Spinach Murukku, a delicious and colorful snack made from the rice flour and spinach puree. Last diwali itself, i got this idea of using spinach puree in murukku dough from the fellow blogger friends.It's been in my mind since, at last, few days back gave it a try and i was amazed by how colorful it looks and at the same time it's super crunchy and delicious. For this murukku recipe, i have used my favorite, fool proof "pottukadalai murukku recipe " as base, in that instead of plain water, i used the spinach puree to make the dough.

While making this murukku, I noticed a few things to take care of to get that beautiful  green color!! 

• First, the spinach should be fresh and green, so I have used baby spinach, it has a bright green color than the regular spinach which is darker in color. 
• Second, cook it in medium flame and remove from the oil immediately when the "shh" sounds stops and there are no more bubbles around the murukku. If you cook past this stage, then it becomes brownish green, my first batch turned out like that,so speaking from experience here !! 
• Third, puree the spinach with less water, if it needs more liquid to make the dough, you can always add more water, but if you puree it with more water, then you may not need all spinach puree for making the dough, that means less spinach in the dough and the color also not as green as we wanted.

Here are some basic FAQ about murukku 

Why did my murukku break into oil ?

If the dough doesn't have enough moisture in it, the murukku breaks easily in the oil and also it breaks while squeezing the dough. So add a little more water in the dough.

Why is my murukku hard?

It doesn't have enough fat in it. Butter used in the murukku helps to keep the murukku crispy and as light.

Does the murukku burst in the oil?

Chances are there!!

1.  If the dry ingredients like rice flour and any other flour used in the recipe has any big granules. So make sure to sieve all the flour once before making dough
2. Once all the dough is squeezed, don't tempt to roll the left over dough into seedai and fry. It has the chance to burst.

Ok, hope i have answered the most FAQ !! Now let's check on how to make these cute and vibrant spinach murukku !!

Spinach Murukku | Palak Chakli | Murukku Recipe

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Makes : 22-25 
Recipe Category: Snack | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Spinach Murukku, Green Murukku,Keerai Murukku,Palak Murukku,Palak Chakli,Chakli recipe Spinach Murukku, a delicious and colorful snack made from the rice flour and spinach puree.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Rice flour - 1/2 cup heaped
Pottukadalai/daliya/roasted gram powder - 2 tbsp
Butter - 2 tsp
Spinach - 1/2 cup(tightly packed)
Sesame seed - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying
Water - as needed

Procedure

First measure & take the spinach, add into the blender along with 2 to 3 tbsp of water and grind into smooth paste. Keep it aside until use.

In a bowl, add rice flour, roasted gram powder, sesame seed and salt, give it a good mix, then add the butter.

Mix the butter with the flour well, then add the spinach puree, if needed add more water and make a smooth dough.

Use the star shape disc in the murukku press and fill it with dough and squeeze the dough as concentric circle in the back of the laddle.

Heat the oil for frying, then add the dough gently into the oil and fry till the "shh" sound stops.

Drain the murukku from the oil and place it on the tissue paper. Once it's completely cooled, store it in air tight container.

Tasty and crispy Spinach Murukku is ready. For more festive sweets and snacks, check out my collections

Related : How to make Butter Murukku

Notes:

• You can use black sesame seed instead of white sesame seed too.
• Cook the murukku in medium flame and also remove them once the sound "shh" stops.
  

Continue Reading »

Maida Poori | All Purpose Flour Poori | Breakfast Recipe

Maida Poori, a delicious and fluffy poori made from all purpose flour/maida instead of atta/whole wheat flour. When we grew up, this maida poori is the only poori that Amma used to make and for very long time that i didn't know that authentic poori is made with atta/wheat flour. So still i'm fond of this poori more than the poori made with atta/wheat flour. Making of this maida poori is so similar to the regular poori and it taste fantastic with potato masala or with chana masala. Compared to atta poori, this poori absorb less oil while frying if you make the dough properly and you don't feel that grease of oil in your hand while eating.

Till our marriage, ST didn't like poori much and later he started liking it because of this maida poori that i have prepared and he always say that it's not at all oily and he liked that very much in this poori. Just like ST, if you don't like poori because of its oily texture, then give a try on this, i'm sure that you will like it.

