Onion Pakoda | Erulli Pakoda | Deep-fried Snacks |

Onion Pakoda - Erulli Pakoda

Onion/Erulli Pakoda is the most favorable snack in our family. My mom prepares this pakoda even now and it has the same lip-smacking taste, years (read decades) of practice I must say. She tries a lot of variations every now and then with the available veggies to satisfy our ever changing palate.
Recently, I prepared this dish for my husband's office potluck party. Everyone loved it and was a big hit, no doubt. My recipe for you to try and satisfy your deep-fried food craving on rainy/snowy cold winter days along with a hot java or tea, etc.

Ingredients

Onion - 1 (thinly chopped lengthwise)
Chickpea flour - 3/4 cup (also known as Besan, as required to match the correct moisture in the mixture)
Fine Semolina - 1/4 cup (also known as Chiroti Rave in Kannada)
Rice flour - 2 tbsp (also known as Akki Hittu in Kannada)
Carom seeds - 2 tsp
Green chillies - 3 (minced)
Ginger - 1 inch (grated)
Curry leaves - 20 leaves (roughly torn or chopped)
Cilantro - 2 tbsp (thinly chopped)
Mint leaves - 2 sprig (thinly chopped, optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp (freshly ground/crushed in a mortar pestle)
Cashew nuts- 1/4 cup (whole or roughly chopped, optional)
Chili powder - 1 tsp (or as per your taste)
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp (or as per your taste)
Oil - 2 tbsp (any high-heat oil of your choice, heated oil)
Oil - for frying (any high-heat oil of your choice)

Preparation

1. In a large mixing bowl add the onion and 1 tsp salt and combine well.

2. Mix in all the spices and seasonings; carom seeds, turmeric powder, coriander seeds (crushed), cashew nuts, chili powder, salt, green chilies, ginger, curry leaves, cilantro, mint leaves, into the Onion and salt mixture.

3. Heat 2 tbsp oil and add to the mixing bowl and gradually add the rice flour, fine semolina into the mixture.

4. Now add the chickpea flour or besan into the combined ingredients slowly until the onion mixture turns into a thick paste consistency.

5. Heat the oil for frying and once the oil is hot enough to fry, spoon in the pakodas into the oil. Deep fry the bite size pakodas well and untill they turn dark golden brown in color. Fry the remaining onion pakoda mixture in batches and enjoy with your favorite ketchup or sauce and a hot beverage of your choice.

Brown Rice Grits Steamed Kolakatte (Kozhukatte) / Brown Rice Grits Steamed Dumplings Recipe

Brown Rice Grits Steamed Kolakatte (Kozhukatte) / Brown Rice Grits Steamed Dumplings

Kozhukatte is an authentic Tamil Nadu recipe, adopted in Karnataka as an evening snack or a breakfast dish in many Brahmin household like ours, who did a lot of touring and staying in different parts of South India.
My grandmother prepared this dish very often with a coconut chutney and Idli powder/pudi as a side. I have altered the authentic recipe that uses regular white rice grits to brown rice grits.

Ingredients

1 cup Brown Rice Grits
1/4 cup grated fresh coconut
2 cups water
1 cup boiling water (optional)
2 tbsp extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil
3/4 tsp black mustard seeds
1/8 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp urad dal, washed and split black gram lentil
1 tsp channa dal, washed and split bengal gram lentil
1/8 tsp hing, Asafetida
4 curry leaves (optional)
4 dreied chillies broken into 1 inch pieces (optional)
Salt to taste


Method

1. Dry roast the brown rice grits in a frying pan for a couple of minutes (this step is optional, I would like to dry roast it as my brown rice grits were a little old and not freshly brought from store).

2. Place the frying pan in a medium heat with 2 tbsp of coconut and once it is hot (not smoking hot), add the mustard seeds and let it sputter. Then, cumin seeds, black gram and bengal gram lentils and fry until golden brown and add red chiles until they roast a little and then hing.

3. Soon after the hing is added mix in the coconut shreds and water along with the salt, to taste. Curry leaves could be torn and added at this time (although optional as it might get in the way while eating the dumplings, some might not like to chew the fibrous leaf).

4. Once the water reaches the boiling point add the brown rice grits and combine throughly and making sure no lumps are formed. Add boiling water incase your grits dough is too dry. It should look like Uppit / Upma consistency.

5. Mix and combine the dough and keep it to cool completely.

6. Make golf sized balls / elongated balls from the dough and keep aside the dumplings.

7. Heat a steamer/pressure cooker without the weight or an Idli cooker with some water at the bottom and place all the dumplings and steam cook for 15 minutes.

8. Serve hot brown rice grits steamed dumplings with a dollop of ghee along with a chutney of your choice/idli powder in sesame oil on the side. Enjoy as a breakfast or as an evening snack.

