Instant Vegetable Idli with Oats and Semolina

This is a very quick and healthy breakfast or snacks recipe that can be served for the children in their lunch boxes too. 

Ingredients 

3/4 cup Rice Flour 

1 cup Fine Semolina 

1 cup Oats

Half medium size Carrot Grated 

Half medium size Beet root Grated 

1/2 cup Curd 

Salt to taste 

1 tsp Eno 

1 cup or more Water

Method 

Take a bowl, add rice flour, oats, semolina, salt, grated vegetables and curd. Mix all the ingredients, gradually add water and mix the ingredients until it’s a thick dropping consistency. Keep the batter for 15 minutes, add the eno and mix it gently once more. Pour in the batter in the  greased idli mould. Steam the idlis for 20 minutes until they are cooked. Remove the idli mould from the steamer and wait for 5 minutes till the idlis have cooled a bit. Remove the idlis from the mould and serve the healthy idlis with a chutney of your choice. 

Instant Crispy Dosa with Mix Lentils and Semolina... Served with Turnip and Coconut Chutney....

I wanted to make something instant as I was super hungry and did not feel like having bread for breakfast and as I am alone for lunch, did not feel like making a meal. So this dish was great for brunch and it is healthy too. 

So here is the recipe of how I made this Instant Dosa with mix lentils and semolina..... which is served with spicy Turnip and Coconut Chutney. 

For the Dosa

Ingredients

2 cups of Semolina or Idli Rawa

1/2 cup Sago flour 

1/4 cup Black split lentil

1/4 cup Green split lentil

2 tbsp split Bengal Gram 

1 tsp Eno 

Salt to taste 

Method 

Wash all the lentils together and soak it for 15 minutes. Take a grinder and grind the lentils and salt together  into a smooth paste. Add the sago flour, semolina and some water. Make it into a medium thick batter. Remove it into a mixing bowl. Add Eno and mix it. The batter is ready for making dosas. Take a dosa skillet. Let it heat on low flame. Add 2 ladles of the batter. Spread it and drizzle some ghee. Let it cook on low flame until crispy and brown. Serve it hot with the turnip and coconut chutney.

Turnip and Coconut Chutney 

Ingredients 

1 medium size Turnip cut into pieces 

1 small piece Ginger 

2 Green Chillies cut into pieces 

1 small piece raw Mango or preserved Mango piece 

1/4 cup Fresh or Desiccated Coconut 

Salt to taste 

Few Curry leaves 

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds 

1 tsp Oil

Method 

In a grinder, grind all the above ingredients except curry leaves, mustard seeds and oil into a thick paste. Take a small pan. Add oil, let it heat. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add the seasoning into the chutney.

Instant Kanchipuram Idlis

Instant Kanchipuram Idlis

I remember my best friend's gradmother Patti. Some of the people though they are no more in this world, they will always remain in my heart forever, she is one of them. As a teenager I use to visit my friend's house everyday, infact it was my second home. Patti use to make many Tamilian dishes and I picked up few of them from her, though few of the dishes are forgotten and few I remember. One of the dish was Kanchipuram Idlis. She used black lentils with skin and rice, soaked it over night and she use to ground it on a stone grinder. Then the batter was left to ferment overnight and it was seasoned with salt, some curry leaves, mustard seeds, chana dal, few peppercorn, few broken cashwenuts and 2 pinch of asafoetida. Then the rest of the process remained the same for making the idlis. She served it with coconut chutney and milagai podi which was again homemade. 

      Here I followed the recipe but since it is an instant idli, it was not kept for fermentation. I used Eno, but soda bicarbonate can also be added if there is no Eno. It helps in instant fermentation and incoperates air in the batter. I added desiccated coconut in the batter as I love it. Also I replaced rice with idli rawa and oats...

