Easy Lemon Poha (Lemon Aval)

This Lemon Poha is very easy to make and it tastes delicious with crunchy peanuts in it. Make a very energetic morning with this healthy breakfast. Trust me guys this can be made within 10 minutes. Just give a try and let me know...

Ingredients
Poha/Aval - 1 1/2 cup
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Water - 2 tsp + for soaking
Salt - to taste
Coriander leaves - for garnishing(optional)

To Temper
Oil - 1 1/2 tsp
Mustard - 1/8 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tbsp
Peanuts - 1 tsp
Red Chilli - 1
Shallots - 2 tsp (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Ginger - 1/8 tsp(chopped)

Procedure
Wash and soak the poha  in water for 1-2 minutes and drain it in a strainer.
Keep this aside for 5 minutes.
Soak channa dal in water for 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a Kadai add mustard let it crackle.
Now add channa dal, ginger and peanuts and fry till light brown in colour.
Then add in the shallots, curry leaves and turmeric and give a toss.
Now add lemon juice and 2 tsp of water and salt and let it boil.
When the oil floats(the water is completely absorbed) add poha and switch off the stove.
Then mix and garnish with coriander leaves.

Notes
Adding peanuts ,shallots and channa dal gives a nice crunchy effect and a unique taste.
You can skip adding shallots also (but I recommend )
You can skip ginger if you don't like them.

 Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#46


Cheers,
Jayanthi B

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Aval Truffles / Poha Truffles (healthy breakfast dish)

 


 Hi everybody...A very happy Gokulashtami !!!! Today's recipe is brought to you by both of us. We met this weekend and had lots of fun including making these truffles. This recipe is a classic one infact native one. I don't know how many of you have heard of red poha ( sigapu arisi aval )but it is very famous in our villages and the main ingredient in these truffles.
     During our childhood days, whenever we visit our grandmother's place she used to make these for all the kids. As we like playing rather than eating , my grandma used to make BIG ( literally!!!!!!!!!)balls and give each one so that we can finish them off easily, wash our hands and run away to continue our playing. These truffles are very very healthy and can be had for breakfast or even as an evening snack. Even one truffle or ball (like my grandma's) will help in withstanding stamina especially for kids, who have many stuff to do like playing, jumping, learning new things and of course arguing with us too....
Now straight onto the recipe....
   
Ingredients
Aval / Poha - 1 cup
Sugar - 5 tbsp
Fresh Shredded coconut - 4 tbsp+for rolling
Banana (ripe) - 2
Water- 4 tbsp ( or as required)

Procedure
1. Wash and soak aval in 4tbsp of water for 5 to 10 minutes, till puffed up (refer pic 3)

2. In a bowl add soaked poha, bananas,sugar and 4tbsp of coconut.
3. Mix well and make into balls.
4. Now roll these balls in fresh shredded coconut and serve immediately.


Healthy and delicious truffles are ready!!!

Notes
1) Adding more or less sugar and coconut is absolutely your choice (but I prefer this amount).
2) Amount of water required for soaking poha can vary depending on the variety of poha. Rather than draining completely I leave some water and check after 10 minutes, if it is puffed up and soft, I continue as such else I just sprinkle some more water and leave again for 10 minutes.



Cheers,
Jayanthi,
Sindhiya.

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Anytime Banana Fruit Salad (No Refined Sugar)

Whenever I crave something sweet at the same time light and not in a mood for cooking, this is the dish that satisfies me. It is very simple, yet delicious and can be prepared in less than 5 minutes. Well about the name of this dish...I thought about it long and decided Anytime Banana Fruit Salad as it can be had during anytime of the day...breakfast,dinner,evening snack or even as a light dessert... 

Banana is not my favourite fruit, but given in this form I will even eat 3 at once. Freshly grated coconut combined with the caramel flavoured dark brown jaggery gives the bananas an authentic taste. You can enjoy it without any guilt as it is refined sugar free!!!!.

INGREDIENTS:

Bananas - 2 (about 3/4 cup)
Dark Brown Jaggery - 2 tbsp
Freshly Grated Coconut - 3 tbsp + garnishing

METHOD:
Take all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well and serve immediately topped with grated coconut.

Look at the natural caramel oozing out from the salad!!!!!

NOTES:
1) You can even add small pieces of coconut to the salad to get a nice crunch between the soft bananas ( I do that some time...)
2) If you can't get dark brown jaggery, you can substitute with regular jaggery too....It will still taste so good.
3) Adding an extra tbsp of honey will also be good( with the extra honey punch, like a dessert!!!)


Cheers,
Sindhiya.S

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Healthy Millet Pongal

The importance of eating whole grains are flying everwhere now a days. So there is no need to tell about how healthy this dish is...Today I am going to present you a traditional dish that is made using millet "Healthy Millet Pongal." I have made this pongal using varagu rice. You can use thinai or kuthiraivaali or saamai with the same measurements and procedure.

INGREDIENTS:

Varagu rice - 1 cup

Moong dal - 1/2 cup

Water - 6 3/4 cup

Salt - as required

Cashew - 10

To Temper:

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Peeper - 1 tsp

Ginger - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - 2 springs

METHOD:

1) In a kadai dry roast moong dal in medium flame till it becomes light brown in colour( don't burn dal as it will give a bitter taste) and nice aroma fills your kitchen. Keep that aside.

2) Wash and drain varagu rice twice with water to remove any impurities.

3) Take the washed rice and roasted moong dal in a pressure cooker. Add water and salt. Close and pressure cook for 1 whistle, then reduce flame to low for 10 minutes and switch off. Let the pressure release on its own.

4) To Temper:

           In a kadai add ghee and oil. Fry cashews and keep it separate. In the same kadai add jeera, ginger, pepper and curry leaves and fry till nice aroma comes(without burning them).

5) Add the tempered mixture and the cashews to the cooked rice and mix well.

Serve hot with sambar and coconut chutney. It tasted so yummy with my favourite sambar( I will post the recipe soon) and coconut chutney.

A healthy yet very tasty breakfast to start any wonderful day!!!!

NOTES:

1) Pongal will always firm up as it cools down, so don't worry if it looks slightly watery after opening the cooker.

2) You can add two green chilli or two red chilli while tempering for a spice up version.

Cheers,

Sindhiya.S

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