Paal Poli

Paal Poli is a very traditional dessert of Tamilnadu.  I made this for weekend tiffin and my entire family relished this dish. 

Ingredients 

Maida - 2 cups

Sooji - 3 tbsp

Pista, safrron and other nuts to garnish

Milk - 1.5 litres

Sugar - 1.5 cups

Cardamom - 1 tsp

Oil to fry

Method

• Make a dough with maida, shoji and a pinch of salt with enough water.
• Make small puris and spread little oil over them
• Fold the puris into triangle (just as you would do for parathas) and roll them again in the shape of a triangle
• Deep fry in hot oil
• I like my puris crisp, so I fried them till crisp.
• Boil milk in a medium flame till reduced to half and mix in the sugar and boil again
• Add the cardamom 
• Pour the milk on the puris arranged in a big plate and garnish with nuts and saffron.
• You could either serve cold or hot (My family prefers it hot)

Enjoy!!!

Aapam

Aapam is a very light breakfast. It is served with stew, coconut milk or kurma in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Ingredients
Raw rice - 2 cups
Cooked rice (kept overnight in the refrigerator ) - 1 cup
Rapid Rise Yeast - 1 tbsp
Salt
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Coconut grated - 1 cup


Method

• Soak raw rice in water overnight.
• Grind the rice with enough water
• When the rice is coarsely ground add the cooked rice and coconut and grind till silky
• Dissolve yeast in sugar and a cup of warm water
• Add yeast to the ground batter and salt to taste
• Let the batter ferment for 3 to 4 hours in room temperature.
• Take a ladle full of batter (see to it that it is in pouring consistency)
• Pour batter in a rounded non-stick pan and swivel it with both your hands to form a circular shape. The center part must be thicker and the outer parts must be thinner.
• Cover with a lid and cook on medium flame
• Once done, turn into a plate and serve with stew or Vellai Kurma or coconut milk.

Enjoy!!!

Cinnamon Rolls

Nothing like a warm cinnamon roll with a hot cup of coffee to lift up someone's spirit.

Ingredients

A sachet of yeast

All purpose flour - 3 cups

Salt - a pinch

Brown Sugar - 2 cups

Cinnamon powder

Melted Butter - 1/4 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 2tbsp

For the frosting:

1/2 a cup of cream cheese

1 cup of frosting sugar

vanilla essence

milk - 1tbsp

Method

• Heat Oven to 350 F
• In a small bowl of warm water dissolve yeast and let it rise
• Work the flour, yeast water, salt , milk and sugar to a smooth dough
• Mix a cup of brown sugar with 2 tsp of cinnamon powder
• Let it rest for 2 hours to rise well
• Work on the dough again.
• Pinch a small portion of dough and roll them thin on a flat surface using a rolling pin.
• Spread a thin coating of melted butter and sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mix evenly
• Roll the dough into a long strip and cut into even pieces.
• Arrange evenly on the baking sheet leaving space for the dough to rise again.
• Arrange all the rolls cut side down, and bake at 350F for 20 mins.
• Let it cool

Once the rolls are cool, mix all the ingredients listed for frosting evenly and spread it over the rolls.

Take out the rolls and warm them for a few seconds before you eat them.

Enjoy!!!

Jalapeño Thokku / Molaga Thokku

Jalapeño Thokku


I got this recipe from Ramki's OPOS (one pot one shot cooking) in United by Food Forum.
I used jalapeños in the place of Indian chillies in the recipe since it is easier for me to get Jalapeños in Guatemala.

I followed the exact same recipe as given above.

I chopped the jalapeños fine and did not blend them as stated in the recipe since I like my pickle to be chunky.

Let the pickle cool down and Store the pickle in a clean bottle and refrigerate. 

Vellai Kurma

Vellai Kurma or South Indian White kurma is a very popular side dish for Chapathis and Idiyappam served in most of the restaurants in Tamil Nadu. The name suggests that there is no added color to the kurma like turmeric or any other color.

The recipe given below serves 4

Ingredients :

Assorted Vegetables (carrot, beans, cauliflower, peas and potato cut into cubes) - 3 cups
Salt to taste
Green chillies - 2
Bay leaf - a few
Corn flower or maida - 1 tbsp mixed well in a cup of water
Oil - 2 tbsp

To grind :
Coconut grated - 1 cup
Cardamom - 2
Cinnamon - a small peice
Fennel seeds - 2 tsp

Method

• Pressure cook all the cut vegetables with 2 tbsp of water for just one whistle.
• Heat oil in a pan and sauté the green chillies and bay leaves
• Add the ground paste and sauté for a while 
• Add salt to taste
• Add the boiled vegetables and pour little water to get a gravy like consistency
• Pour in the corn flour / maida water and give it a boil till the kurma comes together
• Garnish with cilantro

Enjoy with hot chapatis or Idiyappams