Whole wheat dosa ~ Govan pitta phanna poLo

Our mornings are incomplete without a proper breakfast.. cereals etc  never make it to our pantry as none of us actually enjoy it. We prefer  South Indian breakfasts at home. This dosa recipe was shared by my dear friend G. He is a total foodie and keeps sharing new recipes for me to try.  When he shared this recipe, I was surprised by how healthy and easy this was.. Back home, Amma always made a similar dosa but with Maida or plain flour. Immediately I tried this recipe and it was an instant hit. Apparently this is a common breakfast item in amchi Kochi homes and is called "Govan pitta phaNNa poLo ~ Seasoned atta dosas".
Here is what's needed:
1 cup whole wheat flour / Atta
2-3 tbsp of Rice flour (This was not in the original recipe. But I wanted to make it crispy hence added it)
2 tbsp grated coconut
2-3 green chillies
a pinch of cumin seeds
salt to taste
1 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped
To Season
1 tsp Oil, preferably coconut
1 tsp cumin seeds
a generous pinch of hing
salt to taste
Procedure:
1) Mix the flours together with  water until it is of pouring consistency.
2) Crush the grated coconut with green chilles and a little bit of cumin seeds with a pestle. Add this to the batter. Add salt to taste.
3) Prepare seasoning : Heat oil in a small pan, add cumin seeds. When they crackle , add in the curry leaves and hing. Pour this over the batter. Add in the chopped coriander leaves.
4) I used a hard anodized tava for this. I thin the batter to water consistency and make dosas like I do for rawa dosa.. Roast it well on all sides. Use ghee or oil and patiently wait until it crisps up beautifully. Serve hot with chutney of your choice.

Please note:
1) Addition of rice flour is completely optional. I do it so that the dosas turn out crispy.

Davangere Benne dose ~ Butter Dosa

I am back to blogging after a long break of almost a year. In between a lot of changes happened and now we are well settled in a new place and loving it.This is an old draft that I am posting.

Our breakfast usually has some dosa most of the time and sometimes the variety of upma or poha. My little boy loves most of the dosas and will happily eat breakfast if dosa is on the menu. He cannot eat very early in the morning during school days with an exception if it is dosa. To make sure he gets his breakfast quota with a glass of milk I make dosas most of the time. Hence I am in constant search for new dosa recipes. One day my hubby causally suggested that I should look for Davangere Benne dose which was his favourite during his college days. The internet world opened up a lot of recipes and I picked one among them. I wish I had saved the link to credit the source. I tried looking up for this recipe again but did not get it. This is an old draft that I am posting hence I have lost the source.Sorry!! This Dosa tasted really good so I had saved it on my phone. Glad that I could get this and share it here. I am not sure if this is authentic recipe for benne dose but we loved it.

Here is What's needed:

2 cups Idli rice/Dosa rice
1/2 cup Urad dal
1/4 tsp methi seeds
1 cup thick Poha
Salt and Sugar to taste
2 tbsp Maida/All purpose flour
Baking Soda a pinch

Procedure:

1) Soak rice, urad dal and methi seeds for 4 hours.
2) Soak thick poha seperately for 15 mins.
3) Grind the batter with soaked dal and poha together to smooth batter.
4) Let the batter ferment in a warm place overnight.
5) Next day morning mix 2 tbsp Maida/All Purpose flour and baking soda with little water to smooth paste and mix it into the fermented batter. Add salt and sugar to taste. Leave for 10 mins and then make thick dosa on hot griddle. Roast one both the sides until golden brown. Add a dollop of butter and Serve hot with Potato curry and spicy chutney.

Instant Shevai ~ Instant Rice noodles

Shevai or rice noodles is one of the most common breakfast in GSB household.

It seems in earlier days when guests used to stay longer than hosts expected to shevai was prepared. Since shevai is made by pressing into the the maker and pushing it out guests were also given a hint that it was time for them to push themselves out. We still laugh on this when we make shevai at home.

Normally shevai is made by soaking rice and then grinding it along with freshly grated coconut. The mixture is then stirred continuously on medium flame until it turns into solid mass until it is non sticky. I will share the traditional recipe next time. Here is an instant version of Shevai that my sister-in-law's mom shared with us. She is an excellent cook who loves to try a variety of dishes and always has something new to share. This version of shevai does not call for soaking rice or grated coconut.

