SWEET APPAM/ELIAPPAM

Yields: 12-15 nos

Ingredients

Broken wheat: 1/2 cup
Beaten rice/avalakki/poha: 1/4 cup
Jaggery/bella: 1/2 cup
Cashewnuts pieces: 1 tbsp
Fresh grated coconut: 2 tbsp
Cardamom powder: 1/4 tsp
Ghee: 2 tbsp

Preparation

1. Soak broken wheat for 2 hours. Soak avalakki separately for half an hour.
2. Add soaked broken wheat and avalakki to a mixer jar and grind.
3. Add jaggery to the broken wheat-avalakki mixture and grind it into a fine paste(do not add water).
4. Add cashewnut pieces, fresh grated coconut and cardamom powder and mix it.
5. Take an appam vessel and add few drops of ghee. When ghee heats up, add batter till the rim of the appam holes. After one side is cooked, turn and cook the other side, so that its crispy outside and soft from inside. 

KAI HOLIGE/COCONUT HOLIGE/

Yields: 10 nos.

Ingredients

For making dough(kanaka)
Maida: 1/2 cup
Chiroti rava/fine rava: 1/2 cup
Salt: pinch
Ghee: 1/2 tsp
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp

For stuffing(hoorana)
Grated fresh coconut: 2 cups
Powdered jaggery: 1 cup
Cardamom powder: 1/4 tsp
Jaiphal/jajikai powder: 1/4 tsp

Others:
Oil: 4 tbsp
Butter paper: 1 no(for making holige)

Preparation

1. Take a bowl and add all ingredients for making dough. Mix and add water to make a soft dough. Add 2 tbsp of oil on it, cover and give it a rest for 2 hours. Consistency should be little softer than chapati dough.
2. For making hoorana, grind fresh coconut and jaggery together. (Do not add water for grinding)
3. Once done put in a pan and cook for 5 to 7 minutes till the mixture becomes little dry. Consistency should be such that balls can be made easily.
4. Add cardamom powder, jaiphal powder and mix it.
5. Make hoorana balls and keep aside.
6. Take small portion of kanaka(half the size of hoorana balls) and stuff the hoorana balls  into the kanaka by pulling the kanaka from all sides so as to cover the hoorana completely. 
7. Take a butter paper and grease it with oil.
8. Now take stuffed balls and press/tap the stuffed balls with your greased fingers and palms and flatten it into the shape of holige.
9. Transfer the holige to a hot tawa and roast both the sides (flame should be low to medium). 
10. Ghee can be added while roasting the holige (optional).

Notes

1. The size of the stuffing balls should be double the size of the kanaka balls.
2. After making each holige, apply oil both to your hands and the butter paper.
3. Holige can also be made by applying oil to the chapati roller and rolling the stuffed balls on the greased butter paper.
4. Thick plastic can also be used for tapping holige. My grandmother used to make holige on banana leaf.

UPPAPPA/KARA APPAM

Uppappa is a traditional savoury dish prepared during Navratri festival on Moola Nakshatra day. Traditionally uppappa is prepared as a fried wheat dumpling but here I present to you a healthier low-oil consuming version of Uppappa which I have been preparing for years. The traditional version of Uppappa was much flatter because it used to be deep fried in oil, one at a time. Crispy at the edges and soft in the center, this time consuming dish was reserved only for that particular occassion during Navratri. However, the same Uppappa in this current version is much easier, quicker and healthier and most importantly doesn't compromise much on the taste.

Yields: 20 nos

Ingredients

Broken wheat: 1 cup
Beaten rice/avalakki/poha: 1/2 cup
Red chilli: 2 nos
Green chilli: 2 nos
Ginger(chopped): 1/2 tsp
Pepper seeds: 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 15-20 leaves
Coriander leaves(chopped): 2 tbsp
Fresh grated coconut: 2 tbsp
Hing: 1/4 tsp
Salt: as required
Oil: 2 tbsp

Preparation

1. Soak broken wheat, red chilli, pepper seeds, cumin seeds for 2 hours. Soak avalakki separately for half an hour.
2. Add all soaked ingredients along with ginger, green chilli, curry leaves, coriander leaves, fresh grated coconut,  hing and salt to a mixer jar and grind to a fine paste. Consistency should be like idli batter.
3. Take a appam vessel and add few drops of oil. When oil heats up, add batter till the rim of the appam holes. After one side is cooked, turn and cook the other side, so that its crispy outside and soft from inside.

AMBODE/DAL VADA/PARUPPU VADA

Yields: 10-12 nos.

