Multi Legume Dosa/Crepe

    This is the recipe for a healthy, nutritious, delicious and spicy dosa. Idli/dosa is every South Indian’s favorite breakfast dish and there must be hundreds of varieties of dosa. My mother used to make this dosa for me when I was a kid. The whole kitchen filled up with an aroma when she made this dosa. I have not added egg to this dosa batter since I do not eat egg these days. Eggs will give it a nice color and more taste. I shall update the picture if I make this dosa adding eggs.

 

Ingredients

1. Idli rice - 1/2 cup
2. Whole urad dal - 1/2 cup
3. Black chick peas - 1/4 cup
4. Green Gram - 1/4 cup
5. Peanuts - 2 tbsp
6. Pearl onions - 10
6. Green chillies - 6-7
7. Curry leaves - 1 sprig chopped
8. Cilantro - 2 tsp chopped
9. Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp (optional)
10. Egg - 1 (optional)

11. Salt - To taste

Ingredients for chutney

1. Grated coconut - 1 cup
2. Pearl onion - 2 - 3
3. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
4. Green chillies - 2-3
5. Curry leaves - A few
6. Salt - To taste

     To temper

   7. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

   8. Pearl onion - 1 chopped fine

   9. Dry red chillies - 1

  10. Curry leaves - A few

   11. Oil - As required

 

Method

 

1. Soak the idli rice, urad dal, black chickpeas, green gram  and peanuts for around 2 hrs.

 

 

 

2. Grind them with 3-4 pearl onion and  2-3 green chillies to a coarse paste.  Keep aside for around 1 hour. There is no need to ferment this dosa batter. Just before making dosa  add salt, chopped curry leaves, cilantro, cumin seeds, chopped green chillies, chopped pearl onion, egg (optional) and mix well. Make the dosa and serve hot with chutney. You won’t get crispy dosa with this batter but its tasty and healthy as well.

 

 

 

  

 

For the chutney  

Grind the grated coconut, pearl onion, ginger, green chillies, curry leaves and salt in a mixer. While grinding you can add water if needed. In a pan heat some coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds. Add dry red chillies, chopped pearl onions and brown them. Add the curry leaves and pour the ground coconut mixture to this and heat through. Check for salt and switch off.

 

Sending this recipe to MLLA21 hostel by Mirch Masala and started by The Well-Seasoned Cook.

 

 

We are also sending this recipe to JIHVA - Breakfast hosted by Veggie Platters and started by Mahanandi.

Also sending our vattayappam recipe and spinach, beetroot, carrot chapati recipe to JIHVA - Breakfast.

Vattayappam/Steamed Rice Cake

 

 

Spinach,Beetroot,Carrot Chapati

 

Green Apple Pickle

      When I read about Nithu Bala's event and that the main ingredient to be used is fruit, the first thing that came to my mind is apple pickle. It was my cousin Biji who told me that we could pickle apples too. Being a pickle lover, I bought green apples and tried it. To tell you the truth, it wasn’t that good when I tasted it immediately after preparing it. That depressed me..but amazingly after a few hours or so, after the pickle had cooled up, hesitantly I tried it again! Voila, my effort didn't go unrewarded. The pickle had turned out excellent! It tasted sweet, tangy........To add a twist to the apple pickle, I took a little pickle in a bowl and added sour yoghurt to it, as my mother used to do with kaduku mango pickle. So that makes it two recipes :). Try it and I am sure you will enjoy it too.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

1. Green Apple - 1 chopped (Sour green apples are best for this pickle and I usually peel off the apple skin since they are coated with wax.)
2. Chilli powder - 2 tsp
3. Fenugreek powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Hing/Asafoetida - 2 pinches
5. Vinegar - 1tsp
6. Salt - To taste
7. Mustard - 1/2 tsp
8. Dry red chillies - 1
9. Gingelly/Sesame oil - 2 tsp

 

Method

 

1. Combine the chopped green apple with chilli powder, fenugreek powder, hing and salt. Keep it aside for a few hours.

 

 

 

 

 

2. In a pan add gingelly oil and splutter the mustards. Add dry red chillies and then the chopped green apple. Mix well and switch off. I added a tsp of vinegar for extra sourness.

