Avarekaalu Dosa | Indian Pancake With Hyacinth Beans| Vegan | Gluten Free | Step Wise | Winner Of September’s Only Event

 

Hi All!!

It is that time of the year when Avarekaalu is seen frequenting in the market and if I notice a good quality beans, I’ve to buy it. It so happened that I bought a big batch of the beans and my MIL got me more from Blr, so I had a lot of peeled avarekalu/mochai/ hyacinth beans at home, ready to use.

Whenever I’ve Avarekalu at home, the things regularly made are the akkitari Uppittu, avarekalu saaru and the akki rotti. Once I went more experimental and tried ambode which did turn out well. Each of these recipes have been posted step wise for people to understand it methodically. I was getting tired of going back to the same recipes again and again. It’s not that I do not like them but one needs more variety to try and savour, isn’t it? Hence, this time I decided to try new recipes using the beans and the first recipe that I laid my hands on was the avarekaalu dosa..

Recently when we had visited Blr, my elder son insisted to try out some breakfast joints and on one such occasion we tried the avarekaalu dosa, as we all love the beans. Since the joint had an open kitchen, I carefully observed how he made the dosa and during eating kept the ingredients in mind and also the flavour. The dosa we ate was a little bland for me, for my family an extra chilli and little more curry leaf flavour was required, so I kept that in my mind.

Keeping all the flavours and ingredients in mind I went ahead to make the dosa. I keep playing with my dosa batter and this time I used a different mix of lentils and rice than what I used for the shahi dosa, and I must say I loved the batter mix!! It was light to eat, crispy and the dosa crust had a beautiful colour. The dosa was very tasty but filling too, one dosa and I was done. This dosa can be made for a heavy breakfast and even for lunch too. I wouldn’t recommend it for dinner as it’s heavy to digest and one should essentially have a lighter dinner.

Avarekaalu Dosa

 

Preparation Time: 10hrs | Cooking Time: 3-4mins/dosa | Makes- about 10 | Serves:4-5 | Difficulty Level: Needs Skill

Ingredients

For Dosa Batter

4measures Dosa rice

1measure urad dal/ split black gram

1measure mix of masoor ( red lentils), tuvar( red gram) and chana daal (bengal gram)

a handful of poha/ beaten rice

1tsp methi/ fenugreek seeds

oil for making the dosa

For Avarekaalu mix

3cups boiled avarekaalu/ hyacinth beans

1-1/4cups steamed grated coconut

7-8 green chillies, chopped

a large handful coriander, chopped

2-3 sprigs curry leaves, chopped

3tsp mix of urad-chana daal (split black gram and Bengal gram)

salt to taste

4-5tsp oil for cooking

Method for Dosa Batter

Soak the rice, lentils and fenugreek separately for 4-5hrs and soak the beaten rice one hour before grinding.

Grind each of the ingredients to a smooth, fine paste and mix them together. Let it stand for 4-5hrs or more for fermentation. At my place it ferments in 4-5hrs.

Add salt to the batter and mix thoroughly to remove the trapped air. Also add enough water to make a thick but still a flowy batter. The batter should be of the consistency made for frying fritters

Method For Making The Avarekaalu Mix

Steam the coconut and avarekaalu separately with a little salt, till cooked and soft. It normally takes one whistle in the pressure cooker.

Heat oil and urad-chana daal mix and let it turn golden in colour. Add the green chillies and sauté for a few seconds. Now add the chopped curry leaves.

Add the steamed avarekaalu, coconut and salt to taste and cook together for a few minutes. Finally add the chopped coriander and give a final mix. Cool the mix. This mix can be eaten by itself too without the dosa batter.

Method for making Avarekaalu Dosa

Heat the griddle and season it properly with oil. Sprinkle some water to bring down the temperature if the griddle’s very hot.

Take a large ladle full of batter and put it on the griddle. Take a handful of the mix and put it on the batter. Dip hand in water and press the batter to spread evenly and give a round shape. This step has to be done very fast as it becomes difficult to spread the batter once it starts cooking.

