Yummy Murukkus!! Fresh and homemade...'amma-made' actually. It has been a while since amma  made thse lovelies at home. This one is a wonderful recipe. 'Tried and Tested', of course! and the best of all recipes Amma has tried so far; good enough to be the only one to be repeated.

Amma pressing out the murukkus with the idiappam presser onto banana leaves

Amma finally made a batch to send to my nephew, who, needless to say, savours every bite. Amma makes it less often these days as most of us are favourites of LDL - C; only meaning to say we are on the higher end of the cholestrol spectrum; including yours truly...sigh!! 

That doesn't stop me from enjoying these though! tee hee! They taste as fresh and crsip and melt in your mouth with ease, something store-bought murukkus, rarely do.

Murukku dough

Murukkus pressed out on banana leaves to be slid into oil, in the background.

 

amma's murukkus, in my most favorite pair of tiny hands!

Murukku

What you need

Raw Rice Powder (Unroasted) - 3 glasses

Besan powder - 1 glass

Kayam - 1 to 2 tsp

Butter - 2 - 3 balls of lime

Salt - To taste

Jeera powder - 2 tsp

Here's How

Make a dough with all of the above mentioned ingredients, using enough water (there's a photograph of the dough, if you scroll up)

Using an 'Idiappam Press' (String Hoppers), shape out murukkus onto Small oiled banana leaves/ parchment paper

Heat oil and deep fry

Notes

you can see the idiappam press in photo no 1, pressed-out dough on banana leaves; with amma pressing out dough in the background in the others

                                                                Recipe Source: Amma

                                               

Karkidaka kanji - a healthy porridge for a rainy month

It's still raining here. (Not even nearly as much as it  for should though! The main dam here apparently has just enough water to produce electricity for the next 72 days! eeks! I can hear the rain gods say; you burn a hole in the ozone, you cut the trees down, you reclaim land from the sea, you fill out rivers and lakes, you dig away the sand on the river bed -  and you the say the climate has changed! I say you have changed, so we can't but change with you!!).

So this is the official month of 'Karkidakam' (We Malayalis, like many others, have our own calendar). This was in the 'the good ol' days', when man respected nature more, a dark and cold month, literally. The skies would be perpetually overcast, bringing down the heavens. It would rain day and night, and night and day. It was difficult for the people to get fresh produce to cook with. Harvest would happen only after this month. It was also a season of illnesses and epidemics. In order to nourish themselves to gain immunity against diseases, during a time when preventive vaccinations were non-existent, and also for nourishment when good food wasn't available, this kanji was prepared daily in homes, during this month; a tradition carried on to this date. 

There are many variations to this kanji. Ayurveda suggests adding a lot of medicinal herbs and spices for gained value. I have posted a couple of other links at the end of this post if you want to take a look or know more about the tradition. This recipe is a simple home-made one. You could add more herbs or spices into this. You can imagine this will not taste like a french onion soup. tee hee. I haven't tasted too many varieties, so maybe there is one, which does taste really nice, depending on what you add. We usually add freshly grated coconut as garnish, which does add to the taste.

Karkkidaka Kanji

What you need

1. Uluva (Fenugreek) - 1 cup

2. Cherupayar (Green gram) - 1 cup

3. Navara rice - 1 cupeat - 1

4. Cracked Wheat - 1 cup

Here's how

Soak ingredients  1 - 3 in water overnight. Next morning, add the cracked wheat to this, and pressure cook this with enough water. Now leave to simmer for 20 minutes; and there you have. You could add a very generous pinch of freshly grated coconut before serving. You could add more or less water, when serving depending on your preference.


You  could read more about Karkkidaka Kanji here and here

5 minute microwave chocolate cake with nutella, in a cup

I'm trying to eat lesser sweets. It's very hard!!! So I don't buy chocolates or the lovely ghee cake we get in our neighbourhood bakery, or ice cream....sigh! Let's us say I'm still trying hard. Anyway, what with my 'not so strong' resolution, the current situation at home is, unlike earlier there is nothing 'sweet' lying around at any given point of time.

You know those times after lunch or dinner, when your taste buds and palate demand something sweet. My sister asked me to try yoghurt or just water to put an end to the craving. I stayed off  my dessert for a week. What an achievement! That deserved a celebration...something sweet obviously!

I was my usual lazy self, and couldn't bother to make a cake and was too lazy to step out to buy a chocolate. So a quick and easy, not to forget, lovely cake in cup, it was! It was yum!!! IT only takes minutes to put together and less than 2 minutes to cook! I took the liberty of finishing a cup and was generous enough to leave half a cup  for J

The next time I made them, I used my ramekins. I've been waiting for a reason. to use them. I love their pretty colours. Anyway, these mini quick are great. It would taste better with icecream or custard as Sandee suggests. I did find it a bit dry, so next time, I might reduce the cooking time by 10 seconds or so. The additon of nutella does take to higher level as you can anticipate. Sandee said it was 'brownie'ish; but my end product was more like a cake, hence the name. If you do try it, let me know how the consistency was. 

These are so easy to put together, when your lil' one decides to bring a couple of friends, have sudden guests, or feel like a home made sweet bite.

Microwave Cake in a cup in 5 minutes

What you need

• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons of flour
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons of nutella
• quarter teaspoon of baking soda
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 soft candy, toffee type 

Preparation

1. We put in a bowl all ingredients except candy and egg shell, which we know. Mix well.
2. We get two large cups, split the dough between them.
3. We put a couple of candy in each cup, pressing them to sink into the batter.
4. We put a cup in the microwave, and schedule 1 minute 45 seconds (full power). 
5. Serve hot or warm ideally, alone or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a little cream, ...

Notes

Sandee hasn't used a standard measuring spoon. You could take a look at her step-by-step pictures here. That perhaps explains the difference in consistency. 

Recipe Source: http://www.larecetadelafelicidad.com/