 

 

3. You could add around 2 tbsp yoghurt to 3 tbsp of this pickle for an extra taste but consume it within 2-3 days. Add extra salt if needed.

 

 

Sending this recipe to Nithubala’s event.

 

Moist, Delicious Chocolate Cake and a bunch of awards

   Today I am presenting to you a lip smackingly delicious recipe for a yummy chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I made it thrice in the past 2 weeks and gave it for taste checking to some of my friends and their kids who absolutely loved it! It tastes great even without frosting.

   We are really excited to receive a bunch of awards from Nithu’s Kitchen, PranisKitchen and NatureKitchen. Thanks a lot for your motivation friends!

  

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

1. All purpose flour/ maida - 1 1/4 cup
2. Unsweetened cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
3. Sugar - 1 1/4 cup
4. Baking powder - 1 tsp
5. Baking Soda - 1 tsp
6. Eggs - 2
7. Milk - 3/4 cup
8. Boiling water - 2/3 cup
9. Oil - 1/3 cup
10. Salt - 3/4 tsp
11. Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Chocolate Frosting

1. 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2. 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3. 1 tsp vanilla extract
4. 2 cup Confectioners sugar or icing sugar (The original recipe called for 3 cups, I used 2 cups)
5. 1/4 - 1/2 cup milk or as required to achieve the desired consistency

 

Method

 

1.  In a large bowl sift together the all purpose flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Now add in the eggs, milk, oil, vanilla extract and boiling water. Beat them with a mixer at medium speed for about 1 minute or until the batter is well-combined.

 

2. Pour it into a greased round pan and bake at 325 F for around 70 mts or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.If your cake do look dry on top, try to cover it with aluminium foil after 30 minutes of baking. Cool on a wire rack. Cool completely and frost with the chocolate frosting.

 

 

 Chocolate Frosting

 

1. In a bowl combine all ingredients under the frosting section and beat with a mixer until you get a spreading consistency. This makes about 2 cups frosting. You might need only around 1 cup for the frosting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe Courtesy for chocolate frosting - www.hersheys.com

 

 

      

 

 

        Nithubala and PranisKitchen shared with us the blog loving award and honest scrap award. Nature Kitchen passed us the Sunshine award. Thank you so much for passing us these awards, we really appreciate it! We would like to share these awards with few of our favorite bloggers - Kaipunyam, Vazhayila, Collaborative Curry, Pazham Pappadam Payasam, Adukkala Vishesham and Mirch Masala. Check out their space for some great recipes with awesome clicks. We are pretty sure that they must have received all these awards from plenty of other bloggers. Please do accept them from us too. As per the rules we have to share these awards with fellow bloggers and list 10 things about us which others do not know.

 

 

Coming to 10 things about us:

Maya

        Sharing things people do not know about me would be difficult because that is why I keep it unknown to them. But rules being rules, I have decided to share 10 things that many people don’t know about me. To start with, my friends would know me as a sweet, innocent and caring girl ;-) But the real me is much beyond that.

1. Being a very impatient person, I get upset when things don’t happen the way I planned, and I take out my impatience on people who are dear to me. It really irritates them!

 

2. I was a very popular girl in my batch at school, but mostly known for my foolishness. My batchmates have publicized “Mayayude Mandatharangal” until volume 10 to my utter dismay.

3. I love watching scary movies. When I was young, I with my sis and bro used to watch horror movies at night and slept with the lights on, after checking that there were no ghosts under the bed! What scares me even worse than ghosts would be reptiles. Oh how I fear snakes!

4. I love traveling a lot and that too with my dear hubby. He is passionate about traveling too. We plan to travel the whole world one day!

5. You could call me a non-stop chatter box. I love talking. I just can’t stop myself from going on and on and finally exhaust the person listening to me. Sometimes my friends tell me, “ Maya plzzz, no more”….well but still I go ooonnn……My sister keeps complaining that my niece has got all my traits :).

