Breakfast – Page 4

Oats Upma

I have always looked for recipes using oats as they are a good source of fibre, minerals and antioxidants. This one is an easy and quick oats recipe which can be done in a jiffy.

Ingredients:

Oats – 6 tbsp

Water – 1 1/4 cup

Green chillies – 3 slit lengthwise

Peas- 1 tbsp

Cauliflower flowerettes chopped – 3 small pieces

Carrot – 2 inch pieces chopped

Beans – 3 cut into 1 inch pieces

Onion – 1/2 chopped finely

Jeera powder – 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Seasoning:

Mustard – 1/2 tsp

Udad dal – 1/4 tsp

Jeera – 1/4 tsp

Curry leaf – 1 sprig

Preparation:

Heat oil. Add the seasonings. Then add the green chillies and onions and saute well. Then add the carrots, cauliflower and saute again. After 2 minutes, add the peas and beans and saute well. Then goes in the jeera powder and turmeric powder. Add water and let it boil for 2 minutes. Season with salt. Then add the oats and keep stirring so that lumps are not formed. Then, close the lid and let it cook. Once it is cooked, add a dash of lime and serve. Garnish it with coriander leaves.

Sabudana Utthapam

Breakfast

Ingredients

Sabudana – 1 cup

Semolina – 1/2 cup

Curds preferably sour – 1/4 cup

Onion – 1 big

Green chillies – 2 cut into pieces

Jeera – 1 tsp

Coriander leaves – 1 sprig chopped

Curry leaves – 1 sprig chopped

Coconut pieces chopped – 1 tbsp

Kadala parippu (bengal granm dal) – 1 tsp soaked in water for 30 mts

Mustard – 1/2 tsp

Oil – 1 tbsp

Salt- as required

Water – 1/2 cup water

Preparation:

Soak sabudana in water for 1 hour. Empty the sabudana in a bowl and pour just enough water so as to cover the sabudana.

In a kadai, heat oil and add mustard, jeera, bengal gram dal. When it splutters and becomes golden, add the green chillies, finely chopped onions, curry leaves and the coconut pieces and saute well. Put off the fire and keep it aside.

In a mixing bowl, add the sadudana. Drain any excess water. Now add semolina and curds to it and mix it well. Add the sauteed items to it and salt. Add half a cup of water to it. The batter should be a bit thick and not runny.

Heat a tava or a non stick pan and pour it like a uthapam. Add 1 tsp oil and cook on slow fire, taking care not to burn the sides of the uthapam. When done, take off the pan and serve alongwith chutney or sambar.

Kozhukattai

Breakfast

Easy to make , these steamed dumplings of raw rice are perfect for breakfast

Ingredients:

Raw Rice – 1 cup

Coconut – ½ cup

Oil – 1 tblsp

Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tblsp

Asafoetida or hing – a pinch

Curry leaves a sprig

Red Chillies – 2 chopped finely

Water – 2 cups

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Take raw rice in a mixer and powder it coarsely.

Heat oil in a pan, add in mustard seeds, urad dal and let it sizzle. Add in curry leaves, asafoetida and green chillies. Mix well.

Add water and bring it to a boil.

Add salt and coconut and mix well.

Then add the ground coarsely ground rice and mix well. Keep stirring for some time and then cover and cook for 15 mins.

Shape it into balls and steam for 10 mins.

Serve with coconut chutney or tomato spicy chutney.

Moong Dal Idlis without rice (Steamed Lentil Cakes)

Breakfast

Healthy version of idlis for those who avoid rice. Diabetic friendly , this batter does not call for rice in the recipe.

My first recipe from the idli repetoire…….

Ingredients:

Moong dal – 2 cups

Udad dal – 1/2 cup

Grated carrots – 1/2 cup

Coriander leaves – 1 sprig chopped

Roasted cashews – 10

Eno fruit salt – 1/2 tsp

Seasoning:

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

Curry leaf – 1 sprig

Preparation:

Soak 2 cups moong dal and 1/2 cup urad for 3 hrs and grind and add salt. Ferment it overnight and add grated carrots, cashewnuts and coriander leaves. Season with mustard, curry leaf and add to the batter. Add 1/2 tsp of eno and pour it into idli moulds and steam for 12 minutes. Add eno just before steaming the batter and do not keep for a long time.

Note: You must add eno for making these idlis. I fermented the batter and added 1/2 tsp of eno.

Ven Pongal

Breakfast

A staple, healthy and nutritious breakfast from South India which is usually served with coconut chutney and sambar. It is my mom’s favourite breakfast alongwith with a cup of South Indian filter coffee.

Ingredients:

Raw Rice – 1 cup

Yellow moong dal – 1/2 cup

Water – 4 cups

Salt to taste

Seasonings:

Ginger – 1 inch piece grated

Black pepper corn – 3/4 tbsp whole

Cumin seeds – 3 tsp

Cashew nuts –2 tbsp broken

Asafoetida – 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves – 2 sprig

Ghee or clarified butter – 3 tbsp

Oil – 1 tbsp

Preparation:

Wash rice well and add it to the pressure cooker. Add salt, water and the moong dal, mix well and pressure cook for 4 to 5 whistles.

Heat a pan with ghee and oil. Add jeera and pepper corns followed by other seasonings.

Open the cooker lid and check the consistency of the rice between your fingers whether its soft and easily mashable.

Pour the seasoning to the pressure cooker and using a spatula mix vigorously distributing the seasoning evenly.

Serve this ven pongal very hot along with coconut chutney, sambar and filter coffee for a sumptuous breakfast.

You can drizzle more ghee on top of ven pongal before serving, in case you like it.