For the Seasoning 

Ingredients 

1/4 tsp Bengal Grams / Chana Dal

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Pepper Corn crushed 

Few broken pieces of Cashwenuts 

1 tsp minced Green Chillies 

Few Curry leaves

2 Pinch of Asafoetida 

1 tbsp Ghee 

Method 

Take a pan and add ghee in it. Let it. Heat add the chana dal, stir it for a minute. Add the mustard seeds, let it crackle. Add peppercorn and few Cashwenuts, stir it for a minute. Add the green chillies and curry leaves. Stir for another minute. Add asafoetida and stir it for few seconds. Remove it from the flame. 

For the Batter 

Ingredients 

1 cup Oats

2 cups Idli Rawa

1/2 cup Split Black Lentils with skin soaked for an hour

2 tbsp Desiccated Coconut

Salt to taste 

1 tsp Eno / Soda bicarbonate 

1/2 cup Curd

Water as required 

Seasoning 

1 tbsp Seasam oil

Method

Grind the soaked lentils in a grinder. Remove it in a mixing bowl, add oats, ldli rawa, coconut, salt, curd, seasoning and water as per required to make a batter. It should be dropping consistency. Add eno. Mix it and let it stand for 10 minutes. Take idli moulds and apply seasam oil on it. Add the batter and steam it till done. Serve it with chutney and sambhar.

Peppery Oats Rasam Vada

Peppery Oats Rasam Vada

This dish has a twist... it is made with Oats... Instead of using Tur dal in the rasam... I have used Oats on it... Similarly the Oats is used in the Vada too. The taste is the same and it healthy and delicious too 😊 

This is my winning recipe from #KelloggsREALCHEF

Rasam Powder

Ingredients 

1 tbsp Coriander seeds

1 tsp Chana dal

1 tsp Tur dal 

15 Pepper corn

2 Red Chillies

2 Pinches of Asafoetida 

1/2 tbsp Dry Coconut  grated / Desiccated Coconut

Method

Take a pan, add coriander seeds, chana dal, tur dal, pepper corn and red chillies. Roast it for 2 minutes. Add the coconut and asafoetida.  Roast it for a minute. Let it cool. Add the ingredients in to a grinder and grind it in to a powder.

For the Rasam

Ingredients

1 big Tomato finely chopped

4 tbsp Oats (soak it in 1 cup of hot water)

1/2 tspTamarind paste

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder 

2 sprigs Curry Leaves

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

Pinch of Asafoetida 

Rasam powder 

1 tsp Ghee

Few Coriander leaves chopped

Method

Take a pot. Add 3 cups of water, tamarind paste, tomatoes, few curry leaves, turmeric powder and salt. Put the pot on simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add the soaked oat along with 3 cups of water. Let it simmer. Add the rasam powder. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Take another pan. Add ghee. Add mustard seeds, let it crackle. Add curry leaves and asafoetida. Sauté for few seconds. Add the seasoning to the rasam. Switch off the flame. Garnish it with coriander leaves. Serve it hot.

 

For the Vada 

Ingredients 

2 cups Oats

1/2 cup washed and soaked Urid dal for 2 hours

1 Green Chilli chopped 

1/4 tsp Cumin seeds 

Pinch of Asafoetida 

Salt to taste 

1/4 tsp Pepper corn coarsely ground 

Oil to deep fry

Method 

Add 1 cup oats, soaked urid dal, salt and water as required in a grinder. Grind it into a coarse batter. While grinding don't add too much of water. Take is out from the grinder and add remaining oats, cumin seeds, pepper, chilli and water as required.  Mix it well.  Take oil in a wok. Let it heat. Take a tbsp of the batter and drop it into the oil. Fry it till golden brown. Serve the vadas with hot rasam.

Kothamalli Mangai Thokku (Green Mango and Coriander Chutney)

Kothamalli Mangai Thokku

Green Mango and Coriander Chutney

Thokku is in between vegetable dish and a pickle. It is made in South Indian homes.  In thokku water content is reduced and it can be kept for longer period.  Thokku can be kept in the refrigerator for 2 months in a clean dry glass bottle. Thokku can be made with other veggies too.  It can be eaten as a dip, spread, or as pickle. You can eat it with Bread, dosa, chapati and curd rice or eat it mixed with steamed rice. 