6. I am an extremely friendly person but it takes time for me to take the friendship to a deeper level,but once someone reaches my good friend book, I try to be there for them always.

 

7. Dancing is my passion, and I regret greatly that I am not classically trained. I loved doing fashion shows, and had a secret desire to be a model, cat walking the ramp! Now I model for my husband, always posing, posing, since he is passionate about photography!

8. I adore watching movies. My hubby is crazy about movies, film making etc. At first, I was not sooo interested but now I am a movie buff too! We watch movies in every language.

9. Cooking is my biggest obsession! I used to be the official taste checker at home. And I love celebrating every festivals, birthdays, events, because that meant good food ! I used to bug my mother to make sadya on my birthdays just for the love of eating sadya. How much I love the cooking part, equally that much would I hate the cleaning and washing dishes part.

 

10. I do not take initiative in anything. Always need a push as I am a really dependent person. My hubby is trying his best to make me do my best. I usually am very lazy to get started with something but once I start I will be fully dedicated to it and give my best. My favorite motto in life is “Hope for the best and prepare for the worst”.

 

Lakshmi

1. I am a very friendly person and always have a group of good friends.

2. I get disturbed even by a very small issue.

3. I am a family type person and love to be with my family always.
4. I love listening to music and enjoy dancing.

5. Teaching is my passion. 

6. I am a nature lover.

7. I  love cooking especially for my hubby.

8. I loooove sweets.

9.  Like all other ladies out there, love shopping.

10. I love to watch movies and I am an internet addict :)

 

Layered Sandwich

       Here is the recipe for a tasty sandwich from vanitha magazine. Use whatever vegetables, fruits or spreads you prefer so that you will really enjoy your sandwich. For example you could also use avocado slices, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, zucchini, celery, sprouts, cauliflower, sliced paneer or tofu, peanut butter, almond butter, hummus, ketchup,  pureed dry fruits, sliced apples, strawberry also as fillings to make it more healthy and tasty. You could also stuff these into slightly warmed pita pockets. Wrap and store in refrigerator until you’re ready to eat. Your choices are infinte :) !!

 

Ingredients

 

1. Bread slices - 8 (I used multi-grain brown bread)
2. Butter - 1 tsp
3. Cheese slice - 2
4. Egg - 1
5. Pineapple chopped fine - 2 tbsp
6. Capsicum, grated carrot, finely chopped tomato and onion - 3 tbsp
7. Salad cucumber - 12 - 15 thin round slices
8. Chicken - 1 breast half (cooked with salt and pepper powder)
9. Mayonnaise - 1 tbsp (optional)
10. Pepper powder, Salt - To taste

 

 

Method

 

 

1. Butter the bread slices on both sides and roast on a tawa.

2. Scramble the eggs with salt and a pinch of pepper powder. Mince the chicken and keep aside. 

3. Place a cheese slice on a bread slice. Top with chopped pineapple and minced chicken.  Place the second slice of bread on top of it and spread the vegetables(grated carrot, finely chopped onion and tomato) mixed in mayonnaise and a few salad cucumber slices (I didn’t use mayonnaise).

4. Cover it with the third slice and spread the scrambled eggs and finely chopped capsicum. Cover with the fourth and final slice. Press well, divide into two. Repeat the same with the remaining four slices. Cut  into desired shapes and serve.

 

 

 

Tips:

 

1) Try using thicker dressings rather than drippy ones, which will soak through the bread.

Vazhapindi-Thuvaraparippu Thoran (Banana Stem-Toor Dal Poriyal)

 

      There are lots of dishes that one could try with banana stem. Banana stem has lots of fibre and aids weight loss. It also helps eliminate toxins from the body. It is usually taken in the juice form to treat kidney stones. Try to include banana stem at least once a week  as it is so good for your health. Here is the recipe for a healthy and delicious thoran using banana stem.

