Dosa in Bong Kitchen

 

We love Dosa, but since it is not our staple food, we do not have the gadgets to make it easily. Unlike a South Indian household we do not have a wet-grinder. Having lived in the South of India for a long time and later with South Indian neighbors in another corner of the world, I picked up this easy recipe which anyone can use to dole out Dosas.

Ingredients

• 4 cups rice flour
• 1 cup urad dal
• 1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds (Methi)
• 1 tsp. flattened rice (Poha) optional
• 1 tsp. salt
• Oil

Procedure

Wash urad dal thoroughly and soak it for 4-6 hrs. along with the fenugreek seeds.

Soak rice flour in a cup of water.

After the dal is soaked drain the water and in a regular grinder grind it into a smooth paste. Grind till the paste is soft and foamy. You may need to add water.

After the dal is completely ground, gradually add the rice flour mixture to it and grind them together.

Transfer the batter into a large bowl. Add salt and mix it.

Add enough water to the batter so that it is thick but when you scoop it with your hand it falls through your fingers.

Cover the bowl with a lid. Make it sure that the bowl is not airtight.

Keep the batter in a warm place for about 8-10 hrs. to ferment. For those living in a cold area keep the batter bowl inside your oven with the oven light on. The light will provide the temperature of fermentation. The ideal temperature for fermentation is around 95F or 34C.

Once the batter is fermented it will double in volume and should be frothy. If the batter is too thick add little water to make it pouring consistency.

Heat a round non stick skillet. Drizzle few drops of water. The water should sizzle and evaporate. Brush the pan with little oil and now put a ladle full of batter. Swirl the back of your ladle in concentric circles to evenly spread out the batter.

Once the batter is spread out drizzle few drops of refined oil around the edges.

Cook dosa on medium high heat till the bottom appears light brown. To make crispy dosa turn them over and let the other side take a light brown hue.

After you are done cooking each dosa make sure to cool down the skillet by sprinkling water to it. If the skillet is too hot you won’t be able to spread the batter.

Fold and serve either with aloo masala, chutney and sambar or enjoy plain with chutney and sambar. 

Keema Parantha or Porota

It’s been a long time since I last blogged. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I have not been cooking anything interesting, rather it is the contrary. I have been hosting a lot of friends and family through the holidays and my pipeline of blogs is almost full.

Today I bring to you Keema Parantha. Most Indian restaurants around our area serve variants of this. However, they mostly use Beef or Lamb. I have used chicken instead because a lot more Indians eat that. You can easily replace chicken with your choice of meat without any other modification.

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 500 gm. minced meat
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 tbsp. garlic paste
• 1 small tomato finely chopped
• 2 green chilies finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp. red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp. cumin powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala powder
• 1 tsp. oil
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste

Procedure

In a mixing bowl take flour with salt and oil. Rub flour with your finger to give it a crumb like texture. Add water and work on it to make a smooth dough. Keep it covered.

In a wide frying pan heat 1 tsp. oil. Fry chopped onion in it till they turn soft. Add turmeric powder, red chili , cumin powder and ginger garlic paste to it. Fry them together till the raw smell goes away.

Add chopped tomato to it and fry till they turn mushy. Now add minced meat to it.

Season with salt and sugar. Mix well and keep frying on medium heat till the entire moisture is evaporated.

Add chopped green chilies and cilantro to it. Sprinkle garam masala powder and mix well. Turn off the heat and spread the meat mixture in a plate to cool down.

Divide the dough into eight equal portions and make roundels with each of them.

Roll out each roundel  into a disc of four inch diameter. Make sure to thin out the edges of the circle with a rolling pin. Fill this up with 2 tbsp. of filling and then using your finger close the open end and seal.

Flatten it by pressing gently within your palm. Now on a flour dusted surface roll out each stuffed dough ball into a circle of six inch diameter.

Heat a skillet (Tawa) on medium high heat. Brush the surface with oil. Place the rolled out disc on hot tawa and let this side cook for thirty seconds. Flip it over and cook the other side. 

Your parantha is ready to serve.

