Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Adai Dosa





Adai Dosa

Ingredients

  1. Rice– 4 cups
  2. Red gram/Toor dal/Togri Bele - 2 cup
  3. Bengal gram dal/Kadle Bele/Channa dal – 1 cup
  4. Moong dal/Heasru Bele/Green gram dal – 1 cup
  5. Urad dal/Black gram dal?Uddina Bele – 3 Tbsp
  6. Ginger – One inch
  7. Red chillies – 2
  8. Green Chillies -2
  9. Grated coconut (Optional) – ¼ cup
  10. Cilantro (Optional)- ¼ of a bunch
  11. Salt to taste
  12. Water as required for frinding the batter
  13. Oil as required for making the dosas.

Method

  1. Soak rice and dals ( 1 thru 5) separately overnight in water.
  2. Grind the dals and rice separately to a batter of coarse consistency (Like Idli batter) by adding water as required. Add salt to the batter to taste.
  3. Grind ingredients 6 thru 10 with water separately and add it to the batter. This is optional. You can just add salt to the batter and make the dosas and omit adding this.
  4. This batter does not have to be fermented and can be made into dosas immediately.
  5. Before making the dosas add some more water to the batter so that it is not too thick or watery. Should be in-between.
  6. Heat the dosa tava/gridle on medium flame.
  7. Take the batter in a ladle and pour it on the tava and spread the batter with the back of the ladle starting from the middle going outwards in circles. The dosas do not have to be too thin as you really cannot spread the batter too much.
  8. Then take 1.5 tsp of oil and put it along the edge of the dosa and in the middle. Let is cook for 2-3minutes. The edges will start becoming glen brown and it is time to flip the dosa.
  9. Cook the dosa on the other side and crispy delicious Adai are ready to be served.

Tip: If you have batter reaming and it becomes sour after couple of days. You can chop onions and add it to the batter and make the adai. Also this is a modified version of the adai that my mom makes. The one she makes back home is the original adai and it is made thick and crispy and just eating one aid will make you full. You can also add grated Carrots, finely chop mint leaves and onions to the addi dosai. When you spread the batter, spread this veg mixture on the dosa and cover with a lid. Then flip the dosa and cook the underside.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Stuffed Bhindi/Okra





































































It was raining last evening after I came home from work and the damp weather kind of put me in a mood to cook something warm, crispy and spicy and at the same time I did not want to make something healthy and avoid any deep fried dish. . I opened the fridge and saw the Okras and decided to make some crispy stuffed Okras and some Tomato Rasam/Saaru. So I whipped up the ingredients for both the dishes and had them ready for dinner by about 7:30 PM. We enjoyed our delicious dinner watching the monsoon/autumn rain. It was just wonderful! Here is the recipe for both the dishes. Please try it out and post your feedback/opinion on the blog.


Crispy stuffed Bhindi/Okra /Bendekayi


Ingredients


  1. Bhindi/Okra – 25 Nos,
  2. Besan flour/Kadle hittu - 1 cup
  3. Red Chili powder – 2Tbsp
  4. Amchur Powder – 3 Tbsp
  5. Jeera powder – 1Tbsp
  6. Shania/coriander powder – 1tsp
  7. MDH Tava fry masala or any Garam masala – 2 Tbsp
  8. A pinch of Haldi/Turmeric powder
  9. Sugar (Optional)–A pinch
  10. Salt to taste
  11. Water as required
  12. Oil – 5- 6 Tbsp

For seasoning

  1. Mustard - 1 tsp
  2. A pinch of hing


Method

  1. Wash the whole Okra and pat them dry in a towel.
  2. Mix ingredients 1 thru 10 by adding water little by little to form a thick paste.
  3. Slit the Okras in the middle starting little away from the head thru the end.
  4. Use a small spreading knife to take out the stuffing and fill the slit Okras (See Picture)
  5. Take a large frying pan/Tava. Put 4-5 Tbsp oil and shake the tava to spread the oil.
  6. Add mustard and hing and let the mustard sputter on low heat.
  7. Put the Okra in the pan one by one and cook on low to medium heat. You can close the lid and from time to time you can sprinkle little bit of water so that the Okra and the stuffing inside gets nicely steam cooked.
  8. The Okras are cooked when they turn golden brown all sides.
  9. It takes about 20 -25 minutes.
  10. Enjoy the yummy crispy stuffed Okras
  11. Turn off the stove and delicious huli avalakki is ready.



