Soya Wadi Masala

Tasty n Healthy!!

Vege Spring Rolls

Sometimes.. when I run out of options for Appetizers, I would just grab a bag of the frozen spring rolls and fry them up... This time... I really had the time, and had planned an Indo-Chinese menu... tried out veg-spring rolls from scratch...They turned out be A Blaaaast...!!! Simply superb....Well I have to say this was a team effort... kind of an assembly line ... My friends.. G helped stuff and wrap them, and R helped me fry them... hahaha...great way to feed and entertain your friends.. :)

What I used

1 cup of chopped Cabbage
1/2 cup of chopped Carrot
1/2 cup of chopped beans
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped Bell pepper
1/2 tsp pepper crushed pepper
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp of soy sauce
1 Pack of wonton wraper (20 sheets)
Oil for frying

How I made it

In a pan, add a tsp of oil, add the onions and saute them, then add all the veges and saute them until they are half cooked. Add salt, pepper and soy sauce and cool this mixture.
Place a tablespoon of this mixture on a wonton sheet, and fold the two side edges and start rolling. Seal the edges (use a little water to help seal them tight).Just before serving time, fry these up and serve with hot n sweet ketchup... This turned out really crunchy and needless to say... taaaaaaassssstttty... They vanished just in seconds :)

This recipe.. makes 20 spring rolls.

Tricks:
You can make these rolls in advance and freeze them and fry them later. Such a time saver.
Serve them hot n crunchy, if you fry it up early, they may become a little soggy. If thats the case, pop them in the oven (on broiler) for 2 - 3 minutes...

Paal Paayasam / Rice Pudding

Amma makes the best Paal Paayasam, that I have ever tasted... She used to religiously boil down litres and litres of milk for hours together to make that yummy consistency. My dad and lil bro love it so much... Needless to say... I would die for a cup of ma's paal payasam .... hehee... somehow always felt this was a laborious process... I tried a lil trick and it did work out...It just took me very little time to recreate the same taste :)

What I used

2tsp of rice
1 cup milk
1 can of Evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pista and Raisins for garnish
A pinch of Elaichi powder.

How I made it

Pressure cook the rice in milk. Place this in a heavy bottom or non stick pan and bring it to a boil in low / medium flame. Add the sugar and let it dissolve. Finally add a can of evaporated milk and bring to another boil. Remove from flame and garnish with Elaichi, pista and raisins. Serve cold ( it brings out the sweetness even more) :)..

This is really yummiiiilllliiicccious and very close to the traditional way of making "Paal Payasam".

Tricks of the trade

1.Always cook milk in low ~ medium flame, as it might easily get burnt at the bottom and this will spoil the taste and give a pungent smell
2. Use a non stick pan - its so easy to clean up after the kheer is done.

Aloo Paratha

I Love them, love them and just love them... learnt this recipe by observing the guy at "Laddoos" in Bangalore. They used to serve garma garam parathas with just a cup of cold dahi and pickle. Their parathas are the best and they offered a wide variety... paneer, gobi, mooli, matar and what not....

What I used

1 Cup of wheat flour (aata)
1/4 cup of water
Salt to taste
A dollop of Ghee or butter

For filling
1 big potato (boiled and mashed)
a handful of finely chopped green coriander leaves
A pinch of salt to taste
A pinch of chilli powder
1 tsp of oil

How I made it

For the dough, in a bowl add water and salt. Then add the wheat flour and knead well. Make a soft dough and sprinkle a little water if needed. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes.

For the filling, mix the boiled, mashed potato, chopped coriander leaves, salt, chilli powder and a tsp of oil and mix well and make a equal sized balls out of it. Make sure the potato is mashed finely and there are no lumps.

Divide the dough into slightly bigger balls and roll out. Place the potato filling in the center, and cover the filling. Roll this dough out into 1/2 inch thick parathas. Heat a tawa and cook the parathas on both sides. Add 1/4 tsp of ghee or butter and serve hot with curd and pickle.

Trick of the trade:
Amma uses a little luke warm milk to make the dough a little more softer.
Knead the dough well, else you will not be able to roll out the parathas after you fill them.

