Chana Sukke (Brown Chickpea masala)

This is a typical Konkani dish usually prepared during festivals and marriages. This humble dish goes well with any kind of saaru/daals. I made this specially for the event CHICKPEAS.

Ingredients:
Dry brown chickpeas - 1 cup
suran/yellow cucumber or magge - a small piece
Frozen/fresh grated coconut - 1 cup
dry red chillies - 8
urad daal - 2 tsps
coriander seeds -3 tsps
tamarind - marble sized
oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig
salt to taste

Method:
Soak chickpeas overnight. Pressure cook till done and keep aside.
Chop suran or yellow cucumber into cubes and cook separately till done. Mix the chickpeas and suran and keep aside.
Roast dry red chillies till crisp separately. Now roast urad daal and coriander seeds in ½ tsp oil till brown.
Blend dry red chillies, grated coconut and tamarind to a smooth paste. Finally add roasted seeds and blend further for 30 secs.
Add the blended masala, salt to the chickpea-suran mixture and get to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Heat oil in a small pan/panna kayli add mustard and curry leaves. Pour this seasoning over the chana.
Serve hot with rice and daali.

This dish is off to the Event JFI Chickpeas at Sometime foodie

Chilli Paneer Wrap

Somehow Paneer has not been our favourite!!! But we do eat during the parties and get-togethers. I wanted to participate in the MEC: Paneer. So finally bought a small packet of frozen paneer and thought that will try it on my daughter as she would'nt be able to guess the basic ingredient Paneer.
I went through my cookbooks which I have maintained since 1995 when I started helping my ma.. I used to note it down. There are various recipes from TV cookery shows to the recipes given by friends and relatives. This particular recipe was from Tarla Dalal and I always knew it was worth a try. I made a few changes according to my availability of ingredients. My daughter loved it at the first bite and ordered to pack the same wrap for school the next morning.

Ingredients:

Chapathis - 4, left over or freshly made.
Yogurt dip or Mayonnaise or any spread of your choice

Filling:
Frozen or fresh Paneer - ½ cup, cut into 1" cubes
spring onion white or onion - ¼cup
schezuan sauce - 1 tbsp
capsicum - 1 medium
spring onion greens - ¼cup
olive oil - 2 tsp

Sauce:
soya sauce - 1 tsp
cornflour - 1 tsp
sugar - ½tsp
salt and pepper to taste
water - ¼cup

Method:
Defrost paneer and dice them into cubes. Chop finely spring onion white and greens. Wash and chop capsicum into small squares.
Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and keep aside.

Take a microwave safe medium sized bowl. Add olive oil, spring onion white or onions. MW HIGH for 2 minutes. Now add the schezuan sauce and MW HIGH for another minute. Now add paneer cubes, capsicum and sauce mixture. MW HIGH for 3 minutes, till the soya sauce mixture thickens and coats the paneer and capsicum. Add spring onion greens and mix well. Keep aside.

Divide chilli paneer filling into 4 portions. Spread the yogurt dip/mayonnaise on the chapathi. Spread one portion of the filling in the centre of each chapathi and roll up tightly.

Warm the rolls wrapping them in a paper towel and MW HIGH for 40 secs.
Serve hot with Tomato Ketchup.

Chilli Paneer wrap is off to the MEC: Paneer Event and MEC: Announcement

Chicken Sausage Rice

This is a very easy dish when you really want to eat non vegerian and you cannot lay hands on anything other than frozen sausages. As i said earlier we were fasting last week and hence my daughter really wanted to eat sausages her favourite!!! I usually make this dish when I am really lazy but I made it today just to satisfy her taste buds and yes she was indeed happy to eat them all.

