Poha Upma / Atukula Upma

This can be prepared very instantly and tasty to eat too.

Learnt From: My Mom

Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients:

Poha --- 1 ¼ cup
Onion --- 1/2 of the big one
Green Chilies --- 8 small
Salt --- to taste

For Seasoning:

Oil --- 5 tblsn
Channa Dal --- 1 tblsn
Split urad dal --- 1 tsp
Mustard seeds --- 1 tsp
Curry Leaves --- 5-6

Process:

Chop onions and green chilies to small pieces.
Clean poha with water.
Drain the water by keeping the cleaned poha in a colander.
Mix enough salt to the poha … in the colander itself.


Heat 5 tblsn of oil in a pan.


Add and toast seasoning one by one like … channa dal, urad dal & mustard seeds.
When mustard seeds starts spluttering add chopped green chilies and onions to the pan.


Add enough salt to the onions and fry till they turn to translucent colour.
Add poha which we kept aside by mixing salt to it.


Sauté for 5 minutes.
Serve hot.

Mint / Podina Rice

Learnt From: My friend Sunitha

Serving for:

As a full meal for 3 people.
As a part of a meal for 4-5 people.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice --- 1 cup
Water --- 1 ½ cup
Salt --- to taste
Carrots --- 3 medium (when chopped 1 cup)
Potato --- 1 big (when chopped 1 cup)
Green Peas --- 1 cup
French Beans --- 1 cup
Ghee --- 2 tblsn (after melting)

Ingredients to Grind:

Mint / Podina leaves --- 2 cups (2 small bunches)
Coriander leaves --- 1 cup (1 small bunch)
Green chilies --- 5 small
Garlic --- 2 big cloves
Ginger --- 2 inches piece
Cloves --- 8
Cinnamon --- ½ stick
Cardamom --- 2 pods
Coconut --- small piece (when shredded 3 tblsn)
Water --- ½ cup
Salt --- to taste

Process:

Pluck mint & coriander leaves.
In a rice cooker clean and soak 1 cup of basmati rice in water. Keep it aside.

In a blender add 8 cloves, ½ cinnamon stick, 2 pods of cardamom, 5 green chilies, 2 inches of peeled ginger piece, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 cups of cleaned mint leaves, 1 cup of cleaned coriander leaves with enough salt and ½ cup of water…. Grind them to a smooth paste.


Peel and chop 1 potato and 3 carrots.
Pluck 1 cup of French beans.
Heat 2 tblsn of ghee in a deep pan.
Add chopped potato, carrots & beans.
Add green peas and enough salt to the vegetables.
Fry for 5 minutes.
Add grinded paste and cook till the wateriness goes off.

Drain the water from basmati rice… transfer tht partially cooked vegetables to the rice cooker.
Add 1 ½ cup of water and enough salt to the rice.


Keep it in ‘Cook’ till done. At the time of cooking nice aroma spreads.


Have plain podina rice or along with raitha. Either is fine.

Tomato Dosa

Learnt From: http://www.sailusfood.com/

Makes: 6 dosas

Ingredients:

• Raw Rice --- 1 Cup
• Urad Dal --- 2 tblsn
• Fenugreek Seeds --- ¼ tsp
• Tomatoes --- 2
• Shredded Coconut --- 2 tblsn
• Dry Red Chilies --- 3 (De-seeded)
• Jaggery --- ½ piece
• Salt --- to taste
• Oil --- as required

Prerequisite:

Clean and soak raw-rice , urad dal & fenugreek seeds in water for 2-3 hours.

Process:

Drain the water.


Add cleaned & soaked raw-rice, urad dal & fenugreek seeds into a blender.
Chop 2 tomatoes. Add to the blender.
Add 2 tblsn of shredded coconut, 3 Dry red chilies without seeds, small piece of jaggary & enough salt to the blender.


Add a very little water and grind them to a smooth paste & liquefy it like normal dosa batter to make dosa.


Heat griddle.
Pour a ladleful of batter on the griddle.
Spread the batter with the ladle of the batter to make a round shape.


Add a tsp of oil on the rims & top of the dosa.
Flip it over when the bottom of the dosa cooked to light golden colour.
When it is cooked on the reverse side too … fold the dosa to half and transfer the dosa to a serving plate.
Serve hot with peanuts coconut chutney or channa coconut chutney.


Note:

No need to ferment the batter.

