Jackfruit Dosa

Idli or dosa batter are like blank canvas, you may add almost anything and everything to pretty them up with varities. Be it sweet or savoury, both versions has their own fan following. If you're my regular food blog follower, you might noticed different type of dosa in my blog. I love to play with ingredients and create something new. One of those are this crispy jackfruit dosa.

This Indian crepe are absolutely delicious by it's own with little hint of sweetness from the riped jackfruit and some caramelized flavor of vellam. Do not add too much of vellam as not to ruin the authentic taste of jackfruit. Just a little sprinkling of vellam will do.

For darker colur you might replace vellam with jaggery or karupatti but, I want that beautiful yellow unadultered. You may skip the vellam if you prefer to retain the natural fruit sweetness. As for my case, both my Dandelions love it with a sprinkle of vellam which i believe enhance the taste of this golden crepe. The colur credit goes to the jackfruit pulps and ghee. 

My elder Dandelion kept on commenting how good the smell coming from the kitchen which, i attribute to the ghee. Use good quality ghee for the crispiness of the dosa, for the beautiful golden hue and without a doubt for an excellent taste. My Dandeliom couldn't stop praising the deadly combo of ghee,vellam and jackfruit. Serve this yummy jackfruit dosa on it's own for breakfast or dinner

Ingredient

1 cup par boiled rice
1/4 cup urad dhal
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
Salt taste

5 pcs jackfruit pulps,ripen

3 tbsp vellam,powdered

Ghee as needed

Methods

For The Dosa Batter

Soak all the ingredients except salt & jackfruit for atleast 4 hours or overnight.

Grind the soaked ingredients with little water. The batter should not be too thin or too thick.

Pour the batter into a large pot or vessel and add salt. Mix well. Let  the batter ferment for 7-8 hours.

The next day, remove the seeds of the jackfruits. Chopped the pulp and add into a blender with little water and grind into smooth puree.

Just before making the thosai, add the pureed jackfruit and mix well without any lumps.

Prepare Dosa

Heat dosa tawa and drizzle with little oil. Take a ladleful of dosa batter and spread into a circle.

Smear ghee generously on the thosai and sprinkle with vellam. Cook till golden and transfer to a serving plate.

 Serve hot with piping hot coffee or tea.

Breakfast Gravy

 

When i was cracking my head what is an ideal gravy to serve with string hoppers for my weekend breakfast, the idea of something thick and creamy came to mind. I simply try to imagine this and that ingredients to come up with this delicious gravy. 

I love how the gravy compliment the humble string hoppers. The creaminess of coconut and slightly thickened with poppy seeds paste coats the string hoppers well. I decided to call this lip smacking dish as breakfast gravy since it will pair very well with Indian breakfast be it idli,thosai,string hoppers,uttapam or poori. 

Ingredients

2 large potatoes, washed and cut into 8

1/2 cup grated coconut

1 tsp poppy seeds, soak for 10 minutes

1 medium sized onion

2 cloves garlic

1"inch ginger

1 tsp black pepper powder

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp fennel powder

1/4 tsp garam masala

1 green chilly, slit

1 sprig curry leaves

2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

1 bay leaves

3 cloves

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 cups water

3 tbsp coconut oil

Salt to season

Methods

In a blender, add grated coconut,poppy seeds, garlic,ginger and little water. Grind into smooth paste. 

In a pot, heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once mustard seeds started to splutter, add cloves,bay leaves and onion. Saute till the onion turns translucent. Saute in the curry leaves and green chilly. Add the cubed potatoes and stir well. 

Add the cumin powder,coriander powder and fennel powder. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the ground coconut paste and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add water and season with salt and black pepper powder and garam masala. Stir and cover with lid. Cook till the potatoes are soft. 

Serve with string hoppers,idli or thosai.

Ube Swirl Loaf

 

After eyeing the bread and you're thinking the amount of food coloring went into the making of this gorgeous loaf, you're in for surprise. Not a single food coloring used in the recepi instead i opted for the healthier option of dehydrated plant based powder. The credit goes to Japanese purple sweet potato powder which i bought recently. 

Eager to experiment with the vibrant colur of the powder, i baked a loaf of swirl purple sweet potato loaf for our weekend tea. I used premium purple sweet potato powder but, if you're using the non premium you might need to add more of the powder than stated in the recepi to give that awesome purple hue.

