Spicy Avocado And Spinach Paratha : Wholegrain Vegan Spinach Flatbread

 (PS: The struggle is real guys! Can you see the little hands wanting to lick the pickle)

For people who do not get avocado in their Country, just chill and skip adding avocado. Instead if you have tofu or cottage cheese (paneer) handy, feel free to add it. This is a kick-ass spicy parantha . You could adjust the spice level according to your needs.

Do not get overwhelmed by the amount of ingredients. These are easily available at home. Or you can fetch them at any Indian Grocers.

Verdict: I have a 11 year old who starts drinking water just by seeing chilies or hearing the word spice/spicy. He is very very hard to convince and he loves this paratha. He calls this pasta paratha. Pasta is his favorite food and this paratha comes close to pasta taste. That is his explanation!! Whatever..I'm happy that he likes this paratha.

Notes: 
I have blanched the spinach and then pureed here. But, if you are using baby spinach, you do not have to blanch.
I have added flax seed powder to increase the nutritional level of the paratha. You could skip it or replace it with soybean flour or any other nut powder.
I have used garlic powder as I did not want the raw smell of garlic to overpower. If you do not have garlic powder, you could use dry roast the garlic, grate and use it.
Replace garlic powder with fennel powder for a different flavor.
You could make triangular, layered, circular or square paratha.
I have used peanut oil to shallow fry the paratha. You could use clarified butter, butter or olive oil too.

Preparation Time: 30-45 mins
Cooking Time: About 2 mins for each paratha
Makes: 10 parathas, 

Ingredients:
For the Dough:
Spinach : 2 heaped cups,
Avocado: 1 small or 1/2 of a large avocado
Garlic: 2 big cloves, or 6-8 small nos (Indian Variety)
Green chili: 2 nos
Lemon juice: 2 tsp
Whole wheat flour: 2 cups
Chickpea flour | Besan : 1/2 cup
Flax seed powder | Flax meal: 2 tbsp, refer notes
Oil: 2 tsp
Salt: As needed
Water: As needed

For sprinkling the spices on the paratha:
Dhania powder | Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Chaat masala : 1 tsp
Red chili powder: 1 tsp
Salt: As needed
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp

Other ingredients:
Oil: For shallow frying the paratha
Dry wheat flour: For dusting and rolling the paratha

Special equipment:
A rolling pin

Method: 
Making the dough:
Blanch the spinach and keep it aside. Scoop out the flesh from the avocado and mash it gently.
Put the spinach, mashed avocado, garlic, green chili in a food processor and make a puree from it.

You do not need to add any water.
Mix the dry flours in another bowl (whole wheat flour, chickpea flour, flax seeds powder, and salt).
Scoop the spinach and avocado paste onto the dry flours. Add the lemon juice to it and mix well.

Add few tablespoons of water at a time to the mixture and make a soft and pliable dough. The dough should not stick to your hands. Once the dough is formed, add the oil and knead the dough for couple of minutes.

Rest the dough to absorb the flavors for 30 mins to 1 hour.

Rolling the dough:
Divide the dough equally to yield 10 mandarin orange sized balls or big lime sized balls.

Mix all the dry spices mentioned above. (under the section for sprinkling the spice on the paratha)

Dust the working surface generously and roll the dough ball into 5 inch circle.
Sprinkle the spice powder, few drops of oil and some flour on the rolled dough.

Fold it like a triangle, square or circle.

Let it rest until you repeat the procedure for the next couple of dough balls.
Dust the folded dough square and roll into a 1/4in square paratha. (or any other shape of your choice)

Shallow frying the paratha:
Heat a griddle on a medium-high heat. When the griddle is hot enough, add few drops of oil on the griddle and place the rolled paratha. Add oil onto the edges of the paratha and shallow fry it on both sides until it turns golden brown.

Raw Jack fruit dosa | Gujje Dose | Halasinakayi dose | Sunshine Dosa | Kathal Dosa : Gluten free jack fruit crepes

Raw jack fruit dosa needs no fermentation and can be made in a jiffy. It's gluten free and vegan. You need jack fruits that is raw and firm. Please do not use tender jack fruit (baby jack fruit) to make this. Please refer to CookwithSmile blog. She has put tender jack fruit pictures.  We are using fully grown jack fruit that is yet to ripen. Look at the picture below.

