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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Stuffed Bread Bajji/ Potato Stuffed Bread Fritters/ Potato Stuffed Bread Pakora

       Bread Bajji is always my favorite snack. I was knowing only simple bread bajji before marriage and years back once we happened to buy bread bajji from a shop and they stuffed potato inside and we liked it a lot.  The Bajji was so filling and yummy. Bajji was soft on inside and so crispy on outside.

       If i have leftover bread inside fridge i used to make simple bread bajji frequently for evening snack. Tasting stuffed bread bajji made me to try that and it came out really well and tasty. After having this bajji you wont feel hungry any more. A perfect hunger snack. Easy to make snack in minutes. Perfect with a cup of tea in the evening. School going kids love to taste this treat after returning from school with hunger. Left over bread can be utilized in this manner to make this bajjis. This is a must try dish for potato lovers.

INGREDIENTS:
Bread slices- 4- 6
Oil- 2 cups (to fry)

For stuffing:
Jeera- 1/4 teaspoon
Onion, chopped- 1/2
Green chilli, chopped-1
Ginger garlic paste/ chopped-1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon(optional)
Chilli powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala powder- big pinch
Potato, mashed-1(1 cup)
Salt- to taste
Coriander leaves, chopped- 1 teaspoon

For the batter:
Gram Flour/ Kadalai maavu- 1 cup
Rice Flour- 1/2 cup
Corn Flour- 1 tablespoon (optional)
Asafetida- 1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder- 1 teaspoon
Baking soda/ Soda podi- pinch
Oil- 1 to 2 teaspoon
Salt -to taste

PROCEDURE:

• First prepare the stuffing for the bajji by boiling the potatoes. Pressure cook the potato for 3 whistles on medium flame.
• Once the steam releases peel the potatoes and mash them with potato masher or with hand.
• Heat oil in a pan and jeera; then add the chopped onion and green chilli for about thirty seconds. Cook till soft then add the ginger garlic paste and cook till the raw smell leaves for thirty seconds.

• Add turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala powder and saute for fifteen seconds.
• Add the mashed potato and salt; mix well till uniformly combined.

• Add some coriander leaves and switch off the gas.
• Allow the mixture to cool.
• Take a tablespoon of stuffing and spread over the bread slices. Add more filling if required. 

• Flatten the filling well using a palatte knife or backside of the spoon.
• Keep another bread slice to cover the stuffing. Press with your hands to stick both slices and the stuffing together.(Otherwise while dipping inside the batter the stuffing may fall); 
• Cut the sandwiched bread slices diagonally to get two sandwich from one sandwich. If you are using sandwich bread (bigger size)give one more diagonal cut to get 4 sandwich from one sandwich; set aside.
• In a bowl add gram flour, rice flour, corn flour, Asafetida, chilli powder, baking soda, oil and salt; dry mix with hand or using a spoon.

• Add water and mix well till you get the bajji batter consistency (If you drop the batter using a spoon it has to fall)
• Heat oil in a pan till smoking hot and reduce the flame.
• Dip the sandwiched bread slices with stuffing inside the batter.

• Drop the slices inside the hot oil and fry them on both sides till crispy.
• Drain from oil and keep on top of kitchen towl.
• Serve hot with tomato ketchup or spicy chutneys.

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Unniyappam/ Kuzhipaniyaram/ Kuzhiyappam/ Paniyaram

Unniyappam is an traditional Kerala snack or dessert prepared at every home generally during festive season. In India it is called in different names and each state has its various versions in Tamil-Kuzhi paniyaram, Kannada - Paddu, Telugu -Ponganalu, Konkani - Appe. In each state the basics of preparation is the same and slightly varies in method of preparation and also the ingredients.

In Kerala Unniyappam's speciality is the addition of fried coconuts in ghee and the addition of small bananas especially palayamkodan variety is the highlight. In Kerala version rice is powdered and batter being made with the rice flour. In other states the rice is ground with other ingredients as a thick batter.

INGREDIENTS:

Raw rice/ Pachari- 2 cups

Jaggery, grated - 1 ½ cups

Water- 1/2 cup

Small Banana- 2 big (preferably palayamkodan variety)

Cardamom- 4

Dry ginger- 1 inch piece

Cumin seeds/ Jeera-1/2 teaspoon

Ghee- 1 tablespoon

Coconut, chopped- 1/4 cup

PROCEDURE:

• Soak the rice in water around 1-2 hours. Drain water from rice.
• Powder the rice using a blender. It is not necessary to powder it too fine.

