Kerala Parippu Vada | Channa Dal Fritters | Lentil Fritters

Fritters made from Channa Dal & Onions

Come to the God's own country & it is difficult to leave the place without spotting this snack. This is one of the yummiest finger food that you can find in the 'chaya kadas' (Tea stall) in Kerala. Pair it up with a cuppa chai & that makes your eve on a rainy monsoon day :) And did you know that this combo of Parippu Vada & Kattan Chaya (Black Tea) was once the watchword or identity of the Communist comrades ! I guess it is the simplicity of the dish & the abundance that made it so. Again, strictly my views :D And one can never forget the train journeys in South India, especially Kerala & Tamil Nadu without hearing the 'Uzhunnu Vada/Parippu Vada' shoutings ;) 

My mom seldom makes this one at home as it is Uzhunnu Vada that is popular at our abode, but my Mil is an expert in this. Give her 15 minutes (plus the soaking of the dal in the afternoon), she pulls up this yummy snack with hot steaming tea for us in the evening. And we are always ready to gobble this up in lesser time than she took to prepare it ;) So why don't we now see how to prepare this easy & popular snack?

Recipe Source: Mil

Makes: 25-30 medium sized fritters

I Took: 

Soaking Time: 2 hours
Preparation Time: 15 minutes

I Used:

	Channa Dal/Kadala Parippu - 2 cups Onions - 3 nos - medium sized  Green Chilly - 5 nos  Ginger - A 2 inch piece Curry leaves - 3-4 sprigs Oil - To Deep fry Salt - As Needed

The Way:

1. Rinse the channa dal in water 3-4 times. Soak it in water for 2-2.5 hours
2. Chop the onion, green chilly, ginger & curry leaves finely
3. After 2-2.5 hours, drain the water off the channa dal thoroughly. Use a colander if required & then pat dry the dal using a kitchen towel. Do not over soak the dal as it may increase the moisture content & may cause the vadas/fritters to break
4. Now grind the soaked & dried dal coarsely in a mixie without water. Do NOT grind to a fine paste. Just pulse it 3 or 4 times. Add NO water at all as it may again increase the moisture content
5. Add the chopped onion, green chilly, ginger, curry leaves & salt to the coarsely ground dal and mix well
6. Heat oil in a kadai. When the oil is hot enough to fry the vadas, reduce the flame to medium high
7. Make small gooseberry sized balls with the dal mix. Then flatten the balls using your palm. Hold the ball in one palm and press the other palm over the ball so that they get flattened 
8. Take care not to break the balls. You may moisten your palm before flattening each ball. It is advisable to flatten the balls before adding to the oil, else they will break. Now deep fry the vadas until golden brown or till done

Drain off the excess oil & serve hot.

Cheers,

Chitz

Chicken Spring Rolls | Chinese Chicken Spring Rolls using Pastry Sheets

What's the first dish that comes to your mind when you hear 'Chinese' ? It must be 'Fried Rice' or 'Noodles', correct? Okay, now what's it that comes to your mind when I say 'Chinese Starter'. For me it's always 'Spring Rolls'. A visit to the Chinese restaurant is never complete without gulping this all time favorite of mine. And yes, not to for get the 'Sweet corn corn chicken soup'. I used to order this every other time, that my dad used to ask me, 'Why don't you try something new at least this time?' :D

My mom used to make these spring rolls for us at home. So I knew it was not a Herculean task, barring the vegetable chopping. I think that's the only time consuming factor in Chinese cuisine. Once that's done, the rest is very simple.  It is one of the all time favorites of Deeps too.. He simply loves them and would be in full praises when I make them. And he did come home very early from office yesterday. I am still not sure which one of these two is the reason, 'Not much work today' (as he said) or 'I am making spring rolls for evening tea today' (as I told him in the morn). Anyways we both enjoyed this little delicacies over a hot cup of tea.

