south indian breakfast

Wheat Dosa

Another easy recipe for dosa is the wheat dosa. An easy alternative to the dosas prepared with rice or rava, this one was a staple in my home for dinner as dad used to like it very much.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour – 1/2 cup

Rice flour – 2 tbsp

Jeera – 1/4 tsp

Coriander leaves chopped – 1 tbsp

Curry leaves chopped – 1 tsp

Onion – 1 small chopped

Green chillies – 1 chopped

Jeera/Cumin seeds – 1/4 tsp

Salt as required

Oil for cooking – 3 to 4 tsp

Water – 1/2 cup

Instructions:

In a mixing bowl, add the wheat flour, rice flour, jeera, cuury leaves, coriander leaves, green chillies and mix well with a whisk. Add chopped onion, salt and water and mix well to combine. The batter should not be too thick or runny and should be lump free.

Heat a griddle/tava. Grease the tava and pour a ladle from the outer edges to form a circle, towards the inner parts. Cover the middle portions with more batter. Reduce the flame to medium flame and drizzle a few drops of oil all over the dosa. After 2 – 3 minutes, when it turns golden in colour, flip to the other side and cook.

Remove from fire and serve with any chutney that you like or sambar.

Note: Pour a thin layer of the batter to make crispy dosas.Iron or cast iron griddle works best for this dosa.

If the dosa sticks to the griddle or tawa, reduce the flame to low, sprinkle some water to bring down the temperature. Drizzle a few drops of oil and rub the griddle with half an onion all over.

Every time you pour a dosa, drizzle a few drops of water on the hot griddle to bring down the temperature and smear it with little oil.

Oats Pongal

Breakfast

A healthy South Indian breakfast recipe which is popular in Tamilnadu. A one pot recipe and easy to make, pongal can be served with chutney and sambar.

Ingredients:

Oats – 1 cup

Yellow moong dal – 1/2 cup

Water – 3 cups

Salt to taste

Seasonings:

Ginger – 1 inch piece grated

Black pepper corn – 1/2 tbsp whole

Cumin seeds – 2 tsp

Cashew nuts –2 tbsp broken

Asafoetida – 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 1/2 sprigs

Ghee or clarified butter – 2 tbsp

Oil – 1 tbsp

Preparation:

Roast the oast in a pan for 2 – 3 minutes and keep it aside.

Wash moong dal well and add it to the pressure cooker. Add salt and water. Mix well and pressure cook for 3 whistles (After the 1st whistle, reduce the flame and keep it on a slow flame for 7-8 minutes. When it cools down, open and check if the dal has cooked fully well. It should be soft and mashable. Heat the cooker again and when the dal starts to boil, add the roasted oats and keep stirring for 2 – 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of hot water if required as it should be of a semi-solid consistency. Once the oats is cooked, put off the flame.

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

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.

South Indian Poori and Aloo (Potatoes)

Breakfast

A Popular Indian deep fried and puffed bread made from whole wheat flour or all purpose flour. Pooris is a very versatile dish as it can be paired with savoury curries like potato curry or chicken curry or with sweet dishes like Maharshtrian aamras or Gujarati suji halwa.

Makes 8-10 medium sized puris. (Check the notes below to make crispy puris).

In oil, add dals, onions, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, tomato and saute

Ingredients:

For Pooris

Whole wheat flour or all purpose flour – 2 cups

Hot oil – 2 tsp

Water – 1/2 cup

Semolina/Rava – 3 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Oil for deep frying

For Potato baaji or curry:

Potatoes – 5 medium

Garlic – 4- 5 sliced (optional)

Onion – 1 large (sliced or chopped)

Tomato – 1 medium

Ginger chopped – 3/4 tsp

Curry leaves – 1 1/2 sprigs

Chana dal/Bengal gram dal – 3/4 tbsp

Urad dal – 3/4 tbsp

Green chillie – 3 or 4 slit

Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp chopped

Water – 1 cup

Oil – 1 1/2 tbsp

Mustard – 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Preparation of Potato masala

Wash potatoes and cut them into 4 pieces. Pressure cook them in a cooker for 2 whistles or cook them in a pot until they are soft.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard and when it starts to sizzle, add the chana dal and udad dal. Then add the curry leaves, green chillies and ginger and saute them for a minute. Next, add the chopped or sliced onions and turmeric powder and saute until it becomes translucent. Add the tomatoes and fry until it becomes mushy. Now, mash the potatoes well and add it to the pan. Check salt and add water. Cover and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes on medium flame.

Mix well and when it beome slightly thick, sprinkle coriander leaves. Serve it with hot puris.

Preparation of Pooris:

Take the flour in a bowl and add salt. Add a tsp of very hot oil to it and semolina. Mix well with your fingertips and adding little water at a time, knead it into a smooth and tight dough. It should not be soft like chapathi or roti dough).

Cover and rest the dough for 10 minutes. After the resting time, knead the dough once again.

Divide it into 10 equal sized balls. Make smooth balls out of it. Roll out these balls into 2-3 inch diameter circles. It should not be too thin or thick as it will not puff up.

Roll out a few pooris and place them on a plate. Cover it with a kitchen napkin.

Heat oil in a pan. When it becomes hot, reduce the flame to medium and gently slide the rolled out poori into the hot oil, one at a time. Using a slotted spoon, slightly nudge the pooris while it is frying so that it will puff up well. Once it becomes golden, flip to the other side and fry it.

Remove using the slotted spoon and place it on a paper towel lined serving plate.

Notes/Tips for crispy and fluffy puris:

1. The semolina added to the flour makes the pooris crispy and stays puffed up for more time.

2. Hot oil is added to the dough to make it crispier.

3. The dough should not be soft but it should be knead firm and tight in order for it to puff up well.

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

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.