Zaiqa

Idli, also spelled as Idly or Iddly is a food native to Southern India. It is the most favorite South Indian breakfast next to Dosa, Wada and Samabar. Idlis have been compared to the moon and jasmine flowers in literature. They are steamed cakes of dehulled black gram dal and cream of rice or wheat. These soft and fluffy cakes are easy to digest and rich in proteins and carbohydrates. They are prepared in many hotels, homes and restaurants almost every day for the morning breakfasts especially in South India and elsewhere too. It is a healthy and nutritious probiotic pure South Indian breakfast.

Idlis served along with Sambar generously poured over them

The ‘Idli Rawa‘, which is the cream of rice or wheat is available in any Indian stores. The Idli mould is also easily available in most of the Indian stores, and are sold in almost every stainless steel utensils shop in India. The Idli plates in a Idli mould have depressions  to pour the batter in those. These depressions vary in sizes in different stores. I have a medium size Idli mould which is perfect for my family.

To prepare Idli, I start its preperation from a day ahead. Like for example if I plan to prepare it on Sunday for breakfast or brunch, I start its preparation from Saturday morning. On the Saturday morning, I wash and soak the urad dal in plenty of water, and before I go to sleep in the night I drain away the water and grind the dal well, then mix it with the washed idli rawa in a bowl and keep the bowl in a warm and dark place to ferment night long. Then on Sunday morning the fermented batter is ready to prepare yummy Idlis. I use equal amounts of idli Rawa and dal for Idli preparation.

Idli – Steamed Rice-Lentil Cakes
Makes : approx 40 Idlis

Ingredients:

Urad Dal (or) Mask ki dal/Split husked Black gram – 1 1/2 cups
Cream of Rice (Idli Rawa) – 1 1/2 cups
Baking powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt –  1 tablespoon
Canola Oil – to grease the Idli Plates

Idli batter in the Idli Mould & Cooked Served Idlis

Method:
(Note: Read the entire post before you proceed to prepare the Idli)

1. Wash the Urad dal in several changes of water and soak it in surplus water for about 6-8 hours. Later, drain the dal. In a wet grinder, or a food processor, blend the Urad dal adding just a little of water to aid in the blending to a very smooth and fluffy paste. Do not add to much water, it should be added just so that the mixer/grinder motor runs smoothly. The fluffier the batter, the better it is, so grind well for 10-15 minutes. Transfer the batter to a very large stainless steel mixing bowl (as the batter will ferment and rise and overflow if the container is small).
2. While the urad dal is grinding, wash the idli rava with water about 2-3 times and drain it completely. There is no need to soak the idli rava in water. Make sure no excess water remains after draining the water. Add this to the urad dal batter. Also add baking powder and mix it all completely using a spoon without any lumps. The batter should be as thick as possible. Cover and leave the batter undisturbed overnight so that it ferments and doubles in size. If you are not living in India or live in cold temperature places, you could use the oven to ferment the batter: Set the oven on to minimum (lowest setting/warm) for about 5-10 minutes, then turn it off. Cover and keep the mixing bowl with the batter in the warmed oven so that it ferments for about 8-15 hours or overnight.
3. The next morning the batter should have fermented well and the volume almost doubled. Once the batter has risen it can be used immediately to prepare idlis. If you are not going to make idlis immediately, store the batter in the refrigerator or else the idlis will be very sour. Add salt to the batter and mix it well. The consistency of the batter should be like condensed milk, not too thick nor too thin. You can add more water if needed to achieve that consistency.
4. Grease all the Idli plates with a few drops of oil and pour about 2-3 tablespoon of batter in each depression in the Idli plates.
5. Before filling the idli plates, add some water in a large pressure cooker and switch on the stove. So by the time you are done with the batter the water will start boiling and you can place the idli stand in the cooker and close the lid. Make sure the water does not touch the lowest idli plate in the stand. The water level in the pressure cooker should be well below it. Close the lid of the cooker and do not put the weight on it. In about 10 minutes you will see steam escaping from the vent of the cooker. Using an oven mitt remove the idli stand from the cooker and place it on the countertop. Scoop the Idlies out of the plates using a spoon in a big serving bowl. Cover the serving bowl with lid to keep the idlis warm. Repeat this process with the next batch adding water to the cooker as necessary until the batter is all used up.

