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.

Thatte Idly

Thatte Idly is a breakfast dish from Karnataka. It is also called as Plate Idly (thatte means plate in Kannada). Generally they are served along with chutney, sambar or potato or mixed veg palya {palya means curry). I had thatte idly with sambar and chutney in an occation. I liked it a lot and wanted to give it a try at home. So I bought a thatte idly stand which is also useful for making idiyappam and dhokla.
Let's see how to make them :)


                                          
 
                                                 

What you need:

Idly rice (par boiled rice or uppudu biyyam)-4 cups

Skinned and split black gram (minapa pappu)-2 cups

Fenugreek seeds (menthulu)-1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Ghee or oil for greasing the plates

                                                             
                                                            

Preparation:

1. Soak the rice, skinned black gram and fenugreek seeds in water for 4-5 hours.
2. Wash and grind them into a thick batter by adding salt. It took me thirty minutes to grind it in wet grinder.
3. Allow it to ferment overnight or ten to twelve hours.
4. Grease the plates with the ghee and fill them with the batter.
5. Leave some space in the plates for the batter to rise while steaming.
6. Steam them in the pressure cooker for 12 minutes without using the weight on the lid.
7. Once the cooker has cooled down, remove the thatte idlys from the plates by using a knife.
8. Spread some butter on the top and serve them hot with chutney or sambar. Enjoy the soft idlys..

Note: If you want, you can add half a cup of cooked rice while grinding the rice and dal for extra softness.

For the chutney, I ground skinned and roasted ground nuts and fried gram dal (putnalu) in equal quantity along with garlic, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, tamarind and salt. I seasoned it with broken dry chilly, mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves which were tempered in a tablespoon of oil.

Atukula Upma or Methi Poha

Whenever I am  in a hurry to go out or want to have a light meal, I make this simple dish. Atukula Upma with fresh or dry menthi kura (fenugreek leaves). We can have it for breakfast or as a snack.

What you need:

Atukulu or flattened rice or rice flakes (thick)-2 cups
Fresh fenugreek leaves-1/2 a cup or 1 tablespoon dry methi
peanuts-1 tablespoon
Urad dal-1/2 teaspoon
Gram dal-1/2 teaspoon
Chopped green chilli-1
Mustard seeds-1/4 tsn
Cumin seeds-1/4 tsn
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Hing-a pinch (optional)
Dry chilli-2 broken
Salt-to taste

Oil-2 tablespoons

                                                                           

Preparation:

1. Wash the rice flakes with water, drain the water and keep them aside.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or pan and add the crushed dry chilli, peanuts, urad dal, gram dal, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and hing. Fry them for a minute on a low flame.
3. Now add the green chilli, fenugreek leaves and turmeric powder. Fry it for 1-2 minutes and add the rice flakes.
4. Add salt and mix it well. Fry it for two more minutes and turn off the stove.

     Transfer it onto a serving plate and serve it with curd. :)

Note: You can replace the peanuts with sesame seeds or cashew nuts. 

Uthappam

Hi! There are very few dishes in my house which are liked by all of us. Idly is one of them. If I make idly today, my children can guess easily what will be the breakfast for next day..that is uthappam or dibba rotte:) Usually I make it with out any toppings, because my children like plain one. I just add cumin seeds while preparing and serve it with any chutney.

We make ravva idly most of the time and the same batter we use for utahappam. Sometimes I add vegetable toppings to it. Now I want to share with you our version of uthappam.

                            Uthappam and coconut chutney

What you need:

Ingredients for the Uthappam:

Idly batter-4 cups
Rice flour-1 cup (optional)
Oil-4 tablespoons

How to make idly batter:
Soak 1 cup of urad dal (skinless black gram or white lentil) for 5-6 hours. Later clean the dal with water 2-3 times and grind it  into a soft batter using little water. If you put little batter in a cup of water, it should float on the water. Now your batter is ready. Take two cups of  idly suji or ravva in a vessel and fill it with water. Wash it with hand carefully and leave it for two minutes. Once ravva reaches the bottom of the vessel, drain  the above water slowly. Do like wise 2-3 times. Now squeeze the ravva and add it to the batter. Add one teaspoon of salt and mix it well with your hand.  Store it in an air tight container in warm place and leave it aside for overnight to ferment. The container should be spacious because the batter doubles in quantity during fermentation.

