My First Doughnut

It was my wedding anniversary a few days back. When I came across the recipe of Doughnuts, I've saved it for this occasion as we don't make desserts that often. And I did tried the basic sugar glazed doughnuts for the special day and we all liked it. Though it was not as good as the store bought fresh ones, it was close to it. And also I got the satisfaction of making it on my own. Next time I would love to try the different versions.

And I had some excess dough, which I don't want to fry and keep (as doughnuts loose their taste the next day), I made some naans with that, and they were really fabulous - super soft than my regular ones.. So its a two in one dough. Cool isn't it? So here comes the recipe.

Recipe Source: Vahrehvah

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 2 cups
Egg - 1
Milk - 70 ml
Water - 70 ml
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Butter - 1/8 of a stick

For coating:
Powdered sugar and cinnamon powder

Method:

Take a bowl add sugar, dry east, water, milk, salt, egg, mix it till the sugar melts,

Then add all purpose flour, mix it well make in to a dough and kneading for 5 to 7 minutes and add butter again kneading for 3 minutes and rest it for 30 minutes in a warm place, after 30 minutes give knock back and again rest for 30minutes.

Take the dough and with help of rolling pin roll it into ½ inch sheet and cut the doughnuts with doughnut cutter, transfer in to the tray, then rest for 10 to 15 minutes to rise.

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the doughnuts in a slow flame till brown in color, take in a serving plate and sprinkle some casting sugar along with cinnamon on it.

Tips:
More kneading helps in a better soft dough and nice fluffy doughnuts

To cut the doughnuts, first cut the outer circle and remove them. Then cut the inner circle.

For frying, keep the flame very low. Don't overcrowd the doughnuts, as they will rise in the oil. Give some space.

Vegetable Adai Dosai

I usually make adais once or twice a month, This time when I was browsing I got this little variation from Vahrehvah. We could add cheese as an additional optional ingredient which I did only for my kid. This one has the goodness of veggies to this protein rich dish. This could be served even as a evening food after school.

Ingredients:

Idly rice - 1 cup
Sona masoori rice - 1/4 cup ( I add this to get crispy dosas)
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Chana Dal - 1/4 cup
Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Urad Dal - 1/4 cup
Red chillies - 6
Hing
Curry leaves - a bunch

Finely chopped mix vegetables (onions, carrot, beans, cabbage, spinach)
Chopped ginger and green chillies ( I skipped this for my kid)
Cheese - optional
Salt
Oil

Method:

Wash the rice and dals. Soak the first set of ingredients from Idly rice to Curry leaves in water just enough to immerse the dals. Don't add too much water as we may loose the nutrients of the dals when we grind. Let them soaked for 3 - 6 hours

Grind them to a fine consistency for dosas. (For adais we can grind it to coarse consistency). Add salt to the batter

Heat the dosa tawa and spread the batter like a dosa. Sprinkle the mixed vegetables on top all over the dosa. Sprinkle some cheese. Add oil on the corners and keep it covered.

After the corners starts turning to golden brown, remove it and fold it and serve. For kids, you can even make it into rolls and serve them. Serve hot with your favorite chutney.
 

Red Chutney - perfect for Idly / dosa

We love Idly / Dosa the traditional South Indian breakfast. We have it regularly on weekends morning breakfast. I used to make red chutney with only onions and tomatoes earlier which is always the least favorite in my family. So this time I tried a little variation to my ingredients and BINGO it was a great hit!!! So here goes the recipe for your hit list..

Ingredients:
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Tamarind - a bit
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Coconut powder - 2 tsp
Salt
Oil - 1 tsp

For Seasoning:
Oil -  1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves

 

 

 

Method:

 

Heat oil in a pan and add sliced onions and tomatoes and sauté well. After they are half cooked add the tamarind, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and coriander powder. Add little water and cook till it gets almost dried. At the end add coconut powder and stir for a minute. Grind it to a paste after cooling this. Heat oil and add the seasoning ingredients. Pour the seasoning over the chutney and serve with Idli / dosa.

Vegetable Sevai

Sevai is a traditional south indian rice noodles. This is usually made with steamed rice flour using idiyappam press. But I got some instant rice noodles from a chinese store and it tastes the same as sevai and its easy to prepare too (just have to soak it in warm water for 10 mts). This time I added some vegetables to this and made a nice breakfast. This is great for evening snack too.

