Spinach -Tamarind pachadi and some random chat about stereotypes

Spring has made its way surely and steadily. I don't want to jinx it but except for the big storm in Jan, winter overall has been kind to everyone and especially moderate to us. Our Camalias think it is totally safe for them to bloom and for their sake, I hope temperature just continues to rise up and not make a nose dive. Here is one gorgeous bloom from my front yard, just fills my day with happiness as I look at the entire plant come alive with these tender beauties all over. As far as my tropical plants in pots, I will wait another month and half before bringing them out to the deck. Hope everyone is enjoying the weather they have!

Buoyed by the beautiful surroundings, I made a more than the normal weekend lunch today. Here is how our lunch plates looked :-) and it was delicious. Before you get ideas, this is not the norm, just an exception. We are happy eating a one pot meal most weekends and in bowls without bothering to set a plate out. The fire roasted papad was a perfect cherry on top for the traditional lunch thali. 

Yesterday was one of those Saturdays when both BH & I didn't feel like going out. Talked to DD online for a while during the day when she had time and we both decided to stay home, warm and cozy infront of the big screen. As we were browsing for something that would keep both of us engaged, I happened to notice this movie called 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha' on Netflix. I am glad we ended up watching that movie. It reinforced the fact that many people have been thinking about how we stereo type and categorize everything in the world. For one, it was a very cute and refreshing movie and both the lead roles have delivered good performances. I am not a movie critic by any standards but thought the plot was definitely praise worthy especially in the times where we all seem to adore heroines that perfectly fit the stereotype and can slip into size 0 outfits effortlessly. I have nothing against slim or non-slim women but it enrages me to think that our movies have been misleading an entire generation of women to lose their self worth just because of how they look. 

Though the plus sized heroine is the focus in the movie, the story also deals well with the frustrations of the un(der)educated husband and the world surrounding them which includes a show off friend who happens to have a slim and beautiful wife, a lower middle class family and parents who go hunting for an educated daughter in law that will earn and bring supplemental income to the household. I am sure the movie could have been morose or taken a totally different tone for addressing the story but this one has a lively and funny treatment all through. And the best part is that the hero & heroine fall in love despite the fact she doesn't transform into a physically stunning goddess by the end of the movie and stays firm on her plus size :-). I thought it was well worth a watch and something to be proud of for breaking the stereotypes. I recommend the movie to all like minded people :-)

'Breaking of stereotypes' talk reminds me of another story making the rounds in facebook recently about an Indian designer finding her model in a house maid. I saw some pictures attached to the story and thought it was pretty impressive that she transformed a girl who was absolutely unaware of the fashion world into a confident model that sat and posed with her designer wear, pretty cool, ha? I don't know how things will turn out for this accidental model but wish both her and the designer a good future.

Ok, I know many of you come here to check out the tasty, mouth watering recipes and are not really as interested in my commentary about a movie I liked, so let me take you to today's recipe showcase. This has got nothing to do with breaking stereotypes by the way and I am here with a very traditional, age old recipe from South India that I was reminded of in my favorite cook book '660 curries'. He calls it 'puli itta keerai' due to his Tamilian background but this is also known as palak pachadi or palak chutney in other parts of South India. It is a totally no-fuss dish that not only adds color to your plate but a lot of nutrients and taste too.

One of my friends recently posted a picture of an omelette she made and said she had her quota of greens for the day because of the amount of cilantro she put in it :-), quite sneaky, right? I called it 'cheating'. If you are looking for a tasty recipe that also gets in a good load of the mighty spinach into your body, here is one for you. The slow roasted and ground urad dal adds a lot of flavor to the dish. Go ahead and try this recipe that uses the usual ingredients found in any staple Indian pantry.

I may watch a little bit of Oscars tonight, how about you? Any favorites? Talk to you again next week.

What do you need to make Palak tamarind pachadi? 
3 packed cups of roughly chopped spinach/palak leaves
2 Tbsp shredded coconut
1.5 Tbsp oil - divided use
1/2 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
To roast: 
2 Tsp urad dal
1 Tsp chana dal
1/8 Tsp fenugreek seeds
2 green chilies
2 dry red chilies
2 1-inch pieces of tamarind
Seasoning: 
1/2 Tsp mustard
1/2 Tsp urad dal
pinch of asafoetida

How do you make Palak pachadi? 

• Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a pan (use a big pan and you can reuse it to saute spinach leaves too).
• Lower the heat to medium, add all the ingredients listed under 'To roast', chop or slit green chilies to avoid them popping out. 
• Stirring frequently, roast the dals until they turn golden red and lose all their raw smell and taste, about 3 minutes.
• Take out the dals onto a plate and let them cool. 

• In the same pan (I told you to take a big one :-)), add the chopped spinach leaves and saute them for 3-5 minutes until the leaves wilt and become pulpy. 
• Switch off and let cool. 

