Sevai- Flavored Rice Noodles

Feels good to be back to blogging again. Thanks to my blogger friends for the motivation.

“Sevai” is a tiffin dish that can be done in a jiffy these days. I remember my mom making this for sunday evening tiffin. It’s quiet a project as it was done in a more elaborate fashion, from scratch. She would wash the rice, soak it for few minutes and dry it in a towel and powder it finely. Then cook it in a pan with , salt and few drops of oil  and make rice balls and steam the balls in cooker. The steamed rice balls are then pressed in a machine called “sevai nazhi” to extract noodles and then seasoned with a variety of flavors and enjoyed as an evening meal on the weekends when the whole family is together. She would certainly ask my help to hold the sevai nazhi while she can turn the handle to get the noodles out of the nazhi. You can season them in a variety of flavors like Coconut , Lemon, jaggery-sweet sevai, Pepper-cumin(Milagu Jeera), Tomato, Chakarai(Cane sugar) sevai.

With the fast paced life style we have these days, it would be hard to do that.  Further,this dish can be done in a microwave to save time. Rice noodles are available to buy from chinese or Indian grocers and can be used for this. Although I would still vote for the taste  and texture of the sevai done by conventional method, I am pretty used to using ready-made rice noodles for this preparation. This is a an exciting lunch option for kids, as they always love to eat noodles that are colorful and fun

Done in a Microwave including the seasoning:

Steps:

1. Take water in a microwave container and heat it until the water boils.
2. Remove the container from the microwave carefully and soak the rice noodles for 5 minutes and drain all the excess water.
3. Season with a variety of flavoring and mix well.
4. Enjoy with chutney or by itself.

Coconut sevai(Thengai sevai):

Ingredients:                                 

1. Oil- 2tsp.
2. Mustard seeds-1 tsp
3. Urad dhal-1 tblsp
4. Dry Red chillies-2
5. Curry leaves 5
6. Cashew nuts-3
7. Ground nut(optional)-5
8. asafoetida 1tsp.
9. Salt to taste
10. Shredded coconuts- 11/2 cup.

Method:

1. Heat oil in a microwave safe dish with ingredients 2-8 and microwave for 2 minutes with the lid closed halfway through.
2. Then add shredded coconut and saute for 1 min in microwave.
3. Add  the microwaved contents to drained sevai , add salt and mix well. 

Lemon Sevai (Elumichai sevai):

Ingredients:

Oil- 2tsp.

Mustard seeds-1 tsp

Urad dhal-1 tblsp

Channa dhal- 1tblsp.

Green chillies-2

Curry leaves- 5

Cashew nuts-3

Ground nut(optional)-5

Asafoetida- 1tsp.

Turmeric powder-1 tbsp.

Salt to taste

Lemon juice juice from 1 lemon.

Method:

1. Same as mentioned for coconut sevai. Add ingredients 1-10 and heat it in microwave for 2 minutes
2. Add  seasonings,salt and lemon juice, at last and mix the sevai well.

Vella Sevai(Sweet jaggery sevai):

This is my favorite.

Ingredients:

1. Jaggery- 1 cup
2. Shredded coconut- 1/2 cup.
3. Ghee- 2 tsp.
4. Cardamom powder- 1tblsp.
5. Cashews-5
6. Raisins-5

Method:

1. Add the jaggery and coconut in a microwave pan and mix for 2-3 minutes until it blends well.
2. In another microwave dish, add ghee and cashews and raisins and heat it for a minute .
3. Mix jaggery coconut blend to ghee toasted cashew and raisin and give it a gentle toss.

 Sending this for MEC event hosted by Lata Raja of Flavours and Tastes http://lata-raja.blogspot.com/

Microwave Easy cooking(MEC) event initiated by Srivalli of  http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/

 Checkout this link

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Poori’s with Potato Masal and Chole( A wholesome whole wheat bread with matching sides)

Poori’s are wholesome whole wheat bread, that is an absolute favorite for both children and adults. In south india, its customary to serve poori (puri) with madras masal, which is a potato based side to go with them. However in North India, Poori’s are served with chole or channa- a garbanzo bean side dish. Both of them taste very good. Though, I personally like the potato masal very much, I make masal and chole together to break the monotony and to make the dish a bit more interesting and grand. My daughter loves the poori’s. She simply enjoys it with sugar and ghee.

Poori’s 

 

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour (atta)- 2 cups ( will  get about 15 poori’s).
• Salt- a pinch.
• Water-just enough to knead the dough.
• Oil- 1/2 tsp- to knead.
• Oil- for deep-frying.

