Spicy Mysore Vadas

 

I like spicy Mysore vadas which can be had as a snack or starter with green coriander chutney or garlic chutney or coconut chutney. Since I learnt to make dahi vadas in the oven I decided to see if I could use the same batter with added ingredients to make Mysore vadas.   

Ingredients: 

• ½ cup (150 gm) of Urad Dal (husked split black gram lentil)
• ½ cup (150 gm) of Moong Dal (husked split green gram lentil)
• 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder 
• 1 teaspoon Jeera / Cumin seeds 
• 1 inch of Ginger finely chopped
• 2  green chillies finely chopped
• 1 small red onion chopped
• 10 – 15 curry leaves shredded or roughly chopped.
• Salt as per taste

Method:

• Wash well and soak urad and moong dals for 4-5 hours or overnight. 
• Strain the excess water and then grind together in a food processor. Grind in small batches and add a table spoon of water to ensure it is loose enough to grind but the batter has to remain thick.
• Add ginger, onions, green chillies and curry leaves.
• Add the jeera, salt as per taste and baking powder
• Stir well to mix the batter.
• Preheat fan assisted oven to 180 C for 10 minutes.
• Prepare the cupcake moulds / tray by brushing the insides of each mould with any vegetable or olive oil.
• Spoon the batter in the greased cupcake moulds and bake for 15 – 20 minutes. 
• Check using toothpick if the centre is coming out clean it is cooked.
• Let them cool for 10 minutes and remove from the mould.

You will get 8 – 10 vadas depending on the size of your moulds.

Serve with chutney of your choice or indeed just on tis own as a snack with hot masala chai.

Dahi Vadas in the Oven

 I love having vadas but I do not do any deep frying at home. I only have them when I got out to eat. In UK, I used to buy the mendu vada instant mix pack where I would prepare the batter and make flattened vadas by shallow frying. It was an option since I could not go out often to eat it. However, when I moved to Australia, I have many Indian restaurants near enough so I do not need to make them myself. Indeed, I have also managed to get Mysore vadas and dahi vadas too. I still wondered if I could make vada at home without deep frying. Then I found a recipe which was about cooking the vada in the oven. This sounded good as I can not eat too many dahi vada and for just a couple it was always easier to eat out. Since I have not been out to eat for over a year, I decided it was time to give this oven recipe a try and enjoy guilt free Dahi Vadas.

Ingredients making vadas:

• ½ cup (150 gm) of Urad Dal (husked split black gram lentil)
• ½ cup (150 gm) of Moong Dal (husked split green gram lentil)
• 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Jeera / Cumin seeds
• 1 inch of Ginger finely chopped
• Salt as per taste

Method:

• Wash well and soak urad and moong dals for 4-5 hours or overnight.
• Strain the excess water and then grind together in a food processor. Grind in small batches and add a table spoon of water to ensure it is loose enough to grind but the batter has to remain thick.
• Add the jeera, ginger, salt as per taste and baking powder and mix it into the batter.
• Preheat fan assisted oven to 180 C for 10 minutes.
• Prepare the cupcake moulds / tray by brushing the insides of each mould with any vegetable or olive oil.
• Spoon the batter in the greased cupcake moulds and bake for 15 – 20 minutes.
• Check using toothpick if the centre is coming out clean it is cooked.
• Let them cool for 10 minutes and remove from the mould.   

You will get 8 – 10 vadas depending on the size of your moulds 

Ingredients for dahi vada:

• Prepared vadas
• Plain Greek yogurt
• Green chilli and coriander chutney
• Sweet tamarind and dates chutney
• Roasted cumin powder
• Red chilli powder
• Salt to taste

Assembling  the dahi vada:

• Once the vadas re removed from the mould place them in warm water for couple of minutes.
• Remove from the water and gently squeeze between your hands to remove excess water.
• Place one or two vada in a shallow bowl.
• Whisk some plain yogurt to make it loose. You might want to add a spoonful of water just to get it loosened to the consistency of custard. You can add salt to taste.
•  Pour the dahi over the vadas and cover them completely
• Garnish with some tangy tamarind and dates chutney and spicy green coriander chutney.
• Sprinkle some jeera powder and red chili powder.

Tips for serving:

• You can sweeten the yogurt with a little sugar instead of salt.
• You can also add garlic chutney to the garnish.
• Fresh chopped coriander can also be used to garnish the dahi vada.

 

 

Palak Paneer

I have a love hate relationship with this veggie dish. It mostly feels to bland and more so when some recipes use cream in the making. I also have been put off by what I have identified as too many steps to preparation of it. I tend to use palak (spinach) in another recipe of mong dal with palak. Again, I have not made it in ages for it ends up slightly bland. Maybe I am being stingy in the spicing or is it that I forget to add more to counter the natural bland taste of the ingredients. This time when I got a bag of small palak and almost forgot it in the fridge I decided to make sure it does not get thrown away and salad is not an option as it is not hot enough during the day to just have a large salad for dinner. And surprise there was also some paneer in the fridge… maybe the universe is saying make the damn palak paneer! I looked up a few different recipes and decided to mix them up and come up with my own.

