Instant Sooji Vada (in 15 minutes or less)

Sounds too good to be true - right? But that’s all it takes, and the vadais taste great. They even taste good when they are cold.

Navrathri went by in a blur this year. I had a few families for dinner on Friday, and had my big party on Saturday. I saved Sunday to visit a few other golus. But since a few people could not make it on Friday or Saturday, they came home on Monday. I had school the whole day, and a dear friend had called a few of us to her place on Monday as well. So I rushed back home, quickly prepped for my guests, changed, went to my friend's place, and rushed back to receive my guests. I made Sooji Kuzhi Paniyaram, along with mudi masala, dhokla, peanut chaat, and ras malai.

As usual I had overestimated my quantities and had some leftover sooji batter, after making the kuzhi paniyarams. I put this in the fridge along with all the other leftovers from my big party and forgot about it for a few days.

Then as my husband and I were slowly making our way through all the food in the fridge, I came upon this batter and decided to try something new. I added rice flour, grated carrots, and some ginger to it and made vadas. They were perfect! Because I had added rice flour, the dough was thick and really easy to shape into vadas. And the best part, they tasted great even when they were cold!

Last night, my husband was meeting a few of his buddies to discuss an upcoming trip and needed to take something for a potluck. Since it has been a long week, with two days of parent teacher conferences running till 8:00 p.m, I wanted to make something that was quick and easy. I decided to make these for him to take.

I am impressed with how good they taste and how simple they are to make.

Try these for your Deepavali or Thanksgiving party. I’m sure they will be a hit.

Instant Sooji Vada (in 15 minutes or less) Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes Makes about 24 - 28 vadas Here is what you need 1 cup MTR Rava Idli Mix ½ - ¾ cup yogurt 3 - 4 tbsp. Rice flour 1 onion, chopped fine 3 - 4 green chilies minced 1 cup spinach leaves, chopped fine (or other vegetables of your choice - like carrots or cabbage) ½” ginger, minced few curry leaves few coriander leaves, chopped a pinch of salt oil for deep frying Here is how I made it: Heat oil in a deep bottomed kadai or pan While the oil is heating, mix all the ingredients, except the oil for deep frying, so that the mixture forms a dough that you can shape into balls. If the batter is too moist, add more rice flour. If it is too dry, sprinkle some water. Keep a bowl of water and a sandwich size ziploc bag ready. Wet your hand and the ziploc bag. Take some batter (about the size of a big lime) in you hand and put it on the Ziploc bag.  Shape it like a donut with a hole in the middle. Drop this gently into the hot oil. You can fry a few vadas at a time. Turn the vadas over gently a couple of times till they turn golden brown all over. Place the vadas in a colander lined with paper towels to drain excess oil. Repeat till all the batter is done. Serve with chutney of your choice

Roasted Phool Makhana (fox nuts or lotus seeds) Snack

Makhana, also called fox nuts or lotus seeds, are popular in some regions of India and some other Asian cuisine. The most common use of the seed is in the form of lotus seed paste which is used extensively in Chinese pastries as well as in Japanese desserts.

Phool makhana is puffed lotus seed (seeds popped like popcorn).

I have seen phool makhana in my Indian store on several occasions. Growing up in Southern India, I was not familiar with this at all, and did not pay any attention to it.

Then, on my recent trip to California, I saw a bag of these in my friend’s pantry. She told me that she had tasted a snack made with these in her friend’s place. So, we tried replicating that in her house. It came out OK - not bad for a first attempt.

When I came back home, I picked up a bag of these from my Indian store. I have made these several times since then and love them!

It is a light, crunchy snack (kind of like popcorn) that takes almost no time to make and is healthy.

Roasted Phool Makhana (fox nuts or lotus seeds) Snack Prep time: 5 minutes                 Cooking Time: 15 minutes Serves: 4 Here’s what you need: 4 cups phool makhana (puffed lotus seeds) 3 tsp. Oil Salt to taste 1 tsp chili powder ¼ tsp. Turmeric powder Here’s how I made it: Dry roast the puffed lotus seeds in a thick bottomed deep saucepan, stirring constantly, on medium to low heat for about 15 minutes, till they are crunchy. Do not turn up the heat - the seeds will burn. In a small bowl, mix the oil, salt, turmeric powder, and chili powder. Pour this over the roasted lotus seeds. Toss to coat well. Once they cool down, store in an airtight container.

Ancient grains Adai (savory lentils and ancient grains pancake)

Before I head out to Costco, I make a list of things I need. I have perfectly good intentions of sticking to the list. I enter the store with a resolve to go quickly, find the things on my list, pay, and leave. And then, something catches my eye. It could be the edamame spaghetti, or the humongous bag of quinoa, or on this occasion, a Costco sized bag of Ancient Grains.

