Bonda / Undan pori

Imagine you are at a chaikada/tea stall and you have a wide variety of palaharam(tea time snack) infront of you. Without any second thought what would be the one palaharam that you would go for? For me, it is Pazham Bonda/Undan Pori. Do not ask me why? I just love this non fancy and simple snack so much. It was not a frequently made snack at home, though they are quite easy to make. I wonder why? But when we would visit Kerala, I grab on these, every single time, I would go to a bakery or chai kada. Even the shop owners have given me that look/stare when I walk out of there shop, not settling in for any other option, in case they might have ran out of these bonda. It is so addictive for me. If you have some overripe bananas that you are looking forward to using up, try these. It is a different, simple and easy snack to put together for tea time. Uff ! Now I am craving for Bonda.  

Kappa Chips/ Tapioca chips

I love munching on these Tapioca chips. They are so addictive that you can't just stop. I remember getting it while we used to take the train ride form kerala to the township that I grew up in. Forget about these chips getting to the destination, it just wouldn't survive the four day train journey. We would finish it off in the train itself. 

I somehow prefer these match stick shaped tapioca chips rather than the round ones. My lil one also loves it, so its just the perfect excuse to make them at home. I used to think that it would be a huge task to chop those hard tapioca roots. But I was surprised when I actually tried them the first time. Wasn't at all difficult as I had expected. I would suggest to make it at home if you are a tapioca chips lover like us, because nothing beats the taste of freshly homemade chips. 

Malar Unda/ Pori Ladoo

I still remember the first time I ate Pori Ladoo. One of the peon uncles from my father's office has asked to come to their home and it being a chance for us as kids to see the farms and the crops they cultivate etc., my father took us one day. They served us with these pori ladoos. Those were huge in size. I was glad that they were huge, because we were taught to be decent and just pick one when offered and don't just hog over the entire plate of it when served. So the huge one was equivalent to eating three actually :). Ever since we returned, I used to nag my mother to make it at home. And then one day my mother made it.

The other day, me and Jordan stepped into an Indian store to grab some rusk and tea biscuits for Big J, being down with fever. I was in a hurry to get back home and my lil guy kept on checking out everything kept in the isle and asking me what it is. When he landed on the pack of pori ladoo he was like "Mama, can I get it?" Immediately, I had the flash back of my childhood when I asked my mother to make it. We didn't get the pori ladoo though but I promised I shall make it for him and we made it the same day. Seeing him relish, I was assured he has my genes too :D. Anyways, coming back to Pori Ladoo, if you love these ladoos and crave for them, try making it at home. They can be made in no time.

Chengodilu

The weather has been so unpredictable recently. Last week, I thought that summer was almost here when it was too hot during the afternoons. And all of a sudden it is raining today and will be raining for the rest of the weekend too. So we are stuck at home. 

Its spring break here and with the kid also at home, we have been doing so many activities together; even cooking. And he loves it. One way to make someone eat something that they hate is to make them cook it, so that they appreciate the effort it takes to make it and the thought of having worked on it makes it interesting. So the same is the strategy that I have been doing with my kid too. Thankfully he will not get to know, untill he learns to read it here so I am safe... he he.

Bread roll ~ with potato fillings

This snack always reminds me of Leela teacher, my school teacher as well as a family friend. I have never had this snack other than made by her. When ever she would host a treat for us, this would be one of the items in the menu and that would make me soooo happy :).

I have seen her make it then. Even though I was not a big fan of cooking, I had a vague memory of the process. Being a novice to cooking in the early days of married life, this used to be one of the tea time snacks that I used to make often and feel proud of myself :). 

Rice Murukku ~ Spicy version

With Diwali approaching, you might be spending a lot more time in the kitchen preparing all the snacks and sweets for your family and friends. Sweets are one important thing on the menu and so are snacks. I still remember having Dahi Vadas, Chaats, Chakli etc along with the sweets, which our neighbor aunty used to serve us for diwali. Yum they were. Years have gone by but those days and memories are still so fresh. This spicy version of chakli is something that you should try to add a little variety to usual murukku/chakli that you make. If your family loves spicy food then I bet this would definitely be a hit.

This recipe just happened when I was trying out some other snack and it usually takes a lot of time, but I had to head to some place in an hour and just thought of giving it the murukku avatar instead. It wasn't a flop at all. My lil one loves spicy food and when I made it, he kept coming back to me asking "Eruvulla murukku Tharamo" meaning "Can you give me the spicy murukku". 

