Salem Thattuvadai Set

 

There are so many triggers for nostalgia and to me food definitely comes up in the top few. There was this street snack I used to enjoy as a high school kid usually after a tuition class or a weekend trip to the "shopping complex".  The Salem famous Thattuvadai Set. This such a simple yet tasty and healthy thattai sandwich. A thattuvadai or thattai is a thin crispy  deep fried snack made with rice flour and urad flour. This is also known as nippattu or chekkalu in neighbouring states. This healthy sandwich involves 2 chutneys (red and green) and a some crispy vegetables. I was never a big fan of beetroot and that too raw....no way. However just in this one instance even raw beetroot tastes great. This was one snack which I haven't tried (does 30 years count as long?) a long time. Fast forward to last week I found these yummy crispy thattais made by one of my friends here. So without further ado here comes the recipe.

Ingredients

Red Chutney

1. Dried Kashmiri chillies - 3 to 4 (for the colour)
2. Dried red chillies - 2 to 3 (for the heat)
3. Sliced Red onions - 1
4. Garlic cloves - 4 to 5
5. Tamarind (softened) - 1 teaspoon
6. Tomato - 2
7. Salt to taste
8. Vegetable oil

Green Chutney

1. Coriander leaves - 1 cup
2. Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
3. Green chillies - 8-10
4. Grated coconut - 2 table spoons
5. Salt to taste
6. Ginger - 1 inch

Salad

1. Carrot
2. Beetroot
3. Onion
4. Green Apple (this was my twist - raw mango is used typically)
5. Lemon
6. Chopped Coriander leaves 

And of course a lot of thattais. Preferably the bite sized mini ones.

Method

Red Chutney

1. Blend all the ingredients of the red chutney together to a smooth paste.
2. In a wide sauce pan heat 2 to 3 table spoons of vegetable oil and saute the paste for a few minutes until oil separates.

Green Chutney

1. Blend all the ingredients of the green chutney. (Yup nothing more just blend).

Salad

1. Slice the onion into thin slices.
2. Slice the remaining vegetables in equal amounts.
3. Mix them up in a bowl.

The Set

1. Take a thattai and smear it with the green chutney. Repeat as many as needed.
2. Place the salad on the thattais and sprinkle lemon juice over along with chopped coriander leaves.
3. Take thattais and smear it with the red chutney and place on top of the salad.

Best served on a piece of newspaper to get the authentic feel and consumed as quickly as possible.

Enjoy!!

C

Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed Mushrooms - Something that the American restaurants blessed me with on many occasions.  Stuffed mushrooms along with corn meal biscuits are an amazing combination. A good part is we can experiment with it in so many different ways for the stuffing. Few years ago I tried masala stuffed mushrooms.  This time it's a bit more traditional but with my own twists. It's a great option for an appetizer / entree and goes very well with a glass of red. :) 

Ingredients (these measurements for about 15-20 mushrooms)

1. Mushrooms – preferably the wide ones that you can stuff after removing the stem
2. Garlic – minced (about 3-4 cloves)
3. Onions – finely chopped (1/2)
4. Cream Cheese (100 gms)
5. Parmesan Cheese – grated (1/2 cup)
6. Mozzarella Cheese - grated (1/2 cup)
7. Sundried tomato - minced (optional) 3-4 tablespoons
8. Italian herbs - 1 tablespoon
9. Butter - 30 gms
10. Coriander leaves – finely chopped - 2 table spoons
11. Bread crumbs - 3-4 table spoons
12. Black Pepper powder - 1 table spoon
13. Olive oil spray

Method

1. Remove the stem of the mushrooms and chop them finely. This is of course going to be the core of your stuffing.
2. Heat a sauce pan and melt a few tablespoons of butter.
3. Saute the onions, garlic, mushroom stems and sun dried tomatoes for a few minutes with Italian herbs, black pepper powder and salt to taste.
4. Keep the mixture aside and bring it close to room temperature.
5. Using a fork, mix the cream cheese, bread crumbs, parmesan.
6. Add the cooled down mushroom mix into the cream cheese and mix well.
7. Use a teaspoon of this mixture and stuff the de-stemmed mushroom cups.
8. Garnish the stuffed mushrooms with a sprinkle of parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
9. Place the mushrooms on a baking tray lined with aluminium paper.
10. Spray them around with olive oil. This is optional.
11. Bake the mushrooms in an oven at 175 degrees Celsius for about 5-7 minutes – just until the parmesan starts turning golden (or you start smelling a burnt smell – whichever comes earlier).
12. Allow the mushrooms to cool for a few minutes before serving.
13. Garnish with a sprinkle of chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy!!

C

Banana Nut Muffins

Muffins - they come in different flavours. I've always wondered if that was a dessert or a main course for breakfast or just a side snack for a coffee. Whatever it may be - it's just delicious to devour. I still remember the mega size muffins sold in big trays in Costco. Maybe that's a breakfast sized muffin? So here it is the first and my most favourite version - Banana Nut. It's got the flavours of banana, softness of the muffin and a nice surprise crunch from the walnut (or pecan if you chose to). So without much further ado...

