Mysore Masala Dosa...in Hotel style!!

When Sia announced this event I was very excited to prepare something exclusively for the event.No Udupi hotel menu is complete without this very famous Masala dosa.It is loved by everyone and one good thing about it is it can be taken any part of a day as a breakfast,evening tiffin or dinner.This is my one of the most preferable breakfast items at any good udupi hotel.
After trying so many versions of masala dosa batter's I got stuck to this version which I got from my aunt who is again so passionate about cooking.I just tried blindly with the measurements she has given and I was so happy with the outcome of the crispiness of dosa,it is just the way I want my masala dosa,so crispy outside and melting soft inside.I have already shared with you my dosa funda in this post,if you are interested please check it again.

Ingredients:

For Dosa batter:
4 cups Raw rice(sona masuri or any equivalent regular rice)
2 cups Boiled rice(par boiled rice or idli rice)
1 1/2 cups poha(flattened rice)
a handful Whole round Urad dal
1 tsp Methi seeds
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp Cooking soda(see notes)

For Potato palya:
2 large potatoes,boiled
1 medium Onion chopped
3-4 green chillies,slitted
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tbsp chana dal
1 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp chopped coriander
8-10 chopped curry leaves
salt

For red(Onion-garlic) Chutney:
1 Big Onion chopped
8-10 garlic pods
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp tamarind pulp
salt to taste


Method:

Step 1 : Potato Palya

• Mash the boiled potatoes and keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a pan,crackle mustard seeds and fry chana dal,urad dal till brown.
• Add slitted green chillies,curry leaves and onions and fry until they turn pinkish in color.
• Add haldi,salt and mashed potato to it and give a nice stir and cook it for a couple of minutes.
• Add coriander to it and mix properly and keep it aside to cool down.

Step 2 : Red(Onion-garlic) Chutney

• Grind Onion,garlic,red chilli powder,tamarind pulp and salt into a very fine paste.

Step 3 : Dosa Batter

• Soak both the types of rice,methi,poha in a big vessel for 6-7 hours.Soak urad dal separately for the same time.(minimum of 4-5 hrs)
• Grind urad dal into a very fine and smooth batter.
• Grind the rice mixture to a very smooth batter.Mix both the batter's and add salt to it and mix properly.Ferment it overnight for 8-9 hrs.
• Mix batter well.Pour a big ladle of batter onto a medium hot pan into a thick dosa,it should be thicker than the regular dosa.
• Pour 1 tbsp oil approx over it and cover it with a lid.(No need to add more oil if using Non stick pan,you can completely replace oil with ghee for better taste if you are not calorie conscious).
• Let it initially cook on low flame for 1-2 mins and remove the lid and increase the flame later and cook for a couple of mins until you see brown/red patches.(No need to turn the dosa).But do not try to remove the dosa in between while it is roasting.We should remove it only when you are sure that the dosa is perfectly roasted.
  
• Remove the lid and pour some ghee in the center and spread some red chutney all over evenly and place potato palya on one side and fold the dosa.You can even close it from two sides or three sides like we get in hotels.
  
• Brush the dosa with ghee and place it in the center of the pan to make it more crispier.
• Serve it directly and do not drop them in hot boxes.It should be served on to the plate immediately to enjoy the flavor and crispiness of the dosa.
• Reduce the flame for one minute and then start preparing the next dosa.Do not pour the batter on high flame.

Serve it hot right off from the flame with coconut chutney and coriander-mint chutney.

Tips:

• Add a spoonful of sugar to the batter and mix properly and make dosas.This will give a thick golden crust for your dosas.This is a tip from my mom,it really worked for me.You can see that golden red crust in the photo.
• If your dosa did not turn out good,do not panic.Add 1/4 tsp cooking soda to a ladle and mix with 2 tbsp water well and that to the dosa batter and mix well and start making dosas.
  

Coconut Chutney:

Ingredients:
1/2 coconut scraped (approx 1 cup)
1/4 cup fried gram
6-8 green chillies
1/2" Ginger,chopped
1 tsp tamarind pulp
Salt to taste

For seasoning:
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
1/4 tsp urad dal
5-6 curry leaves

Method:

• Grind fried gram and coconut to a coarse mixture.
• Add green chillies,ginger,tamarind pulp and salt and grind it to a slight coarse mixture.
• Season it with mustard,jeera,urad and curry leaves.

