Potato Peas Cutlet

Hmm... the word CUTLET makes most people mouth-watering. Never mind, I am one among them. This is an easy to make dish which is both filling and tasty. Not just potatoes or peas it can be made using any pressure cooked vegetable for that matter. But it's always better to choose a vegetable that complements spices.
Here you go with the recipe

Ingredients:
2 tablespoon cornflour or maida
2 medium sized potatoes
1/2 cup peas
1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
1 chopped onion
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
Coriander finely chopped
pinch of turmeric
1 cup bread crum
salt to taste

Method:
Pressure cook the potato and peas and smash them after peeling the baked potatoes.
Add oil to the pan, fry chopped onion, then add ginger-garlic paste, turmeric. Fry again.
Add the smashed vegetables. Add chilli powder, garam masala, salt and mix well. Let the ingredients cook until the raw smell from them goes away. Add coriander and stop the flame.
Once cooked, let the mixture cool for sometime.
Mix cornflour/maida in water to make a paste.
Make small balls out of the veg mixture and dip them in the flour paste.
Put the balls in bread crums and roll evenly. Now press the ball to make the patti for our cutlet.
Add little oil to the thava and place the patties one by one. Maintain medium flame. Add oil to the top of the patties. Turn them upside down until both the sides are roasted and crisp.
Serve the cutlets with sauce.

Red Lentil Dosa

Another crispy dosa which needs no fermentation. This can be served with any chutney. My husband likes to have it with curd.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice (paccha arisi)
11/2 cups red lentil
3 or 4 dry red chillies
5 garlic pods
pinch of hing (asafoetida)
salt to taste

Method:
Soak the rice and lentils separately in water for 4 hours.
Blend the soaked rice and lentils along with garlic and chilli.
Add salt and hing. Add water to get to the consistency of usual dosa batter.
Now the batter is ready for making dosa.

Variation:
Add chopped green chillies and onion to the batter after tempering with mustard and channa dhaal for Red Lentil Adai.

Onion Rava Dosa

This is the dish I order by default whenever I go to hotel for a tiffin.


Ingredients:
1 cup Rava
1 cup Rice flour
1/4 cup Maida
1/2 teaspoon Ginger paste
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon pepper(coarse powder)
2 chillies finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
Salt to taste

Method:

• Except onion, mix all the ingredients and add water to get the batter to the consistency of butter milk.
• Heat the thava under high flame. Once it is hot, sprinkle chopped onion on it.
• Now take a ladle of batter (mix well so that rava doesn't settle at the bottom of vessel) and spray it on the thava which already has the sprinkled onion. The batter layer on the thava should be very thin to get a crispy dosa.
• Apply little oil over the dosa. Always maintain high flame. Need not cover with lid.
• Once the bottom surface of the dosa gets roasted, dosa can be taken out.
• The same method can be repeated without onion, to get Plain Rava dosa.

Ragi Vada

Another easy snack for a cold evening

Ingredients:
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup roased channa (pottu kadalai)
1 cup ragi flour
3 green chillies chopped
1 onion finely chopped
chopped coriander
Salt to taste
Oil

Method:
Grind the peanuts and channa to a coarse powder
Mix the ragi flour, ground powder, salt, chilli, onion, coriander. Add water and make it into a dough not too hard or not too soft.
Prepare the vada pati by pressing with your palm.
Heat oil in a pan under medium flame and drop the patis into the oil and fry in medium flame.

Baby Corn Pakodas

A very easy to prepare snack within few minutes

Ingredients:
10 baby corn
5 tablespoon Corn Flour
5 tablespoon All purpose/Maida flour
4 Garlic pods
1 inch Ginger
3 Green chillies
1 tablespoon peppercorn(coarse powder)
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander

Method:
Cut the baby corn into 2 halves lengthwise
Grind the green chillies, ginger and garlic into a paste
Mix the maida,corn flour, salt, pepper, coriander and ground paste. Add water to get the consistency of pakoda batter.
Dip each piece of baby corn in the batter and fry in oil till golden brown and crisp.
Can be served with sauce.

Sponge Cake

My first recipe in the blog is the cake that I prepared for my husbands' birthday.

Ingredients:

100 gm Maida/All purpose flour

100 gm butter (soft, but not melted)

100 gm powdered sugar

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Pinch of salt

Method:

• Seive the flour and keep it aside
• Add butter to the mixing pan. Beat it with the egg beater/stirrer for about 2 to 3 minutes in the same direction.
• Add powdered sugar and vanilla essence to the butter and repeat beating.
• Separate the egg white and the yolk. Add the egg white to the mixure and beat again.
• Add the yolk and repeat beating.
• Add the flour, baking powder and salt. This time gently stir for 2 minutes.
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking tray slowly. Do not try to level the batter after pouring. The batter should ideally settle on its own intaking as much air so that the cake is soft and spongy. 

Preparing the tray and oven:

• Grease the baking tray by applying butter evenly on the inner surface of the tray and sprinkle maida flour onto the greased tray.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degree celsius for about 15 mins. The oven must be slightly open for the first few mins of preheating so that all the moisture within could escape.
• After preheating, place the tray inside the oven. Maintain the temperature of 180 degrees and allow the cake to bake for 30 mins.
• Switch off the oven and leave the cake in the oven for 3 to 5 mins.
• Open the door gently.

Tips:

• Gently tap the sides and bottom of the tray without touching the inner walls of your tray so that the flour gets evenly deposited over the grease. This is to prevent the cake from sticking to the tray.
• Keep an eye on the progress of the cake within the oven. Once you feel the essence of the cake, its almost baked, wait for the top of the cake to get a little golden brownish. If you feel the cake is getting more darker, then you must switch the oven off to prevent the cake from overbaking which would reduce its softness.
• The oven door must be opened gently so that the air does not gush into it and press the cake.