Monsoon Munches- Hituku Belae Kunukku - Field beans,rice and lentil savoury

MONSOON MUNCHES

HITUKU BELAE KUNUKKU

Kunukku is a savoury dish prepared with ADAI ( a rice and lentil pancake) dough, rather with the left over Adai dough. This dish can be prepared even otherwise for it has a delicious and crunchy outer coat and the inside has the texture of Uppma. A handful of Hitukubelae ( this lentil is obtained by soaking the fresh field beans and then pinching them out of their husks) added to the dough makes the Kunukku a real delicacy.


INGREDIENTS



Rice - 1 cup
Tur dal- 1/2 cup
Bengal gram dal - 1/2 cup
Split black gram dal - 1 tbsp
Red chillies - 4
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - a few
Coconut pieces/ gratings - 2 tbsps
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Hituku belae - 1/2 cup
Oil - for frying


METHOD



1. Wash and soak all the dals with rice and red chillies for one hour.
2. Grind the soaked ingredients coarsely without adding water. The thick batter will have the texture of soaked semolina.
3. Mix in salt, curry leaves, asafoetida, field beans and the coconut gratings. If coconut pieces are used, they can be added to the dough in the last stage of grinding.
4. Heat oil in a kadai and drop the batter with the help of a tea spoon to make eight to ten Kunukkus at a time.
5. Fry the Kunukkus to a golden brown colour and drain them on a paper towel.


Enjoy the Hituku Belae Kunukku with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup.

Chapathi Ladoo ~ Leftover magic

With the onset of monsoon, most of the days, we have roti for dinner. Earlier, roti wasn't a favorite with my husband for dinner. He doesn't have problem eating it for breakfast, but when it comes to dinner, I will have to make parathas with various stuffing. Of late, he has started liking roti for dinner. I always count and make. But when guests are there, I tend to make more, just in case it falls short. Some days, I do have one or two as leftovers, which will be used up during lunch. Once I had four rotis from previous day's dinner and I made ladoos. I have been wanting to try this for a long time, after seeing the same in many blogs. It was enough to satisfy the sweet cravings during the day.

There isn't much of a recipe here. The rotis are to be made crisp so that it can be powdered. The roti powder is mixed in melted jaggery and cooked till it gets together. Its then shaped into balls while warm. The measurements are approximate and take it as cue. You can add some roasted cashews or raisins or some roasted coconut too.  Next time, I wanted to try it with dates in place of jaggery.

You need

• Roti - 4 nos, preferably a day old
• Jaggery powdered  - 2 tablespoons
• Ghee -1 teaspoon

Method

Heat a tawa. Roat the roti one by one till it is crisp. Alternatively, you can MW it for a minute and give another minute of standing time. It will turn crisp, like papad. Break the crisp rotis into pieces and pulse in the mixer grinder to powder. The consistency of the powder is up to you. If you want you can powder it fine or coarsely, as I did.

Heat a kadai.Add a teaspoon of ghee. When ghee is hot, add the powdered jaggery. When the jaggery melts and starts bubbling, tip the roti powder. Mix so that it comes together. Remove from fire. When it is warm, shape into lemon sized balls. If it doesn't hold, add few drops of milk.

You can serve this as after school snack for kids.

This goes to PJ's  scrumptious delights from left overs

Homemade Hamburger

I make this burger quite often so I thought it would be much easier for me to prepare some for a bloggers meet up last week. The bun and meat actually made ahead of time that sitting in the freezer until I need it. I'm so sorry to Edith as I didn't make extra for her family members. So I post up this recipe here for your reference and for any bloggers that you had tried and like it. Please feel free to make it and remember to make a big batch to freeze it so that you could have homemade hamburger in no time whenever you crave for it. Cheers!

Recipe for the patties:

250g minced pork
250g minced beef

1 big onion, peeled and finely chopped

Olive oil

1/4 teaspoon of cumin powder

1/4 teaspoon fennel powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

some sea salt and ground black pepper

a handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese

a tablespoon Djon mustard

1/2 beaten egg

80g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs

1. Fry the onion with some olive oil in a pan for few minutes until softened. When the onion completely cool down, mix it to the meat.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and half of the breadcrumbs and mix well. (if the mixture is too sticky, add a few more breadcrumbs)
3. Shape the meat into the size you like and place on a tray with greaseproof paper.
4. Sprinkle some bread crumbs on top of each burger and press down gently. Chilled in the fridge for 3-4 hours or in the freezer if not using it immediately.
5. Fry the burger in a little oil on medium high heat for few minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat.

To assemble the burger, spread some salted butter on the buns and grill it on a griller or pan fry for a few minutes until it slightly turn crisp.

Spread some djon mustard or mayonnaise on the bottom part of the buns and then top with some lettuce. Layer with the meat then follow by cheese kraft and freshly sliced tomato and finally the top part of the buns. Enjoy!

For big burgers, make it into 8 buns and 8 slices of meat or like the party mini burger 20 buns and 20 slices of patties. Some

above pictures shown are big burger in 4 inches diameter size whereas some pictures shown are small in 2 1/2 inches diameter size just like the mini burger sit on my hand. I normally make the buns first then the patties. So that the patties had got the same size with the bun and can be fixed nicely between the buns too as I hardly estimate what size of the dough will expand after proofing.

Recipe for 8 buns (approximately 60g for each dough or make more into small little buns):

210g bread flour / 56g plain flour / 20g milk powder / 42g

caster sugar / half teaspoon of salt / 6g yeast / 30g beaten eggs / 85g water / 84g water dough / 22g unsalted butter

Recipe for the water dough "water roux":

Cook 125g water with 25g bread flour at medium low heat, keep stirring until it become thicken and no lumps left. If you've a candy thermometer, measure it until the temperature turn to 65C then turn of the heat. I didn't measure it with thermometer, so I cook it until quite liquid consistency like the baby porridge. Transfer to a clean bowl to cool down.

Methods:

• Place all the ingredients for kneading except the butter until everything come together and become a smooth dough then add in the butter a little at a time.
• Let the dough slowly absorb the butter then turn to speed two if you are using kitchenaid mixer. Knead until the dough no more sticking at the side of the mixing bowl and the dough should be very smooth and elastic.
• Let it proof for 40 minutes in a clean bowl cover with cling warp.
• Divide the dough into even size of 8 portions or any size you like it to be then let it rest for 10 minutes.
• Shape the dough into smooth round shape. Prepare some water on a a clean plate and place a kitchen towel on the top. Damp the surface of each dough and run the damp surface around a bowl of sesame seeds. Place the dough on a baking tray and let the it proof for 40 minutes. Bake at 180C for 15 minutes.