Ragi Dosa | Finger Millet pancake, Indian Style | Diabetic Diet ~ 101 Dosa Varieties!

When you plan for breakfasts in the morning, it becomes relatively easy to manage if you have ready to use Idly or Dosa batter on hand. My boys love to eat Dosa most days, while Konda is off the Dosa for a while, which is sad as she used to love Dosas so much. Anyway her fancy is anything with bread these days.

But one can't offer the same dosa every day of the week for the elders at home right. Moreover with the eating habits changed much, I sometimes have to pack Dosas for lunch or even Dinner. Then there are the times when I think I should reach my target of 101 Dosa Varieties and pester Amma to come out with some new proportions. It was one of those moments when Amma ended up trying out this instant Ragi Dosa and I must say it turned out very delicious.

By definition, we can call this instant as this batter need not be fermented after being ground. But Urad dal needs to be soaked and ground to a smooth batter. Normally any dosas made with flours like Wheat, Ragi, Jowar and others etc, are quite instant dosas. When you want to make crepes with these flours, you just have to blend into a smooth batter and make them right away. So Amma wanted to ferment overnight and see. Result was fantastic.

Moreover when you make like this, you can refrigerate the batter for couple of days if needed. Makes a great change from the regular one. And very healthy for a Diabetic Diet.

 

Ingredients Needed:

Ragi Flour - 1 & 1/2 cup
Urad Dal - 50 gms
Methi - 1/2 tsp

How to make Ragi Flour:

Wash and soak Urad dal for 5 hrs along with methi seeds. Then grind to a smooth paste. Blend the ragi flour with water and mix the ragi flour to the urad dal paste along with Salt.

Ferment overnight.

To make the Ragi Dosa:

Heat tawa, grease with oil. Spread a ladleful of batter and sprinkle oil over this. Cook on both sides.

Serve with chutney

Enjoy with chutney! Though I served with coconut chutney you could serve it with sambar or other healthy version of chutneys as coconut will not surely help..:)

Bottle Gourd Dosa | Sorakaya dosa ~ 101 Dosa Varieties

Of the many dosas I love, Adai always tops with special attention. Now it becomes really hard for me to decide which one I like more. Let's just say that I love all dosa varieties. Amma makes yummy Adais and this variation with bottle gourd is really very interesting as you get to include the vegetable in your dosas.

Adais are normally considered more healthier than the regular dosas as there is more lentil in Adais than in dosas. So I found this to be even more healthy as we included Sorakaya in it. You will not find it included at all as it gets ground in the batter. You can add as grated as such, but it might make it soggy, while grinding it along with batter made it more crispy.

Bottle Gourd Dosa | Sorakaya dosa

Raw Rice - 1 cup
boiled rice - 1 cup
Bengal, Urad, Toor - 1 cup
Dry Red chilis - 4 -5
Sorakkaya - 2 cups
Salt to taste

How to make Sorakaya dosa

Wash and soak all the lentil for 3 hrs. Then grind with dry red chilies. Once ground to a smooth paste, add grated bottle gourd and run once for it to mix well.

then remove and add cumin seeds and Hing.

Heat a tawa, grease with oil. Scoop a ladle of the batter and spread as you will do with a regular dosa.

Enjoy with chutney of your choice!

This can suit a diabetic diet when taken in moderation.

Garlic Chutney spread for Masala Dosa ~ 101 Dosa Varieties | How to make Garlic spread ~ Step By Step Recipe

 Since the time hubby dear changed his pattern of lunch and breakfast, I really have a serious problem of finding a chutney will that stay good till afternoon. I have already said chutney at home is always groundnut chutney. But if you don't make the chutney properly, there is a serious problem it getting spoilt. Earlier when we use to make chutney in those hand stones, the chutneys that are made with raw ingredients, stay good even till evening.

However, using the mixers or blenders makes the chutney spoil due to over heat from the motors. It meant I have to make a chutney that stays good, yet something that is not repeated everyday. I decided on tomato chutney and using various combination with it. I send mostly tomato or onion based chutneys, sometimes alter with coriander/ Mint chutneys.

I had this chutney for garlic paste that's used as an add on for Masala Dosa. I had to make it, so decided to make dosas for dinner. We always have standard menus at home, makes life really easy for me to plan well. So Saturday breakfast is always Ven pongal / Kara Pongal. In which case, we will have excess dosa batter that needs to be used up, as Sundays are always either Pooris / Appams. So I alter with either Dosa / Ragi Mudda for Friday night dinner.

