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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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.

Ingredients:

Poha (beaten rice/aval) – 3 fistfuls
Boiled potato – 1 medium sized
Bread – 1 slice (optional)
Onion – 1 medium sized
Coriander leaves – 4-5 stalks
Curry leaves – 2 stalks
Lemon juice – juice of 1/2 a lime
Green chillies – 2
Asofetida – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Rava – 2 tbsp
Oil – 3 tbsp
Water – 1 cup

Method:

Moisten the poha with water and mash it. If the poha is of thicker variety, you will need to soak it in water for a minute and then drain the water. Mash the boiled potato and bread and mix it with the moistened poha. Chop the onions, coriander leaves, and green chillies finely and add it to this mixture. To this, add the lemon juice, red chilly powder, turmeric powder, asofetida, and salt and mix well. Make small balls out of this mixture and flatten the balls into rounds that are 1-cm thick using the palm of your hand. Place the rava on a plate and coat the cutlets with rava.

Heat the oil in a flat non-stick pan and shallow fry the cutlets.

Place the cutlets on a tissue paper to drain excess oil. This is a very tasty snack and easy to prepare too.

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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:
Unripe plantains (large) – 5 Nos
Jaggery (Sharkkara/achu vellam) – 10 Nos (2 pieces of jaggery per plantain)
Cardamom (Elakkai, elaichi) – 5 nos
Dry ginger powder (soonth, chukku) – 1 tbsp
Coconut oil – 250 gm
Sugar – 2-3 tbsp
Water – enough to immerse the plantains

Preparation Time: 30 mins.
Cooking Time: 30 mins.

Method:
Peel the skin of the plantains and put them in water. Peeling will become easier if you make 3 or 4 vertical cuts on the plantain peel. Keep the plantains immersed in water for around half an hour. Drain the water and pat dry the plantains. While holding the plantain vertically, cut the middle splitting the plantain into two long pieces and then cut into quarter inch sized pieces.

Heat oil in a wide pan (preferably uruli, brass vessel). Bring it to boil. Put the plantain pieces into the boiling oil. You need to stir them continuously the first minute to keep them from sticking to each other. Cook in medium to low fire until the pieces start turning brown. If the pieces are not properly cooked/crisp, the chips will be soggy. So have patience to cook the pieces until they are crisp. Remove the pieces from the oil using a strainer and put them in a tissue paper to absorb excess oil.

Dissolve jaggery in water and bring this to a boil. When the boil settles down and the mixture becomes thick (ensure that it doesn’t get too thick), add the fried plantain pieces and keep stirring. You can be sure that the consistency is right if you see thin jaggery threads forming while you stir the plantain pieces. Add powdered cardamom and dry ginger powder and mix well. After a minute or so, sprinkle the sugar and stir well. Like magic, you will see the wet and sticky jaggery syrup turning dry and the pieces separating. Voila, it’s ready!

Trivia:
This is a really unique preparation. Sharkara varatti is a must for wedding feasts and all types of feasts. I have noticed that it is very popular even amongst non-keralites. Try it and you will know why.

To those of you who are wondering how different a plantain is from a banana, click here.

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Ingredients:

For making shallow fried paneer:

• Paneer cut into 2 cm cubes – 250 gm
• Sour curds* – 100 gm
• Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp
• Garam masala – ½ tsp
• Black pepper crushed– 1 tsp
• Red chilly powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste

For making stir fried vegetables:

• Garlic finely chopped – 1 pod
• Split green chillies – 2
• Diced onion– 2
• Diced tomato – 2
• Diced Capsicum – 2

* In case any of these ingredients are unavailable, check the alternate ingredients section for other options.

Alternatives:
If curd is not available, lemon juice can be used.

Resting Time (for the marinate): 30 mins.
Cooking Time: 15 min.

Method:
Mix all the ingredients mentioned in the For making shallow fried Paneer section. Keep this mixture aside for half an hour. The marinate should coat the paneer cubes well.

Pour 2 tbsp oil on to a pan. Empty the marinated mixture into this pan. Let this cook in medium heat. Constant stirring is not required. Let this cook until the sides of the paneer are brown and crisp. Remove paneer from the pan and keep aside.

Pour 1 tbsp oil on the pan and empty the finely chopped garlic and split green chillies. When these are done, add diced onion, tomato, and capsicum. Shallow fry these until half cooked. Do not overcook.

Add the shallow fried paneer to the cooked veggies. Mix well and turn off the fire.

List of accompaniments:
Rotis

Health Benefits/Alerts:
Paneer is rich in protein. Oil usage is minimal in this method making it a healthier option.

Trivia:
This can be cooked in a tandoor or oven. Since I do not have either of these, I invented this unique way of making paneer tikka. It’s yummy with rotis. Tastes great as a sandwich filling too.

Skill Level:
Low