Cashew Pakodi (Cashew Fritters)

  Ingredients:    

                       Gram Flour-1 cup    
                       Rice Flour-1/4 cup
                       Cashews -1/2 cup

                       Ginger garlic paste  -1/2 tsp
                       Finely Chopped green chllies-1/2 tsp

                       Diced Onions-1 cup

                       Coriander Powder-1/2 tsp

                       Chopped Mint leaves-few

                       Curry Leaves-few 

                       Chopped Cilantro-1 tsp

                       Salt-1/2 tsp or to taste
                       Water- enough for making dough

                       Oil for deep frying

Method-

Soak Cashews for 20 minutes. Mix ginger garlic paste, Green chillies, Onions, Coriander Powder, Cilantro, Mint, Curry Leaves, salt and cashews in a bowl very well. Add gram flour and rice flour to that. Heat oil for deep frying. When oil is hot add 2 Tbsp of hot oil to flour, mix well and add water little at time until hard dough, Make small portions and release into hot oil slowly and deep fry until they turn light brown. Serve hot or room temparature as snack.

    

Protein Rich Masala Kichidi

Ingredients:

White or Brown Basmathi Rice - 2cups
Toor dal-1/2 cup
Soaked and sprouted whole moong or Moongdal- 1/2 cup
Soaked and sprouted black chana- 1/4 cup
Firm Tofu- 1cup (Dice into small pieces)
Finely chopped onion- 1/2 cup
Slivered almonds-few (Toasted)
cinnamon-1piece
Cloves-3
cardamom-1
Bay Leaves-2
Oil- 3tsp (Can be used more oil if anybody wants)
Salt-1 tsp or as per taste
Chopped coriander leaves- 2Tbsp

For Masala:

Large onion-1
Green chillies-2
Anise seeds -1tsp
Poppy seeds-1tsp
Small cinnamon piece-1
Cloves-2
Ginger -small piece
Garlic- 2 cloves
Cardamom-1

Note: Grind all above masala ingredients into a paste and set aside.
Stir fry tofu pieces in 1 tsp oil and set aside.

Method:

Pressure cook all the dals together and set aside. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pot, fry whole masala ingredients (Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaves), add chopped onion and saute until clear. Add rice and fry for few minutes and add water and half the salt, cook until rice is done.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in another pan, place the ground masala paste, fry until nice aroma comes or till raw onion smell is gone. Add 1 cup of water and remaining salt, while cooking, mix cooked dal and cook until becomes like a thick gravy. Add the cooked rice mix very well, cook in low heat for 5 minutes. At the end add the sauteed tofu pieces, mix well and garnish with chopped coriander and toasted almonds, serve hot.

Arati Kaya (Plantain) Vadalu

Ingredients:


Large Plantains -2
Finely Chopped Onions-1cup
Grated ginger-1Tbsp
Roasted Peanut Crushed powder-1/4cup
Baking soda-1/4 tsp
Rice flour-1/2cup
Minced green chillies-1 1/2tsp
Amchur-1/2tsp
Cumin seeds-1tsp
Cumin powder-1/2tsp
Garam masala powder-1/2tsp
Chopped coriander leaves-2Tbsp
Yogurt-2cups
Salt-1tsp or as per taste
Oil - for deep frying

Method:

Boil the water in a pot, add the plantains cook for 10 minutes. Peel off the skin and grate the cooked plantain into a bowl. Add chopped onions, ginger, green chillies, cumin seeds, cumin powder, amchur, cilantro, garam masala powder, peanut powder, salt and rice flour. Mix everything together with yogurt and baking soda, consistency should be like a vada dough.If needed add little water. Heat oil in a frying pan for deep frying. Make patties like the vadas, place them in hot oil and deep fry them until they are golden brown. Serve them hot with some chutney, or with ketchup.

