Kulith / Horsegram Dosa

These last few days I haven’t really done any grocery shopping except buying basic ingredients such as tomatoes, onions, peppers etc. Inspired by Nupur's BB4 event, I'm forcing myself to come up with tasty dishes with ingredients I have in my pantry. I have already made a list of ingredients that have been sitting in my pantry and refrigerator for months/ years and plan to cook as many dishes as I can using these ingredients.

I found some Kulith/ Horsegram in the refrigerator which is as old as my daughter 'Swara,' who is 18 months old now. My mom got these from India when she came here to help me out after Swara's birth. This is a kind of legume which is generally used as cattle feed. Since it is rich in iron and a good source of protein and calcium, it is considered to be good for new moms. My mom made Kulith usal for me a couple of times but I didn't like it very much. So they were neatly stored in a Ziploc bag in my refrigerator and have been undisturbed for more than a year or so. I don’t like to throw anything my mom has specially carried for me all the way from India. So I was really thrilled to find this Kulith/ Horsegram dosa on Shilpa's blog. I followed her recipe with the addition of few more ingredients like methi seeds and some cooked rice which I usually add for good fermentation. I didn’t have time to make a special chutney or sambar to go along with these. So I made these more like uttapams by sprinkling some finely chopped onions, cilantro, green chillies and spicy peanut chutney right after spreading the dosa batter on the skillet. The dosas were very crisp and delicious. They tasted slightly different than the regular dosas and are much healthier with the addition of kulith. I think the kulith gave the dosas a lovely golden brown color and also made them very crispy. I was really happy to see my little Swara enjoy these as much as we did. I might have to buy more kulith to make these dosas specially for her :-)

Ingredients -

1/2 cup regular rice

1/2 cup boiled rice / ukde tandul

1/2 cup urad dal

1/2 cup kulith/ horsegram

1/4 cup chana dal

1 tsp methi/ fenugreek seeds

1/4 cup cooked rice
salt to taste

Optional -

finely chopped onions

finely chopped green chillies

finely chopped cilantro

peanut chutney/ any chutney powder

Method -

1. Soak the rice, urad dal, horsegram, chana dal and methi seeds separately in water overnight or 5-6 hrs.

2. Grind everything to a smooth paste along with the cooked rice like regular dosa batter.

3. Leave the batter in a warm place for fermentation. 

4. Add salt to the fermented batter.

5. Heat your dosa pan/ griddle and grease it with some oil when hot.
6. In a bowl, mix together finely chopped onions, green chillies and cilantro
7. Pour the dosa batter on the pan with the help of your ladle and spread it in circular motion starting from the center to form a thin dosa.
8.Immediately sprinkle the onion, green chilli and cilantro mixture on the dosa. Also sprinkle some chutney powder on it.
9. Put some oil on and around the edges of the dosa and cook the dosa until golden brown. Serve hot with your favorite chutney.

This is a perfect entry for Nupur's BB4 event as it uses ingredients lurking in my kitchen and the recipe is inspired by another blogger.
I'm also sending these to Helen and Sarah's 'Breakfast Club # 1 - Asian' event.

Potato Masala N Sesame Toast - French Toast Indian Style

Last memorial day weekend, my nephew was in town and spent the weekend with us. I treated him with all his favorite Indian food from chicken kadhai to shrimp balchao and masala vada to masala dosa. As a result, I had plenty of leftovers and didn’t have to cook much last week. Sometimes we are not in a mood to have the same food for 2-3 consecutive meals and I love to transform the leftovers into innovative tasty dishes. I had some leftover potato masala and coconut chutney that I made for the masala dosa and decided to make this Indian style French toast for a quick evening snack last week. This 'Potato Masala N Sesame Toast' was delicious and would make an excellent breakfast. I guess you can use any leftover curry (that goes well with egg) for the stuffing and make delicious French toast (Indian Ishtyle) with ingredients you have on hand.

Ingredients-
2 bread slices
1 egg
2 tbsps milk
1 cup Potato Masala/ Bhaji
2 tbsps Coconut Chutney
2 tsps tomato ketchup
2 tbsps chopped cilantro
Salt to taste
1 pinch pepper
Butter
Sesame seeds

Method -
1. Mash the potato masala to form a smooth mixture and add some chopped cilantro to it. Reserve a tbsp of cilantro for the egg batter.
2. Mix the tomato ketchup with the coconut chutney
3. Beat the egg and add the milk, salt, pepper, remaining chopped cilantro and mix well
4. Heat your skillet/ pan while you prepare the bread slices.
5. Spread some butter on the bread slices on one side followed by the chutney- ketchup mixture.
6. Now spread the potato stuffing on the bread to form a thin layer
7. Dip the bread slices in the egg batter and place them on the hot skillet with the stuffing side up. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on the bread. Fry both the sides by drizzling some melted butter around the bread slices. Fry till they turn golden brown.
8. Serve them hot with ketchup or chutney.

