Aloo Parantha [Stuffed Indian Flat bread with spicy potatoes and herbs]

Aloo Parantha is one of the most filling and tasty breads I have every eaten. There are a gazillion ways to make it and every north Indian household will have a special family recipe of their own. I think I learnt to make it from my friend Bhavna's mom, I do not know the exact recipe as I am used to the one of my own. I have to say what ever my friends' mom made was like heaven... I still remember, whenever i fell sick, she would take me to her place ask her mom to make some thing tangy and spicy. It is a privilege and good luck to have a friend like Bhavs... love ya!! and thanks for all the yummy food... It makes a very heavy breakfast and good lunch and dinner item.. If your kids are a lot into sports, this may be one item which will provide them with whole lot of carbs.

Prep time: 40 mins [including the potato cook time]

Cook time: 7 mins each parantha, approx

Servings: 4 or 8 pieces

Ingredients:

For spicy Potatoes:

1. Potatoes - Medium sized, 4 boiled and mashed
2. Onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped or made into a paste
3. Coriander/cilantro - a handful, finely chopped
4. Green chilly - 4 finely chopped
5. Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Cumin powder - 1 tsp
7. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
8. Amchur [dry mango powder] - 2 to 3 tsp [substitute with 2 tsp lime juice, depends on how tangy you like it]
9. Turmeric - a pinch
10. Ajwain [celery seeds] - 1 tsp
11. Kalanamak/black slat - 1 tsp
12. Salt - to taste
13. Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp [optional, I have not added it in this recipe]

To make bread crust:

1. Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
2. Maida/all purpose flour - 1 cup
3. Salt - 1/2 tsp
4. Water - enough to make dough 
5. Oil - to roast paranthas, about 1/4 cup

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients for the spicy potatoes together and keep aside.
• Mix the ingredients for the bread crust. the consistency of the dough has to be like the bread dough. not too soggy, not too dry. The idea behind mixing both whole wheat and all purpose flours is to give enough elasticity to the the dough as just the whole wheat makes the crust pretty thick as it does not stretch like all purpose flour and just all purpose flour would make the dough very elastic and chewy. Mixing these two will give the dough the right amount of elasticity.
• Take dough out and make a tangerine sized ball and roll it out as shown in the video below:

   

• Heat a pan on medium high place the rolled out parantha on it. let it roast for a minute turn it over, add a tsp full of oil all around the top of the parantha and spread. Flip to the other side and repeat the same. Let both the sides roast to a nice golden brown colour and till you know it is well cooked. Aloo parantha is read to eat, Enjoy!

Serving suggestion:

Goes well with a wide array of sides like baingan bartha and etc. Also can be served just some lime pickle and yogurt... yumm!! Parantha has a lot of flavour by itself, so it can just be had as it is.

Onion tomato Upittu/Upma

Uppittu in Karnataka and upma for the rest of India is a healthy breakfast/snack item. It is easy to make and very filling. There are a thousand ways one can make upma in... I will try to give a few variation here, you can add or delete a few ingredients and make an upma that you love... I must say this is one of the most versatile items you will ever learn to make. Can be a good snack for kids after school or sports.

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Servings: about 3

Ingredients:

1. Semolina - 1 cup, dry roasted
2. Onion - 1 medium, diced
3. Tomato - 1 medium, diced
4. Green chillies - 4 to 5 (add according to taste), finely chopped
5. Curry Leaves - 1 String, finely chopped
6. Coriander/Cilantro - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
7. Chana Dal (split chick pea) - 2 tsp
8. Urad Dal (split black gram) - 2 tsp
9. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
10. Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
11. Oil - 2 tbsp
12. Salt - to taste
13. Turmeric - a pinch
14. Water - 1 1/2 to 2 cups
15. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece grated or 1/2 tsp paste

Method:

