Tag Archives: Instant

Bhel puri chaat | The easiest chaat ever!

September 20, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 1 Comment

Apart from desserts, chaats are my favourite. I can never get tired of them and they are always my choice when we eat out. Here, we get amazing chaats in Kailash Parbat and their chaat platter is my favourite. ❤️

I must admit though that Bhel puri is not my favourite among chaats. It is my husband’s and kids’ favourite one. Mine is always Masala puri or Sev puri or Dahi puri (Craving for some now as I write this 😭😭😭😭).

But since bhel puri is hands down the easiest chaat ever, we usually make it for our evening snack. It’s not only easy to make but healthy and light on the tummy apart from being tasty too.

So I had to share this with all of you. A must try chaat if you love Bhel puris from outside. It’s super easy to make at home, trust me. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients: {Serves 2}

2 Cups Bhel/ Kurmura / Charmburo/ Puffed rice

1/4 Cup finely chopped Onion

1/4 Cup finely chopped Tomatoes

2 Tbsp finely chopped Coriander leaves

1/2 tsp Red chilli powder

Salt to taste {I use kaala namak or rock salt}

1/4 Cup Mint Coriander chutney (5 sprigs of coriander leaves, 3 Green chillies, 8 to 10 mint leaves, salt)

2 Tbsp Dates Tamarind chutney {I use Mother’s recipe brand readymade chutney} * check notes to make at home

1 Cup Alu bhujiya or Sev ( I use Haldirams brand )

1/2 Cup Mixture or Namkeen of your choice ( I use Bikaji brand)

Step by step recipe:

1. Dry roast the bhel till it turns crisp. Keep aside till use.

Note: This step is necessary so that the bhel does not turn soggy instantly when chutneys are mixed.

2. Take mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chillies and salt in the mixer.

*I used kaala namak or rock salt or pink salt and hence the c*olour.

3. Grind with little water to a smooth paste. Keep aside.

4. Now get everything ready. Shown below are:

* Finely chopped onions, tomato, coriander leaves, red chilli powder and salt in a mixing bowl.

* Dry roasted Bhel, alu bhujia, Namkeen in another bowl.

* Mint coriander chutney.

* Dates Tamarind chutney.

5. Mix everything well and serve immediately.

Notes:

* Bhel puri chaat has to be served immediately after mixing or it turns soggy. So get your family to sit down for the chaat time and then mix everything.

* The measurements for the green chutney gives 1/2 Cup of the green chutney. Use only how much is necessary as per your spice levels. Since I have to accommodate my kids’ tastebuds, I add only 1/4 Cup.

* Rest of the chutney can be refrigerated for use later. Lasts well for couple of days if handled well.

* I use Mother’s recipe brand of Dates Tamarind chutney. For making it at home, Soak about 6 to 8 dates for 30 mins in warm water and grind along with tamarind and salt to a smooth paste.

* You can add finely chopped green chillies too but I avoid as my kids find it spicy.

* You can check the Karnataka version of Bhel puri which we call Charmbure Upkari here.

* The masala puri chaat I make is very close to chaat stall ones. You can check the recipe here.

Curry house, Dosa corner, Konkani Recipes

Snake gourd seeds spicy dosa | Poddale beeye Sannapolo

September 14, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 1 Comment

After I posted Ridgegourd skin chutney, it reminded me of another “taste from waste” which my grandmother made regularly. It is these small dosas from the seeds of snake gourds. They are not the dosas that we have for breakfast but had with rice meals and called as sannapolo in Konkani.

There are so many varieties of sannapolos made with onion, cabbage, moringa leaves and many others. Those require soaking and grinding rice and toor dal. But this variety of sannapolo can be made instantly as it uses rava instead.

