Plantain Dosa

For the first time, I was scouring the blogs thoroughly because of this month's MBP theme. I went on looking for recipes with ingredients counting to five or less and in the process came across so many amazing recipes which I had never even heard of. During this recipe hunting process, I noticed that even a simple Indian dish is made using at least 8 to 10 ingredients. That does not mean that there were no dishes which used minimal ingredients. There are plenty as Nupur's posts indicate and there are also recipes which needed even less than five as this plantain dosa. The recipe for plantain dosa comes from Seema's Recipe Junction . I used to visit her blog regularly and I wonder why she stopped blogging. I tried earlier her banana dosas too. While banana dosas (had a slight hint of banana muffin flavor) are for those who love sweet breakfasts in the morning, these plantain dosas are a different story. There is not even a subtle hint of the plantains and they tasted exactly like rice flour dosas with the added nutrition of the veggie. And they are thin and crispy as Seema pointed out. They make a great breakfast or evening snack. The recipe is very simple. Soak one cup of rice in water for about two hours. Peel a plantain and slice into circles. Grind it finely with enough water to a dosa batter consistency and add required amount of salt. That's it and no fermentation required. Heat a non stick pan and spread a ladleful of batter into a thin circle. Spread 1/2 tsp of oil around the edges and roast it till it turns golden brown. Then flip it, spread the oil again and let it cook on the other side as well. Repeat the same with the remaining batter. Using a nonstick pan is better since batters using only rice tend to stick when you try to spread it. Also adding 1/4 cup of uraddal to rice while soaking helps and throwing a handful of fresh grated coconut and a little asafoetida enhances the taste of the dosa. These Plantain Dosas go to Nupur's 'Less is More' themed MBP. Post a Comment

Sorakaya Payasam / Bottle Gourd Kheer

Kids look forward to summer vacation from the first day of school and it is the time parents dread to hear the words 'I am bored.' My little one keeps herself busy with her summer school (which ends this week), jumping around the house, watching TV and movies (after a lot of begging and nagging of course) and trying to find ways to free herself from matriarchal tyranny and the ultimate punishment of eating. With my older one, it is the other way around. After amusing enough for the day with all the fun activities he could think of, he turns towards me. After testing my I.Q. for a while, his attention shifts towards this blog. Probably because it is the only interesting thing he has ever seen his mom doing (other than cooking of course) and that too half heartedly. Also he is busy finding ways to make me blog. Below is one of our stimulating conversations. Him: 'Mom, why aren't you blogging'? Me: 'I will post something today'. Him: 'What are you going to post'? Me: 'Still thinking'. Him: 'Can you prepare a dish from scratch'? Me: 'What does that mean'? Him: 'Like everything has to be grown by you'. Me: 'Umm. If I knew how to cook with maple leaves, daffodils, hosta or roses'. To simplify matters this time, he shoots an easier one. Him: 'Can you come up with a new dish, which you can call your own'? Me: 'May be'. Him: 'Or how about something which I have never tasted before'? Me: 'Let me see' Him: 'A dessert'? Me: 'Sure'. I am amused by the way he asks those questions so innocently. He is fun to have around and is genuinely interested in my food blogging. When I started blogging almost a couple of years ago, he was 7. He learnt some HTML and Javascript coding from our book collection and helped me out a lot. Even now, if I have any problems related to blog, I go to him instead of my husband, who happens to be a technical guy. This payasam is for dear Shreyas who puts his 100% efforts towards anything he does. And, oh yes, he has never tasted this before. He, a payasam lover would be happy with this yummylicious dessert. He needs to upload some pictures though, before tasting it. This payasam is a pleasant addition to the other Indian bottle gourd dishes which range from mild dals, spicy curries, scrumptious koftas to delicious halwa. It is a quite simple preparation and anyone who knows how to grate and stir can prepare this.

