Methi jowar dosa

My mom made this dish this week.It is easy & makes use of leftover dosa batter.

Ingredients :2 cups leftover dosa batter,2 cups jowar atta,1 cup dahi or buttermulk,1 cup methi /palak- chopped,1 tsp red chilli powder,salt to taste,water to be added to maintain dosa batter consistency , 5 tbsp oil.

Method :Add jowar atta to dosa batter & mix so that no lumps remain.Now add dahi or buttermilk.Again mix to get dosa batter consistency.Now add cleaned,washed & chopped fenugreek or palak .Add salt to taste & mix.The final batter must have dosa  batter consistency.

If one opts out of buttermilk or dahi,one can add water.In such case,it would be advisable to ferment  the jowar atta added dosa batter overnight.

Take a ladle full of the dosa batter & spread it on the tawa which has been oiled & is being heated on the gas.Cover with alid.After 4-5 seconds,take out the lid ,spread a tsp of oil on the dosa & turn the dosa upside down.After 2-3 seconds,the dosa can be taken off the tawa & served.One can serve it with any chutni of choice or chutni pudi. 

Eggless Multigrain Coffee cake

I had this urge to bake & felt that coffee cake would be a great cake.The recipe is similar to chocolate cake @ http://www.egglesscooking.com/

 Ingredients : 

Dry :1 cup multi grain atta ( I used Aashirwad ),1/2 cup sugar,1tsp cocoa powder (I used bournvita),1tsp baking soda,1/2 tsp baking powder.

Wet :1/2 cup dahi, 1/4 cup milk,1/4 cup coffee decoction,1/2 tsp vanilla essence,1/4 cup oil.

tsp is teaspoon 

Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl..Now mix all wet ingredients in another bowl.Milk amount may be increased or decreased depending on batter consistency.

Now make a well in the mixture of dry ingredients.Pour the wet mixture into this well.Mix slowly.The batter must have a consistency which is more than drop down consistency.Accordingly, add more milk.Grease a microwaveable dish with oil  or ghee .Pour the batter into the dish.Microwave for 7-8 minutes.Put off the microwave.Check with a toothpick.If it comes out clean,cake is ready.If not ,microwave for 1-2 minutes more.Let it stand for 5-8 minutes.Now take out the dish from microwave.Let it cool outside for 15-20 minutes.Then put the dish upside down on to a plate.Cut into desired shapes & serve.

I made a coffee decoction  as I had run out of instant  coffeee powder.One can use instant coffee powder like Nescafe or Bru- about 2 tablespoons.I used only half cup sugar as I did not want a  very sweet cake.One can increase sugar content to about 3/4 of cup.

I am sending this to Linking to Dish it out hosted by Foodomania as well as 

Eggless banana cake

I surfed the net & came across this recipe @http://recipesbysam.wordpress.com/2009/05/03/the-best-ever-eggless-whole-wheat-banana-bread-with-walnuts-and-cardamom-sprinkled-with-sesame-seeds-on-top-%e2%80%93-baked-in-cooker/

I made some changes & got a yummy cake smelling of bananas !

Ingredients : 1 cup whole wheat flour ( instead of maida ) ,1 tsp baking soda,1/2 (0.5 )cup sugar,4 elaichis ( cardamoms),2 over ripe bananas,1/4 cup milk ( 1.25 cup),1/4 cup oil,25 raisins ( optional ).

Method : I mixed the atta ( whole wheat flour ) & baking soda nicely.I skipped sieving the atta along with the soda as in my last recipe when I had sieved ,hardly any flour lumps were left on the sieve.

I mashed the over ripe bananas& added sugar & mixed.Powder the cardamoms & added to the banana -sugar mixture.I added this banana mix to the flour -soda mix.I mixed the mixture thoroughly.Then I poured oil into the mixture & whisked it.Now add a little milk to mix nicely & get a drop down consistency of the batter.Add raisins if you wish. 

Take a microwaveable dish & grease it with oil.Pour the cake batter into the greased dish.Microwave for 5 to 5.5 minutes.Let it stand for 15 minutes after switching off the microwave.Remove the cake from the microwave & let it cool for 15-20 minutes.Turn the dish upside down on a plate.Cut it into desired shapes & serve.

Healthy eggless cake

Dates are used in this cake .Dates are rich in iron & fibre. So dates aid in digestion as also in improving hemoglobin content of blood. Hence, for those who suffer from iron deficiency,  dates are a helpful snack. Dates help in purifying blood as well.

The recipe is from the blog "Santosh's Kitchen ".

I tweaked it a little. And my recipe is as under ..