Ingredients 

• 250 gm of paneer cut into pieces to the size you want
• 120 – 150 gm of palak (leaves only)
• 1 medium red onion thinly sliced (you can use brown or even white onion)
• 2 medium green chillies finely sliced
• ½ inch ginger finely sliced
• 5 – 6 cloves of garlic sliced (optional)
• 1 large tomato chopped 
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
•  Salt to taste
• 1 table spoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

Method

• Wash and drain the palak. Boil water and add the palak and blanch for a minute. Drain and put aside to cool.
• Into the pain add the oil and cumin and sauté till it starts browning.
• Add the sliced onion, ginger, chillies and garlic and sauté the masala till onions are translucent. Remove half of the masala into a plate and cool it off.
• To the left-over masala in the pan add tomatoes and continue cooking till tomatoes are soft and breaking up.
• Put the cooled palak and the onion ginger garlic and chilli mix in a food processer and grind it coarsely. Many recipes call for very fine grinding but I prefer coarse to retain some texture.
• Once the tomatoes are cooked add the spices and cook for a further few minutes till the oil is released from the cooked masala.
• Then add the ground palak into the masala. Stir well and add a couple of spoons of water to loosen the mixture. Cover with lid and cook for a about 3 – 5 mins on medium heat so that the palak is fully cooked. 
• Add the paneer and stir well. Again, cover the pan and leave to cook for a few minutes so that the paneer gets warmed up and absorbs the spice flavours.

Tips to Serve

• Add a table spoon of cream / malai or butter and stir well. 
• Garnish with some fresh chopped coriander.
• Serve with naan or paratha or roti.

I must say the spicing was exactly right. I added some butter to get a richer taste. The taste was hot and tangy and I was very happy with the overall flavour. 

Whole Bhindi Sabji (whole Okra)

 

This is one of my favourite vegetables and my eyes light up at the sight of the bhindi sabji. It is cooked in many different ways in many countries of the world. It is also called lady’s fingers (the green seed filled pod that is edible). The variety is slightly different in Australia than in India and UK. The vegetable is thicker and bigger than what I have been used to in the past. When I first saw it here I wondered if it would be actually tender. I was pleasantly surprised that it is nice and soft but the seeds do tend to be bigger. However, I find this thicker skin variety does not suit my stomach and have had to resort to using the Indian variety as that come in frozen packs. This recipe is similar to the bharva bhindi but since I have frozen bhindi and cannot cut and stuff it, I have to crisp the bhindi with enough masala to coat the bhindi.

Ingredients

• 300 gm of whole small bhindi
• 1 large onion
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger
• Half spoon of cumin seeds
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt to taste 
• A pinch of sugar
• Half tea spoon of red chilli powder
• Half teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons of coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
• ½ teaspoon of garam masala
• 1 tablespoon of sattu atta or besan/gram flour
• Some lemon juice to taste
• Chopped fresh coriander to garnish

Preparation

• Chop onion – half it and then cut lengthways in about ½ to 1 cm chunks. These will cook down but still be visible and form the part of the masala around the bhindi. Chop ginger too into match sticks.
• Heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. It will heat up within a few minutes with the seeds darkening in colour. 
• Next add the chopped onion and ginger and sauté for a couple of minutes.
• Add the bhindi into the pan. Leave the lid off the pan when cooking. 
• Once the bhindi is half cooked add the salt, sugar, chilli powder, coriander and cumin powder, turmeric and the sattu atta /besan/ gram flour.
• Continue cooking with occasional stirring till the bhindi is cooked to almost crispy and spices plus the sattu atta and onions has blended to coat the bhindi.
• Add the garam masala last and cook for a minute longer.
• Add lemon juice and freshly chopped coriander to garnish.

Naan and its varieties

I love naans and often get ready made ones which just have to be warmed in the oven or under the grill. However, I am conscious that it is made with plain flour / maida and is there for less healthy than whole meal flour or roti atta. The reader is free to use which ever flour they want to use. This recipe makes 5 naans. You can make these fresh ones under the grill or on the flat gridle / tawa.

Ingredients:

• 300 gm of Plain flour / whole meal flour / roti atta
• 2 heaped tablespoons of plain yogurt at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil or any vegetable oil
• Warm water as required
• 2 teaspoons of ghee or butter

Method:

• In a shallow bowl – mix flour, salt, sugar and oil. Mix to ensure it is evenly spread.
• Add the yogurt and mix it into the flour.
• Now add small quantities of warm water to bring the dough together. The dough needs to be soft and kneaded for a few minutes. Then take a few drops of oil on the palm and gently knead the dough so it is covered in the oil. 
• Cover with a lid or cloth and leave it to prove for half an hour minimum. I have often left it for a couple of hours without any problems.
• When ready to cook give the dough a quick knead and divide into 5 equal parts. 

Tawa Cooking

• If cooking on a tawa you need to start heating it before you roll out the naan.
• Take the ball of dough and press it between your palms to flatten and then cover with flour ready to roll.
• Place on the flat surface / chakalo / patlo (dusted with flour) and roll it out with a rolling pin to a circle of 15 - 17 cm in diameter.
• (If you make with maida or plain flour and the dough is sufficiently soft you can use your fingers to shape the naan without having to toll it out.)
• Now that the tawa is hot place the rolled-out naan on to it. 
• As the surface starts to lose it raw look turn over the naan.
• In a couple of minutes check and you will see that there are darkened spots. Time to turn is back and let the other side cook. Most often you will see the naan balloon out as air fills it out.
• Remove from the tawa and place between folded layers of tea cloth to keep it warm.

