We experienced our first typhoon #Nida today in Hong Kong. It was intense. The rains, the strong wind hitting my balcony french window is something that will stay with me for a long time. I was a little paranoid when I came to know about it yesterday morning. To be honest, I have never witnessed a typhoon in my life. This was my first and I was too overwhelmed about it. So I stocked up on everything I could possibly get my hands on at the grocery store. My fridge is now overflowing with fruits and veggies. Typhoon Nida is over and things are almost back to normal. I just realized how well HK is equipped to deal with these kind of situations and how I can over react at times (most of the times). My husband stayed home today. We had no where to go as the thunder storm warning was still in place even though things looked calm. I was really bored. I had bought baby corn as a part of typhoon shopping. So I made a quick deep fried snack for our afternoon tea. Here is how to do baby corn pepper fry – baby corn milagu varuval.
Clean and cut the baby corn into one inch pieces. Cut them on a bias. Slightly boil them in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain the water and set aside. The baby corn will be half cooked.
Take a bowl and add in the hot, half cooked baby corn. Add in the finely chopped onion, finely chopped curry leaves and spring onions. Finely chop all the ingredients so that the masala adheres to the corn. Add in the black pepper. Use freshly ground black pepper. Use this link.
Add in the besan – kadala maavu, rice flour, salt, and ginger garlic paste. Do not add any water. Mix well with hand. The masalas stick to the baby corn better if they are a little hot. If the mixture is very dry, add in a tablespoon of water. Do not add more.
Heat a pan of oil until hot. Take the baby corn and try to press the masala with the thumb and gently place them in oil. This will ensure that the masalas don’t separate in oil.
Once the baby corn is placed in oil, do not disturb the oil with a spatula for at-least two minutes. Do not crowd the pan. The masalas might not stick well if disturbed with a spatula in the beginning. Fry the baby corn in really hot oil. The baby corn is already cooked. We are just trying to brown the outer skin. Fry each batch for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.
For garnish, fry some curry leaves and add it to the baby corn pepper fry. Serve hot with dum tea.
- 20 baby corn, cut into one inch pieces
- 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
- 2 sprigs curry leaves, finely chopped
- 5 stalk spring onions, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon besan – kadala maavu
- 2 tablespoon rice flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 500 ml refined sunflower / vegetable oil for deep frying
- Clean and cut the baby corn into one inch pieces. Slightly boil them in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain the water and set aside.
- Take a bowl and add in the hot, half cooked baby corn. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Mix well with hand. If the mixture is very dry, add in a tablespoon of water.
- Heat a pan of oil until hot. Take the baby corn and try to press the masala with the thumb and gently place them in oil. This will ensure that the masalas dont separate in oil.
- Fry the baby corn in really hot oil for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.
- Serve hot with tea.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
- 20 baby corn, cut into one inch pieces
- 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
- 2 sprigs curry leaves, finely chopped
- 5 stalk spring onions, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon besan – kadala maavu
- 2 tablespoon rice flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 500 ml refined sunflower / vegetable oil for deep frying
- Clean and cut the baby corn into one inch pieces. Slightly boil them in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain the water and set aside.
- Take a bowl and add in the hot, half cooked baby corn. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Mix well with hand. If the mixture is very dry, add in a tablespoon of water.
- Heat a pan of oil until hot. Take the baby corn and try to press the masala with the thumb and gently place them in oil. This will ensure that the masalas dont separate in oil.
- Fry the baby corn in really hot oil for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.
- Serve hot with tea.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/baby-corn-pepper-fry/
Kara Kozhukattai is made in the Kongunad region using par boiled rice and not the regularly used rice flour. This is a very light and super tasty kozhukattai. This is a childhood favorite for everyone. It is generally made with lots of onions. If making for festival like ganesh chaturthi, onions are omitted. This kozhukattai is mainly had for dinner with some chutney. If there are very young children or aged people at home, the chana dal (kadalai paruppu) used in the recipe is boiled and added instead of adding them during tempering. Boiling the chana dal removes the textural crunch while eating and also makes it a little easier to digest. I have added the chana dal during tempering today. Here is how to do Kara Kozhukattai.
Here is the video of how to make Kara Kozhukattai, Recipe for easy Kara Kozhukattai.
Par boiled rice is used for this recipe. Soak Idli rice (Idli rice is Par Boiled Rice) for 3 hours. If you have puzhungal arisi / parboiled rice used for meals, use that as it adds to the taste. If you are planning for breakfast, then soak the rice over nite. It works well. Drain the water from the soaked rice. Now, grind the rice with some water. The quantity of water used while grinding will determine the final texture of the kozhukattai. For every cup of rice used, add exactly one cup of water while grinding. Too little water will give a really hard Kozhukattai and adding a lot of water will make the Kozhukattai gummy. So use the correct measurement of water while grinding. Grind to a really smooth fine paste. Set aside.
Heat sesame oil (gingely oil) in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and the chana dal. Wait for the chana dal to brown.
Add in the curry leaves, ginger, onions and green chillies. Make sure all these ingredients are finely chopped, so its easy to prepare and shape the Kozhukattai. You do not want a big chilli or a curry leaf when you bite the dumpling. So take time and chop the ingredients as fine as possible. Add in the salt. Saute for 2-3 minutes until the onions are cooked and slightly starting to brown. Add little coconut at this stage for a rich taste.
Add in the ground rice mixture and stir with a spatula. The rice mixture will immediately thicken up into a mass of dough. Set aside to cool a bit.
Let the dough become warm. When the dough is still warm, dip your hands in cold water and take a small lemon size ball of dough. Press the dough a little to form oblong shaped dumplings. Set aside.
Place the dumplings on an idli plate or any flat plate and steam it for 15 minutes on a medium flame. The dumplings would become slightly glossy after steaming. Remove from heat.
Serve hot with coconut chutney , red chutney or kara chutney .
For grinding
- 1 cup parboiled rice
- 1 cup water
For tempering
- 2 teaspoon Indian sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoon chana dal (kadalai paruppu)
- 1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
- 1/2 inch piece ginger, finely chopped
- 1 sprig curry leaves, finely chopped
- 3 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup fresh shredded coconut (optional)
- Soak Idli rice (Par Boiled Rice) for 3 hours. Drain the water from the soaked rice. Grind the rice with water. Grind to a really smooth fine paste. Set aside.
- Heat sesame oil (gingely oil) in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and the chana dal. Wait for the chana dal to brown.
- Add in the curry leaves, ginger, onions and green chillies. Add in the salt. Saute for 2-3 minutes until the onions are cooked and slightly starting to brown.
- Add in the ground rice mixture and stir with a spatula. The rice mixture will immediately thicken up into a mass of dough. Set aside.
- Let the dough become warm. When the dough is still warm, dip your hands in cold water and take a small lemon size ball of dough. Press the dough a little to form oblong shaped dumplings. Set aside.
- Place the dumplings on an idli plate or any flat plate and steam it for 15 minutes on a medium flame.
- Serve hot with coconut chutney, red chutney or kara chutney.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
