OATS SAVORY CRACKERS | OATS SAVORY RECIPES

          I always like to bake savoury goodies, but have not done many so far. And have not tried my hands on using oats in baking. I had some bread flour remaining after I used for garlic bread and rolled oats too after trying granola. So when I saw this recipe in the daily news paper, I wanted to try this out as it had no fancy items and had the two main ingredients already. I just adapted the recipe and tweaked to suit my taste buds. The result was too good. The flavour is un believable! Very similar to Maska chaska biscuits we get. Aj also told the same and he loved the crackers. The crackers are not that photogenic, but its really tasty and flavourful! The texture is also crispy as oats adds a nice crunch to this. Bake it off to trust yourself!

Oats savoury Crackers  Recipe

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Cooking time : 30 mins | Makes : roughly 40 small crackers

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  Ingredients

Rolled oats	1/2 cup
Bread flour	1 cup + 2 tbslp
Shallots(small onion) Chopped very fine	1 tbslp
Coriander leaves Chopped very fine	1 tblsp
Butter milk	1/2 cup
Butter softened	2 tblsp
Salt	3/4 tsp
Sugar (fine grain)	1 tbslp
Baking soda	1/4 tsp

                                    *Bread flour can be replaced with maida, if you dont have.

Method

1. Pre heat oven for 160 degree C. In a bowl, mix oats, flour, salt and baking soda well. In another bowl, place butter and sugar.
2. With a hand blender or whisk, beat sugar and butter, to mix it well. Add finely chopped onion and coriander.
3. Mix well again and then add half of the mixed flour and again mix well.
4. Then add rest of the flour and knead with buttermilk. You may not need all the buttermilk, so carefully add towards end. The dough should be sticky and not dry with cracks.
5. In a well floured space, roll out the dough with generous dusting to a thin sheet.
6. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and carefully transfer the sheet of dough to it and prick with a fork here and there if you want. Draw lines and cut into desired shape (square or rectangle). You need not make the cut parts separate, just bake it as such. Bake at 160 deg. C for 30 minutes or until the crackers turn golden. In between once change the position of the tray.

Notes

• You can replace coriander leaves with fresh dill leaves.
• If you do not know what is buttermilk, beat 2 tblsp of thick curd/ plain yoghurt with one cup water and make buttermilk.
• You can sprinkle kosher salt after the crackers are done/ while serving. If so, use lesser salt in the recipe.
• Once you take out from the oven, the flour on the top will make it look so white, but after you brush it with butter, the golden colour will be there,So dont worry!
• The original recipe method asked to prick the crackers here and there, I forgot to do.

            Brush with butter and when it is still warm, break the crackers as cut earlier. Cool down and enjoy your coffee/ tea time. So flavourful!

Tags: oats recipes,savory biscuts recipe,savory baking,savoury,oats savory crackers,oats savoury crackers,oats savory crackers recipe,oats savory recipes,oats savoury recipes

When mango is in season, this ‘Instant mango pickle’ will appear more our kitchen. Though Mom makes this one, she also makes another simpler version with only salt, mango and green chillies. Both are good on its own way. Tastes great and flavourful too! MIL also makes these two versions when mango is in season. Though I am not a big fan of mango, I make it for Vj sake and sometimes I too have it with curd rice. Not that I wont touch mango. The below plate of curd rice with the pickle was eaten by me . When I buy mango I make mango thokku mostly but if I want to make it simple and quick, I make this one!

Instant mango pickle recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Lunch sides
Prep Time: 10 mins    |  Cook time: 5 mins    |  Serves: keeps good 1 week in fridge

Ingredients

Mango,unripe - 1

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Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

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Turmeric - 1 pinch

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Asafoetida - 2 pinches

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Roasted fenugreek seeds powder - 2 pinches

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Salt - As needed

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To temper

Sesame oil - 1 tblsp

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Mustard - 3/4 tsp

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Red chilli(optional) - 1

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Asafoetida - 3 pinches

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Method

1. Chop the cleaned mango finely as show in the picture and place in a mixing bowl. In a pan/ kadai, heat oil and temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table in order . Switch off the stove and add fenugreek seeds powder, turmeric,red chilli powder and mix well. Add salt and raw asafoetida and mix everything with the chopped mango.
Notes
• I din’t add red chilli, but its a nice add to the pickle.
• Adding asafoetida both while tempering and mixing give nice flavour.
• Adjust the spice and salt according to the tanginess of the mango.
• I always have roasted fenugreek seeds powder with me, so add it to all pickles easily. If you dont have, just roast 1/2 tsp of methi seeds and crush it with hand mortar and pestle and add it.

        Store in a jar and keep refrigerated, can be used for 4-5 days. Goes well with the cool biryani(thayir sadam) .

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Cone dosa - How to make cone dosa video

Kids are always fascinated by shapes. So is Aj. Triangle paratha, square paratha, cone dosa, mini idli, mini poori are few of his routine demands. When I posted tiffin sambar recipe, I had few requests from friends and readers to do a tutorial how to make cone dosa, so here it is at last, with a video to help understand easily.

