Sweet Khichidi

I was surprised to see everyone having this khichidi for breakfast at my MIL's place. This surely is a good dish but sweet for breakfast??? I dont think I can ever have such dishes early in the morning. Even today my hubby had this with urad dosa !!!


Ingredients:
1/2 cup chana dal
1/2 cup broken wheat
10-15 cashews
raisins
cardamom
2 cup sugar
1/2 cup grater coconut
2 table spoons ghee (optional)

Method:
Cook chana dal, broken wheat and cashews in a pressure cooker for 7-10 mins.
In a kadai, add little water to sugar and make a syrup. The consistency of this syrup should be thick.
Add cooked dal and wheat to this syrup. Keep stiring.
You can see this mixture becomes thicker and sticky, add raisins, cardamom and grated coconut.
Pour ghee on top and serve hot.

Serves: 3
Preparation Time: 25 mins

Note: This is typically eaten with neer dosa or any other dosa. But for me, this is equivalent to a dessert after lunch/dinner.

Banana Roti

My grandmother had very unique recipes like sugar cane juice roti, banana roti, papad sambar and many more. She had few specific items prepared during particular fest or season in a year. She never used to let me go without tasting all the food which was prepared at home. This is one among those special recipes which reminds me of those good old days terribly.


Ingredients:
1 ripe large banana
1 tea spoon sugar
1 tea spoon oil
3 large table spoons rice flour
2 large table spoons maida
1/2 luke warm water (if required)

Method:
Mash the banana.
Knead a dough (just like chapathi) with mashed banana, rice flour, maida, salt, sugar and oil. If banana is well ripe you will not need water, else just add a little luke warm water for dough.
Make small balls and roll them.
Fry it on hot tava.
Serve hot with sabji or chutney.

Serves: 2
Preparation Time: 20-25 mins

Note: This roti is sweet. If you do not like sweet, you can skip sugar and this needs to be fried dry without ghee or butter.

Urad - Rava Dosa

This is surely not an authentic rava dosa. Since I always have urad batter ready, I try preparing dosas with different flour and also rava. This dosa becomes slightly thicker than usual urad dosa.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup urad
1/4 cup fine sooji
salt
ghee to fry

Method:
Soak urad for 2 hours and make a smooth batter in a grinder.
Add sooji and salt to this batter.
Spread on a hot tava and fry with ghee.
Serve with chutney or sabji.

Serves: 2
Preparation Time: 10 mins (does not include soaking time)

Fried Yucca/Maddi Phodi

I had seen yuca many times in both Indian and Japanese stores but was not sure what it actually means. Now I know we call Yuca as Maddi. It was long time back I had tasted this at my granny's place.


Ingredients:
6-7 yuca slices
3 table spoons rice flour
1 tea spoon chilli powder
pinch of turmeric powder
salt to taste
1/4 cup water
oil to fry

Method:
Cut yuca into desired slices
Make a thick paste mixing rice flour, chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and water.
Dip yuca in this paste and fry it on a dosa pan with oil
Serve hot


Serves - 2
Preparation Time - 30 mins

Note: Yuca is very hard to cut, so be careful while cutting these. Yuca will have bitterness so it is better to soak it in warm water with salt for about 45 mins-1 hour.

Urad - Rice Flour Dosa

Urad dosa is a very common breakfast at our home. We atleast have it once a week. Acutally in India, we use urad and rice. But since my belnder doesnt grind rice into a smooth paste, I started preparing this with rice flour.


Ingredients:
1 cup urad
3 table spoon rice flour
1 cup water
salt to taste
ghee, oil or butter to fry

Method:
Soak urad in water for couple of hours.
Grind this into a smooth batter and let it ferment for 8-10 hours (I prefer overnight).
Add rice flour and salt to urad batter (do not make it too watery)
Spread this on a hot tava and roast it with ghee, oil or butter depending upon your choice.
Serve it hot with coconut chutney or any sabji.

Serves: 3
Preparation Time: 15 mins (this does not include soaking and fermenting hours)

Buns with Poha

Buns reminds me of my MGM hostel days. This used to be our evening snacks atleast once a week and all of my friends including me used to curse the chef for preparing yucky buns. This is definitely a good snacker, but I used to really really hate the way it used to be prepared in hostel...thick and dark big buns. Anyways I once again developed taste for these after my marriage. We always have these with poha.


Buns:
Ingredients:
1 big ripe banana
2 cup maida or all purpose flour
1 tea spoon sugar (avoid this if you dont like sweet)
1 table spoon oil
salt
oil for deep frying

Method:
Make a dough with banana, sugar, salt, oil and maida. If the banana is well ripe you will not need water, else add couple of spoons of water.
Make small balls and roll it. Let these be slightly thicker than puri.
Heat oil and deep fry until dark brown.

Serves: 2
Preparation Time: 30 mins


Poha:
Ingredients:
2 table spoon sambar powder
3 tea spoons sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 cup grated coconut
2 cup thin poha

Seasoning:
1 tea spoon oil
curry leaves
mustard seeds
3 red chillies

Method:
Do not wash poha. Since it is thin poha, washing it will make it sticky.
In a mixing bowl, mix all the above ingredients except for seasoning.
In a small pan, heat oil.
Add curry leaves, mustard seeds and chillies.
Pour this into poha mixture and mix it again.

Serves: 2
Preparation Time: 15 mins

Note: Buns can be eaten with coriander chutney and this poha goes well with simple upma too.

Plantain Fry

There are different types of bajji we prepare from plantain. Though deep fry pakodas are the best, I avoid preparing those. This time with the same ingredients I fried this on a tava and it came pretty tasty.

Ingredients:
1 plantain, cut into slices
2 table spoons rice flour
1 table spoons corn flour or corn starch
1/2 cup water
1/4 tea spoon turmeric powder
1 tea spoon chilli powder
salt to taste
oil to fry

Method:
Wash plantain and cut into thin slices.
Make a thick paste of turmeric powder, rice flour, corn flour, chilli powder, salt and water.
Dip plantain pieces and fry it on simmer on a hot tava with oil.
Serve hot with rice.

Serves: 2-3
Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Plantain Rava Fry

I remember eating this at my granny's house especially during festival seasons. Now we get it very often. A simple rasam or dal with rice and plantain fry makes a good combo.

Ingredients:
1 plantain
1 tea spoon turmeric powder
1 table spoon cumin powder
1 table spoon coriander powder
water
pinch of salt
fine rava for dusting
oil to fry

Method:
Cut plantain into desired shapes and wash it in luke warm water.
Mix turmeric, cumin, coriander powder with water and make a thick paste.
Add salt.
Dip the cut plantain in this mixture and dust it with rava.
Fry these on a hot tava with oil.
Serve with hot rice and daal.

Serves: 2-3
Preparation Time: 20 mins