Happy Sankranthi & Breakfast time

Dear foodies,

Happy Sankranthi/Pongal to all of you!

It’s been a while, a loooong while since I posted a recipe here. Life has changed so much since the last granola post, and I keep pinching myself to to see if its not all a dream. Last year I was in Hyderabad for Sankranthi, with my parents. My brother and I were to board our flight to the airport in a few hours, but we could not leave without flying kites! So we pushed all the packing aside and spent a good couple of hours on the terrace trying to recollect the kite-flying techniques. We were a family of four then, and now … its six of us, with many new sisters/brothers attached. With all this new excitement, a trip to India, and the holidays, this blog did not get all the attention it needed. The last few weeks I’ve dreaded even opening the page on my browser, and each time I did push myself to see it, I was hoping against hope that it would’ve miraculously updated itself :D

I had even gotten out of the habit of cooking a decent meal and photographing it! So this past week, I nudged myself to cook something good instead of just throwing things together in a bowl, and took my time to photograph it too. aaah! the joys of blogging :) So starting afresh in 2010 with the first meal of the day - Breakfast. Nothing beats steaming idlis paired with dollops of chutney’s and a piping bowl of sambar.

I haven't mastered my idli recipe well enough to write a detailed post about it, so its all about the chutnies today. But I'll give you the measurements I used - 1 cup -idli rava to 3/4 cup - whole urad dal + 1tsp methi seeds. I added a few green peas and shredded carrot to the steamer plate before ladling the batter adding color to the white beauties.

Basic Coconut Chutney

(2-3 servings)

Ingredients:

to grind -

• 1 cup - fresh/frozen grated coconut
• 1 Tbsp - Dalia/putnala pappu
• 2 nos - Green chillies (adjust to taste)
• Salt to taste

Seasoning -

• 1 Tbsp - Oil
• 1/2 tsp - mustard seeds
• 1 tsp - Urad dal
• 5-6 nos - Curry leaves, roughly chopped

Method:

1. Take the ingredients under the 'to grind' list and well, grind them together :) (this hardly counts as a method!) Add a few tablespoons of water as needed to help the process go along.
2. Heat a tadka pan with oil, add the mustard seeds and urad dal. Once the seeds start to splutter and the dal changes color to a light orange, add the curry leaves. Pour the hot tadka over the chutney and serve :)

Add-on's: A few drops of coconut oil drizzled on top before serving would enhance the coconut flavor. You can add a small handful of cilantro or 1/4 cup grated carrot ground along with the coconut for a nice color/flavor variation. For some extra tanginess, add about 1/4 tsp of tamarind extract.

Tomato & Peanut chutney

(3-4 servings)

Ingredients:

to grind:

• 4 nos - ripe Tomatoes
• 1/4 cup - Peanuts
• 3-4 nos - dry Red Chillies (adjust to taste)
• 1/2 Tbsp - Urad dal
• 1/2 Tbsp - Chana dal
• 1/2 tsp - Jeera/Cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp - Methi/fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp - Tamarind extract or a tamarind piece
• 1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
• 2 tsp - Oil
• Salt to taste

Seasoning:

• 1 tsp - Oil
• 1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp - Urad dal
• 4-5 - Curry leaves, roughly chopped
• pinch of hing/asafoetida

Method:

1. Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and roast the peanuts on a low-medium flame until the start turning a nice orange color. Transfer to a plate and set aside to cool. I don't bother with removing the skins on them.
2. Add another tsp of oil and add the cumin seeds. As they heat up, add the dals and saute till the start turning a light orange. Crush the red chillies lightly and add to the pan along with the fenugreek seeds & tamarind piece (if using extract, add directly to the grinder bowl). Transfer all of them to the same plate as the peanuts and allow to cool.
3. Quarter the tomatoes and add them to the same pan. Cook for about 2-3 mins until they start to soften slightly and lose shape. Set aside to cool.
4. Transfer the roasted dals, peanuts and tomatoes to a grinder bowl, add salt and blend to get a smooth consistency. Add a few tablespoons of water as needed. Check for seasonings and transfer to a serving bowl.
5. For the seasoning, heat the oil in a tadka pan, add the mustard seeds, as they splutter add the dal and roast for a min. Finally add the curry leaves and hing powder. Pour it over the chutney and serve.

