Bajra dosa

Ive talked about multiple dosa varieties and keep adding more to my list and after preparing Ragi dosa.. bajra came on my next grain list and my I cant imagine my surprise when it turned to be delicious .I surely missed on this dosa for a long time.

You can use this recipe to replace with any other grain of your choice.

Recipe:

Ingredients :

Whole grain ingredients:
Urud dal - 1cup
rice - 1 1/2 cups
bajra seeds - 2 cup

ready made flour ingredients:

Urud dal - 1cup
rice flour - 2cups
bajra flour - 2 cups

Salt as needed
Cooking soda - a pinch
water for batter.
oil to prepare dosa

Procedure:

Whole grain procedure:

• Soak urud dal ,rice and bajra seeds for 4 hours.
• Grind them into smooth paste in a wet grinder or food processor.
• add water as needed to make smooth paste dont make it too runny.
• Add salt and a pinch of cooking soda to the  batter and mix well(preferably with hand to help in fermentation)
• Let the batter ferment for 5 hours atleast.

Flour procedure:

• Soak urud dal for 4 hours.
• Grind the dal into smooth paste .
• Add the bajra flour and rice flour and mix well by adding water as needed to make batter.
• Add salt and a pinch of cooking soda to the  batter and mix well(preferably with hand to help in fermentation)
• Let the batter ferment for 5 hours atleast.

Preparing Dosa;

• Once the batter is fermented can keep in fridge for 4-5 days .
• Before preparing dosa keep it out of fridge 1/2 hour before for better taste.
• Heat tawa and drizzle some oil.
• Take a dollop of batter and spread it into a circle.
• Drizzle some oil around the dosa .
• Flip it and make sure its cooked on both sides.
• Serve hot with any chutney. Check the recipe index for chutney recipes.

Veggie sandwich with mayonnaise

I know its been some time we posted here..  but life sometimes goes crazy with work and you are busy to do your passion. Im happy coming back to my blog and with loads of new recipes.

For all those who are super busy in life and running around a quick recipe to munch.

Absolute no cooking time.. who wouldnt love delicious food without having to spend hours cooking it. Cooking early morning and running out for work has always been a nightmare. And for people with kids cooking up breakfast lunch and snacks for all the family members is very strenuous. 

Sharing the joy of making simple things to be peaceful in crazy mornings. 

Recipe:

Yellow capsicum - 1

carrot -1

lettuce - 1/4

salt- a pinch

mayonnaise - 3 tbspn 

Procedure:

• Finely chop all the veggies.
• In bowl add the chopped veggies, salt and mayo and mix it well.
• spread the mixture on bread and have a go.
• You can toast the bread if you like toasted bread but this bread spread can be had with soft bread too.

Beetroot Halwa

Ingredients:
beetroot- 2 big
milk- 1/2 litre
Sugar- 3 cups
ghee- 5 tbsp
minutemaid/condensed milk - 4tbsp (optional)
dry fruits for garnish

Procedure:

Peel the beetroot and grate it.

boil the milk and add grated beetroot in the milk. boil it for 15-20 mins with closed lid till they are cooked.

Once they are cooked add sugar and keep mixing and keep in flame for 10 mins until the milk evaporates.you can add more sugar if you have a sweet tooth.
mix till it becomes a thick mixture and add ghee and condensed milk for additional flavour.

saute the dryfruits in ghee. you can use almonds,cashenuts and raisins
add the dryfruits into the halwa and mix it well.

It can be had hot and also cold. One combination to have it is with icecream. better a vanilla or plain flavours .

Bread Halwa

Bread Halwa is the quickest and yummiest of all the dessert recipes I've made till date.. I've fallen in love with it. Here is the recipe for u all...

Ingredients :

Bread loaves - 2

Milk - 2 cups

Sugar - 1 cup

Ghee - 3 tb spoon

Vanilla essence, elaichi (cardamom)
PROCEDURE :

Break the bread into small bits and roast them till golden brown in ghee.

Boil milk in the pan and add sugar to it. Add a hint of Vanilla essence and cardamom powder to it.

Now add the roasted bread and let it cook for 5 mins on low flame.

Yummy Bread halwa is ready. Garnish it with cashews and you can serve it hot or cold.