Ingredients

8 small Raw Mangoes cut into pieces 

1 medium size bunch Coriander leaves with stems chopped 

8 Green Chillies cut into pieces 

1 tsp urad dal

1 tsp Chana dal 

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds 

Few Curry leaves 

1/4 tsp Asafoetida powder 

Salt to taste 

3/4 cup Sesame Oil

Method

Heat the 1 tbsp oil and add the mangoes, green chillies and coriander leaves. Stir fry till all the water dries up. Remove from the heat and let it cool. Put the mangoes,  green chillies and coriander leaves into a grinder. Grind the ingredients into a smooth paste. Heat the remaining oil in a wok. Add the urid and chana dal. Sauté it for 2 minutes. Add the mustard seeds and fenugreek seed. Let it crackle. Add the curry leaves and asafoetida. Sauté it for few seconds. Add the paste and salt, cook it for 10 to 15 minutes on low flame, stirring it occasionally, till the oil releases from the paste. Remove it from the flame and let it cool. It can be stored in a clean and dry glass bottle for 2 months in the fridge. Serve this with sandwich, dosa, chapati or curd rice.

Cauliflower Kootu

Cauliflower kootu

Kootu in Tamil means 'add'. Any Vegetable can be added with the lentils. Different types of Kootu are made with different spice flavour.  It is an South Indian dish. The gravy here is not very thin. 

---  Net source 

Here I have made Cauliflower Kootu. The flavour of the Kootu powder here with the vegetable and lentil has an awesome taste. It is eaten with hot steam rice. 

For the Kootu Powder

Ingredients 

3 Dry Red chillies

10 Black pepper corns 

1 tbsp Coriander seeds 

1 tbsp Chana dal 

1/4 cup Dry or Fresh coconut 

Method 

Take a pan, dry roast all the ingredients except coconut on low flame for 5 minutes. Add grated coconut and roast for 2 minutes more and turn off flame. Cool and grind the ingredients into a fine powder. Keep it aside.

 For making the Kootu

Ingredients 

2 cups of  Cauliflower florets cut into small pieces 

1 Potato peeled and cubed

1 Onions finely sliced 

1 Tomatoe chopped 

1/2 cup Tur dal washed and boiled with 3 cups of water 

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

Kootu Masala

1 tbsp Tamarind paste 

Salt to taste

For tempering

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds 

Few Curry leaves 

1/4 tsp Asafoetida 

2 tbsp Ghee

Method

Cook the Tur dal with 2 cups of water till done and keep it aside. Heat ghee in the vessel, add mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida, let it crackle. Add the  onions and saute for 5 minutes. Add turmeric powder, potato and the cauliflower, saute for 10 minutes on low medium flame. Add the tomato. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Add the boiled tur dal, ground kootu masala powder and salt, mix well. Add 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer till the vegetables are almost cooked. Add the tamarind paste, along with a cup of water and cook on low-medium flame with lid for another 10 minutes and the vegetables are fully cooked. Turn off the flame. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Masala Dosa served with Brahmin style Sambar

Masala Dosa served with Brahmin style Sambar 

For the Dosa Batter

Ingredients

11/2 cups Rice

1/2 cup Urad dal / Split Black Gram

Salt to taste

Method

Separately soak rice and urad dal at least overnight in water. Grind the dal and rice. Leave it to ferment overnight. Add salt and mix it.

Potato Filling

Ingredients

2 large Potatoes boiled and chopped

2 Green chillies chopped

Few Curry Leaves

1 Dry Red Chilli broken into pieces

1/2 tsp Chana Dal /  Yellow Split peas

1/2 tsp Urid Dal / Split Black Gram

1/2 tsp Mustard seed

2 Pinches of Asafoetida

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Oil

Few Coriander  Leaves chopped

Method

Take a wok, add oil, let it heat. Add the chana dal and urid dal, stir it for few seconds, add the mustard seeds, let it crackle. Add the red chilli and curry leaves, saute it for few seconds, add the asafoetida and stir it. Add the potatoes, salt and turmeric powder. Stir and cook for 2 minutes, garnish with coriander leaves and keep it aside.

