Onion Rava Dosa

Onion rava dosa is a popular south-Indian breakfast that is super-instant and irresistible when crispy & golden brown. Making regular dosa takes a lot of time & effort right from soaking of lentils to fermentation. But onion rava dosa is quick and time-saving - you can pretty much start making dosas as soon as the batter is ready.

Murungai Keerai Adai

A healthy variation from the regular adai varieties. Murungai keerai (drumstick leaves) adai is not only healthy and rich in nutrients but also very tasty. A 100g of cooked murungai leaves has considerable source of nutrients (Vitamin A as beta carotene, calcium, protein, potassium, Vitamin C) compared to 100g of carrot, milk, yogurt, banana, orange put together (Thanks to wiki!)

Pesarattu

This happened a few years ago when I was pregnant with my li 'l one! One fine evening, when boredom was at its finest, I decided to give a knock on my neighbor's door. My ex-neighbors were a family from Andhra Pradesh (neighbor state in India) and incidentally, she was making "Pesarattu" for dinner. Given that I was pregnant, out of basic courtesy she offered me to taste one. I don't remember what was the side, but the pesarattu was hot, crispy, spicy & super-tasty. And so, I couldn't stop with just one! I don't know if she blamed herself later, but when I came back home, I was so stuffed and full!

Pesarattu is a Andhra speciality, traditionally served for breakfast with rava upma & ginger chutney. Though I don't fancy the idea of upma being served as a side for pesarattu, I totally adore pesarattu for its taste and health benefits. Pesarattu is loaded with proteins and makes a good breakfast (or) dinner.

Basic Info
Complexity - Medium
Prep time - 4-5 hrs
Cook time - 30 mins
Serves - 8 - 10 dosas

Ingredients
Split Moong beans - 1.5 cups (with skin)
Boiled rice - 1/4 cup (optional)
Ginger - 2 tbsp (grated)
Green chillies - 2 nos
Red chillies - 2 nos
Hing - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method

Wash and soak moong dal & rice separately in water for atleast 4 hrs until the lentils double in volume.

Use a mixer and grind lentils & rice with ginger, green chillies, dry red chillies, hing and salt without adding any water.

Heat a griddle. When hot, pour a ladle full of batter and spread it thin from the center to outwards. Add a tsp of sesame oil around the pesarattu and cook both the sides on medium heat.

Hot and crispy pesarattu is ready!

Tips

- Boiled rice is completely optional.

- Skip ginger, green chillies, red chillies & hing incase you have ginger chutney as the side.

- I have always used split moong beans to make pesarattu. But, if you are using whole moong, you might have to soak it overnight.

- Extra batter can be stored in the refrigerator and can be used within next 2 days.

Instant Vegetable-Oats Adai

Another quick, instant & healthy breakfast idea for the busy mornings! Loaded with fiber-rich oats and vegetables, couple of adai can go a long way between two meals.

Check out my other "Oats adai" recipe here which requires atleast a couple of hours of planning & prep ahead, but this recipe of adai is "super" instant and the batter can be put together in less than 20 mins, which is a BIG plus! Also, adai prepared in the traditional way can get very heavy because of the rice & channa dal in it. But, this instant adai is very light and works pretty well for breakfast too!

Basic Info

Complexity - Medium

Prep time - 20 mins

Cook time - 20 mins

Serves - 8 - 10 adai

Ingredients
Oats - 2 cups
Besan - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Green Chillies - 1 (finely chopped)
Ginger - 1 inch (grated)
Carrot - 1 (grated)
Bell pepper - 1/4 (finely chopped)
Cabbage - 1/2 cup (shredded)
Coriander leaves - a bunch (finely chopped)
Curry leaves - 1 sprig (finely chopped)
Salt - to taste
Sesame oil - as needed

Method

Use a food processor/mixie and powder the oats.

Mix powdered oats, rice flour, besan, chopped vegetables, salt, grated ginger, finely chopped coriander leaves and curry leaves in a bowl. Add just enough water until it forms a slightly thick batter.

Heat a griddle and pour a ladle full of batter and spread slightly from the center to outwards. Add a tsp of oil around the adai and cook both the sides on medium heat.

Quick & healthy vegetable oats adai is ready to be served. Serve hot with pickle or chutney of your choice.

Note:

- You can also add finely chopped onion (1 no) to the batter.

Instant Godhumai Dosai

A good & healthy alternative to the regular dosai! Regular dosai needs much planning ahead right from soaking rice & lentils (for atleast 5 hrs) uptil fermentation that takes about 8-10 hrs, whereas godhumai dosa is instant, tasty and healthy too! Thin & crispy dosai on a leisurely weekend, that too with kathirikkai kootu on the side... couldn 't ask for more!!

The only downside in making Godhumai dosai is that it is extremely laborious, especially if you are new. It takes time & practice to master the art of making a perfectly lacy & crispy dosai. 

Few things to watch out to get a perfect dosai.

