Monday, April 30, 2018

Muttaikose | Sweet Bonda | Vettu cake | Street food

Muttaikose, a mildly sweetened bonda made from all purpose flour and it's a quite popular snack in tea stall around South Tamilnadu. Those who knew tamil , may wonder why this is called as "Muttaikose", in tamil "Muttaikose" means "Cabbage". Is this sweet made of cabbage? No. Then why is this name for sweet bonda?? Seriously i don't know the answer, but we used to call this snack as muttaikose as far as i remembered.
But let me guess !! I have heard that in some places, this snack is prepared with eggs. In Tamil "Muttai" means eggs, so that may be the reason for the name  or else in tea stall, this sweet bonda is usually prepared in big size and it's somewhat look like a muttaikose(a small cabbage with open leaves) with those cracked texture on the top. 

All these are my wild guess and honestly i don't know the real reason, even i asked my mom, she also don't know the reason for the name. So if any one know the name reason, please let me know.
Now coming to the recipe, it's one of my favorite after school snacks in my childhood days. Amma used to make this at least once in a week as our evening snack especially for me, of course. You know, i have a big sweet tooth in my family. 

More than the sweet bonda, i like the dough back then or even now, so i always asked Amma to set aside some dough whenever she prepared this muttaikose. It's been ages since i had this therefore last weekend i prepared this and relish to the core with cup of tea. Some foods are extremely comforting just because of the memories associated with it .This is one such food for me!

Related: How to make Rava Kothu

I have seen similar dishes in the different name like vettu cake/ Kajada / maida bonda. Once i had tasted the vettu cake in road side tea stall while driving from bangalore to tiruppur and it was more or less similar to muttaikose that we used to have in our native. But i don't have any idea about how other tastes.

Actually muttaikose is very mildly sweetened with crispy outside and soft inside. It really goes well with coffee/tea. That's why you can see this on the road side tea stall in southern Tamilnadu especially in small village around Tirunelveli and Tenkasi. 
Before check out the recipe,if you want to know what i have prepared for past 7 days under "Street food" theme, here they are
Day 1 - Dahi Papdi Chaat
Day 2 - Bhel Puri
Day 3 - Jalebi
Day 4 - Nannari Paal Sharbath
Day 5 - Spinach Masala Dosa
Day 6- Paneer Soda
Day 7- Bread Cheese Omelette

  

Muttaikose

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 minsMakes : 12 
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Muttaikose,Sweet Bonda, Veetu Cake, Snack, Tamilnadu Snack Muttaikose, a mildly sweetened bonda made from all purpose flour and it's a quite popular snack in tea stall around South Tamilnadu.
Ingredients
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Sour Curd - 1/4 cup
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Oil - for deep frying

Procedure
In a bowl, add curd, baking soda and powdered sugar.
Add coconut oil into it and whisk it all together until it became forthy.
Then add the flour and mix it well with spoon once all the flour is wet, keep the spoon aside and mix it with your hand until it became dough.
Pinch a lemon sized dough and roughly roll into a ball . Heat the oil for deep frying. Once the oil is heated(if you drop a pinch of dough in oil,it should rise up slowly to the top), keep the flame in low and add the dough into the oil.
Let it cook evenly on all sides until it's golden brown. Drain the muttaikose from the oil and place it on tissue paper.
Tada, Muttaikose is ready to serve. (A quick reel on how to make muttaikose)

Related: How to make Rava Maida Appam
Notes:
  • The temperature of oil is very important to get the correct texture. When you drop a piece of dough into oil, if it's rise up immediately, it means the oil temperature is too high, let it comes down a bit and then start frying.
  • Cooking in low flame helps to cook the inside well.
  • Amma says that the sour curd gives great texture to the muttaikose. But fresh curd also works.
  • Coconut oil flavor goes well with this bonda, but you can use any oil or butter or ghee too.
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Sunday, April 29, 2018

Bread Cheese Omelette | Street Bread Omelette | Bread Omelette

Bread Cheese Omelette, one of my favorite street foods, so easy to prepare and can be served as breakfast or mild tiffin in the evening  or as a snack. There are quite different ways of preparing this bread omelette, but the recipe that i'm sharing today was inspired from the bread omelette that i used to have from the food stand opposite to my office when i was working in chennai. 

