Thattai

Thattai is an all time favorite snack in Tamil Brahmin households. It is usually made in large quantities and kept ready for evening tea or when guests arrive.

My mom shared a very easy recipe for making this tasty crispy snack.
Usually rice is soaked, dried, powdered, dry fried and sieved before making this. Here we take an easy route - we grind soaked rice!

Recipe Courtesy - Radha Parameswaran ( my mother)

Ingredients:
Rice (Idly ponni / ponni puzhukkal) - 1 cup
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Pottu kadala / roasted gram dal - 1 tsp
salt
Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Butter - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Soaked channa dal - 1 tbsp
Oil for deep frying
Til seeds - 1 tbsp

Method:
Wash and soak the rice in water for 3 hours.
Dry fry the pottu kadala and urad dal and grind into a fine powder.
Grind the rice flour into a thick smooth paste with very less water.
Transfer into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients - salt, asafoetida, chilly powder, butter, til seeds and soaked channa dal. If you feel that the dough is watery, add some store bought rice flour.
Mix well.
Heat oil in a kadai.
Take a small ball of dough and flatten it by pressing in between 2 plastic sheets.
Deep fry until golden brown.
Cool and store  in air tight container.

Kadhi Pakoda

A thick Curd gravy with crispy onion fritters.

Basically Bhajia in kadhi.

The recipe of the Kadhi has been shared before on this site. I will share my version of the onion pakode here. At home we prefer to not boil the pakode in the gravy as it becomes soggy. We just add it to the gravy at serving time, one pakode at a time as kids and hubby like it crisp. So that part of boiling the pakode or not is completely your prerogative.

Ingredients:
Onion - 2 large , chopped into thin long slices
Besan / chickpea flour - 2 tbsp (+ some more, if necessary)
Salt
Chilly - 1
Coriander leaf - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Kadhi ingredients

Method:
Mix the onion, chilly, coriander leaf well with the salt, turmeric powder and besan.
Keep aside for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, add a little more besan if you feel it has become very watery and is not coating the onion enough.
Deep fry in small batches as lumps till golden brown.

Make the kadhi and keep aside.
Either boil the pakode in the gravy for 1 minute just before serving, or serve both separate.
Serve with jeera pulav or plain white rice or Khichdi.

Shakshuka - eggs poached over a rich tomato gravy

Easy one-pot heavy breakfast.

This recipe is from the middle east - Israel or Morocco being the place of origin. Eggs are cooked over a rich tomato gravy and served with bread either toasted or otherwise.

Vessel : Heavy bottomed flat pan with sides and lid

Ingredients:
Egg - 3
Tomato - 2 large, chopped
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Garlic - 1 large clove, grated
Capsicum - 1/2 medium, chopped
Salt
Pepper - 1 tsp (or more)
Chilly powder - 1 tsp (or more)
Cumin / jeera powder - 1/2 tsp
Olive oil - 4 tbsp
Tomato sauce - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1 pinch
Coriander leaf to garnish

Method:

Heat the olive oil and saute the garlic and onion on low flame till translucent.
Add the capsicum and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the tomato, salt, pepper, chilly powder and cumin powder.
Continue cooking on low flame till mushy.
Now add the tomato sauce and sugar.
Cook for 1 minute. There should be a thick gravy in the pan.
Taste and add more seasoning to suit your family's taste.

Ten minutes before serving, break the eggs over the tomato sauce and cook covered on low flame for 5-6 minutes.
Serve hot with toasted bread and garnished with coriander leaf.

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