Breakfast – Meal Haven

Oats Uthappam (Savoury Pancakes with Oats)

A healthy breakfast with oats. I am aways on the look out for pancakes with oats, quinoa or millets and this one with veggies was awesome. Serve it with some carrot chutney (check chutney’s section) and watch your family enjoy this nutritious breakfast.

Makes approximately 8.

Ingredients:

Rawa/Semolina – 1/2 cup

Oats powder – 1 cup

Rice flour – 2 1/2 tbsp

Onion – 1 small

Carrot small – 1/2 (grated) – optional

Capsicum – 1 small

Green chillies – 1

Curry leaves – 4 or 5

Coriander leaves – 1 sprig

Thick buttermilk – 1/2 cup

Salt- as required

Water – 1 cup

Oil for cooking

Preparation:

Heat a pan. When hot, add oats and saute it for 2 minutes. Remove and let it cool. When it cools down, transfer it to a mixie and powder it. The powder should not be very fine but slightly coarse.

Chop onion, capsicum and green chillies very fine. Also, chop curry leaves and coriander leaves. If you are adding carrots, grate and keep it aside.

In a mixing bowl, add the oats powder, rice flour, semolina and combine it well. Next, add the chopped carrots, capsicum, onions, curry leaves, green chillies and coriander leaves. Mix it well and slowly add the butter milk and water. Add salt and stir well to combine. Adjust the quantity of water required for the batter.

The batter should not be too thick or runny. The consistency should be like that of a pancake or dosa consistency.

Next, heat a tava or skillet. When it becomes hot, reduce the flame to medium low and grease it with oil. Pour 1/2 cup or 3/4 th ladle of batter on it and slightly spread it in the middle. Try and spread it as thin as possible. Pour 1/2 tsp of oil all around the uthappam and cook. When it becomes golden on one side, flip it to the other side and cook it to a golden colour.

Remove and serve hot with carrot chutney or coriander chutney and sambar.

Note: If you keep the batter for a long time, the semolina will soak up all the water and the batter will become thick and soggy. Add buttermilk and water just before you begin to prepare the uthappams or savoury pancakes.

Pesarattu/Green Gram Dosa/Savoury Lentils Crepe

Breakfast

A protein packed breakfast from the cuisine of Andhra Pradesh in India, pesarattu is best served with a spicy chutney like ginger chutney or capsicum chutney (check out chutneys in the recipe’s section).

Soak moong dal/green gram dal & rice in water overnight

Ingredients:

Green dam dal – 1 cup

Raw Rice – 2 tbsp

Green chillies – 2

Jeera/cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

Ginger – 1/2 inch piece

Toppings for pesarattu:

Onions -2 (finely chopped)

Green chillies – 2 deseeded and finely chopped

Jeera/cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Preparation:

Clean and soak the green gram dal and rice with lots of water in a vessel, overnight.

Next, drain the water and add the dal and rice to a pulser alongwith the green chillies, cumin seeds, salt and ginger with little water to make a dosa like batter. Grind it smoothly and the consistency should be of a pouring batter but thick.

Heat a tawa and grease it with oil. Pour a spoonful of batter like a dosa and sprinkle with the toppings. Add a little oil on the edges of the dosa to make it crispy. When it starts getting a golden colour, flip it to the other side, fold and remove. Serve it with any chutney of your choice.

To make the next pesarattu, sprinkle little water on the pan as the pan would have turned very hot. Rub it with oil, after the water evaporates.

Capsicum Chutney

Chutneys

Bored of the same chutneys…Try this one with bell peppers and tomatoes. An everyday chutney, which is a perfect match for dosas or idlis. The mild sweetness of the capsicum and the tanginess of the tamarind makes this special.

Saute the dals and red chillies in little oil

Ingredients:

Capsicum – 1 big

Tomato – 1 small

Onion – 1 small

Red chillies – 4

Udad dal – 1 1/2 tbsp

Bengal gram dal/Chana dal – 1 1/2 tbsp

Tamarind – a small piece

Shredded Fresh Coconut – 2 tbsp

Salt

Seasoning:

Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp

Udad dal – 1/4 tsp

Red chillies – 2

Asafoetida/Hing – a pinch

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan. Add the chana dal and udad dal and fry until it turns golden. Then add the red chillies to it. Next add the chopped onion and saute and then the chopped capscium and tomatoes and saute till it turns slightly mushy. Remove and set aside.