Ingredients:
Rice - 1 cup
onions - 1 medium
ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
green chillies - 4
carrot - 1 medium
fresh or frozen peas - ½ cup
chicken sausages - 5
salt to taste
garam masala powder - 1 tsp
coriander leaves - ½ cup, finely chopped
olive oil or any cooking oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
Cook rice separately and set aside to cool.
Peel and slice onions finely. Wash and slice green chillies lenghtwise.
Wash, peel and chop carrots in to small pieces.
Defrost peas if using frozen peas.
Cook chicken sausages in boiling water till tender. Cool and slice them into roundels.

Now heat oil in a non stick kadai. Add sliced onions and when slightly brown add ginger-garlic paste and continue stirring till nice and brown. Now add slit green chillies, chopped carrots, peas and chicken sausage roundels. Add salt and garam masala and stir fry till the sausages are lightly fried.

Now mix in the cooked rice. Stir well till all the rice is spiced up. Cover and cook for another
5 minutes on low flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with raitha of your choice.

Sunday Snacks Hot n Spicy

These dishes are my last minute entry to the Event "Sunday Snacks Hot n Spicy" at All Thingz Yummy by Pallavi.

Vegeterian Snacks

1. Masala Bhindi

Falafel
Vegetable Cutlets

Non Vegeterian Snacks

Prawn Chilli
Tangdi Kabab
King Fish fry

Rulaava Bhakri ( Spicy Semolina Dosa)

This is the dosa i hated the most all my life until my marriage. When I was doing my Engineering at my Aunt's place she would make this dosa once in a fortnight and I couldn't tell her that I hated this dosa. I used to eat only half and when nobody's around slowly flip the dosa under the book and give it to my friend who used to yearn for homely food. Finally I was caught red handed when i forgot the book at my study table and my aunt saw ants all over my book to see dosas inside!! ;))

Infact I used to tell my amma that i will totally ban this dosa after marriage. Gosh!!!! This is my hubby's favourite and he wouldn't mind having it everyday for breakfast and now my daughter's too. I had to take back my words and nobody believes when i say that I have started liking this dosa now... Really strange!!! Ultimately we are ready to do anything for our family!!! Now i don't have any particular dislikes as such. Now thats the part of growing up!!!

There are many variations to this basic batter like adding cucumber makes it thoushe bhakri. Basic ingredients also varies with each household. So its your taste that decides the ingredients going into this dosa!!!

Ingredients: makes 5 dosas
Semolina - 1 cup
grated coconut - ¼cup, fresh or frozen
green chillies - 2
ginger - 1" piece (optional)
coriander powder - 1 tsp
jeera powder - ½tsp
salt to taste

Ingredients:
Pound grated coconut, green chillies, ginger and salt to coarse paste. One can blend this in a blender. Another option is to chop the green chillies and add. Now take semolina in a bowl add the coarse paste and coriander- jeera powder. Add enough water to make a thick batter. Leave aside for 10-15 minutes.
Heat a tawa till moderately hot. Now take a fist full of batter and spread it out with your hands to dosa shape. One can also use ladle to do the same. Cover and cook on medium flame till the rawness disappears. Flip over to the other side and cook till nice and brown. Add ghee/butter while frying. Serve hot with a dollop of butter or have it with sugar or just like that.

Masala Bhindi

This is the dish i found from Jaya V. Shenoy's "Oota Upahaara" when i was eagerly looking for No onion-garlic recipes and I must say it is one of the healthiest and easiest dishes I have ever come across.

Ingredients:
lady's finger/okra/bhindis - ½ a kilo
lemon - 1
Besan/gram flour - 1 cup
coriander powder - 1 tsp
jeera powder - 1 tsp
hing powder/gum - 1 pinch
salt to taste
red chilli powder - 1½ tsp
oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
Wash and pat dry the bhindis. Trim off the ends. Slit the bhindis vertically almost to the end (but keep the end intact).

Sprinkle salt all over the bhindis and leave aside for 10 minutes. Meanwhile sieve besan and add red chilli powder, coriander powder, jeera powder and hing powder/gum(dissolved in water).
Mix well.