For topping:

Grated carrot-2 tablespoons

Grated beet root-2 tablespoons

Chopped onions-1/4  cup

Cumin seeds-1 teaspoon 

Grated ginger-1 teaspoon

chopped coriander leaves-1 tablespoon

Ingredients for the coconut  chutney:

Fresh coconut pieces-1 cup

Chopped coriander leaves-1/2 cup

Green chilly-3

cumin seeds-1 teaspoon

Lime juice-1 teaspoon

Garlic cloves-3

Salt as per your taste

Preparation of Uthappam:
1. Mix the rice flour to the idly batter half an hour before making. Heat the pan and add two table spoons of oil. Now mix the idly batter with ladle and pour two ladles of batter on the pan. Spread it clock wise in circular motion to get a thick and round shaped uthappam.
2. Take all the topping ingredients in a bowl and mix them. Sprinkle them on the uthappam and cover it with a lid .
3. Cook it on low flame for 2-3 minutes and take the lid out. Slowly flip the uthappam to other side and add one tablespoon of oil around it. Close it with the lid and cook it for 1-2 minutes.
4. Turn of the stove and transfer it on to a serving plate.

Preparation of Coconut chutney:

1.Take coconut pieces, chopped coriander leaves, green chilly, cumin seeds, garlic cloves and salt into a mixer jar.

2.Grind it into a smooth paste. Transfer it into a serving bowl and add the lime juice and mix it well.

Serve the uthappam along with the chutney. Crispy and yummy Uthappam is ready to eat now:)

Note: To prepare chutney, you can replace lime juice with tamarind pulp and grind along with the remaining ingredients. And can also give it seasoning.

Aglio Olio

Hi friends! This is my 100th post :)

Ingredients:

Farfalle or butterfly shaped pasta-2 cups
Garlic cloves-5
Oregano-1 tablespoon
Salt-1 teaspoon

Chilli sause-1 tablespoon
Olive oil-2 tablespoons


Method:

1. Boil the pasta in a heavy bottomed vessel after adding 5 cups of water, one teaspoon of oil and a pinch of salt.
2. Once the pasta softens, drain the water and keep it aside.
3. Heat the remaining oil in a pan and add the crushed garlic, chilli sauce and salt.
4. Fry it for one-two minutes and add the cooked pasta to it. Cook it for two to three minutes on a medium flame.
5. Add the dried oregano powder and mix it well. Turn of the stove and serve it in a bowl…

Note: We can replace the chilli sauce with ripe chilli pieces.

Methi Parata

Ingredients:

Wheet flour-4 cups
Fresh fenugreek leaves or menthikura-2 cups
Sugar-1 teaspoon-
Salt-1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Red chilli powder-1 teaspoon
Azwain (vaamu)-1 teaspoon
Oil-1 cup






Method:

1. Wash and chop the fenugreek leaves.
2. Sieve the wheet flour into a big bowl and add the chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, sugar, azwain, chopped fenugreek leaves and one tablespoon oil.
3. Add sufficient water and kneed it into a tough dough.
4. Keep it aside for fifteen minutes and divide it into a big lemon sized balls. Roll them into circle shaped pratas with a rolling pin.
5. Heat the pan and roast the pratas on both sides using a tablespoon of oil. Serve them hot with yogurt…

Noodles with Mint Sauce

Ingredients :

Fresh mint -1 cup
Boiled noodles-2 bowls
Green chillies-4
Sugar-a pinch
Lemon juice-1 tablespoon
Garlic-1 pad (optional)
Salt-1 teaspoon
Oil-2 tablespoons

Method :

1. Boil the noodles and add some tap water. Drain the water after two minutes and keep the noodles aside.
2. Grind the mint, sugar, garlic, salt and green chillies into a paste.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the ground paste to it.
4. Fry it until the oil separates and add the noodles and stir well. Cook it for two minutes on a medium flame.
5. Turn off the stove and add the lime juice. Mint noodles are ready now…

Ramya of http://memoryarchieved.blogspot.com/ has passed me an award...Thank you Ramya:)

I am passing this award to:
Prajusha of http://icookipost.virtualgrub.com/

Bhawna of http://frommypalate.blogspot.com/

Menu Today of http://menutoday.blogspot.com/
Deesha of http://vegetableplatter.blogspot.com/

Latha of http://theyumblog.wordpress.com/

I want to share with you, a few pictures of a Jack-o-lantern made by my daughter...

Jack-o-lantern in the dark...