Tip: You can use a non-stick tava or a thick bottomed pan. If you do not like the dryness of this stuffed okra dish you can sauté onion and tomatoes in a little bit of oil and add it to the stuffed Okra. This goes very well with rotis/Chappatis.

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Ragi Dosa





Ragi Dosa


I call it the power dosa as it is packed with nutrients and proteins.- Ragi and wheat flour. My kids typically love any kind of dosa and this one is especially very easy to prepare.

Ingredients

  1. Ragi flour – 2cups
  2. Rava (Coarse/Upittu Rave) – 2 cups
  3. Rice flour/Akki hittu- 3/4 cup
  4. Wheat flour/godi hittu – 3/4 cup
  5. Medium sized onion (Optional) - 2
  6. Salt to taste
  7. Cumin/Jirige powder – 1 Tsp
  8. Pepper Powder - 2 Tsp
  9. Green chilies (optional) – 4 or 5 ( I added Banana peppers)
  10. Cliantro/Kotmbri soppu - ¼ of a bunch
  11. Water as required
  12. Oil as required for making the dosas.

Method

  1. Mix all the dry flours (from 1- 3) in a big bowl.
  2. Add about 2-3 cups water to the flour and mix with hand or a hand mixer and make sure there are no lumps.
  3. Add more water as required such that the batter consistency is watery and thin. (like thick soup consistency). You can also add half buttermilk and half water. Refer to the picture
  4. Add salt, cumin powder, pepper powder, finely chopped green chilies, onions and cilantro and mix it well into the batter.
  5. Let the batter stand for half and hour.
  6. Heat the dosa pan on medium flame.
  7. Take the batter in a ladle and pour it on the pan starting from outside rim of the pan to inside. You should actually pour it from top and you can see bubbles forming. You do not have to spread the batter with the ladle.
  8. Then take 1 tsp of oil and put it along the edge of the dosa and in the middle. Let is cook for 2-3minutes. The edges will start becoming golden brown and it is time to flip the dosa.
  9. Cook the dosa for another 2 minutes and take it out of the pan. Crispy healthy, Ragi dosa is ready to be served.

Tip: You can grate carrots and finely chop mint add it to the batter to sneak in some veggies.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

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Lime Juice rasam - Nimbehannu Saaru





Ingredients:

  1. Toor Dhal/Bengal gram dhal - 1
  2. Rasam powder/Saaru pudi (Optional) – ½ Tbsp
  3. Lime - 1
  4. Slit Green Chilies – 4
  5. Red chili - 1
  6. Grated ginger – ½ -1 Tbsp
  7. Mustard seeds for seasoning
  8. Jaggery/gur – ½ tbsp
  9. Salt to taste
  10. Jeera powder – 1 tbsp
  11. Pepper powder -1/2 tbsp
  12. Ghee – 1.5 tbsp
  13. Hing – A ping
  14. Karipatta/Curry leaves – 8-10 leaves
  15. Cliantro/Kotombri - handful


Method

  • Cook toor dhal 3-4 cups of water in a pressure cooker and keep aside.
  • In a pot/vessel which you are going to prepare the rasam, add ½ tbsp ghee. Add the green chilies, red chilies and grated ginger and fry for a few seconds until the raw smell goes away.
  • Filter the water from the cooked toor dhal and add it to the seasoning
  • Add Jeera powder, pepper powder Karipatta leaves, salt, and turmeric to this and boil it for 2 minutes.
  • Then add rasam/saaru powder and jaggery. Boil it for 3-5 more minutes until the rasam froths up.
  • Add the juice of 1 lime/lemon to the saaru and boil for another minute and keep aside
  • In a 1/2tbsp of ghee add the mustard seeds and let it sputter. Add a pinch of hing.
  • Add this seasoning on top of the saaru/rasam . Finally add the chopped Cilantro