Sprinkle this mix over the bhindis till well coated. Sqeeze out the juice of lemon onto the bhindis.
Heat a non stick pan add oil, and arrange the spice coated bhindis in a single layer. Cover and cook on medium flame stirring in between. Cook till the bhindis turn out crisp and nice.
Serve hot as a starter or with steamed rice.

Birinda saaru (Kokum Soup)

This is a dish that always remains close to my heart as it was our favourite back home. Now its only me who loves it the most so I rarely make it. As kids I remember we sisters used to fight for the last sip even though amma used to make it in a large pitcher. Anyways going deep into the childhood memories makes me nostalgic and a lump in a throat and tears in my eyes.. Say !! Whatever ...Childhood memories are to be cherished!!!
Coming back to this dish, it goes very well with rice and a spicy side dish or just sip on it like a drink!!! And yes it stays good for a couple of days well refrigerated. The taste enhances as time passes and reheated!!!

Ingredients:
Dry Kokum/birinda - 5 petals
green chillies - 2
grated jaggery - 1 tsp
salt to taste
ghee/oil - 1 tsp
dry red chilli - 1
garlic - 8 cloves

Method:
Crush garlic along with the skin (Do not peel).
Wash the dried kokum twice and soak in 2 cups of water for about 15 minutes. Add green chillies and salt and get the mixture to a boil. Cook till it is reduced to 1¼ cup. Now add grated jaggery and cook for a minute. Meanwhile heat a small pan (panna kayli) add ghee/oil when hot, add crushed garlic and saute till light brown now break red chillies into the pan and saute for another 5 seconds and pour the seasoning into the birinda mixture cover and get to a boil. Doing this will enable the garlic flavour infuse into the birinda mixture. Leave aside for 10 minutes. Then sip it warm (discard the kokum and chillies) or serve with plain rice and fish tawa fry or upkari. Simple yet healthy!!!! The shots might not be appealing but I bet you will like it once you taste the sweet n sour Kokum Soup.

My First Award!!!

Sunanda of Sunanda's Kitchen gave me this "Lemonade Award"

I feel so honoured to get it from Sunanda. Thank u Sunanda U brought in a big smile on my face!!!
I would like to dedicate this award to all my fellow bloggers as I have just started to point out individually. Thank you one and all.

Batata Vaagu (Potatoes in spicy masala)

This dish falls into the category of Konkani cuisine/Amgele Randapa which is usually prepared and served at "Tera javana/Pejje javana" in temples during Car Festivals for five days. This course of meal is served in the mornings. Paaj is Rice gruel/kanji/ganji served with delicious side dishes. One among them is batata vaagu. Batata is potatoes and vaagu literally means Tiger probably bcoz of the redness and hotness of the dish. This hot dish goes very well with the bland rice gruel or with steamed rice and daalithoy. Batata vaagu is similar to Batata saung in many ways but only that this is a No onion-garlic dish

Ingredients:
Potatoes - 2
Tomatoes - 1
Dry red chillies - 5-7( I used 5)
coriander seeds - 1 tsp
fresh/frozen grated coconut - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig
salt to taste
coconut oil - 1tsp + ½tsp

Method:
Wash, peel and boil potatoes in a Microwave oven for 8 minutes HIGH. OR
Pressure cook whole potatoes till done and peel them.
Chop the boiled potatoes into small cubes.
Heat ½ a tsp of oil and fry red chillies and coriander seeds till light brown. Take care not to burn the seeds.
Now blend the fried red chillies and coriander seeds along with grated coconut and tomatoes to a smooth paste. Heat another tsp of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds let them splutter. Add curry leaves saute and add the spicy masala. Saute this masala over medium flame till rawness disappears and the gravy is bright red in colour. Now add salt, ½ a cup of water and chopped potatoes. Cover and cook on medium flame for around 8 minutes. The gravy thickens. Cook till the dish is semi-dry.

Serve hot with rice or chapathi.

