indian breakfast – Meal Haven

Kaara Baath/Chow Chow baath

A popular authentic dish of Karnataka, this is often made for breakfast at my home. A little different from the usual upma, this one is made with vegetables, semolina and unique spice powders which adds to its taste. If you are not an upma fan, give this one a try and I am sure you will love it.

I have mentioned the recipe for the spice powder in the note below the recipe. You could also use store bought sambar powder or the readymade bisibela baath powder, if you run short of time to make the spice powder.

Serves 4 -5 persons

Ingredients:

Rava/Semolina – 1 1/2 cups

Water – 4 1/2 cups

Carrot – 1/2 diced into small pieces

Curry leaves – 7-8

Green peas – 1/4 cup

Capsicum/Green peppers – 1 small

Tomato – 1 small

Onion – 1 medium sliced

Green chillies – 3

Vangi baath Masala powder/Bisi bela baath powder/Sambar powder – 2 tbsp

Ghee – 1 tsp

For seasoning:

Mustard – 1 tsp

Udad dal – 1/2 tsp

Bengal gram dal/chana dal (pref soaked in water for 10 minutes) – 1/2 tsp

Cashewnuts – 6-7

Oil – 1 tsp

Preparation:

Heat a pan and add semolina to it. Saute it for 3 – 4 minutes and transfer to a plate and keep it aside.

In the same pan, add oil and when it turns hot, add mustard. When it starts to sizzle, add bengal gram dal and udad dal to it. Reduce the flame to medium low. When it starts to slightly turn golden in colour, add cashewnuts, curry leaves and green chillies. Saute it for a minute and add sliced onions. Saute well and when it turns translucent, add the tomatoes. When it turns mushy, add the carrots, capsicum and peas and stir fry it on a medium flame.

Next, add the spice powder (vaangi baath powder or bisi bela baath powder) to it and saute well for 3 minutes. Add water and salt and let it come to a boil. When the water starts to boil, reduce the heat and add the semolina slowly, little by little. Continue stirring the pan so that there are no lumps. Keep stirring to ensure no lumps are formed. Stir it well, close with a lid and cook for 3 – 4 minutes until the semolina is cooked.

Serve it hot with any chutney of your choice.

Note:

Bisi Bela Baath 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

Jeera – 1/4 tsp

Pepper – 1/4 tsp

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

Instructions:

Heat 1 tsp of oil and saute jeera, pepper, coriander seeds, 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.

Ragi Dosa (Finger Millet Dosa)

Breakfast

Finger millet or Ragi is very nutritious. This ragi dosa with ground batter turns out very crispy and tasty and is good for people with diabetes too.

Ingredients:

Urad Dal – 1/2 cup

Idli Rice – 1 cup

Whole Grain Ragi – 1 cup

Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp

Salt – to taste

Water – 1 1/2 cups for grinding

Preparation:

Wash and rinse the the whole ragi seeds and rice. Soak it together with 4 cups of water for 4-5 hours. Also, wash the udad dal and soak it with 1 1/2 cups of water for 4 -5 hours.

Drain the water and in a mixie or wet grinder, grind the ragi and rice together to a fine paste, adding 1 cup of water, little at a time. Next , add the udad dal and grind it to a smooth paste. Add enough water (around 1/2 cup) to the batter while grinding. As udad dal grinds, it will turn fluffy and soft. Remove from the grinder/mixer and transfer to a vessel.

In a wide tall vessel, combine both the rice and the udad dal batter and mix it together with clean hands. The vessel should be tall and slightly wide as the batter will rise while fermenting. I always add salt to the batter before fermenting it.

Cover it with a lid and ferment overnight or for 8 hours.

Once fermented and risen, mix very gently to combine.

To make the dosas, heat a pan or iron tava. When it is hot, turn the flame to medium and grease the pan with oil. Pour a ladleful of batter on it and using a circular motion, spread into a thin dosa. Drizzle oil on all sides.Cover it and cook for 2 minuts. When it turns golden, flip and slightly cook on the other side also.