If you like a thin dosa only, in that case spread the dosa thin using the ladle in concentric circles and very quickly spread the avarekaalu mix on it. Gently tap lightly to fix the beans on the batter. In this case flipping can become difficult so cover the dosa for a minute and cook only on one side.

Turn the dosa to cook the avarekaalu side once one side is cooked. Put a little more oil around the edges. Flipping can be avoided too in that case after spreading the dosa cover it with a lid and cook.

Serve the dosa with coconut chutney.

 

Winner Of ‘Only’ Event For September

Please accept my apologies for the delay in announcing the winner. Since I was on a vacation, hence could not do it. Based on the event round up by Sushma, I’ve used the random pick to select the winner. There were 7 contributor’s other than me and Sushma and the winner is the 7th contributor ‘Budding Homemaker’, who is new to the blogging world. Congrats budding homemaker. Please contact me at cookingoodfood@gmail.com within two days to claim your win.

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Brown Rice & Red Beaten Rice Dosa With Onion-Tomato Chutney | Indian Pancake | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free | Step Wise

 

 

 

Hi All!!

Sorry for being away from the blog all of a sudden..the intention was definitely not to disappear but somehow life became too busy with traveling, then unpacking and getting back to a regular routine..

I’m posting yet another healthy preparation which is perfect for not only pregnant women but any health conscious person. I’m personally trying to move gradually to eating brown rice rather than the polished rice. I had attempted this  preparation using brown rice before we started on a tour and during my travel I had carried my laptop too so that I could finish the post but life was so hectic that I never found time to complete the post. Finally today I’ve just pushed myself to sit in front of the screen and finish the incomplete job.

Let me be honest I was very skeptical about the taste of the dosa. The only thing I was confident about was that no matter how the dosa tasted, some kind of pancake could be made with the batter.  To my surprise the dosa turned out really nice, it was very light to eat and had a nice nutty taste which I savored  thoroughly without being guilty as it had healthy and wholesome ingredients in it.

I made a few changes to my regular tomato chutney and made it a little spicy too to go with the plain dosa and the combo turned out superb. I gave the dosa in kid’s lunch box and we had it for the breakfast. In case you want to eat light food for the dinner, this dosa is just perfect for that.

 

Brown Rice & Red Beaten Rice Dosa

Soaking Time: 5-6hrs | Fermenting Time: Overnight | Preparation Time: 10mins | Cooking Time: 2mins/dosa  & 10mins for Chutney | Makes: 17-18 | Serves:3-4

Ingredients for Dosa

2cups brown rice

1/2cup red beaten rice/poha

1/4 cup dhuli moong daal

1/4cup urad daal

1/2tsp fenugreek seeds

Ingredients For Chutney

1small onion

2medium tomatoes

1/4tsp turmeric

4-5 dry red chilies

6-7 curry leaves

salt to taste

2tsp oil

For Tempering

2tbsp oil

1tbsp mix of urad-chana dal

1/2tsp mustard seeds

Method For Making The Dosa

 

Soak all the ingredients for 4-5 hours. The brown rice takes a longer time to soak. Grind them to a smooth & fine paste. Mix all and let it ferment overnight or for 8-10hrs.

Once fermented, mix again thoroughly to release the trapped air and add salt to taste. Adjust consistency using the water.

Grease a non stick pan and spread a ladle full of batter in concentric circles and cook on one side till crisp ad golden in color. Flip and smear more oil and let it cook.

 

Method For Onion- Tomato Chutney

Heat oil and sauté the red chilies followed by onions. Once the onions have become translucent add tomatoes, curry leaves, turmeric and salt. Cook till tomatoes are soft. Cool and grind.

Heat oil for tempering and splutter mustard seeds and then add urad-chana daal. Once the lentils are golden pour it over the chutney and mix.

 

Sending this to my event ‘Only’ Food For Pregnancy, hosted here.

