Cabbage Tapioca Puffed Rice mIx , in my native language of Gujarati, is knowns as Kobich no Chevdo”. Chevdo is more a snacky item akin to a trail mix, or a broken puffed flakes/rice bar with nuts in it. So this is more like an Indian version of the nuts trail mix, with added cabbage and tapioca pearls, but served warm. This is a quick brunch, heavy breakfast menu item. It has the crunchiness of roasted peanuts, cashews and bengal gram dal and it also the softness of tapioca pearls and rice flakes. Chevdo in Gujarat is a handy snack, made out of rice flakes, corn flakes and mixed with nuts. Typically the flakes are fried and mixed with nuts. In my opinion, this is a more healthy version of a Chevdo and nutritious too, with the added cabbage in it. The green of the cabbage and spice of green chilies gives it a nice zing to this unusual mix. Another way to look at it is , it will have a bit of flavour to appeal all kinds of tastebuds, salty, sweet, spicy,sour, soft, crunchy and overall still very colorful. Almost feels like you are having a hot bhel, with so many ingredients mixed together, and gives the similarity to bhel.
Recipe makes servings for 3 people
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Sabudana Tapioca Pearls
3/4 cups rice flakes
5 cups cabbage thinly sliced
1/3 cup chopped coriander
1/4 cup peanuts
1/8 cup yellow skinned bengal gram dal (Daaliya ni daal)
1/8 cup cashews
6 green chillies medium chopped
8 curry leaves
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 lemon’s juice
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 cup fresh/dried coconut
1/3 cup oil
salt to taste
Method
Wash the Tapioca pearls gently, three times in water, and then soak it in water for 2 hours and cover.
Wash the rice flakes , gently, thrice in plenty of water and soak it for twenty minutes.
In a broad pan, heat the oil.
Add mustard seeds, green chillies, peanuts, cashews, split yellow bengal gram lentils, and curry leaves.
Saute on medium flame, till peanuts, cashews are golden brown.
Add shredded cabbage and mix well.
Saute cabbage for 8-10 min till almost cooked.
Add salt,sugar, soaked tapioca pearls, sabudana and rice flakes.
Mix well and cook for 7-8 min until tapioca pearls have become soft.
Add lemon juice, garnish with coriander, dried/fresh coconut and serve.
Tips
Sabudana or Tapioca Pearls can be soaked overnight, which makes this an easy recipe for a morning breakfast.
Add turmeric to this if you would like to make even a closer resemblance to Chevda
Instinct Factor
Soak the Tapioca Pearls in very little water, if soaking over night.
Feel Factor
A hot version of a bhel with a different mix of ingredients! Colorful, crunchy, soft and spicy and something new for an everyday menu
Mexican Chimichanga- it is the name that caught my fancy and I wanted to try this! I instantly appreciated the similarity of a crunchy Indian Samosa with the Chimichanga crust. Of course the filling was different, but it looked so colorful and crunchy, that was simply hard to resist. If you are red kidney bean fan and crunchy samosa fan, this will definitely become your one of the favorites soon. The veggies on top add to texture and color and give a good contrast to the mashed kidney beans. You can either top it with guacamole or avocado. My avocado was not that ripe to make guacamole so diced it and tasted fine. I truly cherish this deep fried tortilla dish with my friends and family as somehow Chimichanga has happy ring to its name!
I am reminded of a friend who would take the refried beans and tortillas from USA to India and make Mexican Chimichanga for her family in India, as they use to enjoy this highly! This should prove the popularity of Mexican Chimichanga amongst Indians for sure!
Receipe makes 6 pieces of Chimichanga
Cooking time: 15 min
Prep time : 15 min
Ingredients
1 can plus 1/3 cup Vegeterain Refried Beans
3 tbsp oil
6 hot green chillies finely choppped
2 tbsp coriander finely chopped
2 slices of cheese
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/8 tsp asofoetida
salt to taste
1 pack corn tortilla (6 pieces)
oil to fry
For garnish
2 cups lettuce thinly sliced
1 cups tomato diced medium
1/2 cup diced yellow red peppers
1/2 cup diced avocado
Medium spiced tomato salsa
Guacomole
Sour Cream
Method
In a deep pan put the oil to heat.
Add asofoetida, turmeric, chillies and stir for 20 seconds.
Add red beans, salt and stir for 2-3 min
Add cheese slices and melt it into the mix.