The aroma of this dosa makes you want to eat more. The subtle flavor of jack fruit makes you salivate. Don't believe.., just make it once. You'll hunt for raw jack fruit to make them again and again.

We call it Sunshine Dosa at home because of the vibrant yellow color.

Here goes the recipe:

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: About a minute for each dosa
Serves: 4 adults (Makes about 18 to 20 dosas)


Ingredients:
2 cups raw rice (normal sona masoori/ponni would do)
4 cups raw jackfruit (remove the seeds & cut into small pieces)
1 tbsp fresh/frozen grated coconut, optional
salt according to taste.

Additional ingredients:
Few drops of coconut oil/cooking oil for each dosa.

Method:

• Soak the rice for at least 5 hours.

• De seed the jack fruit and chop them into small pieces.

• Grind the rice along with the jackfruit, coconut & make smooth paste out of it. The batter should be just like any other normal dosa batter.

• Add salt according to taste & start preparing the dosas immediately. (No fermentation required) Refer to the video below.  

• Serve the dosa with honey, chutney or any dip of your choice. Tender jack fruit sambar/koddel goes very well with this dosa.

PS: This is one of my revisited posts. 

No grind Idli Recipe | Vegan and Gluten Free Idli Recipe | Idli Recipe using Urad dal Flour : Beginner Series

Idli is a South Indian breakfast/tiffin recipe that is mostly gluten free and vegan. Idli is made with fermented lentils and rice mixture. However for instant idlis or no grind idli, we add yogurt to skip the fermentation process. Addition of baking soda, fruit salt or citric acid crystals are common too.

I'm having a tough time cooking these days and always avoid soaking, and grinding of the urad dal. So, I came up with this idli recipe. It does need fermentation but I did avoid yogurt and all other rising agents like baking soda, fruit salt etc.

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins, for each batch
Fermentation Time: 8-10 hours
Makes about 15-18 idlis

Ingredients:
Urad dal flour: 1 cup, store bought
Idli Rawa : 1.5 cups, store bought
Fenugreek powder: 1 tsp
Water: About 2 cups, more or less
Salt: As needed

Method:
Add about 2 cups of water to the urad dal flour and whisk well. You can use a hand blender or whisk to make the batter airy and frothy.

Add the idli rawa and fenugreek powder to the whisked urad dal batter. Fold in. You should not whisk now. Just mix it. Add water, if needed. The batter should be like a thick milkshake/smoothie consistency.

Keep the batter in a warm place overnight or for a minimum of 8-10 hours (this depends on the outside temperature too).

Before making the idlis, add salt and mix.
Grease the idli moulds and scoop out about 1.5 tbsp of batter to each mould.

Steam the idlis for about 15 mins.
Allow it cool for 5 mins. Once the steamer is cool enough to handle, remove the moulds and scoop out the steamed idli using a spoon or blunt knife.

Serve the idli hot with a side dish/dip of your choice.

Some side dishes that go well with idli are given below.
Hotel Sambar
Ginger coconut chutney
Red chili chutney
Flax seeds and garlic dry chutney
Peanut Mint Chutney

Notes:
Please refer here for all the tips and tricks to make idli.  

Cucumber Dosa | Southekai Dose | Cucumber Crepes : Gluten free and vegan recipe.

Learn how to make cucumber dosa | southekayi dose or gluten free crepes,

Cucumber dosa doesn't need any fermentation. It's very quick to make, gluten free, vegan and healthy dosa recipe. The specialty of this dosa is, it stays soft for hours. You can pack this for lunch and also eat it cold or at room temperature.

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: About 90 secs for each dosa

Soaking Time: 3-5 hours

Makes about 20 dosas

Ingredients:

Rice: 2 cups, refer notes

Cucumber: 2 medium sized or 1.5 large, refer notes

Salt: As needed

Water: As needed

Oil: A few drops for each dosa

Method:

Wash the rice thoroughly and soak the rice in enough water for 3-5 hours.
Drain the water from the rice. Reserve the drained water.

First add half the cucumber cubes and half the soaked rice to the mixie or food processor.

Do not add water while grinding the rice. The cucumber oozes out enough water to grind the rice to a smooth paste.

Repeat the grinding process until all the rice and cucumber is ground to a smooth paste.
Scoop out the paste in a sauce pan or a mixing bowl. 

