Khaman Dhokla

Dhokla is a Gujrathi snack similar to Idly. There are different forms of Dhokla and Khaman Dhokla is one of them. Here is the recipe for an Instant Khaman Dhokla which is perfect for an evening snack with tamarind chutney or corainder chutney.

Ingredients:

1 cup Besan/Gram flour
Pinch of Turmeric powder
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp citric acid crystals or juice of one whole lemon
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 tsp soda-bicarbonate
Oil for greasing and tempering

For tempering:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds(optional)
Few curry leaves
hing
Finely chopped coriander
grated fresh coconut
Method:
Mix all the dry and wet ingredients(except oil) and make a thick batter, similar to Idly batter. Grease the bowl and pour the batter into it and steam it for about 15 minutes and cool it before taking it out of the bowl. Make the tempering with oil, mustard seeds,curry leaves and hing. Put the dhokla on a plate and add tempering on the dhokla and garnish with cilantro leaves and coconut. Serve warm with chutney.

Avalakki Bisibele Bath

Avalakki is a kannada term which means Poha/ Beaten Rice. This is a simple dish to make and its as yummy as the regular Bisibele Bath. Instead of Rice here we use Avalakki/beaten rice. This is a best dish for Breakfast/Bunch or at Snack time. This can be made heavy meal with lots of vegetables or can be kept simple with just onion. I usually do only with Onion but this time I tried with lot of vegetables as I made it for Lunch on Sankashti, as I'm not supposed to eat Rice/ Toor dal.

Ingredients:
1 cup Beaten Rice
1/2-3/4 cup Moong Dal
1/2 Onion Thinly sliced
1 Tomato chopped
1 cup Vegetables of your choice(I added Beans, Lima Beans, Carrot and Capsicum)
1tbsp Oil
1tsp Mustard seeds
1tsp Urad dal
Hing
Few Curry leaves
10-12 Peanuts/Cashew nuts/both
salt to taste
1tsp Tamarind Paste
Jaggery to taste
1-2tsp MTR Bisibele Bath Masala

Method:
Cook the Moong dal with tomato & vegetables except Onion & Capsicum in a pressure cooker. Meanwhile if the beaten rice needs to be soaked for long time do it now otherwise you can do it at the end. Once the cooker is cooled pour the dal in a heavy bottom pan and get it to a boil and add 1-11/2 cups water and add tamarind paste, Masala, jaggery and salt. Let it boil for 2-3 mins. Meanwhile get the tempering ready with Mustard seeds, urad dal, peanuts, curry leaves, turmeric powder and add onion- capsicum and fry for 2 mins till its soft. Now add the beaten rice to the boiling dal and let it mix well, now keep stirring as it will get thick and burn at the bottom. Finally once it reaches the consistency add the tempering with onion-capsicum and let it cook for 2-3 mins. The BBB is ready, serve it with a spoon of ghee.

Sago/ Sabbakki Idly

I was cleaning my pantry and found some Sabbakki/Sago seeds. The only dish i knew with this was sabbakki payasa/Sago kheer, Which I wasn't in a mood to make but wanted to try something new with this. Upma is one more dish I know, but nobody likes that in my family. So I started my hunt and found this recipe on some blog, So I thought why not give it a try and ....it turned out so good and I liked it. So its a keep for sure.

Ingredients:

1cup Sabbakki/Sago seeds
1cup yogurt
1/2cup Fine sooji
cilantro leaves chopped
1tsp Oil
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
1/2tsp Urad dal
1/2tsp channa dal
1-2 green chillies chopped
salt to taste
3/4tsp ENO/fruit salt
Method:

Soak the Sago seeds in the yogurt overnight or at least 6 hrs with additional water if necessary. In a pan make tempering with oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, green chillies and broken cashew nuts(optional), add sooji and roast it for couple of minutes. Cool it and add it to the tapioca-yogurt batter. Add chopped cilantro, salt and eno and mix well. pour it into Idly stand and steam it for 15 Min's. Enjoy with sambar/chutney of your choice. Eat it warm.It is similar to rava idli's but has a little taste of Sago seeds.

Spinach Chapathi/ Tortilla with Zucchini Palya/sabzi

"Go Green"would be the best name for this dish, as everything is green.In my last grocery shopping I was looking for some tortilla's for making chips and found spinach tortilla and liked the color but I didn't feel like buying as I felt its kinda old. So i thought how about i try it at home and see how it tastes. It was really tasty, healthy and a lovely color. Its simple though as we do regular methi chapati. I usually have the baby spinach bag in my refrigerator, so it made my life a little simpler.

Ingredients:

Chapati:
1 cup Baby spinach
2 cups Wheat flour
1tsp salt
1tsp oil

Palya/Subzi:

4 Zuchhini
2tsp huli pudi/curry powder
1tbsp fresh coconut grated
1tsp oil
1/2tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp urad dal
salt to taste
jageery(optional)
1tsp cilantro for garnish


Method:
Chapati-
Grind the spinach with a little water in a blender/food processor. Now mix that with the wheatflour, salt and oil and make a dough. Now roll each ball and roast it on the griddle for 2 mins on each side.

