Panpolo / Neer Dosa

Panpolo or Neer dosa is a very common breakfast dosa in a konkaNi household. Neer - meaning water in kannada - is a main constituent of this dosa along with soaked rice. The consistency of this dosa is also watery, which is why the name probably. In konkaNi, I think it associates with Paani (water) polo (dosa). However, this is just a guess :) There are several versions of this dosa, with coconut, cucumber, magge (mangalore cucumber / melon), water melon peel etc., I love all these versions, but they all have distinct flavors and I think they are all acquired tastes.

I remember when my mom used to make these dosas (although she makes the coconut version of these called soye polo), they used to turn out so soft that every bite would melt in your mouth. We used to eat them with ChurNu (konkaNi), which is a mixture of grated coconut and jaggery, or with honey. I never preferred to eat this dish with chutney, although, if I insist on honey or churNu nowadays, my mom will probably call me a baby :P Not that I care... I stick to my tastes often !!

Oh BTW !! These dosas are similar to crepes. Anyways, heres the recipe you guys.... You will love this dish and it is so simple to make.

Serves 2 Preparation Time (3.5 hrs - on and off)
Set-Aside Time (4 hrs / overnight)
Cooking Time - 20 mins approx


Ingredients

Rice - 1 cups

Salt - as per taste

Water

Oil - for roasting

Method

Soak the rice for 2 - 3 hrs. Hence the large preparation time :)

Grind the rice with as less water as possible to a fine smooth paste. Pour it into a vessel and add considerable quantity of water... Don't worry yet about the consistency of the batter. Don't yet add the salt at this point. 

Keep the watery batter overnight or at-least for 4 more hours. The batter will now separate out from the water and the water can be seen floating on top of the batter in the vessel. Don't shake the vessel a lot and pour out the water from the top of the vessel, by tilting the vessel slowly. Don't worry if a little bit of water is left behind. This process is to get a little bit of elasticity to the batter when kept aside for some time. If this process is omitted, the dosas might break when spread on the tava, since rice does not have an inherent elasticity.

Now add some salt to the batter. Add water enough to make the batter to the consistency of milk. Not too thick, but not very watery either.

Heat a tava on medium flame. Sprinkle a few drops of oil on it. Throw some of the batter with a ladle. If the tava is a round one with an edge or rim, you can just pour some batter on the tava and tilt the tava to spread the batter. Do not spread the batter with the ladle like a normal dosa. Cover and cook for a min or two. Fold the dosa and serve. This dosa is not flipped and cooked like regular dosas. Enjoy with any kind of chutney or ChurNu or honey. It tastes heavenly.

I had prepared peanut-garlic chutney to go with it.
YES !! I realize the tea-cup is almost empty,
but that is when my friends let me finally take this pic :)

Rava Bhakri / Rullava Bhakri

"Bhakri" in konkani means a hybrid of a dosa and rotti (rotti in kannada - not roti in hindi). So, its a kind of a thick pancake type dish which is a bit crunchier and has a bite compared to a soft pancake. Bhakri can be made out of rice flour, wheat rava, idli rava etc.,


When my mom used to make these bhakris at home, I used to gobble so many of them - I used to love them with butter / ghee. Also, my mom used to make small-tiny disc shaped ones. She would cook 3 small bhakris on the tava at the same time. So, each one was 2-3 bite-sized servings and they used to disappear so fast.... :)


This rava bhakri batter can also be combined with grated cucumber, melon or the like to get variations of the dish and they all taste heavenly. Also, they all leave such a wonderful aroma in the house when they are cooking, that, that alone is enough to get your appetite going.... Well, enough description and lets get down to the recipe now... I am feeling hungry for them all over again :(


Serves 2
Preparation Time (10 min)
Cooking Time - 15 mins approx

Ingredients


Sooji / Rava - 2 cups

Grated coconut - 1 cup (the more the coconut, the better the taste)
Green Chillies - 2 (finely chopped)