Maida Poori

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 10 mins | Serves : 8-9 
Recipe Category: Breakfast | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Maida Poori, Poori, Apf poori, All purpose flour poori,Pluffy Poori,White poori Maida Poori, a delicious and fluffy poori made from all purpose flour/maida instead of atta/whole wheat flour.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
All purpose flour/Maida - 1 cup
Rava - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Water - as needed.
Oil - for frying

Procedure

Take maida , rava & salt in a bowl. Mix it well, then add the oil.With your finger tips mix the oil with the flour well. Add water little by little and make a stiff dough with your hand.Cover it & let it aside for 10-15 mins.Make equal size balls from the dough. Take a dough and roll into small disc with rolling pin. Do the same for the all the dough and then heat the oil in a kadai for frying. Once the oil is well heated(if you drop a piece of dough in the oil, it should come up on the top immediately) drop the rolled dough and with the help of spatula, gently press on the top. It helps to puff up the poori.Flip on other side and cook that side also till it becomes golden brown.Drain it from the oil and place it on tissue paper. Repeat the same for the remaining dough.Tasty & Fluffy poori is ready. Serve it with poori masala.

Notes:

• Make the dough as stiff,otherwise it absorbs lot of oil while frying
• Try to avoid using flour while rolling the poori or use very little and dust it well before drop it in oil. The excess flour will make the oil dirty/cloudy while frying.As we continue the frying, it becomes dark in color and sticks to the poori.
• Don't keep the dough more than 30 mins. It will absorb more oil while frying.
• Make dough just 15 - 30 mins before frying.
• Don't place the rolled pooris on the paper, it absorbs all the moisture from the dough,so while frying, the pooris doesn't puff up well and it becomes very hard.
  

Continue Reading »

Punugulu with idly or dosa batter | Andhra punugulu recipe | Tea Time Snack

Punugulu, a delicious snack made with the idli/dosa batter and also it's one of the common street foods in the coastal region of the state, Andhra. 

It is made from the leftover or fresh idli/dosa batter. This is one of my favorite tea time snacks and often prepared over weekend chai time. It's so addictive and seriously can't stop eating whenever I make it, so nowadays, I prepare only a small quantity to avoid too much gulping :-)  

It was so delicious, crispy on the outside and soft inside, more like our vadai but with slight differences in taste & texture. It's a perfect tea time snack and if you have thick dosa batter at home, it can be prepared in minutes.

Adding rava gives the crispy texture to the punugulu, but at the same time, don't tempt to add more, it makes the punugulu hard on the outside. Now let's check out the recipe.

Related : How to make Potato Bonda

Punugulu

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Snacks/Street Food | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Punugulu, Tea time snacks, Punugulu with dosa batter, punugulu with idli batter Punugulu, a famous snack from Andhra and also the most common street food in the coastal region of the state, Andhra.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Idli/Dosa Batter - 1 cup
Rava - 1 tbsp
Rice flour - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Onion - 1/4 cup(finely chopped)
Green chili - 1 (finely chopped)
Baking soda - a pinch
Curry leave - few
Oil - for deep frying.

* if you're making this for the first time, check out the notes at the end 

Procedure

Take the dosa batter(the batter should be thick, you can't make this with thin batter) in a bowl, add rava,rice flour, baking soda, salt,onion & curry leaves, mix it well.

Heat the oil for deep frying, before taking the batter with the hands, dip your hands in a bowl of water.

And then take the batter and add into the hot flame, cook it in medium flame.

With a min, the punugulu floats on top, gently flip them on other side and cook till it becomes golden brown on all sides,remove from the oil and place it on tissue paper.

Serve it with chutney & hot tea.

Related : How to make Coconut Chutney

Related : More Snacks and Chaat items

Notes:

• The batter should be thick, otherwise it absorbs a lot of oil.
• After add the all ingredients, still the batter is not thick, add a extra tbsp of rice flour.
• Green chili is optional, you can skip that too.
• Baking soda helps to give the soft inside.
• Rava gives more crispiness to the punugulu.
  

Continue Reading »

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. 

