Rice Pancakes and Coriander Chutney (Dosa N Chutney)

There are various types of Dosas/Rice Pancakes; crisp, fluffy, spongy, wafer thin, thick, large, small, These are not your crisp and wafer thin type of Dosa; but a spongy and holey one variation. My son loves these and calls them “Holey Dosas”; as you see a large number of holes in them. You can have your ‘Dosa’ with any side dish. Most popular are coconut chutney, coriander chutney, tomato chutney, potato bhaji, sambar etc. I made ours with a Coriander Chutney.  Do try them.

Recipe :
5 cups of rice (I used the ‘Rozana’ Basmati rice).
1 cup urid dal
1 teaspoon yeast
Sugar – 3-4 tablespoons
Salt to taste.

Wash and soak the Rice and Dal separately for at least 4/5 hours or overnight. Grind to a fine batter adding water as required. Transfer the batter in a deep vessel, add sugar, salt and yeast. (Dissolve the yeast in ½ cup luke warm water and wait till it bubbles. Then add to batter. This to ensure that yeast is good).

Take an onion and peel it. Flatten it at the bottom and just make 5/6 cuts on the surface of the outer layer. Put this onion on the surface of the batter and cover with a lid. After 2 hours the batter will have risen and the onion floating on the surface will have disappeared into the batter. (This is an indication that your batter has risen. If not wait for sometime more time till this happens).

Remove the onion from the batter and wash it. Take a cupful of oil and keep aside. Pierce a fork into the top surface of the onion and soak it into the oil. (You are going to use the onion to lighly coat the Tawa/skillet with oil).

Heat a tawa/skillet. Rub the tawa/skillet with the soaked onion so that a thin film of oil coats it. Drop a large ladle full of batter on the tawa/skillet and immediately cover it with a lid and let the dosa cook on medium heat till done and you see no raw batter on the surface.
Between dosas, grease the tawa or skillet lightly with oil/onion and then pour the batter.

Best had directly from pan to plate with side-dish of your choice.

So there you are, a ‘Holey Dosa’, which leaves no hole in your wallet ;).

Gingerbread Cookies

Christmas Season would be incomplete without  having gingerbread cookies on your Christmas platter.  You can use this batter to make plain cookies or to add that extra special touch,  use a Gingerbread Men cutter to cut out cookies.  Laced with spices these cookies are real fragrant and tasty and you can never stop at just one of these.

For Gingerbread Cookies :

3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup  sugar
1 large  egg
2/3 cup molasses (Easily available in the flour/sugar aisle of a grocery or supermarket)

Frosting:

2 cups  icing sugar
1/2 cup  butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 1/2 tablespoons milk

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices.  Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and molasses and beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture beating until all is thoroughly mixed. Make 2-3 balls of the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and keep to chill in a refrigerator for about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 175 deg c.  Line 2 baking sheets with wax paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Use a gingerbread cutter to cut out the cookies. With an offset spatula lift the cookies onto the baking sheet, placing about 1 inch apart.   Keep the baking sheet in the fridge for about 10 minutes and then bake in the preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes. When you see that the edges are just getting brown- remove from oven, remove to a wire rack to cool complete.  Decorate after they have cooled with frosting as desired.

 Frosting:

Beat butter till creamy then add vanilla extract.  Gradually beat in the sugar.  Add the milk and beat till the frosting is light and fluffy.  Decorate the gingerbread men as desired.  This recipe yields about 34-36 small sized gingerbread men/cookies.

Crispy Dosa with Mint and Coriander Chutney

Ingredients for Dosa Batter:
3 cups idli rice
½ cup urid dal
½ teaspoon methi seeds
water as needed
salt to taste.

Preparation:
Soak rice and urid dal and methi seeds for 2-3 hours. Wash in two three changes of water, till the water runs clear. Grind to a fine paste and leave to ferment for 8-10 hours or overnight. Mix water to form a spreadable batter. Heat a dosa tawa, keeping in low medium flame take a laddle full of the batter and spread it evenly starting from the center slowly outwards in circular motion. Drizzle some oil along the edges and cook for 2mins. Flip on the other side and cook until done.

Serve hot with any chutney of your choice.

