vanghi bhaath /eggplant rice

A traditional spicy eggplant  rice with a blend of spices infused to give a deep flavour and amazing aroma ,this rice is very simple and easy peasy to make ,most common in karnataka state of India, years back after my marraige when  i moved  from mumbai to bangalore,this dish was so very new and unique to me but now its one of the most common dishes i make regularly in my kitchen,i usually make when i feel lazy to cook.

ingredients :

2 cups rice

1-11/2 cup bite size eggplants / brinjals / baingan ( any variety can b used )

2-3 tbsp chopped capsicum

1 small onion chopped

2 tbsp vangi bhaath masala pwd ( i used ready store bought  )

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp red chilli pwd  ( optional )

1/4 tsp garam masala ( optional,i always add though )

1/2 tsp turmeric pwd

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

lemon juice to taste

corriander leaves to garnish

method :

Cook rice and keep it aside.Heat oil in a pan,splutter mustard seeds .fry onions till transluscent,add capsicum and eggplants,fry till both are tender enough.Add chilli pwd,salt,garam masala ,turmeric pwd and vanghi bhath masala pwd .Add cooked rice and mix well .Garnish with corriander leaves and squeeze in some lemon juice and serve hot with raita /yogurt.

Crispy Finger Millet Pancakes/ Crispy Ragi Dosa

This is the healthiest dosa of all,perfect for people who have diabetes ,a low calorie and have a high nutritional  value.Ragi/finger millet is very common in southern parts of india and i came across this dosa,seven yrs back ,right after my marraige until then i had never used or consumed ragi flour.I was newly married and was staying in a rented house with my hubby in bangalore and the owner of the house were staying right below my house,the land lady was too good and fortunately a very good cook  but she didnt knew hindi etall and i didnt knew kannada but she could understand a bit of english and so it was little difficult to communicate,once she made these wonderful ragi dosa for us and i was very impressed also my hubby is very fond of ragi dosa and ragi rottis so he told me to take recipe from her,but when i went and asked her she was not able to explain me and so she immediately gave me demo in her kitchen and this is how i learnt from her,on that day itself i had noted the recipe in my book.I am really thankful to mrs somshekhar  for letting me know such healthy and power packed dosas ,its now a regular meal in my kitchen.

makes 8-10 dosas
ingredients :
1/2 cup ragi flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup chopped fresh methi leaves/1 small cube frozen methi ,wash and use after thawing it.
1-2 tbsp chopped corriander leaves
1 small finely chopped onion
1-2 finely chopped green chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp crushed black pepper corns
salt to taste
oil as required
water as required
method :
Mix all the ingredients together except oil with enough water to make a thin ( like buttermilk ) consistency batter.Rest this batter for 10-15 mins.Mix well ,heat a non-stick  pan/tava/griddle on high flame,the tava should be baking hot,sprinkle the batter from little high to form a circular shape,drizzle 1-2 tsps of oil generously,flip over and let it cook for few mins till crisp and serve hot with coconut chutney/tomato chutney.
pls note :
1.you can add 1/2 cup yogurt and rest water to make soft dosas or only water to make crispy like rava dosas.
2.If making crispy dosas the tava should be smoking hot and just spread the batter from little top to get the web like look in your dosas.
3.you can add any greens like corriander leaves,spring onion,spinach leaves ,grated bottle gourd or fenugreek leaves for flavour of your own choice.
Linking this to priya's bookmarked recipes-every tuesday event.

spicy veg kothu roti using leftover tortillas

I had few leftover store bought tortillas which i ended up in making kothu roti,  those tortillas were actually not properly sealed  after using them ,ofcourse becoz of my laziness ;) ...they turned little crisp and i also had some leftover frozen veggies which i wanted to use before their expiry date so this dish took birth ,also this is actually not the authentic kerala style kothu roti ,as those are made up of chopped strips of fresh homemade kerala parothas,but since i used the tits -bits of rotis and it turned out quite chilli friendly i thought of naming it as kothu roti ,it turned out quite hot and we had them with a glass of water :-) but the taste was simply delicious,so beware before trying and adjust the masalas/spices according to your taste buds.I really thought it was somewhat near to kothu roti style.Sending this to pj for her scrumptious  delights from left overs event.

serves for 2-3 ppl
ingredients :
3-4 big size store bought tortillas,roughly torn into small pcs or cut into thin strips
1 cup chopped mix veggies  ( carrot,beans,cauliflower,peas,corn,broccolli,etc )
2 tbsp cubed paneer
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
1-2 chopped green chillies
2-3 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1-2 tsp red chilli pwd (adjust acc to taste)
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
12 tsp garam masala
1-2 tsp sambhar pwd ( adjust acc to your taste )
salt to taste
lemon juice to taste
chopped corriander leaves to garnish
method :
Heat oil,splutter mustard seeds,cumin seeds,add broken curry leaves,saute onions,add green chillies,add rest of the veggies and paneer and fry till veggies are tender.Add chilli pwd,turmeric pwd and sambhar pwd and mix well ,add the tits bits of tortillas and mix well,sprinkle some drops of water,cover and cook for few mins on a low flame so that the tortillas are well flavoured,drizzle some lemon juice and garnish with corriander leaves and serve hot.

