Crunchy Snack balls – Guest Post from Sridevi

Its day 5 and there is one more energy balls recipe, this time it is from Sridevi – Coconut Craze. During my Initial days of blogging I was checking my wordpress reader and saw Sridevi’s post notification, the word coconut intrigued me to visit her space, and from that day onwards her blog has become one of my regular blogs to visit. Her food pics speaks a lot, I adore her recipe collections some of her baked recipes are in my to do list. She is very friendly and gave me great support ever since my initials days and till date. Though she was busy when I asked for Guest post Sridevi allocated sometime and sent me this post. Crunchy snacks balls are waiting, over to Sridevi,

I have a sweet little treat as a guest post for Vidya Srinivasan of Traditionally Modern Food. Vidya, is a very enthusiastic blogger and has presented us with many wonderful recipes. I appreciate her friendliness and hard work. She has been encouraging me with suggestions and comments which helped me improve my posts considerably. I like her baked recipes that have a traditional element in it. She gives them a modern twist making them less oily and yummy. When she asked me to do a guest post for her, I was in the middle of some activities. I managed to squeeze in some time and came up with this easy recipe.

She suggested a kid friendly recipe and I thought of all things kids can hold in their hands, carry around and eat. My foremost concern was to make it nutritional. I wanted to try something without any artificial additives. It should be attractive to children, easy to make and delicious. I had a lot of things to consider. Honestly, it made me scratch my head and think a bit. Finally, I came up with this ladoo. Hope you like it!

facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coconut-craze/281334571966246

Energizer ladoos

Imagine a guilt free snack! A snack that is handy and provide energy to play for a long time!

These crunchy snack balls will provide you all of the above. They are gluten free and refined sugar free if you do not use powdered sugar to decorate. This is a convenient snack to can grab and go!

I developed this recipe inspired by a snack ball we make at home. It is from a mix called avalouse podi made using rice flour, coconut and cumin seeds, fried to a grainy texture.  Back home, it is our homemade breakfast cereal that is eaten with sugar and slices of banana. They also make it into snack balls adding melted brown sugar or honey.

I thought it was an appropriate snack and tried to add a few more ingredients to enhance it. When I took a bite, I was reminded of my aunt who makes them when we go on vacation to our grandmother’s house.

For simplicity, I took equal quantities of most ingredients. You may increase or decrease it as desired.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice
• 1/4 cup oats rolled or steel cut oats
• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/4 cup dry coconut
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 12-15 pitted dates
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• honey to bind

Method:

1. Soak pitted dates in water for 20 minutes.
2. Chop soaked dates into small bits.
3. Take a heavy bottom pan and roast oats, rice and quinoa each separately until golden brown.
4. Toast grated dry coconut. (If it is fresh coconut, grate it finely and toast with rice until it becomes dry.)
5. Add raw almonds and chopped dates to the roasted ingredients and pulse it in a blender in small batches.
6. Powder it to get a coarse texture.
7. Mix the powder with coconut oil.
8. Add enough honey to the mixture to make it moist enough to hold.
9. Roll them in your hand into small balls.

I made 16 balls with this mixture. They harden after they rest a while. Store them in air tight containers or in a refrigerator for weeks. You feel a satisfactory crunch when you chew it.

Sprinkle powdered sugar for an attractive coating or dust with chocolate powder if your kids like it.

This is exclusively a kid friendly snack but if you have a kid in you, go ahead and enjoy it! When I made this at home, surprisingly, it was the oldest member in the house who loved it the most. So there is no age limit to taste one and run back for more!

Thanks you for inviting me and having me post in your space, Vidya!

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Potato Smiley – Guest post from Mullai

Snack mania continues and today we have Mullai from SpiceIndiaOnline. Mullai and I become friends recently but in a short span of time, we have become close to each other. Though I am a Amateur blogger when compared with her blogging experience, she never treats me so. She is friendly and kind, shares her blogging techniques and things which worked for her.  My India trip is fast approaching and time to prepare something for my hubby and freeze it when was thinking what to do, Mullai gave me a lot of interesting ideas. I have to check her blog for more recipes. During our calls one day I told about Guest post and she squeezed sometime between her busy schedule and gave this yummy snacks. Can someone say no to this beautiful crispy snacks??