Mint/Coriander Chutney :
Ingredients:
Small bunch of coriander and mint leaves
1 small onion
½ tomato
1 tablespoon of urid dal
2 green chillies
a small piece of tamarind
1 small red chilly
¼ cup coconut
¼ tsp hing
salt as required
Preparation:
In a pan drizzle a tablespoon of oil and add onion and sauté till soft. Then add tomatoes and fry a bit. Add urid dal, red chilly, green chillies, coconut salt, hing. Cool and then grind along with water, a bunch of coriander leaves and mint – to a coarse chutney.

Sabudana/Tapioca Pearls Khichdi

The health benefits of Sabudana (sago) are mainly in the carbohydrates it provides. Sabudana is made from the starch extracted from the pith (center) of the sago palm stems. The commercial production of sago is in the shape of small globules and are called Tapioca Pearls. Sabudana is full of starch or carbohydrates and is great for a quick boost of energy, and hence often served in India for breaking fasts during religious festivals. Sabudana gives you quick energy and is easy to digest and has an overall cooling effect on the system

Recipe :

1 cup Sabudana(sago)/Tapioca Pearls
½ cup peanuts
A handful of cashewnuts
½ cup Green peas
1 Potato – diced
1 tsp Sugar
2 Green Chillies chopped lengthwise
1 red chilly shredded
2 tablespoons ghee
1 onion (medium) sliced
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 Pinch Hing (asafoetida)
¼ cup grated fresh Coconut
2 tablespoons Lemon juice
Salt to taste
Few Coriander leaves
Few Curry Leaves

Wash the Sabudana in water 3-4 times and soak in roughly 1 cup water. Soak overnight or at least for 8- 10 hours. Every 2-3 hours, fluff it up with a fork or chopstick. After 8 hours each grain will fluff up and be separate. Test to check if it has soaked well and if you find any hard center, sprinkle with a little water and soak some more time till  it is all soft-centered and each sabudana/pearl is well shaped. The one cup Sabudana will by now double in volume.

Take a thick-bottomed/non-stick vessel and add ghee. Fry the Cashew nuts and peanuts and remove and keep aside. In the same pan add mustard seeds, red chilly and cumin seeds. When it splutters, add hing, green chillies, curry leaves and onion. Keep stirring till onion is wilted and gets a light brown tinge. Then add potatoes, sprinkle a few drops of water and cook till the potatoes are nearly done. Then add green peas, turmeric powder, salt and sugar and cook for a few minutes. Add the Sabudana and keep frying till it is well coated and the Sabudana Pearls turn translucent. This may take about 5 -8 minutes. Lastly add the fried peanuts, cashewnuts, grated coconut, lemon juice and coriander leaves and a few more curry leaves. Serve hot. Serves 4-5 persons.

Onion Bhajjea

A hot cup of Tea and some crispy Onion Bhajjea is something that very few can resist. This recipe is simple, quick and yummy……. this is guaranteed.

Come along…check out the recipe.

Ingredients :
4 large onions sliced
4 green chillies cut fine
2 sprigs of curry leaves
A small bunch of coriander leaves
1 Cup gram flour/besan
2 tablespoons rice powder/flour
Baking Soda -1/2 teaspoon
Hing – ¼ teaspoon
½ teaspoon red chillie powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¾ – 1 cup water
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Sift the flours into a large bowl. Add baking soda, salt, hing, chillie powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix all together and add water ½ cup first and mix to make a paste. Add the remaining water a spoonful at a time till a thick paste is formed. Depending on the flour, you may just about need ¾ cup water only. The mixture should be pasty but not runny. Add the sliced onions, curry leaves, coriander leaves, green chillies and mix.

Heat oil in a deep frying pan and when it is hot enough, put blobs of the onion and flour mixture. Do not over crowd the pan. Fry on both sides till crispy. Drain on paper towels and then serve hot with a steaming cup of tea or coffee.

Dal Paratha

A Paratha is one of the most popular unleavened flat-breads in Indian Cuisine.   Some like their Parathas plain, while some like them stuffed with potatoes,  spinach,  cottage cheese/paneer, boiled vegetables  or even lentils.  There is even a Kheema Paratha (stuffed with mince),  but I have yet to make them successfully.

Parathas are fried on a flat Pan/Tava and a generous dash of ghee/butter are applied during frying to make it more scrumptious.   You can eat it plain or dipped in curds.

This one here – is made with Channa Dal and with a subtle flavor of ajwain and chillie flakes……  read the recipe for details.

