Thiruvadhirai Kali and Koottu:

This item is prepared on Thiruvaadirai festival day which falls on the star 'arudra' in the Tamil month of Margazhi. It was celebrated on 22nd December last and since I prepared the combo, I wish to add on to my blog posts. It is one of the rare combos viz., sweet and hot-and-spicy and is unique in its own way. It is nutriciuous and healthy with the savoury part adding to its value to to the  liberal use of vegetables. Though this item is usually prepared on the festival day, I recommend this be prepared even on other occassions.

Kali or Sweet Rice Pudding

Ingredient list

• Rice - 2 cups
• Jaggery - 1 cup
• Cardomom - 6
• Cashew - 12
• Ghee - 4 to 6 tsp
• Channa dhal + Moong dhal - 1/4 cup

Fry the rice and dhals till they are light brown. Grind it into powder (rava consistency).

Fry the cashews in 2 tsp of ghee and keep aside.

Add 4 cups of water + jaggery and bring it to a boil. 

Add rice rava slowly and mix well with the jaggery water. Then cover it with a lid. Stir it till it is well cooked. 

Add cardomom, roasted cashews and 2 to 4 tsp of ghee to the Kali and mix well. Coconut lovers may add 1/4 cup freshly grated coconut.  

    

Kootu           

Choose root vegetables, pumpkin(yellow and/or white), green vegetables like beans, carrot, peas etc. Alternatively frozen cut vegetables like Sugar Snap Peas Stir fry or mixed vegetables with potato.

Masala Ingredients:

• Channa dhal - 1/4 cup
• Urad dhal - 2 tsp
• Dhaniya or Coriander seeds - 1/2 cup
• Red Chili - 15 to 20
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Fenugreek - 1/2 tsp
• Jaggery - 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Tamarind - size of a lemon(can use paste or concentrate - 1.5 times as regular sambar)
• Salt to taste
• Coconut - 1/2 cup
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1/4 tsp

Fry all the masala ingredients except coconut, mustard seeds, urad dhal and curry leaves in 2 tsp oil. Grind this into a paste with coconut. Alternatively you could roast coconut and grind the roasted ingredients into a powder.

Boil the vegetables and add salt, turmeric powder, asafoetida and tamarind for 10 minutes. Add the masala paste/powder

Add this paste/powder to the vegetables and bring it to a boil. Garnish with mustard seeds, urad dhal and curry leaves.
Note:
Suggested way of eating is mixing the kali and kootu in equal proportion and on to your mouth.  However, best way is to find what suits one's palate.

Kanda Thippili Rasam

South Indians prepare varities of rasamas. Chief ingredients are dal, rasam powder, tamarind and turmeric powder. I use herbs occassionally to make rasams particularly during rainy season and during winter to pep up the spirits. Kanda thippili (Gantola in hindi) as the herb to make this rasam. It looks like small stick.

 

This herb is believed to be medicine for cough and cold and also stimulating digestion. Women during post natal period gather flab and this herb is used and is believed to dissolve the unwanted flab and firm up. This is also beneficial for pitha and de-stresser in body pains without the side effects of modern medicines. It is particularly useful for knee, back pain.

 

Ingredients:

• Toor dhal - 2 tsp
• Dhaniya or Coriander seeds - 3 tsp
• Black pepper - 2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Red Chili - 5 dry
• Dry Coconut - 4 tsp
• Kanda thipili - 4 tsp
• Tamarind paste - 1/2 tsp or regular quantity used for rasam
• Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Ghee - 4 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Mustard - 1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Tomato - 2
• Garlic (optional)

Preparation Method:

Boil tomatos in 2 cups of water. Add tamarind, turmeric, salt, asafoetida to it and let it boil for 10 minutes. In a pan heat 2 tsp ghee, fry toor dhal, dhaniya, black pepper, cumin seeds, red chili, kanda thipili till it turns light brown. Let it cool down and grind it with coconut into a powder and add to the boiling contents. Add little jaggery to balance salt, tamarind and chili. Add 3 more cups of water. Turn off when the contents froths up. Season the rasam with 2 tsp of ghee, mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Instant Mysore Rasam Powder

