orema

  The savory version of kozhukattai , which is made by stuffing urad dal poornam, made for ganesha chaturthi. Last year itself i wanted to post the recipe of ulundu kozhukattai, but somehow i couldn’t make it out. In my mom’s place she makes this savory version of kozhukattai more than the Modakam, where as in my in laws place every one likes Modakam a lot. Though making of kozhukattai is a bit time consuming i love to make it and of course to eat it too.

INGREDIENTS:(FOR POORNAM)[ YIELDS 14-15 KOZHUKATTAIS]

URAD DAL	1/4 CUP
TOOR DAL	1 TSP
RED CHILLI	2
SALT	AS NEEDED
ASAFOETIDA	A PINCH
OIL	1 TSP
MUSTARD SEEDS	1/4 TSP
CURRY LEAVES	FEW

 FOR OUTER COVER:

RICE FLOUR|IDIYAPPAM FLOUR	1 CUP
SESAME OIL	1 TSP
SALT	AS NEEDED
WATER	1 AND 1/4 CUP(MINUS 1 TBLSP)

METHOD:

• Soak the urad dal and toor dal together for 45 minutes.
• The addition of toor dal is to avoid the stickiness of the urad  dal.
• After 45 minutes, drain the water and grind this along with red chilli, asafoetida and salt into a coarse paste.
• Make it into patties and steam them in a idli maker for 12 minutes.

• Take out and allow it to cool.
• When it is completely cool just pulse it in a mixer to get the poornam as we make for parrupu usili.

• In a pan, add oil and temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves.
• When it splutters, add the pulsed urad dal mixture. Saute for 2 minutes and switch off the flame.

• Cover this and keep aside.

For making the outer layer:

• Boil the water to a nice rolling boil and add salt and sesame oil to the water.
• Now add the flour to the water. Keep the flame low and add the flour.

• Stir it without any lumps and let the dough come into a soft mass.
• Put off the flame and when it is warm roll it with your hands to form a nice dough.
• Keep it in a  wide vessel by covering it with a  clean moist cloth.

• Take out a medium lemon sized ball and grease your hands with sesame oil.
• With you fingers make a small cup out it.

• Place a tsp of poornam into this and carefully seal the edges.
• Repeat the same procedure for the rest of the dough.

• Steam them for 10 minutes in a greased idli plate.You can see the shinny texture of the kozhukkatis once they are done.

• After 2 minutes transfer them to a bowl.
• Kohukattais are ready for neiveidyam.

Note:

• Always keep the outer layer covered to avoid dryness , which if you don’t do will form cracks in the kozhukattais.
• The left over urad dal poornam can be used in Ammini kozhukattai instead of idli milagai podi.

When Varsha told me to bake some cookies for Teacher’s day celebration at her school, I was searching for some eggless cookies and my google search ends when i saw these eggless Vanilla custard powder cookies in Sowmya's blog. I like her baking recipes a lot. I loved the recipe as it is doesn’t have butter too. For me taking out the butter before hand and handling them in the measuring cup is a lazy job!!. This recipe has used oil and they turned out totally awesome. No where i could find the oil taste in the cookie.
The place where I did the mistake was i over baked the first batch , though she mentioned in the recipe not to do that, and i got many of them burnt. But the second batch i took out in the right time and they really melted in the mouth.Click here for the original recipe. She used whole wheat flour too but i used only All purpose flour.

INGREDIENTS:(YIELDS 40- 45 COOKIES)

MAIDA | ALL PURPOSE FLOUR	2 CUPS
CUSTARD POWDER	1/2 CUP
BAKING POWDER	3/4 TSP
BAKING SODA	1/2 TSP
SUGAR	1 CUP
OIL	1 CUP
VANILLA ESSENCE	1 TSP

METHOD:

• Combine the flour, custard powder(i used Vanilla flavor) baking soda and baking powder.
• If you want for even mixing just sieve them together.

• Combine the sugar and oil and mix this till the sugar gets dissolved.
• I wanted to make it easy and  put them both in a mixer and whipped for a minute.
• Slowly add this to the dry ingredients(flour mixture) and combine well.
• Make it into a smooth dough.

• Pinch small portion of your dough. Make it into a smooth ball and flatten it. I just made lines with fork which is just optional.

• Line the baking tray with Parchment paper(butter paper)
• Place the cookies slightly away from each other. Mine slightly expanded while baking. Bake it for 10 minutes at 170 degree C.
• Take out from the oven and cool them in a wire rack.
• 
• These are the first batch of my cookies which are slightly over baked.
• The cookies were soft when u take out from the oven. Once completely cooled they will become firm and crispy.
• Though these cookies were made with oil, they just melted in the mouth.

