'Snacks' ↓

Ganesha Chaturthi is here and this marks the start of the festive season. It’s a time where the Lord Ganesha or Vinayaka is bought home. And one of the famous sweets that is offered is the Modak as it know in most parts of India.

South India has many versions of this sweet - Kozhukattai in Tamil Nadu, Jilledu Kayi In Andhra Pradesh and Kadubu in Karnataka.

Traditional Sweet recipes are included here plus a bonus snack (Sundals) to serve your family members and for guests. Try these at home and make your Ganesha Chaturthi something special. 

We’ve got the traditional Kozhukattai and a sweet & sour variation, Poori Payasam, Coconut Milk Payasam and Navdhanya Sundal. Other useful recipe links are given at the end of the page

Note: If you are in the main page of the blog, click on the continue reading link at the end of this post to read the full story.

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It’s been quite a while since I last posted. And I had the privilege from my mom to make an Appam (Pronounced as aappum). And it came out brilliant The taste ranges from plain Dosa type to almost a sweet tinge. Eaten with Coconut Chutney it can make a simple yet very tasty breakfast. I urge you to try this as an alternative to your Dosas, Idlis, Sandwiches etc.

The main ingredient for Appam is Coconut milk which gives the unique sweet tinge. There are other varieties like Pal Appam (Milk Appam) and some other non-vegetarian types.

Another popular variety is the Idiappam or the Sevai which looks nothing like an Appam or a Dosa. Another uniqueness is the curved shape of the final product.

This is achieved by using a curved pan(you get a lot of non-stick pans) or a bandli (called in kannada & tamil).So go ahead and try this for breakfast or as an evening snack.

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I had posted last week on Paniyaram aka great balls of food ;-). Now I was lucky enough to find a video on Youtube which gives a pretty good description of this extravagant South Indian dish.

The chef here calls himself EnglishTamil and has quite a bunch of recipe videos on Youtube. A note of warning - he uses both English and Tamil to explain how its done; if you think you can follow the recipe without knowing Tamil, then it’s time for some lip-smacking action!

The highlight of this variety of Paniyaram is that butter is added in big dollops before the batter is poured in. He (the chef) seems to get the Paniyarams right the first time itself (requires right mixture and fermentation of the batter) and they look crisp and ready to be devoured.

The video is about 8 minutes long and a broadband connection would be recommended to view the video without any interruptions.

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Photo: Paniyarams ready for battle!

What do you call Paniyarams in English - Great Balls of Food? Ever since I was a kid, I used to love Paniyarams just by thier shape and size. Even though they look sinister, it’s hard to resist once you’ve tasted it. It’s another variant of the Dosa, made out of almost the same ingredients; crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Best eaten piping hot on a morning or on a cold evening.

They are made of a special vessel / pan with Kuzhis or semi-circular pits where the batter is poured. Chutneys go well along with them. The ones in the photos, they were made with the same batter used in Uthappams.

I know it by three names:

GundBangla (I don’t know from which language, maybe Telugu)

Paddu in Kannada

Paniyaram in Tamil

The magic formula is here -

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After dining out this week and splurging on North Indian food, it was back to typical but extremely addictive South Indian Cooking. And my mom made the popular Dosa variant, Uthappam (also pronounced Oothappam). Usually it’s made of boiled rice (a plain Uthappam Recipe is here), but we were given with toppings of Onion, Tomato and Capsicum.

If you don’t know what is Uthappam, here’s what wikipedia has to say

Uthappam is a Dosa-like dish that is made by cooking ingredients in a batter. The batter is made of a 1:3 ratio of urad dal and rice (1:1 ratio of boiled to non-boiled rice) that has been fermented. They are usually made with tomatoes or an onion-chilli mix; other common ingredient choices are coconut or mixed vegetables. Uttapam is also sometimes called an Indian pizza or pancake.

Ok, let’s talk no further; it’s time for some action:

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Kofta actually originates from Iran and the middle east. Originally Kofta means meat balls which were used as dumplings dipped in a gravy of spices. It later spread to other Asian countries including India where the

Photo copyright Bee!

most famous variation is the Malai Kofta.This one’s another recipe - coming from Punjab with Palak (Spinach) added for that extra flavor. It also has generous additions of cashewnuts which gives you that exotic taste found in most North Indian foods (specially Palak dishes). You can have this as a snack or along with Rotis or Rice.

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Mamak Rojak is a popular Malay snack which has Indian flavors. Rojak is basically a salad either made of fruit or vegetables; it is popular among South-East Asian Countries. Wikipedia states that Rojak is a Malaysian term for “mixture” to show the ethnic mixture in Malaysia and neighboring countries.

Mamak Rojak, also known as the Indian Rojak, is made by Indian Muslims locally in Malaysia. (Mamak is derived from Mama which means Uncle in Tamil). It is a spicy hot salad with piping hot chillies and vegetable gravy. Usually a vegetarian food, it is also served with seafood.

Try this recipe below and create your own variations of Mamak Rojak by mixing the vegetables.

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