Basundi

Yesterday we completed 9 months and entered into the 10th month of our married life. In tht occasion I want to make some thing. I tried Basundi and it came out good.

Time: 1 hr 30 min

Makes: 2 Servings


Ingredients:

Whole milk --- 3 Cups

---

Sugar --- 3 tsp

---

Saffron --- a few strands

---

Cardamom powder --- a pinch

---

Condesed Milk --- 3 tblsn

---

Process:

Heat milk in a deep pan for a boil.

Add sugar, saffron, cardamom powder & condensed milk.




Simmer it for 1hr 20 minutes.
Stir occasionally. Don’t cover it with a lid.



Turn off the heat when a thick layer forms on the pan.



Let it cool and refrigerate.
Have it.

Raitha

Ingredients:

Curd --- ¾ cup
Water --- ½ cup
Onion --- ½ big --- Chopped into small pieces
Tomatoes --- 2 --- Chopped into small pieces
Carrots --- 1 --- Grated
Salt --- to taste


Process:

In a bowl add curd.
Add water to it.
Just mix with spoon.
Add chopped onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves & grated carrot.
Add salt to taste.
Mix all together.

Bisi Belle Bath

Last week we had a potluck at my house. Then Saroj brought this bisi belle bath. I tasted it for the first time. It was very good. Later, I asked her the recipe. Yesterday I tried it. It came out really good. First I learnt Rasmalai from her and second one is this. Both are very good recipes. Thank you Saroj.

Learnt From:

I learnt this recipe from my friend Saroj.

Ingredients:

Raw-Rice --- 1 cup
Toor Dal --- ½ cup
Water --- 2 cups & 1 cup
Onion --- 1 Big
Potato --- 1
Carrots --- 2
Frozen Green Peas --- ¾ cup
Peanuts --- ¼ cup
Salt --- to taste
Tomatoes --- 2
Oil --- 5 tblsn
Mustard seeds --- 1 tblsn
Turmeric Powder --- a big pinch
Ghee --- 3 tblsn



For Grinding:

Tamarind --- a full fist
Onion --- ½ of the big one (fried)
Cinnamon stick --- ½ of the stick
Cloves --- 5-6
Dry Red Chilies --- 8
Shredded Coconut --- 5 tblsn
Jaggary --- ½ piece
Sambar Powder --- 4 tsp

Note:

I used sambar powder 2 tsp and MTR Rasam Mix powder 2 tsp. If you have this rasam powder use this also it tastes really wonderful.

Process:

Add 1 cup of raw-rice and ½ cup of toor dal to a pressure cooker. Clean them twice with water. Add 2 cups of water and enough salt to it. Pressure cook it for a whistle. Wait till the pressure goes away. Transfer the content to another bowl.

Chop ½ of the big onion. Peel and chop 2 Carrots & a Potato. In the same cooker add chopped ones, ¾ th cup of green peas & ¼ th cup of peanuts. Add one cup of water and enough salt to the cooker and cook it for a whistle.

Heat tamarind in a little water … take 2 cups of tamarind juice out of it by adding little more water. Chop ½ of the big onion into pieces. Heat a tblsn of oil and fry chopped onions. In a blender add fried onions, ½ of the cinnamon stick, 5 cloves, 8 dry red chilies, shredded coconut, sambar powder & 1/2 piece of jaggery … Grind them to a smooth paste by adding little tamarind juice to the blender.

Chop ½ of the big onion and 2 tomatoes into pieces. In a deep big saucepan add 5 tblsn of oil. Add mustard seeds. Fry them till they splutter. Add a big pinch of turmeric powder. Add chopped onions fry it for 2 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes … fry it for 2 more minutes. Add the grinded paste, cooked vegetables & cooked rice with toordal to the saucepan.

Add remaining tamarind juice and adjust salt.

Cover it with a lid and cook it on medium heat for about 15-20 minutes till the aroma spreads. Remove it from heat. Add 3 tblsn of ghee. Mix well.


Have it with Raitha. To see Raitha recipe... Click here.

Uthappam / Uttappam

The dosa which prepares with ‘idly batter’ is called as ‘Uthappam’ or ‘Dibba Rotte’. To see how to prepare idly batter click here. It is good when the batter ferments properly. It can also be prepared with freshly grinded batter.

Ingredients:

1. Idly batter


2. Chopped green chilies (slit a chilly into 4 pieces and then chop


3. Finely Chopped onions (Very small)


4. Grated Carrot


5. Finely chopped Coriander leaves


6. Oil

Process of making dosa:

• Pour a ladleful of batter on a preheated griddle.



