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          For the last couple of days, all that was going in my mind was the rains and floods in Chennai, Pondicherry and Cuddalore. Sitting in Bangalore, and trying to reach out to relatives and friends was the only thing I had been doing the past few days and reading and sharing the huge task done by volunteers, in rescuing the affected people to safer places and feeding them as well. It'll take some time for Chennai and the other places to get back to normalcy, but at least for now, the rain has slowed down its pace and the flood waters are receding. So today, to take my mind off a little, from rains and floods, I thought I'll do a post, but it's a simple one, Bread Uttapams.

           For my family, a simple toast with some butter or jelly will not work, once in a while they are okay with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but they are more the savory kind. Any kind of savory sandwich, like with pesto or guacamole or just even with some thokku or chutney is fine, anything that's not sweet. So when I made this Bread Uttapam for a weekend breakfast, they simply loved it, in fact, they couldn't taste the bread in it. I added some capsicum, onion and tomatoes to the bread batter and made the uttapams, this is a delicious alternative to the regular uttapam made with idli/dosa batter. They come in handy when you don't have idli/dosa batter but you still feel like having some uttapams, serve them with some coconut chutney for a tasty and filling breakfast..

Need To Have

• Bread - 6 slices
• Semolina/ Rava - 6 tablespoons
• Rice Flour - 6 tablespoons
• Curd/Yogurt - 1/2 cup
• Chopped Capsicum - 1/2 cup
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 8, torn into pieces
• Chopped Coriander - 2 tablespoons
• Grated Ginger - 1" piece
• Salt to taste

Method


          Tear the bread into small pieces and blend it till it becomes powdery, then add the semolina, curd, rice flour and blend it along with some water ( I used about 1 and 1/4 cup, add as much as you want while blending, remaining you can add after transferring the batter to a bowl ).


          To the ground batter, add the chopped capsicum, cumin seeds, tomatoes, onion, curry leaves, coriander, grated ginger and salt and mix everything together and keep.


          Heat a pan, grease it with some oil, pour a laddle full of batter, spread it very lightly, drizzle some oil, cover and cook for about 2 minutes, till the bottom browns, then flip and cook on the other side ( need not cover now ), till golden brown spots appear. Remove and serve it warm with some coconut chutney.


Note
I have used brown, whole wheat bread, you can use whatever bread you want.
If you like it spicy, you can add some chopped green chillies.
We like this combination of vegetables in our uttapam, you can use only onions, onions and tomatoes and leave out capsicum, or a colorful mixture of different colored bell peppers, or just some onions and grated carrots, everything would taste good.

          Today's post is going to be one more dosa, and this time I have used Vella Pusinikkai/ Ash Gourd or Winter Melon to make it. As I have said so many times, we love idlis and dosas at home, and this one again turned out to be really good. To make it a little more healthier, I have used idli rice and jowar ( solam ) in equal proportions. This is not an instant dosa, it needs previous soaking, grinding and then the batter has to be fermented. The dosas came out so soft and spongy like set dosas and they would go very well with coconut chutney, sambar or vada curry..

Need To Have

• Idli Rice - 1 cup
• Whole Jowar/Solam - 1 cup
• Pusinikkai/Ash Gourd Puree - 1 cup
• Green Chillies - 4
• Whole Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 2 tablespoons
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Salt - 2 teaspoons

Method


          Wash and soak the rice, jowar, urad dal and fenugreek seeds overnight. Next day morning, grind it with the green chillies into a smooth batter. Make a puree with the ash gourd pieces ( about 1 cup ).


          Add the ash gourd puree to the ground batter along with the salt and mix everything together with your hand, cover and leave it to ferment for about 8 to 10 hours.


          Heat a dosa pan, pour a laddle of batter, spread it as thick or as thin as you want, drizzle some oil all around, cover and cook, till the bottom starts browning, flip and cook the other side and remove.


Note
I have used the mixie/blender for grinding, if making large quantity then you can use the grinder.
I made thick and spongy dosas ( like set dosa ) with the batter, but you can make them thin and crispy too.
The holes that pop up when you pour the dosa batter on the pan, shows that the batter has fermented well, only then the dosas will turn out soft and spongy.
When I say smooth batter, it doesn't mean powdery smooth, it'll still be a little grainy.
After fermentation, the batter will not increase in volume like in the case of regular idli/dosa batter, but you'll still be able to see that it has fermented.