Grill Cooking

• For using the grill – place a foil over the tray under the grill and start the grill to warm it up.
• When the naan is rolled out place it on the foil and return the tray back under the grill.
• Again, as you see it getting cooked and dark spots emerge remove the tray from under the grill and turn over the naan. Replace the tray back under the grill and let it cook. You should be able to see the air creating bubbles on the naan.
• Remove the naan from the tray and place between folded layers of tea cloth to keep it warm.
• Apply small amount o ghee or butter as each one is done.

Variations of the Naan

• You can sprinkle kalonji / nigella seeds on to the rolled-out naan and pat it down.
• You can sprinkle til / sesame seeds on to the rolled-out naan and pat it down.
• You can sprinkle poppy seeds on to the rolled-out naan and pat it down.
• You can sprinkle slithers of garlic on to the surface of the rolled-out naan and gently run the rolling pin to press down the garlic. Alternately you can mix the garlic into the dough just before you start rolling out.
• You can sprinkle coriander leaves on to the rolled-out naan and pat it down.
• You can also sprinkle cheese over the naan once it is cooked and melt the cheese under the grill.

Onion Sambhar

 

Sambhar is one of my favourite dal. This is a South Indian preparation with as many variations as households.  There variations in the spices and ingredients and it always tantalises the palate. It is eaten with rice, dosa, idli or mendu vada.  Till now I used to use the ready-made sambhar powder and very much in the way I prepare most lentils that is boil them make the masala or add onions garlic ginger chillies tomatoes once the lentils have boiled and then temper it with different ingredients. For sambhar that generally mean tempering with mustard seeds, pinch of asafoetida, a teaspoon of urad dal (black gram lentil), a teaspoon of channa dal (split chickpea) and a few curry leaves. It was good sambhar and have enjoyed it for years but recently I got some instructions from a friend about how to make sambhar and the use of freshly ground spices as taught to her by her mother in law. Now this is the kind of recipe that’s valuable and is passed down the generations.

Ingredients

• 150 grams of tuvar dal (split pigeon pea lentils) alternately you can also use masoor dal (red lentils)
• 15 – 20 baby onions (if you do not have these tiny onions you can use 1 large onion cut into chunks. I used frozen baby onions as that is what I had) You can add more onions if you wish.
• 1 table spoon of tamarind paste
• ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 table spoon of olive oil or any vegetable oil
• ¾ teaspoon of mustard seeds
• ¼ teaspoon of asafoetida
• 10 – 12 curry leaves

For sambhar powder –

• 1 teaspoon channa dal (split chickpeas)
• 1 teaspoon urad dal (black gram lentil)
• 8  small red chillies or 4 large ones
• 2 teaspoon coriander seeds
• ¼ teaspoon methi (fenugreek seeds)
• 1 pinch of asafoetida

 

Method

• Wash and clean the lentils. Put in a pan cover them with an inch of water and boil. You can also cook it in a pressure cooker. Once cooked put them aside.
• Put all the sambhar powder ingredients in a frying pan and roast the spices over a hot flame. Stir to ensure it does not burn. In a couple of minutes, you will smell the aroma of the roasted spices. Remove from the pan into a plate so that they can cool down.
• Add the oil and mustard seeds in a saucepan and heat till the mustard seeds start to crackle. Add the asafoetida and curry leaves.
• Then add the onions to the pan. Sauté it for a couple of minutes and add a cup of water, tamarind paste, salt and turmeric powder. Stir and leave it to cook for till the onion softens which should be within 2 – 3 minutes.
• While the onion is cooking take the cooled roasted spices and grind them in a spice or coffee grinder. It does not have to be finely powdered. Some coarse bits are good as they thicken the sambhar nicely. You will get around 2 table spoons of powder.
• Once the onions are cooked add the cooked lentils and the sambhar powder.  Add another cup of water and stir well. Bring to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes.
• Serve straight away or you can reheat and serve later so this can be prepared in advance.

Tips

1. As suggested in the ingredients you can use red lentils as well which is useful as they cook a lot faster than tuvar dal. I do not use a pressure cooker and find that it is easier to cook tuvar dal by soaking it in hot water. Leave for an hour or so. The check the water level and reheat the pan and bring the lentils to a boil. Again, leave it to cool while the lentil actually gets slow cooked. The third time I just cook it on a medium to low flame or 1 -3 on an electric hob till it is cooked. It takes about 30 – 40 minutes.
2. Also if you do not get baby onions you can use shallots or red onion as they taste sweeter than white onions.
3. I have it on good authority that you can make mixed veg – onions, beans, drumstick, aubergine, potato, gourd, muli (white raddish) or even pumpkin sambhar. The trick is to cook the vegetables before adding the cooked lentils and sambhar powder.
4. You can use fresh tamarind where you soak a handful and then squeeze the pulp for use or indeed use lemon juice. The sourness of the sambhar can be adjusted to your taste. Similarly, the heat in the sambhar powder can be adjusted to your tasted by increasing or decreasing the red chillies.
5. You can add coriander leaves as garnish on top.

