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When we have more pancake/ dosa batter left we can go for this different menu where we can add more veggies according to our choice.
It is prepared in special pan which is made up of 7 deep wells; The pan eases batter into traditional ball shape then releases the pancakes very clean from the pan. This pan available in non stick also. This pan can be brought here.
Ingredients
- Dose batter / crispy rice pancake mix -2 cups.
- Celery sticks -2(cut into small pieces)
- Corn kernels -½ cup
- Red cabbage -½ cup (cut into very fine pieces)
- Cumin seeds -2 teaspoon
- Green chilly -1 or 2(chopped into very fine pieces)
- Cilantro leaves -3 or 5 stem (chopped into very fine pieces)
- Ginger -a small piece (chopped very finely)
- Salt -as needed
- Oil 1 tablespoon for one batch.
Directions
1. Get ready with all the veggies, seeds, cilantro leaves, ginger and salt.
2. Mix all the above ingredients with 2 cups of batter and mix well.
3. Set the deep welled pan and pour as little oil in each well and wait till it is hot.
4. Now take 3/4 tablespoon of the batter and pour in deep wells and close the lid.
5. Cook until golden brown about 3 minutes .Turn pancakes over using wooden skewers and cook until bottoms are browned 3 minutes longer.
6. Serve hot with any gravy, tomato ketch ups, chutneys, sambhar gravy etc.
Notes:
1. Any veggie combination can be substituted in this batter.
2. Onions can also be added.
3. For sweet taste we can add fruits and brown sugar instead of veggies.
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These spicy lentil pancakes can be had for break fast as well as for dinner. These pancakes are loaded with proteins and are healthy.
Ingredients
- Channa dhal –1/2 cup
- Urad dhal – ½ cup
- Masoor dhal – ½ cup
- Thoor dhal – ½ cup
- Long grain rice – 1 cup
- Red chilies- 5 to 6
- Asafetida- ¼ cup
- Salt to taste
Seasonings
- Onion – 1 (chopped finely)
- Curry leaves – 20
- Fennel seeds – 3 tablespoons
- Cumin seeds – 2 tablespoons
- Oil – 2 tablespoons
Directions
1. Soak all the dhals, and rice for 5 hours. Grind them in a blender coarsely using little water to facilitate the grinding process.
2. Add chilies and hing while grinding. Add salt. Mix well
3. Let it stand for 3 hours for fermenting.
4. Set a pan and add oil. Splutter cumin seeds and fennel seeds and add chopped onions and cook till onions become translucent. Add chopped curry leaves. Turn off the stove. Let it cool. Add these seasonings into the ground batter. Mix well.
4. Set a non stick skillet and when hot, ladle a cup of batter in the pan and spread in concentric circles into a round shape.
5. Pour a teaspoon of oil on the sides and center. Flip the pancake once the sides are slightly browned. Cook for a couple of minutes and remove from pan.
6. Serve with coconut chutney or coriander chutney.
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These crepes are light and are quick to make. You can call this as an instant meal as it takes very little preparation time. I tried to make it healthier by adding grated carrots and little spicy by adding chopped onions and green chilies.
Ingredients
- Whole wheat flour – 2 cups
- Water – 3 ½ cups
- Carrot – 1 (grated)
- Onion- 1(chopped finely)
- Green Chile- 3 (chopped)
- Cumin seeds- 2 tablespoons
- Salt to taste
- Oil for making crepes/dosa
Directions
1. Mix whole wheat flour and salt well in a large bowl. Gradually add water while mixing, so as not to form any lumps. The consistency of the batter should not be too thick or too runny.
2. Add grated carrots, chopped onions, green chilies and cumin seeds. Mix thoroughly.
3. Set a skillet and once hot, wipe the pan with little oil and pour a ladle full of batter starting from the edge of the pan and ending it in the middle.
4. Add some oil to the corners and let it brown. When the corners are browned flip the crepes/dosa and let it cook for a couple of minutes.
5. Remove the crepes from the pan and make crepes the similar way with the rest of the batter.
We had our crepes with plum chutney.
Notes
1. The crepes should be made immediately after the batter is mixed. allowing the batter to stand for sometime would end up in messy crepes.
2. Adding onions and carrots are optional.
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My husband had been asking me to bake something for his office tea time break. What would be more welcome than banana chocolate bread? My over ripe bananas were handy and soon I was baking this exquisite bread.
Ingredients
- All purpose flour – 1 cup
- Whole wheat flour – ¾ cup
- Cocoa powder- ¼ cup
- Sugar – 1 cup
- Bananas – 3 (mashed)
- Non hydrogenated margarine – ½ cup
- Flax seed (ground) – 2 tablespoons (simmered in 6 tablespoons of water)
- Baking powder- 1 teaspoon
- Baking soda- ¼ teaspoon
- Walnuts – ¼ cup
- Silvered almonds- 3 tablespoons (for garnishing)
- Salt – ½ teaspoon
- Vanilla extract- 1 teaspoon
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9 inch bread pan set aside.
