Sweet Potato Paratha / Sweet Potato Roti

I borrowed the idea for making these parathas from a good friend of mine. It is extremely simple to prepare and tastes wonderful with a lovely hint of sweetness mingling with the spices. And the best part - the mashed sweet potatoes in the dough help make very soft parathas.

Ammini Kozhakattai

There many different kinds of savory kozhakattais (rice flour based dumplings). Of the many, ammini kozhakattais are a tasty and cute variation. They are commonly prepared from left-over rice-flour dough that's used to make the traditional sweet and savory kozhakattais. The left-over dough is rolled into small balls, steamed, and flavored with different kinds of spice-mixes. I am sharing three most common ways to flavor them.

Fenugreek-Cilantro-Mint Roti / Paratha

This is a small and flavorful variation of the regular methi paratha. I am not a huge fan of methi (fenugreek) because of its bitterness, but it's really good for you. So, just to change things up a little, I recently added a couple of other really flavorful herbs - coriander leaves and mint. They both (along with the spices added) flavor the paratha beautifully. The subtle aroma of mint works very well with the other flavors.

Garlic Roti

Strictly for those that appreciate the flavor and healing properties of garlic!

Garlic Naan is one of our favorite types of flat breads. Lazy enough to follow the procedure required to make a paratta, I decided to work around the protocol and try something easier. And the garlic roti was born.

Spiced raw garlic is ground to a paste and mixed with whole wheat flour to make a soft dough, which is then rolled out in the usual fashion to make rotis.

Eggplant & Lemon Risotto

There is nothing better than a creamy and cheesy risotto on a cold day. Well, there are other dishes that come to mind, but warm risotto definitely tops the list!

This version comes from the book Plenty. However, since I am incapable of following recipes, I adapted the basic idea of using lemon and eggplants in risotto. Thanks to the book, I also learned the real trick to making creamy risotto...it takes more work, but is worth it!

Lauki Soup with Soy, Tomatoes, Sweet Peppers & Onion

Lauki is a common Indian gourd. In my impatient quest to basically experiment with "souping" any and all vegetables and fruits, I decided to throw this also into the mix. But, I somehow can't stop with just one vegetable. I have to throw in familiar and comforting ones such as onion and tomatoes as well. 

This turned out to be an extremely flavorful and hardy soup. The lauki provides a creamy and substantial base to the soup. To add some protein to the soup, I added soya chunks as well. A bowl of soup fills you up nicely. The warm and earthy flavor of cumin is just enough to complement the inherent flavors of the vegetables.

Perfect during the wintry months. 

 

Mint Paratha with Paneer and Onion

Pudhina Parathas are Indian flat-breads made with layers of aromatic mint leaves and a light dusting of spices. This makes a truly fragrant and delicious paratha, especially if you enjoy minty flavors.

My cousin and I frequently exchange notes on what we are cooking just to inspire and motivate each other, especially on those days and evenings when we are looking for excuses to not cook ;). So, when she told me she was making pudhina parathas for dinner a few weeks back, I needed no more inspiration! I was so motivated that I got carried away and added paneer and onion as well. This is yet another simple and flavorful flat-bread!
 

Ragi & Jowar Porridge / Sweet Millet Porridge

Millet flours make excellent porridges, grubs, and cereals. They are cooked slightly with water, sweetened a little with jaggery or palm sugar, and served with warm milk. This makes an energizing breakfast, and even a quick and nutritious dinner that's both light and filling. In terms of healthy dessert options, this is really quite a nice one! 

My mom makes different kinds of porridges with millets and whole grains. I have written about one of them here. This is another very simple version with just two types of millets. To tone down the earthy aromas of the millets and to increase the flavor of the porridge, freshly ground cardamom and mace (javetri) are added. 

As a dessert, this is truly a yummy alternative!

