Egg Burgi / Egg Sramble

Yet another on my to do list that I have been wanting to post. Simple and quick egg scramble for the rush hour breakfast or a side for roti or a quick starter for a cocktail party...this is a versatile dish that can go along as a dish by itself or as an accompaniment to any other meal.

Cutting down on any long talks, I go straight to the recipe. This was made in less than 10 mins so had no time for pictures step by step.

Ingredients

- 4 eggs
- 2 or 3 green chillies finely chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 tomato finely chopped
- a sprig of coriander leaves finely chopped
- 1 tsp cumin powder(jeera)
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 tbsp oil

Prep time: 5 mins                             Cook time: 5 mins

Preparation:

- Break the eggs on to a mixing bowl( I use only whites for diet reasons) and beat the eggs well to blend them.
- In a pan, heat the oil and once hot, add the onions and green chillies and saute till onion begins to be translucent.
- Now, add the tomatoes and give it a stir while adding salt, pepper, cumin and coriander powder.
- Once the raw smell of the powders disappear whisk in the beaten eggs into the pan and keep stirring the mixture.
- In a minute the eggs will get scrambled along with the masala and your dish is ready to serve.
- Garnish with the corainder before serving.

Tawa Idli

Had made Kancheepuram idli's recently for dinner. Had got so excited with the texture of the idlis and ended up making so many more idlis than can be eaten..:-) So, they became Tawa idli's the next morning for breakfast;-) It was raining idlis from dinner until breakfast that in the end, I had to stop making idli batter for the next 10 days:-)

Tawa idlis are the best way to use up left over idli's and will always be an instant hit and you will be surprised there is no more left over. I have earlier uploaded a different version of this Tawa idli, which is more South Indian....Idli Upma while this is more a North Indian version!

Try making any of these versions and enjoy the flavours of the left over idlis....

Ingredients:

- 8-10 left over kancheepuram idlis or normal idlis
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 medium tomato finely chopped
- 1/2 cup green peas
- 2-3 green chillies
- 1/2 tsp red chilly powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- salt to taste

Seasoning:
- 1 tbsp gingely oil or cooking oil
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp channa dhal
- 1 tsp urad dhal
- few curry leaves or coriander leaves

Prep time: 10 mins                             Cook time: 15 mins

Preparation:

- Cut the left over idlis into bite sized cubes.

- In a tawa, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the channa dhal, urad dhal and curry leaves and fry them till the dhals turn golden brown.
- Add the onions, green chillies and fry until they turn translucent. Now, add the green peas and tomatoes. To this, add salt, turmeric and chilly powder.
- Fry these until the raw smell of the chilly powder leaves and the green peas is cooked well. This may take 5-7 minutes.
- When the masala is cooked, add the cut idlis and mix up well such that the masala gets coated over the cooked idlis.

- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with any sauce or chutney.

Note: Pls note, idlis already have salt. So, add only salt necessary for the masala to cook.

Aapam with Coconut Milk - Blog Hop

Its blog hop Wednesday again! Time really flies and blog hops makes me realise it every fortnight! My blog hop friend for this week is Roshan of Roshan's Cucina. Roshan has a very inviting and bright blog space and there were quite a lot of items under 'baking' which I wanted to try but for the lack of a proper oven in my kitchen. So, while I was browsing through her other recipes the "palappam" caught my attention.

This is something I had been wanting to make since a very long time but had not been able to make for some reason. Thanks to blog hop, today I tried it. Turned out fluffy and soft and went so well with the fresh and sweet coconut milk! My MIL used to make this too, so I borrowed some ideas from her and varied the ingredients for the batter slightly,  from Roshan's.

