Soya Puffs

Puffs used to a bakery fav when we were kids. We have eaten dozens of puffs from Ambrosia bakery and Santa bakery in Trivandrum. My mom's office was near these famous bakeries in Trivandrum and she would pick up some puffs and cakes on her way back home. When I was in India a few months back, I made it a point to visit one of these bakeries to relive that childhood memory.

Now that I can buy pastry sheets quite easily and have an oven, I think this is super easy snack to make. I did a slight twist to vegetable puffs and made Soya puffs to get that nice bite.



Ingredients

Puff Pastry sheet 1 (I cut 9 pieces from my big sheet. There was stuffing for about 12 puffs)
Soya Chunks 2 cups
Onions 2
Tomato 1
Potato 1
Cumin 1 tsp
Saunf/Fennel Seeds 1 tsp
Chilli Powder 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala 1 tsp
Coriander Powder 1 tsp
Turmeric 1/2 tsp
Oil and Salt to taste



Method of Preparation

1. Heat water in a pot. When it comes to a boil, add the soya chunks. Cook for 5 minutes Switch off. Drain. Wash in cold water. Squeeze thoroughly to make sure no water is trapped in.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin and fennel seeds. When it sizzles, add sliced onions. Saute till it starts to brown. You can add some ginger and garlic paste as well.

3. Add chopped tomatoes and cook till it is all done.

4. Add chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder, turmeric and salt. Mix well.

5. Boil or microwave a potato. Peal and mash it. Add it to the pan.

6. Chop the soy chunks and add to the pan. Mix everything well. Cook for a couple more minutes and switch off.

7. Thaw the pastry sheets for 15 min (or package instruction). Cut into equal pieces. Add a little of the cooked stuffing to it and fold. Seal the ends by pressing with hands.

8. Arrange on a lined baking sheet. Brush the top with a little milk. Bake for 15-20 minutes @ 200C (package instructions) till the top starts to get a nice colour. I baked for 18 min.



Linking this to Lets Cook - Starters - Event by Radhika
Linking this to I Love Baking

Kariveppilai Kozhambu | Curry Leaf Kozhambu

If I have to pick one herb that I love the most, it has to be Curry leaf. For me the best part of cooking is when I throw the curry leaves to oil for tempering and the sputtering sound and smell fills the kitchen. Also love to pull the curry leaf from the stem - holding the bottom with left hand and with the right hand, pull from bottom to top. The sound of it, the memories of running to the backyard as kids and pulling it directly from the plant.

I think I have mentioned it in an earlier post, do you know the song - poo pookum osai in movie minsara kanavu? It has a line 'pasi konda neeram thalikkum osai santhosha sangeetham' - when you are hungry the sound of tempering is like music. In Tamil cooking, tempering is mostly done at the end and it indicated the end of cooking. The funny part is if you are listening to the sound from a Kerala kitchen where tempering is almost always the first step :-)



Ingredients

Curry Leaves 1 cup
Channa Dal 1 tbsp
Pepper 1.5 tsp
Cumin 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies 4
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal 1 tsp
Tamarind Paste 3/4 tsp
Water 1.5 cups

Oil and Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Heat a pan. Add the Channa Dal and dry roast it.

2. When it starts to brown, add the pepper, cumin and red chillies.

3. When they start to roast, switch off the gas and add the curry leaves and saute a little.

4. Grind into a fine paste. Add 1.5 cups of water and water it down.

5. In the same pan, add some oil. When it heats, add mustard. When it sputters, add Urad dal (optional).

6. Add the curry leaf paste to the pan. Add tamarind paste and salt. Mix well.

7. Bring it to a boil and simmer for a few minutes. Switch off and serve with some warm rice.



Linking this to EP Herbs and Spices - Curry Leaf and Red Chilli Event by Julie hosted by Poonam

Ellu Boli - Sesame Boli

Presenting to you the recipe of the ever favourite sweet boli. For us no wedding is complete without boli, eaten with pal payasam.. Of course the wedding boli is different one - made with sugar and dal. I will try and make that some other day... For now, I made a poornam (stuffing) with sesame and coconut. Works well for this month's Magic Mingle #8 theme of Sesame and Jaggery.