Dandelions are excited as much as me the moment the first slice revealed the interior of the loaf. The swirls turns out really well without patches which i'm very much keeping my fingers crossed. The sight of it reminds me of an artwork..artwork on a bread 😁

Ingredients

2 cups bread flour
2/3 cup whole milk 
1 1/2 tbsp granulated white sugar
1 tsp active yeast
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp butter

2-3 tsp premium purple sweet potato powder

Methods

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour,salt and sugar. Whisk to combine. Add the yeast and mix well. Add butter and milk, stir till combine.

Using a stand or hand mixer fitted with dough paddle, knead the dough for 10-12 minutes till soft and smooth.

Place the dough in a greased bowl cover with cling form. Rest the dough for an hour on warm place to rise.

Transfer the dough onto a clean working surface and divide the dough into two equal sized balls.

Add purple sweet potato powder to one of the dough and knead well till there's no a streak of white. Make sure the powder are well kneaded into the and the dough turns purple. Place the purple and plain dough into two separate greased bowls. Cover with kitchen towel and rest for 15 minutes.

Transfer the dough  onto a clean working surface dusted with flour. Punch the dough to remove air bubbles.

Start working with one portion of the dough at a time. Using a rolling pin, roll out the plain dough into a rectangle with half inch thick diameter. Keep aside.

Now, roll rhe purple sweet potato roll into a half inch thick diameter. Gently place the purple sweet potato dough on the plain dough and roll into log. Seal the edges. 

 Place on a greased loaf tin and cover the dough with clean kitchen towel and let it rise for another 30 minutes.

Brush the dough with milk and bake on preheated oven at 180'C for 30 minutes or till golden.

Remove from oven an cool on wire rack.

Slice and serve.

Deep Fried Sea Bass In Curry Sauce

 

Blogging is all about recepi testing and all the dilemma that comes with it. During one of those kind of recepi testing , an idea to create a new kind of gravy for a typical fried fish hit my tiny mind. Instead the usual Chinese style sauce that we alwaya come across in restaurants and home, i want to come up with my own twist and ended up with this lip smacking curry sauce.

Sounds like no once can ever knock out curry out of an Indian 😂.  Being ver much with varities of curry, this recepi comes along really well and younger Dandelion drooled over it.  The elder Dandelion are not into spicy stuff nevertheless, she enjoyed the out of ordinary dish. The kick of the curry sauce poured over the deep fried fish was highly recommended to try and owe your loved ones.

Ingredients 

1 pc sea bass,cleaned and scored

4 tbsp corn flour 

2 tbsp all purpose flour 

1/2 tsp ground black pepper 

Salt to season

1/2 tsp palm sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup coconut milk 

Oil for deep frying 

2 tbsp cooking oil

For Curry Paste

3 red bird eye chilly

3 dried chillies, soaked in hot water

1 red onion,sliced

3 garlic, chopped

1"inch ginger, sliced

1/3 tsp turmeric 

1/2 tsp black peppercorn

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 inch cinnamon stick

2 pcs cloves

1 sprig curry leave

1 tsp fish curry powder

1 tbsp tamarind paste

1 sprig spring onion

Handful of coriander leaves

Methods 

In a blender, add all the ingredients mentioned for"Curry Paste" except curry leaves,cinnamon stick and cloves

Heat oil in a work, rub salt and ground black pepper to the fish. Sprinkle with corn flour and all purpose flour. Coat the fish well with flour and deep fry till crispy on both sides. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan, over a medium heat cook saute the cinnamon stick and clovess for 2 seconds. Add curry leaves and the curry paste. Cook till the raw smell leaves before adding 1/2 cup water. Let it boil for 3-4 minutes.

 Stir and season with salt and palm sugar. Cook till the sauce thickened slightly.

Add the coconut milk and cook for 5 minutes. 

Pour the gravy over the fried fish and sprinkle with coriander leaves and spring onion. Serve immediately.

Besan Vadai

Who doesn't love vadai. The famous deep fried snack found in most roadside stalls,restaurants and Indian households. Making the traditional vadai needs hours of preparation by soaking the dhall,grinding, and the dough shall be rest for atleast an hour to infused the aromatic herbs and spices. What if i tell you, all this hard labour can be skipped and you'll still be able to enjoy delicious vadai in jiffy.

No, i'm not talking about store bought ready made vadai batter. This simple and easy batter can be made in your own kitchen with ingredients available in your pantry. No soaking neither grinding required yet, soft and spongy vadai will make into your teatime table for a lazy weekend. 

Gram flour or besan gives the vadai the much needed body and flavour. I added rice flour for giving the vadai crispy texture and since i like my vadai hot, i added four green chilles. You may adjust the amount of chillies to suit your heat tolerance level.