Karam dosa

Dosa is staple food for all south indians.. we cannot live without eating dosa atleast once a week. As it can be added with multiple variations you never get bored of it. From crunchy to spongy , spicy to minty and different chutneys and curries added to it there will be unlimited list of dosa dishes.

There used to be a place in my hometown called Dosa palace . It boasts about 101 dosa varieties. Thats all they serve there just dosas.. We used to be so eager to go there and try all the varieties. It had from schezwan dosa to noodle dosa to masala dosa everything veg.

When we were kids we used to prepare all dosa varieties whenever there is dosa at home.. karam dosa, ghee karam dosa, rayalaseema dosa, tomato pachadi dosa, masala dosa, ghee roast dosa .. hmm too tiring to write down all names. Ever since we started this blog we always wanted to post all our dosa recipes but whenever we prepare it too eager to eat it that we lack patience to click good pics.. so if any pics we have are too boring and too mundane and raw..

This time however I made sure to click atleast one good pic.. Since I dont use any DSLR or setup.. just clicking from my iphone sure made it easy.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Dosa batter - 1 cups for 2 dosas

Karam chutney -  1/4 cup for 2 dosas

oil as needed around 1 tbspn

Procedure:

• Take dosa batter and make sure it is thick enough not too runny.
• Heat the tawa drizzle some oil and spread it out.
• I sprinkle some water after heated to remove the oil residue this will make sure its not too oily and the dosa dosent stick to the tawa.
• take a dollop of batter and spread on the tawa to form a circle.
• Take 1 tbspn of karam chutney and spread it on the dosa as soon as dosa is spread.
• drizzle some oil over the dosa and around it.
• Dont flip the dosa the karam chutney will stick to the tawa. Let it roast on one side.
• Take out the dosa and serve with any chutney.

Brinjal Potato Masala Curry

I was searching through my food pantry to see what veggies I have as I was preparing a curry for myself. Except for  few brinjals and potato the pantry was clear. I love these two veggies but very rarely prepare a combination of them. Though it started out as no choice veg combination I starting loving it.

The softness of brinjal and mushy potato makes it a wonderful combination. My moms homemade curry powder made it even more better. Though Ive tried this curry powder recipe before and do with the same proportions somehow my moms taste better always. may be she adds some mommy magic inside.


Recipe:

Ingredients:

Brinjal - 4
Potato -3
onion - 1
green chillies - 2
salt
turmeric - 1/4 tspn

seasoning

mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn
cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn
channa dal - 1/2 tspn
curry leaves - 3
oil - 1 tbspn

Curry powder:

urud dal - 1/2 cup
channa dal - 1/2 cup
coriander seeds - 1 tbspn
cumin seeds - 1 tbspn
cinnamon - 1 stick



Procedure:

• Cut onions and brinjal into thin long pieces and potato into medium size chunks.
• In a wok add oil and once heated add all the seasoning ingredients.
• Once mustard seeds splutter add green chillies and fry for half a minute.
• add onions and a pinch of salt and let it fry till the onions turn transluscent.
• add potato and brinjal and little salt and cook with close lid in medium flame for 15 mins.
• Once the veggies are almost cooked add the curry powder and saute it well.
• and let it cook for 10 minutes without lid by sauteing it every 5 mins.
• Add chopped coriander leaves at the end for enhanced flavour.
• You can use any brinjals I used purple brinjals.. green long ones might not be good for this dish as they get mushy very quickly
• This curry can be had with either roti or rice.

Curry powder procedure:

Dry roast all the ingredients and make fine powder out of it.

Bonda

There are numerous snacks in Indian cuisine both delicious and addicitive. The downside though all might not be too healthy. Most of then deep fried and packed with calories but its comfort food and every street is packed with snacks stalls where people throng for a quick evening bite.

My mom is an expert at making snacks and coming home from school or college we used to have hot snacks awaiting. She has the knack of making something delicious with the available stuff.

Bonda is one suck quickie.. If you have Dosa batter at home then you can make quick bondas. The batter has to be thick .. the base batter before adding water up for dosa.. if its too runny its difficult to prepare.