I still remember that the food stand had only a small gas stove with dosa tawa, a few small bowls with green chutney, salt & pepper and masala powder, packets of bread & cheese and a tray of eggs, all in one small stool. That's it, but the bread omelette served there was so totally delicious, especially the green chutney spread on those bread omelette takes this simple dish to a whole new level !!! 
There were only two types of sandwiches available in that food stand such as plain & cheese bread omelette. Back then I was not a big fan of cheese stuff, so I always had the plain bread omelette. But now I like this bread omelette with a slice of mozzarella cheese in between. 

Whether it has cheese or not, this bread omelette is so tasty with those green chutneys. Here in the recipe I have used this green chutney recipe  without tempering, but you can also use the chaat green chutney, i have tried with both green chutney and both ways, it tastes equally good too. So it's really up to you to use whatever the green chutney you like.

Before check out the recipe,if you want to know what i have prepared for past 6 days under "Street food" theme, here they are
Day 1 - Dahi Papdi Chaat
Day 2 - Bhel Puri
Day 3 - Jalebi
Day 4 - Nannari Paal Sharbath
Day 5 - Spinach Masala Dosa
Day 6- Paneer Soda


Bread Cheese Omelette

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 5 minsServes : 1 or 2 
Recipe Category: Sandwich | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Bread Omelette, Bread Cheese Omelette, Street food Bread Cheese Omelette, one of my favorite street foods, so easy to prepare and can be served as breakfast or mild tiffin in the evening or as a snack.
Ingredients
Bread Slices - 2
Egg - 1 
Salt - a pinch
Red Chili powder - as needed
Cheese Slice - 1 
Coriander leaves - few
Butter - 1/2 tsp
Green Chutney - as needed

Procedure
Crack open a egg in a bowl, add salt, chili powder & coriander leaves into the egg and whisk it till it became frothy.
Heat the pan, add the butter, let it melt.
Pour the egg mixture into the pan, keep the flame in low. Take a bread slice, dip one side of the bread slice in the egg mixture on the pan slightly, flip the bread to other side and place it on the pan. That way, both sides of the bread have egg coating.
Similarly place second slice of bread on other side of the pan, let it cook for a min and then gently flip the egg. Let cook the other side of the bread  for a min and then flip again.
Spread the green chutney on one slice of bread and place the cheese on other slice of bread. Fold the sides of the egg omelette towards the center of bread and fold again into half.
Remove from the place and slice into four or as you wish. 
Serve it with ketchup on the top.

Related : How to make French Toast

Notes:
  • Heat should be low while pouring the egg on the pan. It helps to cook the egg slowly, so you can dip the bread slices in the egg mixture before it sets.
  • You can make this even without cheese too.
  • Adjust the chili powder as per your liking.
  • Instead of red chili powder, you can use pepper powder or chopped chili chilies too.
  • If you like, you can sprinkle some chopped onions on the top while serving. 
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Saturday, April 28, 2018

Paneer Soda | Rose Soda | Summer Drinks

Paneer Soda, a refreshing aerated drink with rose flavor. "Paneer" in tamil means rose flavored water, i guess the word "paneer" comes from the rose name(paneer rose) and the water made from that paneer rose(we call it as simply "Paneer") is used extensively for abishekam in the temples and also in marriages and other ceremonies where it is sprinkled on people's head to welcome them.
Nowadays, you can see the small fan in the entrance of many marriage hall, that sprinkle paneer over the people while entering the marriage hall. Yeah, it's totally different from the paneer, the Indian cottage cheese and no way related to that.
While grew up, i had this belief in my mind that the paneer flavor(aka rose flavor) is only for abhisekam and welcoming people and it's not edible. I don't know how i got this idea, may be because elders in our family warned many times "don't put it in your mouth" when they asked us to buy paneer for abhisekam or any temple festival.

Related: How to make Nannari Lemon Sarbath

They may warned us because it's artificially flavored and has lot of chemicals in it, but in my mind, it was craved like "rose flavor is not edible", how weird is that?? So for very long time, i had hard time to enjoy anything with rose flavor, still i do some times. Even today i prefer cardamon flavored gulab jamun over the rose flavored ones. 

Ok, enough with my stories, let's move on to today's recipe. This paneer soda is the most popular aerated drink that you can see in many road side shops in South Tamilnadu. Now it's available in ready to use bottle also, last time, during my india visit, i had one such bottle near Tiruchendur Murugan temple, don't know whether it's available all over Tamilnadu or not. 

