I love sweet potatoes because they taste so good and high in nutritional content. This sweet potato roast (Chinni Kilangu poriyal) is a very easy to make side dish for sambar rice or dal rice. To make this sweet potato fry, first you have to steam the sweet potatoes, peel the skin, slice and fry it with sambar powder & garlic, finally in cast iron pan, slowly roast it in oil. Slow roasting the sweet potatoes, always gives a nice crispy texture on outside and soft and tasty on inside. Adding spice powder, garam masala and garlic gives a nice flavor and taste to the sweet potato. This sweet potato stir fry Recipe|Sakkarivalli kilangu poriyal goes well with rasam rice / curd rice. Also check my other potato recipe BABY POTATO ROAST in my blog.

    Ingredients

           2 Sweet Potatoes, Medium Size
           2 Big Garlic Cloves
           1 Tsp of Sambar Powder
           1/2 Tsp of Garam Masala
           1/2 Tsp of Fennel Seeds (Sombhu)
           1.5 Tbsp of Cooking Oil
           1/2 Tsp of Salt or to taste

    Method

• Wash the sweet potatoes and steam it in a steamer or idly cooker for 12 mins or until it turns soft. After it done, peel the skin and chop them into thin, circular slices.
• Crush the garlic in a mortar and pestle.
• Heat a pan with oil, when it is hot, add fennel seeds, after it sizzles, add sliced sweet potatoes, give a gentle stir, by flipping the slices to other side. 
• In a medium flame, add crushed garlic, sambar powder, garam masala and salt, give a quick stir, do not break the slices, make sure the masala coats all the sweet potatoes pieces. Cover the lid and cook it for 5 mins. 
• Take handful of water, sprinkle it over the veggies, turn the potato slices to other side, cover the lid and cook it for another 7 mins until it turns brown and crisp.
• Yummy sweet potato fry is ready to serve with  sambar rice or dal rice

         
    Tips

• If you don’t have sambhar powder, add 2 tsp of coriander powder, 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and 1 tsp of red chilly powder.
• If you don’t have coriander powder and red chilly powder, replace it with cayenne pepper/ black pepper powder and salt.
• Always roast the potatoes in cast iron pan / irumbu kadai to get crispy roasted potatoes.
• You can also marinate the potatoes in masala for 15 mins and then cook it.
• Adding garlic is to avoid gas flatulence.

 
    Health Benefits of Sweet Potato

• High in vitamin A, B6, D and C.
• Good Source of iron and magnesium.
• Superior fiber content than other potatoes.
• Rich in beta carotene & antioxidants.
• Good for heart. 

        Cornflakes mixture is a guilt free evening snack to munch with a cup of tea or coffee. My husband and I just love this mixture for evening snack, we also like Haldiram cornflakes mixture a lot. This is very easy to make crispy munchy snack.  Also it is ideal for children lunch box snack. Any beginner or bachelor who wants to try some simple and easy recipe for diwali, can try this mixture. So try this easy and instant mixture for diwali and enjoy.



     Ingredients

          1 Cup of Cornflakes
          1/2 Cup of Aval (Poha or Flattened Rice)
          1/4 Cup of Raw Peanuts
          2 Tbsp of Roasted Gram Dal
          1 Sprig of Curry Leaves
          1 Tsp of Red Chilly Powder or to taste
          Pinch of Sugar
          Pinch of Black Salt (Kala Namak)
          7 Roasted Almonds
          Salt to taste
          Pinch of Asafoetida
          2 Tsp of Oil


     Method

• In a microwave safe bowl, add the corn flakes to it and microwave it for 2 mins. Every 30 secs, take the bowl out and mix it. This is to avoid burning taste. Transfer this to a mixing bowl.
• In a pan, heat 1/2 tsp of oil, add aval, fry for a min and transfer it to cornflakes bowl. Again in the same pan, add some oil, and fry the roasted gram dal and peanuts for 2 mins, until they changes color. Transfer it to a bowl containing cornflakes.
• Heat oil in a pan, in a low flame, add the curry leaves, asafoetida, red  chilly powder, salt and sugar, give a quick stir and turn off the flame. Transfer this to a bowl containing corn flakes and add black salt. Mix gently until all the ingredients are well coated with spices.
• Cool down and store it in an airtight container.
• Serve it as evening snack for coffee or tea.