NOTE:

• Never over bake the cookies. Take out them when they are soft.
• If the dough is stiff while kneading add a tblsp of cold milk or water to make it a smooth dough.
• Chocolate chips or tutti fruity can be garnished on the top before baking the cookies.
• I used Vanilla custard powder, and i love to try this again with butter scotch flavor too.

VELLAI KONDAKADALAI SUNDAL.

Channa sundal , though we make usually during Navaratri or Ganesha Chaturthi , i make this whenever i am running out veggies or whenever i soak for Channa Masala or Channa pulao I soak a handful extra to make this sundal. This way of making sundal I learnt from my mother in-law and i like this one as it is loaded with nice flavors of fresh ground masala.

INGREDIENTS:

BOILED CHICKPEAS	1/2 CUP
CORIANDER SEEDS	1/2 TBLSP
CHANNA DAL	1/2 TBLSP
RED CHILLI	2
COCONUT(FRESH)	2 TBLSP
COCONUT OIL	1 TSP
MUSTARD SEEDS	1/4 TSP
CURRY LEAVES	FEW
ASAFOETIDA	A PINCH
SALT	AS NEEDED

Method:

• Soak the chickpeas over night and pressure cook for 3 whistles by adding little salt to this.
• Drain the water and keep it aside.

• In a pan, dry roast the coriander seeds, channa dal and red chilly till golden brown.

• When it is cool, make it into a fine powder.

• In the same pan, add the coconut oil and mustard seeds and when it splutters add the curry leaves  and the cooked chickpeas.

• Take a tblsp of ground spice mix and add to the chickpeas.
• If you have remaining, store it in a dry container and use it whenever required.
• This same spice mix can be used for bisibelabath and arachuvitta sambar.

• Saute this for a minute and add the scrapped coconut.

• Mix well and check for salt.
• Serve with any gravy and hot rice.

  Few days back when i was talking to my friend who recently got a baking oven, asked me a recipe of a basic cake recipe. I suggested a few eggless baking recipes from my blog . But i wanted to try a a basic eggless vanilla sponge cake too. I already tried this Vanilla sponge cake from Sharmis Passion and i thought i will make it again and blog the recipe too.
This cake turned out super soft and moist. I wanted to bake it in a loaf pan, but ended up baking in a round spring foam pan only. I added little tutti fruitty to the cake. You can skip that and bake a plain cake too.
While uploading the pictures i realized that this is my 300th post too.
Thanks Sharmi for the perfect recipe. We enjoyed the cake very much.


INGREDIENTS:

ALL PURPOSE FLOUR(MAIDA)	1 AND 1/2 CUP
YOGURT	1 CUP
SUGAR	3/4 CUP
BAKING SODA	1/2 TSP
BAKING POWDER	1 AND 1/2 TSP
COOKING OIL	1/2 CUP
VANILLA ESSENCE	1 AND 1/2 TSP
MILK	1 TSP
TUTTI FRUITY	1 TBLSP(Optional)

METHOD:

• Cream sugar and yogurt ( use yogurt in room temperature) till the sugar gets dissolved.

• Add baking powder and baking soda to this mixture and mix well.
• Keep it aside for 5 minutes.
• Add vanilla essence.
• Add oil to this.

• In a wide bowl add the flour and slowly add the wet mixture to the flour.

• Mix well to get a creamy texture.
• Add tutti fruity to this and mix well.( if using)

• Pre heat the oven to 180 degree C for 10 minutes.
• Grease the baking pan and dust it with flour.
• Transfer the cake mixture to the baking tin.
• Bake it for 35 –40 minutes at 180 degrees C till the center gets completely cooked. Check it by inserting a tooth pick in the center. If it comes out clean then it is cooked.

• After 20 minutes just brush the top of the cake with milk to get a glaze.
• when it is completely cooled keep it in the refrigerator for 3 hours and cut the cake.
• This step will make it to get perfect pieces without crumbles.
• But i didn’t do as i have to click soon as the weather was getting bad and it was about to rain. (Natural light will work out best for pictures)

Note:

• Never allow the batter to sit for a long time as this will make the cake hard.
• 3/4 th cup of sugar is normally perfect but  i prefer to have little extra and so you can make it as 1 cup also.
• The taste of yogurt will not be felt in the cake so you can move on to try out this recipe without any second thought.