Rice with Urad dal spice powder (Ulundu Ogaray)

Blogging Marathon# 58: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: Bring on your Rice

Dish: Rice with Urad dal spice powder (Ulundu Ogaray)
Can't believe we are only few weeks away from a New year, time sure seems to fly. We are starting a new edition of Blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is 'Bring on your Rice', Valli wants us to post any rice based dish.

As a South Indian, rice is our staple food and every meal essentially revolves around rice. So it is only natural that I take up this theme to try some more new rice dishes.

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Jonna Rawa Idli (Jowar Idli) with Coconut-Almond Chutney

Blogging Marathon# 53: Week 3/ Day 1

Theme: 3 Ingredient Recipes

Dish: Jonna Rawa Idli with Coconut-Almond Chutney

My theme for this week is quite interesting, it is '3-Ingredient Recipes'. Valli sure knows how to get our brain cells to working. We had done 5-Ingredient recipes in one of the previous BMs, but this 3 ingredient theme sure took some thinking and some googling to finalize the 3 dishes.

Today's 3 ingredient recipe is a South Indian staple breakfast but made with a healthier and nutritious ingredient swap. Idli rawa is replaced with a whole grain jonna/ jowar rawa.

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Ragi Paniyaram (Ragi Ponganalu)

Blogging Marathon# 50: Week 4/ Day 2

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes

Dish: Ragi Paniyaram (Ragi Ponganalu) from Priya's recipe here.

For Day 2 of this week's 'Bookmarked recipes', I found this delicious Ragi Paniyaram recipe on Priya's blog. These paniyaram or ponganalu are made with a combination of ragi flour, leftover idli batter and seasoned with onions, green chilies and cilantro. They taste just like tiny bite size uthappams.
I hardly ever make idlis not because I don't like them, but because making them seems to be such a hassle. I always forget to soak dal and even when I do, the batter refuses to ferment in our very cold, chilly house in winter. No matter what I do (leave the oven door open, keep the batter in a warm oven etc etc), it takes almost forever to ferment. That demotivates me from making idlis.

But the other day, my husband out of nowhere said it's been a while we had idlis. So, I took the leap and made the batter. As expected it took almost 2 days for the batter to ferment and after enjoying the idlis and uthappams, I used the leftover batter to make these ragi paniyarams. Adding ragi flour makes these paniyarams taste earthy and delicious.

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Chillu Garelu (Minapa Vada)

Blogging Marathon# 43: Week 2/ Day 1

Theme: Navarathri -- Festival Special

Dish: Garelu (Vada)

My theme for this week is dishes made for Navarathri. I planned on having all the dishes ready while on vacation in India, but the last week got too hectic and I couldn't get the posts ready on time.Thanks to my mom who made 2 dishes for me, I have the pictures ready. We are back home now and slowly getting back to routine.
After signing up for this theme, I called my cousin for suggestions for dishes that are typically made for Navarathri. She immediately emailed me the list of dishes that are made on each of the 9 days during Dasara celebrations. I will post that list soon.

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Masala Vegetable Idli (Idli with a twist)

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 3/ Day 1
Theme: E-N Breakfast Items
Dish: I for Idli -- Masala Idli

I picked an easy one for day 2, I for Idli. For those of you who have never heard the word idli, here's a little background info: Idli is a very traditional South Indian breakfast. It is a steamed cake made of fermented black lentils (urad dal) and rice.It is one of the most balanced breakfasts with the perfect combination of carbs and protein. Also the fermenting process adds good bacteria that aids in digestion.

I don't make idlis often since the batter doesn't ferment well in winters and I'm too lazy and forgetful to soak the lentil and rice for the rest of the year. Well anyway I made sure I remembered to soak, grind and ferment the batter. Thanks to the lovely warm weather we have been having lately, my batter fermented nicely in about 12 hours and the idlis turned out soft and fluffy.