• Grate the jaggery and add half a cup of water and turn on the heat.
• Dissolve the jaggery and allow to reduce and form the syrupy consistency (one string- If you drop the syrup from spoon last drop has to form string. If you touch the syrup in between fingers it should form a string ).

• In a bowl add the bananas and mash it with fork or hand; add the warm jaggery  syrup over it and mix well with a ladle.
• Powder cardamom, dry ginger and cumin seeds together as a fine powder and add in the bowl.

• Add the rice flour a tablespoon at a time and mix well till you finish the whole lot.
• In a pan heat a tablespoon of ghee and roast the coconut till golden colour. Add this roasted coconut with the ghee into the batter; Mix well.
• Add 1/4- 1/2 cup of water to make the batter little runny (dosa batter consistency) to pour easily.

• Allow this batter to ferment about an hour till small bubbles appear on top.
• Heat the Kuzhi Paniyaram pan and add half a teaspoon of oil on each well.
• Pour a teaspoon of batter/ fill till the top and fry them on low flam till brown colour by covering with lid. Keep the flame low to medium while cooking.

• After sometime turn the side of the paniyaram and cook the other side too till brown colour.
• If you want soft paniyaram do not allow them to fry till deep brown colour cook only golden brown colour.
• This paniyaram can be made in bigger size by directly dropping a small ladle full of batter on a hot oil. Flip the paniyaram using a spoon once the bottom side cooks and fry the the other side too till brown colour. 
• If you cook till light brown colour, you will get more fruit flavour. But it spoils fast.
• If you are planning to keep for loner period fry them till brown colour.
• Drain the excess oil using paper towel and store in air tight container.

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Banana Chips/ Ethakka Chips/ Ethakka Upperi/ Ethakka Varuthathu/ Kerala Banana Chips/ Nendran chips/ Kaya Varuthathu

       Banana Chips is a popular snack of Kerala. This has been served at Onam Sadya and also as an evening snack with tea. In my native place nendran bananas are cultivated a lot and the first thing you get served whenever you visit a friend or relative is the banana chips.

       Where ever we travel we bring some kilograms of chips to our friends or relative. When i was doing my studies i used to carry two three kilograms of chips with me. Still i bring whenever i travel from my native to here. Crunchy snack liked by all age groups.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Cuisine: Kerala
Category: Snacks

INGREDIENTS:

Nendran Banana/ Ethakka, well matured- 4 medium sized (500-600 gms)
Salt- to taste
Oil, to fry- 2 cups

PROCEDURE:

• Select raw nendran banana which are well mature the peel stats to get light yellow shade. If you peel them it will be mild pink colour.
• Give a shallow cut using a knife from top to bottom on the peel and remove the peel with knife or hand. Well matured banana you can peel easily.

• In a bowl add turmeric and water and mix well. Keep the peeled bananas immersed in that turmeric water till you make ready other things to chop and fry for about 10 minutes.
• Drain the bananas from water and pat dry to remove excess water.
• Heat oil in a pan over medium heat once it becomes hot reduce the flame and start frying the chips.
• Using a carrot grater's long blade attachment slice the banana by holding the blade in left and run the banana held on right hand.
• You can grate them directly on top of oil and fry them like how they do in shops.

• I am slicing separately because oil may splash while slicing on top of oil.
• I slice them separately and keep them in oil almost one by one.
• Because if you keep them at a time these chips stick to each other and some clumps wont become crispy.

• Fry the chips by constant stirring to fry the whole batch evenly.
• Mix a teaspoon of salt in 3 tablespoons of water. When the chips becomes half fried sprinkle little salt water over the oil.
• Fry them till it becomes crispy and light. You can hear the fried chips crispy sound while frying.
• Remove them fry oil and transfer into newspaper or paper towel to remove excess oil.
• Store the crunchy chips in airtight containers.

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Fried Whole Wheat Banana Cake/ Tea Stall Sweet Bonda/ Kerala Bonda/ Undanpori/ Gothambu Unniyappam

       This recipe is actually prepared in Maida in some tea shops. We used to prepare this bonda at home in whole wheat flour. By preparing this bonda in whole wheat flour adds taste and nutrition to this snack.

