Chana Masala Sundal

Chana Masala Sundal Recipe - Aren't people looking for healthy diet options nowadays which is not junk? During winter we do feel extra hungry especially in the evenings. We'd be thrilled  if there was something to eat with a hot cup of tea, something spicy and tasty on these days.  I am here to share with you a super healthy, tasty and a tad spicy evening snack which is prepared by a lovely friend Hema Balaji.

Couple of weeks back we went on a mountaineering trip and she brought us this sundal. The sundal tasted awesome and I liked it a lot. This week I had planned sundal and ended up making her version of the recipe. Even though it was a bit late I did manage to click couple of pictures for posting the recipe. This is an absolute teatime snack as well as picnic food. I tried it as an accompaniment with chapatis as well it tasted really apt. Hope you all love this recipe as I loved it. Here I wish to thank Hema Balaji her for allowing me to share her recipe.

Wishing all my readers a year full of happy moments & memories!!! Wishing you all good luck, good health and good cheer in this New year 2018!

INGREDIENTS:

Chana| Chickpeas- 1 cup
Oil- 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoons
Urad dal- 1 teaspoons
Onion, chopped (big)- 1
Curry leaves- 1 strand
Ginger garlic paste- 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1 teaspoon
Pepper powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder- 1and 1/2 teaspoons
Garam masala powder- 1 teaspoon

PROCEDURE:

• Soak the dried chana in water over night or a minimum of 6 hours.
• Pressure cook with salt for 3 whistles. Then drain the water and set aside.
• Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds; add urad dal and fry till golden colour.
• Now add the onion with curry leaves; cook till translucent with a pinch of salt.
• Now add the ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell leaves.
• Add the masala powders; turmeric, chilli powder, pepper powder, coriander powder with garam masala powder.
• Mix well and cook for a second.
• Now add the cooked chana with enough salt to taste and mix well.
• Cook for few minutes without adding any water till the masala slightly coats over the chana.
• Garnish with freshly chopped onion and coriander leaves.

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Coffee Frappuccino

Coffee Frappuccino Recipe - Coffee house chains like Starbucks, Cafe Coffee day, Caribou Coffee haven't lost their popularity among coffee lovers yet. Taking a break from shopping or chilling out with friends in these coffee bars are quite common, but you'd still have to frequent it to satisfy your coffee buds.  These frothy drinks could be now prepared at home in a quick and easy way. See how to make Coffee frappuccino at home.

INGREDIENTS:

Espresso | Instant coffee powder- 3-4 tablespoons 

Thick Milk- 1/2 cup 

Sweetened Condensed milk- 1/4 cup

Sugar - as per taste (if necessary)

Ice cubes- 6-8 cubes

*Vanilla ice cream- 2 scoops (optional)

PROCEDURE:

• Prepare strong espresso or use Instant coffee powder 3-4 tablespoons dissolved in 1 cup of hot water to make strong coffee. Allow to cool the coffee inside refrigerator once it reaches room temperature.
• In a blender jar add ice cubes, chilled espresso, condensed milk and milk. Add vanilla ice cream if you prefer a rich and creamy consistency.
• Blend well in a blender till frothy.
• Serve in glasses topped with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate or caramel syrup or dust some coffee powder on top.
• Note: You could replace milk with soya milk or almond milk to make healthy version of the frappuccino.

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Mandi Rice| Kabsa| Mandhi Rice| Kuzhi Mandhi

Mandi is a method of preparing Kabsa as per Yemenis style. This is a method of cooking meat inside a tandoor|oven (or rather a hole dug in the ground and covered inside by clay). To cook mandi, dry wood is placed indide the tandoor and burned to generate heat turning into charcoal. Then the meat is kept inside the oven and allowed to cook in a closed condition. The term Mandi originates from Arabic because of the dewy soft and moist texture of the meat. Mandi is a rice dish with meat and the spices. The meat usually Lamb or chicken. It is a very popular dish in all Arabic countries. There are many variations found in the preparation of Kabsa. The amount of spice added to the preparation varies. Mandi| Kabsa is considered the main dish served during special events, such as Eid, weddings, and feasts.

 Lets see how to prepare this yummy festive mandi easily at home with out a tandoor. 

