Lebanon Butter Cookie / Ghraybeh - The Easiest International Cookie

     Lebanon Butter Cookie, Ghraybeh, is very easy to make because it has only 3 ingredients. It has a heavenly taste and make first time cookie makers to really start enjoying cookie making and would inspire them to make more and more cookies. Normally I don't taste the cookies while making them. But Lebanon Butter Cookie tempts me so much that I can't avoid tasting one immediately.

Click here to view 20 + cookies recipes.

Quick Slide Show Video:

Recipe Cuisine : International | Recipe Category: Cookies | Source: maureenabood

Preparation Time: 10 mins  | Cooking Time: 15 mins | Yields: 20 cookies

Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Flour / Maida	1 cup
Butter (at room temperature)	½ cup
Icing Sugar (Click here for homemade Icing sugar recipe)	½ cup
Rose Essence	1 tbsp
For Dusting:
Icing Sugar	1/4 cup

Procedure:

1. Add butter in a wide bowl. Beat the butter till it reaches the fluffy and creamy consistency using wire whisk or electric beater.

2. Now add ½ cup of Icing sugar and rose essence. Mix them well with spatula. Then mix them well with whisk or beater.

3. Then add the flour little by little and mix them well. Knead it into a soft and pliable dough.

4. Take apple size ball from the dough and roll it into ½ inch a log (1/2 inch thickness cylinders like diamond bars) on the floured surface.

5. Now cut the cylinder into ½ inch thickens bars diagonally.

6. Place these diamond bars on the ungreased baking tray with 1 inch gap between them.

7.  Preheat the oven for 200 degree Celsius for 10 mins.  Bake this for 15 mins at 150 degree Celsius.

8. Take them out from the oven and cool down slightly.

9. Then take the cookies from the tray and arrange them on the plate.

10. Now sprinkle the ¼ cup icing sugar over the cookies using the tea filter.

11. Allow it to cool down completely and serve or store it in an air tight container for later use.

    Wow aromatic and delicious mouth melting Lebanon cookies ready!!!

Note:

1. Use maida instead of wheat flour.

2. Use orange blossom essence instead of rose essence.

3. Keep this at room temperature for 2-3 weeks.

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Pori Urundai / Puffed Rice Balls - Karthigai Deepam Recipes

Pori Urundai is a very neglected snack recipe enough though it is very easy, sweet, tasty and healthy. I think Pori Urundai was associated with Karthigai deepam which comes immediately after diwali because Pori Urundai is light sweet and it is not good to have heavy sweet just some time after the diwali festival when we have already had enough heavy sweets. Make Pori Urundai as often  and especially as a sweet balance when you preparing some spicy puffed rice.

Full video in English:

Full video in Tamil:

Recipe Cuisine : South Indian | Recipe Category: Sweets

Preparation Time: 5 mins  | Cooking Time: 10 mins | Yields: 14 Balls

Ingredients:

Pori / Puffed Rice	2 cups (1 cup = 240 ml)
Grated Jaggery	½ cup
Water	¼ cup
Cardamom Pods	2

Procedure:

1. In a heavy bottom pan, add jaggery, crushed cardamom pods  and water. Cook them in a medium flame.

2. Mix them well with ladle.

3. Wait until the jaggery melts completely. Then strain the jaggery syrup with steel strainer.

4. Pour this strained syrup in the same pan and cook it in a medium flame.

5. After few mins the color of the syrup will change. At this stage you can check the syrup consistency.

6. Take water in a small bowl, pour few drops of the syrup and able to make ball from the syrup is the correct consistency.

7. If you cannot make ball, cook until you reach this consistency level.

8. After you reach this level, switch off the flame.

9. Add puffed rice with this syrup and mix them gently and carefully.

10. Then grease your hands with oil and immediately make lemon size balls from the pori mixture.

           Tasty and healthy pori urundai is ready to serve.

Note:

1. If You  switch off the flame before the sugar syrup reaching the correct ball like consistency level, you cannot make puffed balls.

2. After mixing the pori with jaggery, immediately make all the pori mixture into rough balls which can later shaped properly. Don’t delay by shaping all the balls in the first attempt because if the pori mixture looses heat, it will be difficult to shape into balls.

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The Story of the Green Gram Pasayam / Paasip Payaru Kheer

     About a month back, our family hired a cook to prepare feast for our guests in a family function. While preparing payasam, the cook used Paccaipayaru (Greengram) instead of Paasip paruppu (Moong dal).

 Luckily the payasam turned out to be very good and the Green gram Pasayam recipe was born. I tried it again at home and everyone including my kid lapped it up. Such is the story of Green gram Pasayam.

Click here to view more Kheer Recipes.

Recipe Cuisine : South Indian | Recipe Category: Payasam

Preparation Time: 5 mins  | Cooking Time: 25 mins | Yields: 2 cups

Ingredients:

Whole Green Gram	¼ cup
Jaggery Syrup (click here for the recipe)	½ cup
Coconut Milk	½ cup
Ghee	1 tbsp
Cashew Nuts	5
Dry Grapes	10
Cardamom Pods	2

Procedure:

1. Wash and pressure cook the green gram with 1 cup of water for 3 whistles in medium flame or cook until it becomes soft and tender.

