Tag: healthy

Rice flour and Ragi (finger millet) Adai

Breakfast

Arisi maavu ragi adai (Rice flour and finger millet adai) is a traditional flatbread from Tamilnadu which can be served for breakfast.

Ingredients:

Brown Rice flour – 1 cup

Ragi powder – 1/4 cup (optional)

Onions – 1 large (chopped finely)

Green chillies – 2 (chopped finely)

Jeera/Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

Ginger – 1 tsp

Coconut grated – 1 tbsp

Curry leaves – 4 or 5 chopped

Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp chopped

Salt – As needed

Warm water – 1/2 cup

Preparation:

Heat a pan. Add oil and when it becomes hot, add the cumin seeds. When it starts to sizzle, add the green chillies, ginger, onions and the chopped curry leaves and saute it well. Take it off the fire.

Take a mixing bowl and add the rice flour and the ragi flour to it. Add the sauteed onions and green chillies which were kept aside. Also, add the coriander leaves and grated coconut to the flour mixture. Next, add little warm water and salt and make a soft dough out of it. It should be softer than the normal chapati dough. Cover and rest the dough for 5 minutes.

Heat a tava or griddle. Take a lemon sized ball and make an adai out of it. You can grease a banana leaf or a ziploc cover and make place the dough ball on it. Flatten it with your fingers to make a 5″ diameter.

Gently transfer the rolled out dough to the hot griddle and drizzle a few drops of oil all around. Cook on low heat until both the sides turn crisp. You can also cover and cook to speed up the cooking process.

Serve hot with any chutney of your choice.

Bisi Bela Baath with Oats

Rice

A healthy alternative to the traditional dish from Karnataka, made with oats, lentils and veggies. This dish has to be eaten hot and if left to become cold, will not taste good.

Ingredients:

Oats – 1 1/4 cup

Tur dal – 1 cup

Water – 4 cups

Peas – 6 to 7 pods

Carrot – 1 small

Beans – 4 to 5

Shallots – 5

Potato – 1 small

Ghee – 2 to 3 tablespoon

Tamarind water – 1/4 cup

Bisi bela powder – 4 tbsp or more if you want spicier

Jaggery – 1/4 tablespoon

Cashews – 10 – 12 pieces

Salt to taste

Seasoning:

Red chillies – 2

Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1/2 tsp

Home made powder

Oil – 1 tsp

Coriander seeds – 3 tsp

Urad dal – 2 tsp

Bengal gram/Channa Dal – 1 tsp

Cinnamon – 2 inch stick

Cloves – 2

Dry red chillies – 7 or 8

Khus khus – 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds/Jeera – 1/4 tsp

Pepper – 1/4 tsp

Dry coconut (Copra) – 1 or coconut – 1/2

Add dal with 4 cups of water in pressure cooker and cook

Pulse the ingredients for the powder finely in a mixie.
Cook the veggies in a pan.

Bisi bela baath powder:

Heat 1 tsp of oil and saute coriander seeds, jeera, pepper, bengal gram dal, urad dal, fenugreek seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and red chillies.

Saute until dal starts to change color. Add khus khus and saute for few seconds on low heat.

Add the dry coconut and saute for few minutes on low heat, stirring continuously. Or if coconut is used, it is to be roasted slightly and then powdered alongwith the other ingredients.

Turn off the heat and leave it to cool and powder it coarsely.

Preparation:

Wash dal first and cook it in pressure cooker with water for 2 whistles and keep it on low flame for 10 minutes. Put off the flame and then, open the cooker after it is cooled, mash it a little and close and keep it aside, once the dal is cooked.

Heat 1 tsp ghee. Add shallots, beans cut into 1/4 inch pieces, peas and carrot sliced small and saute for some time. When it is cooked, add tamarind water and jaggery powder.

Let it boil until raw smell leaves. Add bisi bele bath powder (I use home made powder).

Let it boil for 2 minutes. Add the mashed dal and stir well. Then add the oats and cook it well. Make sure to stir as it may turn lumpy. Keep it on slow fire for about 3 -4 minutes. You may add 1/4 cup hot water if it becomes too thick.