• Take the roasted dals, chilies and shredded coconut in a blender, add salt and blend it to a coarse paste without any water. 
• Once the ingredients come together but you can still feel the texture of dals, add the sauteed & cooled spinach to the blender and give a couple of quick pulses to bring everything together. Make sure you do not puree the mixture. 

• Take it out into a bowl. 
• Heat the remaining oil, add the ingredients listed under 'seasoning' and let mustard pop. 
• Add the seasoning to the pachadi and give it a mix. 
• Serve it with hot rice and a drop of ghee (or millet like I did) or with roti/chapati. 

Notes: 

• Roasting the dals on a low flame is key to this recipe. Urad dal when not fried sufficiently tends to be sticky on grinding and also has a raw smell which is a no-no in a pachadi. So take time to roast them well. 
• The pachadi is slightly chunky and spinach does not get pureed. 
• Add chilies and tamarind to balance the blandness of spinach, the pachadi needs to be a little spicy and tangy for it to taste best. 
• Don't add salt to the spinach while sauteeing, it increases the amount of water that comes from the greens, add it to the blender while blending. 
• The sauteed spinach has enough moisture to make the chutney, do not add water to this.

Mulangi(radish) chutney - a very 'I am grateful' Thanksgiving and some

Going by the title of this post, you can guess the time origin of this post. I started writing this last week sometime when I finally emerged out of the food coma and the shopping mania induced by Thanksgiving:-) but then it took this long for the post to actually see the light of the day(err on the blog I mean). So if you would, please switch your mindset to a little over a week ago as I talk about the Thanksgiving we had this year or jump straight to this ever green chutney. This is a one of a kind chutney, unique for me as it is sans coconut (my usual theme and suspect when it comes to chutneys :-)), a medley of a couple different flavors I have tasted and enjoyed over the years, a quick fix for cravings and definitely not without health benefits.

Ah, we finished our Thanksgiving too this year and already looking forward to the Holiday season as the year draws to an end. Really, where does time fly?? DD came home for 4 days and was in a cycle of food, sleep and homework while the parents were bursting with happiness to have the little one home. Someone asked me last week if she has changed, is all grown up and responsible and I had no fitting answer because she has always been responsible and a little grown up for her age at every age. Oh well, I know it is just the mommy speak :-). We also had a cousin and family join us for our traditional vegetarian Thanksgiving making the lunch all the more festive as everyone enjoyed the stuffed masala dose, corn bread, cranberry relish, some brown rice flour shavige and dahi vade. We rounded off the festive lunch (and the belly) with gulab jamoons, ice cream and some 'imported from India' kaayi obbattu (coconut obbattu - stay with me here until I am able to explain what obbattu is :-), definitely not stuffed sweet paratha which is a description totally lacking in imagination and doesn't do any justice to the dish).

Remind me about the brown rice flour shavige and I will talk about it in detail another time. For the purposes of this post, suffice to say that I brought home a bag of brown rice flour from the store and ended up making shavige with it. All I can say is it is DELICIOUS and tastes so much more wholesome than the one made with white rice flour. If you are ok with the un-fanciful reddish color and can adjust your mental model to forget the white, angel hair shavige that is traditionally made, you will be treated to a wonderfully healthier version of the dish with this flour. Try it out sometime.

For the last couple of years retailers are trying to be more and more innovative in enticing poor, hapless consumers to the stores as soon as the weather cools down. Marketing and advertising have changed so much trying to retain customers and make them spend during this season. The black Friday mania got extended to Cyber Mondays keeping abreast of the changing patterns of shopping. There are even 'almost Black Friday deals' starting from the beginning of November. For the last year or so, black Fridays are spilling forward into the Thanksgiving Thursdays with sales starting from 6pm. I couldn't have imagined going shopping after a meal like what I described above and trying to find things in that chaos that underlines everything about thanksgiving shopping. I guess we (human beings) are very adaptive and morph with the times.

Since DD was heading back that weekend, we wanted to do some shopping before she left. Here is a confession, I am not a shopper, when it comes to buying anything other than groceries, I become lazy, disorganized and everything that contradicts my true nature. I know, I know, it is even shameful to admit I don't relish shopping for clothes, shoes and such. My sister knows this very well about me and doesn't bother asking me out for shopping. The kiddo is a much better and smarter shopper than I am in this department and I am glad to hand over the reigns to her:-). She loves shopping back in India with 2 of her doddammas (aunts) who love to take her out and doesn't mind anymore if I feign jet lag or general tiredness.