Ingredients required: 1 cup of grated bottle gourd 3 cups of milk 1/4 + 2 Tbsp Sugar 1/2 tsp of cardamom powder 2 tsp + 2 tsp Ghee (clarified butter) 1 Tbsp of raisins and unsalted cashews I used half of a medium sized bottle gourd. I peeled, quartered, removed the seeds and grated it. I had about a cup of grated bottle gourd. Regarding the milk, it is better to go with whole milk or 2%. I used two portions of whole milk and one portion of 1% milk. Or try even adding a portion of evaporated milk. Any payasam tastes rich, delicious and creamy using milk with fat. Use fat free if you are the only person who is going to eat it or like a watery payasam. :) And coming to sugar, I used a little more than 1/4 cup sugar. Adjust the quantity according to the sweetness preferred. And last but not least important thing is, use a non stick sauce pan to prepare this payasam. You don't have to worry about the payasam getting stuck to the bottom or getting burnt or the cleaning mess. The cooking part: Heat two tsps of ghee in a non stick sauce pan and add grated gourd. Saute on medium flame for about five minutes. Then add about a cup of milk and let it cook on medium flame. You don't have to worry about the milk boiling over if you add milk in small quantities. Stir a couple of times in between. When the milk quantity has reduced, add some more milk and cook for few more minutes. Finally add all the milk, sugar, cardamom powder and let it cook for five more minutes. Heat two tsps of ghee in asmall pan and add the cashews and raisins and toast them till they brown and add it to the payasam. Totally I cooked for 20 - 25 minutes to reduce the milk to about 3/4 th the original quantity added. By this, you will have a rich, creamier kheer as I said above. I think the cooking time may be reduced if this is prepared in a MW.

This goes to dear Pooja's VOW - Bottle Gourd and Mythreyee' s 'Cool Desserts' . Post a Comment Recipe Source: Thanks to Deepthi who remembered to ask this wonderful recipe, when she called her mother.

Fruity Yogurt

When I was trying to come up with a recipe for a fruit based yogurt, my peach shrikhand and pomegranate raita posts gave me an idea. Instead of pureeing the fruit, I added chunks to the creamy yogurt and the result was a fat free & guilt free snack. It was a healthy, delicious dessert with no sweeteners and preservatives added. Ingredients: Yogurt Chopped fruit I used fat free yogurt and for fruit - chopped mango, nectarine, peach, pear and plum. Any fruit which goes well with yogurt can be substituted. A creamier texture can be obtained using fat free yogurt by just hanging the yogurt in a cotton cloth. Freshly prepared yogurt tastes better since it doesn't go sour during the draining process. Cover a colander with a thin cotton cloth and pour the yogurt into it. Then tie the cotton cloth into a bundle and leave it in the colander. No need to place weight on it. I placed a bowl underneath the colander to catch the drips and put it in the refrigerator. That water can be used to prepare roti dough instead of throwing it away. Drain the yogurt for a couple of hours and the end product is a thick yogurt with a creamy texture. Then mix the chopped fruit and serve. I used half a cup of fruit for a cup of hung yogurt. This healthy, luscious, creamy dessert can be served as it is or refrigerated for a couple of hours before serving. Note: If the hung yogurt goes sour, try adding a sweetener packet. This goes to 'Frozen yogurt' event hosted by Siri of Siri's Corner and also 'Eat healthy - Protein rich' contest hosted at "Art of cooking Indian food'. Post a comment

Coconut Poha

Poha is one of the quicker breakfasts cooked in an Indian kitchen. This coconut version is much faster and can be prepared in less than fifteen minutes as it doesn't involve sauteing any veggies. Also the addition of coconut adds a slight sweet tinge to the poha making it more delicious. Ingredients: Thick variety poha - 2 cups Grated coconut (fresh / frozen) - 1/2 cup Medium hot green chillies, finely chopped - 4 or 5 Salt - 1 tsp For seasoning - 3 or 4 Tbsp oil, a handful of peanuts, 1 Tbsp chanadal, 1 tsp mustard seeds, Curry leaves, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder Chopped cilantro (Optional) - 2 Tbsp Cooking: * Wash the poha thoroughly twice with water, drain all the water and keep it covered for about 6-7 minutes. * Meanwhile, chop the chillies, grate the coconut or zap in a MW for a minute if using frozen coconut. * Take a deep bottomed pan and heat the oil. Then add peanuts, chanadal, mustard seeds, green chillies, curry leaves and turmeric powder in the mentioned order. When peanuts and chanadal start to turn reddish, add the softened poha, grated coconut, salt and cilantro if using. * Turn around the poha mixture till all the ingredients are mixed well. Cook covered on low for five minutes. * Stir the content gently one more time before serving. Coconut poha tastes good when served hot / warm. This goes to AFAM - Coconut hosted by Suganya Of Tasty Palettes. & to WBB - Express breakfasts hosted by Raaga of The Singing Chef. Post a Comment