          At home, we never get tired of idlis and dosas, so whenever I find a new type of idli or dosa, I immediately try it out. Today's post is going to be yet another healthy idli, Yellow Pumpkin Idlis, Parangikkai Idlis. The original recipe here uses idli rava ( rice semolina ), I have replaced it with millet rava, this time I have used saamai rava/little millet rava. The idlis are a lot similar to the Cucumber Idlis that I have already posted. The texture is not like that of regular rice idlis, it's more like rava idlis and sort of crumbly, like, when we dip it in chutney or sambar, it breaks down. We loved it with some coconut and peanut chutney, do give it a try..

Need To Have

• Saamai Rava/Little Millet Semolina - 1 cup
• Grated Yellow Pumpkin/Parangikkai - 2 cups
• Chana Dal/Bengal Gram - 1 tablespoon
• Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Green Chilly - 1, chopped finely
• Chopped Coriander - 2 tablespoons
• Salt - 1 teaspoon

Method


          Grate the pumpkin in a fine grater and keep, about 2 cups. Soak the chana dal for about 30 mins to an hour. Now take the millet rava, grated coconut, chopped coriander and salt.


          Add the grated pumpkin, mix it with your hand, the consistency should be like, when you press the mixture with your hand the liquid should ooze out. Leave this covered for about 40 minutes to an hour. Then add the soaked chana dal, a tablespoon of water and mix it up.


          Grease the idli moulds with oil, then spoon in the mixture and spread it out and steam it for about 15 to 17 minutes. Leave it to cool down a little, then remove the idlis and serve.


Note
The consistency of the mixture depends on the moisture content of the grated pumpkin, if it's dry, then add some water and leave it.
The idlis might look very delicate, they might look like they will break down while removing. But if you leave them for about 5 minutes, then you can remove them easily with a spoon dipped in water. After removing, keep them in a hot pack.

          Till now, for making methi parathas, I used to make the dough with wheat flour, methi leaves along with some spices and rolled out the parathas. But today's methi parathas are a little different, I found this recipe here, when I was browsing for some Maharashtrian recipes. The first thing that attracted me to this dish was the nice green color of the parathas. The methi leaves are sauteed with some ginger, garlic and other spices and then added to the flour, the parathas get a nice flavor from this. It might take an extra 10 to 15 minutes to saute the leaves, but it's worth all out of it, the parathas turned out really good..

Need To Have

• Whole Wheat Flour/ Atta - 1 cup
• Besan Flour/Bengal Gram Flour - 2 tablespoons
• Chopped Methi Leaves/Fenugreek Leaves/Vendiya Keerai - 1 cup
• Green Chillies - 2
• Garlic - 4 cloves
• Ginger - 1" piece, chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method


          Make a paste with the green chillies, garlic and ginger, clean and chop the methi leaves/fenugreek leaves/vendiya keerai.


          Heat about 11/2 tablespoon of oil, add the chopped methi and saute it for about 3 minutes, then add the ground paste, turmeric powder, salt and sugar and mix. Add about 1/4 cup water, cover and cook for about 5 minutes.


          Once the methi is cooked, switch off and let it cool. Then add the gram flour and wheat flour and make a soft dough ( if needed add some water to make the dough ). Leave the dough to rest for 15 to 20 minutes.


          Make big lemon size balls and roll them out into thin discs. Cook them on a hot tava/pan, adding a little oil, till you get light brown spots on both sides. Remove and serve it with some pickle and raitha or curd.


Note
I got 6 parathas for the above quantity.
While making the parathas, flip it only thrice, you put the rolled out disc on the hot pan, cook for a few seconds, flip, apply the oil, flip it, apply oil on the other side, by then the first side would have got brown spots, flip it and cook it till the other side also gets brown spots, so only 3 flips.

          Today's post is going to be a long one, it's Spinach Ricotta Ravioli. My last post was homemade Ricotta Cheese, and I had mentioned there, that I had made Spinach Ricotta Ravioli and some cookies using the cheese. Making Raviolis takes a little extra time, we can divide the whole process into two parts, making the ravioli, then the creamy tomato sauce and then finally serving them together. It might sound a bit lengthy, but with a little bit of planning, it can be done easily, plan it for a weekend lunch or dinner. The raviolis turned out great, the sauce was delicious, only thing, might be the next time I'll increase the filling a little bit..