Rava Handvo

Rava Handvo

I have always loved this typical Gujarati dish handvo, but have not made as it has been an elaborate recipe and required a specific utensil, the handvo cooker. We had one of these when I was growing up. My mother used to soak the lentils and rice overnight and, in the morning, it was ground in a stone motor pestle. Then the cooker was readied. In the picture you will see the small pan which is filled with sand and placed on the gas hob. The large pan which is shaped like a ring mould is placed on top and tempering prepared. Once the mustard crackles the handvo mixture which is fairly thick is poured in. The lid placed and this delicious mixture bakes slowly. Also, to make it soft my mother used to add some grated bottle gourd / doodhi.

Handvo Cooker

Now you can get a ready mixed flour where you add the water and any vegetables you want and place it in an oven dish and bake it. I have tried this once but was never convinced about it as there are many additives. So, when I saw a recipe where I can cook it on the hob in a frying pan and I did not have to soak and grind ingredients as well as without overnight prepping I was sold.

Ingredients

For Dough Mix

• 1 cup rava /semolina (I have used coarse as that’s what I had but you can use fine one too)
• ½ cup yogurt
• 1 cup water
• ½ teaspoon Eno fruit salt or baking soda
• 1 large courgette/zucchini grated using large grater
• 1 inch of finely chopped ginger
• 2 green chillies finely chopped (adjust according to taste or even leave it out)
• Handful of coriander finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• Salt to taste

For Tempering

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
• 10 – 15 curry leaves
• A big pinch of asafoetida
• 1 – 1 ½ teaspoon of white sesame seeds

Method

• In a clean large bowl put the rava and yogurt. Start mixing with a spoon. Add water slowly and till you get a good thick batter.
• Set it aside for 10 – 15 mins as the water will get absorbed and further thicken the batter. Add a little more water to loosen the batter so that it can just be poured into the frying pan.
• While the batter is resting grate the courgette, chop the ginger, chillies and coriander.
• Once prepared add the vegetables and herbs to the batter. Stir well and add a tablespoon of oil plus the Eno fruit salt and table salt to taste.
• Heat the oil for tempering in the frying pan with mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds begin to crackle add asafoetida and curry leaves. As the leaves begin to fry add the sesame seeds. Swirl the oil around so sesame seeds get coated.
• Pour the batter into the frying pan and shake it to ensure it is evenly spread. Turn the hob to low gas flame or minimum on the electric hob. Put a lid on the frying pan so the handvo cooks in the steam that is generated.
• This slow cooking for about 20 minute allows the bottom to crisp up and the edges to come away from the side. The top is also set but not completely.
• Slide the handvo on to a plate and then flip it back into the frying pan so that the other side can be cooked.
• Cover the frying pan with the lid again and leave to crisp up for another 10 – 15 minutes.
• Slide it into a plate (tempered side up) and cut into slices like a pizza.

Tips

• Serve it with some coriander and chilli chutney or ketchup or any other condiment that takes your fancy.
• The texture of the inside of the handvo was pretty soft as the courgette had melted totally. This makes me think addition of slightly firmer vegetables will give a crunch as well as thickness to the handva.
• If the yogurt s slightly sour it gives a nice tang to the final dish.
• You can use vegetable to peanut oil instead of olive oil. You can omit the tablespoon of oil that goes into the mixing of the batter to reduce the fat content.
• After this success I will try adding other vegetables too. Grated carrot, finely sliced or shredded runner beans, finely chopped onions, cabbage, maybe peas, capsicum can be tried. Some suggest even adding garlic but personally am not sure it will make a good match but feel free to try.
• This picture of the prepared handvo is what you get for the ingredient quantities stated and serves 2.

2 portions as a meal or 4 as a snack or starter

Buttermilk Scones

In the past we have tried different recipes for scones and none ever hit quite the right note. It would be a bit dry or crumblier than we would have liked or sometimes a bit dense. This time round we saw a recipe on one of the websites and decided to try that. Right from the word go we had plain flour and not self-raising, but then you can use baking powder to get the right effect. The recipe called for ¾ cup of buttermilk but when mixing the dough, it was too dry and crumbly so more butter milk was added. I like raisins in the scones so even though they were not in the recipe some were added. The scones turned out superb and light and just right.

Ingredients

• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 40 grams of butter – chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1 ¼ cups of butter milk  
• ½ cup of raisins

Method

• Preheat the oven to 220°C.
• Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
• Rub in the butter into the flour with your fingertips. It does not have to be perfectly mixed.
• Make a well in the centre of the ingredients and add the buttermilk.
• Start mixing with a spoon and finish with your fingers.
• Add raisins and knead just until it comes together but do not overwork it.
• Using floured fingers press the dough between the palms of your hands to form a round shape about an inch thick.
• About 12 scones can be made from these ingredients.
• Place on a lined baking tray.
• Brush the tops with some more buttermilk.
• Bake in the middle of the oven for 10–15 mins or until lightly coloured on the top and bottom.
• Take them out of the oven and leave to cool on a rack.

Serving Tips

• Serve with butter, jam and clotted cream should you have some.
• Jams traditionally used are strawberry or raspberry jam. But since I had none in the cupboard we used just as wonderful cherry jam and quince jam.
• Also, to get a savoury taste you can have it with some cheese – cheddar cheese seems to work quite well.

