Puli Aval/Avil (Tamarind Poha/pressed rice)

 

This is a signature dish of my mom-in-law and heard from my husband that it is a Bangalore/Karnataka recipe. Well, it is quite unique in its spice combination and quite easy to make for a snack or a breakfast item. The thing that is different from other Puli Aval recipes is that the Poha is ground and looks more like Upma. My folks at work couldn't guess what it was made with.. they all thought it was made with Bajra grains! 

Puli Aval/Avil (Courtesy: Padma Boovaraghavan)
Ingredients
Ground Aval (Poha) - 2 cups (Grind the poha into a coarse powder in blender)
Tamarind juice -  2 cups (you can use fresh tamarind pulp or tamarind paste)
Peanuts- 1/2 cup (roasted)
Curry Leaves - 4-5
Black gram (Urad dal) - 1 tbsp
Bengal gram (Chana dal) - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - `1 tbsp
Refined oil - 2 Tbsp
Asafoetida - 1 tsp 
Red Chillies - 2-3
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Salt - As needed
Rasam powder - 2-3 tsp (Recipe given in below blog)
http://servantlesscooking.blogspot.in/2013/07/poosanikai-mor-kuzhambu-ash-gourd.html


Directions
Grind the poha in a blender into coarse powder. Squeeze the tamarind pulp into 2 cups warm water (1 tennis ball size pulp) or 3-4 tbsp of tamarind paste. Paste varies in its sourness, so the bench mark is to taste the juice and adjusts the taste to one's pallet (like salt). It should not be too sour.

Add the ground poha into the tamarind juice, along with salt and rasam powder. Mix well so it soaks well into the poha. At the same time, take a pan, heat the oil, add the black gram, bengal gram and mustard seeds. Once the seeds sputter, add the curry leaves and red chillies broken into two halves along with curry leaves and asafoetida. Add the roasted peanuts in the end and saute for 1-2 min.

Add the soaked poha into the pan and mix the flavorful, roasted condiments with the poha. Keep the heat at low and mix for 2-3 min. In a separate pan, dry roast the sesame seeds and cumin and grind them together to garnish from the top. Serve hot ...

The dish has the tangyness from the tamarind and has an Upma feel (not like a typical Poha dish). The uniqueness is that it is made quickly with no cooking, the poha gets cooked when soaked in tamarind juice (warm water). My mom in law, pours the hot oil with condiments into the soaked poha and mixes it without cooking the entire mix.

Tips: To make the dish not lumpy, don't soak the poha for too long in tamarind juice and could add more oil. 

Enjoy!

Mushroom Toasts- Tasty quick snack

Here is a quick snack that could be used as a breakfast item and also as appetizers in parties.

Mushroom toasts: The Little Big Vegetarian Book - Page 17
600 g fresh mushrooms
1.5 tsp butter
4 tbsp extra virgin oil (you can substitute with refined oil)
1/2 red onion (can add 1 onion)
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp thyme and parsley (you can use Italian spice mix)
salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup vegetable stock (can use Maggi cube derived stock)
bread slices (brown /whole wheat is healthy)

Clean the mushrooms and chop them fine. Saute finely chopped onions and garlic with spices for 5 min. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook for another 5 min stirring constantly. Add the vegetable stock and cook for another 8-10 min. Cooking the mushrooms until tender brings the flavor of the mushroom. Add salt sparingly as Mushrooms tend to taste saltier than other dishes.. Spread on toast and enjoy..

You can Indian-ize this dish by adding Indian spices instead of Italian. Garlic of course is recommended as it goes well with Mushrooms and bring out the flavor.

Egg and Eggless options

I tried experimenting with a egg and an eggless snack option this time. These could be used as appetizers or snacks for everyone.. and are quick to make.

1. Eggs with Zucchini - Page 721 (The little big vegetarian book)

You could always substitute zucchini with any of our Indian vegetables like snake gourd, bottle gourd. I anyway had zucchini in local market so used it. The recipe book I am following is by Italian authors, and they seem to not know anything better than zucchini in most of their dishes.. but I plan to improvise with local vegetable variety..  

350 g Zucchini
1 clove garlic
4 tbsp torn basil ( I used dry basil flakes - 2 tsp)
6 tbsp extra virgin oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 hard boiled eggs shelled
1 bunch fresh salad greens (did not have that)
6 tbsp diced mixed bell peppers (for decoration - did not have that either)

Chopped the Zucchini into thin wheels, saute with garlic until pale gold with oil, season with salt and pepper. Remove yolks from the eggs and blend the zucchini garlic saute with yolks in a blender into a smooth paste. Fill the egg whites with this paste. Sprinkle with diced bell peppers and place them on plate with greens.

The dish turned out good and is good protein addition to a meal.. was slightly low in heat for Indian palate, so plan to add some green chilli next time:)



1. Egg-free Vegetable Frittata - Page 424 (The little big vegetarian book)

This is an excellent vegetarian substitute for an omelet and yet looks like one. Of-course the recipe asks us to add zucchini:) diced, tomatoes and carrots grated. I did not have any, so I added cucumber diced. Also added some red chilli powder to spice it up other than black pepper and salt that the recipe dictates.


200 g chick pea flour (besan flour)
7 tbsp water (you can always add enough to make it a smooth flowable batter)
2 zucchini grated (I added 2 cucumber finely chopped)
1 carrot finely grated (did not add)
2 tomatoes coarsely chopped (did not add)
salt to taste
red chilli powder to taste (to give it the Indian bite)


Mix the flour with water and add the cucumber and other vegetables, salt, pepper and chilli powder. Use a non stick pan and make a thick cake. Slightly oil on sides and turn it around. Cut it into triangular wedges and serve with ketchup. 


The dish turned out to be a quick breakfast option as my husband used it like an omelet and ate it in-between two bread slices.  Kids will love it with tomato sauce. It is not fried in oil like many of our Indian fritters made of chick pea flour, hence much more healthy.


Enjoy:)