Instant sambar for idli

Instant sambar for idli

Idli is a staple south Indian breakfast. Steaming hot idli with piping hot sambar is one of my favourite combo. The thought of pressure cooking the tuvar dal and preparing the sambar for breakfast phew!! It sounds very elaborate.
I have stopped doing that now,after having discovered  this effortless instant sambar.
here goes the recipe. This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients:
Shallots/small onions- 2 cups
Tomato- 1 big size chopped
Channa dal/split gram dal- 1 tbsp
coriander seeds/dhaniya- 2 tsp
cumin seeds- 1 tsp
dry red chillies- 2-3 ( or more acc to taste)
Cinnamon - 1 " piece
fresh coconut or dry coconut- 2 tbsp
Tamarind pulp- 1 tbsp
turmeric- 1/8th tsp
hing- a generous pinch
jaggery- 1 tsp
oil-1tbsp
coriander leaves- 1 tbsp chopped

For seasoning:
Oil- 1 tsp
mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Procedure:
Heat a wok, once hot dry roast the channa dal , coriander seeds, jeera, separately and set aside. Heat a drop of oil fry the red chillies and cinnamon.set aside. Switch off the stove and roast the coconut just for few seconds.
Take all the roasted ingredients in a mixer  jar and grind it into fine powder.
Peel the shallots and keep them ready. Heat a wok add a tbsp of oil once hot add hing and turmeric followed by shallots. Add a tbsp of tamarind pulp and water. Cover and cook until the shallots are done. Now take half the cooked shallots and set aside.

Add chopped tomato cover and cook until tomatoes turn mushy.
Take the tomato and onion mixture along with the ground powder and blend it to smooth paste by adding water.
Take the ground paste along with the remaining  cooked shallots in a thick bottomed vessel. Add curry leaves, more tamarind pulp if required( if tomato is not sour enough) jaggery , add water and adjust the sambar to desired consistency and bring it to a boil. Heat a tsp of oil in a wok add mustard seeds  turn off once it splutters . Add this seasoning to samabar. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.Serve hot with idli.

Note:

To make it even more simple you can skipthe dry masalas/spices( from 3 to 7)

 and the roasting procedure and add store bought sambar pwd  to onion tomato mixture and blend it into smooth paste. grated coconut can be added once the tomatoes are cooked .The rest of the procedure remains same.

Hoornada Holige/Bele Obattu/Puran Poli

Hoornada holige/Bele Obattu/Puran Poli


Not being a big fan of sweets or deserts, I have very few collection of sweet recipes. But hubby dear and kids are big sweet tooth and now I am trying and experimenting a lot on sweets to satisfy their taste buds.
Holige is an authentic festival special dish.Have made this dish many a times now but was not personally satisfied with taste some time and texture other time and was hesitant to post it here. But this time I was quite satisfied with both the taste and texture.It was very soft even after 2 days.Here  I am giving my grannys secrect recipe for soft hoilge and I learnt it from my aunt. The credit definitely goes to both of them and I can nowhere compare mine to theirs.
Here is the recipe to make around 10 medium size holige.

Ingredients to make the dough
Whole wheat flour- 3/4th cup( I use annapoorna or aashirwad)
All purpose flour/Maida- 1/4th cup
Oil - 1/4th cup
Salt- a pinch
Turmeric-1/4th tsp

Rice flour- for dusting

Ingredients for the stuffing/ Hoorna

Tuvar dal/ pegion peas - 1 cup
Powdered Jaggery - 1 and 1/3 cups
Desiccated coconut/ grated dry coconut- 1/4th cup
Cardamom Pwd- 1 tsp

Procedure for making the dough :

In a large mixing bowl mix togeather both the flours, salt, turmeric and add oil.Mix it well. Once all the ingredients are mixed add water and make a dough like chapathi dough. Keep it covered and let it rest for 15 to 20 mins. After 20 mins,  take the dough on a kitchen counter , dribble some water on it grease your hands  and  start kneading it ( keep  punching the dough with both your fist occasionally ) dribble some more water and continue kneading  it for 15 mins until the dough becomes smooth and stretchy.Place the dough in a bowl and flatten it, add enough oil to cover the dough( see the pic) cover the bowl and let it rest for 1 hr.