And anything that can be made instantly becomes instantly my favourite too 😉. What better way to use up the healthy part of this vegetable in a delicious way. A meal of these dosas with upkari and ukde pej (Matta rice congee) becomes a soulful meal for us. Something I can never get tired of. ❤️

Hope you all try this and love it like we do. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Snake gourds seeds (I took the core of two regular sized snakegourds)

1/2 inch Ginger piece

3 Green chillies

1/2 Cup Coconut (fresh or desiccated)

1 Cup Rava or Semolina

Salt to taste

Coconut oil to cook the dosa

Step by step recipe:

1. * Wash the snake gourd well and scrape the white skin with a knife.

* Then slice lengthwise and remove the core. Keep it aside.

* Chop the snakegourds to small pieces and keep it in another bowl to make Upkari. (Will share the recipe in notes) Soak 1/4 Cup chana dal for the Upkari for about 30 mins.

2. For the spicy dosa or sannapolo, grind the seeds along with coconut, ginger and green chillies to a slightly coarse paste.

Note: Don’t grind too much or it can taste bitter. Just pulse two to three times so that the seeds are crushed.

3. Add this paste to a bowl. Add rava and salt. With little water, make a thick batter.

4. Heat the dosa pan and make small dosas. Drizzle coconut oil and cook the dosas on both sides till they turn brown and crisp.

5. Remove and serve with rice meals. This is not the regular dosa had for breakfast. It tastes best with rice, rasam or dal and snake gourd stir fry (Upkari).

Notes:

* If the snake gourd seeds are very small and easily crushable with hands, then no need to grind it along with the other ingredients in the mixer. Just mix it with the ground paste.

* While grinding the seeds, don’t grind for too long. Just pulsing is enough. Grinding for too long can cause a bitter flavour.

* The rava that I use is normal upma rava. Since this is a thick dosa, don’t add a lot of water. Just enough water to make a thick batter.

* For the snake gourd Upkari, heat coconut oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds and add the soaked chana dal, green chillies and curry leaves. Add chopped snake gourd and hing along with salt and little water. Cook till the snake gourd turns soft. Garnish with grated coconut.

Desserts

Easy Nendran Banana Halwa | Nendrabale kele halwo

September 10, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 5 Comments

This halwa is a quick fix for mommies like me who don’t have the time for elaborate halwa making as kids keep pulling our legs to come play with them 😄. Kerala Bananas or Nendrabale kele (in Konkani) is a regular in my house as kids love it very much right from when they were babies.

I usually cut the bananas into round shape, fry it in ghee and give them but sometimes it gets over ripe very quickly (all thanks to the summers here). So I make this halwa which my husband’s aunt made when she had less bananas to make the original version of nendrabale halwa.

This is super easy to make yet comes out too delicious for words. We love it a lot for our post dinner dessert and kids enjoy it as well. My daughter has given it a name “Banana squares”. Trust kids these days for modern and unique names for our age old dishes 😅.

Hope you all try this when you have leftover nendran bananas staring at you to use it up 😄. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

3 over ripe Nendran Banana/ Kerala Banana/ Nendrabale kele

1/2 Cup to 3/4 Cup Jaggery powder or grated Jaggery (to taste)

2 Tbsp Ghee

1/2 tsp Cardamom powder (optional)

Step by step recipe:

1. Peel and mash the bananas well using hands.

2. Heat ghee in a pan (preferably non stick) and add the mashed bananas. Fry well on medium flame till the rawness of the bananas goes away. Takes about 5 mins.

3. Now add jaggery powder.

4. Now continuously mix till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and turns golden in colour. Takes about 10 mins of continuous mixing. Add Cardamom powder and mix once.

5. Remove and put in a plate greased with ghee. Level using spatula. Cut and serve after it cools slightly.

Notes:

* Over ripe nendran bananas work well for this recipe as it can be easily mashed with hands and cooks quickly too.

* Normal banana halwa can be made this way too but the texture would be different and not thick like this nendran banana halwa.

* Jaggery can be adjusted to taste as per the sweetness of the bananas.

