Oma Podi / Om Podi

Om Podi / Oma podi is a crispy snack made with besan (gram dhal flour) and rice flour and seasoned with powdered oregano seeds (omam seeds). It doesn't take up too much oil when fried and the oregano seeds make sure the tummy doesn't get upset upon consuming plenty of it. It's a favorite tea-time snack that is also used in several chaat dishes.

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups Kadala maavu / Besan / bengal gram dhal flour
2. 1 1/4 cups Rice flour
3. 1.5 teaspoon salt
4. 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon hing
5. 3 teaspoons oregano seeds / omam seeds / ajwain/ , powdered and sifted
6. 2 tablespoons room temperature butter
7. 4 cups vegetable oil for frying

Two templates for the press. Left: the template that was used this time. Right: The template that's usually used

The press used to make the oma podi

 
 Preparation:

1. Powder the oregano seeds in a blender/mixie/food processor/coffee grinder until smooth. Sift the powdered oregano to get a really smooth powder. 
2. Mix together the rice flour, besan, salt, hing, and powdered oregano seeds. 
3. Add butter and knead the flour slightly.
4. Slowly add about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of water and knead the dough well. Do not add all the water at once. The dough should be slightly harder than roti/chapathi dough. The dough should not be sticky. 
5. Heat oil in a pot until a piece of dough put into it sizzles and comes to the top. Maintain the oil temperature at medium heat.
6. Take portions of the dough and put into the press with the appropriate template placed underneath. The template used for this is slightly different from the one that's usually used. Om Podi is usually very fine and thin, but it poses practical difficulties to squeeze out such fine strands because they tend to burn quickly and it's challenging to remove them from the oil, and most importantly it's tiring to squeeze the dough through such fine holes. So, no worries, use slightly bigger holes to avoid such challenges.
7. Slowly squeeze out the dough in spirals/circles of manageable size (a couple of inches). Do not overcrowd the pot. When the om podi turns golden, remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. 
8. When cool, you can crumble the Om Podi to add to other dishes like Bhel Puri. 

Cilantro & Tomato Thuvayal / Chutney

Thuvaiyal is a South-Indian chutney/dip/sauce. Thuvaiyals are usually slightly tart and spicy. Cilantro makes a really good thuvaiyal/chutney. It can be had as a dip, a side-dish, or even as a spread on breads/sandwiches. 

Cilantro and tomato make a really good combination. So this version has both elements. If you so desire, you can eliminate the tomatoes, add more cilantro/coriander leaves, a little more tamarind (for the tartness) and follow the same procedure below.

This is my in-law's recipe for really good thuvayal using cilantro and tomatoes.

Ingredients:

1. 3 medium sized tomatoes, cut into small pieces
2. 1 standard bunch of cilantro / coriander leaves, roughly chopped (without the stems)
3. 2 teaspoons split urad dhal / ulutham paruppu
4. 4 dry red chillies
5. 2-3 inch strip tamarind (depending on how tart the tomatoes are)
6. 1/4 inch hing
7. 1 teaspoon salt (as needed)
8. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil / olive oil

Preparation: 

1. Heat oil in a small skillet. When hot, in medium heat, fry the split urad dhal, red chillies and hing until the dhal begins to change color. 
2. Add the cut tomatoes and fry until they are cooked and their skin begins to wilt.
3. Now add the coriander leaves and fry until the leaves wilt. 
4. Grind the fried coriander-tomato spices with salt and tamarind to a desired consistency. It's not necessary to add water because of the tomatoes. If needed, add a couple of tablespoons of water. 

Serve as a side-dish/dip. 

Onion Oothappam

Oothapam is a heavier, thicker, softer, Dosai. While dosai could be called a crepe, oothapam could be called a pancake - a savory one. When hot, they are crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the inside. The batter for oothapam can be prepared in the same manner as preparing idli batter. Left over fermented idli batter after a day of making idlis can be used to prepare oothapam. Or, this dosai batter that I posted yesterday can be used too. The only slight differences in making oothapam are

1. The oothapam batter will be slightly thicker to make fat dosais. So don't add too much water while preparing the batter. Or, if you leave behind the vendhaya dosai batter for a day, it will naturally turn slightly thick and will be ideal to make oothapams.
2. The oothapam batter is not spread into a thin circle while preparation. A ladle (or two ladles) of batter is poured gently on the pan and is left to cook. Pretty much like making pancakes.