Add coriander and remove from flame.
Heat a flat griddle
Put a corn tortilla to heat for 10-15 seconds on medium flame.
Flip it over and heat the other side for 10-15 seconds and remove from flame.
Divide the red beans mix into 6 parts.
Layer 1/6th of the mix horizontally in the middle of the cooked tortilla
Fold over to the middle from the top and bottom.
Fold over from both sides and flip it over.
Do this for all tortillas and red beans mix.
Heat oil in a frying pan.
On a medium high flame, fry the refried bean stuffed tortilla( chimichanga) to golden brown
Garnish the chimichanga with some lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, avocado, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa and serve hot.
Tips
Just needs some technique in folding and frying,- fry with folded ends to the bottom of the frypan, as this will cook first and enclose the stuffing.
Instinct Factor
Heat the tortilla on a medium high flame, and do not have brown burnt spots as it will crack. when you fold and fry the tortilla
Feel Factor
I want it NOW, as my family members would say!! And you can have it too, as it is so quick to make!
A breakfast and appetizer item that is extremely quick to make, is the open grilled paneer cottage cheese toast bread. It tastes delicious and looks very appetizing. The grilled paneer, flavored with green chillies and fenugreek has a unique flavour that gives a great start to the morning!
I was exposed to this highly nutritious breakfast at my in-laws, and since then, I often consider this as one of the highly appetizing breakfast item. It requires some effort in getting used to flipping the paneer, but now a days with non-stick griddle available, this is much easier. I always use to admire our cook(more like Man Friday) , Ramu, at my in-laws house, who use to get the perfect color and flip it without breaking the browning of the paneer in the middle! Unfortunately, he passed away too soon.. I have learnt a lot of easy tips on cooking from him.
The texture of the grilled bread is soft and the paneer also tastes soft with a slight crunch on the top. While making it, the green colors of chillies and coriander against white paneer looks attractive and when nicely cooked to an orang brown color, it looks also delicious! I also like the added spice from fresh black pepper and lemon in this mix.
This will also impress your guests suitably when you present them with another way to eat and enjoy the bread in the morning! Kids often love this and this was my valentine treat for my daughter!
Recipe makes 6 slices
Cooking time 15 min
Prep 5 min
Ingredients
• 1 1/4 cup of Fresh Paneer or about 7 cups of whole milk to make fresh paneer or cottage cheese
• 1 lemon juice to make fresh paneer or cottage cheese
• 1 tsp kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves(optional)
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander /cilantro leaves
• 8-9 hot green chillies finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp Fresh ground pepper –
• salt to taste
• 4-5 drops of lemon
• Ghee or clarified butter to grease
• 6 White or Wheat Bread slices
Method
To make fresh paneer, boil the milk in a deep vessel. Keep on medium high flame, and when it boils add juice of one lemon. If the milk does not curdle, add more lemon juice till it curdles. Remove from flame and strain the curdled milk . Leave the fresh paneer to drain for 10 min.
Once it cools down, mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
•
Take about 1/6 portion of the mix, and put it on a bread slice and pack it down using the palm.
•
• Heat a flat griddle on a medium flame
• Grease 1/4 tsp ghee in the center and spread it.
• Flip the bread and put the paneer or cottage cheese side to grill on the flat griddle.
• Reduce the flame to slow – medium
• Pour some more ghee on the sides about 1/2 tsp.
• Wait for about 5 min.
• Using a flat spatula, gently flip the bread
• Add some more ghee and cook on the other side, till golden brown.
Cut into 2 or 4 triangles.
Repeat the process for all other slices of bread, till cottage cheese or paneer is used up.
Serve with ketchup or any other accompaniment of your choice.
Tips
If using frozen paneer, you may want to microwave it a bit, to get bigger chunks, and I would break a frozen paneer by hand. I prefer using fresh paneer for this, as it always taste soft and binds well.
Using a non-stick griddle, will help you flip better, though I prefer the taste of normal griddle.
The trick lies in packing it firm and round in the middle, and you will know that it is done grilling, once you see some rising in the middle.
You can make this as an appetizer or finger food, by cutting the bread slice with paneer into six rectangles, and serve it with toothpick in the center.
Instinct Factor
Trust your instinct to guide you if the paneer is grilled well . If it is cooked, it will easily scrape off. Patience helps over here!
