for that.
So if you or any one in your family is longing for some fiery mulaku baji  here ends your search.
Ingredients :
Banana peppers-5/8
1 cup  Besan/ chickpea flour
2tbs Rice flour
1/2 teaspoon Asafoetida
1/2 to 1/4 teaspoon Red chili powder
1/8teaspoon Baking soda
Salt to taste
Cooking oil to deep fry
Method  :
Make lengthwise slits on the sides of the peppers without splitting the pepper,remove the seeds see that you do not split the peppers while deseeding.If you are a person who has very little tolerance to hot peppers soak the peppers in hot salted water for 15 minutes.Meanwhile mix rest of the ingredients to a smooth batter the consistency should be that of dosa batter. Dip each pepper in the batter to coat well on all sides. Deep fry them in hot oil on medium heat until crisp and cooked. Once cooked remove from the oil and drain them in kitchen towel. Serve hot.

Aval Vilayichathu

When I think of a traditional Kerala snack, Aval Vilayichatu is the first thing that comes to my mind. This is an easy to make, delicious treat that my mom used to make when we were kids. During my college years, when I would be returning after holidays my mom used to make this for me to take it back to my place. Though she used to make it in large quantities to last me for a few days, this was so much in demand with my friends and roomies that we would finish it off in a day or two. This is also made as an offering in some of the Kerala temples as well. I especially remember getting this as the "prasadam" at the temple on the Vijayadasami day.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice flakes/aval/poha
1 cups grated jaggery
1/2 cup water
1 heaped cup fresh,grated coconut
2 tsp ghee
1 tbs sesame seeds
2 tbs coconut slivers
3/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp dried ginger powder (optional)
Method:
Heat 1 tsp ghee in a wide pan. Now fry the coconut slivers and sesame and set aside. Dry roast the rice flakes and set this aside.
Make a jaggerry syrup by adding about half a cup of water.Strain it to get rid of the impurities. Add the grated coconut to this and cook till all the water evaporates. Add a teaspoon of ghee and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.
If you want this to last for a few days, you may make it dryer and store in airtight, dry containers.

Spring Roll

Last few days I had been making sweet dishes and snacks mostly that Jay began to complain. Though Aishwarya and me are both sweet lovers, Jay prefers the savory stuff generally. In fact, he often says that he would have eaten more than the amount of sweets in the first few months of our marriage than he had in his whole life till then ! So to pacify him, I thought of making something savory and crunchy.
Spring rolls gets its name from the season of spring - the time when the vegetables that goes into making this are in abundance and the spring festival when it used to be consumed typically. These days these are almost synonymous with Chinese cuisine. These come in a variety of different ways - fried or non-fried, sweet or savory - but typically would have a wrapper which is filled with whatever you prefer.
What I have here are the fried spring-rolls with vegetable filling.
Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, small diced
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 head small cabbage, thinly sliced
4-5  mushrooms, , diced
1 1/2 cups soy granules washed in warm water
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cube of tastemaker
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
 1 egg, white and yolk separated
1 package large (8 inch) spring roll wrappers

Method:
In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients except egg yolk and wrappers.
Brush egg yolk on three corners of wrapper. Add 2 tablespoons of filling in center of wrapper, Fold the spring roll skin from the bottom over the mixture, making a tight tube of the mixture. Fold corners in from the sides, and press to stick against folded roll. Then roll to the other end and stick it shut.  Repeat with remaining egg roll wrappers.  Deep fry the spring rolls in oil at 350°F for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. Work in batches. Flip half way through. Remove and place on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Pizza Quesadilla 'N Guacamole

Ever since the school reopened, my daughter returns home hungry for something to eat. From this year she is in middle school and has longer hours to spent at the school. Plus, she also has PE to do. I guess all this is making her hungrier by the time school ends. So I need to have something to feed her when she is back from school and this is one such dish which is easy to make yet is well liked.
Pizza Quesadilla
Ingredients:
8 flour tortillas
8 ounces of shredded mozzarella /provolone cheese
1 16-ounce jar of pizza sauce
 Method:
Pre-heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add one tortilla and cook until soft, about 15 to 30 seconds.Turn this over and brush tortilla with a thin layer of pizza sauce (so thin that if you turned it over, none would drip).Now spread  1/4 cup or little more of cheese mixture on one half, fold in half, and cook on both sides until cheese melts  and tortilla is golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Repeat with  remaining tortillas. Cut each quesadilla into 4, serve with a little bowl of pizza dipping sauce.