Palya/Subzi:
Cut the zucchini into cube shapes.Prepare the tempering with mustard seeds and ural dal. Now add the chopped zucchini and fry for 2-3 mins and then add salt and saute for a min more. Now add huli pudi/ curry powder, jaggery and coconut. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with chapati.


I am sending this post to 'Healing Foods Event'-Spinach, hosted by Divya.

Rava Dosa/Crepes

Dosa's are everyones favorite. This is an easy to make Dosa which needs no fermenting time or soaking. Just mix and do whenever you feel like.That's what I like most about. The Rave in this makes it crispier thats why kids love them. They are not as heavy as the Masala Dosa. Its perfect for evening snack.

Ingredients:
1/2cup Rava/Fine Sooji
1/2cup Rice Flour
1/4cup Maida/All purpose Flour
1tbsp Coriander leaves finely chopped
1tsp Cumin seeds
2 Green chillies finely chopped
Salt to taste
Method:
Mix all the flours and Sooji with salt , cumin seeds, green chillies and coriander leaves in a big bowl. Now add water to make a very thin batter. It has to be double the quantity. Now heat a griddle and sprinkle the batter with hands/Big spoon. It should be a very thin. Leave it for a min and add a spoon of oil. Let it cook and starts to leave the griddle, then turn over and cook for a min. Serve hot with chutney.

Masala Dosa(Crepes)

Breakfast is said to be the most important part of the day as it makes your days routine.One of the most popular Breakfast in south Inida is Masala Dosa."Masala Dosa" mentioning this Breakfast/snack makes everybody crave to eat.

I read an article online about Masala Dosa and your Personality, which i loved and wanted to share it with you all, so here you go following with the recipe to make one.

Masala Dosa and Your Personality:

There are many ways to eat a masala dosa .What ever the way one eats; there is a very good reason for doing that. It shows some traits of the person...


Case 1: People who open the masala dosa and eat it: These are the people who are very open about their life. Everyone one the persons friends would know all about him/her. I have generally seen guys do this rather than girls. Some people think that it is a gross way of eating but in truth, these people are just portraying who they are and how their life is.

Case 2: People who start from both end and approach the masala later: These are the people who like to wait for the exiting things to come to their life. Sadly when the times comes, they are not too interested or just do not know how to enjoy it to the fullest. These are the folks who just want life as either dry or exiting. They just do not know how to phase their life and enjoy it no matter what. There are two types of people within this group

Case 2.1: People who do not finish all the masala:These folks just do not care as much for the fun times as they are already brought down by the harsh reality of life. The dry periods in their life has left them with so much scars that they do not want to be really happy when the time is right... They just take only as much as they needed and end their life. A very sorry state indeed.

Case 2.2: People who finish all the masala with the little dosa they have: These are the folks who just are the extremes. They just go all out in life. No matter it is dark or bright. They may not enjoy life to the fullest but they sure make sure that they get every single good and bad thing out of life. Sometimes these folks are really hard to get along with. They are either your best friends or your worst enemies. They do not have a middle path at all.

Case 3: People who start from the middle and proceed to both ends: These are the people who like to get right to what they think is their best part of life. Usually these guys finish of the good portions in a hurry and get stuck with nothing but worst parts of their life. The thing to note among these people is that the tendency to burn out very early in their life. Like the above case, there are two kinds of people in this group too.

Case 3.1: People who do not finish the dosa: These folks are really the saddest of people. They are the ones who tend to end their life as soon as it hits the bad patch. For them, they only need and want the best things in life and nothing more. Typically, they are not prepared or tuned to life as a whole. They just want to enjoy from first till last. Sadly, no one in the world can live without even an ounce of sadness in life. Not even the richest of the richest. But to self destruct at the mere sign of distress is very bad. That is what these guys tend to do. Some learn to live life but most of them do not.

Case 3.1: People who do finish the dosa: These folks are the typical human beings. We all enjoy the greatest of times in life and push the sad parts thinking about the great times in life. Typically the plate is clean and nothing is left for fate or in life. Happiness and sadness are part of life and these guys know that and are kind of prepared for it. Life is not always happy but there are moments of happiness here and there.

Case 4: People who eat the dosa making sure that the masala lasts for the whole dosa: These people are very rare. These are the people who like to attain balance in their life. It is hard to displease these people and it is hard to make them really happy. They like their balance and are very protective of it. Sadly these are the people who tend to be lonely as anyone else may upset the balance of their system. Perfectionist to the core and are very careful. These guys do not make the best company but are needed in any group to make the group from going hay wire.

Case 5: People who do not share and eat the dosa as if it is precious: These folks are very protective about their life. They do not want anyone to come and interfere in their life. They like to hide their true nature and intensions for their benefit. Beware of such people as they are in every group for their own need and nothing else.

