One Day At A Time!

Sweet, fruity watermelon pancakes with a hint of cardamom and coconut.  These dosas called as Kalingana Polo in Konkani is a North Canara speciality.  During the watermelon season, my Mom used to make these very often for breakfasts.  Here I am sharing our favorite breakfast recipe from my US kitchen.

Healthy veggie pancakes made of cabbage and protein rich chickpea flour (besan). Ingredients: Chopped Cabbage/Pata Gobi/Kobi - 4 cups Onion - 1 medium Rice Flour - 1/4 cup Besan/Gram Flour/Chickpea Flour - 1/2 cup Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Green Chillies - 4 Salt Oil Method: 1. Finely chop onions, cabbage and cilantro.  Medium chop green chillies. 2. Add chopped onions, cabbage, green chillies, cilantro, rice and salt in a mixing bowl.  Mix well.  Now add rice flour and gram flour.  Use about 1/2 cup water and mix well. 3. Heat a pan and add a ladle full of the cabbage mixture.  Spread it evenly and as thin as possible with hands or a spoon.  Roast both sides till the pancakes turn golden brown.  Drizzle little oil while roasting. 4. Serve Cabbage Dosa with ketchup or chutney.

An easy, crunchy snack made with leftover idlis. Ingredients: Rice - 2 cups Split Urad Dal - 1 cup Salt Oil How to make Idli Fry: Wash rice and urad dal and soak them in water separately for about 6 hours. Grind urad dal into a very fine paste. Then grind rice coarsely, almost like rava. Mix ground urad dal and ground rice to form the idli batter, slightly thicker than dosa batter. Keep the batter in a warm place overnight for fermentation. The batter will rise to almost double. Add salt to the batter and mix well. Grease the idli plates with little oil and fill the batter only till 3/4th of each idli mold. If idli mold is not available, you can use a pressure cooker vessel. Steam the idlis in an idli cooker for about 12 - 15 min. Remove the lid and let it cool for about 5 min. Cut the idlis each into 3 or 4 pieces and deep fry in oil. Idli Fry is ready to serve with ketchup and/or chutney . Note:   Before pouring idli batter in t...

Like any Konkani household, I grew up eating Idlis and Dosas. Staying in Mumbai added Marathi delicacies too - Kande Pohe, Dadpe Pohe and so on. While I was in Mangalore, my mother-in-law taught me this special Konkani delicacy.  Tavshe Idli  is a slightly sweet idli made of cucumbers. But you can cook it minus sugar and enjoy with coconut chutney like any regular idli. Take your pick. What I love about this idli is that it does not involve any soaking, grinding, fermentation.

We Konkanis love dosas and idlis for breakfast. Surnali is a thick pancake made of rice and coconut. These pancakes are also made sweet adding jaggery, but we love the savory ones called as Cheppi Surnali .

Ingredients: Medium Grain Rice - 1 cup Grated Cucumber - 3/4 cup Grated Coconut - 1 cup Sugar - 1 tsp Salt Oil Method: 1. Soak rice in water for 4 - 5 hours. 2. Wash rice and grind to a fine paste using 1/2 cup water. 3. Add grated cucumber and salt to the rice paste.  Grated cucumber leaves some water.  Add that water too.  T he batter consistency must not be too thick or too watery.  Add more water if required. 4. Heat a nonstick pan and pour a ladle full of batter.  Spread it evenly to form a circular shape.  Cook both sides drizzling little oil. 5. Churan: Mix 1 cup grated coconut and 1 tsp sugar and churan is ready. 6. Serve hot Cucumber Pancakes with Churan or coconut Chutney.

An instant dosa/crepe made of Semolina and All purpose flour which does not require soaking or fermentation. A quick fix for breakfast or a light snack. Ingredients: Rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1/2 cup Maida/All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup Onions (Finely chopped) - about 1/2 cup  Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp Green Chilies - 2  Water - about 2 1/2 cups Salt Oil How to prepare Instant Rava Dosa: Finely chop onions and medium chop green chilies. Mix Rava, Maida, onions, green chilies, water and salt in a mixing bowl. For tempering/tadka, heat oil and add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds splutter, turn off the heat. Pour this tadka to the dosa batter.  The consistency of the batter is thin. Heat a cast iron griddle or a nonstick pan. Grease the pan with cooking spray or few drops of oil. Pour a ladle full of batter and swirl the pan so that the batter spreads evenly. Roast both sides of the dosa to golden brown, drizzling few drops of oil. Roast the dosa longer t...

