VIRUNDHOMBAL

Ribbon pakoda -  prepared with parboiled rice (idli rice) and fried gram flour. In our blog, I have already posted ribbon pakoda prepared with gram flour and rice flour. 

Vazhaikkai chips - crispy and easy side dish for lunch. It goes well with lemon rice , tomato rice, coconut rice , sodhi and curd rice too. This vazhaikkai chips is a nice alternative to store bought chips as there is  no artificial flavours or colours. For the plantain chips you will need fresh plantains without, dull skin or black spots. First, you have to peel the skin and slice it thinly using a bajji slicer. Slice them thinly in uniform size so that you can get even crispness in the chips. As you all know the plantain will quickly turn black after cutting so do not slice all the plantains before frying. When you started frying one batch, slice the next set of slices. This will give you a perfect colour to the chips. When deep frying these chips, it is best to cook on low heat and watch them carefully because it will quickly turn brown. For any types of chips do not overcrowd your pan. Finally season the chips with black pepper powder and salt. You can also replace bl...

Garlic Karasev - crispy and spicy snack prepared with besan flour and rice flour.  Sattur Garlic karasev is a favourite snack for my grandpa, husband and also for my son as a side dish for curd rice. Whenever we visit Tirunelveli by driving my husband quickly make a short visit to Sattur to buy Garlic karasev and karupatti mittai from the Shanmuga Nadar sweet shop. The Sattur garlic karasev is prepared with besan flour, rice flour, coarsely powdered red chilly, garlic paste, and a few spices to flavour it. There the karasevs are prepared using the big slotted ladle. The cumin, and garlic add a nice flavour to the karasev. I have tasted so many karasevs but these Sattur karasevs are so tasty. In many of the karasevs they add fried gram flour along with the besan flour which gives you a soft texture but it won't taste good after two days. But this Sattur karasevs have a hard, crisp texture which will be good for a month. I have used the regular murukku press t...

Manapparai Murukku - crispy and addictive travel snack for many of us. This Manapparai Murukku is a famous snack and in most of the trains and buses as soon as when we cross Trichy we hear the sound murukku.. murukku...manapparai murukku...... It's an all time favorite snack. It's a nice alternative to the packed chips as there is no artificial flavors or colours in it. This Manapparai murukku dish is very easy to prepare with simple cooking steps. A few years back, I saw this recipe on a TV show. They shoot it from Manapparai from where it was prepared. He explained the steps beautifully with easy cooking methods. I tried this murukku in my home and it was so nice. The murukku was so crunchy because we have to double fry it. Another secret to achieve even crispiness in the murukku is that we have to knead the flour with the water mixed with salt and the spices like ajwain, jeera and sesame seeds. For frying the murukku, I have used coconut oil and you can use your favourite ...

Potato chips - yummy homemade chips recipe for your kids. Many different kinds of potato chips are available in stores with different flavours and shapes. But homemade products are always safe for us. Do you agree? Tell your kids why homemade snacks are better than store bought snacks.

Pepper Karasev - prepared with besan flour,  rice flour and spiced up with chilly powder and freshly ground black pepper powder. Great evening snack during winter days. If you are looking for an easy snack to prepare within an hour, try this pepper karasev. It comes together easily without much work. Karasev is typically made by scrapping the dough in a ladoo ladle. It's difficult for me to scrape directly into the hot oil, so I prefer to use the murukku press. But if you like the traditional method, you can prepare as you wish.

Ribbon pakoda can be prepared in many different methods with few easily available ingredients in your kitchen. The ingredients primarily, used in this dish are gram flour, rice flour and chilly powder. You can also prepare ribbon pakodas with strong flavours like garlic paste and asafoetida powder. Make sure to grind the garlic cloves, smooth and strain it before adding to the dough. Apart from water, you can also add the garlic cloves water to knead the dough to bring more flavour to the pakodas.