Coriander-Mint Chutney:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup grated fresh coconut
1/2 bunch of mint
1/2 bunch of coriander
5-6 green chillies
2 tbsp fried gram
1 tsp tamarind pulp
salt to taste

For seasoning:
1 tsp Oil/Ghee
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp jeera
1/4 tsp urad dal
5-6 curry leaves

Method:

• Grind fried gram and coconut to a coarse mixture.
• Add coriander,mint,green chillies,tamarind pulp and salt and grind it to a slight coarse mixture.
• Season it with mustard,jeera,urad and curry leaves.

Note:

• For a Vegan version use oil instead of ghee for tempering for chutney and also use oil for roasting dosas.

I have made this specially for Sia's RCI:Udupi & Mangalorean cuisine event which was originally started by Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine to show my love and interest for the cuisine.
I am also sending this to padma's "Dosa Corner Event".
This also goes to Rak's "Cooking for Guests Event" as this was prepared for my guests who demanded me to prepare this for them.

Pavithra of Dishes from my Kitchen ,shubha of munchcrunchandsuch and EC of SimpleIndianfood have nominated me for "Kreativ Blogger Award". Thank you so much and I am really happy to receive this. I love to read your blogs and I am glad you like mine too.Thanks a lot gals,it really means a lot to me.


Updated:
After seeing the fellow bloggers "mini dosa mela" in their blogs even I got excited to repost my previous dosa posts so that all of them can stay at one place happily with their old friends(I mean old dosa post fromother blogs..:)).
I am sending these following dosa entries for padma's "Dosa Corner Event".






Paper Roast Dosa


















Mixed Vegetable Dosa




















Spongy Atukula(poha) Dosa





















Green Moong Adai

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Rava Vangibath

Rava vangibath is not as popular as our regular Vangibath(made with rice) though it is one of those traditional dishes of karnataka which is quite common among few kanndiga homes.This is very easy to prepare and is equally tastier like vangibath.Basically we can consider this as a cross between our regular upma and vangibath which is quite uncommon combination.Try it out to feel the new taste of it.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Bansi rava(Kesar rava)
4-5 baby eggplants,sliced lengthwise
1 big onion sliced and halved
2 tbsp vangibath powder
8-10 cashewnuts,chopped(optional)
2-3 tbsp chopped coriander
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 tbsp chana dal
8-10 curry leaves
a pinch of haldi
a pinch of sugar
juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste
2 tbsp Oil


Method:

• Dry roast rava until it turns slight brown and nice aroma starts from it.
• Heat oil in a kadai crackle mustard seeds and fry chana dal,urad dal,curry leaves until brown.
• Add sliced onions and fry with a pinch of sugar until it turns pink.Now add sliced brinjal pieces and fry again until the brinjal pieces are soft.
• Add haldi and vangibath powder mix well.Add water in the ratio of 1:3 (1-rava:3-water) and cover it with lid and let it boil completely.
• Add enough salt according to your taste and mix well.
• Add rava to it and stir continuously and cover it and let it simmer for 4-5 mins until the rava is cooked completely.
• Fry cashewnuts in ghee in a separate pan and add to this mixture and give a good mix.(I did not add use here,but adding of fried cashewnuts gives a special taste to this).
  
• Add chopped coriander and lemon juice and give a nice stir.
  

Serve it hot with raitha and chips/sev.
I served it with simple onion raitha and Garlic sev which I brought back from my last trip.

Note:
You can add a spoon of ghee at the end to give a special flavor to it.

I am sending this recipe to the FIL3-purplish brinjal event hosted by Sanghi of sanghi-tastybites blog.

And also I am sending my VANGIBATH and BAGARA BAINGAN recipes for the same event.

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Oats 'n' Fruits Power Shake/Smoothie | Indian Oats Recipes

Gals,do u remember my earlier post Savory Oats porridge??

After a great successful attempt to satisfy our stomach with those boring oats I wanted to try something new again with them.With some new ideas from Tv shows and bloggers I tried making this and was very happy with the results and we really loved the taste of fruits with oats.The taste of mango has completely dominated the other ones and gave its very special taste to this shake.I felt it was a completely satisfying breakfast with a couple of plain toasts and so thought of sharing it with you guys.I am sure even your kids will not complain anything about this,it is really a easy way to make them eat those healthy cereals and here comes the way I did.


