Peanut Mint Dip | Pudina Peanut Chutney | Pudina Kadlebeeja Chutney: Side dish for idli-dosa

I have posted so many dosa | idli | guliappa recipes but few chutney recipes. So, from now on, I will put up the chutney recipes that I often make.

Chutney at my place has to be with fresh coconut. However, there are a couple of chutney's that I make without coconut. This chutney is one such.

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: Nil
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:
For the chutney:
Roasted peanuts: 1/2 cup (refer notes)
Grated dry coconut/copra: 1/4th cup
Mint leaves: 1/4th cup, loosely packed
Salt: As needed
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice: 1 tsp, optional
Sugar: a big pinch, optional
Water: As needed to adjust the consistency

For tempering:
Oil: 1 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/4 tsp
Black gram seeds/urad dal: 1/2 tsp

 

Method:
Put all the things mentioned for the chutney in a food processor. Add couple of tablespoons of water at a time & blend. Make a slightly coarse paste.
Scoop out the chutney & adjust the consistency of the chutney according to your preference. We like our chutney thick & not watery.
Prepare the tempering. Heat oil in a small pan. When hot, add mustard seeds & black gram seeds. When seeds turn golden brown, pour the tempering over the chutney & mix.
Serve it with idlis, dosa or paddu.

 

Notes:

• I buy the unsalted roasted peanuts from the supermarket & use it for this chutney.
• You could replace dry coconut with the fresh coconut. 

Palak Dose | Spinach Dosa Recipe ( With video tutorial) : Left over delicacy

Dosa or Dosai is an everyday affair for most of the South Indians. We always keep the batter in our refrigerator.

I have mentioned a zillion times before that it's mostly dosas for breakfast at my in-law's place.
My mom-in-law makes sufficient dosa batter for all of us. We would be around ten people at home & we all take turn in preparing the dosas. When she feels, the batter would be short for one or two people, she immediately comes up with some innovative ideas to increase the dosa batter. Here are some of her ideas.

• Add finely chopped onions, bell peppers, some grated carrots, grated ginger & chopped coriander leaves.
• Mix some urad dal powder & rice powder to the batter. Adjust the consistency. Prepare dosas.
• Make uppu huli dose (recipe will be up soon) using any greens.
• Add few tablespoons of rice flour, finely chopped spinach & onion. Adjust the consistency & make dosas.

Preparation Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: About 2 mins for each dosa

Serves: 2-3 (makes about 10 dosas)

Ingredients:

For the batter:
Dosa batter: 2 cups, preferably sour ( a couple of days old)

Rice flour: 1/4th cup

Finely chopped spinach: About 1 cup, 

Finely chopped onion: 1/2 cup

Water: As needed to adjust the batter consistency

Salt: About 1/2 tsp, more or less

Sugar: a pinch, optional

For cooking the dosa:
Oil: few drops for each dosa.

Method:
Mix all the ingredients mentioned for the batter (except water) in a bowl. Add water slowly & adjust the consistency of the batter. Keep the batter a little thick (same as set dosa batter)
Heat the skillet. When hot, make dosa (refer to the video below).

I normally cook the dosa covered for about a minute on medium heat. Then flip the dosa & cook it on the other side for about 30 secs.
Remove the dosa from the skillet & repeat the procedure.

Notes:

• I had less batter. So, I added some rice flour to increase the batter. You don't have to add rice flour if you have enough dosa batter.
• Also, the above mentioned measurements are eyeballed. Use this as a reference to make your own!

Tomato Rice | Thakkali Sadam (Without garlic) : Left over rice recipes.

One pot meals are life savers for working women or bachelors. We get the required vegetable, starch and the protein in a single dish. It can be made in a jiffy & with minimal fuss too. I prefer making one pot meals once a week. It's a win-win case at my home.

Tomato rice is one of the dishes I make when I have some left over rice from lunch. All it takes is around 20 mins & some spices :)

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

Cooked rice: 4 cups
Tomatoes: 1 cup of finely chopped tomatoes or 2 medium tomatoes
Onion: 1 small or about 1/4th cup
Frozen lima beans: 1/4th cup (refer notes)
Bell peppers: 1/4th cup, finely chopped
Green chillies: 2 nos, chopped
Grated ginger or ginger paste: 1 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Pulao masala: 1 tsp (refer notes)
Cooking oil: 1.5 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 4-6 nos, torn
Salt: As needed

For the garnish:
Coriander leaves: 1/4th cup, loosely packed
Lemon juice: 2 tsp, optional

Method:
Spread the cooked rice & keep it aside.
In a broad pan, prepare the tempering. Heat oil. When oil is hot, pop in the mustard & cumin seeds. When seeds turn brown, add in the curry leaves, green chillies & the onions.