Vendhiya Uttapum

I am getting adventurous and my friends are gobsmacked at my enthusiasm for trying out new recipes. I am not a very good recipe follower and I have to be careful and follow it to the T for the first time.  This one is a recipe given to me by my long-time friend and she was pleased to see my efforts.

Ingredients

• 1 cup parboiled rice or raw short grain rice
• ¾ cup of tuvar dal (pigeon peas lentil)
• ½ cup of urad dal (husk free black gram lentil)
• 2 tablespoons of methi (fenugreek seeds)
• 10 – 15 curry leaves
• 2 table spoons of chopped coriander leaves
• 1 finely chopped onion
• Salt to taste
• Oil or ghee to cook

Method

• Gather the rice, lentils and methi in a bowl. Wash thoroughly and discard the water. Then add fresh water to about an inch above the mix and leave to soak for 3 hours.
• Drain out the water into a glass and set aside for loosening the batter.
• Add the curry leaves to the mixture.
• Grind the mixed curry leaves, rice, lentils and methi in to a fairly fine paste.
• Remove it to a bowl and add some of that water to loosen the batter. The batter should not be too thick that it falls from the ladle as a dollop. Nor should it be runny.
• Add salt and coriander leaves to the mix and leave it aside to rest for 15 – 30 mins.
• When you are ready to make the uttapum check again the consistency of the batter and add a bit of water if the batter has thickened.
• Heat the pan and add a few drops of oil or ghee to coat the surface.
• Put two ladles of batter from the centre of the pan outwards.
• Sprinkle onions on to top of the uttapum.
• Drizzle some oil on the surface and cover the frying pan with a lid.
• Cook the uttapum in the steam generated till the edges come off the pan.
• Remove the lid and flip the uttapum over to cook on the other side.
• Check to see if it is done and remove to a plate.
• Serve it with coconut chutney or pickle or podi.

Tips

Original recipe did not have onions or coriander so they can be omitted. I like them so I added them. Maybe next time I will add some green chillies too.

I had the uttapum with gongurai pickle

ANZAC Biscuits

Anzac biscuits are associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) which was established during World War I. It is believed that these biscuits were sent by wives and women's groups to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and so the biscuits remained good to eat after time it took to transport them.

While there is evidence that soldiers on the Western Front in France and Belgium received oats-based biscuits there is little information regarding their consumption by the ANZACs troops.

However, these biscuits became popular and named ANZAC biscuits becasue they were sold at fetes, galas, parades in Australia and New Zealand to raise funds for the war effort. At that time, they were referred to as “soldier’s biscuits” and later called ANZAC biscuits.

We discovered these when we moved to Australia. It was only a few years ago we tried making them and since we enjoyed the taste and the thought behind making these biscuits it has become a regular bake for ANZAC Day in our house.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of rolled oats
• 1 cup of plain flour
• ¾ cup of desiccated coconut
• 2/3 cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup of golden syrup / honey
• 125 gm of unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 table spoons of water

Method

• Put all dry ingredients in to a bowl.
• Put the golden syrup and butter in a small pan and heat gently till the butter melts and mises with the syrup.
• Then mix pout the wet warm mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients.
• Mix well with a spatula first and then with your hands.
• Preheat your oven to 160 C.
• With your hands shape the mix into palm size biscuits or you can use any mould to shape your biscuits. Try and keep the thickness of the biscuit between 1 and 1 ½ centimetre to ensure even and quick cooking.
• Place the biscuits on a tray lined with grease proof paper.
• Cook in middle of the oven for 10 mins till golden brown.
• Allow them to cool a little before removing them from the tray and leaving on a rack to completely cool.
• The store in a closed container.

Thavala Dosa

Right… back to my love for dosas. I saw a new recipe put up by my friend on Facebook for thavala dosa. I was happy to see it was a quick one where I did not have to do any soaking or prepping the day before. Generally, this is what stops me from making dosas from scratch as I think I want one and of course since I do not have the batter ready I cannot. If I buy the readymade batter then it is possible to make it immediately or else, I have to go out to eat. This recipe did turn out all right even for an amateur like me. The recipe makes dosas for 4 people and since we are only 2, I saved half the ground mixture for another day. In fact, the second time I added a teaspoon of cumin seeds in the batter and it tasted lovely. The sourness to the dosa comes from the yogurt and there is no need to ferment the batter. I also found that making the batter a little thinner than the original recipe was better as you got lacy dosa. The texture is similar to oats dosa.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• ½ cup tuvar dal (pigeon pea lentil)
• 2 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour yogurt
• A few curry leaves

Method

• Mix the rice, tuvar dal and peppercorns in one bowl. These ingredients have to be ground in the dry grinder of the food processor. The flour should be ground to the consistency of coarse suji / rava. (A tip – I tried to do the grinding in the bigger mixer which I use for wet grinding in the hope that I could do the lot in 2 halves. Not a wise idea as it was not getting anywhere near the consistency I wanted. So, had to change to smaller portions being ground in the dry grinder. Also, it requires a fair old whizz to get to the right texture.)
• Put the flour in a big bowl. Add cumin seeds and salt.
• The curry leaves can be added whole or chopped finely (I prefer to chop them).
• Add the yogurt and stir to mix the ingredients.
• If necessary add water to get the consistency required.
• Let the batter rest for 15 – 30 mins.
• When ready to make preheat the non-stick frying pan or tawa.
• Add a few drops of oil and since the pan is warm you should be able to spread the oil drops by just moving the pan.
• Ladle the batter on to the hot frying pan. You can spread it with the back of the ladle or just pour the batter in circular motion from centre to outwards.
• Drizzle a few drops of oil on top and cover the frying pan with a lid.
• You will see the edges lift off the pan as the dosa gets cooked. Flip the dosa and cook on the other side for a few minutes.
• Then serve it with coconut chutney or idli podi or with potato sabji like I did.

