takka idli/buttermilk idli

Soak 1cup rice for 2 or 3 hours

grind 1/2cup coconut, 1/2cup jaggery, 1tsp cardamom powder to a fine paste, adding very little buttermilk (i used curd, whcih also gives the same result). Now to the coconut paste add soaked rice (without water) in to the blender. Add curd (1/2cup butter milk),  soaked poha (1cup) and blend until you crush the rice to coarse pieces like rava. Mix salt to taste and let it ferment in a warm place overnight. This batter is less consistent compared to usual idli batter, this is more of dosa batter consistency.

Grease the idli stand pockets and place few broken cashew pieces and raisins in each pocket, pour the batter and steam until a pierced toothpick coms out clean,approximately 15min. Takka idli is good to eat on its own and does not require any chutney or dipping. It has a rich taste with a well blend combination of sweet ad tangy (not very tangy, just enough to please our taste buds, its because of the buttermilk/curd and fermentation).

note usually idlis are steamed in a pre heated steamer (in which water is already brought to boiling) on high flame for the first 5 minutes and then on a medium-low flame for the next 15minor until it is done. Once idlis are ready, uncover the lid and let it cool a bit (for 5min) before scooping them out.

phunna polo / oggarne dose / seasoned spicy pancake

Prepare seasoning in hot oil by spluttering mustard seeds, cumin seeds, finely chopped green chili, chopped ginger, pinch of asafoetida, add some pieces of red chili and curry leaves. Once they are all roast turn off the flame and let the seasoning cool

Meanwhile mix in a vessel 1 cup maida (or wheat flour), salt to taste, 1tsp sugar(optional), pinch of baking powder. Add sufficient water to make a batter little more watery than regular dosa. Mix well without any lumps. Add the cooled seasoning (it may form lumps if hot) mix well. Let the batter set  for 10min.

Prepare thin dosas by spilling (as done for neer dosa / panpolo) on greased hot griddle over a medium-low flame, sprinkling oil as much needed for regular dosas. Close a lid over the dosa,let  it cook for a minute. Flip the dosa and cook the other side without closing the lid.

This is a soft variety of dosa, like neer dosa and not crisp one. If you wish to eat the crisp ones, you may do so having the consistency as of normal dosa and spread it as a regular dosa. Also since this dosa is seasoned it is good to eat on its own, not requiring chutney or any dip.

rave undo/ rava ladoo

1 cup rava/suji,
1/2cup shredded coconut,
3/4 cup sugar,
1/2cup chopped cashews and almonds
2tbsp raisins
1tsp cardamom powder
1/2 cup warm milk
2tsp ghee

In a heavy bottomed pan heat 2 tsp ghee. Set the gas flame medium-low and maintain it though out the preparation. Stir in cashews and almonds, while they are still half fried (do not let them roast / turn brown). add raisins, when they start puffing up (do not roast them too) add shredded coconut and keep stirring. Once all contents have mixed add rava and on the medium-low flame keep stirring until the rava is roasted, meanwhile the cashews, almonds and raisins also get roasted to the right degree. This step takes around 5-10min (the fine smell of roasted rava  and also the color of rava turning slight golden brown is the indicator to proceed to next step).Add the sugar, stir for another minute.( Do not let the rava turn completely brown.)  Add cardamom powder and mix well.

Turn off the flame, add milk using a spoon gradually with constant stirring. Mix well and transfer all the contents on to a plate. Make ladoos immediately while it is still hot, as later the mixture would seem to crystallize and would give a tough time to shape the ladoos.

Let the ladoos cool, after 2-3 hours the outer layer becomes hard while inner core remains soft which is the parameter to judge the perfect rava ladoos.

If you require these ladoos to have  a longer shelf life use water instead of milk. But no doubt in saying milk gives it a richer taste and is the best option when you aim to finish these ladoos in not more than a week.

coming up!

undi

Undi / rice & coconut munch is a typical kokani breakfast. Its usually made when guests arrive as its simple tasty and a large scale at-once preparation. Unlike dosa, chapathi which are made one by one :)

Soak rice 1.5cup over night. In a blender grind soaked rice and 1cup desiccated coconut and salt (salt should be a little less than regular dosa/idli batter). Trust me in saying more the coconut more the taste! Make sure you blend it with little water to a consistency (and coarse) similar idli batter. Also grind at low speed making sure you don't end up in a fine paste. The batter should be pretty coarse like rava.

In a pan heat some ghee, prepare seasoning by spluttering mustard, stirring in 2tsp urrad dal and 2tsp channa dal, curry leaves and pinch of heeng/asafoetida. Add the batter and keep stirring on a low flame until it becomes dry like upma and looks parch enough to make laddoos of them. 

