Raw Banana / Plantain Fry (Vazhakkai Varuval)

Category: Lunch / Poriyal

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Servings: 2

Hey everyone, how many of you love Raw banana also known as Vazhakkai or plantain?

Vazhakkai / Raw Banana Fry

These versatile veggies are packed with complex carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals, and they’re super easy to digest. They’ve been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. I still remember the simple vazhakkai poriyal with pearl onions and fresh coconut I used to enjoy during my school days.

Back then, we didn’t have the fancy health benefits of veggies explained to us before we ate them. In our hometown, our houses were surrounded by banana trees and coconut trees. And guess what? In most of our dishes, we used fresh coconut, and once a week, we’d have Raw banana, banana flower, and banana stem on our menu. Also, since we’ll be growing small pearl onions in our farm, we used the pearl onions which is also called as "sambar vengayam" in our everyday cooking. The big onions which we’re used to now make a rare appearance in our home then.

After moving to the US, these things have become a bit of a challenge for me when it comes to cooking. We can buy raw banana and plantains here, but banana flowers and banana stems are a bit harder to find. And here, we’re used to using frozen coconut most of the time because it’s so convenient. 

But these won’t stop me from experimenting with my favorite veggie in new ways! Let’s see how to make this vazhakkai varuval with fresh ground masala. These go well with any South Indian meal - Rasam rice, Sambar rice, Morkuzhambu, or curd rice. If you’re like me, you can just enjoy it on its own!

Ingredients:

• Vazhakkai / Plaintain / Raw banana - 2 medium sized
• Onion, thinly sliced- 1 
• Oil - 1 Tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Salt-  to taste
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
• Coconut oil - 1 tsp

To  Grind:

• Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Coconut - 2-3 Tbsp
• Pearl Onions - 7-8 nos
• Red chilly - 2-3 nos (adjust as per spice level)
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Garlic - 3 pods

Method:

• Peel and cut the raw banana into slightly thick pieces. I halved them, then cut them lengthwise and kept them submerged in water until ready to use.
• Grind the ingredients listed under "To Grind" list with a little water to obtain a coarse paste. Set aside.

• Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and let it heat up.
• Add mustard seeds and sliced onions to the pan. Sauté for a few minutes until the onions are translucent.
• Drain the banana slices and add them to the pan along with turmeric powder. Mix well.

• Stir in the ground masala and salt, along with asafoetida. Mix everything together until the masala is evenly distributed. If the mixture seems too dry, add a little water and mix again.

• Cover the pan and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring gently in between, until the banana masala is almost cooked but still firm.
• If desired, add 1-2 teaspoons of oil while roasting the banana masala.
• Once the banana masala reaches 90% cooked, reduce the heat to low and let it roast in an open pan without covering.

• Add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil and mix everything together gently. Turn off the heat
• Serve the banana masala hot with your choice of rice, such as Rasam rice, Sambar rice, Morkuzhambu, or curd rice.

Foxtail millet-Wheat Coin Pancakes

Category: Kids Breakfast

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Servings: 2

Foxtail millet coin pancakes

Foxtail millet is a powerhouse of nutrients! It’s packed with protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, and B vitamins. These nutrients are essential for a child’s growth and development. Plus, it’s easy for young children to digest, making it a great choice for their meals.

And guess what? It’s especially rich in iron, which helps prevent anemia in kids. Plus, the calcium in foxtail millet helps build strong bones and teeth. So, if you’re looking for a healthy and nutritious option for your child’s diet, foxtail millet is the way to go!

Foxtail Millet

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

• Foxtail millet flour - 1/4 cup
• Whole wheat flour - 1/4 cup (I used white whole wheat flour /whole wheat pastry flour)
• Cane sugar - 1-2 tsp
• Baking soda - 1/8 tsp
• Salt- a pinch

Wet Ingredients:

• Milk -1/2 cup
• Butter, melted - 1.5 tsp
• Water - as needed (depends on the consistency)
• Vanilla Extract - 1/4 tsp

Yummy Coin pancakes with blueberries :)

Method:

• Sieve the dry ingredients into a bowl.
• Add the wet ingredients one by one.
• Gently mix everything together until you have a smooth batter.
• If the batter is too thick, add a little water.
• Heat a dosa tawa (griddle) over medium heat.
• Pour the batter onto the pan in the shape of a coin.