Add-on's: A handful of coriander leaves added will be good in this chutney. You can skip the peanuts. Half a cup roughly chopped onion sautéed along with the tomatoes tastes really good too.

I bought a mini idli plate last year, and so had tiny idli's to dunk in piping hot onion sambar. To save this post from becoming never ending, I'll save the sambar recipe for later. The basic coconut chutney lets you enjoy the pure coconut flavor at its best. The tomato chutney was a little spicy to act as a counter point to the mild coconut chutney. A steaming cup of filter coffee to go along with the plate and you have breakfast nirvana :) Here is some sweet pongal to finish off the festive plate.

Chutneys, and more chutneys

Dear foodies,

Chutneys are one of my most favorite condiments in a meal and also one of the things I rarely seem to make! They can be spicy, tangy, nutty and just the perfect accompaniment to a multitude of dishes. From adorning your breakfast plates, to being part of a rice meal, chutneys are a delight to have enhancing the entire experience and sometimes spicing up an otherwise bland dish as well (idli or rice for instance). There is always a chutney/pachadi/thogayal served as part of a festive full course meal and it has its spot reserved on the banana leaf. They are also the answer to that lone vegetable sitting on your counter which will no be enough for a curry, but as a chutney, its just right.

I am at a loss over here though, since I only see cauliflowers, capsicum, cabbage, carrots, broccoli, beans at the stores and these are not typical chutney'able veggies, not in my mind. Ripe tomatoes are a favorite, but it takes a lot of time for it to cook down to a chutney. So you are forced to get creative and innovative with the veggies you find here - Like this one that uses the light green portions of a watermelon,

Ingredients:

• 3 cups - roughly cubed light green portion of watermelon, with the hard green exterior and red pulp carefully separated
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• 1 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp - Cumin seeds
• 1 Tbsp - Chana dal
• 1 Tbsp - Urad dal
• 3 nos - Dried red chillies
• 2 nos - Green chilies
• 1 Tbsp - Oil
• a pinch of asafoetida
• Salt to taste
Peanuts, Tamarind, coriander leaves (optional)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Method:

1. Heat oil in a cast iron pan, pop the mustard and cumin seeds, add the dals next and roast. As they start turning orange add the chillies and toast. Remove from heat when the dals turn a deep orange, add asafoetida and empty them to a plate, allowing them to cool.
2. To the same pan add the cubed melon skin and roast for 5-7 mins until it looses part of its moisture and starts to brown a little. Turn off the heat and cool to room temperature.
3. Pulse all the ingredients together in the blender, the melon peel will still have some water left in it so decide as you go on the amount of water needed to get the consistency you desire in the chutney. I prefer it slightly on the coarser side.
   

Check my remixed version here!

The ingredients listed between the two lines can be considered a standard set and just by substituting the melon peel for a another veggie you can create a new chutney.

Roast diced red bell peppers instead, until they char a little, skip the green chillies and add a couple of pieces of tamarind to make a mildly spicy, sweet and tangy chutney that will impress your taste-buds.

Using red tomatoes for a chutney is usual, but saute some chopped raw green tomatoes, add a few roasted peanuts, coriander leaves and you have yet another tantalizing chutney. Add some cubed onions while sauteing the tomatoes for a variation.

Chow chow or banglore vankaya, ridge gourd ( and its peels), roasted eggplant are other sought after chutney vegetables that come to my mind. Here are other chutneys I've made. Help me add to this list, how do you make your chutney ? Any veggies that you give an interesting spin too ?