INGREDIENTS:

Basmathi Rice- 4 cups

Chicken with skin-1.2 kg

Mandi spice mix- 1 tablespoon

Turmeric- 1/2 teaspoon

lemon- 1/2

Dry lemon- 1-2

Salt- to taste

ghee|butter- 1 tablespoons

oil-1 tablespoons

cinnamon, cardamom and cloves- 3 pieces each

Onion, chopped- 2 large

Red chilli powder- 1 teaspoon

Dry ginger powder- 1 teaspoon

Mandi Spice Mix:

cumin seeds- 1/2 tablespoons

coriander seeds- 1 tablespoons

cinnamon- 3-4  one inch pieces

cardamom-5

cloves-5

nutmeg-1/2

dry Ginger- 1 big piece (2 inch)

bay leaf- 2

peppercorns- 1/2 tablespoons

For Tomato Chutney:
tomatoes- 3
green chillies-3
garlic-4 cloves
salt- to taste

PROCEDURE:

For Mandi Spice Powder:

• Slightly roast the spices till the aroma arises and when you touch (to check) the spices should be hot. Do not over roast it.
• Finely powder it in a blender jar and transfer it to an air tight container.

For Meat Marination:

• Wash and cut the chicken into half if you wish.
• Take a tablespoon of mandi spice, add turmeric, salt and mix well. Rub the spice mix over the chicken.
• Squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken and apply thoroughly all over the chicken.
• Allow to marinate 2-3 hours.

For Stock and Rice preparation:

• Soak the rice for 30 minutes.
• In a deep wide pan add a tablespoon of ghee and oil together;  Add the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.
• Now add the onion with some salt and cook till soft. Now add the marinated meat and cook the meat in high flame; Brown the meat for 3 minutes.
• Add a teaspoon of red chilli powder and dry ginger powder and mix well and add 5 cups of water(extra one cup to compensate the evaporation loss while cooking chicken), 1/2 tablespoon of mandi spice powder, 2 dry lemon, 2 green chillies and salt to taste.
• Close with a lid and cook till the meat cooks well (around 20-30 minutes)on medium flame. If you are planning to brown the skin on oven 20 minutes is enough.
• Remove the meat from the stock and add the rice. close with a lid and cook till the rice is done.
• I have browned the skin of the meat further in a preheated 180 degree oven  for 20 minutes.(this step is optional, people donot have oven can skip this step)
• You could bake the rice too if you have a oven proof vessel while browning the skin of the chicken. Or else simmer on top of flame and cook the rice. 
• Finally arrange the meat inside the rice pot and if you wish to get a smoky flavour, keep a small bowl and keep a piece of charcoal and add quarter teaspoon of ghee and close with a tight lid.(optional)
• Before serving garnish the dish with almonds|pine nuts| cashewnuts, raisins and fried onions.

For Tomato Chutney:

• Roughly chop tomatoes, green chilies and garlic; add inside the blender jar with some salt.
• Blend to make a slightly coarse paste.
• Add 1/4 cup of water if you find the consistency of the chutney thick.

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Mangalore Buns

Mangalore Buns| Banana Buns| Mangalore sweet buns| Mangalore sweet Pooris is a tasty snack recipe from Karnataka. These fried buns have the bread like texture when it is opened, so it is called banana buns. These buns have the bread like texture and pooris like hallow inside. If you keep the dough over night it will fluff up very well and puff up like pooris. Here i gave 3-4 hours of raising time so some of my pooris only puffed up well. But it tastes great when it a thick coconut chutney.

Generally well ripe bananas are being used for this recipe. Best way to use the leftover ripe bananas. It tastes similar to the Kerala Bonda, and i personally felt each state has its variation.

INGREDIENTS:
All purpose flour- 3 cups+ 1/2 cup
Banana-2
Yogurt- 1/4 cup
Sugar- 1/4 cup
Salt- 1 teaspoon
Baking soda- 1 teaspoon
Oil- for frying

PROCEDURE:

• Peel and mash the bananas using fork or in a blender jar.
• In a deep bowl add the mashed banana, sugar, yogurt and salt. Mix well.
• Now add the flour little by little till you get a soft chapati dough consistency.
• Grease the outside of the dough with little oil and cover it and allow to ferment for 3 hours to overnight. 
• The buns puffs up depends on the time you give for fermentation.  As i was in a hurry i made the buns with in one hour so i could not get the buns so puffy.
• Heat oil in a pan and start to roll the dough. Pinch a small lemon sized ball and roll well and then spread the dough as a 2-3 mm thick disc.
• Drop the discs inside the hot oil and fry in low flame till golden colour.
• While frying using a slotted spoon slightly push the oil on top of the buns which aids puffing up the buns.
• Note: You could use half wheat flour and maida for this recipe.