• Spread it with the bottom of the ladle onto the griddle to a round shape. The dosa should be thicker than dosa. How much thicker depends on individual taste. My husband likes a very thick dosa and I like dosa just thicker than normal dosa.



• Top it with chopped green chilies, onions, grated carrot & chopped coriander leaves.




• Press the topping with a spatula.



• Add tsp on oil on the rims and top of the dosa.



• When the bottom of the dosa is cooked reverse the dosa very gently.



• Again add one more tsp of oil on the rims of the dosa.



• When it is done… transfer the dosa to a serving plate.



• Have it with Peanuts Coconut Chutney or Channa Coconut Chutney.

Tomato Curry

Learnt From: My Mom

Serving for: 4 people

Ingredients:

Tomatoes --- 4 medium
Onion --- 1/4 of the big one
Green Chilies --- 5-6
Salt --- as per taste

For Seasoning:

Oil --- 2 tblsn
Split Urad dal --- 1 tsp
Mustard seeds --- ¾ tsp
Cumin seeds --- ½ tsp
Dry Red Chilly --- 1 Chopped
Curry Leaves --- 5-6

Process:

Chop tomatoes into small pieces.
Chop Onions
Chop Green Chilies
Heat 2 tblsn of oil in a pan.
Add & Toast seasoning one by one like … urad dal, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chopped red chilly.
Add curry leaves & chopped green chilies… Stir fry till the green chilies get white spots… it takes a minute.
Add chopped onions… fry them till they turn to translucent.
Add chopped tomatoes and enough salt to it.
Cover it with a lid.
Stir occasionally.
When the curry comes together turn off the heat and transfer the curry to a serving bowl.

Potato Fry

Learnt From: My Mom

Serving for: 4 people

Ingredients:

Potatoes --- 3 big
Oil --- 7-8 tblsn
Salt --- to taste
Red chilly powder --- 1 tsp

Process:

Peel the skin of potatoes. Keep them in water.
Chop them into small cubes. Keep the chopped in water.
Heat oil in a wide pan in Medium-High heat.
Add chopped potatoes onto the pan.
Stir them up with a spatula. Uncover the lid. Being it is a fry should not be covered with lid.
Stir occasionally.
Add enough salt after the potatoes turn to translucent colour.
Stir occasionally till the potatoes turn to light golden colour.
Then turn the heat to Medium.
Stir fry… or else the potatoes may be roasted.
Remove the pan from heat when the potatoes turn to golden colour.
Add red chilly powder.
Transfer the fry to a serving bowl.
Serve hot.
Have it with rice or rice along with rasam.

Ravva Laddu / Rawa Laddoo

Learnt From: My Mom

Serving: 19 laddoos (You can adjust the number to big or small)

Ingredients:

Sooji / Bombai Ravva --- 1 Cup
Shredded Coconut --- 2 Cups
Sugar --- 1 Cup (adjust it) (I used Imperial Sugar) (Don’t use Sugar powder)
Ghee --- 8-10 tblsn
Cashews --- 10 (Break them into half and make 20)





Process:

Heat a tblsn of ghee in a pan.
Stir fry Cashews till golden brown.
Keep the fried cashews into a bowl.
In the same pan add & heat 4 more tblsn of ghee.
Add sooji into the pan and stir fry it till it turns to just golden brown. Dont over fry Sooji.
Transfer the sooji into another bowl.
Add a cup of sugar to it.
Add & heat 3-4 tblsn of ghee to the same pan.
Add shredded coconut and stir fry for 2 minutes. Dont over fry coconut too. Fry till the Rawness goes off.
Add the fried coconut to the fried sooji.
Mix all of them hardly with hand so tht all will combine properly and it will become correct to make a laddu.
Make the mixture like laddus and garnish each laddu with a fried cashew.

Note:

Dont over fry Sooji and Shredded Coconut.

Storage:

Cool them and store in an air tight container.

Besan Dosa

When you have in hurry to prepare break fast you can try this one. Making batter and frying dosa both take a very short time. It is an Instant dosa.