Ingredients (Makes 5 boli)

For Stuffing (Poornam)
Sesame seeds 3 tbsp
Coconut 5 tbsp
Jaggery 5-6 tbsp
Cardamom powder 1/4 tsp

For outer layer
Wheat Flour 1 cup
a pinch of salt
Cardamom Powder 1 pinch
Oil a few drops

Method of Preparation

1. Take wheat flour in a bowl. Add other ingredients and mix. Make a dough with water like making chappati dough. Make 5 balls from it.

2. In a pan, saute the sesame till it starts to sputter and changes colour. Powder it. Keep aside

3. Pulse the coconut as well in the mixie. Keep with the sesame.

4. In a pan, add a little water. Little over 1/4 cup. Add the jaggery and mix till it is all melted and it starts frothing.

5. Add cardamom powder, sesame and coconut. Mix well till comes together.

6. Let it cool a little and then roll into 5 balls.

7. Flatten each dough ball. Place a sesame ball in it. Pull the edges together and cover. Roll like a parata. I would recommend rolling all paratas first before cooking as the seseme ball starts to harden quickly.



8. Cook on both side applying butter or ghee.





If you are eating later or next day, I found that heating in microwave for 10-15 sec softens it and it tastes awesome when warm.

Happy Krishna Jayanthi to all of you....



Engathu Kutti Krishnan



I got an award last month for posting 5 recipes to Magic Mingle #7 - Moong Dal and Pepper. Do check out the recipes in this link

Linking this to Celebrate Month of Shravan - Event by Jagruthi hosted by Sangee

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Broccoli soup has a special place in my heart. My fav broccoli soup is from the Panera Bread Restaurant in US. I used to enjoy it till I became lactose intolerant and cheese in the soup did not sit well in my stomach. My husband enjoyed it till we found out that it is not actually a veg soup. It has beef stock in it. To their credit, they have not marked it as Veg in their menu.. But inspite of all this (or should I say because of all this??) this is the best broccoli soup I have ever tasted.



Here is my version of the soup. No I have not tried to recreate their soup :-(

Ingredients

Onion 1
Potato 1
Broccoli 1 head
Pepper 1/2 tsp
Italian Seasoning 1/2 tsp
Milk/Cream 1/2 cup
Water or Stock 3 cups
Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Heat a little oil in a pan. Add chopped onions and potatoes. Cook for a few minutes.

2. Add 2 cups of water or stock. Bring to a boil and cook the potatoes. I used just water.

3. When it is cooked, add chopped broccoli and wilt for a couple of minutes.

4. Switch off and cool. Grind in a mixie in batches. If you have an immersion grinder, just grind directly.

5. Transfer back to the pot. Add milk and another cup of water or stock (use only as required) to adjust the thickness.

6. Add salt, pepper and italian seasoning. Bring to boil and simmer for a few minutes.

Enjoy with some crusty bread

Inchi Thogayal - Ginger Chutney

My bloghop partner this month is Nagashree of Sattvaa. After browsing thru the amazing array of recipes in her blog I picked Allum Pachadi. Paired it with Pesarattu. Don't forget to check my Pesarattu recipe.



I made little changes to the recipe to suit our needs.

Remember that this is fairly spicy and not for the faint of heart. I could not serve it for my little one who is usually ok with most chutneys and thogayals that I make. You can skip the red chillies all together if you want a milder version.

I have to say, as of the day I made this, it is my Favourite thogayal.

Ingredients

Ginger 1 cup chopped
Urad Dal 1/4 cup
Tamarind paste 1 tsp
Mustard 1 tsp
Methi seeds 1/2 tsp
Hing a little
Jaggery 2 tbsp
Red Chilli 4

Oil and salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Heat a little oil in a pan. Add mustard. When it sputters, add the whole pealed urad dal.  When it starts to brown, add the methi seeds and red chilli.  Roast till it is all slightly browned. Transfer to a mixie

2. In the same pan, add the chopped ginger and cook for a few minutes. Add to mixie

3. Add a little water to the pan (2-3 tbsp) and powdered jaggery. Melt it. Add to mixie.

4. Add tamarind paste, salt and hing to the mixie.

5. Grind to a paste.

Enjoy with dosa or idli. You can mix with rice as well. I even had the left over as a sandwich spread.





Linking this to Blog Hop Wednesday - Recipe by Nagashree of Sattvaa. Check other bloghoppers here