I was hosting a Mediterranean themed party and thought that I could use this to make a pilaf instead of rice. It came out really well, but I had only used 1½ cups of this mix. My family is not a big fan of quinoa, or bulgar, or barley, and so I couldn’t use it as a rice substitute for everyday use.

So, this mostly unused bag sat in my pantry for a month or so, making me feel guilty, every time I opened the pantry to get something.

Then, one day, when I was getting ready to soak the ingredients for adai, I had an inspiration! Why not use this mix, instead of rice?

This is a blend of pre-cooked rice, bulgur, pre-cooked barley, pre-cooked wheat berries, pre-cooked red rice, pre-cooked oats, and white quinoa.

I make adai at least once every 2 - 3 weeks. It is healthy (if you don’t add too much oil) and is so filling that you don’t need to serve anything else to make it a complete meal.

I have posted several versions of adai on this blog. This one uses Ancient Grains, which is a blend of pre-cooked rice, bulgur, pre-cooked barley, pre-cooked wheat berries, pre-cooked red rice, pre-cooked oats, and white quinoa.

It came out really well. I made the same quantity of batter that I normally make. While the adai with fresh batter tasted great and came out crispy, the ones I made after a couple of days did not have the same texture. So I would suggest making just enough for immediate use.

Ancient grains Adai (savory lentils and ancient grains pancake) Soaking time: 3 - 4 hours Prep. time: 10 minutes Cooking time: about 5 minutes per adai Servings: about 15 - 18 adais Here is what you need: 1 ½ cups Ancient Grains Mix ½ cup toor dal (Pigeon peas) ½ cup channa dal (split garbanzo) ¼ cup split black urad dal (split black gram) ¼ cup split moong dal (split green gram) 4 - 6 dried red chilies salt to taste ¼ tsp. hing (asafetida) ½ cup onions, finely chopped 1 sprig curry leaves 1 cup baby spinach, chopped oil for making the adais Here is how I made it: Mix the Ancient Grains mix and the lentils in a bowl. Rinse these a couple of times, add water and let it soak with the red chilies for 3 – 4 hours. Drain the water from the mixture and grind this to a coarse paste with salt, and hing adding little bit of water. You may have to grind these in batches, depending on your blender capacity Mix in the onions, curry leaves, and spinach. Heat a tawa or a griddle. I like using my cast iron griddle for adais. Pour a ladle full of batter onto the heated tawa and spread it out. It should be slightly thicker than dosas. Make a small hole in the middle and drizzle oil around the adai as well as in the center.  Wait for a few minutes – maybe about 3 - 4 minutes and then carefully flip it over. Cook on both sides till the adai is crispy. Serve hot with chutney of your choice, or with milagai podi.

Make Your Own Taco Bar

If you are planning to host a party in summer, and want to try something different, try setting up a “Make your own Taco Bar”. This is a huge hit with kids and adults and is super easy to set up.

It takes a little bit of prep work, but you don’t spend hours slaving over the stove and it is easy to customize. People can make it into a burrito bowl (gluten free) or wrap it up into a big tortilla for a loaded burrito. It is also a great dinner to have around the campfire.

While the taco bar provides for a sumptuous meal in itself, I do supplement with a soup and sometimes, tamales.

I forgot to take pictures of the set up, but hope you get the idea. I will update this post with pictures the next time I do this for a party

Make Your Own Taco Bar Prep. time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes Serves: 4 - 6 very hungry people Here’s what you need: 10 flour tortillas (small taco size) 2 cups Mexican rice 2 - 15 oz. cans organic black beans 2 cups organic frozen corn salsa, homemade or store bought guacamole 8 oz. shredded Mexican blend cheese 2 cups shredded lettuce 1 can sliced black olives 1 large tomato, diced 1 large onion, diced 2 avocados, diced 1 cup cilantro, chopped sour cream Cholula or other hot sauce Here’s how I made it: Make the Mexican rice. Recipe here Drain out the liquid from the black beans. Wash in several changes of water. Place in a microwave safe bowl and warm for about 1 minute. Add salt/seasoning if necessary  Place the corn in a microwave safe bowl and cook according to package directions Make the salsa and guacamole. Recipes here and here Set up the taco bar, by placing all the ingredients in bowls. Invite your guests to get creative and make their own taco/burrito/ burrito bowl Serve with lemonade or margaritas. Note: You can add fajita veggies as on of the toppings. To do this, sauté different colored peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, and onions on high heat with salt and taco seasoning.