Adai Dosa

           

One of my all-time favourite food is dosa, dosa in any form, plain or masala, regular or rava. For many years in UK going out for a dosa was a rare treat. As more Indian places to eat opened there were a few which served some of the basic dosas. You could be the readymade mix in which you added water to make the batter and make at home which was too time consuming as I found out once. I was so tried after making so many dosas which disappeared faster than I could make. These were just masala dosa where I am not sure I got the potato filling right either. If this was such a chore where the batter is more or less ready-made, I could not even contemplate doing it from scratch.

Now that I do not work, I have been trying out recipes and making them from scratch. Yes, my blog has many of these and in the last couple of years I have tried new stuff but not updated my blog. The other day I needed to do one for Rice Peas and my spark to blog got reignited. I have a number of friends who are expert in making dosas of all kinds and the most basic one is made with rice and urad dal (black gram lentil without the husk). The proportion of rice to the dal is 1: ½. Take one cup of rice and half cup urad dal in a bowl. Add a few fenugreek seeds and soak all over night. Then grind the rice and dal mix without adding water to a fine paste. Remove to a bowl and add water to make a batter. The consistency should be such that you are able to pour and spread with a spoon. Add some salt according to taste and set aside for a few hours to ferment. I generally grind and prepare the batter in the morning if I wish to make dosas for dinner.

Having learnt to do this and finding it was not too onerous as doing things a bit at a time suits my working style now, I thought I would like to try something new. Hence the venture into the unknown with adai dosa.

Ingredients

• Half cup Tuvar dal (pigeon peas lentils)
• Half cup Moong dal (green bean lentils without the husk)
• Half cup Urad dal (black bean lentils without the husk)
• Half cup Masoor dal (red lentils)
• Half cup Chana dal (Bengal gram lentils)
• 1 cup of Rice
• 2 teaspoons Fenugreek seeds
• 1 table spoon of chopped coriander leaves (optional as I have friends who do not like it)
• ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional as one of my friends puts it)
• Salt to taste
• Oil to cook and I use it sparingly so about a table spoon is enough.

Method

• Put all the lentils, rice and fenugreek in a bowl and wash with cold water to remove any dust or extra starch. Drain the water and then fill the bowl with fresh water till it covers the contents plus another centimetre.  Cover the bowl and leave to soak overnight.
• In the morning drain and leave the water to one side. Grind the soaked dals, rice and fenugreek seeds mixture in a food processor. The batter should feel smooth to touch.
• Remove the batter in a bowl and add that left over water a little at a time to get the batter to single cream consistency so you can use a ladle to pour in the pan and also use the back of the ladle to spread it in the pan.
• Cover the bowl and leave to the side in a warm space so that the batter can ferment. As stated earlier I leave the batter for 4 hours at least.
• When you are ready to cook add salt and coriander leaves.
• Stir the batter to check the consistency. If the batter feels thicker you can add a little more water to loosen it.
• Get the oil out in a small bowl and a spoon.
• Heat the frying pan on your hob. Usually cast iron flat pan is used for making dosa and I do not have one. For one thing I cannot lift it as its too heavy for my wrists. Instead I use a good quality non-stick frying pan and it works just as well.
• Once the pan is hot put a few drops of oil and rotate the pan to let the oil cover the surface. Since the pan is non-stick this is enough.
• Take a ladle full of batter and put it in the middle of the pan. Using the back of the ladle and circular movement from the centre outwards spread the batter into a nice circle. Its ok if it is not all evenly spread. The thinner bits give the dosa its crispy bits.
• Put a few drops of oil on top and cover the frying pan with a lid so the steam created helps the cooking.
• When you see the edges getting crisp coming off the pan you can turn the dosa over. Often people find cooking one side is enough however since I am a novice at this, I prefer to turn it over and make sure it is cooked all the way through.
• Once cooked flip it back and fold it over and serve.

Serving tips

I sometimes make the potato filling and or sambhar (thick lentil soup is the best way I can explain to people who are not familiar with Indian foods) or coconut chutney or all of them. You can also have it with savoury pickles like gongura or ginger pickle or tomato chutney.

Left over batter can be put in the fridge and saved for another day. It can be kept for 2-4 days. Just make sure you leave it out of the fridge for a few hours to bring it back to room temperature and get the fermentation going again.

Rice Peas

My all-time favourite Jamaican dish first encountered when I visited Jamaica years ago. Of course, it is part of the meal where you can have fish and veggies along with it. But I love it on its own and yes some of my Jamaican friend will say its is not totally authentic but one makes do with what ingredients one can get and cooking skills. And as long as you enjoy the dish what else matters? This makes enough for 4 – 6 people. If you are like me and eat it just as a complete meal then it will serve 4 but if it is an accompaniment it will stretch to 6.