Having decided as Dosa for night, I thought I had the perfect chance to try this garlic spread. I love garlic and so naturally this spread was very much liked.

I made Red Bell Pepper Tomato Chutney for the side. It was delicious to say the least!

Step By Step Picture Recipe

Before I get to the recipe, here's an easy way to quickly peel garlic from its skin,

Soak the garlic in water for a while and press it down on its head. It will easily shed its coat.

Garlic Chutney | Garlic dip | Garlic spread for Masala Dosa

Ingredients Needed:

Garlic - 2 whole pods (I used the all the garlic as shown in the picture) 

Urad Dal - 2 tsp 

Red Chili - 4 

Oil - 1 tsp 

Salt to taste

How to make Garlic Spread or Garlic Chutney

Soak the garlic in water for 5 mins, peel the skin.

Heat a non stick pan with 1 tsp oil. Chop the garlic and sauté in hot oil Simmer for 5 -7 mins, while you keep stirring in intervals. Roast till the garlic turns soft or brown. Remove to a plate.

Add urad dal to the pan, no need to add oil. Sauté well. When the urad dal starts browning, you can remove to the same plate.

Then add dry red chilies. Quickly saute in hot pan, if you notice there is no need to add oil for this also. Once it's browned on all sides, remove and allow it to cool.

Once all the ingredients reach room temperature, take them in a blender and add salt and blend to a smooth paste. If the mixer you use is not small enough to blend this to a smooth paste, you can add little oil to aid it.

Notes: If you are planning to preserve the spread for a day or so, it's advised not to add water. Else if you are planning to finish off the entire batch in one go, you may add some water to getting the smooth paste.

Once this is ready, proceed with spreading the dosa. When the dosa is cooked on both sides, spread 1 tsp of this spread on top and roll the dosa over to serve hot!

As optional you can add tamarind if you prefer.

Other Dosas in 101 Dosa Varieties
101 Dosa Varieties on Cooking 4 all Seasons

This goes for my Condiment Mela.

Update: Sending this to Herbs and Flowers - Garlic started by PJ and hosted by Vardhini @Zesty Palette


Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#8

Appam ~ 101 Dosa Varieties and Announcing Kid's Delight next theme

I love Appams, it was no wonder that I jumped in when Amma said she has another version of doing it. Making Appam has an added advantage as my kids love Appams along with Tomato Kurma. This version of Appam was the breakfast for Sunday and kids jumped with joy!

Coming to the Kid's Delight event, I am happy to announce that Priya Mahadevan is hosting the next edition of Kid's Delight, themed on an a very interesting one named as No Egg/No Butter, Ghee/No Sugar . Do check in her page and send her your creations.

Please check out the Round of Restaurant Recreations hosted by Champa.

Ingredients Needed:

Raw Rice - 2 cups
Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Coconut Water - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 tsp (opt)
Salt to taste
Cooking Soda - a pinch

Method to prepare:

Fermenting the Coconut Water

We normally add sugar to the coconut water for mild sweetness to the appams. You can avoid this if you want. This is done along the same time you soak your rice, about 4 -5 hrs.

Grinding the batter

Soak the rice for 4 -5 hrs and grind to smooth batter in a grinder.
To the batter add fresh Coconut milk to the batter.
Let it ferment overnight.

Just before making the appams, add soda.

Sending this to Priya for Kid's Delight, themed on No Egg/No Butter, Ghee/No Sugar .

Navaratna Onion Uttappam | Multi Grain Crepe with Onions ~ 101 Dosa Varieties | Diabetes Diet Food | Step By Step Recipe

I was thinking I should make it a habit to post Diabetes Diet regularly yet I go back not doing it. Still Athamma makes sure she plans for something herself. One of the main course we think about is breakfast as I always feel that is one meal that really boasts us through the day.

We tried out this tasty dosa with Navaratna meaning 9 different grains, though some were not in grain form. Being a Diabetes diet, it ought to cater lot more with the fiber, protein and other essential minerals plus have a low glycemic index. You can check the Glycemic Index of Different Foods that normally are used in our dishes.