Learnt From: Saroj's Cook Book

Time:

Preparing Batter: 5 minutes
Heating Dosa: 1 minutes per dosa

Serving: 5 dosas

Ingredients:

Besan / Gram flour --- 80 ml (I took 80 ml as a messuring cup)
Maida / Plain / All purpose flour --- 160 ml (double to the besan quantity)(2 cups)
Water --- 280 ml (1 ¾ cup) (adjust it)
Salt --- to taste

Process:

In a bowl… Add Besan, Maida flours.
Add water little by little and mix it without any lumps. The batter should not too thin or too thick.
Add enough salt to the mixed batter and mix it well.
Heat griddle.
Pour ladleful of batter on the centre of the griddle.
Spread the batter thinly to a round shape.
Add oil around the rims and on the dosa.
Allow the bottom to turn to golden colour.
Flip over the dosa to the other side with the help of spatula.
Let it fry for 10 seconds.
Transfer the dosa to a serving plate.
Have it with chutney.

Sorrakaya Appachi / Bottle-Gourd Dosa

Learnt from: My Mom.

Serves: 15 Dosas

Ingredients:

Bottle gourd / Lauki / Sorrakaya or Anapakaya --- 1 small or 2 cups of grated bottle gourd
Rice flour --- 2 Cups (adjust)
Green chilies --- 4
Onions --- 1 ¼ of big one
Red chilly powder --- 1 tsp
Salt --- as per taste

Process of making batter:

Peel, core, & grate bottle-gourd.

Chop green chilies into small pieces. Add green chilies to the grated bottle-gourd.
Chop Onions into small pieces. Add them to the grated bottle-gourd.
Don’t add water…from the grated bottle gourd itself the water will come. Add rice flour little by little and mix it. Make a thick batter out of it.
Add red chilly powder and enough salt to the grated bottle-gourd and mix well.

Let it sit for half an hour.

Process of making Dosa:

Heat griddle.
Take handfuls of batter to ur hand. Toss the batter to become like a round ball.
Keep the batter ball on the griddle and press them with ur finger-tips to make a patty. You can make one big dosa or 3 small dosas on the griddle. But it is easy to make smaller patties and frying them. So I prefer small patties.

Fry the dosa on either side by adding oil on it.

Transfer the dosa to a serving plate.

Back side of the dosa.


Serve Hot. Tastes good.

Use how much you want. Keep the rest in fridge. And use for the next day.

Sending this for 'Vow-Bottle Gourd', 'Vegetable of the week' to 'Pooja'.

Ravva / Rawa Idly

Learnt From:

I tried this recipe from http://www.sailusfood.com/

Serving:

16 idlies

Ingredients:

Sooji Ravva / Bombai Ravva --- 1 cup
Ginger --- 1 inch
Carrots --- 1 Big one
Cashew nuts --- 16
Ghee or Oil --- 1 tblsn + 1 tblsn
Channa dal --- 1 tblsn
Mustard seeds --- ½ tsp
Green Chilies --- 3
Curry leaves --- 5-6
Fresh Coriander leaves --- 2 tblsn
Shredded Coconut --- 2 tblsn
Curd --- 1 cup
Water --- ¼ cup
Salt --- as per taste





Process of making Batter:

Chop ginger & green chilies into small pieces.

Heat a tblsn of ghee in a pan. Add ½ tblsn of channa dal. Fry for a minute. Add ½ tsp of mustard seeds. Fry till the seeds splutter. Add chopped green chilies, curry leaves & grated ginger to the pan. Turn the heat to Medium-Low. Immediately add a cup of sooji ravva to the pan. Stir fry for 3 minutes. Turn the heat off. Let it cool.

In the meanwhile, Grate Carrots. Pluck the coriander leaves… wash the leaves and keep aside. Beat 1 cup of curd without adding water to it. In the cooled ravva add grated carrot, coriander leaves, shredded coconut, beaten curd, ¼ cup of water, & enough salt. Mix them well. Let the mixed ravva batter sit it for ½ an hour.

In the meanwhile, Heat a tblsn of ghee in a pan and stir fry cashew nuts till they turn golden brown. Keep them aside.

Process of making Idlies:

After ½ an hour again mix the batter.

Apply oil or ghee onto the idly plates. Place a roasted cashew nut for each idly on the greased idly plates. Pour the ravva batter over the cashew nuts. Don’t fill the batter over the rims. Keep the plates in idly steamer or in cooker. Steam them in Medium-High heat for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat. Wait for 5 minutes. Take the ravva idlies from the plates with spatula. Ravva Idlies are ready to be served. Have them with channa dal / peanuts coconut chutney or with Sambar.