Yoghurt - for making a mixture
Salt - as per taste

Coriander leaves (optional - finely chopped)

Oil - for roasting

Method

Add the grated coconut, finely chopped green chillies, salt into a deep bowl and mix well. Keep aside. When you are ready to make the bhakris / rottis, add the rava and add as much yoghurt is necessary to make a batter thicker than idli batter. (You should be able to take a ladel of batter and when you drop it, it should fall down in a lump and not run down the ladel.) If you dont want to use a lot of yoghurt, you can add some water to make the batter. If you want to spread the batter like a dosa, then make it a little more thinner than usual. Traditionally the batter is spread using your hands, but that could get you a bit on the burnt hands end :P

Heat a pan / griddle (preferably cast iron), on medium flame. Once it is hot, spread a few drops of oil on the griddle. Take a large ladel full of batter, put it on the pan and start spreading with your hands. If it gets too hot, then dip your hands in cold water and spread the rest of it. The batter should be spread to about 1/4 " thickness.

Cover and cook for 2 mins or until bottom side is golden brown. Then sprinkle few drops of oil on top of the bhakri. Flip it and cook until the top side has golden brown spots as well. Rava bhakri is ready to serve with chutney and butter / ghee. Enjoy !!

P.S: Sorry I do not have photos as of now, but will add as soon as I have some.

Cabbage Upkari

Serves 2
Preparation Time (10 min)
Cooking Time - 15 mins approx

Ingredients
 

1/2 Cabbage (medium sized - chopped)
Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
Green Chillies - 2 - slit lengthwise
Salt - as per taste

For Tempering

Oil - 1 tbsp 

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Method 

Wash the chopped cabbage thoroughly.


Heat a wide pan on medium flame. Add the oil. When the oil is a bit hot, add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start spluttering, add the urad dal into it. When the urad dal starts turning brown, add the green chillies into it. Fry for 1 min. (You can also add chopped onions and fry for another 3 mins - but I prefer it without the onions)

Add the chopped cabbage into it. Add salt and mix well. Cover with a lid and let it cook for 10 mins. Lift the lid and stir. Cook until the cabbage is tender-cooked (it turns almost translucent - that could be one indication). Add grated coconut to the dish and mix well. Remove from flame. Cabbage curry is ready to serve. Enjoy !!


P.S: There is no coconut added in this picture.

Cabbage Curry - Ready to Serve :)

Peas Pulao

Serves 2
Preparation Time (10 min)
Cooking Time - 20 mins approx

Ingredients

Fresh / Frozen green peas - 2 cups
Rice (preferably basmati) - 2 cups
Water - 3 cups (1.5 times of rice)
Salt - to taste

For Tempering

Ghee / Oil - 2 tbsp
2 clove buds (lavang)
1/4 inch stick of cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion - finely chopped (optional)


Method

Wash the rice thoroughly and keep it aside.

Wash the peas and keep them aside.

You can use 2 methods to cook peas pulao. I prefer method 1 mainly because it mixes the flavor of spices with the rice well and its less time consuming. Method 2 is easier / simpler to follow and you cannot go wrong with it. So its up-to personal preferences which method to use.

Method 1

Take a wide bottomed pan cooker and add the ghee / oil (Ghee gives more flavor). Start on a medium flame. When the ghee is hot, add the spices into the ghee and roast for 5 secs. If you are adding onions, add them at this point. Cook onions thoroughly until they turn transparent. If you brown the onions, then the pulao will get a brownish color. So if you want the pulao to stay whitish, then don't overcook the onions.

Add peas and fry them for 10 secs. Add salt. Add the washed basmati rice and mix well until the rice is coated well with the ghee and spices. When rice starts giving out the nice smell of basmati, then its time to add the water. Mix the water and rice well. Taste the water. It has to be a bit more saltier than your general taste, because the extra salt gets absorbed by the peas and rice.