Ragi Puttu

I must admit that I had not tried ragi before Jordan. My mom says, she has tried her best to feed me ragi, when I was a kid but I used to refuse. When I started giving solid food to Jordan, I had to give him ragi because every other person whom I asked of options, would start with ragi. Now when you give a food to the baby, it's like the presidents assistant tasting it before it is being tasted by the president himself. So I got to taste it too before Jordan. And I must say that I liked it. And then I started hunting for ragi recipes and to my surprise there were so many interesting recipes. One among them is this puttu. 

Jacob doesn't like it. I usually say that is because of his mental block of considering it to be baby food. But his dislike for ragi puttu has never stopped me from making it. When he has the normal rice puttu, mama and Jordan enjoy this ragi puttu . It's awesome. You should try it. 

Homemade Doughnuts or Donuts

There was a time when every other week of grocery shopping would include a donut purchase too. I used to love it. My favorite was the sugar glazed donut. It never made sense to me to make it at home because, Jacob was not a big doughnut fan.

It had been a while that we had bought any doughnuts and lil one was watching something on the tv and came up to me requesting to make doughnuts. Well, I thought why not make it for teatime snack. And soon we were kneading the dough for donuts. Lil one loves to help me while I am making something that includes kneading. So we did it together in the first half of the day. I waited for him to nap before I fry them, because I would need some piece of mind while I am doing some frying and to avoid any accidents I wanted him to be away from the kitchen. After he woke up, he came running, still a little dizzy from the sleep and said, "Mama, I am done napping, Can I get doughnuts? " It was so funny. But seriously, this guy never forgot about the doughnuts, though he was included only in the first stage of kneading.

Unniyappam

Holidays, while in hostel, were most looked forward to. The last few days of holidays would be spent by mummy asking what I wish to take back with me to the hostel? For me, Unniyappam would be one constant thing on the list.

The goodies taken along with us helps to bare or overcome the home sickness as well as to survive the terrible hostel food.

Bread Pakoda

When I was a kid, I remember my mom would ask me to wait at the gate having heard the ringing of a cycle bell. My job would be to call up the guy by the time mummy would fetch the money to be handed over. It would be bread wala bringing in fresh bread and buns from the bakery. The packets would still have some vapours trapped in them and still a little hot.

Mummy would then make hot bread pakodas out of the hot bread. Or it may take the shape of sandwiches or French toast etc to be packed for tiffin to the school.

Vegetable Cutlet

I sometimes wonder where the time went by when I see/hear Jordan. He is growing up fast and I wish I could just stop time from flying away. I hardly have any time for myself after having taken him to the park or library or other activities and the household chores. So I had been missing from the blogging world for a while now, untill last week and I loved the break. I hope to update it frequently everytime I return from a break, but I fail. Lazy me, I say. Anyways, this time I hope to update frequently.

Myself and Big J used to speak in english, when we wanted to talk something that we didn't want Lil J to hear. Now the stage has come that Lil J has started to pick up on english(overhearing our conversation and grasping it). So if you come visit us, you will see both of us spelling the words out so that Jordan can't get it. I don't see those days far when he will pick the spellings as well.

Sabudana Vada

Rains are here and last weekend it just didn't stop pouring. It was just wet everywhere because the rain is just drizzling throughout. So its cold and the only thing one would want to go is sit idle in a cozy place and read. But one can't. Because when its cold, you tend to get hungry everytime or would crave for something to munch on. We don't usually give in to fried stuff at home. But my lil one likes it and so we do make them sometimes.

Some sabudana had been sitting in my pantry for sometime and everytime I open the cabinet, I think of putting it into use. So finally today, I gave in my laziness and made these vadas for our tea. They were just perfect to pair with some ginger tea.

Vettu Cake / Fried Cakes

This is one not so often made snack at my home. But I have had it from my mom's friends place who makes it often. Infact, my mom learnt to make it from her. I used to love these then and now too. 

During my last visit to Kerala, I noticed that the tea shop near our house carried these. They looked pretty placed in the glass cupboards. I was double minded about getting it though. That tea shop doesn't have too many customers in a day and I just didn't want to get something made days back. So every other day when I would pass by that tea shop I used to crave for them looking at it. After a couple of days I realized, the stack remained the same - neither grew or reduce in size , nor did it change its pattern of arrangement. They indeed were never in demand at that shop. My craving then took a change.

Tamukku ~ A Banana Delight !

This recipe, unlike other overripe banana recipes is for you if you are lucky to have too much of banana produce at home or got lots of bananas at a hugely discounted price and wondering what to make out of them to prevent getting spoiled or simply because, you love having Tamukku. In our case, the love for tamukku is the primary reason for making it.

