Rava Dhokla - Semolina Dhokla - Savory Semolina Cake - Microwave Dhokla

Rava Dhokla

Ingredients:
1 cup fine semolina
1 Cup water
1 Cup yogurt
2 TSP fruit salt / Eno
2 TSP oil
1 TSP or less Salt or to taste
2-3 green chillies finely chopped
1 TSP grated ginger / ginger paste
1/4 TSP Carom seeds(Owa)
1/2 TSP Turmeric powder
For Tadaka and garnishing: Mustard seeds,cumin seeds,curry leaves,coriander leaves finely chopped


Procedure:

1. Take Semolina in a Bowl. Add Oil and Carom seeds to it. Mix well and remove lumps if any.
2. Add Yogurt and water and whisk well. Mix all the ingredients well.Add salt,turmeric,ginger paste,chopped green chillies to it.
3. Keep aside this mixture for 20 min.
4. I tried making Dhokla on steam and in Microwave both. The steam version becomes much much soft and looks healthy. Although microwave takes very less time as compared to Steam.So if you want to try it in Microwave, grease a microwaveable box with oil and keep it ready. Or, in a pan, keep water to boil and grease the pan to be used.
5. After 20 min,add Fruit salt ( ENO) to the mixture and mix well immediately.Mixture will foam up.
6. Pour the mixture in the Pan/trey keeping it half empty so that it will have space to puff up.
7. In microwave cook it for 2 minutes 40 sec. Remove and insert a fork or knife and check if the batter is not sticky. If so, keep for another 10-20 Seconds more.
8. If you are steaming it, keep it for 13 minutes inside steamer or pressure cooker(without having the whistle on it). It depends on the heat and time you keep it for, so it took 13 minutes for me,if you feel the batter is still not cooked keep for couple of minutes more.But with this quantity, it should cook within 13 minutes, if the water was boiling when you keep the trey inside.
9. Once cooled down, cut into required sized square pieces.
10. Prepare Tadaka in a frying pan. Pour 2 TSP oil. Once heated, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds,curry leaves, Sesame seeds to it.  Pour the pieces in frying pan. Add chopped coriander leaves. Mix gently so that the oil tempering gets applied to all the pieces properly.

Serve with Tamerind or pudina Chutney.

A healthier substitute for Gram flour Dhokla. It becomes very spongy and as soft as gram flour Dhokla. :-)

Bhendi Sambar/Bhindi Sambar/Okra Sambar

Bhendi Sambar

Ingredients:

10-15 Okra/Bhendi chopped into medium size pieces. Approx 2-3 off each
3 TSP Sambar Masala
Salt to taste
1 cup of Cooked Toor Daal/ Arhar ki Daal
1.5-2 cups water
3/4th to 1 TSP Tamerind paste/extract  or to taste
2 TSP Jaggery or to taste
2 TSP oil
Curry leaves
Mustard seeds
Asafoetida(Hing) 
1/4 TSP Turmeric powder


Procedure:

• Pour oil in a pan and let it heat up. Once heated add Mustard seeds,Curry leaves,Asafoetida(Hing).
• Add chopped Bhendi/Okra pieces.(Before chopping the Okra, make sure it is not wet, it should be perfectly dry so that it won't become sticky while cooking.)

• Add Turmeric powder. Stir once.
• Cook for 5-7 minutes. You will see them soften up little bit.
• Add water, Sambar masala,Jaggery.
• Let the mixture come to proper boil.
• Add cooked daal to it.  
• Add salt.
• Cook for 5-10 minutes. Taste and add Tamerind/Jaggery/Salt as per your taste. Also, quantity of water depends on how thick or watery consistency you want.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with hot Steamed rice.

Health benefits of Okra:

superior fiber content which helps to stabilize the blood sugar by curbing the rate at which sugar is absorbed from the intestinal tract.It helps to neutralize acids, being very alkaline, and provides a temporary protective coating for the digestive tract.Good for constipation,Good in normalizing the blood sugar and cholesterol level.Okra's vitamin C is an antioxidant.

Okra is good for preventing diabetes.

Kairichi Chutney/Green Mango Chutney/Aam Ki Chutney

Mango Chutney

Kairichi Chutney

Ingredients:
1 cup of Green mango pieces.
(Chop Small-medium size pieces of Mango.
80-90gm Of sugar. Since the mango I used was not so sour it had a sweet taste in it, i used 80 gm for this much quantity.If the mango you are using is quite sour use 100gm Sugar.
1/2 TSP Mustard seeds
1/4TSP Fenugreek Seeds ( methi seeds)
2 TSP Ghee
Procedure:

1. Pour ghee in a pan and let it melt. Once it is, add Methi.Fenugreek seeds. Once they turn brown add mustard seeds.
2. Once mustard seeds start spluttering, add the chopped Mango pieces. 
3. keep the flame on slow heat and cover the pan with a lid.
4. Let it coo for 5 minutes. Give a gentle stir.If the mango pieces have become soft, add the sugar. and mix well. If they are not soft yet, cover for another 2-3 minutes and let it cook. Basically we have to add the sugar to the soften mango.
5. Once you add sugar and mixed it well, coo for another 5 minutes (covered with lid).
6. Give a stir and make sure sugar and mango has blended together well.

That's it...it's done...

Serve this chutney with chapati as a side dish. 

Tag: kachhi kairi, kachha aam, Raw mango,Green Mango,Mango Chutney

Chenna Poda-Oriya Sweet / Paneer Cake/ Milk Cake

Chenna Poda/ Paneer Sweet/Paneer Peda

I heard about this from a friend and went for it....It is a traditional Oriya sweet. Made up with Home made Paneer. just 4 ingredients and super easy process...its little crispy outside and spongy soft inside...I would say a must try recipe...