Related: How to make Paneer Soda(Regional famous aerated drink)

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 mins | Makes : 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.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

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.
  

Continue Reading »

Home made Donuts | Sugar Donuts | American Breakfast Recipe

Donuts, a deep fried pastry made from lightly sweetened yeast dough and later it is topped with various toppings like sugar glazing or chocolate or simple sugar. 

Though I like a couple of toppings on donuts, simple plain sugar on the top is my all time favorite. There were times that I had picked at least a couple of donuts from the bakery section of the grocery store whenever we visited and really loved those soft donuts from the bakery store.

Later when I had decided to try donuts at home, it was not easy at first, a few attempts were total disasters and at that time I didn't even know the reason, after a while I came to understand that those were the times I didn't know how to proof the yeast properly. 

Once I get a hang of proofing the yeast, I always prepare them  at home whenever I'm craving for some doughnuts.

We both like south Indian style spicy tiffin for our breakfast hence initially we couldn't think of this kind of sweet pastries as breakfast. 

But now once in a while, we can have a couple of donuts along with coffee for our breakfast when we are driving.  

Now coming to the recipe, I have tried this donut from joyofbaking, actually it's my go to website for any pastry/baking items. 

Since baking was not part of our cooking at my home when I grew up, the precise measurement and the detailed procedure in joyofbaking really help me a lot to get any baking/pastry item perfect on the first time!!!

Without further delay, let's check out the recipe, but if you want to know what i have prepared for past 5 days under International breakfast, here they are

Day 1 - Mysore Masala Dosa from India
Day 2 - Mani pittu from Srilanka
Day 3 - Mofo Gasy from Madagascar
Day 4 - Baozi from China
Day 5 - French Crepes from France

Home made Donuts

Preparation Time : 2 hrs | Cooking Time : 10 mins | Makes : 9 
Recipe Category: Breakfast | Recipe Cuisine: American
Donuts,Sugar Donuts, Donuts, a deep fried pastry made from lightly sweetened yeast dough and later it is topped with various toppings like sugar glazing or chocolate or simple sugar.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
All Purpose flour - 1 cup
Instant yeast - 3/4 tsp
Butter - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
Sugar - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Warm Milk - 1/4 cup + 1 tsp
Egg - 1/2
Sugar - for coating the donuts.

Procedure

Take flour, yeast, sugar & salt in the bowl, mix it all well together, cut the butter into small pieces and add into the flour mixture and incorporate the butter into the flour with your fingers.

Once all the butter is incorporated into the flour, it looks like bread crumbs. Then add the beaten egg and warm milk and mix it well until it become a dough.

Transfer the dough on the counter and start kneading the dough for 5 mins or until it became soft and smooth.

Once the dough is smooth, place it on the greased bowl and cover it with cling wrap and keep it in warm place for 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs or until it's doubled.

Once the dough is doubled, remove the cling wrap and gently punch the dough to escape the air. 

Transfer the dough on the working surface. Lightly dust the dough with flour and start rolling into thick disk with the rolling pin.

Use the donut cutter & cut into desired shape. Since i don't have donut cutter, i have used one small bowl and a cap of the bottle to cut into donut shape.

Place the dough on the parchment lined tray. Do the same for the remaining dough and cut the whole dough into donut shape.

Gather the leftover dough & roll them again into thick disc and cut into donut shape.

Place them all on the tray and cover it with kitchen towel and keep it in warm place for another 30 mins or until the size is doubled.

Heat the oil for deep frying, add a pinch of dough, if it's brown in 30 to 40 secs, then the oil is ready. Add the donuts and let it cook on one side for 30- 40 secs.

With the wooden stick , gently flip the donuts and let it cook on other sides also for 30 -40 secs . Drain the donuts from the oil and place it on tissue paper.

Immediately add the donuts into the sugar and roll it all over.  Do the same for all the donuts and donuts holes.

Tasty Donuts is ready to serve. Serve them with coffee/tea.

Related: How to make Apple Turnovers

 

Notes:

• Instead of instant yeast, you can use the regular yeast also, but make sure that the yeast is well proofed before using.
• Depends on the flour quality & moisture content, sometimes i need more or less 1 tsp of milk.  
  
  

Continue Reading »