Ingredients

• 2 tins of red beans (you can go for dry beans which then you have to soak overnight and cook)
• 1 can of coconut cream (you can have milk it you want to make it less creamy) plus same amount of water.
• 1 cup basmati rice washed and kept aside (I use a 225 ml cup)
• 1 medium onion or a couple of large shallots finely chopped
• 4 medium chopped green chillies or if you can get it and are adventurous 1 scotch bonnet pepper – this should just be added whole)
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme (half teaspoon of dried thyme if you cannot get fresh)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (or coconut oil or vegetable oil)
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Method

•   Open the beans tins and wash the beans of preservative juices and set aside.
•   In a pan put the oil, onions and chillies to sauté on medium heat.
•  Once the onions begin to soften add the thyme in too.
•   Then add coconut cream and the water to the pan and bring it to a simmer.
•  Add the red beans in and bring it to the boil. Boil for a 10 mins. 
• Add the washed rice and stir to make sure all the beans and rice and onions are mixed.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Bring to boil, then cover the pan with a tight lid and lower the heat to minimum.
•  Leave to cook till you see all the liquid just about absorbed. Turn off the heat and keep the lid closed for another 5 mins so the liquid is completely absorbed.
• Then serve it as a side to any veggies or fish or meat.

Broccolini and Snake Bean Stir Fry

I got some good broccolini as it is in season. I also had some snake beans that I had bought to cook with potato for a dry curry as usual. Some days I just need to take it easy and working hard over a hot hob is not welcome specially when the outside temperature is pretty high. I ran over the list of veggies I had in my fridge and freezer and decided that I would use the broccolini and the beans. If this was not enough, I would take out some of the mixed frozen vegetables to add into it. Once everything was chopped, I did not need to add the other vegetables. But just for those interested the vegetable mix I have is French beans, broccoli, snow peas. Just as I started out flexibly with the vegetables, I also made up the other ingredients as I went along.  I would add a half inch of fresh ginger cut into matchsticks the next time. The end result could not have been better. I had this stir fry with a pile of creamy mashed potatoes. Some left over stir fry was reheated and had as a filling of a sandwich the next day. It is nice to have found a different veggie dish that I like. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Ingredients

• 2 bunches of broccolini (generally about 8 stalks per bunch)
• 1 bunch of snake beans (generally about 10 – 12 beans per bunch)
• 1 medium onion
• 3 – 4 cloves of garlic (you can have more of less according to your taste or indeed omit it as well)
• 1 table spoon of pine nuts
• 1 teaspoon of crushed wattle seeds (I used the wattle seed tea which is coarse rather than powder)
• 1 tablespoon of hemp seeds
• 1 ½ tablespoons of green chillies sauce (I used Byron Bay Jalapeno Chilli Sauce which is tangy and not very hot. You can adjust this to your taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons of Olive oil for frying

Method

• Chop the broccolini and the beans at an angle to about 2 inches long pieces. I kept the tender tops of the broccolini separately from the stalks.
• Finely slice the onion and garlic cloves.
• In a wok or large heavy frying pan heat up the olive oil.
• Once the oil is really hot, add the onion and garlic and stir.
• As it gets semi cooked add the pine nuts.
• Stir the nuts and onions a couple of times and ad the beans and the broccolini stalk first.
• Add the salt at this time.
• Once they begin to soften add the broccolini tops and continue to stir.
• Add the chilli sauce and pepper
• Stop cooking when there is still a little crunch left in the vegetables.
• Put it out in a serving dish and sprinkle the wattle seed and the hemp seeds as garnish.

Papaya Salad

I often see green papayas in the fruit and veg shop and think one day I should try some. When I was a kid, I used to visit family friends and grandma there used to make papaya salad…… I dimly remember. However, I am not sure how exactly she made it. I have friends who make it and also seen some recipes but really needed to get over the inertia and buy some. One day while chatting to a friend online we got to talking about what was cooked for dinner and papaya salad was one of the dishes. I got a quick rundown on the ingredients and the method. Of course, not having written in down I had to rely on memory and these days it is not as good as it used to be. Did another recon of the food websites and got a better idea of what basics were and created my own from the ingredients that I had at home. Also, I cannot use the soy sauce that was identified in some recipes as I am allergic to it. Neither do I use palm sugar or fish sauce hence the adaptation of dressing ingredients. I must say it turned out nice, tangy and crunchy with a hint of heat.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of shredded green papaya
• 1 medium carrot shredded
• 1 medium onion finely sliced
• ¼ cup finely sliced long beans
• 1 ripe tomato (I used the roma one) again finely sliced
• 1 table spoon of roughly chopped fresh coriander leaves
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar (you can use honey as well. I tried using that as well once)
• 2 – 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. (again, I tend to taste and see if it is right as people can tolerate different levels of sourness.)

Method

• Shred and slice all the vegetables and put in a bowl.
• Put the sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small jar and shake to mix well and dissolve the sugar completely.
• Then pour the dressing over the papaya, carrots, onions and tomato.
• Stir well and garnish with the coriander.

