Sweet Pongadalu with Coconut

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Cardamom pods -5 tsp
Grated jaggery - 1 1/2 cups
Wheat flour - 1/4 cup
Oil for deep frying

Procedure:

• Soak raw rice for 1 -2 hours.
• Drain the water completely and grind the rice first in a mixie.Then add little water, grated coconut, cardamom pods and grind it to a smooth paste. 
• Add grated jaggery to it and mix well till it dissolves.
• Then add wheat flour and mix well .The batter should be of dosa batter consistency, so adjust accordingly by adding the flour.
• The batter need not ferment, you should make pongadalu immediately after grinding it.
• Heat oil in a small kadai, keep it in medium flame, take a small amount of batter in a small ladle or ice cream scooper and drop it gently into the oil. One pongadam at a time is preferred. 
• When it puffs and float on the oil, turn over and cook the other side also till golden brown(refer notes if it is not comes out in the correct shape). Drain the oil using a slotted ladle and take it out from the kadai. 
• Repeat the same process for the rest of the batter.
• Sweet pongadalu is ready to be served. It can had as a tea time snack.

Notes:

• If it sticks to the pan when the batter is dropped into the kadai, then the batter is thin and need to adjust the consistency by adding little wheat flour.
• If the pongadam gets squeezed and rises up rather than puffing up in the middle and flat on the edges then the batter is thick and need to adjust the consistency by adding little water of 1 tbsp at a time. 

Eggless Wholewheat Dates Cake/Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Dates - 18 to 20 (preferred seedless)
Milk - 3/4th cup
Sugar - 3/4th cup
All purpose Flour/ Maida - 1cup (or) Whole wheat flour - 1cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Baking Soda - 1tsp
Cashews/Walnuts/Pecans/Almonds - 1/2 cup (chopped) use any nuts you have.

Procedure:

• Soak dates in warm milk or just microwave for 5 mins till warm so that the dates turn soft enough to grind.
• Add sugar and along with the milk and dates into a blender and grind it to a smooth paste.
• Take this in a large mixing bowl. Add oil and mix.
• Sieve together flour and baking soda in a separate bowl.
• Add the flour 1 tsp at a time and mix well with a spatula.
• Add nuts and mix well. Do not over mix it.
• Preheat oven at 350F. Bake the cake in a greased oven proof dish for 35-40 mins or till the knife inserted in the cake comes out clean. (or) Pour the batter in the cupcake molds. But it takes only 20- 25 mins to cook the cupcakes.
• Cut it into pieces and serve the cake. For cup cakes transfer them onto the cooling rack and serve when cool.

This cake is more yummier the next day.

Pappu Chekkalu/Chekka Vadalu

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 3cups
Maida - 2 cups
Green Chillis - 12
Chana Dal - 1/4 cup
Chilli powder - 1tsp
Ajwain seeds/Vamu - 2tsp
Butter - 1/4 cup
Oil for deep frying
Oil - 5tsp for making Chekkalu
Curry leaves - few
Salt - 2 1/2 tsps

Procedure:

• Soak chana dal for 2-3hours and keep aside.
• In a large mixing bowl take rice flour, maida, salt, chilli powder, ajwain seeds, chopped curry leaves, soaked chana dal and mix well.
• Now crush the green chillis, jeera in the hand grinder or mixie and mix it into the flour.
• Heat butter and add that into the flour and mix well. 
• Now add little water at a time and mix well till the dough is similar to chapati dough. (for right consistency test make sure that the dough is not sticky to hands while mixing).
• Take thick polythene cover (preferably any ziploc cover) to roll these chekkalu. 
• Add 1-2 drops of oil on the ploythene cover and place small ball of the dough on it and press it with fingers evenly till they are thin round shapes as shown in the picture.

• Now heat oil for deep frying and add these pappu chekkalu one by one into it and fry till they are golden in color.

          (Make sure they are not too dark. Because dark colored chekkalu may taste bitter)

• Repeat the process with the remaining dough and let them cool and store it in a dry air tight container.