Rawa Idli- steamed semolina dumplings

Rawa idli is a popular south indian Breakfast dish. This is a simpler and quicker version of the traditional south Indian idlies. Here, the semolina or the rawa batter is mixed with vegetables and steam baked. These mouth watering dumplings make healthy and tasty breakfast or brunch option. You don't believe me? Then try it out for yourself :)

Rawa Idli ingredients:

Preparation time: 20min

Cooking time- 15min

Makes- 12 idlies

Ingredietns:

Rawa- 2cups

Oil or ghee- 2tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1/2tsp

Channa dal or Bengal gram- 1/2 tsp

Urad dal or black gram- 1/2tsp

Hing or asafotida- 1/4tsp

Turmeric- 1/4tsp

Green chilli- 1-2, finely chopped

Curry leaves- 10 -12, finely chopped

Coriander leaves- 1tbsp, finely chopped

Carrot- 1, peeled and grated (optional)

Fresh or frozen coconut- 1 tbsp (optional)

Cashewnuts- 12, chopped (optional)

Mildly sour curds- 3 cups

Eno- 1/4tsp

Soda- a pinch

Salt to taste

Method:

• Dry roast the rawa till brown and fragrant and keep aside.
• Heat the oil or ghee in a wok and add the mustard seeds
• Once they pop add the channa dal and the Urad dal and fry for a min
• Add the chopped cashewnuts and fry till brown
• Add the hing and curry leaves and fry till the curry leaves turn crisp
• Add the turmeric and the green chillies and saute for a few seconds.
• Add the rawa and salt and mix thoroughly and turn off the heat.
• Stir in the grated carrot and the coconut. Mix well and cool the mixture completely.
• Add the coriander leaves, Eno and soda to the semolina mixture and mix well.
• Add the curds and beat well.
• Pour the batter into greased idli moulds and steam bake in a pressure cooker or steamer for 10 to 15min
• Serve the idlies hot with chutney of your choice.

Methi Matar Pulao

Methi or fenugreek is one of my favourite greens. I am sure my love for this bitter green will not diminish even if i had this everyday. When my vegetable vendor got these fresh bunch of fenugreek on Saturday, I just had to buy it. I had some fresh peas in the fridge, I decided to make this aromatic flavourful pulao for lunch. As expected, it turned out great. The bitter fenugreek complimented the sweet peas beautifully. The bitter methi and the sweet peas along with flavourful basmati rice is a match made in heaven.

Methi Matar Pulao recipe

Preparation time: 20min

Cooking time: 20min

serves- 4-5

Ingredients:

Basmati rice- 2cups, washed and drained

Methi or fenugreek leaves- 2 cups packed, cleaned and chopped fine

Fresh or frozen peas- 1-1/2 cup
Coconut milk- about 1/2 cup

Onion- 1large, chopped fine

Ginger-garlic paste- 1tsp

Salt to taste

Green chilli- 1, slit

Ghee- 2tbsp

Bay leaves- 2

Jeera or cumin seeds- 1  tsp

Garam masala- 1 pinch

To be ground to a powder:

Cinnamon- 1" pice

Cloves- 3

Cardamom- 3

Pepper corns- 5-6

Badi laung or marati moggu- 1, optional

Method:

• Heat oil in a wok and add the cumin seeds.
• Once they turn brown, add the bay leaf and the ground spice mix and fry for a few seconds.
• Add the onion and fry till it turns transparent
• Add the green chilli and the ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes
• Add the peas fry for 2 to 3 min
• Stir in the fenugreek leaves and fry for 3-4 mins more
• Add the salt, turmeric powder and the drained rice and mix.
• Add the coconut milk and mix well.
• Add about three and cups of water and the garam masala and cook covered on a low flamefor 15-20 min
• Once the rice is cooked, take off the heat and serve hot with raita of your choice.

This aromatic rice is my contribution to Miz Helene's Full plate thursday

Iyengar bakery style savory cookies

Ask any Bangalorean who is abroad what they miss most about Bangalore and I am sure they the answer would be Khara biscuit or the savory cookies from the Iyengar bakeries. We Bangaloreans have a strange obsession towards the Iyengar bakeries and the goodies they bake. We seem to take the flavours and the aromas of the bakery to any corner of the earth that we go. One such goody that is a specialty of Iyengar Bakery is the Khara biscuit or the savory cookies. 

