Method:
Wash, peel, and grate the carrot. Pour honey (If you are using sugar/jaggery, mix those with the grated carrot) and add lime juice. Add salt and mix well. In a small pan, heat the oil and put mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start crackling, add jeera. Add curry leaves to the oil. Add this seasoning to the salad and mix well. You could add almonds, peanuts, cashews, rasins, any of these as per your taste. Personally I prefer adding almonds. Set aside for 5-10 mins to let the flavors blend. Crunchy munchy carrot salad is ready.

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Ingredients:
Onion (medium) – 1
Tomato (medium) – 1
Garlic – 1 pod (optional)
Hing/asafetida – a pinch
Turmeric – a pinch
Chilly powder – 1/2 tsp
Cooking oil – 2 tsps
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp (optional)
Grated coconut – 1 tbsp (optional)
Coriander leaves – 1-2 (optional)

Method:
Peel the garlic and onion. Chop garlic, onion, and tomato into small pieces. Pour oil into an iron wok. Crackle mustard seeds. Add chopped garlic. When they turn brown, add chopped onion. Saute for 2 minutes. Add turmeric powder, chilly powder, and hing powder. Add chopped tomato. Saute for 2 more minutes. Add salt and turn off. Add grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves if preferred. Serve with roti.

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Ingredients:

Bhindi/okra/lady’s finger – 250 gms
Copra/dried coconut kernel – 150 gms
Peanuts – a fistful
Garlic pod (medium sized) – 1
Chilly powder – 1 tsp
Cooking oil – 1 tbsp
Salt – as needed

Method:
The okra that you choose for this subzi should be of small size. Use only the tender ones. Make sure that you wash them thoroughly and pat dry. Remove both the ends and make a single slit on the okra ensuring that it does not split into two. Okra is a favorite hideout for worms! So make sure that you check for any dirt or worms! Keep aside.

Chop the copra into small, even pieces. In a thick bottomed pan, dry roast the copra pieces until golden brown (for around 5 minutes). Remove from fire. Dry roast the peanuts in medium fire for around 5 minutes. When the peanuts start changing color, remove from fire. Grind the roasted peanuts, copra, garlic pod, and chilly powder in a blender to make a coarsely ground powder.

In a pan, pour one tbsp oil and add the slit okra. Close with a lid and cook for 3 minutes in medium fire. Stir occasionally. When the okra is half cooked, add the the coarsely ground powder. Add the required amount of salt, stir, and close with a lid. Cook for 5 mins in medium fire. Stir occasionally. Stuffed okra is ready. Serve hot with warm rotis.

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Your chance of finding them in the market is miniscule. Only way to taste them is to try them out at home. So here goes recipe for colocasia wafers.

Ingredients:
Chembu kizhangu (taro tuber/colocasia tuber/arvi) – 1 kg
Oil (sunflower/coconut/cooking oil) – 250 ml
Salt – 2 tbsp
Water – Half a glass

Method:
Wash and scrape to remove the outer skin of the tubers. Slice the tubers to thin pieces using a slicer. Colocasia tubers are sticky in nature. Take care to separate the sliced pieces so that they do not stick to each other.

Mix the salt in half a glass of water and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a thick iron wok. When the oil smell hits you and the oil is hot enough, adjust the flame to medium and then drop a bunch of sliced pieces (as much as the oil can hold) into the oil. If you put more than the oil can hold, the slices will not cook properly.

The oil starts to bubble as soon as you put the slices. The bubbles reduce steadily as the slices get cooked and when they are properly cooked and crisp enough, the oil will not have any bubbles at all. This is one way of judging whether the slices are cooked or not. Of course, the slices turn brown in color too. Stir occasionally using a spatula. In medium heat, it takes at least 4-5 mins for the pieces to get cooked. The pieces turn golden and clink against the spatula. At this stage, turn down the heat to low and pour a teaspoon of salt water into the oil. Ensure that you stand a little away from the wok while doing this as this causes bubbles and splutter in the oil. When the bubbles die down, remove the slices from oil and spread them on to a tissue paper/newspaper to absorb extra oil. Turn the heat medium and repeat the process to make more chips.

Wafers are sometimes served with rice and it’s a big hit with many.

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Here I present my own less sinful version of what I tasted at the wedding. A quick fix breakfast or snack, an easy dish to make.