Here is what's needed:

2 measure Rice Rava (Readily available in stores also known as idli rava)

21/2 measure water(Ratio of 1:11/4 - rice rava:water)

salt to taste

Procedure:

1) Mix all the ingredients in a thick bottomed kadhai or vessel. Keep on medium flame and keep stirring continuously it thickens. To check if it is done dip your finger into cool water and touch the mixture. If it does not stick to your hand then it is ready. Switch off.

2) When hot make balls of the size of an orange and steam it. Once done fork inserted should come out clean.

3) Add 1 or 2 balls (as per the capacity of your shevai press) and press onto a clean plate. Transfer to a bigger tray lined with wet clean muslin cloth. This is to prevent the shevai from drying up. Repeat until all the balls are used up.

Serving suggestions:

1) Shevai can be served with pickle and coconut oil. (I used tender jackfruit pickle in the picture above and coconut oil).

2) Kids love powdered shevai ( slightly crush using your hands) with ghee and sugar.

3) It can also be served with daLithoy.

4) Goes well with Potato song or any spicy side dish.

5) Upma can be made with leftover shevai.

Dosa ~ Mushti PoLo

Dosa's are the most common breakfast item in our kitchen. I love making dosa's as most of the preparations can be made the previous day. This is one of our fav dosa. We normally serve this dosa with chutney but on makar sankranthi day we make it with sweet khichidi.

These dosa's are generally made thicker than other dosa's and it is actually roasted on one side. But at my place we like it a little thin and roasted on both the sides. These are soft and fluffy dosas.

Mushti PoLo uses measurement according to our fist size hence the name Mushti ( which means fist in Konkani) PoLo (Dosa in konkani).

Here is what's needed:

1 measure Dosa rice

1 fistful Urad Dal

2 fistful Poha (Beaten rice)/Puffed Rice ( You can use either of them)

1 tsp Methi(Fenugreek seeds)

2 tsp Sugar

a pinch of Baking soda

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1) Soak rice + dal + methi seeds for 4-6 hours.

2) Wash poha/puffed rice. Grind soaked rice + dal + poha/puffed rice. Let it ferment overnight.

3) Next day add sugar, salt and baking soda. Mix well.

4) Heat a griddle. Add 1/2 tsp oil. Spread the batter in circular motion. Let the dosa be a little thick. Cover and cook on medium flame until the dosa is cooked. You can flip the dosa and cook the other side if desired.

Serve hot with chutney or khichidi.

Plain Dosa/ Paper Dosa

Thank you dear friends for your wonderful wishes and blessings to the little boy. Time surely flies by and very soon li'l munchkin will be two months old. I am enjoying my time with the little one.

I have been trying to get back to cooking ( and blogging), but being at my mother's place there is hardly any need to do so. I have been enjoying her cooking and when time permits I experiment.

Here is one of my favourite breakfast item "Plain dosa or Paper dosa". I love crispy thin dosa's than the thick ones. This dosa must be relished hot and crispy as it loses its texture when cooled. I use my Futura Tawa for this dosa as I can spread them big and thin with little oil. I have been a big fan of this Tawa and have been using it for almost 2 years now. This is similar to the Urad-Rice dosa but the Urad propertion is less than normally used.

Here is what's needed:
4 cups rice
1 cup Urad dal
1/4 tsp Methi seeds
Salt and Sugar to taste

Procedure:
1) Soak rice, Urad Dal and methi seeds for 6-8 hours and grind to a smooth paste with suffecient water. Add salt and let it ferment overnight.
2) Next day mix it well and add sugar to taste. You may add little water if the batter is too thick.
3) Heat a tawa.
4) Spread a ladle full of batter in circular motion until it forms a uniform circle. Roast it with little oil/ghee in medium flame.
5) (Optional)When it turns to slightly golden colour flip it over and roast the other side for few seconds.
6) Repeat 4 and 5 until all batter is used up.

Note: Always sprinkle water over the tawa before spreading batter again to bring down the temperature of tawa. If the tawa is too hot you will not be able to spread it well as the batter gets cooked fast and will stick to ladle.

Serve hot with Chutney and sambar.

You may also fold it like you would do for masala dosa to make it paper dosa and serve it with a dollop of butter on top.

Hot Cross Buns...

The buns that I am mentioning is not the plural form of bun but a very famous breakfast item that can be found in most of the homes and restaurants in Mangalore. This is basically a deep fried Indian bread that is usually served with either chutney or dalithoy. At our place we usually have it without any side dishes. As kids we used to dunk it in hot coffee and eat :) I know its a little wierd.

