Falafal Sandwich

Ingredients

• Soaked chickpeas - 2 cups
• All purpose flour or maida - 2 tspn
• Small Onion - 1
• Garlic - 3
• Baking soda - 1/4 tspn
• Coriander powder - 1 tspn
• Cumin powder - 1 tspn
• Chilli flakes - 1/2 tspn
• Parsley - 2 tspn
• Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup

health tip

Chickpeas or channa is rich in Folate, dietary fiber( with skin on), Protein, B Vitamins & Iron. Beans & legumes are a good substitute for meat protein. High fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal making these beans especially a good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia.

Falafal

method

I was hooked to falafals after having falafal sandwiches at Maoz. Since then I wanted to make them at home. At first, I tried with instant falafal mixes but they did not taste like the ones I had at the restaurant. Therefore, I searched for falafal recipes in the net & experimented with few of them. After couple of trials & adjustments I am finally satisfied with this one. Please go ahead and try this recipe & let me know your comments. This recipe will produce 10 medium sized falafals.

1. Soak the beans overnight. It doesn't have to be cooked. Cooked beans make the Falafal soft & fall apart while frying. This is also the reason why we should not go for tinned beans.
2. Chop the garlic, onion, coriander & parsley leaves coarsely. Add it to a food processor along with other ingredients & soaked chickpeas. Grind them all coarsely with out adding water.
3. Add approximately 1/2 tspn or more of salt & mix well. Leave the dough in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
4. Take the dough out after 20 minutes of refrigeration & make equal sized balls & flatten them to 1 inch vadai. Fry them in hot oil. This recipe yields 11 falafals.
   

   You may freeze falafal for future use. To freeze them, arrange the vadai 1 inch apart in a freezer safe container & place the container in the freezer. To thaw & fry the falafal later, place the frozen falafal in a microwave safe plate & microwave them for a minute or two. Fry them as usual.

   
   
5. You may serve fried falafals as part of a sandwich. You can make yummy sandwiches with pita bread, falafal and hummus. You will need to first spread the hummus on the pita and then add falafal patties to it along with lettuce, tomato, onion and olives.

Banana Fritters

Ingredients

• Ripe Banana - 2
• All purpose flour or Maida - 1/2 cup
• Salt - a pinch
• Sugar - 2 1/2 tbspn
• Large egg white - 1
• Baking powder - a pinch
• Milk & water - 1/4 cup together

health tip

Banana is packed with lot of minerals especially potassium which lowers blood pressure.

Banana Fritters

method

Asian restaurants (Thai or Malaysian) serve this dessert with ice cream. Cold ice cream at the center with hot & crispy fritters on the sides drizzled with sweet syrup. Mouth watering, right? Come, join me, I will show how to make fritters at home at your own convenience.

1. Mix the dry ingredients together & make a batter with egg white, milk & water. The batter should be thick like Bajji batter.
2. Peel the banana & cut them into three pieces. Cut the pieces length wise into three.
3. Heat some oil in a pan. Dip the banana pieces into the batter & fry them till golden brown.
4. Serve them hot with ice cream and sprinkle some powdered sugar over it & serve hot.

Chicken or Mutton Uppu Kari

Ingredients

• Chicken or Mutton - 1 pound (1/2 Kg)
• Chopped  large onion - 1
• Chopped garlic - 5
• Chopped tomato - 1
• Red chillies - 3
• Chilli powder - 1/4 tspn
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
• Coconut milk - 3 tbspn tinned or milk from a cup of coconut
• Curry leaves, Fennel seeds, Cinnamon for seasoning.

health tip

Chicken and mutton are both high in protein. Mutton unlike chicken is red meat with more fat. However, mutton is a good source of Iron. It is recommended to go with chicken especially if you are watching your cholesterol.

Chicken or Mutton Uppu Kari

method

Uppu Kari is a Chettinad delicacy usually made with mutton(goat meat). You can use Chicken as an alternative if you are unable to find good goat meat. Where I live, goat meat is hard to find, hence the reason for Chicken in this recipe. Uppu kari is a dry curry cooked in coconut milk spiced with dried red chillies. Majority of the heat in the curry comes from dried red chillies than from chilli powder. Dried red chillies are fried in oil & cooked in coconut milk to make them little bit sweeter. Taste would be even better if you use goat meat or chicken with bone in.