For the Dough :
2-1/2 cups – Whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon melted butter or ghee or oil
1  teaspoon  Ajwain/Carom seeds -crushed
A  pinch of baking soda
Hot water to knead – roughly 1-1/2 cups (may vary according to the flour – so add little by little till you get a soft  rollable dough)

For Dal Stuffing :
1.5 cups  Channa dal
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon chillie flakes (more if you need spicier)
A pinch of asafoetida/hing
1-1/2  tablespoons ginger paste
1 teaspoon Ajwain/Carom seeds -crushed
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds/jeera – crushed
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Little  oil
Salt to taste

In a bowl add the flour, melted butter or oil, salt and ajwain/carom seeds.  Mix with a fork till you see it forming like bread-crumbs.  Add hot water and knead to make a elastic dough – similar to chappati dough.   Cover with a clean wet kitchen towel and keep aside for 1 hour.  After one hour – apply little oil to your palms and knead the dough again and make into balls – roughly 8-12.

Wash the channa dal in several changes of water and soak for 1-2 hours.   Add 1-1/2 cup water, turmeric and salt  and pressure cook for 1 whistle.  If there is any water remaining, simmer on low heat till all the water has evaporated.   The dal will be fully cooked and very soft – mash it with a potato masher or spoon till it is smooth.

In a non-stock saucepan, add little oil and add the hing, then the crushed cumin seeds and crushed carom seeds.   When they start crackling add the ginger paste and fry for sometime, then add the dal, sugar and chillie powder.  Keep on stirring till it forms into a mass.  You can easily form balls out of this.  Make small balls and cover with a cloth and keep aside.

Make small balls of the dough and roll it into a small thick disc.   Put  a ball of dal in the center and bring the sides to the center and seal.  Dust flour on the table-top and roll gently with a rolling pin into neat and round Parathas.

Heat a Tava/pan and fry the Paratha on both sides till well done.  At the last turn add a teaspoon of ghee/butter and toss the Paratha in it.    

Take a big piece of foil and stack the Parathas one on top of the other.  When all are done, cover tightly with the foil and keep them warm till serving time.

Cheese & Oregano Pull-Apart Bread

After a packed Thursday and Friday,  I woke up on a early Saturday morning and found that I had nothing much to do.  The boys were fast asleep,  so I decided to surprise them with this Parmesan and Oregano Pull-Apart Bread when they woke up.  “Is there a Pizza in the Oven” ? said Devon as soon as he was up… as there was a lovely aroma of freshly baked bread coming out from the kitchen.

I made a simple lunch of fish curry and rice…that’s up next folks; so watch this space.

So here you are…. Parmesan & Oregano Pull-Apart Bread……

Recipe :
Cheese               -              ½ cup grated
Oregano              -              2 teaspoons
Garlic               -              5 cloves-very finely minced/grated
Chillie flakes       -              1 teaspoon
Butter (Melted)  -              ¼ cup
Flour (Plain)         -              3-1/2 cups
1-1/4 cup             -              Milk  (room temperature)
Sugar                 -              2 teaspoons
Yeast                 -              2 teaspoons
Olive Oil             -              4 tablespoons
Garlic powder      -              2 teaspoons
Salt                   -              1-1/2 teaspoon

Take a small bowl add milk sugar and yeast.  Stir and keep it for 10 minutes till it is frothy.  (This is important, if no froth or bubbles form, your yeast is faulty/expired – so either start again or change the yeast).  Mix in olive oil after the yeast froths..stir and keep aside.

In another bowl, add the flour and the milk/yeast mixture.  Stir in garlic powder and salt and knead till a soft dough is formed.  If the dough is not soft…just wet your hands with a little water and knead till the dough is soft and elastic.  (The texture is like chappati dough).  Cover the kneaded dough with cling wrap and keep aside for 1-1-1/2 hour to rise.

In the meanwhile mix melted butter, herbs, chillie flakes and minced garlic and keep aside.  Grate the cheese and keep aside.

When the dough has risen, punch it back and knead again.  Then form lemon sized balls.  Take a bundt pan (or if you don’t have one, take a normal round cake pan and keep an aluminium mug in the center) and grease it lightly with olive oil.

Dunk the balls one by one in the butter/herb mixture,  lift with a fork, drain excess butter, and layer them in the bundt pan… don’t pack them too tightly – let there be some space in between.  Sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese. Then put the second layer of dunked balls.  When it is completed just flatten them so that the level is more/less same.  Cover with a foil and keep aside for 10-15 minutes to rise just a bit.

