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.

Spicy Masala Potatoes

These Masala Potatoes go well with Roti/Naan.   Do take the time to try it in your kitchen and let us know how you liked them.

 Ingredients:

1 Kg. Baby Potatoes
2 Onions (sliced thinly)
2 Tablespoons ginger paste
3-4 ripe tomatoes (big) minced
1 tablespoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon hing
1/2 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
2 dry red chillies
1/2 teaspoon whole  jeera
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bunch of coriander leaves
3-4 green chillies
Ghee/Oil as required

Peel the potatoes with a potato peeler.  Wash and dry with  kitchen-tissue.  Use a skewer and pierce the potatoes all over.  Soak in salted water for sometime.   In a large pot add water and a little oil and salt and bring to boil.  Put the potatoes and simmer them for under 4 minutes.  Drain in a colander and add enough salt (not too much as they have already been soaked in salted water and boiled too)  turmeric powder  and olive oil.  Mix and keep aside.

Take ghee in a pan and shallow fry the partially cooked and spiced potatoes till they are brown all over.  Remove and keep aside.

In the same pan add a little more ghee and add shredded dry red chilly and the hing.  Then add the cumin seeds and when they turn brownish  add the onions and fry till onions are golden.  Add the tomatoes, ginger and simmer till the tomatoes/ginger become a paste and are nicely fried.  Then add coriander powder, chilly powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, sugar and fry till ghee begins to separate from the masala.

Add the potatoes and toss so that they are well coated with the spiced masala.  Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water and simmer till the potatoes are fully cooked and you a left with a thickish sauce which coats the potatoes. 

Remove the pan from fire and add finely cut green chillies and coriander leaves.

Serve hot with Naan/Roti.

Dal and White Pumpkin Curry

White Pumpkin 1 (cut into chunks)
Chana dal – 1 cup (washed and soaked)
Dry red chillies -5
Corriander seeds – 2 tablespoons
Cummin seeds -1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds -1/2 teaspoon
3-4 garlic flakes
1 small onion
pinch of turmeric
1/2 fresh coconut
For tempering : 2-3 tbsps ghee, 1/2 onion sliced, few curry leaves.

Dry roast on a tawa, separately, whole red chillies, corriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, garlic (sliced), onion (sliced), grated coconut. Add a pinch of turmeric and grind extra fine and keep aside.

Wash the channa dal and soak for sometime. Pressure cook or boil and keep aside. Make a thick curry with the ground masala, add the pumkin and cook till the masala boils and the pumpkin is nearly cooked (say roughly 5-8 minutes). Add the channa dal and simmer for a few minutes. In a separate pan add ghee and heat up and add the sliced onion. When it turns golden, add the curry leaves. Pour on the boiling curry and simmer for a minute or two.

Serve with white rice or roti and a vegetable side-dish, papad, pickle.

Serves 6-8 people.

Cluster Beans & Butter Parota

The health benefits of cluster beans are in the protein and fiber they provide. Cluster Beans (known as gawar or guar phalli, goru chikkudu or kothavara) are a type of green beans which are a flatter, smaller cousin of the regular green (French or string) beans.

In India, cluster beans are commonly used in vegetable curries and lentil dals.  Unlike the regular green beans, cluster beans have a slightly bitter taste. To tone down the bitterness, freshly grated coconut, or tamarind, jaggery, and tomatoes are used.

The recipe for the following Cluster Beans was given by our keen supporter, Dianna Correa.  I tried it at home and have posted it for the benefit of our viewers.  Thank you Diana,  please do send us more of your favourites.  Dear friends/readers,  please do try it out,  its different and nice.

Ingredients :
½ kg. cluster beans
1 medium onion
2 medium tomatoes
Salt to taste
½ cup water

Grind to a Paste :
¼ coconut
1 medium onion
4 green chillies
1 small bunch of coriander leaves

Tempering :
1 tablespoon oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
Few curry leaves
3 flakes garlic, crushed

String the cluster beans.  Break into 1” long pieces.  Chop the onions and tomatoes.  Heat oil, add mustard seeds and when they crackle add the garlic, curry leaves and onions and fry till soft.  Then  add tomatoes and fry till soft.

Add the ground paste and fry for a few minutes till the raw smell disappears.  Add the vegetable and sauté for 5 minutes.  Then add ½ cup water and salt.  Cover and cook till done.  P.S.  Do not add any sugar or jaggery.  The ground paste and tomatoes help to eliminate the natural bitterness of the cluster beans.

Butter Parota :

Want a simple and easy Parota recipe ?    These are a  big favourite with my boys;   who are never satisfied with just one or two.   The recipe I have given makes about 20-22 quarter-plate sized Parotas.   The dough should be kneaded well and should be soft – this ensures soft Parotas.   I use roughly this quantity of water, but it depends on the brand of dough you use.  After it is kneaded the dough should be soft but not sticky.  If it is sticky sprinkle a little more flour and knead again adding just a teaspoon more oil to your palms.

