Idly & Dosai with Chickpeas

Category: Breakfast / Tiffin  
Soaking Time: 6 Hrs   
Fermentation Time: 8 - 10 Hrs  
Cooking Time: 10 mins /batch

Crispy Dosa!

One day while browsing, I came across a writing about increasing the nutritive value of Our Idly by adding chickpeas (Channa / Kondakadalai / Sundal). I tried out today and to my surprise it came out good:) There is not much difference in taste than our normal Idly and only the color is slightly yellow shade compared to our snow white idlies: However if its very healthy and tasty who cares of the color;) 

Idlies with Chickpeas

 Ingredients:

• Idly rice - 3 cups
• Chickpeas - 1 cup (I used the white kabuli channa)
• Whole white urad dhal - 3/4 cup
• Fenugreek seeds - 2 tsp
• Salt - To taste

Method:

1. Soak rice, chickpeas, fenugreek seeds separately for 5-6 hrs and urad dhal for 1-2 hrs
2.  In a wet grinder, first add the fenugreek seeds and then urad dal, grind till it becomes soft and fluffy. Once urad dhal is done, remove it in a big container and keep aside. While grinding for Idly, make sure you just sprinkle required water at regular intervals rather than pouring it at once. This will make the batter very fluffy and airy which results in soft idlies
3.  Add rice to the grinder and grind it till it becomes smooth, but with a slight coarse texture. Once done, remove it into the container with urad dhal
4.  Now add the chickpeas and grind till it becomes smooth and fluffy (We can coarsely grind it in mixie and then add to grinder  for easy grinding)
5.  Add the chickpeas batter to the rice & urad batter, add required salt and mix well with hands
6.  Allow to ferment overnight / for about 8-10 hrs and it depends on your room temperature; After fermentation, the volume of the batter would be almost doubled. (Make sure to place the batter in a big bowl to avoid spills after it gets fermented)
   
   
   
7.  Once fermented, make idlies as usual
   
8. serve with your favourite side dish

Idlies with Carrot Sambhar!

       I tried dosai with this same batter and we get golden brown crispy dosas:)                       

Paruppu Rasam (Toor Dhal)

Category: Lunch
Preparation Time: 10 mins 
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Servings: 3-4 servings

Paruppu Rasam

Paruppu Rasam or Dhal Rasam is such a comforting food for all ages, especially kids. Usually we will prepare this from the dhal water extracted from Toor dhal cooked for sambhar. But this is cooked along with dhal so we can have good amount of protein from this rasam;) Kids mostly love this with hot rice!

Ingredients:

• Toor Dhal - 1/4 cup
• Tomato, chopped - 1 no. (Juicy one)
• Garlic pods, crushed - 7-8
• Rasam powder - 1 tbsp (I used Home made Powder, we can adjust as per spice level)
• Tamarind - small lemon sized 
• Jaggery - a  tiny piece(Optional)
• Salt - to taste
• Water - as required
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
• Red chilly - 1 (to taste)
• Asafoetida (Hing) - a generous pinch
• Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Coriander leaves - as required 

Method:

1. Pressure cook Toor Dhal with 1 cup of water, Turmeric, few drops of oil  and mash well (I usually pre soak dhal for at least 15 mins for easy cooking)
2. In 1/2 cup of water, extract tamarind juice, add rasam powder, salt mix well till it combined
3. Heat oil in a pan, once it gets hot add the mustard seeds. When it splutters, add cumin seeds, red chilly, followed by curry leaves and asafoetida
4. Add the crushed garlic pods, fry for about 30 secs and then add the chopped tomato. Saute well till tomato turns mushy (It might takes around 3-4 mins)
5. Then add the prepared tamarind extract and allow to boil well in medium flame for about 5 mins, until the raw smell goes off   
   
6. Now add the mashed dhal with required amount of water and mix well
   
7. Check for salt, tanginess and adjust according to your taste
8. Keep the flame in medium and cover the pan with lid. Once it becomes frothy and started to boil, add the jaggery, switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves
   
9. Make sure not to boil the rasam after adding dhal water

Rasam ready to Serve!

 Will anyone say "No" to this Yummy Rasam Sadham!!?

Mango-Banana Oats Smoothie

Category: Breakfast/ Oats
Preparation Time: 5 mins 
Cooking Time: 5 mins
Servings: For 2-3 persons 

Oats fruit smoothies are best for the busy mornings; not only it's easy to prepare, it's very refreshing. We can use any seasonal fruits and addition of banana gives a creamy texture. Options are endless and you can do as per your liking and taste
 

                                      

Ingredients:

• Oats (Quick cooking or old-fashioned) - 1/2 cup
• Milk / Non dairy milk -  2 cups
• Mango, chopped - 1 no.
• Banana, chopped - 1 no.
• Cardamon powder - a pinch
• Sugar / Honey - To taste (Optional)
• Walnuts, chopped - for garnishing (Optional)

Milk with fruits might not suit for some people and in that case we can use non-dairy milks like almond milk or coconut milk.