* Fry the bananas well in ghee before adding jaggery so that there is no rawness in the halwa. After adding jaggery too, keep stirring well on medium flame till the mixture leaves the side of the pan. Both these steps as very important to get perfect halwa.

Desserts

Cherry Jaggery Compote

August 17, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 1 Comment

In our weekly groceries, fruits are an important part as we all thrive on them for mid meal snacking. My kids love Apples, Bananas, Mangoes, Mandarins and Berries while I am a huge fan of Papaya. We also make sure we get our dose of Vitamin C by drinking orange juice everyday. So all these fruits are a regular in our place.

Now it’s the season of cherries here and we get them every week with our grocery. They are very sweet and we love to gobble them anytime. Just look at these beauties.

Apart from eating them as it is, my recipe finder of a husband saw that cherry compote can be made. So we made it just for a try with our favourite jaggery instead of sugar and fell in love with it. Now we buy cherries just to make this compote. It tastes so delicious that you can’t stop licking your fingers.

Hope you all try it if you get cherries in your place. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups Cherries (whole and unseeded)

1/4 Cup Jaggery

1/4 Cup Water

Step by step recipe:

1. Remove seeds and stem from the cherries and halve it. Keep in a bowl aside.

2. Now add water and jaggery (1/4 Cup each) to a preferably non stick pan and allow to come to a boil. Let it boil for about 5 mins till it turns thick. Now add the halved cherries to this. Mix well.

3. Use a masher to mash the cherries slightly. Cook on medium flame.

4. Cook till it turns thick and the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.

5. Cool down and enjoy it as it is or over a toast or with Yogurt.

Notes:

* Compote is actually served over cakes. We enjoy this compote as it is as a dessert or over a toast or with Yogurt.

* Compote is usually made with sugar but I love how yummy it tastes with jaggery. Also if you use pure jaggery, it is much healthier too.

* You can substitute cherries with other berries or ripe tomatoes but tomatoes need more cooking time.

Idli Stand

Instant Vermicelli Idli

August 15, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 1 Comment

When I was a child, the only Idlis I knew were the regular white Idlis my mother made and the horsegram Idlis, cucumber Idlis, jackfruit Idlis (kulitha idli, thoushe muddho, ponsa mudho in Konkani) which my grandmother made. These varieties are the only ones I remember apart from the amchi famous Khotto or idlis made in jackfruit leaves.

After I started blogging and kept on look out for variety of recipes, I started making Rava Idlis and other Idlis which don’t need rice at all. Here you can check all of them in my Idli Stand page.

Vermicelli idli was one among the first ones to be tried and loved. So I had to share this here. Its a unique but very tasty idli. Comes out super soft and spongy.

Hope you all try and like it too. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 Cup wheat Vermicelli (the regular variety which we use to make upma. Not super thin ones)

1 Cup wheat Semolina/ Rava/ Sooji

1 Cup Yogurt or thick Curd

About 3/4 Cup Water

1/2 Cup grated Carrots

1 tsp Eno fruit salt {*check notes for substitute}

Salt to taste

For seasoning:

2 tsp Oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds or Jeera

1/2 tsp split Urad dal

Few broken Cashews

Step by step recipe:

1. Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds, add Jeera, urad dal and broken cashews. Fry little till cashews turn golden. Then add vermicelli and fry on medium flame till it changes colour and turns brown.

2. Now add rava and fry again till it turns light brown.

3. Switch off the flame now and allow it to cool down slightly. Add curd and water. Mix well.

4. Now add grated carrots and mix well. Add salt and Eno fruit salt. Mix well.

5. Steam immediately after adding Eno fruit salt. Steam for 20 mins or till done.

*The white colour is due to my kitchen lights. These Idlis get a golden hue due to vermicelli and carrots.*

6. Remove and serve with a chutney of your choice. I have served it with my Amma’s tomato chutney.

Notes:

* 1 tsp Eno fruit salt can be substituted with 1/2 tsp Baking soda and 1/2 tsp Lemon juice.

