A healthier version of idli. Instead of rice I have used moongdal to make idli’s. The taste is awesome. Enjoy soft and fluffy plain moong dal idli or also with vegetables.

Ingredients

Pasi paruppu / Moong dal — 2 glass

Urad dal — 1 glass

Salt — 1 1/2 teaspoons .

Method

Wash both the dals separately and soak it for 3 hours . Grind urad dal into a fluffy smooth paste. Grind moong dal separately adding enough water.Add salt and mix both the dals together. Allow it to ferment ,which would take a minimum of 6 hours. After fermenting mix the batter well,the batter should not too thick or thin. Pour the batter into the idli mould and steam the idli’s for 10-12 minutes. Allow it to cool and then remove the idli. Enjoy idli with chutney or sambar or both.😋

Variation — Make vegetable idli. Before pouring the batter into the idli mould ,add shredded carrots ,chopped ginger ,green chill and cashews. Give a tempering of mustard seeds and channa dal.

People who like the taste of fresh pudina will love this chutney. The combination of pudina and coconut gives the chutney a very refreshing taste. Enjoy this chutney with any snack like bhaji or bonda.

Ingredients

Fresh pudina — 1/2 cup

Coconut —- 1/2 cup

Channa dal —- 1 tablespoon

Dry red chili — 1

Mustard seeds — 1/2 teaspoon

Asafetida — 1/4 teaspoon

Oil — 2 teaspoons

Salt — 1/2 teaspoon.

Method

Wash the pudina leaves well and drain out water. Heat a spoon of oil and fry the channa dal and red chili till the dal changes color,add the pudina leaves and saute and put of the heat. Cool the fried ingredients and grind it along with coconut,asafoetida and salt,adding water to get a chutney consistency .

A simple chutney to make but,the most liked chutney of my family . It goes well with any tiffin item. Spread a tablespoon of this chutney on dosai, top it up with some shredded cheese and enjoy spicy cheese dosai.

Ingredients

Onion —- 2

Tomato —- 2

Urad dal —- 2 tablespoons

Dry red chili —- 4

Garlic — 2 ponds, optional

Oil —- 2 tablespoons.

Method

Heat a spoon of oil and fry the urad dal till the dal changes colour. Remove and keep aside. Now heat the remaining oil saute the chopped onion and garlic till it turns translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute for 2-3 minutes. let them cool and grind everything together with salt. Tomato-onion chutney ready.

A chutney with mild heat and smoked flavour, this capsicum chutney takes a minor deviation from traditional chutney recipes. Enjoy this chutney with uthappam or any dish of your preference that requires an oomph factor.

Ingredients

Capsicum —- 1

Onion— 1

Green chili — 2

Peanut —- 2 tablespoon

Dry red chili. —- 1

Tamarind. — small marble size

Mustard seeds — 1/2 teaspoon

Oil — 3 teaspoons

Salt —- 1 teaspoon

Fresh coriander leaves.

Wash the capsicum well and apply little oil all over the capsicum. Place the capsicum on open flame of a gas stove and roast it. Use a pair of tong or a skewer to turn the capsicum until the skin blackens a little. Allow it to cool and remove the seeds and blacked skin. Heat 2 teaspoon of oil and fry the peanuts and red chili. Once the peanut starts changing color add the chopped onoin and saute till the onion turns pink in color, put of the heat. Add the green chili and tamarind and saute. Grind together the fried ingredients along with roasted capsicum,fresh coriander and salt, adding little water to a chutney consistency . For the tempering , heat the remaining oil, add the mustard seeds when the crackle add it to the chutney . Grilled Capsicum Chutney ready.

Hummus is a dip or a spread used along many dishes in Middle East . The method is simple but to get the proper consistency you need some patience and practice.

Ingredients

Kabuli channa — 1 cup

Gralic — 2

Tahini paste— 2 teaspoon

Olive. Oil —

Red chili powder —

Salt —

Ice cubes, warm water.

Method
Rinse and soak the chick peas for at least 8 hours or overnight.Pressure cook the soaked chick peas. If you want a smooth texture to the Hummus, try peeling off the skin of the chickpeas. Start by first blending the chick peas and the roasted garlic pods. Gradually add in the ice cubes, lemon juice, tahini paste and salt. Keep adding the warm water to achieve the required consistency. Once, the hummus is nice and fluffy, sprinkle chilli powder on top to add a bit of spice. Feel free to add olive oil while blending or in the end, if you desire the extra texture and flavor of olive oil.

Tahini Paste
Dry roast white sesame seeds until you get the aroma. Blend the seeds with olive oil until smooth.

Falafel is a Middle Easten dish. Its a snack iteam,something similar to our paruppu vada. Having spent around 30 years in Middle East, I was missing on the Arabic dishes. Since lockdown various cuisines have been prepared at home. So this Sunday my daughter prepared few Middle Eastern dishes to satisfy our craving for Arabic dishes, and I must admit we went back a few years 🤗.