chunky tomato rasam

A couple of days back my friend moved to india and she gave me her mom made rasam powder which is just fabulous and nothing can be better then a mom-made stuff and so these days im hooked upon to make rasams as my side dish which is also perfect for this windy/rainy/winter season of melbourne ;).You can also mash or blend the tomatoes while making this rasam but i like my tomato rasam with tomato chunks in it and hence the name i thought would be apt ,as this rasam is quite filled with tomato chunks it was also tasting palatable on its own ,it also gave the lovely dark colour to it.Sending this to pj for hosting this months healing foods-tomatoes event started by siri.Also sending this to suma for her event ,side dishes.

serves for approx 2 ppl
ingredients :
2-3 finely chopped ripened tomatoes
21/2-3 cups of hot water
1 tsp tamarind paste
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
1-2 tsps rasam pwd
2-3 garlic cloves crushed
salt to taste
ingredients for tempering :
1 tsp ghee /oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp urad dal
1/4 tsp hing/asafoetida
3-4 broken curry leaves
method :
Chop the tomatoes finely or you can even mash them,mix them in hot water and keep it on low flame till it comes to boling point, add turmeric pwd,tamarind pulp,rasam pwd,salt and crushed garlic in it.Heat oil in another pan ,splutter mustard,cumin seeds,ural dal,curry leaves and hing and add this tempering to tomato rasam,simmer for atleast half an hr or till the tomatoes are pulpy and tender enough.Serve hot with rice.

akki roti

 Akki roti is quite famous in karnataka and is very different from other indian flat breads,it is very thin,crisp and very difficult to make as we have to pat this directly on tava/pan and and cannot be rolled by roller like any other flat breads.This akki roti is more or less a bangalore style and is very nutritious ,you can add carrots/methi leaves/cabbage as per your taste,here i have added carrots as i had only these on my hand  when i made ,i have taken this recipe from my friend who is a bangalorean and a kannadigar,this method of making akki rotis are taught by her and according to me its one of the simplest form ,there are many ways of making these rotis and once you get a hang of  it,it is kinda easy to make.Sending this to akilas kitchen for her event DNSW:A

 

ingredients :

2 cups rice flour

1 finely chopped onion

1/2 cup grated/shredded carrots

1-2 tbsp finely chopped green chillies ( adjust acc to taste )

handful of chopped corriander leaves

salt to taste

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp oil

oil for frying

hot water  as required

method :

Mix flour,onions,carrots,corriander leaves,green chillies,salt,oil and cumin seeds all together .Add around half cup of hot water and cover the flour mix and keep aside for 10 mins ( dont mix,just add water and keep it ).Add some more hot water and make a soft dough.Take a tennis size ball dough and place it in a centre of tawa/pan,keep some cold water in another vessel (say abt 1/2 a cup ) wet your hands with this water and pat the dough and spread with your palms in a circular way to make a thin roti.( keep wetting your hands frequently as the dough with stick to your hands and may break in between,so with the help of your wet hands it will be easy to pat and spread the rotis.)Drizzle some oil all over the roti and cover the roti for a min,remove the lid and let it cook till it gets seperated from tava/pan and you get some brown spots,flip over and drizzle some more oil and cook till crisp and evenly brown.Serve hot with toor dal chutney.

pepper rasam

This is my first ever attempt of making rasam,and yes ofcourse,i have had it many a times but made by my mother in law or at my south indian friends places and even in bangalore restaurants,but never ever tried making myself,being a north indian it was never made at my mom's place in mumbai ,though i am married to a north indian  guy but he is settled  in southern parts of india and so obviously he and my inlaws  have a soft corner towards complete south indian meal and my hubby is also fond of sambhars/rasams/aana-saaru,so i wanted to try rasam since long and had seen this recipe long back on jay's tasty appetite blog and just loved her spicy tangy hot variety of rasam and we had lovely time having a simple and light dinner of steam rice with rasam yesterday in this winter which satisfied our palates and had a soothing cleared throat :),yes she was right my house was literally full of pepper aroma and as soon as my hubby entered in to the house he was immediately tempted to have it,i have made the exact way and ingredients just that i had some  ready made tamarind pulp and canned tomatoes which i needed to finish it up yesterday itself,so used these two things store bought,rest all is same.Sending this over to cws-pepper event started by priya and hosted by padma for this month and also to nupur for her BB4 event.-whats lurking in kitchen  ?

ingredients to dry roast :