Kadalekalu Hittu Payasa Recipe / Kala Channa Besan Payasa Recipe

Kadalekalu Hittu Payasa / Kala Channa Besan Payasa

Kadalekalu hittu / Kala Channa Besan Payasa is a new and easy sweet recipe that could be prepared on festivals and other special occasions in a jiffy. I experimented this recipe with Kaladale Kalu hittu instead of regular kadale hittu / Chickpea flour that was published in a South Indian cooking video blog. It came out perfect and tasty everytime I made it. My family loves this payasa recipe.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Kadale Kalu Hittu / Kala Channa Besan Flour
4 Tbsp Ghee / Clarified Butter
1/4 cup Almond Flour
1 cup Milk (boiled)
1/4 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
2 Tbsp Mixed Nuts
2 tsp Dried Golden Raisins

Method

1. Place a thick bottom pan on a medium heat and add the flour and 3 Tbsp of ghee and fry untill the flour gives out a wonderful aroma and raw smell is gone.

2. Add Almond flour and fry along with the Kadale kalu flour for 5 more minutes.

3. Now mix the milk into the flour mixture and combine well to make sure no lumps are formed. Add more milk if you want a watery consistency.

4.  Add in sugar to the pan and mix well till all the sugar crystals are dissolved.

5. In a separate frying pan add the remaining 1 tbsp ghee and fry the mixed nuts on a medium heat untill they turn golden brown, than add in the raisins till they puff up a little bit.

6. Pour this nuts and raisins along with the ghee into the payasa pan and mix. Add the cardamom powder at this point and wait for the payasa to boil for a minute. Now hot payasa is ready to serve along with a dab of ghee on top. Cold payasa also tastes delicious.

Coconut rice - Easy Lunch box meal

Coconut Rice

Easy lunch or weeknight dinner recipe that could be made in a jiffy. Coconut rice is also made on festivals and other occasions served on plantain leaf as a side dish, mostly in South India. This makes a great lunch box meal along with urad dal happala (pappad) for kids too.

Ingredients

2 cups white rice
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup coconut milk, (optional, instead add 1/2 cup water)
1/4 cup freshly grated coconut
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 pinch of cumin seeds
1 tsp Urad dal
1 tsp Channa dal
8-10 dried red chillies
10-15 curry leaves torn into pieces
2 tbsp broken cashew nuts
Salt to taste

Method

1. Wash and drain white rice and add water and coconut milk (optional). Pressure cook untill well cooked as per your cooker settings. The dish tastes better when the rice grains are separate.

2. In a frying pan add coconut oil and place it on a medium flame, once hot add mustard seeds. After it sputters, add cumin seeds, urad dal, channa dal and fry until they turn golden brown. Add dried red chillies and fry for a few seconds. Now, to this add the cashew nuts and fry once they turn golden brown add curry leaves and grated coconut and mix well. Fry the mixture for a few minutes.

3. Meanwhile spread the rice on a wide pan or serving bowl and allow it to cool. Mix salt as per taste into the rice.

4. Now add coconut mixture to the rice and combine throughly. Add extra oil incase the rice feels dry. Serve hot with fried happala (pappad) or sandige.

Sihi Huggi / Sihi Pongal / Sweet Pongal - Authentic Madhwa Dessert Recipe

Sihi Huggi / Sihi Pongal / Sweet Lentils Rice / Split Mung Dal Rice

Sihi Huggi is made on Sankranthi festival. It is a classic recipe prepared on other special occasions in all Madhwa community during habba and haridina.

Ingredients

2 cups washed and drained rice
1/2 cup washed and drained Mung dal or split skinned Mung beans
1/2 cup ghee or clarified butter
3 cups of water
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp freshly grated coconut (blended in a mixer) or coconut milk, this ingredient is optional
1 cup powdered jaggery or brown sugar
1 tbsp chopped cashew nuts
1 tbsp chopped almonds
1 tbsp golden raisins
1/2 tsp saffron strands soaked in a tbsp of warm milk

Method

1. In a pot over medium heat add 1/4 cup ghee and add the rice and mung dal and fry until they give give out a fine aroma with golden color.

2. Add water and milk into the pot and place it in a pressure cooker and cook until 3 to 4 whistles and well cooked. We don't want the rice and dal to turn mushy. Alter the amount of water depending on your pressure cooker size and quantity.

3. Place the pot over medium heat and add jaggery. If your jaggery is dirty, in a separate pot add 2 tbsp of water and add the jaggery and melt it. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and collect the clean jaggery mixture and add it to the rice and dal pot. Or you could replace it with brown sugar. Mix throughly until the sugar crystals are melted.

4. Add coconut milk (optional) and combine well and cook for 5 to 10 minutes on low flame.

5. In a small frying pan add 2 tbsp of ghee and heat. Combine the nuts and add it to ghee and fry untill golden brown and later add raisins till they puff up a little. Pour this over the huggi pot and mix.

6. Add saffron and remaining ghee and mix throughly and cook 5 mins on a low flame. Now Sihi Huggi is ready to serve with a dollop of ghee on top. It tastes best when served hot.

