Vadappam(Rice Flour Poori) with Chintaku-Onion Palya.....FFF #6

Frankly, when I started this series I was not expecting more than 4-5 entries but I was really surprised and excited when I received lots of unexpected entries from my family members.I can say that I am more enthusiastic and excited about this series than earlier.If you have missed any of the previous posts in this series check them here.

Coming to the introduction...this post is sent to me by my eldest cousin sister 'Vanitha'.She was the eldest among all the girls in our family and was guiding us in all the matters in our childhood..The more interesting fact here is my 8-year old nephew has clicked that photo,can you believe it?? he not only clicked those photos he also uploaded them and sent to me by e-mail.When I got a mail from him, I was really surprised and flattered with his knowledge about computers.At his age I hardly knew anything and in fact I started using computers only at the age of 19. The technology is so improved that my 2-year old niece comfortably operates the i-phone and she can play songs or photos or rhymes according to her choice.

Every family has a famous recipe and Vadappam with Chintaku palya is a famous breakfast combo at my sister's place though I never got to taste at her place but I heard a lot about it from the other family members.When she sent this to me I was really excited and surprised as I did not expect an entry from her and in fact she did'nt even knew that I had a food blog.When one of my aunt's mentioned to her about my current event she made this on the very next day and sent it to me. A special thanks to my sister for this sweet surprise and my nephew who has done a wonderful job sending the photos to me.
Vadappam is our community special though it is not made in all the house holds.Even my mom never used to make it but when I heard a lot about this from my cousin sister I wanted to give a try and I made it long back...almost 5 years back but I completely messed up the whole thing.Those vadappams turned very very oily,bit hard and thick and I never dared to make it again.If you think what is a big challenge in making pooris with rice flour,you are incorrect!!It might be easy to make soft and nice fluffy pooris with wheat flour or maida but certainly not easy to make with rice flour.
Though I saw many recipes and photographs on the net for rice flour pooris,the look of them never tempted me to try them at home.When my sister has sent this I was really excited to see those perfectly fluffed up pooris which actually looks like a maida or wheat flour poori and I could not stop trying this seeing the photos.When I called her up for the recipe she gave me all the instructions to make perfect vadappams which are nicely puffed up,soft and not oily.I just followed her instructions and crossed my fingers for perfect vadappams like her's and I was really impressed to see those vadappams rising nicely and were not oily at all.Mine turned out good and just like regular maida or wheat flour poori and they were very soft even after coming to the room temperature.My recent successful attempt gave me enough confidence to boast about this in my space.
Vadappam(Rice Flour Poori)/Vadappi:
Ingredients:
1 cup Rice flour
1/4 cup water
1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
salt to taste

Method:

• Boil water in a deep vessel until it bubbles.
• Add salt,jeera and rice flour to it and mix it with a ladle and switch off the flame immediately.

• Transfer the mixture into a wide vessel and let it cool completely.This step is very important as if the rice flour mixture is hot it before proceeding to the next step will end up absorbing more oil while frying.
• Now add enough regular water and knead into a stiff and smooth dough.Knead for 3-4 mins.
• Divide the dough into small amla sized balls.
• Heat oil in a deep thick bottomed kadai for deep frying.
• Cut a polythene sheet into two equal squares or rounds and wash and dry them and grease one of the sides.

• Place them on one each side of a poori press and place a rice flour ball in the center and press in the poori presser as shown in the picture.Do not make it very thin or very thick,it should be of the thickness as shown in the pic.

• Slide the vadappam into the medium hot oil carefully and fry on medium flame by puffing up the vadappam with the perforated ladle(Try to slightly press the vadappam with perforated ladle after it is dropped in the oil which helps in puffing up completely).Once it puffs up properly and stiffens on one side turn to the other side and fry again for sometime.The process of frying one side completely is very important while frying vadappams as it helps in not forming holes which in turn absorb more oil.Do not turn them again.
• Remove them onto a kitchen towel and this helps in absorbing if any extra oil exists.

Serve it hot with Chintaku-Onion palya and Coconut chutney.

Chintaku-Onion Palya(Tamarind leaves-Onion Curry):I made vadappam succesfully but I did'nt have dried tamarind leaves to prepare "chintaku palya" but that that did not stop me from making it.I used tamarind instead and proceeded with the original recipe. I am though eager to try with some tamarind leaves when I get them for the traditional taste of palya. While my husband tried this combination for the first time he mentioned that the onion palya perfectly complemented the soft and fluffy vadappams.

