Bottlegourd sabzi

This is an tasty side dish made using bottlegourd/lauki/suraikkai with chana dal (split chick peas). It goes well with rotti or rice.

Preparation Time : 45 minutes
Cooking Time : 15 minutes
Serves : 2 people

INGREDIENTS:

Bottle gourd - 1 no.
Split chick peas/ chana dal - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1/2 cup chopped finely
Ginger - 1 inch sized chopped
Green chilli - 1 no. chopped
Tomato - 1 no. chopped
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - as required
Asafoetida powder - as required
Water - 1/2 cup
Oil - 2 table spoon
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - for garnishing

METHOD:

1. Soak chana dal for 45 minutes. In a pressure cooker, add oil. Add cumin seeds. Once it crackles, add onion and fry till they change colour.

2. Now add ginger and green chilli and fry for another few seconds. Now add the tomatoes . Also add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and garam masala. Fry till the tomatoes turn soft. Oil would start leaving the onion tomato masala.

3. Now add bottle gourd. Also add soaked and drained  chana dal. Add 1/2 cup of water. Do not add any more water, as bottle gourd would leave lot of water. Add required salt.

4. Now cover the lid. Cook in high flame for 5 whistles. Switch off the stove. Wait for pressure to settle itself. Open the lid and sprinkle some asafoetida powder. If you feel the gravy is watery, keep in simmer mode for few minutes , until the water evaporates and gravy thickens.Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

5. Serve with rotti or rice !

Pearl millet adai / Kambu adai

Healthy kambu / pearl millet adai  using kambu flour, dry fenugreek leaves and rice flour !

Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves : 7 to 8 no.s of adais

INGREDIENTS:

Pearl millet flour  - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1 cup
Dry fenugreek leaves/ dry kasuri methi leaves - 1 tablespoon
Onion - 1/4 cup finely chopped
Salt - as required
Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Oil - 2 tablespoon for kneading
Water - as required

METHOD:

1. In a bowl, take pearl millet flour, rice flour, dry fenugreek leaves , onion, salt and red chilli powder. Also add some oil. Mix the contents well.

2. Now add required water and mix well to form a smooth dough.

3. In a flat plate or board, place a plastic cover greased with oil. Take a large lemon sized ball . Pat them gently to get a flat round shape.

4. Heat tawa and cook the adai on both sides by adding oil. Serve with just idly podi or any chutney of your choice .

SEE ALSO:  Idly podi, Tomato onion chutney, Peanut chutney 

Ash Gourd Stir fry

This is a simple side dish using ash gourd/pusanikkai . It goes well with rice and sambar or rotti.

Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Cooking Time : 10 minutes
Serves : 2 people

INGREDIENTS:

Ash gourd - 2 cups ( cut into cube shapes)
Green chilli - 1
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - as required
Coconut powder - 1 table spoon
Water - 1/4 cup
Coriander leaves - for garnishing

SEASONING ITEMS:

Oil - 2 tablespoon
Mustard - 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dal - 1 teaspoon
Channa dal - 1 teaspoon
Dry red chilli - 2 no.s
Asafoetida powder - as required

METHOD:

1. Cut ash gourd in medium sized cube shapes.

2.  In a pan, add oil. Add the items mentioned in the "SEASONING" section.

3. Now add chopped green chillies.

4. Now add ash gourd, turmeric and salt. Mix well.

5. Add 1/4 cup of water. Remember that ash gourd lets out lot of water. Hence dont add more water as it would turn very soggy. Just add 1/4 cup water. Keep the gas in sim mode and cover with lid and cook for approximately 7 minutes.

6. Now add coconut powder. You can also add fresh grated coconut. Mix well. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves .

SEE ALSO:

Capsicum besan fry , Carrot broccoli fry, Other dry curries . 

Instant Ragi/Finger millet dosa

This is an easy recipe to make dosa instantly and no fermentation required.

INGREDIENTS:

Ragi flour/finger millet  flour - 1 cup
Rava/sooji - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Yogurt/curd - 1/2 cup
Ginger - 1 inch finely chopped
Green chilli - 1 no chopped
Onion - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Black pepper powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - as required
Water - 3 cups

METHOD:

1. In a large bowl, add ragi flour, rava, rice flour, yogurt, ginger,green chilli,onion, cumin seeds,black pepper powder, salt.