When it cools down, grind it alongwith coconut, tamarind and salt in a mixie. Season with the items mentioned under ‘seasoning’.

Maharashtrian Sabudana/Sago/Tapoica Pearls Kichdi

Breakfast

For the uninitiated, Sabudana kichdi is a popular breakfast item in Maharastra. It is mostly prepared on the days of fasting. Made with potatoes, coarsely ground peanuts and tapoica pearls, this recipe is one you would want to try…The tricky part is to prevent the sabudana from getting all clumped together but getting separate pearls after it is cooked.

Ingredients:

Sabudana/Sago – 1 1/2 cups

Potatoes – 2 medium diced

Cumin seeds/Jeera – 1 tsp

Roasted peanuts coarsely ground – 1/4 cup

Green chillies – 2 finely chopped

Coriander leaves – 2 sprigs chopped

Curry leaves – 6 to 7 (optional)

Lemon juice – 1/2 tsp

Salt as needed

Water – as needed

Grated coconut – 1 tbsp (optional)

Oil – 2 tbsp

Preparation:

Rinse the sabudana using a strainer two to three times until all the starch has been washed away.

Soak the sabudana with just enough water so as to submerge it, around 3/4th cup for every 1 cup of sabudana. Soak it for 3 to 4 hours. (Some types of sabudana are delicate and therefore, you may have to soak it for just an hour or so).

After 3 to 4 hours, check the sabudana and see if it is soft, if not leave it for some more time. The soaked sabudana should be soft when you press it and there should not be any water left for absorption in the vessel. Remove the excess water, if there is any.

Dice the potatoes and cook them with little salt till they are soft but not mushy. Keep them aside.

Heat a non stick pan (I prefer a non stick pan to a cast iron kadai as the sabudana tends to stick to the kadai due to the high heat). Add oil. When it turns hot, add the cumin seeds and curry leaves. When it starts to crackle, add the finely chopped green chillies and saute well. Add the cooked potatoes and mix it once. Then, add the drained sabudana pearls and mix well. Stir it to avoid sticking to the bottom. If it is too dry, just sprinkle a little water and stir again. Add salt and close and keep so that it cooks and becomes glossy. When done, add lime juice, coriander leaves and lastly coarsely ground peanuts. Mix well again and serve. You can add grated coconut at the end, if you wish.

Kanjeevaram Idlis

Breakfast

Kanjeevaram aka Kanchipuram is a district in Tamilnadu, famous for silk sarees and a number of temples. The Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanjeevaram serves these idlis as prasad to the devotees. Made with rice and lentils, these idlis are spiced with a tempering of ghee, ginger, cumin seeds, whole peppercorns etc…..

Ingredients:

Idli rice/Par boiled rice – 1 cup

Whole Udad dal – 1 cup

Pepper corns – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds/Jeera – 1 tsp

Ginger – 1 inch piece finely chopped

Cashewnuts – 5 – 6 chopped

Asafoetida/hing – a pinch

Curry leaves – 1 sprig chopped

Ghee – 1 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Soda Bi-carbonate – 1/4 tsp

Water – 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp

Preparation:

Wash and soak the udad dal and rice separately for 4 hours or overnight, with 4 cups of water each.

After 4 hours, remove the water and grind the udad dal coarsely adding 2 tbsp of water. Keep it aside.

Next, grind the rice coarsely adding about 3 tbsp of water. Keep it aside.

Mix both the batters, add salt and let it ferment for atleast 8 hours.

Heat ghee in a pan. Add cumin seeds, pepper, chopped ginger, curry leaves, chopped cashewnuts and asafoetida. Add this tempering to the fermented batter. Mix the soda with a tsp of water and add it to the batter. Mix the batter gently.

In a pressure cooker, pour the batter into small katoris or into idly moulds . The idly moulds or the small katoris need to be greased with ghee. Steam it for 8-10 minutes and put off the cooker. Wait for 10 minutes to let it cool.

USe a sharp knife or spoon to remove the idlis and serve it with any chutney.

