Urundai Kuzhambu

This recipe is very easy to make and tastes somewhat like Kadhi. The members of my family who never used to like Mor Kuzhambu earlier have now become addicted to it after tasting this recipe.

Ingredients:

For the Kuzhambu
Slightly sour Curd - 2 cups
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil (optionally coconut oil)  - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 stalks
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

To grind
Green chillies - 2
Ginger - 1 piece
Coconut grated  - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Rice flour / Besan - 1 tblspn (for thickening)

For the Urundai
Dosa Batter or Besan - 1/2 cup
Rava - 1/4 cup
Oats - 1/4 cup
Big Onion - 1 (cut to fine pieces)
Capsicum - 1 (cut to fine pieces)
Green chillies - 2 (cut to tiny pieces)
Ginger - 2 tblspn (cut to tiny pieces)
Coriander leaves - 2 tblspn (finely chopped)
Salt - 1 tsp

Method:

Urundai:

Keep half portion of the cut capsicum separately and mix all the other  ingredients mentioned above for the urundai, till you get a dough.  Make them into small balls and deep fry them.

Kuzhambu:

Grind all the ingredients mentioned for grinding to a paste. Beat the sour curd, add salt, turmeric powder and mix it with the paste. Add the urundais in this mix and keep it on the stove in medium heat. Heat a kadai, add oil and add mustard seeds. Allow it to sputter and then add the curry leaves and the remaining portion of cut capsicum. Saute them well in oil and add it to the kuzhambu. Switch off the stove. The Kuzhambu can be
served with hot rice.

Spicy Corn Sandwich

Ingredients:

Bread slices – 4

Potato - 1

Onions (Big) – 2 finely chopped

Tomatoes – 2 finely chopped

Capsicum – 1 finely chopped

Corn pods – ¼ cup

Sprouted moong - /4 cup

Grated carrot – ¼ cup

Paneer (grated) – ¼ cup

Salt – 1 tsp

Fennel seeds – ½ tsp

Water or milk

Oil / ghee

To grind:

Ginger chopped – 2 tsp

Chillies – 2

Garlic pods – 4

Coriander leaves chopped – 3 tblsp

Method:

For the spread:

Cook and mash the potatoes.

Grind the ginger, chillies, garlic pods and coriander leaves into a paste and keep it aside.

Heat a kadai and add 2 tsp of oil in it. Add the fennel seeds and allow it to splutter. Now add the onions and sauté them till they become translucent. Add the chopped capsicum and fry cook it well. Now add the ground ginger garlic chilly paste and mix it well. Add the grated carrot, corn and sprouted moong. Add salt and stir well. Sprinkle some water in the mixture and close it with a lid. Allow it to cook for 3-4 minutes.  Now add the chopped tomatoes and mix well till the tomatoes become soft. Now add the grated paneer and mix well. Switch off the heat after a minute.

To make the Sandwich:

Take a slice of bread and spread the sandwich spread on it in the middle, leaving the corners. Keep another bread slice on it. Touch the corners with water or milk and seal the corners gently with your fingers. Heat a pan and spread some ghee on it. Place the sandwich gently on it and pour some more ghee to the corners. After a minute gently reverse the sandwich and allow it to become golden brown and crispy.  Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Alternatively the sandwich spread can also be rolled in a chapatti or a dosa and given as a sumptuous lunch for the kids.

Veg nuggets (Veg appam)

I tried this recipe as my kids were giving me a tough time to eat vegetables like radish, turnip, knol khol, greens etc. They loved the recipe!

Ingredients:

Oats – 1 cup

Rava – ½ cup

Curd – ½ cup

Onion (big) – 1 finely chopped

Grated carrot – 2 tblsp

Grated radish – 2 tblsp

Grated knol khol – 2 tblsp (optional)

Greens / spinach (chopped) – 3 tblsp

Chillies – 2

Garlic – 2 pods

Coriander leaves

Salt – 1 tsp

Oil (to fry)

Method:

Grind the chillies, garlic, greens and coriander into a paste. Add the paste to oats and rava. Mix it well with curd and all the other grated / chopped vegetables and salt to form a thick batter. Heat oil in an Appa Kadai. (Appa kadai is preferred as it uses less oil for frying as compared to a frying pan). Pour the batter in the appam moulds using a big spoon. Fully fry them till golden brown. Reverse the balls using a spoon and fry the other side too. Serve hot with tomato sauce or chutney.

Aval De-light (Poha)

This low calorie snack was experimented by my younger daughter. It turned out to be very yummy. Now she makes it so often after she comes back from school and delights all of us.

