Unnakaya / Stuffed Plantain Fritters

A Tea Time Tasty snack from Malabar. Often eaten during the Iftar  that's when Muslims break their fast in the evening , as its a rich snack , with nuts , coconut and egg if to make it extra rich.
Am glad that we have all religion and caste in India living with harmony and peace. In Alleppey other than Muslims , Christians and Hindus , there are some other prominent groups; who are the Konkanis , Reddiars and Gujarathis.Lucky to have them around in my school and college , we enjoyed mixed language and food and also helped us much  to get a glance of their unique culture and traditions.
And that's how I got to know about Unnakaya my Friend Navi used to bring these to college. Now a days we get these in the bakery shops too.

Ingredients

 Ripe Kerala Banana's (Ethaikka) - 2 no's
Ghee - 1 table spoon
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Cardamom crushed - 2 no's
Sugar - 2 to 3 table spoon (Adjust to your choice)
Raisin's - few (Optional , I didn't use these)
Nuts - few Crushed I used Cashew Nuts)
Oil For frying (I used vegetable oil)
Can add egg and Poppy seeds - these are optional.

Method

* Steam these plantains after running a knife through its skin , to mark these length wise.

* Steam these almost ripe Plantain till they are soft (steaming time depends on the ripeness , normally it takes 15 to 20 minutes) Do not use overripe Plantains.

* Heat ghee in a pan , add in the grated coconut , crushed cashew nuts , crushed cardamom , raisin(if using) , poppy seeds (if using), roast these for a few minutes.(about 5 to 7 minutes in medium heat, stir continuously).Switch off the heat and keep aside to cool. 

* Remove the skin of Plantain and also try to remove its seeds and mash it nicely without any lumps without adding any water , to make it a dough consistency.(If is seems to be over soft and watery , add little rice flour to help shaping these) 

* Rub your palm with a little oil and make lemon size ball's from these mashed banana and flatten it and  place 1 table spoon of the coconut filling to the flattened mashed banana dough in your palm.

* Close the edges and roll them nicely to make oval shape. 

* Do the same with the rest of the mashed banana dough.

* Heat oil in a Frying pan and fry these , turning its sides so that it gets golden brown to brown color uniformly. I shallow fried these , usually its deep fry , wanted to save some oil ;)

* Transfer the fried Unnakaya to a paper towel.

And Serve........Hope you will enjoy this sweet snack.......

Cheers
TN

Chocolate and Biscuit Pudding

Have to get some tricks on clicks , not very happy with this pic here....

Have won prize with this pudding for a cooking competition during my college days and also this was the first pudding I  prepared for hubby after marriage but unfortunately Soccer man is not a fan of Chocolate.....WHAT ??  I thought everyone in the world loves chocolates.......
you know it takes time to get to know each other....
But it was not that hard to finish the dish as I crave for chocolates.

Ingredients

Milk - 4 cups
Cocoa Powder - 3 table spoon
Instant Coffee powder - 1/4 tsp (Optional)
Sugar - 3/4 cup (adjust according to your choice)
Gelatine - 3 table spoon
Biscuits /Crackers - 2 to 3 cups when powdered  (Approx)
Butter - 3 table spoon melted
Shaved chocolate / Chocolate pieces for topping (Optional)

Method

* Powder the Biscuits (coarse powder)  , mix it with the melted butter :( its important to melt as butter is used to set the base , if melted it combines well with the powder and helps it to set nicely.

Used Marie biscuits this time , but usually I make it with glucose biscuits 

* Pat the powder nicely , keep it in the freezer and the base is ready. 

*  Mix the gelatin to 1 cup milk and keep aside.

* Boil the rest of the milk with sugar and cocoa added to it. The cocoa will not get mixed initially , when the milk gets warm , cocoa slowly gets dissolved. Do stir in between while keeping it in medium heat , add instant coffee powder(if using) once the cocoa is dissolved completely.

