Tag Archives: Breakfast

Dosa corner, Konkani Recipes

Kharbas dosa | no fermentation dosa

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My husband is on vacation since two weeks now and has been looking out for new recipes to try for me. It has actually made my job easier as I no longer have to think what to cook (which is a huge task in itself 😅). He searches for unique recipes (his current hobby 😀) and sends it to me. I just have to make it (which I don’t mind at all as I love cooking ❤️)

So last week he sent me this recipe of Kharbas dosa which he found in a video. I was amazed as it did not need fermentation at all and even then turned out super crispy. It also came out so tasty that I had to share the recipe with all of you. 😍

Hope you all try and love this dosa too. Our dosa loving family could not get enough of it and I made it again today for them. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Recipe credits: jyoth youtube channel

Ingredients: {Gives about 12 to 14 dosas}

2 Cups Raw white rice or Idli rice (I use any variety of short grain white rice available here)

1 Cup Urad dal (I used split ones)

2 tsp Methi or Fenugreek seeds

2 tsp Peppercorns or to taste

2 Kashmiri long red chillies

Salt to taste

Ghee or oil to cook the dosa

Step by step recipe:

1. Wash well and soak the rice, Urad dal, Methi along with pepper corns and red chillies for atleast 4 hours.

2. After it gets soaked, drain water completely and add to the mixer jar along with salt.

3. Add about 1 to 1 1/2 Cups water and grind to a smooth paste. Pour into a bowl.

4. Now the batter is ready to make dosas. Heat a dosa pan and pour a ladle of the batter. Spread into a large circle. Cook till the surface looks cooked and the underside turns crispy adding ghee or oil in between..

5. Serve hot with a chutney of your choice.

Notes:

* Methi is a very important ingredient in this dosa as we are not fermenting it. Do not skip Methi.

* The amount of pepper is to taste. If you don’t like pepper, you can skip it but I suggest to add atleast 1 tsp of pepper and 1 red chilly for the great flavour.

* Since I am a huge fan of fermentation as it increases the nutritional value in manifold, I do ferment this dosa batter as well but it makes no change to the texture of the dosa. It is crisp even before fermentation. The taste is also the same. So I suggest if you have time, ferment it for few hours. Else it’s okay as this dosa really does not need fermentation.

* The chutney I make with this dosa is ginger chutney. Just grind coconut with green chillies, ginger and tamarind paste along with salt and water to a fine paste. Pour into a bowl and add little water to bring it to chutney consistency. Season with spluttered mustard seeds and curry leaves in coconut oil.

Idli Stand

Kanchipuram Idlis

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When I get some free time yet don’t want to sit with my phone, I read cookbooks. Reading them is a pleasure of it’s own and I forget the rest of the world and dive into the world of recipes. ❤️

On one such day, I saw a recipe of Kanchipuram idlis in the cookbook “Dakshin Bharat dishes” by Mrs Jaya V Shenoy which is a must have cookbook in every Konkani household. My grandmother and mother refer to the Kannada version of this book while I was lucky enough to be gifted the English version of it by my aunt, Chandriakka during my marriage. It has definitely been the best gift for me. Thank you akka. I always remember you when I read it. ❤️❤️

As I read the recipe for these idlis, I saw that it had baking soda as an ingredient which I try to avoid as much as possible. So I added the naturally fermenting ingredient, Methi which gives soft idlis and also increases the health quotient of the idlis.

The resultant were these super soft, spongy idlis with bites of cashews and chana dal. Also, they turn out so flavourful that you will keep craving for more. We loved it so much that I had to make them again within the week as we could not get enough of it.

These idlis are definitely a welcome change from the regular idlis and can be made occasionally when you are bored of the same old breakfast dishes. Hope you all try and love it like we did. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients: {Makes about 22 idlis}

1 Cup Raw white rice or Idli rice (I use any variety of small grain white rice available here)

1 Cup Urad dal (I use split ones)

1 tsp Methi or fenugreek seeds

1 Tbsp Chana dal (To be soaked and added into the batter after fermentation)

Salt to taste

For seasoning:

1 tsp Ghee

1/2 tsp Jeera or cumin seeds

6 to 8 broken cashews

A sprig of curry leaves

A pinch of pepper powder

1 to 2 green chillies

Step by step recipe:

1. Wash well and soak the Urad dal along with Methi in atleast twice the amount of water. Wash well and soak the rice separately. I soak both for atleast 4 hours. Once soaked, drain the water completely from it.