Need To Have
For the Pasta Dough

• All Purpose Flour/Maida - 1 cup
• Fine Semolina/Chiroti Rava - 1 cup
• Olive Oil - 11/2 tablespoon
• Salt to taste

For The Ravioli Filling

• Spinach - 1 bunch
• Ricotta Cheese - 3/4 cup
• Parmesan Cheese Powder - 2 tablespoons
• Olive Oil

For The Tomato Sauce

• Tomatoes - 3
• Garlic - 6 cloves, chopped finely
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/8 teaspoon
• Fresh Cream - 4 tablespoons
• Dried Basil - 1/4 teaspoon
• Olive Oil

Method


          Take the all purpose flour, semolina, add the olive oil and mix it, then adding warm water, a little at a time ( about 3/4 cup ), make a dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, cover and leave it to rest for an hour.


          In the meantime, make the filling. Clean and wash the spinach and saute it in a little olive oil, till it wilts and looses all the moisture.


          Cool and chop the spinach finely, add the ricotta cheese, parmesan powder, a little salt ( if needed) and a tablespoon of olive oil, mix it and keep.


          Now take the dough, take a handful of dough, dusting some flour and roll it out as thin as possible. Using a cookie cutter, cut out small round shapes. Take one small disc, place a little filling in the center.


          Apply some maida paste ( all purpose flour mixed with a little water ) around the edges, place another disc on top and press it well. Make some markings on the edges with a fork. Do the same with the rest of the dough.


          Boil more than 5 cups of water, add the raviolis, 5 or 6 at a time, cook for about 5 minutes and remove. Apply some olive oil and keep, so that they don't stick with each other.


          Coming to the sauce, boil the tomatoes in water, till the outer skin splits, remove and cool. Peel the skin, blend it and keep.


          Heat some olive oil, add the chopped garlic and saute till it turns golden, then add the ground tomatoes. Add the chilly powder and salt and cook for about 5 minutes till it becomes thick.


          Add the fresh cream and the dried basil, mix and remove immediately. Pour some tomato sauce on a plate, place the ravioli, top with more sauce, garnish with some fresh basil, drizzle a little olive oil and serve.


Note
With the amount of dough I made, we can make about 30 to 35 raviolis, I ran out of filling, it came for about 25 raviolis.
I had made the sauce twice, I was not satisfied with the sauce the first time, so I made it again, a little differently. The sauce made with 3 tomatoes will be enough for about 10 to 12 raviolis.
Don't serve too much sauce, then you won't be able to taste the spinach filling.
This was my first attempt at making raviolis, so I kept only a little filling ( about 2 teaspoons ) per ravioli, I was scared that it might open up while boiling, next time I'll use a little more.

          Millets, no longer we need to go into, how healthy they are, it's a known fact now. Now, in India we not only get whole millets and millet flour, we also get them now in rava ( semolina ) form and also as instant idiyappams ( noodles ). For today's idli I have used Kuthiraivali ( Barnyard Millet ) rava and sorakkai/bottle gourd. The idlis came out soft and delicious, the texture was like that of regular rava/semolina idlis. Try out this super healthy idlis, you can use varagu/kodo millet or saamai/little millet too, they go very well with peanut or coconut chutney..

Need To Have

• Kuthiraivali/Barnyard Millet Rava - 1 cup
• Grated Sorakkai/Lauki/Bottle Gourd - 2 cups
• Yogurt/Curd - 1/2 cup
• Broken Cashews - 11/2 tablespoon
• Chana Dal/Bengal Gram - 1 tablespoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Green Chilly - 1, chopped
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Eno/Fruit Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander - 1/4 cup
• Curry Leaves - 10, torn into pieces
• Salt to taste

Method


          Take the millet rava in a bowl, grate the bottle gourd in a fine grater.


          Add the grated bottle gourd to the kuthiraivali rava, add the 1/2 cup curd, mix it well with hand and leave it for 30 minutes.


          Heat about 3 teaspoons of oil, add the cashews, chana dal, urad dal followed by the mustard seeds. When the cashews turn golden and the mustards start spluttering, add the asafoetida followed by the green chilly and curry leaves, saute for a minute and remove.


           Add the sauteed cashew mixture to the soaked kuthiraivali rava, also add the chopped coriander, salt and 1/2 cup water and mix everything together.


          Heat the water in the steamer ( idli maker ), grease the idli moulds, now add the eno/fruit salt to the batter, mix it and spoon it into the idli moulds and steam them immediately for about 15 to 20 minutes. Let it cool for a couple of minutes, then remove them carefully using a spoon dipped in water.