Instant Mysore Rasam Powder
Mysore rasam is a delicious item mostly made in the south Indian kitchens and this item has not found a place in hotel menus. For making this rasam the ingredients have to be well proportioned. I have improvised a readymade mix. Whenever there is aguest or I run out of time, I use this mix to make this rasam in a jiffy. Please read on the prep for this item:
Ingredients:
¼ cup Toor dal
½ cup Channa dal
3 cups Coriander seeds
¼ cup Black pepper
1/8 cup Cumin seeds
½ cup Dry coconut powder
3 tsp. Ghee
Process:
In a fry pan, sauté ingredients in 3 tsp. ghee to a light brown colour. Allow it to cool and grind into a powder with dry coconut powder. The instant Mysore rasam mix is ready. Just boil this powder in water for 5 minutes and is ready for consumption.

Store in a fridge/ freezer for future use.

Kadaba

Kadaba

Among the myriad side dishes for chapattis, the Kadaba is my favorite. It is easy to make and less time consuming and tasty too. I learnt it from a cousin and since I tried it recently thought of posting in the blog.

Ingredients:

1 cup Moong dal
1 stick Cinnamon} powder all these three together
5 nos. Clove }
3 nos. Cardamom}
¼ cup Fried gram
3 tsp. Poppy seeds
4 nos Green chilli
2 pods Garlic
1” Ginger
2 nos. Potatoes, large
2 nos. Tomatoes, 2 medium
1 no. Onion, big, finely chopped
¼ cup Coriander
¼ cup Coconut scrapings
¼ Turmeric powder
2 tsp. Salt
3 tsp. Cooking oil

Method

· Boil, peel potatoes, mash partly
· Grind green chillies, coconut, poppy seeds, fried grams, coriander, garlic and ginger into a smooth paste
· Cut the tomatoes into bits.
· Heat a fry pan, drop oil and sauté the powdered cinnamon-cardamom-clove mix. Add onion and sauté again till onion turns golden brown. Drop the moong dal, potato mash, tomato bits, turmeric powder and let the combine cook for 5 minutes adding 2 cups of water. Now add the masala grind from the second step. Stir well and let the contents simmer for another 5 minutes.
· Lastly, garnish with coriander.
Kadaba can be good side dish not only for chapattis but also for idli-dosas and pooris

Quick Lemon Rasam

You need:

1.       Tomatoes                     2 nos large

2.       Green chilli                   2 no.

3.       Ginger                            1”- cut into tiny bits

4.       Pepper                           1 tsp

5.       Cumin seeds                                ½ tsp

6.       Coriander                      little cut

7.       Curry leaves                 few

                          8.     Lemon juice                       3 tsp

Rasams are of many kinds. Chief ingredients are toor dal, tamarind, tomatoes and the inevitable Rasam powder. In this page I describe a Rasam in which the chief ingredients viz., dal, tamarind and the rasam powder are left out but goes to make a marvelous substitute. This item was first attempted by my daughter who was on deputation to Omaha. She stayed with three other friends who took turns to make up their daily grub. When her time to cook came, she wanted to cut short the drudgery of time consuming cooking of the dal and mixing the tamarind paste to save time. She improvised this item and in the last decade this has been a very popular item in our circle of relatives and friends. It uses no dal or tamarind and the ubiquitous rasam powder. Here is the recipe’:

Method:

Cut tomatoes into tiny bits and drop into a pan, add ginger bits, split green chilli, pepper, cumin seeds, salt and 2-3 cups of water and boil this all together for ten minutes. Add 2 more cups of water. Just let it all boil for a minute. At this point add lemon juice. Just garnish with coriander bits and curry leaves. No mustards. Omaha Rasam is ready.
Note: The quantity mentioned are enough for 3-4. If you want to make it for more, scale up ingredients proportionately.