2. Grind Urad- Methi with 1 Cup water or as required to a smooth paste. (It took me 1 Cup water to grind it.) Remove into a large vessel.

3. Now grind the rice with little of the leftover Urad batter in the mixer to a little coarse paste (like rava consistency). I did not add additional water at all while grinding rice. Pour into the same bowl and mix both batters adding salt.

4. Ferment the batter overnight or for atleast 8 hours in a warm place.

5. While making idlis, add soaked Chana dal and also prepare the seasoning. Heat ghee in a pan. Add cumin seeds, cashews, pepper powder, curry leaves and green chillies. Fry till cashews turn light brown and add the seasoning to the batter.

Note: I usually soak the Chana dal in double the water for about an hour the previous night. Drain the water and refrigerate to add to the batter the next day. This saves soaking time in the morning.

6. Mix well. Pour into greased idli plates and steam for 20 mins or till done.

7. Enjoy with a chutney of your choice.

Notes:

* Grind the rice to rava consistency. If you grind it smooth, the texture of the idlis may not be as good.

* Methi seeds give these idlis a very soft texture. So don’t skip it.

* To save time in the morning, soak the Chana dal in enough water the previous night for an hour. Drain and refrigerate. Add to the fermented batter while making idlis.

* All ingredients in the seasoning give a good flavour to the idlis. So don’t skip it except green chillies which you can skip if serving small kids. My kids are fine with it though. I remove the chillies and give them.

* This chutney is Hing chutney with red chillies. I just grind coconut with dried kashmiri red chillies, Hing powder and tamarind paste with salt and little water to a smooth paste. Drizzle coconut oil on top or season it with mustard seeds and curry leaves. I don’t season most of my chutneys as my daughter does not like mustard seeds.

Breakfast time, Dosa corner, Konkani Recipes, Snacks

Rava Bhakri /Rullanva Doddaka/ Instant Semolina savory pancakes

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I am a huge fan of our age old amchi (Konkani) dishes. They are not only easy to make but very healthy and super delicious too. Also, I am a firm believer that breakfast should be the most filling meal as it gives us energy for the day and keeps us away from snacking often.

This Rava Bhakri is exactly that. Very filling and super tasty too. It’s my go to breakfast when I have forgotten to soak for dosas or idlis. My kids call it “Rullanva bobbo” and demand it whenever they feel hungry. So this “bobbo” becomes their snack too when they come tired after playing. And the best part is, it hardly takes 10 mins from start to finish to make this.

Now that’s how I love my dishes. Less time in the kitchen, yet healthy, kid friendly and delicious. Most Konkanis know this recipe but sharing for those who don’t know. Hope you all try it too. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 and 1/2 Cups Semolina (wheat rava, upma rava, sooji)

Approx 3 Cups Water

1/4 Cup Wheat flour (Atta)

1/4 Cup freshly grated Coconut

1/4 Cup Yogurt/ Buttermilk (optional)

2 to 3 Green chillies

1 inch Ginger piece, grated

1 Tbsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Ghee or coconut oil to cook the dosa

Step by step recipe:

1. Take Semolina, wheat flour, sugar, salt and coconut in a mixing bowl.

2. Add yogurt, water, Ginger and green chillies. Mix well and make a lump free batter of thick consistency. (It took me 3 Cups water for 21/2 cups rava. Might vary depending on the brand of rava.)

3. Now heat a dosa pan and add a ladle of dosa batter. Spread it into a thick dosa.

4. Cover and cook till the surface cooks. Add ghee or oil on top.

5. Flip and cook for a minute.

6. Serve hot with butter and pickle.

Notes:

* Rava absorbs a lot of water very quickly. But it varies with the brand of rava. So best is to add water one cup at a time in the beginning and then add little by little to make a batter thicker than dosa batter consistency.

* This batter can be made before hand and refrigerated. I make it at night and refrigerate for breakfast the next day as it saves a lot of time in the morning. Just that the rava absorbs all the water. So it needs and addition of about a cup of water to bring it back to pourable consistency.

* The addition of yogurt or buttermilk is optional but gives a nice tangy flavour to it.

* You can also grind the coconut along with Ginger and green chillies. Then add to the batter but I love the bite of green chillies. So I don’t do that way.

* I don’t even need pickle with this. Butter is an excellent accompaniment to this bhakri.

* You can also add an mashed overripe banana to this batter. Tastes really delicious!

