Banana Bread

The first Sunday of every February, United States selects a new Pope. They shift the Vatican to a stadium, build up some holy smoke, chant, sing hymns, worship and reinforce the only religion they truly believe in -- American Football and the event is the great Super Bowl. In between they watch the most expensive commercials, true to the American capitalism and eat lot and lot of food, like any festival on earth.

We too had a SuperBowl party, though I dont know or I dont care to know heads or tails. I am only bothered about the food. I made BananaBread as a snack dessert amongst many other things.

This is the super moist super delicious bread (or is it a cake) I have ever eaten or made. My guests kept on asking me whether it is a cake. It is not a cake, but then again cake it is with the texture and taste. I am bowled over. Super bowled over!

I got this recipe from Betty Crocker website and true to what was written on there, it was all that and much more.

(Recipe slightly modified)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
4 mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used Danon)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur's)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped almonds
1 tsp powdered cardamom seeds

Mix the butter and sugar until it is fluffy. Add the eggs and beat it well into the mixture. Add bananas, yogurt, vanilla. Mix it well. Then add flour, baking soda, salt and just stir in the ingredients. Add almonds and mix slowly. One important thing I learned about baking is after you add flour, do not beat it. Just stir and mix slowly. This makes very soft breads and cakes.

I used a spring foam pan. Grease the pan with butter. Pour in the batter and bake in a preheated oven in 350 degrees for around 1 hour or until a tooth pick inserted comes in clean.



Take from oven and wait for two hours before you slice it.

Achappam

Think this is the only snack that's made with a hot iron dipped into hot oil in India. Most of the other snacks we pour the batter directly into oil. Also, it is a little strange that this snack is a favorite mostly among Kerala Christians. So I start looking for it, I find something similar in Thailand, then out of all the places Scandinavia and then rest of Europe -- all made with rosette stone. Aha! It would have been brought in by the missionaries. And the snack resembles the shape of a Rosette.

Achappam aptly named as a snack made with achu, which means mold.

This one is one easy recipe you wouldn't think from the complex shapes. I always thought this is going to be a very difficult one which I would never get right. I was wronnnggg. What you need is an achappam mold. I got this from Kerala. The mold dangles from the handle.

(Recipe adapted from K.M Mathew's pachakarama)

White rice flour powdered fine - 1/2 kilo.
Egg - 2
Freshly squeezed coconut milk - 2 cups.
Sugar - 1 cup
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
Salt - just to adjust taste
Black sesame seeds - 2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Beat the egg well and add to the flour along with coconut milk. Dont pour the entire coconut milk at one go. Slowly add to the flour.

The batter should be thicker than the dosa batter but dippable and pourable. Add rest of the ingredients, adjust salt or sugar accordingly. If you add too much sugar, it wont come off the mold. So first dont add the give sugar. Try with some and then add and adjust.

The most interesting part is the making. You have to get this right with some practice, like, say 5 minutes :)

Heat vegetable oil with the iron mold dipped in.

The oil should not smoke, but should be hot hot.

Now, dip the mold into the batter, only half way of the rosette shape. Dont dip it completely. If you are unsure just dip it lightly. Then put it into the oil and just shake it a little bit or use a fork. If everything is good, a little shake and nudge is all it requires to come off the mold and into the oil. Then dip the mold again into the oil, and into the batter. The key is the mold should be hot and with the oil. So the batter will barely cling to it until we dip it again in oil so it will release.

Fry until it turns color lightly and take off from the oil and strain the oil from the snack using a tissue covered plate.

Kuzhalappam

Hey, wont it be great to have an event for Snacks with holes!

Kuzhalappam or Kozhalappam might be a distant cousin of those donuts and those uzhunnu vadas, if the hole is vital part of the dna of snacks. I am sure they come up with these holes just to fancy the kids, for the kids to get excited, wear it round their fingers like a giant diamond ring, and then munch on them. Oh what a wonderful life it would be if we could be kids again.

It is easier to make and stays longer makes it a Christmas time favorite of mine, since I can prepare it well ahead. The crunchy crunchiness and all those crumbs on the floor and around your mouth, oh what a way to welcome wintry Christmas.

Take 2 cups of white rice flour, mix ¼ cup of fresh shredded coconut. This will make the rice flour get some of the wetness of the shredded coconut. Now grind together 2 shallots, a pinch of cumin seeds, 2 pods of garlic, a single whole pepper. I had all the tendency to add a curry leaf, but I resisted it. Try it if you want.

Heat a flat saucepan or a uruli, heat the rice mixture in very low heat to dry the powder slightly, Add salt and the ground mixture and slowly add thick coconut milk in teaspoons so that it get wet slowly. When you feel the consistency is good enough to make soft balls, take from heat.