Over to Mullai,

Writing a guest post is all new to me… one fine morning Vidya casually pinged to chat and from then on we became good friends. That  fun chat still continues with never ending conversations until duty calls. Vidya Srinivasan,  who i’ve  known for a few months now is a very dedicated food blogger..runs this beautiful, very impressive  blog called “traditionallymodernfood” with wonderful collection of both traditional & modern recipes.  She mostly shares  simple recipes with easy instructions and keeps it interesting & neat. She is one sweet person with humble attitude and when she asked me to write a guest post on toddler friendly food I couldn’t say no.

https://www.facebook.com/spiceindiaonline

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/104988302656588183755/+SpiceindiaonlineRecipes/posts

While googling  for a good one, I ran into YummytummyArthi’s space which had this fun recipe called Potato smiley faces which caught my eyes, which made me feel like a kid in the candy store! Well this recipe is inspired from that with few alterations to suit my taste. Though not that healthy, it will for sure impress your kids and I can assure that it will definitely bring a smile on their face. Try it out!

Ingredients:

Medium size Potatoes    3

Corn flour    5- 6 tablespoons

Salt  3/4 teaspoon

Black pepper  1/2 teaspoon

Oil    2 cups (for deep frying)

Method:

• Boil potatoes and keep aside. Let them cool completely. Finely grate them or mash like how you would do for mashed potatoes
• This mixture will be very sticky, add salt, black pepper powder and just half of the corn flour and make a stiff dough. Add more corn flour until the dough looks firm.

• Cover and refrigerate for atleast an hour.  By now the potato dough would have turn stiff.Dust corn flour on a board and roll out the dough flat for about 1/4 inch thickness.

• Using a cookie cutter cut them out into small circular discs. Using big hole straw punch the discs as shown for the eyes. Then using a spoon press to shape the mouth.

• Heat oil and deep fry the smileys… they just dance around in the hot oil, bubbles of oil oozing out from their eyes and mouth will look as if they are talking to you. Once they turn golden brown on both sides, remove and drain excess oil by placing them on a paper towel. Serve hot with ketchup!

• This recipe will yield about 15 smileys, make them ahead of time, dust with corn flour and refrigerate. Make it in the morning and refrigerate and fry when the kids long for an evening snack. Oh…there’s already a naughty one licking up the ketchup!

Noodles Ragi Methi Pakoda – Guest Post fom Farin

Its snacks time, Today we have Farin from Farin’s Fun Flavors.  I came to know Farin through FB.  Farin is friendly and she always encourages my recipes with her lovely comments.  After talking to her I came to know that we both are sailing in a same boat, her daughter and my son are almost the same age. I always enjoy the way she gives intro about the food, associating food to a movie. When I approached her for Guest post, without any hesitation she instantly agreed and gave this yummy snack. During my childhood days, I had a great addiction for Maggi and guess Farin read it 🙂  Crispy Pakodas are waiting, over to Farin,

About my sweet Director Vidya:

What can I say about this sweet and silent director behind TMF (Traditionally modern food). She has released so much sooper doper movies(recipes) which are great hit and some are considered for National awards, Oscar awards and many got published in Newspaper too.. Evunga periya aalu makkale. All her movies(recipes) are my favourite and arisi thegai payasam is one the top. She is an active director who release movie(recipe) often and a famous big distributor in FB. Her movies are a great hit in FB groups.

Am so happy to act in her direction and a big Thank you for giving this opportunity dear. May our friendship grow forever.. Wish you all the best for all your future endeavors.

My web id: http://www.farinsfunflavour.com/

Google+ id   ;https://plus.google.com/u/0/+FarinAhmedFFF/posts

Facebook id;https://www.facebook.com/farinsfunflavou

Twitted id :     https://twitter.com/@farinsfunflavou

PinInteret id: https://www.pinterest.com/farinsf/

About today’s Movie Noodles Ragi Methi Pakoda. Even to name my baby I was not that much confused. Since this movie has lots of heroes not sure what appropriate name to select. Finally twisted ma very tiny brain and select this name.. Not sure how many will agree???

Don’t worry about the deep fried version, as it has Ragi Powder and Methi leaves in it Minus * Minus = Plus… Hot hot pakoda’s Movie is awaiting for you.

