RASA VADAI

INGREDIENTS:

Whole white urad dhal - 1 cup
Green chillies - 2 or 3
Ginger - 1/2" piece
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Pepper - 1/2 tsp.
Salt - as per taste (or approx.1/2 tsp.)
Oil - 1 cup

For garnishing:
Coriander leaves - few
Chopped tomato - 1

METHOD:

Soak dhal in water for an hour.

Chop green chillies, ginger and curry leaves.

Grind the soaked dhal in a grinder to a smooth paste using very little water. The batter when dropped in water should float and that is the consistency. When smooth and slightly frothy, add salt, and also the chopped items, and grind again for two more minutes.

Take out the batter and add pepper. Mix well.

Heat oil . Meanwhile, wet your palms with water, take out a ball from the batter and flatten it using your hand and put a hole in the centre. (OR) can use a plastic cover (OR) banana leaf.

Carefully drop them into the oil and turn it on both sides and cook till golden brown. Make a batch of vadai. Repeat the process for each batch.

For the rasam:

Coarsely powder a spoon of jeera and 1/4 spoon of pepper.

Puree a tomato. Soak half the lemon size of tamarind in 1/2 cup of water and extract juice from it. In a deep vessel, add pureed tomato, tamarind extract, salt to taste, and hing. When it boils, add 1 tablespoon of rasam powder. Allow it to boil till the raw smell is diffused. Now add 3 1/2 cups of water. When it starts boiling and frothy, switch off the stove.  Heat a spoon of ghee,  add mustard seeds and pepper-jeera powder. Put  it on the rasam. Garnish with coriander leaves. Keep it hot and ready.

HOW TO SERVE: Take half the quantity of rasam in a wide bowl. Keep it ready. When a batch of vadais are done, drain from oil and drop them in the rasam. Allow it to get soaked for 5 minutes. Drain and transfer to another vessel. Meanwhile make the next batch of vadais and repeat the process with all the batter.

Transfer 2 vadais to a serving dish. Pour the required quantity of rasam, Garnish with some chopped tomatoes and coriander leaves. Serve piping hot.

KHARA BHATH (KARNATAKA STYLE)

During my frequent Bangalore visits, my son took me to various food outlets in the city. I am amazed to see so many variations in the breakfast items of Karnataka. One such item is Khara bhath. This is a variation to the rawa upma we make at Tamil Nadu, but somewhat similar to that , with a different taste. It tasted awesome with ghee and butter and so silky, melting in the mouth with coconut chutney alongwith filter coffee. I was tempted to make it at home and needless to say, it was delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

Rawa(sooji) - 1 cup
Carrot, shelled peas, beans - 1/2 cup

Tomato - 1
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp.
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp.
Dry red chilly - 1
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Bhath powder - 2 tsp. 
Green chilly - 1
Grated ginger  - 1/4 tsp.
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Ghee - 1 tablespoon OR Butter - 1 tablespoon.
Water - 2 1/4 cups
Hing - 1/8 tsp.
Grated coconut - 2 tsp. 
Salt - to taste
Cashews - 6
Lemon juice - 1 tsp.

TO POWDER:

Coriander seeds(Dhania) - 2 tablespoons
Gram dhal - 1 tsp.
Urad dhal - 1 tsp.
Dry red chillies - 3
Cinnamon stick - 1"
Cloves - 2
Hing
Dessicated OR fresh scraped coconut - 2 tsp.

METHOD:

Chop all the vegetables finely. Slit green chilly into two.
(Onions are optional. I didn't use it). 

In a pan, dry roast the items given in "TO POWDER" in a medium flame, When cool grind in a mixie to a powder. This can be stored in a bottle and used when making any bhath.

In a kadai, dry roast rawa till a nice aroma comes. Keep aside.

Heat a spoon of ghee, fry the cashews till golden brown and keep aside.

In the same kadai, heat oil, ghee and add mustard seeds. When it splutters, put in urad dhal, hing and chillies. When they turn golden brown, add turmeric powder, chillies, curry leaves and tomatoes. Saute for a minute and then add finely chopped vegetables. Saute again for a minute. Now add water and salt. When it starts boiling gently add roasted rawa and quickly stir so that no lumps are formed. Now add the bhath powder and mix well. Cover with a lid till cooked. 