For the Masala Dosa

Ingredients

Batter

Potato Filling

Ghee for Drizzling on the Dosa

Method

Take a dosa skillet. Let the skillet warm up. Add a ladle full of batter and swirl and spread the batter on the skillet. Drizzle ghee on top and let it cook till it becomes light brown, add 2 tbsp of the filling and spread it. Fold the dosa into half. Serve it hot with Sambar and Coconut Chutney..

Brahmin Style Sambar 

Brahmin Style Sambar Powder

Ingredients

1 tbsp Toor Dal

1/2 tbsp Chana Dal

10 Red Dry Chillies

4 tbsp Coriander seeds

1/4 tbsp Fenugreek seeds

1/4 tbsp Pepper Corns

1/4 tbsp Turmeric powder

Method

Roast all the above ingredients except for the turmeric powder. Cool it. Add it in a grinder with the turmeric powder. Grind it in to a fine powder.

To make the Sambar

Ingredients

1/2 cup Toor dal washed and soaked

1 Potato peeled and cut into cubes

1 Tomato cut into cubes

1 Carrot cut into pieces

1/4 cup small Onions peeled

1/2 cup Pumpkin cut into cubes

2 Green chillies cut into pieces

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

2 tbsp Sambar powder

Salt to taste

2 tbsp Fresh Coconut grated  or Desiccated Coconut powder

1 tsp Tamarind paste

1 tbsp Jaggery

For seasoning

1/4 tsp Mustard seeds

1 Red Dry Chilli broken into pieces

Few Curry leaves

2 Pinches of Asafoetida

2 tbsp Coconut Oil

Few Coriander leaves chopped

Method

Take a pot, add the dal, turmeric powder, salt and 4 cups of water. Let it boil on low flame for 15 minutes. Add the vegetables. Let it continue to boil till the vegetables and the dal is almost cooked. Add water if required. Add the coconut grated or powder, sambar powder, salt, tamarind paste and jaggary. Simmer for 10 minutes more. Meanwhile take a pan, add the oil. Heat it. Add the mustard seeds, red chilli, curry leaves and asafoetida. Sauté for few seconds. Add it into the Sambar. Simmer for 2 minutes more.  Add the coriander leaves and serve hot.

Pizza Uttappam

Pizza Uttappam 

Indo Western Fusion cooking... Italy meets South India.. Uttappam is a South Indian Dish and it is served with an Italian Pizza topping.. 

For the Pizza Sauce 

Ingredients

3 Ripe Tomatoes cut into cubes 

4 big size Garlic pod chopped

1 Onion chopped 

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Sugar

1/2 tsp Dry Mix Herbs

1/2 tsp Pepoer powder 

1 cup Tomato purée

1 tbsp Olive oil

Method

In a wok, add olive oil. Add garlic and sauté for a minute, add the onions. Sauté till translucent. Add the tomatoes, stir and cook it for 5 minutes. Add the tomato purée, salt, pepper powder, sugar and mix herbs, stir and let it simmer for 5 minutes more. Keep it aside. 

For the Dosa / Uttappam Batter

Ingredients 

3 cups Rice

1 cup Urid Dal / Split Black Gram 

1 tbsp Fenugreek seeds 

Salt to taste 

Method 

Wash and soak all the 3 above ingredients seprately overnight. Grind the ingredients in a grinder and keep it for fermenting for 8 hours. Add salt and if required then add water for the right consistency. 

P.S. I normally grind a kg of rice and 300 grams of dal and divide the batter as per my requirements into separate vessels and refrigerate it. 

We can also take 2:1 proportion of rice and dal. 3:1 proportion of rice and dal gives crispy dosas.