Ingredients:

Instant Rice noodles - 2 cups
Finely chopped onions - 1 tbsp
Chopped vegetables (carrot, beans, peas) - 1/4 cup
Red/Green chilli - 1
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Curry and Coriander leaves
Salt

Method

1. Cook and keep the instant noodles ready as per the instructions in the packet. Or you can use homemade sevai

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal, chilli and curry leaves.

3. To this add onions and saute till light pink. To this add chopped vegeables and saute on a low flame till half cooked. Add salt and mix well.

4. To this add the cooked sevai/noodles and mix gently and thoroughly. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve warm.

Masala Bread Toast

Bread is always a super easy fix for breakfast. It also an quick fix for the lunch box. The masala version adds some spice to our Indian taste. Give this a try and you will love it. Egg does makes it filling and remains soft even for lunch box.

Ingredients:

• Egg – 4
• Bread – 6
• Garam masala powder- 1/4 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste – 1/4 tsp
• Chili powder – 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric – a pinch
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Onion – 2 tbsp
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – to toast

Recipe:

1. Grind Onion and Garlic as paste.
2. Apart from Bread and Oil, mix all the ingredients with Egg and beat it well.
3. Heat Oil in a pan, dip the bread slices in egg mix and place it on pan, apply oil on all sides of bread.
4. Toast the Bread on both sides and remove from heat.

 

Lemon sevai

I always had been making sevai with idiyappam mix. My friends have told about the instant rice noodles but somehow I missed to try it for a long time. Finally I got these instant rice noodles from a chinese super market and made lemon sevai. To my surprise it tasted same soft as the regular idiyappam sevai and even more separate. Since rice noodles cook very quick, this can be made very fast. This can be eaten as breakfast or even as a snack or tiffin, no waiting around time to cook! I used to even make this for my hubby lunch box, since it is quick to cook in the morning.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice noodles
1 tbsp peanuts
1/2 tsp chana dal
1/4 tsp urad dal
1/4 tsp mustard seeds1 Green chilli
1/2 tsp grated ginger
Few curry leaves
1 tbsp oilsalt to taste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 cup lemon juice (to taste)

Method:
Cook the rice noodles according to package OR Boil water in a pot, Add salt. Add the noodles and cover for only 3-4 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
Add oil in a pan and heat it up.
Add the peanuts and saute for about 30 seconds.
Add the chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds and jeera.
Add the curry leaves, green chili and ginger. Add the turmeric powder.
Add the drained rice noodles and saute along with some salt. (remember you added some salt before)
Add the lemon juice, little by little, so that it doesn't become too sour.At this point taste to see if you have to add more salt or lemon juice.
Serve hot with chutney or pickle.
Enjoy!!!

Mupparuppu Idly

We make idlies usually with rice and urad dal. But this is a slight different idly made with 3 different dals - Toot dal, Chana Dal and Urad Dal. And thats the name "Mupparuppu Idly" meaning 3 Dal Idly. Its rich in protien and it tastes exotic. But believe me, it will be little heavy than regular idlies due to the Dal content. I learned it from one of my friend and I love it so much that I tried the next weekend itself. Be careful when grinding the dal and rice as it should be coarse to get fabulous idlies. This batter also tends to ferment soon as we add dal, ginger and g.chillies. So plan to use it immediately after it ferments.

 

Ingredients:
To GrindIdly rice - 1 1/2 cup
Chana Dal - 1/2 cup
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Urad Dal - 3/4 cup
Ginger - 1 inch
Green chilly - 4

Seasoning:
Pepper - 2 tsp
Jeera - 4 tsp
Urad dal - 4 tsp
Chana Dal - 8 tsp
Cashews - 4 tsp
Asafotedia - 1/4 tsp
curry leaves - 2 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt
Coconut powder - 1/2 cup (can add small pieces of chopped coconut instead of powder)

Procedure:

Soak the urad dal separately and the rice with all other dals together for 2-4 hrs.
Grind the urad dal, ginger and g.chilly separately until well ground and fluffy. Add water little by little to make it fluffy.
Grind the rice and other dals togther very coarsely. Be careful when you grind this as it will be done very quickly. If you grind it for smooth, the idlies won't be good.
Mix the ground urad dal and the rice and other dals and let this ferment overnight, the same way as we do for idly batter.
Heat oil in a pan and add the jeera, pepper, urad dal, chana dal, cashews, curry leaves and asafoetida one by one. After the dals turn color, add coconut and saute and turn off the flame. Mix this seasoning to the fermented batter and add required salt.