I'm sending these to Priya's Global Kadai - Indianized French Toast event and Helen and Sarah's 'Breakfast Club # 1 - Asian' event.

Chawli Vada/ Black- Eyed Pea Fritters

I keep a decent stock of dried peas/pulses in my pantry and use them regularly in my cooking. However, Chawli or Black- Eyed Peas is one of the pulses that I had not cooked with until last year. Although these peas are used in many traditional Indian dishes, the red peas were more popular at my mom's place and were widely used in several dishes. These red peas are called 'Alsande' and are similar in shape and size to the black eyed peas. I believe they are only available during a particular season in certain regions in India. My mom usually buys these in bulk during her trips to Goa.

Anyways, coming back to the black eyed peas, I came across a recipe for the black eyed peas vada on Indira's blog almost a year back and immediately bought these peas to try these vadas at home. However, my plan to make these vadas never materialized and I ended up using them to make this Chawli Methi Dhokla, definitely a healthier option to the deep fried vadas. Since then, I have made these dhoklas a few times but never got to making the vadas. When I read about Nupur's BB4 event and was looking through my pantry, I found some black eyed peas in a canister. I immediately soaked them overnight in water and finally made these delicious vadas for dinner last week. I used the regular procedure I follow to make any other dal vada batter and shaped them like medu vadas. These vadas tasted really good and from what I understand are usually served with non- vegetarian chicken or mutton curries. However, I served them with some coconut chutney and sambhar and they go very well with these too!

Ingredients -
1 cup black- eyed peas/ Chawli
2 cinnamon sticks (or 5-6 small pieces)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
2-3 green chillies finely chopped
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
6-8 curry leaves roughly chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
Pinch of sugar
Salt to taste

Method -
1. Soak the black eyed peas in sufficient water overnight or 6-8 hrs.
2. Drain the peas and grind them along with the cinnamon sticks and cumin seeds into a coarse paste in your food processor or blender. The batter should be such that if you form a round with it, it must hold its shape. Do not add water while grinding as there's enough moisture in the soaked peas.
3. Remove the batter in a bowl. Add chopped curry leaves, green chillies, fennel seeds, onions, cilantro, sugar and salt and mix well.
4. Heat oil in a pan or kadai. The vadas can be formed on the palm of your hand or on a Ziploc bag whichever is convenient for you. With clean dry hand, take a small ball of the batter and put it on your palm. Then lightly flatten it and make a hole in the center like doughnuts or medu vada.
5. Gently drop the vadas into the hot oil and deep fry the vadas on both sides till golden brown. Several vadas can be fried at a time.
6. Serve hot with sambar or chutney of your choice.

I'm sending this to -
Nupur's 'BB4: Whats Lurking in the kitchen' event
Susan's 'My Legume Love Affair (MLLA)' event hosted by Diana for the month of June

Though we had these vadas for dinner, they would make an excellent breakfast. So, I'm also sending these to Helen and Sarah's 'Breakfast Club # 1 - Asian' event.

Kurmura Chiwda - Spiced Puffed Rice

Kurmura also known as murmura or mumra is a type of puffed grain made from rice. This spicy garlic flavored Kurmura Chiwda makes a very light and tasty evening snack. My mom made this very often at home and I have many fond memories of enjoying this snack with her. It was a weekend ritual to sit at our apartment window munching on this savory mixture along with a cup of hot coffee and chatting away for hours together. The garlic, dried red chillies and curry leaves give a very nice flavor to the kurmura. What I love the most about this snack is it hardly takes any time to make it and is loved by adults and children alike. This chiwda also makes a very delicious Sukhi Bhel (Dry Bhel). All you need to do is add some finely chopped onions, tomatoes and lime juice to the chiwda and sprinkle some fine sev and chopped cilantro on it.

Ingredients -
5 cups kurmura
3 garlic cloves (crushed in the mortar pestle/ roughly chopped)
2 dried red chillies
5-6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida/ hing
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsps oil
salt to taste

Method -
1. Heat oil in a kadhai and add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add cumin seeds.
2. The add the crushed garlic and fry until golden brown. Add asafoetida/ hing, turmeric powder, dried red chillies and curry leaves.
3. Now add the kurmura/ puffed rice and mix well.
4. Add salt, sugar, red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and roast the kurmura for 7-10 mins by ocassionally stirring to prevent the kurmuras from sticking to the bottom of the kadhai.