2tbsp black pepper corns
1-2 dry red chillies
1 tbsp tur dal
2 tbsp cumin seeds
4-5 curry leaves
for tempering/tadka :
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4tsp asafoetida pwd/ hing
2-3 curry leaves
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp ghee ( i used oil instead )
rest ingredients :
2tbsp tamarind pulp
2 tomatoes chopped and mashed ( i used 1 cup -canned ones )
4 cloves of garlic
4 cups warm water
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
salt to taste
chopped corriander leaves for garnishing
method :
Dry roast all the ingredients (under ingredients for dry roast) till you get the aroma or 2-3 mins ,let it cool down and grind coarsely into a powder.Mix tamarind pulp and water together ,add tomatoes,crushed garlic,salt,turmeric pwd and add the grinded powder ( i used 1 tbsp less as i found it was too much spicy for my family ,using less was also quite spicy but perfect for our palates,so please adjust the powder accordingly )and mix well.Heat ghee/oil,add mustard seeds,let it splutter,add curry leaves,urad dal ,hing and the mixed rasam mixture.Mix well and heat on the low flame till it comes to one boil,switch of the flame and garnish with corriander leaves.Serve hot with steamed rice.

mini uttappams

Uttapams are very common and famous south indian cuisine and perfect dish for breakfast or for that matter any of your meals,i usually like to add vegetables in my uttapam so that it becomes quite healthy and filling and whenever i make my dosa batter i surely make uttapam once with that batter and we all are happy to have it.I usually make uttapa pikelets as my daughter loves this size and is easily attracted towards it :)

ingredients :
2 cups dosa batter
1 grated carrot
1 tomato finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
2 tbsp spring onions chopped/finely sliced
finely chopped corriander leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1-2 green chillies finely chopped
1 tsp red chilli pwd
salt to taste
oil

method :
Mix all the vegetables together,add green chillies,chilli pwd ,salt,cumin seeds and mix well.Take about 1-2 tbsp of batter and spread on a preheated non stick pan/tava/griddle in a circular way ( like a  small puri size ) and spread around a tbsp of mix veggies on top,drizzle some oil all over ,cook for a while and gently flip over with a spatula and cook for few mins.Serve hot with ketch up/green chutney/coconut chutney.

adai

ingredients :
1 cup rice
1 cup mix lentils/dals (moong dal,green split dal,urad dal,chana dal ,etc)
3-4 dry whole red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp red chilli pwd
salt to taste
oil
finely chopped corriander leaves
method :
wash & soak rice ,dals,red chillies and cumin seeds all  together for 3-4 hrs.grind coarsely using enough water.the batter consistency should be like dosa batter.heat a griddle or non stick pan,spread a serving spoon full of batter in circular way just like a dosa ( little thick than dosa ), spread oil all over and flip around and fry other side too for few mins.serve hot with coconut or tomato chutney.

instant rava dosa

ingredients :
1cup rice flour
1 cup rava
1/4 cup maida/plain flour ( optional )
1/2 tsp hing
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 onion finely chopped
1/2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coconut
1/2 tbsp crushed pepper corns
1tsp chopped green chillies
3-4 broken curry leaves
few broken cashew nuts( optional)
chopped corriander leaves
oil/ghee
water
salt
method :
Mix rice flour,plain flour and rava together,add enough water to make a thin batter ( just like butter milk ).Add all the rest of the ingredients except oil and mix well.Heat a non stick tawa,sprinkle a cup full of batter in a circular form or spread the batter by swirling the tawa  and drizzle oil/ghee on all the sides.Let it turn crisp and brown completely on one side and then turn over and cook.serve hot with coconut or tomato chutney.

masala dosa

ingredients for dosa batter :

3 cups rice
1 cup urad daal
1 tbsp fenugreek seeds( dana methi )
salt
water
method :
wash and soak rice ,daal and methi seeds together for 3-4 hrs.grind the same adding ltl water .add salt and keep aside overnight for fermentation in a warm place.

ingredients for masala :
2 potatoes boiled and crushed slightly by hands
2 onions sliced
1-2 green chillies
2-3 curry leaves
1tsp urad daal
1tsp turmeric pwd
salt
oil
1tsp mustard seeds
method :
heat oil,add mustard seed,urad daal and after popping add curry leaves,chopped green chillies,then add onions,salt and turmeric. fry till it becomes tender ,lastly add boiled potatoes and mix well.

ingredients for garlic chutney:
2-3 flakes of garlic
2 whole dry red chillies
1tsp of grated coconut
1tsp tamarind pulp
salt
method :
mix all the ingredients together and adding ltl water grind into a fine paste.

making masala dosas :
put a serving spoon ful of dosa batter on a non stick tawa and spread it evenly.spread a tsp of garlic chutney on to it and in centre add masala .sprinkle ghee/butter on all the sides of dosa and fold into triangle shape and serve hot with coconut chutney.