This is slightly sweet due to the addition of banana and sugar If you are not fond of the sweetness you may serve it with some spicy coriander leaves chutney or any other chutney of your choice.

Here is what's needed:

2 cups Maida (All purpose flour)

1 cup Atta (Whole wheat flour)

1 pinch Baking soda

2 medium sized Ripe banana

1/2 cup Curds

1/2 cup Sugar

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tbsp oil + extra to deep fry

Procedure:

1) Mix sugar and curds and let it sit for 10-15 mins.

2) Add mashed banana,cumin seeds to the sugar - curd mixture and mix well.

3) Sieve the flours and soda. Add it to the mixture and knead it. It will be a sticky mixture. Resist the urge to add more water or curds. The liquid from curds and banana is sufficient to knead the dough.

4) Heat a tbsp of oil until hot and pour it over the dough and let it rest overnight or at least 8-10 hrs.

5) Knead the dough again incorporating the oil. Make small balls and roll it using a rolling pin. The rolled out disc should be slight thick.

6) Deep fry in hot oil and drain it on a tissue paper.

Serve hot.

P.S: Often the top of the Buns tend to crack up in oil causing oil to splutter a little. So make sure that you are careful when you flip the Buns in oil.

Murmura Upma

After a long gap it feels great to be back to the place I belong to.. to my very own Food blog.. I have decided not to take any more breaks and be active here. I have learnt a lot of recipes during my stay back here and wish to share them all with you. For now it is simple Murmura upma that can be fixed in jiffy. I learnt this from a very good friend of mine in Shanghai, Swapna. This can be a breakfast item or a quick evening snack.
Ingredients:
4 cups Murmura
1 medium sized Onion chopped
2 green Chillies slit
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
Oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves chopped finely for garnishing
Procedure:
1) Keep the murmura in a big vessel. Heat a kadhai with little oil. Add mustard seeds. When they splutter add in the onions and fry until done. Add turmeric powder and salt.
2) Pour little water over the murmura and squeeze it all and add the Murmura quickly. Make sure not to add too much water as it will make the murmura soggy. Mix well. Garnish with corriander leaves and serve hot.

Left Over magic ~ Idli usli and Photos :)

After almost a month I am back to blogging.. This break was not intended but was busy with quite a few things and could not blog for a while. Here are few pics of the Lupu Bridge. We had been there on our anniversary :) These were long due.

The magnifiecient Lupu Bridge. For more info click here

367 steps all the way up :)

Us at the top of the world's longest arch bridge.

The HuangPu River ~ View from the top.

Coming back to today's post it is simple recipe to use up leftover idli. Idli is the most common breakfast item at our place. Though I am not very fond of idli I love its variations. This is one of the simplest way of using it up.

What's needed:

10-12 Idli's

2-3 green Chilli's slit

3-4 Curry leaves

a pinch of Asafoetida/Hing

Salt and Sugar to taste

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds

few Urad Dal

Oil

2 tbsp grated Coconut to garnish

Procedure:

1) Finely crush the idli's with hand to resemble rava. Mix salt and sugar.

2) Heat oil. Add in the mustard seeds. When they splutter add the urad dal and curry leaves and fry until urad dal turns pinkish. Add green chilli's,hing and fry for a min.

3) Add the idli and mix well so that it is uniformly distributed.

4) Garnish with grated coconut and serve hot.

On another note, I have recieved a lot of awards from my dear friend Aparna. Thank you dear. I have added them in my side bar. This is for all my dear friends who support me with kind comments and suggestions :) Thank you everyone.

Chow Chow Bhath

Chow Chow bhath is a famous Kannadiga breakfast. It is actually a combination of khara bhath and kesari bhath. Kesari Bhath in Bangalore is actually made out of rava and not out of rice as in Mangalore. After Idli sambar this is the most popular combi breakfast in Bangalore. I made Pineapple sheera for Ugadi. The next morning being a weekend I was too lazy to make something elaborate so made upma and served it with sheera to make it look special :D

Pineapple sheera is also known as pineapple pudding in Mangalore. This is one of my fav sweet. I have always had this at weddings but it would be dripping with ghee. When I made this at home I reduced the amount of ghee but still it came out very tasty. I forgot to add cashews and raisins this time but it tastes definitely better if added.