Just take thick batter add onions chillies and anything else you are interested on and then time to get dirty. Take the batter in hands and try to drop a lump of batter into hot oil. some people use spoon to keep hands clean but whats cooking without using  hands.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Dosa batter  - 2 cups

onion - 1 medium

green chilli - 2

curry leaves - 5-6

salt as needed

Procedure:

• In a bowl add all ingredients and mix properly.
• Take a deep and thick bottomed wok.
• add oil till half of it.. or till the bondas can float.
• Take the batter in hand and once the oil is heated try to drop some batter like a tear drop.
• Let it fry till golden brown.. keep moving it around to cook on all sides.
• Serve with any chutney

Coriander coconut chutney

For something so regular in our food like like chutney for everyday breakfast we need varieties to bring a big difference. There is the plain coconut chutney and a coriander twist to it for enhanced flavour.

We make idly dosa atleast 4-5 times a week sometimes twice a day for breakfast and dinner that eating the same chutney has become too boring. So every new flavour added to the plain chutney is making us more excited to eat our food. For all those who wants a new twist for idly/dosa.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

chutney

roasted chana dal - 1/2 cup

grated coconut - 1 cup

coriander leaves chopped - 1/2 cup or take a good handful

green chillies - 2

salt as per taste - 1/4 tspn

seasoning

red chillies -2

cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn

mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn

channa dal - 1/2 tspn

oil - 1 tbspn

Procedure:

• In a food processor add all the chutney ingredients. No need to roast or cook anything.
• Dont add water and grind it to a powder.
• Now add water as needed around 1/4 cup and grind it well.
• Salt can be added as needed and dont make the chutney too thick nor too thin.
• Once the chutney is prepared we need to add seasoning /tadka to it.
• In a small wok add oil . 
• Once oil is heated add all the seasoning ingredients.
• Once they start to splutter remove from flame and add to chutney.
• Mix it well with the chutney.
• This chutney can be had with any south indin tiffins.

Broccoli paratha

Broccoli is said to be very healthy and yet we eat them very less. I havent found broccoli in abundance in my childhood , now in cities yes but in small towns and villages its almost never seen in India. But as we found this veggie it has been our favourite and we started experimenting and including it with masala into Indian cuisine.

Broccoli rice for adults and porridge for babies Multi gran broccoli porridge and broccoli and carrot porridge are few noted here but Ive used extensively for my baby.

Another result of our experiments is broccoli paratha. Since we love paratha and try making multiple varieties wanted to try out of box veggies for it.The result is a delicious yet healthy paratha you could never leave.


Recipe: 

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1 cup for 4 parathass
salt - 1/2 tspn as per taste
chilli powder - 1 tspn
water for making dough
oil for frying.

for stuffing:

broccoli - 3/4
onion - 1 medium
cumin seeds - 1/4 tspn
garam masala - 1/4 tspn
coriander powder - 1/4 tspn
amchur - 1/8 tspn
chilli powder - 1/2 tspn
salt as needed - 1/4 tspn

Procedure:

• Take a large bowl and add wheat flour, salt, chilli powder. Make a small well in the flour pour water (around 1/4 cup) and knead it to form a soft dough. Add water as needed. the dough shoudnt be sticky.
• If more water is added then knead it for some time to absorb the water or add flour to balance it.
• cover the dough with a cloth and keep aside.
• Clean the broccoli and remove the florets and finely chop it. Or alternatively can grate the broccoli to get fine pieces.
• Chop onion finely .
• In a wok add 1 tbspn of oil and add cumin seeds.
• Add onions and salt and fry till translucent.
• Add broccoli and stir it and cook in low flame with closed lid for 10 minutes. Can alternatively fry it in high flame but make sure you are always there to prevent burning.
• add all the masala powders and mix well.Once cooked keep aside.

Preparing paratha 

• divide the dough into 4 balls.
• apply some wheat flour on one ball and flatten it into a small thick circle.
• take 2 spoons of filling broccoli and place it in the middle.
• Now close the corners to the center to form a ball.
• apply flour to it and flatten it into parathas.
• Prepare all the parathas and keep aside.
• Heat the griddle/tawa and put a paratha on it.
• cook it in medium flame till its roasted by flipping it.
• apply oil on both sides while flipping to taste better .

Parathas can be had with any pickle and curd/yoghurt.