Ingredients

Kadale bele/Chana dal: 1 cup
Red chilli: 2 nos
Green chilli: 3nos
Ginger: 1 tsp(chopped)
Curry leaves: 20-25 leaves
Coriander leaves: 1/2 cup(chopped)
Hing: 1/2 tsp
Salt: as required
Oil: for frying

Preparation

1. Soak kadale bele/chana dal, red chilli for ½ an hour.
2. Drain water completely by leaving it in the strainer for 10 minutes.
3. Take a mixer jar, add both types of chillies, ginger, curry leaves, hing, salt, half of chana dal and grind without adding water.
4. Add remaining chana dal to the jar and coarse grind it.
5. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add coriander leaves and mix it.
6. Keep a pan with oil for frying on the stove, by the time it gets heated, make medium sized balls from the chana dal mixture.
7. Once oil is hot enough for frying, apply few drops of water to the palm and tap the balls lightly on the palm with the other hand and add it to the oil. 
8. At a time 6 to 7 vadas can be added depending on the quantity of oil kept.
9. Fry till the vadas are cooked inside and crispy from outside. 

Note 

1. While making vada do not press it hard instead tap it very lightly. 
2. Do not over boil the oil. Fry the ambode in medium flame.
3. Grind the dal without adding water.

ATTAE KI KHEER/GODIHITTU PAYASA/WHEAT FLOUR PORRIDGE

Yields: 2 cups

Ingredients

Wheat flour/godihittu: 2 tbsp
Sugar : ½ cup
Milk: ½ cup
Water: ½ cup
Ghee: 3 tbsp
Cashewnuts: 2 tbsp
Cardamom powder: ½ tsp

Preparation 

1. Take 1 tbsp of ghee in a pan, fry cashewnuts and keep aside.
2. Add 2 tbsp of ghee in the same pan and add wheat flour, roast it. 
3. Once its roasted add water and cook for 5 minutes by stirring continously so that lumps are not formed.
4. Add milk, cook for 2 minutes and switch off the stove.
5. Add sugar, mix and bring it to boil. Simmer and cook for 5 minutes and bring it to the consistency of idli batter.
6. Once done add cardamom powder and garnish with cashewnuts. 

Note

1. If you need thinner consistency, after adding sugar just bring it to boil and switch of the flame. Cooking on simmer for extra time will only thicken it.
2. If the amount of ghee is more than the wheat flour and roasted till it releases a fragrance then lumps won't be formed.
3. 3-4 strings of saffron can be added for flavor and color.

CURRY LEAVES CHUTNEY POWDER

Yields: ½ cup

Ingredients

Udad dal/uddina bele: ½ cup

Pepper seeds/menasu/meri: ½ tsp

Cumin seeds/jeera/jerige:½ tsp

Curry leaves:1 cup(washed and dried)

Red chilli: 2 nos.

Hing: ½ tsp

Salt: as required

Preparation

1. Dry roast udad dal, pepper seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and red chilli separately, as each ingredient requires different temperature to get roasted.
2. Udad dal to be roasted till it turns light brown color, pepper seeds till crackles, cumin seeds till you get nice aroma, curry leaves and red chilli after roasting you should be able to break with hand.
3. Add hing powder and salt to it. Mix and keep aside for cooling.
4. Once cooled grind it into a fine powder.
5. Store in a air tight container.
6. Enjoy it with idli, dosa or just with hot plain rice and a little ghee.

BELLADA AVALAKKI

Yields: 2 cups

Ingredients

Gatti avalakki/thick poha/aval: 1 cup
Grated Jaggery/bella/vellam: 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp
Cashewnut: 1 tbsp
Ghee: 4 tsp
Water: 2tsp
Fresh coconut: 1 tbsp(grated)

Preparation

1. Coarse grind avalakki into powder.
2. Wash the powdered avalakki and remove excess water (by putting in muslin cloth and squeezing the water out). Keep aside.
3. Dissolve jaggery by adding water and  heating. Remove impurities.
4. Take a pan, add the jaggery water and make paaka/syrup. When bubbles start appearing switch off the stove.
5. Now add the soaked avalakki powder and mix it properly. Switching off the stove in the previous step makes it easier to mix the avalakki without lumps. However with experience you can mix the avalakki powder in the jaggery syrup even without switching off the flame.
6. Switch on the stove, keep stirring till it gets cooked and gets separated from each other.
7. Add 2 tsp of ghee and mix it.
8. Take another pan, add 2 tsp of ghee and fry the cashewnuts.
9. Add cardamom powder, fresh coconut to avalakki, mix and garnish with the fried cashewnuts.

Notes:

1. One can use any thin porous cloth as an alternative to muslin cloth for squeezing out the excess water out of the avalakki.
2. Most jaggery will contain impurities in the form of mud. So any recipe which requires making jaggery syrup will need to involve a process of removing the impurities before making the syrup. You can use a fine sieve/strainer to remove the impurities. What I do however, is to transfer the jaggery water from one vessel to another slowly, leaving the muddy particles below. Repeat this process for 4-5 times till you see no muddy residue in the water. This ensures even the finest of muddy residue is eliminated, which might not be the case if you use a sieve.