• Flip the pancakes over when the top starts to bubble.

• Cook the other side until it’s also golden brown.

• Remove the pancakes from the pan and repeat the process with the remaining batter.

• Serve the pancakes warm with butter and your favorite toppings, like honey or maple syrup.

Enjoy the coin pancakes with fresh fruits!

Moringa Rasam Powder (Murungaikeerai Rasam Podi)(Moringa Soup Powder)

Category: Home made Powder
Preparation Time: 5 mins  
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Servings: yields around 1 and 1/2 cups

Moringa Rasam Powder

Rasam is a most popular and a very common dish prepared in south Indian homes on a daily basis. There are lot of varieties of Rasam already posted in our blog like Tomato Rasam with freshly ground rasam powder, Pineapple Rasam, Cranberry Rasam, Selavu Rasam, Paruppu Rasam, Horsegram Rasam. 

When I brought homemade moringa powder from home, I started adding a little to our normal rasam. Then thought of making Rasam Podi with moringa leaves and it's a hit at our home. As we all know, Moringa leaves are  packed with nutrients and super healthy. If we have access to fresh leaves we can use it in our regular cooking. But when we are outside India and we dont have easy access, the dry powder comes in handy.

If you're used to buy masalas from the store, it might feel like a hectic task to prepare at home. But once we started, we cant resist ourselves from making these at home. Also we can adjust the ingredients as per our liking and preference.

These home made masala powders are filled with aroma, flavour and most importantly no preservatives. Also when we have babies or toddlers, we can easily adjust the spice level when we make it by ourselves at home.

Make sure to roast the ingredients in low flame or else certain spices will get burnt fast which affects the flavor of the podi. 

Ingredients: 

• Coriander seeds- 1/2 cup
• Channa dal- 1/4 cup
• Toor Dal - 1/4 cup
• Dry Red chillies- 8 - 10 nos (adjust as per spice level)
• Cumin seeds-  3 Tbsp
• Black Pepper- 3 Tbsp
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 Tbsp
  

Sprouted Horsegram Rice using RoseMatta Rice (Mulai kattina Kollu Sadham) (Instant pot & Pressure cooker method)

Category:  Lunch / Rice
Preparation Time: 10 mins + Soaking & Sprouting time
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Servings: 2-3 Servings

Sprouted Horsegram Rice (Rosematta Rice)

Horse gram is one of the most protein-rich lentil but it is also one of the lentil that's been under rated & under utilized. Horse gram (Kollu) can help with a number of health problems as it contains a good and rich amount of vitamins, proteins, and iron. In addition to weight loss, it helps in reduction of extra fat from the body. Horse gram is rich in B-complex vitamin and proteins. It helps in purifying menstruation and cures and prevents arthritis. The presence of a good amount of dietary fiber in the gram helps balance sugar glucose and blood pressure levels. As long as caution is exercised in not consuming excessive quantities of this legume, it is highly recommended to include horse gram in your regular diet.

Sprouting process increases the nutritional value of the horsegram and also sprouts can be easily digested. Its very good to include sprouted grains and legumes in our regular diet practice.

I tried this rice in the similar way as our favourite Kongu special Arisi paruppu sadam with some modifications and it turned out to be great! I used Rosematta rice here and we can use any of our regular cooking rice, brown rice or even with millets. I usually cook it in the Instant pot and I also had given the steps for making it in the pressure cooker.