Instant Oats Idli

My daughter having grown up in South India loves to eat Idli. Unfortunately I do not make it regularly enough to keep a supply of idli-rice, grinding equipment and such. The easy alternative I have found is to make rawa idli or use oats. I have already covered making rawa idli on my blog and this post is about the later.

Oats idli is an excellent choice for people on a diet as its much lower in calories than rice.

Ingredients

• 2 cups oats
• 1 cup sooji (Semolina)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1.5 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. chaana dal (Bengal gram)
• 1 tsp. urad dal (Black gram)
• 1/2 tsp. black mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 pinch hing (asafetida)
• 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 3 cups of plain yogurt
• 2 tsp. oil

Procedure

Dry roast oats in a pan on medium heat stirring continuously until it turns light brown. Keep aside and let it cool down. 

In the same pan dry roast rawa for a minute on low flame.

When the oats is cooler, grind in a spice grinder to make a coarse powder of it. 

In a mixing bowl take ground oats, roasted rawa, salt and baking soda. Mix really well.

Heat oil, add mustard and cumin seeds to it, when the seeds begin to splutter add chana and urad dal to it and sauté for a few seconds.

When the dals turn brownish, add hing to it and immediately turn off the heat.

Pour this (oil + dal and spice) mixture on the dry mixture of oats and semolina. Mix very well.

You can prepare this dry mixture ahead of time ( Can be refrigerated for 5 days) and prepare the idli later.

Grease idli molds.

Just before steaming add 3 cups of yogurt and chopped cilantro to it and mix. Put spoonful of this mixture into each mold and steam for 5-7 minutes.

When its cool remove each idle carefully and serve with coconut chutney of your choice.

Notes: Remember only add yogurt when you are ready to steam, else the effectiveness of baking soda will decrease and the idlis will not rise up.

Upma

Having grown up in Sothern India, this is my daughters staple school lunch. She takes it at least once a week. This is common weekend breakfast for us as well. Even though this is super common in South India, folks in Kolkata are just picking this up. I got a call from one of my relatives asking about upma and hence I am writing this down.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sooji ( Cream of wheat )
• 2 tbsp. small dices of carrots
• 2 tbsp. thin slices of beans
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tbsp. chopped ginger
• 1 tsp. chopped green chilies
• 1 tsp. hing ( Asafetida )
• 1 tsp. urad dal
• 1 tsp. chana dal ( Bengal gram )
• 1/2 tsp. black mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. whole cumin seeds
• 8 – 10 curry leaves
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp. oil

Procedure

Heat oil in a pan and temper it with whole mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal and chaana dal. Fry on low heat till they turn golden brown. Add chopped onion, ginger, green chilies and curry leaves to it. Sauté on low heat till the onion turns pink.

Add 2 cups of water and season it with salt and sugar. Stir well. When the water comes to a boil slowly add suji while whisking it continuously.

You will see the water is al absorbed by the suji in no time. Turn off the heat and keep it covered for another 2-3 minutes.

Serve with thick coconut chutney.

Bread Upma

I learned to make this when I used to live in Hyderabad from a neighbor. It makes good use of bread when the expiry date comes knocking. We make it sometimes for breakfast and also for my daughter’s school lunchbox.

Ingredients

• 6 slices brown bread cut into small cubes (preferably stale bread) 
• 1 large onion chopped roughly
• 1/2 cup green peas 
• 1 tsp. finely chopped ginger
• 1 tomato finely chopped
• 2 green chilies finely chopped
• 1/2 cup coriander greens finely chopped
• 5-6 curry leaves 
• 1 tsp. Black gram
• 1 tsp. chaana dal  (Bengal gram)
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. oil
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Salt to taste

Procedure

Add oil in a pan. Temper it with 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, mustard seeds, black gram and chaana dal. Allow them to splutter. Add chopped onion, green chilies and ginger. Fry till onion turns translucent. Add tomato and green peas followed by all dry spice powders, sugar and salt. Mix well.

Pour half a cup of water to it and add bread pieces. Toss them. Sprinkle chopped coriander and serve hot.