Crunchy Semya (Vermicelli) Dosa

Ingredients:

Fine semya(Vermicelli)-1cup
Cream of Rice-1/2cup
Yogurt-1/2cup
water-3/4cup
Wheat flour-3Tbsp
Cumin seeds-1/2tsp
Finely chopped green chillies-1tsp
Finely grated ginger-1/2tsp
Lime juice-1tsp
Chopped coriander leaves-1Tbsp
Chopped curry leaves.-few
Salt-3/4tsp or as per taste
Oil-1/2-1tsp for ea.dosa

Method:

Mix semya, wheat flour, cream of rice, salt, cumin seeds, green chillies, ginger, coriander leaves, yogurt, lime juice,curry leaves and water in a bowl. Consistency should be like dosa dough. If needed add little water. If it is too dilute, add little wheat flour, to make right consistency. For the crunchy dosas start making them immediately.Heat flat pan (Dosa Pan) Spread 1/4 tsp oil for first dosa to avoid, dosa sticking to the pan. Take one large spoon of dough, and place on the heated pan spread like a thin circle. Add 1/4- 1/2 tsp of oil around the circle, and roast it until bottom of the dosa turns brown, and turn other side, and add 1/4-1/2 tsp of oil roast until it's ready. Make all the dosa's in a same manner. Serve hot dosa with coconut or ginger chutney.

Vegetable Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

For stuffing:

Finely diced & sauteed Firm Tofu - 1cup
Rice noodles (Cooked)-1cup
Shredded carrots-1/2 cup
Shredded cabbage-1/2 cup
Mung bean sprouts-1/2 cup
Red chilli sauce(Thai) -2tsp or as per taste
Finely chopped coriander leaves-2Tbsp
Grated ginger-1Tbsp
Light soya sauce-1Tbsp
Asian Sesame oil-1Tbsp
Toasted sesame seeds-2Tbsp
Salt-3/4tsp or as per taste

Frozen Spring roll wrappers-1pkt (Thawed)
Oil- for deep frying

For flour paste:
All purpose flour-2Tsp
Water-1/4 cup

Method:

Mix tofu, rice noodles, cabbage, carrots, green onions, coriander leaves, sprouts, sesame seeds, soya sauce, chilli sauce, ginger, sesame oil and mix all together, taste it and add salt or heat if needed and set aside. Take thawed spring roll wrappers, if they are big, cut them into half, otherwise use whole one, and place the 1-1 1/2 Tbsp of stuffing in one corner, in lengthwise and roll it for 2 rounds and fold the edges, and roll the wrap all the way up to end and, use the flour paste and attach the final layer to the wrap. Use all the stuffing and wrappers in the same manner, make rolls and set aside. Heat oil in a pan deep fry these rolls few at a time until they turn golden brown. Serve hot with below dipping sauce, or peanut sauce.

Dipping sauce:

Low sodium soya sauce-1 cup
Asian sesame oil-1Tbsp
Minced garlic-1Tbsp
Finley chopped chives-1Tbsp

Mix altogether in a bowl and serve with hot spring rolls.

Note: If you want to avoid deep frying, you can use round rice wrappers, instead of spring roll wrappers. Dip each wrapper in a warm water, so they become soft. Stuffing and rolling is same as above, except these rolls you can eat them as it is with dipping sauces.

Craig Smith's Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

Large white mushrooms (Cleaned and stemmed- Save the soft part of the stems) -1/2 lb
Bread crumbs with Italian seasoning-1/4cup
Shredded cheddar cheese-1/2cup
Mayonnaise-1/4 cup
Mustard-1/2tsp

Method:

Finely chop the mushroom stems, add mayonnaise, mustard, bread crumbs, and cheese combine altogether very well, fill above mixture in each mushroom, broil in toaster oven at 375-400C for 4 minutes or until cheese looks bubbly. Serve hot as appetizer.

Semya (Vermicelli) Idli

Ingredients:

Roasted Semya(vermicelli)-1cup
Grated fresh coconut-1/2cup
Green chillies-1 - 2
Grated ginger-1/2tsp
Chopped coriander-4Tbsp
Yogurt-1cup
Crushed roasted peanuts-1/4cup
Curry leaves-few
Salt-1tsp or as per taste
Water - as needed to make a dough

Method:

Grind coconut, ginger and green chillies together and mix this with yogurt and add semya, little water and salt and, consistency should be like little thinner than idli dough, so semya get to absorb the liquid and set aside for 20 minutes in a bowl. Add crushed peanuts, chopped curry leaves and mix everything together very well, if needed add little more water to get consistency of idli dough. Spray nonstick cooking spray on idli plates and place the dough and steam cook for 10-12 minutes, like idlis. Serve hot idlis with coconut chutney.