Onion Karam Chutney

Karam dosa and karam chutney is quite popular in Rayalaseema region of Andhra. Karam usually means spicy as the name suggests it is quite spicy with lots of chillies on it. Some people accompany it with ghee to reduce the spiciness others love as it is.

Onion Karam chutney can be prepared either with or without tomato, I do both the variations and love without tomato one as its quite spicy.

This chutney can be had with all south indian breakfast dishes but best serves with dosa. Karam dosa is prepared with this karam chutney.

This is easiest and quick recipe as we dont need to cook anything just raw chutney.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Onion - 2
tomato - 1/2 (optional)
red chillies - 7
tamarind a pinch 
salt as needed

Procedure:

• Cut the onions into big pieces and tomato too.
• In a mixie add all the ingredients and grind to a paste. 
• Add water as needed but water from onions should be enough.
• It should not be too smooth.
• Instead of red chillies can also use red chilli powder.
• Based on the color of chillies the chutney color might change from bright orange to bright red.
• If its too spicy add little tamarind juice and salt.

Bhindi fry

Ingredients:

Ladys finger - 250 grms
oil - 2 tspn
salt as per taste
seasoning :
cumin seeds - 1/4 tspn
mustard seeds - 1/4 tspn
channa dal - 1/4 tspn
red chilli powder - 1/2 tspn as per taste
turmeric - 1/4 tspn

curry powder:
urud dal - 1/2 tspn
channa dal - 1/2 tspn
coriander seeds - 1/2 tspn
pepper - 1/4 tspn
dry coconut (optional) - 2 tbspn

procedure :

dry roast the curry powder ingredients till aroma comes in. It shud be slightly golden color. make the roasted items into a fine powder and keep aside. this powder can be used later for other curries too.

wash the ladys finger and cut both the ends. slit into 4 pieces and cut them into half. this will give long thin bhindi.

In a wok add oil. once oil is heated add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, channa dal once they splutter add the bhindi, salt and fry it . cook with closed lid for 5 mins and with open lid for 5-7 mins. make sure you saute them in between so that it dosent burn. Dont mix it too much it might make the bhindi mushy.

after its fried add the curry powder, turmeric powder, chilli powder( if reqd) and salt( if needed) and mix it well. fry it for 3 mins so that bhindi is slightly roasted.

This curry can be used as side dish with rice and roti.

Pulihora /Tamarind Rice (Temple Style)

Pulihora/Puliogare is a traditional south indian dish which is treated as  mandatory every festival and anything auspicious. Not sure where and how it started but this dish is treated with utmost respect.

Any temple we go if there is prasadam then it would 90% be pulihora. Every festival we have this dish at home and we never get bored of it. Its tangy taste makes it even more drool worthy.

Its quite easy to prepare but taste differs a lot based on how much tamarind is added. At home though we prepare the tamarind rice but it never gets the taste of temple prasadam. My mom prepares this very good and its comes quite close to how its prepared in temple.

The basic difference is the tamarind being used. In temple old tamarind is used which is blackish in color . A lot changes on the tamarind used too.

My moms temple pulihora recipe for all the temple prasadam lovers.

Recipe: 

Ingredients:

Tamarind - 1/4 cup

turmeric - 1/2 tspn

Rice - 2 cup

water - 4 cups (for rice)

for seasoning:

oil - 2 tbspn

green chillies - 3

red chillies - 2 (adjust chillies based on spiciness needed)

curry leaves - 10

chana dal - 2 tspn

mustard seeds - 1 tspn

cumin seeds - 1 tspn

split urud dal - 1 tspn

cashews - 3 tbspn

peanuts- 4 tbspn

Pulihora powder :

Sesame seeds - 2 1/2 tspn

coriander seeds - 4 tspn

fenugreek seeds - 2 tspn

peppercons  (black pepper)- 3 tspn

Procedure:

• Wash rice and cook it with twice the water .
• Once the rice is cooked keep the lid open and let it cool down. This will help the rice not be too mushy when mixing.
• paralelly can start preparing the tamarind mixture
• Soak tamarind in water for 5 minutes.
• extract tamarind pulp from tamarind .atleast 3 cups of tamarind pulp.

        pulihora powder.