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Akka Panaji’s Thalipeeth For Fasting Version I, Step Wise/ Upavasache Thalipeeth

 

Nine days of fasting, the ‘Navaratra’ have recently got over. Many people fasted through all the nine days and a few on selected days. I wanted to post fasting recipes that time but things at home kept me away from active blogging. But this week again has few fasting days which also includes Hanuman Jayanti falling on the 25th, so thought of posting this fasting food, which I loved and now my family likes it too..

I’m posting today a recipe I grew up with, this is my great grand mother’s recipe. Whenever she used to fast, she would make thalipeeths of various kinds and we would eye her as we used to get a bite to taste. I must confess, I’ve never eaten a better thalipeeth than what she made.

 

Telling you more about her and her fond memories….She was an excellent cook but at the same time well educated too. By education, I do not mean that she went to college and all but she had the urge and desire to learn new, she was hungry for knowledge. My great grand father was a freedom fighter, while he was in Vellore Jail my great grand mother who was a follower of Vinoba Bhave would lead the rally of ‘Prabhat Pheri’ every morning.

I still remember in my childhood, during our visits to our hometown, my day would start hearing shlokas and bhajans which my great grand mother would sing early in the morning while she worked on the stone mill (jaata). She was very hard working and at the same time a strict disciplinarian. At the age of 82 too, whenever we would have guests at home, she would sit on the floor  to make ‘ghadi chi poli’ which was her specialty. Till she was alive, she had a strong influence on the kitchen and all the three generations after her were benefitted by her skill.

This thalipeeth not only makes a tasty fasting food but it is great as breakfast item, for lunch box and even for snacking.

Upavasache Thalipeeth

Soaking Time:4hrs

Preparation Time: 30mins

Cooking Time: 5mins per Thalipeeth

Makes: 8

Serves: 3-4

Difficulty Level: Moderately Easy

 

Ingredients

3medium sized potatoes boiled and peeled

2-1/2cups soaked sabudana/sago

4-5 green chilies, finely chopped

2-3tbsp sour yogurt

2tsp cumin seeds

3/4cup coarsely pounded roasted peanuts

6-7tbsp rajgira flour/ amaranth grain flour

sendha namak/ rock salt

1/2tsp sugar

2-3tbsp chopped coriander

water for mixing

ghee/oil for cooking

Method

Wash and remove all water from the Sago and let it soak for 4-5hrs. Separate the grains of sago using finger tips.

To the sago add grated, boiled potato, finely chopped green chilies, pounded peanuts, cumin seeds, sugar.

Now add the sendha namak/rock salt.

Add yogurt and chopped coriander.

Finally add the rajira flour and mix thoroughly. Use some water and bring it to a consistency that can spread easily on patting (soft dough consistency).

Smear the griddle with ghee or oil (I used ghee for an authentic taste) and then pat a large lemon size thalipeeth dough to an 8inch circle using hand, if required, wet the hand while spreading. Make a hole in the center for oil to spread evenly. Cook on medium flame covered till one side is nicely cooked and roasted. Flip to the other side, smear some more ghee and cook open till done. Cool the griddle and repeat the process for the entire dough. If one wants to cook on hot griddle continuously, one can spread the thalipeeth on a greased banana leaf and then transfer it on to the griddle. Usually one thalipeeth needs about 2tsp oil or ghee but one can make it in very low oil or oil free too, if using a non stick pan.

 

This thalipeeth has a large portion of peanuts which are leguminous plants, hence sending it to my event ‘Only’ Cooking With Legumes hosted by Nalini.

Tip:

This thalipeeth needs gentle handling especially while flipping. Flip only when one side is cooked and roasted thoroughly.

Thalipeeth tastes better if the green chilies are spicy and have good flavor.

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Shahi Dosa, Step By Step Filling & The Winner of March Month’s ‘Only’ Event

 

Hello Friends!!

Firstly apologies for disappearing suddenly, I was just held up with too many things..

