RIBBON PAKODA

Ribbon pakoda is one of spicy and crispy snack made from rice and bengal gram flour.  This popular snack is very easy to prepare and can be made in just half an hour.  I usually prepare this snack on weekends at times and store in large container and give this to Jr.H as school snack.  This is one of my signature dish and has never failed me on taste and crispiness.  Many of my colleagues had given me accolades after tasting this and would ask for recipe. 

The main secret of crispiness lies with dough; it had to be prepared in smaller quantities.  I mix all the ingredients and take a little portion and prepare the dough.  Also care must be given to prepare the dough at right proportion.  If the dough is dry the pakodas would be hard and if it is too moisten the stripes would not be continuous and would be breaking in bits.  The recipe that am going to share is a foolproof method and would never disappoint you.

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 2 cups

Bengal gram flour - 1 cup

Butter - 1 tsp

Red chilly powder - 1 to 1.5 tsp

Salt - to taste

Garlic paste - 1-2 tsp

Oil - for frying

Preparation:

1.  Sieve the rice and bengal gram flour separately to get rid of any tiny grains.  (I usually grind raw rice in bulk quantity in the rice flour mill as I am living in India but you can also use store brought rice flour for this).

2.  Grind the peeled garlic pods with 1/4 cup of water in a mixer and keep aside.

3.  Add in all the ingredients (rice flour, bengal gram flour, butter, chilly powder, salt) without water.  Filter the garlic mixture so that only the essence gets filtered in leaving out the pulp.  Mix well without any lumps.

4.  Take small quantity of mixture and knead well adding water.  

5.  Fill the nada pakoda press with prepared dough with ribbon pakoda disc into it. Once the dough is over, prepare the next batch of dough as above while the pakoda is frying in oil.

6. Heat oil and when the oil is hot, press the dough in hot oil in circular way to form a singular layer.  Don't layer too much, one layer gives out crispy and even cooking. When the bubble ceases, flip the pakoda and cook again until the sizzing of the oil ceases. 

7. Drain it in paper towel and store it in air tight container.

The pakodas become more crispier after it had cooled down completely.

Enjoy the pakoda as evening snack with a cup of tea - a perfect partner for each other on a breezy evening.

BITTERGOURD PORIYAL

As we ate lot of sweets during Deepavali, DH put a rule at home to include bittergourd daily at home for a week.   Usually, I make poricha kuzhambu with bitter gourd that includes frying urad dhal, asafoetida, coriander seeds and grind along with coconut as addition of coconut subtle the bitter taste but this time I tried poriyal adding onion and tomatoes.  I must say the mild tangy taste from tomatoes reduced the bitter taste and added a special flavor to the poriyal.

INGREDIENTS:

Bitter gourd - 250g

Onion - 2-3 (sliced thin)

Tomatoes - 2 (sliced thin)

Garlic flakes - few 

Salt - to taste

Red Chilly Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Oil - 3-4 tsp

To Temper:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dhal - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2

PREPARATION:

1. Slice onions and tomatoes and cut the bittergourd in thin long 2" pieces.  Refer picture any doubts.

2. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and throw in the tempering agents one by one. Put in onions and once the onions have browned well, add tomatoes and garlic flakes and little salt which is required only for onions and tomatoes.

3. Once the tomatoes have turned mushy , add the bitter gourd, turmeric powder, and salt required for bittergourd.  Mix well and cook it closing the pan with a lid.  Once the bittergourd had cooked well, add red chilly powder, keep in flame for few minutes and transfer to vessel.

4.  Serve as side dish for sambar/kara kuzhambu.  

We had as a side dish for drumstick-black channa puli kuzhambu with additional side dish of baby potato-cauliflower fry.