Savoury Buttermilk Cookies

I bought Greek buttermilk once and tried these cookies. Actually it was the same dough for a deep fried snack,instead of frying it, I made the dough little stiff and baked them as cookies. It was a great success! :)

Ingredients
All purpose flour -11/4cups
Butter milk - little less than 1/2cup
Baking powder-1/2teaspoon
Sugar-1tablespoon
Onion(small)-1
Green chilly-2
Olive oil-2tablespoons
Chopped coconut pieces-11/2 tablespoons
Few curry leaves, chopped finely.
Salt


Method
Sieve the the flour and baking powder together.
Chop the onions and green chilly into fine pieces.
Combine all the ingredients except butter milk in a bowl.
Mix well and add buttermilk little at a time and make a pliable dough.
Preheat the oven to 360F.
Divide the dough into small uniform sized pieces, arrange them on a lined baking tray.
Bake the cookies for 20 minutes, take them out, turn it over, then bake again for 5-10 minutes.
Yummy cookies are ready to enjoy with a cup of tea.

Naan

I saw this butter naan recipe in Tickling Palates and thought of giving it a try! :) Naans were yummy! Thanks Radhika for the recipe!

Ingredients
All purpose flour-11/2 cups
Fresh bread slices-3 (i used wheat bread)
Curd-1/2cup
Water-1/2cup
Baking soda-1/2teaspoon
Salt

Method
Trim the edges of the bread and tear it into pieces. Combine bread pieces,curd,water,salt and baking soda. Mix it well and keep aside for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes the mixture will be like a thick paste, sieve the all purpose flour directly into the bowl, mix it well and knead into a soft sticky dough.


Cover it and keep aside for atleast an hour. Make orange sized balls out of the dough, roll them into round discs.

I was not having the patience to make naan's in the conventional oven or stove top. So just did it like usual roti's! ;)

Naan's were yummy and we enjoyed them with empty salna.

Idli upma

This is the recipe which is prepared in most of the south Indian households to finish off the left-over idlies. Once the movie "சூரிய வம்சம்" came, this one became so famous and this dish is almost renamed as "Surya vamsam uppuma"!! ;) ;)

Though I love idlies, am not a big fan of this uppuma. Yeah...you guessed it right! DH is a great fan of Idli uppuma! :) Seldom I make this and whenever he sees this tiffin, his face will become instantly happy! This week i prepared it and he had it for breakfast as well as lunch! :)

Method
Leftover idlies-6 (One can use fresh idlies too, but its easy to do with refrigerated idlies)
Onion-1
Green chillies-3
Red chilly-1
Mustard seeds-1/2teaspoon
Curry leaves-few
Channa dhal-1teaspoon
Urad dhal-1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder(optional)-1/8teaspoon
Oil

