Uttappam is an embellished dosa. One can use a variety of grated vegetables or chutneys or even egg as the embellishment -its a personal choice. One can even relate it to pizza - a south indian pizza.
Method:
Heat a flat pan or tawa. Grease it with gingelly / sesame oil. Pour a spoonful of dosa batter on the pan and spread it out like dosa, keep the flame on medium low. Do not make the dosa too thin or too thick. Immediately spread the grated vegetables on the top of the dosa. Pour a teaspoon of gingelly / sesame oil on the vegetables and another half teaspoon around the dosa. When you can't find any raw batter on the top, carefully flip the dosa and cook. Cook for a minute or two. Your Uttappam is ready. Transfer to a plate. Repeat the same procedure with the remaining batter.
Serve hot with chutney powder. Click this link for the recipe of Chutney Powder:
http://ashasnairrajesh.blogspot.com/2016/02/chutney-powder.html
Ingredients:
Dosa batter - 1 cup
Chopped onions - 2 table spoon
Chopped tomato 1/3 cup
Grated Carrot - 1/2 cup
Finely chopped ginger - 1 teaspoon
Finely chopped garlic - 1 teaspoon
Finely chopped Cabbage - 1/4 cup
Finely chopped green chilly - 1 teaspoon
Gingelly/Sesame oil
Note:
You can use vegetables / vegetable of your choice. Different coloured Capsicums are a good choice.
Black gram or black lentil is very rich in protein and vitamins C, A, B. One of the healthiest among pulses along with Green gram. Very good for the heart. Reduces cholesterol. It is very healthy for women as it contains iron, calcium, folic acid, potassium, magnesium etc. It contains dietary fibre and is also easy to digest. Black gram is one of the main ingredients of idly/dosa batter.
Preparation:
In a thick bottomed pan add the black gram, whole red chilly, peanuts, garlic. Remember to remove the stem of the red chillies and the skin of the peanuts too, at least most of it. Place the pan on medium flame and roast the ingredients, stirring continuously. Add salt to taste. Add 1 teaspoon to 11/2 teaspoon salt. If more salt is needed you can add in the final stage.When the black gram turns brown, add the roasted channa dal (pottu kadalai) and asafeotida. Stir for a minute and remove the pan from fire. Allow the ingredients to cool.
When the ingredients are cool, dry grind them. After the grinding use a medium sieve to sieve the ground mixture. Again grind the left over mixture in the sieve. Seive again. Continue this process until 2 or 3 tablespoons of the mixture remain on the sieve. Dump this into the seived powder and mix well. Check salt. Chutney powder is ready. Spread this mixture on a big plate or paper and allow to cool. Store this in airtight jars, it will last for weeks.
Chutney powder is served along with dosa, idly and uttappam.
How to use: Heap a tablespoon of the chutney powder onto a plate, make a well in the centre, pour oil into that well and mix well. A thick sauce-like consistency is preferable. Coconut oil or gingely oil, whichever you prefer, can be used.
Ingredients:
Whole skinned black gram - 350 grams
Raw peanuts - 25 grams ( 46 nos )
Whole dry red chilly - 12
Garlic - 25
Roasted and split chickpea - 4 table spoon
Asafeotida - half a teaspoon
Salt
Mushrooms are a storehouse of essential nutrients. They increase the level of Vitamin D in our body. Mushrooms are low-sodium, low -calorie, cholesterol-free, fat-free and gluten free. They are a good source of protein and dietary fibre. Also provides Vitamin C, folate, iron, zinc etc etc. Contains potassium. List doesn't end.
Always take care to buy organically grown mushrooms.
This dish is prepared like an anchovy dish, which is very popular in Kerala. So the name, Mushroom Kerala
Method:
Wash the button mushrooms and cut them into half inch pieces. Keep aside, Wash the tomato, green chilly and ginger. Cube the tomato. Slit 2 green chilly. Skin and cut half of the ginger into juliennes.
Wash and set aside a small piece of gamboge (kudam puli). Wash the curry leaves. Scrape coconut.
Grind coarsely the coconut, green chilly, ginger, garlic, shallots and turmeric powder.
In a pan add the mushroom pieces, ground coconut mix, slit green chilly, ginger juliennes, tomato pieces, gamboge, curry leaves, one fourth cup water and salt to taste. Stir, cover and cook on low flame.Stir in between. If water dries up before everything is properly cooked just add a few spoonfuls. Do not add too much water. In almost 10 minutes the cooking will be over.