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Masala Sweet Corn| Sweet Corn Chaat

Masala Sweet Corn| Spicy Sweet Corn| Masala cup corn| Masala cup of corn| Corn Chaat is a healthy and tasty snack. It is one of the popular street food found all over the world. It is a variation of buttered steamed corn. Whenever we go for shopping spree we make sure not to miss this steaming hot spicy delicacy. Initially I didn't know how to make the spice mixture that goes with it and we used to buy it. Recently I tried my hand in this masala mix and it came out so well that it looked &  tasted same like the corn from the mall kiosks. So making a quick evening snack is nowadays has become quite easy. Just heat up the frozen corn and just sprinkle the masala mix, Add a teaspoon of butter and  drizzle a dash of lemon juice. Tasty healthy yummy snack is ready!

INGREDIENTS:
Fresh boiled corn| Frozen Corn- 1 cup
Masala Mix- 1/2 teaspoon (add according to your spice level)
Butter- 1/2-1 teaspoon
Lemon juice- 1 teaspoon

For the masala mix:
Red Chilli powder- 1 teaspoon
Salt- 1 teaspoon
Pepper powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Chaat masala- 1/2 teaspoon

PROCEDURE:

• Masala Mix: Add all the ingredients mentioned above; mix well with spoon and transfer it to a pepper salt shaker.
• You can use freshly boiled corn or frozen corn for this recipe.
• If you are using frozen corn you could steam the corn inside the steamer for huge quantity or microwave it for one to two minutes.
• Now sprinkle the masala as per your taste and spice to your preferred level of tolerance.
• Add half to one teaspoon of butter per cup of corn and drizzle the lemon juice.
• Mixwell and serve hot.

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Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pancakes are moist and warm with the added spices and these are fluffy. Perfect for autumn season as you get more pumpkin during harvest, and also for Halloween party or Thanksgiving. You could make it with tinned pumpkin puree too. But i prefer preparing it fresh and use it with in a week.

These pumpkin pancakes turns more healthy if it is prepared with whole wheat flour, honey and with coconut oil. These are quick to make and easy to make healthy breakfast prepared in minutes. Could be served as a after school snack for kids too.

INGREDIENTS:
Whole wheat flour| All purpose flour- 2 cup

Baking powder- 2 tablespoons

Cinnamon powder- 1/2 teaspoon

Nutmeg- 1/4 teaspoon (optional)

Salt- 1/4 teaspoon

Milk- 1 and 1/2 cups

Pumpkin Puree- 3/4 cup

Egg-1

Sugar| Honey- 3-4 tablespoons

Vanilla extract- 1 teaspoon

Butter| coconut oil-2+2 tablespoons

Cream Cheese Topping:

Cream Cheese- 1/2 cup

Sugar- 1-2 teaspoons

Milk- 3 tablespoons

Pecan| Walnuts- 2-3 tablespoons, for extra crunchy topping

PROCEDURE:

To make Pumpkin Puree:

• Peel the pumpkin and cut them into cubes. Add the pumpkin inside the pan and pour enough water to immerse; allow to cook till soft.
• Drain the water and allow to cool. Once it reaches room temperature add this inside a blender jar and make it as a fine puree.

To make Pan cake:

• Mix the dry ingredients flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a medium mixing bowl.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the rest of the ingredients together milk, pumpkin puree, egg, sugar| honey, vanilla and butter until combined. 
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir until blended. 
• Heat a heavy cast iron skillet or nonstick griddle over medium-low heat. You’re ready to start cooking your pancakes once the surface of the pan is hot enough that a drop of water sizzles on contact.
• If necessary, lightly oil the cooking surface with additional oil or cooking spray.
• Using a ¼-cup measure, scoop the batter onto the warm skillet. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until small bubbles form on the surface of the pancakes (you'll know it's ready to flip when about ½-inch of the perimeter is matte instead of glossy), and flip. Cook on the opposite sides for 1 to 2 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
• Repeat the process with the remaining batter, adding more oil as needed. 
• Top it with Honey (or) cream cheese frosting and add some pecans (or) walnuts for extra crunch.