Ingredients:
3 onions,finely chopped
2 tbsp dried tamarind leaves(dried chintaku)
1/4 cup grated fresh coconut
1/4 tsp grated jaggery
6-8 green chillies
8-10 curry leaves
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
4 tsp oil
salt to taste

Method:

• Heat oil in a kadai and crackle mustard seeds and add chana dal and urad dal and fry well.
• Add curry leaves and add finely chopped onions and fry well until slight brown in color.
• Meanwhile grind grated coconut,green chillies and salt to a coarse powder.
• Add the ground masala to the fried onions and mix well.Add dried tamarind leaves to it and mix well and let it fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add grated jaggery to it and mix well and switch off the flame immediately.If you continue cooking after adding jaggery it will make the curry sticky,so switch off the flame immediately.

Serve it hot with hot vadappams.

Note:

1. You can see those leaves in the picture what my sister has sent and do not search for tamarind leaves in my pictures as I did not have it to use it.
2. I added tamarind while grinding the coconut mixture.I am eager to try this with tamarind leaves very soon.

Note:
Only one photo in the recipe part of vadappam is sent by my sister and rest all are the ones from my kitchen.

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Pineapple Upside Down Cake....almost Step-by-Step Recipe!!

I had made this cake 2 weeks ago for my husband's birthday but I could not post it immediately.My husband does not prefer pastries or the chocolate based cakes though I prepare them often and I feel sad if he just eats a couple of pieces when I make them.So this time I thought I should make something exclusively something to suit his taste buds to make the birthday boy happy.
I have been thinking of making this pine apple upside down cake from such a long time and when I went for grocery shopping a week before his birthday I picked up a tinned pineapple to make this cake. I do not like pineapple and hence I never brought the fresh one but I like few preparations with it like pineapple kesari or as a pizza topping or in a curry or in a drink but I never liked to eat fresh pine apple.The real question for me was I was not sure whether he likes pine apple or not but still thought of proceeding with the cake as I thought it is just a topping and if he does not like it he can always remove it and eat the rest.
When I googled for the recipe I landed upon N number of recipes and this post of Mrignayani has bowled me completely and gave me the comfort to proceed with the recipe.I just loved the caramel oozing out from the cake in her picture and went ahead to check the original recipe in Joy of Baking site.I just followed the recipe blindly and I must say that this is a keeper recipe and is must try for all pineapple lovers.The more interesting part of the recipe is the caramel crust which is just 'to die for' and even the cake is so soft,light and fluffy,I just loved it very much and I really mean it.My husband thoroughly enjoyed the cake and I was happy for my decision to bake this cake as he did not mind eating large portions which is not usual.
I generally take few photographs of the steps in between when a recipe is complex and needs an explanation with photo tutorial.Inspired by many fellow bloggers I gave an attempt to take step-by-step pictures and later realized I missed few steps but not bad,so excuse me for that!!I agree that it is really difficult to take the step-by-step photos handling camera in one hand while cooking or baking and I really appreciate all those who do step by step for every post.

Ingredients:
(Recipe source:Joy of Baking)

for Cake Batter:
1 1/2 cups(195 grams) all purpose flour/maida
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large or 3 small eggs, separated
1/2 cup (120 ml) milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar( I did not use,so optional)

for Caramel Pineapple topping:
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup)(55 grams) unsalted butter, cut in small pieces( I used salted one)
3/4 cup (160 grams) light brown sugar
7-8 pieces of tinned pineapple
Candied cherries (optional)
Method:
Oven pre-heating and preparing the tin:

• Preheat oven to 350 deg F (180 deg C) and place rack in the center of the oven.
• Butter (or spray with a non stick vegetable spray) a 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pan with three inch (7.5 cm) sides.
  

for Caramel Pineapple Topping:

• Drain the pineapple pieces from the tin and pat dry the pineapple pieces to remove extra moisture.

• Place the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
• Continue cooking, without stirring, for a few more minutes or until bubbles just start to appear around the outside edges of the mixture (the sugar starts to caramelize). Then remove from heat, and pour into your prepared cake pan.

• Evenly arrange the fresh pineapple slices on top of the sugar mixture.Place the candied cherries in the gaps of pineapple or arrange according to your wish.

for Cake Batter:

• In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.do it for a couple of times which helps in getting a evenly mixed flour.
• Separate the yolks from the whites and place the whites in a wide bowl.
• In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites(with the cream of tartar if you are using) just until the whites hold a firm peak.

• In another bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy using a hand mixer.Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat in the vanilla extract.
• Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture in three additions and then add milk in two additions.

• With a large spatula gently fold the beaten egg whites into the cake batter in two additions.
• Pour the batter into the cake pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.Tap the tin twice,this helps in removing the air bubbles formation in the batter.