For the Dough :
500 grams White Flour/Maida (roughly 4 english tea cups)
250 grams Wheat Flour  (roughly 2 english tea cups)
Salt 1 teaspoon
Sugar 1 tablespoon
Oil 4 tablespoons
Hot Water to knead the dough (approx 2 -1/4 cup water)
Flour for rolling and sprinkling on the parota
Butter – softened 2-3 blobs

In a bowl sieve both flours.  Add salt, oil, sugar and hot water (straight from kettle)  – mix with a spoon till it cools and then knead with your hands till a soft dough is formed.  Apply a film of oil to your hands and knead for at least 5-8 minutes.  Cover with cling wrap and allow to rest for 1 hour.

Make balls.  Roll into small disk, apply butter and on the butter sprinkle a little flour.  Take a knife and cut from the center to the edge.  Lift one of the cut edges and roll into a cone in a clock-wise direction.  Stand the cone (tip up) on the rolling board and press and form a ball.  Apply little flour and roll thin with a rolling pin to approx a quarter-plate size.  Fry on a hot tawa till done.  Let it fry well on one side before you turn it.  Too many turns will  make it tough; so limit to maximum  4 turns.  Press the sides gently with a flat tawa-ladle on the third and 4^th turn, so that they puff up here and there.     Brush with a little butter;  remove and keep warm in a bowl till serving time.

Curds/Coconut Curry + Bittergourd Side-Dish

I love simple meals, and this is one of them. Hot rice, a sour and spicy Curd/Coconut curry, a spicy vegetable, some pickle and pappadam; makes me happy, any day, any time. You will also catch me slurping on a large bowl of this brew; not necessarily at lunch time .
Care to try ? Am sure you will ….again and again.
Curd/Coconut Curry:
2 Cups curds
1 Cup desiccated coconut
1 Cup (approx) water
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
2-3 green chilies
Small bunch of coriander leaves
Curry leaves – few
Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
Methi seeds – 1/4 teaspoon
Red chillies 2 – roughly broken
Ginger -1″ crushed in a pestle
Salt to taste
Oil or ghee

Grind very fine -the coconut, cumin seeds, green chillies and coriander leaves. {I separately put the desiccated coconut in a dry grinder and powder it very fine, then add the remaining ingredients- this gives best results}. I used 2 green chillies – you can add more if you like it more spicy; my family likes it mild. Keep aside till required.

In a pan, add little oil/ghee and put the mustard seeds. When they crackle, add methi, crushed ginger, red chillies and curry leaves. Then add the coconut/chilly paste and saute for sometime. Add curds a tablespoon at a time and mix till fully incorporated. It is important to stir immediately when adding the curds; or it may separate and curdle. Add salt to taste and enough water to make a thick curry and keep on fire till it comes to a boil. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve steaming hot.

Bitter-Gourd Side Dish
1 Kg Bittergourd (Cut into halves-remove pith and slice fine).
1.5 teaspoon/or more chilly powder or bafat powder
1.5 cups thick curds.

Wash the bittergourd. Add salt and keep aside for 10-15 minutes. Then wash away the salt and squeeze out as much water as you can. Add chilly/bafat powder, curds and salt to taste (careful with the salt- as you just added salt and washed it out). Let it rest for 15 minutes.
In a non-stick pan, put 3-4 tablespoons of oil and add the bittergourd mixture. Keep on a very slow fire. Keep stirring every 5 minutes or so and scrape off any that may be stuck to the pan. It will take about 1 hour for it to cook and be nice and crisp. When it is brown and crispy add 1 tablespoon sugar..and let it caramalise. Keep stirring till you can see oil separate from the mixture. Put the fire off…. keep the vessel in a tilted position..so that all the excess oil drains out. Transfer to another dish…(so that you dont have too much oil). Serve hot.

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 !!!!!

Minty Vegetable Cutlets

These Minty Vegetable Cutlets can be served as a starter or as a side item to your main course. Try them am sure you will like them.

Bunch of Mint Leaves – chopped fine
Bunch of Coriander leaves- chopped fine
Potatoes – 3 large – boiled and grated
Paneer – 1 cup grated or mashed
Green Peas – boiled
Carrot – grated (fine)
Green chillies – 3 -chopped fine
Turmeric -1/4 teaspoon
Red Chilly powder – ½ teaspoon
Aamchur Powder – 1 teaspoon
Chat masala – 1 teaspoon
Garam masala – ½ teaspoon
Garlic powder- 1/2 teaspoon
White pepper powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Eggs –  2 – beaten
Breadcrumbs
Oil for frying

Add all ingredients together (except last 3).  Mix and knead till you can form balls from the mixture.  Flatten them with a butter knife and shape to small rectangular or round shapes.  Dip in egg and then in bread crumbs.   Shape and dip in egg and breadcrumbs and lay all on a flat platter.  Keep in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.   Shallow fry in hot oil.  Remove on absorbent tissue.  Serve with mint chutney or hot garlic sauce.