Anyways, off we went to keep the tradition (of holiday shopping) alive and with true consumerism in our hearts on the evening of Thursday and were transported into that wonderful world of glittering, glamorous, colorful materialism :-). But then the break through happened, I just didn't feel the need to buy anything, I walked from the kitchen department to the clothes and everything in between but just didn't pick up a single item. Stood in the line while DD was shopping for her stuff and was glad to be of service :-). It was so liberating to not feel the need or even the over whelming 'want' to buy things. BH says it is a sure sign of old age, while I don't agree with him on that topic, I am glad I was able to just walk around and be extremely thankful to the life I have and the family and friends that make it as beautiful as it is. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

If I were to take a vote by a show of hands as to how many people enjoyed eating radishes, I am sure I can guess the outcome in any conceivable sampling except if the sample set was made of bunny rabbits :-). I know it is not a very popular vegetable but BH and I really love radishes. I find both raw and the cooked form of this veggie to be pleasing and appetizing, I just don't advocate carrying it in lunch boxes for the smell some people may find offending. We eat radishes in salads, raita, gojju etc frequently and have always looked for new recipes where radishes can be used.

Peanut chutney is another favorite at home especially with DD and BH and I personally find it a little too heavy on the stomach with an overload of peanuts. Enter radish chutney aka mulangi chutney which combines 2 loved ingredients and brings a well mashed chutney recipe using some of Andhra's usual chutney suspects - result is this light, lip smacking, tangy, spicy chutney with the goodness of radishes that can be eaten with all things ranging from dosa, idli, chapati, paratha, rotti and even tastes great mixed with steamed rice.

I use the regular diakon radishes or the white, long radishes for this recipe as they have a more robust (almost pungent) flavor compared to the round, red radishes. Peanuts are just to give body to the chutney and hence don't over do it unless you want to end up with peanut chutney laced with radishes :-). The tang from tamarind, flavors from roasted mustard and fenugreek are tell tale Andhra chutney indicators. I love to add turmeric powder for the color it gives the chutney. If you mix it with the right amount of cilantro, the final product will have a very pleasing greenish yellow or yellowish green imparted to the chutney. So there is quite a bit of free hand possible that you can do your own magic with the basic recipe but try it for sure and you will glad you added another coconut-free chutney to your repertoire.

What do you need to make Mulangi chutney? 
1 medium sized radish (2 cups of thinly sliced pieces)
1/4 cup peanuts
4-6 green chilies (adjust to taste)
1/2 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1.5 Tbsp oil
1/4 Tsp turmeric powder
2-3 curry leaves (optional, can be skipped)
1/2 Tsp mustard
1/4 Tsp fenugreek seeds
small keylime size tamarind
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro (optional, recommended for flavor and color)
pinch of asafoetida
Seasoning:
1 Tsp oil
1/2 Tsp mustard
1-2 pieces dry red chilies
1/8 Tsp fenugreek (optional)

How do you make mulangi chutney? 

• Wash, remove ends of radish and peel. 
• Chop into thin pieces, I cut the radish vertically into quarters and then slice them. 
• Dry roast peanuts in a heavy bottom pan for 5-6 minutes or until they change color and just start to pop. Keep stirring in between to avoid burning. 
• Take aside to a plate and let cool. 
• Add 1/2 Tbsp oil in the pan, add mustard, fenugreek seeds, green chilies and curry leaves. 

• Roast until mustard pops and the chilies develop blisters on them. Add tamarind, stir once and take it out on to the plate with peanuts. 
• Add the remaining tbsp oil and add the radish pieces and turmeric powder. Stir once so turmeric coats the pieces, add salt and asafoetida, cover and let cook for 4-5 minutes on low heat. 
• The time it takes to cook the radish is dependent on how thick the pieces are and the heat you have on the stove. Thinner pieces aid in cooking faster. 
• Once radish is soft and cooked, add chopped cilantro and switch off and let cool. 
• In your blender jar, add peanuts and the remaining roasted spices and grind it dry(without water) until peanuts break down. 

• Add the cooled radish and give it one or two pulses so it makes a coarse paste. You will not need additional water to make this chutney. 
• Heat the oil for seasoning, add mustard and fenugreek if using. Let mustard pop. Add dry red chilies and curry leaves. Switch off. 
• Pour the seasoning on top of chutney and serve it. 

Notes: 

• You can make this chutney high on mustard or fenugreek in addition to radish based on your preference, I like fenugreek :-)
• Due to the moisture in radish, you don't need to use water in grinding, keep it separate and dry grind the rest of the ingredients. 
• Turmeric powder gives a pretty hue to the chutney and also adds to the taste. Don't skip it. 
• You can use a mix of red and green chilies if you like. Break or cut green chilies before you pop them in the pan. 

Sabudana idli(no dal) & Onion chutney - super fluffy, masala idlis and some Goldilocks adventure

We are back to atleast two at home now since last Saturday, BH came back from his business trip and Saturday was the normal, lazy weekend with no breakfast, but a heavy brunch day. BH was still jet lagged and we didn't feel up to going out so idea of brunch was a perfect fit. Since the temperatures are still hovering in the 90s here and by mid day my kitchen and the entire top floor starts to resemble a furnace, we are finishing off any cooking before then and take shelter downstairs until it starts to cool off in the night. We do not have air condition at home and had never felt the need for it in all these years and are still not serious about it. Hopefully the heat wave passes on. So Saturday being no exception, I wanted to cook something wholesome, tasty and also quick that we could may be do repeat dose of for dinner and not have to switch on the stove again.

