No-cook chocolate balls

I am planning to make pizza for dinner tonight. This is the first time I will be making pizza at home from scratch and I am pretty excited. Hope it comes out well. For dessert, I wanted to make something simple. Did not feel like baking a cake or making any of our Indian sweets like gajar ka halwa or gulab jamun etc. Then I remembered that Mom once made this yummy dessert with condensed milk and drinking chocolate powder and it required no cooking. It was a long time ago and she had forgotten the recipe but luckily I had it in my recipe collection. The chocolate balls were ready in 10 minutes.

No-cook Chocolate Balls (makes about 20 small balls)

Marie biscuits, 13-15
Condensed milk, 1/2 cup
Drinking chocolate powder, 2 tbsps
Dessicated coconut, about 1/4 cup

Mix the condensed milk and chocolate powder in a bowl. Keep aside. Put the biscuits in a ziploc bag and crush to a coarse powder with a rolling pin. Add this to the condensed milk and mix well. Make into small balls. If the mixture is not thick enough add more crushed biscuits. Roll the balls in dessicated coconut till the coconut sticks onto the ball. Chill or eat as it is.

Upma Kozhukattai with Sambar

When I told K I was making upma kozhukattai for dinner he was confused. Kozhukattai, to him, means the sweet South Indian dish that is filled with coconut and jaggery. Upma is a dish made with rawa and is usually had for breakfast. Upma kozhukattai is steamed rice flour balls and can be served with chutney or sambar. Traditionally, raw rice is soaked, dried and powdered and used for making these kozhukattais. But there is an easier method for making this dish for lazy people like me. I got this recipe from my mom who makes it for breakfast once in a way.

Upma Kozhukattai

 
2 cups idli rawa
1 tbsp bengal gram dal
1 tbsp toovar dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 green chili
 Pinch of asafoetida
1 sprig curry leaves

Soak bengal gram dal and toovar dal in water for 1/2 hour. Drain water, add green chili and grind coarsely. Keep aside. Heat oil in a large kadai. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add asafoetida and curry leaves. To this, add 2 1/2 cups water (you might need to add more water) and salt and bring it to a boil. Keep the flame on sim, and add the ground mixture and the idli rawa slowly, constantly stirring. Keep stirring till all water is absorbed and the resulting mixture does not stick to your fingers, about 5 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Take big handfuls and shape it into ovals. You will get about 16 kozhukattais. Steam for 10 minutes. Serve hot.

For the sambar

I made mixed vegetable sambar to go with the kozhukattai. I am not giving the recipe here but just wanted to share couple of tips with you. When pressure cooking the dal, cut a  tomato into half and add to the dal. Later, peel the skin, mash the tomato and add to the sambar. The sambar comes out thicker this way. Also, add small piece of jaggery to the sambar when adding tamarind.

Corn Egg Curry

This is my go to dish when I am short on time or inspiration. Very simple to make and tastes great!

Corn Egg Curry

1 cup corn (I use frozen)
2 eggs
2 small onions, sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped
1" ginger, chopped finely
1 green chili, chopped
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp jeera seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
chili powder, to taste
salt, to tatse
oil
chopped coriander leaves, for garnishing

Boil water. Add corn and cook till done to your satisfaction. Drain water and keep aside. In a kadai, heat oil. Add jeera seeds and mustard seeds. When they splutter, add ginger and green chili. Fry for few seconds. Add onions and fry till onions are translucent. Add tomatoes and all the powders and salt and fry till tomatoes are soft. Add corn and fry for couple of minutes. Break the eggs into the pan. Be careful not to break the egg yolk. Cover and cook on simmer for 4-5 minutes or till the eggs are done to your satisfaction. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Coconut Masala Turnips

We make this curry with chayote (chow-chow) traditionally. Since I only had turnips at home, I made this curry with turnips.

Coconut Masala Turnips

3 turnips, peeled and diced
2 tbsps peanuts
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/4 tsp hing
Oil

For the masala

1/3 cup coconut scrapings
1/2 tsp jeera seeds
1/2 tsp peppercorns
1/2 tsp coriander seeds

 Boil turnip, and peanuts with turmeric powder till cooked. Grind to a paste all the ingredients for the masala. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, urad dal and hing. When urad dal turns brown, add the ground paste and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add little water if necessary. Add the boiled vegetables, and combine well with masala. Fry for a minute or so. Serve hot with rotis.
If you are making this curry with chayote, add 2 carrots.

Shredded Radish, Coconut and Carrot Salad

Another simple and refreshing salad from Yamuna Devi's cookbook.

Shredded Radish, Coconut and Carrot Salad

1/2 cup shredded radishes ( I used white radish but we can also use the round pink ones)
1/3 cup shredded fresh coconut
1/3 cup shredded carrots
salt
1/4 tsp paprika ( I did not have paprika so I added pinch of chili powder to spice up the salad)
2 tbsps chopped fresh corainder
1 tbsp ghee
1/4 tsp ajwain seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds

Combine the radish, coconut and carrot in a bowl. Add salt, paprika and coriander leaves. Heat ghee in a saucepan. When it is hot but not smoking, add the ajwain, fennel and cumin seeds and fry until they darken. Pour the seasoning into the salad and toss well.