Instant Ragi Dosa | Ragi Dosai | Breakfast recipe

Instant Ragi dosa, a quick, healthy & tasty breakfast crepes made from the finger millet flour. When i had shared the recipe of ragi dosa made with fermented batter on fb, one of the reader shared the recipe for this instant version of ragi dosa that she used to prepare for years in her home, within the next few days, i tried this dosa for breakfast and we really like it and it became the regular menu for our morning routine.I love the crispy texture of this dosa and it's definitely a quick & healthy breakfast for your busy mornings. 
To get the crispy & lacey texture, unlike the regular dosa where the batter is poured into the tava and spread with laddle, here the batter should be pour over the hot tava just like rava dosa. 

Instant Ragi Dosa

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Makes : 6 dosa 
Recipe Category: Breakfast | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Ragi flour - 1/2 cup
Wheat flour - 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Onion(chopped) - 1(small)
Water - as needed
Oil - for drizzling on dosa 

Procedure

Take the ragi flour, wheat flour & salt in a bowl, mix it well. Then add the onions and mix together with the flour.Add water slowly into the flour and mix it well without any lumps.The batter should be thin like the rava dosa batter.Heat the dosa tava, grease it with oil and pour the batter evenly on the tava, drizzle some oil on the sides and cook on both sides.Healthy & tasty Ragi Dosa is ready.Serve it with sambar and/or chutney & podi.

Notes:

• Depends on the quality of the flour, you may need more or less water.
• Instead of mixing onions with the batter, you can spread the onions evenly on tava before pouring the batter for each dosa just like onion rava dosa.
• Here i have added only onions, but you can add any or all of the ingredients like chopped green chili, curry leaves, coriander leaves and cumin seed for extra flavoring.
  

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Rava Upma | Semolina Upma | Breakfast Recipe

Rava Upma, a simple & tasty breakfast/dinner dish that can be prepared in a jiffy for busy days. There were times that i hate upma like anything and don't even want to touch even when i was ravenously hungry. All those things were changed when i started cooking and i guess that i really started to appreciate the simple dishes when i cook on my own. That's when i realized even with simple ingredients, some dishes (like upma, kanji ) are extremely delicious compared to all the restaurant style fancy dishes where the ingredients list itself go for a page.
Now coming to today's recipe, as simple as this recipe sounds, they are high chances that this upma can easily turned to glue(personal experience) like texture!!! Roasting the rava  & the water quantity is very important to get the non sticky upma and also while adding the rava, stir it continuously to avoid lumps. If these things are taken care of , then your upma would be delicious. This is the basic recipe, if you want to add more veggies, go for it and make it as you per your liking. 

Rava Upma

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 10 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Breakfast | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Rava/Semolina - 1/2 cup
Pearl onion - 5
Green Chili -1
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Grated Coconut - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
Water - 1 cup
Coconut Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard & urad dal-1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Salt- to taste

Procedure

First let's roast the rava, heat the pan and add the rava, roast it till it becomes aromatic and remove it on the plate.Peel & chop the onions into small pieces, slit the chili and chop the ginger into small pieces. Heat the pan with oil, add the mustard & urad dal, let the mustard splutter.Add the onions, curry leaves, ginger & green chili, saute till the onions becomes translucent,then add the water into the pan.Add salt and let it bring into boil,then add the roasted rava slowly & stir simultaneously. Once all the water is absorbed, add the grated coconut , mix it well and cover it with lid and keep the flame in low for 2 more mins & switch off the flame.Finally add few coriander leaves on top and it's ready to serve.

Notes:

• Coconut oil gives great flavor to the upma, so highly recommend to use it.
• Using non stick helps to avoid sticking at the bottom.
• While adding the rava into boiling water, keep stir continuously to avoid lumps.
• Some time, i have added 1 tsp of chana dal while tempering for extra crunchiness.
• For extra richness, add a tsp of ghee on top while serving.
• I personally like the ginger flavor in the upma, but that's pure optional
  

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Neer Dosa | Rice Dosa Recipe | Breakfast Recipe

Neer dosa, a soft, thin and lacey dosa made with raw rice batter. This dosa can be prepared instantly once the batter is ready, no need to ferment the batter. I have been eyeing on this dosa for a while, at last, i had prepared this dosa last week for our breakfast along with bell pepper chutney. It tastes so good and i really love the coconut flavor in the dosa. 
For the first one or two dosas, i found it very difficult to spread the dosa, but once i get the knack of pouring the batter evenly, then the making of  this dosa was like icing on the cake.Just like rava dosa, the batter should be pour thinly over the dosa pan, that way it cooks well even without flipping it. If you're planning to make this dosa for breakfast, then soak the rice on previous night itself. Since i prepared this dosa for breakfast, i had soaked the rice for overnight and used that for today's recipe, but i guess 3 to 4 hours of soaking time is enough.

