Vegetable Stuffed Pooris

Times left-over food clicks some idea and the most frequent one is to make some stuffed pooris, paranthas, dosas, idly. Till date never tried stuffed pooris, so thought of making some to begin our Sunday. 

While you can plan any stuffing for pooris (most used is potato), the left over vegetable stuffing made for paneer is what I used to make these pooris :)

The ingredients and method below is same as that for preparing Vegetable Stuffed Paneer . You can tweak it by replacing vegetables with only potatoes or add more vegetables including fresh / frozen peas.

Ingredients:

• Cumin Seeds                   : 1/2 tspn
• Ginger Garlic Paste         : 1 tbspn
• Green Chillies                 :1-2 finely chopped (instead you can add more of red chili powder)
• Onion                              : 1 big finely chopped
• Capsicum                        : 1 small finely chopped
• Potato                              : 1 medium boiled and mashed
• Butter / oil                       : 1 tbspn
• Turmeric Powder             : 1 tspn
• Red Chili Powder            : 1/2 - 1 tspn
• Salt                                  :  To taste
• Cashew                            : 4 finely chopped and fried
• Garam / Curry Masala     : 1 tbspn
• Coriander Leaves

Method:

To make the vegetable stuffing:

1. In a kadai, add butter / oil. As it heats up, add jeera and allow it to splutter.
2. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till it cooks
3. Add green chili and saute it for a second
4. Add onion and saute till they turn pink (translucent)
5. Add capsicum and saute
6. As they cook, add turmeric powder, chili powder, garam masala and salt 
7. Then add mashed potato and coriander leaves
8. To this mix, add the fried cashew nuts and remove from fire

To make the dough for pooris:

1. In a mixer, blend the vegetable mix to ensure there are no lumps such as fried cashews 
2. In a vessel, take enough wheat flour and add this mix. 
3. Knead well using warm water and a spoon of oil / ghee

To make the  pooris:

1. In a kadai, pour enough oil to deep fry the pooris. Allow it to heat 
2. Prepare small round pooris (size per your preference) and deep fry. 

To serve as a side dish / gravy : Tomato Mutter Gravy: 

Ingredients:

• Onion                  :1 medium finely chopped
• Tomato                : 1 medium finely chopped
• Garlic                  : 4 pods chopped
• Ginger                 : 1/2 inch chopped
• Green Chilli         : 2 finely chopped
• Peas / Mutter        : 1 cup (soaked in warm water)
• Coriander Powder: 1 tbspn
• Turmeric Powder :   1/2 tspn
• Red Chili Powder:  1/2 - 1 tbspn (as spicy as you need)
• Salt                       : To taste
• Coriander Leaves
• Kasoori Methi (dried feengreek leaves)

Method:

1. In a kadai, add 1 tbspn oil. As it heats up, add a spoon of jeera. As it splutters, add ginger, garlic, onion and saute them till golden
2. Add the peas followed by tomatoes and saute it for 2 mts
3. To this add all spices and salt as per taste
4. Add some water and cook it covered (If you want it tangy, you can add a tbspn of curd)
5. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and kasoori methi

Goes well with hot pooris, rotis, paranthas, dosas and idlis.

Vegetable Stew : The Kerala Way

Our God's own country not only is a treat to our eyes and soul, but also to our taste budzz both for Veggies and Non-Veggies. What a variety, range of dishes to choose from!

One such simple to make, easy to digest, and divine to taste dish is "Vegetable Stew". We can customize it the way you want but what am sharing here is one that you can cook and serve in a jiffy. The "goodness" is that it is more of boiled preparation and therefore use of no or very less oil.

This one is from my "partner in crime", chef @ Sangeeta Gopakumar who learnt it from her mom. So, purely authentic :))

Vegetable Stew : Kerala's Style for your Taste Buzz!

Ingredients:

• Potatoes                       - 4 medium BOILED and PEELED
• Big Onions                  - 1 sliced thinly length-wise 
• Green Chilies             - 2-4 slit (as spicy as you like it)
• Ginger                         - 1-2" sliced thinly length-wise
• Curry Leaves              - to garnish 
• Salt                             - To taste
• Coconut Milk (Thick)- 1/2 cup : First ground with a glass of water and extracted
• Coconut Milk (Thin)  - 1 cup : After taking the thick extract, you can add more water and grind
• Oil                               - 1 tspn of refined and 1 tsp of coconut

Alternatively, you can use Readily available Coconut Milk or just grind it once with enough water to get 1.5 cups of coconut milk.

