Multigrain Zucchini paddu - Eat & stay healthy

Last Summer when I was in India (Ooh that tells me it is already over a year since I have been to India:-(), my personal limit is 2 years between visits and I start becoming all touchy after that. I am digressing, so let me postpone my India visit related rants to another day and get back to where I started. As I have told you before, my BIL is a foodie and a big time enthusiastic cook and he made these yummy, no soak, no grind paddus for us for one of the breakfasts. I love the concept of Paddus and I frequently make these cutesy items from my regular Dosa batter. So, as always I followed him to the kitchen to figure out the ingredients that made the delicious Paddus. He had used wheat flour, rava and a little bit of rice flour with lotsa grated cucumber. I came back to my kitchen and recreated it and my family loved the new recipe.

But then, it was around the time I was looking for healthier alternatives and Oats had become a staple in my pantry. I honestly don't relish the Oats porridge but then that is because I am not a person who can eat sweets for breakfast. So Oats found its way into many savory items in my kitchen and I really like the added texture it imparts to the instant Dosas. So I made certain changes to BIL's recipe - in goes the oats, I didn't replace the rava from the original recipe as it adds crunch. And since Zucchini takes to cooking better than regular cucumbers and also because I love the flavor of Zucchinis, I replaced cucumbers with these all purpose squashes.

As I said before, I don't yet have a full bounty kitchen garden but I got some good harvest done before the frost sets in. On that note everything around me is changing colors (I meant the nature) and I am falling in love once more with the beautiful Autumn. Does that happen to you? I loved the Summer very much and now I am starting to love the Autumn, not very faithful, huh :-). Anyways, before leaves change colors completely and fall off, there is still some Summer left in the late blooming Squashes and Zucchinis. I love Zucchinis for their flavor at the same time this vegetable has such a non-egoistic nature and blends into almost anything without making a fuss. So until the market starts to flood with Fall gourds of all shapes, sizes and colors, I am enjoying my Zucchinis.

I started Zucchini plants from seeds this year and as is the gardening norm, one plant grew and survived out of the many seeds I planted. While I was trying to decide if it was indeed a zucchini or a pumpkin looking at the bright yellow flower, one of the flowers quietly morphed itself into a bulb and kept growing longer and greener :-). Although it was not the Supermarket standard good looking, perfect dimensioned zucchini, our garden beauty was in no way inferior to those on the shelves in taste. We cut it this past weekend and there was unanimous voting for making the instant Paddus.

Paddu is called Guntapongalu in the Mysore region and Ponganalu in certain parts of Andhra Pradesh. I use the word 'Paddu' generically as we don't like tongue twisters in our multi language family :-). I make different kinds of paddus with different garnishes (see notes below for ideas) using different bases. Here is a delicious and completely healthy Paddu that can be made without any headache of soak/grind. Do not fret about the taste at all, and for those skeptics here is a testimony from my self declared 'Oats hater' FIL that he can give his mandatory rice a skip when these Paddus are on the menu :-). The first time I made after they landed here, I didn't tell him what was in it until the next day just to make sure I won't be hearing any 'my stomach is not all right today' as an excuse to eliminate the dreaded Oats from his diet.

What do you need to make Multigrain Zucchini Paddu? 
Makes about 30 Paddus
2 cups oats
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup chiroti rava or super fine rava
1 Tblsp rice flour
1 Tsp basan/gram flour
2 cups packed zucchini gratings
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 green chili - chopped into small pieces
1/4 Tsp fresh ground black pepper powder
4-5 twigs of cilantro - finely chopped
1/4 cup chanadal - soaked for 45 minutes in water
1X1 inch piece of ginger - peeled and finely chopped
1/2 Tsp baking soda
1-2 Tblsp oil to roast the paddus

How do you make Multigrain Zucchini Paddu? 

• Run the oats in your blender and make a fine powder of it. 
• Take a wide bowl, add all the ingredients listed above except for the baking soda and oil. Mix into a soft batter. 
• If you are making the Paddus immediately, add the baking soda and mix it in. Do not leave the batter for more than an hour after mixing the baking soda as it tends to collapse the Paddus into soft balls. 

• Heat your Paddu pan/Ebelskiver pan on medium heat, drizzle drops of oil into the holes. 
• Drop a spoon of the batter into the holes, cover and cook for 2 minutes or until the bottom of the Paddu turns light brown. 

• Flip the Paddus over, drizzle drops of oil on top and let cook uncovered for another 2 minutes until the second side turns is cooked. 

• Server hot or warm with any chutney or sambar. We had ours with spicy maagaya pachadi.

