Ragi Idli

I first tried these Idlis using a ready-made pack of Ragi Idli mix. It turned out so good that I wanted to try making it from scratch. It wasnt really difficult the recipe is just like our normal idlis except you subsitute rice with Ragi. The Udad daal-Ragi combo is so healthy and filling, I am thinking of making it more often.

Ingredients:

1 cup udad daal and 1 tsp Methi soaked together in water for 2 hours
2 cups ragi flour
For seasoning:
1 tbs Jeera, 3 Red chilies broken into smaller pieces, 1 tsp channa dal and oil.

Method:

1. Grind daal to a smooth consistency and add water only to help with the grinding process.
2. Add the ragi flour to the ground daal
3. Heat oil in a small pan and roast the seasoning ingredients, pour this on top of the batter
4. Add salt to the batter, mix well and leave it to ferment overnight
5. Once its fermented steam them and serve it with chutney of your choice.

Samosa

Summer is over and its starting to get cloudy/foggy with occasional drizzles. What could be better than watching it rain by the windowsill enjoying fresh hot samosas. That's what set the mood to try it out at home. I picked the recipe from Manjula's kitchen and I am very thankful to her for sharing it with us.

Ingredients for stuffing:
3 boiled potatoes cubed
2 green chilies
1/2 cup green peas
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp coriander powder
salt

Ingredients for the shell:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp semolina (rava)
About 1/2 cup water
2 tbsp oil
salt

Method for the outer shell:
Mix all the ingredients for the shell and knead to make a smooth dough(stiff like chapathi dough so you can roll them). The more you knead the crunchier the shell gets, so knead away :) Leave the dough covered with a wet kitchen towel for about 20 mins.

Method for the stuffing:
Heat a little oil in a pan and cumin followed by chilis, all the spices and then the peas. Let the peas cook through and then add potatoes and salt.Mix well and leave covered for 5 mins and turn off the heat.

Assemble the samosa:
Make round balls of the dough and then roll them into a circle, cut the circle into half using a knife. Place the stuffing in one semi circle then fold it into a triangle. Seal all the sides using little water. Deep fry them so that they are golden brown.

Serve with green chutney.

Veggie Sandwich

I wanted to post this a long time back but whenever I make these sandwiches they disappear before I can reach for my camera. Today was my lucky day, I was back with my camera before they were gone:)

If you want to be creative this is the recipe for you.. the choice of vegetables is immense, really, sky is the limit. I throw in whatever vegetables are in my fridge. Some of my favorites are shredded carrots, slices of beets, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, avocados, olives, lettuce, and more. It takes roughly about 5 mins to put together and you have a meal ready! Its a personal favorite on days when I am back from work tired and in no mood to cook anything elaborate.

Ingredients:
2 tsp Mint-Cilantro chutney or Coconut Chutney
2 tbsp Shredded cheese any kind will do (I prefer Mozzarella)
1 tsp Butter
Veggies of your choice either sliced or julienned. This time I had:
2 slices each of - tomato, avocado, boiled potato
Julienned- Onion and Bell Pepper
Salt and Pepper as per taste

Method:
1. Spread butter on one side of both the slices and on medium heat let them become a golden brown. Repeat on the other side.
2. Spread chutney on one side of both the slices
3. Take one slice, with chutney side up add shredded cheese and then assemble all the veggies on it.
4. Put a dash of salt and pepper
5. Place the other slice on top.

Go for it :)

Rajma Masala

It was when I was with my parents and my brother vacationing in Shimla, I was about 10. I still remember the day, it was pouring, all of us were soaking wet and we were famished. It was the time when there was no GPS or google maps to help us with directions, we had managed to locate our hotel through all the rain and heavy winds. Once we got there my dad ordered food from the hotel kitchen menu. We had dried ourselves and changed into something warm and in about half an hour there were hot rotis and rajma masala waiting for us in our room. I remember wiping the bowl clean with my last piece of roti and it was probably the best rajma I would ever have.
The recipe that I am sharing today is probably as close as it gets to the one I had in Shimla. Quite recently I discovered the secret to good rajma masala is LOTS of onions and tomatoes, sauteed well to make a thick gravy base.

Ingredients:
1 can Rajma beans(Red Kidney beans) washed and drained
1 Large Onion chopped roughly
3 Large fully ripe Juicy Tomatoes chopped
1 Bell pepper chopped finely
2 Tbsp Rajma masala powder or Garam masala powder
1 tsp red chili powder or as per taste
Salt as per taste.


Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan on med-high heat.
2. Sautee Onions followed by bell pepper and tomatoes(take your time on this one, its better you do not cut your time on this one). Let all the veggies cook through.
3. Add Rajma powder and red chili powder, stir. Let it sit on the heat for a couple of minutes
4. Add Rajma beans and stir in some salt.
5. Cover and cook on medium for about 10 mins before you turn off the heat.
If you like more gravy add a little water before step5.

Serve with Rice or Rotis.

Sabudana Wada

Sabudana wada is a popular dish in Maharashtra usually made during fasting days. Its sago, potatoes and spices mixed together and then deep fried into golden dumplings.

Ingredients:
1 cup Sabudana (aka sago) soaked in water for 2 hours
1/2 cup roasted crushed peanuts
3 medium potatoes boiled and cubed
2 sprigs mint finely chopped
2 sprigs cilantro finely copped
3 green chilies
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt as per taste
Oil for frying


Method:
1. Drain the sago and mix it with the rest of the ingredients except oil. Make round ping pong sized balls and flatten them in your palm.
2. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry them in groups of 2-3 until they are golden brown on both sides.

Serve with chutney or hot sauce like I do :)

Green Coconut Chutney

Back in India, Mom would make Idli or Dosa on Sundays for breakfast and serve it with coconut chutney. There are 3 variations of coconut chutneys and they come in 3 different colors- white, green and red. Today I am sharing the green version.

Ingredients:
1 cup Shredded coconut
3 green chilies
2 sprigs of mint
2 sprigs of cilantro
1/4 tsp Tamarind powder or Lemon juice
Salt as per taste


Method:
Grind all the ingredients together. Can be served with Dosa, Idli, vadas.

Banana-Berry Smoothie

One of my favorite smoothies is right from my kitchen. It takes about 2 minutes to make and I prefer it over any smoothie we get in Robek's, Jamba Juice or any of the myriad smoothie stores. Plus its very easy on your wallet and you get to control the calories. This juice has no added sugar and uses 2% fat milk.

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas- make sure they are ripe, because ripe bananas are generally sweeter and they give a thicker consistency to the smoothie
8-10 frozen Black Berries (I usually have strawberries, raspberries and blackberries stocked in my freezer just for smoothies, any of these would do)
1/2 cup cold milk
1/4 cup water or some ice

Method:
Blend all the ingredients together until you dont see any chunks of bananas or berries. Serve cold!