Feel Factor
A warm cottage cheese paneer bread toast breakfast is such a healthy way to kick start your day, with calcium, grains and a few feel good spices of green chillies, black pepper, lemon and dried fenugreek leaves! When had warm, the nice grilled flavor of the cottage cheese, against the bread remains soft, which is a nice contrasting texture. Extremely easy to make, when fresh paneer is already pre made. And if you have a large griddle, you can make six slices at once!
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Khandvi Bengal Gram Rolls is a delicacy from Gujarat. It is often a staple item in Jain Gujarati family for sure. This is often a part of the menu when a Jain household is observing its no vegetable day. On these days, items are often made from lentils. This is very easy to make, but looks quite complicated, and that is the cool part of this recipe. I have listed the traditional Jain way of making this, which does not use buttermilk, as often mentioned in other recipes. A Jain follower observes not to mix Bengal Gram and Buttermilk together, unless the buttermilk is cooked first. I’ve also seen my mother make this with lemon, as we observed this rule very strongly when growing up. I feel the lemon in it, and it gives it an ultra smooth and thin texture that looks more delicate and elegant, as compared to what is commercially available.
When I got married, this is one of the appetizers my in-laws were curious to know if I could make it! This delicacy is a signature hallmark of a Jain Gujarati family.
The texture of bengal gram rolls, is soft, smooth and the oil garnish on the top with mustard seeds crackling, gives it a slightly crunchy flavour over a smooth roll. Due justice can be done only by tasting this super yum delicacy. It is truly enjoyed by most people as kids like the roll look and adults will enjoy this finger food appetizer anytime.
Recipe makes 60 pieces about 1/2 inch in size.
Ingredients
For Khandvi Rolls
1 cup besan bengal gram flour
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp asofoetida
1/3 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1/4 tsp chilli powder
oil to grease
For Garnishing
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of asofoetida
2 tbsp coriander chopped
2 tbsp fresh/frozen coconut grated (or dry coconut can also be used)
3 tbsp oil
5 green chillies chopped(optional)
3-4 green curry leaves(optional)
4 flat dishes about 8-10 inches in diameter.
Method:
Grease the dishes with oil on the front and back of the dish with oil. Both the sides of the dishes can be used to spread the Bengal Gram Roll paste. If you do not feel comfortable using the back of the dish, you will need more dishes.
In a broad thick bottom pan, mix besan bengal gram flour, water, lemon juice, asofoetida, salt and turmeric powder till no lumps are left. This is the mix for making the khandvi bengal gram rolls.
Put it to heat on a medium flame, stirring constantly.
Keep stirring constantly until it thickens to a paste around 8-10 minutes later.
The paste will start leaving the edges of the vessel.
Remove from flame, and quickly spread the mixture evenly, using as much as is needed to evenly cover the diameter of the plate.
The paste cools quickly, so you need to spread this fast and quick.
Do this till all the paste is used up.
Cool for 15-20 min.
Spread some oil on the paste.
Sprinkle some red chilli powder
Using a knife, cut the circle into half.
Slightly release the edges of the paste from the plate, using your fingers, by pushing the paste inwards.
Start rolling into rolls, using one half of the circle, rolling it tight.
So every flat dish will give you two rolled circles.
Gently lift the rolls and put it on a cutting board or flat surface.
Cut the long rolls into 1/2 inch horizontal cuts.
Heat the oil in a pan on a medium flame.
Add asofoetida, mustard seeds.
When mustard seeds crackle, add cumin seeds.
When cumin seeds turn golden brown, remove from flame.
Using a spoon, spread this garnish over the cut khandvi bengal gram rolls.
Garnish it further with fresh/frozen coconut and coriander.
Tips
Remove the seeds from lemon juice. I use a tea strainer to strain the lemon juice,
Mixing the bengal gram flour properly is needed, so that no lumps are left.
Keep stirring so that no lumps are formed while cooking.
To cut the long rolls, into small pieces, I prefer to line them one below other, and then slice it vertically in 1/2 inch gaps across all rolls.
You can add green chillies to the oil garnish on the top if you prefer. I often make this on days where we avoid green vegetables, hence often dont use green chillies and coriander too on this recipe. But these toppings no doubt add more flavour to the recipe.
Instinct Factor
Spreading the bengal gram paste on the dish, comes with practice, but make sure you cover all the aspects of the plate.