Main Ingredients

Cooked Noodles- 1 pkt

Onion- 1 big no(sliced thinly)

Green chilly-1

Methi leaves- a handful

Ragi powder- 3 tbsp

Rice flour- 2 tsp

Chilli powder- 1 tsp

Salt- as needed

Oil- frying

Method:

• Cook the noodles as per the packet instructions. Clean and wash the methi leaves. Slice the onions, chop the green chilly and methi leaves and make it ready.

• To the noodles add the sliced onion, green chilly, chopped methi, Ragi powder and mix it well. Now add rice flour and red chilly powder and again  mix it.

• Heat oil in  a pan, Pinch a small ball size from the mixture and drop it in the oil as we fry for pakodas on medium flame. Cook on both the sides by flipping it often.

• Once it turns brown, drain it in a kitchen tissue and serve it hot.

Notes;

Don’t overcook the noodles.

I have used Ragi flour for binding, you can also use besan.Using of Rice flour is optional, it gives a nice crispy texture to the pakodas.

You can also try with different types of greens too

Oats Quinoa Balls – Guest post from Malar

Day 2 of my guest post series and today its from Malar, neither my blog nor my immediate family needs intro for her. WordPress gave us intro and initially we started talking through comments, but within no time it has changed to a stage where almost every week we started talking over the phone and most of the days during our one hour talk (may be more if my son didn’t wake up during his nap) we seldom talks about blog. As Malar mentioned below during our initial days we both decided to do guest post in each other’s space, but taking advantage of our friendship kept postponing, finally “March” has become a auspicious month for both of us to write a post for each other (oh yes, can see my post in Malar’s page in sometime). I can continue writing about Malar and her space but its time to handover to Malar:-)

Over to Malar,

Hi I am Malar , so excited to do a guest post for Vidya’s Traditionally Modern Food, a fabulous blog. My blog is Malar’s Kitchen. You can find various Indian recipes along with few other cuisine recipes. I have a lot of chettinad recipes too, if it might excite you.

Vidya and myself, we started following each other during our initials days of blogging, eventually we got along so well. From blogging she turned out to be a very good friend of mine. We chit chat a lot, just not blogging many personal stuffs too  It was long time back we decided that we should do guest post for each other and being friends, we took enough advantage of postponing 😉 Finally I am here with a guest post for her with Oats Quinoa Balls. Few details on my blog.

Blog link: https://malarmuthu.wordpress.com/

FB link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Malars-Kitchen/1516965231871483

Pinterest link: https://www.pinterest.com/vijimalar/recipe/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/malarskitchen

Hopping on to the recipe…..

Ingredients:

Oats – 1 cup

Quinoa – ¼ cup

Water – ¾ cup

Flax seeds – ¼ cup

Vanilla Extract – 1 teaspoon

Dry Fruits – 1/3 cup (I have used cranberries)

Jaggery – ½ cup (Can be replaced by sugar)

Method:

• Dry roast Oats for 3 to 4 mins, until nice aroma rises.
• Dry roast flax seeds for 2 mins.
• Now powder oats and flax seeds either together or separately.
• Clean quinoa and cook with water in high for 6 mins, simmer for 12 mins.
• Switch off when quinoa turns fluffy and soft.
• Heat jaggery with just enough water to bring it to boiling state.
• Now mix all of the together along with dry fruits and vanilla extract.
• Form a nice dough. Make small balls out of it.
• Healthy oats quinoa balls are ready. Place in an airtight container in fridge stay well up to 20 days.
• You can add any sort of dry fruits, cashews, almonds, walnuts. I wanted to use up my cranberries , so I have used only this 

Pumpkin Buns – Guest post from Swapna’s Kitchen

Its guest post day :-)Today we have Swapna from Swapna’s Kitchen. It makes me feel good when people write a post for me, happy to have such sweet friends around 🙂

Couple of months ago I happen to come across Swapna’s page. I am a big fan of her homestyle recipes, and having a sweet tooth, lot of her sweet recipes are in my to-do list.  I know she is a mom so I approached her for toddler friendly Recipes. She immediately told yes and asked if I am looking for anything specific, and I was happy to let her choose one for me. Swapna gave a list of recipes and I choose Pumpkin buns, as my Son is having sweet tooth like Mother and likes Pumpkin puree:-) She has a lot of sweet words about me:-)

Over to Swapna

When Vidya mailed me for a guest post I was really shocked for I could not believe how a person who has achieved so much in blogging could trust a new blogger like me.This is my first guest post here.I really wanted to give my best for the trust she had on me.I am so glad to have her as my friend here.I love all her traditional recipes especially the Poondu Kulambu and Karadaiyan Adai.