• To dry roast semolina, heat a pan [which can hold all the upma ingredients] on medium heat, pour semolina into it and keep sauteing continuously till it get fragrant and slightly brown, remove from pan and set it aside for later use. You can also buy pre-roasted semolina in the market, then you can skip this step.
• In the same pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add cumin and let it splutter. Add both urad dal and chana dal and roast till they get red. Add green chillies, curry leaves and ginger and saute for a few seconds.
• Add Onions and saute till the get slightly transparent. Now add turmeric and saute for a few more seconds.
• Add tomatoes and enough salt for the entire dish and saute for a few seconds.
• Add water, put a lid on the pan and let the water boil.
• Now slowly stir the water in the pan in a circular motion, once it starts going round slowly and steadily add roasted semolina into the water. Once all of it is added, simmer the stove, put a lid on the pan and let it cook well about 5 minutes. You will know when all the semolina has turned transparent, if semolina is not cooked and all the water has evaporated, add a little more water and close the lid for 3 more minutes. Check if it is done, put the lid back on and let it sit for 5 more minutes.
• Now add cilantro and mix well serve...

Variation 1: [Follow the same cooking method for all variation, just substitute ingredients]

Instead of tomatoes, add surati papdi lilva and also add some crushed black pepper.. this is called kaal uppittu. Very tasty. You can also eliminate onion and add 1/4 cup grated coconut.. even tastier.

Variation 2:

Use Brinjal/Indian eggplant instead of tomatoes and add 1 tbsp vangibath powder it makes yummier upma..

Serving suggestion:

Goes well with any chutney or pickle.

Tips:

If you want to use coconut, don't use onion and vice-verse.. somehow spoils the taste.

Just before you serve, a squeeze of lime gives it more taste and a dash of sugar makes it much more better.

Set Dose, [Pressed rice pan cakes]

How can I describe the joy it gives me when I put this dose along with sagu in my mouth? The experience is much more than words. Love this soft and sweet dose. An excellent breakfast or snack. Must say, one of the best contributions of Karnataka to the cuisine world.

Prep time: 14 Hours (Includes soak and ferment time)

Cook time: about 3 minutes for each dose

Servings: upto 15 pan cakes

Ingredients:

1. Raw rice - 2 cups
2. Poha (pressed rice) - 1 cup
3. Urad dal (Split black gram) - 1 cup
4. Fenugreek  seeds - 1 tsp
5. Salt - to taste
6. Oil - enough to make the pan cakes
7. Garnish - grated carrots, finely chopped cilantro and 1 green chilly.  About half a cup.

Method:

• Wash rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds and poha and soak them for at least 5 hours.
• Make a smooth batter in the blender, mix salt and let it ferment overnight. Consistency of the batter has to be like pan cake batter. When you dip the ladle in the batter, it must cover it fairly thickly and evenly... not too runny and not too pasty.
• Heat a tawa or a pan well and ladle out some batter, pour on the pan, slightly spread it in a circular motion and pour a few drops of oil along the sides of the dose. You will see a lot of tiny bubbles form and pop, that is a good sign and let it get brown. sprinkle grated carrots, coriander and green chillies. Flip the pan cake and roast for a few seconds. Set dose is ready to be served.

Serving suggestions:

Goes well with Sagu and kobri chutney.

Tips:

If the pan cakes keep breaking, don't worry, just sprinkle 2 tsp of rice flour in the batter and mix well, this should do the trick.

Use non-stick tawa/pan to use less oil.

Bread Masala Toast

It is simply called toast in Bangalore bakeries. I remember just getting overjoyed whenever someone got us these super hot toasts to eat. I still remember we had to split one single toast between 4 kids and we fought on who got the bigger piece. It was a serious fight back then but now they are all sweet memories. Sad part of it is, now I can buy or make and eat as much as i want to, but it is not as much fun :(... miss my bro and cousins :D. Sorry for getting nostalgic and emotional, let me talk about the toast a bit more. It is good as a snack for kids and adults, good for breakfast too... add some cheese for a little extra flavour. If you are planning a tea party or just an informal get together, this will be a hit with your friends. If you want them to be of  bite size pieces, just cut them after they bake.