While making for kids, we can avoid the green chillies and reduce the spice level. Also adding ghee enhances the taste and flavour, drizzle a tsp of ghee over the rice while serving for the kids :)

Ingredients: 

• Rice - 3/4 cup (I used RoseMatta rice)
• Sprouted Horse gram - 1 cup 
• Small Onions - 10 nos, peeled and halved or 1 big onion, chopped
• Tomato, chopped - 1 no
• Green chilly - 2-3 slitted (Optional and adjust as per spice level)
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Sambar powder - 1/2 Tbsp
• Sesame Oil / Any cooking oil - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Salt - to taste
• Water - 2 cups (adjust as per the type of rice)

To coarsely grind:

PB & J Pancake Bites / Whole wheat Strawberry Jam filled mini muffins with Peanut Butter spread

Category:  Breakfast / Kids Recipes
Preparation Time: 10 mins + 10 mins waiting time 
Cooking Time: 9-11 mins
Servings: yields around 15 mini muffins 

PB & J Pancake Bites

Peanut Butter and Jelly, or PB&J, is a classic combo that’s loved by many, especially kids in the US. On weekends, I like to switch things up and make pancakes, waffles, or muffins for breakfast. I’ve already shared some of my favorite pancake recipes with you, like these whole wheat pancake mini muffins and pancake doughnuts.

Whole wheat pancake mini muffins 

Pancake Doughnuts.

I’m experimenting with a new recipe for pancake muffins filled with fruit preserves or jam. It’s a tasty twist on the classic pancake! To make it even healthier, we can use homemade unsweetened peanut butter and fruit jam made with less sugar. What do you think?

These PB&J Pancake bites are made with whole wheat flour stuffed with strawberry preserves and topped with peanut butter spread. They’re absolutely delicious, super soft, and a hit with everyone!

Since we’re using fruit preserves, I’ve reduced the amount of sugar in the pancake batter, and we can even skip the sugar altogether!

For the eggless version, we can use the batter as in the pancake donuts recipe: Pancake Doughnuts

Super soft!!!!

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients: 

• White Whole Wheat flour / Whole Wheat Pastry flour / Atta  - 1 cup
• Baking powder -  1/2 tsp
• Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
• Salt - a pinch

Wet Ingredients:  

• Egg - 1 no (at room temperature)
• Butter milk - 1 cup (I used 3/4 cup thick yogurt + 1/4 cup water)
• Sugar - 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp (I used Organic unrefined sugar)
• Unsalted Butter - 2 Tbsp, Melted 

Kongu Nadu Thakkali Kuzhambu / Kongu Cuisine Tomato curry for Rice (without coconut)

Category: Kongu Cuisine / Kuzhambu   
Preparation Time: 5 mins    
Cooking Time: 20 mins    
Servings: 4 servings

Kongu Nadu Thakkali Kuzhambu

Thakkali kuzhambu is one of the common dish in my region (Kongu region). There are lots of variations in Thakkalai kuzhambu and this one goes well with hot rice.

I got this recipe from my Amma & Athai and this is the way they make for rice. For tiffin items, it will be a different version and will post it soon.

Kongunadu cuisine is known for its simplicity and flavorful food. In Kongunadu cuisine, we use simple spices & masalas and most of the ingredients would be locally available. The most commonly used ingredients are small onions /  chinna vengayams (shallots), coconut, curry leaves, peanut / coconut / sesame oil, turmeric, Nattu sakkarai and also millets like Ragi & Kambu. Also we use less oil than other cuisines.

For this recipe, chinna vengayam (small onions / shallots) and naattu thakkali (country tomato / non-hybrid variety) are the best. If we use the hybrid variety tomato, we can add a bit of tamarind for sourness. Coconut is not used in this recipe and instead toor dal is used for thickening.

This goes well with rice along with a poriyal but we can also have this for tiffin items like Idli, dosai, paniyaram.

Ingredients:

To Saute & Grind:

• Peanut Oil / Coconut oil / Sesame oil - 1/2 Tbsp
• Small Onions - 3/4 cup or 1 big onion chopped
• Red chilly - 3-4 (Adjust as per spice level)
• Ripe Tomatoes - 4
• Coriander seeds - 1/2 Tbsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
• Tamarind - small piece (Optional)

Carrot & Cabbage Stir fry / Carrot & Muttaikose Poriyal

Category: Lunch / Poriyal
Preparation Time: 10 mins  
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Servings:3 to 4 servings

Carrot- Cabbage Poriyal

Carrot & cabbage Poriyal is a simple Poriyal  / stir fry with simple ingredients. But the combination of these veggies is great and suits well with any South Indian meal. This goes well with any spicy Kuzhambu varieties, Sambar, Rasam or we can just mix it with rice and have it.