These Sabudana idlis came to the rescue, they need a little planning and make ahead prep but there is no grinding involved. With an overnight fermentation, you get the fluffiest and white idlis you won't even notice didn't have any urad dal at all. Yep, these idlis do not have urad dal but still turn out deliciously soft and yummy and they are light on the stomach, custom made for the hot summers. Best of all, I also finished my stock of sabudana I had brought for making the sandige and one more item taken care of in the pantry now :-), now what do they say about 'hitting 2 birds with a single stone'?

Ah, before we go into the recipe, here is a little something I wanted to share with you all if you ever wondered about my diminished frequency of blog posts. Taking advantage of the weather, we just get out of the house every weekend and go in search of walking trails. Where we live, there is no dearth of walking trails - big, small, winding, straight, ups, downs, there is something for every taste, interest and ability. This is our current obsession and to me personally equivalent of meditation. Away from the buzzing electronics, enjoying the bounty of nature all around us and walking along side the little birds and animals that inhabit the woods has indeed been very rejuvenating. Last week, we drove up to our favorite Mt. Rainier and found a water fall called Narada falls. If you have an Indian background, I do not have to explain 'Narada' to you but if you have not heard the name, he is the sage in Indian vedic texts that constantly travels between the worlds and is ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu. Not sure if the name had anything to do with how the water falls in 2 distinct tiers at different heights. It was simply beautiful and the rainbow at the bottom of the falls just added the perfect garnish.

I didn't start off telling you about our hiking to acquaint you all with my weekend escapades but rather to share with you all a rare find I found along the hiking trail and it has to do with food :-). I discovered these heavenly delicious berries in the mountain trails that I hadn't seen thus far in any farmer's markets or super stores. Though I didn't know the name at the time and BH very concernedly kept telling me that they could be non-edible (ok, he said that they could be poisonous and I might just drop dead any moment by eating them, I do understand he was concerned and feared not being able to get me to medical help in time..)I kept popping them as we walked on and ultimately got him hooked onto try a few fistfuls. These were more delicate compared to the blueberries I regularly eat. When I came back to electronic civilization, I found that I had been eating the coveted huckleberries that ripen in a short timeframe, found only in mountains and loved by wild bears. I felt like Goldilocks gone into the bears house and wiped out their stock of huckleberries :-). I apologize to any bears that are looking for these berries in the mountains and wondering about the short supply but I did enjoy them as much as the bears do and next time if I make my way up the mountains in berries season, I will carry a small pail to bring some berries home.

If you get your hands on huckleberries especially fresh from the plants in some mountain range, go ahead and give yourselves a treat. They have such a deliciously sweet & fragrant taste that you feel as if you are in paradise. If the entire universe was telling me I was in paradise with a snow clad Rainier on one side, Narada falls infront of me and these delicious berries on the path, who am I to say it wasn't heaven? Life is good and I am blessed. Next time, if I get my hands on huckleberries, I will show you some delicious ways of using them in recipes.

Until then, enjoy what you have. Take a peek in your pantry and if you find some idli rava and sabudana, just read though the rest of the post and make these fluffy sabudana idlis for your next breakfast. Soaked idli rava and the pearly sabudana makes this idli a refreshing and enjoyable experience from the usual. I also packaged in a very yummy no-coconut chutney to go with the idli here. This is amma's signature onion chutney which I had never tasted until after my marriage. The first experience of this slightly sweet, tangy & spicy chutney with the typical bland idlis made me fall in love with it hook, line & sinker (more about that in another post, I just received some fishing wisdom from a colleague and the references are still fresh in memory :-)). Me & my SIL can lick clean an entire bowl of this chutney made for the whole family with or without idlis.

This is one of the rare chutneys I make without any hint of coconut and I love it, that says something if you know how much of a coco'nut' I am. So go ahead and give a try to this chutney.

What do you need to make Sabudana idli?
Makes about 25 idlis
2.5 cups rice rava/idli rava
1 cup sabudana/sago pearls
2 cups thick yogurt (a little sour is preferred)
2 cups water
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 Tsp mustard
1/2 Tsp crushed black pepper
1-2 finely chopped green chilies
1 Tsp grated ginger
1.5 Tbsp chana dal
1/2 Tsp urad dal
4-6 curry leaves

How do you make Sabudana idli? 

• Wash idli rava under running water and pick any impurities. Put them into a big bowl. 
• Wash sabudana/sago in water a couple of times until the water runs clear and add it to the bowl with idli rava.
• Whisk yogurt well to form a uniform texture, add 2 cups of water and mix well. Pour this into the bowl.
• Add salt and mix well to make the batter, consistency of batter is a little thinner than regular idlis at this time as the idli rava and sago both absorb the liquid while soaking. 

