Watermelon Idlis, Vegan Rava Idlis

          After making dosas with watermelon, using the white rind part of the fruit, the next thing that came to my mind was Watermelon Idlis. As usual, when I am trying something new, I am always prepared for anything, the dish can turn out good or bad. I decided to make it in the same way as Rava Idlis ( Sooji/Semolina Idlis ), using the watermelon rind pulp in the place of yogurt/curd. The idlis came out really good, the texture was like that of rava idlis, and I also realized that I had made Vegan Rava Idlis, do try these idlis, the next time you buy watermelon..

Need To Have

• Rava/Semolina/Sooji - 1+1/2 cups
• Watermelon Rind,White Part - enough to make 1+1/2 cup pulp
• Broken Cashews - 1 tablespoon
• Chana Dal/Bengal Gram - 1 tablespoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Ginger - 1" piece, grated
• Green Chilly - 1 chopped
• Curry Leaves - 15, roughly chopped
• Eno/Fruit Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 2 tablespoons
• Salt - 1 teaspoon
• Oil - 5 teaspoons

Method

          Grind the white part of the watermelon rind and measure out 1 and 1/2 cups of the pulpy juice and keep.

          Heat the oil, add the cashews, chana dal, urad dal and mustard seeds, when it starts sputtering and the cashews turn golden, add the ginger, green chilly, curry leaves and saute for a minute. Then add the rava/semolina.

          Roast the rava for about 5 minutes and remove it in a bowl. Add the watermelon pulp, salt, coriander and 1 + 1/2 cup of water and mix.

          Heat the water in the idli steamer, grease the idli moulds, now add the eno/fruit salt to the rava batter, mix it well, immediately spoon it into the idli moulds and steam it for about 15 to 17 minutes till the idlis are done. Remove, the idli moulds from the steamer, give it 3 to 5 minutes to cool down, then running a wet spoon around the edges, remove the idlis from the moulds.

Note
The batter should be thick and not very watery.
These idlis go very well with coconut or peanut chutney.

Cheddar Cheese Sandwiches

          As I had mentioned in my earlier post, I had bought this very good quality cheddar cheese from the mall here. I had used it in a few dishes, these sandwiches being one of them. This is a very simple recipe, I have used just some spring onions and tomatoes along with the cheese. The sandwiches tasted too good, they are very filling too and we loved the cheddar cheese, tomato and spring onion combo..

Need To Have

• Chopped Spring Onions - 1 cup
• Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
• Grated Cheddar Cheese as required
• Red Chilly Flakes - 1/2 teaspoon
• Bread Slices - 6
• Salt to taste

Method

          The quantity that I am doing is enough for 3 sandwiches. Heat some oil, add the spring onions and saute it till it wilts, then add the tomatoes till they break down. Finally add the chilly flakes and if needed a little salt, mix and remove.

          Now toast one side of the bread slices, place a little of the onion mixture on the toasted side, then place the cheese, cover with the other slice with the toasted side facing down. Now toast the sandwiches on low heat till the cheese melts and the slices get toasted well, remove and serve it warm.

Note
Taste the cheese and add salt according to your taste.
Use a little oil or butter for toasting the bread.

Cabbage Akki Roti, Cabbage Rice Roti

          Akki Rotis are simple and delicious rotis made using rice flour ( akki meaning rice in Kannada ), very popular dish in Karnataka and they make many varieties, plain ones and then so many versions using different vegetables. The first few times that I made them, I usually make a dough just like we make it for rotis, later I learnt that it should be slightly wet dough, this gives you much softer and delicious rotis. I adapted the recipe from here, and I have added finely chopped cabbage to the dough. The rotis came out too good and we loved it with peanut chutney..

Need To Have

• Rice Flour - 2 cups
• Chopped Cabbage - 2 cups
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Chopped Coriander - 1/4 cup
• Grated Ginger - 1 teaspoon
• Green chilly - 1 chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Salt - 1 teaspoon

Original recipe here

Method

          Take the rice flour, salt, turmeric powder and cumin seeds and mix them well. Take the chopped onion, cabbage, coconut, green chilly, ginger and coriander leaves and mix them well.

          Add the cabbage mixture to the rice flour and adding about a cup of water make a dough ( it should be slightly wet ). Take a parchment paper, grease it lightly with oil, then take a ball of the dough and pat it on it and make a hole in the center.