 Since my in-laws prepared this oothapam using the vendhaya dosa batter, I'm copy pasting most of the previous post's ingredients and preparation descriptions. I hope no one accuses me of self-plagiarizing ;)

In this variation of oothapam, finely chopped onions are added to the batter. It adds a depth of flavor and crunchiness that's simply great. You can add other vegetables, ginger, or other  spices of your choice.

         Ingredients:

1. 3 cups parboiled rice
2. 1/2 cup white raw rice
3. 3/4 cup whole, de-husked urad dhal / ulundu / black gram dhal
4. 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds / vendhayam
5. a few teaspoons sesame oil
6. 2 teaspoons salt (or as needed)
7. 1 medium/small onion, finely chopped.
   
   

   

   mini oothapams with one ladle of batter

    
   Preparation:

1.  Soak the parboiled rice and raw rice (together) for 4-8 hours. Let the water level come up to 3 inches above the rice
2. Soak the urad dhal and fenugreek for for 1-2 hours.
3. Grind the urad dhal in a wet-grinder or a powerful mixie/blender with about 1/2 cup of water until it is fluffy and soft. The consistency of the batter should not be too thick nor too runny. If you lift the batter with a spatula and point it down, the batter shouldn’t run or plop down immediately. It should be a sticky (not greasy, but gooey) lump that stays on the spatula and eventually crawls down.
4.  If using a wet-grinder, slowly add the soaked (and drained) rice to the ground urad dhal batter and continue grinding until the rice is ground well to a near-smooth consistency. Add about 2 cups of water to grind. Adjust the water depending on the type of rice you are grinding. If using a blender, remove the urad dhal batter and grind the rice in batches. 
5. Transfer the prepared batter in a bowl, add salt and mix well with your clean hand. When poured, the prepared batter should fall down in ribbons.
6. Set aside the batter for about 8 hours. It is highly unlikely that it would ferment in a cold, dry place (such as where I live). The batter didn't rise or ferment here. But in India, it might ferment easily. So, store the batter in an appropriate bowl to give room for it to ferment. 
7. After 8 hours, check the batter. If it has thickened, add some water to dilute it to the consistency of pancake batter. When poured, the batter should fall in easy ribbons. When dropped or ladled on a plate, the batter should spread slightly but not run. When the batter is ready, add the chopped onions/vegetables to it and mix well.
8. Heat a cast-iron skillet or a non-stick skillet on high heat. When the skillet is piping hot, reduce the heat to medium. Pour a ladle of batter onto the center. Do not spread it out. One ladle results in mini oothapam (which is what my father-in-law made). Two ladles will result in a slightly bigger, fatter oothapam.
9. Spoon a little bit of sesame oil around the edges of the oothapam.. This step is optional, of course. For the uber diet-conscious person, this may seem unnecessary, especially if using a non-stick skillet. But the sesame oil infuses a delicate flavor and aroma that comes to be associated with the intrinsic taste of dosai. 
10. Wait for about 2-3 minutes for the oothapam to crisp/cook on one side. Then carefully flip the dosai onto the other side using a flat, broad spatula.You may again spoon some sesame oil around the edges. Wait for about 2 minutes. Flip the oothapam. If you are satisfied that it is cooked (the batter isn’t raw in patches, and the dosai has lots of little bubbles of escaped steam/air), transfer it onto a plate.

 
Serve with any spicy side-dish! These were yummy oothapams, thanks to my father-in-law's meticulous preparation!