Food for memories - Idli & Peanut chutney

Dear foodies,

While I was browsing through blog posts today, I landed on ISG's post where she linked to a video on Southern India and its food. The video is very well taken and the scenes immediately made me miss home deeply :( The kolams/muggu, the busy streets, family and neighbors dropping by and the food, aah, the food! And just like ISG sought to make a comfort meal to repair her mood, I did the same for myself. It was also 1' in the afternoon and I had just a cup of coffee in the morning! ~ the video zooms into the Shoba Narayan's father making filter coffee and I cannot tell how much I missed my mom's coffee watching that!

The video spends a good amount of time showing steaming idlis served with delicious coconut chutney and that was exactly what I wanted. I did not have any idli batter ( or insurance, as Shoba states in the video) and reached for the next best thing, Anita's instant gratification. I have made these idli's countless times since she posted the recipe. It has always been a hit and rescues me from my weekend comfort breakfast cravings. To go along with it I made some peanut chutney, the kind that has everything that I could throw into the blender, everything that I like, I know this rule does not apply to all dishes, but it worked here :) Oddly, peanut chutney, an Andhra specialty, was not something that I grew up with, it was only after I came here for my MS that I learnt it from my room mates. Now I make it all the time instead of the coconut chutney I have been used to, grated coconut is something that's not always stocked in my kitchen and this peanut chutney is just too good to pass up.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup - Peanuts
• 2 tsp - Dalia/putnalu
• 2 tsp - Sesame seeds/nuvvulu
• 1 tsp - Coriander seeds/dhania
• 2 nos - Green chillies ; 1 red chilli
• 2 Tbsp - grated Coconut
• 1 Tbsp - chopped, Cilantro/coriander leaves
• 2-3 pieces of tamarind or 1 tsp - Tamarind extract
• Salt to taste
• ~ 1/4 cup - Water

Method:

1. Place a saute pan on medium heat along with the peanuts and dry roast them until they turn a light golden color. Roast them slowly on medium heat so they cook evenly. Toss occasionally to avoid burning them.
2. Empty them onto a plate and allow to cool. You can remove the outer skins if you want by slightly rubbing the peanuts between your palms and blowing the skins off them. I rarely do this, cos its messy, and to me it does not make any difference. Roast the dalia next and as they start to change color, add the sesame seeds as these take very little time to toast. Once these are toasted move them to the plate as well.
   
3. Next add a few drops of oil to the pan and roast the coriander seeds, fresh tamarind and chillies. Allow all the ingredients to cool for a while.
4. Blend them together adding water slowly to get the desired consistency. Also add the coconut and coriander leaves while blending. I usually stop when the chutney is still a little coarse. You can either top it with a tadka or serve it as is with idli/dosa/kuzhi paniyaram/pesarattu/upma/undrallu.
   

For the usual regular chutney, skip the coconut, dalia and coriander leaves. For a coconut chutney,take the peanuts/sesame seeds/dhania/red chillies/tamarind off the list and simply use more grated coconut and dalia instead. I just used this chutney as a base sauce for a pizza and topped it with sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions, sounds crazy I agree, but it was surely yummy :)

Meanwhile make the rava idli's. While roasting the rava keep stirring it as it burns very fast on the hot pan, been there done that! :D I added some cornmeal to the batter this time and also added some grated carrots to the idli molds before ladling the batter. Peas and corn are other additions I have tried.
While the idli's are getting cooked you might already be slightly hungry, so make a crispy polenta-peanut chutney sandwich and kill time taking photos :D

Other chutneys that I have blogged about are here, two more coming up.

Enjoy your weekend!

Onion chutney

Dear Foodies,

Since we are on the topic of chutney's, or pachadi in Telugu, here is another one, with onions..

The one thing I miss in my food here is the absence on chutney's. At home, my mom would have atleast 2 a week or more, it was so much part of the menu either with rice or tiffin items like chapati/dosa/idli/upma. And she would use many different veggies too. When I got here, we bought the basic black & decker blender at walmart which was no good for making chutneys. We either ended up having something that was hardly chopped or got a diluted puree because of too much water. So we totally gave up on making chutneys :( But now I have a spice grinder and teeny tiny food processor that help me get the job done.