Paddu Dressing up suggestions: 

• I usually add a 1/4 cup of small coconut pieces to the batter. 
• Make a seasoning with 1 Tsp oil, 1 Tsp mustard, a pinch of asafoetida, 1/4 Tsp red chili powder and pour it into the batter. 
• Add chopped curry leaves instead of cilantro for a different flavor. 

Notes:

• Go ahead and use regular cucumbers if you can get zucchini or if you like that taste, remember that is how I tasted this first and loved it. 
• I sometimes add a 1/4 cup of yogurt to make the batter lighter and also to give a tangy taste to the paddus. 
• Addition of baking soda makes for a lighter Paddu as you have 2 dense flours in this recipe (wheat flour and oats powder).
• You can increase/decrease or skip the garnishings above per your taste.
• Heat the Paddu pan before dropping the batter into it (if you spray a drop of water on the pan, it should sizzle to indicate the pan is ready)
• This batter is slightly gooey given that it has wheat flour and oats, the resulting paddus are softer unlike the traditional Dosa batter paddus.

Godhi(Wheat flour) dosa and peanut chutney - delectably addictive combination

Do you all agree marriages expand horizons including those of culinary kind? When families come together as part of a marriage, there is so much sharing that goes on. I got to taste the Godhi dosa for the first time after my sister got married, it was a very common dinner item at her in-laws place that it actually had a name - 'GoDoKaCha', one of my BIL's smart commentaries :-). GoDoKaCha is an acronym derived from Go(Godhi/Wheat), Do(Dosa), Ka(Kadlekayi/peanuts) and Cha(Chatney). I remember all of us gaping when my BIL and his siblings decided to make GoDoKaCha for dinner one day and only realized the delicious combination when we sat down for dinner. Akka's FIL used to eat cooked greens (mostly spinach)with this as a side and I am hooked to that combination as well. Though I don't cook spinach every time, Godhi Dosa and peanut Chutney is a standard combination in my kitchen. Both are easy and quick to fix and delicious when eaten together.

As you might tell, I favor thin dosas (not necessarily crisp but just thin) so all my dosa pictures usually show a thin dosa. I will have some notes to make thicker dosas and you can follow these pointers if that is your preference. Godhi dosa typically turns out soft just because of the wheat flour in it unless you roast it with a lot of oil.

I consider Godhi dosa a very good and easy alternative to chapatis/rotis. If you are a beginner and looking for a healthy, sumptuous meal, this is for you. This does not need any fermentation and you can expand the basic batter with any flavor with only your creativity to limit/set boundaries. It doesn't have to be accompanied by the peanut chutney but I am sure you will be hooked once you try the combination :-). DD is so addicted to this combination that she will make an instant chutney with the peanut powder I always keep in stock if we are too tired to make fresh chutney, another time on the instant chutney perhaps?

What do you need to make Godhi dosa? 
Makes about 4-5 regular size dosas
1 cup whole wheat flour/regular chapati flour
1 Tsp rice flour
2.5 cups water
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp mustard seeds
1/2 Tsp red chili powder (optional but recommended)
1 Tblsp finely chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
1-2 Tsp oil to fry dosa

How do you make Godhi Dosa? 

• Take a big vessel, add all the ingredients except for water and mix them well. 
• Add water slowly into the vessel and mix into a batter of pouring consistency without any lumps.

• Heat a dosa pan/griddle on medium high. 
• Pour a ladle of batter and move it quickly into a circle (thickness depends on your preference). I usually do not work it a lot but let the batter find its way and just do a gentle move of the pan.

• Drizzle a couple of drops of oil around the dosa, let it cook for a minute before flipping it over with a spatula.

 

• Let the other side cook for 30-45 seconds. 

• Serve it hot off the griddle with peanut chutney (<Grin>, ok I will give you a break, you can eat this dosa with any other chutney of your choice)

 

• Repeat for the remaining batter and enjoy the hot Dosas.

What do you need to make peanut chutney?
The below ingredients make a slightly spicy, tangy and sweetish peanut chutney. Adjust the spices to suit your palate. 
1 cup peanuts
3-4 dry red chilies (adjust to taste)
Small piece of tamarind or 1/2 Tsp tamarind concentrate
1/2 Tsp cumin seeds
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tsp crushed jaggery or brown sugar
2 cups water
Seasoning: 
1 Tsp oil
1/2 Tsp mustard
1/2 Tsp cumin (optional)
1/4 Tsp Asafoetida powder

How do you make peanut chutney? 

• Roast the peanuts well until the raw smell disappears (you can do either the stove top or the microwave method), keep aside.
• Roast the red chilies for a minute in the hot pan, switch off and add the tamarind and cumin seeds. 
• Let the ingredients cool off before taking them to the blender with salt and jaggery. 
• Grind into a smooth paste with water.
• Heat the oil, add ingredients under seasoning, let the mustard crackle before adding the sizzling seasoning into the chutney. 