Vendhaya Dosai / Kal Dosai

Vendhayam (fenugreek) is a good source of nutrition. The seeds are slightly bitter (well, quite bitter), but when used in the right proportions, it imparts a nice flavor and aroma. Besides, fenugreek  makes soft, fluffy batters that cook well. I've written about Dosai before. It is an Indian savory crepe that comes in several variations. I prepare Dosais from old idli batter. It is how most people in my family prepare dosais. But, there are specific dosai batters too. Such dosai batters are also a ground mixture of urad dhal and rice, but the measurements are adjusted very slightly. And another wonderful thing about such batters  - they don't need to be fermented! The batter does need to rest for 8 hours, but it doesn't have to rise or ferment. My husband and I both love dosais and prefer them to idli any day. So, it's perfect to make a batch of batter in the night and look forward to crispy dosais in the morning. And my biggest relief is I don't have to worry about fermentation issues in this dry, frigid place.

I add fenugreek to my idli batter too. But if you don't, please do consider adding a small spoon of fenugreek seeds to this dosai batter. It gives a distinct aroma and flavor to the dosai. And it's good for you.

Here's how my in-laws prepared the crispy, tasty dosais.  

 

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups parboiled rice
2. 1/2 cup white raw rice
3. 3/4 cup whole, de-husked urad dhal / ulundu / black gram dhal
4. 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds / vendhayam
5. a few teaspoons sesame oil
6. 1.5 teaspoons salt (or as needed)

Preparation:

1.  Soak the parboiled rice and raw rice (together) for 4-8 hours. Let the water level come up to 3 inches above the rice
2. Soak the urad dhal and fenugreek for for 1-2 hours.
3. Grind the urad dhal in a wet-grinder or a powerful mixie/blender with about 1/2 cup of water until it is fluffy and soft. The consistency of the batter should not be too thick nor too runny. If you lift the batter with a spatula and point it down, the batter shouldn’t run or plop down immediately. It should be a sticky (not greasy, but gooey) lump that stays on the spatula and eventually crawls down.
4.  If using a wet-grinder, slowly add the soaked (and drained) rice to the ground urad dhal batter and continue grinding until the rice is ground well to a near-smooth consistency. Add about 2 cups of water to grind. Adjust the water depending on the type of rice you are grinding. If using a blender, remove the urad dhal batter and grind the rice in batches. 
5. Transfer the prepared batter in a bowl, add salt and mix well with your clean hand. When poured, the prepared batter should fall down in easy ribbons.
6. Set aside the batter for about 8 hours. It is highly unlikely that it would ferment in a cold, dry place (such as where I live). The batter didn't rise or ferment here. But in India, it might ferment easily. So, store the batter in an appropriate bowl to give room for it to ferment. 
7. After 8 hours, check the batter. If it has thickened, add some water to dilute it to the consistency of pancake batter. When poured, the batter should easily fall, creating just small ripples. Heat a cast-iron skillet or a non-stick skillet. Pour a ladle of batter onto the centre and gently spread it out in circular motions to form a thin circle/crepe. A stainless-steel ladle is ideal for this, as plastic may melt under the heat. 
8. Spoon a little bit of sesame oil around the edges of the crepe/dosai. This step is optional, of course. For the uber diet-conscious person, this may seem unnecessary, especially if using a non-stick skillet. But the sesame oil infuses a delicate flavor and aroma that comes to be associated with the intrinsic taste of dosai. 
9. Wait for about 2-3 minutes for the dosai to crisp/cook on one side. Then carefully flip the dosai onto the other side using a flat, broad spatula.You may again spoon some sesame oil around the edges (and some over the dosai). Wait for about 2 minutes. Flip the dosai. If you are satisfied that the dosai is cooked (the batter isn’t raw in patches, and the dosai has lots of little bubbles of escaped steam/air), transfer it onto a plate.

Serve with any spicy side-dish!

Aval Paayasam

Aval is beaten/flattened rice flakes. Here is a kheer/paayasam/dessert that's often prepared during festive occasions. The recipe comes from my mother-in-law.

