Uthappam

It was casual meeting with some of my husband’s school friends. As always, I was dressed in a very old comfortable cotton dress. And I had to run some errands before going out, so my dress was totally crumpled. My husband dress was equally casual – an old t-shirt and a worn out knee length trousers.

The only thing was that my husband forgot that the  ’casual meeting’ was happening at one of the biggest marriage halls in the city. They were meeting at a common friend’s wedding!

So, there we were – in one of the most posh weddings I have seen so far. Dazzling display of jewels and costly sarees all around. And we were dressed in rags!

I didn’t know anyone there, so my sole concentration was on food. The spread was amazing, taste was excellent and everything was made with pure ghee and butter. I made friends with an equally ‘lost looking’ girl, as I went along the buffet table. With a full stomach, I came back home.

After such a big feast, I couldn’t face a bowl of corn flakes the next morning. So had a mini feast of uthappams  with different toppings.

Ingredients:

• Dosa batter
• Oil
• Toppings
• Onion   , chopped
• Tomato, chopped
• Carrot , grated
• Raisins, 5-10
• Chilies, 1-2
• Peas   , 4-5

Method:

1. Keep the choice of toppings ready.
2. Heat a pan/tawa. Add a spoon of oil and spread around the tawa.
3. Take a ladle of dosa batter and spread it into a small round circle.
4. Add the choice of toppings. Drizzle a tsp of oil around the uthappam.
5. When bubbles appear and the bottom is slightly brown and the top portion is not ‘wet’ any more, flip over and cook the top side.
6. When both the sides are cooked, serve hot with coconut/tomato chutney and sambar.
7. I have made carrot and raisins uthappam, onion and green chilies uthappam, onion -tomato uthappam and onion tomato carrot peas uthappams here.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #15, Cook by Alphabets theme. Letter ‘U’
• The Kerala Kitchen, hosted this month by Ramya’s Recipes

Kuzhi Paniyaram

Kiddo spent the first one and a half years of his life teaching me baby language. I learnt ‘Goo goo’, ‘Gaa gaa’ and ‘Hee hee hee’ from him. Then I graduated to learn more difficult words like ‘Awwa Mee mee’, ‘Bhuga buga buga’, ‘tatanga’ and ‘Mammam mammam’.

By the time he was two, we were conversing easily in his language. He didn’t share the same enthusiasm in learning my language though. So googoo-s and gaga-s it was, for a long time.

I used to wonder whether the hours of reading to him was any useful or whether he was just a slow learner wrto languages. My doubt was clarified when we were shopping in the supermarket and he came across strawberries. They weren’t fresh, so I took him to another aisle.

Kiddo, who was two years old then, kept pointing frantically in the direction of strawberries and I kept ignoring the request. He finally blurred out ‘Stabedy Stabedy’. My surprise, my wonder and my happiness knew no bounds. So kiddo could talk, when he wanted to!

I had bugged my MIL to make these kuzhi paniyarams as a tea time snack this weekend. So when I took the camera out,  kiddo started scribbling frantically in his note pad and wanted that to be a part of the picture. The way he was scribbling, as if it is the most urgent thing in the world, reminded me of the way he was pointing at those strawberries when he was two.

Enjoy these paniyarams while I am enjoying the little happy moments of life :)

Train, rain, people and ponds!

Ingredients:

Special Utensils : Paniyaram Chatti

• Dosa Batter           :        1 cup
• Coconut grated   :        1/4 cup
• Onion                      :         1 small, chopped fine (optional)
• Ginger                     :         1/2″ piece, grated (optional)
• Green Chilies       :         1 – 2, sliced
• Oil, for deep frying

Tempering

• Mustard seeds            :   1 tsp
• Urad dal                        :   1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves                :   4-5
• Oil                                     :  1 tsp

Method:

1. Chop the onions, chilies. Grate ginger. Add this and the grated coconut to the dosa batter.
2. Heat one tsp of oil, add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and urad dal. Once it splutters, add it to the dosa batter and mix well until everything is combined.
3. Heat oil in a paniyaram pan and add about two tablespoons of batter into each pit.
4. Turn over with a skewer or fork and cook until golden.
5. Take off the pan and drain on a kitchen towel. Continue making paniyarams with the rest of the batter.
6. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #14, under ‘Snacks under 30 minutes’ theme (Combination of 3 themes)
• Kid’s Delight, for this month’s theme of Easy Snacks under 30 minutes
• Only - South Indian

Banana Pancakes

I can multitask.