Masala Free Potato Cabbage Curry With Chapathi

Ingredients:

Cubed potatoes-2 cups
Shredded cabbage-2 cups
Tomato-1
Green chilli-4
Chopped coriander leaves-a few
Cumin seeds-1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Chilli powder-1 teaspoon
Salt-1 tablespoon
Oil-2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Wash and cut the tomato and chillies into small pieces.
2. Heat the oil in a vessel and add cumin seeds.
3. Let them splutter and add the cut tomato and chilli pieces.
4. Fry them for two minutes on a medium flame and add the cubed potatoes and shredded cabbage.
5. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, salt and mix well
6. Fry them for two minutes and add a cup of water.
7. Cover the vessel with a lid and let it cook for 4-5 minutes.
8. Add the chopped coriander leaves anfd turn off the stove.
9. Serve this simple masala free curry with chapathis…
10. Mix two cups of wheat flour with a pinch of sugar, salt, a tablespoon oil and enough water into a tight dough. Keep it aside for 15 minutes and divide them into balls. Roll the balls into circle shapes by using a roller pin. Heat the pan and roast the chapathis on both sides by adding a tablespoon of oil and serve them hot...

Veggie Upma

Ingredients:

Sooji-1 cup
Carrot-1
Califlower-a few florets
Green chilli-4
Onion-1
Curry leaves-a few
Ginger-1 small piece
Cloves-2
Cardomam-2
Cinnamon-a small piece
Mustard seeds-1/2 teaspoon
Cumin seeds-1/2 teaspoon
Salt-1 teaspoon
Oil or ghee-2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Wash and cut the vegetables into small pieces.
2. Heat the oil in a pan and add cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, mustard seeds, cumin seeds.
3. Fry them for a few seconds and add carrot cubes, califlower florets, green chilli, curry leaves and onion.
4. Fry them on a medium flame and add 4 cups of water.
5. Boil the water and add salt.
6. Lower the flame and add sooji by continuously stirring to prevent the formation of lumps.
7. Cook it for 3-4 minutes and turn off the stove.
8. Serve the colourful upma on a plate along with your favourite chutney.

Dosa with Sooji and Urad Dal

Dosa…everybody’s favourite from children to elders. I have observed so many Non-Indians enjoying dosas in Indian restaurants. Usually for ravva dosa, we mix sooji, rice flour and maida. But I came to know of a different ravva dosa through a friend which is made with sooji and urad dal…it tasted so yummy and crispy... Now let's see how to make it…:)



This is my submission for Dosa Mela hosted by Srivalli of
http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com/2008/03/announcing-dosa-mela-with-celebration.html


Ingredients:

Sooji or Bombay ravva-3 cups
Urad dal or black gram-1 cup
Green chillies-3
Ginger-a small piece
Grated carrot-2 cups
Chopped coriander-2 tablespoons
Cumin seeds-1 teaspoon
Salt-1 tablespoon
Oil-1 cup

Method:

1. Soak the urad dal for three hours and wash it thoroughly.
2. Grind it with ginger, cumin seeds, green chillies and salt into a smooth paste and transfer into a big bowl.
3. Wash the sooji with water and add it to the batter.
4. Mix the ingredients into a thick batter by adding a little water if necessary and keep it aside for 3-4 hours.
5. Heat the dosa pan on a medium flame and pour a ladle of batter.
6. Spread the batter into a circle and add one tablespoon of oil to the edge of the circle.
7. Add one tablespoon of grated carrot and chopped coriander leaves on the top of the dosa.
8. Heat it until the edge of dosa comes up or till the dosa turns light brown in colour.
9. Fold the dosa into half and transfer it to a plate.
10. Serve hot with any pickle or chutney of your choice. I served it with ginger pickle and sambar.

Pesarattu-Upma with Ginger Chutney and Ginger Tea

Ginger, the underground stem, or rhizome, of the plant Zingiber officinale has been used as a medicine in Asian, Indian, and Arabic herbal traditions since ancient times. Ginger is used in a lot of dishes because of its medicinal value. Too much ginger can cause heartburns.

Ginger Chutney with Green Chillies

This is my submission for Think Spice-Ginger hosted by Sunita of http://sunitabhuyan.blogspot.com/


Pesarattu-Upma



Upma

Ingredients :


Sooji or bombai ravva-1 cup
Chopped onion-1
Chopped green chillies-2
Ginger-small piece
Dry red chilly-1
Curry leaves-few
For seasoning : Gram dal-1/4 tesson, urad dal ;-1/4 teaspoon, Cumin seeds-1/4 teaspoon, Mustard seeds-1/4 teaspoon and Salt to taste
Oiil-2 tablespoons

Method :

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the red dry chilly pieces, gram dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let them splutter.

2. Add the chopped pieces of ginger, green chilli and chopped onion and fry them until they become soft.

3. Add 3 cups of water and salt and boil it on medium flame.

4. Lower the flame and add the ravva with continuous stirring. If the ravva is dry roasted for three to four minutes, the upma tastes very nice.