1. Extract milk from coconut & set aside.
2. Wash & cut the meat into small pieces. Break the chillies into half. Dice the onion, garlic & tomato.
3. Heat some oil in a kadai or pressure pan. Since the cooking time varies, kadai may work for chicken but for mutton it is best to use pressure cooker.
4. Add the seasonings to the hot oil. Fry the broken red chillies. Saute the chopped onion, garlic & tomato one after another along with salt, turmeric powder & chilli powder till tomato gets mushy.
5. Add the meat pieces & saute them till raw meat smell goes off. Add the coconut milk & cook the meat with lid closed. When the meat is cooked, open the lid & cook it till the liquid condenses or evaporates. If the meat looks over cooked, separate the meat from the liquid & leave it in a bowl till the liquid reduces to 1/4th of its quantity. Finally, add the meat & let it dry out.

Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian

Ingredients

• For Batter
• Cauliflower - 1/2 of one large flower or approximately 3 cups cut into florets
• All-purpose flour or Maida - 2 tbspn
• Corn starch or corn flour - 2 tbspn
• Rice flour - 1 tbspn
• Chilli powder-1/2 tspn
• Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tspn
• Salt to taste
• Water to make batter
• For Gravy
• Medium onion -1 finely chopped
• Green pepper - 1/4 finely chopped
• Green chilly - 1 small or 1/2 bigger
• Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tspn
• Chilli sauce - 1/2 tspn
• Soy sauce - 1/2 tspn to 1 tspn
• Tomato Ketchup - 1 1/2 tbspn
• Sesame oil - 1 1/2 tbspn
• Brown sugar - 1/4 tspn
• Lemon juice - 1 tspn
• Coriander & green onion for garnishing
• Salt to taste

health tip

Cauliflower and other vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and kale contain compounds that may help prevent cancer. Sulfur-Containing Phytonutrients in cauliflower promote liver detoxification. It is rich in Vitamin C, K and folate. Spicing cauliflower with turmeric help promote men's health. Green Pepper is rich in Vitamin C & Vitamin A.

Gobi Manchurian

method

1. Mix all the ingredients given for batter with half a cup of water.
2. Dip the cauliflower florets into the batter & deep fry them till crispy. Keep them aside.
3. Heat the sesame oil in a pan & add ginger garlic paste & green chillies. Saute them for few minutes.
4. Add the onions & saute it. After 2 minutes, add the green peppers & saute it for 2 more minutes. The veggies should retain their crunchiness. Add the other ingredients given for sauce with 2 1/2 tbspn water. Cook them for 2 more minutes. Turn off the heat.
5. Add the fried gobi to the sauce. Mix well & transfer to the serving dish & garnish it with chopped coriander leaves & green onions.
   

   Mix the cauliflower just before serving to retain the crispiness of the cauliflower. Onions can be substituted with 1/4 cup of green onions.

   
   

Cauliflower Masala

Ingredients

• Cauliflower - 1/2 of the flower
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Channa dal - 3 tspn
• Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tspn
• Curry powder - 1 tspn
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tspn
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
• Fennel seeds & curry leaves for seasoning

health tip

Cauliflower and other vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and kale contain compounds that may help prevent cancer. Sulfur-Containing Phytonutrients in cauliflower promote liver detoxification. It is rich in Vitamin C, K and folate. Spicing cauliflower with turmeric helps promote men's health. Channa dal adds protein to this dish.

Cauliflower Masala

method

1. Soak the channa dal in water for 30 minutes.
2. Dice the onions & tomatoes. Cut the cauliflower into florets & soak them in warm salted water.
3. Heat some oil in a pan & season it with fennel seeds & curry leaves.
4. Saute the ginger garlic paste, onion & tomato. Add turmeric powder, salt, curry powder, chilli powder & drained channa dal. Saute them till the oil separates.