Cover the pressure cooker and cook until you get 2 whistles. Switch off and leave on the stove until it cools down. Open the cooker lid slowly and mix the dish well. Peas pulao is ready to serve.

Method 2

Cook the washed rice with water in a pressure cooker. Remove the rice and mix with a spoon to release the steam and keep aside. Place a wide bottomed pan on medium flame and add the ghee into it. Add the spices and other ingredients as in method 1. However, cook the peas for a longer time, until they are cooked, but are still slightly crunchy. Don't overcook the peas. Add the salt and mix well.

Once the peas are cooked, mix the cooked rice into it. Reduce the flame to low. Mix the cooked rice with the mixture slowly. Take care not to break the rice. Cover and cook for 2 mins on low flame and then turn off. Peas pulao is ready to serve.

P.S : You can also add cashews to the tempering if you are fond of nuts. I served it here with Masala Boiled Eggs on the side.

Peas Pulao and Masala boiled eggs

Chana Usal with Tomatoes

Did you know that chickpeas are rich in iron content ? My doc recently advised me to start eating iron-rich foods. So I started researching a bit and found that chickpeas have more iron content than cooked spinach, contrary to popular belief. Also I found this article on the internet which said most of the iron in spinach is not bio-available. Not sure how much true the article is, but here it is for your reference. Also found this amazing article on chickpeas alone and loved it. Here it is for all of you to enjoy !!! I would surely love to know what the connection is between Lord Shiva and chickpeas too.

Anyway, so I had these cans of chickpeas at home and I decided to make some Chana Usli.

"Usli" in konkani is a simple dish prepared with / without onions and garnished with shredded coconut and coriander leaves before serving. It can be prepared with any kind of whole pulses, like kabuli chana (white chickpeas), moong (green gram), chana (bengal gram - black chickpeas) etc.,

When my mom makes this dish, she always uses the black chanas. I am ONE HELL of a lazy person, and I never used to eat it, because it needed a lot of chewing work. Even though the chanas are cooked separately in a cooker, they will still be harder than the white chickpeas. "Height of laziness" do you say ??? I totally agree. I have used just a minor variation from my mom's recipe here. I have used tomatoes in my recipe. Tomatoes lend a slight tanginess to the dish.

I regret to say that I don't use accurate measurements in my recipes, because for me its a matter of taste and preferences. So all the measurements are just approximate.

Ingredients

Serves 2
Preparation Time (requires overnight soaking and around 20 mins to cook the chickpeas if you are using dried chickpeas, else this recipe is instant)
Cooking Time - 15 mins

Dried Chickpeas - 1 cup (soaked overnight) (Remember that any kind of dried beans will always double in size when soaked - so this would be approximately 2 cups of soaked chickpeas)
OR
Chickpeas, canned - 2 cans
Tomatoes, medium chopped - 1 medium sized (optional)
Onions, finely chopped - 1 small (optional)
Shredded Coconut - 1 tbsp
Coriander Leaves / Cilantro, finely chopped - 1 tbsp (for garnishing)
Salt to taste

For tempering
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chillies - 3 (more if you want it spicier -- remember, spiciness varies with different kinds of chillies)
Curry Leaves (optional)
Oil

Method

Note: If you are using dried chickpeas, cook them in a pressure cooker before-hand with just as much water as required to cover them and cook them for around 10 mins or until you start to get the first whistle. Then reduce the flame and cook on sim for another 10 mins and then switch off the stove and let cool. Cooking normally in an open vessel may take anywhere between 45 mins to 1 hr.

1. Heat some oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When the mustard seeds start to crackle, add the rest of the tempering ingredients and stir for 2 secs.

Note: If you are adding onions, add it to the tempering before adding the chickpeas and roast them till they turn transparent.

2. Reduce the flame to medium and add in the chickpeas. Add salt as per taste and mix well. Cook this mixture covered for 10 mins. The chickpeas should be cooked soft and should break between your fingers with a little pressure. If you are using pre-cooked chickpeas, you can just add the cooked and drained chickpeas.... Its ok to add a little bit of the water from the cooked chickpeas.