Butter murukku - an easy snack that is crisp with soft texture. It's a favourite evening snack for kids and also as a side dish for their lunch. In my blog, I have already posted traditional thenkuzhal and mullu thenkuzhal recipes which will be prepared with the grounded rice batter. But for this butter murukku we have to use rice flour, besan flour and fried gram flour and there is no soaking or grinding works. This butter murukku is super simple to make compared with mullu thenkuzhal. In just 40 minutes, you will have a crispy butter murukku to impress your kids.

This diamond chips are a famous snack from Tirunelveli, they can also be known as thukkada. They are pretty easy to make. We use both maida and wheat flour for this thukkadas. Red chilly powder or green chilly paste are used to flavour the thukkada. These thukkadas can be shaped in several shapes like square, diamond or small circle. For crispy thukkadas, knead the dough tightly, so that it will be easy to roll the chapathi for cutting the diamonds.  When you make thukkadas, you want to make sharp cuts on the chapathi  so that you get the perfect diamonds. Melted butter or ghee or hot oil is added while kneading the dough will give you a crispy thukkadas. Depending on the consistency of your dough you can dust your dough with a little wheat flour and then roll the chapathi. Thukkadas can be easily cooked in oil, so be careful while deep frying. These thukkadas can be enjoyed with a cup of tea or coffee and also for the curd rice. Now we will how to prepare this t...

Thattai - popular and favourite snack for all of us. For this Diwali you can prepare your own homemade thattai. It's not hard, once you tried it with simple techniques and the result is perfect and you won't prefer store bought thattais. One of my favourite ways to make the flour for thattai and thenkuzal is to grind the idly rice and then mixed with urid dal flour. The grounded rice batter is easy to prepare and the thattais are wonderfully crispy. The following are the instructions for the perfect thattais 1. Soak the idly rice for 3 to 4 hours and then grind it. 2. For a flavourful thattai add a good amount of red chillies, asafoetida powder and curry leaves.  3. Fry the thattais on medium heat for uniform cooking. Do not change the heat while frying. 4. Do not forget to add the unsalted butter. Do not add more butter because thattais will break down. In the video I have used 1/2 cup fried gram flour and 1/2 cup urid dal flour. Both the pictures are taken on d...

Omapodi/Plain sev with ajwain flavour Omapodi is one of the easiest snack which can be prepared quickly without much effort. Making your own homemade savouries, with available ingredients is one of the best ways to give your family a healthy snack.  For omapodi I suggest to prepare the freshly ground besan flour. Place the chana dal in the sunlight for 3 to 5 hours and then grind the chana dal in a rice mill. If you do not have rice mill use a good quality besan flour. Preparing savouries, with freshly ground flour is different than store bought flour. The next most important ingredient in this dish is the ajwain. Use fresh ajwain for a nice flavour. Follow the simple instructions and prepare this easy omapodi for this Diwali.

Magizhampoo Thenkuzhal/ Mullu Murukku Magizhampoo thenkuzal also called as mullu murukku. For this thenkuzal we use three different dals -  moongdal, chana dal and urid dal . These dals are roasted to bring out the aromas and then powdered. The freshly ground flour is mixed with the ground rice batter. The magizhampoo thenkuzal cooked in your house will delight you. Grinding the rice is a superb way to prepare thenkuzal or thattai. It gives the perfect shape, taste and texture of the dish. The thenkuzal stays fresh and flavorful without adding fried gram flour. Deep frying the thenkuzal can be coconut oil, groundnut oil or vegetable oil, depending upon the flavour you want. I recommend coconut oil for thenkuzhal because the flavour in the coconut oil, add extra taste for the thenkuzhal.  The main steps in thenkuzal are  1. Preparation of ingredients Roast the dals separately. Do not brown them. Sieve the flours 2 or 3 times and add it to the ground rice ba...

Thenkuzhal/Murukku/Chakli Thenkuzhal/Murukku/Chakli -  prepared using grinding idly rice. This method gives the thenkuzhal a nice flavour,colour, taste and perfect shape. Follow the instructions carefully and enjoy the tasty thenkuzhal with your family.  Make urid dal flour at home for an authentic taste. I have given the method at the end.