Fresh Ginger Thokku &Ginger Chutney

Ginger universally finds extensive use in almost all recipe’s where a spice enhances taste and edibility. It can be said that  it is a herb rather than a spice in view of its use as cure for nausea, motion sickness, vomiting etc. It is also good for indigestion  and is a circulatory stimulant. I use ginger often, in fact daily and I wish to share the way I make Ginger Thokku and Chutney, in this page.

Fresh Ginger Thokku

Ingredients:

150 gms                      Fresh ginger cut in bits

4 tsp                            Salt

¼ cup                           Tamarind paste

3 tsp                            Red chilli powder

2 tsp                            Oil

¼ tsp                            Mustard seeds

Process:

·         Wash, peel and cut into pieces the ginger. Fry the ginger bits in 2 tsp oil and grind with salt, chilli powder into a smooth paste.

·         Heat a fry pan, drop the oil, ground ginger paste curry leaves, turmeric powder and jiggery. Stir well in slow heat till starts to ooze out of the paste.

Note: Do not use water. Allow the thokku to cool at room temperature before storing.


Ginger Chutney

Ingredients:

1 cup                          Fresh ginger cut to bits

4 no                            Red chilli

½ tsp                          Urad dal

¼ tsp                          Mustard seeds

Few                            Curry leaves

1 tsp                           Jaggery

¼ cup                         Coconut scrape

1 tsp                           Salt

4 tsp                           Oil

Heat a pan, fry red chilli-mustard-urad dal combine till mustard crackle and save separately. In the same pan saute the ginger bits for 5 minutes, remove to cool. Then grind  the ginger with the crackled mustard combine, and along with coconut, jiggery, salt and tamarind paste to a coarse paste.

Eat with rice & ghee or use as a side dish with anyway you like. Ginger chutney will go great with dosa-idli too.

Set Dosa

Recently I visited Bangalore. On one of the days, we went to a hotel for dinner. The menu card was full of tandoor items and no idli which we wanted as a starter. The waiter mentioned ‘set dosa’ and we grabbed the opportunity and ordered  since I have never tasted this item. It was a wonderful item, (served three to a plate so the name 'set dosa') tasted great and with much less oil compared to other dosas. It is filling too, and is easy on the stomach. I tried asking the waiter if he can get the recipe’ from the master chef’, but he evaded and did not seem interested to share the secret. I researched and found the main ingredient- flattened rice and configured my own formula which came out as good as the hotel 'set dosa'. Here, I share with you the formula:

For the batter:

2 cups                                   Raw rice

¼ cup                                    Urad dal

1 cup                                     Flattened rice

2 tsp                                      Fenugreek seeds

2 tsp                                      Salt

First in a fry pan sauté the raw rice for 5 minutes. After that, add to this urad dal, fenugreek and soak all these for 1 hour. Wash and soak the flattened rice in water for 10 minutes. Grind first the soaked flattened rice, the add the pre-soaked rice-urad dal-fenugreek combine into a fine and smooth batter. Do not add too much water while grinding since the consistency must be thick. Allow it to ferment in a warm place.

Making of the ‘Set Dosa’ 

When the batter is ready, heat the flat pan, apply a little oil, spread one big ladle batter by gentle pressure so as to make it somewhat thick. Good batter will cause small blow holes to crackle on the exposed side. Oil inside and outside about 2 tsp. Cover the fry pan with lid. After a few seconds turn over and cook the other side for a few seconds.

Relish  the Set Dosa with coconut chutney, vegetable kurma or stew(see pic.) , or potato sagu.