Paneer & Onion Ragi Adai

Ragi (finger millet) flour is a hardy and nutritious substitute for rice or wheat. However, it is not always easy to directly substitute this millet for rice or wheat, because its structural properties interfere with the texture of the food and its visual appeal. But, if one looks beyond how the dish looks, there are many tasty, filling, and healthy meals that can be prepared with such millets. 

One among them is this adai (or savory pancake). My mom often prepares these, but when I was growing up, no one was a fan of these, mainly because of a preconceived notion and determination that it would not taste good if it looks weird! And most often, these adais are prepared with no other embellishments, and are simple and bare-boned with just ragi flour and salt. Doesn't sound particularly appetizing if put that way, does it? Sometimes, vegetables such as carrots and beans are added, but again, as kids, very rarely did we look forward to beans or carrots! So, it's partly all about the packaging and bells and whistles.

And like many others, I am also of the belief that one doesn't have to necessarily compromise on taste and flavor by choosing to eat healthy. Therefore, to market this dish, one can add an endless variety of spices or popular foods that carry mass appeal. So, in this adai, I added paneer and onions to boost the appeal and flavor of the dish.

Jowar Roti / Sorghum Flat-bread

Jowar/Sorghum is a type of millet. It is called Cholam / Solam in Tamil, and is a very commonly available cereal in villages. Jowar flour has a pleasant and mildly sweet taste to it, so it's also being used in baking circuits in the West. It's also gluten free, rich in protein, iron, calcium, fiber etc., making it a truly wonderful substitute for regular flour.

India (and South-Asia) grows plentiful amounts of a variety of millets. Before the allure of polished white rice, most families had a heavy intake of millets. Somehow, millets lost their appeal and came to be branded as a lowly, peasant food. It was not fashionable to say you had millet-based porridge for breakfast or that you ate some archaic sounding food.

Now, with the surge of popularity in quinoa as a nutritious substitute for grains like rice (and even wheat), there has been a resurgence in millet consumption in places like India where quinoa is sold at exorbitant prices! In the last couple of years, people have rediscovered their very own indigenous crops, millets, and grains that help the local economy and their health! Everything has come a full circle now, and it's become fashionable to use millets again :).

Anyway, regardless of all that, it's good news that people are taking millets more seriously. For example, jowar has been a staple for hundreds of thousands of hardworking agriculturalists in Karnataka and Maharashtra. Flat-breads made from jowar  (known as Jolada Roti) are even served in many restaurants in Bangalore, and that's how I know of these rotis.

The only slight hitch with regularly making jowar rotis is that it requires skill and experience. It's an art to make Jowar rotis paper thin and round by just beating and shaping the dough with the palm of your hand and fingers! This requires years of experience. So, over the years I have often given up on making these, because it used to be hard to get sorghum flour in stores here, and it was always intimidating to make these rotis without the use of a rolling pin! But, experience comes with practice, and you practice by repeatedly trying and not giving up :)

So, with that in mind, here's the simple recipe to make these rotis. I'm not an expert, so don't judge the shape of my rotis! :). You can even start by adding some sorghum flour to whole wheat flour to make rotis that can be rolled. 

Ulutham Sevai / Indian Rice Noodles Spiced with Black Gram

Sevai is a short and delicate rice noodle that's popular in South-India. It takes on the flavor of the seasonings in which it is mixed, so there are many different ways of spicing these noodles. I have been posting some of the more common versions in this space. In this version, the rice noodles are mixed with a simple spiced seasoning made from black gram.

There are also a few different ways of making the rice noodles with either rice batter, or rice flour. I have written about two methods here and here. Today, I am writing about a third method.

This is a method that is very commonly used by most families. My in-laws follow this method, but this requires one to act fast and with skill, because the noodles need to be squeezed out when the cooked rice balls are hot. When they cool down, it becomes hard to squeeze them. This method also works much better using a traditional sevai nazhi made with iron and with a rotating equipment on top to squeeze out the noodles.