Ingredients:

3/4 cup Oats
2 cups milk
1 medium ripen mango
1 medium ripen banana
1/2 cup ripen musk melon
5-6 blanched almonds
honey to taste(for sweetening)
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp chopped mixed nuts and raisins

Method:

• Boil oats in milk until soft and let it cool down completely.
• Chop all the fruits into medium size pieces and blend everything with the cooked oats and honey,cardamom powder into a fine puree.Add milk and honey according to the taste and consistency.
• Add blanched nuts to it and run it once again.No need to blend the nuts into a fine paste.It tastes good when u get some bits of nuts in between while you are savoring this shake.
• Keep in refrigerator for some time or serve as it is.
• Serve it with some finely chopped almonds,pistachios,raisins and some finely chopped fruits.

Note:

1. You can add fruits of your choice like papaya,orange,apple etc to this.
   
2. I added honey inorder to avoid the extra calories,you can even replace it with sugar for kids if they dont like the taste of honey in this.

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Stuffed Karela(Bitter gourd) - Type1

Bitter gourd is a common medicinal food for diabetics.Very few people like this vegetable and my hubby is one among them.He is a very big fan of karela and so it is prepared atleast once a week at our place.He likes to eat it even with roti or even as a snack.I prepare so many stuffed variety recipes with bitter gourd and I have learnt this version from my mom and it is always liked by everyone.Even though you are not a karela lover,I am sure you will definitely like this version of karela as the bitterness of karela is reduced by prior cooking process.

Ingredients:

5-6 Bitter gourds(long or short)
1/4 cup thin tamarind pulp
1 tbsp jaggery
1/2 tsp haldi (turmeric)
1 tsp salt
3-4 tbsp oil

for stuffing:

2 tbsp Chana dal
1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp pepper corns
2 tbsp besan(chickpea flour)
3-4 Laung
1/2" cinnamon
5-6 red chillies
2 pods of garlic
salt


Method:

• Wash and cut off corners and cut Bitter gourds into half (2" pieces) and scoop out the seeds from it.
• Boil water with tamarind pulp,salt,haldi and jaggery in a deep vessel and add bitter gourds to it and boil until soft,75% done.This process reduces the bitterness of the bitter gourds.
  
• Remove the bitter gourds from the mixture and run cold water over them and keep aside.
• In a pan heat a spoon of oil add chana dal,urad dal,coriander seeds,cumin seeds,pepper corns,Laung,cinnamon,red chillies until light golden brown in color.Cool it and grind it to a coarse powder by adding salt to it.Add garlic pods to it and grind again once.
• Dry roast besan and mix with the ground masala.Add a spoon of oil to the mixture just to make it wet which helps in easily stuffing the bitter gourds.
• Stuff the mixture in the bitter gourds tightly with the stuffing mixture.
• Heat a pan and add 2-3 tsp of oil and when the oil is hot place the bitter gourds carefully and fry it on medium flame for 8-10 mins until it is crispy and browned evenly.(you can even deep fry those stuffed bitter gourds in the oil to get better taste,but I prefer shallow fry method in order to cut the extra calories).
• Cut into rounds like I have shown or serve it as it is.
  

Serve it with hot rice and ghee.

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Palak(Spinach) Rice

Spinach is my favorite variety among all greens.So I try to include it atleast once a week in my diet in some or the other form.This is one more variety of rice which is very easy to prepare and best for packing lunch boxes and here comes the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Basmati rice/Normal rice
1 Big bunch of Spinach,cleaned and washed thoroughly
5-6 green chillies
3/4 cup fresh/frozen Peas or soaked dry Peas
1/2 cup Soya chunks,soaked in water
1 big Onions finely sliced
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tsp readymade Biryani masala(can be replaced by 1/2 tsp Garam masala )
3-4 cloves
1 " cinnamon stick
2 Bay leaves
1 tsp jeera
1 tbsp Oil
1 tbsp Butter
Salt to taste


Method:

• Wash the rice a couple of times and soak it in water for 20-30 mins.
• Soak Soya chunks in warm water for 10-15 mins.Squeeze out the extra water and keep it aside
• Drop spinach and green chillies in boiling water and cook it for 2-3 minutes and drain it using a strainer.Run this immediately under cold running water in order to retain its luscious green color.Cool the greens and blend it into a nice smooth puree.Measure the quantity of spinach puree.
• Heat oil and butter in cooker,add jeera,cloves,cinnamon,bay leaves and fry for a minute.
• Add finely sliced onion,ginger-garlic paste and fry until the onions turn light brown in color.Add peas and fry until it starts changing its color.
• Add spinach puree and fry for a couple of minutes and add biryani masala, soya chunks and fry for a minute.
• Now add soaked and drained rice to it and give a stir carefully.
• Add enough water to it in the ratio of 1 : 1 3/4(rice:water) including the measure of spinach puree in it and add enough salt and boil for a minute and cover it with the cooker lid and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles.You can even cook for 1 whistle and cook on low flame for 8-10 minutes which makes the rice granules separate.