Ingredients

1. Ripe Bananas - 3
2. Vegetable oil - 125 ml
3. Eggs - 2
4. Plain flour - 250 gms
5. Caster sugar - 100 gms
6. Baking Soda - ½ teaspoon
7. Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
8. Walnuts - 200 gms (you can substitute this with pecans if you like)

Baking Utensils

1. Medium sized muffin tray
2. Muffin paper cups
3. Ice cream scoop 

The above measures creates about 10 - 12 medium sized muffins.

The Method

1. Pre-heat the oven (not fan forced) to 180 deg C.
2. Mash the bananas to a nice pulp and keep it aside.
3. In a large bowl whisk the oil and eggs together until they are blended well.
4. Mix the mashed bananas and mix it well.
5. Add the dry ingredients (#4 to  #7) and mix it well to a smooth batter.
6. Add about 90% of walnuts and fold it in to the batter until they are spread evenly.
7. Line the muffin cups in the muffin tray.
8. Using an ice cream scoop and a spoon pour the batter into the muffin cups until each cup is about 2/3rds to 3/4ths full. (Note: the cups should not be filled completely as the batter raises up).
9. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top gets to a medium brownish colour. If in doubt use a toothpick to test the batter. It should come out clean when inserted.
10. Set the muffins to cool on a cooling rack for about 20 minutes.

Happy Cooking

C

Ellu Urundai a.k.a. Sesame Laddu

I am sure we all grew up with a variety of sweets and desserts from wherever we came from. Usually that brings joyful memories since sweets are usually made or bought on special occasions. Salem has a variety of such delicacies of which one is being presented here - Ellu Urundai meaning Sesame Ball. Ellu Urundai is usually made or consumed around the festival of Saraswathi Puja or Ayudha Puja. I tried making it a few times and it was a hit with the kids. However I couldn't get the exact colour, taste and consistency, which I managed to get this time. Sweets as in baking are quite finicky that you have to watch out very carefully during the cooking process. A few seconds here and there can change the outcome totally.  So here it comes...

Ingredients

1. Sesame seeds (white) - 1 cup
2. Jaggery - 1 cup (Jaggery and Sesame seeds should be in 1:1 ratio)
3. Cardamom seeds - 1 teaspoon
4. Ghee - 3 tablespoons

Method

1. Dry roast the sesame seeds in a large wok until they start to splatter or some of them start turning brown.
2. Set it to cool in a large mixing bowl.
3. Smash the jaggery if in the hard form and mix it with about 1/4th cup of water along with the cardamom seeds.
4. Boil the jaggery water for a few minutes and drain the content to remove any impurities.
5. Continue to boil the drained jaggery water until you get to the required consistency. This is THE most important step in the entire process. As soon as you feel the syrup thickening try to add a drop of the syrup in a small cup of water. If the syrup dissolves you need to continue boiling. If the syrup coagulates and if you are able to make a small ball, that is when you need to stop boiling the syrup.
6. Pour the syrup over the seasame seeds, add the ghee and mix it well.
7. Give it a minute or so to cool down - but not more than that.
8. Quickly start making balls greasing your palm with ghee. This is the next most important step to take care because if you delay this process the mixture hardens up really quick and goes beyond redemption.

Happy Cooking!!

C

Masala Egg Puff

Masala Egg Puff - one of those quintessential bakery snack from Tamil Nadu. The economic snack that filled many a student's hunger pang - oh well we can go on and on about the egg puff. Yet again one of those snacks that you don't easily get outside of Tamil Nadu (may extend to Kerala). After a few attempts of making mixed vegetable and panneer puffs (post about it another time), gave it a shot to try the highschool / uni time favourite snack. Of course it is best accompanied with tomato sauce and masala tea to wash it down.

What goes in:

1) Boiled Eggs (1 egg makes 2 puffs + 1 egg white for brushing later)
2) Frozen Pastry sheets - I wish I could this from scratch as well - maybe another time
3) Onions - Thinly sliced
4) Tomatoes - Thinly sliced
5) Ginger Garlic Paste
6) Turmeric powder
7) Garam masala - Any masala mix would do
8) Oil - to saute




The method:

1) Thaw the frozen pastry sheets for about 10 minutes. Cut it into rectangular pieces before it thaws else it becomes a slightly sticky affair.

2) Saute the onions, tomatoes, turmeric paste and ginger-garlic paste for a few minutes.

3) Add garam masala and salt (to taste) and saute until the tomatoes get mashed up well.You can add some red chilli powder if you want to kick it up a notch.

4) Once done, mix the boiled eggs along with this masala - careful not to break the eggs. Got to toss them in carefully.

5) Place the individual pastry sheets on a tray covered with baking sheet. While you are at this step - preheat the oven at about 220 Deg.

