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.

Ragi Biscuits-Oven free/Ragi Adai Sweet/ Kelvaragu Inippu Rotti

                             Followed by the spicy version of ragi rotti, posting the sweet version of ragi rotti.

 

Nethili Meen Varuval/ Netholi Fish Fry/ Spicy Anchovies fry

                                 Sometimes when I crave for something Spicy, crispy and yet healthy, my mind's rapid thought would end with this nethili fish fry only. This is a droolicious recipe, with number of health benefits of the fish.
                               

Ragi adai with Drumstick leaves- Ragi Rotti(Spicy version)- Kezhvaragu MurungaKeerai Adai- Finger millet Adai

                               Ragi is one special ingredient recommended for when puberty in girls. Ragi or Finger millet has loads of calcium in it.This recipe is one best recipe with loads of calcium and iron in it.

Chettinad Eral Sukka/ Prawn Sukka/ Shrimp Dry Recipe

                It has been long time since I am blogging. Yet my long pause has been resumed by a damn delicious recipe, (after trying you ll too accept with me) Prawn Sukka.  Rather than saying me as Non- vegetarian, I would exclaim myself as a lover of Sea Foods. Prawn is a perfect one of the sea food group.

Milagu Poondu thakkali Rasam / Garlic Pepper and Tomato Soup Recipe

                              There is a popular saying in Tamil that, "உணவே மருந்து". Meaning the food we eat itself is a medicine. Rasam is the dish which is apt for the above saying. I remember my grandma making rasam almost all the days for lunch. I am fond of drinking the rasam, which my kid follows too:-)

                                     The Pepper, Cumin, Garlic, Tomato, Tamarind syrup, and the coriander leaves, will make wonders in ailing your digestion. Want to treat your cold and cough without seeking doctor, then having rasam for a week along with cooked rice will help you. This helps in relieving constipation and gastric problems also. The first baby food with rice will be mashed rasam rice in my native regions.

Bread Chaat with leftover Chanamasala

                        Leftovers occupy a lot space in most of the kitchens today. Cooking for the exact quantity is considered to be a great skill. Reusing the leftovers, makes me to think. And, hence my thought process yielded with the bread chaat from the chana masala left overs.

              I just toasted the bread, made them into pieces and mixed with the already prepared chanamasala, with few minutes of heating in the kadai. Finally topped with chopped onion and coriander leaves, with a dash of lemon juice added.         

                     

Moong Dal Sprouts and Mint Dosa- A Refreshing Green Dosa...

                           I am not a loser, yes was able to make my kid eat sprout, that too with goodness of green leaves (mint) added.

                       

                                  Some have digestion or gastric problems towards the moong dal. But sprouting of moong dal helps in digestion with loads of goodness added towards it. Sprouting improves the quality of protein, vitamins, fibre content and essential fatty acids. Sprouts helps in alkalizing your body, i.e, they are anti-cancerous too.

                                       
                                              Adding mint made me as well my dosa refreshing. Mint is considered to be one of the highest anti-oxidant food. Aids in digestion and good for skin.

Dal Palak / Spinach Dal Recipe

                               Spinach is considered to be a pregnancy superfood. Spinach and many other greens are recommended for pregnant women, as for the iron content, antioxidant property, etc. This helps to ease the constipation problems especially during pregnancy. That too greens with a dal, is a complete side dish. 

Fish Fry with Sesame Oil (Gingelly Oil)

                                    Fish fry are always exotic. I got a valuable hint from my chithi(mother's younger sister). And it is, while making masala for fish fry, add sesame oil instead of water. 

Muskmelon(Cantaloupe) and Papaya Smoothie- An Ultimate Low Calorie Smoothie

                            Trying new combinations is always exciting, the result may be thumbs up or sometimes thumbs down too. My try with this muskmelon and papaya smoothie made my day eventual. Instead of going for canned and tinned juice, we can make these smoothies. As they are less time consuming when compared to other fruit smoothies. Peeling, removing seeds and cutting will only take few minutes of your time.

                       These types of smoothies would act as your whole body refresher, nourishing from your hair to toe. Both the ingredients are one among the best fruits. Give a try and make your day.

Prep time 10 mins

Cooking time Nil

Ingredients

1 cup Muskmelon/Cantaloupe (Peeled, Deseeded and Chopped) 

1 cup Papaya (Peeled, Deseeded and Chopped)

1/2 glass Water (optional)

1 tbsp Honey (optional)

Procedure

1.  Leave off skin(yellow color). Deseed the muskmelon and chop it.

2. Peel the skin of papaya, deseed and chop it.

3. Then in a blender put the chopped muskmelon and papaya, blend it.

3. Add the water, if needed and just blend for a second (if mixer grinder, just inch it). 

4. Transfer it to a container. Now the refreshing Muskmelon and Papaya smoothie is ready to be served.If necessary add ice cubes.

                   Note:

• Water can be added as per required, depending on the consistency of the juice you prefer. 
• Adding honey or sugar is optional.
• I won't add any ingredient other than fruit when making smoothies.

Prawn Fry Goan Style / Shrimp Chilli Fry

                            Recollecting my childhood days, I was not a huge fan of prawn. But my mother insisted me to have prawns, saying Vadai(an South Indian fritter), because as we cook it, it tends to turn round. My mother always gave us these prawns (in various recipes), because of its high protein content.  

                           

Mushroom and Carrot Soup with Coconut Milk - A Vegan Soup...

                            A chill and rainy mid-morning weekend, our home has become a proper holiday home with all my family members. I always wish to treat them with a delicious dish to their taste buds and a healthy dish for their stomach. Soups would be the best choice for it. Added they would be a best healthy choice too.

Pomegranate and Carrot Juice- Juice for Supple Skin

                     Juicing always gives joy, that too when a healthy juice is yummy......My try for Pomegranate and Carrot juice, gave me a splendid experience. Was not aware of the worth of Pomegranate, when in my country. Got a chance to travel abroad, there I found shocking that the price of pome was nearly 20 times more that of our country. They said there was a big demand for that fruit too...