Paper Masala Dosa

These savory, nutritious fermented crepes are a popular breakfast, brunch or evening snack item in south of India. Nowadays, dosas are popular all over India. I have adapted this recipe from Rina' Blog. Thank you Rina for sharing this recipe.

The recipe usually calls for some regular rice and parboiled rice, but I had neither and had this hankering for a beautiful, golden, thin, crispy-edged dosa. So after scouring the web I came across this recipe that called for rice powder. Being a little skeptical, I asked both my mom and my mother-in-law, both denied ever making it with rice powder.

Since it was already Friday and I was really craving for this dish, I went ahead and blindly put my faith in Rina's recipe and I was not disappointed. This dosa, fermented well and rose quite a bit to make wonderful golden crispy dosas. If you do not like paper thin dosas, then you can make it a little thick. However enjoy them while they are still warm....... cold dosas are not at all appetizing.

Rawa Idli

These steamed, savory semolina cakes are a popular breakfast, lunch or even an evening snack item amongst South Indians. These are very easy to make and do not require any lengthy prior preparation. You can whip this up within 1/2 an hour preparation and about 20 - 30 minutes of cooking time. I sometimes even add one large grated carrot to this batter for added nutrition.

Try this recipe out for a quick nutritious breakfast or brunch. All you'll need is an idli mold/stand.

Mooli Paratha

These are another breakfast favorite at our home. They are a nutritious whole wheat Indian tortilla stuffed with grated radish,and are super yummy too.

This week everyone was a little under the weather here. So I thought this would be a nice thing to make for breakfast. My husband absolutely loves these. I am so happy to be married to a man who loves my cooking. My son also likes my cooking but he is a bit more picky and will politely decline anything that does not meet his six-year-old gourmet palate !!! This is among his favorite breakfast dishes.

Homemade Peanut Butter

Who does not love a good Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. In our home, my son is a very big fan of this healthy snack. So I make my own peanut butter, that way it is fresh, and not loaded with preservatives and other ingredients I have never even heard of.

I make a little at a time and store it in a clean glass container in my fridge. You can also make it in large quantities but make sure to use it up soon as the shelf life of this is less compared to the store brands. I also use a fruit-juice-sweetened-no-sugar-added jam and whole wheat bread to make these sandwiches. Maybe next time I will try to make my own jam and whole wheat loaf too !!

If you use salted peanuts, do not add any additional salt. You can also use honey roasted peanuts, in that case skip the honey. Some recipes called for some peanut oil to be added , however I skipped that as peanuts do have peanut oil in them.

Sindhi Koki

A very popular Sindhi breakfast dish. It is very much like a paratha with a little variation to it. This crispy, tasty, nutritious and hot parathas are a favorite of my son, who loves to have some in the mornings before going to school or even take some to school in his lunch box. It is also a wonderful idea for a breakfast on a lazy weekend morning.


Makes 5 - 6 medium sized Kokis

Ingredients

2 cups / 300 gm / 10.6 oz  chappati atta / whole wheat flour used to make chappatis or rotis ( available at any Indian store )
1 big red onion , finely chopped
2 small green chilies, finely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and grated ( optional - not part of the original koki recipe but something I have added for extra nutrition. )
1/2  tsp of salt
1 tsp oil + extra oil for roasting the koki
water for kneading


Method

• In a mixing bowl, mix the atta and salt together. Now add to it the chopped onions, grated carrot, chopped cilantro and green chilies. Mix it all together.
• Add a little water at a time knead it to a soft dough. It should all comes together and there is no dry atta left. Make sure you do not add to much water so as to make the dough sticky. If this happen, just add a little atta to the sticky dough and knead it in.
• Divide the dough into 5 or 6 portions. Pat each portion down a little with the palm of your hand so that it is about 3 inches in diameter.
• Heat the tawa / gridle. when medium hot, roast this mound on it adding oil on both sides. Roast till it gets some light golden spots on both sides. Remove from tawa and place it back on the rolling board and roll it out to about 8 inch diameter. It should have a little less than 1/4 inch thickness. Transfer the rolled koki back to the tawa and toast this by putting 1/2 tsp of oil on each side and toast till each side is fully cooked and have nice brown spots on it.
• Remove and repeat the same for all the other balls. Serve hot with some raita and a pickle of your choice or enjoy this with a cup of plain yogurt. The picture below is of a koki without any carrot in it.

Paneer Stuffed Spinach Parathas

This is one of the popular weekend breakfast items at our home. My son is fascinated by the different colors and loves to eat it. Also mentioning that it contains paneer does not hurt at all.


We are all paneer lovers at our home. Do try this paratha, it is very delicious. Crispy and flaky on the outside and soft from the paneer on the inside. The scotch bonnet peppers not only add color but some heat to the parathas. Nutritious, delicious and easy to make, is how I will describe this popular breakfast item. You can substitute the spinach with some fenugreek leaves or even collard greens if you fancy.


You might have some excess atta on hand after making the 12 parathas. Just roll out the excess balls like you would for plain rotis and these can be had as a snack later on or even for lunch.

Mango Lassi

A very tasty and refreshing drink, Mango lassi is a very popular drink in India and a lot of Indian restaurants serve this.

This recipe makes a thick and delicious lassi. If you want it a little more thinner in consistency add 1 cup of milk instead of 1/2 cup. I used the can of mango pulp found in Indian grocery stores.