• Dry roast the ingredients. it should not be completely roasted till the pulses turn almost brownish.
• grind the ingredients to form a smooth powder.

• slit the green chillies long .
• In a wok add oil and once heated add all the seasoning ingredients.
• Once the mustard seeds are spluttered and cashews,peanuts are slightly roasted add the tamarind pulp.
• Add turmeric and salt to the mixture and let it cook for 5 mins.
• Now add the pulihora powder. It would be best to add half of powder and check if its spicy before adding the remaining powder.

     

• Cook till it forms a thick paste or till oil oozes out from the paste.
• Mix the paste properly without mashing the rice.
• Add salt if needed and more powder can be added now as per spiciness.

Methi poori

Pooris are always tempting and quite easy to make. To add zing to it we can flavour it up. Methi poori has been my fav recipe and i love methi amongst all leafy vegetables.

Ingredients:

Methi (fenugreek leaves) - 1 bunch
wheat flour - 2 cups
salt - 1tbspn
oil - 2 tbspn ( for dough)
oil - for frying

Procedure:

Chop the methi to fine. Mix the wheat flour and salt. Add the fenugreek leaves and mix well. Make a well in between and add water. slowly mix the dough ( medium composure not too soft). add 2 tbspn oil and mix the dough for 5 mins till soft.

Make small balls of the dough and roll it with rolling pin into small circles like roti. Heat the tawa(wok) with oil. fry the poori till golden brown. Serve with any curry .though Potato curry is the best side dish.

Peanut Capsicum Chutney

Chutneys have always been an integral part of every south Indian.. Having lots of breakfast dishes which need chutney you always search for something new for dosa /idly everyday. Peanut/Groundnut chutney have always been the default chutney we prepare at home along with coconut chutney. I was looking around to prepare something different this time and found this peanut and capsicum combo.

    I had my inhibitions on how it would turn out as I never tried this combination before but was very happy to catch hold of a delicious dish. A good twist to peanut chutney.

I have used green capsicum for this dish but using red/yellow capsicum should be the same with slight flavour difference for the sweetness of other varieties.

I have tried this chutney with both idly and dosa and it suited both. Can also use it as sidedish for punganalu/kuli paniyaram ,uthappam and the lot.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Groundnuts - 1/2 cup
Capsicum - 1
red chillies - 5
cumin seeds - 1 tspn
ginger grated - 1 tspn
Salt as needed

seasoning:

mustard seeds - 1/4 tspn
cumin seeds - 1/4 tspn
chana dal - 1/4 tspn
curry leaves - 4
red chillies - 2 broken into half

oil

Procedure:

• In a pan add few drops of oil and add red chillies.
• Once the chillies turn crispy add groundnuts and roast them and keep aside.
• In the same wok add 1/4 tspn of oil and add capsicum.
• add little salt and close the lid and cook for 5 mins .
• In a mixie jar add groundnuts, chillies, capsicum, ginger, cumin seeds , salt .
• Grind them to a paste adding little water as needed. it shoudnt be too runny.
• To temper the chutney  add 2 tspn of oil in a wok and add all the seasoning ingredients.
• Once the mustard seeds splutter add it to the chutney and mix well.

I havent tempered the chutney which is fine, but adding it will enhance the flavour.

Bread Upma

 Bread is not just to make sandwiches , can be used in various dishes. Bread upma can be made in two varieties , the dry variety , the wet one. Here's one of those two. It's easy to make , quick and delicious to serve as snacks to kids.

Ingredients:

Bread slices - 8
Onion - 1
potato -1
carrot -1
green chillies - 2
coriander leaves chopped- 2 tbspn
mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn
cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn
channa dal - 1/2 tspn
oil - 1 tbspn
salt - 1/2 tspn
water - 2 cups

Procedure:

Finely chopp onions.Cut potato and carrot into small pieces. finely chopp green chillies.

Add oil to a wok .after heated add channa dal, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. after the seeds splutter add green chillies and fry for a minute.

Add onions and fry till transluscent. add potato, carrot and salt(as per taste 1/2 tspn).Cook with closed lid for 15 mins. make sure to mix every 5 mins to avoid burning.

