Luqaimat| Kaimati

Luqaimat is a sweet and crunchy dumpling; a well known dessert or snack in the Arab Countries. Being here in Muscat (Oman) we normally get this delicacy in supermarkets, traditional sweet shops and also during  the traditional Muscat festival. We could spot this sweet more on Ramadan Season everywhere in gulf countries. Making a fresh lot at home is super delicious, extra crunchy, juicy as well as tastes fresh and flavourful.

INGREDIENTS:
All purpose flour- 2 cups
Corn flour- 3 tablespoons
Yogurt- 1 1/2 tablespoons
Yeast- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons
Sugar- 1 teaspoons
Warm water- 2 cups
oil- 3 cups (for frying)

Sugar syrup:
Sugar-1 and 1/2 cups
Water- 1 cup
Cardamom pods- 4 nos
Saffron strands- pinch (optional)

PROCEDURE:

• In a deep bowl add all purpose flour, corn flour, yogurt, yeast and sugar.
• Add the warm water little by little and knead with hands by mashing the lumps.
• Add the water till the batter becomes loose and beat with hand till the dough becomes soft without any lumps. It should not be watery.
• Close the dough with a lid or a clingfilm and keep in a warm place to raise for about 30 minutes.
• The raising time normally depends on the weather, the quality and the freshness of the yeast. The dough has to double its volume.
• Once the dough raises mix the dough with hand and set aside.
• Heat oil in a deep pan, once the oil is hot pinch a small gooseberry sized batter and shape it with hand as a ball and drop it in a hot oil.
• Likewise repeat till the pan is about to fill. Do not cram or overcrowd them.
• Using a slotted spoon turn the balls and allow the balls to cook until they become crisp and golden all around. 
• Remove with slotted spoon and transfer it on a warm sugar syrup for 2 minutes.
• Remove immediately and transfer it on another container and serve hot.

Sugar syrup:

• Add the sugar and water in a pot and bring it to boil.
• Slightly crush the cardamom pods and add them in the syrup to soak to release all the flavour.
• Add a pinch of saffron if you like the flavour.
• Allow the syrup to simmer till it becomes slightly starts to becomes sticky.
• Do not make a too sticky or runny sugar syrup.
• Runnys makes the luqaimat becomes soft and loose its shape.

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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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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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Spinach Pakoras

Spinach Pakoras| Palak Pakoras| Spinach Fritters are my favourite. In my family everyone loves pakoras as I make onion pakoras quite often at home. Almost same taste with the addition of spinach makes these yummy pakoras nutritious as well. The summer heat has gradually subsided and the weather is slightly turning pleasant and in the evenings I usually crave for some nice crunchy snacks to have it with my tea. Here we get nice snacks for cheaper prices at the time of Iftar to break the fast. My  hubby once bought some potato pakoras and some Jalebis from his office Iftar give away pack, and that made me to crave for more pakoras one evening and instantly made these yummy pakoras to fulfill my craving.
These fritters are quick and simple to make snacks with in minutes. You could even store them for a day if you deep fry them well. Do try this recipe which is apt for this season!! Refer Onion Thool Pakora recipe here.

Spinach Pakoras

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

Author: Eliza Lincy
Cuisine: Indian
Category: Snacks

Serves :2-3 

Ingredients

Gram flour- 1 and 1/2 cups
Rice Flour- 2 tablespoons
Corn flour- 1 tablespoon
Spinach| Palak, chopped- 1 cup
Onion-1 small sized
Green chilli, chopped-1
Ginger- 1 inch
Turmeric -1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Fennel seeds- 1/4 teaspoon
Ajwain|Omam- 1/2 teaspoon
Salt- to taste
Oil- for frying+ 2 teaspoons