• Cover and keep the bowl in a warm place over night or for about 8-10 hours. 
• The batter would have fluffed up, feels light when you spoon it and would have become thicker than when you started the soak time. This time also allows the batter to ferment and you can smell the sour yogurt smell. 
• Mix well and add a few spoons of water if needed to bring it to dropping consistency. 

• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, chana dal and urad dal. Let mustard pop and dals turn light golden. 
• Add chopped crushed black pepper, green chilies, grated ginger, chopped curry leaves and roast for about 30 seconds. 

• Switch off and pour the seasoning into the batter.
• Add grated coconut, taste and adjust salt if needed. 

• Prepare idli plates by brushing each dip with oil and spoon in the batter. 
• Steam cook for 12-15 minutes. 
• Switch off, open the container and let it stand for a couple of minutes before gently removing idlis with a butter knife or a wide spoon.

• Enjoy them with the spicy onion chutney. 

What do you need to make onion chutney?

2 cups chopped onions (use red onions or Indian variety for best taste)
2-3 red chilies
small piece of tamarind
1/2 Tsp jaggery or brown sugar
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
1/8 Tsp fenugreek seeds
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tsp salt

How do you make onion chutney? 

• Heat oil in a wide pan, add coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds. 
• Roast them for 1-2 minutes on medium heat until fenugreek turn light brown and you smell the aroma. 
• Add red chilies and roast for 30 seconds. 

• Add chopped onions to the pan and mix well to bring the coriander & fenugreek to the surface (leaving them at the bottom of the pan will burn them)

• Stirring frequently, roast for 6-8 minutes until onions break down and turn translucent. 
• Once onions are soft, switch off add salt, tamarind and jaggery/brown sugar to the pan.

• Let it cool completely. 
• Take the contents to the blender and blend them into a paste without adding water. 
• Your spicy onion chutney with a hint of coriander is ready to be enjoyed with idlis and dosas. 

Notes: 

• Do not add salt while frying onions to speed up the process, this is one recipe where 'slow & steady' creates the magic. Let onion cook by itself on medium heat before adding salt. This brings out the natural sweetness in the onions. 
• Do not use yellow or white onions, they are typically more pungent than the red variety. 
• Do not blend this chutney when the ingredients are hot, if you are in a hurry and can't wait, go for other chutneys. The taste comes when it is ground cool. 
• Adding a day old yogurt imparts a nice taste to the idlis and also helps fermentation. I made my idlis without any baking soda or eno fruit salt. 
• If you do not have sour yogurt, add 1/2 Tsp baking soda to the batter just before steaming the idlis.

Cilantro chutney - Forgive me for making your Valentine's day green :-)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! May your life be filled with love of every possible flavor and color. May you always share love with the World!

As I walked around my favorite market on Friday, it was bustling with people trying to get ready for the Valentine's day. The weather was a balmy 62F, sun shine spread all around like a warm blanket, colors of spring all over in fruits and vegetables and there was a general geity in the air. One of the flower vendors even had a poster board that said, "All you last minute Romeos, stop here, we have the perfect gift for your valentine" :-)". I simply walked around soaking in the fresh air, breathing in the warmth, picking up a fresh fruit or 2 as they caught my eyes. No valentine specific purchase was made.

I am not Grinch and definitely not here to prick the enthusiasm of Valentine's day celebration. Each to his/her own and I respect all individual expressions. But as they ask in my all time favorite Sound Of Music movie, "How do you hold the Moonbean in your hand?", I ask, "how do you contain the celebration of love for one day of the year?". It is an emotion that we are fortunate to have every minute of every day of our lives and I want to keep it that way.

When I see a typical Valentine's celebration where,

Roses rule the day

sweets are made with lots of love

Chocolates - cannot do without 'em

Pink puts it all together :-)

I just step back a little and think about all the other beautiful shapes love takes in life and feel thankful to be loved in so many different ways by so many different people - as a daughter to 2 sets of parents, a wife and friend to a man I adore, a loving mom (annoying at times) to a doting daughter, sister (sometimes bossy, sometimes totally dependent) to my siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends I have made in all these years. I feel blessed. Happy Valentine's day to all of you.

Chutneys are my first love, pachadis are his. When we fell in love many years ago, it was just a matter of time before the chutneys and pachadis started to fuse together. I learnt to make varieties of pachadis as he learnt to enjoy the deliciousness of chutneys. We have reached a stage in life now where we use those to terms interchangeably. The years of togetherness has also brought the spark of recognition that 'love' is not single dimensioned as it gets marketed on Valentine's day but is infact multi-faceted, colorful and always grows in abundance as you share it.

Feb celebrations take on a different tone at home since this particular week is full of personal celebrations too. Sister kicks off the celebrations with her birthday on the 9th, followed by a sis-in-law & niece who share their special days ont he 13th, it is the wedding anniversary of parents-in-law on the 14th and BH rounds it up by turning a year older on the 17th. So calling, emailing, facebooking starts earlier in the week as we share the joy. My inlaws reached here from India this evening :-), they were supposed to be here yesterday in time to celebrate their wedding day with us but courtesy of delayed start and missed connections, they arrived a day later :-(. They seem to be doing ok, though tired. Just finished dinner and everyone has already hit the bed. Looking forward to having them here for the next few months.