Serve it hot with Onion raitha.Note:

• For a Vegan version avoid butter and use oil for tempering.

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I am BACK....

Hi Friends.....

I am Back....I am Back..
Sorry for sudden disappearance.Last week we had been for a complete family trip to Tirumula which we were planning since my marriage(for more than 2 1/2 years).Every time we planned this trip we had to cancel it for some or the other reasons.Finally this time we had successfully completed our trip even though it was not confirmed upto the last minute.Our trip was very hectic as we had visited so many places in a short duration.We had been to sripuram(Golden Temple),Kanipakkam,Sri Kalahasti,Alivelu manga puram and finally Tirumala where we stayed for two days.I could not take any photos of the temples or the food we had as most of the Temples do not allow cameras and it was very difficult to carry and place them in the lockers every time we step out of the hotel.However I am sharing some photos of our trip.



and these are the goodies I brought back from the trip which were brought by Mom and MIL for me..


This small break made me realize how much I am addicted to blogging these days.I really missed all your yummy posts from the past ten days.When I opened my blog today I was surprised to see the number of unread posts posted.I still need a couple of days time to settle down and come to the normal blogging routine and visit your blogs for the yummy dishes.

will be back shortly with a bang of recipes asap.

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Paper Rava Dosa...in Hotel style

As I am a big dosa fan I would like to share my Dosa philosophy with you guys today.
White crust and soggy dosa's definitely turns me off.According to me making a perfect dosa is definitely an art.I have various specifications(textures of dosa) for the various varieties of dosas.For example,I want my Rava dosa and paper roast dosa's to be very thin and crisp where as the Masala dosa should be porous, perfectly red and crisp outside and soft inside and where as the Poha(Atukula) dosa and Utappam should be very soft,porous and should have medium crisp crust.I know..I know all these requirements are met only by dosa's in Hotels.But with a little effort and by using basic tricks and tips the same kind of perfection can be even achieved by us at home.I am always in search of perfect dosa recipes which meets my requirements and all these dosa recipes you find in my blog are personally tried,tested and loved by me.So guys if you are like me,then go ahead and enjoy this hotel style crispy Rava dosa right in your kitchen.Try it,you will definitely love this.



Ingredients:

1 cup Chiroti rava(fine rawa/hollige rava)
1/2 cup Rice flour
1/4 cup Maida
1 cup slightly diluted curd
2 medium onions finely chopped
1" ginger,grated or finely chopped
3 tbsp coriander finely chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped curry leaves(optional)
1 tsp coarse green chilli paste or finely chopped green chillies
2-3 tbsp grated fresh coconut
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp slightly crushed pepper corns
salt to taste
1 1/2 to 2 cups water approximately


Method:

• Mix rava,rice flour and maida with curd and add enough water to it and mix until no lumps are formed.
• The batter should be thin enough to pour it over the pan,it should not have spreading consistency.
• keep this aside for 10-15 mins.
• Add finely chopped onion,ginger chopped,coconut,salt,green chilli paste,coriander,chopped curry leaves,jeera and slightly crushed pepper corns to it and give a proper mix.
• Now check the consistency of batter as the rava absorbs water,check it and add enough water if required to get the pouring consistency.
• Pour a ladle full of dosa batter from the outward base of the hot tawa in a circular motion to the centre,fill the major gaps in between.But do not try to fill all the small gaps,those gaps helps in making the dosa more crispier.This is a very important step in making rava dosa.The crispyness depends on the way you pour the batter on the tava and the flame you manage while cooking the dosa.
  
• Pour 1 tbsp oil approx over it and cover it with a lid.(No need to add more oil if using Non stick pan).
• Let it initially cook on medium flame for 1-2 mins and remove the lid and increase the flame later and cook for another 2 mins until you see brown/red patches.(No need to turn the dosa).But do not try to remove the dosa in between while it is roasting.We should remove it only when you are sure that the dosa is perfectly roasted.
  
• Remove it from the pan and fold it in any of the three ways I have shown or into a regular half fold.Serve it directly and do not drop them in hot boxes.It should be served on to the plate immediately to enjoy the flavor and crispiness of the dosa.
  
