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