Adding split gram dal(pottukadalai) powder at the final stage will absorb extra moisture & make the cauliflower nice & dry.

5. When the oil separates, drain & add the cauliflower. Cover the pan with a lid & cook till the florets are 3/4th done. Sprinkle water if needed. Open the lid & let the masala dry out. Garnish it with coriander leaves.
   

Mor Kuzhambu

Ingredients

• Sour Yogurt - 2 cups
• Green Chillies - 2
• Channa Dal - 1/2 tspn
• Toor Dal - 1/2 tspn
• Rice - 1/2 tspn
• Coconut - 3 tspn
• Coriander seeds - 1/2 tspn
• Cumin seeds - 1/4 tspn
• Hinge - a pinch
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
• Curry leaves - for seasoning
• Garlic - 1 pod (or) Ginger - 1/2 inch

health tip

Yogurt is rich in Calcium, Vitamin B2, B12 & protein. Yogurt has a friendly bacteria Lactobacillus which helps to regulate the digestive system & boost the immune system. Daily consumption of 3 oz of yogurt helps to lower LDL(bad cholesterol) & increase HDL(good Cholesterol). It helps to prevent stomach ulcers & reduce the risk of colorectal(colon) cancer.

Mor Kuzhambu

method

This dish is very famous in all the southern states of India. This dish goes very well with white rice & paruppu usili. You may make this recipe simple with all the ingredients as listed above or you may enhance it further by adding any available vegetables.

1. Soak the channa dal, toor dal and rice for 30 minutes.
2. You may add veggies to this dish but if you do so you need to cook them separately by adding some salt. Refer to the tips section below for more information.
3. Whip the yogurt for few minutes and set aside.
4. Grind coconut, cumin, coriander, ginger (or garlic), green chillies and all the soaked ingredients into a fine paste.
5. Heat some oil in a pan and season it with curry leaves and hinge.

   You may create many different variations of this dish by adding different vegetables. Some of the suggested vegetables are potatoes, white pumpkin, chow chow, okra, yam and Dal koftas(urundais). Remember to fry the Okra before adding to this dish. You may also add dried vathals like manathakkali, sundakkai, okra and eggplanths to this dish but they also require prior frying.

   
   
6. Add the ground paste & turmeric powder to the pan and saute it for two minutes or until the raw smell goes off.
7. Add the whipped yogurt to the mix & heat them all for couple more minutes. Do not let it boil as the yogurt will curdle with excessive heat.

10 Minutes Vegetable Biryani

Ingredients

• Basmati rice -2 cups
• Salt - 1 1/2 tspn
• Frozen mixed veggies - 2 cups cups
• Small Potato - 1
• Biryani masala - 2 tspn
• Onion - 1
• Water - 3 cup
• Mint & Coriander

health tip

Most vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories. None have cholesterol. (Sauces or seasonings may add fat, calories, or cholesterol.)
Vegetables are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate (folic acid), vitamin A, vitamin E and vitamin C.

Veg Biriyani

method

This is one of the easiest recipes I have ever made. You can add as many vegetables as you like to this dish and are not restricted to just carrot, peas & potatoes as listed on this recipe. Frozen veggies can be substituted for fresh vegetables. Making it in pressure cooker makes the job easier. The recipe in the masala powder box may call for adding more masala than normally required. Please exercise caution since the masala powder consist of lot ground spices & may make the Biryani more stronger than usual.

1. Slice the onion length wise.
2. Dice the potato & other veggies if using fresh. Otherwise soak them in water to thaw them.
3. Heat some oil in a pan preferably pressure cooker.
4. Saute the onions & veggies along with biryani masala & salt for 3 minutes. Wash the rice & add it to the veggies. Mix in the measured water, chopped coriander & mint leaves.
5. Cover the pressure cooker & cook it for 1 whistle.

Coconut milk may be added to enhance the taste of the biryani. Reduce the amount of water if you are planning to add coconut milk. Liquid measurement is always 1 1/2 cups per cup of rice while cooking in pressure cooker.