Finger Millet Dosa

  Finger millet/ Ragi  is a very healthy millet which is rich in protein, dietery fiber  and helps in weight loss.  This dosa is made with finger millet, urad dal and without adding any rice. You can have this dosa as breakfast or dinner. People who are in diet and wants to avoid rice  can try this recipe . 

INGREDIENTS:

Finger millet/ Whole Ragi - 2 cups

Whole white urad dal - 1 cup

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt- 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Soak finger millet over night  and urad dal two hours before grinding. In the urad dal, also add 1/2 teaspoon of fenugreek seeds for soaking.

 2. First drain the finger millet and add it to mixer and grind them to a smooth paste . Then keep it aside and drain urad dal and grind to fine paste . Mix both the paste and add salt and keep it for fermentation .

3. It takes 6 hours for the batter to ferment and rise,

4.  Now mix little water to the batter. The batter should be little thick like dosa batter. Pour batter in the centre of dosa tawa and spread it. If you like, you can add chopped onions on the top. Serve with any chutney of your choice. 

Carrot Halwa

 Easy Indian sweet - Carrot Halwa with limited ingredients available at home .

INGREDIENTS:

Carrot - 250 gms

Milk - 290 ml 

Sugar - 1/4 cup

Cardamom Powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Saffron stands (optional) - few

Cashews - 4 to 5 no.s

Ghee - 3 teaspoon

METHOD:

1.Grate 250 gms carrots and keep aside. In a pan , add 1 teaspoon ghee  and fry cashews golden brown and keep aside. 

2. In a pan, boil 290 ml of thick milk.

3. When the milk starts to boil, add the grated carrots. Keep stirring constantly in medium flame to avoid the milk getting burnt in the bottom of the pan . slowly, the milk gets thicker and get absorbed and mixture thickens. It takes about 10 - 13 minutes. 

4. Once the mixture thickens well, also when the carrots are cooked well , add sugar and saffron strands  .

5. Once the sugar is added, it lets out moisutre and carrot halwa gets gooey and starts letting out water. Keep stirring constantly for 2 to 3 minutes . Do not stir for more time, then the halwa will turn out very dry. when it is still with moisuture and looks gooey , switch off the stove . 

6.  Now add 2 teaspoon of ghee, roasted cashews and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder and mix well. Serve warm .

Instant Jowar/Sorghum/Chola maavu Dosai

 This is an instant dosai made with jowar atta ( sorghum/ chola maavu) and rice flour . Very easy and quick to make. This dosai requires no fermentation or soak. 

Jowar Dosai

Serves : 10 to 12 dosas

INGREDIENTS:

Jowar atta / chola maavu - 1 cup

Rice flour - 1/3 cup

Salt - as required

Water - 3 cups

TO SAUTE AND MIX IN THE BATTER:

Oil - 1 teaspoon

mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Green chilli - 1 no. finely chopped

Finely chopped onion - 1/2 cup

METHOD:

1. In a pan, add a teaspoon of oil. Then add mustard, cumin seeds. Then add green chilli and chopped onion and fry till they turn translucent. 

2. In a bowl take jowar atta, rice flour  and  salt. Mix the contents well. roughly add 3 cups of water. The batter should be in flowing consistency as like you make for rava/sooji dosa. 

3. In the batter,  add fried onions prepard in step 1 .  Please follow the below video to make dosa. 

Madurai Kaara Chutney( Spicy Chutney)

 This is a famous chutney from "madurai" city in Tamil nadu. It is a spicy chutney made with shallots, garlic, tomato and peanuts and it is usually served with idli , dosa . It has a unique taste and texture and is famous among the roadside food stalls and restaurants  in madurai.

INGREDIENTS:

Channa dal - 1 tablespoon

Small onions - 4 to 5 no.s

Big Onion - 1/2 cup chopped fine

Tomato - 1 medium sized

Garlic- 9 to 10 pods

Ginger - 1 inch sized

Green chilli - 1 no

Dry red chilli - 4 nos  or Red chilli powder - 1 or 2 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 1 strand

Coriander leaves - a bunch

Roasted peanuts - 1 tablespoon

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Salt - as required 

SEASONING:

Oil - 1 teaspoon

Mustard - 1/2 teaspoon

Curry leaves - as required

METHOD:

1. In a pan, add oil and  add channa dal and fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Then add Garlic pods and fry for some time. Then add chopped green chilli, small onion and big onions and fry till they turn translucent. 

2.  Then add ginger, curry leaves,coriander leaves and tomato. Also add red chilli powder. If you are using dry red chilli, you have to add it in the above step along with green chilli. Stir fry the contents for 2 to 3 minutes, till the tomatoes are cooked well. Then add roasted peanuts and salt . Switch off the stove and allow the contents to cool.

3. Grind them slightly coarse. Then do the seasoning with items as mentioned in the "seasoning" section.

4. Serve with Idly/Dosa.

Ragi Dosa with chutney

Brinjal Fry in Iron Kadai

 In this recipe, Brinjal is cooked in iron kadai with spices and very less oil. For less oil, iron kadai(pan) is the best.  I got a preseasoned cast iron kadai ( Kraft brand) from amazon. This is an very easy recipe with minimal ingredients that are available at home.  The spices and sauteing in iron kadai gives a special taste to this brinjal curry. Please do try at home.

INGREDIENTS:

Brinjal - 1 medium sized ( 150 gms)

Onion - 1/3 cup finely chopped

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Corinder powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Sambar powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Salt - as required

Asafoetida powder - as required

SEASONING:

Oil -  5 teaspoon

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1/4 teaspoon

Urad dal - 1/2 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Wash and cut brinjal in bigger sizes. If brinjal is finely chopped it turns mushy. So each piece should be the size of your finger or 3/4 th of your finger . 

2. In the iron kadai, add oil. Then add the items mentioned in the "Seasoning" section . 

3. Then add finely chopped onions and fry for sometime.

4. Then add brinjal, salt and also add the spices- turmeric, red chilli , coriander and sambar powders.

5. Mix the contents well. Do not add any water . Cover and keep in low flame. every three minutes once open and gently stir the contents to avoid getting burnt. It takes about 10-12 minutes for the brinjal to get cooked completely and also doesnt turn mushy.  Turn off the stove and sprinkle some asafoetida powder. Brinjal curry is ready!