How to make cone Shaped Dosa

Refer this post for Idli dosa Batter recipe and how to make Crispy Plain dosa

Method

1. Make thin dosa as we do for making plain roast dosa, do not flip, since the dosa is thin, it will get cooked. Cook in medium flame to make sure its crisp. Once started browning, use a clean kitchen scissors to cut the dosa until the middle of the dosa.

2. Using a tong or ur hands, carefully roll the dosa as show in the picture or please refer the video.

3. Doing over the tawa itself saves time and easy to roll and maintains the shape as well. But the dosa has to be crisp enough to hold the shape.

Notes

• Make the dosa batter thinner with 3-4 tblsp of water to get thin roast dosa.
• If the dosa comes out crispy then only you can make it hold the shape.
• Use oil or ghee while cooking to get crispier dosa.
• You can use your dosa flipping spatula itself to cut the dosa.

Enjoy hot with chutney or sambar :)

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APPALA KOOTU RECIPE

      Sometimes, even though we don't have any vegetables in stock, we have to cook. I make vengaya sambar, mocha kottai kuzhambu or mor kuzhambu with vadai or paruppu urundai kuzhambu. But for side dish?  Appala kootu will be a great idea as side. I did the same last week. I had no veggies in my fridge and made Sukku kuzhambu and appala kootu for our lunch. Sometimes I will feel like emptying the veggies fully and then buy the next batch. So this menu was perfect last week. Appala kootu is quite new to me until I heard it from Raji, have heard appala kuzhambu, but this was new to me. This can be perfect for spicy kuzhambu varieties. We loved it, as it had a different texture and flavour!

Appala Kootu Recipe    Cooking time : 25mins   Serves : 3   Ingredients Channa Dal 1/2 cup appalam/ papad (plain) 10 Sambar powder 1 tsp Turmeric few pinches Salt As needed Coconut, grated 2 tblsp To Temper Oil 1 tsp Mustard 3/4 tsp Urad dal 1 tsp Curry leaves 1 sprig   Method Soak Channa dal (kadala paruppu) for an hour or two (to ensure easy cooking) and pressure cook it along with sambar powder, turmeric and 1 cup water, for two whistles. Mean while break  each appalam into 4 as shown in picture and deep fry it and set aside. Once the dal is cooked, add the fried appalams to it, add a little bit of salt (remeber appalam has salt in it) and bring to boil. Add water if needed. The appalams should get soft, so stir in between to make sure all the appalams get dipped in water. Say for 2-3 mintues. Lastly add the grated coconut and boil for 2 minutes in medium flame. Make sure its not burnt in the bottom. Adjust water if its too thick. Temper the items given under ‘To temper’ table and mix well. Notes Dal should get cooked well, otherwise the kootu may not taste good. So make sure you soak the dal before cooking. Even over cooking the dal may kill the texture of the kootu. The dal should not get mashed. But it should be cooked until soft too. You can use ‘appala poo’ the small oblong ones we get too for this kootu recipe. No need to break the appalams if we use that. If you have the ‘vadagam’ that is meant for thaalipu, you can use it for tempering instead of mustard urad dal.

         Serve as a side for any spicy and tangy kuzhambu like kara kuzhambu, poondu kuzhambu or pepper kuzhambu. We had with Sukku kuzhambu.

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SUKKU KUZHAMBU RECIPE (SUKKU MILAGU KUZHAMBU)

   I always love different kind of tangy, spicy kuzhambu recipes. Like my Poondu Kuzhambu, Brinjal pepper kuzhambu, karuveppilai kuzhambu… Sukku kuzhambu also I loved a lot. Its very appetising and good for us to include sukku – Dry ginger in our diet. I had some sukku powder passed to me by my FIL. It helps a lot for digestion. So when Raji told this recipe, I wanted to try it out immediately. So tried this and loved it a lot. The sukku smell is not over powdering in this kuzhambu, just very mild and very tasty. I have used sukku powder, but you can also use a piece of dry ginger itself if you have some.

Sukku Milagu Kuzhambu Recipe    Cooking time : 30mins   Serves : 3 –4   Ingredients Onion 1 small Garlic 8 flakes Tomato 1 small Tamarind Small lemon size Sambar powder 1 & 1/2 tsp Turmeric 2 pinches Salt As needed Curry leaves 1 sprig To grind Coconut 2 tblsp Pepper 1/2 tblsp Sukku powder 1/2 tsp To temper Sesame oil 2 tblsp Mustard 1 tsp Fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp   Method Extract tamarind juice and dilute with water to make it 2 & 1/2 cups. Set aside. Grind coconut, pepper and sukku with little water until smooth. Heat a kadai with oil and temper with mustard followed by fenugreek seeds. Add half of curry leaves. Add cubed onion and garlic. Fry until it turns slightly pinkish. Add chopped tomatoes and fry for a minute. Mix the tamarind juice with ground mixture, sambar powder, turmeric and salt mean while. Add it to the kadai/ boiling vessel and bring to boil. Simmer and boil for 10 minutes or until thick consistency reaches. Mix lastly with the curry leaves torn roughly. Notes After mixing tamarind juice with everything, just taste few drops to check if all the tastes are balanced. Top with sesame oil when eating with rice.