If you see lumps on the top, that is fine, as this is going to be on the inside.
Feel Factor
A smooth, soft delicacy that just melts in your mouth. This is highly attractive, very quick to make appetizer that is simply YUM! The fresh coconut and coriander garnish atop the lemon flavored bengal gram rolls is a delicacy which will get a lot of WOW factor from your guests! And not to mention the feel good feeling you will have once you make this complicated looking easy appetizer.
Super Bowl fever in the air, the biggest sport of USA. Tradition for Americans to huddle in front of the TV with friends and family, and enjoy a round of good game, heated conversations, watch some truly memorable ads and look forward to the famous half time entertainment performances. This year’s match is being played in Rutherford, NJ, my home state for a long period of time. The biggest ad spending happens here, and the conversations of which ad was the best continues to be office and social conversation for sometime. I have slowly warmed up to this game, from my earlier interest of watching only half time performance. I have fond memories of watching this with friends, over various years, attending super bowl parties, to watching it on giant projector screen in my neighbourhood clubhouse. Super bowl generates a lot of interest in the community via the game, attention capturing TV ads which also gives you the glimpse of the new products being introduced. I often enjoy the car ads that are being shown, and top of my recall so far is the Maserati Ghibli ad and am looking forward to Bruno Mars halftime performance.
One food that is a traditional part of this game watching is Tortilla Chips with various assortment of dip including Salsa, Hummus and Guacomole. And so I made this Eggplant Dip, that has been a standard dip in my mother’s house , and I also wanted to relish the Tortilla chips with the Eggplant dip, and create a new combination to eating Tortilla chips, this Super Bowl. At my mother’s place, we use to mash this in the stone based mojavo pestle and bowl, as commonly used to make the Guacomole in western world. It must be something in the volcanic rocks that gives the flavor some edge.
Hope you enjoy this Eggplant Dip with your favorite Tortilla chips at a future sport watching event, as we enjoyed this at home and as far as the Super Bowl goes, looks like Seattle is in the winning seat!
Recipe Makes for 3 people
Cooking time `10 min
Preparation time 5 min
Ingredients
8 inch (medium sized) eggplant
3/4 cup yogurt
1/8 tsp asofoetida
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 1/2 tbsp chopped coriander
salt to taste
Method
Slice the eggplant into 8 or 4 long slices.
Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook them upto to 4 whistles on medium flame.
Let the pressure cooker cool down.
Remove the cooked eggplant and 1/2 cup of water from the pressure cooker into a prep bowl.
Add yogurt, salt, asofoetida, coriander powder, coriander and mix well.
You can use a mojavo mortar pestle, or whisk it, to blend well.
Chill the dip for about 15 min.
Garnish it with a sprig of coriander
Serve cold with chips of your choice.
Tips
If you like sea salt, replace ordinary salt with sea salt as it tastes well.
Yogurt should not be too sour, otherwise it will mar the taste.
Instinct Factor
The color of the eggplant dip to your liking. If you like a more darker shade, feel free to add some more of the water from the cooked eggplant.
Feel Factor
Mediterranean dip with a new flavor, quick and easy, with a taste that is refreshing due to the yogurt and chilling. Eggplant and yogurt is an interesting combination when flavoured with asofoetida, sea salt and cilantro!
Khichu is a village food, in Gujarat, that is healthy, extremely quick and now is a widely appreciated rural delicacy in Gujarat. There are many variations in this, but traditionally it is made of rice flour or bajri millet flour. Some people also make it with grated corn or rice flakes. Though it is quick , it is a bit tricky and calls for getting the proportion right. The rice flour khichu is the base from which rice papads are made. Rice Papads or Pappadums as popularly known in restaurants, are made from this khichu dough. One rolls the khichu dough into flat circles and dry them in the sun for a few hours.
During my childhood days, we use to make fresh rice papads every fortnight or so. As a child, I would look forward to eating khichu. This was my incentive for helping my mother roll out the rice papads from this. The best way to enjoy this is to have it warm, and soaked in the accompanying oil. The texture of Khichu is smooth, flavored with spices, and extremely soft to eat. The garnish of oil and coriander gives it spicy and oily look and since it is steamed, it is healthy. The recipe here is made using the Khichi flour of Jalpar Brand. The traditional farming community of Gujarat often make the khichu with Bajri or Millet as it has a very high iron content and extremely nutritious.