  Ingredients:

• Carrots - 3 nos
• Cabbage - 1/2 a head
• Coconut Oil - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Channa dhal - 1 tsp
• Urad dhal - 2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Red / Green chilly, slitted - 1-2 nos (adjust as per spice level)
• Salt- to taste
• Fresh coconut, grated - 3-4 Tbsp (Or Frozen coconut thawed at room temperature)

Mixed Vegetable Paratha / Mixed Veggies Whole wheat Flatbread

Category: Chapathi / Paratha   
Preparation Time: 15 mins    
Cooking Time: 20 mins    
Servings: 3 - 4 servings

Mixed Vegetable Paratha

Mixed vegetable paratha is an easy breakfast recipe for toddlers and kids. This can also be packed in kids lunch box along with some raita or simple yogurt. This is a great way to include veggies in our kids diet :)

This is very simple, just steam cook the available veggies, mash them, knead it with the dough and make parathas. This is not a stuffed paratha so it s perfect for busy mornings too.

Choice of veggies is up to us, but adding sweet potato or potato will yield softer paratha  so try to include one of them. 

Also we can include greens along with the veggies. We can add finely chopped spinach, methi leaves, coriander leaves or even spring onions. No need to cook the greens, we can just add them while making the dough. If needed we can steam cook the spinach for couple of mins and mash it along with the veggies.

Ingredients:

• Whole Wheat flour / Atta -2 to 3 cups (use as required)

• Mixed vegetables* -About 3 cups (I used 1 medium sized sweet potato, 1 carrot, 1/2 cup frozen green peas, 10 green beans)

• Ginger, grated - 1/2 Tbsp

• Ajwain / Omam - 1/2 tsp

• Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup, finely chopped 

• Garam Masala ** - 1/2 to 1 tsp

• Red chilly powder -  to taste

• Salt- to taste

• Oil / Ghee - as required

* We can use the following vegetables for making this paratha 

• Sweet Potato

Sprouted Kondakadalai PuliKuzhambu (Sprouted brown chickpeas in tamarind-coconut gravy)

Category:  Kuzhambu Varieties
Preparation Time: 5 mins + time for sprouting
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins 
Servings: 4 servings

Sprouted Kondakadalai Pulikuzhambu

Brown Chickpeas / Kala Channa / Kondakadalai is loaded with nutrients and its very important to add these cute little beans in our regular diet. These protein and fibre rich beans are so beneficial for growing children.

In my blog I have many recipes using Channa and you can find it here: Channa Recipes. I have already posted sprouted channa kuzhambu here: Sprouted channa kuzhambu; but this is an easy pulikuzhambu version.

Sprouting these Chickpeas / Channa increases their nutrient value and these sprouted chickpeas can be used to make sundal, gravies, hummus, added to kootu or making south indian kuzhambu varieties. We can also add them in salads but for easy digestion and for kids, I prefer cooking them.

Since I dont have coconut pieces I had added coconut paste in this kuzhambu, but adding bite sized fresh coconut pieces gives a nice crunch to this:)

Ingredients:

• Sprouted Brown Chickpeas/ Kondakadalai - 1 & 1/2 cup, 
• Tamarind - Lemon sized (Use as needed)
• Sambar Powder - 1-2 Tbsp (Adjust as per spice level)
• Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tsp
• Sesame Oil - 2 Tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dhal- 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves -few
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Small Onions - 15-20 nos, halved or 1 big onion chopped
• Garlic - 8-10 cloves, chopped
• Tomato - 1, finely chopped
• Coconut - 1/2 cup grated 
• Salt - as required

Variation:

• Instead of coconut paste, we can add chopped fresh coconut pieces