Beetroot Dosai

 

 

 

 

 

The vibrant color of the beetroot itself suggests it's full of nutrition; it's good for blood circulation and relieves constipation!! Pregnant ladies can drink 1/4 to 1/2 cup of fresh beet juice with a bit of honey, (at least twice a week) to prevent constipation. I myself have experienced this. .(Upon my M-i-l's advice)Though I started drinking reluctantly, after seeing the wonderful results, I voluntarily went for it :) Though we would like our kids to eat Beets, it's not easy to get them to!! So I thought of an idea and started mixing it with Dosa batter, then automatically kids started loving it!! Beetroot Dosa and Chilli Chutney is their favorite combo.   Ground Beetroot Paste! With Coriander leaves and Curry leaves     Ingredients:   Large Beet root - 1 Dosa Batter - 2 Cups Big Onion - 1 to 2 (finely chopped) Fresh Coriander leaves - 1 small bunch(finely chopped) Curry leaves - 1 or 2 sprigs ( finely chopped) Salt - to taste   Method: Cut beetroot into cubes, add little water and grind to a smooth paste. Take two cups of Idly/Dosa batter, (it's better to be thick & undiluted since adding beetroot mixture will make it watery) The batter should be a fermented batter (pulitha maavu) Add the beetroot paste, followed by chopped onions, coriander leaves/mall thazhai and Curry leaves. Toss in a bit of salt and mix well, until combined. Now the beetroot Dosa batter is ready, make dosai as usual by adding little bit oil. Cook on both sides and serve with red chilli Chutney, Coconut Chutney or Malli Chutney.        To make Dosai Maavu/Dosa Batter: Take 2 Cups of Idli rice and 1/4 Cup of Urad Dhal/Ulundu and soak them together in water for minimum 3 hours.   Add ½ tsp. of salt and grind with the soaked water, add water little by little. (Either in mixie or grinder). For making Beetroot Dosa, the batter can be little thick, so that when we mix ground beetroot paste, it won’t be too watery. Allow it to ferment for 8 hours. The size of the batter would have doubled up by this time. Now the Dosai Maavu/Batter is ready to make Dosais.

 

Venpongal with Sambhar & Chutney

 

Venpongal!

 

 

 

 

Venpongal with Sambhar and Coconut chutney is a very popular item among South-Indian breakfast menu. However, most of us feel it tastes better in restaurants than at home.  The tricks are the ingredients and the consistency of Pongal which make the difference.  Let’s try and make the most delicious Venpongal ever!

 



Raw rice and green gram



 

 



Soaked in water..



 

 



Coarsely pounded Black Pepper!



 

 

 
 
   

Ingredients:

 Raw Rice/Long grain rice/Pacharisi – 1 Cup (heaped)

Green gram/Moong dhal/Pasiparuppu – ½ Cup (little less than half)

Salt – 1 tsp. or (as required)

Water – 5&1/2 to 6 cups (according to the rice variety)

Milk – ¼ cup (if necessary)

Coriander leaves – to garnish.

Ghee roasted Cashew nuts – 5 to 6, to garnish.

 

Tempering:

Ghee/Clarified butter – 2 tbsp.

Cooking Oil – 2 tbsp.

Finely grated/pounded Ginger – 1 tsp.

Crushed/pounded Green Chilly – 1 to 2

Coarsely crushed/pounded Cumin Seeds/Seeragam – 1 tsp.

Coarsely crushed/pounded Black Pepper/Milagu – 1 tsp.

Mustard seeds/Kadugu – ½ tsp.

Dry red Chilly – 1 to 2

Curry leaves – 2 or 3 stalks

 

 
 
 
 

Mashed rice - look at the texture, very smooth..

 
 


Tempering - adds rich flavour to Venpongal..



 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Add milk, if not smooth enough & combine well..

 

 

 

Method:

 

Wash and soak rice and green gram/pasiparuppu in water for 10 to 15 minutes. In a
 
Pressure cooker or Rice cooker cook rice with generous amount of water, until soft and
 
mushy. When it is done, take out and mash it well, while it is still hot.  It will become soft and
 
smooth.

In a  large Kadai/Pan, pour oil and ghee, add the tempering ingredients one by one and stir

well.  Gently stir in the rice, add salt and combine well, add milk if the consistency is not

smooth enough. Combine well, cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes.  Switch off,

garnish with ghee roasted Cashews and Coriander leaves, serve with Sambhar and/or

Coconut Chutney.

 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

With Coconut Chutney!

 
 
 

With Sambhar!

 

 

 

Simple 2 minutes Coconut Chutney:

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 Ingredients:

Fresh grated Coconut – ½ Cup

Tamarind/Puli – ½ tsp.

Green Chilly – 4

Salt – as required

 

Tempering:

 Kadugu/Mustard seeds – ½ tsp.

Ulundu/Black gram – ½ tsp.

Dry red Chilly – 1

Curry leaves – few

Asafetida – ¼ tsp. (roast well in oil)

Oil – 1 tsp.

