One Day At A Time

Uttappa or Uttappam is a South Indian gluten free savory pancake made of lentils and rice. Like an Italian pizza, it can be topped with multiple veggies - onions, tomatoes, green chilies, cilantro. Onions and carrots are my favorite toppings for this delicious pancake. Nowadays, cheese is also added as a topping. Ingredients: Idli Rice or Medium Grain Rice - 1 cup Urad dal/Split Black Gram - 1/3 cup Methi/Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp Cilantro/Coriander Leaves Green Chilies (optional) Onions Carrots Salt Oil How to cook South Indian Uttappam: Soak rice and urad dal separately for 4 - 5 hours. Soak Methi seeds with rice. Wash rice and urad dal. Grind urad dal to a very fine paste and rice slightly coarse, like semolina. Mix ground rice, ground urad dal, salt and ferment it overnight. The batter consistency is thinner than idli batter.  The batter will rise almost to its double after fermentation. Finely chop onions, green chilies, cilantro and c...

Kokam ( Garcinia indica ) is a round dark coloured sour fruit which looks similar to a plum.  Its dry skin is used for making Sol Kadhi .  Dry Kokum skin, called as Aamsol or Sol or Birindasol is also used as a substitute for tamarind in coconut curries.  I am not sure about its English name Purple Mangosteen.

Aloo Methi is the most loved combo in my family.  This recipe is a mix of my previous posts - Aloo Paratha and Methi Thepla .  Ingredients: Methi/Fenugreek Leaves - a bunch Green Chillies - 4 Wheat Flour - 1 cup Besan/Gram Flour - about 1/4 cup Turmeric/Haldi - 1/2 tsp Sesame/Til - 1 tsp Curd/Yogurt - 1 tbsp Sugar - 1/2 tsp Potatoes - 2 big Coriander/Cilantro leaves Green Chillies - 5 Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1 tsp Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Butter or Oil Salt Method: 1. Mix chopped fenugreek leaves, crushed green chillies, wheat flour, gram flour, turmeric, sesame, salt, sugar and curd well in a mixing bowl.   2. Knead all the above into a soft dough.  If required, add more wheat flour.  Use 1 tbsp oil and knead well to avoid stickiness of the dough.  Keep the dough covered for 20 - 30 minutes. 3. Boil and peel the potatoes.  Finely chop cilantro leaves and green ...

Easy and quick snack made of parched rice or Poha and requires no cooking at all. This Konkani recipe of Godda Phovu  is made of thin Poha also known as flattened rice or beaten rice or parched rice. Konkani phovu recipes are both sweet and savory. Savory Poha recipes are similar to Maharashtrian Dadpe Pohe . Today I am sharing a simple sweet recipe which needs only 5 ingredients. And with thawed frozen coconut, I need less than 15 minutes for this sweet treat. This recipe can also be made by preparing a sugar syrup, but I always go with the easiest one.

A Konkani coconut curry with whole Mung sprouts. Ingredients: Mung Bean/Whole Green Gram - 1/2 cup Grated Coconut - about 1 cup Thin Coconut Slices - about 1/4 cup Green Chillies - 2 Coriander Seeds/Dhane - 1 tbsp Dry Red Chillies - 4 (Byadagi Variety) Turmeric/Haldi - 1/8 tsp Tamarind/Chinch - small piece Curry Leaves/Kadipata - a sprig Asafoetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Salt Oil Method: 1. Soak Mung Beans for 5 - 6 hours.  Drain the water and keep it covered overnight to get sprouts.  Alternately, you can tie the soaked mung in a cloth and keep it overnight.  2. Wash the sprouts.  Cook the sprouts and coconut slices in about 2 cups water till soft. 3. Wash the curry leaves and pat them dry.  Slit the green chillies lengthwise.  4. Roast the coriander seeds and red chillies with little oil, till the coriander seeds slightly darken. 5. Grind grated coconut, roasted coriander seeds...

Every Konkani delicacy has coconut and today's recipe is no exception. Upkari is a mild stir fry of vegetables with fresh coconut. Ingredients: French Beans/Farasbi - 300 gms Green Chilies or Dry Red Chilies - 5 Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Asafetida - 1/4 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - a pinch (optional) Grated Coconut - about 3 tbsp Jaggery/Gud/Gul - about 1 tsp Oil preferably Coconut oil Salt  How to cook Beans Upkari: Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a kadhai/wok, add mustard seeds and asafetida. After mustard seeds pop, add chopped beans. Sauté for a minute and lengthwise slit green chilies.  Stir and cook it covered at low flame for 5 - 10 minutes. Keep stirring after every 2 minutes. You can add water if you like. When beans turn soft, add salt, jaggery, grated coconut and turmeric. I generally use frozen shredded coconut. Cook for 5 more minutes and its ready to serve with dal rice or chapati.

Dosas are always welcome in my family.. and crispy dosas top the list. Ingredients: Rice - 3 cups Mung Dal/Split Green Gram - 1 cup Chana Dal/Split Chickpeas - 1 cup Urad Dal/Split Black Gram - 1 cup Curd/Yogurt - 5 tbsp Methi/Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4 tsp Salt Oil Method: 1. Soak rice and dals separately for 4 - 5 hours.  Add methi seeds with rice for soaking.  Wash the soaked dals and rice well. 2. Grind the dals and curd to a very fine paste.  Add more curd if required.  Grind rice slightly coarse, like Rava/Semolina. 3. Mix ground dals and ground rice, add salt and ferment it overnight. 4. Heat a pan and pour a ladle full of batter and spread it very thin.  Drizzle oil and roast both sides.  Serve crispy Dal dosa with chutney.