Crunchy Granola Clusters

 I've been making the same Granola for years, that is until now.  I have a new favorite.  It has the same ingredients as my other recipe, it's loaded with oats, nuts, and coconut, with a touch of maple flavor but the difference is, it has big crunchy clusters.  It's good sprinkled on yogurt, with milk or even by the handful.  The best part is it's easy to make.  Okay, the best part is eating it by the handful!

• INGREDIENTS:
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (large flakes not shredded)
• 1/2 cup slivered raw almonds *see note
• 1/2 cup raw pecan halves *see note
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch sea salt (or kosher salt)
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1/3 cup real 100% PURE maple syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

 Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. VERY IMPORTANT - Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or it will stick to the pan, set aside.
2. Add oats, coconut, almonds, and pecans to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
3. To a  small microwave-safe bowl ( I used a glass measuring cup) add brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, coconut oil, maple syrup; stir and heat for 30 seconds.  Stir again.  If not totally combined put in the microwave, 20 seconds more and mix. Add vanilla and mix again.
4. Immediately pour over the dry ingredients and lightly stir to combine until all oats and nuts are thoroughly coated. Arrange on a large baking sheet (covered with parchment paper) and spread into an even layer.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, turning the pan around (so it bakes evenly) and bake 10 minutes more.   Watch carefully so it doesn't burn.  Everyone's oven is different so if you may need a few more mins. Do not stir!!  You'll know it's done when the granola is golden brown.
6. Do not stir!  Let it cool COMPLETELY before breaking into clusters.
7. Store in a sealed bag or container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.  

    *Add any combination of (unsalted )nuts/seeds that you like, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, etc...

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from https://minimalistbaker.com/super-chunky-coconut-granola/

                                                                           

Beef Vegetable Cutlet

Beef Vegetable Cutlet

Cutlet is a very popular snack in Kerala.This recipe is made with beef and vegetables. Also check my earlier posts of chicken cutlet, fish cutlet and vegetarian version of beetroot and mushroom cutlet. Cutlet is a tempting snack and party-pleasing appetizer. The meat and vegetables are cooked in aromatic spices, breaded and deep fried to make this crispy snack.Beef cutlets is a must have in most Christian wedding parties and also found in restaurants and road side tea stalls. You can make this in advance in bigger batches and it freezes well.So whenever you need cutlet just thaw them and fry. Serve this with ketchup and onion salad and enjoy with a cup of tea.

Ingredients

Beef- 1/2 kg
Potato large-1
Green peas- 1/2 cup
Chopped carrot- 1/2 cup
Chopped beans and bell pepper- 1/4 cup

Onion- 1 medium
Green chilly-1

Ginger Garlic paste- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Pepper powder-3/4 tsp

Chilly powder- 1 tsp
Tomato ketchup- 1 tsp (optional)

Meat masala- 1 tbs

Chopped Coriander leaves- a little

Lemon juice- 1/2 lemon

salt to taste

For coating

Bread Crumbs- 1 cup

Egg- 2

Oil for frying

Cook meat along with salt, turmeric powder and  pepper powder. You can pressure cook it, 5-6 whistles so that the meat is tender.Once cool either shred or mince the meat and set aside.

Boil potato and mash it. Cook the vegetables till tender, drain and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and saute onions till golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw flavor disappears. Add all the spice powders,minced meat and boiled vegetables and mix well. Add ketchup and one tbs of water and mix well.Finally sprinkle coriander leaves and lemon juice. Allow this mixture to cool down completely.

Now for the second step,lightly whisk egg in a bowl. Spread bread crumbs on a plate and keep aside. 

Take spoonful of the the cooked meat and vegetable mixture and make small balls and using your palm flatten into round or oval  patties. Dip into eggs and then roll on bread crumbs. Refrigerate this for half an hour.
Heat 2 cups of oil in a pan. When the oil is medium hot, gently slide the cutlet into the oil and fry in batches. Fry till both sides are evenly brown. You can also and shallow fry the cutlets. Serve with tomato ketchup and onion salad.

You might also like
Chicken Cutlet
Persian Kotlet
Malaysian Crispy Fried Chicken Curry Puffs
Chicken Pops
Chicken Spring Rolls
Kothu Parotta

Try this,
Hope you will all enjoy!

Chocolate Dipped Clementines

It's that time of year when clementines are in season.  I love these little cuties just as they are but they make a perfect snack or a quick dessert.  I use a container of Baker's Dipping *Dark Chocolate.  This container works great with left over chocolate, just pop on the plastic lid and refrigerate until you make these again.  The chocolate won't stay in the fridge long because you'll make these often!

Directions:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, wax paper or a Silpat (non stick baking mat). Peel and segment clementines, set aside.  Be careful not to break the skin as the juice will seize the chocolate.  Gently melt chocolate in  the microwave.  Dip segments in chocolate and transfer to parchment-lined sheet. Once all pieces have been dipped, set the sheet aside until chocolate hardens (takes about an hour). To quickly harden chocolate, transfer baking sheet to the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

*You can use milk chocolate if you prefer.