My exposure to eating this in USA was only in Edison, New Jersey, as it has a high concentration of families from Gujarat,India. I was excited to see this being commercially available in USA, that I made it a point to have a friend of mine try it, and now whenever I get a chance to eat this , I would not want to miss out.
The doughnut shape is what attracted me as a young kid, and it is definitely worth giving it a try for a spicy flavored healthy doughnut made of rice/grains/lentins. Its attractive shape is ideal for a nice appetizers and the advantage of this recipe is, it is quick, easy to make, can be made in advanced and then re steamed or re heated for large group of parties. And because of its shape and texture it is highly appealing to children too!
I explored using the Khichi flour of Jalpar brand, thinking that this would be the Khichu flour, but to my surprise, it came out to be a mix of Green Bean, Rice, Sago Seeds & Cumin and the taste turned out to be quite delicious. The color difference from the original rice flour based khichu, is due to the use of different flour. I read the ingredients of Khichi flour only when I had to write this post!!
Recipe makes 12 pieces of khichu doughnuts about 3 inches in size
Preparation Time 5 min
Cooking time 15 min
Ingredients
1 cup khicchi flour ( Jalpar Brand) or plain rice flour or plain bajri flour
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp asofoetida
1/2 tsp chopped green chillies
1/8 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tbsp chopped coriander for garnish
2 1/3 cup water
salt to taste
For Flavoured oil accompaniment
1/4 cup oil to serve and grease(preferably peanut oil)
Black salt powder
Red chilli powder
salt to taste
Method
In a deep pan, heat the water to boil on medium flame
When the water boils, add, cumin seeds, salt, red pepper powder and bicarbonate soda, green chillies.
When the water reduces to about 2/3rd of its original volume, add slowly the khicchi flour, mixing it thoroughly so no lumps are left
Stir for a couple of minutes, till water is absorbed, and flour forms a lump.
Cover and steam and slow flame for a couple of min.
Remove from flame and let it cool for 3-4 min.
In a broad pan, add, a litre of water to boil.
Grease a steaming dish with oil.
Grease your palms with a bit of oil.
Take about 1/4 cup size dough and roll it on to a ball shape.
Flatten the ball a bit, and pinch it in the middle with the thumb or index finger.
Put it on the greased steaming dish.
When all dough is used up, put the greased dish on to the boiling water, cover and steam on high for 5 min.
Remove from flame and open.
Using flat spatula, lift the cooked doughnut shape khicchu.
If the texture is not extremely smooth on the top, you can flip it and serve.
Make the flavoured oil by mixing red chilli powder, black salt and salt to your desire.( at least 1/4 tsp of each of chilli and black salt powder)
Garnish it with the flavored oil and coriander
Serve hot.
Tips
If the khichu doughnuts spread out to flat shape, that means you have overcooked it, or the soda bi-carbonate is too much.Excess of bicarbonate soda also will give it a bitter taste.
If the water is less, khichu doughnuts will turn out to be stiff and not soft.
Special bicarbonate soda knowns as Papad Kharo available in Indian Grocery store, is used. This is specially used when you are making Papad, as it gives it the appropriate crispiness needed. I have used normal sodium bicarbonate only.
If you do not want to make doughnut shapes, cook it further, and after few minutes, you can mould it in a cup and serve it
Instinct Factor
Steaming the doughnuts,to the texture consistency of your choice as well as the shape of your choice.
Some people also add seasoning of sesame seeds , mustard seeds and green chillies, if that appeals to your taste!
Feel Factor
Comfort food, for me and one just relishes this soft, appetizing, warm and spicy doughnut that just melts in your mouth, when coated in the cayenne pepper and black salt flavored oil! And the new flour that I accidently used, seemed to appeal more to my daughter and I think that this mix was healthier too as it has green lentil and rice in this mix! This is any time quick meal, as an appetizer, snack or dinner!