These cookies are spiced with chillies, ginger, coriander and sometimes mint and is a little flaky and crumbly in texture. Something like melting moments. Even though I had tried baking these cookies a couple of times, I always seemed to go wrong with the texture. I kept wondering about the secret ingredient that brought out the texture in the cookies. The idea of using corn starch hit me at 2Am 3 days back. I guess insomnia has it's own advantages. I just substituted 2tbsp of all purpose flour with corn starch and voila. I got the perfect texture. So go ahead and try the recipe. I am sure you will get as addicted to the cookies as I am.

Savory cookie recipe

Preparation time: 40min

Baking time: 2omin+ cooling time

Makes- 30 cookies

Ingredients:

All purpose flour or maida- 1cup+6tbsp

Corn starch or corn flour- 2tbsp

Baking powder- 1tsp

salt-3/4th tsp

Sugar- 1 tsp

Thick curds- 1-2tsp

Butter- 1/2cup, softened at room temperature

Ginger- 1/2" piece

Curry leaves- 1sprig

Coriander leaves- 1tsp, chopped

Green chillies- 1-2, chopped

Asafotida- A pinch

Method:

• Make a paste of the ginger, coriander leaves, curry leaves and the green chillies and keep aside
• Sift the flour, corn flour and the baking powder and mix the asafotida, salt and sugar
• Add the butter and the ground paste and mix again
• Add 1tsp of curds at a time mix to form a stiff dough.
• Allow the dough to rest for 30 min
• Divide the dough into 2-3 equal portions and roll out one portion into a disc of 1/4" thickness.
• Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into desired shape and arrange them on a greased baking sheet.
• Repeat the procedure till all the dough is used up
• Prick the top of the dough with a fork and bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 15-20 min or until the under sides are brown.
• Cool completely and store in air tight container.

P.S. Please note that the combination of ginger, green chillies, coriander and curry leaves should amount to 1tbsp.

Chocolate Oatmeal Orange Muffins

You must be thinking that I must be out of my mind to post the same recipe twice. Well I must admit that I have become very fond of the chocolate and orange flavour. Moreover, it becomes even more irresistible if the already tasty muffin fat free and tad healthier. Now you can't blame me for posting this again. Can you?

I found this recipe on epicurious.com when I was looking for some muffin recipes. I jotted down the recipe immediately and made a few changes to make it eggless and baked this yesterday. The preparation time took a little longer as I made the apple sauce from the scratch. But if you have the apple sauce on hand, then baking this muffin is a breeze

Chocolate Oatmeal Orange Muffins

Preparation time: 30 mins

Baking time- 30min

Makes- 14 muffins

Ingredients:

Maida or all purpose flour- 1-3/4 cup

Rolled oats- 1-1/4 cup

Sugar- 1/3 cup

Baking powder- 2tsp

Baking Soda- 1/4tsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Cinnamon-1/2tsp

Orange zest- 2tsp

Buttermilk- 1cup

Juice from your zested orange, strained

Nutella- 1/4 cup

Applesauce- 1/2 cup

Vanilla essence- 1tsp

Mini dark chocolate chunks- 3/4 cup

Method:

• Combine the flour, Baking powder, salt, and baking soda and sift once
• Add the sugar, rolled oats and the cinnamon powder, mix well and keep aside
• In a separate bowl, combine the butter milk, nutella, orange zest, vanilla essence and the orange juice and whisk well.
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix till well comined. Do not over mix. Stir in the Chocolate chips and mix.
• Fill the atter in a muffin pan till 3/4th full and bake at 180C for 25 to 30min or till an inserted skewer comes out clean.
• Cool on a wire rack and serve warm

These muffins are my contribution to Aipi and Priya's Tuesday book marled recipe

And also to Dr. Sameena Pratap's Chocolate recipe event

Tawa Pulao

Tawa Pulao is a popular street food of Mumbai. Even through I have never tasted this on the streets, I have heard and read a lot about his. The first time I heard about this was on Sanjeev Kapoor's show, Khana Khazana. Despite being a street food, there is nothing junk about this rice. It is wholesome with all goodness of vegetables and filling. The fact that it takes just a few minutes to conjure this rice is an added bonus.