Method:

1. Mix wheat flour, salt, water and knead them into a dough.
2. Add 1/2 tsp oil, so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands.
3. let the dough sit for 1 hour.
4. Make the dough into lemon sized small balls.
5. Flatten them with a rolling-pin and table.
6. Dab the rounds with atta(whole wheat flour), while pressing, so the rounds are not sticking to the rolling table.
7. Gently slide the rounds in hot oil and deep fry them in medium heat.
8. When one side gets cooked, topple it to the other side and gently give it a press to get fluffy poori’s.
9. Absord excess oil with a  paper towel.
10. Serve hot with madras-potato masal or chole.

Tip: Add water little by little while kneading, so you dont make the dough loose.

Potato(Aalo) Masal    

Ingredients:

• Potatoes-3 big.
• Onions- 1 big.
• Green chillies-2.
• Oil- 2 tsp.
• Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp.
• Urad dhal- 1/2 tsp.
• Channa dhal-1/2 tsp.
• Tomato-1 (optional).
• Peas- 1/4 cup-(optional).
• Turmeric- 1/2 tsp.
• Salt-to taste.
• Curry leaves- an arc.
• Gram flour- 2 tsp.

Method:

1. Pressure cook potatoes, peel the skin and smash them.
2. Chop onions and tomatoes(optional).
3. Slit green chilies.
4. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once it splatters, add urad dhal, channa dhal, curry leaves, green chillies, Chopped onions and saute them.
5. At this point tomatoes and peas can be added optionally and allow it to cook for few minutes.
6. Add salt, turmeric and mashed potatoes.
7. Add gram flour to 1/2 cup of water and add it to the pan.
8. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and turn the heat off.
9. Serve with hot poori’s.

Chole:

Ingredients:

• White Garbanzo beans-1 tin cooked.
• Oil- 2 tsp.
• Cumin seeds(jeera)- 1/2 tsp.
• Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp.
• Onion paste-  from 1 big red onion.
• Tomato puree- from 2 tomatoes.
• Salt-to taste.
• Chole or Channa masala- 1 tsp.
• Dhania powder- 1/2 tsp.
• Curd-2 tsp (optional).
• Coriander leaves and onion rings for garnish.
• Red chilly powder-1/4 tsp.

Method:

1. Soak the Garbanzo for 8-10 hours and pressure cook till one whistle or use the ready made, pre-cooked tinned Garbanzos-but wash them well before use.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add jeera, ginger garlic paste, onion paste and saute.
3. Add tomato puree, salt, chole masala, red chilly powder, dhania powder and cook till oil separates.
4. Add 2 tsp of curd at last and mix well.
5. Garnish with cilantro.

 Note:

Another interesting variation in North india is “Chole Batura”. Batura is a large poori, which is also served with chole. But the preparation method is different.

Sending this to Cooking for kids-Wheat hosted by sireesha at http://kidzdelight.blogspot.com/2009/10/announcing-cooking-for-kids-event-wheat.html, authored by Sharmi of neivedhyam at  http://www.neivedyam.com/2008/12/announcing-cooking-for-kids-event.html

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Sundal Varieties ( “No Fat high protein” Legumes, seasoned with spices)

 

 In my previous posts, I wrote about  Navarathri and Saraswathi poojai-Vijayadashami and mentioned about sundals, but didn’t have a chance to write how each variety is made. When I came across the event  “My Legume Love Affair”- 15th helping in  Sia’s Monsoon spice, couldn’t resist a post dedicated to sundals. So, here it is…………

During Navrathri we make sundals with legumes every day for 10 days and offer it to Goddess Devi and partake. Also, this can be a great protein packed evening-after school snack/tiffin for kids. It’s great for pregnant women. Also great for weight watchers diet, as it is low or no fat and high in protein content. Almost 15 types of sundals can be made with different legumes using different methods.

Method: 1 ( This method can be used for Green chana, White chana and Black chana-Garbanzo beans. It is called Podi thoovina sundal)

Chana Sundal

Ingredients:

• Black or Green or White chana (Garbanzo)- 1cup.
• Salt-to taste.
• Turmeric powder- a pinch.
• Lemon juice- few drops.

For Seasoning:

• Oil- 1tsp.
• Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp.
• Urad dhal- 1/2 tsp.
• Curry leaves- 1 arc.
• Green chilly-1(optional)
• Asafoetida- a pinch.

For Masala powder: Dry roast the below and powder them.

• Dhania or coriander seeds- 1tsp.
• Dry Red chillies- 2.
• Channa Dhal-1tsp.
• Urad dhal-1tsp.
• Coconut scrapes- 2tsp.

Method:

1. Soak the chana in water for 10-12 hours.
2. Add salt and pressure cook till 1 whistle, so that it doesn’t over cook.
3. Keep oil in a pan and add the above mentioned seasoning one by one, in the order mentioned above and turmeric.
4. Add the cooked chana to the pan, after draining excess water.
5. Add the masala powder and give it a toss.
6. Squeeze lemon juice.

