Ragi Dosa

Most of the people know what Ragi (Finger Millet) is, by the famous Ragi Mudde. Well, for people who didn't know this, Ragi is not only consumed in the form of Mudde but also as dosa & malt (with water, milk or buttermilk).

Ingredients:
1 cup Urad dal
2 1/2 cups Ragi flour
1 tbsp salt
Oil for cooking

Preparation:

• Soak urad dal for a couple of hours & grind to smooth paste.
• Mix Ragi flour with ground urad dal paste, add water if required to make batter.
• Store this mix overnight to ferment.
• Heat tava, pour batter to make dosa.
• Apply little oil & cook turning sides.

Optionally, you can add chopped onions & green chillies to the batter, just before making dosas.
Serve with chutney and/or any side dish.

Vangibhath (Brinjal rice)

It's a nice treat when you have invited family/friends over for lunch. Varieties of bhaths can be prepared using the same masala - Vangibhath powder. Add capsicums to this and you have the variety as Capsicum & Brinjal bhath. For these bhaths we first prepare the base & then mix with rice.

Ingredients:
2 cups rice - cooked/steamed
2-3 brinjals - washed & cut to long pieces
1/4 cup peanuts or cashew nuts
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tbsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3-4 tbsp Vangibhath powder
1/4 cup curry leaves - chopped
Salt
3 tbsp oil
1/2 cup dry coconut (optional)
1 tsp lemon juice/tamarind juice (optional)

Preparation:

• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds & let it splutter.
• Add chana dal, urad dal, peanuts/cashew nuts & fry them till golden brown.
• Add turmeric powder, curry leaves & sauté.
• Add brinjal, salt; mix well & allow it cook for a few minutes.
• When brinjal starts to soften, add Vangibhath powder, coconut and lemon/tamarind juice & allow it to cook for 4-5 minutes.
• Mix the base with hot rice.

Serve with a Raitha.

A quick & usual Raitha to prepare:

Ingredients:
2 cups curd
1 onion - chopped
1 tomato - chopped
1-2 green chillies - julienned
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard
salt

Preparation:

• Add salt to curd & beat.
• Heat oil, add mustard seeds & let it splutter.
• Add green chillies & saute.
• Add chopped onions, tomatoes, the seasoning of mustard seeds & chillies to curd. Mix well.

Set Dosa

It reminds me of the early morning shift I used to work in. Our office was right next to Ballal Residency hotel and breakfast was ordered for us from there. Whenever I used to feel more than usual hungry, I used to order for Set Dosa. They make very nice Set Dosa with ghee; have enjoyed them with Aloo Palya many times. Set Dosa is usually a set of 3 Dosas served with Sagoo & Chutney, and can get quite heavy to finish the set.

Ingredients
1 cup Urad dal
1 cup Rice
1 cup Poha
1/2 cup saboo dana
Salt

Preparation

• Soak Urad dal, Rice, Poha & Saboo dana overnight (5-6 hours).
• Grind it to a thick paste adding water & salt. (The batter need not be kept for hours to ferment).
• Heat tava, pour batter & cook it adding bit of oil.
  
  

Serve with Sagoo & Chutney.

Appam

Appam in Tamil and known as Yeriappa in Kannada. Usually Appam is made during Navratri; there are lots of dishes prepared in those nine days of celebrations.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice - soak for 2-3 hours
1/2 to 3/4 cup jaggery/gur (add as per the sweetness required)
1/4 tsp cardamom/elaichi powder
1 banana
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups cooking oil - for frying

Preparation:

• Soak a cup of rice for 2-3 hours prior to preparation.
• Grind soaked rice and coconut (adding as little water possible).
• Add banana & jaggery to rice, coconut & grind to a thick paste.
  
• Add elaichi powder to the paste & mix well.
  
• Heat oil in a pan.
• Drop spoonful of paste in oil and deep fry them turning sides until brown.

Serve them as snack or as dessert.

Steamed Dal Rolls

That's a nice fancy name given to what we call as Nucchina Unde in Karnataka. These Dal rolls can be prepared using only Toor Dal or mixture of assorted Dals. Just Toor Dal tends to make it feel heavy to be eaten, mixture of Dals helps keep it a little lighter. The best part is there is no frying involved.

Ingredients:
1 cup Toor Dal
1/4 cup Chana Dal
1/4 cup Yellow Moong Dal
1 red onion - chopped
3-4 green chillies - chopped
Curry leaves
Coriander leaves
Salt

Preparation:
Soak the mixture of all three Dals for 2 hours. Drain out the water completely, add curry leaves, coriander leaves, salt to the Dal mixture and grind it coarse (not fine) with very little (almost no) water. The base should be thick and not like usual batter texture. Add chopped onions and green chillies to this paste. Make rolls by pressing the dough between your palms. Apply little cooking oil to Idli plates (or any other plates you usually use for steaming). Place the roles in the plates and steam them for 10 minutes.The traditional combination is - it is served with Majjige Huli (in Kannada) or Mor Kozhambu (in Tamil). Majjige Huli is made out of yogurt and vegetables. Or we can even serve with ghee and chutney.

Methi Rice

Every time me and my sister hear someone or one of us say Methi rice, we go like "mmmm.... yummm". Now Sree likes it too, but more when it is prepared with potatoes than just plain Methi leaves.

The masala used in this is Vangibhath powder, which can be bought off the store or even made at home. Sometime I will write about the masala powder preparation too.

The preparation of Methi and Aloo base and rice (cooked/steamed) are separately done. We then mix the base with rice.

Ingredients:
2 cups Basmati rice - washed and cooked/steamed
2 bunches Fenugreek/Methi leaves - washed and chopped
2 potatoes - washed, peeled and diced
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp chana dal
1 handful peanuts/cashew nuts
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder/haldi
3-4 tbsp Vangibhath powder
2-3 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt

Preparation:

• Heat cooking oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
• Add urad dal, chana dal and fry them till they are half brown. Then add peanuts and fry them all to full golden brown. (If you are going to use cashew nuts, you should fry them separately in the end and add them to Methi Rice).
• Add potatoes, turmeric powder and 2-3 pinches of salt. Let the potatoes cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add Methi leaves and Vangibhath powder. Add more salt, cover the pan with a lid and allow it to cook.
• Then add lemon juice and mix well.

You could either add more salt to the base or add it while mixing it with rice, as per the required amount. The base is now ready to be mixed with rice. You can prepare the base, refrigerate it and use it over a couple of days too. Though nothing can beat cooking it fresh every time.Mix required amount of rice with the base, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with any Raithas.