* Steam immediately after adding Eno fruit salt.

* You can also make regular Instant Rava Idlis if you don’t have vermicelli.

* Grated carrots are optional but give a good bite and also increases the nutritional value.

* For 1 Cup Vermicelli and 1 Cup Rava, 1 Cup curds plus 3/4 Cup water gave perfect texture of the batter which is slightly thick. The amount of water depends upon the curd. Start with 1/2 Cup water and add more only if necessary. Don’t make the batter thin.

Dosa corner, Snacks

Instant Oats Vegetable Bhakri | Quick Oats Uthappam

August 7, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 9 Comments

Click on the image to save the recipe on Pinterest

As my regular readers know already, my kids love dosas and our morning usually starts with any variety of dosa. I have already posted many of them on my Dosa corner page.

Even though I make sure that I always have dosa batter handy for their dosa love, there are some days when it gets over and I am left wondering what to do apart from the Instant Oats Poha dosa that I make always when I don’t have dosa batter.

That is when I started making these oats vegetable bhakris and it was loved a lot by both kids. It hardly takes 15 mins to get the batter ready and it is very tasty and filling. Also a healthy snack option for evenings.

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

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 Cups Instant Oats (I use Quaker or Saffola instant Oats)

1 Cup wheat Semolina/ Rava/ Sooji

1/4 Cup Curd or Yogurt (optional)

3 Cups water or as required

1/2 Cup grated Carrots

1/4 Cup finely chopped Capsicum

1/4 Cup finely chopped Onion

2 to 3 Green chillies or to taste

2 Tbsp finely chopped Coriander leaves

Salt to taste

Oil or ghee to cook the uthappams

Step by step recipe:

1. Take 2 Cups oats, 1 Cup rava, 1/4 Cup curd and salt in a large mixing bowl.

2. Add 3 Cups water and mix well to remove any lumps.

3. Add grated carrots, finely chopped capsicum and onions, green chillies and coriander leaves.

4. Mix well.

5. Heat a dosa pan and add a ladle of the batter. Spread into a thick dosa as shown.

6. Cover and cook till the surface cooks well.

7. Now add oil or ghee. Flip and cook for few minutes.

8. Serve hot with butter and chutney.

Notes:

* You can skip onion if you want but it gives a wonderful bite and flavour to the bhakri. Don’t skip capsicum though. It’s a main ingredient.

* I sometimes don’t need chutney with it too. Just the bhakri with butter tastes so delicious.

* Don’t spread the bhakri too thick or else it won’t cook inside. Cook both sides very well on medium to high flame.

* I have used instant Oats as it is (without powdering or roasting). You can use rolled oats but it might need powdering.

* You can skip curd if you don’t have. I make without it too sometimes. Does not make much difference.

Do let me know if you have any doubts. Will be a pleasure to help. 🙂

Did you know Oats is such a versatile ingredient, you could make Cake, Idli, Paratha, varieties of dosas and even gluten free pizza with it?

Sharing all varieties of dishes in which I use Oats and make regularly. Eat healthy, be happy. ❤️

Variety Oats recipes Compilation

Chaat street, Snacks

Sweet corn Bhel

July 22, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 4 Comments

Being a mommy has turned me into a non stop thinking person about what healthy and yummy food to make for the kids. Yes, kids first and then us. I guess its common everywhere. We always keep our children’s food choices over ours.

My kids take maximum benefit of it and I have to sometimes whip up very quickly for their sudden hunger pangs. It is during this time that our Indian snacks such as bhel come handy. Quick to make and quicker to polish off, a very healthy option as a light but filling evening snack.