Method:

1. Boil and peel the potatoes. 
2. Slice onion, ginger length-wise into thin slices (very thin)
3. Slit the green chilies
4. In a pan, add refined oil. As it heats, add onion. Allow them to just turn transparent (should not be deep fried).  
5. Add the ginger slices, chilies, and water to allow the onion to cook.
6. As the onion cooks (note the color change), add the potatoes. Break them nicely, add salt, curry leaves and the thin coconut milk. Allow it to cook well (5 mts if only potatoes. If more veggies, then 10 mts)
7. After it cooks, add the thick coconut milk. To this add the curry leaves and allow it to cook for 3 mts max. 
8. Add the coconut oil, and remove from fire

This can be served with Idlis, Aapam and ofcourse I like to have it with dosas along with the gun powder :) 

Variations:

• You can add vegetables like Carrot, Beans, Peas etc to this. Just slice them thinly, of the same shape and size and either pre-boil them or allow to cook along with the onion.
• You will find variations to this where they use some basic Masalas
  

Pesarattu : Green Gram Dosa

Does it sound exaggerated to say that majority of South Indians will die without Dosas and Idlis in their life :) After all, till date, these serve as poor's food too. Of course, now its presence is felt across India in many of the regions around. 

As any routine will set in a boredom, we always need some innovation. One such is the green gram dosa; though this is not a very new variation. Down south, in Andhra, this is a staple breakfast. Pesarattu / Green Gram Dosa is very similar to the Cheelas which is a Rajasthani preparation using besan (gram flour).

Pesarattu with Ginger Chutney

Ingredients:

Dosa Flour:

• Whole Green Gram : 1 cup (soaked overnight for 8-10 hrs)
• Rice Flour : 2 tbspn
• Ginger: 1"
• Green Chilies: 2-3
• Water : To Grind
• Salt : To Taste
• Curd : 1-2 tspn (Optional)

Garnish:

• Onion : 1 medium Chopped
• Coriander: chopped for garnishing (optional)
• Cumin or Cumin powder : 1/2 tspn

Method:

• Grind the soaked dhal with ginger, chilies, salt (curd if you like it) to a smooth batter
• To this add rice flour and mix well.
• Leave the batter for a few minutes (doesn't need to ferment)
• In a non-stick dosa tava, pour a laddle of flour and spread to a thin round disc. Add oil on the sides to cook it crisply
• As it starts cooking, to the top side, add the chopped onion, coriander and cumin powder. Cover it and cook (this ensures complete & quick cooking too)
• As it gets crispier, fold it and remove from fire
• Serve it with any spicy chutney (like ginger chutney), gun powder, sambhar etc

Note: I didn't garnish it still it tastes yumm :)

Tip: This can be made with Green Gram Sprouts too. You just need to skip the overnight soaking.

Kuzhi Paniyaram : A spicy snack

Often when we get bogged down by the regular snacks or on a rainy evening or just for a want of change, we feel the need to try a different snack - if something hot & spicy is what you are looking for and that too in a jiffy, here is one such lip smacking dish : the famous from granny's kitchen, kuzhi paniyaram : the spicy variety

We have a lots to thank our grannys' for their tips & tricks, which are endless. The main ingredient to make the paniyaram is just the left over & a bit sour idli / dosa flour :)

Preparation Time: 15-20 mts

Ingredients:

Idly / Dosa flour : Left over & a bit sour (else you can add a bit of sour curd) -- 2 cups 

Green Chillies:     4-5 chopped (As spicy as you like)

Black Pepper:      4-5 pepper (If you want to have a bit of pepper flavor; you can reduce the chillies if you add more of pepper)

Onion           :      1 Medium chopped finely

Ginger:                 1/2 " fine chopped

Coconut       :       A few pieces (finely cut into small pieces - I haven't added in this picture shown)

Salt              :       To taste (Only a spoon or so more to make for the sourness & added ingredients)

Curry Leaves / Coriander : A few (if rqd)

Oil :                      To Fry

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix the flour (sour curd if the flour is not sour), and all other ingredients mentioned above. 
2. Ensure consistency is semi-solid and not very watery
3. Keep the Paniyaram pan (best suited are the non-stick pans available in the market) on a medium fire
4. Add 1/2 a tspn of oil (lesser from second round)
5. As the oil heats up slightly, pour a spoon of flour each (should not be overflowing)
6. Close the pan and allow it to cook for 2-3 mts (max) - till they turn golden brown
7. Using a knife or a bread knife turn it around & allow it to cook till golden brown
8. Remove from fire & serve it hot with some interesting side dish : Chutneys / Sambhar 

    Tip: Alternatively, some do the following:

• In a tava, add 2 spoons of oil and add mustard. As it sputters, add the chillie, ginger, and onions. Cook till the onion turn pinkish and then add the coconut and finally the garnishing leaves.
• Remove from fire and add it to the flour & follow the remaining steps to prepare the paniyaram.

Chutney:

Onion & Tomato:

Onion: 2 medium

Tomatoes: 3-4 medium

Tamarind : A small peas size

Garlic:    4-5 pods
Red Chillie : 4-5 (splicy ones or you can also add red chillie powder)

Salt:     To taste

Fry each of the above in a spoon of oil separately and cool them before grinding the chutney (with salt). You can garnish it with curry leaves & coriander leaves; season it with spluttered mustard.