- Batter consistency - with thick batter, you cannot get the lacy effect and thin batter will break.

- Griddle should be rightly hot - splash some water onto the griddle and you should hear it sizzle right away.

- Cooking time - Wait before you flip the dosai. Trying too soon will break the dosai.

- Heat - Always cook on medium heat, if you wish for crispy, golden dosai.

So, don' t lose your heart out! Just keep trying and I am sure you 'll get there!!

Another thing that I am very happy about is the video tutorial (check it towards the end of the post). This is my first venture in posting a video and I am really glad with the way it turned out. A quick 32 sec video that is short, crisp yet conveys what I 'd wanted to. It took me quite a while to learn how to edit, voice-over etc, but it was total fun. Let 's hope to see more such video tutorials in the future!

Basic Info
Complexity - Difficult (making dosa part)
Prep time - upto 1 hr (includes resting time)
Cook time - 30 mins - 1 hr (depends on how many dosas you make in a sitting)
Serves - about 20 dosas

Ingredients
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Sooji/Rava - 1/4 cup
Buttermilk - 1 cup
Ginger - 1 inch (grated)
Green chillies - 2 nos (finely chopped)
Salt - to taste
Hing - 1-2 pinches
Oil -1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Method

Mix wheat flour, rice flour, rava well. To this, add buttermilk, salt, grated ginger, green chilies, hing and mix without any lumps. Add 1-2 cups of water as required to make it into a thick batter.

Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, sizzle cumin seeds and mix into the batter. Let the batter sit for 30 mins - 1 hr.

After the resting time, add more water (as required) to the batter to make it to watery consistency (Check the video to know how watery the batter should be; see me pouring the batter onto the griddle).

Heat a flat griddle on medium. When hot, pour the batter in a circular motion from top (refer to the video) and let it cook for upto 2 mins. If required, you can flip it to the other side and let it cook for another min before taking the dosa off heat.

Serve with some spicy side and enjoy!

Video Tutorial - on how to make instant dosa


Note
- Store the excess batter (if any) in the fridge and use it within 2-3 days.

Oats Dosa

Oats saga continues ...

This is a healthy tweak to my mom 's recipe for 'godhumai dosa', in which I have reduced the quantity of wheat flour & rice flour by half and replaced rava with oats (4 times). Dosa came out really crispy and tasted just like the original! As always, it's hard to tell that there is oats in the recipe!

My kiddo is a big time fan of thin & crispy dosas! Being instant dosa, this doesn 't require any kind of elaborate process, and is a good alternative for after-school tiffin/snack. Based on my experience, I would prefer to make these dosas anytime, other than weekday breakfast. It's actually too much for those fast-forwarded mornings!

Basic Info
Complexity - Medium
Prep time - 10 mins
Cook time - 30 - 45 mins
Serves - 10 - 12 dosa

Ingredients
Oats - 1 cup
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Buttermilk - 1 cup
Water - 1.5 cups (approximately)
Ginger - 1 inch (grated)
Green chillies - 1 no (finely chopped)
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp

Method

Dry roast oats until fragrant & slightly crisp. Use a mixer / food processor and grind roasted oats into fine powder.

In a bowl, mix wheat flour, rice flour, buttermilk, grated ginger, green chillies, hing, salt and mix well. To this, add powdered oats, 1 cup of water and mix everything together. 

Splutter mustard seeds & crackle cumin seeds in a tsp of oil and add it to the batter and mix. Let the batter sit for about 20 mins. Oats tends to absorb water and so, batter might get thicker after the 20 min wait. So, add remaining water (as required) to adjust the batter consistency.

Heat a non-stick tawa/ flat bottomed pan on medium-high.

Take a ladleful of batter and pour it starting from outer side to center of the pan in a circular motion from atop (4-5 inches height). Sprinkle about a tsp of gingelly oil around the dosa and let it cook.

Wait for the entire dosa to change color and you should also see the edges starting to brown. Use a flat spatula to turn the dosa. Let dosa cook for about a min on the other side.

Then, transfer dosa to a plate.

Serve these thin & crispy dosas with gun powder (milagai podi) / chutney / sambar.

Note

• Batter should be in pouring consistency and a lot thinner than the regular dosa batter.
• To check if the tawa/pan is hot enough, just splash little water on the tawa and you should see the water skitter around upon contact.
• If the pan is at the right temp and batter is at the right consistency, as you pour the batter it should spread to the inner sides by itself and forms holes to give that lacy effect.
• If you try to turn the dosa too early, it will break.
• Not only patience, but practice too is a virtue, when it comes to making instant dosas!
• Dosas should be eaten when hot. Dosas tends to lose its crispiness as it colds.