Since the Valentine's day/wedding anniversary celebrations didn't work out the way we had planned, I ended up making a regular weekend brunch earlier today. Our weekends typically start off with a heavy brunch, late for a breakfast but early for lunch and is one of those 'look forward' to times of the week when all 3 of us sit together to enjoy the meal. Week days are so rushed, we don't get to sit down together in physical proximity until evening. So, I try to make an event of weekend brunches where each of us have something we love to eat :-). Fortunately, tastes are not very far apart and I really don't have to cook a spread to please the family. Since there was the anticipation of all the goodies coming in from India later this evening, I made the lunch simple but added a spicy twist that BH & I love. DD had her sweet potato fries and tender, grilled Asparagus. All in all it was a great lunch with family.

Here is my green love from Valentine's day lunch we had earlier today. I make this every time I get fresh, flavorful cilantro which is quite often :-). You can make this in a large quantity and store it in fridge for a week, somehow it never lasts that long in my home :-). Hope you all like it as much as we do.

What do you need to make Cilantro chutney?
2 bunches of fresh cilantro leaves - should make 3 loosely packed cups when picked and cleaned
1 Tbsp urad dal
3 Tbsp oil
1 Tsp chana dal
5-6 dry red chilies
1 Tsp mustard
1/2 Tsp cumin
1/4 Tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 Tsp coriander seeds
key lime sized tamarind
1/2 Tsp crushed jaggery
1/2 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
pinch of asafoetida

How do you make cilantro chutney?

• Pick cilantro leaves and the tender stalks from the bunch. 
• Wash them thoroughly under running water to rid of any dirt.
• Let water drain off in a colander, chop them roughly
• Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a pan. 
• Add urad, chana dals, red chilies, cumin, fenugreek, coriander and mustard seeds. 
• Roast on medium heat until dals turn bright pink.

• Add asafoetida and take it out onto a plate
• Put the pan back on the stove, add the remaining oil, and add the chopped cilantro - leaves and stalks
• Fry for about 4-5 minutes until the leaves become a mush and stalks turn soft. 
• Add salt, switch off and let it cool. 

• Take the roasted dal & spices to the grinder and make it into a rough powder.

• Add jaggery and grind once more. 
• Now add the cilantro and pulse grind until they are all combined and cilantro is crushed well. 

• Enjoy the spicy, tangy, sweetish chutney bursting with cilantro flavor. 
• Our Valentine's day lunch was complete with hot rice mixed with cilantro chutney and a side of home made plantain chips, Yummy!!

Notes: 

• I used my mortar & pestle to make the chutney :-), I don't need to add water at all in this. If you are grinding using a blender, pulse it so the ingredients come together and avoid adding water. 
• This is a chutney used to mix with rice but you can enjoy it as a spread on a piece of toast or with idli/dosa or even just to lick it off of your finger. 
• This is typically strong with all flavors competing with each other, adjust sweet, spice & tang to your taste. 

Masala Dose (Dosa) - a food coma inducing vegetarian thanksgiving brunch

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”

Thornton Wilder

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers celebrating the day!

Long ago when the immigrants declared peace with the natives and broke bread together, started this celebration of oneness, giving thanks and saying grace together. The holiday itself has morphed into a cacophony of retail business with stores opening at the wee hours of dawn on Friday luring customers with promises of never before 'low prices'. This year, it is getting pushed to Thursday evenings, I personally think that is a shame! After all this research shows, these black Friday (now Thursday) sales do not really lift the profit margins that much anyways. All I would say is 'consumerism ' is good for the economy but take some time to be together with family, friends and live in the joy of the moment before you rush towards the malls :-)

Like always, the month of November brings in not only a nip into the air but also the festive jingles. Twinkling lights, bouquets of cheerful Poinsettia make their way into the living rooms. I like to slow down a little bit and count my blessings, they are many and I am extremely grateful for the life that I have. 

Many years ago, we landed here as the proverbial 'new immigrants' leaving behind the known and the familiar trying to make a life with the unknown and unfamiliar, hoping every step of the way the decisions made would stand us strong for years to come with dreams in our young eyes. Every day was a new experience, a learning as we got immersed in the new culture, people, practices. Now after all these years, it is a second home. While my home far away comes in dreams every night and I yearn for the family back home, I also love waking up every morning and take in what my second home has to offer. Things could have gone differently but for the grace of the power I believe in and for that I am thankful. I am grateful for all the rich experiences I have had in these many years of being alive, I am grateful for the love I have received from people near & far away. Thanksgiving is a special time for me to slip slightly into the years gone by as I count the happy moments and look forward to continued joy going forward. 