Paruppu Usili Sevai / Rice Noodles with Spiced Lentils

Sevai is Indian rice noodles. It is prepared through a slightly involved process with ground rice flour or rice batter that is cooked, thickened, and made into noodles. There are a few different ways of preparing these rice noodles.  I discussed one method here, here is another slightly varied method, which actually works much better using a traditional iron noodle press (sevai nazhi) because it  requires a stronger set of arms! My mom and her side of the family often use this method.

The prepared noodles are mixed with many types of spicy seasonings. In this version, bengal gram and yellow lentils are ground with chillies and curry leaves and fried to a crispy crumbly mixture. The noodles are then mixed with the spiced lentils to make a really tasty dish that is packed with protein, making the dish more healthy and nutritious, in addition to being delicious.

Sevai: Coconut Sevai and Lemon Sevai

Indian rice noodles are called sevai (or idiyappam). In terms of major South-Indian food types, sevai/idiyappam is a prominent category. These rice noodles are thin, delicate strands that are fluffy, airy, and very versatile, because they take on the flavors that you add to them. So there are so many different flavors that can be infused into the noodles, and they all taste good.

If the long strands of coiled noodles are served as such, it is called Idiyappam. When the long strands are broken to short strands and flavored with some seasoning, it is called sevai. Sevai is commonly had during certain religious days when people take a break from regular meals. Idiyappam is an extremely common breakfast food in most parts of South-India, especially in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

It's amazing that almost every culture has its own version of starchy noodles. The interesting fact about noodles is that it's a great way to economize on raw ingredients. In this case, rice. I find it incredible that home-cooks and women who'd been in kitchens all their lives had the ingenuity to come up with a series of labor-intensive processes to effectively convert rice into noodles. So, this is yet another dish that was on my to-blog list for a really long time. And every time, I put it off because I am hesistant of the manual labor required of this dish.

Methi Thepla

Methi Thepla is a dish that comes from the state of Gujarat in India. It is a flat-bread made from fresh fenugreek leaves mixed with wheat flour and chickpea flour. It is healthy and flavorful, and a popular picnic/travel food. 

I have had theplas from my sweet Gujarati friend in school. Her mom used to generously pack extra theplas for her so that she could share them with us. And for us folks, thepla was a truly exotic dish! Anyway, those were fun times. 

Methi theplas are very similar to methi parathas except that theplas have chickpea flour, which brings in some protein to the flat-breads. 

Thayir Saadam / Yogurt Rice

This post had to come some day :). A South-Indian cannot ignore the most humble and distinctive dish in our community for too long. What is yogurt rice? It is just as it sounds. It is yogurt mixed with rice. That's it, you ask? That's it, I say.

Well, almost.

Before I go further, I must clarify one thing. This post is by no means a recipe for yogurt rice. If I call this a recipe, I am inviting unending mockery from my entire community! This post is just an ode to thayir saadam where I highlight a few additions to make it really special. It would have never even occurred to me to talk about yogurt rice until a few years back.

Bisibelebath

Bisibelebath is a popular Karnataka dish. It is a uniquely spiced sambar dish (a spicy tamarind and lentil gravy) with lots of vegetables. Also, the lentils, rice, vegetables and spices are cooked and stewed together. Doing so, melds all the flavors nicely. Bisibelebath is also extremely moist, so it is cooked with generous amounts of water.

I love bisibelebath because it is as healthy as it is flavorful. It has copious amounts of vegetables and lentils, so it is an excellent one-pot-meal. In terms of the spices added, in addition to the usual combination of coriander seeds, bengal gram, coconut, and red chillies, aromatic whole spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom are added. I usually add a couple of more pulses/seeds in my enthusiasm to make the spice blend :).

Most people successfully prepare bisibelebath in a pressure cooker. They throw all the ingredients into it and cook it in no time. However, I have been apprehensive to use the pressure cooker to cook rice, lentils, and vegetables, all of which take different times (and different amounts of water) to cook. So, I have never experimented with the pressure cooker to avoid the risk of getting a mushed up mass of everything. Ideally, we cook the lentils, rice, and veggies separately and then add everything together for a final mix and boil with the freshly ground spices. But, the lazy cleaner in me would go to great lengths to use just one pot rather than three pots! So, this is my version of a one-pot-dish that you can carefully control as it cooks on the stove top.