The more the ingredients the more merrier but do not overdo. This is simply not wanting any ingredients to over domain the others. Personally, i love to taste a little of curry and coriander leaves and a littte bite of cumin seeds and peppercorns while the tasting the nutty flavour of the besan which is the base of thia dish. There you go our weekend tea time treat with instant besan vadai.

Ingredients

2 cups besan/gram flour

1/3 cup rice flour

3 green chillies, chopped

2 onions,chopped

1 tsp grated ginger

1/3 cup chopped coriander leaves

3 sprig curry leaves,chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp whole black peppercorns

Salt to taste

Water as needed

Vegetable oil for deep frying

Methods

In a large bowl, add besan flour,rice flour and salt. Whisk to combine.

Add the chopped onion,green chillies,grated ginger,curry leaves,coriander leaves,cumin seeds and peppercorns. Stir well.

Gradually add water little at a time to knead into a thick batter.

Heat oil in a pan for deep frying over a medium heat. Apply oil to your hand, scoop a lemon sized of the dough.

Shape the dough into a thick disc and poke a hole in the center of the dough.

Gently drop into the oil and fry till golden on both sides and the edges turns crispy.

Transfer to a tray lined with clean kitchen towel to absorp excess oil.

Serve with coconut chutney or ketchup.

Katmer

 

I remember of coming across of this recdpi long ago and totally forgot about it. Suddenly the thought of it came to mind but i couldn't find the recepi. That was really upsetting moment when you're searching high and low for certain recepi only to be left down. Somehow, i remember a little here and there of the recepi and decided to take risk with what i could remember.

To my surprise, it turns out really well and almost what i wanted. I'm delighted with the end result which is, flaky,soft and tastes heavenly. My Dandelion helped me out with the rolling of the dough which, ease my pain. The dough need to be rolled into thin and large disc to get the flakiness during baking.

The dark brown surface after baking it's a eye catching sight. Lightly flavoured with rich and flavourful cheddar and generous amount of butter makes this pastry as an ideal tea time treat with a cup of hot tea.

Ingredients

200ml warm milk

200ml warm water

1 tbsp granulated white sugar

1 1/2 tbsp active yeast

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

4 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp chopped walnuts

For Filling

1 cup grated cheddar

2/3 cup melted butter

Methods

In a bowl, add water,milk,sugar and salt. Whisk to combine. Add yeast and stir.

Add the flour and mix well. Using a stand mixer fitted with dough hook, knead the dough for 12-15 minutes.

Add the vegetable oil and using your hand knead the dough to incorporate the oil well into the dough.

Cover with clean kitchen towel and rest the dough in a warm place to rise.

Dust a clean working surface with flour and roll the dough into a log. Cut into 6 equal sized dough and roll it into balls.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large disc. The dough shall be rolled into a thin and large disc.

Brush the dough with melted butter and sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese.

Bring the end facing your side to to cover the 1/3 of the dough and pull over the end to overlap the dough. Repeat the process till you reach the other end of the dough. 

Brush the dough with melted butter. Bring both the right and left end of the dough to the center. Overlap the right end of the dough with the left.

Place on the baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat the process with the remaing dough.

Gently press the dough to release air pocket.

In a bowl, combine egg and milk. Brush the dough with egg wash and sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Bake on the 180'c preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Serve hot or warm.

Malabar Chemeen With Coconut Milk

I bought huge prawns as big almost as big as my palms from a wet market in our neighbourhood. I had one delicious gravy recepi in mind for this fresh and succulent prawns. Malabar chenmeen curry with coconut milk. As much as it sounds yummy it tastes wonderful too.

Do use coconut oil for an authentic Malabar flavor. I used freshly squezed coconut milk to enhance the taste. The coconut milk gave this Malabar dish a rich and creamyYou'll need that much oil for this gorgeous dish thus, do not put off with the amount of oil. The beauty of the dish is the final touch of drizzling coconut oil which brings out the real taste of the dish. Goes very well with hot white rice.

Ingredients

500g prawns,cleaned & deveined

1 1/2 cup thin coconut milk

1/4 cup thick coconut milk

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 big tomatoes,chopped

2 onions,chopped

3/4 tsp mustard seeds

3/4 tsp fennel seeds

3/4 tsp pepper powder

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 1/2 tbsp Kashmiri chilly powder

3/4 tsp chilly powder

1 sprig curry leaves

7 tbsp coconut oil

Salt to taste

Methods

In a wok, heat 4 tbsp oil and splutter mustard seeds. Add fennel seeds, onion and curry leaves. Stir and cover with lid.

Cook till the onion golden brown by stirring between. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for another 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes and cook till soften. Add turmeric powder,chilly powder,Kashmiri chilly powder,pepper powder and garam masala.