Procedure to make hoorna or the stuffing: 
pressure cook the tuvar dal for 3 whistles on med high flame.Once the pressure goes off , strain the dal in a colander and remove the excess water . This stock can be used to make rasam.
Heat a thick deep kadai and once hot add dal to it. let it cook until the dal is semi dry.Once the dal is semi dry add the powdered jaggery.As the jaggery melts  the mixture becomes very watery.Keep cooking this mixture on med high flame stirring in between( always use a thick bottomed wok or there are chances of the mixture getting burnt).When almost all the moisture is dried up add desiccated coconut and cardamom powder and cook until the mixture becomes thick. Switch off the stove.

Procedure to make Holige:

Once the stuffing becomes cool enough to handle , take a lemon size ball of the dough and one size bigger than that of the stuffing.
The dough will be very delicate. Handle it carefully. I usually tie my rolling board with a muslin cloth( see the pic) and then work on this. Sprinkle some rice flour on the rolling board press  the dough and place the stuffing on it.Cover and seal it as shown in the pic. Place the sealed end  down on the rolling board.Press it once on all sides to spread the stuffing equally.Sprinkle rice flour and roll it into thin circle.Heat a girdle or tawa once hot brush some oil with a pastry brush and with the help of a thin spatula transfer the holige on the tawa. When you see small bubbles on top ,brush some oil and it starts puffing up.Flip it carefully and let it cook on the other side for few mins. fold it and transfer it on a serving plate. Serve it topped with melted ghee.

Note:

1.Buy good brand whole wheat flour which is finely powdered. Coarsely powdered wheat flour will not give same texture

2.Tuvar dal can be replaced with channa dal.Procedure remains same and tastes equally good

3.The dough should rest for atleast 1 hr after soaking in oil.If you leave it to rest for more than 1 hr  the better.Holige comes out very well.

Simple Vegetable Rice

Simple Vegetable Rice

As the name says its a simple rice dish with no masalas and with vegetables.It is a one pot meal and  a child  friendly recipe.I was left with few carrots ,beans and potato and my kids prefer something simple to eat and very less spicy.They love ghee rice and jeera rice.But I like  to add mixed veggies to the dishes and make it healthy and wholesome.This recipe has very few ingredients.
Here goes the recipe
       

Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
Chopped Mixed vegetables- 1 cup (I used carrots , french beans and potatoes)
Onion- 1 med thinly sliced
Green chillies - 1 slit ( can add more according to taste)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp ( optional, I did not add)
Turmeric-1/8th tsp
Shahi jeera- 1 tsp
Oil/Ghee- 2 tbsp
Salt- to taste
Water- 2 cups

Procedure: 
Wash and soak the basmati rice for 20 mins.Drain the water and set aside.
Heat a pressure cooker, once hot add oil or ghee ,add jeera and once it splutters add green chilly and thinly sliced onion.Add turmeric.Once the onions turn brown add the chopped mixed vegetables.Mix it once and add the soaked basmati rice fry for a min and add about 2 cups of water , add salt, mix it well and cover the lid of the pressure cooker. Keep the flame to medium low and place the weight. Cook for two whistles and turn off the heat.Once the pressure goes off open the lid . Mix it once very gently and take it in a serving plate and serve it with raitha.


Variations:
You can add whole garam masalas( bay leaf, clove,cinnamon,elaichi and pepper corns) while adding jeera.

Beginners note:
To cook long grain basmathi rice wash the rice and soak it for 20 mins . Strain the rice . Add 1 and 1/2 cups water and a tsp of oil . Pressure cook for two whistles on a med low flame. Open the lid only when the pressure goes off.
If the dish has vegetables, add 1/2 cup more for the vegetables. In this particular  dish  I have added 2 cups water as it has vegetables.

Dominos Style Garlic Bread

Dominos Style Garlic Bread:

I am very happy and all exited to post the recipe of one more baked dish .When u end up in successful bakes one after the other ,it motivates to bake more and more....Hoping to post more baked dishes here.
Coming to the post , this recipe is a very rich recipe with lots of butter and oil..But to get the exact taste you cant replace anything here. Have tried making it with little less butter , the texure was good but taste was little bland and I was greedy about the colour as well.
The original recipe is from bharats kitchen and it is here

Ingredients:

All purpose flour- 500 gms / 4 & 1/4th cups
Instant yeast- 4 gms / 1 1/4th tsp
Luke warm water- 1 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup (at room temperature)
Sugar- 1 tbsp
Garlic- 10 big cloves finely minced (more according to taste)
Oilve oil - 3 Tbsp for the dough and more for kneading the dough
Melted butter at room temp - a little less than 1/2 cup plus extra for brushing on top before and after baking
Salt-1 tsp
Oregano - 3 tbsp (divided use)
2 Tbsp- corn meal for dusting ( I did not use, I used APF)
Mozzarella cheese for stuffing( optional)

Procedure:
Step 1 :
In a wide mixing bowl, take luke warm water , add instant yeast , sugar and about 1 tbsp of APF. Let it sit for 5 mins.