Tawa Pulao recipe

Preparation time: 20 min

Cooking time- 15min

Serves-4

Ingredients:

Steamed rice- 2 cups

Onion- 1, finely chopped

Tomatoes- 2 large, finely chopped

Green beans- 8-10, chopped into 1" piece

Fresh or frozen peas- 1/2 cup

Cauliflower- 10-12 florets, bleanched

Cumin seeds- 1/ 2 tsp

Oil- 1tbsp

Ghee- 1 tbsp

salt- to taste

Sugar- 1/2tsp

Pav bhaji masala- 1tsp

Turmeric- 1/4tsp

Red chilli powder- 1/2tsp

Green chilli- 1 slit

Kasoori methi- 1/2tsp

Ginger-garlic paste- 1tsp

Lime juice- 1 tsp

Method:

• Heat oil in a wok and add the cumin seeds.
• Once they turn brown, add the onion and the slit green chilli and fry till onion turn pink.
• Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for two min
• Add the tomatoes and fry till they become soft
• Add the carrot, green beans and peas and fry for 3-4 min.
• Sprinkle some water, cover and let the vegetables cook for 2 min
• Add the turmeric, red chilli powder, pav bhaji masala, Kasoori methi, salt and sugar and fry for 3 min
• Add the cooked rice and ghee and mix well.
• Take off the heat and stir in the lime juice.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and sever hot with Raita of your choice.
• Take off the heat and 

Avocado milk shake

Mandazi  was not the only new thing that was introduced to me when I arrived in Tanzania. I remember the first time I had visited the local vegetable market. The sight had just amazed me. There were whole array of fresh fruits and vegetables everywhere. The colours, sounds and smells were intoxicating.I wanted my head to revolve a complete 360 degrees so that I could take in everything. That day I saw so many new vegetables, and fruits. It was the first time I had seen rosemary, blueberries, apricots, and avocados. I wanted to take home everything. But unfortunately, I did not know how to consume them. I was so crest fallen.

It was after a few days that I got taste avocado milk shake in S's colleagues place. It was rich, creamy, buttery, and had this beautiful green colour. I had immediately asked her what it was and she had told me that it was Avocado milk shake. From that time on, this drink has become a regular at my place. This shake can be served either as a starter drink or as a dessert. It's like drinking a glassful of good health. Can't get any better than this can it?

Avocado milk shake recipe

Preparation time: 15min

Serves- 4

Ingredients:

Avocado- 1, pitted and diced

Vanilla Ice cream- 2 scoops

Milk- 2 cups

Sugar- 5 tbsp or to taste

Ice cubes to serve (optional)

Method:

• Combine all the ingredients except sugar in a blender jar and blend till the ingredients are smooth
• Add sugar and blend again
• Pour in glasses and serve chilled with ice cubes

This goes to Aipi and Priya's tuesday bookmarked recipes

Kobbari mithai- coconut fudge

Kobbari mithai aka khopra pak or coconut fudge is very popular sweet. Despite my love for this delightful fudge, I was too scared to try making this myself. The one time I tried, me and S had eaten this from a cup and spoon as the consistency was that of a halwa. After that I had given up trying any kind of fudge. I always thought that making burfis and fudges needs a certain knack and I surely lacked that knack. But recently, one of my friends shared her recipe of kobbari mithai and I must say that my assumptions about the fudges changed after that.The fudge was chewy, moist and just perfect in texture, consistency and sweetness. The great thing about this recipe is, it uses some sparse ingredients, it is so simple to prepare and yet it has the promised elegance of taste. 

Coconut fudge recipe:

Preparation time: 40min

Cooking time: 25min

Yields- 30 1" pieces

INGREDIENTS

Fresh or frozen grated coconut- 5 cups

Condensed milk- 1 can

Cream- 1/2 cup

Cardamom- 6, ground to a powder in mortar and pestle

Saffron- 1/4tsp

Warm Milk- 1tbsp

Clarified butter- 2tsp

Almonds- 8-10, slivered (optional)

Method:

• Grease a rimmed plate with clarified butter and keep it aside.
• Add the saffron strands to the warm milk and crush it between your fingers so that the flavor and the color is released
• Mix the shredded coconut and the cream and let it stand for half an hour
• Heat a wok and add the coconut cream mixture and fry till the moisture is absorbed
• Add the powdered cardamom, saffron mixture and the condensed milk and mix.
• Keep mixing the contents for 10-15mins till the mixture starts leaving the sides and a lump is formed.
• At this point, take off the heat and tip the contents onto the greased plate and spread with a spatula
• Sprinkle the slivered almonds and Allow the mixture to cool completely. Cut into desired shapes and Store in an air tight container

This recipe goes to Nancy's YBR event for the month of may

Bisi Bele Bhat- As authentic as it can get

This my friends, is an authentic rice dish of my home state, Karnataka. The unique combination of rice and toor dal along with some exotic spices and vegetables makes this dish extremely nourishing and satisfying. 