I can cook and click.

I can cook, click and feed.

I can cook, click, feed and talk over the phone.

But I cannot cook, click, feed, talk over the phone AND fight at the same time.

So our breakfast this morning, whole wheat banana pancakes, is going back to the dining table where a hungry hubby and a grumpy kiddo are waiting anxiously.

Enjoy the virtual treat.

Adapted from : All recipes

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour     :         1/2 cup
• Baking Powder            :         1 tsp
• Sugar                               :         1 tbsp
• Egg                                   :         1
• Milk                                 :         1/2 cup
• Banana                           :         1, mashed
• Oil                                     :         1 tbsp

Method:

1. Combine the flour, sugar and baking powder. Whisk.
2. Combine mashed bananas, milk, egg and oil. Mix thoroughly.
3. Stir the dry ingredients to the wet and mix. The batter was slightly watery, so I added about 1 tbsp of flour to it.
4. Heat a frying pan/tawa  and add 1/4 cup of the batter.
5. When bubbles start appearing and the batter starts getting dry, flip over and cook.
6. Top with caramelized bananas and serve hot.
7. Makes 5 pancakes.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #14, under ‘Whole Grain Dishes’ for Combination of 3 themes
• Kid’s Delight, for this month’s theme of Easy Snacks under 30 minutes

Leftover Magic

I buy ready made dosa batter. Always.

Initially, I used to bury it under a lot of other stuff when I am picking them up from the supermarket. I always used to feel that the world is accusing me when I pick the packet from the rack.

The magic cure to my guilty feeling was hubby’s happy observation that the stores are always stocked up with the batter. So that makes me not the only one to buy these.

Its a great convenience, er….except when you are careless and end up picking 3 day old batter that is really sour. Now, that is actually something to feel guilty about!

So here is another leftover make over dosa. I had been to Srivalli’s Dosa Mela and picked this recipe one from the huge list of choices.

Ingredients:

• Leftover dosa batter
• Onion                                    :      1 big, chopped
• Chilies                                   :      2,  chopped
• Cashews                               :      4-5, broken into bits
• Bengal gram                       :      1 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder            :      1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves                       :      4-5
• Salt
• Oil

Method:

1. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a kadai and add the cashews and bengal gram. Once they turn golden, add the curry leaves, chopped onion, chilies, salt and turmeric powder.
2. Add this to the left over batter and mix thoroughly.
3. Heat a frying pan or a tawa and add a ladle full of the batter and spread in a circular motion to get a dosa. Drizzle oil around the edges. Cover and cook for a minute. Flip over and cook for 20 – 30 seconds.
4. Serve with coconut chutney.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #14, under ‘Seven Days of Dosa’ theme

Rava Dosa

The minute they mention about a sale going on, I present myself at the store along with a reluctant hubby and a sulking kiddo. The ‘can we please please go home?’ question starts from the minute we enter the mall.

The first dampener to my mounting excitement would be at the office of the security guard. Handbags are allowed inside and luggage isn’t. So their view of my huge bulky backpack as luggage would be the first fight to start with. ( I win, of course!)

When we get inside the store, hubby would start with a weary ‘Can’t you be lady like and buy one of those cute little handbags?’ question. I  ignore the weary tone and the appeal, and move forward with determination to the home section.

A mug, a pitcher and a plate excites me more than a hundred new dresses would do. If there is a new casserole or a steamer, then you literally have to drag me from that place. Which is what happens every time – the dragging me from the home section, I mean.

The real place that needs some attention is my wardrobe and yet, I never stop at the ladies section. I have not even gotten the two sets of salwars, which came as birthday gifts, stitched yet. Er, they came for my birthday last year, btw.

Talking about make overs, this rava dosa is a make over of dosa batter. If there isn’t sufficient batter or if the batter is sour, I have started adding rava and grated veggies to it and making these beauties.