Back at home, whenever we have a huge produce of bananas, apart from distributing and redistributing among relatives and friends and also having it every day for breakfast with puttu, upma, Aval villayichathu etc. we would make this tamukku. They are truly addictive. It is also sometimes given away in churches as Nercha. My intension of making it also had another reason and i.e. to make my lil banana hater, have bananas.

Chicken Cutlet/ Chicken Croquettes

I have a little Chicken fan here. He loves it in any form...soups, appetizers, main dishes, curry etc. Since we had started cutting down on fried stuff, cutlets have made a rare appearance on our menu. But this lil guy's fantasy for having cutlets having seen it in TV, made me make some cutlets with his own favorite thing, chicken.

I have no clue how these disappeared in minutes time. They were super crisp on the outside and flavourful inside. They made a perfect snack time for us. You could also serve it as sides with meals or may be stuff it in burgers too.

Madakku San / Love Letters / Eylanchi

These used to be my favorite among the tea time snacks as a kid. At home, we used to call it as Muttayappam . Then when I went to hostel for college, we used to get it as tea time snack there. It was well known as love letter among the hostel mates. I am not sure if it is named the same anywhere else. Unlike other tea time snacks like Ullivada, Aval vilayichathu, Bonda etc.  this snack was liked by all.

I don't know why is it called love letter. May be because of the sweet filling rolled into those pancakes like a love letter with so much romantic and sweet words that goes into it :). I was surprised to hear it when I first heard it. Anyways, I love the name.

Aval vilayichathu

Aval vilayichathu is one among my favorites. My grandmother used to make these for us to take with us while we travelled back after our vacation, so that we could have it in train. She used to make it with lots and lots of coconut in it. We used to love having it. The very thought of it is so nostalgic and mouthwatering. My aval vilayichathu would come nowhere close to hers.

Jacob doesn't like it, so this was made exclusively for me. I being a fan, thoroughly enjoyed it. I have always been a fan of it. There is another uncooked version called aval nanachathu, that I am fan of. While in hostel, we used to get it for evening snack and not many of us used to like it. However, I used to be a happy soul when it was served. And people who didn't like it used to donate their share. So I sometimes used to end up having some portion of the donated ones too :P. Here is how I make it.

Ela Ada / Valsan

I am one happy soul, if I get to have something to bite on during tea time with the coffee/tea. If it is homemade then my happiness doubles. During my hostel days, when we would return from college in the evening, it would be time for tea. We would pass by the mess, to peek in and see what would be served as snack with tea. If its Puffs, Banana fritters/Ethakka Boli, Ulli bhajji / Onion fritters etc. we would rush to our room to grab our coffee mug and get back to the mess to have them. If it was plain bun, tiger biscuit etc., which were usually served on friday's then we wouldn't even bother coming down for coffee once we get to our own room, as if it was not worth the effort climbing up and down the stairs to grab it.

My mom used to make something to munch on for snacks so that we could have it during tea time. I remember having these as snacks after we got back home from our play time. And I would then sit in front of the TV to watch Small Wonders (a TV show) while I enjoyed the snack. Luckily I had some banana leaf handy, when I thought about it and I could make them to go with tea. It just melted in my mouth. I then realized, I had to crave this simple ada real bad so that I could appreciate this snack more than how I did, while I was a kid. If you manage to get some banana leaf, this is a must try. You would love it.

Unnakaya/ Unnakai/ Kaayada - Coconut Stuffed Plantain Rolls

If I had never built up my interest in blogging, then I think I wouldn't have been introduced to so many delicious and interesting recipes, from different parts of the world or even the country/ state I belong to. This is one such snack I had never had or heard about. Blogging introduced me to this snack and I am glad that it did.

The favorite snack with Ethakka/Nenthrapazham towards our part of Kerala has been the Ethakka Boil/ Pazham pori. So every time I see ripen Ethakka, the only thought that would cross my mind is to make Ethakka Boli out of it. But after trying Unnakaya, this has been a close second option to make with Ethakka. 

Vattayappam / Steamed Rice Cake

This is such a perfect palaharam for tea time. I love it but Jacob doesn't. So, this was made rarely at home. Now that my lil one likes it, I make it quite often. My mom-in-law makes awesome vattayappam that you just can't stop gobbling down. The last time I was home, I got to learn some tricks to make soft and spongy vattayappam from her.

On Maundy Thursday, we make Indriappam, Vattayappam and hot cross buns. I love all three. But among them, its only the Vattayappam that is made anytime of the year and not restricted to making it just on the Maundy Thursday. So its absolutely okay to fall in love with it, because you could make it anytime you crave for it rather than keep calming down your craving for that day of the year.