5. Cook it for five minutes and turn off the stove.


Pesarattu



Ingredients :

Green grams or pesalu-2 cups
Fenugreek seeds or menthulu-1/4 teaspoon
Rice-1/4 cup
Ginger-1 inch piece
Cumin seeds or jeera-1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil-4 tablespoons

Method:

1. Soak the green grams overnight along with the rice and fenugreek seeds.

2. Wash and grind them with cumin seeds, salt, water and ginger into dosa batter consistency.

3. Heat a non stick pan and pour the batter with a laddle and spread it into a circle.

4. Add one teaspoon of oil at the edges of the circle. Let it cook on medium flame.

5. Flip it over and add a laddle of upma and fold it. Serve on a plate. If you do not want to add upma, you can add chopped onions green chillies and fold the pesarattu.

Ginger Chutney

Ingredients :

Ginger-50 grams
Green chillies-5
Grated jaggery-2 spoons
Tamarind-small berry sized
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Jeera-1 teaspoon
Garlic cloves-2
Oil-2 tablespoons
For Seasoning : ¼ teaspoon gram dal, ¼ teaspoon urad dal, ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds, few curry leaves and 4pieces of red dry chilly

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the green chilli, turmeric powder and cumin seeds on low flame.

2. Before turning off the stove add the tamarind and garlic cloves and fry them for one minute.

3. Peel off the ginger and cut it into small pieces and fry until they turn brown. Grind all the fried ingredients along with the salt and jaggery.

4. In the same pan, heat the remaining oil and fry the red dry chilly pieces, gram dal, urad dal, mustard seeds and curry leaves.

5. Turn off the stove and add it to the grinded chutney. It will keep for 4-5 days.


Ginger Tea

Ingredients :

Milk- ¾ cup
Water-1/4 cup
Red Lable tea powder or any other brand-1 tablespoon
Sugar-1 tablespoon
Ginger-1 inch piece

Method:

1. Heat the milk and water in a vessel on medium flame and add the tea powder.

2. After boiling for three minutes add the crushed ginger and lower the flame.

3. Add sugar and let it boil for three more minutes.

4. Turn off the stove and filter the tea into a cup using the filter.

5. Drink it hot.

Pistachio Oatmeal made in Microwave

This is my submission to Think Spice... "Saffron” hosted by Sunitha of http://sunitabhuyan.blogspot.com/ and “WYF-Diet food" hosted by Hima of http://snackorama.blogspot.com/

I prefer to have oatmeal for breakfast at least twice in a week. Initially I found it difficult to eat this but its nutritional value appealed to me. Oatmeal is the only whole grain foods recognized by the FDA to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Oats contain a variety of vitamins, minerals and unique antioxidants. Oatmeal can aid in maintaining a healthy weight as part of a diet rich in fiber. Oatmeal can be used in preparing biscuits, cereals and even in soaps.

Over 40 studies show that eating oatmeal may help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. According to Quaker, all it takes is 3/4 cup of oatmeal each day to help lower cholesterol. The soluble fiber in oats helps remove LDL or "bad" cholesterol, while maintaining the good cholesterol that your body needs. The soluble fiber in oatmeal absorbs a considerable amount of water which significantly slows down your digestive process. This result is that you'll feel full longer, i.e. oatmeal can help you control your weight. In fact, the American Diabetes Association already recommends that people with diabetes eat grains like oats. The soluble fiber in these foods helps to control blood glucose levels.

According to recent studies, a diet that includes oatmeal may help reduce high blood pressure. The reduction is linked to the increase in soluble fiber provided by oatmeal. Oats contain more soluble fiber than whole wheat, rice or corn. Oatmeal contains a wide array of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and is a good source of protein, complex carbohydrates and iron. The fiber and other nutrients found in oatmeal may actually reduce the risk for certain cancers. Oatmeal is quick and convenient. Every type of oatmeal can be prepared in a microwave oven. For more details visit the following website…
http://www.mrbreakfast.com/

I hope you will add oatmeal to your breakfast menu...






Ingredients:

Quick cook oat meal-1/2 cup (I have used Quaker Quickcook oatmeal)
Milk-1/2 cup
Water-1/2 cup
Honey or sugar-1 tablespoon
Cardamom powder-a pinch
Sliced pistachios-1 tablespoon
Saffron-2or3 strands

Sliced pistachios, saffron and oatmeal…



Method:

1. Soak saffron strands in a tablespoon of milk.

2. Take a microwave safe bowl and add oatmeal, milk and water.

3. Mix sugar, cardamom powder and saffron and microwave for two minutes.

4. Remove the bowl from the microwave. Leave it to set into desired consistency.

5. Garnish with slices of pistachios and serve hot.

Note: We can also use almonds, cashews, hazel nuts instead of pistachios and dry fruits like apricot, raisins, dates etc. And also fresh fruits like straberry, banana etc...