Ingredients:

• Left over dosa batter               :           1 cup
• Rava/semolina                           :           1 1/2 cups
• Onion                                              :           1 small, chopped fine
• Carrot                                             :           1 small, grated
• Beans                                               :           3-4, cut finely
• Water                                              :           to make the batter mixture thin
• Oil, to make dosas

Tempering

• Oil                                                     :          1 tsp
• Mustard seeds                             :          1 tsp
• Bengal gram dal                          :          1/2 tsp
• Urad dal                                         :          1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves                                 :          4-5 leaves

Method:

1. Chop the onions fine, grate the carrots and thinly slice the beans.
2. Mix the left over batter and rava together. Add the veggies and 2 – 3 cups of water. The water needs to be added in  half cupfuls after that. The final consistency of the batter should be very thin – like in the picture above.
3. Heat a small kadai and add the oil. When it gets hot, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves and cover with a lid. Once the mustard splutters, add the dals and wait for a minute for them to brown. Add this to the dosa batter and mix well.
4. Heat a tawa or a frying pan. Add a tsp of oil and let it coat the base of the tawa. I use a wooden spoon for spreading the oil, but a better idea is half cut onion with the flat side down and held with a fork.
5. For this dosa, you will have to first make an outer round and then fill the insides. Start with a big ‘O’ and then fill the inside of the O with the batter. You wont be able to spread the batter like regular dosas.
6. Pour a tsp of oil around the dosa and when the dosa starts to brown on the side, flip over and cook the other side for a minute.
7. Take off the tawa, serve hot with chutneys, sambar and a cup of hot coffee!

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #14, under Dosa theme

Aval (Poha) Dosa

We had been to the beach this weekend.

Hubby loves to look at the ocean, let go of all the worries, relax and take a deep inhale of that salty breeze. He loves to let the waves bury his feet in the sand. He likes to ease kiddo into enjoying these little beauties of life. He loves to hold kiddo’s hand and stand next to him proudly, waiting for the next wave to come.

They stand in front of me, at the edge of the waves – a perfect picture of love and being at peace with oneself.

Hubby goes there to find serenity. And I go there to find of the best bajji sold from the beach side bajji stalls. And the chaats too from the near by stalls, while on the quest.

So, hubby came back home with his mind relaxed and I came back with my stomach full.

Talking about stomach getting full, aval dosa is a simple and yummy recipe, that is very filling. One dosa for breakfast is enough to keep you going for a long time.

You can check out the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

• Raw rice                                          :         2 cups
• Aval/Rice Flakes                         :         1 cup
• Curd                                                  :         1 cup
• Onion                                                :         1 small
• Green Chilies                                 :         1-2, seeded
• Ginger                                              :          1″ piece, grated
• Curry leaves                                  :         1 sprig
• Oil, to make dosas

Method:

1. Wash the raw rice till clean and soak for 3 hours minimum or overnight. Wash and clean the aval/rice flakes and soak them in curd for an hour at least.
2. Grind the rice and the soaked aval together with salt to get a smooth batter. Add water if the consistency is too thick.
3. Leave for fermentation – overnight or for about 6-8 hours.
4. When you are about to make the dosas, chop an onion and a couple of seeded green chilies and add to the dosa batter. You can add roughly chopped curry leaves, grated ginger, grated carrots too, if you wish to.Tempering with mustard seeds, ural dal and red chilies will also give the batter an excellent flavor.
5. Make thick dosas with the batter. I made these in an appa chatti.
6. Serve hot with green tomato chutney.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #14, under ‘Seven Days of Dosas’ theme

Masala Dosa

The needle of the clock has crossed 12 and another day has started. The neighborhood is quiet and everyone is asleep. Everyone, expect me and my husband.

For us, this is a part of our ‘day’. Our day ends at small hours in the morning and not surprisingly, we catch upon our sleep by dozing off for  sometime after dropping the kid at the bus stop. But not on weekends.

