Maida Dosa / Flour Crepes

Dosa is a very healthy breakfast in most south indian homes.There are various varieties of Dosas that can be prepared. Some of them need the traditional soaking and grinding of ingredients while some are just a mixture of various flours such as Ragi /Nachni(Finger Millet) , Wheat flour,Maida / APF.
These flours are mixed in certain proportion with rice flour and some other spices to make yummy dosas. Can be served with chutney,sambar or the traditional Idli / Dosa Molagapudi.


Preparation Time : 30 mins
Cooking Time : 7-8 mins
Serves : 2-3

Maida Dosa / Flour Crepes

Mix Veg Raita / Yogurt Dip

Raita and an Indian meal are inseparable .

Without a pickle and raita we donot call our meal complete.

South Indians call it pachadi while North Indians call it Raita.

Raita/pachadi is a yogurt based preparation where we add vegetables with some seasoning like pepper,salt ,cumin powder or grated coconut paste if we are making pachadi.

Not to brag ,but my friends love the mix veg raita I make . Every potluck in the US ,I was assigned the duty of making a huge box of mix veg raita along with some other recipe. 

I normally use onions, tomatoes and cucumber for my mix veg raita. The trick to get a perfect raita is we need to deseed the tomatoes and cucumbers completely before chopping. 

The seeds along with the pulp release excess water and make the vegetables limp and the raita feels diluted .

The yogurt has to be freshly set,  not sour and made from atleast 2% fat milk . That way the raita gets a naturally creamy texture and remains thick until served .

I donot add cream or Greek yogurt to my raita. 

Be it pachadi or raita, I follow this part strictly. 

Few points to keep in mind while making raita 

• Use chilled yogurt 
• Beat the curd well to make it lump free
• Chop the onions just before adding.
• Cucumber and tomatoes can be chopped and refrigerated.  This way it retains the crispness and gives a nice crunch. 

Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time : Nil
Serves : 3-4

Ingredients

2 cups fresh curd / yogurt 
1 cucumber finely chopped (de seed and chop)
1 onion finely chopped
1 tomato chopped (de seed and chop)
1 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp black salt /kala namak
salt as needed
pinch of sugar
Finely chopped corriander /cilantro

1 green chilli finely chopped 

Method

• Beat/whisk the curd well. Use only freshly set curd .
• Add all the chopped vegetables,green chilli,salt,sugar,cumin ,black salt and mix well.
• Garnish with corriander and  serve.
• Keep covered and refrigerated until serving.

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Elaichi Nankhatai / Cardamom Cookies

Nankhatais are Indian Style cookies which are crisp but just crumble in the mouth and melts down.
A perfect tea time snack.There are various flavours like Kesar Pista(Pistachio-Saffron),Badam(Almonds) or simple plain nankhatais which taste heavenly.
This is my first try at nankhatais/cookies.


Preparation Time : 20 mins
Baking Time : 20-25 mins
Makes around 20 cookies

Elaichi Nan Khatai / Cardamom Cookies

 

Choco Vanilla Milkshake

Summer is slowly setting in and soon the sun will be right over our heads. This is the time of the year when all of us look for some coolers for our throat and tummy.Instead of having bottled drinks or simply chilled water,we can try and have chilled health drink.
To begin with, I am posting the  favorite of children and most elders,Choc Vanilla Milkshake.
Quick to whip up with homemade ingredients,it can be prepared anytime.

Preparation Time : 2-3 mins
Cooking Time : Nil

Beans Paruppu Usili /Beans & Lentil Stir Fry

Paruupu Usili (Tamil) is a lentil based preparation where the lentil is blended into a coarse paste and then stir fried until the lentil mixture gets cooked and separated to a grainy texture.To this is added boiled vegetables like french beans,clustered beans (kothavarangai or gavaar),flat beans(avarakkai/paapdi),snake gourd (padwal/podalangai),Vazhaipoo(banana flower).
A great combination to this would be piping hot Rasam  or MoreKuzhambu/Majjige Huli with steamed rice.If you like,this can be an accompaniment to rotis/chappati as well.

Preparation time : 1 hr
Cooking time : 30 mins
Serves : 2-3

Jain version : Omit the ginger and follow the recipe as is

Pesarettu / Green Gram Crepes

Pesarettu is a popular breakfast from the Andhra kitchens. Just like Adai ,Pesarettu is also a protein rich dosa made from green gram/pacha payar  /akkha hara moong .

The green gram is soaked for 4 to 6 hrs and ground to a  dosa batter consistency along with green chillies ,ginger ,jeera ,pepper and salt. 

Pesarettu needs no fermentation and can be prepared as soon as we grind the batter . There are slight variations to the way Pesarettu is prepared.  Some add a wee bit of udad dhall and rice along with the green gram while soaking. Another variation is soaking a few table spoons of yellow moong dhall with green moong. 

MLA  Pesarettu is a popular variant of Pesarattu where upma is stuffed inside the Pesarettu and served with ginger  chutney.  

Simple Pesarettu is topped with chopped onions while spreading and served hot .

I enjoy my Pesarettu with coconut chutney ,Molagapudi and curd .

Preparation Time : 8-10 hours
Cooking Time : 20 mins
Serves : 2-3

Jain Version : Omit the ginger and onion from the recipe and follow the rest of the recipe.
No Onion -Garlic Version : Omit onion from the recipe and follow the rest of the recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup whole green gram / moong /payar
3 tbsp moong dhall / split yellow dhall

2 tbsp udad dhall
2 tsp cumin /jeera seeds
3-4 green chillies
1 piece ginger
1 onion chopped
pinch of asafoetida

Lots of curry leaves  
salt to taste

Method

• Wash and soak the green gram,Udad dhall and moong dhall separately for about 4 to 6 hours.
• Grind the soaked ingredients with green chillies,ginger,cumin seeds,asafoetida in batches to a fine batter .(dosa batter like consistency.)
• Add lots of finely chopped fresh curry leaves,salt  to the batter and mix well.
  
• Heat a tawa/griddle ,pour a ladleful of batter and spread like a dosa on the tawa,drizzle oil and cook on both sides.
• Sprinkle finely chopped onions on the dosa and cook well.
• Serve hot with tamarind chutney,tomato chutney or coconut chutney.