2. Add 2 cups of water and allow them to rest for about 15 to 20 minutes. The rava would absorb the water. After 20 minutes,  add another 1 cup of water and mix well. The batter should be watery in consistency .

3. Heat a  skillet. This dosa cant be made as regular dosa. In regular dosa you pour in the center and spread it using a ladle. But this dosa, cant be spread. You need to pour from outside and then pour in  inside. Do not try to spread the dosa. The skillet should be really hot enough, so that you get nice crispy and porous dosa . sprinkle some oil over it. Let it cook and flip to other side and cook again. 

4. Serve with your favorite chutney !

Ragi dosa with tomato onion chutney

SEE ALSO: Tomato onion chutney, Fruit and nut rava dosa , Rice flour adai

Little Millet Dosa

Yet another delicious recipe from millet. This time I used little millet / saamai , another variety of millet which is an excellent source of anti oxidants. It has dietary fiber, reduces cholesterol and aids in digestion. Also, little millet has less carbohydrate when compared to rice and wheat which makes it an best alternative for people who wants to shed some weight. Little millet also has, abundant minerals ,iron and vitamin B1 .

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Yields : 10-15 dosas

INGREDIENTS:

Little millet/saamai - 1.5 cup
White poha/aval/flattened rice (medium sized) - 1/2 cup
Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Salt - as required
Fenugreek powder - 1.5 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Soak little millet in sufficient water over night. Soak urad dal 2 hours before grinding and poha one hour before grinding.

2. Now, drain the water from urad dal, and grind it in to a smooth paste, by adding water. Keep it aside.

3. Now drain water from little millet and poha and grind them together in to a smooth paste. Mix it with urad dal paste which you prepared in step 2. Add salt, fenugreek powder *. Mix the batter well . The batter should be neither too thin nor too thick.

4. Allow it to ferment for 6 to 8 hours. The batter should raise up well . Heat tawa. Take some batter and pour it in the center and spread it using the base of the ladle in to a round shape. Apply oil and flip and cook on other side.

5. Serve with your favorite chutney or sambar.

NOTE:

 If you dont have fenugreek powder, you can use fenugreek seeds( 1.5 teaspoon). Soak fenugreek seeds along with urad dal for 2 hours and grind it with other items.

SEE ALSO:  Pearl millet dosa, Kodo millet pongal, Peanut chutney. 

Foxtail Millet Adai

Foxtail millet adai is made with thinai/foxtail millet with toor dal,bengal gram and urad dal. I made this adai without adding any rice. This  adai is very protein rich and nutritious . Suitable for people who wants to reduce weight .

Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Yields : 13 no.s of adai

INGREDIENTS:

Foxtail Millet/Thinai - 1 cup
Tuvar dal - 1/2 cup
Bengal gram/kadalai paruppu - 1/2 cup
Urad dal - 1 table spoon
Salt - as required
Dry red chillies - 4 no.s
Ginger - 1 inch sized
Onions - 1/2 cup chopped
Asafoetida powder /hing - as required

METHOD:

1. Soak millet, tuvar dal, bengal gram,urad dal all together for 4 to 5 hours.

2. After soaking, grind them with ginger , dry red chilli ( do not add salt now). when you grind, please add less water and the batter should be smooth. After grinding, add required salt and if the batter is thick, add some more water. Please make sure that the batter should be neither too thick nor too thin. Sprinkle some asafoetida powder and mix well.

3. Now in a pan, take some batter and spread as like you make dosa. Apply some oil.

4. Flip the other side and cook well.

5. Serve with podi or any chutney of your choice.

6.  Also, when you make the dosa in pan, you can add chopped onions over it . Then flip the other sides, till the onions are roasted well. Onions add more taste to the dosa. You can serve with coconut chutney and sambar.

SEE ALSO:   Ragi adai, Rice flour adai, Pesarattu dosai

Quinoa Vangibath

Vangibath is a rice meal from karnataka cuisine , which is made by sauteing brinjal with some spices (vangibath powder) and adding cooked white rice. I replaced white rice with quinoa and tried it this time.