We made bisibelebath for a recent dinner party. In all the flurry of activity to get things done, I didn't have the luxury of time to take pictures. So, the bisibelebath seems dry and unappetizing in the pictures. I will hopefully replace the pictures soon. 

Ragi Dosa / Finger Millet Crepes

Ragi is called finger millet. They are small grains that are red in color and are highly nutritious and packed with protein. It is commonly used in porridge and also to make crepes or savory pancakes such as this one. Ragi has a pleasant aroma and is extremely palatable.

Ragi dosas can be prepared with minimal effort and time. They require no fermentation and are really tasty and healthy alternatives to regular rice and black gram dosas. They even store well, so they can be stored for a few hours and had as left-over lunches or dinners. 

My mom is a big fan of ragi. Growing up, I think I have had as much ragi as I have had rice, and that's saying something if you are a South-Indian! Every breakfast of mine had ragi in it, and I am grateful for ingesting something whose nutritional value I am only now appreciating.

Pulikachal / Puliyodharai

Pulikachal is a concentrated tamarind based spicy condiment. This is a defining condiment in South-Indian cuisine. It is mixed with cooked rice to make a really delicious rice called Puliyodharai. Puliyodharai is commonly served in temples as an offering. The spiciness and tartness of the dish make it really flavorful in a one of a kind way!

In simple terms, pulikachal is prepared by stewing tamarind juice and a few spices for a long time until the tamarind extract thickens and turns into a paste that can be scooped with a spoon.

This takes time to prepare, but is no way labor intensive. This my mom's, my grandma's, and my grand-aunt's recipe to make tasty pulikachal.

Eggplant Gothsu / Brinjal Gothsu

This post is 3 years overdue. Three years ago, we planted 3 varieties of eggplants in our yard. And for a whole month, we were blessed with eggplants and more eggplants that we were overwhelmed. I think it was that year when we realized that we needed to plant small quantities of several different vegetables/fruits than concentrate on just 4 types of vegetables. I remember that summer of overflowing bags of tomatoes, bell-peppers, zucchinis and eggplants. Those were the only 4 veggies (or fruits) we had every single meal for a long time even after distributing many of them to friends and family! Anyway, so I was on an eggplant spree, and was making as many dishes as possible with fresh eggplants. And Gothsu was the first one everybody suggested that I make. 

I have realized that my version of gothsu (which God knows where I picked up from) is different from my mom's version, which is actually exactly the same as how my mother-in-law prepares gothsu. I add some moong dal to my gothsu, and I simplify the spices that go into it. But all in all, this is a tart and spicy side-dish that is easy to make.

Mooli Paratha / Radish Paratha

Every summer, we pour our love and efforts into cultivating a small vegetable patch in our yard. And every year, we try to grow at least two vegetables or fruits that we have never grown before. This year, one of those vegetables is radish, actually, baby radish. Baby radishes are a home gardener's ideal vegetable. It takes 21 days from seed to vegetable to harvest! And true to that number, in 22 days, my husband pulled out a bunch of baby radishes. This weekend, there were several bunches of radishes. They go perfectly with sandwiches and salads, because they require no cooking. But, just to do something different with them, I thought of making radish parathas.

Parathas are stuffed Indian flat breads. The stuffing is either literally stuffed into pockets of wheat flour dough that are rolled out flat, or they are mixed into the dough while kneading it. The vegetable of choice is usually grated, spiced, and then partially (or fully) cooked.

So why are the pictures of the paratha slightly green colored, you may wonder. That's because radish greens are palatable and nutritious, and they are cooked with lentils to make dals. They can also be added to the paratha dough to make it healthier, and of course, to ensure every last shred of the crop is put to good use!