I am a big fan of her Microwave oven recipes . I guess its time for me to start making them at home for I have gained lot of weight after starting this food blog..I really want to thank Vidya for giving me this opportunity to let me write on her space.

After mailing her some few recipes she selected Pumpkin buns for her cute little son loves pumpkin puree .So this post is especially made for her little boy who loves Pumpkin and his mother who loves him….

Fb Link:https://www.facebook.com/swapnaskitchenofficialpage?ref=hl

 

PUMPKIN BUNS

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup warm milk

2 tbsp warm water

1/4 tsp salt

3-5 tbsp all purpose flour for kneading the dough

FOR PROOFING YEAST

2 tbsp warm milk

1/4 tsp sugar

2 & 1/4 tsp yeast

METHOD

Pressure cook the pumpkin for a whistle,grind them and keep it aside.Add  1/2 tsp of sugar to  warm milk and add the yeast to it.The yeast will rise in few mins.

In a large mixing glass bowl,add sugar,warm milk and 1/2 cup warm pumpkin puree.Then add melted butter ,yeast and mix them well.

Add the all purpose flour little by little (1/4 cup) and mix them well until a mild sticky dough is formed.Now transfer the dough to your work space ,sprinkle some flour and start kneading the dough for 15 mins.

Place the dough in a glass bowl and cover it with a plastic wrap.Leave it in a warm place for an hour until it doubles in volume.

Transfer the dough to your work space and knead it for  2 mins to remove the air bubbles.Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and roll each part into a ball.Place the balls in a baking dish and cover it with a plastic wrap.Leave it for 30 mins to rise again.

Bake at 350 degree F for 15-20 mins or until the tops are lightly brown.Brush the top of the buns with melted butter.

Baked Quinoa Croquettes – Guest Post from Anupama

Its guest post day, and today we have Anupama from Easy bites Online. Social media is playing a great role in finding new people, I happened to see Anupama’s post in a FB group and started visiting her space. I am a big fan of her healthy recipes. I  apporached her to do a guest post for Toddler friendly recipes, she instantly agreed and here is her healthy snacks.

Anupama says,

Quinoa, although less known, this super grain is making a definite way into our lives, rightly so if you ask me. Packed with all the eight essential amino acids (and thereby a complete protein), fiber, magnesium, phosphorous and iron, quinoa has made its way for sure into my kitchen.

Nearly every meal of ours entails either rice or wheat, our habitual grains. I am aware that to bring in quinoa can be tricky especially with picky toddlers!

When Vidya Srinivasan, from Traditionally Modern Food, asked me for a toddler-friendly guest post on her blog, I could not refuse; not because I find it hard to say ‘No’ to anyone, but because being such a professional, enthusiastic blogger, lovely and a thoughtful person that she is, I simply could not bring myself to say no. I feel this has opened up another channel to know Vidya and her wonderful blog better. Do visit her blog for numerous delicious, healthy recipes.

I decided this would be another opportunity to bring in quinoa and make it toddler-friendly!

An eye-catching finger food presented to hungry kids after school is sure to entice them to dig in. As anticipated, the array of Baked Quinoa Croquettes sitting at the table with some ketchup, drew my kids to it. They simply grabbed one each, dug into the dip and ‘puff’ it was gone.

These are baked, however, can be deep-fried too.

Website : http://easybitesonline.com

Google Plus : https://plus.google.com/+AnuNagarajaebo

Facebook : http://facebook.com/blogebo

Twitter : http://twitter.com/@easybitesonline/

Pinterest : http://pinterest.com/anagarajakumar

Ingredients:

cooked quinoa – 1/2 cup

cooked mashed or cooked grated potato – 3/4 cup

paneer – 1/4 cup (Indian cottage cheese)

finely chopped onion – 1/2 cup

finely chopped green bell pepper – 1/4 cup

garlic – 1 clove chopped fine

ginger – 1 tsp grated fine

fresh mint leaves – 6-8 roughly chopped

fresh coriander chopped fine – 2 tbsp

raisins, roughly chopped cashews – couple of tbsp as stuffing (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

lemon juice – 2 tsp (or to taste)

corn slurry prepared using a tbsp of corn flour mixed in 1 tbsp of water

bread crumbs prepared using brown bread powdered in a blender

olive oil – few tsp to drizzle over and to grease the tray

Method:

– First cook quinoa as per the instructions on the pack.