Add enough water (you can use the drained water here!) and salt. Mix well.
Let it sit for 10 mins (not really needed though)
Heat a griddle. I use a cast iron griddle to make my dosas. Make dosas similar to rava dosa or neer dosa. You can refer the video here. You need to cook only one side for this dosa.

Serve the dosa hot or at room temperature with a chutney/dip of your choice. 

Notes:

• I have used sona masoori rice, basmati rice, and ponni rice to make this dosa. You can use any rice of your choice. I however do not recommend boiled rice or idli rice.
• I use the whole cucumber as is with the skin and the seeds. You could peel the skin, if you want to. I roughly use about 2 to 2.5 cups of 1 inch cubed cucumbers. 
• Try to use a tender cucumber in which the seeds are soft.
• You can add green chili if you wish. I do not add.
• It is important to add the cucumber cubes to the mixie jar or food processor first, followed by soaked rice.

Uppu Huli Dose | Uppu Huli Dosa Recipe | Sweet n Sour Dosa Recipe : Step by step pictures

South Indians are famous for their dosas. We can make dosa with whatever we have at hand. The South Canara and the Malnad region of Karnataka have their own specialties of dosas. They make cucumber dosa, banana dosa, heerekai dosa, neer dosa and this uppu huli dosa regularly for their breakfast.

Uppu translates to salt, huli to sourness. This uppu huli dosa has all the ingredients that you put to your rasam. So, sometimes they put in rasam powder along with the tamarind to prepare this dosa.
This dosa is nutritious and makes a complete meal. It has vegetables, lentils and rice. Perfect one pot meal kinda dish. You can eat it with butter, ghee, a mild chutney/dip or as is :)

There are two ways in which mom-in-law prepares this. One with the normal dosa batter that she has handy or by grinding soaked rice, toor dal and roasted spices. I am showing you guys the first and the easy one here. Do not forget to refer notes. I have some important tips for you there!

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 1-2 mins for each dosa
Serves: 6-7

Ingredients: (Makes about 25-30 dosas)
Left over dosa batter: ~4 cups
Salt: As needed, refer notes
Jaggery | Brown sugar: 2 tbsp
Spinach: 2 cups, heaped
Onion: 1 large, finely chopped

For the spice paste:
Oil: 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds: 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds: 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves: 4-6 nos, torn
Dry red chili: 4-6 nos, broken
Asafoetida: a big pinch
Grated coconut: 2 tbsp, fresh or frozen, refer notes
Thick tamarind extract: 2 tsp, refer notes

Other ingredients:
Oil: About 1/2 tsp for each dosa

Method:
Add oil to a small sauce pan and roast all the ingredients(except coconut and tamarind extract) mentioned for the spice paste until golden brown. Add the asafoetida towards the end.

Allow the spices to cool. Once cool blend all the spices along with coconut and tamarind extract to a smooth paste. Do not add too much water as the dosa batter will thin down.

Mix this spice mixture with the dosa batter. Throw in the salt, jaggery and mix.

Wash the spinach thoroughly and chop them fine. Chop the onions too.
Throw in the chopped spinach and onion. Mix well.

Allow the batter to rest for 5-10 mins.
Heat the griddle. Once hot, spoon a laddle full of batter on the griddle and spread it like a dosa. These will be like pancakes, a little thicker. Sprinkle oil on the sides of the dosa. Cook the dosa covered on a low-medium heat on both the sides for a minimum of 45secs to 1 min.
Once the dosa is cooked, serve it hot with a chutney or as is.
Repeat the same with the remaining batter.

Some of the chutney/dip recipes that go well with this dosa are:
Menthya gojju
Kadale bele chutney
Peanut-Mint Chutney

Notes:

• It is very important to cook the dosa on a low-medium heat. Because of the jaggery and the spices, the dosa will turn brown and even get burnt easily. So, take your time to cook them. I am stressing again
• You could add other leafy vegetables like methi leaves (fenugreek leaves), amaranth leaves, or even cabbage (finely shredded) to make this dosa. 
• Adjust the salt carefully as the left over dosa batter usually contains salt. 
• If the left over dosa batter is sour, then add less amount of tamarind. I do not recommend sour dosa batter for this dosa. It is better to have fresh batter.