CORNFLAKES MIXTURE / MAKAI CHIVDA

Yield: 3-4 cups

Ingredients 


Raw Cornflakes: 1 cup  (to be fried)
Peanuts: ¼ cup
Avalakki puri: 1 cup  (store bought)
Curry leaves: 10 nos
Hing power: ½ tsp
Salt: as required
Red chilli powder: ¾-1 tsp
Oil: for frying


Preparation

1. Take a mixing bowl add avalakki puri and sprinkle salt, red chilli powder, hing all over it(add amount of spices required for avalakki puri).
2. Heat oil and fry cornflakes in batches, after every batch drain oil and add it to the bowl with avalakki puri. Cornflakes when fried, more than doubles in size.
3. Now sprinkle salt, red chilli powder, hing required for the cornflakes and mix.
4. Fry peanuts, curry leaves and add it to the mixture.
5. Mix all properly, cool and store in a air tight container.

Notes:

• The Avalakki puri used in the recipe is not the same as puffed rice/regular puri. While puffed rice is made of rice, Avalakki puri is made of flattened rice. A single puffed rice when pressed gets powdered easily than avalakki puri. Avalakki puri may not be easily and readily available in all markets. If unavailable you can skip the ingredient and make cornflakes mixture even without using it.

 Avalakki puri              Puffed rice(regular puri)

• I have used Avalakki puri in this recipe because it can absorb the oil from the fried cornflakes making the mixture a little lighter.
• Mixture recipes, as the name suggests is just a mix of many ingredients, often crunchy and does not necessarily follow a strict recipe. You can customize mixture recipes based on your liking and the ingredients available on hand. Similarly cornflakes mixture can be customized to your liking but the most popular addition is to include dry fruits like cashews, raisins, almonds.  

CASHEW VANILLA COOKIES

Yields: 18-20 cookies

Ingredients:

Maida: 1 cup
Icing sugar: 1/4 cup
Vanilla custard powder: 1/2 cup
Salt: a pinch
Butter: 100 gms
Cashewnut pieces: 1 tbspn(for garnishing)

Preparation:

1. Take a bowl, add maida, icing sugar, vanilla custard powder, salt and butter.
2. Keep mixing, butter will melt with icing sugar and make a soft dough.
3. Make balls and roll into thick chappati. 
4. Shape it into cookies and garnish with cashewnut pieces
5. Place the cookies in a non-stick baking tray. 
6. Pre-heat microwave at 200° and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 180° and bake for 10 more minutes.
7. Once done leave it  in microwave for 10 minutes.

PANEER BHURJI [GRAVY]

Yields: Enough for 4 people
Time required: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Paneer: 1 cup(grated)
Onion: ½  cup or 1 big size
Tomato: 1 cup or 3 nos
Ginger: ½ tsp(chopped)
Coriander leaves: 2 tbsp (chopped)
Turmeric powder: ½ tsp
Chilli powder: 1 tsp
Salt: as required
Oil: 1 tsp
Ghee: ½ tsp

Preparation

1. Take a pan add oil, ghee, ginger and saute for a minute. 
2. Add onion, turmeric powder and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add tomato and cook for 2-3 minutes or till tomato becomes soft.
4. Then add chilli powder, salt and mix.
5. Now add panner and mix. As per required consistency add water and cook for 2 minutes. 
6. Enjoy with roti, chapati, poori, kulcha or naan.
7. A very quick and easy to make recipe.

HAPPALA DA PAYASA/APPE PAYASA/POORI KHEER

Yields: Serves 4 persons 

Ingredients 

Chiroti rava: 2 tbsp
Milk: 2 cups
Sugar: ½ cup
Saffron: 3-4 strings(soaked in 2 tbsp of hot milk)
Cardamom powder: ½ tsp
Cashewnut pieces: 1 tbsp
Badam pieces: 1 tsp
Raisins: 1 tbsp
Ghee: 3 tbsp
Water: 1-1¼ cup or as required

Preparation 

1. Bind chiroti rava into a soft dough by adding water(like poori dough) and roll it into a chapati/poori.
2. Cut into small diamond shaped pieces, fry in the ghee and keep aside.
3. In the same ghee fry cashewnut pieces, raisins and transfer to a plate.
4. Take a pan, add water(around 1 cup), fried diamond shaped pieces and cook the pieces till it is soft.
5. Now add sugar to it and bring to a boil. Switch off stove and add milk, mix it.
6. Switch on the stove and boil for 5 minutes. If you need thicker consistency boil for a longer time.
7. Once done add soaked saffron, mix and switch off the stove. 
8. Add cardamom powder and garnish with dry fruits.
9. Serve hot or cold.