• Bake in preheated oven for 45 - 50 minutes, or until the top of the cake has browned and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan.A toothpick inserted into the cake (not the pineapple) should come out clean.
• Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 2-3 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan and then invert the cake onto your serving plate.

Serve with softly whipped cream or Ice cream.

Notes:

1. You can even use fresh pineapple as I don't like working with fresh pineapple I preferred a canned one.
2. The original recipe asked to rest the cake for 10 mins after baking and I followed it.But I felt whatever the sugar caramel which melted has got crystallized by then.So I suggest you not to rest the cake for long time once it is out of the oven.And I missed the beautiful caramel sauce flowing out of my cake.Bit I rolled the crystallized sugar into small pieces of candies and thoroughly enjoyed it.
   

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Besan ka Cheela ..aka...Vegetarian Omelet...FFF#5

I have successfully entered 5th week of my 'Family Food Friday 'series and still few more exciting entries are already waiting for its turn in my drafts.If you have missed any of the previous posts in this series check them here.

This time I do not need to introduce the author of this recipe as you all know her now,this entry is sent by Chaitra who has sent Savory Cornmeal Muffins.Thanks a lot Chaitra for sending another entry for my event.

Besan ka Cheela is also called Puda or Vegetarian Omelet.Though I make egg omelet for my husband I do not prefer eating it and in fact the only way I eat eggs is in cakes.It is a great alternative for vegetarians for egg omelet as the texture,color and look of this is very much similar to egg omelet and of course there is a lot of difference in taste.It is very easy to prepare and it hardly takes anytime and can be prepared as a breakfast or evening snack.I also make it regularly and hence when she has sent this recipe to me I wanted to add few more photos to the recipe as she has sent just a couple of photos.More number of photos in the post makes it look more interesting right?I make it almost similar and also depends on the availability of ingredients at that time in my pantry.But this time I have exactly followed her recipe as I am featuring her recipe here.

Let us see what Chaitra says about this recipe in her own words.'During pregnancy days I was constantly looking for food with high protein content. Being a vegetarian I wanted to make sure to have a balanced diet and always tried to avoid high fat food. So I was stuck with tofu for the most part as I love tofu and believe me I have eaten Tofu in all forms. But during those days Tofu use to give me morning sickness,So, one of my friends taught me this and I am hooked on to it. It is a regular breakfast at our house now and especially for my daughter. It is very filling breakfast and my friend even serves up this in between bread like a regular omelet,it tastes good too. You can add all kinds of vegetables too to make a healthier version.I am big fan of ajwain so I add it,you can omit it if you don't like the flavor of ajwain.'

Ingredients:

1 cup Besan/chickpea flour

1 onion,finely chopped

1 tomato,finely chopped
2 tbsp cilantro chopped
1 tsp green chilli paste or 1 tsp finely chopped green chili
1/2 tsp ajwain/carom seeds
a pinch of hing
water as needed
Salt to taste

Method:

• Put the besan into a bowl,it is always to sift besan which avoid the formation of lumps while mixing with water and make into a smooth and thick batter.Use a wire whisk to do this process which eases the formation of smooth and even batter.The consistency should be slightly thinner than the regular dosa batter.
  
• Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
• Take a small omelet pan and add about a tsp of oil and pour the about half a cup of batter and turn the pan so that the batter covers the entire pan.If you do not have omelet pan you can do this on regular non stick tawa,just spread the batter lightly with the back of the ladle.Pour some oil around the edges.
  
• You can cover the pan or leave it as it is ,but I prefer it covered.
• Once it is fried you can see the golden color around the edges and flip them when they are ready and let it roast on the other side for a few seconds.It is very important to fry the besan omelet on both the sides as uncooked besan causes indigestion.

Serve them with green chutney/tamarind chutney/onion chutney/tomato sauce.

Other serving suggestions:

1. You can even make small besan omelets and stuff in between two slightly warmed bread slices and can eat as bread omelet sandwich.
2. You can make the batter bit thick and you can even dip the bread triangles and fry on tawa like how you do for french toast.It gives an eggless version of french toast.

Notes:

1. Addition of hing or ajwian is recommended to besan omelet as it helps in easy digestion.
2. It is very important to fry the besan omelet on both the sides as uncooked besan causes indigestion.
3. You can even add finely chopped bell peppers or grated vegetables of your choice to the batter to make it healthy.
4. You can avoid ajwain and add cumin seeds instead to the batter,it gives a different flavor.

Note:
Photos embedded in the recipe part are from my cousin chaitra,rest of them are added by me.

I am sending these two entries to Nayna's 'ONLY'-Coolers and Mocktails series which is originally started by Pari of Foodelicious.
1. Oats and Fruits Smoothie
2.Butterfruit/Avocado Milkshake

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