Idly - Sambar

Ingredients for Idly batter:

Idly rice - 4 cups

Whole Urad dal - 1 cup

Methi seeds - 1tbsp (optional)

Salt - to taste

Method:

Soak the rice and methi seeds seperately overnight. Soak the urad dal just half an hour before grinding. First grind urad dal and methi seeds to a smooth paste by adding required water. After it is well done, transfer the urad dal mix to a broad vessel. Next grind the rice nicely. Mix both together along with salt using your hands. Allow it to ferment for atleast 8-10 hrs or overnight. Prepare idlies the next day. The Idlies will come out very soft.

Note:

• Use cold water for best results
• You can even use ice cubes while grinding the batter.

Ingredients for sambar:

Mixed vegetables (potato, carrot, brinjal, drumstick etc ) - chopped

Small onion - a few

Tomato - 1 (chopped)

Ginger - 1 piece (chopped)

Garlic - 4 pods (chopped)

Tamarind juice - 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Sambar powder - 1 tbsp

Toor dal / Moong dal - 1 cup (both will be good)

Salt - to taste

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp

Hing - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Pressure cook the dal till soft and keep it aside. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, Methi seeds and hing. Add onions, tomatoes and fry for few minutes. Then add the mixed vegetables. Fry for another 5 minutes. Add the tamarind juice, turmeric powder and salt. Add required water and allow it to boil till the vegetables are cooked. Add the cooked dal and mix well. Allow to boil well and serve with hot Idlies / dosas.

Healthy Godhuma Rava Upma (Wheat rava upma)

Ingredients:

Godhuma rava (wheat rava) - 1 cup

Onion - 2 (finely chopped)

Tomato - 2 (finely chopped)

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1/2 tsp

Channa dal - 1/2 tsp

Hing - a pinch

Curry leaves - a few

Red chilli - 3  or as per taste

Salt - to taste

Oil

Method:

Heat oil in a pressure pan / cooker. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, red chilli, curry leaves and hing. Fry well. Add onions and tomatoes. Fry till onions turn golden brown and tomatoes are cooked. Add required water (I added water in the ratio - 1:2 1/2  ie 1 cup of rava and 2 1/2 cups of water). Allow it to boil. After it starts boiling, add the rava. Add required salt. Mix well. Close the cooker and allow 3 whistles. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Note:

• You can also add vegetables of your choice. 
• You can add shredded coconut also at the end.

Poori - Masala

Ingredients:

For Poori:

Wheat flour - 2 cup

Salt - 1/2 tbsp

Water - as required

For Masala:

Potatoes - 3 (boiled and smashed)

Onions - 2

Green chillies - 2-3

Curry leaves - a few

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1/2 tsp

Channa dal - 1/2 tsp

Hing - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Besan powder - 1 tbsp

Method:

Prepare dough using wheat flour, salt and water. The dough should be little hard. Keep it aside. Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal and green chillies. Fry well. Add onions and fry till golden brown. Add turmeric powder and required salt. Mix well. Add mashed potatoes and mix well. Mix besan with water and add to the potatoes. Allow to boil till thick.

Take a small ball of the prepared dough. Roll using a rolling pin with little flour. If you want the pooris to be fluffy, the rolling should be thick. Heat oil in a pan. Deep fry the pooris. Serve hot with the above prepared masala.

SIMPLE VEGGIE NOODLES

Ingredients:

Chinese noodles - 1 packet

Chopped vegetables - 1 cup

Onion - 1 chopped lengthwise

Soya Sauce - 1 tbsp

Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp

Red Chilli Sauce  -1/2 tbsp (optional)

Black pepper powder - 1 tsp

Salt - as per taste

Oil

Method:

Boil the noodles along with a few drops of oil (so that the noodles does not stick to each other). Keep it aside. Heat oil in a tava. Add onion and fry for few minutes. Add all the vegetables and saute for around 10 min along with salt till the vegetables are half cooked. Add all the sauce and mix well. Add the cooked noodle and mix carefully. Lastly sprinkle some pepper powder and serve hot with tomato sauce.

Kuzhi Paniyaram

This a simple and yummy recipe which is prepared using dosa batter along with seasonings.This can be had as an evening snack or dinner.

Ingredients:

Dosa Batter - 1 cup

Onion - 1 (chopped)

Green chillies - 2 (chopped)

Mustard seed  -1/4 tsp

Urad dal - 1/4 tsp

Hing - a pinch

Channa dal - 1/4 tsp

Oil

Salt - as per taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, hing and channa dal. Add chopped onions and green chillies. Mix the above to the dosa batter. Add salt if required. Mix well.

Heat oil in kuzhi paniyaram pan. Make paniyarams and serve hot with chutney. Simple na...Try it out..

Healthy wheat dosa (Godhumai dosai)

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1 cup

Salt - as per taste

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - a few

Water - as needed

Method:

Pour water to the flour to make a batter. The batter should neither be too thick nor too thin. Add salt. In a kadai, heat oil, add cumin seeds and curry leaves. After it is done, add it to the dosa batter. Mix well. Keep it for 5-7 min. Prepare crispy wheat dosa. Serve with tomato chutney.

This is an easy , tasty and a healthy food. You can also add green chillis and onion to the batter.

Arusi upma kozhakatai (steamed ricemeal balls)

Upma Kozhakatai is steamed ricemeal balls with some seasonings and coconut. It is simple to prepare but yummy to eat. It is usually served with coconut chutney or brinjal gotsu. It is one of the famous dish of Tamil Nadu.

Recipe ingredients:

1 cup idli rava (It is nothing but the rice coarsely grinded without water)

For seasoning:

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Split urad dal - 1 tsp

Channa dal - 1 tsp

Hing

Curry leaves

Red chilli - 3-4

Coconut scrapings - 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

Method:

In a kadai, heat oil, add the ingredients of seasoning. After it is done, add 3 cups of water. Add salt and coconut scrapings. Bring the water to rolling boil. Keep the flame in sim and add the rava little by little. Keep mixing it so that there are no lump formation. Mix till all the water gets absorbed and it should not stick to your fingers. Allow it to cool for 4-5 mins. Dont cool it too much otherwise it will be difficult for you to make the balls. Take a handful of the upma. Make either round or oval shapped balls. Steam it for around 10 mins.

Serve hot with chutney. Enjoy!

Rava Idli

Rava Idli is one of the famous tiffin items of South India especially Karnataka. It is prepared using rava / sooji. Rava Idli was  invented by the popular restaurant chain Mavalli Tiffin Rooms[MTR] . It is my favorite too. I loved to eat rava idli in one of the hotel named SLV, in bangalore. I wanted the exact recipe of this. Recently I got the recipe from various other food blogs and I tried it at home. It really came out very well. My husband also liked it a lot. I prepared it with corriander chutney.

Ingredients:

Rava - 1 cup

Beaten Thick Curd - 1 cup

Ginger - 1/2 tsp(grated)

Green Chillies - 2 finely chopped

Coconut scrapings - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

urad dal - 1/2 tsp

Channa dal - 1 tsp

Cashewnuts - broken - few

Corriander leaves - chopped

Salt

Ghee

Method:

Heat ghee. Add mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the channa dal, urad dal, green chillies, cashewnuts, ginger. Fry well. Add the Rava immediately and fry for 2-3 min in low flame. Remove and let it cool. Mix all other ingredients and set aside for 1/2 an hr. Prepare Idlis. Serve hot with sagu or corriander chutney.