Being a vegetarian in a very 'meat' friendly environment is not an easy task. While vegetarianism and veganism have become mainstream now, 15 or so years back, it was unheard of and I would have spent many a get together dinners munching on just the leafy greens and filling my stomach (and waistline and then some..) with the desserts as I feared touching any of the main courses doused in non-plant based fats and showcasing different varieties of meat. I am not intolerant to non vegetarian, I have many good friends that love only non vegetarian meals, BH enjoys his share of non vegetarian too. I just have not felt a need to try or taste the stuff. 

We attended a Thanksgiving dinner once back in Michigan as part of a spiritual group and I was taken in with the ingenuity of the hostess who served major concepts of Thanksgiving in a completely vegetarian way. DD loved it too and that is how our Thanksgiving brunches have been now for many year. Did I say brunch? yep since we skip breakfast, the little girl declared holiday which means she gets up when she feels like and we go directly to our meals which is somewhere in between BF & lunch. Our main course is always potato stuffed dosas, sided with different combinations of chutneys and dips, some form of sweet potatoes (baked, roasted etc). I didn't make the corn bread this time. This meal is a great alternative if you are a vegetarian. I have had some of my friends make stuffed paranthas as another variation. 

We had this masala dosa, chutney & sambar and feeling as stuffed as a turkey (err,, tofurky may be) and as I type this away, I hear the gentle snore from a fully satiated and overstuffed BH who declared that a siesta was the best thing that could happen immediately after eating such delicious dosas and true to his words, went to lie down right afterwards :-). This is a carb heavy meal and oh I am thankful for the starches and carbohydrates in my life, they make me happieee. 

Masala dose (as we call it in Kannada) does not need any introductions to most people. They have been popularized world over by the numerous Udipi cafes, Saravanabhava restuarants and other South Indian joints. Masala dosas are so versatile that people have gotten creative and stuffed them with stuff such as broccoli, cauliflower, paneer etc :-) which goes to show that it is nothing but a concept that you can tailor to suit your taste. I come from the small town of Mysore which valiantly tries to hold on to the traditional roots (sometimes good and sometimes not so good) and you normally don't see stuffings other than the "forever in demand" potato masala in my kitchen. 

If you were to see any restaurant menu card worth its salt dosa, it will have a plain masala dosa and a Mysore masala dosa. What is unique about the Mysore masala dosa is the fiery red chutney spread liberally on the inside of the dosa before placing the potato masala. A bite of that is a step closer to heaven for spice lovers like me. Oh, btw, I have seen many masala dosa posts in the blogs which call out for a crispy thin layer of dosa. For us from Mysore, masala dose is always thick, pulpy while being crispy as it is doused with oil/ghee. 

This post is already growing long in length and I will reserve all my chatter about dosas for another post and another day but in parting, I will say this - it is very hard to get the even, golden brown color on the dosas at home. If you are trying to mimic the restaurant served dosa at home, be prepared to use inordinate (and unhealthy) amounts of oil. Another reason for that golden hue is the controlled and uniformly distributed heat in a big kitchen. However you can get a better tasting dosa at home by using quality ingredients and following a few tips. Use an iron skillet or tawa for making dosas, it not only cooks evenly but also adds to the flavor. I swear by my cast iron pans, they grow increasingly better as they age and you keep working at the seasoning of the pan. I do not make dosas on non-stick pans anymore. Contrary to popular belief, the cast iron pans are not oil guzzlers, if you follow good seasoning practices and keep the pan in good condition. And once you have a good seasoned pan, do not ever part with it :-).

So here is a recipe of good masala dose with its accompaniments, Be prepared to spend some time reading the recipe below as it has many details and tips to making a good dose at home especially if you are a newbie to this South Indian delicacy. There are many different proportions to a good dosa batter and here is mine that yields a perfectly fool proof and yummylicious dose every time. 

Let us start by making the dosa batter, this is a 2 day process so planning is crucial. You need to ferment the batter for atleast 8-10 hours or more if the weather is cold. I do not favor the short cut practices of adding cooking soda or baking powder to the batter without fermenting it, somethings in life are best when done in a certain way. So, 

What do you need for the dose hittu or dosa batter? 

1 cup urad dal (I use whole white urad)

1/4 cup toor dal

1/4 cup chana dal

1/4 cup thick poha (avalakki or beaten rice)

3 cups rice (I use sona masoori) 

1 Tsp fenugreek seeds

1 Tsp salt

1/2 Tsp sugar

How do you make dosa batter? 

• Take all ingredients listed except for salt & sugar in a big vessel, wash them a couple of times and soak them in double the quantity of water for 4-5 hours. 
• Drain the water and grind the ingredients together into a smooth paste (use water as needed to make a thick batter of dropping consistency).
• Mix once, cover and keep aside in a warm corner of the kitchen to ferment for 8-10 hours or until it starts forming a nice convex layer in top with a few bubbles. 
• Before making dosas, add salt & sugar and mix the batter, adjust with water to get a nice consistency to spread on the pan. 