Note: If you are adding tomatoes, add them now, mix well and cook until the tomatoes start oozing out water and blend into the mixture well.

4. Switch off the flame and add coconut and coriander leaves and mix.

Note: If you are adding frozen shredded coconut, then cook for 2 more mins, just to remove the raw flavor and then switch of the flame and add coriander leaves. Same procedure if you are adding (unsweetened) coconut powder available in Indian stores in the US. This is to ensure the coconut powder cooks and softens.

Serve hot as a side-dish with any main course. Can be eaten with rice or breads. It also serves as a snack at all times.

Potatoes and Carrots Curry

Carrots, the only vegetable that I hate probably, especially when it comes to eating it raw. Neither am I a fan of any carrot dishes, except maybe carrot halwa, which I like only because I am a die-hard fan of sweets.

People munch on carrots all the time, but somehow, not my cup of tea, or rather not my bowl of carrots :) My mom always used to get us to eat carrots somehow, but I never fell in the trap. A few days back however, we went to this potluck dinner and me and my friends got together and made Carrot Halwa. There were a load of carrots remaining from that shopping round. So I decided to finish them before they went bad.

Got me thinking though as to what dish I can make from carrots, which did not turn out to be sweet, because, carrots have an inherent sweet flavor. Then I suddenly remembered that my mom used to make this beans and potatoes combination, whenever she didn't cook onions in the house, due to some religious reasons, but it was nevertheless awesome. My sister's favorite dish. I just adapted the same recipe to potatoes and carrots. Its a dry curry, which just a little tempering and a sprinkling of coconut on the top before serving. Makes an awesome side dish with sambar, rasam or daal, or even plain yogurt rice.

Moreover carrots are very healthy, good for your eyes and all the rest of the healthy advice, which I don't wanna give, because I don't want to be called a hypocrite. But even if you don't like carrots, you should definitely try out this dish. Who knows, you might just end up liking it. This recipe is specially for my friend who asked for a onion-less side dish. So here goes.

I regret to say that I don't use accurate measurements in my recipes, because for me its a matter of taste and preferences. So all the measurements are just approximate.

Ingredients

Serves 2
Preparation Time - 10 mins
Cooking Time - 20 mins

Carrots, chopped into small cubes - 1 1/2 cups
Potatoes, chopped into small cubes - 1 1/2 cups
Onions, finely chopped - 1 small (optional --- I did not use it, but you can)
Shredded Coconut - 1 tbsp
Coriander Leaves / Cilantro, finely chopped - 1 tbsp (for garnishing)
Salt to taste

For tempering
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Red Chillies - 3 (more if you want it spicier -- remember, spiciness varies with different kinds of chillies)
Curry Leaves (optional)
Oil

Method

1. Heat some oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. When the mustard seeds start to crackle, add the rest of the tempering ingredients and stir for 2 secs.

Note: If you are adding onions, add it to the tempering before adding the vegetables and roast them till they turn transparent.

2. Reduce the flame to medium and add in all the vegetables (potatoes and carrots). Add salt as per taste and mix well. Cook this mixture covered for 10-15 mins or until the vegetables are cooked and become tender.

3. Switch off the flame and add coconut and coriander leaves and mix.

Note: If you are adding frozen shredded coconut, then cook for 2 more mins, just to remove the raw flavor and then switch of the flame and add coriander leaves. Same procedure if you are adding (unsweetened) coconut powder available in Indian stores in the US. This is to ensure the coconut powder cooks and softens.

Aloo and Carrot Curry is ready to serve. You can eat it as a side dish with rice or with chapathis and rotis. I made this with Tomato & Daal Rasam and I received a lot of praises. Adding the potatoes was a good decision, because they managed to reduce the sweetness of the carrots somehow and the curry ended up being subtly spicy to my surprise.

Keep reading guys... for more recipes and adventures !!!