Togarikalu Saaru | Fresh Pigeon Peas Rasam

We get various varieties of beans like fresh peas, hyacinth beans(avarekalu),lilva toovar(pigeon peas), fresh chickpeas etc in the market during winters.Our family is a big fan of Avarekalu and during the season my mom buys them in kilos every week and prepare various dishes with it.But the process of shell the beans and peeling the skin is time consuming and is labor intensive process, I really don't have that much patience to shell them like my mom does. But thankfully finding the shelled beans is not that difficult these days, it is easily available even in mumbai. I get all these shelled beans varieties like avarekalu,togarikalu in the local markets here easily.

We prepare Avarekalu Saaru using the fresh tender avarekalu beans which pairs up nicely with Ragi mudde or plain steamed rice.I followed the same process and prepared this Togarikalu saaru and it tasted equally delicious. You can use togarikalu to prepare pulao or kurma or if they are tender you can boil them with salt and eat them fresh.

Togarikaalu Saaru |  Fresh Pigeon Peas Rasam:

Serves 3-4

Prep time:10 mins | Cooking time: 30 mins | Total time: 40 mins

Cuisine:South Indian | Category: Rasam-Sidedish

Ingredients:

1 cup Togarikalu(fresh Pigeon Peas/lilva toovar)

1/3 cup grated fresh Coconut

1 1/2 tsp Tamarind extract

2 tsp grated Jaggery

3 tbsp of chopped Coriander leaves

Salt to taste

to roast and grind:

1 tsp Coriander seeds

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

5-6 Pepper Corns

3-4 Red chillies

for tempering:

2 tsp Oil/Ghee

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 Red chilli

a sprig of Curry leaves

Method:

• Wash the pigeon peas and add 1 cup of water and pressure cook it for 3-4 whistles.

• Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns and red chilies and let them cool and grind to a coarse powder.

• Add 1 ladle of cooked fresh pigeon peas, grated fresh coconut, coriander leaves, tamarind extract, salt and jaggery to the ground mixture and grind it to a fine paste by adding water.

• Add the ground mixture to the cooked pigeon peas(with water) and bring it to a boil again, reduce the flame and cook for 8-10 mins until the mixture is cooked nicely.Check the taste and adjust the seasoning as required.

• In a small tadka pan heat ghee/oil and crackle mustard seeds and add red chillies and curry leaves and fry them and add this tempering to the boiling rasam and cook for a couple of minutes.

Serve the rasam with plain steamed rice and papad or Ragi mudde.

Notes:

1. You can follow the same process for Avarekalu Saaru by replacing pigeon peas with tender hyacinth beans.

Technorati Tags: togarikalu recipes, fresh pigeon peas recipes, lilva toovar recipes, rasam varieties, south indian recipes, karnataka recipes

Multigrain Dosa Recipe | Multigrain Sprouts Dosa | Multigrain Recipes

Millets have become a trend and the usage of millets in our daily cooking has been increased in the recent years.Now one can easily get ready made snacks, instant millet dosa flour, idli flour, dosa atta made out of millet flours in the shops.Even I use millets extensively in cooking and we usually consume more of millet bhakris instead of rotis for our dinner.I use millet flours rather than the whole millets, but my mom uses whole millets and includes them in her regular diet in various forms like salads, breakfast dishes like upma, dosa,idli and also in porridges. Check out another multigrain recipe - Multigrain Crackers in my blog.

Needless to say that this again is my mom's recipe where she used sprouted whole grains which adds more nutrition to the dosa.I am sure many of my readers know about my love for dosa, I have posted various varieties of dosa in my blog. If we prepare something which is our favorite as well as healthy then that dish is definitely a winner and this dosa recipe is definitely a winner for me.One can prepare this dosa using single millet like jowar, ragi or bajra but the usage of various millets in one recipe is good for me.This needs prior preparation as the grains need to be sprouted but the rest of the process- grinding,fermenting and preparing dosa is same as any other dosa.

