Old is gold.

Ragi vella dosai:
This is a delicious tiffin of yesteryears. This is suitable for breakfast since ragi is recommended an ideal cereal for breakfast.
Ragi Vella Dosai

Ragi flour 1 cup

Jaggery powderd ½ cup

Coconut gratings ½ cup

Cardamom powder ! tsp

A mixture of ghee & refined oil

Method

Heat jaggery with 1 cup water till it dissolves.

Strain, cool & add flour, coconut &cardamom powder.

Rest for ½ an hour.

Method to make Vella Dosai: (Similar to making dosais/Pan cakes)

Spread slowly & carefully a big spoon full of the above batter on a hot non-stick pan, and put 1 teaspoon of ghee around it.

Let it cook on this side for a few minutes, and then turn over to the other side, and put 1 teaspoon of ghee around it.

Wait till the dosai turns light brown..

Keep the pan on medium heat only,otherwise dosai will become slightly bitter.
This tastes delicious with Sambar.

Ukkarai



This is a traditional Deepavali sweet , prepared for breakfast , along with Paniyaram or Kara vadai.



Chana dhal 1 cup

Grated coconut ¼ cup

Jaggery 1 ¼ cup

Ghee 3 tbsp

Cashew chopped 2 tbsp

Cardamom powder 1 tsp



Lightly roast dry the dhal, cool &soak it in water for 2-3 hrs.

Then drain ,add just enough water to immerse it & pressure cook it inside a vessel in a pressure cooker for just 2 whistles.

It should be just soft & not mushy.

Drain &mix with coconut.

Mix the jaggery with very little water, put it on stove, heat stirring continuously on a low fire to dissolve it.

Strain & use this little by little to grind dhal-coconut mixture to a rawa like paste.

Add the rest of jaggery water, mix in a vessel with 1 tbsp ghee &start boiling it.

As soon as the mixture starts boiling sim the gas &cook on a low fire stirring regularly to make sure it does not get burnt.

Reserve 2 tsp ghee & add the rest in 2,3 instalments.

When it starts getting granular, add cardamom powder &cashew fried in ghee.

Remove & stir to break up the granules.

There are different recipes for the above - but I find this foolproof.

Ellodarai

Perfect to appease Lord Saturn on Saturdays !



Rice-- 1 cup ( any thin variety is preferable )



To dry roast & powder:

Red chillies - 5-6

Udad dhal - 2 tbsp

Black seasame seeds - 2 tbsp (til seeds , ellu )

White seasame seeds - 2 tbsp

Hing powder - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs



To temper:

Gingelly oil - 3 tbsp

Red chillies - 2

Udad dhal - 2 tsp



Grated jaggery - 1 tbsp (optional )

Salt



Cook rice with very little salt in such a way that the grains are separate.

Cool by spreading on a plate.

In the meanwhile dry roast the given ingredients , add salt & powder.

Heat oil in a kadai , temper with the given ingredients , add rice & sprinkle the powder , mixing well.

Adding more or less powder is your option.

Add grated jaggery, stirring all the contents well.

Do not keep on fire for a long time – when all ingredients are thoroughly mixed , remove.

It is customary to add jaggery in this. The combination of seasame seeds & jaggery is very tasty & contributes to the iron content of the dish.

Manoharam

Rice flour 2 cups

Besan 2 cups

Butter ½ cup

Jaggery as per the recipe

Oil to deep fry



Sieve both flours with a pinch of salt.

Knead with butter & water to chappathi dough like.

Press into hot oil with manoharam press.

When ¾ fried, take out.

When the whole dough is used up , deep fry again the pieces till crisp & brown.

This is to make them completely crisp.

Cool & break them into 1” pieces.

For 4 cups broken pieces, 2 cups of jaggery should be taken.

Make a syrup - firm soft ball on testing by rolling in water.

Remove from stove, add 2 tsp sugar & mix well.

Add the broken pieces & stir continuously.

They will separate into pieces on cooling.

