Appam Recipe (without yeast) | Appam and Thengai Pal | South Indian Breakfast Recipe

Appam & thengai pal such a heavenly combo and makes me so nostalgic. Appam is a rice pancake that is lacy and tender, very filling and usually famous as a South Indian Breakfast special. Even since I can remember we have been having appam and thenga pal at home once a month. It takes loads of patience and a good recipe to make fool-proof appams. Who other than our mother's can get the equation right? There are tons of appam recipes that are flooded on the internet. I am sure each one has a unique and distinctive taste and texture. Let me tell you the appams I have seen in Tamil Nadu and Kerala are so different. The ones in Tamil Nadu are soft on the inside and crisp on the outside, whereas in Kerala majority of the places I have visited appams are fully white tender and lase like. Both kinds I enjoy as long as I have a good cup of coconut milk to accompany with. In TN we have Nallas Appa Kadai taking the honours of making appams from scratch and does make people lazy to prepare them at home. Nevertheless a good excuse to step up for a meal ;-)

Today I will sharing with you the Tamil kind of appams that are soft and tender on the inside and crisp on the outside, they go well with stews, kurma, coconut milk and any non veg curry. At home we make appams for breakfast and rarely for dinner unless we intend to indulge. The batter is used upto 3 times and if you are planning to try this recipe for the first time. I suggest that you half the proportions.

Roasted Makhana | Masala Makhana Recipe | Phool Makhana or Foxnut recipe

Makhana / Phool Makhana / Foxnut / Lotus Seeds are a healthy and popular snack. Only recently I had come to know about their benefits and picked a packed of Makhan seeds which I found in the super store. It is said that the Chinese consume them as a health food as they have many many healthy components like iron, zinc, calcium, protein, magnesium and so on. Lotus seeds has an astringent, it helps relieve diarrhoea and improve appetite. But you have not tried them and wonder how they taste? they are tasteless and without dry roasting them they are like stale popcorn. So make sure you dry roast them before preparing any recipe out of it. They depend on flavours from other ingredients so do them a flavour and season them well ;-). Once they are roasted and season they are like cheese pops with that airy crunchy texture that is soft and light to chew.

Masala Makhana / Roasted Makhana is a great spiced snack to go along with your evening tea, they are considered to be way healthy than popcorn (their counterpart). So grab a packet of these makhana and make this spicy healthy snack for your evening tea. You can do a big batch and store in an air tight container.

Medhu Vadai Recipe | Medu Vada Recipe | Ulunthu Vadai Recipe | How to make Crisp Medhu Vadai

Medhu Vadai / Medu Vada/ Ulunthu Vadai/ Uzhunnu Vada is a staple South Indian tiffen recipe. The most favorite pairing would be Ven Pongal, Sakkarai Pongal, Coconut Chutney, Sambar and Medu Vada (or) Idly, Vadai, Sambar & Chutney. Usually Medu Vada's are served hot lovely puffed up in hotels. But at home usually the vadas are small to medium sized with and without holes. Amma usually makes Vadas very rarely and if there are left overs she makes Sambar Vadai or Thayir Vadai (Curd Vada). Medu Vadas are deep fried and there cannot be a compromised in this recipe, skinless ulunthu / urad dal is soaked and later ground into a fluffy batter (airy), mixed with spices and then deep fried. In most homes medhu vadas are usually shaped in a milk cover or polythene cover and then fried in oil but recently we started to shape the vadas in one hand and fry them. Its mess free and easy too. Now lets move on to the recipe

Nethili Fish Fry | Anchioves Fish Fry | Nethili Meen Varuval

Its been a while since I had fish and seeing these pictures makes me crave so badly for some fish fry. Talking about this, these pictures were clicked when I was home and Amma made Nethili Meen Varuval (Anchioves Fish Fry). Amma usually cleans these tiny fish and remove the bones and only fries the freshly part. Its easier to chew and eat them not having to worry about those tiny bones. But in my opinion if you find tiny version of Anchioves you need not remove the bones and directly marinate the fish and fry them. 

Many famous South Indian restaurants serve this Nethili Fish Fry in a bed of fried curry leaves. The fish are crisp since they are mostly deep fried. This version of Nethili Fish fry are not crisp for two reasons one they are more freshly and they are shallow fried. Make sure you get fresh fish to make this recipe, marinate overnight and fry them the next day. While serving, make sure it is nice and hot and drizzle some fresh lemon juice for an extra punch.

Low Fat Dates Kheer | Dates Payasam | A sweet start to the New Year 2014

2014 has begun and seems like a year of total possibilities to me. No matter what 2014 has instore I just believe that everything will work out good. Worry does not seem to get us anywhere so lets bury the worry and be happy. The Bible says " For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare  and not for evil,  to give you a future and a hope". Jeremiah 29:11, this does make me hope and believe that God is in control. 

One other thing that has been ebbing in my heart is that lets be good to everyone no matter how they choose to treat us. "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up". Galatians 6:9. We live one life and lets choose how we live it. Recently this one phrase has caught with me and it goes like this " I do not want to live my life some way but I choose to live my life in a certain way" its so profound, may be we should think about how we choose to live our life and it has to be with substance not just worrying about what we can eat, drink or wear but what can I do to make life for meaningful. God gives us many chances to each one of us, so may be let 2014 be the year that we choose to live our life in a more meaningful way. Since its a fresh start to the new year I thought of sharing this simple low fat Kheer or Payasam which is simple yet delicious. Here's wishing you a year filled with hope, joy & peace.