*When milk starts to boil , add the Gelatin soaked milk to this and stir till it bubble's up.

* Allow to cool to room temperature and pour this mixture on to the biscuit base slowly.

To make sure there isn't any lumps , strain this milk mixture before keeping it to set. 

*Gently pour this cocoa milk mixture on to the powdered biscuit base. May use a spoon to reduce the thrust, as if poured with force the biscuit base gets dissolved in the milk. 

Need to get that two layers visible. 

*Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours or until the pudding is set. 

Any Chocolate lover like me will enjoy every bit of that :)

Enjoy with some grated chocolate on top if you like to make it extra chocolaty.

Cheers
TN

Oats with Dates Cookies

Because the British ruled India , Cookies we get in India are called " Biscuits "
Was confused about the term Cookies and the difference between Cookies and Biscuits , its the name American's have given to kind of biscuits and also for the Americans - Biscuits are served during lunch or dinner with soup as its a type of bread.
Cookies or Biscuits are not my favorite though I make it sometimes as its easy to make and also it stays for sometime if kept airtight and someone hungry can be fed with these anytime and satisfaction is guaranteed.

Ingredients

Made these with a little wheat flour and it came out well , nice and crispy.This measurements makes 12 to 15 cookies , increase the measurement scale if you need more.


All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup
Wheat Flour - 1/4 cup
Oats - 3/4 cup (I used Old Fashioned oats)
Butter - 1/2 cup
Date - 1/4 cup chopped (otherwise use your favorite dry fruit or nuts)
Egg - 1
Vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1 cup (I used brown sugar)
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
A pinch of Salt

Love them !!

Method 

* Preheat the oven to 350 degree F .
   Sift All purpose flour + Wheat flour  + Baking soda + salt  and keep aside.

* Beat Sugar and melted butter for sometime , add 1 egg and beat again.

* Add vanilla essence and continue beating.

* Add in the chopped dates and oats , mix well.

* Add the sifted flour mixture(wheat flour, all purpose flour, salt and baking soda). Mix with a spoon to combine everything well. 

* Use a spoon or a small scoop to get the dough on the sheet pan. 

(use small spoon as when baked it spreads and become little bigger , also leave enough space between each one , for'em to spread) 

*Bake in 350 degree F Preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Till the cookies spread and starts turning its color. 

 Cool after its baked for sometime as it will be soft once out from the oven , becomes little hard and crispier when it sits for sometime.

Cheers
TN

Ari Pathiri/ Malabar Pathiri

 Most popular dish among the Muslims in Kerala. As in Wikipedia , its believed that "Pathiri " originated with the Arabs in Malabar - Kerala. One thing I knew about Pathiri was that it was tasty and super good with some meat dishes. Used to wait for these on the eve of Eid , my whole family enjoy a luxurious Dinner , which my friends mother packs for us , I still hope am in my hometown during the Ramadan time so that I won't miss that treat.
My friends Mother asks us to have coconut milk with the Pathiri and Chicken curry she packs for us, but then we don't have the patience to wait and we dig in to it as soon as it reaches home as it tastes too good as it is.
Initially It was tough making these and my whole day would be ruined because it took a whole lot of time , that was because I didn't know the correct consistency of the dough , but then I got the trick , its just like making Idiyappom - (Kerala style Rice Noodles) , mix the flour just like you do for Idiyappom then work with the dough with your hands to make it nice and smooth.

Ingredients

Rice Flour - 1 cup (Use store bought Pathiri -Rice flour if possible for best results)
Water - 1 cup
Salt to taste.

Method

*Heat water in a pan , when it starts to bubble add salt , add flour gradually and keep stirring. Switch off the heat ,when all the flour is in. and keep stirring placing the pan in the stove top itself (while the heat is off)

*Do stir with the spoon as it will be hot to knead it with hands , once its cooled to warm , knead it with your hands for 5 - 10 minutes till they form nice and smooth dough and all are combined well. (Knead the dough well to make it smooth and still sticky , may rub your hands with water or little oil to prevent'em sticking to your hands)

My Finger prints  :)

*Make small balls with it and dust the surface with rice flour so its easy to roll'em. 