 

Here is how I made Pineapple sheera:

1 cup Semolina/Sooji

2 tbsp Ghee

1/2 cup chopped Pineapple

1 cup Sugar ( reduce depending on the sweetness of the sugar or taste)

2 cups water

1/2 tsp Pineapple essence

1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder

saffron strands 6-7 or yellow food colour

Cashews and Raisins to garnish

1) Heat a tbsp of ghee and fry cashews till golden brown. Remove it and add raisins to the same and fry until it turns fluffy. Remove it and keep it aside. microwave or boil the pineapple until soft.

2) Heat the remaining ghee in the same pan and fry until rava turns golden. Add 2 cups of boiled water to it and mix well. Make sure that there are no lumps. 

3) Keep stirring once the mixture turns dry add in the sugar and boiled pineapple pieces. Add

Kesar mixed in warm milk or yellow food colour and pineapple essence. Cook until dry and add in the cashews and raisins along with cardamom powder. Serve hot.

Upma: Upma is one of those breakfast items that I am not very fond of. I make it once in a while as it happens to be my hubby's fav. I cannot have plain upma. I like the one with veggies or with onion and tomato. I made this simple version of upma with tomato and onions.

What's needed:

1 cup Rava/Semolina

2 cups Water

1 medium onion and tomato chopped

2 Green chilli's sliced

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/4 tsp Urad dal

Salt to taste

Oil

Coriander leaves chopped for garnishing

Procedure:

1) Dry roast rava until slightly golden and aromatic.

2) Heat oil and add in mustard seeds. When they splutter add in the urad dal and fry until pink.  Add green chillis fry for a min.Add in the onions and fry until golden.

3) Add chopped tomato and cook until soft. Add turmeric powder and rava. Mix well and add in boiling water and salt to taste. Cook until dry.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot!

Poori Saagu -2

Poori saagu is a an all time favourite at our place. Though I had tasted this many times in Bangalore I had never made it on my own. Last year I had got the recipe from Asha's Blog. The other day whle I was just blog hopping I landed at Supriya's blog and saw her version of Poori Saagu. The picture of the dish was mouth watering and instantly I decided that I was going to make this for breakfast :D. I have made some changes in the recipe. Both the recipe's are keepers and do try them if you love saagu. They taste great with puri and also with Phulka or chapathi. Here is the recipe that I followed.

What's needed:

1-1/2 cups chopped vegetables (green beans, carrots, potatoes, cauliflower and peas)

1 medium Onion chopped 

1 medium ripe Tomato chopped

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tbsp Oil

5-6 Curry leaves (I left out as I did not have it)

a pinch of Asafoetida

Coriander leaves for garnish (I grinded it)

Salt to taste

To grind together:

1 tsp Cumin seeds

2 tsp Coriander seeds ( I used 1 tsp)

¾ cup grated coconut

2 tsp poppy seeds (I did not have so used 1 tbsp of cashews soaked for 5 mins in warm water)

2 Tbsp whole split peas (hurgadle, putani)

5-6 green chillies

3 garlic pods

small piece of Tamarind

Salt to taste

In addition to this I used:

a small piece of Cinnamon, Star anise, 2 Cloves ,4 Peppercorns and small bunch of Coriander leaves.

Method:

1) Grind all the ingredients under "To grind together"  with suffecient water to a smooth paste.

2) Pressure cook or microwave the vegetables with little salt until done. 

3) Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds. When they splutter add the curry leaves, asafoetida and chopped onions. Sauté the onion till transparent. Add in the chopped tomato and cook until mushy.

4) Add the ground masala and fry until the raw smell goes off. Add the boiled vegetables and salt to taste. Add water to bring it to desired consistency. Give it a rolling boil and switch off.

Serve hot with Puri or phulka's.

Akki Rotti

During the final semester of my Bachelor degree, I along with my best friend, Harusha were in Bangalore for our project work. We were lucky enough to stay with Harusha's grandparent's. We never missed home and were given a lot of love and attention by her grandparents and cousins. During those days I got to taste a number of Bangalore dishes and Akki rotti was one among them. I first had them for lunch at a Darshini (Vegetarian Fast Food center in Bangalore). It was right hot out of tava served on banana leaf with chutney. This was not the regular item at our place and I loved its taste. Once back to my own place I forgot completely about it. Until few days back when my friend Smitha reminded me. I was quite hesitant to try it as I was not sure about the consistency of the batter and also the style of making it. One day, when I was at her place she made this and both of us were hooked on to it. I noted her recipe and from then on this has been a regular item for lazy weekend breakfast. It is quick and tastes delicious too. 