Preheat oven to 175 deg. C /350 def. F.  Bake for 30-40 minutes or till it is golden.  When done, remove from oven and brush all over with remaining butter/herb mixture.

When done, you can pull each bread separately.  Serve warm with tomato sauce or dip of your choice.

Idli, Sambhar and Chutney….

I’m sure you’ve heard it said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The truth is, it is; and there is a very good reason for it. Researchers have proved that people who eat breakfast have a better chance of losing weight, and keeping it off. When you skip meals, you’re so hungry by lunchtime that you eat the entire cow!…ha ha.

Are you tired of eating the same boring bowl of sugar-coated cereal for breakfast every morning, or maybe you’ve slipped into the bad habit of completely skipping breakfast? ‘Bring On the Chef In You’, will soon be bringing you healthy breakfast ideas; that can be made quickly and are nutritious. Think outside the (cereal) box when it comes to breakfast food. Don’t let yourself get into the rut of thinking you don’t even need to bother with breakfast. Here are some reasons why breakfast is important:

• Breakfast is the most important meal of the day
• People that eat breakfast generally aren’t as likely to be overweight as those that don’t
• Breakfast provides the energy your body needs to start your day
• When you eat breakfast, you replenish your body’s stores after sleeping all night
• Students who eat a healthy breakfast have higher overall grades
• Employees who eat breakfast perform better on the job

So read on…… Breakfast idea number 1; and do check out our Blog for more……..

Idli :

Basmati rice – 2 cups
Urid Dal -1/2 cup
Boiled rice – ½ cup
½ teaspoon yeast
1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
Salt to taste

Clean and wash the rice and dal and soak for 4-5 hours. Put in a blender and grind and keep aside. Mix yeast in 1 tablespoon of luke-warm water to dissolve and wait till it bubbles. Then add to the batter along with salt and sugar and mix well. Allow to ferment for 3-4 hours. To check if the batter has fully risen, remove the outer skin of an onion and make small four slits on the onion surface. Put it in the batter, it will float on the surface. When the batter rises the onion will sink in the flour. Put water in a steamer, put the batter in idli moulds which can be lined with a thin film of oil with a tissue. Steam for 20-25 minutes. When done, cool and remove from moulds. This makes about 35-40 small sized idlis; and they vanish quickly from the table; so don’t think they are toooo many. {For lunch we had the remaining Idlis with a spicy Irish Lamb Stew}. Serve hot with green chutney and sambhar, recipe of which is given below.

Green Chutney :

1-1/2 cup fresh coconut – grated
A small bunch of coriander leaves
Few mint leaves
4-5 green chillies (more if you need it spicier)
Marble sized tamarind
2 cloves of garlic
1” piece of ginger
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 small onion
Salt to taste
A pinch of sugar

Grind all together in a blender. Don’t make it too fine but let it be a bit coarse. (Optional – can give a bagar of ½ onion, mustard seeds, curry leaves and 1 whole red chillie)

Vegetable Sambhar :

1 cup Dal (tur)
Mixed vegetables of your choice 1-1/2 cup (used potato, banana, carrot, yam, brinjal, beans, drumsticks)
1 Onion
2 green chillies
Sambhar/Rasam powder (used Rasam) – 2/12 teaspoons {Available in all asian grocery stores)
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Tomatoes – 1 large
Tamarind – lime sized
Ginger – 1” – crushed
Garlic – 4-5 cloves – peeled and crushed
Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
2 whole red chillies – torn into bits
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish.

Wash dal and keep aside. Cut vegetables into chunks – wash and keep aside.

In a pressure cooker, add a little oil and put mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add sliced onion, curry leaves, crushed ginger, crushed garlic, red chillie, green chillie, tomato and sauté for sometime. Then add sambhar powder, dal and sauté for a minute or two. Add water, tamarind, salt to taste, the cut veggies and pressure cook till the first whistle.

Put the heat off and let the sambhar simmer in the pressure cooker for 10-15 minutes. Open the cooker only after it is cooled. Garnish with finely cut coriander leaves and serve warm with Idli and Chutney.

Oats Dosa

Here is a special Oats Dosa;   it is a great variation to the normal Rava Dosa.  If you do it right it should be crisp and paper thin.  You have got to try this.  Have with sambar, or coconut chutney.