Ven Pongal

Ven Pongal

The history of this very tasty dish dates back to 10^th century-that is since the times of Saint-Poet Andal who composed the famous devotional ‘ThiruppAvai’. The masterpiece consisted of 30 lyrics in praise of Lord Mahavishnu. They are sung during the early mornings of Tamil month Margazhi by devotees going round the streets of the town in biting winter cold. Even now,  this tradition continues in Tamil Nadu towns. When they finish the bhajan or singing the praise of the almighty, they partake of hot Ven Pongal as prasadam which is offered first to Mahavishnu as Neivedya. Even in Tirumala, Ven Pongal may be the chief item of Neivedya offered to Lord Venkateswara first thing after He wakes up from His divine slumber.

It is tasty and full of nutrition and suitable for all- old and young, the sick and healthy. It sits light on the stomach and at the same time is filling. Though there are many variations in the matter of ingredient composition, I, give in this page, the version my family follows since my grandma’s times.

Ingredients:

2 cups                                   Raw rice

¾ cup                                    Moong dal

1 tsp                                      Black pepper

½ tsp                                     Cumin seeds

1 tsp                                      Salt

¼ tsp                                     Turmeric powder

½ tsp                                     Asefedita

1”                                            Ginger cut into tiny bits

Handful                                                curry leaves

¼ cup                                    Ghee

10 nos                                   Cashew nuts cut into bits

Method

Wash the rice and moong dal well together, add 6 cups water, turmeric powder, salt and asafetida and pressure cook for 6-7 whistles.

Then heat a frying pan, drop the ghee, cumin seeds, black pepper, ginger- cashew bits, curry leaves and sauté a little. Drop the rice-dal combine and mix thoroughly.

Se rve hot with coconut chutney.

Bread Bonda

Bondas are of many kinds. Medu bonda made out of urad dal, potato bonda, Mangalore bonda made of mildly fermented or sour maida. Each has its own unique taste and can be safely said that as a snack has few parallel and as the most loved. Though I make all these bondas now and then, I tried bread bonda recently. It is pretty easy to make. Here is the recipe’:
Ingredients:
1            loaf salt bread
4 no.      potato(large)
1 no.      onion(large)
5 no.      green chilli
¼ cup    fresh coriander, cut into bits
¼ tsp     mustard seeds
½ tsp     urad dal
1 no.     red chilli
¼ tsp    turmeric powder
1 tsp     dhania powder
1 tsp     salt
½ tsp    gharam masala
1”         ginger
As required oil to fry
½ tsp    armchur
Direction:
Filling part:
• Boil the potato, peel the skin and mash.
• Cut the onion, ginger, green chillies into small bits
• Heat a saucepan, drop 4 tsp oil, mustard seeds- red chilli- urad dal, allow the combine to sputter and pop. Now drop cut ginger- green chillies-onion bit and stir for 5 minutes. Now add mashed potatoes, turmeric powder, gharam masala, salt and armchur. Mix them all well and let the filling get thicker such that balls can be made.
Making of the bonda:
Take the bread, cut the slices of the sides. Wet your hand and take a slice at a time and moisten the slice to make it soft. On the wet slice put poatao masala and wrap round to make bonda. In this way keep ready all slices for frying and gather them in a plate.Fry these in oil till golden brown.
The final product will be crisp and tasty. Serve hot with tomato ketchup or sauce as per individual taste.

Black Pepper Soup (Pepper Rasam)

Black Pepper Soup (Pepper Rasam)

In winters, people would avoid cold food and eatables and would want hot and spicy things to consume. In this page, I describe one such item. It is Black Pepper Soup or Pepper Rasam as they call it in South India. All of us know pepper is a well known herb cum spice and it has medicinal properties. It is a nature’s medicine for cold and fever. This soup can be drunk hot or cold. It can be eaten with rice too.  

Ingredients

2 tsp              Tur dal

2 tsp              Black pepper

1 tsp              Cumin seeds

3 tsp              Coriander powder

1 tsp              Salt

¼ tsp              Turmeric powder

¼ tsp              Asafetida

1 tsp              Tamarind paste

3 nos              Red chilli

1 tsp              Ghee

½ tsp              Mustard seeds

Few                Curry leaves

1 bulb            Fresh garlic (peeled)

Method

• ·       Soak toor dal, dhania , pepper, cumin seeds and red chillies in hot water.