Roti Jala/ Net Pancake

Roti Jala/ Net Pancake

Roti Jala/Roti kirai is a traditional Malayan snack .Roti Jala literally means net bread and it has a pretty net/ lacy pattern. It is served as a tea time snack with chicken or beef curry. It is considered as a traditional dish of the coastal community and the crepes are inspired from the fishermen net and hence made like a net.To make the roti jala there is a special cup with holes,but if you do not have it you can use a squeeze bottle instead. Try this ,you will surely love it.

Ingredients
All purpose flour- 1 cup
Eggs-3
Coconut milk- 1 cup
Water- 1 cup
Turmeric powder- 1/3tsp
Salt- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 1tsp
oil

In a large bowl add flour, turmeric powder and salt and mix well.
Whisk egg and sugar till light and frothy. Add this into the flour along with coconut milk and water and whisk to make a smooth runny batter (like crepe batter). Strain the batter to make sure there is no lumps.
Pour this batter into a squeeze bottle. You can also take a regular plastic bottle. Make two or three holes on the cap and use it to make the roti jala.
Heat a pan/tawa and grease with little oil. Squeeze the batter over the hot pan in circular motion to create the lace pattern. Allow this to cook in medium heat.When it is cooked gently shake the pan and slide it onto a plate or gently lift with a spatula.Fold the the roti jala into a triangle or roll. Serve with chicken or any spicy curry.

Try this,
Hope you will all enjoy!

Sambar Vada

Sambar Vada

Sambar vada is served in restaurants and tiffin stalls. It can be served along with breakfast or as a snack.Uzhunnu vada soaked in sambar is an absolute comfort food and represents the simple and homely flavors of South Indian breakfast. Try this you will surely love it.

Ingredients
For the vada
Urad Dal/Black lentil skinless- 1 cup
Ginger finely chopped- 1 inch thick
Curry leaves finely chopped- 1 spring
Whole black pepper-a few
salt to taste
Oil- 2 cup to fry

For the Sambar
Toor Dal/sambar parippu- 1/2 cup
Pearl onions- a few
Tomato-1
Tamarind one lemon sized
Chilly powder- 1  tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Sambar powder- 1 tsp
Fenugreek powder- 1/3 tsp
Asafoetida- 1/3 tsp
Mustard seeds
Dry red chilly- 2
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
Salt to taste
Oil

To make the sambar
Wash Toor dal/sambar parippu and cook with enough water in pressure cooker. After 3-4 whistles remove the lid and mash the dal.
Add pearl onions, chopped tomato,turmeric powder and salt. Add one more cup of water if necessary and close the lid. Cook till it is soft.Add all the powders and pour thick tamarind pulp. Bring this to a boil and finally add coriander leaves and asafoetida.
In a pan heat oil and add mustard seeds. When it splutters add one tsp of chopped onion and saute. Fry red chilly and curry leaves and add this to the curry and mix well.Keep this aside

To make vada
Wash and soak urad dal for about 4-5 hours.
Drain and using a food processor or mixer  make this into a smooth thick batter.
 Add  chopped ginger, curry leaves and whole black pepper. Mix in salt and keep this aside for about 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan. Take a lemon sized portion of the batter mixture and shaped into a  ball and then press a finger in through the middle to  make a depression in the center. Drop into hot oil and fry in medium flame till both sides turns golden brown.Drain into paper towels.
To serve take two vadas in a bowl and pour sambar on top. Allow it to soak for a few minutes and serve.

Try this,
Hope you will all enjoy!

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

These sweet roasted almonds with a hint of cinnamon make a delicious and easy gift for the holidays but make sure you keep enough to snack on yourself.  The recipe comes from allrecipes.com.  These almonds are delicious!

Ingredients:

2 egg whites 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt 5 cups unsalted whole raw almonds 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2.	Beat egg whites and vanilla extract in a large bowl (just until frothy); add almonds and toss to coat. Mix brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and salt and stir into almonds until blended. Spread almond mixture into prepared baking dish.
3.	Bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, until coating is dry, about 75 minutes.

Fish Cutlet

Fish Cutlet

Fish cutlet is a spicy snack and can also be served as an excellent appetizer. You can use any kind of fleshy fish fillets or canned ones..its entirely up to you. In this recipe I used tilapia fillets. It is spicy,delicious and easy to make.

Ingredients
Fish-1 lb
Potato large-1
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp
Green chilly-1
Onion-1large
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Pepper powder- 3/4 tsp
Garam masala- 1 tsp
Coriander leaves chopped-a handful
lemon juice- 1/2 lemon
salt to taste

Egg white-2
Bread crumbs- 1 cup

Cut fish into pieces and cook  adding salt turmeric and little water. Once cooked,drain off the excess water using a strainer.
Wash potato and cook with the skin on. When it is cooked peel off the skin and grate it or mash and keep aside.
Heat one tsp of oil in pan and add onions,chopped green chilly,garlic and ginger paste. Saute till onions are soft and raw flavor disappears. Add the dry masala and fry for one more minute and switch off the flame. Add this to the mashed potatoes and crumbled fish mixture. Add chopped coriander leaves, salt and lemon juice. Combine every thing and make small balls. Flatten on your palm into patties.
In a separate bowl beat egg white till light and fluffy. Spread bread crumbs on a plate.Take each patties and dip in egg whites and then roll on the bread mixture and coat it evenly. Drop patties in hot oil and fry till both sides are evenly brown.