Plain idlis are quite common, but today's masala idlis are a really nice variation. I saved an article on Idlis from a Telugu newspaper in 2006. One of the recipe in that article is this 'Masala Idli'. The addition of vegetables and the masala gives these idlis a nice spicy kick.

Ingredients:
For the Idli Batter:
Black Lentils (Urad dal) - 1cup
Idli Rawa - 2½cups
Fenugreek seeds - 1tsp
Salt - to taste

To make Masala Idlis:
Potato - 1 small, peeled & finely diced
Carrot - 1 small, peeled and finely diced
Onion - 1 small, finely chopped
Green Peas - 3tbsp
Tomato - 1 small, finely chopped
Cashews - 2tbsp, finely chopped
Green chilies - 3 (adjust as per taste)
Roasted gram (putnalu) - 1tbsp
Grated Coconut - 2tbsp (fresh or dry)
Cilantro - 3tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Urad dal - 1tsp
Curry leaves - 8~10
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Make the Idli Batter: Soak urad dal & fenugreek seeds in a bowl and idli rawa in another bowl for at least 4 hours. Grind dal into a smooth paste. Drain and squeeze the water from the rawa and add it to the dal along with salt. Mix well and set the batter aside to ferment in a warm place for 8~12 hours.
• Make the Veggie Mixture: Microwave potato and carrot until tender. Alternately they can be boiled or steamed also.
• Grind the coconut, roasted gram, green chilies and cilantro into a smooth paste.
• Heat 2tsp oil in a saute pan; add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves; once the seeds start to splutter add onions and cashews. Cook till the onions turn translucent.
• Next add tomatoes and the other cooked veggies. Cook until tomatoes turn mushy.
• Add the masala paste and salt. Mix well and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
• Then add this mixture to the idli batter. Mix well and distribute the batter evenly in the idli molds, steam for 12~15 minutes. Serve hot with chutney of choice.

All the veggies tend to sink to the bottom, so here's the cross-sectional view of a masala idli :-)

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up today for BM# 41.

Kanchipuram Idli & Kara Chutney (Breakfast Thali from Tamil Nadu)

The month long mega marathon is still lingering in the air and I have quite a few posts in the drafts that I made and could not post. So here we are with a breakfast mini thali from Tamil Nadu that I wanted to post for Tamil Nadu, but changed and did this Chettinad Vegetarian Biryani.

Kanchipuram idli has been on my to-make list for a very very long time. I think I saw the recipe in a Telugu newspaper many many years ago and it stayed in my head, though it wasn't until very recently. I jotted it down for Tamil Nadu, but with the winter lingering around a little too long, I wasn't sure if the batter would rise. I waited till it started to get a little warm again to make the idlis. It took me 48 hours for the batter to ferment and the idlis turned out fluffy and delicious.

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Jharkhand -- Dhuska & Ghugni

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 12
State: Jharkhand
Dish: Dhuska & Ghugni

Jharkand is a state located in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar in the year 2000. The name Jharkhand means The land of forests, Jharkand accounts for 40% of the mineral resources of India.

Cuisine: Jharkhand's cuisine is very similar to Bihari cuisine. Jharkhandis use different types of flowers as vegetables like the flowers of drumstick etc., Use of Saag, i.e., leaves of different shrubs and other small plants, is perhaps another peculiarity of Jharkhani food.
Staple Food: Urad dal, Rice, Vegetables.
Specialties: Litti Chokha, Dhuska, Dudhauri, Charpa

Today's Dish(es): I made a traditional dish from Jharkhand and Bihar. Dhuska is made with unfermented rice & lentil batter and is usually deep fried. I followed Vaishali's tip and cooked them like dosas instead. I had some batter leftover after making dhuskas which I left to ferment for about 10~12 hours and then made dosas with the batter. Dosas turned out crisp and perfect. Dhuska is served with ghugni traditionally and that's what I made.