Ingredients:

Aapam batter:

- 1 cup raw rice
- 1 cup idli rice (boiled rice)
- 2 tbsp urad dhal
- 1 tight fistful fenugreek seeds (methi/vendhayam)


Add on to the batter:

- Salt as needed
- 4 tbsp ground coconut
- 1 tbsp sugar
- a pinch of baking soda

For Coconut Milk:

- 1 fresh coconut
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp sugar

Prep time: 1 day                Cook time: 3 mins per aapam/ 10 mins for coconut milk

Source: Roshan's Cucina

Preparation:

- Soak all the ingredients under "aapam batter" above for minimum 3 hours and grind them into a smooth batter. Add salt and let it ferment for 8 to 10 hours or as required.
- Prepare the coconut milk just before you are ready to make the aapam. Grind the shredded coconut( if using frozen coconut, use 1 cup) with half cup water and filter and extract the milk and set aside. To this add the sugar and let it dissolve. Do not dilute the coconut milk.
- Prior to making the appam, grind 4 tbsp of  fresh coconut in little water and add it along with the sugar and baking soda in the batter.
- If the batter is too thick, use some coconut milk to thin it a bit.
- Heat the appam pan and pour a ladle of the batter in the center and immediately roll the pan in circular motion to spread the batter around the pan.

- Cover and cook for approx 3 minutes on low flame. The center of the appam would be thick and fluffy while the edges would be thin and crispy.

- Remove from pan and serve with the coconut milk. Can be served with vegetable stew as well.

Sending the recipe to

Blog hop wednesday event hosted by Radhika of Tickling Palates

Poha(flaked rice)-Oats-Sago(tapioca) Idli for Blog hop

A super simple idli recipe using less of urad dhal and these three awesome ingredients. This idli can be a healthy option for those on low pulses/lentils diet. My blog hoping for this week is with Kalyani of Sizzling tastebuds! Actually, am not sure if I have blog hopped with the correct Kalyani because I did not have the link to her page. But basis the schedule for the upcoming hops, I zeroed in on her blog!

All in all it turned out awesome seeing through her blog. Found some interesting recipes on her site and this one caught my attention instantly. Turned out really soft and was liked by all at home:-)The sago is an addition from me to the original recipe though.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups Idli rice
- 1/4 cup Urad dhal
- 1/4 cup Sago (saboodhna or javarisi)
- 1/4 cup regular oats
- 1/4 cup thick poha
- Salt to taste
-Water for soaking and grinding the batter:-)

Soaking time: 3 to 4 hours    Grinding time: 30 mins      Fermenting time: 12 hours or overnight

Preparation:

Making the batter:

- Wash and soak the rice in enough water. Soak the oats, poha and sago along with the rice
- Wash and soak the urad dhal separately
- On soaking for 3 to 4 hours, grind the urad dhal first. If using mixer or blender remove the urad dhal and grind the rice and other items and mix with the urad dhal batter.
- If using a grinder, add the urad dhal and once it becomes smooth, add the rice and other ingredients to it and let it grind to a smooth batter.
- Remove on to a big vessel, mix in salt as needed and allow to ferment well.

Making the Idlis:

- Grease the idli plates with oil or cooking spray.
- Ladle small portions of the batter into the idli plates and steam them for 5 to 7 minutes on high.
- Remove the idli plates and let them cool for 5 minutes.
- On cooling, remove the idlis from the steamer plates. Do not try to remove the idlis while they are hot. They tend to stick to the plates.
- The idlis tasted great with Onion-Tomato Thogaiyal. Ofocurse you are free to use any side of your choice:-)

Recipe part of Blog hop wednesday event at Tickling Palates by Radhika

Idli Upma

Bored eating the usual sooji and semiya upma....try this delicious idli upma for a change! This is a regular in Chennai at my in-laws home. Main reason being, Chennai is undoubtedly always hot, hotter or hottest and this weather helps any dosa or idli batter to ferment really quick.

Long story short, when we have left over fermented idli batter, my MIL generally makes the idlis in the night and allows it to cool over night. This way, it helps breaking down the idli's easier and faster for making the upma. I never got a chance to make this upma here in US for 2 reasons. One, I end up making small batches of batter and does not last beyond a couple of days and two, the batter never gets over fermented for me to think of alternatives!

Now, am part of the Blog Hop Wednesdays of Tickling Paletes and my hop partner for this week is Chaitanya of  Delicious Desi Foods. Last week, while I was leafing through her blog, I came across Idli upma and instantly decided to make them for this wednesday event! Sadly, I noticed that her entry had not got much attention. What better opportunity to make the recipe more popular than this:-) Ofocurse, I made it a couple of days back but am posting it today. Hope you all like my version of it....