The kids too love it very much and I heave a sigh of relief that I won’t get to hear “potta bhook” (I am hungry in konkani) for the next one hour (?? ) atleast. 😄

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

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 Cups Bhel or puffed rice or churmura or kurmura

1/2 Cup Bhujiya or Sev

1 Cup Sweetcorn (steamed for about 10 mins)

1/2 Cup finely chopped Onion

1/2 Cup finely chopped Tomatoes

1/4 Cup thick Curd/ Yogurt (optional)

1 Tbsp finely chopped Coriander leaves

1/2 tsp Tamarind paste

1 Tbsp roasted Peanuts

1 tsp Tomato ketchup

1/2 tsp Red chilli powder

1/2 tsp Chat masala powder

Rock salt or regular salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Take a large mixing bowl and add steam cooked sweetcorn, tomatoes, onions, coriander leaves, tamarind paste. Curd is optional but we love the creamy tangy flavour it gives.

2. Mix well. Add chat masala powder, red chilli powder, salt, ketchup and roasted peanuts.

3. Add bhel and bhujiya. Mix well.

4. Serve immediately else the bhel turns soggy. Enjoy with a dash of lemon juice if you feel it needs more tangy flavour.

Notes:

* The proportions of ingredients are to taste and you can change or adjust as per your taste buds.

* You can also skip any ingredient if you don’t have. This is just an easy to make snack idea which can be made with whatever ingredients you have in your kitchen.

* Do remember to serve immediately. Else the bhel turns soggy.

Breakfast time, Snacks

Chow Chow Bath

July 21, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 3 Comments

If you are wondering about the name Chow Chow Bath, let me tell you it’s nothing but upma, sheera and simple coconut chutney. It is easily available in hotels in Karnataka especially in the southern parts of Mangalore and Udupi where I belong to.

I first tasted it post marriage when I was very intrigued by the name and ordered it. To my surprise, it was just something so basic yet the overall combination tasted too heavenly for words. I fell so much in love with it that my eldest brother in law whom I fondly call Danthanna used to call me “Chow Chow Bath Ammi” (Ammi is the short form given by hubby’s family for the name they have put for me as part of marriage ritual – Amitha). I am so lucky to have such a loving family as in laws who love me like their own daughter.

Coming back to Chow Chow Bath, it became our special occasion breakfast apart from Masala dosas. Easy to make and starting the day with sweet on birthdays so that the whole year turns out as sweet. That is my intention. Maybe childish but still something I cherish a lot.

Hope you all those who have not tried this will try and love it. It turns out super delicious. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

For Upma:

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil

2 tsp Ghee (optional but gives great flavour)

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Urad dal

1 Tbsp broken Cashews

Few curry leaves

3 green chillies

1 Cup wheat Semolina/ Rava/ Sooji

1 Tbsp Sugar

Salt to taste

2 to 2 1/2 Cups Water *(read notes)

2 Tbsp freshly grated coconut

For Sheera: Check the detailed recipe here.

For Chutney: Check Notes at the end

Step by step recipe:

1. Keep water to boil in a pan.

2. Heat oil and ghee together in another pan (I use my iron kadhai) and splutter mustard seeds. Add urad dal, curry leaves, cashews and green chillies. Fry till cashews turn light brown.

3. Now add semolina and roast continually on medium flame till it turns light brown in colour and turns aromatic. Takes about 3 to 5 mins.

4. Add sugar and salt. Mix well.

5. Now add the boiling water to this. Be sure to add very hot or boiling water else the upma won’t have desired texture.

6. Mix well continually with a ladle as you add the water so that there are no lumps in the mixture. Mix continuously on medium flame till the mixture cooks well and leaves the sides of the pan. Takes about 5 mins.

7. Cover and keep for 2 mins on low flame. Garnish with grated coconut and remove from the flame.

Notes:

* Remove the upma into a bowl and make Jaggery sheera in the same kadhai. Here is the detailed recipe.

* For Coconut Chutney, just grind together coconut, green chillies, ginger and salt with little water to a smooth paste. Remove into a bowl.

* When making upma, if you want a really soft texture like a lump, add semolina to water ratio as 1 : 2.5 times. If you want fluffy texture, add semolina to water ratio as 1 : 2 ie twice the water as compared to semolina.