Inspired by the Independence spirit in air, due to the upcoming 65th republic day of India on January 26, I explored bringing this spirit to cooking. There are various events happening around the town, organized by local Indian Community via IAVA and am looking to forward to celebrating this with total patriotic spirit on 26th January via the Republic day celebrations of IAVA. Something that is simple, colorful, healthy and with a good deal of wow factor as well, is the Triranga Idlis. Triranga name is inspired from the Indian Flag, which is also fondly called as ” Triranga”, as it is in tricolor, The colors are in the order of orange, white and green. The white portion in the middle also has a blue circle with spokes, known as Ashoka Chakra. The idli colors are based on the flag. The natural color of idlis is white as it is primarily rice based. To this I have added carrots for orange and spinach for green. Special quarter coin size idli moulds have been used for the coin size idlis, as these are very appealing to kids and also serve as a good finger bite appetizers in a party. And it also represents the size of the Ashoka Chakra in the middle!
Normally the use of carrots and peas is done as a topping on a rava idli( a variation of idli made from semolina) and I always found this topping very attractive. To make the entire idli colorful, I have mixed the carrots and spinach with the idli dough, so that it is visually more appealing, and also it disguises the taste of carrots and spinach, in case someone does not find them appealing. And needless to say, I do have members who dislike carrots. so I am hoping this is one way I can get them to eat carrots!
Idlis are very healthy and nutritious item and considered as an important breakfast item, in southern part of India, from where it originated. Its made of rice and black lentil . It texture is soft and fluffy and can be savored with sambhar( lentil soup) or chutney, which is often coconut based. Coriander based green chutney or just melted butter are other good accompaniments with idli. When idlis are fresh and hot, they taste yummy even if they are not accompanied with anything, specially when they are the size of coin shapes, as they just melt like small coin chocolates into your mouth!! The flavour of carrots mixed into the idli dough, tastes very nice. I topped the spinach based idli with gunpowder or hot chilli dry powder to create a contrasting flavour while eating. This dry idli chutney powder is easily available in Indian grocery stores. My challenge here is to have the pure green color on the spinach after the idlis are steamed..This is an area that needs some more thought…If any of you have any suggestions on retaining the green color please share…
And the verdict from the family members- yes to carrots based idlis, so here’s wishing Indian readers, a great patriotic week and day on 26th January 2014!
Recipe makes: 64 coin size idlis
Cooking time : 20 min
Preparation time: 15 min
Passive time: 20 min
Ingredients
1 Gits Instant Idli mix
1 cup baby green spinach or chopped spinach
1/2 cup diced carrots
Salt to taste
Oil to grease
Gunpowder or dry idli chutney powder for garnish (optional)
Special Equipment: Coin sized idli moulds, or alternatively regular sized idli mould trays and Idli cooker
Method
Put 3 cups of water to boil.
Boil chopped spinach for 4 min.
Strain the spinach, using a tea strainer, which is easy to lift off.
Re use the same water and boil carrots in it for 7 min.
Strain the carrots.
Grease the idli mould with a few drop of oil. You can skip this step if you would like to cut the calories. The pic here shows idli steamed without the initial grease. Greasing helps to remove the idli smoothly from the mould.
Put to boil 1 litre of water inside the idli cooker, and cover the cooker with a lid. Put this at near high flame, on your second highest burner.
Pour the content of the mix into a wide and deep bowl. I often use a Large Prep Bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix water and oil.
With one hand pour the water/oil mix, at a medium pace in to the large prep bowl, and with the other hand, circularly agitate or stir vigorously the idli mix, as the water is being poured. This step is crucial to idlis being fluffy.
Continue doing this for about couple of minutes, and you will see the idli mix rising.
Divide the idli dough equally into three bowls.
Add spinach to one portion and add carrot to other.
Using hand blender or normal blender, thoroughly mix spinach with its portion of idli dough.
Do the same for the carrot and idli dough.
Pour this mixture into the idli moulds, almost up to the edge. For coin sized idlis you will need idli moulds of that size. The pic here shows the idli mix poured in a regular size idli mould, as I forgot to take pics of the coin sized idlis..
Lower the gas flame, open the idli cooker with caution using a towel or oven glove.
Put the idlis moulds with dough, inside the idli cooker
Cover with the lid and raise the flame to high.
Cook for 20 minutes and then switch off the flame.
For further 20 minutes, keep the the cooker closed.
Then slowly open the cooker, remove the idli moulds
Wait for about 20 seconds, and then using a butter knife slowly release the idlis from its outer edge.
Serve with chutney. lentil soup or sambhar, or eat it with a dash of melted butter/clarified butter(ghee) ,which is also equally delicious.
Tips
Instead of carrots, you can even add tomato puree about 1 tbsp to get the orange color and different flavor. I prefer using the instant dough mix, but the same can be added in relative proportion to the fermented dough recipe too.