– Add this 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa to a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients.

– Mix everything well. it should come together nicely like a dough.

– Now take small portions of the mixture of the size of a golf ball.

– Flatten it over your palm using your fingers.

– Place a couple of raisins and cashew pieces (if preferred). cover this up by bringing together the mixture all around and over the stuffing. make a ball shaped croquette.

– Now, dip this in cornflour slurry, then roll over bread crumbs to cover all over. Pat gently all over to allow bread crumbs to stick well.

– Place this on a plate or tray. Repeat the same with the rest of the mixture.

– Pre-heat the oven to 190 deg C.

– Allow these balls to sit for 10-15 min. this will allow the corn flour to harden a bit. This will ensure that the balls do not open up when deep-fried. It retains its shape well too when baked.

-Now drizzle over or brush gently some olive oil over each of the balls.

-Place them on a lined, greased baking tray.

-Bake them for 22-25 min or until nicely browned up.

-Serve with ketchup.

Notes:

Since this is meant for kids, green chili has not been used. but if tolerated, can be used.

If preferred, the cornflour slurry can also be seasoned with salt and pepper powder.

The finer you chop the vegetables, the easier it will be to prepare balls.

Stuffing with raisins, nuts is optional. if stuffing is not preferred, make smaller balls.

Keep an eye on the bake.

Allow it to cool slightly before you attempt to remove from the tray. Use a flat plastic ladle to gently dislodge it from the tray.

Black Bean Soup

 

Couple of days back, one of my relatives pinged me and asked have you tried “Black bean soup”. I thought why it didn’t it strike my mind, and told her no. She told her co-sister prepares a delicious ” Black Bean Soup” and sent me the recipe. Based on the ingredients I had in my home I altered the recipe and here is my version

Checkout other soup varieties,

• Sugar Snap Peas Soup
• Creamy Broccoli Soup
• Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

Black bean – 3/4 cup

Yellow bell pepper – 1

Onion – 1 , big

Tomato – 1

Bay leaf – 1

Cumin powder – 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp (Adjust according to your taste)

Pergo Tomato garlic basil sauce – 3 tbsp

Water – as needed

Butter – 1 tsp

Olive oil – 1 tsp

Kosher Salt – as needed

Cheese – 2 tbsp

Method:

• Wash and Soak the black bean in warm water for 2-3 hours and drain the water. Pressure cook the black bean with 1:2 water for 2 whistles and after the stream releases naturally strain the water

• Add oil and butter to the pan, and when its hot add onion; sauté till the onions are translucent. Add tomato and bell pepper and cook till the tomatoes get mushy

• Add the cooked black bean and mix well. Add pergo sauce, coriander powder, chilli powder and cumin powder and mix well;cook for 3-5 minutes

• Remove the bay leaf and after the mixture comes to room temperature, blend them into fine paste and transfer it to the pan

• Add water according to the consistency you desire and cook till the soup thickens. Add cheese and cook till the cheese melts, switch off and enjoy the warm soup

My Notes

• Instead of kosher salt, regular salt can also be used
• Instead of pergo sauce, you can use one garlic pod, one more tomato
• Can be served with sour cream instead of cheese

Minestrone Soup – Guest post from Vidhya – Vidhya Vegetarian Kitchen

I have recently started Toddler friendly recipe page and have mentioned about the guest post from Moms. Today we have a guest, My very good friend Srividhya from Vidhya’s Vegetarian Kitchen. Ever since we knew each other I have a good rapport with her. More than blogging, I remember having lot of general and personal chat with her. Usually if I have any doubts about the food I give for my toddler or any general toddler related questions  she is one among few with whom I discuss. I told about this guest post and she instantly accepted, gave me three options and being a Minestrone soup fan I opted for this recipe.

