Masala Dosa

Masala Dosa is the most popular dish from south. Everyone enjoys dosa. When I was a kid, it was not easily available in the market. There was only one place in my city from where we could get it, and eat occasionaly. However, I was lucky :-) as my mother used to cook dosa at home too.  Nowadays dosa, idli and vada, the three most popular dishes from south are available in restaurants as well as at road side food stalls too.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

Dosa batter ------------------------- for making dosas

 

for Masala (stuffing)

 

Potatoes ---------------------------- 1/2 kg boiled and mashed

Onion ------------------------------- 2 sliced

Green/red chillies ----------------- 2-3 splited

Curry leaves ----------------------- 10

Mustard seeds --------------------- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder ----------------- 1/2 tsp

Channa dal ------------------------ 1 tsp dry

salt ---------------------------------- according to taste

Hing (Asafoetida) ---------------- a pinch

Oil ---------------------------------- 1 tbsp

 

 

Take a kadahi/pan. Add oil in it, heat the oil and then add mustard seeds, hing, curry leaves and channa dal to it.

 

 

 

When channa dal turns golden brown, add onions and stir for a while.

 

 

 

Add turmeric and green chillies. Saute on medium flame. I generally like to add some red fresh chillies with green to add colour.

 



 

  

Add boiled mashed potatoes and salt.  Fix all things well.  Cook for 4-5 minutes on low flame.

  

 

 

Now masala for masala dosa is ready. Make dosas and fill this masala in it. Enjoy with coconut chutney and sambhar.

 

 

Kacha Papita Paratha (Raw Papaya Stuffed Chapati)

My father's favourite parathas are kachche papite ka paratha (raw papaya) and mooli (radish) leaves paratha. When I was a child, my mother would generally make aloo-pyaza paratha for dinner in winters.  My father really never liked it and would always ask for kachche papite ka parathas instead.  I think he is in love with these parathas.  Primarily for their awesome taste, and also because of papaya's nutritive contents.

Raw papaya is rich in vitamin 'A' and fiber. When I first prepared the papaya parathas for my kids and husband, I was wondering whether they would like it or not as healthy food is generally considered to not taste that well.  However, to my pleasant surprise and delight my elder daughter simply loved the parathas!!  You can imagine how fulfilled that made me feel as a mother :-). Whenever I give these parathas to my younger daughter I have to tell her that this is a mooli paratha, and then she likes them too :-)  :-) .

Ingredients:

Chappati dough

Raw Papaya---------------------1 medium

Coriandar leaves---------------1cup chopped

Green chillies-------------------3-4 chopped

Red Chillies---------------------1/2tsp

Corinader powder-------------1tsp

Cumin seeds(Jeera)-----------1/2tsp

Oil--------------------------------1/2tsp and to make parathas

Salt-------------------------------1tsp


Chillies and salt always can be adjusted according to your taste.


Take a gorgeous fresh, green, raw papaya.

Wash and peel it as a whole. As peeling a whole papaya is easier than peeling the slices.
　

Cut it into pieces. Remove the seeds and white threads, and grate it. Papaya is hard so you need good effort. If you have food processor than use it :-) ....

...... as I have done.

 

 

Take a pan / kadhai. Heat 1/2tsp of oil in it. Add jeera, when it crackles add the grated papaya, green chillies and other spices. Cook it on a medium to low flame for 5-8 minutes. Papaya should be a little soft not too much.

 

Filling you prepare would look different than mine (in picture below). The reason is that I haven't added chillies because of kids. Also, I have not added coriander leaves as I am running out of them at the moment!

 



 

 



Now our filling is ready. Let it get a bit cold. And than make delicious yummy parathas.

 

 

 

Method:

1. Wash the papaya and peel it.
2. After peeling, slice it. Take out seeds and white thread and than grate it.
3. Take a pan/ Kadai. Add oil and heat and add jeera.
4. Now add grated papaya in the pan.
5. Add salt, corinader powder, chillies of your choice.
6. Cook the papaya on low flame for 5-8 mintues. It will become little bit soft.
7. Cool it and use it as a filling for parathas.
 

Coconut(Nariyal) chutney

Nariyal chutney is a South Indian chutney. Goes with dosa, idli, vada etc.