Guacamole
Ingredients
3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 tsp  cayenne pepper/2 green chillies sliced
1tbs olive oil

Method:
In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper and olive oil . Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor, or serve immediately.

Italian Cheese Bread

If you are looking for an alternative for garlic bread look no further. This bread is the perfect one for you. This savory bread can be had as a part of your main course,appetizer or snack This is so easy to put together and tastes awesome.  

Ingredients:
Bread:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Topping:
1/4 cup prepared Italian salad dressing/dressing of your choice
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
Dash pepper/Chilli flakes
1-2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Methods:
In a bowl, add the lukewarm water along with sugar and yeast. After it yeast proofs, add all the other ingredients listed under bread and knead to form a soft dough. Add additional flour if needed. Turn onto a floured surface; knead for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes punch the dough down; place on a greased cookie pan or a pizza pan  and pat into the pan uniformly. Brush with salad dressing. Combine the seasonings; sprinkle over top. Sprinkle with cheeses. Allow the bread to rest for 15 minutes or so. 
Pre-heat the oven to 450*F. Bake for 11-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Baked Crispy Kale Chips

If you are looking for a  low calorie nutritious snack, go no further. If you are like me who cannot stop at eating just one, this is the perfect one for you. These are so crispy and they kind of melt in your mouth. Yet these are so easy to make. Thanks for all your good wishes for Aishwarya; she is doing better and we are hoping to have her up and running in no time .

Recipe Source: Food Network
Ingredients
1 head kale, washed and thoroughly dried
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt, for sprinkling
Method:
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Kale should be thoroughly dried or else you will end up with steamed or discoloured kale chips.Remove the ribs from the kale and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Lay on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil and salt. Bake until crisp, about 20 minutes.

Easter Eggs

This Easter Aishwarya, having turned 10, didn't want to go for Easter egg hunt at the library as we  usually do. Instead, she wanted to make some colorful Easter eggs herself. So, instead of using the store-bought coloring tablets, we used food coloring and the result was spectacular.
If you are looking for a 100% organic dyed eggs, you may try Marbled Tea Eggs.
Ingredients:
Hard boiled white eggs
Water
Vinegar
Liquid food colors

Method:
Rinse the hard boil eggs with cool water. Fill disposable cups about 1/2 to 2/3 full of water. Add 1 tsp of vinegar (for every 1 cup of water).  Add drops of food color until you're happy with the hue.
(once you get the color you like for the water, add 2 more extra  drops as the eggs, when dyed would be two shades lighter than the water color). Put hard boiled eggs in the cups. I left mine in there for half an hour - the longer in the water the deeper the color. Remove from the cup and let dry.  Wipe with vegetable oil (with paper towel or a rag) to make a glossier egg. Store eggs in the refrigerator.

Open Faced Masala Sandwich

If you're looking for a colorful and healthy breakfast or lunch box idea for your little one, look no further. My little girl loves this as an after school snack too. So why wait? Don your apron and make your little bunnies happy!!
Recipe source:Shreez Kitchen
Ingredients:
Onion /Green onion-1/4  cups chopped
Tomato - 1  finely chopped
Carrot - 1/2 cup grated
Green chillies - 1 cut into thin slices
Lemon Juice - 1/2 lemon squeezed
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tbsp
Rasam powder - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 4
Salt to taste
Oil
Cilantro/Coriander leaves to garnish
Bread-4 slices
Butter, as required
Method:
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, when it starts to splutter, add curry leaves, green chilli and
onion. Saute till onion turns translucent.Add tomato, red chilli powder and rasam powder saute till tomatoes are almost cooked.Add carrot, salt and a little bit of water.
Cook on medium heat till carrots are cooked and there is no more water.
Now take the bread slices and lightly toast them. Butter the toast and spread a  spoonful of the carrot mixture on the toast. Cut  the sandwich  in half or serve as it is.