Vidhya’s Postpartum Recipes, Festive special, Leftover Ideas, Neivediyams/Prasadams are some of my favorites. Her simple style of cooking and expressive intro about recipes are something I love about her space. I have a big list of todo recipes from her space. I can continue writing about SriVidhya but soup is waiting

Sri says,

When Vidya asked me for guest post, I was really elated and humbled and when the theme was “Toddler food” I couldn’t say no for sure. Also when Vidya asks, how can this Vidhya say No? 🙂 Vidya was my first virtual friend from the food blogging community. What do I say about her and her blog? The blog name says it all – Traditionally Modern Food. I love all her recipes and especially the baked versions of thattai, vadai and other delicacies. Its in my todo list and will be trying them soon. I got a chance to meet her also. A fun person to be with and the other thing that I like about her is she readily shares her tips that she follows for posting and stuff. Now tell me who will do that?? I am glad to find a friend for life. Wishing her good luck for all her future endeavours.

Now coming to the recipe, I have mentioned many times in my blog that my kiddo loves soup. In my opinion, soups are best ways to sneak in the vegetables.

Initially I used to give him pureed soups and then started chunky soups. The veggie chunks soaked in the soup broth is easier to chew and a great way to introduce vegetables. The Minestrone soup is a famous Italian soup and its one of the famous dish in the Olive Garden – Italian chain restaurant in US. Whenever we go there, we have this soup for sure. Its loaded with veggies, beans and pasta. I have tried similar kind with Indian spices but here is the recipe with Italian spices. Its a filling soup and you can pack this for lunch too along with some sandwich.

Blog link: http://vidhyashomecooking.com/

FB Link:  https://www.facebook.com/VidhyasVegetarianKitchen

Pinterest link: https://www.pinterest.com/srividhyam/vidhyas-vegetarian-kitchen/

Twitter link:https://twitter.com/SrividhyaM

Ingredients:

• Shallots: 4

• Celery – 2 stalks

• Carrot – 2

• Zucchini – 2

• Tomatoes – 3 to 4

• Red kidney beans – 1 can

• White cannellini beans – 1/2 can

• Vegetable broth – 1 can (32 oz)

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 2 tbsps

• Shell Pasta – 1 cup

• Dried Oregano – 1 tsp

• Dried Basil – 1 tsp

• Salt – 1 tsp

• Freshly crushed pepper – 1 tsp

• Grated cheese while serving – as required (Parmesan will go well, but you can choose your favorite)

• Water – 4 cups

Steps:

• Boil the three tomatoes in 4 cups of water till the skin peels off. It will take upto 12-15 minutes

• While the tomatoes are getting done, chop the shallots, celery, carrots and zucchini.

• Let the tomatoes cool, peel the skin and chop them into chunks.

• Heat the pan and add oil.

• Once the oil is hot, add the onions and saute till they are translucent.

• Now add the chopped veggies, oregano, basil and salt and Mix well.

• Let it cook for up to 3-4 minutes.

• Now add the tomato chunks and mix well.

• Add the pasta and vegetable broth.

• Let the pasta cook in the vegetable broth for 8-10 minutes till they are all done.

• Finally add the beans and crushed pepper and let it cook for another 3 minutes.

Thats it. Yummy soup is ready. Serve hot with shaved/grated cheese and bread.

Notes:

1) You can use regular onion instead of shallots. The traditional recipe doesn’t call for shallots though.

2) If you notice I went with store bought beans and broth. You can make them from scratch too. Soak a handful of beans and pressure cook it by adding 1/4 tsp of salt. Similarly whenever I do kootu, I save the boiled veggie water and use it as broth. But if I don’t have it in hand I go for store bought.

3) You can also use canned tomatoes and that gives you the red color to the soup.

4)I prefer Low Sodium canned products and when you use the canned beans rinse them before adding it to the soup and adjust the salt accordingly

Baked Masala Vadai

When it comes to Vadai, Masala vadai is my all time favorite. Usually I deep fry them in oil, but my baking addiction these days told me to try a baked version. These days its snowing here and on one such days I was craving for Masala Vadai. Soaked the dal and grinded. Decided to try baked version but was little worried about the texture, so instead of making the full batch took half of the batter and started baking it. Preheated the oven and took baking tray and I realized I was out of parchment paper. I thought is this sign telling me not to bake, but I greased the tray with extra oil (compare to my usual quantity) and baked. Oh man I didn’t believe the taste. My husband didn’t believe that its baked, but after seeing the second batch from the oven he accepted:-)

Its snowing today as well and my mind has started thinking about snacks. I am sure I will end up cooking some snack today but for time being this crispy baked Masala Vadai is for my lovely readers.

