Khushboo Idli

Khushboo Idli

As a part of the Blogging Marathon groups we chat plus there are various recipes discussed, well you cannot be a foodie without that can you?

 In one such chats there were various idlis discussed. One of the  idlis discussed was was Khushboo Idli!  Now Khushboo means a pleasant smell in Hindi, so at the back of my mind I kept wondering what an aroma it must be having.

So imagine my surprise when I was told that the idli was named after Khushboo, the actress!! She was and is so famous is something that I was not aware of. Well my GK in the subject of movies is has always been questionable. J

Low fat Dahi Vada

When Nupur announced her challenge this month it was to make either spring rolls or dahi vada.

 So what is new you will ask my dear the challenge that Nupur poses is different. She chooses a deep fried dish and expects you to make it not fried but search for different options other than fried. Interesting? Well do check it out. I am sure she will add newer members.

Now I have made baked spring rolls. Dahivada with a difference here has been made by my SIL so I did not know how else to make it. In no mood to trudge to the mall to search for the spring roll wrappers which I am sure will not be there, I decided to make dahi vada.How ??? was the question that worried me.

METHKUT OR MENTHE HIT

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Hot rice, ghee, salt a dash of lime, papad and methkut or menthe hit.

This is one of my favourites.

Methkut as in Marathi and Menthe hit as in Kannada is considered healthy and boy is it versatile.

In Karnataka it is used in almost anything rice, pohe/ awalakki (the thin variety), churmure/churmuri, in curds as an accompaniment.

This is how you make the powder.

Ingredients:

2 cups Channa dal/ split chick pea

A small bit of asafoetida/hing (if you are using powder use 1 tsp)

1 cup urid dal/ split black lentil

A few seeds Gahu/ wheat (optional)

Turmeric powder

1 tblsps Jeera /cumin seeds

Little less than 1 tblsps Dhania /coriander seed

Few seeds menthe/fenugreek seeds

1 tsp rice

Method:

1. Wash the rice remove all the water and pat dry.

This is the important part don't lose patience and raise the flame!!

2. On low flame dry roast till light brown, the chana dal/ split chick pea.

3. Then dry roast the urid dal/ split black lentil, again till light brown.

4. If you are using wheat dry roast them till they splutter.

5. Dry roast the asafoetida/hing, Dhania/coriander seeds, jeera/cumin seeds, and menthe (for an added flavour my mom used to put one red chilli) till they you get an aroma, individually.

6. Lastly dry roast the rice grains till they are pinkish.

7. Add the turmeric and cool all the ingredients.

8. Dry grind in the mixer to a fine powder.

9. Sieve the powder use the fine powder as METHKUT OR MENTHE HIT.

Store in an airtight container on your kitchen shelf. Remember to use a dry spoon.

Eat with rice,salt and a dash of lime mixed together with papad and pickle.

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P.S. The coarse stuff left over in the sieve can be mixed with finely chopped onion, tomato and curds as an Accompaniment (you can use the powder also). You could also add phodni/vagarni of oil, mustard, asafoetida/hing and green chillies and coriander. Serve with chapatti.

Gundpangala/Appe/Mountain

'Gundpangla', 'appe' or mountain as it is known in my family is a much-loved. The reason it has the name mountain is that my elder daughter, who at the age of 4 or 5 was a fussy eater. My mother had made gundpangla, as we call them in Kannada, decorated my plate with them along with chutney and sambhar. She told me to eat the mountains. this got the kid interested enough to eat them. She loves them and they are still called mountains.

Of course you can make it sweet as well as savoury.

Your basic flour for savoury ones is as below.

Ingredients:

1 cup urid dal

3 cups rice

1 tblspn methi

1 ½ cups puffed rice/churmuri (Kannada) / churmure (Marathi)

v Wash urid dal and rice and soak them with methi for 12 hours.

v Grind with the puffed rice with a little water.

v Mix well and let it ferment for 12 hours again or till it becomes nice and light, bubbly.

v Mix well then add salt.

v Use this flour to make your 'Gundpangla', 'appe' or mountain.

To make 'Gundpangla', 'appe' or mountain you need a special tava or griddle, it like a muffin tray with holes in it. In the good old days it used to be made of some metal that my mother used call as 'Beed' now you get non-stick ones. The advantages are obvious less oil and food does not stick. (I remember trying to scrape off the older version in vain).

v Take the tava or griddle oil it a little and spoon the flour in the holes in the griddle.

v Cover. Cook for 5 minutes for the first round or till the top of dries a little. Turn them over.

v Serve them hot. I have served them chutney but you can serve them with sambhar also.

Variations:

v Use finely chopped onions, chillies and coriander.

v You can also add finely chopped coconut pieces, ginger along with chopped onions, chillies and coriander.

v A variety of chopped vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, baby corn.

Kachori

As a kid I have stayed in Nagpur, the Orange City for 7 years. Summers in Nagpur are very hot and being away from my grand parents, uncles, aunts we used to be waiting to get back to Dharwad, our home town, to Ajji & Ajoba and of course mangoes.
The journey from Nagpur was by train, with a changeover at Miraj and it used to take 2 full days. If we i.e. my brother, my sister and I were traveling with Amma alone she was voted out…… it had to be Kachori at Shegaon or Wardha. The way we used to salivate at the thought of kochories!!
I was always on a lookout for these kachories.
When we brought our food processor it came with a cookbook by Lalita Ahmed and this was one of the first recipe’s I tried out.
in the present recipe I have made some changes but basically it is her recipe.

Ingredients:
450 g wheat flour
½ tsp salt
2 tblspn oil
Water
1 cup urid dal soaked for 2 hours
1-2 green chillies
1tblspn oil
Pinch of asafoetida
1 tsp jeera seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp sauf (optional)
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp chat masala
½ tsp amchur powder
Oil for deep frying

1. Mix the flour, salt and water to make soft dough. Cover and keep aside.
2. Grind urid dal green chillies with ½ a cup of water coarsely.
3. Dry roast jeera seeds, coriander seeds, sauf gently for ½ a minute.
4. Cool and dry grind till fine.
5. Heat 1tblspn oil, add hing and dal paste fry for a minute.
6. Add the ground spice mixture, red chilli powder, seasonings, stir to mix and fry till all the moisture is gone and the mixture becomes light brown. Switch off the gas and add chat masala and amchur mix well. Let the whole thing cool completely.
7. Take a small ball of the dough and roll out to a small circle place 1 tsp of the filling in the centre. Encircle the filling pulling the edges of the dough to the centre. Dredge in flour and roll out to small circle. Make a few kachories and keep aside. Pour enough oil in a wok or a kadhai to deep fry the kachories one at a time.
8. Drain and serve hot with tamarind chutney.