Saute the onions for 3-4 mins. The raw smell of the onions should disappear. The onion should become translucent & remain crunchy.
Add in the grated ginger and  tomatoes & cook till the tomatoes are soft.

Thaw the lima beans & throw in the lima beans & bell peppers. Cook on a medium heat for another 2-3 mins.

Throw in the red chilli powder, pulao masala & salt. Mix well & allow the spices to cook for another couple of minutes.
Add the rice & mix thoroughly. Let the rice absorb the spices. Keep cooking for another 3-4 mins.

Turn off the heat. Add the coriander leaves, lemon juice & mix well.

Let the rice sit for another 10 mins for the flavors to develop.
Serve it warm with a chutney/dip/salad or fritters.

Notes:

• Replace lima beans with any other frozen beans like lilva beans, green peas or sweet peas. 
• I use MTR pulao masala, but feel free to use any spice powder you have handy.At times, I have used garam masala, pav bhaji masala and even sambar powder. It tastes great with any spice powder :)
• You could add more veggies if your family prefers. Few options would be steamed beans, carrots or potatoes. 
• I have posted another tomato bath recipe here.

Masala Puri : A Bangalore Style Chaat Recipe

Memories associated with food are very unique. The name masala puri reminds me of one such unique thing that happened during my middle school days. We were in Mysore those days & we used to visit the street vendor at Chamundipuram for his tasty masala puri. One such evening when I was waiting for my plate, a bull came from no where & hit me on my shoulders. Though it did not hit me hard, I started bleeding & was taken to the doctor. I was advised rest for couple of days. So, whenever I think of masala puri & Mysore, this incident always flashes in front of my eyes.

My mom used to make this at home. I have made lots of trial & error with this masala puri. I am sharing the one that my family loves the most. I have made this for many potluck parties too. All my friends have liked this masala puri :)

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: Upto 60 mins.
Serves: Makes about 10-12 plates

Ingredients:
For the spicy gravy/masala:
Dry green peas: 1.5 cups
Potatoes: 1 large
Carrot: 1 no
Bay leaf: 1 no
Cinnamon: 1 inch stick
Cloves: 4 nos
Marati moggu: 1 no
Coriander leaves: 1/2 cup
Mint leaves: 4-6 nos
Green chillies: 4-6 nos
Red chillies: 2-3 nos
Chaat masala: 1 tsp
Dhania powder: 1 tsp
Tamarind pulp: 1 tbsp, thick tamarind extract
Onion: 1 medium sized, coarsely chopped
Oil: 1 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste: 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Salt: As needed

For the garnish:
papdi or small puffed puris.
Finely chopped red onions
Grated carrots
Finely chopped tomatoes
Green chutney
taramind sweet chutney
sev
finely chopped coriander leaves
salt
red chili powder
lemon juice

Method: 
For the masala/spicy gravy:
Soak the dry green peas in enough water for 4-6 hours.
Drain the water from the peas.
Peel the potatoes & carrots. Cut the potatoes & carrots in half.
Add the potatoes, soaked peas, and carrots to a pressure cooker. Cook them for 4 whistles or for 20-25 minutes on medium-high. Let it cool.

Meantime, heat a saute pan. Add oil to it & when oil is hot, throw in the cumin seeds. When seeds turn golden brown, add in the coarsely chopped onions & saute. Cook the onions for about 3-5 mins. Onions should turn translucent. Add the ginger-garlic paste & saute till the raw smell disappears.

Remove the onions from heat.
Add the cinnamon, clove, marati moggu, green chilli, red chilli, bay leaf to a blender/food processor & make a fine powder.

To this powder, add the sauteed onions & cumin seeds mixture, mint leaves, coriander leaves, cooked potatoes & carrots, a fistful of cooked peas. Make a smooth paste out of it. At this point, the spice paste will be very strong. 
Drain the water from the cooked peas. Do not discard the water. Use this water for the masala.
Add the water from the cooked peas to a sauce pan. Let it boil. Add another 1/2 to 1 cup more water, if needed. When water starts boiling, add the ground spice paste.
Add the salt, tamarind pulp, dhania powder, chaat masala & mix well. Cook it on a low heat for about 20-25 mins. The spices should blend well.
Add the cooked peas to the boiling spice mixture. Cook again for another 10-15 mins. The consistency of the gravy should be like a pancake batter (dosa batter consistency)

Serving the masala puri: 
In a large plate, slightly crush around 6-8 papdis or puris.