      Perfect evening snack even liked by kids. So soft and tasty like a banana sponge cake. So flavourful bonda because of the banana and the addion of ghee. Easy to prepare snack item. This snack can be stored for three to five days in airtight containers. Evening with a hot cup of chai no words to explain the taste. Recipe adopted from here.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes (Fermentation time 1.5 hours)
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Cuisine: Kerala
Serves: 15-18 bondas

INGREDIENTS:

Whole Wheat Flour/ Atta- 1 1/2 cups
Jaggery, grated- 3/4 cup
Water- 1/2 cup
Salt- pinch
Small Banana/Palayam Kodan Pazham (A small banana variety found in Kerala)- 2 big
Baking Soda/ Soda podi- 1/4 teaspoon
Cardamom powder- 3-4 pods
Coconut, chopped- 1/4 cup (optional)
Ghee- 1 teaspoons
Oil, for frying- 1 cup

PROCEDURE:

• In a pan add the grated jaggery and water and allow to boil once to dissolve the jaggery in water to remove the dirts. No need to check consistency.
• In a bowl mash the banana and add the jaggery water by straining through a sieve to collect dirts.

• Now add the salt, baking soda and cardamom powder and mix well.
• Add the wheat flour a tablespoon at a time and mix well with hands without any lumps. The batter should not be thick or thin. 
• Heat a teaspoon of ghee in a pan and roast the coconut till light brown colour.(optional)
• Add the grated coconut with ghee and mix well.You can able to hold the batter and roughly form small balls. Add water or wheat flour if necessary to get the proper consistency.

• Allow to sit this batter for about 1.5-2 hours.
• Heat oil in a pan till smoking hot and reduce the flame to low and start fry the bondas.
• Take a lemon sized batter by dipping hand inside a bowl of water to prevent sticking and drop the batter inside the oil and fry on low flame till the surface becomes deep brown colour.

• Drain the bondas from oil and keep on top of kitchen towel to takeout excess oil.

• Note: These Bondas can be prepared in Maida/ All purpose Flour as well.
• If you do not get Palayamkodan banana you can replace the banana with any small banana variety you get.
• You can avoid adding banana and increase the Soda powder to half a teaspoon.
• Cooking in low flame is essential to cook the inside of the bondas. If you fry them in high flame outside will cook fast and raw batter stays inside.
• Add turmeric powder or yellow colour if you are preparing bonda using maida.

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Chakka Varuthathu/ Chakka Chips/ Chakka Upperi/ Jack Fruit Chips

       Chakka Chips is a popular snack item served at the teatime. Mild sweetness and the crunchiness of the chips liked by all people. Mostly Prepared when Jack fruits are abundant in season. The matured jack fruits are harvested from the tree before ripen and made this chips on the same day or the next day of harvest.

      If you fry a medium sized jack fruits carpels you will get around a kilogram of chips. Do not make at the ripen fruits as it drinks lots of oil and donot become crisp. A Traditional snack item liked by all people even those who does not like jack fruit.

INGREDINETS:

Jack fruit (carpels from mature unripe fruit)- 1
Turmeric powder- 1 tablespoon (optional)
Salt- to taste (optional)
Oil- 2 cups

PROCEDURE:

• Cut the jack fruit and remove the carpels. Cut the carpels in to long thin strips.
• In a broad plate take turmeric and add a tablespoon of water and dissolve with hands without any lumps. Mix the turmeric paste with the carpels and combine well.(This step is optional)

• Heat oil till smoking hot. Reduce the flame and fry the jack fruit strips on low flame.
• Sprinkle very little salt water at the centre of the oil by reducing the flame.
• Once it becomes crisp remove them from oil and allow to cool. They becomes soggy once it cools down.

• After reaching room temperature heat the oil again and fry them again till crisp.
• If you are planning to store them double frying can be done at the same time. What i used to do is fry once and store them when they reach room temperature. It becomes slightly soggy.
• I will fry again at the day when i am planning to use to the required quantity. You can double fry them at the same time and store them.
• Note: Prepare this chips at the day or next say of harvest of the jack fruit. Because after that it starts to ripe.
• Fry the carpels always at low to medium flame.
• Adding turmeric powder, salt is optional.

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