Ingredients

1. Vazhapindi (chopped finely) -  Around 2.5 cups
2. Toor dal - 1/2 cup
3. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Grated coconut - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
5. Garlic - 2-3 pods
6. Green chillies - 3-4
7. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
8. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
9. Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
10. Dry red chillies -2
11. Salt - To taste
12. Oil - As required

Method

 

1. Clean the banana stem, cut into round pieces while removing the fibres with your forefingers.

2. Cook the toor dal and keep aside.

3. Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds, add dry red chillies. Now add the finely chopped banana stem, curry leaves, turmeric powder and salt. Cover and cook for around 8-10 mts.

4. Crush the grated coconut with garlic, cumin seeds and green chillies in a mixer. Now add the crushed coconut mixture to the cooked banana stem. Mix well and saute until dry and add the cooked toor dal. Again mix well and cook for a few more minutes and switch off.

 

 

Sardine/Mathi Fry

      Sardines/ Chala/ Mathi is a fish familiar to every Keralite as it is cheap and almost always obtainable. I know many people in my place who would find it difficult to eat rice without at least a mathi fry or curry. Sardines are considered to be one of the best sources of omega 3 fatty acids, which have been found to lower triglycerides and cholesterol, surpassed by only a few other fish such as salmon. The smaller size of sardines makes them less likely to have accumulated toxins such as mercury compared to large fish like salmon. They are also a naturally good source of vitamin D. We usually make curry, thoran or fry with sardines. Today I am posting the recipe for sardine fry.
     By the way, does anyone know how to reduce the smell that erupts in the whole house while frying sardines? Please share if you know ……

       

Ingredients

1. Sardine - 8 - 10
2. Pearl Onion - 8 - 10
3. Ginger - 1 inch piece
4. Garlic - 5-6
5. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
6. Pepper powder - 1.5 tsp
7. Chilli powder - 1.5 tsp
8. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
9. Salt - To taste
10. Oil - For shallow frying

Method

1. Clean and cut the sardines. Make gashes on both sides of the fish. Grind all the ingredients to a paste and marinate the fish with this ground mixture for around half an hour.

2.  In a pan pour some oil and place some sprigs of curry leaves. Now lay the sardines over the curry leaves and fry on medium heat turning them to the other side in between. Switch off and serve immediately with rice.

 

 

 

Palada Pradhaman - 50th post and our first award :)

 

     Yahoooooo……!! Don’t think this is an ad for yahoo…just sharing our excitement! We have made it to our 50th post. We started our blog with great apprehension, not sure how far we would go as both of us didn’t have any idea about blogging. So this is indeed a great accomplishment for both of us. A big thank you to all of you out there for encouraging us all this way! We are grateful to our friends and family, who shared their ideas and favorite recipes which helped us immensely when we came up with this blog. It would be unforgivable if we didn’t thank our husbands, without their push we would not have taken this initiative for blogging! Looking forward to post more wonderful recipes and receiving whole lot of encouragement from you………….Getting sentimental now!

 

      Luckily coinciding with our 50th post, the duo of Adukkala Vishesham passed us our very first award. This means a loooooot to us. We feel honoured, girls!! :) We would love to pass on this award to some of the lovely bloggers  -  MirchMasala, CollaborativeCurry,  PazhamPappadamPayasam,  AnOpenBook, kitchentantra, Nithu’skitchen, Ruchibhedhangal, Dakshin, FoodLovers,  Sashirecipes, Zaiqa and Lena’sCookbook.

 

The award winners please pass this on to your favorite bloggers! Here are the Rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post
2. Pass the award on to 12 bloggers!
3. Link the nominees within your post
4. Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award
Cheers!!!!

 

    To celebrate our 50th post and first award, we are sharing with you the recipe for a yummy palada pradhaman. Sadly, the pictures couldn’t capture the real taste or flavour of pradhaman. But we could vouch for this wonderful payasam.