Punjabi Samosa and Potli Samosa

If you are having a party sometime soon, do make these cute Potli Samosas. Easy to make and so tasty that your guest will be licking their fingers. If you think they are too much of a bother, then try the ‘Punjabi Samosa’.  I made the ‘Potli Samosas’  recently for a friends party and they were a super-duper hit. Serve with the sweet and spicy date sauce…..or with any plain tomato ketchup. Either ways they taste great.

For the Crust
2 cups Maida
1/2 cup warm corn oil
1/2 teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fine semolina
Water to knead (about ¼ cup)

Samosa Filling

3 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 cup green peas (I used frozen)
4 potatoes (boiled in water with salt, pealed and cut into cubes)
Cumin seeds 1 teaspoon
Fennel seeds/saunf -1/2 teaspoon
Green Chilly – 2/3 chopped fine
Coriander leaves – a small bunch chopped
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder -1/2 teaspoon
Mixed spice powder
Red Chilly Powder –coarse – 1 teaspoon or more as per your spice liking
A pinch of hing
Salt to taste

For the Crust :
Heat Oil and allow to cool a little. Add all the ingredients (except water & oil) to a bowl. Add warm oil and mix with a spoon till it resembles bread crumbs. Then rub with fingers till it is well mixed (this is important). Then add water little by little –you may not need all of it, till a soft dough is formed. Knead for 5 minutes. Cover with a plastic wrap and keep aside till you finish making the filling.

For the Filling :

Heat oil, add the cumin, fennel and mustard seeds and wait till they splutter. Then add green chillies and sauté. Add the other spices and mix. Add Peas and then add chopped potatoes and mix. Add salt to taste. When cooled add chopped coriander leaves.

You can either the Punjabi Samosa or Potli Samosa with the same crust recipe given above.  I made two batches, used one for the Potli Samosa and one for the Punjabi Samosa. Got about 10 Punjabi Samosas and 22 Potli Samosas. I used large Potatoes so the filling was enough for both.

For the Potli Samosa –
Make small lemon sized balls. Roll and cut into a circle with the edge of a steel tumbler. This ensures that all are the same size. Use your left hand and hold the thumb and index finger together. Put the dough circle over your formed fingers and depress the dough into the circle formed with the fingers. Add a teaspoon of filling and press the edges together. Then with your right hand pinch at the neck of the potli to seal the edges. Form all this way and keep aside for frying.

For the Punjabi Samosas, make ten to twelve balls out of the dough.   Roll into a medium circle. Then cut each circle into a semi-circle. Form a cone and put in a tablespoon or more of filling. Seal all the edges, using a little water, if required. Form all the samosas and keep in a plate. Fry 2/3 at a time and drain on paper tissue. Ensure that the samosas are fried on a slow flame till golden brown on all sides. Drain on paper tissue and serve hot with green chutney or Tamarind/Date Chutney. Recipe for Tamarind Date Chutney given below.

Tamarind Date Chutney :
½ cup Tamarind ½ cup dates, 1 tablespoon red chilly powder 1 tablespoon chaat masala 1 teaspoon sugar 2 cloves of garlic, Little ginger Lemon juice 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 2 green chillies Few coriander seeds for garnish Salt to taste Boil dates and tamarind with sugar, red chillie powder and ½ cup water. Cook for 5-8 minutes. Blend together all the remaining ingredients (except coriander leaves). Add to the date/tamarind mixture and mash well. Add salt to taste and more spices if needed. If required you can sieve the mixture. I did not, and felt it was not required.

The Potli Samosas are a great finger food for small parties and get-togethers.

Anaar-Dana Kulcha

Kulcha is a typical Punjabi recipe,  where Flour dough,  mashed potatoes, onion  and lots of spices are rolled into a flat round shape and baked in an earthen clay oven until golden brown.   I saw these Kulchas being made on a Pakistani Food Channel,  and although I had no earthen clay oven,  I just  knew that I had to try them in the normal oven.    They turned out nice and soft and topped with a spicy and tangy potato & pomegranate seed mixture;  they were a refreshing change.

 For the Dough :

• All purpose flour ½ kg
• Baking soda a pinch
• Ghee Clarified  ½ cup
• Yeast 1 tbsp
• Salt ½ tsp
• Milk as required

 

For Filling:

• Boiled potatoes 2
• Onion chopped 1
• Green chilies chopped 4
• Coriander and mint leaves chopped 1 cup
• Cumin seeds 1 tsp
• Crushed red pepper 2 tsp
• Salt ½ tsp
• Pomegranate seeds crushed 4 tbsp
• Butter as required

Mix together all purpose flour, salt, yeast, clarified butter and a pinch of baking soda.

1. Knead into a smooth dough with required milk.
2. Keep aside for 1 hour to rise.
3. Mix together boiled potatoes, crushed pomegranate seeds, chopped onion, chopped green chilies, coriander and mint leaves, cumin seeds, salt and crushed red pepper in a bowl.
4. Now make small flat breads with the dough.
5. Arrange on a roasting tray and  brush with butter and keep to rise for 20-30 minutes.
6. When they rise a bit – sSpread potatoes mixture on top and  brush with butter/ghess.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes till brown.
8. Serve hot.