Step By Step photos for Tiffins

Kanchipuram Idli - now enjoyed all over the world !

Raw rice - ½ cup

Boiled rice - ½ cup

Urad dhal - 1 cup

Pepper - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Hing powder - 1 tsp

Dry ginger powder - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Oil - 2 tbsp

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Fruit salt - as given, below

Salt.

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Soak rices & dhal together for 4 hrs.

Grind coarse & keep for 8-10 hrs - Food processor is ideally suited for this grinding,

Coarsely powder pepper & Jeera & add.

Add hing & dry ginger powders.

Heat oil & ghee, temper mustard seeds, chopped curry leaves & add.

This is usually steamed in a single round vessel as a single idli – about 5, 6” high.

If you so wish, you can steam in 2 round vessels one kept over the other so that each idli will be 3” high.

Adjust the dough to idli dough consistency.

Keep the steamer ready, boiling & grease the round vessels.

Add fruit salt, at the rate of 2 level tsp for 3 cups dough.

Whisk the dough very well, immediately transfer to greased vessels & start steaming, as you do idlis.

This will take 35-45 mts to cook completely.

Insert a skewer, if it comes out clean, the idlis are done.

Remove from steamer, cool.

Transfer to a plate & cut like cake pieces.

Serve with coconut chutney or any green chutney.

The idli will be soft on its own, but the addition of fruit salt gives it a very spongy & porous texture.

This preserves well for 2 days.

 

Cucumber oothappam - let us call it pancakes !

This is a jiffy dish, which can be “rustled up”, if you have cucumbers ! The addition of jaggery, gives it an intriguing, mildly sweet taste. You can omit it, by choice.
Grated cucumber - 2 cups
Bombay rava - 1 cup
Fresh curds - 2-3 tbsp
Finely chopped green chillies - 4,5 ( more or less by choice)
Chopped coriander leaves - few
Jaggery - 2 tbsp (optional), powdered
Oil - to make oothappams
To the freshly grated cucumber, add all other ingredients.
Keep for 30 mts, for the rava to soak & swell.
Make small oothappams on a non-stick tava, using very little oil.
Wait for the first side to be cooked well & completely, before turning over to the other side.
Mint or coriander or tomato chutney makes an excellent accompaniment.

 

Perfect Rava Upma - 1

Normally Bombay rava takes (if, well roasted) 2 cups of water & wheat rava takes 2 1/2 - 3 cups of water . As soon as you buy rava , roast it dry on a pan , on medium heat till very well roasted & keep . This way, roasting to be done when you make upma , is minimum.
1 cup of bombay rava needs 2 - 2 1/2 cups water. If the rava is quite grainy, you can add upto 2 1/2 cups of water
1 cup wheat rava needs 2 3/4 - 3 cup. All this , assuming that you have roasted the rava very well.(this is the key point )

Next is oil .Perfect upma requires correct amount of oil - in fact a tsp more makes the upma very soft & nice. That is why upma served in restaurants & weddings is so delicious - they are not bothered to be stingy about oil , because they want to give the best taste .
For 1 cup B.rava - keep 2 1/2 cups of boiling water ready . (i don't add cold water to hot rava because lumps are sure to form!) . In a vessel , heat (bare minimum) 2 tbsp of oil, temper mustard seeds , 1 tsp udad dhal , 1 tsp gram dhal ,2 chopped onions , 4, 5 chopped green chillies & 1” ginger chopped , curry leaves & fry till onions are transparent. Now add the (pre roasted )rava & continue to roast on a medium flame till the rava gets well heated. Now decrease the flame , add 1 3/4 cups boiling water, stirring well ( I find a whisk useful ) , add salt & hing. You will now know whether you need to add 1/4 cupor more of water or not. Mix thoroughly , lower the gas & wait till the entire water is absorbed & the rava is cooked. Mix once again & keep covered - rest for a few mts. Now some people add a tsp of ghee as topping to give a good flavour - this is optional.
. But always keep rava very well roasted & the roasting to be done with other ingredients when making upma should be minimum.
Vegetable rava upma:

Carrot, beans, potatoes, cauliflower can be chopped fine , lightly steamed & added when you add water.

Capsicum can be finely chopped & added after you do the tempering, sauted & then the rava added.

Boiled peas & corns can be added.

For a change, without adding onions or vegetables, add 2 tbsp grated coconut after switching off to give a different taste.

Variations:

To give a slightly sour taste, lime juice can be added after switching off & thoroughly mixed. I now add amchur powder, when I add boiling water & that is an interesting variation! Both these can be omitted also, if you don’t like a sour taste.

 

Perfect Rava Upma - 2

Photo-1


Serve with the following chutney:

Coconut – ½ cup

Gram dhal - ½ cup

Red chillies - 4,5

Oil - 1 tsp

Tamarind paste - 2 tsp

Salt

Jaggery - little (optional)

To temper:

Oil - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Hing - ½ tsp

Curry leaves - few.

Heat 1 tsp oil, fry red chilles & gram dhal till golden.

Switch off the flame & add coconut.
photo-2

When the ingredients have cooled down, grind everything together & temper as given.
photo-3
This can be made the same way with Lapsi - wheat rava
photo-4
Also with adding vegetables;
photo-5

 

Rava Puli Upma - delcious, though oily!!