 Ingredients (serves 4):

1. 1/4 cup aval / beaten rice flakes
2. 3 cups milk
3. 1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar (add 1/2 cup if you prefer slightly mild sweetness)
4. a pinch of saffron
5. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
6. 1 teaspoon ghee / clarified butter
7. few cashews and raisins

Preparation:

1. Dry roast the aval on medium heat until it slightly begins to brown. 
2. Remove from heat, and transfer to a small saucepan. Add 3/4 cup of water and cook the aval in medium heat until it is almost cooked. 
3. To this add milk and continue to cook on medium heat for about 25-30 minutes, stirring now and then and making sure the milk doesn't boil over or scald and burn. 
4. As the milk reduces, dry some cashews and raisins in a teaspoon of ghee until the cashews turn golden brown. Remove from heat and keep separately.
5. When the aval is completely cooked (test by mashing one with your fingers) and the milk has reduced a little, add sugar and continue to stir and heat for 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves. 
6. Remove from heat. Garnish with cardamom, saffron, and the fried cashews and raisins.

Serve hot, at room temperature, or chilled! 

Note: Another way to prepare this paayasam is to coarsely grind the roasted aval before cooking it in water and milk. It makes for a thicker dessert.

Ras Malai

My mother-in-law has perfected the recipe for making amazing ras malai. So, with her around, I was determined to learn the nuances of making good ras malais. It has been great fun to have my in-laws who are equally (if not more) excited and enthusiastic about experimenting and creating new dishes in the kitchen! I had a really good time making this impossibly delicious dessert with my mother-in-law who patiently walked me through each step, as I assaulted her with my stream of questions :).

Now, for the uninitiated, here is a brief introduction to ras malai. Freshly prepared Indian cottage cheese (Paneer) is formed into discs (or spheres) and cooked in rich sugar syup and then soaked in thick, flavorful milk that's infused with the our unique floral spices - cardamom and saffron. As the paneer soaks into the milk it draws all the richness and plumps into a delicacy that's both delicate and rich.

Ingredients (makes 30-40 small ras malais to comfortably serve 10)

1. Whole milk
1. 3 litres of milk (12 cups of milk) to make the paneer
2. 1.25 litres of milk (5 cups of milk) to reduce and soak the paneer
2. Juice of 3 lemons (or 3-4 cups whey extracted from a previous paneer preparation. The whey must be at least 36 hours old)
3. Sugar
1. 1.5 cups of sugar for the sugar syrup
2. ½ cup of sugar to add to the reduced milk
4. pinch of saffron (diluted in warm milk for better absorption of flavors)
5. ½ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
6. a handful of chopped almonds and pistachios

Preparation:

1. In a large, heavy bottomed vessel, bring to boil 12 cups of whole milk. Take care to stir the milk regularly to avoid it from scalding and sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the milk begins to froth and rise, turn down the heat, and add the juice of 3 lemons (or 3-4 cups whey water if you have some)
2. Keep stirring on low heat until the milk curdles (this will take just a few seconds. If the milk doesn’t curdle, add some more lemon juice). The curdled milk will have solid milk fats separating from the whey.
3. Strain the curdled milk through a cheese cloth to collect the paneer (cheese) at the top. The whey will collect at the bottom. Tie the cheese cloth containing the paneer into a tight knot and let it hang over a colander, or sit atop the colander until all/most of the whey drips down.
4. The paneer has to retain a little bit of moisture. So, after 15-20 minutes of straining, remove all the paneer and knead well until the fat in it oozes and coats your palm. Make small/medium-sized discs from the paneer and keep separately.
5. Heat/boil 5 cups of whole milk until it is thick and almost half its volume. I heated the milk on medium-high heat for about 50 minutes, stirring constantly until it reduced. When the milk thickens, add ½ - ¾ cup of sugar depending on your love for sugar (I would advise ½ cup). Stir the sugar well and continue to heat for an additional 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves. Then, remove from heat, add saffron and cardamom and stir well.
6. As the milk takes it time to boil and reduce, simultaneously prepare the sugar syrup. Dissolve 1.5 cups of sugar in 3.5 cups of water taken in a wide and fairly deep skillet. When the sugar is dissolved, start heating on medium-high heat until the sugar syrup begins to bubble and boil.
7. When the syrup boils, reduce the heat to medium, and add the prepared paneer discs. Boil and cook the paneer discs in the sugar syrup for 30-35 minutes on medium heat. Do not stir or agitate the paneer discs for they may break. The paneer discs will swell and absorb the sugar syrup during the cooking. When the paneer is cooked, turn off the heat and add a splash of room temperature water to the syrup to make sure the cooked paneer regains some moisture and doesn’t become hard.
8. After cooking the paneer in the syrup, remove them from the syrup and add to the reduced milk. Do not add the sugar syrup. Reserve the syrup for any other sweet or pudding. Garnish the rasmalai with chopped nuts.
9. Let the ras malai soak for 5-8 hours in the milk before serving. I realized that it makes a pretty discernible difference if the ras malai is allowed to soak. The longer it soaks, the tastier it is! It's well worth the wait.

