Keerai Vadai

I make many kinds of vadai and one among them is this keerai vadai. We can use any kind of greens that is easy to cook. I recommend spinach (pasali keerai),Amaranth (thandu keerai), arai keerai. But if we are using any greens like drumstick leaf, then saute them first to cook completely before adding in vada batter. I love this vadai very much and I am sure you all will like it too:)

Ingredients:

Channa dhal (Bengal gram / kadalai paruppu) - 1 cup
Any chopped greens (Spinach) - 2 cups
salt - 1 tsp (to taste)
chilly powder - 1 tsp
garlic(chopped) - 2 tbsp
onion (chopped) - 1/2 cup
hing - pinch
cooking oil-250 ml. for frying

Preparation:

Soak both the dhal for 1 hour in water.
Take out a handful of soaked dhal and keep aside.(This gives a crispy texture to the vadai.)
Grind dal to a coarse finish without water.
Add chopped spinach, salt, chilly powder, onion, hing,garlic, soaked dal and mix well.
Heat oil in a wok.
Take a small ball of the mixture (in the size of a lemon), slightly flatten in the palm of your hand then place in the hot oil . Fry 4 or 5 as per the wok size without crowding the oil. Reduce to medium heat. Deep fry on both sides to a golden brown color to mild red color. Take them out.
Keerai vadai is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve as snack with tea or coffee.
Coconut chutney makes it more delicious.

Tips:

This vada batter can be baked instead of frying to make a healthy vadai.  If baking add few tsp of oil in batter to get the crispy baked vadai.

Harvest fruit snack bar

Yesterday I was looking for a snack for hubby to share with his friends as per plan. For a long time I wished to bake some oats snack bar and got this recipe from the quaker oats website. I made slight variations as I was using my Ashirvad whole wheat flour and old fashioned oats. The layering technique in this recipe is very easy to follow and I got very good quality snacks. These snacks smelled like Christmas cake because of the dry fruits and both of us liked it very much.

Almonds, Orange juice, banana and dry fruits.

after adding the fruit layer to crust.

Let the snack bar cool completely.

Store in refrigerator.

Ingredients:

old fashioned oats - 1 3/4 cup
whole wheat flour - 2 cup
unsalted butter - 1 1/2 stick (3/4 cup)
brown sugar - 1 cup (tightly packed)
Raisin - 1/2 cup
banana - 1
orange juice - 1/2 cup
(2/3 cup for quick oats)
cinnamon powder / all spice powder - 1/2 tsp
chopped toasted almond - 1/2 cup
salt - 1/4 tsp
orange peel - 1 tbsp
butter - 1 tsp (for greasing the pan)

Method:

Take 2 bowls, one large another medium size. Heat oven to 375°F.

1.Dry fruits I used : Raisin, candied pineapple,cherry, orange peel.
we can also use dates, dry apples etc.
I had a banana in freezer and used it here after thawing in room temperature.
In medium bowl add the dry fruits, chopped banana, orange juice, peel. Keep aside

2.In the large bowl mix softened butter and sugar till creamy.
Add the wheat flour, oats, cinnamon powder,salt and mix well with the sugar+butter.
It should look like crumbs. Out of this mixture, reserve 3/4 cup of mixture for topping and keep it aside. Mix almonds to this 3/4 cup flour mix.

3. Grease 2 square pans (9inch) generously with 1 tsp butter.
Divide the remaining flour mixture into 2 and press it onto bottom of baking pan (the thickness of crust should be almost 3/4 inch). Bake for 15 minutes or until the sides turn golden brown.

4. Now take the pans out and spread fruit mixture along with juice evenly over crust to within 1/4 inch.Sprinkle the 3/4 cup mixture with almonds over this fruit layer. Gently pat down for it to set. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely. Using a sharp knife press gently and cut into bars.

Home made fruit snack bar is ready!

Tips:

Makes 28 pieces (approximately).
1 bar will make us extremely satisfied because of the fiber content.
store in airtight container and keep refrigerated.

Approx calories:

1 snack bar may give 140 K cal.