Poha cutlet - an air fryer recipe

The air fryer, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, is the latest addition to my kitchen. Ever since we bought it, we've been trying out various dishes in it. In most cases, we've been able to replicate the taste of the non-air fryer version of the dish and are overall, quite satisfied with the purchase. These cutlets are something that I've never tried before buying the air fryer and so, I do not have anything to compare it with. However, the air fryer version turned out nicely browned and crisp and tasted really good. It is kid approved as well and quite a few were polished off by the kid, despite the fact that she doesn't usually like poha.

What you need:
Rice flakes/poha/aval - 1 cup
Gram flour/Besan - 1/3 cup
Green chilli - 2, minced
Ginger - a small piece, julienned
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Curd - as required
Salt
Coriander - 1 tbsp, chopped fine
Groundnuts - 1/4 cup, coarsely ground

Take the rice flakes in a fine mesh colander and run cold water over it. Leave this aside to drain. I used thin poha, which only needed to be washed. If you use thick poha you may need to soak it for a few minutes and then drain it.
In a pan, dry roast the gram flour over a low flame until it turns aromatic.
Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add curd, a teaspoon at a time and mix, until you have a stiff dough. Make small balls out of this dough and flatten them using your hands to shape. I used a round cookie cutter to get even cutlets.
Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for  5 minutes. Brush some oil over the cutlets and place them in a single layer in the air fryer. Fry for five minutes, then turn them over, brush some more oil and fry for another five minutes. Remove from the air fryer when they are brown and crisp. Timing may vary depending on your appliance. Do keep watch afterthe eight minute mark.
Serve hot with ketchup or chutney.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM
This also goes to  Valli's Kid’s Delight event, guest hosted by PJ themed on Quick / Innovative Breakfast

 

Gobi (Cauliflower) 65

Gobi (Cauliflower) 65 is a popular street food in South India. I've read various interesting stories on the reason for the addition of the number 65 to the dish, but am not sure if any of them is true. Most street vendors add red food color to achieve the bright red color that the dish is associated with and serve it hot in paper plates or newspaper squares.



What you need:
Cauliflower - 1 small , separated into medium sized florets
Oil - for deep frying

For the batter:
Corn flour - 1/2 cup
All purpose flour - 1/3 cup
Rice flour - 1/3 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Tandoori masala - 1 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander
Curry leaves
Salt
Water

For tempering:
Oil - 1 tbsp
Green chillies - 2 or 3, slit lengthwise into two
Curry leaves - a handful

Take the cauliflower in a large pan. Pour boiling water over it. Add a pinch of turmeric powder and a pinch of salt, cover and let it stand for 5 minutes. Drain off all the water and keep aside.

Mix all the ingredients for the batter into a smooth, slightly thick batter. Add in the cauliflower florets and mix well to coat all the florets with the batter evenly.

Heat oil for deep frying in a pan. Add the florets, a few at a time and fry until reddish brown. Remove on to a kitchen towel. When all the florets have been fried, fry them again in hot oil in batches, to give them an additional crispiness. Set aside.

Heat the oil for tempering. Add slit green chillies and curry leaves to it and saute over a low flame until the chillies just start to brown. Add in the fried cauliflower and mix well.
Serve with ketchup or a little bit of chaat masala sprinkled on top.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM

Apple crumble - the easiest and best dessert ever

Like I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I came home with a whole lot of apples after we went apple picking recently.  I've wanted to try an apple crumble for a long time and this seemed to be the perfect time to do it. I like to think of my version as a healthy one as it uses whole wheat flour for the topping, and very little fat in the form of butter. The smell while this is being baked in the oven is absolutely delightful and makes you want to keep opening the oven and breathing it in.

What you need :
For the bottom layer :
Apples - 2 medium sized (with peel), diced
Sugar - 2 tsp
Maple syrup - 1 tsp (optional)
Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp

For the topping :
Whole wheat flour - 4 tbsp
Brown sugar - 2 tbsp
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Cold Butter, cut into small pieces - 2 tbsp 

Take the chopped apples in a large baking dish. Squeeze lemon juice over it and mix well. Add the sugar and maple syrup and stir.

Take the ingredients for the topping in a mixing bowl. Mix with the tips of your fingers until it becomes crumbly. Evenly distribute the topping over the apples.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes or until the topping becomes dark brown and most of the moisture has evaporated. The mixture will bubble a lot once the apples start releasing their juices. So make sure your baking dish is big enough. Switch off the oven and let the dish remain in the oven for another 15 minutes. Serve warm as it is or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Note:
This, served with ice cream, makes three small servings. It is easily one of the easiest and best desserts I have made to date. The topping is crisp and offers a wonderful contrast in texture to the soft, cooked apples.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#45

Onion capsicum pakoda

There was an era when "I will send you off to a hostel" was used by parents as a threat to make unruly children toe the line. Anybody who has lived in a hostel, though, will laugh and tell you that it is a totally baseless threat. The two years that I lived in a hostel are the years that I look back on with fond memories and a smile on my face. The independence that comes with living away from your folks is something that I feel every person must experience. One of the things that me and my hostel mates loved is the day that we would all come back to the hostel after a vacation. Each one of us carried back to the hostel something special from home - pickles, sweets, snacks, podis and chutneys - food in quantities that would last months in a small household would vanish within days in our room.
There are a lot of things that amma would pack for me and my friends in the two years that I lived away from home and I will catalog some of them in this Blogging Marathon where the theme I have chosen is Kids' Delight - Back to Hostel food.
These crisp, hot pakodas which are made without adding any water to the batter last for 2-3 days at room temperature. However, if you do pack them off to your kids' hostel, I guarantee that the kids will finish it off long before tea-time.

