Rawa dosa

This south-indian breakfast is made as follows

Ingredients required

• 2 tsp maida
• 2 tsp cornflour(optional)
• 1/4 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup rawa/sooji
• 1 cup sour curd/sour dosa batter (Fermented batter)
• 1 tsp whole jeera
• 1 tsp crushed peppercorn
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• salt, to taste

To temper

• 3 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp rai/mustard seeds
• few curry leaves
• 2 broken red chillies

Method

In a large bowl, mix maida, cornflour, riceflour, sooji/rawa and 1 tsp salt, mix well

Pour in sour curd/ sour dosa batter and mix well, add water and form slightly watery dosa batter consistency without forming any lumps.

Add in jeera, peppercorn, chopped green chilly and let this rest for some hours

Temper if you wish.  Now pour this batter in heated tawa in circular motion.  Then twist the tawa in orderto fill in the gap. 

Cook on both sides, serve with chutney of your choice

Beautiful, isnt it? it was tasty tooo.

Bombay chutney (Besan chutney)

This chutney goes good for dosa and chapathi

Ingredients required

To temper

• 3 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp rai or mustard seeds
• few curry leaves
• 3-4 slit green chillies

Other ingredients

• 1/2 cup of finely chopped onions
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped tomatos
• 1 tsp  ginger-garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp haldi
• 1/4 cup besan/kadalai maavu
• One cup water
• Salt, to taste

Method

In a kadaai, add ingredients for temper one by one.  Add onions and slit green chillies.

Cook till onions turn soft or transculent, add ginger-garlic paste.  This is followed by adding tomatos

Add haldi/turmeric.  Add besan and quickly add one cup water and stirr in to dissolve besan without forming any lumps

Stir in and cook in simmer flame for 5-10 minutes.  Add salt to taste.  Serve garnished with coriander leaves

This goes great with dosa.  You can also powder putane ki dal (pottukadalai) instead for using besan.

Prawn Balchao

This spicy, sweet and tangy gravy is from goa.

Ingredients required

For the masala

• 1 tsp jeera
• 1 tsp peppercorn
• 8-10 red chillies
• 1/2 tsp dhanya
• 1 tsp vinegar/lime juice
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2-inch piece of ginger
• 8 garlic cloves

Other ingredients

• 1/2 kg prawns, deshelled, deveined and cleaned
• 4 tsp oil
• 2 medium-sized onions chopped finely
• 2 medium-sized tomatos chopped finely
• few curry leaves
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tsp saunf (sombu)
• 1 green chilli slit or chopped into fine pieces

Method

Finely grind all ingredients under masala

Marinate cleaned prawns with this masala for half an hour, then cook slowly in kadaai.

In an alternate pan, temper with oil, saunf, curry leaves and green chilli finely chopped.  When done, add onions and cook till they turn soft and transculent.  Add ginger-garlic paste

Add tomatos and cook till they turn soft or mushy

Now, add this masala into pan where prawns and masala are getting cooked.  Cook till prawns are done and serve garnished with coriander leaves

Prawn balchao goes great with rice or roti

Dal Tadka

Dal Tadka, where dal means lentils and tadka means tempering.  As you would have guessed by now, dals are cooked in turmeric and mild spices and tempered with ghee just before serving.  Traditionally tuvar dal or tuvar dal combined with other dals are used for preparing this gravy, but here i used black urad dal for a change.

Ingredients required

• 1/2 cup black urad dal, soaked overnight
• Pinch of hing
• 1 tsp chilli powder(Optional)
• 4 tsp of finely chopped onions
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp haldi
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp of chopped ginger/ginger juvellies

For tadka/temper

• 3 tsp ghee
• 1 tsp rai
• 1/2 tsp ghee
• 3 tsp of chopped garlic
• 4-5 curry leaves
• 3-4 broken red chillies

Method

Pressure cook soaked dal with ginger, haldi/turmeric, chilli and garam masala, hing and onions.  Temper all ingredients one by one in a separate pan.  Adjust salt in cooked dal, and add temper to cooked dal just before serving.

Enjoy with paranthas!!

Kovaikkai podi saadham

Kovaikkai podi sadham is healthy and also tempting rice, goes too special on rainy days.

Ingredients required

• One cup cooked rice
• Half cup chopped kovaikkai
• Salt, to taste

To temper

• 3 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp rai/mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp jeera
• 6-7 curry leaves
• 2-3 red chillies broken into half

For podi/powder

• 4 tsp chana dal
• 1 tsp jeera
• 1 tsp peppercorn
• 2 tsp broken urad dal
• 1/2 tsp sombu
• 1/2 tsp dhanya whole
• 2 dry red chilly(optional)
• Handful of curry leaves

Method

In a kadaai, dry roast all ingredients given under podi and powder it

In a separate pan, add 3 tsp oil and saute kovaikkai pieces till they are cooked and turn golden brown, keep aside

In a pan, heat oil, add ingredients for tempering one by one.

This is followed by adding sauted kovaikkai, and prepared podi

 Mix podi with kovaikkai well.  Add cooked rice and mix well.  Adjust salt, and serve hot with pappad or omlette

Nothing can be more nutritious than this!!!!!!