Today I’m posting a Dosa recipe very close to my heart. This brings in many childhood memories..Almost once in a month after the Sunday meditation, I and my brother would accompany my parents and visit a vegetarian restaurant called Naivedyam, where I and my dad would religiously order the Shahi dosa and  savor that. While my brother ordered spring rolls and my Mom would order a paav bhaaji or chhole bhature. This happened for several years till the restaurant shut down. My dad also loved their Kashmiri pulao and after the restaurant shut down I tried the preparation

at home for him and fortunately in my first attempt I made it exactly like the restaurant and then whenever we had guests coming over my mom would ask me to make the pulao. After the success of the pulao, I tried my hand on the dosa, I did not have any recipe in hand what I remembered were the ingredients, flavor and taste. Keeping all that in mind I attempted making the filling and I got it right the first time .

I had almost forgotten about this dosa preparation and recently while remembering old memories I was reminded of it and I was too eager to try it again and when DH asked me to make masala dosa on a Sunday, I also made the filling for Shahi dosa and treated myself with age old memories and relived those moments..

The word ‘Shahi’ means ‘royal’, and the word royal is related to the richness of the filling. It is cooked in ghee with nuts, raisins and cottage cheese all of which make the preparation rich looking and obviously high on calories. But once in a while indulgence is okay, isn’t it?

I felt like a kid after eating the dosa and wished that I could go 20yrs back and visit the place again. Me and my dreams..nevertheless, I know whenever I want to be a kid again, I’m going to make this Dosa.

 

Shahi Masala Dosa

Preparation Time For Filling: 15mins

Preparation Time For Dosa Batter: 8-10hrs

Cooking Time For Filling: 10mins

Cooking Time For Each Dosa: 2-3mins

Makes: 8-10 dosas with the filling

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

For Dosa Batter

3cups parmal rice

1cup boiled rice

1cup thick beaten rice

1cup urad dal

1tbsp methi seeds

1cup mix of chana, tuvar and yellow moong daal

For Filling

10-15 cashew nuts

1tbsp raisins

2-3tbsp ghee/clarified butter or oil

an inch of ginger, grated

1green chili, chopped

2medium tomatoes chopped

1 onion chopped

250gms cottage cheese/paneer grated

a pinch of garam masala

1/4tsp turmeric

1-1-1/2tsp red chili powder

1tbsp coriander powder

salt to taste

1tsp cumin powder

salt to taste

1 green capsicum, finely chopped

Method

For Dosa Batter

Soak all ingredients separately for 4-5hrs and grind them into a smooth paste, mix and leave aside for 5-6hrs to ferment. Add salt and mix again. Adjust the consistency of the batter, it should not be very thick nor too thin. It should have a consistency thinner than a cake batter. The addition of three yellow lentils adds more nutrition as well as color to the dosa. For another version of Dosa batter check here. Sending this dosa rich in legumes to my event ‘Only’ Cooking With Legumes hosted by Nalini.

Heat a griddle or non stick pan and grease it. Pour a ladle full of dosa batter in the center and spread it using the base of ladle in circular movements. This process has to be done really fast else the batter gets cooked and does not spread.

Cook on one side till it develops a golden color and then turn and cook on other side.

Turn again and put the filling in center and fold the dosa or turn the edges lightly on three sides (I did it).

For Filling

Heat the ghee and add the cashew nuts and fry them.

Tip in the onions and ginger, sauté.

Add the green chili, tomato and dry spices, raisins along with salt, mix and cook.

Finally add cottage cheese and capsicum and cook for a minute. Do not overcook, the capsicum needs to be crunchy. This filling is multi purpose, it is great as a side dish with paratha and a good stuffing for sandwiches too.

Coming to the winner of last month’s event. Out of the 25entries sent under Indian Category posted here, the winner is number 18 picked by random selector.

The recipe at number 17 is Shell Pasta in Spianch Pesto Sauce, posted by Sharanya of Sara’s Tasty Buds. Congrats Sharanya, you win ‘Baked Dishes’ cookbook by Tarla Dalal. Please mail me your address in India, with landmark, pin code and phone number to cookingoodfood@gmail.com within two days to claim the win. If you are unable to claim within two days, I will pick a new winner.

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