Method:

1.  Cook oats with milk (if you cook in water, adjust milk accordingly at the end) and allow to cool. Since I used old-fashioned oats, I cook in microwave for 2-3 mins
2. In a blender take cooked  oats, chopped mango and banana, cardamon powder, little milk and blend it together
   
3. Add milk as per your desired consistency and if you're using sugar/honey, you can add at this stage. Since both the fruits are on the sweeter side, we don't prefer to add sweeteners, but you can add as per your taste
4. Blend well and pour into glasses and serve immediately
   
   
   
   
   
5. Chopped nuts can be added for an extra crunchy flavor

Soooo Yummy - Isn't it?

                                          

Spinach Moong Dal Paratha

Category: Chapathi / Paratha
Preparation Time: 10 mins 
Waiting Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Servings: For 2-3 persons

Spinach moong dal paratha has the goodness of whole wheat, moong dal and spinach in a single dish. Kids will surely like this and the color of the parathas are very appealing - Isn't it? These are super soft and can be packed for lunch boxes as well.

Spinach-Moong dal Paratha

Ingredients: 

• Wheat flour / Atta - 2 cups + 2 tbsp for dusting
• Spinach leaves, cleaned - 1 1/2 cups tightly packed
• Yellow split Moong dal, cooked - 1/2 cup
• Small onion - 3-4 nos
• Ajwain / Omam -  a pinch
•  Salt - to taste
• Water - as required
• Oil - to toast parathas
• Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp (Optional) 

Method:

1.  Pressure cook moong dal, mash well and take around 1/2 cup of thick mashed dal
2. Grind spinach along with small onions and omam into a smooth puree
3. In a wide bowl, take 2 cups of wheat flour, mashed dal, spinach puree and required salt. Mix well and knead into a smooth soft dough, by adding water only if required
4. Knead well ,coat with a tsp of oil and rest it for about 30 mins
   
5. Divide the dough into equal lemon sized balls, dust them with flour, flatten them, sprinkle few sesame seeds and roll into thin parathas
   
6. Heat the tawa, place the parathas and cook till bubbles started to appear on the surface; Turn over and cook the other side by drizzling few drops of oil
7. Once it's cooked, transfer to plate or place it in hot box till you serve
   
   
    
8. If you want spicy, you can add green chillies while grinding spinach. 

   

   Lunch Box Ready!!

   
   
   
   

Mushroom Masala Pasta

Category: Pasta / Macaroni
Preparation Time: 15 mins 
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Servings: For 2-3 persons

Mushroom Pasta - Indian Style!

                           
Ingredients:

• Pasta - 2 1/2 cups (I used Trottole shaped tricolor pasta)
• Mushroom, cleaned and chopped - 2 cups
• Onion, finely chopped - 1 cup
• Tomato, chopped - 1 no.
• Carrot, chopped - 1 no.
• Beans, chopped - 4 no.
• Broccoli, small sized florets - 1/4 cup  
• Ginger-Garlic paste - 2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 2 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1 - 2 tsp (as per taste)
• Fennel powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Coriander leaves - 4 tbsp 
• Water - as required

Method:

1.  Cook pasta as per the package instructions; (Boil water; add pasta with little salt and few drops of oil and cook for 11 -13 mins until slightly soft yet crunchy enough to bite). Drain and was with cold water and keep aside 

   

   Uncooked Pasta

   
   

   
   

   
   

   

   Cooked Pasta

2.  Keep the vegetables ready; along with mushroom you can use any available vegetables like carrot, beans, peas, capsicum, broccoli, cauliflower
3. In a wide pan add oil and once it is hot, add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute till the raw smell goes off
4. Add the chopped onions and fry till it turns slightly golden brown
5. Add vegetables (Carrot, beans, broccoli) and fry for a minute. Then add in the mushrooms and saute for few mins
   
6. Then add the tomatoes and dry masala powders (coriander, chilli and fennel powders) along with salt, saute until it gets combined and turned mushy
   
7. Add about 1/2 cup of water and allow to boil for around 5 mins until the veggies gets cooked
8. Now add in the cooked pasta and mix well.
   
9. Allow to cook until the water evaporates and everything gets well combined
10. Garnish with coriander leaves and switch off

 

Pasta Ready to Go!

