Apple Sauce

Last week I happened to take some antibiotics due to which I had a bad stomach. I was starving and  foraging for some diet for such condition and came across what seemed to be an universal belief, BARB diet; (Bread, Apple Sauce, Rice, Banana). I was curious to try this apple sauce and did so. Believe me it was yum, indeed.

Ingredients:

1. Apples - 3
2. Sugar - 1/2 cup (I used jaggery)
3. Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Lemon - 1
5. Water - 1/2 cup

Method:

Step 1: Wash, peel and core the apples. Cut them into wedges
Step 2: In a non stick pan, add apple wedges, jaggery/sugar, juice of a lemon (adjust depending on the sourness of the apples), cinnamon powder and water
Step 3: Mix well and heat on low flame until the apple is soft to be mashed
Step 4: Switch of the stove; with the help of a potato masher, mash the apple nicely or with some chunks if you prefer
Step 5: Serve it hot or warm or cold. In refrigerator it can stay for a week. (We finished in a couple of days though)

Paanagam

Paanagam is a cooling drink that is had during summers and my grandma used to tell that this was, in the olden served as welcome drink during a wedding ceremony called ‘samandham kalandhal’ which is when the families agree upon an alliance and step forward. It is very simple to make and quite refreshing.

Ingredients:

1.       Jaggery – 1 cup

2.       Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

3.       Dry ginger powder – 1 tsp

4.       Lemon – 1

5.       Salt – 1 pinch

6.       Tulsi – 10-15 leaves

7.       Water – 1 litre

Method:

Step 1:  Dissolve jaggery in water and filter to remove debris in it.

Step 2:  Now add salt, cardamom powder, dry ginger powder, juice of a lemon, crushed tulsi leaves and mix well

Step 3: Refrigerate and serve chilled. Avoid adding ice cubes as it may dilute the taste.

Yoghurt Tikki

It was the first ever time we had invited people for lunch at home and our invitees turned out to be babu anna and family. It was a quite a thrilling experience for both us to prepare proper lunch for some eight people including us. I planned for an elaborate menu with every possible course I knew but skipped some due to lack of time. Yoghurt tikki was the starter I chose that day and our guests seemed to like it. I made a mistake when I prepared but given a bettered version here.

Ingredients:

1.          Paneer – 1 cup grated

2.          Yoghurt (Hung curds) – 1 cup

3.          Onion – ½ cup finely chopped

4.          Ginger – 1 tsp finely grated

5.          Salt as per taste

6.          Cumin powder – ½ tsp

7.          Green chillies paste – ½ tbsp

8.          Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp finely chopped

9.          Oats powdered–  5 to 8 tbsp

10.     Butter – 1 tbsp

11.     Oil for shallow frying

Method:

Step 1: In a deep tawa heat butter and sauté chopped onion and ginger

Step 2: Mix crumbled panner, yoghurt, onion-ginger, salt, cumin powder, green chili paste, coriander and make a soft dough.

Step 3: Divide the dough into lemon sized portions and pat each of them in your palm into tikkis. Place it on the plate spread with powdered oats and flip to cover on both sides. Repeat for all tikkis.

Step 4: In the tawa,  add some oil and shallow fry the tikkis until both sides are brown and crusty. Yoghurt tikkis are crispy on the outside and soft inside.

Step 5: Serve hot with ketchup or green chutney.