         
        Enjoy this appetising kuzhambu with any kootu as accompaniment. I love to eat it rice. But can also be eaten with idli dosa as well.

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SABUDANA KHICHDI RECIPE | EASY BREAKFAST RECIPES

Sabudana kichdi is new to me and made this only twice so far. I think this is famous vrat recipe and has no onion and no garlic. So made mostly over Navratri by North Indians. My mom makes a upma with this and I love that too, but never made myself properly. After making this, I think I can make that too easily as now I know the knack to handle sabudana. Actually the one my mom makes is my favorite those days, the Javvarisi upma. Will post that version later here, now the Sabudana Kichdi recipe. I adapted the recipe from Chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s website and adjusted to suit my taste. This can be eaten as snack or for dinner. Very filling and high calorie food! :)
     

Sabudana Khichdi recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Breakfast
Prep Time: 3 hours soaking time    |  Cook time: 10 mins    |  Serves: 2

Ingredients

Sabudana/ sago - 1 cup

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Potato - 1

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Green chilli - 3

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Lemon - 1/2

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Peanuts - 3 tblsp

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Ghee - 1 tblsp

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To Temper

Ghee - 1 tsp

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Jeera - 1 tsp

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Mustard (optional) - 3/4 tsp

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Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Method

1. Wash sago well and soak it overnight(or atleast 3 hrs) with water just enough to immerse the sago. The next day morning, all water should have got absorbed by the sago and it will be soft and fluffy.
2. Boil potatoes and cube it and keep aside.In a non stick pan, add ghee and temper with mustard if desired and then jeera, followed by curry leaves. Add the cubed potatoes, little salt and fry for a minute.
3. Add the sago, required salt and stir well. Add ghee if needed and keep  in medium flame for 4- 5 minutes, until transparent and soft. Make sure you stir to avoid sticking to the bottom. Add crushed peanuts (roasted).
4. Give it a stir and lastly squeeze the lemon and toss well. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Notes

• The sago should get soaked well, then only it gets cooked easily too. So make sure you soak atleast 8 hours.
• Do not soak in more water. Just wash and add water to immerse the sago. Otherwise if you add more water, then becomes gooey.
• After you add sago and keep frying, as the sago gets cooked, it turns transparent. Make sure all the sago gets cooked.
• As it gets cooked, tends to be sticky but dont worry, it wont be too sticky.
• Mustard is purely optional. So you can avoid it.
• If you over cook the sago and keep frying, after turning transparent, it again starts to turn white.

Serve hot. I finished the meal with rose milk

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      I have always wondered how methi in the methi mutter malai could taste and afraid of trying it if it could be bitter. But when I tried last week, there was not even a pinch of bitter taste in the gravy. May be the butter, cream and milk we are using in the recipe. I was thinking how I will like and afraid how Aj will like it. But he loved it! So when ever I get fresh methi leaves, I am gonna make this. Pair it with Naan or roti, you will sure love it! Recipe slightly adapted from here.

Methi matar malai recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Side dish
Prep Time: 15 mins    |  Cook time: 15 mins    |  Serves: 3

Green peas(frozen) - 2 cups

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Methi leaves fresh - 1 cup

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Cream - 1/4 cup

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Milk - 1/2 cup

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Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

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Turmeric (optional) - a pinch

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Butter - 1 tblsp

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Kasoori methi(optional) - 2 pinches

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Salt - as needed

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Jeera - 1 tsp

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To fry and grind

Onion - 1

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Cashews - 7

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Green chilli - 5

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Ginger - 1 small piece

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Cardamom - 2

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Cloves - 1

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Method

1. Wash methi leaves and separate the leaves from stem. Chop it roughly. 
2. In a kadai, heat butter, add cardamom, cloves, onion, green chilli, ginger. Fry until onions are transparent. Cool down and add cashews and place in the blender.
3. Grind it into a smooth paste. Heat kadai with remaining butter and add jeera. 
4. Add the ground paste and fry well in medium heat.Cook until raw smell goes off with out changing the colour.
5. Add green peas and methi. Fry until peas gets cooked well.
6. Add turmeric, garam masala and salt. Fry for 2 minutes. Add milk and mix well. The flame should be medium and cook for 3-4 minutes. Do not boil in high flame. 
7. Lastly add the cream and mix well. Let it be for 2 minutes in medium flame again. Switch off the flame and transfer to the serving bowl.

Notes

• You can skip garam masala, kasoori methi and turmeric. But it gives some flavour to the gravy.
• After adding milk or cream never put the stove flame to high.
• Cashews are important as binding agent for keeping the milk or cream from not curdling. So do not skip it.
• Pinch of sugar can be added to retain the green colour of the peas while frying.
• You can pre cook the peas too and then proceed with the preparation.
• If you are using dried peas, soak overnight or for 12 hours and then pressure cook it for 2 – 3 whistles and then make this gravy.
• If using fresh ones, cook it before proceeding.

Goes well with roti, naan or any pulavs. I would love to have this with naan. Yummy and creamy methi matar malai!

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