Year: 2011

Potato, Broccoli Fry/ Broccoli Sabzi

Potato, Broccoli Fry/ Broccoli Sabzi

Many people I know are not fond of broccoli. But the nutritional benefit of this vegetable is hard to ignore. At home, we are not big fans of broccoli either, but we try to use it wherever possible. After it is cooked, it tastes more 

Low Fat Blueberry Muffins

Low Fat Blueberry Muffins

I don’t own a whole lot of cookbooks (pssst… I own only 3 of them) and among them the book Joy of Vegan Cooking is my favorite. This book has helped me improve my baking skills and also let me venture and experiment with vegan 

Chutney and Plain Dosa Recipe

Chutney and Plain Dosa Recipe

dosa_chutney

In our house Dosa chutney or Idli chutney gets transformed from a breakfast ritual to a Friday Dinner ritual. If it is Idli one week, then it is Dosa the other week. I soak the daal and rice Thursday morning while leaving for work and grind it in the night. So by Friday evening the batter has ample time to ferment. This is the recipe I follow for dosa with good results. Here are some more recipes for Idli and Dosa. 

I know Plain Dosa and chutney is an easy recipe for many of us, especially for the people from the South. But for many of my friends and colleagues from the North it is the opposite. So without much talk here is the recipe for Plain Dosa and Chutney.

Ingredients for Dosa

  • 1 cup urad daal
  • 2 cups rice
  • 1/3 cup chana daal
  • 1 tsp methi seeds/fenugreek
  • Handful of poha/aval/avalakki/beaten rice (thick or thin is fine)

Method:

  • Soak the urad daal, rice, chana daal, methi in sufficient water overnight.
  • When you are ready to grind the next day soak the poha in little water (until it puffs up) and keep it aside.
  • In a blender/grinder grind the soaked rice, daals, methi and the poha with little water to a paste consistency.
  • The consistency of the batter should not be too thick or thin. Add more water if necessary to ease the grinding process.
  • Transfer the batter to a container and let it sit aside to ferment. It takes at least 8-10 hours in summer and about 24 hours in winter.
  • When ready to make the dosas, take the batter out and add water, salt as necessary and mix thoroughly.
  • Heat the iron griddle or non-stick tava on medium-high heat. Sprinkle some water on the tava.
  • Now pour a ladle of batter in the centre, spread with the back of the ladle to form a big circle.
  • Pour a tsp. of ghee or oil over and around it. Let it cook for a minute until the bottom part has lightly browned.
  • Turn with a spatula when crisp and flip onto the other side. Let it cook for another 30 secs.
  • Take the dosa out and serve hot. Continue making dosas similar way with the remaining batter.

  

chutney_dosa

Ingredients for Raw Mango chutney: 

  • 1 cup shredded coconut  (fresh or frozen)
  • 3-4 green chillies
  • ¼ cup raw mango cut into chunks (skin peeled) [substitute with 1 tbsp tamarind paste]
  • Salt to taste

Seasoning/Tadka

  • 1 tsp Mustard seeds
  •  3-4 Curry leaves
  •  Asafetida (hing) a pinch
  •  2-3 red chillies broken into an inch
  •  1 tsp oil  

Method: 

  • First grind the shredded coconut along with green chillies, and salt without adding any water.
  • Then add the raw mango chunks and grind again (without water).
  • After it has blended add sufficient water and grind again. Do not grind for a long time as it will become sweet. Transfer to a bowl.
  • For tadka heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, red chillies and asafetida, and mix well. Pour this over the chutney and close this with lid immediately. Mix before serving. 

Serve this along with ho Dosas!

Kashay– Nutritional Spiced Hot Drink

Kashay– Nutritional Spiced Hot Drink

Kashay (In Konkani) is a hot milk beverage that is common in many Konkani households. It is a spiced drink that is not only potent but a nutritional powerhouse as well. This is preferred as beverage choice by many people instead of the regular tea 

Horse Gram Curry and Rasam (Kultha saar upkari)

Horse Gram Curry and Rasam (Kultha saar upkari)

Konkani cuisine uses lot of Horse Gram (called as Kulith) in its cooking; there is the ghashi, koddel, chutney, dosa and this saar/upkari. This is a simple dry curry and rasam, delicious and nutritious as well. Horse gram is first soaked, cooked and then finally 

Cabbage Chutney

Cabbage Chutney

cabbage_pachadi

Wishing dear Readers a Happy Makar Sankranthi/ Pongal.

Intrigued by the title? I know I was when I first heard this concept of cabbage chutney.  As I have said earlier for me chutney is something that is made of coconut, chilies, spices, herbs and souring agent like tamarind etc.  And vegetables like cabbage are used for making sabjis/palya like this. So this chutney with only cabbage and raw mango came as a surprise. In this chutney there is no trace of coconut but then it has taste and texture of chutney.

I learnt this recipe from my colleague Sudha, after tasting her delicious Lauki (Bottle gourd) chutney. Inspired by that I had prepared the Zucchini Chutney which we love at home.

First we proceed to make regular cabbage bhaji/palya, then grind it along with green mango. The flavor of cooked cabbage is not felt in this chutney. It is taken over by that of roasted cumin seeds, urad daal, garlic and chillies. It feels like regular chutney, with coarse consistency and the usual spicy tangy flavors.  As a bonus this chutney is nutritious because this is just a combination of veggies and spices.

cabbage_chutney

If you have never tasted this before, then I recommend you to try this once. This is simple to make and can be made with just regular ingredients on hand.  I use a bag of Cole slaw salad for this and that makes it even ore easier. You can substitute lemon instead of raw mango. This chutney goes well with Idlis, Dosas, chapathi or with rice. This can be made ahead of time and stores well in the fridge for about a week. 

Ingredients: 

  • 2-3 cups chopped cabbage (packed)
  • 3-4  green chillies
  • 2 garlic pods (peeled)
  • 1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds (add more if you like the taste of jeera)
  • 2 tsp urad daal
  • ½ tsp mustard seeds
  • ½ cup raw mango/green mango (chopped into small cubes) [substitute with lemon juice]
  • little chopped coriander leaves
  • oil
  • Salt

Method:

  • Heat pan on medium flame, in little oil add the cumin seeds, after they are toasted then add the urad daal, mustard seeds and mix until urad daal turns light brown.
  • Next add the crushed garlic, green chillies and stir, then add the chopped cabbage and stir them. Do not add salt as the cabbage will loose crunchiness. Add handful of  chopped coriander leaves and mix well.
  • After it is cooled, blend this along with salt and chopped raw mango (raw). Do not add water while grinding.
  • Also this should be ground coarsely and not like a paste. Check for taste and adjust accordingly. Seasoning is optional.

cabbage_mango_chutney

One last look!

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are a staple in America and represent half of the cookies baked in each year. They sure are a delight for young and old alike with their soft cores, crispy edges and rich chocolate taste.  The Holiday week last month gave me