Now knead the dough thoroughly for some 20 minutes. If you have a Kitchen Aid (HAHA! SHOW OFF) use it now in low speed for some 8 minutes! :)

When the dough is almost ready, add 1 tsp of sesame seeds to this mix. I added white, but black sesame is preferred.

Make small balls, flatten them out in your hand to very thin, but manageable.

You can either roll some wax paper on a stick or can use the stem of a banana leaf to roll them out as shown in the pictures.

The thing you have to make sure is the rolls are very thin, so that the insides also gets fried properly.

Heat coconut oil and add them. Fry them till golden brown.

I was trying different levels of crispiness while frying, that’s why you see two different colors. I liked the lighter one better.

You can store them airtight for two or three weeks. Those little binoculars you can eat. Yummy!

Sausage Stuffed Egg Rolls

Christmas and New Year Party Time! Easy appetizers!

Buy some sausages, dice them up, sauté them in oil, add some pepper, add some shredded vegetables. Wrap them in pre-made egg roll sheets. I tried to bake some of them, it didn’t come out good, so switched to deep frying them.

Let them pictures speak.

Vegetable Samosa

Who wants some potato vegetable hot samosa? I get Chinese egg roll wrappers at my nearby wal-mart store and I love to make samosas with them, quick and easy for a party. I didnt know they existed and was looking for pastry sheets and found these.

Boil potatoes, dice them in small squares. Heat two teaspoon oil, toss some diced onions, some fresh green peas, green chilies diced, ½ tsp diced ginger, and then when sautéed well add the potatoes. Add some salt and ½ tsp garam masala powder. Mix and remove from heat.

Cut the egg roll wrappers diagonally and place 1 tsp of each potato filling and wet the sides of the wrapper and close the ends in samosa shape i.e a triangle.

Then deep fry them in vegetable oil.

That’s it. Party time! Serve with tomato suace or mint chutney.

Mushroom Baji

Another easy snack item as a starter. Yes, Yes, I have been having too many parties at home :)

Bajis are a must have all Indians like easy snack item. In India, we usually deep fry stuff with besan flour. This is flour made out of channa dal.

Buy cleaned button mushrooms. There were around 40 hungry people at home and I didn’t get enough whole button mushrooms at store, so bought diced mushroom. It is good to make this with whole button mushrooms. Just wipe the mushroom with a wet cloth, don’t put it inside a tub of water etc to clean, since mushrooms are like sponge and they would hold the water.

You know mushrooms have niacin, which are extremely good for heart. But I am not sure what your heart is gonna do when you deep fry them. Hehehe.

Make a thick batter with besan flour, asafoetida, salt, chili powder, curry leaves diced thin, onions diced very thin, green chilies diced thin.

If you have never made baji before and is thinking about the proportions, I would say for 3 cups of mushrooms, mix two coups of besan flour with 1 cup of water, 3 tsp chili powder, 2 shallots diced very thin, 1 sprig of curry leaves diced thin, enough salt (taste the batter after salt is added), 5 green chilies diced very thin.

Dip the mushrooms and fry them deep in hot vegetable oil. Serve with tomato sauce.

Fish and Coconut balls

This is an easy and tasty appetizer or snack. An instant hit at parties.

Choose a fish that is kind of sticky and thick. Tuna, Mahi-Mahi, Shrimp etc are sticky kind of fish or seafood.

I usually make it with shrimp and this time I choose mahi-mahi.
Mahi Mahi Fillets without skin – 3 cups.
Small onion – 5
Green chilies – 5
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Shredded Coconut -2 cups
Vinegar – 1 tsp
Salt

Use a food processor and crush all the ingredients except the coconut. Do not overdo it and please don’t use a mixie. Now add the coconut and run it for one second.

Now make small balls, making sure they are very tight and firm. Squeeze out any moisture.

Fry them in oil. Brown both sides.


Serve with tomato sauce.

Bacon wrapped scallops

It is summer time here in U.S and schools are closed for three months. Daily It is almost some kind of outing and partying. I am tired, tired, tired. Kids are having a great time demanding attention and making every parent fervently pray for school reopening.

Whenever it was big summer vacation, everyday my Mom would scold and curse the Government and the entire school system. She would be fed up of us making the house a mess, jumping up and down from the sunshades and trees like little monkeys, running like little mice inside and out, destroying everything on our way.

Whenever I host a party, I make sure I make 4 or 5 appetizers. Kids love appetizers and even the fuzziest kid would be happy and would eat something. Grown ups always love appetizers to nibble on while making a conversation.
This is the recipe for bacon wrapped scallops. It is very easy and simple to make.

Buy fresh bacon, toothpicks, and scallops. If you get fresh large scallops it would be good. But if you get frozen ones also, it is okay. Make sure they are large scallops not the baby ones.