Method 2 ( This method can be used for Chana dhal(Kadala parupu- split chickpeas), Split Moong Dhal (Payatham parupu) and Kidney beans( Rajma) and Black eye peas(karamani)

 Ingredients:

• Legume of interest- 1cup.
• Salt-to taste.
• Turmeric powder- a pinch.
• Coconut scrapes- 2tsp.

For Seasoning:

• Oil- 1tsp.
• Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp.
• Urad dhal- 1/2 tsp.
• Curry leaves- 1 arc.
• Red chillies-3.
• Asafoetida- a pinch.

Method:

Rajma soaked in water for 10-12 hours. Karamani soaked for 1 hour. Need not soak chana dhal and moong dhal as they cook directly.

Pressure cook till 1whistle, with just enough water.

Keep oil in a pan and add the above mentioned seasoning one by one, in the order mentioned above and turmeric.

Add the cooked legume to the pan, after draining excess water and cook 5 minutes.

Garnish with coconut scrapes.

Method 3 ( Green patani-vatana, White patani, Groundnut-peanuts, Chora can be done in this method)

  Ingredients and Seasoning and Preparation method:

• Same as mentioned in Method 2.
• Instead of red chillies, green chillies are used here.
• Lemon juice can be used in this variety.
• Groundnuts need not be soaked, directly cooked.
• Chora and vatana can be soaked, but cooked carefully, as they become soft easily.
• In green vatana sundal, cut mango pieces can be added to make Thengai-maangai-patani sundal.

Method 4: (Sweet version can be made with green gram(Paasi payaru) and Red Karamani (which is hard to find in the US)

The idea is pretty much the same except that Jaggery(vellam), coconut, cardamom and ghee are used. Avoid seasonings mentioned above.

Method 5: ( Green gram Masala Sundal with onions)

If it is not used as neivedhyam, just prepared as a snack, green gram can be soaked, and allowed to sprout and method 3 can be used. But can saute chopped onions, tomatoes and a pinch of garam masala can be added.

Tip:

Asafoetida or Hing can be added to all the sundals, as legumes may cause gas to form in the stomach. Gas formation can be further avoided by letting the legumes sit in hot water for few minutes and draining the water. Then they can be soaked and cooked.

 Revealing my Legume love affair to the world by sending this to Sia’s Monsoon Spice , who is hosting the event for Susan of  The Well Seasoned Cook.

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Flavored Milk

It’s 4 pm in the evening…………

Me: Come on honey. It’s time to drink your milk.

My daughter: No mommy. I am busy.

Me: Please da kanna. Come on, drink it quick.

My daughter: Mommy. Stop bothering me.

Me: Drinking milk makes you strong da chellam.

My daughter: (Showing her muscles) See mommy. I am already very strong.

Me:If you drink your milk, I will give you a scoop of ice-cream.

My daughter:Ice-cream is junk food mommy.( all of a sudden she gets  a “nyanodhayam” that ice cream is junk food).

Me: How about your favorite movie “Finding Nemo”?

My daughter: It’s boring!

Me: If you do not drink your milk now, I will give your toys to Riya.( her friend)

My daughter: Yes mommy. we have to share our toys. You can give.

Me: I said, drink it right now, otherwise, the ghosts are gonna come and catch you.

My daughter: There are no ghosts in this world mommy. People just “pretend” to be ghosts during Halloween.

Me: If you do not drink it, I will give  you a adi (Slap).

My daughter😦 with a grumpy face) This is not fair, you dont love me. I will talk to strangers…..

Yes, this is the latest way my 5 old blackmailed me, that she will talk to strangers, (Because we tell her not to talk to strangers). She uses the exact same words. That’s how much she hates milk. Every single day, I have to follow the strategies of Sam, Dhan, Bedh, Dand( the four strategies in Sanskrit literature meaning treating polite, reward, discrimination and punishment respectively) wasting 1/2 hour of my precious time. “Punarapi Jananam, punarapi Maranam”– same story repeats every single day- three times a  day.

 Fall in love with milk contest enthused me to find interesting and fun ways to feed her milk, that she, most kids for that matter hate the most. In the US, we get Strawberry milk, Vanilla milk, Chocolate milk etc. But back home, we used to drink Rose milk, Badam milk (Almond Milk) and Pista (Pistachio) milk, which are very flavorful. They are so tasty, aromatic and the pastel colors are so pleasing to the eyes that, anyone will fall in love with milk.

Flavored Milk

Milk is the most nutritious thing in the world, which is why “Cow is worshipped in the  Hindu culture”. By making milk, more appealing to the kids, I am sure all moms would not only find great relief & lot of time saved, but also feel happy seeing the milk mustache of their kids after they finish the milk.