For another version of dosas with multi lentils, check out Kadambam Dosa

Today is the last day for the Blogging Marathon Group 2, it was fun having so many bloggers joining me in this run.

Soak all the grains for nearly 12 hours.

Grind to a smooth paste and let it rest for 30 mins before making the dosa.

Heat a tawa and spread out as you regularly do for dosa

Top the Uttappam with finely chopped onions, coriander leaves

Once it gets cooked, flip over the other side, simmer till the onions are browned.

Navaratna Onion Uttappam.

Ingredients Needed

Soaking Time : 12+ hrs
Fermentation time : 30 mins
Preparation time for each : 5 mins

Chickpea / Kabuli Channa - 50 gms
Raw Peanut / Ground nuts - 50 gms
Urad dal - 50 gms
Dried Soya beans - 50 gms
Black eyed beans - 50 gms
Black Chickpea / Black Channa - 50 gms
Whole Moong Dal / Pesulu - 50 gms
Bansi Rava - 50 gms
Rice / Rice flour- 50 gms

Green chilis - 2 long
Ginger - 2"

For topping
Onions, finely chopped - 1 medium
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp

Method to prepare:

Wash and soak all grains together for over 12 hrs. Change the water if required in between. Grind to a smooth batter along with green chillies, ginger.

Allow it to rest for 30 mins.

Note: The amount of rice used is not more than what is prescribed for a diabetic. But if you want to avoid it completely, you can do so. The dosas/uttappams will turn out still soft and not very crispy. If you want to serve others at home a crispy one, add Rice flour instead of whole grains once you have the ground batter.

Heat a tawa, grease well and spread out the uttappam as you would regularly do. Top it with onions, cumin seeds and coriander leaves. Cook for couple of mins, then flip over the other side.

simmer to low and continue cooking till the onions are browned.

Serve with chutney of choice.

This is joining Supriya who is having a month long celebration of Dosa.


Group 2
30 Minutes Meals:Priya Mahadavan, Pavani,
Seven Days of Salad: lla, Divya Vikram,
For Ongoing 7 Events: Priya Suresh, Suma Gandlur, Harini,  
Kids Friendly: Vatsala, Jay, Kamalika
Seven Days of Rice: Veena Krishnakumar, Priya Vaasu, Padma Rekha,

Kanchipuram Dosa ~ 101 Dosa Varieties

Kanchipuram Idlis are my favorite, especially since Amma makes a special Kanchipuram Idli Podi for it. The spice powder that gets prepared for Kanchipuram Idlis are different from the regular podi she makes and that makes it all the more interesting one to make. When I had made this idli for Hubby dear the first time, he was so much taken in by that dish. Though the preparation time is no less than the usual idlis, it still made lot of difference to his liking as he normally doesn't like the plain, bland idlis he says. Though I can eat idlis all three times a day.

When I was discussing with Amma that I haven't taken up my 101 Dosa Varieties, she suggested this Kanchipuram dosa. I knew right away that this was another delicious version. I have no clue if this is a part of the Kanchipuram town or why this has that name. All I know is, we liked this a lot and Konda especially who doesn't like anything in her dosa, actually wanted those other items removed and given to her. She is still not got into the habit of eating onions or other ingredients added to Dosa batter.

Today is the final day for the Group 1 bloggers doing the Blogging Marathon. It has been another fantastic round. I will be doing another post to join the Group 2. I hope you all enjoyed as much as we did.

Kachipuram Dosa

Raw rice - 200 gms
Par Boiled Rice - 200 gms
Urad dal - 100 gms
Methi / Fenugreek Seeds  - - 1 tsp
Curds / Yogurt - 100 gms

Seasoning

This is done after it is fermented

Whole Peppercorns, broken into half. - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Bengal Gram - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves few leaves

Added as such

Onions - 1 medium
Green Chilies - 1 long


Method to prepare:

The batter
Wash and soak the rice along with methi for 2 - 3 hr, grind as you would do with the regular dosas

Once the batter is ground, mix in the curds to the batter and ferment overnight.

The Seasoning

Heat oil, saute all the whole spices, add to the batter. Add finely chopped onions and Green chilies as such

Heat a tawa, grease with oil. Spread out one ladle ful of batter as the regular dosa, Simmer, cover with a lid and don't flip over.

