Cucumber Spinach Pancake

Cucumber and Spinach Pancake

In the good old days we used to have Sanjeev Kapoor on TV, Khana Khazana was the program which we could watch to see live cooking recipes...used to like to watch that....but many times would miss it ....whereas now we have two channels now showing us a lot of recipes full time - Food Food channel and the erstwhile Khana K....so when we are free we can browse those channels and watch some new, old, desi(local) or international recipe....

On one of those shows I came upon this one....it reminded me of one of my own rice chilla which I have already blogged...this was a simpler version and I thought let me give it a try...

It turned out pretty good and amazingly simple & quick...so guess it is something which will be part of my repertoire in future....works good for breakfast or a snack...or even if guests drop in and you would like to have something more substantial than biscuits & chai to serve them...

So without further ado...let me get on with the actual recipe..here goes...

Ingredients:

1 medium cucumber grated
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp red chili powder ( can add more if you like it spicier)
1/2 cup rice flour
2 Tblspns rava
2 Tblspns yogurt(curd)
water to make a batter
oil for frying


Method:

1) Grate a cucumber - squeeze out the water and keep aside. Chop spinach leaves and add to the cucumber along with salt and red chili powder.

2)Add the rice flour, rava, yogurt and mix - then add water to make a batter - first add the cucumber water - and if required add additional water. Do not make it too thin. Keep aside for about 10 minutes. 
The flours absorb the water and the batter becomes a little thicker.
Then add some more water if required so as to have a batter which is as thick as a dosa batter.

3) Put a few drops of oil onto a non-stick pan, then take a ladle full of batter and spread onto the pan. Cover with lid and let it cook till some brown spots appear. Flip the pancake and cook the other side too. Cook on medium heat so as to cook evenly and thoroughly.

4) Serve hot with ketchup or green chutney.

Enjoy !!!

For such a simple recipe the taste was pretty awesome...and the prep. time is so little...so ahead and try it out yourself...would love to hear from you, what you think about it...

Methi puri...a great snack

Methi Puris

My sister in law T makes amazing khari puris, have tried making it myself ...but have not been too successful...it was not that bad..but you know ...I was not too happy with the result....did not try after a couple of times...

Nyways had dropped the thought of making my own until I saw this on TV - some cooking show had methi puris on - and boy it was so simple the way they did it (at least that's how it appeared)...so I got charged up...and put it on my list of stuff to try out...not the exact same thing as a khari puri...but close enuff...and I love methi...so nothing holding me back...except maybe  'time'...?!?

Finally managed to get the time, get the ingredients...so here's the way I went about making this...by the way I checked the net..and there are so many different proportions of the flours and even the flours themselves...they have mix of all purpose, whole wheat, rava(semolina), besan ( chick pea flour)...with any or all of them and as I said the ratio also differing...
I went with the one I felt sounded right...and it actually turned out pretty good...used a tip from the TV show...roasted the jeera before adding it..

Rava Idli

Rava Idli

This is one dish which is so amazing, it is quite difficult to explain how such a simple thing can turn out to be an awesome meal....just paired (or is that trioed - if that is a word,should check that out ) with sambhar & chutney of course...

Surprisingly though we are a south Indian family (my folks ) and for us idli, dosas etc.....form quite a staple in our diet, and Mom had tried out quite a few varieties of  dosas - where as in case of the idli - we would stick to the traditional rice & udad dal variety.
In our native place ( S. Karnataka ) they would sometimes add "tadi"  or "kali" - got from the trees grown at home (coconut in our case, some also use the sap from palm tree ) - that was supposed to soften the idli by helping in the fermenting process and amp up the taste factor too...did not have access to that in B'bay so here we would rely on good old heat and keeping the batter overnight...

So nyways coming back to the rava idli, I have had it at restaurants and other friends/ relatives place, so decided to try my hand at making it too,
tried quite a few recipes from the net...and after a few failures and near successes...managed to zero in down on a basic recipe ( from Show me the curry ) with a few modifications taken from other sites.

Have made it many times since....and all who have had it have loved it - so here's the final version...

I have found it easier to make it in two stages - first is the preparation of the rava. I find that roasting rava with the dry ingredients and keeping it ready either much prior to making the dish ( or even the day before ) helps, as it needs to be cooled for the final mix before steaming.
I generally make double the quantity of the roast rava mix - and use half in my idli mix and keep the other half for another day - to be used either for rava upma or rava idli again.