But, If you like rose flavor, then i'm sure that you would go crazy for this drink, one time, i made this drink for one of my friends who loves rose flavor like anything and she keep on praising me for introducing this drink to her till today

Before check out the recipe,if you want to know what i have prepared for past 5 days under "Street food" theme, here they are
Day 1 - Dahi Papdi Chaat
Day 2 - Bhel Puri
Day 3 - Jalebi
Day 4 - Nannari Paal Sharbath
Day 5 - Spinach Masala Dosa


Paneer Soda

Preparation Time : 2 mins | Cooking Time : 5 minsServes : 4  
Recipe Category: Summer Drinks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Paneer soda, Rose flavored soda, summer drink,tamilnadu special Paneer Soda, a refreshing aerated drink with rose flavor.Perfect as summer drink
Ingredients
Rose essence - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Soda - as needed
Ice cubes - few

Procedure
First let's make sugar syrup, take the sugar in a sauce water and add the water into it. Turn the heat on and bring to boil.Once the sugar dissolves completely, switch off the flame and let it cool completely.
Then add the rose essence into the sugar syrup and stir it well. Tada, your rose syrup is ready. Take a serving glass, pour 1/4 of the glass with rose syrup.
For the remaining, fill it up with soda and finally add few ice cubes. Simple & aromatic Paneer soda is ready. Serve it immediately.For more summer drink and popsicle recipe, check out here
Notes:
  • Pour the soda just before serving. Otherwise the soda would be flat.
  • Depends on how flavorful you want the soda, you can add more or less of rose essence in the sugar syrup.
  • Sugar syrup is enough for making 4 small servings.
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Friday, April 27, 2018

Spinach Masala Dosa | Keerai Masala Dosai | Street food

Spinach Masala Dosa, a delicious dosa with red chutney spread all over dosa and stuffed with spinach masala inside. This is one of the dosa recipes that i have learnt from the "99 variety dosa cart" when we were in Bangalore. 

I love almost all varieties of dosa from those dosa carts that you can see all over Bangalore after 6PM. One such dosa cart was just around the corner of the street where we lived in Bangalore and we often had our dinner from those dosa carts and my favorites are this spinach masala dosa, spring dosa, mix veg dosa &  the list goes on. I really miss those dosa now here, so to satisfy my cravings, i often make them at home.
Here in the recipe, i have prepared the spinach masala ahead and later use that as stuffing for dosa. But in those carts, they even prepare the spinach masala on top of the dosa on the fly. In those carts, they have all the vegetables cut and placed in a separate bowl, red chutney in another bowl, potato filling & dosa batter in a big separate vessel and some spices & butter.

First they spread the dosa and keep the flame in the lowest possible, then depends on the stuffing we chose, they add all the veggies, butter, red chutney and some spices  on top of the dosa and mix it all well together with the metal masher and let it cook for a min or two, Tada, your dosa would be ready. 

Since I don't have that master skill of making the stuffing on the fly, I prepared the masala ahead like the potato masala and use it. Whatever the way, it still tastes awesome and almost similar to the taste of roadside dosa!!!  


If you want to know what i have prepared for past 4 days under "Street food" theme, here they are
Day 1 - Dahi Papdi Chaat
Day 2 - Bhel Puri
Day 3 - Jalebi
Day 4 - Nannari Paal Sharbath



Spinach Masala Dosai

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 minsMakes :
Recipe Category: Dosa | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Spinach Masala Dosai, Keerai Dosai,99 cart Dosa Spinach Masala Dosa, a delicious dosa with red chutney spread all over dosa and stuffed with spinach masala inside.
Ingredients
Spinach - 2 cup
Onion - 1(small)
Tomato - 1(small)
Garlic - 2
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp 
Garam Masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Dosa batter -  1 cup
Red Chutney - as needed
Butter - 2 tbsp
Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure
First chop the onion & tomato into small pieces. Crush the garlic and chop the spinach roughly.Heat the pan with oil and add the onions, saute till it becomes translucent, then add the tomatoes.
Saute till the tomatoes are mushy, add the spinach and the spices(turmeric, red chili, coriander & garam masala powder ) & salt and mix it all together well.
Let it cover cook for few mins until the raw smell of the spices goes off. Tada, your stuffing is ready.