For the Pizza Uttapam

Ingredients

Pizza sauce

1 bowl of Dosa / Uttappam batter 

1 cup Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese mix grated 

2 tbsp Black Olives sliced 

2 tbsp Red picked chillies sliced 

1 Onion sliced

1 Green Capsicum sliced

1/2 Red Capsicum sliced

1/2 Yellow Capsicum sliced 

8 Mushrooms sliced 

Sprinkle of Pizza mix dried herbs 

Olive oil to drizzle 

Method

Take a pan, add one ladle full of batter in the pan, keep it on a low flame, sprinkle some cheese, add the pizza sauce on the batter, arrange the vegetables on by one on the pizza. Add some more cheese on top, drizzle some oil on top and sprinkle pizza mix. Cover and cook, for 2 to 3 minutes till the base has become brown and crispy. Serve hot. 

Instant Vermicelli Dosa served with Tomato Chutney

Instant Vermicelli Dosa served with Tomato Chutney 

Vermicelli Dosa
Ingredients
4 cups Vermicelli (Boiled in water and strained)
1 cup Idli Rawa
1 cup Rice Flour
1/4 cup Desiccated Coconut
1 cup Curd
1 Onion chopped
3 Green Chillies chopped
2 tbsp Coriander Leaves chopped
Salt to taste
1 tsp Eno
Ghee to Drizzle

Method
In a mixing bowl, mix all the above ingredients, except ghee. Add water little at a time to make a thin batter. Let the batter stand for 30 minutes. Heat a skillet. Pour 2 ladle of the batter on the skillet, spread the batter on the skillet, let it cook for a minute on low heat,  drizzle ghee on the dosa and let it cook till brown on one side.Flip over and cook on the other side. Serve hot  vermicelli dosa with tomato chutney.

P.S. Before making the next dosa, wipe the skillet with wet cloth, or else if the temperature is high, the dosa will not spread properly.

Tomato Chutney
Ingredients
4 Tomatoes chopped
1 Onion chopped
10 Garlic cloves crushed
1/4 cup Coriander Leaves
5 Green chillies
Salt to taste
Few Curry leaves
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1 Red Dry Chilli broken into pieces
2 Pinches of Asafoetida
1 tbsp Sesame Oil

Method
In a grinder, add tomatoes, onion, green chillies, garlic, coriander leaves and salt. Grind it into paste. Add little water. Take a pan. Add oil, let it heat. Add mustard leaves, curry leaves, dry red chillies and asafoetida. Let the mustard seeds crackle. Add the chutney. Let it simmer on low flame for 5 minutes. Serve hot for Vermicelli Dosa....

Vermicelli Upma

Vermicelli Upma

Ingredients
Half Packet of Rice Vermicelli
1 Onion chopped
1/4 cup Carrot chopped
1/4 cup Green Peas
2 to 3 Green chillies chopped
Few Curry Leaves
Juice of half Lime
3 tbsp Peanuts
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Bengal Gram / Chana dal
1/4 tsp Split Black Gram / Urid Dal
2 tbsp Oil
Few Coriander leaves for garnish
2 tbsp Grated Coconut or desiccated coconut. 

Method
Take a big pot,add water and salt, bring water to a boil. Add the vermicelli to the boiling water and cook on medium high for a few minutes, until it is cooked. When done, immediately remove from the heat and drain the water out.Rinse in cold water and drizzle some oil, so they do not stick together. Take a wok, add oil, let it heat. Add Bengal gram and spilt black gram, saute it for few seconds, add the mustard seeds, let it crackle, add the peanuts. Saute it till brown in colour. Add chopped chillies and curry leaves, saute it for a few seconds. Add the onion, fry till translucent.add the green peas, saute for a minute, add the carrots and continue to saute for another minute. Add 1/4 cup water, simmer it on low heat. Add the salt, sugar and turmeric Powder, stir it and let it simmer for 3 minutes. Add the vermicelli and stir it well and cook for 2 minutes till all the spices are mixed well. Add lime juice and stir again. Remove it from the heat, garnish with coriander leaves and coconut.

Crispy Paper Dosa with Tomato and Onion Chutney...