Some people add a fist of soaked poha while thickening the batter, this also adds to the taste, softness and speeds up the entire process.

Once it is completely dry, make small balls of lemon size and press thumb against it once to give shape of undi (like small well) place it in preheated steamer and steam for 10-15 min. The undis will be soft, little moist and very tasty.

Serve with jaggery ruva/syrup and enjoy this delicious traditional breakfast!

   

sanna khotto/idli

soak 1/4 cup toor dal and 3/4 cup raw rice for 2-3 hours.

in a mixer/blender grind using very lil amount of water 1cup desiccated coconut, small tamarind slice, roasted red chilies 4 /5 or more as per taste, these idlis are better when made spicier.

once the coconut masala is finely ground, add soaked rice and daal into the blender over the coconut masala, grind the mixture on low speed, to make a coarse batter without adding any water, if some whole daal remain, let them be so, the batter should be more coarse than the normal idli batter. Once the batter is done add salt and chopped onion. Mix well and prepare idlis from this batter just like normal idlis.

also you may add a pinch of asafoetida and chopped cabbage along with onion, this is a good way of making people who hate cabbage eat it and relish it! :)

this is normally eaten with a few drops of coconut oil sprinkled on top as a side dish along with rice & daal/rasam/sambaar and is also a good snack to eat it right away

garam channa chat

Cook 1 cup channa  in pressure cooker till soft. While the channa is still hot mix into the same pressure cooke .chopped boiled potato, tomato. finely chopped onion, green chili, pinch of chat masala, garam masala, amchur powder (or add meetha-imli/tamrind chutney). tea spn roasted cumin powder, finally add chili powder,lemon juice & salt to taste, tranfer to a serving bowl garnish with fresh coriander, sev and serve.

patholi

amchi sweet, special delicacy savored on  Nagar Panchami, also during Ganesh Chaturthi.

It is made in turmeric leaves for the true flavor, since it is not available here, i used plantain lealves, which is a very suitable replacement for turmeric leaves.

soak 1cup rice for 2 hrs, grind it into a thick paste along with  2tbp of slightly soaked poha and 1&1/2 tbsp coconut (fresh/frozen) and a pinch of salt. Add very lil salt, not as for a usual batter, The consistency of this batter should be thick enough to spread but not watery/running. 

make churan by mixing powdered jaggery with desiccated coconut, cardamom powder, you may also mix chopped roasted dry fruits.

cut plantain leaves into 3inch wide strips, clean and wipe them. spread the rice batter avoiding 1/2 inch at the borders evenly. repeat the process for all the leaf strips, spread the churan along a central line/axis over the batter, fold them along the central axis and cook in a steamer for 15min.

once cooked, wait for 2-3min, gently separate the dumpling from leaves, serve with ghee when hot, or just like that.

kodbale

sieve 1cup rice flour with 2 tbl spn of red chili powder and salt to taste. Add 1tsp mustard, 1 tsp sesame seeds and 1tbl spn of grated coconut. Mix well, add1 tbls spn of ghee/oil. Add water approx lil less than 1/2  cup to form a smooth dough. Do not knead too much.

Shape the dough into small balls and rolling in between the two palms (or a palm and the work surface) make slightly think treads and cut them into 2inch pieces. Join ends of each piece of thread like dough and secure tightly. While shaping these kodbale heat oil in a pan and once it is smoking hot deep fry these to turn crisp and  dark brown.You can fry in batches of around 6-10 at a time depending on your pan size and quantity of oil.Do not over crowd the frying pan.

Drain excess oil on a kitchen paper towel and store in an air tight jar. Enjoy it with a cup of coffee or just munch on... :)

chakkuli / chakli

Roast 3tbsp urrad dal and grind it to a fine powder. Mix with 1cup rice flour, 3tsp chili powder (adjust to taste), saltand 1 tsp mustard seeds, 2tspoil/ghee. Mix well.

Add water little by little and kneed very well.Stuff the dough in chakkuli press and make chaklis on a plastic wrap/ plantain leaf.  If the chakkuli gets cut before the spiral shaping, sprinkle some water and kneed the dough well again. Heat oil and deep fry these chakkulis. Take additional care not to break them while transferring them from the plastic wrap into the hot oil.

To avoid the chakkuli from spreading out in oil, the tip of the spiral shape is made to overlap on the previous  layer.

There are varieties of chakkuli's made with various ingredients..I have tried one more variety, which is also made of rice flour,along with dalia (putani) powdered and a small portion of all purpose flour/maida. These also turn out very well. Want to try making chakkulis of Ragi /millet flour..will share once i try those :)

palak pakoras

coming up!