Serves 2

Ingredients

1 cup mango pulp ( available in tins in Indian grocery stores )
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 - 1 cup milk ( use 1/2 cup if you want a thick shake, use 1 cup for a slightly thinner consistency ) ( I used 2% milk )
1 tbsp sugar ( optional )
1/8 tsp cardamom powder / elaichi powder


Method

• Place all the above mentioned ingredients in a mixer / blender and mix for 1 minute.
• Pour it in some tall glasses and enjoy. If you like it chilled you can make this ahead of time and chill it in the fridge. I usually refrain from using ice cubes as it dilutes the taste of the lassi.

Belgium Hot Chocolate

Nothing compares to a delicious heart-warming cup of hot chocolate on a cold day. This is a staple in our home come cold wintry days. I make a batch of this and store it in the fridge. Early in the morning when I come down to start my day I warm a cup of this heavenly concoction for myself. In fact getting out of bed seems easier on the days I know I have this waiting down in the fridge for me.

I adapted this recipe from David Lebovitz's site. He has some really good recipes and this hot chocolate is one of my favorite ones. He got this recipe from Wittamer, said to be one of the best chocolate shops in Brussels. They serve this in their posh tea salon. Thank you David for sharing this with us.

I used 2 bars of Valrhona's Le Noir Amer ( 71 % cacao, each 3.5 oz / 100 gm ) and 1 bar of Lindt's Classic Milk Chocolate ( 4.4 oz / 125gm ). Serve this with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and some choclate shavings.

Potato Kurma

This is a popular breakfast item in India. I love it throughout the day. This yummy sabji is served with hot puffed puris. At our home we have it for brunch on the weekends. It is easy to make and very filling and tasty. That way you can come out of the kitchen soon and enjoy the weekend with your family.

I used 6 green chilies, you can adjust according to if you want it more hot or a little mild. I made whole wheat puris to go with this dish. I have seen various recipes for Potato Kurma, some have a green gravy and some a yellow gravy. This recipe has a green gravy and you can keep the consistency of the gravy as you desire, mine is on the thicker side.

Upma ( Indian Polenta )

Upma is a savoury dish made from semolina and could be easily be termed as Indian Polenta*. This is a very popular South Indian breakfast dish. You can also have it in the afternoons with a cup of hot chai.

There are people who like sweet dishes for breakfast and then there are those who like spicy and savoury dishes for breakfast. I belong to the latter group, though I will make an exception for a little Sheera . I cannot imagine waking up in the morning to doughnuts and assorted jam filled danish pastries. Don't get me wrong, I love these things, but not early in the morning and definitely not as breakfast. Whenever we travel and have to eat the continental breakfast served in our hotels, I know that day I am going to be hungry. I do have a big sweet tooth but I like my sweets only as desserts.

So if you are like me, you will love Upma. It is mildly spicy and savory, it is very nutritious too. I love it when the Upma is all fluffy and the cooked grains are not clinging to each other forming a tight mass of ball that when you take a bite you find yourself groping for a glass of water to help you swallow it down. The trick to achieving the right consistency is the ratio of water to semolina, as given in the recipe below. Also do not skip the roasting-the-semolina step, if you do omit this step the taste of the Upma will be a little off.

This is my mom's recipe. Adding tomatoes to Upma is not the traditional way to make it, but I had it this way once at one of my aunt's house, Rita Maushi makes delicious food and her Upma was really tasty. She is a great cook among many of her other talents. Try this recipe and you will have the most delicious Upma ever. Enjoy a bowl of warm Upma in the morning and suddenly life will seem so much better !

I found this interesting article on Wikipedia and I thought I will share it with you all ,
" Rava is often translated as Semolina in cook books and by various authors on the Internet. While this is not wrong, it is not entirely accurate either. Semolina is most commonly made from Durum wheat, which is thicker and yellow in color with a higher protein and gluten content than Rava. Rava on the other hand is specifically semolina made from soft wheat also known by the trade name of Cream of wheat or farina (food), which is a softer white cereal . " And I always thought of suji and rava as semolina.




Upma

Aloo Paratha

It's raining potatoes.......fried potatoes and boiled potatoes , they taste good anyway you slice them. My grandfather still teases me about my love for them.

Now my son loves it too. His favorite being Aloo Paratha which he lovingly calls 'Alew Pratha'. This is a versatile dish and can be had as a breakfast item or lunch item. My son will even  have it for a snack.

When I am pressed for time and want to make it for him, I peel and roughly dice one potato and place it in a microwave safe dish, pour sufficient water to submerge the potatoes and microwave this on high for 5-6 minutes. Voila ! the potatoes are ready. Just drain it and add some salt and a little red chili powder and chopped cilantro. Mash it all up and the filling is ready for two aloo parathas.

Wikipedia has an interesting article on parathas, stating that paratha comes from the word 'parat' and 'atta', which means layers of flour cooked. It is mainly a punjabi dish but now it is popular all over India. Another tidbit of information I got from there is that when Indian immigrants moved to other parts of the world, they adapted the paratha to their new regional flavors and thus in Malaysia and Mauritius it is called 'farata', in Singapore it is 'roti canai' or 'roti prata', in Myanmar is is called as 'palata', in Trinidad and Tobago it is called as 'buss up shot' or 'boss up shot' or 'buss up shut', named after the method of striking the hot roti  thus breaking it up into smaller pieces. It would be interesting to find out more about the different parathas adapted by other countries.