          Heat a pan, grease it, now take the roti with the parchment paper, place it on the pan ( as shown in the picture ), leave it for a few seconds, then peel the paper carefully. Drizzle some oil around and in the hole, cover and cook it on medium heat till the bottom is cooked and you see small brown spots, then flip and cook on the other side ( need not cover ), remove and serve.

Note
I have used store bought rice flour.
We can use grated carrot, chopped spinach, dill leaves or avarekalu, in fact one of my friends said that she makes them even with eggplants.
I saw a youtube video, where the batter was more watery, she scoops the batter with her hands on the pan, spreads it with her hands and cooks it, I have tried that way too, the roti comes out more softer.
I prefer using the parchment paper for making these rotis, but you can directly pat it on the tava, we use two pans, pat the roti on the first one, cook it, then use the second pan to cook the roti. In the meantime, we cool the first time by showing the bottom side of the pan under running water, then pat the roti on it and cook while cooling the second pan.

Cheddar Cheese Pancakes

          Being in Bangalore has many advantages, at least in the food blogger's point of view, because of the big expat crowd here, it's easy to find and buy cooking ingredients used in other cuisines. On one of my visits to a mall here, I bought this very good quality Cheddar Cheese. Usually I don't buy Cheddar cheese, that day after tasting a bit of the cheese, I ended up buying, not 1 pack but 2 packs of it, it was so good. I have used the cheese in a couple of dishes, one of them being these Cheddar Cheese Pancakes. I had added some scallions for flavor, and the pancakes came out so good and they tasted very good along with some spicy tomato sauce..

Need To Have

• Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
• Milk - 1 cup
• Baking soda - 1 teaspoon
• Grated Cheddar - 1/2 cup + more to add on top of the pancakes
• Scallions/Vengaya Thaal/Spring Onions - the green part, 1/2 cup
• Salt to taste

Method

          Take the flour, baking soda and salt, add the milk and about 1/2 cup water and mix it well. Add the cheese and the chopped spring onions and mix it.

          Heat a pan, drizzle some oil, add a small laddle of batter, sprinkle some cheese on the top, reduce the heat, cover and cook. When the top looks cooked and set, flip and cook the other side for a few seconds and remove. Serve it with some spicy tomato sauce.

Note
Add salt carefully, the cheese has salt in it.
Cook on low heat, otherwise the bottom will brown fast, the top would not have set and it would be difficult to flip the pancake.

Eggless Basil Pesto And Cheese Rolls

          Basil is one of my favorite herbs, everybody at home loves the flavor, we love it in the classic Basil Pesto, in our pasta, sandwiches, risotto or in even a simple fried rice. I have been thinking of baking with it too, especially these rolls and braided bread with Basil Pesto had been on my list for a long time now. Most of the time, I'll be able to get only a small packet of basil which would not be enough for making the rolls, and even if I have more of it in hand, it usually ends up in a pasta or risotto. This time, I bought them specifically for these rolls, made the pesto and finally made them. I am not going to say how delicious and flavorful these rolls were, anybody who knows and likes basil will surely love this. I have used homemade Basil Pesto, but you can make your own or buy the Pesto. So the next time you buy Basil or Pesto, do try these rolls and for those ( in India ) who are not able to find basil, don't lose heart, you can try the rolls with coriander chutney, of course the flavor will be different but it'll still taste delicious..

Need To Have

• Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
• All Purpose Flour/Maida - 1/2 cup
• Instant Yeast - 11/2 teaspoons
• Sugar - 3 teaspoons
• Salt - 1 teaspoon
• Oil - 1 tablespoon
• Basil Pesto - 6 tablespoons
• Grated Parmesan Cheese - 1/2 cup
• Milk - 2 tablespoons

Original Recipe here.

Method

          Take the yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar and add 1/4 cup of hottish, wait till it the yeast bubbles up, then add the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar, salt, oil, another 1/4 cup water followed by both the flours. Bring them together and make a soft dough, knead for about 10 minutes, apply some oil, cover and leave it for an hour till the dough has doubled.

          Once the dough has doubled, roll it out into a rectangle ( about 1/4" to 1/2" thick). Spread the pesto all over and then sprinkle the cheese. Now roll it tightly from one end to other as shown in the picture.

          Slice the roll into 16 equal pieces and arrange them in a greased baking dish, cover it and leave it to rise for another 20 to 30 minutes till the rolls puff up as shown. Then bake them in a preheated oven at 180 C for 25 to 30 minutes till the top turns golden. Remove, brush the top with some warm milk and serve them warm.