Step 2 :
Once the yeast mixture starts bubbling, add melted butter, milk, garlic ,1 tbsp of oregano and rest of the dough in 2 parts( add a little and mix well until incorporated) repeat until all the flour is done.
 The dough will be very sticky.
Now add a tbsp of oil and start kneading the dough,to activate gluten,  for about 10 to 15 mins.           I greased my hands with more oil to do this.
Oil a container or big bowl and place the dough ball in it and let it rise in the fridge for at least 18 hours,this is a very important step.
After 18 hours my dough was  double in size.

Punch the air out of the dough and divide it into four equal parts. I used one portion of the dough and preserved the rest in a zip lock bag ,in freezer, for future use.
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.
 Now take one part of the dough, I divided it into two again and made two small garlic breads.You can make 1 big as well.Let the dough rest at room temperature for 10 mins.Place the dough on the counter top and punch the excess air .Dust the surface with cornmeal ( I skipped this as I didn't have and  dusted with APF)  .Grease a baking dray generously and sprinkle a tbsp of oregano.
Take a dough ball and start patting it with palm or a rolling pin into a flat round disc of 1 inch thickness.I added some mozzarella cheese onto this and folded into half(semicircle)  and sealed the edges. You can just seal it and make plain garlic bread with out stuffing.Place this on the greased tray and brush it with melted butter . Sprinkle a tbsp of oregano on top .Make cuts as shown in the pic and bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 5 to 8 mins. Increase the temperature to 220 degrees C and bake for another 5 mins.I flipped the garlic bread as soon as the bottom was golden brown and baked the other side for few mins until golden brown.Serve it hot with a dip of your choice.


Variation:
Used the same dough as pizza base and the crust came out very well.

Whole wheat Butter Cookies/Benne biscuits

Whole Wheat Butter cookies / Benne biscuits

Benne biscuit is the simplest cookie recipe and I can say it is a beginners recipe.After many attempts and failures with benne biscuits I found this recipe ,which uses very few ingredients .This  is  a super hit recipe with my family and friends.Being whole wheat it is healthier and tastier as well. My kids love these cookies.I have baked it so many times and the recipe has never failed.
Here goes the recipe

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour- 1 cup
 Icing sugar- 1/2 cup ( Or just powdered sugar if you dont have icing sugar)
Unsalted Butter-1/2 cup or 100 grams at room temperature
baking powder-1/4th tsp
Cardamom powder- 1/4th  tsp

Procedure:
Sieve the whole wheat flour and baking powder once.Add cardamom powder to it and mix well.
Grease and line a baking tray or a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.Preheat the oven at 150 degrees. In a large mixing bowl take the butter . It should be very soft.Beat the butter with a wire whisk until fluffy.Add icing sugar to this and beat or mix it until well incorporated .

Add the dry flour mixture to this in parts (add a little and mix well, then add little more and mix until incorporated ) I usually do this in three parts. The dough will be of chapathi dough consistency , but will be little crumbly. If you try to hold the dough and shape it into a ball it should hold the shape.Let the dough rest for 10 to 15 mins.

After 10 mins shape them(refer foot note) into  desired shape or  just flatten into a disc  and place them on the lined baking tray allowing some space between cookies ,as they rise a bit when baked.Bake them at 150 degrees for 15 to 20 mins or until the edges start browning.Cool on wire rack and store in air tight container.

Note for beginners:

1.  To shape the cookies  just take a part of the dough and roll it to desired thickness on a flat surface with a rolling pin  , use cookie cutters and with the back of a knife lift the shaped cookie and place on baking tray,be very careful while doing this as it tends to break.

2.Baking time might vary depending on the size of the cookie so keep checking the oven and take them out once the edges start browning.Also you can try a test batch to find the baking time.

Variations:

1.Using Icing sugar gives very light texture to the cookies.I have tried baking with normal powdered sugar as well.The texture was pretty good

2.You can use maida in place of whole wheat flour, but the amount of butter required will be  little less as the dough needs to be little crumbly to get the exact bakery benne biscuit texture.With this amount of butter it becomes a soft dough and it does not hold shape.The cookies tasted very good though.The cooking time was also little longer for these cookies.

Will put the exact quantity of butter and baking time for maida benne bisciuts in my fore coming post.