Note: I have made a slight variation in the making of this dish. Traditional recipe calls for blending only fried ingredients with coconut. Chopped tomatoes are normally added to the pan after seasoning with mustard and curry leaves and cooked along with the ground paste. I wanted it to finish up fast and hence a shortcut. Its tastes all well anyway!!!!

Coriander Kadi

I made this kadhi for lunch today and believe me when i say I got it from one of the cookery shows (Kannada channel - Suvarna) today morning at 9am. It was an instant try. These days we are on saatvik diet (pure veg - no onion-garlic) and this dish came as a blessing in disguise. One of the easiest gravies best served with white/brown rice. I also made cabbage upkari and cauliflower/capsicum bhajo(bhajia) to meet up with the new dish I introduced to my family. Both my hubby and kiddo loved it. A real comfort food one can really yearn for!!!!

Ingredients: Serves 3
fresh/frozen grated coconut - 1/2 cup
coriander leaves - half a bunch
green chillies - 1
cumin/jeera seeds - 1/2 tsp
Yogurt/buttermilk - 1 cup
salt to taste

Seasoning
coconut oil or any oil - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
dry red chillies - 2 long
curry leaves - 1 sprig

Method:
Pick and wash coriander leaves and chop them roughly. Wash and chop green chillies roughly.

Grind grated coconut, chopped coriander leaves and green chillies, jeera seeds to a fine paste in a blender. Transfer the ground paste into the pan/pot/vessel. Add ¼cup water and salt and get to a boil. Now put off the flame.

Beat the yogurt till creamy or just use buttermilk. Add this to the boiled mixture and put on the flame and cook on low heat till u get a first boil. DO not boil for a long time as the yogurt will curdle.

For seasoning, heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add dry red chillies and curry leaves fry for 3 seconds and pour the seasoning into the kadhi. Serve it warm with rice.

Urad daal and semolina Idli ( Rulavaan Idli)

Idli, famous south Indian breakfast dish as everybody knows is made with urad-rice batter. It is one of the important Breakfast dish among the Amchis too. But on fasting days like Sankashti, Ekadashi or Panchami we konkanis eat only one meal a day that is rice in the noon. So breakfast and dinner has to be wheat and its products. Neither onion nor garlic. Hence on these days semolina is given uttermost importance. Various kinds of dosas are made using semolina which I will be posting in future. But this particular idli comes out really soft and tasty.

Ingredients:
Urad daal - 1 cup
Semolina - 2 cups

salt to taste

Method:
Soak urad daal for minimum 3 hours to maximum overnight. Grind to a smooth paste using a blender or a grinder. (Grinder gives the best results letting the urad daal to really double up in volume).

Meanwhile semolina has to be steamed/roasted and cooled before adding to the ground urad daal. There are 2 ways. Semolina can be simply roasted over a low flame till aromatic OR wrap up the semolina in a clean cloth (tie a knot neatly so that moisture doesn't get into the semolina) or newspaper (take 2 layers of paper and fold it neatly like an envelope). Now place this wrapped semolina in a vessel in an Idli maker and steam for around 15-20 minutes on medium flame (if using a pressure cooker remove the whistle). Allow the semolina to cool. I personally feel steaming semolina gives fluffier idlis. This part of steaming/roasting semolina can be done well in advance.

Once the semolina is cooled add enough water to make a thick paste ( OR the water used to clean up the blender after taking out the ground urad daal ;)) supposedly not to waste the urad daal sticking onto the bottom of the grinder/blender).

Now add the semolina mixture to the ground urad daal and beat well. let it ferment overnite. Next morning make idlis. Serve with sambar and chutney of your choice or its soulmate daali-thoy.

Also check Shilpa's recipe for rulavaan idli here.

Falafel

My first try on Falafel was here in Doha where we used to carry this "fast food" wrapped in a pita bread while watching movies in Cinema Hall. I fell in love with this snack the very first time i tasted it. Falafel balls can be eaten alone as a snack or as a sandwich topped with salad, pickled vegetables, hot sauce and tahina. I was eagerly wanting to try this snack at home. But the problem was tahina. I was really not confident how would this tahina turn out if tried at home as I am not a great fan of sesame seeds. Then after a long hunt, i found this ready-made tahina paste at the grocery.