Mix well and pour this in greased cups (preferably high raised tumblers) and steam for 15 - 20 minutes.

After done cool them and remove from the cups. Use a knife to Slightly loose the corners from the cups and tap them gently from the bottom. Serve them with coconut/mint chutney.
I'm sending this for Let's cook #19 Legumes/Lentils happening in Tickling Palates

Rajma Spinach Dosa

Dosas can be made many varieties. The popular being the plain version. My favorite is Onion Dosas. This is an just another quick version. All you need to have is some cooked and mashed(or powdered) rajma with some chopped spinach. Just add this to dosa batter and this instant variation of dosa will be ready in minutes. A tasty and a healthy treat for your appetite. You may also try adding other veggie combinations.

Ingredients:

Dosa Batter -  2 cups
Chopped spinach - 2 tbsp
Chopped onions - 2 tbsp
Cooked Rajma, mashed - 2 tbsp
Salt
Oil

 

Procedure:

Add chopped spinach, onions and mashed rajam to the dosa batter. Add salt as needed. Mix the batter well.

Heat a dosa tawa/griddle and pour a ladle of the batter on the tawa and gently spread around the corners. Spread 1 tsp oil on the corners and keep it covered on medium flame.

After it starts to turn color on the corners, flip over and cook the other side.

Serve hot with your favorite chutney.

I'm sending this for Let's cook #19 Legumes/Lentils happening in Tickling Palates

Kuzhi Paniyaram - Sweet and Spicy

Kuzhi Paniyaram is a delicacy of Southern Tamilnadu. This could be served as a main dish or even for snacks. Traditionally this is made with lots of ghee/oil but thanks to non-stick pans (we need the kuzhi paniyaram pans) we can make this with very less oil.

This recipe has slight variation from my earlier one. I recently came across this recipe being made with a javvarisi/sabudana and the rice was with different proportions too. It was mentioned that it makes soft paniyarams. And it was true that the paniyarams were super soft and spongy. I really liked the texture of it.

Make this ahead for parties and it will be super hit. This time I made both spicy and sweet versions. Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Idli rice - 1 1/2 cup
Raw rice - 1/2 cup
Urad dal - 1/4 cup
Javvarisi/Sabudana  - 1/4 cup
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Salt

Spicy

Urad dal - 1 tbsp
Chana Dal - 1 tbsp
Choped onions - 1 cup
Green chillies - 2
Pepper - 1 tsp
Chopped coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - 1 tbsp
coconut powder - 2 tbsp
Oil - 2 tsp

Sweet
Jaggery - 1 cup (adjust according to taste)
Coconut - 1/4 cup


Procedure:

Batter
Soak the rice and dals with fenugreek seeds together 6 hours. Wash and soak the sabudana separately for 6 hours. Grind all of them together to a very nice batter. Add little salt to this and let it ferment (You need not add salt for fermentation during summer. This way batter will stay good for long time).

Separate this batter equally in 2 halves. One half can be used for the spicy paniyarams and other one for sweet paniyarams.

Spicy Paniyarams:
Heat oil in a pan and add urad dal and chana dal. After they turn orange add pepper, g.chillies and onions and saute till they are soft. Now add the curry leaves and coconut powder and mix well. Put these contents with coriander leaves to the batter and add required salt. Mix well and add water if required.

Heat the paniyaram pans with little oil in each hole. Pour this batter and keep covered on medium flame. After one side is cooked flip all the paniyarams to the other side and cook till done.

Serve with Coconut chutney

Sweet Paniyarams:
Put jaggery in hot water(very little) and let it boil to melt it down. Filter this and add this to batter. Add the coconut powder also to this. The batter is ready.

Heat the paniyaram pans with little oil in each hole. Pour this batter and keep covered on medium flame. After one side is cooked flip all the paniyarams to the other side and cook till done.

Delicious paniyarams are ready.

I'm sending this recipe for Anu's South Indian Cooking Event #1

Mini Vegetable Uthappam

Bored of the same dosa and want to try different? Uthappams are the best way to use the same dosa batter but to give a new twist to ur tongues. Just saute some veggies and add to the dosa batter and variation is instant. I made it with Peppers and u can add many other veggie combinations like cabbage, cauliflower, etc., Wanted to make circles, but cudn't get them bcos of the vegetables..