Prep time: 20 mins

Bake time: 15 min

Pieces: 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1. Grated carrots: 3 cups
2. Onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
3. Ginger - 1 inch piece grated or 1 tsp paste
4. Garlic - 2 pods grated or 1 tsp paste (optional)
5. Tomato - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
6. Green chillies - 5 to 7 finely chopped (use according to how hot you want the toast)
7. Garam masala - 1/4 to 1/2 tsp (use on how spicy you want it to be)
8. Cheese - about 1/2 cup, grated (optional). If you have slices, use them 1 per each slice of bread.
9. Bread - 6 to 8 slice. (any bread of your choice, I used whole wheat.)
10. Coriander/Cilantro - a handful, finely chopped.
11. Curry leaves - 4, finely chopped.
12. Oil - 2 tsp
13. Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat oil on medium heat in a pan and curry leaves.
• Add onions and a pinch of salt and saute till it gets slightly transparent.
• Add ginger, garlic and green chillies and saute till the raw smell goes away.
• Add carrots and saute till well cooked.
• Add tomatoes and saute till well cooked.
• Turn the stove off, add coriander and mix well.
• Preheat the oven at 350F and on a baking sheet arrange the bread slices and sprinkle cheese on top of them. 
• Spread the curry you just made and bake them in the oven for 15 minutes. [check after 10 mins, bake time may vary depending on the oven]
• If you do not have an oven, toast the bread on a pan over the stove top.  Flip the slice and sprinkle with cheese while the other side gets toasted. Then spread the curry.
• If you toast bread in a toaster, sprinkle cheese when the toast is hot and spread the curry, toast is ready to eat.. Enjoy!

Rave Idly

Soft and almost instant idlies, they can be good for a breakfast, snack ,lunch or dinner. These are made out of semolina and are ready too cook after 1/2 of soaking. 

Prep Time: 45 mins [includes soaking]

Cook Time : 15 - 20 mins

Pieces - 16 - 20, depending on the stand size.

Ingredients:

1. Semolina - 1 1/2 cup, dry roasted

2. Ginger Root - 1/2 inch grated, or 1/2 tsp paste

3. Cilantro - A handful, finely chopped.

4. Green Chillies - 2 to 4, finely chopped

5. Carrots - 2 tbsp, grated [optional]

6. Plain Yogurt - upto 2 to 2 1/2 cups. Enough to make a batter.

7. Water - 2 to 3 tbsp to dilute.

8. Slat - to taste

9. Roasted broken cashew - 2 tsp [optional]

For tempering:

1. Oil - 2 tsp

2. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

3. Chana dal - 1/2 tsp

4. Urad dal - 1/2 tsp

5. Curry leaves - 5 to 6, finely chopped

6. Asafoetida - a pinch.

Method:

1. In a big bowl which can hold all the ingredients, mix  all the ingredients except tempering and water.

2. To prepare tempering. Heat oil in a small pan. add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Then add chana dal and urad dal, saute them till they turn red.

3. Add curry leaves and asafoetida and turn the stove off. Pour the tempering to the idly mixture in the bowl.

4. Let it sit for half an hour.

5. After half an hour, add sufficient water to make the batter. Keep in mind it should not be too runny or too thick. To check the right consistency , dip a spoon into the batter take it out and hold it pointing downwards, if the batter coats the spoon evenly and fairly thickly and if it is not dripping too much like water, you have the right consistency.

6. Oil the idly rack and pour the mixture into it. Steam for about 20 minutes, turn the stove off and cool for 5 minutes. Rave idly is ready to be served.

Serving suggestions:

Goes excellent with Sagu and kobri Chutney. 

Tips:

To roast semolina, heat a pan, add semolina into it. Keep gently sauteing till it turns slightly brown and starts smelling fragrant. Remove from heat.

If you want it more flavorful and make it ahead, make this batter atleast 7 to 8 hours before you will cook it. Keep it refrigerated and steam.The soaking makes them more tasty.

