Vella Seedai

In continuation to my Uppu Seedai Blog, here's my recipe to Vella Seedai.

Makes: Approx 300 grams of seedai

Ingredients:


Rice Flour - 1 cup
Urad Dhall Flour - 2 tablespoons
Butter - 2 tablespoons
Coconut (grated) - 1 tablespoon
White Sesame Seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Jaggery - 3/4cup
Cardamom Powder - a pinch
Oil - For frying

Method:

1. In a separate bowl, add jaggery. Pour water that is enough to cover the jaggery. Set it aside for about 20 minutes to let it dissolve. Filter the jaggery water to remove impurities.
2. Meanwhile, sieve the rice flour and urad dhall flour twice individually, to make sure you get rid of small grains that remain in the flour.

3. Dry roast the rice flour and urad dhall flour separately for 3 minutes each.

4. Dry roast the sesame seeds till they turn a little golden brown.
5. Dry roast the coconut so that the moisture gets evaporated.
6. Boil the jaggery water in high flame for around 10 minutes. Heat until there are a lot of bubbles. Turn off the gas and set the jaggery aside to cool.

7. In a bowl, add the flours to sesame seeds, butter,coconut and mix well.

8. Add the jaggery water, little by little and mix the dough well to form a smooth pasty dough.
9. Make balls about 1-1.5 cm in diameter (Bigger than the uppu seedai. You don't want them to be too small or too big.)

10. Heat the oil and deep fry the seedais in medium heat till they turn dark brown. Make sure they turn dark brown evenly.

Yummy sweet,crispy vella seedais are ready to eat!

Tips:

1. Sieve the flours well and make sure you don't have any foreign materials. 
2. Dry roast the coconut.
3. Make sure the balls are not very tightly and evenly rolled. Seedais are not supposed to be evenly shaped. Just roll them for two seconds and leave them aside for about 5 minutes.  This allows the moisture to evaporate and thus the seedais will not burst when immersed in Oil.
4. Even after all this, if you are scared, you can prick each and every seedai with a toothpick and fry it. 

                            Hope you have a safe and enjoyable time making Seedais!

Uppu Seedai

I could not wait to try out the seedais for Gokulashtami. I was intially very scared to make Uppu Seedai and Vella Seedai, but once I made them, I realized it is not very difficult. You just need to be "very extra" careful when making the dough. Fortunately, I didnt have any calamities while preparing the seedais... I mean the bursting, of course. At the end of the day, I was very content that I am capable of making yummy snacks at not much a risk!

Everyone generally gets confused with the proportions, so I kind of did some research online and went with Sharmi's Passion. So for anyone who is scared to try out these seedais but really want to make some, here's the recipe.

Makes: Approx 300 gms of Seedai

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Urad Dhall Flour - 2 tablespoons
Butter - 2 tablespoons
Coconut (grated) - 1 tablespoon
White Sesame Seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Salt  - to taste
Oil - For frying
Water - 2-3 tablespoons

Method:

1.Sieve the rice flour and urad dhall flour twice individually, to make sure you get rid of small grains that remain in the flour.

2. Dry roast the rice flour and urad dhall flour separately for 3 minutes each.

3. Dry roast the sesame seeds till they turn a little golden brown.
4. Dry roast the coconut so that the moisture gets evaporated.

5. In a bowl, add the flours to sesame seeds, butter,coconut and salt.

6. Add water in three intervals very carefully and mix the dough well to form a smooth pasty dough.
7. Make small pea-sized balls and let them stay on paper or a piece of cloth for about 5 minutes.

8. Heat the oil and deep fry the seedais in medium heat till they turn golden brown. Make sure they turn golden brown evenly.

Yummy melt-in-the-mouth, crispy seedais are ready to eat!

Tips:

1. Grease your hand with a bit of oil to avoid the dough sticking onto your palms.  

These tips will help you reduce the instance of seedais bursting:

1. Sieve the flours well and make sure you don't have any foreign materials. 
2. Dry roast the coconut.
3. Make sure the balls are not very tightly and evenly rolled. Seedais are not supposed to be evenly shaped. Just roll them for two seconds and leave them aside for about 5 minutes.  This allows the moisture to evaporate and thus the seedais will not burst when immersed in Oil.
4. Even after all this, if you are scared, you can prick each and every seedai with a toothpick and fry it. 

                        Hope you have a safe and enjoyable time making Seedais!

Thattai

Its my first Gokulashtami after my wedding and I wanted it to be great. So, I decided to make quite a lot of snacks that Lord Krishna would very much like. I started with this amazing Thattai recipe that I got from my mom. The thattais came out perfectly and melt in the mouth as well. For all those who are looking for a yummy thattai recipe, read on...

Makes: 20 thattais (varies with the size of each thattai)

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 1 cup

Urad Dhall Flour - 2 tablespoons

Channa Dhall/Kadalai Paruppu - 2 tablespoon

Butter - 3 tablespoons

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tablespoon

Curry Leaves - 2 or 3

Asafoetida/Hing/Perungaayam - a pinch

White Sesame Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Oil - for frying

Water - 2-3 tablespoons

Method:

1. Soak the channa dhall for about 30 mins in warm water 

2. Sieve the rice flour and urad dhall flour twice individually, to make sure you get rid of small grains that remain in the flour.

3. Dry roast the rice flour and urad dhall flour separately for 3 minutes each.

4. Dry roast the sesame seeds till they turn a little golden brown.

5. In a bowl, add the flours to sesame seeds, butter, red chilli powder, asafoetida, curry leaves, salt and channa dhall.