Recipe from Ma

I Took:

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 12 nos

I Used:

Carrot	-	1 cup (refer notes)
Capsicum	-	1 cup
Beans	-	½ cup
Celery	-	½ cup
Chicken	-	1 cup
Soya Sauce	-	1 ½ tsp
Tomato Sauce	-	1 tsp
Chilly sauce	-	1 tsp
Worcestershire sauce	-	1 tsp
Sugar	-	½ tsp
Pepper powder	-	½ tsp
Ground paste	-	1 tbsp
Oil	-	For deep frying
Salt	-	As needed
Aginomoto	-	A pinch (optional)

To grind:

Ginger	-	1 tbsp
Garlic	-	1 tbsp
Chilly powder	-	1 tsp

The Way:

1. Chop all the vegetables. Clean and cut the chicken into small pieces (like chops)
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the chicken pieces. Add a little salt & pepper and saute for 3-4 minutes
3. Then add the ground paste and onion and mix well (Ignore the previous step for veg spring rolls)
4. After 2 minutes of sauteeing add carrot, beans, capsicum, celery and aginomoto and fry
5. Then mix in salt, soya sauce, tomato sauce, chilly sauce, worcestershire  sauce and the remaining pepper powder and saute in
6. The veggies should become crisp & crunchy. Do not over cook as they again have to be deep fried
7. The filling for the roll is ready. Allow it to cool and dry. Moisture content in the filling will make the wrapper wet which will suck in more oil during frying. Hence best to wait till the filling has cooled down with minimum moisture in it
8. Now off to the spring roll sheets. Defrost them to room temperature before using them. Use the sheets after defrosting as they will dry out & crack if left unattended 
9. Lay out one of the sheet. Place about a tbsp (depending on the size of your sheet) of the filling on one corner. Lesser the filling, the better. Over sized filling have a tendency to break apart in oil

1. Fold over that corner and roll in
2. Fold over both the left & right sides
3. Make sure there is very little or no air pockets when you fold in the sheet, as they can allow oil to get inside the roll
4. At this point you can freeze the rolls if required for future use. Make sure the rolls are placed one aside the other (not on top) & covered suitably to prevent drying while freezing
5. Heat oil in a kadai. Deep fry the rolls. Keep turning the over in oil till the turn golden brown evenly 
6. Place them over tissue paper to drain off the excess oil. Serve with tomato ketchup

Notes:

• You can include more vegetables like cabbage & cauli flower. I had run out of them. So did not use here
• Aginomoto is added to enhance flavor but comes with a list of side effects. So highly recommended to avoid

Linking this to 'Flavors of Chinese Cuisine' event at Julie's 'Erivum Puliyum'

Cheers,

Chitz

Pachai Pattani Vadai | Peas Vadai | Green Peas Fritters

Fritters made form ground green peas & onions mixed with Indian spices

This is yet another tasty simple recipe from the great cook I have ever met.. Hehe, ya my mom.. How intriguing is this fact rite!! Most of the people would give away the 'Best Cook ever known' award to their mom. Somehow, we are so used to their style & taste that we tend to compare any other food that we come across to theirs. And many a times we would also hear or make the comments 'Not as tasty as my mom's' or 'No one can beat my mom's chole poori' ;) 

Everyday the conversation with my mom would not be complete without asking each other what we cooked for the day.. Sometimes we won't have much to talk about. But still we would rattle about for long time about some new recipe or how something that we cooked turned out or what others commented about it. It was during one such conversation that she told me that she had prepared 'Peas Vadai' that day. I was amused. Had never heard of that vadai before. Immediately I asked her for the recipe and jotted it down. But still it took me a month to try it out.. Heights of laziness :D But I was really happy that I did. It was really good :) I enjoyed it with my evening cuppa hot coffee and the movie 'Eat, Pray & Love'

I Took:

Prepartion Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Yield: 8 vadai

I Used:

Peas	-	½ cup
Onion	-	1 no - medium sized - chopped
Fennel seeds	-	A pinch
Garlic	-	2 cloves
Ginger	-	An inch piece
Red Chilly	-	3 no
Corn flour	-	3 tbsp
Garam Masala	-	1 tsp
Salt	-	As needed
Oil	-	As needed

The Way:

1. Grind together peas, fennel seeds, ginger, garlic and red chilly with a little water
2. Add onion, garam masala, salt and corn flour to the ground paste and mix well
3. Make into small patties/vadai shapes on the palm of your hand, from the mix
4. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry/deep fry and serve with hot kaapi/chai :)

Notes:

Can substitute maida for corn flour if required

Cheers,

Chitz