2. Bring all the dry ingredients together first. Mix the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt
3. Beat margarine and sugar in an electric mixer. Stir in simmered flaxseed and beat for a couple of minutes. Stir in mashed bananas and vanilla extract and beat for a couple of minutes more.
4. Now stir in the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and mix well. Stir in chopped walnuts and mix well. Pour the batter into the greased bread pan and garnish with silvered almonds and bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven once cake tester inserted comes out clean.
5. Cool in a wire rack and slice once cooled and enjoy!
This bread was very much enjoyed as a snack during tea time in my husband’s office. Try it, so will you!
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This is my all time favorite recipe for zucchini bread. I have baked this bread many times and each time it has been welcomed with the same expectations. This is low in fat as I use just 1/3 cup of oil. You must definitely try this if you have kids who don’t prefer to eat zucchini. Deceptively you can make them eat this bread.
Ingredients
- Raw zucchini – 1 ½ cups (peeled and grated)
- Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
- All purpose flour- 1 cup
- Sugar – 1 ½ cups
- Apple sauce – 2/3 cup
- Canola oil- 1/3 cup
- Flax seed (ground) – 2 tablespoons (simmered in 6 tablespoons of water)
- Vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
- Baking powder – 1 ½ teaspoon
- Baking soda- ½ teaspoon
- Salt – ½ teaspoon
- Ground cinnamon- ¼ teaspoon
- Nutmeg powder – ¼ teaspoon
- Clove powder – ¼ teaspoon
- Chocolate chips – ¼ cup
Directions
1. Pre heat oven to 350° F. grease an 9 inch loaf pan and set aside.
2. In a bowl mix whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, nutmeg powder, clove powder.
3. In another bowl, mix simmered flaxseed and apple sauce. Beat well. Stir in oil and vanilla extract. Beat well. Add sugar and beat to mix everything together.
4. Using a clean kitchen towel squeeze out the excess water from zucchini. Stir in zucchini and mix well. Gradually add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips and mix well.
5. Stir in the mixed cake batter into the loaf pan and bake at 350° F for 55 to 60 minutes until a cake tester inserted comes in clean.
6. Place on a wire rack to cool completely, and then remove from pan. Now slice your bread.
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“Ven Pongal” is the next popular dish to idli/ dosa of South India and, can be had for breakfast or dinner. It has a creamy texture and has a superior taste. This dish is prepared with rice and lentils and is spiced up with cumin, pepper, green chili and ginger. (There is another version of pongal which is sweet and is made on occasions, festivals, as offering to God and on the “Pongal” celebration day.)
Ingredients
- Long grain rice- 1 cup
- Moong dhal – ¾ cup
- Green chili – 2 (chopped)
- Ginger – ½ inch piece (crushed)
- Peppercorns- 1 teaspoon
- Cumin seeds – 1 tablespoon
- Curry leaves – 3 sprigs
- Cashews – 2 tablespoons
- Margarine – 3 tablespoons
- Salt to taste
Directions
1. Set a pan, melt 1 teaspoon of margarine and fry the moong dhal until it turns into golden yellow color. Set aside. Wash and cook rice, along with moong dhal with 4 to 5 cups of water. Cook the rice with salt. (We don’t want the grains of rice to be separate; rather it should be cooked to a creamy consistency)
2. Set a small pan, melt margarine, splutter cumin seeds, peppercorns, ginger and curry leaves. Add cashews and fry them till golden brown. Add this to the cooked rice and dhal. Mix the rice well and serve with sambhar, chutney or kothsu.
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No, the name does not matter, as for as the dish is tasty. I wanted to fix a super quick meal and at the same time wanted it to be healthy. I hate to prepare an elaborate meal, when it comes to me dining alone for lunch. Sometimes I go in for sandwich and very rarely my taste buds demand something hot from stove. So, I settled for oats upma. Upma is a kind of dish prepared in cracked wheat, semolina and vermicelli. It’s a like fast food and is ready in minutes, without much labor in kitchen. Its is versatile too and different veggies are added in various permutations and combinations.
Here I have tried the same with frozen veggies (carrot, beans and corn). I named it pilaf as my oats upma is similar to pilaf preparation.
Ingredients
- Old fashioned oats- 1 cup
- Onion- 1 (chopped)
- Green chilies- 2 (slit)
- Tomato (medium sized) – 1 (chopped)
- Ginger and garlic paste- 1 teaspoon
- Frozen veggies – 1 ½ cups
- Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
- Oil – 2 teaspoon
- Water- 1 ½ cups
- Cilantro for garnishing
Directions
1. Set a pan, add oil and splutter cumin seeds. Add onion, green chilies ginger garlic paste and cook till onions become translucent.
2. Add chopped tomatoes and cook till they become mushy.
3. Stir in frozen veggies and fry till they become tender but crisp.
4. Stir in cup of oats and fry for 2 minutes.
5. Add water and bring it to boil. Add salt and stir occasionally.
6. Cook till the water is well absorbed by the oats.
7. Switch off the stove and garnish with cilantro. Serve with lemon wedges.
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Mint – this warm, aromatic leaves can be used in both fresh and dried form. Fresh mint has sweet flavor with cool after taste. All of us know fresh mint is used for garnishing cool drinks, fruit juices, lemonade, iced tea, tea, beverages and in some deserts too. Everyone likes the flavor of mint in our chewing gums, candies and mint chocolate. In India mint chutney is made in different versions and serves as a great accompaniment for idli, dosa and rice. With different combinations it is also served as a dipping sauce for samosas, bajjis and various savory snacks and spread for sandwiches.