Ingredients : 1.5 cups whole wheat flour,1/2 cup oil,1 cup dates,1 ripe banana,1.25 to 1.5 cups milk,1.5 tsp baking soda,a few almonds & pistachios ( grated ).

Method : Sieve flour & baking soda together.Add milk & mix thoroughly -if 1.25 cup milk is less,make it 1.5 cups milk.The batter must have drop down consistency.Make paste  of dates by  immersing dates in milk & crushing them once they turn soft.Add a mashed ripe banana to the milk,flour date mixture.Now add oil.Mix well.Lastly, add the grated dry fruits & mix well.

Grease a dish with oil & pour the cake mixture into the greased dish.Microwave on high  without lid, in  the greased dish for 7 minutes.Allow the cake to stand in the oven for 5-10 minutes.

Take out the dish after that.Again, allow it to cool for 15-20 minutes outside.Now turn the dish upside down on a plate.The cake will come on to the plate.Cut into desired shapes & serve .

This is another recipe for #livoenironchef entry for the Iron Chef contest on IndiBlogger.

Bread upma

Ingredients : 1/2 packet sliced bread ( white or brown ),2 green chillies,1/2 ' grated ginger,1 sprig of curry leaves,one capsicum ,two onions,1 tomato (optional),2 tbsp oil,1/2 tsp mustard seeds,1/4 tsp hing,1/4 tsp turmeric,salt to taste, a bunch of coriander leaves for garnish,1/2 small lemon .

Method :Take oil in frying pan & put on the gas.Now put the mustard seeds .When they splutter ,add hing .Add diced onions & fry till they just start turning brown.Now add diced capsicum & turmeric to this.Fry capsicum  & cover the pan with a lid for a minute.Now add salt.,grated ginger & curry leaves & again cover with a lid.Diced tomato can be added at this time.

Take the bread slices & break each bread slice into 1/4 inch pieces with hands -crumble the slices into small crumbs about 1/2-1/4 inch big.Now put all these crumbs into the pan which has the veggies mixture.Mix the veggies & bread crumbs nicely.Add a few tsps of water - 4-5 tsp should be enough.

Cover with a lid & cook for 2 minutes.Now put off the gas.

Garnish with fresh coriander which has been thoroughly washed & finely cut.One can opt to   squeeze half a lemon on to the bread upma to get a tangy taste.

Tip :My neighbour always used pav to make this upma - pav upma ! She used to add watery chaas or diluted buttermilk to give a tangy taste.Instead of adding water at the end as stated earlier,one can use  chaas.

Shrikhand

Ingredients : Dahi made from 1/2 litre milk,2 cups sugar, 5-6 elaichi ,kesar( optional).

Method : Take a big sieve ( just like the one used to filter tea ) & pour dahi into that sieve.Leave the sieve with dahi,  suspended, to the edges of a vessel ( patela ).Leave it overnight.Cover the dahi in the sieve with a plate or lid.This is done, so that, all water keeps trickling down.By morning ,there will be a semi solid mass of dahi  left  in the sieve.

Another method is to put dahi on to a thin cotton cloth & tie up the cloth with knot & suspend it from a stand.This helps the  water in the dahi , to get separated from the dahi.

12 hours suspension is enough to drain water -hence keep it overnight.

The water along with a little dahi which has collected in the vessel below the sieve can be consumed  as chaas.

Take this dahi mass & add sugar to it.Mix this nicely.Now add powdered cardamom to it.Take kesar strands & soak   them in milk  & add the kesar also to this mixture.

The shrikhand is ready.Amount of sugar can be adjusted -one may add more or less depending on how much sweetness is needed.Also ,powdered sugar can be used to make mixing easy.

Chutni pudi

Ingredients :1/2 cup chana dal,1/4cup  urad dal,1 tbsp peanuts,1/2 tsp til ,1-2 tsp imli,18-20  byadgi mirchi , a few kadipattas,1 tbsp oil,1/2 tsp hing,1/2 tsp haldi,salt to taste.

Method :Dry roast chana dal ,urad dal ,til & peanuts together till they change colour. I use peanuts with their skin on.Keep aside this roasted  mixture.Take oil & add byadgi mirchi,kadipattas ,imli & roast for 5 minutes.Keep aside.After both the mixtures have cooled to room temperature,take a grinder & put both the dry roasted mixture & the oily one in the grinder jar.Add haldi ,hing & salt.Put on the grinder & grind to as lightly coarse mixture.The chutni pudi is ready.

This is a great accompaniment to idlis,dosas ,rice ,with til oil or dahi.I recall, that we would eat chaklis dipped in chutni pudi -dahi mixture when we were kids.We also use this powder to thicken gojju & any watery curries.

I got half a bottle of chutni pudi with the quantity of ingredients used in this.