     Tips

• You can also fry the cornflakes in a pan with oil instead of doing it in microwave.
• You can take some cornflakes in a strainer and immerse it into heated oil and fry it, in that case you get a very nice taste. But this method is good for health.
• Add any nuts of your choice like cashews, raisin or walnuts.
• Adding black salt is optional. Just use table salt.
• Don’t use flavored cornflakes to make this mixture.

  
     Health Benefits of Cornflakes

• Low sugar and less in calories.
• It is easy to digest, quite light, and has all essential vitamins and minerals that your body is needed.
• Good diet plan to prevent heart disease and cholesterol.
• A good source of anti-oxidants as they contain carotenoid pigment which prevents the cardiovascular disease and cancer.          

           Kanchipuram Idly / Kanjeevaram Idly / Kanchi Idly is a nice variation to regular rice idly (steamed rice cakes). The name originated from the place called Kanchipuram in Tamilnadu, famous for temples and pattu (Hand woven silk) sarees. This idly is mildly spiced and steamed. Addition of spices and ghee gives a nice aroma and taste to the idly. But these idlies are traditionally steamed in dhonnai (dried leaf cups),  hence they are also called kudalai idly, which adds an extraordinary fragrance and taste to the idly. Since I didn’t get dhonai in my place, I used idly cooker to steam this Kancheepuram idly. So start your day with this protein rich healthy breakfast. It goes well with peanut chutney or mint coconut chutney or idly podi.

    Makes : 20 Idlies

    Ingredients

            2 Cups of Idly Rice / Raw Rice
            1 Cup of Urad Dal
            3 Tbsp of Bengal Gram / Chenna Dal
            1/2 Cup of Thick Yogurt (Curd)
            1.5 Tsp of Whole Cumin
            1.5 Tsp of Whole Pepper
            1 Green Chilly, Finely Chopped
            1 Tsp of Grated Ginger
            Handful of Curry Leaves
            2 Tbsp of Ghee (Melted Butter) / Oil
            Salt to Taste

    Method

• Soak the rice and dal in water separately for 3-4 hrs.
• In a blender (mixie) or grinder, wash the urad dal and grind it to a fine batter, remove it and transfer this to a bowl.
• In the same blender, grind the idly rice to a coarse consistency like rava texture. Finally add the urad dal batter to ground rice and grind it for another 5 mins. Transfer this batter to a bowl, add salt and mix well. Your batter should be thick, not watery. Let it ferment for 12 hrs. As I am in US, It took 20 hrs to ferment.
• Soak bengal gram in water for 30-40 mins, drain the water and add it to the batter. Add beaten curds, whole cumin, green chilly, whole pepper, grated ginger, ghee, and salt, mix well.
• Grease the idly plates or tumbler with oil, pour the batter to the idly plates and steam it for 20 mins.  Once it done, turn off the heat and remove the idly plate, let it sit in counter top for 5 mts. Remove the idlis carefully with a spatula and serve hot with peanut chutney or Mint Coconut Chutney.

   Tips

• The batter should be coarse like rava (sooji) and thick.
• Adjust the spiciness according to your taste. 
• You can make idly with idly plates or tumbler or small cups or big stainless bowl or dhonnai, make sure you greased well with oil before pouring the batter.
• Here I used tumblers to make idly, just pour the batter into the tumbler and keep it in a idly plate, but you can place only one plate in a idly cooker.

• If your are using big stainless bowl with batter, use pressure cooker, in that case don’t use weight, just cover it with lid. Finally slice it like cake and have it.

• Use fresh curd to make this idly.
• You can also saute the spices in oil, before adding them to batter.

    Health Benefits of  Rice, Urad Dal And Bengal Gram

• Lentils are high in fiber and protein, and low in fat. Eating lentils and other foods that are rich in soluble dietary fiber can help decrease high cholesterol
  A dish of  rice with dal gives you carbohydrates, protein, fiber and fats for a healthy, balanced meal. The rice provides carbohydrates for quick-release energy & aids in digestion.
• Urad dal is rich in protein and good for heart.