Rava Idly

Idly plays a dominant role in Indian kitchen. There are lots of variations in idlis. Rava idli is the easiest variety.

Click here for more useful tips.

Ingredients:

Urad daal - 1 cup
Ground Rice / Idly Rava - 2 1/2 cups
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Method:
Soak urad daal for 6 hours and grind it into fine paste.
Wash and drain the excess water from idly rava and mix it with the urad daal batter.
Mix well and allow it to fermant.
Just before making idly, stir the batter thoroughly by adding salt and baking soda, and pour 1 ladle of batter into each mould and steam.

 

I have used the below idly mould to prepare mini idly or button idly

Mini idly mould

Rava idly

Rava idly served in sambar

Note: If you don’t have idli steamer, you can still steam them in any big container with lid, even a deep pan will do. If you do not have idli moulds you can use any small cup like containers.

Methi Carrot (Fenugreek leaves with Carrot)

Orange carrots…. and Green methi….. isn’t it a beautiful combination ?

Carrots adds sweetness and methi / Fenugreek leaves adds the mild bitterness and the combination of both with some hot chilli and a dash of tangy lemon is awesome.

The colours have inspired me to arrange the ingredients like Indian Flag

Ingredients:

Chopped carrot – 1 cup
Methi / Fenugreek leaves – ½ cup
Chilli paste – 1 tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Fresh coconut grated – 2 tbsp
Salt
Dry chilli - 1 or 2
Chana daal / Split Chick pea - 1 tsp
Mustard + Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - Handfull

Method:

Heat a deep pan with 2 tbsp of oil. Add Red chilli, channa daal, mustard + cumin seeds and curry leaves one after the other.
Fry them until the channa daal changes the colour.
Add chilli paste and fry for a minute
Now add chopped carrot and methi and fry for a minute and cover with lid.
Stir in between until the carrot is just cooked and not too soft.
Sprinkle the lemon juice and grated coconut and turn off the heat.

Methi carrot

You can serve this with roti or with steamed rice as a side dish

Lucky Bamboo

I don't want to miss the bright sun light and I have captured it like this

Lucky bamboo shadow

Lucky bamboo shining in the sunlight

Broccoli with Egg

Broccoli's noteworthy nutrients include vitamin C, vitamin A (mostly as beta-carotene), folic acid, calcium, and fiber. While the calcium content of one serving doesn't equal that of a glass of milk, broccoli is an important calcium source for those who don't consume dairy products. Calcium does more than build strong bones. Research shows that this mineral may play a role in the control of high blood pressure, and it may work to prevent colon cancer. Beta-carotene and vitamin C are important antioxidants that have been linked to a reduced risk of numerous conditions, including cataracts, heart disease, and several cancers.

Today I thought to combine the Vitamin rich broccoli with protein rich egg.
 

Broccoli

Chop the broccoli florets into small pieces along with the small stalks.

Sauté green chillies and onions for 1 minute and add broccoli florets. Fry for 5 minutes by stirring in between. Sprinkle some water (about 10 – 20 ml) and cover the lid for 5 minutes. In the mean time, break the eggs into a bowl and add a pinch of salt and beat them well. Now pour the egg mixture over the broccoli and stir continuously until the egg is cooked. Remove from the fire and serve hot with roti.

Broccoli with egg

Chittor idly

The unique method of preparing the idlies is very famous in Chittor district (Andhra pradesh). My mom is an expert in making these sponges. Yes, I call them as sponges, as the idli will retain its shape back like a sponge when we squeeze and release.

Few useful tips:

Always soak the rice and daal separately for at least for 6 hours.

Once you grind them allow to ferment for at least 8 hours.

In cooler countries, always place the batter in a warm place like heated oven (turn on for 5 - 10 min and make sure to turn it off) or even place the batter vessel inside a hot pack or thermo pack to maintain the temperatures.

If the batter has not fermented enough then you can add baking soda by which idly will become fluffy.

Ingredients:

Rice of any variety – 3 cups
Urad daal – 1 cup
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Cooked Rice - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp (Optional)

Method:

Heat water until it just starts boiling. Wash rice and transfer the rice into hot water and DO NOT CLOSE THE LID until the water gets cool. This is a true substitute for par boiled rice. Soak the urad daal separately.

Grind the urad daal and cooked rice into fine paste along with fenugreek seeds. Grind rice not too smooth and not too coarse and mix everything together and allow to ferment. It is not a big deal to grind the batter using wet grinder. But, it is a tough task to gring the urad daal in a mixer as urad daal is very sticky in nature, it get stuck when there is not enough water. I grind urad daal bit watery (Make sure not too watery). We do not require water to grind rice,so drain all the water from the rice and grind coarsely. Now add the grounded rice to urad daal and allow it to fermant.

When it gets fermented scoop the batter into idli moulds and steam them.

 

Usually it takes 12 - 15 minutes to steam idly. Leave them for 5 minutes, so that the idly becomes bit firm and we can scoop out easily with out disturbing the shape.

 

Idly with peanut chutney

Miriyala Rasam / Pepper rasam

I call this as fever rasam as this is the first thing to be served during those sick days. A very good treat for the taste buds. A Simple, tangy recipe which goes well with hot rice.

Ingredients:
Tamarind – 2 lemons size
Water – 2 cups
Garlic – 3-4 cloves
Black Pepper – 1 tsp
Cumin / Jeera – 1 tsp
Dry chilli – 2
Curry leaves – Hand full
Coriander leaves chopped – Hand full
Salt – 1 tsp
Oil – 1 tbsp

Method:
Dry roast the red chilli, black pepper and cumin.

Roasted Red chilli, pepper, cumin, garlic

Allow them to cool and grind them into coarse paste along with garlic.

Grounded roasted spices

Soak the tamarind in hot water. When it becomes soft squeeze it, remove the pulp and keep it aside.

Tamarind water

Heat a sauce pan with 1 tblsp of oil. When it is hot enough, add curry leaves, mustard, and cumin seeds. When they start splattering, add the chilli + pepper paste and fry for few seconds.

Pour the tamarind water into the pan. Add salt, and bring it to boil. Sprinkle chopped coriander and remove from fire.

Spicy Miriyala Rasam

Spicy Spinach with Cashew nuts

Spinach leaves contain considerable amount of calcium. Spinach, especially raw, is a very good source of folic acid (vitamin B9). Not only that, spinach leaves is rich in vitamin C and E, which are antioxidants. These are supposed to lower risks of heart disease, stroke and cancer. The high amount of vitamin A in spinach may protect against eye degeneration. The potassium helps prevent and regulate high blood pressure. Today I want to combine this vitamin rich spinach with extra cashew’s richness.

Spinach, Onion, roasted cashews

Ingredients:

Spinach – 1 big bunch
Cashews – 15 – 20
Onion – 1 sliced length wise
Ginger + Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Green chili paste – 2 tsp
Salt


Method

Take fresh spinach, wash and chop it.

Dry roast the cashew nuts and grind them into fairly smooth powder and keep it aside.

Heat a deep pan with 1 tbsp of oil and when it is hot, add ginger garlic paste, green chili paste, onion slices, salt and sauté them until onion becomes tender.

Now add the spinach and fry for a minute and close the lid. No need to add water to cook greens. Stir in between until every thing is almost done.

Add the cashew nut powder, mix together and remove from the fire.

The spinach with extra nutty flavor.