6. Add water in three intervals very carefully and mix the dough well to form a smooth pasty dough.

7. Grease a plastic sheet with oil. Make a lemon sized ball out of the dough and flatten it with your fingers to form a circular disc. Prick them with a fork to minimize puffing while frying.

8. Heat the oil and deep fry the thattais in medium heat till they turn golden brown. Make sure they turn golden brown evenly.

Hot, crispy, melt-in-the-mouth Thattais are ready to eat.

Tips:

1. Cut the curry leaves into tiny pieces. If there are larger pieces, they tend to separate from the dough when frying.

2. Sieve the flours well and make sure you don't have any foreign materials. 

3. Grease your hand with a bit of oil to avoid the dough sticking onto your palms.

4. Prick the flattened dough with fork multiple times to avoid puffing up while frying.

White Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband wanted me to try my hand at baking some cookies, so this is what I made. Its easy to make and  takes very little time.

Makes: About 25 cookies, 2" in diameter.

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter - 1 cup
All-purpose flour - 2 1/4 cups
White Sugar - 2/3 cup
Brown Sugar (I used the dark brown sugar) - 2/3 cup
Eggs - 2
Mixed nuts - 1/4 cup (I used Cashews, Almonds and Walnuts)
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Pure Vanilla Extract - 2 teaspoons
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 3/4 cup
Semi-sweet White Chocolate Chips - 1 1/4 cup
Baking Soda - 1 teaspoon

Method:


1. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F or 190.5°F.
2. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, add butter, white sugar, brown sugar and beat it till it becomes creamy.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating it well after every addition.
5. Pour in the vanilla extract and beat well again.
6. Combine the flour mix, adding it in short intervals, beating well after every addition.
7. Add the white chocolate chips and the nuts, and mix well with a spatula.
8. Roll into balls, flatten them a bit and bake them in an ungreased cookie tray for 11 minutes.

Chocolate Fudgy Brownie

What's more yummy than a fudge brownie? Here's a very simple recipe to try it out - Just be careful about the proportions. Follow them as it is here, and I promise you a brilliant Fudge Brownie!

Makes : 9 Brownies

Ingredients:

For the brownie:

Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons
Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 2
Pure Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 1/3 cup
All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Baking Powder - 1/4 teaspoon

For the frosting:

Pure Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
Unsalted butter - 3 tablespoons
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 3 tablespoons
Honey - 1 tablespoon
Confectioner's Sugar - 1 cup

Method:

For the brownie:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F or 177°C.

2. Grease an 8" baking tray with butter and flour.

3. Melt 1/2 cup butter. Stir in 1 cup sugar and beat well. Add the eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract and beat well. 

4. Add 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and beat well. Add salt and baking powder and mix well.

5. Pour the batter into the greased tray and spread it evenly with a spatula. 

6. Bake for 25-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clear when pierced into the brownie.

For the frosting:

1. Add 3 tablespoons softened butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, honey, vanilla extract, confectioner's sugar and mix well with a spatula to form a thick chocolate paste.

2. Spread evenly over warm brownie to give a nice chocolate coat.

Brownies are ready to be served!

Crispy Fingers

Tried out this awesome dish for evening snacks today... and it was a hit! Try it out and tell me how it turned out. It is pretty easy and fun to make!

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Ladies Finger/Okra/Bindi - 20 nos. (small ones preferably)
Red Chilli Powder - 2 teaspoons
Jeera Powder - 1 teaspoon
Aamchur Powder - 1 teaspoon
Maida - 3-4 tablespoons
Water - 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Bread Crumbs - 1 cup
Oil - for frying

Method:

1. Slit whole okras vertically as shown in the picture.

2. In a plate, add red chilli powder, jeera powder, aamchur powder, salt and mix well.

3. Stuff the okras with the powder mix such that the okras don't split open.

4. Dissolve maida in water to form a paste like Dosa/Idli Batter.

5. Dip the stuffed okras into maida one-by-one and ensure there is a thick coating of the maida paste on every okra.

6. Roll the okras in bread crumbs. To ensure an even coat of the brad crumbs, roll them between your palms as well.

7. Deep fry the okras in oil.

8. Crispy Fingers are ready to be served! Serve Hot!

Vegetable Kebab

Was wondering what to make for a snack on Sunday. Shouldn't be calorific, should be healthy and yummy. Well, this is what struck me. Try it out n let me know how it tasted.

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Veggies:
Carrots - 1 (sliced)
Capsicum (Bell Peppers) - 1 (sliced)
Potato - 1 (sliced)
Onion - 1 large
Panner - 4 small rectangular slabs
Oregano seasoning - 10-15 gms
Salt - to taste
Pepper powder - to taste
Vegetable Oil - 6-7 tablespoons
Chilly flakes - 10 gms
Lemon juice - to taste

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven.
2. Boil potatoes and carrots for 1 few mins (You don't need to even half-boil them. This is just soften them)
3. In a small cup, mix oil, chilly flakes, salt, pepper powder, oregano and lemon juice.
4. Coat the veggies with the seasoning mix, one by one, and arrange them on kebab sticks. Its best to have onions between each vegetable.
5. Once all the kebab sticks are ready, grill them in the oven.

* Make sure you keep an eye on the vegetables getting cooked. There is a high possibility of the vegetables gettin charred. To prevent this, keep rotating the sticks once in a while and give them a slight brush with the left over seasoning now and then to ensure the veggies get properly cooked.

* Your kebabs are ready once the veggies start getting roasted! It has a nice smoky flavor if its slightly well roasted!

Enjoy the yummy, tasty vegetable Kebabs!