Uppu cheedai | Uppu seedai Recipe : Gokulastami Recipes

During the Krishna janmastami, every household get busy deep frying savories & making ladoos. Krishna Janmastami is celebrated in the Bhadrupada maasa (month) & on the 8th day of the Krishnapaksha. We offer butter & dishes made using rice flakes (poha/avalakki) along with the deep fried savories  & sweets prepared earlier.

For the first time, I made this uppu seedai. I got to know about this from many of my blogger friends. Thanks to the blogger world. With their suggestions, I could make it successfully.

Preparation Time: 30 mins

Cooking Time: 15 mins 

Makes about 2 cups of seedai

Ingredients:

Rice flour: 1 cup, refer notes below

Skinned black gram flour/urad dal flour: 2 tbsp*

Grated coconut: 2 tbsp (I used the frozen coconut), refer notes below

Sesame seeds: 2 tsp

Salt: a big pinch

Butter: 2 tbsp, at room temperature

Water: As needed

Oil: For deep frying the seedai

* Dry roast the urad dal on medium heat. Let it cool. Once cool, make a fine powder out of it.

Method:
Sieve the rice flour & the urad dal flour.
To the flours, add sesame seeds, coconut, butter, salt & mix well.

Add a tbsp of water at a time & make a stiff dough. The dough should not be sticky.

Spread a damp paper towel.
Pinch out small marble sized dough & quickly roll it to a ball.
Keep the prepared balls on the damp paper towel.

Once all the balls are done, let it rest for about 15 mins.

Heat oil in a deep pan or sauce pan. When oil is hot, slide in the rolled balls.
Bubbles are formed in the oil & the oil rises up.

As the seedai gets cooked, the bubbles cease. Also, the oil sound shh reduces.
Cook the seedai till it is golden in color. I removed the seedai as soon as it turned golden. You could cook till you get golden brown color too.

Allow it to cool completely & then store it in an air tight container.

Notes:

• It is very essential to sieve both the rice flour & the urad dal flour to avoid bursting of the seedai in oil.
• I used the Deep brand rice flour available here. 
• Some people suggested me to dry roast the sesame seeds & the grated coconut too. However, I didn't do it. 
• Do rest the rolled seedai for atleast 15 mins before frying.
• Do not roll the seedai for a long time. It doesn't matter if it is not perfect in shape. 
• If you are using salted butter (just like I did), watch out while adding salt again. 
• I microwaved the frozen coconut for about 10 secs & then used it when it was at room temperature.

Doddapatre Chutney | Coleus Aromaticus Chutney | Sambrani soppina bajji

Myself & my son are having a gala time this summer. We both sleep late at night & get up around noon everyday :) Some people might find it odd, but for me..., it is bliss. We skip our breakfast & I cook something very quick. One of these days, I made this doddapatre chutney to go with rice.

I'm lucky that I could get these leaves here too. When my friend moved back to India, she gave her plant to me :)  This bajji or chutney will not take more than 5 minutes of your time & yet tastes so delicious. If you have frozen coconut, it could be done in 5 minutes!!

You can read about the medicinal values of these leaves here.

Preparation Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 2-3 mins
Serves: 3-4 people

Ingredients:
Doddapatre leaves: Around 15 nos, washed & roughly chopped
Grated fresh coconut: 3/4th cup
Green chillies: 2-3 nos
Plain Yogurt: 3 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Oil: 1 tsp
Salt: As needed
Water: Around 3 tbsp, adjust according to your needs.

Method:
Heat oil in a small saute pan. When oil is hot, add in the cumin seeds. When seeds turn golden brown, add the green chillies & the roughly chopped doddapatre leaves. Saute till the leaves wilt. (Might take about a minute or two).
Remove the leaves from the heat & allow it to cool.
Add the coconut, salt, cooled leaves along with the chilli & the cumins seeds to the food processor jar. Add couple of tablespoons of water, yogurt & blend well to a slightly coarse paste. Add little more water if needed.
Scoop it out & serve it with hot rice & fritters.

Notes:

• If you prefer, you could add additional seasoning (with some curry leaves & mustard seeds).
• We prefer our chutney thick & not very spicy. So, I have added less chillies. 

Celebrating five years of blogging with a give away!