Serve with Chutney and Sambar

Kanchipuram Idlis

Kanchipuram Idli Podi

Check out 101 Dosa Varieties

The dosas are very soft and has a wonderful taste with the sour coming from the curds.

This is joining Supriya who is having a month long celebration of Dosa.


Check out the bloggers doing the Marathon along with me..
Group 1  
30 Minutes Meals: Gayathri Anand
Baked Goods: Monika,
For On Going Events: Gayathri Kumar, Usha  
Kids Friendly: PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Veena Aravind  and me
Rice Varieties: Champa, Divya, Padma

Group 2
30 Minutes Meals:Priya Mahadavan, Pavani,
Seven Days of Salad: lla, Divya Vikram,
For Ongoing 7 Events: Priya Suresh, Suma Gandlur, Harini,  
Kids Friendly: Vatsala, Jay, Kamalika
Seven Days of Rice: Veena Krishnakumar, Priya Vaasu, Padma Rekha,

Andhra Dosa - Attulu, Cone Dosa ~ 101 Dosa Varieties

I know what you are thinking, but then when I asked Amma if she knows of a specific Dosa preparation that's specific to Andhra, she gave me this proportion. She said most folks in Andhra or at least the people she knew used this combo for their Dosa preparation and call it as Attulu. Of course these days the term Dosa has become more common and not that many continue to use the other term. Whatever might be the case, when we prepared this proportion, the dosas came out really crisp.

Konda loves crispy dosas, most time will eat that crispy part as such without dipping into the side dishes. Well I guess that's just her excuse for not eating the chutney, though she claims otherwise. I love crispy dosas too and making it spread out as thin as possible was so exciting.

For the batter:

Raw Rice - 1 cup (100 gms)
Par Boiled Rice - 1 cup (100 gms)
Urad dal - 75 gms,
Bengal Gram - 1 tbsp
Methi / Fenugreek Seeds  - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Refer the Basic Plain Dosa for details on how you grind and make Dosas. These dosas came out very crispy.

Attulu from Andhra, aka Paper Roast from Tamil Nadu

I also made a cone dosa for Konda. After you spread and make the dosa, make a slit on one side, roll it towards one side so that you have a cone formed. Kids enjoy such shapes.

Basic Plain Dosa
Paper Roast Dosa


This is joining Supriya who is having a month long celebration of Dosa, given my love for Dosas, I am excited sending her this.
Check out the bloggers doing the Marathon along with me..
Group 1  
30 Minutes Meals: Gayathri Anand
Baked Goods: Monika,
For On Going Events: Gayathri Kumar, Usha  
Kids Friendly: PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Veena Aravind  and me
Rice Varieties: Champa, Divya, Padma

Group 2
30 Minutes Meals:Priya Mahadavan, Pavani,
Seven Days of Salad: lla, Divya Vikram,
For Ongoing 7 Events: Priya Suresh, Suma Gandlur, Harini,  
Kids Friendly: Vatsala, Jay, Kamalika
Seven Days of Rice: Veena Krishnakumar, Priya Vaasu, Padma Rekha,

Onion Podi Dosa, Karam Dosa ~ 101 Dosa Varieties!

It was a late afternoon in the summer of 98, when I was studying a course in computer. Along with my two friends we decided to eat at the neighboring hotel. Tiffin are quite common at all times but eating out was not so common then. I used to get my regular 100 Rs as pocket money. Amma has been giving me since I started college. Not that I spent much other than the petrol for the two wheeler.

Having decided to eat, I was apprehensive if parents would object to me eating out. We were never encouraged to eat out and we never even thought of doing something without their knowledge. But are there times as first always right. I think it was one of those firsts. Of course until much later, I never confessed to having indulged in a sinful feast on dosas back from institute.

I have always been fond of dosas, be at home or outside. So it was natural that I order a Dosa variety. Browsing through the menu card, my eyes kept going back to the Podi Dosa on the menu. Being so crazy of the podi that Amma makes and dosas in general, I was at lost imaging how yummy it was going to be. Believe me, the dosa that came finally to my table, kept to its fantasy!

