I usually start most of my days either with poha or oats upma or cereals. When I was talking to my friend, the other day, she gave me this aval vadai recipe, since this aval vadai does not need any grinding and soaking part, immediately I want to give it a try, for my evening snack. Me and my husband really liked it, because it tasted almost like medu vada with crispy texture on outside and soft on inside. You can make this poha vada recipe either as a snack or for navarathri celebrations or diwali or krishna jayanthi. Also make this quick easy aval vada for unannounced guests. I bet kids will love this vadai for sure. Serve this easy aval vadai either with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup and hot tea.

Ingredients for aval vadai

    Yield : 9 Vadai 

• 1 Cup of Thick Variety of Aval / Poha  / Flattened Rice Flakes
• 1 Cup of Water
• 1 Medium Size Onion, Finely Chopped
• 2 Green Chilies, Finely Chopped
• 3 Tbsp of Thick Curd (Yogurt)
• 2 Tbsp of Rice Flour
• 2 Tsp of Besan Flour / Kadalai Maavu
• 1 Inch of Ginger, grated
• 1 Tsp of Whole Black Pepper
• Pinch of Asafoetida
• 1 Sprig of Curry Leaves
• 2 Tbsp of Cilantro (Coriander Leaves), Finely Chopped
• 1 Tsp of Salt or to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Method

• Soak the aval(poha/rice flakes) in water for 5 mins. Drain as much as water from aval, mash well with hand or with back of the spoon.

• Heat oil in a shallow pan.  Take a zip lock bag or Milk cover or banana leaf or polythene sheet and have 1 cup of water in bowl on side.

• Just wet your right hand in water, place the batter ball in the center of zip lock bag greased with water. Make a hole in the middle of the batter and carefully transfer it to the hot oil. Deep fry them on medium heat, until it turns golden brown on both sides. Continue the same process for each vadai.
• Serve hot with coconut chutney or peanut chutney or tomato ketchup and tea.

Tips

• You can use thick or thin variety of aval / poha.
• To make this vadai, use white or red rice flakes.
• If you feel your batter is watery, add little more rice flour.
• Adjust the spiciness according to your taste.
• If you don’t have besan flour, just use rice flour.
• Addition of rice flour gives crispy taste to vadai.
• You can also add 1/2 tsp of cumin or fennel seeds, for easy digestion. Instead I added asafoetida for digestion.

Tags : aval vadai, poha vadai, how to make easy aval vadai, prepare aval vadai, krishna jayanthi recipe, diwali vadai recipe, vada for guest, south indian vadai recipe, aval vadai recipe

     When I was looking for some healthy and eggless cake recipe,I saw this recipe in Anjum Anand show in BBC. But I slightly altered that recipe to my taste buds. This semolina cake is very simple to make with household ingredients, just combine all the veggies, spices, semolina and yogurt in a bowl, transfer it to a baking pan and finally bake it in an oven. Addition of yogurt makes the cake moist and tasty. On every bite, sesame seeds gives a nice crunchy taste. You can have this cake either for sunday breakfast or as evening snack with tea or coffee. This cake is super moist on inside and crusty on outside. Try this eggless no butter cake in your home. Even diabetic people can enjoy this snack cake.

    Ingredients

        1 Cup of Rava (Semolina )
        1 Cup of Thick Curd (Yogurt)
        2 Tbsp of Water
        1 Medium Size Carrot, Grated
        5 Green Beans, Finely Chopped
        3 Tbsp of Green Peas
        1 Inch of Ginger, Grated
        2 Green Chilies, Finely Chopped
        1/2 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
        1/2 Tsp of Red Chilly Powder
        1/2 Tsp of Baking Soda
        1-2 Tsp of Sesame Seeds
        1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
        1/2 Tsp of Whole Cumin
        1 Sprig of Curry Leaves
        3 Tbsp of Oil (Vegetable or Canola Oil)
        Salt to taste
             

       Yield : 1 Loaf

    Method

• Wash and chop the beans and green chilly into fine pieces, grate the carrot and ginger. Keep this aside.
• In a mixing bowl, add semolina, carrot, beans,green peas, green chilly, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, grated ginger, water and thick curd(yogurt), mix well with a spoon. Now the batter should be thick.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degree F(180 degree C)
• Heat a pan with oil, when it is hot, add  mustard seeds and cumin, after it splutters, add curry leaves. Transfer the tempering to a batter, give a quick stir. Finally add baking soda to the batter and mix it.
• Grease the loaf pan with oil and pour the batter to the baking pan, sprinkle the sesame seeds on the top and bake it for 30-35 mins. Insert the tooth prick/skewer in the center of the cake, if it comes out clean, the cake is ready.
• Remove the baking pan from the oven, let it cool down for 5 mins and then slice it and serve hot with tomato ketchup.

   Tips

• You can also make this cake in a pressure cooker by having sand at the bottom.
• You can add chopped onion to the batter, if you want.
• Here I used roasted rava (sooji/semolina) to make this cake.
• You can use any vegetables like capsicum, beetroot or cabbage.
• Always add baking soda at the end, that is before pouring the batter to the baking pan. It helps the cake to rise.
• Topping with sesame seeds gives a nice taste and also gives beauty to the cake.
• Always use fresh curd which makes the cake tasty and moist.

    Health Benefits of Semolina/ Rava

• Good source of protein and vitamin B and E
• Semolina is made from durum wheat, so it is digested slowly. This helps you feel full longer and prevents you from overeating.
• Semolina improves kidney function, thanks to its potassium content.
• Adding vegetables to savory semolina cake and make a power-packed nutrients, as well as delicious meal.

Kesari Recipe / Rava kesari Recipe / Sooji halwa is an easy and simple sweet prepared during important occasions like birthday, diwali, wedding and new year . This rava kesari is usually made with rava(semolina),sugar and ghee, though the ingredients are very simple and straight forward, the taste is captivating and can be very satisfying. This kesari recipe is my family favourite sweet and I am pleased to share my mom’s recipe. Below rava kesari recipe is made by my mom  for my blog and she also send some pictures of the recipe taken by my sister in law (subha). Thank you amma and subha for this tasty kesari recipe and mouthwatering photographs..

Ingredients for Kesari Recipe

• 1 Cup of Rava (Semolina)
• 1 Cup of Sugar
• 2 Cups of Water
• 1/4 Cup of Ghee (Clarified Butter)
• 2 Pinch of Orange Food Color
• 2 Green Cardamom
• Few Cashew Nuts
• Pinch of Salt

Method for Rava Kesari Recipe

• Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a non stick pan, roast it until it turns light brown and nice aroma arises. Transfer the roasted rava to a plate and keep it aside.
• Heat a pan with ghee, roast cashews and rasins, fry for a min. Keep this aside.
• Heat water in a pan, after it comes to a rolling boil, add food color to it, mix well, turn it to a medium flame, add roasted rava little by little to a boiling water, keep on stirring continuously, take care to avoid lumps and stir well.
• Cover and cook until rava are cooked. Add sugar and stir well for 3-4 mins to avoid lumps.
• Finally add ghee, pinch of salt, cardamom,roasted cashews and raisins
• Hot and yummy kesari is ready to eat.

Tips 

• Adjust the amount of sugar according to your taste.
• Addition of ghee gives a nice aroma and taste.
• If you got lumps, don’t worry, keep on stirring to avoid it and mash it later.
• You can use any food color to this kesari.
• If you got pineapple, blend it with water and add it in place of water and make kesari.
• You can also add saffron to kesari, if you have.