Appam

It had been a hectic couple of weeks for me and I didn't get much time to blog for the last many days. I had been setting up an Art Show of my student's projects at the elementary school where I teach art. It was a real back-breaking work setting all that up. But it was highly rewarding to see the beaming faces of the students and their parents.
Seeing an inactive blog, some of my friends were even asking me whether I stopped cooking altogether :-). No worries there. I had been cooking and experimenting as usual, as it is a way I unwind even on the busiest of days. But I was not getting time to sit down and type the recipe.
This recipe is  different from the one I had posted earlier, which uses powdered rice. If you live in a place where it is difficult to get the powdered rice, this is a good alternative. In fact now that I started making it, I feel that this is more like the traditional appams in which the raw, powdered rice is used.
Ingredients
Raw rice(sona masoori) – 1 cup
Cooked rice – ½ cup
Grated coconut – ½ cup
Salt to taste
Yeast – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1 tbs or to taste
Method
Soak the raw rice for 4-6 hours.
Grind to a smooth batter adding the cooked rice and grated coconut and enough water.
Add the yeast,sugar and salt.
Mix well and keep it covered for 3 hours or till the batter doubles in quantity
Give the batter a stir,add more water if the batter is too thick-it has to be of pouring consistency.
.Heat Appachatti or a pan and  pour 1/4 cup of batter into it and rotate the appachatti and cover and cook for about 2 minutes in medium heat. Once the middle portion is cooked, remove the cover and cook for another 30 seconds uncovered .Remove from fire and serve with stew or curry of your choice.

Apple Pie Chimichangas

When it comes to food and nutrition, I am very paranoid - especially if it concerns Aishwarya's diet. I become so restless if she doesn't get her daily dose of fruits and veggies. Some of this seems to have rubbed off Jay also. These days even when I tend to go a little bit easy on things once a while, he would be the one to become so concerned.
During the weekends and holidays since we spend more time at home we tend to snack more and end up not having the normal helping of fruits. One way to overcome this problem is to have the fruit itself made up as a snack or a light meal or dessert. This way I don't have to worry about the daily intake of fruits any more.
And this recipe for Chimichangas is an excellent one that serves this purpose. Chimichangas are fried burritos - you can have it with sweet or savory filling. Here I have used the apple pie filling for making Chimichangas

Recipe Source: Jcocina.com
Ingredients

For the Apple Pie Filling
4 baking apples, chopped ( used a mix of granny smith and gala apples)
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbs. lemon juice
1tbs butter

For the Chimichangas
8-10 small tortillas
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbs. cinnamon
Oil for frying

Method:
For the Apple Pie Filling
Combine the water, cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for approximately 3 minutes, or until the mixture becomes very thick.
Add the chopped apples and reduce to a simmer along with butter. Allow the apple mixture to simmer until the apples become just tender (approximately 10 minutes). Allow the mixture to cool.

For the Chimichangas
Mix cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl and set aside.
Spoon apple pie filling across the bottom 1/3 of the tortilla.Roll in both sides of the tortilla before rolling up the bottom of the tortilla over the filling, and then continue to roll the tortilla up like a burrito.

Meanwhile, heat a small skillet with 1/2 an inch of oil or 1 tablespoon. Once oil is hot, fry the chimichangas on all sides until the tortilla turns golden brown. (approximately 30 seconds on each side) or you can spray the chimichangas with oil and bake it at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove the chimichangas to a paper towel-lined plate and allow to drain briefly. Immediately roll the warm chimichanga in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat and serve.
You can serve the chimichangas drizzled with caramel sauce if you desire.

Uthappam

Whenever I prepare a batch of dosa batter, I typically make it as thick as possible. This way I can dilute it to whatever consistency needed for the specific dish I am making. I always make it a point to prepare the batter almost every week. Having the dosa batter ready and available in your fridge is a lifesaver as it opens up so many different possibilities of the foods you can make in a jiffy - dosa, paniyaram, masala dosa and uthappam. Uthappam itself you can make in so many different variations - like onion uthappam, tomato uthappam or a mixed uthappam like this one, not to forget the plain uthappam.
Of the different variations of uthappams, this particular one is my favorite. Hope you would all like this too.
Ingredients:
Dosa batter
Coconut-1/2 cup grated
Onion -1/2 cup sliced
Green pepper-1/2 cup sliced
Tomatoes -1/4 cup deseeded and  sliced
Green chillies - 2-3 (chopped)
Cilantro few (chopped)
Curry leaves - few (optional)
Oil

Method:
Mix onion,green pepper,tomatoes,chilli,cilantro and salt and set aside.
Heat a pan when a it is hot pour a ladle full of the batter onto the hot pan and slightly spred if needed  it should be thick like a pancake.Sprinkle coconut over the batter. Now add the mixed veggies over  the coconut sprinkled batter. See that you do all this immediately after pouring the batter before the batter starts to cook.Drizzle a tsp of oil around the uthappam. Cover the uthappam and  cook for 4-5 mins on low heat.When golden brown, turn drizzle a few drops of oil around the uttappam  and cook for another minute.Serve with chutney of your choice or just tomato ketchup.

Garlic Naan

Most of the Indian breads I have tried making at home. But naan was an exception. But this is a favorite of Aishwarya. Whenever we go out to an Indian restaurant, she would have this for sure. So one day she challenged (tricked ?? ) me to making naan.
This turned out to be soft and fluffy and retained its softness even after a few hours. I already made it couple of times and am sure would be making many more times.

Ingredients
1 tbs active yeast
1 cup warm water, about 110 degrees F
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup milk, scalded but cooled to warm
4 ounces melted butter, plus 2 ounces
6 cups flour or as needed
16 cloves of garlic
Cilantro optional
Nigella seeds optional

Method:
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Let sit until lightly foamy, then stir in sugar and add egg, salt, warm milk, and 4 ounces of butter. Slowly add 5 cups flour, adding more as needed to make an elastic dough. Mix well, then roll out to floured surface and knead dough for about 5 minutes.
Place dough in buttered bowl, cover with towel, and set in a warm place to rise until double in bulk, about 1 hour.
knead the dough again for a minute
Preheat the oven with baking tray to 500 degrees F .Divide the dough into 8 equal parts and shape them into balls.Roll out each ball into triangle, ovals or your favorite shape about 1 cm thick. If desired, top with nigella seeds or minced garlic and cilantro.I used only garlic.Slightly press it into the dough.Transfer the rolled out dough into the baking tray and bake for 4 to 5 minutes.Then after that broil for 1 minute.
Take naan out and brush with butter and serve hot.