Mint is not only used for its taste but it has got lots of medicinal qualities like treating, stomach pain, and acts as a mild decongestant for common cold.
Ingredients
- Fresh mint leaves – 1 cup (trim mint leaves from the stem, wash it and set aside)
- Coconut – ½ cup
- Split roasted gram / pottukadalai/ – 2 tablespoons
- Split urad dhal – 2 tablespoons
- Red chili / green chili – 3
- Tamarind – size of a small marble (if using paste use ½ teaspoon)
- Asafetida/hing powder- ¼ teaspoon
- Oil – 1 teaspoon
- Salt to taste
Directions
1. Heat oil in a skillet add asafetida. Fry green chilies /red chilies and remove from pan. Do not brown them. To the same pan add split urad dhal and fry till it turns golden brown. Stir in split roasted gram and fry for a minute. Remove both the dhals from pan.
2. Add a teaspoon of oil and fry mint leaves till they wilt. Stir in grated coconut and switch off the stove. let cool
3. Transfer ingredients (coconut, mint leaves, fried dhal, chilies) to blender and grind finely adding ¼ cup of water.
4. Add tamarind and salt while grinding and continue grinding until ingredients reach a fine consistency.
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You would find idli and dosa as breakfast in almost every household of South India. You could call it a comfort food. Even picky kids are fond of dosa. It goes well with accompaniments like chutneys(many kinds of chutneys),Sāmbhar, masal etc.
Here is the base recipe to make the plain dosa. It is delicious as it is. But, you can add bells and whistles to it to make many variations of dosa’s and we will share the recipes for them in the next blog posts.
Note: In oders to allow dosa batter to ferment, it is advisable to prepare the batter a day in advance.
Ingredients
- Extra long grain rice- 4 cups
- Urad dhal – 1 cup (also known as white lentil or white gram - these are black lentils that have been skinned. You can buy it from Indian grocery stores or online.
 Urad Dhal
- Whole fenugreek seeds- 1 teaspoon
- Salt – 2 teaspoons
- Canola oil for making dosa
Directions
1. Soak rice and dhal along with fenugreek seeds separately. Soak them with enough water to cover for about 8 hours (Soaking for a long time makes grinding of the rice easier).
2. Drain water and grind urad dhal with fenugreek seeds to a silky texture. Add just enough of water to grind dhal. Set aside.
3. Grind rice with enough water till it reaches thick creamy consistency. (When done grinding, you should be able to feel no more than the slightest hint of solid particles if you rub the batter between your fingers)
4. Now mix both the dhal batter and rice batter. Add salt and mix well. Cover bowl (if possible, use a ceramic or stainless steel bowl; avoid plastic bowl.) and place in a warm place for overnight. Keeping it in the warm place is a key for the batter to ferment. Do not use direct heat.
5. Once the batter ferments, it would double in size, so be sure to use a bowl that would give room for the batter to raise.
6. Next morning fermented batter would be frothy. Beat it down for few minutes.
7. Set a non stick skillet on stove. Pour a large spoonful of batter on the center of the pan and spread the batter with the back of the spoon in circles, starting at the inside and working towards outside.( do not go back)
8. Sprinkle a teaspoon of oil on the batter. Cook over medium heat until it turns brown.
9. Flip the dosa to the other side and let brown slightly.
10. Fold dosa and remove from pan.
11. Continue the same process for making additional dosas.
Note: Grinding the rice to a smooth consistency is important to make crispy dosas. If you feel you can’t grind the rice to a smooth consistancy with your blender, you can use rice flour (cup for cup) instead.
Serve your dosas with sambhar, chutney or any accompaniment of your choice.
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Spring is always welcome. Not only does it give a relief from the cold and frenzy climate, but reminds us of the hope and life and the blooming flowers give an optimistic attitude after the long gray winter. With the arrival of spring , we see lot of berries in the market. Fresh berries attract me and I try to incorporate them in all possible dishes I cook. Today morning black berries found its way in my pancake.
Ingredients
- Whole wheat pastry flour – 1 ¼ cups
- Baking powder- 1 ½ teaspoons
- Rice milk – 1 ½ cups
- Canola oil- 2 tablespoons
- Salt – ½ teaspoon
- Brown sugar – 1 tablespoon
- Vanilla extract – 1 teaspoon
- Blue berries- 1 cup
Directions
1. In large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar.
2. In another bowl, whisk rice milk, oil, vanilla extract. Slowly combine the wet ingredients with flour, stirring as not to form any lumps.
3. Stir blueberries into the batter and mix well.
4. Pre heat a non stick skillet.
5. Pour ½ cup of batter on to the hot skillet.
6. Cook until bubbles appear and the pancakes are browned.
7. Flip pancake and cook the other side for 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Serve hot with maple syrup.
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