How come all the chutney love suddenly you ask? My mom made a beerakaya pachadi/ridge gourd chutney a few weeks back that brought all the love back :)) Yes....my mom is here now! but she is at my brother's place presently and will be here soon...I can't wait to grab all her secrets :D Another reason why it was onion chutney is, if I hadn't used up the onions this way, I would have had a onion garden at home :D three had already started out like the one in the picture.

Ingredients:

• 5 small onions, cubed or red onions/ 15 (or so) pearl onions
  
• 1 tsp channa dal
• 1/2 tsp urad dal
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds (optional)
  
• 1 dried red chilli
• tamarind, the size of a quarter (optional)
  
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 tsp oil
• salt to taste

Method:

• Heat a pan with oil on medium heat and start by roasting the channa dal, give it a minute before adding the urad dal. Once they start turning slightly orange, add the coriander seeds and tamarind. Add the red chillies, give it a few seconds and spoon all the ingredients to a plate. Have your finger on the exhaust fan switch, just in case you burn the chillies :))
• To the same pan add your onions and cook them on medium heat until they turn a little translucent and brown on the edges. Cool and grind it along with the roasted spices and cilantro adding just enough water to get a good chutney consistency. Add salt to taste. There were a few tiny bits of onion left, and it was good that way.
  

I had it with rice that day and then with some chapati's the next day. It was also good as a sandwich spread. So have fun with it....and let me know how you make your chutnies ?

You can totally skip the coriander seeds & tamarind, my mother does not use them. You can substitute the white onions with red onions/pearl onions. She told me that the saute'ed pearl onions dipped in a little sugar are a very yummy snack :) I need to try that soon, if you have tried it let me know :) You can check her tomato chutney in a previous post.

Pudina/Mint chutney

Dear Foodies,

After my tryst with mint in the lovely risotto, I thought it was time I gave mint another chance. I do stock some mint in my freezer but rarely use it. Last Friday, I went grocery shopping and saw a nice fresh bunch of mint for $2. The first thing that came to my mind was the chutney my mom makes with fresh pudina. My father enjoys it mixed with plain rice, but that was too strong for me and I liked it the best as a spread in the sandwiches he makes. He made these lovely sandwiches, which had the pudina chutney spread on buttered milk bread (not toasted) and layered with cool cucumber and tomato slices. No sandwich can ever compete with the simplicity of this one.

Have you guys tried the Mediterranean veggie sandwich at Panera bread ? It tastes soo close to this sandwich and is my fav for the very same reason.

So as soon as I came home, I called my mom to ask for her recipe and made the pudina chutney. The chutney takes a little over 10 mins to make but I spent a good 15 mins washing the leaves itself. I got the mint at an organic store and there were tiny insects behind the bigger leaves...eeks, that totally scared me and I filled up the whole sink with water, let the leaves float in it for a while, and individually scrubbed each leaf! Thank God the bunch was not as big as the ones we got in Hyd :))

Ingredients:

• a bunch of pudina/mint - approx 2 loose cups
• 2 tsp - Oil
• 1 tsp - Urad dal
• 1 tsp - Channa dal
• 2 nos - dry, Red chillies (adjust to taste)
• tamarind, the size of a 25cent/50paise coin or ~1/2 tsp if using extract
• Salt to taste
• 1-2 Tbsp - water

Method:

• Wash the mint leaves and drain them on a kitchen towel. Heat a pan with oil, once hot add the dals. ( I use the broken urad dal, and so add it a little after the channa dal, else it burns)
• Once the dals turn a little golden, reduce the heat and add the tamarind and red chillies. Once the chillies change color, transfer all the ingredients to the grinder.
• To the same pan (with oil) add the mint leaves and saute for 2-3mins till they wilt. Transfer to the blender and grind to a coarse texture adding water as required. Don't overdo the water or the chutney will not hold together. (I have a tiny food processor, so I first used my spice grinder to coarsely powder the dals and then transfered them to the food processor with the pudina). Add salt to taste.
  