And it was well worth the time in the kitchen! An indulgent treat :)

Savory Pudi Kozhakattai

Here is the recipe for the savory version of pudi kozhakattai that's made by steaming rice dumplings made from ground rice cooked in an assortment of South-Indian spices and pulses. The recipe for the sweet version of this dish is here.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1. 1 cup raw white rice
2. 2 tablespoons sesame oil
3. 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
4. 2 teaspoons split urad dhal / black gram / ulutham paruppu
5. ¼ teaspoon hing / asafoetida
6. 2-3 dry red chillies
7. 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
8. 1 teaspoon salt (or as needed)

Preparation:

1. Grind the rice in a blender until it is ground to the consistency of semolina (rava) or cornmeal.
2. Heat a tablespoon of sesame oil in a medium sauce-pan. When hot, splutter the mustard seeds, add split urad dhal, hing, and red chillies.
3. To the seasoning above, add 3 cups of water (as needed, depending on the particular type of rice) and bring it to a boil.
4. To the boiling water, add salt, coconut, and slowly add the rice. Stir continuously to avoid forming lumps. Keep stirring on medium heat until the rice cooks and comes together as a moist, soft lump of dough.
5. Remove from heat and keep it aside to cool.
6. When cool, pinch out small quantities of the cooked, mushy rice and make oblong dumplings. On medium-high heat, steam the dumplings (kozhakattais) in a vegetable steamer or idli plates greased with some sesame oil, for 15 minutes until the kozhakattais are completely cooked (until a tooth-pick inserted in the middle of the dumplings comes out clean).

When cool, serve with any spicy side-dish or yogurt.

Sweet Pudi Kozhakattai

Kozkakattais are festive Indian dumplings. The traditional and most common ones have some sweet or savory filling stuffed inside soft rice dough, and the whole thing is steamed. These traditional dumplings are much more labor-intensive to prepare for the average home-cook who battles with time to get a meal on the table. For such of us, these pudi kozhakattais are a nice variation! Rather than troubling yourself with stuffing the rice dough with a filling, you knead the cooked rice with the filling (sweet or savory) and steam. These dumplings taste just as good (if not better)!

My mom often prepares these, and so do my in-laws.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

1. 1 cup raw white rice
2. 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
3. ½ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
4. 1 - 1.5 cups crumbled jaggery or brown sugar (depending on how sweet you would like it)
5. few teaspoons sesame oil

Preparation:

1. Grind the rice in a blender until it is ground to the consistency of semolina (rava) or regular sand (as shown above).
2. Bring 4.5-5 cups of water (or more, depending on the type of rice you are using) to a boil in a medium sauce-pan. When the water boils, add the ground rice and stir constantly on medium or low-medium heat until the rice cooks and comes together as a moist dough. Add more water if required, if the rice doesn’t cook.
3. When the rice is cooked, add the powdered jaggery or brown sugar and coconut, and stir well on low-medium heat. The jaggery/sugar will melt in the heat. Keep stirring to incorporate the jaggery/sugar into the cooked rice. Stir until the the whole thing comes together as a soft, moist lump of dough (as shown in the picture).
4. Remove from heat, add cardamom and stir. Let the cooked sweetened rice cool.
5. When cool, pinch out small quantities of the cooked, mushy rice and make oblong shaped dumplings. On medium-high heat, steam the dumplings (kozhakattais) in a vegetable steamer or idli plates greased with some sesame oil, for 15 minutes until the kozhakattais are completely cooked (until a tooth-pick inserted in the middle of the dumplings come out clean).

