White Sauce Pasta, Customized

            The title may sound funny, weird. We customize everything on earth. Why not we, customize our cooking as per our taste and beyond that, with the common ingredients in our kitchen, making it also more heathy. No mixed herbs, no Maida, cheese only if available. It may be argued that Pasta is made of Maida, not said to be healthy. The water is drained after cooking. Ghee and Butter can be taken as lubricants once in a while.

        Hot Pastas with the flavor of Capsicum. pepper, hot milk is very much relished by us during winter days. Our Pasta, I doubt, may not be liked even by my grandkids as they are very much used to the real taste of the Pastas enjoyed in the Italian restaurants. For us, going to such eateries are once in a blue moon. So, unaccustomed to the original taste, my preparation is the best for us. May be a funny logic but an honest one.

White Sauce Pasta, customized

Ingredients :

Pasta 1 cup

Milk 1 cup

Small carrot 1 

Onion 1

Capsicum 1 

Garlic, chopped 1 tsp.

Butter / Chee 1 tbsp.

Chilly powder 1 pinch

Pepper powder 1.5 tsp.

Wheat Flour 1 tbsp.

Chilly Powder / Flakes, Salt

Oil 2 tsp.

Method :

Chop the onion, carrot and capsicum.

Cook the Pasta till it becomes soft by adding a tsp. of oil and a pinch of salt. Drain the water and set aside.

Heat a Tawa, add 1 tsp. of oil, add the finely chopped garlic, onion and sauté , then add the chopped carrot and capsicum. Add salt to taste and 0.5 tsp. of chilly powder or flakes and 1 tsp. of pepper powder. Sauté for 2 minutes. Mix well. Switch off.

Heat another broad sauce pan, add the butter or Ghee. then add the wheat Flour or Maida, depending on the availability. My preference is wheat flour. Sauté for a minute on a low flame for a minute. Add the milk, mix well to avoid lumps. Let the flour get cooked on a medium flame with constant stirring for 1 minute.

Add the cooked pasta and mix well. Keep on stirring well for a minute, with an addition of 0.5 tsp. of pepper powder, again.

Add the onion and vegetables, sautéed. Mix well on a very low flame for a minute. Mixing a tbsp. of grated cheese is optional. 

Now the piping, yummy and creamy white sauce Pasta, healthy and enriched with onion, carrot, capsicum, pepper powder and milk is ready. What else can be a perfect food on a winter day, either for breakfast or dinner. Taking the Pasta, 30 mins. after cooking is ideal on a hot day. Anyway, we take it at least once in a month, with small packets of Pasta, sold even in middle towns. White Sauce Pasta is our comfort food.

Cabbage Vadai

   This Vadai has been tried by me a few times and it is really very tasty. It is an alternate to the onion Paruppu Vadai. Pattani Paruppu also known as Split Peas Dhal is always used by me for crunchy Paruppu Vadais and Adais. Onion, Garlic and Sombu are optional and not used on the days of Pooja.

Ingredients:

Pattani Paruppu / Kadalai Paruppu    1 cup

Finely chopped Cabbage 1/2 cup

Onion (optional )   1  

Sombu (optional )   1 tsp.

Garlic   6 pods

Green Chilly  2 

Red Chilly  2 

Ginger 1 small piece

Salt, Oil, Hing

Method;

Soak the Dhal for 1 hour and grind coarsely adding very little water, chilly, Ginger and salt.

Finely chop the onion, if used. Mix the ground Dhal, finely chopped Cabbage, Onion, Curry leaves, Coriander leaves, hing and 1 tbsp. of hot oil.

Make into small balls, flatten and drop the Vadais in the hot oil, flip and remove from the oil once the bubbles disappear. 30 hot, crunchy and tasty Vadais can be easily prepared in 3 batches very easily and quickly.

Preparation Time  30 minutes.

Vattayappam

                 Vattayappam is one of the delicacies of Kerala, prepared with rice, coconut and jaggery or sugar. It is oil free as it is steamed and easy to make but the taste is really good.

                                               

Ingredients :

Raw Rice    1 cup

Grated coconut 1 cup

Sugar / powdered Jaggery 0.5 cup

Ghee, Coconut Oil, cardamom Powder, cooking Soda

Method:

Soak the rice for 2 hours and grind to a fine paste with the coconut and the water, required for grinding. Add the sugar or jaggery power.

After grinding to a fine paste, transfer to a vessel and adjust the consistency to that of Dosa batter. Let it ferment for 5 to 6 hours. Yeast can be added for quicker fermentation within 2 to 3 hours.

After the batter has fermented well, add cardamom powder, a pinch of cooking soda and mix gently. Grease a tray or plate which could fit into your Idly vessel or steamer conveniently.

Pour the batter only up to half of the vessel with space for the batter to expand after steaming. Steam it an Idli vessel or steamer.

After 10 to 12 minutes, check, if the Vattayappam is cooked by inserting a stick. If done, remove from the steamer and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Gently using a knife along the sides of the cooked Vattayappam, free from the vessel and turn it upside down on a plate. Cut into desired shapes. Jaggery tastes better than sugar. Now the tasty Vattayappam with an aroma of coconut and Jaggery is ready. 