Thats it, you have a versatile dish in your hands now. Mix the chutney with hot plain rice along with a tiny dollop of ghee or drizzle of oil, spread it on your bread for a flavorful sandwich, add to a cup of thick yoghurt and use as a dip for chapathi's & dosa or even veggies/chips , use it in chat recipes like bhel puri, sev puri, pani puri...ohh, the list is endless.

After publishing this post I saw the chutney in the fridge and made an instant bhel with what I had at home. I mixed murmura/puffed rice with chopped onions, diluted chutney, hot n sweet ketchup, a few dashes of tobasco and mango pickle masala. Topped with some Namkeen mix and a quick snack was ready. In an ideal situation I would've added diced tomatoes, cucumber and peanuts with lots of cilantro.

To me the slight tang from the tamarind and the crunchy dals were a perfect balance for the strong mint flavor. You can also use all cilantro/coriander leaves or a mix of cilantro & mint for this recipe. Do you have a another version of this chutney you love ?

Watermelon cracked open

Dear Foodies,


Jai and Bee chose the perfect fruit for this month's AFAM event started very thoughtfully by Maheshwari. Atleast here in the US you cannot escape them in the stores this summer. Wal-mart has placed cartons of them right next to the entrance as if it were possible for customers to fail to see these over sized melons. And after all the posts showing up in the blogs with ppl using the peels with immense creativity, I was feeling guilty if I threw away even half of them !! hmph...blogging does make you do weird things :))

So here go my three favorite ways of savoring the melon this summer:

If you find eating the fruit just as is a little too simple for your food blogging' ego then dress it up a little with salt, pepper and your favorite chaat masala to get a wonderful Watermelon Chaat.

But if you or your friends are lazy to eat the fruit then pulse it in the blender with a little salt, a pinch of pepper, amchur for extra zing and a teaspoon of lemon zest to bring in the pizazz. Enjoy this Watermelon cooler !

After all this if you should have quite a good amount of watermelon peel all for yourself, and now you can start experimenting ! I attempted a watermelon peel chutney with it some time last year and found it to be too watery, so this time I decided to dress it up a little. It was a totally unplanned recipe. I wanted to use the peel no matter what and started opening up the kitchen closet and pantry looking for things I could add to the chutney. The result was one of the best chutneys I have had. I just loved it and am definitely going to make it more often now. I am sure you guys will like it too.

Ingredients:

• Peel from half a big watermelon, roughly 3 cups chopped (only the light green color, minus the hard green exterior)
  
• 1/2 cup - peanuts, dry roasted
• 1/2 cup - Coriander leaves
• 1/2 cup - grated Coconut (I used the frozen fresh ones from the Indian stores, if using dry flakes hydrate them in water for a few minutes)
• 1 inch piece of Mango-Ginger/a tsp of tamarind extract
• 1 Tbsp - Oil
• 1 tsp - Mustard seeds & Cumin seeds/jeera
  
• 2 tsp - Chana dal
• 1 tsp - Coriander seeds/dhania
• 2 nos - Red chillies,broken
• a pinch of hing/asafoetida
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Dry roast the peanuts until they turn a little golden in color and allow to cool. Next heat a little oil in the pan and add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once they start to pop add the chana dal. As the dal turns golden in color add the red chillies and coriander seeds and take off the stove. Add the hing to it now and allow to cool.
2. To the same pan add the watermelon peel and saute for a few minutes. A few edges will start to char and start turning a pale brown. I did this to get rid of a little moisture and also to loose some raw flavor. Turn off the heat and add the frozen coconut to the peels to thaw them out.
   