Ingredients:

1. Nariyal ---------------------------- 1/2
2. Green chilli ----------------------- 2
3. Ginger ----------------------------- 1/2 " piece
4. Curry leaves ---------------------- 5-6
5. Urad dal (Black gram) ---------- 1tsp
6. Mustrad seeds (sarso) ----------- 3/4 tsp
7. salt --------------------------------- 1/2 tsp
8. Water ------------------------------ 2 tbsp
9. Oil ---------------------------------- 1 tsp

 

 





1. Cut nariyal into small pieces.

2. Take nariyal pieces, green chillies and ginger in a grinder.

 

 

 

3. Grind all into a paste. Add water if required

 

4. Take oil in a pan and heat. Add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves in it.

 

5. Add the tempering into the grinded chutney paste.

 

 

 

6. Mix well. Now the nariyal chutney is ready to enjoy.

 

Difference between Baking Soda and Baking Powder

　

In baking we use Baking Soda and Baking Powder both as a leavening agent. We often see that some recipes call for baking powder and some for baking soda and some need both.

Actually, baking powder and baking soda both have Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate a chemical compound. Commonly known as soda bicarb.

 

Baking soda is only soda bicarb itself. Baking soda when mixed with acid like cream of tartar and water or any acidic liquid like vinegar, butter milk etc. produces carbon dioxide(CO2).

Baking soda works immediately when contacts with acid, produces lots of CO2.

Baking Powder is a combination of Soda bicarb(baking soda), acidic salt and corn starch. It also produces carbon dioxide when moistened.

Most commonly used baking powder is double acting baking powder. It works in two steps. Small amount of gas is released when dissolved. And most during baking when the temperature is increased.

 

When a recipe calls for baking powder and baking soda both, the baking powder does most of the leavening. Baking soda is added to neutralize the acids in the recipe.

Meetha Pura (Wheat Pan Cake)

Indian pancakes... I am eating these since my childhood. A whole meal in itself.  As sweet tastes good with something salty, you can have these pancakes with any pickle / chutney / dish of your choice. I like it with Mango pickle. When I was a child I loved to eat these pancakes with fresh cream (malai) too. 

 

My kids also love these pancakes a lot. The younger one takes them in her lunch box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Wheat flour(Atta) ------------------------------------ 3 cups

Sugar or jaggery ------------------------------------- 3/4 cup
Fennel seeds (Sauf) --------------------------------- 1 tbsp 

Water to make batter

Oil or Ghee

 

Soak jaggery/sugar in 2 cups of water for 2-3 hour to dissolve it completely. Then stain the syrup. Take wheat flour in a bowl and pour the syrup in the atta and make the batter. Consistency should be like besan batter we make for pakoras. If required add water for the required consistency. I use the handmixer for this job.
 

 

 

 

Add fennel seeds in the batter and mix. If you like you can add elaichi (cardamon) powder also at this stage.

 

 

 

Take a non-stick tava and heat it as for making chappatis. Then pour 1 ladle full mixture on the tava like dosa/ chilla. Drop some oil/ghee on it. Cook on low flame. Then flip the pancake when done from that side and cook from the other side.

 

 

 

 

When done serve hot as it is or with any pickle.

 

 

Some ideas:

If you have sugar syrup of gulab jamuns, jalebis, rasgullas etc., you can use that too to make these pancakes.

 

Puff Pastry Twister

It is a bow shaped twister. When I was a child, my father often used to get these twisters from a nearby bakery shop.  I love eating them since then. We used to call them 'Turra-Murra' !  Now we have many varieties of this in the market. Today, I am making the most basic twisters.

 



Ingredients:
1. Puff Pastry dough -------------- 8" x 8" sheet
2. Oil -------------------------------- for greasing the tray
3. Ajwain --------------------------- 1 tsp
4. Salt ------------------------------- 1 tsp


Cut sheet into 2" x 4" pieces.

 

 

Roll the pieces a little. Twist them to form bow shape.

 

Grease the tray and then bake at 230 C for 15 minutes.

 

  

Your twisters are now ready.  Store them in an air tight container.

 

How to make Puff Pastry Dough

Puff  Pastry dough has many layers. These layers open up when the dough is baked. It is made by filling butter in the dough. Then folding the dough and rolling it. Repeating the rolling and folding process several times increases the overall number of layers. Its not very technical but requires patience.

We can use this dough to prepare many snacks like twister, patties, croissant etc.


Ingredients:

1. Plain flour (Maida) ------------------ 4 cups + flour for dusting
2. Butter --------------------------------- 1 1/2 cup
3. salt ------------------------------------ 1 tsp
4. Ghee (Calrified butter) ------------- 1 tbsp
5. lemon juice -------------------------- 1 tbsp
6. Water --------------------------------- to make dough


Take a deep breath and START......

Take flour in a bowl.

Add ghee, salt and lemon juice in the flour.

Make a dough with water. Dough should be like chapati dough. Rest the dough for 30 minutes.

 

 

Crush the butter and place it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

 

After 30 minutes knead the dough again. Use dry maida for dusting and roll the dough in 1/4" square and put the butter in the middle of the rolled dough.



 Now fold the dough as shown in the pictures.