5) Place one egg half - yolk down on each piece of pastry sheet and add the onion/tomato mix on top.

6) Wrap them up as good as you can. This is where it will be some trial and error to cut the right shape and size of the pastry sheet.



7) Brush egg whites on to the top of the pastry sheet.

8) Place the tray in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes. Keep a close watch on the oven as the pastry can get burnt very easily.






Crisp - fluffy - spicy Egg Puffs Ready!!

Happy Cooking!!

C

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie

After gaining confidence with the Muesli Bar have now started getting my hands dirtier (literally) with baking. I've done a few "projects" in the past with ready made mixes where there is not much to measure or play around. Baking with everything from scratch is a whole new ball game.
So here it comes the 2nd experiment - White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookie. Took "inspiration" from a few internet recipes each had their own twist and ended up making my own twist. The idea was to make a nice soft chewy cookie.

Ingredients (measures are for reference only - feel free to change as you choose)
1) Butter - 200 gms

2) Flour - 200 gms
3) Brown Sugar - 2 cups (in fact I did a mix of brown sugar and raw sugar as recommended in one of the recipes)
4) Macadamia nuts (diced) - 150 gms
5) White Chocolate bits - 150 gms
6) Egg -2
7) Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
8) Vanilla Essence - 1 teaspoon (not in picture)

Oven Temperature - 150 deg (tried 175 deg as some website recommended - ended up making a dark chocolate chip cookie instead of white chocolate)

Method
1) Soften the butter to a texture that would be easy to blend.
2) Beat the eggs and keep it separate.
3) Mix the softened butter, sugar, vanilla essence and egg using a blender on high speed until it becomes a nice smooth creamy texture.
4)  Add the flour (most of it) and mix it in. You can use a blender I found using my hands more effective. It has it's own side effects (your fingers become very lickable ;-) ).
5) Add the white chocolate bits and macadamia nuts at the end and mix it evenly.
6) Make small 2 inch diameter balls out of this mix and lay them out in a baking tray lined with baking paper. (Tip: You will need a slightly wet palm to do this)
7) Flatten the balls a little bit. The idea is to get to a shape of a cookie without stretching it too thin.

Ensure you have sufficient space between the cookies as they expand horizontally while they bake.

As you could see I could do only 6 cookies at a time. In a way this helped me experiment a bit.

8) Place the tray in the oven with a timer for about 12 minutes.  This again is an experiment and may vary based on the type of the oven and the temperature you had set in. As always use your nose to figure out when to stop.
9) After baking take the tray out from the oven and let it cool for 5 - 10 minutes before you remove the cookie out of the tray.

Fresh - warm - chewy and soft White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie - ready.

p.s.: It took about 3 attempts to get to some "presentable" and "edible" state. It either became too dark or bent and crumbled before I could take it out of the tray.



Happy Cooking!!
C

Muesli Bar

Few weeks ago I checked back into this blog and realized it has been almost a year since I had a post. Not a good sign at all. Had to come up with something really quick to revive this. So here it is my first baking recipe. Muesli bars used to be a standard snack in my bag for a long time. Not many snacks can be as filling, healthy and tasty as this one.It somehow went out of circulation in our pantry for a while. Recently it came back alive as a snack that Nandha liked at pre-school. They actually made it at his pre-school as a cooking activity and hence came back home with it's recipe. He was quite thrilled to know that we could actually make it at home. So here we go...

Ingredients

1) Rolled Oats - 3 Cups

Ingredients

2) Flour - 1 cup (a little less if you prefer a more chewy texture)

3) Sunflower seeds - 1 cup

4) Pumpkin seeds - 1 cup

5) Sliced Almonds - 1 cup

6) Dried fruits (pick your choice of apricots, cranberries, raisins) - 1 cup

7) Desicated coconut - 1 cup

8) Butter - 150 gms

9) Brown Sugar - 1 cup

10) Honey - 1/2 cup

11) Egg -1

Process
(0) Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees.

Dry and wet ingredients together

1) Melt the butter on a low flame along with the brown sugar and honey. Once melted give it a quick boil and let it to cool down.
2) Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and create a well in the center.

Give it a good mix

3) Pour the beaten egg, and the cooled down syrup and mix it all up. (A good time to get the kids involved as needed).
4) Once mixed spread the mixture out on a tray lined with baking paper. Even the mixture out using the back of a tablespoon.

Mixture on the tray

5) Bake it in the pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes.




Now this could be a hit and miss with the temperature and time. After a few experiments I've now started relying on my nose to tell me when to stop the baking. Take the tray out when the smell is just perfect - usually about 20-25 minutes.

Baked Muesli Tray

6) Leave it to cool for a few minutes.
7) Cut them up into blocks of your preference in size.

Home made Muesli Bar ready!!

Some may like it crispy...some may like it chewy....play with the flour and honey as you need it.

Happy Baking!!

C