There are some things that taste good , only when its homemade. Murukku is one such snack.
I haven't tasted any store bought ones that tastes as good as my mother's or my grandmother's homemade ones.
For those who don't know what murukku is, its a crunchy yummy south Indian snack made of rice flour and urad dal flour (black gram) and some spices.
Usually in Hindu families these are  made as special treats for celebrations like diwali. In our house, my mom used to make it every now and then, like during school vacation time, or when someone goes back to college after holidays or whenever she had a few days off.
Its a bit time consuming process, making the dough to the right consistency and pressing it using the preser, but the end results absolutely worth it. Once you start making them home, i promise you won't go back to the store bought ones.

Murukku

By Nikki

Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients

• Rice flour: 1 cup
• Urad dal flour (black gram): 1/4 cup
• Asafoetida: 1/8 tsp
• Cumin seed: 1 tsp
• Butter: 1 tbsp
• Warm water: as required
• Salt: as per taste
• Chili powder: 1/4 tsp (optional)
• Oil: enough for deep frying

Instructions

To make urad dal flour 

1. Heat a pan on medium flame and dry roast urad dal, until it turns light brown in color and you get a nice aroma.
2. Let it cool, and grind it to a fine powder. Sieve to separate the grains and grind the grains again to a fine powder.

To make rice flour

1. Soak rice in water for 2 hrs. Wash and drain the rice and spread it on a clean kitchen towel.
2. Once it gets partially dry, grind the rice to a fine powder.
3. Sieve the powdered flour to separate any big grains, and grind the grains again to a fine powder.
4. Heat a pan on medium flame and dry roast the rice flour until you get the nice roasted aroma.

How to make murukku

1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the rice flour, urad dal flour, hing, cumin seeds, salt and butter.
2. Add warm water to this mixture little by little, kneading with your hand until we get a smooth non sticky dough like the roti dough.
3. Prepare the murukku presser with the star shaped template. Take a some dough and shape it like a cylinder by hand and fill in the presser.
4. Take a parchment sheet and press the murukku on the sheet in small spiral shapes.
5. Heat enough oil in a pan for deep frying. When oil gets really hot, drop 3-4 murukkus at a time and fry till it turns light brown on both sides.
6. Drain on a paper towel and let them cool.
7. Store in an air tight container, stays fresh for 2 - 3 weeks.

Notes:

• There is more info about the murukku press in my Pakkavada recipe post. Can be easily found in any Indian store.
• I used store bought rice flour. My mother makes big batches of homemade flour which enhances the taste. But good quality store bought rice flour and does a pretty good job.
• If you have a flat slotted spoon, use that to get the spiral shaped dough off the parchment paper and to slide it into the oil for frying. This avoids the pressed dough from breaking apart.
• Its always a good idea to double or triple the recipe to get a good big batch of murukkus. But for first time, always try with the quantities mentioned in the recipe and make sure you get the right crunchiness and taste.

Payasam is something I have seen my mom make for birthdays and other special occasions.So even I follow the same practice. Me personally not a big fan of sweets and sweet delicacies, but the rest of my family is. Especially, my husband. Last week, it was his birthday and this payasam was the birthday special.

My mom has a secret ingredient in the payasam recipe, sweetened condensed milk. It makes the payasam rich and creamy, also yummy too.

Usually it is made with just milk and by letting it reduce to get the creamy consistency, which calls for cooking for quite a long time. Well, if there are things like a can of condensed milk that makes life easier, why not go for it ;)

Give it a try, you will like it...next time when its your turn to bring a dessert for the potluck, make a payasam...make ahead and put in the fridge, even better :) omg, life can't get any better..