 



 

 

Now roll the dough again slowly so that butter will not come outside. In case it does, dust some dry maida and roll it softly.

 

 

Fold it again in the same manner as before.

 

Now wrap the dough in the plastic sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Repeat this process 4-5 times. Now puff pastry dough is ready to use.

 

Now roll the dough again into 1/3" thick square sheet. Cut into required size pieces and use them.. :).

Or refrigerate them in a air tight container to be used later whenever needed.

 

Whenever you want to use the pastry dough take them from the fridge in advance.

 

Papri

Yummy papri is loved by all. We can eat papri as it or, add in bhel to make bhel puri or for papri chat. My daughters love to eat papri. Thats why I planned to make it today. I tried to make it little easy for the stomach by mixing wheat flour and maida in 1:2 ratio. Also added ajwain for good taste and digestion.

I took 2 cups of maida and 1 cup of wheat flour, 1 1/4 tsp salt and ajwain 1 tsp.

　

Take all the ingredients in a big bowl/parat.

Mix all the ingredients.

 

Make a well in the centre of the flour. Add 1 tbsp oil and moyan(rubbing the flour with both the hands to mix oil properly).

　

　
Add luke warm water to make dough. Dough should not be soft like chappati. Keep it little tight and knead well.

　

　
Make balls of 2" diameter and roll them into thin 7-8" diameter circles. After rolling prick them from a fork or knife, to prevent them from puffing while deep frying. But I didn't do so, as like the little puffed papris.

Take a small bowl/cookie cutter anything of desired size to cut papri from the rolled flour.

Heat the oil in a kadai and deep fry the papris on medium flame till golden brown.

　
Cool them and store in an airtight container to enjoy them longer as upto 15-20 days.


Ingredients:

Maida -------------------------------- 2 cups
Wheat flour(Atta)------------------- 1 cup
Ajwain ------------------------------- 1 tsp
Salt ----------------------------------- 1 1/4 tsp
Oil ------------------------------------ enough to fry
Water -------------------------------- to make dough


Method:

1. Take wheat flour, maida, Ajwain and salt. Mix them well.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour. Pour 1tbsp oil in it and moyan.
3. By adding luke warm water make not so soft dough. Knead the dough well.
4. Now make balls of the dough and roll them into thin chappatis and cut small papri circles with the help of cookie cutter or a bowl.
5. Now deep fry them to enjoy the crispy papris.

Marble Cake (Eggless)

A marble cake is a mixture of light and dark batter. I am making vanilla and chocolate cake. This is an eggless cake. Which I made for my daughter's 10th birthday.

Ingredients:

Maida ----------------------------- 1 1/2 cup
Curd ------------------------------ 1 cup
Sugar ----------------------------- 3/ cup
Baking soda --------------------- 1/2 tsp
Baking powder ------------------ 1 1/4 tsp
Cocoa Powder ------------------- 1/2 tbsp
Refined oil/ butter --------------- 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence ------------------ 1 tsp


First of all set your oven at 180 C to pre heat. And grease the baking container.

Take curd in a bowl and mix sugar in it, till it dissolves completly. Take powdered sugar as it will dissolve fast.

Measure baking powder and baking soda.

Add baking powder and baking soda in the curd.

Combine them. Bubbles will form. Leave the mixture for 3 mintues.

　

Measure Maida and sieve.

　

Add vanilla essence and vegetable oil or melted butter in the curd after it rests for 3 mintues.

Now add maida slowly in the curd and mix. There should be no lumps in the mixture.

Pour 1/2 mixture in the container.

Take 1/2 of the remaining mixture in the separate bowl.  Add 1/2 tbsp of cocoa powder in it and mix.

Now layer this brown (chocolate) mixture on the vanilla mixture in the container.

Then layer the remaining white (vanilla) mixture on it.

　
Bake for 35-40 minutes. Check either cake is fully baked or not by inserting a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean that means cake is baked or if not then bake for some more minutes. Then repeat the test. When done, remove from oven and let it cool for atleast 20 minutes before removing the cake from the container.
　
　

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven at 180C.

2. Take curd in a bowl and add sugar and mix well.

3. Add Baking powder and baking soda and mix. Bubbles will form. Leave the mixture for 3 mintues.

4. After 3 mins. add vanilla essence and vegetable oil or melted butter in the curd.
5. Now add maida in the mixture and make a batter.

6. Pour 1/2 mixture in the container.

7. Take 1/2 of the remaining mixture in the separate bowl. Add 1/2 tbsp of cocoa powder in it and mix.

8. Layer this brown mix on the vanilla layer of batter in the container.

9. Now layer the remaining batter.

10. Bake for 35-40 mintues.

11. Cool for atleast 20 minutes and then remove from container.