Check out my other Indian baked snack

• Baked Bread Tikki
• Gobi 65 Baked
• Baked Rice Cracker
• Baked Healthy Mixture
• Baked Thattai
• Baked Uppu Seedai
• Baked Idli Fry
• Cracked Wheat Savory Cake
• Tofu and Grape Tomato Tikka
• Kaima Idli
• Baked Onion Pakoda
• Baked Besan Bonda
• Baked Plaintain Chips
• Baked Bread Rolls
• Baked Masala Vadai

Ingredients:

Onion –  1, big finely chopped

Coriander Leaves – few, chopped

Curry leaves – few

To grind:

Channa Dal – 1 cup

Rice flour  – 1 tbsp

Fennel Seeds(Sombu) – 1 tsp

Red Chillies – 2

Garlic – 3 pods, peeled and choped

Ginger – 1 tsp, peeled and chopped

Baking soda – a pinch

Sugar – a pinch

Salt – as needed

Pam Spray/ Oil – to grease (I used Oil)

Method:

• Wash and soak channa dal for 2 to 3 hrs. Drain the water completely and keep aside. Grind together with other ingredients listed under “To grind” with 1 – 2 tsp of water into a coarse mixture (less water helps in crispy vadai texture. Avoid using too much water)

• Transfer the mixture to the mixing bowl and add onions, curry leaves, coriander leaves and mix well

•  Preheat the oven to 400 degree Fahrenhait. Take the baking tray and brush the oil
• Take small portions of the mixture, and flatten them using your palm (thinner vadai yields crispy vadai)
• Place them in the greased tray and brush  the top portion of each vadai with little oil to avoid drying out and of course for the crispy finish

• Bake the vadai for 11 – 15 min, till they have browned the underside (adjust time according to your oven) . Carefully flip them and bake again for another 11 – 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately. Serve with chutney/ ketchup.  I generally love to finish them without any sides

My Notes:

• The key for the perfect baked vadai is batter with less moisture (water) and greasing generously with oil/ spray
• If the vadai is thick outer portion will cook fast and inner will remain uncooked, and baking for more time may lead to to rubbery vadai
• Just like the fried ones – these are best served the minute they are made. If can’t eat the vadai immediately, switch off the oven and keep the vadai tray back in the over till you eat. Make sure you keep the vadai back in oven after 10 minutes as the oven will still be hot. Though the crispness won’t retain for hours together but for 30 – 45 minutes it works perfect.  After that I haven’t tried
• Instead of rice flour rava can also be used

Baked Corn Tortilla Chips

This weekend it was freezing cold here, couldn’t go out anywhere. For the chill temperature felt like having some crispy snack. When I was thinking what to do, many recipes came to my mind like Baked Pakoda, baked bonda, baked bread roll, baked bread Tikki but all those recipes demanded some work, lazy me was thinking of some quick snack without much work. Hubby suggested Microwave potato chips but I was out of potatoes, immediately Corn tortilla  in kitchen pulled my attention. Got them for Quesadilla, had some 9 tortilla left, so decided to do tortilla chip. These chips is great way to finish your leftover tortilla

Baked Corn Tortilla Chips

Preparation time : 4 mins | Baking time : 15 mins

Ingredients:

Corn Tortilla – 9

Oil  – 1 tbsp

Salt – as needed

Basil – 1/4 tsp (Optional)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
• Stack tortillas one on top of the other and cut them into 2,4,8

• Put them in a mixing bowl add oil, salt and basil; gently toss them well  some traingles lost their shape, oh nooooo, but who cares as long as it tastes good 🙂

• Bake for 14 – 18 mins, turning them in between (after 7/8 minutes) or until chips are starting to get crispy and slightly golden brown at the edges (check every 1-2 minutes after 14 mins)
• Remove from oven and let it cool for 5 -10 mins before serving, in order to let them fully crisp. Serve it with Guacamole/ Salsa/ cheese dip (We just finished it with an yummy dip)

My Notes:

• Instead of mixing them in bowl, can arrange in baking tray brush them with oil and sprinkle salt
• Can add spices of your choice like chilli powder, cumin powder,coriander powder, chat masala, onion powder, garlic powder , cayenne pepper, paprika, etc
• Can add grated cheese like mozerralla cheese, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese on the top of tortilla