Rava kesari.

Rava kesari:
Rava: 1 1/2 cups.
Sugar: 1 cup.
Ghee( Desi ghee): 3/4 cup.
Cashews- 4 to 5
Kesari powder for color - optional.
Water- 2 cups.
Method:
Dry roast rava and keep it aside.
Heat water in a kadai and add sugar. When it comes to boil, add rava, ghee and kesari powder. Keep mixing as it thickens until desired consistency is reached.When done, take it away from heat. In a small kadai, roast cashews in ghee and add it to kesari. Rava kesari is now ready.

Kuskus upma. (Couscous upma)

Kuskus upma.(Couscous upma)
Couscous is one of my favourite from the Maghreb cuisine. Couscous is one of the staple of Maghreb region. It is traditionally served under a meat or vegetable stew.We particularly enjoy the south Indian upma version of Couscous that I make.
Requires:(for 2)
Couscous - 2 cups.
Onion- 1 medium.
Tomato - 1 medium
Green chillies- 2 small chopped
Mixed cooked vegetables- half cup chopped carrot, beans, peas.
Salt- to taste
Seasoning with mustard, curry leaves(optional)

Preparation:
Place kadai in the stove.
Take 1 tbsp oil, splutter mustard and add curry leaves.
Saute onion, when golden brown add tomato, green chilli and mixed cooked vegetables and saute them well.
Add 2 cups of water, add salt and allow to boil.
Add instant Couscous, take off the flame and keep it closed for 10 mins.
Fluffy Couscous upma is now ready to serve.

Onion Pakoda

Onion Pakoda:
Rainy or cold evenings can only be compensated by an old movie and a cup of tea with a deep fried snack.And that snack often turns out to be onion pakoda because it is easy to make and needs things that you always have in store. So whenever you have an excuse for a deep fried snack, just go for onion pakoda.
Requires:
1. Besan flour/ Gram flour- 1 cup
2. Rice flour - 2 tbsp.
3. Onion - 1 large onion chopped into thin slices.
4. Green chillies- 2 small chopped in to pieces.( you can replace this with chilli powder 1/2 tsp, but I prefer green chillies)
5. Salt- as required(usually 1/2 tsp)
6. Oil for deep frying and if necessary for making the dough.

How to make:
An important tip for making onion pakoda is that the dough must be made with no water or at least minimal water. Yes it is possible to make the dough without adding water, just by using the juice/oil that you extract from onion.
Take the flour mixture, add onion, green chillies and salt. Mix well using your hands for a few minutes. Close the bowl with a lid keep it aside for 15 minutes. Now mix again using hands, you will notice that the dough is reasonably wet. If required you may add a couple of teaspoons of oil and water.
Once the dough is ready, heat oil in a kadai. When it is ready and not smoking , drop the dough in irregular clumps in to the oil. Strain it out when it is adequately fried. Place it on a kitchen napkin to drain excessive oil. Serve hot with tea/ coffee.

Vermicelli Payasam. (Semiya Payasam)

Vermicilli Payaasam:(Semiya paayasam)
Payaasam is one of the easy recipes that gets done in auspicious days. My mom used to make it during our birthdays. Paayasam also gets appreciated by the kids and adults equally.
Requires (for four persons):
Milk : 2 1/2 cups
Vermicelli: 1/2 cup.
Sugar : 1 cup
Cardamom : 1/4 teaspoon
Raisins, Cashew nuts : a handful.

Procedure:
Roast vermicelli in ghee and keep it aside.
Pour milk in a thick bottomed vessel, When the milk boils lower the flame and add vermicelli and sugar. Add cardamom powder.
Let the milk simmer down and become thick, by then vermicelli would have been cooked well.
As the milk reaches the required consistency, take it off from the stove.
Roast cashew and raisin in ghee until you get the aroma, garnish on top of the payaasam. Payasam is ready to be served.

Vegetable Noodles (Indian version)

This version of vegetable noodles is a very effortless, less time consuming(Particularly if you have precooked veggies), healthy dish which suits indian taste buds.
Requires:(serves 4)
Noodles: 3 cakes
onion medium size 1
tomato medium size 1
chopped veggies cooked soft- beans, carrot, peas half cup
Bell pepper, mushroom optional.
chilli powder -half teaspoon (reduce if you are using pepper)
salt to taste
Method:
Cook and drain noodles and keep it aside.
In a kadai add little oil and season with mustard seeds and curry leaves(you can skip the seasoning if you dont want a strong indian flavour), saute onions, bell pepper, mushroom and tomatoes.
When well sauted, add cooked veggies, chilli powder, and required salt.
Add drained noodles, mix well.

Omapodi.

Omapodi.(Ajwain spiced fried snack)
Omapodi is one of the dishes you can make in a jiffy. I remember my mom making them and keeping them stored in air tight container, as a surprise when we return from school. A rainy weekend, tea, Omapodi and family gossip time make a heavenly combination.
What you need:
Omam (Caromseeds/ajwain)- 1 tbsp
Gram flour(chickpea/besan flour)- 1 and a half cups.
Rice flour- half cup.
Chilli powder - half teaspoon.
Salt - to taste.
Preparation:
Soak Omam in a bowl of warm water for 15 minutes. grind Omam with water, strain and keep the water. In a vessel mix gram flour, rice flour, chilli powder and salt. Add the omam spiced water and add more water little by little to a soft dough. Take oil in a kadai for deep frying and keep it on the stove. When the oil is hot (but not smoking),take a portion of a dough in a Murukku press and press the dough in to the oil. When they are adequately fried take them out and place in a kitchen tissue to absorb excess oil.
Crispy, yummy omapodi is now ready!!. This can be stored in an airtight container for a couple of days.