Ingredients :
Oats – 1 cup
Rice Flour – ¼ cup
Semolina – ¼ cup
Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
Onion medium – 1, chopped fine  + another for brushing the pan
Whole Pepper crushed coarse- ½ teaspoon
Green chilly -1-chopped fine
Salt to taste
Enough water to make a runny batter
Oil for frying and sautéing the onion

Heat a non-stick pan and dry roast the Oats till it turns slightly light brown.  Cool and powder it in a dry-grinder.  In a pan add a little oil and sauté the onion and green chilly and keep aside.  Take a bowl and add the powdered oats, rice flour, semolina, cumin seeds, sautéed onion & green chilly, crushed pepper and salt to taste.  Add enough water to make a runny batter.

Take a little oil in a bowl and keep aside.  Take one onion and peel it and cut it flat at the base – so that it can stand upright.  Take a fork and prick it. Soak the onion in the oil..this will be used as your brush to smear the pan with oil.

Heat a non-stick pan and smear it with oil with the onion-brush so that it is coated with a thin film of oil.  Take a ladle of batter and splash it on the hot pan.  It will be holey here and there…not to worry..just fill in the larger holes and shake the pan from side to side, so that it forms a round pancake/dosa.  Cover and let it fry till crisp and when the edges start to loosen,  remove and serve hot with coconut chutney and sambar.

Special Buns

Bring On The Chef In You, wishes all our readers a blessed and spiritual season of Lent. On the suggestion of our readers, we will abstain from posting any meat dishes during the Lent period. We may throw in some dishes with fish though.
Lent is the Christian observance of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. The traditional purpose of Lent is the penitential preparation of the believer—through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial. Its institutional purpose is heightened in the annual commemoration of Holy Week, marking the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events of the Passion of Christ on Good Friday, which then culminates in the celebration on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. During Lent, many of the faithful commit to fasting or giving up certain types of luxury as a form of penitence.
I was pleasantly surprised when my little niece, Sonal, (who is little no longer ); decided not to log on to Facebook for a full forty days during Lent.  Now is’nt that something. Sonal, we are proud of you.

These Special Buns are stuffed with the goodness of vegetables. You dont have to follow the recipe for stuffing – do your own as per your liking. How about a mushroom stuffing…should taste awesome too.

For the Dough:
Flour (maida) 1-1/2 cups, milk ¼ cup, water ¼ cup +/-, yeast ¾ tablespoon, sugar 1 tablespoon, salt ¾ teaspoon, olive oil 3 tablespoons.

Take flour in a bowl, add salt and olive oil and mix. Take ¼ cup warm milk, add ¼ cup water and then add yeast and sugar and mix. Leave aside for 10 minutes till it bubbles. {If it does not bubble then the yeast is no good and you may have to try again or get a fresh batch of yeast}. Add the yeast mixture to the flour and form a soft dough; softer than chappati dough; else dip your hands in water and knead the dough. The dough should be soft and smooth to have soft and fluffy buns. Knead well, cover with cling wrap and leave aside to rise for half an hour to an hour till it has doubled in size.

When it rises, punch it and form balls 6-7, brush with a little olive oil and keep aside for 15-20 minutes.

In the meanwhile, prepare the filling. You can use any filling of your choice. I used mixed vegetables for the stuffing.

For Stuffing:
Potato 2 Nos. boiled and grated, carrots/beans/peas – half cup- steamed and mashed, medium onion 1, jeera ½ teaspoon, ajwain ½ teaspoon, garam masala powder ¼ teaspoon, chillie powder ½ teaspoon, turmeric powder ¼ teaspoon, coriander leaves –few, lemon juice and salt and oil as needed.
In a pan add little oil and add jeera and ajwain, then onions and sauté for a minute or two. Add chillie powder, garam masala, turmeric and salt and stir. Then add the cooked vegetables  and mix with fork. Add salt, coriander leaves and lemon juice and keep aside.
Take one of the balls of dough and press to make a small hollow and put a tablespoon of stuffing into it. Pinch the edges and seal. Then lay the balls, seam side down on a baking tray. Complete all the other balls this way, brush with olive oil and leave enough gap between the buns. Keep aside for another 20 -30 minutes to rise some more.
Preheat oven to 190 deg C. By this time the balls would have doubled in size (almost). Bake for 17-20 minutes till the crust turns golden. Each oven is different, so keep a check after 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and immediately brush with butter. These are so fluffy, soft and good and are best eaten warm, fresh out of the oven. Enjoy !!!!!