Spinach Roti / Palak Paratha Pictorial

Adding or stuffing vegetables / paneer / leafy greens while preparing rotis can add a new dimension to them. They are not only more interesting and appealing but also are healthier. In this recipe, while preparing the dough for spinach rotis, I replaced water by fat free milk to make them more nutritious and softer. Ingredients to make a dozen rotis: 
Chapathi flour - 2 & 1/2 cups 
Spinach leaves from a bunch with stalks removed 
Fat free milk (or water) - 1 & 1/4 cups ( more or less depending upon the quantity of the flour. If using milk, let it be at room temperature.)  
Salt - 1 tsp 
Oil / ghee to fry the rotis  

Preparing spinach rotis: Cook briefly the spinach leaves adding a tbsp of water until it is just wilted. Wash them with cold water, drain and finely chop. Squeeze out any extra water present. Add salt to the flour to a bowl and mix well. Then add spinach and later milk little by little till a soft, pliable dough 
is formed.
   
Knead for five minutes, cover and rest it for at least 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 12 balls equal in size. Work with one ball at a time keeping the rest covered. On a lightly floured surface like a rolling board or the counter top, evenly roll out the ball in to approximtaely 6 - 7 inches circle with a millimeter thickness. Keep dusting lightly with flour to avoid sticking
the dough to the rolling surface.
 
 If you want layered, flaky parathas instead, roll the dough ball into a five inches circle, spread 1/4 tsp oil, fold into half and then fold one more time to get a triangle. Roll it into a thin triangle as below.
   
Heat a tava / griddle / heavy based frying pan. Fry one roti at a time on medium heat. Place the rolled triangle onto the hot griddle. Toast for about a minute. Small bubbles start to appear on the surface. Then flip it to the other side using a spatula. Add 1/2 tsp oil around the edges and spread around 1/4 tsp oil on the surface. Toast the other side too. Keep moving around and pressing the roti a little with the spatula for uniform toasting including the edges. Flip the roti one more time if required. Properly toasted roti / parathas have small brown spots all over it. Remove the roti and keep it covered.
   
Make rotis similarly with the rest of the dough. Serve it with any vegetable dish / pickle / yogurt.  

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Green Apple Relish / Chutney

A few years back, when I did see recipes for apple chutney (not from Indian food blogs and there were none then), I thought the people who came up with those recipes have gone crazy in the name of experimentation. Later, Bee piqued my curiosity when she left a comment on my quick mango chutney saying that they prepare it using green apples as well. I was in the mood of eating some tangy, chatpata kind of stuff along with upma today and remembered her comment. I had green apples in the refrigerator and so went on to prepare this instant, spicy relish. I was just hoping it to be a decent substitute for mango but surprisingly, the taste is very closer to the mango version. It is because of the tartness of this apple variety. If you don't mention the name of the relish, probably the people at the table would assume it to be the green mango chutney. Ingredients: One Granny Smith apple - seeds removed and chopped into fine cubes Lemon / Lime juice - 2 Tbsp (more or less depending upon the tartness of the apple) Chili powder - 1/2 tsp Salt to taste For seasoning - 2 tsp oil, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, a little asafoetida according to taste and little turmeric powder Method: It is quite simple and takes just five minutes to prepare.

• Heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds. When they start to crackle, add asafoetida and turmeric powder and turn off the stove.
• Add the lemon juice, chili powder and salt to the apple cubes. Taste and adjust the ingredients.
• Add the above seasoning to the apple mixture and stir well.