Try this..
Hope you will all enjoy..

Unnakaya

Yet another Malabar recipe and this time it is a delicious snack called Unnakaya.It is a sweet and delicious snack made with plantains and stuffed with a sweet coconut and nut filling.There is also a non vegetarian version with egg stuffing which  is most popular during the Ramadan fasting.Mine is the vegetarian version.

Even though it is a very popular recipe, I must admit that I am trying this for the first time and that too after watching many cookery shows and demonstrations to bring somewhat perfect consistency for the dough and shape.My family really enjoyed this yummy snack.

Ingredients
Ripe Plantain- 2
Coconut- 1/2 cup
Sooji/rava- 2 tsp ( optional)
Sugar- 3-4 tsp
salt- a pinch
Raisins- a few
chopped cashew nuts- a little
ghee- 2 tsp
Cardamom- 1/3 tsp

To make the filling

Heat ghee in a pan and fry cashew nuts and raisins followed by rava. Stir fry this for a minute and add coconut. Fry this till it attains light  golden brown.Add sugar and blend well with the coconut mixture. Let this cool.
Steam cook plantains till its is soft. Peel off the skin and run knife through the center remove the small black seeds in the center. Mash this in a grinder or hand blender without using water into the form of a dough. You can add a pinch of salt to this. Make lemon size balls and flatten then between your palms. Put the filling in the center and seal the edges. The best way is to take between your two hands and gently fold and press the edges and roll . Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the unnakayas in medium flame or shallow fry in a non stick pan. Enjoy with tea.

Tips
1) Use plantains which  is ripe but yet firm. Do not use over ripe soft ones as you will not get the correct consistency and will be difficult to hold together.
2) Mash the plantains when it is slightly warm, otherwise it will get dried out and will be difficult to grind especially if you are using a mixer.
3) If you feel that it is very difficult to bring the mass together you can add a two tsp of water while grinding plus one tsp of rice flour.
4) Do not make it into a very smooth mixture as there will be a tendency to tear apart.
5) Grease you hands with ghee while making the balls. You can also flatten it on a greased plastic sheet or parchment paper and gently press them together.

Try this..
Hope you will all enjoy..

Stuffed Bread sticks

Enticing flavors of fresh baked bread is something that every one loves.This stuffed bread stick is inspired by the cheese stuffed bread sticks but an Indianised version and is a delicious appetizer or a great option for picnic.


Ingredients
For the stuffing 
Cooked potato- 2 medium
Cooked and shredded chicken - 1/2 lb
Chopped carrot-1
Onion- 1
Garlic paste- 1/2 tsp
Green chilly- 2
turmeric - a pinch
pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves
salt to taste

For the bread
Flour - 2 cup
Yeast - 2 tsp
warm water- 1 cup
salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 3/4 tsp
oil - 2 tsp
melted butter- 2 tsp


First to make the stuffing heat oil and saute onions till translucent.Add in garlic paste and fry till raw flavor disappears. Add in chopped carrots and stir fry for a minute. Mix in cooked chicken ( cook chicken separately with 1/2 cup water, turmeric, pepper and salt) and potatoes mix well. Finally add coriander leaves and allow this to cool.

For the bread mix in sugar and warm water and add yeast and set aside for 5-6 minutes till it is frothy. Mix together flour and salt,yeast and oil to knead to form a smooth dough. Cover with damp cloth and let it rest to raise for one hour or till it doubles its size. Knead it a little more and using a rolling pin flatten it into a square.cut into equal size long stripes. Fill in the stuffing and seal the edges. ( or just roll them and make a well in the center and fill in the stuffing).Allow to rest for another 10 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes till golden brown for 15- 18 minutes. You can brush it with a little butter after taking out from the oven and allow to cool.

Try this..
Hope you will all enjoy.

Sukhiyan

Sukhiyan is yet another tea time snack of Kerala. It is sweet balls made with green gram dipped in batter and deep fried. It is made somewhat like the bonda but it is a sweet version. This is a simple and easy recipe.

Ingredients

For the batter
Maida- 1 cup
Rava/sooji- 2 tsp
Baking powder- a pinch
salt- a pinch
Egg -1 (optional)
Water- 1 1/2 cup


Filling
Green Gram cooked- 1 1/2 cup
Grated coconut- 3/4 cup
Jaggery powdered- 1/2 cup
Cardamon powder- 1/2 tsp


To prepare the filling dissolve jaggery in half cup of water strain and remove impurities. Heat this liquid and reduce to one thread consistency. Add coconut and cooked green gram and cook till all water is evaporated and it leaves edges of the pan to become one mass. Add cardamon powder and allow to cool. Make small balls and keep aside.
Mix all the ingredients under batter to form a smooth batter ( Idli consistency). If you like a softer and crunchier outer crust you can add egg. Heat oil in a pan and dip these ball one by one and drop carefully into the oil and deep fry. Strain in paper towel and serve.

Try this..
Hope you will all enjoy..