Kadamba Dosai

      

Is there any South Indian who hates Dosa? Everybody loves it, easy to make and it is the most significant food of TamilNadu. Generally our dinners are Dosa/Chappati/Adai, but I wanted to make something special instead of plain dosa and Chutney/Sambhar (simply carbs and little amount of proteins).

So I started chopping all the veggies very fine and added them as toppings. To my surprise both the DDs didn’t reject them. My Parents and DH really enjoyed it, but couldn’t eat more than 3 or 4 dosas, because it is so heavy like Uthappam.

Ingredients:              

Onion ---------------------> 1 cup
Green Chilles -------------> 2
Broccoli -------------------> 1 cup
Zucchini -------------------> 1 cup
Cauliflower ---------------> 1 cup
Carrot ---------------------> 1 cup
BeetRoot ------------------> 1 cup (optional)
Cabbage ------------------> 1 cup
Tomato --------------------> 1
Sprouted Green Beans --> 1.5 cups
Cilantro ---------------------> ½ bunch
Salt -------------------------> A2Y taste

Procedure:                 

v  Finely chop all the veggies. Food Chopper(I have exactly this one) does the job in seconds. I chopped just the Tomato, and Cilantro using Knife.                

v  Mix all the veggies, Sprouted Green Beans, salt in a bowl                   

v  Make dosa in a dosa pan, spread the veggie mixture nicely on top of it; cover it with the lid             

v  After couple of minutes,  turn over the dosa and add oil around the dosa edges.                  

v  Serve with any kind of Chutney or Idli Sambhar                      

Delicious, Healthy Kadamba Dosa is ready for you!!!  Sprouted Green Beans also tasted ver good.
            
What Idea Bulb Says:           

ü  Make Dosa batter with Brown rice. I am doing it, my DM also does the same now
 

Multigrain/Sprouted Beans Adai

                      

The name might sound too healthy, believe me it will be too tasty also. For vegetarians, the general concern is protein intake. But we know beans, lentils, peas are also rich in protein besides milk. My DD don't like eating cooked beans or green peas. So I ended up making Adai with the available grains, lentils, peas and beans; It is even more healthier since I sprout them.             

                               

Ingredients:                      

Channa dhal---------------------> ¼ cup

Moong Dhal---------------------> ¼ cup

Kidney Beans--------------------> ¼ cup

Pinto Beans----------------------> ¼ cup

Black eye beans----------------> ¼ cup

Black beans----------------------> ¼ cup

Garbanzo beans----------------> ¼ cup

Quinao----------------------------> ¼ cup

Green Peas----------------------> ¼ cup

Yellow Peas---------------------> ¼ cup

Idli Rice/Parboiled Rice/

Brown Rice/Oats---------------> 1 cup Only Soaking, no sprouting(explained below)

Red Chillies *-------------------> 6

Garlic * --------------------------> 5 cloves

Ginger *--------------------------> 3 inch

Hing *----------------------------> 1 tsp

                               

Toppings                            

Onion-----------------------------> 1 cup finely chopped

Carrot----------------------------> 1 cup shredded

Cabbage-------------------------> 1 cup thinly cut

Zuchinni--------------------------> 1 cup thinly sliced and cut

Cilantro--------------------------> 2 cups

Procedure:                        

·         Soak all of the items overnight(except * marked items) and let it sprout.(Sprouting takes 2 or 3 days; but it is optional)                             

·         Grind everything in a mixie/food processor including chillies, garlic, ginger, hing and salt     to make a paste.               

·         Add Carrot, cabbage, Onions, Cilantro, Zuchhini too the paste and mix well               

·         Let the batter be little thick; not too watery like dosa batter.                      

·         Make little Adais in dosa pan.                    

·         Serve it hot with Avial                   

                               

My DD likes eating Adai with the mixture of Ghee/butter & Raw sugar.                 

                               

Ideas:                   

ü  Other healthier options of including grains like Wheat, Barley(high in fiber), Rye, Oats, Millet require overnight soaking                

ü  If you are going to use Oats, no need to soak it; just dry grind it to make a powder and add it directly to the batter.

ü  Instead of vegetable Toppings, Drum stick leaves / Green Onions(Chopped) can also be added.               

ü  Make the Adai with the available beans & grains; skip the ones u don’t have.     