Suggested Accompaniments: Serve them hot along with Sambar, Coconut chutney, Hara Dhaniya aur Pudina Ki Chutney at breakfast or as a brunch or a snack.

Tips:

1. If you live in warmer places, you need not add baking soda to the batter.
2. If you live in a cold place,  it happens that the batter has not fermented at all. If the batter has not fermented and doubled in size by next day, do not use it for Idli. Instead make Dosa out of it.
3. If you do not find Cream of Rice, you can even use Cream of Wheat as the Idli Rawa.
4. This is the basic recipe for the prepartion of Idli. You can alter it by adding a few chopped french beans, carrots, cilantro to the batter.
5. Adding a dollop of butter to the steamed idlis while having them hot along with sambar makes it even more delectable.
6. These Idli moulds are the traditional methods to prepare Idli at home. If you are somehow not able to find the Idli Mould, you can use little metal bowls which can be kept in a steamer or an egg poacher or tiny aluminium molds for cakes and muffins. I have however never used these. I only use the Idli Mould each time I prepare Idli.
7. You don’t need a pressure cooker for steaming idlis. Simply use any vessel with a vent on the lid which is big enough to fit the idli plates stand you are using. Add some water to the vessel and heat it while you fill the batter. Place the stand inside the vessel and close it with a lid. If the lid does not have vent for the steam to escape, leave a small portion of the vessel open. Steam it for 10-15 minutes. Insert a toothpick or a knife in the center of the idli and if it comes out clean the idlis are ready. Switch off the stove and serve it after a couple of minutes.
8. You can even freeze the leftover idlis to be used some other day. Simply place cooled idlis on a tray seperately and let them freeze for 3 hours. Once frozen, transfer them all to a zip lock freezer bag and store until needed. When you want to have them, simply place the frozen idlis in a plate and microwave for 2 minutes approx.

Luv,
Mona

Gobi Gosht is one of those very regular dishes that are prepared and had at many Hyderabadi households. It is simple to prepare, and is healthy enough. There are many other ways to prepare this very simple vegetable that is mostly disliked by so many people because of the strong aversion to cabbage some people keep.

Green Cabbage, halved

In this recipe, you can use, either Vegetable Stock, or Lamb Meat stock instead of water while cooking for more flavor.

Gobi Gosht – Cabbage with Lamb Meat

Ingredients:

Cabbage/Band Gobi – 1, medium-sized, finely shredded (I prefer green cabbage than white cabbage)
Lamb meat, with bone – 600 gms, washed and cubed into bite size pieces
Red Chilli Powder – 1 tbsp
Salt – 1 tbsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Canola Oil – 1 tbsp
Yellow Onion – 2, small, finely sliced
Chopped Cilantro – 2 tbsp
Chopped green chillies – 2 tbsp

Gobi Gosht – Cabbage with Lamb Meat

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker, pour oil, and as it gets warm, add the cubed meat, sliced onion, ginger-garlic paste, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder. Add water to cover the meat and pressure cook until the meat is tender.
2. Add the shredded cabbage, chopped cilantro and green chillies and half cover the lid. Let it cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes approx, until the cabbage is done. Keep a check, and add a few drops of water if needed while cooking the cabbage.

Luv,
Mona

Home-Made Mango Pickles are my favorite. And among all the kinds, I realy love this pickle a lot. It is so simple to prepare, hot as a pickle should be and absolutely delicious.

The first time I had this pickle was at my Aunt’s-Khala’s house I fell in love with it the moment I had tasted it at her place. And used to have it like a curry along with Chawal or Parathas.