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Green Papaya Saagu

Somehow, my posts are not getting updated on Taste of India. Readers who would like to get my post updates can subscribe to Veggie Platter by just entering their email id on the side bar. Thanks. And today's recipe is saagu. Saagu, a side dish from Karnataka is prepared with loads of vegetables and usually served with pooris. However, there are a few vegetables which taste good when used alone even with out any onions and tomatoes while preparing saagu. Green papaya is one of those. This simple, non - greasy preparation would take 15 - 2o minutes. Ingredients: Green papaya - Peeled, seeds removed and chopped into small cubes - 4 cups Daliya / Roasted Chickpeas - 1/4 cup Poppy seeds - 1 tsp Cilantro leaves - 2 Tbsp Cinnamon pieces - 1 tsp Moggu / Mogga - 3 (No idea about the English name and definitely, it's not anise / star anise) Green chillies - 5 Salt - 1 & 1/4 tsp For seasoning - 1 Tbsp oil, 1 tsp chana dal, 1 tsp mustard seeds and a few curry leaves

Upper row: L to R - cilantro, papaya, green chilliesLower row: L to R -cinnamon, moggu, poppy seeds, daliya Method: Heat oil in a karhai / deep saute pan. Add chanadal, mustard seeds and curry leaves. When chandal starts turning golden - red and mustards seeds start to pop, add papaya cubes and about 2 cups of water to the pan. Cook for 10 minutes on high flame. Adjust the quantity of water if required. Papaya would be cooked well by this time. It would be done, still holding shape with out turning mushy. In the mean time grind daliya, poppy seeds, cilantro, cinnamon, moggu, green chillies with enough water and grind into a smooth paste. Add this paste and salt to the cooked papaya. (Or go on adding the paste little by little to check the taste instead of adding the whole paste). Allow it to simmer for about five minutes and then turn off the stove. Serve with rotis / pooris. Now coming to my absence from blogosphere, it was not planned. I would like to thank all my readers / fellow bloggers who kept visiting my blog during my absence and also enquired about my well - being. It initially started due to my laziness and later as I prolonged it, it seemed hard to come back. Then it was my kids' health, their schoolwork, our computer crashing down and above all, the death of a dear cousin. I am still grieving over the loss. He was not even 30, had a wonderful career and was married just a couple of weeks earlier. Related posts: Cabbage Saagu Post a Comment

Happy Sri Rama Navami

Andhra Summers can be challenging with temperatures reaching around 110 deg F mark, in most of the areas. Sri Rama navami falls on a summer day and to beat the heat, natural coolants like vadapappu, panakam, majjiga (thinned yogurt) are served to guests on the auspicious occasion. Vada pappu is quiet simple in preparation and needs no cooking or seasoning. Wash and soak moongdal (yellow one) in water for an hour or two. Drain all the water and the nutritious vadapappu is ready to serve.



Vada pappu (above) and panakam (below) - Natural coolants, Andhra style
To make panakam, you would need: 
1.5 cups of water
1/4 cup of powdered jaggery (More or less depending upon the sweetness of the jaggery.)
5 -6 pepper corns crushed 
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

Making panakam:
Add jaggery to the water and stir till it dissloves. Strain the liquid using a clean cloth to remove any impurities. Then add pepper and cardamom powders to the filtered liquid. Taste and adjust the ingredients if needed.

Happy Sri Rama Navami.
Related Posts: Moongdal - Cucumber Kosumbari
Chanadal - Carrot Kosumbari

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Happy Ugadi

Sarvadhari nama samvathsaraadi subhakankshalu. I wish everyone a very happy Ugadi. Post a comment

Cabbage with Fresh Garbanzo Beans

Adding protein to veggies while preparing subzis is a common thing in our cooking. Adding various beans and dals like toordal, moongdal, fresh soybeans, green peas will increase the nutrition value besides enhancing the taste factor. Today's recipe has the addition of fresh garbanzo beans to cabbage. Unlike the dried version chana, fresh garbanzo are so sweet and tender that one would love to snack on them instead of adding to some thing else. Ingredients needed: Cabbage, finely chopped - 4 cups Green garbanzo beans (removed from the pods)- 1/4 cup A handful of fresh, grated coconut Finely chopped green chillies - 2 Salt For popu/seasoning - 1 tbsp oil, 1 tsp each of chanadal, uraddal and mustard seeds, A few curry leaves Cooking part: Heat oil in a skillet and add all the seasoning ingredients in that order. When mustard seeds start to pop and the dals start turn to red, add the green chillies and saute for about 30 seconds and add the cabbage to the skillet. Cook the cabbage till it is done with in between stirring. It would have turned tender. To this cabbage, add the coconut, garbanzo beans and salt and mix well. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, mix agian and turn off the stove. Post a Comment