Saturday, September 14, 2013

Uttapam


Ingredients:
1 Small Onion finely chopped
1 Medium Tomato finely chopped
Green chili finely chopped to taste
For batter refer the Idli batter recipe 

Preparation:
Spoon 1 or 1and 1/2 ladle full of the batter into hot greased pan. Sprinkle generously the chopped onions, tomato and green chili fully covering the top. Drizzle a tsp of oil . You can add few drops of ghee if desired. Cook in medium fame.
After a minute or two, flip the uttapam and cook in low flame for 2 minutes or until the onions get golden brown and crisp.
Serve hot with Coconut chutney or Sambar

Idli(Steamed Rice Cake)




Ingredients For Idli:
2 cups Idli Suji
1 cup whole white Urad dal
Salt to taste
Preparation of Idli:
Soak urad dal for atleast 4-5 hrs.
Grind urad dal until it become smooth and thick in consistency. Do not add access water while. For me it took 1/2-1 cup water. 
Pour the urad dal batter out into a pot big enough for it to have room for the batter to ferment and rise.
Whip up the batter with your hands till it get light and frothy.To test whether the batter is completely done or not,put a small dollop of batter in a vessel of water,if it floats then the batter is done.
In between soak the idli suji or idli rawa. 
Squeeze out the water from the Idli Rava and add to the Urad Daal batter. Mix it well.
Cover and allow the batter to ferment in a warm place overnight .
Once the batter has fermented, it will rise.
Add Salt to your taste.( I recommend to add salt after it has fermented, because salt decreases the process of fermentation.)
In a stock-pot or a pressure cooker(with out whistle), add about an inch of water and allow it to come to a boil.
Grease the idli stand.Spoon a ladle full of batter into the Idli stand.
Stack up the idli plates in alternates, avoid one directly over the other giving the idli space to rise.

Steam it for 10-12 mins.Let it rest for another 5 mins.

Serve with Sambar and Coconut Chutney.

Chicken Momos




Ingredients:
For the covering
All Purpose Flour/ Wheat Flour- 1 cup
Salt to taste
Water as required 
In a bowl, mix the flour with salt and knead a soft dough adding water. Cover the dough with a damp cloth.
For Stuffing

1 lb Ground Chicken
½ cup Spring onion finely chopped
½ cup Cabbage finely chopped
½ cup Carrot finely chopped
1 tsp ginger finely chopped
½ tsp garlic powder or chopped garlic
2 tsp  Oyester sauce
½ tsp Soy sauce
2 tsp Sesame oil
1 egg
Handful of Coriander leaves chopped finely
Green chili finely chopped to taste
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients for the filling. Keep aside.
Apply oil lightly on the working surface. Take the dough and roll it out as thin as possible. Cut out 3″ diameter circles using a cutter or any round edged bowl. 
Spoon small portions of the filling to the center of the circle. 
Bring one edge to the other by making it half moon shaped and press the edge with a fork to seal it. Arrange the prepared Momos on a greased steamer. Cover with a lid and steam for about 10-15 minutes.
Serve hot with a sauce of your choice. 
Ideally the best accompaniment for this is the chili garlic sauce.

Dahi Kadhi



Ingredients
1/2 cup yogurt
1 cup water
2 tbsp gram flour (besan)
1 tsp ginger grated
1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

For Tempering
1 tsp oil
Handful of Curry leaves

1-2 Green chili
1 tsp Cumin seeds 
1 tsp Mustard seeds
Pinch of Asafoetida

Preparation:

Combine yogurt, water and gram flour and whisk well.
Add grated ginger, red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt  and mix well and bring to boil.
Stir continuously and cook for 15-20 mins until the consistency gets little thick. 

In another pan, heat oil, add cumin seeds and mustard seed and let that splutter completely.

Add green chili, asafoetida cumin seeds and saute for 10 seconds.
Add the asafeotida and curry leaves then pour the tempering on the kadhi and mix well.
Serve hot with rice or chapati.

Whole wheat crust pepperoni pizza



Ingredients:

Pizza Dough: Makes  three medium pizzas 
1 cups warm water
1 package (2 teaspoons) of active dry yeast
2 cups whole wheat
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Pizza Ingredients 
Olive oil
Parchment paper (to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone)
Tomato sauce (puree) or marinara sauce
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Parmesan cheese
Pepperoni


Preparation:

In a bowl add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let that sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes.


In a large bowl mix in the olive oil, flour, wheat, salt and sugar.  Add water to the flour mix and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour.

Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with damp cloth. Let sit in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. After 1 hour remove the damp cloth from the dough and punch the dough down so it deflates a bit. Divide the dough in three parts. Form round balls of dough. Place each in its own bowl, cover with damp cloth and let sit for another 1 hour (or several hours longer, a longer rise will improve the flavor). If you don't have a warm spot in the house you can heat the oven to 150 degrees, and then turn off the oven. Let the oven cool till it is just a little warm, and then place the bowl of dough in this warmed oven to rise.

At this point, if you want to make ahead, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Preparing the Pizzas

Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lower third of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F .
Prepare your desired toppings. Today I am only using pepperoni. Note that you are not going to want to load up each pizza with a lot of toppings as the crust will end up not crisp that way. About a third a cup each of tomato sauce and cheese would be sufficient for one pizza. 

Working one ball of dough at a time, take one ball of dough and flatten it with your hands on a slightly floured work surface. Starting at the center and working outwards, use your fingertips to press the dough to 1/2-inch thick. Turn and stretch the dough until it will not stretch further. Else roll the dough with a pizza roller. Use your palm to flatten the edge of the dough where it is thicker. You can pinch the very edges if you want to form a lip.

Brush the top of the dough with olive oil (to prevent it from getting soggy from the toppings). Use your finger tips to press down and make dents along the surface of the dough to prevent bubbling. Let rest another 5 minutes.
  
Transfer prepared flattened dough to the parchment paper.  

Spoon on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with cheese, and place your desired toppings on the pizza.
  
Place the parchment paper gently on the pizza stone. Bake pizza one at a time until the crust is browned and the cheese is golden, about 10-15 minutes. If you want, toward the end of the cooking time you can sprinkle on a little more Parmesan cheese.


Lau Buta Dali Tarkari

Ingredients:
Bottle Guard (Lau) - 1lb cut into small cubes
Bengal gram   - 1 cup
Tomatoes  - 1 no's chopped
Garlic  - 4 cloves crushed
Ginger  - 1 inch piece crushed
Red chili powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Mustard Seeds- 1 teaspoon
Cumin Seeds- 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder  - 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - A bunch
Pinch of Asafoetida
Whole Red chili- 2 no's
Oil - 2 tablespoon
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Soaked chana dal in water and keep aside for atleast 30 mins
In a pressure cooker put chana dal and bottle gaurd , and add 1/2 cup of water with salt and turmeric. DO NOT add too much water because the bottle guard is going to ooze out a lot of water.
Pressure cook the lau and dal mixture for 1-2 whistle.
For Tempering
In a pan heat up some oil add mustard seeds and cumin seeds , when they splutters completely add whole red chilli,asafoetida add crushed ginger and garlic , saute for few seconds .
Then add tomato and fry until  its completely done, add red chili powder.
Add this tempering to the lau and dal mixture.
Garnish the curry with coriander leaves.
Serve hot with chapati or steamed rice.






Macha Ambula Besara

Ingredients:
For Mustard Paste:
2 tbs Mustard seed
1 tbs cumin seed
5-6 Garlic cloves.


For Curry:
5-6 pieces Rohi Fish
2 tbs Mustard oil.
1/2 medium size Onion Sliced.
1 tsp mustard seed.
1 tsp cumin seed.
1 tsp Turmeric.
1 tsp  Red Chilly Powder.
1 cup Water.
2 Dry Mango.
Salt to taste. 

Preparation:
Mustard  Paste
Soak the mustard seeds and cumin seeds with a small quantity of water for 10-15 mins.
Then grind the mixture to a fine thick paste by adding water little at a time.
Add garlic cloves to the paste. Grind it to a fine paste.

Curry:
Add some salt and turmeric to fish.
Then fry the fish in  mustard oil  until it both the sides of the fish is properly done. Remove the fish from pan and keep aside.
In the same pan add mustard oil. 
As soon as the oil heats up add mustard seeds and cumin seeds .
Add sliced onion . Saute it until they are translucent.
Add 5-6 tbs of mustard paste to it and stir it gently.
Add turmeric powder and chilly powder to it.
Add little water time to time and fry it for about 5-10 mins.
As soon as the oil starts to leave the mixture add water to it.
Let the water comes to boil.
Then add dry mango to it. Let it boil for another 2-3 min. 
Add fish to curry.Then add salt. Remember dry mango has enough salt so check before adding any salt to it. 
Let the curry boil for another 5 mins on low flame.
This curry goes excellent with steamed rice.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Coconut Chutney


Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Chatni Dal
1 Cup Grated coconut
1/4 tsp Grated ginger
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
Salt to taste
Green chili to taste
Water as needed

For tempering
2 Tbs  Vegetable oil
1 Tsp Mustard Seeds
2 Red chili
Curry leaves
Pinch of Asafoetida