Here is what's needed:

1 cup Rice flour

1/2 cup grated Coconut

1 medium Onion finely chopped

1 tsp Jeera

2 Green chilli's chopped

few strands of coriander leaves finely chopped

salt to taste

Procedure:

1) Mix all the ingredients well. Add water and mix well. The dough should not be like regular dosa dough. But is little softer than chapathi dough.

2) Heat a tawa. Take small amount of dough and pat it on either greased plastic sheet or aluminum foil. Transfer this on to the tawa. Fry on medium on both the sides by applying little oil.

Serve hot with chutney or pickles. I still need to work on patting them still thinner. 

The version with grated carrots or dill leaves too taste great.

Keerlayile Mooga Usli

I have always loved legumes more then veggies..I love them in their simplest form such as saarupkari which does not need any fancy ingredients.. and occasional indulgence in coconut based dishes. We amchi's eat a lot of coconut based dishes. We do add a little bit of freshly grated coconut to anything and everything! I am not very fond of coconut but when I make coconut based dishes I make sure to make them with the amount of coconut required than skimping on it! These days we have cut down our intake in terms of coconut and decided to stick to keeping it to minimum.

When we first came here, I was disappointed that the Indian stores did not have the variety of legumes that we eat back home. I found only moong,Rajma,Chickpeas both variety. I miss horse gram, whole toor, White beans a lot. Back home I used to cook with beans and veggies alternatively. However, we do get excellent green moong and Rajma in local markets along with soybean.

This is a simple yet healthy breakfast which we make regularly. 

Here is what's needed:

1 cup sprouted Moong (green gram)

2 green chilli's slit

a small piece of Ginger chopped fine

a pinch of Hing/Asafoetida

a very small piece of Jaggery (Optional)

Salt to taste

oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

Procedure:

1) Heat oil. Add in mustard seeds, when they splutter add in the green chilli & sprouts.(You need not remove the skin. I had removed them to make this dish. But then realized that the qty was too much so reserved it. However, I have noticed that most of the times, the skin tends to float in water when being cooked. In such cases I just remove them and discard)

2) Add suffecient water, salt, chopped ginger and jaggery if using.

3) When it is 3/4 th done add the hing and mix well. Cook covered until done on medium flame.

When done the moong should be able to hold its shape and yet be cooked. You can garnish this with grated coconut to enhance its taste. Serve hot.

It can be served for breakfast or as a side dish with rice. We had this for breakfast with banana milkshake. Usually this is combined with Poha but we love to have it as it is.

P.S: In place of the moong you can even use moong dal. 

Update: I am sending this over to Srivalli who is hosting My Legume Love Affair, Seventh helping which is the brain child of Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook. Thank you Srivalli, Susan for this event. Thank you Asha, Namrata for reminding me to send this across.

A Healthy beginning ~ Mooga Daali Usli/Bette

Another year passed... leaving behind its wonderful memories.. 2008 was a special year for me. I quit my job, travelled places, pursued my hobbies,tried new cuisines, spent quality time with my hubby, created my blog and in the process new friends .. All said it was a wonderful year with very few mishaps.. The year flew by in rapid speed and without us realising we were ready to welcome 2009. We celebrated with friend's, Watched the Fire crackers show when the countdown ended, wished all our loved one's and missed them. Hope the year ahead will be wonderful and peaceful.

On the blogging front, I have been "Missing in Action". First started with New year cleaning.. Well if you have not heard of New year cleaning then this is a new one! Then it was bidding good bye to a dear friend of mine who shifted to Pune for good. This did not mean that I did not cook. I did, but was not able to click pics.

I have been thinking of blogging about the places that we have visited in China this year as a record. Let me know what you think about it.

Starting this year's cooking post with a healthy breakfast/dinner item "Moogadaali Usli/Bette". This is very much similar to Pongal with minor changes. Moong Dal is rich in protein and easily digestible. This is comfort food for us and can be fixed easily with no much fuss! 

Here is what's needed:

1 cup Moong Dal

1/4 cup Basmati Rice

1 tsp Mustard seeds

5-6 Curry leaves

1/2 tsp Jeera

2-3 green Chilly - slit

a small piece of Ginger finely chopped

2-3 crushed black pepper

Oil

Salt to taste

2 tbsp grated Coconut grated

Water 3-1/2 cup

Procedure:

1) Heat Oil. Add mustard seeds, when they splutter add jeera and sauté till golden. Add curry leaves, crushed pepper, slit green chillies and sauté for few seconds. 