Dosa
Ingredients
500 grams  Idli Rice
250 grams Urid dal
Salt to taste
Ghee to drizzle

Method
Soak the dal and rice in water over night. Grind the soaked dal and rice into a thick batter. Ferment it for 8 hours. Add salt and mix it. Take a non stick dosa tawa. Add 2  ladle full of batter and sriwl the batter on the tawa. Drizzel some ghee. Cook on medium low flame cook the dosa till crisp.

Tomato and Onion Chutney
Ingredients
6 Tomatoes roughly chopped
2 Onions sliced
2 Green chillies
6 Garlic cloves
2 tbsp Coriander leaves
Few Curry leaves
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Coriander seeds
1 Dry Red Chilli broken
1/2 tsp Tamarind paste
1 tbsp Jaggery grated
Salt to taste
Pinch of Asafoetida
1 tbsp Coconut oil

Method
Take a grinder, add tomatoes, garlic, green chillies and  coriander leaves.  Grind the ingredients coarsely. Take a pan. Add oil. Let it heat. Add mustard seeds, coriander seeds and dry red chilli. Let it crackle. Add Curry leaves and asafoetida. Add the onions. Saute it for 2 minutes. Add the coriander paste, tamarind paste, salt and jaggary . Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water. Cook for 10 minutes. Serve hot with dosa.
Tomato and Onion Chutney
Ingredients
6 Tomatoes roughly chopped
2 Onions sliced
2 Green chillies
6 Garlic cloves
2 tbsp Coriander leaves
Few Curry leaves
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Coriander seeds
1 Dry Red Chilli broken
1/2 tsp Tamarind paste
1 tbsp Jaggery grated
Salt to taste
Pinch of Asafoetida
1 tbsp Coconut oil

Method
Take a grinder, add tomatoes, garlic, green chillies and  coriander leaves.  Grind the ingredients coarsely. Take a pan. Add oil. Let it heat. Add mustard seeds, coriander seeds and dry red chilli. Let it crackle. Add Curry leaves and asafoetida. Add the onions. Saute it for 2 minutes. Add the coriander paste, tamarind paste, salt and jaggary . Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water. Cook for 10 minutes. Serve hot with dosa.

Instant Appam and Vegetable Stew

Instant Appam and Vegetable Stew

Appam

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup Rice flour

3/4 cup grated Grated coconut

1/2 cup Cooked leftover Rice 

2 tbsp Sugar

1 tbsp Yeast

1 1/2 cup Water or more 

 Salt to taste

Method

Grind together rice flour, grated coconut, cooked rice and 1 cup water to form a smooth batter. Keep the batter in a big bowl. Take 1/2 cup lukewarm water, add sugar and yeast. Let it rise. Add the yeast to the rice batter and cover the bowl and let it ferment for a hour. After fermentation add salt to taste.Gently stir the salt.Cover and keep aside for another 15 minutes.The batter will rise and will be light. The batter should be thinner than Dosa batter.  Heat the appachatti over medium flame. Gently pour a ladle full of batter into the pan. Immediately swirl the pan to spread the batter in a circle.Cover and cook for about a minute or until the edges turn golden brown. Carefully remove the appam from the pan.Serve with vegetable  stew.

Vegetable Stew

Ingredients

1 Onion  cubed

1 inch Ginger  grated

3 chopped Garlic

2 Green chilli silted

2 cups Mixed vegetables cubed (carrot, beans, potato, peas, bottle gourd)

200 Ml Coconut milk

1/2 tsp Pepper powder

Salt as required

Curry leaves

Cloves -2

Cinnamon - 1 inch piece

1 Whole red

1 tbsp Coconut oil

Method

Heat oil, add the ingredients curry leaves, cloves, cinnamon and red chilli, saute for a few seconds, then add onions and garlic. Saute till onions turn transparent. Add ginger, green chilli and the rest of the vegetables.Add 100 ml coconut milk, 1 cup water, salt and pepper powder. Cook till the vegetables are soft. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the rest of the coconut milk and just heat the stew. For flavor, heat a tsp of coconut oil, and add from top. Serve with Appam.