• ·        Take 2 cups of water in a vessel boil garlic for 5 minutes, add salt, turmeric powder ,turmeric powder, tamarind paste, asafetida and simmer for 10 minutes.

• ·        Grind the soaked items as per first step with a few cloves of garlic into a coarse paste and mix in the tamarind liquid and let it boil for 10 minutes till the raw smell fades. Add 2-3 cups of water, garnish with crackled mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Poha (Vegetable Puffed Rice )

POHA 

Poha (made from puffed rice) is the North Indian equivalent to our Avul Upma in the south. However, Poha is much more interesting and has a appealing twist to it. I was introduced to this recipe by my daughter. She visited Indore a few years back to visit her in-laws family, and was introduced to this dainty dish as a breakfast item along with hot jalebis from a neighbouring sweetshop. In the winter season, this spicy dish is amazingly delicious, and super quick to prepare for a unexpected guest, or just as a breakfast or snack dish. The chief ingredients for poha are puffed rice, potatos, green peas and  onion, with finely chopped onion, sugar,a twist of lime and fine sev for topping.  It was really chilly this morning, and I made this fine dish to compensate for the overcast skies.


Ingredients :
                         

2 cups                   Puffed rice

2 nos                     Potato(medium size)

1 cup                     Green peas

2 nos                     Onion(big), finely  chopped

¼ cup                    Carrot(cut into small bits)

10                           Green chillies(medium size)

10 tsp                    oil

1 cup                     Coriander leaves-chopped

2-3 cups               Fine sev

½ tsp                     Turmeric powder

3 tsp                      Dhania powder

½ tsp                     Armchur

½ tsp                     Gharam masala

1 tsp                      Cumin seed powder

1 ½ tsp                  Salt

Method

·         Cut the potato into tiny bits, microwave for 4 minutes with green peas.

·         Wash the puffed rice and drain

·         Heat oil (10tsp) in a wide mouthed pan, put green chilli bits, sauté for 5 seconds, add dhania, armchur, gharam masala, cumin seed powder and turmeric powder and stir well. Now add the chopped onion  and sauté again for 5 minutes. When it turns light brown, add the cooked potato-pea mix, salt and mix well. Cover with a lid and cook for five minutes.

·         For each serving fill the bowl with the cooked poha, top it with fine sev and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves, and finely chopped green chillies (if you like it spicy). You could also squeeze a small rind of lemon, and add a sprinkle of sugar for variation

Thattai

Thattai

This a wholesome snack. A little effort is needed, but the end result will be very satisfying.

Ingredients:

2 Cups                       Rice floor

¼ cup                         urad dal

½ cup                         fried grams(dalia, pottu kadalai)

¼ cup                         ground nut(pea nut)

¼ cup                         coconut-grated

1 tsp                          red chilli powder

1 tsp                          salt

½ tsp                          asafetida

2 tsp                          til seeds(sesame)

½ tsp                          cumin seeds

300gms(approx)    oil

Few                            curry leaves

Process
·  Microwave the rice floor for 2 minutes or sauté in empty pan to remove moisture, if any. Allow it to cool.
·  Fry urad dal to light brown colour. Powder urad dal together with pea nut and fried gram

<   · In a wide mouth bowl, mix rice floor, salt, sesame seeds, grated coconut and asafetida well. In this add the powdered peanut-fried gram-urad dal. Add 6 tsp hot cooking oil and mix all these contents. Now add water to make a soft dough.

Rounding up: Heat the cooking oil in a frying pot. Take a small quantity of the mixed dough, make it a ball and flatten into circular thattais of desired size. Better pre-prapare the thattais to be fried to make enough for each frying batch. As one batch is frying next batch to be fried will be ready. Take the fried thattai from the pot when it turns light brown. Pat dry oil or strain.