* You can also add grated cucumbers to this to make Instant Cucumber dosas or Thoushe Bhakris.

Dosa corner, Idli Stand

Urad – Whole moong dosa and idli | “No rice” recipe

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Some dishes may not look as appealing to the eyes but they are simply delicious. These whole moong idlis are the perfect example of that. They are not as pristine beautiful like regular idlis but taste so good and are very healthy too.

I got the idea of this recipe from my friend Ashwini Kulkarni who always sends me pictures and recipes of dosas that she makes for her “dosa loving” family (just like mine). She did not make idlis with it but I made them as my son is a huge fan of “iddis” (as he calls them 😀). Since I planned to make idlis, I added methi seeds too to the batter and it made the idlis very soft.

This is a “no rice” recipe like many of my idli and dosa recipes. So it’s good for those who want to avoid rice in their diet. Hope you all try and love it too. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients: {Gives 13 Idlis and about 6 dosas}

1 Cup Urad dal (I used split Urad dal)

1 Cup Whole moong / Green gram

1/2 Tbsp Methi / Fenugreek seeds

Salt to taste

Oil to grease the Idli plates and ghee to cook the dosa

Step by step recipe:

1. Take Urad dal, whole moong and methi in a bowl.

2. Wash well and soak in atleast double the amount of water for about 4 to 6 hours. Now drain the soaked water and add the soaked urad-moong-methi to the mixer.

3. Grind to a smooth paste. It took me 1 Cup water while grinding (this information is for people who ask me for water measurement). Pour in a large preferably steel vessel.

4. Keep covered at room temperature for fermentation overnight or for about 8 hours.

5. If making Idlis, add the batter to greased idli moulds.

6. Steam for 20 mins or till done.

7. If making dosas, heat a dosa pan and pour a ladle of the batter. Spread using the back of the ladle to circle shape.

8. Add ghee or oil to the dosa. Cook till the surface cooks. Then flip and cook for few seconds.

9. Serve both dosas and Idlis with a chutney of your choice.

Notes:

* The whole moong might not grind fully but have little skin in the batter. That is okay.

* Cook the dosas only one side if you like soft dosas and cook both sides till crisp for crispy dosas.

* I served this with two kinds of chutney:

** Peanut Hing Chutney: Grind coconut with ginger, green chillies, hing powder, salt and skinned peanuts with little water to a smooth paste.

** Mint Coriander Chutney: Grind coconut with mint leaves, coriander leaves, curry leaves, green chillies, ginger and salt to a smooth paste. Add lemon juice over it.

Both these chutneys don’t need seasoning and goes well with Urad moong Idlis and dosas.

Breakfast time, Snacks

Wheat Banana pancakes | Snack idea for kids

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My daughter gets attracted by fancy names and few months back, she came to me saying “Amma, I want pancakes!”. She had seen it in some video. I told her pancakes are nothing but our dosas, just sweet version of it like our amchi Surnalis. She just would not accept it and wanted me to make the original pancakes for her.

So, I had to look up for pancake recipe (since I had never made nor eaten it before) but found it rather unhealthy with maida (which we never buy) and sugar. So I substituted it with wheat flour and jaggery. It came out very well and she was very happy to see it. ❤️

From that day onwards, when she’s hungry, she asks me to make these pancakes. I have improvised it by adding bananas to it too as it helps me finish off the over ripe bananas (who stare at me to use them up 😁) and also makes the pancakes more nutritious.

My 2 year old son too loves it a lot and it fills my heart with happiness when I see them eating together dipping the little pancakes in honey and eating with their tiny hands. Beautiful memories which will be in me forever. ❤️

Hope you all try and love these pancakes too. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients: {Makes about 18 to 20 small pancakes}

2 Cups Whole wheat flour/ Atta

1 Cup mashed overipe Bananas

1/4 Cup Milk

1 Tbsp Jaggery powder (optional)

1/4 tsp Baking soda (skip if making for kids aged less than one year) * check notes

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Add the mashed bananas and jaggery powder in a bowl. Mix well.

2. Sieve wheat flour, baking soda and salt in the same bowl.

3. Add milk and water to form a smooth, thick, lump free batter of slightly thick consistency.

4. Heat a flat pan and when it gets hot, pour the batter using a spoon onto the pan making small pancakes as shown.

5. Cover and cook on medium flame till the surface cooks. Add ghee over it.

Note: Be careful to cook on medium flame as high flame can cause the pancake to turn black underneath due to bananas.