 

Carrot Rice

Category: Rice / Lunch
Preparation Time: 15 mins 
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Servings: For 2-3 persons

Carrot Rice

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 cup
• Carrots, grated - 1 cup
• Onion, finely chopped - 1 cup
• Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp
• Red chillies - 2-3 (as per the required spice level) 
• Grated coconut - 3-4 tbsp 
• Groundnuts, roasted and coarsely powdered - 2 tbsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon - 1/2 inch
• Cloves - 3
• Cardamon - 1
• Mustard - 3/4 tsp
• Urad dhal - 1 tsp
• Channa dhal - 1 tsp 
• Curry leaves - 1 spring

 Method:

1.  Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and fry the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies till you get nice aroma. Then add the coconut and fry for few seconds; Once it cools down, Powder it and keep it aside                                                                                         
2. Cook rice with 2 cups of water and allow to cool so that each grain remain separated
3. Heat oil in a pan, add Cinnamon, cloves and cardamon followed by mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add Curry leaves, Urad and Channa dhals, fry till the dhals turn golden brown
4. Add the chopped onions with little salt and saute for few mins till it becomes translucent
5. Now add the grated carrots and just saute for few mins till the raw smell goes off
6. Add the ground masala, required salt and mix well
7. Then add the cooked rice, peanut powder and gently mix until well combined. Take care not to break up the rice
                             
8. Switch off and serve with any raita / plain curd or pack it for lunch box

Yummy Carrot Rice Ready to Serve!!

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Whole Wheat)

Category: Baking
Preparation Time: 20 mins 
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Servings: Around 50 small cookies

Chocolate chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour / Atta - 1 1/2 cup (1 cup = 250 ml)
• Baking powder- 3/4 tsp
• Baking soda - a generous pinch 
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Butter, melted - 2/3 cup
• Brown sugar/ Jaggery, grated - 1/2 cup
• White sugar- 4 tsp
• Eggs - 2
• Chocolate chips - 1 cup (I used semi-sweet mini morsels)
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp



Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Method:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350F
2. In a wide bowl take melted butter and sugar, mix well till the sugar dissolves and attain the creamy texture
3. Add in the eggs, whisk well and then add the vanilla extract. Mix well until everything is combined
4. In a separate bowl, take the dry ingredients (Atta, baking powder, baking soda & salt) and mix well
5. Now add the flour mix into the wet mixture and just mix gently till it gets mixed
6. Then gently fold in the chocolate chips into the mixture 

   

   Folded Mixture

7. Make small uniform balls (I used 1/2 tbsp spoon as a scoop to get uniform size), flatten it gently and place it in cookie tray. Ensure it is not crowded and leave at least 1/2 inch  space between the cookies since it may rise a bit while baking
8. Keep the tray in the pre heated oven and allow it to bake for 8-10 mins

   

   In the oven - Ready to bake

9. After 10 mins, remove the tray and allow it to cool for 5 mins before taking out into cooling rack 

   

   Baking Done!!

10. While taking out, the cookies will be little soft and upon cooling it becomes bit crisp, Then store it in air tight container

 

Ready to serve:)

Ragi Idly & Dosai

Category: Breakfast / Tiffin
Soaking Time: 6 Hrs 
Fermentation Time: 8 Hrs
Cooking Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• Ragi flour - 2 cups
• Idly rice - 1 cup
• Urad dhal (Whole white) - 1/2 cup
• Fenugreek seeds (Vendhayam) - 2 tsp
• Aval - 1/4 cup (Optional)
• Salt - As per taste
• Water - As required 

Ragi Mini Idlies

  Method:

1. Soak rice for about 4-6 hours and soak urad dhal with fenugreek seeds for about 1-2 hours; If using aval, soak it in water for 10 mins
2. Grind Urad dhal with fenugreek in wet grinder to a smooth fluffy paste; then add rice and aval  and grind as for normal Idly batter (not too pasty)
3. Meanwhile in a separate bowl, mix ragi flour with required water to a thick paste like consistency
4. After grinding, mix urad dhal, rice and ragi into a batter like consistency
5. Add required salt; mix well with hands and allow it to ferment for around 6-8 hrs
6. After fermentation, make idly as usual and serve with any spicy chutney

   

   So Soft....

7. With the same batter, we can make dosa also. Just add little water to the batter and make it slightly thinner than the idly batter. Heat Tawa and grease it. Pour a ladle of dosa batter and spread it to a thin circle. Pour a teaspoon of oil around the corners and cook covered for few seconds. Flip it over and cook other side also.
8.  For additional taste and health punch add some grated vegetables like carrot, beans, cabbage, onion and capsicum to the idly / dosa batter.