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Instant Vada (using Urad dal flour)

Ugadhi (Telugu New Year) is right around the corner (March 31, 2014) and I wanted to post some quick and easy dishes to make for the festival. If you are like me who forget to soak urad dal but still dream of making idlis/ dosas or vadas, then this post is right for you!! These vadas use urad dal flour instead of whole urad and they can be made in about 2~3hours which includes a brief resting period.

Apart from the forgetfulness, another reason for making these vadas using urad flour is that most of the American blenders are not powerful enough to grind the lentils without adding copious amounts of water. Adding water is OK for most of the recipes, but for vadas the batter needs to be very thick and smooth with little or no water added during grinding. So that's where the flour comes in very handy.

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Poli Boorelu

Bonus Dish for Week 1: B for Boorelu
Theme: A-Z Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Poli Boorelu

Here's Wishing everyone a Very Happy Ganesh Chathurthi!!

While I was planning for the A-Z series, I came across a ton of dishes from Andhra Pradesh that I've never tried before and in my excitement to cook for the event, I cooked more than I should. Since we are only posting 1 dish per alphabet, I had to edit myself and only post the ones I felt really represented AP. So to keep the momentum going, I decided to post the ones that didn't get picked up the regular Blogging Marathon on Sundays as Bonus recipes.

Today's bonus recipe is an easy to make boorelu. I still remember the first time I made boorelu years ago for Varalakshmi vratam. I invited few friends for dinner that day and my filling for boorelu was so liquidy that it completely dissolved in the cover batter. So when I fried them, they ended up looking like pakodi. We all ate them anyway. 

But this recipe is almost fool-proof, since chana dal is first soaked, ground and then steamed (like when we make patoli/ paruppu usili), so there is no chance of the filling getting liquidy.
For the outer cover, usually urad dal (minapappu) and rice are soaked and then ground to a smooth paste. Instead I used store-bought urad dal flour and rice flour. This makes life so much easier making the whole process quicker and leaving only 1 bowl to clean.

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Masala Vada/ Paruppu Vadai

Blogging Marathon# 30: Week 4/ Day 1
Theme: Tea Kadai Menu
Dish: Masala Vada/ Paruppu Vadai

We are starting the last week of Blogging Marathon for this month and my theme for this week is 'Tea Kadai Menu'. Valli gave us a set of typical dishes that feature in the roadside Tea shops in Tamil Nadu. For the first day I made 'Masala Vadai/ Vada'.

I love masala vada, but don't make it often at home because of the deep frying that is involved. BM gave me a chance to try my favorite snack and we thoroughly enjoyed these deep fried goodies.

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Bedmi Poori

Blogging Marathon: Week 2/ Day 3
Theme: Traditional Dishes
Dish: Bedmi Poori

Today's traditional dish is from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. It is a poori stuffed with  spiced urad dal paste. The end result is this slightly different pooris that are very filling and delicious.

I followed the recipes from Valli's and Vaishali's posts. My pooris didn't fluff up like Vaishali's, but they tasted great anyway.

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Ullipaya Gaarelu (Onion Vada)

VeganMofo Day 23: I rarely deep fry at home, health is only part of the reason. I'm worried about on how to dispose or use up the leftover oil. But having my mom here, I don't have to think of ways to use up the oil, she has a ton of ideas up her sleeve. She does not heat up too much oil to begin with and she used the rest of the oil for daily cooking.

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Soy Bean Dosa

For Day 3 of "Cooking from BM Blogs -- Valli's Spicing your Life", I chose this protein rich, healthy breakfast dish: Soy Bean Dosas. Once the dosa batter is fermented overnight, it is ready to be used and including the chutney making time, this whole breakfast can be completed in less than 30minutes.

To accompany the crispy I made Valli's Red Bell Pepper and Tomato chutney. This tangy and spicy bright red chutney is the perfect accompaniment to the dosas.

