Onion And Potato Bajjis (Fritters)

          Bajjis, it's one of the popular and easiest snack recipes, if it's raining or snowing outside and you are craving for some hot snack, then this is the first one that comes to the mind. I have done it so many times, but because it was mostly in the evenings, I couldn't take pictures and so it never made it to the blog. You can make bajjis with many vegetables, the most common ones used are plantain/ vazhakkai, onions and potatoes but you can make them with eggplant, capsicum and ridge gourd too and they pair so well with a hot cup of tea or coffee..

South Indian Mixture, Madras Mixture

          Today's post is going to be the last snack that I have made for Diwali 2016, in fact I am a little tired of the oil and deep frying, and the final snack is the most favorite South Indian Mixture, Madras Mixture. Though I like other types of mixtures, my favorite will always be this, mainly because of the less masalas and the simple flavors from the asafoetida and curry leaves. This is also my daughter's favorite snack, so I decided to make it this time for Diwali. Making mixture takes a little time, and the major task is making the ompodi/sev and kara boondi. If you want, you can make them the previous day and then fry the remaining ingredients the next day and finally mix everything, but the time and effort is all worth it, so do give it a try..

Kambu Ribbon Pakoda, Bajra (Pearl Millet) Ribbon Pakoda

          This year for Diwali, I wanted to try out snacks with millets, the first one that I made was the Ragi Murukku and the next one in line is this Kambu Ribbon Pakoda or Bajra (Pearl Millet) Ribbon Pakadoa. I have already posted the regular Ribbon Pakoda/Nada/Ola Pakoda made with rice flour, I simply followed that recipe with a few variations. Usually we add cumin or asafoetida for flavor and digestion in these snacks, this time, for a change I have used fennel seeds. The Ribbon Pakoda came out really good with a nice texture and taste, another snack that you can enjoy with your tea..

Motichoor Ladoo Recipe, Motichur Laddu

          Motichoor Ladoo, another sweet that I had wanted to try for a long time, but kept putting it off until now. The main difference between Motichoor Ladoo and the Boondi Ladoo, is the size of the boondis ( fried gram flour balls ), it is very small in size in Motichur Ladoos. Also, we add cardamom and rose essence for flavor in Motichoor Ladoos, whereas in Boondi Ladoo, we add cardamom, cloves and edible camphor for flavor, and also Motichoor Ladoos are softer than Boondi Ladoos. There is a special ladle, Boondi Karandi ( karandi meaning ladle) for making the boondis for the ladoos, and in that also we have differnt ones for making the different sizes of boondis. I had with me, only the regular Boondi Karandi, not the one for making tiny boondis, but we can still make them, they may not be 100% perfect but we can still get close enough results and taste wise there will not be any difference. Even if you don't have a Boondi Karandi, you can still make it using the regular Jali Karandi ( the one with small holes) that we have in our kitchen for deep frying, so do try out this delicious and traditional sweet for this Diwali..

Garlic Murukku, Poondu Murukku (Chakli)

          As much as we love sweets at home, both the husband and daughter like these crunchy, munchy savory snacks, especially along with the evening coffee or tea. So the next one that I tried for this Diwali is this Garlic Murukku, Poondu Murukku/Chakli. This is again a very easy snack, we don't need any specially prepared flours for it, I have just used store bought organic besan flour and rice flour for these murukkus. They turned out very good with a delicious garlic and curry leaves flavor and we loved it..

Karasev, Khara Sev, Spicy Sev (Savory Snack)

       
            Karasev has been on my do list for some time, I have made murukku, mixture and other stuff, but until now, for some reason, I haven't tried Karasev. We have a special ladle called 'Karasev Karandi', which is used for squeezing out the dough for this, I didn't have it, so I used the regular ladle with holes that we use for making pooris and other stuff. I have followed the recipe from Mallika Badrinath's cookbook, it's a simple snack and needs just a few ingredients. The karasev came out really good, the texture was perfect and the taste was awesome..

Besan Cheela, Gram Flour Pancakes

          Most of the days, our breakfast is either dosa, bread or idlis except during the weekends when I try to make something different. I had tried Besan Chila a couple of times before but never got a chance to post it on the blog, this is not an elaborate recipe, we can make it during weekdays too if you have everything ready. The main ingredient here is the besan flour/gram flour, it's the binding base and the other ingredients are all for taste and texture. I have added some chopped onion, spinach along with the spices, but you can use grated carrots, shredded cabbage and even tomatoes. They look like egg omelettes, taste very good and make a very filling breakfast..

Vengaya Pakoda, Onion Fritters

          Vengaya Pakoda/Onion Fritters, this is a favorite at home, I have made it so many times, but never got the chance to click it and so it has taken so long to appear here in the blog. It's such an easy snack, the only big work might be slicing the onions, other than that, it's just mixing and deep frying. You can do it two ways, with more onions and less flour, when you do it like this, the pakoda stays crispy only for a short time, might be for 3 to 4 hours. If you do it with more flour and less onion, the pakoda will stay crispy for a couple of days, when stored in an air-tight container. Both ways, it tastes good, today's version is the first one, with more onions and I love this version. The pakodas taste crispy and delicious and goes well with both as a side to a meal or as a snack with some coffee or tea..