Aloo Bonda

It had been a very mild winter for us this year. The winter days almost felt like spring and now that the winter has ended and spring began, it has become surprisingly cold with occasional showers.  Being confined in the house during the cold and rainy days really spurs up the appetite; especially craving for something fried.
Bonda is a typical south-Indian snack,  that can be made quickly, with not much pre-planning, and using ingredients which almost always would be there around.  If you haven't tried making it, I would recommend you to give it a try as it is simple and tasty.
Ingredients
For bonda covering:
1 cup  Besan/ chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon Asafoetida
1 teaspoon Red chili powder
1/8teaspoon Baking soda
Salt to taste
For bonda filling
3 Potatoes
1/2 Onion(finely chopped)
2-3 Green chillies(finely chopped)
2 tsp Ginger (finely chopped)
1/4 cup Cilantro/Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
Curry leaves
1/2 tsp Mustard   seeds
1/2 tsp Fennel seeds
Salt to taste
Oil

Method
Pressure cook potatoes till done.  Peel the skin and mash them or slice them into little cubes and keep it aside. Heat oil in pan and when the oil is hot add mustard seeds once they splutter  add curry leaves,ginger,green chillies and finely chopped onions and saute them  till onion turns translucent. Then add the turmeric powder,mashed potatoes,enough salt and mix everything well saute for another 2 minutes. Before turning of the heat add coriander leaves and give a final stir. Leave this to cool. Meanwhile make the batter for the covering by mixing all the ingredients listed under the covering ingredients and adding water little by little to get the consistency of pancake batter without any lumps. Divide filling  into equal portion and make small lemon size balls. Heat oil in a deep bottomed vessel. When oil is hot take one ball at a time and dip in the batter and drop carefully into the hot oil. Deep fry till it turns golden brown on both sides. Repeat the same with rest of  the balls. Serve hot with ketchup or chutney of your choice.

Pav Bhaji

For this week's  Blog Hop Wednesday  I am paired with Shree. As Jai was on a business trip this week I was not in a mood to try anything new, yet waned to make something that I haven't blogged so far. My search ended when I saw this recipe. As usual I adapted it  a bit to our taste. It was just  wonderful to dig into this  while  listening to  Aishwarya's update on school and friends.
Recipe adapted from shreezexperiments
Ingredients:
For the bhaji:
Cauliflower /Beetroot - 1 cup chopped or grated
Peas - 1/2 cup
Bell peppers - 1/2  thinly sliced
carrot - 1 grated
Potato - 3 medium
Onion - 1 cup finely chopped
Tomato - 1 1/2 cup finely chopped
Ginger-1tsp
Garlic paste-1tsp
Pav bhaji masala - 1 1/2 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp (reduce if you do not like the bhaji hot!)
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Kasuri methi-1 tsp
Black salt -1/2 tsp optional
Salt to taste
Pav or dinner rolls
Butter

For Garnishing / Serving:
Cilantro - 3 tbsp
lemon wedges
Onion

Method:
Steam cauliflower/ beetroot, peas, carrot and potato and keep aside. Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons of  butter or oil,add onion and ginger garlic paste,saute till onion turns transparent and  ginger garlic paste gives a cooked smell. Now add the bell peppers and fry for a minute,then add tomatoes,salt,pav bhaji masala and red chilli powder. Saute this till tomatoes turns soft and mushy and then add all the veggies, along with 1/2  a cup of water and stir well.
Simmer for 5 min and mash with a potato masher so that all the veggies get mixed well, add butter if desired.
Add a bit of water, if you feel the bhaaji is too thick.
Simmer the bhaji  for a few mins (10 mins should do). Towards the end of 10 minutes add kasuri methi, black salt and cilatro.
Serve this along with butter toasted dinner rolls or pav, a dollop of butter,few onion slices and a squeeze of lemon
Sending this over to Radhika's

Achappam

Achappams are one of the traditional Kerala snacks. But of late I came to realize that something similar to these exists in other cultures/countries, known by varying names such as Rosettes, Rose Cookies etc. I haven't had a chance to try any of these other delicacies yet, but I feel that an Achappam is an achappam whatever name you call it by! My theory is that these would have probably reached the other cultures through the European colonization of Kerala - or probably the other way round. Any way, in the traditional Kerala version, as with most of the Kerala cooking, you have to use the coconut milk also.
The unique, flower like shape of these cookies are the result of using the uniquely shaped molds - it is important that you get a mold made of the right metal, something that could retain heat. The one I use is made of brass.
               Wishing all my beloved readers a Merry Christmas !