This goes to Niloufer's Twenty -20 Cooking Event.

Curry Leaves Pasta

I was introduced to Italian food some 10 years back when I first came to the US. Until then, the only Italian (or should I call it American?) food I knew ..ate was 'Macaroni N Cheese'. My mom made that quite often at home when my brother and I were in school and we absolutely loved it. At first Italian food was quite bland for me and it took quite a few visits to Italian restaurants to appeal my taste buds. On the other hand, D absolutely loves Italian food especially pasta. So, more than often I ended up making pasta meals at home to satisfy his cravings. I especially love making fusion dishes with pasta like adding a pinch of my favorite Indian spice powders to the pasta or flavoring olive oil with cumin seeds while sautéing the veggies. Last night I made this delicious Indianized Curry Leaves Pasta for dinner. The inspiration for this pasta comes from a cooking video I watched few months back. I deep fried some curry leaves and pounded them in my mortar and pestle into a coarse paste. This extremely flavorful curry leaves paste along with some minced garlic was used to flavor the sauce. I also added some red, yellow and green bell peppers along with my favorite grilled veggies like artichokes and corn which made it a very healthy meal. This dish was amazingly delicious with the aroma from the curry leaves and garlic! Do give it a try….I'm sure you will love it as much as we did.

Ingredients -
3 cups Penne pasta
1 cup curry leaves
2 tbsps chopped garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 pinches black pepper powder (optional)
2 cups chopped bell peppers (combination of Red, Yellow and Green Peppers)
½ cup yellow corn
1 cup artichoke pieces/ 1 can artichokes
½ cup heavy cream/ half & half (may need little more than ½ cup)
½ cup grated cheese
2 tbsps oil + 1 tbsp for cooking pasta
½ tsp butter
Salt to taste

Method -
1. Fill a large pot with cold water and boil the water. Add some salt and oil to the boiling water.
2. Add uncooked pasta to the boiling water and stir occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking together. Cook the pasta for about 10-15 mins till its 'al dente' –firm yet tender with a tiny core in the middle.
(Follow the directions on the package to cook the pasta)
3. Drizzle some oil on a hot skillet and grill the artichoke pieces first followed by the corn niblets. Set them aside.
4. Heat oil in a pan. Deep fry curry leaves in low –medium hot oil till they turn translucent.
5. Pound the fried curry leaves into a coarse paste in the mortar and pestle or in your blender.
6. Heat oil in a pan , add chopped garlic and fry till it turns slightly brown.
7. Add curry leaves paste and cook for a minute. Add red pepper flakes and mix well.
8. Toss the chopped bell peppers and cook for sometime.
9. Add in the cooked pasta, season with salt and cook for 5 -7 minutes.
10. Add some cream, grated cheese and black pepper powder and cook for some more time.
11. Add the grilled artichokes and corn at the very end just before serving.

NOTE – If canned articokes are used, drain all the water and squeeze out any extra water from the artichoke pieces before grilling them.

I'm sending this Curry Leaves Pasta dish to Presto Pasta Nights, the 165th week is hosted by Rachel The Crispy Cook.

Chincheche Saar - Tamarind Saar/ Soup

I use tamarind as a souring agent in quite a few traditional Maharashtrian and Konkani dishes. However, there are few dishes I know where tamarind is used as the main ingredient. The one I make frequently is the kajur imli chutney (dates & tamarind chutney) which I use in chaats and also as an accompaniment with various snack items like samosas, cutlets, bhajjias etc. Occasionally, I also make this Tamarind Saar/ Soup called 'Chincheche Saar' in marathi which I learnt from my mom. Basically fresh tamarind (preferably use the brown colored whole tamarind and not the canned pulp) is diluted in some water, sweetened with jaggery and seasoned with a flavorful tadka. This sweet, sour and spicy saar served with some moong dal khichdi and crunchy papads or bhajias makes an awesome meal.

Ingredients -
1/2 cup brown tamarind
1 tsp red chilli powder
5-6 tbsp jaggery (May need more if the tamarind used is very sour)
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 dried red chillies
8- 10 curry leaves
1/4 tsp asafoetida/ hing
2-3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
salt to taste

Method -
1. Soak the tamarind in some hot water for half hour. Add 4 cups of water to this and mix it well to make tamarind juice.
2. In a vessel, heat some oil and add mustard seeds.
3. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the cumin seeds and asafoetida/ hing.
4. Add curry leaves and dried red chillies and fry for sometime.
5. Now add the tamarind juice, jaggery, salt and red chilli powder and mix well.
6. Let the saar simmer and boil for 8- 10 mins.
7. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

This goes to Think Spice- Tamarind event hosted by PJ for the month of May and started by Sunita.

