Ragi Puttu

 

Ragi/ millet once used to be the staple food in villages in south india.  It is very high source of calcium, fibre and even iron and protein. It is similar to mustard/ राइ in texture and color. Traditionally the cereal is washed, rinsed, allowed to sprout overnight and then dried under direct sun before grinding it to a smooth powder. This powder can be stored for months together in a air tight container and used whenever required. You get these powders ready in shop. Variety of dishes using ragi can be prepared like upma, dosa, adai, porridge(kuzhu), pakoda, puttu etc. Ragi puttu is a sweet dish similar to riceflour puttu.

 

Ingredients (2 serving)

 

Ragi flour- 200gm

Sugar- 150gm

Grated coconut- 1 cup

Water - 1 cup

Preparation

 

 

  Take the dry sieved ragi flour in a wide mouth vessel. Sprinkle  water and spread it all over such that the flour is only damp and not wet. you will notice that the volume has doubled. This is how it looks.

 

 

Seive it again

Now wet a clean muslin or cotton (preferably white colour) cloth. Wet and squeeze the excess water from it. Make a pocket in the cloth and add the damp ragi powder into the cloth.

Take a wide mouth vessel/ cooker. Pour 1/2  to 3/4 glass of water.

 

 

Place a porous plate or idli plate.

 

 

Keep the cloth packet onto the plate and steam for 10 min covering the vessel. If using cooker do not keep whistle.

 

 

The steamed ragi powder turns much darker in color. Add grated coconut and sugar to the steaming ragi powder. 

 

Plate it hot!!

Masala Pori / Seasoned Puffed Rice

 

 

मसाला मुरमुरा  Masala pori is a sure shot hit with kids and also with adults. This is one item u wont miss in the beach or near big  temples. Its crunchy, crisp and tickling  ur palate asking for more. There are 2  varieties of murmura, namely salted and unsalted. The salted ones can be consumed directly. The unsalted one gets some finishing touch and converted into chat or other recipe before consuming.
 

Ingredients

Puffed Rice/ Pori/ Murmura - 50g
Roasted Peanuts- handful
Roasted Bengal gram - handful
Dry red chilli- 5
Peeled  garlic cloves- 5
Curry leaves- 1 string
turmeric powder - 2 teaspoon
Salt- to taste
Oil - 4 tablespoon






Preparation

Head kadai, add oil. At right temperature add  crushed garlic gloves. When garlic becomes golden brown and crisp only then add curry leaves, dry chilli, roasted peanuts, Bengal gram dal, turmeric powder.

 Now bring the stove to sim and then add the puffed rice  and keep stirring for few minutes till crisp. Adjust salt if required. Make sure this process is done in sim as puffed rice will loose its texture under high temperature.

 

  Serve hot and even store it even for 3-4 days in air tight container. Very simple puffed rice with konjamtadka in it

Oats Upma

 

 

 

 

Looking for a healthy diet recipe.. here u have oats upma .. very very filling so you tend to eat less. Right and healthy option for weight loss. Also oats has soluble fibre thereby reducing  cholesterol level in the body.

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients( 2 serving)

Oats - 100gm
Onion -1 chopped
Carrot- 1 chopped
Olive oil- 1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds- 1 teaspoon
red dry chilli- 2 nos.
curry leaves - few

 

Dry roast oats on a dry pan for 3-5 minutes. This will make the upma non-sticky.

 

 

 

Now heat a kadai and add the olive oil. At right temperature, sputter mustard then break the dry chillies into halves and add onto the oil. Add onions and sauté.  When onion turns transparent add the chopped carrot, sprinkle salt and cover it, such that it cooks on its own steam on sim flame.

 

 

 

Open the lid within 2-3 min and give it a stir. Add water (for 1 cup of oats add 1cup of water) and bring it to a boil. Sprinkle the oats and keep stirring nicely as oats observes water soon. Let it cook covered for 2 more minutes. Sprinkle curry leaves.

 

 Serve hot directly or with tomato ketchup.!!