Unripe green mangoes ~ Kairi

I love blog hopping, and a few days back, on Priya’s blog, I had seen this pickle, which reminded me so much of Rishte Ka Achaar that my mouth was watering, and I was so much craving for it, just like a pregnant lady would! Somedays ago, I had been to an Indian store where I saw some very young and large sized Raw Sour and Green Pickle Mangoes, and I quickly bought three of them, came home and prepared this pickle. I was so happy.

Rishte Ka Achaar – Mango Pickle

I do not have any idea why this pickle is named as ‘Rishte Ka Achaar’. I have no clue. But it is called so by everyone in my contacts, and even they do not have any idea about this. If anyone of you know why it is called so, please let me know. I will be very happy to come to know about it from my dearest Readers.

Try and get some very sour raw green mangoes for this pickle. And do not use the green mangoes for this pickle if they are not very sour.

Rishte Ka Achaar – Mango Pickle

Ingredients:

Unripe and Sour Green Pickle Mangoes – 3, large
Dry Roasted Black Cumin Seed Powder – 1 1/2 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder – 1 tbsp
Salt – 1 1/2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds – 2 tsp
Dry Red Chillies – 4
Turmeric – 1/3 tsp
Curry leaves (fresh) – 6
Green Chillies – as per your taste, chopped or slit (optional)
Canola oil – 3 tbsp

Rishte ka achar

Method:

1. With a damp towel, wipe the raw green mangoes clean and dry them with a paper towel throughly. Throughly dry your hands and knife. Carefully, peel the skin, deseed them and cut into very small pieces.
2. In a flat glass container with a tight lid, put the cut raw mango pieces and add salt and turmeric and mix well. Cover the lid tightly and put the container aside for 24 hours in a cool dark place.
3. The next day, you will see that the mango pieces have released a lot of juice. In a pan on medium high heat, pour oil and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and dry red chillies. As soon as they begin to pop, remove from heat. Let it cool completely. This is the tempering/baghaar.
4. After the baghaar has cooled off completely, pour it into the container with mango pieces, and also add red chilli powder, black cumin seeds powder and green chillies, if using, and mix well. Adjust the salt and red chilli powder according to your tastes. The Achaar is ready. You can now relish upon it.

Store it in a glass jar with an air tight lid. It keeps very weel if kept away from water. Always use a dry spoon when you have it and keep it covered and refrigerated.

Tip: After you have cut the mango into small pieces and deseeded it, do not throw away the seed, use it in Khatti Dal instead of using the tamaring or lemon as the souring agent. It makes your Dal khatti/sour and gives a very good flavor to it.

Luv,
Mona

Khadi Masoor Ki Dal reminds me of those beautiful sunny and summery Indian breakfasts, that consisted of warm Parathas and Khadi Masoor ki Dal. My Aunt-Mami used to prepare the best Khadi Dal. I always used to request some of it whenever I would go to visit her.

Khadi Masoor Ki Dal, served along with Afghani Roti

Khadi Dal is one very easy side dish that goes well along with Mirchi Ka Salan or Mahekhalya or Andey Ka Khatta Salan, Baghare Baingan and Basmati Chawal for a meal, or just with Parathas for a breakfast or brunch. This recipe is so quick to prepare that it is one of the very first dishes one learns when he/she starts to experiment in kitchen discovering their culinary skills.

You can garnish it with finely chopped cilantro/dhaniya and mint/pudina, or with finely chopped fresh dill/Suvabhaji. It tastes best along with chopped dill, but if unavailable you can also go by the cilantro and mint.

Khadi Masoor Ki Dal – Red Lentils curry
Serves – 4-6

Ingredients:

Split Red Lentils/Masoor Dal – 1 cup
Canola Oil/Sunflower Oil – 2 tbsp
Yellow Onion – 1, small sized, finely sliced
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Tomatoes – 1, large, finely chopped
Red Chilli Powder – 2 tsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp or to taste
Warm Water – 1 cup, to cook
Warm Water – 2 cups, to soak

for garnish:
Finely chopped Cilantro and Mint – 1 tbsp (or) Finely chopped Dill/Suvabhaji – 1 tbsp

Khadi Masoor Ki Dal – Dry Red Lentils

Method:

• Wash the lentils well in a strainer till water runs clean and soak them in a bowl of warm water-to soak for about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile in a pan on medium high heat, pour in oil and as soon it warms up add the sliced onions and stir fry them till they are golden brown in color.
• During this time, drain the soaking dal and throw away the water.
• Lower the heat and add ginger garlic paste, fry for a minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric and salt. Mix well. Add the drained dal and mix it well with a spoon. Pour in the warm water to cook and give it a stir. Cover the lid of the pan and let it cook on medium heat till a nice steam has formed inside. Keep an eye on it as soon as the dal is done remove it from heat (You can add a few drops of water and stir to mix gently if needed if the dal is still undone)
• Garnish it with fresh finely chopped dill(Suvabhaji) or fresh finely chopped cilantro and mint. Serve immediately.

Suggested Accompaniments: Mahekhalya or Andey Ka Khatta Salan or Baghare Baingan or Mirchi Ka Salan and Basmati Chawal, or Parathas..

This delicious dal is my entry to the event ‘Delicious Dals from India’ being hosted by Suma at her blog Veggie Platter.

Luv,
Mona

Today is the first official day of Spring here and the forecast nowhere shows such signs. It will be remaining cloudy with a few showers of snow and the temperatures remaining in ‘minus’ for some more time. There are a few signs of sun only the next week, which again are not very consistent. I hope Spring arrives very soon. Winter has been too beautiful, loved it so much, but i admit it gave many problems to my dear hubby.. the shoveling, the problem with car and snow troubled him a lot. I am waiting for spring, then summer, mainly because i can take my grill out, and also plant a little vegetable garden inshallah. So looking forward to it..

Speaking about planting your backyard with plants and herbs, ginger is the simplest. Whenever i see some rhizomes with buds, i just plant them in a pot, keep it well watered, and in some time i see the pot full of ginger rhizome. It comes very useful to me, and it keeps fresh in the soil.

Adraki Murgh – Ginger Chicken

I prepared this dish with these fresh ginger rhizomes. And it is also one of the quick non-vegetarian dishes that i prepare quite often in my house. Today i share with you the procedure of how i prepare Ginger Chicken. I believe the flavor of chicken goes very well along with ginger. They are made for one another. The sharp pungent taste of ginger, the sweet flavor of onion, and chicken is this dish is perfectly delectable. Irf loves this dish.

Adraki Murgh – Ginger Chicken

Serves:6-8

Ingredients:

To Marinate-

• Chicken Boneless Breast Meat/Murgh – 800 gms, washed, pat dried and cubed into bite size pieces
• Ginger juliennes – 3 tbsp
• Garam Masala – 2 tsp
• Yogurt/Dahi – 3 tbsp
• Red Chilli Powder/Lal Mirch Powder – 2 tsp
• Salt/Namak – 2 tsp
• Turmeric/Haldi – 1/3 tsp

Other Components-

• Cloves/Laung – 3
• Canola/Sunflower Oil – 3 tbsp
• Curry leaves (fresh) – 6-8
• Yellow Onion – 1, large, thinly sliced
• Scallions/Hari Pyaz – chopped, for garnishing
• Ginger juliennes – 1 tbsp

Method:

• In a bowl or a resealable plastic bag, marinate the chicken with the ingredients under the heading ‘To Marinate’. Let the chicken marinate for about 2-4 hours in the refrigerator. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature atleast an hour befor you plan to cook it. (Remember this always)
• Later, heat oil in a non-stick heavy bottomed pan at medium high heat and throw in the cloves and thinly sliced onions. Stir fry it till the onion is lightly browned. Add the curry leaves and saute it for just a minute more.
• Add the marinated chicken and mix it well with the sauteed onion mixture. Close the lid for about 15 minutes. Later, open the lid and stir it gently, being careful not to break the tender chicken pieces.
• Let it cook uncovered for a little more time, till it is quite dry. Garnish with the ginger juliennes and spring onions.

Suggested Accompaniments: Parathas or Naan or Pulao..

Luv,
Mona