Instructions

• In a pan heat the oil; meanwhile start to prepare the mix for pakoras.
• Wash and remove the thick stem from spinach and chop them into medium sized pieces.
• Chop the onion lengthwise and then chop the green chillies and finely chop the ginger.
• In a deep bowl add the chopped spinach and onion and then add the gram flour, rice flour, corn flour, green chillies, ginger, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, fennel seeds, ajwain, salt and 2 teaspoons of oil and knead well by squeezing with hand.
• Knead well till the moisture from the spinach and onion coats the flour.
• Now drizzle water a tablespoon at a time and again knead to make moist lumps. Do not make watery batter like bajji. It should be slightly thick but it should not be floury.
• You could make them into small sized ball and fry them.
• I like to make uneven sized bite size pieces.
• Once the oil is smoking hot reduce the flame and fry them on low flame till golden and crunchy.
• Remove the fritters from oil using a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil by using kitchen towel.
• Refer Onion thool Pakora recipe here.

Notes

• Adding corn flour in this recipe is optional but it keeps your pakoras crunchy for long time.
• You could replace corn flour with a pinch of baking soda or half a teaspoon of baking powder too.

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Paruppu Vadai| Masal Vadai

Masala Vada| Lentil Fritters is a traditional snack item generally served at teatime very much popular in South India. It is also a popular street food found in all petty tea shops, railway stations, parks..etc. I like paruppu vadai than Ulunthu Vadai|Medhu Vadai because of its crunchiness. I have tried many healthy variations in this snack by adding different veggies, herbs, greens, oats such as Methi Masala Vadai, Beetroot Masala Vadai, Oats Masala Vadai, Keerai Vadai, Mint Masala Vadai.
Perfect evening snack liked from old to new generation. Tasty crunchy filling snack with a cup of hot tea.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes+soaking time
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Cuisine: Tamil
Makes: 10-12 nos.

INGREDIENTS:
Chana dal| Split chickpeas- 1 cup
Dry red chilli-2
Onion, chopped-1 small
Green chillies, chopped- 2
Ginger, finely chopped- 1/2 teaspoons
Curry leaves- 1 strand
Fennel seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Asafetida- 1/4 teaspoon
Salt- to taste
Oil-to deep fry

PROCEDURE:

• Soak chana dal with dry red chillies in water for 2 hours.
• Meanwhile chop the onion, green chillies, ginger and curry leaves.
• Drain the water totally and transfer that on a blender jar.(If water is there the vadas wont turn crispy)

• Coarsely grind and transfer it on a bowl.
• Now fennel seeds, jeera, onion, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, asafetida and salt.
• Mix well and check for salt. You could add a teaspoon of corn flour to make more crispy vadas.
• Shape vadas using your left hand palm and right hand fingers.

• Heat oil in a deep pan and deep fry the vadas till crispy.
• Note:You could use half a cup chana dal and half a cup of toor dal if you prefer. 
• You could replace green chillies with dry red chillies and soak them with chana dal and grind them together.
• You could add the fennel seeds and jeera together with chana dal while grinding too.

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Kara Pori| Masala Kara Pori| Spicy Murmura

Kara Pori| Masala Kara Pori| Spicy Murmura| Easy Masala pori| Spicy puffed rice recipe is a simple easy snack recipe especially suits at this cold climate. Chillness increases laziness and always needs something spicy to munch. This is an easy to make healthy spicy snack in a jiffy. Perfect with a piping hot tea in the evening. It does not require much ingredients to prepare and it could be stored in an airtight container for later use. So make a huge lot and store it. I am sure it get finished with in a week time.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Cuisine: South India
Makes: 3 cups

INGREDIENTS:
Puffed rice| pori- 2 cups
Oil- 3 teaspoons
Garlic, crushed- 5 cloves
Peanuts- 1/2 cup
Roasted gram dal| pottukadalai- 1/4 cup
Curry leaves- 2 strands
Turmeric powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Chilli powder- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon
Hing| Asafetida- 1/4 teaspoon
Salt- to taste

PROCEDURE:

• Heat oil in a pan and add the crushed garlic pods with skin, and peanuts. Fry till the peanuts and garlic becomes crisp.
• Now add the roasted gram dal and curry leaves and fry till the curry leaves starts to become crispy.