Ingredients:
Bread (Multigrain/White) – 2 pieces
Butter/Olive oil – 2 tbsp
Dry herbs (Basil/pasta herb mix) – ½ tsp
Cheese (slices or spreadable) – 2 slices/1 tbsp
Sesame seeds – 1 tsp

Method:

If you are using square shaped bread slices, cut it into smaller rectangular or triangular pieces. This is optional and just for ease of eating. Spread/place the cheese spread/slice on bread (I used Amul’s Garlic Cheese Spread). On this sprinkle sesame seeds, and mixed herbs (I used pasta herb mix. Basil is also a good choice). I did not use any salt as I used garlic cheese spread which had little bit of salt. You could choose to sprinkle salt as per your taste. Brush olive oil on the free side (the side without toppings).

Since I do not have an oven, I toasted this in a pan on low heat. Toast only the free side to make it brown. Serve as snack by itself or with vegetables. You wont realize how many of them you will gobble along with hot tea or coffee.

Instead of cheese, you can spread mashed potatoes. Sesame seeds are rich in calcium. Multigrain bread and olive oil up the health quotient.

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Salad Ingredients:
Zucchini (a type of squash like cucumber) – 1 medium sized
Carrot – 1 medium sized
French beans – 100 gms
Garlic – 1 clove
Olive oil/butter/cooking oil – 1/2 tbsp
Crushed peppercorns – 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Garlic Bread Ingredients:
Bread – As needed
Garlic cloves – 2 to 3
Butter – 1 tbsp

Method:
Salad
Peel garlic and chop finely. Wash and remove the edges of the vegetables. Peel the carrot. Slice the vegetables in a slanting manner (oblique cutting) so that the inner sides are more exposed.

Heat a wok and pour oil. Add the finely chopped garlic and cook for a minute. When the garlic begins to change color, add the sliced carrots and beans, close with a lid, and cook for a minute. Stir and add the sliced zucchini. Cook for around 2 minutes. The vegetables should just become tender and should not be overcooked. Add salt and crushed pepper. Remove from fire.

Garlic bread
Peel and chop garlic finely. Mix this with butter. Spread on the butter garlic mixture on bread and place on a hot pan. Spread the butter and garlic on the other side of the bread. Cook in medium fire for half a minute or so. Flip over and cook the other side. Remove from fire and serve with cheese or zucchini salad.

Zucchini is not commonly found in India. It belongs to the cucumber family and tastes and smells very much like cucumber yet not as watery as cucumber. I used to always ignore the side of the market where the ‘exotic’ vegetables are sold. But I am so glad I gave zucchini a try.

My mom’s sweet unni appam is well known among the friends and family circle. She had a salt equivalent to the sweet unniappam. This used to be made when she had exhausted options/ingredients. She would mix a little bit of churned curd to leftover idli batter, add some chopped onions, some garnish of curry leaves and coriander and fry this batter in oil. For lack of a better word, we used to call it morappam. Morappams had long been forgotten after I moved out of my parents’ home. It took me a trip to Chennai to revive the morappam memories.

The best thing about visiting a new place is getting the feel and taste of the local culture and cuisine. During my recent trip to Chennai, I gorged on fried paniyarams (the humble household morappam), Vazhappoo Vadai (Banana flower vadai), adai and avial, and other local specialities. Well, adai and avial has already been posted in Samagni. Adai and avial as a combination was new to me. When I thought about it, I realized it is a very clever combination of vegetables, dal, and carbs, a wholesome meal.

I tasted 2 varieties of paniyaram – one plain and the other spicy. I am told there are sweet paniyarams as well. Somebody please share the recipe for sweet paniyaram and vazhapoo vadai please!

Paniyarams are made in a frying pan that has pits. Batter is poured into these pits and steamed or fried. Made out of idli/dosa batter with or without extra ingredients, they taste great by themselves or when eaten with spicy chutney. They are a perfect monsoon snack and quick and easy to make.

Ingredients
Idli batter – 250 gms
Onion – 1 big (finely chopped)
Green chillies – 2 (finely chopped)
Coriander – a bunch (finely chopped)
Curry leaves – 2 stalks (finely chopped)
Tomato – 1 (finely chopped) This is optional

Method
Take idli batter and mix the above ingredients to make a smooth batter. Refer here for idli batter recipe. Pour half a teaspoon oil into the paniyaram mold pits. Mix the batter well and pour small quantities of batter into the mold pits.

Cook in medium heat for a minute or more. When the sides turn brown, flip over using a wooden/steel stick. Ensure that both sides are cooked properly. Remove from fire. Serve hot with chutney.

This is the steamed variety hence more healthy. If you would like your paniyarams fried, you could fill the paniyaram mold pits with oil and deep fry the batter. This is tastier and crispier, but accompanied by guilt. Choice is yours!

I tried making paniyaram with adai batter and it turned out to be excellent. While paniyarams made with idli batter are spongy, adai batter paniyarams are crunchy and crispy. Do try them out or else make a trip to Chennai.