When served immediately the salad is nice and crunchy and dressing light on it. You can keep it for a few hours in the fridge and the dressing has a pickling effect and acquires a different dimension. I had some left over and sat it in the fridge for later and found this delightful change.

My version of Ash Reshteh – Persian Bean and Noodle Soup

My husband is a foodie – in that he scours the net for recipes from all over the world. Being a vegetarian he loves looking for vegetarian dishes from different countries. Also he loves sweets and thus has a huge collection of cakes and puddings and every type of dessert. There are times when he will pick out something to try and if we do not have all the ingredients we either have to wait and get it next shopping round or improvise. Now many a time waiting to get all ingredients is not good as we forget and the recipe remains untasted.

We have moved homes just a couple of weeks ago and the effort to pack and unpack and try to get some order into the new home is tiring. In fact, I am still moving things about so that things are where I can find them / reach them. For a whole week I could not find the energy to cook at the end of the day as fatigue is hard to fight. But eventually I got the kitchen up and running. This description is shows you how we came about sitting and vegging on the net last Sunday as we were too tired to do anything. He came upon Persian recipes in some of his favourite food blogs. This one popped out and while we did not have all the ingredients putting it off did not sit well today. Quick look through the cupboard and fridge showed that we had most of the ingredients and some we could improvise. So apologies to the Persians for taking some liberties with their recipe but hey ultimately it is the taste that matters and variations are always part of and art of cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of red beans – drained and washed
• 1 can of chick pears – drained and washed
• 1 can of black beans – drained and washed (it was supposed to be 1 can of lentils but I guess we can play with which ever bean tins we have)
• 1 – 2 cups of chopped spinach (I added all I had in the freezer – tend to chop and freeze so I do not waste it if not used up right away)
• 1 packet of Singapore noodles (fresh vacuum packed ones – am sure you can use any other types of noodles but I think the fine ones will disintegrate. One of the recipe states you can use spaghetti as well. This will be cooked in the soup and of course the time for that has to be factored in)
• 1 cup fresh chopped coriander
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 2 medium green chillies finely chopped (the ones I have are fairly hot so I would say chillies according to your taste otherwise the recipe states ground black pepper)
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• ¾ teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• Salt to taste
• 1 table spoon of olive oil
• 2 – 3 tablespoons of plain yogurt (beat it smooth)

Method:

Since all the beans are cooked and from the can it takes the cooking time down quite a lot as the recipes talk about dry beans and lentils which will have to be cooked for an hour to hour and half.

In a large pan mix all the beans, adding water to cover the beans by an inch and some salt to get the beans boiling and hot. Even though these are cooked beans it is good to boil and then simmer them for about 20 mins or more to soften them further.

Meanwhile in a small saucepan pan add the olive oil and cumin seeds. Get it hot so the cumin just starts turning brown and add the onions, chillies and garlic. Sauté them till the onion goes translucent. Then add the turmeric powder and cook for a 2 – 3 mins. Once cooked add this to the pan with beans.

Add the spinach as well, bring to boil and cook for a further few minutes.

Add the noodles which just need heating for a few minutes. 

Add the coriander last. The other herbs you can add are parsley and mint.

Serve it in bowls and top it with a couple of dollops of plain yogurt. (you can also use sour cream if you want).

Then enjoy this heartwarming 1 bowl meal on a cold winter evening.

Sourdough bread – A Cheat Method to get the Taste

I love sourdough bread, does not matter if its white flour or rye or whole meal, I just love that sour taste. Every so often I look up the various recipes and think shall I make some. The time and effort it takes to make ‘mother’ the starter for it puts me off. I am not sure I have that dedication to make the starter over a period of I think couple of weeks (that was the shortest time I saw for this).

So I would yet another recipe and another and eventually I gave up the thought of homemade sourdough. I have learnt to make naan and one uses some yogurt in making the dough. This made me think, why can I not use that to make bread and see what it tastes like? I tend to use sour yogurt and so it should give sourness to the bread. And yes I was right and I have my cheat version of sourdough.

Ingredients

·       300 gm of wheat flour (roti atta will do or plain flour)
1 heaped teaspoon of yeast (I got live ones that I keep in fridge)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 to 1 and half table spoon of yogurt (sour if possible)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
Water should be warm – I generally make it just hot enough to be able to knead as that will get the yeast going.

Method

Put the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Add the yogurt and then water to knead.

Just add water as you require (I do it by feel like how you do roti atta).

Knead it for a good 5 mins.

Once it is smooth and come together take a little oil in your hand and knead it so it covers the whole outer surface of the dough ball and at the same time it will line the bowl so when it rises it will not stick to the sides.

Cover it with a lid or Clingfilm so that it does not start drying out- I found that just using a tea cloth to cover tended to dry out the surface.

Leave it for a couple of hours and it will rise to double in size. The punch the air out and re-knead for a few mins.

Shape it up for the second rising. Now at this point you can put it in the baking tin and let it rise there. Just dust the tin with some flour so it does not stick.

Bake on high heat 250 C for about 30 mins. I would check after about 25 mins. But you should know your oven and the time it takes to bake your bread. Once done turn it out on a rack to cool as otherwise it will not cut properly.

You can have variations by adding garlic in when kneading the second time. I sometimes add poppy seeds. My point is once the bread is right you can add things you like.

Have it warm with butter or with olive oil and balsamic mix for dipping.