• Reduce the flame for one minute and start prepare the next dosa.Do not pour the batter on high flame.Always stir the batter before preparing the next dosas.
  

Serve it hot right from the pan and on to the plate with coconut chutney.

Other serving suggestions:

• You can make it Rava masala dosa by placing potato mixture(the way we prepare for masala dosa) and fold it and serve with coconut chutney.
• You can add finely chopped dry fruits like cashews,raisins and badam to the batter and make Dry fruit rava dosa which tastes very nice where you get to taste in every bite of the dosa.
• you can add finely chopped Tomato and little haldi to the batter and make to get a tangy twist to the rava dosa.It will be more colorful and flavorful.

Notes:

1. The Batter can be kept in fridge for next day usage.
2. Replace butter milk with water in the recipe for a Vegan version.

and one more look...



This goes to padma's "Dosa Corner Event"

and also to "Show me your breakfast" Event by Divya of Dil se

and also to "EFM Theme - Breakfast Series" @ Srish Kitchen.

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Masala Upma

As a kid I never liked upma and when ever my mom prepares this she had to make some alternative for me but I used to eat khara bath in hotels.After marriage I started eating upma as this is really a life saver when there is no time or patience to cook.
I would like to introduce another chef from our home...are you thinking that it would be my husband??..No way.. if he prepares tea I have to throw it and prepare another cup for me,that is the status of my husband's cooking skills...and the super chef I am talking about is my sweet brother..:)..He claims that he is a super chef at our house.Ofcourse some dishes he prepares were appreciated even by his in-laws and especially his upma has a huge fan following in our family.Even my husband is a big fan of my brother's upma and whenever I prepare upma, he always compares it with my brother's upma(like a standard).Even though I follow the same procedure I could not achieve the same standard level as he does.His hands work like a jaadu on this upma and makes it more tastier.But one thing I hate about his cooking is the mess he would have created while cooking and we end up cleaning the kitchen for more time than he took for cooking.And also he behaves like a boss in kitchen and order us to chop the vegetables for him...:)But the end results will be so good to forget everything..and here comes this yummy upma recipe all the while I was talking about.

Ingredients:

1 cup regular Sooji/Baarik sooji/Lapsi rava
1 big Onion finely sliced
1 big Tomato finely chopped
1 medium Carrot very finely chopped
4 green chillies,thinly sliced
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
2 tbsp chopped coriander
1 lemon squeezed
2 tbsp grated wet coconut
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala
a pinch of turmeric
1 tbsp Chana dal
1 tsp split Urad dal
8-10 Curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp Ghee


Method:

• Dry roast rava until the aroma starts and turn light brown in color.cool it.This can be done in advance and store in air-tight container.
• Heat oil in a kadai,crackle mustard seeds.Fry chana dal and urad dal until light brown.
• Add green chillies,curry leaves and ginger-garlic paste and fry for half minute.Now add thinly sliced onions and fry until they turn light brown in color.
• Add chopped carrot and fry for a minute.Add finely chopped tomato and cover it and cook until it forms a pulpy mixture.
• Add red chilli powder,haldi and garam masala to it and cook for a minute.Add water to it in the ratio of 1:3 (1- sooji :3-water) and cover it and let it boil.
• Remove the lid and salt and slowly add sooji by continuously stiring it in order to avoid the formation of lumps.Cover it and cook for 2-3 minutes on low flame until sooji is completely cooked.
• Add chopped coriander,lemon juice and grated coconut and give a nice mix.
• Add ghee to it and mix properly.Add more ghee according to your taste.It is completely optional.Adding ghee enhances the taste of upma and it is complete optional.

Serve it hot with coconut chutney,sliced cucumber and some chips.

Note:

• You can even add corn,finely chopped beans,peas to this.
• The amount of water can be reduced to 2 to 21/2 if you want your upma to be bit dry.But adding this amount of water makes the upma soft and tastes like hotel upma.
• Roast the rava properly which yields good non-sticky upma.
• The taste of upma varies according to the amount of oil and ghee used.If you want good taste you have to add more else add less according to your requirement.
• Add lemon after switching off the flame otherwise it will turn slight bitter.Be generous about the amount of lemon juice.
• Add lots of fried cashewnuts to give a special taste.

This again goes to "Show me your breakfast" Event by Divya of Dil se.

and also to "EFM Theme - Breakfast Series" @ Srish Kitchen.Note:

• For a Vegan version use oil instead of ghee for tempering.

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