Ari Vada

Another quick n easy  snack made from rice flour which is perfect to add spice to your tea time. The best thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are commonly available at most times in our homes. So think no more, and just give this a try right away.

Prep Time: 10 mins
Ingredients

Rice Flour: 1 cup
Grated Coconut: 1/3 cup
Onions (finely chopped): 1/3 cup
Green Chillies (finely chopped): 2-3
Ginger (finely chopped): 2 teaspoons
Curry leaves: 6-7
Water: 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

If you have a food chopper, then its a life saver making all these snacks coz all you need to do run the chopper through the onions, green chillies and ginger to get it all minced in a minute.

Dry roast the rice flour in a pan for about 10 mins. Add the finely chopped onions, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves and grated coconut. Dry mix it well with some salt. Then slowly add little water and mix it into a semi wet dough.

Heat oil to deep fry. Take a spoon of the batter, flatten between your fingers and slide it into the hot oil. Fry until they are slightly brown. Let them cool for a bit before you serve them. Enjoy!!!

Naadan Ariyunda / Rice Ladoo

Ariyunda is a classic snack originating from kitchens of Kerala. Most of us would probably tie the memories of eating ariyunda when visiting Grandmas home. Not only would she make these yummy snacks for tea time, she would also pack a generous batch for you to take back after the vacation. These simple treats are often seen packed in glass jars displayed in from of the Chai Kaddas(Local Tea shops) too. Cherishing all those wonderful memories, here's our attempt to recreate the Nadan Ariyundas/ Rice Ladoos.

Prep Time: 1 hour
Ingredients

Boiled Rice: 2 cups
Jaggery: 1/2 -3/4 cup
Shredded Coconut: 1 cup
Cardamom Pods: 4-5

Roast the boiled rice on medium fire in a pan until it pops and changes to golden brown color. The texture of the roasted rice should be very crunchy. Spread it on a paper and powder in a dry mixer.

Meanwhile grate /shred the jaggery. Grind the shredded jaggery with the grated coconut to form a thick mixture. Add in the cardamom powder. Now knead this mixture with the roasted rice powder.  Transfer the  final mixture which is a fine crumble into a bowl. Take small fistfuls of this mixture and shape it into balls. If you overwork these  balls, they tend to crack up.

The mixture yields easily about 25 medium sized balls. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature and they will last easily for a week.

Batura

A favorite for many of us, Batura is a deep fried flat bread made of flour. Chole/Chana masala is  the most common side dish, Baturas are typically served with. This is  a very  popular choice  among the street food joints in India. So, you might find very few indians who'd say no to a plate of chole-Bature with a few exceptions for health reasons.

Prep Time: 2 hours (kneading +fermenting)  + frying time
Ingredients

All Purpose Flour / Maida: 3 cups
Eggs: 2
Oil: 1/4 cup
Dry Yeast / Eno Salt: 1 1/2 teaspoons
Sugar: a pinch
Curd: 1/2 cup
Salt: to taste

Heat a little water (about 1/4 cup), add in the sugar and mix the yeast well until completely dissolved. Meanwhile just roughly beat the eggs. Now take the flour in a large mixing/kneading bowl. Make a centre. Pour the curd, oil, beaten egg, yeast and salt. Keep kneading until it becomes a soft dough. Cover it with a thin wet cloth and keep aside for about 2-3  hours. The dough will rise almost in double.

Heat oil in a for deep frying in a pan. Take the dough, knead it one last time and then make it into balls and flatten using a rolling pin. Slip each of these rolled baturas into hot oil and they will fluff up like a balloon. Turn over both sides and  take it off when it starts to turn a little brown. Drain off the excess oil on a tissue paper. Serve hot.

Dates and Walnut Cake

Inspired from a  dear friend's recipe of a Dates cake, we decided to try out a similar version that doesn't call for any eggs or  butter. Whats even better; the main ingredient, dates are loaded with iron. So pretty much, its a guilt free, healthy indulgence. Without anymore thinking, just go ahead and try this  delicious cake.

Prep Time: 45 mins
Ingredients

All Purpose flour/Maida: 1 cup
Dates (pitted): 16
Walnut (chopped):  Handful
Oil: 1/3 cup or Butter: 1/2 stick
Sugar: 1/3 cup
Milk:1/2 cup
Baking soda: 1 teaspoon
Water: 3 tablespoons

* Though we didn't use butter in the recipe, we have shown it because many of them prefer to use butter instead of oil. We have used Canola oil in the recipe.

* Please check the final batter before baking for the sugar level. We have used very little sugar because the dates brings in its own sweetness.

In the mixer, beat the oil and half of the sugar well. Add in the milk and beat once again. Add the flour to this mixture and run the mixer once again. 

Now take a deep pan and boil water and add  half of the sugar. Once its dissolved add the dates and stir for some time. When the dates are almost cooked, add the baking soda. Turn off the gas. The baking soda will fuzz up and rise. Pour this into the flour mixture and give a through run until the batter is all smooth.

Add walnuts and pour into a greased baking tray or a loaf pan and bake at 375° F for about 35-40 mins or until the centre comes out clean when poked with a knife.

Let it cool for a while before you slice it. Enjoy this with your evening cup of tea.

Dahi Vada /Thayir Vada

Things have been  little slow in our kitchen since the long awaited  summer sunshine is finally here and we Seattlites are making best use of it. Every weekend is a fun filled getaway with friends and family.

Just as we talk about the hot weather, here is one very cooling Indian delicacy, a snack or a meal by itself  that is absolutely refreshing.  

Prep Time: 40 mins + soaking time
Ingredients

Curd:1 1/2 cups
Urad Dal/Uzhunnu Parippu: 1 cup (yields about 15 small vadas)
Ginger(chopped): 1 1/2 teaspoons
Green Chilies: 2-3
Curry Leaves: 4-5
Hing/Asofoetida: 1 teaspoon
Chili Powder: 1 teaspoon
Roasted Cumin /Jeera Powder: 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

* As we have heard, Dahi vada is the north Indian version, whereas thayir vada is the  south Indian version where every thing remains the same except for the final  garnish is done by a seasoning of mustard seeds, dried red chillies and lots of curry leaves.

*A tip given to us is that if you over soak the urad dal, it drinks up more oil while frying.

Soak urad dal in about half cup water for about 1 1/2 hours. Once its fluffed and well soaked, drain all the water and grind it into a smooth paste. While grinding add the green chillies and ginger. Take out the batter, add salt and asofoetida and mix well. Tear up the curry leaves finely and mix in. You could also add a pinch of pepper powder to this batter.

Heat oil in deep pan. Drop medium sized balls of this batter using a spoon into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. We didnt create the doughnut shape only for convenience sake. However its your personal choice to have the lil hole in the vada  or not.

Once all of these are fried, drain the excess oil on a paper towel. Bring a bowl with some lukewarm water. Dip these vadas into the water and squeeze out the water between your palms and  keep aside.  Whisk the yogurt with salt, sugar and a pinch of roasted jeera powder. Take half of this yogurt mixture in a bowl. Dip the squeezed vadas once again into the yogurt mixture and without squeezing out, arrange them in a serving dish. You could do this procedure much earlier and let it refrigerate. You need to finish with the  final arrangement only about 1/2  hour before serving.

To wrap up, pour the remaining  yogurt. Sprinkle roasted jeera powder and red chilli powder in whatever pattern you like. Garnish with some meethi (sweet tamarind) chutney and fresh coriander leaves. You could refrigerate it for some more time before serving it.