Ingredients:
Button mushroom - 200 grams
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Shallots - 5 - 6
Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon
Green chilly - 4 ( 2 for grinding and 2 to be slit)
Ginger - 1 inch piece (half to be ground and half to be cut into juliennes)
Garlic - 2
Gamboge - 1 small piece
Tomato - 1 large (local variety)
Curry leaves - a few
Water - 1/3 cup
Salt
Cluster beans/ Guar has great health benefits. It contains no cholesterol and no fat. Low in calories, it is a storehouse of nutrients, proteins, vitamins and minerals.It contains soluble fiber which is extremely good for the health of our digestive tract and can prevent diseases associated with it, especially Crohn's disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Colitis. Contains Vitamin K, C, A and also provides phosphorus, calcium, potassium etc. Because of its low glycemic index, it is very good for diabetics. Cluster beans are good for our heart. It improves blood circulation. Good for pregnant women.
Method:
Wash the cluster beans thoroughly. If the beans are not tender, you may have to string it , that is you have to remove the hardened string on either side of it. Drain and chop the beans using a knife, handfuls at a time. Keep aside.
Chop a few shallots finely. If shallots are not available use onion.
Cut pieces from a fresh coconut and chop it into smaller pieces. Keep aside. Now scrape /grate fresh coconut, add garlic, cumin, red chilly powder, turmeric powder. Grind coarsely. If the scraped coconut is fine enough, do not grind again. Just crush the garlic and cumin.
Now place a pan over the flame, add split black gram, mustard seeds, finely sliced shallots,broken whole red chilly and oil. Add curry leaves. When the mustard seeds starts spluttering, add the chopped onions and cluster beans. Saute on medium flame for a few minutes, till the onion softens. Now add a little water, cover and cook, Stir in between. When cooked add salt,the ground coconut mix and the coconut bits,lower the flame to simmer, mix well. Press down lightly and continue cooking on low flame, after a minute stir.Repeat the process until all the water is evaporated.
Serve with rice.
Ingredients:
Cluster beans chopped - 11/2 cups
Shallots/onion chopped- 1/3 cup
Fresh coconut bits - 3 table spoons
Grated fresh coconut - 1/2 cup
red chilly powder - 1/2 teaspoon
turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
garlic - 2 pieces
cumin - a pinch
Salt
Water - 1/3 cup
For seasoning:
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Split black gram(urad dal) - 1 tablespoon
Oil - 1 tablespoon
shallots(thinly sliced) - 1 teaspoon
Whole red chilly (each broken into 2 or 3 pieces) - 2
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Jackfruit is of tropical origin. It is the largest tree-borne fruit. With the exception of its spiky exterior,every part of this fruit is edible. At the tender stage it can be cooked into tasty side dishes. When the fruit matures further, it can still be used to prepare side dishes and can also be used to make chips. The best is when the fruit ripens, the jack fruit flesh is very sweet and it has a distinctive aroma. The sweet flesh can be consumed as it is or can be cooked into various sweet dishes. The seeds of the jackfruit are also edible. Check my recipe for *Fried Jackfruit Seeds. Seeds when consumed directly prevents constipation. Good for skin.
The raw jackfruit contains lots of vitamin A and vitamin C. It is a source of dietary fiber,potassium, iron and magnesium which helps in the absorption of calcium. Antioxidants in it can prevent cancer, especially colon cancer.
Raw Jackfruit has low glycemic index. Cooked Jackfruit dish should be consumed as main dish, once a day by diabetics along with a side dish rich in protein. It brings down and gradually normalises blood sugar, if consumed daily.
Here i am preparing idichakka thoran with half of a tender jackfruit. The tender jackfruit i purchased was around 9 inch tall when held by the stem. Remove the spiky green exterior skin. This is the hardest part in the whole process. Things to do before cutting the jackfruit:1. spread out a sheet of paper beneath the jackfruit, so that the sticky sap coming out will not spoil your counter top, 2. apply oil on your hands as well as the knife, so that it will be easier to clean later.
