Amma, I loved today's snack :-)

If you are thinking what made me post something again so fast (going by my trend), the credit actually goes to the movie, Julie and Julia. You will be amazed by the way Meryl Streep has handled the character of Julia Child. Amy Adams has played the character of Julie Powell and has done an excellent job. For those who love cooking and blogging about cooking, I recommend it as a must watch movie.

Not sure what inspired me in the movie – maybe it’s the passion of Julia to master French cuisine and get her book of recipes published or may be the passion of Julie in trying those 524 recipes in a year and blogging about her experiences – maybe it’s the entire movie.  The passion that both these women portray irrespective of the challenges that comes their way is a great inspiration for someone like me who loves to procrastinate at the slightest distraction in my routine. So I decided to definitely post something this week without letting anything drag my feet.

As a working mother, my constant worry is what to pack in my son’s snack box that will be appealing to him and make him want to eat it without any hassles and something that I can prepare in a jiffy. Like most kids, it’s so difficult to know my son’s preference. They would crave for steamed lace hoppers today but loathe it the next day. Very importantly, it needs to be a right balance between their tastes and their health so their nutrition in-take isn’t affected. With all these thoughts in mind, when I entered the kitchen that day, I noticed the rice batter. That’s when it struck me – kuzhi paniyaram. That’s going to be in one of his snack boxes for the day.

Kuzhi paniyaram is a South Indian dish - originally from Tamil Nadu, it is made from rice batter and is a savory recipe. It is made in a special pan with dent/holes moulded into it (shown in pics below). I used to love this snack as a kid. It is usually served with the spicy chutney powder made from dry fried pulses and lentils and curry leaves. You can also prepare tangy coriander leaf chutney with it, goes really well with kuzhi paniyaram.

Recipe

Ingredients

• Rice batter – about 1/2 litre (the same batter that you use for idli/dosa).
• Onion – 2 large nos. finely chopped.
• Curry leaves – 2 sprigs finely chopped.
• Coriander leaves – few sprigs finely chopped.
• Carrot – 1 no. finely grated (keeping in mind the daily nutrition aspect).
• Green Chilli – 2 nos. finely chopped. (I didn’t add green chilli in the batch I prepared for my son).
• Salt to taste.
• Oil – 2 tea spoons maximum (a single drop in each mould in the pan for every batch).

Tip: If time permits, you can also temper some mustard, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and urad dal and mix it in the batter.

Preparation

1. Mix all the above ingredients except oil onto the batter.

Tip: If you intend to keep some batter for later use, it is best not to add onions and coriander leaves to the entire batter at first. It brings in a pungent smell to the batter. So use the batter in portions and keep adding other ingredients as needed.

2. Heat the pan. (These days you get non stick kuzhi paniyara kal/pan which is easier to handle plus requires very little oil).

3. Smear a drop of oil on each of the moulds in the pan.

4. Once the oil heats up, using a table spoon, pour a spoonful of the batter onto these moulds.

5. Cover with a lid and let the paniyarams cook in medium heat.

6. Flip the paniyarams with a spoon after about 3 min. The texture you should be looking for is as shown in the picture.

7. Cover the pan again and let it cook for about 2 min.

8. Using a skewer, poke the paniyaram to see if it is cooked through. The skewer will be batter free if the paniyaram is cooked properly.

Serve with tangy chutney or spicy chutney powder.

Garnishing Note: Knowing your kids will love this tasty snack will give you a peaceful day at work J

A vacation to enjoy the rain :-)

Hey you guys…….

I am back J Like most of you, I have also been through a very hectic schedule at work and at home. At home, we have a canine family member now – her name is Mickey – a cute little puppy who loves to run around everywhere. We took her to our hometown this time when we took our vacation. Needless to say, she just loved all that extra space to run around, in the yard.

So the vacation was really to enjoy the monsoon season in Kerala. In my school days, every year, come June 1^st, the monsoon shower never failed to show up. But this year, though we were there till June 6^th, except for a day where it rained about 2-3 hours, the dark clouds and the rain Gods didn’t bless us with their presence L

Thankfully we enjoyed that single rain we got. But the depressing weather afterwards pulled us down the mood elevator.  And as you can imagine, we decided to cheer us up with food. Hot bajjis, pazham pori, cutlet, various fish available locally, traditional cuisines took up most of our time - we ate, ate and ate. A gastronomical treat from the good old days – food does have a way of transporting you to your past. That reminded me of a quote – ‘’good old days; when beer foamed and water didn’t ’’ ;)

I know my mom must have mentally sent a thank you note up when we all finally left ;)

One of those days, with the traditional cuisine – Aappam, I made mutton stew. Aappam is a soft lacy hopper made from a batter of rice, cooked rice, grated coconut, yeast, salt and sugar. Once the batter is fermented, it is made in an aappachatti which is a deep bottom wok. So when you pour the batter, you get a thick fluffy center and a thin layer on the sides. Since my intention here is to post the mutton stew recipe, without further ado, let me get onto that.

The stew served with aappam is a curry made with coconut milk and not the western style stew. You can prepare a vegetable or a mutton stew. Both go well with aappam.  

Recipe

Ingredients

Mutton – 1 kg (I was serving 8 adults and a 3 year old).

Carrot – 2 Nos (cut into small blocks).

Potato – 1 No (cut into medium sized blocks).

Onion (big) – 2 Nos (slice).

Green Chillies – 3 Nos.

Ginger – piece of 1 inch size.

Peppercorns – about 10 to 12.

Pepper powder – 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves – 2 sprigs.

Coconut milk – thick 1 cup, thin 2 cups.

Green cardamom – 2 nos.

Clove – 2 nos.

Cinnamon – 1 small piece.

Coconut oil -1 teaspoon.

Salt to taste

Preparation

• Cook mutton, potato, pepper powder and salt in a pressure cooker for about 3 whistles. Set this aside.
• In a pan, add oil. When the oil is hot, add the spices – green cardamom, clove, cinnamon, crushed peppercorns.
• Once they start giving the aroma, add ginger, green chillies, sliced onions. Saute till the onions become translucent.
• Add the carrot now (you can also include other veggies like beans, peas).
• Pour the thin coconut milk extract and let the veggies and spices cook in it. Ensure the stove is only in a medium heat.
• Tip: Cover the pan but do not forget to stir occasionally.
• Once the veggies are almost cooked, add the cooked mutton and potato and let the entire mix simmer for another 5 min. 
• Tip: If you get really tender mutton, you can add it and potato along with other veggies and cook in the pan itself (no need to use the pressure cooker then). I use pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time.
• You will notice that the thin coconut milk has reduced a lot. Add the thick coconut milk at this stage.
• Keep stirring it and when it is about to boil, switch off the stove.
• Add curry leaves and the coconut oil.

Cover the pan and let it rest for 5 min. Serve hot with aappam or cooked rice.

Garnishing note: A vacation to enjoy the rain - only there was no rain - ended up being a vacation to relish the good old cuisines J