   

Uzhundhang Kanji

   This Kanji can be taken as a simplified version of the Uzhundhang Kali. This is very easy to prepare and has a rich nutritive value.

                                                                     Uzhundhang Kanji.

Ingredients :

Whole or broken Urad Dhal / Uzundham Paruppu   2 tbsp.

Raw rice  1tbsp.

Powdered Vellam / Jaggery / Karuppatty   8 Tbsp.

Cardamom Powder, Sukku Powder

Method :

Rinse the Dhal and Rice and soak for 30 minutes. Grind to a fine paste in a mixer jar as done for Dosai batter by adding water, 

Then transfer to a thick bottomed sauce pan. Add 5 cups of water and boil it. Then slowly add the Dhal, rice paste and keep on stirring on a low flame. The mixture starts thickening in 2 minutes. Keep on stirring to avoid lumps. Add the Jaggery powder, mix well and let it simmer for 2 minutes. Add a pinch of Cardamom powder and 0.5 tsp. of Sukku powder. Mix well and switch off. The easy to make, tasty and healthy Kanji is ready. Even 2 tbsp. of grated coconut can be added with the the rice and dhal for an enhanced taste,

Time taken 10 minutes

Finished product 5 cups.

Maida Biscuit

             Earlier this Maida Biscuit was one of the components of the snack, Mixture prepared by me. Later, may be due to the time constraint, this Biscuit was skipped.

             Now this is prepared by me now and then as a separate snack item. It is very easy to make and the taste is wonderful. These biscuits can be prepared either with Maida or Wheat Flour. But, it is better to use only Maida to get soft biscuits.

                                                                Maida Biscuits

Ingredients:

Maida / Wheat flour  1 cup.

Sugar  1/4 cup.            

Butter/ Ghee 2 tbsp.

Oil, Cardamom Powder,

Method:

Powder the sugar. Mix the powdered sugar, flour, butter and half teaspoon of Cardamom powder. Add water little by little and make a dough as done for Chappathi. Let it rest for 30 minutes.

Make the dough into 2 balls. Roll as done for Chappathi with a rolling pin for a thickness of 0.5 centimeter, Cut into small square or diamond shaped pieces. Heat the oil and fry in reduced flame though it takes some extra time, This is very important. Otherwise the biscuits may turn deep brown. Repeat with the other ball of dough. If done patiently, we can get crispy golden colour biscuits. Initially the biscuits may be soft but in 2 or 3 hours, they will become crispy.

Time taken  30 minutes

Finished product 250 grams.

Pottukadalai Murukku

    Pottukadalai Murukkus...…. very yummy....crispy.. With so many years of experience in cooking and having tried some recipes with Idiappam Flour, it is still a big surprise to me that the Idiappam Flour can make the Murukkus so crispy and white in color without adding butter or ghee. Ghee or butter can be used for enhanced taste. 

Ingredients:

Idiappam Flour   2 cups

Pottukadali    1/2  cup

Cummin / Zeeragam   2 tsp.

Oil, Salt, Hing

Method:

Powder the Pottukadalai . Sieve the flours and mix all the ingredients except oil, well. Boil 3 cups of water. After the water starts boiling, add slowly to the the flour and make a dough, not rigid nor very loose. This may roughly require 3 cups of boiling water. It may vary according to the texture of the rice flour. Add 2 tbsp. of hot oil. Mix well.

Using the Murukku mould with the 3 or 5 holed disc, press into the hot oil, 3 to 5 Murukkus, depending on the size of the Kadai. When half cooked, flip to the other side. Remove from the oil once the bubbles disappear .Repeat till the dough gets over. 

Very important that only Idiappam Flour and boiling water should be used for crispy, tasty and white Murukkus. If only ordinary flour is at home, it can be dry roasted and used.

Repreparation Time: 10 minutes 

Preparation    40 minutes

Finished product   500 grams

Milagu / Pepper Kara Sevu

         Often Kara Sevu with Garlic and Zeeragam is only prepared by me. Now, Milagu Sevu is also prepared by me. It is very easy to make but the taste is very good.

                                                              Milagu Kara Sevu



Ingredients :

Besan Flour / Kadalai Mavu     2 cups
Rice Flour   1/2  cup
Pepper powder  1 tbsp
Salt. Hing, Oil


Method:

Seive the flours and make a dough with all the ingredients except oil. Add water slowly and make a dough, neither rigid nor loose.


Heat the oil, add a tablesoon of hot oil to the dough and mix well. 

Using the Murukku mould, press the dough into the oil,in a circular form, using the disc with 3 holes. Flip to the other side, break into small pieces, using the laddle. Once the bubbles disappear, remove from the oil. The whole dough can be pressed in 6 to 7 batches in less than 30 minutes, using a medium Kadai and 2 cups of oil.

Crunchy Kara Sevu is ready in 30 minutes. For soft Sevu, 1 tbsp. of butter or Ghee can be added instead of hot oil.