Hayagreeva - Split Bengal Gram Dal Halwa

Hayagreeva Recipe - One pot meal (dessert)

Hayagreeva (Haya - Horse, Greeva - Halwa made out of Jaggery). Saint Sri Vadiraja Theertha was offering Hayagreeva to Lord Vishnu, who came to take the offering in the form of a Horse.  This is a very authentic and a famous dish made during many festivals and occasions in our Madhwa community. Mainly on occasions and celebrations like Madhwanavami, Madhwa Jayanthi, Vadiraja Theertha Aaradhane, etc.
Hayagreeva is delicious dessert which is high in protein. Children will love this dish when served with lots of ghee, fried nuts and raisins as a topping.

Ingredients

3 cups Channa dal or Split bengal gram dal
1 cup Ghee or clarified butter
1 1/2 cups Jaggery (powdered)
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut
3 tbsp poppy seeds (toasted)
1/2 cup assorted nuts
2 tbsp dried raisins

Method

1. Add 1/2 cup ghee into a pot kept on medium flame add channa dal, (throughly wash the channa dal before adding it to the pot, only if dirty) and fry for a couple of minutes until fragrant.

2. Add 3 cups of water to the pot and pressure cook the channa dal for 3 whistles.

3. Once the pressure cooker cools down, remove the excess water from the cooked channa dal and set the pot on a low to medium flame. Pour out the excess water into a bowl and use it to make south Indian style rasam or saaru.

4. Add a tablespoon of ghee and powdered jaggery into the pot and mix well. Cook until all the jaggery is melted. If the jaggery is dirty. In a separate pot add the jaggery and a tablespoon of water and melt the jaggery and then filter it through a sieve and remove the dirt.

5. Add the toasted poppy seeds into the pot and mix well.

6. In a small frying pan add the rest of the ghee and place it on a medium flame. Once the ghee is hot add the mixed nuts and fry until they turn pinkish brown and add the raisins. Fry until the raisins puff up a little. Pour this onto the Hayagreeva pot and mix well.

7. Once combined throughly, Hayagreeva is ready to serve. Serve it hot as a dessert on a festival or eat it alone as a morning breakfast or as an evening high protein snack with a dollop of ghee on top. You could also enjoy with extra fried nuts and raisins as garnish.

Huggi / Khara Pongal / Spicy Lentil Rice / Spicy Split Mung Dal Rice

Huggi (Pronounced as "Hoo-Ggi") / Khara Pongal / Spicy Lentils Rice / Spicy Split Mung Dal Rice Recipe

Huggi (a kannada word meaning - fun and celebration time) is a very special dish prepared very commonly in most of the Brahmin households in South India. This is a staple main dish during Sankranthi, a festival of harvest celebrated every year on January 14th throughout South India. Also celebrated in other parts of India (with different names for the festival).
Huggi is prepared with freshly harvested rice, lentils and other spices grown by our farmers. Its a very special time in all the villages in India.

I make this one pot meal, which is a healthy and filling main course for weeknight dinner. Huggi could also be a great lunch box meal.

Ingredients

2 cups white rice, washed and soaked for 5-10 mins
1/2 cup split mung beans, washed and soaked for 5 mins (optionally replaced by whole mung beans when you don't find the split mung beans)
1/4 cup freshly grated coconut
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
8-10 whole black peppercorns, (optional)
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp hing or asafoetida
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tbsp finely chopped green chillies (optional)
1 tbsp finely chopped curry leaves
1 tsp salt or to taste
4 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
1 tbsp cashew nuts, chopped
a pinch of mustard seeds
a pinch of hing or asafoetida

Method

1. In a rice cooker pot wash and soak the rice for 5-10 minutes.

2. Into the pot add the washed split mung beans, grated coconut, ground black pepper, black peppercorns, turmeric, cumin seeds, hing, grated ginger, chopped green chillies, curry leaves and 2 tbsp ghee.

3. Mix everything throughly and cook the rice on the white rice setting on your rice cooker.

4. Once the rice cooker indicates your rice is done. Bring the pot outside and give the rice a good mix, gently.

5. In case you are using a pressure cooker, mix everything and place the pot into the pressure cooker and wait for 5-8 whistles on the cooker (depends of your pressure cooker size/quantity),

6. Once the pressure is down open the pressure cooker and bring the pot outside and gently give the rice a good mix.

7. After the rice is ready. Heat a pan on and add 2 tbsp ghee and once ghee is hot add the cashew nut pieces. Fry until it turns pinkish brown. Now add a pinch of mustard seeds (wait for it to splutter) and then add hing.

8. Pour the above seasoning on top of the Huggi / Spicy Split Mung Dal Rice and mix gently. Serve the dish hot with a dollop of ghee and a side dish of sweet and sour gravy (called "Gojju" in Kannada) or with coconut chutney or as desired.