Veg Keema Balls/ Veg Kola Urundai/ Beet Balls/ Beet Falafel

                      Keema Balls/ Kola Urundai is always a non-vegetarian delicacy. But what will vegetarians do???

                   Usually veg keema balls is prepared with meal maker, but we have made this recipe with a super ingredient Beet root. Every women will have a dream to have beet coloured lips. I am not sure if your lips will turn in beet colour, but beet is surely good for our health. 

                 Beetroot lowers the risk of anaemia, promotes digestion, boosts immunity and much more benefits.

Cooking Time: 5-10 minutes

Preparation Time: 20-30 minutes

Soaking Time: 45-60 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup Beetroot Grated

1/2 tbsp Chilly Powder (can change as per taste)

1/2 tbsp Rice Flour

Salt as per taste

Oil for frying

For Grinding:

1 cup Channa Dal/ Bengal Gram (Clean and soak in water)

1 tbsp Mint Leaves

2-3 nos Green Chilly

1 inch sized Ginger

6-7 cloves of Garlic

2 tsp Fennel Seeds

2-3 sticks of Cinnamon

3 nos Cloves

Procedure:

1) First soak the Channa dal for 1 hour.

2) Meanwhile, we can make the other ingredients ready. Starting with Beetroot,         Peel the outer cover of beet and then grate it.

3) In a mixer jar, put all the ingredients mentioned in for grinding.

4) Now in a pan, put the grated beetroot and saute it, till the raw smell goes off.

5) Then, add the grinded paste along with the beetroot and saute it together.

6) Check for the spice and salt. If needed add a little chilly powder and salt as per your taste. Add the rice flour and mix it together.

7) After sauteing for 5 minutes, let the mixture cool down. Now, make small balls out of it.

8) Now in a kadai, pour some oil. After the oil heats up, put the beetroot balls and fry it in medium low flame.

9) Considering the color of the beetroot, the balls will turn dark so fast. Hence fry it in medium low flame.

10) Now the yummy beetroot balls is ready to be accompanied with your evening tea. Kids will surely love this delicacy.

Plantain Chips/ Kerala Banana Chips/ Nendran Chips

               The sound of tossing the chips, just tingles my brain and my sensation😂. 

A big Hi-Fi🙌 to you if you fall under the same league.

          I used to have a silly belief that, if a recipe tastes great then the preparation of the recipe would be very difficult. But my silly thought was crumbled similar to the chips. 

                     This easy-peasy recipe requires very few ingredients. All the ingredients used are always readily available in your kitchen, except for the banana- the chief ingredient😀.

                      In my native village, we get ample varieties of banana with varied  sizes too🍌🍌🍌. Each of the variety has a unique taste. For making chips, normal bananas also can be used. Nendran Bananas gives a unique flavour n taste.

Cooking Time: 5-10 minutes

Preparation Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

2-3 numbers Raw Banana

2 tsp Turmeric Powder

Salt as per taste

Oil for frying

1/2 tbsp Chilly Powder

1/4 tbsp Pepper Powder

Procedure:

1) Keep all the ingredients ready for the recipe.

2) Peel off the bananas. In raw bananas, the peeling is a bit hard, but semi-ripe ones can be peeled off easily.

3) After peeling the bananas, we need to make the mixture of turmeric powder and salt, by adding little water.

4) Next step is heat the kadai(frying pan). Once it heats up, put oil for frying. I prefer using coconut oil. Once the oil heats up, slice the bananas into the oil and start frying. 

5) Allow the bananas to cook. Once it is half cooked, add the mixture of turmeric and salt. 

6) Allow it to cook for some more time. If the banana slices is completely cooked, the oil will stop bubbling. Now you can filter off the oil and transfer it to a container. 

           Notes:

• You can use any banana for making the chips, I have used the nendran variety ones.
• Adding chilly powder or pepper powder is optional. Many like to have the bland taste of banana itself.
• The ripe ones will give a little sweet chips.
• In any oil fried recipe, if the item is cooked the oil will stop bubbling.

        You can enjoy the lip smacking chips with tea.

For detailed video description, look onto to our youtube channel.

Below is the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVtdgeWSyFA

Nei Kadalai/ Fried Channa Dal/ Channa Dal Namkeen- A Protein Rich Snack

                             Crispy snack with tea will heal all our wounds. And if it a rainy season, it will be a tasty bonanza for us. We are back again with a protein rich, crispy, crunchy snack recipe Fried Channa Dal.