Note: One can try making the thattai in oven, but at a discount to taste since oil without doubt enhances it.

Gooseberry Chutney

Gooseberry Chutney

In the realm of culinary world, gooseberries have many uses. Pickles(boiled as well as raw) with spices, preserved in salt water or in honey, cut gooseberry dried in sun to make pickles when it is not season for this fruit. There can be endless uses for gooseberry.

Health benefits are numerous being rich in vitamin C; it is considered an elixir of life. Taking one gooseberry preserved and seasoned in honey is believed to promote health and immunity. In chyavanaprash this is the main ingredient.

Recently I chanced to find in my daughter’s freezer a few old but well preserved gooseberries and as it

was meager to make pickle or any other use, I remembered this chutney which I learnt from my m-i-l.

Ingredients

5                              Gooseberries

4                              Green chilli

¼ cup                    conut scraping

1 tsp                      salt

1 tsp                      oil

¼ tsp                     Mustard              

½ tsp                     urad dal

Few                       curry leaves

Direction:

Remove the seeds from the gooseberries, add chilli, salt, coconut scrapings and grind them all together. Garnish with  splutterd mustard-urad dal and curry leaves. This chutney goes well with rice and as a side dish with any meal.  

Carrot Halwa

Carrot Halwa (Gajar Halwa)

Ingredients:

½ liter	Milk
3	Carrots
½ cup	Sugar
5 tbsp	Ghee
6	Cashews
10	Raisins
3	Elaichi (Cardamom)
1 pinch	Edible Camphor

Wash and peel  the carrot. Shred  the carrot in a food processor if you have one. Otherwise grate the carrots with a mandolin. 

Microwave the carrot for 4 minutes. Next, boil the milk in a non-stick pan or vessel and then add the cooked carrot gratings. 

Simmer the carrot and milk mix , stirring often till it becomes thick. 

Now add ½ cup sugar, stir well till the halwa gets a thick consistency without sticking to the bottom and sides of the pan. At this point add edible camphor, cardamom and garnish the halwa with roasted cashew-raisin mix.

Red Pepper Chutney

Red Capsicum Chutney

I love Red Capsicum because of its bright and pleasing color, and it is chock a block full of anti-oxidants, Vitamin A and C.Mother Nature seems to paint vivid colors on those vegetables and fruits high in anti-oxidants. The Capsicum family is also supposed to have anti-inflammatory properties.While all these are in the back of my mind, I pick this vegetable in the market for its color and taste. This is an unusual chutney made of bell pepper and tomatoes, delicious and quick to prepare. And surprise, surprise, a variant of this Bell-pepper chutney called Ljutenica is a national relish of Bulgaria. The ingredients of Ljutenica include tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, black pepper, vegetable oil, sugar and salt.

Ingredients

•            Red peppers                     2 nos
•    Tomato                               3 nos
•        Red chilli                          5 nos
•       Urad dal                             ¼ cup
•      Asafoetida                        ¼ tsp
•       Mustard seeds                  ¼ tsp
•       Salt                                      1 tsp
•       Tamarind paste                  1 tsp
•       Cooking oil                         5 tsp

• Cut the red peppers and tomato into small bits. Microwave the peppers for 4 minutes.
• Heat a pan, pour oil, mustard seeds, red chillies, urad dal and asafoetida one by one. 
• When Urad dal fries to light brown add the red pepper and tomato bits simmer for 10 minutes,stirring. 
• Now add tamarind paste and salt and mix well. Remove the contents from stove and let it cool. Grind to a smooth paste.
• This chutney is very tasty and goes well with rice, chapathis and even idli-dosas. 
• One can also add a couple of cloves of garlic for added taste