2) Add water and bring it to a good boil.

3) Add washed moong dal and washed rice. Add salt to taste and ginger pieces. Cook on medium flame until done. (i.e The dal is fully cooked but still holds it's shape. If it is not cooked you can add little hot water and let it cook). 

4) Garnish with grated coconut and serve hot.

Harini is hosting FIC-Yellow at her blog, this is my first entry to this event. For more details visit her blog. Harini, This is for you :)

Maggi ~ Weekend breakfast

Saturday's always have a strange effect on me. I get super lazy to get up and make something for breakfast. Today morning hubby decided that he would make Maggi for breakfast. 

I was introduced to maggi in my school days. We used to have competitions in school sponsored by Maggi and all the participants would get a packet of maggi! Back then my brother used to make it and only I and he ate. My amma has never tasted maggi (though she does enjoy Pizza's, noodles are something that she has never tasted!). Dad too is not very fond of maggi but if I  do make Indo-Chinese noodles then he does have it with us. My aunt used to make this with lots of veggies. But when my cousins tasted plain maggi at our place they too stopped eating it with veggies! Growing up,We loved the taste of the veggies in maggi and started adding them in our noodles and our aunt always blamed us for teaching our cousin's to eat without veggies :P 

We have a lot of versions of making maggi and it is always made with veggies. Today I was out of stock and had only Onion and frozen green peas. 

This is how he made it:

2 packets of maggi (95 gm each) with its taste maker

1 medium Onion sliced

1/4 cup thawed green peas

1 tsp Kitchen King masala or more depending on your taste

Salt to taste

Olive Oil

Water 500 ml

Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Procedure:

1) Boil water in a vessel. In the mean time, heat Oil and add sliced Onions. Fry until golden brown.

2) Add Kitchen king masala powder and green peas and fry for a min.

3) Pour the water and add in the noodles. When half done add the taste makers and check with the salt. If you prefer a little spicy you may add a little bit of Chilli powder.

4) When completely done dress with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot!

P.S: Adding a small Tomato enhances the taste even further. I also stir fry Capsicum that gives it a nice crunch. Do feel free to add any veggies of your choice. 

Update: PJ wants to now "who's gonna cook for me"??. I say hubby!! If you have someone who can cook for you. Please do send the recipes with pics over to PG..More details at her blog.

Dosa

When I started cooking, I was comfortable with preparing lunch/dinner, but what I feared the most was making breakfast. I was skeptical about soaking the dal's,rice and grinding it to smooth paste,fermenting them. 

As a kid I used to think that making Dosa, idli etc was a very complex thing! Though amma used to always say that she used to enjoy making dosa as it would save her time the next morning! Now I am following her.. I prefer making dosa,idli for breakfast as I do not have to worry in the morning after waking up and think!!

This is one such simple dosa that I have been making every now and then. It is simple and I get the same crispy dosa everytime.

Here is what's needed:

1 cup Urad Dal

2 cups Rice (I used Idli rice as this is the only one available. You can use Sona masuri/Ponni rice too)

1/2 tsp Methi seeds

2-3 tbsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1) Wash rice and dal well and soak them along with methi for 3-4 hours. Grind it to smooth paste with water (Add only required qty of water). Let it ferment Overnight.( I had baked some cookies that night so kept the batter in oven to ferment.)

2) Next day morning, Add Sugar and salt. (Sugar gives a very nice taste to Dosa along with colour). Mix well. Add water if the batter is too thick. Mix well.

3) Heat a tawa, Spread a ladle full of batter in circular motion until it forms a uniform circle. Roast it with little oil in medium flame. When it turns to slightly golden colour flip it over and roast the other side for few seconds. Serve hot with Chutney.

I made "Hinga Chutney" with this Dosa.

For Chutney:

3/4 cup grated Coconut

2-3 fried red chilli

small piece of Tamarind

a generous pinch of hing(Asafoetida)

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds

4-5 curry leaves

Procedure:

1) I use the sticky variety of hing. So I heat little oil and put the hing in oil until it fluffs up. Remove it and let it cool.

2) Grind grated coconut + red chilli's+ Tamarind + Salt and little water until it becomes a smooth paste. In the last round of grinding I add the hing and grind it for few more secs.