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Rasgulla

Rasgulla is a popular dessert from Eastern India. It sounds so simple to prepare, yet it is a uniquely delicious sweet that lingers in your palate and memory. The ever so famous Paneer is rolled into balls and cooked in sugar syrup until the cheese balls are cooked and puffy with syrup. Rasgulla is sparsely flavored with delicate rosewater and sometimes, a pinch of saffron. But the most traditional version is unflavored. As rasgulla gets adapted and improvized in India’s numerous states, some of the other common flavorings are pistachios, cashews, raisins, and cardamom.

Paneer is Indian cottage-cheese that is prepared by separating curdled milk fat and solids from the whey. In order to do so, the first step is to curdle the milk. The second step is to strain the curdled milk to collect the cheese. The whey has its own use in another Indian dessert (coming up soon!).

I used cotton cheese-cloth to separate the cheese from the whey. Any thin cotton cloth (that’s washed, of course) can be used.

This is my mother-in-law’s recipe. She enthusiastically prepared this fabulous delicacy!

 

Ingredients (yields 9 small rasgullas)

1. 2 cups whole milk (you need to use full-fat milk to make cheese)
2. Juice of 1 lemon
3. 1 cup sugar
4. 2-3 cups water (3 cups if you like your syrup to be light and non-sticky)
5. a pinch of saffron (dissolved in a teaspoon of warm milk to bring out its flavor better)
6. ½ a teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
7. 1-2 teaspoons rose water (instead of cardamom) 

Preparation

1. The first stage is to prepare the soft Indian cottage-cheese, paneer. Bring 2 cups of whole milk to a boil (let the milk froth and rise) on medium-high heat. When the milk boils and rises, reduce the heat to low and quickly pour the lemon juice. Stir slowly on low heat until the milk curdles and separates. Remove from heat and strain through a cheese-cloth that is placed over a colander. Let the whey collect in a bowl at the bottom.
2. After about 5-10 minutes of straining, gather the cheese in the cloth and tie it into a tight knot so that the residual whey is wrung out. Either hang the tied cloth above the colander or just place the tied cloth on the colander for about 2 hours. This ensures that every drop of whey gets strained.
3. The cheese/paneer is removed from the cloth and kneaded on a clean surface to form a soft dough. Knead well until the fat from the cheese coats your hand.
4. Divide the dough into equal parts to form smooth, round balls. Rasgullas are usually fat and rotund (especially after they are cooked), but the ones shown here are smaller.
5. Onto making the sugar syrup. Dissolve 1 cup of sugar in 2 (or 3) cups of water. Heat the mixture on medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture begins to bubble and boil.
6. Now, slowly add the cheese balls into the syrup. On medium heat, cook the rasgullas in the syrup for about 25-30 minutes or till the balls puff and cook and the sugar syrup is about to turn sticky (to test this, take a drop of syrup on a plate, let it cool for a couple seconds, then rub it between your fingers. If it’s tending to feel slightly sticky, the syrup is ready). While the rasgullas are cooking, resist your temptation to turn them around. The balls will turn and cook evenly in the bubbling syrup.
7. Remove from heat and garnish with ground cardamom and saffron. Alternatively, add just saffron and rosewater. 

Let the rasgullas cool to room temperature. This allows them to soak in the syrup a little more. The syrup would also thicken as it cools. Traditionally, the sugar syrup for rasgullas is light and not at all sticky. But if you like a slightly thickened syrup, use 2 cups of water in the syrup and cook for 30 minutes. Else, use 3 cups of water in the syrup and cook for 35 minutes.

Rasgullas are best served chilled and with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.