Now let's make dosa, take the batter, red chutney and spinach masala. Heat the dosa pan. Once the dosa pan is well heated, add 1/4 cup of dosa batter and spread it evenly and  then add 1 tbsp of red chutney and spread it on the dosa evenly.
Add 1/2 tbsp of butter & the spinach masala  & spread it evenly on all over the dosa. Fold the dosa and remove it from the pan.
Tada, 99 dosa cart style spinach masala dosa is ready.

Related: How to make Masala Dosa 

Notes:
  • To check the correct temperature of dosa pan, sprinkle some water on the pan, it should sizzle immediately.
  • You can add more or less of the red chutney depends on the spice level you want.
  • I know that the butter quantity for a dosa is bit more, but that's give the great flavor and taste to the dosa. But if don't want use that much butter, you can reduce it always.
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Thursday, April 26, 2018

Nannari Paal Sarbath | Milk Sarbath | Sarbath recipe

Nannari Paal Sarbath is a milk based sarbath flavored with nannari syrup. Nannari syrup is prepared from Nannari roots(Indian Sarsaparilla) and the natural coolant properties in it helps to cool the body during summer season.

In India during summer vacation, there are a lot of small sarbath stands or sugar cane juice stands pop up around almost every corner of the street and I love the nannari sarbath from those stalls. It's so refreshing and really a thirst quencher on those hot days. 

Related: How to make Nannari Lemon Sarbath
Now coming to today's recipe, I haven't tasted this Nannari Paal Sarbath until I tried on my own. This Paal Sarbath is quite a popular summer drink in Ramnad district and i came to know about this recipe through blogosphere. 

Ever since I knew about this recipe, I have been preparing this sarbath a lot, it's so delicious and we both loved it so much.  Here in the recipe i have prepared the basic version of this paal sarbath but you can top it on with either fruits & nuts or  a scoop of your favorite ice cream. 

Before check out the recipe,if you want to know what i have prepared for past 3 days under "Street food" theme, here they are


Day 1 - Dahi Papdi Chaat
Day 2 - Bhel Puri
Day 3 - Jalebi

Nannari Paal Sarbath

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 0 minsServes :
Recipe Category: Summer Drinks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Nannari Sarbath,Nannari Paal Sarbath,Milk Sarbat,Summer drink,Ramnad Special,Tamilnadu Special Nannari Paal Sarbath is a milk based sarbath flavored with nannari syrup.Nannari syrup is prepared from Nannari roots(Indian Sarsaparilla) and the natural coolant properties in it helps to cool the body during summer season.
Ingredients
Nannari Syrup - 2 tbsp
Milk - 1 cup(boiled and cooled)
Sabja seed - 1 tsp
Ice cubes - few

Procedure
First take the sabja seed in a bowl and add the enough water to immerse it, let it soak for 30 mins.
Now take all the ingredients, in a glass add the nannari syrup and the sabja seed.
Then add the milk, mix it well together until all combined. Top it with few ice cubes and it's ready to serve.
Simple yet delicious Nannari Paal Sarbath is ready. For more summer drink and popsicle recipe, check out here
Notes:
  • Here i have used whole milk, but you can use reduced fat milk also.
  • No need to add extra sugar, the sweetness from the nannari syrup is enough.
  • Instead of sabja seed, you can use badam pisin too.
  • The sweetness from the nannari syrup varies from brand to brand, so add more or less as required.

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Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Home made Crispy & Juicy Jalebi | Jalebi Recipe | Indian Sweet

Jabeli, the most famous Indian sweet throughout  the world. It's made from deep frying the fermented  batter and then dipped in saffron flavored sugar syrup. They are crispy and so juicy , on every bite, the sugar syrup trapped inside the jabeli oozes out from it. Simply Delicious it is ! 

The jalebi that I had tasted in my home town(Tirunelveli) were not very thin and it was almost similar to Jangiri and was white in color, thick and soggy. And I didn't like them back then and now. Later I got introduced to this crispy and thin jalebis when we were in Bangalore.

Near our home, there was a food cart where they sell only jalebi and samosa in the evenings and I had a chance to watch them making jalebi whenever I went for a walk in the evening. 
I really loved to see how effortlessly they made those jalebi and the cost was just 15 rs/ 100 gram of jalebi. Since I love to eat them hot, we waited for the fresh batch of jalebi from the stall and had it on the spot, seriously i didn't have the patience to bring it back home and eat it. 

Does anyone like to have the sweet as hot?? or it's just me , whatever the sweet, i love to have them as soon as it's made and hot !!! Right from kesari, gulab jamun,jangiri , palkova on the list goes on. I had quite the experience of burning on top of my mouth and tongue by tasting like this !!! But still it's hard to give up that habit. 