Preparation Time: Under 30 minutes
Serves: 2-3 people

INGREDIENTS:

Brinjal - 3 no.s
Quinoa - 1 cup(uncooked)
*Vangibath powder - 1.5 table spoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Tamarind - lemon sized
Jaggery - 1/2 teaspoon
Coconut powder  - 2 table spoon
Cashew nut - 5 no.s
green chilli - 1 no . chopped
Mustard  - 1 teaspoon
Channa dal / bengal gram  - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - as required
Oil - 2 table spoon

METHOD:

1. Dissolve tamarind in 1/4 cup of water and set aside. In the meantime,  in a pan, dry roast quinoa, until it is hot to touch and nice flavour comes.

2. Keep quinoa aside .In the same pan, add 2 + 1/4 cups of water  and pinch of salt. Allow it to boil. Then add quinoa, and reduce the flame to simmer mode and cover with lid. Cook for 20 minutes. Then switch off the flame and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Then slightly fluff the quinoa. The quinoa would have cooked well and doubled in size.

3. Keep quinoa aside. Now in a pan, add some oil. Add mustard, channa dal , cashew nut and green chilli and fry for a minute. Then add cut brinjal pieces, turmeric and salt. Saute for few minutes.

 4. Now add coconut powder and fry for few minutes.

5. Now add vangibath masala, tamarind water and jaggery. Add required salt and 1/4 cup water and cover and cook till the brinjals are soft. Now add cooked quinoa to it and mix gently .

6. Serve with raita and papad.

NOTES:

1. If you dont have vangibath powder, here is the procedure to make it :

Dry red chilli - 3
Urad dal  - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Methi seeds/Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Poppy seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch sized
Cardamom - 3 no.s
Cloves - 3 no.s
Coconut powder - 2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp

In a pan, add oil, then add dry red chilli for few minute and keep aside. In the same pan, add urad dal, chana dal. methi seeds, coriander seeds, poppy seeds, cinnamon stick, cloves and coconut powder. Roast them for few minutes, till they turn aromatic. Cool all the ingredients completely, and grind them to a fine powder.

Milk Poha/Aval

Cooking Time: Under 10 minutes
Serves : 1 person

INGREDIENTS:

White thick poha/aval  - 1/2 cup
Milk - 300 ml
Almonds - 10 no.s
Dry grapes or raisins - a handful
Pumpkin seeds (optional) - 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Dry roast poha for few minutes, till you get a nice flavor and it is hot to touch.

2. In a bowl, add almonds,dry grapes and pumpkin seeds.

3. Now add the dry roasted poha above the dry fruits and nuts. Pour 300 ml of hot or warm milk. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes, so that poha gets soaked well and gets soft. Garnish with some more dry grapes and serve.

NOTES:

1. You can replace/add any other nuts like pistachios,cashews etc. You can also add fruits like banana,dates. Please mash the fruits well, before adding it.

2. This recipe is more diet friendly, hence no sweeteners or high fat items has been added.

Aval/Poha Upma

Poha is a flattened rice . Poha/Aval upma is an easy breakfast that can be made in minutes . There are many varieties of poha available . I used thick white poha for this recipe.

Thick White Poha

INGREDIENTS:

Thick white poha/aval - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1/2 cup
Dry red chilli/green chilli - 1 no
Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - as required
Oil - 2 table spoon
Mustard - 1/4 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dal - 1/2 teaspoon
Asafoetida powder - as required

METHOD:

1. Wash poha and drain the water completely. Squeeze all the water out of poha and set aside.

2. In a pan, dry roast peanuts and keep aside.

3. Add some oil in pan. Add mustard, cumin and urad dal. Then add dry red chilli.

4. Now add onions,turmeric,salt and fry till onions change color. Then add roasted peanuts.

5. Now add washed and drained poha and mix well and stir for 3 minutes. Sprinkle little water and
    keep stirring ,until the water evaporates and switch off the flame. Sprinkle some asafoetida
    powder. 

6. Poha upma is ready . Serve with plain yogurt or any chutney of your choice.

SEE ALSO: Vegetable curd poha, Peanut chutney, Rice upma