Method:
Cut the skinned jackfruit into 1 - 2 inch wedges. Wash the wedges. Add half a cup of water, half teaspoon salt, a pinch of turmeric to the wedges and cook in a pressure cooker. Remove from the fire after the first whistle. Allow to cool. When cool shred the wedges, either by pressing with spoon or using your bare hands. Some use a blender for the purpose. Keep the shredded jackfruit aside.
Grind coarsely coconut, garlic, green chillies, turmeric and cumin. Keep aside,
Keep a pan on medium flame. Add split black gram, mustard seeds, finely sliced shallots,oil, red chilly pieces and curry leaves. When the shallots are light brown add the ground coconut mixture and stir well. Then add the shredded jackfruit, salt to taste and mix thoroghly. Press the mixture down using a spoon and cook on low flame. After a minute, stir the jackfruit mix, press down once more and cook for one or two minutes.OR Continue this until the water content goes. Do not allow the mixture to get burnt at the bottom. Add 1or 2 teaspoons of coconut oil and remove from the stove.
Serve with rice.
Ingredients:
Tender Jackfruit - Half of one (cut into pieces)
Coconut (grated) 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup
Green chilly - 3 - 4 (according to taste)
Turmeric- 1/4 teaspoon
Garlic - 2
Cumin seeds - a pinch
Salt
Coconut oil - 1 - 2 teaspoons
For seasoning:
Shallots (thinly sliced) - 2 table spoons
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Split black gram (urad dal) - 1 table spoon
Coconut oil - 2 table spoons
Whole red chilly - 3 (each broken into 2 or 3 pieces )
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
*
http://ashasnairrajesh.blogspot.com/2015/04/fried-jackfruit-seeds.html
Fried cake or Vettu cake is a popular snack in Kerala. This is available in most of the tea-shops spotted in every nook and corner. Vettu cake, as it is popularly known is a very filling snack, very appetizing and mild. I had forgotten all about this mouthwatering snack until a classmate uploaded a picture in our Whatsapp group, asking other groupies to guess what it was. The moment one of us identified the the snack, the appetizing memories revived and i couldn't wait any more to bite into that favorite snack of mine.
Usually flour (Maida) is used in the preparation, but here i am using wheat flour, which is, i think, a healthier option.
Method:
- Sift together wheat flour, salt and baking soda. Beat the egg lightly. Powder the sugar and cardamom.
- Transfer the flour into a bowl. Make a well in the center, add the beaten egg, hung curd and powdered sugar. Mix and knead well using your hand into a very stiff dough.
- Roll out the dough into a one inch thick piece. Cut into one inch strips. Cut triangular pieces out of the strips. Make a cut at the base of each triangle. I got 12 pieces.
- Heat oil in a deep fry pan. Bring to a boil. Add two or three pieces at a time depending on the size of the pan,as the pieces will swell up. Cook on low flame, flip and cook ,it will take a few minutes,Cooking on low flame allows the cake to cook evenly from inside too. Remove from oil when it is cooked and evenly browned, transfer into a paper towel. Repeat the same process with the next batch.
Ingredients:
Wheat flour -1 cup
Egg - 1
Castor Sugar - 4 table spoons
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Hung curd - 11/2 tablespoon (optional)*
Cardamom - 1 - 2 nos
Oil - 2 cups for deep frying.
*Note: Instead of hung curd, one more egg can be used. But not the whole egg. Just enough to make a stiff dough.
Vettu cake becomes tastier with time, like regular cakes. Vettu cake is soft like cake in the center and crispy outside .
Sesame seeds have great health benefits. It is a great source of calcium and contains minerals like copper, magnesium, zinc, manganese, iron etc. in abundance. It is also a source of anti-oxidants, fibre and protein.
These little seeds had been a part of Asian cuisine from time immemorial. These seeds are available in white, brown and black colours.
Method:
Add all the ingredients into a mixie jar, cover with the lid. Use the whip button to mix the ingredients. DO NOT grind into a paste. Two to three pushes will be enough.Transfer the mixture into a plate. Knead lightly. Roll into small balls.
These laddus can be served immediately. Can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
If you want the laddus sweeter, more jaggery can be added. But i think, this is sweet enough.
Ingredients:
Sesame seeds - 1 cup (lightly roasted) approx. 150 grams
fresh grated coconut - 1cup approx. 80 - 100 grams
grated jaggery - 1cup approx. 150 grams
cardamom powder - a pinch (optional)