 

Method:

 

In a mixer/blender, add fresh grated Coconut, (thaw, if frozen before grinding) green chilly, tamarind and salt.  Pour enough water and grind to a smooth consistency.

Do the tempering and add it to the Chutney. Coconut Chutney is ready in no time.

Tips, tips, tips…

Never should you heat Coconut chutney, even when it is refrigerated, just allow it to cool before you serve.  Try to use it within the day it is made.

 

 

 

 

Mulaikeerai poriyal/Spinach Stir fry

 

Mulaikeerai poriyal/Spinach Stir fry

 

Mulaikeerai poriyal/Spinach Stir fry with Idlis
 

 

 

I would call this as splendid spinach recipe which we can have with Idlis/Rice cakes for

Breakfast, with rice for lunch or even a snack during mid-morning.

Mulaikeerai (also called as Amaranth leaves)is tasty by itself, so we need not add too many

 ingredients to make it palatable. With very little ingredients we can make a nutritious and

tasty dish.

 

In Chettinad, it's a very common Breakfast item, taken along with Idlis/Rice cakes dabbed

with Ghee. My Father would insist on Keerai cooked for Breakfast, so we often eat with hot

Idlis dabbed with ghee, the tastiest combination ever. Even the kids who usually hate

Keerai/spinach would love this recipe.  I've seen my Mother-in-law giving this

as a mid-morning snack for my Father-in-law.  It can be givien to toddlers as well, bland yet

nutritious, thus making great baby food.

 

 

Ghee/Clarified butter has been used to treat Ulcers and Constipation, it is also considered

 good for 'brain development'.  So we should try to include moderate amount of ghee in

 the daily diet of growing Children.  Always melt the ghee/clarified butter before you serve!

 

 

 

 

Mulaikeerai/Amaranth leaves!

 

 

 



Ghee/clarified butter!



Ingredients:

 

 

Mulaikeerai/Spinach - 2 bunches

Finely chopped Big Onion - 1

Dry red Chilli - 1 or 2

Salt - to taste

Tempering:

Oil - 2 tsp.

Kadugu/Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp.

 

Method:

 

Wash the Keerai/Spinach well and drain the excess water, washing thrice in a large
pot/basin helps, otherwise you can expect some soil residue after cooking.

In a kadai/pan, pour oil, add Kadugu/mustard seeds, when it splutters, stir in the chopped

 onion, sauté well until it becomes golden brown.  Add the chopped Mulaikeerai/spinach and

sauté for couple of minutes.  Add salt (use little amount of salt, because

Mulaikeerai/Spinach will become too salty if you add more) and cook over medium heat. Do

not cover the Kadai/pan, otherwise it will become watery.



It will cook very fast, around 5 minutes.  Before switching off, check if it's watery, if so sauté

in high heat for 2 more minutes to get rid of the water.  If you prefer it to be crunchy, switch

 off when it's 3/4th done.



Delicious Mulaikeerai Poriyal/Spinach stir fry is ready in a jiffy.  Serve hot.

 

 

 

Mulaikeerai poriyal/Spinach Stir fry with Idlis/Rice cakes!
 

 

Fluffy Pancakes

Fluffy Pancakes

Whenever we pass by McDonald's in the mornings, we can't help but observe the butter-smeared fluffy pancakes with dribbling Maple syrup. It's really tempting, but we don't have to head to McD every time we, rather our 'Kids' crave for Pancakes. We can do it at home and enjoy the same. Here's the recipe, which is very simple.

Ingredients:

Plain flour – 11/2 cups

Baking Powder - 11/2 tsp.

Milk - 1 Cup
(Dutch Lady Full cream)

Water - 1/2 Cup

Sugar - 2 tbsp.

Salt - a pinch

Beaten eggs - 2

Olive oil - 2 tbsp.

Butter - to garnish

Honey/Maple Syrup/Hershey's Chocolate Syrup

Plain flour

Baking Powder

Sugar

Salt

Beaten Eggs

Olive Oil

Milk

Method:

Sift and combine dry ingredients. Form a well at the centre, pour all the liquid ingredients and mix well with a whisk, to avoid formation of lumps. The batter should neither be thick nor be watery.

Dry and Liquid ingredients together

 

Mix with a wired whisk

 

Greased Pan

 

One spoonful of batter

 

 

Bubbles appearing

 

Fully formed bubbles

 

Golden Brown pancake

 

Smearing butter

Grease a non-stick pan and pour one big spoonful of pancake batter let it spread on its own. In medium flame, let it cook until bubbles appear all over, turn it over and cook for few more seconds. Transfer it to a plate and smear scraped butter over it. Stack up one over the other. Serve hot with Honey or Maple syrup or Chocolate syrup.

Also pancakes can be cut into wedges and conveniently packed for (School)recess-time, mid-morning meals.

 

With Hershey's Choco Syrup

Buttered Corn

My kids look forward to the pancakes along with warm buttered fresh corn for breakfast.