Kande Pohe, Batate Pohe is a popular Maharashtrian breakfast made of thick Pohe or Flattened Rice. In Konkani, this Poha recipe is well known as Phane Phovu . Ingredients: Thick Pohe/Flattened Rice - 2 cups Onions - 2 medium Peanuts/Groundnuts - 1/4 cup Turmeric/Haldi - 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadipata - a sprig Green Chilies - 5 Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Sugar - 1/2 tsp Oil - 2 tbsp Salt How to make Kande Pohe: Wash pohe in water 2 - 3 times. Washing will remove rice husk if any. Drain all the water after a minute. Soaking time depends on the thickness of the pohe.  Keep it aside in a sieve/strainer/colander for 10 - 20 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in a kadhai/wok and add mustard seeds, asafetida, curry leaves.  After mustard seeds splutter, add peanuts. Sauté for about 5 minutes. Now add medium chopped onions, lengthwise slit green chilies. Sauté till onions tur...

Masala Dosa is the most popular Indian crepe made with rice and lentils. Crisp Masala Dosa, Potato Bhaji, Coconut Chutney and Sambar make a fabulous South Indian Menu for brunch. This potato bhaji recipe tastes great with chapatis or puris as well. Ingredients: Potatoes - 4 big Onions - 2 medium Green Chilies - 8 Curry Leaves/Kadipata - a sprig Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp Asafetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp  Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - about 2 tbsp Ginger - 1/2 inch piece Oil - 3 tbsp Salt How to cook Aloo Sabzi for Masala Dosa: Boil the potatoes in enough water and let them cool. Peel the skin and dice them into bite size pieces. Finely chop ginger and cilantro. Slit the chilies lengthwise. Wash and pat the curry leaves dry. Heat oil in a kadhai/wok and add mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafetida.  When mustard seeds pop, add onions, finely chopped ginger and chopped chilies. Add little s...

Who can say no to this delicious breakfast? Masala Dosa is a weekend brunch special at our place. I do some prep-work on Friday evenings like boiling potatoes, getting the batter ready and next day, cooking takes less time. We can eat both good food and spend time just lazing around. I am sure, you guys have some weekend ritual as well. Ingredients: Idli Rice - 1 cup Urad Dal/Split Black Gram - 1/4 cup Toor Dal/Split Pigeon Peas - 1/8 cup Methi/Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp Salt Oil How to make South Indian Masala Dosa: Soak idli rice, urad dal, toor dal, methi seeds in plenty of water for about 8 hours. You can use any medium grain rice instead of idli rice. Wash the soaked rice and lentils well, about 5 - 6 times. Grind all these to a fine paste adding little water at a time. I divide it in 2 batches for grinding.  Batter consistency must be slightly thinner than idli batter, but thick enough to coat a spoon....

Konkani recipe of savory pancakes made of urad dal and semolina. Crunchy coconut slices and aromatic ginger make these extremely tasty. These protein rich black gram pancakes are known as Abi Bhakri in North Canara and Dodak in South Canara. What I love about making these dosas is that the batter does not need fermentation, as compared to any other regular dosa. Ingredients: Urad Dal/Split Black Gram - 1 cup Rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1 cup Ginger - 1 inch piece Green Chilies - 2 Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - few sprigs Coconut Slices - 1/2 cup Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp Salt Oil How to cook Konkani Abi Bhakri or Dodak: Soak Urad dal in water for 30 - 45 minutes.  Wash soaked urad dal well.  Grind urad dal to a fine paste. Finely chop ginger, green chilies and cilantro. I prefer chopping, but you can grind all these ingredients along with urad dal. This urad dal batter does not need fermentation, but you can ferment it overnight ...