Mysore Masala Dosa

Happy Republic Day to all :)

Mysore masala dosa is a popular dosa in Karnataka. I tasted this dosa for the first time at Raj restaurent in Singapore and liked it a lot. A few days ago, I made this dosa with fried gram dal chutney and mint chuteny. Looking at the colours of the chutneys, I felt like taking a picture (first one below). For this, I made a rectangular dosa and spread the fried gram dal chutney on the top part and mint chutney on the bottom part. In the middle, I spread chutney powder with a little ghee in a small circle.
                         

                                               

                                             

           

What you need:

For the dosa batter: Soak one cup of skinned black gram, two cups of sona masuri rice and a quarter teaspoon of fenugreek seeds for four to six hours in sufficient water. Wash the soaked ingredients and grind them into a smooth paste after adding salt to taste. Transfer the paste into an air tight container and allow it to ferment in a warm place. Make sure that the container has enough space for the batter to rise (after fermentation, the batter may double in volume).

Aloo Palya (potato stir fry): Boil four medium sized potatoes, peel off their skins and mash them. Keep this aside. Chop one medium sized onion, two green chillies, coriander leaves and an inch of ginger into small pieces. In a pan, heat two tablespoons of oil and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the chopped onion, green chilly and ginger. Fry them on a medium flame for two minutes and add the mashed potato. Add a pinch of turmeric powder, a pinch of red chilly powder, a quarter spoon of coriander powder and salt to taste. Mix it well and cook it for four minutes on a low flame while stirring in between. Garnish it with chopped coriannder leaves.

Fried gram dal chutney: Soak three dry chillys in water for ten minutes and break them into pieces. Take a quarter cup of fried gram dal,  a quarter teaspoon of cumin seeds, four garlic cloves and sufficient salt in a mixer jar and grind them into a paste using a little water. The chutney is now ready..

Mint Chutney: Take half a cup of mint leaves, a quarter cup of chopped coriander leaves, a quarter teaspoon of cumin seeds, two cut green chilly, one tablespoon of lime juice and sufficient salt in a mixer jar. Blend them into a smooth paste. The mint chutney is now ready..

                                          
                                                                                         

Preparation:

1. Heat a nonstick pan on a low flame and pour a ladleful of batter on it. Spread it in a circular motion with the ladle to make a dosa. Drop a bit of butter on it and spread the gram dal chutney over the dosa.
2. Spread the potato fry over half of the dosa and add one tea spoon of ghee or oil around the dosa.
3. Roast the dosa for a minute and fold it into half. Transfer it onto a serving plate and do like wise with the remaining batter.
4. Serve the hot dosas with gram dal chutney, mint chutney and chutney powder.
5. You can also enjoy the Mysore masala dosas with coconut chutrney and sambar..

Note: If you want, you can add a part of an onion to the gram dal chutney while grinding. You can add asafoetida to the potato stir fry.

Goru Meetilu

Happy Pongal to all of you :)
Goru meetilu is a sweet snack which will be liked by everyone. In my childhood, an aunty of mine from Rajahmundry used to make this sweet. Even though it's difficult to get these shapes perfectly, I have given it a try.  Let's see the recipe now :)                                                      
                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

What you need:   

Mida-4 cups
Suji or bombay ravva-2 tablespoons
Sugar-2 cups
Ghee-1/4 a cup
Cardamom powder-1/4 a teaspoon
Oil for deep fry                                       

                                       

 Preparation:

1. Sieve the maida in a wide bowl and add suji and melted ghee to it. Mix it well and make a tight dough using sufficient water. 
2. Cover it and keep it aside for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into small balls. Take a ball and press it into an oval shape inside your fist. 
3. Push it outwards by pressing down with your thumb nail and pushing up with your index finger. Goru means nail in Telugu. Since we are using a nail to get the shape, this sweet might be calling as goru meetilu :)
4. Do like wise with the remaining balls of dough and deep fry them till they turn golden brown on a low to medium flame.
5. Boil the sugar in a vessel with sufficient water until it reaches into a soft ball consistency. Add cardamom powder and turn off the stove. 
6. Now add the fried goru meetilu to the syrup and mix them well until they coated with the syrup all the sides. Allow them to dry and store them in an air tight container.