Case 6: People who offer their first bite to others: These guys are overly friendly. They do anything to be part of a group and make everyone feel like the group is important than the individuals. They are the glue that holds any group together. They are very friendly and bring the best of all the others in the group. They go out of their way to help other friends. Most groups should have a person like this and they are the ones who plan the group outings and other group activities. Once this person is out of the group, typically the group slowly falls apart.

Case 7: People who take one or two bites and then offer the dosa to others: These guys care about friends and friendship but they take their time to get into the group. They take their time in making friends and they typically are very committed once into the friendship. These guys like to always be in the side lines and typically do not jump into anything in life. They always take their time to analyze the situation and then make a decision. These guys take the better safe than sorry approach.

Case 8: People who wait for others to make the offer first: Typical people I must say. They are unsure about everything. Even if they wanted to offer, they will wait till the other person offers the food first. If the other person is silent, so are these people. They are the followers. They do terrific idea, they will pitch it to someone else and get their advice before proceeding. Sadly, most of the elderly world like these types of people.

Case 9: People who offer dosa only when they cannot finish it on their own: You all may be familiar with these kinds of people. People who are very generous only when all their needs are fulfilled. These folks are selfish but at the same time not misers or greedy. They just want to satisfy themselves before they give it to the world. They typically do not stuff themselves nor do they tend to starve. They are very good people who would give you the best of advices in life. They would make sure that you are not sad following their advice.

Case 10: People who offer the whole dosa and eat from others plates: These folks are other extreme. They know what they want, they get what they want but they cannot enjoy what they want. Instead they tend to settle for other things in life which satisfies the needs but does not satisfy the person completely. These guys are termed as born losers cause even when they have the thing they wanted, they can't stop others from stealing it from them.

So next time you sit with a person eating a masala dosa, look closely and see if he/she falls into one of the above categories. You maybe surprised as how much it reveals about the person.

Enjoy eating Masala Dosa !!!

Ingredients:

1 cup Dosa Batter(soak 3:1 Rice and urad dal for 4-5 hrs and soak 1tsp of methi seeds seperately for few hrs and grind it well with lot of water and add with Rice and Urad dal and grind it to a fine batter and ferment it overnight)
salt to taste

Stuffing/Palya
1cup Boiled and mashed Potaotes
1Onion
2-3 Green chillies
4 curry leaves
1tsp Fresh coconut
1tbsp oil+to fry dosa
1tsp Mustard seeds
1tsp urad dal
1tsp channa dal
1tsp Turmeric powder
Fresh coriander leaves for garnish
Method:

First prepare Palya-take a pan and put a tbsp oil and make tempering by adding mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, turmeric powder,curry leaves and green chillies,onions & saute well.Now add boiled and mashed potaotes and salt to taste and mix with coconut and coriander leaves and keep aside.

Now on tava put 1 big spoon dosa batter and make dosa as thin as possible by adding 1 tsp oil.Once its nicely roasted put 1 scoop of Masala palya in the middle and fold it on both sides and serve with chutney and sambar.

[Note:Dont add salt to the batter before it ferments and add salt only to the batter u r using to make dosa's, the remaining you can store in the refrigerator and use it whenever u need so they dont get sour.
Palya can be made way in advance if required.]

Carrot Rotti

Akki rotti is a popular breakfast dish in South India.Akki means Rice, but here we use Rice flour to make them.Usually its made with lots of onions but can be used any vegetable and it tastes wonderful. Akki rotti must be prepared with fresh grated coconut otherwise the rotti will become hard and doesn't taste as rich as it has to be. Some prefer gravy with it and some don't , its all individual preferences. In my In-law's house they serve with sambar but my Mom's house its eaten with a dollop of butter on top.I like both the ways.I have used carrot in the recipe so it tastes a little sweet, to make it spicy i have added more green chillies again its an optional.

Each person can eat 2 rotti at a time.When you want to prepare more rotti's you can use a Holige paper which you get in India or else alumium foil.Grease it well and pat it and turn it over on the tava and peel it off.It saves time.Another way to do is turn the tava backwards and run cold water on it so it cools the tava and grease the tava with a little oil and continue the same procedure.
Ingredients:

1 cup Rice flour
1/2cup Fresh grated Coconut
1tsp Cumin seeds
3-4 Green chillies
2 Carrots grated
Salt to taste
oil for frying(1-2tsp)
2tbsp Finely chopped coriander leaves



Method:

In a bowl mix all the ingredients except oil using 1/2 cup or less/more of water and make a soft dough.Put some oil on the tava and grease it well and take a ball of dough and pat/spread it evenly on tava and make few holes in the middle and add a spoon oil on the top and roast it on a medium high flame for about 3 minutes and turn it and taost it again.Serve hot with 1tsp of unsalted butter on top or with a cup of Mango puree(Rasayana).

[Note:Don't make the dough too hard nor too soft it will be hard to spread on the tava and it doesn't bake well too.If you dont want to use so much of oil u can dip u hands in the water while patting the rotti on tava and avoid the oil.]