     This is a healthy protein rich snack for kids. When making for kids, chilly powder can be substituted for pepper powder.

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Preparation Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup Channa Dal 

1/2 tbsp Chilly Powder

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

2 springs Curry Leaves

4-5 cloves Garlic

Salt as per taste

Oil for frying

Procedure:

1) Soak the Channa Dal for 4-5 hours in water.

2) After soaking, drain the excess water.

3) Completely dry it a clean, dry cloth.

4) After 20-30 minutes, you can check if the channa dal is dry.

Which again depends on the humidity of your place. If it is dry, it will not stick to each other.

 

5) Now collect the channa dal, and it is ready to be fried.

 

6) In a kadai (frying pan), pour the oil for frying (I usually use Groundnut oil only).

Once the oil is hot, you can add the dal in small batches to the oil and start frying.

7) While frying kindly note the following:

• Once you drop the dal into oil, it will sink down immediately.
• After the dal is completely fried/cooked in oil, the dal will start floating on the surface of the oil.

8) After frying, add turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt to the fried dal and mix it thoroughly such that all the powders are evenly coated.

9) Finally add the garlic and curry leaves for exotic flavour to your recipe.

                   Notes:

• Soaking the channa dal gives more crispiness and the quantity also will increase.
• You can extra add powders of your choice like tandoori powder, pizza seasoning, etc so that the kids will enjoy eating.
• But the authentic recipe holds only the basic powders mentioned.
• You can also avoid garlic. if you are looking for satvik recipes.
• If need powdered hing can be added, which helps in aiding digestion.

                          Now the Protein rich crunchy, munchy snack is ready. This simple yet exotic dish will be a perfect tea partner.

        For video instructions, please click the following link...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksedss2TL1I&t=71s

Mint Leaves

            A long, exhausted day after roaming around in sun, or hectic office work, can be replenished by a chill lemon/ lime juice with a dash of mint added to it. The cooling effect of mint makes you regain your energy. This flavourful mint has numerous health benefits added to it.

Pudhina

Miriyala  dravakam/Oka   chettu

Merugu/ Pudina

Putiyina

Pudina

•  Soothing the digestive tract and if you are having stomach ache then it can be of great help

• Drinking herbal mint tea reduces irritated bowel syndromes, cleanses the stomach and also clear up skin disorders such as acne.

• Acts as a cooling sensation to the skin and helps in dealing with skin irritations.

• Helps in eliminating toxins from the body.

• Crushed mint leaves helps in whitening teeth and combat bad breath.

• Very good cleanser for the blood.

Curry Leaves

       Any South Indian Cuisine is incomplete without curry leaves. The final garnishing of cooked food is done by adding oil, followed by mustard seeds. After it splutters, curry leaves (chopped onions optional) is added. This method is followed traditionally.
      
      I just used to wonder, how our ancestors were so brilliant, that even in cooking they inculcated science!!!

      Adding curry leaves reduces the cholesterol, full of iron, improves eyesight. Our ancestors, neither went for special gyms, nor weight-loss programs or weight-loss drinks, instead the day to day activities they followed made them stay healthy and live longer.

Karuveppilai

Karepeku/ Karivepaku

Karibevu

Kareapela

Kari patta

• A good remedy for nausea and indigestion. Extract juice of curry leaves, squeeze a lime and add a pinch of sugar.

•  Chew a few leaves every day to lose weight 

•  Improves eyesight, so make sure you do not throw away the leaves while eating. It is also believed to prevent cataract. 

• Good for hair growth. Prevents  pre-mature greying of hair. 

Kerala Koonthal Kurumulaku Roast/ Squid Pepper Fry/ Kanava(calamari) pepper fry

               
                     If you are the one turned head back on seeing squid before cooking, then same pinch. It was my first time I had seen kanava/squid before cooking. Got it from my friend who lives in Rameshwaram. The tube structure was just out of my imagination. I am not a child now, waiting for my mother to clean and cook, this was my mind voice. I am heading a family now, so I started to clean. Any ingredient, if you fry will never let you down. According to me, adding more pepper to any non-veg item will surely make it fool proof.

Prep Time 10-15 mins
Cooking Time 10-15 mins

Chettinad Eral Gravy / Prawn Curry Recipe

                  For any non vegetarian, there will be a special crush for prawn recipes. Recipes with prawns are effortless, but the outcome will always be appetizing. This prawn gravy is a fata-fat gravy, yes it consumes your time very less.