Coconut:

Coconut: 1 cup (grated or pieces that can be ground)

Fried gram : 1 tbspn (Potu kadalai)

Green Chillies: 3-4 (As spicy as you like)

Ginger:  1/2 "

Salt:     To taste

Grind them fresh (no fry rqd) with salt. Season it with spluttered mustard & udadh dhal and garnish with curry leaves.

அரிசி உப்புமா / Rice Upma

** Moved from my earlier blog **

Upma is a staple food of South Indians and finds it place in a breakfast platter without fail. But as is the human needs, variety is a must in every thing. So is the case for Upmaas too - you can make Upma using Rava(Sooji), Godumai Rava (Broken wheat / Dhaliya), Samea, Avil (Rice flakes - the famous poha), and ofcourse Arisi (Rice).

Off these, Rice upma is rarely prepared at least these days. But I remember this as one of the tastiest of the upmaas prepared by my Athai (Bhuaji - a great cook). Then they used to make it so often... It's a tummy filler and can be made interesting with suitable side dishes.

The measurements & ingredients below are my own - as you know 'customization' is the key to interesting cooking :)

Cooking vessel: Earlier they used Brass Vessel (Uruli or vengala panai). If you have one then do use it for this preparation because it adds a different taste; Else, you can cook it using the non-stick kadai or pressure cooker or pressure pan.

Ingredients (The following measurement can easily serve 2 people)

1. Raw Rice (Pacharisi preferred / Boiled Rice) - 1 Cup
2. Thoor Dhal (Arhar dhal)                                - 2-3 Tbspn
3. Cumin Seeds (Jeera)                                     - 1 Tspn (as you like the taste)
4. Pepper (Milagu)                                            - 1 Tspn (as spicy you want, I add a bit more)
5. Red Chillie                                                    - 4-5 (as spicy you want ; balance bet this & Pepper)
6. Curry Leaves                                                -  Few (Adds a great flavor)
7. Refined Oil                                                    - 2-3 tspn (for tadka & to ensure rice doesn't stick)
8. Asafoetida (Hing / perungayam)                     - 1/2 tspn
9. Mustard Seeds (kadugu)                               - 1/2 tspn
10. Bengal Gram                                                 - 1/2 tspn (for tadka)
11. Salt                                                               - Per taste
12. Water                                              - 2 Cups (as its grounded, a little lesser than you use for full rice)

Preparation Method:

1. Wash the rice and drain it by spreading it on a newspaper or pure & thin white cloth. This will absorb all water and dry the rice quickly.
2. Grind coarsely the dried rice along with Thoor Dhal, Cumin Seeds, Pepper (you can add red chillie here or during tadka). Ensure you don't powder it finely else it will be similar to Sooji-upma.
3. Place the Cooking vessel on fire and add the cooking oil.
4. Once the oil is warm, add Mustard seeds. After it splutters, add Bengal gram, and Red Chillie. Fry till they turn golden brown and then add curry leaves.
5. To this mixture add water and allow it to boil
6. As the water boils, add the grounded mix slowly with constant stirring. 
7. Once you smoothly stir the entire mixture in the water, add salt & asafoetida.
8. After a few minutes, close the container with a lid (if pressure cooker just give one whistle; Alternatively, you can just cook it in steam)
9. Cook it in simmer flame - you can check it once in a while by stirring. (in the brass vessel, we allow it to cook till it forms that 'kaandal' - the deep roasted coating in dark red /brown - if you like it)
10. Cooking time should be around 10 mts.
11. Remove from fire. 
12. Garnish with a few more curry leaves for fresh fragrance. Some might add grated coconut as well.

My first attempt at making Arisi Upma

Tips: You can store the coarsely powdered rice for future use as well. Probably, you can make some & store it for 15 days or a month.


Side Dish:

You can serve this with Coconut chutney, Brinjal gothsu, Sambhar, or any other spicy chutneys. I made a onion/tomato chutney kerala style:

Ingredients:

1. Small onions - 10 - 12 numbers if really small (or 5-6 would suffice)
2. Tomatoes - 2-4 (big - small)
3. Garlic - 4-5 cloves
4. Curry Leaves - a few
5. Red Chillie - 4-5 (depending on how spicy the chillie is)
6. Asafoetida
7. Tamarind (Imli) - just a pinch
8. Salt - to taste
9. Oil - 1 tspn

Method:

1. In a pan, add the oil, and fry garlic, onions for a few mts followed by tomatoe - till the raw smell is lost
2. Grind the fried mix with the remaining ingredients - coarsely or smoothly as you like it.
3. Garnish with curry leaves if you like it. 

Onion/Tomato Spicy chutney