Ingredients:
3 cups of Milk - This gives approx. 150gm of Paneer
1/2 Lemon's juice
5 gm Semolina
40gm Sugar
powder of 1 cardamom
To try at first time, take this much quantity, when you are happy with it,increase the quantity of milk in order to increase quantity of Paneer. For 800gm of paneer take 20gm of Semolina(Sooji/Rava)


Procedure:

1. In a non stick pan keep mil for boiling on medium flame. Keep stirring so that milk doesn't stick at the bottom of the pan.
2. Once the mil come to the proper Boil, switch off the stove.
3. Add the lemon juice. Give a stir.
4. Milk will start to curdle. Let it settle for couple of minutes and you will see the total separation of curdle milk and water.
5. Keep the oven to preheat at 160 deg.C
6. Drain the water through a muslin/cotton cloth and collect the curdled milk. Flow cold water on the Paneer/Chenna.
7. Remove the Paneer from the cloth totally and put it in a bowl.
8. Add semolina,add sugar,add cardamom powder and knead the paneer for 5-7 minutes until it becomes soft.Consistency of the paneer will be very soft. It is not a fluid batter consistency nor like a Chapati Dough. Something in between.
9. Oven must have been reached a decent hot temperature now.
10. Grease a pan with butter or Ghee and keep the Paneer mixture in it and keep for baking.
11. Bake for 30 minutes or until the upper layer turns light golden brown. After 30 minutes switch off the oven but keep the pan inside oven to get baked in that heat.
12. Remove after 5 minutes and cover the pan with  aluminium foil airtight.
13. After almost 30 minutes, see if it has cooled down. 
14. Remove the paneer from the pan and slice it with knife.

It is not at all a heavy dessert. Treat yourself with a nice soothing paneer Poda :-)

Tag: Paneer,Chenna

Paneer from 3 cups of Milk

Kairicha Bhat-Raw Mango Flavored Rice-Green Mango Rice

Kairicha Bhat/Raw Mango Rice

Quite summery....Tangy yummy Rice..must do in Mango season..
No cooking involved ..just a matter of 10 min.Good option for Lunch box or 1 dish dinner.


Ingredients:
1 Cup Basamati rice
Grated Green Mango  1 Cup
2 red chillies
1/2 TSP Turmeric powder
1 TSP sugar
Salt to taste
1 TSP Urid dal
Couple of Twigs of Curry leaves
1/2 TSP of Mustard seeds and Cumin seeds
3-4 Green chillies finely chopped or to the taste
1/2 Tsp lemon juice ( Optional and depends on Sourness of the mango you use)
                                                           
Procedure:

1. Pressure cook rice with 1.5 Cup of water. Or, Cook it anyway you are comfortable with but the rice shouldn't be too soft or soggy, the grains should be well cooked and separate. 
2. Spread rice in a large plate or a Bowl.
3. Add the grated mango, salt,sugar. Mix everything together gently.
4. If the Mango is not enough sour you can add more grated mango. Taste the mango before you add it to the rice. You know yours and your family's taste very well,so  take a call on the basis of amount of Sourness you wish to have in the rice. If the mango is Sweet then don't just increase the amount of mango but add little lemon juice to the rice for sourness.
5. Keep 3 or 4 Tsp oil in a pan to heat. Once heated, add Urid daal to the oil. Once it turns out light brown, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chopped green chillies, curry leaves and at the end full red chillies.
6. Pour this mixture on the Rice. Again,mix gently but making sure whole Tadaka gets applied to the Rice properly.
7. Serve with your fav. side dish with this. Either go for a spicy pickle or some chili flavored crisps or anything you like.

Tag: Mango, kachha amba,kairi,Kachha Aam,Raw mango

Fodnichi Poli / Spicy Chapati Churma / Spicy Chapati Mixture

Fodnichi Poli

This is something you will find in every Maharashtrian house. According to me this is a perfect dish we can make out of the "Extra Chapatis" which are left over from previous night.
Easy, tasty and quick.
This wasn't something I planned for the blog to post it, I had 3 Fulkas left over from previous day and so I prepared it.


Ingredients ( I used )It is sufficient for one person. You can enlarge it as per your need.
3 medium sized Fulka/Chapati. Crush them in Mixer or food processor to chop them in small pieces. As you can see it in the picture above.
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 or 2 Green chillies or as per your taste
15-20 Groundnuts/Peanuts
5-6 Curry leaves
Mustard seeds, Cumin seeds 1/2 TSP each
Turmeric powder 1/4 TSP
Salt to taste
Sugar 1/2 TSP


procedure:

1. Pour oil in a pan. Around 3-4 TSP ( 1TSP = 5 ml ;adjust as per your taste/usage)
2. Once heated, add mustard seeds, once they splutter add cumin seeds then curry leaves,turmeric powder.
3. Add chopped Onion, chopped green chili.Mix well. On medium heat cook the onion well. Add groundnuts/peanuts.
4. Once onion is cooked to soft, add Crushed chapati mixture to it.
5. Mix well. Add salt to taste.
6. Cover with lid and keep the flame on low-medium heat. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
7. Before serving garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.

Note: If you put little salt in the Chapatis/Fulkas, please be careful while putting salt to this dish. It will become salty otherwise.

Treat yourself  :-)

Tag: फोडणीची पोळी, Indian bread, Spicy Bread mixture,Left over Chapati