Cracked Wheat (Daliya) Upma

Serves Two

Ingredients

• Curry leaves
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
  
• Potato - 1 medium, chopped into small pieces
  
• 1 big Onion - chopped
  
• 1 big Tomato - chopped
  
• 3 green chillies - chopped finely
• 1/2 cup peas
• Small piece of ginger chopped finely
  
• Oil
• Salt to taste
  
• Pinch of black pepper
  
• 1 and 1/2 cup cracked wheat -dry roasted five minutes till it turns reddish
  
• 3 cups hot water
  
• 20 Peanuts - roasted and crushed coarsely
  
• 1/2 cup chopped Coriander
  

How to :

1. In a non-stick deep pot - add the oil and let the cumin, mustard oil and curry leaves sputter.
   
2. Add the potatoes and cook till the potatoes are golden red.
   
3. Add the chopped onions and ginger now and cook and cover till the potatoes are soft and onions are translucent.
   
4. Now add the chopped tomatoes, green chillies, peas and salt and cook covered for 5 minutes till the tomatoes are mushy.
   
5. Add the pepper powder and cook for two more minutes.
   
6. Add the roasted wheat to this and stir it in with the rest of the ingredients.
   
7. Now add the hot water and mix the contents.
8. Cook covered on a medium to low flame for 15 minutes, stirring once in a while
   
9. Now add the crushed peanuts and coriander and mix.
   
10. Cook till it is slightly dry.

Serving Suggestion
 

• Best served with green coriander or garlic chutney

Poha (Spicy Rice Flakes)

Serves Two

Ingredients

• Curry leaves
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
  
• Potato - 1 medium, chopped into small pieces
  
• 1 big Onion - chopped
  
• 1 big Tomato - chopped
  
• 3 green chillies - chopped finely
  
• Oil
• Salt to taste
  
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 and 1/2 cup thick rice flakes - soaked for a few minutes and then drained of water
  
• 20 Peanuts - roasted and crushed coarsely
  
• 1/2 cup chopped Coriander
  

How to :

1. In a non-stick deep pot - add the oil and let the cumin, mustard oil and curry leaves sputter.
   
2. Add the potatoes and cook till the potatoes are golden red.
   
3. Add the chopped onions now and cook and cover till the potatoes are soft and onions are translucent.
   
4. Now add the chopped tomatoes, green chillies and salt and cook covered for 5 minutes till the tomatoes are mushy.
   
5. Now add the turmeric powder and cook for two more minutes.
   
6. Now add the rice flakes and mix it evenly and cook for a few minutes more.
7. Now add the crushed peanuts and mix.
   
8. Finally add the chopped coriander. Cook for a minute and ready to serve.
   
9. Best served with green coriander or garlic chutney
   

Addai

Courtesy - Venkat's mom


Ingredients:


For grinding :

Chana Daal - 2 cups
Tuvar Daal - 1 cup
Hing (Asafoetida) - 1 tsp.
Curry Leaves - 5-6
Ginger - small piece
Salt
Rice Rava - 1 cup

For topping :

Onion - 1, finely chopped
Green Chillies - chopped finely
Cumin seeds - 1 tblsp.
Coriander - finely chopped

How to :

* Soak both the lentils together for a couple of hours or overnight.
* Grind the lentils, ginger, hing, salt, curry leaves in the blender with minimum water.
* Add the rice rava to the ground dough and some water to make it a thick batter.
* On a non stick shallow pan - put a ladle full of the batter and spread it. It will be a thick crepe.
* Sprinkle coriander, cumin, onion and chillies on each adai on the crepes. Put oil around the edges and cover it for 1 minute on high flame.
* Let it cook till it looks red on the edges for crispy adai. Now flip it and let the other side cook.
* Repeat the steps above till your batter is finished.
* Serve with peanut chutney or mint chutney.

Kela Pua (Banana Fritters)

Courtesy Nani/Anjana Kumar (aka mummy)

Ingredients:

• 3 over-ripe bananas
• Handful of raisins
• 3-4 dried dates - soaked overnight
  
• Dried coconut shavings
• Handful of chopped walnuts/pecans
• Half cup Flour or wheat flour
  
• Milk (for measurements see below)
  
• Jaggery or brown sugar (to taste)
• Teaspoon of Sauf (Aniseed)

How to:

• Soak dried dates to soften them - easier to chop.
  
• Mash the bananas in a big bowl till there are no big lumps.
  
• Add sauf, raisins, walnuts/pecans, cocunut shavings, jaggery/sugar.
• Pour in the flour gradually, mixing it well to form a consistent batter - prevent formation of lumps.
  
• Pour a little milk to make the batter just enough to keep it thick. The consistency could be similar to a thick batter used for Uttapa or pancakes.
• Take a shallow pan and coat the pan evenly with a few drops of oil (to prevent the batter from sticking)
• Pour the batter (in small circles) into the pan to cook for around 2-3 minutes - on both sides - till it is reddish brown.
  

How to serve this dish:

This recipe comes from Central India and is native to the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. The dish is traditionally sweet and accompanied with spicy pickles (like Chilli pickles or other spicy accompainments). This dish can make a good breakfast dish or can serve as a nice tea time snack.

The recipe:

This recipe has been developed by Ms. Ibha Kumar (the author of this blog). While we encourage you to use this dish for personal use, no part of this recipe or minor alterations can be published in any form (in print or electronic media) without the express consent of the author and must accompany a full reference of the author and the blog.