Check out various healthy Dosa recipes in my blog:

• Adai Dosa | Mixed Lentil Dosa
• Brown Rice Dosa
• Green Whole Moong Adai
• Instant Oats Dosa
• Instant Oats Uthappam
• Mixed Sprouts Adai
• Vegetable Dosa
• Wheat Flour Dosa-Instant Version

For a complete range of Dosas, CLICK HERE.

Multigrain Dosa Recipe:

makes 15-16 dosas

Prep time: 30-40 mins | Cooking time: 5 mins/dosa |  Total time: 45 mins + soaking/sprouting time

Cuisine: South Indian | Category: Breakfast

Ingredients:

1 cup Sorghum(Jowar) grains

1 cup Pearl Millet(Bajra) grains

1 cup Finger Millet(Ragi/Nachni) grains

1 cup Whole white Urad

1 tsp Fenugreek(Methi) seeds

Salt to taste

Water,to grind

Oil, to roast dosas

Method:

to prepare Dosa batter:

• Soak the grains - (ragi,jowar and bajra) together for 8-10 hrs,drain the water,cover and keep in a dark place for a day or two until the sprouts are formed. Keep an eye after one day and let it sprout until you get desired length of the sprouts.
• Soak whole white urad and fenugreek seeds for 4-5 hrs.
• Wash the grain and dals properly and grind everything together to a smooth paste using enough water in the wet grinder for better results.The batter should neither be very thick like idli batter nor very thin.
• Add enough salt to the ground batter just before removing the batter from grinder.Remove the batter into a larger container which gives enough room for the batter to rise.
• Ferment the batter for 12-15 hrs at room temperature or keep it in oven in winters with light on for speeding up the process of fermentation.The fermented batter would be frothy and almost double in volume.

for making Dosa:

• I am sure everyone knows how to make simple plain dosa,still I explain the process of making it for people who are not familiar with it.
• If the dosa batter is taken out from refrigerator,take out the portion how much you need and let it come to the room temperature.
• Mix the fermented dosa batter well.Check the consistency of dosa batter,it should be of pourable consistency,if needed add little water and mix well.

• Pour a big ladle of batter onto a medium hot pan and spread it in the circular motion towards the outer edge to form a uniform round shaped dosa.Do not make this dosa either very thin nor very thick,if it is very thin your dosa will get hard once it is cold and if it is very thick it would become very chewy.
• Pour 1 tbsp oil approx over it and cover it with a lid.
• Let it roast on medium-high flame for 1-2 mins,remove the lid and increase the flame and roast for another 1 minute.Turn the dosa to the other side and fry for a minute and serve directly.
• Reduce the flame for one minute and then start preparing the next dosa.Do not pour the batter on high flame,the batter will stick to the tawa.If you feel the tawa is over heated sprinkle some water over it before making next dosa.

Serve dosa with chutney of your choice like Coconut chutney / Peanut Chutney / Tomato-Onion Chutney and Sambar.

Notes:

1. Do not close the box with air tight lid while fermenting.Cover with a loose plate and once the dosa batter is fermented cover the box with air tight lid which helps in keeping the batter fresh for long.
2. Always scoop out the required amount of batter from the box and keep the remaining batter refrigerated,do not mix the batter vigorously while removing it from the box.
3. You can use soaked grains instead of sprouted grains but the sprouted grains makes these dosas more healthy.
4. Smear the pan with a half sliced onion every time you make dosa which gives a nice flavor to dosa.

Technorati Tags: multigrain dosa recipe, multigrain sprouts dosa recipe, dosa recipes, breakfast recipes, southindian breakfast varieties, healthy breakfast recipes, multigrain recipes, millet recipes, dosa varieties

