Hillary's Platter.... Item No 2 . Idlis

Rawa idlis, Kanjeevaram idlis and Mint idlis

Idlis -- the soft steam spongy......

idlis...have  become  a regular part of the breakfast buffet  across the country. And not just in hotels, but also at weddings celebrated under shamianas in Punjab , Haryana, Uttar Pradesh or Uttarakhand. Many women fond of trying out different items for breakfast—and kitty parties—make idles at home, using whatever recipe has been shared by their trusted South Indian friends !

And needless to add, it was part of Hillary Clinton’s breakfast thali.

Idlis can be made in a jiffy, without the elaborate process of soaking, grinding, fermenting and then steaming. These idlis are not the usual rice idli, but rawa idli, made of sooji—semolina.

When I made  them  yesterday, I gave it a twist—made  the regular rawa idli, tweaked it to make kanjeevaram style rawa idlis and also made mint idli,  with fresh pudina—mint leaves .

Here goes the recipe :

Simple ingredients

     

Ingredients for the basic batter

Rawa or sooji – 2 cups

Yoghurt(the more sour, the better)-2 cups

Eno’s Fruit salt- 2 teaspoons

Salt-to taste

Put the above ingredients in a large bowl, whisk till there are no lumps,and divide into three parts.

Plain Rawa Idlis

Rawa Idlis

Refined oil-- 2 teaspoons

Mustard seeds—half a teaspoon

Dhuli urad—half a teaspoon

Hing(asoefiatida) – a pinch

Chopped green chillies- 2 

Grated ginger-half a teaspoon

Curry leaves—a few

Chopped cashew nuts—one teaspoon, optional

In a frying pan, heat the oil till it smokes. Throw in the mustard seeds, when they splutter, add the urad dal and hing.

If you are tossing in a few  chopped cashew nuts, put them in after the urad dal has turned golden.

Next add the ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. 

Take the pan off the  burner, and  empty the contents  into one portion of the basic batter, and stir gently.

Pour into greased idli moulds, place a cashew on top of each idli (I did not use cashew nuts) and steam for about 7 minutes

Kanjeevaram Idlis

Kanjeevaram Rawa idlis



Ghee or clarified butter—2 teaspoons

Pepper –one teaspoon

Jeera-one teaspoon

Hing—a pinch

Grated ginger—half a teaspoon

Curry leaves—a few

Heat the ghee in a frying pan, and add the coarsely  crushed jeera and pepper. A minute later add the hing, the  grated ginger and curry leaves. Take  the pan off the  burner, and  empty the contents into one third of the basic battler, stirring gently.

Pour into greased idli moulds,  stick two or three pepper corns on top and steam for about 7 minutes.

Mint Idlis

Mint Idlis

Hing -a pinch

Finely chopped mint leaves—two tablespoons full

Add the above to a third of the basic batter, mix well.

Pour into greased idli moulds , place a whole mint leaf on each  idli  and steam for about 7 minutes.

Since all these are variations to the same basic batter, they take the same  time to get done. So in an idli stand where you can make a dozen idlis, four of each kind can be steamed together.

Serve with coconut chutney,  dhaniya-pudina chutney, chilli powder, sambar…

And keep visiting this blog for more varieties of idlis….

Hillary's Platter ...Item No 1. Dosai

Dosai with chilli powder and lasoon ki chutney

Hillary’s Platter

The breakfast given to American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she visited New Delhi  recently  was  what  is made in most South Indian homes almost on a daily basis . Perhaps what they make on two successive days, or occasionally, at breakfast, and at “tiffin” time in the evening.

Hillary’s breakfast comprised, hold your breadth, the perennial, universal favourite-- the dosai, and the health freak’s best bet, idlis, in thali style.

 Both are made of fermented batter of rice –preferably parboiled—and lentils, in this case,  ulutta paruppu in south, and dhuli urad in the north. Dosais are our own version of crepe or pancake—I like to think that the dosai  was where the seed of crepes and pancakes germinated as an idea.

Both were served with sambar, of course. And three varieties of chutney—white, green and a bit off the saffron colours that form the Indian flag. One made of pure coconut, the other had coriander, and the third, some tomatoes.