Notes: 

• Some suggestions for making Godhi dosa more interesting - Add cumin, ajwain, finely chopped green chilies, curry leaves or onions, any combination or each on its own will provide a different flavor. 
• Notice that I have added raw mustard, it will get cooked on the hot pan along with the dosa and you get a nice crunchy bite and flavor when you eat it. 
• I do not cover the Godhi dosa while it is cooking, this along with the oil drops helps it develop some crispy parts which I love. 
• If you prefer soft dosas, cover the pan with a lid after you drizzle oil and let it cook for a minute before turning it over. The moisture that forms inside the cover helps the dosa to become soft. 
• Peanuts can be roasted in microwave by spreading them a wide MW safe dish, you will need to try out the timings on your device as it depends on the power settings. Mine usually takes 4 MW runs of 3-2-1-1 minute. 
• I add the tamarind to the hot pan so it softens up a little and will be kinder to the blender :-)
• Cumin gets roasted very quickly, add it only after you switch the stove off and it will be just done right.

Sweet potato rotis - soft Indian bread with sweet potatoes

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Everyone becomes creative in the face of need. This roti is one such recipe from BH's consulting days. I am sure many of you have been or are currently in the same boat with a spouse travelling on work. Eating out may sound fancy but definitely has its health deterrents, especially if you have to do it long term. In the initial days, when I wasn't used to quick cooking and needed time to plan and execute, my cooking was limited to 2-3 times a week. A large scale cooking on Sunday afternoon (some 2-3 curries and rotis/parathas) with idli or dose hittu (batter) ready for the week, supplemented by a mid week cooking on Wednesday or Thursday :-). It was a great confidence booster to come back home after work with a hungry toddler in tow and find something readily available in the refrigerator. I am older, wiser and can cook faster now so I don't do bulk cooking anymore and we sit down for a family dinner most evenings.

But back in the days when BH was travelling, he would be gone most of the week days. While he used to have lunch with colleagues, he preferred to have something light at his hotel room at night. I used to be constantly on the look out for recipes that were healthy, wholesome and had longer shelf life. We both prefer rotis to rice and curries just because of the reduced mess in eating. BH is a totally non fussy eater so pleasing him through food is a no brainer. While stuffed parathas not only taste great but also stay soft, it requires additional work preparing the stuffing. Instead you can get the same delicious (Well, almost :-)) rotis by adding the ingredients into the dough.

I usually get my brand of whole wheat flour for making rotis. Nammamma in the days when she sent cleaned wheat grains to the flour mill would also add moong dal to make rotis nutritious, that is my mom's concept of multi grain flour long before the super market isles exploded with them.

Today's roti is a tried and tested recipe with two key ingredients. Both add to the taste and nutrition value of these rotis. I won't bore you with a wiki like sermon on the nutritional benefits, a quick look up on the all powerful, all invasive internet will give you what you are looking for (and much more of what you are not looking for also). I have added flax seeds powder  - you can get this as flax seeds meal in super markets or just powder flax seeds in a dry blender and add it while mixing the dough.

What do you need to make sweet potato rotis? 
1 big sweet potato (I used the white colored, you can use the pink or red ones)
2 cups whole wheat flour + 1Tblsp for dusting
2 Tblsp milled flax seeds or powdered flax seeds
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 green chili - chopped fine (optional)
2-3 twigs fresh cilantro - chopped fine

How do you make sweet potato rotis? 

• Trim the ends of sweet potato, cut into 4-5 pieces and boil it in microwave or pressure cooker until soft.
• Once the boiled sweet potatoes cool down, peel the skin and mash it into a paste.
• Add chopped cilantro and green chilies (if using) along with salt and mix well. 

• Add the wheat flour and flax seeds powder and mix it into a soft dough. You will not need water as the boiled potatoes generate enough water content.
• Knead for 1-2 minutes and let the dough rest for 20 minutes. 

• Pinch off golf ball sized dough, shape it into a ball and roll it into a circular roti dusting as needed with dry wheat flour.
• Heat a flat griddle and roast the roti on both sides until it is cooked and light brown spots appear. 

• Enjoy warm, soft rotis with any pickle or chutney and a side of buttermilk or yogurt.

Notes: 

• I did not use oil while roasting, you can if you prefer.
• I sometimes add a Tsp of white sesame seeds into the dough which is optional. 
• The dough tends to become softer as you let it rest, take that into account as you do not want a very sticky dough on hand. 
• Based on the quality of sweet potato, sometimes the prepared dough tends to get sticky, add dry wheat flour if needed and knead for a couple of minutes before you roll into rotis.