Semiya payasam (Vermicelli kheer)

By Nikki

Ingredients

• Vermicelli: 1/2 cup
• Milk: 2 1/2 cups
• Ghee: 2 tbsp
• Condensed milk: 1/2 a tin
• Raisins :2 tbsp
• Nuts: 2 tbsp ( cashew/almond/pista)
• Sugar: 4 tbsp**
• Cardamom: 2 nos(crushed using mortar pestle)

**Check the sweetness before adding the sugar, if the condensed milk has already given the required sweetness, can skip the sugar in the recipe.

Instructions

1. Heat ghee in a heavy bottom nonstick sauce pan.Add the nuts and fry until its lightly browned, drain. Add raisins and fry until it puffs up and drain. Set aside for garnishing.
2. In the remaining ghee, add the vermicelli and roast on medium low flame until it turns light golden brown.
3. Add milk, give it a good stir. Cover and cook for 6-8 min until the vermicelli is cooked completely.
4. Add the sugar and condensed milk and mix it all together and cook for another few min, until the payasam starts thickening.
5. Add the crushed cardamom and garnish with nuts and raisins.

Serve it hot or chill it in the refrigerator, however you like it :)

Note: Don't let the payasam thicken completely while cooking. It thickens as it sits.If it get gets too thick, add some warm milk to it before serving.

Parippu manga curry (Dal & raw mango curry)

We Indians have dal on our plates almost every day in one form or the other.Its kind of our staple food. Dal with rice, dal with roti, its an all time favorite in our house. My hubby can survive on dal and roti for days together without complaining ;)

Be it plain dal tadka, or sambhar or rasam, i love it. We all love it. Every time we travel out of home for a few days and don't get to eat Indian food, we all would be dying to get back home and eat hot rice with dal. It relaxes everyone in our family.

Parippu manga is another version of dal, i would say its the tangy version. Because it has raw mango in it.yumm...i am in for anything tangy or spicy :)

The ground coconut gives the rich texture to the curry.Simple, but a different flavor of dal. This is one of my all time favorite curries. I guess its more of a south indian, or to be precise Kerala take on dal.

Have it with steaming white rice and a sabzi( vegetable stir fry), oh my, that makes me one happy soul ;)

Parippu manga curry (Dal and raw mango)

By Nikki
Published 11/12/2014

Ingredients

• Toor dal : 1 cup
• Raw mango: 1 no, medium sized
• Grated coconut: 1/2 cup
• Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp
• Chili powder: 1/2 tsp
• Salt: 1/2 - 3/4 tsp

For Tempering:

• Coconut oil: 1 1/2 tbsp
• Mustard seed: 1 tsp
• Curry leaves: a few sprigs
• dry whole chili: 3-4 nos, cut into halves

Instructions

1. Wash and cook the dal in the pressure cooker with turmeric powder and chili powder with 2 cups of water. The dal should be cooked really mushy.
2. Peel the mango and cut the slices into small cubes and add to the cooked dal. Add salt and 1/4 cup water, cover and cook for 2 min.
3. Grind coconut with a few table spoons of water, into very fine paste.
4. Once the mango pieces gets cooked, add the ground coconut paste and boil for a few minutes. Add a little bit of water if the curry is too thick.Check the salt level and turn off the flame.
5. For the tempering, heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seed. Once it splatters, reduce the flame and add the dry whole chili pieces and curry leaves. Turn off and add it to the currry.

Serve with hot rice and paapad. Stays fresh for couple of days in the fridge.

P.S: The curry thickens when it sits, so make sure to leave it watery enough when you finish cooking.

Pakkavada/Ribbon pakoda (A savory Kerala snack)

There are a few staple snacks my mom, my grand mom used to make when we were kids.They make them in bulk occasionally and its stored in airtight tin boxes. Me being a savory persons always loved them.
My mom used to make spicy mixture (my cornflake mixture is an easy version of it), pakkavada, kaya varuthathu (raw plantain chips), chakka varuthathu (raw jackfruit chips), masala peanuts, Murukku.....the list goes on and on.
The ones you get in the stores, i mean the bakery shops, small chips shops near bus stand n railway station in Kerala are equally good. They make it in pure coconut oil....yummm ...divine :)
I always make my dad buy a couple of bags of these whenever I travel by bus or train for studies/work.
Life was pretty easy then. Anyway gone are those days...