Rice Roti

Ingredients:

Grated cucumber-1/2cup
Grated carrots-1/2cup
Grated ginger-1tsp
Chopped spinach-1/2cup
Finely diced onions-1/2cup
Finely diced tomatoes-1/4cup
Chopped coriander leaves-2Tbsp
Cumin seeds-1tsp
Rice flour-3cups
Salt-1tsp or as per taste
Butter milk or water- enough to make a dough
Oil-1 1/2tsp for each roti.

Mix cucumber, carrots, onions, coriander leaves, tomatoes, spinach, , rice flour and salt in a bowl. Add butter milk and salt, and make a dough. Dough should be thinner than chapati dough and thicker than dosa dough and make small orange size portions. Heat nonstick pan, place the dough pad on like a roti. (You can press on any plastic wrapper or wax paper and transfer to the pan also.) Add 1/2 -3/4 tsp of oil cover the roti and cook on a medium low heat for 2 minutes or until roti becomes light brown. Turn the roti other side add oil and let it cook the same way. Once both sides becomes brown, take out from the pan, serve hot roti with any chutney.

Bread Vada

Ingredients:

Bread slices-4
Rice Flour-1cup
Finely diced carrots-1cup
Finely diced onion-1cup
Finely minced green chillies-1 1/2tsp
Yogurt-1cup
Baking soda-1pinch
Finely chopped mint-1tsp
Finely chopped coriander leaves-1Tbsp
Grated ginger-1tsp
Cumin seeds-1tsp
Salt-1tsp or as per taste
Water- as needed
Oil -For deep frying

Method:

Make bread slices into crumbs in a food processor, transfer them into a bowl, add Rice flour, soda, cumin seeds, green chillies, onions, carrots, mint, coriander leaves, grated ginger, yogurt and salt, mix altogether very well. If needed add little water to make like Vada dough. Heat oil in a pan, flatten the dough like vadas and fry them until they turn golden brown. Serve hot with ketchup or with some chutney.

Crunchy Koyya Roti with Magaya chutney

Ingredients:

For Koyya roti

Cream of Rice (Rice Rava)-1cup
Soaked chana dal-1/2cup
Finely chopped green chillies-1tsp
Cumin seeds-1tsp
Small fresh coconut pieces or grated coconut-2Tsp
Oil-2-3Tbsp
Salt-3/4 tsp or as per taste
Water-2cups

Method:

Heat water in a pan, add cumin seeds, salt and soaked chana dal and let it boil for 3-4 minutes. Add rice rava and cover the pan, and cook in low heat until all the water evaporates and rice rava mixture should look like a upma. Remove from the heat and set aside. Take flat pan, and heat half the oiland place the cooked rice rava mix and flatten with spatula, like a thick roti. Toast this roti until bottom turns golden brown. Turn the roti other side and add remaining half of the oil and toast until turns brown like other side. Serve hot this crunchy roti with magaya chutney.

Magaya Chutney:

Ingredients:

Magaya Pickle-2Tbsp
Finely diced onions-2-3 Tbsp
Chopped korianader-1Tbsp
Yogurt-1cup

Method:

Paste Magaya pickle, little coriander and 2-3 Tsp of yogurt in a blender and transfer to a bowl. Add remaining yogurt, chopped onions and remaining chopped coriander, mix well and serve.

Suma's Homemade Salsa

Ingredients:

White shoe peg corn-1 can 15 oz
Black beans- 1 can 15 oz
Coriander(Roasted) powder-1 tsp
Cumin (Roasted) powder- 1 tsp
Finely diced purple onions- 3/4 cup
Salsa (Pace thick & chunky) - 1-1/2 cup
Lime juice-1Tbsp
Finely diced tomatoes-1/2 cup
Paprika -1/4 tsp
Salt-1/4 tsp or as per taste
Finely chopped cilantro(Coriander leaves)- 1-2 Tbsp.

Method :

Mix all above ingredients in a serving bowl, serve with any kind of dip style tortilla chips as a snack or a appetizer.