Kiddo’s body clock is set to wake up at 6:40 AM and 6.40 it is, whether it is weekend or weekday. So in another six hours, the rush of the morning will start. Me, sleep deprived since I won’t be able to have a nap, will be grumpy at everyone for no fault of theirs. Kiddo will be violently protesting on having to leave the house to attend a function.

My hubby, who has a much better sense of balance, will loose it when we won’t be able to locate the place where the function is being conducted. But then, that’s how life is – full of little tamashas and masalas.

Anyway, that’s for the morning. Right now, let me enjoy my ‘day’ and the masala that every single day brings onto our life.

And here is a bit of masala for you, this time literally – in the form of masala dosa. Enjoy the recipe.

Check out this link at VeggieBelly for all the tips and tricks to make the perfect dosa batter.

Ingredients:

• Dosa Batter (ready made /home made)  :   1 L approx
• Potatoes                                                                :   4 -5 medium, boiled
• Onions                                                                    :   1-2, large
• Green Chillies                                                      :   3-4
• Ginger                                                                     :   1/2″ piece
• Turmeric Powder                                              :   1/2 tsp

Tempering

• Oil                                                                            :     1 -2 tbsp
• Mustard Seeds                                                   :      1 tsp
• Urad dal  & Gram dal                                      :       1/2 tsp each
• Curry leaves                                                       :        1 sprig

Method:

1. Pressure cook the potatoes for 3-4 whistles or till they are cooked thoroughly. Retain the water in which they are cooked.
2. Heat oil, add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add the dals and curry leaves and wait till it starts to brown.
3. Add the onion, ginger and green chillies. Saute till the onions are cooked. Add the potatoes, turmeric powder and salt. Add half cup of water in which the potatoes were cooked, if the curry appears to be too dry.
4. Mash some of the potatoes with a wooden spoon so that the masala thickens a bit.
5. I let this boil for 4-5 minutes, stirring now and then. Check and adjust the seasonings and keep aside.
6. Make dosas and once both the sides are cooked, take off the pan, add two tablespoons of the filling in the centre and fold over.
7. Serve hot with sambar and chutney.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #14, under ‘Seven Days of Dosa’ theme

Coconut Dosa

My family was visiting me last month and it was a real fun time.

During the visit, my father tried subtly hinting, then openly asking and then really begging me to make coconut dosa. This lacy, white, awesome tasting dosa is my dad’s and my younger brother’s all time favorite food.

Me, the sadistic person that I am, showed him the truck loads of ready made dosa batter I had bought and stored in the fridge, in anticipation of their visit.

‘What will I do with these?’ I asked him. ‘Moreover, I have never made coconut dosa before. I don’t even know how to make them. I don’t even have a grinder!’

My father accepted my reasoning, and dejectedly ate the countless dosas and idlis served every single morning (and nights too, at times) during his stay here.

And look at me now, sharing the very same coconut dosa recipe with everyone! ha…the height of sadism :-))!

And I will make it for you dad, the next time you come :).

Ingredients:

• Raw rice                             :        1 cup
• Coconut                             :        1 /2 cup
• Salt                                       :        as required

Method:

1. Wash and soak the raw rice for 3-4 hours or overnight.
2. The next morning, drain the water and add the coconut and grind to a dosa batter consistency, adding water as required.
3. Next step is ‘Kurukku Kachunnathu’. For this, take one ladle of the ground batter and mix with 1/2 cup of water and cook, stirring all the while to get a glue like liquid. I got some lumps in this, but mom doesn’t get any when she does this step. Mix this glue like kurukku to the dosa batter and mix till combined.
4. Heat a frying pan or dosa kallu and when its hot, add half a teaspoon of oil and spread with a wooden spoon. Pour a ladle (1/4 cup) of the batter and spread as usual like dosas. Cook both sides and serve hot with sugar. Yes, sugar! These taste best with sugar.
5. The above quantity gave me around 8-9 small dosas.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #14, under ‘Dosa’ theme

Pumpkin Pancakes

The enthusiasm for life has come down in the past few days. Reason : bank robbery.

Unlike the movie versions, where in a mob of masked people rob innocent victims at gunpoint, we are being looted in broad day light, by a face known and trusted by us – our builder.