Take a bowl and add water. dip a bread slice and squeeze out the water and keep it aside. repeat with all the slices. separate the bread slices with hand .

Add the bread to the wok and fry it till mixed properly and cook it for 5 mins with open lid.
Add coriander leaves mix well and cook for a minute.

Tasty bread upma can be had as snacks/breakfast.

Mixed Vegetable Curry

I love eating wet/gravy curries either with rice or roti. But few curries are too cumbersome to prepare and take a long time, which is what I dont have in the morning rush hour.
 Coconut milk is my best friend here giving all curries a rich flavour and making the curry delicious.
So my recipes of gravy curries with coconut milk gravy is very simple and easy to prepare . This recipe uses multiple vegetables but can also try with any vegetable of choice or multiple combinations.

I prepared this for combination to eat Sponge Dosa . One might wonder if they are combination at all but it worked beautifully and I would always try sponge dosa with this curry. 
This curry can also be had with rice/roti/ any dosa.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Potato - 2
cauliflower - 1/4
tomato - 1 big
carrot - 1
green peas - 1/2 cup
onion - 1
green chillies - 2

coconut milk - 1/4 cup
cashews - 10

cumin seeds - 1/4 tspn
ginger garlic paste - 1 tspn
garam masala - 1/4 tspn
coriander powder - 1/2 tspn
amchur - 1/4 tspn
chilli powder - 1/2 tpsn

oil - 2 tbspn
water as needed for cooking.

Procedure:

• Cut all vegetables into medium sized pieces.
• finely chop green chillies and long slit cut onions.
• In a wok add oil and once heated add cumin seeds.
• add cashwes, green chillies and fry it till cashews are roasted.
• add onions and ginger garlic paste and fry till translucent.
• Add tomatoes and little salt and fry till tomatoes are cooked.
• Add the remaining vegetables and all the masala powders, salt and fry it.
• Add water till the vegetables are drowned and cook with close lid in high flame for 15 minutes till they are cooked.
• Add coconut milk and cook it for another 10 minutes.
• Adjust salt or chilli powder as per taste.
• Alternative option: add all vegetables ,coconut milk and cook in pressure cooker.

Sorakaya Pulsukura (Bottle guard gravy curry)

 Bottle gourd is extremely popular for reducing high blood pressure and keeping heart healthy. It has a lot of vitamins and minerals and extremely popular for weight loss as well.

This is very simple and easy dish to make especially when very tired . It tastes delicious with both roti and rice.

 This type of puluskura is very popular in Andhra and can be made with other leafy vegetables like gongura &Thotakura (Amaranthus)



Recipe:

Ingredients:

 Bottle gourd (size: medium )
 Tomato            - 1
 Onion              - 1 (Big)
 Green chillies - 3 big

 Seasoning:
 Mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn
 Cumin seeds  - 1/2 tspn
 fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tspn
 Split urud dal - 1/2 tspn
 Channa dal  - 1/2 tspn
 Hing (Asafoetida)

 Turmeric - a pinch 
 Oil     - 2 tspn
 Tamarind juice - 2 tspn
 whole wheat flour - 1 tspn

Procedure :

• Chop green chillies.

• Cut Bottle gourd and tomato into small pieces

• Chop onions fine and long , so they are visible in the bottle gourd pieces.

• In a small pressure cooker , add 2 tspn oil. Once heated, add the seasoning ingredients

• Once the mustard seeds splutter , add the chopped onion , a pinch of salt and fry them till transparent.

• Add the tomato pieces and stir 

• Once cooked, Add bottle gourd pieces and add water till the pieces are slightly visible.

• Either put the cooker lid on and wait for one whistle or put a normal plate as a lid and check till it cooks.

• By the time the pieces cook , take a small bowl, add one tspn of whole wheat flour and water , mix till its a thick liquid.Keep it aside. This liquid is used to thicken the gravy, once the pieces are cooked in the water.

• By the time the pieces cook ,soak tamarind in water and make a thick juice by pressing tamarind in water.

• Once the pieces are cooked, add tamarind juice ,salt  and a pinch of turmeric.

• Mix the gravy and add a tspn of whole wheat flour water to let the gravy thicken.

• Add coriander leaves or kasuri methi for garnishing 

• Can be had with roti or rice .