There are lots of recipes to this particular snack but i found this recipe at Namratha's blog -
Finger licking Food which tempted me to make this dish the moment I read it and I am really happy that I gave it a try. I have done minor changes here and there as I did not have few ingredients like oregano but still it was great to taste.

Ingredients:

Dried chickpeas or garbanzo beans - 1 cup
baking powder - 1 tsp
onion - 1 medium, chopped
garlic - 4 cloves, smashed
cumin powder -1 tsp
coriander powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
pepper powder - ½ tsp
Coriander leaves - one handfull
salt to taste
Breadcrumbs for binding

Method:
Soak the dried chickpeas overnight or slightly more. Rinse and drain.
Blend all the ingredients except bread crumbs to a coarse paste. Refrigerate for a while to get firm balls. Shape the blended and refrigerated mixture into nice round balls and arrange these balls in a single layer in an air tight container and freeze them in advance if using for a party or just deep fry these balls on medium flame till golden brown. Serve hot with Hummus, Yogurt dip and Pita bread.

This savoury snack and Vegetable Cutlet goes for the EFM - Savouries hosted by Srilekha at Me and My Kitchen

Festive Food Makar Sankranthi

Reposting the delicious Sweet Kichidi for the Festive Food Event Makar Sankranthi hosted by Priti at Indian Khana

Health mix Puttu

Puttu and kadala curry is a typical Kerala breakfast dish and I never got to eat it until my marriage. I just loved it the first time I tasted it and this puttu became one of our favourites and being one of the easiest ones to make i had no problems at all. The only requirement is the puttu maker for perfect puttus. But one can use a thali as well. I usually made normal white rice flour puttu. Lately when i came across Sharmi's blog at Neivedyam i got to know there are many varieties too and luckily I got the Double Horse Brand Puttu flour and tried my hands on health mix puttu and it really tasted great. I have not made any major changes at all. Sharmi's recipe is here.

Ingredients:
Health mix puttu flour - 2 cups
Freshly grated coconut - 1 cup
salt - 1 tsp
sugar - 1tsp

Mix the puttu flour,salt and sugar well. Sprinkle little quantity of water on the flour mixture and mix. Keep sprinkling water until the flour mixture seems to be moist but not doughy. As sharmi said Check for doneness by taking some flour in your hand to make a fist and see if the flour holds together. This means the mix is ready to get steamed.

Heat the bottom pot of the puttu maker with half the water in it. Meanwhile Sprinkle little grated coconut on the bottom of the puttu cyclinder. Spread moist flour on it followed by the grated coconut. Continue layering till the cyclinder is filled finishing with a coconut layer. Cover the puttu vessel with a lid and steam for 10 minutes.

When done, remove the lid and push the puttu with a help of a round rod(which comes along with a puttu maker) onto a serving plate.
Serve hot with kadala curry or chutney or bananas

This dish goes for the event MBP: Easy Breezy Breakfast Event which was started by Coffee of the spice cafe

Schezuan Fried Rice

Veg Fried Rice has always been our favourite. Even if I prepare this dish every week sakshi and RK have no issues. Hence I tried this variation of fried rice which i got from Tarla dalal's Rice Recipes and I am glad i tried it.

Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice - 2 cups
garlic - 4 cloves
vegetables - 1 cup (carrots, capsicum, cabbage and beans)
spring onions - 2 stalks
schezuan sauce - 2 tbsp ( recipe below)
oil - 1 tbsp
salt to taste

Schezuan Sauce: makes ¾cup
Dry red chillies - 12 to 15 (kashmiri or Begdi)
white vinegar - 3 tbsp
garlic - 3 cloves
sugar - 2 tsp
sesame oil - 1 tbsp
salt - 1 tsp

Soak the dry red chillies in warm water for 10 to 15 minutes. Drain out all the water from the chillies and discard it. Grind all the ingredients except the oil in a blender to a fine paste. Keep aside. Heat oil to smoking point and pour over the paste. Mix well. Allow to cool and store refrigerated in an air tight container. Use as and when required.