Marinate scallops in ginger + garlic + chili powder paste. Don’t add salt, since bacon is very salty. This time I made a different marinade. I made a paste of cilantro and mint and green chilies to make a green marinade.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking tray, keep a wire rack and arrange the bacons like as shown in picture. Roll the bacon around the scallops and insert a wet tooth pick(place the toothpicks in water for sometime) to hold it together. You can also add a garlic pod if you want on top.
Now bake them for 10 minutes. Serve hot. Tasty!

Snake gourd barges

I think it is a very Indian tradition to have a cup of chai(tea) and a snack before sunset. Especially you reach home famished from work or school and evening snack is a must.

Usually at home, we open a chips packet for evening snack. I feel a little guilty about it and I am always in search of quick healthy snacks.

I am fascinated by snake gourd and I do think, if there is a vegetable on earth perfect for stuffing, it is this, it is this, it is this! The round and lengthy shape surely screams, “Stuff me!”

If there is a stuffing that never fails, it is potato, potato, potato!

So, I thought of making potato-laden snake gourd barges.

Choose a young snake gourd, cut of both tips, scrape lightly, wash and clean.Cut into equal portions of 6 or more inches. Cut open into two parts and remove the seeds from the middle. Brush outside and inside with a mixture of 1 tsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp chili powder and 1 tsp salt.
For 10 barges,
Dice potato into small pieces – 1 cup
Onion – ½ cup
Olive oil – 1 table spoon
Balsamic vinegar – 2 tsp
Chili Powder – 3 tsp
Salt – as needed.

Mix everything and stuff the barges.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake on the top rack for twenty minutes or until done.Serve with cream or sauce.

Avalos Podi (Rice Flour Snack)

When JFI Flour was announced, I wanted to make something flour-y to project the theme.What else other than Avalos podi? Flour, that you can eat?

How many jars of Avalos podi, we, ever-moving Keralites would have taken to hostels or homes abroad, to eat with a little sugar or a simple banana? If you pass by my home in Kerala and get the whiff of avalos podi frying, you can be sure someone is leaving the next day. What other snack is there, which is simple to make, stores very well yet so filling and needs very simple accompaniments?

'Podi' means flour in Malayalam. No clue what Avalos means. Maybe it is the creator’s name?This is a very simple recipe and a good snack item. This will store good for 6 months if done properly.

Raw Rice Flour coarsely ground to sooji like consistency (If you don't get raw rice in that consistency, soak raw rice overnight, dry it completely on absorbent paper, then grind it coarse in your spice grinder).

Mix 1 cup of coarse ground rice flour with ½ cup of freshly grated coconut with ½ tsp of cumin and ¼ tsp of salt water. Keep aside for 3 hours.

Now take a flat pan or an uruli, heat it well and fry it until it turns light brown. Make sure you keep on stirring so that it won’t get burned. It should only turn a light brown color. Be very careful. You have to continuously stir so that it doesn’t burn.Now sieve the fried flour through a corase strainer and grind the lumps and add it to the fried avalos podi.Serve with a little sugar or a banana.

We also make 'avalos unda' with this which will test the strength of your teeth. About that later…

I am tired! Not from cooking but from thinking up stuff for events. My brain really hurts! No more events…please…for couple of months. :-)

GBP Summer 2006 - June - Yellow Banana Peppers

What’s growing in my yard? For the month of June for GBP, it is yellow banana peppers!Pepper Flowering
Mature Banana Pepper
Another shot of mature pepperWhat do I do with them? Make Mulaku Baji or Batter Fried Banana Pepper.

Somehow Mulaku Bajis remind of Bangalore street food. Hot bajis in oil, multitude of English accents, pretty young girls and boys on motor bikes displaying the latest trends, lots of loud laughter and a feeling of new and vibrant India in the air.

Make cuts on banana pepper without splitting the ends and the head. For 5 chilis, make a very thick paste with 1 cup of besan flour,1/4 tsp of turmeric powder; grind one inch of ginger and 3 tsp of onion, 1 spring of curry leaves diced very thin. Banana Peppers are not that hot, so if you need extra hotness, add 1 tsp of chili powder. Add a pinch of baking soda. Add enough salt and mix everything together.Dip the pepper in the batter and coat well. Fry in hot peanut oil or frying oil. When both sides are brown, take them off the oil. Make sure you don’t eat the head part, since we haven't deseeded them. Or be brave and eat them.Serve it as a snack with hot tea, with some tomato sauce. Have a bite of it and have a taste of real India!

Plantain Boiled or Steamed (Nenthrakka / Pazham puzhungiyathu)

I had a shower of guests over the Memorial Day weekend. I love the long weekend concept in U.S, where all the holidays are 'intelligently' designed to fall on either a Monday or Friday. So you get 3 straight days to leisurely rest, sleep... Oh-ho! I spoke too fast, I guess. I am now more tired than the normal working weekdays.