Saute till oil starts to appear on the surface. Add the prawn and stir.

Reduce heat to medium-low and add thin coconut milk. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the thick coconut milk and cook covered till the prawns are cooked. Switch of the stove.

Add 3 tbsp oil and cover with lid. 

Serve with white rice.

Mangalore Bun

I made this delicious Mangalore bun for our weekend breakfast. It's soft,light and slightly sweet deep fried buns usually, served as tea time snack. I switch it into breakfast and i have no regret. 

As always, bananas are a must to have fruit in our house. Since, i have made lots of cooking and baking with banana, this is just keeper recepi. It's a very easy and simple recepi to put together which you may prepare the night before hitting bed and roll out the dough the next day for a satisfying breakfast.

There a such a beautiful air pocket in this Mangalore bun the result of the eight hours fermentation. Do not skip the fermentation process as this is a key for a perfect and delicious bun. Servd with coconut chutney and devour the wonderful taste of Mangalore bun aka banana puri 😉

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1 riped banana

2 1/2 tsp plain yogurt

1 1/2 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cumin seeds

Salt to taste

Methods

In a bowl, mash the banana and add salt,sugar,baking soda,yogurt and cumin seeds. Using a spatula, mix till the sugar dissolved.

Add the flour and knead to form a soft pliable dough. The dough shall resemble chapati dough.

Cover with lid and place on a kitchen counter for 8 hours for fermentation.

After fermentation, slightly knead the dpugh for 1 minute. Divide the dough into equal sized balls and using a rolling pin, roll out into a disc. Do not roll into a thin disc, the dough shall be thick in diameter.

Heat oil for deep frying, and deep fry the dough by batches on both sides till brown.

Serve with coconut chutney.

Mani Puttu/Mani Pittu

By now, you shall guess how this beautiful looking puttu get it's name..all because of those sweet little steamed balls. Mani puttu or mani pittu are fun to make (atleast it was for me) and as much fun to eat it as well. While making this puttu it reminds me of mani kozhukattai. The process are almost the same with some minor changes on.. the recepi. I shall say they tastes almost the same while the mani puttu's flavors are enhanced with the steamed grated coconut.

You may double up the recepi accordingly but make sure there's no cracks on the rice balls, to prevent them from cracking while steaming. Always cover the tiny balls and remaining dough with clean kitchen towel to avoid the dough from drying up.

The moment i served this eye catching puttu on my breakfast table, Dandelions was excited and started to pop in those soft and smooth rice balls to savour the goodness. Puttu are one of healthiest breakfast and quite filling too. The warm coconut milk make a best pair for the hot puttu. The combination of creamy and rich coconut milk sweetened with vellam drizzle over the soft rice balls steamed with grated coconut are indeed a perfect way to enjoy our weekend breakfast.

Ingredients

For The Rice Balls

1 1/2 cups rice flour

1/3 cup grated coconut

1 or 1 1/2 cups boiling hot water

2 tbsp gingely oil or ghee

Salt to taste

For Coconut Milk

1/2 cup grated coconut

1/3 cup water

2 tbsp organic vellam/jaggery

Pinch of salt

2 cardamom pods, crushed

Methods

In a bowl add rice flour and salt. Stir to combine.

Gradually, add hot water and using a spatula mix to form a dough.

Once the dough are warm enough to handle, knead the dough for 1-2 minutes for a smooth and soft dough. 

Apply some gingely oil or ghee on your palm and pinch a small amount of dough and make small balls without cracks on them. 

Cover the balls and remaining dough with clean kitchen towel to prevent from drying.

Boil water in bottom part of puttu maker (puttu kudam) for steaming.

Layer one table spoon of grated coconut in the bottom of puttu cylinder and fill halfway with the rice balls. 

Layer another tablespoon of grated coconut and fill the remaining half of the cylinder with the rice balls, leaving little space for the final layering of another tablespoon of grated coconut. 

Cover with lid and steam for 10 minutes. Switch off the heat and remove the puttu cylinder.

Meanwhile, add the grated coconut and water in a blender. Grind for 1-2 minutes.

Using a strainer, strain the coconut milk. You may grind the again the coconut with little water if you prefer a thin consistency of coconut milk. I grind only once for thicker consistency.

In a saucepan over medium heat, add the coconut milk and caardamom pods. Cook just for few seconds to warm the milk. Do not boil the coconut milk.

Transfer to a bowl, season with salt and vellam or jaggery. Stir well till completely dissolved. Keep aside.

Using a wooden laddle gently push the puttu to unmould.

