Masala Idly

Masala Dosas are definitely among the most popular dishes ordered in South Indian hotels. I even know someone who orders only masala dosas when eating out. With this being the situation, I thought…why not take the masala and stuff it inside the dosa's cousin, the idly? So here is what I did! 

Ingredients 

For Idly

Idly Batter

For Masala (approx 8 idlys)

Big potato (cooked) – 1

Medium sized onion (finely chopped) – ½

Green chillies (finely chopped) – 2 (more if you want it spicy)

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Oil – 1 tbsp

Curry leaves

Salt to taste

Method 

Masala

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. As they start spluttering, add curry leaves, onions and green chillies. Sauté till the onions turn translucent, add the cooked potatoes, turmeric, and salt. As you mix in all the ingredients, mash the potatoes and add a little water and cook for a few minutes till the masala comes together nicely. Alternatively, you can mash the potatoes before adding them.

Make sure the masala does not get too watery or too dry.

Masala Idly

Grease your idly plates with oil and keep ready. Depending on the size of the idly plate, pour 1-2 tbsps of batter, add a tablespoon of masala, top it off with enough batter to cover the masala completely. Continue the process until all the idly plates are filled, cook until they are done (about 12-15 minutes). To check if the idlys are done, wet your fingers with cold water and touch the idly. If it is not sticky, your idlys are ready to be removed. Take the plates out and wait for a few minutes before scooping the idlys out, else they will stick to the bottom. Serve with your favorite chutney or sambar. Bon Appétit. 

Note: You could make this in a shallow, round vessel (like you would make dhokla) and cut into desired shapes.

Healthy Dinners in a Jiffy

Continuing the healthy trend, we have been trying new things for dinner too. We usually don't have rice for dinner, and it sometimes gets monotonous to eat dosas, idlys, or rotis. So we decided to give dinner a healthy spin. Also, eating cold salads on chilly winter nights is not too appetizing, so here are two options for warm salads.

Crispy Lettuce Wrap Tacos

Ingredients (Serves 2)

Lettuce leaves – 4

Corn – ¼ cup

Bell peppers cut into long strips (mixed colors)

Onions cut into long strips

Guacamole as required (recipe given below)

Method

Heat a grill pan or regular pan, and grill the onions and capsicum until they get tender. Throw in the corn and let it also get some light grill marks.

Wash the lettuce leaves and keep ready. Take a few pieces of bell peppers, onions and corn and fill the lettuce leaves. Top with fresh guacamole and indulge. Bon Appétit.

Recipe linked to Food on Friday at http://caroleschatter.blogspot.com/

Grilled Vegetable Burger

A local burger place has an awesome vegetable burger, which is the inspiration for this creation. Instead of using a vegetarian patty, they stack thinly sliced grilled, seasoned vegetables and cheese and serve them between toasted buns. My variation, same stack of vegetables, minus the cheese and buns.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

Eggplant slices – 4 (from large eggplant)

Thinly sliced green and gray zucchini – 1-1 ½ cups

Thinly sliced bell peppers – 1 cup

Thinly sliced onions – ½ cup

Guacamole as required (recipe given below)

Spice mix – salt, chili powder, garlic and herb seasoning mix (optional)

Method

I recommend using a grill pan for this (for those awesome grill marks on the vegetables), but regular frying pan will work fine too.

Heat a pan, on medium heat, and start grilling the eggplant first. Sprinkle some of the spice mix on both sides. Because we are trying to eat healthy, I did not use any oil. But you can use some if you wish. As the eggplant starts cooking, start grilling the remaining vegetables. Sprinkle some of the spice mix on the vegetables too. Toss the zucchini and peppers to ensure that they don’t burn. Once all the vegetables are tender, place one piece of the eggplant on a plate, assemble the vegetables on it, top with a dollop of guacamole and cover with the second piece of eggplant..and dig in. Bon Appétit. 

Guacamole

Ingredients

Avocado – 1

Finely chopped onion – 2-3 tbsps

Finely chopped tomato – 2-3 tbsps

Lemon juice to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Cilantro (optional)

Method

Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh. Mash it with a fork, add the onions, tomatoes, salt, pepper and lemon juice and mix well. Mix in the cilantro and enjoy.

Note:

I used my vegetable peeler for slicing the zucchinis. They came out really well, slightly uneven, but good enough to for the burger. 

You can use any vegetables of your choice. Play around with a variety of squashes to suit your palates.

Breakfast Blends

For the past few weeks, my husband and I have been trying new breakfast blends. No, I am not talking about coffee here…but more delicious and healthy blends. The inspiration? One of the Williams-Sonoma Free Technique Class that focused on raw food. Here are a few of our favorites.

Blend 1 – Green Delight

Pear – 1

Apple – 1

Spinach – about 2 cups (you can use kale/chard or any other greens)

Blend all ingredients together and drink up.

Blend 2 – Sunshine in a Glass

Carrots – 2-3 medium sized

Orange juice – About 1 cup

Ginger – 1-2 tsps (depending on taste)

Blend all ingredients together. Sieve if required and blend the pulp again with some water. Run through a sieve again and enjoy.

Blend 3 – Peach Blush

Cantaloupe – 1-1½ cups (you can use a melon of your choice)

Pear – 1

Blend together and your quick and healthy breakfast drink is ready to be gulped.

 

Note: For additional nutrition, add a handful of walnuts or almonds.

Quick and Easy V8 Tomato Soup

For the past few days, I have been in a dilemma as to what recipe to post. I had two options, this soup and some awesome juice combinations. The weather was getting slightly warmer and I thought, okay let’s put the juice recipes. But then two days ago it went back to being extremely cold; looks like the winter is not ready to leave us!!! Another reason for making this soup…I have had a whole bunch of these juices lying about at home for quite some time. I realized that it contained very little sugar and the final product was definitely less sweeter than most tomato soups you buy. So, here is the recipe: a tribute to the relentless winter.

Ingredients (Serves 3-4)

Soup

V8 Low sodium vegetable juice – 2 cans

Roughly chopped onion – ½ cup

Finely chopped garlic – 2 cloves

Cumin powder – 1-1 ½ tsps

Herbs of choice (I used dried mint, rosemary and basil)

Water as required

Olive oil/cooking oil – 1 ½ tbsps

Salt to taste

A dash of hot sauce

Method

Heat oil in a saucepan. Add the chopped onion and garlic and sauté until the onion is tender. Add the juice, cumin powder, salt, herbs, and water. Bring it to a boil and then let it simmer until the mixture thickens a bit.

You can also blend the mixture for a smoother, creamier soup.

Add a dash (or more) of hot sauce and serve with crunchy homemade croutons. Bon Appétit.

Croutons

Ingredients

Butter – 1 tbsp

Olive oil – 1 tbsp

Bread – 2 slices

Mint/Rosemary/or any herb of choice – 1 tbsp

Method

I used regular whole wheat bread, but you could use any bread like a baguette, sour dough etc. In a pan, heat oil and butter on medium heat. Add the herbs and heat it for a minute. Add the chopped bread and toss to coat. Reduce the heat, and let it get crunchy (about 10-15 minutes). Keep tossing to ensure even crunchiness.  Add a few croutons to your soup and enjoy. Bon Appétit.

Note: For those of you who have not heard of the V8 juice, well there is always the good old tomato soup.