Neer Dosa

Preparation Time : 10 mins(exclude soaking time) | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2 to 3 
Recipe Category: Dosa | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Raw Rice - 1 cup
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste
Oil - for greasing

Procedure

Soak the rice in water for minimum 4 hrs. Grate the coconut & keep it ready. Drain the water from the rice and add into the mixie jar.Add coconut into the mixie jar along with enough water and grind into smooth paste.Pour the rice batter into the bowl & add salt , mix it well , if needed add more water and make it as thin batter.Heat the dosa pan and grease the pan with oil and pour the batter thinly over the dosa pan. Cover cook the dosa for few mins and then remove from the pan. That's it, soft and tasty Neer dosa is ready.Serve it with you favorite chutney or/and sambar. We had it with bell pepper chutney.

Notes:

• Pour the batter thinly over the dosa pan to get soft dosas.
• The batter should be slightly thicker than buttermilk. 
• This dosa tastes best when it's hot. 
  

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Vermicelli Vegetable Biryani | Semiya Biryani | Semiya Recipe

Semiya Biryani, a delicious biryani recipe made with vermicelli and mixed vegetables. First time, i came to know about this biryani at my friend's marriage reception, i really liked the taste and texture of this biryani. Later i had tried this biryani few times to get the perfect texture,now it became the regular menu in our home. It tastes so good on its own or serve it with onion raita like me.
For this biryani, the texture of the vermicelli is very important. It shouldn't be mushy, to get that perfect texture, always use roasted vermicelli. If you don't have roasted vermicelli, then first roast the vermicelli with 1/2 tsp of  ghee in slow flame until it becomes golden brown evenly. Set it aside and let it cool before using. And then the water quantity, depends on the brand, you may need more or less of the water that i have mentioned. But in most cases, it takes around 3/4 to 1 cup of water for 1/2 cup of vermicelli. 
 

Semiya Biryani

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Breakfast/Lunch | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Vermicelli/ Semiya - 1/2 cup(heaped)
Mix veg - 1 cup(potato, carrot & peas)
Onion -1 small
Tomato - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - few
Curry leaves - few
Water - 1 cup
To Temper
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Cloves - 3 
Cardamom - 1

Procedure

Cut the veggies(potato & carrot) into small cubes, place it on the steamer plate along with soaked peas and steam it for 10 mins in the medium flame. Heat the oil & ghee in the pan, add the tempering ingredients listed under "To Temper" and sauté it in the oil for 30 secs.Add the chopped onion& curry leaves and sauté it till it becomes translucent.Then add the ginger garlic paste and sauté  till the raw smell leaves, then add the tomatoes.Add the spice powder(turmeric, red chili & garam masala powder) & salt. Sauté till the tomatoes becomes mushy and then add the cooked veggies.Add the water and coriander leaves and bring into boil.Add the semiya ,give a good mix and then close the pan with lid & cook it in medium flame for 3-4 mins.After 4 mins, semiya is cooked well and also all the water would be absorbed. Switch off the flame and it's ready to serve.Serve Vermicelli Biryani with onion raita.

Notes:

• While steaming the veggies, cook till it's almost done. No need to cook till it soft, otherwise it becomes mushy in the end.
• Add few mint leaves if you have, i'm out of stock on that day, so didn't add it.
• Ghee & garam masala gives great flavor to this semiya biryani.
• I have used roasted semiya biryani. 
• Give some resting timing to biryani before serving, it helps to get the flavor well.
  

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Fig Milkshake | Dried Fig Smoothie | Smoothie Recipe

Fig Milkshake, a healthy and creamy milkshake made from the dried figs. This milkshake is one of our recent favorite drinks, it tastes so good on its own and quite filling too. Actually this milkshake was inspired from the dates milkshake. 

When we were in Bangalore, ST was quite fond of dates milkshakes that were available in his office canteen, even he noticed how it was prepared in the canteen and told me, but as i'm not a big fan of dates in drink, i never attempt to make it at home.