•  Now reduce the flame to low and add the masala powders turmeric powder, chilli powder, hing and salt; mix well and cook for second.
• Now add the puffed rice and mix well and cook for a minute till the puffed rice gets the crispy and crunchy texture.

• Allow to cool and store it on and air tight container.

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Rajma Masala Sundal Recipe

Rajma Masala Sundal recipe is an easy to make sundal for Navaratri or Vinayaka chaturthi festivals. It is even a healthy filling snack for kids who return hungry after school. Quick to make protein rich sundal or stirfry.

I would like to thank Uma Bala my sweet neighbour who gave the recipe for making the masala sundal. I have tasted masala sundal many a times from her preparation. But for me this my first attempt in masala sundal and it came out really tasty.

You could prepare the same recipe without the masala powder too. The masala powder adds more flavour and taste to the sundal and is apt for adults who love spicy version.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Cuisine: Tamil
Serves:4

INGREDIENTS:
Rajma-1 cup
Salt- to taste
Coconut, grated- 2-3 tablespoons

To temper:
Oil- 2 teaspoons
Mustard seeds- 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dhal/ Ulunthu- 1 teaspoon
Dry red chillies, broken- 2
Curry leaves- 2 strands
Hing/ Kayam- pinch

For Masala:
Dry red chillies- 2
Chana Dal- 1 teaspoon
Coriander seeds- 1 teaspoon

PROCEDURE:

• If you like to prepare masala sundal, roast the dry red chilies chana dal and coriander seeds till golden brown and coarsely powder in a blender jar; set aside.(skip this step for plain sundal)

• Soak the rajma overnight or minimum 6 hours. Pressure cook them with some salt for 3-4 whistles. Once the pressure releases open the cooker and drain the excess water.
• Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds with Urad dal; once the mustard seeds splutters and the urad dal tuns golden add the broken dry red chillies, curry leaves and hing.

• Now add the ground powder and mix in that oil to cook for a second.
• Add the cooked rajama and salt if required. Finally add the grated coconut and mix well before switching off the gas.

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Kozhikkal

Kozhikkal or Kappa Porichathu is a Thalassery (Kerala) special tea time snack. Kozhikkal literally means 'Chicken legs'. This fried snack resembles like chicken legs so its called Kozhikkal. This is so popular in Thalassery that is Northern Kerala.These tapioca fritters are similar to bajjis but the texture is crispy on outside and soft on inside. The tapioca tastes similar to french fries. Easy to make filling snack in minutes.

Some people use maida and corn flour combination to make this snack. Here i have used gram flour and rice flour combo to make this tasty snack. You could use maida and cornflour combo too.

INGREDIENTS:
Tapioca/ Kappa- 1/2 big
Gram flour/ Kadalai mavu- 1 cup
Rice flour- 1/2 cup
Asafetida- 1/4 teaspoon
Turmeric powder- pinch
Chilli powder- 1½ teaspoons
Ginger garlic paste- 1 teaspoon
Green chillies, chopped- 2
Jeera- 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves, chopped- 2 tablespoon
Curry leaves, chopped- 1 strand
Salt- to taste
Oil- to fry

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Cuisine: Kerala
Makes: 20 nos

PROCEDURE:

• Peel the tapioca and cut them in to 3 to 4 inch thin sheets.
• Then further slice them like thick matchsticks.

• In a deep bow add the gram flour, rice flour, asafetida, turmeric powder, chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, chopped green chillies, Jeera, coriander leaves, curry leaves and salt.
• Dry mix every thing and add some salt and mix well to form a slightly runny batter than a bajji batter.
• Dip them in the prepared batter and allow to coat well.

• Heat oil in a pan, once it is hot reduce the flame to low and start frying them.
• Take a hand full of tapioca sticks and slightly shake off the excess batter.

• Put the sticks sticking together by batter inside the hot oil and fry till the outside becomes crispy and the inside get cooked well on slow flame.

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