The weapon of persuasion is not a gun, but our Sales Agreement with them. We signed the document years and years and years back - with hope, enthusiasm and love for our new home. We were seduced with promises of an apartment overlooking a green garden, a school close by, with a huge club house and all the amenities one could wish for.

After a lot of wait and a lot of unkept promises later, they have started sending out the final demand letter. The demand letter is really demanding all our money - Escalation charges, apparently. Unexpected. Unprepared.

And a real blow below the belt.

So right now, we are making a list of items we can sell to sustain ourselves. Hopefully, the laptops will stay!

Thank god for these golden beauties that made my day better. Dot them with butter, top with honey and sprinkle some nuts on top – You will almost stop thinking about all your worries, well almost!

Check out the original recipe here and a video here.

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin puree             :         1 cup
• Milk                                   :         1 1/2 cups
• Egg                                     :         1
• Oil                                       :         2 tbsp
• Vinegar                            :         2 tbsp
• All Purpose flour         :         2 cups
• Sugar                                :          2-3 tbsp
• Baking powder             :          2 tsp
• Baking Soda                  :          1 tsp
• All Spice, ground        :          1 tsp
• Ground Cinnamon     :          1 tsp
• Ground Ginger            :           1/2 tsp
• Salt                                   :           a pinch

Method:

1. Mix the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt) and whisk thoroughly.
2. Mix the wet ingredients (pumpkin puree, milk, oil, egg, vinegar). Combine the two and mix to ensure that there aren’t any dry lumps.
3. Heat a frying pan, oil it lightly and add 1/4 cup full of batter into it. Don’t spread like a dosa, you can check the video for this step. Cover and cook for a minute. Once the bubbles start appearing, flip and cook for another minute.
4. Serve hot with butter and syrup of your choice. This gave me 6 thick filling pancakes.
5. I pressure cooked a small pumpkin and one small sweet potato together. After the pressure dropped, I pureed them and cooked it with milk and the spices above mentioned. I didn’t like the taste of the soup, so used it up as pancakes.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #14

Pesarattu

Kiddo was having lunch today and he suddenly demanded the ‘yellow sweet dish’ he had the other day with dosa. He couldn’t recollect the name of the dish. After much thought, he said it sounded something like ‘grappoli’.

‘Grappoli’, I ask you!? What a clue to look for something! He couldn’t tell us whether it was solid, liquid or semi solid. When quizzed about the shape, he said it could be square, rectangle, circle or anything.

Now it was getting more confusing. Finally, I asked him whether he remembers where mommy took it from.

‘From the left side of the kitchen, Mommy’. I went to the left side. ‘The other left, Mommy’.

So I turned to my other left and that’s when the lightning struck. Jaggery. The yellow sweet thing that he had with the yellow dosa the other day!

They sell jaggery as cubes and as round balls too. So when you start grating, the end piece’s shape can be anything – square or rectangle or like a ball, depending on the shape you started with. It will be shapeless when grated using a vegetable peeler and served on the plate. The relief of knowing the answer finally, I tell you, cannot be described in words!

So here is the yellow moong dal pesarattu that was served with tomato chutney for my husband. But my son enjoyed these with a good serving of ‘grappoli’.

The original recipe can be read here.

Ingredients:

• Moong dal                           :        2 cups
• Rice                                        :        2 tbsp
• Green Chillies                    :        4 -5 , per taste
• Ginger                                   :        1” piece
• Onion                                    :         1 small, quartered

Method:

1. Wash and clean dal and rice. Soak them in water for 6 hours or overnight.
2. Drain the water, add the chillies, ginger and onion and grind to a smooth dosa batter consistency, adding water as required.
3. Heat a tawa or a frying pan. Add half a teaspoon of oil and coat the base of the pan using a wooden spoon. Take a ladle full of batter, and pour and spread it in circular motion into a thin circle.
4. Add a teaspoon of oil around the dosa and when there aren’t any wet patches left on the top side and the bottom begins to brown, carefully lift and flip over and cook the other side.
5. Take off the pan, serve hot with ‘grappoli’ or a spicy chutney of your preference.

Linked to:

• Blogging Marathon #14, under ‘Seven Days of Dosa’ theme