Add ghee or butter, roasted cashews and grated coconut. Mix well.

Squeeze the juice of the lemon and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with coconut chutney alongwith filter coffee.

VEGETABLE CUTLET

INGREDIENTS:

Boiled mixed vegetables (Beans,carrot and peas) - 1 cup
Boiled and mashed potatoes - 2 cups
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Broken cashews - 2 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
Coriander powder - 2 tsps.
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp.
Chat masala - 1 tsp. 
Green chillies(finely chopped) - 2
Ginger garlic paste - Optional (I did not use)
Onions - Optional (I did not use)
Chopped coriander leaves - 3 tablespoons
Corn flake crumbs - 1 cup
(Corn flake crumbs can be substituted with bread crumbs. As I did not have bread crumbs at home, I crushed the corn flakes and powdered to crumbs in the blender.)
Oil - to deep fry
Maida - 2 tablespoons
Salt - as per taste

(AFTER MANY MESSAGES TO ME,  I AM ADDING A NOTE TO THIS POST. ENSURE THE MIXTURE IS DRY AND NOT MOIST. THE CUTLETS DOESN'T BREAK IF THE MIXTURE IS DRY. SQUEEZE OUT THE WATER COMPLETELY FROM THE BOILED AND WHIPPED VEGETABLES. YOU CAN USE YOUR HAND OR SQUEEZE USING A CLEAN CLOTH. ALSO THE POTATOES SHOULD BE PERFECTLY COOKED.  DO NOT  ALLOW TO STAND THE POTATOES IN  WATER. WHEN DONE, IMMEDIATELY TAKE OUT THE POTATOES FROM WATER. THE POTATOES WHEN MASHED SHOULD BE LIKE CRUMBLES AND NOT LIKE A PASTE. THIS IS THE CORRECT CONSISTENCY FOR THE CUTLETS)

METHOD:

Boil potatoes(DO NOT OVERCOOK) and peel the skin. Mash well alongwith salt to taste. Keep aside.

Boil mixed vegetables, drain the water completely. Squeeze out excess water using your hand and give a quick whip in the mixie. Keep aside.

Prepare a semi-thick maida paste using water. Keep aside.

In a non-stick pan, heat 1 tsp. of oil, add cumin seeds, and when they sizzle, add cashews and then chopped chillies, (if using onions and g.g.paste, add at this stage) simmer the stove and add the turmeric, chilli and coriander powders. Now add the chopped coriander leaves, vegetables, and little salt for this mixture. Saute well.

Transfer this mixture to a vessel, add mashed potatoes and mix well.

Take out small balls from it and shape to oval balls or any shape of your choice.

Dip these balls in the maida slurry (A VERY QUICK DIP) and immediately coat it with corn crumbs. Slightly press with your hand so that the crumbs stick to the mixture well. Again dip it in the slurry and again coat it in the corn crumbs. Deep fry in oil till crisp and golden brown on all sides.

Sprinkle chat masala. Serve hot with sauce or ketch up.

MANGO RICE / MAAVINKAI ANNA / MANGAI SADHAM

INGREDIENTS:

Basmati rice OR Sona masoori - 1 cup
Grated raw mango - 2 cups
Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp.
Split urad dhal – 1 tsp.
Chenna dal – 1 tsp.
Roasted peanuts – 2 tsp.
Cashewnut - 6
Dry red chilly– 2
Green chilly - 2
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp.
Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp.
Hing – a pinch
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 2 tablespoon
Ghee - 1 tsp.

METHOD: 

Peel and grate the mangoes.

Pressure cook rice and transfer to a plate. Spread the grains without breaking.

In a kadai, heat oil, add mustard seeds. When they splutter add urad dal, chenna dal, dry chillies, chopped green chillies, curry leaves, turmeric powder, hing, roasted peanuts, cashews and finally cumin seeds. When golden brown, add the grated raw mango, salt and saute for a minute. The mangoes should be cooked and crunchy as well. Add this to the cooked rice and gently fluff and mix well without breaking the rice grains. Serve hot. Ideal for lunch box.

NOTE: The mango should not be overcooked. It should be crunchy.