This time for Diwali, I made wafers, which is not a traditional Diwali sweet/savory item. During my routine visit to the Malayali shop (they are a common phenomenon here in Mumbai where I live. You will find one every 2-3 Kms or so) I saw some kachil, a type of yam that is found mostly in tropical countries. I had never seen anyone making chips out of these, but I thought of trying it out. So I cleaned, sliced, and fried them. The first batch turned out limp and soggy. I did not get disheartened. Tried adjusting the flame and then the next batch was perfect! For those of you who have made any other wafer, the process remains the same. Here’s how you can:

Ingredients:
Kachil (Yam) – As much as you have patience for
Oil (for deep frying) – 250 ml
Salt – 2 tbsp
Water – half a glass

Method:

Wash and clean the yam thoroughly and peel it. This part can be really painful as they are uneven, hairy, and muddy. Slice the yam to thin pieces using a slicer. Slice them on to a tissue paper (or a newspaper like some of us rustics do ;-)). Separate the sliced pieces so that they do not stick to each other. Mix the salt in half a glass of water and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. When the oil smell hits you and the oil is hot enough, adjust the flame to medium and then drop a bunch of sliced yam pieces (as much as the oil can hold) into the oil. Stir occasionally using a spatula. It takes at least 2 mins for the yam pieces to get cooked. You can gauge this when you stir using the spatula. You will feel the stiffness of the yam pieces which is very different from their soft feel on the spatula when they were fresh in the oil. At this stage take a tsp of the salt water and pour it into the hot oil. Ensure that you stand a little away from the kadai while doing this as this can cause oil to splutter. The salt water that you just poured into the hot oil with the clunky chips will cause some commotion (bubbles so to speak) in the oil. When the bubbles die down, remove the yam pieces from the oil and spread them on to a tissue paper (again, for some of us newspaper comes handy). Enjoy the chips with a garam glass of chai!

You can make wafers out of colacasia also. Which reminds me of some amazing dishes that can be made of colacasia stems! Colacasia stem avial…mmm…my all time favorite…slurp slurp. That post is reserved for another occasion.

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Ingredients:

Paneer – 200 gms

Curd – 100 gms

Peppercorns – 20-25 nos (or pepper powder 1 tsp)

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Dry basil – 1 tsp

Salt – 1 tea spoon or to taste.

Capsicum – 1 medium size

Oil – 1-2 tbsp

Resting Time (for the marinate): 30 mins.

Cooking Time: 15 min.

Method:

Mix the curd with ginger garlic paste, crushed peppercorns, basil, and salt. Cut paneer into 1-inch squares around half a centimeter thick and put in the curd mixture.

Marinate for half an hour. Cut the Capsicum in square pieces. Pour oil in a pan and place the paneer pieces in the oil and pour the remaining marinate on to the pan. Cook in low fire. Flip over the paneer pieces one by one after 2-3 minutes.

Cook for 2 minutes until the edges are crisp. Take Out the Paneer pieces and place in the serving dish. Place the capsicum pieces on the pan and cook for around 2 minutes. Take out and place in the serving dish. Its a great starter.

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Ingredients:

For batter:
Bajra whole grain (millet, kambu): 2 cups
Urad dal: 1 cup
Salt to taste

For dosa:
Gingely oil/groundnut oil : 1 tsp

Preparation Time: 24 hrs.

Cooking Time: 5min.

Method:
Wash and soak bajra overnight/8 hrs. Drain the water and leave it as is for half an hour to one hour. Take a clean cotton cloth and put the bajra in this cloth and cover. Sprinkle water on this cotton cloth and ensure that it is wet. After about 12-15 hrs, you can see nice sprouts. Soak urad dal in water for about 4 hrs. Grind sprouted bajra and urad dal together to make a fine paste. Add salt and water and dilute. The batter should be of the normal dosa batter consistency. You can ferment the batter if preferred.

Place the griddle on the stove. Heat griddle and pour about a full ladle of batter on to the griddle. Spread the batter around carefully using the bottom of the ladle. Cook in medium flame for about 30-40 sec. When the edges get crisp, pour 1 tsp oil, and flip over the dosa. Lower the flame and cook for around 15 seconds. Remove dosa from the girdle. Protein dosa is ready. Serve with hot sambhar or chutney.

Trivia:
Bajra is packed with nutrients and minerals. Sprouted bajra dosa is rich in proteins and is good for the colon. This is a very good way for vegetarians to include protein in their diet.

You can make this dosa without sprouting the bajra also. The taste remains more or less same, only the nutrition quotient will be less compared to the sprouted dosa.

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