* Start to roll each one of them carefully like you do for chapathi.

   For nice circle shapes , may use a circular dish/bowl to cut the ends off. 

*Heat the Tawa for making the Pathiri ,  keep it on medium heat , dust off any flour on the pathiri as it may burn first and make it brown.

 If any dust seen on the tawa , use a wet towel / tissue to clear the tawa before placing the next Pathiri for cooking. 

*Flip the sides when the pathiri starts to bubble up , keep the pathiri rotating so that both the sides are well cooked.

*Serve hot with any Meat preparations or Tomato Curry or any Coconut milk based curry. 

Notes : The secret is in the kneading time , knead these nicely with hands or a stand mixer to make'em smooth.

         : Keep the tawa in medium heat , do clear the tawa with a wet cloth/tissue each time a pathiri is made so that there isn't any flour in the tawa. 

     

 Cheers
TN

Pav Bhaji Masala Recipe.

Since I made pav/Bun  yesterday - The recipe is right HERE
The first thing I did today after I woke up from sleep was to pressure cook vegetable's to make this Pav Bhaji Masala instead of boiling water for Tea.
Have had Bhaji Masala from some of our friends house but we haven't met any Marathi Friends here to exploit them :( so thought to make it here.
I didn't have a store bought Pav Bhaji masala powder hence was forced to make the Masala too , didn't want to miss that authentic taste. This masala powder can be used in couple of other recipes like Pulao , other Potato based Bhaji.

Ingredients 

Potatoes - 2 medium
Onion - 1 medium chopped finely
Cauliflower - 1/4 cup grated
Green Bell Pepper/Capsicum - 1 medium
Green Peas - 1/4 cup
Ginger - 1 table spoon each crushed
Garlic - 5 to 8 no's crushed (Little more than Ginger when crushed)
Tomatoes - 2 medium size chopped
Oil - 2 to 3 table spoon
Green Chili chopped - 2 no's
Pav Bhaji Masala - 1 and 1/2 table spoon (Recipe given below)
Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Hing / Asefetida  - 1/4 tsp(optional)
Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice - juice of one lemon.
Fresh Cilantro / Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup chopped

Method

*Pressure cook the sliced vegetables - potatoes , cauliflower , peas (may omit any of these or add more vegetable according to your reference) , cook till one whistle and keep aside to cool.

* Heal oil in a pan add cumin seeds and Hing (if using) , add int eh crushed ginger and garlic , followed by chopped onion and saute these till the onion looks golden brown.

*Add in half the portion of tomatoes , Capsicum / Green Bell Pepper chopped and saute well , till the oil separates , add in the Pav Bhaji Masala powder , coriander powder , green chilies chopped , Red chili powder and stir well

*Add the well cooked vegetable's and use the spoon to slightly mash these , add in the rest of the tomatoes , cook till they are thick in consistency , add in the lemon juice and switch off the heat.

*Garnish the dish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with Pav / Bread. Slightly butter the pav/bread and toast these before serving.

Bhaji Masala Powder 

1/4 cup cumin seeds and coriander seeds each
4 Black Cardamom (I used green cardamom )
1 inch stick cinnamon and 4 to 5 no's cloves ,
3 to 4 black pepper and 7 to 8 Kashmiri Red chili ( I used Powder as i didn't have whole red chili , 2 table spoon Fennel seed and most Important Dry Mango powder - 2 table spoon.

Dry roast all the above ingredients to bring out its flavor and grind to powder. Store in air tight container.

Enjoy Mumbai's own Pav Bhaji Masala 

Referred This Blog and also Master chef Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe

Cheers

TN