Instinct Factor
The amount of water needed in the idli mix depends on the water hardiness of your area. Increase the water content if idlis are hard and reduce if they are too wet and slippery after cooking.
Feel Factor
Have fun by adding colors of your choice to an otherwise regular dish in white. A visually appealing, healthy, kid friendly idlis and a new way of presenting the well known rice lentil idlis. The texture of idlis is soft and smooth. The spinach idli has a little dense flavour, while carrot is light and fun, and plain white idlis is the original light fluffy healthy meal in a lot of households.
The texture of green lentil dosa, is similar to the salted crepes known in the western world. A combination of split skinned green and yellow lentils with green chillies, lucknowi mithi fennel seeds and coriander creates an inviting and refreshing flavor on a crispy crepe. Traditionally dosas are rice and black lentil based and requires fermentation time. This recipe comes from Rajasthan, where it is known as Dal Childa and is often considered as a healthy breakfast option. It does not need fermentation time, has a lot more fibre and is good protein booster. When served with a yogurt accompaniment, it aids the lentils to become protein. They are easy to make as they don’t stick to the pan and so can be easily lifted and cooked. The texture and taste of this dosa or childa may remind you of Adai, a southern indian delicacy.
This can be a great dinner option too, as it is light, fulfilling to taste, easy to make and fennel seeds and coriander add a refreshing taste that gives it a unique flavor.
Recipe Makes 12-15 Dosa Crepes
Cooking Time: 20 min
Preparation Time: 5 min
Soaking TIme : 2 hours
Ingredients
1 cup split green lentils(skinned and split moong dal)
1 cup yellow split lentils(yellow moong dal)
4-5 green chillies
2 tbsp chopped coriander
1/2 tsp fennel seeds (lucknowi mithi saunf)
Salt to taste
Pinch of asofoetida
Oil to grease.
Method
Mix both the lentils in a pan, and wash them thrice in plenty of water, draining water everytime.
Add 4 cups of water and soak for 2-3 hours.
Remove half of the remaining water from the soaked lentils.
In a mixer/food processor, grind the lentil along with the balance water for about 4-5 min.
Add chopped chillies and grind for further 2 min.
Remove the lentil mix from the food processor into a bowl.
Add salt, asofoetida, chopped coriander and fennel seeds and mix thoroughly.
Put a thin round pan/griddle to heat on medium high flame.
Grease the pan with dots of oil
Take 1/3 rd cup of lentil mix and pour it in the center.
Use a crepe tool or use a hollow spoon with round base and spread it evenly into 7-8 inch circle.
Make sure that there are no lumps in the center.
Dot with oil on the edges of the crepe dosa and also a few dots on the top.
Cook on a medium flame and wait for the edges to turn golden brown.
Using a spatula, release the crepe from the sides first.
Then flip it over and cook on the other side till golden brown spots appear.
Roll the crepe and serve with green chutney or plain yogurt or pickle.
Tips
The pan should be well heated in order to have a nice uniform brown color.
The consistency of lentil mix paste, if found too thick, can be diluted with some extra water.
If you prefer crepes with a very soft texture, add 1 tsp gram flour and 1 tbsp yogurt after the grinding of the lentils.
Instinct Factor
Watch for the browning of the edges of the dosa to know that it is done. And start releasing if from the edges and then go to the center to lift off.
Feel Factor
When combined with green chutney or pickle, it is possible to consume multiples of these at a time, as they are thin and light and somehow the guilt of calories is overshadowed by the fact that this is a good protein booster that you are consuming. Also it is closest to satisfying the craving for a Dosa, that can be made fresh easily and quickly, at your convenience.
My new year’s resolution is to have more Pomegranates Yogurt Dip Pomegranate is extremely high on vitamin C, and yogurt with black pepper is a good immunity booster. Pomegranate with yogurt is an attractive dressing on a salad and can also be a delicious accompaniment to rice dishes. A colorful yogurt dip that is fun to make and very appealing to taste. Cutting a pomegranate looks difficult but is very easy when sliced from the top and a bottom and cut as wedges and peeled off. More reading on the benefits of pomegranate seeds – www.washingtonian.com/blogs/wellbeing/nutrition/why-pomegranate-seeds-are-so-good-for-you.php#
Recipe : 1 medium sized bowl or 3-4 people
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Ingredients by Volume
2 cups yogurt
1 cup pomegranate seeds
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste ( ususally double the amount of salt)
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Method
Whisk yogurt salt and sugar for 2-3 minutes, till no lumps are left.