EGGLESS VANILLA CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE TOPPING

Ingredients

For cake:
Maida: 2 cups
Powdered sugar: 1 cup
Curd: 1/2 cup
Milk: 1/4 cup
Butter: 100 gm
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence: 1/2 tsp

For topping:
Chocolate: 100 gm
Hershey's syrup: 2 tsp

Preparation

1. Sieve maida, baking powder, baking soda together twice and keep aside.
2. Take mixing bowl  add butter, powdered sugar and blend it properly with a blender or beater.
3. When butter sugar mixture turns fluffy then add curd and beat again till mixed properly (for 4-5 minutes).
4. Add maida mixture, vanilla essence and mix properly.
5. Add milk little by little and keep mixing. Bring the batter to a consistency similar to that of idli batter.
6. Pour the mixture in a greased baking tray and tap it so that batter spreads evenly.
7. Preheat oven at 180° and bake for 50 minutes.
8. Leave the cake in the oven for couple of minutes, then remove and place on the rack.
9. Let the cake rest for 3 to 4 hours or till it has cooled completely.
10. Now unmould the cake  from the baking tray.
11. For topping, melt the chocolate by double boiling (boil water in a big vessel when boiling keep a smaller vessel with chocolate and keep stirring till it melts).
12. Now pour the melted chocolate on the cake and spread it evenly.
13. Decorate it with hershey's syrup.

Note

1. Always use fresh baking powder and baking soda.
2. All the ingredients should be at room temperature. 
3. Timer for baking may vary from oven to oven(35 to 55 minutes). 

BELE HOLIGE/POLI

Yields: 5-7 nos.

Ingredients

For making dough(kanaka)
Maida: 1 cup
Chiroti rava: 1/2 cup
Salt: pinch
Ghee: 1/2 tsp
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp

For stuffing:
Kadalebele/Chana dal: 1 cup
Jaggery/Bella: 1.5 cup(grated)
Cardamom powder: 1/4 tsp
Jajekai/jaiphal powder: 1/4 tsp

Others:
Oil: 4 tbsp
Butter paper: 1 no(for making holige)

Preparation

1. Take a bowl and add all ingredients for making dough. Mix and add water to make a soft dough. Add 2 tbsp of oil on it, cover and give it a rest for 2 hours. Consistency should be little softer than chapati dough.
2. Dry roast chana dal (just make it warm, do not over roast) and pressure cook by adding water.
3. Remove excess water, cool and grind  it for a while. Once coarsely ground add Jaggery to it grind into paste (do not add water at any stage while grinding) 
4. Transfer the mixture into a pan and cook till the cooked mixture doesn't  stick to the pan(thick enough to make balls). This cooking process will help take out the moisture from the stuffing mixture. 
5. Add cardamom powder, jaiphal powder and mix.
6. Make balls of the mixture and keep aside.
7. Take small portion of the kanaka and stuff it with the Chanadal stuffing balls. Pull the dough from all sides so as to cover the stuffing completely. 
8. Take a butter paper and grease it with oil.
9. Now take stuffed balls and press/tap the stuffed balls with your greased fingers and palms and flatten it into the shape of holige.
10. Transfer the holige to a hot tawa and roast both the sides (flame should be low to medium). 
11. Ghee can be added while roasting the holige (optional).

Notes

1. The size of the stuffing balls should be double the size of the kanaka balls.
2. While pressure cooking chana dal, water should be 1" above the dal.
3. After making each holige, apply oil both to your hands and the butter paper.
4. Holige can also be made by applying oil to the chapati roller and rolling the stuffed balls on the greased butter paper.
5. Thick plastic can also be used for tapping holige. My grandmother used to make holige on banana leaf.

PLAIN SAMBAR POWDER/HULI PUDI

Yields: 5 tbsp

Ingredients

Dhaniya/Coriander seeds: 3 tbsp
Chana dal/kadale bele: 1 tsp
Methi/Fenugreek seeds: 1/2 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 10-12 nos
Guntur chilli: 3 nos
Bedige chilli: 2 nos


Preparation

1. Dry roast all ingredients separately, as each ingredient requires different temperature to get roasted.
2. Roast methi seeds and chana dal till it turns light brown color, curry leaves and chilli  should be roasted till you are able to break with your hands. Dhaniya to be roasted lightly till you get aroma. Transfer all roasted ingredients to a plate as it gets done.
3. Add hing powder, mix and cool.
4. Grind into fine powder.

Notes

1. Chilli powder can also be used instead of whole chillies, in that case 1 tsp of chilli powder can be used.
2. Before making sambar add fresh coconut to the sambar powder and grind it into paste, which gives nicer taste. This powder can be used for making Sambar Rice or Bisibele bath.
3. Ingredients can be proportionately increased, when made in large quantity and can be stored for more than a month.