Preparation:
Grind the above ingredients (Chatni dal, Coconut, Ginger, Cumin seeds, Green chili) to a thick and fine paste by adding little water.
Shift it to a bowl and add salt.
In a frying pan, heat up oil add mustard seeds, when they splutter add red chili, asafoetida. remove the pan from heat then add curry leaves.After the curry leaves spluttered completely pour this tempering to the coconut chutney.
Give it a good mix and serve with Idli or Dosa or Vada.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Puri





Ingredients for Puri:
  • 1 cup wheat flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt 
  • 1/2 cup water (or as needed to make a pliable dough). 
  • Oil for deep fry

Preparation of Puri:In a bowl add wheat flour and salt together and combine well together. Add water little by little to gather to form a stiff dough.Then knead it well to form a smooth dough . 
Tips:Do not let the dough sit. Usually for rotis, I insist on letting the dough sit for some time which makes the dough very soft. But for puris do not let the dough sits for longer time which makes it prone to soaking up lots of oil while frying. Use the dough immediately to make the puris.
Separate into equal lemon sized balls(or slightly smaller).Take a ball and roll it out with rolling pins making sure the thickness is even. Don't roll it very thin like we do for rotis/chaaptis.
Do the oil-temperature test to see if it is ready. The oil should be hot but not too hot that it smokes. 
Tips: Drop a small piece of dough into the oil. The dough should fry up immediately and come to the surface. You know the oil is not hot enough when the puri does not puff up, is flat  and instead is also soaking up oil.
Now drop the puri into the oil.While the puri is slowly coming to the surface, make sure to keep ladling in the hot oil on the surface.This helps the puri to puff up.
Turn it so that it gets evenly reddish brown or golden yellow.
Place it on paper towel to drain off any excess oil.
Serve it with guguni or potato masala or side dish of your choice. 

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Oriya Special Breakfast

Photo: Oriya style breakfast..thanks Suman Mahapatro and Manaswini Sabat


Ingredients For Idli:
2 cups Idli Suji
1 cup whole white Urad dal
Salt to taste
Preparation of Idli:
Soak urad dal for atleast 4-5 hrs.
Grind urad dal until it become smooth and thick in consistency. Do not add access water while. For me it took 1/2-1 cup water. 
Pour the urad dal batter out into a pot big enough for it to have room for the batter to ferment and rise.
Whip up the batter with your hands till it get light and frothy.To test whether the batter is completely done or not,put a small dollop of batter in a vessel of water,if it floats then the batter is done.
In between soak the idli suji or idli rawa. 
Squeeze out the water from the Idli Rava and add to the Urad Daal batter. Mix it well.
Cover and allow the batter to ferment in a warm place overnight .
Once the batter has fermented, it will rise.
Add Salt to your taste.( I recommend to add salt after it has fermented, because salt decreases the process of fermentation.)
In a stock-pot or a pressure cooker(with out whistle), add about an inch of water and allow it to come to a boil.
Grease the idli stand.Spoon a ladle full of batter into the Idli stand.
Stack up the idli plates in alternates, avoid one directly over the other giving the idli space to rise.

Steam it for 10-12 mins.Let it rest for another 5 mins.

Serve with Sambar and Coconut Chutney.


Ingredients for Puri:
  • 1 cup wheat flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt 
  • 1/2 cup water (or as needed to make a pliable dough). 
  • Oil for deep fry

Preparation of Puri:In a bowl add wheat flour and salt together and combine well together. Add water little by little to gather to form a stiff dough.Then knead it well to form a smooth dough . 
Tips:Do not let the dough sit. Usually for rotis, I insist on letting the dough sit for some time which makes the dough very soft. But for puris do not let the dough sits for longer time which makes it prone to soaking up lots of oil while frying. Use the dough immediately to make the puris.

Separate into equal lemon sized balls(or slightly smaller).Take a ball and roll it out with rolling pins making sure the thickness is even. Don't roll it very thin like we do for rotis/chaaptis.
Do the oil-temperature test to see if it is ready. The oil should be hot but not too hot that it smokes. 
Tips: Drop a small piece of dough into the oil. The dough should fry up immediately and come to the surface. You know the oil is not hot enough when the puri does not puff up, is flat  and instead is also soaking up oil.
Now drop the puri into the oil.
While the puri is slowly coming to the surface, make sure to keep ladling in the hot oil on the surface.This helps the puri to puff up.
Turn it so that it gets evenly reddish brown or golden yellow.
Place it on paper towel to drain off any excess oil.
Serve it with guguni or potato masala or side dish of your choice.