 

    

  

 

 

Ingredients

1. Rice ada – 200gm
2. Milk – 2 litres
3. Sugar – 400 gm
4. Cardamom crushed – 8- 10( You could also use cardamom powder)
5. Ghee – 1-2 tsp
6. Dry fruits - 1/4 cup

Method

 

1.Wash ada in cold water and drain.
2. Pour ½ litre boiled water on the ada and keep it covered for around 20 - 25 mts. Drain the water completely.
3. Boil the milk with half litre of water and then add ada. Cook in low flame and keep stirring all the time until the ada becomes soft. Do try stirring the pradhaman in the same direction all the time.
4. Add the sugar and stir for a few more minutes.
5. Finally add ghee, crushed cardamom and the fried nuts. Your palada is ready. Switch off. Enjoy!!

Green Gram/Cherru Payar Sprouts Raita

      There is no need to explain the health benefits of sprouts and the importance to include them in one’s daily menu. Here is a recipe for a healthy and tasty green gram sprouts raita. This recipe is adapted from Mrs. K.M. Mathew’s “Lalitha Pachakam”.

 

 

 

Ingredients

1. Green Gram/Mung Bean Sprouts - 1 cup

2. Tomato deseeded and pulp removed - 1/2 small, chopped

3. Coriander Leaves - 2 tbsp chopped

4. Yoghurt - 1/2 - 3/4 cup

5. Hing -  A pinch

6. Sugar - A pinch

7. Salt - To taste

Method

 

1. Steam the green gram/mung bean sprouts. 

 

 

 

 

2. Combine them with chopped tomato, coriander leaves, yoghurt, hing, sugar and salt. The original recipe calls for adding sauteed onion and green chillies to the raita, which I didnt do, as I wanted it to be free of oil.

 

 

 

How to grow sprouts?

 

Wash the whole green gram well and remove any discolored ones.  Soak them in water for around 12 - 15 hrs.  Drain the water and keep them covered in a container. They will sprout in 1-2 days. Rinse and drain them at least once a day to prevent them from drying out.

Inji/Ginger Curry

   Ginger has many medicinal properties and  is most commonly known for its effectiveness as a digestive aid. Inji curry is an inevitable part of the Kerala sadhya and is made from ginger, green chillies, tamarind and jaggery which lends it a hot, sour and sweet taste. I have heard that it is included in a sadhya in order to help aid digestion of the heavy feast. There is also a saying in Kerala that inji curry is equivalent to having a 101 curries. It is also known as puli inji in the northern part of Kerala and has many regional variations. This is my mother’s recipe for a hot and spicy inji curry. It goes well with idli/dosa too. It is one of my favorites. I am waiting to upload this post to have this inji curry with rice, yoghurt, pappad and idichakka-cherrupayar thoran. I think I will have my lunch first :)

Ingredients

1. Inji/Ginger - 3/4 lb chopped into small slices
2. Shallots - 8 chopped fine (optional)
3. Green chillies - 4-5 chopped fine
4. Chilli powder - 3 - 4 tsp (adjust it according to your spice tolerance)
5. Fenugreek powder/uluva podi - 1/2 tsp
6. Hing/Asafoetida - A pinch
7. Tamarind/puli - lemon-sized or to taste
8. Jaggery - 2 tbsp or to taste
9. Curry leaves - 3 sprigs
10. Mustard - 1 tsp
11. Dry red chillies - 2
12. Coconut oil - As required
13. Salt - To taste

Method

1.  Chop the ginger and fry in oil until brown and crispy.  When it cools down, grind or crush in a mixer.

 

2.  Soak the tamarind in warm water(around 2 cups) and extract its juice. 

3. Heat oil in a deep pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add dry red chillies, shallots and saute until the shallots turn brown. Now add the green chillies, curry leaves and saute for a few more minutes.

 

 

4. Pour the strained tamarind extract to it. Bring it to a boil and add chilli powder, fenugreek powder and hing. Now add the ground ginger and jaggery. Mix well. Check for salt. Cook for another 10 - 15 minutes stirring in between and switch off. Adjust the gravy according to your consistency. You can store it in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks. Use it like a pickle though I have it like a curry :).

 

 

 

Tips:

1) You could also grate ginger instead of chopping it. Squeeze out the juice, fry and crush them in a mixer.

2) Add more green chillies, if you wish to avoid using chilli powder.