Aavi Murukku

Aavi murukku is one of my mother in law's specialties; I have not heard of it, seen it or tasted it before I got married. This recipe had spread from her to our family also now and we all like it very much. It is a steamed and seasoned snack or tiffin made with rice. She prepares a couple of more such tiffin items; however, aavi murukku is my favorite. These days, I have started doing this myself and it comes out decently well.

Ingredients:

1.       Idly rice – 2 cups

3.       Asafoetida – 2 pinches

4.       Salt as per taste

5.       Oil – 3 tbsp

6.       Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

7.       Urad dal – 1 tbsp

8.       Channa dal – 1 tbsp

9.       Dry chilies – 4

10.   Curry leaves – 1 sprig

11.   Onion – 1 finely chopped

12.   Garlic cloves peeled – 15

Method:

Step 1: Wash and soak the rice for 2 hours. Grind the rice finely with turmeric, 2 chilies, asafoetida with some water.

Step 2: Heat a heavy bottomed pan, pour the batter, add 1 tbsp of oil, add necessary salt and stir until it becomes thick. Turn off the stove.

 Step 3: Take a portion, roll with fist and fill the murruku kozhai. Squeeze onto a idly plate and steam for 5-10 minutes, repeat for the entire dough. Let it cool a bit and then break into small pieces, it's easy.

Step 4: In a non-stick pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil, splutter mustard seeds, add urad and channa dals, broken chilies, curry leaves and sauté onion and garlic in that until golden brown. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over this.

                                            

Step 5: Now add the broken aavi murukku into this and mix well. Serve hot.

Carrot Halwa

I don't think there is anyone of us who is not fond of this delicious dessert. There are several versions of carrot halwas like low calorie ones, with milk or without milk, micro-oven or stove cooked, steamed carrots or boiled carrots... how ever they make it, I will just delve into it. Hot carrot halwa and plain vanilla ice-cream are both a sweet married couple; having them together executes a wonderful explosion inside the mouth.

Ingredients:

1.       Carrot grated – 2 cups

2.       Milk – 1 cup

3.       Sugar – ½ cup

4.       Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

5.       Cashew nut – 2 tbsp

6.       Ghee – 5 tbsp

Method:

Step 1: In a non-stick pan roast the cashew nuts in ghee; pour and keep it aside

Step 2: In the same pan place the grated carrot & milk and let it cook for 10 -15 minutes covered and in low flame; stir occasionally.

Step 3: Once the carrot is cooked and milk absorbed, add sugar and cardamom powder and stir well for 2 minutes.

Step 4: Once the moisture in the halwa is gone, spoon the ghee and stir in cashews. Serve hot.

Neer Kachhayam

Neer kachayam is yet another dish that I learnt from my mother in law which can be snack or tiffin. This in a way resembles the ammini kozhukattai except that the rice flour is different. However, rolling those small marble sized kachayams is the tedious thing to do in this recipe. Like pasta, these kachayams can be seasoned in different flavors as per our taste and creativity; I've shared my mother-in-law's basic version here.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1.       Idly rice – 2 cups

2.       Salt as per taste

3.       Oil – 3 tbsp

4.       Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

5.       Asafoetida – 2 pinches

6.       Urad dal – 1 tbsp

7.       Bengal gram – 1 tbsp

8.       Dry chilies – 3

9.       Curry leaves – 1 sprig

10.   Onion – 1 finely chopped

11.   Garlic cloves peeled – 15

Method:

Step 1: Wash and soak the rice for 2 hours. Grind the rice finely with some water.

Step 2: Heat a heavy bottomed pan, pour the batter, add 1 tbsp of oil, add necessary salt and stir until it becomes thick. Turn off the stove.

Step 3: Take small portions of marble size and roll them smoothly until the entire dough is over. Do it when it is hot, else the dough will become brittle.

Step 4: Steam these small kachayams for 5-10 minutes.

Step 5: In a non-stick pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil, splutter mustard seeds, sprinkle asafoetida, add urad and channa dals, broken chilies, curry leaves and sauté onion and garlic in that until golden brown. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over this.

Step 6: Now add the neer kachayams into this and mix well.

 Step 7: Serve it hot, it does not need any side dish.

TIPS:

* You can season steamed neer kachayams with different dressing of your choice and creativity; I'll share my mom's dressing in another post.

* Even the shaping, you can try shapes like pastas to add more glamour and attract kids.