She enjoyed the breakfast, which has since become part of the Taj Palace Hotel’s menu, and the fare goes by the name of Hillary’s Platter.

The plain white coconunt chutney is  generally made and served at home, but the preferred “on the side” is chilli powder.Mulagai podi in Tamil, gunpowder to many elsewhere in India. But no, it  will not make you call the fire brigade, for as a per centage, lentils—chana dal, urad dal, together—make up the larger part of this powder. It is handmixed with gingley oil, on the plate, and you touch the piece of dosai or idli,  to this, and pop it right into your  mouth—if the idli is made well, it should melt in your mouth  in a few seconds!

I will  share the recipe and upload pictures of a few types of idlis the day I make them. But here goes the recipe and step by step processes involved in making a plain  dosai, homestyle, our breakfast earlier today.

Dosai ingredients

Parboiled or plain rice-4 cups

Urad-1 cup.

Salt to taste.

Oil (any)

Separately grind the soaked rice and soaked dal, and mix, add salt, and let stand to ferment overnight.

Put a tawa on the gas, grease it, sprinkle some water to temper it.

Spread the batter with swift, circular moves

Flip it over when golden

                                         

Fold it in two, to serve

  

Pour a ladel full of batter in the centre, and with quick circular moves of the ladel, spread it across the tawa. Using a spoon, drizzle oil along the circumference and across the dosai—not more than half to three fourths of a spoon per dosai.

A minute later, on when you see the dosai edge coming off clean, flip it over. A minute later, take it off gently, folding it as you go.

Serve hot, with chilli powder and/or chutney and/or sambar

We usually start off with a very tiny dosai—both as an offering(for it is not eaten) to God, and a way of testing  the tawa  without wasting precious batter. If the dosai sticks to the tawa, take it off, wash it , wipe with greased butterpaper, sprinkly a bit of water, and start all over again!

Dosai, incidentally, need not be crispy and crumbly as served in many places.

A good home made dosai, is often soft. And yes, a person with average appetite can eat three or four of them!

Is it the size of the restaurant dosai, or is it something that goes into it, that makes one feel full, with just one dosai?

I  have yet to figure that out.

But go ahead, and make your  dosais. 

Serve with chill powder and til ka tel(sesame seed  oil)

My batter comes off the fridge. And there is always the old faithful--chilli powder in a bottle. A good breakfast ready in a jiffy!The bright red thing you see on my plate is the “lasun ki chutney” from Mumbai—Bedekar’s. Tastes  as great with dosai as it does in a Maharashtrian thali.

Upma, vadai in Shatabdi Express

Upma,Vadai in South Indian Breakfast onboard Shatabdi Express

“I love to take the Rajdhani just for the food”.

That’s something I’ve heard from many who’ve booked themselves on  one of the many  Rajdhani trains  that connect important cities in India as they criss cross many others. What the fully airconditioned, fully serviced--  all meals served, bedding thrown in -- Rajdhani Express trains are to long distance or overnight trains, the Shatabdi Express is to short distances, generally involving about five to six hours travel at most.

If Rajdhani serves all meals, the Shatabdi ride has just enough time for a bed tea—yes, you read it right—breakfast, or tea, or tea and dinner, depending on the duration and timing of the journey.

It is not about great food really. But it is about the relief of eating a decent meal without having to take the trouble –or enjoy the pleasure –of  planning, preparing and packing a meal or may be two or three. The task becomes a bit more than routine because such food has to have a shelf life when out of the fridge!

I take the Shatabdi very often, particularly  the New Delhi-Chandigarh-Kalka train, and of course the return.

At one time, the menu used to be changed frequently. Now they’ve done away with that. Instead you get a choice --- parathas  with pickle, or potato cutlets with fried peas thrown in, or omlette with potato fries and fried peas.  Or  what the waiters call a South Indian breakfast.

Whatever you take, you get a tetrapack of juice, generally mango; two slices of break, a bubbleburst of butter and jam, tea bags/coffee sache,sugar,creamer and hot water. I suspect most people prefer to make their tea or coffee to their own taste.