Ingredients:
1) For rava roast:
     Rava - 2 cups
     Oil    - 2 Tblspns
     Chopped Cashews - 1 Tblspn
     Udad dal - 1 tspn
     Chana dal or Dalia - 1 tspn
     Dry Red Chilli  - 1 split in half
     Mustard - 1 tspn
     Pinch of asafoetida

2) For making idli mix:
     Take half of the above rava roast mix.
      Yogurt - 1/2 cup
      Water - 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup
      Green Chilli - 1
      Ginger grated - 1/2 tspn
      Salt - 1/2 tspn
      Eno Fruit salt - 1 tspn
      Grated Fresh Coconut  - 1 Tblspn
      Carrot grated - 1 medium
     


Method:

1) For rava roast :

• Take a non-stick pan, heat the oil, add mustard - wait till it splutters, then add  red chilli split, udad dal, chana dal, cashew, and fry till it changes  color a bit - then add rava and roast till it just start to change  color ( do not allow it to become brown/red ).
• Take out the rava in another dish and allow it to cool completely
• Now divide the rava into 2 portions - store one portion subsequent use - this can be refrigerated or even frozen for longer time.
• One half portion to be used for the second step - i.e making of the idlis, this makes approx 15-16 medium sized idlis...enough for 3-4 people for breakfast/snack...in case of lunch it is sufficient for 2-3 people.

2)    For the idli mix and steaming :

• Take a large mixing bowl - mix the yogurt and 1/2 cup of water thoroughly - add the grated carrot, ginger, coconut, chilli, salt and mix well.
• Then add the half portion of the rava roast mixture which was prepared and cooled earlier.
• Mix the entire batter so that there are no lumps.
• At this stage if the batter appears to be too thick add the remaining 1/4 cup of water bit by bit - the batter should be thicker than dosa batter.
• Keep the mix for about 20 minutes. The rava absorbs the water and the batter becomes a bit thicker - adjust water if required.

• Prepare the idli stand by greasing it with oil or butter.
• Prepare the idli cooker with requisite water and cover and keep on gas for heating.
• Put 1 tspn of Eno in the batter - and mix - it will froth a bit.

• Pour the idli batter into the idli trays and keep it in the idli cooker for steaming for about 15 minutes.

 

Serve hot with coconut chutney and sambhar.

 

Note : The carrot and coconut are optional - but the taste and color and texture that it imparts makes it so special and so out of this world.
You could also add some curry leaves and coriander leaves to the mix in Stage 2.

Enjoy !!!

Rice Chilla

When I first heard this name I was not sure what it was, how it looked, how was it made....then I realised that it was a modified version of  what we called a tomato omelet - we use to have it in restaurants ( Mom did not prepare it at home when we were kids ) -  do not know why they called it omelet ( it did not have eggs ) - was basically made from besan and served with a couple of triangles of bread.

While the tomato omelet is made of besan & onions, chillies, tomatoes...rice chilla as the name suggests has rice flour in it too...I was introduced to the above variation by my friend.

We were invited to lunch at my friend's place, they stay in the neighbouring state - it was a hour and half drive to their place ( but since it was mainly on the interstate - not really that bad a drive and quite scenic so the time really does tend to fly by)...
 
We always have a great time at my friend's place - she is part of my group of college friends and hence we have known each other a long time...there is something very comforting about meeting up with old friends...and having known her family too for as long....you feel totally at home with them...so we were looking forward to meeting them all again and since G ( my friend ) and her mom ( aunty) are great cooks, were anticipating a yum lunch.

When we arrived there, G and aunty were busy getting the lunch organised and then after most of the main dishes were all set, G started pouring out ladle full of the batter ( rice chilla ) onto the pan...and serving it to us piping hot in turns ...it was really delicious ( chilla and the entire meal ).....so had to get the recipe from her right away.

G gave me the info on the dish - but those days we were busy with winding up our stuff in US and the move back to India and settling down and other issues ....so for a while this dish was out of my mind.
Later remembered it ( sort of ) - tried to recreate it...made some changes...not sure how true to G's recipe I have managed to come to....but have gotten an amazing result...and thought let me share it....

Sheera - Rava Halwa

We got good news today in the morning - my nephew ( brother's son ) had got admission in the college of his choice for engineering...and also got the stream he was looking for..electronics.

Nowadays the competition is so stiff with re. to schools, colleges, jobs...etc...regardless of how hard you work - you still have the stress when applying...and along with the kids, so do the parents, aunts ( in my case ), uncles, grandparents ( Mom & Dad )....well you get the picture !!!

So when we were all relieved of our nail-biting ( ?) tension, we decided ( me & Mom ...I was at her place at the time ) to celebrate with something sweet...( this was after our hugs and kisses )....