Mysore Masala Dosa

If idli is the 'queen' of South Indian tiffins, 'dosa' is truly the 'king', with umpteen variations. Rava dosa, onion rava dosa, plain dosa, paper roast, plain roast, set dosa, masala dosa, vegetable dosa, pesarattu... the list is endless. The dosa batter itself has multivarious proportions each out performing the other in quality and taste, crispness and ability to take the dosa from the tava in one piece without mutilating the culinary art work . I do not know if this 'dosa' originates from Mysore, but I was introduced to this masterpiece by my sister-in-law whom I visited three years ago. It tasted marvelous and I got the recipe from her. Recently when I was out of ideas for making a tiffin for my family, I remembered this 'dosa' and I at once grabbed the opportunity. It came out very well and everyone loved its crisp appearance and wonderful taste.

Add caption

The batter formula:

1. Idli rice                      2-3/4 cups
2. Raw rice                    1/4 cup
3. Urad dal                    1/2 cup
4. Fenugreek seeds        2 tsp
5. Salt                            3 tsp

Wash the  above (items 1-3) three to four times in water.Soak the rice and urad dal in water in separate bowls for one to one and half hours. Grind the rice separately and urad dal separately in a food-processor or ultra grinder for 15 minutes till it reaches to a smooth paste. Add 3 tsp salt and keep the batter in a warm place to allow it to ferment. After fermenting, the batter will raise to almost double the original level.
The masala part:
Vegetables: cauli flower, cabbage, beans, carrot, onion, green chillies chopped to fine bits. Each vegetable 1 cup, onion 2 cups and chilli to needed taste. Cut coriander leaves  about one cup and keep aside.
Masala Powder: chilli powder, dhania powder, amchur(dry mango powder), garam masala powder, garlic powder, turmeric powder all 1/2 tsp each, add salt 1 tsp and mix together well.
Making of the dosa:
In a non-stick pan, apply a little oil, and spread one ladle of dosa batter uniformly (use a medium sized ladle). Apply 2 tbsp oil all around the dosa and cover with a lid for a few seconds. Spread the finely cut vegetables  on the dosa and top the mixed masala powder( about 1/4 tsp) and blend the vegetables and coriander leaves and cover with the lid again. After one minute, when the dosa  cooks to a brown colour fold it in half. Serve it with coconut chutney.
For Coconut chutney: 1 cup fried gram, 1/4 cup coconut, 4 green chillies, 1/2 tsp salt, tamarind paste- 1/4 tsp. Grind them all together and garnish it with with mustards seeds and coriander leaves.

Farro Perlato Risotto(Wheat Pulav?)

We always think of basmati rice for making pulav. This recipe describes risotto made with Farro Perlato. The first time I ate it, it tasted like wheat pulav.

Farro Perlato is the Italian word for Emmer wheat. It is a wheat grain, actually a kernel that resembles barley from Popola di Foligno in the heart of Umbria.
Like the other grains in the wheat family, Spelt and Kamut, Farro is botanically closer to ancient varieties of grains. Farro is the first known grain in history, loved and appreciated – partly through force of circumstance, since at times it was the only food available - by the ancient Etruscans, Egyptians and Romans .

Farro has a high vitamin, mineral and fiber content. It is pleasantly chewy with a distinct sweet wheat taste. My son-in-law picked it up on a whim from Costco. I changed the risotto recipe slightly to make it like wheat pulav. It turned out to be really delicious, with a pleasant nutty feel to the grain. The ingredients for this risotto are:

1. Farro Perlato    2 cups (can we try with Indian white wheat?)
2. Onion     1
3. Potato    2
4. Tomato  5
5. Carrot   1
6. French beans- 1/2 cup pieces
7. Ginger   1"
8. Green chilli- 4
9. Olive oil- 50g

Asparagus- 1bunch

1. Basil- 1 bunch
2. Salt-   2 tsp
3. Pepper powder- 1tsp
4. Garlic powder- 1tsp
5. 21 Seasoning Salute- 2tsp 
6. Cut all the vegetables into small bits and keep aside.