Last weekend, when I took the train, I opted for the South Indian breakfast. Some hot upma , a vadai,  what was meant to be coconut chutney, and what is supposed to be sambar, is what  they served.

The upma was ok, the vadai had more maida than urad, perhaps because the caterers have begun to feel the pinch of its price.

Sambar was always watery arhar with some veggies thrown in, but with most vegetables very costly, it had some orange carrots and onions. 

And in place of chutney was  some buttermilk with a bit of coconut, churned together, almost no salt!

The size of the vadai had also so shrunk that not long from now, it may be ring sized. One would have to eat the not South Indian component--bread,butter,jam-- for the breakfast to be filling enough, in terms of quantity.

They would have done well to dispense with bread,butter ,jam in the South Indian breakfast, and served a decent upma-vada platter, proper sambar and chutney. I also recommend some Bru coffee to go with this.

Upma is the most basic of South Indian breakfasts, easy  and quick to make, almost a never-fail-you dish.It can be totally no-frills affair, or rich, drizzled with ghee, garnished with a lot of cashews. Mid-way it can be a healthy meal with an array of vegetables adding to nutrition and visual appeal.

Here goes the recipe for the basic upma:

Sooji /Rawa/Semolina –1 cup

Water-2 cups

Refined oil—two teaspoons

Mustard seeds-half a teaspoon

Urad  dhuli split-1 teaspoon

Hing-a pinch

Salt to tast

Green chillies-three or four

Ginger –optional

Curry leaves—a few

Roast the sooji till a lovely aroma surrounds you. Keep aside.

In a frying pan, add the oil, when it is hot, add the mustard seeds. When they crackle, add the urad and the hing. When urad turns golden, add the curry leaves, chopped green chillies and giner. Stir for  half a minute.

Now  add the water, and salt. When the water comes to boil, reduce the gas to sim, and slowly  and continuously, add the roasted rawa from the plate or pan, with one hand, stirring  with the other hand, so that no lumps are formed.

Once all the rawa and water have blended, place a lid on the frying pan, and let it cook in low flame for another four minutes.

The upma is ready to be moved into a serving plate and garnished., with coriander,cashew nuts or roasted peanuts, curry leaves etc

For great presentation, and taste, I recommend greasing small bowls with ghee, packing the upma in this, and then turning it upside down on the plate. Now you may garnish it any way…

I have often reduced the water and added leftover rasam, with great results.

And of course, a master chef has won $100,000, making a dish inspired by the humble puma. To know more about that, keep checking this blog.

For now,enjoy the basic puma.

(Photo taken on my Nokia E5, photoshopped a bit)

Ghiye ka Kofta

Ghiye ka Kofta

There are  times when  most of the vegetable market is flooded with  ghiya or lauki—Bottle gourd in English and shorakkai is Tamil.  That is the  best time to enjoy  making and eating dishes out of  the vegetable that can be bottle shaped or even round . 

Bottle Gourd(picture from the net)

On the death anniversary of my grand father, my Perima who is no more served a  delicious halwa  on the yelai—the banana leaf – as we sat on the floor for a ritualistic meal.

How did you make it? I asked, many, many years ago. She told me she would tell me later as she was busy.

Behind closed doors a while later, the ladywho had travelled the world many times, said it was made of shorakkai, and swore me into secrecy. Why, I asked. She told me the reason, a very discriminatory one, which I am not going to narrate here.

For   cultural reasons that are very difficult to get people to drop,  this vegetable is never cooked in my parents’ home—or those of my grandparents , both paternal and maternal.

But my Punjabi mother-in-law made raita and kofta with ghiya, and both are popular dishes in north India.

I made ghiye ka kofta the other day. Here goes the receipe.

Ingredients

Ghiya-Besan mix

Gravy simmers as Koftas are fried

Partly microwaved koftas

For the Koftas:

Ghiya, grated –2 cups

Besan—a huge ladel ful

Salt to taste

Chilli power- half a teaspoon

Ajwain-half a teaspoon

Hing –a pinch

Cooking soda-a pinch

Oil to deep fry(I used refined sunflower)

For the gravy:

Tomatoes-3 medium sized

Onions-2 medium sized

Ginger- a one inch pinch

Garlic(optional)

For garnish

Coarse powder of roasted dhania and jeera, Fresh green coriander

Do not  squeeze the water out of the grated ghiya, it is loaded with stuff beneficial to your health. Mix all the ingredients for the kofta, without  any water.