While writing this, I remember a line from one of the Tamil stories(can't remember the story name) written by Mr. Thi. Janakiraman. It's like this "சூடு ஒரு ருசி போல ?"(is hot really a taste?). Is it or isn't it ? It's debatable, right ? :-)
Ok, back to jalebi, after a few failed attempts, finally i can make some decent jalebis. The key to get perfect jalebis are the batter consistency and the oil temperature. 

The batter should be well fermented and also free flowing. Next, don't let the oil smoke at any time of frying, it should be at a low medium temperature. See notes on how to check the perfect oil temperature without a handy thermometer. 

The main reason for sharing this yummy sweets today is, it's my 500th post !!! So here is the virtual treat to all the readers on my blog, thanks for being so supportive and encouraging. 

Still, I can't believe that I have posted 500 posts, phew !!! Before check out the recipe,if you want to know what i have prepared for past 2 days under "Street food" theme, here they are
Day 1 - Dahi Papdi Chaat
Day 2 - Bhel Puri

And some FAQs
How to get perfectly shaped jalebis ?
  • The oil temperature is the key to get the perfect shape of the jalebis. If you add a drop of batter into the oil, it should take at least 3-4 secs to float on top. If it comes up on top immediately, the oil is very hot, you need to reduce the oil temperature. 
  • If the oil is too hot, squeezing the batter as a concentric circle is difficult because once the batter touches the oil, it floats on top immediately and you can't squeeze the batter  as circles further .
  • If the oil is not heated enough, then the jalebis would be flat.
  • If you're having a number system in your stove, once the oil is heated , keep in between 3 & 4 for the entire cooking of jalebi.
  • I kept  my stove at number 3 while squeezing the batter into the oil and then increased it to 4 till it's crispy.
Why are my jalebis not absorbing the sugar syrup?
  • No need to make single string consistency sugar syrup for this jalebi, sticky consistency is perfect and it's easily absorbed by jalebis too.
  • Make sure that the jalebis and the sugar syrup is warm, it will help to absorb the syrup easily. 


Home made Jalebi

Preparation Time : 24 hr | Cooking Time : 30 minsMakes : 35-40 
Recipe Category: Sweet | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
How to make Jalebi, Jalebi recipe, Crispy Jalebi, Juicy Jalebi Jabeli, the most famous Indian sweet throughout the world. It's made from deep frying the fermented batter and then dipped in saffron flavored sugar syrup.
Ingredients
For Batter
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Corn flour - 3 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Curd - 2/3 cup
Orange food color - a pinch
Water - as needed
For Sugar Syrup
Sugar - 1 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Lemon - 1/2
Saffron - few strands

Procedure
Take all the ingredients for the jalebi batter, in a bowl, add the curd and whisk it until it becomes creamy.
Then add the all purpose flour,corn flour and food color. Mix it well with the curd.
Add the ghee and the required water and make the batter as lump free and easy flowing.
Cover it with lid and let it aside for 24hrs to ferment.
After 24 hrs, the batter should be all bubbly and has strong sour smell. Mix it well with laddle and check the consistency again. It should be free flowing.
Let's make sugar syrup before frying the jalebis. Take the sugar in a sauce pan, add the water and saffron.
Bring into boil and keep it simmer until the sugar syrup becomes sticky.Switch off the flame &  squeeze the lemon juice , mix it well & set aside.
To fry the jalebi, heat the oil for frying, pour the batter into zip lock bag and make a small hole at the end.
Once the oil is heated(add a drop of batter into the oil, it should  takes 3-4 secs to float on the top, that's the correct temperature of oil), squeeze the batter into the oil as concentric circles. Cook it both sides of the jalebis are crispy. 
Take it out from the oil and drop it in the sugar syrup and let it in the syrup for 10-15 secs and remove it on the plate. Do the same for the remaining batter.
Tada,Crispy & Juicy  Jalebis are ready. 

Related : How to make Jangiri


Notes:
  • On the day that i have prepared the batter, the room temperature at my place is between 72-76 F and it takes exactly 24 hrs to ferment as expected.
  • I just placed the batter on the counter. No need to place inside the oven and turn on light.
  • Store it in a dry container and it stays well for days.
  • When it's warm, it's crispy and juicy. Once it's completely cooled and after a day,it became soft.
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