Heat a tbsp of ghee and fry cashews until golden, remove. In the same kadai, add the seasonings listed under ‘seasoning’ and let it splutter.Add the seasonings also to the rice and dal. Mix well and serve hot with a tsp of ghee. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Instant Red Aval/Poha Idlis(Flattened Rice Steam Cakes)

Breakfast

These red aval idlis require no fermentation and can be prepared when you want quick idlis. Fluffy and light, these are easy to digest and makes for a light meal.

Makes 20 idlis.

Ingredients:

Urad dal – 4 tbsp

White or Red Poha/Aval – 1 cup

Rice flour – 1 cup

Sour curds – 1/2 cup

Water – 1 cup or as required

Salt – 1/2 tsp or to taste

Eno’s Fruit Salt – 1 tsp

Oil – for applying on the steamer plates

Preparation:

Heat a pan. When it is hot, lower the heat and add the urad dal and fry for 2 minutes. Then add the Poha/Aval and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Remove and let it cool down.

Pulse it to a fine powder in a grinder. Sieve this flour and keep it aside.

To the sieved flour, add rice flour, salt and mix well. Then add the curds, water and with a whisk , make sure that there are no lumps. If you require more water, add another 1/4 cup. The consistency should not be too thick or too flowing or thin.

Next, to steam the idlis, grease the idli moulds with little oil and add water to the idli cooker for steaming.

Before the batter is poured into the pans, add eno’s fruit salt into the batter. The batter will start bubbling up a little. Mix it well or else, you may end up with light orange colours in the idlis. You should add the eno salt only before pouring the idlis into the moulds or else, the idlis will become hard.

Pour the batter into the idli moulds and keep it on the steamer. Cover and steam for 10-12 minutes. Let it cool a bit and then remove the cover and check if it is cooked. When a toothpick is inserted, it should come out clean. Once cooked, remove the idlis with a tablespoon dipped in water.

Serve with peanut chutney or any chutney of your choice.

Coconut Thogayal

Chutneys

A coarse version of chutney which is mainly eaten with rice or pongal or kichdi. Super tasty when eaten with hot rice and ghee.

Ingredients:

Oil – 1 tsp

Grated coconut – 6 tbsp

Red chillies – 2

Kashmiri red chilli for colour (optional) – 1

Urad dhal – 1 tsp

Salt – 1/2 tsp or as per taste

Sugar – a pinch

Tamarind – a small marble sized one

Asafoetida – 1/4 tsp

Ginger (optional) – 1/4 inch piece

Curry leaves – 2

Seasoning:

Oil – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 3 or 4

Udad dal – 1/4 tsp

Preparation:

Wash and soak tamarind in 1 tsp warm water so that it can be ground easily.

In 1/4 tsp oil, fry red chillies separately and then remove.Fry urad dhal, asafoetida and 1 or 2 curry leaves. Pulse red chillies and urad dhal for a second. Add ginger chopped and pulse once again.Then add all the other ingredients. Grind without water first, then add very little water. Make it into a slightly coarse paste. The thovayal should be a very thick consistency. Remove into a small bowl and season with mustard, urad dhal and few curry leaves.

Note: Some people roast the coconut slightly while roasting other ingredients but personally I don’t, as I like the fresh grated coconut.

Broken Wheat Rava Upma

Breakfast

A healthy, easy to make breakfast option with cracked wheat which also happens to be good for people with diabetes! You can serve this with tomato chutney or bottlegourd chutney.

    Ingredients:

    Samba Godhuma Rava/ Broken wheat/Bansi rava- 1 cup

    Water – 3 1/2 cups

    Onions – 1 big, chopped fine

    Ginger – 1 inch piece chopped

    Green chillies – 3 slit lengthwise

    Tomato – 1 small (optional)

    Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp (optional)

    Carrots sliced lengthwise – 1/2

    Beans – 4

    Shelled peas – 1/4 cup

    Coriander leaves – 1 tsp chopped

    Salt to taste

    Seasoning:

    Mustard – 1 tsp

    Urad dal – 1 tsp

    Curry leaves – 1 sprig

    Cashew nuts – 5 pieces

    Preparation:

    Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard and when it starts spluterring, add urad dal, curry leaves and cashew nuts. Then add the ginger, green chillies, onions and saute well. Once the onions turn translucent, add the carrots, beans and peas and saute once more.

    Next, add the rava and saute well for another 2 minutes. Then add hot water and salt to it while continuously stirring for 2 minutes ensuring no lumps are formed. Close the lid and let it cook. Serve garnished with coriander leaves.

    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.