Add pomegranate seeds and black pepper and mix well.
Serve chilled in warmer temperatures.
Tips
Make sure that pomegranate seeds are not too sour.
Instinct Factor
Balancing of salt, sugar and black pepper to taste.
Feel Factor
Chilled yogurt with the crispiness of pomegranate seeds is delicious combination that can be had as dressing on the salad leaves or even as an accompaniment to rice or bread. Enjoy this colorful, cooling and nutritious Pomegranate Yogurt Dip in many more ways of your choice!
One would ponder what the connection is of a Violin with Upma, a southern Indian traditional breakfast, mostly made from Semolina. Maybe nothing, maybe everything… I did not grow up in southern India, but if I were to picture a southern household in my mind, it would be the early morning sounds of the carnatic vocals, sweet sound of violin music and the aroma of the roasting of upma rava, all blending together.
My personal connection is that my daughter is a violinist, and she does not like upma, but it happens to be one of my favorite breakfast meals. So in order to appease her, I thought if I make violin-shaped upmas, she might warm up to the idea of eating them, and I would bring the cultural element to the food too! Violins, as we see in the western world today, has evolved from traditional string instruments in India, per Kala Ramnath an accomplished violinist. Though the technique of playing an Indian violin and Western Violin is different and a concert of the these two different styles of violins being played together would be amazing to hear!
I decided to experiment a bit and try cucumber ranch dressing with the upma, instead of the plain yogurt and liked the combination. It might just become a new appetizer dish! The traditional shape is a round shape, which has also been shown in the pic and the traditional color is white. The red/brown color is from the roasting of rava and tomatoes to give it a violin look. When my daughter saw the upma violins and commented “Oh Mom, thats so cute!!”, it made me smile!
Recipe : 3 people or approx 16 violin shapes
Cooking time : 10 min
Preparation time: 7 min
Ingredients by Volume
2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal(black lentil unskinned)
1 cup rava( semolina)
6-8 pieces of broken cashews
4 curry leaves
1 1/2 green chillies, finely chopped
1tbsp yogurt
2 small tomatoes
2 cups water
salt to taste ( 3/4 tbsp salt approx.)
sugar 1 tbsp (optional)
1/2 onion finely diced( optional)
violin cookie cutter
Method
Heat the ghee in a broad pan on a medium flame.
Add mustard seeds, wait for them to crackle.
Add green chillies.
Add crushed curry leaves.
Add urad dal and saute till golden brown.
Add semolina rava, mix it and stir till light pink in color.
Add salt and optional sugar and diced tomatoes and stir for couple of minutes.
Add 2 cups of water
Mix the water into rava, and let it cook, stirring in between.
When the mixtures starts to thicken and leaves the edges, it is done.
Making it in round shape – Use a small container, fill it with the cooked upma, set it for a minute, invert it and release it on a plate. If it sticks, grease the container with melted ghee.
Making a violin shape – Wait for it to cool for five minutes. Then spread it into a round flat shape like a pizza base, which is about a 1/3″ thick. Using Violin shaped cookie cutter, make violin cutouts, gently releasing the upma from the violins. Repeat the process, till the mix is consumed.
Serve it with plain yogurt, coconut chutney or cucumber ranch.
Tips
Using a thick bottom pan, would help roast rava better, without it burning. Releasing from the moulds needs some skill, but if it breaks, you can easily fix it too as it is soft enough to shape well.
If planning to serve as an appetizers, the violins shapes can be cut and made ready before hand, heated up in a microwave and topped with dressing at the time of serving.
Instinct Factor
Pink color of rava, to your liking. If it becomes dark brown, you are burning it, and watch closely as it can change color fast.
Feel Factor
When eating with a cucumber ranch, the rava upma combines well with the sour yogurt based dip and its mild ranch flavor, that can be easily be served as an appetizer/starter. The tomato skins gave it a nice wood grain look, that is found on the violins.
A yogurt accompaniment gives you the satisfaction of having a comfort meal in a tomato flavor. Roasted cashews, curry leaves and crunchiness of black lentils create an interesting contrast to the creamy texture of semolina.
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