I love to make this recipe, bcos its super duper easy and tastes excellent too. And theres another reason too.. yes if u've little dosa batter, this actually increases the volume. Stating that, it  has a negative part- cos its tasty ur family may need more uthappams than regular dosas.

Ingredients:

Dosa batter - 2 cup

Finely cut Onions - 3 tbsp

Grated carrots - 2 tbsp

Cut Green and Red peppers - 3 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Orad dal - 1 tsp

Chana dal - 1 tsp

coriander leaves

Mint leaves

Green chillies - 2 (optional)

Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal and chana dal.

Add all the chopped veggies one by one and saute well

Finally add the coriander and mint leaves

Add all these to the dosa batter and mix well. Add salt if needed

Heat dosa pan and spread the batter as small circles. You can make 5 dosas in one batch

Add Gingely oil to the corners and keep covered.

Flip over and cook on other side

Serve uthappams with coconut chutney.

I'm sending this recipe for I'm The Star happening at Vegetarian Food & Me

Easy Bread Sandwich

Bread has become an daily food in our family and it is easy to fix the breakfast with it and its filling too. So I'm just posting a simple, easy and healthy Bread sandwich.

Lets eat healthy and stay healthy while we celebrate "Womens Day"

Ingredients:

Bread - 4 slices
Steamed vegetables (I used Potato, peas and carrots) - 1 bowl
Sprouted Whole moong dal - 2 tbsp
Shredded Cheese - 2 tsp
Salt & Pepper
Chopped coriander leaves



Procedure:

Mash the steamed veggies and mix salt and pepper to it
Take one bread slice and spread the mashed vegetables. To this mix chopped coriander leaves
Place 1 tbsp of sprouted moong dal over that and sprinkle cheese
Place other bread slice and press slightly. Cut the bread into halves as triangles
Repeat the same for the other 2 slices
Toast them on sandwich maker or on tava on a low flame till bread is browned a little
Serve hot

Uppurundai / Steamed Rice balls

Uppurundai is a breakfast dish and my mom used to make this mostly on sunday mornings. It actally means salted(uppu) balls(urundai) - I don't know why it got this name. I always feel it should've been named as Arisi/thengai-urundai (rice/coconut balls). This is simple to make and makes a filling and healthy breakfast. This goes very well with Coconut chutney and even simply sugar(my favorite).

My mother-in-law also makes this but it'll be little different where the batter will be grinded very coarsely as rava. That gives a different taste and I'll try to post it sometime soon.

Ingredients:

Raw Rice- 2 cups (soak for 2-3 hrs)

Coconut shredded /powder - 2 tbsp (can use whole too)

Whole Black Pepper - 1 tsp

Green chili - 2 chopped (be careful when giving for kids)

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Chana dal - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Coconut pieces - 1/2 cup (cut into small pieces)

Curry leaves

Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt

Procedure:

Grind the soaked raw rice with water and coconut to a smooth batter. Add salt to this and keep it separate

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard and cumin seeds. Once they splutter, add urad dal, chana dal and fry till they turn color. Then add green chilies, black pepper, curry leaves and coconut pieces.

Reduce the flame to medium and add the ground batter.

Keep stirring to mix all the ingredients to the batter without any lumps

Once the batter mixed well and comes well together as a dough, remove from flame.

Grease your hands with oil and make small balls of the dough. Be careful as the dough will be hot.

Arrange the balls in a plate and steam them in a idly vessel or pressure cooker without weight as you do for idlies. Steam for 15 minutes.

Serve them hot with coconut chutney

Tips:

For instant purposes you can use rice flour and mix it with water instead of grinding the soaked rice

You may avoid green chillies, if u r serving kids

Keep a water bowl ready when making the balls, which u can use to cool ur hands.

Ragi Idly

I was always a fan of Ragi. I used to like the "Ragi kuzhu"(Ragi porridge) which my mother used to make during "aadi" month. "Ragi kuzhu" + "thandu keerai kuzhambu", with curd and onions, a healthy and filling combination. This recipe is an easy way of including Ragi in everyday food if not at least once in a while. Originally got this recipe from a friend for Ragi dosa, then I tried idly too, which also came out quite nice.

Ingredients:


Ragi flour (Millet flour) - 1 cup

Unfermented idly batter - 2 cups


Procedure:

Mix the idly batter after grinding with the ragi flour. You can add little water. The consistency should be slightly thicker than the usually batter. It should not be too thick.

Allow it to ferment overnight in a warm place.

