Instant Rava Uttapam

This is yet another instant recipe that comes to my rescue when I have run out of ideas for breakfast . The rava and the vegetables make it a wholesome and healthy way to start the day .I use minimal oil while making it and that makes it even more healthier. It is an ideal breakfast for both bachelors and families , when you want a breakfast filling enough without making too many efforts. This photograph is not of the best uttapam that I have made , but till the time I get around to making this and actually get the chance to take a decent photo I guess this one will have to do. :-)

INGREDIENTS -

( For 4 medium size uttapams)


Rava/ Semolina/ Sooji - 1 cup
Curd/ Yogurt - 1cup
Water - as required
Onion - 1/2 medium size , chopped finely
Tomato - 1 medium size ,finely chopped ( I used cherry tomatoes as I had a few languishing in my refrigerator)
Green chili - 1-2 as per taste
Capsicum - 1/4 finely chopped ( I did not have any so I did not add it , but it tastes wonderful)
Salt - as per taste
Red chili powder - as per taste
Coriander leaves - 1 fistful , finely chopped
Oil- for making the uttapam


METHOD-


Take rava in a vessel and add half of the curd ( the more sour the curd is the better it tastes) , add water so that the batter that is formed is of medium consistency. Let it stand for 10 -15 minutes , in the meanwhile you can chop up the vegetables .
After 15 minutes , the rava would have soaked up the water and the batter would have become thick , add the remaining curd and mix well . Now add the vegetables ,salt , chili powder and mix the batter once more.
Take a frying pan and heat it over the stove , add a few drops of oil and then spread a ladleful of the batter on the pan . Spread it a little with the ladle. Now pour a few more drops of oil over it and cover the pan with a cover . Let it cook for a couple of minutes , then flip over to the other side and cook similarly.
When both the sides are well cooked ( slight brown spots would appear) , serve hot with tomato ketchup or the traditional coconut chutney.

Crisp Plantain (raw banana) Fritters

When I saw that bananas have been chosen as the ingredient for JFI last month , as usual my mind started racing , thinking about all the things I knew could be made using bananas .

As I belong to the Northern part of India where Bananas are consumed mainly as a fruit , there were hardly any north Indian dishes I could thing of . But then thanks to my dad's transferable job we have had the opportunity to live in different parts of our amazing country. My mother being a firm believer of the health benefits of having fresh and in season fruits and vegetables , did not hesitate to include the locally available goodies into the menu. She would take the recipes from her friends and then modify them to suit our palettes.


This is one of such recipes . I don't know from where she picked it up ...but it used to be a big hit with us especially on a rainy day . We used to have a number of banana trees in out back yard and I remember my mother picking a fresh plantain and then making these fritters for us.Both me and my brother loved the crisp fritters , with the subtle taste of the plantain enhanced with just salt and chilli.


Nowadays I hardly make any thing which is deep fried , but much to the glee of my husband these blog events give me an incentive to pour oil in my wok and pick up my karchi to fry something....

The recipe goes as follows -


INGREDIENTS -

Plantain/ raw banana - 1

Rice - 1/3 cup ( soaked in water for 2-3 hours)

Turmeric powder - 1/2 t sp

Salt - as per taste

Red chili powder - 1/2 t sp

Salt - as per taste

Oil - for deep frying




METHOD -

Coarsely grind the rice into a paste ( it should be coarse to touch and not a fine paste)

Add the salt, turmeric and red chili powder to this rice paste

Wash the plantain and peel off the peel. Cut diagonally into pieces of medium thickness.

Mix the plantain pieces into the rice paste and cover them with the rice paste well.

Deep fry 4-5 pieces at a time till the plantain is cooked.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup ,coriander chutney , or any other chutney of your choice



These can also be served as a part of lunch or dinner.

Healthy carrot salad

Okie ...let me start off with a confession ......I was supposed to post this one way back as an entry for RCI-Karnataka ....its actually my take on the traditional Kosumbari...my friend and blogging guide Lakshmi di of Taste of Mysore was kind enough to tell me this recipe so that I could also participate in this event hosted by Ashaji .... But even though I had done all the preparatory work , the salad was made , photos taken somehow I never got around to posting it ... and this has continued for more than a month . I guess it was some kind of a phase going on.

Well Lakshmi di is now back from her India trip and I got the gentle nudge from her for missing all the deadlines :-) ......this combined with reduced work load and hubby's absence due to an official trip has got me back to the computer jotting down this post.


I have changed a few things in the original recipe ....for starters I have used sprouted moong dal , mainly because I am a firm believer of the health benefits of sprouts and also because it adds a nice lush green color ....this when combined with the bright carrot red and white of the coconut makes this salad such a visual treat .... and isn't it true that food should appeal to all our senses of vision, smell, touch and taste. Also I added chopped green chillies instead of chili paste
mainly because I was too lazy to make a paste.

I made the salad as follows -


INGREDIENTS -

Whole green moong dal - 1/2 cup ( soaked overnight and then left to sprout in a wet cloth for the whole day - would give more than 1 cup of sprouts )
Carrot - 1 cup ( roughly grated )

Coconut - 1/2 cup ( roughly grated)

Lime - 1

Green chillies - 1-2 ( depending on how hot u want the salad to be ..the original recipe needed green chili paste ..but I was too lazy to make a paste and i just chopped them finely )

Salt - As per taste

Black pepper powder - as per taste

Chopped Coriander leaves - 2 -3 t sp. ( for garnishing)

METHOD -

Wash the sprouts under running water so that there is no smell in them ( that happens if you keep the sprouts in a closed box for sometime , because of the carbon di oxide which the sprouts produce) . Mix all the ingredients in a salad bowl. Add lime juice , salt ,pepper powder and toss the salad well . Set in the refrigerator for 15 minutes , it serves better when it is cold.

Serves : 2 people