Palak, Methi Crispy Fritters

Ingredients:

Chopped Palak (Spinach) - 1cup
Chopped Methi (Fenugreek) Leaves-1cup
Diced onions - 1cup
All purpose flour-4Tbsp
Besan - 4Tsp
Corn Flour - 3 Tbsp
Sooji (Rava) - 2Tbsp
Cumin seeds- 1tsp
Ajwain(Vaamu)-1/4tsp
Chopped cilantro -2Tbsp
Curry leaves -few
Green chillies paste-1/2tsp
Ginger paste-1/2 tsp
salt - 1/2 tsp or as per taste
Oil -for deep frying


Method:

Heat little oil in a pan, add palak, methi, coriander leaves and curry leaves and saute for 2-3 minutes, and let it cool. In a bowl place onions, besan, all purpose flour, corn flour,sooji, green chilli paste, ginger paste, ajwain, cumin seeds, salt, red pepper powder and above sauteed spinach mix and mix every uniformly. If it is too dry add, little water and mix and set aside. Heat the oil in a pot for deep frying, take prepared dough little amount, and add few at a time, and fry until they turn golden brown. Seve hot as a snack or appetizer with chutney or ketchup.

Rajeswari's 9 Layer Mexican Bean Dip for Tortilla Chips

Ingredients:

Refried vegetarian style pinto beans - 15 0z can
Water-1/2cup
Sour cream-6Tbsp
Salsa-6Tbsp
Finely shredded lettuce -6Tbsp
Finely diced Scallions(green onions) or Purple onions- 3-4 Tbsp
Finely diced tomatoes-4Tbsp
Finely diced green bell peppers-3-4Tbsp
Shredded Mexican cheese-6Tbsp
Finely chopped cilantro(Coriander leaves) - 2Tbsp

Method:

Add 1/2 cup of water to beans and mix well, cook in a nonstick sauce pan for 4-5 minutes until it bubbles up. Spread the beans on pie style plate or on small platter and let it cool. Spread the sour cream evenly on beans with spatula, and then spread the salsa on top. Sprinkle lettuce, scallions or purple onions, tomatoes, green bell peppers, Mexican cheese and cilantro in layers one after one. Once all 9 layers are ready, chill the dip in refrigerator for 1hr. at least, before serving. Serve as a snack or appetizer with any dip style tortilla chips.

Poha (Flattend Rice) Baat

Ingredients:

Thick Poha - 2cups
Diced onions-1/2 cup
Diced tomatoes- 1/2 cup
Cooked and diced potatoes 1/2 cup
Diced carrots-1/2 cup
frozen peas-1/4 cup
Grated ginger-1tsp
Chopped green chillies-1 tsp.
Curry leaves- few
Chopped coriander leaves-1Tbsp
Dry red chilli pieces-few
Chana dal-1Tbsp
Urad dal-1tsp.
Mustard seeds-1tsp
Cashews-6
Peanuts - 10
Almonds-6
Oil-2Tbsp.
Salt-1/2tsp or as per taste

Method:

Soak poha in water for 5 - 6 minutes, and squeeze out the water and set aside. Roast peanuts, almonds and cashews and crack into small, fine pieces to course powder and set aside. Heat oil in a pan add chana dal, dry chilli pieces, urad dal and mustard seeds, when they turn brown and splatter add curry leaves , chopped ginger and green chiliies, saute for a minute and add chopped onions and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and peas, saute for 5 minutes or until carrots are soft. Add poha, salt and turmeric, mix well, and cook for 5 more minutes. Sprinkle all the cracked nuts and mix garnish with coriander leaves, and serve hot as a breakfast, brunch or a snack.

Meera's baked cabbage Vada

Ingredients:

Shredded Cabbage -3 cups
Besan-1 1/2 cups
Water - 1/2 cup
Oil - 2/3 cup or less
Ginger paste-1/2 tsp.
Green Chilli paste - 1/2 tsp.
salt-1/2 tsp. or as per taste
Coriander powder-1tsp.
Asafoetida - 1pinch
Chopped coriander leaves(Cilantro) - 2Tbsp.

Method:

Mix shredded cabbage, besan, water, ginger and chilli paste,salt, coriander powder, asafoetida, cilantro and oil altogether in a bowl. Spread the mixture in greased baking dish( rectangular) evenly. Bake at 350 C for 45 minutes. After cools down cut into squares and serve as a snack.