Events

Linking this to the event "Mission Breakfast" @ Nivedhanams, Cookcookandcook, Thoushaltcook

Multi-grain Adai

Packed with lot of flavors & loads of protein, multi-grain adai is my take on Navadhanya adai. Navadhanya adai is a healthy variety of dosa made from nine lentils/grains including rice. Though traditional navadhanya adai could possibly use different set of grains, I gave it a shot with the grains available in my pantry. Nevertheless, adai came out perfectly delicious and tasted heaven with aviyal on the side.

Basic Info
Complexity - Simple
Prep time - 3-4 hrs
Cook time - 30 mins - 1 hr
Serves - 25 - 30 nos (approximately)

Note
You can store the unused batter in refrigerator for upto 2 days.

Ingredients
Toor dal - 1/4 cup
Channa dal - 1/4 cup
Moong dal - 1/4 cup
Masoor dal - 1/4 cup
Black Channa - 1/4 cup
Rajma (Kidney beans) - 1/4 cup
Red Choli (karamani) - 1/4 cup
Whole green moong - 1/4 cup
Rice - 1/2 cup
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Salt - to taste
Red chillies - 5-6 nos
Green chillies - 2-3 nos
Hing - 1 tsp

Method

Soak all the dals together in water for about 2-3 hrs. Soak rice separately in water for the same amount of time.

Grind all of the soaked dals, rice and other ingredients together into a coarse and slightly thicker batter.

Heat a flat griddle on medium-high. When hot, spoon a couple of ladles of the batter on to the griddle and spread it in a circular motion. Add 1/2 tsp of sesame oil around the adai.

Once cooked, flip it to the other side and drizzle 1/2 tsp of oil around the adai. After both the sides are cooked, remove from heat and serve it hot with favorite side of yours!

Oats adai

Sometimes an imaginative recipe of yours could become an instant hit at home - "Oats adai" is one such recipe. I wanted to make some new, quick & healthy dinner for my family last night. I had also been wanting to experiment with oats adai (replace rice component in the regular adai with oats) for a very long time and decided to give it a shot. Oats adai came out very tasty and my hubby & kid loved it. Infact, my hubby declared that "oats adai tasted as good as the regular ones" and I thought it was a great compliment!

Ingredients

Channa dal - 1 cup

Moong dal - 1/2 cup (washed/yellow)

Thick Poha/Aval - 1/2 cup

Oats - 1 cup (I used old-fashioned quaker oats)

Red chillies - 4 nos

Green chillies - 4 nos

Hing - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Onion - 1 no (Medium sized, finely chopped)

Cilantro - 1 cup (finely chopped)

Gingelly oil - to make adai

Method

Soak channa dal & moong dal in water for 45 mins - 1 hr.

Dry roast Poha & Oats in a thick bottomed pan for 1-2 mins on medium heat. Basic idea is to just heat them a little - and so it is okay if they are not roasted. Let it cool and then, powder them in a mixer (without any water).

Grind channa dal / moong dal, red/green chillies, hing & salt with little water into a coarse batter.

Mix poha/oats powder with the ground batter and let it sit for about 10-15 mins. In the meanwhile, finely chop onions & cilantro and mix them with the batter. Adjust water and make it to a thicker consistency.

Heat a griddle or a non stick tawa and pour a ladle of batter and spread it in circular motion. Make a small hole in the center and add a tsp of gingelly oil into it & around the adai. Let it get cooked.

Then flip it over to the other side and drizzle a tsp of oil around the adai. Let it get cooked.

After both sides are cooked remove from tawa and serve it hot.

Onion Adai

Adai is a type of dosa - a savory crepe. I remember reading that channa dal (one of the main ingredients of adai) is recommended for people with diabetes as it is rich in protein and has low glycemic index.

Speaking of adai, I am remembered of my school days - my mom usually makes adai for evening tiffin. More than plain adai, I love the taste of onion adai. It's such a bliss to eat 'hot' 'hot' onion adai straight from the tawa with melting ghee on top. I simply love the happening affair between the two and would never like it to end.

Ingredients

• 1 Medium onion - Finely chopped
• Boiled rice - 1/2 cup
• Raw rice - 1/2 cup
• Channa dal - 1 cup
• Red chillies - 6-8 nos
• Green chillies - 4-5 nos
• Curry leaves - Few
• Hing - 1 teaspoon
• Salt - to taste
• Oil (I prefer to use sesame oil) 

Method
Soak the rice and dal in water for about 2-3 hrs.

Then, drain the water & grind it coarsely along with red chillies, green chillies and curry leaves. The batter should neither be thick nor watery. Add hing, finely chopped onions to the batter.

Heat a griddle or a non stick tawa and pour a ladle of batter and spread it in circular motion. Make a small hole in the center and add a tsp of oil into it & around the adai. Let it get cooked.

Then flip it over to the other side and drizzle a tsp of oil around the adai. Let it get cooked.

After both sides are cooked remove from tawa and serve it hot.

Tips

• We can create variations in adai by adding finely chopped spinach, cabbage, shredded coconut, coriander leaves etc.
• Adai can be paired with several side dishes - jaggery, butter, avial, milagai podi.