Apple Crumble

Simple Apple Crumble. Best with Vanilla Icecream.

Ingredients
2  - pink or green apples
200gms  - Maida or Refined flour
200gms  - Brown Sugar
50gms    - Finely chopped nuts
20gms    - Unsalted Butter
2 drops  - Vanilla essence

Method
1. Slice the apples lenghtwise.
2. Caramelise brown sugar in a pan.
3. Add in the apples and saute till they turn soft.
4. Add few drops of vanilla essence.
5. In a separate bowl mix butter and Maida roughly with had bringing it to a powdered consistency.
6. Add half of the broken nuts.
7. In a greased bowl add in the Apple mixture and over it add the Maida powder.
8. Add remaining nuts if you like some burnt ones.
9. Pre heat Owen at 180c.
10. Place the bowl and bake for 20 to 25min depending upon your Owens instructions.
11. Serve hot with ice cream.

Aval/Poha/Chivda Jhatpat Mixture

No snacks available guests arriving by half hour.. Here is a Jhatpat quick mixture receipe within 20mins.

Ingredients:
250 gms - Flattened Rice/Aval / Poha
100 gms - Red Peanuts/ Verkadala/Munfalli
1 cup      - Dry Coconut/ Coppara bits
5              - Dry Red chillies
2 tbs       -  Red Chilly Powder
1 tbs       -  Turmeric Powder
1 tbs       -   Asafetida/Perunkayam/Hing
Bunch of curry leaves
Salt to taste
300 ml   - Oil to deep fry

Method:
1. Mix Aval with pinch of turmeric & oil.
2. Heat 100 ml oil and put small quantities of aval. Deep fry them. Make sure oil is pretty hot so that poha rises up quickly.
3. You would see all the oil get used for frying poha.
4. Add in rest of 200ml of oil.
5. Deep fry peanuts which takes a bit long time.
6. Then curry leaves followed by red chillies,coppara.
7. Cool them and mix them all in a clean box.
8. Mix the red chilly powder, salt, turmeric, asafetida into a powder
9. Sprinkle generously onto the mixture. Stir well.
10. Store in a air tight container

For sure this would be a good snack for the evening with tea.

Suggestions:
You can add roasted gram dhal/ pottu kadalai/ roasted channa dal, potato chips

Kanji Mavu/ Sathu Mavu/Healthy Traditional Porridge

Kanji Mavu or Sathu Mavu a traditional south Indian homemade healthy protein drink. Yes, you too get these in packed from across the shelves. It seems always easy to use ready mixes but, making your own from scratch gives you a satisfaction of avoiding adulterated food, more quantity and off course cost effective.
Kanji is mostly given to kids above 1yr and can be taken by any adult. The combinations of grains might differ according to each ones preference. It is more or less similar to ragi ball made by kanadigas but, tamalians tend to add additional combination of other grains.

Caution: All the ingredients listed below might be allergic to few people or might create stomach upset. So check the grains in small quantities and then use them.

Ingredients: for making 1 kg of Kanji mavu
300 gms - Ragi/ Finger Millet
100 gms - Bajara/Pearl Millet
50   gms - Jowar/ Sorgham flour
20   gms - Peanuts/ Ground nut
10   gms - Dry Corn Kernels
10   gms - Barley
5     gms - Badam/Almonds
5     gms - Green Gram/Pacha Pairu
5     gms - Roasted Gram/ Pottukadalai
5     gms - Jav Arisi/Tapioca Seeds

Methods
1. Dry roast all the ingredients separately.
2. Cool them and grind them into fine powder.
3. You may need to sieve them thrice and grind.
4. Mix them well cool them and store it in air tight container.

Method to make poridge:
1. Mix 2tbsp sugar/jaggery, 4 tbsp of Kanji Mavu to 2 parts of water.
2. Mix them well.
3. On a medium heat slowly keep stirring until the mixture turns to a porridge consistency. It would look like a glass plain texture.
4. To it add 1 glass of milk.
5. Mix well and drink hot.