To make Cream Cheese Topping:

• In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and milk with electric mixer on low speed until smooth.
• Fill this in a piping bag or drop directly using a spoon.

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Masala French Toast| Spicy French Toast| Masala Bread

Masala French Toast is a twist to the normal french toast. French toast is a sweet version but this is an entirely different variant and is the spicy Indian version on the bread toast. This is quite a quick fix and easy to make, tasty and a flavourful breakfast or brunch. Could be prepared within seconds for any gate crashing guest or could be prepared as an after-school snack.

Tasty filling snack or breakfast prepared without much effort. It does not require any skill to prepare this yummy toast. You could add some grated veggies or cheese to make it more healthier way.

French toast| Eggy Bread i have already shared the recipe in my blog. And another variation of that is Banana French Toast with cinnamon flavour.

INGREDIENTS:
Bread slices- 6-8 slices
Eggs- 4
Milk- 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste- 1/2 teaspoon
Pepper powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander leaves, finely chopped- 3 tablespoons
Green chillies, finely chopped-1-2
Salt- to taste

PROCEDURE:

• Remove the brown edges of the bread  and cut it into triangular shapes; set aside.
• In a deep wide bowl break the eggs and add the milk, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, pepper powder, coriander leaves, green chillies and salt.
• Beat well with a whisk or a spoon.
• Heat the flat pan or griddle and grease the pan with oil.
• Take the bread slices and dip one by one inside the egg batter and keep on top of the hot pan.
• Cook the toast on medium flame.
• Now drizzle little oil if necessary and cook till the bread cook till golden colour on the bottom side.
• Now flip it and cook the other side till golden.
• Remove from the pan and serve hot.
• You could add some chopped onion, capsicum also on the egg batter.
• Once cook once side flip it and add some cheese if you wish.
• Serve with green chutney or ketchup.

Note: 

• You could skip eggs and use all purpose flour if you are a vegetarian.
• You could use some red chilli powder instead of green chillies.
• You could use cumin seeds or powder for extra flavour.

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Banana Pancakes

Pancakes come handy for making a quickie breakfast either everyday or on Sundays when we like to keep the cooking simple and do not like to spend more time in the kitchen. That way, I'd say pan cakes are a safe bet. These are fluffy pancakes with banana, I have earlier shared egg less versions too such as Strawberry pancakes, blueberry pancakes and plain fluffy pancakes. The hot griddle cakes are perfect for kids as an after-school snack. These are simple, quick to make and obviously tasty as well.

Author: Eliza Lincy
Category: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Makes: 10 nos

INGREDIENTS:
Banana- 2
All purpose flour| Whole Wheat Flour- 2 cups
Baking powder- 3 teaspoons
Eggs-2
Sugar- 2 tablespoons
Salt- pinch
Milk| Buttermilk- 1 and 1/2 cups
Vanilla extract- 2 teaspoons
Butter(melted)| Oil- 2 tablespoons+ for making pancakes

PROCEDURE:

• Mash the banana in a deep big bowl using fork.
• Now add the wet ingredients eggs, milk, melted butter|oil.(Add sugar if you use granulated sugar)
• Beat well with a whisk or hand blender for two minutes.
• Now take dry ingredients in  a strainer and add all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
• Sift on top of the wet ingredients and mix gently with a ladle without any lumps.
• Ensure that the batter is semi thick as it should not be runny or too thick.
• Allow the batter to rest for 10 minutes. If you are in a hurry you can make it immediately.
• Heat the flat pan or griddle well and brush it with oil or butter.
• Pour 1/4 cup of batter and do not spread the batter. Pour two to three pancakes depends on the availability of space on the griddle.
• Cook on medium high flame till bubbles starts to appear on top. Now flip the pancakes with spatula and cook the other side till golden.
• Likewise repeat the process till the batter finishes.
• Top the pancakes with pancake syrup, honey, maple syrup or powdered sugar.
• Alternatively you could drizzle nutella, chocolate syrup or caramel syrup.
• Add some fruits of your choice like any berries or fresh banana slices with some cubes of butter.

• Note: I use butter in batter and use oil for cooking. As the flavour of butter gives more flavour for the pancakes. You could use oil in batter and use butter for cooking too.
• Adding eggs are optional in this recipe but the fluffiness is because of the eggs. \if you want to make it healthy then avoid using eggs.
• You could use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour to make it healthy.

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