Thank you for visiting my blog and please share your views and comments on this post

Avalakki / Poha/riceflakes bisibele bath

Avalakki/Poha/ rice flakes bisibelebath:

Bisibele bath is a dish which is cooked with rice , lentils and vegetables along with spice powders .
Its normally cooked with rice. But on the days of fasting the rice can be replaced with poha and its taste remains the same.
I usually prepare this on Ekadashi( the 11th day in the lunar cycle). It is considered auspicious to fast on this day.Also scientifically, our system needs  detoxification and fasting on regular basis with only fruits in our diet helps in flushing all the toxins.Ideally the elders in the family fast with only fruits and liquids on ekadashi, which I feel,is  their secret of longevity and a healthy life.
But with time and with our lifestyle I can not  follow the same diet. So I have customised the diet according to my convenience by eliminating cooked rice and onion garlic from the menu on this particular day and also I include wide variety of fruits.Ending my story  and here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:
Tuvar dal/pegion peas lentils - 1 cup
Thick poha - 1 cup
Chopped mixed veggies- 1 cup ( Potatoes, peas, beans, carrots,Squash,Cluster beans)
Thick tamarind paste- 1 tbsp
Jaggery- 1 tsp
Bisibele bhat powder / samabar pwd- 2 tsp
Salt- to taste

For seasoning:
Oil/ ghee- 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds- 1/4th tsp
curry leaves- 1 spring
turmeric pwd- 1/8th tsp
hing- a generous pinch.

Procedure:
Cook the tuvar dal and vegetable in a pressure cooker.Wash and soak the poha for at least 1/2 n hr if using the thick ones. Once the pressure goes off take the boiled veggies and tuvar dal along with the soaked poha in a thick bottomed wide container.Add tamarind paste, bisibele bath powder,jaggery and salt.Adjust the consistency to desired level by adding water.  Mix well and bring it to a boil.
Heat a wok add oil/ghee once hot add mustard seeds , once they crackle add curry leaves hing and turmeric powder. switch off and add this to prepared bisibele bath. Mix well .Serve hot with raita or chips.
Note: 
1.Tuvar dal can be replaced by moong dal.Quantity remains same as tuvar dal.  Dry roast moong dal before cooking it. Also cook the moong dal and vegetables direcly on stove top . Moong dal turns very mushy if cooked in pressure cooker.This has to be served immediately as the dish becomes very thick once cooled.
2.Poha can be replaced by broken wheat.Quantity remains same as poha. Cook it along with dal and veggies in pressure cooker and the rest of the procedure remains same.
3.Homemade Bisibele bhath powder recipe link is Here..

Raw tomato/green tomato chutney

Raw tomato/ green tomato chutney:
 Tomatoes are packed with vitamins and antioxidants.There are many ways and so many recipes to incorporate tomatoes in  daily cooking. It can be used in rasam/ saaru,  Chutney,dals etc...The recipe list goes on.
In this particular recipe I am using green tomatoes. Green tomato is used to prepare tomato pappu/tavve/dal and Chutney.
here's the recipe for green tomato chutney.

Ingredients:
Green tomatoes- about 1/2 kg
sesame seeds-1/2 tsp
fenugreek /Methi seeds- 1/4th tsp
Jeera -1/4 th tsp
Green chillies-3 nos slit
Turmeric pwd- 1/8th tsp
hing - a pinch
jaggery- 1 tsp
tamarind-1tsp ( I have not used) use only if tomatoes are not sour.
Oil- 1 tsp
Salt- to taste

For Seasoning :
Oil- 1 tsp
Musturd seeds- 1/4 tsp
Urad dal- 1/2 tsp
garlic- 4 cloves chopped finely
Curry leaves- 1 spring

procedure: 
Heat a wok and dry roast sesame seeds and fenugreek seeds separately , powder them and keep it aside. In the same wok heat a tsp of oil add hing ,jeera and turmeric pwd . Once jeera splutters add green chillies , saute and then add chopped green tomatoes . Cover and cook until the tomatos turn mushy. Once the tomatoes are cooked add salt, jaggery and tamarind paste if using. Let it cool. Take the cooked tomato mixture along with the ground pwd and grind it into a smooth paste.
For the seasoning heat a wok add a tsp of oil add musturd ,once it splutters add urad dal,curry leaves and finely chopped garlic.let the urad dal and garlic turn golden brown. add this seasoning to the Chutney and serve it with steaming hot rice topped with ghee.It can also be served as side dish with idli, dosa and chapathi.



note :
Green tomatoes can be replaced  with red ones . It tastes different but equally good.