Kuzhi Paniyaram / Vellaiyappam

Just in case, you had guests and you werent expecting anyone!! Just in case your hubby / child comes home... and asks you to fix a snack immediately !!! Heres the answer...

Learnt this age old trick from amma... "Just In Time" Recipes... where she used to make absolutely yummy snacks from the left over stuff and the basic ingredients she used to have in store.... 

What I used

1 cup of left over Idli / dosa batter 

1 tbsp of Channa flour (kadala maavu)

1 tbsp of Rice flour

1 finely chopped onion

1 green chilli ginely chopped

A small piece of ginger finely chopped

Corriander and curry leaves.

A pinch of salt

A wee bit of crushed pepper

A few drops of oil for frying ;)

How I made it

Mix all the ingredients and taste for salt. Add a little water to thin it out, so that it is a little thicker than the idli batter. Heat the non-stick paniyaram pan. Add two or three drops of oil in each  mold. Fill up  3/4 with batter and let it cook for 2 - 3 minutes until its golden brown. Use a skewer to turn it on to the other side. Add another drop of oil and let this brown for another 2 minutes. Remove and serve hot.

Serve this with tomato / mint / coconut chutney...

Microwave - Instant Theratti Pal / Pal Khoa

Kake just loves this so much... I still remember... 1st day of every month, amma used to get us Aavin Pal khoa... and we kids used to loooooooove this... I even chewed the paper to get to the last bit of pal khoa...

Making Theatti Pal / Pal Khoa always was a laborius process... amma had to reduce litres and litres of milk for hours and hours together to make a cup of pal khoa... And poor thing.. even before she knew... it would all be gone.. :)

Got this recipe from Rums n Akshara's blog... and I just loved it... Thank you gals... Mr. B was so happy when I gave him a sweet surprise this evening... I have been boasting about this to mom n mil... and asking them to try it out... now that they have a microwave at home...

What they used
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons of milk
2 tablespoons of curd

How they made it

Mix all the ingredients and microwave on high for 5 -6 minutes.... Yep and thats it...Lickalicious Theratti pal....Ready !!!

That was amazingly simple... but is mindblowing... you get the authentic taste of Aavin Pal khoa... yummmmmm...

Tricks:

1. You might want to remove it every 2 minutes or so, stir it and put it back in the microwave, lest it might overflow.
2. Use a big microwave bowl, so that the mixture doesnt flow out when it boils.

Beans Paruppu Usli

Always think of my dear athai paati... when I make paruppu usli... She taught me a small trick... and it works the same way...every single day... hehehe... I even got amma to try this recipe... and am really glad amma, appa, Keke (my lil bro) and Mr.B like this a lot... Always make this with mor kozhambu or vatha kozhambu... It tastes like heaven :)

What I used

3/4 cup channa dal
1/4 cup toor dal
1/2 cup fresh string beans chopped
4 dry red chillies
2 tbsp of oil
mustard seeds
A pinch of hing
curry leaves
Salt to taste

How I made it

Soak the dal and chillies in cold water for 2 hours. Then drain this completely ( there should be absolutely no excess water). Then grind this into a coarse mixture ( remember do not add water at all). In a non-stick pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter add the hing and curryleaves and then add the beans... Saute this for 2 minutes and add the coarsely ground dal mixture. Add a little salt and then place a lid on the pan and reduce the flame. Cook this for 5 - 10 minutes. Then remove the lid, add another tbsp of oil and then cook on medium flame. You can sprinkle a little bit of water at this point if you find it is too dry.Stir this and break up if you have any lumps of dal. Remonve when the dal and beans have cooked.

Soft and tasty Paruppu usli ready...

Tricks...
1. Amma generally steam cooks the ground dal before adding them to the beans. This makes the usli a little crispy... This is highly recommended when you make larger quantities.

2. Athai paati doesnt pressure cook the mixture, she just places the lid and cooks it in the pan on low flame.. This makes the usli softer ... this is recommended when you make smaller quantities. When you close and cook, the steam condenses on hitting the lid and this drops as water back into the dal and cooks it :)...

3. Never try to steam this mixture in the microwave...I tried this once and ended up with a lumpy hard mass of dal. Then I had to grind it again to get it to the right consistency.

4. You can also use Vazhappu (Banana Flower) to make paruppu usli... that turns out well too..