MASAL VADAI

This is one of my most favourite snacks. This is also called as ‘ aamai vadai ’. Still I do not know the reason for it. With simple ingredients, this has a divine taste!

மசால் வடை

Ingredients:

Bengal gram- 2 cups
Finely chopped green chillies-2 tsp
Finely sliced onion-3
Curry leaves- 2 arc
Finely chopped coriander- 2 tbsp
asafoetida powder- half tsp
Salt to taste
Enough oil to fry

Procedure

Wash and soak the Bengal gram for an hour.
Then drain the water thoroughly.
Grind the dal with enough salt to a coarse texture.
Add all the ingredients to it and mix well.
Heat the oil.
The fire should be medium.
Take a small amount of the ground Bengal gram, make a small ball and flatten them to a vadai.
Toss it in the oil and fry it to golden brown.
Thus finish all the ground mixture.
The hot and tasty vadais are ready now!!

Red Currant Jelly

The community garden is an Eden in my urban neighborhood. Inside its gates, honey bees hover over flowers, powdered with pollen. Squirrels scurry across tree branches that gardeners once wove into fences. Rabbits appear out of nowhere, silent and watchful.

The garden is particularly magical by mid-June. Tiny pale blossoms cover the red currant bushes. Within a week, the blossoms transition into the caps of green berries that dangle from branches in loose strands. By mid-July, the berries ripen into a breathlessly regal red. Somewhat translucent, they pick up the sunlight and glow like the uncut rubies once worn by the Nizams of Hyderabrad.

In some ways, I feel silly harvesting such dazzlingly beautiful fruit to make jelly. The berries seem more fit for the hands of jewelers. (Perhaps that's why pastry chefs across Paris use them to crown tarts and tortes and other masterfully crafted confections.) Are there novel ways to incorporate their tart flavor?

RED CURRANT JELLY

Makes about 3 1/2 cups

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds red currants
1/2 cup water
.5 ounce dry pectin
3 1/2 cups sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

Gently wash berries. Pull from little branches and place in a saucepan. Crush with a potato masher or the bottom of a cup.

Add water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Place a 12 x 12 piece of cheese cloth over a bowl. Using a spoon, place 1/3 of the cooked berries over the cloth. Squeeze berries to release juice. Repeat with the rest of the cooked berries.

Pour juice into a saucepan. Mix in sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add pectin. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 2 minutes. Carefully remove from heat. Skim off foam with a spoon.

Cool and transfer to glass jars.

Another CSN promoted giveaway for readers

Its time for another giveaway at Kailas Kitchen. Thanks to the promo team at CSN lighting for giving me the opportunity. CSN stores has more than 200 online stores, each catering to sepcific requirements.

Last time,readers had a limited choice in term of gift selection. Now, the winner is free to choose a gift from any of the CSN online store. Yes, you need not limit to one gift alone. You can purchase more than one to tally $50 gift certificate you are going to win.

You will be like a kid in the candy store not knowing what to choose, while you browse the online stores. Just to give you an idea, here are some of the items you can purchase.

           

        Green Empire Shade with Jacquard and Beads                 Angled Glass Shade in Blue

           

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8 Piece Towel Set

                    

                                     

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All you have to do to win the gift certificate is to leave a comment below.  Please make sure your email will be available to me from your comment. The free gift will shipped to US/Canada only. For readers outside US/Canada,  if you can give an address in the shipping country, its fine. You have time till 15th July to leave your comment to stand a chance to win the $50 gift certificate.