Add about 1/4th cup of the spicy gravy/masala.

Sprinkle the red chilli powder, salt, a tsp of green chutney, sweet tamarind chutney. (I have not added the green chutney or the sweet tamarind chutney, as our family doesn't prefer them for this chaat).

Sprinkle a tbsp each of finely chopped onions & grated carrots.

Sprinkle about a tbsp of finely chopped tomatoes.

Add a dash of lemon juice.
Add the sev generously on top & serve the masala puri immediately.

Notes:
Do not use frozen peas for this masala puri. It spoils the taste. Use the dried peas only!!
The masala or the spicy gravy needs to be hot while serving. Hence keep cooking the masala on a low heat until you serve or do not forget to heat it before serving.
If the masala doesn't thicken, mix a tbsp of corn starch in 1/4th cup of cold water. Make a paste & add this paste to the boiling gravy.
If the spice level is less, make a paste of 2-3 green chillies & add it to the boiling gravy.
You could use store bought green chutney & sweet chutney.
I used store bought papdis.

Menthe soppu bath | Spiced fenugreek leaves rice : A Karnataka Specialty!

This is one of the rice dishes that I often cook for guests. All of them have liked this & in fact they all wanted me to share the recipe with them. This is a slight variation from the gorikai bath. The slight bitterness from the fenugreek leaves, sweetness from the jaggery, tanginess from the tamarind & the spice from the masala powder makes this a very delicious rice!

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 45 mins (including the cooking of rice)
Recipe Source: Amma (my mom)

Ingredients:
For the rice:
Sona masoori rice: 2 cups
Water: 4-5 cups
Salt: a pinch, optional

For the menthe soppu palya / spicy fenugreek mixture:
Oil: 1 tsp
Fenugreek leaves: 1 medium sized bunch, about 2 cups tightly packed
Frozen peas: 3/4 cup
Tamarind: lime sized soaked in 1/2 cup warm water.
Turmeric powder: a big pinch
Brown sugar/jaggery:/bella 1 tbsp
Vangi bath powder*: 2 tbsp, a little more or less
Salt: As needed

* I do not use vangi bath powder, instead use a home made bath powder. I get this from my mom. Will share the recipe of my mom's bath powder soon. You could use MTR Vangi bath powder for good results.

For the tempering:
Oil: 1.5 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Urad dal/uddina bele : 2 tsp
Peanuts : 2 tbsp
Curry leaves: 6-8 nos, torn
Red chili: 1 no, broken
Asafoetida: a big pinch

Method:
Cook the rice & let it cool.
For the fenugreek spice mixture:
Seperate the leaves from the stem & wash the leaves thoroughly. Chop them fine.

Heat oil in a broad pan. When hot, throw in the fenugreek leaves & saute till the leaves wilt. Cook the leaves on a medium heat.

Once the leaves reduce in size & gets half cooked, throw in the peas.

Add the turmeric powder.

Squeeze the water from the tamarind & pour the tamarind water to the pan.
Add the jaggery, salt & vangi bath powder. Cook on medium heat till the mixture becomes thick.

Meantime spread the rice on a large mixing plate or bowl. Add the prepared fenugreek mixture to the mixing bowl.
Prepare the tempering. Heat oil. When hot, add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds & urad dal.

When seeds crackle & dal turns golden brown, add the peanuts & saute till peanuts are nice golden brown.

Reduce the heat to low, add the curry leaves, broken red chili. Let the curry leaves wilt. Finally add the asafoetida & remove the tempering from the heat.

Pour in the tempering to the rice. Let the tempering cool a bit. Once cool enough to handle, mix the rice thoroughly. I prefer using my hands to mix this kind of rice bath.

Let the rice sit for at least 30 mins before serving. The flavors talk to each other & blend well.

Serve this rice warm or at room temperature with a fritter/vada/chips or a salad/kosambari.

Notes:

• This is a very forgiving recipe. You could adjust the taste of the dish at the time of mixing the rice too. 
• Whenever I felt the dish lacked the sourness, I have added some lemon juice at the end while mixing the rice. 
• If you feel the spice powder is less, then heat about 2 tsp of oil in a small pan. Add the needed vangi bath powder to the hot oil, saute for 15-20 secs. Pout this oil mixture to the rice & mix well. 
• You could replace the tamarind juice with the lemon juice & it does taste delicious. 
• I prefer using the fresh tamarind extract over the readily available tamarind pulp. The sweetness from the fresh tamarind enhances the taste.
• Instead of the peas, you could use avarekai/lima beans.