Semiya Upma or Chow Chow Bath

When we first moved to Bangalore, we discovered that it’s brimming with many Sagars (seas) in it, and you can get different kind of baths in it.

If this astounds the geographically inclined (who knows that there aren’t any large water bodies within 100s of kms of Bangalore), rest assured that these are different kinds of Sagars. They are named Sukh Sagar, Shanti Sagar, Sukh Shanti Sagar and even sometimes just Sagar and are darned good food joints. They serve various kinds of bath (which is the name for cooked rice) like tamarind bath, tomato bath and weirdly chow chow bath. Obviously the name comes from Chinese chowmein due to the visual similarity.

It is made with Indian vermicelli and free of egg. Fortified with vegetables this complete meal can be done in minutes and is great for lunch boxes.

Ingredients

• 2 cups semiya or vermicelli
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 2 green chilies finely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
• 1/4 cup carrots cut into very small cubes
• 1/4 up finely chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts or cashew nuts
• 2 tsp. canola oil
• Salt to taste
• For Tempering
  • 10 curry leaves
  • 2 dry red chilies broken
  • 1pinch asafetida (hing)
  • 1/4tsp. each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal and chana dal

 

Procedure

Take a wide pan and add vermicelli. Dry roast it by turning over and over till it takes a light brown hue. Transfer it immediately to a plate. This step prevent the upma from being sticky, hence very important.

Now heat oil in a pan and add all the ingredients listed under tempering. Sauté till they become fragrant. If you are making for the kids then remove the red chilies and keep aside.

Add chopped onion and green chilies. Sauté on low heat till they turn soft and the onions turn pink. Add carrot and peas and mix everything together.

pour 3 cups of water and sprinkle salt. Mix well and turn the heat to high. When it comes to a rolling boil add roasted vermicelli while constantly stirring it.Cook till water is all absorbed. Turn off the heat.

Add chopped cilantro, fried red chilies and roasted nuts. Gently mix and give it a 5 minutes standing time.

Serve hot for breakfast or you can pack for lunchbox as well.

Rawa Idli

Having lived in the southern part of India for one fourth of my life has had it’s effect on my cooking as well.One of the things we picked up heavily from Bangalore and Hyderabad is idli.

Making idli in a South-Indian household is easy because there is always batter ready at hand as it’s used in a variety of their cuisine. However, the same is not true for a bong household. So making idli turns out to be an involved affair.

In our Hyderabad home we had a cook who used to make and also taught me the much easier Rawa Idli. The good part of Rawa idli is that there is nothing to grind before hand and no lengthy fermentation process. It tastes great though.

The soaked+ground dal in the ingredient below is optional and something I had only seen my cook use.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup rawa (sooji)
2. 1/4 cup urad dal (split black gram) soaked and ground into a thick paste (optional)
3. 1tsp. dry urad dal (for tempering)
4. 1/4 cup finely chopped carrot
5. 1/4 cup thinly sliced French beans
6. Handful of chopped coriander leaves
7. 1 cup plain curd
8. 1/2 tsp. Eno Fruit Salt (or baking soda)
9. 1tsp. mustard seeds
10. 1tsp. dry chana dal
11. 1tsp. hing ( Asafetida)
12. Few curry leaves
13. Salt
14. 2tsp. oil

Procedure

Heat oil in a frying pan and temper it with mustard seeds, hing and curry leaves. When they stop sputtering add chana dal and urad dal to it and fry till they turn golden brown. Lower the heat and add rawa to it and fry for 2- 3 minutes. Switch off the heat and allow it to cool down completely.

Mix the roasted rawa mixture with urad dal paste and curd. Add all the chopped vegetables and salt. Lastly add fruit salt to it and mix everything together to make a batter. Keep it aside for 15 minutes.

Grease the idli molds with ghee and add idli batter to it. Steam for 12 – 15 minutes. If you are using pressure cooker, remove the weight.

Allow it to cool before you un mold.