* You can also add ginger, onions and tomatoes in the seasoning along with little turmeric powder and sambar powder in the upma to make khara bath. That tastes good too but as Chow Chow Bath, we prefer this basic version of upma.

* While eating Chow Chow Bath, take one serving of each upma and sheera, dip in chutney and eat. Tastes so delicious!

Desserts, Konkani Recipes

Jaggery Sheera

July 17, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 11 Comments

Sheera is the most common sweet made in Konkani households and ours is no less. My grandmother always made it to satisfy our sweet tooth and my mother’s ghee laden sheera is still in my taste buds. I used to tease her “Amma, have you made sheera in ghee or ghee in sheera?”. She used to add loads of ghee in it as much as she showered her love in the sheera.

Both of them used to make sheera with sugar and I did not mind all that when I was a kid or teenager. But after marriage, when I was struggling with weight and infertility issues, I started substituting sugar with the healthier jaggery in most desserts and sheera became one of them too. We loved jaggery sheera so much that it became our favourite sweet, much more than sugar based sheera.

From then till now, it’s not changed and we have got two more miniature sweet lovers like us who love jaggery sheera very much too. I make it when they feel hungry even after dinner. It fills them up and to see them enjoy every bite of it is very satisfying to me as a mother who at one time had lost all hopes of motherhood.

Thus is my story with this favourite sweet of mine.. Emotional yet filled with beautiful memories..

Hope you all try it and your family loves it too. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 Cup wheat Semolina/ Sooji/ Rava

3/4 Cup Jaggery

2 and 1/2 Cups water

3 Tbsp Ghee

2 Tbsp broken Cashews

1 Tbsp Raisins

Step by step recipe:

1. Keep 3/4 Cup Jaggery to melt in 2 and 1/2 Cups water.

2. Heat ghee in a pan (I use iron kadhai for this) and fry cashews and raisins till cashews brown slightly.

3. Add semolina and roast on medium flame till it turns aromatic and changes colour. Takes about 3 to 5 mins.

4. Now see that jaggery is completely melted in the water and the water is really hot.

5. Add this boiling jaggery water through a sieve (to remove impurities if any) to the roasted semolina.

6. Mix well continuously on medium flame removing lumps till the mixture cooks well.

7. Serve warm.

Notes:

* You can also add cardamom powder if you love the flavour. I add sometimes too.

* Be sure to keep stirring continuously after you add jaggery water to the semolina. Else the mixture forms lumps.

* We are a sweet tooth family. So 3/4 Cup Jaggery for 1 Cup semolina is perfect for us. You can reduce if you don’t like your sheera extra sweet.

* I have purposely added more than double of water to semolina as it leads to the sheera turning super soft which we love.

* You can increase the ghee to 1/4 Cup if desired.

Soups

Narangi Shorba | Orange flavoured Pumpkin soup

July 16, 2020 Healthy Cooking with Mitha 2 Comments

Pumpkin is a common vegetable in our home as we love making simple upkari (stir fry konkani style) with it to go with our matta rice congee (gruel) for dinner. It’s a simple soul food that we enjoy during week days. Kids too love pumpkin very much.

Along with upkari, I also make this soup regularly specially as evening snack for kids. It is filling, tasty and very healthy. Also since pumpkin is thick in texture, there is no need to add any thickening agent like corn flour or cream to this soup.

It not only turns thick but also delicious to slurp on. Orange juice gives it the tangy flavour and also the gorgeous colour. Hope you all try it too. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 Cups peeled and chopped Pumpkin

1/2 Cup peeled and chopped Carrot

1/2 Cup chopped Onion

1/4 Cup freshly squeezed Orange juice

3 Green chillies

1 Tbsp Butter

1/2 tsp Pepper powder

Salt to taste

Step by step recipe:

1. Add the pumpkin pieces, carrots, onions and green chillies with little water in a pot and cook till the veggies turn soft and water almost evaporates.