Pazham Pori

I got to eat this when I went with Pras for Nisha's wedding. We stopped at one of the famous India Coffee House enroute Palakad, while heading back from Thrissur. It was delicious and melt in the mouth. A perfect accompaniment to tea but also makes for a good dessert when topped with a dusting of icing sugar.

Pras had bought some Nenthram Pazham yesterday and they are like huge. I'm sure they won't get over any time soon and to ensure that they don't end up in the dust bin, I decided to make Pazham Pori. These are from the banana family and have a bit of bite in them. Peeling off their skin requires a little effort and they are a Kerala speciality.

Now that this is a Kerala speciality, you do know that it is one of Pras's favorites too. So, I thought of sending this to The Valentine's Day event hosted by Pari of Foodelicious and Cuponation.

Ingredients (serves 2 as a snack):

1. 1 large nenthram pazham
2. 3/4 cup maida
3. 1 tsp sugar
4. A pinch of salt
5. 1/2 tsp of cinnamon/cardamom powder - using my mortar and pestle I crushed 2 cardamom and a thin stick of cinnamon
6. 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
7. water to make a paste
8. Coconut oil to fry

How I made it :

• Mix the maida, salt, sugar, turmeric powder, cardamom, cinnamon powder alongwith water to make a thickish batter - similar to bajji batter. It should be a bit thick so that it sticks to the banana and not easily slide off. That way you won't have any batter on the banana.

• Heat oil in a kadai.
• Slice the bananas. Don't slice them too thin. They should be about 0.5 cm thick.

• Dip the bananas in the batter and fry

• Let it fry on medium heat for 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towel.
• Serve hot with chai. Alternately, dust with icing sugar and serve with some ice cream as dessert.

Nilam Special Uzhunnu Vada

Well, we all know how Sandy and Nilam struck at about the same time, except at different places. So it was one of those rainy holidays on which I had to sit at home. Pras was working and so we had no plans of going out. I woke up and soaked urad dal for making my favorite vada. It is the perfect accompaniment to tea on a cold rainy day or may be any day :)

Ingredients (For 10 vadas) :

1. 1 cup skinless white urad dal soaked in water for about 4 hours
2. 1 medium sized onion chopped
3. 2 green chillies finely chopped
4. chopped coriander leaves
5. 1 tsp whole pepper corns
6. Salt to taste
7. Oil for frying

Equipment needed: 

A grinder/food processor

How I made it :

1. Grind the soaked urad dal with as little water as possible to make a thick smooth paste.
2. To this ground batter add the chopped onions, coriander, green chillies, pepper corns and salt.
3. Heat up some oil in a deep pan/wok/kadai.
4. This step is all about frying but if you want to get the right shape of a vada, read on. Keep a bowl of water on the side. Dip the fingers of your right hand in the water. With the excess water wet the palm of your left hand. Now, using your right hand scoop out a sapota sized ball of batter. Flatten it out on your left palm. Now, dip your right index finger into the water and make a hole in the center of the flattened batter.Drop this into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes a side. 
5. Serve hot with a steaming cup of chai and coconut chutney

Tips :

1. Use as little water when grinding. The more water you use, grinding may be easy but getting the right shape and texture for frying will be tough.
2. If you have added a lot of water, you could add some rice flour to thicken the batter.
3. You could add pieces of coconut to the batter.
4. To test the oil, put in a small drop of the batter. If it rises immediately, the oil is hot. You don't want smoking hot oil either
5. Serve with sambar for breakfast