                                 

Quinoa Pongal

        

I went to my Dear Uncle, Aunty's place in CA for Christmas Holidays. I have to tell few words about my uncle. He is a super duper healthy person and he inspires me in many aspects. Every day at 7:00 AM he makes vegetable+fruit smoothies and gives it to all of us.

Quinao is his latest favorite and he used it left & right in almost all the dishes. To my surprise he made Pongal and my Maami made Walnut Chutney for breakfast.  Needless to say, it was yummy and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Quinao is rich in high protein than any other grain and has more fiber too. There is no hard & fast rules to use Quinao, juz use it in all of rice dishes instead of rice to avoid excess carbs & sugar. Even I grinded it with my multi-grain 'Adai'.                            

Quinao needs to be washed 2 or 3 times by rubbing the seeds together before cooking.                              

                               

Ingredients:                      

Quinao---------------------> 1 cup

Moong dhal---------------> ½  cup

Black Pepper--------------> 1 tsp

Cumin Seeds--------------> ½ tsp

Mustard seeds------------> ½ tsp

Procedure:                        

·         Pressure Cook Quinao & Moong Dhal + Salt with 3.5 cups of water                          

·         Dry roast Black Pepper and Crush them                

·         Do the seasoning with mustard seeds, jeera & curry leaves.                       

·         Pour the seasoning over Quinao & add the Black Pepper- Jeera mixture                               

·         Serve with Walnut Chutney                       

                               

Ideas:                   

ü  For more crunchy texture, dry roast Quinoa before cooking.      

ü  1:2 is the ratio for cooking Quinoa

Walnut - Celery Chutney

Though Celery is a boring vegetable for your taste bud, it is healthy for your body because of its vitamins & minerals.                      

Walnut & Celery combination helps in lowering Cholesterol & blood pressure.                   

I use Celery in my Minestrone soup & Whole Lentil Dhal. After using it in the soup, I had still more than 1/2 a bunch of Celery and I was supposed to make Walnut Chutney for a Party.                              

Well.. Y don't I try using it in my Chutney. Let’s see how it works out                      

Ingredients: 

Walnuts------------------->2 cups

Celery--------------------->1/2 bunch chopped into chunks

Onion --------------------->1 Sliced

Tomato-------------------->2 Sliced

Green Chilli--------------->10 (A2Y spice bud)

Ginger--------------------->4 inch

Garlic---------------------->3 (Optional)

Cilantro------------------->1 bunch

Salt------------------------->As desired

Olive Oil------------------->5 tsp

              

Method:                 

·         Make powder out of Walnuts in Pulse mode (of Mixie) and keep it aside                             

·         Heat oil in a pan, add chunks of Celery and fry until it is cooked.                

·         If you don't like the raw smell of Onions & Tomatoes, add those also along with Celery.                

·         When it is cool, grind it with rest of the ingredients                         

·         Now add the powdered Walnut, sometimes because of the oil it might turn as hard butter instead of powder.                 

·         If the chutney is for Idly or Dosai, water can be added.; otherwise grind everything to make 'Thovaiyal'

               Gothumai Dosai with Walnut - Celery Chutney:

Walnut Chutney

Many of us wonder what do with Walnuts other than using it in Trail mix or Cereals. It doesn’t taste that great if eaten alone, but I like it though.
This is my all time favorite and it goes well with rice as 'Thovaiyal' or as Chutney for Idli, Dosai. It is so simple and easy. I got this receipe from my dear Aunty & Uncle living in California. 

Ingredients

Walnuts------------------->2 cups

Onion --------------------->1/2 Sliced

Tomato-------------------->2

Green Chilli--------------->6

Ginger--------------------->2 inch

Garlic---------------------->2 (Optional)

Cilantro------------------->Half bunch

Salt------------------------->As desired

Olive Oil------------------->4 tsp

Method:                               

·         Make powder out of Walnuts in Pulse mode (of Mixie) and keep it aside                             

·         Grind rest of the ingredients to make a paste                    

·         Now add the powdered Walnut , sometimes because of the oil it might turn as hard butter instead of powder.                

·         If the chutney is for Idly or Dosai, water can be added; otherwise grind everything to make 'Thovaiyal'                  

You don't believe, it will be very delicious, much similar to coconut chutney.            

                               

Another variation could be fry the Onions, Tomatoes, Green chillies if you don't like the raw smell