Next day, add salt as required and mix it. Pour the batter in the greased idly plates and steam it for 10 - 12 minutes.

Serve it hot with any chutney. I served it with peanut chutney.

In the same batter you can make dosa too which is also yummy.

Notes:

• For first time, you can try this recipe with a small amount of idly batter. 
• Adjust the amount of ragi flour as required. Usually half a cup of ragi should be correct for 1 cup of idly batter. You can try adding the flour little by little. If more ragi, the idlies may become little hard.
• My mixing the ragi flour before fermentation, it gets mixed nicely and it tastes good.

I am submitting this recipe to OnGoing Event:Show Me Your HITS~Healthy Delights happening in Spicy Treats.. 

Semiya Idly

Got this recipe from a cookbook supplement from aval vikatan. I usually make only upma and payasam with semiya and this sounded interesting and of course easy. All in my home like vermicelli so I tried it confidently for dinner and it came out well. One good thing about this recipe is you can make more idlies with less batter :-)
Kara chutney will be the best accompaniment for this Idly.

Ingredients:

Semiya (Vermicelli)	1 cup
Idly batter	1 cup
Grated carrot	2 tbsp
Grated ginger	1 tsp
Coriander leaves	1 handful
To Season:
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Urid dhal	1 tsp
Gram dhal	1 tsp
Chopped Green chilli	1
Curry leaves	1 twig
Hing	A pinch

Procedure:
Dry roast the semiya. Pour boiling water over it, till it is completely immersed and leave it for 3-4 mins.
The semiya should be half cooked. Drain the water and let it cool.
Mix the idly batter with the semi cooked semiya and grated carrots,ginger and coriander leaves. You can add little water to get the correct consistency. Add salt as required.
Season the batter with the items given.
Grease the idly plate with oil and pour the mixed batter.
Steam it in pressure cooker. Serve the hot idlis with kara chutney.

Kara Chutney
Here is the recipe for chutney. You can optionally add coconut to this recipe. It tastes good even without coconut.

Ingredients:

Onion	1 Big
Tomato	2
Ginger	2 cloves
Garlic	1 small piece
Red chilli	1
Coriander leaves	1 handful
Urid dhal	1 tsp
To Season:
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Urid dhal	1 tsp
Curry leaves	1 twig
Hing	A pinch

Procedure:
Roughly chop onion and tomatoes.
Add oil in a pan and fry urid dhal.
Add chopped onions, ginger, garlic, red chilly and fry till the onions are transparent.
Add the tomatoes and cook till it becomes soft.
Allow this mixture to cool and grind it bit coarsely with chopped coriander and with required salt.
Season the chutney with mustard seeds, urid dhal and curry leaves.



Semiya Idly with chutney

 An easy and different breakfast/dinner..

Milagu Idly

Milagu idly is a slightly different version of Kanchipuram idli. My Mother-in-law used to make this often on sundays. This is usually made in glasses so also called as glass/tumbler idly.

Ingredients

Idly batter - 2 cups

Peppercorns - 2 tsp

Jeera - 2tsp

Curry leaves

Asafetdia - a pinch

Oil - 2 tsp

Procedure

Fry all the peppercorns, jeera, asafetida and curry leaves in oil.

Mix this with idly batter.

Pour the mixed idly batter in greased idly plates or in mini glasses.

Steam it in pressure cooker.

Serve the hot idlis with any chutney or milagai podi.

Ragi Roti

I used to prepare this for breakfast often. Usually I make this with only ragi flour, the usual way, but then tried this version with boiled potatoes recently. I find this easier to make and ofcourse more tastier. My daughter definitely loves this one more!

Ingredients:
Ragi flour - 2 cups
Boiled potato - 1
Chopped onions - 1 cup
Green chilly - 2-3nos as required
Curry leaves
Chopped corrainder leaves - 1/4 cup
Salt as required.

Mash the boiled potatoes nicely. Mix all the ingredients together. Add water and make a smooth dough. Make equal sized balls. Keep a wet clean cloth on a flat surface (I use the backside of a flat plate which makes it easier for me) .Place this ball on it and press it with hand to make round shaped rotis (not very thin or too thick). Remove the roti and place it on hot pan. Add oil and cook it nicely both the sides.
You can serve it with coconut chutney or tomato sauce. It tastes good even without anything (as I did). You can sprinkle some cheese on top to make it appealing for kids :-)

Masal dosai

Masal Dosai is a traditional dosa variety served in any south indian restaurant. And its easy to make at home too. The potato masala made for this makes a perfect combo for Pooris also.