Note
The batter will not be like regular idli batter, you have to spoon the batter and set it in the mould with the spoon.

         
          I have already posted one Thakkali Dosa in my blog, today's post is another one, unlike the first Thakkali Dosa, this one does not need fermentation. The rice is soaked, ground with tomatoes, flavored with some spices and made into dosas immediately. The dosa gets a nice color from the tomatoes, they come out very crispy and goes very well with sambar and coconut chutney..

Need To Have

• Idli Rice - 2 cups
• Chopped Tomatoes - 2 cups, packed
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10 to 15, torn into pieces
• Chopped Coriander - 1/4 cup
• Salt to taste ( about 2 teaspoons )

Original Recipe here.

Method


          Soak the rice for 3 to 4 hours and grind it along with the tomatoes and water. The batter will have a fine semolina consistency. Add the chilly powder, cumin powder, asafoetida and salt.


          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and urad dal, when it starts spluttering and the urad dal turns golden, add the curry leaves. Add this to the batter along with the chopped coriander and mix it well.


          The batter should be like a thin pancake batter, you can either make it like regular dosas ( pour a laddle of batter, spread it with the back of the laddle, add 1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon of oil, cover and cook on one side, flip and cook on the other side and remove), or like rava dosas. To make it like rave dosas, the batter should be very thin, it spreads as you pour it on the pan, cover and cook with a little oil, either you remove the dosa as such or flip and cook it on the other side for 1/2 a minute and remove. I prefer the second way, the rava dosa type. Serve these crispy dosas immediately along with chutney or sambar.


Note
Since this dosa batter is not fermented, the crispy dosas taste best when served hot, they might become a little tough when they turn cold.
The original recipe used raw rice, I have used idli rice, you can use regular parboiled rice or even a mixture of millets and rice.

          Upma Kozhukattai, usually it's made with idli rava or broken rice ( semolina ), but we can do it with broken wheat ( godhumai rava or even with millet semolina too ). The first time I made it with broken wheat, I think I made it with a very coarse variety, so it was difficult to shape the kozhukattais. This is an easy recipe, we make the basic upma, then let it cool a little, shape the kozhukattais and steam them. The kozhukattais taste delicious by themselves or we can serve them with some coconut chutney or peanut chutney or even some pickle..

Need To Have

• Broken Wheat/Godhumai Rava ( fine variety ) - 1 cup
• Tuvar Dal/Split Pigeon Peas - 1 tablespoon
• Grated Coconut - 2 to 3 tablespoons
• Green Chilly - 1 chopped
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 tablespoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt to taste

Method


          Break the tuvar dal coarsely in a blender.


          Heat some oil, add the urad dal and mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering and the urad dal starts turning golden, add the green chilly, curry leaves and asafoetida, mix for a minute, then add the godhumai rava and tuvar dal and saute it for a minute or two.


          Add about 21/2 cups of water and salt, bring it to a boil, cover and cook on reduced heat till the rava is cooked and the water is all gone. Add the grated coconut and mix it in, now the upma is ready. Let the upma to cool a little, then make small lemon sized balls and keep. Then steam it for 10 to 15 minutes on a greased idli plate. Remove, let it cool a little and serve with the chutney of your choice.


Note
Use fine quality rava.
Grease your hands a little and make the balls. 

          Couple of months back, my husband on his trip to the US, had bought me two big packets of dried blueberries. Now, I have to find ways of using the berries, apart from eating it alone or with cereal ( with a family that's not a big fan of cereals ). I was browsing the web for blueberry recipes, I also I had bananas with me that day, so I was looking for a recipe to use blueberries along with bananas, then I saw this here. An easy dish that takes just about 4 to 5 minutes in the microwave, great for breakfast or snack..

Need To Have

• Quick Cooking Oats - 1/2 cup
• Banana - 1 big
• Dried Sweetened Blueberries - 3 tablespoons
• Cinnamon Powder - 1 teaspoon

Method


          Peel and mash the bananas, mix in the oats, blueberries and cinnamon powder.


          Grease a microwave safe dish, add the oats banana mixture, smooth it out with a spoon and microwave it for about 4 to 5 minutes till dry. Cool it for a few minutes, take it out and slice.


Note
The original recipe used fresh blueberries, they are not readily available in India.
Fresh berries don't have any taste, so 1/4 brown sugar is added.
The texture will be on the chewier side.