Serve it with coconut chutney…

Egg Salad Club Sandwich

We are avid hikers. One of the challenge of a hike is to pack good food. You want to ensure that you pack something that is easily packable, non-messy, nutritious, tasty and at the same time is rich in good calories. Egg salad sandwich fits that bill perfectly. After a soul crushing hike, eating the sandwich at the top of a mountain with a view as below adds an extra dimension to the whole experience.

Ingredients

1. 3 slices white sandwich bread
2. 3 hard boiled eggs chopped
3. 2tbsp. finely shredded cabbage or lettuce
4. 2 tbsp. grated carrots
5. 1 ripe avocado peeled and mashed
6. 1 tsp. chopped fresh parsley
7. 2tbsp. mayonnaise
8. 1tsp. freshly ground black pepper
9. Salt to taste

Procedure

Add chopped egg into a medium mixing bowl. Add mayonnaise, mashed avocado, shredded cabbage, salt and pepper to it.

Combine all the ingredients well using your spoon stirring firmly.

Spread breads on a chopping board. generously soon the mixed egg salad onto one slice of bread. Spread evenly using the back of the spoon. Now cover it up with another slice of bread. Spread the egg salad mixture on the top surface of the second bread. Close the sandwich with the remaining bread slice.

Cut the sandwich diagonally across with a sharp knife.

If you are packing them for lunch, wrap the sandwiches in a cling film or take them in zip locks.

Chirer Pulao (Poha) For School Lunch

In my school there was no concept of school provided lunch. So every day we had to take our own lunch from home. At lunch break all our friends sat down together and feasted from each others boxes.

Our daughter’s school district arranges lunch for its students. They are encouraged to eat healthy with mandatory servings of three portions of veggies and fruits. So they can pick a slice of pizza but also have to pick up broccoli and apples along with it. The problem is that there’s no one to enforce that it travels from the plate to the mouth. So so essentially the lunch becomes only Pizza or Pasta. To avoid this pitfall I generally send lunch with her and she gets to buy and eat junk only once a week on Fridays.

One of her favorites is Chirer Pulao. Which is a pulao made from flattened rice. This is generically called Poha across North India. The one I make has eggs in it. However, vegetarians can omit it.

Ingredients

1. 2 cups of dry poha or chiwra (thick cut flattened rice)
2. 1 medium onion finely chopped
3. 2 – 3 green chilies finely chopped
4. 1tsp. chopped ginger
5. 1 medium potato cut into small cubes
6. 1/2 cup green peas
7. 2tbsp. chopped cilantro
8. 10 – 15 peanuts
9. 10 – 15 raisins
10. 1tsp. turmeric powder
11. 1tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
12. 1tsp. sugar
13. Salt
14. 1tsp. ghee (clarified butter)
15. Oil
16. 2 – 3 bay leaves (tejpatta)
17. Whole garam masala  (2 cloves, 2 green cardamoms, 1” cinnamon)
18. 2 eggs (optional)

Procedure

In a colander or big strainer take dry poha and wash it thoroughly with water. Spread poha on a flat plate.

Take a spoon of oil in a frying pan and heat it up. Fry the peanuts on medium flame till they turn dark brown. Remove and reserve for later use. Use the same greased pan and break two eggs in it. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over it. Allow it to set for a while and then break with the spoon into small pieces. Remove and keep aside.

Heat rest of the oil in a pan and temper with bay leaves and whole garam masala. When they stop spluttering add chopped onion, ginger and half of the green chilies into it. Fry till onion turns soft and pink. Add potato cubes and peas followed by turmeric powder to it and fry on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add quarter cup of water and cook it covered on low flame for another 3–5 minutes. By this time potatoes will be cooked and most of the water will evaporate.

Now add pre washed poha to it. Throw the omelet pieces, peanuts and raisins in.  Sprinkle salt and sugar to your taste. Mix thoroughly. If needed drizzle 2 – 3 tbsp. of water over it and cook it covered on medium heat for 2–3 minutes.

Add a dollop of ghee and sprinkle a pinch of garam masala powder. Garnish with chopped cilantro, green chilies and keep it covered for 5 minutes before you serve.