Rava Punukulu

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour (Maida) -1 cup
Sooji (Bombay Rava) - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 1 Cup
Yogurt - 2 Cups
Soaked Chana dal -1/3 Cup
Diced Onions - 1 Cup
Green chilli paste - 3/4 tsp.
Ginger paste - 3/4 tsp.
Cumin seeds-1/4 tsp.
Chopped curry leaves - 2Tbsp.
Salt - 3/4 tsp. or as per taste
Oil - For deep frying

Method:

Mix all above ingredients in large bowl, except oil. Add little water if needed to make a soft dough (Consistency like Vada dough). Heat oil in frying pan, drop small balls of dough few at a time in oil, and fry them until golden brown. Serve hot these punukulu with ketchup or chutney.

Baby Corn Pakoda

Ingredients:

Baby corn -1cup
Besan(Sanaga Pindi)-1/2 cup
Corn flour-1/4 cup
Coriander powder-1tsp
Ginger garlic paste-1tsp
Chat Masala-1/2tsp
Chilli powder-1/2tsp
Chopped coriander(Cilantro)-1Tbsp
Salt-1tsp. or as per taste
Oil- 2-3 cups for deep frying

Preparation:

Mix Baby corn, besan, corn flour, chopped cilantro, coriander powder, chat masala, ginger garlic paste, chilli powder and salt in a bowl. Add 2-3 Tbsp. of water and mix all the ingredients together. Take little portions at a time with hand place them in oil, and deep fry until they turn brown. Serve hot with ketchup.

Spinach, Ricotta cheese(Palak, Paneer) Patties

Ingredients:

Chopped Spinach(Palak)-1 1/2cup
Ricotta cheese(Paneer)-1cup
Boiled and mashed potato-1
Bread slices-4
All purpose flour(Maida)-1/2 cup
Rice Flour-3/4 cup
Diced onions-1/2 cup
Cumin seeds-1/2 tsp
Garam masala-1/2 tsp.
Finely chopped ginger-1 tsp.
Finely chopped green chillies-1tsp.
Chopped Coriander leaves(Cilantro)-2Tbsp.
Salt-1tsp. or as per taste
Oil- 2-3 cups (for deep frying)

Preparation:

Mix paneer, mashed potato, spinach, onions, cumin seeds, green chillies, garam masala, cilantro and ginger together. Dip bread slices in water, squeeze out the water and mash to dough and mix with above mixture. Add maida and rice flour, mix well(If needed add little water). Make round medium size patties and deep fry in oil until they turn brown. Serve hot as it is or with Ketchup or some chutney.

Note: If you want to avoid deep fry, without adding any maida or rice flour you can make patties and shallow fry in little oil like cutlets.

SriHali , Chiyali or Siriyali

Ingredients:

Moong dal (Pesara Pappu) - 2 cups
Rice - 2Tbsp.
Baking soda-2 pinches
Tamarind Pulp- 3 Tbsp.(Mix in 1 cup water)
Salt -1 tsp or as per taste
Chana dal-2tsp.
Urad dal-2tsp.
Mustard seeds-2tsp
Dry red peppers-2
Hing( Asafoetida) - 3 pinches
Green chillies-2
Chopped Ginger- 1tsp.
Turmeric-1/2 tsp
Oil-3 Tbsp.
Curry Leaves- Few

Preparation:

Soak Moong dal and Rice together for 1-2 hrs. and grind into course paste (Make sure not to grind into smooth paste). Add baking soda and 1/3 of salt and mix together like idli dough constistancy, and place the dough in Idli plates and steam cook like idlis for 10-12 minutes or until done. Take out these moong dal idlis, cut into pieces (4-6 pieces ea.idli) and set aside.

Heat oil in pan, add chana dal, dry red pepper pieces, urad dal, mustard seeds, when they splatter add sliced green chillies, chopped ginger, turmeric, hing and curry leaves and fry for few seconds and add tamarind(If needed add 2-3 Tbsp. more water) and remaining salt. Cook for 1 minute and add above moong dal idli pieces mix carefully all together. Make sure not break idli pieces while mixing. Serve hot as a brunch item or a snack.

Note: We can substitute moong dal idlis with regular urad dal idlis. One can use left over idlis. Remaining preparation same as above.