Method: Schezuan Fried Rice
Heat a pot of water and get to a boil. Wash the rice and add to the boiling water. Add salt and cook till the rice is just done. drain off the water and set the rice to cool on a paper towel. This step can be done well in advance if preparing for a party.
Peel and finely chop garlic. Wash and finely slice all the vegetables. Wash and chop separately spring onions green and white.



Heat oil, add chopped garlic and saute till it turns golden in colour. Add spring onion white and veggies and saute for 2 to 3 minutes on high flame. Add schezuan sauce and cook for another minute. Add cooked rice, spring onion greens, salt and mix well. Toss for a few seconds till all the ingredients are well mixed. Serve hot.

This dish is on its way for the Event HARVEST: THE FESTIVAL OF RICE hosted by Sudeshna at Here I cook

Thingalavare kolombo ( bean Sambar)

Thingalavare in english is French bean is what I assumed. But i am not sure!! Anybody there to help me out ??

This bean is widely used to make many dishes in Konkani cuisine. My amma mainly prepares thingalavare gashi, saar upkari, saung and sambar. We as kids used to relish this with rice as well as dosas instead of chutneys. This bean powder is said to have many medicinal properties.

Ingredients:
Thingalavare/french beans - 1/2 cup
potatoes - 1 small
sambar powder - 2 tsp
onion - 1 small
tomatoes - 1 medium
coriander leaves- handfull
salt to taste

Method:

Soak thingalavare in water overnight. Next day morning drain the soaked water and add 3 cups of fresh water.
Wash and peel potatoes into small cubes.
Pressure cook the bean along with potatoes till done
Wash and chop tomatoes. Peel onions and chop them roughly.
Take the cooked beans and potatoes in a vessel and get them to a boil. Add salt, onions and tomatoes and cook further for 5 minutes or till the tomatoes are cooked.
Now add sambar powder and mix well. Add chopped coriander leaves and boil further till consistent gravy is obtained. Bean sambar is ready to be served along with rice and any side dish of your choice.

Rajma Sambar is also made similarly but using kidney beans (Rajma).

This dish is on its way to the event "My Legume Love Affair, Seventh helping" hosted by
Cooking 4 all Seasons and to The well Seasoned Cook by Susan.

cabbage and green peas curry

This is a semi-dry side dish which goes well with rice as well as chapathi. All the ingredients are stir fried in very little oil and hence an healthy dish made in a very less time.

Ingredients:
Green Cabbage - 1 cup
fresh or frozen green peas - 1 cup
tomato - 1 medium
turmeric powder(haldi) - ¼tsp
green chillies - 1-2
garam masala - ½ tsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
oil - 2 tsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 7-8
coriander leaves - few strands

Method:
Wash and shred cabbage finely.
Defrost green peas (if using fresh wash and use MW directly) and Microwave HIGH for 1 minute.
wash and chop tomato into fine pieces.

Heat oil over medium heat. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Let them splutter. Add cabbage, green chillies and turmeric , mix well. Cover, simmer and cook for 5 minutes till half done. Then add peas, tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes till crisp and tender. Finally add garam masala and salt. Garnish with coriander leaves.

This dish and Surnali goes to the event FIC- JANUARY- YELLOW by Sunshinemom at Tongue Ticklers

Winter treat Event

This is my entry for the event Winter treat hosted by Trupti at Recipe Center.