Notes

• It is always advisable to switch off the stove and then add milk. Adding milk to sugar may curdle the payasa, if the flame is on.
• Boiling the payasa for longer time will thicken the payasa.
• Poori is cut into small diamond shape so that we can use less ghee. If you are making any other recipe which requires more ghee/oil then full poori can be fried and then cut into pieces.

RAGI HITTU UNDE/MILLET FLOUR LADDU

Yields: 10 nos.

Ingredients

Ragi hittu: 1 cup
Powdered Sugar: ¾ cup
Ghee: 3 tbsp
Cardamom powder: ½ tsp
Cashewnuts/ kaju, raisins/draksh: 1 tbsp

Preparation 

1. Heat a pan add 1 tbsp of ghee, fry dry fruits and remove it in a bowl.
2. Add remaining ghee and add ragi hittu. Fry till you get a nice aroma.
3. Remove from flame and add powdered sugar, cardamom powder, fried dry fruits, mix it and leave it for cooling.
4. Once cool, make unde/laddu and serve.
5. Can be stored for 10 days.
6. A very healthy and filling recipe. 

COCONUT CHUTNEY

Ingredients 

To grind:
Fresh grated coconut: 1 cup
Fried gram dal/hurigalle/pottukalle: ½ cup
Green chilli: 3-4 nos
Tamarind pulp: 1 tsp or small ball of tamarind
Curry leaves: 10 nos
Salt: as required
Hing: ¼ tsp

For tempering:
Mustard seeds: ½ tsp
Udad dal: 1 tsp
Curry leaves: 4 nos
Red chilli: 1 no
Oil: 1 tsp

Preparation 

1. Grind all the ingredients in "to grind"  by adding little water to make a smooth paste. (Water can be increased or decreased as per the required consistency)
2. Transfer it to a bowl. 
3. Now prepare tempering by adding oil to a pan, when hot add mustard seeds. After it crackles, add udad dal, red chilli, curry leaves.
4. Once done, cool and add it to the chutney.
5. Enjoy with idli, dosa, pakodas or roti.

CAPSICUM PAKODA

Yields: 15 nos 

Ingredients 

Capsicum: 1 no (big, chopped finely)
Besan/Kadalehittu: ½ cup
Rice flour/akki hittu: 2 tbsp
Salt: as required
Red chilli powder: ½ tsp
Hing: ½ tsp
Curry leaves: 5 nos (chopped)
Coriander leaves: 2 tbsp (chopped)
Baking soda: a pinch
Oil: for frying


Preparation

1. Take a mixing bowl add kadalehittu, akki hittu, capsicum, chilli powder, salt, hing, curry leaves, coriander leaves and mix well.
2. Add a pinch of baking soda and a tsp of hot oil over it. Mix it properly.
3. Add water (approximately 2 tbsp or just enough to hold the dough together) and knead into a thick dough.
4. Heat oil and add small portions of the mixture (irregular shape) to the oil.
5. Fry in medium flame. Remove once it is crispy and golden color. 
6. A very tasty evening snack is ready to be enjoyed. 
7. Can be had as it is or with tomato chutney, tomato sauce, coconut chutney. 

AKKI ROTI/RICE FLOUR ROTI

Yields: 4 nos (5"diameter)

Ingredients 

Rice flour: ¾ cup
Cooked rice: ½ cup
Green chilli: 1 no  (chopped finely)
Curry leaves: 6 nos (chopped)
Cumin seeds/ jeera: ¼ tsp
Coriander leaves: 2 tbsp (chopped)
Carrot: 2 tbsp(grated)
Fresh grated coconut: 2 tbsp
Salt: as required
Oil: 1 tbsp
Butter paper

Preparation 

1. Take a mixing bowl add cooked rice and mash it properly.
2. Add rice flour, green chilli, curry leaves, cumin seeds, coriander leaves, carrot, fresh grated coconut, salt to the cooked rice and mix it. 
3. Sprinkle warm water and knead into a soft dough (may require 2 tbsp of water).
4. Give it a rest for 15 minutes.
5. Take the dough of tennis ball size and tap it into shape of chapati on a butter paper.
6. Transfer it to a hot tawa and cook on a low flame by adding oil on both the sides. Cook till lightly golden color.
7. Akki roti is served best with coconut chutney.

Notes

      Chopped onions, chopped capsicum can be added for making it more tastier.