Dosa,Sambhar, Chutney

Another staple breakfast item from south, Dosa is a commoner at most households. Served with a variety of Podis, Sambhar, Chutney, even sugar and ghee in some cases, this is one dish that very few people dislike.

Dosa
4 Cups Idli Rice
1.5 Cups Urad Dal
2 tsp Methi seeds
2 tsp Aval/Poha
1/2 cup raw rice

Soak all for 6 hours and grind dal and rice seperately to a smooth batter. Keep for fermenting and make dosas.

Sambhar:
1 cup Toor dal
10 Sambhar onions/Shallots
5 Tomato (medium pureed)
2-3 tsp imli extract
2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
2 tsp Dhaniya/Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp Haldi
1 tsp Sambhar Powder
Salt to taste
2 tsp oil
1 tsp ghee
2 Dry red chillies
Curry Leaves
Pinch of Hing
Mustard seeds, Cumin Seeds, methi seeds to temper.

Cook Dal and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, cumin, methi seeds, dry red chillies and let it crackle. Add curry leaves, hing, onions and saute. Add tomato puree, salt, haldi, red chilli powder, dhaniya powder and saute till raw smell goes. Add imli, dal, sambhar powder, 1 cup water and let it boil for 5 mts. Drizzle ghee on top and serve hot garnished with Dhaniya leaves.

I am sending this to the "Think Spice - Think Red Chillies" event going at lakshmi of KITCHEN CHRONICLES and Sunita's blog .


Onion Tomato Chutney
3-4 Medium sized Onions (chopped)
3 Medium Tomatoes (chopped)
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Haldi
3/4 Tsp Red Chilli Powder
Mustard seeds and Curry leaves to temper.

Take oil in a pan, add onion, saute till transparent. Add tomatoes, salt, haldi, red chilli powder and saute till raw smell goes. Cool and grind to smooth paste. Do not add extra water else chutney will become watery. Temper with Mustard seeds, Curry leaves and serve.

7 Cup Cake

As Navratri approaches, i am all set in the festive mood and geared up for big time celebrations at my home. Many of you might share my views here. The festive season ignites a great amount of happiness in me and lends a new spark in my mind complete with religious fervour. So what better way to start with the festivities than making sweets for the family....

After all, sweets are synonymous with the festive season for us all...

7 Cup Cake

Taught to me by my mom, we call it 'yezhu dhinasu' cake at home. Few years ago, when readymade was not so much easily available, we used to start a month prior to diwali to make sweets and savouries at home. And on Diwali day, a customary ritual after the morning 'Ganga Snaanam' was to visit our relatives one by one and share whatever is made at our place. In return they also used to give us sweets and savouries made at their homes. All homemade, hygienic stuff and not that expensive. But nowadays, due to time constraints, working parents, nuclear families and above all the Idiot Box taking over our lives, has made us very prone to give excuses and buy readymade stuff from the well known eateries. Saravana Bhawan, Adyar Ananda Bhawan, any local market sellers and even salesmen who go door to door to take orders for Mixture, Murukku and Sweets, the most common ones being Jangiri and Badusha. But the amount of satisfaction and happiness that one gets by making these at home and receiving compliments makes up for all the efforts. So give it a try this year....

Contrary to the name, it is as simple as it can be. Try out for yourself and let me know.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Besan (Kadala Maavu)

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Ghee (at room temperature)

1 Cup Coconut (fresh and grated)

3 Cups Sugar

Method:

Combine all in a pan, cook on medium flame as it tends to burn and stick to the bottom. Cook till it starts leaving the sides of the pan. Pour into a gresed plate and cool. Cut into pieces and serve.