The first thing I could think of was sheera...actually not true I thought of a lot of other stuff - but either they required a lot of pre planning or preparation...or ingredients that I did not have on hand...so the easiest and quickest sweet that I could immediately whip up was sheera...

This is a dish which we all love, it is made many a time as a prasad when it is a festive occasion...sometimes we make it just to have as dessert after a special occasion meal...and sometimes just because... and sometimes cuz we want to have something sweet to eat...or like today to celebrate ...
We used to have it at times in breakfast instead of powa or dosa or upma - it would make a sweet change :-)
Whatever the reason or occasion - it is a quick and easy recipe and the results are awesome...

Manni .....Halwa from Karnataka



Manni

This is a sweet dish made predominantly in Karnataka...or rather it has come from there - now it is of course made the world over where all the Kannadigas reside..:-)

Each house has it's own version of the recipe....and there are quite a few that just like it the way it is made at their own or their mother's place...

The original recipe calls for rice, coconut or coconut milk and jaggery...along with cashews, raisins and cardamom...

My mom had modified the above to include a whole bunch of other things ...one to make it more healthy and second to utilize what is at home ( I think )....and we having gotten used to the way she makes it .... & do it the same way...
After making ( in huge quantities )  she used to pour it out onto plates and also 2 elliptical steel containers - so that once it had cooled we could cover with lid and take home...it made for convenient storage in the fridge and gave us our equal portions ( this is me and my sister - once we were married and had moved  out...)
So now I do the same....

So going back to the recipes given below are both ...

The first one is...

Ingredients :

1 cup rice - soaked for 2-3 hrs
1 cup coconut - grated
3/4 cup jaggery
1/4 cup cashews broken
1/4 cup raisins
2-3 pods of cardamom - crushed
2 tsps of ghee
a pinch of salt

Method:

Grind to a fine paste the soaked rice and coconut - then add jaggery, cashew, raisins and cardamom - along with about 5-6 cups of water....in a heavy bottomed pan.
Bring to a boil - then reduce heat and on low flame - keep stirring till it all comes together...Add the ghee, pinch of salt and stir till it is incorporated.
This entire process takes at least 30 - 45 minutes...
Once it is done - pour it onto a plate and cool - then refrigerate to harden - and cut into diamond or square shapes.

This is the simpler method - and the halwa is more light ....since it uses only rice...
Instead of coconut - some use coconut milk - in that case the rice is soaked and ground to a fine paste with a little water, then coconut milk is removed from 1 coconut - to get about 4 cups of coconut milk and it is mixed with the rice paste and jaggery and the process is the same as above.

At our place we used to make it with 1/2 rice and rava mixture...as below

Ingredients:

1 cup rice
1 cup rava ( sometimes 3/4 rava & 1/4 ragi )
2 cups coconuts grated ( some tender coconut was also added ) ( as I mentioned we would use what was available at home at the time of making )
1 cup of cream ( this was malai which was gathered from the milk and stored in the fridge for making of ghee )
1/4 + 1/2 cup cashew
1/4 cup raisins
8 - 10 cardamoms crushed
a pinch of saffron
1 and 1/2 cup of jaggery
1 tsp of roasted and then crushed fenugreek seeds.
1/4 tsp salt.

Method :

1) Soak rice for 2-3 hours. Then grind the rice along with the coconut & 1/4 cashew adding water as required till it is a fine paste.
2) Transfer to a heavy bottomed pan and add the cream of milk, 1/2 cup cashew chopped, raisins, jaggery, salt, fenugreek seeds powder.
3) Add about 8 cups of water in parts - first 4 cups of water and mix well and heat the pan on high flame till it comes to a boil stirring continuously...then reduce the flame and continue to mix.
(If during the grinding process a lot of water was used then you can reduce the above 8 cups to 6 )
4) After about 10 mins - add the balance water, cup at a time - and mix to incorporate - this is so that it can absorb it slowly and continue cooking.
Also add saffron and cardamom powder at this stage.
5) At this point you can do a taste test and adjust salt, sweet ( jaggery ) and even fenugreek seeds ......it should not be bitter - the fenugreek  just heightens the taste of coconut and jaggery.
6) The mixture should be stirred till it all starts coming together - then pour it onto big plates ( at least 2 ) or containers. Due to the cream - the plates needs no greasing...
7) Cool for about 1/2 hr - then refregirate and then cut into pieces and serve. You can decorate the top with either cashew or raisin.
Enjoy !!!