Note : Mix the soda just before pouring the batter for steaming. If you are not going to use the entire batter, remove as much as you want and add the soda. Store the rest of the batter in the fridge.

Bread Uthappam

Breakfast

Another quick South Indian breakfast or evening snack recipe which is quite filling.

Ingredients:

Bread – 4 slices

Bombay Rava – 1 cup

Curds – 1/2 cup

Rice flour – 2 tsp

Maida – 1 tsp

Onion- 1 medium chopped

Finely Green chillies – 2 chopped

Finely chopped Coriander leaves – 10 stalks

Curry leaves – about 10 leaves ( each leaf to be pinched into two pieces)

Ginger – 1 inch bit chopped fine

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

Urad dhal/ black ram dal- 1 tsp

Bengal gram dal – 1 tsp

Asafoetida powder – 1/4 tsp

Baking soda – 1/4 tsp

Oil for frying

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Take curds and beat it well. Add rava to it. Add 1 cup water. Mix well and set aside for 20 minutes. Cut the edges of the bread and crumble to pieces. Put in mixer to grind to a fine powder. Heat oil in a kadai/ pan, add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add both the dals and fry till golden in colour. Add green chillies, ginger, onions and curry leaves and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add a pinch of salt so that the onions cook faster. After 20 minutes, take the soaked rava and add the finely powdered bread crumbs to it. Add the fried ingredients to the batter. Add salt to taste and baking soda. Add water to make a thick batter consistency and mix well. Heat a tawa/ saucepan and put some oil. Keep it on medium flame as you pour the batter in the middle and spread a little in an outward motion. Uthapams should be about 1/2 an inch thick. Pour 1/2 tsp oil around it. When edges become slightly brown, flip it on the other side. Pour 1/2 tsp oil once again. Remove when it is slightly browned on the other side as well. You can add grated carrot, finely chopped cabbage, chopped capsicum, cooked peas to the batter to make it more nutritious.Can be served with any chutney of your choice. I served it with carrot chutney but it is delicious on its own.

Carrot Thogayal

Chutneys

This thogayal is typically eaten with rice but can also be eaten with dosas, idlis or uthappams. Thogayal is a coarse textured chutney which is not as runny as a chutney. We also make thogayals using other ingredients like ridge gourd peels, coconut thogayal, paruppu thogayal etc. A simple tasty thogayal which will you will love.

Ingredients:

Grated carrot – 1 cup

Coconut – 1/4 cup

Red chillies – 3-4

Black gram dhal/Urad dhal – 1 tsp

Bengal gram dhal/ kadala paruppu- 1 tsp

Water – 1 tbsp

Tamarind – 1/2 marble size

Asafoetida – 1/4 tsp

Oil – 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a pan/ kadai. Add both the dals and fry for sometime. Add red chillies, fry till dals get golden. Add asafoetida. Remove and keep aside. Add 1/2 tbsp oil to same kadai and fry grated carrots for 2-3mins. Wash the tamarind well and soak in warm water as this will make the grinding easier. Grind all the dals and chillies in a mixer. Then add the carrot, coconut, tamarind and 1 tbsp water as well and grind once to a slightly coarse paste. Consistency of chutney can be changed according to preference by adding more or less water.

Dal Dhoklas

Snacks

I once had these at a Gujarati friend’s place in Bahrain in 1998 and have been hooked to it ever since. Now universally popular, these dhoklas just melt in the mouth……

Ingredients

Chana dal – 1 cup

Udad dal – 1/2 cup

Enos fruit salt – 3/4 to 1 tsp

1/4 cup curds/yogurt

Green chillies – 2

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Coriander leaf chopped – 1 tbsp

Sugar – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Shredded coconut – 1 tbsp

Seasoning:

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Curry leaf – 1 sprig

Soak both dals for 4 hrs and grind it to a smooth paste. Make a paste of green chillies and ginger and add to it. Add curds/yogurt and ferment it overnight. After it is fermented, just before u steam the batter, add sugar, salt and enos fruit salt to it and mix it well. The batter will start to froth. Pour it into a greased plate and steam for 10 mts. Once it is cool, add the seasoning of mustard seeds and curry leaves. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaf and shredded coconut on top.

Note : Enos Fruit Salt is essential to make this recipe.