Guests staying at home definitely mean quick snacks since everybody is tired from the shopping, small local trips,talking endlessly etc.One of the many quick snacks I misunderstood, is the simple delicious boiled ripe plantains

I never understood why people boiled an already ripe plantain. The very few times I tasted them, I never liked them any better than having a ripe plantain (I think, they were not done right). But my husband loves it! He would buy plantains from the shop and would ask me to boil it. I would roll my eyes and ask him to eat it just plain. He wouldn't and I ended up eating them plain.

So, I had to 'learn' to boil them. And now I just love it. I think this is a very typical Kerala preparation. I am now a little scared to write traditional Kerala preparation, since these blogging days, I am amused to find so many 'traditional ' recipes done the same way in lot of other places too :)

Plantain is rich in fiber and potassium than her other banana cousins. Plantain is Nenthrakka in Malayalam.

Recipe for Pazham puzhungiyathuRipe Plantain - There are certain things you should keep in mind when you choose to boil them. The skin should be yellow in color and no black spots (means it is getting over-ripe). It should be firm and not soft to touch. Buy semi-ripe plantains and as soon as they turn a complete yellow, you can boil them.Cut off the two ends and cut into two inch round pieces. Steam them in a steamer basket for 10 minutes or until the yellow skin turns to dark. When steamed, plantains become more digestible (excellent for kids) and the sweetness is enhanced to higher proportions. The plantains we get here at my place, almost tastes like honey when boiled or steamed.If the plantains are a little on the unripe side, they will turn hard when boiling or steaming. So make sure they are ripe but firm.It can be served as a quick evening snack with tea, or as breakfast with puttu. Some sprinkle grated coconut on them. This is my entry for Meena's Picnic

Aval nanachathu (Rice Flake Snack) and Egg Puffs

When Kuchelan visited Lord Krishna (his classmate) at Dwaraka, all he had was a little bit of aval.

When today I had unexpected visitors at tea time, all I had was little bit of aval too. I hope I get that mansion tomorrow.

Rice Flake Snack (അവല്‍ നനച്ചതു)
This is such a simple and quick snack, and certainly tastier than any "hip-hop" snacks, my mom would prepare it in the evening, for her hungry starving children from school. This is so filling, after eating this snack, we kids wouldn’t harass her with 'I-am-hungry' for the next two or three hours.I used to bring bags of these from back home, since we never used to get the red flake rice here. But nowadays everything is readily available; you only have to fill your suitcases with home-made eatables. It is written brown on the packet,it is the same.

1 cup red/brown rice flake (It is made from this)1/2 cup coconut powder1/2 cup jaggery1/4 tsp of cumin

Now mix everything, think about a person whom you hate most and crush the ingredients with your hand thoroughly. The rice flake should be smashed with your hand nicely. At least for 10 minutes, do this and keep aside for 10 minutes for everything to greet each other. Serve with ripe bananas.If you find it little hard, sprinkle some milk and mix it again.

Egg Puffs
I used to collect money (well, ’collect' it is, don’t ask) to buy this snack from the nearby bakery at school, since for some weird reason my parents believed, one should not eat stuff from outside.

So egg puffs would be a rare treat like on a Wedding or some occasion or from the bakery I sneak out to ;-). I can still remember the aroma of egg puffs that makes one weak and hungry, when you walk past those bakeries on your way to school. Do we think with our noses or what?

I don’t know whether pastry sheets are available in India. But in U.S, it is available and it is so easy to make a quick snack.

For 4 eggs,Masala: Heat 1 tsp of vegetable oil, sauté 1 diced onion, 1tsp of diced ginger, 3 green chilies, 2 sprigs of curry leaves, salt, 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric, add 1 diced tomato in that order. Take from heat and add 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala. Divide into 8 equal portions.Boil eggs hard. Take out the shell, and cut the egg into two halves.Roll out the pastry sheet like dough and cut into 4*4 inch square pieces.

If dough is sticking, sprinkle some all prupose flour on the sheet and roll again. On a pastry sheet, place the egg and put the masala portion on top.Roll and seal it like egg puffs, i.e. fold two ends of the pastry sheet and seal them.If you use your hand for putting the masala on top of the egg, your hand will be oily enough to seal both the ends of the sheet.

If you brush, beaten egg white on top, it will look good, but I don’t do it. Seal only two ends.

Dont seal the other two ends.

I dont know why, but the eggs peeking out makes it look good.

Bake for 20 minutes on 350 degrees, or until the pastry sheets are turning golden brown. The pastry will puff up and will turn flaky and crispy. Line your baking pan with parchment paper so that you don’t have to brush oil on the baking pan.Serve with tomato sauce. Kids just love it.