Banana Dosa/Balehannu Dose

I first ate this at my friend Nivedita's house on my previous visit to India. Must say, her mom cooks such amazing food, I used to travel around  15 km one way, just to eat what she cooked when i was back in college. So, this time around her mom made these scrumptious doasas for me. They were sweet, but not annoyingly sweet and that caramelized banana flavour... umm!! Takes me to a different plane. Her mom gave me this recipe, which i tried after a long time. This dosa is eaten with jaggery, before it is solidified. In the sense, jaggery in it's natural state is a semi liquid, it is processed further to solidify. Or you can have it with a sweet date chutney, coconut chutney, honey, ketchup or anything you may please. If you top it with some roasted nuts and honey, it makes an excellent dessert. I made sorakaya Pachadi to go along with this dosa, recipe for which i will update in coming days. Here goes the recipe for the versatile banana dosa.

Prep time: 15 minutes (excluding soaking and fermenting)

Cook time: 2 to 4 minutes, each dosa

servings: About 10 dosas

Ingredients:

1. Large ripe bananas - 2

2. raw rice - 1 cup

3. Salt - to taste

4. Jaggery - 1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cups or more depending on how sweet you want it. Grated.

5. Water - required amount to thin the batter.
6. Fenugreek Seeds- 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Soak rice and fenugreek seeds together for atleast 5 hours.

2. Grind soaked rice and banana to a smooth batter, it's consistency should be like dosa or pan cake batter.

3. Add salt and jaggery, let it ferment overnight or atleast 8 hours. 

4. To make pan cakes or dosa, heat a tava or a skillet, pour a ladle full of this batter in the middle of the skillet. Press down the ladle gently on the batter in the center of the batter and in a circular motion, spread it around the pan slightly.. not too much.

5. Pour oil around the batter and let it turn brown, flip and cook for 30 more seconds. Dosa is ready to be served. Be careful when you flip the dosa, it is very delicate so handle it with care.

Serving suggestions:

This particular dosa can be eaten as breakfast or dessert. If serving as break fast, use some savory sides like chutney, ketchup or pudi. If serving as a dessert, use honey, maple syrup, jaggery paste, date chutney. Also drizzle some chopped nut on top for more jazz.

Tips:

1. If bananas are rotting away, you know what breakfast to make the next day, ;) wink.

2. Very good carbs, so it is an excellent breakfast when you need all the energy.

3. Use more jaggery into batter if you are planning to make dessert, than breakfast.
4. Heat of the skillet should be monitored, since this dosa has a lot of sugar, it will burn faster and will not cook through. Heat the skillet on medium heat, not high.

Adai Dose (Lentils pan cake)

This is one of the healthiest dose/pan cake you can ever eat. Rich in protein and low fat, which makes it a good breakfast or a snack for the kids. Kids generally love to eat dose varieties, this will certainly give them more nourishment than the rest of them. This is also a gluten free pan cake. There are many different recipes to make these doses, i like to make 'em this way.

Ingredients: 

1. Split yellow lentil (Toor dal) - 1 cup

2.Split Green gram (Moong dal) - 1/2 cup

3. Split Chick Peas (Channa dal) - 1/2 cup

4. Raw rice - 1 cup

5. Ginger - 1 inch piece or 1 tbsp paste

6. Whole black pepper - about 1 tsp

7. Dry red chilli - 4 to 5, (if you don't have it on hand, please use cayenne/chilli powder about 1 to 2 tsp, depending on how hot you would want it)

8. Asafoetida - a pinch or two.

9.Salt to taste

10. Finely chopped onions for garnish.

Method:

1. Soak rice, toor, moong, channa dal, balck pepper, dry red chilli for 6 to 8 hours. Do not use the chilli/cayenne powders to soak.

2. Grind the soaked dals and rice with ginger piece smoothly to pan cake batter consistancy.

3. Add salt, asafoetida and chilli/cayenne powder if not using dry chilli to the batter mix well and the dough is ready to be made into pan cakes.

4. To make the pan cakes, heat a pan, preferably non-stick so you can use less oil. pour the batter and spread it around the pan in circular motion starting from center. Pour a few drops of oil around the pan cake and wait till the lower side gets cooked. Flip the pan cake and cook for a few seconds. If you are using chopped onions, drizzle them on the batter as soon as you spread the batter on the pan. 

You can serve it with any kind of chutney/ketchup or pudi.