2. After pressure has gone, add jaggery syrup and crushed cardamom pods. Mix them well and cook for 3 mins.

3. Then add coconut milk and cook for 2 mins.

4. Meanwhile, heat the ghee in a pan, add cashew nuts and dry grapes. Sauté till they become golden color.

5. Pour this mixture into the green gram mixture. Mix them well and switch off the flame.

 6. Transfer it into serving bowl and serve it warm or chill.

       Yummy and healthy green gram payasam is ready !

Note:

1. Adjust the water consistency according to the payasam level.

2. Add boiled cold milk instead of coconut milk. But coconut milk gives rich taste.

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Idiyappam Bagala Bath / Thayir Santhagai / Curd String Hooper

     Idiyappam Variants are usually Lemon, Tomato and Coconut Milk. Curd Santhagai can also be another good variant just like Curd Semiya. This is quick to make one more variety for Idiyappam base.

Related Links:

1. Lemon Idiyappam 

2. Coconut Milk Idiyappam

Recipe Cuisine : South Indian | Recipe Category: Breakfast

Preparation Time: 5 mins  | Cooking Time: 2 mins | Yields: 3 cups

Ingredients:

Idiyappam (Click here for Homemade Santhagai Recipe)	2 cups
Curd	¾ - 1 cup
Milk	1/2 cup
Salt	To taste
To Grind:
Green Chilli	2
Ginger	1 inch
To Temper:
Coconut Oil	1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds	½ tsp
Urad Dal	½ tsp
Cashew Nuts (optional)	10
Curry Leaves	1 spring
Asafoetida / Hing	¼ tsp
Dry Grapes	2 tsbp
To Garnish:
Chopped Coriander Leaves	1 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Grind green chillies and ginger into a coarse paste without water. Keep it aside.

2. Add coconut oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and urad dal. Wait for popping.

3. Then add curry leaves and cashew nuts and sauté till they become golden color.

4. Add hing and sauté for a min.

5. Now add the ground paste (from 1) and fry till the raw smell goes off.

6. Finally add the dry grapes and fry till they become swollen . Allow it to cool down completely.

7. Then add this temper (from 6), milk and curd into the string hoopers. Mix them gently.

8. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Note:

1. Use any odorless oil instead of coconut oil.

2. Adjust the curd and milk level according to your taste.

3. Use any type of string Hooper.

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3 mins 3 ingredients Energy Balls

     This recipe procedure is very simple and fast grinding and mixing of the three ingredients - Peanut, Dates and Jaggery which can be done in 3 minutes. Mixing

of Peanuts and Dates makes it  very healthy and energetic. Peanut is a good low cost alternative for Badam. Kids do not have more than one or two dates at a time. This Energy Ladoo helps them have more.

Recipe Cuisine : Indian | Recipe Category: Sweets

Preparation Time: 1 ½  mins  | Cooking Time: 1 ½  mins | Yields: 12 (gooseberry size)

Ingredients:

Roasted De-skinned Peanuts / Ground nuts	½ cup
Deseeded and Chopped Dates	¼ cup
Grated Jaggery	2 tbsp
Cardamom Pods (optional)	2

Procedure:

1. Add peanuts, cardamom pods and dates in a dry mixie jar. Ground them into a coarse powder.

2. Then add the grated jaggery and again powder them into a little bit coarse powder.

3. Immediately transfer the powder into a plate or bowl.

4. Make gooseberry size balls from the powder.

    Healthy and yummy Dates Peanut Laddu is ready!!!

Note:

1. Make laddu immediately after transferring the mixie it into a plate. If you delay, the mix will get dry.

Related Links:

1. Peanut Laddu

2. Green Gram Laddu

3. Dates and Dry fruits Laddu

4. Poha Laddu

5. Coconut Laddu   

6. Rava Laddu

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Andhikkadai - Restaurant Review

1. About:

Andhikkadai is a pure vegetarian hotel at Dhandeeswaram, Velachery, Chennai. Near Dhandeeswaram Latha Super Market.

2. Specialty:

Recently I saw a Vijay TV Neeya Naana Program on a debate between Hotel owners and Chennai Public. There was a unanimous comment that Chennai restaurants are purposely costly, not innovative with new dishes and out of the reach of the normal middle class family. If I have to show one exception to this Chennai hotel trend I will immediately suggest Andhikkadai.

3. Arrangements:

Andhikkadai has a very simple yet passionately made arrangements. Check out this excellent elephant painting. Also its very neat and clean.

4. Food / Menu:

Apart from traditional south Indian dishes like Idli, dosai, poori etc., they also provide several special dish of the day which are very innovative like Kozhukattai, ammini kozhukattai, Butter veechu parota etc.,

 

5. Special Note:

You should definitely try their pulippu mittai. They have bell which you can ring as a "LIKE" while leaving.

6. Parking:
You have to park on the road sides just after Latha store. But there is ample space.

7. How to reach?

Dandeeshwaram Main Rd,

Dhandeeswaram, Velachery,

Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600042

Landmark: Latha Super Market Road

http://www.andhikadai.com/

Email: andhikkadai@gmail.com

Phone: +91 98402 43591

Note: This is not a paid review.

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