Ingredients:

- 10 to 12 idlis
- Idli powder or chutney powder mixed in oil (optional)

For seasoning:

- 1 medium onion
- 2 to 3 green chillies or more as you prefer

- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tsp each of channa dhal and urad dhal
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp hing or asafoetida
- mustard and curry leaves
- Salt , if needed

Prep time: Over night          Cook time: 10 mins

Preparation:

- Steam the idlis the previous night and let it cool over night. This will help is loosening up the idlis in the morning for the upma. If this is not possible, you can cool the idlis under a fan and try breaking them up too.

- To add more zing to the taste of th upma, I smeared all the idlis in a mix of idli powder and sesame oil, overnight. The idlis were soaked in the flavour of the sesame oil and the chutney powder and it added so much more taste to the upma.

- Chop the onions and green chillies and set aside. Loosen up the idlis and set aside.

- In a pan, heat the oil and splutter the mustard and curry leaves. Add the dhals and let them roast. Now, add the onions and green chillies and fry them till the onions turn translucent.

- To this, add the broken idlis and top it with hing and turmeric. Add salt, as needed.

- Toss everything for a couple of minutes and serve!

Sending this to Blog Hop Wednesday organised by Radhika at Tickling Paletes

Vendhaya (Methi) Uthappam

Let me introduce you all to this very healthy and easy to make Uthappam! This is an uthappam recipe I have grown up with and is popular only among our families. So to say around the community of 18 villages from where my ancestors originate! This variety is not so popular outside of our families, so you might not have heard of this much elsewhere!

Here I am unleashing our families secret to the world:-)! Hope you all learn to make this right and enjoy the goodness of this simple and easy food! I am saying "right" because it takes a few couple of tries before you can actually perfect the proportions. Here, I am not going to be using exact measurements but only approximate measures...

Ingredients:

- 2 cups Idli rice or boiled rice
- 1 tight fistful of methi seeds (fenugreek seeds). This will be approximately a little less than 1 tbsp
- 1 tbsp of Urad dhal
- Salt to taste

Prep time: 3 to 4 hours soaking                    Cook time: 2 to 3 mins per side
                12 to 16 hours of fermenting


Preparation:

- Soak the rice, methi seeds, urad dhal all together for 3 to 4 hours
- Grind them together into a smooth batter. If you grind them coarse, the texture of the uthappam will become hard.
- Let them ferment well for about 12 to 16 hours. Do not add salt.

Making the Uthappam:

- Take as much batter as necessary, add water and salt and bring it to a dosa batter consistency. It should not be as thick as idli batter neither too liquid.
- Pour a laddle or two of the batter on a dosa tawa and spread it into a small circle. Do not spread it thin. Uthappam is thick anytime.

- Pour a few drops of sesame oil around the edges of the uthappam and let them cook for a couple of minutes on either side.

- Healthy vendhaya uthappam tastes best with sambhar or chutney powder.

Foot notes:

- If the uthappam turns out to be soft and fluffy while making and not tough, you have got the right consistency.
- Using sesame (gingely) oil enhances its flavour. If the batter is well fermented, you will find those small holes forming on the uthappam.


This recipe is participating in:

Arisi Upma / Rice Upma

Arisi Upma or Upma made with broken rice is very common in South India. Traditionally these are made in "Vengala paanai" to get the best flavour. However, in these days, it is either made in pressure cooker or in a pan...whichever is convenient and easy on time!

Ingredients:

- 1 cup raw rice
- 1 cup finely chopped veggies (potatoes, carrots, green peas)
- 1 or 2 green chillies
- 1 or 2 red chillies
- 1 tsp each of urad dhal, channa dhal, toor dhal for seasoning
- 2 tsp of grated coconut
- Hing, mustard and curry leaves for seasoning
- 2 tsp oil
- Salt to taste


Prep time: 15 mins             Cook time: 30 mins

Preparation:

- Give the rice a pulse in the mixie or blender and break it into smaller pieces.Wash the rice, drain the water and set aside

- Cut the veggies and keep the seasoning ingredients handy

- In a non stick pan or a thick bottomed pan, heat the oil.
- Once hot, add the dhals and roast till they turn red.
- In the end, add the mustards and chillies and let the mustards crackle and chillies fry

- Now, add the veggies, salt and cook them for a couple of minutes.