1. Vegetable cutlets

2. Babycorn Chilli

Surnali (Sweet Dosa)

Surnali is a traditional breakfast dish among konkanis which is also called takka surnali. This dosa is sweet in taste and best eaten with butter or ghee. These dosas can be made without jaggery too and named cheppe surnali (sweetless dosa) which goes well with any chutney or pickle. We like it anyway. Hence what I do is divide the batter before adding the jaggery and leave one batter just like that and add jaggery to the other.
My friend's mother adds chopped onions and green chillies to the batter(without jaggery) and make dosas. Even they turned out good!!!

Ingredients:
Dosa rice - 2 cups
methi seeds - 1 tsp
Beaten rice(poha)/puffed rice(charmuri)/layi - 1 cup ( I used beaten rice)
grated coconut - ¾ cup
yogurt/butter milk - ¾ cup
salt to taste
jaggery - ¾ cup grated

Wash dosa rice and methi seeds in water 3 times or till water comes clear. Soak in rice and methi seeds in water for 3 hours. My amma soaks rice and methi seeds in buttermilk instead of water and then uses it while grinding. But here I prefer to soak it in water.
Soak beaten rice in water for about 10 minutes
Grind soaked ingredients along with coconut and beaten rice to smooth paste. Add yogurt instead of water for smooth grinding. If the yogurt is used up add only little water as the batter should be slightly thick as it comes to normal dosa consistency once you add jaggery since jaggery melts making the batter thin. Take the batter in a vessel add salt, turmeric and grated jaggery. Mix well and set aside to ferment for minimum 8 hours or overnight. The batter almost doubles in volume.

Mix well. heat a dosa griddle (my MIL says non stick pan works best since they do not brown underneath and surnali's are fluffy soft!!! Choose whichever pan you have) when moderate hot pour ladlefull batter onto the pan and just give a soft swirl. Do not spread the batter. Cover with a lid and cook on low flame for 3 minutes max. Now open the lid - dosa would have had tiny dimples all over !!! check for any raw batter on top if so cover and cook further for another minute. Surnali is cooked only on one side. Underside of the surnali should be golden brown. Take care not to blacken them as the taste will be lost.
Serve hot with butter/ghee or enjoy just like that.

Batate saung ( Potatoes in red gravy)

Potato saung and daali thoy is my hubby's all time favourite. RK doesn't mind eating this everyday and hence this is our favourite now though i don't prepare this everyday...i make it a point to make it atleast once in 15 days.

Ingredients:
potatoes - 2 medium sized
Onions - 2 medium
red chilli powder - 1½ tsp
tamarind pulp - 2tsp
salt to taste
coconut oil or any oil of your choice - 1 tbsp

Method:
Pressure cook potatoes, peel the skin and chop into cubes. OR peel and chop potatoes into cubes and place them in a Microwave-safe dish and add just enough water and microwave for 8 minutes more/less depending on the power of your microwave oven.

Peel and chop the onions to square pieces.

Heat oil in a kadai add chopped onions and saute till light brown. Now add red chilli powder fry for a minute. Soak tamarind in warm water for 10 minutes and sqeeze out the juice or use ready-made tamarind pulp.( i used home made tamarind pulp). Add this pulp to the kadai. mix well. Now add cooked potato cubes and saute for a minute. Add salt and 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes on medium flame or till semi dry. Serve hot with rice and daali thoy

Methi (Fenugreek) Pulao

This recipe is from my amma and she makes it quite often as methi has high medicinal properties inspite of its bitter taste. This Pulao is a complete and healthy meal by itself when served with raitha of your choice.

Ingredients: serves 2-3
Rice - 1 cup (Basmathi/sona masoori or any rice)
methi leaves - small bunch
Onions - 2
green chillies - 2
clove - 2 (optional
cinnamon - 1" (optional)
ginger - 1"
garlic - 4 cloves
tomatoes - 2 medium
garam masala powder - ½ tsp
red chilli powder - ½ tsp
turmeric powder - ½ tsp
water - 2 cups
salt to taste
refined oil/olive oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
Wash methi leaves till the water comes out clear(not muddy) For the final rinse add salt and leave for 10 minutes and then drain the leaves on a colander. Chop the leaves finely.
Wash rice well in running water and keep aside to soak for 30 minutes. Drain it and keep aside the water in which the rice was soaked.
wash and peel ginger and garlic and blend to a smooth paste.
Peel onions and slice them finely.
wash and chop tomatoes into fine pieces.
wash and slit green chillies.