Make balls, never mind if they are flat, and deep fry, drain oil.

Chop the onions, tomatoes, and add the ginger,garlic, into the jar of a mixer, and make a puree out of them.

In a frying pan, add a teaspoon of oil.When  it gets hot, pour the puree, add a spoon of  chilli powder and salt to taste. Add water if necessary. Let it cook for ten minutes on low flame, till the gravy thickens.

Pour the gravy over the koftas. Garnish with the dhania-jeera power and fresh coriander.

PS: Since I like it to be Ghiye ka kofta rather than Besan ka kofta, I  add  minimum besan. If the ghiya is very watery, I pour out ladels of the “batter” onto a plate, microwave them for a couple of minutes, so that they bind. Then deep fry them.

But I have a  health-freak friend who simply microwaves  or steams the Koftas in idli moulds!

These koftas work just as well  as pakoras in Kadhi!

Serve with rice or roti/paranthas.

Photos by Pramod Pushkarna/Images India

Kheer, Payasam or Payash..a rose by any name..

Kheer, the most popular Indian dessert.

Payash in Bengal, Payasam in Tamil Nadu,Kerala and Karnataka, Kheer all over North India. What is sometimes called Rice pudding in the West, is an all time favourite, easy to make recipe—whether you buy milk specifically to make this for a guest, or make it to use up the many packets of milk lying in the fridge—for the family.

The traditional kheer recipe :

Milk 2 litres

Rice 2 handfulls

Sugar/Sweetener to tast

Cardamom or Ilaichi – a few

Almonds, raisins and rose petals to garnish

Bring  the milk to boil , preferably in an outsized, heavy bottomed  or non-stick pan, and simmer, adding the washed and drained rice., and slightly crushed cardamom.

Stir occasionally .

When the rice  has got well cooked and blended smoothly with the milk—it could take  45 minutes to an hour—take it off the gas.

Add sugar after it has cooled down a  bit.

For those who would rather go slow on sugar, chill. I’ve made good kheer with just two sachets of sugar to a litre of milk, without the dessert tasting like saltless gooey rice.

If even two sachets is too much, try two spoons of brown sugar/gur/shakkar. But take care to add these after the kheer has cooled down totally. This gives the kheer a lovely cream colour.

You can also toss in seasonal fruit –again, after the kheer has cooled totally.

Garnishing with fresh petals of the desi roja—ordinary , fragrant rose –and some almond slivers ( NO NEED TO FRY THEM IN GHEE), and a few raisins will take care of whatever is missing on account of very little sugar.

If you don’t have the time to make it this way, cheat yourself!

Cooked rice—One cup

Milk-two cups

Condensed milk-one tin

Heat the milk, add the cooked rice and stir for about 10 mins. Add the condensed milk, stir well.

Garnish.

The best kheer I’ve had or made  , has been in a solar cooker.And I always use the “yellow packet”—double toned milk—for cocerns regarding fat and cholesterol.

Khatta Meetha Kaddu..

Ready in the pressure pan

Ever visited Delhi’s famous Paranthe wali gali where they turn out scores of varieties of paranthas which are more like stuffed puris?

 Those who have often talk about the lovely side dishes they serve, and one of them is made of

Kaddu, also called sitaphal… or yellow pumpkin.. Not too much of a favourite with many, but nevertheless a good vegetable.

My mother-in-law who is no more, used to make what  is called khatta-meetha kaddu, that translates to sweet and sour pumpkin. But it is  not in the least like the sweet and sour of Chinese food. What she served was very north Indian spicy, and a mashed version.

I learnt what she made from her, and  made slight changes to make it look .like the one at Paranthe wali gali. While she would peel the skin, I did not. And while she would mash it, I did not. It  tastes…well ..almost as good, as a side dish with rotis or home made paranthas. And it looks like it will make a good veg accompaniment for dal-chawal as well.