3. ~I used a spice grinder to coarsely powder the above ingredients first and then moved them to the food processor to pulse with the rest. This was only because the food processor failed to grind them otherwise. If using a blender you can do all the grinding in one step.~
   Now add the watermelon peel, cilantro, coconut, mango-ginger, and the rest of the powdered tadka ingredients, salt to taste and pulse to a coarse consistency.
4. Serve with rice/chapati/dosa for a wonderfully refreshing taste

This chutney was a shocker, the taste was really really good. All the ingredients fell into place perfectly well lending their own special flavors to the chutney. The slight crunch from the watermelon peel, nuttiness from the peanuts, freshness from the cilantro and coconut and the subtle tanginess from the mango-ginger was fabulous. I got a huge bowl of chutney from this and is has lasted well in the fridge too. Try this one and I am sue will want to make it often too.

I am now off to Bee n Jai's for the round up.

Red Chilli Pickle - Pandu Mirapakaaya Pachadi

Dear Foodies,

I know, I know...its a pickle and the main ingredient is red chillies :)) Now thats a signature Andhra dish I think :D We do love the heat in our food guys ! My friends and I frequently get the "You are from Andhra..." thing when we say Hot or 6/6 for spice level at Indian restaurants. Its definitely in the soil I must say :D So, when I went to India last time I had my mom pack a small packet of pandu mirapakaya pickle (Ripe red chilli pickle) for me. But as fate would have it, I lost an entire suitcase on my way back and like a perfect example for Murphy's Law all the best pickles, my moms home made mixture and the handicrafts I bought were in that unfortunate baggage. And since I had very thoughtfully(!!) distributed the salwars and kameezs between the two suitcases, I was left with useless halves to haunt me:)) I cannot tell you what it feels like to have just the salwar/kameez or worse just the dupatta of your most fav chudidhar and loosing your first (and most fav) saree :(( The saree was the perfect red chilli color :( ( I told you its everywhere :P)

Well, so basically I could not get the pickle and the ones sold in the Indian store though good lacked the freshness & punch of home made pickle. When I read this post in Anusharaji's blog I was really thrilled. Raji made the pickle using fresno peppers (FREZ-noh) locally available at the grocery store. I was thrilled to find a recipe ! The next time we went veggie shopping I looked for them and found the plump red chillies obediently waiting to be pickled. I made it along with Kichadi the day before our move and the pairing was perfect. I was also surprised by the ease of the recipe. It hardly took me 15 mins...so much for the 1.5 yr wait !!! Thank you so much Raji :)

I made slight variations and adjustments to suit the near empty kitchen I had then.

Ingredients:

• 5 nos -Ripe Red chillies/Fresno peppers
• 1 tsp - Fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp - Tamarind extract
• a pinch of hing/asafoetida
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp - Oil

Method:

1. Wash and wipe the peppers dry. Since I was not planning on using the blender I finely chopped them. Otherwise just rough chop them.
2. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds and then heat the oil and saute the peppers for a few minutes until they get tender. Allow it to cool. I used ready-made tamarind extract from the fridge and so heated it along with the peppers for the last 30sec.
   
3. Now transfer the all the ingredients to a blender and pulse to get a coarse paste. If using a pestle & mortar first crush the fenugreek and mustard seeds, then add the rest of the ingredients and crush.

This fresh pachadi was superb. It was very very close to the one we get back home and I absolutely loved it. The peppers were not as hot as I had expected them to be so I added a pinch of red chilli powder for the extra kick :P I also loved the texture that was the result of using a pestle and mortar. If you guys can I would recommend this method over the blender. This pickle was also the perfect match to the mellow kichadi I made. This recipe yields just about a cup of pachadi, not much at all and so it got done even before the kichadi :D Unfortunately these peppers are not so each to find near where I live. I got it at Kroger the first time but after that I went back twice and also checked at other branches but could not find them, Walmart does not stock them either :(

Tidbit: When you are done working with hot peppers/chillies/chilli powder rub & wash your hands with some yogurt/buttermilk. This will take off all the chilli juice and soothe your skin. Soap does not do a perfect job and your skin continues to feel irritated even after repeated washing. I learnt this tip from my aunt who is one the best food enthusiasts I have met.

This one too is for Coffee to preserve and a special package is off to Nandita's Hot theme for JFI this month: JFI-Chillies and a huge Thank you to Indira for getting the JFI event rolling !