6. Flip gently and cook for couple of minutes.

7. Remove and serve with bananas, butter and honey.

Notes:

* I make these pancakes without baking soda too and my kids love it that way as well. They don’t turn fluffy but turn out very soft like dosas.

* You can skip bananas if you don’t have. It comes out like regular pancakes.

* You can skip jaggery if the bananas are very sweet. Use overripe bananas for best results.

* I make sweet dosas similar to this. Just mix together wheat flour, jaggery and salt with water and make a slightly thick batter. Good for quick to make evening snacks for kids.

* For kids, cook the pancakes in ghee and serve with butter and honey with bananas on the side. It’s very filling and they are sure to love it too.

* Do cook these pancakes in medium flame and not high flame as it can cause it to turn black underneath.

Breakfast time, Konkani Recipes

Undi with Piyava Gojju | Konkani style rice dumplings

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During my childhood days, our breakfast was a set schedule. Monday was any kind of dosas, Tuesday used be Chutney sandwich (my fav as a kid ❤️) or Puri Bhaji ( my fav even now ❤️❤️). Wednesday used to be Panpolos, Thursdays and Fridays were again dosa days. You can find all those dosa recipes in my Dosa corner page.

And then came weekends when Annama (my grandmother) and Amma used to make these special, aromatic undis along with my Annama’s special Piyava gojju which is still my most favourite. This spicy, tangy dip takes the undis to another level completely.

Amma taught me to make undis when she had come here to Qatar and I learnt the technique from her. So it’s definitely special for me as it’s something passed on to me by her. Hope I can pass on this to my kids too. If not me (owing to unpredictable life), maybe they will refer this blog and learn in future. 😀

Although all Konkani people know how to make it, this is for those who don’t know about it and my way to preserve our Konkani traditional recipes. Hope you all try and love it too. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { Makes about 40 small undis}

2 Cups Rice Rava or Idli Rava

4 Cups Water

1/2 Cup Desiccated coconut or freshly grated coconut

2 tsp Oil

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Urad dal

1/2 tsp Methi seeds

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Wash the rice rava well two to three times till the water turns clear. Drain the water and keep aside till use.

2. Heat oil in a thick bottomed steel or non stick pan. Add mustard seeds, Urad dal and methi seeds. Saute till mustard seeds splutter and urad dal turns light brown in colour.

3. Add 4 Cups Water (for 2 Cups rice rava). Also add salt and coconut. Bring it to a boil.

4. Now add the idli rava and keep mixing continuously on medium flame till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and the rice rava cooks well.

This is the initial stage right after adding rice rava.

5. Remove from the flame and allow it to cool slightly.

This is when the rice rava has cooked well and leaves the sides of the pan.

6. When the mixture is still little hot but has cooled down enough to be handled, make small balls using hands and make a hole using finger as shown in the picture.

Note: The mixture should not cool down completely. It will be hard then. It should be warm when making the balls.

7. Repeat the same with the rest of the mixture.

I love how cute they look 😍

8. Now steam in a steamer for about 15 to 20 mins. Remove and serve hot drizzled with coconut oil on top with Piyava Gojju or any chutney of your choice.

Notes:

* I use only coconut oil or ghee in my cooking and this recipe uses coconut oil like all Konkani recipes. Please try to use the same for authentic flavour.

* For people who are new to making undis, it needs steaming after making the small dumplings. Please don’t forget the last step.

* Rice Rava or Idli Rava is not regular upma rava. This is coarser in texture and is made of rice.

* The combination of mustard seeds, Urad dal and methi gives it a wonderful aroma. Don’t skip any of it.

* Some people add broken red chillies in the seasoning but my mother made this way.

* If rice rava is not available, just soak and grind the rice to a coarse mix and add instead of rice rava. Though I have not tried it myself, I know many people who do it as rice rava is not easily available in their place.

* Don’t allow the mixture to cool completely before making undis. Make when it’s still warm. ( I actually make when it’s still hot as my kids will be behind me for breakfast. Though it burns my hands, a mom’s love is so and now I understand it. ❤️😅)

* For the Piyava Gojju, take finely chopped onion (2 medium sized) and about 3 Tbsp coriander leaves in a bowl. Add 2 to 3 tsp tamarind paste, salt and red chilli powder to taste depending on your spice level. Mix well adding about 1/4 Cup water and drizzle a little coconut oil on top. (You can add finely chopped green chillies too but I avoid for my kids.)