Note
Oven timings may vary, so keep an eye after 20 to 22 minutes.
If you want, you can use only all purpose flour, it's totally up to you.
Depending on the flour and the humidity, the amount of water needed to make the dough will be a little more or less.

Carrot Dosa

          As I have already told many times, we never get tired of dosas at home, so here is another new dosa for my dosa collection, Carrot Dosa. Actually this is a recipe from Mallika Badrinath's cook book. It's an instant dosa, in the sense, the batter need not be fermented, but of course we have to soak and grind the rice along with the carrots and other spices. As with most instant dosas, it tastes best when served hot, it tends to become rubbery when it gets cold and it goes well with some coconut or peanut based chutney..

Need To Have

• Raw Rice/Pachai Arisi - 11/4 cup
• Idli Rice - 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon
• Grated Carrot - 1 cup
• Onion - 1 medium
• Dried Red Chillies - 6
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Tamarind -  gooseberry sized ball
• Salt - 11/2 to 2 teaspoons

Method

          Wash and soak both the rice varieties for about 2 hours. Grind the soaked rice with the rest of the ingredients using some water into a smooth batter ( will have a sandy consistency).

          Add the salt and about 21/2 to 3 cups of water to make it a thin batter ( like rava dosa batter ). Heat and grease a dosa pan, take a big laddle of batter ( 1/4 cup batter ), hold it at a height of 4 to 5 inches from the pan and pour it in circles, starting from the edges and moving to the center, you don't spread the batter. Drizzle some oil, cover and cook it till it turns golden at the bottom, you can remove the dosa and serve without flipping it to the other side. But, I flip it to the other side and cook for less than a minute and remove.

Some chutneys to go with this Carrot Dosa..
Coconut-Onion Chutney
Peanut Chutney
Chana Dal Chutney
Peanut Tomato Chutney
Ginger Chutney

Note
When you pour the batter, you should see holes forming in the dosa, if that doesn't happen, either the dosa pan is not hot enough or the batter needs little more water.

Watermelon Kuzhi Paniyarams

          After the Watermelon dosa became a hit at home, I wanted to try other dishes with the fruit. I tried a couple of them and this Watermelon Kuzhi Paniyarams was the first on the list. I have used the white rind part of the watermelon and to make it more healthy, I made the paniyarams using millets, I have used varagu/proso millet and the paniyarams turned out very fluffy and soft. The batter needs to be fermented overnight or at least for 10 to 12 hours and the same batter can be used for making both sweet and kara/spicy paniyarams. The sweet ones can be had as such and the spicy ones can be served with some coconut or peanut based chutney and they make a delicious breakfast, snack or even dinner..

Need To Have

• Varagu/Proso Millet - 1/2 cup
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 2 teaspoons
• Fenugreek Seeds/Methi - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Watermelon Rind - 2 cups + 2 tablespoons
• Aval/Rice Flakes/Poha - 2 tablespoons
• Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

For The Kara/Spicy Paniyarams

• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 2 teaspoons
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Green Chilly - 1, chopped
• Curry Leaves - 10

For Sweet Paniyarams

• Jaggery Powder - 2 tablespoons
• Cardamom - 1

Method

          Wash and soak the proso millet, urad dal and methi seeds together for about 3 hours. The rice flakes/poha need to be soaked for just 5 minutes and chop the watermelon rind.

          First grind the watermelon pieces, then add the drained millet mixture along with the poha and grind everything into a smooth mixture and remove.

           Add the salt, mix it well and leave it overnight to ferment. Now I reserved just 1/4 cup of the batter to try out the sweet paniyarams and used the rest of the batter to make the spicy ones.

          First let's make the spicy ones, heat some oil, add the urad dal and mustard seeds, once the seeds start sputtering, add the asafoetida followed by the onion, green chilly and curry leaves and saute till the onions turn translucent. Add this to the batter and mix it.

           Heat the paniyaram pan, drizzle a little oil into each of the moulds, spoon the batter to about 3/4 th the height of the mould. Cover and cook on medium-low heat till the top is set and cooked, flip it and cook on the other side and remove.

           Now coming to the sweet paniyarams, to the 1/4 cup of the batter, add the jaggery and the cardamom ( powder the inner pods of the cardamom ), mix and make the paniyarams.

Note
You can use idli rice instead of the millets.
Drain and add the millets and the poha, the water from the watermelon is enough for grinding.