Sponge Dosa/ Rice Pancake and Tomato Chutney

Dear Foodies,

Mom's Special breakfast

My Mother's entry to Nandita's 'Weekend Breakfast Blogging'

Here's a recipe from my mom. Its one of my favourite breakfasts. I havent eaten this dosa anywhere else except at home. These dosas look like a idli-dosa hybrid variety, fluffy like the idlis and nice and crisp like dosa's, it just cant get any better !! My mom generally serves it with tomato chutney or plain pickle and idli-karam podi + oil ( I like a pinch of sugar in the idli karam podi ;-) ) . Its a perfect breakfast or also good for a light dinner.

So here goes the recipe from Mom:

~ SPONGE DOSA ~

Ingredients:

• 2 cups - Rice (preferably 1 cup - raw rice; 1 cup - parboiled rice/uppidi bhiyam)

• 1/2 cup - Poha (atukulu) or tapioca seeds (sabudana)

• Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Soak the rice in water for 2 hours and soak the atukulu or sabudhana in a little sour curd.
2. Grind them together with salt and let the batter rest overnight to ferment just like dosa batter. You will see that the batter nearly doubles itself in volume by morning.
3. Heat a pan, once its ready put a ladle full of the batter in the center, pour a little oil around the edges and cover the dosa with a lid. After a min check on the dosa, it would have fluffed up and ready to eat :-). The dosa should be cooked in low flame.
4. Serve hot with chutney or sambar.

Note:

• The dosa should not be shaped/spread while pouring it on the pan. Just pour a laddle full on the pan and leave it to cook.
• A pan that has a slight dip in the center is perfect for making this dosa.
• Poha should be prefered over the use of tapioca seeds/ sabudana.

~ GREEN (unripe) TOMATO CHUTNEY ~

Ingredients :

• 10 nos - Unripe tomatoes (greenish red colored ones)

• 1 Tbsp - Chana dal

• 1 Tbsp - Urad dal

• 1 Tbsp - Peanuts

• 5 nos - Dried red chillies

• 3 nos - Green chilies

• 1 Tbsp - Oil

• 1 pinch of asafoetida

• Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Roast the dals and red chillies in a little oil till the dal turns a slight red in color and let them cool down.
2. Slice tomatoes into quarters and saute them too in little oil till they cook a bit and then reserve till they reach room temperature.
3. Grind all the ingredients with some salt. Fresh coriander leaves can also be added while grinding. Onions too can be fried & added along with tomatoes.

Kandipappu Oorupindi/ Toor Dal Chutney

Kandipappu oorupindi and Menthula pulusu is as good a combo as pesarattu-upma or channa bhatura. One always accompanied the other in my mom's cooking. I dont know if anyone else uses the word 'oorupindi' for such a preparation. None of my friends recognise the word, but thats the way this dish has been called in our house. Well, I tried making this combo today and it turned out pretty good. The chutney takes just a few minutes to make. By the time the ingredients cooled down and were ready to blend I made aloo fry and menthula pulusu to accompany them. The best way to eat this chutney is to mix rice and chutney and eat it with the pulusu on the side. The chutney+pulusu combo goes really well with curd rice too. Do try it out and let me know how you guys like it.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup - Toor dal

• 2 nos - Red chillies

• 5 nos - black peppercorns

• 2 tsp - Oil

• Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. In a pan, heat the oil and roast the dal till it turns a dark red color and transfer to a dish. Be careful not to burn the dal.
2. Next add the red chillies and black pepper corns and roast till the chillies turn a darker shade.
3. Cool the all the ingredients and add little water to soak the dal. This is to make the dal soft so it can be made into a smooth paste.
4. Once the dal has become slightly soft, blend all the ingredients with salt added. The mixture need not be very smooth in texture.

Announcement:
There is going to be a new addition to my blog, my Mother will also be posting recipes here. She is equipped with all the the great recipes and a wonderful camera to do justice to her cooking. And so I declare myself the loser, no competitions here ;-) hehe