Ingredients:

Beaten rice (Poha / Aval) – 1 cup

Onions (Big) – 2

Capsicum – 1

Tomatoes – 2

Roasted groundnuts – 2 tblsp

Coriander chopped – 1 tblsp

Masala powder – ½ tsp

Sprouted moong (optional) – 4 tblsp

Lemon juice (optional) – 2 tsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Method:

Wash and soak the beaten rice in water for a minute and drain the water and keep aside for 5 minutes. Chop the onions, capsicum, tomatoes and mix them with all the other ingredients. Now add the soaked beaten rice to this and mix well. Add the lemon juice (optional) and garnish with chopped coriander. 

Crispy Hot buttons

This is a very yummy evening snack. My kids love it.  Usually I avoid deep frying to reduce the intake of oil.

Ingredients:

Bread slices – 4

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tblsp

Fennel seeds – ½ tsp

Chilli powder – 1 tsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Curd – ¼ cup

Oil

Method:

Soak the bread slices in curd and knead them. Add all the other ingredients with the bread and knead them well.  Make small balls and flatten them with your fingers.  Heat a tawa and place the bread buttons on it. Pour oil on the sides of the buttons and reverse them once they become golden brown. Add oil again and heat them till they become golden brown on the other side too. Alternatively the bread buttons can be deep fried too. Serve them hot on a plate with tomato sauce.

Pizza Dosa

Ingredients:

Dosa batter – 1 cup (alternatively a cup each of Rava, Wheat flour and Rice flour can also be mixed with water and salt to make instant dosa batter)

Oil

To grind to paste:

Green chillies – 2

Garlic – 4 pods

Ginger (chopped) – 1 tsp

For the topping:

Onions (Big) – 2 finely chopped

Capsicum – 2 finely chopped

Tomatoes – 2 finely chopped

Paneer or cheese (grated) – ½ cup

Fennel seeds (saunf) – 1 tsp

Salt

Method:

Mix the chopped onions, capsicum and tomatoes with a little bit of salt and fennel seeds and keep them aside. Grind the green chillies, ginger and garlic and add the paste to the batter. Heat a tawa and spread a little bit of oil in it. Spread the batter on the tawa as a thick layer. Pour oil around it. Add the topping mix on this layer of batter and allow it for a minute. Now add the grated paneer / cheese on top of it and close the pizza dosa with a lid. Allow it to cook for 2-3 minutes in medium flame. Serve hot with tomato sauce or chilli sauce.

Flag Dosa

This colourful dosa is sure to win the heart of your little ones.

Ingredients:

Dosa batter – 3 cups (alternatively a cup each of Rava, Wheat flour and Rice flour can also be mixed with water and salt to make instant dosa batter)

Grated Carrot – ½ cup

Coriander chopped – 3 tblsp
Greens or spinach - ½ cup

Green chillies – 1 or 2

Coconut grated – ½ cup
Grated Radish - ½ cup 

Oil or ghee

Method:

Divide the dosa batter in 3 portions. In the first portion, mix the grated carrot. Grind the chopped coriander, greens and green chillies and add it in the second portion. In the third portion add the grated radish and grated coconut. Heat a tawa and spread oil in it. First take the batter with the carrot mix and spread it on the tawa, either in a small rectangular shape or in a circular shape. Then spread the batter with coconut mix below the first spread in a rectangular shape or around the first spread, if it is shaped as a circle. Then spread the batter with coriander-chilly mix as the third portion. Add oil around the dosa and cook for 1 min. Reverse the dosa and cook for a minute more. Serve hot with cucumber raitha or tomato chutney.

Alternatively separate, small size dosas can be made in the 3 different colours and arranged as a sandwich with the tomato chutney as an in-between spread.

Nutri Dosa

Ingredients:

Oats – 1 cup

Rava - 1 cup

Wheat flour – 1 cup

Ragi flour – 1 cup

Besan (Gram flour) – ½ cup

Rice flour – 3 tblsp

Onions (Big) – 2

Green chillies – 2

Ginger (cut to pieces) – 2 tblsp

Curry leaves chopped

Coriander chopped

Mint leaves chopped (optional)

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl . Add water and mix it into a batter. Heat a non-stick tawa. Spread a spoon of oil evenly in the tawa. Spread the batter on the tawa and add oil around it. Bring down the flame to medium and allow the dosa to cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Reverse the side of the dosa and cook it again for 2 minutes. Serve hot with Coconut or coriander chutney.