Ingredients:
Rice powder  - 2 cups
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Coconut Milk - 1 ¼ cup
Eggs - 2
Sesame seeds - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Vegetable oil - enough for deep frying

Method:
Beat the eggs in a deep vessel. Add sugar and coconut milk and mix it until the sugar dissolves. Mix in the rest of the ingredients to make a thick batter.

Heat the oil and dip the achappam/rose cookie mould in it. Immediately dip the mould in to the batter, making sure that only about 3/4th the thickness of the mould goes in the batter. Now put the mould with the batter coating into hot oil. (If the mould is not hot enough or too hot the batter will not hold on to the mould). Hold the mould in the hot oil for a few seconds and then gently shake the mould so that the batter shapped like achappams separates from the mould. (It would take some practice and geting used to doing to get the batter off the mould without breaking the Achappams or them losing thier shape)

Fry both sides on low-medium heat till slightly golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. Continue making more achappams until the batter is finished (make sure to dip the mould in the oil before dipping into the batter). Store in an airtight container to retain crispiness.

Pazham Pori / Banana Fritters

Today it being Sunday and as we were all home in the evening,  I wanted to make something special.  I was wondering what to make that is yummy and filling and does't take much of my time.  That's when I noticed the ripe bananas on my banana hanger; so without wasting much time I made this Kerala special tea time snack and we all enjoyed it with great relish.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 3/4 cup 

Rice flour - 1 tbsp (optional)

Salt - 1/8 tsp 

Sugar - 3 tsp 

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Water - 3/4 - 1 cup 

Ripe banana - 3 

Oil - to deep fry 

Method:

Prepare a thick batter with the flour, rice flour and water. Add salt, sugar and turmeric. Cut the banana into half and then slice each half into 2-3 thin pieces.  Dip the banana in the batter and deep fry in hot oil. 

Elanchi / Pan Cake

This is a quick after-school snack I used to enjoy as a kid. Easy to make, tasty and filling, this can be considered Kerala's take on the pancakes or crepes, with the filling being sweetened coconut gratings.
Aishwarya is a fan of anything made with coconuts and she loves it whenever I make this at home, her only complaint being that I don't make it often enough.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour( maida)-1 cup
Egg - 1
Water -1cup
Grated Coconut -    1½    cup
Sugar -   2    tbsp
Cardamom Powder   -  ¼    tsp

Method:
Break the egg into a bowl and beat it well.
Add the flour and salt , mix it well. Add enough water and prepare a smooth batter; the batter should be thinner than the dosa consistency.
In another bowl, mix together grated coconut, sugar and cardamom powder.Filling is ready. Keep  this aside.
Heat a non stick frying pan and  pour a spoonful of batter in the centre, spread with the back of the spoon to a thin round. Keep on medium flame.
When it is cooked on one side,place a spoon of the coconut filling on one end of the pancake and roll it.
Transfer it to a serving dish. Repeat the process with the rest of the batter.
Serve hot.
Sending this over to "SYF&HWS - Cook With SPICES" Series by Anu

and Desserts with Coconuts event by Raven hosted by Raksha

Sukhiyan / Sugiyan

This is a typical, traditional tea-time snack of Kerala. My memories of this are of my mother making these during our holidays, when we kids were always on the look-out for something to munch on. My mom used to make the Sukhiyan with sprouted moong-beans (green gram), to give us the added nutrients. But as I am not as good a planner as my mother used to be, I make things at a whim, without much pre-planning; so there is no question of using sprouted beans for my recipe. But if you want to , you can try this same recipe out with the sprouted beans as well, and it would come out equally good. This is a protein- rich snack good for growing kids.
Ingredients
Green gram /Moong bean - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1/2 cup or to taste
Ghee-1tbs
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
All purpose flour  - 1 cup
Salt - A pinch
Method
Cook the green gram in a pressure cooker with just  enough water, until done. Meanwhile melt the jaggery in 1/4 cup water,strain to remove any unwanted particles. Reheat the jaggery in a wide pan. When the jaggery syrup starts thickening, add the cooked green gram to this after draining the excess water   Add ghee to this when it becomes somewhat dry  cook until all the water is evaporated and the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Remove from the stove, add cardamom powder and let it cool.
Mix all purpose flour, turmeric powder and a pinch of salt in water to make a thick batter. When the green gram mixture is cold enough to touch, make small balls out of it. Dip them in the flour batter and deep fry on  medium heat until the balls turn golden in color.
 Sending  this over to Priya's Cooking with seeds- Moong Beans event