Ingredients:

• Chilled Whole milk or 2% milk- 1 glass.
• Flavored essence- Rose(pink), Pista ( green), Badam ( yellow) available in indian grocery stores. It adds color and flavor- few drops. The brand I used is “Roopam”-synthetic soft drink concentrate.
• Sugar-if required-1tsp.
• Rose petals,almonds, pistachios for garnish-optional.

Method:

1. You can either use boiled, and cooled milk or pasteurized,, homogenized milk, straight from the refrigerator, add few drops of the essence of your choice with or without sugar. Stir well and enjoy! It literally takes less than a minute to get this ready.
2. Edible rose petals can be used as garnish for Rose milk to add interest.
3. Powdered pistachios can be added for Pista milk and crushed almonds for Badam milk, for that nutty crunch at the end.

Note:

1. If you do not want to have ice-cream, cake or any other high calorie options for dessert, you can simply enjoy this deliciously appealing, yet simple made in a snap-flavored milk as a great dessert drink.
2. I personally like the  pista milk for its wonderful color and elaichi-pista flavor. It’s too good.

Yum yum yum

Submitted to “Fall in Love with Milk event in http://www.sanghi-tastybites.blogspot.com/  Sanghi’s Food delights.

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“Rava Idli” from Scratch( Healthy Semolina Pancakes)

Rava Idli

Why get the ready made mixes, when you can make yummy Rava idli’s from scratch, in a snap. It is really simple to make this and it is a very healthy tiffin option  & easy to digest and  most of all kids won’t make a fuss to eat this steamed treat. I also add some scraped carrots to make it more healthy, fun, interesting and colorful.

Ingredients:                                                                    

• Bombay Rava- 1cup ( 8 idlis).
• Green chilly-2.
• Ginger- 1 inch.
• Cashew nuts- 10.
• Oil- 2 tsp.
• Mustard seeds- 1tsp.
• Channa Dhal- 1tsp.
• Curry leaves- an arc.
• Baking powder-a teeny bit.
• Salt- for taste.
• Coconut scrapes-1tsp.
• Curd- 1/2 cup. (its ok if its is sour).
• Ghee- 1tsp for coating idli plates.

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
2. Once the mustard seeds starts splattering, add channa dhal, chopped green chillies, chopped ginger, curry leaves and cashews.
3. Add Rava to it and roast until it becomes light brown.
4. Add curd, salt, baking powder coconut scrapes and let  the batter sit for 1o minutes.
5. Coat the idli plates with ghee and pour the rava batter.
6. Steam the rava idli’s in a cooker.
7. In a few minutes, hot rava idli’s will be ready.
8. Serve with coconut or coriander chutney.

Note:

1. If required, 2tsp of semiya or (vermicelli) can be added to the rava( semolina).
2. If you are using scraped carrots, add the scraped carrots to the idli pan in the design you want and then pour the batter.

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Pizza Dosa ( An Instant pizza makeover for kids, with dosa dough)

 

Pizza Dosai

You had a tough day at work……….  Got home very late in the evening……… Your kid is hungry and screaming for dinner……….. You don’t have time or the energy to prepare dinner………… You don’t have any leftovers……… You suddenly remember some Dosa dough, you kept in the fridge…….. You offer to make dosas for your kid………. You kid refuses to have them and starts screaming again……… Trust me this can happen!

You can magically transform their screams into smiles to offering them Pizza instead of Dosa!  I tell her “hey, Let’s have a Pizza Party” and she is in all smiles!

Ingredients:

• Dosa Dough- same as idli dough, mentioned in my previous post. I use the top layer of the dough for idlis and bottom for dosas.
• Veggies used in pizza (Onions, tomatoes, green peppers, (Jalapenos), pineapples).
• Pizza sauce or pasta sauce.
• Spices like oregano, basil.
• Cheese-3-4 tblsp.
• Chopped garlic-1 pod.
•  Olive Oil-1tsp.

Procedure: Pour the dosa dough in a circle and add the sauce, chopped garlic and toppings, spices and cheese and add oil in sides to cook and cover it with a lid, so it gets cooked.  No need to toss and cook the top part.  Cut it with a pizza cutter and enjoy!

Variation without sauce

 Note: If you want it to taste more like dosa, avoid the pizza sauce and Italian spices.

 

 

  

Note: My daughter loves the plain cheese version.

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Button Idlis soaked in Sambar(14 idlis)

This is again another popular item in “Saravana Bhavan”. These are baby idlis that are just bite sized, miniature version of regular Idlis. They would be apt for soaking in Sambar and enjoyed as “Sambar idlis”.My daughter loves the baby idlis.

Note:

The recipes for Idlis and Sambar are posted in my previous posts.

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