Pineapple Murabba

Murabba is a sweet preserve made using a fruit and sugar. Mango and pineapple are the most common fruits used in murabba. Amla murabba is equally popular. I love pineapple murabbas a lot. My maternal aunt(maami) makes the best murabba.

Ingredients
Pineapple - 1
Sugar
Cardamom (Elaichi) powder

Remove the skin and the eyes of the pineapple. Cut it in small cubes. In a pan mix pineapple and sugar. Put the pan on low heat and keep stirring intermittently. Continue heating till a drop of syrup when put on a plate doesn't spread. At this point remove from heat and add 2 pinches of cardamom powder. Cool and store it in a jar in a refrigerator.
It is a good accompaniment with dosas and chapatis.

Note: I used pineapple and sugar in the ratio 2:1. So for 4 cups of pineapple pieces i used 2 cup of sugar. Pineapple murabba on Vanilla icecream makes an excellent combination.

Tofu bhurji

TOFU or Bean Curd is a food of Chinese orgin and is made from soy milk. It is low in calories and high in protiens. It looks very similar to paneer. I dont like the taste of tofu as compared to paneer. But considering its health benefits i make this bhurji to incorporate it in our diet. The bhurji tastes similar to egg and paneer bhurji.

Ingredients

Tofu
Onion - 1 medium, finely chopped
Tomato - 1 small, chopped
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Paprika - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves - for garnish
Salt
Oil - 2 tsp

Crumble the tofu and keep aside.


Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onions. Fry till it turns golden then add ginger garlic paste and fry for a min. Add tomatoes and fry till it becomes soft. In the meanwhile add all the masalas and fry. Then add the tofu and salt and mix properly. Check the taste and adjust the spices. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with chapatis/phulkas.


Note : I used medium variety of tofu for this. I think firm can also be used. It was approximately 150 g.
Egg and paneer bhurji can be made on similar lines.

Methi Paratha

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Methi leaves - 1 bunch
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Chilli powder/flakes - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Ajwain - 1/4 tsp
Oil
Salt

Remove the methi leaves and discard the stem. Chop the leaves. In a large bowl, mix together wheat flour, methi, all spices and salt and add water as needed to form a soft dough. Apply a tsp of oil to the dough. Cover and rest it for 30 min to an hr.
Makes small balls from the dough. Apply wheat flour and roll it into a round shape.
Heat a tava, and place a paratha on it. Keep the flame medium. Fry it on both sides using few drops of oil till it gets golden spots. Remove from tava and serve it with a suitable side dish.

I served my methi parathas with Papaya bhaji. Makes around 10 small parathas.

Masala Dosa

One of the most common item that people order in a restaurant is Masala Dosa. A potato mixture is stuffed into a crispy dosa and it is served with chutney and sambar.

Ingredients

For the Dosa
Urad Dal - 1 katori
Rice - 3 katoris
Tur/Chana Dal - 1 fistful
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt

For the potato bhaji
Boiled Potatoes - 3 nos chopped into small pieces
Onion - 1 big, chopped lengthwise
Green Chillies- 2 slit lengthwise
Red Chilli - 1
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Salt
Pinch of sugar

Soak the dals, rice and methi seeds in plenty of water for atleast 3-4 hrs. Grind it into a smooth batter adding water as needed. Let the batter ferment overnight.
Next morning add salt and mix.
For removing dosas, heat a tava. When it is very hot add oil and sprinkle few drops of water. When it sizzling stops and the water evaporates pour a ladleful of the batter and spread it into a big circle. When it gets a golden brown colour on the bottom, remove it.
Follow the same procedure for the rest of the dosas.

For preparing the bhaji, heat a tsp of oil in a pan. add mustard seeds. when its starts to sputter add jeera and urad dal. Then add curry leaves and the chillies. Fry all for a min. Then add onions and fry. Sprinkle some water. Cover and cook. When it is almost cooked add turmeric powder, boiled potatoes, salt and sugar and mix all. Cook for few more min.

Place a little of this bhaji in each dosa and serve with chutney and Sambar.

Plantain Chips

Also known as Kerala chips. These are mostly fried in coconut oil but can also be fried in other oils. It is a very good snack item with tea. Amma used to make these while we were kids. I prefer the homemade ones to the store brought ones.
I wanted to make these chips from a very long time as we get plantains easily here but i didn't have the chips maker for making the chips. I brought one while returning from our vacation.

Ingredients:
Raw Green Plantains
Salt
Oil for deep frying

Peel the plantains. Dissolve about a teaspoon of salt in little water and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan. Holding the chips maker above the pan carefully drop the chips directly into the oil. Fry it on a medium flame. Once it is half done reduce the flame and drop half a spoon of the salt water into the oil. Fry the chips till golden brown and drain excess oil on a paper towel. Serve with tea.

Note: When adding salt water always reduce the flame. You may also make a mixture of chilli powder, salt, hing, haldi and add to the chips after removing from oil. This method is the safer one but adding salt water to the oil helps in uniform distribution of salt. The chips in the pic are from 2 plantains though i have eaten a few before taking the snap.