It was beyond words can express my joy I felt devouring every bit of that dosa and couldn't get it out of my system for a long time. Imagine my misery, enjoying something so delicious, yet unable to share that joy with Amma as it was an illicit dealing..:)

Share I did, many years later. Still Amma was candid enough to ask where I had that. I had to gulp the details and just tell her how it was made. The long lost happiness finally came in when I was able to recreate the magic at home. Of course for all the flowing adulation I am bestowing on this, it is natural this type is a common fare at most homes, still it was something that had caught my attention. And if even after nearly a decade and half, if the mind feels the satiation, I am sure it was very delectable.
 

The trick lies on browning the onions to the right colour and then spreading the podi over it

I must say this most surely falls under the Bachelor feast as it is something one can do within minutes, provided if one can assemble the required ingredients in short time.

There is no ingredient at all.
 

Get yourself a bowl of Dosa batter.
Your dose of podi or Gun powder as it is called at our place
Finely chopped onions.
A dollop of ghee/Clarified butter

Heat a dosa pan, spread a ladle of batter as you regularly do, sprinkle chopped onions. Sprinkle oil on the sides
Once done, flip on the other side, allow it to cook. Simmer for couple of mins for the onions to get browned.
Flip it back to the original side. Sprinkle the podi/ spiced powder over the dosa, pour the ghee over it (the ghee should be hot for it to spread evenly)

Transfer and just eat!

Wasn't that quick? Believe me it is surely heaven on a plate!

Next one on the plate is a simple Karam Dosa, which is same as the Erra Karam Masala Dosa but even simpler!

Chop Onions finely, mix in Red Chili powder, salt to taste. Mix well

Pour of ladleful of Dosa Batter, spinkle a spoon of this Onion, Chili mix over the top. 

Flip onto the top side down for it to get cooked. Once done turn it back again.

This is different from the Erra Karam Dosa as that was ground, while this is even more quick!

Hope you enjoyed these simple yet very satisfying Dosa varieties!

Pesarattu with Yellow Moong dal | Ideas for Healthy Diet Lunch | Diet Program Updates

I am back with my weekly updates on the Diet program. I know I haven't been very strict with the diet the whole of last week. Well I had lot of excuses. With Athamma not being in town and no help with the household work, I was stressed beyond words. I needed energy to just move about or so I said to myself! This forced me to eat the regular food that was cooked.

Anyway I tried compensating at least one meal. Tough times won't last long, so here I am in a much better situation, being able to manage things to an extent. In fact I have gone back to my diet regime. The major dish that helped me in this aspect was the Goduma Dosa, when rolling out or even cooking those rotis sounded tough, these quick doses came as a big help.

If plain goduma dosa bores you, then spice it up by mixing in Green chili paste, or add vegetables or even onions would really help. When you are on diet there is no need to eat boring stuffs right.

So here is the plan, when rolling out Phulkas sound like a herculean task, try these Dosas with Wheat flour

1. Plain Goduma Dosa
2. Spiced Goduma Dosa with either Red chili powder or Green Chili paste
3. Vegetable Goduma Dosa
4. Goduma Uthapam with Onions.

Similarly you can make Dosas or Adais with Channa Dal/ Bengal Gram dal. Spilt Yellow Moong Dal.

The famous Andhra Pesarattu is made with Whole Moong Dal. When we don't add the rice flour, the dosas/ pesarattus comes out soft. But as a replacement for nutrition, it is really good.

With the Vada Pappu I offered as prasadam on Sri Rama Navami, I didn't want to make the salad with the whole lot. Instead ground it to make dosas for the lunch.

Pesara pappu Dosa / Pesarattu / Split Yellow Moong Dal Dosa

Yellow Split Moong Dal - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 -3 tsp
Cumin Seeds - for garnish
Onions (opt)
Grated Ginger (opt)

Method to prepare:

Wash and soak yellow moong dal for 30 - 40 mins. Drain and grind to a smooth paste. Add salt.

Heat a tawa and grease with oil.  Pour one ladleful of batter and spread as you would a regular dosa.

Sprinkle the cumin seeds, Onions and ginger if you are using on the top. Sprinkle little oil. Cook on medium flame to ensure it gets cooked well.

Then flip to the other side and cook again.

With one cup, you would get about 4 medium sized dosas.

Serve with Chutney or Dal.

Well I clicked a photo with groundnut chutney. But since I should not eat, I again took it with the Gongura Dal that I took for Lunch. I wouldn't say these were the best of combos, but then it was one healthy lunch. You can serve this with Sambar or other regular Dals.

How is everybody's diet going on?