Bombay Rava- 1 cup

Thin tamarind water - 1 ½ cups ( tamarind level is optional)

Salt, haldi,curry leaves

To temper:

Oil - 2 tbsp ( on the higherside)

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dhal - 2 tsp

Gram dhal - 2 tsp

Curd chillies, broken - 5,6 (or to taste)

Hing - 1 tsp


Soak both dhals in water for 30 mts & drain – this is to make them crisp in tempering.

Mix rava, tamarind water, haldi, salt & curry leaves.

Heat oil, temper as given.

Wait till the curd chillies turn dark brown.

Add the prepared mixture, stirring continuously.

Lower the flame when boiling starts.

Close with a rimmed plate & pour hot water in it



When it is completely cooked, remove. Empty on a greased plate & make pieces.

 

Atta-Banana Oothappams - delicious & healthy!

Makes 6 oothappams.

Wheat flour - 1 cup

Wheat (or oat) bran - 2 tbsp

Ripe bananas - 2 (one mashed & one sliced for topping)

Powdered sugar - 2 tbsp

Milk - ½ cup

Vanilla essence - ½ tsp

Baking powder - ½ tsp

Finely chopped walnuts - ½ cup

Butter - to shallow fry.

Mix all ingredients to a batter consistency, using little water.


Beat well & make pancakes, using little butter & topping with sliced bananas.

Do not flip.
Can be eaten plain or with honey.

 

Podi Dosai (1) - call it vazhi dosai, as well!

To get very soft doais, which can be made without oil..
For the batter:

For this, specially black split urad dhal (thol karuppu uluthamparuppu) is used.
Boied rice - 3 cups
Black split urad dhal - 1 cup
Methi seeds - 1 tbsp
Salt
Oil - to make dosai
Wash & soak rice for 4-5 hrs.
Mix together urad dhal & methi seeds.
Wash & soak for 1 hour before grinding.
Grinder is best suited for this.
First start grinding dhal & methi.
Halfway through, add drained rice.
Grind everything together to a fine paste & add salt.
Ferment for 10-12 hrs.



If you prefer to make with oil, any dosai batter can be used. But, the dosais must be made very soft & not crisp.
Keep a tava on the stove; after wiping with an oil-dipped piece of cloth, spread the doa batter. Keep it covered to cook in its own steam. No flipping is necessary.
Keep a mixture of
Milagai Podi + oil +little water to make a paste. Sprinkle a few sugar grains on the plate on which the dosas are going to be stacked. This is to prevent the hot dosais from sticking to the plate.
It is just a continuous process of making dosa (covered, no flipping), keeping on the plate & spreading the podi paste.
Stack up to 6 & cut into segments.
Ideal for packed lunches, soft & delicious. Makes a filling meal with a glass of juice or buttermilk.

 

Podi Dosai (2)

Photos continue.....

 

Idli-Dosa Mix - call it Jiffy or Instant!

I formulated this ratio based on a recipe, which Amma used to make and send to my sister, 40 yrs ago, when she was in London. I have, no doubt, made some changes!
Idli Rice (perboiled rice) - 2 cups

Urad dhal - 1 cup

Thick poha - 1/2 cup
Rava is kept in the front.

Mix & send to mill & grind like Bombay rava. Do not sieve. Close-up of rava.


Take a cup of this & add 1-11/4 cups of water & soak for 2 hrs.Then add salt & give a run in the mixie for a uniform texture.
Transfer to a steel vessel & keep it for fermentation. I find that keeping inside the rice container is very helpful for fermentation. Even if the dough does not visibly rise much, fermented texture is good enough.

Make idlis as well as dosas.Dosas come out thin & crisp.

 

Pesarattu & Ginger Chutney - Chala Ruchikaramaina Padartham.

Pesarattu & Ginger chutney are " made for eachother" !

Besides, pesarattu & upma also make a great combination , which is very famous in Andhra.

Pesarattu:

Whole green gram - 1 cup

Raw rice - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 5,6

Ginger - 1 ½”

Hing - ½ tsp

Jeera - 1tsp

Salt


To sprinkle on pesarattu:

Finely chopped onions - 1 cup

Finely chopped coriander leaves - ½ cup

Finely chopped green chillies - 2 tsp


Wash & soak moong & rice together for minimum 6 hrs.

Strain , add green chillies, ginger & salt.

Grind just before making pesarattu, to a rava like paste.

Add jeera & hing.

Keep the tava on medium heat and grease it with little oil.

Pour a ladleful of paste on it and spread it into a thin round layer like a pan cake and drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil around the edges of pesarattu.

Sprinkle small quantity of chopped onions, coriander leaves and green chilies on the pesarattu.

Cook until the edges become brown.

Lightly press the onions etc to stick to the pesarattu.

Then flip the pesarattu over and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of oil over the edges.

Cook it for a minute , keeping a watch that it does not get charred.

Remove from the pan, and serve the greenish brown pesarattu with ginger chutney.


Ginger Chutney:

Oil - 3 tsp

Red chillies - 7,8

Urad dhal - 2 tsp

Gram dhal - 3 tsp

Chopped ginger - 3 tbsp

Tamarind paste - 2 tsp

Jaggery - marble size (optional)

Salt

To temper:

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Hing - ½ tsp

Heat 2 tsp oil, add red chillies & both dals till they become light brown.

Add grated ginger & fry a little.

Cool, add tamarind, jaggery & salt.

Grind to a fine paste.

Temper as given.

Variation:

Make rava upma, the usual way.

Do not add the filling for pesarattu, instead after cooking both sides, keep 2 tbsp upma on one half of the pesarattu, fold over & serve with ginger chutney.
In the photo pesarattu is served with puthina chutney & red hot chutney.