Don't get carried away by the simple and unassuming looks of this rustic dish. Getting the right blend of the spice mix which brings out the aromatic spicy flavour of the dish can be a little tedious. I myself have seen so many of my friends go wrong. Worse, I have even seen them trying to correct the mistake by adding the Garam masala. This to me seems like  sacrosanct to the recipe. Luckily for me, my mom, grandmom and especially my MIL make excellent Bisi bele bhat. In fact this recipe is an amalgamation of all the three. So you can say that this is almost like sharing an heirloom recipe. 

Bisi bele bhat might not be very photogenic but I assure you that it can make one of the most satisfying, healthy and nourishing one pot meal. Top this rice with a dollop of ghee and serve with  onion and tomato raita and potato chips and you can see everyone around you falling in love with this down to earth dish.

Bisi Bele Bhat recipe

Preparation time: 30min

Cooking time: Almost an hour

Serves- 4


Ingredients:

Long grained rice- 1 cup

Toor dal or Pigeon peas- 1/2 cup 

Carrot- 1 large, chopped into 1″ pieces

French beans- Chopped into 1″ pieces

Fresh or frozen peas- 1/2 cup

Potato- 1 small, cubed

Onion- 1 med, cut into strips

Tomato- 1, copped fine

Capsicum-1, cut into strips

Tamarind paste- 5 tbsp 

Salt- to taste

Jagerry- 1tbsp 

Ghee  or Clarified butter- 2 tbsp+ extra for serving

Mustard- 1tsp

Curry leaves- 15

Asafotida- 1 large pinch

For the Spice mix

Bengal Gram-1-1/4tbsp

Black gram- 1tbsp

Poppy seeds- 1-1/2tsp

Coriander seeds-1-1/2tbsp

Dried Red chillies- 4-5

Cumin seeds- 1tsp

Fenugreek seeds- 1/4tsp

Cinnamon- 1″ piece

Cloves- 2

Marati moggu or badi laung- 1 (optional)

Oil- 1tsp

Grated fresh Coconut

Method:

• Pressure cook the pigeon peas and the rice separately and keep aside.
• Steam cook the vegetables till 3/4th done and set aside.
• For the spice mix, Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and add the cinnamon, badi laung and cloves and fry for a min.
• Once the cloves puff up, add the cumin seeds and the fenugreek seeds and saute till they are lightly browned.
• Add the bengal gram and the black gram and fry for a min more.
• Add the coriander seeds and poppy seeds and fry till the poppy seeds sputter.
• Stir in the red chillies and fry till they are crisp.
• Turn out the heat and add the grated coconut and mix well.
• Cool the mixture completely and grind the mixture to a fine paste along with some water.
• In a large vessel, mix the cooked rice and the pigeon peas along with the steamed vegetables and mix well.
• Add the ground paste, tamarind extract, salt and jagerry and allow the mixture to stand for 30min
• Heat the clarified butter in a large wok and add the mustard seeds.
• Once they pop, add the curry leaves and the asafoetida and fry for a min.
• Add the onion strips and fry till they are tender.
• Add the tomato and the capsicum and fry till the tomato turns mushy.
• Add the rice and vegetable mixture and mix well.
• Add about 5 to 6 cups of water and allow the mixture to simmer on a low flame for 15mins till the consistency of thick porridge is achieved.
• Check for salt and take off the heat. Serve hot with curd or curd dip of your choice.

P.S.If fresh coconut is not available, then dried coconut can be used in it’s place. 


This recipe is my contribution to Aipi and Priya's Tuesday bookmarked event

and to the lovely My legume love affair event which was started by susanna of the well seasoned cook and whichis now being hosted by Smitha of Kannada Kitchen