3) Transfer the chutney to a serving bowl. Heat Oil, Add mustard seeds when they splutter add curry leaves and switch it off. If using hing powder then it is better to add hing directly to the seasoning. Pour the seasoning over the Chutney. Mix well before serving.

Rava Dosa ~ Resturant Style!!!

Rava Dosa is my hubby's all time fav. Actually it runs in our family (My dad and FIL both love this dosa) and it is the most ordered item whenever we went to restaurants. I always wanted to learn the art of making crispy thin rava dosa at home. But I failed. In search of perfect recipe, I reached Asha's Aroma, The one place where you can get tried and tested recipes which give perfect results everytime. I left a comment on her dosa and was set out to try it. I was surprised when she left a comment suggesting me to try the recipe from Vahchef Sunjay Thumma. The recipe was perfect and we got golden crispy dosa's, The melt in the mouth kind. Thank you Asha for giving us a tried and tested recipe. Thanks to Vahchef too for posting this video on Youtube. Please check the video for exact way to pour the batter.

I used:

1 cup Semolina

1 cup Rice flour

1/2 cup All  Purpose flour

2 green Chillies,small peice of Ginger & few Coriander leaves finely chopped

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1) Mix all the ingredients with suffecient water to achieve Buttermilk like consistency. 

2) Heat a non-stick tava, and sprinkle the batter. It forms a nice lace like pattern. Do not bother to fill them completely.

3) Sprinkle oil and roast it on medium heat until lightly golden. 

Serve hot with chutney of your choice!

Theek Rotti ~ Spicy Puri

Sunday breakfast at home was always special at home. Amma would make something different than the regular breakfast items. Sunday was reserved for Puri - Kurma/Bhaji, Shevai, Pulav Masala Dosa..etc. Anything other than the normal fare. One such item was this Theek Puri. This is easy to make and can be fixed within minutes and it also does not need any side dishes to go with it. It is also perfect for evening snack with a hot cup of Coffee/Tea.

Here is what's needed:

Wheat flour

1 tsp Chilli powder ( adjust as per taste)

2 tsp Rava/Semolina

1 tsp Asafoetida water/a pinch 

Salt to taste

For Seasoning:

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/4 tsp Urad dal

5-6 Curry leaves torn into bits

Water to knead the dough

Oil for deep frying

Procedure:

1) Prepare seasoning by heating little oil. Add in Mustard seeds when they crackle add in Urad dal and fry until pink. Add the Curry leaves switch off.

2) Take some warm water in a bowl to knead the dough. Add Salt. Pour the seasoning into it. Add Chilli powder,Semolina and Asafoetida. Mix well.

3) Add Wheat flour as needed and knead it into smooth dough. It should be harder than the Chapathi dough.  

4) Make small balls from the dough and roll it into Puri's. Fry the Puri's in hot oil. Serve hot.

Birthday Dinner recipes

Potato Bhaji: Poori - Bhaji a very famous combi breakfast from South India. Poori Bhaji, Poori kurma were always special treats, reserved for special occasions or holidays. Amma would make hot puffed Pooris that we would dunk either in kurma or with bhaji and eat with utmost satisfaction.
Now Poori's make very rare appearance in our kitchen. Phulkas have taken its place instead. But I guess it is not wrong to indulge once in a while right? So that's what we did on hubby's birthday. We indulged in all the dishes that did not make its appearance in our kitchen for quite some time. We also had our friends over for dinner that made the perfect occasion.. more the merrier.
This is my mom's recipe which uses more onion and less Potato.
Here is what's needed:
2 medium sized Potato's boiled and cubed
3 medium sized Onion chopped
3-4 green chilli's slit lengthwise(+/- according to your taste)
5-6 Curry leaves
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Urad Dal (split black gram)
1/4 tsp Chana Dal (Optional)
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

Grated Coconut(Optional) and chopped Coriander leaves to garnish
Salt to taste
Oil
Procedure:
1) Heat Oil. Add in Mustard seeds when they crackle add the Urad dal fry until pink and then add Chana dal fry for a while. Add Green chilli's and fry until its colour changes and finally add Curry leaves.
2)Add chopped Onions to the seasoning with little salt and fry until translucent. Add Turmeric powder and fry for a min. Add 1/4 cup water and cook covered until it 1/2 of the water is absorbed.
3)Add in the cubed potato's and mix well. Add salt to taste and mix well. Cook until semi-dry and garnish with coriander leaves and grated coconut.
Serve hot with Poori's.