What do you need to make potato palya? 

4 medium sized potatoes

1 big onion 

1 inch piece ginger

2-3 green chilies

1 Tsp chana dal (for crunch, omit if you do not like it or use cashew nuts)

few curry leaves

1 Tbsp oil

1 Tsp mustard

1 Tsp cumin 

1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)

1/8 Tsp Asafoetida

1/4 Tsp turmeric powder

Optional ingredients: 

few sprigs of cilantro chopped

few cashew nuts

fistful of cooked green peas

How do you make potato palya? 

• Wash, cut into half and cook the potatoes until soft. 
• Let cool, peel the skin off and mash into a smooth paste. 
• Remove ends of the green chilies, slit them vertically in half (or chop them into pieces if you prefer)
• Wash, peel and grate ginger. 
• Heat a pan, add oil, when the oil is hot, add asafoetida, chana dal, mustard and cumin. 
• Let the seeds pop, add cashews, green peas if using, add slit green chilies and curry leaves. 
• After 30 secs, add thinly chopped onion, salt, turmeric powder and mix it well. 

• Let cook on medium heat until onions turn limp. 
• Add mashed potatoes, mix and if too dry add a couple of spoons of water. 
• Taste test for salt and adjust. 
• Add chopped cilantro on top and keep aside until ready to use. 
• You can add a spoon of lemon/lime juice if you like the tart taste, do it after the stove is switched off.

What do you need to make red chutney? 

1/4 cup of roasted gram dal (Kadle in kannada, putnala pappu in Telugu)
1 medium onion (use the red onions as they are milder in flavor)
1 small tomato
4-5 dry red chilies soaked in warm water for 10 mins

1/2 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)

Optional 

1-2 cloves of garlic (I do not use it)

How to make the red, fiery chutney? 

• Drain the water from the chilies, take all the ingredients and blend them into a smooth paste. 
• Do not use water to grind, juice from the tomato and wetness of the onion will be sufficient. 
• Onions and tomatoes add flavor and also give volume to this chutney, if you want use a little bit more of roasted gram dal. 
• This is a spicy chutney, use red chilies based on your heat tolerance. 

What do you need to make white/green chutney? 

1 cup coconut

1/2 up roasted gram dal

1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)

1 clove garlic (omit if you don't like)

3-5 green chilies (adjust to taste)

fistful of fresh cilantro (if you want slightly green chutney, else omit this)

water to grind

How to make white chutney?

• Take all the ingredients in a blender and blend it into a smooth paste of desired consistency. We like it a little thinner so the dosas can be easily dipped into them. 

I made some quick fix sambar to go with the meal today, recipe in another post. 

Bringing them all together: 

• Heat a flat (preferably cast iron) pan on medium heat. 
• Sprinkle a few drops of water and it should immediately sizzle up. 

• Mix the batter, take a ladle full of batter, pour it in the center of the pan and with a swift motion, spread it circularly all around the pan. 
• Drop spoonfuls of the red chutney in different places around the dosa (do not try to spread it at this time), add a few drops of oil all around, cover (yes cover it and see the notes below) and let cook for 45secs - a min. 

• Take the cover off, the batter would be cooked with no hint of rawness, now with a flat spatula, spread the red chutney all around the dosa. 

• Check to see if the bottom has attained a golden brown or any desired color, put a big heap of the potato palya in the center of the dosa, fold it and remove it onto a plate. 

• Serve it with the white/green chutney and sambar. 
• Repeat the above steps for as many dosas as you need, eat them hot. 

Notes: 

• Masala dose batter is slightly thicker than regular dosas to achieve that pulpy, crispy layer. 
• A wet grinder works best to make good idli, dosa batters but a strong motored mixer/blender would work well too, do it in batches if you need to. 
• We like the potato palya to be soft but not watery, use good, mature potatoes with less starch. 
• I always make extra potato palya as it seems to somehow reduce in quantity from the time I started on it and by the time I am ready to make dosas. A very believable disappearing act :-)
• Keep a watch on the heat and the tawa temperature, these vary from kitchen to kitchen, you will become an expert over time. 

• It is important to cool the pan slightly down when you pour the batter or else, it will get stuck in lumps on a very hot tawa and also cooks unevenly - remember how all the restaurant chefs spray about a cup of water between batches of dosas and spread it all around with a broom :-), the idea is to control the temperature. 
• Masala dosa is never cooked on both sides, it dries up the final product. You need to cook the dosa enough so it is neither burnt nor under cooked. Covering the dosa as soon as it is spread helps to get a nicely cooked dosa where you can easily spread the red chutney and also ensures the bottom browns up in the process. 
• Adding a half spoon of sugar to the batter helps get a nice hue to the cooked dosa. 
• I use a cut onion to spread oil in between dosas on the pan, this gives a nice color to the dosa too.