Serve with any chutney of your choice

Semiya(Vermicelli) Upma

Breakfast

An Indian breakfast dish made with vermicelli/semiya and vegetables which you can make for your everyday breakfast. A perfect dish to pack your lunch box too.

Ingredients:

Fine Semiya/Vermicelli – 2 cups

Oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Udad dal – 1 tsp

Chana dal/bengal gram dal – 3/4 tsp

Cashew nuts – 8-9 (optional)

Curry leaves – 15 leaves

Onion – 1 big finely chopped

Green chillies – 3 slit

Carrot – 1 finely chopped

Capsicum – 1 finely chopped

Fresh or Frozen Green Peas – 1/2 cup finely chopped

Lime juice – 3/4 tsp

Fresh coriander leaves – 2 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Water for boiling vermicelli/semiya – 5 cups

Preparation:

Heat a pan with a broad base and add 5 cups of water to it. When it starts boiling, add the semiya and cook it for just 2 minutes. Take it off the pan immediately and rinse it with cold water in a sieve. It cooks very fast, so cooking it any longer may make it mushy.

Heat another pan/kadai. Add oil. When it is hot, add the mustard seeds, udad dal and chana dal and saute them well till they turn golden in colour. (If you are using cashewnuts, add it and saute). Then, add the curry leaves, green chillies and the chopped onions. Saute till it turns translucent. Next, add the chopped carrots and saute for 2 minutes. Then in goes the green peas and the chopped capsicum. Saute it well for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle little water, add 1/4 tsp salt and then cover and cook the vegetables for 2- 3 minutes on a low flame. Open the lid and saute again. Now, add the semiya/vermicelli to it and mix it well. Keep in low flame for 3 – 4 minutes. Adjust the salt.

Add coriander leaves and lime juice to it before serving. Mix it well and serve hot.

Note: Some recipes call for roasting the semiya in ghee/oil and then adding water to it alongwith the veggies for cooking. I prefer my method of boiling the semiya in hot water, taking it off immediately and rinsing it in cold water and then adding it to veggies in the pan. This way it does not stick to each other and the oil used is also less.

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.

Kandha Batata Poha (Flattened Rice Flakes with Potato)

Breakfast

A popular Maharashtrian dish, it translates to onion, potatoes and rice flakes. It is one of my favourite breakfast options and we cook it often at home. The poha is spiced up with coconut, fried groundnuts, lime juice, coriander leaves and green chillies.

Ingredients:

Flattened Rice Flakes or Poha – 2 1/2 cups or 250 gms

Mustard – 3/4 tsp

Jeera/Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder – 1/2 tsp

Onion – 2 pieces chopped

Potato – 1 boiled

Green peas – 1/4 cup (optional)

Carrot – 1/2 piece chopped

Green chillies – 4 finely chopped

Curry leaves – 1 1/2 sprig

Lime juice – 1 tbsp

Grated coconut – 1 tbsp

Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp

Fried groundnuts – 1 1/2 tbsp

Preparation:

Note: Always choose thick poha as the thin ones tend to get mushy when cooked.

Boil a potato in water. When it is cooked, peel the skin and cut it into small pieces and keep aside.

Wash the poha/rice flakes twice and drain the water completely using a colander. Keep it aside. Do not soak it in water and do not squeeze the water.

Heat a pan. Add oil. When it becomes hot, add mustard, jeera, chopped onions, curry leaves and finely chopped green chillies. Add the grated carrot, turmeric powder, peas (optional) and the boiled potato and saute. Next goes in the poha/rice flakes and salt. Reduce the flame to low. Mix the poha well and sprinkle a little water and close the lid. Let it cook for 3 -4 minutes.

Stir it again and make sure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Once cooked, remove and add lime juice, coriander leaves, fried groundnuts and grated coconut.