Besan Dosa

Ingredients:

Besan(Chickpea flour)	1/2 cup
Rice flour	1 cup
Green Chilli paste	1 tsp
Ajwain seeds	1 tsp
Curry leaves	5
Water	3.5- 4  cups
Salt	as required
Oil	2 tbsp

Procedure:

Mix the rice flour and besan in the water and add all the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Set it aside for 10 - 15 minutes.

Heat the dosa tava/pan on high flame and when the pan is heated enough pour the dosa batter with ladle on the pan.

Now reduce the heat and pour oil with a spoon around the dosa and let it cook.

Turn the dosa to the other side and cook for few more seconds.

repeat the process with the remaining batter. Serve with coconut chutney.

Tip: Make sure the dosa pan is on high flame when pouring the batter and then reduce it to medium while the dosa is cooking.

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Rava Idli

I am not a big fan of idli. But this version of idli, I like because it is loaded with veggies and the best thing is it is instant. No soaking, grinding, fermenting.



Ingredients:

Roasted upma rava	1 cup
Carrots(finely diced)	1/2 cup
Beans(finely diced)	1/2 cup
Green Chillies(finely chopped(	2
Yogurt	1/2 cup
Salt	as required
Cilantro(finely chopped)	2 tsp
Baking soda	2 pinches

Seasoning:

Oil/Ghee	2 tsp
Cashews	6
Mustard seeds	1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds	1/2 tsp
Curry leaves	5

Procedure:

I used roasted upma rava. If using regular sooji, just roast the rava in a pan for few seconds without oil.

Add the chopped carrots,beans and green chillies to the roasted upma rava. Mix with yogurt. Add salt.

Make in to a thick paste. Add water if required. The batter should be thicker than regular idli batter. Now let it soak for 10-15 minutes.

Now, if the batter is too hard, add more water.

For tempering, add oil the pan, add the seasoning ingredients in order and when the seeds start spluttering, add it to the rava-yogurt mix.

Add the chopped cilantro leaves.

With a spoon add the batter to the idli plates and steam cook them in am idli cooker for 10-12 minutes and the idlis are done.

Serve with coconut chutney or sweet allam pachadi.

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Bell Pepper(Capsicum) Tomato Curry

Here is a dish for all those who love  bell pepper/capsicum. I love the smell of capsicum when it is cooking. It adds great flavor to any curry or fried rice. Before we get to the recipe let's see some health facts about capsicum.

Health Benefits:

• They contain small amounts of vitamin K which is important in bone health.
• Red bell peppers contain both lycopene which reduces the rate of some cancers and beta-cryptoxathin which is a ceratoid that also lowers the risk of certain cancers.
• Bell pepper is an excellent source of vitamin A and C, two very powerful antioxidants that may help to reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases and several cancers.
• Red pepper has more vitamin C than oranges and are also high in beta-carotene.

As a kid I was not a big fan of capsicum. So for those of you who do not like capsicum, but want to eat for its health benefits, can try this recipe.

It has more of the tomato flavor. It makes a good combo with roti or even rice.



Ingredients:

Bell Pepper : 1

Onion (big size) : 1/2

Green peas

Tomato( medium size): 1/2

Tomato paste( canned) : 1 tbsp

Dhaniya powder: 1 tsp

Salt as required

Chilli powder: 1/2 tsp

Oil

mustard seeds

cumin seeds

turmeric

curry leaves

Cilantro leaves

Water

Procedure:

Finely chop the onions and tomatoes. Cut bell pepper in to medium sized pieces.

Add oil in a pan.  Add mustard seeds and once they start spluttering add cumin seeds and turmeric.

Now add onions and lil salt and fry them.

Adding salt to the onions makes them soft and they cook soon. Fry the onions for 5 mins and then add Green Peas and Bell pepper pieces.

Cook them together for another 5 minutes and then add tomatoes and cook until they turn soft. Now add tomato paste and some water and cook them together.

Add dhaniya powder, salt and chilli powder. Cook for few minutes and garnish with Cilantro leaves.

Serve with rice or roti.

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Carrot Rasam

I am always looking for ways to add more veggies to my recipes.

This carrot rasam is a a delicious recipe and a secret way to add carrots to kids diet.

Carrots are cooked with lentils, puree'd and spiced up with pepper and green chillies.



Ingredients:

Tomatoes(medium - sized)	1
Carrots(diced)	2
Garlic	1 pod
Ginger	small piece
Toor dal/split pigeon peas	1/2 cup
Green Chillies	2
Ground Black Pepper	1 tsp
Salt	as required
Cilantro(finely chopped)	2 tsp
Lemon juice	1 tbsp

Seasoning:

Oil/Ghee	2 tsp
Urad dal	1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds	1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds	1/2 tsp
Red Chillies(broken)	1
Curry leaves	5
Turmeric powder	1/4 tsp
Asoefetida	a pinch

Procedure:

Pressure cook toor dal with carrots, tomato and salt.

Puree the cooked dal, tamato and carrots in a blender.

Add the puree to a sauce pan and add water and dilute it to required consistency and bring to a boil.

Add green chillies, crushed garlic and ginger and let the rasam boil for 10-15 minutes on a low falme.

Heat oil/ghee in a small seasoning pan and add all the seasoning ingredients in the order mentioned.

When the seeds start spluttering, add the seasoning to the rasam/soup in the sauce pan.

Now addlemon juice,  black pepper and garnish with cilantro.

Suggestion: You can add fresh carrots cut in to very small pieces or thin strips to the cooked rasam.

Serve with hot steamed rice or just have like a soup.

Carrot Soup

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Creamy Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

Tomatoes	3 medium - sized
Onion	1/2 Large - sized
Mint leaves	5
Garlic	1 pod
Cloves	3
Whole pepper	5
Milk	1/2 cup
All purpose flour/Maida	2 tbs
Bay leaves	2
Heavy whipping cream	2 tsp
Salt	as required
Pepper Powder	1 tsp
Unsalted Butter	1/4 stick
Sugar	1 tbsp
Bread croutons	10

Procedure:

The process involves preparing the white sauce with all purpose flour and mixing it with the pureed tomato.

Chop the tomatoes and onions into medium size pieces and pressure cook them with mint leaves, cloves, garlic, pepper corns, salt and bay leaves adding sufficient water.

Puree the above cooked contents in a blender and strain to remove the seeds and the unwanted pulp.

Boil the purree adding some water if it is toot thick.

While the tomato puree is boiling prepare the white sauce. Do not make this befor eyou have the puree ready. It forms lumps.

To prepare the white sauce, mix all purpose flour in 1/4 cup of milk.

Add butter to the pan and when the butter is melted, add the milk and the all purpose flour mixture and keep stirring.

When it becomes little thick, add it to the tomato puree mixture that is already boiling.

Add the remaining milk and the sugar to the boiling puree and adjust the salt. Once the soup gets teh required consistency turn off the stove and let it cool.

Add heaving whipping cream, pepper powder and bead croutons just before serving.

Suggestions: If you do not have the bread croutons, you can cut the bread into samll squares and deep fry them in oil or toast them in a toaster oven.

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Karivepaku Chicken(Curryleaf chicken)

This recipe is from my MIL and one of our family's favorite chicken recipe.

I like the way it looks and the color - much different from most of the chicken recipes which are brownish red in color.

It has that authentic flavor and color. Tastes great with rice or roti.

The ingredients list might look pretty long, but if you have all the ingredients ready, the process is pretty simple.

Ingredients:

Chicken	1.5 lbs
Onions(medium-sized)	1
Curry Leaves	25-30
Oil	2 tbsp
Ginger	2-3 inches piece
Garlic	6 pods
Cumin seeds/Jheera	1 tbsp
Coriander seeds/ Dhaniya	1 tbsp
Cloves/Laong	4
Green Chillies	4
Cinnamon	1/2 inch piece
Turmeric powder	1/2 tsp
Dry grated coconut	1 tbsp
Black Pepper corns	1 tbsp
Salt	as required
Cilantro(finely chopped)	2 tsp
Lemon juice	1 tbsp

Procedure:

Finely chop the onions.

Chop the ginger in to small pieces.

Wash the chicken thoroughly with water and keep it aside to drain the water.

In a pan, dry roast ginger, garlic, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cloves and cinnamon. Let them cool. In the same pan dry roast the curry leaves until they turn little dry and become dark in color. Now add dry coconut and fry for few seconds and let them cool.

In a blender make a paste of all the roasted ingredients, pepper and green chillies. You can use a spice grinder to grind all the dry stuff and then add it to the ginger and garlic and blend in a blender.

Now add oil to the pan and fry th onions with lil salt until they turn golden brown.

Now add the chicken and cook until it is half done.

Add the prepared masala to the chicken, adjust the salt and mix until all the chicken is coated with the spices mix.

Cover the pan with a lid and let the chicken cook well with the spices.

When the chicken is well-cooked, turnoff the stove and add lemon juice. Garnish with finely chopped cilantro.

Suggestions: Vegetarians can substitute chciken with tofu or paneer.

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