Rava Dosai

Well, if you are wondering why I am posting a special breakfast (the normal breakfast is the cereals and bread. A weekend or some special day would involve an indian breakfast), its our Wedding Anniversary. It had completely slipped out that I had not posted simple elegant Indian Breakfasts that are my absolute favorites. This is supposed to be my first Dosai post here. Also this is the first time I am making this at home. It was a big hit and I was totally satisfied the way it came out the first time itself. So here goes the recipe for a crisp and tasty Rava Dosai.

Ingredients

• Rava / Sooji - 2 cups
• Rice Flour - 1/2 cup
• All purpose / Maida flour - 1/2 cup
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Fresh Ginger - 1 tsp
• Pepper corns - 5 or 6
• Green chillies - 4, finely chopped rings
• Corriander leaves - a handful (optional)
• Curry leaves - a handful (optional)
• Salt to taste
• Water - 6 cups (almost double the dry ingredients)
• Oil

Method

In a vessel, add all the flour and mix all the ingredients except oil and green chillies. Add water and dilute the batter to a thick buttermilk consistency. It approximately takes about double the quantity of all the flour. That is it might take about 5.5 to 6 cups of water for the above measurements.

Though this is an instant dosa, let it sit for about 1.5 to 2 hours. This will help making crisp dosas. Heat the tava and add some oil. When hot, add the chopped green chillies and fry till the raw smell is gone. Add it to the batter. Let the tava heat till sizzling hot. Coat it with some oil and start to spread the batter.

Make a outer circle and proceed inwards. The consistency of the batter will not allow you to spread it with the back of the ladle. As you pour the batter, the dosa will start to form pores. This means you have attained the right texture.

Flip the dosa to the next side, when you see nice brown color. Leave it for a minute and serve hot with chutney

Variations:

1. You could also saute some onions and carrots and also mix it with the above batter. This is called Onion Rava Dosa
2. Some people prefer to spread the cooked onions on the inner surface of the dosa and serve.
3. You can cook on both sides, but since the dosa is real thin, it would also suffice to cook on only one side.

Ammu of Nature Kitchen and Lissie of Salt and Spice has generously passed on awards to me.

Ammu has passed the Kreative Blogger Award. Thanks a ton Ammu for thinking of me when passing this award.

You can read the 7 thing about me from here. As per the rule, I would like to nominate blogger friends for this award.

Lissie has been generous to share 3 more awards with me. Thanks a ton for thinking of me.

Now for the nominations

1. Mythreyi Dilip of Speciality recipes from my kitchen
2. Faiza Ali of Faiza Alis Kitchen
3. preeti of Preetis Online cookbook
4. Sarah of Vazhayila
5. Sandhya of Sandhyas Kitchen
6. Renuka of Bon Appetit
7. Rajeshwari of Raks kitchen
8. Padma of Padmas Recipes

One Bowl Chocolate Cake

This is the first time I am baking a cake, successfully. I had baked cakes a couple of times before but was unsuccessful. Hershey's has published a book called "Hershey's Chocolate Lover's Cookbook" which has got baking recipes with Hershey's products. You can also check out the Hershey's Website for recipes. The recipes in the book are also given in the website.

I always loved to see Ina Gartner bake. I love her show called Barefoot contessa. She always makes it feel simple. But I was always intimitated by the big long list some times and some times because I am not a big fan of cakes. The first time i baked, the cake was too tough. Then I learnt that the dry ingredients should not be overmixed. The second time I baked, the cake was too wet. The core hadn't baked well. Though I followed the recipe's instructions, I failed to see the ways to make a proper cake. Slowly I learnt from the shows and from the magazines and internet how to bake. The third cake was good and was gone in a jiffy. But it was not presentable, so I did not blog about that. Now I have improved a lot. So, here comes my first cake recipe

Ingredients

• Butter - 2/3 cup
• Sugar - 1 3/4 cups
• All purpose flour - 2 cups
• Hershey's Cocoa - 1/2 cup
• Baking pwd - 2 tsp
• Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Eggs - 3
• Milk - 1.5 cups
• Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Method

Heat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch round pans or one 13x9x2 inch baking pan. In a large mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar until well blended. Then add the eggs and beat till fluffy. Add the vanilla extract to this.

In another bowl, sift and mix all the dry ingredients together. Keep adding the dry ingredients and the milk in alternate turns. This will ensure that you don't overmix the batter and will uniformly combine all the ingredients.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pans. Bake for 30 to 35 mins for the round pans and around 40 to 45 mins for the rectangular pans or until the wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 mins. Remove from pans to wire racks and cool completely.

This is my entry for CFK-Chocolate, an event initiated by Sharmi.

Update 30-June-2010: I am happy to participate in an event after about 6 months of idle period. I am sending this dish to "Baking from book" event being hosted at Veggie Platter (of blogger Suma). This event is the brain child of Champa.

Sanghi of Sanghi's food delight has passed on the Diamond Friends Award. She is a sweetheart to have passed on this award to me and I appreciate the time and effort she has put in celebrating the cherished friendships.

When I had just begun blogging, every comment used to be a pat in my back. Some times, even if family members forget to say a Thank you, how good the food was, the blogging friends never let me down. They were always there to read through the exprience, the recipe, visualize the recipe and tell me suggestions and comments. Those are a big boost. And Sanghi is one such blogger friend who always was there to appreciate my recipes. Infact I got my first award called the "I love your blog award" only from her.

I am glad that she remembered me too when listing out her friends. KEEP ROCKING SANGHI

Eggs With Fresh Green Herbs

I got hold of Madhur Jaffrey's "Quick and Easy Indian Cooking". This book contains a lot of recipes that are simple and the photos given are absolutely stunning. She has given two recipies for omellete and one for hard boiled egg under the poultry section. This omellete which she calls the "Eggs with fresh green Herbs" or "Hare masala ka Omlate" is a total winner. No frills, no complications, easy to make and more healthy with the addition of Herbs. What more can one ask in an omellete. The beauty of omellete is that it tastes good with or without the addition of Veggies or herbs and can be taken alone or as a compliment for any time of the meal.

Who would have tought about adding lime juice, atleast I didnt have such an idea. It just took the omellete to the next level. She also writes, "It is a good Idea to have everything cut and ready before you start, as the dish cooks very quickly".

Ingredients

• Eggs - 4, large
• Fresh Ground pepper - as per your taste (increase or decrease as we add green chillies)
• Onions - 1, small (Original recipe calls for Scallions(3). Cut the green and the white parts)
• Garlic - 2 pods, very finely chopped
• Cilantro - 3 tbsp, very finely chopped
• Mint - 3 tbsp, very finely chopped (I added this)
• Green chillies- 1 to 3, sliced to fine rounds (Do not remove seeds)
• Fresh Ginger - 1/2 tsp, very finely chopped
• Turmeric pwd - A heavy pinch
• Lemon juice - 1.5 tsp
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method

Break the eggs into a bowl and beat well. Add a required amout of salt and ground pepper. Put oil in a large, frying pan and set over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions (Scallions). Stir and fry till they just start to brown at the edges. Put in the garlic and stir for a few seconds. Now put the cilantro, mint, chiles, ginger and turmeric. Stir for a few seconds. Add the salt and mix well. Turn off the stove and add the lemon juice. Otherwise excess heat will make the juice lose its vitamins and it will taste sour.

Add this mixture to the beaten egg mixture. Mix well. Now pour the mixture to the hot frying pan and stand by till one side is done. Then flip the other side till done. Serve immediately.

I am sending this to Show me your Omelette event hosted by Divya of Dil Se. Have a happy Labor day weekend

Coconut Rice (Thengai Sadham)

This is a kerala delicacy popular around South of India. My mom whips this up whenever there was left over rice or if she is running out of time. This is a rich and healthy rice looks like a soft white cloud to eat. For an authentic experience use coconut oil for seasoning, as it would compliment the flavour and aroma of the rice. Some people also use Coconut milk for better taste, but I did not experiment with it as I believe this method suits my taste buds better

Ingredients

• Coconut - 1/2 cup, grated (frozen works too)
• Rice - 1 cup
• Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
• Dry red chillies - 2 or 3, broken down
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Channa Dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Peanuts - 1/2 tsp (Cashew nuts will be more richer)
• Salt to taste

Method

Wash and cook the rice till the grain are soft but firm; set aside. In a Kadai, add some coconut oil and heat it. Then add some broken dry red chillies. Take care not to burn them. Next add the mustard seeds and allow them to sputter. Then add the Channa Dhal, Peanuts and Urad Dhal in the same order. Keep adding the dhals after the previously added Dhal is nice and brown. Then add the curry leaves.

Now add the Grated Coconut and allow it to cook till it is slightly roasted. Add salt to taste. Next add the cooked rice to it and gently toss it so that the rice is equally distributed. Alternatively, you can add the salt to the rice when cooking it. This will be better when cooking for larger quantities. Coconut rice goes well with a simple appalam or spicy kootu.

More Awards

Lavi of Home Cook's Recipes has showered me with awards. Thanks dear for thinking of me. And Thanks a ton passing it to me. The awards and the supportive comments are a pat on the back which takes me a step higher. So here comes the list of awards

Scrumptious Blog Award

Yum Yum Blog Award

One Lovely Blog Award

Beautiful Site Award

Inspiration Award

Brilliante Weblog Award

A Giant Bear Hug Award

Best Blog Darts Award

I would like to pass these awards to the following blogger friends

1. Somoo of Oriya Food
2. Lata Raja of Flavours and Tastes
3. Pinky of Esho Bosho Aahare
4. Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook
5. Geetha Aachal of En Samayal Arayil
6. Jayashri of Samayal Arai
7. Ramya of Simple Vegetarian Recipes
8. Lubna of Kitchen Flavours
9. Priya of Priyas Recipes