Here goes the recipe:

Yellow pumpkin , cut into cubes- ½ kg

Green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped-five or sox

Grated ginger—a teaspoon full

Refined oil(I prefer mustard oil for this) –three teaspoons

Jeera-1 tsp

Dhania seeds-1 tsp

Hing-a pinch

Methi (funugreek) seeds-1 tsp

Red chilli powder-1 tsp

Turmeric powder-1 tsp

Amchur or Anardana(dry mango powder or dry pomegranate seeds)-1 tsp

Brown or ordinary sugar-1tsp

Salt to taste

Pour the oil into a pressure pan—a pressure cooker will also be fine--, let it smoke. Throw in the jeera, dhania, methi seeds,hing, stir once.Add the grated ginger, stir once more. Now add the pumpkin cubes, and stir such that the oil coats them. Add the turmeric, red chilli powder,salt, and stir. Sprinkle some water , turn the pumpkin around once, and put the lid and pressure cook for about seven minutes. Switch off, wait for about ten minutes for the pressure to come down, and open the lid.

Now add the amchur or powdered anardana, and the sugar, and stir well.

Garnish with green coriander and grated ginger.

Photo by Pramod Pushkarna/Images India

Carrot cake, eggless and fatfree

Carrot Cake

Yesterday a colleague brought  back to office a wedge of excellent carrot cake with light-as-air frosting from a new French restaurant in  Delhi. As she said, she’d asked for a small one. There were many mouths watering, many hands waiting to grab a bit of that. All in all it left me craving for more.

As part of cholesterol control effort, I don’t stock eggs in my fridge on a regular basis. Often enough I make an eggless  and fat-free cake and tweak the basic recipe to go the way I’d like it to. And impatient—you may say lazy if you wish-- as I am most often I bake my cakes in the microwave often—not on the convection mode, but plain MW mode.

It was this way that this carrot cake was made, with  the usual walnuts and raisins, but also a bit of home made orange peel for that extra fruity flavor.

I skipped the frosting because I have a weight-loss goal I’m seriously trying to achieve for many, many years now.

Those who can’t do without it, please get the recipe from wherever… or just give it a glaze with  jam or fruit preserve or marmalade that is handy at home. But melt it a bit first.

The major ingredients

Here goes the recipe.

Flour(maida) -1/2 cut

Wholewheat flour (atta) -1/2 cup

Cooking soda-1/2 teaspoon

Baking powder-1/2 teaspoon

Brown sugar -1/2 cup

Plain white sugar-2 tablespoons

Cinnamon powder-1/2 teaspoon

Home made yoghurt (made of double-toned milk)-1 cup

Vanilla essence- a few drops

Vinegar-a few drops

Refined oil(any)—2 teaspoons

Grated carrots( Ooty variety, though the North Indian carrots available in winter will be even better)-1  and ½ cups

Walnuts—a few, crushed or crumbled

Raisins—a handful

Orange peel—of may be half an orange

Just put everything in one huge bowl,  whip them together with a wooden spoon till smooth. Pour into a greased dish, and bake anyway you are comfortable with.

I  usually bake for 11 minutes on 80% power, and leave it in the MW for half an hour before turning it onto a plate.

Just out of the oven

Cooled and sliced, with tea or coffee and   warm with some custard on top as dessert, this is one delicious cake.

Do try it out, and  give me a feedback. If you alter it, do share that info also with me.

Happy, healthy baking..and eating!

Photos by Pramod Pushkarna/Images India

Grand Lux Cafe, Chicago

View from the Window

To return from Chicago without eating at the Grand Lux Café is a step short of sin.

I was only passing by. Jayashree, my cousin in Chicago,  said I should not miss it, and took me to this beautiful , grand , large scale café or bistro, with a huge seating capacity, tables packed very tightly in terms of space.

 It was pouring cats and dogs in Windy City, but the place was chocabloc all the same. Apparently very popular with the locals. And every single person was engrossed in food as much as conversation.