Taushe - Rulanva Bhakri

What to prepare for breakfast is the biggest question that bugs me everytime. Before I even complete having the breakfast of that day I start wondering what to make the next day. Considering that we both are not very fond of cereals fixing breakfast is like a challenge to me. I am always in constant search of easy to make and healthy breakast items. One such is this. This is made of Semolina and can be made within minutes. The traditional recipe as amma makes requires banana. But when i decided making this I did not have it so replaced banana with Cucumber and it did taste great. 

It does not need any side dish as it tastes good on its own (more reasons to indulge).

Here is what's needed:

1 medium cucumber grated ( make sure that cucumber is not bitter and does not have seeds formed)

2 cups semolina

Coarse Grind:

2 tbsp grated coconut

2 green chilli's

small piece of ginger

salt and sugar to taste

Oil/Ghee to shallow fry

Procedure:

1) Make coarse paste of ingredients mentioned under coarse grind using mixie or mortar and pestle.

2) Add this to semolina (no need to fry it before hand). Add suffecient water. Do not make the batter watery. It shud be thick batter with just enough water to mix the ingredients well.

3) Add salt and sugar to taste. Let it sit for 10-15 mins. Semolina absorbs water so add if you feel its too dry.

4)  Heat a tawa. Take little batter and pour on tawa. Wet your hands and spread the batter until it becomes slightly thinner and round. Pour little oil from sides and on top. When the colour at the top changes slightly and it does not have sticky batter at the top flip it. Let it sit for a min. Flip over and check if it is done. If not leave for some more time

5) Serve hot.

Variations: If using ripe banana mash it properly and then add rava to it. Continue further as per the recipe. Easy way to use up the over ripe banana's.

Friday Breakfast - Chane upkari & Phovu

Amma was a working woman. This meant that the cooking for whole day had to be completed by ten in the morning. Inspite of this she had time to make a balanced breakfast and lunch that usually consisted of two sides and some times three as well. Coming to think of it now I really wonder as I find it difficult to fix up even one complete meal for two! We had kind of fixed menu on weekdays like dosa, upma once in two weeks, Chapathi( Yes we did have chapathi's for breakfast and not for lunch).. Fridays it was always some thing to do with Chana. I still do not know the connection between fridays and chana. Either we would have chane upkari(Stir-fry) for breakfast or chane Ghashi (Boiled chana in coconut gravy) for lunch and Kulithu(Horse gram) was made usually on saturday's. I was just thinking about Amma's chane upkari the other day and then I remembered that it had been ages since I made it. Surpisingly, the next day was friday and we had phovu and Chane upkari for Breakfast. Chane Upkari can be made in two styles if making for breakfast usually it is made slightly sweeter and if making for Lunch its made spicier. We had it for breakfast so it was a blend of sweet and spice.

What's needed:

1 Cup Black or white chana soaked overnight and boiled 

3-4 tbsp Grated coconut

1 small lemon sized Jaggery

A big pinch of Asafoetida(Hing) or 2 tsp hing water

1 small Potato or equal sized Sweet Potato boiled 

1 Green chilli's slit

Salt to taste

For seasoning:

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

6-8 Curry leaves

1 Red Chilli torn apart

Oil

Procedure:

1) Pressure cook chana until done (Usually takes 4 whistles and then simmer for ten minutes and then switch off. If the Chana is old then it takes more time to cook).

2) Remove excess water retaining a little to boil potato or sweet potato. Do not throw this water it can be used to make Saaru.

3) Add cubed potato/Sweet Potato,Green chilli's slit and cook until the Potato's are done. Add salt,hing and jaggery and bring it to boil. Add little water if needed.

4) Sprinkle grated coconut and mix until done. Switch off the gas.

5) Prepare seasoning by heating oil and adding mustard seeds. When they splutter add red chilli and curry leaves. Pour this seasoning over the Chana and mix well. Serve hot with Phovu.

Variation: If you do not want to add either Potato or sweet Potato you can completely skip this. Instead just mix a little besan say 1 tbsp with water and add this while adding green chilli's (Step 3). Proceed accordingly as per the recipe. If preparing this dish for lunch Raw banana can be used instead of Potato/Sweet Potato. Reduce the amount of jaggery if needed and increase the chilli's for spicyness.

P.S: The Water retained from Chana can be boiled well with green chilli with salt and small piece of jaggery to taste. Prepare seasoning by heating oil and adding few crushed garlic. Fry until golden and then add torn red chilli. Pour this over the Saaru. Serve hot with rice.