If, you are not ok with milk. Replace salt and buttermilk instead of sugar and milk.
1. Cool the mixture and mix well with buttermilk .

Apple Banana Almond Milk Shake with Maple Syrup

Just picked Almond milk one fine day. Even though the milk is bit bitter but  yummy & heavier too. You can have it as an early morning breakfast.

Ingredients

4 tbsp - Maple Syrup

1          - Apple
1          - Banana

1 ltr     - Almond Milk

Method

1. Peal the apple skin and chop them into fine bits.

2. Add in the almond milk, apple, Banana and 2 tbs of Maple syrup.

3. Blend them into a shake.

Have it cold topped with Maple syrup.

You can use honey as an alternative to maple syrup.

Vazzhakai Podimas/ Raw Banana Dry Curry

A traditional dry curry made down south of India called Vazzhakai Podimas. Simple ingredients to explore and healthier one too.

Ingredients
2  - Raw Bananas/ Vazzhakai
3 tbsp - Fresh Grated coconut
1 tbsp - Broken Urad Dal
1 tbsp - Mustard / Kadugu
1 tbsp - Coconut oil
1 tbsp - Asafetida
1          - Dry red chilly
1          - Green chilly chopped
1 Wedge - Lemon/lime
Curry leaves
Salt to Taste

Method:
1. Steam cook the raw bananas.
2. Peal the skin off once they are cooked.
3. Grated the steamed bananas thru a carrot grater.
4. In a pan add oil. Once heated add in muatard,urad dal, curry leaves, asafetida.
5. Once they splutter add in green chillies.
6. To it add in grated raw bananas,salt and mix well.
7. Saute for 5 mins.
8. Remove from heat and squeeze 1 wedge of lemon.
Serve hot along with rice.

Vendhaya Keerai Arachu Vitta Kootu

Vendhaya Keerai/ Methi leaves/ Fenugreek leaves has a strong medicinal value for your system. Even though it tastes bitter when cooked gives immense flavour and taste.

Ingredients
2 - Big bunch Vendhaya Keerai

If the bunches are small use 4
1/2 cup - Grated coconut
1/4 cup - Pitham Parupu / Moong Dal
1 1/2 tbsp    -  Jeera
1 tbsp          -  Pepper
3                   -  Dry red chillies
2 tbsp          -  Oil
1 tbsp          -  Mustard seeds
1 tbsp          -  Urad Dal
1                   -  Chopped green chilly
1 inch          -  Ginger
Asafetida
Curry leaves
Salt to taste
Water to boil

Method:
1. Wash the vendhaya keerai or methi leaves thoroughly.
2. Pluck only the leaves and chop them coarsely.
3. In a pressure cooker add in keerai,Pitham parupu,ginger & green chillies,water as required to boil.
4. Pressure cook the keerai and give 4 whistles.
5. Meanwhile grind jeera,pepper,2 red chillies, coconut, asefatida.
6. Pour the ground paste on to the keerai along with salt and mix well.
7. In a pan add coconut oil , mustard seeds, jeera, 1 dry red chilly, asafatida, curry leaves.
8. Splutter them and pour it over the kootu.
Yummy healthy looting is ready. It can be taken with rice, chappati,bread too.

Kashyam - Home remedy for cold / cough

Home remedy or called as Patti Vaidhyam down south of India.

Remedy for Cold,Cough,Running nose,soar throat

Ingredients

2 gms - Chitrathai / Galangal
2 tbs  - Panam Kalkandu/ Palm Sugar
2 tbs. - Jeera or Carrom/Omam either is fine
8 pods - Black Peppercons
8 leaves - Tulasi or even Basil can be used
2 inches - Ginger
1ltr - Water

Method

1. In a pan add water.
2. Crush add the ingredients roughly.
3. Add them to water.
4. Boil in low flame for minimum 15mins.
5. Water has to reduce to 500ml or half the vessel.
6. Strain the ingredients and drink slowly.

The strained ingredients can be reused 2 times by adding more if palm sugar.
Drinking this for 3 consecutive days would give a sigh of relief.