Veggie Platter: Glutenfree

Sunday, July 18, 2021

Cornmeal Idli

Idlis are a classic south Indian breakfast item that are prepared with skinned black gram (urad dal) and parboiled rice or cream of rice. My version today is a twist to the standard version, using cornmeal. Cornmeal is ground, dried yellow corn which ranges from coarse to fine textures. Mine is the coarsely ground version, similar to idli rava aka cream of rice typically used in idli preparation.

Corn is naturally gluten free but be sure to read the labels since other gluten products may be processed in the same facility. Cornmeal is a good source of carbohydrates, phosphorous and iron. These idlis are obviously vegan and gluten free and make a great breakfast or dinner option. Serve them warm with some side dishes like chutney and sambhar for a filling meal. Ours were served with vegetable saagu and chutney.

Ingredients: (Yield - about 20)

1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup skinned black gram / urad dal
3/4 cup water
1.5 tsp. salt or to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse black gram / urad dal thoroughly twice with water by rubbing between fingers. Drain and soak in water in a container for about 3 hours. Similarly rinse cornmeal with water and soak in water in another bowl.

2 & 3. Drain the water from both black gram and cornmeal containers. Squeeze out the water from the cornmeal as much as possible.

4. Add black gram, salt and water (as needed) to a blender and grind finely. (It took me less than two minutes to grind in the blender. Skip adding salt while grinding if living in a hot climate. Add salt to the fermented batter before making idlis.)

5. When the black gram is ground, add cornmeal to the blender.

6. Run the blender for a couple of minutes just to blend the mixture.

7. Transfer the batter to a container and cover it. Leave it in a warm place to ferment overnight. The final batter should be of thick, pouring consistency.

* If living in a cold place, leave the batter container in the oven with the light on. Don't turn on the oven. The batter may take 8 - 10 hours to ferment in a warm place. It may take longer to ferment in cold climate.

* Heat water in a idli cooker / pressure cooker / steamer base on medium heat.

8. Stir the fermented batter with a ladle.

* Grease the idli plates and fill the moulds with the batter. Place the idli stand in the steamer and close the lid. Don't use the pressure valve if using pressure cooker.

* On low medium flame, steam for about 20 - 25 minutes or until when the surface of the idlis don't stick when touched with moist fingers. Turn off the stove and let sit for about 10 minutes.

* Run a sharp spoon around the edges of idlis and remove the idlis.

* Serve them warm for breakfast drizzling some melted ghee over idlis, along with coconut chutney and/or sambhar. Ours were served with vegetable saagu and chutney.

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Thursday, September 26, 2019

Jowar Kothimbir Vadi (Vegan and Gluten Free)

It is turn today for kothimbir vadi, a spicy and locally popular snack from the state of Maharashtra. As the name suggests, kothimbir or the cilantro is the star of the dish. Cilantro is not used as a garnish here but forms a major component of the dish. If you leave out cilantro, it no longer would be a kothimbir vadi. The spicy and crispy vadis are delicious to snack on or even work as a light meal.

A thick batter made with chickpea flour, aromatic cilantro and flavorful spices is steamed and then cut into desired shapes. The batter can be pan fried or steamed, cut into pieces and fried. In case of steaming, if the batter resembles a thick dough, then it can be shaped into rolls and steamed like Gujarati muthias and then cut into slices. If the batter is slightly on the pourable side (like mine is in this post) then it can be poured into a container and steamed. The steamed vadi can be eaten as it is if one wishes to keep it healthy. Or they can be deep fried or shallow fried or even air-fried until golden and crisp making it an enjoyable treat with a cup of coffee / tea or can be eaten even as a dinner.

I have a favorite recipe of kothimbir vadi which gets made now and then in my home. In fact, it was made three times in the past two months, of course with different flour bases. Chickpea flour is of course the original base of a kothimbir wadi recipe and sorghum flour can also be used. I have tried even with bajra / millet flour and it works fine too. Today's version uses jowar flour / sorghum flour along with chickpea flour. The original recipe is healthy and protein packed on it's own but I keep changing the flour base just for variation. I would recommend not to skip the frying part for this jowar kothimbir vadis. The crispy vadis are a treat and the shallow frying doesn't need much oil. I skip garlic from the recipe but feel free to add it if you like it.

Ingredients: (Yield - 2 or 3 servings)
1 cup tightly packed cilantro leaves / 1 big bunch
1/2 cup sorghum flour / jowar flour
1/2 cup chickpea flour / besan
1/4 cup rice flour
1/8 tsp. turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp. or more red chili powder
1 heaped tsp. white sesame seeds
1 heaped tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. green chili paste
1 tsp. ginger paste or grated
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp. water
Oil for shallow frying

Method:
* Wash and drain cilantro. Chop them roughly.

* Sieve chickpea flour. Add all ingredients to a bowl, except the water and oil.

* Mix all the ingredients well. (Note that turmeric and baking soda react and the dish may end up looking orange / red. Use a tiny quantity of turmeric and if the final dish looks different colored than yellow, don't be alarmed.)

* Add about 3/4 cup water next and combine to mix. Add a little extra if needed to make a thick batter and stir well to remove any lumps if present. (I needed 2 tablespoons extra.)

* Grease a plate with at least one inch depth and pour the batter into it. Steam until a skewer inserted in the middle comes clean. (The final dish doesn't rise much and so choose a plate or container enough to hold the batter. I steamed in my pressure cooker with out the weight on. It took me around 30 minutes on low-medium flame.)

* Remove the steamed vadi from the steamer and let it cool a bit.

* Then run a knife around the edges and flip over to unmold it. Slice into desired shapes - square, diamond or wedges. Pan fry or air fry the slices if vadis need to be crispy.