What you need:
Onion - 1, chopped very fine
Capsicum - a small one, sliced very thin and small
Besan/gram flour - 3/4 cup
Rice flour - 3/4 cup(Use 1 cup if you want the pakodas to be very crisp)
Red chilli powder - 1.5 tsp
Hot oil/vegetable shortening/vanaspati/ghee - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - for deep frying( I used Fortune Rice Bran Health oil which I have reviewed here)

Take the chopped onion and capsicum in a bowl. Add 1/2 tsp of salt to it and rub well with your fingers. Cover and keep this aside for ten minutes. Rubbing salt on to the chopped veggies helps them release water.
 
Add the flours, red chilli powder and more salt if needed. Mix well. Add the hot oil and mix again.

 At this stage if the mixture still seems a little dry to you, it is fine. Let it rest covered for at least 30 minutes. 
You will see that sufficient moisture has been released by the vegetables and that you will be able to knead the flour to a thick dough.
 
 Pinch out small marble sized portions of this dough and deep fry in hot oil until it is crisp and well browned. Drain out excess oil.

When it is completely cool, pack in an air tight container and send it to your kids' hostel where it will become a huge hit and you will get requests for it the next time your child is back home.

Note: This can be made with onion alone or by adding any vegetable of your choice to the onion. Cabbage, ladies finger and cashew nut are some of the ingredients that can be added. 

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#26
This post is a part of Healthy & Tasty Recipe Contest with Fortune Rice Bran Health Oil & BlogAdda.com 
This goes to Kamalika who is hosting Kids' Delight, brain child of Srivalli, themed on Back to Hostel Food.

Crispy rice balls

Don't we all at some time or the other, cook a little too much, and then wonder what to do with the leftovers? It happens to me more often than I care to admit, and I am always on the look out for ideas to turn these leftovers into new dishes that can be made with minimum fuss. Sometimes I have these brainwaves which help me turn an ordinary upma into something unique, or to jazz up rotis into a breakfast dish. This time, though, inspiration came in the form of Tarla Dalal's cookbook - Healthy Snacks for Kids.
Today's dish is a snack that can be made in a jiffy. What's unusual about that? Well, not only is this something that you can whip up quickly, but it is also a great way to use up leftovers. Some left over rice, and chopped/grated veggies of your choice is all that you need to make a really crunchy and crisp tea time snack.

Recipe source : Tarla Dalal's Healthy Snacks for Kids
What you need:
Cooked rice - 1 cup
Carrot - 1, gratedhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Green chilli - 2 or 3, minced (adjust to taste)
Corriander leaves - a handful, chopped fine
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Water - roughly 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - for deep frying

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Make small balls of this and deep fry in medium hot oil until well browned and crisp. Drain on to absorbent paper.
Enjoy with a cup of hot chai.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#14

Muringa ila vada (Drumstick leaves vada)

I live in a city where, during summer you can hear people(me included) groaning about the sweat and the heat, and when it rains, people start talking about how difficult the commute is and how horribly waterlogged the roads are.
I love the rains. I don't mind wading through muddy puddles or getting a little wet. As long as there are no old-I-will-give-you-free-advice types around, I let my daughter play about in puddles and walk in the rain without an umbrella. Mother nature never did me any harm when I was growing up and I am sure she will be just as benevolent with this generation.
Now, the rain sometimes makes me act uncharacteristically. While I love snacking, I very rarely bother to make snacks. However, the rain today had me craving for some hot, sweet, cardamom laden tea and a crisp snack. I soaked some dal to make parippu vada and then thought of adding drumstick leaves to it and turning it into muringa ila(drumstick leaf) vada. I am sure Google will tell me that someone else has had this wonderful brainwave before me, so I am not going to Google to find out if muringa ila has ever been added to vada before. Until I get a comment that tells me otherwise and breaks my bubble, I am going to be happy with "my" snack.

Here's what you need:
Tuar dal - 1 cup (washed and soaked in water for 30 minutes)
Red chillies - according to taste
Garlic - 7-8 cloves
Onion - 1 large, chopped finely
Drumstick leaves - a handful
Oil - for deep frying

Drain water from the dal. Add red chillies and garlic to it and grind coarsely without adding any water. Add the chopped onions, drumstick leaves and salt. Mix well. Take small amounts of the batter....shape it into a ball and flatten between your palms. Deep fry in hot oil until well browned on both sides.
Enjoy with a cup of tea.