Indian Cooking Challenge - Ras Malai

This is a very special post for me bcoz this is my first Indian Cooking Challenge and also my first entry in the dessert section on my blog. I'm really excited to be part of ICC started by Srivalli and look forward to learning many new challenging Indian dishes through this event.

Ras Malai is a delectable dessert and extremly popular throughtout India. In the past I have never made ras malai from scratch. I have always used store bought canned rasgullas and added them to home made rabdi/ basundi. So I was more than happy to take on this challenge and make it at home from scratch. The recipe was written in detail and therefore very easy to follow. The dish turned out truly exotic with the soft and spongy rasgullas and rich and creamy milk syrup/ rasa.

Ingredients -
For Paneer -
2 litres/ 8 1/2 cups milk
3- 5 tbsps vinegar
1 tsp maida
For Sugar Syrup -
3 cups water
8 tbsps sugar
For Milk Syrup/ Rasa -
1 litres/ 4 cups milk
8 tbsps sugar
1 pinch saffron
2-3 powdered cardamom
For Garnish -
5-6 slivered pistachios
3-4 slivered almonds
few saffron strands

Method -
For making Paneer - 
1. Boil the milk, let it cool and refrigerate it for 12 hrs/ overnight.
2. Remove the malai formed on the milk and save it for the milk syrup.
3. Boil the milk and add the vinegar.
4. After a couple of mins, the paneer will start floating on top. At this point turn off the stove.
5. Filter the paneer with the help of a muslin cloth and hold it under running tap water to wash off the vinegar.
6. Tie the paneer in the muslin cloth and hang it for an hour till all the water drops out.
7. Take the paneer out on a plate and knead it like chapati dough for 5- 10 mins till it becomes soft and you fell it doesnt have much moisture content in it.
8. Now add maida to the paneer and knead some more.
9. Make medium size balls of the paneer and drop them into the boiling sugar syrup. The paneer balls will double in size so make medium size balls.

Start preparing the milk syrup when you start preparing the sugar syrup.
For making Sugar Syrup -
1. In a wide- bottomed pressure cooker, add the water and sugar and boil it.
2. When it boils, add paneer balls into the cooker.
3. Let them pressure cook for 2 whistles.
4. Immediately hold the cooker under running tap water to release the steam.
5. The paneer balls would be double in size.
6. Press the paneer balls to squeeze out the excess sugar syrup and set them aside.

For making Milk Syrup/ Rasa -
1. Take the milk (approx 4 cups) in a non-stick kadhai/ pan and let the milk boil.
2. Continue to heat the milk till it gets reduced to half the quantity. The consistency should be like rabdi or basundi. The malai/ cream that is skimmed off of the milk while making paneer can be added to the milk syrup for more texture.
3. Add the sugar and mix well.
4. Powder the saffron in a mortar pestle and add it to the milk rasa.
5. Add cardamom powder and mix well.
6. Add the cooked paneer balls in the rasa and let the ras malai cool down.
7. Refrigerate and serve chilled.
8. Garnish with slivered almonds, pistachios and saffron strands.

Malai Methi Mutter

This is probably the most exotic way of using methi/ fenugreek leaves. The bold flavor of the methi leaves, sweetness from the green peas and the creamy richness of the sauce makes this a truly delightful dish. This is our all time favorite dish and it goes really well with naan or tandoori roti.

Ingredients -
2 cups finely chopped onions
2 cups finely chopped methi/ fenugreek leaves
1 cup frozen green peas
3-4 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
3 tsp ginger- garlic paste
3 tsp green chilli paste/ to taste
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt to taste

Method -
1. Heat the oil in a kadhai and add the mustard seeds.
2. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the ginger- garlic paste and fry for sometime.
3. Add green chilli paste and turmeric powder.
4. Add the chopped onions and cook them for sometime until they turn translucent. Add fenugreek leaves and peas and mix well.
5. Then add salt and garam masala powder and mix well.
5. Add the yogurt and cook the gravy for 2-3 minutes by covering the kadhai.
6. Now add the milk, mix well and cook for some more time.
7. Mix in the heavy cream and turn off the stove.

Note - If fresh peas are used, cook them separately before adding to the gravy.

