Be My Guest – Kerala Mixture

Yet comes another Saturday with another guest post! I’ve always been very vocal about my favorites as far as blog mates are concerned and I guess all of them have already featured on my blog till now. For the time being, here is the last leg that includes on lovely friend I received through blogging. Let us all welcome the warm and homely lady, who indulges in some lovely cooking, dazzles us with her simple pictures and yet calls her blog as an amateur cook. Does she look like anywhere or is she just being over humble? 🙂

Yes, I am talking about Chitra, or Chitz, as we all know her more, who blogs at her little space called “Indulge”. And indulge she does make all of us do that, by gawking at the pictures that she posts. As of now, she has become a little slow in her blogging due to some important moves in her life, but we sincerely hope we will see you more in action in the near future.

What she bought for me was just the perfect snack to munch on with a cup of tea in hand, and the TV on… let me pass on the banter to Chitz, who will now be the guest of honour for the day! 🙂

I am Chitra who blogs at the humble space Indulge. By profession a software analyst, I am an ardent foodie who loves & enjoys my passion of cooking. To say the truth, I was a very picky eater till high school much to the dismay of my parents, who were excellent cooks & who loved to venture into different cuisines! After high school I really did change for good. I was bolder in attempting new food & that really brought out the foodie in me. Maybe it was coz
I was mostly away from home & visiting my parents only during weekends, that I did really value & miss mom’s varieties & dad’s Sunday non veg specials! But little did I know that 10 years down the lane, I would be starting a food blog of my own, enjoying cooking & capturing pictures & hating washing the dishes 😉

‘Indulge‘ actually happened when I was idle at home on a year sabbatical after 5 years of analyzing & coordinating at a software firm! Working women out there, you must know how frustrating that can be. My hubby suggested
to make use of the time & continuing with some software work online, but few weeks of me, myself at the kitchen left me without a choice but to start a food blog 😉 And now I am all the more glad that I did. I have learned so much more in cooking & baking & presentation & photography since then. And have met lots of like minded foodies like me, that always leaves me wonder that after all it’s a small world. So when Rafee asked me to do a guest post for her awesome space, I was all the more elated & smiling like a small gal when I saw her message in FB. I am very happy that I am doing my first guest post for the wonderful sweetheart Rafee 🙂

Rafee is an amazing person! I have to say person rather than blogger, coz blogging is just one aspect of her life that she handles amazingly in addition to the other roles of a daughter, wife, mother, home maker & a professional! In spite of her busy schedule she does
blog very frequently & never fails to express her two words of opinion
& encouragement to what her fellows have cooked & presented! And the highlight is she replies to every comment at her space. Now that’s the heights of dedication & interaction for me. The intro for most of her posts would be her experiences or small quotes which would really make you realize that she is a warm human being who strives to be a better person with each passing day !

It’s a pleasure to know you & be a fellow blogger, Rafee 🙂 So I was very anxious as to what I must cook for Rafee, especially when she left the choice to me. After much debate (inside my head) and cooking two to three dishes I finally settled for the ‘Kerala mixture’.

Kerala mixture

 

Ingredients:

Besan Flour	–	2 cups
Red Chilly powder	–	3 tsp
Turmeric powder	–	1 tsp
Asafoetida	–	3 tsp
Peanuts with skin	–	½ cup
Channa Dal	–	¼ cup (optional)
Curry leaves	–	4-5 sprigs
Water	–	As Needed
Oil	–	For deep frying
Salt	–	As Needed

Method:

For Sev:

1. In a bowl mix together 1 cup besan flour, 1 tsp red chilly powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp asafoetida & salt. Add enough water & mix together to make a soft yet firm dough. It should not be very watery, almost like the chapathi dough.
2. Meanwhile heat oil in a kadai to deep fry. Make ready the string hopper/idiyappam mould with the idiyappam disc (one with small holes) on. Fill the mould with the dough
3. Press the dough onto the hot oil in circular motion. Do not overcrowd the kadai. Fry them until the sizzling (shh) sound ceases. Turn over to the other side & fry again till the sizzling ceases. Drain the excess oil onto a tissue paper & cool completely. Continue the same process with the remaining dough
4. Now crush the sev with your hands into smaller length ones. Keep this aside

For Boondi:

1. In the same bowl mix together 1 cup besan flour, 1 tsp red chilly powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp asafoetida, salt & water For boondis, it should be in a pourable batter like consistency. The batter should fall through a perforated spoon at medium speed. If the batter is too thick or has lumps, then it will not fall. If it is too thin then you will get bigger lumps rather than small boondis
2. In the same oil, hold a perforated spoon about 1 to 1 ½ inches above the kadai. Pour the batter onto the spoon & allow the batter to fall into the oil through the holes of the spoon. Take care that the batter does not spill over the edge of the spoon
3. If the batter does not fall through the holes, add little more water to the batter & make it thinner. Do not hold the spoon very high as it may not give you round boondis
4. The boondis should just cover the surface of the oil & should not be overcrowded. Fry them until the sizzling sound ceases. Drain the excess oil onto a tissue paper & cool completely. Continue the same process with the remaining dough. Keep the boondis aside