Ingredients:

Dosa batter
Oil

Potato masala:
Potato - 1 -cooked and peeled
Big Onions - 1 finely chopped
Grated ginger - 1 tbsp
Green chilli- 1 cut finely
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tbsp
Orid dal - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
asafotedia - a pinch
salt
Oil



Procedure:

Potato masala:
1. Roughly mash the boiled potatoes and keep it ready

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. As it splutters, add the chana dal and orid dal.

3. When they turn light brown, add ginger, green chili, turmeric powder and asafotedia

4. Then add onions and fry well till it becomes soft

5. to this add the coarsely mashed potatoes, salt and chili powder and add 2 tbsp of water and mix well. Let it cook well and become dry.

6. Add coriander leaves and mix well


Masal Dosai
1. Heat the Dosa tawa, and pour dosa batter and spread it thin. Add oil on the sides and cover it with a lid

2. Check if it had started to brown. Then slighlty remove the corners with a spatula and keep the potato masala in the middle. Roll the dosa as u wish and serve hot with coconut chutney

Rava Dhokla

Ingredients:

•1 cup Rava
•1 cup yogurt
•1/4 cup water as needed
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•2 teaspoon lemon juice
•Pinch of turmeric (haldi)
•1 green chili finely chopped
•2 tablespoon fine chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
•1 teaspoon Eno’s fruit salt (Sodium Bicarbonate and Citric Acid)

For seasoning:

•2 tablespoons of oil
•1/2 teaspoon black mustard seed
•2 green peppers chopped into about 1/4 inch pieces


Method:

1.Mix the rava, yogurt, salt, lemon juice, green chili, and cilantro together in a bowl and make a smooth batter; add more water if needed.
2.Mix well so that no lumps are formed and the batter is of pouring consistency.
3.Allow batter to rest for an hour.
4.Grease the pan for steaming and set aside.
5.Add fruit salt (Eno) to the batter, and mix well. The batter will foam up.
6.Quickly pour batter into a greased pan for steam.
7.Steam for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
8.Check Dhokla with a knife. If the knife comes out clean, dhokla is ready.
9.Turn of the heat and let it cool to room temperature, then cut into triangle or square shapes.

Prepare the seasoning:

1.Heat the oil in a small pan on medium heat.
2.Add mustard seeds after seeds cracke add green chili stir for few seconds.
3.Pour seasoning over the Dhokla. Serve with green chutney.

Kuzhi Paniyaram / குழி பணியாரம்

Kuzhi Paniyaram is a South Indian delicacy famous in Southern parts of Tamilnadu. It comes in both spiced and sweet flavors and I've made the spiced version. I got this perfect recipe from one of my friend. Having rice as its main ingredient, this can be used as a replacement to Idly/Dosa or can be served as a evening snack. This would even go well for parties and potlucks.

A special pan is needed for making this which has a little more deeper holes than idly plates and the vessel has to be directly placed on stovetop. I used a non-stick pan which uses less oil compared to the normal pan. My mom used to make this even with Appam or Dosa batter also with some sauted onions added to that. If you want to try for the first time on your new pan, you can go with some Dosa batter with little more oil on the holes so that the paniyarams will come out easily.

Ingredients:

Raw rice -1 cup
Idly rice - 1 cup
Orid Dal - 1/4 cup
Coconut - 2 tbsp
chopped onions - 1 cup
Salt
Oil

Procedure:

1. Soak the rice and orid dal overnight and grind them all finely.

2. Add salt to the batter and you can use after it ferments.

3. Add the coconut and chopped onions to the batter

4. Heat the "Kuzhipaniyaram" pan and add oil (or butter) on all the holes

5. Once the pan is heated, keep on medium flame and pour the batter

6. After it turns light brown turn all the paniyaram the other side and wait till it gets cooked on both sides

7. Paniyarams are ready to be served with Coconut chutney.

Carrot Dosai

Ingredients

Carrot – 1
Onion – 1 (fine cut)
Dosa batter – 2 cups

Procedure:

• Shred the carrots and grind them with little water to make a paste

• Add the grinded paste to the dosa batter and mix well. Add salt as required

• Pour this batter like regular dosa and sprinkle cut onions on top. Apply little oil on sides and cover it with a lid

• Take out the dosa after it gets its light crispy texture.

• Server hot with coconut chutney