Method
Break and mash the idlies into fine pieces.
Cut the onions and green chillies into length wise pieces.
Heat oil in a wide pan, make the tempering with mustard seeds, followed by channa dhal,urad dhal. Once the dhals turn into golden colour, add the curry leaves,onion ,green chillies, broken red chilly and turmeric powder.
Fry till the onions become transparent.
Now add the mashed idlies and stir well with the onions.
Reduce the flame to low and cook for 2-3 minutes and put off the flame.
Yummy Idli uppuma is ready!

~~~~~
Dear Friends, I am going on vacation for a month. Will try to visit your blogs to check the delicious recipes. Do come to my kitchen as usual and give your valuable comments!

See you all! Byeeeeeeee!

Empty Salna

I've heard the word "salna[aka kurma]" only a couple of years back, which is served with parottas in many parts of Tamilnadu. In our region, we make "kurma" only! :)

In this salna no veggie is added and thats why this is called Empty salna. Special thanks to Asiya akka for sharing this recipe.

Ingredients
Onion -1
Green Chilly -1
Tomato -2
Few Mint leaves,curry leaves and Cilantro
Grated Coconut - 5teaspoons
Cashew- 5
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon- 2" piece
Elaichi-2
Ginger-garlic paste -1 teaspoon
Chilli Powder-1 1/2teaspoon
Coriander powder-1teaspoon
Cumin powder-1/2teaspoon
Fennel powder-1/2teaspoon
Turmeric powder-1/8teaspoon
Salt
Oil

Method
Powder the cinnamon stick,cloves & elaichi.
Chop the onion,g.chilly,tomatoes and mint.
Grind the coconut and cashew with little water to a fine paste.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions,green chilly & curry leaves till onion changes in colour. Then add the cinnamon-clove-elaichi powder and G-g paste and fry for a minute. Add in the tomato pieces and mint.
Cook on low heat till the tomatoes become mussy. Now add the chilli-coriander-cumin-fennel and turmeric powders and fry till the oil oozes out. Then add salt and a cup of water, bring it to nice boil.

Add the coconut-cashew paste, add enough water(~11/2cups to 2 cups), cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes. By then the salna will be cooked nicely and the oil will be floating on top.
Garnish with cilantro and put off the flame. Aromatic and yummy empty salna is ready to serve. Its a perfect match for layer parathas-chappathi and poori. We had it with Naan,which will be coming soon.

Note
Cover the pan and cook through out the entire process.
Onions-tomatoes should be finely chopped so that,you won't find any pieces in the salna.
Chop the paratha/chapathi into small pieces, soak them in the salna, thats the best method of eating this dish! :)
You can see the original recipe here.

Noodles with Grilled Veggies

Ingredients
Cooked Noodles - 2cups
Thinly Sliced Veggies-1/2 cup
(You can use your choice of veggies. I've used carrot,beans,capsicum,cabbage & broccoli)
Few Spring Onions to garnish
Onion-1
Green chilli-1
Cumin powder-1/2teaspoon
Chilli powder-1teaspoon
Turmeric powder-1/8teaspoon
Maggi hot n sweet sauce-2 teaspoons
Sliced Ginger & Garlic -1tablespoon
Cumin seeds-1/2teaspoon
Salt
Oil

Method
Cook the noodles according to the directions on the pack, and keep it aside.

I got this noodles from a Chinese market.The pack had 15 small rounds noodles, I used 5 rounds.

Combine half of the capsicum-cabbage-onion slices with other veggies,add cumin-chilli-turmeric powders,salt, and a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss it well and arrange it on a lined baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 450F, cook the veggies for 8-10 minutes.

Heat another tablespoon of oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds-ginger and garlic. Fry for a minute and add the remaining onion-capsicum-cabbage slices with green chilly. Cook on high flame for a minute. Add the cooked noodles, grilled veggies, maggi sauce and toss it. (adjust the salt at this time)

Switch off the stove and garnish with spring onion slices,serve hot! :)

Navaratna Kurma

Ingredients
Carrot-1
Potato-1
Cauliflower Florets-1/4cup
Beans-5
Peas-one fist full
Pineapple Chunks-1/4cup
Seedless Black grapes-7
Raisins-7
Almonds-5
Onion-1
Cloves-2
Elaichi-1
Green Chillies-3(adjust to your spice level)
Bay leaf-1
Cumin seeds-1teaspoon
Chopped Ginger-garlic -1teaspoon
Coriander powder-1/2teaspoon
Cumin powder-1/2teaspoon
Pepper powder-1/2teaspoon
2% reduced fat milk-1/2 to 3/4cup
Oil
Salt


Method
Cut the carrot-potato-beans-cauliflower into uniform sized chunks, cook them separately with enough salt and keep it aside. (Keep an eye that the veggies are done but still firm.)

Cook the chopped onion-almonds-cloves and elaichi in boiling water till the onion becomes soft. Drain the excess water, peel the skin of the almonds and grind everything into fine paste.

Heat oil in a kadai, make the tempering with cumin seeds and bay leaf & ginger garlic pieces. Add the onion paste and green chillies.

Cook the masala on low heat till the onion mixture becomes dry..add cumin and coriander powders, cook for few more minutes without burning the masala.

Add 11/2cups of water [can use the water drained from the onions ] and bring it to boil. Then add the cooked veggies,peas and pineapple chunks.

Adjust the salt and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Now add the pepper powder and the milk.

Once the gravy starts boiling, switch off the stove, add the raisins and grapes, garnish with Cilantro.

Navaratna kurma is ready to serve!
We had it with roti's. Goes well with rice items as well.

Note

• My DH was a bit reluctant to try this as he is not a great fan of any mild kurmas. But after tasting my version, he said this is 1st time he has tasted this much spicy Navaratna kurma!! LOL!! :) So adjust the number of green chillies-cloves-pepper powder according to your taste buds!
• I didn't add paneer, roasted nuts or cream and still it tasted great. [relished it guilt free!;)]. If you are making for parties, you can add all these items and the kurma will be more rich in taste.