Now coming to figs milkshake, whenever we go to Costco, we have the habit of buying MORE. Sometimes I wonder how the bag that looks so small in the store has turned into a huge sack at home !!! It's just me or anyone else who has the same experience. 

That's how a large bag of figs got into my pantry, after munching them for a while, I was really bored . That's when I remembered the dates milkshake and prepared the same way, replacing dates with figs and it turned out so creamy and delicious. Guess this is the perfect & delicious way to finish the remaining figs!!!!  

Fig MilkShake

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Smoothie | Recipe Cuisine: General
Fig Milkshake, Dried Fig Smoothie Fig Milkshake, a healthy and creamy milkshake made from the dried figs.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Dried Fig - 6
Warm Water - 1/2 cup
Honey - 1 to 2 tsp
Milk - 1 to 1&1/2 cup 

Procedure

Soak the figs in warm water for 20 mins, then add into the blender jar along with the soaked water and honey.

Blend into smooth paste, then add milk into jar and again blend it until all combine together.

That's it, Yummy and creamy Fig Milkshake is ready.

Related: How to make Strawberry Lemonade 

Notes:

• Soaking the figs helps to grind them easily.
• Don't discard the soaked water, it has lot of flavor.
• Adjust the milk as per the consistency you want.
• If you want mild sweetness to your smoothie, you may not need the honey, just the sweetness from the figs is enough.
  

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Heart Shape Potato Bajji | Aloo Bajji | Urualai Kizhangu Bajji

Heart Shape Potato/Aloo Bajji, an easy to make deep fried snack made from the potato slices and besan batter. Generally i don't prepare anything special for valentine's day, but this year, after seeing all the feeds from social media, i was too tempted to try something that suits today's theme. 

But again i don't want to make anything sweet or chocolatey, since ST don't like them much, in the end, i have to finish the whole thing which i don't want. So i want to try something that we both could enjoy, that's when this idea has came, why don't try bajji in heart shape? 

Related: How to make Potato Bonda

We both love to have bajji with our tea. Luckily i have all the ingredients with me, so immediately i have prepared this heart shaped potato bajji. There is nothing special in terms of ingredients and procedure.

But when it's cut into heart shape and fried, they looks super cute and seems like a fancy gourmet food. ST also quite surprised by this heart shaped bajji,so what else need,right?   

Potato

Here in today's recipe, i have used the white potatoes which is the usual variety that i buy for my cooking. But you can use any variety of potato as per your preference. 

Use the large size potatoes which will give a big slices and it's easy to cut into heart. The idea here is that the potato slices should be bigger than the heart shaped cookie cutter. 

Next, make sure to slice/cut the potatoes into thin slices which will cook easily.

Now let's check out the recipe.

Potato Bajji

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2 to 3 
Recipe Category: Snacks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Potato Bajji, Heart Shaped Potato Bajji, Aloo Bajji,UrulaiKizhangu Bajji, Indian Snacks, Heart Shape Potato/Aloo Bajji, an easy to make deep fried snack made from the potato slices and besan batter.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Potato - 2 to 3 
Besan - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 2 tbsp
Baking soda - 1/8 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Orange color - a pinch(optional)
Salt - to taste
Water - as needed
Oil - for deep frying 

Procedure

In a bowl, add besan, rice flour, red chili powder, turmeric powder, baking soda& salt, mix it well, pour water little by little and make a thick paste first.If you're adding food color, add it now and then pour some more water & make a thick batter.The batter should be neither too thick not too thin. Set it aside. Peel the skin of the potato and cut into thin slices. Then using the heart shape cookie cutter, cut it into heart shape.

Related : How to make Banana Chips

Do the same for the remaining potato slices too.Heat the oil for frying.Take a slice of potato, dip it in the besan batter well and gently drop it in hot oil.Cook on both sides on medium flame until they are crispy. Remove from the flame and place it on tissue paperTada, Quick and tasty Potato Bajji is ready.  Serve it with coconut chutney & coffee/tea

Related : How to make Indian Masala Chai

Notes:

• Don't pour all water at once in the besan, add little by little and mix it. This helps to avoid forming lumps in the batter.
• You can use either slicer or knife to slice the potato
• Cook the bajji in medium flame to ensure that the inside also cooked well.
• Cut the slices into heart shape is purely optional.
• The left out potato from the heart shape can be used in other curries or at the end, simply dip in the batter and fry it as usual(if you don't mind about the shape :-))
  

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