Medhu Vadai

Breakfast, Snacks

An authentic South Indian breakfast item ! No celebratory breakfast is complete without the awesome combination of idli, vada, pongal. It is a South Indian fritter, light and fluffy, shaped like a donut and made from udad dal lentils. Tastes good with sambar and coconut chutney.

Ingredients:

Whole white urad dal – 1 cup

Rice flour – 1 tbsp

Oil to deep fry

Onion – 1 big

Green chillies – 2 (chopped into pieces)

Curry leaves – 1 sprig (chopped)

Coriander leaves – 2 sprigs (chopped)

Whole Peppercorns – 1/2 tsp (optional)

Ginger chopped – 1 tsp

Salt – 1/2 tsp or as required

Preparation:

Wash urad dal thoroughly and soak for two hours.

Drain and grind urad dal using very less water, in a wet grinder. If you are using mixie, use ice water for grinding to avoid heat generation. Grind as a thick fluffy batter by sprinkling very little water only when needed. Keep adding just 1/2 tbsp of water at a time to grind. To check if it has the right consistency, take a bowl of water. Drop 1/2 tsp of the ground batter into the water. The batter should float on the water and not sink. If it floats, you can remove the batter and transfer to a bowl.

Add chopped onions, ginger, peppercorns, chopped green chillies, chopped curry leaves, coriander leaves, salt and add it to the batter.

Heat enough oil to deep fry the vadas.

Check the temperature of the oil by dropping a small pinch of batter. If the batter rises immediately to the top, the temperature of the kadai is right. Now, reduce the temperature to medium flame and start dropping vadas carefully.

Take some water in a bowl, dip your fingers. Scoop out small ball size of vada batter with your wet fingers, flatten slightly, and make a hole and gently slid it into the hot oil. When both the sides turn golden brown, take the vadas out of the oil. You can fry 3 to 4 vadas at a time depending on the amount of oil. Serve with coconut chutney or sambar.

Notes: If the vada batter is not thick and is a bit watery, add some more rice flour to it. Do not soak the udad dal for more than 2 hours.

Rava Pongal

Breakfast

Usually Pongal is made with rice and dal. Chakkarai Pongal is the sweet pongal made with rice, dal and jaggery. This is the savoury version of the pongal made with rava.

Ingredients:

Roasted Bombay Rava/Semolina – 1 cup

Water – 3 cups

Moong dal – 1/2 cup

Seasonings:

Whole Pepper – 1 tsp

Jeera – 1 tsp

Curry leaf – 1 sprig

Turmeric – a pinch

Asafoetida – a pinch

Ginger – 1 inch piece chopped finely

Ghee/Oil -1/4 cup

Preparation:

Roast the rava in a hot kadai until it is very slightly brown in colour (if the store bough rava is not a roasted one). Remove it from the pan and cool it. Though some people like to dry roast the moong dal, I prefer not to roast it. Boil the moong dal separately with 2 cups of water and a pinch of turmeric, until it is cooked. Do not overcook it. Heat kadai and add the seasonings and keep aside. In another pan, boil 3 cups of water. (Measure the water in which the moong dal has been boiled). Adjust the water accordingly. To the boiling water, add salt as per taste and add the rava and keep stirring to ensure lumps are not formed. Continue stirring for 2 minutes and then add the seasonings, stir it again and close and cook for another 2 minutes. Serve with spicy tomato chutney and add a little ghee before serving.

Muttai Attu/Egg and Bengal Gram Dal Uthappam

Breakfast

Egg and Bengal Gram Dhal (Chana Dal) pancake brings back nostalgic memories of my maternal grandfather as it was one of his favourite side dishes for lunch along with his rice and sambar or rice and kaara kolambhu. Serve it as an evening snack with tomato ketchup or as a side dish with lunch or as a wholesome breakfast item.

Ingredients:

Bengal gram dal (chana dal) – 1 1/2 cups

Onions – 3/4 cup

Curry leaves chopped – 2 sprigs

Coriander leaves chopped – 2 sprigs

Green chillies chopped fine – 2

Water – 2 tbsp

Whole eggs beaten – 2

Soda bi-carbonate – a pinch

Preparation:

Soak bengal gram dal for about 3 -4 hours. Grind it in mixie to a paste. Add chopped onions, chopped curry leaf, chopped coriander leaf, green chillies chopped fine. Add the beaten eggs to the ground paste and add 2 tbsp water and soda to it. Pour it like an uttappam and serve hot with chutney.

You can also make this by substituting the bengal gram dal /chana dal with kadala maavu (besan flour).

Tomato Upma

Breakfast

A traditional South Indian dish made of semolina with vegetables. Most people turn away from it but it is my all time favourite, especially when it comes dressed as tomato upma. The yellow colour of the upma with a dash of green from the chillies, chopped coriander, curry leaves and the red of the tomatoes is a feast for the eyes. Can be served with chutney or sambar.

Ingredients:

Semolina or Rava – 1 cup

Tomato – 2 big

Green chillies – 2 slit

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Coriander leaves – 1 sprig finely cut

Optional : Peas and carrot

Water – 3 cups

Oil – 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Seasonings:

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

Udad dal – 1/2 tsp

Curry leaf – 1 sprig

In a kadai, heat 2 tbsp oil. When it becomes hot, add mustard seeds. When it starts spluttering, add udad dal. Saute and add sliced green chillies and tomatoes and saute for 2 minutes. You can add carrots cut into small pieces and peas, in case you like . Add 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and saute again. Add 3 cups water and when it starts to boil, add salt and rava/semolina and keep stirring to avoid forming lumps. Stir for 2 minutes and close with a lid and allow it to cook. When done, garnish with coriander leaves.