Savi-Ruchi Turns Five Today. It's been a wonderful wonderful journey for me. I never imagined that this blog that I started out of boredom would reach such a milestone. In these years, my identity has changed. Most of them know me as Sush of Savi-Ruchi.

I did realize in these 5 years that, there is another world out here. I made many friends & am totally loving it. My hubby's friends(whom I do not even know), call him & praise about my blog. My cousins advertise about my blog to their friends. I get so many wonderful comments from people. They praise my recipes & say " God bless you". I'm very lucky to get blessings from so many people whom I got to know only because of this blog. Wow, it is beautiful feeling.

Now it is my time to say thanks to you all. A huge thank you to all my readers. In order to celebrate, I thought of gifting you guys something. I thought of giving something that is used almost everyday in the kitchen. What better thing I could think other than a skillet/griddle/tawa.  So, I decided to give Lodge Logic Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet from Amazon.

Here are some of the ways to own this cast iron skillet .
1. Like my page on Facebook & leave me a comment. (so that I could count you for the give away).
2. If you have already liked my facebook page before, then just leave a comment on my facebook page or to my mail or write a comment below.
3. Follow me on google+ & leave me a comment to let me know you are following me.

You need not be a blogger to win this give away. This is open for all my readers.

One random winner will be chosen by the end of September'2013. If you want to increase the chances of winning this.., you could do it all ...i.e, like my facebook page, and leave a comment here. If you do that, you will get double lucky. I'll use your name twice for the lucky draw. 

One more way of getting double the luck is by sharing it with your friends. Share about this give away in your blog or facebook or twitter or google+. Do include me when you share.

This give away is open till 30th September 2013.

Note: This give away is eligible for US residents only. You are free to comment or like, even if you are a  non-US resident. If you win the give away, I'll be happy to send it to your friend or family member residing in the USA.

PS: Nobody is sponsoring me for this give away. I'm paying it from my pocket.

AND THE WINNER IS.......................................... Preety of Preety's Kitchen. Kindly get in touch (my mail id is sushmadotsaviruchiatgmaildotcom) within the next 5 days. If I do not receive any response in this week, I'll be forced to chose another winner. 

Akki tari kadubu | Idli Rava Unde | Steamed cream of rice dumplings | Dideer pundi gatti

Pundi gatti or unde is a very common breakfast dish of South Canara. My mom-in-law & I make them quite often & have posted the recipe here. This akki tari kadubu is similar to the pundi gatti (unde) recipe. Though the latter is much more time consuming.

Akki tari kadubu makes a great brunch option on a weekend. It keeps you full for a long time. The extra effort that this dish takes will surely be well paid off. This is also known as pidi kozhukattai or upma kozhukattai.

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 45-60 mins
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
Idli rawa | Cream of rice : 2 cups, refer notes
Water: About 4 cups
Oil: 2 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Gram dal/Channa dal: 1 tbsp
Frozen peas: 1 cup
Grated coconut: 2 tbsp, fresh or frozen
Salt: As needed

Method:
Heat oil in a broad pan. When oil is hot, throw in the mustard & cumin seeds. When seeds splatter, add the gram dal & saute till the dal turn golden brown.
Add the water, salt, frozen peas, grated coconut & mix. Allow the water to boil on a medium heat.

When water starts boiling, slide in the idli rawa & mix thoroughly. Ensure no lumps are formed while mixing.
Cook the rawa on a low-medium heat for about 5-7 mins. Keep mixing in between. When the rawa gets cooked, it leaves the edges of the pan. Remove the cooked mixture from the heat.

Keep a bowl of chilled water ready.
While the rawa mixture is still hot, take about 2 tbsp of mixture at a time & prepare dumplings out of it. Keep dipping your hand in the cold water while making the dumplings. You could press the mixture like a fist too.
Prepare the steamer. Place these dumplings on the steamer plate & steam the rice balls for 25-30 mins on a medium-high heat.
Allow the steam to escape & let the kadubu/dumplings cool for a while.

Serve these dumplings with a dip/sauce of your choice.

Notes:

• Generally raw rice rawa is used to make this kadubu. However I like to make it with idli rawa (parboiled rice rawa) because they turn out softer than the raw rice ones.
• Idli rawa is available at most of the Indian Stores.
• Tempering could be your choice. You could add pepper corns or curry leaves or any other flavor of your choice.

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.