Method:
Heat a pan adding 3 tsp olive oil and saute the wheat to a light brown  colour. Take another sauce pan with lid. Heat 10 tsp olive oil add onion, green chilli and the cut vegetables and saute in medium heat. Cover the pan with lid and let the contents cook for 10 minutes. Now add  the finely chopped tomato bits and basil leaves, wheat one by one. Stir the contents often. Add salt, pepper powder, garlic powder and 21 Seasoning Salute (available at Trader Joe's) mixing well simultaneously. Cover the lid and let the contents simmer for 30 minutes, periodically stirring the contents of the pot. Serve it hot with potato wafers. Enough for 4-5.
Note: Water is not to be used for cooking,- moisture in the vegetables will do for cooking the wheat.


My Other blogs

Badam Burfi

For festivals like Diwali and other occassions I make this simple, tasty, and nourishing sweet. Most people like badam for its nutrients and this burfi will be  a delicious item. Easy to make too. What is needed is a little patience.
Ingredients:

1. Badam              200 gms
2. Sugar                400gms
3. Ghee                 250gms
4. Kesar pwdr       1/4 tsp
5. Nutmeg pwdr   1/4tsp
6. Saffron flr         1 pinch
7. Milk                  1 cup
8. Soak the badam in boiling water for 30 minutes. Peel the skin by sqeezing and pressing the kernel out. Grind the badam kernels in a mixer to a smooth paste adding the milk. Take a sauce pan, heat 1/4 cup water adding 400gms sugar. Let the sugar melt. Stir slowly in medium heat. Now add the badam kernel rind, add kesar powder, slowly adding the ghee spoon by spoon( don't put all the ghee at once). Put saffron flower and nutmeg powder, stir non-stop, till the consistency becomes thick and comes unstuck in the pan around. Pour it onto a greased tray and cut into desired shape. You can make 40-50 medium size burfis

My Other blogs

Orange peel Gothsu or Pickle

Usually we peal the orange and throw away the skin. The orange peal can be made as a pickle or gothsu and is a very good side dish for curd rice.

Ingredients:

1. Orange peel -six full orange( Nagpur or Naval) 
2. Tamarind paste- 2 tsp
3. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
4. Green chilli- 4 nos
5. Chilly powder- 20 gms
6. Jaggery- 20gms
7. Asafoetida- 1/2 tsp
8. Mustard seed- 1/2 tsp, urad dal- 1tsp, red chilli- 2nos(for seasoning)
9. Curry leaves
10. Oil- 5-6 tsp

Method:

Wash and cut orange peal into thin pieces. Slit green chillies. Microwave orange peals for 3 minutes adding a little water. In a sauce pan pour 4-5 tsp oil, heat. In the hot oil add fenugreek seeds, red chillies and urad dal. After spluttering add the cooked orange peal-green chilli mix and saute for five minutes adding three cups water. Add tamarind paste, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, jaggery, asafoetida, curry leaves and cook for 15 minutes. The consistency should be pickle-like thick. The orange gothsu is now ready.

My Other blogs

Makhan Peda

This is a rich, healthy mouth watering delicasy. Easy to make it too! (30minutes)
Children will love its creeamy taste.

Ingredients:

1. Fresh khova    300 gms
2. Maida              100 gms
3. Sugar              300 gms
4. Oil to fry
5. Cut bits of almond, walnut, pistachio, and raisins- one cup
6. Powdered cardomom

Rose essence   few drops as flavouring

Method:
 
Take khova, knead well adding maida into a soft dough. Do not add water. Make lemon size balls and shape the same like a cup, fill with nut bits (about 1 tsp)
adding  little cardomom powder. Close the dough cup gently making it a round ball. Then flatten the ball like vada, fry in oil to a golden brown colour. Strain and kepp aside
Make sugar syrup add adding rose essence. Now, soak the peda in this syrup. Cool and serve.
Note: For making syrup add equal amount of sugar and water and boil till syrup comes to caramel consistency.

My Other blogs