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

RavaDosa






Rave/Rava Dosa

Ingredients

  1. Rava (Coarse/Upittu Rave) – 2 cups
  2. Rice flour/Akki hittu- 1 cup
  3. All purpose for/Maida ¼ cup
  4. Wheat flour/godi hittu – ¼ cup
  5. Medium sized onion (Optional) - 1
  6. Salt to taste
  7. Cumin/Jirige powder – 1 Tsp
  8. Pepper Powder - 2 Tsp
  9. Green chilies (optional) – 4 or 5
  10. Cliantro/Kotmbri soppu - ¼ of a bunch
  11. Water as required
  12. Oil as required for making the dosas.

Method

  1. Mix all the dry flours (from 1- 3) in a big bowl.
  2. Add about 2-3 cups water to the flour and mix with hand or a hand mixer and make sure there are no lumps.
  3. Add more water as required such that the batter consistency is watery and thin. (like thick soup consistency). Refer to the picture
  4. Add salt, cumin powder, pepper powder, finely chopped green chilies and cilantro and mix it well into the batter.
  5. Heat the dosa pan on medium flame.
  6. Take the batter in a ladle and pour it on the pan starting from outside rim of the pan to inside. You should actually pour it from top and you can see bubbles forming. You do not have to spread the batter with the ladle.
  7. Then take 1.5 tsp of oil and put it along the edge of the dosa and in the middle. Let is cook for 2-3minutes. The edges will start becoming glen brown and it is time to flip the dosa.
  8. Cook the dosa for another 2 minutes and take it out of the pan. Crispy Rava dosa is read

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Huliavalakki


Huli/Gojju Avalakki or Poha

Ingredients

  1. Avalakki – 5 cups
  2. Tamarind Paste - 2TBSP
  3. Red Chilies – 3 -4
  4. Grated Coconut or dried coconut powder – 1.5 cups
  5. Oil – 8- 10 TBSP
  6. Salt to taste
  7. Water as required
  8. Black sesame seeds – 3 TBSP
  9. jaggery /Gur – 4- 5 tsp – adjust according to your taste
  10. Rasam powder – 2 tbsp
  11. A pinch of Haldi/Turmeric powder

For seasoning

Mustard - 1 tsp

Urad dhal – 1 tsp
Karipatta or Curry leaves – 4 or 5
A ping of hing
Channa Dhal – 1tsp

Raw peanuts - A handful

Method

  1. Powder the Poha/Avalakki to a coarse mixture like Idly rava and keep aside in a bowl.
  2. Roast and fine powder the Black sesame seeds.
  3. Mix the tamarind paste, Rasam powder, salt, Haldi and Jaggery in a cup of water and add it to the Poha mixture.
  4. Add 3 TBSP oil and some more water to the poha mixture. Take care not to add too much water. The mixture should be just moist enough that if you take it in your hand it should be soft and crumbly texture. Let the mixture stand for 10-15 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile take the rest of the oil, Add the mustard seeds and let is sputter
  6. Add urad dhal, channa dal, hinga and karipatta and fry for a minute on low heat. Take care not to brown it.
  7. Then add the raw peanuts and fry for a minute.
  8. Add the black seasame seeds powder , grated coconut and fry for another minute
  9. Finally add the poha mixture and stir well with the seasoning. If it is too dry sprinkle some water little by little so that the mixture is soft. Close the lid and let is stand for 2-3 minutes on low heat
  10. Turn off the stove and delicious huli avalakki is ready.

Tip : This poha goes very well with Rasayana ( sweet Banana-Frut mixture) . recipe to follow