Heat oil in a deep bottomed non stick kadai, when hot splutter cloves and cinnamon then add chopped onions, slit green chillies and ginger-garlic paste and saute till brown. Add chopped methi leaves and saute for around 5-7 minutes until the leaves are wilted and turns dark green in colour. Now add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder. saute for about 30 secs and add chopped tomatoes. Mix well and cook till tomatoes are soft and nice.

Now add salt and rice and saute on low flame for around 3 minutes till the rice turns opaque. Meanwhile make 2 cups of water with the water that was used to soak the rice ( so that the nutrients of the rice are not gone a waste). Boil the water separately in a vessel and add to the methi-rice mixture. Increase the flame to high and get the mixture to a boil.
Cover the lid, reduce the flame to medium and cook for around 7 minutes without interfering in between. Put off the gas and forget it again for another 5 minutes. Don't peep to check if the rice is cooked. After 5 minutes or so, open the lid and tranfer the pulao into the serving bowl and serve hot with raitha of your choice!!

Oats Halwa

During pregnancy, each one goes through several kinds of cravings like sweet, salty, spicy or fatty preferences. End up result will be the bulge which we gain in 9 months. Eating sensibly a healthy balances diet will not only help during delivery but also during post delivery to loose the sensibly gained weight.


Crunchy,nutty, highly nutritous with high fibre content makes oats a breakfast favourite. But during pregnancy that might not be your favourite. But eating them is also important because:
-Oats are high in carbohydrates for sustained energy which will make you feel full for a longer time.
-Oats contains high water soluble and dietary fibre, which aids in controlling weight gain.
-Oats provide zinc, which is needed for growth, reproduction and good vision.
-Oats also provide magnesium, iron, the antioxidant Vitamin E and the vitamins niacin and thiamine.

Now don't you feel that oats plays a major role in pregnancy. Those craving for sweet nothings can make this in minutes and fullfill your cravings. My mom used to make badam-kaju burfi using powdered badam and kaju with milk and sugar...so i tried the same with oats. It is a real treat to the sweet tooth.

Ingredients:
Quick cooking white Oats - 1 cup
ghee - 1 tbsp+ greasing
milk - 1 cup
sugar - ¼ cup

Coarsely powder oats in a blender. Heat a tbsp of ghee in a wide pan, add coarsely powdered oats and roast till llight brown and aromatic. Now add milk and then sugar and keep mixing till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Grease a thali lightly with ghee and then spread this mixture evenly. let cool.
Cut into desired shape once cooled and enjoy them!!!

This dish, Palak Pulao and Palak Chutney is my entry to the Event
Eat healthy - During Pregnancy hosted by Sangeeth at Art of cooking Indian food.

Yogurt Dip

This is one of the easiest and instant dish if u are too busy or if you are too lazy to cook any side dish for rotis. If u have left over or frozen parathas or kubbus(pita bread) this is just the right dip for you.

Ingredients:
skimmed thick yogurt - 1 cup
garlic - 1 clove
coriander leaves - 2 sprigs
salt to taste
red chilli powder - ½tsp
lemon juice - 1tsp

Method:
Beat the yogurt well till creamy.
Crush the garlic to coarse paste
finely chop the coriander leaves
Add the crushed garlic and chopped coriander leaves to the beaten yogurt. Mix well. Season with salt and lemon juice and mix again, finally garnish with chilli powder and just swirl with the spoon and serve with parathas or pita bread.

This dish can also be used as a salad. Just add chopped cucumber, onions and tomatoes and u have your salad ready!!!

This dish is my entry to the event Recipes for the rest of us Event hosted by Ramki at One Page Cookbooks.