 

Lemon rice

 

 

 Lemon rice, with its beautiful tender bright yellow colour, mixed rice variety is one of main  favourites to many women. The tangy after taste  and not so heavy recipe is easy and handy for bussy schedules and travels. It stays long  even for 2 days without refrigeration as no water is added. During the era of no comfort travelling, and ready to pack and take away restaurants, such mixed rice varieties like puliogare, curd rice, lemon rice were prepared in almost all south indian homes during the journey. Packing food during travel is also unique. Organic plantain/ banana leaves were used for packing. They are first  washed and cut according to required size. It is  wiped for excess water and damped with a coating of cooking oil on the usable side. Then the back side of the leaf is slightly heated  underneath  from a height holding both edges under direct but sim fire from stove so that the excess moisture in the Plantain / banana leaves are removed. But make sure the leaves don't get burnt and tearoff. The  colour quickly changes to greenish brown and slighty the texture also shrinks which indicates the leaves are ready for packing. The leaves are cooled and also the rice is packed onto the prepared leaves with  dry spatula only under room temperature. Never bring hand contact to food which needs long time storing under room temperature. Packet once opened should be consumed fully. Mixed rice variety tastes before after 1-3 hr of preparation. The rice would have soaked into the tangy juice and leaves out its best flavour.

 
Salt, tangy and spicy, a dangerous  3s combination is what preserves food for long time.

 

Ingredients (4 serving)

Lemon - 2-3 medium size
Green chilli - 3-4 nos chopped
Mustard - 1 teaspoon
Urad dal - 1 teaspoon
channa dal - 2 tablespoon
Turmeric powder- 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves- few
Garlic cloves- 3-4 crushed (optional)
Salt to taste
Asafoetida- a pinch
Cooking oil - 4 tablespoon

Pre Preparation

Before washing  the lemon, on a plain surface roll the whole lemon pressing with your centre of the palm giving it little pressure. This will make the fruit soft. Now wash and cut into halves. When you squeeze you will notice that the juice is extracted without much pressure to your fingers. Also this juice will not be bitter as there was no pressure on the skin during squeezing. Extract the juice this way and keep it aside.

Heat a tadka pan, add oil and when hot, sputter mustard then channa dal, urad dal. When it turns golden brown,  adjust the flame to sim and  add  curry leaves, crushed garlic, chopped green chillies, asafoetida, turmeric powder and  give it a quick stir. Make sure the turmeric powder doesn't get burnt.  Add the ingredients in the same order one by one. Turn off the flame.

 Now for mixing, make sure the cooked rice is at room temperature and the  granules are separate and non sticky. (The oil with seasoning can be hot) Add the seasoned oil  to the rice, add the extracted lemon juice, salt for tasting. Mix thoroughly making sure it doesn't get in contact with hand. Use dry spatuala for mixing. The rice will turn into a beautiful fresh, bright yellow color. Adjust lemon juice according to your taste buds.

 

 Pack for lunch, travel etc. Roasted Potato fry is the best suit. Kids will enjoy with  potato wafer, chips.

 

 

 

 

 

Bajji / Bajiya

 

 

 Bajji also known as बजिया Bajiya in hindi is a deep oil fried snack item.

I am nostalgic to these.. during  our childhood  days our dad used to buy us these bajji from a nearby savoury shop. The shopkeeper would wrap the bajjis in  dried lotus leaves. We can't wait to reach home to munch it. Its aroma  would fill the air along the way. My Mouth is watering when I recall those... hot Bajjis in beach, trade fair and even during train journey.. Those journey were special because of small things like this !!  What small world we had with small small things to relish and cherish during our childhood. These bajjis can be made from any dry veggie.. such as potato, onion, brinjal, capsicum and even bigger variety chillies. The outstanding one is plantain bajji and chilli which is commonly available in south india.

 

  

 

 

Ingredients

Plantain- 1
Chickpea flour / besan - 100g
rice flour - 2 tablespoon
Baking powder- 2 pinch
Plain chilli powder- 1/2 tablespoon
Asafoetida - a pinch
salt - to taste
red food colour - a pinch  (if required)
Oil - for frying

  

Mix all the powders in a bowl and add the right amount of water such that it forms a batter for coating the veggies.

 

 

 Peel the vegetables cut into desired shape, dip into the batter and drop into the hot oil for deep fry. Make sure the veggie is cooked inside and batter crisp outside.

 

 

 

  Serve hot directly or with sauce or thick coconut chutney!!