- For 1 cup of rice, add 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water. Bring the water to a boil along with the veggies.
- Add the coconuts, curry leaves and hing on top when the water comes to a boil.

- Now, add the rice into the boiling water and give it a stir.

- Close with a lid and cook on low-medium heat for 20 minutes.

- Open it half way through to check if water is adequate. If you feel it could need more water, add little based on need.
- Arisi Upma is ready to eat with your favourite pickle or coconut chutney

Foot note:

- Usually the 1 cup rice and 1/4 cup toor dhal is washed and drained. Then, it is spread on a muslin cloth or a very thin cloth and left to dry for a few hours.
- This rice and dhal is given a grind in the blender and broken into small pieces before making the upma.
- If you have the "time" for it, you could try this method!

Linking the recipe to:

Love Lock with Rice event at Tomato Blues and Sweet Karam Kaapi

Mysore Masala Dosa

As the name suggests this dosa has its origin from Mysore, Karnataka. This item will feature on the menu list of all hotels across North and West of India too! What makes it unique from the normal masala dosa is the garlic chutney that is smeared on the inside of the dosa and the dosa batter is also made with a combination of rice and dhals.

Ingredients:

For Dosa batter:

- 1 1/2 cups raw rice

- 1 1/2 cups boiled rice(idli rice)

- 3/4 cup urad dhal

- 1/4 cup channa dhal

- 1/4 cup toor dhal

- 1/2 cup thick aval(poha)

- 1 tsp methi seeds 

- Salt to taste

For red garlic chutney

- 3 dry red chillies

- 1 inch ginger

- 4 cloves garlic

- 2 tbsp roasted channa dhal(பொட்டுகடலை) / dhalia 

- 2 tbsp chopped onion

- 1/2 tsp lemon juice

- Salt to taste

For potato masala

- 2 to 3 boiled potatoes

- 1 medium onion finely chopped

- 2 tbsp green peas(frozen or boiled)

- 2 to 3 green chillies

-  few curry leaves

- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds

- 1 tsp channa dhal

- Salt to taste

- 2 tsp oil

Prep time: 15 hours             Cook time: 30 mins

Preparation:

Dosa batter:

- Soak the rice together in a bowl and all the dhals together in another bowl. Leave it soaked for 4 hours.

 

- Half an hour before grinding add the aval (poha) to the dhals.

- Grind the dhals and then the rice and mix them together with the salt.

- Leave the batter to ferment over night or for 10 to 12 hours 

Red garlic chutney:

- Soak the red chillies in water for 15 mins

- Grind all of the ingredients provided above for the chutney in a blender, mix salt and set aside

Potato masala:

- Boil, peel and mash the potatoes and set aside.

- In a pan, heat the oil and splutter the mustard seeds, then roast the channa dhal

- On roasting, add the chopped green chillies, curry leaves, peas and onions and fry until the onions turn translucent.

- Add 1/8 tsp of turmeric and salt to the above.

- Then add the mashed potatoes and 3/4 cup water and mix well.

- Let the masala cook and blend together. Switch of heat when the masala turns mushy and spreadable.

Making the dosa:

- In a dosa pan, place a ladle of batter in the center and spread it into a circle as shown below.

- Pour 1/2 tsp of oil around the edges of the dosa

- Then spread 1 tsp of chutney on the inside of the dosa and let the dosa turn brown and crisp.

 - Spread a dollop of the potato masala on one side of the dosa.

- Fold the other half of the dosa over the masala and remove to serving plate!

- Finish it with a shot of piping hot filter coffee for the ultimate experience....!!!!!

I am sending this recipe to the Herbs and Flowers - Garlic - Event being guest hosted by: