Toasts with Leftover Idli Batter

Ever tried toasting idli batter in a non-stick toaster?
Simply add spices of your choice – chopped green chillies, ginger, chilli powder and cumin powder – into idli batter and pour into a pre-heated toaster. Allow to toast for 7-8 minutes.
Triangle shaped idli toasts are ready. Taste excellent with coriander chutney!
(Top the batter with a dollop of butter or cheese before toasting for enhanced flavours).

Broken wheat, also known as ‘dalia’ in northern parts of India, is available in many sizes. We have grown up seeing our mothers and grandmas pound wheat at home and separate the large crystals from the finer flour. Now most of us buy this from grocery stores. This is used extensively on most auspicious days to prepare Lapsi which is a sweet dish made with broken wheat, jaggery and lots of ghee. Extremely handy, broken wheat is used to make delicious snacks like upma and idli, and sweets such as lapsi and kheer. Here is the kheer recipe from our Ayurvedic cookbook, Sukham Ayu – a simple, delicious and healthy dessert.

Ingredients:

• Broken wheat ¼ cup
• Cow’s milk 3½ cups
• Almonds and pistachios 6-7 each
• Saffron (optional) 8-10 strands
• Nutmeg powder a pinch
• Cardamom powder ¼ tsp
• Powdered rock sugar 4 tbsp
• Cow’s ghee 1 tsp

Method:

1. Soak the almonds and pistachios for 1 hour, peel and sliver.
2. Prepare saffron by rubbing it in 1 tsp warm milk until the milk turns orange. Set aside.
3. In a wok, heat ghee and sauté the broken wheat over low flame for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a vessel that fits into a pressure cooker, add 1 cup water and cook for up to 3 whistles.
4. In a thick bottomed pan, bring the milk to a boil and allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes. Now add the cooked wheat and sugar and continue cooking over low flame for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid the grain sticking to the bottom. Adjust sugar as per preference.
5. Stir the prepared saffron into the kheer along with slivered nuts, nutmeg and cardamom powders and switch off flame.
6. Serve in small dessert bowls, either warm or at room temperature.

Our Broken Wheat Kheer recipe was featured by Chitra Amma on her blog and was covered in Lokvani online magazine.

The tanginess of raw mangoes combines with the sharp flavours of mustard in this recipe. A popular preparation in many South Indian homes during the seasons when raw mangoes are in abundance, raw mango rice is a simple and delicious recipe. Here is this recipe from Cooking at Home with Pedatha, our Vegetarian Cookbook of South Indian Andhra Recipes.

Ingredients:

• Uncooked rice 2 cups
• Sour raw mango 1, medium
• Turmeric powder ½ tsp
• Oil 3 tbsps
• Salt to taste

The tempering

• Bengal gram 1½ tsps
• Split black gram (husked) 2 heaped tsps
• Mustard seeds 1 tsp
• Red chillies 3-4, nicked at tail with stalks retained
• Asafoetida powder ¼ tsp
• Curry leaves 10-12
• Roasted peanuts 2 tbsps

The paste

• Mustard seeds 1 tsp
• Fresh coconut ½ cup, grated
• Green chillies 1-2, whole with stalks removed
• Coriander leaves 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Boil the rice with the turmeric powder. Each grain of the cooked rice must be separate but soft. Strain and cool.
2. Wash, peel and grate the mangoes. Set aside.
3. Grind the ingredients for the paste to a fine consistency, using very little water.
4. Heat the oil for tempering. Add the grams, and as they turn golden, pop the mustard. Lower the flame and add the other ingredients of the tempering.
5. Add the grated mangoes and stir for 2-3 minutes. Add the paste and stir for a minute.
6. Finally, add the cooled rice and salt, mix well and switch off the flame.

Serve hot with some crispies such as Vadiyalu (Andhra fries) or papads.

RICE: Our love affair with Basmati began when we saw reference to this rice in the Ayurvedic texts. They state that aromatic, long grained rice is the best variety for daily consumption. Categorized as ‘shuka dhanya’ or grains with pointed ends, this variety of rice is nourishing, unctuous and cooling. It mitigates all the three doshas and hence enjoys a favoured position over other varieties of rice grains. In the new world, basmati rice comes closest to such a description.

Sweet in taste (madhura rasa) as well as post-digestive effect (madhura vipaka), rice itself is considered as strengthening and nourishing in Ayurveda. Because of its cooling potency (sheeta virya), it pacifies Pitta. Ashtanga Hridaya states that the variety of rice which is easily digestible and is sweet in taste and has a pleasing aroma is ideal for daily consumption.

In our last post, we wrote about the goodness of green peas with a promise to share a recipe…so here is the recipe of Green peas curry from Sukham Ayu, our Ayurvedic cookbook.

Ingredients:

• Shelled green peas 2 cups, boiled
• Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
• Coriander powder 2 tsp
• Cumin powder 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder 1 tsp
• Garam masala ½ tsp
• Mint leaves 1 tbsp, chopped fine
• Coriander leaves to garnish
• Powdered rock salt to taste
• Cow’s ghee 1 tbsp

 

The paste:

• Onion 1 medium, chopped
• Garlic 3-4 cloves
• Ginger 1 inch piece
• Fresh coconut 2 tbsp, grated
• Pumpkin or sunflower seeds 1 tbsp

Method: 
1. For the paste, heat ½ tsp ghee in a wok. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and the seeds and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
2. Grind into a fine paste along with coconut using very little water.
3. In another wok, heat the remaining ghee. Add the paste. Reduce flame and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the turmeric, coriander, cumin and chilli powders, and continue to sauté for 2-3 minutes until the ghee separates from the paste.
5. Add the boiled peas, mint leaves, salt and 1 cup warm water. Cover and allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes.
6. Switch off flame and garnish with garam masala and fresh coriander leaves.

Serve fresh as an accompaniment to any rice dish or roti.

This recipe has been published in our ayurvedic cookbook – Sukham Ayu and has been tried out by many bloggers. Each of them modified it in their own way adding their individual touch. You could check out Lisa’s Kitchen and Daily Musings and get to learn about other variations inspired by our book.

Curry Leaves are an indispensable addition to South Indian Cuisine. They are said to have many medicinal properties such as an antidiabetic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anti-hypercholesterolemic etc. Curry leaves are also known to be good for hair, for keeping them healthy and long. Here we present this nutritious powder from our book “Cooking at home with Pedatha” made with fresh tender curry leaves. It can be served with Idlis, Dosas or can simply eaten with rice.

Ingredients:

• Jaggery or sugar (optional) 1 tbsp
• Oil 4 tbsps
• Salt to taste

To be roasted without oil

• Split black gram (husked) 2 tsps
• Bengal gram 2 tsps

To be roasted in oil

• Curry leaves 2 cups
• Red chillies 6-8, stalks removed
• Asafoetida powder small marble-sized chunk
• Tamarind medium lemon-sized

Method:

1. Wash the curry leaves and pat dry.
2. Dry roast the grams, each separately on a low flame, to deep brown.
3. Heat the oil and roast the curry leaves on a low flame until crisp. Take care to see that they remain green. Remove from oil and set aside.
4. In the same oil, roast the chillies until crisp and bright red, but not brown. Remove the chillies from the oil and set aside.
5. Next, roast the asafoetida (after tearing it into bits) for 10-15 seconds. Press with a ladle so it roasts well. Remove from oil and set aside. Alternately, you may dry roast 1 tsp of readymade asafoetida powder.
6. Finally, roast the tamarind. Press with the ladle so it roasts well. Remove from oil and set aside.
7. Grind all these ingredients along with salt and jaggery into a powder, neither too fine nor too coarse. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Serve with idlis, dosais or mix into steamed rice.

Sia of Monsoon Spice has tried the Curry Leaf Powder from our book and says, “This Curry Leaves Chutney Powder is one of my favourite condiments to have with some crisp Dosa or fluffy and spongy Idli or simple steam cooked rice and chilled curds/yogurt.” She also posted this on her blog Beyond Curries.

There is an ancient folklore which says, he who has no mother, for him, buttermilk is his mother. It nurtures us & cools our digestive system. Curd rice or buttermilk with rice are recommended when one is unwell. In sunny hot summers, there is nothing more satisfying than a pot of cool buttermilk.

At the London Book Fair in 2008, we made a presentation on Indian Cooking & Tempering with a few recipes, including buttermilk. Buttermilk is nothing but churned & diluted curd to which salt & cumin powder may be added. This is absolutely ready to drink, but when tempered spices are added into this buttermilk as seen in the recipe below, it becomes an even greater storehouse of taste & nutrition.

Ingredients:

• Buttermilk – churned and seasoned with salt
• Cumin powder – 1tsp
• Chilli powder – a pinch
• Oil – 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
• Carom seeds – 1 tsp

Method:

1. Take a pitcher of cool, churned buttermilk. Season with salt, cumin powder and a dash of chilli.
2. First, pour 2 tsp oil in the wok and allow it to warm up.
3. Once it is hot enough, put in ¼ tsp mustard seeds & allow them to splutter.
4. Next, add a tsp each of fenugreek and carom seeds and lower the flame.
5. Keep stirring so that the fenugreek doesn’t burn. As it browns,add just ¼ tsp cumin seeds & a pinch of asafoetida powder.
6. Switch off the flame and pour this into the buttermilk.
7. Serve chilled on a warm summer afternoon.

To enjoy a folktale about buttermilk, see our post on our tribute blog pedatha.com.