The green from the methi leaves and peas makes this a perfect candidate for Preeti Kashyap's Green Gourmet event. I am also sending this to Susan's 'My Legume Love Affair (MLLA)' event.

Healthy Laddoos for Mother's Day

Growing up I learnt several traditional dishes from my mom and also inherited the love and passion for cooking from her. She recently shared this laddoo recipe with me. Unlike the regular besan laddoos, these laddoos are made of wheat flour, semolina, nachni/ ragi flour and oats in addition to the besan flour which makes them healthy and nutritious. Since this is my mom's recipe, 'Mother's Day' was a perfect occasion to try these out. The laddoos turned out to be very delicious!

Makes @ 30 laddoos
Ingredients -
2 cups chickpea flour/ besan
1 cup semolina/ sooji/ rava
1 cup nachni/ ragi flour
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
2 cups melted clarified butter/ ghee
1/4 cup warm milk
3 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tbsps chopped nuts (optional)
2 tsps cardamom powder
3 tbsps slivered almonds and pistachios for garnish

Method -
1. Roast the chickpea flour, wheat flour, ragi/ nachni flour and semolina separately on low flame by stirring them continuously. Also roast the oats for few minutes
2. Add melted ghee in a kadhai, add all the flours and mix well.
3. Cook this mixture until the color changes and then add oats and cook for sometime.
4. Turn off the stove and add the warm milk in it and stir it continuously till the mixture becomes dry.
5. Once the mixture turns warm, add the sugar, chopped roasted nuts and cardamom powder and mix well.
6. Now form ladoos and garnish with slivered nuts by dipping one side of the ladoo in melted ghee and then into the nuts.

Note - Lightly roast all the nuts on low flame in a pan. It is easier to chop and sliver the nuts while they are still warm. While forming the laddoos, if the mixture is dry, add some melted ghee and warm milk as needed and then form the laddoos.

This mini mandaline from India made slivering almonds and pistachios a super easy task.

My cutiepie gifted me a plant that she potted with the help of her teacher at the Daycare with her tiny hands. Also helped daddy make a delicious 'scrambled egg and toast' breakfast for mommy :-)

I am sending these to Jyoti's 'Mother's Day' event and Shabitha's 'Celebrating Mom' event

Solun Harbaryachi Masala Amti - Sprouted Lentil Spiced Curry

Last weekend, D was craving some traditional coconut based amti ('Amti' is any dal preparation that can be served over rice) and requested that I prepare one of his childhood favorite 'Solun Harbaryachi Masala Amti' translated as 'Sprouted Lentil Spiced Curry'. I inherited some of these authentic family recipes from my MIL and always make one of these curries when D craves this food that he grew up eating. Although I did not have much liking for such coconut based masala amtis, over the last few years I have developed a taste for them and now I actually enjoy the flavors of such foods.

Basically, this is a coastal maharashtrian dish with sprouted and deskinned black chana (small chickpeas with brownish black skin) and hence requires some planning. The generous amount of cashewnuts and spicy coconut masala makes this spicy and tangy amti very delicious. This is typically served on white rice with a side of a vegetable and some fried papadums or fritters which are a perfect complement and make it a truly complete meal. However, it also goes very well with bhakris, so I made some rice flour bhakris to go along with the amti. A spoonful or two of desi ghee over this spicy amti makes this meal a delectable palate pleaser!

Ingredients -
2 cups kala chana
1 medium onion chopped
1 tbsp broken cashewnut pieces
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala/ goda masala
2 tsp tamarind paste/ to taste
1 tbsp grated jaggery/ to taste
¼ tsp asafetida/ hing
½ tsp mustard seeds
3-4 tbsp coconut masala paste (masalyache khobre)
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method -
1. Soak the kala chana in warm water overnight. Drain the water and transfer the chana to a clean muslin cloth. Cover them with the cloth loosely and keep the cloth moist. The chana will sprout within a day or two. Now soak the sprouted chana in warm water and de- skin them. 
2. Cook the deskinned chana with chopped onions, cashewnuts and some water in the pressure cooker.
3. Heat oil in a pan/ kadai. Add some mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the hing.
4. Now add the cooked kala channa, red chilli powder, garam/ goda masala and cook for sometime.
5. Add salt, tamarind paste and jaggery and mix together.
6. Add the coconut masala to this and let the sal simmer for 5-10 min.
7. Serve with rice, bhakri or chapatti.

This goes to Suma's 'Delicious Dals from India' event and Susan's 'My Legume Love Affair (MLLA)' event.