Recently, while browsing through my mom's recipe collection (of which we all 3 sis have made a copy of), i came across the pakkavada recipe.
Seemed simple, just a few ingredients. And also i had the gadget, the idiyappam press/mold (I got mine from my MIL,she got it from her MIL).

This is how it looks

Here is a link to the modern version of it.
http://www.perfectpeninsula.com/KitchenPress.html
I have seen this in a few Indian stores around. But the old ones are really sturdy and durable.

Here is the recipe.

You'll need:

Besan / Gram flour (Chickpea flour) : 2 1/2 cups
Rice flour : 1 cup
Asafoetida : 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder :  1 1/2 tsp
Melted butter: 1 1/2 tbsp
Warm water : enough to make the dough (approx 1 1/2 cups)
Salt : to taste
Curry leaves : a few sprigs (for garnish)

How to make:

In a mixing bowl, combine besan, rice flour, chilli powder, asafoetida, salt and melted butter.
Add warm water little by little and knead it into a smooth dough. It might be a little sticky, apply a little bit of oil on to your palms to keep the dough from sticking. But the consistency must be looser than the regular roti dough.
Put the narrow slit disc in the press and fill it with the dough by hand or by a spoon.

Heat oil in a deep frying pan. When it gets sizzling hot, pipe the dough into the oil slowly and carefully in a circular motion. Fry until it gets golden brown in color, and drain them on to a paper towel.
Do it in batches. Once done, turn off the heat and immediately add a few springs of curry leaves to the oil.
Be careful, it will splutter !!
Fry just for a few secs, drain and mix with the pakkavada.
Enjoy the anytime yummy snack :)

Vazhakka Pulissery/Moru Curry(Raw plantain in Yogurt gravy)

Growing up, there were only a few handful dishes I knew to make...and I were only good at those ones...unlike my sis, who was ready to take risks and tried (and always succeeded) new recipes and dishes...jotting down recipes from every cookery shows we watched together...this pulissery is something I were good at making.....time after time...something I used to be very proud of in those days :)

This curry is something we make in our place at least once a week...like daal curry...very simple one, if you have enough yogurt and coconut handy, which is always found in our fridge....has got good shelf life too

You'll need:

Raw plantain: 2 no:s (peeled and diced into small pieces)
Yogurt: 1 cup
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp

For grinding:

Green chilli: 2-3 nos
Jeera: 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut: 1/2 cup

For tempering:
Oil: 2tsps
Mustard seed: 1/2 tsp
Dry red chili: 2-3 nos
Asafetida: a pinch
Curry leaves: a few sprigs

How to make:
Cook the plantain pieces with turmeric powder, salt and 1/2 cup water in a pressure cooker.
Grind the ingredients mentioned above into a very fine paste, adding just enough water.
Now this is a very important tip to prevent the pulissery from curdling...Cook the ground paste on low flame for about 3-4 min, stirring it in between. Now add the cooked plantain pieces to it.
Beat the yogurt well with a spoon or give it a stir in the blender for a min to make it thin.
Add the beaten curd to the already cooking mixture and let it boil on medium-low flame.
For tempering, add 2 tsps of oil in a pan and let the mustard seeds splutter.
Add red chillies, curry leaves and at last add a pinch of asafetida.
Yummy pulissery is ready...a sour curry to go with rice and subzi(vegetable)

Note: You can use any kind of vegetable you like instead of raw plantain. Winter melon is the best alternative if you are planning to keep this for a couple of days in the fridge.Plantain gets hard on day two, where as winter melon stays soft. Can use cucumber too...