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Idlis (made with Par-boiled rice) and Peanut Chutney

I’m back for another round of Blogging marathon, BM# 16. Thanks to Valli for organizing and coming up with some very interesting and challenging themes. My theme for this week is “Show your Breakfast”. I have a variety of breakfast dishes lined up for this week. 

Breakfast in my house on a weekday is usually quick and simple – toast with peanut butter and jelly/ veggie cream cheese/ butter and jelly/ nutella or some Swiss Oats or quick-cooking oats. My policy is not to turn on the stove on weekday morning and only utilize the services of my trusty microwave and the toaster oven. On the weekends, the story is not drastically different: we usually end up waking up late and I’m the kind of a person who would rather have an early lunch than late breakfast, so we end up having a quick cereal or skipping breakfast altogether.

So when I saw that one of the themes for this month’s BM is breakfast, I thought it would be a nice change to treat my family with a hearty breakfast over the weekends (for a change). For Day 1, I made some good ol’ idlis – every south Indian’s comfort food. I’m sure there are a million ways/ recipes for making idlis, but I’ll go ahead give mine anyway. I started making idlis with par-boiled rice (idli rice) and found that they turned out much softer and fluffier. 

Here is the recipe that I usually use, but when I saw Nupur’s post with a different proportion of par-boiled rice, I wanted to try that too, to see the difference. I’ve to say there is a big difference in the texture and I would probably use my new measurements going forward. Check out Nupur’s post for mouthwatering chutney and restaurant style sambar recipes.

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Muruku for Indian Cooking Challenge

We are making crunchy fried Murukus for this edition of Indian Cooking Challenge. These are probably the most time consuming, yet the tastiest muruku’s I’ve ever made.

I made a couple of changes to Srivalli’s recipe, not to the recipe, but the way I prepped my ingredients. After consulting with my mom: I soaked the rice the night before and shade dried it for half an hour before I grind it into a powder. I then used a sieve to sift the ground flour to get only the fine flour and blend and sifted it couple of times. According to my mom, the more you soak the rice the smoother & softer is the flour. Apart from that I followed the recipe to the T. Here is the recipe verbatim from Srivalli.

Ingredients:
Raw Rice - 4 cups
Urad Dal - 1 cup
Water - app 1/2 cup or more

For Seasoning:
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds- 1 tsp
Asafetida/ Hing - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter - 75 gms (I used 4tbsp butter)

Method:

• Wash and drain the rice. Shade dry the Rice for 1/2 hr. (I soaked the rice overnight and shade dried in the morning for 30minutes to 1hour.)
  
• Dry roast the Urad dal to light brown. Allow it to cool.
  
• First grind rice into a fine flour, keep it aside. Then grind the urad dal to fine powder. (I sifted both the flours couple of times and used the finer flour for murukus)
  
• In a wide vessel, take both the flours along with salt. Mix well. Add cumin, Sesame seeds to the flour, mix well.
  
• Whether you use Asafetida powder or the solid ones, you got to mix it in water, make sure it is dissolved before adding to the flour. If its not dissolved properly, when deep frying the muruku, there are chances for the hing to burst our due to air bubbles. Mix in the hing to the flour and finally add the butter.
  
• Gather everything well and you will get more of a crumbling mixture. Now slowly add water and knead dough which is little softer than the puri dough.
  
• Heat a kadai with oil enough to deep fry. Once the oil is hot enough, simmer to low flame.
• Take the Muruku Aachu, wash and wipe it clean. Then divide the dough into equal balls. Fill the Muruku maker with the dough. You can either press it directly over the flames or press over a paper and gently slide it down the hot oil. But since the quantity mentioned here is less, you can press it directly over the kadai. Cook over medium flame, using a slotted spoon, turn it over to other side to ensure both sides turn golden colour. You will know by seeing the colour that it’s cooked. Remove to a kitchen paper and store it in a air tight container. This normally stays good for weeks, provided you forget about these which hardly happen!