Ingredients

Chick peas —- 2 cups

Onion —- 1

Garlic — 2 pods

Cumin seeds — 1 teaspoon

Coriander powder — 1 teaspoon

Pepper powder — 3/4 teaspoon

Red chili powder — 1/2 teaspoon

Salt — 1 1/2 teaspoon

Plain flour — 2 tablespoons

Fresh coriander leaves.

Falafel
Blend together all the ingredients without adding water to get a coarse mixture (just like the mixture to make paruppu vada). Shape the mixture into medium sized balls, cover it with cling wrap and freeze it for an hour. Heat oil in a kadai. The heat shouldn’t be too high, as the Falafal will brown outside but will remain uncooked inside. Gently place the falafel balls and deep fry them in medium heat, turning them to the other side once it gets browned.
Make a wrap with falafel and Pita bread to make a wholesome meal or just have them with tomato
sauce as a snack.

I have made only pickles of Nellikkay. I wanted to make some other dish with nellikkay ,so tried out making rasam with it. The mild spice and tanginess adds to the taste of the rasam. It is always recommended to have rasam whenever you have a cold. Have nellikkay rasam which is high in Vitamin C.

Ingredients

Nellikkāy —- 5
Tomatoes — 2
Tuvar dal — 1/2 cup
Green chili —- 1
Ginger — 1/2 inch
Whole pepper — 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin seeds — 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds — 3/4 teaspoon
Jaggery — 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder — 1/2 teaspoon
Salt — 1 1/2 teaspoon
Ghee — 1 teaspoon
Few curry leaves.

Do you like chakkai / jackfruit? Here’s a recipe where chakkai has been used differently. You will require very little quantity of chakkai to prepare chakkai dosai. It’s quick and easy to prepare.

Ingredients

Wheat flour —- 1 cup

Fresh chakkai a pieces — 1/2 cup

Jaggery — 2 tablespoon

Water — 2 cups

Ghee.

Method

Grind together chakkai pieces and jaggery adding half a glass of water. Now add the remaining water to the grounded paste. Now slowly incorporate the whole mixture to the wheat flour,mixing everything together . Heat a tava,grease it with ghee,lower the heat,pour in a ladle of batter. Drizzle ghee around the dosai. When its cooked,flip it,drizzle some more ghee on top of the dosai, and cook it. Enjoy sweet jackfruit dosai.

Feel like having dosai,but too bored to go through the procedure of soaking ,grinding,fermenting? Here’s one alternative ,gothambu dosai, a healthier version also. The method is simple. No waiting time,just mix the flour ,add little flavoring ,make the dosai and have it.

Ingredients

Wheat flour —- 2 cups

Green chili —- 2

Mustard seeds —- 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin seeds —- 3/4 teaspoon

Salt —- 3/4 teaspoon

Water —- 4 cups

Sesame Oil.

Method

Chop the green chilis finely . Add salt, green chili and water to wheat flour and make a batter,the batter should be of a running consistency . Heat a spoon of oil, add the mustard seeds,when they crack add the cumin seeds, when you get a nice aroma put of the heat and add this to the batter. Heat a tava, gress the tawa. Now take a ladle full of batter and pour it on the tawa. Start pouring the batter from the edges and to the center . Drizzle oil on the sides and allow the dosai to cook in low heat. When you see the dosai cooked, flip it ,drizzle some more oil and cook the dosai . Enjoy hot dosai with chutney or simply with molgapudi.

Most of us when we go to a restaurant and order chapathi- sabji,we would order either a tandoori roti or lachha paratha. Lachha paratha is layered chapathi. I always thought it would be difficult to get the layers when you prepare it at home, but gave it a try. Yes of course initially the fold ‘s wouldn’t come properly but by the time you make the fourth paratha you would get the folds . So go ahead and make lachha parathas.

Ingredients

Wheat flour — 2 cups

Kasuri methi — 1/4 cup

Oil — 2 teaspoons

Salt — 1/2 teaspoon

Ghee.

Method

Add salt,oil to the wheat flour, add water / whey and make a soft dough. Cover and rest the dough for half an hour. Dry roast the kauri methi for a minute and crush it. After half an hour kneed the dough again. Take small balls and roll them into thin chapathis, now apply few drops of ghee on the chapathi,dust some wheat flour,sprinkle some kasuri methi,give it a little press. Now slowly start folding the chapathi like a fan, roll it. Now roll it again and make chapathi. Heat a pan ,place the chapathi on to the tawa and cook it,turn over ,drizzle ghee on the sides and on the chapathi. Cook it on the both sides. Enjoy hot and layered lachha paratha.