There is another sweet n sour version of this called Mampazha pulissery which uses ripe mangoes...which is the ultimate pulisseri on earth...that too the one my grandma makes with the farm fresh mangoes from her backyard....finger licking good :)

Tangy mango curry....yummmm......mouth watering :)

When i hear of manga curry( thats what  we call mango in kerala), i get the tangy taste in my tounge....mangoes are kerala's speciality..especially in the summer..we eat mangoes pretty much in its all stages...right from baby mangoes...we make kanni manga pickle(baby mango pickle)...raw mango, eat just like that with salt and red chili pwdr sprinkled on them....so many varieties of pickles made of mango...preserve mangoes in salt water to devour later in the year(yes, i am talking about the very 'uppu manga', squished together with sliced shallots,green chilis and a drizzle of cococnut oil, oh..its divine....yeah,the possibilities are endless..
So do give this a try...a tangy curry to go with white rice...

You'll need:

Raw Mango: 1 no (pitted, peeled and cut into small cubes
Onion: 1 no(nicely chopped)
Green chili:3-4 no(nicely chopped)
Ginger:a small piece(nicely chopped)
Coconut milk: from half a coconut (I use the Maggie coconut milk powder..easy breezy)
Chili powder: 1tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
salt:as per taste

For garnish:

mustard seed: 1/2 tsp
dried whole red chilli:2-3 nos
curry leaves: a few sprigs

How to make:


Mix the mango pieces with sliced onion,green chilis, ginger,turmeric and chili powder.Cook the above in half a cup of water and enough salt. When it starts boiling, reduce the flame to medium and add the coconut milk. Cook for some more time till everything gets blended well.
For garnish, splutter mustard seeds in a few tsps of oil, add whole red chili and curry leaves.
Yep...its ready :)

Pazham pori /Ethakka appam (Banana fritters)

When ever I make pazham pori, my li'l sis comes to my mind. b'cos its her favorite.

My achachan(dad) used to get us mid morning snacks when we are home (he still gets us those when go home for vacations)

He gets each of us our own favs.mine is dal vada, my li'l sis's is pazham pori.

Very yummy sweet snack,not much difficult to put together.

I have always felt that it tastes the best if we make it with fully ripened bananas.(when the peel turns almost black)

I get bananas these days for my li'l one, her fav breakfast mashed with cereal.

She loved this version of banana too.She claps when she likes things(being a 10 month old, i guess that is her only way of letting me know she wants more)

At the very first bite, she jumped and clapped...oh,yeah! she likes pazham pori

I hope, you too will like them :)

You'll need:


Banana: 2 nos (fully ripened)
All purpose flour: 2-3 tbsp
Sugar: 1tbsp
Salt: a pinch
Oil: as required for deep fry

How to make: 

Peel the bananas and cut them half.Slice each half lengthwise into 3-4 pieces.

Mix all purpose flour and enough water to make the batter. Add sugar and salt.

The consistency should be right enoguh to coat bananas when you dip them in the batter.

Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is bubbling hot, dip the banana pieces in the batter and deep fry them for 2-3 min on each side, until they turn golden brown. Drain them on a paper towel n enjoy it hot off the stove :)

Nankhatai (Butter cookie)

This cookie is an all time favorite in our  family. Our mom used to make this for us and decorate it with a small piece of cherry on the top :) Its very easy and simple to make.It requires no special ingredients...only the common ones in everyone's pantry-flour, butter and sugar.thats it :)

Nankhatai

You'll need:


All-purpose Flour: 1cup 
Butter: 1/2 cup (softened)
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Vanilla: 1/3 tsp



How to make:


1. Preheat oven to 375 F. 

2. Sift the flour and set aside. 

3. In a medium-size bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla. 

4. Add the flour to the creamed mixture a little bit at a time and mix well until a soft dough forms. If the mixture is too soft, cover and refrigerate for about an hour. 

5. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place them onto the baking sheet 1.5 inches part. 

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown on the bottom. Remove to wire racks to cool. 


Everyone's fav :)