Serve with generous drizzle of sweetened warm coconut milk.

Notes

• If you're not using organic vellam or jaggery, always boil them with little water and strain the mixture to remove impurities.
• Make sure to cool the boiled mixture complety before adding to the warm coconut milk.

Purple Sweet Potato Thosai

Thosai as we all know, can be made in many variations. Stuffed,seasoned,multiple flavors,toppings & etc. One of such are my purple sweet potato thosai or ube thosai. Recently i purchased few homemade fruits & vegetable powder online. Since it's homemade and i'm confident with the way the seller making the powders, i decided to place my orders.

It's 100% original without any coloring or preservatives. One of my many purchase, are this premium quality purple sweet potato powder. I'm totally impressed with the vibrant natural colur of the powder and can't wait to experiment with it.

That's how purple sweet potato thosai comes in. As i said, the colur are absolutely beautiful and the thosai turns out really well. The sweet potato flavor are not overhelming, it was in a right amount of taste and absolutely brilliant way to add the goodness of sweet potato into Indian cooking. Sweet potatoes are known for it's antioxidant and beneficial vitamins. I served my delicious purple sweet potato thosai with equally mouth watering magic chutney.

Ingredient

1 cup par boiled rice
1/4 cup urad dhal
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
Salt taste

1 tsp ube/purple sweet potato powder

Methods

For The Dosa Batter

Soak all the ingredients except salt & purple sweet potato powder, for atleast 4 hours or overnight.

Grind the soaked ingredients with little water. The batter should not be too thin or too thick.

Pour he batter into a large pot or vessel and add salt. Mix well. Let  the batter ferment for 7-8 hours.

Just before making the thosai, add the purple sweet potato powder and mix well without any lumps.

Prepare Dosa

Heat dosa tawa and drizzle with little oil. Take a ladleful of dosa batter and spread into a circle.

Sprinkle little oil along the edges of the dosa and cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

 Transfer to a plate and serve hot with chutney

Rabri Gulab Jamun

The only part i find time consuming in this exotic recepi is the rabri making and process of chilling it. Other than that, all other process comes handy and easy to put up with. I made my own gulab jamun from scratch but, if you prefer a shortcut method store bought pre-mix gulab jamun will do the trick and it tastes good too. Time and energy saver in a packet. 

As much as i the rabri took my time but, at the end of the process it all worth the effort. The rich and decadent rabri compliments the gulab jamun really well. Do not taken aback with the amount of sugar in this recepi afterall, it's gulab jamun and what to expect. One in awhile it won't hurt anyone 😆.

Give atleast 2-3 hours for the rabri to chill well in the fridge to get the right consistency. It shouldn't be too thicked neither too thin. A light flowing consistency is what we are looking for and be extremely careful while getting the rabri done by avoiding the milk from getting burnt. Overall, the experience of having sweet little gulab jamun swim in the thickened milk is an awesome foodie experience. It's rich,sweet,milky and full with flavour and texture.

Ingredients

For The Gulab Jamun

1 cup milk powder
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp yogurt
1 tsp ghee/clarified butter
Pinch of salt
Pinch of baking powder
Oil for deep frying
Silver sheet for garnishing (optional)

For The Sugar Syrup

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
2 cups water
3 cardamom pods, crushed
1 tsp rose water

For The Rabri

1 litre milk

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

2 tbsp chopped pistachios

2 tbsp chopped pistachios

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

Pinch of saffron

Methods

For The Rabri

Boil milk in heavy bottomed pan and lower the flame. Cook till the milk thickened by occasionally stirring and scrapping the sides of the pan approximately for 35-40 minutes.

Add saffron,cardamom powder and chopped pistachios. Cook for another 10-12 minutes by stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge to chilled for 2-3 hours.

For The Sugar Syrup

In a heavy bottom pan, boil sugar and water. Stir till sugar dissolved.

Add the crushed cardamom pods and cook till the sugar syrup thickens.

Turn off the flame, and stir in the rose water.

For The Gulab Jamun

In a bowl combine together milk powder,all purpose flour,salt and baking powder. Whisk well to combine.

Add ghee and yogurt. Mix well to form a soft dough.

With your palm, shape the dough into small balls.

Heat oil in a pan over a medium-low flame and deep fry the prepared balls till golden. Stir often to to brown on all sides.

Strain the oil and add the hot balls into a prepared sugar syrup. Soak the balls for 1-2 hours for the balls to absorb the sugar syrup.

Remove the gulab jamun from the sugar syrup and drizzle over with the chilled rabri. Sprinkle with more chopped pistachios and enjoy.