 

Vegetable Ragi Dosa in Waffle Pan

Veg Ragi Dosa

Note: If using whole Ragi, you can use 1 cup for the above recipe. Soak and grind with rice and proceed as usual

Ragi - Power House of Nutrients!

Ragi as we all all know it's a power house of nutrients and it was the staple diet earlier in every house of ours. Our grandparents draw their strength heavily through consumption of Ragi porridge (Kanji) or Ragi balls (Kali). Later due to the invasion of Western (Fast-Food) culture, we begin to forget our own nutrient treasures and run behind the attractive advertisements and colorful packages by compromising our "Health". 

Excessive dependence on processed and ready to eat foods has increased the risk of chronic diseases in modern urban life. Ragi is more of a rural food that hardly gets prominence in urban diet. But it is high time we renovate our eating habits, go back to the basics and include natural cereals like Ragi in our daily diet in order to have healthy and disease free lives in the long run. Let us try to include ragi in our diet and ensure good health for the whole family and especially to our future generation.
 

Ragi is a powerhouse of essential amino acids and B complex vitamins. Sprout your ragi for extra benefit., sprouted ragi contains Vitamin C which is essential for the absorption of iron which is naturally present in ragi. Sprouting makes the iron more bio available

• Ragi is a very rich source of calcium...important for bones and teeth for children and essential for women - especially pregnant and lactating women and those with a family history of osteoporosis to prevent osteoporosis.
• Ragi contains good amount iron which is essential to maintain hemoglobin count and prevent anemia.
• Ragi contains an amino acid called methionine which is a base for good protein.
• Ragi is a good source of vitamin-A and vitamin-B complex
• Ragi is a good source of fiber...good for digestive system,lowers cholesterol , maintains blood sugar level...making it the ideal food to prevent and control heart diseases, diabetes and weight watchers
• Ragi is a low-fat food...again good for weight watchers and to control cholesterol related problems.

Be it Ragi malt, ragi porridge, ragi dosas, ragi idlis, ragi rotis, Idiyappam, cakes, cookies, biscuits just substitute your regular flour with ragi flour and you’ll have a variety along with rich nutrition in your colorful diet.

Spinach Vegetable Rice

Category: Rice / Lunch
Preparation Time: 15 mins 
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Servings: For 2-3 persons

Spinach (Palak) is one of the very popular herbs in the world. Some of the health benefits of spinach include a good source of essential vitamins and minerals, cures gastric disorders, protects liver, kills intestinal worms, cures urinary disorders and acts as a natural laxative. This is one of the very important green for growing kids. 

This rice can serve as a complete one pot meal for kids as well as for the entire family since it has spinach along with different veggies. Vegetables are your choice - you can use potato, peas, carrot, corn, cauliflower. Also spice level (green chillies) can be adjusted as per your taste.

Ingredients:

•  Rice - 1 cup
• Spinach - 1 bunch / 2 1/2 cups chopped
• Carrot - 1, cubed
• Green peas - 1/2 cup (I used frozen)
• Corn - 1/4 cup (I used frozen)
• Small onions - 12-15 (Or 1/2 of big onion)
• Green chillies - 1-2 or to taste
• Garlic cloves - 3
• Ginger - 3/4 inch piece
• Coriander seeds - 3/4 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp
• Cloves - 3
• Cinnamon stick - 3/4 inch piece
• Bay leaf - 1
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Water - 2 cups 

Method:

1.  Wash and soak the rice for at least 20 mins and while soaking, prepare other ingredients for making this rice
2. Dry roast these (Coriander seeds, Cumin seeds, Cloves and Cinnamon) ingredients on medium-low heat till it gives nice aroma. Remove from the flame and allow to cool
3. Wash and chop the spinach leaves and chop green chillies, onions, ginger, garlic as well
4. Grind all the prepared ingredients (Dry roasted spices, onion, spinach, ginger, garlic, green chillies) into a smooth puree. Sprinkle little water only if required for grinding
5. Heat the oil in deep pan on medium heat, add bay leaf and cook for few seconds
6. Add the Spinach puree and let it cook till all the moisture evaporates and it starts leaving the sides of the pan. Stir in between and add the vegetables (Carrot, Peas & Corn); mix it well and cook for a minute
   
   
   
   
   
     
   
7. Add the soaked and drained rice and mix well. Add required salt and water and allow to boil
   
8. Once it started boiling, reduce the flame and keep it covered for around 15 mins
9. Once the rice is cooked, switch off he flame and keep it aside for another 10 mins before mixing.
   
10. Mix it gently and serve

 

Yummy Palak Rice!!!