Sajja Rottelu | Sadda Rotti | Bajra Roti | Indian Travel Food Recipes

My Lil' one has started going to play school - a very crazy time for me, given the stress during the settling period for him. So, I haven't been getting much time to update my blog - think it might take me a few more weeks to get back to active blogging. Today, I am posting a recipe from my drafts.
There are several recipes of my mom that I usually boast about and this "Sajja Rotti" is one among them. These Sajja Rotis are not the usual Bajra Bakris(Sajja Roti) which are soft and served with a curry/gravy. The recipe that I am posting today is different -these rotis are slightly hard(yet soft to bite) and can be stored for a couple of weeks. It is usually paired with a different style Onion Chutney or Jaggery and ghee. My mom adds roasted groundnut powder to these Sajja rottis which adds a nice taste while the addition of sesame seeds adds a nice flavor and bite to the rotis, hence I strongly recommend to use it as it makes this roti distinct from the typical sajja rotti one prepares.These rotis are an ideal food during travelling, as you can store it for long and note that even that onion chutney does not get spoilt for 2 days (onion chutney can be stored upto a week when refrigerated).
My mom prepares these Sajja Rottelu for breakfast and she usually prepares in large quantities to be stored for consumption later. These sajja rottis are slightly soft when consumed hot but turns slightly hard like Crackers(yet soft to bite) when cooled down but it tastes nice both the ways, in my view. I would strongly recommend to serve it with that different style Onion Chutney which I mentioned earlier. My mom also prepares a sweeter version this Rotti and I plan to post that version sometime soon. The preparation process is a bit tricky for a newbie but one can easily attempt if they follow the instructions carefully.

Check out few of our favorite breakfast combos here:

• Billa Kudumulu/Rice Rava Tikkis with Onion Chutney
• Bilavalige(Rice Flour Chapati) and Pithikipappu
• Matar Kachori with Alu ki Sabzi
• Utha(Plain Rice Flour) Rotti with Avarekaalu Benne Usli
• Vadappam(Riceflour Poori) and Chintaku Palya
• Poori and Mixed Vegetable Saagu

Sajja Rottelu | Sadda Rotti | Bajra Roti Recipe:

Yields: 10-12 Rotis

Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 20 mins | Total time: 30 mins

Cuisine: Indian | Category: Breakfast/Indian Flat Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups Bajra flour

1/2 cup roasted Groundnut powder

2 tbsp Sesame seeds

Salt to taste

Hot water, to mix(1/2 cup approx)

Method:

• In a large bowl mix bajra flour and roasted groundnut powder with sesame seeds and salt and keep it aside.
• Boil approx 3/4 cup of water until it is hot(no need to make it bubble).

• Add water little by little to the mixed bajra flour and mix.You need to add very little water just enough to bind the flour to a dough.The dough should be very TIGHT, hence do not add more water,just about 1/2 cup should be fine.
• Divide the mixture into 10-12 uniform sized balls and keep it covered.

• Clean,wash and wipe a polythene cover and cut into 5" dia rounds and grease the sheets on one side and place them on the sides of the press facing the oiled edges towards the center.

• Place the kneaded round dough in between the greased plastic sheets(stuck to the presser) and press it in the poori presser and press it to get approx 5" diameter round roti.Do not make it very thin, it should be of same thickness as chapati.

• Heat the tawa and carefully transfer the pressed bajra roti on a hot tawa and roast it over low-medium flame for 2 mins on one side and carefully turn it on to the other side and roast it for another couple of minutes.Do not try to flip it immediately as the roti will break, hence roast it completely on one side.You will see brown spots over it and the corners.These rotis should be made on low flame and usually takes long to get roasted than the usual rotis as we will roast them until they become slightly hard.
• Transfer to a plate.
• Repeat the process and prepare all the rotis in the same manner.You can grease the plastic sheets in between so that the dough will not stick to it.

Serve these rotis hot/room temperature with this special Onion Chutney, this combo tastes amazing. It can be even served with Jaggery and ghee.

Notes:

• It is very important to keep the dough tight otherwise the roti will break when roasting.
• These rotis will be slightly soft to bite when served hot but slowly turns hard once they are cooled and makes it ideal to store for long duration and hence can be used for journeys.
• Once the rotis are cooled down you can store it in air tight container and use it when required.It can be stored upto 2 weeks.
• This is not the usual soft bajra bhakri(roti) which is paired with gravy/curries, this Sajja rotti is thick and hard and is paired with a special Onion Chutney or Jaggery and ghee.

Technorati Tags: sajja rottelu, gatti sajja rottelu, bajra roti, sadda rottelu, sajjapindi recipes, bajra recipes, breakfast recipes, andhra recipes, karnataka, recipes for travelling, winter recipes, millet recipes, millet rotis