          Note: You can add one teaspoon of lemon juice to the sugar syrup to prevent crystalization.

Akki Rotti or Rice Flour Roti

Akki rotti is a dish from Karnataka which can be served as breakfast with chutney or palya (stir fry  in Kannada). It can be prepared by using only rice flour or can be prepared by mixing rice flour with cooked rice. 
I made plain akki rottis for dinner and we had them with tomato dal and shenga hindi or groundnut chutney powder. They were tasty and yummy..
Let's move on to the recipe :)
                                   
                                           

                                                                                                                                                                                      

What you need:

Rice flour-2 cups

Water-2 cups

Salt to taste

Ghee-2 tablespoons                               

                                                                                                   
                                   

Preparation:

1. Boil the water in a heavy bottomed vessel or in a pan after adding two tablespoos of ghee and salt. 
2. Turn off the stove and add the flour. Mix it with a wooden ladle or spoon and cover it for a few minutes. While it is still slightly warm, knead it into a soft dough using water if necessary.
3. Make orange sized balls using the dough and pat them with your palm or a rolling pin into circles. Dust them with dry rice flour as necessary.
4. If  you feel that the dough is dry, wet your hands with water while patting.
5. Heat the pan and fry the rottis on both sides on a medium flame. Sprinkle a little water on top of the rotti while frying. Serve them hot with chutney or curry of your choice.

Note: You can also make masala akki rotti by adding cumin seeds, grated coconut, grated carrot, chopped green chilliy, onion, ginger, coriander leaves and salt to the rice flour.

Shenga Hindi or Groundnut Chutney Powder

Groundnuts or peanuts are rich in nutrients, folate, vitamin E and proteins. Ground nuts have many uses. They can be eaten raw or used in recipes. Groundnut oil is often used in cooking due to its high monounsaturated content. 

Let's see the recipe now :)                                       

1.                              

What you need:

Groundnuts-1 cup

Tamarind-a small berry sized
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Garlic cloves-8 small sized
Salt to taste
Cumin seeds-1 teaspoon
Jaggery powder-1 teaspoon
Chilly powder-2 teaspoons

                                                
                                                         

Preparation:

1. Roast the groundnuts in a pan on low to medium flame for 3-4 minutes. Turn off the stove and allow them to cool.
2. When they are warm, crush them little by little in between your palms and remove the skin.
3. Transfer all the ingredients into a mixer jar and grind into a powder.
4. Allow the powder to cool for five minutes and transfer it into an air tight container.
5. Serve this powder with steamed rice or roti (chapathi). You can dilute this powder with curd or butter milk and have it with idly or dosa too.

Note: You can also add curry leaves and asafoetida (hing) to this powder.

Ragi Laddoo

Happy New Year :)

Ragi laddoos are healthy and easy to make. Children are likely to eat ragi in the form of laddoos. Let's see how to make these nutritious laddoos..

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

What you need:

Ragi flour-1 cup
Grated jaggery-1/2 a cup
Ghee-4 tablespoons
Cashew nuts-6 broken
Cardamom powder-a pinch

                                                 

                                                   

      Preparation:

1. Heat the ghee in a kadai or pan and fry the broken cashew nuts until they turn brown in colour.
2. Transfer the nuts into a bowl. Fry the ragi flour in the same pan on a low flame till  it changes colour and gives a nice aroma.
3. Turn off the stove and keep it aside. Melt the jaggery in a vessel and filter it to remove the discards.
4. Add the cardamom powder and cashew nuts to the flour. Pour the melted jaggery little by little until you get the consistency to make laddoos.
5. Roll the flour into round balls using your palm. 
   
   
   Allow them to settle down for 10-15 minutes and store them in an air tight container.

          Note: You can replace jaggery with powdered sugar and melted ghee to make laddoos. You can also use nuts of your own choice like almonds and pisthachios.