The place is apparently a favourite with Jayashree and her husband Ravi, and she knew what to order without bothering about the menu card. Apparently, it was easier because choices get limited for vegetarians .

Jayashree

And so it was Double Stuffed Potato Spring Rolls for which the Grand Lux is famous and  Fettuccini Alfredo . I tried guessing what all may have gone into the crisp potato spring roll that melted into my mouth, leaving a light cheesy flavor, a hint of spring onions and garlic. They served it with sour cream. Nice  and cheesy, hot and crisp.  The perfect equivalent of garam garam pakode on a cold, rainy day.

It was only after clearing the last morsel, that it occurred to me I’d forgotten to click a picture of this lovely dish. The pasta was good, but not greatly different from what I’ve eaten elsewhere.

The best order, Jayashree  had reserved for the last. Not only because it was to be a dessert, but it was to be a dessert no one can help falling in love with.

Molten Chocolate cake with Vanilla Ice Cream

Molten chocolate cake with a melted chocolate centre, vanilla ice cream to go with it, and a couple of strawberries, perhaps for good measure. My mouth was watering, goading me to rip the knife through and split it  between us, and attack. The eyes were saying, hold on, behold. It was simply but beautifully plated and served. And guess what? We had to wait for sometime for the mistake of not ordering in the beginning. Desserts are baked to order!

Great  ambience and greater food! Total value for money.

I plan on trying out a desi/home version of the DSPS rolls. 

Tulips

Healthyman cookies

Wheat and Oat cochochip cookies

The utterly butterly aroma of Cookieman cookies invariably makes people shed their weighty inhibitions and get ready to attack those yummy golden brown fresh cookies at any number of malls across the country.

I decided to try something that is not quite that sinful on the girth.

Roasted wheat flour and oats

Everything goes into one pot

Convenient sized cookies on foil

Here is the recipe:

Wholewheat flour with bran(Atta) 1 small cup
Quaker's oats 1/2 cup
Sugar 4 teaspoons
Chocochip -1/4 cup
Butter 50 gms
Hung curd 2 tablespoons
Milk-- about half a cup
Vanilla essence-- a few drops


Roast the wheat flour and oats together, till you enjoy the aroma of roasted wheat.Take it off the heat.
In a blow, mix sugar, butter and hung curds till smooth, add vanilla.

Empty roasted wheat flour and oats onto this, toss the chocochips, and make into a not too stiff dough, using milk as required.

Make small balls, and press them into cookies of the desired size, on buttered sheet.I made a dozen.

Bake till the edges turn deep gold, and the rest of the room smells of good home made cookies.
Keep to cool,  and store in a cookie jar.

Feel proud of your effort, and enjoy without feeling guilty that you are taking in too much sugar or too, too much fat.

Brunch on Sundays

Sundays should be light days for those who cook for the family, throwing in all the love for the partners and children, and friends if any, apart from throwing away the bit of leisure time they could have got. Brunch is a great idea.

But the Brunch that comes with the Hindustan Times on Sundays  is something I look forward to with as much of an appetite built up over the week. Nice, light reading, good pictures. One may not agree with a lot in it, but nevertheless …

Today’s Indulge column by Vir Sanghvi, took me back to my childhood. He writes about a dessert stylishly called Floating Island, and for good measure, he has given a couple of recipes as well. And of course, he talks about the way different renowned chefs made it the world over.

The floating island is basically a gooey custard in which  meringues are floated. The  lighter the meringue, the tastier the custard, more the style and presentation, the better the Floating Island is.

I’ve eaten it many times without knowing till today that it was called the Floating Island.

Life with my parents—my father is a retired Brigadier-- in the cantonments, was all about  parties. People were coming home or my parents were going out. Once in a while, children were included. And I generally looked out for two things. One was a show stopper on the dining table—there invariably was one. The other was the desert.

I remember Guddy aunty  serving us what looked like Rasmalai. But she told us that it was custard, and what was floating in it was made of stiffly beaten white egg with sugar, cooked in milk, and floated into the custard. There was vanilla too..

A rose by any other name. Floating Island by any other name. It tastes good always. Now I am going to eat it at the earliest opportunity.