MONSOON MUNCHES-KOLAVADAI/KODUBALE-SAVOURY FLOUR RINGS

MONSOON MUNCHES

KOLAVADAI / KODUBALE

My mother -in-law loved to prepare savoury snacks, and Kolavadai ( known as Kodubale in Kannada ) was one of her specialities. The Kolavadai/Kodubale she prepared using a few ingredients could never be stored, as all of us polished them off even before she could finish frying the entire lot! It is a joy to munch Kolavadai/kodubale in between sips of hot coffee or tea especially on rainy days.
Kolavadai/Kodubale can be prepared using rice flour or ragi (finger millet) flour. Both can be prepared by following the same recipe.

INGREDIENTS
Rice flour/ Ragi flour - 1 ' pav' or 1 glass ( which can hold 250 ml of liquid)
Freshly grated coconut - 4 heaped tbsps
Green chillies - 4
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Butter or ghee - 3 tsps
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
oil - for frying

Method
1. Grind coconut gratings,green chillies, salt and asafoetida to a smooth paste adding water if required.
2. Take the flour of your choice in a bowl and mix in the ground paste and cumin seeds, and rub in the ghee or butter.
3. Now add water little at a time and knead to form a smooth, pliable but stiff dough.
4. Take a ball of dough and roll it on a board with your palm and shape it like a rod. ( Just like how children roll the modelling clay to make snakes.)
5. Bend one end of the 'rod' and join it to the other end, overlapping the ends slightly, making a 'kolam' (circle) or ' bale' ( Bangle).
The kolavadais can be prepared in any convenient size- finger ring, bangle or medium.
6. Heat oil in a kadai on low fire and wait till the oil starts giving out an aroma. This indicates that the oil is hot enough. You can test it by dropping a pinch of dough in the oil . If it rises immediately, the oil is ready for frying.
7. Slide 6 Kolavadais/ Kodubales ( or more if the kadai is big enough) into the hot oil and do not disturb for a while.When the frothing and hissing decrease, and when the kolavadais/kodubales are stable enough, turn them with the perforated ladle.
8. Cook till the kolavadais/Kodubales start floating and the bubbles subside.
9. Remove when thr rice kolavadais/kodubales acquire a golden hue and drain on a paper towel.
10. Roll and keep the second batch ready while the first batch is cooking and start frying as soon as the previous batch is taken out of the oil.
Allow the Kolavadais/Kodubales to cool and then store in an air tight container which will be surely emptied in no time!

Outdoor Showers Gaining Popularity!

Hey...Who Needs a Bathroom Stall When You Can Take a Spritz in Your Own Backyard?

More and more homeowners are embracing the outdoor shower as a fun and functional way to add value and interest to their homes. The new trend toward the outdoor shower leaves behind the feature’s roots in grungy campgrounds and rented summer cottages, though. Today’s outdoor showers are sleek, well-appointed extensions of the indoor bathroom...except they're located outside of your home.

So what’s driving this unusual fad toward the great outdoors?

“We spend so much time in cyber reality, in front of the TV or the computer, on the phone, in our cars, divorced from the natural world, that people really respond to something like an outdoor shower,” explains Ethan Fierro, a designer and author of The Outdoor Shower. “It allows you those 10 to 15 minutes to connect with nature.”

In fact, reclaiming outdoor spaces for traditionally indoor activities has been popular in home construction and renovation for some time.

“The outdoor shower is definitely part of the trend of people bringing the outdoors in, with people now building outdoor bathrooms and even outdoor kitchens,” says David Buchanan, a Boston-based architect.

Today’s outdoor showers aren’t just for those who live in warm climates, either.

“Clients who ask for outdoor showers aren’t usually deterred by a chill in the air,” says Elizabeth Demetriades, an architect in Lakeville, CT who has designed several outdoor showers for clients in the Northeast. “The showers are typically used until the onset of freezing weather mandates draining the pipes for winterization—and clients frequently push the envelope in this regard.”

Buchanan has noticed the same mentality in his clients.

“At a house we did in South Dartmouth, MA. Part of the appeal was that you could take a hot outdoor shower in chilly weather then crawl immediately into a warm bed,” he says.

While there’s definitely something appealing about the idea of an outdoor shower, there are certain considerations that must be taken into account before undertaking such a project.

Depending on building codes in your area and the design of your shower, you may be required to install an appropriate drainage system.

“When hot water—and by inference soap and shampoo—will be used, connection to a properly engineered septic or dry-well system is a must,” says Demetriades.

Be sure your architect and contractor have experience designing and building outdoor showers so you don’t run into any unforeseen environmental or plumbing issues.

Privacy is another consideration, but surprisingly it’s not as high a priority as you’d think.

“Many clients aren’t all that concerned with privacy, particularly in more rural areas where neighbors aren’t an issue,” explains Demetriades.

You should think hard about your home’s location before taking the proverbial plunge. Modesty may not be your number one concern if you live out in the woods, but if your house sits in the middle of a suburban development you could risk raising more than a few eyebrows at the next neighborhood block party.

Another important privacy concern: sightlines. If your neighbor’s kitchen window overlooks the spot where you want to install your outdoor shower, you should probably find a more suitable placement.

And let's not forget sound. If you sing in the shower, the whole neighborhood can hear your enitre repertoire...for better or worse! And an outdoor shower can never duplicate that great audio quality and echo you get in a traditional indoor shower.



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Eggless Apple Upside Down Cake with whole wheat flour

After my attempt at an upside down cake with pineapple, I wanted to try with apples. This time I didnot use any all purpose flour and did with whole wheat flour and arrow root flour. I usually stock arrow root flour or koova podi in Malayalam during the season(Nov-December), it is available in the market. I use it in baking and whereever corn flour is used in regular cooking. In case u don't have this flour, use corn flour or maida in place of that.

For the cake

 

• Wheat flour/Atta- 1 cup
• Arrow root/Corn flour - 1/2 cup
• Baking powder - 2 tspn
• Salt - 1/4 tspn

• All spice powder- 1/2 tspn (Mix of cinnamon,nutmeg and cloves)
• Vanilla essence - 1 tspn

•  Butter - 1/2 cup
• Sugar- 1/2 cup
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Flaxseed meal - 1 tblspn mixed in 1 cup of water

  For topping

 

• Butter - 2 tblspn
• Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup
• All spice powder - 1/4 tspn
• One applie sliced

Melt sugar and butter in microwave for a minute. Stir in the spice powder.

 Method

Seive together the dry ingredients - Wheat flour,arrow root flour, baking powder and salt. I always measure the dry ingredients to an airtight container and shake it well for few times so that the ingredients gets mixed up well.

 

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

 

 

Add milk and flaxseed meal mixed with water to the sugar butter mix. Fold in the dry ingredients to the wet mix. Finally mix in the spice powder and vanilla essence.

 

 

Grease the cake tin with butter or oil and lightly dust with flour. Pour the melted sugar+butter mix. Arrange the sliced appales overlapping each slice. Pour the cake batter on top of the arranged apple slices.

 

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 55 minutes. Cool the cake and invert it carefully. The cake was slightly denser yet soft.

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