The recipe given below is a Karnataka version of the tasty Puliyodarai of Tamil Nadu.
Puliyodarai



Pulikkachal:

Tamarind - orange size ( or 4 tbsp tamarind paste )

Jaggery - lemon size

Salt , haldi



Roast in 1 tsp oil & powder;

Gram dhal - 3 tsp

Udad dhal - 3 tsp

Red chillies - 10

Hing powder - 1tsp



Roast dry each separately & powder with above:

Seasame seeds - 2 tsp

Grated coconut - 4 tbsp



To temper in the beginning:

Oil - ½ cup

Gram dhal - 3 tsp

Udad dhal - 3 tsp

Red chillies - 10

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Methi seeds - ½ tsp

Curry leaves - few



To temper at the end:

Roasted peanuts - ½ cup ( more or less is optional )

Cashewnuts - 10 (break into two )



Mix 1 ½ hot cups of water with tamarind soak & take a strained thick extract.

Heat oil , temper all the given ingredients , when well fried , add tamarind extract , salt & haldi.

Boil the contents.

When it starts thickening , add the ground powder & jaggery mixing without lumps.

Just before removing from fire , temper both the nuts , remove when “lose jam “ consistency is reached.

This can be preserved in the fridge for 2 weeks
.
To make puliyodarai:

Cook rice so that grains are separate.

Add some raw gingelly oil , fresh curry leaves & enough pulikkachal & mix gently but thoroughly to get puliyodarai.

Dear Chithra Madam,

I tried your receipe of puliyodarai as written in old is gold....and it came out just great!!! I made it for get together and everyone loved it too!!

Thanks!
Jaya

This recipe of aappam is of yesteryears & does not contain yeast, coconut, aval, cooked rice or coconut water. But still it comes out absolutely soft, lacy around the edges & spongy & porous in the centre.

Raw rice - 1 cup

Boied rice - 1 cup

Urad dhal - ¼ cup

Methi seeds - ½ tsp

Salt

Eno’s fruit salt - as given below

Mix the first 4 ingredients, wash &soak for 6 hrs.

Strain, grind very fine to a paste, add salt & allow it to ferment for 10-12 hrs.

After fermentation, aappams are made.

(A hint here – if you are not going to make aappams with the entire amount, freeze half the amount in the freezer & make aappams as late as after 2,3 weeks. It comes out excellant, perhaps better! )

Now dilute the batter with water & add 1 tsp sugar.

If you so prefer, the batter can be diluted with thin coconut milk – but it is not a must.

It should be little thinner than dosa batter.

Just before making aappams, add fruit salt –1 level tsp for every cup of batter or ¼ tsp soda.

Whisk the batter well for thorough mixing.

Heat the aappam pan well & wipe it with tissue dabbed in little oil.

Pour one big ladle full of batter in the centre, lift the pan & holding the pan with cloth on both sides, tilt it in a circular motion so that the batter spreads & expands along the edges – do this fast.

The centre should be slightly thicker than the sides which are thin.

Keep the heat medium & close the pan with a correct lid.

The aappam will cook in 2 mts.

It is not necessary to turn it over.

Remove to a plate sprinkled with very little sugar, to prevent the aappam from sticking to the plate.

Do not stack hot aappams one over the other, but keep them side by side.

Serve with sweetened coconut milk, any hot spicy chutney of your choice, potato stew or brinjal masala.

Dear Chitra,

Can you give a receipes with ragi flour without jaggery or sugar. I have diabetes and I have been advised to use ragi. Any receipes for breakfast?

Regards,
Jaya

Hi Mrs.Chithra,

Whenever find time, pls give me the recipe for urundai kozhukattai; tasted it when I was young and it was so good to eat and very simple to make!!!

Thanks for the recipe in advance.

Hi Jaya,

Sorry to interrupt..

You can cook ragi with water and later, add milk or buttermilk for breakfast. Maybe, for flavor, add some roasted gram powder & cardamom too.

Or, heard that whole ragi is good for diabetes. So, add vegetables and make like our regular rava upma with ragi grains. It is a filling and nutritious too.

Rgds.